Aanchir

Additionally, a half hour ago a marathon started on Cartoon Network of the eight episodes leading up to the finale. It'll be running till 5:00 EDT, when Cartoon Network will resume normal programming, and then the new episodes will be airing at 6:30 EDT.

Nice theory, but it doesn't seem to jibe with the evidence. A quote from Jens Nygaard Knudsen (inventor of the LEGO minifigure and one of the original LEGO Space designers) in Brickjournal issue six: "We started with only Red and White figures, we considered the red ones to be the 'bad' guys, and that they were two competing factions." Unless Classic Space represents some dystopian future in which Denmark has undergone a schism of some kind, the "astronauts and cosmonauts" theory seems a lot more valid than the idea that they're a united Danish space fleet. I don't really expect a full Classic Space reboot personally. But it seems like more and more sets are paying tribute to Classic Space in their designs. I for one don't mind that one bit!

I miss the fact that the smaller heroes (Bulk, Breez, Evo, and Rocka) all had asymmetrical shoulder armor tying them together. I thought that was a really cool feature, and it really complemented the shields on Breez, Bulk, and Rocka. Bulk, at least, still looks fine at a larger scale without the asymmetry, but I feel like Breez and Rocka looked better with asymmetrical shoulder armor (Breez in particular looks extremely frail without any shoulder armor of any kind). The changes to Breez's color scheme are neat, though I think it'd be better if the 3M shells on her lower legs faced forwards. Furno and Surge both look fantastic, but I feel like Furno's sword worked better with a smaller shell. It'd also be cool if you could find a Hero Factory solution for armoring Furno's crotch rather than that BIONICLE shell. Aesthetically there's no problem with the BIONICLE shell, but it would make the MOC that much closer to what the real set could have been. I feel like Stormer could be better if the beam colors for his arms and legs alternated — the easiest fix would be to swap his upper and lower arm beams. I also feel like the silver sword worked better than the Tr. Blue one. If the sword were Tr. Light Blue like Frost Beast's it'd be a different matter. Nice job mounting his shield to his arm! The back armor on Breez, Rocka, and Evo leaves something to be desired. On Breez her lack of shoulder armor makes it especially noticeable. If there were some way to use the same shield piece as the back armor for those three and Bulk as for Surge and Stormer, I think that would be ideal, since it is so visually compatible with the Brain Attack torso shell, but I suppose that would complicate the way the shields and Evo's staff are mounted. Generally these are a lot better than what I expected when I opened the topic. There's definitely room for further improvements, particularly with Breez, but you did a good job correcting for some of the sets' flaws without reducing the distinctiveness of the original designs.

Well, bear in mind that there are multiple sorts of polybags. Ones like the black brain set, the Martian Manhunter minifig, etc. are all about exclusive elements and include little to no building, while ones like this or various mini Star Wars and Creator sets are more building-oriented and include no exclusive elements. If we got a polybag set with a recolored hero, it's doubtful that they'd get their own battle machine, not even one this small. Maybe a jumper and a few weapons at best, so there's some play value besides a solo figure.

Kai and Nya's mother is mentioned in the short story "In His Footsteps", which is featured in both the American chapter book Kai: Ninja of Fire and the European Kai storybooks/guide books (published by various depending on country/language, but illustrated by Ameet Studio, a Polish publishing company). In the European books, she even appears in the illustrations. I don't believe Cole's mother is ever mentioned in any Ninjago media at all.

Yep, there's nothing wrong with a story that revels in that kind of old-school cheesiness! Some of my favorite webcomics, like The Adventures of Dr. McNinja and Axe Cop, are basically superhero comics that don't make any effort to constrain themselves to the laws of reality, and instead follow their own internal sort of wacky cartoon logic.

Back when BIONICLE was fairly new, I had a similar storyline connecting BIONICLE to Throwbots. Specifically, I decided the Throwbots were artificial Toa that the Tohunga/Matoran had built while waiting for the real ones to arrive, but they didn't end up working effectively and went off to space to settle their own planet. Or something like that — I don't entirely remember. Perhaps I even said that Mata Nui was just an island in the water section of the Throwbots world, and that doesn't work with the official storyline for obvious reasons. Today, I don't really get much enjoyment out of linking themes like this. Hero Factory is not just in a different setting than BIONICLE, but it's in a universe that works quite differently. In Hero Factory, space travel and robots with human-like personalities and emotions not only exist, they are commonplace. The robots are even capable of romance, judging from some accounts. I think treating this as the same universe as BIONICLE, even in the far future, would undercut the magic and mystery of the technological advances we did see in the BIONICLE universe. And how would it really benefit either storyline to link the two? I think crossovers between the two themes could work, at least in fan fiction, as long as you maintain that they are set in separate universes. And a crossover story like that could actually be somewhat interesting if you treat it similarly to a crossover with any other universe, even ours. I've even made sort of crossoverish MOCs, like this, though I didn't come up with any story for them. But as far as the official storyline is concerned, I don't see any really strong benefit to be had from interpreting any kind of link between them. They can each be enjoyed separately.

I haven't followed the series well enough to know what major characters have had significant costume changes, if any. It doesn't have to be a major character (the Yoda Chronicles guide book and the Minifigures Character Encyclopedia broke from that tradition already), but it seems more likely than getting a fig less familiar to a casual fan. Worriz and Razar in their grey jungle armor would be awesome, since they don't appear in the sets in that armor, but at the same time that might be a bit underwhelming since I believe both of them share Cragger, Laval, and Gorzan's torso style with only unique kneepads to distinguish them. Queen Crunket (minus her crown) could be possible, but she's a secondary character with no appearances in the sets, so maybe not the most likely. It's also possible it could be Laval or Cragger in a costume we haven't seen yet. Don't forget that we got our first pics of the Lloyd Garmadon fig from the Ninjago Character Encyclopedia before he wore that costume in the show.

Well, even at the beginning, Ninjago had its share of outlandish sci-fi, what with the absurdly large skeleton vehicles. A lot of people make a big deal of the increase in science-fantasy elements in Ninjago, but to a great extent all it did was more thoroughly distribute the sci-fi elements that the skeleton sets already used. Some of the other sci-fi stuff was even hinted at in previous arcs — one of the original Ninjago online games in 2011 (Spinjitzu Smash Party) featured "nindroids" as enemies, which makes me think they may have been in the story bible in some capacity. I've even seen some early concept art that was arguably even more sci-fi than the current story arc, and that's saying something! Can't manage to find where I saw that, though. I think someone linked it here on Eurobricks, but I forget what topic it was. EDIT: Here it is, linked in this post. VERY Power Rangers.

The Fold has posted the official music video for "After the Blackout!"

Except that is not Duplo. It is a System goat from this set.

Today I tried taking a screenshot of a building technique on my Mac using Command+K (the LDD screenshot tool keyboard shortcut). The first couple times I attempted this, the PNG image file that LDD saved was completely blank/transparent (no image). Subsequent attempts have caused LDD to crash before the file can even save. This seems to happen whether I am in Build Mode or View Mode, and it is quite frustrating, as I had grown fond of the LDD screenshot tool. When used in build mode, it used to save screenshots of a model with a transparent background, unlike the Mac screenshot tool which would capture the whole screen, backgrounds and all. Now, it doesn't save screenshots at all. I hope this is fixed soon. It might have to do with my operating system, which recently updated to OSX 10.9.2. The screenshot tool was working just fine as recently as this past January, as I used it to take this screenshot. Needless to say, I'm perplexed and frustrated.

I was a big fan of Slizer, or Throwbots as it was called here in the US. I preferred the torso style with the worm gear aesthetically, but hated it functionally. It was so tedious to have to "transform" a set or change its pose by twisting a tiny gear for five or so minutes. BIONICLE gear functions were much better... considerably more active and engaging, much like the flapping wings on Electro. The theme's story was much weaker than subsequent constraction themes, Hero Factory included. The sparse story tidbits we got in the US led my brother and I to come up with our own storylines and personalities for the characters, but without a consistent story to follow it didn't command our interest much longer than the theme's lifespan. It was frustrating that the monsters and dangers portrayed on the disks and packaging were not made of LEGO and in most cases were not designed to look buildable. A similar frustration occurred with BIONICLE foes like Makuta in 2001 or the Morbuzakh in 2004. Another story frustration is that the carefully laid out Throwbots planet did not allow room to create "zones" for original Throwbots characters. I enjoyed building Throwbots creations but was not very good at large or creative ones. The only one that sticks in my memory is a Medium Blue and Bright Red Throwbot named Rocket. He had a jet pack but was not very unique otherwise. A very basic humanoid, or as close to one as you could get with the wonky Throwbots proportions. Some of my peers had even greater frustrations. My parents bought Throwbots sets as party favors for my eighth birthday and I was surprised to realize just how difficult even such basic LEGO Technic builds were for other kids. Would the sets be worth getting today? Depends on your preferences, but I'd say no. The theme had a lot of flaws that weren't smoothed out until BIONICLE — the gearbox-style torsos that were only really useful in pairs, the slow and boring worm gear functions, the awkward body and limb proportions, etc. Some parts, like the colorful feet, wings, and Y-joints, are immensely useful for BIONICLE or even general Technic building. Others, like the heads, throwing arms, and torsos, are considerably more awkward to use. And the legs are somewhere in between. Overall, the theme was good for its time, but not nearly so great in hindsight.

These Bricklink categories should help you: Animal, Air Animal, Dinosaur Animal, Land Animal, Water This year, there will be a few more that aren't yet on Bricklink. In LEGO City, there will be a Siberian Husky and a polar bear. In LEGO Friends, there will be two styles of bear cub, a lion cub, a baby orangutan, a chimpanzee, a panda cub, and a macaw. There might be more I haven't spotted.

I'm not under any illusions that we're anywhere near true gender equality in sets, and in most cases a female minifigure is unlikely to appear in any sets without one or more male minifigures for the time being. But my point is that the LEGO Group is progressing, slowly but surely. Eris's Eagle Interceptor did not include any lions or other supporting heroes. It just included Eris and two Raven baddies (Razar and Rizzo). This year in Chima, Eris appears in not one but two small sets: the $10 Eagle Legend Beast and the $13 Sky Launch (a Speedorz set). Other female characters abound, albeit in larger sets. 70131 Rogon's Rock Flinger ($30) includes the female rhino Rinona, and 70133 Spinlyn's Cavern ($40) includes the female spider queen Spinlyn (the first female tribe leader unless you count Crooler) as well as Eris in her new costume. This makes it the first set in the theme with more than one minifigure in which female minifigures outnumber male ones. In the summer there are lots of female characters: Eris in a new costume in 70142 Eris' Fire Eagle ($30), Maula the mammoth queen in 70145 Maula's Ice Mammoth Stomper (the first set to have a female villain as the title character), and Li'ella the lion in 70146 Flying Phoenix Fire Temple. I don't know yet whether any of the phoenixes, sabertooths, or vultures are female. Either way, there have been six unique female minifigures introduced this year alone, out of around 37 new minifigures (not including the figs from the Legend Beasts, which are more or less identical to last year's version of those characters). That's a ratio of about 10% more than any year of Ninjago or Chima has previously offered, and that's progress.

I wouldn't be so sure. I think the LEGO Group is starting to realize the significance of their female audience even within their boy-oriented themes. This year is the first year to have a female minifigure besides Nya, but instead of replacing her, both Nya and Pixal are a part of this year's minifigure character roster. This gives it the best gender ratio of any Ninjago year to date. Also, Legends of Chima has had a better gender ratio than Ninjago from its debut year, with four female characters in 2013 and even more in 2014. The reason for both these things is probably connected with a statistic the Hageman brothers mentioned in this interview — there has been a surprisingly large female audience for the show, which they guess is around 30% of the show's viewers. No doubt this statistic caught the LEGO Group by surprise, considering that marketing for Ninjago has been very boy-focused from the beginning. I agree that Nya is still just one of many possibilities, but it's a possibility that shouldn't be discounted. Particularly since Nya getting a new default costume in the show that isn't a variation on an outfit that appears in sets is somewhat out-of-the-ordinary — keep in mind that Sensei Wu's costume from the 2012 and 2013 sets never even made it into the show in any capacity!

That image for Kraw is almost certainly the Flexer MAX. It's too large to be a single Mixel and uses parts from the other Flexers.

Generally, precedent suggests it will stick with main characters rather than secondary characters. Just look at past character encyclopedias and visual dictionaries: LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary included Luke in his Yavin IV awards ceremony attire. LEGO Star Wars: Character Encyclopedia included Han in his Yavin IV awards ceremony attire. LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World included Harry in his dress robes from the Yule Ball. LEGO Harry Potter: Characters of the Magical World included Harry in his outfit from Professor Slughorn's Christmas party. LEGO Batman: The Visual Dictionary included Batman in the semi-obscure Electro Suit. LEGO Ninjago: Character Encyclopedia included Lloyd in a new costume. The same applies to figs exclusive to home media releases like DVDs. They tend to be main characters like Bilbo from The Hobbit, Vitruvius from The LEGO Movie, and Clark Kent/Superman from LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes Unite, not secondary characters — even though most of those media have no shortage of secondary characters who could be realized as minifigures. Frankly, characters that even new viewers will recognize in an instant and remember from trailers and posters are likely to sell more product than characters you have to be familiar with the theme/source material to recognize, like Misako, Dareth, or Dr. Julien. Now, there have been some recent exceptions to this trend. LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles has an obscure, unnamed Special Forces Commander. And LEGO Minifigures: Character Encyclopedia has a tin soldier, since the theme does not actually have any main characters or recurring characters of any kind. It's unclear what the new LEGO Friends: Character Encyclopedia will contain, since the cover art we've seen just promises "exclusive outfit and accessories" without any clarification of which figure will be wearing said outfit. Still, I think it's most likely a main character. Nya is currently the only one who has appeared in a new costume that really fits the bill (the Ninja in their casual clothes would not likely have the same action-y appeal as her more ornate outfit). But it could just as easily be a character in a costume that has yet to appear in the show. Sensei Wu is a possibility that I'm seriously considering since we have not seen a non-evil version of him this year.

A pre-possession Cyrus Borg figure would be cool, but I actually think Nya is more likely because she's been a main character throughout the entire run of the series. The only real mark against her is that she's a female character in a boy-oriented franchise, but it seems like the LEGO Group has become a bit more aware of the size of Ninjago's female audience during the theme's hiatus. Cyrus Borg is not only a brand-new secondary character, but he's also neither a ninja or a samurai, and in a theme that's primarily about ninja, that's a serious mark against him. Of course, it could be a new main character costume that catches us by surprise. Remember, we got our first glimpses of the Lloyd minifigure from the character encyclopedia long before he got that costume in the actual show. I don't think a new costume for Zane or Lloyd is likely simply because we've already got three Zane variants and two Lloyd variants this year, but perhaps we'll see a new costume for Sensei Wu after he's freed from the Overlord's control.

Today I found this interview with the Hageman brothers from back in January. It's really fascinating and gives a lot of insight into what the experience of writing the show has been like for them. It's also clear that they have a lot of passion for the project. I'm very glad that they're still in charge of writing the series, and that they're on board to pen the upcoming Ninjago theatrical film. The Hageman brothers and the LEGO Group make great creative partners.

Today I discovered this interview with Dan and Kevin Hageman from earlier this year. They describe what their involvement was in The LEGO Movie. I hadn't realized that their part in the writing process actually began and ended before they became the writers for LEGO Ninjago. It's clear that they were very passionate about both projects, but they seem to agree that passing the torch to Phil Lord and Chris Miller was the right decision and helped make the movie what it was. I'm glad these two are on board as screenwriters for the LEGO Ninjago movie!

Well, he was referenced in a LEGO Ninjago episode ("The Royal Blacksmiths"), but you're probably right that his time has essentially come and gone. I have a feeling that there might have been more media related to Clutch Powers if the original movie had sold better, since the storyline seemed to set up for further adventures. But the direct-to-DVD format probably didn't serve it as well as the broadcast format that helped make LEGO Ninjago such a knockout success.

Depends. If it's the joints you're after, the Wolf and Lion have more than you can get for any two of the currently-released Mixels (there is only one Mixel this year, Hoogi, who contains ten joint pieces, and every other Mixel has eight or fewer). The Mixels will generally get you more building elements per dollar, particularly since they don't contain minifigures and so are effectively all building elements. But of course, which parts you're seeking will have a big impact on how useful any particular set is. The Mixels include lots of basic parts in bright primary colors, whereas the Legend Beasts tend to have parts (particularly lots of curved slopes) in more nature-inspired colors.

That crocodile vehicle has the new "fang with clip" piece in white! That could definitely be useful. I don't remember seeing it in that color on any of the other sets. Not a super-attractive vehicle in my eyes, though. The nose is far too smooth. At least the function looks cool.

Same here. That's part of why I chose it over the lion for my first purchase. It's also a mighty attractive model in its own right!