The Middleman

You do know that there is an edit button? Looks just like that.

Well, first of all, by this year, I include: - Fire/Police/Construction City - Revenge of the Sith - Knight's Kingdom: Ankoria - Harry Potter - Vikings - Sandcrawler Now, I can't attest to Harry Potter or Vikings yet, but that graveyard sure as hell looks fantastic, and Vikings are... they're freakin' Vikings. What else do you need to know? Oh, and re: Durmstrang Ship - the hull is awful, the rest is great. However, the rest - basically EVERYONE agrees that they're ALL terrific sets. (possible exceptions: Police Motorcycle, Dump Truck, Durmstrang Ship). Vladek's Dark Fortress is ALMOST a throwback to classic Castle, the Sandcrawler is just about ENTIRELY brick-built with ONE specialized piece (it's a really big brick, by the way), Revenge of the Sith has incredible building techniques, and City's sets physically resemble sets from the CLASSIC Town series. As far as the Unholy Lama goes... he sounds pretty grumpy. I don't know what catalog he was looking at - if he was looking at 2004 and thought the World City was horrible, he's right. If he thought Harry Potter from 2004 was awful, he's wrong. They're great. Alpha Team I can agree with - I don't really count that in 2005, though. So what's the problem with 2005? It's a huge leap forward, and I think most everybody agrees.

With a few exceptions (Dump Truck, Durmstrang Ship), this year's line has been fantastic. Apart from those two, are there any that REALLY look bad this year? I mean really, think about it.

@snefroe: it rides fairly well. Plastic treads are really meant for motorized models, though. Hmmm... that gives me an idea.

Updated with two photos of the cockpit area. Sorry about that!

D'OH! I CANNOT BELIEVE I FORGOT THAT! Give me two minutes.

Around 4-5 hours, but I worked slow. Oh, and I almost forgot. Entire gallery, when moderated.

It's here!!!!!!!!!! Alright, things are going to go a little differently this time. I saved a bit of time by not resizing the photos, so they're a bit large. I'm not going to post every single one right here, but rather use deeplinks to Brickshelf most of the way, highlighting the big ones. Let's get started! Let me preface the photos by saying that the set is NOT modular, so you have to dump alllllllllllllllll the pieces (except the treads - DO NOT dump the tread bags, whatever you do) out onto your surface. It's a REALLY FREAKIN' IMPRESSIVE sight. The pieces are absolutely amazing. If you EVER feel like building a brown building of any kind, this is your set. Also, it has an abundance of burnt orange bricks, which I find cool. First real brick parts-monkey set for a long time. The Sandcrawler in full regalia. Not a great angle, and the light's not great, but it's the only shot where you see all the amenities as well. Minifigs: Jawa- http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0043.jpg You'll notice that the Jawa has what appears to be a BROWN cape. Not red-brown! (at least as far as I can tell) The head is fantastic. Uncle Owen- http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0044.jpg Great torso. Anyone notice a sudden switch to 'simplistic' robe torsos with thick, curving lines as opposed to the thin, detailed lines in past robe torsos? The droids, with the exception of the R2 units and C-3PO, and the gray/tan droid that sucked. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0045.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0046.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0047.jpg The Set: A top/angle shot of it. Note the front top area, with the cockpit. That's a REALLY cool build up there. Front shot. I'm not TOO fond of the ramp, as it doesn't line up that well with the angled side pieces... http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...100_0049_r1.jpg Side shot. The mottled colors look a lot better in person, trust me! http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0050.jpg Back view. I like it a lot. The half-cylinders are very nice. The gear in the back, of course, does control the back treads. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0051.jpg The treads angled. This is a good time to talk about the treads. THEY ARE HELL. Period. You get three little baggies packed full of the suckers. I must've spent a good 15-20 minutes making them. KEEP THE TREADS SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF THE BRICKS. You'll die trying to find them otherwise. I also recommend making 16 sets of 17 each rather than 8 of 34 all at once. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0052.jpg The ramp lowered. You'll notice that the crane slides nicely into there. Probably also a good time to talk about stickers - there are five (3 for windows, two for inside the control room). Very easy to apply, not a hassle at all. Still wish there were real windows, though. The crane. This little guy fits both at the top of the crawler and into the front of the crawler. It can hook onto two things: a removable panel on the top next to where it locks in (to lift droids out?) and what I'll call the Droid Hat, which is a 2x2 round plate with a 2x2 round crane hook on top. Hooks onto R2 units. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0054.jpg Top view. The two removable panels are the one with the lances on it (can be replaced with the crane) and the panel to the left of it on the photo with the crane hook on it. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0055.jpg The midsection removed. Takes a chunk out of the thing, doesn't it? It's very sturdy while in there, by the way - no wobbling - and easy to remove as well. I actually enjoy this feature. This is an opportunity to examine the back of the interior. It houses the turning mechanism, which is so clever it deserves TWO photos! STRAIGHT: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0057.jpg TURNED: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0058.jpg The top panel removed from the midsection. That's where the crane goes. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0059.jpg The interior of the midsection. You can see the two stickers I mentioned earlier. I love those little wheels! The black one is nice. It's hard to see, but there's a full black tool set stuck in all the little niches around the place. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0060.jpg The two panels removed from the top. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0061.jpg The crane placed on the top. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0062.jpg Looks like R2's absolutely 'hooked' on the droid hat! :P Hey, I'm allowed one bad joke! ;) http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0063.jpg The cockpit - ironically, while the Sandcrawler doesn't have windows, it does have two trans-yellow pieces to make the poor Jawa THINK it has windows. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0064.jpg The top with the cockpit open. I like the little tile design. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/BloodyJa...ew/100_0065.jpg FINAL VERDICT: 8.4/10. Let's face it; the model isn't fantastic. It's not revolutionary. But I'll be damned if it's not sturdy, functional, and chock full of hundreds upon hundreds of delicious bricks, not to mention three Jawas and Uncle Owen! The model is a very fun (if long) build, and it matches the Sandcrawler pretty well. All in all, I think it is a great set - not to mention the second-largest SYSTEM set of all time... Another one bites the dust! ~ Bloody Jay

Jeez, between the two of you! It's like 5 AM over here! I'm going to go make some soup and eat it. Then, I have to tie the little string onto the crane that came with the Sandcrawler so that it's OFFICIALLY completed. THEN I will take photos and upload them to Brickshelf. Expect the photos and review arond 6:30.

Now now Vader... patience is a virtue! (PS - did you get my PM?)

Kabaya promotions usually come a few months after the product or at the same time, usually not before. Also, with Vikings being Euro-exclusive for the most part, Kabaya might not even have Vikings promotions at all.

Ok, just finished. It's a better model than I thought it would be! Pictures in a few hours, I'm going to rest. It was a good 3-4 hour build.

I'm about 2/3 through it. Dear god, the pieces. The treads were A NIGHTMARE.

Yeah, I love it here. I also agree with your comment about Legofan.org... they're really pretentious for having so little traffic. They actually just resorted to saying 'join and you'll be entered in a drawing for an ISD!'. A good community shouldn't have to do that. Anyway, hopefully more people will end up realizing how great Eurobricks is and we'll become one of the 800+ member communities... :-D

Well, I got my Sandcrawler in! The pieces. All the freakin' pieces. The bags aren't sectioned out. My entire TABLE is covered in pieces.

You've got it now right? Cuz I posted one to you :/ He's actually away on vacation at the moment. He gets back on the 25th, I think.

Updated with three more vignettes (if you count the road). Much more tomorrow!

Inbetween my bursts of mansion-building, I've been working on a series of interlocking vignettes based on the skits from Monty Python's Flying Circus. There will be a total of EIGHT vignettes, although one or two of the road sections may not have much on them. Progress so far: Left vignette: Mr. Teabag walking to the Ministry of Silly Walks. Right vignette: A vicious gang of keep-left signs that are surpassed in cruelty only by Hell's Grannies. Top vignette: A rather confused Hungarian attempts to use his Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook to buy a pack of cigarettes. Upcoming: - A member of the Hell's Grannies burning rubber. - A disgruntled customer returning a Dead Parrot. - A visit to the Argument Clinic. - Something very unexpected. Brickshelf gallery, when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=132804

Go rent Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's hilarious. They're a group of people that wrote what are arguably the best comedic movies and TV show ever.

Why do LEGO toys have value to you? They're a timeless product - they stick with you through childhood and adulthood. What makes LEGO brand construction toys worth your money? Trust in the quality of the product, piece-to-price value, creativity, accuracy, and usability. In what way has the LEGO brand let you down? Over the last couple of years, they've been introducing way too many new pieces, most of which serve no discernable purpose. For example, the HUGE bricks used in 4+ and KK2 for floors and islands and such. That could have EASILY been accomplished through a few plates. Also, messing around with the minifigs - I don't have a problem with flesh tone so much (as long as it's restricted to licenses), but those Jack Stone figures are god-awful. And I'm not even going into Galidor... Recently, how has the LEGO brand improved? This year has been fantastic so far! City is incredible (save for the new dump truck), ROTS was very cool for the most part (Wookiee Attack and the Catamaran were disappointing, though), and the new KK2 castle is AMAZING in comparison to the first line. The Sandcrawler also seems to be a welcome return to the use of bricks en mas in sets, which is great. Making a Vikings line was a wonderful idea, and I hope they continue the historical thing. The new Harry Potter line's graveyard also looks fantastic. What would it you like to see LEGO (re)introduce in the next three years? + A new Pirates line, non-<insert that tiresome argument>, using the CLASSIC hulls. Several varieties of pirates and 'good guys' to fight amongst each other. Firing cannons like in the old days. + A line of historical themes, as mentioned by SuvieD, is my greatest desire. In order: Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Japanese. Possibly an African theme? + A continued Adventurers theme. Atlantis would be very nice. + A heavily expanded City line. Hospital, school, town hall/courthouse, apartments, office building, garage, convenience store, bookstore, cafe, pizzeria, etc. So much to do with it! + A classic Castle theme, possibly incorporated with the aforementioned Historical line. Regular old English buildings with gray castles using lots of regular pieces. New but REALISTIC designs and armor without the Teletubby colors. + Small sets with lots of figures. + Community influence in product selection. Use surveys, questionaires, etc. + A series of one-shots deals with car companies to produce LEGO versions of their most popular cars - Jaguar, Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. What does LEGO need to do to sell more products for less cost to them? STOP MAKING NEW PIECES. STOP MAKING (so many) NEW PRINTS. The Sandcrawler is a good example of this - classic pieces by the hundreds, and over piece/price value. Why? No new pieces, and no prints on the set itself. What reason(s) do you have for not buying new LEGO sets? The only ones I've really been opposed to are the first line of KK2 for its <insert that tiresome argument> status, BIONICLE because it's... BIONICLE, and Alpha Team because piece/price is horrible and there are way too many new pieces. What would it take for you to spend more money on new LEGO products versus buying sets/parts on the second hand markets? Sets with so many useful pieces that it's not necessary to spend money on second-hand markets buying NORMAL pieces. What will it take for LEGO to remain the best construction toy for all ages and be a profitable company? A return to its classic principles and line of thinking - not so many tacky storyline-centered lines. Models first, stories later - and they should not CONTROL THE SETS. Pirates is a good example of this. What are your home country, name and age? USA, Oliver P., 14.

Yeah, some stores use stickers. I must try that sometime - switch Fireball Catapult's sticker with Vladek's Dark Fortress... :^D

No, Palpatine was played in all movies (including OT) by Ian McDiarmid. Marvin the Paranoid Android was voiced by Alan Rickman, of 'Harry Potter' (as Professor Snape) and 'Dogma' (as The Metatron) fame. Both of them are fantastic actors. As noted in the other Hitchhiker's Guide thread, I feel that the movie was good but that the movie as an ADAPTATION was horrible. It just didn't have nearly the same feel as the book, and it totally lost all the little moments that made Hitchhiker's Guide a classic. Oh well.

I think he's a Monty Python and the Holy Grail fan, myself. I think he means 'The Castle of Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh...', the one mentioned in the last words of Joseph of Arimithea, inscribed on the walls of the Cave of Caerbannog, which is guarded by the Killer Rabbit. ;)

That's too bad.... why was he banned?

I seriously do think this link should be deleted... Jipay, when a kid sees 'do not click this link', they click the link. It's also disrespectful to LEGO in general. I don't think this should be promoted on our forum. Still, it's up to you...