TheLegoDr

Very clever part usage. I like the idea. The skull turned out great and it looks awesome with the doorway through the back of the throat. Keep up the great work.

Thanks for the input. That was a much longer discussion than expected. I guess I'll have to figure out how many I have of each and go from there. I'd love for them to be compatible too since there are so many available, but jaundiced yellow can't be a "real" skin color, right? Either way, I love these builds. I hope to add to them soon.

Great little scene. Of course, the action shot makes it come to life. But I love the build too. The trees are simple, yet brilliant. I may have to borrow that idea. I don't have a lot of those technic-esque bricks, so that might be why I haven't tried that before.

The more I see these, the less interested I am. Which is a good thing, will save some money. Although I'm sure I'll pick up the dragon set and maybe the cheapest set just to try out the theme. Naturally...darn TLG and making me buy stuff I'm not thrilled about. But as far as I can tell, that barding isn't too appealing. It's great that it will work with the new horses, I'm meaning the pattern. But since I don't care for the patter on the shields/torsos either, then it makes sense to not like it. It's good that younger audiences will be able to build castle too (and non-licensed on top of it), but I definitely did prefer Kingdoms (even though they are lions vs dragons again). As much as I like blue and would want blue in my armies, there is something off about this. But I guess Kingdoms was around when I came out of my dark ages, so I must have a soft spot for it.

Hands down 6074 Black Falcon's Fortress. I love those other three sets (also some of my favorites as a child), but you can't pass up Black Falcon's Fortress. That is one of the few castle sets I do not own. I'm not running out to buy it, but if I had the chance I would totally snatch it up. And if that is the set that got you interested in LEGO originally, how could you pass it up? Plus that many Black Falcons

Please may I claim #77 gatehouse A. I think I can come up with something pretty decent for that. Any suggestions on width? I was thinking 32 wide or should I go wider?

Thanks for keeping us updated. I assumed the entire month of March would be double VIP points. It looks as if it is just March 25-April 8. That's disappointing.

That's neat that it passed review, but honestly I'm not too keen on the set. I would suspect TLG is working wonders on it and I'll end up getting it, but if it looks anything like the original MOC, I will pass. No offense to the creator because they did a great job overall, it just isn't for me. I have no idea how to build cars, so good for them attempting it. I would suspect they will use the Nick Fury car mechanism since that is a legal build already in production. It will be interesting to see how it turns out in the end. I loved that movie as a kid.

That is really neat to see. I unboxed my childhood collection when I came out of my dark ages in fall of 2010, but I didn't think to take pictures of it all! We had two large rubbermaid totes full of my childhood bricks, including pretty much everything you have there. It looks like we had very similar interests as children! It was amazing to see the old redcoats/bluecoats/castle figures again after so long. Enjoy that moment. It will be yours for all time.

That does look like dark tan to me. Very interesting floor idea. I like the steps also. My favorite is the figure on the opposite wall with the Uruk-Hai outfit (with dk bley arms) and the black hood/cape/quiver combo. That works beautifully. Nice MOC, keep up the good work!

Since I'm just now trying to get involved, has it been established if we use the standard yellow figures or Licensed skin tone figures? Or does it matter? I know some people hate mixing them and most MOCs have yellow, but I thought I would ask before I started to look at my figures and build up my own army/scenes. Thanks in advance.

The line overall isn't for me, but it wasn't set out to be. I like that castle still exists though. The sets themselves look way better upon closer inspection than the tiny retail catalog pictures. I don't love the castle, but it is very Kingdoms-esque to me, only with blue instead of red. With that said, I will have to pass since I don't need a blue castle in my line-up. I think I may one of the only people that don't mind the larger pre-fab castle wall pieces (and keep in mind Helm's Deep had plenty of them too). The other sets are decent looking, but I typically go after the minifigures and in this instance, they aren't appealing to me. The color scheme is fine, and the printing looks good, but together it isn't hitting it for me. The shield heraldry isn't ideal, but not horrible. I would have preferred a wolf emblem instead of another dragon, but oh well. I don't have any dragons, so I will pick that up anyway and I'll take it from there to see how I like the figures in my hand. I may also get the cheapest set, just to check out the line. But I know I will pass on the castle. I actually do really like the body armor printing, at least on the lions. I think I will incorporate that into my Kingdoms line if I can. I couldn't make out the Dragon armor as well. The main thing I don't like is having the blue on the torsos also. I can't switch out the arms to red or green to go with other armies, so that's unfortunate. And I'm not liking the new barding/horse helmet. I like that they exist now for the new horse mold, but the gap in the back of the barding seems to throw it off to me. And the horse helmet looks too bulky to fit over the new head mold. But maybe my thoughts will change on closer inspection.

Thanks for the review. A very interesting set indeed. I enjoy what Friends can bring to the table. I don't build in those colors, but it's nice that they exist now. I do like when they come out with some new pieces though. There are some nice pieces here that may be worthwhile to pick up, even if not a Friends fan. But my daughter is, so I may end up getting this for her. Is it bad that my favorite picture is the last one which has nothing to do with the set??

Great entry! I love the idea of a train station for this village and yours is very fitting. I love seeing what people can come up with. The bench design is great for this purpose. I really like the pamphlet stand also, very fitting. I like the use of those modified arches out front. And this adds some nice play value for the kiddies. Good luck in the contest. Voting is too tough this year.

I'm glad you approve of the car. I've seen your MOCs and they are amazing . I definitely plan on building more in the future. My town has lots of buildings and people but no vehicles!

Good luck keeping that balance. I think the trick is to not be in the LEGO hobby . The big thing is, it is a toy for children and it's a toy for adults. It's not different than model cars, which don't seem to be viewed as a child's toy as much. Only with this, you can build whatever you'd like instead of having to paint something pre-molded.

Thanks for the review. I haven't heard of this brand. I don't think I'll be collecting any anytime soon, although the price point is right for parents. Those shields could be good for a LEGO army, maybe. I'm not going to buy any to find out though.

I agree, I don't think that language is necessary for a family film. Did the darker Nolan Batman trilogy use any of that? I don't recall, but I almost would say it didn't and that seemed more fitting than in x-men. I realize Wolverine did it so fans liked it, but it wasn't necessary. And I had to look it up to see when it happened in the movie. I wanted to forget that movie so I've blocked it out, but hopefully this new one will make it worthwhile.

I haven't kept up with the guilds as well as I had originally hoped. I signed up on day 1, but never had time to participate unfortunately. I may try to create time (and matter) and enter some builds for Albion. Is there a deadline to have buildings done? I've noticed quite a few spots open that may be worthwhile to add to. Thanks.

Neat build and much more realistic than mine. I think this actually could be the future, although I agree, they would write something off that doesn't feel like the original characters. Good luck in the contest.

Great build. I do love that tree a lot. I'm always looking for good tree designs, and this fits very well. I also love the window frames. The dark green and brown work well together, especially since it is a log cabin. The interiors are spot on for what I'd expect. Is there an inside joke with a beautiful woman on a rug down by the fire? Good luck in the contest.

Neat build. I think the overall shape fits in nicely. The grandma knitting is brilliant, simply because of the pieces used. Great idea using that kilt. The sled looks good. And I love that fountain. The frog piece used is perfect in that scenario. It's amazing how much you can actually use a dark bley frog. Good luck in the contest!

I love that snack/popcorn cart. Immediately recognizable. I haven't seen too many outdoor plays, so I can't attest to the authenticity of it all, but the stage looks great. The playground is much needed these days when most kids are indoors playing. Good luck in the contest.

Interesting build. It can be good and bad to limit the pieces used. In your case it isn't intentional and you did a good job with what you had to work with. It typically brings about better building. Obviously I want to see some interior shots, but from the exterior it should fit in pretty well with the rest of the line. The only thing I don't like is around the front door. It appears to have rather large gaps. Just another arch could be put there (if you have one) to help fill it in. Otherwise it looks good. And good idea with the soup kitchen. I think people forget about giving sometimes.

I was also going to say I really like the books on the shelf and the desks. The overall shape of the school is brilliant. My only concern is too much red. I realize it would be brick, but I'd want to see just some variation of coordinating colors. But otherwise it is looking good. Good luck in the contest.