January 2016 is going to be a good month for Star Wars fans, as in the wake of “The Force Awakens”, a whopping twenty-four LEGO Star Wars sets are due for release! The set I expect to be most popular with older collectors isn’t from Episode VII (or any new media), however, and certainly isn’t the biggest set being released. It’s one of just two sets from the Original Trilogy, and it’s going to warm (or freeze) a lot hearts: the 2016 LEGO Star Wars Carbon-Freezing Chamber 75137!

Even though “The Empire Strikes Back” is almost universally loved as the most popular Star Wars movie and praised as the best of the saga, TLG rarely makes ESB sets that aren’t centered on The Battle of Hoth.

Collectors have been crying out for new Bespin (Cloud City) sets for years now, and while we’re not getting the bulk of Bespin yet, we are getting an integral piece of it this winter: the LEGO Star Wars 2016 Carbon-Freezing Chamber 75137!

Depending on how you want to count, this set includes either three or four Minifigures: a Boba Fett Minifigure, a Han Solo Minifigure, an Ugnaught Minifigure and a Han Solo in Carbonite “Minifigure”. (The quotes are because Han In Carbonite is obviously more a prop than a figure.)

I already own a plethora of Han Solo and Boba Fett minifigs, but I’m excited for the chance to own a new Ugnaught minifig! While I don’t think I’ll need to army-build these little guys, I do think I’ll at least get a second one to assist with the Carbon-Freezing process. Well… maybe three Ugnaughts. I love these ugly little guys!

For a real change, though, I’d say that the big prize in this set isn’t the  Minifigures at all–it’s the set itself! The combination of black, grey and translucent orange bricks looks appropriately moody and eerie.

The set doesn’t look to have a whole lot of “action features”, but other than the ability to freeze Han Solo in a Carbonite block, what features does it really need?

The LEGO 75137 Carbon-Freezing Chamber is expected to retail for $24.99, which sounds about right for a set that looks to contain 200-250 pieces and contain three (true) Minifigures. I would have liked a larger set personally, but perhaps TLG has more Cloud City sets in development and is making the Carbon Chamber scaled appropriately to coincide with them?

The 75137 LEGO Star Wars Carbon-Freezing Chamber Set will be available online and in stores around January 1st, 2016. It would be nice if such an iconic set were available before the holidays, but this is not one of the December 1st sets, so no promises. I’ll post an update to the Bricks and Bloks Facebook Page once this set actually shows up at retail, so stay tuned.

Are you in or out for the most classic-feeling of the LEGO Star Wars 2016 sets, Star Wars fans? Do you hope this is just the start of a LEGO Cloud City renaissance, or are you good with just the Carbon-Freezing Chamber?