Super Mario 2023 - Rumors & Discussion

[Natant16]

On 2/16/2023 at 6:32 AM, SlimyGhoul said:

Apologies for the double post, but WM posted this image. Are bootlegs ever indicative of things coming down the pipeline? Some of these are just too good.

 

Where does this kind of stuff get announced?

[kevkipo]

On 2/17/2023 at 12:52 PM, Agent Kallus said:

When (or if but I'm going to go with when ) the Zelda set is revealed, should we turn this into a Nintendo sets discussion thread ?

I second this, partly because it would liven up this thread, and in other part because I believe there's overlap between Mario and Zelda fans. Same as Marvel for example.
 

On 2/16/2023 at 3:32 PM, SlimyGhoul said:

Apologies for the double post, but WM posted this image. Are bootlegs ever indicative of things coming down the pipeline? Some of these are just too good.

 

*SNIP*

I sincerely hope potential Mario minifigures don't come out looking like that, the difference in head size isn't great. I do hope as well that some characters get complete specialized molds, like Toad for example.

Edited February 19, 2023 by kevkipo

[Bricknificent]

The LEGO Disney CMF Series has leaked. Princess Aurora actually looks a bit like Princess Peach!

[PGBQW]

The leaked pinocchio headpiece would work pretty well for Mario and Luigi (if they decided to give them noses)

[Agent Kallus]

1 hour ago, PGBQW said:

The leaked pinocchio headpiece would work pretty well for Mario and Luigi (if they decided to give them noses)

Ew, 

[Borex]

2 hours ago, Bricknificent said:

The LEGO Disney CMF Series has leaked. Princess Aurora actually looks a bit like Princess Peach!

Yeah, was thinking the same

[nicknack116]

4 hours ago, PGBQW said:

The leaked pinocchio headpiece would work pretty well for Mario and Luigi (if they decided to give them noses)

Looking at the Pinocchio head, and I love this idea!

It seems like LEGO prefers to make human characters using regular minifig heads if they can, right? So a fully-molded head seems like it wouldn’t be their first choice for Mario or Luigi.

And in my opinion, Mario and Luigi never look right when I see people attempt to make them using custom prints on a regular LEGO head, whether they include the nose or not.

 

[Kaijumeister]

34 minutes ago, nicknack116 said:

It seems like LEGO prefers to make human characters using regular minifig heads if they can, right? So a fully-molded head seems like it wouldn’t be their first choice for Mario or Luigi.

I feel like it’s a case-by-case thing when it comes to Lego minifigures. Part of what makes minifigures so appealing is that they’re interpretations / abstractions of characters rather than 1:1 renditions of them. But at the same time, you want to have them be recognisable and desirable.

It’s like with the old Simpsons theme, which I don’t think would’ve worked at all as standard minifigures, hence the moulded heads. It feels like there’s more wiggle room when it comes to Mario, but moulded heads and standard minifigure parts both have their pros and cons I guess.

[Mandalorianknight]

They could also just do printed noses 

[nicknack116]

Totally agree that it’s a case-by-case basis. I’m having a hard time thinking of any molded LEGO heads for human characters, though? Simpsons is the closest I can think of, and even they aren’t quite human.

Have there been any? Just trying to understand if LEGO would even attempt to make Mario/Luigi/Peach with molded heads or if they would only use minifigure heads?

Personally, printing noses on the figures never looks good to me in any of the custom/third-party/etc versions I’ve seen online. 

[Agent Kallus]

Boromir : minifigs have no noses, minifigs need no noses!

[SlimyGhoul]

According to an existing leaker, the latest blind box wave for Mario is here to stay, aka we’re confirmed not getting another one. 
 

👀 cautiously optimistic. 

[PGBQW]

14 hours ago, Kaijumeister said:

It’s like with the old Simpsons theme, which I don’t think would’ve worked at all as standard minifigures, hence the moulded heads

Don't get me started on that

14 hours ago, Mandalorianknight said:

They could also just do printed noses 

What happened to you, man? Since when do you let facts and logic cloud our conspiracy theories?

13 hours ago, nicknack116 said:

Have there been any? Just trying to understand if LEGO would even attempt to make Mario/Luigi/Peach with molded heads or if they would only use minifigure heads?

I can see Peach working with a regular head, but Mario and Luigi have very prominent noses.

[BrickBob Studpants]

Just my opinion, but as far as I‘m concerned, printed heads just do not work for Mario and friends. Look at the bootlegs and you‘ll see why I think that 

If a cartoony character’s head shape is unique enough, a new part is justified in my eyes. The Simpsons are a good example. Using regular minifig heads looks cheap, awkward and offputting to me. Same thing with that goofy-looking Squidward from 2006, which got completely blown out of the water (pun intended) when the version with the moulded head got released 

Sure, most cartoon characters with specialised heads tend to be animal-based, but Mario‘s head shape is unique and distinct enough to also warrant that treatment.

[Agent Kallus]

No no no no!

Mario and Luigi are just guys, they should have normal minifig heads with no printed noses.

I want them to look good. 

 

[SlimyGhoul]

1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Just my opinion, but as far as I‘m concerned, printed heads just do not work for Mario and friends. Look at the bootlegs and you‘ll see why I think that 

If a cartoony character’s head shape is unique enough, a new part is justified in my eyes. The Simpsons are a good example. Using regular minifig heads looks cheap, awkward and offputting to me. Same thing with that goofy-looking Squidward from 2006, which got completely blown out of the water (pun intended) when the version with the moulded head got released 

 Sure, most cartoon characters with specialised heads tend to be animal-based, but Mario‘s head shape is unique and distinct enough to also warrant that treatment.

IMO, if even one of the characters warrants a cartoon head mold, you have to do all of them in it to keep the style consistent. Mario is kinda like that.

[kevkipo]

1 hour ago, Agent Kallus said:

No no no no!

Mario and Luigi are just guys, they should have normal minifig heads with no printed noses.

I want them to look good. 

 

Have you seen examples of how that looks? It's almost unrecognisable as the character IMO...
 

1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Just my opinion, but as far as I‘m concerned, printed heads just do not work for Mario and friends. Look at the bootlegs and you‘ll see why I think that 

If a cartoony character’s head shape is unique enough, a new part is justified in my eyes. The Simpsons are a good example. Using regular minifig heads looks cheap, awkward and offputting to me. Same thing with that goofy-looking Squidward from 2006, which got completely blown out of the water (pun intended) when the version with the moulded head got released 

Sure, most cartoon characters with specialised heads tend to be animal-based, but Mario‘s head shape is unique and distinct enough to also warrant that treatment.

Yes agreed. Animated / stylized choices should be done justice. The roundness of Mario's features (Nose, mustache, chin, cap, eyes) are a deliberate choice, this is integral to the character and should be left in tact. The same way the Simpsons characters have been handled. For Lego you can defenitely get away with the standard minifig body on most characters, but the heads? No way. Mario has extremely exaggerated features.

Edited February 20, 2023 by kevkipo

[Agent Kallus]

Just now, kevkipo said:

Have you seen examples of how that looks?

 

Yes I much prefer that look, looks plenty recognisable to me when done well and also recognisable as a Lego minifigure, if they need to match the head of the source material so exactly we might as stick action figure heads on minifig bodies.

[kevkipo]

You mean in this way or with regular minifigure dotted eyes and an erased nose?

[Borex]

But all this talk about Mario minifigs, we still don’t know if they’ll ever give us Mario minifigs, right?

And if they make minifigs i think they’ll go with all new molded heads  

 

[BrickBob Studpants]

3 minutes ago, Borex said:

But all this talk about Mario minifigs, we still don’t know if they’ll ever give us Mario minifigs, right?

And if they make minifigs i think they’ll go with all new molded heads  

Correct, there are no rumours. People just speculate about potential minifig sets based on circumstantial evidence. If we can call it „evidence“ at all. All we know is that there is no starterpack-shaped box and allegedly no series 7. Concluding this must mean minifig sets are coming is quite a leap in logic

[Agent Kallus]

19 minutes ago, kevkipo said:

You mean in this way or with regular minifigure dotted eyes and an erased nose?

I'm talking regular minifigures eyes and yeah no nose.

[ToaDraco]

17 hours ago, nicknack116 said:

Totally agree that it’s a case-by-case basis. I’m having a hard time thinking of any molded LEGO heads for human characters, though? Simpsons is the closest I can think of, and even they aren’t quite human.

Have there been any? Just trying to understand if LEGO would even attempt to make Mario/Luigi/Peach with molded heads or if they would only use minifigure heads?

Personally, printing noses on the figures never looks good to me in any of the custom/third-party/etc versions I’ve seen online. 

The Muppets cmf would probably be the closest.

Regarding the existing Mario system, I would love a Wario starter pack just like we've gotten for Mario, Luigi and Peach. I can't imagine them just stopping there and not making any more new starter courses.

Regarding wether ot not we ever get minifigs, Mario should have mid-sized legs and I think a molded head would be best. I just have yet to see a minifig head solution I'm satisfied with. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by ToaDraco

[nicknack116]

46 minutes ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Correct, there are no rumours. People just speculate about potential minifig sets based on circumstantial evidence. If we can call it „evidence“ at all. All we know is that there is no starterpack-shaped box and allegedly no series 7. Concluding this must mean minifig sets are coming is quite a leap in logic 

I don’t think anyone is saying it “must” mean minifig sets. But just a recognition that LEGO is breaking their Mario line pattern this year. So there’s cautious hope/speculation that this pattern break might result in minifig sets. 

We’ve seen stranger things this year already with the survey leak and all the reactions to that. Not to mention some odd set choices across a lot of lines. LEGO is getting harder to predict.

This discussion has been fun to follow. I think it’s clear that if we’re getting Mario minifigs, nailing the head design will be key. Everyone has different opinions on how to execute it.

[SlimyGhoul]

2 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Correct, there are no rumours. People just speculate about potential minifig sets based on circumstantial evidence. If we can call it „evidence“ at all. All we know is that there is no starterpack-shaped box and allegedly no series 7. Concluding this must mean minifig sets are coming is quite a leap in logic

Actually, it's more than that:

- No new starter course sets

- No Series 7 Minifigs (actually confirmed, not allegedly)

- 3 Years since the theme started

- P2P ratios are much different this time around, matching closer to minifig set P2Ps

- 18+ set is $60

- Two $100 sets with over 1,000 pieces

- Sonic sets getting minifigs

- Zelda test stuff

Edited February 20, 2023 by SlimyGhoul