The Stud

I go home for Thanksgiving Break this week and I’ll be starting my first Winter Village display! I already have the Santa’s Visit, Sleigh and Seasonal Penguin from this year (as well as the Marvel and Star Wars Advent Calendars) plus multiple Seasonal sets and promos from the past few years that I never built. I’m excited!

I wonder if this 15th Anniversary promo will launch at the same time as the Hotel on January 1st, especially since the Police Station sold out day one if I recall correctly. It would be kinda awkward for them to release a 15th Anniversary promo later in the month when the 15th Anniversary Modular is sold out. If this is the case, then this will be the first time I get a Modular Building at launch. Unless, of course, the promo is just really bad.

I have it but I also have next to no MOC building abilities lol. That trailer was fantastic. I’m in agreement with most of you; hopefully we get the Statue of Liberty Battle as a large set, a Sandman build and hopefully all of the other legacy characters (Tobey, Andrew, Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Lizard and Electro) are made.

I really like both of these sets. The Hoth Battle Pack is something I'll probably get at least five of just to build up a Hoth army in case I ever want to build a diorama. And maybe this is a hot take, but I think the Hoth AT-ST is one of the best AT-STs they've done to date. I really like the look of it, though a few more minifigures wouldn't have hurt. I'll have to wait and get these during the summer though, as there's the Modular Hotel in January and I have a Disney/Galaxy's Edge trip in March. Also, I love that new box art. I was getting sick of the same white one for the past two years, so this is a much welcomed change.

With Marvel’s movie slate for next year getting pushed back (and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever seems likely to be pushed back even more imo), hopefully Lego can fast track some Disney+ based sets.

I actually really like this series. I sorta fell off from collecting CMFs for a year, around when Series 19 was revealed and didn’t get back into them until Series 21 leaked about this time last year. (Damn, time has flown.) I had reservations about them switching to 12 figures a series but so far, I’ve loved all the series since the switch. Series 21 was a much-needed return to form for the non-licensed series, Looney Tunes was a pretty neat series based off a new license (one that I don’t have any attachment too, hence why I didn’t buy any packs) and the Marvel series is undoubtedly one of the best series so far, in my personal opinion. This series continues that streak and I have no doubt that The Muppets will also. (Now that’s a new license I have an attachment to.) I’ll type out my disorganized thoughts here: I don’t dislike any of the figures honestly. If I were to complain about one thing: the printing on the alien looks a bit… messy I guess? I don’t know how to explain it but the torso looks so plain next to the detailed arms and legs. Even then, I still dig the figure and like that purple Classic Space torso. The female figure with the teal looking face reminds me of Captain Planet lol. I really like the figure with the Baby Horse/foal/colt/whatever mold and I like the recolored Parker hair/hat combo, especially since I don’t have that piece yet. The Chili costume would be useful for building some sort of MOC based off the restaurant. I love the new toucan piece and pink satchel with the figure on the bottom left. The trash panda or racoon is a pretty cool figure and nice recolor of the Series 19 Fox. To me, the only thing that looks somewhat <insert that tiresome argument> is the face on the mushroom with figure #8. Don’t know what that’s about… everything else looks fine to me though. That’s most of what stood out to me. I look forward to getting the complete set in January or February.

I couldn’t care any less about whether the heads of these characters that wear helmets covering their faces are accurate or not. I’d much rather get more diverse trooper heads than getting Angry Clone again for the next ten years. If it’s that big of a concern, then just swap them out. No offense but this is one of those things that only a Star Wars fan could find a way to nitpick about lmao. As for the set itself, I’m absolutely blown away by the model. I was super apathetic hearing rumors about another $800 UCS set, seeing as how I haven’t gotten around to collecting many UCS sets and am a bit tired of all the big gray builds. That being said, this might be one of my favorite UCS, and Star Wars in general, sets to date. Not only does the exterior look amazing but the interior is so cool and also pretty accurate. I love the stickered(?) pieces used inside. I’m also really impressed that the legs can move and aren’t just static as I saw a lot of people worrying about. The minifigure selection is pretty solid, even though it’s very reminiscent of the selection from last year’s play-scale AT-AT. Speaking of which; this set makes the 2020 model I built back in December look puny by comparison. I’ll definitely have to get this new one at some point, but it won’t be for a couple years. I still need to get the UCS Falcon, Star Destroyer, MBS Cantina and R2-D2 sets before I can think about this one. I also have a Galaxy’s Edge trip next year… Also, I’m curious to see if anyone will MOD this set to look like the AT-AT model used in Rebels and Jedi: Fallen Order.

Wasn’t expecting anything too exciting from the minifigure selection for Boba Fett’s Palace anyway. New Gamorrean Guards sounds nice, and I imagine the Bounty Hunters will be some new characters on the show. I’ll be glad to have a spare Boba and Fennec as well. Ready to get some 2022 set images in the next month.

Just finished my rewatch of Rebels Season 3 and 4, and man, that was such a great series. Aside from the two Mandalore episodes maybe, Season 4 in particular is my favorite season of all the animated series. It’s a massive bummer that we only got one set from that entire half of the series, and it’s value has doubled since it retired. I have a some set ideas that I would have liked to seen back then and would still like to see someday, as unlikely as most of these are. Season 3: Imperial Supercommandos Battle Pack ($20): The builds would include your typical battle pack builds. The minifigures would include two Imperial Rocket/Jump Troopers (New!) and two Imperial Supercommando Mandalorians with new helmet molds (New!). Duel on Tatooine ($20): The build would recreate the Tatooine sands and the campfire Kenobi had set up. Minifigures would include old man Obi-Wan and Rebels Season 3 Darth Maul (New!). The Phantom II ($30): Remake of that one Rebels S3 set we ever got. This one wouldn’t be too dissimilar but would be scaled down a bit to better fit with a new Ghost remake. This time around, the minifigures would include Chopper, Rebels Captain Rex with helmet (New!) and Stormtrooper. Mandalorian Fang Fighter ($40): Our first Mandalorian Fang Fighter: this one would include Fenn Rau (New!), Season 3 Sabine Wren with helmet, hair and darksaber (New!) and Imperial Gar Saxon (New!). AT-DP ($50): Remake of the 2015 set we got. This time around, the minifigures would include Season 3 Ezra (New!), Season 3 Zeb (New!) and two Imperial Combat Drivers. Meeting The Bendu ($50): The main build would just consist of the legendary Bendu and then we could get Kanan’s speeder bike (like the one from 2016) as a side build. The only minifigure would be a slightly updated version of the Rebel Season 3 Kanan Jarrus we got in 2017. TIE Defender ($70): A much needed and modernized version of the TIE Defender. Minifigures would include Vult Skerris (New!), Season 3 Hera Syndulla (New!) and a TIE Pilot. Season 4: Loth Wolf ($30): The builds would be an Imperial speeder bike and Loth Wolf somewhat similar to the Chima Wolf we got years ago. Minifigures would include Ezra Bridger, Season 4 Kallus (New!) and Rukh (New!). Hera Syndulla’s X-Wing Fighter ($50): Reskin of the 2021 X-Wing based off the color scheme of Hera’s short-lived fighter. Minifigures would include Rebel Pilot Hera Syndulla (New!), Mon Mothma (New!), AP-5 (New!) and Chopper. The Dutchess ($50): The build would be a heavily modified AT-DP walker with Sabine Wren’s experimental technology. Minifigures would include Sabine Wren with darksaber, an Imperial Supercommando, Tristan Wren (New!) and Ursa Wren (New!). Imperial Gunship ($70): The 2014 Police Gunship with the Imperial color scheme. Minifigures would include Governor Pryce (New!), TIE Pilot, Stormtrooper, Season 4 Captain Rex (New!) and Jedi Night Kanan with new clean shaven face print. Saw Gerrera’s U-Wing ($80): Remake of the 2016 U-Wing with Saw’s grey color scheme. Minifigures would include the long-awaited Saw Gerrera (New!), Two Tubes (New!), Ezra Bridger with jetpack and new painted Scout Trooper helmet and two updated Deathtroopers (New!). The Ghost ($140): Sadly, this is the only new Rebels set I think has any chance of likelihood at this point. This would be a system scale model that gives the ship more justice than the 2014 version. The minifigures would include the entire Ghost crew: Season 4 Sabine Wren with helmet and hairpiece (New!), Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Zeb, Hera Syndulla and Chopper. Chimera Star Destroyer ($160): An updated play scale Imperial Star Destroyer with stickered Chimera tiles. Minifigures would include Ezra Bridger, Emperor Palpatine, Grand Admiral Thrawn (New!), Death Trooper and two Stormtroopers. There could possibly be some microscale brick-built Purrgils included as well. And I have a bonus set idea based off the Epilogue: Ahsoka’s Jedi Shuttle ($50): Based off the T-6 JedI Shuttle that arrives on Lothal in the finale. Minifigures would include Ahsoka the White with new hood element (New!), Epilogue Sabine Wren with helmet, satchel and hairpiece (New!) and a random Scout Trooper just to give them an opponent.

The UCS AT-AT is gorgeous. I see a lot of people complaining about the uncovered studs but in my eyes, that helps the build retain the Lego aesthetic. The interior looks amazing, and like @Childish_Landinopointed out, it looks very accurate to how it does in-universe. The amount of figures is a bit surprising but as someone who has all of them from last year’s AT-AT, it’s good to get extras of most of them. The dual molded legs on Veers here is nice and I’m curious to see if they changed the Snowtrooper hand color again. I still don’t have the UCS Falcon or Star Destroyer so this set is definitely a long way away but I’ll definitely get it at some point. It might even be my favorite of the three.

I’m about halfway through my Rebels rewatch and am having a blast. I missed out on all the Rebels sets when they were out and would love for Lego to make more, despite their poor sales last time around. Naturally, I have a few set ideas that I’d like to see made or remade. I came up with five sets for each season. For Season One: Ezra Bridger’s Speeder Bike ($20): Remake of the 2015 set. The builds would be slightly updated and the minifigures would include an updated Season 1/2 Ezra Bridger with his painted Cadet Helmet (New!), updated Season 1 Sabine Wren (New!) and a Stormtrooper. The Phantom ($30): Somewhat similar to the previous version but updated to fit with an updated Ghost. (My ideal version would be based on Seasons 3/4, which I’ll iterate in a future post.) The minifigures would include an updated Kanan Jarrus (New!) and an updated Grand Inquisitor (New!) Sabine Wren’s TIE Fighter ($40): Very similar to the 2021 TIE but with Sabine’s custom paint job. Minifigures would include Sabine Wren with both her hairpiece and helmet, a slightly updated Chopper (New!) and a TIE Pilot. Imperial Troop Transport ($40): Again, pretty similar to the 2021 version but this one would be based on the ITT and not the Trexler Marauder. Minifigures would include an updated ITT Pilot (New!), an updated Season 1/2 Hera Syndulla (New!) and two Stormtroopers again. Imperial Sentinel Landing Craft ($80): Slightly downscaled version of the 2018 set, somewhat like the 2021 Imperial Shuttle. Minifigures would include an updated Season 1/2 Zeb (New!), an updated Agent Kallus (New!), a Stormtrooper Commander and a regular Stormtrooper. For Season Two: Ahsoka Tano’s A-Wing ($30): The build would be the blue A-Wing Ahsoka flies in Season 2 Episode 10. Minifigures would include an updated Rebels Ahsoka with actually white lightsabers (New!) and Seventh Sister (New!) Shadow Caster ($40): Ketsu Onyo’s ship from Rebels (which also appeared in The Rise of Skywalker and is based off of Asajj Ventress’ ship from the unfinished Dark Disciple arc of The Clone Wars!) A bit of an obscure one for sure but I was running out of ideas and really like the sip design. Minifigures would include Ketsu Onyo (New!), an updated Season 2 Sabine Wren with helmet and hairpiece (New!), Chopper and maybe the GONK Droid that the episode centered around. B-Wing ($50): An orange scaled-down B-Wing based off its appearance in Rebels. Minifigures would include Hera Syndulla, updated Season 2 Sabine Wren with helmet and hair piece and Agent Kallus. TIE Bomber ($70): The long awaited TIE Bomber remake! Minifigures would include Kanan, Zeb, a TIE Pilot and Fifth Brother (New!) Duel on Malachor ($130): A recreation of the somewhat iconic Malachor Temple. The model would be a size comparable to Vader’s Castle. The interior could include the room where Ezra finds the Sith Holocron and the top level can be where the Holocron gets placed and Vader and Ahsoka fight. There could even be brick built versions of the petrified Jedi and Sith around the structure. Minifigures would include Ezra, Kanan, Ahsoka, preferrably a new RO/ANH Darth Vader (but a reused version would suffice) and Eighth Brother (New!) I’ll be back with more Rebels set ideas when I’m done rewatching Seasons 3 and 4, though I don’t know if I can stick to five sets a season next time around!

I think the new IATSE deal had more to do with this delay than Harrison Ford’s injury. It didn’t seem to halt production too much. Disney/Lucasfilm must just want this film to come out during a summer, hence why it’s getting pushed back to the following June of 2023. It’s still a massive bummer though. I guess if Lego Indy does make a return, it’s probably for the best that it’s not next year. It’s already going to be so expensive. XD

I finally finished The Bad Batch and my opinion on the show really turned around after binge watching it this week. There’s a lot that I want to see from this show now. Here are some of my ideas: Imperial Trooper Battle Pack ($20): This battle pack could be something similar to the rumored Snowtrooper Battle Pack. The figures would be two plain Phase Two Clone Troopers (New!) and two Elite Squad Troopers (New!). The builds could be an AT-RT or small walker and a barricade. TK-Trooper Battle Pack ($20): Again, similar to the rumored Snowtrooper Battle Pack. This set would come with three TK Troopers (New!) and a plain Clone Commando (New!) with new helmet mold and reuse of Wrecker’s armor piece. The builds could be a speeder bike and a command post. Imperial V-Wing Fighter ($30): An updated version of the 2014 model. The figures could include a TK Trooper (who piloted these ships in Episode 14) and Captain Howzer (New!) as I don’t know where else to include him lol. Cad Bane’s Starship ($60): This set would be a scaled down version of Cad Bane’s new ship in this series. The figures could be Cad Bane (New!), Omega (New!) and the droid Todo-360 (New!). Fennec Shand’s Starship ($90): A scaled down version of Fennec’s new ship in this series. Besides Fennec and Omega, I don’t know what other figures could really be included here. Possibly casual Hunter?Maybe if Fennec and this ship appear again in Season Two, then we can get some figures related to that. Crosshair’s Imperial Transport Shuttle ($100): A much updated version of the 2009 set with an Imperial color scheme. The figures would include Crosshair (preferrably with a new helmet mold but probably the same as the 2021 figure), Admiral Rampart (New!), two Elite Squad Troopers and two of the Bad Batch members.

“Oh my god! Okay, it’s happening. Everybody stay calm. Everybody stay calm. Stay Megablocking calm!” I said this in another thread, but I was a bigger fan of The Office a couple years ago when some of those other submissions reached 10,000 supporters. Still, better late that never! Jim, Pam, Dwight, Angela, Kevin and Michael Scott figures are guaranteed. I think Andy, Phyllis and Stanley are also very likely based off the layout of the submission, and I can’t see them excluding Ryan and Kelly. That’s already eleven but I hope Darryl still makes the cut.

That’s what I was thinking. I’ve been wanting a Modular Hotel for ages, but I’m not sure how they can do one justice at the typical Module Building size, especially if they’re splitting focus with an Art Gallery. I’m sure it’ll look great regardless though. I actually really like how that looks! Looks like this may be the first time I get a Modular Building at launch. I don’t want to miss out on that promo.

First it was the NASA/space sets that were clogging up Lego Ideas, now it’s sitcom sets! I still think both should be relegated to their own themes. Sort of like how Lego seems to be doing mulitple things under the umbrella of this new “Gaming” theme, Lego Television or Lego Space would do fantastic. That being said, I’m excited that we’re finally getting The Office, though I would’ve been more excited if it came out a couple years ago when I was a bigger fan of the show.

Yeah, unfortunately I feel like we’d probably have heard something by now if we were getting a full return of the theme. I think a new D2C is highly possible and could explain why we haven’t heard anything but I don’t want to get my hopes up and end up disappointed.

I’m enjoying Bad Batch much more rewatching the whole season at once and there are definitely multiple things I want as sets. I don’t know how likely those things are going to be when we’re getting Andor and Kenobi around the same time as Season Two’s release, however, especially if they’re also wanting to do more sets for Mando, Clone Wars or the Saga in the second half of next year as well. Now that I’m thinking about it, Omega in a Minifigure Accesory Set seems like a good way to get a figure of her out fast since she seems to be pretty popular, but what other figures would they include? They could reuse some of the figs from the Havoc Marauder set, but that seems like it would drastically hurt sales of that set and they’d already be out of new prints with Omega, so they couldn’t throw in any other new figures. I actually really like that idea. I love the Incinerator Stormtrooper design and feel that it is one of the few figures we’re really missing from Season One (besides Kuiil, The Client and maybe Pershing) so it’d be nice to fill that gap. It would go really well with this year’s Mortar Stormtrooper. I really like that Beskar Mando is so common too. It’s good for the main character to be so readily available, particularly in his primary outfit, which doesn’t always happen in Lego. It helps that it’s also one of my favorite Star Wars figs to date, and now I own three.

The way I assumed that they were doing it was keep the army builders relegated to $20 to $30 sets, like the upcoming Hoth Battle Pack or last year’s 501st set, and do the character-centric packs, or at least less-massable ones like the Bounty Hunter or Jedi one, as these Minifigure Accessory Sets. I’m not 100% sure about this theory though, and it’s possible Lego is testing the waters to see how these types of sets do at different sizes and prices. As for the discussion of Bad Batch sets, I’m sure we’ll get a couple more in the second half of next year, and like others have pointed out, I could see one of these Minifigure Accessory Sets being Bad Batch related as well. Lego seems to be getting more bold with sets based off the live action shows (Mando sets are becoming more consistent and Book of Boba Fett is already getting two sets rather than one) but are still a little cautious when it comes to the animated ones. The Clone Wars has sold pretty well over the years but the other shows have been a mixed bag (specifically Rebels and Resistance), and I’m not sure how well the Bad Batch set has done yet, so they’re definitely being more cautious there.

These look decent, I’m just a little let down personally. Surprisingly, I think the new Batcave might be my favorite set of the wave. It’s got a good amount of figures and a better bike than the $15 set. I’ll probably pick it up. The brick built Batmobile is decent, I just don’t love the design. Fortunately, it won’t be too expensive. It’ll go well with my TLBM Speedwagon, 2019 Batmobile, Classic TV Series Batmobile and the recent Tumbler (when I get that). The $15 bikes are pretty bad though. They look like they were designed over a decade ago with how chunky they look compared to Lego’s current builds. Easy pass since I’m getting everything I want from this set in the other two. I wish Battinson had a new cowl, but honestly the same generic Batman face again is even more disappointing. I thought it was kinda charming when they reused that 2012 face in The Dark Knight sets, but it just looks kinda out of place here.

I think that the Republic Fighter Tank rumor is dubious already, let alone speculating that Commander Cody is somehow included. I have no doubt that Lego has heard the outcries for a Phase Two Commander Cody figure, however, and wouldn’t be surprised if we see him included somewhere in the next few years.

Bought Santa’s Visit at the Lego Store on Friday - my first Winter Village set. Also got that Seasonal Penguin set as an impulse buy. I think I’ll build my Seasonal Lego stuff around Thanksgiving break to get in this Christmas mood next month. Santa’s Sleigh also came back in stock earlier today so I was sure to order one.

I just saw this MOC on display at Brickworld Indy today. I was even more amazed by the intricate detail than I already was when I’d seen pictures of it months ago. Kudos!

I wonder how Lego is going to handle next summer’s wave. For 2020, it was a blend of sets from all eras and had sets from each trilogy, The Clone Wars, Mando and Galaxy’s Edge. For 2021, it was almost entirely fixated on the Disney+ shows with more sets for Mando and Clone Wars, as well as a set for The Bad Batch and a few OT/PT sets. Now by the time the next summer wave comes out, The Book of Boba Fett, Kenobi, Andor and The Bad Batch Season 2 would presumably all have aired or still be airing. I’m also curious to see if they’ll put out more Mando sets to coincide with that release. They know sets from the show sell like hot cakes now, so I guess it depends if Lucasfilm gives them enough material to do non-spoilery sets around when that season comes out. EDIT: Apparently, Book of Boba Fett starts steaming December 29th. In that case, it’s kinda awesome that the Boba Fett Palace set will drop just a couple days after the show starts.

I’m sure this is only going to get higher in the second half of the year considering all the hype there was for the August waves of sets, not to mention the Marvel CMFs and some very large D2Cs coming out in the fall months.