nicknack116

I think Donkey Kong IS the next logical step for the digital figure line, personally. More than including Wario, Daisy, etc. DK has a larger role in the new Mario movie, they’re building a DK expansion to the theme park in Japan/Orlando, and I bet they announce a DK spin-off movie after April. Of course, that also means it’s the next logical step for other people, too, which means it seems credible enough to use as an “I’ve heard from a source…” rumor to try and gain traction. So, not putting much stock in this on its own, but happy to be proven wrong, because Donkey Kong Country was probably a bigger influence on my childhood than 2D Mario.

I had to refresh my memory, but LEGO did use Mario Day (March 10) last year to announce the Summer line and Princess Peach, so that’s a good possibility! With the movie coming out this year, I’m hoping it’s a busier day for Mario-related news than usual.

The vehicles that drive up Main Street and in front of the castle would be nice to go around the Mickey and Walt statue. Then a popcorn or pretzel stall. Or a balloon cart with Mickey balloons. (Sidenote: It’s been how many years since the Cinderella castle? How have we never gotten Mickey ears for LEGO minifigures to wear?) Disneyland also has the Snow White wishing well and waterfall to the side. If we get more than a castle, I’d be more interested in those sort of things before Main Street. I think the issue with Main Street is the overlap with other LEGO themes (city, friends, modulars, and even the winter village). Main Street has a fire station, city hall, magic store, cinema, arcade, shops, restaurants, etc. All of that is not uniquely Disney enough in my mind to justify its inclusion over other builds. Besides that, it would make it a very deep build and Main Street would distract from the castle once set up.

I have loved the micro scale Haunted Mansion and Cinderella’s Castle. I doubt there’s a large-enough audience to make individual sets of every potential attraction in that scale, but I’ve always thought a monorail set could be a way to get more of them. Have the monorail be motorized and minifigure scale with a track. So we get some Disney figures to ride in the monorail. And then include a micro scale build to represent each land in Disneyland to go around the monorail’s track. So you can have your monorail go around Disneyland. A monorail set would also attract non-Disney LEGO builders who just want a new monorail system. Just my own wild speculation based on nothing. I also think a minifig-scale Disneyland Castle with some elements of the hub or Main Street would be nice.

Haha, oops! I don’t want to be the cause of rumors saying Stranger Things will be returning this year as a theme!

I don’t think anyone is saying it “must” mean minifig sets. But just a recognition that LEGO is breaking their Mario line pattern this year. So there’s cautious hope/speculation that this pattern break might result in minifig sets. We’ve seen stranger things this year already with the survey leak and all the reactions to that. Not to mention some odd set choices across a lot of lines. LEGO is getting harder to predict. This discussion has been fun to follow. I think it’s clear that if we’re getting Mario minifigs, nailing the head design will be key. Everyone has different opinions on how to execute it.

Totally agree that it’s a case-by-case basis. I’m having a hard time thinking of any molded LEGO heads for human characters, though? Simpsons is the closest I can think of, and even they aren’t quite human. Have there been any? Just trying to understand if LEGO would even attempt to make Mario/Luigi/Peach with molded heads or if they would only use minifigure heads? Personally, printing noses on the figures never looks good to me in any of the custom/third-party/etc versions I’ve seen online.

Looking at the Pinocchio head, and I love this idea! It seems like LEGO prefers to make human characters using regular minifig heads if they can, right? So a fully-molded head seems like it wouldn’t be their first choice for Mario or Luigi. And in my opinion, Mario and Luigi never look right when I see people attempt to make them using custom prints on a regular LEGO head, whether they include the nose or not.

I actually did forget that! Or…never knew it? I only remember hearing about Zelda at the time. That is interesting. Personally, the only way I see LEGO licensing Splatoon is if they incorporate the turf war gameplay into the main sets somehow. Probably through some app like Mario? I know it was mentioned by someone earlier, but Pikmin would be adorable sets. They would practically be true-to-life scale, which has got to be rare for LEGO minifigures (besides the LEGO movie/LEGO Batman movie).

Like Zelda, there have been a few Ideas submissions for Animal Crossing, so they know the interest is there. But I feel like the thematic overlap with sets in LEGO City and Friends lines means we probably wouldn't get more than a one-off. Maybe Metroid or Star Fox could get a one-off, 18+ set at some point. LEGO loves their spaceships, and a set of Samus with her ship on a display stand or Fox with his ship would both be fun. And of course, Pokemon is with Mega Construx now. And as much as I love Splatoon and would love to see LEGO adapt the design of those games, I feel like the appeal of those games just wouldn't translate to LEGO as well as Mario and Zelda can. Besides, I want to see them tap into more of the potential of Mario and Zelda sets before taking on other Nintendo franchises.

Don’t let my wallet hear that! That must’ve been the confusion. Thanks!

So like the 21226 Art Project set, but maybe a 2x2 grid of pictures instead of 3x3? And then instructions for a variety of Disney icons/characters? The art project set always tempted me, but ultimately the pictures were just too random for me. But Disney characters? I like that more. Edit: also glad the $160 set is minidolls and sounds like it won’t be the Disneyland castle many had speculated. Which saves me some money for sure!

So true! My son has six or so sets, and not even the big ones, and setting up everything takes over the whole room. I just hope when we do get minifigure sets, LEGO draws more inspiration from the 3D games. We’ve already seen a 2D-inspired interpretation of Mario in the current line. I would be a little disappointed if we got the same kind of sets just scaled to minifigures. If we got sets based on the movie coming out that would probably be a good middle-ground, actually. A specific visual style that can reference any game. I would love a set in the style of the Ninjago City ones, but the Toad Town from the new Mario movie.

Maybe I should've said 18+ set instead of D2C. But if the survey leak is right, then the Deku Tree was listed as 1,920 pieces. Compared to the NES (2646 pieces), ? Block (2064 pieces), and Bowser (2807 pieces), I'd say the Deku Tree would fit at the low end of that range, especially when you factor in the new molds needed. So I'm guessing it'll be about $200 to $250? And, to me, that makes it a "big set." Maybe not $500 Rivendell big, but still... If LEGO releases a Zelda set and a Mario set similar to the NES/? Block/Bowser in 2023, then it could mean we have two new $200+ sets based on Nintendo properties in one year. To me, that seems like a risk, and you could end up making sales for both but LEGO hasn't cared about our wallets much lately anyway. But all of that was sparked by me remembering I had read that the 18+ Mario set was supposedly going to be smaller this year? But now I'm not sure where I saw that or if it's accurate. IF that is true, it could give more hope to the thought that Zelda is coming this year to take the place of that $200+ Nintendo set. And then a smaller Mario 18+ set would be easier for me to grab in addition to it. Who knows, I think it's fun to speculate while we wait. Didn't mean to make it sound like it was definitely happening. Legitimately cannot remember if a smaller 18+ Mario set is correct now though... A 4-in-1 Divine Beast would be awesome, though! Could definitely see that working as a set.

I hope you’re right! I think the Summer wave is looking very suspicious. And isn’t the Mario D2C set rumored to be a cheaper price this year, too? Or do I have that wrong? (Which makes me think, if the survey leak is correct, I could see LEGO/Nintendo opting to do a smaller Mario D2C so they don’t undercut a bigger Zelda D2C? Maybe?) As others have said in this thread, a 3-year cycle seems consistent for LEGO. I could see them still making a set or two to go with the current Mario line, but I think they’ve pretty much exhausted the potential of this digital figure line. And the options for new player characters after Mario, Luigi, and Peach wouldn’t exactly be big-sellers in my mind. So no new starter set makes sense to me, too. Either way, this year’s Mario theme is definitely looking like it will be a shake-up from the past few years, and that has me excited. Especially if we could potentially get minifigures from Mario and Zelda games.

haha, no worries. I can tell you're passionate, and as someone who's been playing Mario and Zelda games for about 30 years, I get it. Me too. I totally agree with Mario having more of a "generic" baseline that's consistent, and LEGO made a great choice to start there. I just personally wish we had seen more sets like the Luigi's Mansion ones mixed into the line, too. For Zelda, I'm just agreeing to disagree :) I would be disappointed if Zelda became a LEGO theme with the bulk of sets in some middle-ground space of trying to be a loose catch-all while not directly adapting any game. I totally would understand why LEGO might take that approach, especially if it becomes a real line and not just for 18+ collectors. And I think you've called out the setbacks with whatever path they choose. But personally, I want sets that adapt iconic scenes from as many of the Zelda games as I can get. Either way, excited to see what comes of this Deku Tree set.

I like that idea. I could see some sort of playable/modular dungeon set that you can remix with blocks that push onto buttons, small keys, a boss key, switches that can change color, etc. That sort of set with some of the smaller enemies that are in most of the games would be a fun way to get a "generic" Zelda set. However, that approach makes me think of what LEGO did with Super Mario, which has been disappointing by being a little too focused on the 2D/generic Mario games when we could've gotten more interesting (to me) builds based on specific games. I'm just glad to see we might get minifigure Zelda sets and not some digital figure! There are so many recurring set pieces from the games (like a Deku Tree) that I wonder if they'll keep doing a 2-in-1 approach? For example, a Temple of Time that can be built complete or built as ruins for another OoT/BotW crossover.

You noticed some details I hadn't caught yet, so thanks for that. Very hard with such a small/blurry image. I hadn't looked at the images again after Rivendell was revealed, but this Zelda set definitely has the new fern leaves. That, combined with all of the other new, finished molds and prints (with nothing that looks like a placeholder) leads me to believe this set is also coming out this year. Fingers crossed! A few observations: The blue blobs by the Ocarina of Time Deku Tree have to be Deku Babas, as they were present in that location. To my eyes, it looks like Child Link from OoT has a green skirt piece of some kind rather than green dual-molded legs? If so, maybe the legs underneath will be dual-molded, but the green section on his legs looks like it flares out a bit. Child Link also has the distinct middle-bang part for his hair/cap piece. Since Child and Adult link have the same hairstyle in Ocarina, that new mold can easily be used to give us Ocarina sets for the entire game (and potentially recolored for the different adult tunics). But I imagine with Nintendo's quality control, they'll require LEGO to make a new hair/hat mold for each variation of Link (assuming more sets will be made). Wind Waker Link especially has a distinct hairstyle, while Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword could maybe get away with using the same one. All of that said, I'm guessing if LEGO ever makes a Wind Waker set, they'll make the King of Red Lions boat before they do that game's version of the Deku Tree. It looks to my eyes like BotW Link has a Master Sword piece. But I can't for the life of me see what his shield looks like with my eyes. Child Link obviously has the Deku Shield, which is nice, but I think he has the sword piece 18034 (Roman sword with thick cross guard). As far as which build to display, I'm with everyone else wanting to budget to buy two and display both. That said, I hope that things like the Koroks, Hestu, and the sword pedestal can be kept built if you choose to build the Ocarina version. Looking at both pictures, I feel like choosing to build either one will leave you with a lot of leftover pieces unique to the other build. Going to be interesting to see what happens with this and any potential future Zelda sets. They have the opportunity here for a massively ever-green theme, and I have to stop myself from getting too excited at the potential until we hear more official word.

The Rivendell set has a new mold that would be perfect for this, too! The fern leaves in the Rivendell set also seem like pieces that could be used nicely in a Deku Tree set.

Did anyone else notice that the poster who shared these descriptions on the legoleaks subreddit also commented on that post that Indiana Jones will be retailer-exclusive to Smyth’s in the UK and either Target or Wal-Mart in the US (and of course they’ll be available at LEGO’s site/stores). Had we heard that before?

Dang, was hoping the Indy sets from the original movies would be January 1st releases.

Found all 12 Muppets figures today. So excited! I modified my Palace Cinema months ago in preparation to become a Muppet Theater, complete with the first floor as the theater and the second floor as the "backstage" area with Kermit's desk and dressing rooms. I thought I'd share a few pics: MuppetTheater1 by Mr Screenright, on Flickr MuppetTheater3 by Mr Screenright, on Flickr MuppetTheater4 by Mr Screenright, on Flickr MuppetTheater8 by Mr Screenright, on Flickr

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's such a silly feeling, since everyone can get it in a couple days, but it just made my weekend.

Not usually a big Jurassic Park/World set collector, but the Jurassic Park T-Rex Breakout diorama was too cool to pass up. And it just arrived two days early from Target! Never got a LEGO set before its official release before.

Seems like the sentiment here is the same as mine: Sometimes getting details on a set is a relief because you don't have to pay for it. A Hogwarts Express at this price is awesome...just not for me, especially when I satisfied any desire for a train with the Disneyland one. Agreed. I'm still trying to justify spending money on Diagon Alley and haven't yet. It'd be awful if this year's D2C set had been Gringotts/more Diagon Alley, amounting to needing $1000 just to "get it all."