Mandalorianknight

He's the... grandson? great-grandson? He's got some relation to the founder, so he might be immune. This was before I started looking at leaks, so I only heard about it after the fact, but IIRC the v-19 torrent supposedly came with like 5 different clone commanders or something, which is probably one of the "tells" since it's unrealistic. So...not sure what happened there. Kind of bummed it's not p1 rex and cody, but I was subconsciously thinking it was too good to be true. I'm not army-building p1s or hoth troopers, but I might pick up one or two of the hoth one just to get all 9 or so of the blasters in it and part out the figs. The builds for the BPs are good, but I'm still upset that these are, given that they are generic army-builders with no special printing or molds, essentially battle packs with just 3 people. I don't collect brickheadz so I won't get it, but that's a BANGER Ahsoka, they really went all-out with that set.

If I remember correctly, the guy had gotten a lot of stuff correct before and then just went completely silent forever after this turned out to be fake, and we never found out if he was fed false information, just had a string of correct guesses, or actually knew things and decided to make a BS List and leave. "oh god oh no, the hoth soldier has a dark tan jacket instead of light tan, I'm going to personally fistfight Niels B Christiansen."

Thanks! Hachiroku does great work. I forget if he was the one that did the purist Lizard bigfig, but I know he did the chibi gunship and some other cool mocs. Thanks! I don't believe lego does this, but there's heavy suspicion that some companies factor in leaks or even leak things themselves to generate demand. Case in point: the No Way Home characters Sony hasn't confirmed but EVERYONE knows are going to be in the movie. A lot of people think the only reason they haven't confirmed them is because they already leaked, and this way they can ride the hype sales (it's a widespread enough leak that even a lot of people who don't care about spider-man have heard it at this point), while still technically not spoiling it. Looks like that ahsoka brickhead is confirmed. The teaser doesn't show off much, but from what little I can see it looks good. (Also no idea why they're acting like that's a puzzle, how many SW characters are orange with white head markings?)

I was gonna mention this, the boxart looks very nice. His visor is a bit higher up I think. Might get this to achieve a GWP or something down the line, but since I already have a Beskar mando, not going to be a day 1 purchase. Nice for kids who missed out on ToT or the more expensive sets, I guess? The ship is somewhat ugly (though I like the new stud shooters), I'll be honest I kind of like mine better overall.

I think you're correct in that it doesn't really say anything either way. You could make the argument that lego is listening to fans more, but it's a bit of a reach to say that means P2 cody and rex are imminent. If anything I'd guess they show up in the next couple years in seperate sets, rex in a bad batch set or the y-wing and cody in a wheel bike chase or something. Ah, I see. I would say x-wings are shown more love because they're more iconic (though I'm not sure what metric we're measuring this by, clones appear in sets more often than x-wings and I'd imagine the x-wings have more screen time in the films). I think lucasfilm does have some input, like with the galaxy's edge set or sets for new media, but the point stands that it's them and the lego higher-ups, not the designers, that choose the sets. And yeah, they might not know all the specifics and facts, but you can't say they don't have a passion for SW (the whole thing of the cantina MBS being something this guy built by himself as a moc or something being a great example). The Yellow clone thing is dumb, yeah, but the box art mistake isn't the set designer's fault, as the set designers and figure/box artists are completely different people.

A few quick things: I'm not going to respond to the...uncivil comment that called a couple people stupid and, like, suggested I was batman or something at one point?, because we've moved back to civility, but I will just point out that it severely misinterpreted my points, which seemed fairly straightforward, such as taking my point that by the proposed metric of relevancy the OT wouldn't be relevant, so therefore that metric doesn't work, and saying that I was saying the OT wasn't relevant. Also people seem to really be analyzing and going at my thread of comments about the things I don't like about lego. That was pretty much just there to show that I'm not "blindly defending lego" and do indeed point out when they do something dumb. I don't think lego designers are the ones choosing what sets are made. Might be wrong, but I think it's higher ups at lego and lucasfilm, not the designers themselves.

some accessory pack ideas, based off the concept of 3 figs with a split between ranked and army-builders, and mostly being the same side for all the figs. Also another update on my progress for that wishlist: I took the idea of a motorcycle handlebar for the lower body from a MOC but every moc I found used it so I don't know who to credit.

Addressing these points: As for your argument that no one asked for them/wanted them, I think we can say that is definately false, no? From the last page alone there are quite a few posts on how happy people are to get these figs. Relevance: I mean, p2 rex is still somewhat relevant, but a couple lines in a single episode of an animated series this'll release a year and a half out from isn't all that relevant. Plus, any non-bad batch prequel sets, most sequel sets, and a good number of OT sets aren't gonna be relevant in that respect, so I'm not sure this is the route you want to go down. Minifigure packs: As others have said, these are definately not the battle pack replacements some of us (me included) originally thought they would be. The minifigure packs tend to have named characters rather than army-builders, or at most a mix of the two. Nothing new: they're pretty much guranteed 3 new prints each (helmet, torso, legs), with a chance of new face prints. That's pretty big. Considering how they don't use the old CW style anymore and the huge printing detail increases of the past 10 years or so, they'll be big improvements over the original figures. "poor decision making": Is it, though? Minifigure packs rarely (actually I think never) have new molds, so we weren't gonna get the p2 versions of them in this pack. So it comes down to whether it'd have been better as a hard-to-army-build-army-builder (seriously, try to army-build the minifigure packs, it's much harder than BPs), or a minifigure pack with two of the most requested figures that haven't been released in 10 years and are unlikely to feature in a system set anytime soon. Pretty easy to tell which one will get more sales, and make most fans happier. As for supporting lego blindly, I've written out my "all the things I think lego did wrong" list here before, and I'll do it again. I don't like being excessively negative; if lego does something dumb I'll call them out on it, but I'm not gonna complain about everything. Ok, list in the spoiler because it's long and off-topic-ish:

They did say a p1 clone trooper, my guess is either a shiny or a specialized one (and now that I type that I realize it's just "any p1 clone"...) I still wouldn't bet against it, just seems like the time for it to be cycled back too, though I wouldn't bet on it either. Wasn't that in the lego special? Heard it was the "evil luke" story. Rex and Cody are super desirable figs in either phase. Redoing fan-favorite characters in a VERY cheap set despite them only appearing in animated series (aside from cody's minute or two in ROTS)? That's definately more than "a clue". I'm guessing they aren't P2 because they don't tend to have new molds in accessory packs and cody at least would require one. Fulcrum, FalconFan, and Landino are THE GUYS for these, super reliable.

Hoooooly moly, that's incredible! Definately buying a copy of the set now.

This is why I'm not more upset about it. Sure, it's annoying, but technically possible to take apart without a tool. Sure, it'll definately be tough, but since it's technically do-able I don't think it's a huge issue. It's still dumb and annoying that it happened, but not set-breaking. It's possible lego sends out either modified instructions or an extra part or something as a patch, but I doubt it since like you say, it's technically possible to remove without tools. Ah, but you see, they can't tie this one to the belief that lego hates the prequels!

Confirmed to be mandalorian hallway scene with Luke and 3x dark troopers. Lego-welcome to eurobricks, by the way-does have an inside track in that they are given concept art and whatnot to base tie-in sets off of, hence why there are often sets on shelves for films before they release (we do have a boba fett throne set coming in january or march), but in this case it is based off the mandalorian series.

I'm glad the builds are canon, but honestly I'm struggling here to see the value. Compare it to other themes or even other disney-owned themes, and you get an extra fig with exclusive prints (falcon for marvel, and for other themes, many harry potter figs, knightmare batman, etc). Even if the clones have a new print for the helmet, and the hoth rebels have, like, more face prints or something, I can't see a reason for omitting a figure besides price gouging. Maybe the builds use more parts? Wait, what two sets did it happen with before? The only one I can think of is poe's x-wing and the resistance x-wing, and the latter didn't end up selling too well.

There’s a reason that it’s most of the sets though: aside from the odd airspeeder chase (which would be nice) or Jango slave one (unlikely, since we just got boba’s version of the “prisoner with job”), there’s not much that would sell as well as a spider droid or AT-TE.

I actually think this is likely. BoBf, Andor, and Kenobi are all smaller scale and not likely to get the slew of sets mando got, and with clone wars now multiple years past, I can see them going back to geonosis.

Australia is a different beast though, you guys seem to have lots of issues with stock. In America at least, the set was always widely available around retail price. These battle packs sound pretty good overall, with one glaring issue. I like that the side-builds are canonical. I like the faction choices. My big issue is that they ONLY HAVE 3 FIGURES? This isn't even a "disney tax" situation, as the marvel packs routinely have 4 figures. I can't see a rational choice for this besides them hoping people will buy it anyway with just 3 figures, and I don't think I'll get either set.

Decided that unless my Death Star sells before christmas I'll be getting the Daily Bugle as a christmas present to myself instead of the AT-AT, but I'm eyeing the mandalorian forge. Any suggestions for retired, currently $50ish sets from the OT or PT era? Wanting to bulk up my imperial, republic, and rebel armies.

You can hardly equate those to lego sets, though. The only standard retail set that I can remember suffering from this while in production was the mando battlepack, and even then it was never more than $20-25, and only for a couple months. Legos do tend to have some serious price increases after retiring, but while in stock they rarely do this.

This was admittedly april 2019, I didn't realize the constituent parts had increased in price so much. At this point my advice is to get a 501st trooper, put a pauldron on, and play pretend! That's definately part of it, but another part of it might just be fans coming back to lego due to having disposable incomes or more time in the pandemic. For instance, bionicle, which I talk about quite frequently here (almost like it's in my signature or something), had a similar resurgence. If you track popularity of bionicle videos, message boards, etc, with skyrocketing set prices (The ignika, a single piece, went up like $200 in 3 years if I remember correctly), it tells a pretty clear story. Now this is much harder to do with LSW given that it's much more popular and as a licensed theme you have to track with popularity of the source material as well, but I think it could be a factor.

Nothing nefarious, it's supply and demand. Not many Finches around, collectors want finch, price ticks up. To bring up Bionicle again, it's an excellent example of this. No G1 sets in nearly 10 years, and as it gains fans (despite not having any sets or media released), the price of sets and masks becomes absurd. Dude, Zeb is my White Whale. He's the last one I need to complete the crew. Also, you're correct, the aftermarket is a terrible way to judge demand on what is overall focused on kids. Examples include Zeb, who would make some adult rebels fans happy but most kids wouldn't even know him. The AT-OT and Dropship set is what, a thousand dollars, and wouldn't sell nearly as well as an AT-TE or AT-AT. Hell, look at bionicle. The golden Kanohi Ignika (A single mask part) is anywhere between $100-300 alone, not to mention the set it came in. Even much less iconic masks like a lime Rau are around $50. TLDR Secondhand demand doesn't necessarily translate into a set selling well now. There are instances, like Rex, where it very well might, but others like the AT-OT where it definately wouldn't. Also for the Rex Gangtm , i've got a tip for getting him. The helmet's like $5, and then you just need a pauldron (I think the death trooper ones were $2 ish last I checked), and a 501st body. It's not perfect, but it's a LOT better than shelling out apparently over a hundred dollars. (I use the older plastic pauldron though as I prefer it for the clone wars characters)

That's....the numbers are almost the same...why are people complaining?

Quick idea of a hypothetical summer 2022 wave: Geonosis Duel ($19.99): Geonosis hanger with crashing pillar and dooku speeder. Comes with Yoda and Dooku. Reasoning: It's one of the few remaining iconic duels that hasn't been done recently. V-wing ($29.99): Bad Batch V-wing with 1x prototrooper, Omega, and Hunter. Reasoning: A smaller bad batch set with more general appeal that also includes omega, a desirable figure. Boba Fett showdown ($29.99): Boba Fett location set with Boba Fett, 2x enemies, and 1x mob boss. Reasoning: We'll get one boba set at least, maybe multiple. Rebel Defenses ($49.99): Ion cannon and shield generator with 2x rebel trooper, hoth han on a brick-built tauntaun, and 2x snowtrooper. Reasoning: We've been getting a lot of hoth sets recently and seeing as the others have been for the imps, a rebel one just makes sense. TIE Outlander ($59.99): TIE Outlander (between 2018 and 2021 ties in size) with Moff Gideon, Beskar Mando, Cara Dune, and a Death Trooper. Reasoning: they'll want to keep capitalizing on mando's popularity, and the outlander is similar enough to the standard tie for wide appeal but different enough (and with a different enough figure selection) to not conflict with 2021 tie sales. B-wing starfighter ($79.99): Resistance B-wing with Poe Dameron, Aftab Ackbar, General Leia, BB-8, and 2 sith troopers. Target exclusive. Reasoning: There've been wacky store exclusives these past few years and IDK why but I just have a feeling we'll see this sooner or later. Inquisitor ship ($89.99): Inquisitor's ship with 1x primary inquisitor, Obi-wan, and 3-4 kenobi series figures. Reasoning: It's the one vehicle we've seen in kenobi so far. AT-TE ($99.99): Geonosis AT-TE model with 4x p1 clone troopers, p1 clone captain, Padawan Anakin, and 2 b2 battle droids. Reasoning: We tend to get more prequel sets in 2hy, and the AT-TE is overdue for a remake. Gunship would also be considered but we just got the UCS of it which rules out system versions for a couple years. Millenium Falcon ($159.99): ESB millenium falcon with quad turrets, hyperdrive, the whole shebang. Comes with ESB Han, Leia, Chewie, C-3PO, a hoth rebel trooper, 2x snowtroopers, and Darth Vader. Reasoning: it's been 3 years since the last falcon and we're getting a slew of hoth sets this year. Also a small update on my wishlist MOC wave: I've moved on to system sets after finishing the microfighters and battle packs.

The new one or the bad one? Good move waiting on the shuttle until the minifigure packs get revealed, there's a non-zero chance that one of them will involve the bad batch.

If I remember correctly, he cycled back to standard reviews at some point after that rash of ones that were in the january wave. All I'll say for the prequel set thing is that if a company believes they can make money off a certain aspect of a brand, they're not going to not do it just because they don't like the films, especially not a company as large as lego. There's certainly an argument to be made over whether or not lego's current proportion of prequel sets to other sets is the best, but I don't see any way to logically argue that lego has hatred for the prequels.

They're only revealed a month or two out normally, but there are exceptions, ESPECIALLY when it's related to new media coming out, so it's not unlikely that one of the days reveals the palace. Do they? Because if we look at the facts, lego seems to be making a fair amount of prequel era sets. In 2020 we got some sets for clone wars season 7, a prequel era animated series, despite lego being VERY cautious about animated series. Not only that, but a set that was made because prequel fans were demanding it. Not even a fan vote, they made a set because people were spamming their social medias. I think that alone is proof enough that they don't hate the prequels, but we'll continue. The following year, we got a standard duel but also a $70 set for clone wars season 7, an animated season released a year prior. Again given lego's trepidation with show-based sets, that's somewhat impressive. Plus, the $100 set for prequel era bad batch, and the UCS gunship vote and set proving lego is open to prequel UCS. I honestly don't think so. I think a set with a captain rex MINIFIGURE would sell gangbusters, but I honestly can't see a helmet doing well.