A Better Troop Carrier?

Here just a little idea how to get Battle Droid Troop Carrier (#75086) look more impressing. There is enough space for double the amount of droids the set gives you. After the MTT disappointment (the number of droids was a joke, wasn't it?), this looks pretty okay.

The original set

Building Droid Gunship (#75042), part 2

In this photograph I've assembled bag 2. The gunship looks quite recognizable already, even it's missing things like the cockpit and weaponry. I've had no problems with it.

When I build something, I'll post either one longer post with more than one photo and more analysis or many shorter posts which makes it kinda more exiting, atleast if you don't have the set. I'll focus on those longer posts, but there are many ways you can do this, and I want to test them.

Overview #2

Droid Gunship is a fast but interesting build.

Today we'll talk a little bit about what's going on with the blog. Army Builder's Guide has been finished for now (maybe we'll get parts 3 and 4 later on). On the other hand, Where To Keep Your Lego Star Wars will soon get it's part 2. As it has been one of the most read posts, I want to be sure to give you a good part two. And good things are worth waiting. I'm pretty sure I have all the photos etc. in the end of this week and I'll soon share
you the post.

What else is coming up?

Tomorrow I'll share you more pictures of Droid Gunship. It really is a fun and interesting build.

Shopping Lego in Sweden is coming up as well.

I'm planning a little ep.1 MOC and I'll post some pictures when it's ready.

Death Star - Sold Out / Europe

Just a quick update: Now S@H Europe tells us Death Star (#10188) is sold out. Prices on Ebay and Briclink will get out of hands soon. Now I'm just thinking... what will TLG make to replace DS? A remake would come too soon... maybe UCS Millennium Falcon remake, haha, you never know (kidding)

At least I'm exited... Could it be the UCS Hoth Echo Base set coming up? I don't think so. Something EP VII stuff? Possibly.

Army Builder's Guide, part 2: How To Build A Clone Army

Too many different looking troops? That's some times a set
 collector's problem. So if you want to build a clone army,
buy loads of same looking troops like 501st Legion clone
troopers or basic phase 1 or 2 clone troopers.

It's time for Army Builder's Guide part 2. Today we'll talk about how to build a clone army. As I told some basics about army building in part 1, we'll just focus on how a clone army differs from a droid army and how you should take that in consideration.

The most important thing is not how many troops you have (or yes it is, haha) but how cool they look.

How to make your clone army look cool? Do not use both, phase 1 and phase 2 clone troopers, as you see in the photograph, it doesn't look good. And do not use multiple different looking troopers like Kashyyyk Troopers, Geonosis Troopers and Utapau Troopers. Or if you have a lot of different looking troops, don't set them next to each other and then you should have quite a lot of clone troopers too. These have been my main problems as most of my clone troopers are from sets and I have only about 70 troopers. Now I just have to deside the best looking troopers and start to collect them.

How about the vehicles? In clone army, I don't feel them as necessary as with the droids. But you can you use walkers and tanks, maybe even gunships or starfighters. Personally I'd focus on walkers, like #75019.

What weapons to use in your army?
That's a good question.

Building Droid Gunship (#75042), part 1

I'm building Droid Gunship (#75042) and this is where I am at the moment. Bag 1 has been assembled and there are four sealed numbered bags left. The set looks quite promising 'till now as I've had no problems and it looks cool as well. Bag 1 was a very fast build, though.

A Closer Look At MTT (#75058)

Here we go! A few pictures from my MTT which I just got assembled.

MTT (Multi Troop-Transport)
 

The droid rack

Qui-gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi

Naboo security guard

PK-4 Droid

Battle droid pilot

Battle droid on STAP (single trooper aerial platform)

weapon rack

Built Jedi Scout Fighter (#75051)

Jedi Scout Fighter in it's box

Today I finished my Jedi Scout Fighter (#75051) which I had ordered from Prisma for 55€. It is a set based on The Yoda Chronicles, so I'm not sure it'll have big value for money for reselling. But I want to complete my collection as well as possible and it wasn't that expensive, so I decided to pick it up before it retires. I'm quite sure it's gonna retire in the end of this year as I find hard to think of any reason why it should get one more year. OT or even PT fans might find it a disappointment and most of the fans of The Yoda Chronicles are kids. And they find it cool as "That's the fighter I saw on the TV!". And it's getting an old thing now.

Look at the cockpit, an Ithorian, yeah!

Whatever... it was a nice build, anyway. I had great time building it but I must say it was such a fast build. No problems, so good set to small kids who find battle packs too easy and want to build something bigger. For a long-time collector it's maybe even too easy.

How about the minifigs? Eh, they are interesting looking but not must-haves for a collector as they are not either iconic or army building minifigs. But on the other hand we get an Ithorian for the very first time and the head piece is cool and very unique. What comes to the three others, I'm not that exited.

Overall it's a nice set to have but not a must-have. If you find it for a price under RRP, that's a deal you have to consider. If not, don't buy it unless you are a 100% completionist or a fan of The Yoda Chronicles.

Death Star Is Retiring!

If you were planning on ordering Death Star (#10188) in the US, you just run out of time. It has been sold out! S@H has sold it out. Target and Walmart say "out of stock" which seems to mean sold out in this case. TRU hasn't it available either.

In Europe, it's still available, so hurry up if you want one.

On eBay, you can get it with about 400 euros.

Share Your Opinions!

I'd like to know your opinions about what whould you like to see in my blog. This is important information for me when I deside what kind of things I post. So let me know your opinion, it won't take more than a few seconds to answer the question. So click the small box on the right where is a picture of a bar chart.

BTW post in the comments if you can't see the question (my computer doesn't show it properly every time for some reason) or if you have some interesting suggestions. Feedback is welcome :)

Lego Video Gaming: Finally Got LSW TCS

Instructions booklet for intalling and playing

Finally I decided to get Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga for PC. I have all the other LSW video games (The Video Game, The Original Trilogy and The Clone Wars). TCS contains The Video Game and The Original Trilogy. Some levels have been a bit modified and updated and there are some bonus levels but basicly it just connects these two games into one game.

PROS:
- bonus levels (stud collecting, Anakin's Flight etc.) and Bounty Hunter Pursuit level for ep.2
- more characters like Boss Nass and Kaminoans
- a lot to do: red bricks and challenges

CONS:
- not anything breat-taking new stuff
- too similar with the old games
- loads a long time with my not-so-old computer

I'll update more when I've played more.

Planets Got Series 4 - How About Microfighters?

Planets made it all the way to series 4. Anyway, they divided the opinions of LSW collectors. Some found them interesting, some didn't get it. Personally I kind of liked them but series 5 would have been maybe a bit too much anyway. Even there were planets left... Mustafar, Geonosis, Dagobah, just to mention some.

B-wing pilot was one of the most
interesting minifigs in the planet series.

During the planet series we got 12 planets (or other space objects), mini-vehicles and minifigs. Some of the minifigs were quite interesting like Lobot, but there were disappointments as well. I wasn't too exited about another standard Clone Trooper we got with Coruscant.

Then TLG annouced they'll start a similar theme, Microfighters. Microfighters are a bit bigger than the vehicles in the planet series and they have more play features. We didn't get planets anymore, but we still got minifigs. But the minifigs have been too usual for me.

We have 2 series of Microfighters so far so as many Microfighters as we got the planet sets. How many Microfighters will we get? Time will show it. The other question is, do we want it or do we hope TLG will come up with something totally new?

B-wing pilot was one of the most
interesting minifigs in the planet series.

Baseplates 2015

I've picked up quite a few new baseplates already for my MOC project. Sand baseplate (32x32 studs) was a really welcome add. Blue baseplates retired but I still have a few, waiting for use.

There are also available grey baseplates (48x48 studs) and green baseplates (32x32 studs), as well as CITY-themed road baseplates and DUPLO baseplates.

Baseplates are almost necessary when building large MOCs. What else can a SW MOCer ask for? A white baseplate for Hoth or a dark green for Dagobah? Maybe a red one for Mustafar and so on?

You can get retired baseplates quite cheaply from eBay. But I recommend to pick up a few sand baseplates as long as they're available in stores if you find them atleast a little bit interesting and useful.



There are multiple ways to use baseplates.

It's Watto Time

Watto from Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba's Podracers

TLG will release new Sith Infiltrator (#75096) this year and we'll get our third version of Watto. Personally I found Watto as one of the those more interesting characters in the prequels. When I had started collecting LSW, Watto was one of my first must-haves. But when I found out that the only set where Watto was included was Watto's Junkyard (#7186) from 2001 and that it cost about 200£ on amazon.co.uk, I was only toying with the idea of having Watto someday as I rarely bought single minifigs. I wasn't so up to date about Briclink and eBay and Amazon was just kidding with the minifig prices.

Then, in 2011, TLG released Anakin Skywalker and Sebulba's Podracers (#7962) and a remake of Watto. I was exited and bought the set. The new version of Watto was a lot more accurate which I found as a great thing.

The third version of Watto is quite similar with the one back in 2011. So, I won't buy Sith Infiltrator for Watto, atleast. But I don't have a Sith Infiltrator so maybe I'll pick it up anyway.

Remakes, remakes

battle droids (Geonosian version) with plates

Two years ago TLG released new battle droid Geonosians. Or not, because they call them just battle droids. Whatever, they are the Geonosian versions. They released three versions: standard, commander and standard with plate.

And now when we have these remakes what do we do with the old ones as they look totally different? Sometimes these remakes annoy an army builder but sometimes they bring us something fresh and cool.

Minifig remakes might be cool with new arm and leg prints but how about remaking the vehicles? I could think that I have no need for multiple Millennium Falcons as there was only one in the movies. And I don't need multiple versions of AT-AT because they all look the same in the movie. But as I'm a true fan LSW, I don't think like that. I found those new looks and features exiting. But they still shouldn't remake them every fourth or fifth year.

Death Star - Retiring Soon?

Death Star (#10188) has been available since 2008 and FOLs all around the world have been guessing whether it'll retire soon or not.

As we are still lacking any reliable information, I'll focus on facts rather than guesses, even we FOLs like to speculate sometimes and guessing right feels always rewarding.

So most of the LSW sets are in production for 1,5-2 years, sometimes only one year. UCS sets get usually a bit longer life, sometimes they might be produced for even three years. So someone would say that there is no way DS could get any more years. On the other hand as the set has been available for so long, will it retire before a remake? And there's yet no clue that there would be a remake in the future.

Laser turret defending the DS

Things change in the world of Lego and DS (Death Star) might get old fashioned, atleast what comes to the minifigs. But at the same time it stands for the stability as it's been available for so long time. And some long-time collectors might find it as a "oh those were the days" set.

As it's been available for so long, doesn't everybody who wants one already have it? A good point, but guess how many new fans Lego gets every day.

So all we can is wait and guess and speculate at the moment.

Pick A Brick, Lego Store Berlin

I picked up tan plates and some smaller bricks.
Some bricks have been removed for a MOC.

Two months ago I visited Lego Store in Berlin and picked up a lot of sets and baseplates but also a PaB (Pick A Brick) basket which I filled with brick in the store. The smaller one (in the photograph)cost 10€ and the bigger 20€.

The PaB wall was not breathtaking but it had some plates I was looking for. The PaB wall in the Copenhagen store had more different bricks. There were not many basic bricks and some bricks looked like totally randomized for me but maybe they wanted to offer something you cannot find everywhere.

But if you find what you are looking for, you most likely make a better deal than by buying online
where you pay for single bricks.

If you use the same basket next time, you'll get a 0,50€ discount. Not sure what the discount is with the bigger basket as I didn't buy it.

Whatever you think about the PaB wall and system, Lego Store Berlin was worth to visit for the sets they had.

Battle Droid Bricks Overview

Flah Speeder has been review already and
there are more reviews coming up!

Now it's a good moment to take a look at what's going on with Battle Droid Bricks blog.

Now the blog has existed for about a week and I'm happy for all your visits here. Hope you've had good time around here and if you have any suggestions for reviews or other articles, let me know them.

Where To Keep Your Lego Star Wars seems to be the most read article at the moment and part 2 is coming soon.

The Army Builders Guide part 2 is coming up as well. We'll focus on the Grand Army of the Republic, the impressing Clone Army.

And much, much more!

Where To Keep Your Lego Star Wars, part 1

Where to keep all my Lego?
That's a Lego collector's
vexed question.

Lego Star Wars sets look awesome as displayed, don't they? Super Star Destroyer (#10221) is maybe one of the most impressing sets. But when you don't have any display space left (a nightmare of a fan of Lego), what do you do? Buy a new house?

Minifigs look cool when displayed on a baseplate. They stand nicely and are easy to remove. And you find them easily when needed. But you can as well keep them with the sets they came from. In the end, the are almost as many different solutions as there are colletors. Personally I prefer baseplates.


Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian Fighter (#9525)
and Gungan Sub (#9499) fit quite well in
their boxes even when assembled.

But how about the vehicles? You can store them in some big (Lego) boxes. The boxes you get when buying big Lego sets online are an okay temporary solution.

But keeping sets in boxes is quite boring for a long time. Lego sets (or at least most of them) deserve to be displayed. And that's what we'll talk about in part 2.


What's Going On With Lego Star Wars at The Moment?

Is The Clone Wars done?

The Force Awakens sets
I'm really looking forward the upcoming The Force Awekens sets. It's some fresh air to the galaxy far, far away. After all the remakes and sets based on TV-series, this is something new and very interesting. Will it be a flop? There's always the risk. At the moment we just gotta wait and see.

Personally I have high expectations and hope they're not gonna do something exaggerated like minifigs designed in a totally new way. Luckily Disney didn't ruin the sets yet but you never know.

The end of the Clone Wars
As The Clone Wars TV-serie has ended and we have Rebels now, I don't expect we're getting many if any Clone Wars sets more. The Clone Wars divided the opinions of the collectors and personally I liked it. Enough is always enough, though, and I feel we've got enough of that for a while atleast.

Summer sets are here
As the summer sets have been available for a while here in Finland now and hopefully in the rest of the world as well, we just have to pick up the interesting ones or possibly wait for sales and then when we've gotten enough of them we have to start the countdown 'till the next wave, The Force Awakens wave.

The Collector's Pick in Review: Flash Speeder #75091



I will review some sets from every LSW wave and they're called as The Collector's Pick. I'll review here sets I find the most interesting for some reason that can be anything from building techniques to avaibility and minifigs.

This time I picked up the Flash Speeder set (#75091) from BR. I found it especially interesting as it comes with two new minifigs and overall the last Flash Speeder was from the early years of LSW, from 2000 (#7124). I don't have it so this remake was really welcome.


The box art gives some idea of the features of the speeder.



The set contains 3 numbered bags, a tiny sticker
sheet and instructions booklet (about 75 pages).

Flash speeder is not maybe the most epic vehicle from the SW movies. But for a minifig collector, "let the party begin" as you'll get two new minifigs, one that has only appeared in MTT (#75058) and two standard battle droids for army building. Or if army building is not you're thing, you can sell them eventhough you won't get much money.



Bag 1

Bags 1+2



The complete Flash Speeder
 

Naboo Security Officer, Naboo Security Guard and Captain Tarpals

Naboo Security Officer has two different impressions.

Design: 9/10
It looks like what it is supposed to be, that's so simple but still we sometimes face these sets that make you thinking "What is that supposed to be? A speeder? Are you kidding me?" Hiding most of the studs was a good decision as well.

Play features: 8/10
The speeder itself is quite simple and doesn't have awesome play features if you're not a big fan of the spring-loaded shooters. Anyway, five minifigs in such a small set is a welcome thing. Usually kids are more interested about the minifigs when collectors might find cool the features the vehicle itself has.

Value for money: 8/10
In Finland this costs about 45 euros. First it sounds expensive, but you get five minifigs and 312 parts overall so around here you better be happy with that. The RRP in the US ($29.99) is not a bad price.

Build: 8/10
Some SNOT techniques add some interest in the fast build. It really took me hardly 30 minutes to build this, including photographing. I made no mistakes during the build and the instructions were overall easy to follow.

Parts: 9/10
You can't call it a MOCers dream but it comes with a few interesting green parts. The most interesting is the part number 6110025, a green brick with bow (1X10). You get four of them and it has never appeared in any other set.

Minifigs: 10/10
You get five minifigs, three rare and two army builders. They are well-detailed and come with weapons.

Need: 8/10
The last Flash Speeder was released in 2000 so quite a while ago. But it is not an epic vehicle that every collection needs, so I won't give more points.

Overall: 8/10
Good, not great!

The Old Minifigures: Anakin Skywalker from 2005

I picked up this used minifig from a Lego event. It's Anakin Skywalker from Jedi Starfighter and Vulture Droid (#7256) or Ultimate Space Battle (#7283). It looks like what you expect when you here the words "used but in good condition", not a factory sealed shiny new but not broken hopeless trash either. Nice add to my collection and we'll see if i'll buy a new one someday and sell this one or not. I've been looking for the Ultimate Space Battle but it's pretty pricey nowadays as I rarely buy used sets.

When you buy a used minifig, even online, you usually get what you were looking for. That's the case with sets as well... at least usually. But there is the risk that you get some missing/broken/wrong parts and you possibly need to get them from Bricklink.