TheLegoDr

I haven't seen that in a long time. Now I want to watch In the Army Now thanks to you!

There is a difference between a Buy-it-now price vs a bid reaching that level. I think people just want it. I was at a LEGO store last month right before Halloween and they didn't have any in sight. But then again, I wasn't interested in it so I didn't look for it, but being my first visit to a brand store, I wanted to take in the whole experience and see everything that was available. But I didn't know you could bricklink the pieces for less than MSRP. It has some great little pieces so I would be quite pleased with that for my mini builds. Good luck with the auction.

Hmm... I care about the stickers for sure. But I know if they aren't perfectly aligned I don't worry about it too much. And I've actually quit putting stickers on my sets, even if they don't look right. I have yet to place all of the logos in the same direction. I guess I didn't know people did that . Are they that visible on a MOC/set? I guess I haven't noticed them that much.

I agree. It is weird how we have a $10 set (which is unheard of) and then a $30, $40, $50, $70, $100.... just seems like a weird stair-step. Obviously I'd always want cheaper sets, but I'm sure they have a reason behind it. Shelob is one of my favorite sets of LOTR, so that hit the right price point. The Superman set too and the Marvel sets actually. You're right, the more I think of it, the better that price point is. And thanks for the pictures up top. That is awesome seeing the characters holding (and smiling) with their LEGO dopplegangers.

It's tough to say sometimes. There were multiple CMFs with Monster Fighter related figures and then we had a MF theme. I would love for this new Forest Maiden's shield to work its way into a Forestmen theme, but it's tough to say. Not that everyone has to have the same shade of green, it is weird how the Forestman is the normal green and the Maiden is the dark green with some dark tan/gold accents. And she is good at setting traps? I don't know what that means. I don't see her becoming a part of a new theme, but like I said, maybe the shield could work its way in there somehow. As far as centaurs go, I didn't even think about the new poseable version! Who knows what the future holds? A Friar of some sort would be really neat. They already have a balding head piece in The Unexpected Gathering set also, so either one might work. Or they could do a new hairpiece to represent the tonsure more readily..who knows.

That is awesome. I love (miss) that time of LEGO. I should dig out all of my old sets and get them cleaned up appropriately. I want to rebuild my old Forestmen buildings sometime. Keep up the good work. It was brilliant!

I guess I don't know enough of the history of Elven culture to understand that. That makes sense for everyone to have something a little different dependent on their realms/regions. I think the figure overall is beautiful, so I'm not complaining about that. I'd just like to see more of that green/gold combo somewhere I think.

I've seen lots in the LEGO aisle at Target, Wal-Mart and TRU here in Nebraska, USA. Rarely the Target pack is on the aisle over from the rest of the LEGO, but it's usually close in my experience. So I'm not sure why you haven't seen them before. Maybe you've came in when the series was sold out? I know in my local Wal-Marts currently they don't have ANY of series 8 and I think Target moved them to the Christmas stocking stuffer section. But I know TRU here has series 7 and 8 still. And one of our Targets has series 6 still. I will never be able to fathom the distribution numbers in this series. I'm not sure why not make each figure about the same rarity instead of artificially creating such an imbalance. And the rarer figures are the females, which maybe the target audience isn't into, but I know people will buy them in the aftermarket for inflated prices won't be happy (me included). Or out of the kids in the target audience, it will be harder for them to get any female figures too.

Thanks for the fun guessing game. I got more right than expected, but still neat to see how close people can get. Kind of stinks not being able to guess unknown lists for the next few series since the leak. Oh well..

Very clever, although it doesn't look that comfortable. Instead of stepping on LEGO, you get the pleasure of wearing it all day. And good call on the flick fire missiles.

That looks awesome. Somehow those trans green round studs look exactly like trees at that scale! Brilliantly done. I could easily see this as an official set.

As much as I love the Forest Maiden, I think I will also choose the Fortune Teller as my favorite. Her printing is amazing. And who doesn't love a good gypsy? I'm amazed, but not surprised how much the Hollywood Starlet looks like Marilyn Monroe. They did a great job with her and the hair mold!

I think pants are a better fit for a Forest archer, but she is a Maiden, so I guess that lends to the dress piece. And if you look at Merida from Brave (which I know a lot of people have), she wears a dress but is always in the country riding her horse and whatnot. I think it is just more typical of the time period, since most women would not have been "warriors." But I do agree putting a lot of these next to each other might look off with the specialized pieces. But on her own she looks amazing and that shield is . I will definitely want extra shields. I also want a return of the Forestmen in next year's Castle return..maybe this figure as a precursor?? Doubtul, but a guy can dream. We need more gingers in LEGO form.

My message got lost in the crash, so here goes.. Thanks for a great review, once again! Always entertaining and informative. I will agree with the majority here and complain of the distribution numbers. I was an army builder previously, but I don't care to army build the plentiful figures in this series. I would rather have multiples of the Maiden and Fortune Teller, both of which are the rarer figures. I normally buy a box with two other families to get 3 sets with some extras, but now that isn't an option because someone would be left out. I guess I'll just end up tossing a lot back when I'm fishing for figures next month.I definitely want one of each of the army builders, but not full armies, so they will just get in the way. I suppose I'll just buy every single long skirt piece I can find and hope I get enough. I'm not disappointed in Caesar, but I won't get more than 1 of him. I may end up getting more than 1 judge for that torso print. I think the wine bottle is neat with the printing, but when did they start putting labels on bottles? I'd almost think it isn't as versatile with the printing, although it would limit the appeal for something "new" also. The knight fits in well with the evil knight, but he does look rather plain, which is probably authentic. The update to the crown shield is interesting, but since I don't have any crownies I won't be getting too many of him. I guess updating a previous faction helps things for some builders. I'm almost exclusively a castle collector and I'm not that interested in the castle figures lately. Now the Forest Maiden on the other hand is beautiful and I would looove to get many extras of her (as stated above). But I agree about the long shield. The printing is awesome and I definitely welcome a new oval shield, but I do wonder why they don't include the smaller triangular shields in the CMF line. Not just for use with the bow, but in general. Granted, when I've seen images of official jousting, the triangular shields are actually quite small in real life, so maybe the oval would be better. And another long bow will come in handy. As good as this series is and I think I put it as my favorite so far, that is mostly because I don't remember what came out in previous series... But I think I am more excited for series 10 than this one thanks to the leak. So I guess it is good I can't/won't army build this series, because come April/May I will have plenty of figures to stock up on. Thanks again for the review!! Edit: I just noticed the Knight does have a small triangular shield, so I take back my original words. I for some reason assumed it was the oval to compare with the evil knight's oval shield. I didn't pay close enough attention.

The crash deleted my post too, so here goes. Thanks for listing the prices. I know it is Licensed, but some of those seem high. I was expecting the lowest three to be priced in lower brackets. Kraang is way too high. And I thought Shredder's bike would be where the Stealth Shell would be. I may need to rethink which sets I want to get. I may end up getting the Lair now instead of bricklinking Splinter/Leo and skip some of the other sets. And I agree, that new olive green color is amazing. I can't wait for more bricks to be in that color. Maybe a modular sometime??

9 by Captian Nemo - 1 point 16 by Hammerstein NWC - 1 point 19 by KZB - 1 point Great covers everyone. I would not have figured out how to transpose a lot of those. Good luck!

I would imagine the long wait because they have sets coming out before then that they need to build hype for. Also, they probably need to put the final touches on everything. That's like asking why aren't there pictures for the 2014 wave. Everything will get released in due time. And the Toy Fair is the best time to see almost everything. It's only in a few months, I wouldn't say it is that long of a wait. And you get Winter wave to enjoy during that time. And I guess other than the little bit that is braided, I don't see that many similarities between Endor Leia and the CMF. I'm sure it is close enough for LEGO to reuse, but they didn't reuse the Jack Sparrow hair for the Fortune Teller. It looks similar, but it is definitely different, so I'm sure some of their molds will only get used one time.

Thanks for the update. I noticed a few of my posts were missing, but nothing major. Thanks to everyone at EB for working hard all the time for our viewing pleasure! I agree, take a break! haha

Yes, that was my first intention when I saw that set becoming available. I will probably buy a couple of it.

I know they said no fantasy, but when will they bring out LEGO Centaurs?? That is what I would want the most. They have done Minotaurs in the CMF, so throw in some fauns and centaurs and we'll be set. But I understand why no fantasy, so hopefully the sets will be awesome like the Kingdoms line.

I would not have guessed to do that. I don't know why, but it didn't cross my mind. I'm not a huge fan of the dark green hood with quiver on the Mirkwood archers, so adding it to the CMF elf is brilliant. That is a lot of green, but it works well together. I actually put the hood on a Rohan soldier too (not that they wore hoods), but the greens looked so nice together. Maybe I'll make my own custom armies by using pieces like that. But I will definitely be swapping out with some CMF elves, that's for sure. The only thing I don't love is the silver on the CMF and the gold accents on the LOTR elves like Haldir/Elrond (the Mirkwood doesn't have it though). Thanks for showing us that AC! Your minifigure collections never disappoint!

It all depends on the lighting. When you first posted that I thought it looked green too and the dark green cape worked quite well, but then I looked at it with an LED flashlight and it was most obviously dark blue. Now the dark green cape wasn't too bad, but I would still imagine dark blue will work the best. I love the green on his legs. I wish they could have incorporated that color into more of him.

Since the Mirkwood elf is only different by the green hood vs elf hair, the only TRUE polybag is Elrond and since it had requirements to get him I don't consider him a true polybag either. Basically just buy the sets and you'll get the figures in the bags. My wife just asked me last night if I've ever seen that cartoon and she said they watched it all the time in grade school. I have yet to see it (and I probably won't).

That is exactly true. I would suspect most AFOLs interesting in castle will end up buying next summer's wave of LOTR and the Castle release, thus spending twice as much as originally intended. Not everyone of course is into both themes. I will for sure buy all of the LOTR sets (without prior knowledge), but I may be hesitant on the Castle sets depending on how they turn out.

That's interesting. My dad who has only seen the LOTR movies seemed very interested in LEGO Gollum as well. He is not into LEGOs at all, so that was odd. I suppose it is based on locale, but I have yet to see any Hobbit sets sell out around here. Every store that has stocked them still have plenty left. Yet people keep talking about them selling out around them.