Aanchir

Thanks so much for those pics and info! All those names sound great, and it's nice to finally see the sets from some other angles! I had wondered how/if the two halves of the Secret Marketplace were connected. Turns out they're separate but can sort of "nest" with each other, which is nice. Good to know more about that fountain/spring in the Fire Dragon set.

They're cute and funny, for one thing! Minifigures can also be cute and funny in their own right, but I find the Scurriers and Squirebots more charming than the generic good and evil footsoldier figs (King's Soldiers, Flame Throwers, Crust Smashers, and Ash Attackers). I wonder who will be the first person to design a Nexo Knights chess set with Scurriers and Squirebots as pawns. Come to think of it, I wonder if LEGO has any plans to release an official Nexo Knights chess set at any point. There are definitely enough characters to choose from! Or at least, by this summer there surely will be.

When have they ever given the crooks explosives? On Bricklink, zero of the LEGO City sets that contain dynamite have crooks in them (except the coin bank, where the dynamite is clearly being used to break open the coin bank). And I don't think I've seen any other types of explosives besides dynamite in LEGO City. Crooks do have crowbars for breaking into places, but just because they COULD use those to terrorize civilians doesn't mean they DO. The crimes we see in LEGO City sets are all non-violent ones. Sure, a kid COULD act out a LEGO City crook attacking a civilian with a crowbar. They could also act out a LEGO City fireman attacking a civilian with an axe, but that doesn't mean LEGO should be designing their sets with that possibility in mind. :/ Nice design! However, I can think of a few reasons for LEGO creating open-backed buildings in LEGO City. For one, in a diorama-style building, you can look at minifigures at eye level instead of always peering down at them from above. This can make the play somewhat more "immersive", like you're there in the building with the figures. Diorama-style buildings can also make it easier to reach inside to play with the figures than a building with an open top. And of course, you usually don't have to take a diorama-style building apart into sections to play inside, which you do have to do with a modular building. I'm not saying that diorama-style buildings are inherently better, but I do understand why a lot of kids might prefer them. There's also more to a set than the number of bricks. I think if you gave a kid a choice between the police station you designed and 60047, they'd probably choose the latter. 60047 has a two-level cell with lots of playable escape routes, four vehicles (three for the police and one for the crooks), a watchtower, an opening garage door (apparently kids love these), and a spinning communications dish. Lots of great stuff for kids to play with. Yours has a bunch of desks, one van, a small prison cell, and a bathroom with a floor-length window (probably not a great idea, even though I know LEGO has been guilty of this in Friends sets). Overall, there's just much more potential for action/kinetic play in the official LEGO police stations.

The similarities between that and the Brick Bank are incredibly superficial. They're obviously based on buildings with roughly the same general architectural style, but that's where the similarities end. I'll never understand why people would think AFOLs can arrive at a generalized concept like this on their own, but LEGO designers have to rely on AFOLs to come up with the concept for them.

Ah, but this plane is also a giant sword. A lion is not. You hit an elephant with a lion that is also a giant sword, I have a feeling you could inflict a mortal wound. I feel like that metaphor got away from me, but whatevs.

The small ones are supposed to look pretty cutesy. And same with the others, to an extent, because c'mon, they're LEGO people. A certain amount of cutesiness is inherent. I feel like the higher-ranking monsters like Moltor, Lavaria, Beast Master, Whiparella, and Flama, and ESPECIALLY the big monsters like Sparkks and Infernox, are as scary as they really need to be.

Here's another webisode which might just be my favorite so far! So far we've had two true TV episodes, and in those it's happened... once altogether? So if that's too often for you then I think the problem is on your end, not the show creators'. It's kind of like complaining "I like this show Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, but I wish they didn't do Spinjitzu so often." Plus, half the point of the Nexo Power scenes is to give kids something to scan for the Merlok 2.0 app, so not having those scenes would mean not giving kids anything new to scan that week.

I think there are ways the G1 and G2 universes could be tied together, even via the Mask of Time, that wouldn't result in either continuity becoming dependent on the other. I mean, Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are an "alternate universe" version of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, yet you don't have to know what was different about the original games to understand the new ones. There is just an allusion in a post-game scene to the fact that there's another world where changes in the distant past (specifically, the war that created Mega Evolution never happening) made things happen differently. The Legend of Zelda games also tend to do a good job alluding to other games or even other timelines with other versions of the characters without requiring you to know all the details of what happened in those games/timelines.

I went out and got the new graphic novel this evening! It's a fairly quick read, but still a lot of fun. It's way better than the preview pages led me to expect. The artwork is pretty nice throughout most of the pages (it's just a few of those early ones that are kinda rough), and the colors are bright. The masks sometimes look off-model, but not to the point that you can't recognize the characters. There are definitely still a number of errors of the sort we've come to expect from Bionicle comics by now — masks colored incorrectly, speech bubbles pointing to the wrong characters, etc. But I'd say the quality of the stories makes up for it. Great characterization, and lots of heartwarming and humorous moments. Very much looking forward to Battle of the Mask Makers! Other than the bits about the Mask of Time which I believe have already been shared, there's not a whole lot of new information in "The Okoto Protectors' Guide". The only info from that section which we haven't seen previously is the stuff about the Temple of Time and the Mask of Time. There is what appears to be concept art for the Temple of Time, which looks different than it did in the webisodes. Instead of having a giant pendulum, it's an hourglass-shaped tower. Interesting.

Incidentally, I was earlier counting up the pieces from each figure to see how many Kopaka uses and how many Melum uses. It turns out Kopaka uses a solid 131 pieces (counting both his masks and his sticker sheet), close to Tahu's 132. So contrary to what many have said, he is effectively on par with the other $20 Toa as far as piece count is concerned. Conversely, Melum uses a measly 40 pieces — far fewer than any of the other Creature sets. So I think this set is more like a $20 Toa and a $5 creature (or perhaps an $18 Toa and a $7 creature) than a $15 Toa and a $10 creature.

Welp, I just found out on Tumblr that one of the stories in the new Bionicle graphic novel involves ...All is forgiven. Occasionally inconsistent art? Weird placeholder graphics? No matter. Bionicle needs more of these kinds of stories. :) Hope to pick up this book later today!

Interesting! I guess that about confirms that. Good to finally have some real evidence rather than just speculation. Though it surprises me they'd reveal this so soon. Part of me would've expected them to save any further details on the Mask of Time until a year when it plays a bigger part in the story. It's also frustrating that it seemingly makes the graphic novel illustrations even more egregiously wrong...

First of all, different themes have different types of battle packs. The Star Wars, Chima, and Lord of the Rings "battle packs" were all regular retail sets, but a lot of themes like Pirates of the Caribbean, Castle, and Ninjago have had extended-line "battle packs" with longer six-digit set numbers. And Ninjago had two such battle packs this past summer, so it's not impossible for Nexo Knights to get the same. While seeing more forest creatures in the Book of Monsters might hint at getting them in a future wave, it's WAY too early to be making predictions about 2018, especially since some of those monsters like the Behemoth of Brine don't resemble LEGO figures or models at all, and thus might only be relevant to the TV series.

It's interesting that we're now getting Ninjago Juniors sets. Typical Ninjago sets are aimed at ages 7–14 (some of the smaller ones like spinners and fliers go down to 6–14), and the TV series is rated TV-Y7 (FV) in the United States. But I have read a lot of comments on sites like Brickset from parents whose four- and five-year-olds enjoy the LEGO Ninjago TV series, so it does seem smart to introduce some sets aimed at that younger market. I imagine when Ninjago was first starting out, LEGO might have been reluctant to introduce sets for such a young age since it might make older kids think less of the theme as a whole, but now that Ninjago is a highly successful evergreen theme, it can safely expand to include sets that younger fans can more easily enjoy. I find it especially interesting that the new Ninjago Juniors sets include two brand-new Serpentine minifigures: a new version of Lasha (one of the original Serpentine characters from 2012) and an unnamed "Snake Villain". It's a shame the new snake doesn't get an actual name. The ninja minifigures are just mashups of previous ninja costumes, but they do look quite nice and I'm sure kids will like them. As for the sets themselves, I like Snake Showdown (good designs for both the car and the bike), but I'm not so fond of the Lost Temple. It feels a bit piecemeal, though I understand the difficulty of creating an obstacle course/series of traps in such a small space, let alone creating a convincing brick-built dragon using building techniques appropriate for four-year-olds. I might just end up getting the new Serpentine figures via BrickLink.

Oh my gosh, this book seems BRILLIANT! So excited to get it when it comes out!

I generally don't buy sets as an investment. There are some rare exceptions: I picked up a few extra LEGO House and Billund Airport sets to keep unopened the two times I visited Billund this year, although some of those I donated to the charity auction at BrickFair Virginia, and others I might one day give as gifts. I don't have any specific long-term plans for those sets, but I knew they were rare and that if I didn't get a few of each when I had the chance I might not get another opportunity. It does make me feel good to know that the LEGO I buy for my own enjoyment is likely to accrue in value (aside from, you know, being opened), but as it is I just don't have the space to be holding onto unopened sets strictly for their future resale value.

Here's the issue though. This is not a matter of whether violence is inappropriate for kids or inappropriate for the LEGO brand. It's about whether violence is inappropriate for specific lines of LEGO products. Arguing that if some themes have weapons, all themes should have weapons is like arguing that because some themes have action figure sets, all themes should have action figure sets. Or that because some themes have TV shows, all themes should have TV shows. It ignores the differences between themes and assumes that LEGO is being hypocritical unless they use the same strategy with every single one of their product lines. When really, a strategy that is effective for one theme might not be as effective for different themes. There are plenty of food companies that DO offer both healthy and unhealthy food options. There's nothing remotely contradictory about having both healthy and unhealthy options, just as there's nothing contradictory about LEGO having both violent themes and non-violent themes. The whole point of having options is that they're different from one another, even if they come from the same source. If I owned a pharmaceutical company and I sold drugs for treating low blood pressure and drugs for treating high blood pressure, that wouldn't make me a hypocrite. It would just mean I was selling different products to satisfy different needs. Same goes for selling toys that depict violence and toys that don't depict violence. LEGO does not pretend that all their toys are violence-free. They used to, back in the days of classic space when they liked to say that all those aggressive, glowing, forward-facing antenna pieces were "radar arrays" and "sensors", but nowadays they are much more honest about the fact that conflict play is a natural part of childhood development, and that many LEGO toys include conflict play. That doesn't mean they can't have standards about what level of violence is appropriate for what themes, and how close to reality that violence should be. Yep, there are Duplo Castle and Pirates sets with weapons too. Nobody's disputing that. However, none of the Duplo or Juniors sets with weapons are based on the real, modern-day world. A kid who understands the difference between fantasy and reality is not going to be worried about a medieval knight or an old-timey pirate or a magical ninja or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle killing their family, but the possibility of a criminal or a police officer killing their family is an extremely frightening reality in many countries, so LEGO can't just treat lethal, real-world, modern-day violence like a fun play scenario for kids.

Yeah, I figure Dogshank is definitely wearing some kind of power armor, but "mech suit" would seem to suggest that the armor is the reason for her massive size, and I'm not sure whether that's the case. Right now I don't want to make too many assumptions. It's probably safe to say that the orange part of her body is armor, though, much like it is on the other pirates (besides Nadakhan). I just found out via one of Max's Missions on the LEGO Club website that the WU-CRU webpages on the LEGO Ninjago site will be launching in February (in the United States, at least). There will be missions there, as well as codes you can use to unlock rewards. By completing the latest LEGO Ninjago mission on the LEGO Club Website you unlock a code you can use in the fourth WU-CRU mission.

Wow, this art style for the Netflix series looks really good. It doesn't feel like a total departure from the sets, but many of the changes it makes feel really tasteful (like solidifying the Toa's lower bodies a bit, filling in some empty spaces, and adding some more color and volume to Tahu and Kopaka's leg armor). I think all the characters besides maybe Lewa look better in this style than they do as sets.

Uxar is definitely my favorite creature aesthetically, both in terms of the set on its own and the Toa-creature combination. It's possible that my opinion might change once I have more of the creatures due to Uxar's limited wing articulation, but for right now I prefer Uxar to Ikir (and Uxar, Ikir, and Akida to the other three creatures). I wish Lewa had more Bright Yellow like Uxar does. The cross axles are a nice start, but Gali and Tahu both benefit greatly from their contrasting colors, and while Lewa is a very coherent model, a little bit of contrast could really help his colors "pop". It's surprising that Uxar's talons and stinger are Dark Stone Grey rather than just SIlver Metallic, which they already exist in from last year's Lewa and Skull Scorpio, and which they're still being used in on the Captain Phasma buildable figure. But it doesn't hurt the color scheme at all; it's just an unusual decision since the colors are so similar.

Yeah, let's not make too many assumptions based on minifigure color, because minifigure color doesn't always correspond exactly to constraction set color. The Obi-Wan minifigure has Dark Orange hair, for instance, but the buildable figure has Medium Nougat (Medium Dark Flesh) hair. And the Finn minifigure has a Medium Nougat jacket, but the Finn buildable figure has a Sand Yellow (Dark Tan) jacket. The Rey minifigure has Medium Stone Grey (Light Bluish Gray) torso and sleeves, but the Rey buildable figure has a Sand Yellow torso and Brick Yellow (Tan) sleeves. The Poe Dameron minifigure has a Dark Orange flight suit, but the buildable figure has a Bright Orange one. In general, if Sand Green is even an approximation of a character's color, then that character is a possibility. But I think Boba Fett and Yoda are by far the most plausible candidates. They're both major characters from multiple movies, one of whom could make use of an existing head mold.

The set being a Walmart exclusive probably doesn't apply to countries other than the United States. That's how it usually is with store exclusives — they're only exclusive to that store in whatever country that store is based in.

I couldn't care less about whether the characters have "battle damage" textures or not. That has nothing to do with why I think the cover art is better than what's inside. The reason I prefer the look of the cover art to the look of the inside art is that the Toa on the cover actually look like the characters they're supposed to be, which can't be said for Korgot in the second to last panel of this preview. That particular depiction isn't even consistent with how she's drawn on the previous page. It just looks sloppy. The Toa on the cover look more like the artist was actually looking at the toys as he drew them. They're more "finished".

This has gotta be the least coherent post I've seen in this topic so far. It's like watching a car crash. Not all LEGO sets are aimed at the same audience, nor do they all have the same tone. I don't think anybody would argue that LEGO Duplo should be as violent as LEGO Star Wars, so as thick as you're pretending to be in this post, I'm guessing you DO understand that LEGO can have both violent and non-violent themes without contradicting itself. City just happens to be a non-violent theme. Could that change? Maybe! But it doesn't HAVE to change just because other themes like LEGO Ninjago or LEGO Star Wars are more violent. LEGO has every right to decide how violent each of their individual themes should be without declaring all violence off-limits in all themes. Your bit about crooks is irrelevant. LEGO City crooks don't carry weapons of any kind, so I don't see why LEGO City police need to carry weapons either. In LEGO City, a crowbar is a tool (as it was INVENTED to be) not a weapon. Pretty much all crimes depicted in LEGO City sets are non-violent crimes like theft and trespassing.

Good review. Although, that is the second shortest M-F bone, not the second longest.