Flieger

Maybe I misunderstand you, but there was (at least) one female X-Wing pilot in RotJ, Karie Neth. We do not have a minifig of her, though...

Well, I could give you some impressions, but due to the lack of self-made images, it would not qualify as a review here.... For example, let me say something about the First Order BP: http://brickset.com/...der-Battle-Pack It is fine, but far from flawless. The star of such a set are of course the four minifigs, ideally meant to army-build. It is rather suboptimal in this regard because you get four different minifigs. There is the regular Stormtrooper, the heavy artillery Stormtrooper aka megablaster heavy assault trooper, and two crewmen who are identical except for the headgear, as one comes with a cap and one with a helmet. The heavy trooper is exclusive to the set, as is the crewman with the cap. Two exclusives are a fairly good argument in favour of the set. I think the heavy trooper needs no explanation, as the vest makes him stand out. It is printed on the front of the torso and the back, and it creates a good impression. The increased amount of black colour on the otherwise very white FO Stormtroopers improves their appearance as a minifiig, imo. I think it looks better than the regular trooper. The cap of the crewman is interesting because it represents the rim folded down option of the cap, and so far we only seen it with the rim folded up. The build is very small. I am used to larger builds even in Battle Packs. However the turrets looks surprisingly good, is well designed, and makes a good desk decoration as well as a good micro-build. It is, imo, better than an image could suggest. But it is nothing that would impress anybody. I think while non-Lego fans can enjoy the micro-fighters, no non-Lego fan would be particularly happy about this. Parents will probably ask if this is what they paid for... Speaking of the negatives, four different minifigs on a BP are not the best solution, especially as one of them is the crewman with the ugly, big helmet. Who needs an army of those? We got two with the shuttle of Kylo Ren, and one with the TIE. That is enough. The helmet does not even look good in Lego, because it is so plain (unlike that of the Death Star Gunners!). Replacing that figure with a regular Stormtrooper would have made a so much better set. (edit: they all come with the stud-shooters, which means you need to have blasters if you do not like them, but I got used to that...). At the end of the day, this set is a very good supplement to the TFA line-up just because it features these different minifigs, two of them exclusively. But it does not stand on its own, nor is it good for army building in the classic sense.

I shared your sentiments until I got the set, but the turret looks surprisingly good on my desk. It is really pretty cute. I think I'll use it on my desk at work. Perhaps kids like a small walker more (and I, as a walker-fan, certainly would not mind), but the turret has something to it. Btw, you remind me that I would like to see a larger turbolaser turret, either TFA or ANH. They always impressed me when I was a kid. Those shots when the huge turrets tried to follow the X-Wings... And I could see that work as a set: a tower with integrated spring-loaded shooters, command central, gunnners and random Stormtroopers. It might be too militaristic for Lego, though.

I know it is a little premature considering we barely saw it in TFA, but I want the FO Walker. I just love walkers and the leg-design looked quite nice; it might be interesting how Lego deals with it. (There were, iirc, two scenes with the walkers: during the rally, of course, and seens from even greater distance in a landscape shot).

Problem is the regular TIE pilots don't match the SF TIE build. They should have given us SF pilots and later released the regulars. The new micro TIE could have been TFA with SF pilot. (Or, even better imo, it could have come with Baron Valen Rudor - if it has to be Rebels).

Yes, the "problem" is the source material. All black clothing is hard to pull of in Lego, especially if it is robes, coats, cloaks etc. ... Both, Kylo and Hux suffer from this, and it gets worse: both lack distinctive markings on their torso like rank insignia. (Hux has his rank on the left arm, which Lego sadly did not print).

True; this makes me very sad. I think those red stripes really would have improved the look of the minifig - especially as the mould is simply perfect. They chose the colour of the laser cannon's tip (emitter), which is red, so that the model looks right. I think it is the right choice, even if the laser bolts are green.

What about Snoke? Should there be a minifig before the next movie? Should he come in another form?

Yes, that is Lt. Mitika. I too think there were some older officers in the background, perhaps it is one of them. However, keep in mind this minifig does not have a general's uniform. Other than being miscoloured, it seems to be a colonel's or major's uniform.

Unlikely; he has a different tunic, not to mention code cylinders which this minifig is missing.

Definitely not Hux, it is not even a General's uniform; as I suspected he seems to be Colonel Datoo - Lego probably messed up the colours a bit. See here: General Colonel

Even in the new canon, Quinlan Vos was a participant of the battle. So they could include Luminara and Vos plus a number of Clones and Wookies. Sounds about right to me. I personally would not mind a TCW version or a setting other than Kashyyyk (Felucia with Secura and Bly e.g.). Would that be General Hux (perhaps in new attire, without cap and cloak)? Or another high ranking FO officer like Colonel Datoo?

Another thought, after having bought the FO Battlepack: Lego added far too many "FO Crew" (actually engineers, the guys with the huge, ugly helmet) to the sets. There is one in the BP, one with the TIE, two with the shuttle. We have almost as many Crew as we have regular Stormtroopers. I mean, who needs them all? Remove one from the shuttle and one from BP, replace them with regular Stormtroopers and everything would have been fine. A similar oddity may be that it is easy to amass Snowtroopers. But then, building an army of Snowtroopers makes a lot more sense than building an army of engineers. (Also it seems some Snowtrooper scenes were cut, like searching the Falcon). However, all this is mere nitpicking. Overall Lego did a very good job with the minifig selection of the first sets. Of course, in the future I expect some of the more exotic characters to become minifigs.

Since there won't be an official minifig of him for some time... how to do Lor San Tekka? What head, what torso...?

Thanks for the advice! I think I'll do that. If Hux appears in the summer wave, I think/hope/guess that he will be in a different outfit (without the coat).

Only a small addition to what has been said: I too think Lego did a good job and now that the movie is out I am sure the sets will only improve. The only disappointment for me is the lack of cuff titles. It is one of the few distinctive elements of the otherwise rather bland FO officer uniform (obviously taken directly from German uniform tradition). I know Lego rarely does arm printing but I think it would have been worth it.

I am sorry if I oberlooked some information (the thread has grown quite a bit since I last visited it): Will there be another set with a General Hux-minifig? The shuttle does not really appeal to me...

Thanks for the review! I like the set, I like the minifigs, but I do not care for Smaug - which was a bit of a problem for me, since the set would be so much cheaper without him. However, I may just sell Smaug. He seems to be well regarded. I really love the dwarves in their regal armour, both in the movie and in Lego. Together with Thorin I have the five most important dwarves in their best outfit. And the lack of Thorin might be my biggest complaint. However since I have him, the Lonely Mountain is a nice display piece. (Without the dragon, though. He distracts too much imho). The colours are well represented and the build captures the look and feel of Erebor. Actually I think it is another proof that Lego can do good scenery sets, even though there have been better ones. Because Dwalin got an axe with blades made from greenstone, found in the armouries of the mountain. It is explained in the BotfA-Chronicles book Art&Design (which I definitely recommend; it also explains why Dain has a transred axe, although careful readers of Tolkien will know anyway). Transgreen is imo a quite good translation into Lego. http://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/762/761504/1464692_576542015815405_2524214603524410520_n.jpg http://www-images.theonering.org/torwp/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ldlce-extrasve17.jpg

Liking or disliking Rebels is a matter of taste, but I don't think it is fair that Lego completely ignores Season 2. (And late Season 1). I can see why Lego focusses on TFA, but were Obi-Wan's Starfighter and Hoth Attack really that important? There is so much Lego could have done... yet we only get one new character, the dark version of the Imperial Combat Driver (another early season 1 figure). That said, rather than complaing about the lost list of missing characters, I am quite glad that 2016 offers cheap ways to get Hera and Kanan; and I am glad we do get the dark Imperial Combat Driver. I was missing him.

Black is perhaps not the best choice and I was not happy about it, but it is a) what the official colour guide says and b) Kallus does have a much darker uniform than the military officers. I am not sure what Lego colour would be best for it. Note that Hasbro also went for black. I think most important would be updating his rank insignia (5 pips now, no red pip anymore) and perhaps making a Bo-Rifle mould. This is Season 2 Kallus: That is the one I was thinking about, too.

I have a somewhat different opinion on these two: 75134 Empire Battle Pack: that is a must-buy, because it includes an Imperial Crewman with black cap. That black cap is important to me for a number of characters, but the figure itself can be used a lot, too. That crewman alone is worth the pack. 75141 Kanan's Speeder Bike: includes the dark version of an Imperial combat driver (lower image), which is exclusive* and much needed. Not to mention the lego rendition looks amazing! Another stormy does not hurt and the minifig guns are nicely supplementing the existing Rebels Stormtrooper BP. I think I'll get multiples of that. (* it might be that the new AT-DP microfighter includes one, but they are usually piloted by the light version not the dark version)

Well, we already have a good RotS Obi-Wan in Grivous's Wheelbike, and a Jedi Interceptor in another colour is literally the "she's got a new hat" phenomenon. What makes oor breaks this set will be the minifig(s). The pricing suggests it is Obi-Wan only, but with Cody in it... that changes the whole game. Kids love clone troopers, and a named, special clone trooper with commander insignia and new helmet mould appeals to everyone. Of course, it will sell without Cody well enough, I think. Like the snowspeeder it is a small and thus affordable, yet attractive and important hero craft. If there had been Lego Star Wars when I was a kid, I would have bought the snowspeeder at once. (And had the PT released earlier, or had I been a kid later, I would have bought the Interceptor, too).

Thanks! I did not know about the february wave. That could be a well timed wave for Rebels.

No Rebels sets but microfighters in Winter 2016, in the middle of season 2? The trailer and the S2 opening episode alone show a wealth of opportunities and Lego ignores all of them. Did the Rebels sets sell so badly? Regarding the Rebels microfighters... I hope it will be Valen Rudor in the TIE, but I am quite sure it will be the Inquisitor. Lego wasted invested a lot of ressources in the creation of the moulds, so I can see them reusing them. The AT-DP hopefully includes a colour corrected driver, and the Ghost hopefully includes Chopper.