A quarter of a year ago we posted our 2018 predictions, and now it's time to look into the scrying pool again to see what's what for the year ahead.

In a normal year we generally get three major LEGO drops - Spring (early January to March), Summer (June to August) and Fall (September to November), before the Winter/Holiday (December) catalogue gets us excited with a refresh of previously released sets (and maybe one or two surprises) - and typically we see new Star Wars sets in January, June and September. This year, due to the tighter movie schedule, we've seen an early wave towards the end of December, and a Spring/Summer adjustment to fit in with Solo.

With the official street date for all the new Solo toys being April 20th we will see the following LEGO sets in Solo livery (unless noted):

• 75206 Jedi and Clone Troopers Battle Pack (TLJ pack)
• 75207 Imperial Patrol Battle Pack
• 75208 Yoda's Hut (TLJ pack)
• 75209 Han Solo’s Landspeeder
• 75210 Moloch’s Landspeeder
• 75211 Imperial TIE Fighter
• 75212 Kessel Run Millennium Falcon
• 75535 Han Solo Buildable Figure
• 75336 Imperial Range Trooper Buildable Figure

Looking back through our LEGO Star Wars news archive there is a likelihood that some new LEGO Star Wars keychains will be joining the currently available stock between April and June. Other than analysing previous patterns Rebelscum has no solid information to base this prediction on.

The traditional May The 4th Be With You in-store event will not be missed this year, and a new UCS set (75181) is expected to be announced just prior to this, along with the usual May The 4th Be With You polybagged exclusive. So far the only known polybagged minifig is 40298 DJ which Toys "R" Us ran as a promotional item in January so it is not expected to be this.

Throughout the year members of Club 75192 can also expect a smattering of promotional exclusives; one of which is likely to be a new polybagged minifig and a solid R2-D2 cast in a precious metal.

And there is also the cancelled 5005376 LEGO Star Wars Anniversary Pod as well - there's no telling when this will show up.

Jumping ahead to August when the Summer wave will hit shelves, and these will include (in the same packaging as The Last Jedi sets, unless noted):

• 75214 Anakin's Jedi Starfighter
• 75215 Nemesis Gang Chariot (code named Solo set)
• 75216 Snoke's Throne Room
• 75217 Chimera (code named Solo set)
• 75218 X-Wing Starfighter
• 75219 Gorgon (code named Solo set)
• 75220 Sandcrawler
• 75538 Super Battle Droid buildable figure
• 75539 501st Legion Clone Trooper & AT-RT buildable figure

After this massive wave there is a bit of a hiatus because the only release in September is 75213 LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. However if the gossip is to be believed then October will have us budgetting for 75222 CONFIDENTIAL_DTC CC. Absolutely nothing is known about this set (well done LEGO!) and rumours have it pegged as a certain UCS set, mostly based on prior UCS set release cycles.

A good number of Star Wars BrickHeadz have been revealed for the year and as these normally come out between waves we aren't able to put our finger on expected release periods for these. That said it is highly likely that 41608 Han Solo and 41609 Chewbacca will come out in May to fit in with the threatrical release of Solo. When the others will come out is anyone's guess.

There is also a chance that there will be a few retailer (Walmart and Target, with the participation of Toys "R" Us in doubt) exclusives. Going on previous years LEGO has been good at keeping a lid on these and, more often than not, when leaks do appear they are close to the release of the set.

Within the wider scope of the LEGO Star Wars license there are also a number of other companies who produce licensed merchandise to accompany the main LEGO line, and these will be releasing products through 2018 too:

ClicTime: with the exception of a BB-8 alarm clock (release date TBC), this company will not be developing its Star Wars line for some time.

IQ LED Lites: this Hong Kong-based firm are only adapting existing LEGO Star Wars minifig-styled torches and keylights by adding lightsabres to them, reports Brickfanatics.com.

DK Books: as announced last week there will be two titles coming in June and September, and Rebelscum is reliably informed that they will also be publishing a LEGO Star Wars Episode VIII reader in March.

Scholastic: this publisher has tailed off their LEGO Star Wars releases and will only be publishing two titles in 2018.

Blue Ocean/Egmont/Panini/et al: the monthly Official LEGO Star Wars Magazine and Comic will continue to be published, with unique cover-mounted foilbagged minifigs and builds, in the majority of countries in Europe.

While most of this is based on solid and publically (if you know where to look) available information there is a certain wooliness to this report, and nothing is official until LEGO officially announces or releases their new Star Wars products.

Until that happens will keep bringing you as accurate a news service as we can, and you can help support our efforts by shopping for your LEGO sets using the links we provide.