Joebot

Totally agreed on that point. I've been waiting for a System zoo theme for 30 years now! TLC was clever in this year in how they repackaged the same tired, old fire/police/construction sets. They're really the same old stuff we've been seeing year after year, but they managed to put a shiny new face on them. They're not just Police sets ... they're FOREST Police sets!! Likewise, they're not just construction sets ... they're MINING sets!! Here's my question -- TLC has been cycling through fire/police/construction sets for a while now. One year we get police stuff, the next year is fire stuff, the next year is contrusction stuff, then repeat. Well, now they've crammed ALL THREE themes into the same year!! What the heck are they going to do NEXT year?

This is a great point, and very well said. For those looking for super-detailed, accurate representations of the movie characters, you probably should be collecting action figures, not mini-figs. I collected a whole bunch of the Toy Wiz action figures from the LOTR trilogy, and they were amazing likenessess of the actors (except for Aragorn, whom they could never seem to get right). That's not what Lego mini-figs are all about though. The appeal comes from that familiar, classic form, and how TLC is able to endlessly adapt it to create stylized versions of recognizable characters. I totally agree with surrideo that there is such a thing as TOO MUCH detail. You risk losing what makes mini-figs so unique and charming in the toy industry.

That's pretty much my opinion too. Gollum is a really tough design problem. He's skinny, gangly, and spends most of the movies in a squatting position. That is the exact opposite of a mini-fig; they're wide, chunky, and don't have knees! I wondered if TLC might adapt those awful jelly bean aliens from the Mars Mission theme. They were sort of spindly and gangly. I'm glad to see TLC was more ambitious, and designed Gollum from the ground up with a custom body. He's a crucial character and deserves the added cost. What they came up with is not a perfect solution, but it's still recognizably Gollum.

Or maybe some people are just expressing their honest opinions in a thoughtful, polite fashion?? I haven't seen anything in this thread that I would characterize as whining. The mini figs are fantastic, but I think the sets are just "okay." The Mines of Moria is probably the biggest disappointment, and the reason is simple -- it needs a baseplate to pull together all the various little bits. Without a baseplate to give it a sense of space, it feels like all the components are just floating in a void. At some point in the last 2-3 years, TLC realized that they can sell sets (if not entire themes) based on the appeal of the almighty mini-fig. That seems to be their primary focus these days. Not saying they're wrong, but I do think it's an interesting shift in their marketing strategy.

Hey, thanks for reading! I'm glad the horribly long delay between chapters was of benefit to someone. Hey, maybe that'll be my excuse from now on ... I INTENTIONALLY took three months to produce the next chapter so people could have time to catch up! All of which is my round-about way of saying that chapter 41 still isn't done.

Thanks for the heads-up, fellow Chicagoan! I work just a couple of blocks away from Woodfield, so I'll be stopping in there tonight after work. The store's staff is really good about actually helping you to find the figs that you're looking for. There's one dude who works there (I forget his name) who's amazingly good at it.

Yeah, I could definitely see that. "Ah, an educated man! Now I really hate him." Oh man, don't get me started on the Tombstone quotes. I could be here all day.

That's the part that I'm most curious about -- how quickly can TLC make a decision based on the line's popularity? We've always heard that TLC has a 2-3 year product development life cycle. If a theme intended as a one-and-done ends up being surprisingly popular, can they retool their product roadmap to take advantage of that, and quickly design and manufacture a second wave? Or on the flip side of that, do they ever cancel a planned second wave because the first wave didn't meet their expectations? Is there a discarded Pharoah's Quest second wave in the trash can somwwhere at TLC HQ? I'd love to have more insights into how those decisions get made. From the consumer's point of view, it seems very random and haphazard.

That's a pretty definitive answer. Do you have some insights into TLC's product marketing plans that you could share with us? The funny thing is, Lego Star Wars fans said the exact same thing about characters like Lobot, Mon Mothma, and General Veers. They're too obscure, TLC would never bother with them! Guess what? They all got made into mini-figs ... eventually. I think it's way too early to make any sort of predictions about what TLC is going to do with the Superheroes theme. I think a lot of us are HOPING that it will go the route of Star Wars -- 10+ years with hundreds of characters, both popular and obscure (personally, I want Booster Gold). It could also go the route of Speed Racer or Pirates of the Caribbean -- one or two waves and then it's gone. We just don't know yet.

Totally agreed on that. I'm very surprised there's no saddle piece. Supposedly there's some kind of Horse Stable set coming out in the summer, so I hope that includes a saddle. That really looks silly with the Friends fig standing in that huge gap in the back of the horse. Then again, I'm not sure how much a saddle would really help hide a Friends fig's big, clompy feet. Seriously, these poor girls, for being skinny little waifs, sure do have big feet!!

They're pretty much identical to a Duplo fig (combined hip joint, shoulder joints, neck), which seems weird when you consider that these new doll-figs are essentially replacing the Belville figs in TLC's product lineup. The Bellville figs were WAY more articulated, with ball joint ankles, shoulders, wrists, and neck, and hinge joint knees and elbows (the elbows disappeared in later figs). If anything, the Bellville figs were TOO articulated. My daughter had a bunch of them, and they were almost kinda "floppy" because they had so many joints. The damn things never stood up! It seems like TLC went too far the other way with these new doll-figs. I wish they'd aimed for the same articulation as a mini-fig, and given them individual leg joints and swiveling wrists. The lack of wrists is a big one. That really limits how you can pose these doll-figs. That complaint aside ... I'm digging this whole theme. I think the City theme utterly blows this year (ugh, more police / fire / construction), so my money is going to Friends. The cafe and the veterinarian will both work really well in my mini-fig town.

Having just watched the amazing new Hobbit trailer, I find myself thinking ahead to the Hobbit-based wave next year. I can't wait to see how TLC tackles Thorin and his crew. That seems like an awful lot of unique hairpieces, beards, and torso prints. Do you guys think we'll really get all thirteen dwarves?

Thanks for the mini-review. I have to say, this Friends theme looks fantastic. The rest of the early 2012 sets (Town, Batman, Dino, Star Wars, etc.) look like boring, unimaginative repeats of previous years. More fire trucks, more TIE Fighters, more dinosaurs ... ugh. We've seen it all before. The Friends theme feels NEW. There are actual BUILDINGS, with some fun new pieces and new colors. Yeah, regular mini-figs would have been awesome rather than these weird hybrid figures, but the fact that the hairpieces are interchangable with mini-figs helps quite a bit in that regard. I know TLC has been trying to figure out the "girl problem" for years now (Paradisa, Clikits, Bellville, Scala), but this theme looks like they may have finally found a formula that appeals to their intetended target audience, AND has some wider appeal as well.

If they had released this set in green and white to match the Cargo sets from a few years back, it would have been amazing. As a Police helicopter though, I've got no interest. Thanks for the nice review!

I couldn't believe it when I checked the previous chapter, and saw that it's been three months since the last update! Yikes. Sorry about that. Work + wife + three kids = one busy Joebot. In case you forgot what was going on (and why wouldn't you, in three months?), the gang is fighting against the evil super-genius Crankshaft. This chapter wraps up the "Old Timers" story arc. As always thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!

Apparently all of TLC's building designers are over working on the new "Friends" theme. THAT theme is where I'm spending my money this year -- veterinarian, cafe, hair salon, house ... all good stuff that I can use in my town. Plus lots of interesting new accessories (frying pan, new flowers, tons of animals, food, etc.).

I think a BSG license has two big strikes against it: 1) There is no new, current content. The show has been off the air for several years. TLC has typically tried to tie their licensed products with new movies. Star Wars sets initially came out along with "Phantom Menance," Indy sets came out along with "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," Pirates of the Caribbean sets came out along with "Fountain of Youth," and so forth. With no forthcoming BSG content (either movie or TV show), there's nothing to tie new products to. 2) The subject matter on BSG is inappropriate for TLC's target audience. BSG was a dark, gritty, and deeply cynical show. I can't imagine TLC making a set where Roslin airlocks a Cylon traitor, or where Colonel Tigh sends a suicide bomber to blow up a Cylon facility, or where Starbuck gets hammered and f-cks Apollo. Even so ... a Lego Galactica would be awesome. Oh, and welcome to Eurobricks!!

Yeah, she looks better than the lifeguard, but I'm surprised they didn't go with her current outfit from the comics, with the black pants. That would have looked much better in mini fig form than her old, classic outfit.

I agree that there is a TON of material for TLC to draw from, way more than even Star Wars. However...TLC is going to have to break free of their "vehicle vs. vehicle" set design for this theme to have any life to it. That design pattern got boring and tired in the first Batman license, and based on all the preview pics we've seen so far, they went right back to it this time around. That is disappointing to say the least. Both Marvel and DC universes have so many different themes and genres that TLC COULD choose to explore. There are street-level characters like Spiderman, Batman, and Daredevil. Then there's all the space opera stuff, cosmic-level characters (Darkseid mini-fig? Yes, please!), magic-based fantasy characters, even Westerns (Jonah Hex mini-fig? Yes, please!). One thing that I think would be kinda neat to see would be Lego sets that recreate famous scenes from comic book history. Maybe they could even include a reproduction of the comic book itself with the set.

Dang, that sucks. At the Lego brand store near me (Schaumburg, IL), there's an employee there who always helps me feel the packets to find the figures I'm looking for. He's astonishingly good at it too. As for the original question, I feel like we have this ridiculous debate every time TLC releases a new series, like it's some great moral dilemma that we're all wrestling with.

TLC has almost completed their ultimate goal of a complete vehicalization of the entire City line! Only two pesky buildings remain -- that goofy forest ranger station, and the little shack for the outlaws. By next year, even those will be gone, and it will be nothing but glorious vehicles!! All kidding aside, it's a strange trend. I can't imagine TLC releasing a Castle theme with no castles in it. So why have a City theme with no buildings??

By "next Star Wars," I assume you mean a theme that runs for 10+ years, has hundreds of sets, hundreds of unique characters (including some pretty obscure ones), and a devoted fanbase of kids, AFOLs, and toy collectors? Given that definition, I would say .... maybe. Before I saw the preliminary pictures, I would have said, "Hell, yes!" But man, those sets look uninspiring. I will say that the POTENTIAL is there for Super Heroes to rival Star Wars in terms of longevity, popularity, and scope. Both Marvel and DC have thousands of licensed characters, dozens of movies and TV shows, and decades of artwork to draw from. The sheer depth of the source material is many times that of Star Wars. And yet ... those preliminary pictures ... sigh. If TLC can't bust out of their boring, tired "vehicle vs. vehicle" design approach, they will run out of stuff to do within a few short years.

Lex Luthor has changed a bit over the years. Back in the olden days, he was more of a "mad scientist / super genius" type. In recent years (most notably in the Superman: The Animated Series), he's been portrayed as a corrupt, wealthy, ambitious business tycoon. The Lego set is a bit of a throwback to his earlier incarnations. My thoughts on the sets echo what others have said. I have all the original sets, so these all seem like boring repeats to me, excpet for the Superman set. Hopefully with the Marvel wave, and with subsequent DC waves, TLC will break free of its Batman obsession, and start featuring some other characters.

I wonder if that means the sets can't hit retail until January 1st? For as long as I've been paying attention (15 years or so, I guess), the upcoming new year's sets show up in retail around Thanksgiving weekend, so that they're available for the holiday season. I found it really strange that the mini-fig-scale DC sets weren't in the recently leaked retailer catalog. I wondered if that meant that these sets would NOT be available for the holidays.

I guess it's better than "same concept same setting." I would have preferred "new concept" though.