Rancor Set Revealed

[Staff]

On the heels of their twitter leak, LEGO unveiled next year's Rancor Set at the booth today at Comic Con. In case it wasn't obvious, the current Jabba's Palace sets fits on top of this one allowing Luke, Oola, and a Gamorrean Guard to drop down to their doom. No pricing info but it is believed to be $59.99 and will be officially available in January, which means around December.

---
Permalink: http://www.fbtb.net/2012/07/14/rancor-set-revealed/

[bigospedros]

Looks great ... shame they didn't picture it with the Palace set so we can see how neatly it all fits together and to answer the question about whether the gate can open when the Palace is on top ...

[mikado]

i wonder if you have to take off the 4 cap pieces to put jabbas palace on top and i hope theres a bone to shove in the rancors mouth too

[bigospedros]

i wonder if you have to take off the 4 cap pieces to put jabbas palace on top

they fit into 4 holes in the bottom of the Jabba's Palace set ...

and i hope theres a bone to shove in the rancors mouth too

one of the pictures shows the Luke minifig holding one ...

[jal4u2c]

While i like the new Rancor set, what happened to sneaks of the other 19 2013 sets they were talking about? The reports i've seen have been saying that the new fall sets are 2013 sets. So far the Rancor set has been the ONLY 2013 set shown or spoken of. What a letdown.

[mikado]

missed that pic of luke and the bone but thanks for the under side pic, tho the price for jabbas palace is kinda high piece for piece

[alldarker]

That picture of the underside looks horribly familiar Nice to see I was right, back in early June.
Not happy with the way the Rancor Pit was designed though: the portculis can't be raised when the Palace is on top of it and the 8x8 grate in the floor is hindered by the beams between the tabs, obscuring Jabba's view down!
Also, the Palace's footprint is larger than the Pit's footprint, making the total stack look awkward.

Then there's the issue of the free-floating tower / entrance. For that, though, I have another theorie: the tower is removable from the palace, AND the top-half is easily removable. I'm thinking that there could be another add-on set, which would sit between the bottom half of the tower and the top half: the current bottom-half with entrance would still sit on the ground-level, with a new tower / alcove set on the level of Jabba's Palace (Max Rebo + band?), and with the top half of the tower sitting on top of that again... Like I said, that's all personal theory and conjecture, but I've been right before, with Jabba's Palace!

[numista]

Do those holes on the underside of Jabbas palace form a square?
(Holes equally spaced apart)
If so a 90 degree turn should sort out the problem of opening/closing the huge gate.

[alldarker]

They don't... They are spaced 12 and 14 studs apart respectively. So there are only two ways Jabba's palace will fit on the Rancor Pit. Even the hinges in Jabba's Palace (allowing the back wall to open up) don't match up with the hinges on the Rancor Pit
Also, the fact that the Rancor Pit hinges only allow the gate to be opened at 90°, combined with the non-squared holes, means that the Rancor Pit's gate is not able to support the tower in any way.

One small redeeming aspect: the space under the 8x8 grate is totally open when the gate part on the Rancor pit is opened: this also allows the portcullis to open and close freely. It's going to look a bit weird, though...

I also checked out my own theory about the tower being split up into two pieces, so as to put in a third set in between the two halves:

(Pictures courtesy of Brickset.com)

This theory doesn't look as good as I hoped it would be. The bottom half of the tower is about 12 bricks high, while the Rancor pit is at least 15 bricks high. Secondly, I had forgotten that the locking mechanism for the Jabba's Palace entrance gate is actually on the top half of the tower, meaning the 'theoretical new set' would have to allow for a new mechanism for the entrance. It's possible, but unlikely, that Lego would choose this path...

I guess MOC'ing a decent transition will have to be the way to match these sets up.

[Gingerbeard Man]

One small redeeming aspect: the space under the 8x8 grate is totally open when the gate part on the Rancor pit is opened: this also allows the portcullis to open and close freely. It's going to look a bit weird, though...

But the 8x8 grate is at the front of the palace, the side with 12 studs between the "mounting holes". The Rancor pit gate is either to the left or the right, on the sides with 14 stud between the holes.

So I believe the grate will always be obstructed by the beam running across the front of the pit and I'm skeptical about the gate not being blocked by the tower when positioned to the left, even if the hinge is fully opened.
We really need some pictures of both sets together.

But it could be worse... I have been remembering the Kenner Action Playset I had as a kid. Jabba sitting on the grate-stroke-trapdoor, which opened upwards. Many an hour was wasted trying to get action figures to "fall" into that prison.

[alldarker]

Ahhh! You're absolutely right! I mistook which side measured 12 studs! Meaning the tower can be supported, but the grate will always be partially blocked (and the tower will block the portcullis).

[bobalego]

Well all measurements on the palace itself makes me think about the size of the rancor. Anyone have the time to take a picture of the Rancor and Wampa side by side, because the rancor looks slightly bigger (height) than the wampa.

[batsamd]

I would have preferred the alien that hugs the Rancor Keeper rather than Luke, since he's currently out in the new Skiff, to increase the alien count in Jabba's Palace, but I can understand why Luke is there.

Overall I like the set and look forward to getting it after I get the new Palace set.

[jomandybri]

I am 100% sure they will connect... seriously, how could they not?! I've just been having a good look at the photos uplaoded in the Flickr stream, theres your obvious connection points for under the base of the palace. As well as this, the front gate part is actually hinged. And the fact that the old palace was made up of 3 playsets makes it seem more likely, yoo.

So it's kind of a no brainer, I think, that these will undoubtedly connect. I haven't quite got around to getting the new version of the palace, but it's pretty much a given they will be matchable. Exactly how, I am yet to see, but for those speculating otherwise, you are plain and simply wrong! Sorry :P

[alldarker]

I am 100% sure they will connect... (...) Exactly how, I am yet to see, but for those speculating otherwise, you are plain and simply wrong! Sorry :P

Were you drinking when you posted all this?

[jomandybri]

Were you drinking when you posted all this?

I'm not a drinker, per se :P Hahah I just see no reason they shouldn't, and felt compelled to voice my opinion... it is a forum after all, isn't it?

[alldarker]

Were you drinking when you posted all this?

I'm not a drinker, per se :P Hahah I just see no reason they shouldn't, and felt compelled to voice my opinion... it is a forum after all, isn't it?

Ah. no offence meant at all, but it seems that even before your post, in this forum (and most in other SW Lego dedicated forums) everyone was way, way, WAY past the point of actually doubting that Jabba's Palace would fit onto the Rancor Pit (I believe that Lego has actually officially confirmed they would stack), and people were already just trying to imagine how they would look together and where there will be some practical problems with the stacking of these two sets.

[batsamd]

I'm guessing LEGO is expecting people to display the Palace set on top of the Rancor Pit set, not really play with the sets stacked, which is why it appears the gate won't open with the Palace set on top.

[jomandybri]

Ah. no offence meant at all...

None Taken! I was just kidding I missed a few of those reponses, I think... it seemed to me at the initial time I read it that people still weren't sure, and I had taken a couple of days to respond. I suppose I shall look for updates in future before posting!