Swordy

I’d add a pair of Space Troopers, Director Krennic, and Galen Erso to round up to 40. (You know what? Forget it, the set should include 30 Space Troopers for army-building potential.) Interesting theory, but I can’t imagine it’d go over well with the target demographic who either own multiple Vaders already or who will sit the figs on a stand next to the DS in the background of his SW podcast to collect dust indefinitely—but I digress. Nonetheless, again, an intriguing thought. In the past I used the 1x2x1 slope/inverted slope pair for the frame, although I believe LEGO used the 1x2x3 slope/inverted slopes to achieve a similar angle in Dark Trooper Attack. The blast doors when closing look exactly squared, albeit angled at 45º—at least, according to my single on-hand reference of one closing on Vader post-Ben’s death. Anyway, the half-tile cut at 45º looks perfect to recreate a door mid-closing. Of course, you likely have plenty more references than my two measly screenshots, but hopefully that could be of some assistance. I’m going to wait and see on the RFT/UT-AT debacle; this rumor seems so random that it might be plausible, but of course me believing its plausible makes it implausible, so I’m choosing to ignore it for now. Ever since I saw the CAC B1, the official figure has paled quickly than Palp’s pruny face in RotS. I don’t see TLG ever making a droid of that level of intricacy, though, since I find a lack of reusability of such elements throughout the LEGO system, unlike the current battle droid. Not to mention, CAC’s B1 looks incredibly finicky, thus TLG would see even separating legs as a deterrent to child’s play. On your comment about the legs, I believe a simple solution would be to fully enclose the anti-stud connection on the B1’s feet, like the minifig already does. Maybe we see an update when minidolls get updated, but I don’t see either occurring any time soon.

I’ll do you one better: Cody, Rex, and Commander Doom for the RotS anniversary. Doesn’t matter only one of them showed up in the movie, so long as the right logo is slapped on the box. (Now, excuse me as I continue to glare at the 20th anniversary celebration for the 2003 Clone Wars Microseries.) It was in a montage of Jedi deaths. Most people walk away from that sequence with the thought “Oh wow, all those Jedi died, how sad,” as was the director’s intention. It took someone online discussing the UT-AT for my eyes to be drawn to it in the film. Of course, we diehards will watch each film 500 times to see all the wonderful set dressing, but that’s not everyone; at least not enough to prove a set successful in the eyes of a billion-dollar company. Maybe it will sell amazingly well, but I doubt it. Yes, I think I know better than the big corporation who threw out there the Justifer, the $350 Black Panther bust, and Dreamzzz. True. Again, most people watching the movie take each character as “Rebel pilot,” for that was the filmmaker’s intention. It’s no different with the different clone legions; we as fans invest ourselves into a random character or thing in Star Wars, sometimes simply “just because”. (Wedge is a true hero, though, not to dismiss your favourite character.)

Yes. I don’t think it should be made, purely based off it’s lack of screentime compared to, oh I don’t know, THE FONDOR—and even then I still want it. That’s the (one of many) problem(s) with these CW/RotS sets—they are just clone sets! For all the wishlisting I heard about Galactic Marines and 327th, I heard just as much proposals for the many non-clone scenes and characters as well. As you said, Dooku, then Grevious, Mace, Chancellor Palpatine, Kit Fisto! Oh, maybe Padme too. (I kid, I kid, I wouldn’t forget her like TLG and Lucasfilm do.) Then again, why create a dozen new and entirely unique characters when you can modify the existing 2020-style template and fill out that dozen with only four new characters? I can agree that the Prequels and TCW are just as popular with kids now. However, a majority of the screentime of the movies and show, oddly enough, weren’t about dudes in cool coloured armor, but the characters, whether those wearing helmets or wielding lightsabers. Right now, it just seems like a bunch of cool-looking fodder to store away in a tub bin, not representations of my favourite moments in Star Wars. Then again, that’s just my opinion. If Thrawn were in charge at TLG, I’d suggest that this is some massive ploy to usurp the clone bros once and for all by proving clone sets don’t sell, giving plenty of circumstantial evidence to justify the theme’s complete and final pivot into the Grand Gungan Army. Of course, this move will weaken the strength of the LEGO Star Wars militia, allowing the Chiss Ascendancy peace once more in the Uncharted Regions. Of course, we all know Thrawn isn’t in charge at TLG; that title belongs to Luigi of Luigi’s Pizza, whose ulterior scheme we have only begun to unravel.

Build sounds good and as expected—except the lack of word on elevation. Maybe it was just an oversight on Fateful’s end, but the lack of detail on that is slightly troubling. Disappointing we’ll get another inaccurate Doc Ock. Even ignoring that he got a design uplift in NWH from his SM2 attire, I thought it was clear his outfit in NWH was a dark green and far from gray—although many others online have said otherwise. In any case, the Firestar Toys custom looks all the more appealing to me. Reusing Spidey makes since; I miss the detail on his arms, though, and would appreciate an upgrade in that regard. (Yes, I’ve seen Firestar’s custom arms for Tobey, and conversely I don’t find them fetching at all.) A new face print for Tobey sounds exciting, yet I remain doubtful. 2 or 3 civilians sound promising—especially knowing at least one is female. Perhaps semi-purist customs (reuse generic prints with one or two new prints for each) of Mary Jane and Aunt May are in order—with the obvious inclusion of the train driver as well. Probably a bit too hopeful, though; even hoping for lookalikes of the civilians actually in the movie is asking for too much of LEGO.

“The revolution starts now.” Very pleased with the trailer overall, and Season 2 can’t come any sooner. As for LEGO talk, now I do miss the TIE Avenger. I could see an alternate scenario where the U-Wing featured the Rebel/hero cast while the Avenger includes the Imperial/villain side, with Andor being the only repeat character (not minifig, I’m aware of the difference right now) in each. Now it feels as though the entire Andor cast has to be boiled down to any essentials that can fit in a single set. I suspect we maybe get another trailer a month out from the series where a U-Wing is featured, and that’s when the LEGO U-Wing is revealed. I hope they don’t wait until the premiere to reveal the LEGO set, lol; in any case, the set surely will leak any day now.

I’d actually say Cyborg Spider-Woman would be part of the “level out the genders” quota. As for Sun Spider, I was thinking along the lines of her using walking crutches as being the point of diversity. (She also had the line in the film, “Do you think we Spiders use comedy too much as a crutch? Get it, ‘crutch’?” Knowing that’s her whole shtick does not make that joke funny.) Agreed on your point on Jessica; I didn’t make that clear in the previous post. You’re correct, he’s a popular rap artist thrown in as a fun cameo. I’m not a fan of his, but it’d be funny to have a LEGO Metro Boomin’ next to a LEGO Pharrell Williams. I figured it was, but it’s a shame somebody had to raise up our hopes for potential X-Men. I never thought Peni should be included in this CMF. She has far too plain of a design, and she needs a huge mech to go with her. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t there a CMF series with a mountain bike included a while back? Jess’s bike doesn’t seem all too much bigger. Actually, the box design seems more apt for bikes or horses than the blind bags, so I believe there’s hope for Spider Horse. Agreed, but Demo-Spider-Dummy when? (Actually, out of the figs from just Series 1, a Spider-Wrestler would be peak.) That’s true, but the Werewolf by Night minifig was one of the less popular from Marvel Series 2, so I think it’s a poor choice to do another werewolf so soon. Between Infinity Saga sets, 4+ Spidey sets, the outcry for more X-Men, 18+ Black Panther busts, and Avengers avengin’ Doomsday, how is that an absolute certainty? We would be best to treat these sets as the only way to have LEGO Spider-Verse until BtSV. A couple thoughts of speculation on the Spider-Verse CMF (and yes, I’m assuming the current list is accurate): I wanna see a trophy/micro-fig of LEGO Spider-Man with any of the Spider-Society members. Like to see Miguel O’Hara with a Lyla hologram, vinyl-transparent cape, and maybe a hex-portal? I’ll say again that I’d love to see a casual-attire Gwen from AtSV for variety’s sake. Will Spider-Punk be the absolute perfect minifig out of this series? …yes. Baby Mayday is the little addition Peter B. needs, and she’s the hero we deserve. Not to speak anything into existence, but remember that Marvel Series 2 was the guinea pig for blind boxes over blind bags. I could see TLG using a Spider-Verse CMF similarly if they have another controversial move up their sleeve. Just something to keep in mind. Disappointed to learn it’s Miles Prowler and not ItSV. :(

The Spider-Verse CMF seems like a bit of a mixed bag. Werewolf, Cyborg, and Sun Spider are the only true disappointments. Sun Spider makes sense for the sake of inclusion, and I guess someone on the CMF team loves werewolves. I can’t figure out Cyborg Spider-Woman, though, even though she has gotten a surprising amount of coverage for being a rando—okay, just a 12-month calendar I own, but still. I’m still in shock they chose any of those over Jessica Drew, or even Ben Riley; not having two of Miguel’s co-horts is a considerable loss. (Maybe Scarlet Spider could do fine in a retail set, but Jessica deserves a CMF spot.) Even Spider-Metro (basically a Future Foundation Spider-Man with shades) would’ve been more interesting to me than a werewolf. Make that the third time around we get a few bizarre picks for a Marvel CMF. In the eloquent words of Sam Wilson, “Do better.” The other picks make sense, and I love the sound of all but one of them. I miss one or two more villians, but the Prowler is another level of recognizability, by comparison. I hope for an ItSV variant, as I do with the potential Miles minifig. Conversely, I hope for a AtSV variant of Peter B., seeing as how it’s more unique. I’m alright with any Gwen (okay except a watercolour/pastel variant), so long as we get a unique head and hairpiece. Spider-Byte makes sense, although I don’t have much love for her design. Web-Slinger is a figure I didn’t know I needed, but now that I’ve heard it he sounds brilliant. Spider-Man India, Spider-Punk, and Spider-Man 2099 all sound amazing to me, and definitely my most anticipated picks so far! Anyone else seen the Sunspot-looking torso on the leak channels? Doesn’t match up with any of the rumors so far.

Thank you so very much. (Now the question is, should it be pronounced “My-fy” or “Mee-fee”?) That’s the second time you’ve had to correct me on character vs minifig. I blame my lack of mental comprehension on having to stare at EB’s white page for so long. (Thank the Maker for dark mode.) Correct me if I’m wrong, but no one here was claiming Plo Koon has to be in another 2025 set (although the advent calendar would be the best option if it were to be this year). We were saying that Plo has to be in another planned set, which could be anytime within the next two years from now. Granted, that leans into 2026 LSW Discussion, but that thread doesn’t exist yet. Furthermore, most of those generic troopers were the ones in more expensive sets. I believe the only reason we haven’t seen a Jedi Interceptor or Starfighter as a MiFi is because that type of set already fulfills the quota of cheap way to obtain desirable character. That is, they did until we got to $45 Interceptors. Exactly. This is all friendly speculation (although I believe BrickBob was also engaging in that discussion; he was just taking the opposite angle and pointing out flaws in several arguments, as I did with his). That’s true. LSW sets are getting smaller as of late, but they’ve been built smarter too. If the Yavin IV Base and Cad’s Justifier are any indication, the MTT and UT-AT will struggle to inch themselves off shelves; people expect a certain ball park of piece count at a given price bracket. I suspect that TLG hopes enough clone-related YouTubers will clear out whole stores August 1st regardless, thus TLG receives all the more money. For those YouTubers, the value lies in views and, to a lesser extent, pure clout. (This is a very real aspect one must consider, regardless of where one’s opinion lies.) I myself can do with or without any of these sets, so for me it really comes down to pure monetary value. As you say, I try to keep an open mind, so we’ll have to wait until the first leaks hit the web.

Ah, yes… the legendary Tallie Lintra and even-more-so unnamed Resistance pilot… Anakin Sky-guy could only dream of being in their shoes of iconicity. Don’t get me wrong, I believe agree with your overall point, but that’s a pretty flimsy argument. All three you mentioned were made during a height of Disney SW, a time in which anyone from a recent movie, even Unkar’s thug, could get a detailed minifig. (Was he in TFA in any way, shape, or form?) The U-Wing pilot’s exclusive mold was an exception, not the norm—especially with TLG’s normally stingy policy on new molds. (I’ll offer an olive branch, though, in the form of the P2 So-Shiny. Even so, that figure was just new printing—a redaction of printing, one may say—and didn’t feature a new mold.) If anything, the move to include a brand new character and mold in a such a set informs me that TLG has shifted the line’s priorities. I believe microfighters may become a proxy of a CMF, like the 25th Anniversary minifigs were. (Cool how that ties back into that previous discussion.) As NoOneOfImportance said, anyone who buys the microfighter probably will also buy any set with Plo, so in the end TLG makes more money. As for those who want the figure but can’t afford the large set he or she comes in, then a microfighter can and will suffice (such as in my case with Kylo Ren, when I grabbed his microfighter in 2020 only to finally grab the full-sized shuttle last month). So, in the end, TLG makes more money. Thanks, now you’ve scared me off from using it.

So, for once in my life, I actually did some research. It appears that first word of last year’s promo came in on February 11th. The fact that we haven’t gotten any word yet concerns me, although I suppose we are only a week or so off that date. My expectations for the GwP are as wide open as the reactor shaft of the second Death Star.

I’m not saying designers have absolute power. There are definitely several sets mandated by Disney to promote the newest and most popular Disney SW, but I believe LEGO designers have more freedom as far as what sets get made. A good example of this: the recent Blacktron Renegade was entirely a new designer’s dream and passion. Obviously they need to be sure that Blacktron will sell, but a designer was the one who pitched that set, and TLG found it successful. Does that Krennic’s shuttle story hold any relevance anymore? That was 2016, we were in the thick of Disney SW; of course there was greater control over the sets chosen. What’s coming out this year, though? Besides Andor, zilch. This is an off-year, a time of quiet, and a time that more freedom would be given to TLG—and subsequently the design team—to keep the Star Wars brand relevant. In the end, who chooses the sets? The penny-pinchers greenlight them (and set the prices based on the metric of sales figures to ensure success) but there must be a designer in order for the idea to be made in the first place. Again, the higher-ups greenlight the sets, but what mandates would the designers have right now? TLG and Star Wars are different beasts right now than what they were 9 years ago. It’s time we see things that way.

Normally, I wouldn’t blame him per se… except how many times has he literally said “In 2025 I want a UT-AT with Galactic Marines.” What’s the rumor for what’s to come later this year—2025 no less? It’s a UT-AT with, as of now, 2 Galactic Marines. “Coincidence? I think not!” I don’t think it's caving into what a random YouTuber says, so much as it’s upcoming LEGO designers seeing themselves giving back to their community, as it were. Look how happy MandR was when the 501st BP was announced, or when we get the first rumors of Jedi Bob returning. He does represent a portion of the fanbase, and carries a lot of sway with his takes on LEGO. MandR constantly talks bad about his past relationship with LEGO (he met an ego bigger than his, in my opinion), only for these upcoming creatives to make his dreams come true. “Wouldn’t a clone-centric year of LSW endear him and his fanbase to LEGO again?” those creatives might ask. (The answer is no. He even said in several of his rumor videos—which I watch purely for research, even though I know all the rumors already—that he expects LEGO, quote, “will mess up clones like they always do: helmet holes, bad printing, no cloth waist capes; we know the drill by now.” He’s fine to have an opinion, but he always manages to find a criticism and blow it out of proportion. Never complained about pale printing on a single torso until Commander Fox. That’s just my hot take at the moment, of course. Anyway,) Don’t forget that those same kids likely would’ve also grown up with MandR as he grew up. That connection holds a certain amount of influence that can’t be underestimated. Would many people have thought as much about a UT-AT if not for MandR? People of an older generation talk about Hammerheads, Yakface, and the B-Wing; people of his generation talk about Commander Cody, Commander Doom, and UT-ATs. If a UT-AT piloted by Commander Doom was the focal point of a new Star Wars movie, then we can talk about a LEGO set. Until then, while I like the thing and am glad to see it made, I argue it’s too niche of a thing right now to be a LEGO set. (How much screentime did it have in the background of a dimly lit scene the focus of which being the slaughter of Mr. Bigheaded? Maybe five seconds?) People of my generation would talk about Admiral Blue Jeans if he was kept in Star Wars. Justice for the second-greatest-blue-related Admiral!

Exactly. Great summarization. It’s kind of criminal that the only Leia available is a prisoner outfit made to shame her. (At least, that’s the in-universe reasoning, right?) This is the same company that wants to make sure LEGO Friends and City are accessible to boys and girls; wouldn’t having one of the most iconic female heroes in a cheap set make sense? Like @CloneCommando99 said, most of the new figs we’re getting this year have less than a minute of screentime. That’s fine for a one-off set or two (like Anakin’s Azure Angel from 2015), but even the boring X-Wing and TIE Fighter remake last year had no recognizable characters. To have Luke flying an X-Wing with Artoo, using sets currently available, you’d need to pay $226 USD ($110 + $16 + $100). By the way, the 2015 Azure Angel is how you do a set from niche, irrelevant media. Main character from a Star Wars film? Check. Main villain with a distinctive design from a popular TV SW show? Check. An easily marketable ship that’s essentially the “cooler” version of an iconic ship? Check. Even if a kid has no clue about either Clone Wars show, he has enough clues to inform him on the story at play. They had two opportunities to throw him in a set—TWO. The Snub Fighter (which would’ve tripled its sales, I guarantee you) and the 4+ N-1 (which would’ve triple-quadrupled its sales, guaranteed). The legend himself deserved a third minifig. Alright, just needed to get that off my chest. It’s not that clones are bad, but too much of even a good thing can be bad. It’s like with the DC theme—nothing wrong with all the Batmobiles and Batwings, and Batman is always popular, but we’ve not had a Superman until this year and we still haven’t had a Wonder Woman since 2020. Now in that case, Batman has been the only one remotely relevant, whereas with clones have been relevant when recently? Maybe Clone Wars Season 7, but Bad Batch wasn’t nearly the hit, say, Mandalorian was. Here we are, though: all clones, a smudge of Mando, and next to no OT. The generation of adults who would buy LEGO are likely the same who grow up with the Prequels and TCW, true. “But think of the children!” XP I personally disagree. Given some recent design shifts, plus a particularly prolific LSW designer moving to Icons, I could see certain designers who watch the folks like MandR joining the LSW team and going out of their way to “set things right.” At the very least, I can’t see the folks who said “Well you could double the Clone Commander as the pilot,” being the same people green-lighting a UT-AT with Galactic Marines.

Why is Pepper Potts trying to water down blond Han Solo? Is she stupid? Doesn’t she know a shirtless Harrison Ford is too hot to be cooled down? It’d be even worse if he became a Hulk or something… Alright’s that’s all folks.

I share in the disappointment for no Thunderbolts* sets. However, I understand the arguments for why they wouldn’t—the least of which being that the designs are kinda boring. Taskmaster is the only one whose TB* design is an upgrade, and she may not make it halfway through the movie. Meanwhile, half the designs of the team are monotonous grays and blacks—not as bad as the 2000s FoX-Men, though not much of an improvement. To counterpoint myself, this movie speaks to the energy of The Avengers (2012), and thus I believe the desirability of these designs will be moreso the ability to own a piece of this movie over the designs themselves. Cap and Hawkeye’s 2012 designs have never been regarded as the greatest, but people enjoy having a minifig of that design simply to recreate their favourite MCU moments. That may be true of this film, but only if it’s truly spectacular. I think it will be, but I only started thinking so a couple months ago with that second trailer. I don’t know if anyone a year or so ago would’ve predicted the hype for this movie, nor do I believe anyone will truly understand how great or successful this film is until it releases. …or like an Iron Man Hall of Armor that came with no new Iron Man suits. Excellent point. Given how we now have an image of the Thing’s head, all three images so far may have been a leak of just Ben’s minifig as opposed to a cross between multiple FF members. Then again, it’s just as possible that the hands are white instead.

That’s the trick with certain character designs—when arm printing is not an an option, do you produce the arms in the colour of the fabric of the suit underneath, or do you produce it in white to give a similar look to the overall look? To better illustrate (aka clarify my senseless jargon because for some reason I can’t write what people normally say), look at Sabine Wren from Ahsoka: do you produce a Sabine with dark brown (her suit’s material) or in mismatching colours (the armor on her arms)? As we see, TLG opted for dark brown; thus I believe they will do the same for the FF suits. I believe that the leaked torso is that of Sue’s, and that a second variant for the Thing will be produced as well. Meanwhile, we maybe get a blue-collar version for Reed and a Flame On Johnny—at least, that’s what I really hope to see, lol. (If it were me, I’d make a unique torso for Sue instead of for Reed, but I understand why Reed not having a blue collar would be a bigger deal.) Yes, I’m inhaling a ton of hopium at the moment to still expect a powered-up Human Torch, I know. Johnny is also a majorly-defined part of the FF’s lineup, and I’d hate to see a minifig version reduced to simply a blond lookalike of Reed. On another note, the Thing’s head piece looks perfect!

Yes, please. That may be the only news I’m looking forward to after last word of Cloneomania this summer. I hope for Cassian and K2, I pray for Dedra (for Billund’s sake), and I feel slightly optimistic we might get a couple standard Death Troopers. Let’s hope your streak of bringing new tidbits on Andor S2 to pass continues. If not, you must of course be burned at the stake. (They still do that in the U.K., right?) I don’t either, because, like you said, I’m okay with $5 = 1 minifigure. However, I still find myself waiting around for the 20% off discount, just simply because I don’t find as much personal value to me as a LSW fan as they charge—well, and I do like saving money regardless. I’d actually love it if TLG applied this to all of their sets, but especially for ones whose figures are valueless by comparison. I’m talking $5 for the UCS Falcon because of C-3PO or Rey, $3 for the UCS AT-AT for Rebel Pilot Luke, any set with Vader at $4. (If one figure alone can drive up the value, surely one figure alone can drive the value down.) *raises hand slowly* I’ve been disappointed that my local Bricks & Minifigs doesn’t have Luthen, and I’m scared to look at Bricklink prices. To quote Anakin, “I need him.”

True, I did think after I said what I did that scenario might have been what happened, but then the guy should come out and say it before people got their hopes up. Agreed on all three points. I could see maybe the Pepper Potts head being reused, but MJ deserves better. (So does Gwen, but that’s another discussion.) I knew that. I have near-encyclopedic knowledge of LEGO Marvel, after all. (Well that, and I saw said set at a local B&M and only stopped short of buying it when I saw the whopping $60 price tag. ) Hey, let a man dream; that way, when you’re proven right in a few months, it’ll cause me to only fly deeper into the Aslume (like a bee). War Machine is Iron Man with a gun; on that alone audiences would find him cool and would absolutely watch a movie about. I for one am sorrowfully disappointed we might not get an Armor Wars with him as the lead; a Tony Stark-led version would feel like a retread and wouldn’t hold as much emotional resonance as Rhodey defending his best friend’s legacy. (Basically Wakanda Forever but with Iron Man… and I really like Wakanda Forever.) I haven’t seen Quantamania (nor do I plan to see any of the Ant-Man films, frankly), so I wouldn’t know. That said… it’s just another dumb superhero movie. Thor being a complete idiot at the beginning was in poor taste, agreed, but he sobers up toward the end of Act 2. Plus that fight on the shadow moon feels freshly ripped from a comic book in all the best possible ways. First half is half-baked, second half is decently done. Sums up my feelings on Rogue One Love and Thornder. (I am by no means comparing the incredible, brilliant Battle of Scarif to “kids wield the power of Thor for the next thirty minutes” fight—although I would compare the death scenes of both to hold as much resonance.) So there, the hot take of a random guy online who can entertain the most idiotic movies. Imagine if we got an Armor Wars-based Hall of Armor this March instead.

That’s the case with those other sets you mentioned too, I feel. Those sets (and the mechs too) feel like a waste of prints and bricks—although new windshields are always nice. At least the monster truck set can work fine as is, since one can chose not to apply those stickers and feature a generic truck in their city. I see what you’re trying to say, though I’d rather they’d focus their efforts into… Edit: more creative sets or at least things from the comics or MCU. Then again, when given five Infinity Saga slots, TLG chooses the scrap ruins of Avengers Compound as building material. :/ Friendly PSA to any leakers: STOP BEING OVERLY VAGUE. First Redwood, now Mr. Negative? Are we going to see a post with a picture of TCW Anakin only for it be a buildable Vader helmet? Is this just a normal occurrence that I’m going to have to get used to with these leakers? This isn’t the same thing as getting disappointed a ship isn’t exactly as imagined, or an innocent mistake—this is outright misdirection. MJ sounds promising! I hope it’s mostly new pieces for one of comic’s most iconic “side” characters. Hobgoblin’s detail will probably be on par with that of X-Jet Wolverine—still, great to hear we have a new villain to anticipate. Well, it is what it is. I just hope TLG’s pricing comes back down to earth next year. Fantastic Four trailer kinda whelmed me. Not quite the same feels as the SDCC teaser footage, but it still got me at a couple spots. Rewatching it gets me more excited, though. Looks like the film will be closely aligned with original Galactus comic arc; character dynamics feel great; Ben Grimm, I gotta tell you, looks fantastic. LEGO Galactus won’t be grey, I believe. Not only does that not make sense from a toy perspective, I’m still not convinced he’s grey in the movie, albeit probably desaturated. As for the Human Torch, I hope they do his Flame On look; in which case I still expect an approach similar to Iceman who matches his Silver Age look perfectly. Then again, the Thing does appear to be wearing the same uniform Johnny wears (white collar, white stripe on the arms) so I could see TLG reusing the same print for those two to save costs. All I can say is that I sincerely hope not.

Hulk Monster Truck would honestly be a pick up for me—if not for three flaws. One, Hulk is lacking the dual-molded legs, which is strange when we just had them in a mech. We need more dual-molded legs! Two, doesn’t look like there’s a working suspension for the wheels of the monster truck, which automatically makes it uncool. Might as well make a regular height truck with big wheels sticking out the sides. Three, no big-figs! Both of the former points would’ve been negated if they had two huge comic-style, big-figs of Hulk and Thanos. Nay, just a big-fig of Hulk versus a puny Titan would be hilarious. Apart from Tony having a white coffee mug—as all minifigs should—the new Hall of Armor is worthless to me. I really like the 2013 Iron Patriot only, so all the new figure does for me is give hope the older figure will lower in price (doubtful). Oscorp disappoints me. I doubt we get a decent Gwen, and although Kraven is cool, I can wait for him to be in another set.

Thank you for the context, that makes more sense. 1. Yes, but isn’t that the point of the UCS Slave 1? I mean, it is moreso adults than kids (the different demographics with little overlap, as you call it) who remember Jango’s Slave 1 from Episode 2. I can see an argument for a playscale version in absence of a UCS version. That scenario would be the result of TLG believing a playset Jango Slave 1 won’t sell as well as a UCS version would, which is contradicted by the set choice. 2. You know how many presidents ago 2015 and even 2018 are? I love (Boba Fett’s) Slave 1, but I can’t and won’t shell out any sort of money when I know I’m overpaying, no matter what it is. The 2015 Slave 1 will keep going up in value anyway, so TLG could “generously” offer a new Boba Slave 1 (again, the more iconic of the two, which will draw in both Prequel and Original fans) and make just as much, if not more than with a Jango Slave 1. This case assumes TLG believes a UCS Jango Slave 1 won’t sell as well as a playset version would, which is contradicted by this set choice. 3. Then what kid wants a blue version of the cool ship that Boba flys in The Mandalorian? It’s pointless to me to offer to versions of the exact same ship in the exact same colour scheme in the exact same year. No, this isn’t a case similar to the Batman Tumbler—in that scenario, the larger was a display model with no intention of minifig compatibility, while the smaller offered that very thing. The more expensive (and one tha takes up more shelf space) set had less value than the less expensive and more easily produced one. The Slave 1 is a unique kind of ship where a smaller set is less character-compatible than a larger version, which defeats the entire purpose of a playset. It’s supposed to be a large, hefty spacecraft, not some nimble starfighter. To summarize, one can make the argument for a playset Slave 1 OR for a UCS Slave 1, but one can’t make the argument for BOTH in the same year. It’s a waste of a slot in a year full of wasted slots. More creativity in set choice could’ve been taken to avert this outcome.

If they focused on the build and that alone, I guess so. Ninjago is an in-house IP, though, so LEGO can and should experiment with that more than a licensed IP. I would be more confused that they include Quicksilver, but exclude four or five other Avengers, his sister Wanda, and somehow the main villain of the movie. The minifig count needs to be somewhere around six. (Maybe something like Pietro, Wanda, Hawkeye, Vision, Iron Man Mk. 45, and Ultron Prime?) I do agree it can’t be ruled out, though.

Not to be the prophet of (Doctor) doom, but remember that when we got word of 9+ figs in the X-Mansion, a lot of people thought “Oh surely it must be thirty since that’s more than nine, right?”. Alas, nine is what we got. Three figures would be madness, so I seriously hope not. Same here. I can’t imagine they mess it up, especially after the brilliant 2023 Quinjet. Then again, they did somehow do the Tumbler dirty after 2021, so anything’s possible.

Rampart maybe, since most of what he did was for the Empire (and self-preservation too, but arguably because he foolishly thought he was vital to the Empire). Krell was just wasteful. There weren’t an infinite amount of clones that he could endlessly slaughter in a game of overwhelming the well-armed and fortified enemy with a swarm numbers. At least Nolan had the foresight to recruit a small number of clones to recover the lost cargo, even if he was foolish in upsetting a free-willed marksman by outright letting to one of those surving clones die. (Which is also wasteful, since the whole reason the Empire won at first was because of the highly-skilled soldiers they used, so letting one of them die is contrasty poor insight and thus foresight.) I don’t know if kids care at all… well, until they look back years later. Maybe they look back and say “Oh, that was so cool that we got a UT-AT to celebrate 20 years of RotS,” (and they will use the acronym phonetically) but they may also look back and recognize the flaws. I guess for me I look back at the 2011 Police sets with a great deal of fondness, but I can understand how all the police sets then were repetitive from 2005 and 2008 respectively. So maybe some kids like me grow up with a great deal of nostalgia for the 327th BP and UT-AT, but they’d likely do so for any wave I guess. The trick is if the sets hit well to start with, and I doubt a niche Clone land vehicle with Mr. Big-headed and a couple cool military dudes in red will excite a kid. Honestly, LEGO City may just win back my heart with the amount of love and effort they put into the theme this year and last.

The big news is that Chewie is gonna be in a 40-fig set? Seriously? The former quote does involve some risk on the part of Maxabuat’s source, but that latter claim feels so generic, a claim so easily deducible upon news of 40 figs. Even then, most people expected the niche Imperial officer and a few of the Emperor’s advisors, so it’s not much of a hefty claim. A $70 Jango Slave 1? Why not a playscale Boba one to differentiate? Why not a UCS Boba Slave 1 (the more iconic of the two) and a playscale Jango Slave 1? Why two Slave 1’s in the same year? Why at $70 and not at $120 so one could fit both Fetts inside? Why another Kaminoan not include figs from Geonosis like Dooku and a Seppie bug or Wat Tambor? (To be fair, so long as it’s a new character, I can get behind another Kaminoan to keep the mold alive.) I’ll gladly take another Slave 1; I just don’t feel this one (nor this entire wave) was thought through as much as it could’ve. Well spoken. My speculative mind now latches onto “singular focus of this [year]”. Could this be a new strategy going forward, even if it is a poor one? I wonder what I’ll be saying next year if that summer wave is all the OT sets I’m dreaming up this year. Actually, I’d say that a bunch of Rebel and Impeial starfighters sounds far more interesting, particularly because there would have to be variety in the minifig selection. Then again, if it’s a bunch of Imperial army-builders, I might pass on most of them as well, but that’s just me. Yeah, clone and prequel fans were really feeling the drought with the two clone BPs in 2015, Clone Turbo Tank in 2016, Republic Fighter Tank and Obi-Wan’s SF in 2017, Clone Trooper (& Jedi) BP and Anakin’s SF in 2018, and all the Kayshyyyk sets in Jan 2019. Was it ideal? I won’t argue so. However, TLG was still trying to provide variety even in the midst of the huge new media waves, and notably the Sequel era is bookended by multiple clone sets. They know what sells—clones—they just maybe didn’t connect with you personally. If this wave does seem like your dream wave, I’m glad for you. If armies are your thing, which is a valid thing to love doing, then the UT-AT and 327th BP will be great for you. This wave just doesn’t hit well with me, nor do I argue it’s a good representation of TCW as a whole. Started thinking about the figs in the Maul mech. If mechs are starting to come with two figs, maybe we could see a surprise second in the Maul mech? It’s allegedly TCW-based, which would imply potentially Obi-Wan as a “villain” (but let’s not go there again)—perhaps an earlier seasons reuse from the V-19 or a new latter seasons version? Maybe the Obi-Wan in the V-19 is from Season 3 to match with the Ahsoka and Anakin from January?