LEGO minifigures are getting angrier and fighting more, according to CNN.

New research by robot expert Christoph Bartneck at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand shows the number of happy faces on tiny LEGO figures is decreasing.

“We cannot help but wonder how the move from only positive faces to an increasing number of negative faces impacts on how children play,” he said in a statement.

First of all, a “robot expert” who researches LEGO toys in New Zealand sounds like the greatest job in the universe. I’m sure there’s a drawback somewhere.

Second, I cannot help but agree. For years now, I have noticed that my excitement over LEGO has steadily decreased. I attribute this to two factors: (1) the gradual loss of my sense of childlike wonder, and (2) the fact that LEGO has, quite literally, sold out. It began with the Star Wars tie-ins for the release of Phantom Menace in 1999, which I thought was pretty awesome at the time. Now it has reached a new low point, in my opinion—at least based on this Lone Ranger tie-in I saw at Target the other day:

Note the Johnny-Depp-as-Tonto minifigure.

Gone are the days when LEGO minifigures were happy, no matter what you made them do:

Hooray, space!!!

Hooray, skateboarding!!!

Hooray, uh……hooray?

Now, I’m not saying that having LEGO samurai isn’t its own sort of awesome…

…and the same goes for LEGO ninjas…

…but I do worry sometimes about what the future holds for the LEGO of my childhood.

And what the hell is this?