The Stud

The figures look absolutely spectacular. I was not expecting arm printing! My only gripe is that Tech’s helmet looks oversized IMO. The set itself also looks much better and I love the box art.

So 2023 is the 20th Anniversary of Lucasfilm Animation and I had the fun idea of concocting a hypothetical wave Lego could release to coincide with that occasion. This hypothetical wave would have eight sets based off TCW, Rebels, Resistance and The Bad Batch. (Sorry CW ‘03 and Forces of Destiny fans!) The Clone Wars: AT-TE ($100): An updated version of the 2013 set. This would be depicting the Battle of Yerbana from TCW S7 so a little barricade from that scene could also be included. The figures would include Obi-Wan Kenobi [the dirt printing version], Commander Cody [New!], x2 212th Clone Troopers [New!], and x2 Battle Droids. Captain Rex’s Y-Wing Fighter ($60): Figures would include Captain Rex [New!], ARC Trooper Jesse [New!], a 332nd Trooper and R3-37 [New!]. Separatist Shuttle ($40): A remaster of the original set. This one would be somewhat based off of that Season One pirate arc. Figures would include Count Dooku [slightly updated from 2013], Hondo Ohnaka [New!] and two Battle Droids. Rebels: The Ghost ($130): The flagship set of the wave and a better version than what Lego put out in 2014. This one would be more in scale with the 2019 Falcon. Figures would include Blind Kanan Jarrus [slightly updated from the 2017 figure], General Hera Syndulla [New!], Season 3 or 4 Sabine Wren with Darksaber [New!], Season 3/4 Zeb Orellios [New!] and Season 4 Captain Rex [New!]. The Phantom II ($30): A remake of the 2017 Phantom to go with the newly scaled Ghost. This time around, figures would include Seasons 3/4 Ezra Bridger [New!], Grand Admiral Thrawn [New!] and Chopper [slightly updated from his last appearance]. Twilight of the Apprentice ($20): A small duel set in line with the Starkiller Base, Mustafar and soon Mandalore sets put out in the last few years. This one would recreate a small portion of the Malachor temple and include the coveted Sith Holocron. The minifigures would include Darth Vader [New!] and an updated Rebels Ahsoka Tano [New!] Resistance: The Fireball ($50): A build of The Fireball around the same size as the 2021 X-Wing. Figures would include Kaz Xiono [same figure from 2019 but with new helmet piece], Jerec Yeager [New!], Commander Pyre [New!] and CB-23 [New!] The Bad Batch: It’s a little hard to think of any ideas right now. We’re only one episode in right now and by the time my hypothetical wave would be designed, Season 2 will already be done. So I guess I’ll just go with this: V-Wing Starfighter ($30): The set would be an updated version of the 2014 set. Figures would include Bad Batch Crosshair [New!], an Imperial Clone Pilot [New!] and an astromech droid [New!]

Lego can’t avoid making a Saw figure forever. Unlike other missing characters like Commander Cody or Boss Nass, Saw’s had the benefit of being very relevant these last couple years. On top of his debut arc in TCW, he’s shown up in just about every major on-screen story in between ROTS and ANH with the one exception being Solo, and even then, he showed up in the novelization for that movie haha. Plus...

I actually like that the BARC build is mostly the same as the one from the 501st set. I appreciate the consistency between the two; my problem is more so with the fact that I think the two speeders could/should have been their own set. Also... Of course, I’m also someone who isn’t bothered by the oversized build from the 501st to begin with, so feel free to ignore me.

I think it’s somewhat amusing that we’re getting Cobb Vanth’s speeder in the Advent Calendar but not as a set. Fingers crossed for that and in the winter wave, though I’m keeping my expectations low. I have a feeling that next year’s sets will follow the pattern of this year and last year where we get the more interesting stuff in the summer wave. (I’m personally expecting more OT and maybe some PT/ST remakes in this new scale come January.)

This Mandalorian Forge rumor is exciting! I really did not expect the retail exclusive to be something from Mando or TCW, but here we are. It’s something that I had on my wishlist for Mandalorian sets and here we are. I hope they don’t put in another Stormtrooper/Death Trooper in place of Paz Vizla though. I’ve been dying to get him as a figure. The Armorer is practically locked in and I think one of the two Din figures is likely. If we get Paz and The Armorer, then the only figures left from Season One that I would want are Kuiil, an Offworld Jawa and an Incinerator Stormtrooper.

Eh, unlike the Black Panther helmet or new Thor hairpiece “rumors”, Promobricks have actually vouched for this one. I know some of these figure leaks have disappointed people, but let’s have a little faith here.

I don’t really get these large vehicle builds, but the 1989 Batmobile has been tempting me the last few months and the rumors of a Delorean and now a Tumbler remake are making me rethink that. At the very least, I’m excited to see what figures come with this set. Batman and Joker are guaranteed, but assuming that this follows a similar pattern to the two ‘89 sets, there will probably be a third one included. I’m guessing either Harvey Dent/Two Face or Commissioner Gordon. I think The Bat is very likely for 2022 now, and I could see that coming with a new Batman, Bane and Catwoman.

“My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.”

I’m not seeing any new pictures either.

I don’t think I posted my thoughts on the HD pictures from the last couple days, so I’ll go ahead and do that now. -Mickey Mouse’s Propeller Plane genuinely looks like a great little set, in spite of its 4+ simplicity. I love the colors on it and the exclusive Aviator Mickey prints. -Minnie Mouse’s Ice Cream Shop is an okay little set. It has some useful pieces I could use and I like the Minnie and Daisy variants. -Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse’s Space Rocket has an awful title, but it’s a cute little set. It gives me big Tomorrowland vibes. Again, it has some useful parts I could use in my collection and I like the space suits for Mickey and Minnie. -Mickey and Friends Fire Truck and Station is probably the set that me and a lot of other people are most excited for. The last set gave me Tomorrowland vibes and now this one is reminding me of Toontown (which I wish they kept around at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom). It’s obviously not a great or detailed build, but I like the look of it. I love that they made new headmolds for Mickey and Minnie’s fire helmets and their uniforms both look super detailed. I like getting Goofy in a smaller set, since I still haven’t got the Disney Train yet, though I’m disappointed that his legs are unprinted. And lastly, that Pluto figure looks amazing! I’ve been waiting for him since this minifigure Disney theme started in 2016 and I’m not disappointed! And now we have a couple more sets that were revealed today: -Donald Duck’s Farm is a cool little set. I think it’s weird that they put Donald Duck in a store exclusive set, but I like the set itself. Getting three new animals (or new for me anyway) in this set is great and it goes without saying that I like the character variants we’re getting in this set. -We also got some more Brickheadz revealed. Daisy Duck looks good; I love how her bow looks. Scrooge with the Triplets looks nice as well, though I think Scrooge’s glasses and the boys’ arms look a bit off. These will go perfectly with the Goofy, Pluto and Donald Brickheadz I got at Disney Springs last December; I just hope Lego makes new Mickey and Minnie ones since I never had the chance to pick up the 2018 versions and they go for a lot now. Overall, I love how we’re getting all these different versions of Mickey and the gang in these sets. For 4+ sets, the builds look good enough and I look forward to picking all of them up.

I ordered the 2021 Imperial Shuttle and two more 501st Legion Clone Trooper sets for my May the 4th shopping. Will hopefully be getting those sets and the Tatooine Homestead very soon!

??? My overall opinion on the wave is pretty positive. I see a lot of people complaining about prices, but in my eyes, the sets in this wave still give an excellent value and Ninjago is still the Lego theme that gives you the best value for your money. I even like the new Legacy sets better than I did with the prelims. -The Juniors sets obviously aren’t anything to write home about, though the Kai motorcycle actually looks like a pretty decent build. -Kai’s Fire Dragon and the Ultra Sonic Raider are pleasant surprises. The build for the Fire Dragon is different from Firstbourne for me to justify it, though the minifigure selection is incredibly weak besides Golden Nya. The Ultra Sonic Raider is still kinda weird looking but it’s still a decent build. I think it’s weird that this set comes with Golden Zane and regular Zane, which happened with the Anniversary Harry Potter sets too. I honestly hope these are the last sets to come with the Legacy 1 figures though; I think we are all sick of them at this point and Kai has officially came in 17 sets now. -Lloyd’s Hydro Mech is a nice enough looking mech. I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll pick it up yet. -Ninja Sub Speeder is a mediocre retread of the Jay Walker One, which is one of my least favorite Jay vehicles. An easy pass for me personally. -The Water Dragon, however, is absolutely gorgeous. There’s not a stud (haha) in sight on the entire build and the build is so wonderfully shaped. The minifigure selection is pretty good and NRG Nya is already one of my favorite Ninjago figures yet. Easily one of the sets I’m most excited for this summer. -Temple of the Endless Sea is probably the only set that I like less now that I’m seeing official pictures. It still looks good, don’t get me wrong, but I’m a little less impressed by the build. It’s still a unique Ninjago temple and I love Ninjago playsets, so I’ll most likely still pick it up. -The Hydro Bounty looks really good! I appreciate that it comes with all of the ninja and even more minifigures on top of that. I also love that manta ray chariot! I’ll try to pick this set up this summer but might end up waiting on it. Overall, a pretty good wave! I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next, especially based off what I’ve heard happens in Seabound.

Either we’ll get the reveal tomorrow or after May the 4th is over, because I don’t see Lego/Disney wanting Marvel to take the attention away when they want Star Wars at the forefront. I’m just dying to see those sets at this point. No offense to Vidiyo and Adidas fans, but I could not care less about either and that’s all we’ve heard about this week.

I really recommend the Zane Titan Mech. I built it back in February (ironically during a snow storm) and loved it! The build process was fun and the finished build looks amazing. The Legacy Deepstone Zane figure is probably one of my favorite Zane figures yet and this set is one of the few occasions where Lego included both the hair piece and the hood for a ninja. My only qualm is that I wish there were more minifigures. I’m really excited to see the non-preliminary set pictures, especially because they will help me make my decision on whether or not I’ll be getting a lot of these sets. I’m planning on getting the Temple, Water Dragon, and probably the Lloyd Mech and I’m unsure about the Hydro Bounty. I honestly only want the golden figures from the Legacy sets at this point, so I hope the sets either end up wowing me or the figures aren’t worth too much on Bricklink.

Today’s also the two year anniversary of Endgame, so it would be very fitting if those sets were revealed today. Fingers crossed we see something!

From what I’ve heard about the newer seasons, the show itself seems like it could be running out of steam, but I feel like the sets themselves still do pretty well. Whenever I’m doing my Lego shopping at a store, I still see kids checking out the Ninjago sets and it at least seems to be doing pretty well since it’s usually mentioned in Lego’s top selling themes each year and they don’t seem to be pumping the breaks on the quantity of sets they’re producing. And even though Cartoon Network has inarguably done a horrendous job airing the show in the US, it’s trending a lot of the time when I browse Netflix so that can’t be doing too bad either. It’s hard to tell whether Ninjago is bringing in many new fans though, but for now, it seems to still be doing pretty well. I think Lego is approaching Monkie Kid in a similar way to Ninjago, but I don’t know how much success they’re finding with it. Every time I go to my Lego Store, they’re usually almost fully stocked on Monkie Kid stuff and I don’t know how well they’re promoting the show to kids or their parents. None of these other attempts at big bang themes, like Chima and Nexo Knights, have worked out for them and other non-licensed ventures, like Hidden Side and Vidiyo, don’t seem to be faring so well either. Personally, I don’t want Ninjago to end anytime soon. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think it’s the strongest line Lego has going right now. Year after year, they come out with nice looking sets that almost always give you a great value for your money and they are able to keep the storylines fresh and interesting. I have problems with the show itself right now, but I don’t want to lose Ninjago anytime soon.

Apparently Lego Shop@Home has an option where you can order six different Looney Tunes packs: https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/looney-tunes-6-pack-66667 It seems like you’re guaranteed not to get any duplicates, as the description specifies “This pack includes 6 different buildable characters from a series of 12”. I think I’ll try this out when I make my May the 4th order, see which ones I end up getting, and then try to find the other ones at my local Target.

I don’t collect Brickheadz, but I have to say that the 2018 versions of Harry and Hermione were better. Hermione’s hair was more detailed on the last one and the previous Harry definitely had the better glasses. This 2021 Harry changes “The Boy Who Lived” into “The Boy Who Has Seen Some Stuff”. Though I am glad that those who missed out on that Hagrid/Buckbeak promo last year now have the chance to get a Hagrid Brickhead now.

Apparently Keaton and Affleck’s Batmobiles will both be appearing in The Flash, so there’s some potential sets next year. They would make great additions to this $30 series that Lego seems to be doing with the 2019 Batmobile and 2021 60’s Batmobile sets. It could also give people who missed out on that ‘89 Batmobile promo a chance to get a minifigure scaled version of that vehicle.

I don’t think the bedrooms will be included because Monica’s wouldn’t be seen when you have it on display, assuming that the build is a similar stage-type style like Central Perk. I also don’t think either bedroom would look particularly interesting in Lego form, so personally I wouldn’t want part of the piece count to go to that. I think Joey and Chandler’s apartment is possible, but I’m not sure. They could honestly make that its own set to wrap a bow on this little Friends theme.

Might be an unpopular opinion, but 2020 was the best year for Lego Star Wars in my eyes, or at least since I started collecting. (Around the time TFA came out.) There were certainly flaws to be found with what Lego put out last year, but I think the good outweighed the bad. The UCS A-Wing and MBS Cantina were things that fans had wanted for a while and both were great looking sets. Lego made almost everything left to be made from TROS, aside from an Exegol play set, and we got a complete collection of Knights of Ren out of it. The summer wave was a perfect balance between sets based off off each trilogy, TCW, Mandalorian and even more obscure properties, like the IT-S Transport from Galaxy’s Edge. (Which is a stellar model and the most overlooked set that came out last year in my opinion.) As for the Havoc Marauder discussion, I think sand blue is a passable color scheme. Depending on the image or scene you’re looking at, it looks more sand blue than gray, and like it’s been said before, it might be getting a paint job in this new show. Personally, I like that we’re getting a big ship that’s not another bland variation of black or gray, and my problems with the set are with the build itself, the sticker cockpit and the fact that I think the speeders should have been included in their own set.

Looks like we have confirmation that the set will be costing $150 and releasing mid-May for VIPs. I guess we may be seeing set pictures sooner than I was expecting!

The Tatooine Homestead promo looks surprisingly good! I got the Hoth and Endor ones from 2019, but skipped the Death Star II one from last year. I think I’ll be buying the Imperial Shuttle and a couple more 501st sets for May the 4th this year, so looks like I’ll be getting this promo as well! The R2-D2 looks fantastic. I normally stick to minifigure-scaled playsets and vehicles, but I might have to make an exception for this one. It just looks like a perfect Lego representation of the coolest astromech. The head in particular is gorgeously smooth. I also like the little Luke lightsaber, even if it is out of scale with Artoo himself, and that Lucasfilm 50th Anniversary brick is awesome. A nice little touch I appreciate on the box is how it uses pictures of R2 from each trilogy, especially coming from someone who enjoys each era of Star Wars. I’ll wait to get this one though, as I still need to get last year’s Cantina, if that ever becomes available again, and other non Star Wars related sets. (Not to mention saving up for Disney World and Galaxy’s Edge souvenirs for whenever I can finally make the trip there.) And lastly, the Bad Batch shuttle looks... strange. The build looks decent enough, though the printed cockpit looks bad and I have mixed feelings on the sand blue coloring. I like getting a big Star Wars ship with a color other than grey, white or black, but I don’t know if it’s very accurate for this shuttle. (Unless they repaint/recolor it in the new show, which is a definite possibility.) The recolor of the BARC from 75280 looks great, as does that sweet green speeder bike that almost looks like a MOC, though I don’t know if both of them should have been included in this set. I like it when big ships like this include small things like on the side, but these ones definitely take parts away from the main build. From what I can see of the figures, all five of them look spectacular, though I wish they would have included Crosshair in his Bad Batch armor here and maybe saved his Imperial armor and BARC speeder for a small set to release alongside this one. Despite not being overly excited for the show or being too huge a fan of the Bad Batch TCW arc, I’ll be picking this one up alongside the other summer sets.

If rumors about the summer wave are to be believed, then they definitely aren’t hesitant anymore. The difference between those Star Wars shows and the Marvel ones, however, is that there is a lot more set potential from the former. I can think of maybe one set each from Wandavision and FATWS, and it’s honestly pushing it for both of them. Wandavision had few vehicles that could be made into sets and the setting changed in almost every episode, which makes a playset difficult. I can think of a couple vehicles from FATWS that could work, but none of them were prominent and only appeared in the second episode. Hopefully some of these shows done the line offer more material for sets. I could already see this Hawkeye concept art being made into a set for example (depending how it’s actually incorporated into the show): https://images.app.goo.gl/3M8CS4nFD4j52fMy7 And like we’ve been saying for the figures missing from the CMF series, some of the characters in these shows are bound to show up elsewhere (whether it be other shows or in the films). I could see Lego not making anything based on the Ms. Marvel show and just save her for a CM2 set for example.