Super Mario 2020 - Rumors & Discussion

[Walter529a]

I really hope, that If they do in fact next year do a Starter Course 2.0 wit Luigi, they have the start Tiule to play the Undeground theme instead.

Or introduce song changing Tiles...

[Borex]

Song changing tiles  what a great idea!!

[eldiano]

The starter set is on backorder at the US shop lego website.  

[Carefree_Dude]

I'd love to see a ucs Bowser build based on giant Bowser from the games. It could even have Mario functionality with barcodes on it's head, back, and arms

[Carefree_Dude]

I finally was able to contact Lego about my defective Mario. I showed them over the phone the issue it was having. They are going to have me return the defective one and send me a new one. They said it will take a while (more than a month) since the part has to come directly from Denmark. 

[Pchan1983]

I just opened my box of Character Pack and it it indeed a full set on one row.   I really like Blooper. and I think these are great for desk display even you are not into it.  My box is packed in Europe (xxSx code), I wonder if the US version has the same distribution?

 

[astral brick]

I have the impression that this crossover doesn't satisfy either Lego builders or gamers. Wouldn't have been better to use Nintendo license in order to release more traditional sets - ie Creator/Creator Expert - based on Mario's iconic lore? 

[Fenghuang0296]

3 minutes ago, astral brick said:

I have the impression that this crossover doesn't satisfy either Lego builders or gamers. Wouldn't have been better to use Nintendo license in order to release more traditional sets - ie Creator/Creator Expert - based on Mario's iconic lore? 

You mean like the NES?

Besides that, I fully expect a Peach’s Castle next year. Though you’re right, a lot of the builds are simple and the game isn’t incredibly exciting. Fun, sure, but it lacks replayability. 

[Walter529a]

I just realized that if LEGO does Luigi and they give him the fire outfit similar to Mario (White overalls and green shirt), he will look exactly as he did as second player Luigi in the original NES SMB

[Fenghuang0296]

6 minutes ago, Walter529a said:

I just realized that if LEGO does Luigi and they give him the fire outfit similar to Mario (White overalls and green shirt), he will look exactly as he did as second player Luigi in the original NES SMB

If LEGO does Luigi as a ‘digifig’, there is absolutely no way he won’t be basically a recolour of Mario (maybe modified to be a brick taller). I’d be very surprised if Mario’s power ups weren’t compatible with him. Given how they screwed up Cat and Builder Mario’s appearances, I highly doubt they’ll be bothered about Luigi having a yellow cat outfit instead of green for the sake of promoting playability. Honestly, anything less would be seen as stupid by the average consumer who wants it as a toy. 

[PGBQW]

8 hours ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

(maybe modified to be a brick taller). I’d be very surprised if Mario’s power ups weren’t compatible with him.

Well, if he's taller the suits wouldnt fit him, since they wouldnt click in Luigi's buttons to activate the power up.

 

Also all of Mario's hats wear an M

Edited August 17, 2020 by PGBQW

[jonwil]

Does LEGO have some way to update the firmware of the Mario figure? Or would new barcodes and etc in any new wave only work with a new figure that has new firmware?

 

[PGBQW]

6 minutes ago, jonwil said:

Does LEGO have some way to update the firmware of the Mario figure? Or would new barcodes and etc in any new wave only work with a new figure that has new firmware?

 

For what I've seen, Mario is just a scanner/speaker, the actual software is in the app, which is what they'll update.

[Vorkosigan]

1 hour ago, jonwil said:

Does LEGO have some way to update the firmware of the Mario figure? Or would new barcodes and etc in any new wave only work with a new figure that has new firmware?

 

Yes it updates via Bluetooth while you are connected to the app. Mine did first time I connected it to the app.

1 hour ago, PGBQW said:

For what I've seen, Mario is just a scanner/speaker, the actual software is in the app, which is what they'll update.

Not true, you don't need the app connected for Mario to work. He is updatable over Bluetooth.

[BrickBob Studpants]

The Mario figure‘s firmware can be updated via Bluetooth 

Edit: Ninja‘d 

Edited August 17, 2020 by Lego-Freak

[PGBQW]

3 minutes ago, Vorkosigan said:

Not true, you don't need the app connected for Mario to work. He is updatable over Bluetooth.

Really? Oh well, the more you know

[Carefree_Dude]

I got the "order confirmation" for my replacement Mario today, and it is listed as "

PREPACK BOX, CREATURE W/ FUNCTION, NO. 1

 

maybe this means there will be more? 

[m0repotter]

Hey I haven’t read on here in a while so I’m not sure if this was already answered but I was wondering if anyone knew anything more about the previously unidentified “Toad” set that was supposed to be a Comic Con exclusive but somehow ended up being found by a Target employee in their system??

[Lyichir]

20 hours ago, Fenghuang0296 said:

If LEGO does Luigi as a ‘digifig’, there is absolutely no way he won’t be basically a recolour of Mario (maybe modified to be a brick taller). I’d be very surprised if Mario’s power ups weren’t compatible with him. Given how they screwed up Cat and Builder Mario’s appearances, I highly doubt they’ll be bothered about Luigi having a yellow cat outfit instead of green for the sake of promoting playability. Honestly, anything less would be seen as stupid by the average consumer who wants it as a toy. 

I agree he'd probably be pretty much the same size for compatibility's sake (that way they could use the same molds/hardware). That said, if they did do Luigi as a digi-fig I wouldn't rule out them releasing other versions of the costumes as well (with the same molds as Mario's but with different colors/printing as necessary). I could see them releasing a pack with Luigi and some or all of the existing costume varieties recolored for him as a "player two" expansion pack, possibly for a similar price as the current starter set (especially since I don't foresee them pricing Luigi LOWER than Mario considering it could cannibalize sales of the starter set if a cheaper player character was available).

That said, I'm not even 100% sure that they would do Luigi as a digi-fig. Two-player simultaneous play could be a challenge, after all, so keeping Mario as the only "player" and releasing Luigi as a brick-built ally character like Toad or Yoshi would be another option (especially since Luigi could use the same hat mold as Mario either way).

[Chill]

On 8/15/2020 at 5:33 AM, astral brick said:

I have the impression that this crossover doesn't satisfy either Lego builders or gamers. Wouldn't have been better to use Nintendo license in order to release more traditional sets - ie Creator/Creator Expert - based on Mario's iconic lore? 

I would have assumed this as well, but it looks like this is selling really well.

[ShaydDeGrai]

On August 15, 2020 at 5:33 AM, astral brick said:

I have the impression that this crossover doesn't satisfy either Lego builders or gamers. Wouldn't have been better to use Nintendo license in order to release more traditional sets - ie Creator/Creator Expert - based on Mario's iconic lore? 

I don't know.  Personally I don't get it, but then I'm old and, despite actually having written commercial video games back in the 1980's, I was never a Mario Bros fan (they lost me at Donkey Kong, circa 1981 and never won me back).  Still when I got my latest catalog in the mail yesterday, I had a little bit of a "WTF?" moment seeing 11 pages dedicated to Super Mario.  That's got to be a personal record for me, flipping through so many pages in a Lego catalog while seeing absolutely nothing I actually wanted to order.

Obviously, I'm in the minority here (that's fine, I don't begrudge anyone their toys of choice) and I _do_ appreciate that they are trying a new take on mixing electronic play with bricks.  The "game" is physical, realized with stickers, sensors and a smart "brick-fig" , not just another app gimmick so, in that respect, I like the _concept_ better than Dimensions, Hidden Side or any of the new PoweredUp/Control+ app Technic kits (pity the assembly instructions are app-based though, from a graphic design standpoint it struct me as a failure of imagination and an unneeded dependency on smart devices).  But like I said, these kits weren't aimed at me (and missed by a wide margin) I just wonder if, internally, they justify 11 pages of catalog coverage (plus the cover) because TLG thinks this will be really big or because TLG fears the opposite and doesn't want a repeat of Lego Dimensions on their hands after years of investments in partnerships and innovations to make this departure from "traditional Lego play" even possible.  

When it comes to mixing software and bricks, their track record is, at best, inconsistent regardless of the subject matter.  I wonder how much a gamble this line was and whether or not anyone is really nervous about it behind the scenes.

  

[gedren_y]

I've had the Starter Set for a couple of days now. I haven't activated Mario yet, but having him in hand, he is smaller than a lot of the promotional information makes him seem. This theme, it seems, is designed to draw in children who are social media aware to not only LEGO, but Mario as well. While the app is where most of the instructions are located (the power-up suits have paper ones), it's main function seems to be sharing and comparing, along with system updating.

Yes, the sets themselves are somewhat weak on parts count, but that's to be expected with the level of expense that goes into creating the gameplay function. Those stickers probably use a very specific kind of ink, under a protective coating, and each batch are probably tested before application. Part of the idea of the theme, though, is encouraging children to come up with their own courses, so just about any LEGO could be used to expand upon the sets. In this way it returns to the roots of LEGO, with creative building play, and in so doing encouraging a new generation of MOC builders.

[Modeltrainman]

I've been thinking about Mario Kart. Since that's on a track, I wonder if they'd do a motor base, that would also react to tiles, and run on the roller coaster track? Or would that be too weird? After this, I can't just really see them doing just kart and character sets...

[jonwil]

Its possible that they might do some sort of remote control karts if they did Mario Kart. Something similar to that remote control Batmobile they did a while back.

 

[Lyichir]

9 hours ago, jonwil said:

Its possible that they might do some sort of remote control karts if they did Mario Kart. Something similar to that remote control Batmobile they did a while back.

 

Oooh, that's a neat idea. With a scannable tile in the seat so that Mario has unique sorts of interactions based on his acceleration, angle, and so forth!

I MOCed a digital version of a non-electronic kart for Lego Mario with a hole in the seat to scan objects on a "track", but given the size a track like that would have to be to scale to Lego Mario, a trackless RC version (perhaps with a few accessories like a start/finish line) would probably make much more sense.