Aanchir

There was a small ISS set as part of the Discovery Kids line in 2003. There was also a larger and more detailed ISS build sent up with astronauts to construct on the actual International Space Station — however, like the real ISS, it was not designed to be structurally sound in Earth gravity. That issue would probably remain an obstacle with future ISS sets. You could make some sort of stand to support the model, but it could be hard to keep it from detracting from the model's appearance.

Do you mean perceived to be terrible by AFOLs specifically, or by buyers in general? I don't really remember a lot of disdain for Monster Fighters among AFOLs — at least, no more than for any other action-adventure theme like Agents, Power Miners, or Atlantis. The AFOL community tends to have a sort of a knee-jerk reaction to any theme that isn't either based on a pre-90s LEGO theme or a pre-90s IP, but usually begins to warm up to these themes as time goes on. And from a general buyer standpoint, even though Monster Fighters was seemingly only designed as a one-wave theme, I didn't really get the impression that it wasn't popular or that kids weren't receptive to it.

Well, we can probably anticipate that Darth Vader will at least have a gearbox or some other sort of action feature in the torso, since that's been a standard feature of basically every figure with a lightsaber or other melee weapon since the second wave. Also, just glancing at the leaked pic, interesting that he's the first buildable figure with a removable helmet. I'm sure other people have probably already noticed this and been talking about it, but I guess I wasn't paying attention before. While the piece counts of Star Wars figures haven't increased all that much (besides the ones that have gearboxes), I'm not sure the price increase was totally arbitrary. Scarif Stormtrooper is a heftier build due to larger parts like the thigh shells and gun, and has more printed parts including a unique plastic kama. Even in the first wave, the $25 Obi-Wan Kenobi didn't have a higher piece count than the various $20 figures, so it seems like these sorts of subtler differences do have an impact on how LEGO prices the individual sets. Also, there definitely hasn't been any sort of across-the-board shift towards fewer pieces for more money. The K2SO and Baze Malbus figures had decidedly more weight and higher piece counts than any of the previous $25 sets, and all the other recent $25 sets without fabric or plastic film pieces tend to have a piece count hovering around 100. This year's Elite TIE Fighter Pilot is back at the $20/€20 price point despite a pretty impressive weight and piece count (the main thing setting it apart from the $25 sets from the same wave is the lack of any fabric elements). The Scout Trooper and Speeder Bike set has a similar or better price per piece to similarly-priced constraction vehicles like Jetrax T6, Thornatus V9, and Drop Ship. So I don't really feel like the Star Wars figures have become a decidedly worse value than we've come to expect from sets of the past.

They also allow a nice amount of variation since they allow for both printing and dual-molding (previous ninja masks only allowed for one or the other). Plus, LEGO generally doesn't introduce molds like that expecting to use them for only one or two waves. I expect we'll continue to see use of these molds in the future. My biggest disappointment with the movie hoods is that there's a bit of missed potential with how they come in two sections. Ideally, the lower section should've been able to function as a face mask like the 2014 one… but because of the way it wraps around the back of the head (not just the neck) and the length of so many of the ninja's hair, it can't really work this way on any of the ninja but Zane.

In fairness, a lot of us have been waiting for mermaids since they were first referenced in year one! Hopefully 2018 won't be Elves' final year so we'll still have chances to get them.

I gotta be honest, I'd love to see Neo-Fright Knights soldiers outfitted with those shields!

The Ninjago vehicles being out-of-scale is a big part of their appeal. They're not meant to be small, plain road vehicles like City sets, they're meant to be big, highly detailed, action-packed battle vehicles — much like the hero and villain vehicles from The LEGO Batman Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, Agents, or Dino Attack. A 6-stud-wide Ninjago car or 3-stud-wide motorcycle would not only lack the impressive size and level of detail Ninjago fans have come to expect, it also wouldn't leave room for as many fun play features. Also, based on the prelims, the temple looks pretty great. Cool roof, detailed rocky foundation, etc. And all in all, I wouldn't say sets prior to The LEGO Ninjago Movie were in dire need of improvement. It's not like Ninjago was a struggling theme by any means, and it already had a great track record for detail and playability. A lot of what the LEGO Ninjago Movie did was increase the overall size of the theme — for instance, by raising the total number of sets, it was able to push the hero vehicles to price points at which sets would normally be split between two or more vehicles/dragons, or a vehicle/dragon and surrounding scenery. But it's just not realistic to expect the theme to maintain that increased size in non-movie years. Especially not in the first half of the year, which generally has fewer, smaller sets than the second half, and certainly not in a first-half wave that has to share shelf space with two huge new Ninjago Movie sets (Cole's Quake Mech and Garmadon's Volcano Lair).

I really loved the article about the advantages and disadvantages of mini-dolls vs. minifigures. It really cuts to the heart of the way old-school fans often take the minifigure's advantages for granted and treat the mini-doll's advantages as trivial, even though to a different set of buyers with different play priorities it might be the other way around. It also acknowledges the ways that mini-dolls and minifigures are more similar than people often give them credit for. I'm not so fond of the article about Paradisa, which seems like it might be giving a little bit too high praise to a theme that even in the accompanying photos has a washed-out color scheme and a myopic focus on leisure and luxury. Compared to the previous article, which takes a more objective look at girl-targeted figures' strengths and weaknesses, this article seems to be all about strengths without even questioning the theme's drawbacks. It also makes some rather naive assumptions such as that the vehicles in the sets were meant to appeal to boys — never mind that other girl-oriented brands like Barbie have featured vehicle play for decades. It also suggests that later girl-oriented themes with a brighter and more all-encompassing range of colors would appeal less to boys than a theme that was aggressively pastel and "pinkwashed". The LEGO Life interview was another article I greatly enjoyed. I'd used LEGO Life a bit, but reading about it including digital editions of the magazine (something I hadn't realized previously) encouraged me to pick it up again. Upon doing so I also learned that the customization options for mini-doll characters had improved substantially. Pretty cool!

These are definitely interesting builds! On some levels, with them taking as much inspiration as they do from the originals, I think it's a bit of a bummer that they don't really maintain a lot of the differences in the characters' proportions — like the way Gali and Onua's thighs had more volume than their shins when on the others it was the other way around, or how Lewa and Kopaka had the narrowest shoulders, or how Pohatu was the second shortest of the Toa and had a more bottom-heavy physique. But despite all that you did a great job staying true to the weapons, masks, and color blocking of the Toa Mata while using much more intricate System and Technic mecha building techniques. I also really like the Rahi you created, though it's a shame Muaka has lost its stretchy neck. Keep on being creative!

Honestly, most of the biggest and best constraction MOCs I've been discovering lately (including ones I DON'T tend to see here or on BZPower) use CCBS, Technic, classic Bionicle, and System parts in tandem. MOCs like Alieraah's self-MOC, Astorix's Talidak, Red's AD.AM, Primus's Herakles, Gamma-Raay's Gamma Dragon, chubbybots's Umarak revamp, Djokson's Dekaimano Buster V, IGU's Makuta the Elements Lord, etc. If CCBS were truly so limiting and inconvenient to use there's no reason these builders would have to use it — it's not as though G1 Bionicle parts are rare or sellers who have these parts are reluctant to let go of them. And these MOCs' use of Technic doesn't somehow indict or forsake the use of CCBS. CCBS is fundamentally a Technic-based system, with the Technic ball joint at its core. Many CCBS sets have used basic Technic parts just as extensively as many of their G1 Bionicle counterparts. And many of the biggest and best constraction MOCs have always eschewed prefab body segments and opted for more Technic-based and System-based customization, even during G1.

I do think "Flail" might have been a better generic descriptor for Jay's movie weapon than "Nunchucks", though.

I'm curious what that wiki's sources are for M:Trons being miners, since I've seen next to nothing suggesting that outside of fan speculation trying to explain the glowy bits in their storage containers. By comparison, I've seen several sources seemingly pinning them down as a rescue/emergency response organization: 6956 Stellar Recon Voyager was known as M:Tron Rescue Starcruiser in the UK, Croiseur d'intervention (Response Cruiser) in France, Supersnelle M:TRON Reddingskruiser (Superfast M:Tron Rescue-cruiser) in the Netherlands, M:Tron Rettungsraumer (M:Tron Rescue-chamber) in Germany, Crucero de rescate (Rescue Cruiser) in Spain, Cruzador de Salvamento (Rescue Cruiser) in Portugal, and Σωστικό καταδρομικό (Rescue Cruiser) in Greece. 6989 Mega Core Magnetizer was known as M:Tron Recovery Centre in the UK, Unité d'intervention (Response Unit) in France, Mobiel M:Tron Reddingscentrum (Mobile M:Tron Rescue-center) in the Netherlands, M:Tron Rescue-Center in Germany, Centro de rescate móvil (Mobile Rescue Center) in Spain, Centro Móvel de Salvamento (Mobile Rescue Center) in Portugal, and Κέντρο ελεγχου σωστικών (Rescue Control Center) in Greece. This video from 1990 clearly shows M:Trons performing emergency response and accident cleanup operations, while this one uses the slogan "New LEGO M:Tron to the rescue!" The M:Tron model in the 260 Idea Book seems to represent an injured Futuron astronaut being rescued by two M:Tron astronauts. Granted, it's possible that this is a scenario where the story behind M:Tron varied from country to country. Back in those days it was rare for a LEGO theme to have a strict, unvarying story direction for their themes. Even the much-later Insectoids theme had a much different story and different character names in the Americas than in most of Europe.

The tricky thing is that M:Tron isn't M:Tron without magnets, and LEGO couldn't use the old magnet parts since magnets that small are a hazard if kids swallow them. That's why the more recent train parts use a pre-assembled buffer piece with the magnet securely sealed in. Your concepts are kind of interesting, and I like the rugged shaping, though I'm not a fan of the gritty color scheme. Brighter colors seem to make more sense for a rescue outfit, same as how fire departments usually have brightly-colored trucks. Plus, bright, flashy colors are a big part of what makes Space sets in general so fun. LEGO Star Wars has already basically cornered the market on grey and brown space vehicles.

The new animals could also be considered analogues to the Legend Beasts from Legends of Chima, which predate the Bionicle Elemental Creatures. I think the retailer catalogue called these new animals "Guardian Beasts" or something like that.

@kelceycoe It's kind of unrealistic to compare LEGO using pre-existing monsters to Lepin copying LEGO IP, since basically all of those classic monsters are in the public domain, while stuff like Ninjago and Star Wars is not. Universal never owned any of those monsters, only the movie rights to them. Also, there wasn't much point getting a Universal license since kids are more likely to know the public domain versions of the characters they see all over the place than the movie versions they'd only know from those specific movies (it's the other way around with The Wizard of Oz, in which the movie versions of the characters are far more well-known than the public domain versions).

Which "awesome villains or minifigs" are you referring to? Because to be honest, I think LEGO has done a pretty good job spreading out the most desirable heroes and villains between price points. Like, last year, the vast majority of the hero and villain characters were available in $60 or cheaper sets, either in their normal forms or as souped-up "Ultimate" versions. There are loads of other awesome figs in affordable sets. King and Queen Halbert have both been in $35 or cheaper sets. Moltor and Ruina both came in $20 sets. The Harpy comes in a $30 set. Lord Krakenskull comes in a $60 set. Whiparella comes in a $40 set. The Rogul comes in $20 and $40 sets. Flama and General Magmar come TOGETHER in a $50 set or individually as "Ultimate" figs in $10 sets. Etc. Also, it's nothing new for a theme's biggest sets to have some of its coolest and most unique figs. In Fantasy Era Castle, the Troll King, Troll Witch, and two specially-armored varieties of Giant Troll were exclusive to the $100 Trolls' Mountain Fortress, and the Crown King only came in $100+ sets and one chess set. In Kingdoms, the Lion King was originally only in the $100 King's Castle. In Atlantis, the Portal Guardian only came in the $100 Portal of Atlantis. In Exo-Force, Sensei Keiken originally only came in the $100 Sentai Headquarters. This isn't something that is unique to Nexo Knights or even to recent themes with their own TV shows.

A CCBS theme fitting that description isn't totally unbelievable. However, between this being an unseasonably early description of a summer set list and the info not including much outside the scope of what people have already been speculating about (Unikitty sets, new constraction, etc), there's no reason to think this isn't just a person making extremely broad guesses at what LEGO might do next year and framing it as a "leak". Unlikely, just because if they know enough about constraction to know terms like CCBS, titan, etc, then they almost certainly would have known what Slizers/Throwbots were and could have described them as such. And even if they didn't know what slizers/throwbots were, they still could have described a throwing arm with more specificity than "new launcher".

It's not that I'm good at making long replies. It's that I'm really, really bad at making short ones.

I used Brickshelf for a long time but I've been moving away from it, since its downtimes make it kind of unreliable and it's not quite as friendly for browsing images or giving feedback as Flickr. Flickr also has a nifty feature so when you upload an image it will automatically create versions of that image at different resolutions, which is great if you want to share images on sites that have different image size restrictions but don't want to upload multiple copies of the image. For example, here's a MOC photo I uploaded earlier this year, and here's the "all sizes" page showing the various resolutions. You can also choose between these sizes using the share button on the main photo page, which can even write the HTML or BBCode for you so you can just copy and paste the text to get both an embedded image and a hyperlink in whatever format you need for the site you're sharing the image on. The main advantages Brickshelf has over Flickr anymore are that it allows nested albums and lets you host non-image files (like Excel spreadsheets or digital model files from LDraw and LDD). But I'm experimenting with alternatives like Google Drive for this since I've a little fed up with wanting to share these sorts of files or refer to ones I've shared in the past only to find that Brickshelf is down.

Worth noting that if you count voice actors, a number of actors from non-licensed themes become contenders: Scott McNeil voices at least 9 LEGO characters: Clouse, Nadakhan, Karlof, and the Overlord from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and some of the goblins (and I think also the Shadow Creature?) in LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale. He also voices Toa Tahu and Toa Onua in Bionicle: Mask of Light and Keetongu and Rahaga Bomonga in Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. Paul Dobson voices at least 9 LEGO characters: Master Wu, Flintlocke, Ghoultar, Neuro, General Kozu, and Acidicus in LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (as well as Mother Doomsday, though I guess that one doesn't count because the physical fig of that character is from a movie-based set rather than a TV-based one). He also voices Nidhiki, Toa Whenua, and Sidorak in Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. Kathleen Barr voices at least 7 LEGO characters: Misako and Bansha from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Whiparella (in her debut appearance) in LEGO Nexo Knights, and some of the goblins from LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale (not sure which), plus non-minifigure characters Toa Gali in Bionicle: Mask of Light and Roodaka and Rahaga Gaaki in Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. Michael Dobson voices at least 6 LEGO characters: Pythor and Skalidor in LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Toa Kopaka and Hewkii in Bionicle: Mask of Light, and Toa Lhikan and Krekka in Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui. Vincent Tong voices at least 5 LEGO characters: Kai, Ray, and Doubloon from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Tidus Stormsurfer from LEGO Elves, and Jestro from LEGO Nexo Knights. Nicole Oliver voices at least 5 LEGO characters: Queen Halbert and Lavaria from LEGO Nexo Knights (as well as Whiparella in all episodes after the character's debut appearance), Dogshank in LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, and Rosalyn Nightshade in LEGO Elves: Secrets of Elvendale. Brian Drummond voices at least 5 LEGO characters: Axl from LEGO Nexo Knights, Nuckal and Kruncha from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, and Toa Onewa and Toa Matau from Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. Lee Tockar voices at least 4 LEGO characters: Cyrus Borg from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and Makuta, Kongu, and Pewku from Bionicle: Mask of Light and Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui. Ian James Corlett voices at least 4 LEGO characters: Clancee, Monkey Wretch, Master Chen, and Skales in LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. Brian Dobson voices at least 4 LEGO characters: Ronin, Soul Archer, Zugu, and Bucko in LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu Michael Adamthwaite voices at least 4 LEGO characters: Jay, Sqiffy, Wrayth, and the Mailman from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. Erin Mathews voices at least 3 LEGO characters: Naida Riverheart and Azari Firedancer in LEGO Elves and Macy Halbert in LEGO Nexo Knights. I'm seeing conflicting information on whether or not she voices Robin Underwood as well. Andrew Francis voices at least 3 LEGO characters: Morro and Shade from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu as well as Jaller in Bionicle: Mask of Light. Ian Hanlin voices at least 3 LEGO characters: Acronix and Chope from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu and Lance Richmond from LEGO Nexo Knights. Heather Doerksen voices at least 3 LEGO characters: Skylor from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, Ruina Stoneheart from LEGO Nexo Knights, and Ragana Shadowflame from LEGO Elves. Alessandro Juliani voices at least 3 LEGO characters: Aaron Fox from LEGO Nexo Knights, Kapau from LEGO Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, and Toa Vakama from Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. Trevor Devall voices at least 3 LEGO characters: Toa Pohatu in Bionicle: Mask of Light and Toa Nuju and Rahaga Iruini in Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nui and Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows. That's all I have time to list right now. If you start counting voice actors, some actors known for their live-action roles also voiced LEGO characters: for example, Mark Hamill voiced the villains Von Nebula and Black Phantom in LEGO Hero Factory. This is why a lot of these sorts of lists omit voice roles — not because they don't deserve credit for those characters, but because trying to find every voice actor who plays multiple LEGO characters is a practically endless rabbit-hole.

This one?

LEGO's "past annual reports and other corporate literature" where they talk about creative part uses first implemented a decade ago aren't current news, and I don't see how they have a lot of bearing on a brief sales downturn after about a decade of growth. You said we were "upon the dawn of a new era for LEGO", yet this and the Monster Fighters issues you bring up are not new, so I don't see how they can reflect any sort of era that is just dawning. It's more accurate to say that the trend towards creative part reuse reflects LEGO's era of recovery and re-commitment to the core values of their brand that began as far back as 2004. All the trademark case LEGO lost signifies is that they can't claim the 3D image of a classic 2x4 brick as a trademark because other companies also have 2x4 bricks. This is not a particularly major loss — arguably, it's an inevitable result of LEGO letting their patents on the basic brick expire way back in the late 80s. It also, notably, doesn't seem to have done much to bolster Mega Bloks' Construx's relative strength as a brand. LEGO still dominates the construction toys sector, to the extent that Mega has had to change the name of their LEGO-size bricks and Hasbro's upstart Kre-O brand seems to have given up the ghost. In China, where Lepin is headquartered, LEGO has been making great strides, with double-digit sales growth in the first half of this year. Arguably the whole reason copycat brands like Lepin have had such an opportunity to grow lately is that demand for LEGO in the far east is surging. I've read all of those LEGO Friends articles you mention — the Atlantic one is especially informative, and I refer back to it fairly often — but none of them have anything to do with the company "succumbing to politics". Just for the first time actually studying what kind of toys girls would like to play with and making those toys. Considering they never had any past products that were particularly successful at appealing to girls it's been an ongoing learning process for them, and one they've been adapting to remarkably well. The positives of what LEGO's long-overdue outreach to girls has done for them as a brand far outweigh the negatives.

Probably just not enough sets that use it that really can't do without a straight piece. I believe LEGO did file patents for a narrow-gauge straight track alongside their patents for the curved and sloped tracks, much like they filed patents for alternate die designs for the LEGO Games series (like dice with 1x1 and 3x3 faces). All this talk of potential uses for non-monorail tracks in Space themes really makes me wonder how much of monorail's popularity with Space fans is due to the concept of monorails specifically and how much is just nostalgia for them because they're a thing Space themes once had that they now don't. Or to frame it differently, if Futuron and Unitron had used regular train tracks instead, would the monorail nostalgia be replaced by space train nostalgia? If they'd used a tube transport system like Life on Mars or Mars Mission, would the monorail nostalgia be replaced with nostalgia for that system? If "yes" to any of these, then it becomes a lot easier to understand why kids who lack that nostalgia for the classic era generally don't give a flying flip about monorails. To motorize the new roller coasters, theoretically you might be able create a lift chain with small Technic chain links that wraps around the rail ties of one of the elevated sections and is driven by a gear underneath the rail ties. And then you could use gravity for the downward movement. But while that might work for actual roller coasters, it probably wouldn't feel very plausible for something that's meant to be a vehicle rather than just a thrill ride.

Pokémon is an "everyone thing" NOW, but only because it's been around long enough that many of the kids who grew up loving it are now adults themselves. Back in 1999 when the first movie actually came out, it was very definitely a "kid's thing" that adults, for the most part, simply didn't get. The critical reviews for the first movie (which are hilarious to read in hindsight) reflect this abject cluelessness on the part of adults. Not only did they often have the same "what the heck is a Pokeyman?" reaction as you describe with Ninjago, but many of them didn't even have an adequate frame of reference with which to compare it — whereas Ninjago, in the very least, immediately invites comparisons to nostalgia-steeped 80s and 90s brands like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Power Rangers. People act as if The LEGO Ninjago Movie's 50-some-percent score on Rotten Tomatoes is bad, but Pokémon: The First Movie has a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 14%! The fact that Pokémon was so beloved back then (and remains so now) is entirely due to how many fans were profoundly impacted by it as kids, and certainly not due to any meaningful degree of adult appeal it had in its early years. Ninjago doesn't do a whole lot with "hidden adult humor", but again, it has way more story depth than you're giving it credit for. My brother and I have been Ninjago fans since we were 20 years old, shortly after it first came out. Over that time I've seen its story and sets become increasingly sophisticated and elaborate, despite still being primarily kid-targeted. And I'm hardly the only adult enjoying the Ninjago storyline — the Ninjago TV show discussion topic here on Eurobricks is 160 pages long!

…what the heck did I just read? I don't even know where to begin… why are you talking about five-year-old issues with Monster Fighters sets as if they're still current/relevant? How exactly is LEGO "LOSING to Mega Bloks"? What in the world is "political" about LEGO Friends? How is using life rings for toilet seats — something LEGO has been doing for over ten years, and something they've never had any other dedicated piece for — some kind of newfangled cost-cutting initiative?