Exactly. Like I stated earlier. It's one thing if this was such a step ahead of the original. Some were saying this was going to be a fully realized sphere that looked just like the Death Star, and you would open it up and it wold have various compartments that were scenes from the movie. That would have been awesome.
A re-release that's basically the same set with just regurgitated figures that are also just updated... well that is almost unacceptable. But it's becoming too prevalent in the Star Wars theme.
I'm going to give you another example, and it's the fact they released two Poe Dameron x-wings this year. Why? If these same fleet of xwings appear later on in Ep8, or Ep9, why not wait until then to release the blue version? They released a microfighter of the blue version with a mini of Snap Wexley... Couldn't they have just kept with Poe's Black one this year? They basically created the same exact set a few months earlier, but just put in 2 exclusive minifigures. If you want those minis, you have to buy the entire xwing (which is the same design just with differenet colors) all over again. Another example this year was the Homing Spider Droid - only a change in pins and minis seperate two sets put out a year and a half apart.
I'm a collector of lego star wars, but that's starting to hit a point where i'm not going to just buy re-releases just to get new minis when the sets are so close to each other. Minus what we know for the rogue one sets, next year's lines are looking unexpiring, as well. Another jedi interceptor but instead of Anakin, and Obi- we get Yoda. Another phantom, which was just released a year and a half ago - but I guarantee the only difference will be if you want Thrawn, you got to buy the entire set! This is where this BS is going. At that point, just put out a collectible line of minifigures and just produce less sets, and make them more spectacular.
If Episode 8's sets just regurgitate half of the Force Awakens sets with just a box change and a few minifigures updates related to the current movie, I really would at that point just stop collecting complete themes. But, I wouldn't doubt 3 or 4 of those sets could get regurgitated, and I almost guarantee that will happen with the Millennium Falcon for the Han Solo film.
No point in being a completist at that point, and even though the minifigures are a key driving force behind getting sets, they shouldn't be the only reason. If Lego ups the game, and each set was a substantial evolution from a previous set that is one thing. The Sandcrawler you listed, was a case in point. The Slave 1 was another. More than likely the UCS Snowspeeder will also be a step ahead of the previous one. But, anymore that's not the norm, it seems. The rehashes are becoming too quick in the release cycle, and almost always they are uninspiring and a simple re-release with just new box art, a couple change in pieces, and a couple new minifigures to try and get one to bite.