MAB

Or they would just revolve the more popular sub-themes.

Even if they did small LOTR sets, there is the downside that the internal cost of the packet of weapons is so high that either they don't use it in small sets but use a single and possible generic weapon instead or the price of the set is increase due to weapons not being used for the set.

Yes, but then Star Wars has a much wider age range as fans, same with HP. I remember the complaints the first time around - the Uruk-Hai Army set was complained about a lot as they made the ballista way too big so it appealed to kids (this set was very heavily discounted here). Same with the ship, that they made it because they thought ships appeal to kids, even though it was barely in the movie. How they aim, design and market sets is very important.

You are cutting the stickers too big. I'd be tempted to remove the print from the fronts of the torsos too, at least around the edges, then cut the decals slightly smaller. That way you don't get the overhang and you don't see the underlying print either. Although it does depend how closely you expect to look at them. If only from a distance, it is less of an issue. It would be really good if you could buy a die cutter for torso sized stickers that go in one of those craft mangle style die cutters.

The problem LEGO would have is where to pitch them if doing small sets. Do they go for sets aimed at 12+ and include play features that sell well to kids, so things like oversized working ballistas and siege engines and undersized architecture and/or landscape or do they go for the 18+ route going for more static sets, possibly diorama type. They might get away with the right minifigures selling sets so long as they don't produce too many sets and need to repeat the same characters / outfits too many times. Too similar Gandalfs and Frodos were done first time around and both (especially Gandalf) were dirt cheap because of it. The other problem with small adult sets is if adults don't buy them as they are not very good compared to the big flagship sets. It would be great to see smaller sets again but it wouldn't surprise me if they just keep doing the big display sets. If the new movies are kid focussed, then smaller sets might help fill in gaps, even if it is just repurposing printed parts to fit in with the missing characters in the LOTR trilogy. I think nothing of using CMF elves, dwarves, and various soldiers to fill in gaps, so any LOTR style torsos will be just as acceptable.

All the rumours the first time around was that it (both LOTR and The Hobbit) was not popular with kids, and predominantly bought by adults. It did mean that there were some very nice discounts available.

There have been recent parts that bricklink recognizes as trans-neon green and trans-neon orange. It is very rare that LEGO ever make an official statement about discontinuing or changing colours. Individual designers occasionally speak about it, but it is not an official statement on behalf of the company. It is more usual that users spot changes, or the colour codes or names in the lego online parts database change. LEGO aren't bringing those themes back anyway, so it is hypothetical but if they wanted to bring them back as distinct themes and they didn't have the exact old colours necessary then they would probably just change the colour to whatever is closest. Or more likely, they would do just a similar theme but use modern designs and colours rather than try to recreate the old theme exactly. I doubt they would care that the colours don't match those of 30 years ago if placed side by side.

Yes and no. If they sold 12 boxes in a bigger box, then stores could sell 12 sets at once for those wanting a complete set or they could sell individual boxes from opened outer boxes. I don't think people really collect these like they used to when they were fairly cheap to buy both in store and on the secondary market. Instead of buying individual packets and slowly building the set, these days it is buy the lot in one go and you are finished. This is part of the reason I stopped collecting. The 'chase' to complete a set or get multiples of individuals I liked by trading was part of the fun. That rarely happens now.

For the new Castle figures, I use the torsos but not the legs. I'm not a fan of printed legs, at least those with print on the upper thighs. These cannot be posed without changing the relative position of whatever is printed. Knee pads and similar are fine. But add plain legs (with the same colour hips) instead of printed and they look great. They are the perfect combination of classic design but looking modern for me.

If they did that, then I predict future posts would be along the lines of... "LEGO hate classic themes and this is proof. They do two big sets out of reach of most kids, and three tiny sets that don't create a theme by themselves that are pointless without other sets that kids can afford. If only they put some actual effort into designing more sets and put some money into marketing these like they do with other themes these would make millions of sales. And then they kill it after one year."

There have been loads recently ... Rookie Partnur, Gracie Goodhart, Snake Rattler, Sam Grizzled, Duke DeTain, all in City.

That is sort of the issue with the old one year themes. LEGO didn't put much behind their promotion as they were only ever going to exist for a year and were small themes. Then some people complain they failed as they aren't renewed and that it is LEGO's fault for not putting loads of advertising behind them. When they were probably as successful as they had hoped just never meant to go on and on.

Again, if that is the case- that most people are buying movie based sets even though they don't care about the movies - then it should not matter that LEGO are now devoting about 50% of their output to licensed sets.

A lot of people have used the Overwatch helmet for custom Sauron figures. Whether it is licensed locked, who knows. Dirty clothes for Frodo and Sam shouldn't be a big deal as it is just printing, but I wonder if they would just get fairly standard headgear rather than movie accurate helmets. I use the (non-purist) brickforge plague doctor helmet (painted) for Frodo, it has sort of the right shape although not perfect.

Their licensed to unlicensed otuput is roughly 50:50 when it comes to numbers of sets. However, you can now add Ninjago, City and Friends into mass culture, as all three have media through TV shows and obviously the movie as well in the case of Ninjago, plus books and comics in some regions. These TV shows are marketing for those themes. I cannot see Royal Knights vs Fright Knights ever selling anything near the range of sets that Ninjago can. Knights is essentially locked into quite a small niche, compared to Ninjago, City and Friends where just about any subject goes. And if LEGO know they cannot sell a huge range of sets, then they are not going to invest in the marketing and TV shows in the same was as for their evergreen in-house themes.

In that case, LEGO wouldn't need to reintroduce any old sets or themes. If the public are buying sets just because they look cool and interesting, then there would be no need for themes at all. They could just stick the LEGO logo on the box and not need to have any link between sets. That LEGO decide to theme their range suggests that the wider buying public like to have some sort of help identifying which sets go well with other sets and also that brand or theme recognition works. If Little Timmy liked a Ninjago set in the past, then he'll probably like that other Ninjago set with a big futuristic motorbike. Whereas if he liked that Ninjago set, then he probably wouldn't like that same futuristic motorbike set with some other theme's branding on it. Ninjago wouldn't be as big if people were just randomly buying sets from across the portfolio because they look cool. Those Ninjas keep appearing in many different style sets because kids know who they are and presumably are more likely to buy into the sets than if LEGO stuck in some other random characters.

I think LEGO is trying to work out whether the classic themes should be for nostalgic adults or modern kids. While there is some overlap in desires from those two extremes, what makes something appeal to one market won't necessarily appeal to the other. The current demand for ICONS sets shows there is nostalgic demand, but what do they compare it to for demand from kids? The last 2013 Castle sets and Galaxy Squad didn't seem to dare so well, but was that too long ago for them to compare?

It is valid, because there are aspects of classic themes in the main (and now huge, compared to the past) evergreen themes. Part of the reason they are huge seems to be because they have taken the place of short lived unlicensed themes. Licenced themes tend not to compete with each other because fans of a franchise are not going to buy sets from another franchise, and LEGO tend not to have multiple similar licences. Whereas space has been catered for in City recently so to do space without competing against their other unlicensed space sets, they'd need to remove them from City for a period of time.

They already have classic town (as City) available. Who would these others be for? They would be going up against Ninjago and other in house themes if done as small sets for kids, and against the big sets for adults.

You've never heard of it before? So how come the store you have linked to has the same name and same profile picture as you? You are clearly advertising your own store.

OK. Legitimate LEGO hands are different and I don't buy the fake monochrome figures so have nothing to compare to. Maybe putting something into the hands multiple times is a good way to tell if the hands made in genuine colors are real or fake.

There is a pdf of the instructions available somewhere. I built it many years ago but the file would have been on a long gone PC. It was an OK build but nothing special. Someone was selling reproduced stickers for it a bit later on at brickset ... https://forum.brickset.com/discussion/20712/stickers-for-4000001-moulding-machines-set ... but I decided not to buy a sheet as I wasn't going to display it anyway. Like many of these sets, the parts are fairly cheap and it is the packaging and printed instructions that have the value, so I can definitely understand keeping it as an unopened investment rather than treating it as a lego set and building it.

Individual LCP sets are rare / hard to find, if you want a specific one as they are limited to small runs. However, there are 100s of different LCP sets so not that uncommon. As to value, it really depends on the condition of the box and instructions, and whether someone has a connection to the set. The parts themselves are typically very common and not worth much. So it is really down to whether someone wants the packaging. Bear in mind they are not official LEGO sets, so the collector market is much smaller.

I guess that is the issue with so many smaller factions, everyone has their favourites. The insignia on the rogue CMF was nice, but I'd like to see a fairly plain Wolfpack figure (or just the torso) done in an updated modern style like for Lion Knights, Black Falcons and Forestmen. Despite being a small theme, I liked the Wolfpack vibe.

Or preorder them ready for the next batch. If people are buying them on bricklink then there is demand and so it won't take long to reach the threshold again.