Lord Insanity

This set is a fantastic value. I might have to pick up two of these for the parts usage alone. As far as the message of the set, I have to seriously question how anyone can not see the obvious problem and implications of being opposed to equal rights for everyone. I don't think people are quite understanding that for many Christians Santa and the Easter Bunny are not at all allowed in their homes as they are secular symbols completely against the "true meaning" of the holidays. Originally in the U.S. Christmas was something Christians did not celebrate (and actively discouraged others from celebrating) because it was a secular Pagan holiday. It wasn't until the Poem Twas the Night Before Christmas made the holiday take off as a widely popular secular holiday in the late 1800s that Christians then started the whole "keep the Christ in Christmas" thing. We still have church paid commercials on TV "selling" that "Jesus is the reason for the season" around Christmas time.

To be fair the Mega Construx figures scale isn't that much different. LEGO minifigures are just really weirdly proportioned. The color palette isn't going to be as limiting as you might think. LEGO has made some awesome themes like Elves in the last few years that really work well for Etherian based builds. The live action movie is a really bad representation of the lore. If it weren't for Frank Langella's masterful performance of Skeletor, people would flat out pretend it never happened like the Star Wars Holiday Special. If you only watch one thing from the original Filmation cartoons I would recommend the movie The Secret of the Sword. That was made after the He-Man series and was intentionally made to be split into the first few episodes of the She-Ra series. There are some significant differences but far more that is mostly the same. It would serve to fill in many of the details the new She-Ra could only hint at due to Mattel's splitting of the property into "boy" and "girl" halves. Now am an not one of those fanboys that will tell you that the original is so much better, because it's not. Filmation was low budget animation even by the standards of the 1980s. That was because they sold the show directly into syndication and had to make 65 episodes for the price of a normal season of 20-ish. Remember this was before computers, when they had to hand paint each frame of animation, so they reused as much as they could. All the main characters shared body types so they could trace over other characters and reuse sequences of animation. What was very good for the time was the writing. The story holds up very well. Mattel was not expecting to get a bunch of young writers using the shows to prove their skills and writing at a level far better than most cartoons at the time. Mattel's handling of the property is really unfortunate because I would have liked to see what the new show could have done with access to the full lore.

I would recommend not holding back to "make it Ideas compatible". Mattel owns She-Ra and would never license it to LEGO anyway. Mattel also owns Mega Construx and sells Masters of the Universe building sets that way. While they haven't actually made She-Ra yet, there was a prototype of Hordak shown off at one of the conventions a few months ago. They have said they plan to go into the She-Ra half of the lore eventually if sales support continuing the line. Bottom line is, go all out and make it the best you can for yourself first. If you do plan to try and build it "in the brick" that might be more of a reason to keep the scale in check. Just to be clear, I did think the show was very good overall compared to other versions of the mythology. However, turning Light Hope into a hologram and The Crystal Castle into a computer really annoyed me. Light Hope and The Crystal Castle are supposed to be among the most powerful magical entities in the universe nearly equaling the power of The Sorceress and Castle Grayskull. (She-Ra's whole deal was she had all of He-Man's abilities plus several from Light Hope and the Crystal Castle.) They always had both tech and magic just not so "combined" for lack of a better term. The finale was very good in how they handled "freeing the magic". I think the biggest problem the show had was Mattel's unfortunate decision to split Masters of the Universe into "Boys have He-Man" and "Girls have She-Ra" licensing halves. The new show was literally not allowed to use half the mythology. I give the producers credit for really squeezing every reference they could get Mattel to agree to let them use. Using Mara from The New Adventures of He-Man was really cool to see. It's just a shame Mattel's leadership is stuck in the 1970s. They can't wrap their brains around the fact that He-Man and She-Ra are in most fans eyes the same property. One would think that appealing to both boys and girls simultaneously would be exactly what any toy maker would strive for. To be fair the first two villain factions were really quite good for pure fantasy Castle uses. I really liked the lighting monsters especially.

Atlantis theme's Lobster Guardian claw to the rescue.

It's a shame LEGO doesn't actually make those grabber arms anymore because they work perfectly for Entrapta's hair. I am quite impressed at how well you managed to capture all the characters in minifig form. That is a good working start on Castle Bright Moon. I'll be interested to see how that turns out. Admittedly I prefer the original series version (image from the episode The Crystal Castle, Shadow Weaver even had a model made) but the new version is quite nice too. The new series just made everything way to "nexo-knight-ified" for my taste. I just prefer straight up fantasy magic to the modern popular idea of making magic "ancient tech in disguise".

I don't understand. Why would the safari offroader complement a wildlife rescue squad? That is like expecting a tow truck to complement a firefighting wave. As it is I think unlike most fire waves, the wildlife rescue vehicle color scheme will be highly useful for more generic uses. Like a rival safari company or a cargo company. Though thinking on it might have been cool if instead of a wildlife rescue squad we had gotten an actual safari company with a tour bus done up in the color scheme of the offroader. The helicopter would have been boring white yet again though, so I am happy to have the tan wildlife rescue squad.

I must say I really like the Wildlife Rescue theme. I have wanted "circus and zoo" animals for many years now. Thankfully the vehicle color scheme is really nice. It will be really easy to leave the rescue logo stickers off and just use them as a generic cargo company or something. I would go so far as to say it is my favorite color schemes of the various "exploration" City sub-themes because it can so easily be used for normal vehicles. Tan is surprisingly rare in City vehicles. It's funny your complaints about that set are all the things I like about the set. I am glad the "base-camp" is so minimal that I can easily MOD it out completely. The focus on terrain is very welcome to me. I think the terrain is done quite well for a 6+ set. Sure I would have preferred a 10+ detailed set like The Legendary Flower Fruit Mountain, but for a simpler 6+ set it's good.

Did you even read what I wrote? I specifically stated that regular plates and bricks will crack and break under specific conditions that baseplates will not. (heavy sections of layout sliding over tables, plywood, floors, etc.) No where did I suggest LEGO should only stick with baseplates. However, the smooth underside of baseplates serve an essential function that no other "in-system" part currently can. If Microsoft never made Windows 98, 7, 8, or 10 then yes I would still be using 95. In fact as I build roads higher up than flat against the table, I prefer the new road plates to road baseplates. The newly revealed City Wildlife Rescue sets show them being made in a shade of blue for water. I can see them being very useful for castle themed layouts. (Rivers, lakes, shores, etc.) Imagine that the new road plate system, unlike road baseplates, will be useful to castle builders too.

I don't even have to search your post history. I have seen it enough times to know you have been saying that for a while. Thanks.

Those are really cool. While it is slightly odd to have real world space vehicles in the Sci-Fi forum, Space X is leading us toward a lot of things that even a year ago would have been considered "sci-fi". Most people do not comprehend the significance of actually getting the "Starship" craft working as they expect to over the next year or two. Basically the whole joke about permanent moon bases being 10 years away for 40 years now would actually become 10 years away for real this time. "Starship" is also the only realistic craft in development capable of carrying enough provisions for a manned Mars mission. The next few years could prove quite revolutionary. Exciting times.

The lions do not have "saddle cutouts" like the wargs do. The lions do have 2 studs on top though. It looks like the body itself is the same as the regular "big cat" mold. Which makes perfect sense really. Would be easy enough to hitch them to a chariot or wagon but they would look a little off for a straight up mount due to the lack of saddle compatibility.

There is a high probability that all of those sets are at "End Of Life" and not actually in production anymore. Definitely not still in production. All true but also suggested those parts were not going to be in production anymore given the other sets that contained them are all likely at EOL. I am happy to see them still in production.

So the better pictures really show off a lot of good stuff in the Creator Castle. The olive and dark green slopes used for plant growth on the gatehouse is really nice. The biggest surprise is the fact that it looks like the B and C models have wall segments built to the same standard as the A model. Now that is an incentive to buy multiples if I ever saw one. I am bummed we didn't get a new torso but as I am also a fan of pirates I can definitely use the blue striped shirt. I have several red and green striped shirts from the 2015 pirates wave so its nice to get the blue in another set besides Barracuda Bay. Of course being a Castle themed set its inclusion here is a fail. The saving grace is the inclusion of the classic armor and grille helmet. Those were conspicuously absent from the Idea's Blacksmith Shop. If the pirate torso was the trade off to getting those back in production in this set I am happy with that decision. I have several extra police officers that can easily be converted to blue sleeved knights with the armor and helmet.

OK, baseplates are in system. A baseplate resting directly on top of studs is exactly one normal plate high and can be built with accordingly. Anyone that has built any sort of portable layout with multiple heavy sections that all line up to form a cohesive whole will know baseplates are essential. They slide across tables, plywood, floors, and such without catching on anything. Regular plates and bricks catch on everything and once you start making heavy sections of terrain, will usually crack and break where they catch rather than stopping. If LEGO actually stops making baseplates people that make large portable layouts will buy third party ones by necessity. 20 years ago there were no quality alternatives, today there are. I don't believe LEGO is so clueless they would hand their competitors sales like that. The last thing LEGO wants is the general public seeing those giant layouts at conventions and shows and being told they need a foundation of third party products to make them possible.

That Water Dragon may very well be my favorite brick built dragon from any theme so far. That thing is a work of art. The Fire Dragon while not quite as good, is still far superior to most Ninjago dragons. The Nautilus Submarine Bounty looks really cool. I love the Atlantis city and snake monster too. That color scheme used for the snake enemies is fantastic. Drop the ninjas in the spare bin and this is a fantastic Atlantis wave.

Funny how a days worth of news can put some things in perspective. The upcoming Ninjago Water Dragon is a thing of beauty. That might "dethrone" the Elves' Queen Dragon as the best built dragon Lego has made in my eyes. The Ninjago Fire Dragon, while not quite as good looking as the Water Dragon, is still everything I ever wanted a LEGO Smaug to be. In fact I might try modding Smaug's head onto that one. The City Wildlife Rescue sets look fantastic. The elephant does seem a bit statue-like compared to the Orient Expedition version though. The proportions and detailing almost looks too good. The lion more than makes up for it though.

I don't buy the rumor at all. Maybe the specific packaging, set numbers, or colors of the current versions is set to retire. That has happened before. LEGO couldn't possibly be so clueless as to hand all baseplate sales to their competition, could they?

Generally speaking I prefer molded animals for the same reason I prefer minifigs compatible sets. It's all about building my own world. For larger animals and creatures I think a mix of a few specialized parts to enhance a mostly brick built base works very well. The Queen Dragon is in my opinion the best dragon LEGO has made so far. I will never understand why so many people like the molded Smaug. The proportions are just wrong. Smaug should have been partially brick built and beefed up considerably, more like how the Queen Dragon looks. For only special molded, I will take the fantasy era castle dragon over Smaug every time. Cue the; "Smaug isn't even a dragon, he is a wyvern." crowd. To which I would reply that statement is illogical. You don't point at a large black bird and say; "That's not a bird, its a raven."

Every store near me would likely frown on "breaking the seal" of product you didn't buy. Some of them would flat out prosecute you for "attempted shoplifting". Either way that is not really a legitimate way of determining the contents. For me the boxes being "true blind purchases" makes them over priced by at least double.

The green knight shirt and pants in the "build a figure" bins at LEGO brand stores was originally from the Minifigure Series 15 Frightening Knight back in 2016. It is quite nice that they still put those parts in the "build a figure" bins. The print is suitably generic enough to use for several factions.

So more like a noble civilian. Those are even more rare than peasant civilians in LEGO sets. That would have been nice.

Weird. Looking at the six (seven counting the legend re-release of 6074) Black Falcon sets on Brickset. I never realized 6073 from 1984 used green. I always saw 6062, 6035, and 6074 from the 1987 product book as being the main Black Falcon faction. Those three all use blue. 6030 was in the '87 book but I always just thought that was a screw up as all the inspiration images in that book used white and blue for the Falcons. The only actual Falcon figures I had as a kid were from 6103 which didn't have flags all and 6059 which used blue for the Falcon knight. I did snap up the legend re-release of 6074 (10039) when that came out in 2002 of course that still used blue. All the Lion Knights used yellow and red. A few years later the Black Knights all used red and blue. The '87 - '92 range were pretty consistent with flag colors except for 6081 containing Lion Knights but using Black Knights flags. Oddly Brickset has 6081 listed under Crusaders but they just look like Lion Knights to me. Well the beauty of the banners on the new Creator castle being brick built, we can make them what ever color we want. I guess the actual flag parts being blue is a bummer if you wanted green though. I suspect the main homage (if any) was meant to invoke 6074 with the blue flags and yellow Tudor walls. Well I am glad there is no king. A civilian is far more useful to get multiples of if you wind up getting more than one set. Kings are really cheap on bricklink compared to civilians.

I love how you did the alien foliage. I really am surprised more people don't use all the odd colors of "plants" LEGO has made for alien foliage. That was my first thought on seeing blue "leaves" in the Elves line. Obviously the rover itself is really cool too. Nice balance of classic and modern.

That Creator 3 in 1 Castle is fantastic. I expected it to be colorful but I didn't think it would work nearly as well as it does. I can't wait to see better pictures to decide just how many of these are worth buying. At least one for sure based on just the blurry preliminary picture. At first the red on the banners seems mismatched but we can just assume there is a festival or they are hosting games with a neighboring kingdom or something. Of course being LEGO we can always switch that to blue ourselves. After all even 6081 King's Mountain Fortress had the wrong color flags for that faction. (Blue when it should have been yellow. As a kid I it annoyed me but I had extra yellow flags so I could swap them out. It did really bug me that LEGO would make such an obvious mistake so I don't buy the whole "kids don't care" argument.) No no no. The problem is LEGO grossly underestimated demand and needs to make more to sell. Never place limits, make more of them! The fact that Black Falcon parts are constantly selling out is by far and away the best way for LEGO to get the message that there is money to be made on the Castle line. Vote with your wallet and order as many as you can use when ever they become available. The longer those parts constantly sell out the "louder" the message gets that Castle is profitable.

Well if you like them that's good. I personally think they look terrible. The molding is too detailed for LEGO figures and not detailed enough for action figures. They are way oversized and stuck in an awkward pose. (Keep in mind I am specifically referring to the squatting big-fig used in in Super Hero themes. The vast majority of heroes and villains are not twice as tall as a person.) I would rather see regular mini-figs for every single one despite those being slightly too small in most cases. An updated non-armor version of Axl from Nexo Knights would be perfect for every character that has been made as a big-fig so far. I am hoping that is what the rumored new Thanos is. Thanos is big but he is not double the size of a normal person. An Axl style fig would be the perfect LEGO representation.