Mandalorianknight

I actually have found the leaked plans for the 2024 DC wave. They are as follows: 4+ Batmobile: Joker chase ($34.99): A small juniors batmobile and joker helicopter. Comes with Juniors batman, a re-used joker, and batgirl (DBG suit reuse) Construction figures: Batman (DBG suit): $34.99 Joker (purple suit): $34.99 Harley Quinn (Red/Blue suit): $34.99 D2C: Bat Ski-boat ($239.99): Re-used Keaton Batman, a new Max Shreck with exclusive face and torso, and an unmasked/battle damaged catwoman figure with exclusive torso and face prints.

Isn't that literally every video game company? Is EA different at all? Glad the NWH set is still coming. The cancellation rumor was absurd, but it does also kind of feel par for the course with lego nowadays. I could 100% see them saying something like "the statue of liberty goes against our brand values" or "We are re-evaulating our relationship with marvel over Tobey Maguire's interactions with Papperazzi last decade". Oh, man, I can think of so many of these. "We are concerned that this set would cause people to attack the statue of liberty in real life". "Spider-Man as a character encourages dangerous vigilantism", etc. (and yeah, these are all exaggerated, but c'mon. In the past two years, how many sets have been cancelled over stuff like this?) Though of course if it was cancelled there's always the chance it shows up in august with Keaton Batman and Joker as the minifigures!

I'm not saying it's a good idea, I'm just saying it's probably their rationale. Why design a new vehicle with more figures when they can throw out an incredibly minor update to an existing set with like, one new print and 2 re-used figures and be reasonably sure it'll sell well?

My second entry for the M4-23 contest, an imperial ship. I want to do a non-tie ship as well to see if I can stick the aesthetic of the empire without relying on the TIE concept, but we'll see if I have time. The TIE Reconnoiter was an imperial ship designed by Grand Admiral Thrawn himself, and used in his imperial remnant after the battle of endor. An answer to the superior shielding of rebel ships, the TIE Reconnoiter was designed with a stronger hull and boasted not only shielding but a short-range hyperdrive. As the name suggests, the TIE Reconnoiter was used as a scout ship, and was able to deploy a spacetrooper from the cockpit rear. (I wanted to do something different than just "TIE but the wings are a different shape", so I bulked up the cockpit, struts, and wings. About halfway through, I decided to add the spacetrooper functionality, the function for which will be shown in a later image.) The TIE Reconnoiter was housed in hanger bays in the bases or warships of Thrawn's imperial remnant. Alongside the docking structure for the ship itself, the bays also featured charging pods for the spacetrooper armor. (I thought I'd make a hanger bay for the model to help flesh it out.) Due to it's shields and hyperdrive, the TIE Reconnoiter was unable to generate sufficient energy from it's solar panels, and relied upon fuel as rebel starfighters did. The ship was entered not via the top hatches common in TIE models, but by a rear hatch. (I like my ladder design. Not much else to say here.) The spacetrooper housed within the TIE was able to be ejected during flight to assault enemy craft, though this would momentarily open the cockpit to space whilst the spacetrooper was ejected. As a result, TIE Reconnoiter pilots were required to keep their helmet seals intact during flight. (Pulling the level below the cockpit down launches the spacetrooper out. I thought it would be fun to build a function in that wasn't just spring shooters or something) Additional images (cockpit interior, landing without a docking rig.) This was definately a fun challenge, and I tried to use a variety of different techniques while keeping the TIE aesthetic. Let me know what you think!

I believe so. I think their assumption is kids will buy it as a cheap way to get yoda, and parents will recognize him and R2 and buy it for their kids, but I don't think it's gonna work. There are 3 other, cheaper sets this summer alone that seem to rely on kids buying it for the figures (vader and boba mechs, as well as the 332nd pack, though as a battle pack that one's at least SUPPOSED to be for the figures.). Plus, Obi-wan's starfighter is still on shelves, which comes with an extra, desirable figure, is more recognizable, and $5 cheaper. I don't want to keep straying off topic, so the one thing I'll say is that most of your criticisms of it's set potential come back around to disliking the movie/plot. I put an example of how I think one could work at a higher price point in the star wars set wishlist thread. I do think Theed could work well, especially if the interior is split between the duel of the fates and the hanger/hallways. Be a nice way to get battle dress padme whilst still having a fairly desirable set (Though I think our next duel of the fates set will be a diorama)

Those are all great, I'll throw in a few more: Jedi Temple ($159.99): Exterior is the one side of the temple, with a figure-compatible entrance at the bottom. The interior contains (Lowest level) the jedi archives and a small hallway area, (middle level) Anakin's quarters and a classroom, and (top level) the council chambers. A mid-scale Aethersprite is also included in dark red. Figures are (all episode 2 based): Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, R4-P17, Jocasta Nu, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, and 2x Jedi Youngling. (Notice that the set is Ep 2 based, hence the younglings can be included without some... interesting questions being raised) Exogol ($99.99): In the center, a large sith throne. On one side, an Omnic Harness support, and on the other, a lab area with a jar of clones. On either side of those, a sith statue build somewhat larger than the anubises from the indiana jones lost tomb set. On the outer side of one statue is a function to lower a platform for kylo. Figures are Ben Solo, Rey, Palpatine (zombie), Palpatine (reborn), 2x soveirgn protector, Vicrul, and Ap'lek. (Also, update on my summer wave. I've taken a break to work on contest entries, and I'm not sure I'll be done with the wave before I start a job that's got 14-15 hour work days every other day for the remainder of the summer. I'm currently shooting for a late august release)

I've seen Exogol requested much more than either of these. And I'm not sure why you think it'd be a big rock. Exogol has the Sith Throne and it's interesting design, any implementation of the Omnic Harness, the cloning equipment/jar of snokes, and if we want to really build it up, there's that whole area with the giant sith statues and the sort of floating elevator thing Kylo rides down on. It's also, importantly, based on the climax of the skywalker saga, and has a multitude of action scenes within it. I think you're letting your dislike of TROS get in the way of the viability of the set. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the film is good, I'd say it's the 4th worst live action canon SW film. I would also love an exogol set, and I've seen many others request it as well.) I do think the Yavin format could work for some locations from the prequels that couldn't be adequately made at the lower price points. I think Pentaki really needs an MBS to be done well, but a jedi temple would be perfect here. Something like a facade of one side of the temple with a downscaled (so... correctly scaled) delta-7 and a selection of 10-12 jedi would do pretty well, I think. A larger Mustafar could also potentially do well.

A simple moc, but I think it fits the tone really well. I like the idea of a clone who just decided to leave. You have to imagine for every Echo or Rex, there were clones who'd been through enough war and just wanted to be done with the fighting.

I don't know what it is about this moc, but it really reminds me of the older Lego Star Wars games. I like the scenario and story you've created, and there's some nice building techniques along the rocks.

Same here. This was such a disappointing "revival" to me. From when we first heard the rumors that the theme was returning with 5ish sets, to now seeing that it's just a weird selection keaton sets, including a buildible figure, 2 generic vehicles with the same exact figures, and a batcave that may be the biggest missed opportunity of all time. Ironically, the best set is the polybag, IMO. A good way to get the keaton batsuit. The Batwing and Batmobile are exciting to me just in that system batman sets will be on sale (currently on lego.com there is ONE system lego DC set on sale, not 18+, not juniors. Think about that for a second.) but in terms of what they have to offer, it's just gonna be a repeated Batsuit and if we're lucky new prints for Joker.

I guarantee you that if you give any kid a choice between the y-wing and the tiny, slow, unarmed personal carrier, they'll choose the Y-wing. (Plus, the personnel carrier is there to bring pilots to their ships...) 100% agree. Hopefully this does well and we can get more location playsets. I think Exogol is a good choice for another location set, albeit more at $70-100 than $170.

You must not have read some of the last couple pages, many people were complaining right when it was revealed. Han: We've only ever had 1 Han with the dual-molded legs, and like you said, it was an MBS set. I don't think you can expect dual-molding and side leg printing on figs in a system set, it's pretty rare. Dodonna: Sure, we just had him recently, but he's pretty integral to the briefing room scene. He was always gonna be in Yavin. The other three and the troopers, I understand the issue a lot more, though realize there hasn't been a normal C-3PO in a non-18+ set since 2020, and a normal chewbacca in a non-18+ set since 2019. We are of course constantly plagued by Artoos, so it would have been nice to get another fleet trooper instead, but it's not as bad as it could have been. Plus, it'd be weird if all the other main characters were there but Artoo was missing. Rebel Crew: This one's fair. They should have included a white visor. (There is a solution: Buy the visor with the calculator or stuntz driver printing, then nail polish it off. A bit of effort, and they should have included it, but overall not huge) TLDR: Is the figure selection perfect? No. Would another trooper or crew be nice? Yeah. Is 12 figs in a $170 set the best we've had in quite awhile? Yes. There are some real issues with Lego Star Wars nowadays. I don't think the Yavin 4 figs are one.

My first thought was "C'mon man, that's not a clone, it's a scout trooper". Clearly I would do poorly as an imperial scout myself! The hidden clone is a great concept, and I love the execution.

100% agree, everything you just said was right. I also think it's better to have a Y-wing than a further downscaled X-wing, since we recently had an X-wing but it's been 6 years since the last Y-wing. It's not the exact same, but it's objectively a worse Yoda figure. There's no reason for him to have shoes the color of luke's flesh.

I believe the tree lets the watchtower retract into it, though it doesn't excuse the stupidity of it. I like the Y-wing! And I think having a vehicle for the hanger definately adds some value to the set, both for play and display.

No figure at all is a letdown. My opinion of this set is: If it can be held, the back doesn't look awful, and it's reasonably stable: Not for me, but an alright set overall. If it can't be held/is a horrifying technic mess on the back/will fall apart if you try to pick it up: Absolutely terrible. The build doesn't look like anything special, and while I'm not normally annoyed by studs this is really pushing it, so if it can't even be held like the actual shield, I don't think it's good in any way whatsoever.

Yup. The earlier images I saw cut off at the fleet trooper, so I thought there was potential for other figs to be included, but yeah, that's it. I still think it looks great, but for $170, yeah... I'll wait for discount. At the very least another of the ground crew and fleet trooper should have been included.

Very nice, I especially like that E-wing. (Just a heads up, though, you might want to re-upload this with the eyes unedited. In the rules it says you can't edit any of the lego bricks in your submission. This moc is a clear frontrunner even without the editing, so I'd hate for them to disqualify it.) The way you built up Jek force building is very nicely done as well. I like the use of the chi pieces.

Agree on the first two, but hold on! We haven't seen the full figure count for Yavin 4. There are figures in the image that aren't shown in the figure list part, like the driver of the tram thing I don't remember the name of. Amazing. Everything you just said... was right. The set is almost a straight rerelease of the 2017 starfighter, more expensive, and would have been much better as Ahsoka's ETA-2. To be fair, the lost tomb is an absurdly good price these days. Thoughts; yoda's starfighter: This has gone from bland to outright awful. It's pretty much exactly the same as the last one, but significantly more expensive. 332nd pack. Would have loved this at $15. Would have been fine with it at $20. $27 is absolutely insane and I activly urge people not to buy this at retail price, because if we do, lego's just gonna keep pumping that price up. I have hopes it'll fail, because when a parent sees it on shelves next to the 2023 501st pack, I can't see them deciding orange helmets are worth almost 50% more than blue ones for an otherwise functionally the same set. Yavin. No idea why people dislike this, I love it! The midi Y-wing is nice, the set uses a lot of full bricks and large pieces for the tree trunks, justifying the price (alongside that awesome figure selection we haven't yet seen all of!) and it overall just looks like a solid set.

Oh, I think I misunderstood what you were saying. What I was saying in regards to why we don't really see bigfigs much now is that they inflate prices that lego's already increased in the past year or two, and lego's probably worried that consumers wouldn't buy those sets due to how overpriced they would seem. While you purchased the hulkbuster, a lot of people didn't, and the BP bust is one of the worst selling marvel sets ever. Lego's had a number of marvel sets hit sales on the official site at a time few system sets go on sale on their site at all, so I could see them deciding that inflating the price even more by including a bigfig isn't worth the risk.

It doesn't really make economic sense to take the budget of a theme that's doing well and dump it into one that's doing poorly. It's punishing success and you run the risk of lowering the sales for the theme that's already doing well. It's not worth the risk. (Also, are we really saying that if the keaton batcave had, say, exclusive prints for max shreck, it'd sell much better? I really doubt that's the issue.) Similarly, it doesn't make sense to spread IP costs out over all sets, as I don't think, for instance, ninjago fans would be happy about their set prices going up slightly because lego just bought the license to Avatar. This is me. If I had $400 sitting in my bank account and it was between food on the table and a comic batcave, it'd be the comic batcave (Joking, obviously... I'd just sell my kidney and do both!) But actually. A comic batcave feels like it would be objectively more popular.

I agree that hulk doesn't have to be in the set, hence why I said "If the AoU set includes a hulk at all" As for cost motivation, yes, bigfigs are significantly more expensive than standard parts and are generally considered to add $5-10 to the retail cost of a set. This has been widely accepted for some time now.

If the AoU set includes a hulk at all, I'd imagine it has to be a big figure. You can't put a minifig hulk alongside non minifigs in an MCU set, he's so dramatically larger. (The sanctuary's thanos is a weird area, as the ship itself was meant as a midi-scale, so everything there is sort of out of whack). I do not think big figs are dead, I just think they're taking a bit of a backseat due to the price increases. Bigfigs already inflate a set's price, in 2023 a set including a bigfig would probably seem massively overpriced on a level even lego would be uncomfortable selling. A $550 set would be a good spot in lego's eyes to put this in, as with such a big set the price increase for a single bigfig is almost unnoticable. I don't own the figure, but looking at images, it unfortunately certainly can't. The space helmet fits around a minifigure's "neck", or the circle below the main shape of the head, and Rocket's "neck" is significantly larger than that.

Like I said, . I totally agree with you that DC doing poorly is on lego, but so long as lego fails to realize that, it isn't gonna get a bigger budget.

Star Wars sells. DC doesn't. Whether or not that's because lego's absolutely bungling the DC line doesn't seem to matter to them. Point is, you sell worse, you get a lower budget.