Latest news about Lego animal moulds

[Accio Lego]

15 hours ago, Roebuck said:

I guess it is the normal summer wave of city, but do not remember exactly when they usually pops up in stores

Like, a normal normal summer wave that could turn up any time over the summer, or is the ‘Exploration’ City wave this summer going to be marine themed (like how last year was mission to Mars, before that arctic, before that jungle, etc.) Because the Exploration wave usually comes out in June I think. 

[TeriXeri]

14 minutes ago, Accio Lego said:

Like, a normal normal summer wave that could turn up any time over the summer, or is the ‘Exploration’ City wave this summer going to be marine themed (like how last year was mission to Mars, before that arctic, before that jungle, etc.) Because the Exploration wave usually comes out in June I think. 

There was some regional difference in release dates, at least for City 2019.

Space was released early June in Europe , and late June in US.

Donut Shop / Fire Chief Car / Fair People Pack etc. and some other sets came at the same time as Space in Europe, but August in the US.

Advent Calendar / Ski Resort came out in September.

 

I'd assume that the 2020 Ocean sets would fall under exploration, but the sets are kind of split half-half with Airport sets.

But the situation seems to be different each year.

2018 Arctic came out at the same time in early June, while the July Trains came out in August in US.

Edited February 13, 2020 by TeriXeri

[Roebuck]

There is unfortunately only one animal in CMF series 20. I was hoping it would have the same or close to the number that series 19 did 

It is most likely a turtle, yet another animal we get in a minidoll-version first so we can expect more in the future I think. Seal, hedgehog, fox, poodle or several others can get the minifig treatment next 

[Aurore]

Promobricks.de released the listing for the Series 20 Minifigures. The turtle is confirmed!

Not an actual animal, but we'll also get a new plush bunny.

[lifeinplastic]

A disappointing series for new animal moulds, although pleased about the turtle. It's a shame as the CMF series is usually the most appropriate place to see new moulds for smaller animals. I'd still like to see a koala, toucan and sea lion in future series.

The introduction of licensed figure series has been a real disappointment as it means only one regular series per year and usually this means a lack of new moulds for generic, everyday items (sports equipment, musical instruments, etc). I suppose there could be some new animals in the Harry Potter series but these may also be fictional animals like the niffler...

Edited February 20, 2020 by lifeinplastic

[Anonknee Muss]

3 hours ago, Aurore said:

Promobricks.de released the listing for the Series 20 Minifigures. The turtle is confirmed!

Not an actual animal, but we'll also get a new plush bunny.

Is that confirmed new piece though? I see it being a recolour of the current bunny mold.

[Aurore]

6 minutes ago, Anonknee Muss said:

Is that confirmed new piece though? I see it being a recolour of the current bunny mold.

In the Series 20 topic, @Itaria No Shintaku mentioned that minifig #15's accessory was a new mold. 

[Roebuck]

7 hours ago, lifeinplastic said:

A disappointing series for new animal moulds, although pleased about the turtle. It's a shame as the CMF series is usually the most appropriate place to see new moulds for smaller animals. I'd still like to see a koala, toucan and sea lion in future series.

The introduction of licensed figure series has been a real disappointment as it means only one regular series per year and usually this means a lack of new moulds for generic, everyday items (sports equipment, musical instruments, etc). I suppose there could be some new animals in the Harry Potter series but these may also be fictional animals like the niffler...

I agree, we have to go back to series 13 before we find a series with only one animal! And things where going so well with a lot of them in series 19  On the other hand beggars can't be choosers and I am happy we get a turtle after all
I have high hopes in HP as well in addition BAM and city have bean really good this year

 

[williejm]

56 minutes ago, Roebuck said:

I agree, we have to go back to series 13 before we find a series with only one animal! And things where going so well with a lot of them in series 19  On the other hand beggars can't be choosers and I am happy we get a turtle after all
I have high hopes in HP as well in addition BAM and city have bean really good this year

Yeah we do have to look at it in context. Harry Potter and series 19 gave us lots of animals, City is throwing quite a few our way, and BAM is becoming a goldmine. I’m excited about the turtle, and now hopeful that the second Harry Potter series delivers too. 

[Robert8]

Well, piñata and stuffed bunny are animals too... just not real. 

 

Also, some of the S19 animals felt really forced. Like the flamingo was cool but the "Gardener" figure was really lackluster

Edited February 20, 2020 by Robert8

[Anonknee Muss]

8 hours ago, Aurore said:

In the Series 20 topic, @Itaria No Shintaku mentioned that minifig #15's accessory was a new mold. 

Oh I must have missed that, thanks!

[williejm]

1 hour ago, Robert8 said:

Also, some of the S19 animals felt really forced. Like the flamingo was cool but the "Gardener" figure was really lackluster

Disagree on that one, that CMF is just awesome, and wouldn’t have happened other than in the CMF series 

[Lego Dodo Bird]

The series 20 pictures leaked, and the new turtle looks amazing!

[Robert8]

Leaked?

Its at the Toy Fair...

[K_Tiger]

Did we discuss the llama in the Friends line? Looks like it would translate well enough to system with a recolor.

[Accio Lego]

45 minutes ago, K_Tiger said:

Did we discuss the llama in the Friends line? Looks like it would translate well enough to system with a recolor.

Now that you mention it the mold itself isn’t to far off the more rounded standards of modern minifigure animals. The only reason I wouldn’t use one of them in a minifigure display now is because of the colors and the goofy eyes, and it’s easy enough to print different eyes on there. For that matter, I thought the mold was way to small to be in scale for a minidoll, but for a minifigure - well, it’s still too small to be a llama, but it’s about the right size for an alpaca (which the curly coat is more accurate to anyway). 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Accio Lego

[williejm]

That turtle is just perfect. 

Don't think we should read too much into the goofy Friends alpaca, we’ve seen even similar things in “normal” sets tend to get remade (such as the dolphin and turtle) 

have any images of the City sets surfaced yet?

[Roebuck]

I read this article and found something interesting:

https://www.brothers-brick.com/2020/02/23/our-wrap-up-of-lego-at-toy-fair-new-york-2020-news/
 
"In front of the booth and along the sides, LEGO has large brick-built sculptures. The two posted near the booth’s entrance were an adorable frog and llama, likely to help emphasize LEGO’s new focus on providing more animals in LEGO sets, which a LEGO spokesperson told us was the result of the company’s market research. Check out our Toy Fair LEGO Friends coverage for a plethora of new animals (including llamas)."

I like the sound of that

[leafan]

@Roebuck - You're the Doctor Dolittle of the Lego world

Good news about their renewed focus on animal molds.

Edited February 24, 2020 by leafan

[Roebuck]

11 hours ago, leafan said:

@Roebuck - You're the Doctor Dolittle of the Lego world 

Maybe I should read the books then

[williejm]

Re the turtle in CMF s20 : curious that we get that new mould when there are some upcoming new ‘underwater’ themed city sets on the way. Is it too much to hope for it to show up in the City sets too? 

[Merlict]

On 2/20/2020 at 11:59 AM, lifeinplastic said:

The introduction of licensed figure series has been a real disappointment as it means only one regular series per year

To me that's more than fine, it was getting a bit fatiguing having a new series out when the previous had barely hit the shelves. 

I'd rather they space things out a bit to keep it fresh. Or maybe smaller sets of 12 more often.

[Roebuck]

8 hours ago, williejm said:

Re the turtle in CMF s20 : curious that we get that new mould when there are some upcoming new ‘underwater’ themed city sets on the way. Is it too much to hope for it to show up in the City sets too? 

That would be the smart way to do it, use the CMF budget to get new interesting parts introduced to sets e.g. the niffler in FB.. In this case I think it could go both ways, the leaker from the toy fair did not mention any animals in the city sets. I found it strange so I asked specifically and then he remembered the hammerhead and stingray. The turtle is small and may slipped under his radar, there is a lot to look at and many details to remember at a toy fair. So if it had been me I would have remembered all the animals and most details about HP, but had you asked me about figs in SW or superheros I would been more or less blank
It would be a strange coincidence that we get a CMF diver a few months before a city "diver" wave and they are unrelated, but you never know with Lego..

[williejm]

2 hours ago, Roebuck said:

That would be the smart way to do it, use the CMF budget to get new interesting parts introduced to sets e.g. the niffler in FB.. In this case I think it could go both ways, the leaker from the toy fair did not mention any animals in the city sets. I found it strange so I asked specifically and then he remembered the hammerhead and stingray. The turtle is small and may slipped under his radar, there is a lot to look at and many details to remember at a toy fair. So if it had been me I would have remembered all the animals and most details about HP, but had you asked me about figs in SW or superheros I would been more or less blank
It would be a strange coincidence that we get a CMF diver a few months before a city "diver" wave and they are unrelated, but you never know with Lego..

It also wouldn’t be the first time we got a ‘surprise’ set or recolour - remember the tiger in the City jungle sets?

[Roebuck]

11 minutes ago, williejm said:

It also wouldn’t be the first time we got a ‘surprise’ set or recolour - remember the tiger in the City jungle sets?

Yes that was a really nice surprise