TomKraut

Well, since I don't have an area large enough to build a real layout, I haven't done this myself (oh, to have a child's bedroom floor to play on again... and joints young enough to actually play on the floor ), but here is what I would do: 1. Because the current roads are rather dark and don't go well with the Friends colour scheme, I would first brighten them up a little by placing 1x2 tiles as curb stones, maybe in azure, magenta, pink or lavender. Then add light grey 2x2 tiles as the sidewalk until they extend over the edge of the roadplate. 2. Add another baseplate connected via the overlapping sidewalk, preferably in tan. 3. Remove the bases from the buildings and build up the outline of the walls with 1-wide plates. Extend the sidewalk to the front of the building, because most Friends stores etc. have an extending or recessed entrance. 4. Build a new interior floor from colourful tiles. You can use mosaic techniques to create really wonderful floors this way. 5. Place the buildings onto the wall outline. Be aware that this may cost a lot of money in tiles and baseplates, and you will have to get the tiles from the pick-a-brick section in the Lego Online Store or from Bricklink. The same goes for the 1-wide plates you will need to heighten the walls. You can also visit a Lego Store if there is one near you and check out the pick-a-brick wall for tiles and plates, however it is rather unlikely that you will find many useful pieces there. If you find any they will be very cheap by comparison, so it might be worth checking out. Cheers TomKraut

They might apply their research on minidolls to create a "bigdoll". I doubt it though, because the DP line relies on the license more than other lines where the actual set (and figure / doll) designs are treated as more important. Let's face it, the fact that this is the first set including a Belle minidoll will be incentive-to-buy enough, with or without Beast.

Amazon.de now has the sets listed as "sold by Amazon" with a release date of January 16th... and at retail price In that case, I would rather purchase them from the Lego Store, at least I get VIP points then. I also checked Metro Cash&Carry today (as I do about every other day) and while there were no sets on the shelves yet, a printout of the new shelf layout was lying around and they will be carrying Nexo Knights. Unfortunately, there was no one around to ask when they will receive them, but prices at Metro are usually very good (at least 10% off from retail), so I just ... have to ... hold ... out ... a little longer ... Cheers TomKraut

I love Alice! I can totally see her substituting as Macy's squirebot to get an exclusive insight into the Knights' life, possibly being captured by Jestro in the process. I looked at the available Friends hairpieces but could not find anything, blonde or otherwise. Maybe I will just use another hairstyle in the right color, changing her hair regularly seems like something Alice would do anyway. This might work, for example.

Next week is going to be awesome, with the show starting for real and the sets (supposedly) broadly available in Germany! And I desperately want an Alice Squires minifigure! Time to purchase some pink PLA and fire up the 3D printer... Anyone got suggestions what hairpiece I could use?

Thinking of characters instead of minifigures makes sense to me. And I do agree that the NK minifigs are spectacular. As a side note, while the Fortrex box displays the Merlok banner as a character, the description on S@H lists only 7 minifigures (at least in Germany).

It is however noteworthy that this is not an Amazon listing sold by Amazon... Some retailers have had the 11th as shipping date for ages (Weltbild), others have eBay listings for the 15th, now Amazon the 16th. I think we can somewhat safely assume it's going to be next week Cheers TomKraut

I was basing my thoughts on a quick scan of the Skybound inventory on S@H. You are right, last years Ninjago had more to offer concerning minifigs. I think TLG realizes the appeal of their figures more and more, and how strong their influence on the decision for or against buying a set can be. This can be seen very clearly by looking at Chima over the years: in the first year, you could get almost every figure in multiple sets. In the last year, almost every figure was an exclusive. With NK, we see this in the distribution of Axl and Jestro, which would have me up in arms if I wasn't going to buy every set anyway... Speaking of buying the sets, it seems that in Germany they will be finally generally available at normal retailers on January 15th. Let's see if I can still hold out until then or if I will cave and go to the Lego Store to pay overpriced amounts without even getting a polybag... Cheers TomKraut

Fortrex has two Scurriers, which from a production standpoint are even more valuable than minifigs because they are a new mold. As for the other sets, they all have a decent to generous amount of minifigs if you count Squirebots, which you should from a playability viewpoint. The only set really lacking in that department is imo the Evil Mobile (as you said), especially as one can pick up Lance in a €20 set or even in the first issue of Nexo Knights Magazine. Cheers TomKraut

I'm absolutely thrilled for Belle's Castle. The 2016 winter wave was extremely disappointing with the new Cinderella Minidoll from Juniors being the highlight for me (and maybe Sven). I will get the Frozen Sets, but as a 35 year old guy I just cannot be bothered with the palace pets (even my taste has limits ). Even if there are no more sets this year, a new real castle is long overdue, and not having to buy other sets makes it easier to buy multiples of this one and create a more substantial build (as I am still planning to do with my 3 Cinderella's Castles...). I'm also glad we will be getting a Belle Minidoll, and isn't there a new teapot mold in the Friends sets...? However, I don't dare to dream about a Beast Bigfig but maybe we will at least get him in his human form. A $60 set should come with at least two Minidolls. Cheers TomKraut

Here you go: What exactly are you gonna do when Jestro, the former court’s jester, steals a book filled with mean and dangerous monsters to take over the kingdom? That’s easy: in this extraordinary world filled with might and magic you call on the NEXO KNIGHTS, a group of fresh graduates from the Knights Academy. They are lead by the old and clever wizard Merlok, who has transformed himself into a computer program and only continues to exist as a hologram. Is there still hope for the once peaceful kingdom of Knighton? Of course there is: The young heroes will soon find out how to use the mighty NEXO Powers to become strong knights of the future, to defend the kingdom against Jestro and his lava monsters. Cheers TomKraut

The minifigs are great! Unfortunately, the bar is not, especially in the pictures on the main page. It seems terribly bland and generic. It's a little better in the updates where it is more tightly packed. It's strange that they already have over 2000 votes but no official Lego comment, which usually happens when a project reaches 1000 votes. I'm not sure that a single build like the bar is the best way to go for a Monkey Island Ideas project. A few very small builds to represent iconic scenes (some shrubbery for the sword fights, a few strange looking shelves for the Voodoo Lady, a vending machine selling root beer...) and the minifigures might work better. Cheers TomKraut

The number is more recent, from 2010 (Source: http://brickset.com/article/567). I'm sure the AFOL market has grown since then, what with the Lego Movie and all, but I am still surprised that it is this high! When you are part of something, it is hard to view it objectively, especially when you are as deeply embedded in it as we (active users at Eurobricks) are in the AFOL community. For us, spending money on Lego is normal, but for the vast majority of people, it's absurd (except as a gift for children).

From http://www.brickshop.be/lego/lego-elves.html, translated with Google: So I guess we figured everything out just right. Fairy-like elves (although this time, fairies is indeed a translation error!), minidolls, girls theme. Should we move this thread to Special Themes now?

Yup, it was sales, not customers. And catering to only 5% of your market the way TLG does is simply amazing! Which lets me to believe that Knudstorp is telling the truth and that he sees real value in the AFOL base besides the revenue they create.

^ Metro Cash&Carry. They were already discounted and I had some coupons for an additional 20% off.

In historic related themes that would be three 'Unexpected Gathering's and one 'Escape fromMirkwood Spiders', all at about 50% off.

I don't want Lego to create houses or other 'normal' buildings for City. I want them to make whatever sells best in that line. City is Lego's must successful theme, and has been for DECADES! I'm pretty sure they know what they're doing... As long as City is a cash cow for Lego, they can afford to give us amazing, probably low ROI things like Modulars and Ideas-Sets. Or Creator houses, for that matter...

I'm not sure how the Disney licenses work these days, I think they reorganized them a few years back. I was told that Lego actually has the right to produce sets of any Disney property they want. However, when you are dealing with something like Disney Princess, there are rules to follow. From what I have gathered, as soon as you slap that 'Disney Princess' logo on the box, there is no chance that a villain will be included. And of course, as with all licensed sets, the owner company would have a lot to say in it's design process. If the Disney Classics license still exists, it would be awesome if Lego made a theme about it. Sets like 'Sleeping Beauty' with Maleficent both in dragon and human form would be simply amazing! I would prefer minidolls, but minifigs would work as well, although I don't really like the 'slope as legs' technique for minifigs wearing a dress. I read somewhere that Lego's research indicated that girls prefer named characters. That is why there isn't a single unnamed minidoll and why it is highly unlikely that we will ever get an 'army builder' minidoll set.

I'm not trying, but my backlog is HUGE! There must be about 50 unopened boxes, but I have no intention to build them all (especially because many of them are duplicates). I usually buy sets for parts or minifigures / -dolls, but I often build the set, just to immediately 'flag' it for disassembly and sorting. I enjoy building the sets from instructions, it's really relaxing because there usually isn't much effort involved, so it's nice to always have something ready to build. But I have no intention of displaying them (exceptions would be the Haunted House, which is sitting on a shelf, or Modulars, but I don't have any of those).

Yeah, but then again the announcement of the announcement wasn't official, was it? And then there is this: http://www.groovebri...5-release-date/ It is about a rumor that Bionicle will be released in February and the source says: 'Quickly' could mean 'at NYCC'. I don't follow the movie business, so if it is true that JW is not being actively promoted yet, Bionicle seems to be the more likely candidate. Edit: After reading some more news and rumors, it seems that the announcement was official. But given that 'new' for Lego means 'a police station for City every other year' I would still go with Bionicle

If they do that, no Lego representative will get out of there alive! A Comic convention must be flooded with LotR fans. Imagine TLG announcing to a bunch of LotR nerds (no disrespect meant, I see myself as a nerd) "Hey, there will be a new Lego theme. It's about elves. It's aimed at girls aged 5-12 and features minidolls." A bloodbath would ensue!

I don't think GS sold well. It was released in 2013 and I still find a lot of the sets in stores, and at a step discount at that. Still, no one seems willing to buy them (except me apparently, according to Bricklink I own over 5000 pieces from Space sets and all of them are from GS sets). Cheers TomKraut

It has to be Jurassic World. We already know from last weeks leaks that the new themes next year are Supercars, Elves, Bionicle and JW. Announcing Supercars at a Comic convention doesn't make much sense. Looking at the backlash from LotR fans towards the 'girls theme' Elves it would be a disaster if Lego announced it at NYCC. Bionicle would be possible, but is not exactly a 'new' theme. JW is the best fit for the occasion. Besides, why would Lego ever create a Doctor Who theme? There are no playset possibilities here apart from the Tardis. A one off Ideas set yes, like BTTF and Ghostbusters. But no complete theme. Cheers TomKraut

So... No one? I don't think we will get more than one minidoll in the Aurora set. It has the lowest set number of the line, which usually means it is one of the smallest sets (it's rumored to be only $12.99). In fact, the Jasmine set is only $19.99, which spells trouble for Aladdin. In the first wave, only the sets $30+ had more than one minidoll... And with Elsa's Palace certainly featuring Elsa and Anna, and Ariel's set featuring people with mermaid 'legs', it seems like we won't get a male (human) minidoll.