Latest impact of other themes on historic themes

[x105Black]

26 minutes ago, MAB said:

The 2013 Castle sets were out into 2015. They overlapped with the first Lego Movie, and that had a castle set.

Right, but that's in the other direction...

I don't think they'd introduce a new Castle theme in this movie before the actual theme launches (which is what I assume he was saying).  And I don't think they'd include the 2013 Castle theme in the movie, though I could be wrong and we may see a different incarnation of it, damaged and post-apocalyptic.  But this is why I assume we will see maybe Nexo Knights if anything as a representation of Castle.  But even more likely, they ditch Castle references altogether and feature Elves instead.

[Robert8]

9 hours ago, MAB said:

The 2013 Castle sets were out into 2015. They overlapped with the first Lego Movie, and that had a castle set.

I don't think that would be the same as introducing a new castle theme

 

After what happened with Nexo Knights, I don't LEGO would want to take any risks with the next castle theme. And there will be a lot going on next year. Releasing a new castle theme in 2019 would like throwing it under the bus

[Aanchir]

14 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Isn't next year already too crowded for a Castle theme?

We will have the new Overwatch theme, and The LEGO Movie 2 theme, which are both "new" lines. + Harry Potter is rumored to be a new "evergreen" theme so it has to return next year (at least at the end). Also, Star Wars IX and Infinity Wars 4 coming out next year, both of them will get "brand new" waves. And add the current themes like City, Ninjago, DC Superheroes, Unikitty, Collectible Minifigures, Creator, Minecraft, Friends, Elves, etc

It's uncertain if Elves is continuing, Nexo Knights is basically confirmed not to be, Jurassic World is one of those licenses that doesn't typically get sets in non-movie years, and The LEGO Batman Movie and LEGO Ninjago Movie lines will probably be finished next year as well (unless LEGO continues to release Ninjago City expansions alongside the summer Ninjago sets). That's a lot of themes leaving or potentially leaving the picture. Themes like City, Star Wars, Super Heroes, Ninjago, Minecraft, and Minifigures are nothing new and were likely to stick around regardless of what new themes were on the table.

It's unclear how many new sets Overwatch will have, let alone how many of those will be folded into existing themes like BrickHeadz or Minifigures. For all we know it could just be a "minifigures series + D2C" thing like the Simpsons series + Simpsons House in 2014 or Disney series + Disney castle in 2016 (though, I'd expect BrickHeadz regardless, now that those are a thing that exists). The LEGO Movie 2 is a big deal for sure and will get lots of sets, but both The LEGO Batman Movie and LEGO Ninjago Movie came out the same year as the retail launch of BrickHeadz and DC Super Hero Girls, which were not particularly small themes!

In general, I would be VERY surprised if we've already heard about all the new 2019 themes when we're not even halfway through 2018. It's still anyone's guess what sort of themes we might have yet to hear about, but I don't think it's realistic to think Overwatch and The LEGO Movie 2 would preclude any other new product lines.

[BrickJagger]

10 hours ago, MAB said:

The 2013 Castle sets were out into 2015. They overlapped with the first Lego Movie, and that had a castle set.

What I said came out as kind of a ramble but that's what I was getting at. There are currently no "Castle" torsos being produced, as well as no heraldries. TLM2 is not themed around Castle, so I don't see TLG going out of their way to make an entirely new Castle faction specifically for one set (at most) from the movie. However, the lack of Castle stuff in the movie makes it more likely that a regular Castle theme is coming in the summer.

38 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

It's uncertain if Elves is continuing, Nexo Knights is basically confirmed not to be, Jurassic World is one of those licenses that doesn't typically get sets in non-movie years, and The LEGO Batman Movie and LEGO Ninjago Movie lines will probably be finished next year as well (unless LEGO continues to release Ninjago City expansions alongside the summer Ninjago sets). That's a lot of themes leaving or potentially leaving the picture. Themes like City, Star Wars, Super Heroes, Ninjago, Minecraft, and Minifigures are nothing new and were likely to stick around regardless of what new themes were on the table.

It's unclear how many new sets Overwatch will have, let alone how many of those will be folded into existing themes like BrickHeadz or Minifigures. For all we know it could just be a "minifigures series + D2C" thing like the Simpsons series + Simpsons House in 2014 or Disney series + Disney castle in 2016 (though, I'd expect BrickHeadz regardless, now that those are a thing that exists). The LEGO Movie 2 is a big deal for sure and will get lots of sets, but both The LEGO Batman Movie and LEGO Ninjago Movie came out the same year as the retail launch of BrickHeadz and DC Super Hero Girls, which were not particularly small themes!

In general, I would be VERY surprised if we've already heard about all the new 2019 themes when we're not even halfway through 2018. It's still anyone's guess what sort of themes we might have yet to hear about, but I don't think it's realistic to think Overwatch and The LEGO Movie 2 would preclude any other new product lines.

 

To be honest, I think that this is Elves' last year. The fantasy elements might overlap with Harry Potter, and I'm getting "final battle" vibes from the most recent wave. Overwatch doesn't seem to be a huge theme or anything, it'll probably be about the size of Minecraft and also has no overlap with Castle.

If we're getting Castle next year, I suspect it'll be a traditional theme in the same vein as Kingdoms, with about five or six sets, and will incorporate new parts and building techniques.

Edited June 9, 2018 by BrickJagger

[Aanchir]

31 minutes ago, BrickJagger said:

If we're getting Castle next year, I suspect it'll be a traditional theme in the same vein as Kingdoms, with about five or six sets, and will incorporate new parts and building techniques.

I think this is probably pretty realistic. One the recent molds I'm hoping to see more use of in the next Castle theme is this one. It's been used very effectively in LEGO Elves already, and combines really nicely with the existing 1x4x5 wall panels to create a look that's a bit less sharp and angular than the octagonal castle towers we've been seeing for years now. And yet, it doesn't result in such a big, featureless space as the 4x4x6 quarter cylinder panels that Harry Potter has been using since the early 2000s.

It would also be neat to see bigfigs in Castle again. The last time Castle had them was Fantasy Era in 2009, back before some of today's bigfig standards were even established. Even Nexo Knights didn't really incorporate bigfigs, instead opting for brick-built figures (not that I mind those). Axl was pretty much only "half-bigfig" — he used a standard minifigure head, legs, and even torso, his torso piece just was pre-assembled with a body extension that attached where the neck and arms of a normal minifigure go, and bigger arms were attached to that in turn. As for types of bigfig, It could be cool to see some actual giants (as opposed to trolls), though I understand that some people might not like those so much since they tend to be more associated with "fairy tales" than Tolkien-esque or Arthurian legends.

Brick-built dragons and monsters are always fun and would certainly help motivate ME to buy new Castle sets, though I know some people here prefer molded ones. In any case, the new smaller dragon wing mold from LEGO Elves or the Thestral wing mold from LEGO Harry Potter could potentially be useful for either brick-built OR molded dragons.

I also agree the writing's on the wall for Elves, as much as I'd like for it to continue! Maybe the story wrapping up will be a good opportunity for me to get off my butt and actually work on finishing some of the LEGO Elves MOC and story ideas I've been stockpiling. I want to try making a mermaid castle certainly. My brother bought a big ol' bag of mini-doll parts one year at BrickFair if I ever wanted to try my hand at customizing new Elves outfits or character designs.

[Wardancer]

It is old news really, but I wanted to point out that the new mammoth can be used in historic themes as well. I like that it has two areas with studs on top (the old elephant only has one), so it can have more figs and structures on top. Also it would be nice to see chariots with the new sabertooth tigers.

[Wardancer]

On 5.6.2018 at 11:42 AM, Exetrius said:

 

This is awesome! Is the bird's head supposed to be armored? It should be relatively easy to attach this head to a LOTR eagle (after you saw off the head). The wings will enable a new class of white pegasi when attached to a horse. Easy. Even greater is the blueish creature's head. With 7 of those you can make a great hydra I guess.

 

Edited June 10, 2018 by Wardancer

[Exetrius]

5 hours ago, Wardancer said:

This is awesome! Is the bird's head supposed to be armored? It should be relatively easy to attach this head to a LOTR eagle (after you saw off the head). The wings will enable a new class of white pegasi when attached to a horse. Easy. Even greater is the blueish creature's head. With 7 of those you can make a great hydra I guess.

 

I don't think that's armour on the bird's head, just feather pattern details. Anyway, it's a great mould and I hope they'll be using it in more colours with more creatures. Good idea for the pegasi! Two new things I noticed from this set: the mole is also included and those large golden whips which are new. 

[x105Black]

6 hours ago, Exetrius said:

the mole is also included and those large golden whips which are new. 

What mole?  The niffler?  The creature he is holding?  Yeah, that's the highlight of the set for me.  Good catch on the whips though, I didn't notice those the first time.

[Wardancer]

Well, it is kind of obvious, but needs to be mentioned here: the new Harry Potter poseable short legs can be useful for making poseable dwarves, hobbits and other halflings. Let us hope they come in other themes as well.

[Agent Kallus]

If the dobby legs are dual molded the way I think they are then they would make great bare foot hobbit legs.

3 hours ago, Wardancer said:

Well, it is kind of obvious, but needs to be mentioned here: the new Harry Potter poseable short legs can be useful for making poseable dwarves, hobbits and other halflings. Let us hope they come in other themes as well.

They instantly made me think of lotr, Lego could use the different heights to help distinguish hobbits and dwarves,I might be being optimistic but I could see lego revitalizing lotr as a d2c only line with one set a year or less like the simpsons minus the cmfs.

[x105Black]

On 6/29/2018 at 7:52 AM, Agent Kallus said:

Lego could use the different heights to help distinguish hobbits and dwarves

Even though the new legs are closer to a medium than short, I would still hope that LEGO would use them for dwarves or any short characters.  I just don't like short legs because of the lack of articulation.

[AmperZand]

On 6/10/2018 at 9:09 AM, Wardancer said:

It is old news really, but I wanted to point out that the new mammoth can be used in historic themes as well. I like that it has two areas with studs on top (the old elephant only has one), so it can have more figs and structures on top. Also it would be nice to see chariots with the new sabertooth tigers.

I'm not a big fan of LEGO's mammoth. I saw one at a LEGO store last week and I think it's head is a funny shape and too far from its body. That said, it's definitely worthy of a mention in this thread. Mammoths are both prehistoric and historic animals. They didn't go extinct until 2000BC, well after writing was invented in roughly 3500BC.

The smilodon, in contrast, is cool. I have one on order from BAP. It's not historic though: the last ones died out about 8000BC. As a fantasy creature though or in a prehistoric scene, it fits perfectly. I like @Wardancer's idea of one pulling a chariot  but will probably display mine by my cavemen just as it is. 

[x105Black]

Why is 8000BC less historic than 2000BC?  Does history not include pre-history?

[AmperZand]

9 hours ago, x105Black said:

Why is 8000BC less historic than 2000BC?  Does history not include pre-history?

A bit OT, but as you asked...

Sensu stricto, history is since it has been recorded (in writing). Prehistory is anything before that. So mammoths are prehistoric and historic, but sabre tooth cats are only the former.  

I haven't checked whether EB considers prehistory as part of history and therefore falling within 'Historic Themes'. But as 'Historic Themes' includes fantasy for EB's purposes, I think prehistory is OK here too, hence my bringing up of the latest LEGO dinosaurs earlier in this thread.  

[MAB]

1 hour ago, AmperZand said:

I haven't checked whether EB considers prehistory as part of history and therefore falling within 'Historic Themes'. But as 'Historic Themes' includes fantasy for EB's purposes, I think prehistory is OK here too, hence my bringing up of the latest LEGO dinosaurs earlier in this thread.  

 

If modern day minifigures are hunting dinosaurs in vehicles, it's "Action". If licensed minifigures are hunting (or being hunted by) licensed dinosaurs in licensed vehicles, it's "Licensed".

So I guess that leaves pre-historic dioramas (with or without cavemen style minifigures) for us here!

 

 

[thetang22]

5 hours ago, AmperZand said:

history is since it has been recorded (in writing).  

This seemed a strange comment to me, so I decided to look up the definition of "history" from several different sources online.  I didn't find a single one stating that "history" was only since things have been written.  They all seem to be some variation of:

- the whole series of past events

- the study of the whole series of past events

[x105Black]

34 minutes ago, thetang22 said:

This seemed a strange comment to me, so I decided to look up the definition of "history" from several different sources online.  I didn't find a single one stating that "history" was only since things have been written.  They all seem to be some variation of:

- the whole series of past events

- the study of the whole series of past events

That's how I see it.

[AmperZand]

6 hours ago, thetang22 said:

This seemed a strange comment to me, so I decided to look up the definition of "history" from several different sources online.  I didn't find a single one stating that "history" was only since things have been written.  They all seem to be some variation of:

- the whole series of past events

- the study of the whole series of past events

Please see: History vs prehistory.

Also Wikipedia: 'Human prehistory is the period between the use of the first stone tools c. 3.3 million years ago by hominins and the invention of writing systems' and 'History (from Greek ἱστορία, historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation")^[2]is the study of the past as it is described in written documents.'

I haven't taken a history class since I was an undergrad which was a loooong time ago, but I'm pretty sure the definitions haven't changed.

[x105Black]

I think you're splitting hairs...

[AmperZand]

4 hours ago, x105Black said:

I think you're splitting hairs...

 

20 hours ago, AmperZand said:

Sensu stricto, history is since it has been recorded (in writing). Prehistory is anything before that.

Emphasis added.

In fairness, I did point out that I was speaking technically.

 

[x105Black]

Fair enough.

[Aine]

Ok, speaking sensu stricto historically, I'd like to know your ideas about a thing that bothers me a little bit. I might be splitting hair, but bear with me. 

I'm not really a fan of how female minifigs are solved in LEGO; I'm namely concerned with legs. Although the "skirt" solution is clever and it gives us lots of nice printings, it's too blocky, the women can't sit down or ride the horse properly, and viewev from the side, they look too blocky. Using the normal legs makes them a bit masculine for my liking, and it's not exactly historical either. (One may argue that they don't wear trousers but say wool leggings, but it still doesn't make them wear skirt or dress.)
there's of course a possibility to use the cloth skirts, yet they are not really nice, they don't come in that many colours, and I don't know how they limit legs articulation.

I thought about some solution to this "issue", but the only thing I came with was to build a skirt+legs+shoes with a 2x1 brick for skirt, 1x1 round plates for each leg and then 1x1 square plate for shoe. It's... not nice, really.

So, what's your solution for female legs? Do you prefer the original dress, even though it limits the movement? Do you use minifig legs? Or do you have some better idea?

 

Thanks for help!

Edited July 8, 2018 by Aine

[MAB]

On 7/8/2018 at 7:43 AM, Aine said:

the women can't sit down or ride the horse properly, and

 

There are a number of techniques using curved slopes that look good for women wearing big skirts sitting down, and these would probably work fine for riding horses too, if the figure is riding side-saddle.

[Aine]

On 7/9/2018 at 12:10 PM, MAB said:

There are a number of techniques using curved slopes that look good for women wearing big skirts sitting down, and these would probably work fine for riding horses too, if the figure is riding side-saddle.

True, but those technics don't solve most of my issues. However, I realized that there's a thread specifically about this detail, so I'll move there.
If any mod feels that these last posts should be cleaned, I'm totally fine with that, and sorry that I did miss the appropriate thread!
Cheers!