Artifex

Hail! Last Saturday I bought one Medieval Village Market. Great set, everybody should get at least one. Or three. Things is: There are a couple of pieces missing, and at a Lego store today I got this phone number to call Lego so they can mail me the missing parts. My question is: has this ever happened to of you? Did you call the customer service? Did it work out well?

Thanks for the info, but I can't see the Bakery image :(

Congrats! Looks very nice! This is one of my favorite trilogies ever!

[7946] King's Castle [7947] Prison Tower Rescue [7948] Outpost Attack 4 custom minifigs 2 keychains (Santa Claus and a Pink Fairie) 1 (Lions) Battle Pack

My fondest - and also the saddest - memory with Netherlands/Holland football comes from 1995, when Grêmio (my own personal football love) played against Ajax in the World Championship. Even though Grêmio played with 10 guys most of the game, there was a draw. Then there were penalties, and van der Saar (the best goal keeper of the last 15-20 years IMHO) got one, and another shot didn't score (ironically the best Grêmio shooters lost their penalties). Ajax won. But then, 3 years later, in the 1998 World Cup, the Netherlands faced Brazil in the semifinals I guess, and to my surprise, the Netherlands National Theme was... The very same that played against Grêmio! Knowing that my home team played against - to a draw - a National Team as strong as Holland made me very proud :D

Thanks!

/signed

Welcome! You'll find plenty of those in here! Check the forums!

Oh, guess that's where that link comes from - I had so many tabs openned at the sane time that I couldn't find the right one!

Thanks - I didn't find this thread.

Take a look at this: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=427060. I found this link in another thread. There are pics of figs of the upcoming Advent Calendar (like the Queen and the Blue Wizard (shouldn't he be red?)) and some pics of - as far as I know - unknown minifigs (like the Dragon Knight with double axe and the Lion Knight with hawk visor). Also notice that the torso of the Blue Wizard is unprinted (like the Green one from the impulse). And who is this 'Nicholai (101283)' guy? A Lego designer? How come he got all this figs? EDIT: Minor grammar and spelling

Hail all! From what I've seen, there are no bowman in the new line... Only guys with crossbows! Could this be a hint we'll get a Forestmen revamp? Elves, maybe? Or has TLG just given up on bowman altogether? (in which case I'll get a couple of more bowmen from the collectables)

Welcome, there!

Hail! Thanks for this most excellent review! Probably the funniest review ever! But I do have a qustion, though: Is there a baseplate for each floor? Not like the first/ground baseplate, but large plates where to build each floor, or is it like many plates brought together?

I'm Brazilian, but I don't actually support the National Team. I usually support Paraguay in World Cups, but although I like to discuss football, I don't really care much about the World Cup. Especially the groups stage. Although I don't support the Brazilian Team, I do believe it's going to win the World Cup. I see no real match to Brazil - it's got the best players, the best group and it's playing rather well ("redondinho", as we say it). England is probably the second best team this year, but I don't believe it can win. France, Italy and Germany, the other giants, are not at their best right now. Spain is always a lot of talk, but lets face it: no real football, no real victories, no World Cup titles. Portugal doesn't have "Big Phill" anymore, and Cristiano Ronaldo is no wizard to win games all by himself. The only team left is Argentina. They got Messi, but he never played well in the national team (but Tevez is there; Argentina probably has the second or third best attack in the Cup). Asia has never had any tradition in World Cups. Nor Africa. Oceania or North America someone? I thought not. Even though Mexico is one of the great world teams, tt won't get to the finals. So my bet is: Brazil wins the title. England or maybe Argentina come second (and third). Italy, Germany and France will probably come next. Mexico will be close, but probably among the 16 best. Remember this is a vey unpasionate analysis; I DON'T support the Brazilian theme. But I DO LIKE football enough to discuss it. So, passion aside, these are my 2 cents.

So I've been checking here and there for value for money and I found the Brick Buckets in the Lego website. From what I see, the Basic Bricks Deluxe looks like a must, with many bricks of different and useful colors for what seems a fair price. The other buckets don't seem that useful for medieval building. The Creator houses are fine, with many useful parts. The Apple Tree House and its blue roof, the Beach House and the yellow bricks/black roof and the Family Home and its tan bricks/red roof and a couple of other things. But I find these a bit overpriced, even at S@H (with the sole exception of the Beach House). Any thoughts? Do you usually buy Brick Buckets for your MOCs or do you get things like Creator, Exclusives and regular sets (like Medieval Village Market or King's Castle)? A bit more specifically: what do you think are the best sets/buckles to get roofs (black, red or blue)? And windows (tudor-style)?

Yesterday I watched/listenned to Lady GaGa's Alejandro. Although I'm a Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne/Heavy Metal fan, this woman is just the natural heir to Madonna and Marilyn Manson.

Hail there! My experience is that if you decided to stop collecting and sell your stuff, then just go for it. Check the prices and play along, adding or taking bucks as for overall quality. Try not to exagerate. Forget things like "the pride and joy" - it's just stuff you want to get rid off (sorry if I sound hard, but there's no point in being sentimental if you decided to sell your stuff - trust me; it makes things much easier. if you ARE sentimental, then don't sell anything!) Now if you are selling because you need money, then you usually have to sell fast. Again, check the current prices, but place your items a couple of bucks lower than the average. Those are just my two cents. I used to collect anything, from bottle stoppers to coins, and one day I decided to stop that and get rid of everything I had stored. I just did it. You can really think about it too much. If you do, you won't sell anything. (it's like those guys on ebay: "selling my most dear Teddt Bear because I need money: $100.000" - "hey, it's just a teddy bear - don't you need the money?" - "I do, but it's my most precious posession" - "Then you should be selling something else, mate")

Hail all! Here follows my impressions and reflections on the new Kingdom line. It's not a review, and those I'll link in what follows (written by our most excellent EB companions). I'll also link some things I mention to articles in Brickipedia. Well, for starters, a little background: Although I love Lego and it was one of the toys of my childhood and early teen years (along with GIJoe and Playmobil), I haven't bought or played with Lego for a long time. I came from Brazil, and Lego there (and also GIJoe and Playmobil) are quite expensive (I never had a whole collection of any GIJoe, Lego or Playmobil lines/themes).but i wa fortunate enough to have more than a handful of each. I was lucky to get many cool Lego, though; and the ones I got I played night and day, living as many adventures as a kid's mind could come up with. Back in the day, it was the time of Crusaders and Black Falcons (sorry, but I do count Lego time based on the Castle line because it's my favorite). The greatest set was the [6080] King's Castle, and every kid wanted one. Building and designs were very simple, and there weren't that many pieces and bricks as are out there today. Take a look for yourself: This was my very first Lego; a race car; and a house (my first Lego house). As you can see, things were quite different at the time. Very clear cut, straight-forward designs, with only small twists (that made a huge difference) and fewer types of bricks, parts and pieces. Compare these sets I mentioned to nowadays sets like the Green Grocer (here and here), a sports car (here and here); a house (the Apple Tree House) and the 2010 tow truck (here and here). They may not be the exact point of comparison, but I guess you take my meaning. I left Lego around the end of the Black Knights and the beggining of the Dragon Masters. Although I "grew up" and stopped playing with my Lego, I kept visiting toy stores and kept myself in touch with younger friends (3yo+ younger who used to play with me, mainly neighbors and youger brothers of friends my age), so I sort of knew "what was going on" in the world of Lego. But I did not buy, build or tried any major sets in the past 15+ years. I got some impulse sets, that's true, but nothing bigger than a minifigure + equipment set. Til 2010. Til this past week. Last week I finally decided to go back to Lego. In the past few years I've been lurking (and even registering) in forums, saving pics and getting amazed by all the awesome work people has been doing around the globe. Yes, I did clean up my Legos a couple of times this past dozen years, and even built some stuff, but nothing more than an afternoon or a couple of hours without any new sets. But back to business. So last week I was at Game in Hamleys here in London (I moved ot Londo about a month ago), talking to as many people as I could meet, trying to make up my mind about which videogame to buy (unfortunately, I cannot afford both an Xbox 360 AND a PS3 - and, why not?, a Wii). When I was leaving, I decided to take a look at some Lego and BANG! the new [7946] King's Castle! ided th But what caught my attention wasn't the fact that there was a new castle and a new Cstle/Kingdom line - I am/was quite used to that. What really striiked me was the fact that this new castle is so much like the one from my childhood! As I was looking to the new castle, completely amazed, I started talking to Matthew, this nice and kind guy who works in Hamleys and is responsible for all htings Lego (or maybe he's a Lego guy who works at hamleys - whatever). He told that "yeah, this new castle DOES look like the old one from our childhood". Then my eyes found the other sets, and a new world openned its arms to me.. I went back home and I couldn' realy think of anything else; a brand-new start, an awsome revamp of the Castle line of my dear childhood years... I totally forgot about Xboxes and PS3s. So I started searching the internet for reviews and impressions on the new Castle/Kingdom line (I'll sometimes use one, sometims the other, but I always want to say the Medieval line/theme as a whole). Then I found Eurobrick. Guys, I cannot thank you enough for all the reviews. In one of my very first posts here i said something that I now repeat: you DO have the best reviews in all of the internet! The many pictures, the funny comments, the little stories around some reviews... And the community: What an excellent community we got in here! I'm part of different forums, and few have as good a community as EB. But back to the point. So the new Kingdom line is like a revamp of the one from my childhood. After reading a couple of reviews here and a few comments around the 'net, I decided that 2010 is my Lego year. I went to a store and caught the [7948] Outpost Attack for starters. As I got home, I openned it up and went through the pieces, parts, bricks, designs and minifigs. At first, by what I saw on the forums, I didn't really like the new minifigs. Especially the Lions. The design looked pretty horrible. But then, in an in-hand analysis... They are actually awesome! They are very good figures, and the colors and printed armor are really cool and cool-looking. The new faces - although I'm not new to the Lego faces and expressions, I had never seen one in-hand - and they are really cool too! (even if they are not new to you, guys...) The overall color scheme is quite nice, and both the Lions and the Dragons figs deserve praise and respect (even if they don't have - yet! - the right amount of accessories - but I'll come back to that later). As for the tower, I was intrigue by its design. There was this new piece, which back in the day was quite different (sorry, folks, no links). Also, there were these pieces that I later found out are called "cheese" (because the yellow ones are used as food in other sets), that go up the walls. The tower in itself was quite detailed, with more arches and walls in the front and details in the back (like the archway in front of the "exploding wall"). Nothing like the old [6080] King's Castle or the [6062] Battering Ram tower (yes, that was a tower back in the day). But what really bought me to the Outpost Attack was the Lion Flag. So many lively colors! Sounded like a call to arms to me - and here I am, my king. The catapult was another thing that I'd seen on the reviews and made me buy this set as my first one. It looks menacing, well-designed and has the right color scheme (although I do think it's too short). My only catapult is the Knight's Stronghold one, which I never found menacing, but for the counterweight. So, putting all things together - design, minifigs, colors and, of course, the feeling -, the new Castle line was really promising. And I couldn't just stop. Reading reviews and reviews, I decided my next move. I wanted a small town with a castle to protect it. Looking at the options, there is the [10193] Medieval Market Village, the [7946] King's Castle, and the many other sets in this theme. So I went to a Lego store and decided to get as many sets as I could. I bought the [10193], the [7946] and also [7949] Prison Carriage Rescue, [7950] Knight's Showdown, [7953] Jester and the [7955] Wizard. I built the smaller sets first. The wizard was quite nice, with the cool reading scroll/grimoire and the "baby dragon". A pity his beard is black while the minifig face is white and he heas no printing in his chest :( But ok. Nice hat too, but not so nice a wand. Overall, nice figure, and there was nothing like it back in the olden days. The jester was the right opposite to the wizard: colorful, joyful, full of action. The stand/stage and the studs really give this fig life and movement. I can't look at him and not think he's actually playing with the studs. I can't remember of any jester, and the addition of these guys is really something. We used to have more civilian buildings, but no such lively feeling as this guy brings to any MOC or official set. The Knight's Showdown was my next choice of building. Although a catapult would not be my choice to attack a single enemy, it's a nice addition to castle walls and defense. The knights look just great, but a pity there are no horses. What is a knight without his horse? TLG failed on this one. A dozen of years ago, noone would be called a knight if he had no horse... Another step backwards are the helmets. I like the Dragon helmet, and there's this nostalgia feeling for the grill Lion helmet but come on - the Black Knights had better helmets! (look at the knight on the left) All in all, I think the Knights Showdown is a must get for the two figs and accessories. One more sword and shield are never too much. I can't remember of any set up to 1995-96 that had two different minifigs (and especially from different factions) with that many accessories. But if I did, I bet there would be horses for the knights. The [7949] Prison Carruage Rescue makes me think of two sets I had: The [6023] Maiden's Cart and the [6055] Prisoner Convoy. I'm not sure why, but I guess it's the horse and cart and people being carried in those. Although not as big and full of minifig as the Prisoner Convoy, the Prison Carruage is a good set. Obvious playability, nice minifigs and accessories, and the cool barding and the horse. A must to any town, village or castle WIPs and MOCs. From those small sets I went straight to the [7946] King's Castle. I couldn't help but compare it to past castles, and I have to say it is one of the bests castles TLG has ever produced. It has many features from previous castles, but a "character" of its own: it feels solid (and it should, with those two "rear/back" towers). I was left dazzled a couple of minutes looking at the portcullis, and the ingenious way it's risen and lowered. So different from the old ways, which were much more simple. Even the drawbridge mechanism is quite different, with the attached chains. Although I'm not disapointed in the least, I have to say I like the [6080] drawbridge best: there's nothing like its string going under the bridge! The two back towers are another strong point of the new King's Castle: they feel like they play different functions inside this structure - they are not just another guardpost or weaponry. The two doors (and you just look at those doors!) are a nice touch, keeping the utility feel of the two structures. Althought the throne is another nice addition, the rooms is just too small and it feels the king willl just fall off and die at any moment. The minifigs and accessories are another highlight of this new castle set: they are just awesome. The king is especially fabulous, taking a long time to be fully appreciated: quite a sight! The golden longsword, crown and armor are also impressive, and I see no flaw as to the figs and acessories. It's cool to have all those catapults in the towers, too. I never get tired of looking at the shields. The horse and barding is another sight, and that's one stallion you youself would ride to battle! Speaking of figs and shields, I have to mention this line's Battle Packs. Ok, it's not the same plastic, it's not the same shine, it's not the same grip. But the look is still awesome anyway. Put a bunch of those BP figures anywhere, and you know they will stand beautiful whenever you look at them. They may not be your favorite soldiers ever, but they won't dissapoint you even if they don't look that good near the "non-Chinese" figs. From the castle I moved to the [10193] Medieval Market Village. I have wanted this set since I stumbled upon it in a Brazilian auction site. Lucky me I finally got one! The MMV took the longest to be finished. Not only because it's got two houses and many details, but also because it was the one set I was really looking forward to lay my hands on. Remember that I had never seen such a beautiful and detailed model before, and there were no big medieval houses around when I was younger. The tree was quite intriguing, for the ones I had were just green structures (althought the Forestmen had some trees more akin to the MMV one). The figures were another highlight of this set, with the kids, old man and the ladies. Fruits, baskets, a tavern. A great set, not only in size and piece count, but nice addition to just about ANY medieval MOC I can think of. So, after building and playing a bit with all these many sets, and getting acquainted with much more modern building techniques, pieces and design twists, I have to say how abashed I am. Although I had been reading reviews on each and avery Castle set from my days to the present, I wasn't fully ready to everything I found and discovered in the MMV and the new Kingdom line. The very first thing that strikes me is the attention to detail. Today, it's not just about having a structure, but having it in some detail besides functionality and playability. And not only the buildings, but the minifigs too: they are just fabulous, with all the intricate art (from lowly peasants to the king and his knights, footmen and bowmen). The TLG design team must be really proud of their work. I applaud them. Playability is the second thing. The buildings are not just beautiful and detailed, but completely playable: walls that come down, doors and windows that actually open and close, secret walls that can come down, catapults everywhere... It's like everything is now really and completely useful, whereas it used ot be just a structure or an expected part of a bigger set. If in the old days we would just sit down and bring things out from our imaginaiton, the kids today have many options right out when they first open the Lego box. The Prince of Persia sets are all about that too. Then we have all possible combinations and additions one can think of: It's easy to read that someone got three or more of the same set to have more figs or to build bigger castles and larger villages. Increase population. And from what I see, people that have not gone away from Lego this past years are building using every new design, parts and bricks, having MOCs that make it hard to choose which one is the best - because truth be told, they all are. Although we had to mix-and-match with our sets, it seems as if every new sets adds a crystal clear different something, not only minifigs, weapons and a tower or two. So, from an ex-retired veteran point of view, Lego has grown so much and in so many ways that it makes coming back to it a whole new start. There are just so many things to learn, to see and to appreciate, that it's hard not to think of it as something alive. And growing. Deffinitely growing. I just became a registered member of this community. It will take some time for me to get totally acquainted with the sets, parts, and designs. So I ask you to be patient. At times I'll be redunctant and boring. I'll ask stupid questions. But keep in mind that I'm coming back after such a long time, that I need to get my time to watch and learn. And be sure that I'll be loving it all the way to fun and design. Cheers!

Thanks for the big comment and advice! I'll look for one with doubled efforts now! The 7 fig is really a way to buy people into this set. And you get many useful pieces along with them!

A couple of more couldn't go wrong, I guess. I see many MOCs that use pieces from this set, but from the amount of parts, multiples of it. Oh, and I didn't know about the peasant torso - thank you for that one!

Reading the review... * * * Ok, I could really use those minifigs. All of them, including the skeletons (my Castle MOCs are not usually about magic and fantasy - they are a bit closer to rality, Lego style). All parts seem to be useful, and a nice set of useful pieces plus so many minifigs (7! The new 7946 King's Castle only has 8 - yes, 'only', it's a CASTLE!) for 27,00 bucks sounds fair. Thanks for the tip! Oh, I've been doing some math, too, and it seems to me that the Medieval Village Market is one of the best sets as for money value and building a medieval town: awesome set of pieses, 8 varied minifigs (soldiers, peasants, children and wenches), a horse, a tree, so many nice "equipment" (helmets, weapons, knives, a plate, small animals, a roast turkey...). Am I wrong? What's everyone opinions?

Really? What do you do?

Thanks!

So you're saying that size does matter? Even for a wizard? I'd go with either a shorter wand or a longer staff.