sharky

No mention of the huge "The Munsters" T-shirt?

Awesome review for an equally awesome set. BTW, that standard minifigure with Friends mini-doll looks a bit obscene, but I know that wasn't the intent.

Funny you should say that because in the video he calls him Lurch. Maybe the fact that this set was coming out was even more reason to reject the Shaun of the Dead project. Same thought. This definitely trumps Vampire Castle and will be my one big Monster Fighter set that I must buy.

The 8907 Slave I has some of the most elaborate mechanisms to include FFM. THe fact that they even bothered to include 2 different kinds of FFM on 1 vehicle is interesting to me.

I'd go with Weathertop. To me, it ended up bigger than my perception of it in pictures. Besides you get Frodo and 2 extra rings for a total of 3. You get Aragorn, 2 Ring Wraiths, and 2 black horses. I was quite pleased with it once it was built.

I suppose this set is geared toward the more casual Lego collector that may not have spare bricks laying around to build their own display. The lack of a front cover to protect against dust is a small oversight. At least with the front open it won't interfere with some of the larger accessories like fishing poles, and there won't be any glare on the front which makes for easier viewing. The thing I like about it is that they corrected a major flaw I saw with the first set of display cases. That is, the first cases were closed off on the back and sides so that little light could come in. However, they neglected to make the top clear which should have been a priority above the back and sides. The price seems to be reasonable for the number of parts and the fact that it comes with a minifigure. Overall, a decent display case and gives someone another option in displaying their minifigures. It's completely modular and can be configured in various ways. That's step above the previous display offering. It's more hit than miss IMO.

That's kind of what I was thinking. If a grown man or woman came to him showing off our Lego sets he'd probably think we were a bunch of idiots.

I figured it was some little kid that had an accident, so it's really the fault of the parents I would think for not dealing with the issue properly.

That reminds me. The Ultimate Build Mater has a huge flick fire rocket, but I don't recall Mater have a launching rocket as part of his spy gear. I remember jet engines, but no rocket.

It could be a bad chrome job that has me worried that they are defective. Sometimes variation in the plastic material or issues during the molding process might make the chrome plating not adhere as it should. This story reminds me of the minifigures in the Superheroes sets that were cracking. I'll need to pay attention to my parts and see if they will suffer the same fate.

Great review so far. Looking forward to part 2. It would be good to note that the Han minifigure has new head printing. The previous version from the 8097 Slave I released in 2010 has only a single sided head printing with a smirk of sorts. The only reason why I noticed is that I happen to have it on display near my computer as I type this.

That is the main problem, though. Logic rarely enters into the equation at Walmart. You think that's bad. I once saw a pile of feces right in the middle of an aisle once. I kid you not.

Also, if you order random packets online it's very likely that the seller already picked out the more desirable ones to sell at a higher price. Well, basically what you said, but I think it's more common for this to be the case than not.

I heard that it's better for the younger crowd as the rides are really kid oriented. I would guess that anyone over 10 would probably be bored unless they are really into Lego? I need to make a plan to go soon before my daughter gets too old to enjoy it.

This kind of thing happens quite a bit in toy collecting in general. Although, I will say that it's usually the work of 1 or 2 people in a particular area. So, you either have a lot of it going on in a particular area or no incidences at all. Using a tamper-proof seal will at the very least warn the next person that the box was opened. I'm sure that even with the seal broken there are stores that will still take back the item. I've seen blatantly obvious ridiculously repacked toys sitting in the toy aisle. On a similar note, I've come across in stores numerous empty packages of CMFs and even 1 or 2 boxes that were simply ripped open in the store.

That did boggle my mind a bit. And here I thought the LOTR sets were supposed to be more AFOL oriented. Eh, maybe this will help kids to like them more and sell more sets. Sounds like a lot of fun.

The only sets I thought were interesting were the Ultimate builds of McQueen and Mater. I bought them only because I was able to get them on clearance prices. They display nicely on a shelf and have a mix of good parts. Other than that I say, "let the kids have their fun with them." I might consider the Mack's Team Truck set with the big rig Mack and McQueen as I think it would also display well. But, these days there's just so many other things I would rather spend my money on right now.

Actually, the articles about him state that he was a Vice President of SAP. It wouldn't surprise me if he became a millionaire simply from his position with that company and the fact that he lived and worked in California.

I must have Palpatine's Arrest.

I don't think it's mere coincidence that Denmark is once again listed as the Happiest Country in the World. I'd like to think Lego has a small part to play in it. The article even states it's not completely obvious why this is so. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-happiest-countries-in-the-world.html

I'm wondering if the 3rd build is actually some kind of take out place along with the seaside bar.

Actually, it's because Bruce Wayne gets around a lot and is everywhere. We should play the 6 degrees of Bruce Wayne game sometime.

Looks great. I like how you limited your bricks to only those 2 sets. It's how I had to build things when I was a kid.

My exact thoughts, so I thought it best to quote you and say "ditto".

Now that the film has been out and we have had a chance to see it we see that it's a reference to a joke in the movie itself. Great on Lego's part to include that in there.