Aanchir

Well, there has been a slight hint in that Nya gets an extremely distinctive and "official-looking" new costume in the trailer for the new season of the show. Most show-only alternate costumes for the main characters of the show are just variations on costumes worn by existing minifigures, and Nya and Sensei Wu almost never get new costumes except when the sets demand it (Sensei Wu only ever appeared in a costume other than his classic white robes in some of the 2011 mini-movies — his costume from the 2012/2013 sets has never appeared in the show). One Russian site described 70726 Destructoid as "Vehicle for Samurai", but as we can see that seems to have been mere speculation or possibly a mistranslation. A car belonging to Nya appears in 70725 Nindroid MechDragon, but it's piloted by Sensei Garmadon and Lloyd, so there's the possibility that she WAS going to appear in that set and got cut for budgetary reasons. However, this would not explain her new costume in the TV show, as it's unlikely a Nya minifigure would get that far design-wise before being dropped from the minifigure lineup. As it is, we aren't likely to see a new Nya minifigure before this summer. But hopefully there will be a summer wave that includes her.

Well, in terms of actual mechs, only four heroes are covered in the first wave, but in terms of minifigures, there are five (Furno, Breez, Evo, Rocka, and Stormer). So I think we'll at least have a good shot at getting the other four heroes (Surge, Stringer, Bulk, and Nex) in the summer, especially since Splitter Beast demonstrated you can have more than one minifigure per set. One advantage of the switch from character-based models to mechs is that it's not too hard to build your own custom mech. With the heroes who were omitted from Brain Attack, building your own would be a real challenge, since there are no helmets for those heroes designed to work with the Brain Attack heads and visors. But as long as we get minifigures of the characters, that's all the character-specific molds we'd need for Invasion from Below. I also like the color schemes. They are unified to a great extent by the use of black and medium azur, but they have other bright accent colors to add further visual interest. I do somewhat wonder what color scheme a mech for Stringer would have in the summer, though — heavy use of black might interfere with the visual language this wave has established. Then again, it shouldn't be hard to reduce the use of black in his mech without losing that connection to the character. After all, Rocka's mech only has three Warm Gold pieces, and two of them are almost entirely concealed by additional Titanium Metallic armor! Magenta (Bright Reddish Violet) is a lovely color that I wish we'd see in more themes. The Alien Conquest alien minifigures really showed how it can be used well without looking "girly". Furthermore, when the sets were up on Walmart.ca, the product descriptions explicitly confirmed that Splitter Beast can split into two separate beasts. All we have yet to see is what they look like when "split".

Yep, the crocs and wolves all have the same blue backgrounds and weapons as the other previously established tribes. They're definitely allied with the good guys now. Not entirely a surprise... I haven't been following the show, but since the feud was based largely on misunderstandings and manipulation to begin with, it shouldn't take a miracle to resolve. And it's common in fiction for a larger outside threat to force even bitter enemies to work together. Note that the new bad guys, the scorpions and spiders, have green weapons instead of blue or red. 70129 is kind of weird but that epic function makes up for it.

I honestly think that if Jaw Beast's limbs could have been longer, they probably would have been. But it's a $10 set, and I have to imagine the giant printed head eats up a lot of the budget. Plus, it's already a 50 piece set, which is on the high end for a $10 set anyhow. He was totally joking. I am still shocked that some people took that comment seriously for even a minute, when I believe less than a week prior he admitted he was just joking around to give us things to discuss. Anyway, D2C sets are a totally different thing from retailer exclusives like Destructoid anyway. If a D2C Hero Factory set ever did get released, it wouldn't necessarily be "attached" to an ordinary retail release.

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it was Ninjago not a license– or movie-based theme, which motivated TLG to put Space on temporary hiatus. Note that next year's Ninjago sets are numbered in the same sequence as last year's Galaxy Squad sets, and that the sets are even more heavily science-fiction inspired than the playful anachronism of previous Ninjago waves. Since Ninjago and Legends of Chima were not originally expected to continue running concurrently, it's possible that the LEGO Group had to pull designers and resources away from LEGO Space. Of course, The LEGO Movie could also be the culprit, especially if it turns out that Benny the "1980-something space guy" will in fact be making an appearance in a Space-inspired set. Or it could be a combination of factors.

Avoiding Toys 'R' Us isn't the only option anymore if you want to avoid inflated prices. I recently learned that Toys 'R' Us will price-match certain competitors. Of course, they include shipping charges if you try and price-match an online price, but if you get print ads for competing stores in your local newspaper and those include LEGO sets, you should be able to get those sets from Toys 'R' Us at RRP or close to it! This conversation is kind of getting off topic but I figured I'd share that information. Back on-topic, someone on Flickr has several of the new sets and took pics of the boxes. The back of the Thunder Raider box shows what the Thunder Raider looks like from the front when the mech is attached. It's very cool how the mech's cannons act as additional armament for the Thunder Raider.

I don't know what you mean about City. I LOVE the LEGO City mini-movies created by M2Film. Lots of wonderful, hilarious slapstick and visual gags. Great musical score too! The LEGO Star Wars TV specials are also hilarious. I've only seen the second one (The Empire Strikes Out) one time while I was waiting for Ninjago to come on, but it had tons of laugh-out-loud moments as well as lots of subtler visual gags.

Really? They're still under a dollar apiece — hard to buy in huge quantities, but not too awful. Transparent Light Blue 3M shells (also exclusive to Frost Beast) have sold for 70–75 cents apiece on Bricklink, even though they were included in the set in even fewer quantities. The Bright Yellow 4M beams, which likewise only appear in just one $10 set, are even cheaper — no higher than 50 cents. Transparent Fluorescent Reddish-Orange ball cups, which only came in quantities of one in two $9 sets, are cheap as candy on Bricklink and always have been, although no sellers have them in sizable quantities. And that should be just as desirable a color as Transparent Light Blue. I think the parts that are likely to sell for the most egregious prices on Bricklink are always going to be those that are well-suited to System building styles as well as constraction, like those claws. Beams, shells, and other obvious constraction parts don't tend to fit in that category.

An alternate costume for a major character is also more typical of these kinds of books than a new, never-before-in-sets secondary character. Compare the exclusive figures from the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Ninjago books by Dorling Kindersley. All of them are major characters who already appeared in sets, but in uniuque costumes. Unless one of the other major Chima characters has appeared in a significant alternate costume in the show, Shadowind is a very good guess.

There are also a few other large, semi-specialized pieces that make up the bases of the models... an 8 x 8 x 2/3 baseplate with 1x4 cutouts on the edges, a 16x16x2/3 baseplate with similar 1x4 cutouts around the edges, and a 4x8x2/3 slope with a 1x4 section hanging off that fits into the aforementioned cutouts. But I'll agree, the large parts in these sets are not that bad. They are fully-compatible in both connection styles and scale to typical System buildings, and they are compatible aesthetically as well — unlike, say, Jack Stone or Fabuland parts, which were scaled to much larger figures, and which were heavily stylized for a cutesy cartoon look and an edgy futuristic look, respectively.

Evo XL Machine is an excellent parts pack, not just because of its size, but because it has lots of amazingly useful parts in amazing quantities. It has three each of the 3x3 connector block from Drilldozer (90630) and the 5x6 torso beam from XT4 (98590), and five of the 3M Technic beam with center ball joint (98577). Also, four square shell covers (98592), seven bright yellow 5M shells (90639), two printed 5M shells, a Titanium Metallic Savage Planet paw (92233), two Titanium Metallic Stormer XL feet (98597), and two jumpers. The main things Evo Walker can boast are three bright yellow 5M shells, a printed 5M shell, a 3M C-beam (98565), a 3x3 connector block, a 3M Technic beam with center ball joint, and three jumpers. As a parts pack, it wouldn't have a whole lot of value except in multiples. Of course, it IS cheap. But since Evo XL Machine has most of the same parts in much larger quantities, plus lots of other parts and much more impressive functions, for only two and a half times the price, I'd consider it the more desirable option. Of course, there's also the option of just getting the Evo minifigure from Splitter Beast and not getting either of his machines, which might be best if you aren't fond of either machine's design. That way Breez has someone on the ground to keep her company.

I wouldn't say it ruins the color cohesion. As I mentioned before, Transparent Light Blue is almost a perfect match for Medium Azur. I have to admit that Medium Azur might have been more useful for MOCs, but it hardly makes a difference for the look of the individual set or the line as a whole. It would have been cool if we could have gotten transparent light blue bones in another size, but I think it's just as rewarding to see the Medium Azur Y-joints and 5M beams from Thornraxx being used more widely. EDIT: Also, having the 5M beams be transparent instead of the 3M beams still wouldn't have the same colors used for all three beast sets, because Jaw Beast doesn't seem to have any 5M beams in Medium Azur anyway. I suppose you could swap the 5M beams from his arms and legs for transparent ones and just use black 3M beams, though.

The Wolf Legend Beast pic also has one of the back legs disconnected. My guess is that the out-of-box images were originally meant to be "assembly pics" that show how the parts go together, but someone decided pics of the fully-assembled sets would be better and hastily shopped the "separated" body parts back onto the sets. Thankfully, it doesn't afflict the box art.

I don't know why people thought it would... "western" has never been his schtick.

These sets are already being discussed in this topic. Cool to have these pics, though.

Finalized pics of the Legend Beast sets: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-leeuw-legendebeest-70123/9200000021797560/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-adelaar-legendebeest-70124/9200000021797562/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-gorilla-legendebeest-70125/9200000021797564/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-krokodil-legendebeest-70126/9200000021797566/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-wolf-legendebeest-70127/9200000021797568/ The better-quality renders make them look a lot better, although there's a rather egregious rendering error in the images for 70125 Gorilla Legend Beast. Can you spot it? Interesting also that the minifigures are the 2013 designs — not the new 2014 designs like we've seen for Eris. EDIT: More pics for the other sets, too. Playsets: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-braptors-wing-striker-70128/9200000021797570/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-lavertus-twin-blade-70129/9200000021797572/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-sparratus-spider-stalker-70130/9200000021797574/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-rogons-rock-flinger-70131/9200000021797576/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-scorms-scorpion-stinger-70132/9200000021797578/ Speedorz: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-bananengevecht-70136/9200000021797580/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-vleermuisaanval-70137/9200000021797582/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-websprint-70138/9200000021797584/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-zweefsprong-70139/9200000021797586/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-chima-stekelduel-70140/9200000021797588/

Finalized pics of 44015 and 44016 apparently just showed up recently: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-hero-factory-evo-walker-44015/9200000021797660/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-hero-factory-kaakbeest-vs-stormer-44016/9200000021797662/ Turns out Jaw Beast's 3M bones ARE transparent. Guess I was wrong! Interesting how his torso is armored — the main torso shell goes on his back, and he has a printed 3M shell on his chest. Hard to tell if any of the shells on his legs and arms are printed. Also interesting that the build for Evo Walker is so custom! I expected it to at least use a torso beam, but nope, it doesn't! Of course, I hope that the build is still sturdy enough that it's not awkward to play with — seems like the alignment of the cannon and cockpit could be thrown off very easily.

I was very happy when I got my new computer (a MacBook Pro) last year and could experience the more advanced graphic options, like outlines on bricks, for the first time. Nowadays my LDD almost never crashes except sometimes when I am using the flex tool. I imagine a Windows machine with a really good graphics card could also run some of the more advanced graphical options, but I've never been much of a tech guy so I can't say what options would be most effective for their cost (certainly I'd never have gone with the "expensive new computer" route if it hadn't been a requirement for the academic program I was in). But yeah, the lower graphic options make it run a lot better on more devices, though you still want to save frequently in case the software DOES crash.

But the thing is, the legend beast sets have PLENTY of curves. I've built the wolf legend best on LDD with some minor part substitutions (1x2 bows instead of 2x2 and various other modified plates instead of the new joints) and it's quite streamlined and elegant -- at least as much so as many classic LEGO animals like the horse, shark, and crocodile. Speaking of which, the crocodile legend beast actually has MORE curves than its prefab counterpart. As I have said before, the legend beast sets would not have been possible without the wide range of small bow elements currently available. Those are what keep them from looking like "cardboard boxes" and give them more naturalistic sorts of curves, like typical minifigure animals.

So you prefer robotic-looking animals with specialized head sculpts to go with your blocky minifigures? Honestly, I understand why some people would prefer Legend Beasts they can use with their other LEGO animals in a zoo or circus. But if the animals are going to be brick-built, I'm glad they use simple and volumetric brick-sculpting techniques like this theme has done so well with, versus skeletal BIONICLE-like builds. A specialized head sculpt might have improved the look, but even so these are a lot more faithful to the spirit of LEGO building: building lots of things with the same basic parts.

I've thought for a while (since seeing the Friends in Space project on LEGO Cuusoo, actually) that mini-dolls would be ideal for animé/manga-inspired themes like Exo-Force. That theme already broke from the traditional minifigure aesthetic, after all, so it's not like it was 100% compatible with existing themes anyhow. But with that said, I think it'd take a very particular type of franchise and storyline to sell that kind of thing to both boys AND girls. Exo-Force was very much a shonen (boys') franchise, and as cool as its one female character, Hitomi, was, she was very much a secondary character in the same vein as Nya. She was important, but she never really quite rose to be one of the main heroes. Now, there are a lot of animé and animé-inspired franchises that DO appeal to both boys and girls to a great extent. The Legend of Korra has several amazing female and male characters alike, and a terrific balance of pulse-pounding action and more interpersonal sorts of tension for characters of both genders. Of course, I'm not trying to say that a Legend of Korra licensed theme would be good with mini-dolls — as awesome as that could be, non-moving legs would be a big problem for a franchise focused on martial arts, and I'm sure a number of fans might find mini-dolls off-putting for other reasons. If I ever get involved in mini-doll customization like I really want to, I might want to try making some Korra mini-dolls just to see how they'd look, though... Anyway, my point is that a lot of powerful entities are still struggling to find just how to make that kind of franchise successful as far as merchandise is concerned. The LEGO Group is not inherently a media entity, and so it may not be in the best position to lead the way with this kind of storytelling in their own themes, at least not yet. If the right license comes along, though, the ball will be in their playing field.

The mini-doll has nothing to do with minifigures being "too simplistic" — the issue is that they're too blocky and abstract, and not naturalistic enough. This isn't to say NO minifigures are designed to appeal to girls, or that NO girls like collecting minifigures, but the designers for LEGO Friends felt that they couldn't create a theme that would be as successful as TLG's existing lines with a female audience if they based it around the standard minifigure. I wouldn't be surprised if they were right — after all, they were trying to court an audience that had historically never paid the brand much heed, and needed extra persuading to understand that the brand could be "for them". Adding a good, strong heroine to their "normal themes" would not be a bad thing, but it's hardly a substitute for a theme actually targeted at girls specifically. Before LEGO Friends, there weren't enough girls who like LEGO to be a stable foundation for a theme on that scale — it would have failed if it couldn't capture a wider audience of girls than the existing themes already had. And there's no reason girls who like hairstyles and pets SHOULDN'T be able to like LEGO, and LEGO Friends proved that girls with those interests CAN enjoy LEGO just as much as boys without any sacrifices in the actual amount of building involved. Fifteen years ago, someone might have said "Boys who like LEGO are not interested in action figures" or "are not interested in programming their own working robots", but constraction themes and Mindstorms showed that this didn't have to be the case. Forty-five years ago, someone might have said "Boys who like LEGO are not interested in gears and working machinery" or "are not interested in specialized little model people", but LEGO Technic and the minifigure proved this wrong in short order. You can't define the potential audience for LEGO just according to what the company already produces, because that kind of myopic attitude leaves very little room for new innovation. Who knows what new innovations LEGO might have fifteen years ago without having to sacrifice their integrity as a building toy to do so? Furthermore, there's the question of whether having a female character as the main character of an action theme like Ninjago would make it less popular overall — after all, boys are the ones who are the most reliable audience for action-driven toys. That is, of course, changing, and TLG needs to keep pace with that change. But if they overshoot that goal and try to be MORE progressive than their buyers are ready to accept, then they'll just be stuck with a product line that fails to meet sales expectations. Some media franchises have recently enjoyed great success with boys even with female main characters, but learning how to make profitable merchandise from those kind of franchises, when the world of toys is already much more heavily gendered than the world of media, is an ongoing process.

Pretty much the whole point of Cole's mech, in the set, is as another vehicle that can attach to the back of the Thunder Raider. Making it a Nindroid version would pretty much defeat the purpose — it'd make much more sense to just design a separate, differently-shaped Nindroid mech for another set.

It's hard to say whether any LEGO Friends characters will show up in the movie (I certainly hope so), but we know at least that Heartlake City exists within the movie's universe, as it appears on a highway sign. That could be a good sign (no pun intended).

Not necessarily. I built Dragon Bolt on LDD long before he came out in stores because I was fascinated with his build and wanted to find out exactly how it works. Also, building a model on LDD presents the opportunity to view it from different angles than you see in Toy Fair photos or official product shots. It didn't reduce my enjoyment of the actual set at all — Dragon Bolt was still amazingly fun to build and play with. Same goes for the skeleton of Furno Jet Machine. It was pure curiosity that led me to try and build it in real life — I'd never seen a torso skeleton built that way and I wanted to see just how sturdy it was (answer: very sturdy). Plus, seeing just how a model is built gives us something more to discuss as we try to pass the time before the sets are actually released, and provides ideas for MOCs to build in the meantime. Naturally, I don't try to build EVERY set before it's released, just the ones with builds that particularly interest me.