Shadows

Very very nice! *y* I actually like your colour choices for the contrast and realism they give. Personally, I'm a fan of any LEGO colour that starts with "dark" and the dark green is no exception. As for slopes in it, the choices are incredibly limited, but the brick palette for dark green is improving as time passes: Current LEGO available in Dark Green I look forward to the pizza shoppe and am just now getting around to trying to physically build a dark red and red coloured Chinese restaurant I did in ldraw. I think we'd make good neighbours. :-) Keep up the great work!

The sails are very nice and I like some of the detailing. A fine use of brick built cannon and the shark makes me smile for some reason. Only thing that seems out of place is that hull. Looks like something more matched to a late 19th century steamship that still would have carried sails for reserve use. Beyond that, I'd move the two slopes on either side of the cabin windows up one brick to cover the gap exposed by their angle (where they meet the window) and maybe angle the ladder lower (remove the 2 bricks where it meets the deck and replace them with a couple of plates placed maybe 4 studs closer to the cabin or simply have the ladder go straight down, I think it would fit perfectly and more naturally. Overall, nice work! *y*

In America, that's considered abuse and we call the authorities. Keep that in mind should you ever visit >:-) As for greater supply, I do think they wholesale them out to stores cheaper, inspiring a greater inventory, but that inventory never looks like it moves. Sometimes having a lot of product in store just means it isn't selling.

I wish this had ended up any Han Solo with a pistol vs. Grievous. *has visions of Raiders of the Lost Ark* Oh well, I'm still miffed that the sandtrooper lost his fight, so I'll just go with the obvious here and say that the Emperor uses the force to remove each and every mechanical part from Grievous, one at a time, until there's nothing left but his slimy little plant heart, which doesn't last long on it's own. Simple win for the Emperor.

... Sinner realises, much to his dismay, that the satisfying thud was actually Hinkley landing on, what's that? Oh, a blue bucket that is now ...

Never tried it on LEGO, anything is possible. I use them to label discs and haven't had any come off so far. I do know that I bought a huge lot of misc minifig parts on eBay once that included a figure with what appeared to be sharpie on it. In this case, the person had taken a brown head, torso and legs and drawn a little nude guy. *wacko* Alcohol took the ink off, but it took some effort. Didn't hurt the figure any, at least.

You forgot the most important part ... were the bricks ok? ;-)

I've never had real Sharpie come off anything. Highlighters and lesser brands sure, but not the real deal. As for paint, you might as well just start with a new head at that point, since you'll lose all of the detail anyway. No one has a steady enough hand to outline the existing detail on one without hitting some of the black areas. Don't get me wrong, I still think this is a rotten idea, I'm a purist and never mod anything, but I don't see why it wouldn't work out. If I did ever try doing something custom, I'd go water slide decal on blank parts.

Ok, when I read the first post I thought, "..." and then your xray followup turned it all around. Very nice! I too am a bit confused about why it won't be opened. I mean, it's nice to keep a set boxed, but the box isn't really that hot, so it's resale value based on that isn't particularly strong. Opening it won't make a lot of difference and would have saved all that effort.

1) I don't see why not. Technically, I don't think they went around the scars, I think they literally just went yellow over everything except the white pupils. I mean, can you really turn black any other colour? So hitting some of the black shouldn't matter. It'd be impossible to get that close without hitting. 2) No clue. It isn't even just the yellow, it's how the yellow tints the flesh colour that matters. 3) Very.

Vacuum cleaners are evil, designed for the sole purpose of seeking out bits of goodness and destroying them. Simple test. Put a feather or large piece of string on the carpet. Vacuum over it. Still there. Again. Still there. 15 times later, it might pick it up (only to drop it again elsewhere). Now put a penny. WHOMP, CLACK CLACK CLACK! *burning smell* First try. Same with LEGO. Every time. Disclaimer: Don't try this at home.

I have to chime in with Sinner here; I've been on the net since before it was the net and while I suspect that tubgirl is one of the many incarnations of girls in a tub filled with something up to their ... ears (cheetos, for example), I haven't a clue what a lemon party is. I do know of videogamegirl though. Whatever girl it is, and whatever system she's fond of, she always has the corresponding controllers and cables carefully arranged for maximum coverage of minimal areas. A classic!

Clue was actually a tolerable movie, but the game (Clue/Cluedo) had a plot and lots of characters. It was treated as a comedy and filled with interesting actors. Monopoly has ... Mr. Moneybags plus the cop and criminal. That's it. I mean, unless we end up with an invasion of huge CGI tokens representing everything from a battleship to a thimble, what else is there? Whoever thought this up should go to jail, directly to jail and no worries, they'll be lucky to scrape any money out of this ill-conceived plan. At least they can make products out of it. Monopoly: The Game! Wait, they've done that. Um. Monopoly: The Movie Edition of the Game of the Movie of the Game! YES! *walks off, shaking his head at the things people come up with* Could have at least picked something exciting like Yahtzee! Set it in Vegas. It's a convention of high rollers, all come together for the ultimate showdown. Nic Cage, Shia LeBouf (sp?), Sean Connery (he needs the work), Chuck Norris (just because) ... imagine the possibilities. *runs*

<cheesy announcer voice with echo effect> Toniiiiiight we bring you a 5 round duel to the death-eth-eth-eth! The world champion-yun-yun-yun ... LEEEEEEEEEEEGOOOOOOOOOO! The challenger ... Oh, I can't say it, we all know it's junk unk unk unk. Ok guys, cut the echo, it's getting annoying-ing-ing-ing. I said stop it NOW-ow-ow-ow! *storms out of the arena* </cheesy announcer voice with echo effect> I swear, the voices in my head are getting louder. *wacko* On topic: Blech. *announcer pokes head back in* You could say a bit more than that-at-at-at ... GRRR. Fine. I would never mix the two. I have never purchased a megablok unless it was mistakenly mixed into another purchase (ebay...) and I promptly sort them out. At this stage, I'm filling a box with them until I determine a suitable disposition for them. As for the hate or animosity displayed... It's a LEGO forum. We're LEGO people. A few will cross that line, and we don't burn them at the stake anymore, but anything primarily consisting of the other brand should probably be shared in a place where likeminded people meet. Much better chance of approval and acceptance. Or, as Wuhrer so clearly said, "We don't serve their kind here." Great. Now the voices are doing impressions.

If true, someone within the company lost a bet. Batman seems to be 2 sets for this year, so I'm not going to judge it on that, but the year off after poor sales should guarantee this isn't going to happen. Only chance, and it's the vaguest of one ... is there a major blockbuster dinosaur based movie coming out at the same time? Something that might inspire a short surge in sales. Even then, I can't see it being worth the investment to produce unless it's directly associated with the movie, and then it would be more than 2 sets. Nope, not happening. Mark my words.

Which is creepier, that he knew you have those things, or that you actually do? :-P On a serious note, this has been a fun contest to watch, nice work Hinkley! *y* I highly anticipate spirited voting to determine just who is the whackiest of you lot :-D Accordingly, I'm subject to <subtle> bribery, er financial inducements </subtle> um, someone just give me something and I'll vote for you! >:-)

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of that, would you?

The sandtrooper charges at Darth, who simply uses the force to push him back. "Hmmm, how shall I do this?" he thinks. "There must be 6 million ways to kill him, so many possibilities." Darth laughs an evil laugh. The trooper, bored of being shoved back with the force, sits down and resigns himself to his fate. Darth continues to plan just how he wants to finish off this poor trooper, cocky in his guaranteed easy victory. The trooper, knowing he's as good as dead, begins tinkering with the ship's computer, looking for something entertaining he can do during his last minutes. "Ah, this might be fun," he says, as he short circuits the entire bridge control computer. Sparks fly, a small fire starts. Darth is busy plotting. The fire spreads, soon an alarm goes off. The trooper instinctively dives toward the nearest escape pod and it's door seals behind him. The fire containment system seals off the bridge and opens it to the vacuum of space, both extinguishing the fire and Darth, all in one quick FWOOOSH! "Well, I guess it's time to start a new career," mutters the trooper as he ejects the pod which floats down to a nearby planet where he takes up moisture farming and fixing droids brought to him by those pesky jawas. Trooper wins.

Oh sure, the only jellybean knights I might have liked and they had to be hard to get. Figures...

Perhaps you should reply in perfectly correct Norwegian, just to be fair? :-P Bj

Well, I despise reworking the old Mars sets into the current line, so I'll take us away from that entirely. Mission: Deep Space Human ships sent out to explore. Each week they encounter new droids and aliens, including at least one lovely alien temptress *wub* per episode for the human captain to woo *giggles @ woo*. Wait, this is sounding familiar, but doesn't involve any licensing fees. It's perfect! A big ship/playset. Smaller fighters and probes. Alien ships and bases in any style. If LEGO wants to find an excuse to add some old themed pieces back in, just aim the next alien civilization in that direction and you're all set. Got a bunch of jungle stuff? No problem! Desert colours overflowing in the warehouses? Go for it! Overstocked in Galidor leftovers? That's your problem, don't try to pawn it off on us... not again. This whole theme is, of course, impossible, simply because it involves LEGO actually making new female figures, but hey, one can dream.

Let's see. Experienced smuggler with a blaster. Idiot with a spear. By the time they could meet, Jar Jar is old, disgraced, and as annoying as ever. Han is still relatively young (he always seemed a little too old) and quick on the draw. Clearly, in a realistic battle, Han wins. With our luck, Jar Jar shoots first.

Great pics and information! *y* This set was one that hadn't made my "to buy" list, and now it has. I'm not that impressed with any single part of it and will probably never build it even vaguely as suggested, but it will serve well for parts, which is actually better. I don't know why, but if I really love a set, I have to buy multiples, one to keep "as suggested" and others for parts. I can save myself one set on this one.

Chewie has experience, the warrior has ... cheap painted on armour. Chewie wins, no question. *puts on his 'Chewie shot first' t-shirt* ;-)

It's a nice hat and all, but you should really have that huge mole in the middle of your face checked out, it could be serious ... :-P To be perfectly honest, as nice as it is, I don't think I'd feel like I could be taken seriously in a hat like that. It's a lot like the powdered wigs of the various eras, just a bit too frilly for me. The size comparison was great though and that's a fine parrot you've got! *y*