Aanchir

The uniforms aren't Maersk Blue, they're Dark Azur (a new color that debuted this year). Maersk blue isn't used in any non-Maersk sets. I, for one, love the feel of the Alien Conquest theme. It's way better than the UFO theme IMO, which is the closest analogue it had in previous years.

Rocka certainly didn't have any first name when the website first listed him (I'm not just saying this because the website has no first name for him-- Swert from HS01 asked Kelly McKiernan about it and got confirmation that there was at the time no first name for Rocka at that time). I hope it isn't the start of a trend-- I really like the first names for so many characters. They make the story feel a lot more down-to-earth and relatable.

Now, being a LEGO storyline aficionado myself, I feel I ought to speak up. Yes, I've thoroughly followed the storylines of themes like BIONICLE, Ninjago, Atlantis, etc. Personally, I tend to like the stories written for them, even if they're not works of art. I don't buy the sets strictly for the stories behind them (even though what characters come in a set will affect whether I consider it a "must-get" set), but they make the themes far more enjoyable for me. As far as violence in themes is concerned, I'm OK with it as long as the themes don't become too grim and serious. For instance, Dino Attack was a bit excessive IMO. Power Miners, on the other hand, wasn't any more violent than Pirates (which also has a lot of weapons in any incarnation). Dynamite launchers don't seem too violent when you consider that this is clearly cartoon dynamite which is no more deadly to the Rock Monsters than it would be to Tom & Jerry. Do I expect this theme to be excessively violent? No, not by any means. TLG hasn't had any themes as gritty as Dino Attack since that theme ended, unless you count Vikings or certain licensed themes. And recent themes seem to show TLG has regained touch with the lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek, kid-friendly storytelling that made the various LEGO cartoons and video games so appealing. Also, the set names we have seen suggest that capturing and studying the dinosaurs, not just blowing them to bits, will be important to the protagonists. With that said, kid-friendly storytelling doesn't mean the theme won't have weapons. Otherwise, the humans will be at a decisive disadvantage in any type of role-play, unless running the dinosaurs over with vehicles is enough to convince kids that the humans stand a chance. With that in mind, the theme could arguably be considered more violent if it lacks weaponry of any sort-- whether it's the heroes using destructive force against the dinosaurs or the dinos mauling the humans. But including weapons isn't any more violent than any Castle or Pirates set would be.

Well, Hero Factory canister sets seem a lot "purer" to me in that they're not so Technic-intensive. From the beginning the majority of BIONICLE buyers were interested in the sets for their personality and role-play opportunities, not play features. Gradually BIONICLE dropped gear functions. Hero Factory has gone a step further by eliminating launcher functions in many sets, suggesting that at its core action figure themes are primarily popular for being buildable action figures, and not for gimmicky functions. The Toa Mata and Toa Nuva action features were cool in a sense, because they had a "game" component to them. Like the 2001 and 2002 boxed sets, the Toa Mata and Toa Nuva could "fight" one another to remove their masks. But I think the change in 2003 to having masks that stayed more firmly attached demonstrates that buyers weren't all that interested in this feature, at least based on TLG's market research. And to be honest, I spent a lot more time doing adventure-based role play with my BIONICLE sets than I spent playing the "knock each other's masks off" game. During this role-play, the functions (and the limited poses that came as a consequence) were a hindrance rather than an asset. I didn't really miss gear functions when they went away, even if today I sometimes have fun pulling out my old sets and watching them flail their arms about. Yeah, I know. I'm not sure how great blended parts would have looked anyway, but they would at least have given a stronger resemblance to the original Tahu and Tahu Nuva.

The entire instruction booklets for most post-2002 sets are online at service.LEGO.com, and all instruction booklets since 2006 have included part inventories (with Element IDs) in the back. So finding part numbers online, whether for Hero Factory or post-2006 BIONICLE, is fairly simple. Also, while from your context it was somewhat easy to tell what numbers you were looking for, bear in mind that there are multiple types of part numbers. There are Design IDs, which specify the shape of a part and sometimes the type of plastic it is made from, and these are the ones that are seen molded into a lot of parts like weapons. Then there are Element IDs, which specify the shape, material, color, and any decorations on the part. Element IDs are the ones that show up in instruction booklets, and they are much more specific than Design IDs.

Since the octagonal windscreen doesn't use any obsolete hinge styles, it could conceivably be released in current sets. If there are any structural deficiencies to its design, a redesign could be made that would still be visually and functionally identical. Unless, of course, you are thinking of a different windscreen than me (I'm thinking of the ones so prevalent in Aquazone and Blacktron II). I think one reason that there aren't modern versions of some of the classic canopy pieces (and why canopies like the octagonal one aren't used anymore despite not being strictly "obsolete") is just that sharp angles aren't as fashionable as they used to be in visions of a high-tech future. And who knows? Grittier sci-fi properties like the HALO games, James Cameron's Avatar, and Christopher Nolan's Batman films could be on their way to changing that (as could the retirement of the Space Shuttle, a ship that has really helped shape our imagined concepts of space travel, in favor of more traditional rockets). It's too early to make a forecast, though: "Sleek" may not be the order of the day anymore in a lot of teen-oriented and adult-oriented properties, but what remains to be seen is whether kids are as likely to buy a toy spaceship if it doesn't look "fast". Anyway, I definitely support those two hinged windscreens being incorporated into a future update. They are some of the most consistent features in faction-based Space themes, and, since I grew up right in the middle of those, the sets of my own childhood. After those two are added, anything else (like Aquazone-specific windscreens) would just be icing on the cake.

Has anyone considered the simple solution for a ring, that being this piece? Or even a new mold, similar to the above but without a top stud and with a perimeter that can be printed upon. Such a piece could easily fit onto the top stud of a minifigure hand, or, if designed properly, be held by a minifigure. It's obviously impossible for a "ring" that fits on a minifigure finger to be designed, simply because minifigures don't have those. But that's no reason a ring would be strictly impossible if TLG decided a license required one.

Well, there are these two keylights. I've had some of this company's LEGO keylights before and they are very good quality as long as you take care of them. By that, I mean don't wear them on a belt loop like I did... that's a surefire way to have them lose arms or get their faces scratched up.

I do appreciate someone who can rant for so long about BIONICLE/HF set design opinions! A couple things I'd ask about. What do you mean about the "recent tradition" of villains not having eyes? Witch Doctor is the only one who really seems to fail ever-so-badly at this. Raw-Jaw and Fangz both sort of manage to use the shell-based head for eyes, Waspix and Skorpio use solid eyes (something I don't really mind; it's no different than the Hero sets), and all the Fire Villains but Jetbug all had filled-in eyes of some sort (even though the transparent head pieces really didn't work well for Fire Lord and Drilldozer, since there are no holes in the top of the helmets to let light in). Perhaps on Witch Doctor's part the lack of eyes were a conscious decision to make his head (and the one on his staff) more skull-like, but don't think I'm defending him-- I hate the completely-hollow eyes as much as you do, especially since you can look into one eye from the side and see straight through the other one. I like the ingenuity of Witch Doctor's legs, but it limits his posability in some ways and allows for ridiculously-unrealistic poses in others. His knees always point forward, which bothers me a great deal. I think the 2008 Takanuva really had the best hips from the "reinforced legs" era of sets, although Toa Mata Nui was also pretty nice in that he took the virtual waist-pistons of many sets like the Toa Mata and made them real. Still disappointed that we never got a real version of the Toa Mata's piston-and-accordion-joint waists in a set... Anyway Takanuva and Toa Mata Nui also had great shoulder posability IMO, and Witch Doctor's leaves me disappointed. I disagree that the Hero Factory building system doesn't work for titan sets, but I agree that TLG hasn't found their stride with it, and to be honest that's one of the reasons Witch Doctor bothers me. He feels like they're just trying to work around the system rather than work with it. Fire Lord was better at this IMO. His legs were weak, something Rocka XL only slightly improves upon, and his arms were rigid, something Rocka XL made worse, but his torso felt extremely substantial. If we had a whole titan set with that sort of streamlining, then it could easily stand alongside the likes of Brutaka-- in aesthetics if not complexity. And the rest of the set felt like it was moving in the right direction to me, so it's sad to see that TLG didn't follow up on that by improving on the flaws. With that said, I like the simple snap-together builds myself. And in Fire Lord's case, there was more complexity in the form of that beautiful torso substructure. The legs, though, were a shade disappointing, basically reverting to a Toa Kaita level of complexity minus the functions that made the Toa Kaita interesting. I certainly don't want to have Hero Factory titans rely too heavily on Technic. Don't quite get your comment about how the last four years of BIONICLE had good titan sets, since one of the last Titan sets-- Tuma-- struck me as one of the weakest in terms of design. Toa Mata Nui was OK (I was a big fan at the time), but he didn't quite bring titan sets back to that golden level of design they had with Takanuva in 2008. Unlike you, I feel the new building style has all the potential it needs for great sets, (some of the models we've seen in designer videos show them working towards extremely stylish designs) although it will require a lot of effort on the part of the designers. All in all, the weak designs of recent titan sets remind me of 2004 titans immediately after the Toa Metru set a new standard for posability. Nobody points to Nidhiki and Krekka as examples of beautiful streamlining, although their functions more than made up for this flaw. I'm still waiting for Hero Factory sets to reach the design quality of 2005-2006 titan sets, though. Great to hear such a detailed opinion on the prospects Witch Doctor shows for the Hero Factory theme. Our opinions seem vastly different with respect to the direction sets should move in-- I would prefer more sets improving on the building style and considerations used in Fire Lord, while you seem to want more sets based on Witch Doctor's building style-- but it's nice to see that we agree on where Hero Factory set designs currently stand compared to some of the best BIONICLE titan sets. I'm curious whether you've ever been much of a MOCist-- if so, you're probably in a much better position to realize some of these hopes than I am, since I've always struggled at building truly creative MOCs. And I'd certainly love to see a Hero Factory MOC with as much thought put into it as you have put into the sets!

I think 40/50 is a fair assessment. He's a well-designed set. I just don't like the design direction. I feel titan sets this soon after the introduction of the new building system should work on improving on titan designs like Fire Lord that work at a wider range of scales, rather than sidestepping them entirely for a radical design like this one. His arms, legs, and body also look rather lacking from certain angles. I think it'll be a long time before we see a Hero Factory titan set that captures the artistry of BIONICLE titan/warrior sets like Roodaka, Brutaka, or the 2008 Takanuva. He's imaginative, though, and I suppose that counts for something, since it demonstrates how Hero Factory beams can be used in a variety of ways structurally.

As for the Flying Dutchman, all I can say is about time! Although I guess Spongebob's Flying Dutchman rules out any possibility of PotC's Flying Dutchman... Guess that was just wishful thinking on my part, though. The Spongebob theme hasn't really excited me since its first year (the original Krusty Krab set was a work of art), even though subsequent sets like Sandy's Rocket, the Bikini Bottom Hospital, and "Good Neighbors in Bikini Bottom" have all been pretty excellent. Still, I'm glad to see that kids have enjoyed it enough for it to keep going, since the franchise has a lot of design potential. My twin brother observed that the genie tail from Minifigures Series 6 could be ideal for ol' Dutchy. Pity there doesn't exist a "dining sock" piece!

What? Many of these set names sound more like Dino 2010 or even Adventurers Dino Island than Dino Attack. In particular, Dino Attack never had any "Dino Research Station" or anything similar-- any research or whatnot obviously took place behind the scenes. The only thing that implies a similarity to Dino Attack is the presence of vehicles, which has been the case with pretty much all dinosaur themes (besides the 2001 theme, which contained dinosaurs and nothing else).

Some of those bad guy names are kind of yucky to me... "Thornraxx" sounds too much like "Thornax", making it even harder for a dedicated BIONICLE fan to pronounce that "rnr" in the middle. And I'm not sure what they're going for with "Toxic Reapa", which looks like it's going for a death-metal-type name with a gangsta-rap-type spelling. Of course, there's the possibility that the names are preliminary, like "Mamut" and "Scorpion" that appeared on boxes at ToyFair, although if the names are the least bit real you'd wonder why the site would be working with something so decidedly non-finalized. Meanwhile, hero names without qualifiers are quite unusual. Unless there's some "group name" that's just not being included here, then I imagine this would cause major confusion. So yeah, here's hoping that these names aren't exact, even if we take the risk and trust them to be legit.

Wow! I'd certainly be interested, if not for the fact that I'm returning to college soon and don't want to get myself involved in something where I've got obligations beyond my control. Still, thanks for passing the word along here at Eurobricks!

Hmmm... Still no really reliable info from LEGO, but it's surprising how much enthusiasm Travelers' Tales has been showing about the possibility. It makes you wonder, would they ever release a story-based game without an actual LEGO theme accompanying it, like they did with the less story-based LEGO Rock Band? Or do they know something we don't about the likelihood of a theme? People have made good observations in that this would be similar to so many other licenses, adopting a franchise that has an established trilogy behind it but also a new installment due for release. I don't personally think that violence would be a huge problem; after all, TLG's non-licensed Castle themes have plenty of weapons and combatants without worrying about any excessively violent overtones. If certain scenes are too violent for TLG, chances are they would just refrain from releasing those scenes in sets, but I doubt they'd just outright reject any scenes where nameless orcs happen to die. Those nameless orcs wouldn't be the focus of most sets anyway! So anyway, I'm on my way to being convinced. I still haven't seen anything solid enough to have me outright anticipating sets, but it would be a good license for TLG to adopt and now that we have some tenuous hints I wouldn't put it past them.

I'm doubtful as well, especially considering past promotional images. I mean, Merrick Fortis himself hasn't even been buildable, let alone these heroes or the ones occasionally featured in the Create & Share portal animation. What I think has been most ironic about the heroes that have appeared in promotional images is that many of them use parts like the "fuel cap" piece from the Fire Villains or Drilldozer's drill piece that aren't even available in HRT. The mismatched color schemes are probably just to show off the widest possible variety of pieces in the Hero Creator, and show off that it's not just like the Mission: Von Nebula hero creator where you can only choose two colors, a mask, and a weapon. I'm sure the increased part number has something to do with the claws, but seeing as it will apply whether or not you use the claws (presumably, anyway) it could also be a consequence of how successful HRT has been so far. Perhaps they've invested more to make the packing process more efficient. Doubtful, but possible.

Saw this at Brickfair. The hull, while nicely shaped, felt a bit plain, but very authentic. I would have appreciated it a lot more if you'd been able to show off the interior features to me! They're where this model really shines.

Careful, now-- that's what some people say about all BIONICLE/Hero Factory sets.

If anyone's interested, I posted some preliminary Ninjago pictures here, as well as a link to a preliminary Ninjago video. There's some really interesting stuff there!

Here's something I don't know if anyone's linked. This shows preliminary versions of some of the most recent Ninjago sets. Notable differences: Black-robed Sensei Wu has black rather than white sleeves. The Fire Dragon's fireball is transparent, which I don't even think is possible with the actual LEGO element (since I don't think it's polycarbonate). The Fire Dragon's painting/printing is preliminary. A placeholder minifigure with a stylized dragon appears in place of Zane fighting the Skull Truck. All of the window panes of the Fire Temple feature writing, rather than the dragon decorations that grace the lower floor of the final set. The Dragon Sword of Fire has a stylized, flamelike sculpt rather than the dragon head of the final mold. The fire dragon's neck is bent at a more extreme angle than is possible in the final set. The mechanism under the Fire Temple's front entryway is built differently. . Additionally, there's this one with a prelim version of Garmadon's Dark Fortress. Notable differences: Garmadon's Dark Fortress has barbed wire along the top. The skeleton arming the flick-fires in the tower is a placeholder, with the Atlantis body armor piece in black and a Fantasy-Era Castle head rather than the body armor and heads from the final theme. EDIT: Additionally, there's the first video on this page, which gives a very early treatment of the story. Notable differences: The Ninjago logo is different, with the letter J resembling a person. The Golden Weapons are all very different. All the ninjas use the preliminary torsos seen on the white ninja Zane in the first link. Garmadon, whenever he appears, has four arms-- a trait later given instead to the skeleton general Samukai. The ninjas are discovered in different places, all very decidedly modern Amusingly, Jay, who will wield the Nunchuks of Lightning, is playing a Nintendo Wii using the controller accessory referred to as the Nunchuk. Sensei Wu uses the traditional LEGO "Wizard Beard" and a simpler hat. Most other aspects make it hard to identify differences, since the majority of the video is in a cartoon style rather than using detailed photos, renders, or video of the models themselves.

I've never seen Batman Begins, but I saw The Dark Knight and really, really enjoyed it. So I hope this will have a similar impact on me, if I should choose to see it. Frankly, I'm not a person who thinks adaptations necessarily have to be loyal to the source material to be any good. In fact, an exact adaptation of something might be more boring than a brand-new story that plays with the ideas of the source material. In Batman's case, the source material has a long and storied past, but I think it's fun to see installments like the Nolan films that are extremely loosely adapted from the comics, instead exploring the characters and themes from a different perspective. Batman is a wonderful character, and seeing different people's spin on such a classic icon is very fun just for variety's sake. Of course, others who have a more thorough love of the comics might feel differently. And I can't say my taste in movies is excellent-- I loved the Star Wars prequels and The Last Airbender for similar reasons. Still, I feel loyalty to the source material is sometimes overrated.

I live in central Virginia, so yeah, I felt it. Knocked down a bunch of stuff from shelves and walls all over the house. Also cracked the chimney that's right next to my room, so I just finally slept in there again for the first time yesterday, once the hurricane was over and I didn't have to worry so much about the chimney crushing me in my sleep. Pretty scary. Thankfully, I'm far enough inland that Hurricane Irene didn't do any damage at all, besides knocking down a lot of limbs from the trees in the yard. A lot of people further up along the East Coast got much more significant damage from the hurricane, and a lot of people in my hometown suffered more significant home damage from the earthquake (including many people in historic buildings downtown), so I think I've been immeasurably lucky in the past week. Of course, my room which I had spent the first half of the summer cleaning is now very untidy, and since I'll be going back to college soon I might not have time to get everything organized again. Still, better a lot of work than injury or loss of life.

Maybe the dino theme is the space theme? In all seriousness, I don't know for sure what awaits spacers in 2012. It's possible that there won't be a space theme for the first half of the year, just like there wasn't this year until Alien Conquest. Alternatively, perhaps there will be Alien Conquest sets next year and specific leaks just haven't been reported (this is likely the case with Hero Factory, although admittedly the AFOLs who have seen retailer's catalogs might not give a hoot about that particular theme's future). I don't think the return of Blacktron would happen without a simultaneous return of Space Police, since those two themes are classic adversaries and these days there are no single-faction themes. On the other hand, Space Police has a long-standing tradition of including Blacktron figures, and Space Police III largely failed to meet that condition, so it's possible that a new "good guy" faction would be created to face off against Blacktron. I'm skeptical, though.

It's a bit early to forecast an end for Kingdoms, I think. Remember that there weren't any Kingdoms sets in the first half of 2011, either, and I was fully expecting the theme to have ended, only to learn that people had already learned of the existence of the Mill Village Raid by way of leaks. A more likely scenario would be Lord of the Rings replacing Harry Potter, since they're both extremely popular fantasy series and we don't know about Harry Potter continuing. But then again it, like Kingdoms, seemed mostly over in 2011, only for a small wave of sets to show up in summer. For that matter, Spongebob Squarepants sets showed up in summer 2011 after a hiatus of over a year, so really we're in no place to assume any themes are being discontinued for longer than one wave. It's entirely possible that themes we don't see in the first half of 2012 will be back for the second half. I'm still not convinced that a LotR theme is happening. Not until I see a press release from LEGO or pictures of sets or minifigures.

Yeah, they have season one characters listed as well, so I doubt Samukai's coming back. Then again, you never know; I didn't expect Wyplash to show up at all, and yet he recently made his first appearance in a mini-movie on the LEGO website (by the same crew responsible for the TV episodes).