smegged

This was the final set I got before my dark age (which lasted a whole 3 years - though in 96/97 I got very few sets). I loved it to death. Chock full of play features and translucent parts and computer parts.

Excuse me for my ignorance, but what are clip and bar hinges?

From what I understand, unfortunately this part will not come back because the tolerances involved in making the teeth work together are so small that they end up rejecting too much of the production run. This is why we don't see these http://peeron.com/inv/parts/4276b hinges any more either. I *could* be wrong though, so if anyone else knows any more about this I'd like to hear it. Everyone wants pitchforks and have been asking for them for years. I believe that it will only be a matter of time before a new pitchfork mold is created.

Which parts would you like to see come back in future sets? For me, it is these three: http://peeron.com/inv/parts/2409 - Panel 10x10x12 corner (last seen in 1998) http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/2418b - Windscreen 6 x 6 Octagonal Canopy with Axlehole (last seen in 2003) http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/6061 - Brick 2 x 4 x 2 with Holes on Sides (last seen in 1999)

Great review. This set looks to me as though it falls just short of greatness. With a more built up base and a few more minifigs it would have been perfect. Having said that, the printed baseplate would make for a wonderful "ice planet" sci fi setting.

63 copies! You must have needed a trailer to haul them all back home.

Hello everyone, I am interested to hear what people's thoughts on Vladek's Dark Fortress are, now that the blind fury at anything and everything KKII has somewhat dissipated. We're now several subthemes down the track, so what do people think of this set? http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/8877-1

I also have both ships and just placed them next to each other. There might be at most 3 cm of difference in length from the rear of the captains cabin to the front the other end of the ship (I think the term is prow). Yes the BB has one less hull piece, but that alone doesn't make it smaller. The BSB does have more deck space, but it is not significantly "bigger" than the BB. The captains cabin on the BSB is two studs longer, but to the untrained eye they look virtually identical (and are very similarly furnished). Like I said earlier, the BSB wins out in the front half of the ship by having a more solidly built deck. I do not disagree with you that the BSB is a legend - it is, and I voted for it to be rereleased in the early 00s (and bought one when it was). I love my BSB, but as a modern reinvention of it, the BB is a very nice ship. I also disagree that the masts are poor in the BB. The crossbars aren't as good as those on the BSB, but the masts themselves are infinitely more usable in MOCs than the BSB masts. I recently bought two ~$70 AU sets - the drawbridge defense and the soldiers fort. While the drawbridge defense is the better set, both vastly exceded my expectations. The drawbridge defense is the best sub-$100 set of the last year IMO, with the soldiers fort a close second. I must admit though that I have not purchased the kraken attacken or shipwreck hideout sets (though I seriously want them now). The minifigs in this pirate line are nothing less than works of art. The detail is so beautiful I am really in awe. My old soldiers and pirates look like megablocks next to my new figs, and I loved those little guys!

BB being small is a myth. The set is identical in size to the BSB. It has one less cannon and is one brick shorter around the sides (a bit less actually) and doesn't have the "half deck" plates, but the ship itself is the same size. It has a few less pieces than the BSB, but what do you expect with 15 years of inflation? I mean it's the same price as the BSB was when it was released! The plastic is no lower quality than any lego set I've bought in the last decade either. If this line did not please you then nothing will. There are many aspects of it that blew the old series' out of the water. Not least of which are the utterly gorgeous minifigs. The only thing it was missing was a huge shipyard/port.

I am not sure I understand your complaints with regards to the current pirate line. The figs were the best pirate figs ever released. The ships were both very high quality. The imperial base was a joy to build and is a very nice set. The smaller sets were all quite nice. It seems to me that those who dislike the new sets generally have not bought them. The cover art does not do these sets justice. They're very worthwhile sets.

Using the pictures to judge these ships is a bad idea. The BSB and BB both have cannons that are the same height from the water (given that the base of the boat is the water level). The ships are the same length and the rear cabins are almost identical in size, shape and design. The real difference comes down to these three areas: The masts and rigging The deck The front section The BB has a lot of criticism for not using string for the rigging. I think that this is a very silly criticism as the string always annoyed me. There are pros and cons to both to be honest. The sails are attached much better on the BSB except for the front triangular sail, which is only supported by string, and therefore over time has collapsed and does not look very good. The chain support on the BB seems like a much better long term solution. The deck on the BB is far weaker than the deck on the BSB. The extra height of the BSB is mostly manifest in this area and the BSB uses the space much better than BB. This is also why the BB looks so <insert that tiresome argument> in pictures - because it doesn't have an elevated deck hiding away the hull pieces like the BSB does. The front section of the BSB is also better than the BB. It gives the ship a more "complete" look and better uses the space available. A lot of the criticism of BB in this thread is very unwaranted, as the ship itself looks much, much better than the box art makes out. I have both ships, and side by side, which is the better ship is largely dependent on the angle from which you are observing the ship. From behind the BB looks much nicer due to the more modern colour scheme and less iritating rear design (the BSB has that annoying rear flag, which due to its weight is fragile and continually detatches from the ship, even with only the slightest nudge. From the side and front the BSB looks nicer (this is where its colour scheme actually looks better, particularly from a distance). I also get the feeling that due to the rigging design the BB sails will look better in 5 years than the BSB sails. Still, in a fight (which is what this thread is all about) I'd give the edge to the BSB, as it looks like a much more solidly constructed ship. As far as desire for another copy of the set goes, I would marginally give it to the BSB, though the new minifigs and colours are very tempting. I would not be disappointed to receive either as a gift.

Ok the title says it all. I would love for Lego to release an official moonbase module as an exclusive/hard to get. That would just be perfect in its awesomeness. How much do you want this? What theme would you like them to do this with?

I was an avid space nut as a kid and the Star Wars line brought me back from my dark age in 2001. I didn't care for Mars Mission much and some of the more recent space sets were pretty ordinary. I was initially very excited to see that the Space Police were coming back in 2009, but then I saw the sets, which looked very ordinary. None of the aliens interested me much and the only human set that grabbed my interest was the big cruiser (for $150 AU I will be picking it up on clearance, if at all). Compared to the awesomeness of the 2007/08/09 castle sets and the 2009 Pirates line, the 2009 space line was a letdown. Having said all of that I am fanatically excited about the new Message Intercept Base ripoff :). I am equally as excited at the new police fighter craft. In fact the whole 2010 line just looks so good that I'm almost glad they canned the Pirates as that will free up some of my budget for the new space stuff . Now, if only I had a better paying job to feed my addiction (and more space in the house - pun intended).

Check out my entry and tell me your thoughts. This is my first Mech MOC ever, so I'd be keen to know what people think (other than that my photography sucks). Mine is called "The Insect".

Hello all, I'm new here, but this contest interested me. So here's my entry: Here's the deeplinks to the pictures: Pic 6 Pic 7 Pic 8 Pic 9 Pic 10 Pic 11 Brickshelf gallery (when moderated): http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=230949 EDIT: It's made up of Supernova, Stealth Hunter and Grand Titan. Oh, and ignore the stupid dates... they're obviously completely wrong.