gedren_y

Phantom of the Opera, like my CMF wish Scarlet Pimpernel, is a bit of a stretch. Easily doable, but character recognition among kids could be a mitigating factor.

Wonderful work on this. The subject matter gets so little attention. I may have to watch Eternal (loosely based on the Countess) again soon.

I have that older set. What was hard to see from the box is that the shirt print includes rips, making it far less reusable. The new set has a far more versatile torso. I will be picking this one up, but probably on Amazon to add it to the order for an important birthday.

I was more interested in the Hydra Fortress for the parts, but a $50 price has me thinking I should wait. I have no interest in Quicksilver as a character, but seeing him gives me ideas about parting him out. I have no interest in the Winter Soldier, so if later he becomes a general Marvel or a dollar threshold offer, I will likely trade it.

About the minidolls; when I first saw them I was reminded of another popular doll line, Polly Pocket. I remember girls playing with them when I was young. They were still popular with girls at the daycare center I worked at from 2006 to 2010. The minidolls are so similar in design, it wasn't hard to see what market share TLG was after. These were obviously designed for someone other than established Lego fans. As for the sets, I will likely get the ship and possibly a couple of the small sets. For the other parts I want, bricklink is where I'll go.

I agree with Kai, UoP DoH +1 for the Mosaic credit.

The first wave of KKII figures did require some modification, but the shields, armor and visors were a great boon for those who like diversity in their castle figs.

Am I the only one who thinks the minidoll heads would make great acorns? They are the right shape, if paired with the islander hairpiece. The sets are great. Lots of new parts, including in-house elf ear designs that may get reused in the rumored 2016 Castle fantasy line. I think I can find some other uses for the minidoll bodies. If only Lego would include the minidoll heads and bodies in the next LDD update.

Thanks guys, but the background isn't photoshopped. It is actually a high quality picture of NGC 346 (upside down) in my large cosmos book. It took me over an hour to get the build in the right light, and at the right tilt to get the star field effect. The pictures aren't crisp because the build was in a precarious position (which had fallen several times before), so I just got the shots I could and moved on. Sdair's accent is fun to write, but a bit of a challenge. It represents an exaggeration of the local country drawl here.

Quest for the Egg Part 2 is finally up. The Desert at Night

Quest for the Egg Part I Somewhere east-northeast of Sultan's Gate: A sandstorm had gotten Sdair Zuuree and Kynkayd Hernbolnd lost until the Rakath were in sight again. This had taken several days. Finally they stumbled upon a trade route. With a correct heading, and a stable path in the right direction, the adventurers moved with purpose. It wasn't long before Sdair and Kynkayd encountered others along the way. Lady Kiila of the Red Sand Dynasty was on her first excursion with her brother Aven and their old family retainer Durn. To Kiila, the fair-skinned men became a welcome diversion from her brother's complaints about her attire. Sdair's strange replacement eye intrigued her. Then the ground started shaking. Sdair and Kynkayd were able to stay in the saddle, but the others were unseated and their mounts fled. Sdair being an honorable man, and Kynkayd not wanting to disagree the formidable warrior, decided that the five of them should find shelter for the night. In the morning they could look for the missing horses. What they found was the remains of some long lost wall, luckily with shattered wood strewn about. The wood gathered became a fine blaze as the sun slipped below the horizon. That night Lady Kiila inquired about the Nestlands Clansmen's quest, and how it came about. "Ah, dat der be a long, windin' tale," Sdair began wistfully, "An it begins wit da first Books of de Armored Eagle Goddess, taught to de ancient clansmen by de Sky Elves." "Sky Elves?" Kiila asked with relish, "I've never heard of that race, and my family's library is quite extensive." "Dey'r not a race, lass," Sdair replied with a grin, "Dey were a group of many elf races, even de Drow. Dey w'rship'd de Armored Eagle Goddess. Dey came ta de ancestr'l clan lands, far in de north, an' settl'd on a mountain dey called White Perch." "So your people came from Mitgardia?" Kiila interjected. "Dis wuz nearleh three an' a half thousan' years 'go. T'wasn' Mitgardia den." Sdair replied, then continued, "De Book of Confusion wuz de prophecies of de Goddess, writ in Green Elvish. It told of de Goddess leavin' dis world at de White Perch, and her returnin' in a deep place near a gran' nest of metals." "You speak as if you've actually read the original books," Kiila said with incredulity, "In Green Elvish?" "Nay de origin'l books, but fait'fl copies," Sdair answered, "Me da insisted Ah be able to read de words wit'out translashun." "And your being able to read Green Elvish is why you're on this quest now." Kiila inferred. "Yer quick, lass," Sdair said, continuing, "In de days when mah people settled de place we call de Nestlands, dey found an ancient cavern long sealed off. In it dere were piles of treasure and scrolls of all sort, car'f'leh orgehnized under paintin's of shields. One of de shield paintin's wuz copied for de Ghuin Nol High Guard." "Ghuin Nol High Guard?" inquired Kiila, "I read a report about the Battle of Queenscross that mentioned them." "Aye, Capt'n Hos wuz a good man," Sdair sighed, "Twas about de time he rushed off ta dat battle, mah boss den had ah bunch of scribes copyin' everathin' in de gran' librarehs of de clans. Ah got to read a scroll found in dat ancient cavern. De note alon' with the scroll said it wuz found in a pile under a Drow shield paintin'. . ." "The scroll was written in Green Elvish, by a Drow?" Kiila surmized. "Aye, an' it told of a tunnel dey found. De Drow dat entered died in strange ways," Sdair explained, "De words reminded me of de Book of Confusion. Dere's a passage about de traps dat await de unbelievin', an' how dey would die iffin' dey tried ta enter da Deep Nest. Evrehthin' listed in de Book of Confusion wuz in dat scroll." "So a scroll written by a Drow, gathered into a cavern thousands of years ago by someone unknown," Kiila ticked off, "Found by your ancestors, and transcribed during the Revolword War has put you on this quest today?" "Aye," Sdair answered. "Wow!" Kiila exclaimed. ---------------------------------------------------------------- While his sister prattles on with Sdair, Aven is counting stars to bore himself asleep. Kynkayd half-listens to Sdair's recounting, his wine bottle nearly empty. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sdair settles himself into prayer. Kiila continues to eye Sdair with joyous interest. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Durn is worried about Lady Kiila. Her obvious interest in Sdair makes him want to stay awake and keep watch, but his body doesn't want to comply. Sdair's tale shows Durn that his faith and theirs are very far apart. "It will never work," Durst mumbles as he slips into dreamland. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some overview shots of the build. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CCC?

The non-winged dwarf helm in dark brown would look remarkably like something I saw in a catalog being sold as a viking replica. It has already been produced in reddish brown. A recolor of the CMF Ocean King hair piece for some forest lord would be welcome.

Finally, Scarst is officially in. Welcome to the team. Can you refresh our memories on your character's particulars? On another note, I just finished the inner facade of the main wall of the Nestlands Embassy in Nocturnus. I finished the outer facade yesterday. I still have the bedrock, swampy outer area, and a section of the keep to finish. This will be a 64x64 build when done. Lord Vladivus should be making a stopover when the final renovations are completed. Ambassador Bloodmane has some intelligence to report, and some tomes for the Shadowmere library. I should have Quest for the Egg Part II done and photographed tomorrow. Sdair will be spreading word of his quest to some merchants along the way. I am hoping to get some interesting shots of this one.

July 7, 2017 is the projected release date, according to IMDb. Two years for Lego to work on set designs, new figure prints, and possibly some new parts. Hopefully we will see the return of the baldric mold.

Lego could have been holding back in house fantasy designs since before the LOTR license. The image of an unused map design believed to be from Fantasy Era leaked some time ago. The current information is promising. I will just have to be content with importing parts from other themes until we get more solid leads.

A falling chandelier would be easy to do. A small hallway dueling set, with a wall that has an overhanging buttress for the chandelier. Two duelists, a few spectators, and a nicely detailed wall on a base (possibly some floor detail). A nice small set with some action, but no figure defined as good or bad. Wealthy civilian attire for the figs. Trap doors require some height, so panel pieces would be in order. This could easily be done as a dungeon set, with the king's dias above. Several prison bar window/door pieces making up the majority of the walls. There could be an escape feature. King, three guards, two to three thieves, and possibly a jester. (The Rancor set isn't a good comparison because of the big fig and movie set design made it overly large.) A theme including these would be something like Renaissance Italy, with a 'Phantom' figure, dueling fencers, merchants, thieves guild, palace guards, lords and ladies, and an astronomer/alchemist/prophet. There is a lot to mine here. There would be plenty of room for siege machines, wall defending, carts and carriages, merchant/craftsmen stalls, castles and towers belonging to different lords, and a thieves' hideout (think Wolfpack). This is pretty much moot, as the prevailing rumor is that the upcoming theme is fantasy. Forestmen-like sets with elves would be welcome. Tree fortresses and caves, with the possibility of rivers and boats, are something I would buy. I wouldn't mind if Lego simply leaves out a human faction. There are probably enough existing molds for Lego to do several waves of non-humans in conflict with each other.

Lego could do their own Robin Hood media, if that is the way they wish to go. The rumor is fantasy, though. My hope is that Lego would finally give us a Grecco/Roman folklore theme. It is quite possible for them to do this now, given the molds that have been designed in recent years. Lego obviously knows there is a market for it. There is so much more beyond fantasy Europe that could be done.

While this is a well done depiction of a historical event, this MOC belongs in Special Themes.

UoP DoH +1 for all credits.

Ah, nostalgia. The One who was, the One who is, the One who will be.

My issue with GG is that he is green instead of bright green (closer to the chartreuse in the comics).

Does the Rhino mech have some new parts? It looks like the 'hands' have a new pin shooter design.

There is also a religious quest underway. To that, Quest for the Egg Part Two is 90% done. I have to build a fire, place the figs and animals, and do some set dressing. Hopefully I can also achieve the shot I want.

A nice idea would be for Lego to sell a variety of raised baseplates individually. That way those who want to enhance their terrain without committing to a large number of bricks can do so.

KKI had abysmal set design and suffered the waste of character naming without a proper narrative to follow. Wave one of KKII suffered the 'Power Ranger' effect; the figures were too colorful. This is easily remedied by swapping hips, hands and helmets with muted colors. Both wave one and wave two gave us a good assortment of heraldry design. Hopefully a return of Fantasy Era will be able to build upon the best of the previous themes.