Redroe

If its got a proper canopy piece, then I'll take it and thank them for spending their budget wisely. Give 'em some credit. We got Wedge in the 4+ one.

Just went hunting in my box labelled NO CHILD SHALL KNOW OF THESE MINIFIGS' EXISTENCE and the ones I pulled out at random were: Lotr Aragorn (flesh on dark brown), Lotr Merry (flesh and white on dark green), potC Barbossa (flesh on black), and browncoat Jack Sparrow. I couldn't immediately find a blue Jack Sparrow but I daren't dig further because i am home working and if the wife hears a Lego noise she'll kick the door in. Anyway. They all look fine. In fact I was pleasantly shocked at how good they are. Jack's chest does indeed look a little dark, but I would far rather that than the tan and white be practically indistinguishable (the white looks solid, fresh-from-the-dry- cleaners white. Han Solo is going to ask for their address). I am sure if I went through all the box I'd find some other examples. I would place good money on the PoP and lone ranger figs being of similar quality but I don't have any to confirm.

That's a bit of a sweeping statement, some people prefer minifigs, whereas some prefer a solid build, but the fact that a set ought to have good minifigs AND a solid build is not up for debate even if the focus is slightly more one way than the other (example 501st battle pack = hot minifigs with decent builds. Example new TIE = good build with decent figures. Exception = UCS). But this printing thing is a big big problem. I had a good rant on this in the 2020 thread, but it seems that it is almost a problem with SW figs over other themes: the PotC and LotR lines include plenty of prints on dark coloured torsos (see Jack Sparrow for pity's sake) and it looks just fine. This was the same period (early 2010's) as they did a bunch of updates on core SW figures, like Han and rebel pilots, and it looks like washed out white or pink. Why can they not get it right? Why do they not apparently even TRY to get it right? Has anyone seen/read a designer interview where this issue has been raised?

Quality of design and build remains at an all time high. It improves year on year. Quality of part production, colour consistency and printing is in a bit of a dip however. Also minfig parts like arms and torsos seem to crack earlier than ever. No getting round it. Different cheaper materials maybe? If the difference in material were due to environmental concerns I'd have expected it to be broadcast from the rooftops.

And if we can't nail down what percentage of a set's cost-to-produce a minifigure might represent, it's us the consumers who determine its value as aftermarket prices show. So they'll keep a close eye and judge, how much can we charge for this? with this desirable figure included. The 501st BP is a good example. If you bought the 4 clones from a uk aftermarket seller you'd outstrip the original value of the set by a comfortable margin. (Which is actually I think why a lot of people are upset about the 501st BP, they aren't at all interested in the builds which from a objective perspective ought to add a lot of value above an average battle pack). I could be wrong but I don't think 1HY last year featured much in the way of new molds either? One Knight of Ren? All the rest are 2HY (KoR, Ahsoka, Razor Crest, Cantina). They don't tend to show their hand much in the winter wave. Its usually the realm of battle packs, £25 sets and microfighters. Stocking filler stuff. (Which is odd since it just misses Christmas. Christmas pocket money spending stuff I guess) and then a couple of larger sets (X wing [oh yeah, Jannah hairpiece] and TIE dorito this year) but nothing huge.

Snipped almost all your post and don't have time to reply as enthusiastically as I would like but have an upvote. Good for lego if that's the case. Like @Kit Figsto said, for many of us my age (30) lego and Star Wars are almost interchangeable terms. In the early 00's Star wars lego was lego. But if they are now in the position to do what they do best, then they should do that. Kids have many more demands for their attention than I did when i was a kid, most of it on their phones, and more 'big' franchise moneyspinners like Marvel. The lego Star Wars sets are often truly spectacular and high quality, but as by necessity a faithful reproduction of movie ships, they are kind of dry compared to Lego's original output like ninjago which shows real imaginative flair. So yes. Wouldn't be surprised if TLG have wised up to this and are not so much cutting back on the SW line as refocusing it. They know a growing portion of the market is AFOLs who will buy ucs/mbs/18+. They can afford to slim down the system scale releases if it means selling more copies of fewer sets to more kids, less expensively, instead of cranking out crap like Duel on Mustafar because they have to fill a certain price slot on a release wave.

Yes seems rather at odds with the smaller/cheaper approach they're adopting.

Oh, right. Interesting. I never knew that ANH had different detail to the rest. makes sense from the general design evolution that took place over time. Has a set specific to ANH with Vader been released since? You could argue Death Star version could be ROTJ specific!

Sorry to go off on a tangeant, but which one and what was special about the torso??? Curious.

I wish. One nephew is 8 and he's just got to the point of liking everything just so, all the figures with the right hats in the right ships. The other one is 3. You can imagine.

I got the ship sans figures on ebay for £45 and thought it worth every penny. Just done some homework, 80 gbp for 936 pieces. The new one starts to look like less of a deal. I can't find a piece count but I guess its 650-700? And two fewer figures. It looks like a £65 set to me. Compare to the X wing. Cheaper and better looking than the 2012 one (still my favourite) with same no. of figures. I will certainly get an X Wing because I want Dodonna, I want to show support for Lego's new approach and I want to stop my nephews molesting my MOC collection. I may get a TIE because I like the model and it looks a great deal. But I will skip the shuttle. 2020's problem: "I can't afford the new X wing!" 2021's problem: "I can afford 2 of the new X wing!"

Was Tydirium not £80 in 2015? ?

I'd have assumed so especially as all the 4+ sets include some kind of side build, but it would normally still be shown in the brochures.

Shuttle looks good. I can't tell without digging out my copy of Tydirium how similarly sized it is, but in some small areas it looks rather smoother and sleeker. Minifig selection is rather slim though. The three that are there make perfect sense for the ship, but I'd have liked to see at least one stormtrooper. A single stormy and an Imp Officer would have made it good but not amazing. Interesting points people are making about the minor torso print updates. Would we have complained if the figs hadn't been new in any way? Probably. It seems like TLG know full well that hardcore minifig collectors will go out of their way to get every infinitesimally small difference so they tweak it a bit each time, at the price of annoying the rest of us who like uniformity between our shuttle pilots, thank you very much. That said if they can finally fix the orange problem on the rebel pilot I'll take it all back. The back page really highlights how small the wave is. Again not a problem for me personally, less for me to spend money on and it does look like quality over quantity (these are good quality sets by the look of them, no doubt about that), the howler being the 4+ X wing. What an abomination. I'm gonna put Luke's lightsabre down to a funny colour option on the scanner.

Future convention exclusive, if there ever is another convention

I could not be bothered to wookieepedia him and imprint his name on my memory with all the other Star Wars junk on there I only know what the Tonnika sisters are called thanks to this thread! Only known as a meme but the good old Mandalorian just won't leave those camtonos alone. I have to add some non-CW Nikto to my list of required Jabba figures. This should be a no-brainer as they can do it with a normal printed head. Also Barada (ditto) and Yak Face. Turns out it was longer than I thought. The Mon Mothma torso isn't actually at all bad, I have switched her head and hair (for HP Lupin's if anyone was curious) and it holds up well against modern prints. Likewise the General Lando and Madine torsos. I actually like the dark tan more than the more recent dark nougat as a base colour. I was lucky enough to find some on BL for a lot less than going market value. The only fig from that set who looks really dated is poor old Ackbar with his googly eyes. I have a soft spot for him nostalgically though. I have a suspicion the one I got is from a magnet set as its a soft plastic but I'd rather have him than not. Baby Yoda is adorable in the carrier but I still find the lack of detail on the silver helmet inexplicable. My nephew is gonna love this. I wish it were out in time for Christmas because my awesomeness levels could do with a boost.

@Lego-Freak 1, Redroe nil.

Fair shout. But for a character as important as Padme not to have a single figure based on her many Naboo outfits in TPM, I almost count her as a seperate concern to later versions like the Arena AotC one. I mean, you can almost interchange many of the Luke and Leia variants between locations but Padme's different outfits are so diverse they demand more attention.

And even you missed any version of Padme! I think ST fans, one of whom I am not, can count themselves very lucky if any more ST figures are released. I think the sequels are going to be forgotten as quickly as possible. It grieves me, as until TLJ I was an anything-goes kind of SW fan. I favour OT but love the PT with childhood nostalgia. Kuill should have been in the Razor Crest and I'll bang that drum til my hands fall off.

The first Zev Senesca helmet didn't look anything like the real thing, the second gen one might as well count as his first release. Red Leader would have been a solid gold inclusion in that X Wing. I'm happy Leia is there, (super happy actually. TLG finally getting it right) but I'd have lost her for Red Leader.

Of course, Ozzel. I am in the way of thinking he already exists in minifig form, because I swapped Piett's head out for a moustachio one years ago. Needa is just a standard 3x2 badge captain torso though. I hadn't counted Imp officers who share a rank badge as they are just a head swap away (and most of them have pretty generic "stern middle aged white guy" faces!)

Are there though? If we count figures that have never had a single release, I don't get that many at all: ANH: Aunt Beru. Motti. Muftak. Red Leader. Other than that its minor differences between Imperial insignia and Rebel flight helmets. TESB: er.... ice cream guy I guess? ROTJ: a few more here. Jabba's cronies deserve a bit more love. My personal faves would be Sy Snootles, Amanaman and Ephant Mon. I guess you could pick a few more Ewoks if you paused every frame. Nien Nunb, who started this discussion. Beyond that I am struggling.

I feel like the next OT B-Wing would be a good spot for him, and it's coming up on 7 years (since it was a 2014 release and we know that we aren't getting one this winter) since the last one. I know he wasn't a B-Wing pilot but it's sort of the same as them sticking random bounty hunters in with Slave I. They did his sort-of meta alter-ego Ten Nunb in the last two B Wings. Even switching up his ever-changing white to red spacesuit. And they still need to do a B Wing that looks anything like decent. An A wing would also be a great place for him (they did Lando and Ackbar in the last two for crying out loud). And surely if this new back-to-basics approach is really going to take off, an A wing can't be long in the pipeline. They could even keep the face print as it is as long as he has a cap mold with his big old ears. So happy to get Dodonna. Literally a week prior to the reveal I was pricing up Antilles torsos on the aftermarket to do a custom. And the RA protocol droid is another AFOL gift. Lego know how to squeeze our wallets.

A face mold, like Garindan's or a moustache, that goes round his neck would be a good option to avoid a whole new head.

That is a beautiful part. Finally the problem is fixed. Those old 3x6 cylinders never had a concentric axle hole and they so badly needed one.