Derek

The most expensive set I've paid full price for was the Grand Emporium. This one is going to be the next. I love this set. 2 years ago, if you told me we were going to get this set, I would have called you crazy. I was happy enough we got the 6 sets that we did, but this is the icing on the cake. It is quite likely that it is the last HP we see (even though the S@H preorders indicate that they will sell like crazy)and I think it is a great way to go out. The set is great, but I would have liked to see more detail in Borgin and Burkes and Gringotts. The safe in Gringotts has to be the worst part of the set- it's mix of colors is reminiscent of the original HP sets and not a 2011 Exclusive. The new 3 all-new figures (Ollivander, Fred and George) are just great, but the others seem a bit lazy. The Goblins just reuse Flitwick's torso and I would have liked to see printed heads, like on Dobby. A new casual torso for Hermione would have been nice as well. Ron seems especially gingery () with the completely red/brown outfit, so I might switch out the pants. While it's nice to see Malfoy, Greyback and Hagrid again, for some reason they feel like afterthoughts, even though they make perfect sense being in the set. I am really happy Lego gave us Fred and George! -Derek

Holy crap. I don't even know what to say. I will comment more tomorrow. But--- Wow. Wow.

Hey everyone! A while ago, I made a bunch of Office vigs and characters but I never made the whole cast. As you can see, that's exactly what I did here. I had a blast making these! Michael Scott "That's what she said!" Dwight Schrute "First rule in road-side beet sales: Put the most attractive beets on top. The ones that make you pull the car over and go, 'Wow, I need this beet right now.' Those are the money beets. " Jim Halpert "My job is to speak to clients on the phone about... uh, quantities and type of copier paper. You know, whether we can supply it to them. Whether they can pay for it. And... I'm boring myself just talking about this." Pam Halpert "I make that one copy, and I become the girl who makes copies, and by the end of the day I'm receptionist again. And the worst part is, I like making copies. " Andy Bernard "Ruu-da-doo" Ryan Howard "Woof is a site that I'm launching to be the last word in social networking." Angela Martin R.I.P. Sprinkles Oscar Martinez "Please don't refer to yourself as our daddy." Kevin Malone "You want an M&M?" Erin Hannon "In the Foster home, my hair was my room." Phyllis Vance "It's been a long journey, but...I'm Santa Claus!" Stanley Hudson "I'll give you a billion Stanley Nickels if you never talk to me again." Kelly Kapoor "Dwight! Get out of my nook!" Toby Flenderson "Alright, just know that you're not in the Finer Things Club." Meredith Palmer "I made a New Year's resolution that I'm not going to drink anymore. During the week". Creed Bratton "Just pretend like we're talking until the cops leave." David Wallace "You're going to take out your Suck It and you suck it!" Here is a shot of the leads (Based on the Season 6 DVD cover). And everyone together Thanks for looking!

:wub: :wub: Thank you so much for this review! I have been waiting a long time for a review of this set! I think this easily has potential to win a spot as one of the best sets as 2010, as it is all around fantastic. I don't remember being so excited for a normal release set in a long time and I think this one might live up to the hype! The parts, the design and details, the figures, the accessories- this is a near perfect set! I am eagerly waiting to get this set! Thanks for the thorough review! -Derek

I feel like even if we did see OOtP-centered sets, we would see the same uniform design. I'm anxious to get my hands on the new sets!

I swear if some people knew half as much about actual world issues as they do obscure Star Wars trivia, we would live in a much smarter world.

Thank you for the great review! I have the old set from 2004, but I think this one looks too good to pass up. The updated figures look great, especially Hagrid in dark brown and Ron with the skater hair. The interior looks nice with a lot of little knick knacks, however, the one window does look really weird with the gray frame and gold shutters. I will definitely switch it out with a brown piece. Again, thanks for the review! Now I really want to see a review of the Burrow... -Derek

You will get doubled. No doubt about that. I actually got 17 in my S@H order of 16. I feel like it wouldn't be as fun if we could just order a complete set of 16.

WTF. Ladies and gentlemen, I think this has potential to be the most ridiculous Lego line ever. I look forward to it.

Some of you may or may not be familiar with the MTV reality show Jersey Shore. It is definitely not the most substantial TV show, but it is hilarious and very entertaining nonetheless. I made four of the stars- from left- DJ Pauly D, The Situation, Jwoww, and Snooki (Yes, those are their names...) Unfortunately, not many minifigure parts are available in dark flesh to convey their normal unhealthily bronze skin tone . Watch out for Grenades and Landmines -Derek *Link to Flickr*

:laugh: I love how this argument is actually happening.

Wow! I am impressed and somewhat let down at the same time... I feel like these don't have the "WOW" factor series 1 had, but that was probably just because of the novelty those had... The Hula Girl has to be my favorite! The Cheif, Samurai, Fisherman, Snowboarder, Rapper, Elf, Tennis and Baseball players are nice as well. The Ferrari driver looks ok, but only because of the new blond hair. The Cyborg and Alien are just lame- I think it would be extremely lazy of TLC if the SPII Alien head made it to the final design. I was hoping for a stereotypical Area 51/Roswell alien . I was also hoping for a better gorilla, even though I know TLC can do so much. I will buy them all anyway.

Some of the new Collectible Figure parts have given me some ideas for some classic moments from my favorite TV show, NBC's US version of The Office... First off... I hope to add some more pictures to this thread, so stay tuned... -Derek (P.S.- Up next: Date Mike??? )

Thanks for your feedback! I had done a bunch a year or so ago, but I am not a huge fan of the low-quality photos I took with my crappy old camera. Here are my Office MOCS and Figures I really like some of the old figures I had made, but I am hoping to make some more things with the new collectible figure parts! I already have a few ideas, I just need the time to execute them! By the way, I have been using the Clone Wars Anakin hair for Jim and I like the way it looks -Derek

From 1000steine.de This gives some explanation to this screeenshot I took from my Target iPod app a few weeks ago... -Derek EDIT: Crap. I just realized there was a post about this in Action themes. I honestly thought that it belonged here, so I didn't even think to look over there...I'm really sorry.

This gives some explanation to this screeenshot I took from my Target iPod app a few weeks ago... -Derek

I know. I love Snooki. Thanks for the feedback guys!

Haha I love your choice of using the Harry microfig! It looks like Hagrid is throwing him in the bag! Great MOC too!

Haha I was going to say that, but didn't have the balls to.

I think the Dark Tan one looks better. (Then again, what doesn't look better in Dark Tan? ) I'm glad it was in the cheaper set, because I don't plan on getting the Battle of Alamut...

And he said he will post more pictures when he gets daylight... If you don't like the early review, track down the set and do one yourself... I really want this set, but this has been quite a year with spending, so my wallet doesn't... Maybe this will await me on Christmas morning As I don't have any other Hogwarts sets, I am glad Lego went all out on this one, because it has absolutely great figures and works fantastically as a stand-alone set, while the others were merely portions of the castle and were meant to be combined. This and the Burrow easily have potential to be the best sets of 2010. -Derek

I hate being a Debbie Downer. But does it really matter where in the box the 3 Spartans are located and does it really warrant almost a page of discussion? I love these figures, don't get me wrong, but I feel like there are better things to discuss about them than their location in the box. There are (usually) 3 to a case and that's all that really matters, as long as you have the barcodes.

My Target put them out yesterday. I got there and found 2 full boxes and went to buy 20 packs. I was literally about 10 cents short, so I had to put one back and I ended up with 19 I used the barcodes to make sure I at least got one Spartan and Mexican, and picked the rest at random. I ended up with 11 unique figures, a few doubles, and the only triple being the Spartan. I feel bad about clearing out all the Spartans in a box... I went back today to get the 5 I was missing with the barcodes, and found a box and a half left. I had tipped off my new Lego buddy Infomaniac () and he went and got a few, but it really didn't look like anyone else bought any. I find it interesting how there have been places where these fly off the shelves and then there are places like my Target where they serve as shelfwarmers. I'm interested to see what I get in my 16 from S@H that I ordered before I knew they would be at Target...

There should be no argument of weather or not the arm branding means "fake" Lego, in fact, it's because it's Lego is why it's so annoying. It's just annoying as longtime buyers of Lego to be given a lower quality plastic, especially in things as awesome as the collectible figures. The thing is is that if it has the underarm printing, then it means it's the lower quality plastic, and NOT the shiny ABS that has given Lego it's outstanding quality for decades. To be quite honest, if I didn't care about the physical quality of Lego bricks, I wouldn't mind Megabloks. And that says a lot.