Latest impact of other themes on historic themes

[Lyichir]

8 minutes ago, Rogue Angel said:

New BIRD in Aladdin set!

 

 

 

It's a cutie! Would be excellent for a Noah's Ark build!

[Ecclesiastes]

Not that useful, it's a bit too big. But it would be great if it came in lbg to use as an ornament!

[Aanchir]

5 hours ago, Ecclesiastes said:

Not that useful, it's a bit too big. But it would be great if it came in lbg to use as an ornament!

I think exaggerated sizes in LEGO are pretty much expected in a lot of cases, given the minifigure’s wonky proportions and the size limitations of the established system of LEGO connection points. LEGO mice, rats, astromech droids, ladybugs, crabs, ants, babies, monkeys, swords, telephones, books, laptops, etc. all tend to be far larger compared to a minifigure than the typical non-LEGO versions of those subjects would be next to a real person. In a lot of those cases, if they weren’t so oversized, then they’d be much too small to have any meaningful amount of playability!

[Rogue Angel]

8 hours ago, Ecclesiastes said:

Not that useful, it's a bit too big. But it would be great if it came in lbg to use as an ornament!

I disagree. I find this extremely useful, and will be using it in builds immediately. As @Aanchir said, sizes aren't ever perfect in Lego, just look at Minifig height vs.width! I'm quite excited about this piece.

[Ecclesiastes]

Yes, sizes are always a bit odd. But compared to the seagull and eagle it feels like a step back. Or it's just that it's more Friends compatible.

[x105Black]

I love that bird.

[MAB]

I thought they got the crow about right, it is just a shame that the "legs" / pin doesn't fit into a minifigure hand. It would have been ideal for a falcon if done in reddish brown.

[Rogue Angel]

The perched crow looks nice, but I've found it to be practically useless, because of the pin as well as the splayed out pose that crows are never in, except maybe in flight, but that is extremely limiting. The eagle is also limited in use due to the midflight pose, while the seagull is still pretty usable despite having the wings up. This bird is much more ysable since it is in a perched pose, just like the parrot and owls before.

[Aanchir]

7 hours ago, Ecclesiastes said:

Yes, sizes are always a bit odd. But compared to the seagull and eagle it feels like a step back. Or it's just that it's more Friends compatible.

I don’t really get a Friends vibe from it. If anything it’s got a lot of the same design language as the LEGO seagull or chicken, except smaller than either. Friends animals not only tend to be rounder, but also tend to have bigger and more oval-shaped heads in relation to their bodies. For reference, see the already released LEGO Friends/Elves bear, cat, dog, tiger, bird, bat, penguin, owl, rabbit, chimpanzee, and baby dragon designs, particularly compared to their nearest equivalents from more boy-targeted themes.

Also, I feel like some of the smaller and less detailed LEGO Friends animals, particularly the hamster and baby bunny, can be just as suitable for System as for Friends anyhow. They already have more minifigure-like than minidoll-like eye prints, and they aren’t noticeably more rounded or exaggerated than a lot of similar-sized LEGO animals like the spider (new OR old version). For that matter, the new spider itself has already been used in the Elves theme, and the chicken from 2009 has been used in LEGO Friends, which  if anything only further reinforces how little a difference there is between minifig and mini-doll design language once you get below a certain size.

[Exetrius]

So friends ditched the minidoll style for animals? I'm not sure what happened there, but I'm thankful! Very welcome addition to moulded animals family. Oh, and I want one in nougat, dark tan and brown. Let's add some life and diversity to tranquil village squares. 

Btw, what species of bird is it actually, it seems deliberately generic? A white dove, however those don't have yellow beaks...

[Aanchir]

3 hours ago, Exetrius said:

So friends ditched the minidoll style for animals? I'm not sure what happened there, but I'm thankful!

Not really. The mini-doll themes have almost always used the same designs as classic minifigure themes for their smaller animals like frogs, fish, crabs, spiders, chickens, etc. And even many smaller animals designed specifically for mini-doll themes like the baby bunny and hamster don't vary that much from traditional LEGO animal design standards except in terms of having 1.5mm holes to attach accessories like bows and party hats. You could probably get away with using those animals together with minifigures, just as easily as both MOCists and set designers did with the Belville kitten before the collectible minifigures introduced a more specific minifigure-scale cat piece.

3 hours ago, Exetrius said:

Btw, what species of bird is it actually, it seems deliberately generic? A white dove, however those don't have yellow beaks...

I suspect that in this set, at least, the bird is meant to be deliberately generic. All the descriptions I can find translate to stuff like "bird", "bird figure", or "Jasmine's feathered friend".

The most similar real bird I could find with some cursory Google searches is the yellow beak zebra finch.

[Lordofdragonss]

It's weird they used Lego system creature design rules for Friends- based set which is more round than flat.

[Lyichir]

10 hours ago, Lordofdragonss said:

It's weird they used Lego system creature design rules for Friends- based set which is more round than flat.

It is a little odd. Makes me guess that this particular creature might be intended to show up elsewhere as well (possibly one of the CMF series?)

[Rogue Angel]

I've gotta say, this is probably the worst year on record for Historic Lego sets.  a few Harry Potter sets, absolutely zilch from the lackluster TLM2 and Overwatch sets,  Ninjago is mostly re-releases, Only 1 regular CMF line (if that even happens), no Castle, no Elves..  

So a monastery set, maybe a Harry Potter set or two, and hopefully a couple CMFs?     and yet there are 18 non-creator, non-technic "themes"? 

6 years without a Castle line, LotR ended in 2014.  Starting to feel pretty well abandoned.

[Lordofdragonss]

Nexo Knights WAS Castle theme.  I personaly enjoy the slow down as I can finaly hunt things I missed :)
And we can get some cool figs from CMFs! Some "Madmax" torsos used in trailers look perfect for orcs!

[Rogue Angel]

1 hour ago, Lordofdragonss said:

Nexo Knights WAS Castle theme.  I personaly enjoy the slow down as I can finaly hunt things I missed :)
And we can get some cool figs from CMFs! Some "Madmax" torsos used in trailers look perfect for orcs!

I was excited for TLM2 sets too until they were revealed and didn't include a single useful fig. Maybe the CMF line will have a couple, but I would use those for a Mad Max-ish or Star Wars build. Luckily, my other Lego love is Star Wars, and those sets keep chugging along.

[x105Black]

1 hour ago, Lordofdragonss said:

Nexo Knights WAS Castle theme.

Maybe it was technically a Castle theme, but in effect it was not.

[rodiziorobs]

"I will not be drawn into another [castle] debate with you Dennis, I really will not!"

[Aanchir]

A lot of LEGO Castle themes in the past have launched in the summer, and if we are getting any new Castle theme next year, I think LEGO would have more incentive than ever to make it a summer release so that it's not overshadowed by The LEGO Movie 2.

And anyway, at this point I don't even think we know with any kind of certainty what to expect in terms of March releases.

[Robert8]

Rumor has it there will be a second Disney D2C set to be released with the second Disney CMFs 

 

Could it be another castle?

[x105Black]

8 minutes ago, Robert8 said:

Rumor has it there will be a second Disney D2C set to be released with the second Disney CMFs 

 

Could it be another castle?

I suppose it could be the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle.

[Exetrius]

10 hours ago, Robert8 said:

Rumor has it there will be a second Disney D2C set to be released with the second Disney CMFs 

 

Could it be another castle?

Really? I'm hoping for the palace from Aladdin.  

[Swamp]

From the second Lego Movie CMF series, Scarecrow's hat is very nice for a peasant character, and maybe his torso&legs too.

[Rogue Angel]

OK, Apocalypseburg satisifes my need for Mad Max figs (not that it's particularly historic, nor do I really want to pay to buy the whole set)

The CMF series has a couple decent parts

- Scarecrow hat, as Swamp mentioned, just wish the stripe was tan instead of ORANGE.  Hopefully the mold will be reused in other colors because the mold is fantastic.

- Wildstyle's hood is excellent, but from a more modern to futuristic standpoint --- as long as it does have any clip component or something on the back

- Dino-cowboy's hat is useful hopefully, his toros and legs maybe, but I'm guessing there are some futuristic elements to it that will prevent it from being used in Wild West builds.

- Cat ladies torso and legs are decent

- Dorothy's hair is OK

- Scarecrow's torso and legs may be of limited use.

Not that bad of a CMF series, especially if the Scarecrow's hood gets any reuse.

[x105Black]

Agreed.

I said something similar in the LEGO Movie 2 thread, but I'll move it here and break it down a bit more:

Cowardly Lion - Could be a whole fantasy race built around this.
Scarecrow - Could be a great scarecrow, or just nice pieces to use in Castle builds.
Swamp Monster - Another fantasy race, goes well with other Swamp Monster minifigures.
Apocalypseburg parts - Many of the minifigure legs and torsos could work for Castle or Western builds.
Rex's hat and dinosaur - Both could be useful for Castle builds.  Rex's pants might be great for Westerns, if that interests anyone.
Tin Man - I could use his body as a suit of armor, and he has a nice axe.  His hat could be used as, well, a funnel...
Dorothy - Her hair and Toto could be useful.  In fact, most of her parts are passable in a fantasy context, or in a Western context.
Brightly colored characters - Hair could be good for fantasy characters.

While there aren't any minifigures that are specifically for historical or Castle fans, there are plenty of parts that could be useful.  I'm not big into Westerns, but there are certainly some parts here that could work.

I think I'm going to enjoy this series.