Lyichir

Ekimu elicited the biggest "meh" from me at Toy Fair, but while he doesn't bring a lot new to the table, he turned out to be an exceptionally solid figure. The few new parts and recolors he does have look fantastic, and the dual gear functions definitely help to make up for the loss of both of his weapon functions from last year.

Storm Beast is definitely my favorite of the three beasts. He has a fantastic color scheme and an original and highly effective function. While his shadow trap doesn't serve well to grip a mask, the same applies to the other two beasts as well, and Storm Beast makes up for it with highly posable claws. As far as I'm concerned, there's no contest.

Did you really find Lava Beast the most impressive of the beasts? He was one of the least impressive to me. Visually, he's got a fairly basic physique (apart from the absurd lower legs) and a color scheme that tries to make four different types of orange work together and STILL ends up looking less interesting than the other Beasts thanks to the overall lack of any contrasting accent color. His functions both work well but neither is all that dynamic or visually impressive. The hands and neck are the only real parts of him that stand out as a net positive.

Good review. While I dig Quake Beast's short, asymmetrical look, his function was a massive disappointment. Not only does it not have a huge amount of range, but to add injury to insult (heh), the crystal shell on his shoulder literally bashes him in the face if you swing his function arm too far.

I don't even have Google Cardboard, but even just looking at it on my computer screen... I can safely say this is the coolest Lego-related application of technology I've ever seen. It looks amazing, showing a minifig's eye view of a Lego set in a way that no other medium really could. If Lego themselves aren't looking at the potential for this kind of use of VR, they definitely should.

From what I can understand of your question, I don't think there is any connector like the one you describe. Combination pin/axles like that don't come in any smaller lengths.

That's one of the most promising fan-designed systems for monorails but would probably never be produced as an actual Lego product by sheer virtue of the fact that the rails themselves require a massive part count and an incredibly repetitive build to even form a full loop. That's kind of the paradox for monorail at this point—Lego isn't likely to spring for a new dedicated monorail system due to the cost, but most solutions without custom track pieces would also be expensive and a poor building experience. The way I see it, the only way new monorail sets will ever be produced is if a new system can be created that is versatile enough to be used for multiple things OTHER than monorails—in other words, large, pre-formed track sections in both straight and curved varieties that can also be used as structural elements for other types of builds across multiple themes.

Does "flagship" make any sense as anything other than an internal designation, though? I always interpreted a "flagship model" as whichever set Lego generally gives the highest profile in terms of advertising the theme as a whole in magazines, websites, and so forth (which is generally, but not always, one of the biggest and most technically impressive sets of the year/wave). Even if there's a better set out there than the one Lego chose, it doesn't seem to make any sense to me to consider that a flagship if it's not being used as the primary representative of the theme as a whole.

It's a good question. Of the villains represented, the only real vehicles are the Chenosaurus (an amazing model and a good way to make up for never including Chen's chair in a set) and the Skeleton Mech (which is small but serviceable). The Nindroid faction, Stone Warrior faction, and Serpentine faction (as represented by Pythor) do not have any sorts of vehicles. If sets tied to this story arc do continue into next year, then those factions could conceivably either get new vehicle designs or vehicles from the TV series never represented as sets, such as the Serpentine Mobile Fortress, Stone Warrior Tusk Invader, or even untransformed versions of the Nindroid vehicles which the Ninja hacked with their Techno Blades.

I just finished building this on LDD today and it occurred to me... not only is there space to fit Nya and Lloyd in the center cockpits with Cole and Zane, but you could also replace one of Cole's and one of Zane's printed 2x2 round tiles with the Nya and Lloyd ones from the Airjitzu Battle Grounds set so that all six ninja's icons can be represented!

It would be nice to see some new space-related Technic sets at some point. A space shuttle in particular would be amazing; we haven't had one of those since before studless Technic took over. Additionally, while it wouldn't necessarily be marketed under the Technic umbrella, I'd love to see some new Technic-based Bionicle vehicles like the ones from 2008 and 2009.

I can think of situations where longer beams could be helpful but far fewer where they would be essential. The 32m axles, by contrast, have advantages that can't always be replaced by shorter axles joined together—for instance, situations where you would need most of the length of the axle to slide in and out of an assembly.

Hm, I think there used to be another wishlist topic. But since I haven't posted in this one yet, I may as well post here. The main thing I'd like to see out of Dimensions is more of Lego's original themes, rather than just licenses. But there are a few licensed themes I wouldn't mind being added as well. Nexo Knights is a natural fit for Dimensions, with a large number of characters each with their own unique vehicles. At the very least, it'd be easy enough to do figures for the main characters: Clay and his Rumble Blade, Macy and her Thunder Mace, Aaron and his Aero-Striker, Lance and his Mecha Horse, and Axl and his Tower Carrier. Other possibilities for sets include Jestro and his Evil Mobile and Robin and his Black Knight Mech. Elves would be a great addition as well, if mini-doll themes were an option. Potential packs include Emily and the Queen Dragon, Naida and her Adventure Ship, Aira and her Pegasus Sleigh. Farran and Azari have not had vehicles yet but have had dragons—but I don't know if that'd be dragon overload. City might seem like an odd choice as it isn't a story theme, but it is one of Lego's most successful themes. Additionally, one of the few forms of story media it has had was the game Lego City: Undercover, also created by TT Games. I would love to see a follow-up to that game in Dimensions, with packs such as Chase McCain and one of his police vehicles and maybe even Rex Fury and one of his distinctive vehicles from the game. Friends is another unique choice, but again, one of Lego's most successful original themes. Unlike City, it regularly has distinct characters, and the biggest hurdle in its case would be getting around the general lack of combat. Still, it's possible that some creative solutions could be employed—characters could perhaps attack with music or other oddball combat methods. Possible packs for this theme would include Olivia and her Exploration Car, Stephanie and her Cool Convertible, Andrea and her Hot-Air Balloon, Mia and her Roadster, Emma and her Sports Car, and Livi and her Tour Bus. I would love to see Bionicle included at some point, preferably with the voice cast from the Netflix series. Tahu, Kopaka, Onua, Lewa, Pohatu, and Gali would all make great character additions with plenty of distinct powers, and would allow for minifigure versions of the characters (possibly similar to the mini-heroes from the last year of Hero Factory). A complicating factor would be the lack of any vehicles in the rebooted theme so far, meaning that they would have to get creative with that aspect if the figures were to be released in normal packs (the introduction of packs like Green Arrow and Supergirl that lack vehicles could also make this theme more feasible) In terms of licenses, the sky is the limit. One theme I'd like to see return for Dimensions is Avatar: The Last Airbender, along with The Legend of Korra. That theme never did get its fair shake, and Dimensions would be the perfect vehicle for an update. A few pack ideas include Aang and Appa, Zuko and a Fire Nation Ship, Korra and Naga, and Asami and her Roadster. But there are plenty of other possibilities from both shows, including characters like Katara, Sokka, Toph, Mako, and Bolin. Another neat licensed theme idea is Steven Universe, which has the benefit of being a more current show. The obvious pack for that would be Steven and Greg's Van. The Crystal Gems are harder to come up with ideas for, since they don't frequently use vehicles, but Pearl could at least use her Pearlbot, and it wouldn't necessarily be impossible to come up with vehicles for Amethyst and Garnet. There are plenty of other possibilities, but these ones make up the top of my list. I'll be very interested to see what's in store for the game in the future!

Yeah, I really can't complain about this year either. The main three themes I collected last year were Ninjago, Elves, and Bionicle, and all three are going fairly strong. Ninjago, like last year, has had two awesome story arcs and plenty of amazing sets. Elves was amazing last year but has presented an even stronger showing this year, with more sets, bigger sets, and a moodier, better story. And while there are technically fewer Bionicle sets this year than last year, the sets we have gotten have been much more interesting and experimental and include the biggest single-character set since the story was rebooted. Nexo Knights has also been an amazing product launch. I really wanted to not end up liking it since I'd already be collecting three other themes, but the amazing sets and story won me over. And there's so much more beyond that. I know there's been a lot of griping about this year's D2C sets but there have still been some standouts, like the Brick Bank and the recently announced Big Ben. And in Technic, the Porsche may not be for everyone (I love it!), but even so there's still plenty of other great-looking sets including the Bucket Wheel Excavator, the biggest Technic set ever. Mixels has proven that it's far from running out of ideas with several amazing new factions. And the list goes on and on. 2016 may seem like a poor year if you're focused on one or two themes but in general, I'd say it's been a fairly strong year.

Rare? The tooth piece may be rare (only in three sets so far, though it'll be in more in the summer), but the bucket handle is in a whopping 33 sets, and comes as an extra in every one of them! It is true that that Dimensions pack is the best bet for getting both of those gold System parts, though, while the other gold parts have all come in Bionicle and Hero Factory sets in the past.

Pretty much. On page 5 of the Book of Monsters:

The Book of Monsters heavily implies that. I'd seen people suggest that the book implied that the Book of Monsters was AFRAID of him, but after reading it myself, that's not quite right—it's more like it's talking his fearsomeness up. Coupled with a ton of coy statements about Monstrox being "very close by" and threatening the reader with Monstrox's return. Beyond that, the face is even the same. It seems pretty evident that The Book of Monsters is Monstrox, trapped in the form of a book by Merlok, and presumably regaining his old form is the Book of Monsters' endgame.

Very neat design! It seems to work great and I love the color added by the Bohrok eyes.

Thank you! This is just the kind of thing I needed. Little bro doesn't want me to try and fix it yet, though. Probably for the best—he still wants to try and get photos with both it and the real thing for his review, so I suppose it makes more sense to keep the set without modifications until he's gotten those.

So now that the flaw with the gearbox has been explained, does anyone who has the set have any tips for the simplest and quickest way to disassemble the Porsche from completion to a state where the gearbox can be fixed? I'd like to fix that on my brother's copy but would rather not tear more of the bodywork up than is absolutely necessary.

I'm not 100% satisfied with all of the beasts but I don't know if increasing their price point would improve them that much or even be a necessary step toward improving the flaws that concern me most. Plus, it'd make them that much harder to army build. When you say "add the function of combining with Umarak", do you mean combine like the Creatures combine with the Toa? I can't see how that would be expected to look anything other than silly (and would require substantially different torso buillds, since the shell and shell detail used for these sets offer precious few attachment points on the front). If you just mean a combi model, there is one, and I can't wait for the instructions to be added to the website.

Very good review! I definitely loved your pictures and the expert analysis of the set's assets and flaws. The gears shifting in the wrong order is something I myself never even noticed, due largely to only giving the functions a few cursory tries before covering up the pistons later in the build, so I'll probably attempt to fix that on my brother's copy of the set in the near future. I am glad to hear that it's such a simple fix, though—when I heard rumors of a critical flaw I was envisioning something that would need major changes or could actually damage the model through normal play. One thing I can't agree with is the call at the end for black 3M pins and 2M pin-axles. They might certainly make the set look better in a few specific locations, but at the cost of making an already 10-hour build that much harder. I've recently been quite pleased with Lego's color coding—note that Lego now has at least seven Technic connectors in 3M (pin, friction pin, axle, axle with stop, axle with stop and stud, pin-axle-axle, pin-pin-axle), and with the current system they have managed to color code each and every one of those (in distinct colors from their closest 2M and 4M counterparts, where that applies). You might argue that a set aimed at builders 16 and up can stand to have a little more difficulty, but I would counter-argue that even a set like this aimed at a primarily adult audience will be bought by a lot of newer builders with comparably little building experience, the type who could very easily make the simple mistake of mixing up different sorts of axles (especially for a licensed set like this that will likely attract adult Porsche fans for whom this is their first foray into Technic). And in Technic especially, the bigger and more complex a set is, the easier it is to make mistakes (and the harder it can be to reverse them if discovered later on). For the tiny effect the few visible axles have on the large finished model, I don't see the potential confusion being worth it.

Most D2C sets take more than a year to develop (though three is still on the longer end of things), and as with those Lego is probably working on multiples of these at a time. One a year sounds like a decent rate to release these at, on par with the modular buildings and large Creator vehicles. It's not implausible that Lego would already be well into development of 2017's model and already in the early stages of 2018's.

I could definitely see ways to make use of those in Elves MOCs, since the theme has a lot of lavender and lilac foliage.

I saw this at the opening on Friday! It's funny... one member of my group saw that building on the way in and said "Well, there's something you couldn't build out of Lego if you tried." I knew that was a little pessimistic, having seen many creative builders take on similar large glass structures, but I had no idea that not one but two groups would be presenting their take on that very building at the event! By the way, of the two, yours was definitely my favorite!