The Stud

I've seen a lot of people use that hair piece for Episode 3 Anakin but I'm not a fan personally. I've also seen a lot of people use the old man Luke or Mad Eye Moody hairpieces but those are both parted the wrong way and don't really work either. The current hair piece for ROTS Anakin is a closer match to what we see on-screen; the only problem with it is that it's also used for Clone Wars Anakin where his hair should be shorter. (This is especially apparent based off Anakin's updated TOTJ character models from earlier in the Clone Wars.) I think the hair piece you shared can work for early Clone Wars Anakin, the current hair piece can be used for Seasons 3-6 Anakin and this mock-up is perfect for Clone Wars Season 7/ROTS Anakin.

I get frustrated about this every time I rewatch the show. I can't believe we only got Kanan's character design from Seasons 3 and 4 as a minifigure. Speaking of Rebels, I think it's really funny how this show is taking place around the same time as Rebels season one, which was a lot more light hearted and accessible to young fans. I love both though. It's cool seeing different sides of rebel cells rising to fight back against the oppressiveness of the Empire. Exactly. In any typical story, Cassian would be the clear-cut villain and Syril would be the clear-cut hero.

The new Razor Crest box picture just reaffirm that the set looks fantastic. Not much more to add on my part. And wow, I'm super glad I received Ambush on Ferrix for my birthday this past weekend. I really enjoyed the first three Andor episodes and think the ship, speeder and figures are mostly spot-on to the first three episodes. The only other potential set I've seen so far is Luthen's ship, which is a really cool design. That'd be a great set for Lego to give us a new Mon Mothma figure, and we still need Bix and Bee. Fingers crossed for next year.

Overall, I like it and still plan on getting it, but I agree with a lot of what everyone else is saying about the design of the buildings. They do look really good but they also look like standard Creator buildings or slightly more complex City ones than what I'd expect from Winter Village. They're just too modern compared to the more timeless style Winter Village has generally done. I do like the colors they chose and the snow detailing and decorations all look really good. The tram looks excellent though and a lot of the minifig torsos look like they'll be new for me. As a whole, the set still looks pretty cool and I look forward to ordering it in October.

Tbh, I don't think a MBS Palace was likely for a while anyway. The last MBS set was the Cantina, another Tatooine building, so I'd imagine that Lego would want to do something like Endor to space those sets out, even if they aren't necessarily on shelves at the same time. I still think we could get a UCS/MBS Barge at some point in the coming years. So far, this week has sucked for me but this Jabba news helps make things suck a little less at least. I've been eagerly awaiting for Lego to include Jabba in a new set for a while. This sounds like a much more interesting choice than a Death Star Duel remake. I can't tell if this is speculation or actual rumor on their part, but Stonewars thinks there will also be five to six figures included as well. They specifically mention Bib Fortuna (which will be nice to get a new ROTJ version) and Boussh, which could be also really exciting if true. Chewie and Threepio reuses would be extremely likely here then and I think we could also potentially expect to see ROTJ Boba Fett and Carbonite Han here as well. I'm really excited to learn more about this set. This might be my new most anticipated Star Wars set from the 2023 rumors. Clearly his quote will be, "Where is my son, my 'pedunkee mufkin'? Nobody has seen him in 13 years..."

Rogue One was pretty successful as well though, and even though I don’t love it as much as a lot of other people seem to, I definitely would consider that to be more than moderately successful. It outperformed expectations by grossing over a billion dollars, is commonly talked about by fans, and it generated a spin-off show that’s coming very soon. Since I don’t foresee us getting any D2C animation sets (which is a shame because a UCS Ghost would be a work of art, something Sabine would approve of), I think Rogue One and Mandalorian have the best potential outside of the OT for UCS sets, especially since they’re so tied to the OT. I’m very excited to see the UCS Razor Crest. The model itself sounds fantastic and I look forward to building it someday. The minifigure selection is kinda underwhelming though. An extra Grogu, a brick-built Blurrg, two exclusive alien figures (one of which was a main character in Season One), plus a touched-up Mando in his original armor, are nice touches. I don’t necessarily need anymore “new” minifigures (even if I think this would have been the perfect set to do someone like Frog Lady or Mayfeld), but I would have liked for them to at least throw in a few reused figures at least. Throw in an extra Beskar Mando, Greef Carga, IG-11 and *maybe* Cara Dune to sweeten the deal a little bit. I get not including more than two figures for non-minifigure scale sets like the Gunship, Landspeeder or Star Destroyer, but I do think that three minifigures, plus a baby and a brickbuilt creature, is kinda lackluster for a minifigure-scale D2C set that costs $600. Despite my gripe with the figures, I fully expect that this set will knock it out of the park.

Going back to the Marvel CMF discussion for a minute, I absolutely think we’ll get another series. The first series sold extremely well and seemed pretty well-received. The question is what characters and properties they could include with all of the Disney+ shows Marvel is dumping each year. As for the new Black Panther set, that sure is… something. I mean, no disrespect to the designers, but to me, it looks like a bunch of plates and some random elements slapped together. It looks more MOC-like than a Lego set, albeit a very basic MOC, but the model still looks so bland and lifeless. The lack of interior pictures is concerning as well, and the box art in general is very odd. The characters are set up at very static angles and poses, and the model itself doesn’t look super appealing either. I only glanced at the new figures but they seem cool enough. Black Panther Shuri isn’t a surprise at all but I do think it’s kinda interesting that this isn’t coming out after the movie, kinda like that one Civil War Spidey set. Overall, this Black Panther wave looks really bland to me and is kind of an underwhelming end to a mediocre year for Lego Marvel.

I’m very excited for this. Santa’s Visit was my first Winter Village set (though I’ve gotten other seasonal sets in the past), so it’ll be nice to really expand my village with this set. I’m curious to see how this set looks, especially since these storefronts have apartments up above, and how many figures will come with it.

Even though my birthday technically doesn’t start for another hour as of the time I’m writing this, I opened my birthday presents from my family tonight and it was mostly Lego Star Wars! I received: -My third and probably final copy of 75283 AAT before it retires soon. -75333 Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Jedi Starfighter -75334 Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Darth Vader -75338 Ambush on Ferrix, just in time for the Andor premiere in a few days! -Not technically Star Wars related, but I did also get two Lego/Target gift cards for a total of $35. Very thankful for all I received and I also look forward to going to the Lego Store to celebrate as well.

Not yet, but I definitely expect to see something within the next week.

I reread that short story over the summer, it’s kind of a weird one because it takes place in the middle of another book but that other book doesn’t really reference it. To be honest, I only played Squadrons like twice before giving up on it so I keep forgetting that we got a non-book/comic appearance of the character. The one upside to no Piett or Ozzel is that they’re fairly easily to make purist customs of.

Just ordered the Vader Meditation Chamber for $40 from Walmart. (Already $20 off plus I used a $10 promo code “WOWFRESH”) It’s never been super high on my wishlist but it is retiring soon and it’ll go well with the Bespin Duel and the recent Diorama sets.

Target and Kohl’s have been the only places I’ve been able to check personally. Kohl’s had a ton out early a few weeks ago and Target also had a lot when I went on Friday. Someone I know found them at a Kroger grocery store but apparently each individual bag were in their own little security containers to prevent theft I guess.

I doubt that’s the reason, it’s only been out a month. Probably just a glitch. I wasn’t planning on getting this set until sometime next year, but I jumped on it this morning when I saw that I could get it for $65. Basically, you have to play around with your store location until it changes the price to $75. If you’re using Paypal, you can save another $10 when you’re checking out by using the promo code PAYPAL10. I should have the set waiting for me when I come home for my birthday this weekend!

I stand corrected. Apparently she’s wearing a standard gray outfit, not her Grand Admiral uniform… Still exciting nonetheless!

Getting a book/comic character in a LEGO Star Wars set is awesome to hear, especially since I've actually read the books, comics and short stories she originated from (A New Dawn, Kanan comic, and the Aftermath Trilogy). For those who don't know, basically she's an Imperial officer who had many encounters with Kanan and Hera prior to the Original Trilogy and then after the Original Trilogy, she plays a key role in the Empire and the beginnings of the First Order following Endor. That makes the set substantially more interesting, especially because she'll likely have a more accurate badge on her torso that can be used for Thrawn. (Now to just find Thrawn's head and hair for cheap on Bricklink...) Hopefully LEGO starts doing more book/comic characters in the future. I know I'd like to see Dark Disciple Asajj Ventress, Eli Vanto and Doctor Aphra (and her droids) in the future. If LEGO has to do their obligatory OT remakes, these figures can make things much more enticing. Imagine getting Luke in one of his comic outfits with the next X-Wing. As someone who was, and still kinda is, hesitant at the idea of another 501st Battle Pack, these figures do sound really nice. And the build actually sounds interesting, though out of scale. The new macrobinocular piece seems neat, as well as getting more accessories on those new clone helmets. Not to mention how good these classes will look with the standard 501st Troopers. God... I'm going to buy 10 of this battle pack too, aren't I? It sucks but I kinda get it. You can't have those kama-adorned figures sit down, which has to be why Lego doesn't do them very often anymore. They don't really do many cloth skirts either.

Same. Excluding the 2019 Tantive IV and the MBS Cantina, the only UCS sets I currently own are the UCS Slave 1 and R2-D2, with plans of getting all the really big ones (Star Destroyer, Falcon and AT-AT, probably in that order) before they retire. I'm very interested to see how the Razor Crest turns out and how it would look displayed with my giant Firespray. Plus seeing what figures are included is exciting too of course. Technically, these ones in trailer aren't exactly the same as the Battle Pack Mandalorians. Those guys showed up in the background during Season One already and are probably all dead lol. (I'm pretty sure you can see at least one of their helmets in the ravaged covert.) The orange one from the trailer looks similar but upon closer inspection, it has blue around the visor and no jaig ears like the Battle Pack one.

Lego Stores are apparently starting to be sent copies (along with the Winter Village set) so we can expect pictures any day now, whether they be leaks or an official reveal.

I got someone to check Costco for me and they were able to grab me a 75335 BD-1 for $80! Saves me from paying full price for it at the Lego Store next weekend!

Forgot to post this on Friday but I found the remaining six figures from Target! I like this series a lot more now than when pictures first came out and I’m glad to have had a fun and easy time hunting for them. This is the first time I’ve completed all three CMF series in a single year. Some of the highlights for me have been the Elf girl, Snowman and Robot Costume.

Yeah, but if the hardcore adult collectors who buy a ton of sets are mostly agreeing that the set is overpriced and not desirable to them, then I have to wonder what that would mean for the more casual adult collectors who buy these 18+ sets every once in a while and would probably be even more selective. And from anecdotal experience, almost every reddit and social media comment I’ve read has been along the same lines, though that’s obviously far less reliable info to go off of than a poll.

The music store and tram part sound very exciting and unique for the Winter Village collection. I have mixed feelings on another Toy Shop though. We’ve already gotten two (well, technically we got what was essentially the same exact one released twice) and if they were going to remake any of the older Winter Village buildings here, a post office or bakery would have been preferable for me. I’ve been clamoring for a hot chocolate shop for a while too. I can’t be too mad though because I don’t own either of the previous WV Toy Shops and I’m sure this one will still look great. I look forward to buying this along with The Office set in a few weeks.

Skywalker Saga DLC was revealed in the D23 gaming stream. Two of the characters shown off were the Reva and Cassian Andor figures we got recently but there was also a new Captain Rex figure. Now, normally, I don’t think characters in a Lego game mean anything most of the time but in this case? I already thought it was likely we’d get a new Rex figure next year after getting Cody, but this model in the game perfectly matches the post-2020 style of clone troopers and even has the new helmet mold introduced in the AT-TE. Chances are that this is what the next Rex figure will look like, though maybe without the arm printing.

I hardly buy City anymore, but I wish they didn’t stop doing those “Fun in the…” People Pack sets. I regret not buying the last three that they did in 2018 and 2019 as those sets were all just really awesome civilian packs. I can’t imagine that they sold poorly either so I wonder why stopped doing them?

That’s on my wishlist too. There are no rat tail hairpieces and there aren’t really any current hairpieces that satisfy me for Padawan Obi-Wan or Anakin.