Joebot

Ah, sounds like another R.A. Salvatore fan! I was at one of his book signings a few months ago. He was hilarious. I love the idea of drow elf mini-figs. That would be amazing.

"A silly summer slough slate?!?!" Sounds super!! [wiping spittle off my screen] Anyway ... I sure hope that the Clone Wars series and the live action series and all the other upcoming Star Wars stuff is good, but I'm skeptical that those new shows and characters will ever be as iconic as Luke and Han and Leia. The new stuff will hopefully breathe some life into the franchise, but I still say the franchise (and the Lego license) is past its peak. City, on the other hand, as been a Lego staple for half a century. I'm thrilled that TLC is giving City the attention it deserves, and that the sales are backing up their renewed faith in the theme. And don't get me wrong -- I'm not knocking Star Wars at all!! I've got shelves and shelves full of SW Lego sets. But I'm a long-time City guy, and I suffered through the Dark Times of the late '90's. Vindication is sweet!!

It does seem hard to believe, but I can't imagine why TLC would lie about it on their financial report. It's not like this is mere fan speculation -- these are hard numbers directly from TLC. My guess (and this IS mere fan speculation) is that SW is waning a bit. It's been a few years since Episode III, and SW simply isn't in the cultural consciousness the way it was back when the license started. The set designs are getting repetitive, and TLC is now branching into video games and TV shows and other Expanded Universe sets. That stuff is going to appeal mainly to hardcore fans, not the mainstream culture, in the same way that an X-Wing Fighter or the Millenium Falcon does. I guess that's the danger to leaning so heavily on a licensed theme. Licenses are trendy fads. Fads come and go. SW hung around longer than most (cough*Avatar*cough), but it seems to be on a downward slope.

I was skimming through TLC's annual financial report and noticed this little sidebar on page 13:

You know ... I honestly never even thought about that, but you're totally right!! The ATV is built so low to the ground, it gets hung up on anything. It's "All Terrain" as long as the terrain is perfectly level and smooth. For whatever reason, I vividly remember building the ATV as a kid. It was the first set I ever got that had 1x1 round plates in it, which I thought were the coolest things ever. Back in those days, you'd get two of the round plates connected via a sprue (like the gold coins). At some point, TLC stopped doing that. I have no idea why I remember that. Anyway, congrats on the purchase KDog! I look forward to further comics!!

Shouldn't the front wheels on the Tumbler be closer together? That looks odd to me. In general, these look like decent designs ... but I'm so bored of the Good Guy Vehicle vs. Bad Guy Vehicle pattern. I'd like to see more sets like Arkham and the Batcave. Harley looks awesome. What a great fig.

Thanks! I like the new dialogue boxes!! That helps a lot. The thing to remember is that in Western cultures, readers are trained to read left-to-right FIRST, and then top-to-bottom. When placing word balloons or text boxes, if you go against that ingrained behavior, the reader gets lost. There's a real art to lettering a comic. I like the look of the text boxes instead of balloons in your comic. The boxes gives it a "techie" feel, which fits with your sci-fi theme. When are you going to use the classic All-Terrain Vehicle? Man, I LOVED that set as a kid.

That is a terrific way of articulating the question. I have no freakin' idea what the answer is ... but you totally nailed what I was incoherently trying to ask in my original post. After reading everyone's thoughtful responses, it seems like the definition of a "set" is largely determined by the buyer. Obviously having the correct pieces is the most important aspect, but certain other physical artifacts (instructions, box, stickers, etc.) potentially add to the value in the buyer's mind. Anyway, back on topic ("stay on target...."), this book looks nice. It's never going to replace the up-to-the-second accuracy of the online resources, but it looks like a really fun book to flip through. And for those of us old enough to remember those old sets, it will be a great bit of nostalgia too.

Very cool, I'm glad it helped! I just wish I could remember who said it. It might have been Stephen King in his book "On Writing." That's a terrific book by the way. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to write for a living. I've started writing the next story arc, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. All the introductory crap is out of the way, so I can cut loose and just have Mr. Fister punch stuff for six pages.

This sounds kinda neat as a "coffe table" type book, but I'm not sure I see the value as an informational resource. Within six months, the book will be out of date as new sets are released. Websites like Lugnet and Brickset are much better resources in this regard. The book also brings up an aspect of Lego bricks that I think is weird -- collectability. For example, if I own all the bricks necessary to build the famous yellow castle, can I truly be said to "own" the yellow castle? Can I sell those bricks for hundreds of dollars, even though I never actually purchased the yellow castle in a store?? Lego seems unique in this sense, compared to other collectibles. If I collect action figures, there's no question as to whether or not I actually "own" the figure in question -- either it's sitting on my shelf or it's not. But with Lego, it's sorta vague. If I own the pieces, do I therefore also own the set? It's almost a philosophical question! Sorry, didn't mean to derail the topic. X-D

Fun comic, and nice photography! I too know the pain and aggravation of trying to photograph tiny little bits of plastic (I have an online Lego comic too). It ain't easy. My only other comment is on the word balloons ... I sometimes have trouble following the sequence of the dialogue, especially when there is a word balloon at both the top and bottom of a panel. Maybe it's just me, but when I'm reading a panel, my eye tends to go to the next panel to the right, rather than down to the bottom of the current panel. I find myself having to back up and reread the previous panel because I missed the line of dialogue at the bottom. It's a minor complaint though. Otherwise, great comic!

Inspired by little ol' ME?!?! Well, that's very flattering!!

Thanks, Hinckley! I really appreciate that. I sometimes miss the old characters too, particularly Monochromancer and Hue Man. But Fourth M? Not so much. I got so bored writing her dialogue. I had a bookmark to a website with a list of business buzzwords, and I would pull from that. It got really hard to not get repetitive. I'm glad the new characters are starting to grow on you. The are for me too! They're getting clearer and better defined in my mind, which makes the writing a lot easier. Some famous author (I forget who) once said, "There's no such thing as writer's block. Writer's block is simply not knowing your characters well enough." There's a lot of truth in that. Only three chapters left in the N-Vasion story arc, so things are building to a head. I've been doing a lot of building for the next chapter, and I'm waiting on a big Bricklink order. Here's a little teaser for you fanboys -- I had to order two of these parts. Make of that what you will!! I see you posted a new comic too, Hinckley. I gotta go check that out!!

I've got a zoo in my town (sadly, no pictures of it online yet), and for a while, I had a homemade zebra in there. I used a black marker to draw stripes on a white horse. It looked kinda silly. I also considered using a Duplo baby giraffe, which is pretty much to scale with a mini-figure, but it just didn't look right. I really hope Lego does a System-scale Zoo theme someday.

Thanks, I use that "wakey-wakey" line to wake up my kids every morning, and they hate it. I think I got it from the movie "Kill Bill." No, it's the purple hair. It's just odd lighting that makes it look bluish. The alien heads are from the old Aquazone theme, specifically the Stingrays sub-theme. I always thought they were surprisingly weird and creepy for TLC. They work great as aliens. The NEXT one?!?! Yeesht! I spent a couple of hours yesterday building some background "sets" for the next chapter, but it'll be a couple of weeks. I'm proud of myself that I've churned out the last three chapters on something resembling a monthly schedule. X-D

If you've seen the movie "The Incredibles," then you know what "monologuing" is -- the tendency for supervillains to explain their whole evil scheme to the hero. Who knows what psychological issues drive villains to do this, but it sure makes for a handy expository device for writers. The latest chapter of my Lego superhero comic, The Unlikely Society, is posted and ready for your reading enjoyment. Anemone manages to get one of the evil aliens monologuing. Their horrible plot is revealed, and the fate of the entire world is at stake!! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!! -Joebot www.unlikelysociety.com

I totally agree, but I think the problem is simply scale. Some of the six-wide vehicles (i.e., the garbage truck, the cement mixer, etc.) that have come out in the past few years have added some nice details. It's tough to squeeze detail like that into a four-wide car. The blue car in the new Town Plan set looks a really nice step in the right direction.

My only point in bringing up Star Wars as a comparison is that the SW sets do not seem locked into the same tired, predictable "Good Guy Vehicle vs. Bad Guy Vehicle" design, as Batman is. The SW sets are all over the place -- sometimes one vehicle, sometimes two vehicles, sometimes a vehicle and a small building (Yoda's hut, cantina, Hoth base, etc.). Heck, SW has even had a vehicle-less building (Cloud City) set. The SW license appears to have a lot more freedom in that regard. I'd like to see the Batman license share that same creative freedom. I'm getting bored with the "Good Guy Vehicle vs. Bad Guy Vehicle" sets. The Batcave and Arkham Asylum were terrific sets. Let's see more of those please!! The same goes for the mini-fig assortment. TLC doesn't put Luke Skywalker in EVERY SINGLE SET. Why do they feel compelled to put Batman in every set??

My wish is more of a generalized one -- TLC needs to get away from their set design philosophy where EVERY FREAKING SET contains Good Guy Vehicle vs. Villain Vehicle. It's been done to death. The SW license doesn't fall into this rut; why can't they be a little more creative with the Batman license?? To echo what others have already said, I'd like to see some nice buildings, like a Gotham police station, maybe a bank or jewelry store, Wayne Manor, and of course some villain hideouts. There's so much cool stuff that could be done, if only TLC would finally, FINALLY move beyond the Good Guy Vehicle vs. Villain Vehicle sets.

The Indy 4 trailer is FINALLY online. You can watch it at the official site: www.indianajones.com. It looks okay, I guess. Two things really jump out at me and give me cause for concern. One, Harrison Ford looks old. Like, really old. And two ... the part in the credits where it says "Story by George Lucas." Oy. Lucas hasn't had a good story for a movie since 1980. But, we'll see. I'm trying to remain cautiously optimistic.

Fun review, Hinckley, and thanks for all the great pictures. One issue I had though was this line: "People who know me know that a 4-wide car drives me nuts, but I'm okay with it here." [shakes head sadly] 4-wide 4-ever!! Oh, and I had a 6375 too! Man, I LOVED that set.

It's all in the context. Scenes of violence in Castle MOCs are usually intended as fantasy. This electric chair MOC is perhaps intended as a political statement (I'm guessing). Creating a horrific and REAL instrument of death using a child's toy makes for a very disturbing juxtaposition. I make no claims to knowing what the builder's intended message is, but my personal interpretation is that he's speaking out against the unquestioning acceptance many Americans have regarding capital punishment. Perhaps he's saying that Americans have become so familiar and so comfortable with the death penalty that we're now making toys out of it. Whether or not you agree with that message is a whole 'nother can of worms ....

Sure, no problem. After doing the word balloons in my comics, I have a newfound respect for professional letterers who do the word balloons in comic books. There's a real art to it. One thing I should have mentioned -- if you resize the word balloons and make them really big, they tend to get kinda fuzzy and pixelated around the edges. I haven't figured out a solution to that. The best approach is probably to make multiple smaller balloons, rather than one big one. But...that takes a lot more time, and I'm extremely lazy. And now you all know the real reason why my Unlikely Society comics only come out once in a blue moon. X-D

My guess is voting rights for mini-figs with the short, stubby legs. Should they be considered a full mini-fig and thus get a full vote? Or do they only get a half-vote? It's a very devisive issue. X-D

:-D The infographic in this week's issue of "The Onion" discusses the 50th anniversary of the Lego brick. They even get in a good jab at MegaBlocks.