Lyichir

I suppose that is always an option! But the minifigures are just one factor... I do sort of love the little panda convenience store too, especially since it can attach to the buildings in the Monkey King mech. I'll just have to decide on that later. For now my first priorities for the sets I want to get are the Monkey King mech and Demon Bull King. Maybe the Cloud Jet as well (I saw a post where somebody managed to turn the cloud jet into a jetpack for the Monkey King Mech and I really want to have both of them in hand so I can try that for myself). Gonna be making a Lego store trip today to pick those up as the start to my collection of this theme. Maybe after that I'll be able to decide how many of the other sets I really need and how many I can be satisfied passing on.

Wow! These sound awesome... though they do make me wonder if I should rethink which of the current sets I should get this week. The set with Sandy and Mo would technically eliminate any of the exclusive figs from the Monkie Kid HQ set... though that set is really cool and I would like to get it, that might drop it down on my priority list from being an early purchase. The others don't have as big an impact—the Foundry might could replace Red Son's Inferno Truck on my wishlist if it happened to include the plainclothes version of Mei, but chances are it doesn't, and while it would offer an alternative way to get Princess Iron Fan there's no way I'd miss out on the Demon Bull King set (which along with the Monkey King mech are at the top of my wish list). Like the ship, I might still get it if it's impressive enough, but I'm prioritizing the sets that get me the figs I want as well as the ones that wow me the most. A BrickHeadz figure sounds great too, and I'm glad they're still doing those (though it's sad that it seems to be just the one). Also, did anybody see on Instagram the picture of a basic brick set tied to this theme? It seems to be a set sort of like the Queen Watevra box from The Lego Movie 2, with printed bricks of the Monkey King's face that you can use to build various transformations for him. It's not really the ideal way I would have liked to see those done—they're a little crude and blocky—but it does have its own sort of cuteness and charm despite that.

Two things can be true: that Ninjago could do well with a CMF or people pack, given its popularity, and that it's incredibly unlikely that one would contain all or even most of the characters who have not yet appeared in sets. There are just so many Ninjago characters who haven't appeared, but a CMF or people pack featuring all of them would feel incoherent (not to mention how many designs that would be "accurate" to the show are comparatively underdesigned compared to figs designed for sets and have little in the way of a Ninjago-specific visual identity). The idea of a Tournament of Elements people pack is a great one and one I've considered before. Not only could it throw in one or two of the main ninja to appeal to kids who don't have as much of a connection to minor characters, but the Elemental Masters are some of the more action-oriented and well-designed characters who are associated with one another, which gives them a lot of appeal (though granted, some could potentially benefit from redesigns like Ash and Shade got in the minifigure pack from 2017 that included them, just to make them look more distinctive). And the Legacy sub-theme offers the perfect opportunity to release one. So far the only season 4 set has been the Jungle Raider, but considering that there were Legacy sets this year that revisited Season 1 and 2 there's always the possibility of more Season 3 and 4 ones as well.

It's... a pilot. Establishing the basic structure of the story in as little time as possible is basically what it had to do. Same for showcasing all of the sets, which is something that the pilot episodes of Ninjago, Elves, and Atlantis were also guilty of (and I'd arguably say this special did better at that than Ninjago by integrating the sets directly into the action and narrative in a major way instead of introducing them in a montage with little fanfare like the Ninjago pilot did with the dragons). I also don't get where you think the characterization was "shallow"... I thought the characters were highly evocative, arguably moreso than the barebones bios available for them on Lego.com. Like, on the website, Mei is described as "smart, kind-hearted, cool, and brave" (some of the most generic ways you could describe a Strong Female Character™), but her characterization in the episode gets across that she's also peppy, a little mischievous, and devoted to her friends to the point where you would NOT want to cross them if you care about your own safety. Similarly, Pigsy's bio doesn't quite get across how competitive and results-driven Pigsy is the way the episode itself did. The bio for Princess Iron Fan barely describes her personality at all, focusing entirely on her powers—whereas the episode shows her to be quite patronizing toward her son, fueling his desire to impress his father on his own terms even more. Arguably the only character who doesn't get the characterization from their bio expanded upon is Sandy, largely because he's the last one to join the team and doesn't get a lot of time with them before MK (the main character and focus of the special) is separated from them. I'm hoping that the villains' escape at the end of the episode means that this isn't the last of the story we'll be getting for this year. Ninjago and Elves, which similarly debuted with only a single TV pilot rather than a full series in their first year, both got webisodes in addition to that which helped to expand upon the characterization and backstory for various characters. So with any luck we might be getting something similar for this theme.

Hard to say. Obviously the lack of many current Bionicle parts to work with would pose a challenge. I think a Voltron-esque model of the Great Spirit Robot could show more promise than this project at least in terms of being able to be attractive and appealing even to non-fans while also being evocative of Bionicle's classic aesthetic. Doubly so if they could pull it off using Technic as the primary building system instead of traditional bricks, since that would help it stand apart from other existing sets and involve the traditional type of building people expect from a Bionicle set. A big factor is it needs to be impressive on its own, and not just comparatively so due to the lack of other Bionicle availability. That I think was a big factor in Pirates of Barracuda Bay being so impressive—it didn't just feel like a pale imitation of classic Pirates sets, but rather like an evolution and improvement upon the concept. After all, Bionicle is still rather plentiful on the aftermarket... so a new set aimed at fans would essentially be competing with everything else that's come before it. That's part of why I think something of a more impressive scale or level of detail than was available in Bionicle's heyday would be more likely to make an impact.

Bionicle wouldn't even attract new fans to Bionicle. While I appreciated the work put into that proposal and would almost certainly have bought it if it were made into a set, it targeted a hyper-specific audience of: G1 Bionicle fans, who followed the story from the beginning to the end, who want a Bionicle-themed display piece that doesn't include any Bionicle parts or offer a Bionicle-like building experience For other customers, the project offered extremely little. There's hardly any play value beyond building the set, considering that the figures for each scene are at wildly different scales and thus would not make sense to interact with one another or rearrange. To someone unfamiliar with the Bionicle story, the three dioramas are essentially meaningless scenery—there's no context to tie them together or tell a coherent story with just the contents of the set, and the microscale builds offer very little "wow factor" that might attract non-fans despite their unfamiliarity with the source material. And to be honest, even for many Bionicle fans it might be a tough sell—fans who care more about MOCing or about the classic sets than about the story would likely not be excited by a build that does not use any Bionicle building system or offer any parts for use with that. All in all, I'm not surprised that Lego considered it a risky proposition. I'd love to think a Bionicle project could still succeed on Ideas, but I think for that to happen it would have to be something that stood on its own without requiring external explanation to appreciate it, and something that better evoked the look and feel of the Bionicle brand outside of just reproducing background imagery.

For what it's worth, the Stone Colossus from Nexo Knights that they mention itself had rather limited articulation (mostly limited to the arms and wings). It's not too hard to fathom something similar being done for Hidden Side—especially since the AR version could be somewhat animated to compensate for more limited articulation in the monster itself. With that said, something smaller like the Crystal King could also potentially be released to accompany a more AR-friendly model, sort of like how the larger Nehmaar Reem in the fire truck or the buggy in the Diner set complement the build without actually playing a part in the AR functionality. For me, i'm not sure what I'd like most if the theme is to continue. As much as I like it, I would be relatively satisfied if it ended on the sort of climactic note this year's sets seem to build up to. I'd still possibly be interested in another set set within the Hidden Side itself (ideally with a blue "sad" ghost and perhaps spectral variants of Parker or J.B.). And there's so many ideas I've had for haunted locations (like a car wash or bowling alley) or ghost-fighting vehicles (like a beefy stunt bike for El Fuego or a ghost-capturing garbage truck with Junkbot assistant for J.B.). But ultimately those don't really dictate a particular direction for the story, and if we didn't get them I think they'd be just as feasible as MOC ideas instead of official sets.

Calling it a "sequel" is a serious stretch. Clutch Powers cameos in Ninjago, but Ninjago neither acknowledges nor follows up on any of the plotlines from the Clutch Powers movie.

To be honest, I see these sorts of comments about this theme all the time... is this really a problem for Monkie Kid? I know the sets are more expensive than your average theme (especially a theme in its first year), but given the number of them that have been backordered, it doesn't seem like those prices are keeping them from moving the units they have available (at least in the U.S., not sure if the situation is the same in other countries). I'd love discounts as much as anyone but given the combination of high demand and Lego's rampant supply issues this year, I feel like it might be a while before we see any...

I dunno if it's of interest to anyone here, but I've spent the past few days translating the stickers from the various Monkie Kid stickers. Here's what I've come up with so far. There's still a few I'm unsure about what they say or mean, in part because I'm stuck working from Bricklink's less than ideal scans and the official pics of the sets in most cases (not having any of them myself yet), and in part because I don't actually know the language and so have to make use of Google Translate for all of it. But most of it I've been able to translate! Any feedback would be appreciated!

I really like the new sets that were revealed! One thing that occurred to me is that the variety in these blind-bags is probably enabled in part by the app-based instructions. Previous blind bags like the Unikitty ones or CMFs were limited largely to figures and stands with very little build variety, since the instructions for all the figures had to be able to fit on a single leaflet. The app-based instructions of these allow for a wide variety of enemies to be built in very different ways, and for a variety of different scenery to be included to help contextualize them. I expect those blind bags to be a big hit, both because of having the lowest price point in the theme as well as offering so many common enemies that even getting multiples of some wouldn't feel like a letdown. In AFOL terms, all of them can function as "army builders", and some like the Peepa or Bullet Bill arguably work even better as part of a larger group than they do individually! In the larger sets, there's some great functionality to some of them. I particularly love the Pokey set, where you spin Mario on a base attached to a hammer to knock the segments of the Pokey away one by one! The Thwomp and King Boo sets also have neat-looking functions. And the King Boo set and larger fortress also vary things up more by breaking away from the 90-degree grid we'd seen used in all the previously revealed models.

This show had that, though. A lot of the scenes recounting Monkey King's past exploits, including the intro, MK describing the contents of his journal (which, by the way, I seriously hope gets the physical book treatment like the Nexo Knights Book of Monsters did), and the visions MK has upon reaching Flower Fruit Mountain, showcase characters and stories from the original tale that have not yet become part of this new series. I do hope that this isn't the only content we get for this year—even if we don't get any more full episodes, I hope that this might get the same treatment Ninjago and Elves did in their debut year with shorter webisodes featuring the same animation and voice cast as the rest of the series. This special did a good job putting together the basic structure of the series, and I don't feel like it was really lacking in terms of characterization or plot, but it'd be nice to flesh things out a little with things like the backstory for various characters.

I just watched it! As is probably to be expected, it doesn't really shed much light on future sets since it mostly focuses on the existing set contents. The only key character who hasn't shown up in any sets yet is Tang (the bespectacled storyteller who accompanies the other main heroes), who I do hope shows up in a set at some point. And of course like Ninjago City before it, the urban setting offers no shortage of potential street scenes that could be made into their own sets or included as part of larger sets like the ones in the Monkey King Warrior Mech and Red Son's Inferno Truck. I also think it'd be cool to get printed animals (either molded or brick built) representing some of Monkey King's transformations in future sets!

There are uploads of the full episode in English as well. I really love it—the story is decent, the humor is great, and the animation is simply stellar. Gonna have to go through it and screencap a bunch because there's so many amazing faces, poses and lines that'd make amazing reaction images.

Couldn't this potentially do basically the same thing wirelessly by connecting two hubs via Bluetooth? I don't think there'd be anything in the hardware itself that could prevent you from doing so. And the Powered Up app is supposed to be getting an update that lets you use multiple hubs together at some point, so I don't see why they couldn't do the same here.

While we still don't have many details on a broader worldwide release, it's good to know that in at least one country the English version will be premiering soon!

It's not a "weak" connection. Afro-textured hair is a REALLY big deal for the African-American community. It has a history of having been discouraged or frowned upon in white American society and reclaiming that, and emphasizing that wearing their hair "natural" instead of straightening it to conform to European beauty standards is an equally valid way to wear their hair, is one of many issues revolving around racial equality and equality of opportunity in the African-American community. And the fact that Lego has only recently made that type of hair available is not a racially neutral matter either. For years, Lego hairstyles tended to favor traditionally European cuts—slick business cuts for men and long, straight hair for women. The first "afro" hairstyle in a Lego theme was the thick version used as a clown wig in the collectible minifigures, and a less exaggerated version didn't show up until it was needed to properly represent John Boyega as Finn in the Star Wars sequels. The first afro-textured hair piece for women was not coincidentally introduced for Andrea from Lego Friends, a theme that from the start lacked the pretensions of being racially neutral that minifig-based themes still cling to. These developments are recent because, for decades, Lego simply didn't consider how the hairstyles that were available were drawn from a relatively narrow cultural context, and the Hollywood licenses that in many cases forced them to develop new hair molds rarely centered people of color.

You are the one who seems to be willfully denying the fact that certain hairstyles are often indicative of certain ethnic groups. Yes, white people have appropriated black hairstyles by crimping straight hair and vice-versa for black people straightening their hair to simulate more typical white hairstyles. But "natural" black hairstyles with dense curls are a fairly new introduction for Lego minifigures and have helped in both licensed and unlicensed themes to diversify the types of hair available for builders. And like "fleshie" minifigures, they can make a huge difference in allowing people of color to better represent themselves in Lego than was possible when yellow figs and typical European hairstyles were all that were available.

I think people should be cognizant that people of color don't often get the privilege of "not seeing things in terms of race". Whites, especially in America, get treated like the "default", while people of color are treated as "other" in almost every aspect of life, despite making up a huge portion of the population. They don't get the privilege of "not seeing color" because the color of their skin affects how they get treated by both individuals and institutions on a daily basis. And saying that Black Lego fans should shut up and accept a decades-old standard that is purportedly "racially neutral" if they themselves aren't satisfied with that is extremely dismissive of the black experience. Let's not forget that the the yellow minifigure was introduced decades ago by white, European toymakers for a largely white, European audience. Just because they now deem it "neutral" (and there are early counterexamples like the "Red Indians" buildable figures that used a red-skinned proto-fig as a baby where they clearly didn't) does not make that judgment immune to critique. Personally, I have been impressed by strides made by Lego in terms of figs like the aforementioned family from the people pack for including more multicultural hairstyles even in a set that isn't specific to a certain culture or representing a particular real person, as with historic themes or licensed sets. But that's my perspective as a white fan, and I am still cognizant of how Black fans can feel left out or underrepresented in Lego sets, and how that ultimately results in them being underrepresented in the AFOL community as well.

I saw this the other day! I kind of hope it makes it—while I don't have any special connection to the movie, this is one of the best Ideas projects I've seen, managing to capture so many of the key elements of the movie in a format that's exceptionally detailed, playable, and well-organized.

It's definitely a nice design! The ability to use a wider variety of headgear on it compared to the larger skull from Wyplash in 2011 is quite nice. And the skull you've pictured here from the Skull Dungeon could be particularly appealing for decorative purposes in other themes, considering it lacks the sort of cartoon eyes of the ones from the Legacy sets. I could definitely see it being used as decoration on a pirate ship or an ornament in a wizard's workshop. Thinking about it, i wonder if you could fit any type of "orb" around it for a modernized Alpha Team MOC...

Wouldn't you be able to achieve the former with just an existing pneumatic switch and a Powered Up motor? I'm not sure what advantage a dedicated component would offer apart from possibly being more compact, something that the S motor you suggest would also allow on its own.

I for one am thrilled to see the grand return of teal in Technic. This looks fun and probably a little bit more up my alley than the very education-focused Spike Prime, but I'm not sure whether it'd be worth getting for me. I got an EV3 set at a discount back in 2015 but ultimately never ended up using it much... I just don't have that much patience for programming when I don't have a specific vision in mind. I do like the improved form factor and mostly neutral colors of the motors, sensors, and hub in this set, which make me feel like I could possibly make better use of these in System or Technic MOCs... but ultimately I don't do enough of those sorts of MOCs these days anyway, so I'm not sure this would change that in any meaningful way.

It's not really an error, since the parts aren't needed elsewhere and don't interfere in any way with the build. If I had to guess, I'd assume that they were there as a sort of marker to help you tell which side of the otherwise largely symmetrical roof build is which, for when you attach parts like the peak of the roof that are meant to face a specific direction. Having brightly colored parts there could help reduce confusion if you were trying to attach that roof section facing the wrong way and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't fit right, since they would make for an obvious difference between the way you built it and the way it is in the instructions (moreso than the black plates versus black brick on the left and right sides of the build, which might not be immediately obvious if they were on the wrong sides). It's also possible that it's some sort of easter egg the designer put in. Lego easter eggs are sometimes obvious but there are many that are more subtle—such as designers adding plates in the colors of their national flag to the interior of the build. So it could be some sort of obscure inside reference or joke. But I'd sooner bet that it's meant to reduce confusion in the build process.

What makes bricks "unnecessary"? I feel like the details of a lot of these sets are a big part of what makes them stand out. The attention to details like AC units, signage, and other ornamental decoration on the larger sets is on par with sets like Ninjago City or Welcome to Apocalypseburg. You could probably cut the price of some of the largest sets by omittlng a lot of that, but I'd worry that without that "wow factor", the theme might get a lot less attention, especially from people unfamiliar with the Monkey King legend. And the smaller sets like the Cloud Jet, Iron Bull Tank, and Dragon Horse Bike don't have that many sub-builds or extraneous details to cut out in the first place—which is one part of why I feel like the pricing of those may have less to do with the actual contents of the sets themselves and more to do with the strain COVID-19 has put on Lego's manufacturing and distribution networks.