LEGO Ninjago 2019

[Thedarkmaster2]

Just now, Digger of Bricks said:

Can't it be varied on a wave-to-wave basis anthologically, like I had suggested? 

We kinda already had a steam/cyber punk motif with the Dragon hunters. Also Rebooted could be argued to have a retrofuture vib. I don't really see what you want not existing

Also I never implied otherwise

 

[Digger of Bricks]

Just now, Thedarkmaster2 said:

We kinda already had a steam/cyber punk motif with the Dragon hunters. Also Rebooted could be argued to have a retrofuture vib. I don't really see what you want not existing

It's the medieval ninja garb I'm rather nitpicky about. While their attire can take slight stylistic cues from the genres/tropes that various waves aspire after, they never go all the way like Nexo Knights had done. If these ninja pilot mecha, why not give theme them attire that seamlessly blend medieval Japanese design motifs with Jaeger Pilot suits? 

[Thedarkmaster2]

33 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

why not give theme them attire that seamlessly blend medieval Japanese design motifs with Jaeger Pilot suits? 

Because they wouldn't really resemble ninjas anymore if they did that

[Digger of Bricks]

13 minutes ago, Thedarkmaster2 said:

Because they wouldn't really resemble ninjas anymore if they did that

Only if they copy such a look verbatim-ly. For instance, a "ninja mecha pilot" suit could have a helmet that would vaguely resemble the Series 9 Battle Mech's headgear, with the face-mask doubling as a breathing apparatus and his eyes shielded by a visor. Thereby, it'd evoke a ninja's headgarb without actually being such.

My overall point, I find it much smarter to EVOKE  such inspirations rather than just stick a ninja in a fighter jet and call it a day. The Nexo Knights' suit designs evoked medieval knights' armor rather than copy it. 

Edited February 17, 2019 by Digger of Bricks

[crimsondeity]

But they aren’t really “mech pilots” as a general rule; most of the machines they operate are vehicle-based, when they aren’t traveling on a flying pirate ship or battling on top of dragons. 

 

They tweak the suits to tie into whatever sub-theme is current, while still maintaining the “ninja” motif. On a toy level, the suits are the only thing that really makes the line “ninjas”; everything else is a clever mix of fantasy, sci-fi and whatever-punk (cyber, steam, bamboo, etc). 

I imagine that’s what’s helped maintain the theme’s evergreen status; there are elements that appeal to all sorts of interests.

[Exetrius]

6 minutes ago, crimsondeity said:

They tweak the suits to tie into whatever sub-theme is current, while still maintaining the “ninja” motif. On a toy level, the suits are the only thing that really makes the line “ninjas”; everything else is a clever mix of fantasy, sci-fi and whatever-punk (cyber, steam, bamboo, etc). 

Well, they take whatever and then put ninjas in it. Thus, one might say all waves and sets are in fact... ninja-punk.  

Edited February 17, 2019 by Exetrius

[crimsondeity]

1 hour ago, Exetrius said:

Well, they take whatever and then put ninjas in it. Thus, one might say all waves and sets are in fact... ninja-punk.  

It does seem like that sometimes! I’m really curious to see what this next wave will do.

[Digger of Bricks]

1 hour ago, crimsondeity said:

They tweak the suits to tie into whatever sub-theme is current, while still maintaining the “ninja” motif. On a toy level, the suits are the only thing that really makes the line “ninjas”; everything else is a clever mix of fantasy, sci-fi and whatever-punk (cyber, steam, bamboo, etc). 

I know I'm beating this like a dead horse, but Nexo Knights blended its borrowed subject matters much better. 

1 hour ago, Exetrius said:

Well, they take whatever and then put ninjas in it.

...in a "copy-paste" sort of way.  

[benderisgreat]

4 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I know I'm beating this like a dead horse, but Nexo Knights blended its borrowed subject matters much better. 

...in a "copy-paste" sort of way.  

Yes, Nexo did it better, and failed spectacularly. Just saying. Personaly I like Ninjago as it is and don't want them to change anything.

[Thedarkmaster2]

11 minutes ago, Digger of Bricks said:

I know I'm beating this like a dead horse, but Nexo Knights blended its borrowed subject matters much better.

It was much better yes... At being cancelled

[Digger of Bricks]

3 minutes ago, benderisgreat said:

Yes, Nexo did it better, and failed spectacularly. Just saying.

Just now, Thedarkmaster2 said:

It was much better yes... At being cancelled

Who's to say that which I highlighted was the primary culprit in Nexo Knights shortened lifespan?  

[Thedarkmaster2]

1 hour ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Who's to say that which I highlighted was the primary culprit in Nexo Knights shortened lifespan?  

He never said you said that it was the primary culprit in Nexo Knight's cancellation.

[Aanchir]

11 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

If kids don't care much about those aesthetic technicalities, why shouldn't the theme evolve to be more retrofuturistically coherent? You see, I'm just asking for Ninjago to try and be more like Nexo Knights. In my eyes, that theme did it right, as the knights actually "dressed for the occasion" so to speak. 

Because it’s not supposed to feel like an alternate history of our world where technology and culture developed differently, it’s supposed to be a different world entirely that never resembled ours. You seem to be bothered by the sense that Ninjago shows an anachronistic world full of stuff that never could have coexisted, when that is a big part of what makes the theme so appealing as otherworldly escapist fantasy.

8 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

Can't it be varied on a wave-to-wave basis anthologically, like I had suggested? 

Probably not, no! Because it can be a lot more successful by having stuff that appeals to kids who like the more traditional, more modern, and more futuristic parts of the theme every year than by switching between those and alienating a sizable portion of the fan base every year by making them feel like Ninjago had entirely abandoned the particular types of sets or design cues that they happened to prefer. It elevates consistency within each particular wave at the expense of continuity.

And for what purpose? To make it more appealing to adults with a taste for realism, who weren’t a major part of its intended audience anyhow? I mean, plenty of other successful toy and media IPs like He-Man, Thundercats, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and even Star Wars have been played just as loose with their level of technology at any given point. After all, how plausible is it that Jabba’s palace guards can be effective at their jobs with ordinary metal axes and armor when several of the bounty hunters Jabba employs — even Boba Fett, who stands right beside Jabba in several scenes and doesn’t owe any obvious debts or loyalties to Jabba — routinely carry laser blasters?

And as for the outfits… in real life we live in a world with all kinds of crazy technology, and yet the overall appearance of certain types of clothing men's suits hasn't changed in any particularly radical and lasting way in well over 100 years. So why act as though "ninja suits", which typically don't resemble the more ordinary types of clothing worn by actual ninja anyhow, couldn't be the standard uniform of magical elemental ninja in a world where mechs and robots happen to exist?

You give examples of futuristic mech armor in Pacific Rim as what a mech pilot might more realistically wear… but why is it realistic? It's not as though the people who pilot real-world war machines like fighter planes or tanks wear weird, conspicuously metal-plated spacesuits as part of their job. And the very existence of giant humanoid mecha as a viable combat equipment is pretty much entirely implausible anyway no matter what the setting — there is not really any meaningful tactical advantage against any sort of opponent for an enormous battle vehicle to have human-like dexterity, let alone an unstable bipedal design that only has the proportions it does to satisfy the biological needs of normal-sized, non-robotic humans!

Edited February 17, 2019 by Aanchir

[Digger of Bricks]

45 minutes ago, Aanchir said:

Because it’s not supposed to feel like an alternate history of our world where technology and culture developed differently, it’s supposed to be a different world entirely that never resembled ours. You seem to be bothered by the sense that Ninjago shows an anachronistic world full of stuff that never could have coexisted, when that is a big part of what makes the theme so appealing as otherworldly escapist fantasy.

Retrofuturism isn't always strictly alternate history respective to our world, as it's also inclusive of completely fantastical settings evocative real-world cultures and time periods of the past. Technically, a lot of fantasy that isn't set in a world inspired after Medieval Europe can get thrown into the category of Retrofuturism. So, by Retrofuturistic Coherency, I'm just suggesting that all aspects of a created world that fuses varying technologies and cultural motifs together maybe come to more of an even footing. 

Again, Nexo Knights did that just a little better I think.

1 hour ago, Aanchir said:

And as for the outfits… in real life we live in a world with all kinds of crazy technology, and yet the overall appearance of certain types of clothing men's suits hasn't changed in any particularly radical and lasting way in well over 100 years. So why act as though "ninja suits", which typically don't resemble the more ordinary types of clothing worn by actual ninja anyhow, couldn't be the standard uniform of magical elemental ninja in a world where mechs and robots happen to exist?

You give examples of futuristic mech armor in Pacific Rim as what a mech pilot might more realistically wear… but why is it realistic? It's not as though the people who pilot real-world war machines like fighter planes or tanks wear weird, conspicuously metal-plated spacesuits as part of their job. And the very existence of giant humanoid mecha as a viable combat equipment is pretty much entirely implausible anyway no matter what the setting — there is not really any meaningful tactical advantage against any sort of opponent for an enormous battle vehicle to have human-like dexterity, let alone an unstable bipedal design that only has the proportions it does to satisfy the biological needs of normal-sized, non-robotic humans!

I didn't suggest Jaeger Pilots' attire was in any way realistic, just that it's more fitting for the archetypical mecha pilot you see in Japanese Magna and Anime. I just think it'd just be ten times cooler if they only gave the ninja attire that suit their rides more fittingly, much like NEXO KNIGHTS had done.

[Dr.Cogg]

But the Ninja are not Mech Pilots (except in the Movie, which is different from the tv show) and I would hate it if they all of the sudden became like Nexo Knights, which was essentially Lego WarHammer 40k, because Ninjago is a mix of traditional Asian fantasy and modern futuristic, unlike Nexo Knight which went overboard with the futuristic, to the point of being completely unrecognizable as "Castle", plus we already had two themes like what your suggesting, #1 Nexo Knights and #2 Exo-Force, both of which didn't seem like they did to well.

[Brickwraith]

3 hours ago, Dr.Cogg said:

But the Ninja are not Mech Pilots (except in the Movie, which is different from the tv show) and I would hate it if they all of the sudden became like Nexo Knights, which was essentially Lego WarHammer 40k, because Ninjago is a mix of traditional Asian fantasy and modern futuristic, unlike Nexo Knight which went overboard with the futuristic, to the point of being completely unrecognizable as "Castle", plus we already had two themes like what your suggesting, #1 Nexo Knights and #2 Exo-Force, both of which didn't seem like they did to well.

I agree with this comment, i liked nexo knights, but only halfway. The only sets i picked up were the villain ones because they reminded me more of castle, and the knights themselves had very repetitive designs because they were stuck in one look that was retrofuteristic as digger of bricks keeps saying, i prefer ninjago's way of doing things, because i know that if i don't like the current designs of sets, they will likely be different to reflect the new threats that come up, rather then sticking to one design every wave. I feel like this is where ninjago stayed strong when nexo knights stumbled, people weren't interested in the new hero vehicles because they looked to similar to the previous sets.

[Exetrius]

16 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

with the face-mask doubling as a breathing apparatus and his eyes shielded by a visor. Thereby, it'd evoke a ninja's headgarb without actually being such.

I like the idea of a breathing apparatus integrated in the mask, granted that it fits the setting of the wave. Bionicle did it too, when they went into the sea (Barakki wave). But, it should still be a ninja mask.

Ninja should remain ninja, it's a corner stone of the theme. Ninjago's ninja are the ultimate cool: they have elemental powers; they ride dragons, or motorcycles, or jet fighters, or whatever they like; they live in dojos, or flying ships, or both; and they save the world! Pilots or astronauts are simply less cool then ninja. 
That's how the formula works and I can confirm this is how it felt when I was still in the target demographic. 

As an AFOL, my preferences for the theme have changed. I don't collect the ninja suits anymore, I only buy them if I can use them in a medieval fantasy setting, or if they resemble an anime archetype. So that's my preferred direction of the theme. 

[Digger of Bricks]

3 hours ago, Exetrius said:

Ninja should remain ninja, it's a corner stone of the theme. Ninjago's ninja are the ultimate cool: they have elemental powers; they ride dragons, or motorcycles, or jet fighters, or whatever they like; they live in dojos, or flying ships, or both; and they save the world! 

If course they should remain Ninjas, I'm just asking for their attire to complement their modern technology... 

...OR VISA VERSA.

You see, if they are instead to retain their traditional medieval garb, why not then give them technology that's as aesthetically complementary as possible? Ya know, something Clockpunk and/or DaVinci-Punk. 

[Aanchir]

2 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

You see, if they are instead to retain their traditional medieval garb, why not then give them technology that's as aesthetically complementary as possible? Ya know, something Clockpunk and/or DaVinci-Punk. 

Because as I mentioned already, their clothing is not medieval. Real ninja never dressed like the ones in LEGO Ninjago. Plus, a lot of their costumes even already include more modern-looking characteristics to suit the tone/setting of a particular wave, like the more modern-looking belts/harnesses on the ones from the Tournament of Elements, Dragon Master, and Hands of Time sets, or the armor of Lloyd and Nya in the Hunted sets. Or, for that matter, many of Samurai X's designs (since she heavily specializes in mechs and other advanced technology).

I just don't get why it's so far-fetched to think superpowered hero characters in a futuristic world wouldn't still wear cloth garments loosely inspired by traditional Japanese styles of clothing or armor, much like how the Nexo Knights characters wear outfits loosely inspired by traditional medieval armor. I mean, besides having access to advanced technology they're very different sorts of characters. The ninja do a lot of martial arts where armor that restricts their bodies could be inconvenient, whereas the Nexo Knights don't really do as many crazy flips and kicks and stuff. And the ninja typically have powers they channel through their bodies, whereas the Nexo Knights typically channel their powers through their tech (so having high-tech armor gives them access to more powers than they might have otherwise).

And for what it's worth, the outfits the Nexo Knights wear in their battle suits are a lot LESS blatantly high-tech than their regular armor. They still have some futuristic, angular design cues and circuitry patterns just like the ordinary everyday clothing of many other Nexo Knights characters like King and Queen Halbert, but other than the helmets they appear to be a pretty ordinary, lightweight cloth material, not anything heavily armor plated.

[Pdaitabird]

This may not be relevant, but if I may contribute my $.02:

I read an interesting anecdote somewhere about the origin of our idea of "ninja wear." Apparently, stagehands  in early 20th century Japanese plays dressed in all-black with their faces covered to blend in with the unlit areas beside the stage. At some point, a creative playwright or director got the idea to have the actors playing ninja to dress like the stagehands. The audience, used to ignoring black-clad stagehands, ignored the ninja character too - until he struck! The practice made its way from plays to movies, and the rest is history.

[TeriXeri]

I do agree the NexoKnights side of things had too many similar sets for the heroes where there could have been more sets based on locations on the TV show or other Media instead. 

Books and later Forbidden powers were retrieved from different places of the kingdom, which in itself had various biomes, but that never was made clear in the actual sets. 

Going full-tech wasn't the best direction for Nexo Knights, but that only lasted 1 wave in 2018, by then the TV show was already ended and the Monsters lost any sense of mystery/magic and went full digital/technological/mechanical. It even made the app world much darker and full of the black/green color everywhere.

Edited February 18, 2019 by TeriXeri

[Exetrius]

18 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

If course they should remain Ninjas, I'm just asking for their attire to complement their modern technology... 

It's as @Aanchir says, they do martial arts and need very little armour; just clothes, a face mask and maybe some spots to hold some weapons. Modern technology is in the clothes that we wear: hardly any restraints in colour and design anymore, cheap to mass-produce, and fitting our bodies seamlessly. And we have pockets. 

18 hours ago, Digger of Bricks said:

You see, if they are instead to retain their traditional medieval garb, why not then give them technology that's as aesthetically complementary as possible? Ya know, something Clockpunk and/or DaVinci-Punk. 

I don't see what purpose that technology could fulfill. You are still talking about what they can wear, right?

[Kim-Kwang-Seok]

the "next" figure in a magazine issue will be the Iron Baron. So once again, we'll get lots of rare figures cheap just by buying magazines

Now I'm just missing Arcade...

[Pisces no Aphrodite]

42 minutes ago, Kim-Kwang-Seok said:

the "next" figure in a magazine issue will be the Iron Baron.

Most likely, they will release the Emperor in a magazine.

[Falconfan1414]

New Zane face leaked from the summer sets. It looks amazing