Esvald Forceswoop

I'm surprised to say but... none really. I mean of course I wanted a Death Star like every Lego Star Wars kid wanted, but I understand it's far out of my reach. What was in my reach I got everything. Republic Gunship, AT-TE, Turbo Tank etc... my biggest "set of my dream" was 10195 - Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker, and thanks to an auction I got that one too. I didn't even see I was such a spoiled child back then. If I could go back in time I'd slap myself for not being grateful for what I had.

Interesting points of view! It certainly helped me understand the situation better. I will share my experience too, perhaps you can see where I came from: When I was a child the first toy I fell in love with was Hasbro's Star Wars action figures. They had great detail and playability. They were like my favorite franchise coming to life, and that was awesome. But even with all the details, weapons and extended range of movement aside, playing with them was more like a chore. It was like the setting up and the correcting always took up most of the time. They dropped their weapons, they fell down easily etc. I remember having Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader, so I can finally have my own lightsaber battle! Only to get disappointed and frustrated with how every second or third time the lightsabers clashed one of them would fall out of the hand of the figure and fly all over across the room. Needless to say I don't have any of those lightsabers from my "playing age". Not to mention Hasbro didn't even include baseplates for their figures (I found out they don't give them today either, and even the accessories are most of the time useless junk - but Hasbro's denying quality is a good topic, for another time) so they kept falling and falling. Really they were only good for displaying purposes, but I was a 10-12 year old child, I wanted to have my own Star Wars in my room. So I got interested in Lego thanks to the Lego Star Wars Video Game. I had to beg for my mom for hours to get my first set which was 7655 - Clone Trooper Battle Pack. And what a blast it was! Not only for the price of one (ONE!) Hasbro figure, I got 4 clone troopers (3 of them were different too!) but also a speeder bike and a turret. The value compared to the Hasbro figures was through the roof. Not to mention the biggest benefits: No weapon dropping, no falling down. Sure they were less detailed, but I could play with them. Getting 7654 - Droids Battle Pack really bought Star Wars to the room, as the clones now had opponents. And for this price, I could only get a single Clone Trooper and Battle Droid from Hasbro. Soon after I had my Jedi and Sith and I could play lightsaber battles too - sure the blades would sometimes fall out and due to the limited mobility of the minifigure arm and hand the attacks were less diverse - but it was fun, enjoyable and playable. Not to mention the buildable vehicles I had, although it was more like destructible, as my rebels blew up the imperial transport and it could really fall apart without any real damage to the product. If Lego figures had the mobility of the minidolls I don't think I would have switched. With minidolls you cannot really do lightsaber duels, they also cannot really sit in a speederbike etc. It's not like my imagination was limited, the stories me and my friends made were creative for children of our age, but we were just unable to play them out.

Lost not much but stolen, yes... the good old school camp (or I don't know how to call it in English since it's not my native; sorry about that; it's a place where children from schools around the same area went during a summer vacation). I lost like a dozen of clone troopers, and many other stuff I can't even remember. There are two minifigures I couldn't replace since then: Rocket Battle Droid Commander and Darth Vader (from 8017). They even tried to steal Assajj Ventress (from 7676) but lucky me they weren't successful that time. And they got back what they deserved too, but let's not get too deep into it. I know it sounds like a terrible place but I had a Lego/Star Wars fan club there and I met a lot of good friends, so it wasn't that all bad. It had it's ups and downs. Ah nostalgia hits me whenever I think about it.

I keep all of them and use them as background decoration behind my collection. I don't go out of my way to buy one if I bought a used set though. I also try to match the themes and subthemes (Star Wars Republic boxes go behind my Republic army, Harry Potter boxes go behind the Harry Potter stuff etc).

I think it's not going to happen, due to Hasbro owning the rights to release Star Wars figures individually. Or something like that. I'm not too sure about the official name of their right, but I do know Hasbro is the reason why sets like 7201 - Final Duel aren't being made anymore, and why every battle pack needs a vehicle (or turret, or anything in addition to figures).

Picked up 75156 - Krennic's Imperial Shuttle and 75149 - Resistance X-Wing Fighter for around 163$ Really happy with my newest additions to my collection, the Empire/Rebel army is finally growing.

Star Wars battlepacks mostly: 8014, 7913, 9489. Oh and also built another 7676 with spare parts and slightly modifications (weapon systems, color etc).

Having my own minidolls now (couldn't resist 41180) my opinions are somewhat changed. I still don't like them overall, but I can come up with a few solutions at least. The height is no longer a problem, since they are not human. Elves can be any height, so it's okay. The castle also functions perfectly for minifigures, I don't need to alter it in order to fit them it, so it's also okay. At times like this I'm glad I'm not a fan of modern day themes, because I couldn't just say to minidolls from Friends "Ah well they are not human so it's okay" There's a new problem though: Restriction. They can barely move. Sure the detailing is much better than a minifigure, they look better than a minifigure but they are so restricted. They can't move their legs, neither their hands; only their arms and their heads when the hairpiece lets them. This is not good at all. Isn't this theme, these themes with minidolls are dedicated to little girls? People who want ti play with them? I don't know about you, but I think playing with a figure/doll/whatever is really hard and now fun. I can compare minidolls to anime figures made by Alter, Kotobuyika etc... and minifigures to May Factory's figma line. You see the first is more detailed, but not meant for play, only display since they are more like statues: Looks nice, but that's all there is to it. The latter is more for playing: They are movable and coming with a lot of accessories, so you can actually play with them. Now the problem is the target audience: Most of the buyers for the first group is people who are 16-18+ in terms of age. What we are calling late TFOL and AFOL. But isn't this theme is made for little girls? I doubt they are into collecting and displaying stuff only. As a collector myself, I find this situation very weird. As if the minidolls were designed in our favor. But I'm sure I'm not gonna make a stop motion series with them (which is a shame, because I had a plan in my mind).

7676 - Republic Attack Gunship when I was like 14 years old. I remember the set having Clone Commander Cody was the biggest motivation to negotiate for it for my birthday. The overall set and the building experience way exceeded my expectations. Despite it's flaws still one of my favorite sets today. My recent emerge from my Shadow Age is also thanks to a 100$+ set: 41180 - Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle. Yeah I became overly obsessed with medieval fantasy, and when I checked what kind of fantasy stuff is available I couldn't say no to a dark castle despite it having no minifigures whatsoever.

Loving this series. I just read through the whole topic and laughed like... um, when 9gag was actually about the funny comics. Since I'm really into the fantasy (mmo)rpg genre the comics really gets me. And I'm kinda jealous how awesome figures you have. Returning from my Shadow Ages with a collection of Star Wars sets and nearly nothing fantasy themed it kinda hurts.

Visited the flea market today and bought two old Phase II Clone Troopers (7655). They were around 3.5$ each so it was a nice find, since those minifigures are rare nowdays. I would have bought more, but my wallet is empty right now, and I also wanna focus on Empire/Rebel stuff for now.

Well I'm returning from my "grey age" (not really dark age, since I still picked up LEGO once in a while), first I picked up a non Star Wars set (90% of my collection is Star Wars) 41180 - Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle. After putting LEGO and Star Wars to a hold I got into the fantasy theme (with animes like Sword art Online, Log Horizon, Tower of Druaga, Re:Zero etc, video games like The Elder Scrolls, Mabinogi, Aura Kingdom, Dragon Age etc and the Game of Thrones books) so despite my dislike for the minidolls (which also seems lifting) I couldn't resist buying this cool dark castle I can use for many custom themes. Since I'm working full time now, I'll be able to pick up more Elves stuff (mainly looking for 41078 - Skyra's Mysterious Sky Castle and 41174 - Starlight Inn) as well as buying tons of new Star Wars sets (need to catch up with like 6 battle packs and wanna buy the full Rogue One wave. And next year is almost here, Y-wing, Grand Admiral Thrawn, pure awesomeness, wallet is sad though. I also want to save up for the new Death Star. Offical themes aside I really want to start my custom Galaxy Angel theme (need my brother's help with this, since he's good with designing ships, I'm the minifigure maker) and continue developing the my Sword Art Online minifigure collection. Actually the Elves stuff like the castles or the inn are fine for a medieval fantasy VRMMO setting like Sword Art Online, so that's also very nice. I am also really disappointed about the lack of Fantastic Beasts related sets - the Harry Potter license doesn't seem to rise once more the Dimension sets aside. For my collection only (not owning the game) it is quite expensive, but I know I'll get Tina Goldstein, cause it's still more than nothing. I'll need a therapy to forget about the price after though haha. So that's about it. Growing the collection, MOCing themes LEGO never ever gonna make (also MOCing into themes LEGO already makes like my custom Venator or T2B Tank from Star Wars), that kind of stuffs.

Really hyped for the Fighter Tank and the Jedi Starfighter with Hyperdrive Ring. Also glad for the other chance for the FO battle pack, I really hope it comes at least with 3 regular FO Stormtroopers.

This shows how tiny the space inside is. This ship really needed to be bigger. Granted, more expensive too, but it's supposed to be a Capital Ship. Nice mods though, I can see you tried your best to make this ship... viable to some extent, but I feel you can't really fix this unless you completely start it over and make it at least 2-3x bigger.

Tell me about the 7676. It was my first big set, I spent a good 8-10 hours building it as a kid. The next day when I wanted to play with it, it broke down in my hands... Still a great set though, I love it. As for the 8039, it's not bad but not great either. Once I tried to build it, and when my best friend saw it, he told me to step aside and we heavily modified it to a Venator that's actually looks like a Venator. Granted it doesn't have many play features but it looks nice and that's enough. But if you think 8039 is the worst SW set, just take a look at things like Podracer Bucker, Ultimate Lightsaber Duel or the original Sith Infiltrator.

A-Wing is a pleasant surprise. I desperately need some Alliance ships, and an A-Wing is relatively cheap starfighter. I'm worried about the price though. If I'll have spare money maybe I'll pick up the Landspeeder or the Desert Skiff, both look okay to me, but I mainly look for military units and buildings. So, glad Thrawn has red eyes after all, definitely picking him up.

E-Wing Starfighter (most likely never gonna happen but who would have guessed a TIE Defender to happen) System scale Rebel vessels: Nebulon-B, Corellian Corvette, Mon Calamari Crusier (Home One and standard). System scale Imperial/First Order vessels: Star Destroyer, Finalizer, Victory II Acclamator Assault Ship, Providence Destroyer, Munificent Frigate, Recusant Frigate. An updated Venator as well as Malevolence. And finally... more buildings! I have a lot of vehicles and turrets, but near to no buildings. Don't just release a wall please, make the set bigger, but include some kind of a building: Cloud City Playset, an updated Endor Bunker, Coruscant Skyscaper (scaled down of course), Galactic Senate Building (with the place Yoda and Sidious fought, forgot the name, sorry not native English), A building from Naboo; Theed, Kaminoian building with cloning facility, a proper Mos Eisley Cantina (no Landspeeders, no Dewbacks, but a full cantina with Ponda Baba, Dr. Evazan, Luke, Obi-Wan and possible Han and Chewy), Genonisan Hive (actually I don't remember how it looks like and how well can it translate into LEGO form, but I remember visiting one in the video game Republic Commando), Battle Droid Factory (can be a scaled down version of what we've seen in Episode II. Maybe include the room where Dooku and the Separatist Leaders negotiated. Wat Tambor and San Hill figures please), Yoda's Hut (again no vehicles like X-Wing is needed, focus more on the building please). Rebel Base on Yavin IV and Resistance Base on D'Quar, Maz Kanata's Cantina (not just a wall and the door, but the actual cantina), Pirate Base of Hondo Ohnaka (from The Clone Wars) etc... I doubt anyone read that far, but yeah, I really want to see more buildings in the Star Wars line, as well as more big starships.

As far as I would love to see another Hogwarts Castle set (even though I already own one version - I see the Castles more like Hogwarts castle parts, as if TLG wanted to release a 1:1 Hogwarts it would be way too expensive) I'd rather see sets we're missing from the HP universe. There is so much potential. We have no sets related to the Ministry of Magic. Or 12 Grimmauld Palace. In fact I think the only Order of the Phoenix set was a Castle (part). A non-prisoner version of Sirius Black (one of my favorite characters) would be awesome. Some older sets like the Private Drive 4 or the Basilisk Chamber could use a revision. And I didn't even tackle new material from the new movie or the play. Bottom line is: Give us HP stuff

With the Cursed Child play and the Fantastic Beasts movie, I'd really love to see Harry Potter returning.

I don't like minidolls, though it's no surprise since I'm not the target audience for them. Sadly, they are the major factor why I don't buy Elves sets. Elves has some nice builds and is finally a fantasy theme, the only available fantasy theme. Nice buildings, which I really want more, since 90% of my collection is vehicles. However, the strange minidolls are... I don't know how to describe them. They're... alien? I mean, I love doing weird crossovers between themes, and LEGO is perfect for that. Harry Potter fits into the Republic Gunship perfectly, just like Batman can visit the Hogwarts School. But a minidoll would not fit into a Gunship's cockpit, and would stand out if placed into a crowd of regular minifigures. It would be as strange as putting my Hasbro Clone Commander Cody next to my Max Factory Sakura Kyouko. The size difference makes them horribly displayable together. And this is my biggest concern: An elf girl is not supposed to be bigger than a clone pilot. As for why not just buy the set and ditch the minidolls: If I done that, I'd have a number of empty buildings. Since I rarely have any fantasy-related minifigures (the closest are my custom made Sword Art Online figs and maybe Harry Potter, but HP is a vastly different type of fantasy), I'd have to buy every single character individually. Which is way too costly for me. If the minidolls would be around the same height of a minifigure or maybe even smaller a little bit, I wouldn't hesitate to buy Elves sets. But like this, it's a major turn away point.

Not really intrested in Microfighters and the Yoda's Starfighter. I'll be getting both of the battlepacks, maybe even two or three of the imperial one. I just wish there would be 3x stormtrooper 1x deathtrooper instead of 2x stormtrooper 2x deathtrooper. Deathtroopers; while not knowing their role yet; gives the impressions of being a somewhat elite unit. And a 3 normal - 1 elite (just like how 7667 had 3 normal stormtroopers and 1 elite shadowtrooper) ratio would have been better for army building. The speeder in the rebel one looks kinda cool. The rest are kinda meh. Duel on Naboo seems terrible for me. Too small, the only redeeming factor seems to be the minifigures. And seriously what's up with that one wall piece? The designers couldn't make up their minds? Either do a wall or do not, because in this state it's rather silly looking. I need to catch up with Rebels (given the time I might just start over), so for now I can't really judge The Phantom. Also I remember Thrawn having red eyes, but in the picture it seems just regular black for me. Hopefully that'll change for the final release. Definitely picking up at least a Thrawn loose. Battle on Scarif looks not that bad. Honestly from the previous pictures it seemed much worse for me. But this can be a starting point of an imperial base MOC. Still if the set would have the things behind the door instead of a platform in front of it, I'd buy it in an instant. With this, it has great potential for me, but not having unlimited budget works, I might pass on it. Y-Wing is a must have for me, having no Rebel Starfighters in my collection yet. A classic with great minifigures and a really appealing design. The giant action figure line doesn't concern me, if I want action figures I go to Hasbro.

The hairstyle samples you mentioned in your posts would be a dream coming true (more color variation the better), as it would enable making famous anime characters via MOCing (is this even a word) fairly easily. I also agree with the fantasy theme, even for a non-licensed one. Honestly anything's good, as long as it has interesting sets, minifigures and weapons.

I've seen a really similar topic about what themes would you like to see in LEGO. Now here I'll let my dreams even looser about themes that never gonna happen: - World of Warcraft: From Piloted Shredder across Piloted Sky Golem to a giant Stormwind City playset I'd love to have iconic sets and minifigures of the Warcraft universe. An inn with Hearthstone reference would be an instant day 1 buy for me. - The Elder Scrolls: One of my favorite game series (well mostly Skyrim), this has a rich lore and lovely design. - Various anime series: While I like many of them, I do not think they would able to produce sets. At least not everything, especially those with stories which takes place in the real world or a world really similar to the real world (Mirai Nikki, Fate/, Death Note). But a minifigure line similar to the collectible minifigs would be awesome. From Sakata Gintoki across Kirigaya Kazuto and Kaname Madoka to Edward Elric I could have all my favorite characters. As a bonus, there could be larger creatures and characters as exclusives such as The Skull Reaper or Igneel. One theme, which is anime's Star Wars for me, Galaxy Angel could have it's own line. I see enough material in it. Given that the best Star Wars sets are mainly vehicles, Galaxy Angel could shine. The Emblem Frames, the Transbaal Navy, the Val-Fasc vessel... there are many ships to choose from. Too bad besides me no one knows about it haha. And that's why, licensing aside, anime themes will never happen. Even the most famous ones are nowhere near to the fame of Star Wars, Harry Potter or the DC/Marvel universes. - Game of Thrones: Just because I really like the world and its characters (mostly), and I could easily mix it into other fantasy themes. Nothing beats a meeting in the 'Hearthstone Inn' between Shiroe, Kayaba Akihiko, Eddard Stark, Varian Wrynn and Brelyna Maryon. Ah well, at least we can still make some of them, in form of MOC's. Aside from those characters who have extreme hairstyle/color.

Starting with the 'never gonna happen' themes, being an anime fan I'd love to see some anime themes. There are many problems with them though, licensing, and I'm not sure how would they translate into actual sets. For example as much as I love Mirai Nikki, and would love to have a Gasai Yuno figure, I can barely think of any Mirai Nikki related set, since the story mostly takes place in a real world environment. Same goes for the Fate/ series too, sure it has magic, but again, happening in the modern days. I think a minifigure-line would be most suitable, similar to the collectible minifigure line. They could easily include characters from different anime series such as Sakata Gintoki or Kirigaya Kazuto, without needing to create whole themes for their individual series. One anime/video game series I could imagine being a full line, is Galaxy Angel. In my regards those games are the 'Star Wars of anime'. They have many different ships, and considering how Star Wars is one of the most famous and profitable line, I can see a theme like that. Not to mention the highlights of the Star Wars theme are mostly vehicles, and Galaxy Angel has a lot different of them: The Emblem Frames, the Trasbaal Navy, Val-Fasc vessels, etc. But even if it sounds good in theory, there's the final nail in the coffin for both Galaxy Angel and the whole anime theme: They are not popular enough. Probably no one even knows what Galaxy Angel is in the first place. Even a more popular series such as Dragon Ball, Naruto, One Piece or Death Note is nowhere near the popularity of Star Wars, Harry Potter, DC or Marvel and themes like that. Seems like MOCs are the only way when it comes to themes like those. But still, even if one can successfully recreate starfighters and battleships, certain minifigures are impossible to create such as Mint Blamanche or Shinozaki Rika, due to their extreme hairstlye. Not to mention alien creatures like Prince Hata. Anime tend to have extreme hairstyles with a wide variety of colors (green, blue, red, pink, purple). Moving up, being a fan of medieval fantasy (and sci-fi, but Star Wars satisfies my sci-fi needs aside from the above mentioned Galaxy Angel), I'd love to see a theme dedicated to this. World of Warcraft or The Elder Scrolls or even Game of Thrones would be awesome. Due to the more mature ratings on those I doubt we'll ever see them as licensed themes, but if we had a fantasy line similar to those series, it would be awesome. A line based on Japan's Edo period would be welcomed too. Lastly I'd love to see the Harry Potter theme resurrected. Cursed Child play, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie, would be a great opportunity to release Harry Potter related sets.

I hate the new blaster types too, and it's kinda annoying how they put them into the battlepacks, the origins of most of my army. Of course they are an improvement from the megaphone weapons, but a step back from the normal weapons we get in other sets. I modified a few of them into grenade launchers, but an army's core isn't supposed to be grenadiers. I would love to get accurate E-11's and DC-15's instead.