danth

This is exactly what I'm saying. But I'm having a hard time getting people here to acknowledge this pretty basic concept. I'm not even saying an open story is better than an established story, just different...and I can't even get people to concede that.

Doesn't Lego license out the rights to make video games, cartoons, and movies for Ninjago, Nexo Knights, etc? Is that what your bold text is describing? I've watched the toys that made us. So would you say there is no difference with how a kid who has seen Star Wars would play with a classic Spaceman vs how that same kid would play with a Boba Fett minifig?

Well I guess there was confusion because I brought up Nexo Knights, and then you guys brought up Johnny Thunder and Ninjago. Those are both much worse examples of what I'm getting at. So I figured I'd counter with an even stronger example -- Star Wars minifigs -- to make it obvious. Johnny Thunder is almost as generic as a classic theme. However it has named characters with back stories and some mini-comics (with no dialog). So as a theme it has a bit of a defined world, but not much. And of course the minifigs look like anyone out of Indian Jones or The Mummy or other movies. Ninjago, to me, is a licensed theme. Just one where Lego owns the license. The characters and setting, and even the stories, are defined in cartoons and movies. However I do agree that the parts from Ninjago, even main hero/villain minifigs, are generic looking enough to be used in probably any setting with martial arts/ninjas. Now Nexo Knights, yes it's an in-house license like Ninjago, but a bit further on the character-specific/world-specific parts spectrum. Each character really does have his/her own helmet visor. And those visors don't work in medieval times because they have antennas and headlamps and other sci-fi stuff on them. Same with the weapons and shields to some degree. They could totally work in He-man or Thundercats style settings though where magic and technology mix. You guys have made some good points I hadn't considered though: In-house license themes don't have minifig faces that have to look like specific people In-house license themes can intentionally design characters so that minifig parts are more generic/reusable

These are both false equivalencies. Are you really going to pretend that a boonie hat or a ninja minifig is just as reusable within one's own made up world as a Boba Fett helmet or a Storm Trooper minifig? Let's be real here. And let's use an example. This is a Classic Space man: He is generic and archetypal enough to be used for any made-up space man character a kid wants. He can be this guy: He can be this guy: Now let's look at another minifig. The Star Wars Storm Trooper: Instantly recognizable as the Star Wars Storm Trooper. You cannot unsee it. Yes, maybe you can find some creative use of the helmet as the thumb piece of a giant robot or something, or reuse most of the body pieces, but the helmet is going to be really hard to see as anything else than what it is designed as. There are some other Sci Fi worlds you can use this figure in of course. He can be a HALO EOD trooper: Of course the EOD trooper was specifically designed as a Storm Trooper homage so that's close to cheating. So you have HALO, maybe Fallout power armor (although that's also based on the Storm Trooper), and possibly something from Destiny. So the Storm Trooper is kind of reusable in cases where you have something based on the Storm Trooper design already. Now let's take this guy: It's Boba Fett. Almost every part of him is instantly recognizable. It's pretty hard to unsee Boba Fett and pretend he's someone else. Maybe another Mandalorian trooper? Other than the gun and antenna most parts aren't generic enough to reuse and not just see Boba Fett. So, am I saying generic is good and specific is bad? No. Am I saying someone from another planet who has never seen Star Wars cannot make up whatever identities they want for the Storm Trooper or Boba Fett minifigure? No. But I am saying, if you are familiar with Star Wars, there is a difference between playing with a figure like the generic Space Man and a figure like Boba Fett. One is easy to make whoever you want. One encourages you to make your own characters and stories. The other encourages you to play in a world from a movie. If you cannot understand this very basic concept, it's intentional on your part.

I like the idea of retro package and old style sets. The premium price is pretty dumb though. Why? Now if they did this for a Classic Space set with the Legoland banner I would pay that premium. I'd want the old-style helmet though. (Yes Lego can remake a reinforced version; they make tons of new head pieces every year).

A knight is not Clay Moorington. A spaceman is not Han Solo. A pirate is not Jack Sparrow. So no, your argument makes no sense here. It's obvious what I meant by defined characters so I'm not sure why there is any misunderstanding I don't remember Monster Fighers having a cartoon. Maybe it had a set story but I don't remember one. Which is why you could play however you wanted. Because there was no set story. This is why I always thought the Black Falcons were the freedom fighters and the Lion Knights were the jerky aristocrats. And Blacktron were mostly misunderstood. It's not an oxymoron. All of those themes had cartoons and/or movies. They all had defined settings, events, and characters. The characters were named and had their own colors. There was a mythos, even specific magical powers defined with their own symbols. No different from Star Wars or Avengers except who owns the license. So a helmet is not a helmet, it's Clay Moorington's Helmet. A shield is not a shield, it is the Hawk Holler shield which combos with the Tractor Beam shield. Yes you can ignore the stories and names and defined story elements, but that takes extra work to pretend "I know this looks like Clay Moorington but it's really just a knight I named Fred."

The problem with Ninjago, Chima, Nexo Knights, etc is that they are just in-house licenses. They all have defined stories (cartoons), settings, and characters. Everything is predetermined. So, they aren't comparable at all to classic themes or even modern City.

I'm holding out for a few Classic Space themed Creator sets. Fingers crossed!

This is awesome as heck!

I agree. Other than the ice cream cannon smoke, and maybe the above board cannons, I don't miss much from the original.

Am I drunk? No... *checks glasses* Just kidding. Very cool! Also, is that a custom printed Classic Space landing plate bedsheet?

Same here but for Space. And not war oriented like Galaxy Squad. Something more like Classic Space.

Hmm...should I get my hopes up?

That Pirate themed roller coaster is amazing! I hope Universe Surprises is as Spacey as that roller coaster is Pirate-y.

Exactly. "Let's do something that we recently did, but worse" doesn't seem like the greatest idea.

I'm far too lazy to do the detailed format. But I'd love to see: a bard/minstrel type with a big feathered hat and a lute a Mad Max road warrior with spiky shoulders, a chain whip, face paint, and a mohawk

This past summer I was sorting all my Lego. There was a lot of sitting on the floor with legs stretched out between piles of Lego, bending and reaching. When I was all done, I was cleaning up. I leaned down to pick up an empty zip lock baggie from my couch, and my lower back just gave out completely. I fell onto the floor -- luckily not onto any Legos -- and could not get up. I crawled into the bedroom where my wife was sleeping. I could not pull myself up onto the bed. I had to sleep on the floor. The next morning my wife had to help me just to stand up in the bathroom. I had to call in sick to work because I literally could not stand up on my own. After two weeks all was well again but man, it's hard to believe I threw my back out picking up an empty zip lock bag. I had been regularly deadlifting 300 pounds without injury too. Life doesn't make sense.

The mini BSB is the clear standout. It's very nicely done. The others don't do anything for me.

The original Town, Space, and Castle themes were the very first to have the modern minifigure. You can't get much more classic than that.

I found a set I want rereleased: https://brickset.com/sets/1592-1/Town-Square-Castle-Scene Because it's kinda crazy. Although it has multiple StOMPs (Stickers over multiple pieces) which is a no-no. I wouldn't care if they replaced some bricks with panels to avoid that. And bring back the hair pieces and hats that are now out of production. Which will never happen of course. I miss those bullet helmets.

The light cycle is kinda boring IMO. Close enough to this to be redundant.

Ah, so you're making the glass boxes yourself, or custom ordering them. I'll be very interested to see the finished product!

I never responded to this. That bi-plane style space ship is great. Such a completely different shape than the main build. I need to do an alt build before the end of the year. I am so behind. Quoting you so you get pinged.

But then you won't be able to display a base that is built on two plates, right? Like this one: https://brickset.com/sets/6971-1/Inter-Galactic-Command-Base Unless you somehow remove sides from the clear boxes.

I'd be interested in seeing your final display case solution. I bought Detolfs from Ikea but they don't fit two baseplates side by side. I need something bigger...