Joebot

That's a fair point (not that it will stop any of the complaining). Lego bricks are a petroleum product, and thus we're bound to see some price increases. And of course it's a licensed set, which carries its own "tax." This is a really interesting set. I see it as more of a display piece (like the UCS ships) rather than a "playset." The rooms seem way too small and cramped to get your hands in there to really "play" with it.

That is just all kinds of awesome -- both the base and the story. Hopefully Dr. Inferno's next guest to visit the Hairbase is his therapist. Sounds like he has some issues to work through ....

You are absolutely right about that!! I spend more time lettering my comics than any other part of the process. Good luck with the story!

The big guy himself, J.R.R. Tolkien, is generally credited with inventing the word "orc." I have no idea whether or not the Tolkien estates have any sort of copyright on the term. Probably not, since every Tolkien-inspired fantasy rip-off in the past half century has used the term.

I'm not sure I agree ... I would argue that for a Lego-based story presented on a Lego fan website, the pictures are the key! Especially when the set, lightning, and backdrop are so stunning. I read the story, and it was fine, but I really want more pictures! Have you thought about making it more of a comic book format, with word balloons and captions? That might be more visually appealing than the "big block of text / tiny picture" format. That way, you could let the pictures tell more of the story. For example, you've got a line of dialogue that reads: "The crystal here is purple, and glows." You don't need to TELL us that; we can SEE it in the pictures! In general, I think you're off to a great start! I've been doing these Lego stories for several years now with my Unlikely Society comics, and I always love to see the stories and sets that other people come up with. It's a ton of work, but it's fun!

I remember hearing that too. Another reason I heard was that the motors were manufactured by a third-party vendor that has since then gone out of business. I have no idea if either reason is accurate or not, but they seem plausible. It's a shame. The monorail system could have been expanded into all sorts of cool sets, but they only ever made three (two space, one city).

That is a very noble, worthwhile goal. The Airport Monorail is easily my favorite Lego set ever. I traded for mine back in ye olden days of the rec.toys.lego newsgroup. I think I gave up a Guarded Inn, a Forestman's River Crossing, and a King's Mountain Fortress to get it. No regrets on that trade!

I think that's a great way of saying it, Eilif. I agree. A big collection of official sets is impressive, I guess, but it's not much different than looking at a big collection of action figures, or stamps, or coins, or baseball cards, or Lladro statues. It's impressive because of the scope and the money invested in it; but there's not a lot of creativity behind it.

I initially dismissed the Agents theme as a lame "Alpha Team 3.0" rehash. But I can admit when I'm wrong. This whole line is really well-designed and just a lot of fun. Love the volcano base.

Mr. Fister is my favorite too. He's so ... uncomplicated. I like to think I'm walking that fine line between "homage" and "rip off" with Joebot. I'm a big Douglas Adams fan, and yeah, Joebot is definitely influenced by Marvin. I hope you enjoy the "classic comics." They make me cringe a little bit when I go back and read them. We were totally making that stuff up as we went along. Some of the panel layouts are messy, and I didn't yet know how to do word balloons very well. Maybe someday I'll publish a George Lucas-esque Special Edition version, and clean them up.

Thanks, Hinckley! Yeah, the Superiors are jerks. It's funny though -- Terrificman isn't that far off from the way Superman was portrayed back in the 40's and 50's. If you've got some time to kill, check out a website called Superdickery. They've got tons of actual Superman comic covers, showing all the ways that Superman was a huge jerk. They're bizarre and hilarious.

That's pretty much what I do in my town (here's a picture that kinda shows it). I use the grey roadplates in the industrial areas and downtown area, and the green roadplates in the residential area. I think it works okay, and helps to create visual separation of the different areas. My biggest complaint about roadplates these days is the freakin' PRICE! A package of two road plates used to cost $5, and now it's $12. I also hate that they package different configurations together. Being able to buy 2 straights, 2 curves, etc. was a lot more useful than being forced to buy a cross or a T that I may not want.

The '08 Batman sets look like a step up from the somewhat lackluster '07 sets. This looks like a very fun set with a whimsical sense of style very fitting with Harley Quinn's character. The price isn't great, but I guess you gotta pay for that Batman logo. On the downside ... I am so over the good buy vehicle vs. bad guy vehicle concept. I really wish TLC would get over this. You see it throughout the product line -- Batman, Castle, Mission to Mars, etc.

Yay, another Technic shooter!! Whew, I need a spare one in case the 14,348 other ones that I have all happen to break. Seriously, do Lego set designers get some sort of bonus for incorporating catapults, Technic shooters, and / or flick-fire missiles??? Anyway, thanks for the review. Looks like a cute set.

The most important part of any Lego town is really simple -- room. You need lots and lots of room. Set your town up somewhere that you can expand as your collection grows. But ... even then, no matter how much space you set up for yourself, you'll outgrow it. I built a 10-foot square table in my basement, thinking I would never have expansion problems ever again. Wrong. I've now eyeing other parts of the basement, trying to figure out where I can expand and not irritate my wife too much. Good luck, and have fun!

You're right, I should have clarified -- it's the old loose magnets that apparently are being discontinued, not all magnets altogether. As you noted, the new train couplings still have magnets, but they appear to be permanently attached to a fairly large housing, which I guess will prevent kids from eating them. But the old M:Tron round magnet pieces are presumably discontinued.

Very nice! I like the characters and their accessories a lot. How can you possibly go wrong with an "ice cream gun?" You should definitely make a comic with these guys! I'm going to warn you though -- it's a ton of work. I've been making my Lego superhero comic, The Unlikey Society, for several years now. It's still fun and I love doing it, but it always ends up taking about ten times longer than I think it's going to take.

Fun review, thanks! Kinda sad to think that with TLC's recent ban on magnets in their products, we'll never see an M:Tron revival ...

Thanks! I've been thinking about replacing my brick-built dragon with the red dragon from the Skeleton Tower set. I like my dragon, but it's awfully big and bulky. Maybe someday they'll get the credit they deserve! Thanks for reading, everyone!

My baseball stadium uses a couple of different techniques. For the walk-ways, I used lots of wedge-shaped plates to get a 45-degree angle. For the bleachers in those angled sections, I put the whole bleacher section on a turntable, then "locked" it into place with the surrounding sections. They still wiggle a little bit, but it's not very noticable. There's probably a better solution involving Technic pieces that offers more stability, but I haven't had the time to experiment with that.

Wow, has it really been almost two months since the last Unlikely Society update?? Geez, sorry about that. But this chapter is a doozy. It's ten pages (double the length of most chapters), and it has tons of special effects. I got some new Photoshop filters that I've been having a lot of fun learning how to use. This one is almost wall-to-wall action! It's the penultimate chapter of the N-Vasion story arc! I really like the word "penultimate," and it seems like the only place it ever gets used is in comic book solicitations. Anyway, please check it out and let me know what you think!! -Joebot

As a current employee of a company that processes catalog marketing campaigns for hundreds of companies (including Lego!), I will add that you are right on the money. There's a huge shift going on right now from catalog campaigns to email, web, and even text message campaigns. Direct mail catalogs no longer bring in enough orders to make them worth the cost (and they are very expensive). But, it still makes me sad. I miss the little brochures that TLC used to put in every set. And now it seems like the mail order catalogs are being down-sized and phased out too. I remember staring at those catalogs for HOURS when I was a kid. I guess my kids will just go online and look at pictures of new sets.

Is there Biblical evidence to support the theory that God wears a top hat? Regardless, that's an awesome vignette. Very unique.

I had just grudgingly gotten used to 6-wide vehicles ... and now TLC comes out with 8-wide vehicles. Sigh. I'm not a fan of this overall enbiggening (to borrow a word from The Simpsons) of the Town vehicles. The 4WD truck is terrific though. Love the truck, love the jet ski. Yeah, some car doors would have been nice, but what are you gonna do? Thanks for the great review! The Coast Guard theme looks really nice overall. I dig the orange / blue color scheme.

Ah, the Fiero ... that takes me back. I used to drive one of those in college. Well, I drove it when it wasn't in the shop being fixed, that is. That thing broke down a LOT. I hope you have better luck with yours!! What year is yours? I had an '86. It was the GT model with the more rounded nose. How many people have you managed to squeeze in there? My personal best was 4.