sharky

That will be the only Ninjago set I get this year. I am quite taken with it.

Don't forget that the LOTR trilogy will come back to the theater in 3D. And The Hobbit movies have a great deal of cross over appeal. However, I do think LOTR and The Hobbit movies appeal more to AFOL and TFOL than kids. But, if you think about it, one need not be a specific fan of the media in order to be a fan of fantasy, knights, castles, etc. So, I suspect a lot of general fans of Kingdoms will certainly be interested in LOTR as well even if they know nothing of the stories.

I would go for the 2 starfighters for sure. T6 is not very playable IMO. I have Plo Koon's fighter and it looks sharp and is easy to play with. I like the ejection seat play feature as well.

I admire the job you did on the wheels.

At one Target they are on an endcap at the end of the Lego aisle. At another Target they are in the girls section right next to the Polly Pockets and similar toys. At TRU it was on an endcap on a Lego aisle.

Never did see the polybag Walker set or the jetpack set for that matter. I wonder where it showed up? Also, I suppose I should get the mothership and jetcopter to complete the theme, but I was never that crazy about them. I may change me mind if I can get it at a good discount. Like you, I'm probably better off budget-wise that they did not continue the theme. Still, I look forward to doing a little customization by using army men parts from the Toy Story line, Haz-mat guys from the CMF, and the new grey alien from Series 6 of the CMF line.

This was one theme I was hoping to see at least another round of sets. Oh well, I noticed S@H has the Earth Defense HQ marked down, and I took that as a sign to get my rear in gear and buy it before it sells out and the secondary market prices start climbing. I did notice that I don't really see it in stores anymore. I suspect it was a popular Christmas gift this past season. It certainly was the best set of the theme.

Good review. I was curious how they would do the underside so that they can fit an entire R2 unit in. As suspected the bottom leaves something to be desired. To be fair, most Lego Star Wars ships look rather unfinished on the bottom anyway, but I would have rather they streamline the bottom and only require that you use the R2 head for the top. They probably could have used less pieces and dropped the price slightly. Still, a decent set with good play value.

I may actually get this set for myself and parts swap the pinks and lavenders for more wood-tone colors. It would go great with the Creator houses. Frankly, save for the colors this looks like a set that could work in the City forest sub-theme. I mean, what little boy doesn't wish for a cool tree house to play in.

Thanks for the review. Looks like a fun set with a lot of play and display value. The price is also decent with a good mix of minifigures. However, I find that batcycle incredibly lame. I am really scratching my head about it and wondering how that design got approved for release. Looks very unfinished and something a kid would build with his spare parts bin. I would seriously knock the design score down a peg just for the batcycle alone.

I noticed the Destiny's Bounty yesterday at my local Target. I officially want that ship , and will most likely be the only Ninjago set I get out of the 2012 releases. Is it only me, or do others get a real strong steampunk vibe from that ship? IMO, that ship is the one saving grace for all the new sets from Ninjago.

Wow. Lego really did a good job in making me want some of these sets for myself if not for the color pallet. That's how I can see that they really didn't water down the builds of these Friends sets. Count me in as a fan of this theme.

Great review. I think Lego really hit a home run with this set. Just the fact that all the rooms have furniture is a real plus to me. Bravo! My only critique is that I wish it was more architectural and less of a dollhouse style, but I'm not the target demographic who will play with it. This style of house gives easier access to play.

Perhaps they feel it's sometimes good to end things on a high note. Unlike Ninjago.

Great to see these up close. Thanks for the review. I am most excited to get quite a few grey aliens. I will want to swap out all the aliens from Alien Conquest with these.

Your post also reminds me of some talk about how Lego CMF ideas sometimes hint toward upcoming themes and ideas.

I understand that you don't like the new minifigure, and they are a departure from the standard minifigure. I'm not crazy about them either. But, I don't think they are 'ugly' in the least bit. From a playability aspect I think they missed the mark. Case in point, a saw some preliminary pics of the summer 2012 sets and all the Friends figures have to basically stand up on the horses. Of course standard minifigures also stand in a horse, but their leg height is such that you get a sitting effect. The Friends minifigures are taller and it looks very odd, IMO.

Ah, OK. I never collected the old HP stuff, but I'm sure I've seen that pic of Hogwarts. I guess it stuck in my mind, and I subconsciously remembered it, but didn't realize it. I wish the newer HP sets still had them. Oh well. Back on topic, I find it hard to pinpoint an era that these are in. The werewolf and Frankenstien sets seem from an earlier time, while the Dracula sets seem more in the 50s/60s area. It's all over the place, but somehow it works for me.

One thing I would like to mention is that this is one 'girls' Lego theme I wouldn't mind getting for her and even for myself for some of the parts etc. I saw little value in the Belville theme as it didn't seem to offer any kind of build experience and they frankly were of zero interest to my daughter. Every time we go to the Lego store she totally ignores the Belville stuff. I've been sticking to Creator houses, some City (like the camper set), and even some Star Wars sets because that's really the things she seems interested in from Lego. It's been rather hard to find just the right sets for her. Finally, there are good sets coming that appeal directly to her and appeal to a parent's sensibility in why they think Lego is a good toy. I hope she will enjoy all the sets in this theme. I'll also be looking to get Friends sets for birthday gifts for her friends as well.

I keep looking at that skeleton horse on the mummy set and thinking that perhaps the mold was going to be used in a Harry Potter set, but maybe the idea got scrapped late in the game. Of course it would be molded in black and with wings added. (Edit: OK I see that it is an old mold from various other sets. Thanks guys ) I get the feeling that these sets are really aimed at AFOLs as I seriously don't think a great many kids these days are even into the classic monsters as much as most adults save for seasonal interest during Halloween. Maybe it's more a boy thing as I only have a young daughter, and she's not really into spooky stuff like that. BTW, I also feel the Alien Conquest theme is more adult oriented than kid. Just my opinion of course. The Dracula castle looks interesting. I just hope the castle actually has some more structure and is not just a front wall.

True, I don't think many of those ideas save for a ship and Fell Beast could warrant an actual set to itself. I was thinking that the Balrog scene does need a set though. I mean whenever I think of The Fellowship of the Ring movie the first scene that comes to mind is that. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" Always gives me goosebumps

I have to agree about the limited vehicles in LOTR. To be fair, though, they could still do things like siege towers, battering rams, mobile catapults, 1 or 2 ships, and maybe a canoe set. I also look to the Ninjago dragons for inspiration for Lego to do a flying beast that the Nazgul use to fly around on. I wonder about trying to do a brick built elephant perhaps on a scale of the AT-AT, but it may not be popular enough to justify such a large and expensive set.

I'm actually tired of all the city police and fire sets. How many versions of a police car, police helicopter, police ATV, or fire related vehicle do we need? For every licensed set one is tired of I can show you an equally tiresome set from a non-licensed theme. I think licensed sets give lots more variety to Lego. I'm already kind of a nut for toy collecting my favorite movies. At least with Lego, I can always expand my hobby into MOCs when I get tired of building and displaying just the sets.

I hadn't noticed this set before. I try only pick up certain City sets that have a special appeal to me. That robbers hideout is a must get. Finally, we have a place they can hang out and scheme. I really want that hot rod and bear as well. I'm glad the bear is in another set other than the Forest Police Station. Normally, I only get police sets that feature some kind of civilian items like the Money Transfer, Police Chase, etc, but I am just smitten with the Robbers Hideout. I'm sure it will be a very popular set.

Wow, those do look good.