BrickPrick

All good, man. And I was under the same impression. Almost like they conceptualized this figure first, then took a drastically different approach for the actual anniversary line-up and this was just one of the leftovers. Just wanted to say, a TPM figure on the level of TROS Palpatine would have made me pretty happy. Come to think of it, since you never got him from Episode 1, how about a proper TPM Senate Palpatine? The options for much better alternatives are seemingly endless. The more I think about it, the worse it really gets. Time to get more positive thoughts on again.

Thanks, super stoked to finally get off building again. And yes, pretty sure I heard something along those lines. Might be a good time to rewatch some of the second season. I was specifically talking about last year's Visual Dictionary that included the 25th anniversary Darth Maul figure. Literally any other character I just listed, even if you exclude Boss Nass due to budget reasons, would have been better than that! I'm also no sequel person. Never was, never will be. But I could instantly recognize the appeal of finally getting a special and still missing version of Palpatine. In principle, this is as much about filling the gapes than what I am looking into for TPM, just for a whole different era. So I can wholeheartedly respect anyone's wish fulfilled. Yet I saw no one losing their minds over another Maul figure. I just can't stand boring uncreative choices like that. It screams missed opportunity and little else.

Of course he can... Just because it never happened with minifigures that require new moulds, doesn't mean it can't happen at all. You notice the same when you look at the Advent Calenders. The Star Wars ones never came with new pieces for the minifigs. This year, they included an entire new piece for Babu Frik like nothing happened. So yeah, nothing is really set in stone. But let's say no Boss Nass, how about Shmi, Theed Padme or an updated Jar Jar or Watto instead? Anything is better than what we've got. I would still consider AotC to be the most neglected sub-theme out of the core Skywalker Saga. Though I suppose TPM doesn't track much behind. Nowadays, both get neglect pretty hard. At the top off my head, he isn't. Which drastically lowers the chances of him ever getting an official minifigure. I am bound to keep his profile picture forever.

Yes, every time I've got this no brainer scenarios right before my eyes, I kinda don't think it will happen at all, but Lego going down down the generic route, which is usually what happens. Boss Nass, or some other new never before seen character for the Visual Dictionary? Ha, no chance! How about the 37th Darth Maul figure instead? And let's slap a non-compatible 25th anniversary logo on his back to make him technically exclusive. It's always so obvious what will or won't happen. And yes... bringing back the Gungan mould only for Darth Jar Jar was just the cherry on top. ROTS was also robbed hard this year, yeah. How can you be on the Billund council and not do a set about the Jedi one? Seize the opportunity to deliver an awesome Palpatine's Arrest remake? No, how about nothing in that regard? The whole thing was nothing but a big excuse for Lego to put even more Clones to the forefront. I'm afraid AOTC will share the same fate in 2027. Or being overshadowed by the 50th Star Wars anniversary altogether. I've been saying this every now and then and I will say it again: If certain sub-themes like Episode I and II would get even a bit more regular releases in between anniversaries, you wouldn't need to be so dependent and laser focused on these single years. But when this is our only shot at some new/long overdue minifigs or remake of older sets, seeing the actual result can be rather depressing. Honestly, it's such a waste. If that's all we get: YOU. BETTER. MAKE. IT. COUNT. THEN. It can't be that hard, can it? U-Wing arrived in the meantime and I'm very looking forward to assemble that thing. Haven't done so since the Slave 1 three months ago. The box art is truly peak, by the way.

Given the increase of Clones in certain key areas as of late, more than fine, I'd imagine. Gotta be nice for people who are after that sorta thing. I almost never change anything up about my minifigures. Actually only when I have to slightly modify Gonk feet's or make a tiny stand for buildable droids for them to be able to stay on a baseplate. Yes... just yes. Believe me, it annoys the hell out of me when a brand new TPM set releases nowadays, which is a rarity in and of itself, and then you only get like surface stuff level of minifigs. A new Watto, wouldn't have been the first time showing up for the Infiltrator, was a solid choice next to Panaka. Shmi, by all means, would have been a perfect anniversary figure. So too would have been Boss Nass for the Dictionary! Don't get me wrong, the Saw Gererra fig was an awesome addition, personally the best of the bunch, but I can't shake the feeling that in terms of TPM, several big opportunities were missed last year.

Yeah, I have the same feeling all the time with other people already having expressed the same thoughts as I was about to write. I usually end up posting my views anyways, but I'd by lying by saying that it doesn't affect my personal motivation or something. It's definitely much more fun to join new conversations among the early birds, seeing everyone's fresh, unfiltered reactions and excitement. And no, I don't have beef with anyone in here, either. Just a couple of people I can't really identify with but nothing personal. As for the usual subjects, at least from my standpoint, I'm having a pretty good time. Most of the upcoming sets from the May/June wave should be based on Mando & Grogu. So I recon it's gonna be a while until we get more concrete info. Even though I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't take Lego forever to officially reveal the January wave. So maybe we can get things out a little quicker than usual. If not, some leaks will have us covered... eventually. =)

It's time for "The People vs. George Holiday Special. And I know exactly what video you are talking about... just hilarious! We will see, I guess. But I feel like we are doing this for a whole while now. Always speculating in a "if they are done with thing X, they might start toning this sub-theme down", but it never really happened. Next year might be different due to the new Mando movie release. Let's see how the summer wave plays out. Regarding the Turbo Tank, it's currently available for 105€, so 30% down from it's full price of 150€. Which would typically be enough for me to get any Lego Star Wars set that I still consider worth owning. But in this case, I still wait for like 40/50%. And even then there couldn't be anything for me to get instead. Yes, it's way up there for me as well. Actually, come to think of it, it might be my number one, too. I remember some of the initial leaks were confirming Captain Achilles for this set, which later on was debunked, only to reconfirm his inclusion. This made me very happy. I was hoping the same for Captain Panaka/Padme minifigure, first confirmed then denied, in the 2024 Sith Infiltrator, but this time it didn't pan out.

Easy skip, then. As far as May the 4th promos go, dedicated minifigure guy over here. But since I won't have a fitting Lego Shop exclusive to reach the ridiculously high threshold for next year anyways, it will be of no consequence to me. So yeah, let them all have their glory Mando time. Roses are red Violets are blue I want that Avenger treaty signed But not nearly as much as you. It's alright. Don't mention it. I'll see myself out. Sounds great. I think even all four minifigs are exclusive, because the K-2SO has slightly different torso printing. You definitely had me at the super swooshability. But yeah, we already ordered it. Very confident I will enjoy this one next week. But have you checked what experienced man is masquerading as good old Santa? I mean, it could be George Lucas for all we know! Yeah, as long as there is enough demand, why would they wanna stop the delivery? The profit margins gotta be cranked up to eleven. Maybe that's what their motto "only the best is good enough" is really referring to. Ha, did anybody actually believed the 187th rumours/leaks back then? I know, I sure as hell didn't. But that was one Ace Mace figure. Also, I swear to the maker, if they don't finally come to their senses and put a freaking Crab Droid in a possible Battle Pack, even I'll be at a loss for words. Seriously... don't you dare putting yet another Dwarf Spider Droid in there, Lego! Maybe this blessed generation made a bet how many attempts it took for their head to get crushed like a grape when continuously hitting the wall. And they just couldn't settle the battle on six or seven. Thus, they are stuck in a time loop of seemingly endless stupidity. Oh, my bad, I wasn't properly reading the last part of your posting. So I was under the impression you haven't gotten this set yet. The recommendation was addressed directly to you. But best of luck to your expansion plans, man.

I was finally able to get the U-Wing, courtesy of a pretty fair 30% discount.

That's good. After the upcoming Clone Pilot, I wasn't planning to pick up yet another one of these Magazines. As these things have gotten extremely expensive as of late. So I wanna make every minifigure count. We just might during "my early days" on Eurobricks. In the last couple of months, I just took notice of some situations where I would go on and quote some of your postings and you wouldn't reply to me even once. Despite being fully aware that not nearly every topic is worth further discussion, i was sometimes under the impression you had a personal vendetta or something stupid like that. Yep, the minifigures, like Lego every so often intends to, are a clear standout for the set. Even though I really enjoy the look of the build, too. Lame landing position notwithstanding, the ship looks to be so damn swooshable.

I know, right... A totally terrific transition, if I say so myself. Haha, you do know that Santa doesn’t exist, right? Just kidding, I know how passionate some of you americans tend to take Christmas season. Well yeah, it's just straight up gonna be another erigiously overpriced Super Battle Pack. The fact that we still haven't received some new Kaschyyyk Troopers with now utterly necessary helmet holes makes me a little nervous. So yep... book it. Wolfpack would be a good second guess and at least something we haven't gotten in ages. Oh shoot, I first thought to be just too sick and tired right now to comprehend this supposedly cursed number combination. But to be perfectly honest with you, I literally didn't have a clue about any of it. I was reading out loud both postings and my significant other had to explain it to me. Seems like I haven't missed all that much. Can't recommend the Boarding the Tantive IV set enough. Above average minifigure selection, quite good design, very sturdy build, some pretty neat functionality. Just a well realized overall package that leaves almost nothing to be desired. Other than Lego being Lego, it's kinda unbelievable it took them 25 years to create such a play set based on what is widely considered to be one of the most iconic scenes in the history of Star Wars. Though given it was a near perfect product to position your latest LSW anniversary, I'm glad that they finally did!

Hey there, here I thought we would never interact with each other. If we ever did, I don't remember. Oh okay, I see. As far as this Christmas goes, I was actually kinda torn between the aforementioned U-Wing and the V-19 Torrent. The latter, especially on sale for 40 bucks, is the more attractive deal to me. But given that my birthday ain't that far away anyways, I'm probably sticking to that. As for the Yellow Clone Trooper TM Battle Pack, it's currently available at a pretty reasonable 25€ on Amazon DE. But given I'd rather want to enjoy my time during the festive days, I kindly decline and save it for later.

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.