Lyichir

Sorry, you're wrong. No one alleged that Lego isn't caring about the theme beyond how to make it profitable. They've put a ridiculous amount of effort into the design and promotion of the theme. At the same time, they're not being as flagrantly wasteful as the original theme. What new parts, specifically, do you think they should have made? Because the reuse of standardized shells and beams was the entire purpose of the CCBS. The new Bionicle sets do have a similar aesthetic to other CCBS-based themes, of course—but it was DESIGNED for that look. Just because it doesn't cover every set with excessive detail doesn't mean that it's "not Bionicle" or "cheap" or that they "didn't care". No one's making excuses—we're explaining why what you seem to expect from the sets is impractical, unrealistic, and based largely on the classic theme's mistakes. I think you would qualify more as "making excuses"—you clearly don't like the sets, and that's okay! But you're trying to brand them as objectively bad just to justify your personal dislike.

I seem to have missed the Lego Dimensions discussion, but I just wanted to chime in that Bionicle characters (represented as minifigures) would be far from impossible. The mini-hero designs from last year would still work perfectly well for most of the new Toa (with new masks and possibly new torso armor). And lest you think those molds were all retired right after IFB ended, the Lego Dimensions starter set actually uses Bulk's silver arm pieces on the "portal" construction! As for the question of whether or not Lego Dimensions would allow for new molds, we already know that it does. The Back to the Future set with Marty McFly includes a brand-new mold for his hoverboard. And I would imagine that new molds for Bionicle minifigures might have more potential for reuse than that considering that Bionicle is an in-house brand, allowing Lego to continue using parts based on the theme as much or for as long as they deem necessary. It's still far from a certainty that Bionicle will make an appearance, of course. But it's probably our best chance at getting new Toa minifigures, something I desperately want, considering that Bionicle playsets do not have a strong sales record. And I can also see how Lego and TT Games might consider a "niche" theme like Bionicle to offer more sales potential through a crossover game like Lego Dimensions than it would as a dedicated console game. So I'm going to hold out hope.

Not new parts this time, but new decorations. I'd love for the letter and number tiles used in this set could all be added to LDD. Often, when I'm making an LDD file with many components (like an advent calendar, or collectible minifigures series), I think about how helpful it would be to be able to label them individually, in the program, so that I can remember what each is supposed to be for future reference. Basic letter and number tiles would help marvelously in that respect. In case individual links to the parts help, here they are: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 "V" is not listed on the Brickset Database, but obviously it comes in the set as well. Unfortunately, I don't know the Element ID in question for that part.

I doubt it has anything to do with cost (that might be a minor and pleasant side-effect, but nothing more). As a long-term Bionicle fan, I wager the most likely reason is to allow the ball itself to have a little bit of space to "compress" when a ball cup is attached. Some context: ball joints of this sort have always been high-stress connections, with some level of fragility. In 2007, a batch of lime green ball cups was cooled improperly (or at least, that's the official answer, which doesn't sound that unreasonable), resulting in many of that year's Bionicle sets including ridiculously fragile ball cups. Lego redesigned the ball cups on all parts in 2008 (possibly to allow better grip over time), but that only magnified the issue, and the issue became associated with the overwrought specter of "cheap Chinese plastic" (despite most of the parts in question originating from other countries). In 2011, the entire "Bionicle" building system was revamped with a new system that debuted in that year's Hero Factory sets. The new system was designed for versatility, but also durability. The new ball cups had thicker side supports, and the ball joints themselves had three holes in either side. And we received guarantees from numerous Lego employees that this would finally fix the issue, and the new joints should not ever break through normal use. Four years later, apart from a few isolated cases involving environmental factors, this seems to have been the case. It's possible that the holes in the parts were intended to offset the additional plastic needed for the thicker ball cup supports, but given the nature of the rest of the changes made that year, it's not improbable that they were also intended to help relieve stress on the parts. Ball cup connections, unlike typical stud and tube connections and to a greater extent than even Technic pins, require the ball cup to flex out of shape slightly to "wrap around" the ball joint. Anything at all that could help to lessen that stress would extend the lifespan of the parts in question. But the ball cup can only be modified so much—so a change to the ball joint itself could be considered necessary. Holes in the ball joint presumably allow the joint itself a bit more flexibility—turning stress that would otherwise risk snapping a ball cup inwards on the ball itself, so that the risk of snapping is reduced.

I don't know about that. For all we know the next few episodes could be more "slice of life" episodes, in which case they could potentially make more use out of previously used setpieces like Naida's Ship or the Treetop Hideaway. And of course, there's nothing stopping them from including original characters and props as well—Ninjago, after all, crafted an entire half a season from wholecloth in between the Serpentine arc and the Stone Warriors arc, during which time they introduced a plethora of original side characters, several of whom (like Dareth) have practically become mainstays in the cast. Future Elves episodes could possibly shed a bit more light on Emily's home life, or for that matter, what the Elves do when they're NOT on grand adventures—do they have jobs? Families? There's a lot of ground that can be covered even WITHOUT a new set of toys to base stories on.

Not totally related to the sets themselves (apart from depicting them), but the TV special is now available on YouTube. I know a lot of people missed it when it initially aired, so hopefully this should get it some more exposure.Additionally, it's listed as "Episode 1", which suggests there are more to come. I don't know whether that'll be this year (and maybe feature sets like Aira's Creative Workshop that were barely featured in this episode), or if the next episode will just cover the next year of sets and story.

Don't forget #4: something entirely new. It's far too early to rule out THAT possibility.

It'll certainly be interesting to see what this "Temple of Airjitzu" ends up looking like. Prior to a finalized name, I had thought it was likely that this "temple" would be more traditional than most Ninjago sets (in the same way that the Monster Fighters Haunted House was a more typical architectural design than the zany, feature-packed sets in the rest of the Monster Fighters theme). Airjitzu integration doesn't necessarily rule out a set with that kind of traditional appeal, but it does practically ensure that there will be plenty of integrated functions as well. I'd love to see some other functions powered by the Airjitzu ripcords, just like the Ronin R.E.X. has with its spinning turbines!

From the descriptions of Eurobricks user groups: "In most cases we'll tell you when to come back, if ever. If you've been banned and think you deserve a second chance, don't just create another account. Contact us via this email and in time we'll get back to you." In other words, you broke the rules just by creating a dupe account. Not a great start for your grand return. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if you end up banned both here AND on BZPower before long... and to tell the truth, I'm kind of looking forward to it.

People disliked Bruizer? He was my absolute favorite Brain Attack set, at least from the first wave... Anyway, I tend to see merit even in awkward builds like Kazi, or sets like the Inika that at least offered relief from the terrible, boring Metru Nui color schemes. Even Toa Mata Nui at least tried something new, with the piston-based torso suspension. If I had to pick a "worst set," it'd probably be one like Ackar, with a build and color scheme that were neither good nor novel. I'm sure there might be other, better examples, but he's the main one that springs to mind.

Not usually zero bytes... but always a low number (I just tested with a file containing a lone 1x1 brick, which resulted in an unreadable file with no preview image, 22 bytes in size). I can zip files just fine with my Mac's built-in Archive Utility, so I don't think that's the problem I'm dealing with.

Thank you for being the first person to even offer a possible solution. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case—my user account seems to have read and write access to both my models folder (where I normally save files) and LDD itself. On top of that, saving to other locations doesn't fix the problem. I still haven't gotten contacted by Lego Customer Service with any sort of follow-up either, so I'm really at a loss—not just for a solution to the problem, but for who else I might turn to in the hopes of finding one.

I thought we'd had confirmation from DeeVee or one of the other ambassadors involved in planning the relaunch that the other masks would indeed be given away, and that the Battle for the Gold Mask contest would be the only one that was a MOCing contest. It'd be hard for me to look up now, though, especially considering I don't know where specifically that comment would have been made.

That's a fair point, actually, and a factor I hadn't thought of. Adventurers was one of the first Lego themes with a clear sense of "continuity", so perhaps Lego introduced a new team of characters specifically because they didn't want Johnny Thunder's adventures to repeat themselves. I myself would have liked to see Jake Raines and his team on further adventures—perhaps following Adventurers' lead with an expedition to South American ruins. Of course, it's probably too late to send that team on new adventures with the expectation that kids would recognize them... especially since the "Pharaoh's Quest" theme name would have to be changed for adventures in other settings. Another action theme idea I've had before was a time travel theme, like Time Cruisers but less zany, and focused on actual time periods as opposed to crossovers with other themes. Of course, if the Doctor Who Ideas proposal turns into a full theme, it might eliminate that niche for an unlicensed action theme.

For the past two days I've been experiencing a never-before-seen issue with Lego Digital Designer, and while I previously mentioned it in the bugs and brick errors topic, that got no response and I think the issue is significant enough to merit its own topic. Basically, whenever I try to save a new file on LDD, the program crashes. Generally this happens partway through saving, resulting in a tiny, unreadable LXF file with the name I had chosen for the new file. I can load, edit, and save previously-made LXF files just fine, but if I try to "Save As" under a new name, or save a new model for the first time, the program crashes. For reference, I'm using LDD 4.3.8, the current version (which I did try uninstalling and reinstalling to see if it fixed the issue—it did not). My computer is a mid-2012 15-inch MacBook Pro, running OSX Yosemite version 10.10.2. My computer was recently serviced at an Apple Store, where the AirPort wireless receiver was replaced, but I don't know how that could be to blame—particularly considering that saving new files with other programs works normally, and LDD itself functions properly apart from the inexplicable and crippling inability to save new files. Google has been no help at all in terms of finding a solution (or even anyone who can corroborate the issue), and while I have contacted Lego customer service to see if they could report the issue to the LDD team, I'm unsure whether they'll be able to figure out the cause of my problem. As such, any assistance from the Eurobricks community would be greatly appreciated!

Technically, I liked the new cast from the last Egyptian theme largely because it was a different sort of story. Adventurers was largely a pastiche of adventure movies like Indiana Jones, whereas Pharaoh's Quest was more like a pastiche of action movies like The Mummy. I also liked that the cast of Pharaoh's Quest maintained the weather-based naming from Adventurers. That brings up another possible reason why Adventurers hasn't come back—it's harder to appeal to nostalgia when the characters didn't even have the same name in all countries. People who grew up with Sam Grant are going to wonder who Johnny Thunder is, just like I used to wonder who "Pippin Reed" was and what she had done with Gail Storm.

I've just encountered an unsettling issue and I don't know if it's the software or my computer. Lego Digital Designer just started crashing when I try to save a model. The first time it happened I lost a small model I had started on, the second time I tried saving as soon as I added the first piece and the same thing happened. Each time, the model apparently started to save (with an LXF appearing in my models folder with the name I had chosen), but the file was unreadable every time. I just recently had my computer serviced, but LDD had been working perfectly well since then—at least until now. Whatever's responsible, I'm hoping that it's something that can be easily fixed. EDIT: Since I haven't gotten any response on this, I've tried troubleshooting myself. I tried naming my file differently; no luck. I tried saving a file with just a single 1x1 brick; no luck. I've uninstalled and reinstalled LDD to see if that would fix this; no luck. I'd really, really appreciate some help with this problem, because until it's fixed LDD is practically unusable for me.

Have you tried printing them to get a feel for how sturdy they are? The latter part in particular looks like it might be far too flimsy to stand up to a lot of use. Not that 3D printing would give them the same exact properties as injection molding anyway...

I'm missing one of them too, and have had no luck in finding it despite my brother's help. I'm using my iPhone 4S... I wonder if the level was designed with larger screens in mind? I need to do some Elves MOCing... but I need to finish my reviews, first. Of course, it'd also help if Lego Digital Designer updated with Elves parts (including the long overdue mini-doll parts).

I certainly wouldn't mind a theme that was like Knights Kingdom II's early concepts. But I imagine Castle fans might prefer something a bit more traditional.

I definitely agree about Lewa's mask. I would guess that that was intentionally done due to Lewa's prominence in marketing material for the Phantoka (as opposed to the typical pattern of Tahu taking center stage). Pohatu's mask might possibly take cues from his Phantoka mask, but it's hard to say for sure largely because his Phantoka mask was pretty much the most accurate 2008 Toa mask to the original anyway. On that note, I do think Gali's new mask takes deliberate cues from the more feminine reshaping of the Kaukau in Mask of Light (which I imagine would be considered one of her most well-known media appearances).

Some of the concerns people have expressed that "Lego is dying" make me wonder if they've been living under a rock since the early 2000s. Lego is unambiguously in a better place than they were ten years back. Relying on licenses? Hardly—original themes like City, Friends, and Ninjago now account for the majority of their success, unlike when Bionicle was the only thing that kept their reliance on licenses from sinking the company in 2003. Specialized parts? Well, we do have new parts like the Super Jumper, but otherwise the vast majority of new parts these days are useful basic building elements (and even functional elements like launchers are more basic and versatile than the ones from a decade ago). Worries about Lego being bought out by a megacorporation like Disney? That might have been a concern back when they were close to bankrupt, but not now that they're the largest and most successful toy company in the entire world by pretty much every conceivable metric. Lego is farther from "dying" than they've ever been in the history of the company. So it baffles me that people would suddenly be so concerned about the company's mortality when their future looks brighter than ever.

You're implying that all of those crossovers and cameos are canonically linked to one another, when we've seen no indication that that's the case. Interpreting crossovers and cameos as absolute canon is the same illogical train of thought that leads to things like the Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis.

Not to mention the fact thatthe Ekimu in the set being Makuta (not Teridax) would scuttle a great deal of the set's play potential. It currently has a lot of easily understood play potential because it presents an iconic good vs. evil conflict. If both characters are evil, suddenly play gets less obvious and more confusing—is Makuta fighting Skull Grinder to fool the Toa? Is Skull Grinder somehow the good guy? Just what is going on there? That's the same reason why I think we're not that likely to see a similar set with Makuta. On the face of it, it seems to be a simple substitution—just swap Ekimu for Makuta and Skull Grinder for a new villain! But such a set would not provide such an unambiguous play scenario, because it doesn't present two diametrically opposed characters and thus lacks any obvious conflict play.

Right, I forgot! Yeah, they use Aqua (Light Aqua on Bricklink). So that's even fewer parts that exist in Spring Yellowish Green, at least until this summer. I do wonder whether the blended "elemental blades" used on the Morro Dragon might have White Glow cores... there were some 2007 Bionicle parts that used a similar blended effect, and the elemental blades are typically blended and look to be so in that set as well. I expect whatever they are they're blended with Trans. Fluor. Green, but the cores could go either way and the only way to tell would be to see if they glow in person.