ResIpsaLoquitur

Question: how many people who had a problem with the movie's message do NOT have kids? OK, now how many of you do? I'm just curious, and not pointing any fingers. The movie was a bit of a wake-up call for me, and I've seen other commenters say similar things: that as grownups, we obsess way too much over our stuff when something is supposed to be a kids' toy. Yes, I have acted as obsessively as The Man Upstairs. We have a nice little Lego setup in our basement and I yelled at my daughter way too often for moving things around and building stuff that's weird. After the movie, we came to an understanding: a lot of the stuff is hers and I was being way too precise about it, so she can move around our setup however she wants. I have a few off-limits items, like my Millennium Falcon and my Haunted House, plus one project that I'm saving for the Winter Village contest. The rest, she can play with. If I were an AFOL with no kids, I suspect that I might have taken the "playing with my stuff" message a little too seriously. But having kids, I realize that no, this stuff should be played with.

Well, we got in. I wasn't sure what to expect, as I've honestly never been to a Lego convention before. We got a late start this morning and didn't get there until around noon, so we had to wait in line for a frustrating hour after that before we could get in. On the other hand, it could have been worse given that the line got severely long while we were waiting, and my daughter and I were at least at the front of the line during the wait. We got in by one p.m. So, it was OK and probably reasonably priced for what we saw. It seemed to be the equivalent of a model train show with people showing off various minifigure-sized environments, mostly City themed but definitely a large Castle and Space section as well. We only hit a few vendors, as I didn't have a lot of cash to blow. I got the elusive Wyldstyle with MicroManager polybag for myself, and my daughter got a Ginny Weasely minifigure (we've gotten into Harry Potter very late in the game), some chickens, and a custom Lego hairbow. Not a bad day, but the waiting in line was obnoxious. I'd suggest that they keep online ticket sales open a lot longer--my understanding is that those were only available a few months ago. I can't make plans that far in advance, and we only decided that we were coming this week. If I'd been able to buy online tickets last night, that would have helped.

Well, I'm out front stuck in line. This is sure moving slow.

Is there any sign of a GotG Polybag in the wild? I'm not aware of one, but it's weird that there hasn't been one yet. Polys do tend to sneak up on us, though.

Here's a custom minifig I'm partway through making, and I wanted to get your impressions. This is going to be Luke Skywalker from "The Empire Strikes Out" cartoon, wearing a cheap version of Vader's costume. Gosh, I wish this had been the freebie minifig that came with the DVD. Anyway, I took a Vader helmet and chopped off 75 percent of the back of it, then drilled the eyeholes. Next, I need to get a spare Luke hairpiece so I can chop off the front 25 percent of that and glue them together. Bam, custom headpiece (which TLG obviously wasn't willing to manufacture for a DVD exclusive). If you're unfamiliar with the movie, it has the original trilogy heroes travel to Naboo to establish a new Rebel base. There are Imperials on the planet, so in a very funny scene, Luke runs into a costume shop and puts on an obviously fake Vader suit that looks pretty much like this. (Luke's hair is still visible from behind.) Oddly, everyone falls for it. Thoughts are appreciated. I've never modified a headpiece before--if anyone has thoughts on what glue to use, please let me know.

Alright, I sat on this for too long. Well, no...actually, I went on vacation, and I had to go buy some Vader keychains and Luke magnets so I could get the parts I needed to finish this. The mock-up you saw above was cobbled from my minifigs from my 2011 Millennium Falcon set, and I sure didn't want to butcher those. So: (EDIT: Here's a better photo where you can see the eyes.) This figure was assembled from a Vader keychain that I got at the Lego store, with Luke hands, head, and hair from the Luke magnet which is currently in the clearance bins. Thank goodness--that saved me a few bucks just to get a head and hair. The helmet is, of course, a custom assembly of Luke's hair and Vader's helmet mashed together after some Dremel-induced surgery. The cape is a regular Vader cape, only shortened to the waist (as in the movie). One thing i just realized is that in the Lego cartoon, Vader's chestpiece is much more simplified than what you see above. So...grrr. I imagine that chestpiece doesn't exist anywhere. If somebody wants to produce a custom sticker version of that and print it on decent paper, that would be awesome. In the meantime, I'll have to live with this being "close enough." The marriage of the helmet and hair was not perfect. As you can see, I was not quite able to shave off 180 degrees of the hair. Ideally, I would have been able to assemble the mask and hair into one piece, but the angle made that ridiculous. I finally decided to just Kragle the hair to the head, then separately Kragle on the helmet. In other words, this is not a custom headpiece: now it's a custom head. Luke cannot take off the mask. Dremeling two pieces that small is an art and I don't quite have the talent. I don't think it looks too bad, although I'm not pleased with the small gap between the mask and hair. If anyone has a reasonable suggestion on how to fill that gap without having it look horrible (putty and paint would probably look bad), please advise. The back view. At some point, I'll have to attach a small string to the mask to be completely accurate. I imagine I'll have to soak a thread in glue, attach it, ad then wait for it to dry. So, feedback appreciated!

We do have a Polybag Availability Thread over in the Finds forum. I've been a little lax in posting there, but forum members may want to post what they find where so that people have an idea on where to look. Target is very weird. I probably have around a dozen Targets I can readily access, and they all vary. Some have had the same TIE Fighter forever. Some have the Tumbler, some Chima bags, or the Police Helicopter. I think at least one has the Fire Car. Also remember that Target tends to get a glut of polys at Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. What's particularly nice is that those polys tend to get clearanced right after the holiday, so you can get them for half price or less the next day.

Just to throw out there: licensed polys seem to have a VERY limited shelf life, particularly at TRU. A week and they're done. We all love polys, but remember that they're intended as a gateway drug to get kids interested in a line. I think that's why we tend to see either common characters or army builders in the sets.

Oh, I don't think it's a meaningless topic at all--I just Lego would read these threads and do it. Somebody once proposed a Monster Fighters Halloween calendar (it'd need 30 slots) and I'd love to see that. Not holding my breath since MF is (no pun) dead.

Ohhhhhh, crud. I have two Star Wars entries and just noticed the "no licensed" rule. One of my entries has a Clone Trooper sitting on the Turtle--is that bad? Another has Han Solo in the photo (not part of the entry, he's just there for decoration) and a SW printed piece--also bad? Edit: Yargh. I just re-read the rules and saw that licensed themes aren't allowed. I guess that kills both of my Star Wars entries. I'll leave them in here for fun anyway, but...gahhhhhh.

My second entry: Han Solo's Millennium Turtle. She may not look like much, but...oh, you know this one. The arms are extended here, but when folded in, the whole model does fit in an 8 x 8 space. Edit by Rufus: Sorry, Licensed entries aren't allowed.

I think we should stop holding out hope for an LOTR calendar, fun as that would be. The last Hobbit film comes out this year and I would be surprised if Lego keeps making LOTR stuff after that. Are there any major scenes from the films they've yet to make? I suspect they'll continue with City, Friends, and Star Wars for the near future because that's what's been selling. Those calendars all sold out well before Christmas last year--I think the price drop helped--and I bet they'll want to repeat that. I think I'd really like them to take a break from the SW calendars since my wallet needs the rest, but it probably just sells too well.

Wow, TRU is going nuts on the clearance. I found Harry Potter and a bunch of the Heroica games for under $4 each. They also has Lego MBA Kits 2 and 3 for $25, which I think is normally $40.

I'm going to throw out there that this year's ACs are a little disappointing. On the Star Wars one, I can live with Santa Vader (he was inevitable), but I was really hoping for it to be very Episode III themed since the prior ones were based mostly on Eps I and II. It seems like ACs give Lego a chance to get one more use out of a mold, so I was hoping for Santa Greivous, a new Wookiee, maybe a Buzz Droid, a Clone Pilot, and a Nemoidian Guard. Plus, some Episode III mini-ships. Instead, we're mostly getting a rehash of what came in the old calendars. The City one seems a little boring. Some nice parts, but I don't feel like it tells a story the way the 2011 and 2012 ones did. For a potential TLM calendar, I got two works for you: Santa Unikitty. Just issue her in red and white parts and she'd look awesome.

Does anybody have any interest in a Polybag availability thread? Over on the General discussion thread, we were discussing how polys are a...ahem...mixed bag. Some of them linger on shelves forever, while some vanish after a week, only to reappear elsewhere. I'm always on the lookout for them as a cheap source of parts. I'd like to know when they become available, too, since many of them vanish pretty quick. In my part of the U.S., I'm currently aware of the following availability: Target: - 30106 Emma's Ice Cream Stand (in the holiday section) - 30270 Krang's Target Practice (same) - 40034 Christmas Train (same) - 30250 Ewar's Acro Fighter (I think) (at the checkout) - 30230 Mini Mech (checkout) - That Mini TIE Fighter (I can't figure out the number, but it's at the checkout) - 30021 Fire Car Note that Target tends to do a major clearance sale the day after Christmas, so those first three sets should be 50% off or better on December 26. Five Below - 40028 Mini Hogwarts Express (still has a ton of these) Toys R Us - 30220 Fire Speedboat - 30221 Fire Car - 30224 Ride-on Lawnmower - 30225 Coast Guard Seaplane - 30241 Mandalorian Fighter - 30240 Z-95 Headhunter - 40077 Geoffrey There's rumors that 30186 Christmas Tree is showing at TRU, but I haven't seen it. I have seen the Krang's Target Practice at a TRU, but I predict it'll be gone soon--licensed polys tend to go fast. Lego Store - A lot of the "seasonal" sets from this year are still there. I believe on my last visit, they still had Fall Scene, Thanksgiving Scene, and the two Christmas sets. I've also seen: - 30185 Little Eagle - 30167 Iron Man vs. Fighting Drone I'm pretty sure they had some Chima sets, but I don't collect Chima, so I haven't paid the strictest attention to which sets they were. Anyone else have any sightings? How about Wal-Mart? The three WMs near me are very variable--sometimes they have polys, sometimes they don't. I'm not sure any of them have any at the moment. And this doesn't need to be a U.S. only thread--anybody who has poly sightings should post here.

For what it's worth, there's been at least one non-hourglass female that I can recall:

Is mine the first Star Wars entry? Here goes: presenting the All-Terrain/Undersea-Reconnaissance Transport (Limited Edition), or AT/U-RT(LE). This model is made solely from parts from 75002 AT-RT. This poor Clone Trooper's AT-RT was destroyed, but he rebuilt it into a smaller model (borrowing some parts from a Droideka's remains) which can convert from a land walker to a sea transport. Additional photos can be found here, including shots of the head and legs deployed into swim mode. (Note: the whole thing will fit into an 8 x 8 space when the head and legs are folded downward, although the head may be hanging a little over an 8 x 8 area in the above photo. If it's a problem, let me know.) Edit by Rufus: Sorry, Licensed entries aren't allowed.

Wow. I just read the full interview in the second link. Todd doesn't get Lego at all. No, Todd, Lego users don't work like that. Maybe kids do--we have a few of those 32 x 32 green baseplates, and yes, they look acceptably like grass to an eight year-old. Older users, however, know how to dress up something so it can look like "dirt." For example: Yes, that looks like a landscape despite the "hundred nipples." Todd doesn't understand the "house style" that MOCers employ. I have no problem with detailed models, and good luck to him in this latest venture. If he thinks he's going to crack the market of AFOLs who like to make detailed models using greebles and bricks, he's mistaken. I would imagine that most AFOLs would reflexively reject these models as being entirely anti-creative.

Taking another look at these--they look realistic, but also very "patterned"--perhaps an unintended effect of the fact that it's a building system. Take that scene with Daryl on the motorcycle: the road looks incredibly organized for what's supposed to be a post-apocalyptic road. I wonder if this is sort of an "uncanny valley" effect of applying realism to a brick system. For those unfamiliar with the term, it's normally applied to robots and CGI animation. The idea is that the more realistic you make artificial life appear, the less humans are able to be fooled by it. For example, in the movie The Polar Express, people complained that the CGI characters looked weirdly artificial even though they were incredibly detailed and based on real human movement. I kind of get the same feel from these Walking Dead sets. They look very realistic, but also so organized that I'm not fooled by them. I think one thing that's always separated Lego from clone brands is that it's generally avoiding unnecessary realism to its sets, even its highly detailed ones. Lego always maintains its "house style" of bright, consistent colors and mostly using its own pieces to simulate what an object is supposed to look like. If you look at a model like the new Mini Cooper, it's not a precise model of the real car. It's a Lego model of the car. It uses Lego parts to approximate the car, but it still uses pieces like the traditional switch for the antenna and a minifigure skate for the door handle. If Lego wanted to go for ultimate realism, it would have manufactured brand-new parts for the Cooper. To my knowledge, it didn't. A lot of clone brands insert "realism" into a brick-like environment, and it never quite jibes up. I remember 10 years ago, I bought one of those Transformers "Built to Rule" sets and was very dissatisfied with it. It was too limited in what I could do with it--you either made a pretty accurate model of the vehicle, or a lousy, bricky model of the robot, and it didn't cleanly transform the way a toy model would have. Lego doesn't fake that sort of thing--it makes an effort to have everything maintain its "Lego" feel.

I can't fault Lego *too much* for making an abundance of Cops and Fire sets. Their primary market is kids (specifically boys), and they need to keep marketing to the new kids who come into collecting when the older ones get out of the hobby. Boys want cops and "action" stuff. If you collect Star Wars action figures, you'll know that Hasbro has released the same Darth Vader action figures nonstop for years. Why? Because they sell, and kids want Vader. Rereleases = $$$. It's not pretty for City expansionists, but it's how it goes. If they haven't made a new vehicle you want, save your money for the next Modular.

If it's going to be realistic, why bother making it a brick system? Why not just sell the completed model instead? Part of Lego's charm is its rebuildability. I admit Lego has gotten somewhat away from that, but most of us should remember the alt-models they used to display on the backs of boxes: "Hey kids, here's some other stuff you can build!" This stuff looks like one model only. Also, I didn't realize McFarlane was still around.

I wish I has a screengrab of it, but Cloud Cuckoo Palace is also visible in Finn's "box of parts" when his dad is telling him to go play with his own Lego.

People. You need people. The problem with many of the City sets is that they're Police or Fire-centric, so your town may find itself full of cop, robber, and firemen and very few of the ordinary denizens who are just trying to live their lives. Fortunately, there's plenty of ways to get some civilians: - Many of the Collectible Minifigures work well as "ordinary" people. Alas, a lot of the waves have come and gone. If you can find any of the earlier waves (like in the US, Target often has older waves still sitting around), go for it. - The Lego Store has a "Build a Figure" setup where you can make three custom people for $10 US. You can get a head, torso, legs, headgear, and one accessory for each figure. (Some stores are generous and will let you load up on parts.) - Some of the polybag sets come with ordinary people. Last year, the Lego Stores had "seasonal" sets: a couple sitting on a park bench for spring; a guy on the beach with a castle for summer; a family raking leaves for fall; and a dad and daughter with a Christmas tree for winter. There was also a Thanksgiving family which had a couple, some cats, and a big pile of food. - The annual City Advent Calendar often comes with a lot of ordinary people (and lately, they come with kids--something hard to find in regular sets). If you're lucky, you may be able to find last year's set on clearance. This year's set, sadly, comes with two cops and a burglar, but it also has a mom and two kids (and CMF Santa). It also has a number of parts which will be useful for filling out your city with little details. (I am actually disappointed in this year's City calendar, since it strikes me as a big parts pack with few practical items.)

I do think Monster Fighters ended too soon. I realize that it was Lego's "theme of the year" for 2012 and it was destined to go the way of Alien Conquest, but I think it had continuing potential. I would have loved to have seen them introduce a Loch Ness Monster, a Headless Horseman, a Yeti, and some other classic monsters.

Coincidentally, I'm also in Boston this weekend. There's a Legoland Discovery Center somewhere near the downtown. I've only been to one other LLDC, so I couldn't tell you if it's better or worse than any other. You can often easily get a kids free admission on their flyers or probably even off the internet. (I don't think they let you in without a kid, though.) I don't think I'll have time to get over there. There is a Lego Store near Burlington, and I may hit that later today.