TeriXeri

I think it's good to have sets at various budgets, I don't think every remake needs to be a big $400 set. And this is already scaled up a lot, so adding a base at that new scale would inflate the cost, and while it was part of the original set, a big landing pad is a pretty bland feature. There are MOCs that used the simplest solution to a landing pad with a 48x48 baseplate, with "pixelated" tile design, which is pretty much the only alternative to keep the original yellow circle design, without requiring large, very precise prints. That said, a Control Tower would have been nice, as it wouldn't have needed a full baseplate , and some of the included computer prints , yellow windows etc could've been reused. In the future, I'd love to see one of those command base sets , especially something based on 6971: Inter-Galactic Command Base would make sense as it has blue/yellow/black space figures which are not in 10497.

While Ideas and Icons sets are probably the most seen and noted "18+" AFOL classic sets, especially now, the 3-in-1 should not be underestimated. I know they are not meant to be on the same level as Icons (different age group, different target group, different budgets (especially on special sails, prints or animals etc) but the fact the sets already lasted much longer compared to the usual 3-in-1 must mean they are popular enough to sell, even after price increases. 2020 : 31109 Pirate Ship launched in June 2020, and currently is not on any retirement lists, so possibly will be sold in 2024 still, making it quite an impressive long lifespan , currently 3 years, possibly 4.5. 2021: 31120: Medieval Castle , still quite an amazing build, but shows a Castle set would be better off with animals like horses, and more figures, also probably still be around in 2024. 2022: 31132: Viking Ship and the Midgard Serpent is more niche and is actually listed as retiring , but it did show quite an improvement on the figures. 2023 has a space themed 3-in-1 rollercoaster but just like Pirate Rollercoaster, it's not something I'd consider the same category as the Pirate, Castle or Viking ships. It does look like a lot of Space related sets are retiring after 2023 however, so maybe that'll open up more room. City Space Subtheme (Moon related) + Space Mission (Mars related) Monkie Kid Galactic Explorer / Moon Cake factory (Space related Monkie Kid sets, a lot more fantasy/sci-fi compared to City Space) 3-in-1 Cyber Drone (had a spyrius droid type of printed head) Friends 41713: Olivia's Space Academy It's quite a surprise 10497: Galaxy Explorer already makes it onto possible retirement lists however, but on the other hand, maybe that will mean another Icons Space set is a possibility. As for other big sets possibly retiring, 21325: Medieval Blacksmith is also on there to possibly retire at end of this year. (and no I don't consider 21341: Disney Hocus Pocus: The Sanderson Sisters' Cottage as a replacement, it might be a medieval looking house, it's just happens to be the timing of that Idea being selected, the movie being 30 years old in 2023 and Disney 100, and not so much anything to do with 21325 . However, might still appeal to medieval builders)

Oh yeah I can see how that definition of racing was different yes. Town was full of those numbered cars usually 1 being white, 2 blue, 3 red, 4 yellow/black. Later there was that Ferrari theme , and even later there were some 6 wide Speed Champions formula cars. The most recent comparable Racing "subtheme" was under Friends in 2018 , since it had 5 sets, with 8 same-sized Go-Karts to collect, along with garage/car wash/start+finish builds. https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Friends/subtheme-Racing Something like the Friends Racing subtheme can certainly work in a City subtheme, doesn't need to have go-karts per se.

I definately see those 2K sets as a potential new "racing" subtheme, I mean, they already advertised a lot more content coming to that game. I can even see it as a potential replacement of Stuntz as currently with every Stuntz projected to be retiring this year, something new and likely vehicle based could take it's place. I mean, LEGO already had the Stunt Team and later that Orange/Purple monster truck set that really had similar style of later Stuntz sets. With City doing more buildings as standalone sets (Car Wash included, comes with a small car but I count it as a Building set), wouldn't surprise me to see a new service station , pit-stop, or start-finish line as possible part of the 2K racing subtheme. Using minecraft as an example, the game still gets content updates , and LEGO is still releasing sets related to those updates, instead of purely going back to just existing old game content.

If there would be one potential subtheme that's likely a replacement for Stuntz, a 2k Drive subtheme could make a lot of sense. Physical LEGO sets could release alongside expansions / DLC of the game, as we see with LEGO minecraft still gets new content based on the game's development. Of course 2k Drive also already has Speed Champions in it as well, but City could be used for the more silly, unlicensed vehicles, as already seen in the upcoming 3 sets being unbranded, and having more fun stuff like propellor/jet cars or taco shooting monster trucks.

This is LEGO's answer for a Duck , recoloring the existing rubber ducky in dark orange in the Botanical Garden. And knowing LEGO uses 20+ year old mould for the crab to this day, they don't seem very picky in reusing exisiting moulds where possible. Recoloring/Reprinting is probably still easier to get through/cheaper compared to entirely new animal designs. (many new butterfly prints this year as well). Also some animals don't seem intended to be printed by design, as the 2016-2019 solid colored parrot mould likely would've already have had printed variants by now, currently the dual moulded blue/yellow version seems to suffice as it's quite mass produced across themes and sets, pretty much has replaced the red/green variants (small and later large beak) by now. And while there are still quite a few new moulds for animals each year (otter, seal, seal pup, Dogs/Cat variants in City/Friends etc) often they are large volume small sets, or appearing in more then 1 set to begin with. (exceptions are CMF animals who might stay unique to just CMF at first, but might re-appear in BAM or in sets later)

Seems like a very mixed opinion (which is fine as its an opinion). For 10305 it went both ways, from too big, too detailed, too expensive, to not enough detail, too simple etc , so it's expected here too. Many different types of AFOLs with many different preferences and expectations. Even can be seen with AFOL who prefer Town/City sized buildings, compared to the group who vastly prefers full-sized modulars etc. This set has a very different approach to 10305 obviously, not meant to be at the same size or detail, but far closer to the original. As for open walls/backs on towers, I don't think it's an issue at all, I keep seeing how much love there is for 6265: Sabre Island (mind you that tower was open on 3 sides on the second floor). I just don't think this can be compared to the many MOCs or even sets like 10305 at Twice the price as those are different categories entirely (but same complaints were thrown around for the 2009 or 2015 Pirate sets being way too "simple" ) And yes, being critical is a very good thing, especially for the big group who does not get this as a sponsored product, even when this is about half the price of Lion Knights Castle, it's still not a cheap product (as we see with 2023, even cheaper themes like 3-in-1 did not escape the price increases) I'll probably modify the tiling on the sail of the 3-in-1 31109: Pirate Ship into a ship for the Bluecoats.

Still a lot of them, even when counting just 2023 there are 8 sets tagged great vehicles on Brickset. 60383: Electric Sports Car 60384: Penguin Slushy Van 60385: Construction Digger 60386: Recycling Truck 60387: 4x4 Off-Roader Adventures 60388: Gaming Tournament Truck 60389: Custom Car Garage 60390: Park Tractor All of them have one thing in common, they aren't fire , police, or medical ,and the main focus is the vehicle as that's literally the set's name. (exception would be the Garage, but the main focus is still on the 2 cars, as it's not really a garage building) Also the set numbers are all in numerical order.

Yeah but there should be more room for those once subthemes like Stuntz and Space retire as well. With the new City airplane having no building whatsoever, and City doing buildings pretty much seperate now, an airport terminal building could even still be possible. And with City sets referencing Park more (sets having more small pine trees as well) , a larger Park, or Forest set could be possible (and I don't mean purely as Forest Fire)

The rumoured retiring set list is pretty big for 2023, so there certainly should be room for a subtheme Currently retiring subthemes look to be All Stuntz All Space Construction (2022 Crane, 4+ Cement Mixer, 2023 Loader) 2022 Medical (Hospital, Helicopter, HQ, 4+ VET) 2022 Police (Bank, Mobile HQ, Ice Cream Chase) 2022 Fire (Station, Sardine Factory and some vehicle sets) Other Vehicles like 2021 Ice Cream Truck, 2022 Horse Transport 3 Missions sets Farm Barn Since Police is likely keeping the 2022 Police Station, and the 2023 Academy and 4+ station, a think a Prison or Bank subtheme could still work with new sets (having like a seperate set with a Bank Building, or Jail building, and then vehicle sets to transport Money/Gold, or perhaps a Prisoner Bus. As for Fire, a new Fire station seems quite soon , but maybe a new Fire station using those module plates could work, especially since this summer wave introduced a L shaped 16x16, maybe a larger fire station could use a mix of those, and 8x16 to make a new building. 2 of those would make a 16x24 area for a garage , while keeping modularity with some smart connections. Fire and Construction sites also go well together, so having another construction site would be nice, since City does seperate buildings now, as well as buildings being modules, a Construction/Demolition site in progress with some fire risk could still work as well. As for a hospital, there was a pause between the 2018 and 2022 hospitals, so if they skip a year it would not surprise me (Friends also does hospitals so if City does skip a new hospital , I highly expect a Friends set)

Fortnite Save the World , it has a thing called Ceiling Drop Trap , that literally has Tires that fall onto husks (zombies)

Jurassic Park 2 / The Lost World had scenes with all sorts of vehicles driving along/under dinosaurs, so maybe if they get around making sets specific for that movie, it'll probably have some different vehicles. (and dinosaurs like Compsognathus / Stegosaurus / Parasauralophus) And then possibly the large ship, and red 1969 pontiac from the San Diego scenes.

Oh, I didn't mean it as a full 2-in-1, it certainly is not, or there would have been Redcoats / Imperial figures/flags included and maybe an official suggestion of it. (barracuda bay was an official 2-in-1, this is not) Of course the modularity likely is just intended to have easier access to the new interiors below the fort, as well as different way to display it , on a shallow shelf etc. (most Castles of old, and even new can fold open or split too) Even if the faction would be correct for a 6265: Sabre Island, simply seperating the tower from 10320 and saying it's a Sabre Island re-imagining, also doesn't make it a Sabre Island remake (but still could function as it's own small tower island with similar play functions as 6265) There's still the option to fairly easily mod it into a wider looking harbour that 6277: Imperial Trading Post was, but that doesn't make it the same set, but modding is a different topic entirely. A smaller 6263: Imperial Outpost type of set would be nice to see (I never got any of the imperial sets, and while they were redone in 2009 and 2010 , that's already ages ago)

Agreed, the modularity and addition of tunnels/basement sort of justifies the brick-built base vs a baseplate. But I can understand if set is used in default config, obviously a lot of the internal rockwork/tunnel parts aren't used/seen and I can see how some people say it "eats" into parts budget that way. Also makes it a lot more suitable for display on a shelf, or play, in "wide" configuration. Also seperating some of the modules is interesting as well, giving it more of a Imperial Trading post configuration, which LEGO probably already had in mind as they included a new version of the ship from that set. The baseplate version had a lot of empty "air" below the ramp, and the dungeon section was just a hole in the middle of the fort covered with a 8x8 grate.

Very true, colors do get extended, and some have been revived before.

First thing I noticed was how the palm leaves in this, and the summer VIP bag are the same part, yet different. The leaves in the playground set are more grainy textured, while the VIP bag leaves were smooth and more shiny. Also the little text on the underside is in different positions. I understand different mould variants can exist, as even in the same set box I got different inverted slopes of those variants (in different colors) :

With Ice Planet, M-Tron , Blacktron 2 , Exploriens probably out of the question due to the retirement of transparent neon orange / transparent neon green. (they could still be remade wouldn't be the same with trans-orange or trans-bright green) My choice would go to 6984: Galactic Mediator 6986: Mission Commander 6985: Cosmic Fleet Voyager If trans neon orange would be made again 6973: Deep Freeze Defender would jump to #1 instantly. As for trans neon green , it's still in a 2023 set in 40607: Summer Fun VIP Add-On Pack but it has not shown up in new 2023 regular sets,. but no new products are assigned the color, so after 2023, most/all of those current sets have been retired) , as has seen in a pallette list : 49 Trans-Fluoro Green: EXIT 31-12-2023339 Trans-Fluoro Green Glitter: EXIT 31-12-2023

While I did grow up with a bunch of LEGO (family members) I never had many large sets either, Enchanted Island certainly the biggest due to the raised baseplates. I do share the feeling of staring at catalogs a lot, especially the Castles, Pirate Islands/Fortresses, Monorails, large (Space)Ships etc. Eventually I did get a couple sets for birthday/holidays like Dragon Wagon (1993), or Royal Drawbridge (1995), but the majority of sets were those small boxed sets, some of those that are almost "polybag" sized nowadays. (like the 1995 Royal King would live in Royal Drawbridge for me ,as I didn't have another Castle) I didn't really follow LEGO from 2001 to 2016, so missed out a bunch of Pirate / Castle / Space waves that were around, Barracuda Bay and later the 3-in-1 (Ship/Castle/Vikings), Icons Lion Knights Castle, Galaxy Explorer and upcoming Eldorado , gives a bit of chance to "relive" the era of watching catalogs.

Same for me with getting the original 1994 Enchanted Island as a gift. I loved that set, it was my only Pirate Captain as well until Barracuda Bay.

Even if it were released in the region, many other factors can play roles, I never had those comics either. I literally knew most of the existence of LEGO purely from sets on shelves, yearly catalogs found in shops, or the mini catalogs included in sets (small sets had a single page, larger sets had booklets) , or the yearly toy catalogs that toy shops released around December season (Sinterklaas holiday was the dominant toy-giving holiday instead of Christmas here) Also local translations / set names were all over the place across Europe, especially for Pirates and Castle figure/faction/set names, and even there were years where sets didn't have names at all , just a brick or star to indicate it was new for that year.

It was interesting to see LEGO make a Ronny figure in 70422: Shrimp Shack Attack , back from Hidden Side 2019. Pepper Roni, and Ronny names, then the very similar pizza with 1 slice print red torso, blue pants and orange hair. And there was another reference to a character that could be Pepper via the 2009/2013 City Corner set, it does have the same head as 2002, red/blue torso, skateboard and pizza, the main differences are the lack of pizza torso print, and using short legs.

Looks great. It does indeed have a lot more modularity due to the non-baseplate design, so you can have it in "original" form , or a much wider setup for a shelf, or just play scene. Also , it does look like it does have an underground tunnel/dungeon type section in the modules as well (back on box shows pirate in "cave" with a hidden trapdoor (similar to the underground "cave" forestmen have in the Lion Knights set. I also do like the ship , and the additional taller dock section to the side, so larger Pirate vessels have something to raid, or land on. (+ direct reference to Imperial Trading Post ship) My only experience with Bluecoats has been 2 1989 Sabre Island sets, I did come back to LEGO after 2016, pretty much strictly collected another theme until 2018, so by then the 2015 Pirates were gone, so this will be a great companion for Barracuda Bay (in ship form) + 3-in-1 Pirate Ship. The thing I like most that it looks like this stayed true to size, and preserved many colors of the original, instead of becoming "Neo-Eldorado" with completely different colors. (I can understand using Medium Azure for water, as I think it's a good contrast with Tan beaches ,and especially in this case, Blue minifigs)

I mainly listed insects as it's another ideas set with an earlier release date, other then the theme, it's unrelated :)

While not minifig related, recently had some very tight fitting parts in a new 2023 Friends set, 41739: Liann's Room when putting those parts together first time : on top of The yellow top studs are much tighter then usual, but so far it seems just isolated to that particular instance of the set (2 parts in same box) Back in 2018 , I had a case of a bar getting stuck inside a bar sized hole in this side build of a set :

There seems to be another set for this year around August. 11032 Creative Color Fun 1500 Pieces