Klaus-Dieter

Hello everybody! The most of you surely will agree with me that with the awesome 10184 Town Plan, the brilliant 7641 City Corner and some other smaller great civilian City sets a new erea has begun regarding civilian City sets. And surely a lot of you already included or planed to include these sets in your City layout. Perhaps you even own some older Town sets form the 80s and 90s which you include in your layout. Since every Lego City has its own city center now the question arises what is placed in the center of your Lego Cities: So what shall in your opinion the city center of your Lego City - or even of a Lego City in general - include? Or if you already built up a City layout what does your city center already include? Are there/Shall there be only official sets included or even some small MOCs? A signposted place with a statue on it or a green park with benchs? ... Let us know - comments are welcome! Klaus-Dieter

That's a great entry, Cale! I really it! When I saw only the first pic posted here I firstly thought: Well, nice house, but ...? But when I served through your gallery and looked at all the pics of your entry I really began to like it since the interior and the accessory you added to it are great! Very well done! Klaus-Dieter

This is a great entry, TheBrickster! I really it! It looks very realsitic! The only thing which I have to criticize is that the colors are a bit monotonous since every wagon has the same color. And some train doors to the locomotive would have been nice, too. Apart from that it looks great - like a real classic cargo train! Very well done! Klaus-Dieter

This is really a very simple but even a very nice container wagon, Matt Dawson! I really like it! There even have to be wagons which carry small containers, too. Very well done! Klaus-Dieter

This is an awesome MOC, TheBrickster! I really it! It is designed very realistic and in the special Lego train cars style! The most I like the very well fitting color combination. Is the interior the same like in the Emerald Night dining car? Very, very well done! :thumbup: Klaus-Dieter

That's an awesome entry, I Scream Clone! I really it! It looks absolutely realistic and the details are stunning! The most I like the green benchs and the little street vendor car. Very, very well done! :thumbup: Klaus-Dieter

Thanks, mathew! I fear that your link doesn't work - when I click on it it always says "Not found". What is mcts? Btw: Welcome to EB, mathew! Klaus-Dieter

Thank you very much for the links to the pictures of the sets, booger540 and The Alchemyst! I'm really surprised that TLG releases even very small sets - BPs and nearly Impulse sets - although this is a licensed theme. These are exactly my thoughts, too, ILikePi! I possibly might buy (depending on my financial situation and how expensive the set will be) the "Soldiers BP" since the soldiers really look great and the vehicle is designed very well, too. The picture of the "Western Town" is regrettably to blurry to be aible to make your opinion about it. The "maxifigs" and the horse look . But it's great that they included two buildings - one even two floors tall! But for a hard-core Western fan like me it's a shame that this is going to be a licensed set and not a regular set. So I surely won't buy it - but am nevertheless excited how it exactly will look like (even the interior if there is one). Klaus-Dieter

I think that some of you have already seen the preliminary picture of the Toy Story Western Town. When I saw this picture this morning I had two ideas: The (surely) bad news: Since there'll be that Toy Story Western Town the chances for a new Western theme in 2010 are nearly zero. The (maybe) good news: If this set is going to sell well this does not only mean that kids are interested in Toy Story but even that they are interested in Wild West. So if it sold well then we possibly might see a new WW theme in 2011. What do you think? Klaus-Dieter

I totally agree with ADHO15! When I remember right that spy which directed the Sandtroopers to the hangar where Han's Millenium Falcon was did not include a fleesh face but a black face with some sort of trunk. Btw: I hope that the Imperial admiral/general/whatever minifig in the Snowtroopers BP will have a new torso print - and not be again only the regular common Imperial Officer suit (like TLG did already wrong with the General Veers minifig in the 10178 Motorized AT-AT). Klaus-Dieter

Thank you very much for this great review, ben506! I voted for Below Average Pros: - excellent exterior design - at least one new great minifigure: Captain Antilles - very nice transport vehicle - cockpit better designed than I expected Cons: - no Stormtrooper to attack the ship - no black-suited Imperial Officer - no silvern 3PO (the one which was seen at the beginning of ep. 4) - only five minifigs - no exploding door - no real chairs in Leia's office but only arm rests and back rests - no hallway (which is the most important place in the ship for ep. 4) To put it in a nutshell: The exterior is designed excellently and there are even some nice additions like e. g. the small transport vehicle. But the interior is simply a shame. So all in all it's much less than TLG could have made out of it. The idea was great but the outcome is below average. Since this shall not be an UCS model but a playset TLG should have cared more about the interior! I personally would have prefered to pay 50 or even 100 Euros more but then get a bigger ship with a decent interior. Klaus-Dieter

These are great ideas for City Impulse sets which surely would sell very well, jonwil! I totally agree with you, Macoco! If you added a bank robber to your list for a bank set I bet that this one would sell very well among AFOLs as well as JFOLs! I totally agree with you, Matt Dawson! I, too, really do not understand why TLG doesn't release a post office, a grocery and a bank - which would be much more neccessary than again new Fire and Airport sets! Impulse sets are imo great - why did TLG (nearly) stop making some for City?! You're absolutely right, Rapseflaps! I really like the 7641 City Corner - it is an awesome set! But our Lego Cities need more than only one bus and only one bus station. Another set which contains a bus station and a bus would be great. Or even a set which is "only" a bus and a bus station and comes with many different stickers so that you can buy several of these sets and then have several busses - one with line number 21, one with 22, one with 23, ... (like you can do several "different" train waggons with the Emerald Knight set and the stickers included in it). This is really a great idea, Macocom, which I don't remember has been posted before. Klaus-Dieter

That's a very impressive Western MOC, SlyOwl! I really it! It looks very realistic, the minifigs fit very well and the details - mainly inside the mountain - are stunning! The most I like the covered waggon - great! Very, very well done! Klaus-Dieter

I totally agree with you, Oky Wan Kenobi! If the Christmas decorations on the houses could be lightened up this would of course be great! The only problem I see is how to do that since these pieces are that small. The only possibility might be a light conductive brick (like e. g. in the Metroliner for the front lights in the engine). Klaus-Dieter

Like others already mentioned I bet that this is only part of the background. If TLG included that an exclusive minifig in this set then they surely would have made in clearer visible in the picture. An additional comment to the Landspeeder: TLG often argues with too less playability and too less action elements as reason for why they do not release some (contents of some) sets. Considering the Landspeeder: If they included two Tuskens and a Bantha - wouldn't there have been much more playability and action elements than when only including a Sandtrooper and a Spy Droid?! The Luke's Landspeeder set would have been a set if it was part of a Mos Eisley Cantina set or if it included two Tuskens, a Bantha and either Luke's or Ben's home. But as a set which only includes the Landspeeder and some minifigs it is . Which desturbs me even more is that since TLG only releases the same vehicle in a minimum distance of two years and of TLG didn't continue the license of SW after 2011 we won't see any Ben's home and Luke's home, no Bantha, no decent Mos Eisley Cantina and no new Tuskens. Klaus-Dieter

Thanks, Inconspicuous! I'm glad to read that you like my castle layout. Yes, I necessarily wanted to have some beggars in my medieval city since they were common in medieval cities since many people did not own anything and so many ill and old people had to beg. I thought - and still am this opinion - that the classic Castle walls and buidlings work very well with the awesome 10193 MVV. Klaus-Dieter

Thank you very much for the links to the pics, Navy Trooper Fenson! The ARC Fighter looks really ok - but like already mentioned I don't buy PT/CW sets. The Landspeeder is imo much too big. And the minifigure selection is a huge disappointment: no Tusken Raiders and no Bantha. Since TLG includes a Sandtrooper they could at least have included a Dewback! Only the black shoulder pattern of the Sandtrooper and the small droid are a very small consolation. I'll supposably buy the Landspeeder - but only because of the Sandtrooper with the black shoulder pattern and the small droid - otherwise I'd pass it. Klaus-Dieter

Hello everybody! After I'll have to work (again) hard for university from the next week on I luckily had today some time to build up a medieval town layout with Castle sets from the 80s til this year. Köln is a city in West-Germany (its English name is "Cologne") which has been existing already since the Middle Ages. At this time it was encircled by heavy walls out of stone, included half-timbered houses, several market places, a big river - the Rhein (engl. "Rhine") running through the city and a lot of other things a medieval city did include. Don't ask me why but I did chose this name for my medieval town layout: Mittelalterliches Köln (Medieval Cologne) Here you have a quick overview of the town: Let's begin with our city tour outside the city - at the Rhein: Some rowing boats are driving there to transport goods and to control the trading routes: A prisoner's carriage takes away a prisoner to another city where he should be judged: The watchman on top of the highest tower of the city adumbrates with fanfare sound the arrival of many horsemen: The archbishop is arriving with his guards at the gate - his captain hands the guard at the gate a letter with important information: Now let's move inside the city: Directly behind the gate there is an armory on the right side and two poor people begging for bread and money on the other side: A weapon's carriage crosses the street, a lumberjack comes home from his work and at the market someone sells some meat and some sausages: But you can find not only meat and sausages at the market but even many more: fish, fruits, vegetables and household effects: In the middle of the market place there stands a big conifer. Beneath it a guard watches the events on the market place: Even the forester with one of his men and his dog visits the market in order to get fresh food: Life is at that time very hard - at least for the biggest part of the population which are farmers. So e. g. the barn has to be cleaned and new hay put inside and someone always has to look after the animals: But not only the farmers even the craftsmen have a lot to do: there are two blacksmith shops in which weaponry, household effects and many other things are produced and where the horses are studded: The streets are at that time very dirty - garbage and content of several chamber pots are simply thrown outside the windows - the reason for several illnesses, the expansion of the pest and rat menaces. So only cleaning the streets can help a bit: But there are regrettably not only problems inside the city - confrontations between several dukes, cities and countries often result in wars. Even Köln was regrettably not aible to not experience that. Troops are arriving at the city and attack it: So many knights, guards and soldiers leave the castle to defend the city whereas the meal for the archbishop is prepared: In order that they can defend the city effectly and well the guards, knights and soldiers have to exercise permanently: When you want to relax after a long day of hard work you can have a warm bath in the bath house, eat and drink something very delicious the landlady currently prepared: Cheers! Some very few pics can be found in this folder (when public) of my BS gallery. I hope you liked it and learned even a bit about the life in medieval cities. Comments are welcome! Klaus-Dieter

I don't hope so but imo it is well possible - I thought since there are seven and not only six sets on the list for the first wave. Btw: Welcome to EB, BrickBomb! Klaus-Dieter

Thanks, Legoliner Pilot! To your question: I think that the building itself from the construction site would fit very well. But the transport vehicle and mainly the mobile crane are imo much too huge. Otherwise I very supposably would have bought this set and add the building to my layout. Klaus-Dieter

Since we've got now pics of the TIE Defender, The Tri Droid Fighter, the Freeco Speeder and the two awesome Hoth BPs but no pics of the ARC Starfighter and Luke's Landspeeder I fear that those two sets will firstly come out in spring (like this year's Ashoka's Starfighter and Count Dooku's Solar Sailor) and so we will firstly see some pics in a few months. Nevertheless I hope this isn't the case. Klaus-Dieter

Thank you very much for the link to these pictures, Lego-Freak! The Tri-Droid looks really bad. But the Freeco Speeder and the TIE Defender look very well done. It's only a shame that TLG releases no regular TIE Fighter - I really do not understand that (even since we got Vader's TIE this year). Since I'm not interested in CW and do not collect PT I will pass these sets. The two Hoth BPs are awesome! The Rebel Trooper BP is great! It includes a decent vehicle and three nice Hoth Rebel Troopers. But the best is that we do not "only" get three Hoth Rebels but even a Rebel Pilot. The Snowtrooper BP is absolutely stunning! It includes a great Speederbike and two Snowtroopers. But the best is that we get some sort of gunner's station, an AT-AT Driver and finally even some sort of Imp. Officer in armor as leader of the Snowtroops I've been waiting for years! Btw: Do you think that the Rebel Pilot fits in the inside of the vehicle to drive it? And do you think that the Rebel Pilot and the Imp. Office in armor will be main characters? - I don't hope so. Klaus-Dieter

It's great to see so many people interested in this topic! I totally agree with you, Jonas O.! And that's even the reason why I voted for 8038 The Battle of Endor being my favourite SW set of this year. I bought this set on Friday and finished it building up this morning. Imo it has nearly only pros and nearly no cons. Like partly already mentioned it includes: - a decent building - the bunker - and not only a piece of wall - eleven minifigures and one droid - three completely new minifigures: Chief Chirpa, Endor Rebel Trooper and Endor Princess Leia - an Imperial Trooper for those people which can't afford the DS - awesome and very realistic design of the vehicles and mainly the bunker - awesome and very realistic interior of the bunker - much playability - 100 Euros is really not cheap - but for these many awesome contents it's a good price performance ratio - perhaps even the best price performance ratio of all SW sets until now! My list of this year's favourite sets is: 1. The Battle of Endor 2. Home One Mon Calamari Cruiser 3. Echo Base 4. Tantive 4 (In CW sets I'm not interested and PT sets I don't collect.) I partly agree with you, KimT. On the one hand I'm of course very glad to finally get a minifig scaled Tantive 4 since I've been waiting for it for years and it is the in the movies at first seen ship. On the other hand imo the outcome is really disappointing. The exterior is of course brilliantly designed. And it's even great to get Antilles and a white-suited Princess Leia. But the interior is bad: no hallway (which is the most important place in the movie!) and no real chairs in Leia's office . Plus there are only five minifigs, no silvern 3PO, no black-suited Imperial Officer and no other exclusive minifig. Klaus-Dieter

Thank you very much for calling my attention to that, Skipper 24. I'm very sorry for that mistake. Klaus-Dieter