Lyichir

To be honest I don't think this is that much more of a barrier to that than anything else. At this point we can't even tell whether the whole wave is space-themed or not (I'd wager that it most likely isn't). And there'd really be nothing stopping Lego from releasing a dedicated space theme alongside this—any more than there's anything specific that's stopped Lego from being able to release a Space theme in the past few years when there HASN'T been an ongoing theme set in space. I mean, a few days ago the predominant narrative in here was about Lego scaling this theme back in markets like Europe—if that sort of thing is taking place, it's pretty unrealistic to assume this theme makes up a big enough part of Lego's portfolio globally to stand in the way of something as broadly appealing as space! If anything, you'd probably have a stronger case that the twin titans of Star Wars and City would be more of a barrier to that than a single Monkie Kid spaceship. Anyway, can't wait until we have bigger and better pictures of this set! I can tell there's all sorts of fun building techniques used for this ship's shaping, and I'd love to get a better look at things like the interior.

This looks amazing! I love the aesthetic of MK's earlier vehicles so seeing that applied to an awesome-looking spaceship instantly won me over. Sandy being a minifigure is a little odd but I get why they'd do that, since not only are costume changes harder to do for bigfigs but the entire ship would have to be designed around fitting him inside. Even so, he's still recognizable. There's a cool-looking new energy/flame piece seen on one of the bad guys' weapons as well as in one of the build shots. Attaches with a clip sort of like the axe blade piece from Fantasy Castle. Lots of great recolors as well, especially in teal.

Well, personally I'm impressed. The little vignettes look like they'll make a great display (and a great way to show off a wide variety of traditions). I especially like the little mandarin orange tree! The ice festival set also looks like a lot of fun. Are those trans-clear opalescent 6x6 tiles for the ice rink?

I'm still not sure this is the case across the board, at least not in the U.S. Took a trip to a Lego store in Northern Virginia yesterday and the sets were still there (a few of the older ones were clearanced but others still occupied prominent space on the shelves and center islands). It's entirely possible that at least in the U.S., these determinations about whether or not to stock them are being made on a store-by-store basis. Northern Virginia has a fairly substantial Asian-American population (as high as 17% of the overall population in some counties), which could be helping to make the sets better sellers at nearby stores than they are elsewhere in the country. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a similar situation in large cities like New York and San Francisco that have even larger Asian-American populations (not to say that it's ONLY Asian-Americans driving sales here, of course, but an existing familiarity with Chinese folklore probably doesn't hurt, especially since the Lego-produced story media only finally debuted in this country within the past month or so).

The plush spaceman from the gift guide I photographed is red, not pink—which is a good sign that other colors might be available too.

Speaking of non-brick Lego Space merch... discovered this while thumbing through the Target gift guide that I got in the mail. I doubt there's a contractual reason. Even knowing Disney's propensity for legal shenanigans, I can't necessarily picture a clause in say, the Star Wars contract that would prevent a quote-unquote "space theme" but allow things like the increasingly futuristic Lego City space subthemes or the variety of space content in The Lego Movie 2 (which was only two years ago, even though the pandemic makes it feel like it's been much longer). If there were a clause like that that was that easy to subvert, it seems to me that Lego could just as easily manage to do so with an original theme or standalone D2C set if they thought there was a strong business case for it.

I'd love to see a classic Space-inspired set targeted at AFOLs, but I don't know whether that's as likely as something like Barracuda Bay or the Medieval Blacksmith. I love classic space themes, and a lot of folks at Lego clearly do too given the frequency of one-off references and homages even in other themes, but it's hard to ignore the Star Wars-sized elephant in the room. Unlike Pirates and Castle-like licensed themes, Lego Star Wars has been a mainstay in Lego's portfolio pretty much constantly since its inception, and gets multiple adult-targeted D2C sets every year. Launching an expensive D2C set into that context might be setting it up for failure—sadly, I think most adult buyers would easily opt for a recognizable ship from pop culture over one wholly invented by Lego, even if it was based on a classic theme, especially now that Lego is starting to reach out more and more to "new" AFOLs whose love of Lego isn't solely rooted in a love of specific childhood themes. I don't want to say that could never happen. But I think like Barracuda Bay, it might have to wait until a highly successful and unique Ideas proposal or something along those lines makes the business case for it stronger. And while supporting or creating high quality Ideas projects is a little more in our control than any other way to encourage such a set, it's far from a surefire strategy, especially as Ideas reviews continue to balloon well in excess of Lego's capacity to release sets. No matter how big or how much budget Lego puts toward a program like Ideas, there are only so many months in a year in which to release sets before they start seriously eating into each other's sales.

It only just occurred to me that those fenders in black would be great for a Bionicle MOC I planned way back in the day (previously they mostly appeared in bright colors that wouldn't fit what I had in mind). Between those and parts like the silver macaroni, this feels like it could be a decent parts pack for me even if the actual model isn't terribly exciting.

Why is that lame? I think they work perfectly well as eels. I don't really get why Ninjago fans seem to view part reuse as a bad thing, especially when Ninjago still gets a pretty large number of dedicated molds each year. I was pretty excited to see an old head mold come back in a new two-color blend, especially because using two solid colors was a little bit more effective in my opinion than the brown heads with trans-orange eyes of the Pyro Vipers (which could blend together visually unless they caught the light just right).

Does anybody know when we might start hearing news about the 2022 sets? I remember the first wave of this year's sets (the poison swamp levels) starting to show up shortly ahead of Christmas, so I reckon if they keep a similar launch schedule for next year's sets, it can't be too long until we start seeing what this theme has to offer next.

It wasn't a minifig-based action theme but you could probably argue that Mixels was an attempt at the same sort of zany monster-collecting franchise as Pokémon/Digimon.

I don't think doom and gloom is necessarily "realistic" just because other themes have ended prematurely independently of this one. Again, judging the theme's overall success based on online discussion in primarily English-speaking venues ignores the fact that the theme's main target audience (Chinese and other Asian Lego buyers) don't make up a significant portion of users there. China in particular has a very different internet ecosystem than the Americas and Europe, especially in the domain of social media (which is heavily regulated by the Chinese government). The English-speaking online Lego community is not representative of all AFOLs worldwide, let alone of the KFOLs who make up a larger portion of Lego's audience. Also, I don't know where this assumption that we don't know how the theme has performed in China or that it has gone unmentioned in Lego's financial reports comes from. Last year's annual report stated that "We launched LEGO® Monkie KidTM, a new theme inspired by the Chinese legend, Journey to the West, which became one of the top-selling themes in China and across Asia Pacific." To be clear, that's the only annual report that has been published since the theme's launch, and it wasn't unclear that the theme had had a successful launch in its target market. Globally, the theme's launch has not been quite as rosy but it's probably not a terrible assumption that the failure to sell sets through other venues, and to release the promotional TV series at all, has not helped matters. Now that those two roadblocks are beginning to clear, it's entirely possible for the theme to start to course correct.

Getting rid of mini-dolls because they don't appeal to boys would be as illogical as getting rid of minifigures because they don't appeal to girls. The reality is that there are boys and girls alike who prefer minifigures, and likewise for mini-dolls, and it's not wise or necessary to take either of those options away to make sets with them more gender-neutral. The point of gender-neutral marketing and representation in toys is not to just eliminate anything even superficially "feminine". In fact, that would be the opposite of gender neutrality—doing so would implicitly deem anything that boys have historically liked good and anything that has been made with girls' preferences or interests in mind bad. The point of gender-neutral marketing and representation is to acknowledge the reality that boys and girls alike are diverse and complex, that pink should neither be the de facto option for girls any more than it should be anathema for boys, and that if a girl wants to build a fire engine or a boy wants to build a dollhouse, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that and there's no need to stigmatize that or exclude them from either the toys themselves (in the form of represented characters) or the marketing (in the form of "lifestyle" models and actors).

@Brickey34 above says they heard that. It's the first I've heard of it so it could be their source was wrong. But I have no idea.

If the individual bike sets have been recalled in the U.S. that's a serious bummer... I'd been wanting to pick up the Rocket Stunt Bike both for Rocket Racer and to get a feel for what seemed like a really cool little play feature. Yesterday I stopped by a couple of stores while I was out (Kohl's and JoAnn Fabrics) hoping to pick it up if they had it while I was there. Kohl's didn't have any of the new sets and JoAnn's only had one bike left (and not the one I wanted). Hopefully if there is a recall the defect can be fixed and new copies of the sets can be sent out before too long...

Got my fourth Series 1 Bandmate the other day. Haven't been collecting them religiously but have picked them up here and there. So far no duplicate minifigs and the latest one I got gave me three Beatbits I didn't have yet.

Keyword being "half"!

I think we need to keep in mind that European or even American sales are not what this theme lives and dies on. Despite being made available globally, this theme was designed first and foremost for the Chinese market, and I've seen no indication that it's been unsuccessful there. As long as the theme continues to prosper there, it will likely continue to be made available elsewhere, even if only through limited channels. And in fact, even as European stores apparently reduce their stock or make the sets available online only, here in America the sets are becoming more broadly available by being sold through Amazon (which as the American distributor for the show as well has somewhat of a vested interest in the theme's success). Also, a theme getting a single wave of sets cancelled or a limited release may be common, but if Lego designers are already working on the 2023 Monkie Kid sets, it's safe to say that the 2022 sets are quite far along in development and that current sales figures still bode well for its continuation. So while it's not unlikely that Monkie Kid will end eventually (almost all themes do) I really don't see any reason to panic over any sort of imminent cancellation.

Art gallery sounds like an incredibly fun twist to add to a hotel modular! I'll be especially excited to see the modular reveal if this is the case (though let's be honest, it's the yearly modular—I'll be excited about it either way).

Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that Metroid will likely be a much hotter property in the wake of Metroid Dread and Prime 4 than it was preceding those games (for context, its last new installment had been a remake of an older game for the 3DS and the two games prior to that were widely panned).

It certainly would be good timing to approach a Metroid set or theme now, with the current hype for Metroid Dread as possibly one of the most successful Metroid games in Nintendo's history, and Metroid Prime 4 on the horizon. The main issues I could see would be the choice of subject (Samus' gunship from Super Metroid is iconic but not featured in the newest games), the violence of the franchise (Metroid is a great deal more mature and violent than Super Mario, and that violence is less abstracted and cartoonish), and the general question of whether Nintendo is interested in engaging in a program like Ideas that would share profits and credits with a fan designer (up in the air since despite the recent Lego Super Mario theme, no Nintendo-based project on Ideas has passed review).

I'm really confused by the assertion that Lego wanted to cancel Ninjago "at least six times". As far as I'm aware there was only one near-cancellation (the post-2013 one), and not long after that it started being considered an evergreen part of Lego's portfolio. I'm all for more "action themes", but I hope for that with the understanding that something as long lasting as Ninjago is the exception, not the norm. Few Lego themes last longer than three years and many beloved action themes of earlier years were lucky to get one to two years. Even successful "big bang" themes like Nexo Knights and Chima ended three years in despite HEAVY investment in development, media, and marketing. That's the reality of the toy industry—sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle, and continuing to invest in those kinds of concepts can help them to have a lasting impact, but that doesn't mean that pouring money into new ideas will guarantee success. On the contrary, overinvesting in something that fails to sustain an audience can turn what starts as a modest success into an expensive failure.

Joining two cables together would be cheaper if you're just buying two sleighs and combining them, but if you want a stronger connection this cable (more than double the length of the one from the sleigh set) is available from one of this year's Ninjago sets, and probably through Bricklink/Bricks & Pieces as well.

Even the sets this leaflet came with were gender biased, in a way. This insert was packaged primarily in the dollhouse-style "homemaker" sets—notably, it was NOT packaged in the "spaceship" or "truck" sets, leading to the impression that Lego was more concerned (at the time) about boys being judged or put off by playing with dollhouses than with girls being judged for building something other than that. As such, it can be frustrating to see this brought up by people with the impression that by selling pink or purple bricks Lego has "fallen from grace" in some way—there was bias then and there is still bias now, though hopefully that can get better. On a personal level, I do hope that the ways combating gender bias is done revolve primarily around things like the demographics of figures AND models (such as including more female characters in Ninjago or male characters in Friends), and the broadening of subject matter (I would love to see the Lego Friends go on more adventures, maybe even to space, or Lego City to include more subject matter that is domestic or leisure-based), and NOT by a misguided attempt to "neutralize" color schemes or visual language that gives themes their distinct appeal. As a male fan of themes like Friends and Elves, I love the harmonious, brightly colored hues of those themes, as well as the bubbly, approachable shapes of Friends architecture and vehicles (compared to the more angular or rugged look of subject matter in the City theme). The point of having a variety of themes is to offer options for people with different preferences, and merely eliminating colors like pink and purple that could be considered "girly" is in reality the OPPOSITE of being gender neutral (since it treats things that have historically been considered "masculine" as fit for everyone, and things historically considered "feminine" as fit for nobody). I trust that Lego recognizes this as masters of visual language and design, but I've seen far too many commentators reading this news and seeming to hope primarily that the pinks, purples, and pastels will be replaced by boyish homogeny.

I finally received my copy of the Hydro Bounty and have built it! I'm really impressed with its length and shaping. A part of me still wants to get an additional copy to lengthen it eventually and add room for the other two mini-subs, but even at its base length it cuts a striking figure. And I love all of the ninja in their diving suits!