MaximillianRebo

Just ordered the new Shuttle and Tauntaun/AT-AT microfighters. Pretty happy to find them 20% off so soon after release (Myer in Aus).

Here's an idea how to make Squadrons work in Lego: each time a new ship is released, put out a separate pack that enables that craft to refitted as a different squadron. The pack can contain different coloured pieces, a pilot, maybe a sticker sheet and an astromech if necessary to change the colour scheme of each fighter. It would be an expanded version of what was already included in the 2018 X-Wing containing Biggs and alternate pieces to have Red 3 instead of Red 5, but this time changing to a different squadron instead of within the same group.

Unless you're a completionist I doubt anyone with the 2015 Tydirium is going to give this new model much of a look. I personally don't have a shuttle so I will be getting this one. There's a few disappointing aspects of the model, notably the whole cockpit area; it's far from a deal breaker but I'm surprised there isn't any sort of control panel or yoke for the pilot. Also the wings could do with a bit more detail. It'll be Bricklink to the rescue for this. I'm not too hung up on the figure selection; yes there could a few Stormtroopers I guess, but what we get is appropriate for the scene in the movie they're going for.

Even if the upper half of the shuttle cockpit had to look like that, I don't know why they couldn't use more inverted slopes or wedges underneath to give it at least an appearance of contour, rather than just a bunch of stacked plates. Maybe it has to do with stability for that forward hinge

I would guess this is one of the reasons why the Slave 1 is getting a new release so soon after the previous one, so this change can be made. Of course it's easy to do with substituting a 501st head with an existing Boba fig, but it will be good to have an official minifig in the updated style.

I imagine the conversation went something along the lines of : "Well, we better put something from the sequels in this wave. Any ideas?" "How about a recolour of the previous 4+ X-Wing in Resistance colours?" "Done".

I agree with all of this; the upcoming Slave 1 is a continuation of the scaled down line of ships rather than a tie-in with new SW media. This could quite easily be a model that's been on the cards since before Mando S2 came out. It would be great if TLG continued the Dodonna trend and added a rare Cloud City figure in with the Slave 1. I wonder how many people are buying the new X-Wing primarily for Dodonna (and Leia) who wouldn't get it otherwise. BTW sense/cents

I covered my bases by having multiple guesses on each price point, had no idea what the $200 UCS could be and didn't think the Bad Batch shuttle would be $100. Happy to be proved wrong on that last one!

Will be interesting to see the scale of the Bad Batch shuttle considering it's meant to be $100 and the Imperial shuttle coming soon is $80. Guessing it comes down to the minifigs and the amount of new moulds/prints required for the 5 new figs.

Kmart online now has the TIE FIghter and MF Microfighter for $65 and $14 (no sign of the X-Wing or Mando sets).

Gonna take a stab at what the 2HY sets could be based on the current rumoured price list. 75308 - $199 - UCS ARC 170 (a complete shot in the dark, trying to think a ship that hasn't been done before) 75309 - $349 - UCS Republic Gunship (going off the current rumour) 75310 - $19 - Duel set, either Mandalore or Exegol 75312 - $49 - Imperial Troop Transport 75313 - $799 - UCS Death Star with exterior panels 75314 - $99 - Palpatine's Arrest (similar style and same price point as Final Duel) 75315 - $159 - Either a Venator or Moff Gideon's Light Cruiser 75316 - $59 - Bo Katan's Mandalorian Fighter (or maybe a TIE Bomber, if it's done in the same style as the new TIE Fighter)

Even though the prices on this rumour list don't seem to follow the "Lego are doing scaled down, cheaper sets" line of thinking, this could be a similar situation to when people said "The 501st pack was so successful, why isn't the winter 2021 wave all Clone Wars?" i.e. Waves are (presumably) planned 12-18 months in advance so if Lego was waiting to gauge the success of the cheaper sets we wouldn't see the results of that until say beginning of next year; just as the coming summer wave could be building on the successes of the previous summer. How this all works trying to plan 2-3 product cycles ahead and not knowing if your ideas will sell until you're well into the next development cycle I don't know, but that's why I don't work in R&D or marketing. And yeah, RIP battle packs, at least for now, as there isn't anything at either the $15 (regular size) or $30 (501st deluxe) price points.

Nice to see the microfighter up close. I'm not entirely sold on the Tauntaun, not sure why they went with cheese slopes for toes rather than the claw pieces like in the Dewback - probably for stability as it will be quite front heavy. Also I feel the tail should be longer, maybe add an extra section with a tow ball to make it more articulated, and to counterbalance the front. Either way, easy things to mod and I'll pick it up anyway just for the Hoth Luke fig.

Shuttle looks good. Undercarriage of the nose area doesn't seem to be a problem like in earlier photos. I guess having the interior accessible with a hinged central wing rather than hinged panels on both sides is one aspect of keeping the part count down. This is a nitpick, but the detail on the side wings is very sparse. Easy to mod, and another way to reduce the part count.

Echoing others I'd say go for the Slave 1. Even if it's likely we'll see a remake in a few years time I doubt it'll be an Ep V version. Alternatively you could just buy Zuckuss and then wait and see what is released later, although looking at Bricklink prices that fig alone is about a third or more of the cost of a new set...

This would be an amazing wave - and completely destroy my wallet.

Here's an idea for a new group of sets based on the final scene of each movie. The builds would be diorama style platforms depicting the final shot of each film. I've included for now the movies that I feel work best in this style and include a bunch of desirable minifigs: ANH - Build is the Yavin IV throne room dais with steps leading up to it and the wall behind covered in foliage. Minifigs are Celebration Leia, Celebration Luke, Celebration Han, Chewie, Artoo, Threepio, General Dodonna and two Rebel officers. TESB - Build is the Nebulon B medical chamber with a bed for Luke to the side and large viewport covering the rear wall. Minifigs are Luke (medical robes), Leia (white robes), Artoo, Threepio, 2-1B and FX-7 medical droids. ROTJ - Build is a platform in the Ewok village with a campfire and Imperial helmet xylophone. Minifigs are Jedi Luke, Endor Leia, Endor Han, General Lando, Chewie, Artoo, Threepio and two Ewoks. Bonus side build of an extra platform with force ghost minifgs of Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan. TPM - Build is the Theed Royal Palace steps, perhaps with a representation of the palace behind (even though in the movie it's just more steps going up). Minifigs are Celebration Padme, Padawan Anakin (young), Obi-Wan, Artoo, Sio Bibble, Chancellor Palpatine, Captain Panaka, Boss Nass, Jar Jar, Captain Tarpals.

Rogue Squadron and Cassian Andor projects announced... TLG resetting the scale of their fighter models... the perfect time to finally get TIE Interceptors and Bombers, and B-Wing and U-Wing remakes.

Nah, I usually go with Kmart price or wait for Target/Myer etc sales. GWP have never enticed me enough to want to pay full retail on Shop@home, and as you said, an outdoor skating rink isn't a thing here at this time of year. Imagine if the December GWP was a backyard BBQ set 

Phew, I'm glad the X-Wing doesn't have the same price jump as the TIE. The X-Wing is a definite buy for me, especially at that price. The TIE was a maybe, then the price turned that into no thanks. In the end though, Australian retail for both the new X-Wing and TIE together is still less than the retail price for Poe's X-Wing.

I think the reason is LSW skews much more towards vehicle than location builds, and the main ANH vehicle Leia is associated with is the Tantive IV (expensive) and then the Falcon (ANH crew version from 2011). If Lego released more vignettes similar to Death Star Escape, like a Detention Block set, maybe Trash Compactor, Yavin control room (which the new X-wing is a nod towards) or Yavin throne room, her fig would be a lot less rare.

Not everyone is a super fan who has been collecting for years and therefore owns multiple variants of all major characters. Everyone has to start collecting at some point and needs the opportunities to get these characters in new sets. Realistically it was always going to be a 2 out of 3 chance that Vader was in the shuttle anyway.

The new TIE fighter is up on the Australian Lego store (the only one of the new models to appear so far). Price is $70aud. For comparison the AAT which is also a $40usd model here goes for $60

The shuttle only has 3 possible figure combinations - Endor Rebel crew, Palpatine's arrival or Luke's capture, with two of those combinations having a big overlap with the recent Final Duel set. On that logic the Endor crew would have been the best choice and provided more interesting variants that people are less likely to already have. Even without the oddities in the photo that's doing the rounds it's a less than stellar selection - kind of a lite version of the UCS shuttle. It's strange that Lego has taken this route; putting General Dodonna in the new X-wing indicates that they're aware of how new figs can sell a model. Maybe the fact that there hasn't been a shuttle in 6 years means they figure the model will sell itself and no extra incentives are required. I could definitely see Ahsoka, Rex, Cody, Echo, Fives, (insert clone name here) splitting the vote and in the end none of them get it.

There's a reason the lightsaber is blue - in the photo Luke still has his right hand and it's his left hand wearing a black glove, so this must be an alternate continuity where Vader didn't cut off Luke's sword hand but the other one for some reason... anyway there's a lot wrong in that photo