sjbricks

LEGO just announced a Mario event for the 9th of March via their youtube channel! Nothing is really revealed in the trailer, but at least we've got confirmation that some news is coming.

I thought a pretty obvious contender for a buildable object would be Sonic's shoes. I personally hope it's not that style of set though, I'm quite sick of them at this point. A continuation of the ideas set would be nice, ideally a zone from Sonic 2 so we can get a classic Tails figure, or a classic Eggman figure in line with the modern version we got recently.

I don't think they would do that as it'd make the older ones obsolete, and they are pretty expensive. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot by doing that. The best outcome would be three new digital characters, but it's not very likely. I think Lego and Nintendo would want Mario to always be available, so maybe the other two sets could have new characters? Maybe Wario and Daisy. Let's be honest though, it's probably just new starter course builds with the same three digital characters that we've already gotten. If that is the case then I hope they give us something new at least, like the set with Luigi giving him his fire outfit using his unique overalls and hat mould. Not sure what they could do for peach, but I'm sure they'd think of something. I agree. It's sad to see so many people brushing the whole theme off just because it's not figure-based, as there are a lot of solid builds, especially recently. I keep bringing it up, but the bowser car really is a good example. There are very cool techniques used to achieve the eyes and also the lavender parts along the side of the vehicle. About the new set information in general, I'm curious what the 1392 piece set could be. It will be the biggest course builder system set yet. We've already gotten Peach's castle, Bowser's castle and even Dry Bowser's castle. I can't think of another super iconic location that it could be, so maybe it is something invented by Lego like a larger fortress containing Roy? I can't see how they can make a set containing so many parts out of that idea though. Not sure. I'm excited to see what these new sets will bring.

I'd say the new bowser car set is a perfect example of how course builder Mario Karts sets would work. It's incredibly well designed, and the scan code putting a steering wheel on Mario's chest and allowing him to honk the horn by the pull of a lever, while launching bombs behind the car is genius. I wouldn't be surprised if we got more sets like it. The code in bowser's car has no indication on it of being exclusively for him, so it can be reused. I don't that this line deserves to die and be replaced fully just because AFOLS are disappointed by it. The fact it's been going this long proves it must be very popular with it's intended audience. I'd say it's quite harsh to say that it's unimaginative and sacrificing quality and excellence, because that's just not true. Deciding to not make figures like every other theme was a bold choice, and understandably some don't like it. The technology that makes the characters work is very impressive, to me it's one if the most interesting developments that LEGO have made in a long time, and one of the only examples of them tying a digital feature to sets being very successful. The designers have listened to feedback on the design of the sets too. I agree that quite a lot of them don't display well, it's kind of the idea that you take the sections apart and rearrange them, but recently, the builds have been a lot more solid. I think that the 3 airship sets and Dry Bowser's castle are good examples. As a platforming game, Mario unfortunately is not easy to adapt to playsets. Scanning codes with electronic Mario to interact with blocks, enemies, and other hazards was a great way to achieve it. Figure sets trying to emulate the platforming aspect just wouldn't work as well. I think they actually would be unimaginative and not as fun for kids to play with. Mario Kart would work as minifigure sets because you can play with the cars and move them around, but the sets would then need to be designed around cars driving through them, presumably with track pieces and other gimmicks, so they wouldn't display well either. At the end of the day, there is no way LEGO didn't explore minifigures when they obtained the license but there's obviously a reason why they didn't go that route, so we got the course builder system instead. I think the 18+ sets are the perfect place for LEGO to give us minifigures and great display models, like Peach's castle, while keeping the aspect of the theme that you can actually play with that's true to the series' nature alive.

I've wanted Mario figures for as long as I can remember, but honestly I'm really hoping that the theme doesn't switch over to them fully. The brick-built character system has allowed for such a huge variety of characters to be made that just wouldn't be possible with figures. Who would have expected that we would have a Lego Toady? We only need Roy to complete the Koopalings, but there's no way Lego would have been able to make as many of them in minifig form by now. Each of them would need at least a new head mould with dual moulding and lots of print to achieve their look, but depending on how Lego would approach it, Roy and Morton might also need different body moulds to reflect their size. The brick-built approach not only helps Lego, but also fans. I'm not holding my breath for Lego to make Mario Wonder content, and there's not really any chance of them making Mario RPG content either, but I've been able to design Prince Florian and Mallow for my collection. Filling gaps like that as a collector would simply not be possible in a minifigure orientated theme where pretty much every character needs new moulds. In my opinion, the best way forward would be to keep the digital theme alive as the main focus, and then release a set like the original Green Hill Zone (21331) that'd include a few figures every once in a while. I'm pretty surprised that Lego haven't already included any in the 18+ display models on a little stand like in the UCS Star Wars sets, but I guess the designers haven't been able to decide whether a Mario figure should have a nose or not yet.

Hello, I don't know how I've only just found this thread, but I am the owner of one of the two mini figures! I just happened to be looking through the torso catalog when I saw Bonesaw's torso, so immediately checked the figure listing and bought it. Here's an image of the figure:

A new mold similar to Phoenix Customs' Night Crusader cowl piece would be really good, because the cowl could then be reused by Lego for Pattinson's Batman in the February wave of The Batman sets too.