ZORK64

Ah, that makes sense of course. Thanks for clearing things up here. Isn't the sortiment in Shop At Home already depending on your region? IIRC it was mentioned over in the Nexo Knights 2017 thread how Lance Vs. Lightning wasn't on the US S@H, though I'm pretty sure I can find it on the German version of the site.

As a fan of mechs and similiar robots, I can assure you there are not enough of these around in Ninjago and Nexo Knights, as both themes mostly focus on vehicles. Not to mention that it looks even more grim on the constraction front, with both Bionicle and Mixels being gone, leaving us only with Star Wars Constraction, and who knows how long that is going to last. So seeing LEGO being willing to go for another license featuring Mechs is much appreciated. The Ship in a bottle is nonetheless a nice idea, even though it's not a set I'm interested in.

Yeah, but even with expanding to international markets, I'm still not certain why exactly the Mecha anime has to be popular in China, and not, for example, Japan? I mean, the first two things that jump to my mind when I hear mecha anime are Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion, which were both from Japan. Though then again, both are probably not the best candidates for a cooperation with LEGO given their contents and themes (Gundam might be a maybe, but NGE... yeah no). Are Mecha Anime generally more popular in China than they are in Japan? Or is there another reason for this?

I like the slight Warhammer vibe these guys give off. Very nice figure design!

I can confirm that they were released in Germany, even outside of LEGO stores.

Tree Monsters could be interesting though, especially since plant-based baddies aren't as common.

Of course, zombies would make sense in the context. It's just that regular zombies are rather worn-out by now. Pretty much everything has done zombies at one point (even TLG had already zombies here and there). Heck, the whole "Undead Insect" idea that gets discussed here sounds rather similiar to the "undead ice beast" baddies that showed up at the tail end of Chima. As far as fantasy-themed undead minions go, skeletons and ghosts of any variant are simply cooler - which were also already done by Ninjago, so yeah, undead bad guys wouldn't be really anything new for Lego. From the ideas made so far, bugs in general sound the most interesting to me due to the potential of getting giant bugs as vehicles (in other words, walkers) rather than tanks, bikes, charriots and what not. Nexo Knight already likes to include ball-jointed constructions here and there, it's a trend I hope they'll continue.

Why exactly China? Wouldn't it be more plausible that TLG would choose an IP that has world-wide recognition?

I actually feel the same way about zombies. Never liked them, and it annoys me greatly how mainstream they became.

Good, I'm not the only one who first thought of Dino Riders when the "Riding Dinosaurs" idea came up.

I remember that I was really into Mechwarrior/Battletech back then for a while. Yeah, robots are generally cool. I'd guess the proportions are more a testament to Moko's general style rather than minifig proportions, as a lot of his works go into chibi direction. That being said, I also hope that TLG doesn't try to put chibi proportions on their mechs. They didn't do so in the past with other sets (such as Star Wars walkers or ships), and I'd prefer if they stick with that.

Ah, I didn't thought about the scale here. That's a good point. Microfig pilots are a great idea! And robots using Mixel joints is something I want to see anyway, simply because it might give TLG reason to introduce more stuff that I could use for Transformers MOCs. As for the more "serious" mecha sets, I think these can appeal to kids as well, considering that the Michael Bay TF movies also appeal to kids. I check Moko's works ever so often (he's along with Cyclopic Bricks one of the few MOCists I kinda follow), but I'm not sure if I saw these, so thanks for the pic.

Pilot Luke brings back memories of The Empire Strikes Back, probably because he had this look for the entire SNES game based on that movie. ;) It's a pretty neat-looking mod!

Ah, I wasn't aware of the sequel. That of course could've increased the odds of it. I'd like to mention that back then, when the first Pacific Rim was around, TLG did their own "Mechs vs. Monsters" thing in Hero Factory with "Invasion from Below". I also think that stuff like Godzilla would also incorporate minifigures to go along with. To my understanding, puny humans are somewhat integral to monster films in wone way or another.

Considering the age of the movie, I wouldn't expect LEGO to snatch the license for a full line, so outside of LEGO Ideas, I wouldn't expect it. I somehow managed to not pay much attention to Pacific Rim yet, but generally speaking, I'd be all up for some more mecha action done with LEGO.

Hey, regarding the future of constraction and the bit about mecha anime, this might be relevant to our interests.

LEGO VOLTRON?! Count me in! I have a rather odd past with Voltron, since I live in Germany, who had a very lackluster original dub of the Voltron anime (I also confused it for a sequel to Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, which was actually a huge hit here in Germany, kinda like how Voltron was in the US). However, when the studio Anime House got the rights to Voltron, they decided to incorporate some tongue-in-cheek humor worthy of an abridged series (while still remaining faithful to the original Voltron, and even including a few nods to the Japanese anime it was based on), and it was the best thing ever. Also, the Netflix reboot is a great show aswell. So yeah, LEGO Voltron sounds pretty neat, I'm looking forward to how TLG will tackle this!

Eh, I'm glad that LEGO doesn't do all gold. It looks a bit bland to me due to the lack of a contrast color. (Also, I find it somehow really weird to see the Nexo Knight Folks with flesh-toned faces rather than yellow)

Well, I meant in regards to what was said about him beforehand, I feared he'd look worse. By the way, the pictures are also gone by now again.

Oh, I had also either fully brick-built or brick/CCBS hybrids in mind. I also didn't consider that the armor pieces could have studs, that's a good point. Regarding the parts scavenging... I think it's not possible for the Minifigs to scavenge so much from the monsters that the monsters would look terribly incomplete without the parts in question, simply due to how compact the armor parts have to be in order to still allow some range of motion for the Minifigs. I mean, going by Invasion from Below, we would probably get one figure with 1-2 figures to fight it. That would mean, the monster would at most provide two weapons, two shields and two sets of armor (either armor pieces and/or helmets). Weapons would be most likely the monster claws or teeth, shields could be scales or some other sort of armor on the monster's body. Same applies to the armor parts (though I'm still uncertain how these could be incorporated into the build without sticking out or being so deeply integrated that retrieving them would require excessive taking apart of the monster - which might be contraproductive to the play pattern). I'd theorize that monster in question wouldn't look completely slaughtered by then. All in all, I think the concept could work.

IIRC almost all vehicles of the spider folks were conventional vehicles. Maybe NK's bug baddies ride on giant insects instead? And maybe said giant insects incorporate canopies in one way or another? Especially if it goes hand in hand with the undead idea, trans-green canopies could be not only used for bug eyes, but to imply the glowing of undeath at other parts of the body (like the thorax).

Don't know why, but the idea of adding a video game into the mix makes me think of "Toys To Life" stuff, such as Skylanders or Lego Dimensions. Which would in turn mean all those gear parts would be sold in packs alongside stuff that allows the use in the corresponding video game. Not sure if I like this idea or not, to be frank. I think the violence topic still somewhat depends on how the scavenging aspect is presented, as it could be also incorporated in a less gruesome way (like, simply defeating the enemy and then getting rewarded with the loot).

Skeletons with wrist articulation? It would be cool, but I'm doubtful as how they could realize this without ruining the aesthetics of dem bones. Bug-themed baddies would be also interesting, as insects sound like there's a higher chance for larger creatures that could be used as mounts/vehicles.

I think the general idea (heroes gearing up by defeating monsters) could be implemented in a non-lethal fashion, especially when you take Lego's light-hearted humor into account. They could also make the monsters actually robots, for example. I do wonder how you could design parts that could function both as body parts of creatures and minifigure equipment. I mean, sure, stuff like weapons or shields could be easily incorporated into the creatures, but armors? They were discontinued, unfortunately. Not sure why exactly though. Truth be told, I was initially "meh" about Invasion of Below, but after getting a few things for cheap and building some humongous mecha myself (still need to overhaul its legs and post that monster online...), I see the appeal for this kind of thing. I suppose if TLG aquires the right to some Mecha Anime, they would probably release the sets for that under the name of the IP in question, regardless what exactly it is. On that note, I once read that Exo Force sold rather poorly. Is this true?

So, I finally got around to check those new sets. My thoughts... - The Praetorian Guard looks amazing even though it's just in a single color (more or less). Sure, the helmet is a bit weird, but the glorious shoulder armor makes up for it. Definitely picking this guy up for the shoulders alone, I'm confident they'll be useful for MOCing. - Chewie isn't as bad as I feared he would look. While he's still a bit skeletical (I wish TLG would've used some fabric to fill the gaps in his torso), the overall design looks cool. I especially like the design of his arms. My only gripe with him would be his facial expression. That smile is a tad... weird. - Rey looks nice, but some parts of her look awkward (worst offender are the shoulders). Is the torso shell new? It looks cool, but I think the shape would still work better with characters who wear more clothing/armor. - TIE Pilot looks rather boring. Other than the tube connecting his helmet to his chest panel, his build is nothing too interesting, he also lacks parts I'd deem useful for MOCing. I'll probably pass on this guy.