Lyichir

Gold Santa's fun—that beard could be really useful on other custom figures (there's been a variety of good gold minifig parts in the past for various sorts of statuary and such). Though I'd still love to have a gold head piece with a plain classic smiley, which'd be great in combination with the gold classic space uniform from the vending machine as a commemorative statue for a space build.

The thing is that in this case neither mold is IP locked—the witch hat also appeared in the Dungeons and Dragons CMF which, while also licensed, means that it's a "generic" mold instead of being restricted to any one license. And of course the cat is quite generic, with the mold being used widely elsewhere and the color/print not having any character-specific features.

Buildable Wii could be interesting, though I'm curious what level of interactivity it would have—pressable buttons are very doable but discs would be harder to pull off/less buildable than the cartridges of the NES or Game Boy, and I doubt they'd have a "working" screen like the NES set. I suppose they could go for internal/external dioramas of some sort like the Atari set (though internal also has less room than a set like the Atari due to the compact nature of the Wii). Anyway, I just ordered the Game Boy set last night when it became available, as well as the Cat Cruiser/Tanooki Kart set and one of the Animal Crossing sets. Looking forward to whatever Lego Mario and Nintendo sets more broadly bring us next year.

Just built the Museum set yesterday and am utterly charmed by it. The museum itself is great—I love how it folds up to resemble either the upgraded or unupgraded museum—and the side builds are really well integrated (with a fossil that can be dug up and fish and bugs that can be caught and added to the collection). Obviously it's not a perfect representation of the in-game museum (lacking an art wing, putting the main fossil outside, and reducing the Roost to a mere coffee station in the lobby), but it would probably be impossible to perfectly represent both the vast interior and much smaller exterior. I hope that fine art can maybe be represented if they do a set of Redd's shop or boat, and that perhaps the Roost will be released in the future (probably as a standalone building like in New Leaf). I'm also sort of inspired to try designing more fossils in this set's simplified yet charming style!

I really like the subtlety of it. It's not a huge departure from Blacktron 1 designs, maintaining the overall uniform design but adding a touch of the iconography used on the ships. And as you say, it's something you can potentially mix and match with other Blacktron figs to add some variety. Despite its vaguely militaristic aesthetic Blacktron 1 never really had any leadership outside of the Jim Spaceborn books, so personally I feel like this design would work well for a "commander" or "captain" of sorts (similar to unique designs for figs in later space themes like Space Police 2 or Ice Planet)

They have, even if it's slightly rarer. Forgot that this would be a future GWP, that might make it less likely to get as many recolors (even if there's still some).

It wouldn't surprise me if the final version is blue if only because blue is a popular color for Classic Spacemen (see also Benny and the rumored 6x scale Classic Space fig set for next year), and works especially well to work in the classic blue, grey, and yellow Classic Space color scheme even when an actual vehicle isn't present (like in this set). Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but for a set as small and focused as this one it would make sense to keep things relatively faithful to the original design, especially when it just requires a couple recolors instead of bringing back retired molds or anything that might be out of budget.

While I'd certainly agree that not every great MOC is suited to being a set, I don't see anything wrong with MOCists submitting their work and leaving it up to the community (and Lego) whether or not it would be something they'd as a product. I don't think it's always about "prestige" so much as it is about making something because you wanted it and letting other people decide if they'd like to have something like that too.

Nice review! Sometimes a Lego animal build like this can be awkward to pose due to an often rigid body, or the tube-like legs used in these Dreamzzz sets for most animal builds. But this set actively benefits from that awkwardness—the rigid body is perfectly posed in that distinctive arched shape, and the legs are great for the oddly bowlegged way chameleons often stand. Everything that didn't work in the manticore build from the Castle Nocturnia set works excellently here—though of course, this probably also benefits from the chameleon being the main subject of the set instead of a side build to a larger structure. The funky color scheme (transitioning from warm yellows, oranges and reds to teal) also suits the famously color-changing species, as do the articulated eyes (a unique feature perfectly suited for this build).

Very fun update to a classic Castle faction! The result feels a little bit Chima, a little bit Nexo, but mostly a great blend of that classic Wolfpack feel with a sci-fi aesthetic reminiscent of Blacktron and Spyrius. The main builds are great but my favorite little touch is the addition of wolf ears to that retro droid design.

$650 is a lot and I'm trying to imagine what it's going toward that would be a sure enough seller to justify it. My best guess is a life-size Pikachu (which would be even bigger than the Mighty Bowser set from the Super Mario theme), with lights and/or a sound brick (adding even more to the price on top of the license and plastic content). If that is what it ends up being I doubt it'll be the only Pikachu that's available—if not a yet-to-be-leaked set, the cheaper $60 set might be a more affordable Pikachu, sort of like how in the Disney theme there were two sizes of Simba last year or Dalmatians this year. No telling what the Pokémon GWP will be but a part of me hopes it'll be Pokémon cartridges for the Game Boy set... even though it's probably more likely that it'd be something more broadly appealing and displayable like a brick-built Poké Ball (possibly life-size). I'm still not too stressed about the rollout of sets even if it is unusual to start this big... if the theme lasts (and I don't see why it wouldn't), there'll probably be more affordable, kid-focused sets. If we get to the official reveal and there's still no sign of other sets, maybe then it would be okay to worry, but at this point we're still quite early on and there's no telling whether or not the rumors that have leaked so far are a comprehensive picture of what the full theme will end up looking like.

The latter two of these are likely related to a separate Chinese festival (the "official" name of these sets has been Chinese Traditional Festivals and while most are related to Chinese New Year in late winter, there have been a handful related to other celebrations like the Dragon Boat Festival in late Spring). I have slightly less to look forward to at the start of next year thanks to the end of the Monkie Kid theme, so hopefully some of these will impress and help to fill that niche in my collection.

Sounds like a tricky project! I imagine the screen might end up being the easier part, as there's plenty of space to potentially fit a small LCD screen like the original system had. But if you wanted it to be playable on its own (instead of simply using it as a monitor of sorts with separate detached controls), you would probably need to modify several of the buttons—the A and B buttons depress like the original system so could likely be hooked up to switches, but the control pad and start and select buttons seem less functional. As eager as you are to solicit ideas and start brainstorming, I'm not sure whether you'll be able to adequately gauge how feasible the project is until you have the Lego model in-hand. At that point it will be easier to figure out what modifications you would need to make to bring your idea to life.

Having tiles interspersed can indeed reduce stress on parts but I do think icm's original point about making it easier to take parts apart is important too. The more studs parts are connected with, the harder it can be to separate (especially by hand instead of with a separator, an important consideration for smaller sets that don't include one). This can also be a reason why combinations of smaller plates are sometimes used instead of stacking large plates—it's easier to separate four 2x4 plates stacked in a 4x4x2/3 square than it would be to separate two 4x4 plates, for instance.

The Genesis controller is cute! Probably won't get it since I was a Nintendo kid growing up and haven't been collecting Sonic sets, but it's cool that this is joining the NES, Game Boy, and Atari.

Eh... Looking at these examples I'm not exactly sold. The minifigure characters look... fine. But the molded small enemies (instead of brick-built) are just a lot more boring, and while minifigures would maybe be better for certain diorama-type builds, I don't know if those sorts of builds would be able to match the creativity and playability the current types of sets have brought us. Having just built the Castle Bowser set, which manages to combine the physical playability of the "course packs" with a genuinely solid sculptural build, and having built many of the Mario Kart sets that I feel genuinely benefit from the enhanced scale, I feel like the current style of sets still has a lot more juice left in it. I feel like it'll be a shame if they move away from that toward something more "traditional".

I don't know if that's particularly likely—both because there aren't too many villager characters in that color (apart from the already-produced Audie) and because most villager species so far tend to use the mid length or short legs (Julian the horse/unicorn being the only exception. I just did a quick browse through a list of villagers and the only one who stuck out as possibly being a candidate to give us those (being a taller villager and being close to the right color) would be Teddy. And even then they might opt for standard orange or dark orange if they did make him.

They should, both the space baby fig and the previous upscaled figs are a 6:1 scale.

Slinky Dog is surprising—he and Mr. Potato Head were notable omissions from previous Toy Story sets due to actually being licensed toys from other manufacturers (unlike the fully fictional toys like Woody, Buzz, and Rex). Of course, now that Lego is more open to working with companies like Hasbro, I can't help but wonder whether both of them might become available in minifigure scale at some point! Also curious how Slinky Dog will be built here—I presume if he's the focus of the Book Nook he'll be brick-built, but a coiled slinky shape isn't exactly easy to build out of Lego, which makes me wonder if new parts will be involved.

Keep in mind it's still very early on, and leaks can be spotty. All we know about these is "early 2026" but we don't know if these are the only sets for the first half of the year or if they're a January wave ahead of, say, a larger March wave.

Would be cool, but probably unlikely given that one of the iconic aspects of traditional circus trains (live animals) is so controversial that most major real-world circuses have stopped featuring them. A stunt train could actually be kind of cool... last year my little brother showed me this video of a bike stunt course along a moving train, with ramps built on the cars. Of course that sort of thing might be too complicated to actually make reasonably playable for kids, compared to stunts on a fixed course.

In the time since my last post (while Eurobricks was down), my order for the Wario & King Boo set and the Castle Bowser set arrived! These two sets were at the top of my wishlist for the new wave but I'm looking forward to the other Mario Kart sets in the future. The Castle Bowser set is as great as I expected from the digital build and reviews—gorgeous from all angles, with great characters and a dynamic boss battle (Prince Florian, Wonder Bowser, and Wonder Bowser Jr. all look perfect). It is a shame that they opted for the already common Pink Yoshi here—as much as I love Pink Yoshi (they're my main in Smash!) and while I understand the desire to have a "hero" character for those who don't have digi-figs, Red, Yellow, or Light Blue Yoshi would've been a better fit since they actually appear in Wonder. In terms of digi-fig functionality I'm also growing a bit tired of the repetitive SMB3 Sky Land music being used for any flying vehicle Mario "pilots"... it was appropriate for its initial appearance in the Bowser's Airship set, but in a set like this I'd much prefer a song that's actually from Mario Wonder. I'd love to see other sets from Wonder in the future as well—a Poplin house would make a nice change of pace from the common Toad House sets, and the Flying Battleships from that game, with their eerie green fire and industrial aesthetic, would make a great accompaniment for Castle Bowser. For the Wario set, I really LOVE the Wario fig—the way he's sculpted makes him look so wonderfully squishy despite being made of hard plastic bricks. The leg piece is obviously quite specialized (even moreso than the ones used for the smaller Kongs, since Wario is the only character with pointed toes and a body this wide), but it works well as a sturdy base that can be easily attached to and separated from seats for digi-figs without risking Wario himself coming apart. Love his beefy arms, too, as well as his moustache piece—since the piece is so small and has a simple attachment point like a tile it's fun to put on other builds! I'd love to see a Waluigi in this style as well—I've already started brainstorming what one would be like on Stud.io, which is an interesting challenge given his lanky frame. King Boo is nothing especially new but I still love the blockiness of Lego Boos (them "adapting" to the medium of Lego like that reminds me of how Boos in other games often take on unique traits suited to their gameplay and aesthetic, like the wireframe Boos from Yoshi's Wooly World). The two karts are great as well—the Teddy Buggy is my favorite kart from Mario Kart 8 and looks good, while the Badwagon is both really good looking and has a nice feature to allow a digi-fig to either drive it alone or "copilot" it with Wario (which features Wario voice clips to accompany whichever character you use). All in all, a pair of great sets that have me inspired to try coming up with more MOCs! EDIT: Almost forgot to mention, I listened to the Mario Wonder soundtrack while I built the Castle Bowser set and it ended up timing out really nicely (getting to the end of the Bowser fight close to when I finished building). Might vary depending on how quickly/slowly you build, but I'd highly recommend trying that if you have the set and want to set the mood while you build!

Netflix released a video of Oda being introduced to the sets out so far: Very cute, though I can't help but feel a little heartbreak when I hear him say that he's been saving a bunch of sets "for retirement". I suppose the life of a weekly mangaka doesn't leave much time for other hobbies...

I THINK the body and legs are tan (like he's wearing a bodysuit under the wraps). Which isn't to say they don't still look awkward. I like the melty ghost, though. And it's nice that the black cat is coming back.

Wow, really impressive! The expression on the face is subtle but instantly readable. And the shaping of the rest is superb—I especially love the details like the jeans stitching. This sort of thing would make an amazing display for the window of a fashion store or something.