Azani

Inordinately, the real issue here is the "Monkey" terminology. @Gorilla94 may be on top of the horrid extent of the whole blackface (or, more accurately, the marginalization and engendered hatred for people of African descent in the ststes), but the catch is the keyword that you highlighted above. The combination of red, black, and the "monkey" adjective, as it is utilized in the theme's name, is a perfect storm. If it were to be closely based on the actual text of "Monkey" or "Journey to the West", I don't believe that we'd be picking up on a fourteen set line with several sets above 50 EUR. TLG is in this one to sell kits to children, not to produce art. This doesn't have anything to do with colonialism or abolition; it has to do with blackface and "sambo" depictions in American popular culture. This is a mass media convulsion, and the simple fact that two members here jumped to the "racist" conclusion immediately after seeing the logo that we now know to be extra-corporation promotional material is evidence enough of the disability that TLG suffers here.

For the most part, it's unwise to ask questions such as the one that you posted above. This sort of thing is what kills independent sources. I would concede that Rakuten is rarely a firsthand recipient of TLG's forthcoming releases, but I do know that 75291 is comimg. It is present in a certain major retailer's inventory system, and is accessible within their .xml sitemap. I remember the V-19 and the "Resistance Shuttle" (Raddus) discord. No member on EB thought that those had any bearing in a reliable source.

Correct; it's the west wing, the east wing, and the residence, with each wing being about 4 modules tall and 9 modules wide.

As far as the first wave runs, I wouldn't count on that; our source material with respect to the 16th-century Journey to the West doesn't really lend itself to the colorful and whimsical style of Elves. I'm expecting something more approximate to the Exo-Force of yore. Lots of bland locations, in addition to a few small vehicle-type kits with traditionally masculine colors; reds, browns, greys. On point, sir. TLG can't afford to litigate as the defendant anymore.

I would suggest that there is a chance that we may not be thinking of the same racist children's books and dolls and other such turn-of-the-century materual; I happen to own a book on the etiology of the blackface tradition, and so I feel relatively safe in stating my opinion on this one. That said, most people, and certainly most children, will not make that connection, so I would have some faith in TLG on this front. Nah, man; if there's one thing that the folks over at TLG corporate are not in the habit of doing, it's giving any clout to the knockoff manufacturers. I have some strong faith in TLG in that we will see some mind-changing, paradigm-shifting creative work. :P

I would corroborate the hexagonal bit if I could find the image of the dungeon. I haven't really been following the leaked images for Ninjago. :P EDIT: Found it. Thanks! The Technic would be necessary to connect the kits in a sort of modular fashion... running off of the assumption that the sets will not connect with System elements to avoid stability issues.

No. For "Monkey Kid", no, it's not. I had the same darn thought when I saw the logo, and now that someone else has drawn the same innocuous connection, I'll say it flat-out; that better not be a finalized logo for the line.

I distinctly recall Garmadon having some standard old 2006 Exo-Force hair back in 2011 or so... As @GarmaFan stated above, this dates us back to Season 1. Had this Harkonen fellow said anything about what to expect from the "Burst" kits? FWIW I believe that the EN terminology will be "Burst", not "Surge" as was initially reported. Cutting the details from Nuremberg into something coherent is tough, but I would suspect that we'll get some usable technic from these kits if we really do see a board game-type setup in 2HY mainline kits. Very curious about how TLG will pull that one off. Looking forward to NYTF...

That sounds about right to me. :P

These kits are all rumored to release in July or August of this year, but a few might sneak past a little earlier... with eight sets known to me as of right now, the list keeps getting more and more unwieldy.... Well, I mean, he's best known for being one of the Ministry of Magic fellows who wanted Buckbeak executed, so that's his reason for being in 75947. 75945 Expecto Patronum - $14.99 US 75946 Triwizard Tournament - $34.99 US 75947 Hagrid's Hut with Buckbeak Rescue - $49.99 US 75948 Hogwarts Clock Tower - $89.99 US 75957 LEGO Harry Potter Advent Calendar - $39.99 US 75958 Confidential - ~$54.99 US 75964 Confidential - $39.99 US 75965 Confidential - $14.99 US

I can independently corroborate the inclusion of Buckbeak and Macnair (or someone who looks much like Macnair) in 75947. And it will be $49.99 US, as predicted.

Ahaha, man; it's certainly not something that I saw coming, but TLG has felt an incensing need to include DC characters in this wave. Very excited for the further D2C reveals, but I suspect that it will be a bit of a feat to top 70840 at this juncture. I would also point out that TLG is increasingly willing to soup up licensed characters when they end up tying in with TLM2; would it be too much to ask for another faux-licensed spaceman/spacemen "battle pack" a la 70841 in the May TLM2 wave? I'll be keeping an eye out for any news on 70837-70839 and 70842 as we slide into the new year. More TLM2 is coming. Correct. It is coming in the middle of the Q3 chunk of the year. 76137 and 76138 are Batman kits with 4+ branding, and 76118-76122 are Batman as well.

Who knows? Some folks are aware of what is coming in the summer, yes. I'm not aware of any Legacy sets that are set (planned) for the summer of next year, but I'm only aware of a few kits at this point along the line As it is, I get the impression that the reception to the Legacy line has sounded a bit mixed, so it should be a relief to hear that Ninjago is spinning into a different direction at this juncture. Should be exciting; they certainly sound like a change of pace. I would assume that most of the winter wave will be available stateside within a week or so.

While you're ostensibly correct, your behavior and circumstantial attitude regarding this is childlike and frankly a bit ridiculous. This is not that big of a deal to anyone involved, irrespective of whether or not they are a TLG employee, stockroom worker, assembly line attendant, or affiliate. Nor is it an issue to most AFOLs, who are cognizant of the fact that it will continue regardless of their involvement or "buy-in". Implicit in the nature of this fandom and, in a broader sense, this hobby is the fact that unscrupulous folks will attempt to line their proverbial pockets with LEGO products as soon as they are able; it has always drawn large and serious crowds, and it always will. While I am cognizant of the fact that this is morally wrong and deeply offensive to TLG, I am also, in tandem, aware that this is a process that begins in Jiaxing or Shanghai, where TLG produces elements, and that the vast majority of AFOLs do not engage in the process whatsoever. Even in cases where folks are directly involved, it is absurd to pigeonhole and name-call to any extent, and that is where I begin to draw the line and stick up for my friends. This is a frankly miniscule issue, and it leaves me completely unfazed to hear that you are reporting these folks to the authorities in question. Please be polite, considerate of others, and aware of the fact that "Ninjawhip" and others do not steal anything, in any way, under any circumstances. This is not the place to make enemies. For what it is worth, I do not personally or socially approve of selling, sharing, or snapping shots of stolen minifigures, but I do not hound or call out those who do engage in such behaviors, because they are adults and are capable of making adult decisions. -Azani

That's intriguing/curious to catch, as I was unaware that the UK retail setup was as tightly controlled insofar as distribution is concerned with the summer (2HY) Brickheadz. Over here in the states, we're seeing some very narrow distribution arrangements as well, but my understanding was that the Minecraft, Incredibles 2, and JWFK dual packs were seeing a general mass retail release in the UK. Generally, it is good to clarify this sort of thing in an explicit sort of way; in this case, it may have been unwise to just assume.

No worries; and, as it stands in the last few weeks of 2018, I would concur/assent that TLG's marketing strategy for the proper and strictly modular Brickheadz line has been incredibly risky and intrinsically dependent on strong sales in a very short list of key IPs. I would assume that TLG would need to drastically cut back on the number of IPs/licensed popular culture properties in order to maintain the line, but maybe I'm simply in the dark about how well The Nightmare Before Christmas sells in 2018. :P

For what it is worth, I know that TLG had planned a wave of four BH for the expected street date of January 1 for The LEGO Movie 2 kits. I do not know if any of these will be seeing the light of day. I can say with 100% certainty that nothing is coming to general retail on the Brickheadz front in Q1 of 2019.

I am, to be perfectly clear and forthright on this one, not making assumptions. As it runs, there is very little to debate/delineate with regards to 75236 here; it is being treated in a more confidential manner than the rest of the Q1 2019 wave, so there will be some uncertainty going forward. The last thing that I am going to say/explicate on this one is that multiple retailers have labeled it as "Slave I"; I cannot imagine that this is wholly in error, as Tidy has made clear in his previous statements with regards to this topic. While I suppose that it is possible that both Walmart and Target have labeled it as such in error, I would be bona fide shocked if it were made clear/elucidated that that were, in fact, the case. I have my "story", insofar as my logic follows, and I am sticking to it; I would hope that my track record in previous matters will speak for itself. Thanks.

75236 is a playset - "R vs. K" - that is coming in January for $19.99 US and 191 pieces. It has something to do with a Slave I, but it isn't a Juniors set.

Checking by the sitemaps for both Tesco and Argos, it might not go to either on the UK front; that said, that is the correct way of putting it with respect to TLG's plans, so to speak. It might be a mainline (general, or public release) kit in some EU countries, but it will be exclusive to Target or some other major big-box retailer in most. It's a vehicle of some kind. And yes, it will see a January 1 release. :) What @legozebra has explained should help you out; that being said, it's worth getting them all out in this thread. Thank you for mentioning that method.

Funny as it runs, we're over here hoping that you'll be pleasantly surprised. There are four sets confirmed for the Wizarding World banner in 2019. 75945-75948. Your timing was rough. Jokes notwithstanding, I'll be seeing the film tomorrow night. :P

Please remain careful to avoid saying this in the future. We will never see updates from Amazon.fr if you keep doing this. :) That being what it is, here's what I should have said upfront: 75945: No later than June. $9.99 US. 7+, 121 pieces. 75946: Release date could be whenever. 8+, 265 pieces Nothing on this one yet, save the piece count. 75947: As it runs, again, we're in the dark. I'd bet on a Release date that coincides with 75946-75948. 8+, 496 pieces. 75948: 9+, 922 pieces.

I'd simply like to jump back into the fray for a moment to address a couple of my more pernicious/pensive reflections on these statements. One of the things that implicitly and instantaneously made G1 a hit (relatively, with regards to what was initially planned for) was the degree to which the creators/set designers ruminated on the amiable and affable traits of all the robots. :P Now, one of my personal goals in my G1 work has been to favor the darkness and duplicitousness inherent in a story with the literary and thematic twists that G1 retained for the duration of its run; however, I do believe that it is worth remembering that we're irrevocably dealing with a toy line meant for 7-12 year old kids; the median here should be snugly in mirth and creativity, not in drama and existentialism. All of these MOCs are spectacular, as I touched on above; however, I failed to mention the intense personality in all of these that a couple of other folks initially mentioned. A few other thoughts, to round this min-dissertation out and offer some more critiques; the Muaka and Kane-Ra type Rahi at the close are nice and complex at the heads, which I initially had thought of as a small yet noted concern (especially with the amount of SYSTEM used). It's not. My above critiques here are pretty minimal; again, it is clear that some spectacular and long-view draftsmanship went into the work that brought these to life. It must take a heck of a lot of patience to work out that Makuta. :P My earliest MOC drafts are usually spanning/ranging from simply uninspired to exactingly over-executed; to me, it's simply unbelievable as to how phenomenal you were able to make brick-built characters without noting too many of the more ancillary details on, say, the original Muaka kit. Certainly, the Rahi are a personal favorite, but I would imagine that there are a number of "personal favorites" with the mind-blowing builds herein.

Apart from a certain (potentially warsome) reference to a certain inimitably well-produced and well-acted motion picture, I can't infer much from the nature of the MOC itself. insofar as the background work and the lighting seem to follow the path of least resistance. Turn up the effort/diligence on those, and refine your mise en scene; then, I'd be glad to toss a critique in the design department your way. Good luck!

75945 through 75948 will see what I currently and truthfully think is a mainline 2HY release. I haven't heard anything with regards to 75957 and beyond. Cheers!