BlueberryWaffles

It's not super detailed, but I love the "prop replica" feel of this one. Hiding the Asgard trophy room inside the hammer is cute too. Might have to get this one, it's a nice display piece yet not as expensive as most of the adult-oriented sets coming out lately. I wonder what else could get this treatment? We already had the Infinity Gauntlet itself, and I feel like the Stark gauntlet is too similar to that. Cap's shield is the first thing that pops into my head, though the build techniques might have to get creative for a large-scale model. Maybe Star-Lord's blasters and/or mask?

The Batman artwork set has been revealed! https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/jim-lee-batman-collection-31205 Exciting that the artwork was done by Jim Lee himself. As reported earlier, the three images are Batman, Harley Quinn, and Joker. Two sets can be combined to make an image of Batman and Catwoman, and three sets can combine to create a tall portrait of Batman from the waist up.

Might pick these up. I like Stranger Things but not quite enough for the $200 set, so this is more manageable. I wish the backs of the figures were a little more detailed, but I guess those really won't be seen on display anyway. I like the construction of the Demogorgon's mouth.

Yeah, Peacemaker being a con exclusive would be a kick in the teeth. Not to say they usually aren't, though... it's been nine years and I'm still mad about symbiote Spider-Man being a con exclusive. At least with Shazam they finally released a very similar minifig in a set. Hopefully more figures who weren't necessarily based on a certain version (Bizarro, Phoenix, symbiote Spidey, Arsenal, etc.) get updated minifigs.

Wow, I love the helmets used for shoulder pauldrons! The double cape is clever too. This is a great adaptation of the character. I'm still bummed that we didn't get an official version of the Ultron-Vision. Maybe I'll try building my own based on your techniques.

Has anyone seen Marvel CMF still in stores? I had a few left to find and cannot find the bags anywhere. About to bite the bullet and Bricklink them, but I just thought I'd ask here first.

Sorry to double post. It was just announced that Microsoft, parent company of Xbox, has purchased Activision-Blizzard for nearly $70 billion. This means that all associated IP, including Overwatch, will belong to Microsoft. Interesting to see if this will affect Lego's decision on the upcoming Overwatch sets. I have to wonder if Lego knew about this change in ownership, leading to the temporary delay of the set being announced when it was.

I enjoyed it. It's a good reminder for all of us to keep our expectations in line and talk about actual information. These days, it feels like half of EB posts are just "oh check out the hashtag for such and such rumored piece counts" or whatever. I don't know if that's spread to all parts of AFOLs, but it seems so predominant here. There's more anticipation for "when will the leaks drop" that it feels like we care more about leaks than the actual sets anymore. On that note, where's my D2C Back to the Future DeLorean? I was promised it online last year!

Killmonger's mask (the one from the museum before he puts on the Panther armor) was a unique mold.

I still don't think the Hogwarts Express is iconic enough for a $470 set (especially if most of the set would be non-train elements) but I have to admit, having the epilogue minifigs as incentive is an amazing idea. That's really the only way I could see them being made outside of another CMF series, and I would think there would be significant demand for them.

I'm guessing the thought process is that the shows are less accessible than the movies since they are locked into a specific streaming service. Usually movies tend to get a larger marketing push as well, which trends into more merchandise. Since there's only so many sets that can be made per year and there's already multiple MCU movies coming out every year at this point, it makes sense that most of the sets will be devoted to covering the movies. It is possible that TLG is testing the waters with the two What If? sets to see how sales go for MCU Disney+ sets. Consider how The Mandalorian only got one set to go along with its first season in 2019. It took until 2021, months after season two ended, to get significant coverage of the series.

No love for Aunt Beru?

I think the "Diagon Alley" name might be enough to sell people. Personally, I kind of love the idea of annual DA shops similar to what used to happen with Hogwarts or even the Winter Village sets. Putting DA shops side by side has a "gotta catch 'em all" feeling, similar to the modular building line, that Hogwarts doesn't quite get due to the layout of the castle.

I really like them! The head molds are hit that perfect balance of being specialized enough for the characters yet still simplistic enough for that classic Lego charm. Excited to see accessories with the full reveal.

Were there? The first wave of the umbrella "Marvel" theme in 2012 consisted of one comics-based set with the rest all being based on Avengers. Even if you're counting the earlier Spider-Man sets based on the Raimi movies, those are still film-oriented. While I wouldn't mind a comics-based Avengers Tower, I think an MCU version is more likely. Usually Avengers stuff has always been tied in to some media (the MCU, the Avengers Assemble cartoon, the Square Enix game, etc.). I guess the mechs are the only things that stand out to me as the exception. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I would be shocked if the Bat-vehicles end before a 1966 Batmobile is released. That's easy money on the table.

Pretty happy with how the hospital wing turned out, that'll be a purchase for sure. Crazy to think that it took this long to get a hospital wing and Pomfrey herself.

I'm glad DC is getting a bit of love after the past few dry years, but I will be very disappointed if we don't get any NWH spoiler sets. Guess I wouldn't be surprised given that the only one we got for Endgame was the weird Avengers helicopter set, of which only had a little bit of spoiler content (Rescue and the Stark gauntlet). We did eventually get more Endgame sets in 2021, so it could take a similar time gap for NWH?

As someone who just started buying the 2018 reboot theme, I'm debating on whether I should get the retired GoF sets from Bricklink (graveyard, Horntail, carriage) or see if they get remade as well. Thoughts?

The Voldemort in that banner looks like the same stock photo from the graveyard set. I wouldn't read too much into it.

Question about the Hogwarts Moments from last year: did anyone else have problems with the Charms book closing flush? The other three are fine, but Charms seems to have a gap when closing both sides together. It's not a huge deal, just wondering if anyone else ran into this when building.

Yeah, I feel like this is going to be a WALL-E type situation where TLG will just quietly change the set in further production and offer a small parts bag to those that contact them about it. It doesn't seem like a big enough problem to fully recall the set.

Imagine the salt if the only Deathly Hallows content we get is a DH-themed advent calendar. Mini builds of the tent, Ironbelly, maybe throw in some diner furniture... I should stop before I give TLG too many ideas. As for the CMF discussion, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get another series. I don't think any licensed series has had more than two series. Simpsons, Disney, and TLBM all ended at two series each. If you count it, TLM and TLM2 works with that pattern too. Now Marvel is joining its ranks, but we don't know if that will run longer than two. In Marvel's defense, there's much more of a basis when you look at content. I mean, just look at the two HP series and how many figures got rereleased in a very similar design. Moody came in a set. Trelawney came in a set. So did Sprout, grey sweatshirt Harry, Dobby, Neville in Herbology clothes, Cho, Newt, Tina, Queenie, the list goes on and on. Even some variants like Quidditch Draco or Slug Club Ginny could have been put in standard sets (Quidditch Match, Astronomy Tower) easily. The Marvel theme doesn't have this flexibility. With so many of the sets being based on the films, there's barely room to cover the shows. At the end of the day, this issue comes up with most licensed CMF series. Given the Lego Marvel theme is reaching its 10 year anniversary in 2022, I don't think it's too far to grant it the same treatment as other properties.

Oh boy, yeah. Sets based wholly on the Raimi trilogy after all these years would be a dream come true. I'll try to keep expectations in check, but it'll be difficult...

I did forget about the Ninjago City expansions. My initial thought was that they weren't enough iconic buildings besides Gringotts and the current DA set, but I keep forgetting about the Leaky Cauldron. Between those two, the dragon, and maybe Borgin and Burkes, I guess I can see how another set could serve as a standalone. It just seems funny to me that this "expansion" would cost more than the "base model".