TeufelHund

IMO the Joust set is a better buy if you want to MOC an actual castle. The MMV is better if you simply want a decent assortment of general bricks.

I like the faces but the bodies are disappointing to me - I was hoping for more of a Dawn of the Dead Romero-type look I guess.

Remember that the prices Lego sets are only the RECOMMENDED retail prices (RRP). Retailers are under no compunction to offer them for sale at that price, just as customers can't be compelled to buy at a certain price.

Well I have 2 sons and we aren't planning on any more offspring, so I doubt there will be any pink boxes infiltrating our house. I was actually walking through Toys R US on the weekend and glanced at the girlie isles and actually thought to myself "thank god I'll never have to venture there".

So bascially girls were lining up to get into Lego but they just needed some pink boxes to reassure them it was ok to dive in? Kudos to TLG's market research, I guess. EDIT: Toys R US 25% off storewide for next 3 days. Good news if you're looking for any store exclusives. http://view.ed4.net/v/PF5DNQU/078W/GDCCK18/QH32A/

I wonder if TLG have ever considered including both yellow and flesh coloured heads/hands in a set? It would cost a bit more but there would be a lot of happy AFOLs. Of course, I've probably answered my own question as the kids probably don't care either way and they're still 90+% of the market.

Is that starting on Wednesday or Thursday then? I'm assuming Wednesday based on the date of your post.

Looking around the forums I see an almost overwhelming preference for figures with the traditional yellow flesh tones here. Is that solely due to the difficulty of "mixing and matching" these with licensed fleshie minifigs? For my part, I think generally the flesh-coloured minfigs look better than the yellow skined ones. The POTC cannibals for instance, look about a million times better than the old Pirates islanders, mainly due to the yellow skin on the islanders IMO.

Big and small sets are there as they fill different functions. The small sets are there as stocking stuffers, things kids can save for with their pocket money or as small rewards. Big sets exist for Xmas/birthday presents. I guess I probably enjoy larger sets with a few distinct elements to build myself, rather than smaller sets with a vehicle and a minifig or two these days - but I still fondly remember some of the smaller sets I had as a child (although that might be because I didn't actually receive any of the larger sets as a child).

645 pieces for Palpatine's Arrest is actually a decent number - they should be able to produce something substanial with that.

I can confirm cheap Alien Conquest At K-mart - all roughly 40% off. I got the abduction set for $29 and would have picked up the Tripod as well and thought about the Earth Defense HQ if they'd had any of those left!

This is my first Superhero set (I was always more of a Judge Dredd fan) and I have to say it is pretty good, despite the fact I'm not a big fan of "vehicle" based sets. The batmobile just looks the part, although it is probably a bit too big to sit comfortably next to standard Lego City vehicles, and the bank and safe are nice as well. Two-face's truck is a bit garish but does the job (I probably would have preferred the Joker but had to get my hands on the batmobile). It was a pretty interesting build too, which again is not always the case when constructing vehicles.

I hate to say it but there's very little in this theme that excites me. The castle looks decent but overall it is a big disappointment compared to the beautiful sets that came out in PQ. The mummy set in particular is hideous and the train is awful too to my eyes. The monster fighters themselves would have been better if they stuck to the classic horror theme instead of having cyborg limbs and other out of place elements. I hope the rumoured zombie set is good because at the moment I can only see myself picking up the castle unless my son fancies some of the smaller sets.

Went in first thing to Canberra City Target today and they had all the new SW sets at 20% off excluding the battle packs and the Geonnesian Cannon. I grabbed a Tie Fighter and Droid Escape for building over the holiday tomorrow!

Shop for me has all the OT sets for Star Wars 2012 (including the X-wing at 20% off): http://www.shopforme.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=34_37&sort=20a&page=1

I prefer the Fantasy series to Kingdoms. There was just a bit more variety, imagination and daring to be different about them. Compare the two large castles - the Kingdoms castle looks good but your Lion knights only have to fend off 3 piddling Dragon knights who have no chance to breach the walls without even a siege weapon to assist, whereas the Fantasy castle comes with a dragon which at least gives the assaulting skellies a fighting chance! The tower sets are another interesting case - the Kingdoms tower has a catapult to deal with but the Castle one a giant battering ram/siege tower combo that looks awesome and is bigger than the tower it is attacking! There were other interesting sets like the Battle Wheel, Skeleton Ship, Troll wagon with the meat dangling in front of the troll's eyes to get it to move etc etc. I personally also think that the Crownies look nicer than both the Lion and Dragon knights. Saying that, I think the second, brief run of Kingdoms sets would be of big assistance to those looking to build generic medieval MOCs - I think Blacksmith Attack, Mill Village Raid and Kingdoms Joust are all very useful sets in that regard.

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey release Xmas 2012 Hobbit: There and Back Again release Xmas 2013 We know there is a first LOTR wave coming mid-year, and there will clearly by a Hobbit related wave towards Xmas. Logic would dictate there will be at a minimum another LOTR wave in mid-2013 and then another Hobbit wave to tie in with the second film. Even if the line flops (which it won't), Lego may be contractually obliged to release subsequent waves to the first two.

I wonder if he has a double-bladed lightsaber with candy cane sticks coming out each end?

Don't forget their mobile prison wagon! Perhaps the Dragon Knights made their living ransoming captives? Also, according to the DK Kingdoms early reader book the impulse Wizard is the leader of the Dragon Knights. I'm actually wandering if it would be a good idea to go and buy a few copies of the last Kingdoms' line while they're on clearance: they were a pretty limited run, only being on shelves for 6 months and with LOTOR/Hobbit likely lasting 4+ waves it will be a while before regular Castle sets will be produced again. Plus a set like MVR with lots of unique figures and animals will likely be in high demand...hmmm...

Guess we can look forward to at least one new sword element based on this pic!

I actually like this set better than the MMV - maybe I just prefer martial themes rather than mucking about with the peasants but IMO this set is also a much nicer display piece as well as having better MOCing parts for castles/towers etc.

I can't say that the entire range looks like a "must buy" at this stage, and like most, I'm probably more interested in the monsters rather than the fighters. Dracula's castle looks ok and it will be interesting to see what the "Zombies" set looks like, but other than that I can't see too much appeal.

Anubis Guards are definitely cool. I also like the Dragon Knight from the Escape from Dragon's prison set. Finally, PotC had a lot of great minifigs - Jack Sparrow, Barbossa and even Will Turner look ok. Davey Jones also looks great (although I don't have the set he comes in). Being a sucker for zombies, I also like the Quartermaster from the QAR.

There were actually a few new blay pieces I haven't seen before used in the archway, a good assortment of bright red roofing pieces and if you are into SNOT building, plenty of bricks with side studs and narrow tile pieces. As I said, I think this set is going to be really valued by Castle MOCers.

So hard to choose - I like both Captain Brickbeard (although for once it would be nice to see a pirate captain who didn't have an eyepatch, a hook on one hand *and* a peg leg) and the castaway from the 2009 Pirate line, but have to admit that some of the PoTC figures are awesome with regards to detailing, so probably would ultimately settle on one of them.