TeriXeri

It never died, new features have been constantly added, and they even launched a Harry Potter version of such game this summer.

If I think of traditional themes that aren't running right now, it'd be some pirates minifig sets, or historic castle. Even if the codename Leaf might mean absolutely nothing, Forestmen (1987), and Pirates (1989) got the first LEGO Leaf pieces. A reboot of some in-house forestmen/robin hood style theme doesn't sound too crazy, with the new stag mold, and even Nexo Knights had some references to Forestmen. People might even be tempted to buy the Tree House Ideas set to use it as a Forestmen base. Elves also ended as far as fantasy-forest theme goes.

Just built the 2019 Townhouse/Pet Shop , main build. I really think it's one of the better 3-in-1 building sets of recent years, even with the open back (which I don't mind) It just has so much more interior space compared to like Corner Deli or Park Street Townhouse, and still is somewhat "modular" by some level you can swap floor plans around, and connect the street in different ways, including the alternate builds. Interior builds are good and complete as well, while still having plenty of room to pose figures. It feels like a Corner Deli + Modern Modular Home set hybrid and then scaled up but the design just works well. The alternate builds still look great as well as they aren't afterthoughts and use the same floor plan and pin connections, the tram might be the weakest part, but the barber and dentist in that same build still are original and nice builds. If the 2020 Townhouse/Toy Store uses the same floorplan (12x12 street, 8x12 buildings) , multiples of each set has great potential for a smaller scale (no Expert scale) town.

Both of those don't look 100% complete or built like the original, the blue castle using cone pieces in the front gate and missing some the round 1x1 near the back towers, and uses more cones at the back as well. The yellow/red castle uses a different window on the topright front. Maybe they were obtained from old collections or bulk lots and trying to resell them as a "set" is more likely to get sold or have more value.

If they happen to make an Airport or Airplane set , I really hope it's not using those huge prefab parts seen in City 2006/2010/2016 various types of airplanes. As for the current wave, my personal hype for the theme died down a bit, especially since the app doesn't even work on my 2018 phone ... I know the app isn't everything, and some sets still look great , waiting for some huge discounts or the juice bar promo to possibly collect a few. Still think the theme is a good concept, and I'll look forward to next year's sets as well.

August LEGO City Magazine is out, small police car is quite town-like (printed piece on front) and decent for a magazine gift, even if it's the 3rd cop of 2019 magazine so far (the other cops were more sky-police themed with mini jet and jetpack-wings) Next Magazine (Late August / Early September) is Space themed, with an astronaut figure (white with orange stripes), large airtank+golden visor piece, and mini-robot using the 2019 round printed blue eyes 1x1 tile as a face, and a single orange/translightblue geode. Polybags might still offer more value/parts for the price, but for me Magazines are a lot easier to find and I enjoy the little comics and stories that play out.

Current Lego City magazine shows set 4645-1: Harbour (2011). Also a black/red Armored Van with orange lights on top, a T-rex Skull , and other Dinosaur bones in crates. Kinda makes me wonder about the whole "monster" truck heist set name, as the T-Rex skull is loaded into the armored van via the top(hatch), since the color scheme black/red is often used by criminal vehicles in City Police sets. Also shows a cinema, and part of a movie being filmed, and street sweepers on a construction site. Could mean nothing but still observations. Update: Street Sweeper in the 1 picture is 60152 (2017), so not the 2020 one, still cannot find the Armored Van however (2018 had 2 Bank/Gold transport vans but different design/colors)

I don't really expect it to show up while they have the €200 bag promo going for the next 2 weeks.

Maybe it's a truck with a monster like sign on top, we already saw an UFO sign with the 2019 caroussel so a monster-themed burger-vendor doesn't sound too weird. A big burger with eyes and a mouth that can open would be interesting, alternate builds could be potentially be a burger bar with a smaller vehicle, or something completely non-burger related and just some monster itself :D

Nexo Knights was in-house "licensed" as well.

I know, but this "special theme" forum gets so crowded I think it'd need some organizing. Right now I see 6 different CMF threads, multiple Creator Expert set discussions and MOCs pushing down Creator 3-in-1 as it's not very frequently discussed anymore. Would love some sub-forums for clarity. Ideas Treehouse was a recent example of basicly the same set being discussed in like 4 different threads.

Because Batman , like Star Wars, has a huge following from multiple aspects, either comics, video games, movies, cartoons and LEGO itself. Batman is around since 1939. Batman is a good character for LEGO, he has no "superpower" himself but makes great sets for bat jets, helicopters, batmobiles, bat-tanks and even spaceships, and I say that without even collecting any of it myself.

I do hope LEGO does learn in some ways from Playmobil however, like in selling big animals : I know LEGO has had Big Cats, Mammoths and Bears in City themes like Arctic, Jungle, Mountain Police etc, but putting that in a City theme isn't always the most economical way for someone who just wants a Mammoth or Sabertooth, and aftermarket only goes so far and is only used by a fraction of people. (Mammoth example would cost like €19 right now) Unlike LEGO however, playmobil actually has sold sets with just animals in them , while for LEGO, you had to get some (larger) City sets. And they don't just sell them once, but repeatedly: Moulded animals is where the "customization" part of LEGO bricks partly fades away, and I feel the distribution of Playmobil animals is just better this way. (from a customer point of view) Even dinosaur sets without or very few humans involved were made. (Playmobil Dinos) I would absolutely love if something like LEGO animals/dinosaurs were sold more seperate like this. Of course Playmobil also had some Dinosaur Action themes more closely resembling Jurassic Park/World, LEGO Dino or Adventurers.

I know hairpieces could come off but I see that similar as replacing arms on LEGO figures, not an official intended way to customize, and could risk breaking parts.

The thing that Playmobil does NOT have , what LEGO does, is that with LEGO you can recreate builds close to Playmobil sets like the Egyptian or Western Examples above. Playmobil has to go wide with it's range because there's very little customization options to the builds. Unless they changed it, you couldn't even change hair/heads/legs/torsos on figures. I had various Playmobil sets as a kid, from a Pirate Ship, to Trucks, to Helicopter and a Mobile Crane, but you cannot turn it into something else, unlike LEGO. Of course, this is not meant as an excuse that LEGO can just make everything within fair bounds (money being a big factor to obtain the parts needed for such custom theme builds). And to say Playmobil copied LEGO, on some ways, Playmobil was ahead and LEGO later made similar sets, like a Western Fort existed in Playmobil way before a LEGO Fort Legoredo, same with things like elephants, big cats and such which later got LEGO moulded animals. Egypt or Western history or animals are not something invented by any Toy company for that matter, so does it really matter who's first?

LEGO Legends being store exclusive didn't help when something like the internet was still small or expensive, and LEGO physical stores were even lower in number back then. (My country only just now getting it's first 2 official stores around winter 2019/2020) Timing must have played a big role. However even so, I don't think releasing 100% copy of the traditional 90s pirates should happen either, but maybe sets in a similar style of "classic" but with unique designs to keep the old sets' value/memories as is.

Promo set Juice Bar official pictures look nice, I like the use of upside down transparent cone parts as drink cups, and the fact it can be used as "normal" juice bar is nice. If it likely ends up as GWP, I just hope the minimum purchase is fair.

All that the official catalog says new Collectable Minifigures are coming in September, which is Series 19. I don't expect any Pirates (in LEGO brick-form) for 2019, aside from the pirates that were put in the Legacy Heroes Unboxed video game that's coming. http://www.legolegacy.com/en/coming-soon

This year's City Advent Calendar is amazing, I don't want to spoil it but I'm impressed with the direction they went.

I do hope the promo set is an online Shop@Home GWP set in August. The set number is 40336 , and the Rocket Ride promo was 40335.

VW Golf 1 GTI. Might not be the most modern car , but VW Golf overall have been the most sold single car model in NL, and currently VW has the largest market share car brand in my country. While the Golf isn't the top model in recent years (POLO and UP are selling very well), the golf 1 GTI should be recognizable internationally and it's a "classic"

The almost 900 part Tuning Workshop might be that. Overall, 3 sets tie together : Racing Cars, Service Station and Tuning Workshop might be tied together a bit. I know Friends had a racing subtheme in 2018 but 2020 might be City's turn.

Indeed. My speculation for Leaf 71360 - 71373 was about numbers in the 713xx range, which the last official theme wave was Bionicle 2016, which used numbers 71300-71316. However some Dimensions sets appeared in 2016-2017 , which used 71340-71349. Nexo Knights made a big skip with it's 2018 wave, jumping from the 703xx range to 72001-72006. Of course this could mean nothing, as theme numbers have jumped all over the place at times (for example in the 704xx range, we get 2013 Castle, followed by 2015 Pirates, followed by 2019 Hidden Side) https://lego.fandom.com/wiki/Category:70000_sets has a decent overview with most sets ordered by number.

I don't think they'll go back to the "modular" range of 3-in-1 sets, this is the second set with Townhouse in the name and hopefully uses a similar scale as the 2019 set. I feel this system more closely resembles the style of Corner Deli/Park Street, with the technic pin connectors to the side being able to expand into a larger street, just without hinges, and a bit larger interior space. While the 3-in-1 modular system wasn't bad (I have 1 of each set), it had flaws as well, and LEGO even moved away from the system with many of the alternate builds. A more universal system where alternate builds are more useful/compatible with the main build I think is a plus for the 3-in-1 concept.

Creator 3-in-1 has seen some unique shops in their alternate builds, especially recently with the 2019 Dentist/Hairdresser builds. (Which I have not seen in a City set) Problem with some older alternate builds was that they used a completely different style or used only a fraction of the parts, but the 2019 Townhouse/Petstore uses a more universal system. (12x12 base, 8x12 buildings) across all 3 builds. I hope they keep the 12x12 base and interchangable 8x12 floors at least for 2020.