jonwil

Some of those items have been done before in City and some are covered by Friends (like the vet clinic)

Got confirmation from someone on another forum (who got confirmation from a MYER employee) that MYER will be stocking the Mini and Detectives Office. No idea on when (wild guess is mid-February but that's only a guess). I can however confirm that MYER will be stocking both items at RRP (which means a nice %off sale will bring them down to a reasonable price)

I have never seen that helmet in trans-clear before. Bricklink says its never appeared in a set but it does show 8 people who have it for sale.

Regarding the number of new molds, I am looking at http://brickset.com/parts/year-2015 and I don't see all that many new molds (lots of new prints and new colors though). and most of the molds that I do see seem to fit the purpose. For example there is a new helicopter chassis piece that most AFOLs would find ugly and useless but that will make the set containing it a LOT easier for the target audience of Juniors sets to assemble. And there is a new piece used for the Friends hot air balloon which looks significantly better than the last time TLG did a hot air balloon (in the Orient Expedition line I think). And there is a new head cover mold for Chima for the bear characters (in at least 7 color/print variations by my count) which is the only way LEGO can do a bear tribe in Chima (and they need new tribes to keep kids buying)

Good to know that Robina is an option for the bike transport come Thursday even if somewhere closer (Beenleigh, Loganholme) isn't.

If that City sale includes the new motorbike transporter its the perfect time to pick one up as $25 is probably as cheap as that set will get for a while. (of course that assumes there is a Big W in SE QLD with stock :)

I am interested in the McLaren P1 and the McLaren F1 team set (I hate Porsches and dont really like Ferraris all that much so I wont be buying any of those) but if LEGO did a Lamborghini (regardless of size and cost) it would be "shut up and take my money". I am still kicking myself that I was never able to get the yellow Lamborghini from a while back (I do own the blue Lamborghini cop car though) A Lotus would also be "shut up and take my money" :)

Has anyone heard any rumors about whether we are going to get the Shell Ferrari promo sets when the F1 comes to town like we did with the last batch?

I would get rid of all the firing elements, the 1 x 4 spring shooter that fires the transparent arrows, the flick fire missiles, the technic shooters that fire the rubber-tipped technic arrows and also the minifig shooters that fire the 1 x 1 round plates. I would also change Shop @ Home so that every single country that gets stock from their European warehouse gets exactly identical stock views and same with their USA warehouse (i.e. if its in the warehouse it will be shipped to any country that gets their stock from that warehouse. No more of the case where a product is in the warehouse and being shipped but not to a specific country for some reason. Also, I would end the practice of creating "exclusive" sets for different retailers or otherwise having retailer exclusives. In Australia, 60048 Police Dog Unit, 60049 Helicopter Transporter, 60062 Arctic Ice Breaker, 60064 Arctic Ice Supply Plane, 10244 Fairground Mixer, 10243 Parisian Restaurant, 70813 Rescue Reinforcements and others that I forget were all exclusive to specific retailers. No more of this, I would make any set that is getting a release in a given country available to any retailer who chooses to stock it (whether that be a giant chain or a tiny little toy store)

I am still waiting for the police station and for the motorbike transport.

I cant put my finger on exactly why but if someone showed me that black tile without telling me its LEGO I would probably think its a clone, it has the look of something a clone brand might do.

TRU has never been about having sales or getting the latest product in really fast. TRU is about having exclusives you cant get anywhere else and about having the biggest range of toys (and baby products via Babies R Us) in the country.

Spotted rumors on another forum that suggest that the LEGO store is going to be part of the current upgrade at Chadstone.

Also I just saw a news report that was talking about a bunch of foreign brands opening stores in Australia and it mentioned that LEGO were opening a standalone store in Australia. No indications of where or when though (likely it will be Sydney or Melbourne and it will be years before they consider Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth etc)

More to report: Nothing of note at Big W Carindale. Target Carindale has new City and Minecraft. David Jones Carindale has mixer, Creator Family House (the most recent one with the blue garage door), Big Ben, Imperial Hotel and the little Opera House. MYER Carindale has Simpsons, S12 AND S13 plus sea cow, Villa Savoye, Imperial Hotel, Cargo Train plus new City and Minecraft (which the staff member was only just putting onto the shelves when I was there). Mr Toys Carindale has the Lone Ranger bank, Technic motor set, new Minecraft, Imperial Hotel, Empire State Building, Friends advent calendar, a Sopwith Camel, new City and the Winter Village Market. Toys R Us Garden City (which currently has buy 2 City sets, cheapest is 50% off) has a couple cargo trains, a couple passenger trains, at least one police station and a few smaller things (like last years big police helicopter with the bad guy hideout) but nothing new or exclusive. Big W Garden City has new Minecraft, the Arctic Boat and new City. Target Garden City has new Minecraft, new City, some S12/Simpsons figs and Friends advent calendar. MYER Garden City has the City Square, Cargo Train, Passenger train, S12 and S13. David Jones Garden City has the Imperial Hotel and Leaning Tower of Pisa and not much else. Nothing at K-Mart at Garden City or Loganholme. MYER Loganholme had the new Minecraft and City stuff plus the Cargo Train. Didn't get to Big W and cant remember stock levels at Mr Toys other than that yes they did have the new City stuff (because I bought the demolition starter set from them) So yes it was a bit of an odyssey today on the hunt for sandals (no luck yet finding the sort I want), hot dogs (only wanted one and found it) and other new products (found the demolition starter set but haven't seen the motorbike transporter, police station or any of the other new stuff yet)

Bris CBD report: DJs has mixer, villa savoye, friends advent and simpsona cmf. big w has simpsons house and the arctic boat mr toys has opera house, lone ranger indian camp, kingdoms carage, friends advent, imperial hotel, technic motor set, new city, winter market, new minecraft, alien conquest helicopter and one box of S13. no hot dogs though. myer has sea cow, cargo train, new minecraft, new city and ½ box of S13. again no hot dogs. Target has minecraft, city and 4 boxes or so of S13. Got my one hot dog, there may be more left.

Thanks for the offer but I have already seen the range of sandals Oakley has and none are what I am looking for (none that I saw have a strap going over the back of the ankle like the Rivers sandals I like)

ok, if Robina has stock then its likely other stores around will have stock too (was planning to head to maybe Garden City or Carindale or something tomorrow looking for that elusive Hot Dog Guy and some new City and also a new pair of sandals if I can find one that isn't ridiculously overpriced)

My thoughts on all the projects that have hit 10k: UCS AT-AT. Not going to happen. License issues hit plus the fact that its far too big AND the fact that they only just released an AT-AT set last year. Lightsabers. Not going to happen. Not only the usual potential issues with Star Wars ideas projects and the Star Wars license but also the fact that other companies already have the right to make both lightsaber replicas (i.e. detailed prop pieces) and lightsaber toys (i.e. cheap plastic crap) and neither entity would let LEGO cannibalize their market. Wayne Manor. Unlikely given that they currently have the Tumbler as the big d2c Batman/DC set and given that vehicles do better than buildings (i.e. observed sales levels of Tumbler vs Arkham) its less likely to make money. Also, there is the question of whether the set (and the characters and other things it depicts) are the things DC and LEGO are currently wanting to promote (Wayne Manor itself has had a number of different versions from comics, film and TV over the years, is this set the variant from the universe DC and LEGO want to promote right now? The size is also a factor (its at least 1.5-2x as big as Arkham). Oh and we dont know if the license precludes Ideas sets. Science Adventures. Possible. RI was really popular and this is (by and large) more of the same. But then you have the question about whether another similar set so soon is a good idea when there are so many other potential projects on Ideas. Hubble set. I think the size and the fact that Hubble isn't in the public consciousness in the way that things like the Mars Rover are makes this set less likely. X-Men Mansion. Unlikely. Same reasons as the Wayne Manor set (including the up-coming d2c Marvel Helicarrier set and the size of the thing) plus there is the fact that Marvel doesn't particularly want to promote X-Men right now because doing so only benefits Fox (as producer of the X-Men movies) Minas Tirith. Unlikely due to the size, lackluster sales of LOTR product and the license potentially being an issue. Marble Maze. Definite possibility given how its fun to play with, very much customizable (rebuild the maze differently every time) and could be made 100% from part/color combos currently in production. Ghostbusters HQ. The Ecto-1 has been a hot seller (far more so than the BTTF set) and a lot of AFOLs and Ghostbusters fans would probably like a firehouse set (with detailed interior etc). I think the biggest problem with this set is the price point. Its too expensive for a set. Also the firehouse isn't as instantly recognizable as the Ecto-1 is. Jurassic Park. Unlikely. Size is too big to be viable for this item, if it had been smaller it would have stood a chance. Although there is also the license question and LEGOs future plans Wall-E. Very good chance of success. Popular film. LEGO has a VERY good relationship with Disney. And it has the tie back to the films production. Not to mention the price point is about right. And (like the marble maze) I see nothing on it that would require new part/color combos. Only issue would be if Disney decided they didn't want to have Wall-E product out right now because of conflicts with merchandise for whatever their current films are. Flying Dutchman. Way too big and from a property (POTC) that isn't exactly popular right now. Helicarrier. Way too big and being made (in a smaller form no doubt) by LEGO. Goonies. Nowhere near as popular as BTTF or Ghostbusters and it would be a LOT bigger than those 2 sets. Discworld. Not well known outside Sci-Fi/Fantasy buffs and basically unheard of by LEGO's core audience. Plus its BIG (the turtle alone is easily as big as the biggest Ideas set they have done to date) Natural History Museum. Modulars sell like crazy but this is a bit bigger than a modular (especially when factoring in all the interior detailing). But modulars DO sell. There are better options for LEGO to pick though so I dont see this one making it. Invisible Hand. Same issues as the other Star Wars projects including the size and the fact that its not exactly something people are going to instantly recognize (and the fact that Disney/Lucas want to promote the new film and TV properties and not the old ones) F7A Hornet. Limited market (not only a video game but one that isn't well known and isn't even released yet) plus there is the big risk of making a set based on a game that may not end up being a good brand fit for LEGO. Piano. Great set. Can be built only from part/color combos currently in production. Great little model. But there is the fact that it took so long to hit review that is a negative against it. Doctor Who. I suspect the only thing holding this up would be the license. BBC may be reluctant to give LEGO a license after how poorly the previous Dr Who building toys did or it may have to do with money (i.e. how much the BBC wants vs how much LEGO is willing to pay). Disney Frozen Castle. Already being done by LEGO so this wont pass. Douglas DC-3. Not a big enough market IMO (heck, I am a self-confessed airplane geek and even I don't want one) Corvette. Would GM give LEGO the license? Would there be license issues with other manufacturers of Corvette toys? Would LEGO do a set that size of a car that isn't all that well known outside of the USA? (the Ferraris and Porsches from Speed Champions are well known on both sides of the pond)

No shortage of S13 at Mr Toys Beenleigh. Unless that is you want a Hot Dog Man (none left when I got there and staff commented on their popularity) or a Fencer (bought the last ones they had). Bought 4 Carpenters, a Disco Diva, a Paleontologist and 2 Fencers. Still want a hot dog guy (depending on how hard they are to find without paying more than I need to). For once I didn't go overboard and buy CMFs that are cool but that I have no use for (Snake Charmer, Sheriff, Evil Wizard, Galaxy Trooper, Alien Trooper) which is a good start to my "buy less LEGO in 2015 than I did in 2014" new years resolution. Best thing about Mr Toys doing CMFs for $1 less than RRP is that you dont need to wait for a sale. And Mr Toys staff generally dont care if you take an hour or more to feel every last bag looking for the ones you want.

For those in Brisbane looking to take advantage of the curent DJs sale, Briz CBD has a number of cinemas, opera houses and mixers in stock. No stock left to speak of at Garden City. Both MYER Stores (CBD and Garcen City) have been picked clean although CBD did have a few Sea Cows if anyone is looking for one of those... Also has anyone seen scale minecraft sets in QLD yet?

Anyone in Brisbane looking for stuff at MYER, don't bother with Loganholme, the shelves are basically empty.

No LEGO for me (wasn't expecting any). But I did help a little kid assemble a 60061 Fire Truck which was the most fun I have had building LEGO since last xmas when I helped the same kid assemble a 60014 :)

Labeling that stuff as City is a good thing from where I sit since there are retailers who have sales sometimes where the discount applies specifically to City sets and not other things which means the discount covers Arctic etc too.

If anyone wants a Star Wars Advent Calendar, Mr Toys Loganholme has some as of earlier today along with the winter market. MYER Loganholme has Parisian, Cinema, Simpsons House, SOH, Town Square and also a LOTR Black Gate. DJs had a sign up saying $100 off the opera house and $40 off the mixer. DJs Garden City has SOH and Cinema. Plus a book "lego architecture the visual guide". MYER Garden City has Cinema and Sea Cow. Target Garden City has Simpsons House. MYER Brisbane City has Parisian Restaurant and Sea Cow. Mr Toys Brisabane City has winter market, cinema, Horizon Express, Sopwith and VW. DJs Brisbane City has SOH, Mixer and cinema Seems like the Palace Cinema is the least popular modular for some reason. No sign of any yellow mixels anywhere.