Citation: Daniel Konstanski, The Secret Life of LEGO Bricks: The Inside Story of a Design Icon (Unbound, 2022). — p. 281.

Structural elements needed to be created so that final set designs could be developed. That distinctive point on the power tile led to facets with dual slopes being incorporated into nearly all the theme’s family of pieces. LEGO® NEXO KNIGHTS™, as the theme was now called, was the first extensive foray into structural elements, which have since become the norm. Themes are assigned most new element frames in their first year, but reduced numbers of structural elements are also allocated to subsequent waves of evergreens, helping to inject a measure of novelty there as well. Sometimes the process can prove maddening to other teams hungry for a chance to incorporate the requisite ‘new shiny thing’ into their own models. That was the case with the ‘NEXO shield piece’, which ended up being unlocked earlier than originally intended due to high demand within the company. Other teams were allowed to use it, on the condition that they wouldn’t print anything on it for the first year. The LEGO® Creator Expert team was especially happy, as they were able to use it for an ornate floor on a massive LEGO Disney Castle set.

When new elements are created for a new big bang theme, they are meant to be exclusive to that theme for a few years. They are sometimes 'unlocked' more quickly when demand outside of the original theme is high.