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Lyichir

Eurobricks Grand Dukes
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Everything posted by Lyichir

  1. Lyichir
    There are plenty of areas on the map that haven't actually been explored—Red Mountain, Enki Island, Ivy Beach, the Highland of Helyan, the Forest of Deep Secrets, and the Desertlands were all shown but unexplored in the first year, as was Shimmering Shore in the second year and the Emerald Mountains, Shimmering Woods, and Riptide Reef this year. But rather than including already revealed locations, each new year's story so far has extended beyond the previous map's boundaries to focus on an all new slate of locations. Don't get me wrong—it's possible that some areas on the borders of the displayed areas like Riptide Reef, the Emerald Mountains, or the Desertlands might hint at the kinds of biomes might lay beyond them to be explored in a future map expansion. I just don't necessarily expect those specific location markers to be expanded upon.
  2. Lyichir
    While the Riptide Reef location is unexplored, most years' stories have expanded the area of the map instead of touching on existing landmarks. So while Riptide Reef may hint at the vacant ocean to the south and east of it as a future area of focus (as the desertlands might hint at future content to the west and north), I sort of doubt the reef itself will appear as an element of the story.
  3. Lyichir
    There's a lot of potential for an ocean-based storyline. Perhaps the first half year of sets could focus on subjects near the shore or on the open ocean (ships, beaches, maybe something like a lighthouse), while the second half year could dive beneath the waves (with things like shipwrecks, sea serpents, and underwater cities or castles). Of course, there's no telling what direction the Elves theme will head next year. Perhaps this sort of speculation could get its own topic? Obviously up to the mods, but I know a lot of other themes separate speculation/wishlists from the topic about the current year's sets.
  4. Lyichir
    Good review! This set is cool, but I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's pretty huge and looks fantastic. Like the Lightning Jet, its overall shape is so unlike any other vehicle I've seen Lego create before. It also has a pretty unique feature in the form of the mixing drum. On the other hand, there are some pretty sizable drawbacks. You mentioned one (the price), but another is that it feels a little... underarmed, for a set this size. The only armament is a single cannon that is not articulated (meaning that the Ice Tank is pretty useless against any foe at a different elevation) and uses a single six-shooter to function (a neat functional element in general, but one that's also integrated into the much smaller and better-armed Water Strider). I feel like the vehicle would generally be more imposing if the cannon were articulated, if there were additional weapons (maybe an identical cannon on the other side or some smaller turrets on the "wings"), and/or if it fired with force more proportional to the cannon's size (using a launcher like a 1x4 spring shooter, a Bionicle/Hero Factory sphere launcher, or even a Technic missile launcher).
  5. Lyichir
    While the escalator is a neat detail, I've always found it a little perplexing that there's only one between each set of floors. Once you've gone up, how can you expect to get down?
  6. Lyichir
    Ooh, "hacked" Knighton soldiers could be interesting (say, with their color schemes shifted to black and green and their screen-like "faces" swapped for a creepy grin like Monstrox's).
  7. Lyichir
    Possibly—but come to think of it, a complicating factor to getting those characters in some sort of promotional release would be the fact that promotional figs generally don't have the kind of production or sales volume to justify new molds. Most of the sisters could conceivably use existing molds (Rosalyn's hairpiece could work for the fire sister, Azari's might be right for Quartzine, and if you opted for no ears then perhaps Anna's bun from some of the Frozen sets could work for Emily's grandmother), but there's no existing Elves hairpiece that'd be quite right for the water sister's very complex hairstyle. I guess I can only hope that these characters either be released in mainstream sets, or that suitable hairpieces are introduced for other characters so that they can be recolored for a promotional release of some sort.
  8. Lyichir
    After the AMAZING CMF Spy based heavily on the original version of Dash from Alpha Team, a part of me kind of hopes for other classic Alpha Team characters to get a similar treatment! Evil Mastermind (Ogel): Probably could use the shoulder pad piece from Red Hood and Mr. Freeze. Not sure what existing helmet would be most appropriate, or whether a new one would be better. Unlike the other characters, who generally got worse in later waves of Alpha Team, it wouldn't be terrible for Ogel to take some inspiration from the later versions of the character in the form of a hook hand, which is an iconic look (heck, maybe the hook could even be updated to a new, more sci-fi version). Otherwise, the classic Ogel fig is also light on detail, so there's a lot of room for improvisation. Demolitions Expert (Crunch): His flak jacket could potentially be exchanged for a molded version, the printed dynamite on his torso can be swapped for a molded dynamite accessory, and his bandanna can be updated to the modern version. Recon Agent (Radia): A significant update would be to update her headgear (possibly to a hat with the hair molded in?). She could also potentially use a molded hood piece like Wyldstyle's, and if the colored arms of the other characters are maintained it'd be neat if she could get one on the purple side of her outfit as well to better match her teammates. Hacker (Charge): A more distinctive hairpiece is a must. Otherwise, I'm not sure what best to do with him... laptop accessory, maybe? If we really want to lean into the hacker angle, maybe a soda. Vehicle Technician (Cam): Like many of the others, a more distinctive hairpiece would be a huge plus, and like Radia, I wouldn't mind if her outfit were updated to have more of her color cue (red) to add consistency with the others (though perhaps not, since her sleeveless look is pretty interesting itself). It might be neat to see her have some tools as accessories instead of merely having them printed on the torso. Daredevil/Infiltration Expert (Flex): I'd hope that unlike the later versions of Flex, this one would keep that classic mile-wide grin. I'm not sure what accessories would suit a new Flex best, since the CMF Spy already featured the rope accessory. Perhaps a parachute? His helmet could go either way—it's effective enough to stay but a more modern one or even a brand-new one could work as well.
  9. Lyichir
    I would not be surprised to see the pop-up book pass review, which to be honest is a little surprising, since if you'd asked me a year or two ago my answer would've been a lot different. But with projects as diverse as the Maze, Saturn V, and Old Fishing Store pushing the boundaries of what can be an Ideas set, something like this seems a lot more likely. What's more, it wouldn't entirely surprise me to see the final project turn out even more impressive!
  10. Lyichir
    This is really cool, but I don't see it as having much of a chance in review. It's bigger and more complex than any previous Duplo models, and in general Ideas projects that push the limits of what has been done before not just for the Ideas program but for Lego in general don't tend to have much success. I'm not sure there's a very big market for a Duplo set with that level of complexity—by the time kids are big enough to follow the kinds of instructions that a model like this would require, they're probably big enough for regular Lego.
  11. Lyichir
    These are amazing and feel a lot like they could work as actual sets (with the caveat that the combination of biology, sci-fi and retro aesthetic feels like it might be a bit too high-concept for kids). I do find it amusing that you've posted this in the Sci-Fi forum, though—you know if a theme like this were actually released it'd end up in Action Themes like almost every other zany sci-fi theme that doesn't explicitly have to do with space.
  12. Lyichir
    Maybe next year Elves could get one of those four-minifigure packs Toys R Us is doing for Bricktober, with the four unreleased sisters. Unlikely, of course, but a man can dream.
  13. Lyichir
    After the end of this year's story, I'm not sure Cronan's mom CAN still be saved. And while I'd love to see the other sisters appear in the story (and ideally, even in sets), unless the theme is actually on the verge of ending I don't necessarily see the need to introduce both in a single year. Better to spread it out so that each character's story arc can get plenty of focus! On another note:
  14. Lyichir
    I won't lie—a large part of me hopes for a mermaid-focused story arc, maybe even including the main Elves characters in mermaid forms. The latest Ariel features a neat magical print on the front of the tail—swap that for a decoration akin to the patterns on the characters' arms or faces and it'd be a very distinctive look! Though I'm not sure whether I'd prefer bikini tops or outfits that are sheer but more well-covered...
  15. Lyichir
    A bit off topic, but where did the rumors about Elves not coming to America come from? I have seen this rumor around but do not know the source and as such it's hard for me to judge its validity. I will be very disappointed if that turns out to be the case, though you can bet I'll try to order the sets from overseas if need be.
  16. Lyichir
    I wonder if the "brand reboot" thing might have more to do with the media than with the sets themselves. I'd love to see them move away from the CGI style they've used for all the webisodes so far, which I've never found very appealing. I do hope they stick with the core group of Friends, since I love a theme that sticks with its main characters. Have the Friends characters ever been released with different facial expressions? That would be a way to add variety without abandoning the existing main characters.
  17. Lyichir
    Same here—I was kind of hoping, as a pack with four figures, that at least they would represent different "subthemes" of Lego City, and ideally that they might even include unreleased characters from Lego City Undercover like Rex Fury or Chief Dunby. I suppose this pack could still be neat for people looking to augment their Jungle Exploration collection, though.
  18. Lyichir
    I'd be curious whether they could have one at the same price point or would need to go higher for a BrickHead with four arms!
  19. Lyichir
    Kind of appreciate that, actually. Makes it easier to MOC, especially since red and black balloon canopies already exist thanks to City!
  20. Lyichir
    Very cute! Love the colors. And I don't know if it was intentional, but it's neat the way the "tail" subtly echoes the shape of the pilot's head!
  21. Lyichir
    Ha! Great use of Nexo Knights stickers!
  22. Lyichir
    These are cool looking as digital models, though I get the impression that if built physically they might be frustrating to pose (due to the ball joints coming off the studs when you try to reposition the limbs).
  23. Lyichir
    Actually, that does sound familiar. I saw some character bios on my last trip to the Lego store, so it might have been there?
  24. Lyichir
    Nice, looks like we may well be getting minis of the other three ninja vehicles! They look great!
  25. Lyichir
    Here's a funny observation I made earlier that's sort of related to this subject—it usually doesn't seem to take long between Lego's introduction of a brand, category, or tagline for Lego fans to come up with their own opinions of what it means and start making their own judgments on what does or doesn't belong. This is most commonly observed with Ultimate Collectors Series. After being vaguely/inconsistently defined for many years, Lego finally set a clear standard for it several years back when they started including specific UCS branding on all D2C Star Wars sets. Unfortunately, this was a lot broader than what Lego fans had long considered it to refer to, and since then I've seen models including Assault on Hoth but also more well-received models like the Sandcrawler lambasted for not being "true" UCS models. What really made me notice that this trend wasn't just limited to Star Wars was with the Winter Village Train Station, which I've seen people criticize for not "qualifying" as Creator Expert due to being perceived as less complex than some other sets with that branding. That's despite Creator Expert having clearly defined branding since its inception—namely, a label for the kinds of large D2C models which generally featured no theme branding at all before they were made into a sub-brand of the Creator theme. It has never had anything to do with any particular level of complexity besides that which comes naturally to larger sets. And it'd make zero sense for a Winter Village set to be released under a different brand than all the other Winter Village sets it is meant to complement.
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