The Middleman

That is this "gibberish" there, Bloody Jay? Whould you futher explain? They're the letters that the hieroglyphs comprise.

ALKI... ILKA... KAIL... KILA... KIAL... LIAK... LIKA...

No, and I've decided not to inventory them. I don't think they tweaked them - same gaps in the bottom for connections and everything.

Unfortunately, the hull to my Red Beard Runner (my one and only pirate ship) was mauled by my old dog. Old as in, she didn't last long after she chewed up my LEGOs. (just kidding - she found a new home after she chewed up my leg, which was soon after the LEGOs)

The thing is, they're such... SMALL pieces. Nary a large piece to be found, save the plates at the bottom. With something like the designer sets, you have lots of large pieces as well.

Three of the hull midsection and two of the endpieces. It might be an interesting experiment to try and mix the hulls.

Double-post because Jake just made a new blog post that's very explanatory: http://bricksonthebrain.com/blog/index.cfm

I meant the larger ships, like the RBR, SES, and BSB. The piece I'm talking about is this: http://peeron.com/inv/parts/2560

Scuderia Ferrari Truck is really a collector's model. Around 800 pieces, not very impressive, but sleek. I wouldn't expect a kid to get it. On the other hand, the Viking Fortress has 1019 pieces for $90, so I think prices are taking a turn for the better.

A good $500, including shipping (I'd been planning on buying that many Vikings since I saw the first pictures, so I saved), but I'm getting $22 refunded to me, since she forgot to pack 2 of the small boats I ordered. C'mon, Phes, you must've spent at least that much on Pirates. Five ships alone would do that! Speaking of ships, you might be interested to know that the Viking drakkar uses the exact same midsection piece as the pirate ships, three of them per set.

By 'has been done', I meant someone else had done it. ;) One moment, though... http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=83824 That's the one.

A village has been done.... I'm planning something a little... bigger. And taller. ;) PS - the sets that got me these Vikings were: 2x Fortress 3x Longboat 6x Boat 2x Wolf Still looking for a catapult or two, if anyone in Europe can hook me up.

At last... it is mine. It's more impressive in person... there are 47 there. Those guys in the middle with no shields are my berserkers. Squad one. .. and squad two. Hmm... they need somewhere to live... ;)

Alright, we're well overdue for this. Time to cough up those personal pictures (nothing inappropriate. ;)). Of course, pictures of family, friends, and girlfriends (or boyfriends, if applicable) are also good to go here! I'll start us off. ... I was having a bad hair day. Hence the helmet. And my girlfriend. Well, bring 'em on!

Next time, bring pictures. Better yet, print the press releases. :-D

If anyone wants to pick me up a catapult... let me know. ;)

Tank, fighter plane, PT boat, AA gun, jeep, truck, and bunker would do it for me. That'd be pretty cool.

Au contraire. I just got my Vikings sets in - if you count clips, pneumatic T-pieces, and those Designer set hinges as SYSTEM, there are very, very few technic pieces (albeit the ones that are there are usually larger than the other pieces in said creatures).

A note: 'generic searching for secret passages' won't do. Either you stumble upon it or you find out something that helps you figure it out. This mystery will be much more involved than the last...

Fake. You can see the grittiness of the paint.

I thought it over for a while, and SuvieD's post basically sums up my conclusion, although I would like to add that all the pieces are really, really small, even smaller than bulk buckets' bricks. However, we must take into account LEGO's desire to make money - which might hike up the price $10-$20. ;) The one thing I REALLY like about these sets is their heavy usage of one of my favorite pieces - the 1x1x2/3 slope.

http://bricksonthebrain.com/blog/index.cfm Airport - 607 pcs. http://www.bricksonthebrain.com/blog/image...ge/P7070012.jpg Amusement Park - 1344 pcs. http://www.bricksonthebrain.com/blog/image...ge/P7070008.jpg Skyline - 2776 pcs. http://www.bricksonthebrain.com/blog/image...ge/P7070005.jpg I'm worried about the prices.

I voted Depp because he really absorbs his character. However, Edward Norton and Brad Pitt are fantastic in Fight Club (albeit in not much else). Matt Thewlis (sp?) is good in Kingdom of Heaven and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I'm a huge fan of Tim Robbins in War of the Worlds and The Shawshank Redemption. Christian Bale is ok in Batman Begins, but not much else. Mickey Rourke was incredible in Sin City, so I think he deserves a spot on the poll (rather than Clive Own, perhaps, who was substandard in same). Contrary to popular belief, I think a lot of the 'new generation' actors are great (Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, etc. are still legends, though ;)).

If you're upset about the stickers, you could always not apply them. Personally, I think this set is the best of the lot - four rock faces, albeit in new dark gray (things like train track and mountain pieces should stay the same color, but unfortunately that's impossible). I hope more regular LEGO sets start using mountain pieces in these numbers.

The latest '10___' set is the 10170 TTX Intermodal Train Car thingy, so if this is a legend being released around January/February, that MIGHT work... there are probably quite a few exclusives being released between now and then. Still, 12 (10170-10183) exclusives in half a year might be pushing it a bit. We'll see!