icm

You could do a 4+ version

For me, the best years of LSW besides 1999-2001 are 2015-2019, and in particular 2018 and 2019. Because those were movie years, there was lots of new material for the sequels, but there was also very good coverage of OT and OT-adjacent sets like the Rogue One Y-wing and the Solo TIE. In 2018 we got the best OT X-wing and TIE fighter (OT design, though Solo movie) and in 2019 we got the best OT Millennium Falcon, Slave I, and Tantive IV. OK, the Falcon wasn't an OT set, but it just needed a minifigure swap, and you could conveniently get the OT Falcon crew in the Slave I and other smaller sets easily available in 2018-2020. For me, the worst years were 2008-2013, because I wasn't very interested in the Clone Wars era at the time, and those years focused on TCW just like 2015-2019 focused on the ST and OT. So, one man's trash is another man's treasure, etc. Apart from that, the last few years have been rough because of the declining quantity of playsets and increasing quantity of 18+ display sets in formats that don't really interest me, like buildable droids, logos, and helmets, while the playsets that remain are downsized and price-hiked. There have been some really good sets in the last few years, but the direction the theme has been taking doesn't please me. Edits in bold.

This time, I tried to be pretty sparing with my use of "Like It" and "Love It", so as not to dilute my vote. I marked a few medium-size castles as "Like It", and nearly everything else as "Not For Me". The only three that I marked "Love It" were the following, which are the only three I can definitely see myself buying. I really hope the Classic Space Rover makes it through this time - it was my favorite build one or two rounds ago, but it wasn't selected. The Intergalactic Justice Enforcer is also very creative without being too big and complex and overdesigned. The Broadside Brawl is two nice little brick-built sailing ships that would make a great playset.

Thanks for your review post. You have an impressive fleet!

Great news! So happy to have Brickshelf back.

Seven? I can only find five on the Mattel Brick Shop website.

I posted here but then I deleted my post because I don't want to participate in necrobumping an old thread.

That's why the old EU had a lot of complicated layers of canonicity. People used to mock it for that, but it wasn't without reason. For me, the films and TV shows are of roughly decreasing canonicity in production order, which seems to me like the simplest commonsense approach.

That does look amazing. It continues the all-too-frequent trend of bundling scenes that could be small, affordable sets into one giant building, but it's one very good giant building. I just wish we could get a single ~$80-$90 set that combined the challenges from the end of Philosopher's Stone, i.e. Fluffy, the Devil's Snare, the Winged Keys, the Chess Set, the Potions (although they weren't in the movie), and the Mirror with Quirrell. That would still be a large set combining several scenes that were discrete sets in the first movie wave from 2001, but it would be more focused and playable than trying to cram them in the lower levels of the giant tower at a reduced scale.

It looks pretty good to me going from the sketch. We haven't had a City jet with that configuration since 2016, and then since 2011. The 3w cylinders should make pretty good engine pieces, and I don't think we've had a jet with folding airstairs before.

Of course, who am I to question the oracular wisdom of Imposter-RiddlerDC-LegoTurtle the Swedish-Finnish wunderkind? He must be the sales manager for the flagship Lego store in Stockholm.

Still need a citation on this.

[citation needed] Also, that's perfectly normal for this time of year, what with May the Fourth and all. Are you seeing anything different than the typical level of sales that most themes get?

Of all the possible reasons why Lego hasn't had a traditional Castle theme since 2013, I'm sure that's one of the least significant/likely. That's why Lego doesn't do modern military, not why they haven't been doing a lot of Castle.

According to one person's complex headcanon, I guess. Personally I've vaguely imagined that the Lion Knights are kinda-sorta English and the Black Falcons are kinda-sorta German. Really, the different Castle factions can be from wherever you want in medieval Europe.

With a title like Starfighter, we better get a handful of nice swooshy new starfighter sets out of the movie (if it gets made, which I won't believe until there's a trailer). But I bet we'll get one new starfighter, one rehash, two buildable droids, a 4+ speeder chase, and a helmet.

It's a stretch to count BDP as a theme, because it's not sold through Shop at Home or in Lego retail stores, but it does have a fairly large amount of sets, they are produced by the Lego company, and there's reasonable availability for a short-run boutique product. But yeah, BDP is certainly not a theme in the same way Atlantis or Dreamzzz are.

As the discussion loop in this thread has shown several times, he won't see.

Now we're just in No True Scotsman territory. City doesn't usually have a story and characters. Obviously it's a mainline theme, but it doesn't have story and characters. That Creator set doesn't have a story and characters either. It's an open ended play scenario inspired by Pirates. If we're going to count that as a Pirates set, there's no reason not to count the City spaceships from last year as Space sets. Besides, that set was a GWP, not a retail playset.

Thanks for clarifying your terms. But if you mean themes with story and characters, why are you including City and Creator?

As for 2024, going from the Brickset list I count: Animal Crossing - licensed Architecture - licensed Art - mixed licensed and unlicensed, we'll count it as unlicensed here Brickheadz - licensed Bricklink Designer Program - unlicensed City - unlicensed Classic - unlicensed Collectible Minifigures - mixed licensed and unlicensed, we'll count it as unlicensed here Creator - unlicensed DC Comics Super Heroes - licensed Despicable Me - licensed Disney - licensed Dreamzzz - unlicensed Duplo - mixed licensed and unlicensed, but mostly licensed in 2024! I'll count it as a licensed theme here Fortnite - licensed Friends - unlicensed Gabby's Dollhouse - licensed Gear - not a theme for the purposes of this list Harry Potter - licensed Icons - mixed licensed and unlicensed, we'll count it as unlicensed here Ideas - mixed licensed and unlicensed, but mostly licensed in 2024 Jurassic World - licensed Marvel Super Heroes - licensed Minecraft - licensed Miscellaneous - unlicensed Monkie Kid - unlicensed Ninjago - unlicensed Promotional - mostly unlicensed GWPs, so I'll count it as a theme here Seasonal - unlicensed Sonic the Hedgehog - licensed Speed Champions - licensed Star Wars - licensed Super Mario - licensed Technic - mostly licensed in 2024, with some unlicensed sets The Legend of Zelda - licensed Wednesday - licensed Wicked - licensed I would count as unlicensed themes for 2024: Art Bricklink Designer Program City City Space (I'm counting it separately from City here) Classic Collectible Minifigures Creator Dreamzzz Friends Icons Botanicals (I'm counting it separately from Icons here) Ideas (a few unlicensed sets) Miscellaneous Monkie Kid Ninjago Promotional Seasonal Technic Space (I'm counting it separately from the licensed Technic sets here) So, that's about the same number of unlicensed themes as in 2011, while the licensed portfolio has grown.

Advanced Models - mixed licensed and unlicensed. We'll call it unlicensed for the purposes of this thread. Architecture - licensed. Atlantis - unlicensed. Bricks and More - unlicensed. Cars - licensed. Castle - unlicensed. City - unlicensed. Collectible Minifigures - unlicensed. Creator - unlicensed. DC Comics Super Heroes figures for San Diego Comic Con - licensed. Duplo - mixed licensed and unlicensed. We'll call it unlicensed for the purposes of this thread. Education - unlicensed, but not a regular retail theme. Games - unlicensed. Gear - not a theme for the purposes of this thread. Harry Potter - licensed. Hero Factory - unlicensed. Ideas - only licensed sets in 2011. Life of George - unlicensed. Master Builder Academy - unlicensed, but not a regular retail theme. Mindstorms - unlicensed. Miscellaneous - unlicensed, but not a regular retail theme. Ninjago - unlicensed. Pharoah's Quest - unlicensed. Pirates of the Caribbean - licensed. Power Functions - unlicensed, but does it really count as its own theme? Promotional - mixed licensed and unlicensed, doesn't count as a theme for this thread. Racers - unlicensed. Seasonal - unlicensed. Space (Alien Conquest) - unlicensed. Spongebob Squarepants - licensed. Star Wars - licensed. Technic - unlicensed except for the flagship set. For the purposes of this thread, I count the following unlicensed themes in 2011 from the Brickset list: Advanced Models Bricks and More Castle City Collectible Minifigures Creator Duplo Games Hero Factory Life of George Master Builder Academy Mindstorms Ninjago Pharoah's Quest Racers Seasonal Space Technic Ok, that's not quite twenty (20) but it's pretty close. I'll give it to you.

Off the top of my head, I don't think there's ever been a year with twenty (20) distinct original themes. Can you please name the year and list the themes?

I suggest that any future threads on this topic be merged into this one. They're always the same.

It's high time for a Snowspeeder remake with a new bespoke windscreen. Do I expect this Hot Rod T-47 to have a new bespoke windscreen? No.