After taking a hiatus through 2021, next year will be seeing the grand return of the fan-favorite LEGO Star Wars Battle Packs. Arriving with an emphasis on The Empire Strikes Back, a new Hoth army builder set will be joining the lineup come 2022. With an assortment of four Imperial minifigures and some other builds, head below for everything we know so far about the upcoming set.
LEGO Hoth Battle Pack launching next year
The year is marching to an end, and after seeing yet another new collection of creations launch at the start of the month, the last few 2021 LEGO sets have begun trickling in. While we’re still expecting to see some additional creations launching in the last four months of the year, our attention is now turning to one of the first LEGO 2022 reports. And this time, it’s on the Star Wars front.
To close out the week, 9to5Toys has now confirmed the report first shared by Promobricks that next year will see the return of the extremely popular LEGO Star Wars battle packs. Having been a staple of the theme since first debuting back in 2007, it looks like the 1-year hiatus is now coming to an end with the launch of an all-new Hoth army builder next year.
Right now, we have confirmation that the LEGO Hoth Battle Pack will be focused around the Imperial side of the Star Wars emphasis, leaving the Rebels to their own potential set. But more on that part later. Price count is currently unknown, but our report indicates that the set will be larger than part battle packs.
It’ll of course be centered around four of the Imperial personnel, which this time around stack up to three Snowtroopers (which will be the same ones from last year’s AT-AT) alongside a new Hoth Scout Trooper. To complement the minifigures, there will also be a pretty robust selection of brick-built items. Headlined by a speeder bike, there’s also going to be an E-Web heavy repeating blaster as well as a snow wall and some stands for the figures. So it looks like the minifigures won’t be as big a focal point as previous releases in year’s past.
Return of blasters
One of the more interesting aspects of the LEGO Hoth Battle Pack as of now is that it looks like we’ll be seeing the return of typical blasters for the Imperial troopers. Pretty much since the introduction of the Stud Shooters, those more play-oriented blasters have been a staple of the battle pack series. But now for the 2022 relaunch of the theme, it seems like the LEGO Group will be mixing things up to use the more standard weaponry for the included minifigures.
Price raising to $20
One of the disappointing aspects about the return of LEGO Star Wars Battle Packs is that the price will be raised from what we’re accustomed to. Increased from the usual $15 per set price, you’ll now end up paying $19.99 once the kits debut next year. Though there is some good news, as it’s still better than the price increasing to match last year’s 501st Clone Trooper pack.
As of now, an official launch date has yet to be specified, though we’re anticipating seeing the release drop sometime in early 2022. This year saw the winter Star Wars lineup split into two different waves, one January and another in March, so it remains to be see how the LEGO Group will handle things next winter.
Battle packs come in twos
Another iconic aspect of the LEGO Star Wars Battle Packs is that the kits always come paired off with an oppositional counterpart. It’s a tradition that we’ve seen in the army builder packs for well over a decade at this point, and something that’s expected to continue this time around. So for every Clone trooper or Rebel set, there’s a Battle Droid or Stormtrooper version to go up against it.
In this case, we know that an Imperial kit is due out next year. So a Rebel-filled Hoth Battle Pack seems like almost a sure thing. It’ll likely be centered around the four different arctic-clad Rebel troopers complete with some additional brick-built landscaping. The Hoth P-Towers seem like a great inclusion at the $20 price point, alongside a Tauntaun to go alongside the Imperial speeder bike.
9to5Toys’ Take:
The news that LEGO Star Wars Battle Packs will finally be returning is about as exciting as can be. I’m pretty thrilled to see the return of the army builders, especially after the hiatus that had all of us LEGO fans questioning the future of the affordable sets.
The subject this time around is another highlight, and makes complete sense to see a Hoth focus considering the UCS AT-AT that’ll be launching this fall to join the play-scale model from last year. This will give builders a chance to expand their collection of Hoth troopers without breaking the bank.
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