Kit Figsto

Also, MBS sets most definitely seem to be on a two year release cycle. Cloud City was the 2HY UCS/MBS set in 2018, then in 2019 we had the UCS Star Destroyer, then in 2020 we were back to MBS with the Cantina. I don't think they want to oversaturate the market with two MBS sets on shelves at once. It would make sense that a UCS Gunship would cost $350, since the other ships end up around $200-250 typically, and a Gunship is larger than the X-Wing/Y-Wing size of ships.

I did the same thing, I wanted a system scale gunship because I missed the last one and I know that a lot of people wanted the Nebulon B made (of the three I personally actually wanted the Bomber the most, but I knew it probably had the least chance of winning, so I figured adding on to the Nebulon B vote probably was better), so I assumed a UCS set makes a system version less likely. An $800 AT-AT might disprove that theory, but still. That's a good point, I actually forgot about that. I also thought that perhaps the figures were just silhouettes/placeholders in the catalog image, I know last year we had that with Grievous' ship since there was no clear image of the figures and we could only for sure deduce Obi-Wan/Grievous, the third minifigure was unknown for quite a while. The silhouette thing also happened with the TIE, where for some they used the placeholder image from Luke's Landspeeder so there was a ton of confusion as to why a short-leg character and protocol droid (the Jawa and C-3PO) were included in the TIE, even though it did actually end up containing a different style of protocol droid.

Said this in another thread but I feel like a decent proportion of the voters (most people probably know what demographic I'm referring to) say "GUNSHIP" and ignored the part that says "UCS" and what that label has meant for all UCS sets save for the like the Slave I, Falcon, and Sandcrawler - way too big to be minifig scale. I'd pretty much been thinking since the poll finished, if this thing isn't minifig scale, it's not going to sell well, and then LEGO is never going to make a prequel UCS set again, prompting another cycle of complaints, even though it should've been fairly clear from the get-go that there's a very high chance of a larger-than-minifig-scale set. I personally don't have interest in the non-location UCS sets so I don't really care, but it would suck if this set sells poorly and then the chances of an MBS Geonosis or Jedi Temple go down the drain. I almost wonder if the Nebulon B or Bomber had won, would we be getting a regular Gunship this year? Maybe not, since the high price points are taken with the Bad Batch and Mando sets, but I do think that this may have pushed back the release of a possible system scale Gunship.

We were never going to get a new one-off mold in a $40 set, especially for a character that I don't really think has any staying power. If it was maybe ten or fifteen years ago, I'd agree, or if Mythrol/his species appeared in other stuff, but I think at this point new molds for one set only are going to be super uncommon. There are some exceptions (like, for some reason we got Boolio in the last Falcon, but that was also 4 times the price of the ITT, so that might have something to do with it), but pretty much every set I'm looking at over the past 5 years that had a new mold was either close to $100 or more, used it for a main character, or used it multiple times in the wave (such as Zorii Bliss' helmet being used in like three sets).

Was also wondering if anyone could help me on instant checkout. If I have multiple shipping methods set up (ie: priority mail small box, medium box, large box, etc) all with the instant checkout option, how does that work when a purchase is made? Does it just bill them for the cost of the item and shipping is added later, or is there a way to pre-set which shipping method will be used for which item and have it automatically billed? Basically, I'm just wondering how shipping costs are calculated via instant checkout and if they're billed at the time or later on.

I think a Jedi Temple could be doable at a $350-500 price point, it'd just be scaled down, similar to how Cloud City was. I think something like a "dollhouse style" build would work best, they could maybe do a full exterior of the building and have it hinge open in the middle (which would work okay because it's a square, so no symmetry issues). They could maybe do three levels, the top level being the council chamber, middle level being the library/archive, and then the bottom level being split into a few rooms - one of the hallways, one of the planning/briefing rooms with the holographic table (as seen in ROTS and Clone Wars), a meditation room (like the one Anakin talks to Yoda in during ROTS), and the youngling training room. It'd also be a good way to get some figures that wouldn't otherwise be available (Temple Guards, Jocasta Nu, younglings, Yaddle, Yarael Poof, etc). In terms of layout it's not the most accurate, but I feel like that would be the best way to get the most iconic rooms covered and still have it be functional. The other way they could do it is almost as a modular building, but I don't know if any other theme has ever adapted that format besides the Monster Fighters Haunted House.

Dang, you were pretty close on a lot of this. In the future I think a Jedi Temple MBS set is possible, since that and the Geonosis Arena would most effectively be captured in MBS form, and those are pretty much the two main locations from the prequels that could be a set but haven't been done yet (not counting Theed Palace or the Droid Control Ship because frankly I don't think those as giant sets would sell well, just not enough action to warrant a $350 set), but not this year. I know some people will disagree with me but I do not think there is a market for an $800 prequel set at all. The Falcon sells well because it has almost universal appeal, there are people that aren't necessarily LEGO fans that still bought it because, frankly, it's freaking cool. I'm still a bit skeptical that whatever they put out at $800 this year will do well since I don't know what else would sell at $800, but I guess we have to see. The Gunship being $350, to me, does not bode well for future prequel UCS sets at all. I think way too many people were banking on that being $200 and closer to minifigure scale, and at $350 I think it's going to be something similar to the A-Wing, way too big to use with figures. I feel like a lot of the social media brigading was just people seeing "GUNSHIP" and ignoring the "UCS" thing which has meant "bigger than minifig scale" for every set except the Sandcrawler and Slave I. If the Gunship does poorly, I have no idea if that means no more prequel UCS or MBS stuff, since it might signal to LEGO that prequel stuff sells better when it's $100 or less (since I imagine this next wave will sell quite well overall).

For reference, 7153 (2002, Jango version) had 360 pieces with two minifigures ($50), 6209 (2006) had 537 pieces with four minifigures plus the Han in Carbonite brick ($50), whereas 75243 (2019) had 1,007 pieces with four minifigures, the Carbonite piece, and also the Leia plus display stand ($120). I think, if I remember the rumored piece counts correctly, it was right around 500 as well, so I think something similar in size to 6209 or 7153 is likely, and honestly, given their modern build techniques 15+ years later, I think that they can do it justice at that size. Those models scale-wise didn't look bad at all to me.

I'm guessing it'll probably be a bit larger in the hull/cockpit sections giving it more of an interior. I feel like if the show centers mostly on those five, their shuttle might be sort of like the Ghost was for Rebels, where they spend a lot of time in it, so giving it some interior sections is probably pretty necessary. Agree, the only set with a bad lineup is the Slave I. Heck, you could even say the weakest one after that is the duel set, since Ahsoka just got put out and Maul isn't super uncommon anymore, but that's still by no means a bad set figure-wise. I'm assuming Ahsoka is the same, since the AAT version of her was based off of the Mandalore episodes, so it wouldn't really make sense to change it. The Mandalorian loyalist is also a good figure, since we haven't had any of those for like a decade (I think we had the one in the last version of the fighter and the battle pack, I forgot if Maul's speeder had one or not).

Thank you for the input. Everything I'm selling is used, so that'd be why I would flatten boxes and all. I'll probably just leave the bags/manuals in the box and then put that into a larger mailing box.

Falconfan and Nino on Instagram posted this list as well, so I assume it's legitimate.

I think they do typically tend to fall as more expensive, the cheapest one I can think of was a $40 Walmart exclusive Ahsoka's fighter. However, I'm not sure if that's a Target exclusive, since someone else had said the Mandalorian Fighter was a Target exclusive, and I don't think they'd do two exclusives in one wave to the same store. Could be that the info is wrong and one is a Walmart exclusive or something, though.

I dunno, this wave kind of shows LEGO is getting turned back on to the prospect of making sets based on TV shows, since Mando was kind of a smash hit. I would think it's very likely that the Book of Boba Fett gets at least one set next winter, and it seems like those two are going to be the main characters for sure. I agree it's odd that they went with the OT version of the ship, especially if they were only doing two figures anyway (my initial thought was that they didn't want to repeat Beskar Mando + Grogu too many times, but if it was only two figures regardless, Fennec + Boba could've made a lot of sense), but I wouldn't give up hope on an old Boba (plus, there's now reports saying we're getting Fennec in Gideon's cruiser).

Falconfan, Nino Leaks, Michaelbricks (who I've not heard of but is followed by Landino, who is 100% legit), and, as much as I disagree with him on some stuff, MandR has leaked enough legit info to be a credible source for leaks at this point, have all dropped some parts of this info, so I'd trust it. I agree, that if you had told me two weeks ago this was the lineup, I probably would've said "Yeah, right, whatever you say" but there's a lot of sources that have proven before they have information for this to just be complete BS.

The other kind of interesting thing is that there's some overlap between the various properties with the builds. The ITT is Mando-based, but also appeared heavily in Rebels, but we never got a full-scale one, so anyone with Rebels figures can very easily swap them out and have that finally. Slave I and the Mandalorian Fighter aren't based on Mando, but did both appear in Season 2, so again, there's some crossover there (even if the figures aren't 100% the same). I do wonder, if Bo-Katan isn't in Gideon's Cruiser, maybe it's either Koska Reeves or Fenec Shan? Or, I guess maybe Cara Dune, since we only got her once in the AT-ST. I highly doubt they would put you know who in there, since that still might be a spoiler for some people, but I guess it's possible. It just seems like a lineup of four figures + the Child seems too light for a $160 set, I feel like they need one more hero figure besides just Mando. EDIT: once again, my info it outdated as soon as I post. So I guess the Dark Trooper is now the one up in the air, but Fennec and Cara ARE coming.

I think it's doable, the 2000 version was like $20 and was similar in size to the one that came with Cloud City (albeit much, much, much blockier), and the 2006 version was $50 and looks pretty good, at least in my opinion. I forget the price on the 2002 version. But anyway, just for reference, the 2005 X-Wing was also $50, so if they scaled down their current X-Wing to $50, I think they can drop the Slave I to the same price, just like it used to be, and it still will look fine. Also, not sure if anyone mentioned, but FalconFan on Instagram said that the Lars Homestead GWP will probably be micro-scale (which would make sense given how the last two May UCS GWPs have been micro-builds). And while I think LEGO would want to put enticing stuff out as GWPs to make the sets sell better, I don't think they'd be cruel enough to make a long-desired set only available for a couple thousand people that buy a $200 set.

It looks like either way, she’s coming in the Mandalorian fighter, which might actually be better since that’s $60, not $160, and the figure likely would’ve looked the same, since her armor and appearance didn’t really change much between TCW/Rebels/Mando.

Yeah, I found that right after I replied to you. Womp-womp. I might still get it, since I only have the Cloud City and 2000 versions of the set, but I’ll have to see the size. These figure lineups are strange, the Mandalorian fighter apparently is from Clone Wars, since it has Bo-Katan and Gar Saxon (at least, I assume it’s not the Rebels version) when I would’ve guessed they’d do a Mando version with Bo-Katan, Koska Reeves and maybe old Boba. IF this wave is 100% true, I’m guessing it sells very, very well.

Ignore this, I missed some new info

The 2006 Slave I was $50 and looked actually quite good, at least in my opinion, so I think it should be a solid set. For anyone not sure where to find the list, via michaelbricksf0rever on instagram - Supposedly the $20 set is Ahsoka vs. Maul on Mandalore, $40 is an ITT (not sure if that’s Mando but I would assume that makes more sense than Rebels), $50 is a Slave I (again not sure whether it’s Mando, OT or PT), $60 is a Mandalorian Starfighter, $100 is the Bad Batch shuttle and $160 is Gideon’s Cruiser with Mando, Gideon, Bo-Katan, 2x Dark Trooper and the Child. Looks like a great lineup if that’s true. I’m good with only two remakes in there, especially since they’re great prices (I don’t think the ITT really counts since the only one we had was battle pack sized). The last Mandalorian Starfighter was like ten years ago anyway.

I definitely am a fan of these price per piece ratios, a lot closer to what they used to be. I'm assuming most of the pieces/sets aren't super large, but the problem was that the sets we were getting also weren't huge, had poor price per piece ratios, and were very expensive. Something interesting, I stopped by one of my local Target stores the other night for a few things and checked the LEGO aisle. No 2021 sets that I saw, but they had eight, yes, eight 501st sets, which was actually the most they had of any individual SW set. I'll pick up an extra copy at some point later on, but just was surprised, since I'd had a lot of trouble finding it in the past.

I'm a new seller, what's the best way to go about shipping sets? I've never actually bought complete sets from BL, only smaller items that would easily fit into an envelope. All of my sets will include box and instructions, so what I've done so far is just sort through the pieces (since I'm cross-referencing the parts with the inventory list in the instructions, just to be sure I'm not missing anything) and place them into fairly equally-sized plastic bags, but I'm not really sure what to do next. Should I remove the tape from the box and ship it flat? Put the bags of parts/instructions in the box, then put that in a larger box? What about for really large, UCS-sized items? For smaller stuff (think battle-pack sized sets or smaller), would it be OK to flatten the box and ship that in a large bubble mailer, or is that generally seen as poor packaging? Any input is appreciated!

My hunch is that if it does exist, it's not a traditional system-scale set, either something like the robotic R2-D2/Mouse Droid set, a giant mosaic, or some sort of sculpture like the old Maul bust (I know we've been getting similar stuff at a lower price point but I'm thinking something much larger). I just don't see the logic in three UCS/MBS sets in one year where one is $800, especially considering the Cantina is still sold out online, so many people haven't even had a chance to get that one yet. I don't think there's a lot of people that would be willing to put down money for 4 UCS-type sets in a single year, if they buy the Cantina + the ones this year.

I think the brick fanatics article with the price list a few pages back was where that started. Not sure how legit they are but there was a source at least.

I always thought that people hoarding LEGO to re-sell at a $5 markup is pretty dumb. LEGO's pretty different from other collectibles (action figures, Funko Pops, etc) where specific sets aren't limited or "rare" in the same way that other collectibles make chase pieces or only have one of a desirable item per case, which gets bought almost immediately. Even the stuff that sells out quickly, like the 501st set or Mando Battle Pack, you can definitely find them eventually, you just may have to wait a little bit.