Lyichir

Huh, you're right, that might be the baby body. That would certainly be scaled better, though its inability to hold accessories would be an unfortunate drawback. Still, I think that's a better option than the regular minifig torso, especially since it'd help to better sell the difference between the regular form and his "heavy point" transformation (which presumably is regular minifig-sized).

I think that's magenta/bright reddish violet, which'll probably look better in real lighting. Was certainly not expecting him to be a full minifigure (even with short legs). If he seems too tall I might try using one of the Lego Dreamzzz "dreamling" torsos for him, which do come in the right color.

It's a minor thing and sort of unlikely but if they were to include Koby and Helmeppo, it'd be cool if they included the hats from their uniforms, which the Baratie set lacked. I say unlikely because Helmeppo's in particular likely ought to be dual molded to work in his iconic hair, and I'm not sure that'd be the best use of the budget for this wave.

I don't share BrickBride's pessimism about the theme and think that things like the Gum Gum Fruit and buildable Chopper have the potential to be really popular (despite their priciness). Not everything has to be a full "playset" to appeal to kids. I know when I was a kid I enjoyed both minifig-scale playsets and buildable characters like some of the Technic Star Wars droids. If anything, I think adult collectors/completionists might be the people more torn up about favorite characters outside the main cast being omitted in favor of a broader range of set types. And to be honest, the Gum Gum Fruit set has me maybe a little hopeful that they aren't opposed to revisiting subjects from earlier seasons, so we might be able to see some of the things they missed in the future. The Lego theme debuted last year and had new sets for the new season this year, so depending on whether Lego wants to have new sets during the hiatus between seasons there might be plenty of opportunity to fill in at least some of the "gaps".

Eh, it's not always a guarantee. The Lego NES set included a bespoke part for 8-Bit Super Mario, which would never see use in any other sets. That said if the molded Pokémon had articulation that might be even less likely, given that that'd likely involve even costlier preassembly.

Lego molds definitely can be stored for several years without being used, so long as they're not completely worn out from use (which is when they're typically destroyed). That said, taking an out of production mold out of storage and putting it back into production comes with its own logistical costs in addition to the costs of production and maintaining replacement inventory. And refabricating a worn out mold has costs similar to introducing a brand-new one. The goat's mold IIRC was a case where the original mold was damaged and could not be reused (needing to be refabricated).

Realistically I don't think there was ever any chance of every Pokémon appearing in sets. But that's the same for most Pokémon merch. Things like starters, legendaries, and other popular Pokémon are on the whole more likely to get a lot of merch than things like, say, the middle evolution of a random Bug-type. I feel like that's definitely going to be the case with Lego, too, and would likely be even more limited if they'd gone the route of molded, minifig-scale Pokémon instead of largely having them brick-built. That said I doubt things will be limited to Kanto Pokémon for too long. It's a decent place to start but moving on to popular Pokémon from other regions will go a long way to keep things fresh. And I wouldn't even rule out regional forms or the like, just so long as there's a set concept that can make them part of an appealing product as a whole.

To be honest I've seen a lot of people happy that they're taking more time on the next core game, after Scarlet and Violet released in a somewhat rough state. The teaser looked great already. As for Lego, no new games probably isn't a problem, they've only just barely started covering Kanto Pokémon so there's still plenty of stuff they could do without the pressure of needing new content to tie in with. It's not like there's a lack of demand for the sets even just based on older Pokémon.

Fish skeleton is definitely very cool, first full creature skeleton since the horse. Will be useful for all sorts of scenarios.

Unprinted so a little less personality than non-molded dragons, but could work great for a statue. Fantasy weaponry like this "gunblade" is inherently not realistic or modern, which is where Lego draws the line. Not medieval specific but that fish skeleton could also see good use in a medieval town or fishing village, among many other scenarios (Gollum would certainly enjoy picking those bones clean).

Oh, that folding screen looks lovely and feels like it'd make a great set—both a good display piece and sufficiently different from anything else on the market.

I ordered the Going Merry recently, planning to build it when the new season came out. But yesterday was super dreary and depressing so I ended up starting it early. Finished it this morning and was very impressed—I love a good ship build due to how it combines the fun of a vehicle set with the interiors/living space of a building, and this set doesn't disappoint in that respect, with great furnishings and very logical access to each area. Love the minifigures and the wanted posters, even if I got one duplicate (two Kuros, a Buggy, and a Luffy). The randomization is very blatantly meant to encourage you to buy more sets, but I can't say it doesn't work—I'm tempted to pick up another set like Arlong Park to maybe replace this one as the set to build while I watch. Hoping that when the new season drops we might also get a reveal or teaser for the new sets!

From my experience with BDP sets they tend to do extra pieces more generously than average sets (one extra of each small piece in each bag, instead of just around one extra per piece for the whole set). Probably a result of logistical differences in how they're packed and weighed compared to regular retail sets.

Nice! I just got that one myself (ordered to satisfy my building fix for the rest of the month). Only built the eagle build so far since I figure I'll probably want to keep the other build assembled once I've rebuilt it. That one's a lot of fun though I wish the head could look down a little more.

Are we 100% sure this will be the full list of sets? It occurs to me that if they were to do an even bigger D2C set in addition to the regular retail sets like they did with Baratie, Loguetown might be a pretty good subject—especially since they could potentially include both characters from the Season 2 arc as well as ones from the flashback to Gold Roger's execution (a Gold Roger fig would certainly be a hell of a selling point on its own!). I could see Loguetown as a D2C set working sort of similar to some modulars or the various Diagon Alley sets, featuring several of the shops Luffy's crew visits off to the sides with the execution platform in the square as the main centerpiece.