jodawill

I agree about the box. It also really brings home the fact that the "Icons" theme doesn't even make any sense. All adult sets go under one umbrella? Another thought I have on this - why don't they make the size of the set correspond to the size of the budget? With the number of frames they had available for this set, it probably would have been better suited as a $150 set instead. The number of new elements they were allowed to create would have gone much further in a smaller set.

I imagine the fact those parts were just 1x1 round tiles has a lot to do with the fact they were able to do that. They were all produced with the same tooling. It was probably a very one-off type thing, not a standard procedure in the factory. It would probably be a lot harder to do that if the parts were different molds because each of the parts might be manufactured in different locations and it would take up spots at each stage along the way. Also, 1x1 round tiles are one of the few parts that they do the most printing on. They probably have great infrastructure setup for printing those compared to very randomly shaped parts that would require special tooling.

I don't see a single sticker in the cottage set. (Continuing below) A horse for Prince Charming would have been nice, and they could have also used it in 10332. But to me, it doesn't feel like the set is missing anything, and just look at how many new parts that set got. Not even counting whatever recolors there are (and maybe that tile used on the beds is a new part?), they got all of this: New print for the clock New prints for all of the dwarfs's faces (not sure about Snow White and the prince) New torsos for all of the dwarfs (again, not sure about the other two characters) 2x2 round tile with squirrel printing 1x1 square tile with owl printing 2x3 tile with shutter printing A light brick (not exclusive to this set, but it's an expensive part) Two new hat molds in various colors - seven unique hats altogether, exclusive to this set New diamond mold (it appears to me) Two new beard molds Almost forgot - three new prints for the queen I'm probably missing some things, and there appear to be a lot of recolors on this set. Yeah, maybe the part count is smaller, but the design is much better than 10332 and there are a lot of new parts dedicated to this set. 10332 only has one new mold (the door) and it's not exclusive to that set. I think the cottage is a far better value for the money when you consider its design and plethora of unique elements. 10332 is a fine set, but it feels like an afterthought compared to many of the licensed sets they're releasing. And, like I said, 10305 had so many new parts, it felt very special, just like the Snow White set. I disagree with you when it comes to stickers. To me, stickers are often used as a substitute for creativity. They can be used tastefully. The Blacktron Cruiser used them merely in place of a printed element they couldn't bring back. The Wild West sets used them sparingly for signs. The Blacktron set was annoying because the stickers don't adhere well to the textured slope, but I think in principle, it was done tastefully. I'm not a fan of stickers when they're used to add a "nostalgia factor" for no purpose. I think the set references are pretty tasteless. There's a mix of two things here that I'm not a fan of. First, I don't like it when they minifigureize all of the decorations. I like how, for example, the old police station had a hand print on one of the elements. I think the Indian horses did also. The old Jolly Roger, likewise, had more realistic bones. The idea was that the minifigures represented real people. I don't like the idea that everything is so meta, like having a minifigure skull on the Jolly Roger or having paintings of minifigures on a tapestry. To me, it ruins the immersion. I feel like I'm looking at a cartoon where everything is silly. When I look at the old magazines, I feel like I myself am being transported to this fantastical world. The other thing is that it's just references for the sake of references. It's not creative to just stick a drawing of an old set on a tile. I do like it when they bring back old factions, but I'd rather see it as a continuation and expounding on previous ideas instead of just, "Hey, 'member that thing you loved when you were a kid?" I think 10305 did a pretty good job at bridging that gap. They did bring back old factions, but they did it in a fresh way and the castle wasn't just directly imitating the past. 10497 was less interesting to me as a set (it was a great parts pack at $40!) because I couldn't stop comparing it to the original, and I really preferred the original. If it was a completely new ship, I might have been more welcoming. 10332 does appeal to me for several reasons. I love the fact that the builds are essentially all original. They did do an homage to the Guarded Inn, but it wasn't replicated so closely as to make us compare them directly and judge the new one based on how faithfully they recreated it. It has several great new minifigures. (The tax collector could have been a CMF.) The gray goat is a really nice part. I wouldn't have chosen it over a new color of a larger animal, but it's probably my favorite goat of all three. I'm curious to see how I feel once I've actually built the set. It looks like it does pair very nicely with the Lion Knights Castle.

I almost skipped this because I don't like the face print change, and I wasn't motivated to spend money just to get it. But I learned some things recently that made me concerned that the 10320 parts won't be available on PAB much longer, so I went ahead and ordered all of the parts from that set I've been waiting to order. I saw someone building it in the store this afternoon and it looked like a nice set. It just bugs me that the figures don't match the ones I already have.

What does everyone think of the face change?

That Snow White set is a masterpiece. It makes me a little sore that this set didn't get that budget. But I shouldn't complain too much considering how much they did splurge on 10305. I guess they can't do that every year. I hope all of the hats and printed tiles from that set show up on PAB. There are a lot of good parts there, and it has a lot of great building techniques also. I wrote a negative review when they changed the color of the baseplate and increased the price by 60%. It stayed up and it was one of the too reviews until they rereleased it in the paper bag. It makes me wonder what you said in your review.

I'd like to think that it's helpful to provide any positive or negative feedback so people working at TLG can read it and understand why the set is or is not selling well and know how to attract more sales the next time around. I think part of the issue here actually is that they listened to all of the negative feedback on the ridiculous prices on all of these multiple hundreds of dollar sets they've been releasing during a time when people are struggling financially. They course corrected very swiftly when they saw how strongly people reacted to this. If we had gotten the set we wanted, it would have been very expensive, and many customers are more price sensitive than the diehards here on Eurobricks. And, as someone previously pointed out, $50 more would bring it too close to 10305 in price, and they probably wanted to offer this set to people who couldn't afford that one. For me, it's just frustrating that sets like this are so rare. I'd rather see a regular wave of castle sets than one big set every year. This set would be received much more positively if it was one of six sets released at the same time. One set alone will never be enough to satisfy everyone. They need diverse price points and subject matter. Right now, the options are 1) take it or 2) leave it. At least that's better than the very bad (almost) decade after the 2015 pirates when there was nothing for fans of historical themes whatsoever.

I just wish they'd bring back the old themes properly instead of these drips of nostalgic cash grabs. None of the classic themes have properly returned since the 2015 pirates wave.

This is really cool! I love the scaffolding and the crane especially. It would be cool to make a big MOC of people constructing a castle, or maybe use this idea to show defenders building a new wall behind one that's being attacked in a siege.

I love this! It's not too busy like many modern MOCs. I think you found the right balance between detail and classic simplicity. I like the way you did the drawbridge, and I love how minimalistic the tudor house is.

That's a very nice looking bridge!

I'm very interested in seeing what parts come from this set. I'm not familiar with D&D. I can't tell from the leaked photo - are the torsos on the minifigures going to be useful for historical castle?

I wouldn't be surprised if they released a ninja Icons set, but I'm afraid they'd use one of the ridiculous Ninjago hoods since they don't make the originals anymore. Very often recently, Lego has tried to bring stuff back in such a half hearted way, I wish they would have just not even attempted at all. There are some themes that just shouldn't be revived unless they're willing to invest money on parts. However, if they just brought back the old hood, I think the rest of this theme could be done well with existing parts. Would it sell? I have no idea. Maybe it would be better if they started incorporating some classic ninja elements into the Ninjago sets. That theme started out very well in my opinion, but it quickly devolved into - whatever you would call what it is today. The first wave in that theme had some really cool sets with lots of great parts. I was very excited when it was originally released.

If you're looking for parts, not sets, I would recommend buying them directly through online Pick a Brick or Bricklink. If you live near a Lego store, you can get some good parts on the Pick a Brick wall and the build a minifigure (BAM) station. BAM has the Lion Knights shield right now, so that's the cheapest way to get those if your store allows you to fill the packages with a single part. (Some do, and some stores require you to get a torso, head, legs, etc.) Here's the bookmark I've been using to watch the parts I'm interested in. It's not comprehensive, but it's a good place to start if you're interested in seeing what's on PAB.

https://www.newelementary.com/2024/02/lego-review-40712-micro-rocket-launch.html?m=1 I may be in the minority this, but I'm not a big fan of this set. I was excited to get another space baby, but these have classic smiles instead. I see a distraction between micro scale and what I call "baby scale." Baby scale is similar to micro scale, but it involves some enlarged features to make things cute, such as not to scale wheels. These builds are all scaled down copies of the original sets, which to me, just makes them low budget knockoffs of the originals. They really ought to go one way or the other. Still, I could incorporate the white baby into my display and just hope people don't notice the eyes. The trans yellow panels are also a nice new part and I hope they show up on PAB.

That's one of the most confusing things about this set. The queen already had her own shield in 10305. Why do we need another one for her? A Wolfpack shield would have been a lot more useful. I understand that it doesn't make sense in the context of the shield painter because they're renegades, but they also could have reused the shields from 10305 for the painter. The set is fine (just fine). But for anyone who's more than the casual fan who discovers this on the shelf a few months after release, it's hard to overlook the myriad of missed opportunities. But I guess 99% of the people buying this will be that type of casual fan who didn't even know what was originally planned, and that's what TLG is counting on. To me, it feels like this set could have been better if it was originally designed for this price point. The plain plate roofs feel very much like a last minute substitution, much like the rest of the set. The designer probably could have come up with something completely different that works better if he had been told from the start that this is what he had to work with.

I never really expected there to be new shields in this set because there were so many in 10305, except I thought they may use it as a way to bring back the Dragon Knights shield for the GWP. (That set was the biggest waste of resources since the jelly bean knights.) The stickers we get in this set aren't really that interesting, so the fact that they're not printed is just whatever. I think the set would have actually been better if they avoided those prints altogether because they actually subtract from the set in my opinion. I think the random set references and so forth are actually pretty tasteless. I'm curious to see how well this set sells. I do love the new minifigures in this set and I'll buy extras. My overall impression of this set is that this is the okayest set of the year. I think it was a bad idea to release the goat in the CMF first. It stole the thunder from this larger set. There's just about nothing interesting in the way of animals in this set due to that decision. It basically only has one animal, and honestly, goats are not that useful beyond the meme lulz. I'm glad to have them for my displays, but would I sacrifice a new color of cow or horse for a goat? Absolutely not. I'd rather have the white horse with regular printing while they already have the part in that color. Does anyone else feel the same way? I also feel, though, that all the negativity over this set is distracting us to a couple really nice features here - the tax collector and the return of Wolfpack. I wouldn't even mind skipping the entire set and ordering those minifigures only. The same reason for everything else: to torment the fans and let them know they don't care about them.

Where are you guys seeing better pictures?

It looks really good sitting in front of the castle like that. It would be really cool if they'd make promotional materials putting them together in the classic style, with a physical backdrop.

I'm really confused over why they felt they had to use blank shields when there are so many to choose from in 10305. Does it actually cost that much more to reuse one of them? It doesn't matter to me because I have hundreds of shields anyway, but it's annoying seeing that level of stinginess coming from TLG. That just seems incredibly petty to me.

This is really nice! Very well done.

I've had lots of (old) brown cannon holders for almost 30 years and I've never broken one. Maybe you were just too rough with your toys.

My eyes completely glossed over the text. Thanks!

Here's a pretty clear image of the door. It seems promising that they would dedicate a new mold to something that's clearly historical. I wish we could get more dedicated castle molds. This is probably the best door they've made since they retired the shutter hinges.

That's a very interesting list. He goes way back! Scorpion Tracker was the only Adventurers set I had when I was a kid. I loved the crap out of that thing. It's such a classic. He designed a lot of good sets. That list has a lot of gaps in it. I'm guessing designing sets isn't his full time job. I wonder what else he does at TLG. Maybe he's an element designer?