Ardelon

Nice to see this thread settling down in a more fitting forum. Maybe the discussion here will become a little less tense. But as for the „childishness“ debate, I do think that by pursuing the „coolness“ factor, like sticking jet engines or glowing energy weapons or hoverboards in historical-themed settings is a mark of this theme being childish. In other words, the practice of incogruously mixing „cool“ stuff from various areas (or historical periods, in this case) to keep kids with short attention spans excited, instead of focusing on well-rounded themes with their own pluses and minuses – like for example, accepting that a characteristic of castle/medieval/fantasy settings is a low tech level, which creates is own opportunities and challenges, distinct from sci-fi. So yeah. Im probably not helping with the „less tense discussion“ part. But I do think the opinion that this is a childish theme has its merit. Thats not really a judgement on the quality of the theme – it looks great as a big bang action theme in place of Chima.

Maybe the set will extend to the underground level, the firehouse will include the basement, and the piece count will be filled up by adding the sewer with pink ooze from GB2?

Eh, not sold. The villains look good, though. And the sets seem pretty substantial and playable. Otherwise, Tron lines galore - the good guys leg & torsos (or what we can see of them) look like straight from Galaxy Squad. I would have appreciated this far more as an acion or sci-fi line with a lot of parts useful for Castle.

I am actually surprised there are Dimensions sets for LotR but not for the Hobbit, which is a more recent and kid-friendly series of films.

Like some others, Im getting a space marine vibe from the pics. Interested in how medieval the visors will look. And the torsos - am bracing myself for tron lines and such. And I assume Macys plume is actually her hair, since no other knight has it.

Well, Im working on my PhD in International Relations IRL, so I guess I would be some kind of scholar at an early university. Great topic!

The hairpiece on my sigfig, usually. Though recently without the bangs.

I didnt really see this happening, but since I saw just2goods review of Homers dimension set with Homer holding a Buzz Cola can, this scenario actually seems like a good way to get Moe.

But not for a few years yet, so TLG might lose sales to kids that will have moved out of LEGO (or at least System LEGO) by then.

Maybe the set will be released in January in one location and half a year later in another? Or are these sets released simultaneously everywhere?

Well, ifyou mean the newest pic, its on p134 of this thread: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=105102&st=3325#entry2345657

I consider the golden age to be the early to mid 90s, based on output and variety of what was available. Its true that today we have access to everything that came before, and whatever else we may fancy on the secondary market, but thats no golden age - thats living off past glories. I think the six year cycle is too pessimistic. That would mean a long time with no pirate sets on the shelves after each theme retires, and I would assume TLG would want to catch youngsters newly arrived to the system/minifigure scaled themes. So they would keep a pirate ship and related sets on the shelves every 2-3 years (though that would mean simpler sets to cater to the younger builders). After all, PotC is right between the six year cycle.

Yeah, thats why I wrote freed from *a* licensed theme - small steps and all that. I will hold off judgement on the Disney theme just yet. And its enough that the Simpsons are taking a break, even if they arent gone for good. I would hope for a Simpsons-free CMF run in 2016.

As someone who was barely aware that something like AB existed. I m rather nonplussed about this. But like others, I do like that egg - it has whetted my appetite for more parts like this.

I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, Im glad the CMFs are freed from the grip of a licensed theme, but I would like to see more actual sets, just for LEGO to push the envelope, and because I actually am a fan of the show.

Most long-time AFOLs maybe have them, but not kids, or newly converted AFOLs. For this reason, I think Woody and Buzz would make sense, maybe even Jack Sparrow. But not in the first series, anyway.

Just zany enough for Scooby Doo. And yes, it seems like Shaggy got some inspiration from the "ghost" of Ironface. But knowing Shaggy, he should have the terrified face here... But well done, it brought a smile to my face (and Ill probably re-watch the episode).

So, at last a clear look at the minifigs. At least the bad guys dont look tech-y. But it seems like the only salvageable part from the good guys will be their heads, if they wont have futuristic headbands or stuff like that.

Well, we can always theorize whether Willa wasnt the greater evil. I dont know how ambiguous it was which of them was the boss. In my universe it was Basil, with Willa as an ally who helped Basil with his image of a terrifying netherworldly ruler, like giving Basil the illusion of vampirism.

Hmm compelling article, especially with the Racers driving license. But I always saw Basil as a human who worked the vampire angle for psychological warfare. I think it makes him cooler like this, and I will simply consider the driving license as not canon to the theme.

This seems like a pretty promising series, but I hope its more about the figures from the animated movies, instead of Mickey & friends. What I would like to see the most are figs like Hook, Jafar, Hercules, or Mulan. Much better for history fans to carry us through the Nexo dry spell. What I do NOT want to see is any licensed series take over the standard series 15 slot. So hopefully we are looking at two different series.

From the description and CM4Scis pics, this theme is looking very good. The idea of previous kinds of villains teaming up appeals to me strongly. It may even be a better source of parts for historical builds than NEXO knights. And of course, thanks to all involved for descriptions and doubly to Sci for drawings.

As a Slav, Death is usually portrayed as female in my culture (and the word "death" itself is a female noun) but not exclusively (same goes for the neighboring Slavic states). But I always assumed that TLG would go with the more stereotypical americanized cartoon portrayal of the grim reaper as a male - similarly to what they do with other minifigs. As it turns out. we didnt get Death / Grim Reaper in any gender. (Nor do I expect to. But then, the lines of whats acceptable get blurrier every year.) As for the spider lady, I see her as spider-based vampire, unlike the usual bat-based ones.

This is possibly the most heavily played-with set from my childhood - I believe that the nose-guards from both helmets have broken off, one of the shields handle has broken off, and Im beginning to think I lost the other shield, and the smile on one of the faces has faded away into almost nothing - the only minifig on which this has happened (now I hide it by using it as Majistos head). And I have a sword broken at the hilt and another broken at them´middle, both of which I suspect come from this set... No other set of mine is in such a worn out condition. Good times.

Having seen the pics, Im disappointed, though I was bracing for it. So far the only things I see that I like is the horned helmets and possibly Jestro. And I wouldnt mind if the kettle helm in (dark?) blue makes it past the prelim stage (which I assume it will, else they would have used an existing color helm as a stand-in). I might still grow to appreciate this theme on its own merits, but I was hoping for a more traditional Castle theme, and if this takes its place, I wouldnt like it. Not much of a fan of these zany themes anyway - though I follow the Ninjago story, and I plan to check out this one. Otherwise, this is far too techy for me, and it doesnt even look like there will be many useful parts to harvest. As for whether this is a Castle theme, I dont think so. Chima also had kings and their kingdoms, swords, armor and what not. And this is a theme in the Chima mold. And there is the Ninjago - Ninja 1998 parallel as well. So this gives me hope there will be a more traditional Castle theme next year or sometime parallel with Nexo. As for where this theme belongs here on EB, staff have other considerations apart from the "feel" of a theme. LotR/Hobbit went here to keep this forum active, and with no Castle since 2013 and none forseen, Nexo might get the same treatment. That said, I prefer this to go into A&A, for reasons already stated - the A&A crowd seems to appreciate this theme much more than the traditional Castle builders.