TeddytheSpoon

Oh were GAME cancelling pre-orders? I'll have to check on mine... Although this game has been such a long time coming I've moved to the other side of Europe since placing that order

Ah, so there is. Disregard previous comment...

In fact, was the cantina even officially MBS? I seem to remember Cloud City had that moniker on the box and was advertised as such, but after a quick look at the listing on S@H I'm not sure the cantina got the same treatment. I guess these days the black 18+ packaging negates the need for such labels. EDIT: it is, never mind. I just can't read...!

Woohoo! This is probably my most anticipated LSW release of the year in all honesty. EDIT having now watched the trailer - I haven't played a LEGO game in a while, but the gameplay does seem quite different to what's come before - the combat especially looks more advanced. I'm intrigued, looking forward to getting it. Although I didn't see any minikits in there... It's a minor gripe but I hope that's still what the main collectibles are, for nostalgia's sake if nothing else.

I seem to remember Landino or Falconfan said as much in their Insta stories (albeit without set numbers), but I'll let them correct me here if I'm wrong. I like this one

I guess the more accurate term would be 'Big' Fortuna

Interesting developments! Nice to see a Quarren minifigure, even if it is just the one. It being based on the post-credits scene does fit better with the usual timeline for LEGO sets based on upcoming material, and since the show uses flashbacks a fair bit I suppose there is a chance we'll see these figures in the show at some point anyway.

For a long time it was rumoured we'd get just two helmets out of Mando, Luke's Red 5 helmet and the Dark Trooper, but a month or two ago it was confirmed that all three would be on their way, by most of the usual reliable sources IIRC. I'm not sure where any set number disparity would come from, but it wouldn't be the first time similar sets have had numbers out of sequence.

I think the Bad Batch's shuttle is an Omicron-class shuttle, right? Or would that be too small at this scale?

As others have said, it was a subculture in London in the 50s and 60s (think the Who or the Kinks). I don't think 'mod' comes from the word modification, but they did have little vespa-type scooters often with lots of mirrors on them. I thought it was quite a cool inclusion personally.

Sorry, I was referring to the Star Wars construction figures - I should've specified. I agree that that Maxilos set was great value for money incidentally, I've still got that somewhere! Have the Star Wars calendars always been noticeably more expensive than the other ones? I could be imagining it but I feel like the price has been gradually creeping further away from the City and Friends equivalent. I found the Mandalorian calendar to be a bit lacklustre for the price, so I might have to pass on getting one if it's even more expensive this year.

87 pieces for 30 bucks? Even by the standards of the constraction figures that's a woeful ratio. I mean a minifigure takes up four pieces minimum! 329 for $45 is not great either, although of course it depends what pieces are included. At least the other two seem a bit more sensible - 1062 pieces for $100 and 282 pieces in 75333 for $30.

The prints between the two figures are virtually identical in terms of outlines, with the the black undersuit substituted for grey where appropriate on the Hoth trooper. The only difference aside from that is the addition of a hose coming from the backpack-type thing that's printed on the rear, I presume for some sort of heating system. Other than that it's the same excellent figure.

And Mando S3, although assuming that airs in December I guess they'd be part of the winter 2023 wave.

I think the 501st set released in April 2020 right? So that would be the first instance of a 'spring' release outside the May the 4th sets.

Yup, although I don't think Europe has had the same distribution issues that the US or Aus has had. On the website they're listed as out of stock though.

Picked up the battle pack, rebel trooper pack and clone pack in Leicester Square. I was half expecting them to have run out based on some other experiences on here, but they had loads.

I believe they're March sets. I would expect them to be officially revealed once the series ends in mid February, as that would line up nicely with a March release.

Oh yeah, the Falcon is another one I don't have... For the stock point I wonder if it's simply LEGO tightening up their logistics. I also remember being able to pick up sets long after they'd been retired (Titan XP for 40CHF 6 years after it disappeared from the LEGO catalogue being a particular highlight), but certainly that seems to happen less often these days. That said this was in often smaller independent toy shops, and those are definitely more scarce nowadays than they were 10 or 15 years ago.

Agree with this. I've been collecting SW sets since I was a kid (so for 15+ years), and there's still sets I don't have because I just didn't get around to buying them at the time. I'd never bought a TIE fighter before this year (although one of my siblings did have the one from 2005), so this was my first one.

For my part I'm fine with OT having the majority of 1HY releases as long 2HY is a bit more diverse, which has been the case lately. While a lot of the 1HY sets have been solid (my X-wing and TIE from last year still get regular outings), the 2HY sets have been a bit more interesting IMO. That said I'm not one to collect one era over another, I just buy whatever I like the look of irrespective of where it sits in canon. If a certain set or vehicle doesn't exist, that's fine.

In fairness it does feel like the winter wave at least has become much more staggered than in the past. In the past it was usually January and May IIRC, now (unless I'm mistaken) it seems to be January, March, May and maybe June? I agree this makes more sense in terms of keeping the hype train rolling, but it feels odd when we still get 1HY and 2HY lists rather than staggered leaks as well. On the video game front, I feel like the TV shows and films will always get priority over video games purely because they're more accessible. A year of D+ is pretty much the same price as most AAA titles these days, and in some cases is less of a time investment as well. In terms of sales volume, it probably makes more sense for TLG to hedge their bets on televised stuff before games, especially with the amount of content coming up. That said, I think it's only a matter of time before we get High Republic sets given how coordinated the release schedule has been. It might be a year or three, but surely we'll get at least one.

Your best bet is probably to wait for the battle pack in all honesty, as I don't think the newer snowtroopers (assuming you want those ones) have been in too many sets over the years. Even if you don't want the pack itself, I'm sure the figure price will drop on bricklink or elsewhere once that set has been out for a few weeks.

I agree, I'd rather not have different types of armour between the animated and live action clones. Differences between P1 and P2 would be nicer to have distinct prints, but the differences on a minifigure torso are small enough that I can live with that.

The AT-ST does look very good next to the AT-AT. All that's missing is a Snowspeeder to be able to create a really good Hoth display.