jdubbs

This looks soooo much better than the previous UCS Snowspeeder. It has a nifty landing gear! So much interior detailing! And the action on the top flaps looks really nice. I do wish TLG would re-introduce a lighter gray color that splits the difference between white and Light Bluish Gray... this set would have benefited from it. Stickers aren't ideal, but you know you don't have to apply them if you don't want to...

I don't doubt that there are folks who will purchase multiples for the parts. But there are people who buy dozens and dozens of the (unnamed) battle packs to amass huge armies of Stormies, Hoth soldiers, etc. I don't see as many people doing the same to build up armies of Aqualish, for example.

I have this set though I haven't built it yet... but in the video reviews I've watched, placing a minfig in the cockpit looks more proportional than the UCS X-Wing or TIE. I'm inclined to say it's close to minifig scale... the "actual" B-Wing appears to have been quite large, if you put much stock in the DK cross-section illustrations and such.

My guess is that the bounty hunter battle pack is something of an experiment for TLG. If it succeeds, we might see more of them… after all, there are only so many variations on unnamed stormtroopers and soldiers that they can realistically put out… especially since the prequels seem to be out of favor. (Though I for one would like to see blue Senate Guards, Gungans, Geonosians, etc. make their way into future battle packs.) But even if the Bounty Hunters set is successful, I doubt we would see more than 1 out of 4 battle packs each year comprise named characters. And “successful" may be increasingly hard to achieve, when you consider that most battle packs get bought in multiples by AFOLs to build armies… how many multiples of cantina aliens, Jabba courtiers, etc. will you realistically want to own?

I disagree. There has been a lot of attention given to this rumor in the press/blogs, not to mention the endless chatter about it in forums like this one. TLG had an opportunity to shoot that rumor down with a simple response like “great idea, but nothing planned at the moment”. (If you’ve ever watched a Q&A session with Hasbro, their reps say this 100 times an hour, and probably recite it in their sleep.) Instead, the LEGO rep gave a coy answer that only serves to feed the rumor… I seriously doubt they would do that if the Falcon weren’t coming soon.

At this point TLG has to be aware of the rumors swirling around a UCS Falcon... I think if it weren't coming in the next year, the rep would have taken the opportunity to say something very different, to lower expectations and throw some cold water on the rumors.

My guess is that the Homing Spider Droid didn't sell well, since it went on markdown quickly, and Yoda reappeared in his Jedi Starfighter this winter. It seemed like Battle on Takodana was on discount immediately upon release, so maybe we’ll see Maz Kanata in a future set. Rebel Combat Frigate is retiring just 6 months after it was released, which gives some hope to anyone hoping for a cheaper set with Asoka. I think if there are any more Rogue One sets coming this or next year, Krennic would be a likely minifig to be included. While I don't have reason to think his shuttle sold poorly, it was the only set he appeared in, he is a pretty prominent character in the movie, and he wasn’t included in the microfighter version of the shuttle. Most obvious choice for a set would be his confrontation with Vader (ideally including Vader’s Bacta Tank, a Royal Guard or two, etc.).

Well the most obvious answer is the Rebels TIE Advanced/A-Wing, which was marked down and/or pulled from shelves in most markets roughly six months after its introduction. Sabine is now slated for the Advent Calendar, which I'm guessing is a result of excess inventory of her minifig.

Seeing Quarrie show up in a Freemaker set, Thrawn in the sole, low-end Rebels set this year, and Sabine in the Advent Calendar reminds me how TLG handled the last wave of LotR/Hobbit sets… previously-unreleased, named characters got dumped into bargain-basement sets when they easily could have been the highlight of much larger and more expensive sets… as though TLG had already given up on the line and just needed to get rid of the minifigs. I wonder if Thrawn was originally slated for a Rebels Star Destroyer and Quarrie for a Rebels B-Wing, and instead we’re getting them in these one-off sets to clear inventory.

The original Death Star set got a minor update to modernize the minifig faces. Then it was reissued as a new set with newer molds for the minifigs, some different characters, changes to some of the interior spaces, etc. The Ewok Village only had one release which came after the more modern face designs were introduced.

This is somewhat overstated. There was reporting in blogs that post-Disney, Slave Leia was put on ice. But unless I missed it, there was never even a semi-official statement from Disney, and some speculated that it was merely the name that was being retired, in favor of "Jabba's Prisoner" or something without the word "slave", or that it was only Hasbro that was retiring the character (given at the time, she was a major peg-warmer).

Just finished building the UCS Sandcrawler, which I actually bought last year but didn't have time to build until recently... An hour a day for over a week... it was more fun than I expected, given the source material is kind of blah (big brown box), as far as Star Wars sets go.

I too would like to see an updated Palpatine's Arrest, since it is one of the few early-modern sets I don't have, it came with a lot of great minifigs, and prices for it on eBay are astronomical. But it seems like environmental sets don't get reissued all that often (if ever) in favor of vehicles, many of which get released over and over with only minor improvements (see: Land Speeder, Skiff, AT-TE, Sith Interceptor, etc.) And, it's a prequel set without much play value, which works against it. My guess is the next environment to get a reissue would be the Endor Bunker, given its minifigs aren't modern and the Ewok Village seems to have sold well. Only thing going against it is the Scarif Bunker, which is similar conceptually/aesthetically.

I have all three and I actually prefer the Sail Barge. To me it's more iconic and goes great with both the old and new skiffs. My only complaint about it is the sloping at the nose seems jagged and dated, and I wonder if newer parts/building techniques would allow this to be smoothed out. I'd guess that the Palace and Rancor Pit are less likely to be updated and re-released as new sets, so you might be better off buying them and holding out for a newer barge down the line.

That is really cute. I especially like the stormies trying to get a better look with the jetpack, standing on the railing, etc. Is the TIE Pilot just back from ComicCon?

Given that Rebels sets supposedly haven't sold that well, I would guess that TLG focuses on vehicles that cross over to the original trilogy, to broaden their appeal. The TIE Bomber and Interceptor would be obvious choices, given that they haven't been released in many years and their previous builds aren't up to today's standards. I continue to hold out hope for a Rebel Blockade Runner, but I think if it were going to come out, it would have been this year. The only Star Destroyer I have is the (massive) UCS set... I wouldn't mind a smaller scale version but I suspect the next one we get is for Episode VIII, which would put off an OT-era version for several years.

Looks like Rebels was just renewed for a fourth season, airing Fall 2017. So love 'em or hate 'em, I imagine we'll have at least a few more Rebels sets... though possibly not until 2018, unless one or more of the unidentified or TLJ Fall 2017 sets is actually Rebels-themed.

I like this a lot... if TLG doesn't release an updated TIE Bomber soon, I may try this as well. One piece of unsolicited feedback: I think the wings need to extend even farther back. If you do a search for "TIE Bomber Blueprints" you can find an overhead view... it looks like they extend way behind the body?

Since a UCS Falcon seems pretty likely for 2017, I am wondering how it might be improved over the original model. An interior is the most obvious option, but it also seems like it would be hard to pull off. Looking at photos of the interior of the 10179 UCS Falcon, there is a ton of structure there... which seems pretty necessary given the size of the model. If LEGO somehow manages to keep the size the same while adding a meaningful interior, I will be very, very impressed. Other than an interior, I'd like to see: A proper cockpit window assembly. The open-air design of the 10179 makes it look a little too MOCish... which is fine when it's a MOC, but not so much when you're shelling out $700. The underbelly remote-control canon Han fires at the snowtroopers in ESB. An openable version of the top hatch Lando uses to rescue Luke. Lightbrick engines? Lots of minifigs. If you're gonna charge $700 for it, why not include a large array of minifigs, akin to the Death Star UCS, spanning its appearance in all four movies?

Looking at the photo of the Shocktroopers above, you might also want to add the ventral fin/podium and a railing as well... would add visual interest and be more movie-accurate. And add some dark gray to break up the palette?

This Snowspeeder makes a really good argument for a new shade of gray between white and light bluish gray. Just as Kylo's Shuttle made a good case for a shade of gray between black and dark bluish gray. I suppose producing all those parts in new colors would be prohibitive... but if they can produce obscure colors like sand blue and sand green, you'd think a few more shades of gray would be possible (and used far more often). To me, this build looks much more proportional than either the recent system scale or previous UCS sets. The canopy has subtle intersecting angles which would be hard to reproduce perfectly in a brick-based toy, not unlike the Imperial Shuttle or the AT-ST... this one is far more accurate than UCS versions of those sets were.

The cockpit is a huge improvement over the previous UCS Snowspeeder. Is the speeder primarily white or light-bluish-gray bricks? Or some new gray in between? I cannot tell from the lighting of the photo...

Yavin IV Rebel Base certainly has my vote!

Yes there were one or two X-Wings outside Saw's hideout, which they pass by as they're racing to the U-Wing. I think one was dark, like Poe's. But they're only featured for a split-second.... we'd sooner see a LEGO Quad-Jumper than any of those X-Wings. Oh, wait...

I have mixed feelings about future LEGO Rebels sets. If the only option is more sets like we’ve seen so far, I’d have to say “no thanks”. But if LEGO could focus on the “sweet spot” where Rebels and the OT intersects, I’d happily offer up my credit card. While there have been some exceptions (AT-DP, Hammerhead Corvette, Mad-Max-ified AT-TE), most of the designs introduced within the show just aren’t very good, or at least, don’t make for compelling sets. And like Freemaker, they chew up slots that could be used for more interesting movie-based releases (or even re-releases). Rebels is a show that started out promising, then quickly devolved into slapstick antics and potty humor before recovering a bit in the second season, but now seems only capable of resurrecting Clone Wars characters and storylines. Having been a fan of The Clone Wars series, I initially welcomed this. But lately it just seems like the show is lacking its own inertia, having to rely on rehashing the past in order to keep going. Asoka, Rex, Clones, Geonosians, Maul, Night Sisters, Mandalorians, and the list goes on and on. If Saw Guerrera had not been featured so cryptically in Rogue One, his addition to Rebels would have been yet another example of this… but at least the show can fill in some of his mid-story to see what drove him to such an extreme, fragile state. The selection of Rebels sets has been frustrating to say the least. I don’t understand the release of so many high-priced Rebels sets considering these are supposedly marketed mostly to kids. Vader’s TIE and the A-Wing had no business being bundled into a $90 (U.S.) combo set, especially alongside three $100+ Rebels sets also on the market. The show makes extensive use of vehicles many OT collectors have been clamoring for — TIE Bomber, TIE Interceptor, Tantive IV, none of which suffers from a “Rebels Repaint" or restyling — and yet none of these has been released as a set. The vehicles that do get made into sets are blink-and-you-miss-'em, had poor designs to begin with (not LEGO’s fault), aren’t in scale with anything, and/or don’t resonate with parents willing to spend $120 on a toy for their kid. Is it any wonder retailers don’t want to carry Rebels sets? From what the producers said at the show's outset, it sounds like Rebels has at most one more season left in it. Possibly a half-season, if whatever is coming next from Lucasfilm's animation unit is already in production. My guess is there aren't many more opportunities for Rebels sets left...?