The Stud

It’s probably supposed to tie-in with the Disney World 50th Anniversary this year and also give adults a Mickey-related set that isn’t part of the new 4+ line. I’m excited to see this, however it turns out!

I say this every year but a post office would be pretty cool. I’d also dig an arcade with the same level of ingenuity that we got with the arcade machine in Ninjago City Gardens.

Saw Free Guy with my buddy last weekend. It was an enjoyable, feel-good movie, nothing too special though. It was basically what would happen if Wreck It Ralph and The Lego Movie were made in live-action starring Ryan Reynolds. Solid 7 or 8 out of 10.

Sounds like a perfect fusion between the battle packs of old and last year’s 501st set. It has the smaller price/size of the former, but the army buildability (yes, I just made that word up) and use of blaster pieces as the latter. I do not want to hear any more “Lego never listens to the fans” nonsense after how great of a job they’ve been doing in recent years and now with this battle pack revitalization. I assume we’ll be getting some sort of Rebel battle pack to go against this one. I’m relatively excited for this, I’ll probably buy a decent amount of these like I did with the 501st set.

I feel the same way that I did when these images first “leaked”. The sets and minifigs look fantastic but I’m not terribly interested in the Eternals movie itself. Like with Shang-Chi, I’m waiting to see if I really like the movie to decide if I want to get the sets. The box art is really great for these sets though, despite the weird Arishem box shape, and I think it’s really interesting how they fit all of the characters onto it.

I’ve been playing through The Complete Saga in anticipation of this new one recently. The wait for info about this game has been hella brutal. Hopefully we get a good amount of gameplay and whatnot.

I built the two new 10th Anniversary sets and figured that I would share my thoughts on them. The Fire Dragon Attack wasn’t really a set I was that excited for, so I was pleasantly surprised when I built it. The process was very enjoyable and the finished result looks amazing on display. Also, I love the molded head! Really, the only problem with this set is the minifigure selection. Nya may be my favorite 10th Anniversary ninja, but the other three figures are extremely boring. So far this weekend, I’ve built the 2019 Monastery, this set and the new Ultra Sonic Raider so I have three more Legacy Kais and Zanes to add to my collection. The Ultra Sonic Raider wasn’t a set I was looking forward to too much either, especially since I already have the 2016 set and really enjoyed it. This one didn’t really surpass my expectations like the Fire Dragon and didn’t reach the level of quality in the Ultra Stealth Raider. With that 2016 version, the completed model with all four vehicles attached looked great and the four vehicles themselves all looked good on their own too. The same can’t really be said for this new version. The jet looks cool by itself but the two side bikes don’t look as cool as the ones on the 2016 version and the middle section doesn’t stand up right and the cockpit area keeps wanting to flip upside down. It’s also harder to detach/attach the vehicles in this version compared to the last one. The minifigure selection here isn’t the best either, as I just built the Legacy Monastery the night before which had a lot of the same figures. Golden Zane is pretty great though. Overall, I’d say that the Fire Dragon Attack is definitely worth picking up. The Ultra Sonic Raider is a decent model, but unless you want Golden Zane or if you want a complete 10th Anniversary collection (both of which apply to me), then you can probably pass on that one.

The 501st set is fantastic and honestly one of my favorite non-UCS sets. I mean, I own ten built copies which speaks for itself. That being said, I honestly feel like it’s going to be a one and done sort of thing. It’s tricky to think of many other battle packs they could do at that size aside from the ITT and reskins of 75280, unless Lego makes up the builds like they did with most of the $15 ones. Personally, I think Lego taking a break from Battle Packs was a good thing and I think that they have taken note of what people were displeased about with the last few years of battle packs. Hopefully 2022 or possibly 2023 kicks off a new era of battle packs, whenever they return.

I finally got my August 1st order! I got the first four Infinity Saga sets that we saw leaked pictures of (the 4+ Cap bike, Dragon Flyer, Iron Monger and Endgame Final Battle) and it really feels like things have come full circle. I remember seeing the leaked pictures in class during the last few weeks of high school and now I finally got the sets a week before I’m off to college. I also got the Shang Chi polybag which is cool because I’m not sure if I’m getting any of the other sets for that movie.

I finally got my August 1st order! Really excited to build the Mandalorian Fighter and Duel on Mandalore along with all of the other sets I got.

I think the new No Way Home Sanctum Garage is also a pretty fantastic smallish set outside of the 4+ range. It’s a cool playset with some greaf minifigs. I also do not want an entire 4+ wave. As much as I love minifigs, they’ve become less important to me over the last year. I’m more hesitant to buy sets just for the figures and 4+ sets tend to be kinda useless outside of the figures. I guess it depends how they end up going about these sets. Imo, following the formula Star Wars has been doing with their Duel sets would work out pretty well for Marvel.

I’m not a huge Brickheadz fan, though I do have a couple of them including Mando and Grogu, but I’ll definitely get this one when it comes out. I love Ahsoka and I’m glad to get more representation of her in Lego. Besides, Jar Jar would have been a really bad pick imo. Hasbro made a new Jar Jar Black Series figure this year and that turned out to be a massive pegwarmer. Meanwhile, Ahsoka is a fan favorite character and actually relevant right now, having just appeared in The Clone Wars and The Mandalorian, and will soon be getting her own show and will surely be appearing in other stuff as well.

Ideally, the new wave will have a nice balance between everything. That’s what I loved so much about the Summer 2020 wave, fans of each trilogy got a few sets, fans of The Clone Wars got two sets, Mandalorian fans got the Razor Crest and fans of the more obscure stuff even got a Galaxy’s Edge set. Of course, it’s not possible to please everybody but balanced waves are great at not alienating anybody. And hopefully we got more info on the AT-AT soon too, as I would like to know if there’s a Veers Watch minifig as well.

There’s no evidence that “Disney”, or Lucasfilm, hates the prequel era. Since the Disney buyout, we’ve gotten multiple books and comics in that era, an additional season of The Clone Wars in that era, The Bad Batch which is right at the end of/just after the prequel era, a lot of prequel-era flashbacks in Jedi: Fallen Order and tons of references in Rebels, Mando, Solo and other media. The prequel era had the most content going into the new canon (three movies and an entire TV series) and appealing to OT nostalgia was and still is very lucrative, so that’s why the shift happened around that time. Just because that era isn’t getting as much spotlight doesn’t mean it’s hated.

I’m not saying they’re perfect, just that we’re more likely to be wrong about “what sells” than they are. Then again, Lego Con was a thing…

Exactly. They have far more resources and research backing them up than a bunch of random folk on the internet.

I mean, no? Not really. Their designs keep getting better each wave and the sets this year have actually been reasonably priced, which is an improvement over previous years. They’ve also scaled back starfighters to make them more affordable and to prevent us from getting more $90 X-Wings. I’ve heard more people clamoring for sets based off the shows the last two years, and that’s what the summer wave is almost entirely comprised of. They have actually been doing a fantastic job listening to the fans the past few years. We just got the UCS Gunship, so I don’t know why they would release another one at the same time, and the 501st Clone Battle Pack is still doing well enough to stick around for another year, so again, I don’t know why they’d release another one at the same time. Look, I’d like a new Gunship or AT-TE too, but just to play devil’s advocate, wouldn’t it be nice to get something we’ve never seen before over more remakes? Especially when the Lars Homestead is one of the most iconic locations in the series.

Well, my Lego order has finally shipped. Most of my order was Marvel and Ninjago themed, but I did get both of the new Clone Wars sets. I was honestly expecting to have these sets already but I haven’t had much luck with Lego’s shipping this year. (I see a lot of other people are in the same boat.) Meanwhile, I’ve seen most of the sets from the new wave at my local Walmart and Target, though I still haven’t seen Boba Fett’s Starship or the Vader Meditation Chamber anywhere. Speaking of Target, I was surprised to see that they were selling the UCS R2-D2 there yesterday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the set in person before.

I second this; this is where I’ve been looking to pre-order the new series as well. Very reasonable pricing and shipping imo.

Yep, I ordered my stuff right after midnight as well! I ordered a bunch of Marvel, Star Wars and Ninjago sets to build during my last couple days of summer break, along with some of my sets in the backlog, and I’ve only got twelve days left, so hopefully it gets here soon.

Mine still hasn’t left the warehouse either. At this rate, by the time my stuff actually arrives, I’m going to be moving into my college dormitory. I like how it says the names of all the shows but yeah… that’s something. Still, I’m actually considering buying a full case of Minifigures which is something that I’ve never done before.

We won’t have to wait long for Ms Marvel as she’ll be a main character in next year’s The Marvels. Clint and Kate are head-scratchers though, but hopefully we get a small Hawkeye set early 2022. Also managed to make my Lego order at midnight and got all of the new Marvel sets I wanted to get today. I ordered the Endgame Final Battle, Iron Monger Mayhem, Black Panther Dragon Flyer and the 4+ Captain America bike sets. I was tempted by the Bro Thor and What If? sets but I’ll hold off on those for now.

I think the Advent Calendar is actually okay. I’m definitely waiting for a sale but I like the inclusion of Christmas Sweater Iron Man, Nick Fury, Captain Marvel and Infinity Gauntlet/Stones. The rest of the minifigures are SE/comic inspired but I could use some extras of those characters. I honestly think this is is a better Calendar than the Star Wars one this year, though I do still plan on picking up both for a discount. Also, I just realized that I never shared my thoughts on the CMF series so to keep it short, it looks amazing. Series 18 and Disney Series One are still my favorite Collectible Minifigure lines but this is definitely very close to those series. I’m honestly contemplating getting two complete sets which I’ve never done before. My ranking of the figures goes as follows: -Zombie Hunter Spidey (love the Disneyland suit and this just might be my favorite Spider-Man figure yet.) -Sam Wilson Captain America (possibly the most detailed minifigure of all time.) -Loki (spitting image of Tom Hiddleston though that smiling face looks off. Also would’ve preferred a Lego Miss Minutes over Throg but it isn’t a huge deal.) -Scarlet Witch (the only thing that bothers me is the lack of detailing on her crown.) -Zombie Captain America (wasn’t expecting to like this figure as much as I do but he looks great!) -T’Challa Star Lord (very vibrant minifigure and a solid choice for the series. Definitely getting an extra one for the Chadwick Boseman face.) -Captain Carter (I love her new hairpiece and I think this is a perfect representation of the character.) -Bucky Barnes (I don’t think the smiling face fits really well, and I don’t like the inclusion of the shield here, but is otherwise a fantastic figure.) -Gamora with the Blade of Thanos (I think this figure needed an armor piece to stand out more like she does in the show, though her hairpiece may have prevented that, but I still really like her overall.) -White Vision (Very detailed figure; I just don’t really care for the character and don’t have a normal Vision figure for this one to go against.) -Sylvie (The opposite of White Vision. I really like the character but the lack of leg printing looks off to me and the faces don’f fit. The croc is cool but kinda pointless without a Loki crown.) -Monica Rambeau (Good figure with an awesome new hair piece. I just don’t care too much about the character and feel like her inclusion is a waste of a slot since she doesn’t have an especially cool outfit or accessory. The fact that we’re sure to get her in a set for The Marvels makes this an even more puzzling choice.) Okay, maybe my thoughts weren’t too short… really excited for the series though!

These sets feel like they’ve been out forever even though they’re only releasing in the US on Sunday. I look forward to completing my Ninjago 10th Anniversary collection with the Ultra Sonic Raider and Fire Dragon Attack in the next few days. I’ll hold off on the Seabound sets and space them out throughout the semester.

I guess it all comes down to me wishing this was more of an anthology series taking turns focus on different characters immediately after the rise of the Empire. Sort of like how The Clone Wars shifted focus between different characters and sharing their stories. I also don’t really care for most of the Bad Batchers, so shifting focus to characters I do already like (the Syndullas and Chopper), the characters I’m more interested in in this show (Admiral Rampart and Crosshair) and a new clone character who has already had more development in two episodes (Howzer) was refreshing to me. And yeah, Clone Wars and Rebels suffered from a similar problem with reused assets. It’s understandable when it’s a clone being duplicated over and over but it’s very distracting otherwise. It’s kind of a fun thing to notice in the background on rewatches!