Aanchir

I also noticed in this video that the Sensei Yang minifigure carries a lantern very similar to the one featured on all the box art for this new story arc... I'm guessing he's going to be the main bad guy for this arc (as in, the one who brings all the other bad guys together against the ninja). And yes, nice to finally get Chen's chair.

That's not too far from what the actual ratio (for the Toa, at least) has been since Bionicle came back. The 2015 Toa were about 44% Technic on average, and the 2016 Toa are about 56% Technic on average. That's defining Technic by the Brickset/LEGO Customer Service parts categories.

I hadn't thought about the Castle 40th anniversary! That'd indeed be a good time to release either a new wave of Castle sets or a big AFOL-targeted exclusive. My brother also mentioned an article to me recently saying there's apparently a lot of Robin Hood inspired stuff coming out soon in terms of TV and movies, so maybe the ideal time for a Forestmen reboot might be approaching sooner than I'd expected (I haven't looked over that article myself to see how much of that Robin Hood stuff is family-friendly/all-ages media but it still seems like if said movies/TV shows do well it could be the start of a trend). LEGO listens to trends. Development of Ninjago started in response to an uptick in ninja-related media, after all.

I'm puzzled about this too, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more info. It's possible it's been delayed or something but I'm hoping that's not the case. In any event, when it is released it'll presumably be all four episodes at once so I'm not in any huge hurry to see them. I'd just be very disappointed if the teaser we DID get in LEGO Club Magazine turned out to be incorrect.

I like 'em. They have some nice lifelike detail and awesome outfits. I don't think the theme would be as nice with classic minifigures. As for being "useless", I don't think they're any less useful than any other type of figure you don't already own. It's true you probably already own minifigures and don't already own mini-dolls, which might make them less useful to you at first. But realistically, if you limited your collection to types of figures you already owned then you probably wouldn't have any minifigures to begin with! Most people aren't born with LEGO collections, after all, and every collection has to start somewhere.

Oh wow, this looks great! I especially like the way the front gate turns into stairs, and the incredible use of textures throughout the design. :) The transparent blue parts on the inside also add a lot of energy and personality!

Wayback Machine to the rescue!

Back in 2007, there was a $15 store exclusive — 8935 Nocturn, which was exclusive to Walmart in the United States. Granted, that was a very long time ago. But it's definitely possible.

Presently all the Nexo Knights creatures and machines that belong to a specific character are the standard Nexo Knights color scheme plus accents in a color corresponding to that character. For instance, the Rumble Blade is the standard color scheme plus Dark Azur accents for Clay. The Mecha Horse is the standard color scheme plus White accents for Lance. The King's Mech is the standard color scheme plus Warm Gold accents for King Halbert. The Aero Striker V2 is the standard color scheme with Bright Yellowish Green accents for Aaron. The same applies for all the knights' hover-horses. Overall, this keeps the color schemes more unified than LEGO Ninjago, where the only unifying color for the ninja's vehicles and dragons tends to be gold, and otherwise the color scheme is completely different depending on which ninja the vehicle or dragon belongs to. It's closer to how Alpha Team or Galaxy Squad handled their color schemes, except generally subtler than it was in the Galaxy Squad sets and slightly less subtle than in the Alpha Team sets (which might have just one piece in the color of the corresponding agent). So a dragon for Macy would probably have a color scheme a lot like that one — the standard blue, silver, etc, plus red accents like the levers and the Technic parts behind each shooter. Maybe it could use a bit more red but for the most part it follows the same rules as the other characters' vehicles and steeds.

This is an activity book, and the figure is Aaron's Squirebot. In some editions it's marked as an exclusive fig but as far as I can tell it really isn't — Aaron's Squirebot comes in the Aero-Striker V2 set, so unless this one has an exclusive face or something it's the same fig. Not too surprising, since activity books have never really had exclusive parts, but a little disappointing that they'd advertise it as exclusive when it really isn't. Maybe they think they can get away with it since those editions of the activity book come out long before the Aero-Striker V2 is released, so for a while the Aaronbot is technically exclusive to the activity book. Shame the minifigure turnaround seems to omit some figs like the summer Ultimate figures for some reason. Would've been nice to get a close-up.

Those versions of those figures (along with Soto) come in the Kryptarium Escape set, so they're in prison garb. Lots of figs this summer. Not quite as many as in the Possession arc, by my count, but still a substantial selection (and there are still sets we haven't seen like Airjitzu Temple Grounds and Samurai X Cave). It's cool that Frakjaw, Krazi, Pythor, Cryptor, the Stone Warriors, and Ronin all get new designs. And it seems we even get new variants of some of the Skybound villains (though the only real changes are Stone Warrior–style shoulder armor instead of epaulettes on a few of the figures and hair instead of a helmet on Flintlocke).

Nice, thank you! I hadn't looked at the boxes in too much detail. has nice close-ups of the Elves characters in their new costumes starting at 0:51s! The hoods apparently have printing, and the capes are longer than last year's.It's still kind of peculiar to me that the patterns on the elves' shoulders have changed. I guess that confirms that they're body paint rather than tattoos. Even so I feel like I wouldn't have minded if they'd stayed the same shape or at least the same color. I guess making them metallic colors isn't bad, though. The witch (do we know if her name's spelled Regana or Ragana? I've seen both) looks really awesome, and is the first mini-doll with a truly evil-looking expression. Her cat is also very cute while still seeming evil and spooky. I'm still not sure about the green fox's significance, as it's not mentioned in the book while the other animals generally are.

Love the hot dog van and the classic space logos on the space ride! The arcade also is nice and has some creative games. Overall, though, the amusement park sets don't impress me as much as the Jungle Rescue, Pop Star, or Adventure Camp sets. It baffles me that the designers did introduce a new track mold for the roller coaster, but instead of making a tighter curve (which it could really have benefited from, I think) they made a shallower slope. It seems to me like the older, steeper slope tracks (which raise the track up by 5 bricks each rather than 3) would've made for a more exciting roller coaster.

A lot of people are saying this, but it seems to me that it's bigger than most LEGO mountains, especially ones that are finished on all sides instead of just being open in the back. 22 by 22 studs at the base and 13 bricks tall at its peak. I sort of wish it were a bit wider at the base so it wouldn't be quite so steep, but overall I think it's a great design and I'm glad they chose to include a whole volcanic crater and not just some lava floes to "suggest" a volcanic setting. I wonder if anybody got a video of its erupting function. I'm really excited about this also. Some people were wondering why the street sweeper is included but after seeing the alternate build with a car wash it makes perfect sense!

I just got the LEGO Elves chapter book yesterday, and in it I wonder if that will have any chance of appearing in a future wave or possibly as a store exclusive in the summer. Also, the adult Wind Dragon is named Gust and the Dragon Queen is named Elandra. The book doesn't mention any names for the baby dragons so I don't know what the baby earth dragon and water dragon will be called. I love the summer dragon designs. Gust's use of both the large and small wing pieces is very inspired, and Elandra is even bigger and more impressive than I'd imagined! It's neat how the elemental dragons all have transparent-colored spines and wings.

He's not in the upper levels of management or anything, but a LEGO Nexo Knights designer zusammengebaut.com interviewed at Nuremberg Toy Fair said he believes that (as in, both exist as themes at the same time, not exist in the same setting or something like that). So maybe the possibility of LEGO Castle returning before LEGO Nexo Knights ends is more realistic than many have given it credit for.

The single-theme magazines never come out in the US. I'm not totally sure why. Maybe the kids' magazine market in Europe and GB is bigger, maybe LEGO just couldn't find a publisher who wanted to print and distribute them in the US, or maybe newsstands here are too crowded for LEGO to compete in. It's not only LEGO this applies to — I know that some other toy brands like My Little Pony also have magazines in Europe but not in the U.S.

I think most of those sets (except the Mixels; I was mostly goofing around by that point) would definitely qualify as castles, or at least fortresses. Would they be compatible with LEGO capital-C Castle? In most cases, probably not, except as parts packs. Nevertheless, as I said in my last post, they're a testament to the fact that kids still love castles and designers still recognize and respond to that. Contrast with other types of high-dollar playsets. Pirates fans are lucky to get more than one pirate ship a year on average, no matter the theme. Train fans are lucky to get more than one train a year on average, no matter the theme. Those sorts of sets just don't appear to command the same attention from kids as castles still do. If Nexo Knights has temporarily taken the place of Castle, it's certainly not because designers consider the Castle theme hopeless without any kind of tech gimmicks. Just that LEGO needed a new theme to replace Ultra Agents and Chima, had a Castle-inspired "big bang" theme in development for years, and decided now was the time to launch it. Castle will be back. It could be before Nexo Knights ends. It could be after Nexo Knights ends. But either way I think its future is secured.

Exactly. It was the same with Kraata. This is why the LEGO Customer Service database has a separate listing for each color combination of the Kraata, but no separate listings for the separate shapes/stages. They're not the only examples of differently-shaped parts that come off the same mold. Ever wonder why the 2006 and 2007 Bionicle playsets all had the same twelve weapons, and they were listed as just one part in the back of the instructions? They literally all came off the same mold as a cost-cutting measure. The difference with those is that they were all bagged right away instead of just being dumped in a bin and put into sets individually. Lots of LEGO Friends accessories are the same way. The Big Bang Theory set includes a full set of kitchenwares even though it really only needs plates and forks, because LEGO literally can't produce the plates and forks without producing all the other parts that go with them. It's the same principle as the old tool wheels and Belville horse accessories except that LEGO punches them off the sprue for you like they do with all their other parts. On the one hand, this might mean some sets have more weapons and accessories than they really need, and that the shape of a Krana or Kraata is always random no matter which set you get. But on the other hand, it means LEGO can produce a bunch of new part designs for the cost of just one new mold rather than having to produce a separate mold (and run a separate molding machine) for each design.

I feel like this decline is often overstated. The Toa Mata introduced 19 new molds, the Bohrok 17 (Krana variations shared a mold), the Toa Nuva 15, the Bohrok-Kal 6, the Rahkshi 22 (Kraata variations shared a mold), the Toa Metru 23, the Vahki 12, the Toa Hordika 23, the Piraka 22, the Toa Inika 25, the Barraki 26, the Toa Mahri 23, the Phantoka 25, the Mistika 22, the Glatorian 19, the Glatorian Legends 18, and the Stars 6. So until 2009 there was no noticeable decline in the number of new molds in canister sets.

I don't think they're hinting at anything besides that the designers really like Exo-Force and like to include shout-outs to it when they can manage it. I mean, for comparison's sake, they've also got Classic Space logos appearing in one of the summer Friends sets.

Actually, I think Ronin's mech is supposed to be made out of scrap. One neat detail I noticed is the Exo-Force flying battle machine insignia on its left leg! I'm noticing that the Lighthouse Siege Defense, Kryptarium Escape, and Lloyd's Green NRG Dragon have the Skybound flag in the corner and the others all have a lantern in the corner. I guess this means which story arc the sets belong to doesn't correspond specifically to which ninja is on the top banner like it has in the past. The Tr. Fluorescent Green weapons the baddies use in the sets for the new story arc are pretty sweet-looking, though I'm curious what their story will be.

That comment was mostly in jest. Was I not clear enough? Should I have used more tongue smileys? I'm absolutely not trying to convince you or anyone that you should love everything LEGO releases, be it Nexo Knights or anything else. I included the Palace Pets castle in that list. I thoroughly dislike Palace Pets. Why must Disney make up weird new pets to sell Disney Princess merchandise when most of the Disney Princesses already have perfectly good pets and animal companions? Pocahontas has a raccoon, why does she need a blue one? I don't think all that highly of the Disney Princess brand in general, which routinely fails to authentically reflect the movies it's based on, but Palace Pets really, really irk me and it frustrates me a bit that LEGO is making sets based on them. But this post was just commenting on the irony that despite "LEGO Castle" proper still being on hiatus (as it has been since 2014), LEGO is including castles in quite a few of their other themes! That's all. No need to take it so personally. The reason I follow this thread, above all else, is that I'm as interested in seeing what form LEGO Castle takes next as anyone. It's one of the oldest LEGO play themes, and I greatly respect that, even if it's not one of my personal favorites. I try to closely follow the development of all the classic themes like Castle, Pirates, and Space. There are a lot of hopes I personally have for the next proper Castle theme, like a castle with an actual banquet hall, library, kitchen, stable, and royal bedchamber (things I've wanted in a LEGO castle since I was a kid and that capital-C Castle sets have routinely failed to deliver). It's not as though I just stick around to watch Castle fans squirm. I do, however, think Castle coming back in some form is more or less inevitable and that the current hiatus isn't worth getting hysterical over, particularly since all the Castle-esque sets from other themes effectively prove that kids still love castles and that isn't liable to change. I'm sure there are people who wish they could say that about other themes like Western with the same level of certainty. One of my all-time favorite themes was Bionicle, and when that theme ended in 2010 I didn't know whether it would EVER come back. Yet I didn't make as much of a fuss as I've routinely seen with regards to Castle, which has time and time again proven itself to be one of the LEGO Group's most enduring themes!

Promobricks has posted Elves pics, including the dark elf Ragana's evil castle! So the tally so far is: 75826 King Pig's Castle 21127 The Fortress 70317 The Fortrex 70323 Jestro's Volcano Lair 41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle 41067 Belle's Enchanted Castle 41068 Arendelle Castle Celebration 41142 Palace Pets Royal Castle 41557–41559 Medivals Mixels That's a lot of castles for one year! LEGO must really love castle fans.

If I'm not mistaken, they're not bringing back the original Ninja gi torso, but introducing the first physical versions of the "revamped" versions of those torsos as seen in the Ninjago stage show and the new LEGOLAND Ninjago expansion. These feature slight changes from the original gi, although they are clearly still meant as a throwback. At about 1:00 in you can see these costumes on display. As you can see, not only do Lloyd and Nya get variants of this costume in the displays, but additionally, Zane's variant has silver arms (like in the new set pictures) and incorporates elements of his ZX costume in the lower part of his torso. Likewise, Kai's costume has dark red arms, again, like we see in these sets.It's a bit frustrating seeing that two of the sets (both featuring Nya) still appear to be using the Skybound costumes, though.