Swordy

Agreed as far as likelihood for the 2025 slot. If Daredevil can make a splash in pop culture again, a Fisk Tower in a few years with Defender and Spidey-related figures would be excellent. Either way, though, the sales of each set are absolutely dependent on how well they do the building and figures. The Daily Bugle is an all-in-one Spider-Man experience. A hypothetical Oscorp has to deliver on that expectation while providing something fresh to collectors, which is possible to do given the wide variety Spidey’s villains offer. (Plus we still need a comic MJ. No excuses.) Fisk Tower can accomplish the same if they lean into the Daredevil/Spidey-adjacent side of Marvel Comics. *laughs in Clone bro* Pleasant surprise. I’m baffled that it took us this long to get a dude in a white suit as an official figure. I’ll just blame the $50 price on them paying royalties to Sam Rami and pray they don’t alter the deal further. Agreed on the need for updated figures. We especially need arm-printing on Tobey’s Spidey. Not the biggest AOU guy, but the Quinjet looks clean. Hoping the build can go great alongside my 2023 Quinjet on display. News of Quicksilver again? Let’s just hope it comes true this time. I’d appreciate if the Hulk and Ultron Prime could be included as well. Too soon. (Like, I finally watched AOU over the holidays last year. Even though I knew it was coming, his death still gutted me. Hawkeye and the twins were definitely the strongest aspects of that movie.) Might need some clarification. Is this most recent Quicksilver rumor false, the most recent Quinjet rumor altogether false, or were you speaking of another experience from before and these new rumors are true?

I will note how when the OT was spoken of as the true, essential Star Wars, that the ST fans came out to defend their favourite films. Personally speaking, I thought it more likely that PT fans would come out to defend having Prequel sets on shelves than ST fans. Seems we’re not all so different after all. I am by no means putting down anyone’s favourite film or series when I say that OT is Star Wars at its core. That said, yeah, the OT is core Star Wars. Those films have stuck around in public consciousness for nearly 50 years; time will tell if the PT and ST have the same staying power (directly correlated with merchandise sales). I like all eras of SW (except Acolyte—which is actually terrible TV—since I absolutely had to let you know), and regardless I know everyone has their favourite era. I believe a good solution (and one that seems to have been lost for just this year; hopefully it can be brought back) is to keep the OT cast available perennially, but rotate PT, ST, CW, and Mando cast every couple years. (R1, Solo, and rest of Disney+ SW should be sprinkled throughout.) In that case, it’s high time we had at least a few Sequel sets grace shelves once more. I feel as though I’m pointing to the blatantly obvious as this genius idea, but TLG showing a heavy preference toward TCW this year has me concerned. It’s not as though we’ve been deprived of CW content or their main characters. Neither have we been of Mando and Grogu, to be fair. Meanwhile, the OT crew is almost inaccessible, the ST crew are no where to be found. Disagree with most of what you said here, however I do slightly agree on “ruined Lucas’s canon”. I adore TFA. It’s one of my favourites. That said, when you stop and think about the plot of the movie, the movie on it own reverses everything the OT accomplished: the Empire strikes back (now with FO branding), the (New) Republic has been wiped out, the (New) Jedi Order is dead, and Force users are rarely seen, another planet-killer is built (now in extra-large), Leia is the leader of a group of freedom fighters, married to the cause, like in ANH, Han is a lone smuggler with only Chewie at his side, married to the adventure, like in ANH, and Luke is alone on a planet, with no hope he’ll get off it, hidden from the galaxy, like in ANH, (refusing to pass on what he has learned, might I add). I don’t need everyone to be superhumans or for everything to be perfect, but continuation of already established character development should be bare minimum in my not-so-humble opinion. Yoda and perhaps Obi-Wan in the OT are different than how they were in TPM or RotS. That should be true of what the main trio. Just so it’s clear, I like the ST films in spite of their flaws, this included. Given it’s a remake of the beautiful 2015 model, I expect nothing but greater detail. A fully realized cockpit with room for both Fetts and believable surroundings would be amazing. If you’re talking the cargo hold interior seen in Mando S2, maybe not. Given the complex Technic structure I assume will be inside to strengthen the model, I doubt there will be room. (I could see a seismic charge launcher to make up for that lack, which I think is a hilarious idea.) Just punched the numbers into a US inflation calculator, and the 2015 Slave 1 would cost ≈$270 in today’s money. So I believe we ought to expect at least $30 worth of improvements. However, I remain cautious whether it can be as good as, if not better than, the 2015 model. Photo leaks can’t come soon enough.

Thank you, although it’s just a rip from LEGO Marvel Superheroes. The Battinson head works shockingly well. Funnily enough the newly revealed Blacktron book fig proves your point. The bright white detail on the legs brightens the design up too much, while the classic design works by giving the figure a shadowy presence because your eye is drawn toward the torso and it alone. I also believe that proper utilization of classic LEGO colours on a figure often looks brilliant. It’s why Silver Age designs adapted into LEGO, such as CMF Wolverine or Daily Bugle Spidey, work so well. (Also why I hate that Octan no longer uses classic green and red in their logo. I can see it as a gimmick for a City set or two, but there hasn’t been much Octan outside of LEGO City since.) That Fornite Dummy is cursed. Never realized that the silver part on his belly was meant to be a metal spine. You sir just sent me down a rabbit trail… how have I never seen that concept art before? Looks amazing, especially the Dummy one. That bit of insight has given me so much more apperception for those early CMFs. Now I can’t rest until I have every single one, from Series 1 to… whatever series at which LCU stopped. You’ve doomed me financially. Unless Megatron for once called a peace accords with the Autobots, I’d be inclined to say no. Thank you! …Oh yeah, of course. Now obviously, I know what purple-13 is, but for our Seatron buddy way yonder, explain—in very simple, kindergarten-level words—what purple-13 is. Officially canon that Krell fell to the dark side because he was showed one too many MandR videos by Clone Force 99. It’s been more of a roller coaster over the past few months for me. News of a Spider-Verse set, only for it be $50. News of a Civil War Airport battle, only for Bucky to have the wrong haircolour. News of a U-Wing, only for it be significantly downscaled again. Potential of an Ewok Village, (what else could we derive from “Redwood”?) only to be an unobtainable Death Star. News of a Spider-Man 2 set and Spider-Verse CMF to be combated with disappointing news for LSW in the summer. No Soup sets is probably worst of all, though. One of the biggest blockbusters of the summer won’t be getting a single LEGO set. We truly live in a society. No, she(?) obviously means DC characters in the R-tier, which far and above exceeds the S-tier: for instance, Absolute Man.

So those are confirmed to be the two initially unnamed minifigs? That’s not too bad I suppose, although I still yearn for a Durge. If it’s 2003 CW-based, Ventress is guaranteed to have the white eyes, since that’s how she appeared in that series. That speculation is based solely off Renown’s hint referencing the micro series, though. Ironically, the full-white eyes would look less soulless than full-blue eyes. I stand absolutely corrected. If not for the gimmicky X-Wing mech, the cheapest set Luke would be in would be the $80 Skiff. Like I said in the 2024 discussion, Star Wars is about the characters as much as it is the cool ships and massive armies. That third toyetic aspect is sorely missing from LSW nowadays. I firmly believe a kid ought to be able to watch ANH, walk into their toy store, and pick out and play with a set that has the main cast. At the very least, Luke, Han, Leia and Vader need to be readily accessible to any new SW fan. Arguments for the PT, ST, CW and Mando casts could be made, but the OT is Star Wars, and those films still speak to young people today. The way those films and their legacy carry on for a kid is through the toys, whether Kenner figures or LEGO minifgs. The toys are dependent on Star Wars for inspiration, while Star Wars is dependent on the toys to establish a lifelong connection with the series. Cool new trooper looks and refreshed starfighter designs are a dime a dozen; no one can replace the main trio of whatever era you love most. That the cheapest sets on shelves are comprised of helmeted figures is concerning. My solution would be either a $55 Luke’s X-Wing with Luke, Artoo, Leia, Han, and Chewie; or a $20 Landspeeder with Luke, Ben, Threepio, and a Tusken. Here’s the kicker, though: keep those sets around for as long as the minifig designs allow, and let them become small, unoffensive staples of any LEGO store and any retailer. If they do this with the UCS Falcon for the adults, why not for the kids also? Spoiler for Skeleton Crew finale:

Hot take: Baxter Building can come off as a bit ugly to the uninformed. Plus, it seems that the 4 Logo is only featured on the top in most cases, so it wouldn’t have the ease of iconicity that Avengers Tower has. They could play around with the design, sure, but they can do the same with Oscorp and give it a killer of a bad guy building design (my go-to design-wise has been and always will be the LMS1&2 design, although it isn’t comic-accurate). In the latter’s case, people will be attracted by the obvious Spider-Man connection, as opposed an untested connection with a newly rebooted superhero team. We seem to be running low on options at this point. Since we’re talking villain modulars, Fisk Tower might go over pretty well, especially since Daredevil: Born Again airs this year.

To be honest, I’ve only ever done it for NWH. Had to decide between buying the Sanctum Workshop or the Batman Tumbler at Target, and walked away with the one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I guess I also bought 75299 on Jan 1st, but that was after Mando S2 had finished airing. I’m hyped for the FF movie, about as much as I was looking forward to see (Doc Ock in) NWH.

Those six words just made my week. :D Cannot overstate how excited I am for a modern Spider-Man 2 set. One of my all time favourite films front to back… I honestly don’t care if we get any other Sony-Verse sets, a set based off this scene is all I need. Okay, a Alchemex Collider or Prowler bike would be fantastic too. Oh, how do the youth of my day say it: “Like, bro, absolutely based opinion.” Seriously though, as someone with zero nostalgia factor playing a role in my viewing of the film, SM2 shines above not just it’s direct predecessor and sequel, but above most other superhero films all together—the Spider-Verse films being the exception for me. *laughs in Jod Nod-Silvo-Crimson Jack-whatever Pick-Pokett called him* In other (old) news, FF set sounds exactly as I expected, so not too surprised. That said, the bump in price from $50 to $60 is gonna make me sit this one out on June 1st. I could justify paying $50 since I’d like to have the set before I see the movie, but at $60 I would feel cheated. (At this point, waiting for discounts doesn’t feel rewarding anymore; it just feels like that I didn’t get scammed.) The Hulk Monster Truck sounds so insane that I might just buy it.

I believe I’m the only one here mildly excited for a V-19 Torrent. Sure, it’s no Headhunter or V-Wing, but it’s arguably one of the more iconic Clone Wars vehicles, besides the ARC-170. (For me, I always associate V-Wings with the Empire—probably because of TBB—and Headhunters aren’t that unique looking, per se.) The news that it’ll come with Ventress is intriguing: If it’s based off the micro series, I hope Anakin is the second figure. As much as Clone Armour Obi-Wan is a coveted figure of mine, I believe that Durge would be a more fitting opponent. If it’s based off the canon show, then obviously TCW armoured Obi-Wan. (That man looks so good in clone armour, I had to pause the episode, jump out of my Disney+ player, and look up TCW Obi on Bricklink—only to be horrified by those stark blue eyes.) Clone fatigue is the only thing keeping my excitement for this set down. Still, I’m a sucker for cool and unique starfighters, so I’m looking forward to it. Another buildable figure? Good Greef Karga, they’ve gone mad! I don’t even care what this one will be. I think the final set will be a Y-Wing. It might be Clone Wars based, since Anakin was Gold Leader if I recall correctly. I would love an OT Y-Wing for the sake of an OT set this year, but really only if Vader’s TIE is included. If there isn’t a single OT playset this year I say we riot. This year for LSW is definitely looking bleak. Creativity in set choice seems to be lacking, instead opting for a paint-by-numbers strategy prioritizing Clone sets first and everything else secondary. “We need a Mando set for the kiddies,” becomes the 4+ N-1. “We need a microfighter with a fan-favourite character so it’ll sell out and justify the line’s existence,” becomes the Plo Koon SF. “We need small but overpriced collector sets for the OT and PT fanatic in his 50s who’s collection is starting to eat him out of house and home,” becomes the midi-Home One and Acclamator. “We need sets that will appease clone army-builders,” becomes the ARC, the 327th, the UT-AT, and who knows how many more. “We need more sets that those SW Youtubingers will buy to livestream and display in their studio,” becomes all the buildable junk we’re getting. I’m mildly hyped for the UT-AT and Galactic Marines since both are new (if Ree-Yees can get a figure, why not Snowtroopers in maroon?). MTT being a CW set is disappointing; a brown MTT could’ve given us so many Ep. 1 characters we haven’t had in years. I personally don’t get the hype for 327th, am I stupid? The U-Wing didn’t excite me all too much at first since it’ll be undersized (again), but anything non-Clone-based is something celebratory. UCS Slave 1 being $300 is slightly upsetting, since the Tudor Corner is $240 for around 3000 pieces. I mourn the loss of the slim chance we’d get a TFA playset or a smaller Skeleton Crew set with SM-33 and Brutus. Rats, BrickBob Studpants beat me to the zany speculation that the Turbo Tank is based off The Believer. Anyway, I’d genuinely love the set to come with Miggs Mayfield and a Shore Trooper (lunch tray included). I don’t believe it’d be too harmful for it to be Mando-based given it’s the smallest tank yet.

I could buy into this theory; I take that back, I already have. Now you’ve got my bank account worried. He seems to have a source high up in LEGO, so it’s not entirely impossible. Maybe the word that Gold Leader wouldn’t be included was the first news on a potential Y-Wing he’s gotten so far. As for the possibility of Gold Leader being canceled, maybe the actor’s estate doesn’t want anymore LEGO minifigs of him? I think that’s what happened to any proposed Stan Lee minifigs since he passed. If the Yavin IV set was still in production, I’d suggest that maybe this could be a Finch Dallow situation (in which we get Gold 2 or something, which wouldn’t be too bad if done well), but now I’m just spit-balling. First, if you haven’t been already, welcome to Eurobricks. Second, going off what I was saying just above, maybe he’s also referring to this in addition to everything else, maybe not. (This is reminding of the game Clue—if so, I believe we need a definite number of cards to which he’s referring.) I do believe plenty more people would buy a Muunilist gunship over a Coruscant Guardship (i.e. me). I do agree that we should wait a while before another. Could be; could be both. Glad that Renown has given us yet another hint for us to chew on. Not trying to be rude at all, but I hope we don’t this an annual tradition anytime Renown pipes in with a hint. I also seriously doubt he was drunk. I believe he was trying to tell us with his 1984 quote that he nearly lost his source at TLG or he did but now has a new one, and in his later post was trying to throw us off the truth. A day ago I wouldn’t have been all too surprised if he stopped posting all together; the fact that he still is alive is promising.

Finally updated the profile pic to Soup’s Mech™, with a bit of Fantastical flair, of course. (Forgot to put a watermark on the other photos, so that’s why it’s showing up only now.) …that makes so much sense. Freedom of press in early America led to newspapers acting as businesses, so advertisers needed to find new ways of saving money. I love America. I still favour the Us, though. TLBM sets overflowed the markets with LEGO Batman and DC as a result, thus creating an apathy by the consumers in subsequent years, thus leading LEGO to downsize the DC theme to just Batman, thus creating further apathy toward LEGO Batman, thus beginning the downfall of the LEGO Omni-Multi-Poly-verse. It all connects. Dew it. We must stop this insanity they call sanity. It wasn’t much of a fight, to say the least. Completely agree. To be fair, I don’t think MandoKnight necessarily agreed with those reviews, but there’s plenty who do. For me, Road Runner from the Looney Tunes CMF is one of my favourties, and that’s probably simply and only because of the character design in the cartoons. Meanwhile, both Hawkeye and Echo from Marvel Series were very unpopular for most people, yet had starkly different levels of detail. I do appreciate the more detailed minifigs (Moon Knight comes to mind immediately), but you can’t beat a solid design, no matter how many lines are on the arms and legs.

Fair. I thought it’d be a nice “classic LEGO when they encouraged imagination” touch. Nonetheless, it’s undeniably in Luigi’s favour. (One of these days y’all Brits are gonna have to tell me what words in your dictionary include an extra U or not. I just found out’ve been straight-up misspelling glory while I assumed I was being defined.) I don’t know. To my very limited knowledge on this topic, ChatGPT can create character profiles based off any existing fictional character, so it’s not entirely impossible. RiddlerDC seemed like a Mk. 2 version, where he said mostly the same thing but with a slightly improved technique. Only thing that seems impossible for a computer to do was those Turtle stickers (especially the one without his shell, lol). Maybe a human mixed with A.I.? Whatever it was, the Turtle had to be more than a man. He was a symbol. Thank you. Anything for the Aslume. This place has opened my eyes. It’s more than just insanity; it’s truth. That’s what makes him so dangerous. He could look like anyone… Dude looks like Howard Stark or Walt Disney, honestly. *sad noises in Sith Lord* The mech is the bane of insanity, so no. …or like how Burger King is inside every U.S. military base across the world (which is really funny since more people associate McDonalds with America than BK). LONG LIVE BL—wait I mean I Heart M-Tron. (Please, Spirits, I’m begging like a turtle for some good night’s sleep tonight.) Thank you! I’ll do so shortly. ;)

(Eww, CloneCommando uses light mode.) I guess the Aslume’s New Year did go off with a bang after all. On a side note, I guess this maybe proves he isn’t an AI? …we shan’t mention Paul’s name. Wait. Honestly, until Cal was name-dropped I hadn’t the foggiest clue about what y’all were talking. Until JFO arrives on the Switch, I probably will never truly know. In other news, where several Walmarts and Targets failed me in not having the Soup mech (or Wolfpack Beastmaster), the LEGO Store came through with both! Unfortunately the Blacktron Renegade and Tudor Corner are too far out of my budget for now, so I only got the Pizza Go-kart to go with it. As I built both, only one thought came to my mind: These builds are incredibly stupid. Then I smiled, and loudly proclaimed (in my mind): Long live stupidity! LONG LIVE THE ASLUME! Took a couple photos of the Soup mech in an epic brawl with Luigi to share. Who will win? You decide.

Planning to get the Pizza Vs Fire Truck Go-karts for the alleged Luigi’s Pizza connection along with the Soup mech. Any other sets that relate to the Aslume I should pick up?

(Just noticed the new profile pic. Between you and me, I love it. Officially and legally and for the sake of a good night’s sleep though, M-Tron forever.) Anyway, firmly disagree. They’re rated as well as they are because they’re the main clone army featured throughout TCW. 212th look better, I’d love a BP or two, but besides Boil or Waxer I couldn’t care less about the named 212th regs as characters. 501st aren’t worth multiple BPs, but they’re still more popular than the rest, and I understand why TLG made another 501st pack. They oversaturated the shelves with the 332nd, I feel, and I believe the market’s response reflected that. (I’m kinda salty I missed 332nd packs at $11.50 at a local Walmart earlier today; don’t care enough to pay $16 for one of them, but at $12 each I’d be willing to build a small platoon.) P1 need some love period. Either that or a remake of the Shadow ARF—maybe a Shadow Rex. Something nobody but collectors or CW diehards would want. (Technically 3 if we’re counting the BARC speeder as 0.5 since it’s not a BP per se and a pretty bad bang-for-your-buck in that regard—but who’s counting?) I don’t believe clone fatigue would apply to either, since they both aren’t the same old standard clone design. It’s why the ARC-170 pilots—apart from the lack of dual-molded legs—have received otherwise universal praise, even from MandR. The reason we haven’t seen either, I believe, is because each would require a new helmet mold with, in their eyes, not much potential reuse. Okay, hear me out: 2026 sees Geonosisian Flame Troopers BP. Includes side build that suspiciously resembles a couple charred bugs. ;)

I can get that. I guess I’m moreso curious about why excitement for the FF is deflated when it’s not specifically called as comic-based—if this were the Fant4stic designs, sure, but the designs from the movie look properly retro. (I’d love the Valentines Day poster designs, but the spacesuit-looking designs feel good enough.) They’re definitely a deviation from the Silver Age, but not outside the overall vibe of the comics. Could be completely off my rocker, though. On the Torch specifically, I wonder if we’ll see an approach similar to Iceman in the X-Mansion for his “Flame on!” look; all classic LEGO red with swirly printing similar to the comics. Just my pure speculation, of course. From my understanding, given the movie takes place in an alternate universe New York, the Silver Surfer of the 616 MCU will be the classic one, while the one of the FF universe will be female for visual distinction. It’s stupid they gender-swapped for the cinematic debut, I agree, but it’s nothing that ruins my excitement for the movie. Side note—Whether or not the movie is good (for me it’s got the special sauce, but I like the Space Race-era already), the whole cinematic universe seems to hinge on that film. If the MCU fails, then LEGO Marvel goes bye-bye—no comic sets, no modulars, no comic FF, nothing. It’ll become no different than the shell that DC is after the failure of the DCEU. Just something to consider. Fair. Again, my perspective is that it’s the FF no matter which way you spin it, plus Galactus. However many lines and buttons the suits have, it’s still the FF. Still, liking the source material is key, and I think I understand that now. I doubt the movie will be a flop. BNW will probably flop, but Thunderbolts* seems to have a special sauce that other Marvel stuff lately seems to have lacked. The fact that it’s all relative unknowns outside of Bucky I believe benefits the movie. It’s the comedic group fun of The Avengers (2012) with the down-to-earth elements of the Captain America films. The most recent trailer took this film from a skippable feature to a must-see movie for me, and I don’t think I’ll be alone in that. Bah humbug to “superhero fatigue,” I say. If superhero movies become synonymous with slop, people won’t show up for slop. It’s not a fatigue with superheroes; it’s a fatigue with poor storytelling. Superheroes may not be the popular fad anymore, but good stories will always rise above the rest. Marvel Studios has done that before, and I believe they can do so again. Zombie movies are boring, repetitive, and unnecessary. Change my mind. The only truly charismatic actors of the Infinity Saga were RDJ and Tom Hiddleston, in my not so humble opinion. I don’t see Evans, Hemsworth, or any of the other actors as truly charismatic; not anymore than Mackie. I hope audiences give Sam a chance with the shield, but I also hope Marvel themselves give Sam a fair shot with a movie about him, and not Red Hulk, Leader, and not-Sabra. Honestly, BNW sounds better as a show than a movie unless they simplify all the threads surrounding Sam. Pure speculation, but Bucky needed to redeem himself in his eyes before he would’ve been ready to take the shield. Sam doesn’t have any such reservations and holds the same values as Steve, so he was ready to take the shield. (Even if he tossed it for a moment there.) Franchise-wise Bucky works, but character-wise I don’t think he was ready in Endgame. So what, they split the shield into three pieces? Do they take shifts throughout the week with the shield? Do they have regular check-ins on Sam’s fishing boat? This might be the most important What If…? since What if Captain Carter Teamed Up with an OC! Kills people with bricks, huh? If this Spidey pulls out a suit with a fat Spider logo, a monster truck with spike wheels, and a hammer larger than most people’s skulls, then I’m absolutely watching the show.