BrickPrick

I just got gifted the V-19 Torrent Starfighter plus Cobb Vanth's Speeder and could hardly be any happier right now.

Yep, this would have been my bet as well. Although owning everything is much easier for The Lord of the Rings than it is for Star Wars, it must still be an impressive display. Given your enormous private collection, have you ever considered to get some commercial usage out of it? Less selling some of it and more like for presentation purposes. Or is that not something you would be ever interested in and rather keep your private collection as such?

Ha, you know I already had the honor of asking you this, so now I will ask you again for this theme: how many LOTR sets do you own; is it the majority again?

Just because it makes more sense to do some things for certain themes than others, in this case to include a single minifigure in an 18+ sub-theme, doesn't necessarily mean it isn't still missing in the first place. As for Star Wars helmets, if you look at the line-up as a whole, you can see a mixed bag regarding the availability of the characters the helmets are based on. Sure, you've got your common everyday main characters like Darth Vader and the Mandalorian, which wouldn't make the inclusion of a minifig terribly relevant. But then you have helmets like Boushh Leia and Kylo Ren, which haven't had minifigures in ages at this point. You have cookie cutter troopers like the Stormie been on steady supply on one hand, but the AT-AT driver is no longer available as the helmet released. Cody is locked behind a set twice the price as the helmet is. Rex wasn't available in a cheaper set until later on. So I don't see this topic as quite one dimensional as it may seem at first. Not that it would hurt anybody to just include a single minifig anyways. Especially at the high price points Lego is asking for.

I was about correcting your comment but thanks to it, I only now realized that it indeed might have been just an random Ent. Could have sworn it was Treebeard all along. Maybe it's supposed to be? I mean the likeness is... uncanny for sure! The new Sauron helmet instantly including a minifigure is the stuff of distant dreams. Take notes, Lego Star Wars. The time of finally getting one of these helmets might be finally here for me. I just want some LOTR minifigures, man. Though depending on how much it settles, purchasing the figure separately might be the wise thing to do. =)

Yeah, I feel this way too. We have to think about the fact that lots and lots of people grew up with The Lord of the Rings during their childhood. In other words, they weren't necessarily at an age with disposable income back then, but they are adults by now. And like it's already been mentioned, Lego wasn't the same company that it is nowadays. It has significantly broaden it's reach to speak to much more targets groups. There wasn't this explicit focus on the "adults welcome" mantra and no regular D2C sets. So you now have to factor in all these additional casuals who may have never touched anything brick-built in their lives. But as far as anyone is concerned, they never had to. As they may just be big enough TLOTR fans and wanna impulse buy Rivendell because it looks very beautiful and appealing to them. So no, in no world would "many people already owning the 2013 Orthanc set" be a good enough reason for Lego to don't do a remake in the 2020s or beyond. That'll make $35, good sir.

Yes, exactly. I would be hard-pressed to name any other relevant licensed theme where remakes feel as significant and justified as it's the case for The Lord of the Rings, which was put on ice for a decade. While it's a brutal way on Lego's behalf to ask some people to break the bank to return to brick-built Middle-earth, you can definitely build upon these D2C offerings. So yeah, I'd like to have some of that metaphorical Landspeeder magic. Though not having anything Gondor-related for all this time has been crazy for sure; your X-Wing comparison is rather fitting. Very excited for the official Minas Tirith reveal.

Given I come from the Lego Star Wars theme, don't mind me when "too similar" is something I have to chuckle at. Like when did this ever stop Lego from releasing another set, a long overdue remake no less. And no, I don't think the fact some selected hardcore fans buying off the old Orthanc set for a fortune would prevent Lego to release a new one either. If anything, these sky-high collectors prices might work in their favour when they can offer a cheaper alternative.

Okay, gotta say, with my personal The Lord of the Rings fever slowly but surely reigniting, it's time to step in some yet to be explored Eurobricks corners. I always said to myself if Lego was to bring back play scale sets of this undercooked theme again, I would even put my favorite franchise, Star Wars, on ice for the time being. So many opportunities for great remakes waiting to be re-released. Leak-wise, though, I'm not quite as engaged for this one as I used to be, so nothing new on that front, I guess? We are still at a single expensive D2C set on a yearly basis, plus a few gimmicky products along the way? Helm's Deep can only be a matter of time. So is a new Orthanc to pair with Barad-dûr. So I see either of those for next year. Here's hoping they won't touch anything from the Hobbit anytime soon.

Enough said. So, although not for me, I got two very reasonable deals on the 327th and newly released Siege of Mandalore Battle Pack. Can't say seeing everything in person rekindled my interest for the format being based on Clones, though. New legion is fine, the recycled one I can totally do without. The side builds are genuinely great, though. But yeah... I look at that stuff and think to myself "yeah, how about I wait another six months while I get the more excited sets in the meantime". This would be unheard of whenever a new BP released before, but reaches common ground for me by the day. In any case, I assume I'm now officially part of the problem. Thought this was never about not buying them at all, but about waiting for the right price. And as far as I'm concerned, the ongoing wait to be appropriately excited.

Yeah, and we are yet to see whether this supposed course-correcting for Starfighters means we are back to two figures or not. I don't see them putting a desirable minifigure like Count Dooku in such a cheap set, but Lego is sorta unpredictable in that regard. I mean, they go through the trouble of making a brand new mould for a background character like Taun We and put her in a $35 Starfighter. In the next year, you only got Yoda and R2 in a similar build for the same price like nothing changed at all. In 2024 they released a slightly beefed up $40 Starfighter with two minifigs and a droid where you just assumed it was Jedi Bob tax. Last year, oh no it wasn't Bob tax after all, we are now at $45 for again two figs plus a droid and, like you said, a detailed, but still compact Starfighter. While the price gouging is sickening, the minifigure line-ups could be at least a little more consistent. Regarding Anakin's specific version, who really knows, right? I don't recall that later version of Anakin in his early Starfighter either. But Lego works in some mighty mysterious ways sometimes. As good as they are listening to fan feedback, especially when it comes to bringing back heavily requested characters the last couple of years, I will never forget them putting the Mustafar Obi-Wan in the Grievous Starfighter set. Same could happen for the TCW Season 3 appearance of Anakin, but I'm cautiously optimistic for this one. Oh, thank you, Swordy guy. You are my one time anti-double-posting saviour.

It should be, yeah. I know Ahsoka is. So Anakin is probably based on Season 3 as well. And yes, this is what I meant with "getting the General Kenobi treatment". It felt weirdly incomplete when they went all the way for Obi-Wan, while we only got a somewhat regular Anakin last year. Especially when you consider how overpriced that set truly was. But I am less worried about the arm printing and everything now. As getting much more detailed main characters in play sets is slowly but surely getting a thing for Lego. Just not too sure about a third figure in a supposedly $30 Jedi Starfighter. That would make sense. Since getting an Imperial Shuttle, Razor Crest, AT-AT, Sandcrawler and Ewok Village might be a bit overkill on the flagship side of things? Not that I would complain, though. And weirder things have certainly happened... They are in fact happening right now with all that BS.

That's great, me too. In regards of Anakin's Jedi Starfighter containing three figures, let alone Count Dooku, I wouldn't be too sure about it. While there have been plenty of other Jedi Starfighters getting this exact treatment lately, these have been up to double the price of what this set is apparently gonna be. Wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if it's just Anakin and R2 again. In any case, however, I do hope for him getting the General Kenobi treatment. Lego won't just recycle last year's Anakin figure from Ahsoka's Starfighter, would they? On another note, has anybody something to share regarding the last Lego Star Wars purchase in it's respective thread? I don't like doing double postings.

Haha, this is what I would like to call an embarrassment of riches. Word. Can't wait for more concrete infos either, man. We will get our Count Dooku minifigure. In his life or the next. Hello there. Yes, of course. The only difference is that I can't remember the emotional contrast being ever this big. Awesome. You even seem to remember everyone's role; you keep track of that or something? Not yet. Three minifigs are reserved for all these $80 sets. But I wouldn't bet on Lego keeping it that way forever either.

Well, the tech stored inside is one thing, what they use it for is obviously another. Independent on what I think on all this Smart Brick system, I do think whoever created this technology can be proud of himself. As a fan, however, I merely want to judge the actual execution. And as of right now, what they've done with it, is... not the very best thing they could have done or still do. Rudimentary is exactly the word I used to describe the sounds in private. And yes... if your own imagination, which you are supposed to use as a kid when playing with toys, is more appropriate than whatever they do, again, what's the point in any of that? And if I wanted a more authentic Star Wars accustic landscape, what's stopping anyone from launching sound effects, quotes and music from YouTube or something? I dunno, man... Might be getting up there slowly but surely as everyone else is, but I just don't get it at all. From now on, throughout the rest of it's hopefully short lifespan, I'm gonna pull a switcheroo on the SB and call it BS. You just unintentionally have inspired me to do so. So I gotta say, at least Lego did accommodate the amount of BS sets not to be at the expense of dumb Lego. Like we still get a fairly large summer wave worth of play sets. That's exactly what's been on my mind. If you go halfway, why not go all the way through? Don't even mind the 8-Bit version of the theme... it at least represents some recognizable Star Wars iconography!