Procrastinathan

I don't think anything in the article screamed 'bigger than minifig scale' to me, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part

Does anyone know why we got images of Grievous' Starfighter so early, but none of the others for that wave (AAT etc)? Seems rather odd to just get leaks for the one. Has this happened before?

This is a great moc, but needs a 2-stud gap for the front 'wedge' rather than 4-studs. EDIT: I wish lego gave us a new piece to simulate the backpack B1 battle droids have.

Appreciate the info, Lando. Pretty disappointing, in all honesty. I'm happy for those who like collecting these buildable sculptures (this is a guess, remember, but likely a reasonable one) but I for one do not.

That would be lovely, but have we ever had a non-UCS set hinted at that far in advance?

Out of interest, what sort of things has he teased before?

Yup - let's not jump to conclusions here people. If the leakers say it's a clone, that's all we know. Wouldn't get your hopes up that it's Cody just yet.

I believe all FO TIEs have shields and torpedoes too, in contrast to their Imperial predecessors.

Regarding distribution of the set, if the VIP release date on the 18th (as is rumoured) does this mean it will be in LEGO stores on this day, but only to those who have a VIP account?

No, looks to me like an officer and a crew member (officer-looking types with pale grey uniforms). You can just about make out that both have skin-tone heads and black caps.

It's only the one photo that's leaked, yes. If you look at the stand holding up the Destroyer you can just about see two figs, flanking the UCS plaque.

As someone else mentioned, mustache man from Lego Star Wars II could've been an option - very retro. Magnificent, isn't he?

He was a cunning warrior... and a good friend.

Seconded. Would've dropped £50 in a heartbeat, even though there aren't any sets on shelves that I'm particularly interested in atm

To me, it resembles more of a heavily-modified Eta-2 than a TIE, really. I agree that the LEGO rendition isn't great though, and it's incredibly overpriced for what it is. Great helmet on the pilot, though! Edit: The cockpit is very similar to a TIE Striker actually

Intriguing; do keep us posted :)

Off the top of my head I can only think of the UCS Boba Fetts, the UCS TIE pilot, and that one Bespin Guard from the 6209 Slave 1. Arm printing is very uncommon in LEGO Star Wars.

It's unreasonable to compare across themes - the price/part ratio is much better in the Mustang than the Tantive, so one can assume that the licensing fees for Ford are cheaper than for Star Wars. Comparing within the same theme, look at the UCS Slave 1 - stickers galore, and no unique printed pieces (just common control panels from what I can tell). It's a real shame that the cockpit pieces for the Tantive are stickers, but I can't say I'm surprised.

Indeed it was printed. Who knows if the cost has changed, but companies are always looking to reduce their costs. It isn't unreasonable to assume that the company's priorities have changed somewhat in the last 10 years - printed pieces are less and less common.

As much as I agree with the sentiment of stickers vs printing here, one would imagine that printing a large cone piece must be considerably more expensive than printing the (generally small) pieces found in Brickheadz.

There's a very unsightly gap inbetween the engines on the Tantive IV set that I really don't like. Visible at 2:37 in the video. It's a big turn off for me.

None of this is helped by LEGO's inconsistency with UCS sets - some years they release one, some two, and some none at all. Consistency is nice and helps keep expectations in check. Personally, I'd love if they kept to two per year as it increases the chances of them making a UCS version of a vehicle I'd actually want to buy, and makes the inevitable re-releases easier to swallow as you don't then have to wait a year for the next one to come out.

It's far too early to pronounce the UCS line 'dead'. The 10th anniversary Tantive wasn't UCS either, and took the UCS 'slot' for 2009, with no others being produced that year. We could still get a UCS set later in the year, as we have had 2 in a single year before.

What can I say except you're welcome? :D Watch them put Zuckuss in all of those sets

Wow, an entire wave of battlepacks!