Robianco

I really didn't see Lego marketing this as a new set and I'm not surprised by the headline on that image that '...it's back'. It's just an unashamed decision to pull the old, and for them increasingly underpriced, set and give it a little update with revised figures then get it back on the shelves.

The concept art / schematic character page I've seen for Thrawn have him in white so I'd really hope that was a good indicator.

I'm assuming that's the SY one then?

I've used vinyl dye spray from Halfords here in the UK. I've sprayed parts in red and black and also masked areas off to create a dual moulded look (before Lego were doing it properly). It's basically for spraying up vinyl dashboards on cars but works really nicely on Lego parts too. It feels like it sinks into the plastic a little so doesn't just sit on top of it like paint.

He's light grey because he's a ground troop officer rather than naval officer. At least one of these appear in ANH. There's also the stormtrooper officer from the detention centre.

Every time I've considered BLing 10179 these have been pretty much the first things I've thought about doing. I priced up some of the basic pieces including the dish, rigging, levers, technic bars and sticker and it came to around £850 + postage & duty. I think SD's engine mod looks better anyway and the technic angled pieces are all hidden. One thing to note.. and be wary of though, there's a Chinese bootleg company that are releasing 10179 for around £120. While most people wouldn't touch it I'm only mentioning as the printed dish, levers, rigging, technic bars and UCS sticker that I've mentioned would be available for the lower price so if you see a seller on eBay suddenly have these at a very competitive rate then just make sure you're getting a genuine piece. It's one thing to know you're getting a copy of a piece, and in the case of the rigging I've seen people sell 3D printed copies so the chinese bootleg piece will probably be better than that, but if you think you're getting the real thing it's a problem. Would there be any real away of knowing the levers are fake if the plastic and mould is of decent quality?

If you're a little nervous about it... and you shouldn't be, it's fine.... I'll be making a small order in the next week or so and I can include some figures in it for you and send them on once they arrive. That store seems fine and they have good ratings... the images they're showing on that listing are the genuine figures though. They won't be quite that good.

Talk about an absolute mind**k of a thread... This is like the clues on 3-2-1 (showing my age there)... I think I'll wait until the riddles give way to something more direct and concrete. I'm sure I'll be picking things up anyway but I'll leave the word games to the wider thread readers. The moulding on that cowl looks very good but the print looks off to me. I wonder if this will be a new one coming out of the Mexican factories and hitting eBay soon.

If everything else is the same as previously released versions of Han then the hair should be in next year's Skiff set which would bring the price down.

For those interested in comparing even the better bootlegs against genuine Lego on some of the rarer stuff: But when they get things right they look right at home with the big boys:

Eek. The print on some of those looks quite bad to be honest. Only one I'm remotely interested in is the Batman 3000 anyway.

Interesting how? Same here. I've even got several of the dual moulded grey and black legs waiting for the figures to update.

Which figures are these? Is that 66 Riddler a Pogo or Xinh release?

Absolutely. Really looking forward to adding these to the Imperial ranks along with Thrawn.

They've done a couple of pad prints. Iron Man is really nice. I've just enquired with AC whether he's getting a certain DC pad printed figure in.

That's the one. Leyile Brick sells them. I got mine from Andrew.

They've always hit on OLS for the designs of his figs and low Leyile brick has had his Suicide Squad figures copied.

The Batman belt mould is something I don't really see expanding into other licensed themes... I think they wanted a point of difference from regular SH figures hence the face print with the exaggerated expression on Bats from the Lego Move sets. That said, a white version of that could probably work as a MOC for the Stormtrooper belt added to Tatooine Han and Luke. I still think at some point there'll be dual moulding on Legs like Han with side pin stripe but that could be several 'upgrades' later. It'll be interesting when it comes to upgrades to figures such as Bossk which would benefit hugely from dual moulding on leg and arms. With regards to Fett in the 2017 set I can imagine them printing the same design but maybe a different colour for the arm hardware? That keeps the Slave 1 version unique without it being another release of this year's figure.

It actually wasn't the only one I ordered. I'm still hoping my accountant can make it happen as pieces of interest for my office as that's where my Lego is displayed. Hence Atom... Followed by a very good deal on the one I've wanted for a long time... Batman of Zur En Arhh. I previously bought Arsenal. For me at least, I don't think I'd ever spend big to pick up a black suit Superman as the torso is the only thing unique and SY did that pretty much perfectly. Christo did Shazam and Bizarro, SY did Green Arrow and was perfect except for the straps being brown which I actually prefer. SY's early Batman is perfect in both plastic and print and I've seen enough originals to know its a lottery to get one that isn't misprinted. SY also have me a pretty good Green Lantern so my SDCC list has been satiated with these two purchases. For Marvel someone has pad printed the NYTF Iron Man on genuine Lego and that's perfect too... And only £15. The SY Bucky Cap only suffers from being slightly tanned and that would be perfect. The one common in all of these is that SY have given us the best versions of SDCC figures and it's a shame they aren't still active in the figure market as I'm still not seeing their quality in Pogo or Xinh... Even in their best figures. My SY Phoenix now has dual moulded arms so I consider that superior to the original SDCC! :D I think I'm going to order three of the new SDCC cap figures in the hope of getting a good one. Now... If Xinh are going to really get their act together and be consistent with their print and mould quality then this wave might be a watershed moment for them. Saturn Girl and Raven would be huge if they got them right... Could you imagine if DLP got the same kind of quality they got in their Spiderman UK figure in a Saturn Girl and Raven? There'd be a lot of people suddenly picking these up.

I think it helps that Fett is a beloved character so having the first incarnation of that character will hold a lot of meaning and good will to people. Same if there has only been one release of a particular figure it's rarity will help the desirability even if it is less detailed than more recent figures.

After being perfectly happy with my Pogo Atom with Xing helmet I had a few drinks the other night and ended up buying a proper SDCC figure... Oh well... It was quite a low price so I'll consider it an investment.

The female jewel thief from the recent CMF line could be something worth looking at for both torso and legs.

That's Catwoman's torso from the DC line.

I don't think they'll take that view at all. I think they know Hoth wasn't great... it's been mentioned from the panel at Comic Con. The DS is what it is... They've always done UCS sets... B-Wing wasn't a great seller but they didn't stop making UCS sets. Apparently 10179 didn't sell well so it's shelf life was cut short but they didn't stop producing large sets. They know some will sell better than others and they know they've already sold a bucketload of 10188 but they wanted a revised version on the shelves.

No. Not as yet.