Virginia_Bricks

Leg printing on 5 of the 6 mini-figures so far is a good thing. Only 2 in Hogsmeade. The Moody inclusion is a good sign that 10+ is significantly 10+. You would have to still expect the trio, at least Fudge for the trial scene (since we have Figg we know that is in there now), a few DA members and Death Eaters since Tonks suggests the veil scene, and maybe the silver trio. Honestly, I think that is where the cuts are going to happen, the silver trio.

The US Iran war drove up oil prices which are kind of essential for plastic. This is what I expected for a price. I’m expecting at least one large printed cloth piece that will drive up the price

A New Hope is celebrating 50 years next year so that is why Lego is doing concept art anniversary figures and then this set and another that is a diorama of filming Tatooine (with a George Lucas mini-fig).

Super Mario electronic sets seemed to sell well. It appears Lego and Nintendo think that ran its course and time for mini-figure sets and now Pokemon can pick up the banner with Smart Play. Lego clearly wants to break into the electronic toy market to expand its product line not to replace regular sets given the # of sets keeps going up each year. Just like 18+ sets didn't replace play sets they added on (certain themes change, but not the overall makeup). Overall, I'm very pleased with the Lego Pokemon launch. Great looking buildable sets, decent playsets for kids, and we got mini-figures and molded Pokemon. If you really look at the Pokeball set it has a whole lot of custom molds that have no other use outside the theme.

So if the rumor is right and the next modular castle is still movie themed, we might get sets that work for both like the boat house, owlrey, and Hagrid’s hut did. The astronomy tower could fit into that maybe, but less likely. Best bet is a quidditch pitch

I'm normally not all in on buildable character type sets, but so far Lego has cooked here. Only Pikachu's mouth has been a disappointment, but I expect Pikachu will get multiple over the span of this theme.

But 8 years of inflation in there will make it significantly smaller. Very happy I got back into Lego during this recent modular wave because it is by far the best and looks to stay that way. $110 probably means around 900 bricks, so not sure how they can pull off both the Great Hall and Main Tower in that piece count and make it any way comparable to what just came out.

If UniBricks is right and both are movie sets, that is clear indication movie sets will continue for the time being. I can't understand another PS movie based set though over a series set. Both are likely passes for me as I expected. One modular castle wave was enough for me and now just the few other iconic scenes/structures would interest me.

Best bet would be Ginny's horse and the MoM will definitely have the budget for that recolor if they want to continue them. She exists in those scenes and the rest of the primary characters have a patronus already out there.

16 bags in so far (the outer gates and half of the hall base structure). So far a good and varying build and decent amount of unique build techniques to get some of the angles and small details. The mini-fig pacing is not good. You get 3 in the first 8 bags and then 1 in the next 20-30 and the final 5 in the final 30. I don't really get it unless they counted the king statues as mini-figures for pacing purposes since Lego is really good with how they pace builds.

I would guess this is just the Sauron Helmet/Balrog Book Nook for 2027

If Helm's Deep or Edoras (the set could likely be named this and be only Meduseld just like "The Shire") is the next set here are my guesses at mini-figures: Helm's Deep: King Theoden, Eomer, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Haldir, 2 Uruk-Hai, 2 Rohan Soldiers, and 2 Elven Soldiers Edoras: King Theoden, Eowyn, Grima, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Eomer, and 2 Rohan Soldiers

They are in a paper bag in the spare parts bag. Same bag as Shadowfax' torso and the large bar pieces.

Setting aside the extreme hyperbole in your comment, it is disappointing that the sounds aren't closer to the games/anime. They synthesizer in the Smart Brick should be able to create the sounds but clearly they haven't programmed many sounds into them. Thankfully they can be updated and more sounds might be yet to come.

Everything is up on Lego's website now. Prices for the sets are reasonable and shows how much the Smart Brick adds to the cost now that we have these prices and the SW Smart Brick prices.

That is what is on the retirement spreadsheet. It is purely a leak/rumor since Lego does not officially reveal retirement dates and it could also be extended. That being said I feel comfortable that it won't change unlike Rivendell which kept getting extended.

Grond is still available in the US, so if there is actually a bug in your order and it got removed CS should be able to fix it. There are always issues like this on release day with the sheer volume of orders and 99% it works out fine.

Honestly if the theme is selling as well as we expect it is. Orthanc, Meduseld, and Helm's Deep all seem to be in the hopper. Rivendell and Barad-Dur are both supposed to retire next year, opening up a new $400+ slot for Orthanc/Helm's Deep and I can see Meduseld being in the $300-400 range.

With the whole first wave now revealed, I think Lego did a very good job in designing the Smart Play sets. I have no interest in that style of sets, but the age range they are designing for will. The blocky look takes getting used to, but first off its Lego and blocks and second off each was clearly designed so you could easily remove and replace the Smart Brick. The design has to therefore fit around that requirement. The mix of this, the brick built statues of Pokemon and the rumored Poke Ball with interior scene set seems like a pretty good launch for Lego and Pokemon. Way better than what Mega ever did.

Another release day not staying up and just ordering naturally in the morning. Once in a while the GWPs sell out overnight on release, but its rare and they aren't that desirable when all but 1 mini-figure head is exclusive.

What's the chance that the Starter Trio set gets its retirement date extended? Not big into purchasing sets in year 1 unless the GWP really speaks to me, so I didn't buy it yet but definitely want it. Trying to also purchase the Death Star (don't judge my spending habits...) before it retires and I know that is slated to retire in 2028 so wondering which I should prioritize in 2027.

Eevee was cube like because in the anime and game its head is naturally a cube-like shape. These sets are taking on a more cube like shape because they need to incorporate a 2 stud by 4 stud by 5 plate tall brick (Smark Brick) in the middle. That means especially for small Pokemon you don't have a lot of time to be able to shape the edges and keep the Smart Brick hidden. If you realize this you notice that the Smart Brick is the length of Charmander's torso and half the width. Hard to make it more accurate without inflating the piece count and the price. That and creating designs where you can easily take the Smart Brick in and out to charge or switch which Pokemon has it. This all assumes the Smart Bricks goes inside these models, which we can't know for certain yet. Yes, they could have ditched the Smart Brick idea but incorporating technology play sold well with Super Mario and Nintendo wants to keep that approach to Lego sets going it seems. We are getting plenty of 18+ accurate Pokemon statues which are more my style so maybe that is why I'm not too upset with the Smart Brick sets.

The only one that looks bad is Charmander, other than that it is just a stylistic choice. Fine if you don't like it, but it isn't bad.

My guess is they will do a smaller one down the road, but wanted to release in the first wave 3 different price points. Given how many buildable Dobbys, Grogus, etc.... we have, Pikachu seems destined for the same treatment.

Do you mean LOTR specific (not Lego) channel? Or a Lego LOTR channel? Since the theme was cancelled and just rebooted as part of Icons I don't think there is a definitive set of Lego LOTR reviewers. For pre-release reviews I prefer Solid Brix for sets like this. Austrian Brick Fan is good for speed builds.