Mr. Elijah Timms

AQUASHARKS RULE!!! I always wish I grabbed at least one more of these-- one is great, but a full wolfpack of three or four would've been awesome! Funny you should review this now-- I was just debating on whether or not to switch up some of those great Aquasharks heads with the newer City heads. Love this guy with the bangs, and that other Aquashark guy with the stubble that blends into his hair. Either way, thanks for the fun review.

Dude, that is INSANE!! I've been to the real Fallingwater, and this might be more impressive than standing outside of the real deal! Granted, no one outside of this blog would probably say the same, but my hat goes off to you... looks like a real labor of love!

Forgive me if it's been said before, but to me I could really see a Simpsons license really taking off... I'm not a huge fan myself, but with all those characters, the 'collectability' factor could really go a long way.

GREAT job Tiger-- couldn't help but notice that there are no straight-outta-the-box sets here, only MOCs and/or altered designs. Is this by design-- do you only use MOCs in your town display? Or did you just choose to not set up the standard issue sets alongside your original creations for these pics?

Nice job-- and I really enjoyed seeing that I'm not the only one who enjoys giving names to their minifigs! For me it probably started after having all these individual Star Wars figs, each with their own name and unique qualities. Finally I was compelled to do the same with my Pirate crew, and actually it's where my login name comes from (haven't been able to take a pic of Mr. Timms, yet, but he's coming). Now that I've started with City, I've done the same, giving everyone a proper identity that gets rid of that 'tub of random generic people' feeling I get when I open the container with all the minifigs. The red tractor is driven by old man Jed Tucker. Nat Whitaker is the kooky ex-war hero who flies the yellow seaplane up by the lake. And of course, for whatever reason, all of my policemen have names whose first name start with the same letter as the last (Chief Barry Barrett, Officer Dave Dunst, Officer Larry Lewis, etc etc). I was sure I wasn't the only one, but now I know someone who does the same. Anyways, great job with the layout and must say my favorite part is where the surf meets the sand. Keep up the good work!

Agreed!! For me Hoth has been and will always be the most interesting environments in the SW universe.

Happy Monday everybody.... Quick question, and forgive me if it's been addressed before because I just couldn't seem to find it elsewhere, but-- Does anyone have concrete dates when the rest of the 2010 city sets will drop in the U.S.?? Tanker truck, Copter & Limo, Airport, Passenger plane, etc? Or even the trains?? I'm not the expert several of you are, but I do understand that by now the remaining big periods of release in any year are June and then pre-Christmas, correct? Does Lego have a standardized 'windows' each year when sets are launched, or is it more random and less able to anticipate? I guess I'm just starting to get anxious... I've only been into City for a few months and want to plan accordingly. Any info would be appreciated... thanks!

Great work, my friend-- the attention to detail is astounding, it's very hard to pin down what I like best. However, I will say that's the cleanest McDonald's bathroom I have ever seen.

This attempt at April Fools Day hijinx with Jango's Slave1 reminds me of one of the worst of Lucas's decisions when writing the Prequels, and forgive me if this is OT: Anyone else think it's lame that he actually gave Jango Slave1 in Episode 2? Or for that matter, how incredibly similar and unimaginative he is in relation to Boba? So now instead of the coolest, most badass bounty hunter in the universe who is shrouded in mystery and pure awesome, he's just some shlep who drives around in his dad's ship and takes the same job his dad did because that's what they do in Mandalore?? Are you kidding me? He's like some pool boy in East LA driving his dad's Camaro and following in the family business... If you ask me it's shameful. BTW do you guys know that the conceptual artist who created both the armor design for Boba Fett & Slave1 is none other than Wolfman and the upcoming Captain America director Joe Johnston?? A little trivia on a day otherwise muddled with falsehoods...

New Han Solo is the best part of that set... In case anyone forget, the Old Cloud City actually offered the wrong wardrobe for Captain Solo: http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/?m=sw045. Black Vest w/ Brown pants is actually what he wore in the second half of Return of the Jedi on Endor, after ditching the long camo coat (still wish they gave him that treatment for the Endor Bunker set). Technically speaking, this new torso is the only Han Solo OT wardrobe that we have NOT gotten from TLG. Worst part about these new sets is that all I want are the minifigs: True Hoth Luke, the Wampa Bossk, new Boba Fett, the new Carbonite deal, even the Med droid on the shuttle, and now this new Han torso. Speaking as a pretty thorough OT collector, the sets themselves are quite forgettable, and it's the minifigs that are the true draw. The only bad part about that is, I'm not going to drop $80 on a set just because of the figs, so they won't get my money....

Interesting post-- I use plastic shoebox containers (not unlike LegoManiac83's arrangement), with a whole slew of them thrown into a huge plastic footlocker to go in the basement. I'm probably different in that I sort by set, or rather collections of sets, so for example in the big Star Wars footlocker there's a container just for the Falcon, a container just for the Sandcrawler, a container just with the various Hoth sets. Therein lies the problem, really-- it works out fine for the huge sets that take up an entire container, but for smaller sets they get lumped together into one, and say, in the 'Rebel Fleet' container, it takes longer to build a set because you have to dig through all of the Y-Wing & X-Wing bricks to get to the A-Wing's nosepiece, etc. Plus it gets REALLY noisy digging through those plastic bins when it's awfully full. I've thought about doing exactly what you've done-- putting Ziplocks inside each container to separate one individual set from another. That makes perfect sense AND would make building so much easier when you're just after one of the sets (for example, to build the Imperial Shuttle in the TIE container might mean building two of the TIE fighters just to get to all the pieces of the Shuttle itself). What then is holding me back?? Well, I store my stuff in those big footlockers in the basement, and I'm just concerned about the plastic Ziplocks melting in summer heat or something... I'm not sure anything like that has happened in my basement before, but obviously if something like that happened and got plastic all over the LEGOs I'd be devastated. And pissed Any advice or assurance that the Ziplocks will be safe regardless of environmental conditions?

To turn the conversation down a new avenue... In light of the success and pending re-release of the Winter Toy Shop, I'd like to propose that TLG creates an entire subtheme of... Holiday!!! I've always thought this is lightning just waiting to strike, and the possibilities are endless. Some ideas: 1. First and foremost, the definitive Santa set complete with a dedicated reindeer mold (something that can accomodate a 1x1 round trans red for Rudolph's nose of course). Santa, the full team of deer, the sled, and whole slew of presents in the back. What kid-- no, what person-- wouldn't pay up for this???? 2. The Christmas Tree lot-- lots of trees, lots of 'lights' on strings, perhaps a family loading their tree onto the roof with the generous salesman's help. 3. Santa in the Park-- a fair size 'outdoor' set complete with the community Christmas tree and a Santa's workshop structure where the kids are standing in line to talk to Santa. Go tell him you want that BB gun! 4. Holiday home-- a reasonable minifig-sized house all decked out in its holiday best. Kids are outside making a snowman, mom is inside baking her cookies, and of course we would have to throw in Dad hanging the lights on a ladder. 5. We've seen the carolers, but I'm sure we could all use a few more in a small set a la City Minifigs... They could also do holiday shoppers, etc. 6. How about the sledding hill-- lots of kids on old school wooden sleds, with maybe a skier or Gravity-Games era snowboarder thrown in for good measure. 6. Finally, the home run in the entire line would have to be The North Pole!!! Santa's home, complete with the workshop, the stalls for the reindeer, and good ol' Ms. Claus tidying up the place. And of course, it would have to include (Castle fans may now begin drooling) ELVES! Perhaps just a face mold, but maybe something more for the ears. And this set could surely invite additional add-ons such as Santa's runway, elves at work, etc. etc. I'd REALLY REALLY REALLY like to add the idea of an old snowy stone church and/or nativity set, but sadly I admit it's a bit of a gamble for a corporation to go the religious route (although I know my brother's kids have a Fisher Price nativity set, BTW). Either set would be great and add so much to a full town display. The other big hurdle would be the marketing-- how do you sell an entire line that is so focused on a single time of the year. Perhaps their best business plan would be to sell one or two yearly in the fourth quarter when you know it's so much easier to sell-- I just can't see them selling Santa's Sled in late April, but if it's released for a limited time after Halloween the demand would be extreme. Perhaps selling it periodically as a line could turn this into a collectible situation like the modular buildings. It could be marketed like those porcelain Christmas village lines carried in all the craft shops-- except infinitely better!!! Thoughts?

What I'm curious to see is the interior, esp. the furnishings. Lego is so good at making great, cool little details and props with very few pieces, such as the coffee maker in the Police HQ or the organ keys on the Flagship. Really want to see how they do the furniture here, and how much they'll include...

I'm with Klaus Dieter-- just seems like all of the sets are just rehashes of stuff we already have. The original AT-AT-- save for the fall-apart head-- was a great design, and there's absolutely no reason for me to show any interest in this one. I'm beginning to worry that we're reaching the end of the line for the OT sets-- perhaps cost feasibility is keeping them from putting out some proper location-based sets, like a Mos Eisley series, or an Ewok village. Why do we keep getting sets they've already made?

I'm new to CITY and am trying to prepare for a full layout. So... Simple question-- Family Home or Apple Tree House?? I know the cost is much different, but if I'm grabbing one of these as the second set in a Toys R Us BOGO sale, the difference is only about $8. I guess the better question is which is the better set?? I'm leaning towards the Family Home but not sure...

I could really see them put together a beautiful set with a nice little farmhouse and a matching barn to go with it. Not that sorry excuse for a Fisher Price barn they threw in the Farm set, but something substantial and brick built. They could certainly be designed to work together with matching roofs and other similar details. And maybe they could throw in a nice little retro truck with wood planks down the side, or something to that effect for the farmer's family to get around in. And, finally, how about a scarecrow minifig!!!

I gotta say, of all the figs in Wave 1, this is the one I am least interested in. Of course, that probably means I'll end up getting about 7 in my quest for the ones I really covet! CopMike-- you certainly revealed early on that you wanted a cheerleader. Any of the others really stand out as a favorite to you??

I've gone on record before saying I don't know how this guy can fit into the city itself. But the more I think about it, I just want to put this wrestler at the 7641 corner stop, waiting for the bus to show up like everybody else. Hey, even luchadores take the bus! Better yet, throw him in the prison!

Thanks for the advice! I thought I'd update you on the verdict-- stopped by the TRU on the way home yesterday and actually was surprised to find the 2008 police sets restocked. This changed everything!! I actually contemplated the big HQ set for awhile, then settled on the Mobile Command Center instead. I've now found myself thinking more and more about the headquarters set again, and also thinking about that fire copter. Sometimes I swear it's an addiction

Is it me, or is there something very evil magician about that face?? Looks like he might be scaring kids OFF the city corner rather than luring them in to see tricks? Either way, pretty cool... not my favorite either, but I wouldn't be disappointed with it either.

I don't know what's more useful for a Pirate crew-- the new hairpiece or the unibrow face! Great stuff, definitely would like one to keep and one to break up... thanks for the review. You guys have to admit it-- it must feel really good to show these off when nobody else can get them yet

WOW! That's two wishes fulfilled by whatever genie of the lamp you have bottled up, CopMike. Better use your last wish on some more wishes! She's fantastic-- was very curious to see how the pom-poms work. Now, all we need is a Lego (American) football player for her to cheer for!! PS.. Sorry to go off-topic here, but I have a very specific and timely question posted in the REVIEW for the Off-Road Fire Truck and Boat topic, and was wondering if some of you more seasoned CITY guys might have some suggestions. Thanks!

Good topic. How bout a good ol' Texas longhorn cattle ranch-- lots of cowboys on horses, and lassos, and even a big ol' sheepdog to keep all the cattle in line. And of course, what cattle ranch would be complete without a couple of dastardly cattle rustlers!!! Either that or some real molds of the plants themselves... think of how much we could do with a great cornstalk piece (or a box of them, for that matter). Corn fields, corn mazes, etc. It's funny-- there is absolutely nothing FARM or FARMER about me, but I find myself really interested in the farm line and am not ready to see it end.

Yes, it's a shame that they're fleshy... I would've loved to have added a few strapping shirtless lads to swab the deck. Either way, the Gylenhaal character's pants will probably work pretty well for a crew member, and I love the torso of the guy with the bandana for a potential crewmate. I don't know if I'd go so far as to enlist an Arab onto my ship, but it's good to know that the cutlasses fit so nicely!

Okay, quick question: I'm up for a purchase, somewhere around the USD $40 range. Do I go with: This set, currently $5 off at Target The Fire Helicopter, also currently $5 off at Target The Beach House Creator Set, and throw in a pack of TS Army Men for good measure Drawbridge Defense with the Gold Knight, the Queen and the Jester Or hold off until the newer sets drop Not quite sure where to go here... any suggestions from those who own these sets?