Ki-Adi-Mundi

Your really got me surprised. On the one hand i, too, would wonder if TLG were out on a policy change to mix up sides within a BP. On the other hand you sound pretty convinced that things will go this way. If this is about to happen - i could live with the mix you are proposing. As an OT fan who got into LEGO only a few months ago (i already spent a fortune to create kind of a nice collection), i would of course prefer to get Stormies, too. Two Endor BPs would allow for more variety and scenery/vehicle items. Better for army building - in the end better for TLG to sell BPs en masse. I guess this community is pretty pleased that TLG took up the license and has kept it for so long. I like what you (TLG designers) have done since 1999. The stepwise metamorphosis towards accuracy is astounding - especially when first and latest sets are being compared directly. This might be one reason for the discussion around the new TIE cockpit. I'm no designer or MOCer. I can only say that the positioning of the front window looks a little bit out of the way. A closer look might unveil that this is no bad at all or that there's hardly a better way to do it. As of yet, i'm guessing still. New figs are alomost always welcome, i think. To realise yet missing prominent characters like Queen Amidala is very likely to make sets a good success. I am really looking forward who will join her in the action and where this action will take place. A Theed palace, anyone? Thanks for taking the effort to evaluate the market. Asking potential customers beforehand is as wise as it is nice for us. We are led to believe that the sum of our votes has impact on your final design decision. I guess it's a safe bet to say that a bust/sculpture/brickbuilt toy might adress some people who will react very satisfied. For a really big shot though, something memorable from the system line (something to build and play and display) is more likely to qualify. Something that appeals to customers of all age groups. If you're up to primarily adress AFOLs, a closer look (and filtering) in the history of this thread will offer a good overview what the community is up to. In your later posts you seem a little upset on 'premature' criticism and seem unnerved on mixed reactions. I think that the tenor of reactions is connected with you not giving any sign of what direction is intended and only whispering something mysterious - the intended thing to be something 'one time' and likely somthing different from the expectable. This might lower expectations and even disappoint the heated minds among us. Well, so much is thinkable! I could imagine to welcome a TFU set, the Lars Farm, Otoh Gunga, Bast Castle, an entry set for the 'The Old Republic' computer game. But would the majority of LEGO fans do that, too? I am not sure and would recommend to (re)create some classic set. A well done Cloud City, Star Destroyer, Jabba's Palace is much more likely to cast the die in TLG's favored direction. At the right pricing, with some intrigueing features, those will for sure enter the hall of fame. I can only say: The more out of the way, the less likely an economic success it will be. It's Lucas' job to attract a younger audience towards Star Wars. Designing a SW set to be not 'too much SW' to catch children not yet interested in the theme will likely not work. If sales have really dropped during the last waves, this might more probably be connected with the price policy - people still like sets but they do not necessarily purchase if 166 bricks cost 30 bucks for example. They start complaining instead and tend to talk themselves away from their basic desire to have somthing specific that's good but overpriced (in their eyes). That's perfectly reasonable. Those philosophic thoughts away, i can only state that i highly appreciate your willingness to communicate with us and follow these boards to keep in touch with us customers. Both sides will be better of this way in the end. I for one am pretty curious what the next year is about to offer. Have a nice day. Sry for double posting but i was overtaken by events. This one is interesting. It would fit into the schedule of what parameters Kirk has told us. It's beautiful. How much more expensive are chrome bricks in ratio to regular coloured ones?

A very good and enlightening review. Outstanding pics... I ordered the set on sale a while ago. Surprisingly i did so for the minifigs and the lack of interesting dark side vehicles being available. Well, slowly the delivery should be due...

Well, i'd like to share my thoughts, too... Battle Packs (15 bucks): Endor Rebel BP (2 rebel commandos, 1 commando officer, 1 Ewok and a brick-built tree) Endor Impie BP (2 Stormtroopers, 1 Scouttrooper, 1 Navytrooper and a speeder bike) Small sets (30-40 bucks): Vulture droid starfighter (2-4 battle droids) Battle of the Grass plains (1 Kaadu, 1 Gungan general, 1 Gungan soldier, 1 officer battle droid, 4 battle droids, 1 STAP) some nondescript odd animated series stuff (2 sets or so) Medium sets (50-60 bucks): X-wing (Luke in Jedi dress, R2-D2, 1 mechanic, 1 pilot, and a repair crane) TIE fighter (as announced) Mos Eisley cantina (Han, Chewie, Greedo, Wuher, 1 Jawa, 1 smuggler, 1-2 new aliens, 1-2 Sandtroopers) Homing spider droid (1 famous Jedi Master, 2 clones, 2 battle droids, 1 super battle droid, 1 Geonosian with wings) AAT tank (battle droid commander, 2 battle droids, Jar Jar Binks, 2 Gungan warriors) some nondescript odd animated series stuff (2 sets or so) Big sets (around 100 bucks): Theed palace (Queen Amidala, 2 Naboo Guards, Obi Wan, Qui Gon, Nute Gunray, 1 Neimodian advisor, 2-4 battle droids) Mos Espa (Wattoo, EP II Anakin, 2 traders/aliens, 1 farmer, 2-3 Sand people, Bantha and a speeder) some nondescript odd animated series stuff (2 sets or so) Huge sets (120-150 bucks): Cloud City (Lando, Leia, Lobot, Boba Fett, Han [in Carbonite], C3-PO, Luke and a Cloud car) OR Jabba's palace with it's shady inhabitants Imperial Star Destroyer (Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, 1 Imperial officer, 2 Stormtroopers, 2 Navytroopers) OR big CIS ship with the usual suspects

Thanks for this very good review, StoutFiles. While the moody lighting has somewhat too much shadows, IMO, you really show us what the thing is all about and made a good choice on what to shoot. I like the set itself more than you do because i think there's much more that TLG did right than they did fail at. The price tag is ok (... when we leave out the general overpricing in Europe). As a great OT fan i thus must own this one. I wait for a sale to enlarge my Hoth collection. This focus on the interior is exactly what i was looking for. I would have gladly taken a rehash of 7666, too - for it's original price. Here we get quite a few notable specials for our money. No, i am not speaking of the kid play features.

You're probably right about the palace and the cantina. Still, as 8038 has shown (the perfect set to me), TLG can satisfy an overwhelming majority of AFOLs, too. Regarding the new Echo Base - i like it. Might look a little and 'too playable' odd at first glance but it offers a lot we did yet miss. I am convinced that it was a good idea to pack several scenes into it and that it fills the open gap to add for a great Hoth diorama. Together with 7749, 8129, 8089 and 7666 we get everything about this memorable topic. Collectors and fans of EP V would later regret to pass it. I for one will definitely own the new Echo Base. I basically like the idea but do not believe in it. The Death Star playset yet released is the ultimate thing about it, IMHO. AFAIK it still sells well and EP VI in 3D is a few years away. Therefore i would wonder if TLG wouldn't focus on something different.

Umm, that 'shadows of the empire' thing bothers me a bit. EU does sell well? When it comes to the desires of my AFOL heart, 'Cloud City' and a rehash of an 'Imperial Star Destroyer' do clearly qualify to be things most desired and big enough to be adored for ages. Since we get an SSD this year, Bespin does most likely remain. I would hope for a big set. But please not a 400 bucks UCS. I could afford but wouldn't spend so much for just one set within just one hobby. Jabba's palace with a Rancor sounds reasonable, too. But to make it really attractive it would have to be a 2.000+ bricks set and really expensive, i think.

Bah, i like it. Since there's always something people mourn and cry about, my objection might be the price when it's out but let's see. Thanks for the new pics. Interesting to see 7879 being available somewhere remote while even S@H doesn't offer it at this time. At first i was afraid that it would end up as a filler between the running summer and the upcoming winter wave. Good to see that this fear was wrong. 7666 looked awkward at first sight either but at second glance one found out about it's qualities. looking at it's today's prices (even if used) - that was a classic. I have little doubt that 7879 will live up to that and be it after being out of production. It has a Tauntaun, some main protagonists, is foldable offers several different theme areas, the nice E-Web of 7749, an exclusive red 3PO unit, another new robot (2-1B) and some Snowies to battle with. I am already curious about the walkway and the crane thingy and their (yet hidden) features. Together with either 7666 and/or 7749 this one makes for a great Hoth theme diorama. I assume with little effort the archway (of the Tauntaun pen) can be expanded to let through a T-47 of 8089 (which makes for another great side set for this). In the end i like full standalones even more but 7879 is close and seems to be everything but a bad set, IMO. As mentioned above i hope that the price won't be of a galaxy far, far away...

Umm, today i recognised that 6212 (X-Wing) disappeared from the German S@H page. There was no sign that it was going to be out of stock anytime soon. Is the set about to get discontinued and already sold out in Germany? Can we take this as a sign that a revamp or even a complete new set containing the X-Wing is en route to our very galaxy? If so - i am looking forward to it. I like TLG's newer designs with new bricks and building techniques. I guess Fallenangel would be pleased in this particular case as well. If not - what could be the reason for the sudden disappearance? In the US the set seems to be available still.

Thanks for this decent review on a pretty average (IMO) set.

Thanks for those news. I am glad that our US fellows finally get to cast their die on the new sets. The first one consists of quite some wishful thinking (especially prices). The second one might be as well - but if it were true - i would feel pleased a lot and TLG, too. Three of the four mentioned sets (the OT ones) would most probably find their way through my budget into the collection. Ah, interesting. Hopefully the set will become available in Europe as well soon. Any announcement on it's price in EUR yet?

Hello Jarrett and welcome to the forums. I had to smile when reading your post. I recently went through a similar experience. Started collecting LEGO roughly two months ago, SW exclusively (or so i swore to myself ). Since then i spent 523 EUR to get some of the basics - and i am still waiting for sales on the summer wave sets... Yes, that sounds obsessive at first - but others here can only groan at such a meager starter... The nice thing about LEGO is the freedom you have to emphasize on one or several aspects of your liking. Be it smaller sets, bigger ones, standalones, UCS, specific topics, minifigs, customizing/MOCs, photography and so much more. It's just up to you. Regarding your questions: - I have most of my sets (the bigger ones) sealed yet. Getting a glass cabin next month and do not want to get things dusty before i set them up in there. Leaving them sealed was a rationale at first - if the hobby gets too expensive or whatever - one could still sell them at a reasonable price. I learned that older sets out of production achieve high prices even if they were opened and built up before (only make sure to keep them clean and complete!). However, i cannot imagine to sell anything of what i bought. Despite the large inevstment to get 'the basics' i am critical on what to buy. This forum and it's excellent people are of great help when it comes to choosing well on what to get or emphasize on. - MOCs are an 'advanced branch' i guess. Up to now i feel like you. I am perfectly fine with just building as things are supposed to be. For testing without disassembling your precious, i suggest you to try on the LDD. There is a specific subforum on it and the program is a great tool to play and try out new techniques or workarounds. I can only congtatulate you to joining that funtastic hobby for (wo)men who have to pretend to be adults most of their time. And in your case - hey you have kids. That's the best excuse i can imagine. Have fun and happy brickin' EDIT: Hehe, Slave I was my first set above 50 bucks, too. Umm, there's Boba Fett with it and Han in carbonite - your wife must understand that you simply had to get it...

Hello fellow Brickians ordering from Germany, S@H has one little goodie for us: When ordering for 55+ EUR, you get set 7235 for free. This sale lasts from today until July, 22nd. Look here: S@H Hope this wasn't posted yet. Please mods feel free if a thread for CITY special sales already exists out there.

While this might be pretty frustrating overseas, we very much have the same phenomenon reagrding products originating from the US to become available in Europe. It seems that producers first use domestic markets to spread their produce and to test on expected reception (amount of units sold in a given time frame) before they plan how much and for how long they wish to make it on a global scale. In reverse, i find it very frutrating to pay 150 to 200 percent of LEGO prices in comparison to US customers. Not that my wage would superceed US incomes by the same amount... And btw, it's difficult to find a retailer for 7868 in central Europe, too. For this set, apart from S@H i have yet only found secondary retailers who sell at a substantial margin for their own.

A very good review, NTF. Thanks for sharing. I feel a little surprised how much effort was put into the minifigs while keeping features of the ship itself in line. I see quite some improvement over the old 7665. After all, the set appears much better in price/content ratio than i expected at first. I don't like the comics and animated series but not owning the old frigate i might go for this one when the price gets right. You did a great job at showing us it's pros. I woudn't rate it as high as you did but the set clearly is above average, IMO.

Thank you. After all, there seem to be some modifications to existing molds. That's good and makes the set more worthwile. Not that i wouldn't get it anyway - but that's been said already. Well, Jabba's palaca isn't interesting for kids exclusively, you know. It's quite a memorable spot from the OT and one of the more adventurous places for LEGO to design. Since all system sets are toys after all, i would prefer one that catches my AFOL interest. And Jabba's palace certainly does catch more of it than would a Naboo spaceport / Gungan submarine / UCS A wing which one can only look at from a distance or fill in some more less important supporting sets. I heartly disagree. It's sad to always shove 8038 out of the shelf but this set has clearly shown what can be done with a 100 bucks set. A dozen minifigs, vehicles, a main building, and a supportive structure. But you can also refer to 7666 which was only half the cost or could look at 7754. They all are very good sets full of features, a unique charming and classic potential. In it's own right, 7879 will soon after release attract a numerous bunch of fans who admire the combination of what it actually packs together. Why should TLG entirely fail at a new iteration of Jabba's palace?! Yes, by todays standards 4480 looks awkward and beyond it's age. But this was a set of 234 parts coming at around 30 USD! For three and a third times this amount i believe that we can be expect some more and better. And TLG knows that we do expect that. If you deny anything bar perfection, then i am sorry that only yourself could design smothing that fits this standard. TLG has the hard task to present us a good compromise. Something attractive, playable and affordable. I am fairly sure that they will find a way to appeal the majority. Apparently i vote for a Jabba's palace above a pure UCS show model and i feel a little thrilled that we actually might get one.

Wow, thanks for this outstanding review! Crystal clear, crispy pics and a very good choice of angles and focus. I very much like your approach to compare the resepctive set with original material and predecessor LEGO models. This also gives a good impression on how LEGO modeling has developed. The best thing you could achieve is making a set look even more attractive than it basically is. And this you have done pretty well. I was at best only half interested in the set (especially pricing) before reading your review. Now i feel more attracted (still this is a PT /CW set). Comparing with the predecessor the newer model isn't as well shaped but it's bigger and thus offers more room to do sth with it. The minifigs are very good IMO but do they justify such a high price?! Another goodie is the ability to put the speeder bike inside and the feature to drop the probes. Overall, i rate the set at average. Please don't get this wrong - your review is excellent, though. On a substantial bargain, i might go for it. Thanks and keep your review style up!

Thanks Bonaparte for letting us take a keen peek on this monster! At first glance, i am impressed. A huge set for a huge and highly appreciated vehicle in the SW community. Still, it was a bold move to create it. I hope the sales will go well. Asking myself - i remain undecided yet. Spending so much (price of a whole nice collection) on one single set would be against my ethics on spending my budget. I guess the build will be kind of repetetive and a close look reveals many similarities along the hull. From a little more distance, the greeble works quite well. With the right lighting, this one may be a breathtaking sight in anyone's LEGO lair. I like the idea of the bridge and the implementation of it looks good. It does not harm the UCS specialty (we also had the cockpit for the UCS Falcon, which is a pure classic). Some interesting minifigs (except Bossk - i am sad that this little guy in my collection kind of lost his unique appeal), too. I remain undecided due to the sheer size (where the heck to place it dust free???) and the expected heavy strain on my budget. However, there's a summer until release and some more appetizers of the summer wave i do not yet have.

Sry if it was said already. To me, the forum is about news, discussions around them and some special interests associated with LEGOs. Denying news or banning them into some obscure secluded area would fail the point of theses boards, i think. And it's good to see in which kind manner people behave here. Not only is this a place to meet fellow fans - who can claim to have similar minded and aged ppl around him-/herself in RL - but the community feeds itself with bits and bricks of news that (in)voluntarily trickle out from TLG from time to time. If this were dried up or relegated to a place OP cannot see it - the bulk of people would become disappointed, bored and forum quality in manners etc. would decline, IMO. Since the pursue of happiness of the majority outruns some pretty special eccentricity (no offense intended, seriously!) i would suggest to change the bookmarks and adjust the surfing behaviour on the boards by affected people. Checking threads on news and rumors is optional in the end, you know?! Resisting the urge to click on them is the same challenge as is to decide on purchases from TLG. It's an individual matter no one else can be blamed for.

Thank you all for for enlightening answers. Maybe i will get a chance to get the desired models after crating them via LDD. I will continue to build more but also follow your precious counsel to search for the parts in the channels you mentioned. Let's see whether the effort to sort and type in everything by number is worthwhile. Thanks again and have a nice day!

Most impressive, indeed. But spending around 350 bucks on a LEGO? Am i fool enough? Will i find room to place it? Huh, i'd better go into my force chamber and meditate on this huge matter... Ignoring the expected retail value for a moment, i wish to go that far and say: this seems to be one gorgeous alltime classic they have created. Reminds me of the lasting hype around UCS Falcon and UCS Star Destroyer...

Wow, that's even better. Thanks on your effort to show us the extra pics. Your review has become even more awesome! I really like the boarding ramp and front compartment. It is also good to have comparisons for the newer minifig prints and hair. Luke has improved the most. His hair piece is as good as it's new. I just don't get the reason for the front hole in the nose. What is it good for? I smell some MOCs for this and the mandibles in the air. Great stuff, Future74!

Hello all, just got into the fun of building LEGOs via LDD. A great tool indeed. However, as many starters might have done before, i recreated some official set that's not available anymore. I just used the 'legal' parts for workarounds and also left out features i am not interested in. After hours of work i wanted to know what the finished set would cost. I was pretty surprised by the result. Roughly 280 pieces and TLG wants more than 50 € for this... There's even no minifig included. Thus a bunch of questions do arise: - How much is their fee for 'handpicking' the bricks and doing a custom box? Is it reasonable to create larger sets and save some money this way? - Are bricks in some certain colours more expensive than ones in different colouring or do just the kind of bricks matter? Which kinds of bricks are the most expensive (e.g. Technic?)? - Are there any price lists for the legal bricks offered with the official LDD? - Would it be possible to order a custom made rehash of some officical set or does TLG deny this anyway by policy? These issues might very likely have been discussed in the past so moderators feel free to merge this with an existing threat on the matter. Every help is welcome.

You got me. Admittedly i have not watched the comic series (and i do not plan to change anything about that).

Wow, a huge hug for this highly anticipated review! Thanks, buddy. Your review is excellent with very clear photo shots of the set and minifigs. I especially love your small scenes and funny dialogues. Please allow for a few requests: It would be great if you could add (closer) shots of - the front compartment (in the 'nose' which can be folded open) - the cockpit (also with with minifigs seated) - the boarding ramp (from inside and outside) Regarding the set itself: I recognised the top flaps to have differing gap sizes. Is this a result of the build or is it that way by design? The back of the ship (side view) looks a little squeezed from behind. Is it just me or would you agree on this reception? The main sublight thrusters are somewhat broader in the original film model. What could be the reason for this design? The front landing gear seem to be hinged on different stud lines. Was this your build or is it intentionally designed that way? Might it be possible to mod in an escepe pod without a major overhaul of the ship? In the end, i cast a vote for 'outstanding'. There are a few things that could be better (as always) but IMO this set is top of the line in regards of overall design, visual attractivity, resemblance of the original, size, playability, minifigs (printing/faces) and design features. TLG honored this crucial SW vehicle the way it deserves. It's expensive but not out of the reasonable. Is a must buy this year for me.

Good work. Just one side note: R4 is stored (wired into the fighter) to the left of Obi Wan. You just need the head to simulate this. The color scheme is innovative (and sticker application) is good, though.