mirkwoodspiders

Same here. I fear they are running out of playset ideas, though. There's probably a handful left, but I'm having trouble thinking of much they haven't done yet (beyond the rumored sets for this summer + everything else before).

That sounds right. The GWP is supposedly a Gringott's vault, which I'd assume would be to scale as well.

Yeah, about 700 fewer pieces I think, only a $10 price-reduction. Maybe that means a molded dragon, or a ton of minifigures? It may look a little odd next to DA if there really is an underground rail system. I guess that could be detachable or something. Can't wait to see it either way!

Brilliant

Gotta be something about the $650 set...

I'm waiting for 2X VIP points to get this, but just reading all the positive comments and reviews makes me more and more excited for it. I called my local LEGO store and they wouldn't divulge the amount of sets they received lol. They had done that in the past for Titanic, AT-AT, etc. It sounds like it's selling well most places, whatever the number. This is a good sign!

I'd find it hard to believe 77014 got cancelled for religious reasons. Maybe in part, but two of the other sets rely heavily on religious elements, too. The diorama set is a temple with a golden idol which the Hovito warriors later bow in reverence to, while the lost tomb set has both the Ark of the Covenant and depictions of the Egyptian deity Anubis. My best guess is LEGO finally drew the line at "scene which depicts guy getting his heart removed from his chest by pagan priest and then same guy is clapped in an iron cage and lowered into a molten lava pit as a human sacrifice..." I'm extremely disappointed the ToD set likely won't see the light of day. The build is great and the minifigures are better. These other three sets are fantastic, though. Be thankful for what you do have, I suppose.

I'd get it for the cow things alone!

I've always had a soft spot for Attack of the Clones because it was the first Star Wars movie I ever saw in theaters, and it was a cool part of my childhood. I know it's not one of the better Star Wars films, but nostalgia alone would drive me to buy any set they produced for it. That, and I really do think the locations and ships are pretty cool.

I initially thought the $650 D2C could be another version of the Death Star II, but the original version released years ago was only about 3,500 pieces. I'm not sure exactly where another 2K pieces would go in a set like that, but who knows. I'm betting Endor with a lot of figs.

I see what you did there

I own the 2013 X-Wing and I'm really happy they're doing a remake. I modified the engines for the 2013 version because they were awful, frankly, and my mod isn't much better lol. Upgrades, then, look to be 1) actually including a Luke minifig with excellent printing/dual-molded legs, 2) better engines, 3) better fuselage, 4) better tapering toward the front of the ship, 5) maybe more greebling? The new version will have about 400 pieces more than the 2013 version, and I'll be interested to see where those pieces go. All in all, I am excited. Sad my UCS AT-ST re-release dream for 2023 is dead though.

Kind of makes me miss the days when I had no idea where the leaks could be found, and never heard any rumors. Just purely surprised when I saw a set in the store or online or in a catalog. Then again, even with some of the nonsense that comes with these leaks and these forums, it's really fun getting to see and discuss sets before they come out. It increases the hype and excitement for me. Too bad it looks like the pre-release hype may lead to a letdown with this potentially-cancelled model. One fewer choice for our budgets if it's truly cancelled, I guess.

I sure hope so. It'd be nice to know soon if it's one to skip or save for, knowing there are some half-dozen large, pricey D2Cs from other themes and I need to start deciding where the little $$ I have is going

Wow, this is awful. Completely deflates my hope for a long-term revival of the theme.

Exactly. LEGO exists primarily to make money, so they will do what they think will make the most money. They will inevitably get that wrong sometimes (I.e. Black Panther bust, 1st Order AT-ST), but not on purpose, especially not with the prequels. It's difficult to believe people can look at the UCS Gunship, the AT-TE with Cody, the 501st battle pack, the Clone buildable helmets, 501st Legion Clone Troopers, and think LEGO is trying to sabotage the prequels. I honestly think the best is yet to come, like the prequels are this relatively untapped well LEGO will utilize more and more going forward. There's so much potential with pod-racers, capitol ships, starfighters, speeders, locales, etc. both at system and UCS scale. "I say patience."

Nah, I think they just need to space them out, like one every 2-3 years, and actually make it a decent set.

Wondering about this, too. How do we have ample concrete info on stuff for August/September, but nothing but price point and set number for the May D2C? The last time I can remember the May D2C leaking really late was the UCS A-Wing in 2020. I think the info on that leaked only about 2 weeks or so before its release.

Hadn't had enough time to get too excited about it, but this news means more money for other sets in the theme this year. Not too disappointed.

Kinda wishing the price points/piece counts were reversed for the Captain America Shield and NWH Statue of Liberty. I mean, c'mon... if you had told me they were making these two sets and asked whether a shield or the Statue of Liberty would be the one needing 3,000+ pieces for adequate details, I'd have guessed the set that isn't a simple, rounded, slightly curved, not-too-thick object.

This might be a silly thought, but I wonder if LEGO reads forums like EB. Like, would someone in their marketing department research the top LEGO discussion/sales sites and try to form an opinion on trending desires for LEGO sets? One forum isn't representative of the entire LEGO market obviously, but I think if you had a dedicated portion of marketing looking at a broad picture (EB, bricklink, ebay, Reddit, Brickset, Twitter, etc.) to see how people write and think about themes and sets, you'd get a decent picture about demand. All to say, I really, really hope LEGO is reading sites like this and seeing how excited people are for the LOTR return, and doesn't base their decisions in the future completely on sales numbers. I don't think they do, but I'm anxious that this is a one-time deal. And even with that, I'm fairly comfortable in thinking it'll stick around, the biggest reason being Rivendell's new moulds. I don't think they'd make new moulds for something like Gimli's Helmet and axes, Sting, the Shards of Narsil, or even create new Elven hairpieces, if they weren't planning to use them in the immediate future. They seem too unique and too carefully made to be one-offs. We will see.

Agreed. I see no reason to buy a set day one without a compelling GWP (Rivendell has none), if double VIP are going (likely not the case with Rivendell), or if for some reason I thought I'd never have the opportunity to get it if I skipped day one (this has never, ever, happened with a set I've wanted).

It would make a great deal of sense - a large gap between the first release and now and it's the ROTJ anniversary. Still, for the $240 price point, I think that's too expensive. The old UCS model was sizeable and it only had 1068 pieces. I'm not sure you could add enough detail to justify paying that much for a piece count that low. I hope we get more information soon. We had the UCS Landspeeder info this time last year...

So, this wouldn't possibly be an add-on to 71043 would it? The only reason I ask is 71043 is still on shelves, and "Hogwarts Castle and Grounds" being microscale would complete the entire thing. It doesn't seem to make too much sense as a set on its own, though.

Absolutely, same here. I think this stands on its own merit if it really is a one-off, but they put so much thought and effort into this I can't imagine they'd want to stop here with so many other possibilities. Sales should be solid, if not fantastic, and that should help LOTR's case, if they aren't already planing more anyway.