Latest impact of other themes on historic themes

[Aanchir]

1 hour ago, a_clay_brick said:

Also I believe the main argument for minidolls is that the character designs would translate well to them, but I'm not sure if theres any precedent of LEGO doing that. To me it seems clear every mini-doll set is aimed at a primarily girl market.

I think the closest we have to a precedent for "using mini-dolls on the basis of character design" is Inside Out 2  . But that set is still fairly feminine-coded in terms of both its aesthetics (lots of floral and pastel colors) and its figure selection (starring two of the emotions portrayed as female characters instead of any of those portrayed as male characters). Another debatable example is The Ice Castle. While other Frozen sets have used mini-dolls, most other teen/adult targeted Disney castle sets — including some of those starring "Disney Princess" characters like last year's Disney Castle or this year's Mini Sleeping Beauty Castle — have used minifigs, so the Frozen set is sort of an outlier in that regard.

For my part, I wouldn't mind if more themes used mini-dolls where the character designs are especially well suited to them, but you're right that so far this doesn't generally seem to be the deciding factor in which themes use mini-dolls. That said, the distinction is definitely more nuanced than just "boy theme" vs "girl theme" — The Dreamworks Trolls sets strike me as one especially feminine-coded theme that opted for minifigs instead of mini-dolls, and there are also occasional Disney sets like 10773 that are very "girly" but still use traditional minifigs.

[a_clay_brick]

2 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I think the closest we have to a precedent for "using mini-dolls on the basis of character design" is Inside Out 2  . But that set is still fairly feminine-coded in terms of both its aesthetics (lots of floral and pastel colors) and its figure selection (starring two of the emotions portrayed as female characters instead of any of those portrayed as male characters). Another debatable example is The Ice Castle. While other Frozen sets have used mini-dolls, most other teen/adult targeted Disney castle sets — including some of those starring "Disney Princess" characters like last year's Disney Castle or this year's Mini Sleeping Beauty Castle — have used minifigs, so the Frozen set is sort of an outlier in that regard.

For my part, I wouldn't mind if more themes used mini-dolls where the character designs are especially well suited to them, but you're right that so far this doesn't generally seem to be the deciding factor in which themes use mini-dolls. That said, the distinction is definitely more nuanced than just "boy theme" vs "girl theme" — The Dreamworks Trolls sets strike me as one especially feminine-coded theme that opted for minifigs instead of mini-dolls, and there are also occasional Disney sets like 10773 that are very "girly" but still use traditional minifigs.

Definitely some good examples/outliers! Good points about the Inside Out set, and regarding the difference between the Frozen Castle and the 18+ Disney Castles, I'd chalk that up to three potential factors- the Frozen subtheme being exclusively minidolls, the 18+ Castle not targeting girls, and there (to my knowledge at least) not being any 18+ sets that feature minidolls.

The Mini Sleeping Beauty castle is definitely an interesting one! They've been kind of all over the place with that line. The first two, 40478 Mini Disney Castle and 40521 Mini Disney The Haunted Mansion weren't in a specific subtheme and featured minifigs. Then, 40613 Mini Disney Palace of Agrabah released in the Disney Princess subtheme without a minifigure or minidoll. A few months later, they released 40708 Mini Disney Ariel's Castle in the Disney Princess subtheme, this time with a minidoll. Finally, later on in the year, they gave  40720 Mini Disney Sleeping Beauty Castle, this time returning to no subtheme and featuring a minifig. To me this, indicates that they weren't quite sure what they wanted to do with these mini locations and are trying out a lot of options to see whats popular. It also indicates to me that they will not mix minidolls and minifigs within the same subtheme (LEGO Movie 2 being an obvious exception,) otherwise why not have the Sleeping Beauty Castle in the Princess subtheme? I'll come back to that.

For Trolls, you make a very good point. It does seem like it would be primarily aimed at girls but it uses minifigs. Same with Powerpuff Girls, now that I think about it. While boys definitely are interested in both of these properties, they do seem like the target demographic is the minidoll audience. For both of these, my best guess is that they determined the head shapes wouldn't work at all on minidolls. Another realistic option is that the reason young girls prefer minidolls over minifigs is because it is easier to identify and project themselves onto dolls, which isn't an issue as much with Trolls or Powerpuff Girls. Interestingly, it seems 2023 was the first year they ever made a modified minidoll head (also I don't see why it would be a rule, but all of them are specifically used in microdolls)

When it comes to 10773 Minnie Mouse's Ice Cream Shop, I think you're right that its definitely aimed at the minidoll audience, but there are two key things I mentioned earlier. One being that the rest of the Mickey and Friends subtheme is minifigs, and the mini castles suggest that they don't like to mix figs and dolls in the same subtheme. In addition to that, I think the fact that they have the large molded heads also prevented them from making them dolls at the time (although if the subtheme released today I'd bet they'd still be figs)

To me, all of this suggests to me that the young girl market has made it clear that they prefer minidolls if the set is functionally replacing a doll toy in their lives. Friends, Disney, DC Super Hero girls, Wicked, Wednesday, are all competing with dolls/dollhouses of those same characters. Trolls, Powerpuff Girls, and Minnie sets are likely replacing other toys, just not specifically dolls, so the audience is more tolerant of figs.

I don't have any insight into their internal rules or guidelines so this is all speculation, I just enjoy trying to recognize patterns in stuff like this and this is the stuff I've noticed.

[cehnot]

Pickabrick now has Wolfpack torso back in stock. 

[Rjbricks]

Thanks. Got a handful of them. Hard to believe they’re not best sellers though.

[Westbrick]

A ‘proper’ photo of the Wolfpack guy (and the other upcoming CMFs) is currently on reddit

[Khargeust]

Very surprising to me that he does not appear on the front of the packaging because it will definitely be the best seller of the serie.

[Black Falcon]

Wow, the Wolf looks really great, they did a good Job on that one. Wouldn´t be surprised if it gets worse than with the Paladin with this Figure.

[chris6507]

How do shops have these 2 months early? It's insane! Probably wint be in Aus for 3 months! Hope i can get just 5. Im not greedy! :-D

[Classic_Spaceman]

That looks excellent! The silver under the collar seems to be chainmail, with the mail shirt extending down over the legs; the brown torso seems to be a padded leather tunic, given the stitching and lack of extension onto the legs. 
Arms and legs are dual-moulded and printed, the shield is obviously a must-have, and the wolf looks great! 
 

1 hour ago, Black Falcon said:

Wouldn´t be surprised if it gets worse than with the Paladin with this Figure.

He (and the pirate) may be worse than the paladin, since the DnD series was all hits, while Series 27 is mostly passes (or ones to just pick up 1-2 of). 
 

Edited November 10, 2024 by Classic_Spaceman

[Triceron]

I'm super excited about the wolfpack but also the pterodactyl costume.  It will fit perfect in my savage cyclops army

Edited November 10, 2024 by Triceron

[Artanis I]

7 hours ago, chris6507 said:

How do shops have these 2 months early? It's insane! Probably wint be in Aus for 3 months! Hope i can get just 5. Im not greedy! :-D

I still haven't seen the D&D ones yet.

On the plus side, the QR codes are all in the apps by the time I get to them, so there's no buying blind required.

[Black Falcon]

10 hours ago, chris6507 said:

How do shops have these 2 months early? It's insane! Probably wint be in Aus for 3 months! Hope i can get just 5. Im not greedy! :-D

That is something that surprised me to. That the first ones are on the shelves in mid December is quite common but having them out now already.

10 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

That looks excellent! The silver under the collar seems to be chainmail, with the mail shirt extending down over the legs; the brown torso seems to be a padded leather tunic, given the stitching and lack of extension onto the legs. 
Arms and legs are dual-moulded and printed, the shield is obviously a must-have, and the wolf looks great! 
 

He (and the pirate) may be worse than the paladin, since the DnD series was all hits, while Series 27 is mostly passes (or ones to just pick up 1-2 of). 
 

I don´t actually think that the Pirate will have that high demand - I mean it will probably be the second most demanded figure, but I don´t think it will be anyway near the Wolfpack Bandit or the Paladin.

8 hours ago, Triceron said:

I'm super excited about the wolfpack but also the pterodactyl costume.  It will fit perfect in my savage cyclops army

Wow, that looks really great, nice idea.

[MAB]

That looks great. It appears to be the new(ish) 'open' hood, Good for Nazgul and the torso is much nice than the one in the set that has the printed fur and belt over the insignia and the pouch that looks a bit silly if you have multiple figures. I just hope the new torso doesn't have a similar pouch. In the picture I saw, the shield was in the way and I couldn't see the side of the torso.

[Black Falcon]

36 minutes ago, MAB said:

That looks great. It appears to be the new(ish) 'open' hood, Good for Nazgul 

Yeah, you´re right, just one more reason for people to buy it. I really wish they would let people preorder those figures, that would also prevent the cherry picking in the stores. Well somewhat at least.

[zoth33]

4 hours ago, MAB said:

That looks great. It appears to be the new(ish) 'open' hood, Good for Nazgul and the torso is much nice than the one in the set that has the printed fur and belt over the insignia and the pouch that looks a bit silly if you have multiple figures. I just hope the new torso doesn't have a similar pouch. In the picture I saw, the shield was in the way and I couldn't see the side of the torso.

Yes it's the Star Wars hood.  I wish they would put them on PaB.  I've seen a full image and I don't believe I saw a pouch on the torso.  

[Classic_Spaceman]

23 hours ago, MAB said:

I just hope the new torso doesn't have a similar pouch. In the picture I saw, the shield was in the way and I couldn't see the side of the torso.

A pouch on the torso is unlikely, as the belt is on the legs (and the legs almost certainly do not have one either, since the (Minifig's) right side has a fold in the mail shirt, while the left side only has mail printing). 
 

18 hours ago, zoth33 said:

Yes it's the Star Wars hood.  I wish they would put them on PaB.  

My assumption is that the hood is IP-locked. 😕
 

[Lyichir]

2 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

A pouch on the torso is unlikely, as the belt is on the legs (and the legs almost certainly do not have one either, since the (Minifig's) right side has a fold in the mail shirt, while the left side only has mail printing). 
 

My assumption is that the hood is IP-locked. 😕
 

There's no way the hood is IP-locked, since it's been used in many non-Star Wars and even non-Disney themes (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Monkie Kid, Ninjago, Dungeons & Dragons, Dune).

[DonQuixote]

I really hope the wolf shield will be available at pick a brick. Not including a wolf shield in the medieval town square is my biggest complaint about the set. 

And yes this Wolfpack fig will be hard to get. It is hard getting the paladin. Have only 4 of him. Bear Knights and Black Ravens also only a couple. 

Lego should make these factions in battle packs. The prices of these figs are insane now. But what do you expect with these good looking figs. 

[Classic_Spaceman]

5 hours ago, Lyichir said:

There's no way the hood is IP-locked, since it's been used in many non-Star Wars and even non-Disney themes (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Monkie Kid, Ninjago, Dungeons & Dragons, Dune).

IP-locked elements seem to be able to be used in non-licensed sets, but not sold individually on PAB (considering that the City Space '24-'25 blue astronauts use a jetpack piece that was originally created for First Order Jet Troopers, and theirs is the only back element that is not available on PAB). 
 

3 hours ago, DonQuixote said:

I really hope the wolf shield will be available at pick a brick. Not including a wolf shield in the medieval town square is my biggest complaint about the set. 

It will only end up on PAB if/when it appears in a regular set. If we get a Creator set with the shield, or even a GWP (as their unique pieces sometimes end up on PAB, but this is not consistent!), then it will be available from PAB ~4-6 months after release. 
 

[zoth33]

9 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

A pouch on the torso is unlikely, as the belt is on the legs (and the legs almost certainly do not have one either, since the (Minifig's) right side has a fold in the mail shirt, while the left side only has mail printing). 
 

My assumption is that the hood is IP-locked. 😕
 

 

1 hour ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

IP-locked elements seem to be able to be used in non-licensed sets, but not sold individually on PAB (considering that the City Space '24-'25 blue astronauts use a jetpack piece that was originally created for First Order Jet Troopers, and theirs is the only back element that is not available on PAB). 
 

It will only end up on PAB if/when it appears in a regular set. If we get a Creator set with the shield, or even a GWP (as their unique pieces sometimes end up on PAB, but this is not consistent!), then it will be available from PAB ~4-6 months after release. 
 

There is a dark blue one in a Ninjago set but it hasn't wound up on PAB yet.  Hopefully they make black, brown, and dark blue available on PAB.  

Edited November 11, 2024 by zoth33

[Classic_Spaceman]

6 minutes ago, zoth33 said:

There is a purple one in a Ninjago set but it hasn't wound up on PAB yet.  Hopefully they make black, brown, and purple available on PAB.  

An unclasped hood? Where are you seeing that (Ninjago has them in dark blue)? 
 

[zoth33]

3 minutes ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

An unclasped hood? Where are you seeing that (Ninjago has them in dark blue)? 
 

Sorry yeah it's dark blue.  

[MAB]

2 hours ago, Classic_Spaceman said:

IP-locked elements seem to be able to be used in non-licensed sets, but not sold individually on PAB (considering that the City Space '24-'25 blue astronauts use a jetpack piece that was originally created for First Order Jet Troopers, and theirs is the only back element that is not available on PAB). 
 

It will only end up on PAB if/when it appears in a regular set. If we get a Creator set with the shield, or even a GWP (as their unique pieces sometimes end up on PAB, but this is not consistent!), then it will be available from PAB ~4-6 months after release. 
 

There are always exceptions. Pippin's torso from Rivendell has been on PAB for ages and now is appearing in the lifeboat GWP. 

[Classic_Spaceman]

Creator dragon (aka Majisto’s steed) has leaked! The design looks like a cross between the RDT dragon and something from Ninjago, and it is obviously an update of the classic green-with-red-wings dragon of the Dragon Masters! My only criticisms are that there are no Minifigs, and that the eyes and lower jaw look a bit derpy (though both should be easy fixes) - Overall, an excellent design! 

There is also an interesting detail on the box art - A castle in the background, with a design that does not directly correspond to any made before! While this could absolutely mean nothing, LEGO has often placed future sets into the background of others’ box are (not as often in Creator, however), so we could be getting a look at the next Creator castle!
The castle’s colours are similar to the 3-in-1, but it is primarily light grey instead of dark grey; the layout looks similar to the Yellow Castle (small gatehouse, two towers in the middle of the side walls, and a tall tower in the centre of the back wall), but the towers on the sides are not identical (left side’s is smaller, while the right’s is wider and has a yellow building with a dark blue roof), the gatehouse appears to be flush with the front wall (rather than offset forward a bit, as in both the YC and 3-in-1), and the gatehouse appears to have a door rather than a drawbridge. 
 

[Classic_Spaceman]

BTW, for those who want to make a purple faction (tax collector torsos, etc) but do not want to have to keep cannibalising old Danju Minifigs, the classic motorcycle helmet piece is available in purple from PAB!