Speedboat

Thanks for the review! The set itself looks pretty disappointing, apart from the awesome snow astromech. I'd really like to add that one to my collection, but at that price? If I see this set on sale after christmas, I'd probably pick one up. It seems to be 29,99€ around here, which is the same as last year, I think. But with my limited budget right know I'd rather buy some "real" sets for the snowy season. I don't really get the choice of minifigs included. Why not put more generic figs in, like a clone trooper, a storm trooper, etc? Same goes for the mini models, there are so few really iconic vehicles included.

Just beautiful! The landscaping looks very nice and I think you captured the "Shire-look" very well. I think the scene looks kind of empty, though. It's a big diorama and I'd imagine the party area would be packed with hobbits preparing things. Are those bucket handles you used for the benches? I like that idea a lot!

Yay, I love to see my two hobbies combined! Very nice MOC, the whole ramshackly style is pretty well executed.

Very creative use of bricks, and the combination of colours looks stunning! How long did it take you to assemble the build and did you manage on the first try without it collapsing?

This is soooo cool! The illustration Deathleech posted instantly came to my mind when I saw your MOC! One of my favourite scenes / illustrations from The Hobbit and you have done an outstanding job recreating it with bricks. Very nice!

Thanks for the review, Plissken! I had not really made up my mind about this set, but after seeing your pictures, I don't believe I'll be able to pass up on this one. Surprisingly, the highlight for me is the new Luke and not Lando or Boba. Sure, he might not have the same level of detailing as the other three minifigs in the set, but Episode VI - Luke is simply one of my favourite characters and I the new LEGO version looks aces! The skiff and the sarlacc also seem to be well enough designed to earn a spot on my display shelf.

Thanks for another helpful review, Lego Otaku. I agree with you on the DSS in this set. 33 stickers are way too much and will probably be a dealbreaker for me, unless this set turns up for a very considerable discount somewhere. Which really is a shame, the minifigs and the rest of the build seem to be quite good. If you just leave all the stickers off, the set imho won't have the right "feeling" to it.

Thanks for the awesome pictures, Sir von Lego! Apart from the Malevolence and the Gungan Sub all of these sets are very high on my to-buy list, I hope they'll turn up in some stores around here in the next weeks. My favourite sets are the two from SW:TOR, especially the Fury class interceptor. Too bad Amidala is included in the one set I probably won't buy.

Thanks for the early review, Lego Otaku! I didn't expect much from this set, mostly because of the spider, but on your pictures it actually looks pretty well designed! Plus the set seems to have lots of useful pieces, if I'll eventually decide to disassemble it. The minifigs look good, too. I think it's quite funny that you get 3 "The One Ring"s.

Thanks for the review, Captain Beerbeard! Looks like a nice little set, I hope these will turn up soon in Germany.

Nice review, aayla-secura! I agree with you on the price issue. I really want to have those minifigs, but 39,99€ is a rip-off for a JSF-set with no other addons. If I see this at a discounted price someday, I'll buy it, it looks well designed and the green astromech droid is so cute! I wanted to pay my local TRU a visit next week anyway, perhaps they have some of the new sets , too!

I think it is only understandable that sets from popular franchises reach the review stage very fast, with their fanbases being so well connected on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc. Actual AFOLs seem to be much more reluctant to give their support to sets on CUUSOO, because they contemplate the relevance of their votes for sets a bit more than the average Firefly/EVE/whatever-fan voting for a set. At least that's my guess. Reaching 10000 votes for a set from a popular franchise is so extremely easy, once a person with influence in the fan community posts it in the relevant channels, while reaching the necessary votes with well-built MOCs like the western town or the Space Marines - line is very hard, because you have to convince AFOLs that don't support everything on first sight but will take a good look at your set, at your concept and will in many cases think about their willingness to actually buy the set, if it'll go into production. I don't think LEGO will change anything with the CUUSOO program, because the bottom line is, they do not have to produce anything that reaches the review stage and I think they are very aware of how easy it is for certain franchises to gather the necessary votes. Even if such a set has 10000 votes, I do not think more than 3-5% of the voters would actually buy the set. Sets that were voted for mostly buy AFOLs will have a much higher percentage of actual purchases, I would think. Apart from all that, I think CUUSOO is a wonderful idea and I hope LEGO won't take the page down in the future. Even with the many failed licensed projects in the past weeks, some really really brilliant stuff is slowly gathering support and hopefully won't be turned down once it reaches 10000 votes.

Nice review and pictures. I contemplated for about an hour yesterday, if I should order some sets to get the promo minifig, but decided against it. There's just not that many sets left from the last wave that I'm interested in and I didn't want to buy sets I don't really like just to get the droid. Perhaps I'll pick one up in the future, depending on how the prices on ebay and bricklink will develop.

Very cool MOC, lysander! This is very well executed, from the lava river to the delicate structures the duel takes place on. The only thing I think could be improved is the minifigs you used. I think Obi Wan and Anakin from the 9494 set would make this scene even better.

That's a nice MOC, vlai23! The forced perspective seems very well executed and it's always cool to see one of these iconic scenes in a small scale. I think it would be even cooler if you'd build the background of the scene as well to make some kind of diorama.

Definitely a good choice to continue with your project, Nuju Metru! Even with the official sets in sight, a bit of variety never hurts and your MOCs have been excellent so far, accurate and yet with tons of "official set flair", if you can call it that. Both sets are wonderful, I'd buy them instantly. The highlight for me is your treebeard, I hadn't even thought about the possibility before, but now I hope there will be official ents in the LotR product line! The Dead Marches are neat, too. The play feature looks well executed and if this were a real set, I'd buy it just for the cool and useful pieces. I can't wait to see your next MOCs. Have you planned any sets that will be getting the official treatment in the summer or are you avoiding those?

Wow, that is one beautiful shiny ship! I don't really mind the simple build in this case, the chrome helps a lot with the sleek impression the ship is supposed to give. I bet this MOC would be great eyecatcher in any collection.

Very nice Vignette, Combee! I have picked up 3 of those Marines so far and thinking about doing some Starcraft - related builds with them. Your MOC definetely has a great sci-fi vibe going on!

I spotted the first box of series 7 in a toy shop today and grabbed two space marines. I really love those minifigs, I think I'll try to build some Starcraft MOCs with them! :)

I'd like to sign up for this one! I already had some ideas while rewatching the movie a few weeks ago, so I guess even with my limited collection I'll be able to whip something up.

Nice Review and pics! I got lucky a few years back, when the chrome Vaders were given out with SW LEGO purchases at TRU in Germany. In some TRUs you could actually just buy them for 5€ apiece, so I purchased a bunch of them back then.

Very funny use of pieces there. Jabba' face kinda reminds me of Sesame Street puppets, but your solutions are again very creative and recognisable, despite making me laugh like hell right now!

This is one pretty army!

Looks like you're off to a good start. Have fun building and keep on posting progress pictures to make us jealous!

Nice to see your next MOC, Legostein! I have to say, I love the solutions you've come up with for the minifigs, especially Bossk and Boba, fantastic use of parts!