Remus_Lupin

This was just released here yesterday. Being an avid Pixar fan, I was a bit gutted at having to wait an extra month or so after the US release, and slightly trepidatious as the luke-warm reviews started emerging from it (try as I did to avoid them). Still, it didn't dampen my anticipation and I'm glad it didn't; it may not quite take its place in Pixar's upper echelons, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable, charming, and funny film. To say it is perhaps not Pixar's finest work is more a reflection of the studio's superbly high standards than a slight on the film itself. One of the reasons I was looking forward to Brave so much was because we have had not an original Pixar universe since Up in 2010. I have much love for the universe and characters of Toy Story and Cars, but I was looking forward to the freshness of an original premise (I have been worried that Pixar are starting to suffer from sequel-itis, even more so with the rumoured Finding Nemo 2, but that is for another discussion). I did not feel left down in this regard; the studio creates a vast and beautiful landscape in its first period piece that fans of Medieval settings should love. Characterisation is also very strong; Princess Merida (voiced by Kelly McDonald, who keen Harry Potter fans might recognise as Helena Ravenclaw) is a likeable protagonist, backed up by some great supporting roles (Billy Connolly's King Fergus in particular*). Initially, the premise feels like something we have seen plenty of times before; a princess' resentment towards a prescribed life and yearning for freedom in itself won't win accolades for originality. But before too long the viewer is presented with the twist in the tale, and the more unexpected central plot arc begins (at least it was for me, having managed to avoid synopses, which is why I'm skirting around one here). Once we're into the main plot it becomes quite a moving tale, permeated by the charm and warmth you would expect from Pixar output. It is not without its dark moments, though**. Despite this, it is also full of good humour so there should be no dearth of laughs to be had. Special mention also has to go to the short film La Luna (I was also very happy to see the return of an original short, after the Toy Story short before Cars 2). I won't say anything about it other than the fact that it exudes the imagination and charm that have come to characterise the Pixar shorts, and it is beautifully scored by Michael Giacchino. * **

I imagine a portion (though I hesitate to speculate how big a portion) of the SDCC attendees aren't AFOLs at all. From that point of view, I think it makes perfect sense to have exclusive minifigures that will appeal to them. The Superheroes line is still relatively new, and despite the hype around the theme, you wouldn't necessarily know that they existed if you weren't a part of the AFOL community. The existence of the exclusives is to draw prospective AFOLs to the LEGO booth as much as it is to reward AFOL attendees. Does TLG offer many exclusives for LEGO events? That's a genuine question, I've never had the pleasure of attending one. This isn't intended to be cynical by the way; it probably makes more business sense to spend money developing exclusives to attract prospective AFOLs than for those of us who already love and are loyal to LEGO. I agree. I think the aim of the petition is a little unrealistic, given that TLG have already said that the exclusives will not be available through other channels. I don't think they would go back on their word and upset a significant portion of hardcore fans that have spent hundreds of dollars on obtaining the minifigures. I think a more fruitful endeavour would be attempting to convince them that as a practice, giving away exclusives at such events alienates many AFOLs that can't attend. Outside of Batman, I'm not a massive fan of the Superheroes line so maybe it's easy for me to rationalise TLG's approach and not be upset by it. But speaking objectively, I can certainly see both sides of the argument. This hobby draws a diverse range of fans with different motivations - some people couldn't care less about rarity and exclusivity, others pride their collections on those attributes. If people are willing to spend $150 to obtain a minifigure, I understand their resentment to the attitude of "if we can't all have them, nobody should" coming from those who can't/won't spend the money, or can't attend the event. Conversely, I empathise with those who can't obtain the minifigures, and no doubt I'd be more animated about it if the exclusives involved a theme that I had more of a vested interest in. Alas, I think the most healthy thing to do with this hobby (for both mental health and financial health) is to will yourself not to be a completist, and find peace with the fact that you won't own everything.

Am I alone in being disappointed at the announcement? (aside from the possible longevity effects on the LEGO license) The Hobbit really doesn't need three films. Jackson is just being severely over-indulgent, and I'm worried that he's going to turn it into a bloated mess. I'm not crazy about the inclusion of too much original plot elements/material from the Tolkien indeces because I don't want it to dilute the story I know and love.

The pictures have me smiling from ear to ear, I cannot wait. The cottage is just beautiful.

I hope a significant chunk of that piece count is on additional pieces of scenery (like the pond in the Bakery, or the gazebo in the PO). Like others I'd be a bit concerned about the cottage being out of scale with the other buildings if it's as big as it sounds. But then again, I'm sure that this would have been a fundamental consideration for the design team.

I can't agree with the bolded sentiment at all, these pictures have me thinking the exact opposite. I don't mind recurring characters once the minifigures show a little variety (like the male/female skaters, or the Series 1 Robot/Series 6 Toy Robot). The diver in this series exemplifies that point; it's fantastic. But the cheerleader and robot are, for me, horribly lazy efforts. They look like absolutely identical moulds to their Series 1 counterparts, just coloured differently. For me, that doesn't cut it for variety. Each to their own though, I guess. Also, if I had just bought the MF Vampyre Castle I'd be annoyed at having the Bat Monster included in the CMF line. On the plus side, the Shakespearean character is absolutely wonderful, as is the old-school diver as I mentioned above. I don't have many Pirates sets so that's a plus for me too. Overall I'm quite underwhelmed, but I've had series grow on me in the past after similar initial thoughts. Genuinely wish I shared the enthusiasm that most others here are showing.

B-Wing revealed:

I'm not a Marvel fan, but if I was I think I'd be thankful that TLG don't have the license to make X-Men and Spiderman sets based on the films. For me the comics have to trump the films as source material, if for no other reason that the potential for sets is far wider reaching.

Brick Fiesta started today right? Time to start hitting F5 repeatedly

Words fail me. The attention to detail, just exceptional!

Most reviews of this I've read have been quite negative, but I've always thought it looked really good. I'll be following this with interest - I've yet to tackle a Bricklinking project but the more I see the results the more I'm tempted to try!

I doubt it is. I've gotten one or two small chuckles, but on the whole I've found it to be fairly awful. Most of the lines just come across as really forced humour to me, especially anything that The Joker says. It really makes me wonder how the LOTR dialogue is going to work though - there can't be much in the way of original dialogue if they're taking the voices from the film, which seems to be the case from the trailer.

Got this yesterday. I'm loving the gameplay but the voice acting has, as I feared, removed the classic charm and humour you'd expect to find in a LEGO game. It's not so much the presence of voice acting itself, but the dialogue - it is truly woeful. Really childish and just downright cringeworthy at times I only just finished the second level so I'm hoping it gets better.

I agree with an above poster, it's amazing to see how far the theme has come when you compare the old sets to the new ones. Makes you wonder if we'll be looking back at reviews of Helm's Deep or the Mines of Moria in ten years time and saying the same thing. These were out before both my love of LEGO and Harry Potter. I've managed to secure a few of them like the Forbidden Corridor. From looking at the sets online, they appear quite same-y though they have a lot of charm to them. I guess they had to be similar given that they appear to be designed to be somewhat modular. I really like the inclusion of Peeves; given that the vast majority of HP sets were based on the films rather than the books, it's nice to see something derived from the books. I'm similarly fond of the inclusion of the flute that's used to lull Fluffy to sleep in the Forbidden Corridor set.

Love your work Sextant

When voice acting was revealed for Batman 2 I was sceptical, but very much reserving judgement; the sole line we got in the trailer (The Joker's "Where does he get these unbreakable toys") was delivered well, and funny. They brought in voice actors so I remained hopeful that they could adapt the trademark humour of the other games to make it work. However, if they are simply pulling the voices for LOTR from the films, what license do they have for original dialogue? Will they just be cut-and-pasted lines from the films? If so, I can't see how they're going to capture the spirit of the previous games. I still have faith in Tt to deliver, but as a huge fan of the games I'm worried about this direction they're taking

Am I the only one who isn't mad about this idea? It's great for folk who missed out on the minifigures originally, but I have to say I think it cheapens the concept of 'collectable' minifigures to see them being re-released in various forms.

Zev Senesca and his snowspeeder inject some growth hormones to level the playing field against the rampaging AT-ATs.

Keeping a close eye on the Cuusoo progress, 433 and counting! I'd be very interested in hearing the official TLG comment at 500 votes.

I have a fairly basic set up myself: A1 sheets of paper (either black or white, I've leaned towards white more and more lately). I use blue tac to stick two corners to the wall, and the lower two corners to the table top. Canon 40D (though I have seen incredible work done with decent compact cameras too) with a Speedlite flash unit. I also have a ring-flash which doesn't work so well for LEGO as it does for other things; the ABS is just too reflective. For the same reason I usually have the Speedlite aimed upwards, bouncing off the ceiling rather than pointing straight at the minifigures. A tripod and remote control to make sure the image is nicely in focus (I also enable 'mirror lockup' on the camera to enhance this). A 100mm macro lens. I mostly shoot one or a small number of minifigures; I use lenses with wider focal lengths for anything bigger like buildings or vehicles. I imagine something like 18-55 would be good for reviews, where you have to pack more into frame. I think that's everything for me. I'm still learning a lot about lighting, so very interested to hear the response of others.

Ever since the mini Batmobile was revealed some months ago, I've been waiting to do this shot:

Does anybody think that the snowspeeder from the 2011 advent calendar would fit the scale of the 20018 Brickmaster AT-AT? Or is it too big?

Jabba's Palace has a cracking array of minifigures, but I think the price:pieces ratio will ultimately put me off. Might wait a year and see if it can be caught in a sale. The Skiff, however, looks like an immediate must-buy. An updated Lando and Boba Fett in a mid-priced set? Can't see it being anything other than a massive hit.

Thanks for the comments @TheLegoDr, I found it quite challenging to come up with an idea that wasn't somewhat melancholy for the old man photograph. While I'd like to let everyone come to their own conclusions, I'm an optimist who likes to think that he's just out walking his dog and will go home to a loving wife

Been working on this sporadically over a few weeks; click through for the full-sized version, as it is too large to post here. All minifigures used are from various CMF series (though some heads/torsos are mixed). I have to say I struggled a little with ideas for an 'old man' photograph. I'm open to critique and revisiting! Minifigure Life Cycle by Stephen_J_OM, on Flickr