Star Wars Constraction 2016 Discussion

[Aanchir]

So it looks like Kylo Ren does have another new torso piece. Its very similar to the one the Toa Uniters have just without a neck ball and the normal leg connections in place of the gear. Finn and Rey should also come with this piece though I'm not sure if Poe will as well as I think he might have the one that Phasma and the FO Stormie have.

Yeah, the new torso pieces seem to be specific to the characters who have lightsabers, so as to accommodate their gearboxes. Poe, Phasma, and the Stormtrooper just seem to use a standard 9x11 torso beam.

[TwistLaw]

Yeah, the new torso pieces seem to be specific to the characters who have lightsabers, so as to accommodate their gearboxes. Poe, Phasma, and the Stormtrooper just seem to use a standard 9x11 torso beam.

That's great, this should calm down any complaints about the buttgear of the Uniters' torso

[Lyichir]

That's great, this should calm down any complaints about the buttgear of the Uniters' torso

Are there complaints about that? I've seen jibes, but not much in the way of actual complaining. I think it's pretty much accepted that for the waist rotation function you need to have that gear, and if you're willing to sacrifice that, then it's as simple as removing the gear entirely—the gear driving the function isn't the source of the part's friction or anything like that.

I think the more prominent advantage this new torso beam will have is the lack of a neck joint—like the lack of arm joints on the Uniter torso beam, it allows you to vary the proportions by instead using standard Technic parts like the Hordika or Glatorian necks (or a more specialized part like these sets use).

[Shakar]

4 more figures? Cool, but are we sure they're all from TFA? If so, Han Solo is a given, and if his outifit is the one he has in the trailer we should get some more Dark Brown shells.

The other 3? C3PO would be great, as he might bring some new gold pieces (we haven't had new shell sizes since? 2013?) that Ekimu the Mask Maker could reuse, like 6M shells (they seem to be popular among these Battle Figures) and ESPECIALLY the much needed, long overdue hands. And if his minifig is any indication, we could get some new dark red parts too, unless they go for red.

Chewbacca could be a possibility, but I honestly wouldn't be interested in him. No clue about the fourth one. If they follow the "even number of heroes and villains", I don't know who those 2 villains could be.

[TwistLaw]

Are there complaints about that? I've seen jibes, but not much in the way of actual complaining. I think it's pretty much accepted that for the waist rotation function you need to have that gear, and if you're willing to sacrifice that, then it's as simple as removing the gear entirely—the gear driving the function isn't the source of the part's friction or anything like that.

To be precise the Uniter torso has a gear fused with the torso itself, limiting somehow the mocing potential of the piece.

[Takanuinuva]

When I get Kylo Ren I'm going to see if I can use some of his pieces to customize Vader's torso and give Vader a gearbox. Its seems possible with that new back cover piece that Kylo Ren, Finn and Rey have.

And I think this new torso is perfect for custom builds as not only is it perfect for making custom shoulder connections. But you can also attach a Y joint to the top and use the older mata and metru heads on CCBS bodies.

[HawkLord]

Just picked up Vader and built it. I've never worked with any bionicle-style sets before, the most experience I've had would be with the Lego movie Metalbeard or Marvel Hulkbuster.

Overall, it was alittle strange at first building the main body stuff. I wasn't quite sure where I was going with all of it, unlike most brick Lego sets where I can see something coming together. Eventually, I started working on limbs and it all made sense.

I definitely recommend the set. Vader looks great finished and is a good size for the price, I think.

[Jetrax99]

Don't know if this was mentioned yet, but just like TRU has a 2-pack of Luke and Vader, my local Target has 2-packs of Obi-wan and Grievous.

[GK733]

When I get Kylo Ren I'm going to see if I can use some of his pieces to customize Vader's torso and give Vader a gearbox. Its seems possible with that new back cover piece that Kylo Ren, Finn and Rey have.

And I think this new torso is perfect for custom builds as not only is it perfect for making custom shoulder connections. But you can also attach a Y joint to the top and use the older mata and metru heads on CCBS bodies.

Trust me, it will be a nightmare to make it work because of his shoulders.

[Takanuinuva]

Trust me, it will be a nightmare to make it work because of his shoulders.

I've come up with a general idea using LDD. I just need to test it IRL to see how sturdy it is first.

[RMBP]

Just found Finn, Poe and Rey for sale in a department store in Portugal (El Corte Inglés).

No signs of Phasma, Kylo or Stormie...

Either there's a phased release or they ran out of stock...

[TwistLaw]

Just found Finn, Poe and Rey for sale in a department store in Portugal (El Corte Inglés).

No signs of Phasma, Kylo or Stormie...

Either there's a phased release or they ran out of stock...

Looks like they're shelving the ugliest first.

:P

[Aanchir]

I look forward to picking up Rey. Not just because she has great parts (Light Nougat hands, lots of great Brick Yellow and Sand Yellow parts, etc) but also because she looks amazing. A shame she has headgear, though, because her face looks great and would surely be more useful to me in MOCs without headgear. Finn's got a nice head sculpt and some good recolors too, so I might want to pick him up as well.

Phasma and the First Order Stormtrooper both have great parts in useful, neutral colors, but a number of them are ones I've already got from picking up the Obi-Wan and Jango Fett constraction sets. And while they look alright, they're so... monochrome.

Can't make up my mind about Kylo. A lot of his more interesting armor pieces are also available in other sets, but he does have those shoulderpads in black and some nice textile elements. The $25 price is the main thing bugging me about this one. I was willing to pay that for Obi-Wan but I generally really liked his design. By comparison, Kylo has a really boring color scheme and a head piece I'll probably have a much harder time using in MOCs.

[RMBP]

Looks like they're shelving the ugliest first.

:P

I've just built Poe and it is a rather good looking model (better than Luke, Fett or Cody)...

Love the actual firing blaster.

The sticker-use is an issue for me, though.

[Shakar]

Are you saying all his decals are stickers? That's BETTER. CCBS is ridiculously deprived of orange parts.

[RMBP]

Are you saying all his decals are stickers? That's BETTER. CCBS is ridiculously deprived of orange parts.

Just the torso, the leg plates and head are printed.

[Shakar]

That's great, the 6M shells exist unprinted in the same set anyway. Just having that torso shell without decals is enough to make me happy. I wonder if he's the only set with stickers? The other colours are pretty good too (black, silver, dark tan..).

Edited December 13, 2015 by Shakar

[RMBP]

I wonder if he's the only set with stickers?

From these 3 (Poe, Finn & Rey) yes, Poe is the only with stickers.

Here are some photos of Finn and Rey:

Sorry for the bad quality pics, seems like I need to clean the lense of my Iphone...

[Aethersprite]

Thanks for those pics! Ugh, CCBS just doesn't work for organic characters... But the parts and the custom torsos are great!

[Shakar]

Thanks for the photos!

Is it just me or are Finn's lightsaber handle parts a lot shinier than the silver ones on the 2015 figures?

I guess Kylo's special double connector is in the same colour, unlike the Titanium Metallic version found on Kopaka, Gali and Ketar's trap.

The new torso and gearbox cover look like very fun pieces, I hope we see them reused in creative ways and/or new colours. *coughsilvercoughbley*

EDIT: could it be that his feet are dark bley instead? If so.. meh.

And thanks for the info RMBP. Very odd, but better than nothing.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Shakar

[Aanchir]

Rey looks fantastic! Finn a little bit less so — his knees are a bit more knobbly since the shell doesn't cover them. His head sculpt is very good though, and will be versatile in MOCs. It's kind of a shame that Rey doesn't have any curved System slopes to fill out the back of her lower legs, but that's a minor complaint.

[Voxovan]

Not liking these two - they use some great parts for sure, but the overall look of these figures is just ugly in my opinion, failing to create believable organic characters.

[VBBN]

I really wish Rey didn't have the mask on, I would have much preferred her face and hair unobstructed.

[Aanchir]

I really wish Rey didn't have the mask on, I would have much preferred her face and hair unobstructed.

Same. Her head sculpt looks excellent and suits the set nicely, but it would be more useful in MOCs without Star Wars–specific headgear.

I do appreciate that they didn't opt to have the mask completely conceal her face, since I half expected them to do so. Sometimes it feels like the LEGO Group is so afraid of female action figure sets not selling well that they'll go out of their way to avoid expressly identifying their gender, and hiding her face would have been an easy way of avoiding that.

Of course the characters don't look 100% organic, because its LEGO. Even the Galidor sets, which were 100% built from specialized, theme-specific parts, had fairly awkward-looking joints. And I much prefer a set of action figures that makes the angles and contours of the CCBS part of its design language to one that goes out of its way to make things look super-authentic at the expense of building value and versatility.

[Pate-keetongu]

I'm very happy that Rey has her headgear on. Sure, it would be more useful on MOCs without it. But I'm afraid it would be too useful. I estimate that the fourth or fifth "female character X" MOC using it would feel just very dull. I know it's hard to build good faces with bricks, especially dynamic or elegant ones, but it is possible to come up with some pretty good designs. And definitely more interesting than ones using single, specific piece.

I think the headpieces are alright, Finn is slightly better. Both seem to be pretty good parts packs, Rey's cloth thing is especially interesting.