MGS6735

If the clue is referencing the D2C set for the second half of the year, I think it is either related to Count Dooku or ESB. I lean more towards Count Dooku because outside of remaking the Super Star Destroyer or trying to remake the Assault on Hoth, I think we've seen most of the stuff that would be D2C worthy from ESB. I don't think a UCS Super Star Destroyer would happen because the UCS Star Destroyer is out, and Assault on Hoth was so poorly received that I don't think they would want to revisit it any time soon as a D2C set. If it is referencing a D2C set involving Count Dooku, I think it would either reference a UCS Invisible Hand or Geonosis Arena. I think a Geonosis Arena is more likely because we already have a capital ship UCS set on the market and having a more MBS-style set would line up with previous D2C patterns. I was going to mention this, but you posted while I was typing this, so I'll just use this instead. I don't think the clue is referencing the D2C set because of this. If it involves Count Dooku, I think a Solar Sailor makes the most sense. As @ARC2149Nova mentioned, I don't think they'll release a third duel set this year. I hope it is a Solar Sailor or something else Dooku related, but it is probably more likely some Hoth-related set to go against the AT-AT. Maybe it could be one of those Hoth battle sets with a trench and canon as well as some Hoth Rebels. The 20th Anniversary Snowspeeder retired at the end of last year, so it could involve a Snowspeeder, but I hope it doesn't because I'm tired of seeing Hoth-related stuff. I'd much rather see a Solar Sailor, but I think it is more likely to see something ESB related knowing Lego's preferences. This is all speculation based on the @jdubbs' poem. There are lots of possibilities, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what it turns out to be.

Yeah, I didn't like it either. The reason I cited in relation to the Snowspeeder is that they may not have wanted to bring back the new helmet so that they wouldn't have to redesign the Snowspeeder cockpit to fit them in there. That's entirely based on speculation from when people got the set and found that figures with the new helmets don't fit.

The new image definitely didn't make me like the AAT more. Just another thing to fix once I get the set in hand. As far as I remember, the dual-molded helmet only appeared in the X-Wing and some keychains made of the figures from that set. The old helmet appearing in the AT-AT cements that they've gone back to the old design in my opinion because there isn't any potential reason that they would switch back to the old helmet like there was for the Snowspeeder last year.

The sets come out in about two months, so we should know by then. I would expect Lego to release official images closer to the release date (maybe in six weeks), but I wouldn't mind if it was sooner.

I don't think we know yet. I haven't been able to find any pictures of the Clone Troopers from the Summer wave without their helmets. If there are pictures, I wouldn't mind seeing them.

I agree. I think the only one that I own and like is Major Vonreg's helmet. Even though dual molded helmets are more advanced pieces that push the medium forward, they shouldn't be used in cases where they increase the helmet size to the point where the proportions are off.

We got the current P2 helmet mold in 2013, and there have been some others like the Airborne helmet that came out after that. I hope they don't Stormtrooper the Clone helmets and make new dual-molded ones. The versions we currently have are solid and the printing has been good in most cases. I can look past changes in the printing style that happen every few years, but it would be much more challenging to look past a Clone with a helmet that could be double the size of the current one. As cool as the dual-molded helmets can be, I think the single-molded helmets for common troopers are good and work well with the minifigure's proportions. There are some cases where dual-molded helmets make sense, but that doesn't count the Stormtrooper or Rebel Helmets that they have done in my view. Also, imagine how horrific a dual-molded Battle Droid head could be. Yikes.

Yep. I thought you posted it, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for posting it again; I think it looks pretty solid.

We haven't seen B2s in a set since 2015. I don't know if there is a reason for it, but it strikes me as odd that we haven't seen any more recently, especially with new CW sets coming out that they could have returned in. Good points @Kdapt-Preacher and @2maxwell. I agree that the proportions of the AAT make it challenging to construct with accurate dimensions for a Lego set and that they can certainly do better than what is coming out in August. In my opinion, changing the 2015 version's skirt to use the smaller version of the curved slopes on the 2009 version would make the most sense. This would allow for the missile tubes to be stickers on the skirt, which would help make the AAT look less strange (the lack of missile tubes doesn't help the vehicle look any better). I know someone posted a picture of what that would look like a while ago in this thread, but I'm not particularly eager to go find it. That build was pretty on-point for what I am describing.

I think most of the issue is the lack of contrast on the figures like @ARC2149Nova mentioned. I'm sure that there are also some people who are criticizing it because they are changing up the designs, making it so that the new and old figures don't mesh together as well for use in armies/MOCs/etc. I don't mind it because I know that they switch up the designs every once and a while. It isn't ideal, but that's how Lego operates. It also came with the only Tactical Droid we've ever received. And yes, it was a $40 Walmart exclusive in the US.

This is kind of played out by now and a lot of people here have some great points in response to this. You are entitled to have your opinion. I'll briefly share my experience. I got into Lego Star Wars in 2006. I grew up on the prequels (specifically ROTS), so I was naturally inclined to want prequel sets. When the CW came out, I was happy that there were a lot of prequel sets available. I didn't have any opinion on the animated figure printing style because I didn't have many figures that didn't use that printing style. I bought what CW sets I could, and I went back to get some of the ones I missed when I got older and had a larger Lego budget. I can't speak to how well the sets sold generally, but as someone growing up with the CW, I'm happy that they came out. I was typing this while you posted. I agree that this is getting a little out of hand. I thought I'd post this because I was typing it and don't want to waste it. If anyone wants to continue this conversation with me, please dm me instead of posting here. Agreed.

I agree that the new hood piece looks strange. Is there a reason that they made a new part? Or did Lego just make it because they could? If there isn't an actual reason for making it besides "because we can", I'm sure that there are other things they could have made instead, like a Phase II Commander Cody helmet. That's not what they did though, so oh well I guess. I don't intend to steer us off-course with alternate mold speculation, but I'm genuinely curious if there was a good reason for the new hood.

This is something that I've noticed with a lot of the more recent sets, but I don't know if it is solely due to the Lego being lazy. A lot of the builds in those sets are so refined and close to accurate with the parts that were available last time it was released that not much more can be done to the model with parts released since then to make much of a noticeable change while maintaining accuracy. I think we should expect to see this plateau in the quality of set design get more and more common as more specialized/small parts are created that lead to more model accuracy. That sums up the AAT's design pretty well. It also looks kind of like what a Juniors AAT might end up being. I'd rather have rereleases/reissues that look very similar to what was released last time than inaccurate sets that look awful just for the sake of changing it up compared to the last version. The AAT is not a vehicle where design has plateaued; I'd say its design has regressed.

I'm not defending Lego's actions when I say this, but it is much more challenging to please everyone now that there is more Star Wars media. Back when the main stuff was the PT, OT, and CW, Lego could just release a couple of things from each media and call it a day because there wasn't as much ground to cover. Now we have way more Star Wars media (ST, Rebels, Mandalorian, etc.), which isn't a bad thing, but it makes it harder to spread the love when there is that much more distance to cover. Lego definitely has their favorites (Luke's Landspeeder), and there are definitely things that don't need to be remade as often as they have in recent years. All I'm saying is that there is more media, which creates new fanbase media preferences, which makes releasing a combination of things that please everyone harder. Lego could definitely try harder (and Disney probably isn't helping) to release things that more fans want to buy, but it is much harder than it used to be.

I thought these pictures coming out would be a good opportunity to come out of the shadows of this forum like a few others have already. So here are my thoughts on the new sets (that I've seen pictures of): Anakin's Interceptor: It doesn't look that much different from the 2014 version. Anakin and R2-D2 make sense in this set, but I think it would have been a nice set to throw an updated Captain Rex into. It's a little bit more expensive than I'd like, but I don't have any of the previous versions of this vehicle in yellow, so I'll probably be picking this set up. 501st "Battle Pack": I can't say I'm overly thrilled about the new Clone Trooper designs, but I'm glad this set exists. It's nice to see a new BARC Speeder, but the AT-RT is definitely a step down from the versions in 75261 and 75002. That being said, the figures are the main draw of this set and they don't disappoint. I'll probably get a few of these. AAT: I was very excited when I heard about the rumors of this set. Now that we have images, I am somewhat disappointed. On one hand, the new Ashoka and 332nd Trooper are cool but have a couple of issues that others have already mentioned. The AAT Driver Battle Droids make sense here and I'm glad that they are labeled correctly this time, but I have quite a few of them from last year's AT-AP and Droid Gunship, so they aren't very interesting to me. I would have liked to see some more Battle Droids or other Separatist figures because when matched against the 501st "Battle Pack", the Separatists will lose the battle most of the time just based on what is included in each set. I think the AAT build looks horrendous and is probably the worst system-scale AAT build released so far. It looks like what I'd imagine a Juniors AAT would look like, and the rounded pieces they used to make the base look bad. The lack of stickers/prints on them is also a disappointment. However, with a lot of work, it is probably salvageable. The price of this set is also a bit steep in my opinion, but it isn't the worst priced set here. I'll probably pick up a few of these, but hopefully at a discount, because I anticipate the cost of the parts to fix the build won't be cheap. Night Buzzard: The build looks really good, and is more or less exactly what I expected this set would look like. It would have been cool to get more minifigures, but the Knights of Ren all being represented is all that I could really ask for. This set looks really solid, but I don't care about the ST, so I'll be passing on this one. General Grievous' Starfighter: It looks very similar to the 2010 set, but with some noticeable changes. The model looks good, but the figures are disappointing. Reusing the Obi-Wan from the Mustafar set and the Grievous from his Combat Speeder don't do this set any favors, even if those figures are accurate to the scene, which is debatable. The new-ish 212th Airborne Trooper is a nice inclusion, but I have a few of those guys already, and that figure alone doesn't justify me spending $80 on a vehicle that I already have. I don't plan on picking up this set. The only reason I would is to review it and likely to reach the conclusion that it is too expensive. Unless there is some other build in here that isn't on the front of the box that makes this set worth the money, I'll probably pass on it. DS-II Duel: I thought this was the 2015 version of the set when I saw the images of it. However, it isn't, but it is apparently different from that set. The set and figures look passable to me, but it is a bit more expensive than I'd want to pay for it. I don't have the 2015 set, so I may consider picking this up, but it isn't a very high priority. Resistance IT-S Transport: I didn't know this thing existed until the set images leaked. The build looks very nicely polished and the figures look pretty good. I don't have anything against this set existing, but I think there are probably some better/more relevant sets they could have made instead. At least we can't say that something is too obscure to be made as a set now. I think this set is good, but it isn't for me. Easy pass. The Razor Crest: I haven't seen The Mandalorian yet so I don't know too much about the accuracy of this set, but it looks pretty nice. The ship is well designed and the figures are good for the most part, although there are some inaccuracies (cough, cough, the Mandalorian has the wrong armor). Overall, this is another good set that isn't for me. It's a pass for now, but maybe I'll reconsider after seeing The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian and Child Brickheadz: Brickheadz aren't really my thing, but the set looks good. I can see the appeal to those who like Brickheadz. Easy pass for me. AT-AT: It's cool to see a new AT-AT for the 40th anniversary of ESB. The set doesn't look bad, but something about the build's proportions looks off to me. Other than that, there are lots of improvements and nice play features, so I can overlook that. The figures also aren't bad, and the interior space of the walker is used much better to store them. That being said, it is a rather expensive set and I already have an AT-AT. I may consider picking one up in the future, but it isn't a very high priority. The Advent Calendar: Not bad. There are some decent Christmas figures and I'm excited to see the Lucrehulk's first representation in an official Lego set, even if it is just a mini build. I don't usually buy advent calendars, so I don't plan on getting this one either. I can see the appeal, but I'll pass on this one. Overall, this wave is kind of all over the place, not only with stuff from every era but with different release dates for some of the sets. This wave looks pretty good on paper, but a lot of the decisions Lego made with these sets leaves me scratching my head. Some of the sets here are really solid, but there are a lot of nearly unchanged rereleases and sets that just don't look very good. I guess my wallet will be happy though. That being said, there is something for everyone here, which is something I hope Lego continues to make a priority when making sets in the future.