Redroe

I accept that any lego set regardless of price point costs 20% more than my gut tells me it ought to.

I was definitely expecting more of a playset with the window and a few naff play features, like a segment cut off the MBS Cloud City. But it looks fantastic, and while I probably won't buy it, I am glad they're doing more of this type of thing (if only Mustafar was more along these lines!)

Exactly this. The 12 released set selection takes a bit of stick, but they really covered everything they could without going crazy huge or lots of special molds. A 16/18+ mini range would address those problems. Aside from a huge Minas Tirith set which would be a special, like Orthanc, they could have fixed the biggest omissions from the line quite easily: swap in Old Bilbo for Frodo in the Gandalf arrives set, give us Gondor soldiers rather than Pirate Ship. This, and the fact that the outstanding sets (Gondor, Witch King) mostly have a RotK theme, convinces me that a third wave must have been in the works at least before being canned due to poor performance of the early releases.

So the er, bra? is a genuine Lego part... that was gonna be my question, nicely done.

Ok, lack of context there. Clearly Tolkien is a cultural byword for generations. I mean for TLG's target audience, who will lap up Harry Potter sets, Star Wars sets, flash in the pan stuff like Minions sets, even themes like Pirates of the Caribbean will appeal more to that market than Lord of the Rings, which after 3 superb film adaptions and 3 tepid sequels a decade later has no new content. And the LotR films at the time had nowhere near the young audience that Harry Potter did. Funny that in the playground, it seemed possible to like either HP or LotR but not both. And most kids were heavily on the side of HP. Add to that: the films were 10 years old when the first sets were released, and that was 6 months before the first Hobbit was released to raise the franchise's profile. Many kids who now love the Force Awakens have never seen the Phantom Menace. It will be a similar setup for Lotr and Hobbit, I imagine.

You speak the truth. The LotR sets were in my opinion fairly good, but not kid friendly enough (drab colours, grumpy minifigs, niche source material). The first wave of Hobbit sets were actually decent, and more kid friendly. But the latter waves were shocking. I blame the failure of the Hobbit sets for the lack of a third LotR wave. And I blame the last minute decision to make a third Hobbit film for the rushed and awkward third wave of sets. Remember how they had to stick a "exclusive preview set!" Sticker on the spiders and barrel escape because they moved those scenes to a different movie?

Oh indeed (you're a bit of an Eowyn fan I see ) I just recall Lego having a bit of a fondess for sneaking reveals into related product literature, videos, etc. I gave up all hope on the LotR line years ago, then they kicked me while I was down by showing an Oliphaunt on the first dimensions wave. But that cruiser... it looks about right re. size and shaping... and they have a newish weapon in their colours list, pearl light grey, meaning they wouldn't have to chrome it up... shall stop now as I realise I'm probably stretching the rules of the post to breaking point. It opens up so many possibilities. I think the Stranger Things set was a real acid test for the adult market, though I could be corrected and told there were Star wars sets (other than UCS) that were marketed that way? I'd expect a cantina to be squarely aimed at AFOLs but they'll get the best of both worlds. My nephew doesn't give a monkey about the ships, all he wants to play with are the funny-headed aliens.

Bespin Duel looks solid. I wonder if I can offload my aftermarket Bespin Luke onto someone before it hits rock bottom on BL? As for the game... it really does seem that they're going to delay as I haven't seen a single pixel of promotion that wasn't part of the announcement or first trailer. HOWEVER. The prominence of the Naboo cruiser on the sleeve made my ears prick up. Total speculation I know. But a strange choice. The one major ship (I know, Nebulon B) they haven't done yet in any form? Can it be...

The lesson here is always buy everything on day one! Er, no TLG, no it is not. Lost a fair bit of your benefit of the doubt there. Thanks for the share, btw.

Is it possible btw for someone to share a link to this interview? Take a look at the very early SW sets and most have some, er, creative colour choices. Some of it was down to parts availability no doubt, but also they were less interested in accuracy back then and more in colourful and exciting-looking playthings. I do think that they should have shifted to sand blue for the system-scale TIEs a few years ago. It is not a rare colour any more.

Always have to applaud a build that puts proper effort into the underside.

I might stick my oar in on the bomber thing. Something I have noticed is: TIE fighters, for all you would think they would fly (no pun intended) off the shelves, always seem to sit at 10-20% off on amazon (Solo TIE, FO TIE, resistance TIE... etc). I'm not saying that this alone is an indicator of market value, it's just where I do my shopping for new sets, but the most desirable sets hold their price pretty well on Amazon (ones with rare figs, big-name ships like the Falcon). I think this ties into the recent comment about complexity of starfighter-size sets, which once were (and still ought to be IMO) the entry-level sets - they have become so large, expensive and complicated that they scare off the most numerous and worst-paid end of the market - i.e. kids. Parents take a lot of talking round before they'll shell out on a set for which an AFOL has already crammed their money under the shop door. So if TLG know that the set is likely to be sold elsewhere for cheaper than they sell it themselves, would they run the risk on a large and detailed TIE?

Latest set - Rebels Ghost off bricklink, missing Kanan but I already had a brown hair version which is more accurate anyway. I had been after Zeb for weeks, he comes in at about 30 Gbp. I got the Ghost and four figs for 90 and promptly butchered it to make my own. Cross over of parts is about 20%... ah well. Phantom 1's crop up fairly frequently... Phantom 2's however... Bless lego-tolerant wives. Mine is a gem. I think the attitude is, she would rather my achilles heel was lego than alcohol, illegal substances or other women.

I snagged a Thi Sen off bricklink last week, with a view to taking a stanley knife to that headress and rechristening him Muftak. Honestly... it didn't work, because there is a big shell thing on there too, and the mold doesn't actually hold up to today's standard. The face is too small and the detail too blobby. They had better do a ground up new mold.

Lol I won't blether on it again then, I'll go back a few pages and find some juicy stuff to reply to. I went looking but got lost in among Bomber-related crossfire. (Guys, BTW. Those chibi Rebels style TIE advanceds [grammar mare] are about 30 quid on ebay and you can throw together a great Bomber MOC without breaking a sweat). ..... and actually that chibi x1 version kinda pioneered a lot of the features we now see on other TIEs like the striker or interceptor (red one... I forget the name). The outlier is ironically the standard hex-panel TIE fighter with the Snotty wings. Aesthetically it doesn't fit with the others. The CMF werewolf hair and head combo could scarcely be better for Sivrak. He's sat in one corner of my (tiny) cantina MOC now, which is going to have to get bigger to accomodate the figures I will be bricklinking from this rumoured beast. I can't see how it is gonna look like 300 quid worth (rough estimate for converting from euro), but I look forward to finding out.

Am I allowed to talk about the Cantina rumour here or is there another place for such murky waters?

The Razor Crest is marvellous and I intend to rip it off immediately to add to my desk at work. I suspect its a shade too big for an official microfighter though?

Exactly, look at a recent Ninjago set and you can see that they can do decent lava, so why use blocky red and yellow? I have one trans-neon-orange 8x8 plate which I plan to build my mod around... from the old, old Ultimate Lightsaber Duel, a set which many condemn as Worst Set Ever. Well blow me if they haven't remade it worse.

I hadn't even noticed that Anakin was reused, my eye skipped over the starfighter completely (though I don't mind its being remade. It's the next in the cycle. Blue is up next I think?) But its yet another reason NOT to shell out on the awful Mustafar set. You can get the previously exclusive scene-specific figs in other sets. And apart from the figs, it's just a bunch of red and yellow parts that are practically useless if you want to build your own (better) Mustafar MOC.

MandR productions went to town on that and I don't blame him. Even the face is wrong for the Utapau duel. A mild concern/sassy MacGregor smirk please, Lego.

Translated from an eastern language for sure! I once had a Korean motorbike and the label on the tank read "be aware that the petroleum liquid can set the person on fire". Pretty grim stuff.

Only if you regularly read forums and leaks... I've only known since I joined eurobricks a fortnight ago. And leaked prices are often iffy. They tend to be translated between currencies I think. But anyway, it would be very Lego to release the final two Knights in a big set. If people are into Knights, then they'd have shelled out for the big set anyway, and the people who don't care for the product won't buy the cheaper one anyway. Either way Lego win.

Get an eyeful of that Night Buzzard. I wish they'd do more mid-to-large ships in that scale. I confidently expected that set to be another 120 quid beast. Now my only problem is a moral one because I swore off any TROS sets after seeing the film (I dislike it), having splashed out on the TLJ sets and then regretted it upon seeing the film (I deeply dislike it). But the Knights are a sweetener I may not be able to resist.

Change no... remake yes. Never mind what they could redo, let's have what they haven't done yet. Nebulon B, Venator, TIE bomber, UCS scale Sail Barge. I've never bought a UCS set, don't have the budget or space, but I always admire them and enjoy them vicariously through reviews.

I am vindicated. Interested to see the exclusive. There was an Ideas set based on the duel scene the year before they announced the genuine Cloud City I seem to recall. Probably quite similar.