LEGO Wicked sets coming soon!

"Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a defiant social outcast who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande (Hairspray Live!, Don’t Look Up), as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart."
What the ever loving hell is this paragraph

@Robot99 said:
[[[[Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, stars Emmy, Grammy and Tony winning powerhouse Cynthia Erivo (Harriet, Broadway’s The Color Purple) as Elphaba, a defiant social outcast who has yet to discover her true power, and Grammy-winning, multi-platinum recording artist and global superstar Ariana Grande (Hairspray Live!, Don’t Look Up), as Glinda, a popular young woman, gilded by privilege and ambition, who has yet to discover her true heart.]]
What the ever loving hell is this paragraph]]

Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1262426/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_Wicked

Perhaps an Emerald City Castle with yellow-brick road?

@johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical.

@Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

They are the people that helped make Wicked what it is.

If it doesn't have the train from the trailer, I will be sad.

@johleth said:
" @Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

They are the people that helped make Wicked what it is."

Okay, but listing their previous works is not needed. It just makes the sentences longer.

@Yooha said:
" @johleth said:
" @Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

They are the people that helped make Wicked what it is."

Okay, but listing their previous works is not needed. It just makes the sentences longer."

Heaven forbid you have to read words.

Ah, yes, because there aren't enough Fantasy themes right now. But I'm glad the mini-doll universe is getting some love, it's been too long since Elves and Superhero Girls.

We’re getting a LEGO Ariana Grande before a LEGO Taylor Swift. Let that sink in…

Quite a surprise regardless, but we’ll see where this goes.

@johleth said:
" @Yooha said:
" @johleth said:
" @Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

They are the people that helped make Wicked what it is."

Okay, but listing their previous works is not needed. It just makes the sentences longer."

Heaven forbid you have to read words."

An angel loses its wings whenever a sentence becomes a paragraph.

@Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

Is this your first time reading a press release about an upcoming movie?

I rate this announcement an "uh okay".

I suspect these will be an instant buy for me. I adore the theatrical production, so at least one or two of these will need to end up on my shelf.

I was very excited at the prospect of Wicked sets, but I'm disappointed to hear they'll be done with mini-dolls. I was really looking forward to some amazing Minifigures :(

They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-(

From the trailers the movie looks like an overblown mess that is gonna tank at the box office, but as a fan of the musical there's room in my life for some emerald green architecture and that train.

@Yooha said:
" @johleth said:
" @Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

They are the people that helped make Wicked what it is."

Okay, but listing their previous works is not needed. It just makes the sentences longer."

Every movie description ever does this. Look at the back of any DVD or Blu-Ray box, or any movie announcement. Listing previous works, especially ones that are famous or well-regarded, is super, super, super common

The movie blurb comparisons are fair, I just think it's silly here when they're just talking about merchandise only vaguely based off of the actors likeness. The IP itself should be what matters more here.

To be clear btw, my earlier comments were just played for laughs and was taking the opportunity to mock Lego's PR talk in general (something Brickset itself has done before lol). Seriously though, I had to stare at the first part of that paragraph for a solid ten seconds before I understood it as "an actor who has won three awards" and not "three actors playing one character".

@ankayeb said:
"They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-("

I have always thought it was unneeded to make a different shaped set of figures for girl aimed lines. Of course, I've always thought gender segregating toys was silly but it's only in the past couple decades some companies seem to be moving away from that.

Not seen any versions or the past film history of the cast. No doubt there will still be a set - train - which lures me in.

And as a female afol I hate the minidolls. I also have a low tolerance for musicals. I can only think of 2 I actually like.

@Robot99 said:
" @johleth said:
"Its the plot of the book, what's the issue?"
Yes I got that, but it's buried under the most incoherent word salad I've ever seen. Gloating about the background of the actors is so unecessary here that it's almost comical."

It's standard PR text for describing who stars in a production. It's not gloating.

No interest in this theme for me, but I've learned never to underestimate the design quality of sets that feature minidolls.

@Robot99 said:
"Seriously though, I had to stare at the first part of that paragraph for a solid ten seconds before I understood it as "an actor who has won three awards" and not "three actors playing one character"."
Perhaps it's easier for native speakers or someone who knows about the subject, but I too had to read the sentence about three times before I completely understood the meaning. The only thing I immediately got was "Ariana Grande". I thought they were talking about characters called Emmy, Grammy and Tony. :-)
Note: these awards mean little to people over here. Perhaps Grammy, but the only really well known here is the Oscar.

@ankayeb said:
"They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-("
Half the posts on this site now are a variation of "Won't someone think of the ADULTS?"

I guarantee the producers of this movie do not want it to be a movie for adults. They want a crossover movie like Frozen or even Barbie. The Lego license is part of that strategy, and none of this precludes an 18+ set after the movie's release.

@daniellesa said:
"Not seen any versions or the past film history of the cast. No doubt there will still be a set - train - which lures me in.

And as a female afol I hate the minidolls. I also have a low tolerance for musicals. I can only think of 2 I actually like."

Lego did a huge study to see what girls wanted, and the minidoll was born. Previous attempts to attract girls (Belleville) were unsuccessful. The success of the Friends line would suggest they were right to introduce minidolls.

Did Lego really put popular in quote marks or is that a personal opinion of the musical?

I saw it with the ex-Mrs ShinyBidoof many years ago but can remember virtually nothing about it!

@AcademyofDrX said:
" @ankayeb said:
"They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-("
Half the posts on this site now are a variation of "Won't someone think of the ADULTS?"

I guarantee the producers of this movie do not want it to be a movie for adults. They want a crossover movie like Frozen or even Barbie. The Lego license is part of that strategy, and none of this precludes an 18+ set after the movie's release."

You don't think they should be catering to Afols, an incredibly small portion of their audience?? Heresy!! Everyone with any sense knows that Mcdonald's caters to health nuts, and Starbucks caters to people who don't like beverages. You always go for the smallest portion of your market!

I’ll never understand the hatred surrounding minidolls. They’ve been especially more detailed and expressive since the Friends reboot. Elphaba and Glinda both seem relatively doable with already existing minifgure parts, and these sets will near guarantee compatible, screen accurate wigs and headgear for them. Don’t discredit sets you haven’t even seen just because there are three measly doll parts you don’t want to use.

@Studnotontop said:
"I’ll never understand the hatred surrounding minidolls. They’ve been especially more detailed and expressive since the Friends reboot. Elphaba and Glinda both seem relatively doable with already existing minifgure parts, and these sets will near guarantee compatible, screen accurate wigs and headgear for them. Don’t discredit sets you haven’t even seen just because there are three measly doll parts you don’t want to use. "

Agree with this. Plus, if I were Arianna Grande (and I assure you, I'm not), I would not want to be represented by a square-ish minifig, but probably would be OK with a minidoll. Not just on the aesthetics, but the marketing appeal toward girls. The dolls' more realistic proportions and tiny noses are certainly more appealing to my girls--not that they don't like minifigs, but I usually see them playing with minidolls and they have both. My youngest often has access to a whole bag of unsorted minifig parts at her disposal and she just grabs the few minidoll parts I have mixed in, builds one, and plays with that often horrendously-mismatched specimen.

People seem surprised this is being done with minidolls when (from what I know of the story) it seems to fit in exactly with the general Disney Princess vibe that are minidolls domain. Does make me wonder how many of the people who say they won’t buy the sets because they’re minidolls actually would have done if they’d been minifigs instead

Do people outside of USA care about this?

Answer: no.

@ShinyBidoof said:
"Did Lego really put popular in quote marks or is that a personal opinion of the musical?

I saw it with the ex-Mrs ShinyBidoof many years ago but can remember virtually nothing about it!"

It's because 'Popular' is the title of one of the songs in the musical. They were attempting a play on words, but it's confusing if you don't know the musical.

@lippidp said:
" @daniellesa said:
"Not seen any versions or the past film history of the cast. No doubt there will still be a set - train - which lures me in.

And as a female afol I hate the minidolls. I also have a low tolerance for musicals. I can only think of 2 I actually like."

Lego did a huge study to see what girls wanted, and the minidoll was born. Previous attempts to attract girls (Belleville) were unsuccessful. The success of the Friends line would suggest they were right to introduce minidolls."

When Friends first came out, the whole concept of minidolls was discussed in the community at length. It was fascinating and had never occurred to me that marketing standard sets directly at girls could possible have an unintended affect on the more prevalent boy market. But LEGO absolutely seems to have finally figured out how to open up LEGO for all walks of life.

@GoldenNinja3000 said:
"I was very excited at the prospect of Wicked sets, but I'm disappointed to hear they'll be done with mini-dolls. I was really looking forward to some amazing Minifigures :("

I'm really looking forward to some amazing minidolls, as are the rest of my household

@oukexergon said:
" @Studnotontop said:
"I’ll never understand the hatred surrounding minidolls. They’ve been especially more detailed and expressive since the Friends reboot. Elphaba and Glinda both seem relatively doable with already existing minifgure parts, and these sets will near guarantee compatible, screen accurate wigs and headgear for them. Don’t discredit sets you haven’t even seen just because there are three measly doll parts you don’t want to use. "

Agree with this. Plus, if I were Arianna Grande (and I assure you, I'm not), I would not want to be represented by a square-ish minifig, but probably would be OK with a minidoll. Not just on the aesthetics, but the marketing appeal toward girls. The dolls' more realistic proportions and tiny noses are certainly more appealing to my girls--not that they don't like minifigs, but I usually see them playing with minidolls and they have both. My youngest often has access to a whole bag of unsorted minifig parts at her disposal and she just grabs the few minidoll parts I have mixed in, builds one, and plays with that often horrendously-mismatched specimen."

I have three daughters, ages 9, 8, and 6, who all love LEGO. I find it really interesting how they tend to gravitate towards either minifigures or minidolls (all three of them like both styles of figure). The 9 year-old tends to play with minidolls more (especially the Disney ones), while the 8 year-old and the 6 year-old play more with the minifigures. I think this probably has less to do with their ages and more to do with their individual personalities and preferences.

Personally, I'll probably always prefer minifigures. But The LEGO Movie 2 and the recent reboot of the Friends theme both softened my view of minidolls.

ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s.

@fakespacesquid said:
" @AcademyofDrX said:
" @ankayeb said:
"They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-("
Half the posts on this site now are a variation of "Won't someone think of the ADULTS?"

I guarantee the producers of this movie do not want it to be a movie for adults. They want a crossover movie like Frozen or even Barbie. The Lego license is part of that strategy, and none of this precludes an 18+ set after the movie's release."

You don't think they should be catering to Afols, an incredibly small portion of their audience?? Heresy!! Everyone with any sense knows that Mcdonald's caters to health nuts, and Starbucks caters to people who don't like beverages. You always go for the smallest portion of your market!"

If you think AFOLs are a very tiny part of Lego's customers, you've obviously missed the increasingly larger numbers of "black box" and $200+ sets that have been released in recent years. Lego has obviously realized AFOLs were an untapped market and have been making more and more sets geared toward them. The adult market for collectable "toys" in general has been exploding. Wicked is a very popular musical that lots of ADULTS love and, as I said, isn't very kid-focused. Unless they changed things for the movie to try to capture a younger audience, focusing on play sets and minidolls for an audience that doesn't really exist yet and may not come to exist over a fan base (of women and men) that already does exist seems odd to me.

@oukexergon said:
"Plus, if I were Arianna Grande (and I assure you, I'm not),"

Suuuuure you aren't. I'm on to you, Ariana.

But Autumn is nearly over!

@ankayeb said:
" @fakespacesquid said:
" @AcademyofDrX said:
" @ankayeb said:
"They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-("
Half the posts on this site now are a variation of "Won't someone think of the ADULTS?"

I guarantee the producers of this movie do not want it to be a movie for adults. They want a crossover movie like Frozen or even Barbie. The Lego license is part of that strategy, and none of this precludes an 18+ set after the movie's release."

You don't think they should be catering to Afols, an incredibly small portion of their audience?? Heresy!! Everyone with any sense knows that Mcdonald's caters to health nuts, and Starbucks caters to people who don't like beverages. You always go for the smallest portion of your market!"

If you think AFOLs are a very tiny part of Lego's customers, you've obviously missed the increasingly larger numbers of "black box" and $200+ sets that have been released in recent years. Lego has obviously realized AFOLs were an untapped market and have been making more and more sets geared toward them. The adult market for collectable "toys" in general has been exploding. Wicked is a very popular musical that lots of ADULTS love and, as I said, isn't very kid-focused. Unless they changed things for the movie to try to capture a younger audience, focusing on play sets and minidolls for an audience that doesn't really exist yet and may not come to exist over a fan base (of women and men) that already does exist seems odd to me. "

Adults were/are an untapped market, for sure. Afols, who participate in the community and buy more than two sets a year, are already very tapped.

@MisterBrickster said:
"ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s."

CANNOT COMPUTE

Please rephrase. What is a Brickset. What are you doing, Dave?

I'm a guy AFOL, and I have to say I actually enjoy minidolls to the point where I go out of my way to get certain ones. I find it very fun to use them in places where they're not expected, such as builds from action movies or horror stuff.

Well, what wicked news.

@MisterBrickster said:
"ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s."

Actually keen to read the outcome of that!

I hope we get a "does not defy gravity" disclaimer in the same vein as "boat does not float".

I see a lot of people defending minidolls but just from a practical standpoint they're terrible! They have less articulation and less connection points. Minifigs are always the superior option! what they need to bring back is the technic figs like from set 8714. those were super cool and poseable!

Lego: Hello people, this is The Lego group. We would like to announce today that some time in the future we will announce something which you will still not be able to buy until a later date.

Lego: As you are well aware, we are totally against announcing something where you can see the item, you can see the price and all the pertinent details and should you wish to acquire this item, it would be readily available on the day of the announcement. We would never do that - as this would be way too close to common sense for our liking. Instead we just do that: we announce that we will announce something some time.

@Volfogg said:
"I see a lot of people defending minidolls but just from a practical standpoint they're terrible! They have less articulation and less connection points. Minifigs are always the superior option! what they need to bring back is the technic figs like from set 8714. those were super cool and poseable!"

Counterpoint: Gem dresses.

@Somnium said:
"Do people outside of USA care about this?

Answer: no."

Answer: YES. This is my favorite musical, I was waiting for its film adaptation for years, and I can't wait to see it! :)

But I'm upset that they decided to go with minidolls. I have some, but I prefer the minifigures, especially from licensed sets, because they come in skin colors, and so they're great for building my own character designs for films/TV/books/music/other media/original characters. Minidolls have less parts and less articulation points, so they're not as great as minifigures for action photos.

But that's not a big deal, cause I already built my own Elphaba and Glinda a few years ago, they're on my Flickr (I'm not sure is it okay to add a link). I just need sets to put them in beautiful decorations! :)

@Somnium said:
"Do people outside of USA care about this?

Answer: no."

Actually yes. I find myself revisiting the music regularly and love the story, but what can be seen in the trailers horrifies me. They turned the musical into another Hollywood abomination. The LEGO sets could be interesting, but will no doubt suffer when the film goes crash and boom. That and of course any musical is basically its own niche. They revived "Wicked" as a smaller production a few years ago here in Germany, but the number of actual fans is probably still very small and won't do much ho generate interest in the sets. If the movie fails with the general population the musical community won't salvage the situation.

@Yardsale19X said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s."

Actually keen to read the outcome of that! "

Um. I swear to god I am not making this up, but I put my original post in verbatim and this is what it produced:

Ah, another day, another dismal LEGO announcement pandering to everyone except the true fans who built this brand from the ground up. What is this nonsense? A pastel-colored ice cream truck for millennials and Gen Zers who don't even appreciate the real value of LEGO. Back in my day, we had proper sets, real sets, not these flimsy excuses for creativity.

Remember the classic Space sets? Now, those were LEGO. Those were designed with precision, with the kind of complexity and imaginative spark that today's so-called "fans" couldn't possibly grasp. But no, instead of catering to the loyal AFOLs who have been with the company for decades, LEGO decides to chase after the latest trends like a desperate Instagram influencer.

And don't get me started on the endless parade of licensed sets. Star Wars was one thing—it had a sort of timeless appeal. But now we have to endure everything from Friends to Stranger Things? When did LEGO become so devoid of original ideas that it has to leech off every popular TV show and movie? What happened to the creativity, the originality, the soul of LEGO?

Every time I see another Friends Central Perk or a Sesame Street set, I feel a little part of my LEGO-loving soul die. And who are these sets even for? Kids today don't appreciate the craft, the engineering behind a good Technic set or a well-designed castle. They're too busy with their screens to build anything worth talking about.

But of course, LEGO won't listen to us. We're just the dinosaurs of the fandom, apparently. The ones who remember when LEGO meant something more than a cash grab. When LEGO was about building, creating, imagining—not just collecting dust on a shelf because some influencer said it was cool.

So go ahead, LEGO. Keep ignoring the fans who have been here since the beginning. Keep churning out these vapid, pandering sets that appeal to everyone and no one. Just don't be surprised when the real fans start to drift away, tired of being ignored in favor of the latest marketing gimmick. We see through it, and frankly, we've had enough.

^That is one of the most glorious things I've ever read lmao

@Robot99 said:
"^That is one of the most glorious things I've ever read lmao"

I think we can be pretty sure the model was trained around about the time 21339 came out!

This finally proves 2 things:

1) If you dump childish stereotyping complaints into an AI blender, you end up with a childish stereotyping complaint soup
2) Skynet is coming for @StyleCounselor

@MisterBrickster said:
"ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s."
Now THAT was funny - and this is coming from one of those men you described... ;-)

The actual result otoh is so over the top that it borders on sarcasm.
And the paragraph about classic Space in the first part sounded more like an actual LEGO marketing blurb...

@yellowcastle said:
"This finally proves 2 things:

1) If you dump childish stereotyping complaints into an AI blender, you end up with a childish stereotyping complaint soup
2) Skynet is coming for @StyleCounselor "

No one expects the Lego Rant Inquisition!!

Among our chief weapons are: fear, surprise, and a fantatical devotion to a period of Lego production over 10 years ago when the sets and figs were fantastic expressions of joy and creativity as well as obscure fan service, but were also made from designs that tended to fall apart and shed pieces and the pieces themselves would then shatter into little shards of brown and red.

All hail the glory days!!

@Huw said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s."

Microsoft Copilot offered this:

SNIP

--

Both are actually pretty good!"

These were actually quite cohesive AI rants, and both read like an actual member could have written them. This fact alone scares me more than anything Lego has ever put out. Yes, even scarier than My Dad, Dreadflipper, and Galidor combined...

To be fair, I'd love a set with laser-equipped sunflowers and time-travelling velociraptors

@ankayeb said:
"They would have been an instant buy for me without even seeing the sets until "minidolls." Why does almost every female-focused set have to be minidolls? I don't know if Lego is trying to make these more child-focused play sets, which Wicked isn't really a child-focused show/movie, in my opinion, or if they think most female AOFLs prefer minidolls, which in my experience the majority of female AFOLs either stongly dislike minidolls and avoid sets that have them or merely tolerate the minidolls if the sets themselves are good. At the rumored price points I've seen, I'm assuming it's skewing more toward child-focused play sets, which seems to me to be a missed opportunity. :-("
Totally— put them in masculine-targeted themes instead! The fanbases of those tend to put a particular emphasis on IP accuracy, they’d love Minidolls!

@oukexergon said:
"Ah, yes, because there aren't enough Fantasy themes right now."
I mean, there’s only Disney Princesses, Dreamzzz, HP, and one or two LOTR and DnD sets. Not few, but not exactly so many that it wouldn’t allow for one more small theme like this. Besides, what’s wrong with fantasy themes in a hobby built around creativity and imagination?

I'm always amused by the minifigure / minidoll discussion because I can quite easily imagine a world where they did minidolls first, and then introduced minifigures that can be posed more creatively, and the comment rants are full of old men yelling "who plays with figures?! we want realistically proportioned people for our dioramas and none of these weird square legs!"

Anyway, I haven't seen the musical, but I did read the book upon which the musical is based when it was first published, and I think very much of it.... but there's always space for one more Oz spin off, so no issues with the sets being produced, particularly if the movie tanks and the sets end up heavily discounted....

I think there is room in the world for Minidolls, and I prefer some of them to the Minifigure equivalent. However, the Minifigure goat is far superior to the Minidoll version!

@Huw said:
" @MisterBrickster said:
"ChatGPT, please write me a diatribe in the style of the Brickset comments section when there is an announcement of anything that isn't aimed at stereotypically masculine men born in the late 70s or early 80s."

Microsoft Copilot offered this:

Ah, the Brickset comments section—a digital arena where the fervor of a thousand suns converges upon the humble plastic brick. Let us embark on this perilous journey, my fellow aficionados of interlocking joy!

Title: “The Great Betrayal of the Brick Gods”

Both are actually pretty good!"

I love how Copilot interpreted this as a request for a Shakespearean melodrama!

@Huw said:
"1. The Offending Set: “Sunshine Meadows Petting Zoo""

You gotta be honest though, Sunshine Meadows sounds an awful lot like a place that the Friends theme would expand to beyond Heartlake City. They could even use a little sunshine icon instead of a heart icon like they currently do.

The best part about this set is the money I save not buying it and the free entertainment value I get watch the Battle of the Bots in the comments.

Something something gravity hurts or whatever the whole gravity theme of this is.

Minidolls.

@TheNameWasTaken said:
[[ @Toc13 said:
[[ @GoldenNinja3000 said:
[[I'm really looking forward to some amazing minidolls...]]

If "amazing minidolls" wasn't an oxymoron, I'd be looking forward to them too.]]]]

I think with minidolls it's about the elegance of the composition, especially with capes. The Elves theme showed what minidolls could do, and there are some amazing ones, imho. Disney has a couple of nice compositions too. Look at these and tell me there's no charm: ELF054, ELF011, ELF042, DP046, DP114, DP033. I think you cannot achieve this elegance with regular minifigs.