Aanchir

Lots of stuff about the game on the LEGO Video Games page. Including some great character posters! (Other sites have some of them in high-res, but the one with Natalia McCain (possibly a female player character?) doesn't show up anywhere else on a Google search. Does anyone have "codes" from this year's LEGO City sets, or know what they unlock on the LEGO Video Games page?

Same reason they used so many older designs in most of the licensed LEGO video games. It's a lot of work to design brand-new vehicles, so if they have an already-created design that will fit in all right, then they'll take it, whether old or new. I also wouldn't be surprised if any brand-new designs from the game might have been made up just for the game, like the Black Pearl in the Pirates of the Caribbean game-- although if this is a set I'll be mighty pleased.

I'm a big fan of NRG Kai's design. It looks really incredible in real life with the gold. But if NRG Jay looks even better in real-life, then I look forward to seeing him for myself!

There was a clause in the original voting that essentially said that if certain parts weren't available, alternate ones would be substituted, and if no suitable substitutes were available, then the minifigures would be substituted for runners-up. The most likely scenario is that at the time the voting was set up, it was expected that a lot of Series 1 and Series 2 parts would be available, but that when it came time to actually put this set into production, the Series 1 and 2 parts (or in the very least, those in the most popular figs from the voting) were not available. It's quite believable that the Series 3 figs chosen could have been the most popular figs once popular Series 1 and 2 figs had been eliminated. After all, Series 3 was the newest of the three series and so had the most hype around it at the time of voting. In contrast, I imagine that the votes for Series 1 and 2 figs were concentrated on certain extremely popular figs like the Zombie and Spartan. This would explain why, for example, the Surfer from Series 2 was still able to be produced for the recent minifigure pack, but did not become a part of this VIP set. Unlike others from his series like the Spartan, he simply didn't have the same kind of support as the Series 3 favorites and runners-up. Overall the entire situation strikes me as a huge logistical failure. The intention to produce a VIP set from the most popular figs of Series 1, 2, and 3 is admirable, and the decision to use Series 3 runners-up when the original intention proved impossible is understandable in the very least, considering the alternative would probably have been not to release a VIP set like this at all. But I figure that there simply must have been a failure of communication between departments, or else TLG should have been able to anticipate the problems that would arise and the utter disappointment that would result from this underwhelming final selection.

shop.LEGO.com finally has pictures are up for 9450 Epic Dragon Battle! I'm hoping the top view and side view pics will help me to finish building it on LDD... those heads are hard to align digitally without parts colliding.

For proposals like this, what difference would increasing the threshold make? It's a very popular project because it's something a lot of people want. Sure, it probably can't happen, but that isn't on the minds of a lot of supporters, especially since expert knowledge of TLG's relationships with IP owners and competitors is not a prerequisite for Cuusoo membership. If the threshold were higher, then either the project would eventually reach that threshold just like it did with the 10,000 supporter threshold (note: this is a VERY old proposal and yet it still took until this week for it to reach the threshold already in place), or it would be rejected before reaching its proposal (in which case a higher threshold wouldn't make a difference anyway since it would just change when the proposal gets rejected). Overall, this project will almost certainly be rejected unless TLG is willing to radically redefine the project's original concept, which a lot of people were supporting when they clicked "Support". But I think it's silly to suggest that TLG should do something different with the Cuusoo platform itself just because projects are going to get rejected. The only change I can think of that TLG could do to make fewer projects get rejected due to licensing complications is to prevent projects that face licensing complications from being made in the first place. And not only would this stifle creativity, it would place an unreasonable burden on TLG and the Cuusoo team, since they might have to enter licensing discussions for almost every new licensed proposal created-- including ones like this that are based on licensed themes TLG already has!

...I can't tell, are you agreeing or disagreeing with my post? Because what you just said was largely the point I was trying to make. Some people are suggesting that TLG should have released this minifigure series in more countries than just Great Britain, and my point was that international fans would not have been a significant enough market for that to have been profitable. Essentially, the largest concentration of people excited about the Olympics this year will be either people native to the host country or people who are visiting there to watch the Games themselves. Elsewhere there will surely be some Olympic hype but not enough to create a reliable customer base for such a specific product as this one.

In terms of story, I'd say BIONICLE probably has an advantage, if only because the Hero Factory story has more moments where it falls flat and less media to spread thse flat moments across. For instance, the Savage Planet special was hard for me to watch the first time without cringing frequently at bad jokes and one-liners. Even BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn, which a lot of people seem to dislike, had fewer moments like this for me, and those it had were spread across 88 minutes of film rather than a running time half that length. This year's Breakout special is not flawless, with the giant plothole at the beginning where Voltix activates the Black Hole Orb Staff and the somewhat odd shift in Evo's voice and characterization, but overall it shows signs that the series is improving in its storytelling, which hopefully will become a trend. As for the different storytelling styles of the two themes, I'd consider them equal in quality. BIONICLE had a constantly-expanding saga that was magnificent in its scope, while Hero Factory has an episodic, mission-based storyline that's easy to enjoy without having to pay close attention to its context on a huge timeline. In terms of sets, Hero Factory surpasses BIONICLE in some ways like its more unified building system and its sturdier joints just by being newer than BIONICLE. And in many other respects like the personality and color schemes of the sets I'd say the two themes are about equal. But overall, I think Hero Factory sets stand out as superior. The theme's parts are more versatile in the ways they can be attached. In BIONICLE, two Toa with a Toa Inika build could only really be made unique by using different armor pieces, whereas hero sets with a generic build and generic parts can still look extremely unique just by using the shells in different configurations. The Hero Factory building system allows much more control over the proportions of a figure than a non-Technic-intensive BIONICLE build ever did. Also, as others have mentioned, Hero Factory parts are a better match stylistically for the smooth aesthetic common in Technic and System pieces. The smoothness of the parts makes them work almost as well for organic characters like the Ultrabuild Batman figure as for robotic characters like Hero Factory's heroes. So I'd say the two themes are about equal, but if you were to ask me which of the two I'd rather have today, I'd choose Hero Factory in a heartbeat. It's had some growing pains, just as BIONICLE did, but overall it's making great improvements on many levels as it moves forward, and being a younger theme it doesn't have to take a decade worth of sets and story to take into account when deciding on new directions in which to develop.

I figure whatever TLG considers Ninjago's "replacement" will be something they plan to give the same type of marketing push, with lots of mass media presence. And with that said I'm pretty much certain that it would be something that they have full creative freedom with. This would mean another theme like Ninjago which they plan from the ground up, although it's possible for it to be loosely inspired by a previously-existing theme. One thing's for sure, it would be far from a strict or faithful remake of a fan-favorite theme. I wonder how long it will take desperate BIONICLE fans to start guessing that Ninjago's replacement will be BIONICLE coming back. Of course, we know that won't happen because the "will BIONICLE come back" question was fielded at the same Bricks Cascade Q&A session with Kevin Hinkle where Ninjago's end was first announced, and it was answered with the same definitive answer as has been given at all previous conventions (there are no plans to bring it back). I'm also fairly confident that Ninjago's replacement will be the new LEGO TV show mentioned in press releases from Cartoon Network, which is being discussed in the Culture and Multimedia subforum. But IMO there's no need to funnel all discussion there since we don't know for sure, and since discussion of Ninjago's replacement will involve set discussion as well as TV show discussion.

The My Little Pony project may have been one I really liked, but I think it's good precedent for TLG to have taken down a proposal for reasons other than inappropriate content. Perhaps Hasbro will take a note and consider producing MLP Kre-O products. They may be inferior quality, but in general the My Little Pony products that currently exist aren't consistently high-quality, and in some ways Kre-O sets (provided they're not ugly beyond recognition) could benefit simply by virtue of being building toys. Meanwhile, speaking as a brony, it's not like we can't continue to go without My Little Pony building toys. Part of the thing that made My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic unique is that the show had redeeming value to a lot of people, male and female, beyond merely being a vehicle for selling the toys. Hopefully that's something toy companies in general, including LEGO and Hasbro, will take to heart with their girl-oriented product lines. There's a huge market out there for companies to exploit if they can find a way to make their characters resonate with buyers in such a profound way.

If they're LEGO fans then a LEGO souvenir will be what they're interested in. But for non-LEGO fans outside the host country, one of the main reasons for them to pay attention to the Olympics at all is patriotism, and so it will be very important to them what team the set represents.

I've heard though that BIONICLE was dragged out for longer than it was actually profitable, due to TLG not including the costs of new molds and other things when measuring the theme's profitability. Here's a news article on The Ninjago Wiki which includes some clarification from Kevin Hinkle himself about the issue. The theme will continue in 2013 but there are no plans to continue it further. At Bricks Cascade, Kevin Hinkle also commented that when we see what it's being replaced with, we'll wonder why it wasn't ended sooner. And I can see where he's coming from with that. It's possible that the new theme moving in to take its place (and probably being a similar in-house IP with lots of multimedia promotion) will be a bit more versatile than Ninjago, which despite its zaniness is still an Asian fantasy theme, a fairly specific genre if TLG intends it to be their most heavily-promoted franchise. By ending Ninjago in 2013, it will be a three-year theme with a clear beginning, a middle, and an end. Based on what we know, it can be assumed 2013 will have a full 13-episode season, just like 2012. And given the progression of the series so far, that "end" has already been foreshadowed as the prophecied final battle between the Green Ninja, Lloyd, and his father Lord Garmadon. This means that it won't have to be rushed into a conclusion like some people feel BIONICLE was in 2010, or left open-ended like Exo-Force was in 2008. So overall it's a bit of a shame to hear that Ninjago isn't planned for a lifespan like BIONICLE's, but at the same time this could be the best thing for the theme. We won't have to worry about the story expanding out-of-control until it can no longer draw in new fans effectively, which would be a huge risk if each story year were as in-depth as 2012 has been with its thirteen-episode season. We don't have to worry about the theme outliving its main story media, as BIONICLE very nearly did what with book sales diminishing every year. And we don't have to worry about the theme carrying on until it crosses that threshold of profitability where they have to rush it to a premature conclusion. Meanwhile, perhaps TLG might be able to acquire a license for The Legend of Korra since they won't have to worry about it cannibalizing sales from their own in-house Asian fantasy theme. In the very least there won't be any need to worry about A:TLA or LoK Cuusoo proposals being rejected due to brand fit unless TLG introduces another Asian fantasy theme.

Ever since TLG introduced the specialized "flick-fire missile" piece a few years ago, I can't say I've seen any uses I consider all that "inappropriate". After all, in most cases they're small enough and inconspicuous enough that if you don't like them you can just pretend they're a part of the build and ignore that they're an action feature altogether. Or, for that matter, remove them entirely without upsetting the build. With that said, I think the least appropriate place to put a flick-fire missile, as we tend to think of them, was on the TIE Crawler. Not because it was all that more conspicuous than the average flick-fire missile, although it kind of was, but rather because with the TIE Crawler on the ground as depicted in its official images, the missile was next-to-impossible to launch. Perhaps a five-year-old could have fit a tiny finger underneath the vehicle, but there was no way to properly "flick" it and achieve any meaningful distance (note that it was also a much heavier missile than today's flick-fires tend to be). Going back a bit further, to the days when flick-fires required absurdly specialized parts and were not inconspicuous by any stretch of the imagination, the most garish use of a flick-fire missile was probably the flick-fire "disk shooter column" in the Air Temple from the Avatar: The Last Airbender theme. Without that missile column, the tank in that set is a pretty decent likeness of a Fire Nation Tank, if a bit small and out-of-scale with the characters. Here's another angle on the tanks. But TLG decided that the best way to "arm" the tanks was to stick this huge launcher column on top. Note that also the tanks are designed to hold one Firebender pilot-- when, and only when, the huge launcher-column is removed, at which point the pilot becomes completely exposed in the uncovered cockpit. Overall I think the current flick-fire missile piece TLG designed was a great development in that it's small, inconspicuous, usable for things other than missiles (it's a great Technic element), and it can actually launch a decent distance, especially when there's a nice Technic function easing the stress on your fingers like in the case of Smash 'n' Grab.

Neat design. The exoskeleton looks very mechanical, which contrasts well with the smooth shiny armor of your pilot. With that said, I think it would be easier to appreciate the pictures of the exoskeleton with pilot included if they were contrasting colors as well. As it is, in these pictures it's hard to tell where the Demitoran ends and the exoskeleton begins.

But the UK is the epicenter of all the hype, and it's certainly where the hype for both the London 2012 Olympic Games and Team GB are concentrated. Americans might get somewhat excited about the Olympics, but I imagine few of them would buy merchandise if it wasn't celebrating the American team. And there's no way TLG could make back their investment if they created a series for every participating country. Also, keep in mind that the most successful place to sell souvenirs is at the location they happen to be celebrating. People often like to have souvenirs most when they are reminders of a place/event those people have been to, not just reminders of something that happened which they read about in the newspapers or watched on TV.

Apparently at Bricks Cascade (a LEGO convention in the western United States), Kevin Hinkle, TLG's Community Coordinator for North America, revealed that the collectible minifigures will continue for at least six more waves! So we don't have to worry about this theme ending anytime soon unless plans change dramatically.

Obviously the bottom half of the pliers is just stuffed down his pants. Anyway, great review. This is indeed a snazzy little set, featuring opening doors, side mirrors, and other great details. Definitely a good start for the Mining subtheme!

OK, I now get what you're saying. Getting a full collection of the golden weapons wasn't really a concern of mine this year since I had already gotten all of them last year in the Fire Temple. Of course, this year there are even more sets than last year that include all four: the Ultra Sonic Raider has all four golden weapons and all four ZX Ninja, and Epic Dragon Battle also has all four golden weapons. But short of those two sets (the most expensive sets of the year), there are only two sets with the Dragon Sword of Fire: 9456 Spinner Battle Arena and 9561 Kai ZX. If you're not a fan of the spinner sets then chances are neither of those sets would be very desirable. Certainly a collect-them-all objective in the Ninjago theme can be more expensive than in most other LEGO themes! Anyway, on a side note, TLG recently added the August model sets to shop.LEGO.com (in the U.S., at least; not sure if they had already been listed for other countries). Unfortunately cache.LEGO.com still doesn't have any product pics for 9450 Epic Dragon Battle, but they do have them for all the other sets. I couldn't help but smile when it finally struck me how humane it is that the Ultra Sonic Raider's "prison cell" has a heat lamp (pic). Because, you know... snakes.

1: The Dragon Sword of Fire wouldn't make much sense here since it wouldn't fit on his back with the new neck accessory and since it's technically what the bike is created from. A regular gold katana could have worked, but I like the contrast the black ones have with his neck accessory. 2: That doesn't say Octan, it says "octane 88" which is something perfectly reasonable on a motor vehicle whether it's created from an ancient relic using The Power of Imagination or thrown together with spare parts. Gotta give it the right fuel either way, I suppose Anyway, if you're really opposed to having a fuel tank on a magical vehicle made from an ancient sword, you could always leave that fuel cap sticker off.

I actually can't tell if Nex's head mold in that pic is in fact a new one or just an error in the rendering, like when Surge 2.0's lower leg armor wasn't actually connected to the ball joints on his lower legs. If it is genuinely a new mold and has the same style connection as the 2.0 heads, then I'm somewhat disappointed. I had hoped for a ball cup like on the modern Y-joints and fists so that the new friction joint could be used to lengthen the neck slightly. A ball snap like used on shells or the 2.0 head doesn't allow for that.

Oh look. 6221 Nex Package 6222 Core Hunter Package 6223 Bulk Package 6229 XT4 Package 6230 Stormer XL Box 6231 Speeda Demon Box 6282 Stringer Package 6283 Voltix Package Such a shame that there are only two cache.lego.com images available for each set. The early 2012 sets all had more than that... then again, we saw the same thing with summer 2011. I suppose they just decided that by now the launcher's been around for a half a year and there's no longer any need to show off its function, since most of the "alt2" pics for the early 2012 sets were just to demonstrate the launcher functions.

The connection is used for updates and I think maybe for adding models to the LDD online gallery if you use that option, but not much else. LDD isn't completely dependent on this and you can run LDD in "offline mode" just fine if you temporarily disable your computer's internet connection. Don't worry, there is absolutely no reason to think TLG is using the internet connection to spy on you or steal your models. The only problems that tend to arise are glitches, like this one, and the occasional risk that parts and decorations will be removed from LDD during an update.

I'm stuck between agreeing and disagreeing. The Weekend Whip has some lyrics that fit certain aspects of the show, but it's still fairly generic pop music that I can't say fits the show perfectly. What it does have to its advantage is that it's energetic, exciting, and really well-suited to its role as a theme song-- in fact, some AFOLs thought it perfectly captured the "Saturday morning cartoon" feel even before we knew there was going to be a cartoon (granted, more of a "Wednesday evening cartoon", at least here in the States). "Born to be a Ninja" is a neat song, but again it feels somewhat generic and doesn't feel like it captures the Ninjago universe as much as the TV show's soundtrack. Additionally, the lyrics feel a lot less meaningful to me than the lyrics of The Weekend Whip. Again, though, it feels very energetic and I love its music video. As you can see I'm kind of divided on the issue. I tend to be appreciative of a wide range of musical genres (and media in general), so I can't really say I dislike either of these songs, but it's hard to say whether they really have what it takes to represent the Ninjago theme as a whole. Truth be told I probably wouldn't even be thinking about this if not for the fact that there's been a bit of a discussion on the BIONICLE fansite BZPower over what music really represents BIONICLE most effectively, and in that theme's case I've had a hard time identifying any song that captures the theme even from among its official promotional songs. Anyway, since TLG's partnership with The Fold seems to be here to stay, I think one thing that could be really cool would be if The Fold could release a pop/rock rendition of Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer's "Ninjago Overture" which they did for the show. On a side note related to the music of the series, Jay Vincent and Michael Kramer recently received a cable music award from Broadcast Music, Inc. I think they definitely deserve it. The TV show's music is iconic, catchy, and extremely fun to listen to. I kind of wish more Ninjago media (like the website) would use their compositions.

Posting WIPs can be valuable if you think other people's feedback will help you improve and complete the model. However, you're right, there's something special about waiting until a model is finished before making it public. So it's your choice.

Only the Marvel sets are licensed with Disney. It's a rare instance of a single "licensed theme" comprising licenses from more than one company, but it's not the only case by any means. For instance, LEGO Sports was licensed with both the NBA and NHL, among other sports organizations. These companies do not share ownership and yet were both licenses were part of the same "LEGO Sports" umbrella. Likewise, the first Spider-Man sets were part of the LEGO Studios brand, which had previously had a license with Steven Spielberg for the original Movie Maker Set. However, the Spider-Man films which the sets were based on had no connection with Steven Spielberg. And who can forget the LEGO Racers theme, which has had licensing with Lamborghini, Ferrari, and the Williams F1 racing team? So it's not unprecedented at all for TLG to release licenses from separate companies under the same theme branding. This is why the Marvel and DC license acquisitions got two separate press releases on LEGO.com.