BrickPrick

I absolutely agree. While Lego was always an expensive hobby to have, moreso the Star Wars theme as a whole, the value in the, say, past decade, was miles ahead of what you get in terms of large play scale sets now. There are always these exceptions at the lower, but still high $100 price tag, like the Inquisitor Transport Scythe was pretty amazing... I thought. But when you compare it to something like the current Clone Tiny Tank or even the MTT, although the latter fairly better executed than the former, you are having a tough time to even imagine where the extra 60% price increase is coming from. And since B1s cost next to nothing to Lego, you can't even play the "well, you get many more minifigures" card. Builds are also quite comparable. No one can can seriously tell anyone there is a clear $60 difference to be found. There just objectively isn't. It honestly never fails to amaze me how big the pricing discrepancy between individual regions can end up looking. You feel lucky when getting the desired sets on discount. Wheras I'm like "well yeah, same procedure as every year... just business as usual". If most sets are not at least ~25% off, I don't even bother considering to buy them. As far as I remember, there were like... three Lego Star Wars sets I ever got at full price, two of which were Battle Packs. Ever since that leak showed up, I thought it made the most sense (for Lego, not the fans mind you ) to release the supposed new Grogu mould in the upcoming UCS N-1 Starfighter. So not getting it in the dirt cheap $10 Mando Speederbike set, only confirmed my suspicion. And for the sake of everyone who is committed to this noble cause, myself included, here's hoping that we won't have to wait until many more holiday seasons to see it happen. Always watching the usual suspects for reviews, but it's usually much more meaningful to get to know some infos first hand. So was the build to your satisfaction? I mean, besides some obvious shortcomings like the really tight cockpit area and inaccurate door opening mechanism? If my memory serves me right, you were quite keen on it...

Have you guys and girls planned anything for this Christmas; any set in particular that piques your interest? I will probably pick up the U-Wing and that's it.

Whether we need a whole new in between play scale and UCS format may be up to debate. But I think it will be only a matter of time until we reach new price points. Not necessarily because of the larger scale, but due to inflation/shrinkflation. So 300 bucks will be the new 240 for regular UCS sets, and 200_ will be the standard for 150-180_ large play scale sets. Though I suppose we won't get to that point so soon. Suffice to say, I want that new system scale Millenium Falcon treaty signed!

@Mandalorianknight Yes, I'm aware that even last year's 25th Lego Star Wars anniversary wasn't technically a full on wave, but a handful of sets spread across the year, like five larger puzzle pieces culminating into one wave. However, like you already said about semantics, point still stands... I won't expect this just for ANH to happen. A couple of nods to Episode IV here and there, sure. But if we get something on that scale, or even larger than that, please give us some actual variety for multiple eras. If not, we still have 2029 for that, though. Isn't it funny, though... We are on the brink of 2026 and all we do right now is speculating hard what kinds of anniversary is in store for us in the year after. In some way, this speak volumes about the current state of the theme. I just wanna say, whatever way, shape or form this whole thing is gonna materialize... I think we can all agree that something has to happen for this special occasion. Like we don't want Lego to go about their business as usual. Please make it a good anniversary business. Give fans something nice back and enough will be ready to pay a pretty penny. Yep, that's what I thought. Your posting wasn't exactly rocket science, so I don't know why it even caused some confusion in the first place, but maybe that's what interacting on the internet sometimes does for you. I've been waiting forever for a regular OT themed play scale Falcon. A little larger than usual... why not? Sounds like a good sweet spot to me. The Episode IX MF took ages to retire. Now we have the Midi-Scale and Dark Falcon available. And all I got is the freaking Microfighter from in between those releases. Oh well, it's at least on the same level as wish listing about a possible anniversary for 2027 in the 2025 discussion thread. If the Rancor gets real hungry, I'm sure he will let us know. Though I'm already feeling his breath on my neck. This reminds me, not to revive that big old debate, but how funny would it be if we were to get Lando in Han's cloth before we get him in his iconic Cloud City outfit in a system scale set?

Of course, this is totally in the realm of possibilities. 2017 had the UCS Falcon for the 40th anniversary of Star Wars as well. It wasn't themed after ANH, but there is barely any difference anyways. Again, there absolutely can be a (UCS) Tantive in 2027. The thing is, if all you want is only a couple of ANH sets anyways, what's stopping us from getting exactly this but for every era? I get that we already have that for the other anniversaries and thus, can be considered a little generic, but if you guys don't lose out on anything, how bad would it be? The way i interpreted @BrickBob Studpants posting was him replying to people who are hoping for a full ANH style of wave. And he was just clarifying that no episode ever received the same treatment than both the 2019 and 2024 LSW anniversaries, which is correct.

I think you are missing the point of what was posted. This is about entire anniversary waves based on single episodes. Which, in fact, never happened. There has been merely some acknowledgement here and there. Whereas a full line-up, complete with special figs, only happened for the last two Lego Star Wars anniversaries. But like I said, given that Lego is bigger on anniversaries than ever, maybe time's are changing. 50 years is generally considered much more of an milestone than every single decade is, so we shall see.

That's most definitely correct. Well yeah, let's say Lego almost always acknowledged the respective property's anniversary at hand. Obviously not to the the extent of a full wave like some people are hoping for in here. In that sense, it would factually be the first time for the theme. You can't argue against that fact, either. Also, nearly everything is bigger than the ST (). It will probably be like 2017. No more, no less. And if an entire anniversary wave is indeed happening, hopefully there is something for everyone to look forward to. Which I doubt would be the case by basing it on ANH only. Even further established by the fact we are getting some fair share of that episode's representation next year.

Yeah, it was definitely overkill to make both flagships based on TCW era. Would have been better to space things out a bit. Well, it's kinda both, to be honest. Obviously, the birth of A New Hope also created the Star Wars franchise as we now it. So it's totally valid to want something from every era, rather than to artificially limit yourself to just one movie. Though I understand the desire to make the anniversary only based on Episode IV. Who knows, maybe 2027 will be more like 2017 was. You get a new big UCS set like the Tantive. Additionally, maybe a couple of more affordable sets for the mass market without any specials and that's it. It's somewhat difficult to tell what to expect since Lego didn't do those anniversary waves until 2019. Yes. Sounds too good to be true. Especially taking into account everything Disney Star Wars on top of the core Skywalker Saga. But yes. Imagine a whole year worth of anniversary sets for all ages, every price point covered, everyone has something to be happy about. A pipe dream to be sure, but a welcome one. I know it's impossible based on today's leak culture alone, but the idea of shadow dropping sets is very appealing to me.

Oh man, how could I not mention this right away. There's just so much stuff missing in action. Makes the pricing even more flexible for the Duel line-up then. But how a modern makeover of Palpatine's Arrest wasn't released this year for the occasion is beyond me. Would have been very easy to clear this single set slot. This actually makes me hopeful for the big summer wave, which is still providing the most exciting stuff all year. Like the majority of new minifigs and sets you don't see every day typically come in August. Yes, I like to think this way as well. Give us the predictable stuff now, coming incorporated with the latest Frankenstein experiments, give us the more overdue yet still classy stuff next year when it matters most. Everything is forgiven now. As there is no atonement for perfection. Yes, to commemorate 50 years of Star Wars it should be about celebrating the whole Saga, not just the thing that started it all. While the mere impact and importance of A New Hope can never be underestimated, it shouldn't be put front and center. Yep, there has to be what Lego likes to call a "bonus minifgure" for the occasion. And I agree these should differ from your previous anniversary ones. So yeah, golden minifigs immediately come to mind. After Lego Harry Potter, Ninjago and Batman got the golden treatment, it might be a good bet for Star Wars as well. Though I would personally prefer something different. Like a silver/platinum shimmer to them representing Beskar or something.

I think the format lends itself to a rather flexible price range. You can have your $20/25 style of sets featuring two figs and Battle Pack+ builds, like Duel on Mandalore/Mustafar. Just as you can have a $40 set akin to 2013's Duel on Geonosis with four figures and much more substantial builds. Or not, because this would probably be 60 bucks in today's money. And no longer qualify as a smaller scaled set. Yeah, I might have been a little too... self-serving with my thoughts. Keeping both sub-themes might have made little sense for Lego. It's just that I would think about half a dozen other things to pull the plug instead of the Accessory Packs. I swear to the maker, some of the ongoing overpriced sub-themes, be it within the same overall theme or not, exist only to make the slightly less expensive ones look more attractive to the naked eye. Even though it's still egregiously expensive... just not to such an extent.

Yeah, I like the modular approach for Lego Harry Potter as well. Sure, it being based much more on a single location than Star Wars makes it more suitable for these kind of sets. So I wouldn't expect the same treatment for the galaxy far, far away. Nevertheless, the potential to do something is definitely there. Yes, from their standpoint they try ro avoid flooding the market. From my point of view, they do exactly that by taking away or pausing the good stuff far too soon and replace it with subpar stuff. Sort of like a self fulfilling prohecy. Duel Sets getting absorbed into the more expensive Battle Pack set slot is a good point. In terms of pricing, though, I think there is some room in for Duel sets to be able to coexist besides them. So you think, rather meant to be an addition to Battle Packs, they tried testing whether the Accessory Packs could be more profitable and thus, potentially completely replacing them. Huh, that makes sense. Of course, business is always about optimizing costs as much as possible, but in this case I never made that connection. Though I would consider the value to be about the same. More importantly, old Sebulba showed up at the end of the Galactic Racer reveal.

Yep, I don't get it either. I mean, you see lots of concepts which didn‘t quite work out for anyone all the time, so they often get axed rather quickly. But when it comes down to the same result despite delivering something of value to positively resonating consumers, like it actually should be worthwile for Lego to keep doing as well, it's tough to tell why they abondon ship from the outside. Even though the disappearance of certain sub-themes is not always tied to commercial performance, but because of making space to avoid oversaturating the market. Which ironically, in my eyes, they still do. Just want to say that too many different ideas can ruin some much needed consistency in the long run. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Oh, I would love such a Battle Pack. The same way I appreciated the last one of it's kind with four named figures, the 2017 Bounty Hunter one. This reminds me... whatever happened to the Star Wars Acessory Packs? They came and went out of nowhere... never to return. Despite being pretty popular and usually out of stock, especially the Clone Trooper Command Station. In principle, this is just as irritating as the phased out Duel sets.

Ha, you got me on this one. I was sure about the 2018 Cantina, but also would have mistaken the 2004 version for taking place in 2003. Yep, It's one of my favorite scenes as well. It's unforgettable in the best way possible... so iconic. The theme lives rent free in my head ever since. I don't know if one new Alien fig would be enough to tempt me getting this set on a good sale either, but that's the only way I could care for it at all. Oh, absolutely. I would welcome any sets that provide cheap ways of getting desired minifigs nowadays. Given Lego's relative reluctance of Bespin based sets, I'm sometimes under the impression the only way of getting another, say Lobot figure, would be the revival of the planets product line. Yeah, I'm not overly dependent on that particular format either. I just, now more than ever, would like to see a healthy and steady supply of sets starting at lower price points. Where you don't feel the need to justify your own purchasing decisions when you may prioritize minifigs over the actual builds. Be it the hopeful return to classic $10 sets, more of the Duel sets, the aforementioned Microfighters be it solo or double, good varied Battle Packs or even the gone but not forgotten planet sub-theme... there are really more than enough options to give us better balance. Seriously, that disproportionate helmet mould... What on earth were they thinking?! That sounds like a great idea. In this instance, it screams for a modular approach. Even though I think the chances of that to happen is approximately on the same level as getting a Star Wars CMF. Next time, you may go a hundred days in the future and tell us if the TIE Avenger made the cut for the upcoming summer wave. Okay, that's insane... good for you. Now I imagine what would happen if more UCS sets were sold by regular retailers.

You are shy of a hundred days, my dear fellow time traveler. Definitely the latter. I had to google the "Imperial Dignitary's" name. But I know who Clone Commander Bacara is. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. When I think about Star Wars Glup Shitto's, I always think about the various Alien characters with minimal screen time, next to no lines of dialogue and you usually don't get to know their name. And even if you do, chances are you don't recognize it at first glance. Whereas certain troopers, officers and whatnot, like you said, are more recognizable by default, because you can immediately assign some identity based on ranks alone. If I did my homework correctly, the last Microfighter Dual Pack released in 2021 and retired in 2022. That feels like a lifetime ago. As far as I'm concerned, a risk that hopefully doesn't pay out for them. Of course... just as valid of a point to make. From a collector's perspective, people who already own something wouldn't mind if it stays exclusive... or don't care to begin with. While the people who still need something want that exclusively to cease existing. Personally know both sides and can see were they are coming from. Believe me, I wasn't exactly complaining when they lifted Rex' exclusively from a $650 UCS set to release him in a $13 Microfighter in such a short timeframe.

Yeah, plus they already did brick-built creatures for their Microfighter Double Packs (previously was mistaken by calling them Brickheads), which were a similar concept as Battle Packs with two opposing sides and all. But since the regular format seems to get slowly phased out of the program, the chances of that to happen are rather slim. Yep, it kinda shocked me to what lengths they went with the smart brick stuff. Based on the initial leaks, it appeared to be just two to three sets. But guess what... here is an entire wave of either fully integrated or compatible smart brick business. In terms of the additional minifigures in question, maybe not Ponda Baba and Doctor Evazan, since I occasionally wanna have the feeling of owning something rare and special too ( ), but there are countless other characters that are still missing. But yeah, we appear to be on the same page on this. We just started this discussion on opposite ends. First things first: yes. The first 2004 Cantina, arguably and understandably the most barebones iteration of them all, was very much a product of it's time... yet still has a certain charme to it. The 2014 version, obviously expected to do so a decade later, greatly expanded upon it all. Still holds up quite well today. The 2018 set was clearly a throwback to the 2004 original, while it also gave us a couple of new things... but (contrary to the $40 price tag) retailing for 50€ was on the quite expensive side. The 2020 MBS Cantina is it's own beast. I own it. I love it. I just got reminded to dust it off again. And yep, it brought seven brand new and to this day exclusive characters to the table. That Speeder, like I will never ever tired of saying, is among the very best side builds that the Star Wars theme has to offer. The whole thing is just damn near perfection. That's exactly what I was trying to getting at... Give MBS owners of the Cantina at least a little bit of incentive to buy another play-scale version. It definitely doesn't have to be an either-or type of situation between clearly prioritising new fans and neglecting those who you already got their money's worth. Lo and behold, it can be both. And for the above average collector of minifigs, myself included, one new figure can already be enough to pique individual interests. As for what minifigure that would be, I've got two words: Ham Dezon. The very first character that shows up in the Cantina scene. Let alone the first Alien we ever saw in the Saga. It doesn't get more iconic than that.

Yeah, you are right about this one. I have a tendency to push away the fact that system scale sets are still supposed to have children as their primary target audience. Of course, Lego would need to ensure a set number of play features for kids to enjoy. Rather than going through the trouble of designing one brand new Glup Shitto character for some AFOL's specific needs out there... especially when most would require some expensive new head moulds. Although, I appreciate it when they sometimes cater to both longtime and new fans in terms of figure selection when releasing the newest iteration of a classic set. Yep, I already implied as much. The pieces for the brick-built Dewback should not prevent them from including at least one unique Alien minifigure. And at the same time, no Dewback at all, brick-built or not, would not have guaranteed a brand new character's inclusion. Maybe I looked at the Dewback and just saw a scapegoat in it. Thanks for sharing. Both minifigs look amazing and are obviously the main selling point of the set. Still feel bad for the extra american fee some of you guys have to pay for... or having to wait longer until it hits the desired price point. Though I watched a 360 view of the set and turns out Cad Bane got barely any back printing. Nothing but a few scratches. But given he wears a trench coat, there probably wasn't much more you could have printed on there to begin with.

Well done, this is a well rounded good looking design. You see, going back to my point of execution being key, if Lego does it like that, I wouldn't mind being brick-built at all. But I think it will look much closer to the Brickhead version. And yeah, I might be on the more biased side since I don't see the absolute necessity of including a Dewback, let alone using upwards of a hundred pieces on it, in a Mos Eisley Cantina set in the first place. If you only release a set every five years or so, you better make it count and bring something fresh to the table. And in the case of the Cantina, that means new unique Alien minifigs. Otherwise i perceive it as a missed opportunity.

Okay, that's certainly a interesting take. It honestly never occurred to me that bigger moulded creatures don't feel like Lego or something. Like I said, the actual execution matters most to me. This i think independent of the size. If they can pull it off brick by brick or via hybrid solution, so be it. However, more often than not, that hasn't happen. At least not as far as I'm concerned for the Star Wars theme. Even though I have seen some people who feel the same about certain minifigures. As some more... extraordinary designs for head/hat/helmet moulds can beg the question whether this is still a real minifig or something else entirely.

Yeah, if I were to consider something a positive thing, I would need to see some actual progress.behind it. However, when you go from mould to brick-build, I don't see that exact progress. It needs to be the other way around. We need to go up, R2. Like a Bantha... If this was ever turned into a deserving mould, it can be seen as steps in the right direction. But as it is now, I see it as an unnecessary way of boosting piece counts. At the end of the day, it's a matter of execution. So i agree with you that a mould/brick-built hybrid can yield good results.

Eh, I currently lack the imagination how the first brick-built version (besides the Brickhead thing) based on an awesome mould that has existed forever is one of the positives of this upcoming wave. Sure, this 2026 Cantina is clearly supposed be a throwback to the 2014 version, but the lack of new minifigures (unlike 2014 & 2018) sticks out like a sore thumb to me. So I wouldn't have shed a tear if they got rid of both the Dewback and the Sand Trooper in exchange for some unique Alien characters. Even though I would argue the set is probably expensive enough to justify one or two more minifigs without changing any of the builds. There was an downscaled X-Wing for $50 in 2021 and yep... absolute insanity. But after 2025's Ahsoka's Jedi Starfighter or 212th Battle Back, retailing for $45 respectively, it's hard to get surprised anymore. You are getting so numb to these price points. Oh, hell no. Just give us the classy OT stuff first. Considering this upcoming March wave... more than ever.

As two wise old men once said... That's great. It's gonna be great. That's gonna be great. It's gonna be great. That's gonna be great. Well, it would be a $60 set if all this smart stuff was included. We should feel lucky to get it at a mere 40 bucks! You basically get the worst of both worlds. Some more sought after minifigures, which like you said take some time to reappear, are locked to the smart brick stuff. While infrequently released sets are also impacted for not coming with some new missing minifigures. What a waste. Oh, please don't. You fix Battle Packs as a whole first, then we can talk. Until then, keep it to proper sets. Oh, absolutely. I'm at a point that I'm primarily hoping for some long overdue modern makeovers of old PT/TCW characters to finally show up. Everything else is fine, like sure, there are occasional vehicles that I'm still missing and want to add to my collection, but I hardly get that excited about the whole Extravaganza anymore. The most recent Battle Pack is a prime example of this. We can only hope. But it admittedly doesn't look good right now. A terrible shame, as this set is supposed to be very similar to the 2014 Cantina. Which introduced the Band. Even the smaller 2018 version came with Wuher. To think, you are getting nothing new a whopping seven years later, partly due to new shenanigans, would be pretty disappointing.

Oh, I am happy about this too, man. Just knew you wouldn't let me down on this. And that you would live up to your reputation as Prophet of Positivity. Yeah, there is clearly lots of potential there. I absolutely agree. Considering how Bespin plays a major part in the story, it's criminal how underrepresented it is. Seriously, what a tragedy. Apparently, there won't even be new Aliens included in the Cantina, which I can't even put the blame on the smart bricks.

Absolutely no lies detected! Ha, to say I'm happy with the wave, would be a stretch. Let's say I'm very happy the way Cad Bane turned out. And since I don't rely on single waves to be amazing in the first place, that's good enough for me. When I look at both Cad Bane and Cobb Vanth, I genuinely think this is the quality standard Lego should aspire to deliver for the Star Wars theme. Even for lower priced sets like this one. I mean, it may be much less money to spend on but it's still an overpriced set, especially in the US. So when someone is pouring their hard earned cash into one of your products, what's the best you can do? You make the customer/consumer forget about that. And how do you achieve that? By just making high quality stuff! When you pay premium prices, you deserve some premium quality aspects to it. Such a set absolutely should be 30 bucks TOPS. But when you go all out on the two figs that are actually included in there, it just makes it a bit easier to justify and look over the usual extra fee. Like yes, it still is too much money they ask for, but you are really getting something out of there and are ultimately satisfied, you know?

BY THE ALMIGHTY MAKER, YES! THE CAD'S NOW COMPLETELY OUT OF THE BAG!! Seriously, that arm printing just looks glorious on my boyo Bane!! Come to me, you beautiful bastard! I will rip open that plastic or fake paper bag. I will assemble your precious few plastic pieces like it's the last thing I'm gonna do. I will never touch you without wearing some gloves. Then I will cherish you and geeking around in full force, while annoying everyone in the process but myself. As a birthday gift, this will easily be the best minifigure I could ever imagine. Don't mind me right now. Just an extremely excited, overly happy fella over here.

Eh, of course you gonna wait for quite a while only for the least interesting sets getting officially revealed first, but maybe that's for the better. As you immediately get it out of the way and save the best for last. Even if "the best" is more like "less uninteresting" in this scenario. Because to be brutally honest, if it wasn’t for my extreme excitement of Cad Bane, this wave would do next to nothing for me, but yeah... hopefully the rest isn't that far off now.