Aanchir

Yep, all the 2014 sets except the Legend Beasts have new torsos for the 2013 main characters. Eris has a unique new torso decoration, while Laval, Cragger, and Gorzan all share one. They all have unique new leg designs though. The ravens and wolves are both on temporary hiatus as far as the playsets are concerned. Worriz just lucked out by getting a Legend Beast for the first wave — but unlike Cragger, Laval, Eris, and Gorzan, he does not appear in a playset, which means he does not yet have a new 2014 design. Good review! I do not feel compelled to get this set (or any of the new playsets and Speedorz sets) currently, but we'll see if the pressure gets to me as the year goes on. I have a feeling that if I get a Chima craving I'll be more than satisfied with the Legend Beasts and possibly some of the 2013 sets I still have yet to build, though. Certainly the new sets have VERY nice designs, but I haven't been following the story too closely, and if I work up the interest to get more Chima sets I'd rather get some of the characters I missed from the established tribes versus new versions of characters I already have or brand-new characters from brand-new tribes.

I hope whatshisname the panther character's head is able to be used for female lions!

But the Mixels we've seen so far have a pretty consistent release pattern of nine sets in three different color schemes per wave. So you'd need at least three multi-Nixel packs for that to work. And yeah, the tiny ball joints wouldn't work for the Nixels. But that's not an obstacle to release so much as another way the sets would likely be fairly underwhelming compared to proper Mixels sets.

Orient Expedition was a decent theme, but for me it felt a bit disjointed and difficult to collect. Unlike previous Adventurers story arcs where each year would focus on a particular setting, Orient Expedition was released in a single year but included three separate settings: the jungles of India, the Himalayas, and finally China. From a story perspective, this made for an exciting adventure story in three acts. But from a collecting perspective, it made it more difficult to commit to collecting the entire theme when not all of the sets were visually compatible with each other. If Adventurers were to return, I think it would be better with a storytelling style more like the classic sets: focusing on one setting and one adventure for one or two waves, then moving on to a new setting and a new adventure. Instead of merely retrieving one artifact from each setting, there would be multiple artifacts in each setting that lead the heroes toward the final artifact, much like the map fragments in the first two waves. Perhaps the story could also go back to its roots with the Adventurers seeking these artifacts among ruins with supernatural protectors, rather than having to confront civilized locals like in Orient Expedition. While Orient Expedition had some colorful enemies and allies, it felt a bit culturally insensitive to present local leaders like Maharaja Lallu and Emperor Chang Wu as actual villains. You could still have enemies native to the region, as stories like the Adventures of Tintin and Indiana Jones have done in the past, but having them as the highest-ranking government officials in the region feels a little off.

Two sets is way better than no sets, in my opinion. And at least it's a separate wave and not just the first wave being split in two like the U.S. got with some previous themes like Power Miners and Atlantis. Don't get me wrong, more sets is generally a good thing, but I'll have to see what these two sets actually include before I know whether I'd prefer to have more. There are lots of other themes competing for my attention this year, after all, so I won't mind if it doesn't take a lot of sets to complete my 2014 Ninjago collection to my satisfaction. In the 2013 Ninjago lineup you had to get every set except the Golden Dragon to get all the new minifigures (arguably, you could get the Golden Dragon in place of the Temple of Light since Garmadon and Wu had no exclusive new parts, but you'd have to swipe the crest from General Kozu's helmet to complete the Helmet of Shadows). I would have balked at this in a year as big as 2011 or 2012 (even without having to get every set in those years, I never managed to get all the Serpentine minifigures — I lack Lasha, Spitta, Lizaru, and Pythor), but in a year with fewer than ten sets total it's a lot more manageable. Of course, we also don't know if there might be any store exclusive sets in the summer that we haven't heard about yet. It's certainly not impossible. Remember how long it took to confirm the existence of 70726 Destructoid?

Hmm, you have a good point. I hadn't even noticed these pictures of the Nixels. I need to pay more attention! However, this does reinforce my belief that they won't be stand-alone sets like the Mixels. In this picture, they're visibly smaller than the Mixels. The one on the left has ears made from cheese slopes. and the one on the right has ears/horns made from the same tooth pieces used as Flain's toes. Unless these pictures are incredibly inaccurate to the sets, then neither of these Nixels can be much more than three bricks tall. Perhaps there will be a promotional "Nixels" set that includes three or four tiny Nixels instead of a single Mixels figure. But I can't picture a set like that being released as a part of the main Mixels series. It just wouldn't have the same potential for creative rebuilding as the larger Mixels figures that offer a more diverse array of pieces.

Not just that. I think to a certain extent they kept the animation style because they could. It's certainly not a bad style, and has higher detail than the sets, which is what you want in a TV special like this so the characters don't just look like they were plucked from a toybox. Ghost did the same exact thing for the CGI segments of the 2010 Hero Factory commercials and Savage Planet commercials. I'm pretty sure they did the HeroPad challenge videos as well, which likewise used the exact same character models as the TV episodes.

I somewhat doubt there will be Nixel figs, since the Nixels are basically meant as the the "no fun" counterpart to the Mixels. Wouldn't make a whole lot of sense to design sets for them that are just as fun and wacky as the rest of the theme.

The "Battle for Geonosis" set from LEGO Star Wars doesn't include any scenery. Neither does the "Battle of Naboo" set. With that said, I think you're right, it probably will include at least SOME kind of scenery.

Thanks! The new layout is fantastic, but it's a shame the "World of Chima" pages aren't updated. This is my first time revisiting them in many months and I'm disappointed to see that even Windra and LaGravis don't have pages, and that Grizzam's page has no actual bio.

Not grey, I don't think. Series 1 already has grey ones. Blue and orange are likely since they show up in this pic, but the third color is a mystery.

What early 90s video games were YOU playing? I grew up in the 90s and I don't recall any games from those early years with graphics this smooth — I still cringe when I look at screenshots from Super Mario 64, and that game was released in 1996! The "lineless", cel-shaded style is very neat and reminds me of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but perhaps even more well-polished. In this trailer, you can barely tell that the characters are rendered in 3D from stills, which look almost like they're made from craft paper, but the dynamic movement of the characters still takes full advantage of the animation style. I don't expect I'll end up watching this. After all, I was never a PowerPuff Girls fan growing up, though I now know enough about the series to realize that I probably should have been. It's neat that they're getting Ringo Starr as a guest star! (Guest starr?)

Interesting decision. I hope the net result of this is more attention on Eurobricks being drawn towards the action figures forum, and not less attention on Eurobricks being drawn towards the Mixels.

Instructions have been added to LEGO.com! You'll have to scroll down a bit, or click the building instruction icons on this page. Figured I'd share this since so many people wanted to see all the comics. Sadly, they're pretty grainy.

I don't see the problem here. It's a big sticker sheet, but most the stickers go on simple, flat, straight-edged surfaces that should present no problems when it comes to applying them. The only ones that I think are bothersome are the STAMPS, and of those, only the ones on the white containers could really have been avoided (by using regular studded bricks instead of a combination of plates and tiles). The ones on the sides are mandatory to avoid mutilating the Maersk trademarks and iconography. Could the grey containers have been printed? Probably. But I don't see why stickering is so much worse.

I'm quite fond of Metalbeard's design. It's semi-steampunk, and really exemplifies the anachronism that makes steampunk and related genres so appealing in the first place. It's also got the deliciously mottled color scheme you expect of a steampunk model, which is something you don't often see in official sets (which tend to go for brighter and more uniform color schemes). All the nautical details on this set make for added hilarity.

You mean the spidery-looking brown one in the middle? Its legs seem to be made from these and these. Hard to really judge these from such tiny, blurry pics with watermarks obscuring them, but one thing's for sure — they have the same level of uniqueness the Series 1 Mixels led us to expect, maybe even more. Series 1 didn't have any multi-legged Mixels, did it?

I have a feeling I know how Evo feels about this... I feel the same way, buddy.

Yeah, the A:TLA graphic novels are excellent. The MLP:FiM comic series is also good, even though it's a different sort of good. Unlike the A:TLA graphic novels, which tell new stories with more or less the same storytelling style and voice as the show, the MLP:FiM comics tell stories that are more or less optimized for comics as a medium. Some story arcs, like the Big Mac arc in issues 9 and 10, would never work in the show. But generally, they still remain true to the characters and values of the animated series. I recently watched the anime film Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, a movie based on the Professor Layton video games but telling a new story that takes place between the fourth and fifth games. Overall, its story was of the same quality as the game series, and had an appropriate emphasis on puzzle-solving, just like the games. The voice acting and music were also top notch, which was to be expected since it shares some of its voice talent and music with the games. My only complaints are the amount of conspicuous CGI and the over-the-top nature of some plot elements (the villain's evil plan looks like it would have been crazy expensive). I would recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed the Professor Layton video games, and I'd recommend it AND the video games to anyone who hasn't experienced either.

No, we don't really know that. As I've mentioned elsewhere, it's entirely possible there just wasn't enough of a budget for new parts to allow that. Remind me, have we seen ANY obvious new parts from the summer sets, other than the helmets for Bulk and Surge? True, though not all mid-size sets are comparable in price. The mid-size sets for 2014 seem to be $15, not $13 like previous ones. So unless you adjust for inflation, then Boxor, Nui-Rama, and Nocturn (all $15 BIONICLE sets, despite being larger than those years' canister sets) have it beat. Taking inflation into account, though, it easily beats all constraction sets of equal or lower price. In that respect, this year has well and truly knocked BIONICLE canister sets off the pedestal of allegedly superior complexity. Even the smallest of this year's mid-size sets, Furno Jet Machine, surpasses BIONICLE's piece count record holders among canister sets (Mistika Toa Tahu and Toa Mahri Kongu, the latter having an inflated piece count due to its sixteen ammo pieces). Prices have increased, but even the smallest ($10) sets with their rather pitiful piece counts consistently surpass such well-loved sets as the Bohrok, Visorak, Toa Metru, and Visorak (all of which in 2014 dollars would be MORE expensive).

Well, a 2-in-1 model for this scene from the movie wouldn't have made as much sense as with the civilian vehicles. After all, the "melting room" is clearly a tool of Lord Business, and he's the one the people of Bricksburg are rebuilding their vehicles to fight against. I don't think there's a lack of effort with this set necessarily, but it does disappoint me in a few ways. For instance, in the movie, the laser in the melting room seems to be an actual life-size laser pointer (unless that's supposed to be a different laser), kind of like how the Kragle is an actual life-size tube of Krazy Glue. This fact isn't readily apparent in this set, unlike the Kragle in Lord Business's Evil Lair. I imagine some of this set's limitations were just to meet this price point. After all, there doesn't seem to be a lot of detail in the melting room that would demand a larger set. But at the same time, it seems to lose a bit of that gloomy atmosphere due to its "open" design and color palette.

Yeah, I was having a hard time making sense of that, since (compared to most other Hero Factory sets) their Hungarian prices seem downright ludicrous. Of course, the cost of a set doesn't always vary directly by size... Stormer XL was smaller than Black Phantom by both weight and piece count and yet cost $5 more. But hopefully there won't be an issue like that this year, and these listed prices are just misleading/preliminary.

Arctic. That's the LAST sub-theme I was expecting to see again! Not that I'm complaining, but Arctic was pretty niche the first time around — it didn't even carry LEGO Town branding in the United States, instead being marketed as its own separate theme. It's been about 15 years since the last Arctic sets, and that was back in the late 90s, when set design tended to be pretty lackluster. I'm sure the new sets will be radically different, and I can't wait to see what they have in store! Hoping for a recolor of the bear mold from the Forest Police sets as a polar bear!

Wonder if this is a straight revival of the Agents theme, or a reboot like Space Police (with new logos and characters). Either way, I loved Agents, so I hope the new sets measure up!

Numbers and (unconfirmed) names for summer sets! http://www.legomarkabolt.hu/index.php?oldal=katalogus&by=csoport&cs=69 44023 Rocka Climber Machine (49 pieces, ~10 USD) 44024 Tunneler Beast vs. Surge (59 pieces, ~10 USD) 44025 Bulk Drilling Machine (113 pieces, ~15 USD) 44026 Crystal Beast vs. Bulk (83 pieces, ~15 USD) 44027 Breez Anchor Machine (102 pieces, ~15 USD) 44028 Surge and Rocka Battle Machine (188 pieces) 44029 Queen Beast vs. Furno, Evo, and Stormer (217 pieces) So, no Nex or Stringer. :( Wonder what Bulk Drilling Machine is. It doesn't sound like one of the ones we saw in the trailer.