Mandate

Nah, Stone Army was created by the Overlord using some kind of dark magic or evil power. The tomb doesn't really have anything to do with that besides being indestructible itself. If the Vermillion (that's their name, right?) are tied up with the normal Serpentine I think it's more likely they're their creators. Definitely late to the party on this, but is that Kai and Nya's parents in one of the prelims?

Oh lovely. Ad hominem. I'll restate my argument so that what I said is clear: The current show, not a reboot, reimagining, film, comic book, video game, etc, does not need an artstyle overhaul, unless the current TV show has an explicit reason for it such as joining canon with TLM. The TV show's art style has changed over the years, in my opinion both for better and for worse, and that's not the problem. The video games look different to the TV show, but that's not the problem. The comic books look different to the TV show, but nobody really cares anyway. The trading card art looks different to the TV show, and that's not the problem (as a matter of fact, I LOVE the card art). The LEGO Movie and its sequels look different to the TV show, and frankly I don't care. But if the current TV show isn't going to be directly tied into the film then there's a problem. But that problem isn't making things to look more like LEGO - it IS LEGO, and when things became more accurate to the sets I was more than grateful. The problem is that overhauling the artstyle is making a rapid departure from a clearly established part of the series. An artstyle is designed to make a product stand out and be visually distinct. Sometimes they evolve. It's the difference between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the difference between Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. It's like Iron Man's suit, each one is visually distinct (if you've got the eye for small details, that is) but you can always recognize who Iron Man is. NINJAGO has changed. The models aren't as cartoony as they used to be, they're often more detailed and "refined", stuff often looks reasonably accurate to the sets, with a few notable exceptions. My complaints about NINJAGO are more often than not about consistency. The plot is undeniably filled with more holes than swiss cheese at this point, but when a particular season is good enough (Skybound) I can look past that. It's an undeniable flaw with the show because of how overt it is, and while believe it or not I'm not a huge fan of NINJAGO's aesthetic anyway, it's a matter of basic principle more than anything else: you don't mess around with established visuals while still in the same medium and/or series unless the changes you are making are beneficial or reasonable. I hold NINJAGO to a high standard because I (used to) love it, not because I want to spend my nights ranting on an online forum. I haven't, don't and never will care about who are "true fans" and who are not, but it's about respect for the franchise. If the writers already can't commit to keeping the story consistent (and it's often a matter of rephrasing words than anything else, and it would rarely if ever interfere with a newcomer's introduction to the series), what should I expect if Wilfilm can't commit to keeping the artstyle consistent? It was never about the LEGO for me, I just loved NINJAGO. I loved the ridiculousness and cheesiness of it all. Five ninja, a Samurai and an old Sensei with sass are tasked with saving their island home from the forces of evil and their many Macguffins. NINJAGO is a cartoon. It's not meant to look realistic. It's not meant to obey our laws of logic or have any sane expectation of what comes next, we just got a season about a four armed pirate genie from an alternate dimension for crying out loud. But that's the charm that it has. The artstyle was unintentional, a happy accident, a byproduct of what was easiest for Wilfilm to do at the time on a limited budget, but in the end it's what stuck and what fits the most. In The LEGO Movie they can build stuff out of LEGO because it's the LEGO movie. In NINJAGO they can build warplanes out of noodle machines because it's NINJAGO, it doesn't follow those rules. It's part of the tone and characterization of the series, and while it most certainly has changed over time completely altering it is unnecessary. It's such an iconic part of the series that only minor variations are used in stuff like Wu Cru that actively promote the TV series. At the end of the day, redoing every asset: Ninjago City, the ninja, the villains, etc costs a lot of money that could be spent elsewhere. Like hiring a proof reader. That's why I'm against it. I don't believe they will change the artstyle completely now or ever, come the release of the film or a desire to change the way things are done, because I don't believe the Hageman brothers would be disrespectful enough to their own work to stoop down to fanfiction levels of "joining universes" and nor have I lost that much faith in LEGO's management or the direction of Wilfilm. But the art style is a crucial part of NINJAGO, and while I never particularly cared for or did enjoy it it's a part of NINJAGO that will be sorely missed. It's not detrimental to the series or the story. But if it ends up happening without a real reason for it, then it indicates to me either a crucial lack of understanding or respect for what they have created. If they were creating an entirely new series (such as how the movie seems to be happening), or a game, book, comic, etc where you shouldn't have an expectation of everything looking the same (even so, from what I've seen it's basically all consistent anyway) it wouldn't be an issue. So, in summary: Artstyles can and do evolve and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I like(d) NINJAGO because it's ridiculous, and the artstyle reflects that. Changing it to fit TLM's style (without reason) is unnecessary and removes part of that charm, changing it to fit another artstyle is simply unnecessary and a waste of resources. It's a matter of principle as well, once something as core as the artstyle goes out the window there's no guarantee everything else won't. Having different artstyles for different products (such as a reboot) is fine and perfectly reasonable, but changing it right now is like swapping comic book artists mid-way through a comic: you don't do it. No, I don't care about "true fan" dramas, you care more about the characters and tone while I care more about the series as a whole. In the end we're actually agreeing on the same points. I'm just terrible at wording things.

Making a sudden departure (gradual either is or is nearly impossible) from the established artstyle of seven years would be the final nail in the coffin for me. You literally change everything about NINJAGO: the visuals, the animation style, the facial expressions, etc. It's a massive overhaul of content that simply isn't worth it, which comes as a slap in the face to both the art team and anyone in the fanbase that cares. Companies have tried this before and it ends in disaster, prime example is Halo. After the company Bungie stopped working on the franchise a new company called 343 Industries took over, and the entire artstyle changed from military realism to sci-fi futurism. It's not even a point of contention among fans, it's universally agreed that the new art style is complete and utter garbage in comparison. While something of that scale isn't going to happen here, I can't imagine everyone is going to be happy with it. A change like this also needs a reason to happen. If we're going down the "LEGO incarnation of Titanic" route and see the ninja teleportaled into TLM, fine, whatever, the change is justified. But if it's only going to happen because someone in the marketing department thinks LEGO needs to have a "~unified aesthetic~" to promote brand recognition, then it's a terrible idea with no consideration for fans or why different products need to have different styles and modes of delivery.

Well, there's four possible options for where the TV show goes. 1) Ignores the movie and continues its life in blissful ignorance until its inevitable death by trying to avoid sharks. 2) Cans itself for the movie and we never see it until someone thinks it's a good idea to reboot it. 3) The TV show embraces the movie and transports the main characters in the TV show realm. 4) The paradoxes and constant alteration of past events distorts the fabric of reality so much that our own universe collapses in on itself, ensuring nothing ever exists or ever will exist except for NINJAGO's retcons to keep the nonexistence in place.

Haven't watched the Star Wars shorts in ages, but wasn't it more of a case that they were putting a humorous spin on the events rather than outright changing what happened? Then again this show is a car crash in slow motion when it comes to accuracy, so it's not like sticking to the lore even matters anymore.

"Specifically of kung-fu films and kaiju movies". ...so we're getting highschool wereninja fighting godzillas in giant mechsuits. I legitimately do not know what is going on anymore.

Your version of Ekimu's 2016 form is easily superior to LEGO's. The Okotoan version though... it's alright, but IMO LEGO's version has better proportion and color choice.

I never said anything about Asian architecture. It's one of my favorite aspects of NINJAGO. But the film being set in Japan, or the LEGO equivalent of actual Japan? That I have issue with.

Why would it be set in Japan? It'll be set in the TLM equivalent of Ninjago or City, not the TLM equivalent of a real-world location.

Depends on the hand that's pulling it out. Can't wait to get this figure either way.

Against the rules, sorry. You're not missing out on very much at all though, and the poster is high-quality enough that we'll probably see a similar version at some point.

They acknowledged the existence of Batman and Robin. Forget TLBM, I'm wondering what nut thought it would be a good idea to ever mention that again. Apart from that, eh, it looks okay.

Far from it. There have been more individual pieces using dark green over bright green since the inception of bright green, though I'm not accounting for the frequency of said pieces (check Brickset if you want though). It's still the predominant color of Lloyd from NINJAGO, it's only been discontinued in constraction.

According to Brickset, the official name of the color is, in fact, Dark Green. Matau and Kongu both used Earth Green (or Metru Green as some like to call it) Am I turning into Aanchir now?

I figured out whose Intsagram would have it pretty soon after I posted that. You're right though, it's a nice poster but nothing spectacular.

Only if we get Dark Green back. Lewa's just not right without it.

What poster?

As someone who just saw that episode of The IT Crowd yesterday, you have my undying thanks for getting my day off to a great start. You've summed it up far better than I could. Undying thanks to you too

I think it's more the huge emphasis placed on the "high school" part of things, particularly the part where they called it their "worst enemy". To me at least that brings into mind Lloyd coming home after having brutally murdered poofed his father into another realm only for his mother to nag him about the assignment due the next day only to react with "moooooooom!". They make it sound like it's going to be an integral part of the story, rather than a basic backdrop for the story. The "Highschool by Day, Cliche by Night" story as I like to call it is hated for many good reasons. Usually it means the protagonist/s are a bunch of cookie cutter Mary Sue hipsters designed to be a hit with the teens. As I've said before though, it's Phil Lord and Chris Miller. They're not doing this to get out of making a good story or because the setting appealed to them, they're doing this as a parody of the genre, and knowing them it'll be perfect. Hopefully they'll let both of them coexist in peace, each blissfully ignorant of the other's existence.

It's Phil Lord and Chris Miller, so chances are they're doing a send-up on bad/cheesy kids movies. Not all hope is lost yet.

I'm not so sure. I assumed it might be satire at first, but after reading through his post history (is this ad hominem? Could a Mod delete this if it is?) he's never made huge claims before, and when speculating it's always been very clearly defined as such. His writing here is factual, a statement, rather than speculation. He hasn't leaked anything before, so I'd say take it with a grain of salt. If he's telling the truth, I'll be very surprised if LEGO does this. Gen 2's lore has been very simple and straightforward, and unless Ekimu is corrupted by Makuta/Umarak I can't see him being a villain. If Greg were still on the team, maybe, (not condemning him, but Velika does come to mind) but it will be interesting to see how they handle it if this is true. However... we're in March. We didn't even get pictures this early in 2014, did we?

2016 Toa, or at least Lewa anyway, are very nice. He's hands down better than 2015 Lewa in most ways, and if you can look past the awkward arm build (which isn't too bad) and get Uxar you won't regret it. It's such a good set I'm actually considering buying some other 2016 Toa, even though I hate most of them.

Bought Uxar and Lewa. With the right posing (thanks JtO) they look absolutely phenomenal together. Shadow trap is useless though. Is anyone else bothered by Lewa's rather small head?

That's odd. I can't remember ever receiving a set with a clip like the one on the left.