TeriXeri

True, especially considering, LEGO still selling the Big blacksmith IDEAS set, and then the smithing area in the 3-in-1 Castle. I'll probably adjust the Ideas smith to this scale if this set ends up happening. (I don't have old MMV set, but a big fan of the smaller scale)

Best part about the set to me are to see that the Lime Green palm leaves are still made, and not just exclusive to 4 2020 Friends sets. The Donut and Record store are fun builds, as are the Town-style "icecream to go" but the disco front looks very basic. A big focus seems to have gone into the stage + figures of course , it's a music group, the stage parts likely include a whole bunch of techic gears, only a few are seen in the images.

I like the Town style vehicle (Pizza to Go comes to mind), and the palm trees and 2 shops are okay , but if the Availability is "LEGO exclusive" as Brickset claims, I wonder how popular this will be at $100 / €100.

I had a train set back in the 90s which had a lid box, and it was missing one 9v rail, but I don't believe it was stolen, but rather a very rare packing error, which the shop did fix themselves pretty much the same day.

Looks like the Lime Palm leaf came back in that Ideas BTS set, maybe it's not as strange to see them in Friends again then.

I don't think the apps themselves were bad to the theme, and even optional, but especially Vidiyo launched with just CMF and Beatbox sets with heavy advertising on app, the Stage sets should've been part of launch, with perhaps more small sets/vignettes instead of those Beatboxes. Also doing a CMF right out of the gate, with no regular sets to back it up, was a strange move, as CMF have different buyers, and are also sold in a lot less places compared to boxed sets (in my country I never seen CMF in physical stores outside of official LEGO store) The Nexo media (books/magazines/tv show) and sets had "scan powers" all over the place, but it was still a full line of regular sets, but it maybe overdid the budget with the amount of books and promotions released at once. Hidden Side was the only theme that had actual features built into the sets to scan with the app, like colored bricks and panels inside or at the side of the builds, also had debatable set box design that was very different from the usual, I think more focus on physical ghost figures might have helped the theme a bit.

I wouldn't say Nexo really failed because of app, the sets did have scannable shield tiles, but didn't influence the builds as much as the "augmented reality" color-brick stuff from Hidden Side or whatever Vidiyo had (I liked those beat-bits as prints by themselves), both those themes did get pulled early , while Nexo did just technically just end in 2017, with 2018 being a somewhat bonus wave/magazine without a show. Hidden Side last wave had some serious lack of availability, especially the castle just vanished (likely a low production run), and Vidiyo openly got a cancellation announcement. Problem with Vidiyo was lack of normal sets at launch, and Beatboxes price was not popular at all, + it followed mainly negative publicity from another app theme, Hidden Side abruptly ending a few months before it. I mean the concept of the app for those recent City mission sets was fun doing once, but then turns into an annoyance when there's no instructions available otherwise, which to me was much worse design compared to those other themes. Either way, the Nexo game app has been dead for a while now, I have never used app for Hidden Side or Vidiyo, but at least those sets have both paper and pdf instructions to still enjoy as a LEGO brick product and build/rebuild in 10 , 20, 30 years. But apps shouldn't be part of LEGO sets or themes. But even themes without apps can have varied succes based on how it launches : Legend of Chima's first 2 years were split across 3 product lines, with speedorz, buildable CCBS figures and normal sets all at the same time. Ninjago is a good example of how a theme can still be strong, while it did start with spinners and cards, and spinners/flyers throughout the years, the main focus remained normal sets, even popular enough to get a Movie, 2 magazines and it's own Legacy subtheme remaking older sets again. I hope this theme can just be a "normal" theme with normal sets for a start, Elves lasted 4 years and didn't need Apps, CMF, Beatboxes, Spinners etc for that.

It's definately a nice part, especially the shape could serve as part of a Space Police 2 holding cell ( instead of the helicopter window) or just cockpit or side window of course. At least it shows the color still gets made for larger parts.

Sounds nice, hope they use those new fern pieces, and maybe some bush and palm leaves too. Lime green palm leaf was only in 4 sets, and bush only in 1 set, both Friends exclusive from 2020. So far LEGO seems really doing autumn colored plant pieces in various sets (City, A-Frame, Friends Design Store set, Icons Dried Flowers), but some more summery colors like Lime for Friends can be nice, as Lime probably will show up less via Icons or Christmas type sets. (10313: Wildflower Bouquet has some but mainly pieces that aren't really visible inside the build)

That set has been on sale for months now in Europe around €60 or even under, so that price is certainly possible

Yeah it's a nice set, I'll probably convert a bunch of my food vehicles/carts from City/Friends/3-in-1 into shops soon (Pizza, Ice, Fruit/Vegetables, Burgers, Bread/Cake etc.). Of course the vehicle parts are still useful for other custom vehicles, I've just been displaying some sets as sets for way too long and want to start MOCing a bunch, and bigger, taller buildings take less shelf space then spread out stuff, and multiple levels allow things like housing above it. I used to be very strict about keeping sets as sets but recently started to look past that, especially for "Town" related stuff from Friends/Creator/City that might as well go together into custom builds.

That last photo really reminds me of the station from 4532: Manual Level Crossing , which happens to be the only station I ever had. This is bigger and more detailed, but really still has the same vibe to it, even if it's over 25 years later, very nicely done.

stuntz has some interesting pieces overall, like curved windows in 60361: Ultimate Stunt Riders Challenge , but that set and 60360: Spinning Stunt Challenge are some of the worst priced sets in history, even in EU. (I know US had those €20 stuntz sets at $35 which is another crime LEGO police should solve) A round building using those curved windows and hoops could be very interesting though, just as a seperate set.

If they just did this as a regular set in the first place instead of that silly wooden figure (wooden pegleg not included ), we'd probably have more of those by now. I mean the concept of this is pretty cool, like the clocks they had a while ago but this is actual LEGO. (And yes I know there were the harry potter builds, but this is a figure you'd see redbeard as brick built statues or in toy stores back in the old days way before HP was a thing) LEGO House exclusive however isn't that nice, BUT 40366: LEGO House Dinosaurs is still sold at LEGO.com (retiring soon) , and that started as a LEGO house set too.

Sort of yes, there are still differences like windows with plants, a darker stripe on the bottom of 2nd and 3rd floor, and ground level looks to have some sort of shop or coffee cup logo above the door. However, it also has many aspects of 31068: Modular Modern Home, with very similar colors, windows, solar panel size/shape, and the blue stripe and blue with wood entrance. The entrance and windows being built pretty much identical, except the 3-in-1 set doesn't have the "city" transparent blue windows. Still, since the other buildings are actual sets, this is interesting, and I'm not saying "it's just a big 31068 built in the style of 2x 60291." , the 3-in-1 is also a much older set from 2017 and not City.

City did have breakout with TNT dynamite multiple times, (it was a major action feature in the 2017 police station) and later still appeared in 5 sets during 2020-2021 featuring a criminal/police figure, but after 2022 there might have been a change in policy and we see criminals use eggs and ice cream instead, even the Daisy Kaboom character, the main character intended to be in the Bomb Factory set, used a disguise and a garbage truck instead of bombs. For 2023, dynamite has not shown up yet, but there are a few sets with it in production , just not City currently, even tho it might as well show up again in some demolition/mining City set.

Yeah evil knights would be a good change up as hidden side was very ghost/possesed focused (altho it had shadow walkers in last few sets), even traditional knights can still be mysterious / evil with proper designs, I mean, a walking harnass without seeing a face is even used in various movies/shows. Of course it can still have a minifig head with print, but a knight helm with visor is a good way to hide it in various ways or color schemes.

Actually a very good point, looks like that could be very well possible, I mean 72004: Tech Wizard Showdown from Nexo had a similar concept with a battle-suit inside a mech.

LEGO is really forcing the use of rounded plates lately. That said, the way they are used as they are in SETS does not bother me, and even looks quite nice, even for MOC vignettes/sidebuilds etc , but for larger custom floor/ceiling plans they feel less useful to me. 2019 8x8 : 2022 10x10 : (and yes I know City literally just introduced a new 8x8 and 8x16 studded "road plate" for easier , sturdy floor/ceilings or perhaps sidewalks to use with road plates) I can appreciate that a set like 31139: Cozy House uses a lot of larger rectangle plates in useful colors as well, for grass/water/dirt/wood etc. I know quarter rounded plates are practicly ancient at this point 1955 with the 4x8 "waffle" plates , but most of the larger half-circle, full circle / rounded squares, and special shapes like hearts are really a recent thing: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?pg=1&catLike=W&sortBy=Y&sortAsc=A&sz=50&catType=P&catID=28

That has some interesting style to it , I like the use of the dark tints of green and blue as well to contrast with the gold used by both the ninja and enemy figures. The large mech using Geta footwear is also a nice twist, and perhaps even the light colored feet are meant to resemble Tabi split-toe socks as it looks like it has 2 distinct toes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geta_(footwear) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabi

It's the same mould, I was mainly talking about the colors being very suitable to plants , darkgreen with transparent-green. (edit, actually is transparent-bright green)

Those ghost legs from vidiyo banshee singer seem nice for recreating one of those plant monsters, hopefully it won't be color-locked to 1 figure forever now due to it being from Bandmates CMF.

Tbh, a Bendy Bus should be it's own set, already large enough type of vehicle, and being it's own set will also help the bus lovers with expanding/modding their vehicles easier if they had multiple sets, without extra buildings/vehicles to go alongside. I mean, City does have it's bus sets, but they always were part of something larger : Pizza restaurant 2009 Transport Station 2010 Town Square 2013 Bus Station 2017 (so far the smallest side builds) Capital City 2018 Train Station 2022 Price would probably be something ranging from €50-60 if sets like Game Truck, Fire Command Truck or Stunt Truck ring of fire are examples of 2023 large vehicles. Of course the side builds, number of minifigs, overall size and detail plays a role, but I think a large bendy bus deserves to be it's own set. As for a tram, that should really be sold as a seperate vehicle as well, but gets more complicated when it comes to scale, like it could run on "rollercoaster" track or train track, both have their upside and downside. I think making a tram on rollercoaster track is more interesting and would not make it just a short train, and has possibility of vertical elevation (think 6399: Airport Shuttle) but the curves are perhaps a bit too tight, or would need a proper bendy mechanism/turntable that can be used for both tram and bus. Or LEGO could bring back the narrow track to solve those issues, but that seems very unlikely, seeing how often roller coaster tracks are used in place where narrow tracks perhaps could've been used.

Statues? I thought they brought back the 2017 Nexo Knight Stone monsters

Would be nice to see a new type of Steak / Meat piece, or the rarely used one return, even if this is quite oversized, but seeing larger piece of hanging meat in a butcher shop is pretty common. It's not like LEGO food was ever to scale anyway, especially with those head-sized apples, and leg sized bananas and carrots which are mostly relics from the 90s Scala era that introduced those food pieces for much much bigger figures