Artanis I

Re the "all 'round ugly JSF set": I think in the SW universe (perhaps mainly in the cartoon series?) there seems to be a bit too much focus on colouring-in things like JSFs and droids to make them more unique & identifiable. It's fairly unrealistic in my opinion, most people drive cars etc that look exactly the same as the others, and in the rare existence of custom paint jobs, they LOOK GOOD. The colour schemes WORK. The detailing is ART! Even Piell is not your typical good-looking character... so if the minifig was 100% spot on he would still be an ugly sucker! I believe that the person I was responding to (Mr Man) had assumed Omega X's comment "ugly exclusive jedi - no offence" in the new JSF referred to Saesee Tiin (who is not exclusive - as he's also appeared in the Jedi Shuttle with Shaak Ti - but many believe him to be ugly). The exclusive jedi in the new JSF is Even Piell (who many believe to be ugly). Saesee Tiin in nonCW appearance IS exclusive in the new Palpatine Arrest set (...and many believe to be ugly), but was not the set or minifig any 3 of us were discussing.

Weathertop set has my vote. King's Carriage Ambush is pretty dumb too. Regarding flick fire missiles, I can't get them to go any far, and they hurt your fingers after a while. The spring loaded (rubber coated) missile launchers are way better, they fire further, they destroy more Lego on impact and they don't hurt your fingers to fire. (They do take up more room though.) Of course, none of it comes anywhere near the original spring loaded cannons that shot round bricks right across the room... but in this day and age of "too dangerous" we may as well have cotton wool ball launchers that fire 2cm in distance

Exactly... PLUS, I think another reason some stuff isn't turning up in UK yet could be from interference due to the Olympic Games. Is it just Lego, or are other brands not having new stock brought in? Just a thought. It seems a bit far fetched, although I'm certain that at least the CMF8 reveal is delayed because of it.

Except he's not the exclusive jedi to the set... yes, that's right: even Even Piell is uglier

Worked a bit more on the mountains. Hersbrucker: that's an interested effect, but it's hard to look at. I like the way the village is shaping up!

Hello fellow Nocturnianituses (whatever our demonym is), what with the big-headed green goofs trying to match a game of words with our resident "Mouth of Drowron" and their insistence in marching their armies in to "bring peace to Historica" coupled with the propaganda they distribute about how big their manhoo awesomely their armies have been kicking our backsides I thought I'd show you a typical scene of the fools approaching our impenetrable-by-force borders. Enjoy! Spotted recently, a typical bumbling Avalonian party attempting to navigate the mild swamp region outside the Kel Ra labyrinths. Evidently the local minotaurs of Zikka Sron weren't hungry at the time. As you can see, they found one of the well-worn "garden paths" if you know what I mean... leading to nowhere but a bog. Arcanis I has eyes everywhere. 50 darics they turn back and lie about how successful the mission was, without even getting gnat's blood on their swords. (I will work on the back drop a bit more to make the mountains & lava flow look better & in the right perspective, it was a quick knock-up job before work. I think the tower looks alright though.)

I had the same thoughts. Prime example is TC-14, there are 3 parts total. No accessories that you could even say were building parts to add to that. It must be because TLG gives them away that they get away with this. Although they do state the "value" ($8... yeah right try buying one at that price!) of the minifig.

Come on guys, it's Sandy! Nice idea for a game, some clever ones there. I missed Bonaparte.

I haven't found any sets with orcs in them yet (uruk hai, yes, plenty) but I BLd a few orc minifigs. I must say a down side is the fact that the Moria orcs 2 faces are so similar, and there is only one Mordor orc face. Only 1 torso each too. I would definitely like to amass those guys, but they look so similar. I put them next to some Fantasy Era orcs (trolls, whatever) and wow, they look weird together.

I would also like to know what his face looks like! I don't really like the underside of plates exposed like that (but what can you do?). Nice looking spaceship otherwise.

It's not like they can produce all the sets at the same time, distribute them and have them all in stock all over the world at the same time. The factories are only as big as they are. You think they make every single LOTR set for every country in one day? Hardly. A new wave of sets almost always appears first in USA or Germany, so count yourself fortunate - we usually have to wait months after that. So far they have been officially out in USA for 2 weeks. The release here is in 2 weeks time I believe, although 3 of the sets have snuck out onto shelves early. We were originally told LOTR sets would be in Australia in September. So far everyone has had these sets released earlier than stated - I imagine Germany, UK etc will very likely have them mid-July if not mid-June. Keep in mind that we got quite a few lines in March that were out for you guys in November last year.

Well that's what it is - a sword.

Thanks for all your comments, this is my first set review that's made it to the "post a topic" process, I tried to include as much useful information as possible. (Without driving myself nuts, as lining everything up for photos makes the build take 2+ times longer, all up this set took 3 hours to build.) I did neglect to mention that the castle has a hinge on the left that allows it to fold out on right angles. It doesn't join up on the right, but there isn't that much of a gap. 2 small bits are attached with pins to both the front and back section on the right, it would be absolutely no surprise to me that something else has been / is being designed to connect there. It may just be, however, that they are merely part of the versatile connectivity of all the separate parts. I imagine this sort of castle perfect for the Rakath Mountains of Nocturnus, or Castle Duckula!

To the silly Avalonians and a small number of wayward thinking Kaliphlin shortsightedly assuming that "one can simply walk into Nocturnus" : Don't forget that in order to reach Nocturnus you have to get past the treacherous mountains, many of the local population are not welcoming of the Avalonian or any other marching forces. Many will be extremely hostile. Strongholds are built to withstand attempted invasion. To get there you have to still be alive after passing through the Kel-Ra labyrinths. Safe passage can only be bought at a price from the otherwise hostile guardians. I hope for your sake that you're rich. To get to the labyrinths you have to get past the minotaurs... they like to eat fresh meat, and unless you are approved as being on a trade journey you'll be lunch. They eat men-in-tights like it's KFC.

Turns out there's absolutely nothing army-build-worth in that set either.

The box image explicitly states all of the minifigs are new EXCEPT Kit Fisto. I would say that Kit Fisto is not new. This set is a big "no thanks" for me. All I'd get it for is the minifig heads, maybe Agen Kolar since he's a different colour to Eeth Koth - but one is CW the other non, they won't look good together. I will keep my money for more LOTR & The Hobbit sets.

I think you're right on that one. I'm looking at this set, but mostly for the exclusive minidoll...

I believe it was the operator's error, as when I tried to leave the building the alarm went off. Lucky the girl at the door didn't bother to check the docket, she just looked in the bags to see if... actually I don't know what she was looking for! She just said "no manchester in there? Just toys? Should be right" as I had no idea he hadn't scanned properly, I never saw the docket until I got home. That would've been really embarrassing to show me up as a thief when not even my fault!

Flickr set Photos aren't the best, I don't have great lighting or a proper still camera and it was 1am when I started... but since no one else has reviewed this set yet I will have a crack at it. Set info Ages: 9-14 Pieces: 949 Price: USD $99.99, EUR €99.99, GBP ?, AUD $149, CAD $129.99 Released: 2012 Bricklink Brick Set Description: Enter Vampyre's castle and rescue the world from eternal darkness! Survive the traps and terrors of the Vampyre Castle to stop the Vampyre from uniting the moonstones and cloaking the world in darkness! I ordered this set from the Netherlands via Bricklink at US MSRP when it first started appearing. Set contains 7 bags, 2 large black tower roof pieces, 2 instruction booklets & a sticker sheet (secured in plastic with a cardboard sheet ). The stickers have some glow-in-the-dark (GITD) elements, but the glow effect is minimal (unlike the plastic parts). Bag 1 contains all minifigs plus the parts to build the sand green car. I love the vampire bats. Or bat vampires. Whatever. So glad that 2 come with the set. Most minifigs have front and back torso & face printing. Interesting are the bats' winged arms. They look great, but they don't really work in any other position than that shown. Lord & Lady Vampyre's heads are GITD. The cannon on the back of the car shoots a net. The seating for the car includes a tile, so that Dr Rathbone (with his artificial leg) can sit in it. Included is the old style standard skeleton minifig. You've seen him before. Bag 2 contains the pieces to build the front right tower (as you look from in front of it). It contains a prison cell using handcuffs and a chain that can be wound up & down to suspend a prisoner. The rock piece is "explodable" as a play function to allow a prison breakout. Or you could just have used the door, I mean it isn't locked... Up top Lady Vampyre tries her cold hand at a witches brew containing the ubiquitous frog and a toadstool. the curious bit sticking out at the side is a perch for a bat to hang upside down from. Bag 3 contains the pieces to build the front gate. There are retractable teeth on both sides, presumably as a booby trap to squish any unauthorised entry through the gates. There is also a "flick-fire" GITD spider. For whatever reason. I like the GITD spider, it works better than the luminous green one that came in a few previous castles I think. Gate & front tower assembled Bag 4 contains the pieces to build the left tower. At the top level is a "study" with a trap door. Falling through that, the victim lands on a series of spikes on the bottom. Below the roof is a treasure chest containing colourful gems. Also sticking out the side is another perch for the 2nd bat to hang upside down from. Assembly so far Bag 5 contains the pieces to build the bottom level of the rear/main tower. Right on the bottom is a nice coffin. I don't think I have any other coffins so I'm not sure if the print is new or not. Bag 6 contains the pieces to build the next level and a bit. We have an interesting spiral staircase (not sure how new it is, it's my first set with one, but I first noticed it in the previews for LOTR Attack On Weathertop before this was released). A nice AFOL MOC styled bed (doubtful it's for guests...) but only room for one minifig tells me that Mr V is in the doghouse below, or should I say bathouse. A couple of other details include a GITD rat (a bit more interesting than a plain grey one) and a bookcase incorporating plates+tile method for the books. Bag 7 contains the pieces to complete the rear/main tower and therefore the entire castle. Included we have all 6 colourful moonstones (sorry Dr Rathbone, but you've failed already!) a printed 4x4 dish with GITD crescent moon, and we build an interesting pipe organ in the roof. Not sure why there are only 10 semitones here, it's not your standard European keyboard... If you pull/push the handle the moonstones fold out/back. This part of the build is probably the most difficult for the less adept. Put it all together and what do you get? This is what was left over at the end. The instructions are standard for sets nowadays, each step clearly shows the parts to be added, and each step is easy to follow. I would describe the build as very enjoyable for an adult. There are a few advanced sub-builds that were very satisfying. Usage of advanced techniques everywhere, this is an excellent set for an AFOL even though it is a minifig scale system set from a theme aimed at a younger target audience. I think the lower end of the age bracket may find this a challenge - but maybe kids are better at this than I was at that age. The minifigs are brilliant, a good number and good selection. I personally have little interest in the protagonists of the line but the car looks great. I greatly dislike stickers, but the stickers in this set really add to its charm. Shame that the GITD feature of the stickers isn't very strong. The parts selection for the set aren't extremely unusual, but this is the first time I've built a set with the "brick" brick from memory. Obviously the GITD pieces are new, if not exclusive. This is one of my favourite Lego castles... that's saying something. (I have all the Castle line castles.) Obviously this one wouldn't be great for defending against a horde of knights, but it's got stacks of character. Highly recommended set for build, display & play functions. I also had a camera taking shots every 10 seconds, if I can figure out how to turn it into a stop motion video I will upload that too. Thanks for reading. I will add more pictures in future to flesh this out when I get some time with sunlight, as I managed to do with the minifig closeups. I will also redo some photos and try to show the GITD appearance. But for now, I'm trying to post this before I get ninja'd! edit: added more photos Here are some better shots from Leng Jai's comment later in the thread

No new SW, but I wandered on down to Myer on Saturday and picked up some LOTR as part of the 3for2 sale... these sets are pretty darn good . They had the VW Kombi too, but I passed on that. Helm's Deep is priced at $199, not $169. Although it's a bit disappointing, it's less than we were first told it would be ($230) and better than the (US price x 1.6 -> 1.75) general rule . Weathertop at AU$89 is excellent compared to the US$59 , but the wall set at AU$59 compared to US$29 is disappointing . Just to make you more jealous if you missed out, an error at the counter caused my Helm's Deep set to be scanned as Weathertop ... in the end I got $560 of Lego off the shelf for @$300 . Didn't realise until I got home though.

Hi guys, I wasn't able to report in on the weekend, but I did build all the sets on Friday night (went to bed very late... well after the monsters came out ) The sets were dirt cheap (compared to what we usually pay for Lego) on BL, but don't go looking, he sold out that very day. The castle is such an awesome set. I did have a couple of difficult moments during the build, sometimes the connector pins just would not go in and a whole section imploded while I was trying to connect it to the rest. I also had difficulty getting the wheel section with the crystal-thingies to sit properly before being secured in. So just be aware of that. Was super fun though. I took a bunch of photos, & had a camera doing time-lapse shots during the build so if anyone can point me to a good program to turn images into a stop motion video I will upload them for your enjoyment! The minifigs are brilliant. (I will get the ghosts & "monster" separate, and maybe the zombies too.) Love the bats, swamp thing, and skeletorse glows really well! The prints don't glow as well, but the spider, rat, claws, vampire heads (and I assume the train parts) do. I will do a review of the castle if noone else has yet.

Found Helm's Deep, Weathertop & Uruk Hai Army on Saturday at the Myer 3for2 sale... bought & built them straight away. Great sets. Disappointed there weren't any sets with orcs in them, but at least I have an army of uruk hai and a couple of nazgul. New horses are awesome, shame the old helmets don't fit, but the barding is fine as long as the legs are in the normal position.

Looks like someone's bag sitting in front of the poster

Guess what I'm doing when I get home at 10:30 tonight!!! NOT much sleeping!