Flieger

Thanks! I think it looks nice. Not the best, but not as bad as some people say it is.

Exactly, the SW architecture is criminally underrespresented considering how vast the opportunity for Lego are.

I can imagine that set coming in all sizes, from Wizard Battle to UCS. I probably would prefer the simple Wizard Battle style: Yoda, Sidious, and the Chancellor's Podium. Done. Every kid can afford it, so really everyone will buy it. Even casual PT-fans who usually buy OT only probably would not say no to Yoda and Sidious, especially coming with new printing. I also would like a bigger set, but the problem is that many casual viewers and even some fans seemed to have disliked the 'boring' political Senate scenes and perhaps would not spend money on rebuilding a big senate, though they liked the Duel. But I am not sure on that. Any senate set would have my blessing, anyway! My favourite set would be the vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum, coming with the Chancellor, the Queen, some Senators, and two robed Senate Guards. But then, I'd probably be the only one to buy such a set...

Yeah, I know what you mean, but to be fair: Anakin also makes sense in the Infiltrator, as he was there when Maul first revealed himself. Imagine you would be new to Lego or come out of your dark age, and you want to buy a new set. You'd be disappointed without Anakin. Of course you'd also be disappointed of having him twice when you buy the Naboo fighter... We can all agree that we could need more female characters as minifigs. And Shmi, while I would not be terribly intrested in her, is surely important. Perhaps. Although I would not be comfortable with having Shmi in a Tusken themed set. You know... (I have no problems if others are comfortable, though. I am not that guy. It is just my personal preference).

That is an excellent question! I am switching the hairpieces all time because I cannot decide. For a TPM themed Palpatine however I would prefer the light blonde. I also feel it captures his hairstyle better.

And I don't see why R2 is needed in the Infiltrator. While the Naboo fighter set is not well thought out, R2 makes sense. Still, the only good minifig from that set is the pilot.

660 parts and 5 minifigs... so I'd say it is in the range of the AT-AP and the Cantina, probably a bit higher.

Thanks for the review! I must say I am not very happy with the set: finally we get camouflaged Geonosis-Troopers and it is not them: I don't get it! They have the mould and digital camouflage is easy to print. (I realize they reused the Kashyyyk-trooper printing pattern one of the minifigs, but they made a new one for the airborne troopers). Why not give us canonic Geonosis-troopers?

It is not a bad set just because you don't know the source material. As Robianco pointed out, it is a good army builder for those interested in TOR and it was a perfect addition for other TOR sets. As a BP it is therefore one of the best. Even though I was not much of a TOR player I must say the line as a whole was excellent.

I cannot compare it to older ones, but I like the set overall (despite the obvious flaw: no chrome front...). However I think it would have been better to put it in a cheaper set with less extras (stairway, fuel station etc.). Also, in my country it is extremely expensive, even by Lego standards (65€!). I fully expect that this price will be dropped by the retailers. Both are good suggestions. I don't have the B-Wing, but it looked nice when I saw its build in the Lego-store and recently prices have been dropping on that one. The Police Gunship will probably surprise you positively. It has an impressive presence and the shock troopers are very, very cool. I suspect that it will be retired soon, so that is another reason. (Lastly, its suggested retail price in my country is lower than that of the Naboo Fighter, although it is has more parts and more minifigs).

As far as the films are concerned, I think the OT is superior, but I am a huge Lego PT fan. I just like the designs a lot. Say what you want about the PT, the design department did an excellent job with the costumes, the vehicles etc. I am pretty sure a memorable vehicle from the PT would sell well. Not as well as the Falcon, but certainly in the TIE-Fighter range... I think a Republic Gunship could work out. Its entry was stunning (even if in a bad movie...), it transported clone troopers and Jedi, both of which are iconic, and it presented a wholly new type of vehicle in the SW-universe. The Droid Control Ship... I don't know. It has a nice design and would look great as an UCS model, but would people buy it? I doubt it, although cannot exactly put my finger on why it would not sell well. I know I would not buy it. I'd rather have the Naboo Starfighter, but without chrome parts it just feels wrong.

Sometimes Lego sets are objectively overpriced even within the Lego high pricing policy. (The Droid Tri-Fighter would be another example, costing 39,99€ vs the 29,99€ AAT with almost exactly the same piece count, the same number of minifigs and battle droids). It is hard to explain. However resellers often adjust the price soon enough. The Snowspeeder is usually sold for 30-35€ in my country, as opposed to the Lego Store's 39,99€; the Droid Tri-Fighter for 30€ etc.

I think Lego reasons the OT-fans are usually older, have more money and are drawn to big models, rather than toys. However I see another problem: The PT-vehicles were usually not featured prominently enough compared to the OT-vehicles. The Falcon was kind of a home and central to three movies, the X-Wing remained the prime starfighter for three movies, the TIE was the main threat for three movies etc. Many vehicles from the PT were seen for a very short time. We have seen four different Naboo Royal Starships for Padme (or her decoy) in three movies, and those were the more memorable ones. The screen time of V-Wings can be measured in seconds. While the PT-vehicles make excellent models and are extremely well designed, thus being perfectly suited for an UCS set, many lack the icon-factor. I personally would love to have PT UCS sets, especially the Republic Gunship!

You are overly harsh here. Yes, Lego is a toy. As such it is a pure luxury item for us AFOLs. I spend quite a lot money on Lego just like I spend a lot on single malts, because I can afford that luxury. And if I were a billionaire really wanting that set now, I probably would have spend that much too. So it all comes down to how much we are willing to pay for our luxuries. For many people, we are already in the foolish league.

Ah... that depends a lot on what you like. Do you like the OT better than the PT? Are you a Rebels-fan? Did you play TOR? Etc. Just going by the set, the MTT is amazing: it is a very clever build that looks good as a model, capturing the looks and having an imposing presence, and it has well designed play features (and a lot of them). You also get a lot of droids and nice minifigs. But if you don't care for the PT at all, you probably like other sets better. The Jedi-Defender class cruiser is retired already, so its price will go up and buying it sooner than later will save you money. I am not too impressed by the play features, but the model is ok, and the minifigs are probably the greatest draw. If you like TOR, I think it is a good buy. And you could regret not having bought it now in a few months when the price goes up. (It happened to me actually...). The Ghost + phantom are not really my cup of tea, although I like the show a lot. They both disappoint in play-features and model, but the minifigs are very good. Especially since we will not see any new Rebels sets soon, I would give it a chance if you like the show. If not I recommend to pass it. I would not buy the ISD. It is an iconic vehicle and the model looks ok from the outside. But if you open it up, it actually offers a very small space, which is cluttered with ugly technic elements and just looks horrible. Its only big plus (besides being iconic) is the minifig selection. All of them are great and either exclusive or very hard to get otherwise. However there is one exception: you only get the outdated Vader. I know many people like this set, but it really disappointed me. I cannot comment on the Tyrdirium, but you may consider the Final Duel set. It is a bit in the spirit of the Palpatine's Arrest set and offers great minifigs.

Interesting... I can imagine they retired the Micro-ISD because of the outdated cap (at least I hope so ), and the V-Wing probably did not sell well. It is a blink-and-you-miss vehicle, from only one movie, without notable minifigs. I was not aware that quick retirements are so common. Looks good!

Well I think it is excellent photography! I would surely like to see more.

Droid Tri-Fighter. I am not too exited about it, but it is the most cost effective way of getting this Palpatine. (And I have a feeling it will retire soon).

The Gunships (LAAT, Droid, Police). They all translate very well into Lego and make nice impressions as models as well as toys.

I agree that the Balrog would be a cool build, but I already have Gandalf(s) and Boromir. I lack an Eowyn and an armoured Witch-King. If Lego wants to go with old prints and parts, they can do the Balrog and I would certainly buy it.

If it is really 99,99€ as some sites claim, it is positively overpriced for 660 parts and 4 minifigs. The Tydirium has the same price but comes with 937 parts and 5 minifigs; the MTT has 3 minifigs, 7 droids, and 954 parts for the same price as well.

In the film it looks more like brown to me, but really - that is nitpicking. I have seen various interpretations, like brown, tan, orange, and everything in between. You can clearly see why lego chose this orange colour. However the black is puzzling me, too.

Just because it is Minas Tirith, it does not automatically sell well even with LotR-fans. I would love a Gondorian set, but I don't see myself buying that particular Ideas-set. It was discussed before, and I am in the camp of the people who think it is mis-scaled. Minias Tirith as Lego Architecture-set - yea! Main Gate with Grond - yea! (plus wall segments sold seperately). Citadel of MT - yea! The whole city on minifig scale - big nay. I supported the idea, but only to show Lego that I am still interested in Tolkien-stuff. But the last thing we need is Lego daring to make a bold move and release a big Tolkien-set ... only to see it fail. I think it would be more sensible thinking of a Tolkien-set in the 50€ price range. A big, brick build fell beast for example.

This may be the wrong thread, but I only noticed now that the 2014 Vulture Droid is already retired! It has only been a year. How could that happen? Was it selling so badly?

Padme and Sabe would have made an interesting pair, but I still have hope we someday see the Royal Starship with Olié, Padme, and Sabe. Curiously though, they shoehorned her into the Gungan Sub. She could be easily put in any of the 2015 TPM sets without looking weird. But the lack of Padme-Minifigs is also the result of Lego refusing to make sets in which she'd be present: Theed, Royal Starship(s), Senate... A screen accurate colour scheme. The Bloodfin had a dark grey shell and orange seat colours. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bloodfin_%28speeder%29 Still a bad build, though.