The Lego Thread - Yes, Comic Book Related

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If Lego asks me to take these down then I will as they have not been officially presented to the public.

Force Awakens sets.

Do you really want to know who is in which set and additional character names? This is kind of a spoiler. Do you really want to know which characters have screen time enough with Han Solo and actually fly the Falcon to be included in the set?

Gillian Anderson Campaigning For An X-Files Lego Set

YES, PLEASE!

If Lego asks me to take these down then I will as they have not been officially presented to the public.

 

Force Awakens sets.

 

Do you really want to know who is in which set and additional character names? This is kind of a spoiler. Do you really want to know which characters have screen time enough with Han Solo and actually fly the Falcon to be included in the set?

 

 

 

 

 

Oh wow! I think we're in the market for a new Falcon. Ours is in random pieces.

Minifigure Collection 14

blind bags for those that do not know... it doesn't matter you all know you may want some extras of each of these anyway...

The Avengers need to save Lego land from the Zombie and Monster horde...

Check out the intermission. It's in the last 15 0r 20 seconds.

From MIB:

In 2016 so we'll see:

- 6 new Microfighters sets including 2 sets The Force Awakens and 4 of Star Wars Rebels (AT-DP, The Ghost, Prototype and TIE Advanced Wookie Gunship)

- 2 sets The Force Awakens "Battle on Takodana" and "The Pirate Transport".

- 2 sets Battle Pack The Force Awakens a "Hero" and "Villain".

- 2 sets Battle Pack Star Wars Battlefront inspired by the video game, Empire and Rebel.

- 6 new figures Constraction

- 4 sets of the trilogy and the prequel trilogy (Attack Hoth, Bespin Carbon Freezing Chamber, Droid Escape Pod, ROTS Obi Wans Jedi Interceptor)

Hey hey...

A lego order just arrived...

I picked up a Hobbit: Lonely Mountain with Smaug as it is quickly disappearing.

Lego Shop At Home threw this unadvertised bonus into my order which was kind of nice:

SDCC 2015 Exclusive DC Comic Book. The corner got dinged but it is actually a nice issue. This pic is not mine, my laziness told me to simply steal an image off the web. It is magazine sized and has the heavy cardstock paper as a cover.

The new Lego Mystery minifigures Monster series are awesome! I now have the complete set of 16.

The new Lego Mystery minifigures Monster series are awesome! I now have the complete set of 16.

I did not even know that they were released yet. Cool - I wanted a couple of these.

On the flip side... I was denied purchasing some things yesterday at Target. They put them out by mistake and the register would not allow them to be purchased.

The sticker for the First Order Snow Speeder was correct at $29.99 but the label for the X-Wing was nowhere to be found.

The new Lego Mystery minifigures Monster series are awesome! I now have the complete set of 16.

 

I did not even know that they were released yet. Cool - I wanted a couple of these.

 

On the flip side... I was denied purchasing some things yesterday at Target. They put them out by mistake and the register would not allow them to be purchased.

 

The sticker for the First Order Snow Speeder was correct at $29.99 but the label for the X-Wing was nowhere to be found.

 

My local Lego store had them last week. Monday I believe they where available. I have not seen any of the new Star Wars sets.

what's going on with that thumb?

what's going on with that thumb?

oops wrong thread!

And now a brief slice of Lego history

Lego vs Hasbro over Star Wars

Incidentally, I do not know if this has ever been addressed before here. There have been talks about the minifigures series and why Lego has not done 16 figure blind bag assortments of various Marvel characters. While it has never been officially addressed, the word of mouth information has to do with the idea that Hasbro had previously complained that Lego was infringing upon Hasbro's license to produce action figures based on Star Wars characters when Lego started producing 'figure sets' and later 'magnet sets.'

Let's go back to the year 2000. Hasbro was still the leading producer of boy's toys and Lego was falling out of style. In 1999, Lego announced that they had acquired the Star Wars license to create building block sets of the popular Star Wars franchise. Back in 1999, no one was making poseable Star Wars action figures except for Hasbro. While Hasbro was probably not pleased by this, there was not much room for complaint as Lucasfilm has licensed many vendors to produce Star Wars products. Hasbro had the action figure license while Lego had the building block license.

Lego made a bold move in 2000, producing sets of Lego Star Wars minifigures. There were three sets of three minifigures. Supposedly Hasbro took notice, and the minifigure sets, although popular, were discontinued within a year. Lego responded by creating magnet packs. Up until the end of 2010, Lego was producing a three pack minifigure magnet assortments of various Star Wars characters. The magnets were composed of detachable minifigures on top of grey lego magnets. There was no difference from the minifigures produced in the sets and those placed onto magnets. This went on for a couple of assortments until they were suddenly changed. It was announced toward the end of 2010 that subsequent Lego Star Wars magnet sets would be glued to their bases to prevent them being used in any way other than magnets.

From Lego circa early 2011:

“All Extended Line minifigure magnet sets will as of Jan 1st 2011 be glued. Based on new requirements, the magnet base and the minifigures will have to be permanently fixed together on LEGO Star Wars magnet sets.

 

To ensure a consistent consumer experience across all LEGO minifigure magnet sets we have chosen to permanently fix the minifigure to the magnet base on all magnet sets moving forward from Jan 1st 2011 (incl. Pharaoh’s Quest launching Dec 1st).

 

This decision has been carefully considered and was not taken easily as we know that many consumers will obviously not like this change.”

When I had the opportunity to ask Hasbro about this at NYCC several years ago, the Star Wars team would only say, 'No Comment". When I asked Lego, also at NYCC, they remarked that they were not able to address it further (or something like that - I specifically remember the 'no comment' though.)

Now, while Lego has offered polybagged Star Wars figures after 2010, it is important to note that these have been promotional items or store exclusives with later sales to clearance out remaining stock by a vendor. Lego Han Solo in Hoth Gear was a lego incentive and only available for free if $75 or more was purchased through the Lego Store. Rocket Raccoon was aTRU Exclusive that was originally a store promo if $50 or more was purchased in Legos in the store. Eventually, TRU sold the items individually. This brings us to Marvel.

Keep in mind that Hasbro also has the license from Marvel / Disney to produce action figures so the same type of arrangement probably exists on Marvel figures as the Star Wars figures concerning what Lego does.

So while Lego was able to secure the rights to produce and sell individual Simpsons minifigures, it is very unlikely, that unless Disney steps in, that we will see individual Marvel or Star Wars figures sold in the minifigure assortment. This is highly unlikely though, as Disney is starting to have a strained relationship with Lego... but more on that later. (Maybe today actually if I feel like writing more.)

And now a brief slice of Lego history

 

Lego vs Hasbro over Star Wars

 

Incidentally, I do not know if this has ever been addressed before here. There have been talks about the minifigures series and why Lego has not done 16 figure blind bag assortments of various Marvel characters. While it has never been officially addressed, the word of mouth information has to do with the idea that Hasbro had previously complained that Lego was infringing upon Hasbro's license to produce action figures based on Star Wars characters when Lego started producing 'figure sets' and later 'magnet sets.'

 

Let's go back to the year 2000. Hasbro was still the leading producer of boy's toys and Lego was falling out of style. In 1999, Lego announced that they had acquired the Star Wars license to create building block sets of the popular Star Wars franchise. Back in 1999, no one was making poseable Star Wars action figures except for Hasbro. While Hasbro was probably not pleased by this, there was not much room for complaint as Lucasfilm has licensed many vendors to produce Star Wars products. Hasbro had the action figure license while Lego had the building block license.

 

Lego made a bold move in 2000, producing sets of Lego Star Wars minifigures. There were three sets of three minifigures. Supposedly Hasbro took notice, and the minifigure sets, although popular, were discontinued within a year. Lego responded by creating magnet packs. Up until the end of 2010, Lego was producing a three pack minifigure magnet assortments of various Star Wars characters. The magnets were composed of detachable minifigures on top of grey lego magnets. There was no difference from the minifigures produced in the sets and those placed onto magnets. This went on for a couple of assortments until they were suddenly changed. It was announced toward the end of 2010 that subsequent Lego Star Wars magnet sets would be glued to their bases to prevent them being used in any way other than magnets.

 

From Lego circa early 2011:

“All Extended Line minifigure magnet sets will as of Jan 1st 2011 be glued. Based on new requirements, the magnet base and the minifigures will have to be permanently fixed together on LEGO Star Wars magnet sets.

 

To ensure a consistent consumer experience across all LEGO minifigure magnet sets we have chosen to permanently fix the minifigure to the magnet base on all magnet sets moving forward from Jan 1st 2011 (incl. Pharaoh’s Quest launching Dec 1st).

 

This decision has been carefully considered and was not taken easily as we know that many consumers will obviously not like this change.”

 

When I had the opportunity to ask Hasbro about this at NYCC several years ago, the Star Wars team would only say, 'No Comment". When I asked Lego, also at NYCC, they remarked that they were not able to address it further (or something like that - I specifically remember the 'no comment' though.)

 

Now, while Lego has offered polybagged Star Wars figures after 2010, it is important to note that these have been promotional items or store exclusives with later sales to clearance out remaining stock by a vendor. Lego Han Solo in Hoth Gear was a lego incentive and only available for free if $75 or more was purchased through the Lego Store. Rocket Raccoon was aTRU Exclusive that was originally a store promo if $50 or more was purchased in Legos in the store. Eventually, TRU sold the items individually. This brings us to Marvel.

 

Keep in mind that Hasbro also has the license from Marvel / Disney to produce action figures so the same type of arrangement probably exists on Marvel figures as the Star Wars figures concerning what Lego does.

 

So while Lego was able to secure the rights to produce and sell individual Simpsons minifigures, it is very unlikely, that unless Disney steps in, that we will see individual Marvel or Star Wars figures sold in the minifigure assortment. This is highly unlikely though, as Disney is starting to have a strained relationship with Lego... but more on that later. (Maybe today actually if I feel like writing more.)

 

 

 

 

 

I have that set, still sealed.

Okay... So This is going to be a longer entry since I did pick up two of the Force Awakens sets this morning from the Lego Store. I picked up the 75105 Millennium Falcon set but also picked up the 75099 Rey's Speeder. I may do a review of the Falcon at some point but let's take a look at something entirely new and see if it holds up.

I stayed in tonight though so I thought I would post a review.

Stats:

Lego 75099: Rey's Speeder

MSRP: $19.99

Pieces: 193 Pieces with several extras*

Release Date: 2015-09-04

Found at Lego Shop at Home: Lego Shop at Home

Background

I am not going to speculate on plot details of the movie as some spoilers can be determined by closely examining how the vehicle and characters are tied together. I will examine the contents and try to justify $20 for 193 parts. Upon opening the set you are met with two bags to separate the segments of the build along with two minifigures.

The Minifigures

Included in the set is our desert scavenging hero Rey, whose last name is supposedly a spoiler, as well as an "Unkar's Thug". I have ideas about what role "Unkar's Thug" is supposed to fulfill but I promised no spoilers and no spoilers it will be. Rey features a dual printed head for two expressions as seen in the photos, and a newly sculpted hairstyle as well as a newly dual printed torso. This means that this is a debut for the hairstyle piece and the torso has never been printed before. Rey also features a helmet or mask that slips on top of her head so she has that masked rider look when on top of the speeder along with a little Lego messenger bag. Unkar's Thug also features newly printed minifigure parts and while it does not feature a second expression on the opposite side of its head, it does feature printing all the way around.

The Speeder

The contents of Bag 1 and 2 offer a nice assortment of parts that are not found in many other Lego sets especially in this maroon color. The basic structure of the set is revealed in the initial stage and while it is not a difficult build it was intricate and imaginative considering that there is a basic mechanism put into place to automatically open the doors of the speeder and the there are many areas that are utilize a S.N.O.T. (Studs Not On Top) build.

The second polybag contains the shell and the doors of the speeder. I apologize but for some reason the image of the parts from the second bag were not captured. Again as with the first part of the build, the speeder has a lot of maroon parts seldom seen in other sets. The inclusion of the brown and the oranges allow it to have that "used universe" feel that all of the vehicles in Episodes IV-VI had. I also liked the way that the designer engineered the doors of the speeder's cargo bay and the use of the race car spoilers as steering vanes for the speeder. Let's open it up and see what it's got. Before we do that though, here are a few different angles of the set. By twisting one of the engines, a rotating lever pushes the cargo bay doors open. Inside it reveals a cargo chamber that you can put some of the extra parts in making it look like space junk. (Lego always includes a few extra pieces of its smallest parts. For example in the Lord of the Rings sets you didn't just receive 'one' ring to rule them all but three.) As standard with this set there are two launchers on the side capable of firing two lego studs at anyone trying to steal the scavenged lego parts that Rey is trying take.

Let's set this up with some of the figures. I genuinely liked the scale of the set in relation to the figures. The set is probably a bit more in scale than others being that it is supposed to be a one person speeder. However, with that said, I feel it could have been beefed up a bit. This could be easily addressed by playing down the top and bottom a bit with a single level underlying plate beneath the shell. The only thing I did not put on were the stickers. I usually do not put the stickers on if I think the set can get away without it or if I have picked up a set simply to use the parts to design and build something else. For one of those reasons, the stickers remain unused. I usually just slide them into the instruction booklet for use down the line if I choose.

Overall thoughts:

The general question is, "Is this worth a $20 price tag?" That is kind of hard to say. It is the cheapest Episode VII set on the market and it does contain one of the two main characters. I thought that the features were interesting and if you are unfamiliar with building a Lego model using SNOT technique then this will give you a nice introduction and teach you to do a few new things with all of your other stuff. The set itself is what we call 'swooshable' so if you have kids aged 6 60 and below you might find them lifting it in front of them and gliding it through the air. In all honesty it is a beefed up desert pounded Star Wars motorcycle with a storage bay. It looks mean, it looks ready to move down the desert planet looking to scavenge parts. I genuinely like the set and it is at the base of the TV for now. I bought it at the Lego store itself for $19.99 which was cheaper than buying it at Toys R Us where the price is $21.99. I also receive better rewards points through Lego if you sign up for the free membership along with other goodies throughout the year. This month if you spend $50 or more you get a mini tractor. Eventually Amazon will discount it and if tradition holds true then expect to see it at around $16.99 somewhere down the line which is a very good deal in comparison to the other sets. I recommend picking it up.

Price: 3.5 / 5 (I remember when sets like this were $12.99)

Playability: 5/5

Inclusion of various parts 4/5 (There are some unusual parts in here)

Design 4/5 (I like what they did but it could have been beefier)

Minifigures 5/5 (Two dual printed SW minifigures)

Verdict: 4.3. If you are patient and can grab it on sale then I definitely recommend it. If not then pick one up now.

If y'all liked this review, then perhaps next weekend I will build and post a review of the new Millennium Falcon.

Good stuff. Excited to see what you think about the Millennium Falcon.

nice review. I love the falcon design (with the hinged pieces to open the top for lots of play.

I feel like Rey's Speeder will be the set that there are cases and cases of and it'll be cheap once the movie is out of the theaters...

Glad people took notice and liked.

All of the Millennium Falcon's since 2004 have had the hinged pieces at the top. The last one I bought was the one that came out back then. I skipped the last couple of incarnations. However, the Force Awakens version appears to have a design that allows room for some modifications. The easiest and most important is that there is plenty of room in that cockpit to fit two minifigures side by side instead of offset. I plan on redoing it something along the lines of what this guy did.

http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/379116

I will probably do a couple of reviews... one in which the item is built as advertised. And then a second one with some modifications.

Just placed a bricklink order for a comic related Lego project. More to come throughout the remainder of the year. I will update as we move along.

nice review. I love the falcon design (with the hinged pieces to open the top for lots of play.

 

I feel like Rey's Speeder will be the set that there are cases and cases of and it'll be cheap once the movie is out of the theaters...

Having owned the last set that also has the hinged pieces, it isn't for kids. It couldn't withstand my son opening and closing it all the time. He started ripping huge pieces off the side.

However, it was awesome! We had a blast building it.