TeriXeri

Overall a more interesting find then I intially saw it as, certainly not just some reprint of the old Crusaders Lion with some random key symbol. Linking this info post here for visibility, on what my theory of this shield is possibly meant to represent. Including the surprising crossed Key symbol's origin from the Holy See / Vatican City and their link with (LEGO) Crusaders, eventualy leading to the Lion symbol, King Richard 1 the Lionheart of England, and how the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom still uses a red/blue squared shield.

So many oddly shaped characters (compared to minifigure shape), I really wonder what LEGO is going to do with this, especially the heads/hair relative to a Minifig torso. Angry Birds got a couple new molds for the characters might be very likely for something like this as well. Meanwhile, Toy Story 4 went back to basic minifigs.

Also, the link between Lions and LEGO Crusaders might be derived from Richard the Lionheart, which played a big role in the 3rd Crusade, and initially used a single Lion (Rampant) symbol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Arms_of_England https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_England "The earliest surviving representation of an escutcheon, or shield, displaying three lions is that on the Great Seal of King Richard I (1189–1199), which initially displayed one or two lions rampant, but in 1198 was permanently altered to depict three lions passant, perhaps representing Richard I's principal three positions as King of the English, Duke of the Normans, and Duke of the Aquitanians. " That said, Lions were used a lot in the royal dynasty of England, as well as the red/blue shield combination : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armorial_of_the_House_of_Plantagenet

I might have solved the mystery of the keys : It's from the Vatican City or Holy See. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_See The Roman Catholic Church played a big part of the Crusades which might explain the "Crusaders" Lion. I posted bigger pictures and links here

Those keys on the shield are like super close to the Coat of Arms the Vatican uses, or the Latin Church. I don't know what LEGO is going for with this Shield. The lion is almost the same from the old "Crusaders" LEGO Castle theme. LEGO Crusaders : Gold Lion on Blue Background : House of Plantagenet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armorial_of_the_House_of_Plantagenet Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou Red/Blue Squared shield : Kings of England 1406–1422, 1461–1470, 1471–1485 And then this single Lion / Richard 1 the "Lionheart" who fought against Saladin in the 3rd Crusade. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Arms_of_England (12th century - 1707) Richard first used a single Lion (Rampant) Later , Richard used 3 lions (Passant) until his death, leading to the 3 lions being the Coat of Arms of England. A single Lion (Rampant) used in the old Coat of Arms of Scotland : (12th century - 1707) Later, they were combined into Great Britain: (1707-1801) Crusades : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades "The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Latin Church in the medieval period." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coats_of_arms_of_the_Holy_See_and_Vatican_City Flag of Vatican City : Now I am not a historian of any kind, but it's very interesting to see how LEGO might have come to the design of this printed shield, and originally the 80s LEGO Crusader Lion. The keys on the shield being very similar to the symbols of the Vatican is my biggest surprise however.

Blacksmith does look good, but the scale is just way too large for me personally. Still, good luck.

Sets do look good, and choosing other heroes first is a good. They shouldn't start repeats(or skins) until later.

I don't see a nanofig scale really fit in as it's own full fictional City theme but rather as an alternative to create some sets like the Saturn V, (microscale) Hogwarts or Rexcelsior sets, that are recognizeable enough from other source material. Architecture is the closest we get to a full theme of much-smaller then minifig builds, and even there, there's no universal scale. I can possibly see them add more printed nanofigs in future sets, possibly UCS Star Wars or something, and I don't mean the playsets, but sets like Death Star 2 or Super Star Destroyer. Of course some minifigs could be included as well for the collectors. But even there, scale within Star Wars vehicles and Death Stars are enormous. Nanofigs do allow more rooms and scenes to integrate in a model , at the cost of some brick-built detail, so likely more stickers will be needed as a compromise depending on the model type. (microscale Hogwarts had a lot of stickers for it's rooms)

Indeed, and even with the "modular" 2017-2018 sets, they can be stacked or re-arranged. 2019 Townhouse has a slightly different system as it isn't based off 8x8 and 8x16 plates. This is like a middle ground between single 3-in-1 sets and an Expert set by combining 1 of each recent 2017/2018 set purely by the main build's modules (also includes the 2018 LEGO Store, while not labeled as Creator, it's the same scale, 8x16 with some removable doors/walls/windows) Size of those buildings are 16x16. While far from perfect (I don't compare it to Expert sets with 2000-4000 parts) I find it a quite fun system that got better with more sets, and it still gives the option to have a small town of smaller buildings as well, and this is doable without fully taking apart a set. --- For 2019 however they went a different direction, for the Townhouse set at least they went with a corner based off 3 sections of 12x12 (6x12 plates), so the build is 24x24 with 1 corner empty. The buildings themselves are 8x12, because there's a 4-wide sidewalk.

Hope they'll make a Classic Mini single-car set as well at some point. Bonus points if it were Mr Bean's color scheme non-rally version. I know a Cooper S isn't the same as a Mark IV. But still very similar. (Add some cupcake stand for comic relief) (just kidding)

40186: Year of the Pig now offered with purchases of Dragon Boat Race at S@H.

The weird thing about this particular case of 40344, is that it isn't on the european websites at all, meanwhile at least for US the 40345 (4 space figures with green geodes and desk) are listed as Coming Soon. Right now I am dependant on the website for some sets, as the closest LEGO stores are in other countries (and no guarantee for it to even be in a physical store if it's not on the website) In the end, I am not too worried as City sets tend to generally stay for at least 1.5 years, it's just confusing.

I'm sorry if I offended or attacked anyone, that was not my goal.

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We are still missing the "usual" larger fire ship set, so if I had to pick 1 Fire set it'd be something like that. The last larger Police Boat was also 4 years ago. Maybe even a harbour-like scenario playset with connectivity to the Fire Station and Dockside sets. Classic Police is pretty much guaranteed with a regular Police Station every 3 years, I do hope it's smaller like the 2019 Fire station however, I liked that scale of set. And if they make it dockside as well, they could have even better integration with 2018 dockside sets, and potential harbour theme, or even a 2021 Coast Guard station. Seeing how the system of connecting different sets is getting more common again, (City Spaceship modules, Harry Potter Hogwarts sections), it's a possibility.

I know the last larger 3-in-1 "House" set, the Family Villa dropped from €65 to around €40-45 at it's low, and it was sold for a long time around there, so I expect something here as well. Similarly the Pirate Rollercoaster €85 start price, can still be found around €60 or below ever since a few months after it's launch.

So US gets their space sets, and Europe still has no set 40344 - Summer Celebration minifig pack. I do still hope that set comes to Europe soon.

Speaking of Corner Deli, this does feel a bit like that but bigger. Corner Deli looked great from the outside, but the interior space was tiny when opened up, one of the top floors interior is like 2 studs deep The Bank and Dentist/Hairdresser alternate builds also cannot be underestimated and I like those a lot more then in some of the smaller 3-in-1's from the past.

Those big rocket modules certainly improve the playability and connectivity to like the Space Station set to make a larger Space Station / Space Ship.

They also extended the Rocket Ride GWP from 18 until 30th of June, so still having stock makes sense.

F-Zero style vehicles.