MAB

There are good reasons to have a CMF series alongside a large set, and there are good reasons not to have a CMF series alongside a large set. So there might be a CMF series, but then also there might not be a CMF series.

Same here. Modern dragons are much more impressive and are actually building toys, unlike the little dragons. They are typically the star of their set. If LEGO make new moulds for dragons that are smoother looking, I think I'd prefer Kingdoms style or Smaug style molded parts that are build into the dragon so it is still built and posable, with an impressive size.

For me, so long as they buy some of their own LEGO and have some realistic view of value, then they can still discuss value for money even if they are reviewing a sponsored set. They can still compare part counts, sizes, build times, build fun, etc, across similar priced sets in different themes, or similar products if reviewing non -LEGO products.

I don't think it can be both (i) taking only a product and not money and (ii) needing sponsored content to make ends meet. Personally, I don't care if someone gets a free product if they review it honestly and there is no deal for further products if they give a positive review. I think a viewer can normally tell if a reviewer is enhancing the positives and ignoring the negatives. And if they do that, then the reviewer loses all credibility. If they get paid to review it, chances are their review is going to be biased as it becomes more of an advert than a review. I think youtube has turned though in that now there are plenty of negative posters, calling out others either in comments or in their own videos about wrongdoing including if that is doing reviews for money.

Yes. And now, probably more than ever as LEGO has become less of a building toy for many. Look at how many sets are built once then displayed or played with, but never mixed up with other parts or rebuilt as something else or even rebuilt at all. They are both role playing type toys, with the difference that with LEGO you get the extra step of building it first. Role playing with a LEGO car once it is built is not that different to role playing with a Matchbox or Hotwheels car. Replace car with any object.

Third party movable short legs have been available for ages, such as those by Brick Fortress. However they don't look right when posed, especially when in the sitting position.

I don't mind sponsored reviews, so long as they are honest reviews. If a reviewer gives positive reviews for a poor product just so they get more products from that company in future, it reflects badly on them. People will call them out for doing so in comments too.

LEGO don't do sets for boys and sets for girls though. They say as much implicitly and sometimes explicitly in their advertising. I noticed a few months ago that they even removed gender from the gift finder on their website. They also have minidolls in franchises that might be of interest to boys, like Wicked, and Gabby's Dollhouse for younger kids. If they thought they would hit the demographic they are aiming at better with minidolls, they'd do it. Especially if they do small molded dragons, then the proportions of minidolls might work better in looking realistic than minifigs.

I imagine they would aim a How To Train Your Dragon theme at all children, rather than being a "boy theme". Both genders enjoy the movies. I can't see the dragons being much use for Castle, as they are a very specific look for the movies. And if they use more generic dragons then they won't look very much like the movies.

That is kind of my point though. Are they made for kids today or reminiscent adults? If it is kids of today then why aren't there more modern (female) characters in the series? The ones they included are very nostalgic and recognizable for people that watched the originals. If they were after the people watching the new cartoons now, why was Lola the only new character and even she is relatively old compared to those new characters of the reboot about 10 years ago.

That was essentially the storyline of Chima, tribes fighting over the mystical chi. I doubt LEGO would do fighting over food or similar, especially if it was a kids range. It is easier to do a few factions and the consumer decides if they are fighting and why, or if there is a reason, then have a fantasty resource not linked to real world struggles.

Even if they were to do a series of 12, your top row minus Otto and Lovejoy would be pretty much perfect, leaving six slots for repeats of Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa and Maggie plus a free slot. Maybe another Krusty to go with Sideshow Bob for those that didn't collect first time around. That top row would have been preferable to most of Series 2.

There probably isn't a single license for their toy movie tie-ins. LEGO and Playmobil have had sets from the same franchise on shelves at the same time in the past. For example, both had a Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ available at the same time.

The point is for CMF sales to be good, LEGO (and retail stores) need more than a legion of fans of a franchise to buy them. They have to appeal to general buyers who might know of the characters and pick up a few, even if they are not part of a legion of fans devoted to the franchise. The "minor characters" was aimed more at Petunia Pig than Lola. Lola wasn't a minor character, she didn't exist. I haven't seen any of the modern cartoons, so for me Petunia Pig is the minor sidekick to Porky Pig. If there are more female characters in the franchise in modern cartoons, and this series was aimed at kids of today, I am a little surprised that they did not include more females in the series matching the modern line up. Aside from Lola, the roster is very reminiscent of cartoons shown 50+ years ago.

Very elegant and smooth rotation. Nice!

More exclusive in that fewer will be produced but presumably also very low demand so unlikely to sell even for RRP let alone a markup. I guess that is what is stopping resellers buying them at this late stage. With so little interest in it, they aren't worth touching. It is interesting, the increase in production numbers has probably hit the right sort of levels, high enough to last for some time and also appearing to make it less interesting for resellers. I'm seeing a lot of Mountain Fortress for sale in the UK, barely selling at £350 or even lower. The higher production numbers might mean they are less interesting to resellers overall, and going into the hands of people that want them as they are not worth investing in. I cannot really see any of these regularly hitting even 50% markup - there are simply better LEGO sets to be had from retail stores than buying these at inflated prices in future. Whereas when the numbers were lower, the more limited numbers meant they were more attractive. So that puts worldwide interest in the region of ~20000 +- 10000 for these sets.

I don't mind seeing those other cheaper options for sale, so long as they are not on shelves where there is LEGO branding. Often the shelf edges have the LEGO name running their length or other LEGO advertising, then other similar branded products are on the shelves. That is misleading but possibly unintentional (but still wrong). Then at the other extreme there are the market sellers that use a LEGO baseplate to display figures or have a few LEGO minifigures so put up a LEGO sign, yet sell loads of cheap knock off figures then claim that the sign is allowed as they sell a few cheap City figures even though most of what they are selling are knock off Star Wars figures, Super Heroes, etc. I'm pretty sure they know exactly what they are doing ...

If they were using the name LEGO to market clone brand sets in their advertising or instore, then they deserve everything they get.

They did an experiment here where you could buy online BAM at the instore price but it only had a very small selection of torsos, legs, heads, etc. It would be nice to see that revived but with a much larger range of parts now so many more are available through standard PAB.

The reddish brown hood was available, but I think it was only up for about a few days to a week before it got removed. I know as I bought just six of them to hit free shipping on an order thinking they would be easily available in future.

Be careful if you use New Elementary's links for Nazgul parts, as they have the wrong hood. The correct open one is not available at the moment and they have used the old style closed neck one. They have moved so much stuff to bestseller for Europe now, I actually had a problem finding enough standard parts to checkout without the fee this time. I think the removal of parts is a good thing. They cannot keep everything in stock for ever, but just as importantly, it means the secondary market for new parts can thrive just with a delay when those parts are removed from PAB. There is a danger that this kills BL for new parts being parted out from sets. There is already a huge race to the bottom in price for common parts, it is becoming not worth parting out sets unless sellers can recoup costs for the more exclusive parts (and minifigures). That is not a good situation for anyone in the long term.

Are you going to use it in historic builds?

It doesn't look like there is anything in it that castle fans wouldn't already have, aside from the packaging, so not a big deal that it is exclusive.

Given the growth of LEGO fandom, I imagine there are plenty of fans of The Simpsons and fans of LEGO that weren't into LEGO 10 years ago.

I hope not. They are a bunch of ragtag rebels. It would be too uniform-like if they have faction branded capes.