Classic_Spaceman

So, a cape battlepack? ?

I like this idea, but I am not sure why "Blacktron" cannot be their official name. Real-world companies such as Blackwater (private security) and Black Cube (private intelligence) have similar names and functions as Blacktron, so I see the existing name to be reasonable. An extension of this general idea: What if Blacktron is the organisation for which players work, rather than Space-Heroica (since Heroica is also a shady mercenary organisation), and calling the game "Blacktron: The RPG" serves to better convey the sci-fi/sci-fantasy setting, does not make new players feel that they must be familiar with the old game in order to play the new one, and would appeal to a wider range of members (since I seriously doubt that anyone here would not like to play a game as a Blacktron agent!). BTW, I am currently working on my character stats and questions/suggestions in the About Me section of my profile. I will post here once I feel that it is complete enough, but I am welcome to suggestions and answers during the interim.

Ah. I thought that you were referring to an actual update of the LEGO Island characters and pizzeria, not just small references in a regular City set.

Unfortunately, probably because there is nothing to criticise. ? Since TLJ, the most vocal segments of the Star Wars fandom have seemed to define themselves as antagonistic towards anything and everything put out by "Disney Wars", so they now would likely have difficulty admitting that they actually enjoy some aspect of modern Star Wars (since hating everything new has become part of their identity as Star Wars "fans"). As an example, the Star Wars thread with the most comments recently has been one speculating upon what will happen if/when TRoS fails! Another, more optimistic, possibility, is that not many members have been able to watch (I have not, beyond clips that I can find on YouTube), since either they have not subscribed to Disney+ yet, or Disney+ has not been released in their countries.

It has appeared before:

Such a set would likely have the City Pizza branding and colour-scheme of the Pizza Van, though, and would probably not include Pepper's skateboard. A more accurate LEGO Island-inspired pizzeria might actually fit better in Hidden Side (and Pepper could use a recolour of Jack's new hairpiece). We already have an updated Rocket Racer, from CMF Series 18 ("Race Car Guy").

This piece.

It would look even better (and more like Ice Planet) with the new City Space helmet. ? It actually is - The City Space visor is Trans-Orange, not Trans-Neon Orange.

This actually explains the Minifig designs, as well. HS could have been originally conceived as an “X-Treme Ghost Hunters” theme with a variety of settings, but evolved into something more grounded and smaller-scale, as we see in Wave 1. This also would make the Paranormal Intercept Bus somewhat of a holdover from the original premise, and would explain its late-90’s/early-00’s theme-references (That are not present in other sets) and “COOL BUS” designation.

If the torso were from Ninjago, it would have some kind of digital elements to its design (VR/MoCap gear, pixelation, TRON-style lines, etc), but it does not. Additionally, it cannot be from Lloyd’s avatar, since we have already seen that. It is, most likely, from the City “Turbo Wheels” subtheme.

What about a battlepack with: Standard 501st Clone (2x), SoM Clone (1x), 501st AT-RT Driver (or ARF Trooper) (1x)?

My point is that this is not an either/or situation. These Clones could be included in a set (or sets) based on the Siege of Mandalore, and the standard 501st Clones can appear in a battlepack (or Republic Gunship, or AT-TE, etc). There is no reason why we cannot have both.

These are just the Clones under Rex's command during the Siege of Mandalore. At the same time, the rest of the 501st was deployed to Coruscant (Jedi Temple) under Commander Appo.

New images of Unagami and "404" have leaked. Unagami has the SoG armour/shoulder-pads piece, but recoloured in red, and "404" has a black helmet and large Trans-Neon Orange visor (the same design as Sam Flynn's helmet in the TRON: Legacy set).

I am wondering - What if these sets were designed first, while the sets in Wave 1 were actually designed later (once the designers had a better understanding of the theme)? This has happened in the past (Café Corner was not the first Modular that was designed, but it was released first due to its lack of an interior), and it would explain why the detailing has gone down and the theme feels directionless overall. Looking at a hypothetical progression from Wave 2 to Wave 1, the direction of the sets becomes more focused, the Gloomed transformations become more elaborate and detailed, the app-connection bricks are better integrated into the builds, and the town of Newbury becomes more well-defined. This might also explain why the largest set (High School) was released in the first, rather than second, wave. Perhaps LEGO felt that the Wave 1 sets would be a better introduction to the theme, and that the Wave 2 sets could ride on the existing popularity of the line.

I am really not sure what the theme is trying to do/be in Wave 2, since the multicoloured-brick connections to the app have been relegated to a dial on the side of each structure, so it does not even seem that the app is being prioritised over the builds themselves. Further along these lines, what is going on with Parker and Jack? Their Wave 1 designs were sufficiently modern/realistic and fit with their smartphones, but the Wave 2 designs have a weird 80's/90's feel - Shaggy hair and a backwards cap for Jack, a skateboard, and a BMX bike?? This also makes Parker's headphones look extremely dated, instead of just looking like Beats.

I am putting the discussion of this leaked torso here:

From the City 2020 thread: BTW, I have quoted all posts related to this torso into the City 2020 thread, so that the discussion can continue there and not derail this thread.

It could be from the City "Turbo Wheels" subtheme.

I should have used a comma - I meant that the “Gloom Power Blast” elements are overused both for set and Gloombie details, and that the Gloombies have less Gloom-based diversity (e.g. Hair, wings, tentacles, extra arms, etc): The normal-to-Gloomed transformations are what sets HS apart from themes like City, though, so the reduction undermines a core element of the theme. Additionally, comparing sets from both waves that have the same number of transformations, the sets in Wave 2 have less detail. Consider Wave 1’s Juice Bar and Wave 2’s Subway Station - Both have one normal-to-Gloomed transformation (and the form of the transformation is similar), but the Juice Bar has far more detail in its Gloomed configuration than does the Subway Station (despite the Subway being larger).

How so? Aside from Jack’s and Parker’s new hairpieces (which are reasonable additions for the second wave of an Action Theme), the only other “attention” that the Minifigs get are the two Minifig-extension elements and the “Gloom Power Blasts” (the latter of which are repurposed in almost every set). Due to the lack of any new Gloombie hairpieces and the overuse of “Gloom Power Blasts”, the Wave 2 Gloombies feel like a downgrade from what we had in Wave 1.

He does appear in the AT-ST Raider, but that is his original design - The hypothetical exclusive to which I was referring is his final (or nearly-final) design.

I disagree (See Sabine - Five major design changes over four seasons!). Additionally, consider how Bo-Katan (who had four years between appearances (2013-2017), and whose armour was heavily redesigned from TCW to Rebels) was immediately recognisable when she showed up in "Heroes of Mandalore". Furthermore, I believe that we have already seen The Mandalorian's final (or close-to-final) design, in his character poster: His armour is clearly different here from his first appearance, but he is still recognisable as the same character. These kinds of packs are the exception, rather than the rule, however, and I highly doubt that LEGO would put a Minifig as desirable as The Mandalorian into a battlepack, when they can use him as an exclusive in a $120 Razor Crest set. I do think that the gun-platform and Nikto guards will be in the pack, though.

I am a bit disappointed by some of the changes made from the Wave 1 sets. Despite most of the sets being location-based, none have the level of normal-to-Gloomed transformation features (or Gloomed details) that sets like the High School, Shrimp Shack, or even the Juice Bar, have. For example, the Lighthouse (by far the standout of the wave) barely looks different in its haunted configuration. I was not really bothered by the lack of physical ghosts in Wave 1, as the transformations made up for it, but they feel noticeably absent from the Wave 2 sets. The Stunt Plane feels like it should be chasing some kind of demon-bat-ghost, so the Gloombie included seems rather lacklustre. Additionally, there seems to be an over-reliance on the "Gloom Power-Bursts" for detailing and diversity among Gloombies, as well as a lack of Gloomed side-builds (See Paranormal Intercept Bus and Shrimp Boat) that could have been included in the Dune Buggy and Stunt Plane (e.g. A haunted gas station). Finally, the aesthetic is far less cohesive than it was in Wave 1 - Some sets still have the run-down, Gulf-Coast feel (Lighthouse), but others look like generic City sets (Dune Buggy, Fair), and still others are difficult to place in the established town of Newbury (Subway, Dune Buggy, futuristic jetpack in the Stunt Plane).

I actually did not realise that, but Filoni Canonising an EU deep-dive does not surprise me! ? The torso is almost certainly not The Mando. Main characters need to have a standard "look", and such a drastic change in appearance would preclude this. This torso probably belongs to a yet-to-be-revealed (or yet-to-be-revealed-as-a-Mandalorian) character. It does look Male, though, so that rules a few people out. I believe that the set is confirmed to be a battlepack. This is not even the first time that IG-Series droids have appeared (See TCW and Rebels), including multiple TCW appearances of the IG-86 Sentinel Droid, which is basically identical to IG-88. As for Mandalorians, while there is certainly a nostalgia-factor (for some), they have enough Canon content (TCW, Rebels) to be compelling on their own merit.