TeriXeri

I agree this is an opinion thread, and each has their own reasons to buy/not buy , like/dislike certain aspects of LEGO. I have my own set of unofficial "rules" on what I buy, and that's just as dynamic as LEGO themes come and go and I do respect what others like/dislike. Right now, I am mainly waiting for Summer set pictures. Not having Walmart/Target type stores doesn't help, and LEGO likes it's regional/store specific promos a lot lately. I buy almost everything online. CMF aren't worth the gamble or premium price (specific figures) buying online for me.

So, from Toy Fair, they announced that the 2017 Technic RC car was among 4 of the most succesful sets of 2018, I hope that means RC cars will continue to be considered. 2017 No surprise that 2019 has a similar Technic off-road RC vehicle set. 2019 Those Technic sets still use Infrared/Power Functions. System had this chassis back in 2009: I think it'd be cool to see a new System small RC car chassis based on Powered UP, maybe could be smaller due to Bluetooth not needing direct contact unlike the old Infrared. We had the Batmobile that could be controlled by phone, but that was still a fairly bulky build using a PUP Hub and motors, it also had no real steering module and acted more like a tracked vehicle.

I can certainly see demand for an original space for 202x onwards, Star Wars had a lot of critics on Last Jedi and Solo. Winter 2020 certainly will be focused on Episode IX if it's not delayed. Does not mean it'll be canceled , I can still see UCS sets, and regular sets going forward, X-Wing, Millenium Falcon, Slave 1 and Star Destroyers certainly have timeless demand even just from the original trilogy. 2017 UCS Milenium falcon was the only System set of the 4 most succesful sets of 2018, and that's a €850 set. Ideas seems to be the place to get NASA and SpaceX type sets (3 in review, and others trending), meanwhile 2019 gets a space-subtheme & LEGO Movie 2 related sets.

There certainly seems to be a lot of interest for Space X related Ideas lately, currently still 2 Falcon Heavy related sets, and a Microscale ISS up for the next review And 2 Super Heavy related Ideas are trending rapidly, one at ~1400 in 9 days, other at ~4000 in 20 days, meanwhile the Space Shuttle Atlantis set sits at ~7300 but that was submitted 2 years ago. Personally I don't care that much about Space X or NASA sets, I can understand the desire as display models, like the Saturn V certainly looks cool but just isn't my type of Space set. However I did get the 2017 Space shuttle 3-in-1, it's not accurate at all but still a fun unlicensed product with a minfigure that can use the builds at a reasonable scale. 2019 Creator 3-in-1 Space Shuttle Transport and it's alternate builds might look nice but it's not minifig scale so not really in my interest. I think the "Fantasy" type space sets were a lot less restrictive for play and rebuilding, not having to be being realistic, and things like magnets, scanning, hovertech and laser prisons were fun for imagnitive play. Star Wars also sort of suffers from critics saying that things aren't accurate to source.

Technically the more recent (2017-2018) 3-in-1 building uses a Modular system with 8x16 modules, and 8x8 half-modules. I know the reception on those sets has been mixed, but they all use a similar basic 8x16 base design. They actually have decent interior space for furniture as well. I have 1 of each of those sets, and certainly making 2-3 story high 16x16 closed buildings is fully possible with enough of those 16x8 and 8x8 base modules. Now Hinged buildings obviously look better from all sides but when opened, sometimes only have 1-4 studs at most for interior. The 2018 City Hospital used a "modular" system as well. I actually liked the Hotel Build in the 2018 Capital City set, but that set is €140 with a lot of other things. I wouldn't mind a standardized 8x16 system for City and Creator 3-in-1 buildings. Even if not all walls/doors are removable. Even better if it were a City Subtheme, where the buildings are sold seperately from the many vehicles City sets have, then buying multiples becomes an option too. For summer 2019 there's another big of such set coming (3-in-1 Townhouse and Pet Store ) with I imagine at least 3 of those 16x8 modules since it's a 1000 part set. One of the alternate builds is even said to be a Bank "highrise" building.

I do notice the "old" style comes off the bottom sometimes on those 3-in-1 Creator Modulars when removing a roof/floor/wall section where the 2 studs stick to the removed part instead. But yes, that bottom design certainly is different from just a visual update to be a "tile" , I didn't notice the 1-2-1 bottom design at first.

Hulk-Cyclops with studs that could be either mutations or scales

Why quote my post about minecraft, add some weird links ( Bluestacks Kodi Lucky Patcher ?? ) I just found the exact same post it made on https://www.quora.com/Why-did-LEGO-decide-to-discontinue-themes-like-Pirates-and-Aquanauts dating back 2011. Must be a bot 100%.

I assume they added the groove to make it more in line with the other tiles.

This 100%, making your own story and builds is what the essence of a "building toy" is about. Now this doesn't mean that following a preset story, or just the instructions is a bad thing, there's just so much more to LEGO then that.

I actually personally prefer buildings to vehicles so I actually liked the open back 3-in-1 creator buildings for 2017-2018, because hingled buildings tend to be deeper then 8 studs when fully closed. I think the Friends sets are fine as they are as well, open backs and seperate buildups for "dollhouse" play isn't as bad concept, they aren't meant to be static display models in the middle of a room. Even the Star Wars set has a place for it's fans, it's just a matter of personal taste. But for my country, Star Wars sets especially tend to come at a worse price point, also playing a role for me, and I don't tend to like the skin colored figures as much either (multiple themes). For me, Architecture and Brickheadz mean less to me then a Friends set would, as they seem like pure display models to me. Even while I currently don't have any Minidoll sets, they sets themselves would integrate fine with other City/Creator theme sets, just mostly the stickers, animals and minidolls have different styles. I think I rather get Friends sets then Licensed sets at this point of time if I had to choose a new theme to collect sets from. Right now since 2016 I mostly own Nexo Knights, Creator 3-in-1, and some City sets (mostly minifig packs, starter packs), and loose parts via Xtra, Classic and 60th year anniversary. Also, surpisingly the biggest revenue set of 2018 were actually 3 technic sets, 1 being the off-road RC racer, and the UCS milenium falcon. Personally I hope an expansion on the RC-car concept and I wouldn't mind a compact "Racers" RC car with a studded base. Maybe the 2017/2018 Creator 3-in-1 modular system didn't sell as well as I have seen them on sale for a long time, and the system didn't continue in Summer 2018, or 2019. https://zusammengebaut.com/die-erfolgreichsten-lego-sets-des-jahres-2018-64656/ translated from link : "Yesterday, during the LEGO GmbH press conference, it was not just about the product innovations of the second half of the year , but also about the most successful products of the last year. In the top 10 toy products, which achieved the highest sales in Germany in 2018, there are four LEGO sets: »LEGO Technic Remote Controlled Tracked Racer 42065 »LEGO Technic 4x4 crane truck 42082 »LEGO Technic Mack Anthem 42078 »LEGO Star Wars UCS Millennium Falcon 75192"

And that goes the other way around with Hoth Medical Chamber for The Netherlands like I posted above. $30 set, while €50 in NL. Grindelwald Escape, a small 155 piece Harry Potter set is $20 in US, €30 here. Meanwhile for 2019 City, the sky police helicopter set is $30 in US and €20 here.

Can't really compare the Sky Police helicopter set to the others as it's one of those sets with weird region price differences, it's €20 here. Also goes the other way around by the way : 2019 Death Star Escape is €35 here. 2018 Hoth Medical Chamber (Star Wars), 255 pieces luke and leia, 2 droids, $30 in US, but a whopping €50 in my country and still €40 in other european countries. 2018 Grindelwald Escape (Harry Potter) , 155 pieces is €30 here, and $20 in US so also a bad value in europe.

I agree, but Creator 3-in-1 had 2 sets with a few Pirate inspired elements for summer 2018. Closest to Castle we got was an unprinted grey shield in the 40305 LEGO store set, while not labeled as Creator, it had the same modular elements of the 3-in-1s. Also there were some Castle/Pirate elements in the 60th anniversary sets , some shields/swords/helmets for both themes. Unless LEGO surprises us with a new theme soon, I think it's best to wait for 2020 for some real chance at a Castle theme, because if anything, 2019 seems better suited for a 30th anniversary of Pirates or some more Classic Space imo. Maybe Overwatch makes the Castle Eichenwalde a set, but I don't see much room in current themes otherwise.

Yes, prints are different for all of those, (others are posted above) 70820 , Ultrakatty at a smaller Movie Maker scale, but still is a unique 1x3 brick print.

It's the only Unikitty I actually own so noticed it right away.

There's also a Warrior Kitty / Sleeping Kitty in the 70831 Emmet's Dream House/Rescue Rocket! set (2019)

So I just got the magazine and there's some fun stuff in there. First there's a little comic showing the Rexcelsior, in which 2 older sets make an appearance in 1 picture each. 60078: Utility Shuttle (2015) and 6872: Xenon X-Craft (1985) Then there's a metallic dark grey colored raptor with green stripes with 2 6-stud shooters and 2 robot arms. (3 out of 5 "baby raptor" in the Rexcelsior set are metallic dark grey with green stripes as well). Also a lot of raptors with robot wings and cannons that are similar to parts in the 3-in-1 Rextreme Offroader set, but still uses some parts not used in the set so it's not a hidden 4th build. Also blue raptor with green stripes. Also 3 versions of Plantimals not seen in current sets. Now this doesn't have to mean that any of it are actual future sets, but some of them seem very possible if they make more sets with plantimals or raptors in it.

Steve and Alex certainly are included in almost all sets, but they are the main characters for the basegame even now in 1.13/1.14. But they remain the "default" skins. Free and Paid Skins have been added to the Bedrock versions interface, and changing your skin on Java could be done for a lot longer. I think LEGO could have made more seperate Skin Packs (they had 2 in 2016) or PvP sets (Like 2018 Skull Arena), but skins has been an endless concept on Java as you can change skin whatever you want. I don't think putting "rare" minifigs in the biggest (€100+) set is always a good thing. Especially in an open-ended theme with player skins like Minecraft. But I can understand the repeat of Steve/Alex in the smaller sets has been a long standing repeating "issue" with people who got or reviewed many of the sets. For 2018 there were a few sets focusing on content later then 1.8, like the Skeleton Trap, and Beetroot (1.9), Igloo, Polar Bear, Stray (1.10) but that's still 2+ years since the actual update. 2019 has a new End-Dragon set but most of the 1.9 End content isn't made in LEGO sets yet. 2019 also jumps forward in time with a 1.13 set with the turtle, turtle eggs and dolphin, also has a "pirate" skin figure, and 1.12 Parrot. (don't know if we'll see more of such "skins" in future sets.) What's missing : End City, End Ship, Elytra, Chorus Fruit, Shulker : (1.9) Husk (1.10) Illager, Vindicator, Evoker, Vex, Llama, Mansion, Shulker Box, Totem of Undying (1.11) Glazed Terracotta (printed tiles/bricks), (1.12) Phantom, Turtle Shell Helm, Conduit, Coral Reef/Kelp/Seagrass, Trident, Drowned, Underwater Ruins, Icebergs (1.13) Generally more Biome sets with different color schemes, like (Mega)Taiga, Mesa, Savannah, Extreme Hills. I don't collect the sets, but if I were, and a constant follower of the game, there's certainly been a couple year gap on content that didn't make it in LEGO form. Anyway, probably turned this way off topic into a Minecraft opinion thread, but there's a lot missing still that could be added ,even not counting the upcoming 1.14

Minecraft still getting new sets makes sense since 1.13 was a pretty big update with dolphins, turtles, shipwrecks and underwater content so the Pirate Ship set has it's place for 2019. They can still make a D2C Mansion or updated Village set as 1.14 focuses on illagers and pillagers (hostile npc's), maybe a pillage beast too, and an update to the villagers themselves. There also could be a smaller set with the new Pandas and Bamboo. I think the new line of Minecraft Big-Figs is a lot more accurate then the Brickheadz as well, and they can easily add more sets on that scale for most of the creatures, monsters. I don't collect the theme, but there's no reason to stop sets as long as they have the license and sell. As far as theme that's the least interesting to me, it's gotta be Brickheadz, especially if they take the place for the seasonal vignettes. Go-Brick-Me was a cool concept but already seems discontinued in less then a year.

I wouldn't mind a comeback of a non-licensed Western/Adventurers theme, or a spinoff on that on some other frontier exploration.(South America/Africa/Asia/Australia). I don't know how realistic it is in the current day and age to see a native tribe in a LEGO set however. For me personally I never had any feeling that the Western or Adventurer themes had any "opressive" elements regarding those tribes, even with the guns and dynamite.

I really like Flashback Lucy. Nice color combinations, dual molded legs and interesting prints.

Agreed, and that even plays a role on like Ideas, where many posted Ideas have 2000+ parts, only a few get selected at a time. Even if 10000 votes signal interest in the sets. They never made a single Hogwarts minifig scale set either, but went Microscale or split it up in smaller playsets in the past. I saw a fan-made Hogwarts that had 400.000 bricks. A minifig scale Rexcelsior would also be 10000+ parts if they really keep the scale to Emmet Dream House or Rexplorer.

That's just great to see what can be done with a set deemed as 4+ Juniors, still. Very nice concept, and I will certainly look out for this set on Sale.

I certainly would be interested in a re-release similar to that, modernized for the powered up system and app/bluetooth controlled but it'd require a remake of the vehiclebase. I don't have any modern technic at all so brick built RC car interest me much more. Main reason I mentioned the Batmobile was because it's been the first brick-built RC car since 9 years. €110 is also way too expensive for what you get if you just want a LEGO RC car.