Lyichir

Lego being able to replace all stickers with prints isn't just a matter of "streamlining". Lego parts come in all shapes and sizes, and as such most parts need unique fittings to go through their pad printing machines. These fittings are obviously much cheaper than the precision steel molds used for new elements, but nonetheless the cost would still add up if Lego had to produce them for every single part that needed any sort of decoration. That's part of why parts which have been printed before are more likely to be printed in future sets—if Lego doesn't already have the fittings necessary to print a particular piece, it's much cheaper and easier to print out a sticker sheet than to fabricate a new fitting, but for parts that Lego has printed before the fittings already exist. But even beyond that, there's a cost savings involved with sticker sheets in sets with a large number of decorations. Each printed part has to be printed individually no matter how much you "streamline" the process, which requires more time and more equipment than printing out a single sticker sheet which can be used for all the necessary decorations. AFOLs may hate sets with gigantic sticker sheets, but the alternative would require giving those sets a much smaller number of decorated parts in general.

Realistically, the set could easily be reduced in scope to focus only on the most major characters (Jim, Pam, Michael, Dwight, and probably a few others to round it out) and a few specific scenes as opposed to the full office layout. While people did support the full project I would expect that most fans would remain interested even if it weren't as comprehensive—if anything, reducing it in size would probably INCREASE interest as it becomes more accessible to more casual fans of the series. Also, while the City theme has been branching out I still think a subject as banal as a routine office job probably would hold little interest to the theme's target audience of young kids, even if you included "fun" in the name.

That's true. It's also a strawman argument, because in reality there are many sets that feature all men, many that feature a blend of men and women (a definite improvement over the past), but hardly any (at least, outside of Friends and Elves) that feature all women. It's decidedly imbalanced in favor of men, despite all the progress that has been made in recent years. And that doesn't mean that the first and third categories should be eliminated entirely. In fact, they literally can't, considering how many sets only include a single fig. What SHOULD be done is providing a wide range of options, from sets containing only men to sets containing only women to every sort of ratio in between. After all, if you pick a random selection of five or so people in real life, there's still going to be a small but significant chance of all or most being one gender. There's no reason Lego sets need to be any different. Of course, the selection of figs in a set like this is not selected randomly, but that's a necessity if you want to correct an existing imbalance and only have a standalone set to work with.

Underwhelming is a very subjective description. While the vignettes in this new set aren't necessarily equally interesting, the micro space shuttle at least is quite nice, and there's the very real possibility that the others may be "beefed up" a bit for the final set design. Similarly, the vignettes in the Research Institute are fairly solid builds—the chemistry table, telescope, and dinosaur fossil are all unique, if small, builds that are far more detailed than similar models from previous sets. The set might not be as interactive or contextualized without the figures, but the same would apply if you arbitrarily removed unifying elements from ANY set. That doesn't mean that the set as a whole is any less valid than others.

By "half work" did you mean that it didn't attach properly or that you couldn't determine the function? To me it sort of looks like if you were to attach it to the Battle Suits it might be meant to function as a sort of jetpack, given its overall symmetry and the two large symmetrical wheels, which might be able to be interpreted as rocket boosters of some sort. Alternatively, maybe it's just a way for the battle suits to "carry" the bike over rugged or uneven terrain. Of course, if it fails to attach properly at all then it's a significantly different sort of problem!

A TON of new webisodes were added to Lego's YouTube channel! Webisode #18: Sophie's Capture Webisode #19: Welcome to Elvendale Webisode #20: Evil Apprentice Webisode #21: How I Lost My Mother Webisode #22: Goblin Talent Show Webisode #23: How to Build a Sweet Ride Webisode #24: Dragon Tale Webisode #25: Teamwork

This is a really broad question, but the basic answer is that different things go in and out of fashion over time. The decline of Bionicle's popularity might be linked to a similar decline in the action figure market overall (which was booming around the turn of the millennium but has since receded drastically). Ninjago's success drew a lot from lessons learned from Bionicle's success (such as the power of an in-house intellectual property with co-developed media, or the popularity of elemental powers as a unifying concept for a team of heroes), but also from new concepts like the since-abandoned "spinner game" and the novelty and wide reach of an ongoing TV series. As for "this generation", they're not so different from past generations. They have their own unique interests and the most successful themes are the ones that can capitalize on them with something completely new and novel.

The similarities have been noted, but it's not really "ripping off". Several themes like Chima and Nexo Knights definitely DO take inspiration from '80s franchises—after all, those are the kinds of toys and cartoons many current Lego designers grew up with—but those designers develop the themes well beyond the rough concepts or inspiration provided by those earlier works. Even more "traditional" themes or figures often take inspiration from pop culture like that. For instance, you can trace a line between a theme like fantasy Castle and other works like Lord of the Rings, the Prydain Chronicles, and even role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Space themes similarly draw from existing sci-fi works. Even City draws not just from the real world and its history, but also from more specific sorts of tropes and motifs made popular by media (especially media related to the ever-present theme of crime and law enforcement). Bringing things back around to this topic, the media zeitgeist can play a big role in when themes go away or subsequently come back. For instance, the unpopularity of the Western theme among kids can be chalked up partly to the "family-friendly western" falling out of favor on television and being replaced with a smaller number of grittier, adult-themed westerns in movies. But conversely, most of the Pirates theme's post-2000 revivals probably owe a good deal of thanks to Disney's repopularization of pirate movies with the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I haven't been paying close attention to many historical movies lately, especially those aimed wholly or partly at kids, but I'm definitely aware of some—for instance, the How to Train Your Dragon movies could point to a potential demand that could be capitalized on with a new take on the Vikings theme.

In my own personal experience in America (and these are hazy memories of over a decade ago, so may not be the most accurate or relevant), we certainly didn't get a very in-depth education about ancient cultures until high school (~14–18 years old). We'd gotten some chance to learn about those cultures (especially in discussion of literature in English class, or in gifted/talented programs) earlier on, but it was mostly surface-level stuff—I feel like the bulk of the time was spent on American history, ranging from early native cultures and the age of exploration up to the modern day, or on modern cultures around the globe. I mean, I certainly wasn't totally unaware of that history, but I was a voracious reader with a love of learning. Unless a lot has changed since I was in elementary and middle school I doubt many kids would relate to that sort of theme as easily as they might for more "traditional" historical themes like Castle and Pirates, or even more niche themes like Ninja and Western.

I mean, that's certainly possible (especially considering the abundance of Earth Blue trees and plants in this year's sets). But it would be at odds with the traditional character design in the series so far, which has pretty clearly telegraphed things like elemental alignment via characters' appearances and costumes. Beyond her color scheme alone, Rosalyn's facial decorations and outfit design both seem to imply that she is a water elf (and her dragon Sapphire's facial decorations seem to imply that she is likewise a water dragon). One of the screenshots of Rosalyn also looks like she might be manipulating her potions elementally (which would imply control of water), but I suppose it could just as easily just be spreading it with a flinging motion. As it is I'll probably remain skeptical of the bio until such time as we actually get concrete evidence of her using one type of elemental magic or another. Lego.com has made plenty of similar mistakes in the past.

Probably an error. The only part that describes her as an Earth elf is the powers section (which just says "Earth magic", a much less detailed description than most of the other characters got). I expect that these descriptions started with some sort of common template and that the powers section for Rosalyn just didn't get updated from that. In other news, there's a TV commercial for the new Elves sets that utilizes the new animation style. Not much, but it might help whet your whistle as we wait for a release date for the Netflix series...

To me it closer resembles the Sheikah eye symbol used in the Legend of Zelda franchise because of the triangular "eyelashes" (though it lacks the typical teardrop motif). I know Lego Elves designer Wes Talbott is a Zelda fan, since he designed a Legend of Zelda project on Lego Ideas before becoming a designer. For MOCists, though, it can be whatever they want it to be. The simple color scheme and design (combined with the variety of printed and stickered parts sharing the same motif) should make it very versatile.

It's possible that we could still get one and it just isn't launching at the same time—perhaps it might be released to tie in with the summer sets, for instance. I wouldn't rule something like that out just yet.

Your theory seems to overlook the fact that up until Ninjago launched in 2011 ninja was not really a "perennial theme that had done well historically" but rather a two-year theme from the '90s that had not been revisited in over a decade. And in fact, Ninjago found its success largely through "mash-ups", with the ninja (who were themselves far from traditional ninja, utilizing high-tech vehicles) fighting skeletons, snakes, cyborgs, ghosts, and pirates, among several others. Considering Ninjago is one of the most successful new themes of the modern era the fact that its success seems to run totally counter to your theory seems to be a significant sticking point. There's also the matter of other historically successful themes that have been far less successful in the modern era—just look at the 2013 Castle theme or the 2015 Pirates theme, both of which represented those successful classic themes at their most pure and traditional, yet still failed to enjoy great success themselves.

Neat! Is there any way to access the interior (removable floors, etc.)? Or is this just for displaying the exterior alone?

I think the easiest solution would probably be something like putting 2x2 radar dishes in Trans. Bright Green in his hands. It'd be cool if the new "Power Blast" piece from this year's Marvel Super Heroes sets came in that color at some point...

The shields are printed—Brickset recently added inventories for all of the new Elves sets, including the printed shields. The rectangular stickers are for the doors of the Goblin houses.

As cool as that could be, I don't see it as likely, mainly because one of them (Emily's grandmother) is literally dead, which would force the set to function only as a "flashback" and rule out the inclusion of other characters from the present story. And even if we do eventually get physical figures of the rest of the sisters, I certainly don't expect it to happen all at once in a single set (especially since several of them seem like they might need unique new hair molds). I expect the set in question, if is real and does get released, to include Farran and Aira, neither of whom appear in the other summer sets. Beyond that, all bets are off.

Yeah, now Farran's the only one without one. Maybe in that rumored fourth summer set...

Heads up! I remember some people here being disappointed by the stickered shields in last year's Elves sets, so I figured you'd be happy to know that the new shields with the Goblin King's sigil in the Elves theme are PRINTED! Other potentially interesting parts for historic builders: thanks to Elves, the latticed window panes for 1x4x3 windows now come in black. Even builders who prefer figs to dolls might find use in the new pendant piece, which does not fit that well around a minifig's neck that well but could possibly be used ornamentally (it will also come in gold and green in the summer sets). The firing crossbow now comes in Brick Yellow/Tan. And the medium-sized dragon wings introduced in last year's Elves sets now come in a pure white color (despite still being listed as Multicombination due to having two separate injection points). Apart from these more fantasy-specific parts, there's a lot of great basic parts in earth tones, as well.

At some point if this topic is really going to remain the default one for Lego Worlds discussion, I think the title ought to be changed. After all, Lego Worlds will soon go from being an obscure Steam Early Access game to being a full-fledged multi-platform release.

I mean, printing the outfit on makes it more authentic to the actual fig than anything with actual dimension to it would be. The bigger issue is the lack of shoulder pads, which the figures usually wear.

Darn, I had been hoping that would apply to America too. I plan to possibly get that and other sets during double points this month, and additional points on top of that wouldn't hurt. :( The banner on that goblin keychain is nice. Would using those as tapestries in a modded Goblin King's Fortress count as "purist"? :P

Possibly because The Lego Batman Movie released with plenty of time for another smaller wave of sets to be released in time to satisfy the inevitable holiday demand, whereas The Lego Ninjago Movie is only getting one summer/fall wave in advance of Christmas.

Again, those were presumably considered more essential. The former in particular was key to making the brick-built figure similarly expressive to his depiction in the movie (in a set that didn't already have a sticker sheet to add stickers to). It's also a matter of different sets and themes getting different budgets. The Lego Batman Movie is a HUGE thing for Lego (as unlike GotG2, they're co-developing it and their brand identity will be an essential part of it). It should be no surprise that, like with high-profile "Big Bang" theme launches, Lego is devoting a disproportionate amount of resources toward that. By comparison, Guardians of the Galaxy is just another licensed theme. It's also based on a movie that is rated PG-13, limiting its audience moreso than The Lego Batman Movie. And from what I've read in discussions, despite generally being successful, the previous GotG sets still had had a tendency to be shelf-warmers. All of those factors are ones that could potentially contribute to the sequel's tie-in sets getting a lower budget. Even the budget of individual sets applies—while Clayface's printed parts were in a mid-sized set with only one other unique minifigure (who themselves only had two different printed parts), Gamora is in a larger set with several other figs (several of whom did not appear in other sets and/or had their own unique prints). So in that case, the budget for that individual set may well have been stretched thinner and required some sacrifices—namely, two figures with different physiques but matching uniforms compromising on the same torso print.