Lyichir

Fun idea! Though the armor does have a sort of "collar" that extends up in the back, so until someone has it in hand and can test it, it won't be certain whether the Bat Lord helmet will fit...

Has it launched in every region yet? I know that it only launched in the UK recently and actually topped the box office there (at least briefly). The foreign box office might just be what saves this one.

I dunno; I could definitely see the "Nightwing" cowl used for an intentionally humorous character like Bat-Mite in the future...

Very cute MOC! I love the details like the texture of the tan wall behind the wooden trusses! Just a tip, if you want to get screenshots of a modular MOC in LDD, putting parts into groups can be a huge help. That way you can easily show, hide, or move sections of the build as necessary when getting screenshots or even during the build process. That's also a helpful tip for parts that are hinged, as well, since the hinge tool sometimes gets buggy when working with larger constructions.

So the Women of Nasa set was finally revealed! While it's very much "real world" space and focuses largely on figs and mini-models, I do get the feeling that the 1x4x3 panel with the Hubble photo (presumably printed) could be great for sci-fi monitors, or even for the view out of a porthole on a spaceship interior vignette...

I wouldn't necessarily assume they were based on Terabyte specifically? After all, green and black are basically the archetypical virus/hacking colors due to their association with the green text on old computer monitors (compare their use in movies like The Matrix).

Do you want to get the Quake Mech itself? Because Lady Iron Dragon (the aforementioned archer lady) also seems to come in the smaller Piranha Attack set. As a bonus, that set includes large carriage wheels in a new color, which I'm sure you could make use of as a fan of Castle. Even if you want to get the fig on its own, its presence in a smaller set will probably drive down the aftermarket price (compared to if it were only available in the larger Quake Mech set).

Um... this assortment was going to be Batman figs one way or the other, given the emphasis on current themes. Would you have preferred this assortment to contain nothing even vaguely historic? If anything, if I were primarily a historic fan I'd be more upset that the "Minifigures" themed pack only contained recolors/redecos of modern-day figs, instead of potentially offering variants of any of the more historic CMFs. At least with that there could have been the hope of something more suited to your interests...

So far most reliable sources have indicated that there aren't going to be any. Given the radio silence about any further packs from WB Games and Lego (even after multiple toy and games conferences and expos where that sort of thing would usually be announced), I'm inclined to believe them.

The Winter Toy Shop from 2015 also featured a jester cap in Bright Orange/Bright Blue, which I think are the exact colors used for the new Jestro. Granted, that cap was on a jack-in-the-box, so didn't come with a corresponding torso and legs—Jestro does. I actually sort of appreciate the new Jestro's colors, since they're basically the colors of the overall Nexo Knights faction (making them fitting for the king's own jester). I imagine the colors used for "good Jestro" in the show were probably not chosen with an actual figure in mind, but rather just as a more "toned down" version of that year's "evil Jestro" fig.

Another interesting point! I could see them reusing the lower section with a new upper segment in the future...

Of next year's sets? Probably not for a while. Last year the official pictures didn't show up until late December.

A Legoland-based set might work. An entire theme? Not so sure about that, considering that a visit to Legoland is far from a universal experience. Even among Lego fans, many may never get a chance to visit any of the parks. As such, a theme like that would have a very regional appeal.

The tricky part with System-based Constraction is that bricks are just designed to come apart more easily than Technic in general. Avoiding larger models coming apart when you're trying to pose or play with them requires complex locking techniques, which are bulky and can ruin the look of a model, or single-piece "bones" as the basis for limbs (Knights Kingdom II used a system that sort of achieved this, but is very limiting in terms of scale without resorting to less sturdy custom limbs). That's not to say it can't be done. There have been a fair number of awesome brick-built mechs, characters, and creatures over the years. But when designing a dedicated action figure theme from the ground up, it probably makes more sense to stick with a Technic-based system that already addresses those sorts of issues by design than to try and reinvent the wheel with a System base.

In some cases I'd agree with you that more accurate terminology can be a great thing, but for the names of play weapons like these I think they're trying to stick with terms kids and parents will easily be able to understand and remember. Katana is a pretty commonly known term even in English compared to "Dao" or "Kusarigama".

Oh dear... do I have to explain why the ability to integrate Technic and CCBS for larger builds is not a weakness of the system, but by design? The problem with the previous "system" is that it was hardly a system at all. There were pretty much only two lengths of lower leg piece, despite the many almost redundant varieties. Same goes for upper legs. To do anything else, you had to go custom—and that really only worked for going larger, not going smaller. CCBS was designed to have the same customization potential, but also to provide more built-in opportunities as well. Now there was a wide-ranging scale of limb beams, on par with the existing systems of Technic axles and beams. The same went for shells. And the simplicity of those parts meant that they were easier to use in custom configurations, not harder—you could use smaller bones structurally on a larger MOC much easier than you could use specialized, heavily detailed parts like Rahkshi legs. Making models out of "pure" CCBS is not and has never been the point, because it is still designed as a Technic-integrated system for the specific purpose of that sort of customization. I mean, you CAN make models out of pure CCBS—especially smaller ones—but that's just one possibility out of many, and an asset rather than a flaw. Getting back to the advantages of CCBS over Mixel joints (since you've finally drawn me into this argument, may as well make it complete), the sturdiness of CCBS is a huge benefit. Brick-built construction offers loads of customization potential but ultimately, a Technic-based build (especially one that can use single-piece "bones" for the underlying skeleton) is much sturdier than a comparably sized System build, and can stand up to more robust play.

Lego has not done any non-Duplo sets based on Disney TV series, which to be honest confuses me a little. I would think that things like Tangled the Series could be a natural fit for sets, but so far no dice.

Let me take a look and see if anything else has been revealed recently might be worth mentioning here... Historic MOCists may be interested in the large carriage wheels appearing in Medium Nougat in the upcoming Ninjago Movie set 70629 Piranha Chase. Granted, the part has already appeared in Sand Yellow and Reddish Brown, but one more good wooden color certainly doesn't hurt. For that matter, Misako in both that set and the Quake Mech has a neat historic-looking armor design, featuring a new shoulder pad/quiver neck accessory. Pretty much useless for MOCs, but historic MOCists who like costuming, role play, or just goofing off at conventions might appreciate the new foam play weapons from the Ninjago Movie! Unlike past foam weapons sold at Lego stores, these are very authentic to the actual weapon pieces from the sets and movies, and while they're sized for kids (making them a little underscaled for adults), they're still pretty neat. Links: Sword, Katana, Nunchucks, Spear, Hammer, Bow & Arrow

I mean, plenty of themes have had a smaller final year (Atlantis, Power Miners, Chima, Agents, Exo-Force, almost-Ninjago, etc.). It's not that hard to believe the same could happen to Nexo Knights. That said, the source is indeed super-sketchy and there's no reason to give it the benefit of the doubt unless any sort of corroborating evidence shows up. Also worth mentioning that in some cases of an abridged final year, some regions sometimes get the final wave split into two to last longer. For instance, two of the final year's sets in Atlantis were held over until May for America despite releasing alongside the other sets the previous December in Europe.

Is it possible that they're a character unlocked with a code that has not yet been distributed? I know Lego City Undercover didn't count those sorts of unlockables (in that case, vehicles) toward 100% completion.

Maybe? I don't really expect much more than the sorts of quick cameos we got before, though. There's only so much winking and nodding you could do before it could start to overwhelm the actual narrative. I would be curious whether there's any chance of seeing any other Disney-licensed characters in the next movie. We got a Star Wars cameo in the last one, but that was in the works since before the Disney buyout. And The Lego Batman Movie didn't have any Disney-owned characters among its gallery of villains, despite some clear evidence in concept art that some might have been considered. Among other things, it could be fun to get an Iron Man cameo, given Batman's stated feelings about him...

Sort of semi-related to set discussion, but has anyone seen the foam play weapons from Disguise that are being sold alongside the Ninjago Movie Halloween costumes? I saw them this past weekend at Target and was very impressed with their quality. Unlike the foam play weapons sold at Lego stores, these ones are actually quite accurate to the actual minifigure weapons, and seem fairly robust despite obviously being soft enough for play. http://disguise.com/ninjago-movie-sword.html http://disguise.com/ninjago-movie-katana.html http://disguise.com/ninjago-movie-spiked-nunchucks.html http://disguise.com/ninjago-movie-spear.html http://disguise.com/ninjago-movie-hammer.html http://disguise.com/ninjago-movie-bow-arrow.html

It's actually a little bit of a shame that Golden Kai doesn't have the scarf-style headwrap—unlike the one that's included, the scarf covering the mouth hasn't yet come in gold. Still, all four figures are really cool, and I'm excited to see yet another avenue for them to release previously unreleased figs from the show!

I could call those "the good D2Cs" and "the REALLY good D2Cs", respectively. ;) Then again, I'm a fan of zanier themes in general, so I'm quite happy to see more and more large and complex sets that appeal to those interests. I also generally prefer a huge set with bunches of varied detail to ones with a lot of repetition—I'll take a Ninjago City over a Taj Mahal any day.

That makes sense—news personalities tend to be far more locally recognizable than your average celebrity cameo. I'm curious whether that might have played a role in the delayed UK release. Obviously it's not the only possible reason, but it could have been a factor.