Winter Sets Vs Summer Sets

[Takanuinuva]

Its a wierd thing. Each time we get the pics for this years summer lego sets. They always seems to look better that the winter sets.Examples of this are2007- The mahri looks way cool in the toyfair pics2008- Same thing goes with the mistika sets2009- I'll bet everyone loved the summer 2009 vehiclesEven in hero factory the Summer breakout sets look really cool compared to the winter ones.But this is just my opinion. What is yours. which waves are better(Note if this is moved to polls include what I have written above. I am unable to start topics in the polls forum)

[Bfahome]

Only because the summer sets are the "new" thing, and usually have new parts in addition to the parts already released.The same could be said by comparing one year's winter sets with the previous year's summer sets: the winter sets would look cooler, because they're newer.It has nothing to do with being in summer or winter, though it's easy to draw that connection since story arcs often go winter->summer. But the sets themselves can't really be divided into years like that, and the general trend is newer = cooler.

[Soran]

I've always been fond of summer sets more then winter. I remember seeing the "4.0" heroes and thinking about how cool they look, my favorite being Breeze and Rocka. Didn't have a clue that breeze was a summer set (Still disappointed since I can't seem to find it at stores...).Although some sets are cooler because they have the newer pieces/designs/whatevers it really depends on the design for me. A lot of times I see previews of the newer sets and don't really pay attention to when they're out. For some reason the cooler ones are in the summer, or at least recently that seems to be the case.I vote summer.~Soran

[Hexann]

I think both are equally cool.

[FrozenFlash]

A few of the Winter sets look cooler than the Summer sets but some of the Summer sets look cooler than the Winter sets. So I think they're both great but it depends on the opinions from other people.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Veigar's Shadow

[Aanchir]

I think winter and summer sets are fairly evenly balanced in terms of which excites me the most. For instance, there were a lot of cool BIONICLE summer sets in 2009, but many of the winter sets were also cool, like Strakk, Gresh, and Malum. In 2008 BIONICLE I tended to prefer the Phantoka Toa Nuva to the Mistika Toa Nuva, although the Mistika Makuta showed as much originality or more than their Phantoka counterparts. And it's really impossible to compare the winter and summer waves for 2004 and 2005 BIONICLE since they were reversed for some markets (the US got the Toa Metru before the Vahki and the Toa Hordika before the Visorak, but elsewhere it's often the other way around).In last year's Ninjago I found a few of the summer sets cooler than the winter sets, particularly the ones with the dragons, which make up the bulk of my 2011 Ninjago collection. This year's Ninjago feels a bit more evenly-balanced-- there are cool minifigures in the summer, as well as the Ultra Sonic Raider and Epic Dragon Battle, which really impress me. But the winter sets include the four main Ninja vehicles and the coolest of the snake vehicles.In Hero Factory, I invested heavily in the winter 2011 wave, but felt much less compelled to buy sets from the summer 2011 wave. And in this year's sets, Breez and Thornraxx stand out as my favorites, even though like the 2004 and 2005 BIONICLE canisters their release date varies by country. Other than those ones, my preferences are mixed-- I really like Stormer XL and XT4, but I also really like Surge and Evo.So no, I don't find that I have any strong preference in the winter versus summer debate.

[Axilus Prime]

They always save the good stuff for the summer, except in 2005, when they didn't release things the same way. That in no way means the winter sets are bad, or that the set of sets is really complete without them, but the summer releases are usually better.

[The Swimming Beard]

I've always liked the winter sets beter.

[Gatanui]

I think winter and summer sets are fairly evenly balanced in terms of which excites me the most. For instance, there were a lot of cool BIONICLE summer sets in 2009, but many of the winter sets were also cool, like Strakk, Gresh, and Malum. In 2008 BIONICLE I tended to prefer the Phantoka Toa Nuva to the Mistika Toa Nuva, although the Mistika Makuta showed as much originality or more than their Phantoka counterparts. And it's really impossible to compare the winter and summer waves for 2004 and 2005 BIONICLE since they were reversed for some markets (the US got the Toa Metru before the Vahki and the Toa Hordika before the Visorak, but elsewhere it's often the other way around).In last year's Ninjago I found a few of the summer sets cooler than the winter sets, particularly the ones with the dragons, which make up the bulk of my 2011 Ninjago collection. This year's Ninjago feels a bit more evenly-balanced-- there are cool minifigures in the summer, as well as the Ultra Sonic Raider and Epic Dragon Battle, which really impress me. But the winter sets include the four main Ninja vehicles and the coolest of the snake vehicles.In Hero Factory, I invested heavily in the winter 2011 wave, but felt much less compelled to buy sets from the summer 2011 wave. And in this year's sets, Breez and Thornraxx stand out as my favorites, even though like the 2004 and 2005 BIONICLE canisters their release date varies by country. Other than those ones, my preferences are mixed-- I really like Stormer XL and XT4, but I also really like Surge and Evo.So no, I don't find that I have any strong preference in the winter versus summer debate.

Pretty sure the Toa Metru appeared before the Vahki elsewhere, too, at least in Europe.I don´t think summer sets are always better than winter sets. Sometimes the winter waves seem overall better but as others have said, it´s generally the newest sets which look the best, so summer sets logically tend to take the trophy as you compare the summer wave to the winter wave of the same year, but not so much the winter wave to the summer wave of the year before.-Gata

[Lyichir]

I don't think the summer sets are always better. Just as much work goes into the winter waves, and I disagree with most of the original poster's opinions on BIONICLE and Hero Factory set quality. However, it is true that bigger sets often are released in the summer. Examples include Ninjago (the highest-priced sets are always saved for the summer wave), BIONICLE (same deal, with most Titans and all vehicles being saved until summer), and many others. The only exceptions I can think of are themes which skip the summer wave, like Dino or Pharaoh's Quest.The reasoning for this is fairly obvious, at least to me: the summer sets are the ones which will be promoted during the holiday season, and that's when people will be more willing to buy larger sets as gifts. Additionally, for story-based themes lasting a year or more the summer wave typically includes the "climax" of a given year's story, which typically means bigger, grander sets. A good example of this is Atlantis, which had all the treasure keys available in the winter sets, but didn't include the payoff until the summer's massive Portal of Atlantis.

[Phauxx Lightning]

I think that there is often more anticipation for the summer sets, as the wait might seem longer?

[Peach 00]

Both usually have even amounts of coolness, depending on designs, pieces, and the structure of the sets themselves. Usually if at least a quarter of one wave of sets is pretty bad, the second wave will usually make up for it.One reasoning I think that makes sense for the winter sets not being all that great sometimes is the fact that the designers are rushing to create new designs for winter. Think about it: Christmas is fast approaching, they have to come up with designs that don't have an excessive amount of new parts, because that would entail creating new molds, when it would be easier and less expensive to use older pieces as opposed to new ones. Even if the wave of winter sets are so-so, the sales will probably be higher, as long as they are released right before Christmas - that is if they do it right, that is.

[Pantera]

2006 - The Piraka and Inika really matched on how awesome they were. (IMO. I was stunned at how cool the Inika looked.)2007 - This was a bit of an odd year for some reason, but yeah, they were pretty matched also.2008 - This is where I disagree with you Takanuinuva. The Phantoka were awesome, but the Mistika were... not as cool (IMO, again). If you think about it, the Mistika Makuta remind me of the Barraki.2009 - There was a difference, but none that made me think that Summer was better than Winter (or vice versa). The Summer ones made me think they were a bit superior, especially since they had a few Glatorian Veterans in there.2010 - Hero Factory was a bit better than Bionicle. With Bionicle, Lego gave the feeling of "Yeah, we don't really care." when they put out the last Bionicles.2011-2012 - I haven't really been following what the sets look like, so I couldn't really judge.

[Lyichir]

Both usually have even amounts of coolness, depending on designs, pieces, and the structure of the sets themselves. Usually if at least a quarter of one wave of sets is pretty bad, the second wave will usually make up for it.One reasoning I think that makes sense for the winter sets not being all that great sometimes is the fact that the designers are rushing to create new designs for winter. Think about it: Christmas is fast approaching, they have to come up with designs that don't have an excessive amount of new parts, because that would entail creating new molds, when it would be easier and less expensive to use older pieces as opposed to new ones. Even if the wave of winter sets are so-so, the sales will probably be higher, as long as they are released right before Christmas - that is if they do it right, that is.

I would disagree with that reasoning, since it has quite a significant flaw. That being that from my experience, the winter waves actually do introduce more new molds compared to the summer waves. For example, this year's Ninjago sets had a large number of new detail pieces introduced in the winter (such as the Serpentine staffs, many sizes of new blades, and the "brick-bricks," not to mention the spinners and the first wave of accessories for them), but apart from minifigure parts, spinner accessories, and the new inverse tiles, the summer wave introduces very little. Last year's sets followed a similar pattern, with the winter wave introducing parts that would be essential to the theme (such as the spinners, shurikens, "nunchuk handles," standard dragon head, and minifig parts including the parts of the Skeleton Warriors) and the summer wave only introducing a few (such as the Earth Dragon head, the Dragon Sword of Fire, and the heads of the other three Skeleton Generals).In other themes, a similar pattern is followed. Last year in Hero Factory, the winter wave introduced all the new parts associated with the new building system, and the summer wave only expanded upon that. This year essentials of the year's story such as the Hero Cuffs and new torso armor, were introduced in the winter wave, and while the summer wave introduces a significant number of new parts, it doesn't really match the number of those introduced in the winter.

[Cederak]

More often than not, I've enjoyed the look of the summer sets more than the winter ones.-Ced

[Nuparu1995]

It's true. They do get hyped up more, along with most other things that come out in the summer, like movies, etc. But you'd think they'd hype them up more as gifts for the winter sets around the holidays, though.

[Lyichir]

It's true. They do get hyped up more, along with most other things that come out in the summer, like movies, etc. But you'd think they'd hype them up more as gifts for the winter sets around the holidays, though.

Except in most cases, the winter sets' scheduled release date falls after the holiday season has wrapped up. To some extent, the waves could more accurately be called "start of year sets" and "mid-year sets". It's the mid-year, or summer, sets that get hyped for the holidays, and usually also serve to wrap up that year's story with a climax and conclusion. Meanwhile, the winter sets (which are usually scheduled to release in January, although some retailers start carrying them early) are meant to roll out a new year, which often introduces a brand new setting or story arc. Thus the "winter sets" often have many brand new parts, features, etc., to differentiate them from the previous year's sets; while the "summer sets" often continue to use the features or motifs established earlier that year, but on a grander scale, with larger and more flashy sets intended to finish a year off with a bang.

[Tiakor]

I've always found the winter sets better. They always seem to have more weapons or something like that. I think Lego has more time to come up with the winter sets (or maybe it's just a good transition to a new year).

[Ballom Nom Nom]

Not always true. For example, I really preferred the Piraka to the Inika, while the Piraka were the winter sets. Also, I liked the Phantoka over the Mistika, although I'm not too sure about the order on those. Still, the summer sets aren't inherently better per se.~B~

[Meiko]

Not always true. For example, I really preferred the Piraka to the Inika, while the Piraka were the winter sets. Also, I liked the Phantoka over the Mistika, although I'm not too sure about the order on those. Still, the summer sets aren't inherently better per se.~B~

I can say the same thing about myself with those two examples.Since my real main theme I'm in to now is Ninjago, I could really say I like this year's Summer sets more, but I mainly think that's just because they are new and cool ATM. I really love both Winter and Summer sets for them.

[Kaxix]

Generally it is true but it is not a rule. Personally I think the Phantoka are way better than the Mistika.

[Linsanity]

Yep, I always seem to like the summer wave way more than the winter wave.

[~ShadowBolt~]

I've always thought the winter sets were really cool and had safe good looking designs while Lego typically came out of left field with new molds and designs that take a while to grow on us (Mistika).