Zeya

Thank you very much SilentMode. I see that if you chop the top half off from the bottom half, both halves will have a unique set of 16. But then if you sort of chop it down the middle, you would be lacking a figure skater (left column and top half of middle column). So maybe about 40 packets would be better to ensure that you get a full set of 16. (I ordered 60 online and plan to return most of my duplicates.) I think people were reporting that with s3, the figs tended to be all next to one another, right? This seems much more randomized, which is a good thing.

I don't think 30061 has come to the US. I've seen 30062 at Target stores though.

I don't think it will be a bakery again. The last 2 years were a winter bakery and winter toy shop. I am really looking forward to the new holiday/winter set.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned, but as for the paintbrush, I would bet good money that it will be the same mold as the brush the new collectible minifigure artist uses: (Image from Whitefang's review.) This brush makes sense for painting trim, but it wouldn't make sense for painting a large flat surface such as a wall. You would use a wide brush or a roller for that.

I think it's a rating from 1 to 6 of precisely how many bricks you would sh** if you found the set in your attic by surprise.

Ugh that is so lame. I've heard people say the same shenanigans happen at TRU, even in the brick and mortar stores. They pull all the expensive/exclusive sets off the shelf for the sale, and then as soon as it ends they put them back on.

Great what? You Canadians are wacky. I'm in the US and the way sales tax here works is that if the company has a physical presence in your state, you must pay sales tax. There are B&N stores all around here, so I have to pay sales tax. I guess that kind of negates their 10% off, come to think of it. Oh well. I also have that Groupon that I will use. And I got a $100 gift card using some credit card points.

Hmm, TLG revealed a teaser that is similar to that. People are pretty sure it is the Farnsworth House for the new architecture set. http://architecture.lego.com/en-us/Products/Architect/21009.aspx?id=3332992&icmp=COHomeNewsUSArchitecture ...but TLG gives it number 21009 but TRU added 1 to that number. Interesting.

I thought I was done buying Lego for a while. I was wrong. From TRU: - 60 packets of collectible minifigure series 4 From BL: - 6242 Soldiers' Fort - 8396 Soldier's Arsenal - 8397 Pirate Survival Expensive! I'll be returning most of the CMF4 to TRU for a refund anyway. Wish I had gotten that Soldiers' Fort sooner too. That concludes me getting all of the 2009 Pirates sets, 2 years late. Well, I didn't get the battlepack, but I don't think I want it anyway.

Ordered my 60 packets. By the way, I asked TRU, and they said if you order online, and return in-store, they give you a gift card in lieu of cash / credit card refund. If all goes well I'll be using that gift card towards CMF 5 or buying sets like POTC or Kingdoms anyway, so I wouldn't mind tying my money up in a gift card. I'll report back on if they send me a MISB and I'll keep a tally of what figures were in my box if that's the "case".

Okay I think I'll order 60 packets then. I know I'm going to return a lot of them (store credit), so I wanted to minimize how much cash I would have tied up in gift cards (I assume that's what they give you for store credit, right?) But I can turn around and sell that second full set, too. And about the probability aspect, I really meant how many you have to buy to have a 95% chance of getting all 16 unique figs.

I need some advice. I can't remember where to find the calculated stats for how many packets you need to get to ensure you get at least 1 full set of 16 CMFs. I'm thinking about ordering online through TRU to avoid various issues associated with CMF craziness. I plan on getting however many to nearly guarantee a full set, and then return the ones I don't want to a local store (they give you store credit not cash back). Does anyone have a link or can remember those stats?

For those interested, Barnes & Noble in the USA (probably Canada too) is taking preorders on the sets, with a 10% discount. This is probably the only discount these sets will see for some time, especially while the movie is still in theaters, wouldn't you agree? If you do order from B&N, note that I have tried like 3 coupon codes, and none of them seem to work, probably because it's a preorder so coupons don't apply. AAA also has a 10% discount if you go through their portal (www.aaa.com/barnesandnoble), but I'm not sure if that works either. B&N also has a kid's club card where you earn points or something, I think every 100 bucks you get 5 back. Also they do charge tax since they have stores in every state. Whew! Anyway there you go. Just thought I'd share the deal(s).

Is there a web page where you can query with the SKU to see if they have it in stock? Or do you have to call their help line with a phone?

I put this set together over the weekend. I have made other creator houses, like the Beach House, Apple Tree House, and Family Home. The cabin is a little smaller and less detailed than the other Creator houses. I think for $30, it's a pretty average deal. I wish it had some more intricate bricks to add to my collection though. The other houses seemed to offer more windows, doors, and unique colors. I really liked the kayak in this set. The backpack is cool too. I wish this set had more greenery. I mean it's a cabin! The tree build was a little strange. I think even one or two of the <insert that tiresome argument> pine trees would have been cool, or at least some flowers. In general, I've been on the lookout for Lego sets that can be mined for parts to make foliage and general wildlife. P.S. Most places seem to be selling this set for a little less than MSRP, at least here in the US.

I appreciate that they don't want to reveal their exact location on an internet forum. But that really only applies to your house or neighborhood and place of work. I don't understand why they can't say "the Atlanta TRU at the corner of Washington and King" (imaginary names). I mean, they've already been there and gotten their figs. Let everyone else know where the goods are at.

Prize raffle for doing a poll/survey? Am I reading this correctly? Where/how can I participate?

Oh I figured the book is way different. They already made 3 movies so they have to tie in, plus hollywood always changes book-based movies to fit for time and other things. I was mostly wondering if the book was good and worth reading.

If you're in the US, and want to go deal hunting and get your hands dirty, check out Walmart. I visited two of them in my area, and it might be a similar story at stores elsewhere. Both that I visited had a clearance aisle near the front end of the store, where the aisle was almost entirely toys. Searching carefully I found some Lego sets: Build-a-Zurg (both had several of these, like 10 or more, for something like $9 or $12) Galactic Enforcer (one store, and about 4 copies asking price was $40 and MSRP was 100 I think...I almost got one but...yeah) Random Rock Raiders set with buzz saws Random large Bionicle box Random Duplo sets, but us AFOLs don't tend to care One store had a better selection than the other (the one in a slightly nicer neighborhood had more on clearance and a nicer regular Lego aisle). Anyway good luck.

I saw "Phone Booth", which had a very interesting premise - a guy answers a call in a phone booth and it is a sniper threatening all kinds of nasty things if he leaves the booth or doesn't do what he demands. Pretty suspenseful stuff.

I was hoping someone more sure would answer this. I speculate it means that they're taking backorders because stock is low. The "ship date" might mean that's when they'll take one last look at their backorders and fill what they can, before yanking MMV off the site forever. My gut tells me that MMV won't be around much longer. They still sell it with the Castle logo, and I haven't seen a true Castle set on the shelves since Christmas (brickmaster books don't count). If you can afford it, I would place your order now. That set is really awesome, and I don't think exclusives get any sort of remarkable sale deals, if that's what you're hoping for. Sidebar: I think that's why the Imperial Flagship didn't get a big Pirates logo on it, so they could keep selling it after the regular sets died off without fielding questions about the other Castle sets.

Please do post photos! If anything there isn't enough buy/sell activity in this forum, and I'm sure it would be welcome. As for price per pound, the general rule of thumb is about 5-7 USD per pound. If I knew you were an AFOL, upstanding member of EB, and you were mixing in proportionate amount of minifigs, and parts (not just a big load of red 2x4 bricks) then I'd say more like $7 per pound. If you can stand it, you might make a bit more money by at least parting out or selling groups of minifigures. Like sell all your knights or pirates at the same time in an ebay lot, or on these forums. But if time is more valuable, then just mix them in with the other bricks and make sure to mention that.

Here are my votes for category B: 1 point : 17) Diver, Surfer & Fisherman Entry (Build by Cecilie) 1 point : 21) Skater Boy, Skier & Snowboarder Entry (Build by kciR) 1 point : 1) Nurse, Lifeguard & Fisherman Entry (Build by Danchurch)

Here are my votes: 2 points : 22) Fisherman Entry (Build by turambar) 1 point : 16) Snowboarder Entry (Build by Dreamweb)

This review was written a while ago, but I just have to comment on this set and share my thoughts. Why so late? Well, I stumbled across this set at a store near me on clearance for half the original MSRP. I couldn't resist at that price and figured it would be worth it since it had interesting pieces like the bones/teeth and tentacles, not to mention 3 minifigures. Yesterday, I first built Creator Log Cabin. That Creator set had about the same brick count as this set. But it was almost totally standard bricks, kind of ho-hum really. No really interesting pieces, just a couple drumsticks and trans-orange pieces. But Gateway of the Squid? Completely the opposite of the Log Cabin. This guy was hands-down the weirdest Lego set I have ever put together. You start by building that white…thing. Some sort of dead octopus skeleton, maybe? A cage? Who knows. Then there's the big squid. I was a bit disappointed that the longer tentacles were a couple of really long rubbery pieces. It's for the best as far as playability goes, but I was thinking it was made of several shorter pieces linked together, which would be great for MOCs. And I have to say, the stickers in this set are the worst. I'm one of those people who refuses to leave the stickers on the sheet: the set must be built as intended, or it's some sort of cosmic slap-in-the-face to the designer. I know, I'm weird. But that curved surface was pretty harsh, and my second sticker ran off the edge a little. Well whatever, I can't see myself using that piece much for MOCs anyway. My gate doesn't seem to work that well. One side sort of opens all the way, doing a 270 degree arc, and then the other side opens just a little. Kind of funny. The trap door at the end of the set is strange too. I had the same reaction most people had - the divers can just swim around to the treasure and don't really need the special blue key. I have a feeling the set was originally designed to have the treasure raise up out of the trap door, or something like that, but they probably changed the design to cut corners (save money) or something. In the end, it was a little better than I expected. The squid tentacles are really cool. I may not buy any other Atlantis sets (well I want that upcoming temple set for 2011), but I really see the appeal. There are some cool pieces to be had here, such as the teeth/bones, tentacles, and seaweed. There's little chance I would have bought this set at full MSRP. I'm glad I found it on sale so I could experience the strangest Lego set ever. :) I can't believe I rambled on so much. Time to go do something useful in the real world now.