MAB

Yeah, I'm sure at one stage they said that they were going to reduce the disparity between different colours but for some pieces it is getting crazy, sometimes 2 or 3 times the price for a different colour.

They aren't available, but The Black Pearl sails are rather expensive. They make The Endurance sails look cheap!

I doubt they will revisit The Hobbit movies.

Yeah, a number of years ago I was able to replace parts of my ZX Spectrum doing the soldering myself as the parts used back then were nice and big. I wouldn't have a hope of doing it on surface mounted parts. Some of them are smaller than the tips I have for my soldering iron!

I'm still hoping they do a yellow brick suit, then black and/or white.

I have enough red & white and red & blue jesters. I wasn't a fan of the orange & purple one, so definitely won't be going for a pink one. They didn't even do a half and half hat to match the body this time.

Declining sales of traditional castle, especially small sets, are probably the reason LEGO wanted to try modernising Castle into Nexo Knights, and now they have seen the real Castle market is adults. ICONS and BDP provide them with great sellers. The two 2014 Castle accessory / battle packs were clearanced here at 50%. I only bought 10 of each as Castle figures just weren't selling well at the time, mainly as I wanted the shields. It is only in recent years that they have become sought after, by adults (or, at least, at adult prices.)

LEGO resellers won't aim for $10 profit parting out a $100 set. $10 is about what it costs in fees to sell that much, assuming it all sells. Most parts sellers aim for a set parting out for at least double what they pay, otherwise it is not worth it. I know as I've been a LEGO reseller for 20 years. 10c a part is not realistic resale value for common parts. It may be the metric used for comparing sets, but is totally unrealistic for resale. Many parts don't sell even when priced at a few cents.

Other people changing their figures to fleshie means they have yellow heads and hands to get rid of. That is good for builders that like yellow skins. I prefer fleshie and regularly trade a bag full of yellow body parts with others that like them.

I doubt it, at least until they hit clearance. Nobody will be buying these up and selling the smart bricks off at a reasonable price. The rest of the set is not particularly good, and quite over priced compared to similar sets without the smart brick.

Why is that unfortunate? If people want to change their figures one way or the other it is a good thing. I convert yellow skin to fleshies, as I think they look more modern and also look better when displayed near licensed sets, even if they are not mingled with them. LEGO now aid this better than in the past by having less flesh printed on torsos so they can be repurposed more easily. I don't mind leg printing, so long as it is not meant to be a continuous design from torso to legs. I prefer it when the legs and torsos can be used with other parts, and also posed without the legs needing to be straight for the print to match up.

Alternatively, Castle was around for many years and LEGO decided they need a change. They tried short lived themed like Atlantis, PQ and Monster Fighters. They fused Castle and Space into Nexo Knights for a few years. And by that time, Ninjago took off and LEGO decided to consolidate their in-house themes into the three large evergreen minifigure/minidoll based themes of City, Ninjago and Friends . And sales were at a high. The short lived and smaller in-house themes that need their own advertising have been where they try out other ideas, such as Vidiyo and Hidden Side. LEGO have moved vintage themes into Creator for kids (and adults with smaller budgets) and IDEAS for adults with larger budgets.

Unlicensed IDEAS sets are still relatively common. If you look at the list of sets, the distribution hasn't really changed since the start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego_Ideas Plus now we have Bricklink sets, where there are five unlicensed sets per round.

I look forward to getting a smart brick, but mainly as I want a look inside and want to explore hacking it. They are too expensive to buy at full RRP to do that with though.

Surely if it was 'classic' it would just be a rehash of an existing figure.

Yeah, they are diversifying the theme a bit with Brickheadz, the book nook and now the helmet (hopefully to be followed up by the Witch King). And these are all quite firmly adult collectables rather than playsets, which shows where LEGO think the theme will do best.

And quite a few smaller sets with basic bricks for themed ideas.

If you want Nexo Knights, you can still buy a lot of them cheaper than the price of a CMF on bricklink.

Some might be, but others aren't. LEGO know the numbers but we don't. LEGO also knows which customers are most important to them. And if the AFOLs not happy with spending $200 on a LOTR set are still happy spending smaller amounts on other themes, I doubt they care which theme it is being spent on.

I had a look at specialist battery suppliers earlier. I couldn't see a single rechargeable battery for consumers small enough to fit. There are plenty of ones that are made for permanent use, but not replaceable. The smallest I can see are AAA. I don't know what voltage they will require for the smart brick, but I'm guessing 3.3V is likely to be the minimum so that would probably need 3x 1.2V rechargeable AAA or a single AAA with a boost/step-up converter which makes it large volume. The only option I can see for LEGO right now is to either run on (non-rechargeable) coin cells and require the user to keep purchasing, swapping and throwing away dead cells or use a small integrated rechargeable battery as they have done here. If this needs a battery box even half the size required for trains, it would destroy the fits in a brick idea. The smart brick is already taller than a 2x4. If it needed to be 4x8x3 then it suddenly looks a lot less smart. And given the integrated battery will almost certainly outlive a child's interest in these toys in the majority of cases, I think they have made the right decision going for the non-removable rechargeable solution as that produces less electronic waste than replaceable non-rechargeable batteries.

Only if the battery is expected to fail before the product is obsolete. Everything could be repairable but that usually needs to be at the expense of cost and size. For a rechargeable battery to be replaceable then the brick needs to be designed to be openable, and have the battery accessible without exposing the other electronics, and be replaceable with a rechargeable battery that is readily available to consumers. That increases the cost and most definitely the size, making the product as it is impossible. I know there are small specialist rechargeable batteries and some coin cell type available but for normal consumers I think the smallest ones on store shelves are AAA. Then there is also the issue of should the speaker be accessible to replace when it fails, so it needs to be desolderable and away from other components (and available to purchase), then the same with LEDs and so on. Miniaturisation is soon lost.

It's true that every change is a slow change rather than an abrupt change. But then, that is they way it should be. It is evolution rather than revolution. Minifigures didn't suddenly appear, there were slabbies before and maxi figures before those and at the time kids were playing with other brands' figures in conjunction with LEGO bricks plus it took years for minifigures to become what they are today. Similarly adult LEGO didn't just appear but took years in different forms. Changes start small and evolve. The only real revolution in LEGO was the change from wood to plastic and even that was relatively slow. Technic introduced new parts that are used in System, but also System has changed tending towards smaller parts and SNOT parts that allow for detail and more realistic models, which also ties into the growth of the adult market.

The company thinks different to a user though, whether LEGO or another company. They will support a product as long as they sell it. When they bring out a new and improved product, they'll eventually drop support for the previous one. Everything has a lifetime, and I doubt they plan to keep this going for 10 years. So if a battery (or other components) lasts that long, they will see that as long enough. If someone is expecting to repair and replace components after the expected lifetime, they are probably a hobbyist that will have the skills to do so by opening up the bricks in this case. LEGO didn’t or doesn't sell replacement DC motors for the 1960s trains, either at the time or now. Presumably they knew the motors would last long enough when used under normal conditions for enough years but not indefinitely. But with care they are replaceable. I know as I have done it with a modern motor. I think most consumers would understand that tech based products will age quite quickly before being replaced with more modern tech in future.

Top three for me are: the minifigure, licenses and "adult LEGO" (not just UCS sets and Modulars, but LEGO embracing mainsteam adult buyers). All three have had a massive impact on sales and how LEGO is viewed, each about a generation apart. LEGO has never been the same after each change. There have been lots of other little changes that are important for smaller groups but big changes change the whole product line. And combine all three, licensed minifigures for adults. A huge driver for LEGO's increase in sales volumes.

I doubt LEGO would offer a replacement service and continue to support the hardware for this once they no longer produce it. And I reckon this will be discontinued and replaced by another product in LEGO's lineup long before the rechargeable batteries no longer charge and need replacing.