Animal Crossing 2024 - Rumors & Discussion

[TheBrickPal]

Confirmed on October 5, 2023!

Sets revealed on October 10, 2023.

___________________________________

March 2024

77046 Julian's Birthday Party - 170 pieces (£12.99 / $14.99 / €14.99)

77047 Bunnie's Outdoor Activities - 164 pieces (£17.99 / $19.99 / €19.99)

77048 Kapp'n's Island Boat Tour - 233 pieces (£24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99)

77049 Isabelle's House Visit - 389 pieces (£34.99 / $39.99 / €39.99)

77050 Nook's Cranny & Rosie's House - 535 pieces (£64.99 / $74.99 / €74.99)

Other

30662 Maple's Pumpkin Garden [polybag] - 29 pieces (GWP / $4.99)

Edited April 17 by TheBrickPal

[BrickBob Studpants]

The minifigs look fantastic, and I like the way they've designed the trees  The number of new parts in this theme will be crazy, we can already tell just by this teaser. Though I wonder if the player characters will appear too! Sure hope so.

[JohnTPT17]

Oh boy, let's get to overanalysing!

• Fauna is wearing the default outfit she uses in her New Leaf profile, not her default New Horizons outfit. So, either Nintendo sent over the wrong image, or there's a chance we get designs/locations from older games.
• A bit odd that Isabelle didn't get dual-molded arms like Nook did - she would be more accurate if she had them. Still probably one of the best translations game-to-Lego though!
• Tom Nook also could have done with some printing on the waist part of his tail, like Robin Hood had. Hopefully that can be fixed!
• Introducing Julian (who has a unique mold that doesn't work for other horses) means that Lego might be willing to make other one-off molds for other unique villagers, like Ahnka with her head piece or Drago with his frills.
• Based on the minifigures, I'll take a guess and say that the $20 set will be Kapp'n boat (slightly higher price to go with a mold that can't be reused elsewhere), and the $75 set will be Resident Services. Resident Services will probably have a large baseplate for the "plaza" area outside of it, which probably helped drive up the cost. I could also see KK Slider being in that set.
• A CMF series next September would be huge for this series (and one that I think people will be more accepting of than other Lego blind bag products). Since it will be winter for most of the world, I think that having winter Tom Nook and Isabelle would be fitting, plus Rover and either Celeste or Jingle (who don't have any locations tied to them in New Horizons), and eight other villagers - maybe I'll wishlist some guesses later.
• Since Blathers and the Able Sisters weren't teased, I think the museum and the tailor shop (and Blathers/Able Sisters) will need to wait for a Wave 2 of sets... Maybe released late summer/early fall?
• And the most crazy theory of them all... A new Animal Crossing game will release a few months after the new Nintendo console next year, and Lego will have tie-in sets to go with that new game, with either new outfits for Tom Nook/Isabelle, or new locations/characters.

I just really want these guys to come out! Now we're just down to waiting until March (or maybe set description around January...). Hyped!

[Karalora]

Given how flat the trees are in the teaser, I'm wondering whether the buildings will be similarly flattish, and Resident Services is the $50 set, leaving the $75 set to be the player character's house with a fully designed and customizable interior and exterior.

[Portal Out]

11 minutes ago, Karalora said:

Given how flat the trees are in the teaser, I'm wondering whether the buildings will be similarly flattish, and Resident Services is the $50 set, leaving the $75 set to be the player character's house with a fully designed and customizable interior and exterior.

I’m a teeney bit worried about the builds. Like, yeah Animal Crossing has a pretty simple art style… but not that simple! If we just get flat facades rather than semi-dollhouse style builds of these locations I’m going to be a bit disappointed (even though these are probably going to be more kid-oriented like Mario).

1 hour ago, JohnTPT17 said:

A CMF series next September would be huge for this series (and one that I think people will be more accepting of than other Lego blind bag products). Since it will be winter for most of the world, I think that having winter Tom Nook and Isabelle would be fitting, plus Rover and either Celeste or Jingle (who don't have any locations tied to them in New Horizons), and eight other villagers - maybe I'll wishlist some guesses later.

I also might be in the minority here, but I kinda hope we don’t get a CMF. These figs are already top-notch and I feel like a CMF series couldn’t really contribute anything that we wouldn’t just get eventually. Plus, I can think of a certain plumber that’s probably more deserving and has been waiting his turn for a few years now 🍄

 

Overall the hype for this line is unreal, this could be a long lasting theme if they play their cards right. Excited to see what they come up with!

[JohnTPT17]

29 minutes ago, Portal Out said:

If we just get flat facades rather than semi-dollhouse style builds of these locations I’m going to be a bit disappointed

I doubt they will be facades. The trees in-game are fairly flat, so having them similarly flat in the teaser makes sense (Plus, it's probably easier to attach fruit to a flat surface than a round one). I think that simple, open-back dollhouse buildings for most of the houses and other buildings make the most sense, with the possible exception of a larger museum or player home.

31 minutes ago, Portal Out said:

I also might be in the minority here, but I kinda hope we don’t get a CMF. These figs are already top-notch and I feel like a CMF series couldn’t really contribute anything that we wouldn’t just get eventually. Plus, I can think of a certain plumber that’s probably more deserving and has been waiting his turn for a few years now 🍄

Fair! I also hope that we get Mario and friends minifigs (and Zelda ones!), but I think they are just as deserving of full-on sets as the Animal Crossing gang. I'm mostly hoping for an Animal Crossing CMF just to expand the roster of characters that we can add to our village at a fair price, and possibly add a few new animal head molds to the available roster. Assuming that Mario characters in their basic forms would eventually get their own retail sets and wouldn't be forced to stay locked to a CMF (like the Muppets), then I think I'll take an Animal Crossing one. I'm more willing to try to find a "Animal Crossing cat variation" in a CMF than I would be "Mario variation," since I could be getting Purrl, Lolly, Raymond, or Tangy - unique characters -  as opposed to a Fire or Ice Mario, if that makes sense. Sure, we could eventually get Purrl (or any other villager) in some other retail set, but, like the Marvel, Disney, or Simpsons series, it only helps to expand the roster of characters that we have available, even if a lot of new molds aren't introduced in the series (even though you could have fish/bug molds, bunny balloons, gyroids, furniture, K.K. Slider album prints, etc). Now, if a CMF were the only way to get Daisy or Waluigi? Sure, I can wait on Purrl - but I still think that Mario and friends can also get regular minifig sets and not have to be locked to a CMF Muppets-style.

[danth]

2 hours ago, Karalora said:

Given how flat the trees are in the teaser, I'm wondering whether the buildings will be similarly flattish, and Resident Services is the $50 set, leaving the $75 set to be the player character's house with a fully designed and customizable interior and exterior.

The flat trees just add to the Fabuland flavor for me.

[Lyichir]

Something that occurred to me today is that since Animal Crossing has more emphasis on real-life holidays than your average video game series, it could make seasonal sets like an Advent Calendar a possibility.

[PGBQW]

4 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

And the most crazy theory of them all... A new Animal Crossing game will release a few months after the new Nintendo console next year

Source?

 

[Huigberts Builds]

I'm so excited for these. Now I kinda want my favourite villagers to show up. Part of me knows chances are small, but it's so easy to reuse those molds. These characters translate so well to lego. Although I was kinda hoping Tom would have a different outfit, but that's just a nitpick.

1 hour ago, PGBQW said:

Source?

It's just a theory they came up with, I don't think there's a source for that.

[JohnTPT17]

2 hours ago, PGBQW said:

Source?

 

Just a wild guess! The Switch is getting old, and with how out-of-the-blue support for Animal Crossing was dropped, I have a theory that Nintendo might be using it to help sales for the new console. All just fun speculation though! 

[RichardGoring]

3 hours ago, danth said:

The flat trees just add to the Fabuland flavor for me.

I saw the figures and immediately thought Fabuland 2.0. But I've never played Animal Crossing, so it's my closest reference 

[PGBQW]

8 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

Just a wild guess! The Switch is getting old, and with how out-of-the-blue support for Animal Crossing was dropped, I have a theory that Nintendo might be using it to help sales for the new console. All just fun speculation though! 

Ahhh, fair enough! Thought I missed something!

8 hours ago, Huigberts Builds said:

I'm so excited for these. Now I kinda want my favourite villagers to show up. Part of me knows chances are small, but it's so easy to reuse those molds. These characters translate so well to lego. Although I was kinda hoping Tom would have a different outfit, but that's just a nitpick.

Surreal how good Isabelle looks! I guess they can always make more Tom Nooks (I'll buy them all)

[BrickBob Studpants]

The games using the same head shapes for villagers of the same species comes in REALLY handy now  So far, we have new parts for cats, bunnies, squirrels, does, and horses/unicorns. Tom‘s noggin might be repurposed for his nephews‘, but Isabelle‘s will stay exclusive to her.

Animals I would also like to see are dogs, birds, frogs, eagles, and octopi. Most of them, actually! The only group that could cause issues are the kangaroos, unless the baby is a separate part

And of course, more special characters! I can already tell, we will need multiple waves to get a good roster ^^ A CMF series or two would definitely help too!

Edited October 6, 2023 by BrickBob Studpants

[MAB]

18 hours ago, JohnTPT17 said:

• A CMF series next September would be huge for this series (and one that I think people will be more accepting of than other Lego blind bag products). Since it will be winter for most of the world, I think that having winter Tom Nook and Isabelle would be fitting, plus Rover and either Celeste or Jingle (who don't have any locations tied to them in New Horizons), and eight other villagers - maybe I'll wishlist some guesses later.

I hope not, if it means one less CMF theme for something else especially as the heads don't look very useful for other things. It's a bit like the Simpsons, torsos and legs might be useful but the heads are way too specific. Doing it like the Mario bag series rather than a CMF slot would be fine. Same with an advent calendar. If it is an extra one, fine. But not if it takes the place of another. But if they are going to keep it as a theme, then I'd expect them to keep characters back to sell sets with bricks rather than individual figures.

[Lyichir]

One animal type I'm really hoping for is rhinos since my favorite villager, Merengue, is one.

I think a CMF series would be fantastic, and a recurring series like the Mario blind boxes might be the only way to even come close to representing even a fraction of the animal villager characters from the games (413 in the latest entry!). Luckily most villagers could re-use head molds, though there are a few who have unique accessories that would require dedicated molds (Julian the unicorn has already been shown, meaning that Lego isn't averse to those sorts of unique villagers). One nice thing for fans of other themes is that apart from the heads, most fig parts could have very general usage for custom figs—so far the outfits look nice and the legs seem to be mostly unprinted (including the more recent mid-length legs in new colors).

Of course, figs aren't the only important thing about a theme like this. I'm really hoping for the sets themselves to offer a wide variety of customization. Luckily, the Mario sets bode well for this with sets like the "Maker Packs" that are focused almost entirely on expanding and decorating the basic sets. I'm hoping this theme follows suit with interchangeable brick-built furniture.

[Agent Kallus]

2 hours ago, MAB said:

I hope not, if it means one less CMF theme for something else especially as the heads don't look very useful.

I agree, however a pseudo CMF series like Videyo or the aforementioned mario blind boxes could be a smash hit. Could even have little tiles like in Videyo which could save into custom design for that all the Able sisters give you.

Honestly I think they should just have multiple cmfs at once.

24 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

One nice thing for fans of other themes is that apart from the heads, most fig parts could have very general usage for custom figs—so far the outfits look nice and the legs seem to be mostly unprinted (including the more recent mid-length legs in new colors).

You could even reverse this, like I could give Tangy a Mr incredible shirt to match the custom design I made in game that Tangy now wears on my sister's island. Just an example of course.

[Karalora]

1 hour ago, Lyichir said:

 I'm really hoping for the sets themselves to offer a wide variety of customization.

Very much this. The whole point of Animal Crossing is that you build your village up the way you want it.

[Karalora]

It just occurred to me that we might get some new flower molds out of this!

[Lyichir]

6 hours ago, Karalora said:

It just occurred to me that we might get some new flower molds out of this!

Yeah!

I also thought about the possibility for new bug/fish molds. I wouldn't be surprised to see some existing ones like the butterfly or shark, but there are some others that could earn their spot in a set like dragonflies or the highly sought-after coelacanth!

New fruits are also a possibility—the teaser shows the existing apples, cherries, and oranges (represented by the classic Bionicle ball joint in orange), but most Animal Crossing games also feature peaches (which have only ever been represented by printed tiles in the Monkie Kid theme) and pears (which I don't think we've ever had an equivalent of in Lego) as common fruits!

[TheBrickPal]

Set names from 1414falconfan:

77046 Julian's Birthday Party

77047 Bunnie's Outdoor Activities

77048 Kapp'n's Island Boat Tour

77049 Isabelle's House Visit

77050 Nook's Cranny and Rosie's House 

The sets "are built on plates for you to create your own modular island."

These sound fantastic. Hopefully this means that we get pictures very soon!

Edited October 9, 2023 by TheBrickPal

[hikouki]

18 minutes ago, TheBrickPal said:

Set names from 1414falconfan:

77046 Julian's Birthday Party

77047 Bunnie's Outdoor Activities

77048 Kapp'n's Island Boat Tour

77049 Isabelle's House Visit

77050 Nook's Cranny and Rosie's House 

The sets "are built on plates for you to create your own modular island."

These sound fantastic. Hopefully this means that we get pictures very soon!

I don’t play Animal Crossing but I just find all the minifigs too cute not to collect! Are all 8 minifigs from the previous photos accounted for in the 5 sets?

[Lyichir]

6 minutes ago, hikouki said:

I don’t play Animal Crossing but I just find all the minifigs too cute not to collect! Are all 8 minifigs from the previous photos accounted for in the 5 sets?

Julian (blue unicorn), Rosie (blue cat), Isabelle (yellow dog), Tom Nook (brown raccoon/tanuki), Bunnie (Dark Red rabbit), and Kapp'n (green turtle/kappa) are the ones mentioned by name in these sets. It's not immediately clear which of these sets Fauna (brown deer) and Marshall (tan squirrel) are in, but at least one of them is probably in the house Isabelle is visiting.

I'm a little surprised by some of these set names since in the recent games, Nook has operated separate businesses from Nook's Cranny and left the old business to his proteges/apprentices, Timmy and Tommy. I would've sooner expected Nook and Isabelle to be operating out of Town Hall/Resident Services like in the most recent installment. but so far that isn't among the sets listed.

[TheBrickPal]

9 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

I'm a little surprised by some of these set names since in the recent games, Nook has operated separate businesses from Nook's Cranny and left the old business to his proteges/apprentices, Timmy and Tommy. I would've sooner expected Nook and Isabelle to be operating out of Town Hall/Resident Services like in the most recent installment. but so far that isn't among the sets listed.

I was thinking it was weird that Timmy and Tommy aren't in the teaser video, but it feels like a given for them to be included in Nook's Cranny. Hopefully they will be there, despite no sign of them yet.

Edited October 9, 2023 by TheBrickPal

[strangely]

I'm guessing Isabelle's House Visit might be the player house since Isabelle doesn't traditionally have a house (I could be wrong, been a couple of years since I've played).