Last week saw the single biggest leak of 2020 take place when a retailer catalog got posted on Instagram, revealing all the Ninjago, Technic, Friends, City, Harry Potter, Marvel, Creator and – of course – Star Wars sets that will be available at general retail during the first quarter of 2021.
An unsubstantiated list of upcoming sets has been circulating for a month now, and nothing shown in the leaked catalogue images – which confirmed the sets listed below – should come as a surprise.
Microfighters
- 75295 Millennium Falcon
- 75298 Tauntaun/AT-AT Dual Pack
4+
- 75297 Resistance X-wing Starfighter
System
- 75300 TIE Fighter
- 75301 X-Wing
- 75302 Imperial Shuttle
The leaked images show six sets – two Microfighter, one 4+model, three System-scale sets and a teaser for a new set(s?) from The Mandalorian series. The logo used is neither the first or second series one, so there are no clues there.
Except for a few set number changes (75298 Resistance X-wing Starfighter is actually numbered 75297), 75297 Unknown Dualpack has been confirmed as 75298 AT-AT & Tauntaun, and an extraneous 75296 Microfighter (which suggests it could be a retailer exclusive, delayed or cancelled), our original report was correct.
The photos, which are particularly grainy and distorted, don’t show much about these new additions to the LEGO Star Wars theme – though the new scaled-back proportions and detailing of the System sets can be gleaned. While the difference in size and scale of 75300 TIE Fighter is pretty obvious, the changes reflected in 75301 X-Wing and 75302 Imperial Shuttle are less so. Those fans expecting a return to 1999 standards need not worry too much.
At this point, we should point out that if you are looking for the images you can stop scrolling now because The Holo-Brick Archives has made the decision not to post leaked images that have Confidential/Preliminary stamp or the retailer’s name watermark.
This stance isn’t so much a move to support the LEGO Fair Play policy but to protect sources and people’s jobs. Following several years of major leaks – which led to plot spoilers for a number of movie tie-in licenses – stakeholders put a great deal of pressure on LEGO to take measures to stem the flow of minifigures being smuggled out of Chinese factories, images coming out of European facilities and bootleg sets being sold on the Internet.
After replacing a number of staff members, creating positions to counter uncontrolled releases of information and limiting access at trade fairs and taking legal action against Chinese counterfeiters, the number of unofficial sources declined immensely.
In the case of the current leaks, the retail catalog – which is provided under a signed Non Disclosure Agreement – clearly identifies the owner (in this case a Swiss toy distributor) of the catalog. Whether an employee is directly responsible for photographing the catalogue or not, it is likely that an individual can be linked to the leak.
Speaking with an owner of a small toy and collectibles shop in the United Kingdom, it is clear that the risks associated with sharing confidential LEGO catalogs are high. Aside from the loss of trust, retailers also face losing access to ordering direct from LEGO, court costs and a negative impact on their income.
For a full breakdown and description of the leaked images check out MandRProductions’ latest release below.
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