The Brick Rat

In the first pics of the Robo Attack set one of the civilians looked like he had blood red eyes. He is actually wearing red tinted sunglasses.

Matt, the head honcho over at the 'Legions of Gotham' website contacted TLC about the future of the Batman line a while back and posted this: That TLC considers the future open for the Batman theme argues that they still hold the license. I wouldn't hold my breath for future Batman sets, but there is always hope.

That's what I think also. I hope so, because the Elsa hair in orange would be great for a Batman The Animated Series style Poison Ivy.

Bricks and More: http://www.brickset.com/browse/themes/?yea...ks%20and%20More

While this revision is good for resellers, I found this bit at the end of the article that mania3 posted interesting: Presumably this will affect folks like BrickArms and BrickForge.

Steve didn't say too much about LEGO Universe because he hasn't had a chance to play it yet. He did note that LEGO initially involved about 40 AFoLs in the making of the game and that that number is up to 60. The Castle Advent calendar sale in North America was interesting to hear about. It came about because LEGO shipped 1700 units here by mistake. They weren't in the S@H system so they couldn't put them on the website. Normally what they do in that situation is send the sets back or destroy them. However, they had gotten enough feedback about the set from the AFoL community that they came up with a way to sell them.

Did you read any of the topic? If you had just read the last two posts before posting your question, you would have had your answer. Anyway, here is what Matt from the 'Legions of Gotham' website posted there about a week ago: So, no 2009 Batman product, but TLC is keeping the door open for the future. That would suggest that they have the Batman license through at least 2010 and maybe longer. Also, here is another post that appeared on 'Legions of Gotham' last August: Looking at these two quotes makes me speculate that TLC released the 2008 sets with the idea that this would be it for LEGO Batman. However, with the massive popularity of "The Dark Knight" and the online excitement leading up to the fall release of the LEGO Batman video game, they started to rethink that decision. It was too late for 2009 product, but perhaps they are working on something for a 2010 release? We can only hope.

Well, we all know that TLG is done with Batman, but here is another confirmation - Matt, owner and webmaster of the Legions of Gotham website posted this the other day: "LEGO has confirmed for me that they are no longer making Batman product. They did indicate that the future is open, but for now they are done. Is it POSSIBLE that we'll see more from LEGO? Yes. After all, they also denied that they were going to make any Dark Knight related product as well..but we know how that turned out." It's a pity that TLG pulled the plug when Batman is about to celebrate his 70th anniversary. And looking at the minifigs in the LEGO Batman video game that never made it into sets is kinda sad (no Batgirl or Commissioner Gordon LEGO?). Still it's nice that they've left the door open for the future - here's hoping for a GCPD headquarters in 2010.

Yup. 10193 Market Square is one of the four Castle sets listed on Brickset for 2009.

Don't get too excited. I saw this post before the admins removed it. It was simply a link to Brickset that listed the four 2009 Castle sets we already know about.

I'm in too.

I haven't seen them at Walmart, but I have seen them at Target. They are located in the Christmas section with the stocking stuffer toys. TRU also has them, but marked-up to $4.99.

What's up with King's Castle Siege? As late as October I've seen it on store shelves everywhere, but in the past two weeks it has vanished. My son informed me that he would like the castle for Christmas, but 1 TRU, 3 Walmarts and 5 Targets later and I'm still empty-handed. Even Shop@Home has it backordered until Jan. 11. It appears that the castle is on lots of Christmas lists this year. Oh well, my son is into Star Wars LEGO too, so maybe he'll get an ISD instead.

My vote: Agent Trace, Turbo Car, Spyclops, Hover Jet, and Yes, I love Agents. Scyzoryk, most of your corrections are rather nitpicky, but there are a few I would like to address. Nothing wrong with putting the set names next to the vehicles. Seeing the set names helped me to quickly visualize which vehicle was being referenced. Clarification makes for a better poll, IMO. Yes, my USA set box says Mobile Command Center. But, even if European boxes also spell it Center , using the alternate spelling Centre hardly affects the poll (and, afterall, this is EURObricks ). According to my Oxford American Dictionary, Darth Legois' spelling of Villain is correct - it's 'AI' not 'IA'. Leg Godt.

WARNING: Anyone who has found the preceding arguement ridiculous may want to skip this post. It does clear something up for me. I can see where you are coming from now. You are looking at the age of the SpongeBob line like we would look at the age of a child. And in that sense you are right. If LEGO SpongeBob was 'born' in August 2006, then it turned two this past August and will turn three in August 2009. However, you are also wrong. 2006 was not the year zero. When a child is born it is not zero, it is in fact entering it's first year of life (measured by days, weeks and months). When that first year is complete it then enters it's second year of life, etc. To illustrate: according to your profile you were born in March 1987. That means you celebrated your 21st birthday last March. And if someone asks how old you are you will tell them you're 21; but you were actually working on your 21st year of life last year. You are now working on your 22nd year of life, which will be completed in March 2009. To carry that over to the arguement at hand, in August 2006 LEGO SpongeBob began it's first year which was completed in August 2007. It then began it's second year, completed this past August. Now it's on it's third year to be completed August 2009, in which it will then begin it's fourth year. But nobody thinks about it like that. It's not a child, it's a product line. You simply say, 2006 was it's first year, 2007 it's second, 2008 it's third and 2009 will be it's fourth. And with this post, I will now say that this arguement has 'jumped the shark' and take my leave. But first a comment on the 2009 sets. When LEGO redesigns Star Wars sets you can tell they are redesigns. To me SpongeBob's pineapple house and the Krusty Krab look just like their predecessors with a few new accessories thrown in. Hopefully, LEGO will give us a third set later in the year - I'd like to see the Flying Dutchman myself.

TRU almost certainly won't be stocking this set. The Volcano Base is the TRU exclusive and Deep Sea Quest is a Target exclusive. Every Fall for several years now, Target has carried a line of 4 exclusive LEGO sets that all retail for $49.99 USD. They are sold only at Target and S@H (and I imagine LEGO stores). The only exception to this that I am aware of is last years Dwarve's Mine set, which was a Target exclusive last Fall and then went to general distribution earlier this year. This year's sets are: 8636 Deep Sea Quest 4210 Coast Guard Platform 7679 Republic Fighter Tank 8942 Jetrax T6 (Limited Edition Yellow version). They have started showing up at Target stores this week (I found and bought all but the Bioncle one today).

Actually, Grevious is correct about 2009 being SpongeBob's 4th year. As you point out the line started in 2006. So... 2006 - Year One. 2007 - Year Two. 2008 - Year Three. 2009 - Year Four. Hope that clears things up.

The book also comes with a poster featuring most of the main characters in the game. Unfortunately, they left out Bruce Wayne, Hush, Ra's al Ghul and Killer Moth.

The reason I asked where is because the McDonalds near me have never sold toys that cheap. It's been awhile since I've done so, but they always charged between $1.65 and $1.95 (depending on the restaurant). I've never been able to buy a full set at once either. They only sell the particular toy they have out at the moment. So, getting a full set always means driving to multiple locations and hoping they have the toy you want available. For folks who can get the toys for .75 cents apiece (and whole sets at once) - that's great. With my savings in time and gas, I'm happy with my eBay purchase.

75 cents each? Where?

I voted Batman. Not so much for the sets which I only find so-so; but for the excellent minifigs and because it's the theme I find myself building MOCs for lately. I'm afraid that Castle has taken a back seat since Batman came to town.

These toys don't have a whole lot going for them, but being the LEGO Bat-fanatic that I am, I had to have a set. Fortunately, I found a set on eBay for $15.00 and free shipping - less hassle and cheaper than if I had to drive to McDs to get them myself.

Bruce Wayne's limo would be great, but I'd like to see it as part of a Wayne Manor set (and Alfred should wear a chauffeurs uniform).

Er...don't you mean boob (singular). Anyway, I give this Advent Calendar an above average rating. It would have gotten an outstanding if it offered a better building experience. I get the feeling the designer/s weren't entirely sure what little sets to make to accompany Castle figures.

I think if TLC gives us a Clayface fig, it will look like the one from the LEGO Batman game rather than recyling the Power Miners rock monster. However, I'm sure lots of people will use the rock monsters as Clayface stand-ins, including me. I just wish they were a little larger (say somewhere between the Hagrid minifig and the Adventurers Yeti).