sjbricks

Eurobricks New Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    7

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by sjbricks

  2. Posted

    I thought a pretty obvious contender for a buildable object would be Sonic's shoes. I personally hope it's not that style of set though, I'm quite sick of them at this point. A continuation of the ideas set would be nice, ideally a zone from Sonic 2 so we can get a classic Tails figure, or a classic Eggman figure in line with the modern version we got recently.

  3. Posted

    1 hour ago, The_Fiery_Rooster said:

    I wonder if this is a 2.0 kind of thing. Very torn if it is, since I'm curious to see what else they could add, but I also don't like the idea of having to re-buy the starter courses for the newest sets to be compatible.

    I don't think they would do that as it'd make the older ones obsolete, and they are pretty expensive. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that. The best outcome would be three new digital characters, but it's not very likely. I think Lego and Nintendo would want Mario to always be available, so maybe the other two sets could have new characters? Maybe Wario and Daisy. Let's be honest though, it's probably just new starter course builds with the same three digital characters that we've already gotten. If that is the case then I hope they give us something new at least, like the set with Luigi giving him his fire outfit using his unique overalls and hat mould. Not sure what they could do for peach, but I'm sure they'd think of something.

    50 minutes ago, Lyichir said:

    It's... not a baby toy? The actual level of building skill for your average set is comparable to other Lego themes (and as with other themes, the bigger sets tend to be more complex and interesting). I'm sorry you wanted it to be something it's not, but that's not the sets' fault, nor does it mean the people who do enjoy it are lesser builders.

    I agree. It's sad to see so many people brushing the whole theme off just because it's not figure-based, as there are a lot of solid builds, especially recently. I keep bringing it up, but the bowser car really is a good example. There are very cool techniques used to achieve the eyes and also the lavender parts along the side of the vehicle.

     

     

    About the new set information in general, I'm curious what the 1392 piece set could be. It will be the biggest course builder system set yet. We've already gotten Peach's castle, Bowser's castle and even Dry Bowser's castle. I can't think of another super iconic location that it could be, so maybe it is something invented by Lego like a larger fortress containing Roy? I can't see how they can make a set containing so many parts out of that idea though. Not sure. I'm excited to see what these new sets will bring.

  4. Posted

    17 minutes ago, SlimyGhoul said:

    I totally respect your opinion, but I'd say that it's only allowed a large variety of *enemy* characters. We've not gotten even a hint of any other of the main characters like Daisy, Wario, Rosalina, etc. Those are the characters I wanted from LEGO Mario. People keep saying they want LEGO to do Mario Kart with the course building system...what kind of fun would Mario Kart be with only 3 characters to choose from? Mind you, the course builder system (partly by design) falls apart at the slightest disturbance. How are they going to do karts with that?

    It's my opinion that the digital course building theme has...run its course. It's boring at this point and is a parody of itself. Almost every new set they put out has been just a rehash of a previous one (Mario's house, indiscriminate ice area, yet another tree with yellow and pink Yoshi, Toad house AGAIN...etc.). The new Yoshi set has an egg piece...none of the digital characters can even hold it. Not even the Yoshi figures can hold it. LEGO Mario is truly the monkey's paw phenomenon. I'd been waiting for it for like 20 years, only to be extremely disappointed when they made it into a crummy baby toy. It's almost patronizing. I wanted much cooler sets from this line, even the 18+ ones are kind of lame. I still don't know why they haven't included minifigures in even one of them. As for molds/printing with Mario characters, I think that a hybrid brick-built and minifig system would work really well, a-la Sonic. There are some brick builts even now that I feel would work if they do minifigs.

    Another big problem is that LEGO Mario doesn't feel like a LEGO product. It feels like some random silly toy. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing! Out of context, I'd think it was kinda cute for a little quick thing. Unfortunately, this kind of thing isn't why I like LEGO. It's not fun, it's unimaginative, and it's sacrificing quality/excellence for a gimmick that was DOA. I still cannot for the life of me understand why any LEGO fan would prefer this weird thing over actual cool builds and minifigures. Part of the magic of LEGO is that everything is compatible and you can bring all your favorite characters together. It seems bonkers to me that LEGO would make minifigures of Animal Crossing, Zelda, Sonic, Minecraft, etc. and Mario is burdened with this ugly, blocky, gimmicky, non-displayable theme that you can't really play with or merge with anything else besides itself. It's limiting and, IMO, goes against what LEGO is about.

     

    I really hope the digital aspect is over soon. It's a sanitized, generic, boring version of Mario that's limited by its own "features." It feels like someone who isn't really a fan of Mario came up with it. It's been a disappointment since its arrival and continues to be one.

    I'd say the new bowser car set is a perfect example of how course builder Mario Karts sets would work. It's incredibly well designed, and the scan code putting a steering wheel on Mario's chest and allowing him to honk the horn by the pull of a lever, while launching bombs behind the car is genius. I wouldn't be surprised if we got more sets like it. The code in bowser's car has no indication on it of being exclusively for him, so it can be reused.

    I don't that this line deserves to die and be replaced fully just because AFOLS are disappointed by it. The fact it's been going this long proves it must be very popular with it's intended audience. I'd say it's quite harsh to say that it's unimaginative and sacrificing quality and excellence, because that's just not true. Deciding to not make figures like every other theme was a bold choice, and understandably some don't like it. The technology that makes the characters work is very impressive, to me it's one if the most interesting developments that LEGO have made in a long time, and one of the only examples of them tying a digital feature to sets being very successful. The designers have listened to feedback on the design of the sets too. I agree that quite a lot of them don't display well, it's kind of the idea that you take the sections apart and rearrange them, but recently, the builds have been a lot more solid. I think that the 3 airship sets and Dry Bowser's castle are good examples.

    As a platforming game, Mario unfortunately is not easy to adapt to playsets. Scanning codes with electronic Mario to interact with blocks, enemies, and other hazards was a great way to achieve it. Figure sets trying to emulate the platforming aspect just wouldn't work as well. I think they actually would be unimaginative and not as fun for kids to play with. Mario Kart would work as minifigure sets because you can play with the cars and move them around, but the sets would then need to be designed around cars driving through them, presumably with track pieces and other gimmicks, so they wouldn't display well either.

    At the end of the day, there is no way LEGO didn't explore minifigures when they obtained the license but there's obviously a reason why they didn't go that route, so we got the course builder system instead. I think the 18+ sets are the perfect place for LEGO to give us minifigures and great display models, like Peach's castle, while keeping the aspect of the theme that you can actually play with that's true to the series' nature alive.

  5. Posted

    I've wanted Mario figures for as long as I can remember, but honestly I'm really hoping that the theme doesn't switch over to them fully. The brick-built character system has allowed for such a huge variety of characters to be made that just wouldn't be possible with figures. Who would have expected that we would have a Lego Toady? We only need Roy to complete the Koopalings, but there's no way Lego would have been able to make as many of them in minifig form by now. Each of them would need at least a new head mould with dual moulding and lots of print to achieve their look, but depending on how Lego would approach it, Roy and Morton might also need different body moulds to reflect their size.

    The brick-built approach not only helps Lego, but also fans. I'm not holding my breath for Lego to make Mario Wonder content, and there's not really any chance of them making Mario RPG content either, but I've been able to design Prince Florian and Mallow for my collection. Filling gaps like that as a collector would simply not be possible in a minifigure orientated theme where pretty much every character needs new moulds.

    In my opinion, the best way forward would be to keep the digital theme alive as the main focus, and then release a set like the original Green Hill Zone (21331) that'd include a few figures every once in a while. I'm pretty surprised that Lego haven't already included any in the 18+ display models on a little stand like in the UCS Star Wars sets, but I guess the designers haven't been able to decide whether a Mario figure should have a nose or not yet.

  7. Posted

    5 hours ago, Moon_Knight said:

    I’m obviously not getting my hopes up (because that’s something I’ve learned you do not do with Lego), but I want a new mold for Bale’s Batman’s headpiece. They did it for Keaton’s Batman. I’d love to see something similar to Phoenix Customs’ Night Crusader figure.

    A new mold similar to Phoenix Customs' Night Crusader cowl piece would be really good, because the cowl could then be reused by Lego for Pattinson's Batman in the February wave of The Batman sets too.