Lucarex

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Likewise the City Arctic sets from 2014/2015 also had a partnership with Nat Geo Kids around the same “explorer/research scientist” themes.

Just a random guess but might be due to political correctness or sensitivity to ethnic stereotyping? Maybe Lego had complaints (or MR focus group feedback) as to why the minifig character of a lowly school janitor is given a Hispanic/Latino name? But then his hero alter ego remains El Fuego anyway so not sure how that avoids the issue entirely, just makes it less obvious I guess.

https://brickipedia.fandom.com/wiki/El_Fuego Same character. He was listed as Diego Diaz in the high school set but they changed (anglicised?) the name to Elton Douglas in later sets.

New protagonist minifig with logo jacket has leaked. Hmmm thinking he'll look good in Ninjago City.

Thanks, I get the principle but this far out? Almost 6 months... Any other examples of “hot cake” sets that were available so much in advance?

Ha love the obscure reference to a Da Vinci artwork as a CMF suggestion, even if the animal in question is actually a (land-loving) stoat/weasel, not a water-dwelling otter. I'm surprised we have yet to see the patronus deer yet in its natural colour, seems like an obvious and easy choice.

Bellissimo! Love the subtle colour scheme especially the nougat and sand green. Would recreate this myself but at 87cm high, yikes Can't wait to see the rest of the Piazza.

Wasn't sure where to ask this (mods feel free to move as appropriate) but wondered if anyone can shed light on this TLG practice? Not something I've paid attention to before. I'm not talking about VIP pre-order a few weeks early but much further ahead. For example, both the SW Mandalorian Razor Crest and Mando/Child Brickheadz were available to pre-order last month, with shipping dates into August and September respectively. How common is this? Any other examples? Is it specific to certain licensed themes/sets only?

I’ve said it before, but I still think TLNM (unfairly slated IMO) was the best place to call it a day.

Impatient to see the new summer Divers sets, given the several aquatic animal leaks. Compared to other years, how far in advance have City sets been previewed?

It “sells” despite the exhaustion of originality and story only because it’s become an ever-present theme with all the associated marketing push and promotions. This summer’s new sets morphing into some sort of exhumed Nexo Knights mashup says it all. Of course it’s blocking other new in-house themes - imagine if it was cancelled, would TLG simply make the designers (a limited resource) redundant or put them to work on new themes? Not difficult to work that one out.

Yep, alongside the closure of TRU, probably the biggest retailer (in Europe at least) that ran these exclusives.

Think the days of store exclusives (especially on an inhouse theme) are history. There's been no rumour or suggestion of a sixth set in wave 3 so it's probably an error.

Actually just built this great little Creator 3in1 set today - although sidekick was adamant he wasnt interested in the alternative 2 builds, just the shark pirate coaster. The plan is to enhance it by adding to the castle parts, maybe recolour a bit and theme with different minifigs such as PotC (Davy Jones' gang, mermaids etc.) or even Hidden Side (the Shrimp Shack looks perfect). But yes, I think many share your compulsion to add where possible - as you say they just end up lost in the parts bin.

I’ve missed these! Fantastic as always.

Just saw the new Cap Marvel figure and jeez, she looks awful compared with previous. The lighter blue, the hair and that helmet just makes it look like a knock off minifig IMO.

@Guyon2002 “what is in my opinion the best animated franchise ever: How To Train Your Dragon” Good call and inclined to agree. I’d love to see a CMF series (the licensed Playmobil sets weren't great) but as has been said, the lack of dragons would be a major flaw. So I’d happily settle for a limited theme of 5 or 6 sets.

Just my 2 cents’....but getting a bit tired of seeing the “building or rundown shack from <insert tv series of the month>” entries. Between the fabulous Old Fishing Store and Stranger Things (which pretty much nailed off that corner of the market), there’s not really any originality left build-wise. The phrase “inspired by” has become shorthand for derivative. Likewise there seems to be a growing trend of lazy nostalgic license trawling and just seeing what sticks, with sets like Voltron, Flintstones, Sesame Street etc. clearly aimed at “fans” with Lego looking at return on investment rather than encouraging genuine IDEAS (the original Cusoo ethos after all). Much prefer to see truly creative non-licensed stuff like - just a few examples - the Maze (discontinued very quickly), Working Piano (surprisingly approved but we’re in for a very long wait), Typewriter (similarly complicated but failed review) and Pursuit of Flight (for shame, Lego) but these seem more of a commercial gamble than sure-fire revenue generators, so are becoming less and less visible. Even the popular NASA space theme seems to get a free review pass on any old set these days, like the educationally worthy but oh so dull ISS. I often wonder if IDEAS excluded all non-Lego IP submissions overnight, what we’d be left with to vote for currently. Not much I’d wager. It’s a sadly familiar path that has echoes elsewhere, none more so than seeing LEGO Architecture become LEGO Tourist Attractions.

Like most I’d love to see a MCU CMF as long as it didn’t go down the same path as the recent lacklustre (and I’m being kind here) DC series. Despite Itaria being the source, still think it’s a longshot though. Same reasons we’ll never see a Star Wars CMF.

Have a feeling the next Lighthouse episode is going to be epic!!!

it’s hardly a zombie toilet roll hazmat MOC or similar poor taste. All I see is a doctor, fireman/emergency worker, cleaner, policeman and scientist in biosafety gear tackling a fast moving virus-as-minifig. It’s clearly representative of the battle and duly gives credit to those brave workers amongst us.

Item number?

Box art decision is interesting as for retail purposes it’s better to show the actual set. But given HS, I guess Lego feel bold enough to recommend the illustration style choice, and the DC license team are happy to use it as a means to differentiate the new range and movie. Guaranteed the set will be pictured on the reverse of box though.

True to an extent but equally it would show up just how lazy they were with the shark. Agree. It doesn’t look anywhere near CMF accessory quality to me.