Destiny 2: Year of Prophecy Collector’s Edition, A Statue That Finally Justified the Price

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased May 6, 2025 · $434.16 CAD ($315.00 USD) via Bungie.net

The Destiny 2: Year of Prophecy Collector's Edition contents, including the Guardian classes statue — The Year of Prophecy Collector’s Edition contents. Photo: Vice

The Background

After last year’s Final Shape Collector’s Edition left me with mixed feelings about Bungie’s physical tiers, I pre-ordered the Year of Prophecy Collector’s Edition anyway, tied to the launch of The Edge of Fate and the start of a new saga for the game. This one includes a 1/8th scale resin and PVC statue of the three Guardian classes in their classic super poses on a weighted, logo-etched base, a “classified documents” folder of in-universe letters and diary entries building out the expansion’s backstory, and a metal badge styled like something out of a secret government operative’s collection.

At $315 USD before conversion, this sits close to last year’s Final Shape edition in price, which made it a useful direct comparison point for whether Bungie’s collector’s editions are trending up or down in quality.

Living With It

The statue is the clear centrepiece, and it earns that role. All three Guardian classes rendered together in their classic super poses gives it a sense of scale and occasion that a single-figure statue wouldn’t have managed, and the paint work holds up well under close inspection, with battle wear and armor detailing that reads as deliberate rather than sloppy. The weighted base, etched with Guardian phrases and logos, gives the whole piece the kind of finished, gallery-shelf presentation that last year’s Final Shape statue mostly delivered too, but this one felt like a genuine step up in sculpt quality.

The classified documents folder is a nice bit of world-building for anyone invested in the Edge of Fate storyline, letters and diary entries that reward reading rather than just being packaging filler, and the metal badge is a small but well-made touch that fits the espionage angle of this year’s narrative. Taken together, this is a collector’s edition that feels like it was actually designed as a themed set rather than three unrelated bonus items bundled under one price tag.

The same caveat from last year’s review still applies in full: none of this means anything without existing investment in Destiny’s world and characters. The documents only land if you care about the lore they’re building, and the statue only justifies its price if seeing your classes rendered this way actually matters to you.

What I Liked

The three-class statue is a genuine step up in sculpt and paint quality over last year’s edition
Classified documents folder is well-written world-building, not just filler
Cohesive theming across all three physical items rather than a grab-bag of extras
A noticeably stronger collector’s edition than the one I reviewed last year

What I Didn’t

Still entirely dependent on prior investment in the franchise to justify the price
Pre-ordering physical collector’s editions remains a leap of faith on final quality
At $315 USD, this is a serious purchase even for a longtime player

The Value Verdict

Rating: 5/5

This is the collector’s edition I wanted last year’s Final Shape tier to be: a cohesive, well-sculpted, genuinely display-worthy set rather than a handful of loosely related extras. Still strictly for existing Guardians, but for that audience, it delivers.

Where to Buy

Edition details and pricing

The MOC-56649 Modular Tatooine: The Biggest Single Build I’ve Ever Attempted

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased January 15, 2025 · $788.51 CAD via Vonado

The MOC-56649 Modular Tatooine City Space Wars build, an 18-building modular Star Wars diorama — MOC-56649 Modular Tatooine City Space Wars. Photo: LetBricks

The Background

MOC-56649, designed by fan builder gabizon, is a modular Tatooine cityscape built from 18 separate buildings that connect into one continuous Star Wars street scene, at a claimed 9,585 pieces and a finished footprint of roughly 60cm by 40cm. It is, by a wide margin, the single largest build I have ever taken on, easily eclipsing last year’s Star Destroyer for sheer part count.

Kicking off 2025’s spending with a purchase this size was either a bold statement of intent or a sign I never really learned my lesson from the 2024 Vonado hauls. Given how this list is shaping up already, I suspect it’s a bit of both.

Living With It

Eighteen individual buildings sounds like it would make this build more approachable, broken into bite-sized chunks rather than one continuous slog, and in practice that’s mostly true, each structure is its own manageable session. Where the scale really hits you is once several buildings are finished and sitting next to each other on the table: this is not a shelf piece, it is closer to a diorama that needs its own dedicated surface, full stop.

Several of the buildings include opening panels and interior detailing, which is a nice touch that keeps a project this long from feeling like pure repetition, cantina interiors and market stalls tucked behind facades that look plain from the street side. Piece quality held up consistently across the full set, no obvious drop-off in tolerance or fit between the first building and the eighteenth, which is genuinely impressive at this scale from a compatible-brick manufacturer.

The honest tradeoff is time and space, in equal measure. This is not a project you finish in a weekend, or realistically in a single week if you have anything else going on, and once complete it demands a genuinely large, permanent display area that most people simply do not have sitting empty.

What I Liked

Modular structure makes an enormous build feel approachable one building at a time
Genuine interior detailing on several buildings, not just facades
Consistent piece quality across the entire 9,500-plus piece set
The most substantial single display piece in my whole collection once assembled

What I Didn’t

A genuinely enormous time commitment, easily multiple weeks of sessions
Requires a large, permanent display footprint most people don’t have available
The most expensive single item to open this year’s spreadsheet

The Value Verdict

Rating: 5/5

For anyone with the space and patience, this is one of the most ambitious and rewarding builds available in the compatible-brick space, official LEGO included. Just know exactly what you’re signing up for before you order it.

Where to Buy

The LMTD Ace of Spades Blaster: When a Video Game Weapon Becomes a Real Object

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased September 29, 2024 · $92.03 CAD ($67.77 USD) via Bungie.net

The Bungie LMTD Nerf-style Ace of Spades blaster, styled after the Destiny hand cannon — The Bungie LMTD Ace of Spades blaster. Photo: Bleeding Cool

There is a specific kind of joy in holding a physical version of something that has only ever existed as pixels and a satisfying reload animation.

The Background

The Ace of Spades is arguably Destiny’s most iconic weapon, a hand cannon with over a decade of lore, community attachment, and in-game history behind it. Bungie’s LMTD collectibles line, produced in partnership with Nerf-style blaster manufacturing, turned that weapon into a real, licensed foam dart blaster, sold directly through Bungie’s own store rather than through general retail channels. I ordered mine in late September, paying $67.77 USD, which converted to $92.03 CAD on my card.

This is squarely a fan merchandise purchase rather than a general toy purchase, and Bungie’s own marketing around the LMTD line has always leaned into that: these are built for people who already care about the in-game weapon’s design and lore, not positioned as a generic blaster that happens to have game branding slapped on it.

Living With It

Build quality here exceeded my expectations for a licensed collectible in this category. The blaster uses real spring-action firing rather than a cheap, flimsy mechanism, the deco work faithfully translates the in-game weapon’s distinctive rose gold and black colour scheme and engraved detailing, and the packaging itself was clearly designed with display and unboxing in mind, the kind of presentation that makes a purchase like this feel like a genuine collectible rather than a toy aisle impulse buy.

As an actual foam blaster, it performs the way a decent mid-tier Nerf product should: solid range and consistent firing for casual use, nothing revolutionary, and that is exactly as it should be, since firing performance was never really the point of this purchase.

Where this lives or dies, entirely, is prior attachment to the source material. Someone with zero context for Destiny would be looking at a somewhat expensive foam blaster with unusual styling and no real way to appreciate why the colour scheme or engravings matter. For a longtime player, it is a genuinely well-executed piece of fandom merchandise.

What I Liked

Build quality and deco work exceeded expectations for a licensed collectible blaster
Faithful translation of the in-game weapon’s distinctive design and colour scheme
Real spring-action firing mechanism, not a cheap or flimsy toy build
Packaging and presentation clearly designed with collectors in mind

What I Didn’t

Entirely dependent on prior attachment to Destiny to justify the price
Firing performance is solid but unremarkable compared to dedicated Nerf products at a similar price
A niche purchase that will mean nothing to anyone outside the game’s community

The Value Verdict

Rating: 4/5

For Destiny fans, this is a well-made piece of fan merchandise for a genuinely franchise-defining weapon, and it delivered above my expectations for build quality. If you have no attachment to the game, this price will look steep for what is, at its core, a foam dart blaster, and that reaction would be entirely fair.

Where to Buy

The Star Wars Hangar: A Display Base That Finally Gives My Ships Somewhere to Live

Toys & Collectibles Review · Purchased May 27, 2024 · $775.99 CAD via Vonado

A large brick-built Star Wars hangar bay diorama with ground crew figures and support detailing — A comparable large-scale Star Wars hangar bay diorama. Photo: MOC Brick Land

Buying a large diorama base right after buying a large ship is either very smart planning or a very effective upsell. I will let you decide which this was.

The Background

Purchased the same day as the Ghost (VCX-100) covered previously, this large hangar and diorama-style set is designed to give one or more ships somewhere purposeful to sit, complete with ground crew figures, support vehicles, and hangar bay detailing, rather than leaving an expensive ship model to sit awkwardly on a bare shelf. Modular hangar and display bases like this are a popular category within the MOC community specifically because official LEGO rarely produces display bases at this scale on their own, usually bundling smaller docking or landing elements into a ship set itself rather than selling the base separately.

At $775.99, this is one of the pricier single items in my entire 2024 haul, and its value is genuinely tied to what you already own or plan to display alongside it.

Living With It

As a standalone build, the hangar delivers a lot of the same satisfaction as the Coruscant Diorama covered earlier in this series: real detail work in the flooring, support struts, and background elements that make it feel like a lived-in space rather than a blank pedestal. Ground crew figures and small support vehicles add points of visual interest at a smaller scale that contrast nicely against a large ship once one is placed inside it.

Where this set truly earns its keep is exactly what I bought it for: giving the Ghost, and potentially other ships from this collection, an actual context to sit in rather than floating awkwardly on an otherwise empty shelf. Once I placed the Ghost inside it, the combined display genuinely looked like a professional diorama rather than two separate, unrelated purchases sitting near each other, which is the best compliment I can give a display base like this.

On its own, without a ship to put inside it, this is a much harder purchase to justify. The value here is almost entirely relational to the rest of the collection, which is worth knowing before buying: this is an accessory purchase dressed up as a standalone set, and it should be budgeted for accordingly.

What I Liked

Genuinely elevates the display quality of ships placed inside it
Detailed enough to stand on its own rather than reading as a blank pedestal
Ground crew and support vehicle details add scale and life to the whole display
Transforms a collection of individual ships into something that reads as one cohesive scene

What I Didn’t

Value is almost entirely dependent on already owning (or planning to own) ships to display in it
One of the more expensive single items in the whole year’s spending
On its own, without context, this is just an expensive backdrop

The Value Verdict

Rating: 4/5

Rate this one based on what you already own. As a companion piece to the Ghost, it turned two separate purchases into one genuinely impressive combined display, which is worth something real. Bought in isolation, without ships to put inside it, this would be a much harder recommendation.

Where to Buy

Vonado building sets

Hot Wheels Mario Kart Rainbow Road: Closing Out the Year With a Genuinely Fun Track Set

Toy Review · Purchased December 29, 2022 · $150.00 CAD via Amazon.ca

Hot Wheels Mario Kart Rainbow Road Raceway. Photo: Mattel

The Setup

An 8-foot translucent Hot Wheels track set styled after Mario Kart’s famous Rainbow Road, with electronic light-and-sound start/finish gates, a spinning “Item Box” randomizer, and two exclusive 1:64 die-cast racers, Mario and King Boo.

The Review

The last purchase of the year closed things out on a genuinely fun note. Assembly took about the promised 15 minutes, and the translucent track pieces with the light-and-sound gates capture the Rainbow Road aesthetic surprisingly well for a physical toy set. Racing up to five cars at once with the spinning Item Box randomizer adds a real element of chaos that makes repeated races stay entertaining rather than becoming predictable.

Individual races are over fast — there’s nothing on the track to slow cars down, so a race is more of a quick burst than a sustained competition — and at $120-140 depending on where you find it, this isn’t a cheap track set, especially once you factor in that extra racer cars are sold separately. It also needs a genuinely large amount of floor or shelf space to set up fully. None of that stopped it from being a great, high-energy way to close out the year’s purchases.

What I Liked

Over 8 feet of track with light-and-sound effects that capture the Rainbow Road look
Comes with two exclusive die-cast racers not sold separately
Spinning Item Box randomizer keeps repeated races entertaining
Quick, roughly 15-minute assembly

What I Didn’t

Pricey for a track set, especially with extra cars sold separately
Individual races finish very quickly with nothing to slow racers down
Needs a lot of floor or shelf space to use fully assembled

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A genuinely fun, high-energy way to close out the year’s purchases — pricey, but it delivers on the Rainbow Road fantasy.

Where to Buy

Mattel Canada shop page (also on Amazon.ca)

Funko’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Pop: A Nice Tie-In to a Genuinely Fun Special

Collectible Review · Purchased December 17, 2022 · $85.00 CAD via Amazon.co.uk

The Setup

Part of Funko’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday” line, tying into Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+, with each character reimagined in festive attire and sold both individually and as a 5-pack.

The Review

Buying an individual figure rather than the full 5-pack was the right call for a specific favorite character, and it’s a nice, low-commitment way to tie into a special that was genuinely one of the more charming pieces of Marvel content to come out this year. The holiday-costume sculpt is distinct enough from the standard GotG Pops to feel like a real addition to the shelf rather than a redundant duplicate.

The usual Funko caveats apply here too — paint consistency is always a bit of a gamble across the line, and the box arrived with some light shelf wear from shipping internationally. As a specific, affordable way to commemorate a fun holiday special, though, it’s an easy small purchase to feel good about.

What I Liked

Ties into a genuinely charming, well-received Disney+ special
Distinct holiday-costume sculpt feels like a real addition to the shelf
Available individually rather than requiring the full 5-pack

What I Didn’t

Usual Funko paint-consistency lottery
Some shelf wear from international shipping

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A small, affordable, genuinely charming tie-in to one of the more fun pieces of Marvel content this year.

Where to Buy

Amazon.co.uk listing

Han Solo in Carbonite: A Wall Slab With a Quality-Control Problem

Toy Review · Purchased November 11, 2022 · $150.00 CAD via Jooooooy.com

Han Solo in Carbonite mega figure wall slab — Han Solo in Carbonite Mega Figure, MOC-94303. Photo: Jooooooy

The Setup

My first purchase from Jooooooy rather than Lightake, but the same general product category — MOC-94303 is a 1,717-piece, wall-mountable brick recreation of Han Solo frozen in carbonite from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, in the same “mega figure” bootleg family as the earlier Star Wars busts.

The Review

Design-wise, this is a genuinely good idea — the flat carbonite slab format lends itself naturally to a brick build in a way that a rounded helmet bust doesn’t, and the finished piece reads unmistakably as the scene the moment you see it. Han’s frozen expression and posture come through clearly at this scale, and it mounts to a wall just as easily as the trash compactor diorama earlier in the year.

Unfortunately, this is the one purchase in the bootleg-bust line where quality control actually became a real problem rather than a minor cosmetic quibble — my kit arrived missing several dozen pieces, which meant a frustrating stretch of comparing the manual against what actually showed up before I could even start building properly. It got there in the end, and the finished piece looks good, but it’s a genuine mark against Jooooooy specifically compared to the cleaner experience I’d had with Lightake’s busts earlier in the year.

What I Liked

Flat carbonite slab format is a natural fit for a brick build
Unmistakably reads as the scene at a glance
Wall-mountable, same as the official Death Star Trash Compactor diorama

What I Didn’t

Arrived with dozens of pieces missing from the kit
PDF-only instructions, no printed manual
Noticeably worse quality control than Lightake’s busts earlier this year

The Verdict

Rating: 2.5/5

A genuinely clever design let down by a real quality-control miss — the finished piece looks great, but getting there was more frustrating than it should have been.

Where to Buy

Jooooooy product page (if still listed)

Funko’s Star Wars Holiday Snowman 5-Pack: A Genuinely Fun Seasonal Gimmick

Collectible Review · Purchased October 16, 2022 · $92.31 CAD via Amazon.ca

Funko Pop Star Wars Holiday Snowman 5 pack — Star Wars Holiday: Snowman 5-Pack. Photo: Funko

The Setup

An Amazon-exclusive Funko Pop bundle reimagining five Star Wars characters — Darth Vader, a Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, C-3PO, and R2-D2 — as snowmen, complete with snowflake detailing and carrot/twig facial accents, each individually boxed within the set.

The Review

This is exactly the kind of silly, seasonal gimmick that Funko does well — five instantly recognizable characters reimagined just enough to feel novel without losing what makes them recognizable in the first place. Getting five figures individually boxed within one set is a genuinely nice touch too, since it means any of them can be pulled out and displayed or gifted on their own without breaking up a single combined package.

The usual Funko quality-control caveats apply — paint application on mass-produced Pops is always a bit of a lottery, and outer box corners took some minor shelf wear even before I opened them. As an Amazon exclusive, it’s also the kind of thing that will probably command inflated secondary-market prices once it sells out for the season. None of that outweighs how much fun it is as a one-off holiday display piece.

What I Liked

Fun, novel holiday reimagining of five instantly recognizable characters
Individually boxed figures within the set make gifting or separating them easy
Good per-figure value compared to buying five singles

What I Didn’t

Usual Funko paint-consistency lottery applies
Some minor box wear straight out of shipping
Amazon-exclusive status means secondary-market prices will likely climb once sold out

The Verdict

Rating: 4/5

A genuinely charming seasonal gimmick that nails the balance between novelty and recognizability.

Where to Buy

Amazon listing (also on Amazon.ca)

The Mega Sized Boba Fett Bust: Round Two of the Same Good Idea

Toy Review · Purchased March 4, 2022 · $150.00 CAD via Lightake.com

Mega Sized Boba Fett bust brick build — Boba Fett Mega Figure body, MOC-85873. Photo: LesDIY

The Setup

Bought on the exact same day as the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper busts, this is MOC-85873 — a 1,611-piece oversized body designed to hold the official LEGO Boba Fett Helmet (75277) on top, from the same designer and product family as the other two.

The Review

Having now built all three of these back to back, the pattern is clear and it’s a good one: the body designs are simple enough to assemble in an evening but chunky enough to look substantial once the genuine LEGO helmet is seated on top. Boba Fett’s Mandalorian armor plating translates well into the blockier proportions of a mega-figure build, arguably better than Vader’s smoother armor does, since the segmented plates hide the clone-brick seams more naturally.

It’s the same trade-off as the rest of this product line — PDF instructions, no printed manual, and clone bricks instead of genuine LEGO parts for the body — but the actual assembly experience was smoother this time, likely just from having done two of these already. As a set of three lined up on a shelf, they’re a genuinely striking little display.

What I Liked

Segmented Mandalorian armor plating hides clone-brick seams better than smoother designs
Straightforward, evening-length build
Looks great displayed alongside the matching Vader and Stormtrooper busts

What I Didn’t

Same PDF-only instructions and clone-brick compromises as the rest of this line
Requires the separate official LEGO helmet purchase to look right

The Verdict

Rating: 3.5/5

Consistent with its siblings — a smart budget way to turn an official helmet into a full display bust, and the best-looking of the three armor designs so far.

Where to Buy

Discontinued/varies by reseller — search “MOC-85873 Boba Fett Mega Figure”

The Mega Sized Stormtrooper Bust: Completing the Trio

Toy Review · Purchased March 4, 2022 · $150.00 CAD via Lightake.com

Mega Sized Stormtrooper bust brick build — Stormtrooper Mega Figure body, MOC-87398. Photo: LesDIY

The Setup

The last of the three same-day mega-figure busts, MOC-87398 is a 1,581-piece body built to hold an official-scale LEGO Stormtrooper helmet on top, rounding out a matching set with the Darth Vader and Boba Fett busts from the same order.

The Review

Of the three, this is the simplest design — the Stormtrooper’s smooth white armor doesn’t give the build much surface detail to work with, so it leans more on overall silhouette and proportion than on fine plating like the Boba Fett bust managed. It still reads correctly from a normal viewing distance, and at 1,581 pieces it was the quickest of the three to put together.

Lined up together, the three busts make a genuinely fun little display — three of the most recognizable Star Wars helmets, all at the same oversized scale, for a fraction of what a licensed set of busts that size would cost from LEGO directly (if LEGO even made one, which they don’t). The compromises are the same as the other two: PDF instructions, clone bricks, and a helmet you have to source separately.

What I Liked

Quickest and simplest build of the three mega-figure busts
Completes a genuinely striking matched trio on the shelf
Good value relative to what a licensed set this size would cost

What I Didn’t

Smooth armor gives the design less to work with than the other two busts
Same clone-brick and PDF-instruction compromises as the rest of the line

The Verdict

Rating: 3/5

The simplest and least distinctive of the three busts on its own, but a satisfying way to complete the set.

Where to Buy

Discontinued/varies by reseller — search “MOC-87398 Storm Trooper Mega Figure”