First LEGO Star Wars Large scale Buildable Figures Unveiled at New York Toy Fair

Vader is awesome!

Sort of weird looking. Reminds me of those Galidor sets that failed commercially.

I think having humans as buildable figures doesn't work but Vader looks cool!

Those look pretty good actually, i think they might sell well.

I love Star Wars LEGO, but this is definitely not for me!

Huh...there was a CUUSOO project of this a while back and LEGO rejected it because they weren't allowed to make SW action figures with their license. I wonder what happened.

Luke looks... WRONG. Wrong in big, bold capitals.

Vader looks... AMAZING! Perfect replication in a constraction form! Thank you, LEGO!

Galidor Luke! Aaaaaa!!!

They look nice but it doesn't seem very Lego. They seem like a toy from k'nex than lego.

Doesn't look like LEGO to me :(

Those look insanely creepy!

Holy smoke, these are awful!
Vader just about gets away with it but Luke is like Robocop; a humanish head on a robot body. Yuck!

Vader looks great, but Luke is just creepy! I think there is a potential for other figures that are either not human or wear a full helmet, but no more human heads please. I don't want to run into one of those in a box of LEGO! Would freak me out! :(

Seem odd given they tried this with super heroes in 2012 and I am guessing they didn't do well as they didn't make any more. Luke Skywalker looks odd too seems like Lego have a wide range of lines already and don't really needed to be doing things like this.

These are ridiculous. I thought LEGO would have given up on rubbish ideas like this.

Galidor and Ben 10 all over again!!!! ARGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

It seems as if LEGO is attempting to re-envision the Kenner action figures from the Christmas of 1977 here, but in Constraction form. While I'm sure all the new kids getting into the next Star Wars trilogy will love them. they just make me cringe inside.

Vader looks great, and if I buy of them it'll be him, but trying to put any sort of human face on a Constraction figure just doesn't work. Sorry Luke, you look like a Ken Doll. Fortunately, there's a ton of figures from Star Wars they could still successfully do in this style. Boba Fett seems inevitable, and I bet he'll look amazing.

These look fantastic. And any comparisons to Galidor completely miss the mark — these sets are way more complex and the parts way more versatile than Galidor sets and parts ever were. I'll admit, I didn't know what to expect when these sets were announced, but on the whole I think these sets do a great job with shaping and proportions. I especially love the lower leg construction, which uses a new shell piece in tandem with the 7M talon piece from last year's Hero Factory sets to create a sleek shin.

I've got no issues with Luke's head, which does a good job balancing realism and stylization. I do think his hair should have more texture, though. I love that he can holster his lightsaber and blaster.

My first thought was NOOOOO but then I think Lego have been very good to me in recent years. They've kept me in fabulous sets like the Unexpected Gathering, Super Star Destroyer, Parisian Restaurant, Mobile Crane Mk II and MetalBeard's Sea Cow. I won't buy these figures, but we've come too far now for me to worry about this being a future direction. If they're cash cows, brilliant, just keep the good stuff coming.

It sucks how much people are hating on these; while it is pretty much a given based on how these are based on CCBS, I was not expecting backlash this extreme. I guess I had forgotten how entitled and snobbish some people can be, especially Star Wars fans. They look pretty darn good to me and will certainly be fun sets, and I will probably pick up one or two.

Luke??? I never would have guessed. It looks nothing like him.Wrong. Just Wrong.

Vader. Pretty good.

But once again the RRP is far too expensive.
This is not for me.
The kids might love them. We will see.

I think kids will love figures from the new rebels series. My 5 year old loves that show. Will have to wait and see if they release any of those.

Vader? Awesome!

Luke? Not so much...

http://ideas.brickimedia.org/wiki/StarWars_Ultrabuild_Series

Reminds me of this, as @Packer221 also noted.

Vader looks awesome, but Luke's hip and neck joints seem rather exposed.

I wonder how the licensing worked out. The above project was rejected thanks to Hasbro's exclusive action figure license.

First thought: this is not Lego. Immediate second thought: but these will go down well with kids.

The price might be a bit too dear, though.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE IT AWAY, BUUUUURRNNN IIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!

Yikers

Edit: Tin foil hat on - See what happens when you get too comfortable with constraction? It infected the Exo Suit legs and now it'll infect everything you love!

Realistic looking head and hands look weird in this style.
But characters like Darth Vader, Storm trooper, Boba Fett, C3PO etc, will work a lot better.

I don't know about these sets. I mean, Vader looks great, and while Luke isn't the best, at least he is a heck of a lot better than those Marvel and DC consraction sets. :)

@DanRSL : What are you talking about with constraction and Exo Suit legs?

What the?!?!

Vader isn't bad, but Luke? Oh dear.

They look alright to me, way better than those super hero sets were, and those had much more potential, but I'll hold out on buying any till they release a Boba Fett.

@DanRSL: Constraction spin-offs for every theme? Bring it on! I'll be the first in line for Ninjago and Elves constraction sets!

Serious-face, The Exo-Suit's legs used constraction parts for the hip and shoulder jointseven in the original concept. The only reason the final version used them more extensively is because no sane set designer would release a set with knee and ankle joints that flimsy (and some of the parts used for the original's joints were discontinued micro-motor bearings so couldn't be used anyhow).

@EdwinJackson: It's kind of funny you should say that because the "realistic-looking hands" are the same ones that have been used in themes like Hero Factory, Super Heroes, Legends of Chima, and BIONICLE since 2011. The only thing different, in Luke's case, is the color.

@Muggle: According to some accounts from the London and Nuremberg Toy Fairs, there will be a Boba Fett released alongside these ones in September!

Hate these. They're not Lego.

I'd rather have Technic Man back.

@dragonboy 1 The Exo Suit's legs are constraction pieces that are (poorly) hidden with Lego System pieces attached. Although I appear to be in a fairly small group that feels this way, I thought it completely missed the point of the model (a brick built greeble monster) and it really dampened my enjoyment of it.

It's also possibly a sign of things to come. The advent (and subsequent success) of constraction has led to it's inclusion in System models. If the two were to never meet, I'd have no problem. But not only have they met, the Exo Suit was probably one of the worst times for it to happen. It was a throwback set and an AFOL's wet dream, neither of those jives with constraction.

@Aanchir I know the "official" reason they were used, but I doubt they even tried to make brick built legs. Even if they weren't built like the proposal and didn't look the same (which the constraction legs didn't, either) at least they'd be brick legs.

Real talk:

If you slapped a Kre-O or K'nex logo on this picture without seeing it here first, would you even question that might be true?

I don't think I would.

As a Constraction fan, I love how salty this is making the haters!
I think a lot of stick-in-the-muds who don't care about playability hate constraction, but you can assemble a unique good guy or villain from a constraction parts bin in about 20 minutes, pose them in all sorts of ways, and have them battle. It's amazingly fun. Not everything needs to have 200 build hours and eight pages of LDD drawings behind it. Live a little.

@DanRSL Well, considering that the sets use a lot of proprietary LEGO parts, yes, I'd question it. On the same note, if Kre-O or K'Nex had come up with this building system themselves, I would have been very impressed. I'm mature enough to respect the creative achievements of brands other than LEGO. And I think creating a revolutionary action figure building system with a foundation of basic shells and beams in modular lengths is a major creative achievement.

@Aanchir
If this is really THAT revolutionary to you, I'm have to guess you haven't explored the world of plastic models all that much. They're interchangeable parts with ball joints, this stuff has been around for decades.

I'm saying that these don't look like Legos. Because they don't. A lot of companies who try to wedge into the building toy market end up producing something that is "interchangeable" but with very little actual customization. This looks like that.

Luke's blaster looks amazing.... ;)

I have a sudden Urge to play Dark Forces II

I can't decide if I should be horrified or excited....

If I had been told it was April Fools, then this article would have immediately struck me as the annual punch line.

I'm speechless...

@DanRSL: It's much more than just "interchangeable parts with ball joints". We've had those in LEGO since 1998. The CCBS, introduced in 2011, is a fully-fledged SYSTEM of interchangeable shells and beams. It replaced what was a rather disjointed range of parts from classic BIONICLE with a much more versatile and streamlined system that could be used for everything from human characters to animal characters to robot characters.

This infographic from Christoph Röttjer's creative portfolio explains the thought process behind the CCBS: http://s3images.coroflot.com/user_files/individual_files/original_568856_rfzfzs5uwktim9y2dzkgrm96i.jpg With CCBS, any shell can be used on any beam in any configuration. And it allows for all kinds of customization: I built https://www.flickr.com/photos/aanchir/13070892433/ from a single $15 Hero Factory set, and https://www.flickr.com/photos/aanchir/15627422320/ from three $15–20 BIONICLE sets.

Making lifelike characters like these Star Wars figures that are sturdy enough to be played with from classic LEGO System parts would be pretty much impossible. And these sets DO look like LEGO, because they ARE LEGO. You just have a pointlessly (and unrealistically) narrow definition of what LEGO is and should look like.

Well I think they look pretty awful, so I won't be buying them. All's well that ends well.

I'm beginning to think Cuusoo/ Ideas is a ploy to get ideas for future sets.

These were on Cuusoo/Ideas and was closed down because "they didn't have/ could get" the license from Harbro. Hasbro has/ had the license for "action figures".

Marshal Bananas makes a big Sandcrawler, it gets rejected, now there is one in their UCS range of sets.

What will be the next one, I'm thinking props, like the Lightsabers that just got passed by for Wall-E and Doctor Who.

Anybody want to take bets. This time next year will be talking about the new Star Wars Props line just unveiled at Toy Fair, 2016.

@jamie75 And you've only discovered that now. :D Of course it is . It was always meant to be. That's the cleverness of crowdsourcing - free material, free publicity, free ideas. All free... at 1% net sales... it comes cheap. Specially when they justify a set is not viable because there were plans to produce it prior... we can only hope one model is so great and distinct that it may pass review. Nad even then... still I love it... it is a one of a kind chance :D

as for the doll... TLG I can only say TOTAL FAIL! Only thing worthy is Vader's cape... might make a good sail for a ship.

Darth Vader looks great. But Luke, on the other hand... Words just can't describe how awful he looks.

@Parker221 Yes I remember that, weird how LEGO always seems to get "inspiration" from LEGO Cuusoo/Ideas

Also these (especially Luke) look terrifyingly horrible.

@Aanchir
Yeah, I get how it works. It doesn't impress me the way it impresses you. I find it limiting and stylistically dull, you apparently, don't. What you posted is exactly what I expect to see whenever constraction is flashed in front of me and only reinforces my understanding of how limiting and dull it is. A deep, complex system that can be used to make everything from limby armored creatures all the way to limby armored creatures!

I never said they should make lifelike characters that can be sturdy enough to be played around with using Lego System bricks. I just said these look awful to me.

And no, these don't look like Lego in the same way Star Wars doesn't look like Disney. Oh wait, Star Wars IS Disney! Parent companies or separate product lines while still technically related don't necessarily share the same spirit. I'd call these Lego Brand Action Figures.

To me TLG decided to make these Star Wars action figures since the KOs/clone brands have already jumped the gun and decided make these ultra figures for Star Wars. Basically the KOs took the ultra figure idea which was rejected by Lego, thought it was a very good idea and decided to give it a shot. Rather than allow the KO take all the rewards for entering a 'blue ocean' market and product, TLG might as well tell Disney to allow them permission to make such a figure or they'll lose a potential lost market share.

As for licensing issues with Hasbro, I think Disney being the principal license holder can renegotiate its deal with Hasbro and allow Lego to make these action figures. So will we see CMF Star Wars figures? Slave Leia being the most sought after CMF figure?

^And that's the key, since Disney is NOT going to "Let it Go" from Lego with all the sets being sold (like a 41062 or the SWR sets).

Yikes, I expected a few more positive opinions on this article. While I can understand some of the controversy over Luke, as his head sculpt is questionable, he isn't downright terrible, and has a lot of nice elements too (I'm looking at that silver ice cream cone piece on his blaster :)) Also, Vader looks GREAT as a constraction figure, better than that CUUSOO project even. Although TLGs Super Hero line of action figures was bad, is it really that bad for LEGO to find more themes or other uses for their constraction system? The new constaction system, like Aanchir said, is the sturdiest and easiest to use system for creating buildable action figures made by LEGO yet. You expect TLG to make a sturdy, poseable, relatively cheap figure out of System pieces? Show me any System action figure MOC that fits all those criteria.

@dragonboy 1
I don't know how many times I have to explain this. I do not expect Lego to make constraction sets out of non-constraction pieces. (Side note: the Exo Suit was not a constraction set)

As a separate thought, these are awful. Just in general, not because they aren't made out of System bricks.

As another separate thought, Lego can and should make all the constraction sets they can make money off of. I personally just wish that System were System and constraction were constraction and never the twain shall meet.

Make sense?

"These don't look like real lego"

~ "Lego Star Wars" fan who condones Peach colored minifigures and Lego releasing the same boring ships every year.

Wow. I don't whether to praise them for their perseverance or chastise them for the text book definition of insanity. These have zero appeal to me and I'm a big Star Wars collector. I wish Lego wouldn't waste time on this junk. Maybe I'll be wrong and this time it will be a success, but I doubt it..

I guess GL selling SW to Disney meant some contract or rights changes as others say this used to be solely Hasbros role.
A worrying direction for Lego, more and more we see specialist pieces being made to improve accuracy in models. These are entirely specialised pieces. The point of Lego to me was always it was made of traditional pieces, so you could build alternative or OC.
Younger kids will prob like but it dilutes Lego brand values. Lego is a medlum like anything else, why change the principles.

@crisallen Not really

Most of the pieces in use here are part of the exact same system used by hero factory, Chima constraction and the new Bionicle.

The most notable new pieces are details as it is common with constraction figures, the chest and the "boot" pieces are news. However, they are part of the system and I can envision various uses outside of "Darth Vader" or "Luke Skywalker" for them.

The heads are of course specialized tho. Not unlike minifigure heads :/

Hmmmmmm... Let's wait for General Grievous! :)

Really stoked for these. I loved the superhero constraction sets they made a couple of years ago and I supported the Cuusoo project a while back. Looking forward to a stormtooper, Boba Fett and C-3P0!

Human head shapes will never look right for these things. On the other hand, anything with helmets that cover the entire head will look rather cool

I hope they make buildable Jar Jar !!! :D :D :D

Different to many here, I actually think Luke looks great :) I see on many Hasbro figures (including 6" black series), that the human faces nearly always miss the likeness. This one is Luke through and through, it's fantastic!

I had been withstraining myself from buying the new S.H.Figurarts line of Star Wars figures, but this is something I won't be able to resist!

In looking through the posts above, it seems like everyone summed up my initial feelings already: Ugly. The 2012 Superheroes sets were bad enough. Let the action-figure companies be the ones to produce life-like action figures.

But I'll probably buy them anyway. Grumble, Grumble...

The Episode VII sets better blow us away.

I like em, and I'll likely buy both. Posable Lego is one reason I like the minifigures, and is an important part of the appeal of the Exo-Suit to me, so this is just kind of an extension of that.

I can imagine hours of fun posing them in scenes from the films while making light saber sounds with my mouth.

You guys do that too, right?

@CaptainSpong, I thought I was the only one!!! :)

Looking forward to Darth Sidious and C3PO in this format.

Darth Vader looks very cool. But Luke looks weird, he has a human head which looks weird, and why does Luke have his Jedi robes and has a blaster, that makes no sense. I am looking foward to grievous and commander cody in this format.

Darth Vader looks very cool. But Luke looks weird, he has a human head which looks weird, and why does Luke have his Jedi robes and has a blaster, that makes no sense. I am looking foward to grievous and commander cody in this format.

Darth Vader looks very cool. But Luke looks weird, he has a human head which looks weird, and why does Luke have his Jedi robes and has a blaster, that makes no sense. I am looking foward to grievous and commander cody in this format.

Omg. -_-
They are even worse than Lego Chima Chi Figures!

Galidor also instantly came to my mind--I don't really like these, though to the people saying it doesn't look like Lego: the same was said of Binonicle in its day.

This is horrid!

Does anyone remember 2002's Technic line of Star Wars figures? AKA: http://brickset.com/sets/8010-1/Darth-Vader These failed horribly at a time when Lego was in a really bad way. I'm curious when they will realize that big figs of items from popular culture (Galidor, Ben 10, Superhero "Ultrabuilds") don't work. Heck, even Chima failed at this with the last line of Ultra-CHI builds not released in the USA.
As the old 1960's song goes:
"When will they ever learn?"

Ok, sorry, but these do not look good to me... at all. They remind me a lot of the Galidor line... which is a line that really never seemed to fit with Lego (as many others have noted). Ugh, I'm not against constraction, but this is just too little construction and too much action.

I absolutely love Legos, I have my whole life! They are always so creative and amazing and I love that now my kids love them as well. When I look at Legos I say to myself "Is this something my kids will get excited about?" and the answer is almost always "Yes" because they are made and designed for THERE ages! Yes I am an adult and I still love Legos but I ALWAYS keep the target audience in mind. These look perfect for a bunch of young Star Wars fans and I am so excited to buy these for them!

When I first saw the image something went to my mind. 'Oh dear, Barbie has found its way into Lego', but then I realised that it was just another one of Lego's money making schemes. Honestly I didn't really think it would come to this but it has so obviously I think too highly of Lego. Though It really isn't possible for this sort of construction type to appeal to me anyway. Its certainly not necessary but maybe those few existing Bionicles and Hero Factory fans have something to piss themselves about?

@Murdoch17: Please compare the playability of the figure from 2002 with the figure from 2015 AND the popularity of both LEGO overall and LEGO Star Wars in 2002 and in 2015 and spot the difference. I know you're all desperately trying to find reasons why these are "obviously" and "hopefully" going to fail but at least make sure your arguments make sense. Not to mention LEGO most likely has a way better idea of how much potential these have than any of you. Personally, I think DV has the potential to sell like hot cakes (definitely more so than Luke). As a constraction fan, I'm really impressed at how they pulled DV off. Luke is pretty good, too, much better than the Super Heroes figures but he's lacking compared to DV.

I'm not sure if all this immature whining and kicking is rather sad or funny but I think I'll stick with funny so I can at least laugh about all this. If you don't like these, and it's your perfect right not to, just don't buy them, it's not like LEGO depends the slightest bit on you for these to be succesful anyway. I'm certainly glad LEGO is more open-minded than you guys who think only the LEGO you build with is "real LEGO" and the only one that has the right to exist. This is real LEGO, no matter how much you try to argue and act childish about it, and CCBS and constraction are here to stay here for a while, so deal with it. Seriously, constraction has been around for 17 years and CCBS for four years, it's really about time you accept it.

I'm probably going to get DV and I hope they'll also release Boba Fett so we can get some delicious sand green CCBS pieces.

@JediCoffee: "those few existing Bionicles and Hero Factory fans". You mean the nearly 18,000 who have liked the LEGO Bionicle page on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/LEGOBionicle

Hmm... vader is excellent IMO, but Luke is a little weird...

Dunno. :P

Everyone complaining...yikes. CCBS is not System, and some of these parts are specific to these characters But this has gone on for a while. I love Vader, though. He looks excellent. I am quite looking forward to Grievous, as well. Luke is not so good. The only human-faced CCBS head I liked was Joker's, since the set could be interpreted as a creepy giant robot. But Luke is just skirting the edges of the uncanny valley. Take off the shells on his body, and it would look really wrong. I know that these sets should fare better than the Chima or SH ones, though.

I'm fine with the ideas of these, the parks work great for mechs in Ststem scale. Luke looks creepy!

I also like how LEGO stole this from Ideas. This, the huge Avengers ship, and the changing seasons Creator house now makes three that LEGO has screwed over.

" @JediCoffee: "those few existing Bionicles and Hero Factory fans". You mean the nearly 18,000 who have liked the LEGO Bionicle page on Facebook? https://www.facebook.com/LEGOBionicle "

18000 is very small.

"I also like how LEGO stole this from Ideas. This, the huge Avengers ship, and the changing seasons Creator house now makes three that LEGO has screwed over. "

At least in SW's case the designs are vastly different. I think I like the Ideas Vader more, it would be 1/3 cheaper. And also a bit of a confession. The ones who truly stole the Lego Ideas project are a Chinese Boot leg brand. They made all the Constraction Figures from that Ideas project into real sets (with bad part quality). But I could actually buy the Darth Vader. That DV looks very good and is fun to pose alongside Bionicle / Hero Factory / Chima things. I think that objectively, the DV pictured here is much better and taller. I think that Darth Vader is going to sell very fast. Grievous and Jango have similar chances. Luke and Obi Wan will warm shelves but this theme might be successful enough to have another run next year. Really hoping for C3PO, some battle droids and maybe, just maybe a large droideca set.

I had this idea for bobofet, darth vader, and a stormtrooper.

Seeing all of the hate for these, and constraction themed sets is pretty funny. Anyways, these will probably do all right, the masked ones probably doing better, though.

@vexorian: For a theme that's only been out for a month and a half and doesn't have any kind of TV show attached, I think it's fairly impressive. By comparison, the LEGO Mindstorms page on Facebook has only 9,114 likes: https://www.facebook.com/pages/LEGO-MINDSTORMS/313813515391288

Anyway, BZPower has posted their report on the Star Wars sets at NYTF (http://www.bzpower.com/story.php?ID=7384), and it includes piece counts and prices for these and the other Star Wars constraction sets (as well as detailed photos). Luke is $20 and has 82 pieces, while Vader is $30 and has 159 pieces (that's about five and a half times as many pieces as the largest Galidor set, if you're keeping score). The largest set (probably General Grievous) will be $35 and contain 182 pieces.

I really like these Star Wars constraction figures. I get why Luke is getting all the hate, but I think he is actually pretty decent. In my opinion, I like the Darth Vader more. I hope that we get some Star Wars Rebels figures. It would be cool to get an Inquisitor figure with a Double bladed lightsaber.

I smell disaster.

I understand why Luke is getting hate, as his head looks nothing like LEGO, but the fact that Vader is getting hate makes no sense, sure he's $30, but it makes no sense that people are saying that they "Look like the next Galidor" or "These look like K'nex/Kreo/LEGO Copier." Those who have seen sets from those brands will know that these look so much better.

But really, LEGO cannot win with the CCBS system. People say that the builds are too simple, LEGO gives them more complex builds, people say it doesn't look like LEGO.

I understand that Star Wars isn't a constraction thing, but the fact that people are flat out saying that they're horrible isn't right. All you AFOLs that want every set to be perfect no matter want the cost, need to remember that not every set will interest you, therefore you don't need to hate on LEGO, who are trying to please kids as well

EDIT: Just want to clarify that I don't mean all AFOLs, just those who look at liscened sets at dislike only because they're slightly innacurate. ;)

Everyone has and is entitled to their own opinion. I am an almost strict Star Wars Lego collector. I will not get a single one of these. THey dont appeal to me, and since Lego knows what theyre doing most of the time, I just have to assume Im not the target audience.

Sounds like some of you are, and thats great!

Next!

I can't work up one iota of sympathy for a Cuusoo/Ideas designer who submits models for IPs that LEGO already owns. Of course your idea isn't going to picked for production, and there's a good chance that if the idea is actually a good one, that LEGO will make it under their existing IP product line - whether they decided to do so before or after your submission, which is irrelevant really.

My big problem with the Luke figure isn't the head, but the hips. Nothing flesh-and-blood has thick legs and abdomen but a literally skeletal junction between them. The DV figure is very impressive, though I wonder how long that cloak can stay unwrinkled!

I'm not interested, but I suspect plenty of children will be--at least in DV, or some of the other suggestions I've seen, such as Boba Fett and (especially) General Grievous.

I keep looking at Luke and thinking, "Lawnmower Man".

Agreed fulcrumbop, Luke does have a distinct Lawnmower Man vibe. Personally, if I purchase any, it would probably be Yoda, Obi-Wan, Han & Chewie, if they do them.

If this is successful enough that TLG look to do more, I'd hope that they'd look at giving some Marvel Comics characters the same treatment.