TeriXeri

Started using Midjourney AI after I saw a post on the Pirates forum, and it actually had some really interesting results : This is from using the prompt : Ninjago Castle in Desert with Dinosaurs Turned out like some Adventurers/Ninjago hybrid and even has a Dinosaur Sphinx statue LEGO Ninjago Neo Tokyo Temple : LEGO Ninjago Godzilla Mech :

I wanted to try this out myself : LEGO Pirates Harbour with Tavern and Fortress

Yeah it's quite a bit of arctic, winter sports and sea/undersea sets split between both City and Friends.

I think they operate independently, often they sell sets that are otherwise exclusive ABOVE Lego's own retail prices. Intertoys looks to be the only retailer shop that gets exclusives around launch, like they have been the only shop selling Creator 3-in-1 Castle at or under retail price, while Brickshop sells it for +20%.

Yes https://www.stonewars.de/lego-2023/#lego-city-2023

Blowing air doesn't remove dust from the room (of course, for something like a box, it can be taken outside obviously) For cleaning built LEGO I use a small tube + brush attachment for a vacuum cleaner:

Especially with a new action theme around the corner, currently not much else to do but wait. Just hoping some of those giant price increases (Marvel Mechs/Microfighters etc) won't be across the board, especially MK, which does not get discounts unless LEGO does it themselves.

Agreed, LEGO does still make very small boxes (Stuntz bikes) that are not random. Or small builds/figures via Magazines. I see Stuntz bikes and Magazines in stores, magazines even in supermarkets, I have never seen a CMF sold outside of an official LEGO store. Playmobil sells individual figures in boxes as well. The random aspect of CMF has been pretty dumb when they aren't even found in stores here locally, and yes you can buy them opened/pre-selected via the secondary market but that's not an excuse to just be happy about blind bags. I get the point of the product, mainly impulse buy, or but for that to work out, they need to be available in stores in the first place, which can obviously vary a lot per area. As for bags vs boxes, random boxes will probably be hated by the people that pre-select by feeling, but overall for the general public I doubt it'll change much, but it will make a store purchase much more equal to a random online purchase for those areas who have no CMF sales nearby.

Yeah now I see it too, I only got a few of those 1x4 tiles in that color, but it also has this blue tint to it, depending on light. Quite an interesting color, in full bright light (like holding it to a white sky) it just looks like regular trans-black/brown.

That vote site is quite unresponsive, takes a while for a vote to save.

Probably this set ? 2995

LEGO does still make the snake head parts, even recently added black as a new color, but then again, that's just half a snake :

Possibly a new transparent windscreen color in 75346: Pirate Snub Fighter I'll call it Trans-Earth Blue

Fortnite LEGO might actually become a thing, it's even rumoured to have a dedicated Season in Chapter 4 Season 4. (which should be around September/October) Also if it's not a full map change, could still appear as a timed event type of thing, like Star Wars, Dragonball etc, usually had 1-2 weeks of questlines in recent seasons without being the main season theme. Even if it ends up being a Creative map project, and skins, instead of a "LEGO Island" battle royale, the recent Epic Games & LEGO partnership certainly is a clue of something happening. For now, the closest fortnite related set is 40644: Piñata , just needs a longer neck

There's 1 toy store chain here that still gets LEGO exclusive sets in my country (3-in-1 Castle is exclusive in my country) , but they are still recovering from a bankruptcy takeover, so the number of stores is still drasticly less from what it was like 10-20 years ago. Big difference from what used to be 1-2 toy shops of different stores in the same shopping centers, even next to eachother, with walls of LEGO in full view near the entrance. PoBB was even sold more widely then the 3-in-1 Castle.

So true, if I had to go by local stores in 2023, I would think there would be only small LEGO sets nowadays. Speaking of 2 decades ago, it was a different story, and there were a ton more LEGO-selling-stores here. Number of physical toy stores that sold a lot of LEGO have drasticly declined, despite LEGO opening multiple official stores in the last 3 years (0 in my country before that) Of course things can vary a lot per region/country/city/town etc.

IKEA does sell a deeper ~40cm deep Billy variant in Europe , but doesn't look like they sell those everywhere in the world.

Fantastic alternate split builds. This shows how much can be done at the smaller scale closer to the "Classic" castles of old. I love how the 2 castles can form a larger one again, and the treehouse and wizard hut are very original clever builds. And this is just 1 half of the set, which makes it even more impressive.

Something like the new 11030: Lots of Bricks is a good start, really reminds me of how there used to be brick buckets in the past, and now LEGO finally made a set with 100% just bricks again. Lots of 2x4 and 2x2 bricks makes it the basic stepping stone from Duplo to LEGO , without introducing complex parts. And then add a baseplate or some 16x16 plate as a base to build something on.

There's no love for the lack of instructions by AFOL, but I don't think they have been a failure at all. One easy fix would be to just release pdf instructions alongside them.

Eldorado definately the most iconic pure imperial "Fortress" set, but as a "Standalone" big "Icons / AFOL / Playset" , Imperial Trading post is a more complete type of set as it can serve as a harbour/village/expansion point set. Of course there have been multiple Soldiers Fort type of sets that could easily form a Trading post, especially 2009 Soldiers Fort , but I'm mainly taking into account the old Pirates era pre 2000s.

R2-D2 in a C-3PO mech and a C-3PO in a R2-D2 mech would be hilarious.

Hopefully this is the last year of it (last year of new sets that is, a few just released current 2023 sets probably will be around in 2024. I mean, I do like some of the bikes and smaller sets, I only got the first version of Stunt Show because it was like 55% off, and recently took it apart for the parts (aside from the monster trucks). The 2020 Stunt Park was also a decent set, at least when it was priced around €20, definately not a $40 set. The 2023 raptor bike set is interesting as well, at least the Europe price on it is still ok, but the larger set and the truck are worse then previous larger set and truck. Best thing to come from Stuntz are probably those ramps, which are reused in the 2023 Skate Park for example, and perhaps might show up in white in the City Skate Park or Ski related summer sets. Rocket Racer being it's own set was nice, as was the Neon Cyber Bike this year, as those are nice bikes + figures. And from comments, I think the bathtub bike seemed popular among AFOL.

Agreed, Friends sets are pretty much 100% compatible in City, and most of those Friends sets also focus mainly on the buildings, while City sets almost always have some vehicle taking a slice out of the parts/budget. Of course I'm not saying that shops cannot exist in City, but as we've seen before, with sets like that Donut/Toy Shop, Car Wash/Pizza place / City Station , Shopping Street, they were quite dominated by vehicles being at least 30-50% of the overall set. On the other hand , I can see how colors / style / stickers etc are different from City, so not in everyone's taste, but the sets themselves can still work as good inspiration. Creator also has shown they can do Dentist, Hair Salon, Bank, etc as alternate builds without needing any sticker at all. (set 31097: Townhouse Pet Shop & Café ) I've been taking apart sets , to eventualy MOC a custom street, pictures/instructions for Friends, City, and 3-in-1, including retired sets, can still work as great inspiration for MOC even without owning the sets. Hopefully when Stuntz goes away someday, there might be room for other larger subthemes like Harbor/Marina again. There have been a lot of newer parts since 2011. Something like the road for the 2007 harbor can easily be done with road plates.

Yeah I always wondered about how a set like that could have a shorter lifespan then the 3-in-1 ship. On one hand I realise they cannot pay out those % IDEAS royalties forever , Saturn V got re-released under a new Set number when it was extended, so a re-release of PoBB is certainly not out of the question, but if it's under Icons, not very likely, unless modified. As for the other options, El Dorado Fortress seems likely, but personally I think Imperial Trading post makes a more complete set, and if kept at the same scale, really still seems doable with 2500 pieces, I mean, a raised baseplate can be emulated with large rock pieces, as even has been done with the Motorized lighthouse. My biggest wish would be return of Islanders but that's probably the most complicated pirates theme faction to have return as it had a lot more complex printed raised baseplate + river , and things like the hair/horn parts and kahuka mask are very specific parts that aren't produced right now, not even the large palm leaf have been seen for 20+ years. Of course if it's a re-imagination instead of a straight remaster , a raised baseplate doesn't need to be replicated, looking at Lion Knight Castle it's not a carbon copy of an old set, so a modern Fortress / Harbour, or Islander Jungle Island is certainly possible within modern designs.