Meaf

Yeah, 2023 isn't looking too likely anymore. I'm surprised they'd wait that long since the Gardens seemed to sell pretty well. Lego has been putting out tons of D2C stuff lately, so it feels strange that we appear to be going at least three years without a Ninjago D2C.

I think Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow are all pretty likely since their the most popular/recognizable characters aside from Sonic and Eggman, but I wonder if we'll get anyone else. The Metal Sonic prediction above is a good one, but I could also see him being saved for a later wave since there aren't too many iconic Sonic villains. There'll probably be some Eggman robots too, but I'd be shocked if they aren't brick-built. All the other characters that come to mind just seem a little too obscure for a first (and potentially only) wave, but who knows. Maybe Mighty and Ray's appearance in Sonic Mania will land them a spot in the Lego set, as bizarre as that would be.

I was more referring to smaller stuff like microfighters or Marvel's mechs, but admittedly that is a somewhat arbitrary differentiation on my part.

I think you're right on the money with this prediction. I'm sure there are a few examples to the contrary, but I can't remember any mini-series of sets (like these presumably are) where the numbers weren't all next to each other. I wonder what the separate one even is (assuming it's actually it's own thing, of course).

X-Men would be cool but I really doubt that we'll see them in Lego form before they show up in the MCU. They're just not as popular as the Avengers anymore, and most of them aren't well-known enough to carry a Lego set. The absolute best I could see happening this year is a cheap comics-based set with a few really famous characters like Magneto and Wolverine (basically just that helicopter set again). Even that seems very unlikely to me though.

I like the sounds of all the sets other than the Bounty, but I suppose that at this point it's become Ninjago's Millennium Falcon: there's always gotta be at least one on shelves. To be fair though I still don't own a Bounty, so if this one is good maybe I'll pick it up.

Interesting list. It sounds like Zane's Car is going to come with the stuff in the gimmick sets since it also has "Dragon Power" in the name. I wonder if the Lava Dragon is going to be a villain set, since it's one of the only ones without a character's name in it (as well as the Dragon Slayer Hound, which sounds like a villain set).

I hadn't gotten around to mentioning this yet, but I finally ended up getting some of the Crystallized sets (I would've earlier but didn't end up having too much budget for Lego in 2022). The Crystal King Temple is a very unique design and I like the minifigure selection. It would have been cool if there was some kind of expansion for it since it's not all in one piece anyway, but I suppose that's always something I could build myself. The Crystal King (centaur mech thing) is also quite nice. I find it a bit strange that Lloyd has no backup against four villains, but that was the sort of set that I was more interested in for the build, and the minifigure selection still isn't bad by any means. The head and torso construction in particular stood out to me as being rather creative. The last set I got was the Golden Ultra Dragon. It honestly may be my favorite dragon that Ninjago has ever done: it's huge, well-detailed, and looks imposing. Again, I find the minifigure selection a little bit strange since there's nine of them but only one exclusive (whereas a lot of cheaper sets, including the other two I got, both have more exclusives). On the whole though it's a great set, albeit one that is rather expensive (at least where I live) relative to what you get. I have to say, I am a bit disappointed I waited so long to get anything from Crystallized because I really liked all the sets I ended up with. The new wave didn't grab my interest much, so I may end up getting some more of the sets from Crystallized that I missed, especially if they go on sale. I own at least one set from every wave of Ninjago so I'll probably pick up something from the new CORE wave eventually, but Crystallized just feels a lot more inspired. I really hope the summer 2023 sets are more in the vein of summer 2022 than winter 2023.

It will be pretty interesting if TITAN ends up being a sci-fi theme since we've not gotten a non-licensed (read: non-Star Wars) one since Galaxy Squad, which was a decade ago. I wonder what, if anything, this theme's unique selling point is going to be.

I somehow misread this as us getting an Art set of Spider-Man 2099, which certainly would've been an interesting tie-in for Spiderverse. I'm hoping he shows up in a set at some point in 2023 since I missed the original version.

Nice work, that's a really interesting find. I can't say I'm disappointed since I strongly dislike the company and don't have any real attachment to their franchises, but I do wonder if this might have larger implications for Lego video game themes. Maybe Lego will have more resources to devote to other series? To be fair though, Overwatch probably wasn't taking up much time and money given how little of it we've been getting.

Obviously it's the subway station where he first figures put how to fly (or something like that, it's been a while since I watched it).

Yeah, I guess that could be. I know the codenames for themes don't always make sense but I find "Lemon" especially odd because my first thought when I hear that word in the context of video games is Megaman (his attacks are sometimes called lemons). I highly doubt we'll ever see a Lego Megaman set though seeing as how many more popular series could be done first.

This is a very good point (especially about the longer-term inflation over the last decade), but I also think it's fair to point out that not everyone has seen a similar rise in wages to match Lego's most recent price hikes. I can only speak anecdotally since I don't have the time/energy to sift through data at the moment, but most people I know haven't gotten a pay raise of 15% since the start of 2020. Of course Lego has to do what they can to remain profitable and maintain growth, but it's hard to swallow some of the new price tags under those circumstances. I think the generally higher prices also are made to look worse by the ocassional sets which still hew closer to the now very outdated 10 cent PPP (like the Scythe).

Sonic is definitely more well known on account of being Sega's mascot, but going off of sales data Zelds is generally more popular, even pre-BotW. Obviously Lego has data and information that we do not, but from a public perspective at least I really can't find a reason why Lego Zelda has yet to happen. While I'd personally prefer Zelda, Sonic is cool too and I'd be willing to grab a set or two depending on how they turn out. A non-brickbuilt Eggman would be nice, though the current one does have some charm.

It seems like such a slam dunk for Lego with how popular it has been on Ideas over the years; there are five off the top of my head that I remember having gotten 10,000 votes. Depending of the subject matter (and assuming it's a normal minifigure-scale affair and not like Lego Mario) it could also have a ton of appeal for non-Zelda AFOLs who are into Castle. I wonder if there's some kind of issue beyond Lego's control that's keeping them from making them, because logically it would make perfect sense for them to do it.

Technically this is 2021 discussion but I saw that the Flower Fruit Mountain is on sale on Amazon (at least in the US) for $120. It's a beautiful set and an absolute steal at that price, so if you're on the fence this is probably the time to get it.

Very interesting list. I like that we're getting new characters, but assuming they aren't one-off villains I wonder how they're going to factor into the series. Having new allies each wave could be cool, but new members of the main cast could really refresh the theme in a good way. My only concern with new main characters is that the main cast might end up being way too big. At max we could have nine if we get the original ninjas plus Arin, Sora, and Ra, as well Wu and other recurring characters like Skylor and Pixal. As is we tend to get more hero builds than villain ones, and that problem would likely get a lot worse if there were nine main cast members.

The Bugle being too similar to a hypothetical Avengers' Tower (or any other gray tower for that matter) is sort of a moot point anyway because the Bugle should be retiring sometime in mid-2023, right? Unless it's different since it's a D2C, most sets hit EoL after 2 years, and the Bugle released in May or June depending on the country. I hadn't really thought about that until now, but I guess the Bugle getting towards the end of it's life does potentially open up some room for other Marvel D2Cs of a similar nature.

I think you are right, at least going off those statements. I guess Vidiyo could come back later down the line, but given how hard it seems to have flopped I think Lego will be devoting their resources to new projects (like Dreamzzz). Speaking of Dreamzzz, has there been any news whatsoever about it since the initial trademark was found? I guess there's still a reasonable chance that the theme could start next summer, but it feels strange that we've known about it for so long yet have absolutely no idea what it even is.

I don't think there's ever been a non-D2C set that hadn't leaked in some capacity with that little time until release. This is purely speculation on my part, but I doubt it'll even make March 1st given that (unless I missed something) we don't have any information about the set.

Normally I don't think it's worth sharing deals, but I saw that Target has some stuff for 50% off right now, including the Hydra Stomper (if for some reason you want that) and the boat from Black Panther 2. It's only up for today, but I figure that if you want the boat this is probably the best price you'll get it at for the foreseeable future.

I'd made peace with ths fact that we weren't getting Spiderverse sets, but that trailer really reopened the wound. Hopefully we at least get some more characters from the next one like we did for the original.

It would be hilarious if Lego legitimately just forgot to reveal the sets and we just never end up with a press release before January 1st. At this point it doesn't matter much anyway since we've seen the goods in detail.

Those are great. The mech design is very clever, and landscape is beautiful.