Here is where the Maz Kanata minifigure came from apparently. Interesting seeing a Star Wars set with a couple play features reminiscent of Minecraft and that hanging banner looks like an uncooked slab of bacon. Haha.

Nice to see Kylo Ren and some TFA Stormtroopers show up in a smaller set .

Edited November 30, 201510 yr by zskid00

This set just has "duel on geonosis" stamped on it.  Let me guess, the castle crumbles apart.

Saves me from buying that horrible ship to get a kylo mini fig. 

Ohh kylo fig. Hope this isn't too expensive.

1 hour ago, seapotato said:

Ohh kylo fig. Hope this isn't too expensive.

There will be 409 pieces including five minifigures. Even with the license, this set should not be more than $40 US. As Fossilrock pointed out, this is very similar to Duel on Geonosis down to the falling column only the layout is reversed.

At $59 RRP, this set is horribly overpriced - I'm not sure if buy it at $40 but I do want the Kylo figure.

i like those kind of sets at a discount. i might pick up one sooner just to build from Target having it "marked down" by $10 

Attack on Weathertop offered a little more than this at the same price, Duel on Geonosis was roughly the same except featured a smidge less at $40, Rancor Pit cost the same but had the monstrous Rancor to offset the amount, the 75043 AT-AP from just a couple years ago retailed at the same price with 717 parts plus minifigures, and so on. It may be a diorama instead of a vehicle and a licensed set but honestly that "well it's licensed therefore more expensive" excuse is absurdly ridiculous as the retail and what little is offered here. In a way you are practically paying an extra $20 simply for the Kylo Ren and Maz Kanata minifigs. Cool as those characters may be, they are not worth the tacked-on price right now. I have no doubt people will pay handsomely for each off Bricklink though.

Nevertheless the built-in play features are many & intriguing although the extra mechanics behind the breakaway wall seem like an unnecessary extra (I could easily have used my fingers to push those bits off instead of the crank) then there is the quirky section of the floor with studs that "erupts" (I have no idea what sort of 'action' it is supposed to represent). The set's design is good offering a fair amount of play, aesthetics, and characters. Unfortunately the suggested retail is anything but fair and even at a discount of say 30% off this would still be priced around $42.

Honestly while more expensive, Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle includes a lot of bang for your buck whereas this barely makes its way out of the barrel like a lethargic bullet.

Peeps!

What am I looking at here?  I see some vague references to Battle of Takodana (and those sets were near this part of the shelf), but little else.

Thoughts?

Battle on Takodana. That would be the pre-release code name. Just like you might find Wolf # tags for some of the first wave sets.

This is one of the saddest SW sets I've seen in a while.  A perfect example of why LEGO SW should stay away from locations and stick to vehicles.  Entirely uninspired build utilizing small elements merely to jack the piece count in an attempt to justify the price people pay for the minifigures.

Sorry guys for the long reply. Sorry mods for the slight offtopic talk. If this is unacceptable I'll open a new topic, just let me know.

1 hour ago, Blackjack said:

This is one of the saddest SW sets I've seen in a while.  

You might have missed the Ultimate Collector Series Assault on Hoth: 2,144 pieces of playtime fun every ultimate Star Wars collector needs in his or her collection. 

1 hour ago, Blackjack said:

utilizing small elements merely to jack the piece count in an attempt to justify the price people pay for the minifigures.

I've seen opinions like this on this forum and didn't reply. Now that I see yet another I can't resist. First this: I have to disagree on the link you're describing as if it were a fact, between the large number of small pieces and the price people are willing to pay for minifigures. In fact you don't seem to make clear (at least to me) what you mean. 

Let me try to following your reasoning. TLG uses many small elements (1) to enlarge the piece count (2) to try to justify the price people pay for the minifigures (3)? Do you mean that according to you TLG is trying to make it seem that there's a lot more body to this set than there really is, in an attempt to make the people who are checking this set out and who are mainly interested in the minifigures pull the purchase-trigger because the enlarged piece count enables those buyers to knowingly and willingly fool themselves? That's deep! Or maybe you just mean something entirely different and I misread it. 

But what I likely didn't misread (and what is my inspiration for this long reply) is that you've expressed criticism to the use of small pieces in a set. Of course you can have that opinion, but I can tell you that I'm very happy that there are these kinds of sets with these amounts of smaller parts. It's one of the reasons why TLG is still alive today. Back in the '90s and beginning of the '00s TLG made parts as large as this very set. This silly baseplate always come to my mind when I think back of that period.

So what happened? The sets became too expensive to manufacture (cost more than they brought in) AND the kids didn't get to build. TLG's engineers and managers clearly thought it was all about the play after the build rather than the build. Try to make 10 nice alternative MOC's with your 1995's average 150 parts-set. Impossible... unlike sets from the '70s and '80s. We should all be very happy that this is now in the past and TLG have the Creator series, modular buildings pulling the train, showing the kids once again what can really be done with Lego. 

I'm very happy with all these smaller bricks. And I don't think TLG has a hidden agenda in it. They even show the set's final appearance on the box cover, so everyone can make up their own minds on what's to be found inside. I certainly don't think TLG are intentionally putting in 'as many small bricks as they can' in an attempt to get a larger part count 'so that a set with those rare minifigures are more easily bought'. I think the use of smaller parts is for the benefit of a model's / set's look. And they know that if they really include a rare minifigure, the collectors (and resellers) would buy it even if it had 50 other pieces and it had the same price. 

Of course, if there are too many large parts, people complain. If there are too many small parts, idem. If there are is too average a number of parts with too average a size, well... let's complain about averageness! Everyone is entitled to that. But sometimes it's a good exercise to think of what it is you're complaining about and to verify for yourself if those complaints are true. 

So my birthday was yesterday. My 10 y/o son got me this set for my birthday. It was really sweet of him to do it. He was really excited.

On 22.2.2016 at 1:27 AM, Roy vd M. said:

Sorry guys for the long reply. Sorry mods for the slight offtopic talk. If this is unacceptable I'll open a new topic, just let me know.

You might have missed the Ultimate Collector Series Assault on Hoth: 2,144 pieces of playtime fun every ultimate Star Wars collector needs in his or her collection. 

I've seen opinions like this on this forum and didn't reply. Now that I see yet another I can't resist. First this: I have to disagree on the link you're describing as if it were a fact, between the large number of small pieces and the price people are willing to pay for minifigures. In fact you don't seem to make clear (at least to me) what you mean. 

Let me try to following your reasoning. TLG uses many small elements (1) to enlarge the piece count (2) to try to justify the price people pay for the minifigures (3)? Do you mean that according to you TLG is trying to make it seem that there's a lot more body to this set than there really is, in an attempt to make the people who are checking this set out and who are mainly interested in the minifigures pull the purchase-trigger because the enlarged piece count enables those buyers to knowingly and willingly fool themselves? That's deep! Or maybe you just mean something entirely different and I misread it. 

But what I likely didn't misread (and what is my inspiration for this long reply) is that you've expressed criticism to the use of small pieces in a set. Of course you can have that opinion, but I can tell you that I'm very happy that there are these kinds of sets with these amounts of smaller parts. It's one of the reasons why TLG is still alive today. Back in the '90s and beginning of the '00s TLG made parts as large as this very set. This silly baseplate always come to my mind when I think back of that period.

So what happened? The sets became too expensive to manufacture (cost more than they brought in) AND the kids didn't get to build. TLG's engineers and managers clearly thought it was all about the play after the build rather than the build. Try to make 10 nice alternative MOC's with your 1995's average 150 parts-set. Impossible... unlike sets from the '70s and '80s. We should all be very happy that this is now in the past and TLG have the Creator series, modular buildings pulling the train, showing the kids once again what can really be done with Lego. 

I'm very happy with all these smaller bricks. And I don't think TLG has a hidden agenda in it. They even show the set's final appearance on the box cover, so everyone can make up their own minds on what's to be found inside. I certainly don't think TLG are intentionally putting in 'as many small bricks as they can' in an attempt to get a larger part count 'so that a set with those rare minifigures are more easily bought'. I think the use of smaller parts is for the benefit of a model's / set's look. And they know that if they really include a rare minifigure, the collectors (and resellers) would buy it even if it had 50 other pieces and it had the same price. 

Of course, if there are too many large parts, people complain. If there are too many small parts, idem. If there are is too average a number of parts with too average a size, well... let's complain about averageness! Everyone is entitled to that. But sometimes it's a good exercise to think of what it is you're complaining about and to verify for yourself if those complaints are true. 

Why do you complicate it that much...

It's not about the size of the parts, I think you missed the point critics of this particular set want to emphasize. The set simply offers not that much and it is too expensive for what it is. A couple of nice minifgs and that's it. The surrounding wall pieces and door + tree could also come from the castle line or be a MOC from a 10y old. Just my 2 cents

I must admit.  I got this set with a 30% discount and still felt I overpaid for what there is.

They should have waited for the next wave and put this in as a full 4 sided building with a higher price tag. 

For all of its criticisms lets look at some things in it's favor

1. It is currently the cheapest set containing Finn and Kylo Ren.

2. The Maz Kanata is exclusive to it.

3. This set includes lots orange brick style pieces.

However when you look at it these perks still don't make up for the price even at a discount

Even this bank hol weekend in the UK where you can pick this up at 32% off I'm still in 2 minds about it for a personal build.  Sure I want a Kylo and Maz.  Those storm troopers look pretty enticing and I don't have a Finn yet either.  But I have no interest in the set.

But... if i want the figs getting them on eBay now would run me £40 (20% off RRP).  I can get the set new for £34 (32% off RRP).
When EP 8 comes out we'll get another Finn, Kylo, FO ST by the bucket loads but Maz.... maybe not.

To me this is one to stay away from as an investment.  As a build its pretty uninspiring and I'm not bricklink savvy enough to know about the pieces or want to really get into parting out.  Its the figs that are driving it and bar 1 we're going so see a number of rehashes of these over the coming months/years.

That said I'm still going to buy one for the figs... darn it TLG!  Why do your jedi mind tricks and savvy minifig dispersion always work on me

10 minutes ago, GiliusThunderhead said:

Even this bank hol weekend in the UK where you can pick this up at 32% off I'm still in 2 minds about it for a personal build.  Sure I want a Kylo and Maz.  Those storm troopers look pretty enticing and I don't have a Finn yet either.  But I have no interest in the set.

But... if i want the figs getting them on eBay now would run me £40 (20% off RRP).  I can get the set new for £34 (32% off RRP).
When EP 8 comes out we'll get another Finn, Kylo, FO ST by the bucket loads but Maz.... maybe not.

To me this is one to stay away from as an investment.  As a build its pretty uninspiring and I'm not bricklink savvy enough to know about the pieces or want to really get into parting out.  Its the figs that are driving it and bar 1 we're going so see a number of rehashes of these over the coming months/years.

That said I'm still going to buy one for the figs... darn it TLG!  Why do your jedi mind tricks and savvy minifig dispersion always work on me

I also bought one for a personal build.  That said, this set has great figures and will probably be the cheapest way to get Kylo Ren and may be the only place to find Maz for at least the near future.  It also looks like there is a lot less hoarding since we're still on page 1.  Perhaps this is just being overlooked or dismissed since it seems about $10 too expensive, but will do well if you can get it cheap enough.  Right now you can get this and a keychain (or other small item) to get over $50 and sell the poly to drive your buy-in down to <$35.  At that price I think this might be well worth it as a hold or to sell off in pieces.

Edited May 2, 20169 yr by Sfcommando14