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Our friends have recently returned to Japan with thier 2 young children. Have sent messages by mail and facebook... just hope they're all safe.

How ironic... I'd actually expected my box to be crushed in some way, being on an aeroplane, but neither boxes were terribly damaged (i bought 7688 on the outbound flight). You'd think they'd have some inkling as to how to pack and post items like these.

My pleasure to share this set with you all. That's what I thought - very much in the classic vein but with a modern twist. I like it a lot. Not sure if I'm sold on the new aircraft designs, they say Playmobil too much to me... it's LEGO I collect! Get yourself on some international flights! Not really the best option I guess... I've gone a bit dark recenlty due to family and work... but I'm easing myself back in.

I paid pounds in both directions of my flight so I've no idea what it is in CAD. If I find myself on the same trip anytime soon I'll find out. Is £15 really that pricy for this? LEGO's pricing is ever on the increase and £15 seems to be the going rate for a low-medium build set like this. As an example, I've been looking at buying the 7639 Camper recently which retails at £14.99. Okay it's got 55 more pieces, but many of these are accessories - when complete it's probably comparable in terms of scale. The Private Jet has far fewer accessories, but is a superb example of this type of small aircraft. And it's exclusive. The white/dark blue colour scheme is striking and says class! I've not opened my 7688 Stunt Plane yet, but having seen the review I'm sure I'm remain most impressed by this set.

I picked one up on my way back from Vancouver on Thursday night. Not opened it yet. Was thinking of doing a review actually...

It is an age of strife. The valiant Jedi and insidious Sith clash in bitter melee across the galaxy. From the lush plains of Naboo to the arid dunes of Tatooine; from the squalid catacombs of Coruscant to the dark slopes of Korriban; lightsabers clash and legends are created, as champions of Republic and Empire rise and fall. Who amongst them will truly prevail? Is there a Chosen One? Welcome to the Jedi Duel dueling thread. This is where the fates of many will be decided! To play please read the rules fully in the Introduction and Discussion thread here. Then create and post your character in the Character Databank here. The dueling thread should be used only by players (those who have characters) to lay down challenges, accept and for adjudicators to request Duel Sequences and post results. Please don't ask questions or discuss Jedi Duel in this thread, that's what the discussion thread is for! Challenging: Post below, challenging someone specific or throwing it out there and seeing who dares to face you! Check that the player is online (contact by PM is a good idea) and you have an adjucator ready. Please ensure you can spare the time to play from beginning 'til end. Bare in mind when you agree to participate in a Jedi Duel that you are also playing the game with 2 others who in return are using their own free-time to play with you. You will need to keep watch on the Dueling Thread throughout so you can respond in a timely manner and keep the duel running smoothly. I hope you all have a great time playing and progressing your charcaters... may the force be with you!

Thanks for the retrospective review Brickster. The original Ninja theme was one of the best concieved and executed themes in my opinion. Sadly, I don't any now but it's great to see such nice pictures. Classic Ninja is still leaps ahead of the desparate Ninjago line. When I'd heard of the return of Ninja I'd hoped for so much more than Ninjago. I think kids would have loved the classic style setting without all the bells, whistles and absurd skeletons. O well!

Thoughts about the blue blade? I'd like to see both used - at least I like the current one fine enough, but an alternate blue blade would be great. Thoughts about the green blade? Make it trans (regular) green - I agree with what you'e saying tanotrooper - it's just not green and I like it least of the colours available at the moment. I'd be happy if LEGO changed the colour of this in Star Wars sets. Thoughts about double lightsaber handle? Yes! Would look great on my Maul figure - Not only this, I'd like to see a variety of different lightsabres. LEGO could go the whole hog with new characters and accessories and give us specific Jedi's lighsabers... or even just a couple of variations to spice things up? Incidentally, I've used that 'windswept' hairpiece on my Tatooine Luke... looks great!

I got a response from LEGO Direct. They cited the UK tax increase and inflation for the rise for the increse. Not quite the answer to my question but to be honest I'm not too fussed anymore. I'll check my catalogue when I get home but most likely pay the asking price regardless. I'm such an AFOL...

This is the character thread for Jedi Duel characters. Characters only! Please don't ask questions or discuss Jedi Duel in this thread - go here instead. The Dueling Thread can be found here. For use of reference please layout your character's in a fashion as below, editing as they progress. Darth Kurss | Sith Lord Health: 5 Force Abilities Force Push Force Lightning Mastery Abilities Combat Master Sabre Flurry Bio As a youngster, Kurss was a street urchin in the gutter levels of Coruscant. He used his Force powers to swindle the local crime element using street ‘magic’ but all too often suffered at the hands of those he would steal from. As Kurss's powers grew however, so did his stature within the underworld, leading him on a path of revenge, extortion and ultimately murder. His presence was sensed by the dark lord Darth Corax, who located and confronted Kurss in person. The Dark Lord was impressed with the young one’s fighting skills and zest for violence. In him he saw great potential as a Sith Warrior and so transported him to Korriban with promises of power which well appealed to Kurss, now a fledgling Sith Acolyte. Of unknown racial origin, Kurss is a natural wielder of the Force. He has embraced the Dark Side and carved a swathe of death and destruction throughout the galaxy. A master of the lightsaber, he wields twin blades with lethal precision. Duel History Won: 2 - Technically would've been 4 to be at this rank! Lost: 2 Humbled by the Sith Lord Hawke Koor, Kurss vented his terrible fury at this affront on the Jedi, Dan. The Dark Lord 'Dar'vole'e tried to usurp him from his quest for power but was felled by his twin lightsabers. Thirsty for blood, and empowered by his victory, Kurss seeked Jim Butcher, tracking him to Naboo. After a furious duel which lasted days, the Jedi gained the upper hand and defeated him. Fleeing with damaged pride, he swore revenge on the entire Jedi Order...

Good advice. I'll have to check when I get home from my holidays... cheers!

Yes... that's what I wrote... because I'm completely insane!!! No, of course not... I'd seen the low price myself too but only noticed tonight that it's been increased. I merely sent a brief message stating that and asking for some clartiy. However, after reading Kim's review of Mace's JSF and comparing the parts count, I think the increased price is a corrrection... damn shame.

Thanks for the review Kim! LEGO seems to have permanently adopted this template for their JSF's... won't surprise me to see every Jedi get their own version. That's fine if you like it and if you don't... not so fine. The Tactical Droid and Flitknot seem cool, but I've got a fair few STAPs now after the UK Mirror promotion. The price doesn't help warrant purchase for this, but I can see the appeal ot may have to others. Ah... I've got all this to look forward to! Think we're still waiting for a review, dude. Business stratgey? To make more money out of us AFOLS? Works too... heh.

Wonder if that would work for any other sets? Seriously though, I've dropped them a mail enquiring about it. Let's see what comes back (fingers crossed!).

Depressingly so... Is there any way we can find out? Anyone?

The standard and variety of LEGO Star Wars minifigs has gone through the roof... I'm loving it. For me it's between Shaak Ti and Aurra Sing, two of my favourite PT characters... but for the purposes of the vote I'll go for the lovely Shaak Ti.

So I could swear that this set was around the £25.99 (or thereabouts)... but looking on shop@home tonight it's now listed as £35.99?! Seems they may have marked the price wrong... but £35.99 is a wee bit excessive...

Ah, don't know how I missed this review - good job General Magma! I never did pick up the original version of the Platoon Attack Craft and though I wish I had, this version is much better than the original as one would expect. I don't mind more B1's (no idea how many I have now though) but Jar Jar and the Gungan Warrior steal the show, brought right up to date (Gungan Warrior's shield looks great too). I'd love to see a battlepack with some of these new Gungan Warriors as this set is an expensive army builder... a Kaadu wouldn't go amiss either. The only B2 I've had break one of my metallic blue ones from the original RGS... gutted! It was the clip on the legs that broke, but the minifig had never been played with, only assembled and displayed... really frustrating... but I got over it. not been an issue since. Cheers for the review again GM.

Great review, thanks! The Ninjago line as a whole is lost on me unfortunately... I'm not hugely impressed by the theme or the sets and feel that LEGO could have made a far better return for a ninja styled theme. Shame really... That said the Ninjas themselves and the accessories are great for MOC'ers and customisers alike and this set is the best of a bad lot - we get a Ninja, a better looking skellie and some of the new accessories included and you don't have to break the bank to get 'em. I'd consider this set as a purchase but certainly not the rest of the line. Any of the other ninja or accessories can surely be bought from trusty Bricklink. Thanks again def.

May thanks for the review, good to see this set dissected with some nice, clear pics! Altough not 100% accurate the Proton Cannon seems like a solid build wih some great pieces. I like the inclusion of a BARC, it makes this set more of a playset - great for kids. The minifg selection is pretty cool too, especially with Luminara and generally sits a nice price point. My main niggle has to be that now we have Lovely minifgs of both Luminara Unduli and Bariss Offee, but in two different styles: Luminara CW and Bariss normal LEGO SW. Each minifig is superb, but damn, couldn't they have unified the style on these two? O well... still a purchase for me. I don't own the new set but I own the old one and Luminara's head-dress looks to be the same piece - it's always been a really nice accessory. Main difference I can see between old and new is in the face, torso and leg printing whcih on the new version is way more detailed. Time to mod? There's been a fair few sets I've felt the need to modify, just that little bit.

Many thanks for the comprehensive review WhiteFang. A great line-up of minifigs yet again with some real gems. I'm glad we can tell which minifig is included from the packaging too, makes life so much easier!

Cheers for the review! I'm very much sold on this battlepack, the minifigs are superb and that BARC speeder isn't too bad at all; the front engine could be slimmer but the rest is pretty solid (the rear section actually bears resemblance to my own design). I can see myself purchasing many of these. If I could change anything about this battlepack... an extra ARF or patterned clonetrooper as opposed to the bomb trooper - they're the kings of this pack in my opinion. I think they could've taken the variation a step further by varying each (or at least one) of the faces - like Captain Rex - considering how much variation we see in the troopers in the series'. But those are minor niggles really - this is one of the best battlepacks yet. Thanks again Stegoceras!

Sorry Dude, not entirely sure what your gist is here... but while I did say your advice was good advice I only wanted to suggest a quick, easy way for people to add some variation to their Mandalorians. Not everyone will have the time or parts to experiment but almost everyone will have some clone accessories with the clone battlepacks we've had recently. If you do happen to have the time, parts and inclination, then go wild!

Thanks for the review! I'm way behind with the Clone Wars series (not started on series 2 yet!) so I can only assume that Mandalorians will be going toe-to-toe with Clonies... I'm sure I'll find out in due course how they manged to get them to make a resurgence... :smile: The Mandalorian figures look great and make this battlepack, I'll certainly pick up a few but it does lack variety i.e. colour variation of armour. Like I said, I've not seen the new episodes so maybe that's the done thing for Mando's now. I'm more in anticipation of the new clonetrooper battlepack - better balanced than this. That said... Good advice... and not only that but all the clone accessories available to the clonetroopers can be used on these guys... pauldron, kama, headgear accessories - the lot. ...and if that's not enough then replace the head with a solid black minifig head like your stormtroopers. You'll never have to stare into those eyes-a-mother-wouldn't-love again...

Hey, Just wanted to let you all know that my wife and I are now the proud parents of an amazing baby girl. Born on October the 27th and weighing 7lbs 11ozs, Isla is doing very well, getting plenty of food and sleep and even leaving some sleep for Mummy and Daddy too! DUPLO on standby...