Lyichir

Next year Ninjago will be continuing. I don't know if this means its "replacement" will be postponed or if it will be released next year anyway despite having to exist concurrently with Ninjago.

Not only that, but raising the threshold would probably only make it even more difficult for non-licensed proposals to reach the review stage. So far, the Modular Western Town is the only project to reach 10,000 without the backing of another fandom, and it took the combined effort of every major AFOL fansite to help it reach that goal. Projects like the Dark Bucket can and probably will continue to reach the review stage and get rejected, but making it harder for feasible projects to succeed will help no one.

I think licensed themes are a huge boon to LEGO. Not only do tried-and-true licenses bring lots of money to LEGO, they're one of the driving forces in creating new LEGO fans. I've heard many stories, both here on Eurobricks and elsewhere, of teens and adults coming out of a "dark age" because LEGO licensed a property they were a fan of. Also, as you said, licensed themes can result in useful new colors and elements even for fans of traditional themes. A perfect example is the Cars theme. Many AFOLs scoffed at the large new printed parts, but they're starting to warm up to them now that they've started appearing unprinted in City and other themes. And of course that theme also resulted in the new Aqua color, the old one having long been discontinued. Licensed themes can help to breathe life into LEGO's non-licensed lines. The LEGO space theme had somewhat lost track of its roots before Star Wars came along. It seemed to end with the imaginative but bizarre and overly-simple Life on Mars theme, and many FOLs feared that Star Wars had completely supplanted all other space themes. But in 2005 Space returned with the fantastical and complex Mars Mission theme, which returned the Classic Space logo and, in many respects, the imagination and variety of that same theme. In addition, it showed how far the Star Wars theme had helped the LEGO System progress since that dark time in the early parts of that decade. After that came the revival of the Space Police in a theme which in many respects was a paean to the space themes of old, as well as to that old standard of LEGO itself, the LEGO City theme. I imagine sometime in the future the LEGO Castle theme, seemingly displaced by Lord of the Rings, may experience a similar renaissance. I would never suggest that licensed themes are naturally superior to LEGO's own intellectual properties, or that licensed themes should supplant them. But I can see how these themes, in moderation, helped save LEGO back in the late nineties and early noughts, and how they continue to benefit both the company and its fans in the present.

That's Titanium Metallic, one of the three current metallic plastic colors in LEGO. Unfortunately, while it and Silver Metallic look like they could really be made of metal, the only non-treated gold color in LEGO remains the Warm Gold introduced in 2006. And the issue with early shipments of Pirates of the Caribbean sets showed that AFOLs aren't about to take Warm Gold as a valid replacement for the chromed parts they desire. Personally, I prefer non-chromed colors such as Lacquered Silver or Silver Metallic any day. But many AFOLs can't get enough chrome, so I often feel like I'm in the minority.

Actually, those spring-loaded cannons are still around. In fact, two of this year's Ninjago sets feature them. But I don't think they'd be as easy to integrate into themes like Star Wars as flick-fire missiles are. It's not as much because of safety, but because that classic cannon is cumbersome and hard to implement in non-pirate sets. Meanwhile, we wouldn't see nearly as many flick-fires if it weren't for the fact that they can be integrated into sets of almost any shape or size without taking up much room or being too obtrusive. Personally, I typically like flick-fires a lot more when I think about what alternative features could replace them. Flick-fires can usually be removed or replaced if you really don't like them, which would be harder to do if larger, more cumbersome weapons were the standard.

They normally do that with city sets, from my experience. The boxes for most such sets feature a box on the back proclaiming "Modular Build, Easy Start!" I don't mind this that much. I'm sure it helps younger builders who either want to build the set "out of order," groups of builders who want to all work on the set at the same time without dividing up individual steps, and others. And as for advanced builders, or builders who are building on their own, a few more booklets really doesn't hurt anyone.

My chrome elements like swords used to lose their chroming, but that was only because I would put them in my mouth when I was younger. I've never heard of chrome elements losing their surface finish over time. Where do you keep them? Perhaps something atmospheric is at play here? Or, as others have suggested, there could have been a bad batch of chromed parts. I haven't bought many sets with chrome parts in some time, so I have nothing to compare your issue with.

I haven't been this excited about a LEGO video game in ages. It seems to take the best aspects of LEGO Island, the Travelers Tales games, Clutch Powers and the LEGO City mini-movies, adds a dash of Grand Theft Auto, and blends it all together to create an iconic LEGO experience that appeals to me far more than the stream of LEGO licensed video games ever did. Not to mention the video game references sprinkled throughout which make this one of the most self-aware LEGO games yet. The main things Nintendo showed which caught my attention were this and Scribblenauts Unlimited, and this in particular is the first game that makes me really want to get a Wii U.

I'm pretty sure Leprechauns don't count as English, or even British. As for why so many sets are based on British locations and icons, it's probably just that Britain itself has a bunch of iconic imagery. Even Americans can recognize the stiff-lipped Grenadier Guards (although they may not know what they're called) or Big Ben, and as an American I regret to say we tend to be fairly ignorant of other countries and their cultures. It's the same way other countries can recognize American icons like the Statue of Liberty or the White House (both of which have been depicted in LEGO). Meanwhile, I doubt many Americans would be able to name a single Japanese landmark, or even a German one for that matter (most Americans' knowledge of Germany ends with the Berlin Wall). Personally, I'm just glad the Architecture line has broken free of the exclusively-American models it launched with.

I think both are great, but they're great in such different ways that it's hard to compare the two. Hero Factory has a simple ball joint-based building system, a smooth and polished aesthetic and a lighthearted, episodic story. BIONICLE had a more complex Technic-based building system, a rough and mechanical aesthetic, and a deep, complex storyline. In terms of build, there are things BIONICLE couldn't do that Hero Factory can, and vice-versa. Hero Factory's aesthetic makes the parts more compatible with the smooth surfaces of standard LEGO, but BIONICLE had better parts for greebling. And while I loved BIONICLE for its complex storylines, Hero Factory's simple and accessible hero-versus-villain story was a welcome change of pace. In some ways, such as the sturdier ball cups, Hero Factory comes out on top simply by virtue of being newer. But apart from those minor considerations I feel the two themes are about on-par with one another.

Great MOC! Having gone to college in Vermont for two and a half years, I quickly realized that one of the main things the LEGO City theme still lacks is any sort of snow-or-ice-clearing vehicles. In fact, the only such vehicles I remember LEGO ever making were a plow-like treaded vehicle from the Arctic theme and the Technic Snow Groomer from a few years back. Hopefully LEGO will rectify this in the future!

Bolded for emphasis. Anyway, I can't wait to see the rest of the review!

And that's not even considering the price. With an unrealistically conservative estimate of $2 per fig, the original concept would cost $200! Plus, even the second concept could be stretching it as far as LEGO's previous disputes with Hasbro are concerned. Even with the buildable Star Wars logo, it's undisputably a figure pack.

BZPower member Sumiki's blog has a report from Bricks Cascade in Oregon. Apparently, Kevin Hinkle, LEGO's community coordinator for North America, has announced that Ninjago will be ending. I'm not sure whether this means it's ending directly after this year, with no new waves of sets, or if it simply means an end is in sight, which may not be for a year or more. I'd hope for the latter, since we know that at least one more season of the TV show is planned. One more season and a wave of sets I think would be plenty to wrap up the story as it currently stands. Hopefully they're not just going to end it without a conclusion, as they did with Exo-Force.

I don't know about that. There's a significant difference between treatment of the bricks at the model shops, by people who know how to properly work with LEGO, and treatment of LEGO by kids who don't understand factors like stress nearly as much. The model shops may have been a little bit disappointed, but I think they'd understand. Besides, they've dealt with much worse in the past. I'm sure they didn't take the replacement of the old hinges with click-hinges too well.

I lost most interest in Star Wars after the shift to fleshies. It wasn't that I liked the sets less, but that to continue collecting would be equivalent to starting my collection over from scratch, even as the price of Star Wars sets rose. I've often considered getting some of the newer sets, especially the superior redesigns of some of my classic ships like the X-Wing or Podracers. But even if I get those, I'm probably never becoming the devoted collector I once was.

The question is, how rampant is this issue, really? I've never encountered a boxed set which had been opened, ransacked, and resealed. Perhaps the cost to LEGO to replace those figs is less than the cost to use a less-replicable sealing method on every packaged set.

The least appropriate use I can think of is the one in the Weathertop set. They make sense in armed outposts like the ones in Star Wars sets set on Endor, or booby-trapped temples like those in Indiana Jones. But Weathertop is supposed to be abandoned, and as far as I can remember didn't have any sort of traps at all. Of course, I don't mind flick-fires on these sorts of sets that much, as they're usually an inconspicuous way to add play value to sets without changing the form factor of the model. If it takes a single flick-fire missile to get kids to buy Weathertop, well, it's easy enough for AFOLs to remove if it bothers them that much.

The model shops probably still do have some left over, but probably reserved mainly for repair purposes. That Buckingham Palace has been there for a long time, so it's likely not a case of LEGO producing new ones especially for the model shops.

Huh. Funny how there wasn't a topic for that until now. The stuff from earlier this year was kinda neat, in how it recreated the function of the original Racers sets without relying on specialized pieces. And the new Ferrari sets revealed in the latest batch of instructions look pretty nice for their size.

It's not new. It debuted in 8639 Big Bentley Bust Out. While I didn't really like its use in that set, it looks more natural in the upcoming garage. Plus, it serves the functional purpose of raising up the ceilings of the garage without detracting from its stability. It's 13 bricks tall, so even two 1x2x5 bricks wouldn't reach that height, and they'd tend to buckle under stress.

Well, it's a cartoon theme song. It's not exactly supposed to be high art.

I dunno. While another source for one of the other zombies would be nice, technically the Zombie Driver makes the most sense here... seeing as he's driving.

Not all new molds are produced in China, anyway. High-detail pieces like minifig parts and Jabba might be, but I'm sure other parts (such as the new brackets) are able to be produced in the other factories. And moreover, new molds aren't the only part of production. Existing bricks in new colors and even bricks which already exist in other sets all have to be manufactured for a run of new sets.

I don't mind WIPs, so long as the model is big or complex enough for them to be worth it. A WIP pic of a Vic Viper or other small MOC would be overkill, but there's nothing wrong with posting the "skeleton" of what will be a large Technic model, or one of the walls of a massive castle. If the WIP doesn't spoil or detract from the awe and amazement of the finished model, I'd say go for it.