MaximillianRebo

As you said it isn't a clone set (or one containing a clone anniversary figure) so it's less likely to be in high demand. Also being an OT set and one containing the same figures released just six months prior in another set makes it less likely to be in high demand. If the Tantive Boarding set hadn't released earlier in the year it might be a different story, although people aren't looking to amass Rebel Fleet Troopers in anywhere near the same numbers as clones. Even the anniversary fig, while being from TCW, featured in one of the least liked arcs of that show and is unlikely to have the same draw as if it had turned out to be R2-KT. The only chance it might be hard to find is if people take advantage of the limited release to create artificial scarcity and wait until the set has retired to drive up prices. I don't see that happening, but fingers crossed.

I'd kind of given up on CMFs as the only time I've found them in Australian stores they're already well picked over, but happened upon a reasonable sized selection near the register at a local Target. First time trying the QR scanning app and the first one I picked up was the Alien Tourist - the main fig I was after. Managed to find a Space Nurse too and counted both of those as a win.

I had some free time over the weekend and did a deep dive on Brickset over the last 10 years or so of LSW, looking at how PPP has changed over the years, how many sets were released per year, and how many of those sets were playscale. I didn't count polybags, advent calendars and promotional/GWP sets in my numbers; for playscale sets I did include battle packs and MBS sets (including proto-MBS like Hoth and Endor) but not microfighters or USC sets. I also included 2013's planet sets in total numbers, as I'd included microfighters in all following years, and planets were the forerunners of microfighters. For figuring out the 'worst PPP' I just primarily looked at playscale sets, ignoring buildable figs, 4+ sets and even battle packs which would have been much worse. Here's what I found: 2013: 20 playscale out of 27 sets released. Worst PPP - Sail Barge and Rancor Pit ($0.14 & $0.16 ppp) - both probably because of the big figs in the sets 2014: 21 playscale / 28 total. Worst PPP - nothing really 2015: 26 playscale / 40 total. WPPP - Sith Infiltrator and First Order TIE Fighter (~$.014 ppp) - not including the buildable figures that started that year 2016: 25 playscale / 42 total. WPPP - Battle on Takodana (~$0.15 ppp) 2017: 25 playscale / 41 total. WPPP - Resistance Bomber (~$0.14 ppp) 2018: 24 playscale / 35 total. WPPP - Grievous' Combat Speeder ($0.19 ppp !!). Dishonourable mentions - Snoke's Throne Room, Imperial Conveyex and Imperial Landing Craft 2019: 23 playscale / 34 total. WPPP - Vonreg's TIE Interceptor (~$0.14 ppp) 2020: 17 playscale / 27 total. WPPP - Sith TIE Fighter and Grievous' Starfighter (~$0.17 ppp) 2021: 12 playscale / 21 total. WPPP - Duel on Mandalore (~$0.14 ppp) 2022: 16 playscale / 25 total. WPPP - Dark Trooper attack ($0.21 ppp !!!!). Also the Republic Tank and The Justifier 2023: 15 playscale / 28 total. WPPP - Yavin 4 (~$0.16 ppp) - although this does have a large number of figs, so YMMV on how much value minifigs lend to a set 2024: 13 playscale / 25 total. WPPP - Duel on Peridea and Desert Skiff (~$0.14 ppp) So, looking at all this, 2015-17 were absolutely massive years in LSW, due in no doubt to the release of TFA and a renewed interest in Star Wars, which TLG jumped on. Not only that but the ratio of playscale to total number of sets was two thirds, which has now dropped to around a half. 2021 was a tiny year - probably because of Covid - but it looks like 2024 is going to go the same way. Only 25 sets in total (barring any surprises later in the year) and only around half of them are playscale - the smallest number in the last 10 years excluding 2021's Covid affected waves. If you took out the RTG sets from this years numbers you would be left with only 10 playscale sets for the whole year based on canon media... I started doing this because I was curious how previous non-canon sets affected overall yearly numbers, and in the years when Freemaker and Yoda Chronicle sets released there were still 20 or more other sets to choose from if you gave those sets a pass. Regarding PPP, it's actually stayed pretty stable year on year, averaging between 11c -13c over the last 10 years (when removing outliers like 4+ sets and buildable figs) and even battle packs skew that number with their high number of figs to pieces ratio. Giving a modest value of $2 per fig in each set brings the PPP down to below 12c in all years. Even current sets like the Desert Skiff doesn't have a worse PPP than many other years, but it also being dumped on for being a much more expensive skiff set than any that came before. Of course this doesn't account for size of pieces, weight, or 'volume of stuff' but that would be a much deeper dive.

At least with QT-KT she does actually follow the line of "anniversary figures are ones that are unlikely to ever be released in regular sets" (paraphrasing). Although I guess there could be a D-Squad set one day Is there any concrete information about what set the droid comes in?

How reliable/trustworthy are these leakers? Lately there's been several 'such and such on Insta says we're getting something out of left field' and people just run with it. Given how all over the place some of this year's rumours have been - Death Star playset with 10+ figs turns out to be an ISD - I say patience; there'll be more reliable information in time.

Just curious, as I wasn't following forums back then, but what was the reaction to sets from Freemaker Adventures and Yoda Chronicles back when they released? The media landscape wasn't as cluttered then with so many shows/movies vying for sets; when Yoda Chronicles released Clone Wars had finished (for the time) and Rebels was just about to start, and while the Freemaker sets released during the Sequel years, they released in June while the film orientated sets released later in the year. On a side note, I can see the Onyx Cinder becoming the new 2014 Ghost: a ship design not seen before from a new show that people don't know much about, with the ship only becoming popular later in the show's run after the set has retired.

It's entirely possible there could be battle packs in March (or June, or August), just none in January. The only pattern nowadays seems to be that there are no patterns. Whelp, the whole January wave will be a skip for me, and I'll probably just get the Skiff for the rest of this year. More money for mocs!

Looks great! When people talk about brick built creatures this is the sort of thing I'd want to see. Love the use of the fractured wedge pieces to create texture on the arms.

Great work all round. There's a nice balance between the smoothness of the snow/ice and the more studded rock work. Are those original grey pieces mixed in with all the light bluish grey?

Taking some inspiration from pics posted a few months back, here's my purist minifigs of Kyle Katarn, Jan Ors and Mara Jade. Open to alternatives for Kyle's head; Captain America would be better but only if the price comes down a lot!

Agreed, the only anniversaries they really follow are their own. Even the OT films which get more attention in this regard only have a couple of sets for each film (the only ROTJ anniversary playset was the TIE Bomber which was much more prominent in ESB ...), the 2003 Clone Wars anniversary got sets from the 2008 show, and this year's Sith Infiltrator is listed as a TLG anniversary only and the fact it's also the 25th anniversary of TPM is just a happy accident. Yet many people are still expecting a large contingent of ROTS sets to drop next year...

Thinking a bit more about the Skiff and things that were left out that could easily have gone in. To get the unpopular opinion out of the way: I'm not too bothered by the reuse of ESB Boba as opposed to a proper Ep6 colouring. They had one to hand that had been just used in the Mech and threw that in. Either way a cape would have been very nice, but maybe that's not there for the same reason. What they also had to hand though was a Weequay from the Throne Room set (or a Nikto from the Pirate Snub fighter); either could have gone in without too much trouble. Part of me thinks, well, they based the design on the part of the scene which is Lando's rescue and Luke's fight with Boba BUT there's also the gang plank play feature included so who pushes Luke onto the plank. And if the set is based on the latter part of the scene - where the large Sarlacc build is featured - some sort of pole/6l bar for Han to reach out to Lando with (I know Lando has the spear/axe in the set but something that figs can grab onto either end of would be better) plus that transparent curved piece from the Mando battle pack to show Boba flying around would have been fantastic inclusions. I don't have the Mando pack yet, but when I do it will mostly become a parts pack - the transparent piece will definitely go to the skiff. Just little things, and nothing they don't already have in inventory, that would have made the price point a little more palatable. TL;DR the Skiff set tries to include aspects of all the action that occurs on the skiff, but falls short in each area. Luke walks the plank - needs a skiff guard to push him out Luke vs Boba - needs a transparent piece to make Boba fly Lando's rescue - needs a pole for Han to reach out to Lando with

Onyx Cinder looks interesting, like a classic space style ship. Change out the white for yellow and it could easily be a new Blacktron ship. Having said that there's too much black and bley in ships at the moment, but that's the in-universe design and not Lego's choice. Also names like Onyx Cinder (or Dark Falcon) don't give much wiggle room in the colour pallete. Don't know anything about the show so can't say about the minifigs, except that a new Ortolan is always good and I can see a lot of 2B customs popping up with that white hair. Regarding the other sets: I like that the turntables in the Peridea set give it some play features and make it more than just a display stand for the figs, but at that price... I'm not invested enough in the show or the characters to be wanting to spend that much for Thrawn, Ezra and a new Ahsoka. Having said that, as an OT fan, I probably will get the Skiff. On sale of course (but everything goes on sale here fairly quickly, so it's not a big issue). Definitely a skiff guard would have been welcome but I actually like the expanded Sarlacc build. It looks substantial and not just a dinky side build thrown in there to pad the part count. I get that some people don't like how it sticks up like that, but it's impossible in Lego to properly represent anything that's underground when everything usually sits on a flat table top or shelf. I've never liked the appearance of Jabba's castle sitting high up in the air on top of the Rancor pit. Maybe it's one time where the black base of a diorama would have been useful as the ground level is already elevated. Gotta say that the constant price increases are really starting to price me out of Lego. The skiff might be the only summer set I end up getting. I like the ISD as it's the most detailed one to date at that scale - even if it is smaller than other playscale models - but at this new price level... Even on sale it's not much less than the retail price of the previous price point. But I probably said that last time too; every price hike is a bit of grumbling till I see a model I want (like the Skiff) then it's time to suck it up and give TLG their money.

Thoughts on the Droid Factory: Looks cute, but not $100 cute. And definitely not $100 'volume of stuff'. All the accessories are cool additions but there's so many of them which of course bumps up the piece count (and therefore the price) without providing a huge increase in what you see. Big increase in play value though. Which leads to my second point: the set shouldn't be 9+. I know the age rating doesn't matter really - if a five year old can build it then that's great. I assume TLG has their own inhouse guilde lines about what dictates a sets age rating - presumably the build techniques it contains (most likely technic). And again the number doesn't really matter but there'll probably be some parents who think 'my seven year old would love this but it says 9+ so ...' It really is a set aimed at kids but the age rating should have been lower to reflect that.

Reminds me of the 501st pack in 2020 - readily available through all normal channels but in Australia I never saw a single set on shelves for the entire length of its run. eBay, Bricklink, 3rd party Amazon though all had them though for double the price. So yeah, a standard commercially available set that was impossible to find because of incredibly high demand.

They don't come in white - time for a recolour - and would depend a lot on how they're attached, but I wonder how the foil / épée piece would look.

The problem with trying to find patterns in Lego releases is that there are more examples of patterns not being followed - or were just coincidences to begin with - than a clear and consistent link between set releases e.g. the inconsistencies between which films get anniversary releases or which new media get sets at all. Yes there have been a couple of good examples of product synergies such as the Hoth battle pack with the UCS AT-AT or the way the upcoming Mando S3 sets connect together, but these are more exceptions than the rule.

Star Destroyer is listed as $300 AUD on the Lego website ... Oof . In comparison the Ghost is $260 here - and both ships are the same price in USD and EUR. Good thing there are regularly sales here with 20% or more off - often at release - but when there's already a ~15% markup compared to a similar model ...

Overall there seems to be a lot of conflicting info floating around lately. Presumably Lego's anti-leak department is in full swing; I can see the department head, their monitor screen illuminating a hooded face while they read forums such as this, cackling "good, goooood..." This whole run around makes me want to worry much less about rumours and just wait until the reveals (or at least credible visual info) and hopefully be pleasantly surprised. Personally I like the look of the Star Destroyer - although I'm biased as I don't have any earlier iterations. Shaping looks good and greebling much improved over previous versions. Figures are what they are, nothing special but fit the bill for the ship that they're on. Could have done without Vader (does he every actually appear on a regular ISD?) and definitely a second Stormtrooper and probably Imperial crew member would have been welcome.

My guess would be Bix from Andor.

File this under unpopular opinions but personally I don't care when or how the rumours drop. The August sets will still come out in August regardless of whether they're revealed in mid July or leaked tomorrow.

That was General Lando though, in an ROTJ A-Wing. Short of releasing an ROTJ Falcon (which would definitely include Nien Nunb), an A-wing is a good choice for such a fig - the other option being a Home One set. I still maintain that if Nien Nunb is an anniversary fig - and there are various contradictory rumours floating around over the exact composition of the anniversary line-up, so who knows the real picture - he most likely won't be in an OT set going on what we've seen so far. On the other hand, this is Lego, and they've never been very good about following their own patterns and trends...

I recently added to my collection of Kenner Mini-rigs with two Body-rig MOCS. The body-rigs were a sub-line of the mini-rig collection; smaller vehicles with space for a pilot and not much else. As with the mini-rigs they are all non-canon, although several have appeared in Star Wars EU media. Security Scout A one person vehicle with tan and green camouflage, the Security Scout was designed to soar above the forests of Endor as a companion vehicle to the Forest Ranger mini-rig. Sand Skimmer Another small one person hovercraft, similar in design to the Desert Sail Skiff mini-rig, presumably used by Jabba's minions to travel the sands of Tatooine and elsewhere. Here's a photo with the Imperial Sniper from a while back, rounding out the range of body rigs. Instructions: https://rebrickable.com/users/MaximillianBricks/mocs/?tag=46593

Ah, fair enough. As he falls into the category of 'named character that's never been in a set before' I figured he was going to be an extra anniversary figure.

A potential Nien Nunb would be great, and putting him in the rumoured X-Wing/TIE crossover set would be the most logical choice, but so far we've got Malak with R2, Saw in a TPM set and Fives in the Tantive, so...