jonwil

Here in Australia I have not seen any retailer (LEGO stores included) where feeling the bags was not an option. Some stores are insisting you use sanitizer beforehand but otherwise no issues here if I wanted to army build vikings (or any other fig :)

The Chermside store in QLD, Australia (which I was at today) had the Build-a-Fig open again but with signs requiring people to wear gloves when handling the parts (signs that I will note most people seemed to be ignoring completly). No clue if they had any new parts in there or not though.

How has Bricks & Pieces been lately in terms of issues or problems? Has anyone from Australia ordered anything recently? Thinking of placing an order to pick up some of the interesting parts from the newer sets but I dont want to do it until I can be sure everything is going to go smoothly in terms of ordering, delivery etc.

FYI I spotted the Barracuda Bay at several of the LEGO stores here in QLD over the past week so if you want one and can get there you might be able to snag one (without having to hope Shop @ Home gets more stock and you can jump on it before that stock sells out)

I bet the Pirate Bay has drawn a fair few people who used to be LEGO fans (especially pirate fans) or had pirate LEGO as a kid but who aren't necessarily the biggest LEGO fans anymore back into LEGO. I had Pirates as a kid (including the Black Seas Barracuda) and the only reason I haven't bought the Pirate Bay is because I already have the re-issue Black Seas Barracuda in my current collection (that and the fact that I am low on funds and have things higher on my wish list like the new Lamborghini)

Its clear from both what LEGO have said and from what's been approved for Ideas over the years that LEGO wants to use the Ideas line in part to appeal to people who aren't LEGO fans but who might buy an Ideas set because of the subject matter (e.g. Beetles fans buying the Yellow Submarine or Space buffs buying the Saturn V or ISS). Sets like the Piano and the just-approved Typewriter very much fit into that and are intended to appeal to people who aren't necessarily LEGO fans. (whether the Typewriter in particular can do that remains to be seen though, I am skeptical that it will sell all that well)

The new underwater sets are already out here in Australia :) Same with the 2 airports (the 4+ one and the other one with the bigger airplane)

Seinfeld I can understand (its one of the most popular sitcoms of all time and its perfect for a LEGO set, I will probably buy one) but I didn't think Home Alone was anywhere near popular enough in 2020 to be a viable product. And that typewriter, how many kids actually know what one is? And for adults who like typewriters, how many would buy a LEGO set instead of just spending the money to buy a real typewriter instead? (especially given how expensive the LEGO model is likely to cost) Its possible there were licensing or IP issues that prevented the Futurama set being made (or they plan to release a Futurama set but just not that one) I dont think the "its not popular enough" line would fly, Futurama is far more popular in 2020 than something like Home Alone...

Last year we got 6 Ideas sets spaced roughly evenly across the year (so 1 every 2 months or so IIRC). So far in 2020, we have only had 2 and the year is half over... Is this a product of the fact that the sets comming up (Piano, Sesame Street etc) are bigger and therefore take longer to get into production?

I hope they reveal whatever set #31 (the next one after the pirate bay) is soon, I am more interested in seeing that than I am in seeing what sets (if any) get approved from the latest batch of reviews...

Disappointed that LEGO seems to have discontinued the people packs (last year's fairground pack was awesome)

I want to see more things we haven't gotten before and less repeats like the White House from this year and the Empire State Building from 2019.

More Lambos would be good (especially a single-car Lambo set)

The Mack Truck almost convinced me to jump back into the wallet-emptying maw that is Technic but I think that Lamborghini may have finally done it.

I am very surprised that LEGO is making a V22 Osprey as a set when its very clearly a military vehicle. To the best of my knowledge LEGO have never explicitly replicated any military aircraft before (except maybe the Sopwith Camel and the Red Barron but those are old and not "modern military")