Aanchir

It might seem late, but when you get right down to it, it's not really that much different from the Toa designer videos. The Toa were released at the beginning of January and the designer video series for them started three months later near the beginning of April. Likewise, the skull creatures were released at the beginning of August and the designer videos are now starting a little over three months later in mid-November. The Toa designer videos were obviously released when they were to tie in with the Bionicle Mask Hunt, which was then ongoing. These ones might instead be meant to generate interest in the run-up to the holiday shopping season.

It's actually been changed to Dark Orange, not Nougat. Nougat and Medium Nougat are both considerably lighter. But I agree, it makes the sets look a lot more impressive. The color scheme for the pirates in general (mostly greens and browns) feels very refreshing. I don't mind the ninja sometimes having masks and sometimes not having them, though I especially like when a set includes both their masks AND their hair like Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty did. I wish we'd get a set that had Zane without his mask so we could have his hair in silver. We finally got all the ninja's hair in 2014, and then in 2015 Zane's hair color changed so we're still waiting on a set with his new hair.

The original Destiny's Bounty set was definitely designed around its transformation function. So was Cole's Tread Assault, which transformed from a "ninja" version to a "snake" version — and I'd say Tormak Shadow Blazer pulled that reversal-style transformation off a lot more effectively, since the "snake version" of Cole's Tread Assault mostly looked the same vehicle with some green inverse slopes slapped on. It is far from the most impressive transformation function, though the set did also have another function to make the fins flare out which was more effective. Comparing a set like the Temple of Airjitzu to the Flying Phoenix Fire Temple is a really unfair comparison: Temple of Airjitzu is a $200 premium exclusive set aimed at ages 9–14 and Flying Phoenix Fire Temple is a regular $120 flagship set aimed at ages 9–14. A more fair comparison to the FPFT would be to the Fire Temple or Battle for Ninjago City. And even then, as I said, the design philosophy may be similar, but the design language is different. Ninjago buildings take their cues from ornate Japanese traditional architecture, while Chima buildings are more exaggerated and futuristic and take their cues from animals. You're right that the current Ninjago wave has very few sets with a lot of action features, but I think that's more an indication of how Ninjago has changed over time than what audience it's aimed at. A theme that's proven it can sell sets year after year based simply on the quality of its story and premise doesn't need as many gimmicks to pull fans in and keep older fans interested as a theme like Chima or Nexo Knights that has a less reliable audience. LEGO City sets tend to have a lot fewer gimmicks than Chima, Ninjago, OR Nexo Knights, but LEGO City is aimed at a younger audience than all three of those themes. Again, it's a theme that has proven its staying power based on its premise alone, so it doesn't need so many gimmicks to keep buyers coming back for more. And has there ever been anything authoritative indicating that Chima is aimed at younger kids than Ninjago? I certainly have never seen anything to that effect. The Chima and Ninjago cartoons have the same "Y7-FV" rating in the United States, and the Chima and Ninjago sets have the same 7–14 age range. People seem to assume that Chima is aimed at younger kids because (at least at the start of the series) the Chima storyline is less sophisticated. But I think that has more to do with the quality of the storytelling than the audience it's aimed at. Two people can each tell a story for seven-year-olds, and one still might end up more sophisticated than the other if it's being told by a more sophisticated storyteller.

There's a very real possibility that these videos were filmed earlier than the Mask Maker Challenge videos. Although, having been on the Inside Tour, I ought to mention that the room they tend to use for these designer videos is a very plain white room, and decorations like sets and posters tend to be brought in in specifically to film the videos, so chances are that poster being in that video was no accident.

A lot of the early Ninjago sets were also heavily focused on playability — Skull Motorbike had the skull face on the front smash targets in front like a hammer, Ninja Ambush had the bamboo that would split apart when you launched the ninja through it, Blacksmith Shop had the hidden weapons rack that would appear when you lifted the roof, Earth Dragon Defense had the swinging tail function, the entire Fire Temple was designed to split down the middle, etc. And most of the ninja vehicles from 2012 had transforming functions. Plus of course there were the spinners. Meanwhile, Chima had a number of sets that were less focused on play features, like the Legend Beasts. The design language for these three themes is obviously very different, but I don't think the design philosophy is very different at all. They're all character-driven, high-conflict fantasy themes set in invented worlds and targeted chiefly at ages 7 to 14. I think in all three themes you see some sets that focus on aesthetics and some sets that focus on play value, but the majority of sets try to strike a balance between those aspects.

What about the list makes it sound like a return to Possession? A lot of the names on that list seem to describe subjects were a part of previous story arcs (the Samurai Cave from "Rebooted", Kryptarium Prison from "Tournament of Elements", the Temple of Airjitzu from "Possession", the Ultra Sonic Raider from season two), but that doesn't mean those things can't appear again in a future story arc. Huw (Brickset admin) apparently has a source for those names but he's not telling. But generally, while he's often dismissive of themes I like such as Bionicle and Ninjago, I've found him to be trustworthy. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to make things up to get a rise out of people, or to add set names to the database without any kind of verification. Calm down, buddy. Nya has a new torso (and even a new mask!) in the Tiger Widow Island set. And even if she didn't I don't think that would be a very strong reason to ask people to boycott an entire wave of sets. I don't think anybody ever even told us that all the ninja would all get new torsos, but they all do anyway so there's nothing to get so worked up about.

I can come up with a few answers: some I like and one I don't. The one I don't like is that the designers might have been worried boys wouldn't buy the sets if it had a girl character headlining the box art. That explanation would be disappointing to say the least. But there are also other, more palatable justifications for the decision. While Nya was arguably the main character of this season, Lloyd getting possessed was basically what the rest of the story arc was written around (the whole idea of ghosts as an enemy faction came from the creators asking "what if the Green Ninja got possessed and the other ninja had to face him?"). Also, there's a simple aesthetic consideration: Lloyd's mask better matches the glowing green color of the ghosts and their vehicles, while Nya's red and blue mask would be harder to tie in visually with the other sets and characters.

I'm sure a lot of us have already seen the set in plenty of detail by now, but if anyone's interested, LEGO recently posted a designer video for Mask Maker vs. Skull Grinder!

I was talking Skybound minifigures in general, not just the ninja. So you'd still need Jay's dragon because of the sets we've seen so far, it's the only one with Cyren. But being able to get all the minifigures and end up with just one duplicate Ninja is still pretty extraordinary.

So far, I really like the diversity of the Creatures and the general idea of them (animal companions for the Toa). The designs also seem cool and I look forward to finding out more about their functions! The shadow traps are a great concept as well, and nicely designed. Of the Toa, I really like Lewa and Gali so far. Lewa has maybe the most coherent design (though I almost think he might have done well with a contrasting color like red), and Gali has some very tasteful asymmetry as well as an awesome color scheme. Kopaka seems alright as well, though his shield is not as distinctive as this year's and his color distribution is a bit weird. Those are the three Toa I got this year, so I suppose it's good that they're on the way to becoming my favorites for next year. Not so thrilled with the other three. Onua's got a good color scheme, but he's lost a lot of the unique, super-muscular-tunnel-dwarf proportions that made him so appealing for me. Pohatu's got bizarre color distribution, a strange weapon, and he's lost his distinctive asymmetry. Tahu's weapons look cool but the rest of him feels oddly proportioned and more than a bit cluttered. Realistically a character's femurs SHOULD be longer than their tibia, as it is on most of these sets, but Tahu's design takes it too far with eight-module upper legs and five-module lower legs. And all those textures... It also bothers me a bit that ALL (yes, all) of the Toa have friction extenders on their ankles, which generally makes the foot proportions awkward. If we do at any point get a new standard foot piece, it'd be nice if it could be two modules tall rather than three modules so it can use friction extenders without making the ankle look preposterous at certain angles. There might be some technical reason that this isn't practical, though. The waist-swivel function seems promising, and I'm interested to see how all of these characters combine with the creatures, but it's frustrating that a lot of them feel so underwhelming on their own. On the plus side, the new Toa masks in general look nice, and I like the new elemental crystal weapons and add-ons. A bunch of great recolors in these sets as well. I do think Umarak is a very nice villain design, with some creative building techniques and a cool color scheme. And I think the Mask of Control is very nicely designed as well. It keeps a lot of the iconic characteristics of the version we saw in the webisodes, and feels about as regal as the Mask of Creation, just with a slightly more brutal look to it.

Just looking at the minifigures, you can get all the new Skybound characters/costumes (besides human Cole's face which I'm sure a lot of us have spares of, and Lloyd's mask) by getting just Jay's Elemental Dragon, the Raid Zeppelin, Tiger Widow Island, and Misfortune's Keep. Though you'll miss out on some of the character tiles from the Djinn Blades that way. I might end up trying to do something like that and Bricklinking the remaining djinn blades, but I'm not 100% certain about that — there are times when I've intended to skip a particular set and ended up getting it anyway on impulse. After all, despite Cole's dragon being small, it's a pretty nice design. And the Sky Shark is pretty appealing as well.

To me, the Fantasy Era dragons look every bit as cartoonish as these ones. Just, as you say, a lot meaner, which works well for some types of themes and stories but not so well for others. Plus, these LEGO Elves dragons are a lot more articulated.

I was a bit worried when you pointed this out, but after double-checking, Nya actually does get a new outfit. The Nya minifigure in the Ninja Bike Chase set is the same as last year's (sans shoulderpads), but the one in Tiger Widow Island is brand-new. Instead of a Dark Red gi with a Dark Azur mask, the new minifigure has a Black gi with a Dark Red mask. The insignia on her torso is blue rather than gold like the other five ninja's insignias. However, it looks like the Sensei Wu minifigure in Tiger Widow Island might be the same as the one from Master Wu Dragon and Final Flight of Destiny's Bounty, besides his aviator helmet. Not a really big deal. We got THREE new Sensei Wu variants this year, so he can afford to go a wave without one.

Today some even newer prelim pics showed up than the ones in that PDF (the ones in the PDF are renders, the new ones are box pics with photos), but the mods don't want us posting links to any preliminary images or describing where to find them. We're getting closer and closer to a time when non-preliminary images might start showing up, though.

That is fairly disappointing, since the comics and stories in the LEGO Ninjago activity books tend to be much more unique. :(

Interesting point. I wonder if that's the reason the LEGO Classic sets are marked as "4–99" instead of just "4+" Another factor is that putting an age cap on boxes can help steer people looking for gifts for older builders towards more advanced sets. A 16-year-old might enjoy the Temple of Airjitzu more than City of Stiix even if they're not technically "too old" to enjoy either of them. People tend to appreciate sets that challenge them. This is why AFOL and TFOL oriented sets like Temple of Airjitzu, Mindstorms EV3, or the modular buildings don't need an age cap: they're some of the most challenging sets out there, so there aren't really any "more advanced" sets to steer more advanced builders towards.

Gotta disagree there. Nya may have been content with being a samurai, but she can't develop much further as a character if she never steps outside her comfort zone. Letting her participate in ninja training under Sensei Wu presented her with a new challenge, and a far greater challenge for her personally than being a blacksmith or being a samurai had been. It helped to build on that established characterization: we'd previously seen her excel at both those previous roles, but this was the first time we got to see how she would react to something that was genuinely difficult for her. Previously, Nya had not been presented as a particularly flawed character, but this season the story got to explore how growing up being good at everything you attempt can itself be a flaw if it leaves you unprepared for the prospect of failure. What makes Nya's ninja arc interesting isn't that being a ninja is inherently better than being a samurai. You're right, she WAS content being a samurai. But being content shouldn't mean being complacent. When an opportunity emerges to uncover another side of yourself, it's wise to take it. My interest in Ronin possibly taking up the mantle of Samurai X is built on a similar foundation. Characters stand to experience the most growth when you push them outside their comfort zone.

Nexo Knights site got another small update today: a downloadable poster of Jestro and the Book of Monsters. Man, LEGO really turned up the creepy factor with those two. I love how the Book of Monsters' tongue is one of those ribbons you find in certain books to help you hold your place! Saw some prelim box art for some of the Nexo Knights sets today. The Robo-Horse's motorcycle mode actually seems to look really good, possibly good enough to make up for its slightly clunky horse mode. I think the deciding factor would be how smooth the actual transformation function is. I'll agree that getting a Nexo Knights set with some civilians would be really sweet for a future wave!

I can definitely recommend the chapter book to anyone who has enjoyed the webisodes. It's an adaptation of the TV special, but it goes into a lot more depth about certain things, and the confrontation with Skyra is a lot more dramatic (there's an actual magical fight scene, even)! Among other things:

Did you miss the context of my previous post? Sci-fi pirates (specifically sky pirates) are basically what the upcoming wave of LEGO Ninjago villains will be. You can get a feel for the design language in this key visual from the LEGO Ninjago Facebook page. Their captain is an evil djinn named Nadakhan.

I have to disagree there. Part of the reason wacky themes like Nexo Knights exist is for kids who feel like they've grown beyond more conventional fare and want something that will challenge their imaginations more. Younger kids aren't yet at that age where their interests become fickle and they must have the latest, trendiest thing. And they haven't experienced the classics long enough to get bored with them or think of them as old-fashioned. They are still an enthusiastic audience for that stuff. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if even a classic Space themed Juniors set could have real sales potential. Also, LEGO might not want to risk alienating the older kids Nexo Knights is aimed at by rushing out sets aimed at the preschool/kindergarten age bracket. Not until they've had an opportunity to gain that older audience's trust, as they have with Ninjago after a good five years of success. The one advantage a Nexo Knights themed Juniors set would have over a more conventional Castle themed one is that it could make use of more current minifigure elements, the same as how the previous Castle-themed Juniors set reused minifigure elements from the 2013 Castle range. But I don't think that's as big a concern as how they want the Nexo Knights brand to be perceived in its first few years. Side note: I recently saw some more prelims for the Nexo Knights "Ultimate" characters that had age ranges listed, and apparently they're aimed at ages 7–14. This honestly surprises me a bit. In Ninjago, impulse-priced "gimmick" sets like the spinners generally dip down to the 6–14 rather than sticking with the same age range as the regular building sets. But I guess that's partly because in Ninjago spinners, the bulky, expensive spinner means cutting down on the actual building. The Ultimate sets don't appear to include any bulky or expensive parts that would cut down on building the same way. Chima Speedorz sets were also aimed at ages 7–14, but not only did they include more building than the spinners, they were also bigger sets in general — $14.99 instead of $9.99.

Ronin's whole no-loyalties "ronin" schtick is a part of why I thought it'd be quite cool for him to take up the mantle of Samurai X. This past season he and Nya learned a lot from each other (him teaching her how to be more easygoing and her teaching him in turn to be more principled), and I think a good next step would be for her to offer him an opportunity to prove he can be a hero with honor, rather than just a renegade looking out for his own interests. And hey, he's already got the mech pilot thing down. Unlike some people who feel like Nya becoming a ninja was pointless and came out of nowhere, I'm looking at all the new story opportunities it's opened up. Already it's allowed her to train like the other ninja to understand her element, and hopefully it might help give her an opportunity to get close with Jay again so that they can figure out what they have and whether they can make it work (I'd also like for them to work on tech stuff together, because it frustrates me a bit that ever since she became the team's tech whiz, Jay's own love of gadgetry has sort of fallen by the wayside... though it did get acknowledged in Rebooted with his idolization of Cyrus Borg).

Well, the same material (polycarbonate) is used for both transparent and opaque beams and shells. As I understand it, polycarbonate is actually stronger than the ABS the LEGO Group uses for typical opaque bricks, which is why some parts like CCBS beams or System lightsaber blades use it universally, regardless of color. The biggest concern for builders when dealing with polycarbonate parts is that two polycarbonate parts will have more friction against each other than against ABS parts. So, for instance, if you attach a transparent 1x1 cone to a lightsaber blade, it can be difficult to separate and separating them might even be enough damage the parts. It's not that the material is weaker, but that the forces it takes to separate the parts are greater. This is why LEGO doesn't make minifigures in entirely transparent colors, just parts that won't be connected directly to one another like heads, arms, and legs. Many minifigure parts are attached by very tiny connection points which might snap if the friction were too great. But presumably this isn't an issue for CCBS parts since they're designed with that material and that level of friction in mind, plus the majority of the parts are a lot thicker and sturdier than a lightsaber blade or a minifigure shoulder joint.

Pirates of 1989 were popular, but excluding the possibility of time travel there's nothing the LEGO Group can do to make it 1989 again. The market now is different than the market then. I have no idea how popular Ninjago's sky pirates will be (the upcoming sky pirate wave seems somewhat small compared to this year's first wave), but I imagine they'll be fairly popular just because of the Ninjago connection. Ninjago is huge. "When Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu launched in January 2011, it set new financial and innovation records for LEGO. The LEGO Group reported a 20 percent increase in sales in the first quarter of 2011, largely due to the overwhelming popularity of the Ninjago line, which went on to rack up the highest single-year sales of any LEGO-invented theme in the company's history." (Brick by Brick, p265) And just look how Ninjago's search interest compares to the perennially popular LEGO City and LEGO Star Wars themes. In the five years since LEGO Ninjago came out, it has generated more total search interest than either theme. At its peak in December 2012, it generated more search interest than both those themes put together. From the start of this year, it has generated more search interest than either of those themes every month, and its popularity continues to climb as we approach the holidays. It's quite clear just why the LEGO Group is now considering Ninjago an evergreen theme. Do we have any reason to really think the old-school Ninja sets were ever all that popular? Obviously they were able to last more than one year, which speaks in their favor, but they came out at a time when the company as a whole was struggling to stay relevant, as opposed to Ninjago which remains one of the LEGO Group's top themes at a time when they have become the largest toy company in the world, and one of the most influential. The classic ninja sets also suffered from some of the same design flaws that afflicted most sets at the time like lots of large, specialized pieces and, in many cases, a poor price per piece. To me, it goes without saying that Ninjago is easily far more popular than the classic Ninja sets ever were. With AFOLs, the classic ninja sets might be more popular than Ninjago, but that's often just a matter of what they grew up with. Many of the kids and teenagers who love Ninjago today will be AFOLs themselves one day, and then we'll see a far different picture. There are a lot more kids, teens, and even adults buying LEGO today than there were in 1999.

I'm now noticing that the cover literally says "EXCLUSIVE MINIFIGURE INCLUDED" (silly me for not seeing that in the first place), so I guess that figure IS exclusive to that book. Huh. I think that's a first for these activity books. I mean, it is LEGO. It is mini. It is a figure. I don't see any reason it wouldn't be considered a minifigure. LEGO skeletons, robots, and droids are generally considered minifigures even when they use few or no conventional minifigure parts.