Jareth

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=8028-1 http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=30051-1 I also saw these at Wal Mart

Do you "piece out" your minifigs? I do, but I think I'm in the minority, I think most people keep the minifigs in their original, lego instructed form.

What an interesting idea. I am a big believer in having multiple sets because so many sets have "unique" parts, so I'd rather have 5 $20 sets (and multiples of 5 of the parts) than get 1 $100 set. When I buy a set to save it as a collectors set/investment, it is because I can only get 1 of it.

I think they were $4 like the rest of the impulse sets. You can always get them during a BOGO 1/2 off sale.

Yep that's the one I meant....actually it looks more like a turkey than a dragon or phoenix, but it's still some pretty good parts. They also have sets 30062 Kingdoms Archer: which has an apple, a chicken leg and a flame piece, 30071 Toy story army man & jeep, 30042 Atlantis diver & mini sub and 4900 a rescue helicopter I also saw 2 new sets at TRU while looking for series 4 30050 Mini republic attack shuttle which is worth it if you want white and dark red pieces and 30081 a Ninjago skeleton copter http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=30081-1 check it out, it has 2 good brackets and 4 bone pieces. Man, if there wasn't so many good sets coming out later this year....

at Target I found three mini sets in their Easter section http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=30054-1 A nice mini at-st that's good for gribble. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=30010-1 A firefighter in a "powerwheels" There was also a little Ninjago set, but I can't seem to find it on bricklink. It has a ninja and a mini-dragon that's an OK source of parts.

I really like the bat wings on the wraith. How did you attach them to the torso?

So, I've given up on posting actuall images for a while so I'm just giving you a link to my latest projects. Big Troll Weapons, little troll weapons, a Blacktron I enforcer, Samurai Jack WIP and a couple of beholders. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=464287 Please comment on the builds, I know the pictures aren't the best, but I think for a 1st attempt they're ok.

It is sort of random what they have in the PAB wall, unless you request something. But I have seen pink and transparent. There's usually a windshield and usually a 1 x 1 plate in a transparent color.

I have noticed that a lot of good designs use multiple "unique parts." You know, the ones that come one or two to a set. So I try and buy multiples of sets. I wait for something to go clearance or on a good sale and then I buy multiple sets of it. If it helps, it can be a good idea to find out what your store's return policy is. When you see clearance BUY IT, then go home and check it out on peeron or bricklink. Then decide whether to open it or return it. The few times I've ignored this advise I regretted it. You can also go to a lego store and buy a cup of goodies.

Target online has put lego games MAGIKUS and MONSTER 4 on about 25% clearance, but at my local Madison Wisconsin west location they are about 50% off There were only a few Magikus set for 4.98 (Priced 7.48) There were at least 10 Monster 4 sets for 7.48 Hooray for Monster Heads!!

Hey I was right!

My dream theme would be the spiderwick chronicles. Forget the movie, the books are so much better. Sets would mainly be vignettes with two walls, a human figure made of the Knights kingdom line and a minifig sized brownie/fairy/other. Each set would also have a trap door or hiding place for the brownie/fairy. Set 1: Thimbletack's Kitchen: Includes Jared (human) Thimbletack the brownie (minifig) and a two-wall kitchen Set 2: Goblin Attack: Includes Malorie, two brick build goblins and an outer wall vignette. Set 3: The Gryphon: Includes Simon and a brick built Gryphon with a few odds and ends (food bowl, blanket etc) Set 4: The Rescue: Includes A brick built troll, a bridge, two brick built goblins and a goblin camp with cages in trees for Simon, a cat and Hogsqueal the hobgoblin (minifig) Hmm, now that I think about it, it might be better to have humans in the Woody/Jessie size, goblins in the normal minifig line and Brownies and Hobgoblins as a special piece like the new chickens.

TLG has made various "large figures" to interact with minifigs over time. There were the orient expedition ones, HP Hagrid, HP troll, Fantasy troll and now there are the Woody & Jessy limbs. What I would like to see in the future is more consistency and compatibility. As an example, there are the "large animal parts" used to make Elephants dinosaurs and other large animals. These were used in 5 different themes (Alpha team, star wars, orient expedition, dinosaurs and Jurassic park. http://peeron.com/inv/parts/40375 By altering the heads and using foot add-ons they were able to keep these parts viable for 5 years. I also wouldn't have minded seeing them used for the dragons in Fantasy, Viking and Harry Potter either. The result was that this was a lot of fun being able to mix and match animal parts to make hybrids and mutants. Anyway, what can be done about it now? Well, for starters, keep the Jessy & woody arms in production with different colors and prints. Especially in space and Atlantis this would make the aliens/fish people more bizarre looking, instead of looking like people with masks. Secondly, I'll use the fantasy large troll as an example http://peeron.com/inv/parts/x1844cx1 I like the Lego Look to this figure. It's blocky but not too blocky (The HP troll is too smooth, and the Orient Expedition Large figure was too blocky) And it has plenty of studs and technic pin holes to help customize it. That is crucial. Now that we know what's good, what could use improvement? Well, I think that this one part should really be three seperate parts, a head a torso and a pair of legs. This would allow lego designers to use MOST of the same parts year after year and still make it look unique, like what TLG does with minifigures now. For Atlantis a new head could be made and Squid legs and crab arms could be made out of normal lego bricks. For Pharaoh, a statue could be made by making a head that fits on top of the torso. Space, castle and other action themes could also use these parts. As another benefit, making the separate troll head/torso/legs would make the troll poseable. In conclusion, please TLG, keep using the Woody & Jessie arms and legs, and when you make a new large figure, keep using it and just modify the arms, legs and heads.

Perhaps they are going to announce that parts from these sets will be made available in the pick a brick section or perhaps they will make a AFOL designed set from one of each of these themes, similar to the space skull set.

I just got my 1st brickforge purchase in the mail, and I'm very pleased with the results. Sorry, no pictures of my own yet. I Mainly got Chest, Shoulder, Arm and Lego armor, but I also got a wizards staff. http://www.brickforge.com/store/home.php?cat=314 I decided to see how they would look on a troll warrior. On a whim I put the wizards staff in the troll's hand and put the Scimitar in the socket of the wizards staff. http://peeron.com/inv/parts/60752 I wish I could show you a picture of the final result, but it looks awesome. It's a rugged looking polearm perfect for trolls. to review the other things. I really like the shoulder armor and battle armor. It feels a little fragile, more for display than play, but I'm always looking for armor that helps break up the outline of my minifigs. The arm armor was ok. It tends to shift a lot. The Leg armor was great. It's made of a rubbery substance so it seems pretty kid proof and it has a slot for a small sword. I would definitely get these again.

Also, I've noticed that TRU is having overlaping sales. They will have special prices for the weekend (saturday to monday) on select sets and also have a weekly sale (sunday to saturday) For example on monday, the Atlantis Impulse sets were 30% off and there was the Buy one get on 50% off. I was very tempted, but I'd allready bought some of the atlantis magnets sets and with the great castle, space and pirate sets this year, I couldn't justify buying them. But I'm still going to check things out saturday to see what the new sale is.

Egad, I never knew there was a British version of Megablocks. Anyway, as a kid in New England I watched Dr Who on PBS. In Wisconsin I watch it on PBS. My Friends in New England now watch different seasons on Cable. I Think that Germany would get into Dr Who if it was brought there the right way. (Daleks speak German after all) However one big problem that Lego/bbc might run into is that we're watching different seasons. I'm on season 4, my friends are on season 5 or 6 and the Brits are on season 6 or 7. Not only would the BBC have to cancel it's agreement with Character Options, but they would have to unify what season we're watching to maximize the effort. Of course, it could just be considered Lego's new Action theme.

I got them from Bed Bath & Beyond. From my experience buying storage stuff (Plastic Tackle Boxes) for my other hobbies, one of the big drawbacks to wall-mart is that if you decide to get more storage later on, they will have something similar, but not the exact same thing. This makes stacking more difficult and makes it look worse. My advise is that when you set up a storage area, make sure you buy a lot of it, so that you won't have to hunt for the same box again. Other than plastic shoe-boxes, I use a couple of "brick Buckets" from lego and a Bookcase I picked up on the side of the road. I'd rather spend money on lego than storage.

Monona Wisconsin Wall-Mart has the build a Zurg set for $12 It might not be the best buy, but there are a LOT of them if someone wants to do a purple themed moonbase or something.

Also, it is worth visiting both. The Pick a Brick in the Lego store (where you fill a cup) is MUCH better priced than the bags in the discovery center. That being said, sometimes there's stuff to good to pass up in the DC. Some other things to look for are clearance items, brick separators, specialty sets (like wheels or doors & windows) bags of .... whatever they swept off the floor. also if you have $70 burning a hole in your pocket, look up the PAB site on Lego.com figure out what piece you want a lot of and then ask the store to order a case of it for you. It's one of the most economical ways to buy legos and it really helps with those large creations.

Thanks! I've posted a bit, and I don't have a computer so I'll have to work on the sigfig/moc thing. But it's great to be here! No sigfig yet....well, I guess I have one, I just haven't taken a picture of it yet. I'm hoping to go to brickworld. I do need to get some boxes of Lego from the Lego Stores at some point. (I need 2x4 plates bad....but no orange, orange is the devil)

I guess my post wasn't clear AND I was wrong. I never thought the new blue was going to replace old blue entirely, but I did think that all the Earth Force Vehicles were going to be made in new blue. I sure hope they are regular blue, that would be better for classic builders. It would also make the Earth Defense HQ a lot more appealing, especially considering the Price Per Parts for the mid range sets is not that good. Normally I buy multiples of a good priced set, but this year I might have to change with EDHQ, and the two mill sets and whitecap bay and......

Heh Heh, Not to worry, I might be in Wisconsin, but I'm not a native. I do like Brats however.

I really like what I see. My main complaint is the new blue color. We went through gray change, and that was bad enough, but I do understand it. Many of my Old Gray pieces are different colors so I understand changing the formula to make it more consistent, but new blue.....bleh. Earth Defense HQ is good....except for new blue Alien Mothership and UFO abduction seem overpriced, I'll have to get my pitchforks elsewhere The Tripod has awesome radar dishes in black for feet!!! I'll take 2 Alien Defender and Alien Encounter/striker (the two small sets) seem to be very good army builders. I think I'll skip the new blue set.