ZO6

I fully support more Vestas sets. Perhaps they would be kind enough to re-issue the 4999 Wind Turbine, but make it available to the public this time. Besides wind turbines though, what other Vestas based sets could be made? The company is all about wind power.

Ditto. I just moved from about 30 minutes away from Sherway Gardens to back home (approx. 2 hours away) for the summer. As much as I'd like to get there nice and early on Saturday, I just somehow don't see it happening. I'll most likely have to trek out there some other time within the next week. This is one of those times that I wish the store was set up more Downtown. I always put off hiking out to the Lasting Toys store because it's so far South West from where I live, but now the official Lego store has to be out there too. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. At least we've got an official store in the province now - we're making good progress - from 0 to 2 stores in the country in a year! I might hopefully see some of you on the weekend if I put up with the journey.

Fantastic review, paanjang16! I'm mostly still too nostalgic of these space sets from the late 80s and early 90s to be able to accept many modern themes (Space Police 3, Mars Mission, Life on Mars, I'm looking at you guys in particular). The original Space Police had such a beautiful colour scheme, and the ship designs were sleek and out of this world. The lack of propulsion never bothered me as I figured these guys were so high tech that they were beyond conventional thrusters. Besides, the ships were loaded with lasers and whatnot which were much more important to me at the time. This was, and still is an outstanding set.

Thanks for yet another great Alien Conquest review, Final Exit! While 9 times out of 10 I'm all about having maximum playability in my sets, this is one of those cases where I can forgive the lack of play functions as the ship is still so darn cool. This set along with some of the others in the theme just scream to be displayed via fishing line suspended above the ground based sets. I personally don't find the price tag too ridiculous, but I guess that's only because of crazy prices found in some other themes... I really like the use of train tracks to make up the outer ring of the ship. I wish these had been in the dark bley colour so that they'd incorporate better with the IJ stuff, but I'm bound to keep this set together anyways and not use it for parts. I don't mind that this set doesn't come with a support ship that would either eat up the pieces dedicated for the main ship or else drive up the price, but I do agree that for the price more minifigures should have been included. Both the figs included are awesome, but TLC seems to have been particularly stingy with the amount of them present in this theme. I'm already looking forward to a second wave of sets (well, I really hope there's more to come). I can't imagine that we'd get a larger set than this for the Alien faction, but you never know.

Congrats to the winners, your D2C creations look superb! Sign me up! Great effort by all!

Thanks for this review, Brickster! (I particularly like the image that you've put together that's made it to the front page) I received a few of the smaller Paradisa sets when they first came out, but I've been strongly debating picking up some of the bigger ones off of Bricklink (Dolphin Point and Poolside Paradise I'm looking at you). This lighthouse set has luckily come along to help wet my appetite for some unique civilian based sets. To make things even better (though not for my wallet), I find the secondary models quite appealing as well. I plan on picking up multiples of this set so that I can not only have all the models built at once, but also upgrade the main lighthouse as you suggested. I agree that more accessories would have been nice, but I can forgive that seeing as this is a creator set and as always provides good bang for your buck.

Thanks for this very detailed review, Pandora! While I love the primary model, I don't know what it is about the secondary ones that makes me adore them as well. Perhaps it's the drought of civilian based sets for a long time, but I want to guy 3-4 copies of this set so that I can have all the models built at once and upgrade the main lighthouse. Thanks for taking the time to do this in-depth review review and covering all the models in this set!

I haven't been this excited about the Star Wars lineup for a lot of years. I have the original versions of lots of these sets, but never bothered to pick up the revisions from a number of years back. Prices aside, I really like the look of these - the podracers easily being the most impressive. Though I love my original Falcon, I've got a craving for a new one. I'm a bit disappointed that the proportions are off still, and that the bottom is ugly as can be, but I'm willing to overlook these flaws. The Sith Infiltrator has come a very long way, and I absolutely love the new figs too. I wish the Ewok attack was a bit larger set, and I also have no need for ANOTHER speeder bike, but I look forward to expanding my Endor battle display never-the-less. I have yet to watch a single episode from the Clone Wars tv show, so I can't relate to the ships or new characters from it. However the Republic Frigate is a recognizable enough ship and is well designed as a Lego set, thus I find it appealing. I own the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer, so I'm not completely sold on the Super Star Destroyer yet. I'll have to see it in more detail and know the price before I make a final verdict. So despite the many remakes, I am happy about their existence, and I'm glad the Star Wars license is still on.

Thanks for this review, sinjid! While I ultimately love this set, I can't help but feel that it wasn't as strongly executed as some of the other sets in the line. The legs look really great, but I am not a fan of the abundance of technic pieces used. I don't know what the solution would be to get around using technic parts (and still keeping a similar overall piece count ), but they still bug me never-the-less. I'm also not completely sold on the trans-clear being used for the cockpit dome and the trans-green being used on the pod at the back. Maybe my mind will change when I see it in person. With the nitpicks out of the way I can get onto the good - it's a tri-pod! This theme has got all the bases covered for an awesome alien invasion - saucers and walkers! I'm not someone who likes to mass collect individual sets, but I think I'm going to need at least 3 of these guys! Amazing set! Note: It seems as though some longer technic beams for the legs would be a welcome addition. I want these tri-pods to really tower over everything.

Thanks for this look at the Mill Village Raid, Donut! I was originally planning on only picking up a couple of smaller sets from the Kingdoms line, but after seeing the fantastic summer lineup (specifically this set) I convinced myself to jump on board and collect everything. Not only will the Mill Village Raid go along perfectly with the first wave of Kingdoms sets, but it looks like an excellent companion piece to the MMV. I thought the little brick built chickens in the past were fine, but I won't complain about these excellent new ones. We've been calling for a more civilian based set like this for a long time, and TLC has delivered! Raid on!

I hope to see you there, Ricecracker (and others)! If they've got the MMV, then that's what I aim to pick up (yeah, I don't know how I've put off buying it all this time...) And for those interested, TRU.ca has got more of the Alien Conquest sets listed, along with the summer wave of Kingdoms, Atlantis, plus some more City stuff (Marina, Space Center).

I've been checking the TRU site just about everyday in hopes that new stuff would pop up - good find! Sign me up for all four of those, but I think I'll wait for a sale on the harbour. $120? Ouch! The rest of the prices are reasonable enough IMO. I haven't decided when I'll hit up the Lego store, though I'm leaning towards the Saturday for some of those early bird perks. I look forward to picking up some exclusives that I haven't brought myself to order yet.

Thanks a whole bunch for this review, Final Exit! Oh, and nice crisp pictures btw. Here we have it, la piece de resistance for this theme, and it sure is a stunner. My calls have been answered: TLC has not only created a theme which is hugely appealing in concept, but the piece choice and construction of the sets is also very much to my liking. On one hand I want to write a massive, elaborate reply to this review and discuss everything I like about the set. However, it seems as though I can keep things simple - I honestly love every aspect of this set (save for the stickers, but I won't go there this time). 'Nuff said for now. Until I get a copy of my own that is, then I imagine I'll want to spread the joy and ramble on in detail regarding everything I love about this set.

Thanks for this review, Final Exit! I really love every set in the Alien Conquest line. This is a great mid-sized ship and complements the rest of the line nicely. While I'm glad that sticker usage was kept to a minimum with this set, I can't help but feel that the big gray saucer pieces look rather barren. While I would certainly never promote the use of stickers, I can't help but wish something was done to spruce up the look of those saucer parts (printing, I miss thee). I'd originally hoped that the abduction feature would be something mechanically complex, the solution that was put in place is satisfying enough. I know I sound nitpicky here, but I still think this is a really great set. Its sheer awesomeness far outweighs any cons I can come up with.

Fabulous review, Rufus! I saw this while it was a WIP in the reviewer's academy, and you've done a bang up job These creator houses never cease to appeal to me. While the generic minifigures obviously aren't a must have, I do like their inclusions in these latest creator sets. I'm most delighted about the increase in accessories and details in these new houses, they certainly make them feel like places to live instead of empty shells (I realize most of these accessories are outside of the house itself, but you catch my drift). While a steeper hill would have been more interesting, I can see the logistics in keeping the elevation change a mere brick high. And though the door bell is pretty cheesy, it's got a lot of charm. This set was already a must have, but you've only made me crave it even more. I can't wait to see what TLC gives us next in terms of creator houses!

"Look at the size of that thing!" That looks wicked, Erdbeeries! I honestly can't even identify what my favorite aspect of it is, the entire moc is outstanding. Thanks a bunch for sharing.

Great read, Lorentzen! This is a truly wonderful article you've put together I really love those classic houses. They're so simple yet so appealing. While I love all of the creator houses and the new 8403 City House, I wish TLC would release some smaller 100-300 piece houses with open backs. In any case, I really like the direction that the latest wave of creator sets is taking, namely by making them more minifigure friendly.

Thanks for the review, Brickster! I'm not quite sure how I feel about this set. I love the overall look of the ship, but something seems to be missing. Perhaps I'd liked to have seen more play features. Sure just the fact of having a big old pirate presents tons of play value, but it's a lack of other functions that I miss. I also don't like how small the cabin is - not being able to fit more of the Captain's Cabin set in there is a let down. As with the rest of the PotC line though, I do love the minifigures and accessories!

I've only ever painted one part - Commander Cody's visor. The fig of him supplied in the 7676 RAGincludes a gray visor. This really bugged me so I busted out some model paint, mixed up some orange that matched the rest of his outfit, and then painted his visor. I've very happy with the result!

Beautiful review, Cloney! Those pictures are a real treat! There's something about this set that I find oddly appealing. Perhaps it's because this set reminds me of something from the Islanders subtheme which I love so much. I also love Lego structures. While I'm one of those people that misses having baseplates in their sets, I think this one works pretty well without the inclusion of one - if only for ease of display purposes. The minifigures and accessories are my favorite part of the PotC line and this set delivers. I find this is the case for many modern sets. My explanation is that new sets have a large portion of their piece count taken up my small parts that are used for detailing. This results in a physically smaller yet more detailed set than something of equal piece count from say 5+ years ago. Or perhaps I'm just crazy... Shame that your set didn't get the full protective treatment for the instructions et al. Is this going to be a trend for certain regions or are some early batches just missing it? Anyways, once again, great review.

Yay! Looks great! Very easy on the eyes. Definitely makes me feel a lot cheerier as well Take that winter!

Great review, JimB! I've been sitting on the fence as to whether I want to invest in the PotC line, but these reviews make them look so darn appealing! I'm generally not a person who gets sold on a set due to the minifigures, but I'm loving the ones from this set and line. The accessories and new parts are wonderful The roof of the green and black carriage is mighty ugly in my opinion, but since I'm a sucker for playability I'm willing to make the sacrifice. The pub seems like a shrunken version of something from the Diagon Alley set, but it is lovely never-the-less and as mentioned before would integrate with the Medieval Market Village. Overall this is a really great set.

Thanks for the review, Brickster! I simply love all the printed parts in this set. I particularly love the 'ships in the bottles' and the globe. It's a shame that there isn't more room in the QAR for all the elements to be placed in. It's kind of odd to have the captain's cabin separate... Though I'm not one to go buying multiples of sets most of the time, this is something I'd love to get duplicates of so i can stock up on the lovely parts (when it's on sale of course).

Happy birthday, Rufus!

Way to make an already hugely appealing set even more lust-worthy. That engine is a real beauty, the details are superb. The supporting wagons, containers, and truck round out the set and really make it a must-have. And who doesn't love that Maersk blue? Thanks for the review, KimT!