Pictorial Review of Summer 2012 Star Wars Sets:

[Brickdoctor]

It seems like minifigures have become a set's side dish rather than its seasoning. My guess is sets that would be appropriate for certain minifigures (in this case, Theed Palace or Yavin Base) are just not do-able for any number of reasons (maybe Lego would rather focus on vehicles and those playsets do not have enough "conflict" or interest that would appeal to both kids and AFOLs). At least this way we don't miss out on a Leia for the Celebration Luke and Han nor do we miss out on the Red Dress Amidala (somewhat iconic given its prominence in Ep 1 merchandise). But that's just speculating....

I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading in an interview with designers for the Indiana Jones theme that location-based sets are harder to design than vehicle-based sets, so that could be it.

[Speedboat]

Thanks for the awesome pictures, Sir von Lego! Apart from the Malevolence and the Gungan Sub all of these sets are very high on my to-buy list, I hope they'll turn up in some stores around here in the next weeks. My favourite sets are the two from SW:TOR, especially the Fury class interceptor. Too bad Amidala is included in the one set I probably won't buy.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Speedboat

[JackJonespaw]

I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading in an interview with designers for the Indiana Jones theme that location-based sets are harder to design than vehicle-based sets, so that could be it.

I can see that. I mean, look at how many location sets there've been: Cloud City, Death Star, (I guess you could count that) Home One. And Palpatine's Arrest, whenever that's coming out. I might have missed some, but you're right about that. But I really wouldn't mind seeing a Yavin 4 or a Naboo Palace.

[Masked Builder]

Wow, look at all of those lovely sets! Thanks for the nice overview, I know I'll be getting a few of these for sure.

[Lobot]

Thanks for all of the photos!

Jabba's palace & the skiff are on my shortlist, I just hope the palace is discounted in the UK, otherwise I might have to wait for a sale. The set looks far better than I expected and, oddly, the back of it looks really well finished.

Would it be possible to do a review of the palace, or alternatively could you add some more photos of it & the minifigures?

[Clone OPatra]

I mean, look at how many location sets there've been: Cloud City, Death Star, (I guess you could count that) Home One. And Palpatine's Arrest, whenever that's coming out. I might have missed some, but you're right about that.

There have been more than that. Naboo Swamp, Watto's Junkyard (sorta), both Ewok Attacks, the Final Duel sets (albeit small), all of the Jabba's palace-related sets, the various Hoth base sets (3 of them). Sure, mostly LEGO makes ships, but they could do a Theed Palace. Maybe they will sometime, but it doesn't seem like such a pressing thing to make. They might get around to it eventually.

[The_Chosen_1]

Good points about the apparent shortage of location-based sets. I've felt for a long time that that's the one area severely lacking in the Star Wars theme. There's a lot of fantastic untapped potential as far as location sets go. Theed, Kamino, Mos Eisley, Cloud City, Coruscant, etc.

I'm not saying there are too many vehicles in the SW theme, but when I think of Star Wars I think of much more than just the ships.

[Flipz]

I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading in an interview with designers for the Indiana Jones theme that location-based sets are harder to design than vehicle-based sets, so that could be it.

[rant]

This is going to be slightly off-topic, but: Embrace that challenge, LEGO! Vehicles are cool and all, but after a while they just get boring, and no one will buy a set that bores them except possibly if it's a fantastic parts pack. One of the things that sets Star Wars apart from other sci-fi franchises *cough*Star Trek*cough* is that there's more of a focus on the "Wars" than the "Star"; that is, the planets (I'm counting the Death Star and Endor as "planets" for the sake of conversation) are more important than the space battles and the like. Endor. Hoth. Tatooine. Naboo. Coruscant. All of these are iconic environments, with their own unique style that's just waiting to be expressed in LEGO form. Radiant VII? Tantive IV? Delta-7B Light Interceptors? Beautiful, yes, and certainly quite important to Star Wars lore, but nowhere near as much as the worlds themselves. I'd argue that, in terms of being truly iconic, only the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon fit the bill the way that the planetary worlds do. Now, I understand that TLG needs to make smart financial choices, and that affects what sets they make, and vehicles sell. I understand that. But seriously, we've had enough starfighters to last us a loooooooooong time; we need more planetary scenes. We have all sorts of minifigures but few official sets in which to play with them.

TL;DR, we've waited FAR too long for Jabba's Palace. Don't make us wait this long for the next one, OK LEGO? [/rant]

EDIT: And in on-topic news...

I think you know which set I'm getting. Though I may pick up the skiff as well if it's not too expensive--I'll have to recalculate my summer budget to adjust for new set preferences.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Flipz

[Dustin]

Yup, the Malevolence is at the top of my list.

[Ninja6fett]

As awesome as the pics are, does anyone really think the Fury is worth the price? To me it's at least USD20 overpriced.

[Hartfan]

Great. Finally some good pics of new sets. Can't wait to have Jabba's Palace. All those minifigs look great !

[charlieboy]

The Skiff and the Palace are definite buys for me

Same here, I just sold my original Lando skiff guard minifig on Ebay for a silly amount after I'd seen the pics of the new one. People seem to crazy on Ebay for him! Queen Amidala i'll pick up on Bricklink I think, she looks fantastic!

[streifen]

Thank you for the pictorial review! The Jabba's Palace and Skiff are must-gets for me!

Just wondering, what is that "diving board" at the back of the palace for?

[Darth Lurtz]

Thank you for the pictorial review! The Jabba's Palace and Skiff are must-gets for me!

Just wondering, what is that "diving board" at the back of the palace for?

The "diving board" pushes Jabba's throne forward so that he can see Oola fall into the pit.

[Bilbo Baggins]

I really liked all of the sets. Jabba's palace is great, too bad it is way too expensive

[1980-Something-Space-Guy]

If SW sets were cheaper, I'd probably buy a few of them. The Desert Skiff is amazing, and this year's new figs exceed expectations. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to see these sets right now. I don't think I'll buy any of them, but I least I get to enjoy seeing them.

[Aanchir]

[rant]

This is going to be slightly off-topic, but: Embrace that challenge, LEGO! Vehicles are cool and all, but after a while they just get boring, and no one will buy a set that bores them except possibly if it's a fantastic parts pack. One of the things that sets Star Wars apart from other sci-fi franchises *cough*Star Trek*cough* is that there's more of a focus on the "Wars" than the "Star"; that is, the planets (I'm counting the Death Star and Endor as "planets" for the sake of conversation) are more important than the space battles and the like. Endor. Hoth. Tatooine. Naboo. Coruscant. All of these are iconic environments, with their own unique style that's just waiting to be expressed in LEGO form. Radiant VII? Tantive IV? Delta-7B Light Interceptors? Beautiful, yes, and certainly quite important to Star Wars lore, but nowhere near as much as the worlds themselves. I'd argue that, in terms of being truly iconic, only the X-wing and the Millennium Falcon fit the bill the way that the planetary worlds do. Now, I understand that TLG needs to make smart financial choices, and that affects what sets they make, and vehicles sell. I understand that. But seriously, we've had enough starfighters to last us a loooooooooong time; we need more planetary scenes. We have all sorts of minifigures but few official sets in which to play with them.

TL;DR, we've waited FAR too long for Jabba's Palace. Don't make us wait this long for the next one, OK LEGO? [/rant]

EDIT: And in on-topic news...

I think you know which set I'm getting. Though I may pick up the skiff as well if it's not too expensive--I'll have to recalculate my summer budget to adjust for new set preferences.

I think part of the reason that location-based sets are hard to design, though, is that the chances of them being recognizable and well-received are much slimmer than with the iconic vehicles of Star Wars. Remember all the outrage over last year's Echo Base? Even though it went above and beyond in its attempts to incorporate multiple familiar scenes, a lot of people struggled to see any significant resemblance to Echo Base in the design as a whole. Often with location-based sets the emphasis has to be on either interior detail (Echo Base, Home One, Cloud City) or on external appearance (Battle of Endor). Some sets have tried to balance the two and ended up scarcely resembling either, like the older Jabba's Palace.

What this Jabba's Palace does remarkably well is depicting the location from both the interior and exterior in a way that makes it look familiar. I can't think of a single location-based Star Wars set that has done quite this well at that. But at the same time, it seems doing so is extremely costly. While I have no doubt that the many complex figures drive up the price significantly, the observations about the set's weight relative to its piece count make it clear that the large plates, curved roof slopes, and large wall elements aren't cheap to include in a set.

I'm certainly hoping that Jabba's Palace proves successful in order to show TLG that yes, massive location-based sets with equal attention paid to the interior and exterior can pay off in sales, but since some AFOLs seem to consider the price exorbitant, I can't be sure that its success will be enough to send that message. And until TLG gets the idea that buyers will be willing to pay more for this kind of set, then I think locations like Theed Palace are still a ways off.

Edited May 21, 2012 by Aanchir

[Brickmamba]

Wow your wallet must have taken a massive hit, great job on the acquisitions, which set is your favorite and what you consider a must buy?

[deco_droid]

Wow, most of these I am really looking forward to. The Malevolence is near the bottom of my list, even though I like seeing the ship/playset combos LEGO has been cranking out.

One thing I find curious is why they again used the standard hairpiece for young Obi-wan. I substituted a buzzcut hairpiece for his previous yellow head version long ago -- more movie accurate and matches Ewan's hair perfectly...

[Brickadeer]

I'm certainly hoping that Jabba's Palace proves successful in order to show TLG that yes, massive location-based sets with equal attention paid to the interior and exterior can pay off in sales, but since some AFOLs seem to consider the price exorbitant, I can't be sure that its success will be enough to send that message. And until TLG gets the idea that buyers will be willing to pay more for this kind of set, then I think locations like Theed Palace are still a ways off.

In Germany, the official price is EUR 139,99. Nevertheless, it's currently available for EUR 119,99, and I have no doubts that it will be available for EUR 99,99 sooner or later. I think that is normal with regards to Lego SW, not exorbitant.

[gotoAndLego]

I would also argue that Jabba's sailbarge is a location based set.

Edited May 23, 2012 by gotoAndLego

[OneSnowTrooper]

I like the OT sets... I think I will skip the other sets of this wave.

Thnx for the pics!

Edited May 23, 2012 by OneSnowTrooper

[Dustin]

Wow, most of these I am really looking forward to. The Malevolence is near the bottom of my list, even though I like seeing the ship/playset combos LEGO has been cranking out.

One thing I find curious is why they again used the standard hairpiece for young Obi-wan. I substituted a buzzcut hairpiece for his previous yellow head version long ago -- more movie accurate and matches Ewan's hair perfectly...

I am dissapointed in your dissappointment of the Malevolence... Shall I send out my driod scouts to hunt you down? HAIL the Malevolence!

As for the Obi-Wan hair, I couldn't agree more... The "buzz cut" style suits him more than that plain ole' hideous generic hair.

[wesker]

I am dissapointed in your dissappointment of the Malevolence... Shall I send out my driod scouts to hunt you down? HAIL the Malevolence!

As for the Obi-Wan hair, I couldn't agree more... The "buzz cut" style suits him more than that plain ole' hideous generic hair.

Only problem with the buzzcut is the back doesn't hide the second face well.

[deco_droid]

Only problem with the buzzcut is the back doesn't hide the second face well.

You may be right, I've never put a buzz on a two-sided head. I guess in the future, they need to design the hairpieces to be long enough in the back to account for the possibility of a two-sided head.

I am happy they at least designed the cockpit to house all three figs instead of the wrong separate cockpits of the first Gungan sub. I modified mine years ago to be more movie correct.