Clone OPatra

I just noticed that the preview Mario figure has regular size legs. That's a bit weird. I would've thought they'd give Mario mid legs so he'd be shorter than the likes of Luigi and Peach. I can't see them doing the Toy Story/Avatar limbs for Luigi.

I for one have come to really enjoy the aesthetic of the brick-built characters in the current type of sets (especially like the mega Goomba and Koopa from Big Bad Island, DK is cool though articulation is too limited, and that Wario is awesome), but I'm excited to see what they do for the Minifigure set(s). There are just soooo many moulds they'd need to do if they do a lot of characters, so I wonder if it will be a whole line or just occasional one-offs like they're doing for Zelda now?

I just went to the certified store in the Sydney CBD. Their BAM stand was an absolute shambles, so many torsos missing limbs, and next to no accessories at all. However, they had a bunch of new/newish hairpieces including: The green bandana plus hair, orange hair and Monkey's hair from One Piece The white headmistress hair from Wicked The red version of the long Glinda hair Dark orange thick hair from Star Trek Teal spaceman helmets Some of those are pricey on PaB so I didn't feel too bad paying the $20 BAM price here.

As far as I've seen, no.

Just adding to the chorus, I also got an order from early Jan finally shipped, except it became partial shipped, partial backordered. The only two parts that haven't shipped yet were two gold spaceman torsos. It did feel like a longer wait time than my other previous semi recent orders. Maybe they have some time limit now by which they ship an order even if it hasn't been completed, and ship the rest later. However, it's odd. My understanding of the "In Warehouse" designation, and the main reason PaB orders can't be added to even by phone, is that they are picked pretty quickly but then sit there waiting to be shipped in a big batch to the destination country, where they're handed over individually to a local delivery service/courier. However that can't be the case any more, if the parts I ordered had been in stock when I ordered them, but the order was ultimately shipped a month later and missing a couple of pieces that are now OOS/backordered. I don't mind waiting, but it's a weird system they've got going on. Just hoping they don't cancel the gold torsos on me.

Maybe this was already discussed, but the death eaters in the Privet Drive Escape set have fully different heads, with alternates, providing four masks in total. I expected them to have a shared head with each one using a different side. Now that means I instantly want duplicates of them, but what would I do with the extra Hagrid and Harry... so I probably won't.

Well that's exactly it. If I didn't already have some of this stuff I would certainly feel tempted, but ultimately disappointed in the overall package. I know some people dislike the 2019 Clock Tower set, and for sure the interiors were cramped and compromised, but the overall package was stellar. Recognisable building. A few locations. Fantastic minifigure selection. Good price. The next hospital wing was an awful clock tower, but a pretty great hospital wing with all relevant characters and some cool new inclusions, and an affordable-enough price. This one is a generic unrecognisable portion of Hogwarts for $100, with interiors that are larger than the 2020 one but still compromised, missing a key figure and with over half the included figures pretty much as generic as can be (Harry, Ron, Penelope, Dementor), and missing other stuff that would be cool. They love throwing in Dumbledores left and right - howabout a PoA Dumbledore again? I would want it, but it's still a lacking package for the price.

I'm glad this theme is still going strong, truly, but I guess I have just gotten most of what I want out of it at this point, and/or some of the new cool stuff (like many of the new ghosts, the troll) are in such expensive sets that their prices individually on the aftermarket are too tough to swallow. The Privet Drive Escape is the only one from this wave that gets me really excited. Excellent small set with an excellent figure selection, and the price isn't as exorbitant as the Duelling Club IMO (the last set from this theme that I got). The Lovegood House is something I wish I could love (ha), but just can't. The price is too high, the model is too thin and though all the angles are impressive, it just looks like a bit of a jumble. Plus not including Ron feels stingy beyond belief. I'm glad I've been into LEGO all along because if I was only getting into it now, I feel there's no way I'd want to spend $100 US on such a random Hogwarts portion. Yes it looks detailed etc, but it's just so much for something unremarkable and with just a few rooms inside. Not including Pomfrey (or Snape Boggart) is another blow, or perhaps redesigning the Dementor to look more shroud-like, or including somebody cool like Bem.

The fox has been lowered in Australia too, so probably everywhere. It had been almost $20 AUD but is now just under $10. What a steal...

Oh I know, I've been around this thread for a long time (since its inception perhaps?), it's just that we don't share hauls as much as we once did. I personally like to post my hauls as a way to go back and remember what I've bought to make sure I don't double up All those pieces you're describing come from the Ninjago Dragonian Warriors, like this one: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=njo0931#T=S&O={"iconly":0} The dragon helmets were then subsequently released in white and titanium, and the neckpiece and mini dragon parts in dark blue (although not the 1x1 clips, which don't exist in dark blue). I'm doing a series of posts with some figures using parts from this order, and started with one using the white dragon helmets and dark blue wings, if you look at my grid. The trans opalescent katanas are also from the Ninjago wave with the Dragonians.

Nope it feels just as stable as LEGO's model I'd say because most of the over-engineering of the "troop compartment" is still there. Like I said in the review, it feels truly frustrating that for whatever reason they went "yeah good enough" for the woeful troop compartment section, and for the cockpit. Pilots lying down is nothing new for LEGO, but it's still one of those things where you just go.. really? Why can't they design the set around proper spaces for minifigures rather than shove minifigures in however they fit and hope nobody cares.

I don't know if we're sharing hauls any more (I miss those days), but here's my latest on my IG: https://www.instagram.com/cloneopatra/p/DQocp-QkpRW/

Yes on the lowest speed it goes pretty slowly. Oh sorry, here it is: https://www.flickr.com/photos/37180688@N02/albums/72177720329314774/

It's my third time in four years reviewing a ship tied into a Star Wars Disney+ show, so I guess that makes it tradition around here... even if I'm pretty late to the party with this one. On paper it's a pretty exciting looking set, being a tie-in to a popular show and with some in-demand minifigures, but as its flaws have been well documented, I thought I'd also take a look at one of the Rebrickable MODs to fix them. Come along for my take on the set as designed by LEGO, and my first experience trying out fan-made MOD instructions. Thanks to LEGO for sending this for review at our request. SET INFORMATION Number: 75399 Name: Rebel U-Wing Starfighter Theme: Star Wars Released: 2025 Part Count: 594 Minifigures: 4 Set Price (RRP): 69,99 EUR / 59.99 GBP / 109.99 AUD / 69.99 USD / 89.99 CAD Links: Brickset Bricklink Flickr album BUILD Some sets you build and go "oh cool, I love seeing this bit come together" and some sets you build and go "what the heck am I even building" for the longest time. This one falls in the latter category unfortunately. The bottom grey portion felt almost over-engineered while building it, with so many small parts being packed in but barely any substantial progress being made. Really no aspect of building this was much fun, though that's fine of course. Sometimes you have to slog through to get to the hopefully worthwhile end result, but this one really did feel like a slog. I had forgotten about the stickers and photographed the set from a whole variety of angles without them, but that goes to show that the (thankfully printed) canopy is all the decoration you truly need. Here are a couple of no sticker shots, with more in the album. MINIFIGURES As with many Star Wars sets especially, the minifigures form a major part of the draw. K-2SO making a welcome return (very similar to his first minifigure from 2016), Cassian in an iconic Cassian vest, Dedra Meero, and an ISB Tactical Agent to top it off - we love to see it all. There's very little to improve about these figures. Dedra would be better with dual-moulded legs of course, though at least on my copy the white printing on the legs is pretty decent. I'd have no qualms pointing it out if it was terrible as many have been in the past, but to the naked eye especially, it's almost perfectly where it needs to be. The new hat-hair designed for Dedra also looks great and shows the level of care put into these figures. Though the ISB Tactical Agent has a bland face, that actually works for several characters in the scene. Unfortunately the figure isn't really Heert, the ranking officer who leads the raid on Cassian at the end of Season 2 and who K-2 uses as a shield, because Heert wears black leather boots instead of the white armored boots the regular Tactical Agents wear. It could be Benzi, if you like. No matter what, he's getting absolutely wrecked by K-2. THE U-WING I still remember seeing the first images of the U-Wing before Rogue One came out and thinking they nailed the design for a new ship in the Rebel fleet. There's something about it that just feels right and that it belongs with the stuff designed for the original films. The old LEGO version was well-regarded I think, though I never got it (my LEGO buying was pretty light at the time), but this one certainly looks pretty sleek and swooshable, and is very sturdy, whether or not its proportions are actually any better. I'd say the few stickers help carry the little pops of colour through, and it does look pretty good from all angles. The flight mode looks a lot more awkward. Using balls and sockets to hold the wings in the different positions just like on the 2016 one is still a structurally sound method, but the sockets are less concealed this time around. More than that though, there's just something about the overall shape that feels weird. Maybe that comes straight from the ship in universe, but I really don't care for this mode. The cockpit is frustrating to say the least. This is as far as Cassian can sit up; he's basically lying down and staring up at the sky. What irks me about this most is that the designers think this is fine enough to sell. LEGO designers are pretty great and I don't think it's beyond them to design a ship with a cockpit that can have a figure sitting properly. I think for some reason their internal design guidelines say this is ok, and that's a big shame. K-2SO fares no better, also cursed to stare up while piloting the ship. Just like on the original 2016 U-Wing, there's a little tile on a technic axle to push and pop the cockpit open enough to get a fingernail under the front more easily. I do like the stickered control panel... for the pilot to use with their feet I guess. Good luck! In front of the cockpit there's an ever-so-slightly raised 1x4 section that will shoot off the cleverly embedded spring-loaded shooters. That's a well-done feature, but you have to be careful you don't bump it accidentally. Looking underneath the shooters now, there's a big window on the front. You can't really see anything through it, but... nice that it's there? In Andor Sason 2 the U-Wing is kind of just Cassian's Rebel ride, but in its original appearance in Rogue One, it's very much a troop transport. With that in mind, here's the interior: Um... yeah. It's a 2-wide section and part of it is taken up with a weird stack of a tile on top of two plates sitting on jumpers. Not even a real crate. There's also another stickered console that Cassian can't reach because his head hits the ceiling if you try to sit him up straight. I honestly felt like I must have built this wrong, but did I? Ok, ok, you can remove the crate. And then fit a whole two figures bumping their heads on the ceiling. How did this pass muster design-wise? I could also mention how the doors inaccurately fold down whereas they slid back on the 2016 version just as they do in universe, but honestly the lack of troop space and fact that figures can't even sit up straight bothers me way more. In some ways there are echoes of Ahsoka's T-6 from two years ago, though this one frustrates me more. The T-6 is a massive ship with a big interior space in universe, and LEGO's version holds just a single figure. What's better is that you can kind of write it off as almost a midi-scale set since there's really no fitting figures in the side parts whatsoever. The U-Wing, on the other hand, teases you. Sure, you can fit figures in the troop compartment... but not really. And the pilot can't see where they're going. MOD by RadmiralThrawn Frustrated by the set, I fired up Rebrickable and looked through the free MOD instructions that several users have created. I decided to try out the one from Radmiralthrawn since it seemed like quite a lot of the ship could be left intact. In actuality the instructions take you through the entire build as if you were starting from scratch, but I didn't want to do that, so instead I got the bottom troop section off and essentially pulled it apart as I went along to match the MOD instructions. Ultimately mine might not match Radmiralthrawn's instructions 100%, but the major differences to the official build are there. Look different to you? There are a few external differences but they've very subtle, which is fine because the exterior of LEGO's model looked good to begin with. It still feels just as sturdy as the original build did too. What's that in the photo above? Cassian looking straight out of the cockpit? By golly, so he is! There he is, sitting up straight, and there's now an empty space between the cockpit and the troop area so the pilot can talk to whoever is down there just like in universe. What's more, three whole figures can fit in the lower area and two can even stand up! Wow! LEGO designers, please take notes. The only drawback with this MOD is that K-2SO can't really sit properly in the cockpit so can't be set up to pilot the ship, which is a shame because you want to be able to reenact him piloting sometimes. Some of the other MODs out there do seem to accomplish that, but I'll leave that... for another time. CONCLUSION & RATINGS If it wasn't obvious, I'm quite mixed on this set. It looks good externally and swooshes well, and the minifigures are great to get, but I don't really accept that the compromises were necessary. I don't understand why it's acceptable design to have pilots lying down; they should be designing the sets around having proper cockpit space and not throwing in the figure at the end in coffin position. It honestly would've bugged me big time as a kid too. What's even more unacceptable though is the "troop" area, which is truly baffling design. It's no surprise that they don't show figures in there in any of the official marketing material except one video of a kid playing with the set, where K-2SO has been haphazardly chucked in. The MOD by Radmiralthrawn (among others) shows what can be done with the exact same parts and maintaining what feels like the same amount of durability. If a fan can do it, surely the LEGO designers could've. So how do I rate this set? 9 MINIFIGURES Dedra could've had dual moulded legs or slightly better leg printing, but really this lineup is very good. Sure another figure like Kleya or Melshi would've been great, and it's sad we might never get them, but I won't dock points for that. 6 PIECES Nothing terribly exciting with the pieces, so not what I'd call a parts pack. 6 DESIGN For all my banging on about the cockpit and interior, the overall design of the ship is still pretty good with its looks and features. It just loses a few major points for those issues. 7 PLAYABILITY The major playability of swooshing and going between landed and flight mode are there, plus the good feature for opening the cockpit and the embedded shooters. However, part of the core playability you want out of a troop transport type ship is loading and unloading troops, and it kind of falls down on that front. 8 PRICE I'd say it feels slightly overpriced by 5-10 dollars/euros. Not egregious, in the ballpark, but a smidge higher than it needs to be for its size. 7.2 OVERALL - It's a set that could've been great, but the design choices with the cockpit and troop area really knock it down. Still, the bones are there, and with the help of other fans on Rebrickable, even if you're like me and no good at MODding yourself, you can take this set from so-so to very decent.

I've done a deep dive review of this year's 60470 Explorers' Arctic Polar Express Train. With sales coming up as we head into holidays, now's a great time to check out if it's worth you're while. It's a cool one (pun intended?) I'd say. Check out the review over in the Train Tech forum here.