Aanchir

This was a funny thread to read, but also strangely on-point. Not to say that I truly believe "LEGO is free", but I do believe I get a lot more value for my money than I would for other toys or even other creative products like art supplies. A few years ago I was studying Industrial Design in college, and some of my classes had extensive material lists, and I'd have to buy new materials on a frequent basis. Not only was it a chore, but too often it felt like pouring money down the drain (especially when I was told I bought the wrong material after buying exactly what the material list described, an experience which is mostly in line with what a nightmare that school was for me in general). But LEGO is different. Generally, outside of the occasional defective parts which Customer Service is typically happy to replace, it has lasting value, unlike things like paints or clay that run out when you've finished using all of what you bought.

He's adorable! I love him! :) Might be the cutest seasonal set yet! Regular Mixels eyes might have worked, and I imagine that's what the set would've used if they hadn't already committed to printing a sticker sheet for the "Happy Birthday" flag. But these super sparkly eyes really up the ante in terms of cuteness! I wonder if this will be a general LEGO set or a Toys 'R' Us exclusive set. The concept is fairly generic but the font and colors on the "Happy Birthday" flag feel very Toys 'R' Us (they're close to, but not exactly, the same as the colors used on the TRU logo).

Debates about whether Nexo Knights qualifies as a "castle theme" aside, the set is named "Classic Knight Minifigure", not "Classic Castle Minifigure". In fact, all three of these packs have been named for the occupation of the minifigure, not for the theme they originate from. And similarly, the other booklets' timelines have included figs fitting that occupation without regard to theme — the "Classic Spaceman Minifigure" set's booklet included a minifigure from 10213 Shuttle Adventure, which, if it were to be retroactively branded with any specific theme name, would almost certainly be branded as City or Creator Expert, not Space. Besides allowing LEGO to include minifigures from themes that aren't a part of the same brand or category, this occupation-based naming also means that in the future LEGO could potentially revisit classic figures that originated in the same themes — like a "Classic Wizard Minifigure" based on LEGO Castle, "Classic Robot Minifigure" based on LEGO Space, or "Classic Soldier Minifigure" based on LEGO Pirates. As another bonus, this means that LEGO won't have to pick just one archetype to represent the most ubiquitous classic theme of all, Town. And it could potentially make it easier for LEGO to make sets covering themes like Western ("Classic Cowboy Minifigure"), Ninja ("Classic Ninja Minifigure"), or Adventurers ("Classic Adventurer Minifigure") that have been re-imagined but not fully revived in over a decade.

When he says his destiny is to reach the Dark Island, I think he means there's something specific he has to do there in response to the current crisis. Not just that he's meant to be there at some point during his lifetime. I doubt it. Even if this trilogy IS canon (and I've seen some comments suggesting that it might be), I don't think it will be essential setup for the next season, but rather be more of an "interquel" that tells its own story. Sort of like Shadow of Ronin but possibly more canon.

I don't expect to see a live-action scene as part of the movie's actual plot, but as I've mentioned before, it'd be HILARIOUS to have a mid-credits or post-credits scene where the real Batman is playing with the LEGO models and characters in the Batcave.

Not quite show-related, but Boyslife.org revealed the covers of the LEGO Ninjago: Dark Island Trilogy, as well as four preview pages from Part 1. This series takes place after the events of Season 6 (Skybound).

Interesting thought. Knights Kingdom II sort of went that route in its first couple years, with each knight defined not by an element but by an attribute (Jayko the Quick, Santis the Strong, Danju the Wise, and Rascus the Clever. One tricky thing about this compared to elements is that elements are very visual — there are specific images you associate with fire, water, earth, ice, stone, or jungle (air a bit less so, which is one of the advantages jungle has over air from a character design standpoint). With more abstract attributes like speed and strength, you have to go with imagery connected with that element in a more abstract way. So for instance, DC Comics' The Flash uses lightning bolt imagery because speed doesn't have a specific "look", but lightning is something we think of as fast. Knights' Kingdom II opted to use animal motifs associated with its knights' attributes.

They are spin-offs, and I'm pretty sure they both take place AFTER The LEGO Movie.

For starters, vehicles are among the most mechanically intricate things a lot of people come into close contact with in their day-to-day lives. Vehicles also have a lot of exciting play potential, which is part of why other less functionality-driven themes like City and Star Wars also tend to be pretty vehicle-heavy in their own right. There's just more ways to play with a LEGO excavator or truck than with, say, a LEGO washing machine or blender. I do wish there were more LEGO Technic models with fantasy and sci-fi leanings, like the old folding LEGO Technic droids from the Star Wars theme, the fighting robots from the Competition/Cyber-Slam subtheme, or the Rahi beast sets from the 2001 Bionicle range. In general Technic sets from the 90s and early naughts tended to lean a lot more heavily into imaginative sci-fi territory than today's sets. That's not to say I don't love Technic sets today — in terms of looks and functionality, they're better than ever, IMO! But the subject matter can be a bit mundane sometimes, so nowadays I rarely feel drawn to any but the biggest and most technically intricate sets. Your large-scale robot model sounds very interesting! Whether it belongs here might depend on how much functionality you have built into it. If the whole thing is motorized or gear-driven, then I'm sure it could be a great fit here, but otherwise I think it might get more attention in the Action Figures subforum.

Not sure on the reasons why King and Queen Halbert are referred to by their surname (possibly so that the family connection between them and Macy Halbert isn't lost on viewers), but thanks to the Book of Monsters we DO know their full names: King Eggred Halbert and Queen Hammerin Halbert.

Well, also LEGO Worlds (which is still in early access) and various mobile games like the LEGO Nexo Knights Merlok 2.0 app. Other than those, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and LEGO Dimensions, I don't think Tt Games has announced anything else.

In the Character Encyclopedia interview with Daniel McKenna (a LEGO Ninjago graphic designer), he specifically mentions that outfit as a figure he'd like to make in the future, along with the pink version of Zane's original robes and some of the not-yet-released elemental masters like Ash and Bolobo.

All the ones that were in episode 34, yeah. Now, there's no guarantee LEGO won't retroactively give Nya a version of this costume, just like how they retroactively gave Lloyd a DX costume in this set, but from what I read in the interviews from the new edition of the character encyclopedia, I imagine they'd rather move onto other costumes that were in the show.

So far the Ninjago TV series so far has had a single continuity. Season 3 "Rebooted" picks up shortly after Season 2's Stone Army story arc left off, with more or less the same cast of characters (except that Dr. Julien, Zane's father, has finally passed away for real). The movie coming next year seems like it will have a new continuity, separate from the TV series.

The magazine is coming to the UK July 6th, with a second issue in October.

If they're real, probably from Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. WB is repping a lot of their properties there, including upcoming LEGO movies.

The magazine packs aren't part of the normal polybag count for any theme. In fact, a lot of the other magazines (Ninjago, Star Wars, Friends, Nexo Knights, and previously Legends of Chima) have been monthly, in other words, getting TWELVE magazines (and consequently, twelve magazine gifts) per year. And most these themes also get four or more other polybag sets per year, so there's clearly no "polybag limit" holding them back. The number of magazine gifts is based on the number of magazines, not the other way around. However, two magazines a year isn't that unusual either. That's what the Elves theme gets, and I didn't expect much more than that with Bionicle. So the only disappointing thing is that this presumably means it's not getting new issues in 2017, at least in Italy.

Problem with that is that LEGO never STOPPED doing chrome parts. There are chrome gold rings in this year's Wedding Favor Set and chrome gold coins and ingots in the Brick Bank. The main reason LEGO does fewer chrome parts than they used to is because it's expensive and because there are so many (generally cheaper) alternatives for metallic colors that didn't exist in the past. Of course, it's kind of a moot point anyway, because a Transformers license is never going to happen as long as LEGO and Hasbro remain fierce competitors in the toy industry. Hasbro has full ownership of the Transformers brand. Now, LEGO can still make transforming (err… "converting") robot sets of their very own, so long as they can't be confused for actual Transformers characters. But they'd never be able to acquire a Transformers license.

Chances are with third-party IPs that have already been produced through LEGO Ideas, there are two possibilities: 1) When the LEGO Group acquired the IP, they explored the possibility of other sets based on the IP and made plans to release them. 2) When the LEGO Group acquired the IP, they explored the possibility of other sets based on the IP, and determined they weren't viable. Either way, it means that future projects based on that same IP are more or less dead in the water. Why force people to wait through the whole process of gathering support if they'll inevitably face rejection? Not to mention, this helps preempt some of the baseless accusations of "LEGO Ideas theft" like LEGO faced with the Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters. If your project is a natural next step for a previously announced LEGO Ideas IP, then it's almost certain that the same idea has already been explored by LEGO, possibly even before they even announced that the initial project for that IP had passed review. From a business perspective, it also increases the likelihood that each successful LEGO Ideas project will help draw a new audience to the LEGO Ideas theme and the LEGO brand, instead of new projects just catering to fans that LEGO is already reaching with existing product lines.

I think this is probably the key obstacle to console-exclusive figures — Warner Bros. has really been pushing the idea of total compatibility with this game, which seems to have been a conscious decision to try and exploit the weaknesses of competing toys-to-life games. If it were just a matter of Nintendo and LEGO being willing to cooperate, I would see no problem. Nintendo hasn't been afraid to license their characters out for use in Skylanders Superchargers, and even found a way to make the figures function as both Skylanders and Amiibo figures. But the idea of console exclusivity might run counter to the message LEGO Dimensions has been pushing. That was decades ago, and LEGO and Nintendo have since collaborated on LEGO City: Undercover (which was a Wii U exclusive title). There was even a LEGO-themed Nintendo Direct to promote LEGO City Undercover, featuring a LEGO version of then-president Satoru Iwata (may he rest in peace). I think it's safe to say the two companies have buried the hatchet by now. Considering Nintendo and Sega are now getting along (the two having once been extremely bitter rivals), it's hard to imagine that Nintendo would still hold a grudge against LEGO, since the companies' core products were never really in competition in the first place.

Lovely little house! Beautiful on the outside and well-furnished on the inside. I do feel like the roof would feel more "Elves-ish" if it had more of a curve to it, but it still looks really great, and the alternating plates and tiles help keep it from looking too plain. I love the tree growing out of the side because it really helps reinforce the theme that the elves live in harmony with nature. It's great that you fit everything on a single 16x16 base. It's nice and compact but still makes good use of its space. Size-wise, I'm reminded a bit of one of my childhood favorite Castle sets, Majisto's Magical Workshop, although this one feels like more of a proper home and the roof peak is not so severe.

It's got a brown core in all three of those pictures, most obviously in the first one. In the others it's just obscured by the green plastic surrounding it.

Whoops, my bad! I thought his Djinn Blade was still the same color combination as his elemental blade! My mistake!

Well, Cole's Elemental Blade and Djinn Blade do both have a Reddish Brown core.

It almost sounds as if you're trying to say all modern LEGO themes have mediocre stories, which baffles me a bit because LEGO Ninjago and The LEGO Movie both easily rank among the finest stories of any LEGO themes, past or present. For that matter, LEGO Elves has a far more engaging story than any previous girl-oriented theme, and LEGO Nexo Knights is off to a strong start in its own right (seriously, The Book of Monsters is possibly the most laugh-out-loud hilarious LEGO book I've ever read). I don't think the G2 story is nearly as weak as you make it out to be, either, even if it's not as dense as some parts of the G1 Bionicle story were. It does a good job recreating the fundamentals of what made the early years of Bionicle appealing, with a real sense of myth and mystery but without a lot of the cruft the G1 story accumulated over the years. Could it be better? Absolutely! No story is without flaws or weaknesses. That said, I think it's making the most of the budget it has to work with, and I don't know if constraction in this day and age can really justify a larger media budget, when many kids today just aren't as interested in action figures as kids from the late 90s and early naughts. G1 Bionicle didn't become great by throwing money at the marketing department indiscriminately. Its media presence expanded and declined in response to the theme's actual toy and media sales. Even recently, we've seen with LEGO Legends of Chima that even a huge investment in innovation in sets and media can't guarantee the long-term success of a theme if kids just aren't interested in the concept. As for sets, the Toa Mata and Toa Metru might have been decent sets for their time, but I still find them utterly mediocre compared to many of today's sets. "Posability isn't everything", sure, but it isn't NOTHING either. And as others have pointed out, there are also plenty of other differences that set the new Toa apart from their predecessors — more dynamic color schemes, more play features, higher piece counts, a more modular building system, etc. Of course it's subjective whether these things make them better or worse. But if a person says that their love for the old sets is informed by nostalgia, what gives you the right to assume that they're just trying to avert criticism instead of honestly admitting their own biases? I loved the Aquazone sets as a kid. I still sometimes use an Aquazone pillowcase on my bed. To this day, nobody's ever tried to tell me that I was objectively wrong for liking them. But I'm not afraid to admit they were packed with chunky, highly specialized parts that drove up their prices and reduced their building value. Nor that if they came out today, they'd be mediocre compared to today's sets and I wouldn't be inclined to buy them — especially at inflation-adjusted prices, because your comment about the new Bionicle sets being "three times as expensive" as the Toa Mata seems to ignore that crucial detail. If I say that my love for those sets is rooted in nostalgia, I'm just being every bit as honest with you as I am with myself.