Star Wars 2014

[citymorgue]

Day one purchase for me without a doubt.

[TheOrcKing]

Here is a review on this year's AT-AT care of Brickset. There is an interesting comparison between this version and the three others that came before it down the article which you may find enlightening.

[TheOrcKing]

When is a set review not a set review? ....When it goes a little like this one on the latest B-Wing.

[TheOrcKing]

Here is a New Elementary review for 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina.

[NZ-EUG]

Not fan, they could of just printed more detail to the old chewy mini fig, e.*** give him some printed eyes etc..

Edited October 31, 2014 by NZ-EUG

[Cashmoney-0]

For seven years I have been collecting Star Wars Legos and have to say I have grown disappointed with these sets. Lego continuously produces remakes offering few new innovative designs. One can assume Lego realized it is exponentially cost effective to improve a design than create a new one from scratch.  New designs appear to be simple and rather ugly.  For example, look at the Rancor Pit which consists of four arches put together and whala, customers will flock to purchase it.  Lego simply adds an interesting/rare figure, creates a garbage set, and money comes rolling in.  Imagine if the Rancor Pit (without the figures) was advertised in the Lego Store under a different category other than Star Wars, do you think anybody would actually find it attractive, let alone purchase it?  In the past I would collect everything Original Trilogy, but now with sets such as the Mos Eisley Cantina and all the remakes, I realized why am I buying this stuff?  I fell into the trap of collecting poorly created sets that had the word

[mscheaf]

Just like the Madden games, Lego Star Wars sets are the same thing every year with a new year slapped on them. Also like the Madden games, they still sell like crazy.

[inversion]

Interestingly nobody complains about remakes of Police Stations and Fire Departments. 

 

X-Wings, MF, ISD etc. are as essential to SW. When kids see the movies they will want those vehicles not some obscure stuff. They want things they see and have large screen time. SW theme is about kids' demand, not collectibility. Also the material for the OT is finite. If you want to collect then purchase UCS or just go for Architecture.

 

Regarding the designs, I agree that there are some disturbingly low quality ones. What I noticed is that the focus in licensed sets is shifted towards the minifigs in lots of cases and the set around them is just a necessity.

[citymorgue]

This years star wars sets, I've collected a handful of them only because I was in the dark ages from 2003-2013.  I missed out on tons of great sets.  I had some nice UCS sets back in the early 00s, but gave them away to my step-brother's son.  By the time I got back, I really didn't feel like paying some of the ridiculous secondary market prices for some of the sets.

 

With this years line up, I can actually have some form of the sets.  Like the Cantina, AT-AT, snowspeeder, ISD, etc.  Now that's not to say that if they repeat these sets again, I'm going to go and buy them.  Just not going to happen.  And I don't make near enough money to ever catch up to everything I could possibly want with Legos.

 

So while, I do agree with your overall premise that these rehashes aren't the best of some of the things they produce, take into consideration that there are many people like me who come out of the dark ages, and can't/won't necessarily go buy secondary.  So it's not just the kids that they market for IMO.

[exciter1]

Interestingly nobody complains about remakes of Police Stations and Fire Departments. 

 

Investors complain, because there's little meat on that bone left, except for around the holidays.

[Bold-Arrow]

You can only charge what the market is willin to pay

[inversion]

Investors complain, because there's little meat on that bone left, except for around the holidays.

I almost shed a tear.

[exciter1]

You can only charge what the market is willin to pay

[fossilrock]

Now that the winter wave of 2014 is nearing that time period when the sets start getting more scarce, and you can find many at discounts, which sets would you gather might do well as an investment?   I absolutely don't trust the CAGR's at this point in the game until they are really out of the stores and the dust has settled.  Disregarding the expanded universe, rebels and clone wars lines, which I just don't bother with, which ones from the films would you think have any potential long term potential now that these are starting to heading towards the downward spiral?  

The sets were the 75035 - Kashyyyk Troopers, 75034 - Death Star Troopers, 75036 - Utapau Troopers, 75038 - Jedi Interceptor, 75039 V- Wing, 75050 General Grievous Wheel BIke, 75041 - Vulture Droid, 75042 - Droid Gunship, 75043 - AT-AP, 75044 - Droid Tri-fighter.

Personally, i'm kind of sold on the battle packs, but I don't want to store 100's of them, and I see these as just sets where you make some change and reinvest it into sets you build.  That's my strategy anyway.  I'm not sold they will double out of the gates when they finally start getting more scarce.  But, I do think the Death Star Troopers will do ok, and the Kashyyyk and Utapau Troopers might catch on, although i'm not as sold on those because some of the other clone trooper packs havent exactly caught fire.  The utapau troopers is still pretty thick in most walmarts, while the DSTs and KTs are a little more picked over.  Out of all of them having some Death Star Troopers is not a bad idea, but are any others worth it?  I'm not so sure.

The Droid Gunship has a nice CAGR on this site, but even at that i'm not convinced of it doing great, and I think a lot of that is based on it having "Chewbacca".  That Chewbacca minifig looks like it's also in the upcoming Imperial Shuttle, so that's not enough to sell it as a good investment.  The Vulture Droid, Droid Tri-fighter, and Jedi Interceptor all could do ok, with probably the Jedi Intreceptor being the safest bet.  But, I think you'd have to package them together in a bulk lot to make some money on them and at that you may have to hold them for a while.  These are definitely the best versions of those 3 ships, but are they going to be investment potential?  The previous jedi interceptor that's been retired for a few years hasn't exactly done much, and it's got a lot better minifigures, but this version is movie accurate.  I'm not sold at all on the V-wing, even though that set was hard to find, and pretty limited.

My favorite one of the entire line is General Grievous Wheel Bike.  Now that thing was sharp, and a cool build.  And, i've been seeing them on clearance recently, so i've been buying a few here and there if the boxes are in good shape.  I think General Greivous was the best character in the prequels, so it's got that going for him.  The bike is also a really fun and quirky build and design, and for the cost it was definitely worth it.  The AT-AP is also a nice set, but i'm not sure it will do great.  The previous version went up to about 215% above retail when the dust finally settled in, which is a decent return. But, will it breach into the 90 to 100 range?  That i'm not so sure about, and i'm not so sure it can get an optimal return unless you can score these under 40.00.   I've seen these around 45.00, but even at that price, there are better things to put money into.  So are any of these worth it?  Or is it better to just stock up on the much much better Summer wave sets and put it in Cantinas, At-at's and ISDs, which I do think will do better.   
 

[TheOrcKing]

The sets were the 75035 - Kashyyyk Troopers, 75034 - Death Star Troopers, 75036 - Utapau Troopers, 75038 - Jedi Interceptor, 75039 V- Wing, 75050 General Grievous Wheel BIke, 75041 - Vulture Droid, 75042 - Droid Gunship, 75043 - AT-AP, 75044 - Droid Tri-fighter.

The characters in Death Star Troopers are unique soldiers not appearing elsewhere (with the exception of the red royal guards but still). Though their high ranking specialty is a draw that could also be a weakness as unlike regular enlisted Stormtroopers; a person does not really need a vast army of gunners and personal guards. There was a great battle or two on the planet of Kashyyyk and those guys are more generic so that could be good for a while. I do kind of like the Utapau Troopers just for the soldiers and a couple parts.

We just had a Jedi Interceptor prior to this version and that one was exclusive to Target plus featured an interesting dark green palette. I'm not sure how good this newer slightly altered and more widely available yellow design could go by comparison. Now General Grievous' Wheel Bike could have sleeping potential; a lot of great pieces (some special) in there plus the coughing destroyer himself. Some don't but I like the Vulture Droid with its exclusive Neimoidian Warrior which feels like a similar situation to the Droid Tri-Fighter in a cool ship but only one standout character.

Best part about the Droid Gunship was the build itself but the selection of characters is barely noticeable in my opinion. The set did however seem to disappear from shelves rather early into 2014 for me and I haven't seen it since which was the same for the AT-AP but I think at least that one saw a little discount before departure.

[fossilrock]

Best part about the Droid Gunship was the build itself but the selection of characters is barely noticeable in my opinion. The set did however seem to disappear from shelves rather early into 2014 for me and I haven't seen it since which was the same for the AT-AP but I think at least that one saw a little discount before departure.

 

Thanks.  I can still find a few droid gunships in my area, so thanks for giving a broader opinion on it.  This is another one I haven't built yet with my son, so I think ill grab a few of those, and a few more AT-AP's before they go. 

And I tend to share a similar opinion on General Greivous Wheel bike.  I think that set is worth having in your portfolio, as it could really go up.  And I have noticed that they are becoming more and more scarce.

 

Edited March 19, 2015 by fossilrock

[cladner]

Wondering if Snowspeeder 75049 is starting to make an exit - only available for in-store purchase at Target and Walmart and none of the Targets around me have any in stock.  Local walmarts have a few.  TRU and Kmart still have plenty.  

This set really appeals to me and I've got 20 which have all been obtained at discount but I might just have to scarf up the rest in nearby tax-free NH at $3.50 off MSRP.  Largest (and best imo) non -ucs snowspeeder to date.  Also with the new First Order Snowspeeder being released in a couple of days from Force Awakens set releases makes me think there will be rebel Snowspeeders in the new film which should help demand.  _ESPECIALLY_ if we get a nice snowspeeder battle scene.  SWOOSH goes the price!

Edited September 1, 2015 by cladner

[cladner]

Wondering if Snowspeeder 75049 is starting to make an exit - only available for in-store purchase at Target and Walmart and none of the Targets around me have any in stock.  Local walmarts have a few.  TRU and Kmart still have plenty.  

This set really appeals to me and I've got 20 which have all been obtained at discount but I might just have to scarf up the rest in nearby tax-free NH at $3.50 off MSRP.  Largest (and best imo) non -ucs snowspeeder to date.  Also with the new First Order Snowspeeder being released in a couple of days from Force Awakens set releases makes me think there will be rebel Snowspeeders in the new film which should help demand.  _ESPECIALLY_ if we get a nice snowspeeder battle scene.  SWOOSH goes the price!

or maybe just went to the bathroom

75049 back in stock for shipping online at target and amazon .  

[ravenb99]

or maybe just went to the bathroom

75049 back in stock for shipping online at target and amazon .  

[fossilrock]

Wondering if Snowspeeder 75049 is starting to make an exit - only available for in-store purchase at Target and Walmart and none of the Targets around me have any in stock.  Local walmarts have a few.  TRU and Kmart still have plenty.  

This set really appeals to me and I've got 20 which have all been obtained at discount but I might just have to scarf up the rest in nearby tax-free NH at $3.50 off MSRP.  Largest (and best imo) non -ucs snowspeeder to date.  Also with the new First Order Snowspeeder being released in a couple of days from Force Awakens set releases makes me think there will be rebel Snowspeeders in the new film which should help demand.  _ESPECIALLY_ if we get a nice snowspeeder battle scene.  SWOOSH goes the price!

I'm wondering if a new snowspeeder will be in the rumored hoth rebel base?  If so, i'd suspect this one goes very soon and is done with production and whatever stock dwindles out will be the swan song. 

I personally see all these 2014 sets spiking right now as Star Wars mania has officially begun, and there have been noticable upticks in activity with most recent star wars sets.  Lego's star wars page also grew by 2 pages this week, so there has to be a bit of a thinning coming up and i'd suspect sets like many of the 2014 winter wave sets, along with half of the 2014 summer wave sets, and maybe 1 or 2 from this years winter wave will start to get scarce and be gone by black friday.  I think it's going to get interesting.. and having snowspeeders in your portfolio is more than likely a good move.  I also think the same can be said for the cantinas, at-ats, ISD's, DST, etc.  The only sets I reserve some hesitation for is most of the prequel sets, and the b-wing.  Although, the b-wing could surprise us, and no one has really invested in it from what I see.

[exciter1]

I expect 75035 - Kashyyyk Troopers to take off, especially with the release of the new 2016 Summer wave.  If you guessed right on which battle pack to dive into, this one could pay off.

[zskid00]

You think the Kashyyyk Troopers will get a boost from having Gree in the new Turbo Tank?  The Star Wars battle packs have almost always done well and I certainly loaded up on Kashyyyk, Utapau, and Death Star Troopers, many at 50% off.

[exciter1]

6 minutes ago, zskid00 said:

You think the Kashyyyk Troopers will get a boost from having Gree in the new Turbo Tank?  The Star Wars battle packs have almost always done well and I certainly loaded up on Kashyyyk, Utapau, and Death Star Troopers, many at 50% off.

I think it will.  It sold pretty well even before retirement.  I'd pick up some beat up boxes at discount and sell them in a lot and they always sold fast.

[midbenne]

3 hours ago, exciter1 said:

I think it will.  It sold pretty well even before retirement.  I'd pick up some beat up boxes at discount and sell them in a lot and they always sold fast.

Think $18/pc is worth a shot at grabbing a few or is that too high a buy in? I know you don't have a crystal ball but I would think most people are in on these for less than $10 and that they might get to $30...at $18 that's $2/fees and $6 - $8 on shipping which leaves not a great deal of meat left on the bone...Just thought I would ask. 

[exciter1]

5 minutes ago, midbenne said:

Think $18/pc is worth a shot at grabbing a few or is that too high a buy in? I know you don't have a crystal ball but I would think most people are in on these for less than $10 and that they might get to $30...at $18 that's $2/fees and $6 - $8 on shipping which leaves not a great deal of meat left on the bone...Just thought I would ask. 

No, but I'd scoop them up if you see them pulled from the back and set in clearance, etc.  I bought some from a KMart just a couple weeks ago.  They were stocked to the gills with Kashyyyk, Death Star, and Utapau Troopers.