Kodan Black

No, I definitely welcome the feedback! The visible black studs I only really noticed today as I was posting, oops. You have a lot of very good advice. Thank you for taking the time to write up your thoughts.

I was going to suggest this. Given the 7:1 ratio it seems like if you released a physical book with a 6 month later or 1 year later ebook release date it would likely mean you get people to buy the physical book and it also means the pirates are likely to wait to pirate the ebook version rather than bother scanning the physical book. I know that doesn't really solve the pirate issue, but it may prove more beneficial to you. The reality is that if Adobe Photoshop and software like that which has a billion dollar company backing it can be pirated, your stuff can be also.

My first freebuild for the new episode is up: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=106611 The 2nd part was supposed to be done by now so I could post them close together, but I didn't like how the 2nd part came together. So I've started over. Hopefully can make good progress this weekend and can post some time in the next couple weeks.

A few weeks back my Flight Ops Captain told me to report to a Commander Ninkovich for some special tasking. I had no idea what that meant but given that it was coming from the Captain I wasn't really given a choice. Commander Ninkovich informed me that he needed a combat veteran to act as his personal shuttle pilot and to accompany him to ensure his safe return. So basically I, a veteran combat pilot, was being ordered to act as chauffeur to an arrogant officer with a grand sense of entitlement. Exciting. A couple of days each week I would accompany the Commander as he visited planetary administrators or officers at various Imperial bases. I'd trot around after him as he received reports or talked about recent activity; the whole time contemplating using my sidearm to end the boredom. I even was made to wear a shuttle pilot uniform instead of something more befitting an Interceptor pilot. He wanted me to blend in and not seem out of place. Even when we were alone in the shuttle Commander Ninkovich rarely talked to me. I think his personality is just to be very quiet and avoid needless conversation. Or maybe he works in intelligence and doesn't want to say too much. I'm not even sure what branch of the Imperial forces he works for. Given that he hasn't volunteered it, I've decided to not ask too many questions, though some of my fellow pilots seem to think he is ISB. I don't think he is based on what I've heard of them, but I've never met any ISB myself so I can't really say for sure. But I know I'm not ISB and I think I'd have to go through some sort of process to be qualified to pilot for them. Right? Today we are visiting an Imperial outpost to receive a progress report. On what, I'm not sure -- then again I'm never told why we are going somewhere, just where to take the Commander and that I'm responsible for his well-being. As we land it looks like a fairly standard Imperial fortified building. Stormtroopers guarding the place and heavy blast doors at ground level to keep even a heavy ground attack from breaching the building. There are defenses and sand around the entrance to limit vehicles near the building and to funnel an attacking force into a narrow corridor. Quite well thought out actually, probably better than most of the buildings we've been to lately. I don't doubt there are further surprises hidden from view. It isn't until we are inside that I notice something ... strange. The corridor leading to the interior is unusual and has a distinctly hospital smell. It has that clean smell, but not clean like a room in a well kept house, more clean like from disinfectant. That harshly chemical odor that instantly makes you worry what it is that they need to use such measures to keep the place clean from. But with Commander Ninkovich not donning a mask or any other devices I guess I can believe myself fairly safe. The hallway itself also is odd -- what do all those things on the wall do. I'm both curious and afraid to find out what is behind the large, heavy blast doors at the end of the corridor. Please judge and critique!

So the betting is essentially we try to predict the rankings within both factions for the episode? What if I put say Markus as #1 and he then doesn't even participate, does it count against me or does everyone just move up?

Yes, they'll buy sets on sale/clearance and part them out. They also will do PAB wall grabs and sell the pieces that way.

I did do a PAB order via the website (as opposed to the instore variant) and it took ~ a month. Maybe your time is less since it comes from Slovenia and you are closer, but just be aware it will almost certainly take longer than Bricklink unless you pick a store out of country and select the cheapest shipping option. All of my Bricklink orders were in the US and even from the other side of the country took like 3 days.

I've had good luck with Bricklink thus far. I would suggest only doing business with a healthy number of reviews (some store with 4 reviews has less to lose than a store with 400), and take a read of any recent negative ones. Then make sure to fully read the store Terms and Conditions page. I've seen a store list a minifig for $20 with no accessories and another list it at $6 with all the original accessories. You've gotta do some comparison shopping, but realize that cheapest isn't always best. Look at shipping prices, etc. to get a full understanding of what the costs are.

I like them both, but the dark blue one has more complexity to it. I like that it seems like a big, bold space motorcycle. Nice builds!

Gotta agree. This thread isn't about what you want for 2015 sets, it is about actual Lego SW sets being released in 2015.

Fantastic MOC, captures the movie really well and it comes across as an authentic set.

Funny little scene. Great water and rock work; plus I liked the shark surprise and the spot on posing of the figs.

The whole layout was huge and really impressive to see, but then all the automation! OMG it is crazy. I loved the camera on the train part, that was a cool view. You should definitely do more of that! You truly have an engineer's mind.

That is a really cool MOC. I get some Jurassic Park vibes and some King Kong too. I love the bones and the thorn tree, plus the struggle to contain the roped Rancor. Great feel to this MOC and it is a fantastic subject too, nice to see a different subject tackled.

Nice looking station and trucks. The building has a nice style to it and the monkey in the tree is great! It does appear at like 80% of minifig scale, right? Good to see designs from parts of the world we don't often get Lego interpretations of.

Is the bloody looking bandage in the picture a joke or did you actually manage to injure yourself in this process?

Good balance with the two half circle shapes. Definitely reminds me of the Maul speeder bike. My one issue with it is the windshield being the lowest point on the speeder unless the angle is misleading me.

Part of the value of minifigs comes from rarity. If there is only 1 white Boba Fett version it is the only one collectors can get and therefore will have more demand. But then if another variant comes out the demand has dropped because now people will want one or the other or both. If you really want minifigs that will hold their value you need very limited choices like the solid gold C3-P0 which is very unlikely to ever be reproduced. Also, generally a real collector will be able to tell an authentic vs. counterfeit. The more casual fan is the one who won't care and would rather have the cheaper alternative.

Cool technique, reminds me of an Ariel Atom. Except in space.

3 really strong builds (basement and bathing room are incredible!) but putting it in the 3 stories with a common wall format just makes it that much better. Great MOC!

I like the moc -- the broken down car is great and the landscape is well done. The building looks worn and disheveled. The two things that I would personally change are the RPGs (a bit much for zombies plus the noise would likely attract more) and having all the weapons exposed on the ground. If a big herd of zombies rolled in you would want to be able to get to the roof for safety, but having those weapons on the ground means taking time to go down and retrieve them. Also makes them harder to get to if another group of survivors came along and tried to attack. But other than the "realism" bits of a zombie apocalypse, the build as a whole is very good and has a great vibe to it.

The new SW movie and merchandise will make Disney billions, and if it is a good movie it could make more. By the time the last of the sequel trilogy films is in theaters Disney will have easily made back the 6 billion purchase price. Part of the repetition in some of the SW stuff is the limited source pool. Sticking to the movie canon stuff means either producing the same items over and over or starting to produce lesser known things that are way more risky. Produce a new X-wing = guaranteed sales. Produce a model of a speeder seen for half a second in the background of 1 shot in a single movie and you have no idea if people will buy it. I too am not a fan of the "big piece fix" that a lot of the sets seem to use. I get that they work a balance between building quick for kids and interesting build for adults. I suspect they err on the big piece fix because they know AFOLs will modify the set anyway so they may as well appeal to kids.

IMO your Mist Hunter is actually a fair bit more appealing than the original design on Wookiepedia.

I like the open air museum creation. Reminds me of a cross between Disneyland and a zoo. A very expansive and impressive MOC.

Cool ships. That Mist Hunter looks just like a space going OV-10 Bronco! I always loved that plane as a kid, so the Mist Hunter is certainly my favorite.