ForgedInLego

The fact that Rivendell was leaked at the same time in the same format is weird, but it wouldn't make sense to include Barad-Dur in a survey if it had already been ruled out. IMO Rivendell was set in stone and Barad-Dur is still up in the air

Orthanc I'd class as minifig compatible because of the doors, balconies, and roof that are obviously work with figs, but look at the tower on the left of Barad Dur, it is at most 4x4. Maybe better pics will prove me wrong, but I think details like that'll make figs look strangely huge on the battlements or bridge, much more than they do on the stairs to Orthanc

My guess on scale would be kinda like the Jurassic Park gate, with a non minifig scale exterior and minifig scale scenes from Cirith Ungol inside

Barad Dur is supposedly 33 inches tall or 5 inches taller than the Orthanc, so definitely not small, but I think it is more of a display piece than one for figures like Rivendell

Even at this scale it still looks underdetailed, like they just wanted to nail down the basic shape What if the real focus group was the forum posts we made along the way? would be kinda funny if they deliberately let this slip to gauge interest

Barad-Dur is a 100% day 1 buy for me, the high fig count on Rivendell could suggest more for Barad-Dur, but other than Gollum and maybe the mouth of Sauron I don't see a need for anything other than more random orcs

I don't have an insta account so I can't see the pic very clearly, but this is making me think Arwen, it would be a little weird to make a Brickheadz of her but include two random other elves over her in the one location she stays in for the majority of the series

To be fair, focus group surveys do exist (I've taken several for Amazon Prime and watched shows and movies a couple months early), but I thought Lego's focus groups were more focused on the building experience (especially for young kids) and require a more hands on approach than just pictures.

https://www.promobricks.de/star-wars-helmet-collection-2022-gerucht/129667/

I don't have any concrete stats on how ROP did, but I do happen to know that Amazon was willing to pay focus group participants $150 to watch each episodes as it came out and take a survey on it starting around September 13th. Doesn't exactly bode well for Amazon's expectations vs how it performed. Never seen anything similar for any other Amazon show.

Sorry to interrupt the discussion on star wars shows, but anyone else get a misprint like this? The blue ink went outside the lines a bit and just didn't fully fill in the space.

I think you made the right choice for the gunship turrets even without taking cost into account. The 2002 (and 2008) turrets aren't actually based off of AOTC, but this concept studio model developed for the film, but they are much more accurate than the 2013s decision to make the side turrets and the wing turrets the same part, causing the wing turrets to lack detail and point backwards. I'm also glad to see your AT-TE MOC made it into reality!

I think I got a couple of the '02 wave sets at the same time, but probably the 7163 Republic Gunship. I just rebuilt it out of the parts bucket when Covid hit, and although half the clones are missing, the B2s have long since shattered, and the parts aren't in the best condition, I still love it!

I'd prefer to get the 501st pack from a physical store, but apparently Target is only selling it online and Walmart doesn't even have a listing on its site. I guess its for the best though, as I've unfortunately gotten more than one resealed box with no minifigs from Target just after release.

Could the $15 odd one out be a droid battle pack? Droids are significantly cheaper to produce so it could explain the lower price than other modern battle packs. Build could be a miniaturized J-1 Proton Cannon or a STAP and crab droid or something. Considering the development work and perhaps mold retooling, I'd assume Super Battle Droids that aren't incredibly brittle would be in a more expensive set.

Honestly I'm not sure if Andor appeals enough to kids to get a wave flagship second set, especially compared to the other shows coming out. I could be wrong though, as the Cantwell scene looks to be make to keep the kids engaged who found the character interactions boring.

Starting to think $15 is the new price for microfighters / brickheads...

Never even been true, 7163 launched in April 2002 and 4482 launched in January 2003. Seeing the anniversary logos for Clone Wars and ROTJ on the January sets makes me think the $160 has to do with one of those.

75371 reminds me of the Tantive 4 from 2019, my guess is a Nebulon B as its the only ship from the UCS vote that hasn't happened yet

Finally got around to taking better pics of the dropship, updated the first post

Just saw Avatar 2 in 3d and some random thoughts

I think it would be interesting to see the difference in cost for a cloth kama vs dual molded legs. Depending on how opaque the print is, I think I'd prefer the dual mold for durability and ability to bend the legs without damage. Definitely agree on the current kama situation, it just looks awful from every angle, but I guess I can live with it. MandR out here being MandR, nothing new...

The TIE Pilot helmet is on its second mold though, and it is two years younger than the phase 1 clone trooper helmet mold (yes the old one was a recolored stormtrooper helmet, but it still counts)

Extra macros and printed backpacks confirmed, LifeBricks is building his live

Agree with you completely, plus the UCS Gunship will either reach its end of life or be close to it by that point. The UCS Gunship also shows the huge potential for improvement on the 2013 version, so I hope its not just a "perfected" model like the AT-TE (which is fantastic, don't get me wrong). Anyway, this sort of speculation probably belongs in a clickbait YouTube thumbnail and will inevitably lead to disappointment, even if we do get a gunship. Back to the 501st set, while a printed slit on the macros would be nice, its so thin on the in universe one that it doesn't bother me much. I'd need to see better pictures though, as if its a flat face it needs printing, but if it is pointed like it should I think its fine.