Aanchir

LEGO only actually sold the Team GB minifigures in GB, though. Any aftermarket success they experienced elsewhere is more or less irrelevant unless LEGO decided to release future Olympic series worldwide. And even huge popularity in the aftermarket is no guarantee they'd be popular enough in the primary market to justify that kind of global distribution.

Or possibly (if some of the rumors about Hands of Time involving time travel are true) between Kai and Nya's parents…

Looks like fangs to me. Goofy-looking fangs for a goofy-looking model. He maybe could've stood to have one plate's separation between his nose and fangs, but I don't think it's too confusing for kids to understand.

Tommy Andreasen confirms some details about the ages here. Zane was built at least 60 years ago. Kai, Cole, and Jay are all roughly the same age. Nya is two years younger than Kai. But he doubts that they will ever specifically define the ninja's ages. He's actually been answering a lot of questions on his Twitter. Among other things, he confirms that future Ninjago books will be considered canon. The Dark Island Trilogy is canon and takes place between Realm of Shadows and Day of the Departed. Also, it's canon that Ronin was responsible for delivering Zane to Master Chen.

Probably because Mega Bloks cuts costs in other places like materials. Plus, LEGO has found time and time again that a lot of kids like stickers, so printing everything wouldn't necessarily make their sets more appealing to their primary audience. Plus, Mega Bloks was still using stickers extensively a few years ago, so if they have in fact entirely stopped using stickers, it's a very recent change — too recent to really judge how practical it will be for them in the long run.

IMO that's basically the most obnoxious kind of plot twist out there: the kind that gives you time to get to know and like a cast of characters before revealing that everything you liked about them was a ruse. Sort of like the stupid "Velika is an immoral mass murderer" plot twist from Bionicle G1. More than anything else, inviting fans to like and root for a character then having a reveal like that is just an easy way to make those fans feel like garbage. Frankly, Hero Factory is a far superior story if one-off gaffes like that exchange between Furno and Evo are just what they are at face value: sloppy writing, not sadistic writing. Moreover, setting up clues for years before having a plot twist can be made to work. However, it shouldn't be done in a way that makes everything that led up to it feel like a waste. The 2008 reveal that Mata Nui was a giant robot cast some previous things in a different light, but it didn't make the small messages or the big messages of the previous story arcs any less authentic. If the 2008 story ended with the revelation that the events of all the previous years were "all just a dream" and that none of it had actually happened, the audience would understandably feel cheated. And if it had ended by revealing that every good thing that had ever happened in the story was actually bad and every bad thing that had happened was actually good… then that would be just gross disrespect to the audience.

What's the price point on the droid guy from Rogue One? He seemed pretty big to me, albeit far less bulky than Vader or Grievous. Overall, I think the smaller size of sets for The Force Awakens and Rogue One, and the smaller number of sets for Rogue One, has less to do with the Star Wars buildable figures not selling well and more to do with what the movies themselves have to offer. None of the major characters from The Force Awakens were as huge and imposing as Vader or Grievous, besides Snoke, who seems to have been consciously omitted from its merchandise. I'm not aware of any Rogue One characters who are that huge either, besides the aforementioned droid. And while there are only half as many Rogue One buildable figures as previous waves, there are also fewer playsets than there were for the launch of The Force Awakens, which suggests to me that LEGO simply doesn't expect this movie to move merchandise at the same rate that Episode 7 did. It's the same with the Marvel Super Heroes theme: some movies (Avengers, Iron Man 3, Avengers 2, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America 3) got three to six playsets, others (Ant-Man, Doctor Strange) only got one apiece, and still others (Thor 2, Captain America 2) didn't get any at all. In a popular theme that is already crowded with tie-ins from TV and previous movies, LEGO has to be selective about how many sets they dedicate to any one new movie. Feeling apprehensive in the wake of Bionicle's cancellation is understandable. But assuming that high-ranking LEGO employees would lie about constraction continuing starts to feel less like normal skepticism and more like pure cynicism.

Just found out today that LEGOLAND Florida is doing a charity drive this weekend, and if you donate ten or more of the most needed school supplies from their list, you get a copy of the Sky Pirates Battle polybag with exclusive Cyren minifigure. This is the first I've heard of this polybag being available in the United States, though I'm sure it won't be the only opportunity to get it. Still, just wanted to get the word out to Ninjago fans who live near LEGOLAND Florida!

Take another look at the second sentence from the post you quoted. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, the CEO of the company, said in an interview earlier this year that the LEGO Group is going to be doing more with the CCBS in the future. Kim Thomsen, the community manager, mentioned to me in person at BrickFair that constraction is still continuing. I believe I've also seen posts from other people involved in constraction making claims to the same effect. I see no reason to doubt any of them on that matter.

I don't see how anybody could claim that Hero Factory had a low budget, let alone a small amount of marketing? I mean, maybe by the end it did. But for its first wave in 2010 — which was not even a full year of sets — it got four twelve-page comics (drawn by the same artist as the first Bionicle comics, no less), 15 sets with 31 new parts, at least two online games, a twelve-episode "Hero Factory FM" podcast, and a four-episode TV series. That's 88 minutes of animation, longer than ANY of the Bionicle movies, and twice the length of the 2011 LEGO Ninjago TV special! They even set up a call center to take live phone calls from Hero Factory fans, some of which they then featured in the podcast. It's true that there were no books for Hero Factory in its first two years (in the United States, at least — I think Poland may have had a couple), but the same could be said for G1 Bionicle. Hero Factory got a pretty substantial promotional campaign prior to its launch, including a detailed teaser site and a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. And Hero Factory was supported with contributions from some of the same people and agencies who made Bionicle G1 what it was: artists like Christian Faber, writers like Greg Farshtey and designers like Christoffer Raundahl. LEGO clearly invested a huge amount in Hero Factory. And that huge investment was apparently not rewarded the way they hoped it would be. I guarantee you it was no accident that Hero Factory's marketing profile and number of sets per wave got smaller in year two (and each year after that), instead of bigger as happened with Bionicle G1, LEGO Ninjago, or LEGO Friends. 88 minutes of TV episodes in 2010 to 66 minutes in 2011 to 44 minutes in 2012 to 22 minutes in 2013. Four comic issues written and drawn in 2010 to three in 2011 to two in 2012 (some of which didn't even see hard-copy publication). Fifteen sets per wave in 2010 to eleven per wave in 2011 to nine per wave in 2012 to seven and a half per wave in 2013 and 2014. This is not a theme that LEGO never invested sufficiently in — it's a theme that, in spite of a huge upfront investment, never performed well enough to justify the same investment each year as the year prior. Honestly, I often hear people say things about how G2 Bionicle should have been handled — more people from the original Bionicle team, a broadcast TV series starting in year one, detailed character bios and backstories, a series of free comics in the LEGO Club Magazine, more story-driven online games, less marketing targeted toward adult nostalgia, impulse-priced sets for the main protagonists, etc. — and all I can think is "Hero Factory. You literally just described Hero Factory." But it didn't work the way LEGO hoped back then, so is it any surprise that LEGO was in no hurry to promote Bionicle G2 using the exact same strategies? Is it any surprise they decided to go back to the drawing board and approach the Bionicle reboot from a decidedly different direction? As much as some people would like to believe Bionicle G2 failed due to being "Hero Factory by a different name", many people's best suggestions for what Bionicle G2 should have done differently are the exact same strategies that Hero Factory used in the first place!

I see no reason why the Star Wars buildable figures would not continue, because everything I've heard suggests those have been selling well. Additionally, multiple LEGO employees have confirmed that constraction is continuing, so I don't see any reason to worry about that.

According to my brother it is. Sorry! I didn't realize because I'm not actually in a LUG myself, and because I've seen people talking about it on the Brickset forums so I assumed mentioning it was OK.

That would be quite awesome and is honestly something I expected might happen after Ragana's elf body was destroyed in "Dragons in Danger to Save, Part 2". But then in "Down a Dark Path" she regains physical form looking basically the same as before. That doesn't entirely rule out the possibility of that happening through other means in the future, but from the webisodes I've seen I figure they still have stories they want to tell involving Ragana as an elf.

No. Bright Yellowish Green is an entirely different color (Lime on BrickLink). Bright Green is Bright Green on BrickLink and Brickset alike.

New stuff is great, but there are a few advantages I can see to creating at least one new dragon in the future: First of all, assuming the dragons have been successful, it will help the LEGO Group make the most of that momentum and maintain a sense of continuity, while still leaving plenty of room for new concepts. We've seen them do this sort of thing in other themes. For example, this year's Airjitzu Temple Grounds set from LEGO Ninjago caters to fans of last year's Airjitzu fliers without having to create a whole new series of them. Second, just from an efficiency standpoint, the Queen Dragon head sculpt is only used in one set. LEGO isn't averse to introducing molds that only appear in one set (licensed themes do it all the time), but a shadow dragon would be a great opportunity to get some more use out of that mold without necessarily feeling like it's retreading old ground. And third, since Ragana is established as a villain and has not been reformed or otherwise removed from the picture, she should ideally maintain some presence in the sets and story. A shadow dragon would be a good build to accompany her that would not feel like a retread of previous sets associated with her like the Shadow Castle. All this said, introducing another dragon set or another set featuring Ragana is not urgent, because this year's summer sets will likely remain available through the first half of next year. So a set like that wouldn't necessarily have a void to fill until at least the second half of the year. At that point, all the previous dragon sets, as well as all the sets featuring Ragana, will be on the verge of retirement, if not retired already, creating a prime opportunity to introduce new sets fulfilling both those criteria.

EDIT: confidential info removed

Earlier this month during the final day of BrickFair Virginia, I went to the LEGO store at Tyson's Corner, VA to take advantage of double VIP points weekend. It wasn't until we arrived that my brother and I realized that we had forgotten our dad's VIP card, which had my brother's LUG sticker on it! This put us in sort of a panic, especially since we had made plans to get a LOT of sets that day, and not being able to get the double points would've made the trip more or less pointless since we'd be paying the same price we would on any other day. But our dad texted us some images of his VIP card, front and back, and with those and our dad's e–mail address the employee who helped us was able to get us the double points. This was no small feat since without the physical card, he had to enter the points for each set individually, but he was extremely cooperative. Everything worked out great in the end. I can think of a lot of stores that wouldn't go to nearly such lengths for somebody who had forgotten their membership/points card. Helping us out in this way definitely went above and beyond our expectations.

The stones are really more purple than pink in my opinion, though I realize that for some people that's not a really meaningful distinction. I like the decision since like the pink and purple foliage and colorful crystals, it contributes to the magical, otherworldly feeling of the setting (plus helps offset the heavy use of grey and black for the castle itself). But if you wanted to swap the stone out for some shade of grey or brown I can't imagine it would be all that difficult or expensive, since grey and brown slopes, panels, basic bricks, and mountain bricks are ridiculously common and usually inexpensive compared to lavender ones. If you do end up getting it for your daughters, I hope you are pleasantly surprised by how much it has to offer! I understand the appeal of more muted and traditional LEGO Castle designs, and to be honest I hope the next time LEGO Castle comes around, some of the innovations in the LEGO Elves and Nexo Knights themes begin to filter into the traditional Castle sets as well. By that I'm chiefly referring to spaces for more peaceful activities like eating, sleeping, and studying. It's still bewildering to me that no non-licensed LEGO Castle set has included a banquet hall, which to me has always stood out as one of the iconic elements of medieval life. Both Jestro's Volcano Lair and Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle show that "creature comforts" don't have to come at the expense of action play (heck, the Volcano Lair is arguably MORE action-packed than most traditional LEGO castles, almost to the point of ridiculousness), so I see no reason why the Castle theme couldn't make room for them in addition to the standard throne room, dungeon, and treasury. To me, a castle should feel like a home, not just a stronghold.

The 2016 Annual Report probably won't be out until March 2017, since it encompasses the results for the entire year, but the LEGO Group's interim (half-year) result tends to be announced in September, so it won't be long before we get a bit of news on how the sets from the first half of this year have been doing. For instance, last year's interim result didn't give us as much detail about what the top themes and sets were as the annual report, but it did call out several themes like City, Creator, Technic, Star Wars, and Ninjago for contributing to the double-digit sales growth over that period, and also specifically mentions that Elves and Jurassic World made a positive impression with their launch waves. The interim result was also the first place it was publicly announced that Ninjago was now evergreen (the news had previously been shared here on Eurobricks from the LEGO Group's employee magazine, but those magazines aren't available to the public). Anecdotally, it seems to me that Nexo Knights has been received positively, but I haven't seen any indication of the sort of record-shattering performance LEGO Ninjago or LEGO Friends had in their first years. That goes for both the sets and the TV show.

It's kind of interesting to me that while the last couple iterations of LEGO Castle and LEGO Pirates generally had a "back to basics" approach in terms of subject matter, Space has never really gotten similar treatment. I suppose that may be because while kids' perception of medieval times or the "golden age of piracy" tend to be pretty stable, kids' perception of the future is always changing. So while things like unmanned rockets, moon rovers, and dart-shaped spacecraft felt really authentically futuristic back in the 80s, modern kids' expectations for the future of space travel look a lot different. That obstacle aside, I am also in the camp that would love to see more old-school LEGO Space themes revisited. I am glad that Duplo has started to explore more sci-fi subject matter with sets like "My First Rocket" or the various Miles from Tomorrowland sets, and it makes me hopeful that maybe we might see more space-related sets in the Juniors theme as well. I feel like the Juniors building style could actually really suit subject matter like the moonbase and rover in Space Command Center or Alpha-1 Rocket Base. Juniors Space sets could potentially take advantage of how younger kids aren't as likely to see the sorts of toys their parents and grandparents grew up with as dated or uncool. And Space sets for younger kids could help get them interested in space travel, creating an audience for more advanced Space sets as that generation gets older.

If buildings are what you're after, have you taken a look at the Elves theme? The buildings in that theme are obviously more fantasy-inspired than strictly historical, but even so, I think they have a lot to offer. The Starlight Inn has beautiful rustic architecture, and Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle is perhaps the single best LEGO castle I've ever seen, in terms of feeling livable without sacrificing the usual castle features like a throne room, traps, and a dungeon. It also has a really dark and evil look that no LEGO Castle set its size in the past several years has really offered… the last $100 "evil castle" before it was Trolls' Mountain Fortress way back in 2009.

She hasn't though? She played a big role in the final episodes of Season Six. Her absence in the intervening time was pretty effectively explained as her taking over management of her father's noodle shops. As for why she had to be written into the sidelines like that, that's easy to explain. She's one of many, MANY supporting characters in LEGO Ninjago, and the show can't possibly keep all of them in the spotlight at all times. As new stories spring up, they have to focus on whichever supporting characters make the most sense for each episode or story arc. The writers explained during last year's SDCC panel that they have had difficulty dealing with the ever-increasing cast of characters, which is part of why they chose to integrate Pixal into Zane's AI: it allowed her and her relationship with Zane to remain an active presence in the storyline without having to keep coming up with explanations for where she is and what she's doing. But other supporting characters like Skylor, Cyrus Borg, and Jay's parents often have to be removed from the spotlight, sometimes for many episodes at a time, while they wait for the story to call on them again.

I don't know if the term "evergreen" has ever meant that there would never be any sorts of hiatus. The announcement of Ninjago becoming evergreen in one of the LEGO employee magazines mentioned "cycles of renewal", and I think that's a pretty big factor in what is considered evergreen. Note that since 2000, LEGO has been pretty consistent about putting out a new take on LEGO Castle every three or four years. Not all of them end up lasting the full three years until the next incarnation comes out, and not all of them end up offering what AFOLs want from a Castle theme, but they still come out pretty much like clockwork. I think there's a strategic aspect to having these kinds of renewal cycles. Each incarnation of LEGO Castle still has to succeed on its own merits, and if it can't maintain its momentum for the full three years LEGO has to go back to the drawing board. They can't just rush out a new version of LEGO Castle each time the previous version ends if they haven't had enough time to develop a replacement and figure out how to set it apart from the previous incarnation. City, of course, doesn't deal with these kinds of hiatuses, but that's because City sells like hotcakes pretty much without fail, so they don't have to worry about the current incarnation running its course and needing to be put on the back burner while they look into ways to reinvent it. And yeah, I'll vouch for this year's LEGO Elves range having more of what I've always wanted in LEGO medieval fantasy than actual Castle sets have ever had. Brilliant and highly posable dragon designs? Check! Castles that actually feel livable? Check! An exciting and magical fantasy world? Check! It's true that there's pretty much no armor, but there have been some weapons like a crossbow in Queen Dragon's Rescue, a sword and shield in The Secret Market Place, and a shield and magic staff in Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle. As for heraldry, Elves has some fantastic iconography like printed element tiles in two sizes, and some pretty amazing flags for both good and evil factions, plus various stickers that bear many of those same symbols. Mind you, it's entirely your choice whether figures you dislike are reason enough to skip several-hundred-piece sets. It's the same choice girls who dislike the minifigure have been forced to grapple with for decades. Settle for a figure that is (in their eyes) mediocre and off-putting? Or skip sets entirely in favor of other, more appealing hobbies? There's no point trying to force yourself to like something you don't. That said, I think there would be plenty for adult Castle fans to like in many Elves sets like the Shadow Castle, Queen Dragon's Rescue, and the Starlight Inn even if they didn't come with any figures at all.

Bought the Shadow Castle, Queen Dragon's Rescue, and Dragon Sanctuary on Sunday, and have built the first two. Both are fantastic builds! Even before I had them, I felt like the Shadow Castle delivered more of what I've always wanted in a LEGO castle than any Castle set ever has, and building it just reinforced that. Brilliantly constructed, elaborately furnished, and packed with playability. And this is still at the same $100 price point that all the flagship LEGO castles have been for over a decade now! I can only imagine how incredible it might've been at a $120 price point like the flagship Ninjago, Chima, and Nexo Knights sets tend to have. Elandra the Queen Dragon is massive and majestic, with very lifelike curves and a gorgeous color scheme. Her wings are more articulated than the other dragons, and her hips and shoulders less so, but this is understandable as the legs need to support much more weight than the other dragons'. The custom-built wings are a little messy looking from underneath, particularly near the joint, but otherwise look great. The saddle is well constructed too. The spooky atmosphere of both sets is fantastic. I love how the foliage of the Shadowlands has sickly green thorns and hanging moss in place of flowers, and the sharp stalagmites also lend a sense of danger. Instead of crystals in calming pink and blue, the crystals in the new sets use an eerie combination of blue and green. The lava which in other sets felt fairly contained is expanded to a huge and perilous-looking river, while the rushing blue waters that appeared in other sets are reduced to a weak trickle. At the same time, the lavender stone established in the first half of this year continues to appear here, offsetting the darker black and grey buildings, and the evil-looking architecture is still just as interwoven with its environment as the more rustic buildings elsewhere in the theme. Ragana's potion-brewing lab/kitchen and Jynx's bed are both wholly situated in trees that grow out of the sides of the Shadow Castle. Overall I love the track that LEGO Elves is on and I'm excited to see what the future holds!

The Nexo Knights panel from SDCC is live!