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Same with the Kenwood store in Cincinnati - I just went today and though I didn't linger over the BAM bins very long, I know I saw complete clowns, spacemen, and cheerleaders, and at least a few identifiable parts of cavemen, wrestlers, and tribal hunters.

Oh my gosh, that's gorgeous! I'd been hoping for this one to come out, and I'm really impressed with the detail, all the dark red, and price per piece (especially for a FLW-licensed Architecture set). Time to start saving up...

I have a handful of Pirate minifigs I don't need: Imperial Soldier II - Officer without Plume Pirate Vest and Anchor Tattoo, Black Leg and Peg Leg, Dark Green Bandana, Brown Moustache Gunner Zombie Yeoman Zombie Skeleton with Fantasy Era Skull, Bicorne Hat They're not exactly rare or valuable, but certainly useful for army-builders and Pirate MOCers. I'll include a scabbard, two flintlock pistols, two muskets, and four six cutlasses. I would like to trade them for an equivalent collection of City figs and accessories, or even just a basic assortment of bricks or tiles if you have something I like. I'd prefer to trade to someone in the USA to keep shipping costs low. Please PM me to make an offer. Thanks!

I had heard about a possible return of Batman sets, which makes perfect sense considering The Dark Knight Rises comes out next year.

That looks very fake. It's possible it's some kind of prelim placeholder, but more likely it's a complete fabrication. I do hope there will eventually be a small-scale Eiffel Tower set in the Architecture line, but it will not look like that.

Sooooo... would this mean you have a few extra bananas to get rid of?

I would love a sousaphone. It's what I played in high school marching band! I still think a trombone would be the most likely piece if we're to see a new instrument mold, but we can dream...

That, I think, is one of the best things about the CM line; it's so varied that there's something to appeal to nearly everyone. And I'd also point out that many kids who wouldn't necessarily want a Geisha or Cheerleader fig on its own might still want to get them to complete a series; lots of kids can be meticulously completist when it comes to collect-em-all toys.

Thanks for the advice autobrick! Now that I think about it, I remember seeing PoP sets on clearance at Target too... over a year ago. Guess I don't have to worry about them selling out too fast, eh?

The post office looks amazing! I've held off on the special winter sets so far, but this one I might break down and get. I'm excited about more instruments, to the surprise of nobody. Can anyone tell if the banjo (it is a banjo, right, not an acoustic guitar?) is a single molded piece or a print on one of these attached to a lightsaber?

"Incompatible" was a poor word choice since obviously pieces from all the different themes can technically be combined, I just meant you can't really put together fully-built sets from differently-scaled themes. I had some Paradisa sets as a kid and liked that they could be easily incorporated into a town layout (with the exception of the differently colored baseplates) but never got into Belville because everything was oversized and while there were useful parts, the sets as-built couldn't really go with anything else. I thought Paradisa was great, but I guess it just didn't sell well and from that point on I largely ignored the "girl" sets and themes because they all felt, to varying degrees, like LEGO was trying to be something they were not, like they were trying to make their own version of Barbie or something. (I also never liked Barbie very much, can you tell? ) And I'm not saying all girls need a "gateway" to LEGO; keep in mind I just said it was those who already have a certain idea of what girls' toys should look like. And that doesn't mean they've been overtly "pressured" into it, but nor does it mean that girls are somehow inherently attracted to certain themes of play - that would be ignoring the very complex realities of the social construction of gender. I don't like it, obviously, but I know TLG has to work within those realities and I'm under no delusions that I have the right answers.

That's really cute! I don't suppose you still have it around? Or did you have to give your brother's bricks back?

I'd need two cups of coffee if I had to fight alien invaders too! I like the parts usage there.

I was just wondering if anyone had an idea of how much longer the sale-priced sets on S@H would still be available. There's one that I really want to get (specifically, 7571 The Fight for the Dagger, if that helps), but I will be moving later this year and have (grudgingly) decided to buy no more new LEGO until after I'm settled into the new place and have more storage space, but I'm worried if I wait too long, it will no longer be available.

I really hope you're wrong about this too. While I'm generally a little wary about having a separate girls' theme to begin with - it creates an unnecessary dichotomy in what should be a toy for any gender - I'm well aware of the need to have a sort of gateway to LEGO for girls who have been brought up with an onslaught of hyperfeminine pink toys. But where TLG constantly gets their approach wrong is the scaling, rendering the "girly" themes incompatible with other LEGO sets and giving no real incentive to expand into other themes further down the road. Making an effort to bring LEGO to more girls is one thing, but treating them like some kind of niche market demographic instead of, you know, half the population of potential consumers just has the effect of girls being left to their own special little corner and told to either stay there or abandon LEGO entirely.

I was also in the dark at the time of the change, and I doubt I would have even noticed had I not read about the controversy in Jonathan Bender's LEGO: A Love Story. I have yet to put any of my old bricks (all of which still are in a trunk in my childhood home) with any of the sets I've acquired since I came back in 2009, so I haven't yet had a chance to truly compare them. For the most part, I don't mind the slight bluish tint of Medium and Dark Stone Grey, but I modded my Fallingwater set with them and they do seem a little off in that context, especially in photographs. As for Reddish Brown, I like it. It has a nice warm tone and it's perfect for approximating wood. Overall, I exclusively "collect" the new colors, since my collection basically restarted from scratch two years ago and I only buy new bricks and sets for now - though my Bricklink wanted list is rapidly expanding, I still haven't started down the rabbit hole of ordering from there. Yet.

That is almost exactly what I had in mind over in the discussion about the upcoming girls' city subtheme - and I would definitely be interested in participating!

I've said before I really want some more musician figs, and it seems quite likely we'll get more as they're one of the established "sub-series" of minifigs (Pop Star, Maraca Man, Hula Girl, Rapper, Punk Rocker). I'd really love to see a marching band fig - I've never been into army-building, but marching-band-building, that I could get behind!

As much as it goes against my feminist conscience to exploit the whole women-be-shoppin' trope, I really think a series of small cafes and storefronts could make a great line, especially if they could be combined modular-style to make a sort of mall. And by giving each shop a distinct style, they could incorporate a lot of the new colors without it being overbearing (even though I would love to add a bunch pink and lavender bricks to my own collection).

The more I look at these pictures, the more I'm beginning to think I want all of Series 5 - and up to now I've only gotten my absolute favorites, but almost every single fig in this series has something I could use. Except for maybe a couple historical ones and the dinosaur suit guy, but I suppose my townsfolk could always have a costume party in the park...

This is really cool! You've fit a lot of interesting details in without it seeming overcrowded. I'm considering a coffeeshop MOC of my own.

Even though retailers tend to have much more control over prices than manufacturers, it seems pretty rare for anyone to sell these at lower prices than TLG's official MSRP. I'm holding out hope that my store will eventually mark them down to $1.99 though; that's the typical clearance price here for such things.

The store where I work (which caters primarily to overprivileged college kids) sells series 3 & 4 for $6. Needless to say they've barely budged from the shelves, even though it's the only place to get them (that I know of) within ten miles. Harrumph.

That looks awesome! As close to a perfect minifig-scale model as you can get until TLG starts producing wide-flange beam pieces Very nice work.

Oh and one other thing: I also really love the patch of wet cement along the side - very nice "slice of life" detailing. And the name of the restaurant isn't lost on me.