Catanas

For me, it would definitely 100% be American McGees version of Alice. However, since that is probably one of the most unlikely things ever, I would settle for any version on Wonderland they choose to make! :P

This is an absolutely fantastic rendition of a Tiger. I do love the fact you managed an interior too. Perhaps maybe a decal or two now? :D I don't really agree personally. Star Wars and Pirates are very fantastical lines. Even though pirates are based on something sinister in history, the pirates Lego choose to make are very stylised and represent what pirates are in popular culture. A bit of a joke right now it seems. This kind of model represents something that is still very recent in peoples minds in terms of history, and what some would consider a great evil. 'If' they ever did this sort of thing I'd never expect it to be minifig scale, something like the WW1 aircraft they once did would keep more to their morals. I'm even surprised they made those. Although saying that, Indiana Jones proves me wrong, but I like to discount that because again, its fantastical. I say, leave it to the MoCers and the plastic kit manufacturers, and I'm sure all this has been covered before so I apologise if I am repeating Anywho! Thumbs up again McDuck!

I think its the Geisha head with painted eyes. Thanks for the models Runamuck. I've never sat down and watch the cartoon itself, but I am tempted after seeing your excellent collection of bizarre and curious creatures.

A really excellent review! I actually just bought my 2nd Emerald night as in the end I couldnt deal with just having one carriage, and as you have pointed out, the rest of the set has a wealth of useful parts! I think this'll be a set that jumps in price massively at the end of its life, but I think I'll settle for just the 2 right now.

For me 10 : Daedalus304 - Hypersonic Hornet - 3 points. 37 : Sarkanyapu - Snowmobile - 2 points 38 : The Lanterne Rouge - Helicopter - 3 points. All very good use of parts that look like something fairly official!

Heres my entry otherwise I'll forget! A nice quick mini space moc! The Phoenix Dropship Military vessel equipped to carry deformed roosters. The pilot often wishes he could scrap the ship and rise again... Additional image - Rear View LXF File - LXF - Good luck all and happy building! Catty

These are excellent, a little variety is always nice. :) Would be interesting to see your take on the cardigan and tank top variations!

I voted 6397. Nostalgia plays a big part in my decision as it was one of my favourite town sets when I was younger. It comes with the whole shabang! Tow truck, wash and all. I also remember it being perfect for the tanker truck of the same period. I wish I still had it looking at this, darn you :(

An excellent review. Personally I'm in two minds about this theme. I've purchased a couple of the smaller sets and find the quality of printing to be excellent. However, though we get some nice new parts and I especially like the new wheels, I find on the whole the printed parts are a bit useless outside the theme. At least with liscenced minifigs you can break them up and use the new printings elsewhere. That said, there are some useful printed parts, like the hippy prints on this minivan and most of the tiles could be useful. The cafe itself is very well realised while retaining a strong play element and I adore the V8 sign. Thanks again Oky, a clear and concise review!

This is a lovely little warplane, and I agree the stubbiness suits the Lego figures well. Top job.

Though I'm not hugely won over by the colour scheme, the moc itself is fantastic. It really helps set a delightful scene, while looking functional too. I do like the brick built doors too, as it gives you a chance to work outside the constraints of the moulded doors size!

Thanks for the excellent in depth review. This is certainly the standout set for me in the theme and I have to admit I'm a little tempted. The design and details are fabulous and the colours striking. The minifigures are also very nice, as it contains two of my favourite figures from the theme, Wu and Nya. Thumbs up from me! And thanks again!

Well, I was just popping into town to collect my free newspaper lego when I decided to pop into John Lewis (A large British department store)Lo and behold they were putting out the latest Harry Potter sets a bit early. Since funds are tight I decided to snap up the littlest one for now, and in turn, have decided to try and integrate myself into the community a little more with my first review. Sorry about the photos, as my camera is about 9 years old, I have little experience with it, and nowhere decent to shoot :P! Any advice would be tops! Thanks! Anywho... on we go. Set Number: 4865 Name: The Forbidden Forest Theme: Harry Potter Release Date: June 2011 Pieces: 64 Minifigs: 4 Price: $11.99 USD £10.49 GBP S@H description: In Forbidden Forest, Lord Voldemort and his followers have captured Hagrid and tied him to a tree. When Harry Potter enters the Forbidden Forest to face his destiny, Lord Voldemort attacks. Will Lord Voldemort defeat Harry Potter once and for all? Will Narcissa Malfoy betray the Dark Lord? Here we see the box, reminiscent of the previous Harry Potter sets from the current line with a delightful deep red, patterned background enhanced by some very serious looking cast members from the movies. The picture on the box gives you a great idea of whats inside though it seems to be missing the little snake fella! The back of the box introduces us to the set as a whole and clearly shows what you should be getting on what seems to be a piece of parchment. Again the delightful red rolls over from the front of the box. Also shown here is the 'action' feature which seems to be quite common among the Harry Potter sets. A figure will stand next to the tree and get thrown across the surface by a spell. Its a wonder they manage to stay on their feet half the time with all these 'action' features around. As you can also see, the box is the standard push tab type. The contents of the box! Instructions, folded I'm afraid with none of that lovely cardboard, and two bags. The front of the instruction book, nothing new here. Just a crease! Apart from the usual page of sets from the theme and the annoying child who wants us to WIN! all the time, there was this interesting page for an upcoming game. :) Now, here is what makes this set and beefs up the price tag! The figures. I'm half and half on this one as we get two very common figures and two not so common. We have the delightful Narcissa Malfoy, mother of Draco and wife to Lucius. We also have the devious Lord Voldermort, it being nice to see him in a smaller set for a decent price tag! Then we have Harry Potter, the boy who lived (And cloned himself over and over and over and over apparantly) and the mighty Hagrid, who again, seems to have access to a cloning machine. Here we have the villains in all their glory. Narcissa is the star of the set and doesnt dissapoint, with that lovely printed hair and intricate, double sided dress. She has double sided features, content and angry. She seems to bear a decent resemblance to the character with the eyebrows being particularly effective. My only real gripe is, like some other recent sets, her dress and torso do not align correctly. Voldermort, is as always, grumbling about something. He is one sided in all respects and comes with that lovely, fashionable cape seen on many a themes catwalk. Like I said before though, its nice to get the films main antagonist in a smaller set as I couldnt afford Hogwarts. :( The heroes! Or whatever you like to call them! Harry is your bog standard Harry that you've seen in every set in the current wave. Well, every uniformed Harry, which, correct me if I'm wrong here, he shouldn't be wearing in this scene as he isn't a pupil at Hogwarts at this time? Hagrid, oh Hagrid, giant and friend to leading cast members! In this set, we see Hagrid without his beloved pink umbrella, but still with a cheery smile underneath that bushy beard. Nothing can get to our beloved Hagrid. Being tied to a tree is great fun for the big fellow. The pieces! A decent selection of tree building parts including brown slops, black tiles, tan jumpers and a dark tan base. Parts of note include the wonderful printed mushroom dish, four trans blue flames and cones, some nice brown slopes and of course, the critters. Harry Potter has bumped my spider collection tenfold! The build is a simple affair with nothing too complex. You can easily see how the flicking mechanism is built and works ( Though if you call flying 2 inches working, then its right up your alley!) It all ends with poor Hagrid tied to the tree with blue flame singeing that lovely beard. He's still smiling though, bless his cotton socks. Honestly, why would you need this many Potters... except for the Polyjuice scene! Shhhhh. If you can't sort this out in a decent fashion, NOBODY gets the umbrella. Meet the Malfoys. Ratings Design: 7/10 - The tree is nicely built and the mechanism works somewhat, but I think a little more could have been done. Build: 8/10 - Nothing too fancy, nothing complex. Just a quick easy build. Minifigs: 7/10 - The two villains as I have stated are an excellent addition, with Narcissa being extra good. However, what lets it down a bit is the repeat appearances of the heroes without any new printing. Playability: 8/10 - For a tree, the playability is excellent. Not much else they could have done bar setting up a treehouse. And, as always the large concentration of figures helps the role playing element greatly. Parts: 8/10 - Good tree building parts with some nice trans blue pieces. The printed mushroom is again, awesome. Price: 7/10 - £10.49 for 4 figures and a tree seems a lot, but its not so bad if you consider what you'd end up paying for the rarer figures eventually. Right now though, its a bit pants, though it does have a printed mushroom! Overall: 7.5/10 - A decent little set with a good selection of heroes and villains, though definitely better value if you lean towards the villain side of things. And to finish off, a little comic to show what you can do with all your Potters! Hope it wasn't too bad a read, and again, apologies for the photos! Advice is appreciated! Enjoy and take care!

Very nice review, and very nice pictures! I'm guessing you may have missed though 1x2 plates under the floor of the towers themselves. Theyre not essential but are definitely in there. The biggest surprise about this set for me was the globe printed differently to the Pirates of the Caribbean one. They seem to be getting better with their printing these days, though there are still the standard DSS. Personally I found this DSS enhanced the set greatly and didn't mind applying it at all, unlike a lot of other sets. Though it would be ace if they came with a spare set. I actually had my mirror sticker stuck to the inside of the box when I opened it, but it retained its yummy stickiness enough to be applied to the tile! I really want to go back and get Hogwarts too now to add to this, but maybe next month! Thanks for the review!

Arrr, thanks guys. Works picked up quite madly of late so no time I'm afraid, but looks like someones already done a lovely review with big lovely pictures anyway! :) Might have a pop at a comic tommorow if I finish at a decent time, though not sure where to put it! And ooOOoo! A title! <3

Since I enjoyed my first review quite a bit, and you were all so nice about it, I decided to grab the Knight Bus and give that a bit of the old reviewing! Again, bear with the pictures as this time I decided to use photoshop to play around and test things out! If you want to see the bus in action before you read, take a look here! Set Number: 4866 Name: The Knight Bus Theme: Harry Potter Release Date: June 2011 Pieces: 257 Minifigs: 3 (And a head) Price: $34.99 USD £29.49 GBP S@H description: Harry Potter and his owl Hedwig need a lift back to Hogwarts, but as the purple, triple-decker Knight Bus screeches to a halt beside them, are they ready for the bumpiest journey in the wizarding world? Set includes Stan Shunpike, Ernie Prang and the shrunken head. Rebuilds into a London bus or regular bus. Hold on tight when you ride the Knight Bus! The Box This time, the box is slightly larger, has the same delightful red patterns and serious looking trio. But this time, it has a bus!! Who would have thought? It’s a wonderful image showing the bus tearing through the streets of London! Here, on the back of the box, again we have the parchment which is present throughout the line and a picture of the complete set. You can get a good look at the characters on the back of the box and it also shows you the moving bed feature. Yes! The bed really does go backwards and forwards. More on that later! Oh, and don’t forget the push tabs, there’s two of them! This image on the back of the box introduces us to the modular nature of the set. You can put the top on the bottom, or even put the bottom on the middle if that’s the way you like your buses. Its like automobile … Lego. One thing to note is that the roof doesn't actually come in one piece. The front of the instruction book, showing a brand new and completely different image of the bus speeding through the streets of…. Wait a minute! The DSS. Only two very small ones fortunately. A page from the instructions. You too could own your very own bus! Here are the last things within that wonderful cardboard box. Those plastic bags full of plastic people with their plastic dreams and plastic bricks. Three of them, reasonably large. The Figures. Here be the figures contained within this bountiful set! Firstly, a Harry Potter. Wow, I didn’t expect that. Another for the Radcliffe shrine. Today he is wearing his eye catching casual wear with front and back printing, what a guy. Secondly, we have Ernie Prang. The bus driver with glasses thicker than his sandwiches, although that doesn’t quite come across in the Lego version. The torso is excellent with front and back printing and the face is very decent. Perfect for old people MOCs, especially with that hair and the fact the torso doesn't have skin printing, so it could be yellow or fleshy. Thirdly, and here is where I have an issue. Stan Shunpike. The torso is lovely all by itself with great front and back printing, however I don’ink it looks grubby enough. The face also looks too old for the character and not nearly pimply enough. I don’t own the old Knight Bus, but I have done my research and actually prefer his old head. Here is a comparison for the lazy! The older one looks much younger, and I think the hair really works well. But I digress, this is a personal opinion and therefore it is the only one that matters! :D Here we have the last little star of the set. The shrunken head, printed on a 1x1 cylinder, something which Lego seem to have taken a liking to of late. Its sand green (excuse the photo) and looks like a… shrunken head I suppose. Slightly intoxicated if I don’t say so myself. The Parts This is probably the most interesting part of the set. I knew there would be plenty of purple, but I was really surprised with how much there actually was. There aren’t a lot of big hard to use bricks either. If you want purple, you need this set. Here you see ALL the purple pieces in the set laid out. You have lots of useful smaller bricks and plates, even some tiles. But you also get eighteen purple 3x4 train windows. Unfortunately, you’ll note that the 3x2 windows are not from the train theme, but are instead house windows, unlike the previous Knight Bus. Here are the more specialised parts included in the set. We have 3 excellent trans clear windows, including a squared one, 6 of those new black 1x4 tiles with studs (Or whatever you’d like to call them!), a treasure chest, printed Hedwig and a nice surprise for me were the two printed sock tiles to go in the chest. The Build I actually quite enjoyed building this one and it uses some nice techniques for the front and rear, otherwise its mostly just stacking purple bricks. Take a look! Lets pause for a moment and take a look at the bed. Yes, that is a bed, a quite simple one at that. But it does the job and slides around inside thanks to the smooth tiles underneath. Hooray for flat slidey beds! And on we go. The last image shows how the delightful chandelier attaches to the bus. It hangs there so it can swing around as a play feature, and boy does it swing. I've nearly taken Hedwigs head off about fifty times, and I still havn't realised I can move him! The leftovers. Not many, but reasonable for a set this size and all the usual duplicates. Parting shots. This shot above shows something that I think gives this set a massive one up on its predecessor. The wheels on this set are more accurate in placement thus the back of the bus ends up looking much better in regards to reality with an open back entrance which Stan can hang off. One final shot showing the multipart roof and the chandeliers swinging mechanism. Oh and Stan. Hey Stan, you look a bit worse for wear. Have you tried anti aging cream? Maybe you should. Ratings Design: 8/10 - I adore the design and parts chosen are amazing. It creates a pretty decent representation of the bus within the price range. Build: 8/10 - A few fancy moments but lots of brick stacking. Minifigs: 8/10 - Two brand new figures with excellent printing although Stan could use a facelift. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the cheapest set in which to get casual Harry. Playability: 8/10 - I love it and the little shakeabout features inside. I think that maybe the reason TLG decided to make the Knight Bus again is because theres is very little in the way of swoosh and vehicle play in the Harry Potter universe. Plus they wanted to print something on a round brick. It rolls like a dream by the way! Parts: 9/10 - Purple, and socks. That is all. Price: 8/10 - Initially, I was sceptical about £30 for this bus, but after building it, I love it to bits. All those bricks in a rare colour and two new minifigures make it definitely worth it. Oh, and socks. Overall: 8/10 - An awesome set, definitely better than its predecessor in my eyes with much more accuracy and playability with the minifigures involved. And, as last time, a comic to finish off! Take care and thanks for reading!

In the department store near my house they had them out early. I got Battle for Hogwarts too, but will let someone else do a review of that! Tis very nice though. I guess they weren't supposed to have them out though as I went back today and they'd all been taken off. :P

Excellent review :) I was going to do one myself but your pictures do it far more justice! Its a nice little set indeed for what it is and how many parts go into it. I do find the dark tan jumpers to be quite a nice addition. Though as you say, the sails with their clips can get quite annoying hehe.

Seriously, just because you're bitter about this whole thing, is there any need to lash out at other members and their views in this way? Its most likely a case of combined factors. Poor supply (Though my Smiths lasted well into the Afternoon most days, scalpers/hoarders with no regard for other people, to a small extent, his view and many, many others of minor significance.

Its £49.99 in John Lewis so I'd go with that roughly.

I actually quite like the look of this set, bar the dock itself. The only thing that gets me is the price tag, it shouldn't be so high. But I suppose thats inflation for you. *shakes fist* Awesome review, thanks a lot :)

You're welcome, and I do see what you mean by the interior somewhat. I have been blinded by the amazingness of purple, however in the film, the chandelier does come down through the floors and in 6 wide I think its impossible to put a walkway either side of it. And oh god, I wish I could, but I stretched myself with this one (So glad that I did, I loves it!) so I can't afford the £49.99 price tag on BfH. :(

Woo, thankee you lovely, lovely people. Was actually more fun than I thought it would be, and aye, the comic is mine of course. Couple of characters I still havn't worked out what to do with >.> Welwyn Garden City. :)

Hah, I'm guessing you weren't a fan of the bum and nipple filled title sequence then :P I too was looking really forward to the film till I saw the costume, not so sure about the membraney look but could grow on me Anywho, awesome customs as usual. Really looking forward to seeing what you do with Kilowog, and is ace to see some concept work :)

13 Attack on the Nile by Yatkuu & Pixel Fox - 3 points 3 Ignacia Village quy - 4 points To me, personally, these felt like they could truly be lego sets that fit into the themes and also provide a little something new to said theme.