With the merchandising juggernaut that is Star Wars: The Force Awakens almost upon us, I really and truly expected the January 2016 LEGO Star Wars sets to be centered on Episode VII. Instead, we’re getting sets from the prequels, the new movies, Rebels, Battlefront–and yes, even the original trilogy! Over the weekend I talked about the long-awaited Carbon-Freezing Chamber, and today we’ve got the new LEGO Star Wars Droid Escape Pod 75136–with Jawa Minifigures!!

When you’ve had a theme running for over a decade and ahead like the Star Wars LEGO theme has, new versions of previously-released vehicles and environments is a fact of life that you just have to accept. Such is the case with the subject of today’s 2016 sets preview: the new (and improved?) 75136 Droid Escape Pod!

In case this set containing R2-D2 and C-3PO minifigures and their Tantive IV Escape Pod looks just a wee bit familiar to you, it might be because the 9490 Droid Escape set was just released in 2012 and retired at the very end of 2013 (and that was the second iteration of this set). Well, the third time is a charm, and the Droids are in trouble again (kudos to whoever gets that reference), as they’ve crashed on Tattooine once again. But this time, things are different–and better–because LEGO Jawas minifigures are included!

Whereas the previous Droid Escape 9490 set came with the pair of droids and two Sandtrooper minifigures, this time we get the pair of droids with two rare Jawa minifigures! This is the first time that a LEGO Jawa minifig has been available outside of a super-expensive Jawa Sandcrawler set, which means the time has finally arrived for army-building the adorable little scavengers to our hearts’ content!

Of course, the Jawas aren’t all this 75136 Droid Escape Pod LEGO set has to offer! Both the exterior and the interior of the Escape Pod itself are a lot more detailed and better-looking than they were in the previous builds. Yes, finally R2 and 3PO can hang out inside their deluxe Escape Pod in style!

The C-3PO minifigure looks literally exactly the same as he did in the prior release, but R2-D2 does feature the more recent and improved print. And hey–Jawas! Who could resist, right?

The Droid Escape Pod and other Winter 2016 LEGO Star Wars sets will be officially available online and in stores in January/February 2016, although it’s not impossible that we’ll see some of the sets make it into stores–in small quantities–before the holiday season. I expect the Original Trilogy sets such as this and the Carbon-Freezing Chamber to sell particularly well when they do hit retail, so keep watch here and on the Bricks and Bloks Facebook Page for status updates on the wave’s availability.

How do you feel about this latest iteration of the Droid Escape Pod in brick form? If you already own a previous version of this vehicle, will you be purchasing it again in updated form? And is anyone out there besides me planning to buy at least three sets to really get a Jawa army going?!