Lego Avatar 2022/3 - Rumors & Discussion

[Clone OPatra]

5 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

I never said you weren't allowed to. I just question why you visit a thread dedicated to sets based on a franchise you clearly don't like  

For my part, I don't care for this "franchise" (if you can even call it that yet with just two movies) personally but my interest in LEGO sets is almost never tied directly to my interest in the franchise they come from. I like cool new LEGO stuff like those Na'vi figures and even big blue horsey even though I have no interest in what they "represent", and sought out the Floating Mountains and Helicopter set for that reason (albeit once I found it for a full 50% off on eBay).

It's also fun to engage in discussion about new untested LEGO themes from properties that are also untested when it comes to driving toy sales.

[spiderfan2000]

After seeing The Way of Water in 3D,

Spoiler

I'd say the wave of sets for it actually does a pretty good job covering the important creatures, vehicles and characters from the movie.  Most of the stuff LEGO skipped over for sets is either barely in the movie, or impractical to make a set of without significant scaling down.  Overall the lineup is at least on par with the wave for the first movie, though the RDA minifigure selection is still a weak point.

 

[BrickBob Studpants]

Just built the smallest set of the wave, and I can highly recommend it! Very vibrant colours, excellent minifigs, and the Ilu is one of my favourite Avatar creatures so far. Excited for the remaining sets (minus the sub) tomorrow!

Also, the Metkayina minifigs are definitely medium azure. I think it fits very well!

[Alegrispa]

On 12/14/2022 at 3:45 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Personally, I think this film is gonna flop hard.

On 12/14/2022 at 4:18 PM, Murdoch17 said:

Piranha 2: The Spawning was his first directed film. I think that says enough! 

I genuinely hope you're not being serious.

Absolute clown behaviour to judge a director after their worst movie. Especially if it was just some 80s schlock.

On 12/15/2022 at 12:34 AM, Murdoch17 said:

It's "Dances with Space Smurfs 2: Underwater!" and is basically a blatant money grab that took 12 years to write a semi-coherent plot to slap on top of.

Ah, yes, because people famously spend 12 years and hundreds of millions on "blatant money grabs".

Get outta heeere.

[Murdoch17]

7 minutes ago, Alegrispa said:

I genuinely hope you're not being serious.

Absolute clown behaviour to judge a director after their worst movie. Especially if it was just some 80s schlock.

Ah, yes, because people famously spend 12 years and hundreds of millions on "blatant money grabs".

Get outta heeere.

I guess having an opposing opinion isn't allowed on here... Are @Clone OPatra and me not welcome for having differing opinions? I guess that's the case! 

[Alegrispa]

On 12/14/2022 at 3:10 AM, Clone OPatra said:

Do they? All the ones I have read / listened to say "it's a big technical achievement that looks great", and everything else like the actual story (which no one including marketing material is talking about) and characters are middling, just like the first.

Truth is, sometimes characters and even story don't matter. Sometimes, it's about the experience. And it's low-key pretty snobbish to think otherwise.

Look at Top Gun: Maverick. Biggest movie of the year, massive praise for being an amazing movie, but does anyone actually care about the characters or story?

Or look at the Mission Impossible movies, do most people really care what happens to Tom Cruises character? No, most people just wanna see what bats*hit-crazy stunts he pulls next.

Back in 2009 people who went to see Avatar over and over again didn't go back for the romance, they go come back for the environmental message, they went back to see the pictures.

Movies are about spectacle at their core. And James Cameron gets that, which is why over and over he proved that you don't bet against him.

(Sorry for getting into this, I'm just sick of people saying the same stuff over and over. It's like a terrible song you hear on repeat, just drives ya outta ya pants. Also I've been awake for 20 hours.)

10 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

I guess having an opposing opinion isn't allowed on here... Are @Clone OPatra and me not welcome for having differing opinions? I guess that's the case! 

You share the same opinions of a lot of loud people on the internet. You're not saying anything that hasn't been beaten out of that foul, rotting horse years ago. Sharing the same, weirdly antagonistic tone towards anything positive said about these movies.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Alegrispa

[Murdoch17]

2 minutes ago, Alegrispa said:

Truth is, sometimes characters and even story don't matter. Sometimes, it's about the experience. And it's low-key pretty snobbish to think otherwise.

Look at Top Gun: Maverick. Biggest movie of the year, massive praise for being an amazing movie, but does anyone actually care about the characters or story?

Or look at the Mission Impossible movies, do most people really care what happens to Tom Cruises character? No, most people just wanna see what bats*hit-crazy stunts he pulls next.

Back in 2009 people who went to see Avatar over and over again didn't come back for the romance, they didn't come back for the environmental message, they came back to see the pictures.

Movies are about spectacle at their core. And James Cameron gets that, which is why over and over he proved that you don't bet against him.

(Sorry for getting into this, I'm just sick of people saying the same stuff over and over. It's like a terrible song you hear on repeat, just drives ya outta ya pants. Also I've been awake for 20 hours.)

You share the same opinions of a lot of loud people on the internet. You're not saying anything that hasn't been beaten out of that foul, rotting horse years ago.

You just proved my point about not being welcome. I am done with this thread... the rabid fanboying is getting nauseous.

[a guy from somewhere]

Just now, Murdoch17 said:

You just proved my point about not being welcome. I am done with this thread... the rabid fanboying is getting nauseous.

Im sorry to see you go. I hope you understand that not all of us are this expressive, and I can definelty see both sides of the story. I think the main thing is after years of getting beat down by the avatar hate train we are kinda just sick of people continuously hating on the franchise, and thus people do get protective. This isn't completely your fault, I'm all for opinions being expressed and honestly im sick of this back and forth megablocks arguing. But Algrispa does raise a valid point, I've seen some reviews call the plot bland but I dont really care, and thats not really the point of the film. Avatar in the first place was meant to be a place to escape, and visuals play a bigger part than plot. Im seeing it on Sunday after I had to change plans, and I personally cant wait to see it, so ill judge it there and then. Sorry about your experience here, but I hope you can find more enjoyment elsewhere. 

[Alegrispa]

23 minutes ago, Murdoch17 said:

You just proved my point about not being welcome. I am done with this thread... the rabid fanboying is getting nauseous.

"fanboying" lol.

I'm just sick of all the needless s*italking.

Goodbye, thanks for your contribution to this thread. If I want stuff as valuable as "Dances with Space Smurfs 3: the Musical" I'll go to pretty much every other place on the internet.

Come back any time!

Back to topic. I really wish more channels with higher production quality would review these sets.

[Modeltrainman]

@icm, thank you!

[a guy from somewhere]

1 hour ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Just built the smallest set of the wave, and I can highly recommend it! Very vibrant colours, excellent minifigs, and the Ilu is one of my favourite Avatar creatures so far. Excited for the remaining sets (minus the sub) tomorrow!

Also, the Metkayina minifigs are definitely medium azure. I think it fits very well!

Alright enough about the great avatar argument of 2022, 

Where did you find the set? Glad to hear that its good, I'm personally really looking forward to it. Have you seen the movie yet, so you can compare it to the actual creature (no spoilers!)? Personally I'm happy this is going the monkie kid route, started of expensive but is now getting cheaper. The sub is the one I'm stuck on the most, for £50 it doesn't look worth it in the slightest but ill definetly pick up the ilu and skim-wing at some point, and if quaritch and spider have as big of a presence as I think they do in the film I may consider it. Its a massive miss that these sets didn't release in December, or better yet, today, to coincide with the movie release. I can guarantee I probably would have picked up half the wave right after seeing the movie, but ill see how I feel about it after Sunday. I understand the skim wing can be preordered and the reef but no other sets?

[ToaDraco]

*sigh* it's times like this that I wish we could mute people on this site like on other fan forums I'm a part of....

Anyway, 

3 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

Just built the smallest set of the wave, and I can highly recommend it! Very vibrant colours, excellent minifigs, and the Ilu is one of my favourite Avatar creatures so far. Excited for the remaining sets (minus the sub) tomorrow!

Also, the Metkayina minifigs are definitely medium azure. I think it fits very well!

Nice! The Ilu is definitely one of the best creatures to come out of Avatar and the set looks quite nice. I'd like to hear your thoughts on Payakan the Tulkun & Crabsuit. So far JB Speilwaren is the only one with a review so far but he has yet to release his English review despite it literally being the first 2023 set he built and reviewed many weeks ago on his main German channel...

Edited December 16, 2022 by ToaDraco

[BrickBob Studpants]

2 hours ago, a guy from somewhere said:

Where did you find the set?

A Swiss online shop that unfortunately doesn’t operate outside of Switzerland…

Looking forward to the other sets arriving tomorrow! Currently watching the movie, and the Ilu set is definitely very accurate  

[RedHoodPug]

On 12/15/2022 at 9:40 PM, BrickBob Studpants said:

That's what I call a sampling bias

I never said you weren't allowed to. I just question why you visit a thread dedicated to sets based on a franchise you clearly don't like  

It's called taking things how I find them. Everyone is biased about everything. Everyone who loves a particular franchise is biased towards it and the merchandise. 

Honestly because until the DC theme picks up again I'm metaphorically homeless, and I'm fond of playing devil's advocate. It's not like I'm spamming the thread or punishing myself passing through here. I just happen to disagree with the perceived greatness of this franchise.

4 hours ago, Alegrispa said:

Truth is, sometimes characters and even story don't matter. Sometimes, it's about the experience. And it's low-key pretty snobbish to think otherwise.

Sharing the same, weirdly antagonistic tone towards anything positive said about these movies.

Love it.

[Clone OPatra]

15 hours ago, Alegrispa said:

And it's low-key pretty snobbish to think otherwise.

No it's not. It's called people have differing tastes. The first Avatar was a boring experience for me because I can only look at some spectacle stuff so long if there's nothing halfway interesting underlying it.

And just because mine or anyone else's opinion: A. isn't yours and B. lines up with other people's opinions "on the internet", doesn't invalidate said opinion. I didn't go online in 2009 to form an opinion about the movie I had just seen anyway.

Don't bully people out of this thread and gatekeep your particular opinion about the movie/franchise. Next time we'll have a private chat instead.

[Alegrispa]

2 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

Don't bully people out of this thread and gatekeep your particular opinion about the movie/franchise. Next time we'll have a private chat instead.

Again, I don't have particularly strong feelings about Avatar either way, I'm just sick of the constant needless negativity.

I don't go into the Harry Potter thread and reiterate over and over again about how much I dislike the franchise, but that seems to be okay here?

[KingSpoozle]

6 hours ago, Clone OPatra said:

No it's not. It's called people have differing tastes. The first Avatar was a boring experience for me because I can only look at some spectacle stuff so long if there's nothing halfway interesting underlying it.

And just because mine or anyone else's opinion: A. isn't yours and B. lines up with other people's opinions "on the internet", doesn't invalidate said opinion. I didn't go online in 2009 to form an opinion about the movie I had just seen anyway.

Don't bully people out of this thread and gatekeep your particular opinion about the movie/franchise. Next time we'll have a private chat instead.

I agree about the gatekeeping but there is something to be said about the dismissive tone of saying things like “if you can even call it a franchise.” Saying stuff like that isn’t about expressing your opinion, which everyone has been welcoming to, saying stuff like that is about bringing down the entire topic and belittling it, which I think everyone else is against. 

[Killian]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:31 PM, ToaDraco said:

*sigh* it's times like this that I wish we could mute people on this site like on other fan forums I'm a part of....

I add the vitriolic, opinionated cowards who like to be offensive anonymously online from the safety of their parents basements to my ignore list on this forum site all the time so I don't have to see their posts. 

That's the problem when you're part of any toy-related fandom, the majority of fans are extremely childish and need to have their way over everything or they lose their minds. You get the immature tantrum throwing Man-Children constantly crawling out from underneath their rocks to be bratty and vindictive.

It's so much better when you block them and only have to deal with positive, mature people that can have a civil, adult discussion/debate

[ToaDraco]

4 hours ago, KingSpoozle said:

I agree about the gatekeeping but there is something to be said about the dismissive tone of saying things like “if you can even call it a franchise.” Saying stuff like that isn’t about expressing your opinion, which everyone has been welcoming to, saying stuff like that is about bringing down the entire topic and belittling it, which I think everyone else is against. 

Agreed, the discussion has been totally derailed and comments like that inflame the situation, heck most of this thread has been about fighting over the existence of the Avatar franchise rather than discussing the SETS which is the whole point of this thread, not to mention it seems kinda inappropriate coming from a mod, just saying. People who actually like Avatar don't exactly have many places to go without being berated and belittled by the usual comments bashing the franchise, and yes it is a franchise as it isn't just the now 2 movies with many more on the way, there have been multiple video games with yet more on the way, toylines and other product lines, and theme park experiences. This is the only time I'm going to address this so we can actually get back to discussing the AVATAR LEGO SETS.

And on that note, I'm really looking forward to getting the Payakan set. I've got some points saved up and a couple of LEGO gift cards coming to me for Christmas so I plann on using them to get that set and possibly the gorgeous looking TIE Bomber set too.

Edited December 17, 2022 by ToaDraco

[BrickBob Studpants]

After building it, I have to say that the Payakan set is one of my favourites  It‘s a nice chunky build and the large pieces they use for the head aren‘t distracting at all IMO. The crabsuit is a cool build too with some good posability! Only downsides are the rather low minifig count and the eye prints on Payakan, which could‘ve been a bit cuter. 

Also, very refreshing to have so many sticker-free sets! And all the plastic wing pieces are a real throwback for me. I feel like plastic pieces used to be more abundant, so it‘s nice to see them back in a big capacity for this theme! Definitely preferable to their cloth counterparts, which tend to get very crinkly and are harder to dust off 

Edited December 18, 2022 by BrickBob Studpants

[ToaDraco]

11 hours ago, BrickBob Studpants said:

After building it, I have to say that the Payakan set is one of my favourites  It‘s a nice chunky build and the large pieces they use for the head aren‘t distracting at all IMO. The crabsuit is a cool build too with some good posability! Only downsides are the rather low minifig count and the eye prints on Payakan, which could‘ve been a bit cuter. 

Also, very refreshing to have so many sticker-free sets! And all the plastic wing pieces are a real throwback for me. I feel like plastic pieces used to be more abundant, so it‘s nice to see them back in a big capacity for this theme! Definitely preferable to their cloth counterparts, which tend to get very crinkly and are harder to dust off 

Awesome! I'm really looking forward to the Payakan set, even more than before as I've heard he steals the show and is a big part of the movie(I haven't seen it yet obviously). I agree, it's really nice to have so many sticker-free sets and I really love that this theme is dedicated to giving us stands and appropriate terrain. It would have been nice if the set came with at least 1 more minifig but the ones included seem appropriate and the builds are so great. Some people seem to hate brick built animals with molded heads but I like them and think they're a decent compromise for articulation and for larger creatures especially. I also think they work perfectly for the Avatar animals and I really love the Tulkun molds especially. Since one of the future films is supposedly called "The Tulkun Rider" I have a feeling LEGO will get more use out of the molds. I could easily see the head being remolded in black.

Edited December 18, 2022 by ToaDraco

[Ringwraith]

Good lord, can the moderator just politely close this argument up. We're all here for Lego not to critically appraise the franchise, there are other sites for this 

But now back to the lego :) 

Does anyone have any Avatar sets that are their favourties or standout from the rest? 

[Alegrispa]

4 hours ago, Ringwraith said:

Does anyone have any Avatar sets that are their favourties or standout from the rest? 

From the first wave I'd have to say the Banshees.

And I love all the sets from the second wave, except for the Reef Home, but I'm feeling a little biased towards the whale because I love whales.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Alegrispa

[Ringwraith]

1 hour ago, Alegrispa said:

From the first wave I'd have to say the Banshees.

And I love all the sets from the second wave, except for the Reef Home, but I'm feeling a little biased towards the whale because I love whales.

The banshees do look really promising, is the AMP suit any good too? Seems a tad small for the price 

[a guy from somewhere]

Spoiler

 

Went to see avatar yesterday, and I've had a day to collect my thoughts. Absolutely phenomenal, loved the whole thing. My only criticism is that maybe it was a bit too much, feeling like information overload. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. Decent plot, good characters (maybe some could have been fleshed out more) but overall a very good film. I do feel like the sets where pretty good for the movie too, although I stand by my opinion that the crab suit and MAKO sub should be swapped. Somewhat sad that we didn't get a sea wasp given how prominent it is, and the Samson made a reappearance at the start, and something I noticed is that the one shown seemed far more stubby and tall? It is much closer in proportion to the lego one, yet looking at the 2009 movie the Samson's there are the usual pancake, wide shape. Very strange, I wonder if lego took inspiration for the Samson from TWOW and not the original. Also nice to see that some elements do pop up from the last movie, meaning we can get parts of TWOW already, such as the AMP suits and link shack. Its a shame theres so much from avatar that we cant get in lego, purely because of the scale. I would love to have a sea dragon, or a larger metkyina village, or maybe a section of bridgehead? I would kill for an 18+ midiscale ISV Venture star, maybe on its side on a big black base, like the Hogwarts express. That would be amazing. Now, let's go over how the sets held up. 

The 2 smallest sets, the ilu and the skim wing are pretty much perfect IMO, great figures, decent side builds and amazing main builds. the skimwing could be cheaper, but I appreciate it will probably be a fair bit bigger than the Ilu with the wings. speaking of which, I love the Ilu, it feels perfect, and Tuk was one of my favourite characters. my only criticism would be that Kiri and Tuk should have swapped places in the sets, given how quickly Kiri bonded with her Ilu and how Tuk was with Neyatri. Will pick up both day 1. The mako sub is pretty oversized in some parts and undersized in others and played a decent role in the film, maybe more than the crab suit, so I can see why it was picked as the standalone set. Will have to pick it up for Quaritch and Spyder, and the other 2 figs aren't bad. Netayem (I think thats his name, i'm still struggling with the alien spellings) looks good, and the chiefs son is fine. the price is still awful for £50 and so is that disgusting gapping at the side of the sub, I hope that it goes on discount at some point. I still wish it was a crab suit though, maybe with a kelp side build? Honestly all the RDA tech was pretty neat this film, I loved seeing bridgehead, the ISVs, the hornets and sea wasps look amazing, and I absolutely loved the maglev heist scene (any train heist is a win in my books). Hopefully we get a set like that, maybe a section of track with the train and a carriage and an exploding feature? Maybe 2 dire horses as well. Surprised we didn't see a skel suit in sets as it played a decent role. And again, the sea dragon and crab suits where amazing, I loved how the crabs move on land and literally swing of the ship (or ground effect vehicle?). I'm somewhat surprised we didn't get a picador or matador, the smaller boats used in the tulkun hunt. I hope we see that as a midrange set sometime. The reef is still the worst set in my opinion, and now that I've seen the movie, my opinion doesn't change. It doesn't represent the village too well and most of its size is built up from a sheet of plastic or vinyl, its a shame kiri is exclusive, as I may have to get it at some point if she doesn't come in another set IN a later wave (if there is one). The Payakan and the crab suit set wasn't very interesting to me before hand but I can safely say now that its one I want to pick up, i think that whilst the crab suit is a pretty rough rendition, the tulkun is very nice. The stubby right fin is also nice to see, identifying it as Payakan and the figs are great. It doesn't help though that the Navi are pretty lanky and thin, whilst the lego figures are pretty stocky. 

Overall, I think the wave is a decent representation of the movie, but I would like to have seen 1 or 2 more sets based on other aspects of the film, such as the sea wasp or the train heist. A dream summer wave would be (going of this years wave, so 4 sets): smallest set at £40, a sea wasp with special moulded wing sections to get the quad rotor look, with a pilot and Neyatri, and a small floating island, for £50 a matador boat, with the Aussie hunter and Quaritch, along with Kiri and one of the metkyina kids as well. For £90 Im not really sure what we could get, maybe the cove of ancestors and an ilu? Its a hard price point to fill, so let me know if any of you guys have any ideas. And finally, for £130, as I mentioned before, I'd love to see a train heist set from the start of the film, with Jake, an omatacaya clan member, Lo'ak, a train conductor and a guard (not shown in the film but we have to have some RDA), and maybe a section of track/bridge with an exploding feature. 

Would love to see more sets in the future for TWOW, hopefully we get it. I also find it pretty funny that lego, with them being all high and mighty about morals and ethics and no war, actively depict the hunting of a whale which when killed, has like 1 vial of Amrita taken from it, and is just dumped back into the sea. Wonder if they knew how that was gonna play out in the film.... 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by a guy from somewhere