Lyichir

Regarding this train being listed in the Creator Expert section, that's likely less because it's aimed at older audiences (the age mark is 7+, after all), and more because it is NOT a Creator 3-in-1 set (with only one model). Perhaps if Lego intends to release more sets in the Creator theme that do not have alternate builds they will need to revise those web categories, but for the time being it would be incredibly misleading for them to put a model like this in the Creator 3-in-1 category with other simpler Creator sets.

I love this variation of the classic space logo! In general I'm really fond of the Classic Space variations in City—past "near earth" sets have featured the classic red spaceship orbiting earth, and this new one seems to show the rocket circling around to the dark side of the moon. I wonder what that second unrevealed City Space set will be—a space station maybe? For that matter, I wonder whether there'll be any side builds in the rover set. It'd be nice if it included a small bit of terrain for it to trundle over, like the little brick-built crater detail in the moonbase set but maybe bigger (16x8 or 16x16) so that the rover can have a bit of an obstacle to cross. Then again I'm not sure whether it has any sort of working suspension that'd make that a practical way to play with it. Also really looking forward to the zanier Monkie Kid sets (as is to be expected since I'm a bigger fan of that theme than City in general). I love the builds and the distinct color identities of MK's rocket and Chang'e's moonbase. Can't wait until somebody reviews the rocket since I'm eager to see what's on each of the little stickered viewscreens in the crew area. I sort of doubt any of the 2HY Monkie Kid sets will have a space focus like the two in this wave (since it seems like the characters will just be taking a quick jaunt to the moon to get one of the flame ring macguffins from Chang'e). Then again, who knows? The theme has a knack for defying expectations.

Loving the look of this modular. Lots of great techniques and a fabulous overall look. For the record, I LOVE when Lego makes a modular with more than one building/business in it. It makes them feel much more realistic, like a city that developed organically instead of just a bunch of square buildings that are the exact same size. Anyone else spot the cheeky Galidor reference?

If that color alone caused kids to throw up I think the bigger headline would be real-life ambulances and emergency vehicles in that color causing that...

Three colors is still a pretty strong debut for a new animal! And the new City sets have that twice—three colors of squirrel AND three colors of kitten! With any luck there might be additional colors available through build-a-mini at some point like there have been for several types of cats and dogs!

Stickers. You can see the full sticker sheet for the set in Rambling Brick's review: https://ramblingbrick.com/2021/12/02/monkie-kid-80036-the-city-of-lanterns-full-of-easter-eggs-hands-on-review/

There's been no official release of the soundtrack, unfortunately. Maybe Amazon Music would be interested in releasing it now that they have the streaming rights? Hard to say. I agree that the soundtrack is great and that an official release would be superb! I'm not sure what aspect you get a "Juniors" vibe from? The base uses some large parts for sturdiness and the buildings are obviously simpler than you'd expect of a modular-level set, but compared to an actual Juniors set it's quite complex and detailed. Honestly I'm glad that it uses mostly simple, small modules, as that makes it feel like it'll be easier for me to come up with custom modules to add to it. I'm hoping to modify Pigsy's Noodles from 80012 and the Anti-Gravity arcade from 80021 to make them compatible, and maybe even buy a second copy of the City of Lanterns to slot them into.

I know stud shooters aren't always popular with AFOLs (least of all with historic builders) but looking at the new version of them in a set like 75321, I can't help but wonder if it could be used decoratively on a castles as cornices, downspouts, windows or parapets. They have a nice chunky geometric look to them that could be fun to use architecturally.

I don't think that's particularly remarkable? There's been hardly any sets that have been predominantly coral—like the new Neon Yellow, a color that bright can be a little overpowering if used for anything other than an accent. And it's always been more common in themes like Friends than in City (though you're wrong about it not appearing in any of the new City sets, since one of the kids in the school has a new coral torso design). Vibrant Coral also appears in a few of the new Dots sets, most notably in the Neon Tiger bracelet and bag tag set where it's used alongside various colors like azure and the new Neon Yellow for a very Lisa Frank-esque aesthetic.

The "appeal" of augmented reality is the intersection of digital graphics and physical objects/spaces. Obviously like any new "gimmick" it's not going to be for everyone, but releasing a digital only model and expecting that to perform the same function is vastly missing the point.

There's also a manually raised wheelchair lift in the apartment set!

Funny you should mention that because not long after you posted this this set was revealed with the same part in white, used for an observatory roof.

It's not like there are NO new parts in this wave. While there's no new molds for minifigure parts or accessories, there's quite a few larger new molds introduced for the various mechs, vehicles, and dragons including limbs, wings, heads, and armor. There are indeed more sets aimed at younger builders here than we've had before, which designer Niek Van Slagmaat explained a bit in a Twitter thread. But that's not the same thing as the sets requiring less resources or design work. Bulky prefab elements for younger builders may not always be as popular for AFOLs but that doesn't mean they don't take time, effort, and resources to design and produce.

I really like that little polybag (though it's probably better to discuss in the 2022 topic)! It's neat to not only get a new setting even in a set that small, but one that thematically ties in with Journey to the West (since Monkey King first obtained his staff from the undersea palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea).

This is one of my favorite Mario sets this year! It's a solid-looking model with a great selection of both physical and electronic play features. One of the more minor features that nonetheless tickles me is the way that placing Mario at the helm (in place of the Rocky Wrench, who can be catapulted out) raises up a tiny ship's wheel for Mario to take control of the airship! And I also like how adding a hat to the Goomba transforms them from an enemy that takes one hit to defeat (stomp on them and scan their tile) to one that takes two hits (since you have to knock the hat off first). In terms of more complex features, obviously the way the ship unfolds is impressive, but I'm also impressed by how the "mecha hand" consistently flips over to be scanned when you hit the target supporting it with Kamek's broom (a combination of simple physical mechanisms that manage to pull off a quite complex physical action). There a couple minor mods that have come to mind since I've gotten this, some of which I've applied to my own copy and some that I haven't. The first (and easiest) was attaching the two 2x6 plates that come with the set to connect the individual modules together as a "level" to the underside of the two bases that lock the airship in closed position (so that they serve as "planks" extending off either side for boarding or disembarking). The second, which wasn't really necessary but that I felt was nice, was to add some small ledges to the middle rear "layer" of the ship, to attach helpful powerups that become accessible when the ship is unfolded. The third, which I haven't done yet but hope to at some point, is to replace the dark red 1x2x2 wall panels on either side of the poop deck with 1x2x2 window frames (which recently became available in dark red and make the sloped sides of the cabin just a tiny bit more seamless).

The new Friends sets look lovely! A really solid start to the 10-year anniversary.

I really love the combining mech and temple, the two car sets both look good, and Lloyd's dragon looks unconventional but like a solid build. On the smaller end of the scale, Zane's mech and Kai's dragon look simple but decent while Lloyd's mech and Jay's dragon look mediocre. Still, I won't complain about sets I can skip, especially with so many good Monkie Kid sets launching next year. Fig-wise I like the ninja designs (vibrant accent colors are cool), and it's great to get a new Pixal! The snake baddies (which seem to have a robotic/mechanical theme?) aren't the most exciting but the builds associated with them generally look good. There are more pics on JB Spielwaren.

Oh, you're right! I somehow forgot that piece existed. Well, the color's neat at least.

Reviews are popping up! Several sites and YouTube channels have reviews of the City of Lanterns, and at least one YouTube channel has a review of the Macaque mech (confirming my suspicion about the new joint piece, among other things).

Just saw confirmation in a video review that Macaque's new scarf piece (seen here) is separate from both the the fabric cape element and the six-eared head mold. That could make that piece very useful for historic figs, especially since its ability to fit around the bulky headgear piece means it will likely be compatible with a variety of capes and/or helmets.

Star Wars also sells a heck of a lot more non-Lego toys (yes, even for more critically panned entries in the series) than Lord of the Rings ever has. I think it's pretty easy to see that the toy/collector fanbase that is such a large market for Star Wars just isn't the same for LotR/The Hobbit. For better or for worse, the series is less inherently "toyetic"—is it any wonder that Lego was experimenting with proven product types like ships to try to congeal a viable audience for the theme in its waning years? I really think it's silly to insist that the theme failed because Lego didn't make this or that when the things Lego did make (including the ones beloved by fans, not just the ones they think didn't merit their inclusion) didn't sell well enough to justify the theme's continuation. There's really no reason to assume a Minas Tirith set would be any more successful than the sets Lego did make, other than the fact that you, as an individual, would have been more interested in it.

Or maybe the adults who wanted Minas Tirith were never the target demographic. At the very least, sales of sets such as Helm's Deep and Orthanc must not have been substantial enough to guide the theme further in that direction instead. The easiest explanation for why the Lord of the Rings theme ended isn't designer incompetence or willful sabotage but simply that the theme was not as popular as Lego hoped. The Hobbit movies weren't as popular as anticipated and didn't end up moving merchandise or reigniting interest in the earlier movies the way Star Wars, Super Heroes, and Harry Potter did. There might be some hope that a Lord of the Rings theme or set could be more successful now that Lego is capitalizing more on adult customers. But then again I think pinning those hopes on an Amazon streaming series that we haven't seen and may or may not be successful either with mass audiences or hardcore fans of the series might be a dubious prospect.

For some reason I don't understand the outrage over that. Are any of the figs in this set even exclusive? Because as far as I can tell "Santa Garmadon" is just Garmadon with an existing Santa suit and beard, Skales Jr. is a Legacy Serpentine with short legs and a scarf, Misako is the version from Ninjago City Gardens but with the Lloyd shirt from that set or the Legoland Ninjago set, and all the golden ninja are the versions from their respective sets. None of those figures are truly unobtainable for Ninjago fans or collectors. Like... yes, this means that Lego employees will get the full assortment of golden ninja without having to collect all the other sets. To which I say... why shouldn't they? Honestly I think it's pretty nice that Lego does something special for its employees at the end of every year, and a Ninjago holiday gift set with all the special figs from this year's Legacy sets definitely qualifies. Yes, the few of these sets that make it to the aftermarket will probably be expensive (as all employee gifts tend to be), but I don't think there's anything stopping even the most completionist fans from parting out the set and figures without having to go through the trouble of tracking down the employee gift set itself.

Noticed another new part today while building Nezha's Fire Ring digitally... a 1x2x2/3 brick with studs on two sides in Trans. Bright Orange, used to attach the two halves of the wheel together. Mildly interesting as a SNOT brick but even moreso in a transparent color.

Huh... I just noticed what I think is a new joint piece in the Macaque mech for both the shoulders and hips? It seems to be a part that attaches to one of these on the legs/arms and two of these that connect it to the torso. It seems like a pretty useful piece for mechs. Most modern large mech sets used those parts for the hip joints anyway, but the additional parts necessary to make them work together weren't necessarily ideal—while sturdy, the length of the AT-AT joint restricted rotation and the Knight's Kingdom joints had to have the 2x2 "block" section connected on each side, forcing a somewhat wide stance. These new joints seem like they'll allow full rotation (allowing them to be used for shoulders as well as hips), and allow the Technic pin ends of the Knight's Kingdom joints to snap directly to the torso.