Munkay

Agreed. i too believe that if the TLG decides to take on a licensed theme its their duty to re-create that theme with as much detail as possible. If that means modern day weaponry, then so be it. But many will (and have) glorified the use of weapons in their favorite licensed theme's in the past, as well as fans of violent video games. I admire your values and your feeling on this matter. Though I'm not really sure if i agree that you have a "right" to expect a gun free town/city theme. In all its TLG decision on what they want to do and though many believe that TLG has a so called "No violence policy", no one has really been able to provide written evidence of this. True, the town/city theme has been doing just fine without them for 30+ yrs, (at least to us), but you never know what the future will hold. I doubt that including guns with Police would hurt, or really benefit TLG from a financial standpoint, but with the completion doing it, TLG might feel it necessary to respond. I admire your values and your feeling on this matter. I see what your getting at and i do understand your concern as a parent. But at some point, its going to be up to the child (with the help of the parents of course) to differentiate fiction with reality. Kids have been playing cops and robbers for years. In a sense, its kind of in their nature. How they play is largely affected on how they portray their local law enforcement. Kids today are smarter than they ever have been. The amount of technology thats available to them is almost endless compared to what many of us had when we were young. I guess what I'm getting --- Kids are exposed to violence on a daily basis. Its almost completely impossible to shield them from the every day world now-a-days.I personally, don't see TLG "romanticizing" the real world if they gave their police weapons, but i could understand the concern. The local media (at least here in the U.S.) seem to focus on the negative more than the positive aspects of law enforcement. I have family that works in law enforcement, so i know their purpose and what they try to accomplish every time they put on the uniform. I can respect that. Personally, i don't see many kids acting out that kind of a scenario. But I suppose the possibility does present itself. But to be honest, just having a police force opens up all types of situations that officers have to deal with. Its really up to the child on what he wants to act out. It would be interesting to perform a study with children. In one room give kids a police station and have their "force" armed with a few hand guns and a traditional robber. In the other room have a traditional Police station with no weapons. Let them play for an hour or so and see what stories each group of kids act out. Agreed! I really enjoy these type of topics. This thread could have gone south very easily, but i think everyone has done a great job of expressing their views but keeping things civil. It does no one any good by yelling and screaming.

Looking forward to the Police mobile command center. The last one we got was utterly pathetic! The new police station sounds remarkably like the last one with dual garages and the such.

I think you miss understood what i was talking about when i said "Violence is violence". Now in your example, I'd agree. (to an extent). Though its very easy to argue that foam swords are just as "violent" as toy guns, (mainly because you actually have to make contact with swords vs. just pointing and going "bang bang!"),I do see a difference with kids bashing each other with Foam swords and pointing guns at each other. I respect your decision as a parent if you choose not to let your kids play with toy guns. What i don't see a difference in is being OK with "fantasy" theme's such as Star wars, Pirates, Agents etc, but not being OK with a modern version such as a police force. I also find it incredible hypocritical of those that find it perfectly fine for there favorite license theme such as Batman or Indiana Jones to have weapons, but then would be insulted if TLG decided to give their local policeman a hand gun. Both these theme's are fairly modern in the sense that they have vehicles and modern day weaponry. I don't buy that its OK to have guns just because they are licensed theme's. If someone feels that strongly about weapons in there Lego sets, it shouldn't matter what theme its coming from. This is the point at were i believe "violence is violence". As far as it being "tasteless" as you say, i truly don't understand this. Its not people are asking to make Holocaust sets. You'd mearly be adding weapons that TLG has been using it several of its other theme's for years now. Is it tasteless for real policeman to carry guns?

Then i guess we should stop theme's like Star Wars, pirates and such. And by that line of thinking, i guess Indiana Jones and Batman were bad ideas to huh? Police are around to keep the peace. Not aggravate it. Giving a mini figure a had gun with a police uniform doesn't endorse violence any more than a jack sparrow mini figure with a pistol. Depending on where you live, it can be quite normal actually. And if you see one, doesn't mean that that person is about to rob a bank either.

I'd have to disagree here. Violence is violence. Guns are guns. Just because one theme that has weapons is fantasy based, does not make it any less "violent" or excusable than one that takes place in modern times. And why wouldn't a kid be role playing when playing with his LEGO Police sets? Your right. Kids are smart these days. They can just as easily play with Star Wars sets, as well as City themed sets and separate that from every day life. Thats exactly the purpose of police having weapons. Intimidation. Which brings up a good point. A set is only going to be as violent as the end user makes it. There are many fans of the Star wars line that purchase sets for vehicle design and could care less about the blasters battle packs. So if tomorrow TLG decides to offer police sets with weapons, it doesn't mean that kids are all of a sudden going to be raging wars with the citizens of LEGO or its bad guys. Some (like myself) just like the idea of adding detail to our sets. it really doesn't have to be about violence like many are making it out to be. So my vote, is yes.

The twins were just fine. I welcome them back considering they were practically the only robots with personality. Is it really that big a deal? lets save the extra cash that would have been spent on a big time actor on more robot and action scenes. NO one is going to win any acadmey awards for acting in this movie. She's just there to fill the role as Sam's love interest to please the general audience anyhow. So far, i like what I've seen. Optimus is getting a trailer, a few new characters, and it appears Sound wave (along with Shock wave and Megatron)will be in the final battle on earth!

Sure it does. Had he just raced his race like any driver would and not raised his fist to to team mate for supposedly being slower than him, than this whole thing never would have come about. Its one thing to voice your frustration to yourself while driving, but to send a radio transmission (a public one at that) that your team mate is holding you up, is a clear cut message that your asking for help from the pit wall. So i stand by that Alonso did have a part in this. Its all good though. I was getting tired of always hereing about Red Bull and thier drama.

Alonso had made a couple radio transmissions early on in the race while being stuck behind Massa. One of which was "This is ridiculous; I'm being held up." And one where he specifically says "I'm faster than Massa;.. He's holding me up." While I do agree that this hurts Ferrari as a whole more than individual drivers, the whole thing started by Alonso complaining that he was the faster car. I still concede, that if he was the faster car, then he should have over taken his team mate. Not asked for assistance from the Pit wall. So yes, this does make Alonso look bad. And its not the end of the story. Chances are more fines are going to be handed out, and hopefully a grid position or two taken away. Oh, ok. Sorry about that mate. Thanks for the clarification.

What?? Are you kidding me? "Nicely done?" "Clean race?" Is this how you honestly feel? Ferrari blatantly insulted the fans and general public with their obvious team orders. This was anything but clean. Now as we all know, team orders are nothing new in F1, but for the most part they've always been very subtle. And in the events that they were more evident than others, it was done late in the season when there was only one driver fighting for the championship. While still wrong, it was more acceptable to turn a blind eye in a situation like that. This "win" really isn't Alonso's. This just shows his true colors. If he's as great a driver as he makes himself out to be, then he should have overtaken Massa. But no.. He needed the pit lane to get him by. Personally, I think the $100,000 fine was to little. They really should have been stripped of points. Though it seems that there is still a posibilty of this since the case has been handed over to the FIA court. We'll see what happens.

Pretty much all pranks performed on school grounds will get you minimum of suspended. One clean prank that we pulled on one of our buddies in high school... We put the rear of his car on blocks. Just enough so the rear wheels were off the ground. When he got in the car, put in in gear to take off, the car wouldn't go anywhere! Now his car was a Ford Mustang with a solid axle suspension. we placed the jacks under the rear axle so the suspension was still compressed, but lifted the tires just a hair off the ground so there was no contact. It was a bit of an optical illusion cause at first glance nothing seems wrong. The car for the most part is still at its regular ride height. It was great seeing him in put it in gear, mash the gas and go no where. of course his first reaction was to just give it more gas, but all he got was tire spin! Classic! Took him a minute or so before he realized what we did!

While the wait will be long, it will be worth it. The Passat CC is not cheap, and when spending that kind of money, there's no sense in paying for something that you had to settle for if you have the patience to wait. Fun for you maybe, but certainly not fun for the sales staff that is selling the vehicle. While i can understand wanting to get the best deal possible, toying back and forth, threatening to leave, coming back.... People need to keep in mind, that this is their lively hood. This is what puts food on the table for their families. You said yourself that the dealer got really frustrated with you, and in the end it was a "great success" as you call it. People give car salesmen a bad wrap;... But in reality the customer is just as much to blame for the "poor buying experience that many claim to have had. As I've said in the past, i have family members who work in the automotive industry and one is a car salesman. I remember many nights when my Grand father would come home around PM because he was trying to make a sale. Some nights the customer would walk out saying "they would think about it". Not cool to keep someone up till midnight working numbers when you have no intension of buying, or are just going to use that figure to take to another dealer. Very good looking rim. Only problem is there very common among the BMW crowd. Thats one of the things that sucks about European cars in general. Because there considered "VIP" status cars, there are only a select batch of rims that look good. And most of them are ussualy quite expensive.

I love my PS3, but the 360's controllers were far superior. Much better control, better trigger, and feels more comfortable (i guess thats subjective).

But you see what I'm getting at. While 2.1% is agreat interest rate, its still not the 0% there add said. The idea was to draw your interest, and get you in the dealer. for all intensive purposes, thats what happened. As for your trade, thats good that you got the deal you did. But chances are they made up the difference in the cost of the car. But in the end as long as your happy with the monthly payments, then it should be fine. With all the options you want, wouldn't it be better to just order the car? While you might have to wait, you'll be getting the exact car you want. But if you do get a vehicle thats in stock, you'll more than likely get a better price than waiting for a new car, or ordering one.

Those are exactly the ones I'm taking about. Regardless of some letter, the dealer should be giving you top dollar. And the 0% is only if you qualify. In this economy, Unless you have a 730+ credit score, you can forget the 0% finance. And even then, it all depends on what your income is, as well as what vehicle you plan to buy. Now I'm not in any way saying you don't make good money. You could bring in over $100,000 a year for all i know. But there is always "fine print" with these dealer letters. Its one thing if rebates are offered from the manufacturer on certain new vehicles. these are offers set. But 'top dollar" tades, as well as "special financing" are all variables in the sale that are not guaranteed. There designed to get you in the dealer, find a vehicle that you can afford, (vs. one you really want) and make the sale. My family has worked at dealers (both in sales and service) for the last 15 yrs or so. And while it might help, i can tell you, you don't need to purchase from a certain dealer to have a good relationship with them. If anything, they will always prefer to have your service business as thats were dealers make there money. The Passat CC is nice no doubt, but a bit over priced. Are they giving you a good deal? I know VW had huge rebates a couple months back, but wasn't sure if the CC was included in them.

My Uncle gets those all the time from Toyota. Just be aware that for the most part those are just gimicks to get you to come in the dealer. The "deals" that many promise all of a sudden change due to credit scores, current inventory, trade in, etc. Either way, good luck. Hopefully you find the car your looking for.

While trying to find a song on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack, I came across this... When you click on the link, make sure you scroll down to view the video... http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=66904 This was an independently done trailer to show the potential of a new Mortal Kombat movie if it were given the go. There are a couple of big name actors in this "trailer", so it might have some kind of serious potential of being reconsider by the right people. Looks good. It looks like there taking a more serious approach and less "video game like". Now this could work very well ( The Dark Knight), or not so well (Street Fighter, the legend of Chung LI). The plot isn't all that original, but I'm not sure what else they really could do if the idea is to keep it real and stray away from the "fantasy" side.

Very nice trucks. I'd like to see more of the tanker.

This is great! I really like the new off road truck. The trailer and ATV is cool. Definitely have to pick this one up!