Darth Caedus

Dude, this is not the point. At all. Apples and oranges. Platinum Avohkii and all the super-rare masks/kraata/krana etc. are just gravy. You can get normal, basic version of them quite easily enough. There is no cheap or basic version of the Collector. The SDCC figs are a problem because they make characters that people know and love into impossible exclusives. It's alright when it's variants, like Batman of Zur En Arrh, or Black Suit Spiderman. But when you keep Jean Grey, Green Arrow, Bizarro, and the rest out of fans' hands by making them exclusives? You're doing a disservice to the fans and disservice to the characters. Lego needs to more carefully pick its SDCC exclusives and make sure none of them are major characters who haven't been produced in DC/Marvel sets before. A PROPER SDCC "wave" of 4 exclusives would be something more like: White Lantern Batman, Red Son Superman, Iron Man Mark V, and Miles Morales Spider Man. Now that's a wave of variants of characters we already have, but all the variants are still cool and appealing - and would function great as the promos that they are.

Looking at how this mediocre this set turned out, it's clear now that if Lego really could only include 5 minifigs, this should have been a Prologue set. Thrain, Thror, Young Balin, 2x Erebor Guards. From weak set to solid set, boom. Yep. Helm's Deep should be a benchmark for the big Tolkien sets. If they knew they could only do 850 pieces with the Smaug mold, they should have made some cohesive, impressive facade, like just the Gate of Erebor with the statues, rather than a half-finished looking throne and mine diorama. This is really how I feel. Depending on the price I might end up just buying Smaug seperately, but damn if that body isn't a disappointment. The wings are cool but same ol' same ol' for the rest of him just makes it feel unimpressive. Who cares about the figs?! When you're shelling out $130, the figs matter more than ever. And the point is that they really can't look that appealing because they're rehashes of Dwarves we already have. There's a key issue with Dwarf costume changes. Contrast LOTR. When we got a Black Gate King Aragorn, it was awesome because it was a full, cool new outfit that was also an iconic look from the films. Or when we got Gandalf the White or Rivendell Elrond. Strikingly different costumes that were memorable and important. The Dwarves are inherently short and stubby, and most of their outfit is hidden by the beard anyways. Also, the Dwarf outfits in the Hobbit films just aren't as important, since we spend much less time with each of them. So getting Dwarf variants is exponentially less significant. With Hobbit sets, whoever is the project lead is clearly putting very little effort in. The first Hobbit wave was cohesive and delivered all 13 Dwarves. The logical objective after that for Hobbit sets would be to deliver as many NEW characters as possibly. Anyone who takes a second to look at the Dwarves as characters versus the Fellowship as characters will realized that their outfits in Lego form matter much, much less. Really the only essential one is having a BO5A Thorin (getting Fili and Kili is alright but not hugely important). Furthermore, whoever gave this set the OK didn't think it through how it would be received. The set has 3 core aspects: the setpiece monster, the setting itself, and the figures. The dragon is a strong element, but not worth $130 alone. So either the SETTING has to be strong or the FIGURES have to be solid to make up for this. Instead, the setting is weak and undercooked - a Mines-of-Moria-esque diorama where only the throne and pillars are sort of cool, and the figures are an almost total bust (Bilbo's boring garbage rando Laketown robes, useless Balin and Dwalin rehash, armored Fili and Kili are alright but not impressive). So what you have is a set that's meh on the set itself, crappy on the figures, and good but not mind-blowing on the setpiece monster. That adds up to an overall fail. The only hope for this set is that gullible parents will be whined into buying it by their kids who just want Smaug and it won't cause the line to fail. Because this is a set that could have gotten a lot of love from AFOLs and casual lego fans across the board, but it's not primed to do that. They definitely put some cash into the Smaug mold, but I feel that this is one of the laziest, rushed sets we've seen in the entire Tolkien Lego line. The mine chunk is literally recycled from Isengard and the old Dwarves' Mine. The throne is a pretty mediocre chair with 2 cool pillars. And bam. That's it. That's the entire set. If you're Lego and you know you have to overcharge because of the Smaug molding, you need to use those 800 pieces to create something stellar, not a gray-green mishmash. Sigh. I've ranted enough about this for the time being. It's just so tragic and infuriating that when Lego finally got their hands on the Lego line, they made two spectacular waves and then really began to drop the ball after that. There's still a snowball's chance in hell that the BO5A set will be alright and the wave could be acceptable overall, but with a strong likelihood of being stacked to the brim with just main characters, it's not looking promising. At least the Dol Guldur set is guaranteed to be good.

What a piece of junk! -Luke Skywalker What a disappointment. Half the set is forgettable generic mine facade. The Throne with pillars is cool but is just weird standing alone. Smaug is...good, but not mind-blowing. The minifigures are pure garbage. I know we're mandated more Bilbos, but gawd, Dwarf reskins are such a damn waste. The AUJ gear looks cool for the Dwarves as it is. Did NOT need a new Balin or Dwalin. And there could at least be 7 or 8 figures, but five?! For 130 dollars? Even if there's a cut off section in the image, definitely waiting for a sale on this one. Lego flubbed up royal. And by not putting Thorin here, they waste the BO5A set by clogging it with useless main character rehashes. Guh. Praying that the 2015 Aussie LOTR wave rumor isn't bull, because talk about Tolkien lego going out with a whimper... I'll wait to see what the real set looks like on display but this is seriously, seriously unimpressive. Maybe if it was $90 or at a stretch $100 I'd perk my head up. 130? Get outta town. Now that I think on it...this set should have been the ATTACK on Erebor by Smaug. Smaug, Thror, Thrain, perhaps Young Thorin, a couple of Erebor Dwarves. Keep the rest of the set the same. Kiddies don't care about the minifigs in this one, the selling point is obviously Smaug. Now THAT would have made a set worth shelling out for. Who cares if it was from the flashback in AUJ and not TBO5A? The scenes in the sets have barely matched the movies at all for the majority of the Hobbit sets anyways.

That BatCowl was clearly designed for Batman vs. Superman. Now that BvS is pushed back, Lego's using the piece anyways. Great that we get a whole year's worth of more comic-based DC stuff. I'd argue this is the best $20 DC set yet only by virtue of the fact that it contains not only a key new hero and villain, but also an awesome Bat-variant...without a useless Bat vehicle.

This is definitely one to pick up on sale - $10 overpriced is too much for a non-movie set, especially since Robbles has yet to prove itself as a series. The design is cool though, and the Wookiees are good. Definitely a better set than the Ghost, aka $90 multicolored cow patty.

Personally, I feel strongly that any revival of the Vikings theme should not be Vikings per se, but "Norse" - and feature heavily Norse mythology in the sets. Besides mythic versions of Thor and Loki, you could have Odin, Freya, Hel, Nidhogg, Baldr, Tyr, Skadi, Valkyries...the list goes on. We never got Thor sets and it doesn't look like we will anytime soon, so why not get a full Norse line? Alternatively, if Lego wasn't keen on mildly overlapping with their Marvel stuff, make a Vikings theme a Beowulf theme. It's public domain, it's got recognizable big names. Beowulf. Wiglaf. Hrothgar. Grendel. Grendel's Mother. The Dragon. You could spin several sets off of that easily.

He's talking about the shot of the Lego Master Builder room with those sets visible. Years-old news.

The triumphant return of CMF's is at hand. That Battle Goddess is a work of art, and the Swashbuckler is an excellent addition. It's also nice to get a true Wizard Hat mold - someone commented earlier how this shifts the definitions a bit, the current mage hat is now a true Witch Hat and the new hate is a Wizard Hat. This Wizard also can double equally as an Arthurian Merlin or a Prospero from The Tempest. What we need now is that Wizard Hat mold in blue without any stars. The Miner is poorly colored, Video Game Boy is meh, Dino Lady's alright. But the other three are home runs, so I'm more than pleased. As for the rest we continue to speculate on: Jester: a novel color scheme would be nice, given that this is not a groundbreaker Piggy Guy: standard animal costume entry Hun Warrior: fingers crossed for an epic new helmet mold. I'm expecting a bow and quiver for weapons. This could be the armybuilder of the wave. Fairytale Princess: probably will be pink and mediocre, but there's a lot of potential here Pizza Delivery Man: whatever Spooky Girl: Goth? Prospector: Sounds like a solid western entry Genie Girl: Will she be blue? Personally I'm hoping for red, gotta get some Ifrit action going Rock Star: Hasn't this been done already? Lifeguard: ditto

Hey all, minor but important update - anyone down to trade a Darth Revan for 1 of my Martian Manhunters?

No, sadly this is fact. It's April, if there were any LOTR sets this year, we would know at least set names. No LOTR sets can come out in the December wave since that's Hobbit stuff. 2015 remains the hope of all free peoples for more LOTR.

Well, of course you're entitled to your opinion as to the questionable nature of characters like Ventress, but that "bullcrap" is all canonical points from canonical sources, and in Star Wars, canon = fact. Another way you can look at it that's a handy gauge - can the character cast Force Lightning? Force Lightning is detailed in a variety of sources as a pure manifestation of hatred, truly on another level than simple dark-side abuse of Force power. Sidious and Tyranus can cast it, and Anakin could have, in time, had he not lost his arms. Maul, Savage, Ventress, etc. - no lightning, no Sith. Obviously there's exceptions to this rule, but it's generally an effective litmus test. This isn't really the place to discuss this at length any further. To brush up on your knowledge, you can read up on it more at http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rule_of_Two and elsewhere on the wiki (note that the Force Unleashed references are outdated since that franchise is non-canon now). As to Revan...I would say definitively that there will be no KOTOR sets in the pipeline. It's simply far too old a franchise, and only Revan himself had a tentative link to the TOR franchise. Also, if you look at the schedule, it's clear that the rest of 2014 and early 2015 will likely be Rebels-focused, as well as our last chance to get old PT and OT stuff before the new era begins - late 2015 and the years beyond will be devoted utterly to the colossal marketing push that will come with the advent of episode VII. So we barely have a shot at ANY more EU in the next couple waves, let alone KOTOR. I feel like we'd be more likely to see something from Clone Wars season 6 (a faint possibility as well) before any KOTOR stuff. But we have Revan, and that's still unbelievably awesome enough as it is.

Might want to go read up on Wookieepedia before making vague statements ;) The various Empires of the Sith all happened before 1000 BBY, which is roughly when the Rule Of Two was established. From 1000 BBY right up to the prequels, the Rule Of Two is maintained. Here's a quick breakdown: True Rule Of Two Sith Line in the prequel era: DARTH PLAGUEIS Apprentice is Darth Sidious, who kills him and takes his place. DARTH SIDIOUS 1st Apprentice is Darth Maul, who fails against Obi-Wan in Episode I and loses the position. 2nd Apprentice is Darth Tyranus, who is more powerful than Maul, but is just a political tool eventually betrayed when convenient - Anakin kills him. 3rd Apprentice is Darth Vader, the one Sidious wanted all along. His potential is stifled by Obi-wan on Mustafar, and as a weakened cyborg, he can thus only serve as Sidious' tool, not his successor. 4th Apprentice would have been Luke Skywalker, the most powerful Force User on record when all is said and done, and Sidious' perfect apprentice - but Luke resists and Sidious perishes at the hand of Vader, and so the Rule of Two collapses. FALSE "SITH" aka Dark-Siders Darth Maul: After he is bisected in Theed, he goes through exile and reappears in a weak cyborg state in the Clone Wars. Ultimately he is beaten into submission by Sidious after he grows too bold. Maul was never fully trained as a True Rule Of Two Sith since he cannot cast Force Lightning and is primarily a martial pawn. Savage Opress: Maul's brother and apprentice, he is a false creation of Nightsister magic. Also reduced to a cyborg state over time, he is slain by Sidious. He never came close to true Sith power, despite working with Tyranus, Ventress, and Maul at various times. Asajj Ventress: Tyranus' "apprentice," she's just another Dark-Side Force-using pawn with knowledge or ability of true Sith arts. Ultimately abandoned by Tyranus altogether and walks her own path. General Grievous: Mostly a cyborg with basically no Force ability whatsoever, he merely is a commander and lightsaber wielder who Tyranus trains from time to time. Other dark-side users pop up throughout the prequel-era canon, but none are actual Sith. Any Force user can fall to the dark side. The Sith are a specific, extremely reclusive sect. At least in the Rule of Two era. The Rule of One is another story, but with the new movies making all post ROTJ EU non canon (most likely), there is no Rule of One.

Welp, between the Martian Manhunter and this promotion, my wallet's crying. And here I was planning to only spend $ on the TABA Hobbit stuff in December...damn it Lego. But seriously, this is so awesome for being real.

Assuming that Dain and Bolg and perhaps Alfrid are coming in the TABA wave, and knowing that we're getting Bain, Galadriel, Witchking, and Elrond, I'd love for a Hobbit CMF series to be (in the impossible reality where that happens): 1. Thror (w/ Nauglamir chest) 2. Thrain (regal not insane) 3. Lindir (figwit) 4. Fimbul (deep brown orc) 5. Narzug (cornrow orc) 6. Mirkwood Elf Border Patrol (medium armor and faceshroud) 7. Mirkwood Elf Armored Warrior (prologue of AUJ) 8. Erebor Soldier (prologue of AUJ, with spear and shield) 9. Braga 10. Girion (with sword) 11. Sauron (fiery FOTR prologue style form) 12. Iron Hills Dwarf (armored) 13. Rivendell Knight 14. Dol Guldur Orc (armored) 15. Twilight Nazgul (generic, not Witchking) 16. Man of Dale (prologue of AUJ)

By the Force, let this be real. If by some miracle it's not a fake, then it's the greatest polybag ever. Revan is a paragon of the EU, and it's unfathomable that we could ever have him as a figure. I hyperventilated a little when I saw the image, not gonna lie. As an EU diehard fanatic, I live by the rule that any and all EU is more interesting to get in Lego than basically anything from the movies, which is 99% covered at this point. And my word, this is fantastic. So gloriously obscure. So gloriously hardcore. Epic. Love it. Made my day. If it's fake, the faker deserves the deepest circle of hell.

I actually did not eliminate any named characters - they're all there, just distributed correctly. I agree that Orc Forge is a stupid set concept - nobody needs to armybuild Isengard Orcs. Uruks are fine for forces of Saruman. It should have been an armybuilder for either Morannon Orcs or Gondorians, especially the latter.

Agreed. For fun, let's consider how the LOTR sets should have been done, but with the restriction that the set concepts have to stay in the same ballpark. Wave 1 $14.99 Gandalf's Cart. Add Bilbo. Now there's a reason for the set to exist. $19.99 Shelob's Lair. Lose Gollum. Add Gorbag. $24.99 Uruk-hai Army. Lose the ballista. Change 1 Uruk-hai to a Berzerker. $29.99 Orc Forge. Scale the whole thing down considerably, lose the stupid light brick. Minifig count should be like the original UHA: 1x Uruk-hai, 2x Orc Engineers, 1x Lurtz, 2x Wildmen of Dunland. $59.99 Weathertop. Lose Merry. Add another Nazgul. Give one a proper Morgul Blade. $89.99 Balin's Tomb. Add Merry & if possible another Moria Goblin. Add Gollum and a rock for him to creep behind. Now Riddles for the Ring has a reason to exist as a cheap method of getting Gollum. $129.99 Helm's Deep. Make Aragorn in his correct Helm's Deep outfit. Perhaps lose an Uruk and add another Galadhrim, or Gamling. Wave 2 $12.99 Wizard Duel. Same, but at the very least with battle-damaged alt-faces for Saruman and Gandalf. $34.99 Council of Elrond. Lose the useless side-area and make a less cramped, more impressive council area. Could also add in some bonus fig for fan appeal - old Gloin, perhaps, or a casual-wear member of the Fellowship (chillin' Aragorn, Poncho Legolas). $79.99 Battle of the Black Gate. Add a second tower. Make the Orcs proper Morannon Orcs. Add at least 2x more non-uniques, 2 Gondorians would be best. $109.99 Corsair Ship. Include 2 proper Morgul/Morannon Orcs and Guritz, the Orc Captain with his skull helm. Include at least 1 more Corsair (preferably the Bosun). Include an Oathbreaker cavalryman on ghostly steed. $199.99 Orthanc. Make the Ent actually Treebeard. Delete the random Orc and Uruk. Add Sharku and Ugluk. Remove Gandalf the Grey, replace with Gandalf on Shadowfax. BONUS: add a fourth side to the tower and add Grishnakh armored Lurtz to increase price to $249.99ish.

Hydra Tank wowed me by being only $20. It's my most wanted Superheroes set right now, gotta get me some of that Red Skull (also skipped the Cap set back in 2012 so I need him). Spider Copter pisses me off because I *need* Luke Cage but don't give a crap about the rest. Guardians sets are irritating because I know I'm gonna need to probably get them all, or at least the biggest two, and that's a solid wallet dent. Dammit Marvel, why you make so good movies.

Comparing the base vulgarity that is WoW to anything of Arda around Tolkien fans is not likely to elicit a positive reaction ;)

Deathleech, you've summed it up to perfection. That's exactly how the Tolkien line should have been run. Army builder sets that would've still sold to kids, and that the AFOLs would have bought dozens of.

So what exactly are the prices of all the 2014 Superheroes sets? First post is woefully outdated.

Star Wars has had many sets every year since 1999. There has never been a year like that.

I can live without images, as long as we get minifigure lists.

Now that we know the setlist for TABA, anyone who's still on the fence should probably spring for these polybags - I'd guesstimate we get maybe 1 more LT Guard in the Windlance set, that's it.

Minas Morgul could be heavily scaled down and still be a swank set. MM is all about the sharp spiky crenelations, the light-up tower, and the statues in the front. Honestly, I could see it as a $130 set. Scale it down significantly to essentially a deeping wall height outer wall, with one big, thin tower within with some rooms inside for the Witchking and stuff. Have a causeway in the front with 2 statues and you're good to go. It'd definitely fit perfectly at a $200 pricepoint, and I think it'd be a much better exclusive than a Barad-dur, which would end up being too similar to Orthanc, IMO (big black tower again...)