meliander

Love it! I think it looks better with red with a nice contrast against the base. You mentioned there are a lot of bricks that went into the interior - would love to see what's inside if it's modular. I think if this build was integrated into a city, it would look amazing. Added my vote.

@Brandon Pea Yeah City is at the top obviously. I'm more surprised that Ninjago is not there, but Classic is. I also didn't know that Technic is selling well.

So TLG announced the results for 2019 (quote from Brickset): Top selling themes in no particular order were LEGO City, LEGO Creator, LEGO Friends, LEGO Technic, LEGO Classic and LEGO Star Wars. The LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Super Heroes (Marvel Avengers) and LEGO Disney Princess themes also performed strongly. Seems like a lot of classic stuff to me :) I mean Friends is not classic, but Star Wars kinda is. I'm really happy with these results, to be honest.

I personally haven't seen anything official on the subject, but they stopped doing it for sure. Tbh I didn't know Maersk Train had those. I thought this practice was abandoned before 2010s.

Great looking mail truck! Those stickers over several pieces could be a problem for Lego though. I don't think they do that anymore.

I found myself staring at the hallway where the lady in pink shirt and green purse is heading and wondering what is she going to see next. Because I so much would like to see more of this awesomeness. Great work. What piece did you use for the ceiling? I can't recognize them from the pictures.

Awesome! Great design and proportions. I wish Speed Champions were like that.

It's a very charming truck! Love the fact that it fits 2 minifigs.

I think Lego should invest more into products such as Mindstorms, this is the great place to combine physical and digital. I don't think we have enough of that. Also, Technic could be more advanced in that area. While I don't personally have issues with Hidden Side (I neither like nor dislike the sets), as a parent, I would never buy AR sets for my child, because at least as I see it - the whole point of playing with Lego nowadays is getting kids away from the screens.

Great MOC, I love this. Especially the cute little submarine!

@david4662Oh, I didn't know that it was priced so differently. Yeah, that seems to be a little bit too much, since the formula E one is a niche car, and also judging by the complexity of the build and number of parts I don't think it's worth 20. I-Pace though I'm not into Jaguar seems like a very nice model to build. So I would wait for a discount for those who have it at 40 in their country. With Urus - I didn't like it at first as the car itself, but I have changed my opinion after doing some brief research about it online and watching MotorTrend videos on Youtube about it. It's a fantastic car if you forget about the fact that its Lambo and just judge by what it is. For its class it's an absolute beast. That being said, I don't like the bright green color. But its a personal preference. And the price is high - so definitely getting on sale, too.

It depends on whether you like both cars? I mean the price for this set is good, unlike the Lambo combo

Great points here all around. Just a couple of thoughts further into the subject... What I find peculiar is how the Ninjago being a successful theme is usually perceived as that kids are drawn to the subject matter. Like kids are into SW /Harry Potter these days or kids are into smartphones, or kids are just different these days. I think they are no different in terms of what they like or not like, they are just given different options by... us... adults. When I was a young boy (80s-90s), Ninjas were very popular. TMNT, Ninja movies in theatres, ninjas on TV, lots of Ninja toys, costumes, etc. They were everywhere! And I loved them. But it doesn't seem to be the case anymore, yet the theme lives and thrives. Which makes me believe that it's purely Lego's combination of efforts from marketing to the sets themselves are what selling it, and not that kids are different and they like different things now. As was mentioned above, they have no idea what they like - they like what adults are showing to them. Be that their parents who like Star Wars (and liked Ninjas when they were young) or the tv show makers and toymakers. What I'm trying to say here (and I was saying that before), is that if Lego put a similar effort into a completely different theme - it would sell well, be that SciFi/Pirates/Western/Castle or basically anything else that suggests adventure.

Well, if you are looking to get another minifig, yes. But I personally would have liked them to take the Simpsons approach with it instead - not just adding the nose to the standard head, but to actually mold the head of the real character. That being said, that's not the way I would usually prefer in general, it's just in this case (as was the case with the Simpsons) - his nose is such a distinctive feature of his character that omitting it just doesn't feel like the same character to me.

I like the sets and how the minions look, but the Gru without a nose doesn't seem like Gru to me.

Have been monitoring Assembly Square 10255 for a while on Lego.com and since the holiday season it is frequently on the "back order" status. Do you guys think it is a sign that it's going to be retired soon?

Just building from instructions already got you some basic skills.

I apologize if I tried to sound overly objective. The reason I thought they were half baked is mostly due to the way they were supported and developed. A couple of waves tops, if I remember correctly. And then draught for several years. Which is different from what Space meant for the company all the way from its introduction until the end of the 90s. When there were new sets every year, new (and different) factions, which all interacted with each other in one way or another. I'm not trying to attack the designers, I actually adore them. Yes, I didn't like the cartoonish villains in SP3 and the tone of the galaxy squad, but that's just my taste. The decision to switch one of their main tentpoles from in-house to SW I believe has nothing to do with the designers themselves, it's a corporate decision, which I believe was lead by the fact that since SW introduction they have been selling well, which by the way also coincided with a dark period for TLG overall in the early 2000s. Regarding those themes in general, I still did buy many of those sets from in-house themes, because I love space, Mars Mission being my favorite among them (I almost got the complete theme). But then when I thought that space is coming back again with the 2nd wave of Mars Mission sets, which I thought were really good, it just ended. Again, I apologize if I offended someone's favorite sets or themes - we all like different things and I like that Lego is trying to diversify its catalog to appeal to a broader audience. However, I still think that they sometimes should believe more in their own strengths and define their catalog according to their creative judgment and develop new franchises instead of relying on existing ones. @Toastie thanks for the positive and fun summary :)

I would have to agree with both people on both sides of the barricades. First of all Mars Mission, Alien Conquest, Galaxy Squad were all half baked themes. Yes, they were on the shelves together with Star Wars, but the Space theme as a general never got that love and treatment as it had in the 90s. It never had received the priority and the development time a proper major theme gets. So getting those themes (even though the designs of some of the sets were not bad at all) alongside SW is not "we are getting Space, too" - we are not. We are getting Star Wars because the power of this franchise is helping TLG succeed as a company. I don't necessarily want SW theme to discontinue - if people throw money at it to keep TLG happy and prosperous - fine with me. The only thing I want is that TLG would have believed that they can do great on their own, too. I want them to try to risk it and invest heavily into making new unique sci-fi worlds (not comical and colorful Galaxy Squad or Space Police 3 with cartoonish aliens, but true serious (like Star Wars) worlds) and try to sell them for a couple of years, developing and supporting them. And see if the power of their designers can make the sales better (or at least comparable - minus the licensee fees they are paying Disney). They CAN (as in being able) do that - because they already do that with other themes i.e. Ninjago. Here is an example from the videogame world and a little company called Bioware. They "had been" (lol) amazing RPG makers. At some point in the early 2000s when they have already made a hit named Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, they were starting working on a new game. They could have easily continued to stick to SW licenses only and safely produce successful products, but instead, they went for their new and own franchise - Mass Effect. They have already been great and now they got complete freedom. No "assisted" creative vision, no approvals, no George Lucas. And it turned out to be one of the best franchises (and sci-fi worlds) ever created in the entertainment industry including cinema. And for a long time, no Star Wars game could come even close - even though having "Star Wars" in the title. TLG does have one of the most talented designers in the world. Maybe not storytellers - but it's easily fixable. Sadly, a lot of corporate bosses like it the easy way.

I'm also looking forward to a new fire station, as I haven't yet found the one over the years that appeals to my taste. They are either too small or too empty. I just hope that the next one they release doesn't follow the new juniorization they did to the police. The ideal one would be something close the 2018 Hospital (60204) in terms of size, interior details, number of minifigs and overall aesthetic (not junior). That being said, the MOC above is absolutely fantastic and something I believe will not ever be possible to get as a Lego set.

I was so excited about the Leaf theme and all the rumors, but every bit of news about it since the logo leaked is draining my excitement meter faster and faster.

Great news! When I'm looking at all the other ideas in this group, even though they are all cool builds, Blacksmith for me stands out as being particularly "set ready" - it's not overly huge nor too small. I'm glad it didn't have that much of the competition. It's not niche, and it's Castle OMG. I'm so happy! I'm actually happy with their second choice, too - will make a perfect gift for my daughter. Now give us Zelda this summer :)

Just watched it yesterday on Hulu. I really liked the show, the presentation is just amazing. Will Arnett was great, too, as well as Jamie and Amy. I really liked how some of the builds were animated via stop motion - it was such a wonderful idea to do that. There were a couple of emotional moments, too, which I liked. Overall really liked the 1st episode and looking forward to the next one. @KotZ How often and how long do the builders take breaks during the competiotion. 15 hours is such a long period of time - I'm just wondering how they managed that time (since it was not covered during the show), especially for those folks who were falling behind on their builds. My personal opinion is that the team with Boon should have won - they had such an extraordinary concept of the roller coaster - if there is any information on why the mechanism failed at the end - I would be glad to know.

I hoped to see a Porsche, but this one is nice, too! Great color choice as well.

There are two ways of looking at it. They probably won't buy another pirate ship. But they can buy any other of the sets if you really like the theme. Like a Fort, or pirate hideout or an imperial ship.