Kit Figsto

Knowing how LEGO tends to operate, my guess is that if we do get a Rex or Ahsoka figure, Rex will be in the BARC and Ahsoka will be in the AAT. I would honestly be very surprised if the BARC doesn't come with Rex but the AAT does. Of course, there's definitely a significant chance that we don't get Rex at all, but since this is really the last chance LEGO has to do more than one Clone Wars set in a wave, I would assume there's a decent chance we get him. I also am wondering what figures we get with the AT-AT. I think Luke with a grappling hook, at least one AT-AT driver, and potentially General Veers are pretty safe guesses, but at $150 I would assume it comes with at least five figures. Maybe two AT-AT drivers, Veers, Luke, and a snowtrooper with a ground cannon? Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Since there isn't really any new information, and we probably can't expect any for a while (at least until the next batch of winter sets leaks, which probably won't be for another 4 months or so), I do wonder if there was legitimacy to the info a while back that we'd be getting an August retail exclusive priced around, I want to say, $90? I think at the time, people were assuming the TIE helmet was Exegol, so I wonder if that retail exclusive could be Exegol? It definitely sounds really big for that scene, but the Final Duel set with Vader vs. Luke that got released around five years ago was around $80-90, so I guess they could do something similar in size to that.

Thanks for the insight! Did you get to meet Terry Crews, by chance? Thoughts on this episode: I honestly thought that Mark and Boone's build deserved to win the week over Tyler and Amy. Tyler and Amy's did use a somewhat difficult technique of all-SNOT construction while still making it work seamlessly, but I thought that Mark and Boone really knocked theirs out of the park creatively. I mean, I know that the groups weren't assigned their figures, but their idea was a bit more creative than "Mummy + Johnny Thunder, so a temple naturally makes sense." I did really like the Egyptian temple build, but I just was a bit more impressed by Mark and Boone this week.

I really do think the Death Stars sets are possible. We've gotten two Death Star dioramas of some of the most well-known scenes from the film, all that we're missing is the Trash Compactor and Obi Wan vs. Vader. I also like the idea of a Lars Homestead, but I'd like to see a bigger version, close to $44.99 that is essentially two connected, smaller versions of Ben's Hut, one of which is the kitchen/dining room (with obligatory blue milk) and the other is the workshop/garage area. They could also include a moisture vaporator, plus Luke, Owen, Beru, and either C-3PO or a Jawa. And as someone that only recently got into The Clone Wars and has zero sets other than the new Anakin starfighter, I'd love a cheap Ahsoka set, assuming she's not in the AAT.

Normally I'd say we could get backdoor factory leaks before then, just like we did with the Cloud Car pilot or other various figs the past few years many months in advance of the set releasing, but I'm not even sure if their factories are still running at the moment, so I would guess it might be a little while.

I definitely thought this as well and assumed the teams going without tires would fail because they didn't have any traction. I think if the track was longer that may have been the case, but I was surprised to see a tire-less vehicle win.

I'm sort of hoping some of the mechs are reminiscent of Exo-Force, but I'm keeping expectations very low.

Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Also strange that it appears they didn't have the TIE helmet, I would've guessed that they would've received all three. I know that stuff typically is out and sitting in the back of stores way before it's officially out, but usually the earliest you'd see stuff is maybe two weeks, and that was when TRU was still around and would always put out their January wave sets by mid-December, before Christmas.

Looking at the Razor Crest photos, I do like how they appear to have hidden the sleeping quarters away under the cockpit, but I now have further questions about the rear cargo space. I had assumed that the side opposite the carbonite pieces would be where the sleeping quarters would be, so I guess that's just empty space. Is it really that empty, outside of the two carbonite bricks? I'd also like to see a better picture of the back half of the cockpit, I'm curious if there's space to put The Child or perhaps a second figure to sit, since on the show it looks like it could easily sit 2-3 people.

I have a feeling if we do get minifigure sets and a CMF series, the core characters (Mario/Luigi/Peach/Toad, etc) will probably be in the sets, and the CMF versions would be things like Metal Mario, Dr. Mario, Fire Flower Mario, Tanooki Mario, etc, in addition to some of the random characters that may not make it into sets (Rosalino, Birdo, etc). I also do want to point out one potential thing that gives this game system hope, something I think most people are forgetting. Dimensions et al were in-house products, and while they would've collaborated with TT or whoever to make the actual games, those aren't nearly as big or successful of game designing firms as Nintendo. I think Nintendo is probably better than anyone ever has been at marketing and selling video games. I'm not saying it's a sure fire seller, but I do think it has more potential to outperform stuff like Dimensions since they have such a powerful gaming giant helping develop the product. I honestly could see this going either way. Like others have mentioned, stuff like Ninjago probably seemed really gimmicky when it first came out with the Spinjitsu and all that, but that's probably one of the most successful in-house themes they've ever done, after Town/City. The biggest potential issue is just the price of this stuff. If Mario came in the $30 set I could see this really taking off, but I think it's really a coin toss at this point, plus we haven't seen the sets. There could be some worth getting even if you aren't interested in the video game aspect.

I know it's unlikely because of how large the mosaic would have to be in order to accurately capture it, but the movie posters would be incredible. A quick search looks like you could accurately do it at about 1/2 to 2/3rds the size of the real posters (24x36 inches), by removing the details at the bottom about the actors and cutting out some of the blank space at the top, which I guess isn't too terribly large, but I'd guess it'll either be a character or ship over the poster.

I believe he's implying $70 for the busts, to be announced once the press release drops. Please someone correct me if I too misinterpreted.

Great work! Always wished they would re-visit Adventureres (the most recent similar theme was probably Pharoah's Quest, I suppose?) but I don't think it'd have the same appeal and charm of the originals. I think you absolutely nailed the style of Orient Expedition while bringing the build up to modern standards.

Oh, new elements, absolutely, but some of the larger ones we've seen thus far look like they might be on the expensive side, and a set like Peach's Castle wouldn't necessarily require any of those parts (pipes, any of the enemies), which is why I think it's likely that the sets with normal price/piece ratio could be more akin to what people were hoping for. Just a guess, though.

Well, the plus side of Mario being in the $60 set is it does put the possibility of traditional sets back on the table. I think given the price/part ratio of a few of the set numbers, that would only make sense, since it looks like the "game based" sets are going to have a lot of specialized parts, not even counting the RFID/electronic elements (the pipe pieces look pretty big for one) to where sets with those would likely have a poor price/part ratio. That's why something like Peach's Castle or Luigi's Mansion would make sense. No real specialized parts, no electronics, which would keep the price/part ratio around the number we're used to. EDIT: Also, a bit disappointed that Mario will only be in the $60 set. If he was in that $30 set, I probably would've bought it just to see how it worked and if it was worth getting more, but I'm not sure I want to invest $60 into the line for just a starter set.

I will reiterate myself, I really feel like we should wait for the full quote/interview to come out before jumping to the conclusion that Nintendo was dead set on brick sets and LEGO forced them to do a technology based theme. I'm willing to bet a good chunk of money that the quote was partially taken out of context or is somewhat embellished. Just think about it for a second. They're not going to spend four years developing a product with LEGO and let them do whatever they want with the ideas and development. If Nintendo was really that dead set on brick sets and brick sets only, they would've just kept with the K'Nex license or gone to Mega Construx, since that's where they already have the Pokemon license. I don't know the ins and outs of the licensing agreement, obviously, but Nintendo in the past does not strike me as a company that lets people use their IP willy-nilly, they're pretty particular about the way that Mario or their other characters are portrayed. There's absolutely no way that LEGO "forced" them to do anything here. My guess is that the full quote probably says that Nintendo initially came to them looking for a line of traditional brick-built sets without the idea of going further and including technology, which people have interpreted to mean "LEGO came up with this stupid idea that Nintendo didn't even want to do"

In 2018 they were both top 5 in best-selling themes, and Star Wars was listed in their top 5 for 2019 as well. Furthermore, their annual report for 2019 stated that their operating profit before taxes was $1.5b USD. That's one year of profit. Total assets were close to $35b USD. One bad selling line, assuming that this line isn't even performing (which is guessing at this point) isn't going to take down a multibillion dollar company.

First off, LEGO's not going to go bankrupt if Mario fails. If anything, they're probably the strongest they've ever been in terms of brand appeal. LEGO's at the point now where their toys are an icon that span generations. It's not "weird" anymore for adults to like LEGO. There's literally a primetime game show in the US on one of the major networks based around LEGO. Minifigures alone are just as popular as action figures right now with a lot of kids/families that I see. They're in a position where they can afford to take these risks and themes like City, Harry Potter, Ninjago, Creator, Technic, or Star Wars are sure-fire sellers can make up for the losses (if they incur any) on any potential busts. Secondly, I kind of am doubting the report that Nintendo wanted traditional sets and LEGO wanted to do a game-immersion type thing. Think about it for a second. From a logical standpoint, if Nintendo really wanted to continue with bricks, they could've either stuck with K'Nex or gone to Mega Blocks or something. Yeah, those aren't as popular as LEGO, but if they were that dead-set on bricks, then who cares who's producing them? Also, I highly, repeat, highly doubt the creative lead behind the project would come out and say "Well, Nintendo wanted us to do this, but we went the complete opposite direction instead!" before the product even launched. I'm guessing here, but I have a feeling that the person being interviewed probably said something implying that Nintendo came to them wanting to make brick sets, but they thoughts "Hm, what if we took this further?" I'm pretty sure the way the license is structured that LEGO can't just take it whatever direction they want without very many people on both sides (LEGO/Nintendo) giving them the okay, so I really feel like this is a false narrative being pushed that LEGO is entirely to blame if we don't get traditional sets.

Mario doesn't have "AR" per say, but there is clearly a technological component of the theme that appears to go beyond what Hidden Side has, namely with the usage of some sort of barcode bricks that are able to act as score markets for the Mario figure. Given how fluid a lot of these rumors are, and since people are talking about things that there are no picture or even names for, I could very easily see it getting leaked that there was a new theme coming with technology integration building off of what Hidden Side did, which people would assume means AR, thus making that the leak, even though it's only partially accurate. I also don't think that they would've worked for four years on this license and theme if they expected it to last a wave or two then fizzle out. The only other times they do that with a license are when it's a brief wave before a movie with maybe another couple of sets after the movie, such as Prince of Persi or Cars. Mario has to be our "big bang" theme for the year.

To your first point, I agree, but these are also a much cheaper option for casual LSW fans/non-LEGO fans who love Star Wars or just want something pop culture-y to display on their desk. If i'm not a hardcore fan, I'm probably not going to drop $150-200 on a large model, but $60-70 for a smaller size helmet model is a bit more realistic. Hopefully if they sell well, they actually stick with it, because I think the line has potential, like you had mentioned. To your second point, I agree that some waves have been more focused on other eras than others (and as someone who didn't particularly enjoy the sequels for the most part and has purchased a grand total of one sequel trilogy set, four years ago on clearance) there's been some disappointing waves for me, but even the largely sequel-centric waves have had some really cool stuff mixed in from the PT/OT in my opinion. I think the disappointment a lot of people are feeling in regards to this wave is justified, but I don't think it's fair to say that every wave has in the last 2 years has been bad or whatever like I've seen on various sites or social media accounts, that's all.

I partially agree but I also see where the disappointment is coming from. There are some people complaining every wave in the last couple of years has been bad, and that to me is the type of person that LEGO is never going to please. I mean, they've literally covered every era (not counting anthology films) in the past 3 years, so there should at least SOMETHING appealing to every type of fan in there. Yes, the focus is on re-hashed OT stuff, but those are unquestionably the most popular SW films and anyone that says otherwise is ignoring a pretty common opinion. I am not saying it's wrong to like the PT or ST more than the OT, I'm just saying that the OT is pretty clearly the most popular trilogy of the three. So I'm not totally sure what LEGO could do exactly to please a certain percentage of the fanbase. However, a lot of people are a bit upset that this isn't a traditional wave, and that perspective i understand. I like the idea of the helmets, though the price is a bit much in my opinion, but historically, when LEGO gives us busts/mega builds, they'll put them in a wave with some minifigure scale sets. This wave doesn't have much appeal to kids, and to older fans that prefer minifigure scale ships or models, it doesn't have much appeal either. I do think that the helmets could sell decently well, especially since most people seem to be fairly positive on at least one of them, but how many average fans are going to shell out $60-70 on a helmet build when that same amount of money could go towards an X-Wing (currently priced at $63 at my local Target store)?

The Stormtrooper looks way better out of the box. I know a few pages back someone suggested that it looked more like the Lego Stormtrooper helmet and I definitely can see that looking at the unboxed version. It almost reminds me of the original Lego Stormtrooper helmet design (aka, the best one they've made, IMO ). I still don't think I'll shell out the $60-70 that it's supposed to sell for, but if they end up on clearance I may snag one.

Fair point on Gree, I guess I should've prefaced that with clones specifically from the Utapau scenes, outside of Cody, are unknown to probably 99% of SW fans. I'm sure they do have names, but I would bet a large sum of money that there's no chance Lego would give us a different named clone from the Utapau scenes than Cody since the only way to figure out those names would be going fairly deep into EU stuff.

I think the "Named clone" thing was a typo on the part of the blog that reposted the info, they came on here to clear that up. I believe there was a mistake in translation and they didn't mean to put that he was a named clone. I think we've gotten confirmation it's not Commander Cody, so I think it's highly unlikely that they'd give us a different named clone, especially since Cody is one of like two clones actually given a name in Ep III and the other was a pilot from the start of the movie (I realize that expanded universe and other sources gave us names of others, but there's pretty much zero chance that Lego gives us a clone that 99% of Lego Star Wars fans have never even heard of).

These are fantastic, excellent work!

Yeah, I'm definitely a little perplexed about how we've had the entire summer wave minus one set leak, with pictures of one, and we're still in the dark about this spring set. I know that some rumors point to it being either a Lego or retail exclusive, which typically leaks a bit later, but we have known about this set for quite a while, unlike the August exclusive that pretty much just popped up a week or so ago. If it is the Duel on Exsogal set, it at least makes sense as to why it was kept under wraps for so long, due to spoilers, but that's purely speculation (and also because I'm not totally sure what they'd put at a $70 price point as the only system scale set in the wave).