TeriXeri

If you don't want to go through the added time of sorting sets, start with alternate builds, also adds the challenge of a limited parts availability (especially on smaller sets). LEGO used to put alternate models on the box, eventually they stopped doing that, but there's still the 3-in-1 theme (which sometimes even has a 4th or 5th downloadable instruction) which can serve as inspiration. I'm always surprised when I build a set, how much sideways building there is, and how cleanly hidden away those weird colored parts usually are , but don't let colors limit creativity. I remember when most basic LEGO was just a few colors, and nowadays it's pretty daunting with the much larger color palette, but unless you strictly want a model in 1 color, use the colors for creativity. Also don't feel bad if a building doesn't have some details like stairs/ladders/closed back etc , those all take more parts/size on a build, but unless it's a direct goal, start simpler with some imagination. I do sometimes have a hard time with the thought of mixing many sets in a pile (pretty much gotta accept they won't be the original set anymore for a long time, because imagine 5 MOC made out of 10 set, and having to take em all apart to build 1 of the sets again), so that's how I started my MOC's with alternate builds of single sets first.

The 3-in-1 Tiger seems to be partially targeted at the Asian market, as it releases January instead of March, so in time for the Year of the Tiger. So with a tiger via Creator, I do hope the focus is on building/market type set and not another Tiger Statue.

A normal house this time around, and I don't even mind the open back as I'm more into 3-in-1 builds anyway compared to full modular scale, also seems fairly easy to modify it into a non-winter house.

A lot of smaller sets in the first part of the year which is to be expected, also seems more animal based sets then usual. Viking Ship is an interesting direction for the theme, wonder if it comes alongside the IDEAS one or not (remember 2020 had 2 pirate ships, and 2021 had Castle with Blacksmith), hopefully it has more then 3 figures, but as long as the figs have good equipment, 3 figs could still be good. Noodle Shop could be nice if it's a larger budget set like the Pet Shop/Cafe. Tiger being the largest animal set also makes sense seeing how it will be Year of the Tiger, so noodle shop and tiger seem to be partially oriented toward the asian market.

This reminds me a bit of this old Fright Knights set 6097 , probably the spooky theme around it, and the single open tower, overall a great alternate build on 31120.

The most annoying thing about the 4+ line since 2019 is that in 4 years, 4 out of 5 Construction vehicle sets have been 4+ (counting the 2019 Garbage Truck as construction) . 2018 did have mining but since then there has not been a major construction line since, wish I had picked up more of them. I don't mind the 4+ vehicles if there are alternatives, like there have been for the Fire/Police trucks and helicopters.

I actually still like the Stage sets very much, recently built the Boom Box and K-Pawp stages, and the figures are , and the parts/builds feel a mix of DOTS and LEGO Movie 2 (pop-up party Bus etc.) (then again, some of those LEGO Movie 2 sets were hitting massive discounts as well so probably weren't very popular either) I just think LEGO missed the mark on this theme in terms of how it released. If the Stage sets were the main thing, with a few more themed stages, I think the theme might've been liked a lot more , and then they could've done the CMF packs, or themed minfig packs as additions. Starting with those Beatboxes and also Blind Boxes at the same time was a bad idea. Also the marketing being so focused around an app seems to have been the biggest misser, Nexo Knights had app support but the app was far from the main focus of set design. The idea of the fold-out Boom Box is fun but I think having more themed stages for the Vampire/Dragons (Castle?) , Faeries (Elves Forest?), or even a Spaceship style for the Robot/Aliens etc could've been nice.

I agree, if there are no in-house pirates, a Ninjago-fied version of pirates would be perfect timing. Barracuda Bay is apparently retiring, Ninjago Island sets should still be on shelves for 1HY2022, also parts could stay in production for eventual possibility of Skybound Legacy.

This cat has been used 9 times in sets from 2015-2021 , last time in City was in 2020 Main Square, but seeing how 2020 and 2021 had multiple dogs with different prints I do hope for a new color, even while I don't have any LEGO cat at the moment. Also hoping the Dogs in 2022 are a bit different from the typical re-used shepherd/dalmatians of recent times.

Ok I was wrong there but still, 2010 and 2013 was really long time ago and that printed tile has been used since. I don't keep track of every detail of City sets between 2001-2016 much as I didn't collect LEGO at that time. I only started collecting City after 2018.

Rumour of a Cat in the 2022 Fire station set finally would do some justice to this printed tile seen in many sets , including the 2019 fire station. Edit : that's a long time since the 2010/2013 cat in Fire sets.

With a sleigh set, I wonder if the WV set where will be something Santa will be able to visit, like a house. 2019 had a Gingerbread house, but the last regular minifig WV "house" was way back in 2012, or 2015 Toy Shop re-release if a bit lenient.

4 Deer in a what looks to be directly purchasable set is fantastic (set number is 40499 directly follows the 40498 Winter Penguin set).

That's a great sleigh set for sure, last year had the Christmas Wreath, this seems to be the 2021 set, seeing how the box has a similar green artwork on the left side bar. Also the set numbering falls in line with the other Seasonal purchasable sets. 40498 is the Penguin set, and this Sleigh seems to be 40499.

Round 2 of 2021 BrickLink Designer Program have been chosen for "Late 2021" https://www.bricklink.com/v2/community/newsview.page?msgid=1301686 Mountain Windmill Modular LEGO Store Seasons in Time: Calendar Retro Bowling Alley Brickwest Studios Ruined House Clockwork Aquarium Quest Builder Science Adventures

Those re-release / recolor sets will be a test exclusive to UK it seems. https://brickset.com/article/63409/lego-announces-product-variation-pilot Not too fussed about the fire station(s) then. Product numbers already signaled that they seemed something special, and not regular releases.

So Barracuda Bay is retiring at the end of this year? But the 3-in-1 Pirate Ship is not apparently. Really wonder what the future will hold regardless.

One was specific for 2021, this one kind of was a 2022 thread but renamed and turned more like Generic about unreleased sets and rumours. As for the future, what I'd like to see is a seperate thread for reviews/videos, that was the main thing that annoyed me a bit about the 2021 thread.

Trans neon orange was one of the big draws to return to LEGO for me with Nexo Knights, but still remains one of my favorite LEGO colors. I wonder if it has anything to do with LEGO changing their transparent material, or just a cleanup of LEGO part catalog/moulds/colors due to material/logistics shortages in the world currently going on.

Probably only the Rocket racer unless the other sets get discounts, currently are not worth €100 / €60 / €30 to me.

Thanks. Added a size comparison to the main build of 31120.

Nice mods and figure selection

My biggest castle set in the past was 6078: Royal Drawbridge and I saw the pictures of 7079: Drawbridge Defense, and figured I could think up something with 31120 parts. Did a quick build today no planning and ended up with this : There's a jail under the ramp, and the back is open with room for interior on the bottom and bridge floor level. Size compared to 31120: Still lots of parts left and made some rough side builds : (sorry for blurry phone pics, was meant to do a quick post, not high quality)

YouTubers? What's next ? Twitch ? , Twitter ? Instagram ? Facebook ? TikTok? Also consider the minimum age for YouTube account officially is 13 years old, and 13-17 years with parental permission, so it would be an 18+ (adults welcome) series. I know the closest to a real-world CMF so far has been the German Soccer team, and LEGO had NBA players long ago as their self, and even then, DFB series seemed to focus mostly on the actual DFB and adidas branding around it to justify the series, rather then being standalone single "famous" people. I still think in a context like YouTube or other social media, that's different from sports or being an actor/actress playing a "character" for Harry Potter/DC/Marvel/Star Wars/Sitcom for example And while there are so many clickbait titles like most popular youtuber , streamer, or whatever out there, raw viewer/subscriber numbers aren't a simple way to make a selection either, I don't think it would reflect the platform and LEGO combined very well, especially in a limited selection Random bag type of series, 12-16 slots isn't a whole lot, and I think it's safer for LEGO to continue their movie/series type of characters, or do Mario/Sonic etc, whatever they have licensed instead of Social Media. Even so, regarding LEGO's licenses, with the situation at Blizzard right now, the return of Overwatch, let alone Overwatch CMF (to fill the gaps in the roster) seems questionable. I'd rather see more varied generic minifigs overall, with different hair colors and hairstyles, and prints, rather then being focused to lookalike a real person and the possible controversy around it (things are taken out of context a lot on social media these days) Even the Everyone is Awesome set had a lot of reactions, for all sorts of reasons.

Especially my sets from 2018-2019 seem to have multiple variants of pearl gold, seems to be a period where LEGO changed the color a bit from more olive-greenish to more orange-ish, was very noticlable when Nexo Knight 2018 wave used a lot of gold tiles, and then 2019 Ninjago Legacy's gold looking very different, also seems to vary from person to person in the case of nexo knights so maybe varied per factory when the switch was made. Most 1x2 Tiles also had a very noticeable V shaped mould mark on them, with glitters in it. Renders/Box Art of the 2018 Nexo sets also used the newer color. Found some posts from 2018/2019 that indicate the same thing happened around 2-3 years ago. Not my pictures but did a search , and found these that should illustrate what I mean with the color change Top being "old" , bottom being newer. Left "old" , right "newer"