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Unpopular opinion? OK, here we go. I've been holding onto this one for long enough and it's time to come out with it. I am prepared for the ridicule, ostracism, even possible banning/exile this might bring upon me. But I must summon the courage to speak my truth. *deep breath* I want more CMF skateboarders. HEAR ME OUT: The "too many skateboarders" meme is beyond played out at this point. Yes, there were three different skaters across the first six series, but barely a blip since then (Bart in The Simpsons series, the zombie skateboarder who was included in a book but not part of a regular series). For comparison, there have been, by my count, nine different guitarists (ten if you count the keytar), and I never see any complaints about too many of those. Obviously, that's partly because multiple different types of music are clearly represented, with multiple different guitar molds, so I think there's an opportunity for more skaters as long as they offer a clearly different style. I'd love to see a new skateboard mold or two - they could do a single-kick freestyle board, pintail, Penny board, or even some weirder shapes along the lines of the Hosoi Hammerhead or Vision Psycho Stick. Plus, some of the more recent additions to the color palette would make for a good 80's aesthetic that would make a new "Retro Skater" stand out more from previous offerings. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Good list! My vote for best set would be the Bookshop with Haunted House a very close second, with honorable mention going to Pirates of Barracuda Bay, which looks fantastic but I ultimately didn't have room for in my collection. 100% in agreement on the posing stand as best new part. Best printed element may be a bit of a cheat since it's basically a re-release, but even I am not immune to the occasional nostalgia bait: There isn't any one minifig that stands out as best of the year for me, but probably the Breakdancer from Series 20 or Golden Eagle Armor Wonder Woman. And as for best new theme, DOTS and/or LEGO Art... guess I just really like 1x1 tiles.

It doesn't look like that fig is actually included in Ninjago City Gardens (it's just an illustration from a magazine), but there is an "Ice Planet" ice cream shop featured in the set.

Having watched Wonder Woman 1984 today, some reflections on the LEGO set (not really any spoilers, but behind spoiler tag just to be safe): And some ideas for other sets (bit more spoilery territory here):

By my count it's more like an 84.5% chance. Those really aren't terrible odds to pursue for people who want to submit IP-based ideas.

I'm really hoping Nathan Sawaya's small Yellow can be made through this program - seems like it would be very easy to produce, but it was also already brought up for a second-chance vote before, so I dunno how likely they'd be to give it yet another shot.

From what I've read, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the next "event" movie - likely to be similar to Captain America: Civil War in that it's nominally a "solo" movie but has major ramifications for the broader MCU. That said, I don't think any movie needs to "take the spot" of an Avengers movie in terms of how many LEGO sets they get - between movies and Disney+ series, there might be as many as ten MCU properties debuting next year, so there will be no shortage of LEGO tie-ins even if they max out at three or four (and even if some of the shows get no sets at all).

Since we know the Ideas Vintage Car is 40448, I'd say 40450 is likely to be a boxed GWP as well.

Wait, have I been looking at this wrong the whole time? Because I just assumed that that was indeed supposed to be a surfboard strapped to the side.

Just in the interest of tempering expectations: sets coming out after the shows' releases won't necessarily be more accurate (especially if they only come out three to six months later). Tanker Truck Takedown was designed at the same time as the other Civil War sets; it was only released later because Marvel wanted to keep the design of the new Spider-Man suit under wraps as long as possible. (And even then, it wasn't quite right; the spider emblem was based on earlier concept art.) I suspect the Hulk Helicopter Rescue was a similar story with the inclusion of Hulk wearing the Nano Gauntlet. So if any sets based on Disney+ series come out 2HY 2021, I expect them to be just as concept art-based as if they launched before release, just containing elements that might have been considered spoilers if they had been.

I must not have been keeping up to date with those reports, because Ironheart, Armor Wars, and Secret Invasion all took me completely by surprise! It would certainly be nice if every single one of these properties got at least one LEGO set, but dang that is a lot of content to keep up with. Some definitely seem like safer bets than others - Armor Wars in particular could be extremely toyetic.

One other tiny Classic Space reference from this year - this was one of the "surprise charms" from the DOTS Bracelet Mega Pack:

The stickers on the bus door also indicate that it accommodates strollers, yet there isn't a stroller included in the set. Does this make it pointless? There is a bike rack on the side of the bus station and clips on the back of the bus to hold the bikes. Does this send the message that cyclists are not normal, and need a special LEGO set designed around them? There wouldn't be a bus at all if there weren't people that, for any number of reasons - affordability, accessibility, environmental concerns - use public transit rather than owning a motor vehicle. Clearly, TLG was forcing some kind of hamfisted agenda by acknowledging that such people exist, right?

I would guess GWP based on the numbering.

Some new stuff coming next March! Confirms the two-wide bracelets will continue - unfortunately no new colors for those, but another black one will probably be appreciated since it's the most versatile color they've made so far. Interestingly, the Series 4 Extra DOTS seem to be geared more toward the bag tags than the bracelets.