MrManiac

I wouldn't be surprised if we get a(nother) Daredevil set at some point (I vaguely recall a set with Daredevil in it already existing, maybe I'm misremembering), especially as both sides of the superhero theme are getting to dip into the more obscure/less surefire seller characters (MODOK? Hawkman? The Flash? And no insult to their fans, I'm just looking at these from a business/investment prospect). At this point, the question is whether it's a more Marvel Comics version of the character (like the sets with MODOK/Flash and the Spider-Man sets) or MCU-themed sets (since there is a Daredevil show being created). The Comics version is probably more recognizable to most people, while doing an MCU version could maybe let them do a crossover with Agents of SHIELD or some other characters.

Awesome! Nice to meet you, welcome aboard!

I'm gonna be right up front and say that the only UCS I've bought was the B-Wing as a Christmas Present for one of my best friends, and he still has it as a display model on his desk two years later. I'm probably gonna buy him either the X-Wing or the Slave I for his birthday this year, but the first UCS I intend to buy for myself will be the Helicarrier, because the Helicarrier is AWESOME and I've wanted one since the original Avengers sets came out. So, not much experience with these big sets, but I'll see what I think of. Honestly, I don't know how likely any further UCS are for a while in the superhero themes. The Tumbler is kind of the iconic Batmobile right now, while the Helicarrier was a major set piece for two big movies in the past few years AND is (probably) popular enough to justify the expense of creating/selling it. Superhero movies are big, but Star Wars has advantages over stuff like the Marvel films and the like: it's been around for longer, it has more fans with disposable income, and it has iconic vehicles. Almost everyone knows what an X-Wing or a Death Star is, but how many people outside of comics and some movie fans can tell you about the Batwing's different forms or the Danger Room? Admittedly I don't have any data on how well the various UCS have sold so this is just my idea of what's going on. That being said, there's a few sets I could see Lego as having the potential to develop and sell. I'll put them in order of what I think is the most likely to happen, DC AND Marvel, just to be fair, since both series (will) have had one each. I'm also going to say whether I would buy this set or not, because I feel like adding an extra layer of complexity. Possible: enough name/brand recognition and popularity to possibly get made Wayne Manor: One of the sets in this Lego Ideas cycle, and it might even have enough push to get made. The Batman line's had big sets before (Tumbler and Arkham Asylum spring immediately to mind), and it has the whole Batman brand name recognition. A few custom mini figures wouldn't hurt either, like an Alfred and an Ace the Bathound. The sheer variety of rooms and continuity nods in the Lego Ideas design would definitely appeal to the adult collector/fan as a display piece and core to a Lego Batman collection. And I might actually buy a set like this, though it isn't a definite thing. X-Mansion: Another Lego Ideas set, and another one I think has a decent chance of getting made at some point in the future. Lego is still making X-Men sets, even if they're not based on the movies, and the X-Men have the name recognition to get the set made. Again, the references in the set and the chance for a handful of unique figures (Professor X and big-fig Beast most likely) would help to sell it. But I probably wouldn't buy this one, since I've never really been a fan of the X-Men personally, and I've only bought two X-Men sets (and I did those for Deadpool and the Sentinel, which I needed for parts for an MOC… I haven't always made the wisest purchasing decisions). Comic/Burton Batmobile: Let's be honest, the Burton movies are still ingrained in the public consciousness enough to possibly justify something like a UCS of the Burtonmobile. Big, sleek, black, and iconic, something like this would go great with the Tumbler, and they might even be able to figure out how to have it turn into the Batrocket (I know, wishful thinking, but still). And Batman's got the name recognition, so that would definitely help to sell it. Would I buy this set? Probably not, admittedly. The Tumbler didn't interest me enough to get it either. Milano: The Milano has a decent chance of getting remade as a minifig-scale UCS, but not until Guardians 2 comes out so that it could capitalize on that movie. It was the centerpiece for an insanely popular movie with a lot of fans and sets that sold well, and the base Milano is already a good recreation. One issue would be the sheer size of it, comparable to the UCS Millennium Falcon most likely, though possible having less overall mass. I'd most likely buy this set, because the Milano is just that awesome, and I sense that a lot of fans would have a similar reaction. Maybe: not very likely, admittedly, but still some fun hypothetical ideas Hall of Justice: The Hall of Justice is pretty high in pop culture mindset (if only because of the Justice Friends cartoon) so as a sort of iconic DC building, this one could work, which is why I've put it above a few other choices I'd personally prefer to see get made. Then again, I don't necessarily see this as a full UCS, but maybe as a special limited-edition architecture/Justice League crossover set. I wouldn't buy a Hall of Justice set, but some adult collectors might get it. To sweeten the deal, they might throw in a few special figures, like limited editions of Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Aquaman. Yes, I think they'd throw in Aquaman. Tony Stark's Malibu Mansion/Basement Laboratory: Yeah, we technically already got it, but man, that set was a huge disappointment overall so I can see it getting a pricier remake. And I'm not saying this one is likely to happen, this is already way down on the low end of "possible." An iconic set piece of the Iron Man films that launched the MCU, the Mansion's distinctive design would fit in well with the architecture sets, and it might actually get made as that instead of as a UCS. I can see this as having some minimalistic playspaces, specifically the living room/area with the big sweeping windows and Tony's laboratory. Alternatively, they could just go for a lab set, but that probably wouldn't sell quite as well. This would look great perched on someone's shelf, and Lego could always throw in a few unique Iron Man mini figures to sweeten the deal (Mark I, II, III, and V spring to mind…, though they might include all of the first seven and the Mark 42 for movie accuracy). I'd probably buy this set for the unique Iron Man suits they could include with it, but it would also work as a ready-made display set for anyone's collection of Iron Man minifigs, though besides that it wouldn't be very high on my "gonna buy" list. Stark/Avengers Tower: Again, we've technically already gotten this one, and it already doesn't look to be as huge of a disappointment as Tony's Mansion from 2013, but Stark/Avengers tower is cool enough I could see it MAYBE getting made for something like Infinity War, but not particularly likely. Avengers Tower doesn't have quite the history of the mansion, but the popularity of the movies means that this would be more iconic and more likely to sell better (also, you could always remake the X-Mansion as the Avengers Mansion if you really wanted to). The Tower would probably be more of a display piece, and would also fit in pretty well with the Architecture sets, especially if you have Grand Central Terminal at the bottom of it, though they might not be able to clear the legalities on that. And they could include parts so you could display the name as either Stark or the Avenger's A. A win for everyone! The set would probably be able to have some minimal play value, like say an opening wall to show off a miniature recreation of Tony's penthouse suite or being able to open the base and see the arc reactor. This is a definite "maybe" set for me, not essential for a collection but if done well enough could get major cool points as a display piece on my desk. Not Gonna Happen: yeah, I don't think these will ever happen Fortress of Solitude: Even though I said this probably won't happen, the Fortress of Solitude would be cool enough for a smaller Architecture/DC crossover style of set, complete with a Superman, a lot of transparent pieces for the ice and crystals, and some special transparent micro figures for Jor-El and Lara-El's statues. Not a buy for me, sorry, but would be kinda cool for collectors. Hulkbuster: Sorry, The Jersey Brick Guy, as absolutely amazingly cool as a proper UCS Hulkbuster would be, I think the odds of us getting it are… not there. I mean, I don't think there's been a statue-type UCS for a long time (Grievous, Yoda, and Darth Maul are the only ones that spring to mind), and I don't know how likely we are to get a fully articulated figure that splits into several pieces and recombines with itself like it would in the movie… holy crap, that would be awesome. But, um, sorry, I don't think this one is going to happen. As cool as it would be. And as much room as it would take up on my desk, because I WOULD buy this damn thing. So, there's my thoughts, and WOW, I am SO sorry, that went on way longer than I thought it would.

Nothing in DC's lineup this year earned a buy from me, but I bought a few sets on Marvel's side. For the ones I bought, the Milano was my favorite, while the Star-Blaster was a close second. Definitely looking forward to 2015, though (oh, that Javelin set. Oh, those Avengers sets.)

Well, I only bought Marvel sets this year (nothing in DC's lineup really grabbed me this year), and none really leaped out at me as being terrible, but let me think… hmmm… oh, also, I'm limiting myself to the sets I bought this year just to be fair. Best: Drax, but for a slightly weird reason: I love his printing, and how all of the skulls from Bautista's makeup were replaced with little lego skulls. I actually laughed out loud when I noticed that. Followed by the Nova Corps member, as weird as that sounds. Worst: Groot, even though I do like the figure. But I somewhat agree with epister about how he's hugely out of scale for the rest of the figures and the dark grey joints are really distracting. If he was a big fig like Hulk or if they made special dark green/brown parts for his joints and if he was just a little shorter, he'd be even better. None of the figures I bought this year were really bad. Though the Sakaaran's were a little boring as army builders. For ones I DIDN’T buy (I lied earlier): DC: Best, probably Nightwing for ALMOST looking like a Terry McGinnis figure, and Worst I’m gonna call Man-Bat, because I don’t like the batwing arm things. Marvel: Best, I’m gonna say Taskmaster for his awesome sword and shield, and Worst I’m gonna say Falcon because I REALLY wanted a movie-verse Falcon and we got the comic one. Alternative option, Thor, because I really don’t like his simplistic design compared to the movie figure’s design. Looking forward and based on what we know, I'm gonna say that DC's Space Batman is the best and their Gorilla Grodd is the worst (I'm sorry, he's just REALLY boring to me), while Marvel's best is one of the new Ultron soldiers (I actually like their look for the sake of army building) and their worst is the Hulkbuster armor (it's not terrible, but it's not great either, and I'll probably end up tweaking it a bit when I get it).

Gee, I wonder who that's a reference to… Anyway, hi there! Long-time lego fan since I was a little kid, don't do many MOCs that last for very long but then tend to be on the smaller side of things (Battlestar Galactica Vipers and Iron Man armors and such things), and I look forward to maybe sharing a few of my creations and learning a bit more about what's coming in the future for Lego sets and the like. Nice to meet you! PS: note to self, double-check your forum post titles to avoid redundancy. *goes to get more coffee*

Testing, testing. Is this mic on? So, I went to a store to buy myself a toy, and as I was taking it off the shelf someone else tried to grab it from me, so I turned to them and shouted, "LEGO my legos!" *ba-dum-tish*