Ardelon

I actually think this series is much richer than S1 in accessories and torsos usable in the System universe. So Im not nearly as uninterested as I was in S1. And thanks for the great review, WhiteFang!

Im not convinced by the conclusions of the Grand Unification theory or Tommy Westphall. I havent watched a single episode of St Elsewhere (except for the ending clip on Youtube, for this very reason), but the fact that a kid dreams/imagines about the *last* episode doesnt imply doesnt imply that all episodes (or any, apart from the last one) are part of his dream, that St Elsewhere doesnt exist (hey, the kid might have extra-sensory perception), nor that St Elsewhere coundnt have snowglobes of it manufactured. Hell, its not even explicitly stated that ST elsewhere was a dream - the ending just segues into the snowglobe scene with only an implict idea. TLDR: All crossover speculation is valid! Crossover speculators and overthinkers, rejoice! Not sure how to make this post more on topic, but Ill try: do we know how Dr Brainstein became "Dr brain-jar"? EDIT: Lyichirs link a few posts back actually contains more rebuttals to the Tommy Westphall hypothesis. Nice to know Im not alone... EDIT 2: poster corrected

While I agree its just a pipe dream, it could simply be a shout-out for AFOLs, with no bearing or consequence on whether it would be lost on younger kids. And I think youre underestimating the kids. After all, there is a precedent - the Crusaders had both the lion crest and the crossed axes crest. I have a hunch the new shield mold might be used for... a shield? But arent modern Castle sets like that? The square Castles can be configured however you like, with the possible addition of the additional gatehouse sets and whatnot. By contrast, what I would like to see, however unlikely, is a return of castles on raised baseplates. Which are the alternative to the modular style castles. Though I guess the trend is toward greater modularity.

My order of preferrence would be: 1) Fantasy: alongside the obligatory Humans, also some: a) Dwarfs - more recolors of the beards we have so far, as well as a dwarf helm in gunmetal or pearl dark gray or a similar color b) Orcs - Im hoping for a continuatiomn of the Fantasy Trolls (sand green skin, red eyes) for compatibility c) Zombies as a more interesting alternative to Skellies - what would knock the coolness meter off the charts would be torn and dirty torsos of previous factions d) Elves - not too keen on them, but they have been a long time coming, so why not 2) Heroica in minifig scale - basically for the minifig prints 3) a Middle-Eastern or Far Eastern Castle theme, like PoP (but yellow) or the 1998 Ninja theme (but based more on China). No "European" Factions so no worry of taking sides in a good vs evil narrative. 4) Vikings: I think supernatural enemies (dragons, sea serpents, werewolves, frost giants, etc) are more likley than Human enemies. Pitting them against Native Americans or English as some have suggested is a no go - no invoking real-life rivalries. As for the creatures, I would hope for a more organic look, rather than the robotic/skeletal look of the creatures from the previous line. And I would hope for hornless helmets. 5) an "Antiquity" theme with heroes pitted against (basically Greek) mythological monsters 6) a regular human vs human theme. Would not be bad news, but the last two themes have been like this and id like to see something new. But if not, Id be all over a Wolfpack-style faction. Forestmen, not so much, unless they would be fighting an evil king, which would be a first for TLG (not counting Vladek).

I wasnt really on board with this chart at first, but the more I look at it, the more sense it seems to make. I do have several comments, though: - Maybe "Classic Classic Castle" could be given a better name, like Pre-Classic (or even Archaic, like Archaic Greece preceding Classical Greece, as the reason we use the term "Classic(al)" today) - Why arent the Black Knights referred to as such? - It seems strange to refer to the Kingdoms Lions as Crusaders. - Most of all, I agree with Hive on separating Kingdoms fromthe 2013 Castle theme, as the two have nothing in common except the animals behind the heraldry. Not really, I would say. The natural dyes used back then faded pretty quickly, so any colors back then would have been rather pale and drab. So historically seen, KK2 is still one of the least accurate castle-themes - and thats saying a lot, next to themes with dragons and trolls and undead. I would have agreed with you, if the shields and heraldry of KK2 didnt look more like racing car decals rather than actual heraldry. The Shadow/Scorpion knighs are indeed pretty nice, though the color scheme is a bit too stereotypically evil for my jaded tastes. I guess we cant waste any opportunity to teach our kids that black + red = evil. But I do agree with Lind Whisperer that KK2 had the advantage of a developed storyline.

Yes, but the astronomical spring starts at March 20th (spring equinox). And the actual spring will start when the weather finally wises up. This banner is not outdated yet.

Well, the red faction sounds terrific so far! What a great teaser!

I always assumed that were-worms simply meant dragons, as dragons were referred to as worms from time to time. Of course, I can understand why PJ would want to spice it up, though Im not thrilled by the decision.

A better translation would be: I see so much potential in my old friend.

Thanks for the preview. Interestning they are opting for at least one rehashed monster. True, the black knight isnt actually black (I guess i mixed him up with the 70s one). Still missing the plume but this I dont see as that big of a deal. As for the zombie, I was referring to how he looked in the show: I was wondering why would the designers change the colors if it was the same monster, but now I see they are the same as in the pic of the zombie you posted. Curious. The purple cape on the headless horseman could be more easily explained, I imagine the designer wanted to give him more color. Another possibility is that these monsters will also be rehashed, with a slightly modified look as captured by the LEGO designers.

Meh, the zombie and headless horseman have some unnecessary wardrobe color changes that make them different to their cartoon appearances. And the black knight is a knight - difficult to do differently anyway, and yet the designers made him different, not black and with another style of helmet. The vampire is the only perfect match. Your words of a preview are very intriguing, though - do you have a link to it?

Well, if it were to be done better, then why not (well, the fact that there is no ongoing TLAB media is a pretty good reason why not...). I disagree on the minifigs though. I think they looked pretty horrible, and I would even rank them lower than the Clone Wars ones...

Well, I would much rather see themed series (Halloween/horror, Castle, Pirates, Space) than licensed ones (Simpsons, DC/Marvel, ...) taking up the slots for standard series. Thats an important distinction to me - even TLM CMFs were easier to swallow because they felt more like a standard series. And about a vampire hunter figure with a crossbow and garlic, that wouldnt exactly be a new concept for a figure, since Ann Lee of the MF theme was all about that.

These are my best guesses as well, along with the ghost being most similar to the one from The Hassle in the Castle as pointed out by Ultron. The thing is, though, do we actually know these monsters are inspired by these series? It still appears likely o me that they may be based on the upcoming series, especially the lighthouse keeper and swamp monster. The only LEGO monster that looks like a perfect match with a previous Scooby Doo series is the vampire. Of course, that might be due to difficulty translating the monsters into LEGO, so I dunno...

Hmm, so does the schedule allow for a second wave in early 2016, to be cleared from the shelves before potential PotC sets hit? And wouldnt it be better for this thread to be merged with the general PotC discussion thread so all POtC news and discussion would be in one place?

Id totally go for a new, more Viking-appropriate nasal helm. Maybe if there will be a "barbarian" faction included? A non-winged dwarf helm in gunmetal gray or pearl dark gray or dark bley, whether from the Fantasy Era or Gimlis helm, is high in my list as well. As for the interiors debate, in the LotR line we got the Mines and the Wizard duel, which are interior sets, so they might be doable in an in-house line as well.

I would love a Castle zombie, but I suggested a spaceman zombie to balance the other zombies out. Good call on the pumpkin head, now it actually seems pretty likely to me. My thoughts exactly on the headdress for a female mummy.

Well, action-y it may be, but it would go into the Licensed forum. (Unless it wouldnt, like LotR/Hobbit...)

I believe that among the five remaining figs will be: - a ghost, with the head of the skeleton boy (I know kabel and some others think the head could belong to the skeleton boy, but it just doesnt look skeletony to me) - a vampire (too classic to ignore, even if there is one in the Scooby Doo theme; TLG will find a zany way to make it different, like the mad scientist or werewolf(-costume) guy) - a mummy (same reason as a vampire, it could be a female mummy this time to distinguish it from the Scooby mummy) - a bride of Frankenstine rock or pop singer, to complement the "Frankenrock" monster - an Igor (thanks to 8Brickmario for the inspiration) - I originally thought of a female swamp monster, but I dont think it is so iconic that TLG would do one here and in the Scooby line and risk losing sales of the Lighthouse set, unlike the vampire and mummy. - a pumpikin head guy? - that makes six minifigs instead of five, but i didnt know which one was least likely. Probably this one, since what else can the mold be used for other than a headless horseman, which is even less likely to be duplicated than the swamp creature. A calaveras / day of the dead person as suggested above seems too close to the skeleton boy, but I would take one, no problem. Im pretty sure Ill be wrong on most counts, and we will get some non-scary fig like the cat girl, or even another zombie - maybe a space zombie, to balance the pirate zombie from the past and the other two zombies from the present? One thing that struck me is that the classic monsters here and in the Scooby Doo sets actually do complement each other: a vampire, mummy and swamp creature in the Scooby sets, and a withc, a werewolf a mad scientist and a Frankenstein monster in the CMF series. There is a zombie in the Scooby lin as well as multiples in the CM series, but those are meant are meant to be army built anyway.

Meh, apart from the heraldry, you said just means it was just as good as any theme that came before - all previous castles used wall and corner panels, most factions since Crusaders were brightly colored, not least Fantasy and Kingdoms, and the 2013 theme offered the same standatd sets as previous themes. Stale maybe, but I think each theme should be judged on its own merits - its noy the fault of the theme that it had over 30 years of previous themes to compete with.

None of these are good examples, since TLG had made a vampire, a man-bat and a Santa (albeit a „pirate Santa“) before they appeared in the CMFS. So these are obviously among the figs that TLG sees a market for. The mythology figs, on the other hand, only appeared in the CMFS range, which makes me worry about how TLG sees their viability in their own theme.

Wishlists are still far more constructive than posts calling for this thread to be closed

While I would be for it, I think the fact that these molds were released within the CMFS shows that LEGO is aware that there is not a market for them, since the CMFS was meant as a way to release figs that would otherwise NOT get released.

That chess set is pretty lame, I wonder whats the reason the soldiers dont come with shakos? I find it had to belive it would be to force AFOLs to army-build via reguĺar sets. Its equally hard to believe theis is the final product, but since its being sold... On a more positive note, thanks for your great reviews, just2good! The pics are better that TLGs own!

Its not about technicalities, its about fitting the popular stereotype of a medieval knight. I would have thought Robin Hood would be fleshie as a European character, but since they made the CMF cultural figs yellow, I guess not. Well, so far as it will be yellow, I would accept RH or any other theme.