Brainbox

And "double post". I'm wondering if they might be a bit like the CW Rotta the Hutt, but with legs. And did someone mention moving mouths, or have I made that up? Especially as they both appeared in one post.

I was looking at this earlier as well, and I must say it too is very nice. Dark green really is a wonderful colour, and it's great to see it used in such a way. Not really sure what the soldier gear is about, but no matter, as the design of the pod is sleek and cool. I think I prefer V.1 to V.2, but both are nice. And of course it fits neatly into the TLG class of craft as it has no controls of any kind.

I was looking at this earlier, and I have to say it looks great. There's certainly a lot going on, and that's always something I've loved about dioramas, the fine line between lots and too much. The Mayan Temple is still as great as ever, and the tree is nice as well. And it all fits nicely into a cupboard shelf. Someone said that perhaps the transition between grass and water could be a bit less straight and sudden, and I think I agree. But that's a minor thing, and one I can overlook while I bask in the awesomeness that is the new Chief. I also can't help but notice that the motorcyclist is about to crash into a bush... With regards the number of Indys: is this Indiana Jones and the Attack of the Clones?

Ah, what the heck. Count me in as well, with gratious thanks.

I've really started something here haven't I? Who new it would turn out to be so successful?

And a selection of other assorted extras. A net trampoline in the boot, the Batscope, the Bat-radarscope tracker, a Bat-tering ram in the front, the Emergency Bat-turn Lever and the Bat-ray. Oh, no I like it, it's great. I just meant that regular red is what we see more often in the comics. But the dark red looks great. Oh, I see. I guess there's the old Hermione hairpiece as well, that looks a bit unkempt.

Picked up Vamprah on offer yesterday. Well, it was only £1.99.

... damn. I know what you mean. I love getting the rarer colours in sets, and then never get round to use them either because I can't find anything to do with them or because I don't have enough. I'm wondering if that small drill will be able to combine with some of the larger sets, especially the biggest one. Because it's possible that the big drill-machnie is just the right size to look 'normal' on the front of the big set.

Oh, you've just given me another idea for Batman RIP. The red/black checkerboard is used to represent good and evil all over the place. I was thinking the Black Glove and the Red Hood (ie the Joker), but perhaps the Joker is more involved than we think as red and black are Harley's colours. He's a lot more sentimental than he lets on. Who do you think maintains the Trophy Room in the new Hall of Justice? What? Aw, not another one. Great, looking forward to it. Oh... yes, of course. I've MODed mine a little, as I don't mind it, but... it's missing something. That's why I've held off posting it, I can't work out what it is. Oh, of course I did. Nice.

Please give us a 60s Batmobile! Please! It's actually pretty accurate. If anything, it should be regular red, but I'm happy to stick with the original.

Oh yes, that's right. I wasn't too sure on the Cheetor, but if he was mistransformed, maybe he'll turn out to be better. Inferno was pretty nice, but I'm not too bothered about Cyclonus. You mean the pirate? After a bit of research, you appear to be thinking of Cybertron Cannonball.

Hush, eh? Well, I wasn't expecting that. And 50 characters sounds great! As regards vehicles, I think it's likely we'll get a Batmobile level, and we may well get levels for the Batwing and Batboat as well.

Right, it's the weekend and I've finally got some time to myself. My timetable this year means I'm in college all day, as it's not viable to come home in my breaks, due to both time and money. Not too sure. I'll remove any bits of weird colour, and I'll probably get rid of the shooters on the plane. Other than that, I'll just see what happens. To be honest, I don't think there's really anything that's really screaming out to be fixed, which I guess is a testament to the awesomeness of the sets. Unfortunately, it means there's not as much for me to do. On a related note, the other day I was talking to the first year I mentioned before. She took out one of her folders to do some work and she was showing me some of her doodles (no!). Numbering amongst them was a caricature of Batman and Robin, complete with smiling Batman, a Heath Ledger Joker sketch and an impossibly cute Two-Face caricature. Seriously, it was really cute. So it turns out shes a bit of a Batman fan. I asked her if she read the comics, and she said that she didn't really, but she did own some of the trades, mostly Joker ones. I mentioned that I needed to buy the deluxe Killing Joke sometime, and she said she had it. Batbrick mate... I think I'm in love. Unfortunately, I stupidly mentioned the '20 types of Kryptonite' thing. True, I was making a joke about my fanboyism, but still... ... I like maths. Oh, I had a break at college the other day and I got stuck listening to someone talking about D&D, along with the American election, gypsy clans, Lord of the Rings, the disappointments of the rewards the characters get at the end of Lord of the Rings, webcomics and D&D again. It was a long hour-and-a-half. Sadly no. I don't have space for that as well. Exactly. A nice change of pace, even if there was very little actual reason for it. Exactly. Just look at us! Speaking of surreal humour, I've just got to tell you this. Half of my Chemistry class yesterday were on a Biology fieldtrip, so we couldn't do much as they'd all miss it. It became one of those lesson where we're left to our own devices, we all do very little work and no-one really cares. Anyway, so our table were talking about the end of the world (don't ask) and the Hadron Collider. After a slight lull in the conversation, someone piped up with "Why don't we put rats in the Hadron Collider?" I looked up immediately and exclaimed the question back to him, causing my mate next to me to burst into hysterics (that's the most I've ever seen him laugh). I followed suit, and we had to be told to calm down by the teacher. It wasn't even funny! Yeah... it's a little bit worse than that, but yeah. My friends all think it hugely funny, and to be honest, I run with it. It's me, why bother about it? I keep going into classrooms straightening tables. I've sent the drafts of #6 and #7 for editing. There are accompanying notes as well. The finished #4 hasn't been sent yet, as I've not had the time. Okay, I went though this morning. I have two Marvel pocketbooks I missed before, FF: The Coming of Galactus and Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past. Besides my CEs, I have Tales of Suspense #39 and #40 reprints from a Classic Iron Man action figure I picked up on offer. I also have Final Crisis: Requiem, JLA: Classified and Batman #666 in original comic form. The following is a list of the CE stories. Titles are provdided where I could be bothered to find them on the Internet, as it's a job to dig out all the issues again. Batman Hush (chapters 6-12 only, I missed the first five issues) Broken City Year One War Games: Prelude, Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, Epilogue A Death In the Family The Man Who Laughs Anarky In Gotham City Under the Hood/Family Reunion As the Crow Flies Batman Confidential: Rules of Engagement Batman Confidential: Lovers and Madmen Batman #580-586, #589-596 (Brubaker/McDaniel run) The Brave and the Bold #85 (The Senator's Been Shot!, with Green Arrow), #86 (with Deadman) and #93 (Do you dare enter the House of Mystery?) Detective Comics #395, #397 (Paint a Picture of Peril), #400 (Challenge of the Man-Bat), #402 (Man Or Bat?), #404 (Terror of the Skies), #407 (The Bride of Man-Bat), #408 (The House That Haunted Batman) #457, #500 (the Batman story, at least), #571 (Fear For Sale) World's Finest #175 (The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads), #176 Batman #232 (Daughter of the Demon), #242- 244 (more Ras's; including the Robin backup from #242), #251 (The Joker's Five-way revenge), #374 (Pieces of Penguin) Gotham Knights #59 DC Comics Presents: Batman #1 (Batman of Two Worlds) All-Star Batman #1-9 (currently awaiting more) Batman #655-58, #664-674 (Grant Morrison's run, including mulitpart Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul; ongoing) Legends of the Dark Knight #50 (Images), #168 (Urban Legend), #212, #214 Detective Comics #821-831, #838, #841 (Paul Dini's run; ongoing) Superman For Tomorrow All-Star Superman #1-9 (currently awaiting more) Camelot Falls (both voleumes) Superman Confidential: Kryptonite (no part 6 yet due to the American release being late) Superman Confidential #8-9 (#10 due this week) Superman #659 Action Comics Annual #10 Last Son Escape From Bizarro World Superman and the Legion of Superheroes parts 1 and 2 (part 3 due this week) DCU Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Supergirl, Absolute Power, The Enemies Among Us, K (final part due this week) Supergirl: Power The Brave and the Bold (vol.3): The Lords of Luck All-Flash #1 Justice League of America (vol.2) #0 (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) The Tornado's Path The Lightning Saga Justice Green Lantern (vol.4) #1-3 Marvel Avengers Disassembled Tales to Astonish #27 (The Man In the Ant Hill!) Marvel Double-shot #2 (The Roots of All Evil; drawn in the style of The Simpsons) Avengers: Finale #1 What If? #3 (What If the Avengers Had Never Been?) FF: Fourtidue, Rising Storm, Tag (Waid/Wieringo run) FF: Dream Fever FF JMS run (ongoing) The Thing: Freakshow Before the FF: Reed Richards (Reed Richards and the Riddle of Bast; I think I'm the only person who liked this) FF: The End Marvel Holiday Special 2004 (Franklin Richards story) The Thing (vol.2) #1-8 FF: A Death In the Family #1 What If Doctor Doom Had Become The Thing? #1 Spider-Man and The FF (final part due next issue) Human Torch #11, #12 Ooh, extensive. A couple of things: the classic B&B series is probably the one classic series that is sorely lacking a proper trade reprint. Seriously, it's great. As for the new series, it's worth checking out. First off, it's got Perez on art, which is always good. Second, it's a good read, with a nice mix of humour and seriousness. The character choices are also good: Batman, Green Lantern, Supergirl, Blue Beetle, Lobo, Adam Strange, the LSH and the Challengers of the Unknown. Go on then: share yours. Okay, Heart of Steel. I liked it. Babs made her first appearance, of course, as did her teddy Woobie (nice scene with Gordon there). The design for HARDAC was simply beautiful, so art deco. The robo-case at the beginning was so cool, and... why has no-one found the Batglider hidden on top of Wayne Enterprises? Cybertron Industries is obviously a reference to Transformers. Oh, and poor Alfred getting electrocuted. Fair enough. I can see why the old colours worked, as an insight into the Joker's mind and all that, but I just can't help but prefer the new ones. Looking at the DC website, the old book is listed as out of print, sorry. Oh, we'd better not get an All-Star Batman film. Exactly. As an example, whatever you think of Morrison's run or his writing, you have to admit it is taking Batman somewhere new. Then look at the how different Detective Comics is from that. Then look at Superman/Batman and Trinity. Even All-Star is worth a read and is really funny, albeit for the wrong reasons.

To be honest, I rather like the TFA toys. I've not had a chance to watch any of the cartoon yet, but I think the toy style is very nice. I had a long break at college the other day, so I nipped into town. I caved, and picked up TFA Prowl. Honestly, I love him. He's just so cool. I got back to college way before the end of my break, and caved again. I couldn't wait until I got home to open him, so there I was sat in the canteen eating my lunch, playing with Prowl. Suffice to say, I got a few weird looks. Woolies doesn't seem to have got them in yet, at least not here. Neither has Tesco. I'll have to wait until I'm next in TRU. Funny thing about when I was in the other day, is that not only was the store ridiculously warm and ridiculously busy, but the TF shelf was an absolute mess. There were figures everywhere, thrown on the shelves, resting on top of others, hidden behind and underneath others. I imagine they'll look great together. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, together as they should be. As for the '09 figs, Hound/Ravage looks to be great. There were a few others I liked as well, but I can't quite remember who... might have to check out the pics again.

I need to get this. It'll be something a bit different from the City one I've had for the past few years (although this year's City calendar is miles better than last year's). The figures are neat, and the accessories aren't too bad either. Sure, some of the days look a little sparse piece-wise, but never mind. I mean, at least it's available here...

Although if the past few days are anything to go by, maybe not. Anyway, the Batbike looks a lot better. I've still not seen it in person, but it looks a little too chunky and a bit clumsy. This looks sleeker, and generally cooler. The Hammer Hummer (surely you remember that) looks good. I rather like the hammer, but I can see why you removed it. Harley's consideration for road safety is great, seeing as how she's watching the road in that last pic... The whirlybat looks neat, and we finally get to see the fabled Hand of Batbrick... The Two-Face truck is really cool. And twice the punch? Genius...* Wetwire's Tumbler looks great as always. The Batsled, well, I rather like the original, but this is good too. It has a sort of classic-y look to it, which is good. Bat-ATV: Sweet! Close Shave? Absolutely brilliant, seriously. This is the best 'And Finally' yet! Ooh, harsh! It's true... I am a little oblivious to everything sometimes. Aw, thanks. *albeit somewhat flawed.

As long as Bruce comes with a cravat. And they could include a couple of spare costumes for Adam/Bruce to wear- artist gear, etc. Oh that would be lovely. As long as it comes with the Batzooka that is.

Yes, of course, I didn't think of that. Besides, I relish the chance to MOD these into something truly good. And it has said bike. Let's face it though, have there been any sets recently that haven't had silver in? Um... cool!

Oh yes, of course there was. Still, I think that was the only one, so it'll be nice to get on with mine. I'm thinking the latter. She's doing a third year, because she can't decide what to do at Uni (yes, that means she's older than me), but she's only doing one subject. That means she's hardly in, whereas I'm practically in all the time. Seriously, my timetable is awful. Big 3/4 hour breaks all over the place. Anyway, I digress. What I'm saying is I'm unlikely to actually see her. I can't find her either, as I can't remember what that one subject she's doing is... However, there is one of the new first years who's quite nice. I was talking to her the other day, and we were getting on quite well. To be honest, it's just nice to meet someone my best mate doesn't fancy. I was wondering how that was going. Obviously not quite to plan. Stick at it though, you never know. When she returns from her magical mystery tour that is. You feel out of your depth? Huh, don't we all mate. Oh, undoubtedly. A geek is someone who has an intricate or inate knowledge of a particular topic, to the point where they find it exciting. A nerd is much more obsessive. Surely you remember the Bat-MOC (3?) with the two-seat Batplane. I MODed the Batwing to accomodate Robin as well. Speaking of, I did a little work on my Batcavbe the other day. Well, I say that. I spent a good few hours sat there, but when I looked at what came out of it, I'd barely done anything! I think there's something there. I don't like that everyone hates them, I think they have some potential. Lime green is always nice, and there's a red motorbike in there as well. The small drill-thing does look quite nice, and while the other sets don't look quite as nice, they may turn out to be something I look into. Funnily enough, the biggest hate-point besides the red/lime green is the inclusion of blue helmets. What's wrong with that? What do you think? It'd be great to do the Wayne Penthouse, and have the satellite Batcave underneath, but there's no way either of us could get it to be impressive enough. Which is a shame. Oh, I know. We're ace crimefighters, we don't walk. But how much do you now want a motorbike with a go-kart sidecar? Well, I'll love it whatever. But some of the plots are just starting to border on surreal. However, it's all a bit of fun, so I'll not worry too much about it. I'm just waiting for the bit in Series 3 when everyone goes to the beach... Yeah... a sad, geeky, obsessive-compulsive, lovelorn individual. Oh I check mine every day... I just never seem to get any. Oh, well they'll listen to me talk about the comics and stuff (I was talking about BTAS and the Lego game the other day), and sound interested. By the same token, I'll let my friends talk about going horse riding, going shooting or watching football with the same degree of interest. Not at all. I don't have many trades/HCs, because of teh Collector's Editions I get, and the general state of the UK comics market. The only Batman trades I have are TLH, Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and The Ring, The Arrow and The Bat. But I onlt have those latter two because they were on offer. Along side these, I have JLA: Tower of Babel and JLA: Divided We Fall, along with SW: Clone Wars Vol.7 and Vol.8 (all four also on offer), Kingdom Come, Infinite Crisis, Prelude to Infinite Crisis, 52 Vol.1-4, V For Vendetta, DC/Marvel Crossovers 4 (including Batman/Spider-Man), Heroes Vol.1, FF: Unthinkable (the late Mike Wieringo was superb) and most of the new Transformers series: Infiltration, Escalation, Megatron Origin, Stormbringer, and Spotlights Vol.1 and Vol.2. But like I said, I also have a lot of stuff from the CEs, plus a few individual comics. It's too late to go through them now, but I'll make a list for you tomorrow. Remind me also to talk about Heart of Steel. Really? You don't like the new colours? I think I prefer them to the originals. Sure, the old ones make us see the world in a mad, hyper state, like the Joker, but the new ones are sombre, restrained, a sea of calm in a world gone mad. What strck me as odd is that the foreword is written by Tim Sale. Considering that the major change for the new reprint was the colours, he seems like an odd choice given his colourblindness. And it never grows old. See, that's what I assumed did happen. That they told the world Harvey Dent was dead, when he was actually locked up in Arkham as Two-Face. Obviously not... No... Batman killed him. True, he didn't mean to. True, he was saving Gordon's son. But the fact remains that Batman pushed him from the ledge, and this caused his death. Batman killed him. He also refused to save Ra's from death in BB.

Me being me, an cash is hard to come by. Ooh, harsh. And what do you know, it's actually like that here.

I was reading about that today. Shame it's so obvious, but he does look pretty cool otherwise. Pity he's a Voyager... that's £20 I have to find from somewhere. I came across Oil Slick, Jazz and Soundwave in TRU today, along with Lugnut, Roll Out Prime, Grimlock, Ratchet, Blackarachnia and a couple of other TFA figures. They also had Universe Blaster, Tankor, Sunstreaker and Prowl. I was going to get Sunstreaker and TFA Jazz, plus maybe Prowl, but it was really busy, it was warm, the queues were really long, and I was tired. I thought "nah" and left it for another day, when it's less busy. Jazz does look pretty neat though. I'm reading good reviews, and he looks homage-y enough to be worth getting. That and he's Jazz.

Exactly. Although at the moment, it's more Bruce's fiance being between them. Oh, wouldn't it be good if that was true... No, what they should have done is killed neither of them. The Bat-villains don't die! Regardless of the media, they just don't. It shouldn't happen. Plus not killing the Joker allowed that quote about them "going on like this forever".

Read the answers I gave and it's clear I did as well. I'll agree with that. I can never think of a good question (or any question, for that matter), and complementing the interview again sounds a bit useless. But I enjoy reading the interviews, and it's always nice to find out more about people that we talk to every day but don't really know at all. Plus, I'm still pleased to have been a guest myself.

That would be pretty sweet, I have to agree. And they'd likely be exclusive figs as well, at least initially. Give us either Aunt Harriet from the series, or Bruce's Aunt Agatha. Because the previous Castle releases were later than January, it's very likely next year's will be as well. But like this year, there may well be a couple of impulses like BB suggested to whet the whistle, so to speak. Well exactly. They might make some strange decisions sometimes, but I doubt they'd be that stupid. Try this: "For the love of God, calm down! The list we saw was incomplete. Whether or not it was a first-half release list, it wasn't finished. It is very likely there will be more Batman sets in 2009. We don't know for sure, but neither do we know there won't be. Please, calm down."

I seem to be in the minority of people that doesn't out-right hate these. Granted, they're not perfect (just waiting for someone to tell me that's the understatement of the century), but there's something there I think. Like you said, lime green is a very nice colour, and it's always nice to see lesser used colours come to the fore a bit. Someone's complained about the red bike. Why? It'll go in citys, and could be used as a bike for Robin. I'm sure someone, somewhere will find a use for the blue helmets, and there's a good chance that the new monsters could look half decent. Besides, these were never meant to be Rock Raiders. At no point did TLG actually say this was like RR, that was just our assumption. RR was a good few years ago, and times change. You don't like them? Fine, don't buy them. But someone else might. And I do rather like that small drill thing.