TeriXeri

It seems to be a symptom that especially unfavors US prices, meanwhile Harry Potter or Star Wars can be terribly overpriced here, biggest example was Hoth Medical Chamber which was a $30 set but €50 in NL.

Seems some Dollar prices are unfavored again for City, and NL Euro prices are again above German prices on some sets as well as usual. (NL Licensed theme prices can be a lot worse compared to $ however) Just compared US, NL and DE Racing Cars : $30 , €25 NL , €20 DE Fire Helicopter : $30 , €25 NL , €20 DE Police Helicopter chase: $40 , €30 Police Helicopter Transport $50 , €45 Police Highway Arrest : $30 , €20

My main complaint about the Ferrari Box art is that the rear lights really look trans-orange. Kind of unneeded to add fancy lighting effects that aren't there in reality, headlight stickers also have this added white glow, all 2020 SC sets lights are pretty much way more glowy then they are in real parts. But I suppose fancy art sells better. For myself, I often look up reviews/pictures of the real thing first, but LEGO hasn't exactly been on point with box art lately, too much fancy art vs reality.

I agree the theme had a large ratio of vehicles vs locations, but I did find the inclusion of some roleplay elements quite nice. All the 3 castle sets at least had some non-combat areas like a kitchen, dining room, beds or bathtub. As for Pirates sets, I hope to see more then just combat for sure.

Nexo Knights had Princess Macy and Queen Halbert as very combat-capable knights, Macy learned fighting from her mother the Queen. Ok, the queen got captured twice in the sets, but either by a large monster (infernox) , or another female (Ruina) . Ava was a female side character with the knowledge of the "Computer" systems. Also the villains/monsters had multiple females, at least 5 named villain characters were female + more if you count the statue as well. So I can see more female characters within Pirates and other Castle themes for sure.

I dunno, I just was thinking about how a Steel Mill could combine multiple cargo elements, as Ore/Coal and Products like Steel can be carried in/out by Ships and Trains. The last 2011 Harbour ship had Grain, so Ore or Coal could be represented in a similar way by using reddish brown/darkred or black 1x1 rounds instead of the tan used in 2011. The codename is still in/out which if taken from multiple angles could be passengers (airport, cruise ship , busses), or Cargo movement. Even could be Racing, but the winter wave already focused on cars so I doubt we'd get a pit-stop subtheme unless LEGO suddenly makes like a Formula-Racing of it's own. Of course, like Banana or Leaf, the name maybe isn't even related at all.

Magnet could be used for a Harbour/Trains/Truck Cargo Crane (Containers/Crates). Of course Construction/Demolition as well, but with the 4+ set already themed around that, I'm not so sure for 2020. Or maybe something different and more Industrial like a Junkyard/Scrapyard/Steel Mill.

If we get an Explorer theme again, which is not out of the question as Deep Sea, Volcano, Jungle, Arctic, Space all have been summer waves , I hope it's something like Desert Explorers, with either digging up Dinosaur Bones or Ancient Structures, Dinosaur bones were in a City magazine comic this year so it's certainly a thing that exists within the City story, but then again Dinosaur skeletons were also in a Nexo Knight comic so I don't take those for granted, IDEAS also covered Dinosaur skeletons recently already. Desert theme itself also had a City set in 2019 with the Desert Rally Racer. Of course Airport or Harbour in history have been summer waves as well so that's also still possible.

I just noticed they started using Speed Champion wheels in a 2020 City set (on a Truck). But I also see they made new variant of those wheels for 2020 Speed Champions, so the ones in City might be the "Old" ones.

Beach Buggy Polybag certainly is a nice one, I like the Orange-Yellow color with the Red wheels. Also just noticed on the Police Helicopter Truck, are they using Speed Champions wheels in City now ?

A rumored €200 set would fall outside of the normal Pirate waves anyway, I think it might even work as something to promote pirates instead of keeping them further away. 2020 will also still be close enough to a 30th anniversary of Pirates, they came out July 1989 in UK and September 1989 in US according to catalogues sources on brickset.

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I know they have the larger wrench / crowbar / shovel / welding device in the set, but I'm wondering why they have no basic set of those smaller tools in the tuning workshop, it's a small nitpick but that set would be perfect for it:

The thing is, many of those biggest sets are LEGO Exclusives, especially early on, so a freebie or double VIP etc. is at least a way to compensate a bit for the full price.

This is how I see it, the larger defintion of "Town" being the greater whole of Friends, Creator (minifig sets) , City , Xtra, Seasonal.

Rebrickable is also good for inventory managing. (sets can sync with Brickset) As an added feature can show potential sets you can build with the pieces, with filters to ignore color/prints etc.

Closest to a Farm theme we got this year obviously was the Harvester, and recently I saw this set is being sold again by LEGO themselves (maybe for a limited time due the time of the year?) 40261: Thanksgiving Harvest (2017)

Back in 1997 Divers theme was called Divers and had 7 sets, back then it was a new thing, outside of the Town, outside of the more "fantasy" based Aquazone theme. 2015 had a Underwater Exploration subtheme for City, under the City name, pretty much a modern version of Divers. Since then we got some more sets with Divers in City (2019 Diving Yacht for example) , it all being under City just is convenient so they don't have to make a whole theme for it all over again, just for 1 set in a theme that isn't as frequent. Safari Jeep is another example of a set they can make under the City banner, without needing an entire Africa/Savannah/Safari theme around it. "City" is just a tag now to collect sets under. Trains used to be it's own theme as it had a lot of sets, eventually the number of sets got less and now it's all under City. Now, of course there's also City-subject sets within Creator 3-in-1 but what sets those apart is the 3-in-1 functionality.

Hopefully they'll add them to City and Creator soon and not just keep them in licensed. I can understand them appearing in licensed , as they are based on teen actors of their represented media, but it'd be a missed chance to keep the piece away from other themes.

I don't like those parts they keep using for helicopters and airplane cockpits in City. I know they are meant to save parts, but I dunno, maybe they look too smooth and studless to feel like LEGO to me. Another issue are those badly painted spaceshuttle cockpits they used in 2019, but that's because their color is off, and not anything like white bricks, despite the box art claiming so. Here are some examples of brick-built vs pre-fab cockpits. looks better to me then looks better to me then Of course it's a bit unfair to directly compare those, as the use of prefab parts seems directly related to 6-wide, whereas the windscreen glass part is 8-wide.

Built the 31098 3-in1 Outback Cabin today, and the parts and build used are very nice. It's a small build but a versatile hut that can be either with open back , or fully enclosed with a hinge. The roof mostly uses 4x4 tiles with 4 studs, and has a nice different look to it from above (not very visible on the box art) It's also fully brick built, with a lot of 1x1 round and 1x2 wood bricks. Brick Built Wolf and Eagle and Canoe are okay and fun builds. Overall, a good set, but it's very small for the €35 (I got it at €20 or would have skipped it) Just seems a set that's rarely talked about

Seems to be the same torso as the figure in the Pirate Rollercoaster set from 2018, but seeing LEGO Pirates themed content in 2019 is good.

Land Bounty was as recent as 2019 , and even if it had a more pirateship shape/design ,a ship on wheels just doesn't appeal to me. Not that I am wishing for a Space Pirates theme over regular Pirates but here's how I see it: Hopefully a more classic approach based on late 80s / early 90s space themes/designs, angled shapes, and not so much rounded. Of course there could be 1-2 larger spaceship sets , with those new triangle plates seen in the new Star Wars Tie Triangle ship, some interesting shapes can certainly be made. Pirates would be one faction, Space Police or Traders/Researchers could be other factions, theme would not be based on a team of "heroes". As for designs, what to expect ? Pirate Ships with tech-sails and rocket engines? Space Shark Monsters? The thing with Nexo Knights was that it had so few actual Castles, it was more a of fantasy monster/vehicle theme with a team of "hero characters", but it wasn't space either.

Octan E torso certainly is new in the racecar set, and likely the green/purple torso in the monster-truck set.

With the 2020 Police Box set, a cheaper City Police Station can be gained for what I assume €30-40 which also has a Duke figure in it (300 pieces but comes in a plastic box). Even better with sales, which City gets 30-40% way more often then a modular.