Updated Star wars visual dictionary

FoxyA19

Not sure if this has been posted or not yet;
http://us.dk.com/static/cs/us/11/features/lswvd/splash.html

If not go nuts, if so, apologies for re posting :)

Lobot

Well that's rather disappointing, sigh.

CCC

It's on the front page. And yeah, that fig will really help sales. Or not.

legomatt

^ & ^^ Yep. Disappointing to me too.

I can understand the concept, harking back to bygone days etc, but I don't think that is a fig that's going to drive sales alone, like other figs have, except to collectors (whom would buy it anyway).

It's made an especially poor choice by the timing: Luke's speeder eol'd not too long ago, and a new cantina is coming soon. Sure they didn't have yellow heads, but again, those minor differences are only really of concern to collectors.

Any of the Bespin costume characters would've been a much better choice.

Well, I was hoping for something a little different anyway.

Bumblepants

CCC said:

And yeah, that fig will really help sales. Or not.

It might drive sales of the rest of the current line. See how much better these look than they used to? Now if it was Chromeface Luke they would've been on to something...

CCC

On the plus side, they won't all get nicked from WHSmiths.

rancorbait

If they wanted to re-release an old Luke why couldn't they do the cloud city version?

chuckp

The new/old Luke fig is disappointing. I was really counting on DK to continue the 'ceremonial' line and finally give Chewbacca some love! Seriously, what does a Wookiee have to do to get a medal!?!

LegoRocco

rancorbait said:

If they wanted to re-release an old Luke why couldn't they do the cloud city version?

You know, an old Boba Fett may have been a lot better...

Lobot

chuckp said:

Seriously, what does a Wookiee have to do to get a medal!?!

Learn to speak English!!

Legoboy

I can't say any of the previous figs encouraged me to buy the associated book. The book sold itself. The fig included with this upcoming book is as 'meh' as the others.

chuckp

Lobot said:

Learn to speak English!!

Me or the wookiee? ;)

collect_that

I think we should just be thankful we're not getting another protocol droid.

Diggydoes

Lobot said:

chuckp said:

Seriously, what does a Wookiee have to do to get a medal!?!

Learn to speak English!!

Have a haircut?!

rancorbait

chuckp said:

Lobot said:

Learn to speak English!!

Me or the wookiee? ;)

Both of you ;oP

chuckp

^ I'm quite sure Chewbacca would take offense to that! Me? Not so much. :)

suprajames

Figure is a little disappointing, but will get a copy as I have the original book and will go nicely in my collection, I have the DK Mini figure guide as well, which has 3 Mini Figs on the front, and well a free mini figure is still a free mini figure I guess :)

roxio

I'll wait til Thebookpeople drop it to 3 quid....

CCC

And I'll wait until it is 10% off that :-)

FoxyA19

I think they should have thought carefully about the choice of minifigure. Luke in this attire is hardly a groundbreaking outfit. They could of used this opportunity to put a really decent minifigure in. Personally I would of like to have seen Ben Kenobi in ghost form, a nice clear light blue brick could be used. Lovely.

Pitfall69

I'm still getting the book, like @Legoboy said. Robinson Crusoe didn't even come with a Lego minifigure and I still loved it :)

msanders

Is this minifigures meant to tie-in with the Sandcrawler and Cantina? Is this why they chose it?

Wil348

.....I actually like the retro Luke minifigure.....

vitreolum

At least if it was the Dagobah Luke...

plasmodium

Every time a thing comes up that people on here disapprove of, I always say (to myself if not on here) "It's because it's not aimed at AFOLs". Honestly, the SW Visual Dictionary is probably aimed at kids between 8 and 12. Most kids that age would have missed the 'first gen' Luke (if they were even born then). So for them (or some of them at least) the thought of a 'retro'/'old-fashioned'/'antique'/'vintage'/whatever limited edition Luke would be just as cool as a modern limited edition Luke.

Look at it this way, if they then get into collecting old Lego sets, then Lego wins - they've created new future AFOLs! :-)

TheLoneTensor

Legoboy said:

I can't say any of the previous figs encouraged me to buy the associated book. The book sold itself. The fig included with this upcoming book is as 'meh' as the others.

I don't think I would have bought the CMF Character Encyclopedia without the toy soldier.

TheLoneTensor

Pitfall69 said:

I'm still getting the book, like @Legoboy said. Robinson Crusoe didn't even come with a Lego minifigure and I still loved it :)

But it should have. Friday, quick! To the Cuusoomobile!

GIR3691

Wil348 said:

.....I actually like the retro Luke minifigure.....

The original's on Bricklink in the $3.50 range. I have at least one from 1999.

Well, that saves me the effort, though I do see this as a wasted opportunity. New Bespin Luke? Dagobah Luke? Bespin Lando? Bespin Leia? There are plenty of older, rare minifigs they could have re-released.

CCC

plasmodium said:

Every time a thing comes up that people on here disapprove of, I always say (to myself if not on here) "It's because it's not aimed at AFOLs". Honestly, the SW Visual Dictionary is probably aimed at kids between 8 and 12. Most kids that age would have missed the 'first gen' Luke (if they were even born then). So for them (or some of them at least) the thought of a 'retro'/'old-fashioned'/'antique'/'vintage'/whatever limited edition Luke would be just as cool as a modern limited edition Luke.

Look at it this way, if they then get into collecting old Lego sets, then Lego wins - they've created new future AFOLs! :-)

Although most kids would prefer something else to Luke, such as a Stormtrooper or even Darth Vader who is not in may small sets. One such as a stormtrooper would also encourage multiple purchases of the book for the minifig.

Pitfall69

TheLoneTensor said:

Pitfall69 said:

I'm still getting the book, like @Legoboy said. Robinson Crusoe didn't even come with a Lego minifigure and I still loved it :)

But it should have. Friday, quick! To the Cuusoomobile!

Pitfall69

GIR3691 said:

Wil348 said:

.....I actually like the retro Luke minifigure.....

The original's on Bricklink in the $3.50 range. I have at least one from 1999.

Well, that saves me the effort, though I do see this as a wasted opportunity. New Bespin Luke? Dagobah Luke? Bespin Lando? Bespin Leia? There are plenty of older, rare minifigs they could have re-released.

Yes, but that would destroy the value of Cloud City/Bespin Luke and X-Wing Fighter w/ Dagobah Luke. I wouldn't want that in the slightest.

I don't like Re released Minifigures. A completely new Minifigure would be perfect.

Basta

I was looking at all the different Lego Movie books currently out here, but none come with Minifigures, so I haven't bought any.

Another store had 40% of all books today and they had a Lego Harry Potter Character book which I was about to buy until I pulled it off the shelf and saw the minifigure had been pilfered. My son also has just about all the city based magazines type books that come with a minifigure.

So for us a book having a minifigure makes a big difference, even if it's not one I necessarily want. Suckers for a MF we must be :)

plasmodium

CCC said:

plasmodium said:

Every time a thing comes up that people on here disapprove of, I always say (to myself if not on here) "It's because it's not aimed at AFOLs". Honestly, the SW Visual Dictionary is probably aimed at kids between 8 and 12. Most kids that age would have missed the 'first gen' Luke (if they were even born then). So for them (or some of them at least) the thought of a 'retro'/'old-fashioned'/'antique'/'vintage'/whatever limited edition Luke would be just as cool as a modern limited edition Luke.

Look at it this way, if they then get into collecting old Lego sets, then Lego wins - they've created new future AFOLs! :-)

Although most kids would prefer something else to Luke, such as a Stormtrooper or even Darth Vader who is not in may small sets. One such as a stormtrooper would also encourage multiple purchases of the book for the minifig.

Granted, I can see what you mean about Vader, but again, how many 8-12 year olds (or their parents) are going to buy multiple copies of a book just for the fact it comes with stormtroopers? That's something that a full-on AFOL would do, yes, but I think it unlikely that the target audience will. I'm not saying that I'm blown away by the awesomeness of the chosen fig or anything, but I think Lego are definitely justified in their choice. I know when I was a kid, I would have been more excited for an 'antique' figure than I would have been for a modern (limited edition) one (but that may just be me).

I think what Lego were trying to do (and apparently failed, given the response it's had here) was to tap into the AFOL's nostalgia about the good ol' yellow days or something like that.

CCC

When you bear in mind that this book will soon be available for £5, then £3 within a few months, I reckon a lot of people, both adults and kids, would buy multiples for the minifig only.

I must have thrown away at least 40 copies of the ninjago book, 10 each of the SW books, 20 or so Batman ones and I dread to think how many of both HP ones. All because people want the minifigs and not the books. I even tried giving books without the minifigs to two charity shops, but they refused them in bulk.

cody6268

The figure will probably be of much lower (Chinese) quality than the original any way.

Pitfall69

I do think that the quality of the"yellow faced" Luke will not be like the originals that were produced previously.

As far as nostalgia, they could have easily produced a much rarer minifigure other than Luke.

dannyrww

I found several copies of the original (sans minifigures) at half price books today...also had some of the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia and Harry potter visual dictionaries with the minifigures

Pitfall69

Mine arrived today with Luke not assembled. I think this is the new trend. Probably saves some money.

For those of you thinking that the Classic Yellow Face Luke and this one are the same; they are not. The new Luke has the new head mold. What I can't determine is where the new Luke was made. You would think it was made in China, but I'm not sure.

Pitfall69

There is also a new leg mold. I don't know when they started using the new mold, but the new head and leg mold was used for the Parisian Restaurant and I just took a look at a Series 10 CMF and that minifigure still had the older head and leg mold.

I personally would classify the Visual Dictionary Luke as a unique minifigure, even though you can't tell the Classic Yellow Face Luke and the Visual Dictionary Luke apart by just glancing at them.

BrickDancer

What is the difference in the leg molds?

binaryeye

Pitfall69 said:

Mine arrived today with Luke not assembled. I think this is the new trend. Probably saves some money.

I wonder if it might also be a theft deterrent.

Pitfall69

BrickDancer said:

What is the difference in the leg molds?

If you look at inside the feet, th Lego logo is stamped inside.

Pitfall69

The torso is different as well. Visual Luke has a larger belt buckle and different "crease" markings. Also, there is printing on the back wheras Classic Luke doesn't have printing on the back of his torso.

My determination is that the Visual Dictionary Luke is unique to the book. It should be put into Brickset, Bricklink or any other database as a unique minifigure.

So, if you were on the fence about purchasing this book because the minifigure that comes with it doesn't excite you, maybe my research/review might change your mind :)

I think I have managed to reach an all time Lego Star Wars nerd factor.

Pitfall69

binaryeye said:

Pitfall69 said:

Mine arrived today with Luke not assembled. I think this is the new trend. Probably saves some money.

I wonder if it might also be a theft deterrent.

It could be, but I found it just as easy to cut the seal and dump the contents out in my hand as an assembled minifigure.

Pitfall69

cody6268 said:

The figure will probably be of much lower (Chinese) quality than the original any way.

I can usually tell a CMF (China) from a better quality minifigure that come in most sets. I'm sorry to say that I can't. I took a minifigure from Series 10 and minifigure from the Parisian Restaurant to compare against the Visual Dictionary Luke. The CMF compared to the PR minifigure was of lower quality, but I didn't see a difference in quality between the PR vs. Visual Dictionary Luke.

BTW, I don't think I can bring myself to say "VD Luke" :). Maybe if he spends a lot more time in the Cantina .

bobabricks

Pitfall69 said:

Mine arrived today with Luke not assembled. I think this is the new trend. Probably saves some money.

For those of you thinking that the Classic Yellow Face Luke and this one are the same; they are not. The new Luke has the new head mold. What I can't determine is where the new Luke was made. You would think it was made in China, but I'm not sure.

Hmm... Hard to tell where it was made, the torso is backward so I can't see if there is neck peg print. The torso also has back print which is much different from the old one, maybe this is what makes the minifig exclusive??

bobabricks

Oh and the the wrinkles are most likely light bluish grey, not a big difference but still something :P

Pitfall69

bobabricks said:

Pitfall69 said:

Mine arrived today with Luke not assembled. I think this is the new trend. Probably saves some money.

For those of you thinking that the Classic Yellow Face Luke and this one are the same; they are not. The new Luke has the new head mold. What I can't determine is where the new Luke was made. You would think it was made in China, but I'm not sure.

Hmm... Hard to tell where it was made, the torso is backward so I can't see if there is neck peg print. The torso also has back print which is much different from the old one, maybe this is what makes the minifig exclusive??

The "neck peg" is printed, and so is the PR minifigure "neck peg". The CMF does not have any printing.

The old Classic Luke doesn't have any printing on the back of the torso.

Legoboy

Someone shut him up.

binaryeye

Pitfall69 said:

It could be, but I found it just as easy to cut the seal and dump the contents out in my hand as an assembled minifigure.

I was thinking more from an attractiveness perspective. I imagine some of the theft from previous versions was a result of impulse decisions by kids with no adult supervision. An assembled minifigure is more likely to catch the eye and might not spark such an impulse.

Obviously, it's not going to stop those who know there's a minifigure in the book and want to steal it.

rancorbait

Sometimes I wonder if making figures in Chinese factories is supposed to help prevent theft too...