What a hype these days! Finally being able to judge the Rogue One sets at face value, rumors of UCS sets roaming around, all kinds of sets becoming available… And then there are things nobody even saw coming. The polybag 30611 came out of the dark blue. Its contents are something quite new: a brick built character. The detail on the underside is pretty sweet, it’s great that the head can be rotated and the fact you can take of the middle leg easily is quite ingenius. Still, I’m not really sold on this particular design, probably because the legs are a bit disproportionate. It’s definitely interesting that polybags now can be about more than spaceships and bare minifigs though. And that printed dome piece opens up a new world for large scale replica’s of X-wings or Jedi starfighters, so I’m excited! No word yet on the official availability of this polybag, but you can go ahead and discover and discuss it in the . LEGO has come out with the official high-resolution images and press statement of the , this year’s second entry in the Ultimate Collector’s Series.
With the press release came a statement that this is an update of the previous version that was so successful, instead of it being a completely new entity. The set indeed looks almost identical to the previous one, with the difference being an extra 200 pieces scattered across various scenes, a needed update of all the minifigs, the addition of three new ones and a heftier price tag. Now the set contains 4016 pieces, making it the second largest Star Wars set to date, after the UCS Millennium Falcon and before the previous incarnation of the Death Star. The 23 minifigs are a new record though, and they all look fabulous, with a wonderful new Tarkin, Han with a stellar hairpiece, the long awaited updated Leia and some droids and Imperial crew you’ve never seen before. The increase in price brings it to 499.99 USD / 499,99 EUR / 399.99 GBP. As for the build, it’s largely the same although new spring loaded shooters have been incorporated. In short, it’s a fix for all of those parts of the old version that were desperately out of date, but not a bit more than that.
It’s certainly a set to be remembered though, with all of the debate that has been going on about it for weeks already. And who knows, maybe this is the first in line of older sets being rereleased with minor updates, even though LEGO has explicitly stated that “this is not an indication of any future re-release or set updates.” I’m sure there is a lot to be watched, read and discussed in the ! We keep getting news of new LEGO Star Wars stuff coming our way. Recently, we had the reveal of the Rebel Combat Frigate, and the talk about what Rogue One will bring is ramping up. You’d almost miss this polybag that surfaced today. It’s an A-wing pilot as seen in Rebels, featuring that lovely helmet that resembles the one from the recent B-wing set, but with a different print. Notice that this is a completely different design from the A-wing pilot that comes in this summer’s A-wing and TIE Advanced set, so that set and this figure will complement each other nicely. No word yet on the availability of this figure though, but you can already discuss it and stay up to date in the on Eurobricks.
Next semester’s retail exclusive set will be the 75158 Rebel Combat Frigate, of which the picture above recently surfaced. It’s a Pelta class frigate as first seen in The Clone Wars and now repurposed for Rebels. The set is based on the latest appearance, with the adapted color scheme and minifig selection. The set comes with already available Ezra and Chopper, brand new commander Sato, absolutely gorgeous Ashoka (for the first time without those ugly Clone Wars minifig eyes…) and oddly chosen Agent Kallus. With 936 pieces it is definitely a decent set and looks like a great parts pack for ship building. We don’t know anything about play features yet, but you can already spot the movable wings, the Technic handle and the various shooter functions. The price for this great looking set is still unknown, but we do know that it will hit selected stores this summer, so you won’t have to wait too long to find out. Express your opinions on this set, and stay tuned for further news in our .
Please focus, because I’m going to ask you to recall two things. First off, set 75098 Assault on Hoth. Not many people liked it completely, but there was one feature that stood out and I want you to remember. It’s the Wampa cave part, with that super inventive play feature that lets you launch the lightsaber towards Luke. It will be a bit harder to remember the second thing, because it’s more than ten years ago since we saw it. It are the minifigs that came in a couple of the original Revenge of the Sith sets and with the 7263 set shown above. The reason is that they contained a unique feature: if you pushed their heads, the lightsaber would for extra action. So why do I ask you to remember two features that aren’t/weren’t really a huge success? Because it seems that the LEGO group thinks to have found a way to combine them into something amazing, as indicated by the news of the day. Ever since the success of the new stud blasters, they have been trying to bring new play features in their sets.
Their latest innovation, that will find its way into some of the winter 2017 sets, is that minifig hands will be easier to pull out, will have a string attached to them, and will quickly retract in their socket after a push on the minifig’s head. It’s basically a miniaturization of their existing winch mechanisms that fits into what looks like an ordinary minifig: simple, but it opens up a whole new world of play features. Minifigs will now be able to “use the Force” to retrieve objects, just like Luke in episode V or Rey in episode VII. I’m really excited to see how this plays out, but I see this becoming the next big innovation that will find its way into other themes as well, like the Superheroes line. LEGO never ceases to amaze me with their creative finds. Who knows what’s next, minifigs that will play mindtricks on us to make us buy more sets (o wait, I guess this feature has been implemented for quite some time now)? So be excited, and discuss it in our . Warning: it’s possible you might have to brush off your first.
Quite a few rumors were circulating about what would be the polybag you get this year for the May the Fourth celebration. Turns out all of them were false, because the for May just popped up and revealed a completely new polybag that will be offered this year. It’s called 30602 First Order Stormtrooper, and contains a minifigure that looks incredibly similar to one in the First Order battle pack, but with a slightly updated torso and a backpack this time. It seems a bit like a waste of an unedited character (like Darth Revan was in the past), especially when the equivalent comes in such a cheap set. But still, it’s a nice bonus to get. So delay all of your LEGO Star Wars purchases until the period of April 30 to March 4, as you’ll get this polybag for free with a purchase of $50 or more on those products. You’ll get double VIP points and a The Force Awakens poster to boot. In the meantime, you can discuss the polybag in our . This June, an all new LEGO Star Wars book will hit stores.
It’s called Chronicles of the Force and will count 96 pages full of pictures and texts covering everything LEGO produced covering the seven Star Wars movies. There are trivia, set overviews, character quizzes and more… but what’s more important, there will be the obligatory exclusive minifigure. This time, the character is truly exclusive, not having appeared in any form in the history of LEGO. But it’s not exactly a character a lot of people were waiting for. It’s “Unkar’s Brute”, one of the two of Unkar Plutt’s henchmen that try to wrest BB-8 away from Rey. The other one of the duo already appeared in the official set Rey’s speeder, under the name of “Unkar’s Thug”. So now you can fully reenact that crucial scene from the movie. Reactions haven’t been overly enthusiastic to this minifigure, but you have to recognize it’s a good looking one with an incredible torso that wouldn’t look bad at all on a zombie. So if you’re curious, find out all about the new book on , and discuss it in our .