Aanchir

Well, I don't think there have been any rats in this year's sets, so a remake would probably depend on the rat appearing again. There was a new rat (50687) in 2004's Harry Potter sets, standing upright instead of on the ground. But it's not printed or anything. What other remakes are you referring to? The dog's the only explicit remake I can think of. Other than that there are only brand-new animals like the goats and chickens from Kingdoms (although I guess the chickens arguably appeared in sets before, only brickbuilt).

I have to respectfully disagree about the minifigs being the main reason to buy Spongebob sets. My family managed to get all three 2006 Spongebob sets when they first came out, and we bought them primarily for the scenes. After all, what are Spongebob minifigures good for except for adding life Spongebob locations? They don't fit in with other minifigures at all in most applications. If we were interested in them for the minifigures, we'd surely have bought subsequent sets with new minifigures (like Sandy) or better minifigures (like the Squidward with the more accurate molded head piece). The Glove World set, being based on a rather obscure location, opens up a lot of possibilities for future Spongebob sets. Allegedly, we're expected to get the Flying Dutchman next year in a set, hopefully including his ship (a lot of glow-in-the-dark pieces would be icing on the cake!). And there are other frequently-recurring locations in the cartoon, like Goo Lagoon, without even having to dig into locations as obscure as Glove World. So I'm very curious about future sets in this license. Unfortunately, Spongebob sets since the first wave haven't excited me nearly as much. Perhaps this is just because I haven't had nearly as much fun watching the actual TV show as I did back then. Some classic episodes (Shanghaied!) were excellent, and if I saw one on I'd probably sit and watch it, but I no longer put forth an effort to go watch TV specifically to catch that show (though I guess in my case that applies for most TV these days).

TLG wouldn't have loved to see that monorail on store shelves. Incidentally, one reason the monorail was probably scrapped is that the other monorail sets hadn't been too successful, so I'm sure TLG was a bit fed up with seeing monorails on store shelves and not in the hands of consumers. Seatron was a cool idea, but I kind of liked how Aquazone blossomed as a theme of its own rather than just as a space theme.

I didn't really like those UFO control tiles. Just felt too sci-fi for me (kind of like a lot of printed Roboforce parts). Meanwhile, I think things like ADU logos make sense as stickers rather than prints-- it's not like they'll likely be used outside this theme. I disagree about your box art analogy. When you look at LEGO's color spectrum, Bright Yellowish Green (lime) and Bright Orange are the same "brightness" as classic colors like Bright Red, Bright Yellow, and Bright Blue. Incidentally, this is also why I never quite understood criticisms of the second year of Power Miners switching Bright Orange with Bright Blue-- they are the same brightness as one another, and both have about the same contrast in hue with Bright Yellowish Green. Neither has quite that same eye-searing effect as the transparent fluorescent colors-- so arguably, the color schemes of themes like Ice Planet 2002 or M:Tron could be considered more vibrant. Of course, the greater brightness of Transparent Fluorescent windscreens also means more contrast, which might please some people, although I doubt replacing one of the colors in Power Miners with a brighter color would be most people's solution to the theme's perceived color scheme issues.

Technically, no, Transparent Fluorescent Green is the official name of the transparent color used in M:Tron and Blacktron II. Its Bricklink name is Trans-Neon Green, even though I agree it's way more yellow than green. Transparent Fluorescent Yellow was a short-lived color used for eye colors in early BIONICLE sets (specifically Gali, Gali Nuva, and Nokama). The transparent color introduced in Atlantis is Transparent Bright Green. Oh, that's not my MOC! That's just one I've found on Flickr (can't remember if the builder has a membership here on Eurobricks). Personally, I think the red is an important part of Breez's color scheme, even though I agree it's not as well organized as some of the other colors in the new Breez's color scheme (in that it's used for her outside armor accents and weapons but also used for the "skeleton" of the set). Those are some pretty major changes. I hope the actual set will change significantly enough by the time it comes out, although I am confident there will be at least a few changes since it seems to be the earliest prototype of any of the images. Even Fire Lord changed significantly between his appearance in the retailer's catalog and his final appearance in the set. My main problem with the set currently is that it doesn't really appear unique. Besides the arms, weapons, and chest armor, he just feels like a rehash of ideas used in Fire Lord and Rocka XL. And while I was a big fan of Fire Lord, that doesn't mean I just want to see the design thoughtlessly repeated without any real innovation. Even if he uses the same build in the end, I want to see some more unique armor styles for his legs and feet. While I won't deny that a Magenta and Lime color scheme would look TOTALLY AWESOME , I like the red because it's been a standard since her 1.0 form (even though there it was only her Hero Core, and it was Transparent Red rather than regular red). I can sort of see why they didn't do that... TLG seems to like it when their zamor sphere colors are reusable for lots of different sets, as seen in the reuse of several colors for this year's Ninjago dragons. Purple wouldn't be as versatile, since it doesn't have any obvious elemental affiliation, nor is it a typical color for non-fantasy ammunition. With that said, purple zamors would have been cool in Ninjago if there had been a skeleton dragon, something I'd really like to MOC sometime. I don't really have any opinion on this. I didn't get any of the first wave's sets, so all these helmets still are fresh and new to me (at least from a MOCing perspective; obviously I've seen enough pics and videos of the first wave's heroes to know what the helmets look like). Also, again, I like that the characters have some design and color scheme continuity with past forms. Swapping the colors of the helms would probably spoil that. Great observation about Meltdown's face! I never noticed that myself! Tarakava! Is his shoulder armor black? It's hard to tell in the pic-- it might be Titanium Metallic, like Evo's. If it is black, of course, that's really awesome. If you ignore the Glatorian head behind it, then yeah, it sort of does!

The snakemen don't look like pirates to me. If they were pirates, Ninjago would have reached the maximum possible awesomeness far too soon. The Ninjas versus Pirates wave can't come any sooner than 2013. Also, btw, Wardancer, the two-bladed weapon in the Jay ZX booster is actually three pieces: two blades and a golden chainsaw blade. So it's even more versatile than you might have expected! Anyway, we still have no new clues who the green ninja is. He'll probably appear for real in a summer set, but for now, all we know is that in these preliminary box arts he has the same generic-shaped eyebrows as the red ninja from 2011's packaging (which doesn't quite resemble any of the Ninjago characters). My best guesses are that he'll be Kai (the main character from the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu TV special), Nya (only main character who is Not Techically A Ninja), or Lloyd Garmadon (because hey, now that we've seen he seems to be a human character and not some demon or snake hybrid, he's another option). I'm super-duper excited about the Ninjago TV series that might answer some of our story questions about 2012, but in the meantime we can probably expect another two-minute mini movie on Monday at the Ninjago website. That should give me my ninja fix for the next week or so.

As always, be aware that it's not the same turquoise (Bright Bluish Green) as in 2001 BIONICLE, since that one's discontinued. It's probably Dark Azure (or maybe Medium Azure? We still haven't seen any definite uses of that color in next year's sets, even though it's likely used some places in the Friends theme). Also, I think it's a bit of an exaggeration to call him the third mosquito-like monster. Jetbug wasn't remotely mosquito-like—if anything, he was beetle-like, judging by his heavy armor, bulky wing-jets, and his Spanish name Coleóptero. And Waspix was obviously more wasp-like than mosquito-like. The last mosquito-like villain I can think of is Gorast. And before that, Nui-Rama (incidentally, I get a serious Nui-Rama vibe from Thornraxx). But do you have enough Transparent Fluorescent Green?

Incidentally, putting a half-pin on Fett's gun shouldn't stress the piece at all, no more than putting any other 3.2mm bar into the receptacle of a Technic half-pin. Perhaps the gun or pin you received was defective? If it's a new color, then it's a real surprise since I had expected we would have known about any and all new colors for 1H 2012 by now. I personally think it's just some quirk in the photo that makes him appear darker. If Playmobil figures are cheaper than minifigures to produce then there must be cheaper materials or a cheaper production process involved. As it is, note that minifigure torsos on the online Pick-A-Brick cost 60-68 cents apiece (USD). In contrast, a minifigure head (probably closer to the price of microfigs, since it's a part with no pre-assembly, only one decoration surface, and a simple mold) is 24 cents. A full minifigure would invariably be over a dollar. And while the prices on Pick-A-Brick are no doubt higher than production costs for these pieces (partly just to make a profit; partly to subsidize the cost of your order being hand-picked in some Dutch warehouse rather than mass-produced with parts in standardized quantities), I still think it's clear that minifigures are extremely expensive compared to microfigures, especially in the quantities in which they appear in Battle of Hoth. I just think microfigs would be a bit of an invitation to work in a particular smaller scale (about 1:2), something I rarely seen done with mini models in Star Wars. I have seen it done in non-licensed sets even before microfigs were introduced; examples can be seen here, here, here, here, and here. I suppose one reason you don't see as many strict resizings of licensed sets is that the original sets might not have been totally accurate in scale to begin with, so a person wanting to make a micro version of a Star Wars vehicle or location will base their measurements on the official vehicle rather than on previous "set versions" of that vehicle. Still, I think it would be cute to see a Millennium Falcon with the Han and Chewie microfigs seen in the background of this game image! Or an AT-AT using the snowtrooper microfigs!

Hero canisters and Stars canisters are indeed stackable. Any canisters before the Barraki and any canisters after the Phantoka were stackable, actually-- there are grooves on the bottoms of the canisters specifically to allow for that. Most of the time since canisters have often been reused, they are even stackable between series-- only possible exceptions I can think of are the Mistika canisters (not stackable with each other if you want Makuta and Toa canisters all facing front) and the Vahki/Rahkshi canisters (not stackable with each other unless you want some of them upside-down relative to the others). And I'm glad you approve of the new packaging for the most part-- you are the main reason I even realized there were significant downsides to canisters, actually, especially since people on BZPower went into a roaring fit when the Toa Mahri happened. Of course, these are significantly different than the Mahri packaging: these new packages maintain all of the useful aspects of canisters (reusable storage) with few of the negative aspects (taking up storage space, impossible to collapse). The Mahri packaging preserved most of the negative aspects and pretty much none of the positive ones besides their stylish design. It probably is. My question was why you thought purple was particularly expensive. It's not as cheap as more basic colors like red and blue, but I'm pretty sure the same applies for other non-traditional colors like lime. I mostly like Breez for her stylish armor design and color scheme. The rockets are also pretty cool IMO, and much less blatantly System than Toxic Reapa's back-canisters. In comparison, Furno, Surge, and Rocka strike me as having way more extraneous details, although it could just be the cramped space the pictures occupy that makes them seem this way. Looking at the feet on the opposite page, they do seem kind of awkward on those legs... but then again, it might just be the oh-so-static pose that makes them seem unnatural. They look good from other angles, as seen in this MOC. Okay, I wasn't sure what you were worried about. If that sort of thing bothers you then that probably is something to watch out for... personally, though, it doesn't bother me any more than the awesome shoulder spikes on characters like Toa Mahri Hewkii or Mata Nui. The Akaku Nuva's resemblance to a Hau bothered me from when the Toa Nuva first came out. Besides the eye thing, it resembles the Hau much more than the Akaku, and looks almost like a custom mask made by putting modeling clay on a Hau. The original Toa Nuva masks were a bit haphazard in whether or not they matched the original Great Kanohi and that's part of the reason why I had such a hard time taking criticisms of the 2008 versions too seriously. Other people probably notice different sorts of details than I do, though. It could be easy for someone to take a quick glance at the original Akaku Nuva and say "eyepiece means it's an Akaku", or for someone to take a glance at the 2008 Miru Nuva and say "lime mask with visor=Lesovikk's Faxon". In contrast, I'm more likely to say "dome-shaped mask with oval-shaped mouth=Hau" or "mask with trapezoidal mouth and air intakes on cheeks and forehead=Miru Nuva". Meanwhile, all the similarities you make to Thunder are the sorts of things I'd quickly write off as coincidences. Incidentally, I got more of a Hellboy vibe from his mask than a Thunder vibe when I first looked at it. Yes, he has a metallic color, as do most of the other villain sets in that wave-- and that metallic color, in Splitface's case, is a different one than Thunder had. On a side note, I couldn't help but realize that in terms of launchers, this is the first year that the heroes are more heavily-armed than the villains.

Of course. Hard not to. But the new packages seem like they might still be sturdy and resealable, in which case we would presumably get all of the benefits of canisters with fewer drawbacks. Of course, we might still be getting a Toa Mahri type situation, but given the frequent zipper motifs that make little sense from a story perspective it seems likely to me that there must be some way of resealing the packaging. I am going to miss the previous style of hero canisters, though. I had grown quite fond of those for their small size, stylish design, and stackability.

You can also click any brick with the right mouse button to center the camera on that brick. That's the technique I tend to use myself, although it is sometimes inconvenient if you want to center the camera on the edge of a larger brick.

Well, it's a bit early to judge for sure what we should expect of female torsos next year. Many of the City sets we've seen use preliminary torsos. But so far, the Car with Camper 4435 has been shown with a new female minifigure torso, as has the pink "Bricks & More" bucket 4625 (which also has plenty of the new "girly" colors, making it a potentially-appealing alternative to the Friends theme for someone who wants to stockpile the new lavender colors).

Well, as I mentioned, we've seen the Collectible Minifigures S2 Pop Star's hair on a figure from this theme in Cool Yellow (Bricklink's Bright Light Yellow). Either the heads have the same diameter or TLG has completely redesigned an existing piece for a figure that doesn't seem to appear in any sets in the first wave's catalog. Additionally, as Derek pointed out, the male figure in the doll house has the same hair as many existing minifigures, and the Beauty Shop seems to have one of the new hair pieces on a regular minifig head in white, used as a mannequin head. The hair seems to be the only part that's obviously intercompatible between regular minifigures and Friends figures. Maybe the heads are, not like there'd be too much of a point to that since they're so different stylistically. As far as sticker sheets, that won't be a concern of mine if I end up getting any sets. I'm generally pro-sticker except in certain very specific circumstances where stickers would be impractical (and of course, in certain areas where it's just personal preference-- I don't like stickered minifigure torsos, for instance). As far as I can tell, there are no stickers on rounded parts where they're likely to peel off, nor are there stickers on surfaces smaller than the profile of a 1x1 brick. Stickers all seem to be printed on paper (rather than clear plastic), and most are shaped like the pieces they go on (the dollhouse has some rather egregious exceptions, which I'm sure would annoy me, but there's no circular stickers on square pieces or anything like that). So basically the stickers meet all of my very generous qualifications. Meanwhile, since the stickers seem to match the theme's girlish aesthetic, I'm sure many AFOLs buying these sets as parts packs would prefer the parts unprinted anyway.

That's a good point, although technically if brickbuilt dinos were done to a certain level of quality they could still fit in with LEGO animals. Ninjago demonstrates with some of its dragons (specifically, the Lightning Dragon and Earth Dragon) how a brickbuilt creature can have a moderately studded exterior (i.e. not completely studless but not totally blocky in shape or covered in studs either). And while the Ninjago dragons have specialized head molds, for me this just serves as another way that they are made more compatible with minifigures and minifig animals. Brickbuilt dinosaurs with the same sort of design considerations would be trickier. Being based on real creatures, they would have to adhere more strictly to a particular shape, rather than being completely imaginary fantasy beasts. I have not to date seen any brickbuilt dinosaur MOCs that look like they could fit in aesthetically with minifigures or minifig animals. But I wouldn't outright dismiss the possibility that it could be done. Still, TLG has never done brickbuilt dinosaurs in a minifig theme before, and I see no reason they're letting us down by not doing it now. Really, I personally like how some parts are reused between dinosaurs, just like in the 2001 Dinosaurs theme and in Dino Attack (they seem somewhat less interchangeable than Dino Attack's pieces, but I prefer these ones for their simpler and less stylized design). I'm also magnificently grateful that there are new arms for the T-Rex and the medium-sized raptor. It bothered me in Adventurers Dino Island and the 2001 Dinosaurs theme that the classic dragon arms were reused, rather than a smoother and more realistic arm piece.

Regarding the third leg, TLG couldn't do it without a new piece, because the typical way of adding one (Technic half pin with stud plus cheese slope) uses an illegal connection. Keeping the Technic half-pin inside the underside of R2-D2 would compress the end of the Technic half-pin, meaning it would have a weaker connection with actual Technic pieces in the future. What do you mean by "honey-colored" and "gold-coated" C-3PO? The Threepio fig in the Droid Escape set seems to be 297 Warm Gold (BL's Pearl Gold), the same color he's appeared in for years. Unless you're comparing him with the older ones in 127 Gold (BL's Pearl Light Gold) or 310 Metalized Gold (BL's Chrome Gold). As for the Hoth game, I prefer it with the microfigs just considering the sheer number of figs it has. Minifigures are much more expensive than microfigs, containing multiple pre-assembled parts, so that would drive up the price a lot-- and the price, being a licensed set, will probably already be pretty high! Also, I like the "novelty" of microfigs... they can be really cute, and I expect the pint-sized Chewbacca microfig will be adorable! I also look forward to seeing people make 1/2 scale versions of existing sets using the Star Wars microfigs (microfigs are two bricks tall, compared to standard minifigures which are four bricks tall)

We've actually been pretty certain of this since a while back, when someone snuck some keychains from this theme from a Chinese factory, and one of them had the same hair as the collectible minifigures S2 Pop Star, only in Cool Yellow (Bricklink's Bright Light Yellow). The only thing some people are unsure about with the hairpieces is whether all of the new ones for this theme will fit OK on regular minifigures. On the heads, they should fit just fine, but some people are worried that classic minifigures' comparatively short necks will make the shoulders collide with some of the new hair pieces. Well, the figs in this theme are intercompatible with one another. And they have just as many components as classic minifigures, if you count all pre-assembled parts from a classic minifigure as single pieces. Sadly, though, the figs do not seem to have any parts other than the hair that are intercompatible with regular minifigures. This doesn't bother me as a buyer (I don't know if I'd buy any sets from this theme even if it used traditional figs), but it means that if TLG extends the Disney Princess franchise to System the way they did with Cars, and they choose to use this style of figure for that theme, then they won't be able to use the excellent already-existing mermaid and octopus minifig legs pieces for sets based on The Little Mermaid. It's a silly thing to be worried about, certainly, but I like thinking ahead.

I just noticed something. The hood of the ambulance is made of three pieces: two 1x3 slopes and a 4x3 slope. Now, why would this be done when the much cheaper 6x3 windscreen/slope piece used so frequently in Space Police III is an option? It has existed in white before I believe, and if not could easily be made in that color. One possibility that might seem like wishful thinking to many (keep in mind that my opinions on this don't tend to agree with the crowd, however) but is really just my best guess is that the "AMBULANCE" on the hood might be printed rather than stickered. If so, I'm sure a lot of people would be happy. Although hopefully, whether it's printed or stickered in the final version, the word "AMBULANCE" will be reversed, as it is on a lot of real-life ambulances so you can tell what they are in your rear-view mirror. I also notice that where the police car in the HQ set has "LEGO" on the grille, the ambulance's grille seems to have "CITY" on it. I wonder whether either is more finalized than the other, and if so whether one design will be used for both sets. Even if it's a sticker, I'd appreciate if these were consistent.

What do you mean "expensive colors"? I'm pretty sure metallic colors in general are much more expensive than Medium Lilac. And there are several of those in Hero Factory. Medium Lilac may be more expensive than the more basic LEGO colors like Bright Red and Bright Yellow. No, her swords are entirely new. You might be thinking of this, the only Technic weapon piece to debut in Exo-Force (and sadly never used outside that theme). Breez's weapon is new-- it's also used at the end of Black Phantom's staff and on the "Ultrabuild" Batman action figure, so it's not exclusive to this set, but it's still brand new for 2012. Personally, Breez is my favorite of the new Heroes. Worry you? How? I like Toxic Reapa also, but keep in mind that it's a bit early to call any figure flawless, especially one like Toxic Reapa who seems to have an unconventional build. While creative builds are nice, they often open up the possibility that the set will look weaker from different angles. Why do people keep saying that? Is it as though Thunder is the only villain set ever allowed to have a big, blocky lower jaw? Honestly, besides his face and the fact that his build is asymmetrical, he has no similarities to Thunder at all. You might as well say that Kopaka Nuva is another 2001 Tahu because he has a sword and an oval-shaped mouth.

Not really. Yellow vehicles are common in LEGO, and have been for a long, long time. If their uniforms were yellow, like some of the Classic Spacemen, it would be a bit odd, but as it is it doesn't really seem weird for their vehicles to be yellow. Think of it this way: if you saw a black man driving a brown car would it seem weird to you? If so, you might be overthinking things.

Keep in mind that this is just the first wave for next year... Ninjago has proven successful enough that I can't imagine they don't have another wave planned for later in the year. With that in mind, there might be many more sets with the serpent tail piece, kind of like how this year's sets only had a couple skeleton generals (Nuckal and Samukai) in the first wave but later introduced Kruncha and Wyplash. Yeah, yeah. I try not to link to TV Tropes too often so I don't stand out as too much of a nerd... and also, of course, because TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life. Although, if you're going to go to that trouble, I might as well link to the Ninjago page on TV tropes and invite any tropers here to contribute... I've worked a lot on the page, but there's definitely much more to be added! Nope. The red Cobra (I'm assuming you're talking about Fang Suei, the one on the same page as Kai ZX) seems to be mostly unique in that he uses a specialized head mold. Most of the Snakemen have regular minifigure heads and a cobralike "hood". Not sure what Fang Suei's story role is. I figure he must be high-ranking because of all the fangs around his neck (compare with the similar torso of Snappa, who only has two). But then again, he's such an odd-looking character that he could just be the "comic relief general" like Nuckal was-- a formidable threat, but not particularly fearsome. The two-headed snakes on the ninjas' packaging makes me wonder if there will be a two-headed snake character... if so, it would be the first two-headed minifigure! But I guess I'm jumping to way more conclusions than I should be this early.

You definitely should be able to get those forearms from Customer Service. That's a really glaring oversight. By the way, could you take pictures of what the instruction booklet looks like for Hero Recon Team orders? I've never seen any.

To be fair, Purple isn't totally disappearing from action figure themes-- the Joker has a lot of it in the Super Heroes "Ultrabuild" subtheme. But it does bother me that Evo loses his purple completely without even the slightest approximation of it anywhere in his color scheme. He could have been given a Transparent Fluorescent Blue head without being terribly inconsistent with the rest of the team (since it's a fluorescent color that this head, if it's what we believe it to be, already exists in). That would have been closer to his original color scheme than the Transparent Fluorescent Reddish-Orange that the designers seem to have chosen in these pictures. Granted, colors are one thing that's easy to change between preliminary and final versions of a set. But I don't really expect them to put the purple back in his color scheme if they didn't have the intention of keeping it in the first place. Also, the original purple color (Bright Violet) arguably appeared in sets more recently than the Onu-Matoran-- it was Gahlok Va's Krana color as well as the color of Shadow Kraata in 2003. I don't think it was used in any themes after 2003, though, so it may have been discontinued at the same time as many other colors like the old greys. This is also around the same time TLG introduced the current dark purple color, Medium Lilac, which is seen in Evo 2.0. What currently bothers me a great deal more than Evo's missing purple is of course the switch from having uniquely-colored Hero Cores and faces in general to having generic face colors and hero core colors. The 2.0 and 3.0 series both were extremely good about echoing the 1.0 Hero Core colors for returning characters. This series in comparison feels like a disappointment in that regard. I'm also a bit sore about returning to transparent head colors, partly because I'd gotten used to solid-colored ones (they're so much prettier on LDD, and also very pure and vibrant in real life), and partly because I'm afraid the new masks for Evo and Rocka might be designed carelessly like Fire Lord's helmet and not allow enough light in for the eyes to look nice and glowy.

I like 2.0 Breez best as well, but the Samus vibe I'm getting from the new Breez is pretty great. She's a stylish design with cool leg-rockets and a great color scheme. I also think her torso print is one of the best. I hope there are still name badges, though... I don't see what's wrong with that blade she has; I think it looks pretty great (Batman also has it). The 1.0 feet were probably reused because they look like high heels; I've seen MOCs that use them that way for Breez as well. I don't see the problem with them... they're not really worse than the 2.0 feet, are they? Both have their flaws, and I like that TLG isn't just abandoning the 1.0 foot mold now that a newer one is available. Overall, because of the stylish and well-organized color scheme for the most part, Breez is my favorite of the new heroes, followed by Evo and then Furno in that order. Also, you're going to have to stop calling Glatorian heads "Iron Man heads" now that there's an actual Iron Man set coming out... EDIT: And Kalhiki, I think the lights in the Makuhero City picture are searchlights, not missiles. Searchlights make more sense if this is indeed a "prison break" story, especially since there's at least one flying villain. Also, I just realized that if this is a prison break story, it will probably be the first story to take place almost entirely in Makuhero City.

Neither am I. Frankly, my parents never let me watch it, and I never made any effort to see what it was all about after I became old enough to make my own decisions about that sort of thing. But I can still appreciate the idea of colorful "ninja superhero" type characters with awesome vehicles, doing battle against monstrous fantasy villains. Another TV show I think Ninjago has resembled a bit from the beginning with all its anachronisms is Xiaolin Showdown. It's likewise a fantasy martial arts cartoon with characters from different backgrounds being chosen as elemental warriors for the forces of good. And likewise, it takes place in a setting where magical fantasy weapons, traditional temples, and modern technology mysteriously coexist. I wasn't a huge fan of Xiaolin Showdown either, but again I appreciated it for what it was. Also, Lance, I'm glad you see the similarities to Exo-Force! Obviously there's the obvious "four main protagonists" system that TLG seems to be fond of, but there's also a bit of that same anachronism in Exo-Force, what with the ancient city full of traditional Japanese architecture and oh-by-the-way GIANT FIGHTING ROBOTS! *insert ridiculous guitar riff* I guess one factor is that anachronistic settings offer more creative liberties. In a straight historical fantasy theme, you couldn't necessarily have such colorful characters, fearsome vehicles, or crazy action features without things seeming out of place. But as soon as you add some modern or futuristic elements and make it clear that those are an integral part of this world, then you're free to draw inspiration from anywhere at all. This is part of why I hope the TV series and other story media have a good explanation for the Ninjas' vehicles. In the first year, the Ninjas clearly represent tradition, in their architecture, transportation, weapons, and costumes (to an extent, anyway). In contrast, the "bad guys" were a bunch of undead hipsters with crazy motor vehicles. So giving vehicles to the ninjas will take a bit more than Sensei Wu asking them to "check out the sweet rides in my garage that I've totally always had." Thankfully, the writing of the Ninjago TV episodes we've seen has been excellent (IMO), so I'm anticipating a decent story role for each and every new set design when the series expands to a full television series.

Aaaaahh sorry for interjecting again. But it looks like you used 37 Bright Green for regular Green, which should actually be 28 Dark Green. What Bricklink and most AFOLs call Dark Green is actually 141 Earth Green. So according to Bricklink, the tree and the baseplates should both be 28 Dark Green. The naming makes sense, I swear. LEGO's various "green" colors might seem to be named oddly, but it's all consistent with the way TLG's other colors in their "basic spectrum" are named. The same can't be said for many newer color names, like the dark purple color "Medium Lilac" (medium usually implies a lightish color, but more recent color names have seemingly reversed this for whatever reason). Sorry about this... it's dreadfully irresponsible of me to point out individual errors if I'm not willing to do a thorough error check. But back when I did error checks on all sets in this topic, it caused me a lot of stress that carried over into my everyday life, and I don't want to fall into that again, at least not until I'm ready for it.