Should the Starship Collection include minifigures?
Posted by CapnRex101,
Earlier this week, LEGO announced three new additions to the growing Starship Collection, joining 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer, released last year. The response has been very positive on the whole, but many people have suggested that the sets include minifigures.
This is a very reasonable suggestion, given the massive popularity of Star Wars minifigures. However, I think there are potential advantages and disadvantages to the series containing minifigures, so this article examines both sides of the topic.
Update: A poll has been added at the end of this article.
Yes:
The most obvious reason to add minifigures is the opportunity to produce desirable minifigures, particularly when those minifigures might be unlikely to appear elsewhere. For example, 75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer could easily have included Admiral Piett, returning from his prior appearance in 10221 Super Star Destroyer, over a decade ago.
In fact, all four sets revealed to date are closely associated with specific characters and there are several options in most cases. In addition to the likes of Han Solo and Chewbacca, 75375 Millennium Falcon could finally have introduced Nien Nunb, or perhaps 75376 Tantive IV could have included the memorable Rebel Friend from LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. Both are oft-requested and would fit perfectly into these sets.
Fan demand for these characters is high, so adding them and others to the Starship Collection would presumably benefit LEGO, as well as minifigure collectors. The anniversary minifigures available in two new sets perfectly demonstrate the possible benefits for both fans and LEGO, given the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Darth Malak and Fives making their debuts.
Furthermore, there would be no need for adjustments to the design of Starship Collection sets to accommodate minifigures, as their bases are already constructed with space for a minifigure to stand. On that basis, it seems as though LEGO developed the collection with this possibility in mind, or perhaps so fans could add their own minifigures.
No:
While the prospect of new and highly desirable minifigures in the Starship Collection is exciting, such additions would probably result in higher prices. This is obviously far from ideal, especially because some models have already been criticised as too expensive. Also, some characters are particularly costly to produce, so adding General Grievous to 75377 Invisible Hand would likely increase the price substantially.
Along the same lines, I think there are vehicles with few possible character choices. In the case of 75377 Invisible Hand, either General Grievous or Count Dooku would be nice additions, but I wonder whether fans would expect less prominent characters, since Dooku and Grievous could surely appear elsewhere. There are alternatives, such as Lushros Dofine, but not many.
75376 Tantive IV may fare even worse. Other than the Rebel Friend, very few characters are really associated with the Tantive IV and those who are have already appeared in many other sets. We can observe this trend in the Ultimate Collector Series, as the minifigures available in some of those sets are underwhelming, only distinguished by arm printing or the like.
This issue could, in turn, restrict the vehicles chosen for the Starship Collection. If minifigures became an important consideration, maybe subjects with few associated characters would be overlooked. I think that would be a shame, arguably compromising one of the range's essential advantages, as this series can include more obscure vehicles, not depicted in LEGO before.
Would you like to see minifigures in the Starship Collection, or are you happy with the series without them? Let us know in the comments.
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128 comments on this article
Yes
Yes.
Yes, I feel they should. But I wouldn't expect new characters with them, many of these either have a current fig in production that would work or recently had one. Also, there's literally a spot on the display plaques to put a minifigure, where the grille piece is.
Executor - Darth Vader (lots of him in production)
Tantive IV - Princess Leia (From the just retired X-Wing)
Millennium Falcon - Han Solo (Yavin IV just no medal)
Invisible Hand - Count Dooku (New Fig)
No
I am happy that these sets don't contain minifigures. They are not minifigure-scaled so it doesn't make sence to include them.
Not needed, no.
I reckon the current set up works out best, the base has a space to add a figure to it for those who want to, while the price remains low for those who don't.
It isn't a terrible idea, but I also think it is unnecessary. You could end up with them just throwing in a figure from another set with no special details or unique elements, kind of like the Thor's Hammer and Cap's Shield. the whole point of Midi-scale is to provide a UCS-esque collectible with much more moderate prices, adding a figure would raise the price for not really that much value.
I don't see why a $100 R2-D2 can include Darth Malak, a non-canon character from a two-decade-old video game, but the Invisible Hand can't include Count Dooku (a character prominently featured in two movies, as well as several canon and non-canon works), which we haven't seen in a decade.
EDIT: This isn't to dismiss Darth Malak - I'm very excited to get the figure. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.
Yes
Damn right they should..
Honestly, I see both points of view. I feel that figures would be fine additions, but they do not fit inside the starship collection sets and the sets are meant for display and not playability. So I don't mind them without figures, and I want to buy all of them the way they are.
No. Every time Lego includes a minifigure with anything, the 8 year old YouTube community lights the world on fire with whining and complaining. And don’t get me wrong, their tantrums are entertaining as hell. But once in a while the adults just want to build a model without having to listen to all the whining.
No. They should include minidolls.
Yes. Gimme, gimme, gimme!!
Based on the title I expected a proper poll with votes...
[Edit: that seems to be fixed now]
Anyway: No. Exactly as mentioned there, adding minifigures makes a few collectors happy while driving up the price for the rest of us.
I also don't like the minifigs with the 25th anniversary sets for the same reason. Darth Obscure with R2-D2? Why? Adds nothing to the set for me.
No.
I'm not a fan of including figures in sets that are intended as display pieces unless the thing being displayed is minifigure scaled. It's already weird how they're essentially adding these chase figures to sets that don't even need them like Malak and Fives, and I'm not saying don't make those figures, but there's not one single Clone Wars related set that could have included Fives? There's not something related to even just the Sith in general to include a character like Malak that would have sold well? I'm not upset to get a minifigure either, I love the C-3PO that came with the UCS Landspeeder because they finally made him look not stupid with the dual molded leg, but he also wasn't crucial for that set to be a success either. I'm also not in the habit of buying sets purely for the figs and selling off the rest, or buying figs separate from the set, they should compliment one another, and usually that is the case, but I don't need them for display pieces. Adding extraneous minifigures says to me that there isn't enough faith in the set to sell itself on its own merits. A good building experience and beautiful model isn't enough, we have to get a character in there to shoot the price up another $10 and get collectors to buy another thing because of this one very exclusive item because we've made the thing it's paired with 3 times before.
I have 10221 and whilst it is nice that it has minifigures, I always kinda wondered why.
Even at full UCS scale it’s far too small for minifigure scale and there is barely enough room in the small internal space it does have for all the minifigures anyway. So I personally don’t see the real need to include them.
More polybag minifigures would be a better idea for me.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Nooooooooooooooo.
Serious answer: I'm already pissed at LEGO for putting Malak in buildable R2-D2, please don't push unique and desirable minifigs into sets that have nothing to do with minifig/playscale.
Fans of those midiscale ships shouldn't want it either, you're already getting massively ripped off on RRP because LEGO slapped 18+ on the box, do you honestly believe they wouldn't make them $10 more expensive because of a "bonus" fig?
I don't see any reason for them
@shedjed said:
"No. They should include minidolls. "
Not the dreaded Darth Paisley! :~O
Not all of them need it, but there are some that it would definitely be nice if they included a minifigure. I’ll not say no to good figs, but the sets are fine without them.
Not ?? every ?? single ?? set ?? need ?? a ?? minifigure ?? in ?? it
I'm very sick of afols complain about minifigs
If a set doesn't have (or doesn't use) minifig is bad or stupid
If a set doesn't have exclusive minifig it's not worth buy
If a set have exclusive minifig shouldn't have them because the set is bad/too expensive
(yes, these are all comments I read in the past, and it's becoming very annoying)
Agree with the nay-sayers. I'm choked that Malak is included with R2-D2 already (a set that I'm not interested in because I have the previous and far superior R2 set), I don't need more of these chase" figures included in completely unrelated non-minifig-scale sets.
They aren't minifigure scale, they really don't need minifigures, and using budget for a figure would either result in a lacklustre fig or a compromised/overpriced model. A CMF Series is a much better way to do great figs that are unlikely to appear in other sets, like Moon Knight
People who want a special and exciting figure included, without seriously affecting the price, are kidding themselves. They're basically asking for a free GWP
This type of set is better without a chase minifigure. I do think LEGO would do well by including a minifigure polybag as a pre-order gift with purchase.
If these sets included minifigures I definitely would be more interested and inclined to purchase them.
I voted no, because of cost and having kids. I love that these sets are reasonably affordable. Unless the sets had an explicit stand for displaying the minifigures, my kids would play with those expensive minifigs and they'd get lost or disfigured.
I'm perfectly fine with display sets not including minfigures, that way those who buy play scale models aren't forced to buy sets at another scale just for the exclusive figure/s it comes with (like the upcoming r2d2)
The inclusion of figs outside of play scale sets is only nice when you are willing to buy the set.
I say no, because the Starship Collection is not UCS.
Yes, many of these ships are related in some degree to a specific character and feels incomplete without them. Just because you have 10 Vaders and 5 Hans doesn't mean they shouldn't be included. Plus, theses models even have a 2x2 space on the base that perfectly fits a minifigure.
Minifigures for these sets are a 'nice-to-have', but definitely not a 'should-have'.
I want to change my vote to no. As I thought about it afterwards, minifigs belong best in their playable areas, not micro builds for display. Better to save those exclusive minifig for proper future sets and keep these affordable.
they shouldn't lock exclusive minifigures into non-minifigures sets, and if they weren't exclusive they have to choose ones from those currently in production which could vastly limit the ships they make.
A better solution would be to put some of these "exciting" minifigures not in the set, but rather as a GWP or (unrealistically) a polybag, where people could choose to display the GWP with the actual midiscale ship but also not lose much if they did not/could not get the GWP. Then again, I don't remember seeing a single-figure Star Wars GWP for a while now...
EDIT: A Minifigure series also works, I feel.
No.
I get these sets because they're neat builds of cool ships at a nice scale that don't break the bank. I really don't care about the exclusive Glup Shittos with new hip printing that they include in display focused sets.
Would prefer for Lego to keep these about the builds of the ships themselves, without shoehorning in a random dude to drive up the price.
The complaining coming from adult SW fans has been overshadowing the actual builds themselves, which seems so silly to me.
Nah, adding a minifigure to the set is like putting a hot girl on a nice car. We're here for the midi-scale models, not the minifigures
Absolutely. A big part of the draw for SW collectors is the unique minifig characters. This just makes obvious sense. Even if they're on the febce about the new scale, this will tip the scales in favor of taking the plunge.
Unique minifigures included as surplus in expensive sets are catnip for scalpers, not unlike most other efforts to ‘reward’ fans. But this particular south sea bubble shows no signs yet of bursting.
No. If you want you can put there one of your minifigures.
I’m in the No camp, largely for the reasons the article itself spells out; it would solely be for collectors (especially if they’re going to be as disconnected as Malak and Fives are) rather than the benefit of the set itself and would just drive up the price. There’s a reason I buy most of the sets I get second-hand these days, where the removal of rare minifigs brings the price down to something reasonable
No, but they should all include a lil vial of ink that bursts open if the set hasn't been opened after 8 years, thus destroying any sealed-in-box resale value and driving all scalpers into getting actual jobs.
If the sets included minifigs, you’ll be whining that LEGO just does it to artificially boost sales.
Absolutely! Exclusive minifigs make any set better
For that price, yes.
@Zander said:
" @shedjed said:
"No. They should include minidolls. "
Not the dreaded Darth Paisley! :~O
"
Better yet: Darth Snivel or Jedi Master Izzy with astromech R2-Zobo
Well it depends on price right?
If it’s the current prices WITH a minifig then ok.
But if they jack the prices to include a fig then no.
These kits though are meant to be desktop models so a fig is not required.
No. Exclusive minifigs, questions of appropriate/fitting minifigs, endless complaints about minifigs when they're a minor accoutrement to the set, and so on and so forth, are already bad enough with UCS sets. These sets don't need that.
(While we're here, no, UCS sets shouldn't include minifigs either unless the model is actually minifig scale.)
That said, it's very funny that these stands all have that grille tile covering two studs that look as if the designers had thought about putting a minifig there at one point, and then decided against it.
Would it increase prices? Yes. But these sets, like the helmets, are already overpriced as is. They could easily include figures without increasing the price, and perhaps they should have with the helmets.
I think they _could_ come with minifigs, but I don't think that they _should_ come with them. Minifig inclusion with UCS sets invariably results in exclusive variants of common characters, and that invariably results in non-UCS sets getting the subpar versions of the same minifig so as to not render the UCS minifig non-exclusive. Anyone who thinks adding minifigs to these sets means they'll start cranking out characters that have never been produced before is kidding themselves. You're not going to get Nien Nunb, or the silver protocol droid from the Tantive IV. You're going to get Yet-Another-Han, or Yet-Another-Leia because those are the characters most associated with these vessels. They may be exclusive variants, which just forces minifig collectors to buy these sets, without really giving anyone else something special. If you want to get the minifigs people would actually hope to see in these sets, they'd need to add two, so they have one for the regular customers, and one for the collectors.
@SinisterStairs:
If they included minifigs, there would be a place to attach them on the stand. This was true for the planet collection, and remains true for the current UCS line. If the minifig can't fit inside the model, they'll make sure there's a place to attach them outside the model.
@bealegopro:
I've seen a lot of back and forth on this over the past decade, but either in a comment section here, or on my club's Discord, someone posted a link to another site which includes an interview where it's stated quite clearly by a LEGO set designer that they are not allowed to do a SW CMF line because they don't hold the action figure license. Battle Packs or Constraction figures are as close as they can get and still claim "construction toy". Magnets didn't count because they weren't technically sold as toys. On a guess, the minifig polybags don't count because they've always been intended as GWPs, not retail products.
@CapnRex101:
I'm curious what the distinction is that has 75356 as the first set in this "Starship Collection", and not 77904. I can kind of see the logic of not including either 7778 or 8099, since those were specifically marketed as "midi-scale", and that branding has been abandoned. But I can't find any use of the term prior to the announcement of these three new sets, they don't include it as a searchable option on LEGO.com, and they haven't updated the midi-scale SSD's product page to include the term.
No, I don't see the point. The 2 recent minifig announcements, Darth Obscure & Eton Fives, are utterly pointless to me.
I like collecting iconic ships & significant characters from movies & series. But these minifigs are not that. They are there to appeal to a tiny minority of obsessive Star Wars nerds, which rather detracts from the main model, IMO.
@chuckschwa said:
"Nah, adding a minifigure to the set is like putting a hot girl on a nice car. We're here for the midi-scale models, not the minifigures"
Not sure about this analogy. Guys get nice cars to get hot girls, so you'd think you'd conclude the opposite.
I’m a minifig collector to be sure, more so than a set collector, but I appreciate the affordability of a set like 75377 Invisible Hand for only $50 and probably would not buy it for even $60 with a minifig. I can see the argument for a more expensive midi-scale model like 75375 Millenium Falcon, but removing a single minifig to get a significantly lower price sounds great to me. I’d rather get play sets with several great figs each than increasingly the price of all display models for a single fig each.
Yes, they should. And at no extra cost because they are already pretty expensive.
Invisible hand: Count Dooku.
Tantive IV: Leia.
Millennium falcon: Han solo.
Executor Star destroyer: Admiral Piett.
It would be nice if they did, but these aren't minifig scale sets so I don't think they're required.
Personally, no. There’s plenty of opportunity for minifigs elsewhere and I like that you can just get a ship for display. Plus they’d blot the price even more then they are already doing.
Completely unnecessary in display sets and add to the cost - a big "no" from me.
@PurpleDave said:
" @CapnRex101 :
I'm curious what the distinction is that has 75356 as the first set in this "Starship Collection", and not 77904 . I can kind of see the logic of not including either 7778 or 8099 , since those were specifically marketed as "midi-scale", and that branding has been abandoned. But I can't find any use of the term prior to the announcement of these three new sets, they don't include it as a searchable option on LEGO.com, and they haven't updated the midi-scale SSD's product page to include the term."
I have thought about this and could certainly be persuaded to alter the Starship Collection categorisation, but my logic for now is that 77904 Nebulon-B Frigate was an exploration of the idea, similar to 77901 Sith Trooper Bust as a precursor to the helmets. On that basis, I do not consider it part of the series, as there are a few differences between the Nebulon-B Frigate and later sets.
75356 Executor Super Star Destroyer, on the other hand, is exactly the same in style as the sets arriving this year. I would guess the LEGO Star Wars team was not absolutely certain it would be the first in a series though, hence they omitted any branding. Once you announce the Starship Collection branding, there will be an assumption of the range continuing for at least a couple of years.
Very surprised at the results. I was expecting something like 90% yes. Personally I think they should definitely be there - but have to be VERY closely related. Invisible hand: General Grievous, Millennium Falcon: Han Solo & Chewbacca (2 figs for this one). Tantive IV: captain Antilles (others would be suitable as well)
The cost issue with Lego Star Wars is a bit specific: Lego Star Wars are expensive because Lego releases a lot of sets every year. If you were to buy only one of each vehicle/scenery, you don't need to buy that much SW per year as most of it is a rehash (HP is quickly becoming like this). On the other hand if you want to be a completist, then that will cost you - dearly! That's why NEW sets are so highly desired.
New characters are always welcome but should come with related set. The Darth Malak figure should come with the Star Forge - not some R2 unit since these two characters have never seen each other - I believe they are from a different time period also.
I feel that presenting the ship with its captain/owner/main protagonist helps establish the set a little bit better by giving it more context. Could be just me...
I don't think they should. They're meant to be display models, not a place to get a minifigure. Save that stuff for the UCS sets.
What about including midi-figures?
Wow this is a really interesting debate and I’ve never seen such an even split on a binary poll.
I like the inclusion of minifigs with starship sets. I was kind of bummed that the recent Executor set didn’t come with a minifig of Admiral Ozzel or Admiral Piet or even that guy who is so engrossed in his iPad that he only briefly looks up when Vader walks by.
But I understand the other side. It’s not good when LEGO puts exclusive minifigs in pricey sets. I don’t like it when they kowtow to the scalpers and the uber-collectors. I’m not a voracious collector but there are some minifigs I’d like to get, but I don’t because they’re in sets that are more than I can spend. Or worse, they end up on the secondary market for exorbitant prices.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford these ships.
For those that can, great. You already have your super-sized starship model. That won’t become any less valuable if your minifigure becomes available in a cheaper set.
I feel like the obsession with the monetary value and speculation of lego has made big set reveals like this not very fun, personally. If you wanted to buy something in hopes the price will stay high, buy some freaking stocks.
I voted "Yes" but I'm really indifferent to it. Mainly because of the scale difference. But it IS nice to have characters rarely (if ever) produced make such appearances.
I can think of other examples in other series. The Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle is one. I had NO intention of getting it, but because of the four "founders" mini figures it became a must have. The Back to the Future DeLorean has Marty and Doc DEFINITELY out of scale, but I would've purchased it the set either way.
But why Lego would stop doing it is beyond me. They KNOW inis a way to get fans to buy a set they would not otherwise buy. I can give you a prime example in another NON-Licensed theme: The Ideas Mech set from a few years ago. I had NO intention of buying that set. But... Lego decided to include GREEN Spacemen. And OF COURSE *I* (and everyone else) NEEDED Green Spacemen! Lego KNEW that would spur purchases.
They KNOW what they're doing. For that reason alone I'm not sure why they've decided to not include MiniFigures anymore unless it is cost-prohibitive for them'
@monty_bricks said:
"They aren't minifigure scale, they really don't need minifigures, and using budget for a figure would either result in a lacklustre fig or a compromised/overpriced model. A CMF Series is a much better way to do great figs that are unlikely to appear in other sets, like Moon Knight"
Yeah I would definitely rather see CMF used for rare figs than attaching them to an unrelated expensive non-minifigure scale set.
Don't you starwars people already have enough minifigs of each character as it is?
@AverageChimaEnjoyer said:
"I don't think they should. They're meant to be display models, not a place to get a minifigure. Save that stuff for the UCS sets."
That makes no sense however if a UCS X-wing includes a minifigure that is scaled like an infant in a costume. It's not any different than packaging a minifigure with a capital ship, a planet and micro ship, an Advent Calendar, or a minifigure scale set.
Including Fives or Darth Metric in one of these sets makes WAY more sense than the sets they’re in.
@Tuzi said:
"Don't you starwars people already have enough minifigs of each character as it is?"
Believe it or not - a lot of characters have yet to be made, 25 years in.
Dryden Voss from Solo, Saw Gurerra from Rogue one / Rebels / Bad batch /Clone Wars, Darth Malak from KOTOR , Zam Wessel, Shimi Skywalker, that prototype George Lucas fig from 2009, etc. Some of these are coming in sets this summer, but some are still elusive.
Not at all a fan of how LEGO Star Wars over the years has often prioritized minifigs over actual build experiences or novel sets.
I’m very much in favor of ditching minifigs where minifigs are not needed and just focusing on a strong core build/display experience for the starships line.
I voted “no.” And I am broadly in favor of de-emphasizing minifigs as the primary appeal or reason for a set’s existence.
Of course not. Minifigs should be reserved for minifig-scaled sets that they can interact with. I’m honestly getting real tired of this branch of the hobby being overrun by collectors chasing after exclusive minifigs while ignoring the sets themselves—If you need a minifig to tempt you into buying a microscale set, you’ve missed the point entirely.
Minifigures seem unnecessary to the builds themselves. I'd rather the set have full-on printing like the Falcon than including extra Han & Chewie minifigures. I do like how the bases are made so you could easily add them though. Plus if there were minifigures, I'd we worried that the incentive would shift from cool ships rendered at a smaller scale to a *named character* vehicle series.
Star Wars fans are the worst thing to ever happen to Lego, and I say that as a Star Wars fan.
Give us a Star Wars collectible mini figure series then we’ll all be happy :-)
We’ve had HP and Marvel etc but never Star Wars and there is a whole universe of difference characters that Lego can choose.
@Tuzi said:
"Don't you starwars people already have enough minifigs of each character as it is?"
As a Ninjago fan I take what minifigs I can get.
I’m only interested in mini figure play sets so these space shape sets don’t interest me, so it’s not something I’m going to buy and therefore miss out on these exclusive mini figures. It’s annoying
I'm happy that these sets do not come with specialized figs, partially for the cost increase, but also so that the focus is on the SHIP and not the characters associated with it.
In the same vein, the helmet collection could very well come with a fig of the wearer represented (a good way to bring back Boushh; bringbackboushh) but the focus on the helmet made the fig unnecessary.
As we already know the prices you might as well hope for that price to include a minifigure, especially a desirable one. Otherwise you are hoping to receive less Lego for the same price.
I hope they do include a minifigure but personally I doubt they will.
I would say : No.
Create the rare or unusual characters in small sets, or as minifigures in a cmf series.
Create the ships as just ships.
This allows the best value for either collectors of just minifigures and collectors of just ships.
If you HAVE, to have both Characters and Ships, expect to pay a lot of money.... :)
I don’t think minifigs are necessary. These should be all about the ships, minifigs would overshadow
No, it's not minifig scale, and having "fomo bait" unique figures in sets is a questionable practice, especially when they are display models like this or that R2D2.
Harry Potter and Ninjago had their golden figures in 2020 and 2021 too, but at least those were not unique new characters as far as I see (still in big non-minifig sets like 76391 : Hogwarts Icons - Collectors' Edition) tho.
Ninjago had golden Wu in 71741 : NINJAGO City Gardens , which is a big set too but at least minifig set, and Ninjago fans would've probably been collecting those "City" series anyway, whereas mid-scale spaceships, or harry potter buildable books / glasses / big owl etc are very different category.
@PurpleDave said:
"I think they _could_ come with minifigs, but I don't think that they _should_ come with them. Minifig inclusion with UCS sets invariably results in exclusive variants of common characters, and that invariably results in non-UCS sets getting the subpar versions of the same minifig so as to not render the UCS minifig non-exclusive. Anyone who thinks adding minifigs to these sets means they'll start cranking out characters that have never been produced before is kidding themselves. You're not going to get Nien Nunb, or the silver protocol droid from the Tantive IV. You're going to get Yet-Another-Han, or Yet-Another-Leia because those are the characters most associated with these vessels. They may be exclusive variants, which just forces minifig collectors to buy these sets, without really giving anyone else something special. If you want to get the minifigs people would actually hope to see in these sets, they'd need to add two, so they have one for the regular customers, and one for the collectors.
@SinisterStairs:
If they included minifigs, there would be a place to attach them on the stand. This was true for the planet collection, and remains true for the current UCS line. If the minifig can't fit inside the model, they'll make sure there's a place to attach them outside the model.
@bealegopro:
I've seen a lot of back and forth on this over the past decade, but either in a comment section here, or on my club's Discord, someone posted a link to another site which includes an interview where it's stated quite clearly by a LEGO set designer that they are not allowed to do a SW CMF line because they don't hold the action figure license. Battle Packs or Constraction figures are as close as they can get and still claim "construction toy". Magnets didn't count because they weren't technically sold as toys. On a guess, the minifig polybags don't count because they've always been intended as GWPs, not retail products.
@CapnRex101:
I'm curious what the distinction is that has 75356 as the first set in this "Starship Collection", and not 77904. I can kind of see the logic of not including either 7778 or 8099, since those were specifically marketed as "midi-scale", and that branding has been abandoned. But I can't find any use of the term prior to the announcement of these three new sets, they don't include it as a searchable option on LEGO.com, and they haven't updated the midi-scale SSD's product page to include the term."
I guess that does make sense (as to why they can't do it). I do wonder why the Star Wars GWP polybags kind of faded away though...
@shedjed said:
"No. They should include minidolls. "
Hahaha so weird and cool if that was the case. I like it!
I voted 'yes', but don't really care either way. I'm getting the new R2-D2 and Darth Malak is pretty weird to be included, but I will probably still like getting it.
Thinking about it some more, it would be nice if Lego was bit more consistent with including minifigs.
What about:
If a minifig fits in it or is able to use it, the set has minifig(s). If not: "No minifig for you!"
So, all the playsets get minifigs, all the display (and 18+) sets don't get any. Nice and clear for everyone methinks.
No, not really. Even with the R2, which from the recent bunch is the set I'm most likely to get, I would be totally fine without the minifig. If anything I'd rather see them spend that bit of budget on prints instead of stickers.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Tuzi said:
"Don't you starwars people already have enough minifigs of each character as it is?"
Believe it or not - a lot of characters have yet to be made, 25 years in.
Dryden Voss from Solo, Saw Gurerra from Rogue one / Rebels / Bad batch /Clone Wars, Darth Malak from KOTOR , Zam Wessel, Shimi Skywalker, that prototype George Lucas fig from 2009, etc. Some of these are coming in sets this summer, but some are still elusive."
Zam Wessel exists. 7133 Bounty Hunter Pursuit.
@DoonsterBuildsLego said:
"I like collecting iconic ships & significant characters from movies & series. But these minifigs are not that"
On the contrary, Fives was a member of a Clone squad that featured quite heavily throughout the Clone Wars animated series. Maybe not as heavily as some of the Jedi, but he appeared in over 10% of the series.
@Murdoch17:
Zam Wessell did get produced in 7133, but that was 22 years ago, when the film came out.
@bealegopro:
On a guess, they were trying to cool down demand. I used to go for three of any polybag minifig I cared about, but mostly only try for one of any sets. Minifigs have a very strong market when they’re uncommon, and they used to release them for both May 4th and Star Wars Days, and you usually needed to stay up for the midnight launch if you didn’t want to miss out.
Star Wars CMF series - done!!
Keep the sets as is so people like me that don't give a poop about minifigs and don't want to spend an extra $20 for a prequel trilogy character I've blocked from my memory along with the movies (OG all the way!) can still afford the sets.
Give those that do want exclusive obscure minifigs a CMF series to add all of them in. If they can make a Loney Tunes CMF series where each has a special molded head, I'm sure they can make a Star Wars one much easier. I think there are 2 Marvel series now?? Zombie Captain America but none of the people CapRex mentioned?? Seems rigged :p
@560heliport
@Purpledave
I am aware she exists in yellow. That was my point - she needs to be brought up to modern standards.
i don't see why it couldn't be determined on a case-by-case basis whether one of these sets includes any minifigures, relative to whether there are any characters closely associated with them. it is not as though them starting to include minifigs would magically make them stop wanting to build less-iconic ships. i also don't think including minifigures would HAVE to raise the price as all prices are determined by LEGO and different sets have different PPPs. like it's all just choices they could choose to make
@Squidy74H:
As I've already mentioned in a previous post, I've recently seen a link posted to another site where an interview with an actual set designer confirmed that they _CAN'T_ produce a CMF line under the terms of their license. Hasbro has the action figure license, and The LEGO Group does not. A minifig isn't enough to count as a construction toy. They were apparently able to get that sort of thing worked into other IP-based licensing contracts, but not Star Wars. It's worth noting that there are several companies producing Marvel and DC action figures, so those licenses aren't exclusive the way the Hasbro Star Wars license is.
@Murdoch17:
But she _does_ exist, unlike Shmi. I've recently listed her as a minifig I'd like to see produced again, just because I liked the character. Dooku is another one who gets criminally underused, considering how significant a role he played.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @560heliport
@Purpledave
I am aware she exists in yellow. That was my point - she needs to be brought up to modern standards."
But that's not what you said.
@Squidy74H said:
"Star Wars CMF series - done!!
Keep the sets as is so people like me that don't give a poop about minifigs and don't want to spend an extra $20 for a prequel trilogy character I've blocked from my memory along with the movies (OG all the way!) can still afford the sets.
Give those that do want exclusive obscure minifigs a CMF series to add all of them in. If they can make a Loney Tunes CMF series where each has a special molded head, I'm sure they can make a Star Wars one much easier. I think there are 2 Marvel series now?? Zombie Captain America but none of the people CapRex mentioned?? Seems rigged :p"
They actually can't do a Star Wars CMF series due to licensing restrictions. It was deemed competitive with the action figure licensing granted to Hasbro.
Yes, and all three should be Jedi Bob.
There is for Lego, because they would undoubtedly sell more of each, and at a higher price.
But as consumers, no. There's already a question of why anyone would choose to spend money on a set they don't want just because of an exclusive minifigure... but actively requesting to be able to do that is a whole new level of insanity that I previously thought people incapable of reaching.
@ALEXDTI said:
"Not ?? every ?? single ?? set ?? need ?? a ?? minifigure ?? in ?? it
I'm very sick of afols complain about minifigs
If a set doesn't have (or doesn't use) minifig is bad or stupid
If a set doesn't have exclusive minifig it's not worth buy
If a set have exclusive minifig shouldn't have them because the set is bad/too expensive
(yes, these are all comments I read in the past, and it's becoming very annoying)"
Then you should just probably stick to blogs about politics or Tay Tay Swift.
@Rimefang said:
" @Squidy74H said:
"Star Wars CMF series - done!!
Keep the sets as is so people like me that don't give a poop about minifigs and don't want to spend an extra $20 for a prequel trilogy character I've blocked from my memory along with the movies (OG all the way!) can still afford the sets.
Give those that do want exclusive obscure minifigs a CMF series to add all of them in. If they can make a Loney Tunes CMF series where each has a special molded head, I'm sure they can make a Star Wars one much easier. I think there are 2 Marvel series now?? Zombie Captain America but none of the people CapRex mentioned?? Seems rigged :p"
They actually can't do a Star Wars CMF series due to licensing restrictions. It was deemed competitive with the action figure licensing granted to Hasbro. "
Has this ever been confirmed? It's been speculated for years, but is it true?
No. I don't find it necessary, especially at this scale (they look huge next to a ship, as opposed to the UCS series which is minifigure scale or at least something much closer than midi is). I also wouldn't want the price driven up because of it.
@560heliport:
I can't find the link that I followed, but I was able to locate the page that it pointed to. It was the result of a question asked during the LEGO Fan Media event in 2021. I know that sometimes Brickset will remove posts if you post links to certain other sites, but this doesn't seem to be one of them. So:
https://www.brickfanatics.com/lego-responds-to-rumours-over-star-wars-minifigure-licensing-rights
I voted no since I'm not all that interested in minifigs per se, but I don't see why the price should go up at all if a fig was included - especially since the prices of these sets are quite inflated already.
LEGO only charges a fortune for figs because they know they can, not because it's justified.
You can get perfect knockoff figs on Aliexpress for almost every franchise (I recently bought awesome Mario and Luigi minifigs that LEGO doesn't even offer), with better print quality than LEGO ever managed. Often those figs even have back printing on the legs, as well as a stand, and accessories, for between 1 and 1.5 Euros each - including shipping!
So no one can tell me that minifigs add a substantial cost to any set. That's just baloney.
Speaking of which, @PurpleDave, thanks for the linked article, but the argument by TLG is total BS too. After all, if they are not allowed to produce action figures for Star Wars, then what about the (unpopular) line of Star Wars constraction figures they made a couple of years ago? And what about all those single special edition figures with mini-stand they released as GWPs? This clearly proves that they can release standalone Star Wars minifigs if they want to.
@560heliport said:
" @Rimefang said:
" @Squidy74H said:
"Star Wars CMF series - done!!
Keep the sets as is so people like me that don't give a poop about minifigs and don't want to spend an extra $20 for a prequel trilogy character I've blocked from my memory along with the movies (OG all the way!) can still afford the sets.
Give those that do want exclusive obscure minifigs a CMF series to add all of them in. If they can make a Loney Tunes CMF series where each has a special molded head, I'm sure they can make a Star Wars one much easier. I think there are 2 Marvel series now?? Zombie Captain America but none of the people CapRex mentioned?? Seems rigged :p"
They actually can't do a Star Wars CMF series due to licensing restrictions. It was deemed competitive with the action figure licensing granted to Hasbro. "
Has this ever been confirmed? It's been speculated for years, but is it true?"
Yes, there's a ton of legal documentation on the 1997 deal on Findlaw.com and the renewal was just in 2022. It's all lawyer reading.
@CapnRex101:
Seems as messy as determining what constitutes a UCS set, but (appropriately) in miniature. If you put the Midi-Scale ships next to these, but with all the stands removed, nobody could tell they weren’t part of the same series. And until I can actually see a box in person, I can’t tell if there’s any actual “Starship Collection” branding on the three announced sets, where the two Midi-Scale sets had it boldly stated on the front of the box (which does not mean it was treated as a distinct subtheme).
As far as I’m concerned, they’re all effectively the same thing, but I’m fortunate to have the three that are out of production. For someone looking to get started new, it may feel helpful to strictly limit this to the SSD or later, and then eventually to even exclude the SSD, depending on how expensive that gets after it retires. You see the same with Modulars, regarding whether or not 10190 should count, and an answer that’s probably influenced to some degree by whether or not the person answering has managed to acquire a copy.
why wouldn’t I want more minifigs lol
I don't want minifigures in sets where they don't have anywhere to go. The collectors' fanatical obsession with minifigs have made buying lego sets for the actual models themselves significantly harder, as they're constantly getting bought out in droves just to flip the minifigs and hoard the sets themselves, or sell on the secondary market, which makes it tough when you live in a place where receiving shipping for things the size of a large lego set can be challenging.
These are lego SETS, not $50 USD minifigs that just happen to come with several hundred bricks on the side as a treat. I come to lego for buildable display pieces, not for lego-compatible funko pops, which is how sets with desirable minifigs seem to be treated as of late.
@AustinPowers:
Constraction figures require a lot of assembly, so count as construction toys. Battle packs have a model that needs to be built, so count as construction toys. There was a rumor long ago that the reason magnet minifigs got glued to the magnet bases is because of the Hasbro thing. Their official public statement said otherwise, but this throws that answer back into question. And as I said up-thread, polybag minifigs intended as GWPs are not retail sets. They had a thing with NASA, where they sent a bunch of Biff and Sandy astronaut minifigs to space. NASA has a non-commercial mandate, so the rule was that TLG couldn’t _sell_ them afterwards. They could, however, give them away for free, which is what they did. There was a similar arrangement for LoM Martians.
Do I want unique, desirable minifigs? Yes
Do I want non-minifig scale display sets to contain these unique minifigs? No
Would I rather have the unique minifigs in such a set rather than not have them produced at all? Yes
Overall: "I don't like it. I don't agree with it. But I accept it."
I vote No for these particular sets. I like them for the midi scale size representation of the various ships and this line should only focus on that. A minifigure would seem out of place for these.
@ToxicAtom said:
"I don't want minifigures in sets where they don't have anywhere to go. The collectors' fanatical obsession with minifigs have made buying lego sets for the actual models themselves significantly harder, as they're constantly getting bought out in droves just to flip the minifigs and hoard the sets themselves, or sell on the secondary market, which makes it tough when you live in a place where receiving shipping for things the size of a large lego set can be challenging.
These are lego SETS, not $50 USD minifigs that just happen to come with several hundred bricks on the side as a treat. I come to lego for buildable display pieces, not for lego-compatible funko pops, which is how sets with desirable minifigs seem to be treated as of late."
That's a completely specious argument. The opposite is the truth.
The foucs on minifigs makes it incredibly cheap and easy to buy SW sets. This started almost a decade ago, and continues today.
Just go to ebay, Bricklink, or any other resale site. You can get almost any of the new sets (aside from UCS or the like) brand new for almost half price or less without the minifigs.
I used to do it all the time- especially in the middle of the last decade when Lego was very redundant with figs in newly remodeled versions of sets.
As my collection ballooned, I have followed the trend of focusing much more on minifigs. They are fun, can have so much character, and- most importantly- take up minimal space.
No.
otherwise why not having minifig in the Architecture sets too..
even Lego need boundaries :)
@Rimefang said:
" @560heliport said:
" @Rimefang said:
" @Squidy74H said:
"Star Wars CMF series - done!!
Keep the sets as is so people like me that don't give a poop about minifigs and don't want to spend an extra $20 for a prequel trilogy character I've blocked from my memory along with the movies (OG all the way!) can still afford the sets.
Give those that do want exclusive obscure minifigs a CMF series to add all of them in. If they can make a Loney Tunes CMF series where each has a special molded head, I'm sure they can make a Star Wars one much easier. I think there are 2 Marvel series now?? Zombie Captain America but none of the people CapRex mentioned?? Seems rigged :p"
They actually can't do a Star Wars CMF series due to licensing restrictions. It was deemed competitive with the action figure licensing granted to Hasbro. "
Has this ever been confirmed? It's been speculated for years, but is it true?"
Yes, there's a ton of legal documentation on the 1997 deal on Findlaw.com and the renewal was just in 2022. It's all lawyer reading."
If Hasbro can work with Lego to produce Duplo Peppa Pig sets, you never know - there may be a chance!!
Equally from a minifigure/ character collector’s perspective they don’t all want to have to buy an unrelated set to get the characters they’re after.
From a child’s perspective if that character happens to be a favourite they were after, they and their parents won’t love spending money on an out scaled R2 they don’t want.
@560heliport said:
" @Rimefang said:
" @Squidy74H said:
"Star Wars CMF series - done!!
Keep the sets as is so people like me that don't give a poop about minifigs and don't want to spend an extra $20 for a prequel trilogy character I've blocked from my memory along with the movies (OG all the way!) can still afford the sets.
Give those that do want exclusive obscure minifigs a CMF series to add all of them in. If they can make a Loney Tunes CMF series where each has a special molded head, I'm sure they can make a Star Wars one much easier. I think there are 2 Marvel series now?? Zombie Captain America but none of the people CapRex mentioned?? Seems rigged :p"
They actually can't do a Star Wars CMF series due to licensing restrictions. It was deemed competitive with the action figure licensing granted to Hasbro. "
Has this ever been confirmed? It's been speculated for years, but is it true?"
Not really, but it is convenient for LEGO to let fans think so. They have produced single polybagged SW figures that were sold in the past. Personally, I don't think a minifigure is an action figure but if LEGO really wanted to challenge this, they could produce small sets with some building aspect (like 1/4 of a battle pack), such as a bagged set with a figure and a ship or location similar to those in the advent calendars. Although (at least in Europe) they do quite a few CMF style packs as "free" poly/paperbags with comics, and CMFs would be in competition with those.
It’s not needed, but it would be nice.
Hard no from me. The builds are high quality, let them speak for themselves. Adding minifigures would only fuel to the scalping/reselling fire.
I don't think they absolutely needed to, but I'm surprised they didn't do something like they did for the last anniversary that had the minifigures with anniversary logo on the backs. A Tantive IV set with a standard Princess Leia in a white dress and the 25th anniversary logo on her back certainly wouldn't have hurt (assuming it would've been priced the same). Hell, the stands even look like they were originally intended to have a minifigure on the right side of the base, where there's a grille piece now instead.
No they don’t need minifgures. They are simply intended as display models - you don’t need a minifgure with a display model. Sure, you could get some cool exclusive figures but as mentioned in the article making new figures would drive the price up. There are more opportunities for minfigures, such as MBS or UCS sets (which in the case of UCS, they need to work on their minifgure selection and presentations).
@Glacier_Phoenix said:
"Yes, I feel they should. But I wouldn't expect new characters with them, many of these either have a current fig in production that would work or recently had one. Also, there's literally a spot on the display plaques to put a minifigure, where the grille piece is.
Executor - Darth Vader (lots of him in production)
Tantive IV - Princess Leia (From the just retired X-Wing)
Millennium Falcon - Han Solo (Yavin IV just no medal)
Invisible Hand - Count Dooku (New Fig)"
Totally agree. As these are only display pieces and targeted towards AFOLs, putting a UCS-level figure with them makes perfect sense to me. I don't think it would dilute sales at all to spread those across the range. (Is anyone going to be swayed against buying UCS Luke's Landspeeder if a 3PO with a dual-molded leg ends up in a cheaper set?)
No.
And what about this minifigs as a GWP?
@Jc_Cavanna_Lego said:
"No.
otherwise why not having minifig in the Architecture sets too..
even Lego need boundaries :)"
Ooh, Frank Lloyd Wright and Albert Kahn minifigs (exhausting my knowledge of famous architects’ names)!
@CCC:
SW polybag minifigs were always GWPs, which skirts the issue of whether or not they count as action figures, because they’re not actually selling them.
minifig collecting frenzy already dominates licensed LEGO themes as it is, particularly Star Wars.
It's refreshing to have a series that is focused on the build and not just on another expensive minifig cash grab. There are plenty of those already, its not to have a build-focused series for a change
Lego Star wars fans wil never be satisfied.
@legoverslinder said:
"Lego Star wars fans wil never be satisfied."
Is that bad thing? I can’t think of anything better n my life for which I am satisfied. I strive for more and better in every passion.
While I voted "Yes," and would enjoy displaying an appropriate minifigure with the ship, I wouldn't be upset if minifigures were never included. Not many ships naturally pair with a character who's never been a minifigure, or a minifigure in an unusual costume. And why pay more for a minifigure that can easily be acquired from Bricklink?
@sklamb said:
"While I voted "Yes," and would enjoy displaying an appropriate minifigure with the ship, I wouldn't be upset if minifigures were never included. Not many ships naturally pair with a character who's never been a minifigure, or a minifigure in an unusual costume. And why pay more for a minifigure that can easily be acquired from Bricklink?"
Exactly the problem. They're not going to make Rebel Friend an exclusive minifig with the Tantive IV, so any minifig they do make for that will just end up being an exclusive variant of a character they've already produced (Rebel Trooper w/ Bushy Sideburns). At best, it'd just be a way to keep semi-rare characters (like Captain Antilles) more affordable, since he's only been produced twice (2009, 2019). But they could just as easily wait until 2029 and make another minifig version of the ship, which is what they did the last two times he got a minifig.
@Vi_Cima said:
"No.
And what about this minifigs as a GWP?
"
that doesnt make money
Keep minifigures in minifigure compatible sets. Extending this anti-consumer practice of exclusive minifigures would be doing this midi-scale line a disservice. These builds should sell themselves.
If it's not to minifig scale then it doesn't need a minifig.