Flawless Cowboy

This kind of vague language is precisely why this myth persisted for so long. After all, the implication here is that the prequels didn’t have rigorous editing like the originals, or that the magical editing of the originals was mainly the work of Marcia. And the reason people so readily believe that is because the originals were much more well received, so it must have been those pesky yes men. Again, thoroughly debunked. Rinzler’s books and first-hand accounts on set should be the primary source of information, there isn’t a more in-depth analysis of the Star Wars behind the scenes process.

The “Lucas was reigned in during the original trilogy and he went mad with power surrounded by yes-men during the prequels” is a spurious myth invented by the likes of RLM and man children in the early 2000s who felt “betrayed” by Lucas. The JW Rinzler books, and videos by nerdonymous and Rick Worley on YouTube do a fantastic job picking this apart.

40 figures to me is a sign that the Death Star will indeed be built like the playset-style versions with small vignettes, albeit with an outer shell to make it displayable. I know the DSII is more visually interesting, but I don’t see Lego just dumping 40 figures on a giant display stand next to an empty grey ball.

I don’t believe that’s a fair assumption to make and Lego’s strategy of shotgunning adult sets ranging from Orchids to Roman fountains to Korean boy bands is testament to that. Lego is chasing after casual fans who buy one or two expensive sets a year and didn’t grow up with Lego. The market has adapted. Kids much prefer video games to physical toys. Oh come on now, which game releasing this year has even a modicum of the hype GTA 6 has? Which announced games drive fans into a frenzy more than the words Elder Scrolls 6?

Wonder how this affects Lego’s priorities and image in the future. If this gap keeps widening, as kids become less drawn to physical toys in favor of digital, as the nostalgic adult market grows, what happens to Lego? Can it remain a global giant without kids and kids who grew up to become nostalgic adults?

We’re getting a thousand dollar set this year. Lego is charging “luxury toy” prices now. I’d really love to see breakdown of how much money is spent on adult vs kids sets. And what the demographics of the consumer base look like.

Who claims this rumor?

1. The UCS set isn’t “moreso” for adults than kids, it’s explicitly for adults in its price, in its attention to detail, and in its fragility and lack of interactivity. It’s for adults nostalgic for the Jango ship from the film. 2. They’re making a new variant instead of rehashing something that, in UCS years, is indeed “recent” (given that most UCS remakes release over a decade after the retirement of the last version). They’re redoing the same ship, but still offering variety in its color scheme. Collectors who have the 2015 model wont have theirs replaced, and those who don’t have one will have a new UCS Firespray. 3. What kid would want a red version of a gunship that makes an on-screen appearance for all of thirty seconds in a single CW episode? Lego designers get set fatigue too, so they redo the same sets like the Slave I and Gunship with some variety. I think Lego knows what kids like, and I doubt they didn’t take into consideration the possibility that kids wouldn’t like a blue slave I. I doubt most nine year olds care as much as we do. I already said this. And I’m sure many kids like the OT, but Lego wouldn’t be putting out this many clone sets if kids weren’t loving them even more than the OT sets. And they won’t change their product lineup until their bottom line reflects changing consumer tastes. As for adults bemoaning the clone bros era, I’m pointing out that adult-oriented sets are indeed still dominated by the OT. Well I’m no clone superfan, but Lego’s timeline for collector and kids sets is radically different. Put differently, there are a lot more seven year olds flooding the market every year who missed out on the last 501st/332nd/41st/whatever set seven years ago, than new adult fans who are entering the market with the same desire to buy a collector set they missed out on years ago.

We’re getting a thousand-dollar OT set with (allegedly) 40 figures. Price aside, the collector subthemes skew very heavily in favor of the OT. Playsets are designed for new generations of kids, what released five to ten years ago will have no bearing on what releases today, because today kids want clones, and they’ll want clones tomorrow, and the day after that they’ll want even more clones. So the market responds. The “adult who has tons of playsets from ten years ago and wants different playsets now” is a tiny fraction of the buying base especially ever since Lego introduced curated lines for “adults”.

George Lucas DOES make a cameo in Episode III, they could kill two birds with one stone in another set

They sound good on paper, but when executed, they wind up looking like the Arc-170. The Star Wars playset designers are a big step down from something like speed champions. 1. Because they haven’t done one since 2002 and they’ve done like five Boba’s in a row. 2. Because they already did in 2015, a set that retired relatively recently in 2018. 3. Because playsets and UCS sets are marketed towards completely different demographics with little overlap.

lol that’s embarrassing. This year’s GWP carrier came with eight droids. LSW needs new playset designers. The upcoming “adult” Blacktron Renegade is an all around better TOY than anything currently in the Star Wars portfolio.

I’d be all for that, but the answer is because kids want clones. The adult market, meanwhile, is getting a diverse assortment of sets, from Jango’s Slave I to Kylo’s Shuttle

No one would functionally put it in that category

I think it’s worth noting that the adult market and the kid market are two separate entities with different marketing priorities. Of all the 18+ sets we know of in 2025, only the midi-scale acclimator can be called a “clone” set. In fact, in the adult market there’s a very nice distribution of PT and OT sets, with a sequel helmet sprinkled in. Kids are getting a deluge of clone sets because collecting armies and army vehicles is the current fad.

I’m over the moon with the AT-ST, finally! Three UCS sets in one year, is that a record? As for the rest of the leaks, a $50 Turbo Tank? Lmao…I’m glad I’m not growing up during this era of Lego Star Wars. The adults sets are often phenomenal, but the kids are left to rot.

Now that I think about it…couldn’t they do this with the DSII? We really only see half the sphere in ROTJ, I believe the iconic view of the side with the laser and the half-constructed sphere is just a nice matte painting. The other side of the DSII, as shown in the 2005 model, is just an under-construction mess that isn’t appealing to the eye imo. They could just do a half-sphere with nice plated details on the exterior, and then a full interior on the other half of the model, which is open. This saves display space along the horizontal plane of the model while allowing the designer to blow up the size vertically. Just a thought.

Feels like this Death Star is either going to have 35 figures with a full interior, or four to sit on a display stand. No in-between. Hope it’s the former. I can’t imagine a $1000 dust collector without a “gimmick”.

RIP MBS I suppose. It lasted two sets.

I don’t see how a $1000 DSII would be more desirable than a $500 DSII if the only thing offered is the structure, no interior. LSW is more than capable in 2025 to take the 2005 version’s scale and make it beautiful. There must be more to this than just a giant, incomplete grey sphere.

It’ll be the 2014 model, but blue. Yay.

TandN confirmed his “redwood” leak was referring to the Death Star II, not Endor. That’s…a bit of a stretch, as far as hints go. So no MBS next year.

Four buildable figures. A thousand dollar Death Star. A Star Wars logo. Wow. Lego really said F them kids.

Because it was a “multi troop transport” that carried the same number of droids as last year’s May GWP.

Now that I think about it, with the May UCS being Jango’s Slave I, and the big fall set being a Death Star, the $200 18+ set HAS to be Endor, right? Unless the Endor leaks really were pointing to the Ewok. Or unless the Death Star is considered an MBS set. Where’s the Cantina replacement!