Lyichir

I'm pretty sure those are silver... not sure they'll fit your needs as well (not that I'm any less excited).

Yeah, I've seen pics where you can tell that's definitely the case.

I wonder if that stand for the Mask of Creation is actually part of the set? The other "bonus masks" for the Skull Villains aren't pictured with brick-built stands like that.

These sets are incredible. Great builds, easily worth their price points. Head sculpts look great—we've come a long way since Galidor. The new shells look neat, and them and the flesh hands allow me to hold on to the vain hope that we might some day see constraction sets in themes like Elves and Ninjago.

The hole in Farran's hairpiece is likely just for attaching accessories, just like the ones in most other Friends hairpieces (and some non-Friends hairpieces/helmets). I don't see what more we could hope for in the Elves theme, at least before it's even released. We're getting a full 22-minute TV special, and the recent press release suggest that the website and app will be teeming with other story material, including "online webisodes" that I can only assume will be like the Lego Ninjago mini-movies from that theme's first year. And I would not be surprised if, like Ninjago, the TV special is intended as a "pilot" for a future TV series if the theme proves successful.

Somewhat off-topic, but I've wondered for a little while whether it would be possible for Lego fans to create some sort of homebrew software for tablets using the app bricks. After all, their conductivity and position is all that matters—they don't have to be limited to just Lego-produced apps.

Just remembered one other potential source of story material we'll be getting: the Lego Elves mobile app. We still have no idea what that will entail but I'm hoping (perhaps in vain) for some sort of adventure game. EDIT: And now, for some reason, the teaser site isn't loading for me. Perhaps they're updating to the full website? One can only hope.

Keep in mind that the initial Ninjago special was only about twice as long as this Elves special, and only got a full series in the second year. So it's not outside the realm of possibility that Elves might similarly get more content if the sets prove successful. Ninjago also got online mini-movies in the second half of the first year—perhaps Elves might see something similar, to help flesh out the characters a bit more. Besides that, we know that at least one chapter book is due this year, most likely with more on the way.

So something occurred to me in a late-night delirium yesterday. Do the colorful blended Toa masks from the Skull Villains qualify as... funmetal?

In addition to what the poster above stated, there's no reason a theme aimed at girls can't have villains in a future wave. Other girls' toy brands (especially fantasy-based brands like Elves) often have villainous antagonists. My Little Pony, for example, is teeming with villains, and in fact an upcoming comics miniseries will be focused on various villains from the show's run. Heck, even Belville had its share of wicked witches and evil stepmothers in its fairytale-based sets.

Not gonna vote because there's no option for being indifferent about Chima ending. In any case, I may be a huge fan of action themes, but frankly I can't help but feel a little sorry for Castle fans and Spacers these days, when neither theme has a real presence. "Action theme" is really a fan-made term anyway, to cover themes that AREN'T Castle or Town or Space. So how about an "action theme-like" Castle or Space theme next year? Maybe something like Knights Kingdom II or Galaxy Squad, which had distinct characters rather than just assorted soldiers (since character-based play has proven so successful for themes like Ninjago).

Brickset also said that there were cards on display with pictures of the final minifig designs. I think the use of generic figs in the set's themselves was mostly to deter theft.

The minifigures in particular make me think Lego is concerned about theft. After all, surely at least preliminary versions of the figs would be available for display at this stage, like they have been in past years. But attending Brickfair has taught me that even the most stringent security can't guarantee that minifigs, masks, and other rare trinkets won't "wander off" if they're not glued down...

It occurred to me recently that since it seems the primary factor in the function of the app bricks is their position relative to one another, fans could conceivably create homebrew software that utilizes the app bricks even if Lego themselves don't pursue the idea further. Not sure whether that'd happen, since Lego fan software typically takes the form of CAD programs and the like... but maybe could be an interesting project for a programmer out there.

Count me in as one of the people in favor of the new bandanna. The old one was a big part of my childhood, but frankly its lumpiness and asymmetricality always struck me as weird. The new one looks more like what I think you'd get if you tied a bandanna around a cylindrical minifigure head. It just looks nicer, and its neater appearance seems like it'd be more versatile for characters other than scalawags and ne'er-do-wells. I do, however, think a new monkey would be nice. We've got a new croc with printed eyes, and according to Brickset a new shark with printed eyes is being phased in as well. It's about time our primate relatives got eyes more like regular minifigs!

I agree that Lego's been on a ROLL lately in terms of introducing compact, versatile, and effective shooters. The 1x4 "laser shooters" work PHENOMENALLY well— I too keep them unloaded when not playing with them so as not to lose the ammo, but I wouldn't want them to go away at all! Meanwhile, the stud shooters (of which there are now three varieties—handheld, "built in", and Technic "gatling") also work effectively while being about as compact as flick-fires and—importantly—use basic parts (1x1 round plates, of which most established builders have plenty) as ammunition, instead of a specialized part. The same applies to the new disc launchers from the Legends of Chima battle packs, which use standard 2x2 round tiles as ammo (I hope to use the new waffle tile from The Lego Movie with the launcher to create a waffle-firing toaster!). A good launcher provides a great play feature for kids, that can be easily integrated into builds without having to compromise their look with a more complex function. The latest batch of launchers delivers wonderfully on that promise. Even the new Bionicle sets use the "gatling" stud shooter, and as a fan of that theme from the beginning I'm glad to be past the era of giant Bionicle launchers with specialized ammo! Frankly, given Lego's recent track record with launchers, I can't wait to see what they can come up with next!

I imagine the main reasons are that A) the faces we've had up until now represent good "default" expressions for the characters, and B) the fact that until last year all ninja had a hood covering the whole head and no hair meant that double-sided heads were not a practical option, since the ninja would seem to have two faces if their hoods were removed. Now that we've gotten hairpieces for all the ninja the latter issue isn't necessarily as problematic—but there are still sets where it could pose an issue, such as sets including more than one ninja (imagine younger kids having to remember which hair goes with which ninja when bare-headed, especially if they've had them wearing their hoods for a long time). So while alternate faces for the ninja would be nice, I can see why Lego would steer clear of that for now.

I seriously doubt anything but the configuration matters. You probably don't even have to add the spider on top—only the position of the app bricks relative to each other could possibly be read by the device given how the app bricks function in the first place.

I'm personally not so sure. With Bionicle relaunching, and Chima supposedly ending, this might be the best time in a while for Lego to leave that piece in the dust. Also, somewhat notably, no sets this year use the Piraka foot so far—even the Ninjago Titanium Dragon opts for the HF beast feet instead. I definitely wouldn't mind if those feet went away, for sure. They always struck me as odd—too organic for most Bionicle sets (especially in the reboot), but too mechanical to look right when used for non-mechanical animals in themes like Ninjago and Chima (why the dragons have pistons on their feet, I'll never know). And the HF beast feet are just plain better in my opinion, with way more attachment points and smooth, geometric surfaces that can work for both organic and mechanical creations.

Looking at the other replies to this topic, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks this is sketchy as hell... When Bricklink got new ownership, I hoped that it would finally mean fixing the site's errors and giving it a better interface (maybe even shifting some of the categorization over to official Lego colors, but of course that was always a pipe dream). Unfortunately, all they've done is redesign the main page to make it worse (seriously, making a site that looks good on both desktop and mobile isn't THAT hard), and introduce side-projects like the MOC shop (decent) and then... this mess. Seriously. Lego Cuusoo offered clear incentives for support. If your project made it, it'd be redesigned by Lego's excellent staff and mass-marketed worldwide! This, though? All it does is tells the project creator to put the project up on the MOC shop... something they could have easily done WITHOUT going through Cuusoo. Of course, as some others have pointed out, it has another, darker purpose—diverting traffic from the actual, official Lego Ideas site (which some people still know only by the old name) to this shoddy knockoff site. If that's how Bricklink hopes to stay relevant in the face of rising competition, you can count me out.

I imagine it is a chessboard, probably for Pythor or another villain to use for menacingly moving pieces representing the heroes around on. You know, can't be a chessmaster without an actual chessboard!

It's possible. I just don't remember seeing anything like that before. The closest I can recall are leaflets like the kind Lego stores and Toys R Us have had for themes like Bionicle, Legends of Chima, and the like—and those were usually placed near the checkout, rather than right there on the shelves with the other sets. To do something like this suggests to me that Target and whatever other stores have these are confident that Elves is going to be a hit and bring customers back as soon as it's released. I've been hoping for a girls' fantasy theme to complement the more City-like Friends theme for a while, so I'm excited to see that Elves is getting the lead-up it deserves!

This is the first time I've seen a retailer devote shelf space to a teaser for ANY upcoming theme. That gives me hope that this launch is going to be big.

This is interesting because as someone who's only mildly interested in the Ultra Agents theme, the Ultra Copter seems WAY more appealing. The original Agents theme already did a mobile base and, as far as I'm concerned, did it much better, with far more features packed into the space of a single truck. But the Ultra Copter is, to my knowledge, the first helicopter Lego has ever made with coaxial rotors. As such, even though I recently obtained the classic Agents helicopter used from a friend, the Ultra Copter still is a lot less redundant than the mobile HQ from last year's sets.

Since the new Bionicle sets are out now, I might as well throw in my support for the new parts from those (I expect most of them to be added in the next update, but you never know): 19149 18587 18588 18654 18651 19049 19050 19052 19061 19062 19064 19077 19082 19086 19087 19089 19090 19151 19992 20251 20252 44817