Karalora

Ironically, when you go back to the actual myths, Hades was way less of a jerk than Zeus. It's modern people who assume that because he's the god of the Underworld, he must be analogous to the Devil. Ares and Eris are legit jerks, however.

Seems more like a Kratos expy to me, based on the skin tone under the armor.

What a delightful series! Some of the highlights IMO: Narwhal Girl! Now there's an offbeat animal costume! Magician Girl! Here's one I'm surprised LEGO hasn't actually produced. The card tiles have all sorts of potential uses, and I LOVE her matching cape! Olympian Messenger! Keeping the Greek mythology theme rolling, good good! Treasure Hunter! That goblet is absolutely to die for! Color Festival Boy! What a surprise! Holi is one of those festivals I would love to participate in sometime... Father Time! AND Baby New Year! It's two, two, TWO holiday archetypes in one! Chocolate Girl! Why does pink work so well with chocolate brown? (Also: it me)

This is gonna be good! (I'm already imagining someone using those inkblots as avant-garde wallpaper in a LEGO house)

I'm just saying that's what they meant by "original." Not "nothing like this has ever been seen before," but "this is not directly aping any work of media that already exists."

I'm pretty sure @howitzer means Ideas sets should succeed on the strength of the model design itself, not piggybacking on the popularity of a given franchise brand. A ban on explicit IP usage would not prevent anyone from being inspired by an IP, and they could communicate that to other fans and give us "<IP> in all but name" set ideas.

This is lovely! Reminds me of the family-owned vineyards up in Napa Valley.

OMG, Arachne is SO COOL! Lots of great details in this series. Here, I'll call some out: The china pattern on the Maid's crockery The Island King's tiki totems--what a fun concept! Crocodile Guy's loose hand--big chuckle from me on that one Everything about the Magical Girl The Hypnotist's swirly eyes The Farmer Girl's grain stalk The Composer's embroidered coat and waistcoat. Very classy! When are they going to put you in charge of CMF designs?

It's a pity the 2x2 round brick doesn't come in dark orange, because that would be superb for depicting the redwood trunks.

This is awesome! I love my state!

Very nice! I love seeing people evoke specific species of trees with different building techniques. Are those Joshua trees in the upper right?

Eating beans or lentils for New Year's is traditional in some places. It's supposed to bring good luck for the year ahead.

I think the Weeping Angel made it through because it reads as a statue rather than a literal angel. The Flying Warrior is also a very non-standard look for an angel. The pop-culture image of Cupid, on the other hand, comes directly from the putti of Renaissance art, which are often equated with actual angels (cherubs). This is not to say that TLG is right to draw these arbitrary lines. I'm just speculating as to why some quasi-angel minifigs get made and others don't. Personally? I think even the "standard" angel--an attractive glowing person with a robe and big feathery wings--has evolved to be more of a pop-mythology archetype than a religious character.

I know where Cupid comes from, and that he's not an angel. But he sure looks like one to the untutored eye, and we all know how cagey TLG can be when it comes to religious imagery.

Maybe Cupid is too similar to a conventional angel? That's the only reason I can think of for why we don't have him yet; he's a very recognizable figure.

Now that Christmas is past, let's move on, shall we? What else happens in winter? New Year's Eve/New Year's Day: Minifigs: Baby New Year and Father Time/Old Year. Food: The wine bottle with a printed label that suggests champagne. Other: People often wear cheap, glittery gold or silver top hats for New Year's parties. So...the top hat in gold and/or silver, please? (As a commonly available part, that is, rather than one component of a special edition collectible minifig that is currently going for FOUR FIGURES on Bricklink.) Valentine's Day: Minifigs: Come on, LEGO, where's my Cupid? Call him "Love Sprite" if you want. Food: A heart-shaped tile printed with an image of chocolates. Other: We have a pretty nice rose piece, but it only comes in red and light orange. I'd like to see it in more colors--particularly, for Valentine's Day, pink and white. Tiles with printed Valentine card designs would also be good.

Sounds pretty official, then. I always thought that guy looked more like a wizard than a king, but I guess the Ice Queen needs a mate...

If it's really a calf than it shouldn't have antlers either. Which makes me suspect that it's not a reindeer calf, but a tiny reindeer. Taken verbatim from the poem. Thank you so much for this @Robert8 ! Merry Christmas everyone!

I don't know how TLG-official this is, but some of the characters created with BAM-exclusive parts have been added Bricklink as named minifigures--"Ice King," "Love Elephant," etc.

That's probably because horned, tailed figures are easier to pass off as simple monsters, i.e. nothing to do with religion, while a humanlike figure with feathered wings automatically makes most people think of angels. Personally I think TLG is a little too gun-shy regarding religious imagery. Angels and demons, as a concept, are thoroughly assimilated into general pop culture and fantasy, and as such depicting them is not necessarily a religious statement at all. But then again, you never know how many worms are in the can until you open it. Congrats on another great milestone @Robert8, and on finding a possible loophole to the general prohibition on religious characters! Not to mention the sheer loveliness of this design!

He looks very young to me. Might be the features, the hair, the old-fashioned clothing (dresses on very little boys were absolutely a thing prior to WWI), or the fact that he is singing carols, something which, in my experience, few boys over the age of nine or so would agree to.

And here's the mom! I love her hairpiece with the antlers! Seriously, we need more Christmas hats, with and without hair.

It's a fine selection of accessories, but I doubt so many would ever be included in a real CMF bag.

Robert8 did a Nisse last year:

Delightful! Those eyebrows are really something! Is this the Yule character you promised? (I was expecting to have to wait until Monday...) Of course, in Nordic countries, Yule/Jul/Jól is what they still call Christmas itself. Man, how great would an international Winter Village be? The Iceland set could give us these guys, Gryla, and a big brick-built Jólakötturinn!