Toy Fair report, part 5: Other themes
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Toy Fair report, part 5: Other themes
Posted by Huw, 24 Jan 2012 14:53. Filed under Miscellaneous.
Ninjago: More spinners, more booster packs, more weapons, more of the same... Lloyd ZX is the best of the bunch: the green ninja many of you have been waiting for!There'll be four more play sets, all of which are weird and in their own way, wonderful. The largest features a four-headed dragon, apparently because last year's dragons were very popular. It's predominantly white and green and when you lift it by its handle, its wings splay out. They also come with a large variety of snake-like minifigs, with new tail and head pieces in several colours.
City: The only sets being released in the summer are the mining sets, of which there are five. They looked OK, but I thought some of them were a bit juniorised, and not as good as the other 2012 City sets that have just been released. These'll be out in August.
Advent calendars: This year there will be three: Star Wars, featuring two unique minifigs, Darth Maul in Santa garb and a R2 snowman (with carrots on his body!); City, which this time is fire themed, and Friends which contains two of the girls in Christmas outfits and a host of accessories and mini-models.
Hero Factory: Didn't pay any attention...
Cars and Dino, no more sets on the way, Alien Conquest, Harry Potter and PotC 'exit' in July...
Games: A new Heroica set 'Ilrion', which seems to be water-themed, and Maya Mystica were the only ones slated for release later in the year, in August.
Creator: Three new sets, a helicopter, a pick-up truck (both so-so) and Seaside House which looks every bit as good as last year's lighthouse! It's light blue with a red roof and looks like an idyllic place to live...
Technic: Only two previously unseen sets were on show, although the catalogue shows a third. 9393 tractor was not on display but 9396 helicopter and 9398 4x4 crawler were. The helicopter is huge (60cm long), red and yellow, and features new blades whose pitch can be adjusted. It's not motorised but it can be, there's space in the body for the battery box. The 4x4 crawler is a IR-remote-control vehicle which had half-black and half-white bodywork which looked a bit odd, and odder still I suspect if you don't apply the stickers.
However, more importantly it comes with new motors and a new servo motor. The two axles were driven by separate motors which were squarer than those we've seen before, although it was difficult to see their geometry exactly. The servo motor would have been used for the steering and it also was a different shape to current PF motors. I don't get too excited about wheeled Technic models, there are too many of them, but I'll definitely be buying the Helicopter which looked to be the best Technic one ever!
Friends: I've left the best until last! There are another eight sets on the way: three more £10 ones: Mia's bedroom (she plays drums, it seems), Andrea's Bunny House, Olivia's Speedboat; Heartlake Flying Club (£15 I think) and four outdoor/horse themed ones. The horses are new, and different to those in LOTR. They are designed so the girls can ride them. They have a new saddle and holes for the attachment of rosettes, bows and so on. Their back is the same profile as the 2x2 rounded-top brick.
Three of the sets feature horses: Emma's Horse trailer (one white horse, trailer looks like a light blue version of the City one from a few years back), Heartlake stables (2 brown horses) and the largest, Summer Riding Camp (3 horses and an open-top VW-like camper van). It seems that, at the camp, Steph and Em have made new friends: Theresa and Ella!
The last set is Adventure Camper which is also similar to the old City set, but in pink and lime green -- it looks a bit of an eyesore to be honest!
So, I think that's just about it. There were no trains, no exclusives, and I didn't see series 7 and 8 figs, partly because there was a crowd of people round the display when I was there.
While there I met up with Pete Croxon, the UK correspondent for FBTB, who was going onto the LEGO stand later in the afternoon. I'm sure he will have remembered some details that I haven't so be sure to check over there for more Toy Fair news and views!
(Please excuse any typos in these reports, I'll get and correct them when I have more time...)
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