[PRESS RELEASE] 21316 - Lego Ideas Flinstones

[williejm]

Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

Hmmph, then they might as well not be minifigures.  

 

I think it's horses for courses. Obviously some people prefer everything to have a standard minifigure head, but some of the cartoon figures are so substantially facially different that it really does merit a moulded head. I think that's visibly true here, as it is with (some of) the Disney figures. The Scooby Doo humans worked but only because they all got new moulded hair, and their faces are not very angular or stylised.
 

[Robert8]

I think they look ok. 

The problem here is that some cartoon character have such over exaggerated facial features, that they don't translate well into 2D printed faces. 

Like Captain Hook and Genie from the Disney Series. On the opposite, characters like the Scooby Doo gang have more normal head/faces so they look good as minifigures. 

 

EDIT. Well, this is pretty much what williejm just said, but he posted it while I was typing 

Edited January 3, 2019 by Robert8

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, williejm said:

I think it's horses for courses. Obviously some people prefer everything to have a standard minifigure head, but some of the cartoon figures are so substantially facially different that it really does merit a moulded head. I think that's visibly true here, as it is with (some of) the Disney figures. The Scooby Doo humans worked but only because they all got new moulded hair, and their faces are not very angular or stylised.

For me, prefabricated heads are like POOPs (Parts Out Of Other Parts), as they're much more limited in their reusability compared to the assembly of the composed parts that singular piece represents. Like bricks, minifigures and their components should be thought of as construction toys, not as static toys.

[williejm]

Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

For me, prefabricated heads are like POOPs (Parts Out Of Other Parts), as they're much more limited in their reusability compared to the assembly of the composed parts that singular piece represents. Like bricks, minifigures and their components should be thought of as construction toys, not as static toys.

fine that, but what do you reuse a painfully printed cartoon character head for presently?
At least a Simpsons or Mickey Mouse head can be a 'mask' or decoration in a city theme

[Digger of Bricks]

29 minutes ago, williejm said:

fine that, but what do you reuse a painfully printed cartoon character head for presently?
At least a Simpsons or Mickey Mouse head can be a 'mask' or decoration in a city theme

As with so much, AFOLs can either neglect them, or can find more quirkier ways of incorporating them into creations that are, well, quirky. They're like like the overabundant "costumed" CMFs we see often nowadays, an amusing, quickly-expirable throwaway joke that loses steam real quickly. 

Point being, they're just not the gift that keeps on giving, unlike most construction and/or minifigure parts that builders continue to find new usages for decades after the fact.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Digger of Bricks

[MAB]

I don't mind the molded heads so much, they are what they are. They are no less usable than some printed parts. For example:

These legs can only be used with that torso. If used with any other torso, the printed rope doesn't match up. This is happening more and more these days, meaning the parts of a minifigure are not as modular as they could be.

[williejm]

On 1/3/2019 at 9:06 AM, MAB said:

I don't mind the molded heads so much, they are what they are. They are no less usable than some printed parts. For example:

These legs can only be used with that torso. If used with any other torso, the printed rope doesn't match up. This is happening more and more these days, meaning the parts of a minifigure are not as modular as they could be.

Indeed. Which is why I’m rarely in the camp asking for more leg printing. Another drawback of printed legs is that it often limits how good the figure looks when it’s not standing bolt upright. Heaven forbid you want to pose the poseable legs!

[Dr.Cogg]

My problem is the original submissions (to me) are superior to what we got and I don't get why lego changed them.

 

[Digger of Bricks]

5 hours ago, Dr.Cogg said:

My problem is the original submissions (to me) are superior to what we got and I don't get why lego changed them.

Compatibility with the designs of minifigures from other themes, perhaps? 

[ChrisW]

I think Scooby managed to capture the likenesses quite well because the characters are more in proportion to realistic human models.

Fred and Barney have big noses and heads. I do think if they weren’t prepared to print noses, as in the fantastic original submission, then they should’ve gone the moulded route, even if that wasn’t what’s been done before with Ideas.

And speaking of a lack of new moulds, does that mean no Dino too? Some of those old baby dinosaur poly bag moulds from back in the day would even be fine with me...

 

[williejm]

22 hours ago, Dr.Cogg said:

My problem is the original submissions (to me) are superior to what we got and I don't get why lego changed them

 

I’m guessing it will be down to the licensing agreement for the characters and the agreement between Lego and Hanna Barbera - similar to some of the odd hairstyle choices in the Big Bang set. We also know from the TLM2 Wizard of Oz figures that they’re not absolutely averse to printed noses if they are merited ... 

 

 

[Huigberts Builds]

23 hours ago, ChrisW said:

And speaking of a lack of new moulds, does that mean no Dino too? Some of those old baby dinosaur poly bag moulds from back in the day would even be fine with me...

The one who made the ideas project added a brick build Dino in the updates so I hope Lego does the same.

[MatthewRC]

On 1/3/2019 at 7:43 AM, Lego-Freak said:

Ideas sets don‘t ever introduce a single new mould, let alone 4 at once  I even doubt that the Simpsons D2C would have had moulded heads for the minifigs if it weren‘t for the accompanying CMF series (the Kwik-E mart the following year included Snake, sure, but that was only one new mould).

Besides, the Scooby-doo theme didn‘t need moulded heads either 

If Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty ever got new-mold head pieces, save them for a potential LEGO Hanna-Barbera CMF Series in the future.

[essel]

Seen on a private FB group: someone found the Flintstones set at an independent toy store in the French-speaking part of Belgium for 59.99€ (pricing might be higher than in other EU countries, due to TLG's nonsensical Benelux tax), 3-4 copies left yesterday.

It features the four figures that had leaked, but no Dino or children (which some of us were still hoping for). Fred's car is larger than the original proposal, has a fabric roof and the house seems fairly similar, presumably with an open back (there were no pictures of the reverse side of the box). It says 10+, has yellow sides and features a new teal brick separator. A palm tree and a mailbox are also included in the build, but no slope for the car or Bedrock sign.

I'm very surprised that this retailer got the sets so early, because it's not even been officially announced. Even if the official release date were 1 March 2019, usually retailers have to wait at least a couple of months (if not more) to be allowed to sell them. One might think of the UCS Y-Wing being available early at a Certified Store before the May release, but in this case we are not even talking of a Certified Store… Can you think of any similar cases?

[Foxes Productionz]

42 minutes ago, essel said:

Seen on a private FB group: someone found the Flintstones set at an independent toy store in the French-speaking part of Belgium for 59.99€ (pricing might be higher than in other EU countries, due to TLG's nonsensical Benelux tax), 3-4 copies left yesterday.

It features the four figures that had leaked, but no Dino or children (which some of us were still hoping for). Fred's car is larger than the original proposal, has a fabric roof and the house seems fairly similar, presumably with an open back (there were no pictures of the reverse side of the box). It says 10+, has yellow sides and features a new teal brick separator. A palm tree and a mailbox are also included in the build, but no slope for the car or Bedrock sign.

I'm very surprised that this retailer got the sets so early, because it's not even been officially announced. Even if the official release date were 1 March 2019, usually retailers have to wait at least a couple of months (if not more) to be allowed to sell them. One might think of the UCS Y-Wing being available early at a Certified Store before the May release, but in this case we are not even talking of a Certified Store… Can you think of any similar cases?

Well something similar happened with the Captain Marvel set, someone found it in store before it was even revealed.

If this info is real, I’m honestly a little bit let down. I mean no kids I was kinda expecting, but No Dino  However I’ll reserve my final judgments for when I actually see the set. 

[legosamsonite]

Just saw a rough picture of the set on Instagram, looks good enough, shsme about the kids missing and dino

[Huigberts Builds]

No kids and no Dino? I'm really disappointed now. I kinda expected Dino, but the children are a huge shame. I mean we can kinda make a brickbuild Dino ourselves, but the children will be near to impossible to recreate with existing pieces and we will likely not ever get a chance for them again. And that 2 of the figures we do get have these strange faces don't make the set any better. At least the females look good and the build is still awesome I guess.

[adwind]

Why would they do that? Is it that expensive to include few extra minifigs into not that big set? :(

[Falconfan1414]

Lego posted a teaser for the set. It looks like a reveal is coming soon.

[Robert8]

 

[Dragunov2]

Removed 

[Blondie-Wan]

Whoa. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the fabric element for the car top is a new piece - a first for LEGO Ideas.

[BrickG]

21 minutes ago, Blondie-Wan said:

Whoa. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the fabric element for the car top is a new piece - a first for LEGO Ideas.

That doesn't really count. New fabric patterns are a lot cheaper than new regular lego parts.

[Robert8]

We have to wait to see if they bargained with another line and maybe the fabric piece was made with another line's budget like Ninjago or something, just appearing here first

[Blondie-Wan]

2 hours ago, BrickG said:

That doesn't really count. New fabric patterns are a lot cheaper than new regular lego parts.

Of course they are, but even fabric elements are specifically prohibited by the rules against new parts in product ideas. And it’s still a first, even if it’s “only” a soft goods part - no previous CUUSOO / Ideas set has had one before.

1 hour ago, Robert8 said:

We have to wait to see if they bargained with another line and maybe the fabric piece was made with another line's budget like Ninjago or something, just appearing here first

Such bargaining with another line wouldn’t be the first time; it happened with the Doctor Who Ideas set, after all, which got to use the new hair and sonic screwdriver elements right after they appeared in a LEGO Dimensions Level Pack (and incidentally, in doing so made the Doctor Who set the first Ideas set released from an existing licensed pop-culture theme, while to date none have been approved). But this would be the first time a new part shape (even a “mere” fabric element) has actually made its official debut in an Ideas set (assuming I’m right about it not having been used before, and that it doesn’t come out in a Ninjago set or something first, as you suggest).