Alpha Draconis

same here brother. We're all expecting great things of this set I imagine

Thanks for the info. I'm very sceptical of the rumour still, way too many things at play for now I second this line of thought. For 530$ the thing should be massive. In my opinion, way too massive and frankly unnecessary at this point unless there's something in the plot of S3 that could turn this around

I hope you don't mind me asking (since I don't read all the posts here, especially when there're a lot of new posts in a short time) but who's the source of the UCS Razor Crest and what's their reputation? The idea seems a little... weird for a UCS set. Not saying it won't happen but this seems a bit like the UCS Imperial shuttle rumour-type situation form a couple of years back

I'm very excited to see the pictures of the sets. If everything is true then you may insert death star blowing up my wallet gif here

I think that there was a rumoured GWP set number some time ago. I'd certainly expect one for the price and the occasion Edit: found it - it's rumoured to be set 40567

My republic tanks already shipped. Really interesting that the actual shipping and predicted shipping date (July 22nd) vary so differently - I wouldn't have bated an eye if it was a couple of weeks of difference but this one is huge. Oh well, I'm getting them earlier so I'm happy

Damn. On EU site, the republic tank may perhaps take longer to arrive than Mando's N1. Fighter tank will ship my July 22nd and N1 will ship June 1st

for anyone interested - a new wizard with an owl minifig has been leaked to be joining build a minifig selection in Lego stores. A great way to get just the figure and tie it with the set (if you wish to do so). The minifigure is definitely an homage to the OG wizard minifigure, minus the beard

Yikes I agree that all star wars sets should be included, there are only 2 sets on the list I'm remotely interested in buying but I had more new sets on the wishlist

for anyone interested in what the supposed double VIP points sets are, here's a summarised google search: 75268 - 4+ snowspeeder 75297 - 4+ Poe Dameron's X-wing 40557 - Defence of Hoth (minifig pack) 40558 - Clone minifig pack (good luck on getting this one) 75266 - Sith trooper battlepack 75295 - microfighter Falcon 75298 - TaunTaun vs AT-AT microfighters 75307 - 2021 Advent calendar 75320 - snowtrooper battlepack 75321 - Razor Crest microfighter 75269 - Duel on Mustafar 75270 - Obi Wan's hut 75271 - Playscale Luke's landspeeder 75281 - Anakin's starfighter 75283 - AAT 75299 - Trouble on Tatooine 75310 - Duel on Mandalore 75342 - Republic fighter tank 40391 - First Order trooper portrait 40431 - BB-8 portrait 75249 - Resistance Y-wing 75254 - AT-ST raider 75300 - TIE fighter 75311 - Imperial armoured Marauder 75319 - Mandalorian Armorer's forge 75324 - Dark Trooper attack 75251 - Darth Vader's castle 75257 - playscale ep. 9 falcon 75272 - Sith TIE fighter 75284 - Knight's of Ren ship 75286 - Groveous's starfighter 75291 - Death Star final duel 75293 - Resistance I-TS transport 75301 - Luke's X-wing 75302 - Imperial shuttle 75312 - Slave 1 (eat me, this name is badass) 75314 - Bad Batch shuttle 75316 - Mandalorian starfighter 40539 - Ahsoka brickheadz 75255 - Yoda statue 75278 - D-O statue 75288 - playscale AT-AT 75292 - playscale Razor Crest 75315 - Moff Gideon's cruiser 75317 - Mandalorian and Grogu brickheadz 75318 - Grogu statue Please note this was a quick google search, I may have missed a set number or switched some names. If the list is true I'm VERY disappointed no new sets are on it

Landspeeder looks nice but I have no interest in picking it up, just not my cup of tea. I'll definitely try to splurge enough on May 1st to be eligible for promos

I saw it. The picture quality is to poor for any detailed scrutiny but the overall shaping looks nice. I wonder how the'll address the windshield. Could they somehow use this recently introduced new piece?

I know it's been a while but you'll never guess which set I reviewed today hint

Preface It's been around a year since I made my last UFO set review, time really flies doesn't it? I've had this set sealed for quite some time actually but never quite had the courage to open it and I think it's obvious why – the packaging is really unusual and unique – I don't think I've ever seen a similar odd-looking packaging. But then again I'm no expert on Lego packaging so this may not have been that unusual in the past. But one can only wait for so long and I intended to open and build this set at some point and the moment has arrived. To those who haven't yet read any of my previous UFO set reviews (which are 6979 Interstellar Starfighter and 6975 Alien Avenger) I owe you a short disclaimer – this is my favourite theme and I may look at it with rose-tinted glasses so please keep that in mind. Nevertheless I'll try to be as objective as I can with my conclusions. As always, I'm looking forward to any feedback, critique and I'll gladly answer any questions about the set or the theme you might have. Enjoy! Information Set name: Cyber Saucer with Promotional Mask Set number: 6999 Number of pieces: 109 Year released: 1997 Minifigs: 1 Price (then): 20.00 USD Theme: U.F.O. Introduction to the theme For the introduction to the theme I kindly invite you to check it in my 6975 Alien Avenger set review, as I have nothing more to add to it. The theme was short lived and the small amount of lore is inconsistent at some points (mostly stemming from different marketing materials between regions). Nevertheless, the aesthetics are some of the best in my opinion and the minifigs the best looking to-date. The theme was second-to-last in the continuous space themes releases, ending with Insecoids theme in 1998, which shares some of the lore with U.F.O. theme. There are 11 sets in the U.F.O. theme, which you can check here on Bricklink. Introduction to the set I bought the set via Bricklink. The box was in good condition with minimal amount of scratches and wear which is something you can expect on a set that is a quarter of a century old. All the seals were unbroken and contents of the box were still in their original, unopened packaging. You can check Bricklink listings for this set here. The box/ packaging This is the front of the packaging. It holds the mask on the left hand-side and the Lego pieces in the compartment on the right-hand side. The wear is minimal and in line with set age. These next few angles should provide a better idea of packaging shape. The back of the packaging show alternative builds and a kid with both the mask and the set in action. On the bottom right-hand side is the demonstration of the thermal sticker. More on that soon. This is the profile view of one side of the packaging with the mask dominating the picture. The profile view of the opposite angle is different due to the compartment with pieces being located on the right-hand side and obscuring the mask. A closeup of legal and product information on the packaging. The set was made in Billund, Denmark. Here are a few more closeups of mask-part of the packaging only. It's held in by 2 pieces of the packaging (front and back of the packaging cardboard), with the mask being held in between them. I wonder how easy it would be for a kid to rip the mask out back when these sets were widely available in stores? A closeup of stickers on the mask. Did I forget to mention it is based off the helmets that the aliens of these theme wear? Looking through the eye holes, you can see a piece of instructions or catalogue in the mask compartment of the packaging. Otherwise no backs with pieces or other paper materials are in the mask compartment. Packaging seals are located on the top and bottom of the packaging and hold together both parts of the packaging. The picture above shows top seal of the pieces compartment. Interestingly, there are actually 3 seals in the picture, one applied over the other. I suspect this was done to increase seal strength, since this is a very unusual packaging shape. All seals on the packaging are reinforced with at least another seal over the original one. I also don't think this was done by a third party, since all additional seals look identical, in the picture above you can also see that both additional seals have their own number (2817 and 2517). They also look of the same »style« to me, all with a black bar in the middle and none look broken. A different angle of the same seal grouping on the top of the pieces compartment. 2 seals on the bottom of the bottom of the pieces compartment. Interestingly there are no numbers on these seals. Front view of 2 top mask compartment double seals. Back view of 2 top mask compartment double seals. Back view of the 2 bottom mask compartment double seals. The sides of the pieces compartment have no seals but are instead glued together. A slightly different angle. Unboxing Unboxing for this set happened in 2 parts – first I opened the top of the prices compartment and built the set. Afterwards I broke all the remaining seals ion the top and bottom to release the mask. The mask review will be presented in a separate chapter. These are the contents of the packaging. A total of 3 bags, instructions, a poster and a catalogue. And the mask, of course. From left to right: instructions, a poster and a catalogue. The poster is of the same design as the one I got in 6979 Interstellar Starfighter. A side-note – I found this code on the top left-hand side of the poster. Does anyone know what the code represent? The catalogue. The back of the catalogue. The 3 bags containing all of the Cyber Saucer pieces. A keen eye will notice an elastic band in one of the bags – this is to be able to attach the mask to the head. Minifigures Blue UFO alien/ Commander X This is the sole minifigure in the set and one of the main characters of the theme. He is named Commander X in August 1997 edition of Bricks 'n Pieces magazine, published in the UK. The figure has a grey alien helmet, with black shoulder armour (identical to Chamon, another alien of the U.F.O. theme). Blue colour is used for legs and arms of the figure. Printing is only present on the front of the torso and legs. The front angled helmet print represents the brain which is one of the trademark looks of the U.F.O. theme. Below are pictures of the minifigure with helmet and shoulder armour from all remaining angles. The top view of the helmet. The front angled print extends to the top of the helmet where electronic interface of the helmet can be seen. Commander X without his shoulder armour and helmet. Top right-hand side of the torso sports U.F.O. logo. The leg and torso printing is very detailed, especially impressive due to the fact this was made in 1997. Below are remaining angles of the figure without its accessories. Building the set These are all of the pieces used in the build. Building the set was easy, since it isn't big anyway and because it uses very unique looking and big pieces. Picture above show all the big circular pieces that form the main body of the saucer. Here's what an underside of one of the circular piece looks like. This is the only other printed element in the set, besides the minifigure and 2 circular pieces of the saucer body. There is only 1 extra piece in the set – a transparent neon-green 1x1 circular plate. The 2 sticker sheets in the set. I'm pleased to say that the glue didn't dry out and the stickers stuck to the pieces with no issues and are not falling off. On the top of the picture are 2 reflective stickers and below is one thermal sticker, which changes colour if exposed to heat (from finger) and reveals U.F.O. logo. The colour changing can be seen on pictures below (starts with green, turns to brown-bronzeish and then dies out). The front of the instructions. The back of the instructions, showing alternative builds. Assembled set Here is the assembled set. It is composed of the landing gear with thrusters and the main circular bods with cockpit. In between is a turntable which allows you to spin either the main bod or landing gear. The cockpit opens and has space for 1 minifigure which is accommodated on a red seat. The heath sticker is applied to a smooth 2x2 plate, which attaches to the top of the cockpit. Reflective stickers are applied to, what look to me, 2 side-flaps attached to the main body. There's a safe-box located on one of the landing gear feet which contains the printed 1x2 smooth surface element shown earlier. I assume a handheld scanning device or perhaps a power source of the saucer? This is the saucer, flipped upside-down with landing feet in the air. A different angle of the flipped saucer. The set was definitely made to be looked at from above, as almost all the sets in the U.F.O. theme. And lastly, the side view of the saucer. This angle too, isn't too flattering. The mask Now comes the special part of the review and a part I'm not sure I personally encountered in any other set so far – the promotional mask, which represents the alien helmet of the U.F.O. theme, more specifically Alpha Draconis' helmet, since his is the only one being black. It's a single moulded piece with a ginormous sticker on the front angle and on the top of the mask. The mask has 2 elongated eye holes. I'm not sure why eye-holes have this shape but I assume it has to do with the mask shape itself and different sizes of kids' heads that this was supposed to be fitted on. Otherwise, there's not much to say about this helmet. It's plain black on the inside and has 2 holes on the side that the elastic band in the set is supposed to be tied to. Below are additional pictures of the helmet form different angles. Here is the mask next to the set. Next to the minifig helmet. And lastly, the included elastic band. I didn't really try to fit the mask on my head (or rather, my face) since I already saw it wouldn't fit comfortably. The eye holes were a bit too low for me. It's going to make a nice and interesting collector's piece. No pictures of me and the mask though. Instead, here is the picture of what a dog would look like with the U.F.O. mask. Conclusion Having the opportunity and privilege to open a sealed U.F.O. set always means a lot to me. It's my favourite theme after all and my collection is getting bigger. With these reviews it's always hard for me to be unbiased but I'll always try my best. These sealed sets are always expensive and to put is shortly – are not worth it for an average person. For a collector and a fan like me though, that might be a different story but I'll let you be the judge of that. If you feel like it's worth it and can actually afford to pay for a sealed set then I'd say go for it but you can always find these sets used and in pretty good condition, although if it's the mask you're after, these are not quite common, even in used condition. I hope you enjoyed this review and hopefully leaned something new. If that's the case then the purpose of this review has been fulfilled. Design: 9/10. I'm a sucker for a classic UFO shape and this is as classic as you can get with the theme. Big pieces don't bother me at all – they are essential to the U.F.O. theme. Parts: 9/10. All the necessary parts are present, which for a nice and eye-catching set. Build: 5/10. Not complex at all and all big pieces make for a fast build. Low score because of my gripe with old-school instructions which don't show you needed parts and where they fit in every step. Minifigures: 9/10. Could always use more aliens but 1 figure still seems fair. Play-ability: 10/10. Along with the mask, this must've been a blast to play with back in 1997. Price (sealed): 5/10. Very pricey for what it is. As always, I recommend buying this set sealed only if you are a big fan with a budget to spare. Otherwise there's nothing wrong with used sets just make sure you buy them form a reputable sellers and ask for pictures before buying it. My fleet is resting. For now... Trivia I believe this Cyber Saucer was featured in 1999 Lego racers video-game – it was the saucer at the start of the Alien Rally Asteroid track, whose beam, when it hit a racer, caused them to move backwards. Interestingly, only the saucer part, without landing feet is present in-game. Screenshot below is from YouTube channel MedalOHonor123. Another rendition of the saucer can be found at the end of the track but it' just hovering above the track, doing nothing but giving off cheesy alien sounds. A full model of the saucer also appears on PC box cover of the game but not on all versions, at least form my quick google search where I was only able to find one example.

testing to see if I still know how to link pictures, don't mind me Update: turns out I do

looking at the republic tank review it looks both good and kinda bad from certain angles. My main gripe has actually become a gap between the front angled part and the x-wing canopy. I understand that there needs to be something to hold the canopy in place, otherwise it would swing inward and would be hard to pull out but on the other hand, the gap is noticeable and does not help to promote the look of the build

Where does this information originate from? I also question this statement since in the 2nd round TLG decided to group sub-themes. Given the sub-theme vote numbers from round 1 and summing them up you can quickly see that top 3 most voted themes get shifted and Bionicle comes to 3rd place (with around 10k difference between 2nd place) which is still an impressive score for sure. I'm not saying that the numbers were similar in the 2nd round and I realise circumstances were different but this is a reasonable analogy/projection that other people have made I would personally like a Bionicle follow-up product but I think chances are very low, especially after the reveal of the 90th anniversary classic set

I think the latest classic 90th anniversary set makes this theory (unfortunately) even more unlikely. I think there's a rumoured 90th anniversary promo yet to be revealed but that I assume is going to cover only 1 theme and it's probably going to be castle to go along the 350$ set

The tank proportions look more in vein of 2008 variant to me, definitely not as small as 2007 version. Probably between those 2 size extremes. I'll have to see pictures from more angles (and fully assembled set at that) but the inclusion of 1 (perhaps 2?) battle droids makes this set an attention catcher for me

Trash compactor is meh... especially for the price But 3PO figure is really good. It almost looks like a custom fig with it side printing!

I'm slowly getting on the hype train myself but I need to wait and see this set first. Prospects are promising and I might buy it day 1 An olde-school wizard and a dragon would spice up the set just right for me so I hope it happens. I also expect a proper heft for a non-licenced 350$ set

I like Dagobah set and will probably be picking it up on May 4 but I'm not sold on the trench run. Maybe with better pictures but I doubt it will win me over

An interesting theory has popped up https://www.brickfanatics.com/we-might-first-look-90th-anniversary-set/ It's a mixed bag of clues for me - on one hand we can see existing sets in this short (0:38, 0:58 Medieval Blacksmith, 1:03 T.rex Rampage) but on the other hand it may well be just a random lego castle asset... I will say that the size of the castle seems about right for the rumoured price and the build looks detailed. What are your thoughts?

The theme picked definitely deserves to be represented as 90th anniversary set. I would have been slightly more excited if it was a classic space set but this is great nonetheless And I just received my ideas blacksmith today! What a coincidence I'll for sure be buying this set but I expect it to be really hefty for that price tag

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one - I'll probably get multiple of the hover tanks since I imagine it will be massable to a degree Windshield piece for UCS Luke's landspeeder is interesting. I'm not sure if it's real or not but if it's true I wonder if we'll get the same piece in any other color or context in the future