JamesBenjamin

IIRC Walmart owns Argos, so you might want to check there.

From the box art, it appears they *aren't* expanding the new mine cart tracks seen in the funhouse, IJ temple of doom, and on the AQ mothership. That's really dissapointing.

Not sure how recent this is, but the $20 Isle de Muerta PotC set is $15 regular price at Target now. They also have the $50 set for $40 on their website.

Having previously worked for an internet retailer, I can tell you there are TONS of things that can cause this: Your name doesn't match what's on the card: card says John R Smith but you've put in John Smith or John R. Smith or John Smith (two spaces) Similarly, something goofy can be going on with the address: statement says 124 Main St. but you've spelled out Street or left off the "." or perhaps while your street is actually called "Maine" street the system has it as "Main" due to some error in the post office database. Spaces in CC # You've accidentally clicked "Amex" instead of "Mastercard" You put in the cell phone # you use for everything but your CC company has that old landline from 8 years ago on file still. etc, etc... And add into that: lets say your lego.com account has your address as "Main" street but your CC company has it as "Maine"... you change it and now it matches the CC file but not your lego.com account, etc. (so you're essentially repeating all the other stuff between the two sites instead of just one). Frankly, I'm surprised someone who works as a call-in rep for a webstore *hasn't* heard of this. I worked for thinkgeek.com for 6 weeks (over a Christmas season) and got that call 3 times a day! Since the errors are usually with the Post Office or Credit Card databases, I'd have to believe that every webstore has those issues.

IIRC, the set #s have a missing # (example: 5520, 5521, 5523, 5524) so the "missing" one is a store exclusive, and someone posted a list before we got pics that had "zombies" as a set title.

They're in black in the new Tie Fighter.

Some of the torsos from the Monster Hunters line (coming this summer? I think?) look good for Pirates.

Ah, I must have missed them! I'll go check again. Thanks!

Side note: Am I missing this theme in the review index? I can't seem to find any reviews of any of this year's Dino sets anywhere on the site...

Walmart (in the US) is apparently putting out all the new Star Wars Lego on the same day: Feb 10th:

IIRC, it is the week of Feb 15th, or thereabouts. Another month or so.

I went to a Target today and they have some of the new sets. They were halfway though a reset, I'd assume all targets will have them in the next week or so. Also: I got my copy of the Lego Magazine today. In it is a separate comic for the Super Heroes sets, and on the cover is a minifig of Mr Freeze. Have we seen him at all yet? (no pic as I don't have a camera handy, but I'm sure everyone else will get their mag today too and someone will post it).

I asked this in a thread a few weeks back and was told its because there's noone to maintain it. We need a "superheroes KimT" apparently. =(

Why would the rancor have to be bigger than the Wampa (or the Hulk in the SH line)? I said this a long time ago, but I'll bet the Rancor is the same size as the Wampa and the Hulk. They're not going to make a 10" or even 6" molded Rancor when a 4" one would work.

The ones that have new counterparts will go down, but not by much, right away. The ones that dont will go up A LOT.

I was actually referring to a single, locked picture/list/prices thread, not a general discussion thread. A single place that had all the (known) sets listed, where the first post was edited when new stuff is confirmed would be awesome, I think. Like KimT's Star Wars thread.

It seems like every other theme/forum has one, and it'd be nice to have a place marking all the upcoming sets here, especially with the new Superheroes line getting a lot of attention...

Haven't seen this posted anywhere yet, and I haven't seen it in my local Lego store. Thinkgeek.com has a new product listed that is the keychain minifig flashlight, but this one is Darth Vader: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/3-7-years/e7eb/

So I was waiting for the reviews of these sets to come in, but it seems like every review I see is from a Transformers fan that is not a Lego fan (or at least, not the kind of AFOL that knows the bricklink catalog well and has 1298338734 parts stored by color and shape and... OK, you get the idea. Haha. So I decided to do a review from an AFOL point of view. Now, before I begin, this review will have two aspects of comparing of these Kre-O sets to Lego sets. 1) the build itself and 2) the quality of the bricks. Lets not get off on a tangent about Hasbro copying or ripping off lego. That's a perfectly valid discussion, but its not for this thread. I just wanted to share the mechanics of the sets (or at least the one I've done sofar) and the quality of the parts. I'm a Lego fan first, but was curious how this'd work out. With that said, on with the review! But before we go, there are LARGER versions of all these pics in my flickr thingie here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbenjamindavis/ First: the box: Interesting art, though it looks like cheap CGI to me. Lego's art is better IMO. Contents: Bags are cheaper and rubbery, but serve their purpose. While the parts appear to be sorted in some way, its not the same type of sorting that Lego does (part size & sectioned builds). The only thing I'm sure of is all the painted parts (wheels, head) and rubbery parts (ball joints, more on that later) were in one bag. Next: Kreons! These are what most people are excited about, and they don't disappoint. This is also the first thing that's strikingly different about Hasbro's Kreo Bricks. First: the heads aren't "round," they have a "jawline" of sorts. This is easiest to see on the "human" kreons, as the robots have helmets. Sizewise, the heads are the same though, I forgot to take pictures but the helmets easily fit on a Lego Minifigure head. The other major difference is the ball jointed shoulders and legs. The joints are tight, and allow for greater articulation. It looks weird at first (after having minifigures for so long) but it suits them well. Also: Note that where the legs connect to the torso there is only one stud/plug (instead of Lego's two). This allows waist articulation, as well. Bad parts: Shockwave seems to have stress marks where the gun plugs in. From reading other reviews, these stress marks to show up occasionally. We'll see if its a QA thing and later sets don't have them... Next: Instruction book: Basically the same concept as Lego books. Done fairly well, though with all the grey/light grey/black in this set, it was a pain to get the right colors sometimes. Though, that happens with Lego too, especially in larger sets. Next, the part that all the Lego fans want to see: THE PARTS! First, all of them: Some of these pics should be landscape, but I've already uploaded them. =( The familiar part in this picture (top left, its been used on many star wars sets) was the first part I saw in pics of the Optimus Prime set where I thought "wow, that's a total rip off of a Lego part!" and its true. I didn't pull a Lego one out to check, but it seems pretty darn close to this part. That being said, most of the rest of the non brick and plate parts seem unique. Check out the rest of the "parts" pics. Most of them have 2 or 3 of the same part from different angles. The other parts in the above pic are a 2x2 curved slope with an angle on top (instead of just a flat curve) and a 1x2 "cheese wedge" slope that slopes the long way. Also what I found out later to be the steering wheel post. More parts: Red things are their seats, also note the 1x1x2 round brick and the NEAT 55 gallon drum with lid! 1x1 round with stripes/texture, their grills are slightly different, and their 1x2 bricks with grill side have a hollow back (so you could attach bricks at 90 degrees). They have half wheel well things, and half windshields. Also note the 1x2 round-edged clear plates! Those are neat. Ball joints. There were many of each of these (needed for all the robot joints) but the new thing here is the joints aren't hard plastic. They're coated with a rubbery substance that makes them much tighter, and presumably they will last longer. I've noticed the same sort of rubbery coating showing up in the ball joints of some Transformers figures too (notably RtS Wreck Gar's head joint, if you're a TF fan) so that's where they got the idea, I assume. Their "ladder" part is completely different from the old one we've had since Classic Space (or maybe before?). One's not really better than the other, but it'd be a nice addition for some new looks in MOCs. A new I-beam part, instead of a flat wall. OK, that's it for noticeable new bricks. Lets talk about quality: The plastic is really good quality. It feels just about as good as Lego plastic. The parts seem to have less sharp corners, and seem a bit more shiny, but overall, they feel just as solid. When I did what I call "the blind man's drop test" (taking one Lego brick and one Kreo brick of the same size/type and dropping them on the counter from the same height) they make virtually the same sound. Clutching power: Just as good as Lego. My only thought here is will it hold up over time like Lego? I guess we'll just have to find out... Its really easy to tell the difference, as all the Kreo bricks have one "empty" stud. And any Lego fan will notice the slight color/shape/feel differences easily. But overall, they're very good. They have a different sort of "shine," and its most noticeable on tiles. Onto the build, I have only done Megatron's Truck mode so far, but I'm going out of town for a week tomorrow, so I wanted to go ahead and post the truck mode now, and I'll rebuild it later in robot mode and post my thoughts of that once I do. Partially through, and I thought this was a really neat way of filling space and using the ball joint bricks. Better than an empty hole (and better than other bricks that would add to the price!). Neat greebling in there, to represent the engine. Also the sides are SNOT, which I wasn't expecting. Finished build: Last pic above has a better look at the two 2x2 curved slope with ridge part, they're on the roof of the cab. Final pics: advertised play features: A jail above, and below: REAL FLICK FIRE MISSILES! There is some sort of mechanism in there that actually makes the missile shoot out when you push from the other side! It works pretty well, and while I'm still not a fan, I'm sure kids will like it better than the Lego version that just plops out. Final thoughts: Build/design: Overall, the build was more interesting than I thought it would be. Megatron's truck mode turned out to be a pretty solid truck, and had some interesting techniques in there. Quality: not quite Lego quality, but very good. Nowhere near as crappy as all the other clone brands out there. I still plan on keeping them separate from my Lego bricks, but if you're a parent and your kid wants the "Transformers Legos" correct him/her that they're not *really* Lego Bricks and then let them get a set. Price: The pricing seems a bit weird. Bumblebee is 338 parts (I think), 2 kreons for $25, and Megatron was 312 parts with 4 Kreons for $30. So that's weird. Lego seems to take the # of parts and add a zero, then round up to the next $5 or $10 for the most part, and it seems like Kre-O is rounding down instead, with a tiny bit of fluctuation based on # of figures. Overall purely by parts ratio pricing is slightly better than Lego, but that makes sense if they're trying to break into the market. As far as a recommendation: If you're a Transformers fan, go for it. Keep 'em separate from your Lego Bricks, and you'll be totally happy. If you're a hardcore MOCer and like the idea of a few really neat new parts, take a good look at the sets and get what looks interesting. I bet you could sell the Kreons on eBay for half the cost of the set, as I know there are a TON of Transformers fans who just want the figures. I'd say to check out the reviews and pictures on Transformers sites to see what parts are in what sets, hopefully eventually Hasbro will do a parts breakdown on their site. So there you have it! I'm leaving tomorrow for a long weekend, but I'll try to answer any questions upon my return on Tuesday. Though, if vacation gets boring, I might check in too, haha. Thanks for reading! Holding first post for ROBOT MODE!

Yeah, some parts are almost identical to Lego parts (not including the obvious plates and straight bricks), for example the weird curvy bits like this one: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=47456 But there are some parts that are distinctly different, and i found the build surprisingly engaging. I picked up Megatron and the larger bumblebee sets. I did the truck megatron build today (and took pics) and I'll probly do the Bee car tomorrow (to get pics of both vehicles together) then do both robot modes and then post a full review. Early thoughts: Bricks are surprisingly good quality, waaaaay better than MB and really really close to Lego quality. (my ears hear the same "plink" from both Lego and Hasbro bricks, which is not the case with other clones). Kreon heads are shaped differently, not fully round. They have a "jaw" part that makes the heads distinct. And the one build I did so far (Megatron truck) was surprisingly creative and complex, using SNOT techniques and an interesting amount of greebling (is that how that's spelled?) Also: a surprising amount of "new" bricks that are useful (and not just BURPs or small BURPs) Anywho, check back in a few days, I'll post the reviews, and let everyone know what's good and bad.

I know there's some curiosity about these sets, and the few reviews I've seen so far all look at it from a Transformers Action Figure collector's perspective. I picked up the Bumblebee and Megatron sets earlier today, and would like to post a review for those who are interested. I know other brands are frowned upon by some (most?) but I think it's worth at least posting a review for them. So where should I go about it? In here? Edit: my title got cut off... it should end "where should I?"

The one without the figure is the "Library" version.

I'm guessing that even if the Hoth set isn't available, there will be pictures of it inside the instructions for one of the other sets. I'd think we'll see more soon.

They have that. Whenever a thread has new posts theres a little orange arrow next to it. So anytime the "news" thread has a new post, its KimT or whoever saying "updated first post with X"

I think its more likely that Lego builds a set that they think looks good, then adds figs (if need be) to bump it into another price point. The x-wing for example, they likely realized they could sell just as many at $50 as they could at $40 so they added a few figs to make it "worth it." I doubt they ever decide "we want this set to have 5 figs so lets remove some bricks" after the set has been designed. Another example would be the forthcoming (exclusive i think?) Mace Windu starfighter. They could have released it as a $25 set, but they already have another set just like it (more or less) and by adding the Droids and STAPs (or whatever they are) it "bumps" it into another price point.