TheWorldAhead

Purchased the First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter polybag at Target today. Honestly, it might be my favorite polybag of all time; it's beautiful. Gotta go back and get another one for the printed mini TIE windscreen. But for the first time in my memory, there is actually a legitimate shortage of Star Wars LEGO in the world.

Thanks for the mini-review! :) At first, I was very disappointed by the look of this set (no droid!) but now I'm totally psyched to get it in a few weeks. The only problem seems to be the split-engines, which shouldn't be solid, but I'm still working on a solution for that. R5, if you get a chance could you please take a picture of the new blue with the s-foils closed?

You're right, Chupacabra. I was wrong in my word choice and insensitive in my opinion. I'm sorry. If buying this battle pack is more economical than BrickLink, then I rescind my comments. I didn't mean to insult you or your intelligence, and I apologize. Anyway, so I don't derail us anymore than I already have, I would like to thank Igrion for the review and bring up a new point. Does anyone have a plan for the Shock Troopers? I assume they are in the new Battlefront game, which I haven't yet played. I suppose they would be cool for dystopian, OT-era Coruscant MOCs!

Why would you destroy exclusive variants of LEGO? Wouldn't it make more sense to BrickLink the "clean" Stormtroopers, or something? Anyway, I personally love the battle-damaged troops; they will add nice variety and detail. Plus, they're something new that might not have appeared in any other set! Then again, I am an amateur, part-time, casual army-builder, so many may disagree.

I don't like the set as a whole, but the minifigures are great--people who bought the Hoth Han polybag may be disappointed that (as far as I can tell) only his head is now exclusive. The Snowtrooper is a perfect, unchanged design, and the Rebel Trooper is great, especially for people who don't want or can't get the Advent Calendar and the looming UCS set. I also like that the turret now swivels, and that TIE windshield in grey is pretty cool. My problem is that it's all been done before, and for a (presumably) better price, namely in 2009's "Echo Base." For those who missed that one, this set may be a goldmine, I suppose. On the other hand, I'm mostly sour because I know this set is going to be eclipsed by the UCS Hoth, which I will not be able to afford.

Irony and coincidence are often confused. [EDIT: CM4Sci beat me to it, well done.] Any-way, I'm actually quite "impressed," if frustrated, with the security of these sets. I hope there will actually be battle packs available to buy in the US in January. Maybe I'm getting paranoid... And yeah, Battle on Takodana looks freaking amazing. I would love to see more minifigure-rich playsets in the Star Wars theme.

How misprinted is the head? My new R2 from the Jedi Interceptor had his "torso" printing a few millimeters too far to the left, and it doesn't look very good. Even my very non-AFOL brother commented.

Nice! I think the minifigures are the same as the ones in the Imperial Troop Transport, though. Did you want pauldrons, polybags, or all of the above? Anyway, I haven't posted for a few months; since then I've gotten: yellow Jedi Interceptor, TFA C-3PO polybag, TIE Advanced Prototype polybag, Rey's Speeder, and the First Order Snowspeeder. Considering getting some of those classy Imperial minifigure components from Bricks and Pieces.

As far as I know, we're still lacking a picture of "Droid Escape Pod," which is actually the one I'm most interested in, having not had that set since the $6 one in nearly fifteen years ago. (EDIT: Alas, I'm a Citizen! )

Speaking of which (I guess...) does anyone know why TLG chose Orthanc as the D2C set instead of Minas Tirith? That always baffled me from day one. I think Isengard would have been sufficiently represented by "The Wizard Battle" and "The Orc Forge."

Do you know anything, or is this the same hopeful speculation?

That would be really cool, actually. Although I read Tarkin, and I wasn't very impressed, I like the idea. It would also mean getting Vader (probably with new helmet) in a smaller set again, which I'm sure would always be welcome for kids, or for AFOLs who haven't been collecting for very long.

True, but a lot of people really want that particular Jedi starfighter, because its original incarnation in 7283 "Ultimate Space Battle" was notoriously rare.

You lucky... (and great MOCer ) Did you pay full price? Is this your first/only one? I could never afford it...or so I say. I buy so much "little" stuff that it adds up. Speaking of which, I've added the new Advent Calendar to my collection, and I just Bricklink'd the two Sandtroopers from 9490!

Nice! Those are beautiful photos; you should do a review the next time you get a set!

Thanks for your help. :) I was thinking pretty much the same thing, I guess. But that's the thing with LEGO Star Wars that I didn't have to worry about with LOTR or any other theme: there are so many sets and minifigures that there's simply no way for anyone but an insanely wealthy strategist to hunt down everything. I guess I'll wait; ultimately, I would buy a Homestead set in a heartbeat if it ever got released; and $10 is a good deal for a figure from a $300 set, but in the end, poor Uncle Owen is just one figure in a plastic sea of thousands...

Well, the quality seems to be fine based on those who have reviewed it, and as long as people aren't being exploited, then who cares where it comes from? But on a less political and morbid note, are these really going to be available for retail purchase in US LEGO Stores?

Agreed. I think that's why I was so disappointed with this set when I bought it two days ago. I thought I would love it, but...there's no sense that it's a snow vehicle once you assemble it. I could MOC some terrain, I suppose, but I hope it will help when I see the movie in December. Thanks for the review, Mr. Lee!

So, back with another random minifigure question! Should I BrickLink Owen Lars for $10, or do you think he will ever be in a cheaper, non-Sandcrawler set (his homestead, perhaps? )

Hmm, not to mention the Sandcrawler, if that's going to be back in stock. Also, perhaps another factor is the release of the TFA sets. Maybe TLG wants OT AFOLS to buy all of the new stuff instead of saving for a new UCS (there were a lot of acronyms in there! )

We may never know for sure...

Thanks, again, CM4Sci for the descriptions! Looks like I'll be getting Droid Escape Pod for sure (the last one I got was $6 in 2001 , and I've never owned a single Jawa), then the Carbon Freezing Chamber if I can afford it (I've never owned Han in Carbonite, and my own Boba Fett could do with an update; couldn't care less about Ugnaughts), and Hoth a distant third, if it actually looks like it would contribute anything to my snowy display. It sounds like an uninspired remake of 7749, from your description.

I could never afford either, but for what it's worth, if I could afford one, I would go with the Sandcrawler; Boba Fett is not all he's cracked up to be! Also, you may want to check out the 2016 rumor/confirmed thread, tagged at the top of the forum, because distinguished Eurobricks member CM4Sci has seen preliminary images of sets "75136 Droid Escape Pod" and "75137 Carbon Freezing Chamber," in particular, and it looks like there will be Jawas and ultra-detailed Fetts for much cheaper in December or January (just a couple of months...I can't wait!)

Yay! I'm assuming you were a Star Wars fan before this? By the way, depending on where you live, why are you bidding on these sets? Pretty much everyone has to pay MSRP at the moment (unless they have an employee discount somewhere), so I would think that it would be cheaper to just buy the sets in stores or online (if you live in the USA, at least...I know other territories have whacked-out prices sometimes) As for myself, I got Rey's Speeder, as well; I love it! It's one of the best $20 sets I've ever built, and I hope I'll like it even more once the movie is released. It fits nicely in a Tatooine MOC setting. Speaking of which, I also got the T-16 Skyhopper, which is probably my second favorite Star Wars set within recent years, the first being the new(ish) Cantina. I also purchased the First Order Snowspeeder, and it was...a disappointment. I would have rather bought several rare OT minifigures on BrickLink for that price.

Fantastic little MOC, and as LEGO Runner said, it's a beautiful homage to one of the most intense action scenes in the ROTK film! Is there any chance that you could please post a picture of the Orc/river side of the display, so that we could better see the water and barge techniques? Great job, though!