TheLegoDr

It has been really hard to find and people on brickset or somewhere were stating they were finding it on clearance?? I never found any around here, but was hoping to. I'd say Unexpected Gathering was probably the best seller (helped that it was right before the holidays and that it is awesome..). Oddly enough I have rarely seen Weathertop at any stores, so either that sold well (odd because of the high price) or they never ordered that many..

The problem with being such a hardcore book fan is you'll always be disappointed with movies. I loved the Harry Potter universe, but the books had so much more detail that the movies would inevitably leave something out or change little details based on the director/screenplay writer. However, back to LOTR. I have yet to read the books (I just received them for my birthday so I will get on it soon). It's interesting that you mention Tom Bambodil, because I've only heard negative things about his inclusion. Now I won't be able to judge it until I read the books, but I was more than satisfied with the films, so the exclusion didn't affect me. Maybe I'll change my mind. Since LEGO released LOTR sets this summer, I've watched the trilogy 3 times. I have liked them more each time, so that is all that matters to me haha.

Thank you for the translation. I have been unable to watch the video due to computer. I am with most people in the line of thinking the MWT would have passed, but it did involve licensing, just not in the way we expected. I have to wait and see BTTF set, but I think it would be worthwhile to have it as a display piece (depending on price and design).

Thanks for the pictures! I love this set. I can't wait to get it. I think it is the best so far out of the modulars. As much as I love CC and GG, this is such a beautiful style. I'm sure some of the little details will be irrelevant for me (similar to the painter in the Pet Shop), but I can't wait to add this to my street. I have the other modulars disassembled currently, but I can picture keeping this one together. We'll see if my viewpoints change when I see better pictures. I am not a car MOCer, but I will agree that car is not too pretty. I'll wait to see if it looks better upon closer inspection. Edit: Also, I actually like how they spelled Palace with the letters in that style. The "a"s make it look neater being lower case like that. (IMO)

Thanks for the review. I was up in the air about this set, but with my more budget-conscious mind for 2013, I think I will pass (unless an awesome sale happens). I don't mind how the set looks, I just don't have a use for a lot of extras since I don't do Hoth dioramas. The General is neat, but he is the only thing I'd want from the set. I purchased a few Taun-Tauns on bricklink, so I already have them. Either way, the snowspeeder does look neat and since I don't have one, it may be worthwhile. But I'm not really into building vehicles usually, I just buy them for the pieces and beautiful figures usually.

That's a good point Superficial Username. I hadn't thought about removing the hands as being an illegal move on TLG's guidelines. I remove things all the time fully knowing the risk, but I guess they would release the pieces together already to avoid that. I removed Bilbo's hand to put the ring around his wrist so I don't lose it. I don't mind so much that they hold the claws. It doesn't look bad IMO, and it isn't like they could hold something else anyway with the claws overhanging the top of the hand, so it may be pointless to allow a wrist attachment. Didn't the original concept art of Wolverine show a new hand mold basically just being a claw. That looked horrible. Him holding it at least looks like he still has a physical hand and claws.

If the Tumbler/Bat set was having issues, they would release a statement similar to the Friends Advent calendar and only release it at certain places with limited quantities. I'm sure they just had to fix something on the website. As for the catalog, anything is possible, but they leave out sets all the time. They probably want to focus on other sets so they only have so many spots to fill with sets. Also, they left out LOTR/Hobbit sets from the winter catalog. I definitely recall not seeing Weathertop in there, even though I know the set still exists. However, I definitely want to pick some of these sets up, so I'm sure they'll be released as quickly as TLG can allow. As for Superman, I would imagine a modified set to allow more reasons to buy them. I don't want 4 Supermans, but if they are a little different, then I'd want a few. Similar to Spider-Man. I don't care to have 3 of him, but to get the other figures I'll need to have 3 of the same unfortunately. I'd imagine Iron Man will have his different suits, so those will be an easy sell. I'm thinking Thor for next year will have something a little different also to help sell him. But who knows.

I thought they said they wanted Dino to become an Evergreen theme, meaning it will never go away. Breaks are inevitable to allow room for new themes, but it doesn't mean they wouldn't return to Dino. Now TMNT, who knows. It probably depends on the success of the series. I'd imagine at least one more wave to coincide with the next season that was ordered. I don't know any details though. But it is all speculation on my part. I can imagine the molds weren't cheap and they'd want to use them as much as they can, but they certainly have lots of molds that are used only once. So who knows with TLG.

With LEGO you are free to MOC as you wish. The biggest issue is the thickness. If you don't want a thicker wall, then you won't want those bricks. They may be good filler pieces if you don't care about the color. I don't use them very often because I prefer thinner structures, but have used on occasion. Good luck in your MOCing.

I collect way too many themes. I am considering dropping some, but it can be hard. I love LOTR/Hobbit so those are keepers. I love the winter village sets and the modulars, but otherwise city is a no buy for me. As for time, I have very little. I rarely find time to build. I can mostly just look at pieces on display. As for room, we have a huge basement essentially just for LEGO. Time/money are bigger issues than space.

I only got into SW in 2012, so I missed a lot. But I definitely like the older Barge more. The figures line-up on the new version may be good, but not good enough to sell it to me. I definitely don't care to have another Jabba and his figure cost eats up a lot of the price. Granted it is HIS barge, but still.. But a new slave Leia is interesting and the other figs that aren't repeats will be interesting to see closer up.

Very clever use of pieces. I hadn't considered building candles like that. The stained glass window I've seen before, but this works really well in this scene. I do like the arch above the window though. Keep up the good work.

I love that big tree. The bushiness, the roots, and the angled effect of the limbs are brilliant. May I ask how?? I'm glad to see these images from that movie since I loved that as a kid. When you first posted I actually had to watch it that night, haha. Keep up the good work.

I agree that Aragorn and Gimli are getting a bit stale, but since the films followed them around so much, it's tough not to include them in some pivotal scenes. Now if they could somehow incorporate different prints then it would work fine. However, if you are into MOCing armies, then Gimli's torso actually looks quite nice and could be used for something else. Add that with Eomer's (because we all have spares) and then a few of the Dwarves from The Hobbit that had dark red torsos and you have a nice little rag-tag group. As cool as Aragorn was in the movies, his minifigures is the Harry Potter of the theme. But the rest of the figures look amazing, from what I can tell. Three dead soldiers is awesome. I'll always welcome some more orcs, especially with some variety. Looking at the pictures again, it definitely does resemble some dark orange leaves in the Elrond photo, but can't be certain on such a small scale.

I thought they said no fantasy elements in this wave, or was the original poster mistaken. A Dragon is definitely fantasy. looking at the pictures it is tough to discern a lot of details, but I will agree with the disappointment. The crest is very similar to the royal knights only under the ' castle' banner. I loved Kingdoms, but am a bit sad about this. The King' s castle is very similar to Kingdoms castle. I'm looking at it right now and the basic shape is very similar, only it has blue instead of red. I will wait for better pictures like everyone else. Thanks for posting the images. Edit: After relooking at the pictures as zoomed in as I can be, it is neat to see new bardings (blue and a red), especially cool that they are compatible with the new horses. Someone mentioned the Bulls again? That could be neat since I never picked any of them up. I do wonder if there is anything good in the forest ambush set being the cheapest and most likely one I would purchase since this theme has plummeted after hearing the initial rumors. I think my money may end up going to Lone Ranger instead. Anyway, I'll rethink this when I see better detailed photos.

Thank you for the pictures. I've been wanting to see these. I will definitely pick them all up. more Elves, yes please. Most excited for mouth of Sauron and Aragorn in Gondor attire. I am interested to see piece count and prices when they are released, but I will buy these regardless.

I have yet to receive mine. They sent an email saying they sent something. I'm still waiting.

I built this a long time ago and never got around to getting pictures. I've always loved the Black Knights and their castle was/is/always will be my favorite. This year I've really been into mini-building. I believe it helps my build skills while thinking creatively and allowing more room to display. I have started other castles in a similar style and plan on doing all of my favorites in this form eventually. Enjoy! Front view. This image has the drawbridge down to show the large brown gate like on the official set. Next up is an angled view showing the beautiful yellow/black framing. Next is angled view from the other side Next is the rear view showing the escape area and the lower castle wall. Next is the right side of the castle. Showcases the wall and windows. A few more on the flickr account. I am really proud of this build. I think I did the set justice and I can't wait to build more like it. I hope everyone enjoyed what they saw and please comment.

Christmas was good to me (from the Mrs and mother). I'll let the picture speak for itself. And a fun surprise for the halfling. She's obsessed with doctors.

Those are awesome Definitely some good competition this year. I would say those fit in really well with the regular line.

I prefer feeling the bags. I think if all the stores outlawed it, then there would be a lot of unhappy consumers. However, if that came to be, I would just buy all of the minifigures, feel them at home, then bring back the unwanteds. Take that retail store! I do think people should be a little more courteous with it though, as in handling them more carefully instead of roughing up the packages. I think sometimes they do look horrible afterwards, and then I always worry about if something is scratched/damaged on the inside of the package.

Go for it. I love the Emerald Night. I just missed it after coming out of my Dark Ages. It is one set I definitely wish I would have picked up when it was available, but I won't spend double what it retailed for, I just won't. But that is your call on how much you are willing to spend. I agree the price will continue to rise, but it will peak eventually if you are willing to wait and see how high that peak is. You could always use the instructions and change the color of the EN to something more available and thusly cheaper. They are releasing a new Western train for the Lone Ranger theme if that is appealing at all. I'm sure you could modify that just as easily as any other train. I don't know anything about power functions, so I wouldn't know which is the easiest for that.

Exactly. I love Batman, but I don't need multiples of him. I am interested in the Spider-Man villains, but I don't want multiple Spider-Men either..I think next year we will get something different from both parties since we will have more Marvel related set ideas from other superheroes and DC won't be able to ride too much longer on the Batman coat-tail. Although I do want more Batman villains... As for the ice crystal, I didn't think about it being used for Captain also, good idea. They gave us a Captain Avengers set, so maybe they will give us a more Captain origin set someday (although I am doubting it).

That is interesting about the 4-in-1 in the corner. I do have the original 3-in-1 set, so I'd hate to buy this just for a snake option. But maybe the directions will be put on the website and it wouldn't matter. If the other builds are the same, then the pieces used should be similar. Granted I may want to do this in green (if I can) to create my own Basilisk. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I had not seen this before.

Thanks for the review. Always an entertaining read. I will definitely pick this up. I agree about Aquaman not being that cool, but I guess my main reference of him is from Family Guy/Robot Chicken, so maybe I am missing something. But I will gladly accept another superhero. I even bought the Spider-Man set for Iron Fist, even though I have never heard of him. However, Batman in white/light gray and a new Freeze are definitely welcome. I actually like the new Freeze. I don't have the original, so that may be part of it. But I actually don't care about the goggles. I prefer this face over bright red goggles. I like the ice blue colored eyes. But I agree they should have had an alternate face, even if similar to Doc Ock with one side having goggles and other no goggles. That would please everyone. I do like the batboat. It has a nice shape and design. I'm glad it is in black to go with his other vehicles, but white would almost make more sense in this scenario. And maybe Artic isn't a typo. Maybe that is what it is really called. Artic is short for articulated vehicle according to dictionary.com. Maybe that is referring to the boat or Batman's suit. OR Artic is also a link to the art institute of Chicago. Maybe Batman's suit is a work of art... Or maybe they just need a better proof-reader on their staff. You may be holding a rare box worth literally dozens of dollars..