Lordhelmet

thinking of it like this - steps to my logic. 1) if Lego reproduces all the old sets . 2) reproduced sets have minifigures that are much better than the original ones (overlap like hagrids hut). 3) demand for old minifigures drop because new better versions exist. I would love that scenario because it means that Lego would be reproducing a ton of LOTR playsets with really high quality minifigures. Even if that meant that my old ones lost their value i am in a better position where Lego is making new high quality LOTR playsets. i do not expect the old ones to lose value because i doubt Lego will release enough to satisfy demand and the old figures were so good (plus collectors demand would be high).

I’d be good with the old figure prices dropping because we got new better ones. I doubt that we will ever see that market collapse but if they lost 25-50% of their value because we have newer better versions I’ll be here for it. Heck I’d take a remake of all the sets right now :).

those pilots are super pricey though (zev, will, Wes). Hopefully we will see more playsets leading to another echobase. Yavin, this years Death Star, etc. I love that line up if they continue with the base idea. Anything to reduce the cost of pilots and imperial officers (Death Star) in bricklink.

I took the original Biggs helmet and put it on the Biggs with hair minifig. No visor though. (I also took a current Luke pilot torso and legs for Jek Porkin which got me to six red squadron pilots that all look pretty good) I am coming around to the newer helmets. For consistency I prefer the old ones, but the newer ones had really nice printing. Just hoping for one or two new or modernized pilots (with screen time) in the new set.

on a plus note rebel pilots are much better today overall with improved leg and torso printing than they were in the past. Plus we got Garven Dreis last year and have an opportunity with the new x wing to get another pilot. Personally I am hoping for someone new, or a will scotion or wes janson remake.

Agreed, being greedy Tarkin plus Motti (or tagge, bast, or Yularen) would be awesome. If there are two named officers I might buy two copies. Crazy how many imperial officers we are missing with on screen dialogue.

hopefully more info comes out on the Death Star. I am still leaning to it being a 50% smaller counter to yavin (no reason for that other than the price and leaked title Death Star play set). Where we would have 1-2 officers, 2-3 troops, and Vader with a command room and another room, or hanger with small scale Vader tie, etc.

I just made a wishlist forum post a few days ago about wanting the conference room (diorama). I will happily take a playset though and would love Motti, Yularen and Tarkin (would be nice to get tagge too but a combination would be cool).

I am hoping for it to be a counter set to yavin. Like an imperial briefing room or command center. I would love a small command room with a small scale darth vaders tie. Think like just the middle floor to yavin base with the y wing and the minifigs. (Also would be happy without vaders tie in this scenario with a different room or section equating to about half the size of yavin). That would be pretty cool to have both sets as opposing forces in the same battle. (Would also be nice for them to do this with like Hoth and the command bridge on the executor in the next couple of years then with home one, and the second Death Star. Like opposing forces bases.). Depending on the minifigures I may get two of this one.

Any thoughts on what the Death Star player is? Based on price and minifig count I am wondering/hoping it is a counter player to Yavin. So ideally we will get a vaders tie (small scale) and maybe some scenes like the briefing room and the gunner area.

The minifig numbers are awesome this year. excluding battle packs and microfighters. tantive - $55 - 7 minifigs $7.85 each mando bunker - $40 - 4 minifigs $10 each Peridia - $50 - 5 minifigs $10 each Death Star - $80 - 7-8 minifigs $10 to $11 each Plus a lot of good characters. Very exciting to see some sets where you get more minifigures for the money vs the previous few years where a lot of complaints have been the lack of minifigures for the price (especially compared to other themes).

I think the UCS AT-AT could also be a comparison. Both ground vehicles vs. space, more characters involved in the scene and a potential interior to fill/work with.

crazy sets, I have to say 2024 has been the best leaks for Lego I can remember (which is great). We got the confidential marked image list last year for sets that have so far been accurate, and now a very early summer set leak. Very exciting to see everything this early and plan my spending ahead of time. As for me I am planning on the Podrace diorama one or two of the midi scales (depending on how good they look) the tantive 4 diorama, peridia and the Death Star. The tie/x wing is a maybe depending on the minifigs. Good year so far with two sets (tantive and peridia) with excellent amounts of minifigs for the price. edit. I forgot the Rex y wing microfighter, and mando battle pack. Lots of good sets through August.

It would be cool for a new ultimate collectors line. Specifically one focused on minifigs, because collectors love minifigs. so once a year we would get a buildable display themed to the minifigs selection. Minifigs would be CMF level (arm printing, leg printing, unique molds etc.). So an example would be Red Squadron. Would have a display for 6-10 of the pilots. They would all be UCS pilot Luke level of detail. The display stand would be to showcase the minifigs not to be a diorama. Focus would be on obscure character groups that are underrepresented (without Lego being willing to do a CMF line). So named rebel pilots, named imperial officers, named gungans, Jedi council, video game leads (could easily do 5 or 6 here), etc. or ones we have not seen in a long time like phoenix squad, or jabbas palace aliens. this would give us a (pricey) set with super high quality minifigs and a display or stand for them and help cover ground with unexplored minifigs. The crazy part is they could do this for twenty years and still not make a significant impact on all the characters that have not been done let alone the ones we have not seen in a long time.

It was easy to take the theme for granted back then. I bought all of the LOTR and was selective about hobbit sets but I remember expecting Lego to come out with Gondor sets. How could they not? (Jokes on us). There were sales on the sets but at the time that was common for most themes (I remember when Lego used to retire sets and VIP access gave you early discounts like I got the Home One for 50% off from the Lego store) . So when they canceled I was surprised based on how much more the theme could have explored. Hoping for a great Brad Dur and still hoping for a small line of play scale or other smaller sets.

What is funny (to me) is I assumed in the earlier post Mara was the only good character. The two video game leads (I played both but only about half) were ok but to me Mara (from the Thrawn trilogy) was the best character of the three listed. Also I would like a Galen Erso minifig but that is mostly because we are missing a ton of rank insignia for empire characters so that would be one more. Just funny that I read that completely differently then intended with which character was good.

This would be incredible if done well.

I am all for that being the case. A fell beast with a normal ring wraith would be fitting and would definitely make the price feel better. Repeating a fell beast (or one for the Witch King) would be fine too especially if it is good design or mold - would be nice to get the dinosaur treatment for it. Plus it would be nice to have something on the side of Barad Dur like they did with Orthanc with the Ent build. Crazy that Orthanc was $200 for the tower and Treebeard.

agreed

I saw that white horse in the pick a brick standard section just before it was suspended for the end of the year (maybe the day before). I am waiting for it to open back up to grab one (among some other bricks). Just so I have an unbridled white horse for $5. I will have to reinspect the eyelashes though.

My newest wishlist is a diorama of the Death Star imperial command room. Just a big table with Tarkin, admiral Yularen, Tagge, Motti, and Vader with a quote I find your lack of faith disturbing. Simple but I would pay good money for that line up of minifigs.

Me too! I am excited to see all of the midi scale ships (the executor was an incredible build). I am also really intrigued by the Tantive IV hallway with (is it 7 minifigs including Fives?). Excited to see pictures of that one as well.

Agreed, there have been very few storm troopers lately. Working on MOCs without easy access to these is expensive. Also I miss the older (2014-2018) stormtrooper helmet mold . The new (dual molded) one always reminds me of Family Guy. I prefer the helmet holes clone helmets to the current stormtrooper helmet. Would be great to get a non clones battle pack to mix it up a little (not hating on the clones battle packs, it definitely makes up for a long time without them, would be nice to see more battle packs released like 2015-2019). More on topic, I am excited that we still have a micro fighter I think this is one of the best things Lego does (I would love more $10-$15 sets like marvel has too). Not a fan of the mechs, the builds are boring and repetitive, my kids don't really play with them either just the minifigs, and the parts are not great to use in other builds. However if we have to get mechs it would be nice to get new characters (or maybe more microfighters with named minifigs). For example we could get a Captain Needa mech, or a Tarkin Mech, or Jek Porkins mech (which would be hysterical). I think that could make mechs interesting at least. The 12th pilot Luke minifig in a mech is a hard pass but someone will inevitably buy it for my kids around the holidays because it is the only thing in that price range.

Worth noting, I am not getting my hopes up for more than the leak. Just commenting that if they are adding $60 from the leaked price, they should compensate with additional mini figs from the leaked amount (I think 12 was the leak). We are almost at a Rivendell price, I don't see why we shouldn't get a comparable amount of minifigs. The price per piece is comparable, Rivendell had 21 minifigs, I would think that for something priced that high we should have a comparable amount (15-20 seems fair). (Also worth noting Avengers tower had 31, and Gringots had 13 plus an additional gwp minifig). Gringots being $30 cheaper. I am good if a few of them are statues like Rivendell. Also agreed, the build needs to be improved as well. $500 was a lot of Rivendell but it was an excellent set (great build) with great minifigs, I would expect excellence at $400, but adding $60 should make it that much better.

Thoughts on Barad Dur price? I was really hoping for $400, the extra 60 will push it to or over $500 with tax. I think at that price we should see at least 18-20 mini-figures.