Lyichir

The "boxes" sound like they could potentially be interesting, especially if they imply a set that folds into a container to store the contents of the set like the brick-built briefcase from the Fantastic Beasts theme.

Really? I was quite impressed with the tiled façade with the inset balcony on the third floor. And it brought some fantastic new techniques to the table, in particular the 1/5 stud offset for both the grey moulding above the front windows (thanks to the aforementioned tiled façade), the similarly deep inset for the side windows, the small circular window to the recording studio... I'd hardly call that "stale" by any stretch of the imagination.

I kind of feel like a feature-length Brickfilm WITHOUT CGI could very easily end up being similarly expensive to some of the existing Lego movies, and on top of that require a much, much longer production timetable. Genuine stop-motion animation is neither cheap nor quick. I feel like a more practical way for them to branch out would be through animated shorts using similar production techniques to the Lego movies so far, like "The Master" short that aired in front of "Storks". Not only would shorts be able to be put together on a much quicker timetable than full-length movies, but by using similar CGI techniques to the main Lego movies they could more effectively reuse assets.

Those parts are designed to accept 3.2 mm bars, like the kind of connection that can be gripped by a minifigure hand. As such they tend to be used more decoratively (for example, as railings in system sets or to attach minifig-scale weapons in Constraction sets), but you could still find use for them in Technic—for instance, to attach flex cable.

My thought was that while we hadn't gotten a price point like that in a long, long time, it might still be a plausible price if Lego were to take a chance on separately packaged collectibles of some sort again. But yeah, the rumored jewelry/accessory line sounds more in line with the numbering, in any case.

Very good! I recently played Hollow Knight for the first time so it's neat to see it inspiring MOCs! I do wonder if it'd be possible to add some textured parts like perhaps these to the archway to simulate more of the complex detail on the arches in the screenshot.

Thank you so much! These detail pictures are great. I would also appreciate better views of the interior upper floors if possible (what looks to be the living room and the twins' room in the attic), since they're too covered in shadow to make out a lot of details in the pics you have so far.

A bit late in my reply but I love this project! It's so accurate to the cartoon and seems to have all sorts of great features. Out of curiosity, do you have a topic or gallery anywhere with additional pictures?

I mean, that pretty much gets to the point of them—they're audience surrogates. In the story, that's a pretty key role, not just because it adds a degree of aspiration (kids can fantasize about themselves finding a portal to Elvendale, the same way kids might hope to get a Hogwarts letter or find a gateway to Narnia in the back of a wardrobe), but also because it allows for easy exposition (since Emily, not being native to Elvendale, has a good reason to ask questions about things the other characters are already familiar with). Beyond that, another thing I love about her is that her appearance sort of mystifies the real world (in a sort of similar way to Steven Universe). While Emily is amazed by the sights and wonders of Elvendale the Elves are just as amazed by little things about Emily that we'd consider "normal" (from her round ears to her MP3 player). On the subject of Emily, I've recently been working on an LDD MOC of Emily's House. In addition to referencing its appearance from the webisodes I'm trying to construct it as a sort of blend of the Friends and Elves building styles (with a modular dollhouse layout but also little hints of Elvendale-inspired features). It's a tricky subject to balance, trying to work in all the details I love at a set-like scale, but it's a fun challenge that might someday result in a finished MOC.

I'm not angry, but even if I were, I doubt going to Lego would achieve much. If the theme is done, it's done—Lego already has plenty of sales data indicating whether or not it'd be worth continuing, so I doubt individual fans (especially ones well outside the target age range for the sets) would be able to change their minds. Personally I appreciated getting the main characters again and again, especially since they rarely appeared in more than two sets per year, and got new costumes every year (as well as new facial expressions in some cases). I do sort of miss the way the first two years varied things up by giving the characters cloaks in the summer wave, though (especially considering Farran disappointingly missed out in both cases). I also don't share any of your disappointments with the second or third year's sets—I found all of them wonderfully interesting and distinctive and loved their aesthetic choices, including the use of Spring Yellowish Green to differentiate Goblin architecture from the more conventional tans of the architecture we had seen up to that point. Can't disagree more with your labeling of Emily or Sophie as "Mary Sues". Sophie absolutely doesn't qualify by any definition, with a knack for making mistakes and no powers to speak of whatsoever. As for Emily, even her compassionate, level-headed characterization isn't without faults (being balanced by a lot of persistent self-doubt, a trusting nature that let the Goblin King fool her initially, and a very realistic tendency to be short with her younger sister) and while Emily's ability to unite the Elves' individual elements makes her an essential member of the team, she has been unable to utilize magic of her own until this year, which makes her skills at leadership and conflict resolution all the more important. As for the figures of her, I love how their realistic, down-to-earth fashion choices both contrast with and complement her Elven friends.

Given the logistical issues of a more or less straight rerelease like the Taj Mahal for the early modulars (which rely on many retired parts), I doubt we'd see one like that. A redesign, maybe, but that'd require more resources dedicated to the design process so I'm unsure whether they'd be able to fit that into the schedule as easily. Personally if we were to get a redesign of the Café Corner with a fully-featured interior, I might be interested in getting it despite already having the original. But it's hard to say for sure without actually seeing it.

While a free fall tower does seem a likely enough subject (as a distinctive ride that could be easily automated like the other Fairground sets), I'm definitely skeptical of leaks for a D2C for next summer this early in the year. One neat option I've considered MOCing would be bumper cars, but I don't necessarily think we'd see those in a set for this series, considering that as individually driven vehicles they'd be hard to automate with a motorized or crank-driven function in a totally satisfying way.

Honestly even with that possibility I'm still interested. With Elves ending I'm hoping to be able to continue making MOCs in that universe, and a line like this (that seems like it could very well include a fair share of gems or similar detail elements) could definitely stand a chance of being able to supplement those without necessarily replacing it as a theme I'd be driven to collecting all of.

I said Spinjitzu, not True Potential. They're not the same thing.

Eh... maybe. I sort of feel like a story that focuses primarily on Batman and Robin's relationship (with guest stars aplenty, of course) would have a more solid emotional core than one that tried to combine that with turning the so far pretty one-note Justice League from the previous movies into a fully developed ensemble cast. Trying to cram that much into a single movie feels like it wouldn't really do justice (pun fully intended) to either side of the story.

It's not normal for them to do so with sets that only launched the previous month, regardless of how many licensed themes are or aren't launching. The last time I remember such a quick turnaround was with Bionicle in 2016... and unfortunately, that also foreshadowed the theme's end. I'm all about staying positive (I've been doing so for most of the past two years, and last year it was even rewarded by Elves getting a rare fourth year), but the writing on the wall is pretty clear at this point. And if this is the end, I have to say I am more or less satisfied (despite the unlikelihood of Secrets of Elvendale getting a second season at this point). We're at least getting a conclusion, and a downright epic one that I find more satisfying than the non-conclusion of Exo-Force or the rushed conclusion of Bionicle G2. I'd rather appreciate that, and maybe even plan to continue the story on my own, instead of holding onto the vain hope that all the signs we're seeing don't actually spell the end. And if I turn out to be wrong? Well, I'll be pleasantly surprised in that case, to say the least.

Very excited by the prospect of many of these new sets, regardless of how they fit into the story. Sounds like all four original ninja are getting their old vehicles from 2012, save for Cole (and I'm glad they opted for the Earth Driller instead of the Tread Assault since the latter's gimmick really only works for the Serpentine storyline). A new Golden Dragon is cool but a new Ultra Dragon is even cooler, and something I've been hoping for since great redesigns like the Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty and the Ultra Stealth Raider. Since we're getting both the Golden Dragon and Ultra Dragon, I wonder if the latter will be ridden by the four original ninja instead of by Lloyd. Perhaps even by Nya, whose presence is otherwise worryingly unimplied by any of the set names we've gotten so far (she might appear in the Fire Temple, like in the original set, though I hope that if so the story won't repeat making her little more than a damsel in distress). Curious what the new Spinjitzu sets will be like—will they continue to use a similar formula to the Airjitzu, Spinjitzu Masters, and Dragon Masters sets or will they opt for something different? Either way the most exciting one among those are Wu and Lloyd vs. Garmadon, since Wu and Garmadon's ability to use Spinjitzu has been even more underutilized in the story than that of the ninja.

I can't tell if the post means one each or three each at those three price points. Either way most gimmick sets like the ones you mention tend to both be more expensive than that and come in larger waves to offset the cost of the new molds they usually require. Even the Nexo Knights Ultimate sets, which used no unique molds, were a higher price point. $5.99 lies around the high end of polybags (close to things like the $4.99 Mixels) or the low end of boxed sets (things like the smallest boxed Creator or City sets). This is intriguing and I have to say I'm excited despite the relatively small amount of information, especially if as speculated above it's some sort of "girls theme". With Friends already representing the realistic modern day, that'd make it most likely a fantasy or sci-fi theme, either of which would be exciting. Of course, a Constraction theme would also be promising... as mentioned above, $5.99 is a pretty low price point for most constraction figures these days, but it's not impossible, especially if it weren't a full figure but some sort of accessory pack. Perhaps most exciting and novel would be if it were both—some sort of Constraction theme aimed at girls.

All the news about the Teen Titans Go movie, as well as the darker "Titans" TV series, has gotten me thinking about a hypothetical Lego Batman Movie sequel and figured I'd share here. I think a good direction for a sequel to go would be for Robin to decide to join the Teen Titans. Batman, who has finally learned to let people into his life, would be resistant to letting Robin go on to live his own life, stemming from the same fear of loss that was caused by the loss of his parents. Batman would eventually have to learn that Robin would still be family even if they were no longer together all the time, and to be supportive of Robin as he "leaves the nest". I haven't quite decided on how a villain fits into this plot, but there are plenty of options, chief among them recurring Titans foe Deathstroke/Slade Wilson (one of the few major Bat-family antagonists who didn't appear in the first Lego Batman Movie). Set-wise, a storyline like this could offer some great new takes on characters. I loved the reinterpretations of heroes and villains for The Lego Batman Movie and would love to see the same done with the Teen Titans. For Starfire, who has served as a love interest for Robin in the comics, I think a good direction would be a flashy, maybe sort of disco-inspired costume (more modest than many of her comics designs as appropriate for her age and aesthetically fitting for a romantic interest to the very camp version of Robin from the first movie). For Raven, I'd think playing up the "goth" angle could be fun—like Starfire, it could help to reinforce that these are teens first and superheroes second. I think Cyborg could work fantastically well as a "semi-bigfig" like Axl from Lego Nexo Knights, emphasizing his athletic strength and maybe even being able to reuse Axl's arm pieces (with a blue coloration instead of Axl's Trans. Fluor. Orange). And while I'm not sure what sort of costume would be best for Beast Boy, I think it'd be both humorous and very toyetic to feature him in multiple Lego animal forms across different sets. As for the buildable subjects of sets, I don't have many ideas yet, but considering how vehicle-heavy The Lego Batman Movie sets tended to be a set of vehicles for the Titans that combine into one could be very neat.

I wonder if the pink Classic Space baby might appear in the upcoming movie. They seem like a slightly more original design than many of the other figs in the video.

You're assuming there was a chance for sets at all. The point of The Lego Movie sets was not to promote The Lego Movie—with media-based themes like that, it's almost entirely the other way around, with the popularity of the movie acting as promotion for the sets. As such, sets based on Lego Universe wouldn't necessarily make the game itself more popular, let alone fix the moderation problem or make the game easier to monetize. Ultimately, Lego was probably smart not to invest even more in that game than they already did. That'd most likely just increase their losses when the game finally went kaput.

Have you considered making any mermaids? I'd been hoping to see them appear in sets after their appearance in Secrets of Elvendale last year, but considering that doesn't seem to be happening, I've been hoping to try my hand at customizing some.

Elves ending is a huge disappointment... not that four years isn't a respectable lifespan for a theme, but as my favorite Lego theme for the past few years, it still stings. Hopefully we don't stop getting colorful and creative parts that can be used for Elves MOCs any time soon. More than any other theme in the past, I'd love to keep this one going in my own MOCs for as long as possible.

Speaking of Harry Potter, how about that new Hogwarts Castle set that was revealed today? Despite being microscale, it seems to offer some great parts, which include the new half-arches seen in the prototype Great Hall set shown at Toy Fair! It also includes full-scale figs of the four Hogwarts founders, who look like they'd offer great figure parts for all sorts of medieval characters.

Yeah, at least one CMF series seems likely. Based on the trailer alone, I can already see a few good options for figs—Wyldstyle with her hood up and goggles on, Larry the Barista's new "hardcore" look, and if we're being honest, probably Emmet with his headphones on (considering both the Lego Movie series and Ninjago Movie series featured at least one version of the main character that was only subtly different from the one that was common in standard sets). It'd be interesting if the CMF series included a mini-doll character, considering there's never been one in a series before...