ZO6

I honestly like sets from each era that you've listed. Early days - The majority of the Star Wars sets that I have are from the first few years that they were released. At the time I was just so happy to have Star Wars Lego that I would gobble up everything I could find. Many of these early models are quite primitive by todays standards, however I still find them all very appealing. Just looking at the original X-wing and Millenium Falcon in my hands right now, I really like these. Of course I'm a sucker for that studded look on sets, but certainly those early years have a special place in my heart. 2005-2008 - I have significantly less sets from this era (something I greatly regret). There was a lot of good content during this time and many remakes were done of those original sets. Those I love all the originals, many of these remakes were indisputably superior. I generally prefer yellow headed figs, but I won't complain about the switch to flesh colour. 2008-present - With the introduction of Clone Wars sets, I find lots of these (for me) are either love it or hate it. I don't follow the cartoons and whatnot at all, so I have no connection to quite a lot of the sets. Other Clone War stuff, such as remakes of the Gunship and AT-TE I simply love. We've also started to see a lot of battle back type sets which I think are a fantastic idea. Though I don't army build myself, I appreciate the value in these sets. I've been disappointed that there have been fewer original trilogy sets, but at least the ones that have been released (such as Battle of Endor) have for the most part been amazing. The cost of Lego across the board seems to have been rising constantly over the years, but even more noticeably with Star Wars. On one hand, the set designs are much more accurate these days, but models are littered with stickers. I guess it's all the bad experiences with stickers in the past that still make me afraid of them. In any case, there has certainly been something for everyone over the years, and I very much look forward to the future of this franchise.

Weekly visit to the TRU in Newmarket today - they had two fresh boxes of minifigures out. I picked out a handful of doubles that I wanted and helped a few kids find specific figs that they were looking for. I will not be surprised if they are all sold out by the end of the day, the figs are just flying off shelves. Stopped into the Wal-mart as well but they didn't have any minifigures, the rest of their Lego selection was a bit weak too. For those looking to pick up minifigures, call your local TRU and Wal-mart daily. Be prepared to drive out to the store immediately if they have any in stock because they will sell out in not time at all. I've been lucky to find two batches of figs at my local TRU, so hopefully that means other stores around the country get multiple shipments as well. Happy hunting everyone!

Thanks for the comments/feedback everyone! I've always been somewhat surprised to see that there was no review for this amazing set here on EB. I've been wanting to review this set for a lot of years, but until recently I did not feel like disassembling it in order to do a thorough review. When this set first came out, I looked at the price tag and thought "I really don't care what I'm paying, I've got to get this set because I know I'll regret it forever if I don't". The Star Destroyer is current available on Bricklink anywhere from expensive, to extremely expensive. I wish you the best of luck in acquiring the set. The Imperial Shuttle looks like it will be a fantastic set. It is easily one of my most anticipated sets of the year. I will waste no time in picking it up when it is released.

You should definitely feel the bag to try to guess what's in it before opening it. When I picked out my set of 16 (I checked to make sure I had different bar codes for each, but didn't have a cheat sheet with me) I opened them over the course of about an hour. I put on the television for some background entertainment and then got to work. I'd spend about 2 minutes feeling the contents of a bag before I was satisfied with my guess. I'd then extremely carefully slice it open and assemble the figure. The figures were very interesting to examine closely, and so I'd spend 5-10 minutes playing around with a figure before setting it aside to have a go at the next bag. I successfully identified 14 of the 16 minifigures. I was sure that the zombie was the crash test dummy, and I got the clown wrong as well (I don't remember who I thought it was). So anyways, to all those out there - have fun opening your minifigures and consider yourself quite lucky to have gotten any at all.

It's fantastic to see such a large Modulex collection be put to such good use! You've done a wonderful job recreating the ship. Thanks for sharing!

Ah, right-o, I figured it was probably some sort of anti spam/double post feature. Still a bit annoying for trying to get back to back posts such as in a review (without having to later move posts around). I'll keep that in mind for next time though. Thanks.

I encountered a couple of problems while trying to post my review of the Imperial Star Destroyer. In the reviewers academy, I had split up the review into two parts. When I went to post the review in the public forums, I had no trouble posting the first half. However, when I went to add a second post to include part 2 of the review, it stuck that second part at the bottom of my first post. I of course wanted two separate posts for the review to be spread over because I knew there were too many pics for a single post. After multiple attempts (even after logging out and back into EB) I still could not create a separate post for my second half of the review. Someone eventually posted in my topic so I made another attempt to post again, this time I got the message "Sorry, you have too many pictures" or something along those lines. Last time I had checked, we can have around 60 pictures in a single post, and there is of course a total size limit to the post as well. There were only 40 pictures in the post, so I'm not sure why I kept getting that error. I gave up and did a simple post in my topic explaining that I was having technical difficulties trying to post my part 2. That message posted fine. As an experiment, I then went back and pasted in the second part of my review on the post that I had just done. This time it posted fine, no error messages about there being too many pics. Bizarre. Everything has worked itself out now and I have posted the review (though there is a somewhat unwanted post between my two halves) but I just wanted to pass along what had happened and see if anyone knows why I might have been having those problems. Thanks

Part 2 Now for the construction of the super structure. We start off by making a base primarily out of technic parts: The base is added to and increases in size: Two front extensions are built and decorated with a variety of greebles: The two extensions are added to the frame. This base is built up some more, and blue technic half pins are added so that more greebles may be attached shortly: Here we have a selection of the various plates that are covered in greebles. You have to build 2 of each of these so that you have one set for each side of the super structure: The greebles are added. The structure is built up some more, with prep being done for additional greebles later on. The command bridge will later sit on top of the blue block that can be seen here: Next up, extensions must be built to add to either side of the super structure. Here is the extension for the right side in progress: The right extension is now complete: To attach the extension, the super structure must first be flipped upside down. The extension can be seen in place near the top of the image. The green circles indicate where the left extension will soon be attached: Here we have an angled view with everything right side up again: The second extension is built the same as the first, though it is mirrored. Here is how the super structure looks with both side extensions added: Unsurprisingly, it's time to make up some more greeble covered plates. This is the selection for this batch: Here we have a lovely close up with all the greebles attached. The other side of the ship looks the same: It's time to build yet another section which will be attached to the super structure. Here is the inner frame: This is topped off with a number of plates, and greebles are added along the sides: Here is the latest section in place at the top/front: The super structure is now complete: Here is somewhat of a rear view of the super structure: And finally placed in the appropriate spot on the Star Destroyer. The super structure can easily be lifted off the rest of the ship for easier transportation: Here we have the construction of the tower on which the command bridge attaches as seen in four steps. Construction is a lot faster and quite fun at this point: A section which will cover the spine of the tower is covered in greebles: The tower is now complete: Here is the inner structure for the command bridge: Bottoms panels slide into place: Both top panels are added as well: The rest of the bridge is built and of course covered in greebles: Here is the complete bridge as seen from the front and back: The tractor beam targeting array/communications tower is built: This is attached to the top of the bridge. The bridge is then attached to the tower. Here are front and back views of the current structure: A base must now be built for command bridge. Here is the inner frame with greebles added: Panels are added and the base is complete: The base is added to the command bridge, and the whole structure is ready to be added to the rest of the ship. Front and back views: The command bridge drops into place on top of the super structure. Here we can see a lovely side shot of the completed Star Destroyer: As mentioned before, the ship measures approximately 37 inches long. It's really hard to appreciate the size of this beast without seeing it in person. However, for fun, I shall provide a variety of views of the ship in hopes of somewhat conveying its hugeness. Here are two shots of the ship as seen straight on. In the picture on the left, the command bridge is in focus. On the right, the front of the ship is in focus. Note the massive amount of greebles that run along the entire length of the ship in between the top and bottom panels: Here is an overhead view of finished ship in all of its wonderful wedge shaped glory: When you have the super structure separate from the rest of the ship, it seems quite huge. However, when you place the super structure and command bridge in their proper spots, they are seemingly dwarfed in comparison rest of the Star Destroyer. This effect is especially apparent when seen from this angle: The rear on the ship seen straight on: The rear rear looking down at angle: Close up of the super structure, command bridge, and heavy turbo lasers all nicely lined up. Note the two round deflector shield generators on the top of the command bridge. I suppose if one really wanted, they could have fun re-enacting the scene from episode 6 during the battle of Endor when those generators are destroyed and then the A-wing crashes into the command bridge (Yes, I realize all of this happens to the Super Star Destroyer, but I doubt we'll ever see one of those in Lego bricks so you might as well get your reenactments done with this ship): Here is a different view looking down on the command bridge: Another look at the back of the command bridge. Wherever you look, there are plenty of details and greebles to be seen: Also included in the set is a mini Tantive IV. This is built to scale to go alongside the Star Destroyer. The Tantive IV is fairly simple but easily recognizable. It includes a little stand to rest on: Here are some alternate views of the little ship. The model is sufficiently detailed for its size and even includes all 11 engines: Though there are some details missing from the bottom of the ship, at least there is somewhat of a main hanger that the mini Tantive IV can fit into. I would recommend against swooshing the Star Destroyer around in order to re-create the opening scenes from A New Hope: To complete the UCS experience, this set comes with a display card/stand. The info sticker has long since been attached, but this close up should allow you to see what is written on it: This is how the stand looks when it is complete: Complete Set The moment everyone has been waiting for - the complete set. Here we can see the Star Destroyer, mini Tantive IV, and display card all together. Unfortunately, pictures really do not do this justice. It really is an amazing sight to behold: Final Thoughts Pricing and Value: Star Wars sets are known to be very expensive, and UCS sets are no exceptions. For those living in the US, the price of $300 for 3000+ parts may have seemed like reasonable value. For those living outside of the US (like me), the price of this set might not have seemed so hot. I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this set, but was willing to bite the bullet in terms of cost simply because of how much I wanted to own this fantastic model. Around the time that I got this set, I remember looking through some sort of catalog and seeing Star Wars replica models for sale. Though quite detailed, these models were both smaller and less impressive looking than the Lego ISD, and significantly more expensive. I have absolutely no regrets with having bought the Star Destroyer. The build experience, though repetitive at times, was unforgettable, and the completed set is mind blowingly awesome looking. Design/Build: For those that complain and claim that they are going to "freak out" or "die" due to the repetition in relatively small sets like say the Tie Defender, then under no circumstanced must you ever attempt to build this set. In fact, your brain has probably already exploded just looking at the build pictures for this set. This set is up there with the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, and Grand Carousel, as being one of the most painfully repetitive Lego sets ever produced. I repeat, high tolerance for repetition is a must with this set - sometimes you must build 32 copies of something consisting of 9 pieces, other times you must build multiple copies of something consisting of hundreds of pieces. One must pay close attention to the instructions while building this set. Though there are piece call-outs for every step, the amount of parts can often be overwhelming if you are not dedicated to the build. Poor colour differentiation and mistakes in the instructions can also cause problems if you are not careful. There are also a handful of tricky moments during construction, such as when attaching the massive panels to the frame. Having said that, building this set is an amazing experience. It is extremely rewarding to see the ship built up over the course of many hours. Expect to spend 10+ hours putting the Star Destroyer together. There are countless interesting techniques used during construction - such as the dual inner frames, loads of SNOT, and parts being held together in other unique ways. Every couple of years the magnets holding one of the bottom panels in place might fail, but this can simply be fixed by pushing the panel back up so that the magnets make contact again. This Lego model looks extremely close to what is seen in the movies. Most of the proportions are quite accurate, and there is an insane amount of detailing and greebles. There are a couple of spots that could benefit from the parts selection that is available today, but otherwise the model is truly stunning. Pieces: When you've got 3000+ pieces at your disposal, it can be pretty hard to complain about the selection. There are an enormous amount of giant plates, and loads of of plates of every other size. Same deal with beams - a goldmine of various sizes. There are not really any unique pieces here, but just the sheer number of pieces makes for an amazing parts pack. The colours are mainly gray and black, but there are a number of red, blue, and white parts too. If you're in the market for gray pieces, you've come to the right place. One could build dozens upon dozens of smaller ships or other things using what is provided in the set. There are a lot of technic pieces, and small greebles. There is one sticker which is used on the display stand. Playability: Being an ultimate collectors series set, this beast is intended to be a display piece. Though the ship can come apart in sections for easier transportation, I would advise against swooshing anything around as you may damage the ship or accidentally brutally impale someone. The inclusion of the mini Tantive IV does make it incredibly tempting to re-create the opening scene from A New Hope, but as I said - extreme caution required! If you have a Millennium Falcon bag charm or build yourself a mini A-Wing for example, you could attempt to recreate other scenes from the films as well. Verdict: The release of the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer confirmed that TLC was serious about providing very large, very detailed, and very expensive sets that AFOLs would crave. Overnight the greeble technique would also become standard practice on sets. Construction of the set may be a love or hate experience, but there is no denying that the end result is out of this world! As always, comments and questions are more than welcome. Cheers!

((INDEXED)) The world had only just gotten a taste of what the Star Wars ultimate collectors series had to offer. Then in 2002, the Lego company released the largest and most expensive set ever at the time. With over 3000 pieces, the Imperial Star Destroyer not only helped pioneer the greebling technique, but it also redefined what was possible as a consumer product. The Star Destroyer is one of the most iconic ships in the Star Wars universe, and this UCS set is certainly one of the most impressive Lego sets ever too. Info Set# - 10030 Name - Imperial Star Destroyer Theme/Subtheme - Star Wars/Ultimate Collectors Series Year - 2002 Piece Count - 3104 Minifigures - 0 Price - MSRP $300 US Links Brickset, Peeron, Bricklink, Brickshelf Instructions When you're building a monster of a set, you're going to need a gigantic instruction manual as well. Here we can see the front of this beast - it features the same picture as on the front of the box. The manual measures an incredible 17 inches long and contains 225 pages! The back of the manual features close ups of a handful of notable details including the deflector shield domes, turbo laser turrets, the engines (both main and emergency), sensor arrays, and ion cannons: Here is a random page from within the manual. Thanks to the Lego instruction gods, there are piece call-outs for every step. There can be anywhere from 4 to 50+ pieces used in each step, so there is always plenty to do and progressing through the manual is very slow. Colour differentiation, as to be expected from most manuals from the past decade, is poor. It can be a pain to distinguish between black and dark gray, and many of the same pieces come in multiple colours. Unfortunately, there are also a good half dozen or so mistakes to be found in the instructions. These mistakes can range from the wrong quantity of parts in the piece call-outs, to parts not being placed in the proper spot and there being inconsistencies between steps: Pieces The Star Destroyer is physically a very large ship, so to be expected, many of the parts are also massive. Unsurprisingly, there are also large quantities of these massive parts. For example, at the top left of the picture, there are two piles of 6x16 plates that are stacked fifteen high (for a total of 30!) There is a whole range of different sized large plates in this set, and you get a whopping amount of all of them: Here we have many more large parts, as well as some medium sized ones too. At the top left is the makings for the engines of the ship, the wheels are of the giant variety - the largest of that style offered by TLC. There are plenty of technic beams used in this set, as they are needed to make solid framework. At the top right, I have stacked the gray 1x16 long technic beams five high, and there are thirteen piles of them (note: one stack is six high. There are a total of 66 of these beams!) Many smaller beams, plates, and wings are also present: Here we have another display of varied pieces. There are many small plates and tiles, axles and pins, bricks and hinged bricks, bricks with pins, slopped bricks, panels, and even 28 magnets. There are many colourful pieces here, but they will be used inside the ship were they won't be seen when it's done. These coloured parts make construction flow better as they are easy to find and place: Greebles! To quote The Lego Book - "This model pioneered the use of tiny LEGO elements known as "greebles" to create intricate detail". Sure greebling had been used prior to the ISD, but TLC really went to town using the technique on this set. The greebling technique has since been used on just about every other UCS set, and has even found its way into many system scale sets. However, I don't think any other Lego set (not even the UCS Falcon) can match the sheer amount of greebles that are present on the Star Destroyer: Oddly enough, though all the rest of the grays found in the set are of the old variety, two of the four brackets in my kit were the new dark bley. I can only assume this is because I purchased my copy of the Star Destroyer from S@H after the shift to the new grays in production and so a pair of pieces in this new colour snuck into my set. Old dark gray on the left, new dark bley on the right: The Build Now the real fun can begin - construction of the massive ship. As the ship is going to be ridiculously big, you're of course going to want a good solid frame for starters. You begin by building a T shape which will be at the rear of the ship, this is made up of long technic beams that are sandwiched between plates, and then there are pins here and there which will be used for various purposes later on: Work on the frame continues much in the same way. You continue to add technic beams, plates, and pins. It does not take long to realize that you're going to need a very large work area, as the ship is going to be huge: This is how a completed frame looks. Note the many blue half technic pins around the edge of the frame - greeble covered plates will soon be attached to these pins. A number of magnets are added along the center of the frame, these will later be used to hold massive panels in place: Unfortunately, once you have completed the frame, you will encounter a 2x - meaning it's time to build a second frame. However, at this time you are also asked to assemble 16 greeble covered plates. Each of these plates is 10 studs long, and will be covered with 9 pieces. Even more unfortunate is that the 2x mentioned earlier also applies to the greeble covered plates, meaning you'll have to make a total of 32 of these! Instead of doing the greebles in two separate batches as per following the instructions, I tackled the greeble madness all at once. To make this process easier, I lines up the 1x10 plates on a handful of 2x16 plates and then proceeded to add the greebling. Using this method made keeping track of the proper amount of parts much easier. Note the missing goblet towards the right on the picture, this piece was found and added much later: Once you're done with the greeble madness, they can be attached to the frame. Before you know it, you'll have two identical frames like the one here: At this point we can make the feet which act as the stand for the model. Here is a walk-through of how a foot is made. Four of these feet must be made: One frame is inverted, while the other remains right-side up and then these are placed directly over one another. With the two frames on top of each other, they are secured together using 10 small block submodels, and the feet can be attached to a pair of short stands: Here we have a front view of how the models looks thus far. With two frames attached together into one, we now have a very solid inner structure for the ship: Here is an overhead view to give you a better sense of where the feet are placed, as well as the location of the 10 small blocks that are used to secure the two frames together. At this point the whole structure is very nose heavy, but if you're quite lucky it will stand up straight and not fall forward: Support is added for the super structure which will be added much later. Also note that additional magnets have been added to the bottom frame: It's time to work on the rear of the ship, and to add engines. First, 4 of these wedge shaped submodels must be built: Next, 4 panels with emergency engines are built: These 8 panels are attached to the rear of the ship as seen here: Here is a walk-through for the construction of one of the main engines. 3 of these engines must be built: The engines can be attached to the jumper plates, and the 2x3 plates at the rear of the ship. The extra weight from these engines helps to keep the whole models much more balanced on its feet at this point: Now it's time to clear an even larger workspace, and to make sure that your thumbs are ready to press lots and lots of plates together. We can now build one of the large panels which will be attached to the bottom of the ship. During this process, you butt-up large plates next to one another, and then use smaller plates to secure everything together. The length of the panel grows quite quickly, and it is satisfying to see such large results: At this point we flip the panel over to add pins on which a rear wing will later be attached, and we also add re-enforcements in the form of more plates: Reinforcements are added along the length of the bottom of the panel, as are magnets too: Here is the rear wing which I spoke of above. This is attached to the panel: Flipping everything over, we can see how this bottom panel looks now that it is complete: Carefully line up the magnets at the bottom/rear of the ship: Line up the magnets at the midsection and front of the ship as well: Plates with holes are used to secure the panel to the edges of the frame: It can be a pain to attach the panel to the frame, but once you do, this is how things look: A different view of the panel attached: You now must assemble a second panel which will be attached to the bottom of the ship. This second panel is identical to the first, save that it is mirrored. Once it it complete, the panel is attached to the frame the same way as the first: Again, an alternate view of the panels attached. Note the hole around 2/3rds up the ship - the mini Tantive IV which will be built at the end can fit in the makeshift hanger bay: Now we build one of the top panels for the ship. This is done in basically the same way as the bottom panels, but the shape is slightly different, and some of the parts used are different too (such as the large plates with the smooth sections at their center). We can also see the 4 turntables where the heavy turbo lasers will soon be attached. As before, the whole panels is flipped over to add reinforcements and pins for the rear wing section to be added. We also build the tip of the panel, and attach it as shown: Here is the construction of a heavy turbolaser. You have to make 4 of these: The heavy turbolasers are attached to the turntables. Though simple, these lasers look pretty good on the ship. In the Star Wars universe, one of these lasers measures 50 meters in diameter! Around half-way along the panel, a few other details are added as well, such as a defense turret: The first top panel is now finished: These panels are really long! Each one measures in at a length of 37 inches: The panel is attached to the ship in the same way that the bottom ones were. This is a tricky process, but you are greatly rewarded when you see the shape of the ship really coming along: Opposite angle: Here is a closer view of the interior of the ship at this point. People often ask if there is any sort of exciting interior to the ship - that's it, lots of frame work and magnets: You then build a second panel and attach it to the top of the ship. Looking straight on, the ship has a rather small profile, giving a false impression as to the overall size of the Star Destroyer: At a just slightly higher angle, you start to realize that the ship might actually be huge... Yep, the ship is big alright. This overhead shot almost does its size justice: Straight on rear reveals a nice view of the powerful engines: A slightly higher angle: And now just about an overhead shot, but this time from the rear: The side shot gives you a good idea of the shape of the ship, and it's length. Remember, this ship is more than 3 feet long! This hole will soon be covered over with the super structure. Should you ever want to move the Star Destroyer around, you can grab hold of the group of beams running along the center of the ship and lift it from there. Of course the ship is fairly awkward to move around because of its size, but at least it will hold together fine while carrying it from this point:

Wow, what a beauty! These new high res. pics certainly put those earlier ones to shame. The shuttle is absolutely stunning, I'm practically speechless. It's far more than I could have hoped for. I'm extremely happy to see the large stand and display card. Can clearly see that two minifigures can comfortably sit in the cockpit, so it will be interesting to see how much room there is for more. September can't arrive soon enough!

Thanks for the look at this set! While not the most spectacular level crossing ever, this one is pretty simple and therefore relatively cheap. This type of set is a must have in any town/train layout, and the extra straight train tracks are always very welcome.

Thanks for your look at this set, Brickster! I strongly considered picking this set up recently as it was 20% off (I ultimately picked up the Apple Tree House instead). I like the colours and pieces in this set, and the models are a nice change of pace. The articulation of the many limbs and joints, and the snapping jaw seem to make this a surprisingly playable kit.

Wow! What a race! (Wish I had been there....) So no rain, in fact, excellent weather. Nice to see. Loads of contact during the first corner of the race. I was disappointed to see Liuzzi to take such a beating and lose so many places considering where he started on the grid. Quite an unpredictable race though with all those pits to change tires - very fun to watch. Glad to see Hamilton manage to take first. I was almost certain his tires would cost him the race (a number of the others had very beat up tires at the end of the race too). I would have liked to have seen Alonso finish 2nd, but Button managed to sneak past him. The top ten was a bit more mixed up at the end of the race than it often is, so it was nice to see some of those other drivers and teams get a couple of points. And what about Schumacher? His driving seemed very questionable.

Went back to the TRU in Newmarket at opening time this morning to check on the minifigures again. They were completely sold out, and even the big cases that they come in were gone. The Toy Story promo with the green martian is 5 bucks for those interested.

Yes, that is correct. Also, I just noticed that the Prince of Persia sets are listed at 20% off on the TRU website. I'm not sure if this is an online only thing or not as I didn't see the promo listed anywhere in this weeks flyer. I'll perhaps return to the store tomorrow to investigate further.

Yup, that's the one. I did not check the price, however there seemed to be plenty of them for sale.

Great qualifying today! Hurray for Hamilton getting pole position. He was certainly fast, and I hope he manages to have a fantastic race tomorrow (not getting passed at the start of the race, or crashing at any point). Not too surprising to see Webber and Vettel take 2nd and 3rd. As much as I'd like to see someone other than those two take first place in the race, I'd rather it's not a result of them crashing into each other again. Very happy to see Alonso in 4th, hopefully he puts up a good fight. Also, a special mention to Liuzzi - a brilliant qualifying session for him. It's been rainy across this part of the country, and it looks like the weather could potentially be a factor in the race tomorrow. If it rains, things sure could get even more interesting.

As per usual, I stopped into TRU today. I was happy to see they had the entire Kingdoms line for sale (save for the battle packs). They also had the final creator set (the blue truck with the atv), and the Toy Story promo with the little green alien. Now for the moment everyone has been waiting for... they had 2 boxes of the collectible minifigures! They apparently just got the boxes in within the past day or so, and from what I saw they are selling like mad. One box had about a dozen or so figures left, whereas the second box was mostly still full. I picked up a complete set for myself (just by comparing bar codes on the back, I didn't think TRU would have the figs so I didn't bother to bring a bar code sheet). The figures were being sold for 3 bucks a pack.

I'm really looking forward to the race this weekend. I feel very guilty that I did not attempt to pick up some tickets for the event a long time ago. From where I live, it's only around a 5 hour train ride, or 7 hour drive to Montreal. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll have to plan a nice little weekend getaway for some grand prix action. Nice to see Alonso so close behind Vettel during 2nd practice. I'd like to see him do well this weekend. Here's to a great qualifying session for everyone tomorrow!

I am a big fan of Vladek's Dark Fortress. I rushed out to buy it the day I found out it was available for sale. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that set, and always wished I had picked up the Dark Fortress Landing when it came out to go alongside the big castle. I really like the mods that you have done here, as your creation has a much stronger presence than the stock fortress landing. The interior that you have made really finishes things off nicely and is a fantastic addition. I really wish TLC would add more details and accessories to their sets, as you've proven that you really only need a relatively small amount of pieces to make some nice furnishings.

Sounds pretty legit to me. Especially given that TLC basically stated that they would be expanding upon the Winter Toy Shop. A bakery would fit in quite nicely, so it will be interesting to see some pictures eventually. Thanks again for the find.

Holy smokes! What is the date today? Is someone playing a joke again!? This is wonderful news. Here we are just voting on what world icon we'd like to see for 2012, and now we have word on what this year's exclusive will be. The Tower Bridge will look absolutely marvelous, it sounds like it will be huge! Fantastic choice, I really can't wait to see pictures. This will likely have to be a must have for myself. The inclusion of vehicles is an interesting choice as well. Exciting!

I think the controversy is more along the lines of... TRU sells a lot of different toys, and it doesn't seem in the best interest in promoting either Lego or TRU, to show the store stocking all these weapons. In the set, we have some boxes of Lego, a small car, a bear, and a barrel full of weapons. It just seems that a different type of toy could have been chosen over guns and swords. Maybe the set is part of some sort of alternate reality city theme, in which brightly coloured bears are terrorizing everyone, and stores (even ones like TRU) have taken to selling guns to be able to fend off the animals?

Yes, there does almost seem to be a stand so that you can properly display the model even when the wings are lowered. I doubt there will be any info card like in previous UCS models though. The Clone Wars box is being used for basically all the SW sets for the second half of this year, regardless of which episode the set if for.

The more I look at the picture of the Shuttle, the more I realize how big it actually is. The shuttle looks to be about the same size as the one done by cavegod here. That would mean that much of the nose of the ship is made up of these . I suspect the reason that the nose looks like one piece in the picture is simply because it's a low res pic and it is difficult to make out many of the details.