Alexandrina

The thing is, are the markets for the current crop of space-related sets and a hypothetical Space theme 100% the same? I know I'd buy a well-designed sci-fi theme in a heartbeat, but I have never and likely will never have an interest in real-world space. When you add people like me to the people who are clamouring for any sci-fi stuff they can possibly get, there's quite a sizable potential market for a sci-fi theme. Whether a Mars landing will kickstart it is another question, but the market is definitely there.

Apologies! I won't go political any more, it won't end happily for anybody

I really don't want to derail this thread into politics, but I will point out that I never said this game's designer is doing anything wrong. That said, I'm not super clued up on the latest video games, but I don't think I've ever seen far-left messaging on games or film (with the exception of specifically and unabashedly left-wing filmmakers like Ken Loach, but you know exactly what you've signed up for when you go and see one of his films). This isn't true. There are lots of right-wing creatives (note that right-wing does not mean 'a voter of <insert right-of-centre political party of your choice>'). In fact, I suspect there are a great many people in the world who would characterise me as a right-wing creative person, and I'm aware of many who are far further to the right than I am. Far right is a different kettle of fish, but I won't be talking politics any more lest I bring on the wrath of the mods.

There was a lot missing from those latterly scripts, I agree, but I hardly see how that's Lego's fault.

Whatever your view on this year's sets, based on the June wave they're definitely filling in gaps: Hogsmeade, Fluffy, the Chamber of Secrets, the Girl's Bathroom. I give them a for Point C at least.

Give the walls texture. Add windows, murder-holes, crenellations, etc, so it's not one solid mass of colour. I've been working on a similar design (huge black castle) for a film project, and I've tried to have different levels to the structure. For an example of what I mean, have a look at this early render - the higher platforms are 'floor level', but there's a courtyard set into the ground. Steps are good for breaking up a block of colour, and can be a good excuse to add a splash of colour. I'd also suggest doing the floor in a colour other than black. Dark bluish grey works well imo - it's just as dark, especially in dim lighting, but it's distinctly different from the black. You can also accent at points such as the edges of doorways/windows, lining them with a colour such as red to make them pop. If you want a more cartoonish fantasy feel, perhaps build into the wall a skull with glowing red eyes or something cheesy.

If Hogwarts Legacy has as unintuitive a levelling system as the Witcher, it'll absolutely be a disappointment. There's a difference between disagreements and active hate (which I'm not saying is the case here). To use an extreme example, I don't mind if the person designing my video game supports Manchester United (though I'd question their taste) but I do mind if they're using their video game as a platform to spread far-right propaganda. I can't see that ever happening under the watch of a big company like Warner Bros, though, so whether the designer's views are acceptable or not is a moot point anyway. In any case, I doubt Hogwarts Legacy sets were ever seriously in Lego's plans. Star Wars Battlefront was a far more anticipated game, based on a bigger property than Harry Potter and one which has a far greater pedigree of video games, and there are more Star Wars sets put out every year than Harry Potter - and even then we got a couple of piddly little battlepacks. Unless Legacy is an unexpected smash hit with a compelling storyline to boot, we'll probably not see it in Lego form. And certainly they wouldn't have planned for sets to come out in 2021, given that a) it's the 20th anniversary of the theme, b) it's the 10th anniversary of the final film, c) they've still got major gaps in the series to fill, and d) when they started designing this year's sets there was a Fantastic Beasts film slated for this year.

It's not often you see something that's primarily just a single colour look great. But you've managed it, there's plenty of texture even while keeping things golden. The minifigure is well placed to add a formidable sense of scale too.

Which is why themes with stories will always have a place in the Lego repertoire. At the same time, there should be room for generic themes too. In Bionicle's heyday, there were themes such as Adventurers or Alpha Team (neither of which had a TV show, to my knowledge) for specific characters, as well as ever-present City, Castle, Space and Trains ranges. Even into the 2010s, themes such as Agents and Atlantis came without TV series (again, as far as I know; correct me if I'm wrong), and as Trains fell by the wayside so Pirates returned. That's a different beast to the present situation where Castle, Space and Pirates are gone. Trains is gone. Every Action theme has a TV series to back it up, and even City is moving towards named characters. My main issue with themes such as Ninjago is that without the investment in the TV series, there seems no reason or rhyme to the sets. If it was announced today that there would be a new Pirates line in 2022, we'd know roughly what the sets were going to be: there'll be a big pirate ship, a smaller island set, maybe a soldier's fort, things of that ilk. Maybe they'd surprise us with a big Governor's mansion or Imperial ship, but that would be 100% in keeping with the lay understanding of what Pirates is. With Ninjago, someone who doesn't watch the series doesn't have the same knowledge. I don't keep up too closely with the theme because the core premise is a genre I don't personally find interesting. I've bought a few sets that have appealed to me - the Skull Sorceror's Dungeons being the most recent - but I haven't a Scooby Doo how that fits into the story they've got going on. If that set had been part of a different theme - exactly the same set, except with minifigures that don't belong to a TV series - I'd still have bought it. I suspect many people would. It would also be easier for people to buy into this hypothetical theme, knowing that it had maybe two or three years worth of sets that follow a core theme rather than Ninjago's indefinite run of... ninjas on tour? Now I swear I don't mean to come here and talk down Ninjago. Not at all, I have no grudge against it whatsoever. I just don't see why Ninjago having a TV series means every theme has to. As to Bionicle having a story, I'd argue against the fact that Bionicle was such a big seller entirely because it had a story. Anecdotal I know, but I was a kid for the entirety of Bionicle's original run. I was four when the theme started and thirteen when it ended. All the kids in my class had Bionicle, but a grand total of zero knew anything about the storyline. There were other things going for it too. You built cool robots (kids love robots). The sets were all broadly similar in size and price, at least in the early years - and perfectly priced for gifts for a school party. On more than one occasion, a few weeks before my own birthday party classmates would come up to me and ask if I liked Bionicle. I did the same before classmates' parties. Between the gifts bought for me, and the gifts I bought for my peers, I suspect every standard Bionicle released between 2001 and 2006 probably touched my hands at one point. And that there was a story to it was entirely irrelevant to us all. But I'll say no more of Bionicle, since this isn't the thread for it.

It 100% isn't worth any of you risking legal trouble to furnish us with more hints than you're allowed to. At the end of the day, we're getting the sets themselves in about six months. For context, six months ago was the Champions League final. That time will fly by whether we have morsels to natter about or not

I hope that won't get your own source into trouble! Publicly saying "yes, this leak is correct" isn't especially dissimilar to coming out and saying what' s coming yourself. Unless you meant privately verifying KA1's source, in which case ignore me!

I've never really delved deep into the Ninjago sets, nor do I particularly feel strongly that they're stifling creativity, but an argument you could make is that these settings are being explored by the same range of main characters which belong to the Ninjago theme, rather than Lego bringing in a new band of characters as they would for a new theme. Whether this is good or bad is another matter - you mentioned Atlantis, and how well are the characters from that remembered today? If anything, I think the problem is more that Lego don't seem to be able to do an in-house theme without a TV series (and consequently giving each theme main characters and main villains and backstory aplenty for them). Ninjago isn't inherently bad for doing this, but when the in-house themes essentially boil down to Ninjago, City and Monkie Kid (all of which are coming now with named characters on the box) it begins to feel a bit samey. I can't personally get into the TV series - nothing on those who enjoy them, it's just not for me - and in many regards an in-house theme filled with characters I don't know is just the same as a Licensed theme I haven't watched. I don't personally buy Batman sets because I've never seen Batman and therefore don't get anything from the characters. If Lego did a theme that wasn't backed by a TV series or some tie-in media, I suspect the angst against Ninjago might decrease.

Why two days? Is it because you've not yet spoken to the source, and you'll report back as soon as you can? Or are you giving us warning to get hyped?

I always saw Adventurers as Lego trying to do Indiana Jones without having the license. The stock characters are pretty much like for like, even the settings are similar (desert & jungle in Raiders, India in Temple/Orient Expedition). In any case, it was long dead as a theme before Indiana Jones came along, and since Indy died a death way back, if they wanted to bring the Adventurers in they would have. That said, the upcoming Uncharted film might lead to a revival of the genre in the public consciousness and bring about a new Adventurers.

The Forestmen probably wouldn't work on their own, so unless Lego had two distinct subthemes on the go they might be a hard sell. Most Castle factions are interesting in their own right and the possibility of conflict is a bonus. If the Forestmen don't have another faction to be up against, what are they? A bunch of blokes (and gals) hanging out in the woods, presumably practicing their archery. That's not to say I'd be opposed to a revival, but I wonder if perhaps it would be a hard sell for Lego if they're still unsure about stepping back into the Castle world. Conventional armoured knights and castles are a safer bet.

Not only that, video games such as The Witcher and (going back a decade) Skyrim have more in common with the Fantasy Era of Castle than they do with anything currently offered by Lego. I fear the reaction to the Hobbit films might have put them off, but they could probably have had a banner decade with a theme combining the Castle we know and love with just a hint of the fantasy genre which was so popular. I'd love to see them do an in-house Castle theme filled with the crumbling towers and mournful ruins of a society in entropy and decline a la Lord of the Rings or Skyrim.

The only thing I can find is a few articles about the lead designer being a Gamergate YouTuber. Not ideal obviously, but I have faith enough in Warner Bros to keep an open mind until the game is actually out, since I doubt they'll be pushing extreme views in the game itself - and at several degrees of separation any Lego sets should be very well insulated from the game's designer's YouTubing sidegig.

There's been a fair bit of praise already for aspects such as the fence and the building itself (and rightfully so, they're delightful) but I'm more impressed by the use of tan Technic pins for the rushes? reeds? crop in the corner by the wall. It isn't every day that function parts like that get their day in the sun.

Worst case scenario, people's Fallout MOCs can have oxidised copper drills.

This is probably the best voting strategy for the sake of getting good sets in the long-term. If everyone piled on to vote for a 'favourite' that they never wanted, and then didn't buy it when it came out because it's not their thing, Lego could well decide that the falling sales are due to a lack of sustained interest in the Ideas platform and concept. And while everyone will have some Ideas sets they're not interested in (for me, it's things like the NASA sets or the Sesame Street) the sheer variety means that most AFOLs are probably getting at least one Ideas set every couple of years that appeals to their particular tastes.

I would have thought Lego would have deliberately planned any potential strategy for releasing Hogwarts Legacy sets to be set for after the game had released, rather than gambling on it making its original date. It's not uncommon for games to get pushed back even in a Covid-free world, and the time period Hogwarts Legacy is set in means there will be few if any characters involved that the wider public are aware of - and given a choice, any parent is going to buy their kid the set with Harry in rather than the set with a strange character that their kid doesn't know. That said, when it does come out, perhaps it will yield new locations for Hogwarts modulars to keep that line going once they've pushed out a belltower/courtyard. If it comes with a heaping of BURPs and LURPs can it really be called disappointing?

That's a really nice looking model, and it looks the right sort of size for a set - it's not too bloated on the details. Fingers crossed it makes it!

Of course they did! I have the Dickens set too, not sure how I forgot about that! In that case I'd best get a hold of the Earheart GWP - perhaps an opportune moment to pick up the Clock Tower before it goes off sale.

Do Lego normally put new face prints in GWP sets? Or does this mean that the print has already been made for something else to be released?

I did notice that as something you mentioned being up for consideration in the Ladies Stand Up thread, and if it's going full stop then fair enough - but to me having it no longer be attainable but still showing up for those who already have the tag (especially when the only requirement is to be a member of half the population) does feel a bit like pulling the ladder up but keeping the curtain open on the glass bottom. I'd never dream of suggesting it be mandatory of course, but for a few personal reasons it does really stick in my craw sometimes when I get referred to as a man, and for as long as the Internet default assumption is that the faceless people on the other side of the computer screen are male, it's nice to have a way of saying "actually, I'm not".