Lyichir

With A Series of Unfortunate Events coming to Netflix starting next year, I would love to see a set or sets based on that. It's one of my favorite childhood book series. Having enjoyed Voltron: Legendary Defender on Netflix as well, I'd like to see a set based on that. There's an Ideas set currently in review, but that's based on the classic series, not the new one (and if it passes, the Ideas terms and conditions might prevent one based on the new series from passing in the future). I'm a fan of Steven Universe, but I can't necessarily see that supporting a full theme. At best, I'd love to see a standalone set and/or series of Dimensions figures. Miraculous! Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir seems like it'd be a great fit for a mini-doll theme, but I worry that with the new DC Super Hero Girls theme, Lego won't be interested in another girls' superhero theme (especially one that isn't attached to the existing DC and Marvel licenses). There are plenty of Nintendo themes I'd love to see Lego do. Super Mario is unfortunately still licensed by K'nex, but if that licensing agreement ever ends I expect that Lego could do a much better job with it. Pokémon is huge, but like Mario is licensed by other building toy manufacturers, and I'm not sure whether it'd be the best fit for a traditional theme given the necessity of a huge number of molded figures/figure parts (then again, perhaps that could work in conjunction with a blind bag series of some sort). The most likely candidate, in my opinion, is The Legend of Zelda, which is not only a hugely popular franchise, but has perennially achieved support on Lego Ideas. I personally think the reason it continues to fail review is the necessity of new molds to do the series' characters justice, so I'm holding out hope that Lego and Nintendo might make something work on their own at some point. And with the lack of a traditional medieval fantasy theme and next year's Breath of the Wild set to be a huge release for both the current Wii U console and the upcoming Nintendo Switch, there may never be a better time for them to do so.

Nothing has had it in red previously. All of the Ninjago "Airjitzu" sets have included it in Transparent.

The day directly after that is "Cyber Monday", sort of a lesser Black Friday aimed mainly at online sales. That's the point of the timing there.

Well, Jim Gordon operated as Batman for a recent stint in the comics while still serving as commissioner. Slightly different scenario, but still some similarities.

By hand can still be useful if you can manage it, since the hinge align tool is notoriously buggy. It's a good idea to at least remove the hinged section you are assembling from a larger model before using the hinge align tool since multiple hinged sections (even including parts attached by a single stud) can confuse it and even crash the program. Another option if you're knowledgeable about your trig functions is to figure out the exact angles you need beforehand and input them manually.

That is absurd! I'm glad you got that straightened out, at least. Luckily, my experiences at Toys R Us have generally been more positive, but I'd probably be similarly skeptical of shopping at Toys R Us in the future if something like that happened to me.

Lego stores generally do promotions like double points and free gifts-with-purchase instead of actual discounts, especially on current products. Lego doesn't want to risk offending their retail partners Target by undercutting their prices at their own retail stores, so the only sets that ever tend to be "marked down" are those that are on clearance to make room for new products, or the occasional damaged box items. If you want better discounts it's better to keep your eye on other retailers and their sales (though personally I do somewhat prefer things like double points at Lego stores simply because of their predictability compared to the irregular sales at other stores or online marketplaces).

Just2Good is indeed a cool guy. But I don't even know if this kind of topic is allowed on EB, and if it is I think it probably belongs in the community subforum rather than general Lego discussion.

I've never really seen floating parts in LDD as a problem, since they can be great for setting a scene or leaving space for parts that aren't yet available on LDD. Also, disconnected parts are already easy enough to detect just by using the multiple selection tool on the model as a whole and hiding the bulk of the model. And even a tool like you describe would not be sufficient for ensuring the structural integrity of a model unless it featured a robust physics engine, since to truly ensure structural integrity you have to make sure that each and every connection point can support the weight of the parts that are connected above it.

I don't think Lego is quite as closed-lipped as you claim. After all, Lego didn't keep many secrets about Bionicle's end the first time around, since they not only had to explain why they were ending the theme but also promote Hero Factory, making it essential to explain what set the new theme apart from its aborted predecessor. So I would not be surprised if we hear more about what led to Bionicle's end this time when a new Constraction theme arrives, if not sooner. It's also worth keeping in mind that despite the Bionicle story being concluded, the theme as a whole hasn't even left store shelves everywhere yet. There's plenty of time to do a postmortem but not when the theme hasn't even finished dying yet.

I'm not an expert on Sonic but I think I can safely say that Eggman would probably offer some of the most potential in terms of mini-builds. Of course, there's the question of whether his iconic egg-shaped torso would really be able to be represented well in Lego, which could make another character a better choice... Either way, I would not be too surprised to see another Sonic character before Season 2 is up. There are so, so many to choose from, many of whom have distinct abilities and appearances.

It's worth noting that only SOME of Lego's patents have expired (mainly older ones such as those for the standard brick and minifigure), and they still have active patents for many of their more recent element designs (for instance, the designs for the mini-doll were patented in 2013 and are still protected). Lego does continue to invoke patent law in cases where the patents are still applicable.

I think typically double points only apply to the discounted price, not the sticker price. So probably more like a net value of $90. A D2C set like the Temple of Airjitzu being discounted like that only a year after release might normally be seen as a bad sign (i.e. it didn't sell well enough), but with the Ninjago movie coming out next year I wonder if it might be a case where they're trying to clear it out in preparation for a new Ninjago D2C...

I mean, the Batcave has a pretty storied history of being discovered by villains in other Batman media as well. Little surprise that the sets we've gotten would focus on those sorts of (admittedly rare in the long run) occurences, since otherwise there's not a lot of easy ways to fit conflict into a set representing Batman's most inner sanctum.

...Maybe. Again, that pretty much never happens over here—U.S. networks are not hurting for original content, and as such only niche channels really air foreign programs at all. If anything, some American network might decide to adapt it for American audiences with a new American version, similar to what they did with "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".

Not just no repeats—I can't find any evidence that it's EVER been aired in America. I don't believe America tends to get much in the way of foreign game shows (save for shows that are recreated for American audiences), with channels like Game Show Network that specialize in game shows mostly airing American shows, and channels like BBC America that specialize in British TV focusing on comedies or dramas rather than game shows or reality TV.

Surely the computer in the Town Hall would have long since disproven the theory that the modulars uniformly represent a specific era, unless of course that era is the modern day. After all, people don't automatically abandon older buildings just because their architecture or technology is out of date.

No official pics yet. The only 2017 themes we've seen official pics from so far are DC Super Hero Girls and The Lego Batman Movie (as well as the new modular building).

The black curved piece isn't new—it's a Technic excavator bucket, as seen in the Mercedes Benz Arocs!

$25 off is still a pretty decent deal for a set that is for all intents and purposes brand-new! The Temple of Airjitzu is a great set but it's also a year old by now, so it's perhaps less surprising to see steeper discounts.

Unfortunately there's very little you can do if you're intent on making instructions available in that way. Companies like Lepin are fairly good at evading legal action even from large corporations from Lego, so there's little that an individual MOCist could do to fight them in court. And even charging money for those instructions is no guarantee that they won't be purchased by a bootlegger aiming to make and sell the model themselves (if anything, it might just make them more confident that the model is worth the investment of cloning). I worry that this sort of thing will have a "chilling effect" on MOCists sharing instructions for their creations with the community, but honestly there's no easy solution other than not providing instructions in the first place.

I do think another Western theme in the future is possible, but I don't necessarily know how likely it is. Not only is the Western a less popular genre these days in general, but one of the most common sources of conflict in that sort of story (Cowboys vs. Indians) has problematic connotations in this day and age, as does the heavy emphasis on gunplay. Those issues also affect the Pirates theme, but to a lesser extent. We'll see. Unlike themes like Castle and Ninja, and Pirates, a Western theme would not really conflict with any current licensed or unlicensed themes, which is a point in its favor. And even with the decline of the Western in pop-culture, the imagery associated with that genre is still quite recognizable and distinctive among kids, unlike less well-known/popular cultural eras like ancient Asian or African history. If we do see another take on the theme I expect it to focus on conflict between cowboys and bandits rather than Indians.

I think the reason for it being rejected is more likely to be that Lego DID make a gingerbread house just last year as a seasonal set. Yes, it wasn't minifigure-scale, but to be honest any project (including UCS Star Wars models) that are essentially just "something Lego's already done, but BIGGER" are probably going to have a tough time passing review. Lego Ideas, after all, is meant for finding fresh new ideas that Lego might not have otherwise considered producing, so anything that Lego has already produced before is already at a disadvantage. Another factor that may have been involved is the fact that, unlike the fishing store, the gingerbread house didn't really have any interior to speak of. So apart from the building experience it'd function almost solely as a display piece. In any case, I'll be interested to see how the final product of the Fishing Shop shapes up!

Exciting! Though I do hope that they don't do anything like radically changing the animation style (say, switching everything over to CGI or something like that) or replacing the great voice cast.

That could be cool but firstly, I don't know if it would even work as a story pack (which sound episodic in nature rather than open world like LCU), and secondly, I don't know if it's feasible seeing as LCU was actually published by Nintendo. What I'm hoping for is something that follows up on LCU, possibly including City sets and subthemes that weren't around for the original game like Swamp Police, Arctic, Deep Sea Explorers, and so forth.