Algernon

So I guess I'm the black sheep here, but that base isn't really doing it for me. It doesn't look terrible, but the blocky design and rather empty-looking midsection is keeping it short of its $99 price tag imo. While I like the dinosaurs it includes, the actual model itself just seems kind of unimaginative. Personally, I think this theme is strongest in the mid-price range. The jeep, Triceratops trapper, and chopper all look fantastic to me.

Wow, that boat looks even better with clear pics. NinjaGo has gotten strange, but those designs sure are catchy.

That is just beyond cool. Such incredible detail, and the aesthetics flow together wonderfully. However, the little helmet on the front tends to stand out, mostly due to the different color. I'd probably scratch that bit. Otherwise, this MOC is some fantastic eye candy.

The only thing surprising about those prices is that people still seem to be upset by them... when they are practically identical to the exact same price points LEGO's been using for non-licensed themes for the past five years. Seriously people, what were you expecting? For LEGO to arbitrarily slash it's price scale in half? Although, I will say that the T-rex hunter was a little pricier than I expected. The model seems pretty bare-bones now - I imagine we're mostly paying for the dinosaur, which is the least interesting element of the set, in my opinion.

Well, compared to this: http://www.1000steine.com/brickset/images/7473-1.jpg These dinos are a hundred times more believable.

Bah, I was excited - I thought we'd see pics of the biggest set. Still, these are nice and clear. I think most solid set, overall, is probably the Humvee and raptor. It looks like a fairly priced, solidly built set with a great dino and some nice figs to boot. My personal favorite is the copter, since it has such an eye-catching design, but that Humvee is great and I think it'll be a big hit with the AFOLs.

At first glance, I would have agreed with you, but if you really look at them you realize that it's really just the unusually detailed printing that's making them look like Megabloks dinos. They're a great deal better than the Dino Attack versions, and in terms of functionality, they more closely resemble the Johnny Thunder-era dinos. Which were fine.

Judging by the modern vehicles, my guess is that it's a "dino island" scenario in the vein of Jurassic Park. So it's probably just there to show that they are indeed in the 21st century. Guess that rules out time travel.

Good point about the Exo-Force parallels - that hadn't occurred to me. I've always paid close attention to aesthetics when I judge a LEGO theme, and I think what I like most about this new wave of NinjaGo is definitely the clever designs. That Snake helicopter is just gorgeously contoured, and seems to include a lot of useful parts. And the flying ship, as I've said, is still a standout to me. ...but I do have to say that the nonsensical setting of the theme is putting a pretty big damper on my excitement. That was also my problem with the original wave. It wasn't "Ninja" enough for me to appreciate it as a classical "Ninja" revival (which I would have enjoyed), and it wasn't "Fantasy" enough for me to just have fun with the fantasy world. Then it got surprisingly high-tech, but the cobbled together designs were a turn off, so there was no real appeal there. Now, I actually really like the aesthetics here, but I just can't see myself taking this theme seriously enough to drop any serious money on it. We'll see, though. Perhaps some clear pictures and (eventually) reviews will change my mind.

Yeah, I agree about the Jake Raines bit. That would be QUITE a stretch for him to co-exist with high-tech jungle safari machinery. Perhaps LEGO is just using his head as a stock head now?

My thoughts exactly. The minifigs, in general, aren't impressing me too much. I'm mostly just impressed with the flying boat. I don't think anybody would look at any of these sets and assume that this was once a Ninja theme. Oh, well. I prefer futuristic vehicles regardless, which is probably why I'm suddenly interested in Ninjago.

So I took another look at the pics, and I decided to post more detailed impressions of the sets: 5882 (small buggy): I'm sure this will sell well, since it's an easy way to get foliage and a pretty neat Dino minifig, but I'm not seeing much creativity here. It's the same buggy we've gotten in every LEGO Racers wave since 2002... or earlier. Still, since it will be cheap, I might have to get it. 5883 (Pterodactyl and tower): One huge standout for this set: I'm pretty sure I see Jake Raines! Unless this is just a placeholder head, that could mean that this ties in to Pharaoh's Quest after all. A little surprising, since it's simply called "Dino" and not "Dino Quest", but it's nice to see LEGO hasn't given up on the Pharaoh's Quest gang. As for the set itself, I'm not impressed. While I like the Pterodactyl, the tower almost looks exactly like the Agents swamp set - and I wasn't fond of that one, either. I just prefer vehicles. 5884 (Jeep and Velociraptor): Now THIS I like! The Velociraptor is probably the best-looking dino from this theme, at least from that angle. The jeep itself reminds me strongly of the Dino Attack jeep, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It looks like a nice, solid build. Appears to include 2 minifigs, which I'm liking more and more. I imagine this set will be in the $30 price range, so this is almost a definite buy for me. 5886 (Triceratops and big truck): Definitely one of the stranger looking models, I happen to actually like this set. The Triceratops looks fine, but I honestly prefer the older Johnny Thunder version. The truck looks massive, and extremely sturdy. It's nice to see that LEGO tried to make it LOOK like it was capable of containing a live dinosaur. One thing that does bother me, though, is the lack of figs - only two. It also looks to be a little on the pricier side, so I'm not sure I'll be getting this. We'll see what happens when official pics come out. 5888 (Airplane and Pterodactyl): I'm on the fence here. At first glance, this set looks like something out of Jack Stone (shudder). But upon closer examination, it is quite sleek looking and I imagine the playability value is pretty high. Definitely seems to be inspired by the superior Johnny Thunder rendition of this vehicle. All in all, I'll probably wind up skipping this, unless reviews change my mind. 5885 (Helicopter and T-Rex): Now THIS set I quite like. The construction of the Helicopter is fantastic. I've always been fond of those large aerial transport vehicles, and this looks like one of the best LEGO's ever done. It looks like it's quite large - possibly comparable (at least in length) to the awesome helicopter from Dino Attack. Of course, this one seems much less violent. The cockpit area appears to hinge open, which is good (at first glance I thought it didn't). The only complaint I have is - as some have pointed out - it doesn't exactly look capable of carrying a trashing T-rex through the air. But that's a minor complaint - I will most certainly be getting this, provided the price is reasonable. I just hope it includes more than 2 figs. Although I like the idea of the tranquilizer guns, they're not selling points for me. Neither are the dinos, which seem to be pretty hit or miss. I would have preferred buildable dinos, like the ones from that old dinosaur theme in 2001 (?). It's definitely the solid vehicle construction that's catching my eye here. The minifigs are definitely comparable to Dino Attack's figs, and that is nothing but awesome. These figs, from what I can tell, seem a little bland compared to the figs from Dino Attack, but perhaps they're still prelims. I'll wait until I see better shots of them before I pass judgement. One point that is bothering me would be the color scheme. Why yellow? Are they trying to scare the dinos away with bright colors? If I was stalking dinosaurs in a mysterious jungle environment, I'd try to avoid looking like a huge piece of candy. I would have much preferred a color scheme like the one from Dino Island, which was much easier on the eyes. I don't HATE this color scheme, per say, but it's definitely lending these sets a Power Miners vibe. Oh, well - I suppose I'll get used to it. I really want a better picture of that research compound - that tantalizing glimpse on the bottom of the page isn't nearly enough! Overall, though, I like this theme. It will probably be my focus for the winter.

Lol. Those are some pretty arbitrary criticisms. I could easily post a list of any group of sets that LEGO's released and call them all ugly without explanation. NinjaGo held zero interest for me, until seeing these pictures. Now I think I'll probably get more than one of these. The minifigs are very unique and potentially quite useful. The designs themselves are AMAZINGLY creative, and I really love the aesthetics the designers achieved with the green helicopter and big boat. I especially love the look of the boat's flying mode - that alone made my jaw drop. Although I do agree that it has more of a Power Rangers vibe now.

I think it is pretty safe to assume that Alien Conquest is taking a break. Always a possibility for the Summer, though.

After examining the pictures for some time, I have to say that this theme gets a big thumbs up from me. A huge part of my approval, though, stems entirely from that helicopter design. Seriously, that cargo chopper is just genius. I also quite like the large Triceratops transport thingymabob - though it is a little odd, I think the design is extremely solid. The other sets are all pretty decent as well. I'm not sold on the plane, though - I was expecting more, and somehow it reminds me of Jack Stone. I want a picture of that HQ!

That TIE fighter is looking great! The X-wing look even better, too. I will most definitely pick these up. I guess the Y-wing was just speculation?

That ship is seriously the coolest looking LEGO set I've ever seen.

Wait, I'm confused - are people posting these pictures somewhere?? Everyone seems to be talking like we've seen them!

I wouldn't be so sure. In the past, LEGO has listened to the various complaints of AFOLs regarding their current themes. For example, after the first wave of Mars Mission, LEGO replaced the much-lamented alien "jellies" with an updated, more useful design. Many people also complained about the lack of airtight helmets in Space Police 3, which was fixed in the second wave as well. I've always thought LEGO was an exception to the "big corporation" rule. It seems like they do take our opinions into account, even if that isn't what ultimately influences their decisions.

Well, I'm cautiously optimistic. As usual, the larger sets will probably the best - that's been a trend with LEGO these days. Shame that the Dinos are one-piece.

These are my thoughts as well. Although, talking about it has given me the urge to go back and rebuild my Recon Mech RP.

Word for word, I agree. Life on Mars was terribly underrated, and I have fond memories of it. That said, though, I don't know if I really want to see it revived... since it kind of already was.

I definitely enjoyed the references in Space Police 3, but I'm not convinced that makes it a true "revival" of the theme so much as a throwback. True, they did maintain the prison cell gimmick, but the resemblance pretty much ends there. For comparison, I think Power Miners was more a revival of Rock Raiders than Space Police 3 was a revival of Space Police. Power Miners had the same enemies (rock monsters), same aesthetic, and same vibe as the Rock Raiders sets... with one obvious exception being the color scheme. But I still see more of the original themes of Rock Raiders in Power Miners than I do with Space Police. .... that being said, however, I actually like Space Police 3 quite a bit more than the original Space Police. I guess I'm not much of a purist. XD True enough. In Batman's case, though, a darker and more serious approach was pretty much a stable of the franchise from the beginning. Batman TAS was cartoony but still extremely dark and very serious in tone. Batman Arkham Asylum also follows a very gritty, down-to-Earth feel. The movies just had to work especially hard to make such a ludicrous universe seem plausible. Exactly - I think LEGO probably feels that they've already revived Blacktron, what with all the references to the theme in Space Police 3. To each his own - I actually liked Ice Planet quite a bit more than I liked Space Police 1 and 2.

Highly envious of your collection there! Has anyone seen the Scorpion Pyramid on discount yet?

Well, in the Spyrius theme review I did awhile back, I remember finding a picture of Spyrius attacking the Unitron monorail. I don't know if that necessarily makes Unitron a GOOD guy theme, but at the very least, they had a common enemy with Ice Planet 2002. (lol nerds) As for the Space Police, I really feel like that concept has been walked over, and I suspect LEGO feels the same way. The 2009/2010 revival was a nice theme that I definitely enjoyed, but it bore very little resemblance to the old sets... and LEGO seems to have interpreted the name "Space Police" just a little too literally for my taste. It feels like a much different theme - one that definitely has its merits - but it barely qualifies as a revival. Blacktron is just a "bad guy" theme, and that doesn't really hold up conceptually for LEGO's current marketing model. I'm sure there are designers at LEGO who would love to re-imagine the old Blacktron sets, but unfortunately for them (and us), that's not how LEGO goes about picking themes to revive. Basically, you're right - without the Space Police, there can't be a Blacktron, and since Space Police has already happened, I assume that Blacktron is pretty much out of the question. That's why I voted Ice Planet - it really lends itself to a re-imagination. It shouldn't be too hard for LEGO to come up with some Ice baddies for the scientists to fight. Plus, the eye-catching color scheme really lends itself to LEGO's current colorblindness.