TeriXeri

It seems that Year of the Rat promo is already gone at European LEGO.com

Of course they could replace the parts with normal parts, and then use chrome/metal painted parts where it'd make sense (helmets/weapons etc). I still voted for it as I think it's a great set with 550 parts very good size for what's in it.

Chromed set would look good in normal parts but I feel due to the Chrome it'll never get made/picked.

Just noticed the Lion Dance set has 21 of those "shields" in Light Bluish Grey, so could be useful to Castle/Historic figures. https://brickset.com/sets/containing-part-6195471 Light Bluish Grey color is new for 2020.

Saw it on brickset indeed, I like the egg on the scooter light and the way they built the 6-egg carton, chicken coop is small but works nice with the angled tile roof.

I suppose those are mostly meant for the target age, and taking the small set somewhere. Parts count is basicly a Polybag, but with an outer shell. And those blind bag animals at least are 1-type per set, so Emma's are always a cat of a random color, maybe they would trade duplicates or something. Also could be turned into some form of dollhouse by stacking them. Still, as an AFOL, expensive for purely parts compared to heart boxes (Heart Boxes having more basic bricks/plates) , and cost €7.99 instead of €9.99. I feel small sets still have a place on the market, and the cube boxes are better packaging compared to older Pods, basicly a direct, improved successor of the 2018 pods.

2276, with the Empire State Building (2019) coming second at 1767, still a lot of pieces for sure. So far the Creator Expert buildings started at nearly 3000, 2989 for the Opera House, all the way up to 5923 for the Taj Mahal 2017 update. But I don't know the real reasoning for the different theme labels, it was just something I noticed that those larger sets were under Creator.

First opinion on the Xtra 40375: Sports Accessories (not city but still revelant in City) I like the bow/target, simple and could fit into Castle theme as well, no quiver but that's not a big deal. Get 2 (or an even number) Since parts like the ice skate, roller skate, ski stick come as spares, you'd end up with 3 sets of equipment instead of 1.5 if planning to equip them on figures that is. Also by far the smallest set with black ice skates (other being Corner Garage and Kylo Ren Shuttle in the same quantity) Didn't get the new 2020 Botanical Accessories version yet , but it looks very good parts pack for sure.

I think that's one of the weaknesses of the theme, at least if collecting many sets. Even with updated variants, those Jack and Parker figures don't appeal enough to me to be massed. I'm not saying the theme is bad, but the repetitive figures just don't help it, in contrast to the awesome looking other characters that are varied between sets, even without their ghost forms. Minifigs are a big factor for me to get or skip sets as I just can't get myself to get a set, and then sell or store the minifigs or something. And I admit I have a lot of duplicate figures from the Nexo Knight theme, but the different printing, armor, weapon build and shields between sets/seasons kept them different enough.

The set is sold on the Hungarian LEGO.com, so they have the set, but I think he means it's not in regular (web)stores (with discounts) Also for The Netherlands , the set is only sold on LEGO.com right now. I saw the US catalog video and it's indeed very different from the European ones (which were square shape since even way back in the 80s) , and some countries do show prices still, others don't.

Official Pictures of City Summer sets were known around April 2019 last year, also no set names yet.

Creator Expert and Archictecture have overlap in subject matter for sure, but for now, it seems they keep those 2500+ piece sets under Creator Expert.

Original speculation on Bionicle purely came from the set numbers being closest to the last Bionicle (and the retired Dimensions) sets, nothing more.

It doesn't need to be a full subtheme, could be a single set like the Ski Resort or People Pack as well. Outdoor People Pack was fairly sports themed, and the Park People pack had 2 small goals and a ball.

During the last Trilogy (movie 7,8,9) they did make a lot more x-wings of a similar scale, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 4+, 2020, most of those did have very different colors as well. Compare that to the mid 2000s there was a big gap between 2006 and 2012 with no x-wing. Now the question is, will they make 1-2 yearly X-wings for 2021-2030? maybe, maybe not. For me, with the latest one being priced at €99,99 here, that's more of an issue then the ship itself.

Larger Landmark buildings been in Creator Expert for many years now. Sets like Tower Bridge, Taj Mahal , Big Ben, Opera House, none of those are minifig scale, and all those sets have much larger parts count/price point compared to Architecture.

I'd still like any small City set that comes with a full set of tools , Telephone Repair did back in the day : I mean those tools : With the garage theme, it still surprises me they didn't include this in any set, but did put it in a 4+ set last year with Benny's Fix shop. I think of something like this set , 60115-1: 4 x 4 Off Roader I realise they did a rally car with scorpion like that in 2019 , but in general I'm just speaking of a ~€15-€20 set with tools, a vehicle, and Octan branded figures are a bonus. Or how about a smaller set with 1-2 of the new 2020 classic motorcycles and tools, like Motorcycle repair/tuning: Or something like this , and then using classic bikes instead of race bikes, with a more garage oriented direction instead of racing, with a set of tools, possibly add welder mask+tool instead of podium.

Space Station image was already shown. In the case of the Treehouse it really took a while from approval to being sold, longer then some smaller sets that were approved later. Flintstones and Treehouse both were approved October 2018, but Flintstones hit stores 5 months before it. As for the Piano, maybe they worked on it internally before it's final approval, so chances are that it could still come before the 2 larger sets. Steamboat Willie also only took 2 months from it's Approval to hit shops somehow (February 2019 to April 2019)

Just because a set has been done before doesn't mean it's one and done. Wishing for new sets is always valid imo.

Good use of those giant wheels for sure.

Just ordered both seperately. I got the Pig last year with the Dragon Boat so the Rat isn't bad. Hidden Side has another GWP from January 24, but who knows, things like the Rat promo might have sold out by then.

I've mostly been calling it Soccer but might just call it Football again. Even in Dutch, it's called "Voetbal" literally sounds the same as Football in spoken language.

Where do you see minfigures? Edit : Nevermind, Gift with Purchase.

https://brickset.com/sets/10272-1 Not my type of set but interesting build techniques.

With those red pirate bandanas appearing again in the Lion Dance set, (after being seen in 2015 Pirates, and 2018 Pirate Rollercoaster), really makes me want to see this set.