Lyichir

This looks incredible! And much more authentically retro than last year's Pirates set. Sure, it looks like some newer parts and techniques might be used for the ballista, but it still looks like it would fit in fairly well with other sets of that fig's era.

Chocolate fountain!

That is flipping incredible! I'd long wanted Airjitzu versions of Lloyd and Nya, and to get both of them in a fantastic arena set like this is... well, Just2Good! The mechanism here looks extremely intriguing, the architecture looks fantastic... my only regret is that I had hoped to maybe get a "throwback" version of Skylor this year, and while I still hope to get that at some point, this is even better than I could have hoped for.

They might not be able to answer this one, but with the success of the Star Wars constraction figures, is Lego considering expanding the constraction category into other System themes as well?

The beasts are due for a June release so at the very least he'd be able to ask about those. Umarak is a July release but even so I doubt he'd be off-limits considering we've long known about him from Toy Fair.

The others are also available in Great Britain, so it would not surprise me if this one were as well. It probably won't make it to the U.S., though.

Oh, faithfulness to the source material is certainly important; there's no denying that. But from a MOCist's point of view, there's far more advantages to a human head sculpt. Heck, even when working within the Star Wars theme, head pieces like Finn's can be used to MOC the character in one of their different movie costumes (in Finn's case, this is as simple as swapping his head with the First Order Stormtrooper). That's not really as doable with a figure like Captain Phasma, Darth Vader or Kylo Ren, whose helmets are part of mostly unchanging uniforms. Another advantage to more basic human head sculpts is that since they're generally smaller than helmets, they also tend to be more posable. I personally wish Rey had lacked the headgear for her head sculpt, since not only does she wear that in fewer scenes, but it also keeps her head from being angled up enough to position her on a potential MOC of her speeder (which she rides while hunched forward).

I didn't remember those being November, but even so, that's not that far from the normal "January sets release at retail in mid-December" that we normally get. They were still technically the next year's sets.

My post was only about the second part; the announcement. I don't really think the rumors of another summer set amount to anything, since if there were another set planned, we would have heard about it by now, and if the theme were indeed failing I would imagine that trying to shoehorn another set into the existing release schedule for this year would be the last thing Lego would try to do (if it were even possible at this late stage, it would risk sabotaging the sales of current sets for what would presumably be a diminished return).

This is really interesting! I haven't seen a lot of discussion of how VR could be used in conjunction with Lego as a hobby, but it's really a great application of the technology. There aren't many other ways to get a "minifig's eye view" of a Lego model with that level of immersion! I don't have Cardboard so I can't try it for myself, but the renders are good, the idea is quite interesting, and I wish you luck in this endeavor!

Oh man, now I have to jump on the bandwagon and start picking apart your words for tidbits of information. If it's something that justifies an announcement yet not about the status of the theme or future sets... what does that leave? Not knowing how much you're allowed to say suggests that you got this info via the LAN (since you could safely talk about it if it were rumors or hearsay from elsewhere), and if they're reaching out via the LAN that would imply that it's something that requires or at least would be helped by a partnership or collaboration with fansites. I'm guessing this might mean we'll be seeing another contest or similar promotion. Alternatively, there's been a lot of news relating to the Lego House lately, and we know via Christian Faber that a Bionicle exhibit is in the works... maybe it's connected to that. The latter also makes sense even if the rumors of the theme's decline are true, since the plans for the Lego House will be going forward even if the theme itself is ending or on the decline. How close am I? Or am I way off?

I actually agree with your reasons why you think LotR packs would be better and more useful to a wider variety of people, but I disagree with the assumption that those qualities would result in better overall sales. You missed the key part of my argument—that "if the normal sets didn't sell well enough to justify continuing the theme, battle packs without main characters would do even worse." If not enough people bought sets with actual named elf/dwarf/human/orc characters, how many could realistically be expected to buy an elf/dwarf/human/orc battle pack? For general fantasy fans and gamers (the market you bring up as being able to find new uses for generic LoTR soldiers), there shouldn't be much of a difference between the appeal of a named character whom they could customize into someone new and an unnamed character whom they could do the same with. Clearly, regardless of the size of that market, it was not enough to sustain the theme beyond the sets we actually got. The only reason I brought up Stormtroopers is that their iconic appearance gives them their own appeal beyond customization. It's true that a Stormtrooper fig can't be used to represent any sort of generic character very well, but on the flip side, you can't represent a Stormtrooper very well without a figure designed to resemble one. And as such, Star Wars fans who want additional troops (a sizable market considering the franchise's pop-culture dominance) can't go anywhere else for those sorts of figs. This topic alone should be evidence that the same doesn't necessarily apply to Lord of the Rings fans, who have been exceptionally resourceful when it comes to building up armies of extras to fill out their Middle-Earth displays using a mix of licensed and unlicensed figure parts.

Personally, I'm fine with the latest trends in modular buildings. I love the detailed interiors we've been getting, and I love the organic mixing and matching of buildings as seen in the Detective's Office and Brick Bank. Compared to those earlier buildings, the new buildings actually feel "lived in"—like these buildings have histories of their own, and have been expanded and modified to suit the needs of the occupants over the years, instead of seeming like neat and tidy architectural models that feel like they were developed in a vacuum. As for size, you just can't have all those other things and stay at the same price point without making sacrifices, especially with factors like inflation at play as well. So given the choice between larger and more monolithic buildings and smaller, more detailed buildings, I definitely prefer the latter. There are exceptions, of course, depending on what sort of building the sets are supposed to represent. I was quite pleased by how the Pet Shop economized detail by leaving one of the buildings unoccupied, with a family just beginning to move in and repaint the interior. And a building like the Palace Cinema or Grand Emporium obviously has to feature lots of open space by virtue of the business they practice, allowing more of the budget to go toward an impressive facade. But I'd rather not go back to the days where exteriors felt like they were prioritized at the expense of interiors, like the Café Corner, Market Street, and arguably even the Green Grocer.

In the non-box picture, you can actually see behind one of the black flag pieces and it's clear that the upper and lower legs are connected by a pair of fixed-angle Technic connectors side-by-side, rather than any sort of hinge. I can't see any way they could be articulated. I can see why knee joints would be omitted, since the legs end up looking decent and are probably sturdier that way than they would be with hinges. But I definitely prefer the King's Mech, which looks much better and has more articulation to boot.

HORSES on the pick-a-brick wall? Man, I wish I'd been there for that! I'm not even a huge medieval builder, but that kind of deal on a complex and slightly rare animal design would be too good a deal to pass up!

Worth pointing out that having models ready for a digital product like a video game is a far cry from actually having them engineered for production. Several of the video game models might well be too fragile or complex to produce as is and could need to be redesigned to make them production-ready. Beyond that, I'm pretty sure that if the normal sets didn't sell well enough to justify continuing the theme, battle packs without main characters would do even worse. After all, not all generic soldiers in film are created equal—things like Stormtroopers from Star Wars are far, far more iconic for general audiences than most of the unnamed soldiers in Lord of the Rings. So a Star Wars battle pack would likely have much more sales potential than the same thing for Lord of the Rings.

Lego can indeed make banks at lower prices. In fact, they've done so in the past. But the appeal of the Brick Bank comes from it being a modular, with all the added size, complexity and detail that entails. I don't at all understand the implication that it's not a true D2C just because it could have been done at a smaller scale. You could practically say that about ANY modular. Palace Cinema, Pet Shop, Grand Emporium, Parisian Restaurant... none of those are subjects that could not possibly be depicted at a smaller scale. But the fact that they were done at a larger scale is what makes them special.

It's a newer version of that, actually—the new ones as of last year don't have ridges on the "handle". But it's neither new nor new in silver, and has already appeared in that color in seven sets.

I like the base, actually. It's very consistent with Jestro's Volcano Lair, which means it'll probably pair well with it. Whiparella also looks great, as does Robin in what looks like a new costume. The mech... eh. The shield is great. The sword is great. The legs... are decent (but don't have articulated knees, after the King's Mech was one of the first Lego mechs in ages to include them). And the torso? Way, way too flat (except on the lower torso, which gives the unfortunate appearance of a massive codpiece). It's a decent set, and a great value, but I definitely preferred the King's Mech, which I'd consider one of the most solid mechs Lego's ever done.

It's not the end of the theme. Don't worry. And considering the guy who's been sharing all these store-exclusive pics just shared the Black Knight mech... tomorrow's gotta be the day we get pics of the Airjitzu Battle Grounds. Right? I can't think of any other store exclusives we haven't seen, but I suppose there could always be something in one of the themes I don't pay attention to...

Molds can be recreated... but why would they do that for monorail track? The old track doesn't even represent a "true" monorail, since the entire train coasts on wheels resting on a wide track instead of being supported primarily by the central rail. The only thing there would be to gain from recreating that old track (which, keep in mind, was expensive, causing Lego to lose money on every single monorail set) would be to appeal to the small minority of Lego fans who actually already have that track themselves—and even if they did that, the color wouldn't match, since the old grays have been discontinued! If Lego were to create a new monorail it'd almost assuredly be a new system, possibly one that used track that could be used for other things as well to justify the cost (since, realistically, Lego wouldn't have more than one monorail per year). Recently I had the idea that maybe Lego could create a new system based on the quarter-circle parts from the new Technic Bucket Wheel Excavator. Those might be large enough to provide an adequate curve, and even have gear teeth on the inside edge. All they'd need to introduce would be a "straight" section that corresponded with it, along with possible changes in elevation, to create a track system that was less bulky and much, much more versatile.

Wait, does that mean that the image from the front page was just identical parts gathered from your collection? Or is the pic of the pile of parts from somewhere/someone else?

Short answer: No. Long answer: Probably not, for a variety of reasons. Monorail sets were never actually successful even when they were new. They were very expensive to produce and failed to make up the difference in sales. Today, monorails no longer represent the "vehicle of the future" the way they did back in the '80s, so they would likely have even less appeal to kids today. Also, even if a new monorail set were produced, the chances of the old monorail system returning are slim. Not only have the original molds most likely been destroyed by now, but technically the old tracks hardly qualified as a "true monorail" in the first place (since the train sat on a wide track instead of actually wrapping around a thinner one). If monorail did return, it'd most likely be in a completely different form with a new system of track (possibly one that relies less on specialized track sections that were hard to utilize in non-monorail sets).

Technically my family all shares my dad's VIP account, but since he's not really active in any online communities I suppose I'll answer here. 1) I think my dad joined the VIP program soon after it started. After all, it was free, and we already tended to order a lot from Lego. 2) The main VIP benefits we take advantage of are the VIP points that can be redeemed for discounts, ESPECIALLY during double points periods. Often when making a purchase at a store the employee at the register has remarked about the ridiculous number of points on our card, since we don't always remember to make purchases when it's NOT a double points period! Since I became a member of BioniLUG, I have also used my LUG sticker on dad's card so that we can get discounts on the AFOL discount days. We don't often take advantage of early VIP releases, since it's usually more economical to wait for double points or a similar discount. 3) The main way the VIP program influences my Lego experience and buying habits is that it convinces me to do more of my purchases during double-points periods, instead of buying as many sets from other retailers throughout the rest of the year. In particular, I try to consolidate purchases of large or expensive themes that I enjoy like Ninjago, Elves, and Nexo Knights during double points periods. Cheaper sets like most Bionicle sets or collectible minifigures are some of the only ones I tend to buy at other times or through other channels. 4) I'm pretty happy with the VIP program as it is, but as for other things they could do with it... I dunno. I guess it could be neat if there were more exclusive or semi-exclusive items for VIP members. For example, it would be neat if there were opportunities for VIP members to get a chance at some convention-exclusive items like minifigures or Bionicle masks that are otherwise only available for attendees of specific pop-culture events. 5) In general, I've found that Lego's customer service both at physical stores and online is excellent whether you're in the VIP program or not. So I don't really have any suggestions there.

The lack of Globlins doesn't bother me (after all, it has four figures just like all the comparable battle packs). But I might have preferred if one of the monsters was replaced by a Scurrier, to better parallel the Squirebot in the Knights' Army pack, and similarly I wish one of the monsters had one of the rocky shields (as it is not only does it seem to lack a Nexo Power, unlike the other pack, but the ultimate packs remain the only way to get the stone Shields of Absorption).