Lyichir

Another reason for Bricklink differing from Lego Design IDs is that printed parts (including many minifigure parts and animals) actually have DIFFERENT design ID numbers from the actual Design ID number used for unprinted variations of a mold (which appears on the part itself whether the part is printed or not). This is one area where Bricklink numbering is arguably more convenient, since Bricklink typically uses the Design ID for the mold along with a suffix designating the print or decoration, instead of a wholly unique ID number. That makes it easy to search all variations of a part (by searching the Design ID for the mold plus an asterisk to include all possible suffixes). This use of suffixes also applies to parts that come off a sprue or pre-pack, like the old tool wheels or the new pre-packs of tools or other accessories. Lego's Design ID refers to the whole assortment (since they are molded together and, if not on a sprue, immediately bagged), so Bricklink uses that Design ID plus a suffix for individual parts of that assortment so they can be bought, sold, and cataloged individually.

That would seem a little odd, but I think those new books might be aimed slightly less at encouraging sales of specific sets and more at encouraging passion in young readers for the broader Lego brand (the market for a big, expensive set like Barracuda Bay and the audience for Little Golden Books is certainly very different). As a side note related to historical themes discussion, there's also a similar book about knights that features a VERY cute knight in a wooden wheelchair! I doubt this is based on any specific upcoming sets (the cover also features the 2013-era dragon, and current wagon wheels are too big to comfortably fit the existing wheelchair mold shown on the cover, nor would the wheelchair fit a figure wearing armor of that sort anyway), but as a fan of disabled visibility and inclusion, I love to see that kind of character given the focus in a children's book like this.

The bigger books like character encyclopedias likely have a more substantial profit margin than cheap magazines available at newsstands. They also, notably, tend to tie in to existing themes that they promote. Which makes the whole idea of a historic Lego magazine with minifigures a bit of a catch-22—it'd make more sense for Lego to do to promote a larger ongoing Lego theme, but if there were already an ongoing historic theme a magazine would no longer be the only source of new figures in the first place. So if you're going to dream, why not dream big, continuing to hope for a Castle revival or other historic theme? A magazine on its own would be a half-measure at best and is probably even less likely than a theme revival.

None of the magazines have had any exclusive prints to my knowledge. The few that have had "exclusive" minifigures are generally variants of ones from sets (for example, a Ninjago ninja with a different mask or armor than the one they appeared in sets with) using a mix of already available parts. Some of the repurposing for figures, weapons, etc. can be quite interesting, but it's not really a source for brand-new minifigures. Nor would that be likely to be the case in the future—given that magazine gifts are essentially free with the purchase of a magazine, there's likely not a lot of profit margin for Lego there (with the benefit to Lego being more about encouraging kids to pick up other sets that Lego already makes a higher profit on).

Great review! I can only imagine what a challenge it must be to review a set of this kind of monumental scale. The part used for the smokestack tops is 68325, which first appeared last year in the brick-built Minions and Mickey and Minnie Mouse sets. It indeed does seem to be new in black here.

How are you counting the height? I can't make out the entirety of the build from the picture on Promobricks, so I'm impressed if you were able to verify height that way. But if you're working from the listed dimensions of the set, keep in mind that it's pictured with display stands, which would likely extend the listed height beyond the height of the ship on its own. In either case, I'm not too fussy about dimensions being exact as long as something looks good. And this does look like quite a set as far as the level of detail is concerned!

Yeah, plus this particular part is not necessarily a common enough part that those material cost savings would add up that substantially. Giving a part thinner, reinforced walls like that isn't uncommon—many revisions of the classic 2x4 brick have featured similar changes. I think more likely reasons for it than a marginal cost savings on material is that thinner walls allow the part to cool more consistently (preventing unwanted warping), while the ridges where studs attach allow for consistent clutch power in those positions while also preventing the thinner walls from compromising the part's structural integrity. If I had to guess, I would think this part got a similar treatment to those larger bricks because of its complex angles (creating areas where heat might disperse from a freshly molded part less evenly). A potential improvement, if the part ever gets redesigned, would be to replace the center tube with internal ridges like those on the newer 1x2 and 1x3 jumpers, or 1x2x2 and 1x2x3 slope bricks, which would not only provide clutch power for a central anti-stud but would also allow parts with solid studs (not just hollow ones) to connect to that central point.

Those buildable Harry Potter figures are pretty amazing. I don't like that theme but hope maybe some figs from other themes get that buildable treatment in the future. I think the main reason not many are discussing the ? Block set here yet is they just haven't gotten the chance to pick it up. I'm hoping to make a Lego store trip later in the month to get ahold of a copy for myself.

Considering how hyped Mei was to pilot the Monkey Mech in the show, I really hope Mei can get a mech of her own that features that kind of awesome angular design language.

Has anybody who has one of these sets tested the compatibility with mini-dolls yet? The handlebars being removable means that they can be exchanged with the Friends-style parallel handlebars, but I'm not sure yet whether or not the "footrests" are designed to fit mini-doll feet (which due to their shape are slightly longer than minifigure feet). Knowing this would help me to gauge what other themes these new flywheel-driven bikes could potentially be reused in in the future.

I'd like to take a moment to call out the racism in this sort of statement—it may be unintentional but it is decidedly a problem I see over and over again in the Lego community. Chinese knock-off companies existing =/= "the Chinese" not caring about patents or "the Chinese" stealing and reproducing millions of items for years. Judging an entire culture by the actions of counterfeiters and bootleggers is not accurate or appropriate, especially given that plenty of bootlegs have existed from other sources and only have only ceased to exist through legal action. While counterfeiting is certainly a problem in China, it is one that the government makes great efforts to put a handle on, and Chinese customers absolutely recognize the difference between cheap knockoffs and the "real deal". Certainly there are manufacturers and customers in China who don't care one way or another what the law says, just as there are ones in Europe or the Americas who see no issue with selling or importing knockoff Lego, but that doesn't make this a Chinese specific problem—quite the opposite, in fact. Painting the entire culture with the same brush as some sort of lawless wasteland does a disservice to the country, as well as to companies like Lego that participate legitimately in the Chinese economy.

Just an FYI: A selection of Monkie Kid sets are now available on Amazon Prime The first season of Monkie Kid and the pilot special (previously released on Amazon Kids+) are now available on regular Amazon Prime The second season of Monkie Kid is now available on Amazon Kids+ (though I think the Revenge of the Spider Queen special isn't yet, so if you're watching for the first time that way you might want to wait for that since it takes place between seasons one and two) EDIT: Revenge of the Spider Queen has also been added to Kids+ This is all for the U.S. and Canada—I haven't verified what other regions this applies to, but it's worth checking if you're interested.

Oh that's neat! I didn't realize they actually went to the length of making the character consistent between the CMFs and this new set! This new version of Rocket Racer is definitely more stylish, though, with the larger logo and white racing suit. I wanna pick this set up at some point. I don't really collect City but I want to try out the new motorbikes for the novelty of it, and having grown up with Lego Racers I too have a lot of nostalgia for the character of Rocket Racer.

Why on earth are so many people thinking this would have any effect on fanmade instructions? The only thing the language of the patent says about instructions is not about building instructions. It is specifically about "a computer-readable model comprising computer-readable instructions configured to cause, when processed by an apparatus for performing an additive manufacturing process, said apparatus to manufacture a toy building element as disclosed herein." In simpler language, this is Lego ensuring that in addition to molded copies of the part itself, selling a 3D model of the part specifically engineered to be 3D printable (additive manufacturing) would also constitute infringement. I don't see why this would ever forbid custom instructions that merely represent the assembly process of a model, especially if those instructions are in a format such as a video or PDF that uses mere 2D images of the parts, rather than 3D object files. The absolute worst case scenario would be Lego cracking down on high resolution renders of the part in question, forcing lower-quality renders to be the only option for custom instructions. Realistically, even that is unlikely to be the legal result of this unless those high-resolution files are being sold on a marketplace with the specific intent of being used to allow users to manufacture their own parts. And for most Technic fans, buying the authentic parts from Lego or on Bricklink would be cheaper and more consistently functional than printing their own anyway.

Happy to see Lego doing well. Disappointed to see Harry Potter among the top themes. Given J.K. Rowling's recent crusade against trans equality I had been deeply hoping that it might fade into history the way it had several times before, but I guess with the sets selling well and Warner Bros. continuing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with new movies, that won't happen any time soon...

Yeah, that's really the issue, isn't it? For a lot of current shows (including Lego ones) on Cartoon Network or Disney Channel, I can usually watch most episodes for free on demand (albeit with ads) as part of my family's cable package. Not so for LCA, which is why despite having heard great things about the show, I haven't been able to watch this one yet. I'm not interested in subscribing to Paramount+ just for this.

I think one aspect of Playmobil that can be a bit confusing in this respect is that from my experience, Playmobil sometimes tends to be available for much longer than Lego, which usually sells through older product in a year or two. Growing up in the U.S., Playmobil tended to be stocked more in independent toy stores which were under comparatively less pressure to cycle through new products (and thus often had a wide selection of playsets dating back years), whereas in big chain toy stores like Toys R Us (when they were around), only a small aisle of some of the newer Playmobil playsets and figures tended to be available (and it was rare to see it at all in big box stores like Wal-Mart or Target). Then again, that may just be a factor of how comparatively niche Playmobil is here compared to Europe.

The ramps are two pieces, correct? The main portion of the ramp and the thin "lip" plate where it meets the ground? I'm slightly interested in the latter and how/whether the slope at the top of it can can join to other slopes or curved slopes. Both parts could make for interesting new roofing styles. Slight concave slopes of that sort have not been that common in Lego, compared to the convex curved slopes that have become very common in the past few decades.

I can't really envision how that would work myself. It seems to me that if you did that it'd end up looking a bit like the "Pigsy" head from Monkie Kid with the hat removed—with the hair on top of his head having to narrow to a strange-looking point to fit a minifigure-compatible hat on a larger, more cartoonish head. For that matter, Mario's hair raises another issue with using a standard head—Mario's hair and sideburns are typically visible below his hat. With a standard head you would either have to mold these as part of the hat piece (making it less versatile and nullifying some of the appeal of having a separate hat in the first place), or merely print them on the head (which not only would look underwhelming but also would necessitate making the face print even smaller since part of the usable print area would be taken up by the hair).

I think beyond just the nose another reason why a molded head might be necessary is that standard minifigure heads are too small. When a human actor from a live-action movie is turned into a minifigure, their proportions are shrunk down into a more cartoony form, with chunkier proportions and a bigger head and hands. This is a large part of where the minifigure gets its appeal—it's "cuter" than a more "realistic" figure would be. But if you take an already cartoonish character like Mario (who is only about three heads high) and try to force them into that same form without changing the proportions, it'd have the opposite effect. Instead of being cuter, Mario would be stuck with a smaller face and eyes and a weirdly oversized torso. It just wouldn't look quite right, nose or no nose. I get the desire for a "standard" minifigure of Mario. Even with just a molded head, a minifigure of Mario would be more limited in its compatibility. You could no longer take his hat and put it on other minifigures, nor could you easily swap his hat for other accessories for power-ups (he'd need a separately molded head for each differently-shaped accessory). But in terms of faithfully recreating Mario's childlike proportions and appearance, I don't think a standard head would work well. I think beyond the electronic game factor, this is one reason why Lego was smart to opt away from the classic minifigure for this theme in the first place. Lego Mario's final proportions, like minifigures of real actors in other themes, is squatter and cuter than the "real" Mario (like a "chibi" or "super-deformed" figurine from Japan). His hat, while way out of scale for other minifigures, can be removed and replaced with other headgear, and is even scaled effectively to fit on a lot of the other brick-built characters and enemies in the theme. I do think that, eventually, a standard minifigure with a molded head for Mario wouldn't be the worst outcome—especially if Lego branches out to other Nintendo themes. It wouldn't have the ideal compatibility, nor do I think that it would be the best suited to playsets (which is a part of why i hope that even if Lego releases a more standard Mario minifig, the format they've created for "digi-fig" starter and expansion sets wouldn't change). But as part of a standalone minifigure series, a minifigure Mario would be great for interacting with other themes and MOC scenes. And other Nintendo characters like Link or Samus could work better with classic minifigure proportions, given that their designs and proportions are already more realistic.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case. Reading the application, it seems fairly specific as to what form the components take. Anything where the cam used a groove that guided actual selector forks (like most IRL sequential transmissions seem to) would be well outside the purview of this patent, which seems to focus on the particular way that Lego has simplified and miniaturized that function to work as part of a kid-friendly, customizable building system. And personally, I don't really see it as a problem that Lego would want to patent an innovation of that sort. It sometimes surprises me how many people in the Lego fan community DO seem to think that that's a problem—even among people who otherwise seem to respect the level of design and engineering work that goes into Lego sets and parts.

I'm as iffy on the cast as anyone (apart from Jack Black as Bowser which feels like a pretty genius choice to me), but I'm still hoping the movie is great visually and truer to the look of the games. A Holiday 2022 release date means any sets based on the movie will likely be 2HY releases.

So the other day I finally sketched up a concept I'd had for a while... an extended version of the Hydro Bounty using the parts from two sets to fit all four mini-subs! I'm actually happier with it than I thought I'd be... I'm tempted to try to put it together IRL, but given the price of the Hydro Bounty and the fact that I haven't managed to find any discounts on it means I might ought to wait a while before doing so.

I don't think it says a lot, to be honest. Boxed combo packs at big-box stores like the one you linked aren't that unusual, especially as we start to approach the holiday season. Separately-boxed online-only bundles like the ones on Shop at Home are also not uncommon. For the Lego Mario theme in particular the online bundles might be done because the sets are designed to be linked together into larger levels—sets like the starter sets and "Master Your Adventure" Maker set have more appeal in conjunction with the various other expansion sets than they do individually.

This isn't really super-related to the sets, but did anyone get Vidiyo vibes from these robot musicians in the new chapter of Deltarune? It can't have been just me, right? Anyway, I've ordered a couple more of the Beatbox sets as they've gotten cheaper on Amazon. Despite the priciness and my general indifference to the app, I really do think this theme has its charm. I'll probably continue to pick up more of the sets here and there, especially since with the theme taking a year off to reevaluate its strategy there's likely to continue to be good sales going forward.