TheLegoDr

I agree with the above responders. The basework is brilliant. The buildings fit in really well with the scene. The plate work is exactly what I would expect it to look like. I like the positioning of the arm and the photography skills used. And I agree, I pictured it as one of those old maps in elementary school that rolled up when you weren't using it. I'm pretty sure the technology was around then. To be flexible AND durable was what the middle ages was all about.

The Battle of Hoth is neat, but nothing too new. I don't really own much Hoth related sets other than the earlier battlepacks and I bought a few TaunTauns from Bricklink, so I'm not really seeing the benefit of buying this set unless it is on a really good sale. Maybe if I can see the figures closer to see if any of the prints changed or anything. Is that the same Luke as in the X-Wing? Nothing really new there... But thanks for the images!

May the best Claus(Claws) win.

I didn't think about that. I'd love a Greek or Roman theme too. I love the movie Gladiator. I don't know how well it would be transposed to brick form though. But hey it would give us lion molds and some new armor/helmets. They do have a barbarian and Roman CMFs, so I'm sure that is their way to appease the people without getting a full theme. However, since they do have those type of figures, you'd expect fans of LEGO to be aware of the subject matter. They have zombies in playsets and all they do is eat human flesh, so LEGO must be aware that children are okay with some of these more "terrifying" aspects. My daughter's best friend (both of which are 3 years old) talk about zombies all the time. So why not add in some lions? They have wargs for Hobbit sets which are aimed at younger audiences and I'm pretty sure a warg would eat a human/dwarf just as easily as eating their own food. But I understand. Maybe they will continue to add in some nice Roman figures in the CMF line and we can flesh out our own theme.

How nice of them to use the same exact character names on top of it. I wonder how the quality of the plastic is compared to LEGO.

ShaydDeGrai - That is an interesting point about being exposed to construction sets (like LEGO) would decrease your chance of vehicular accidents. I assume it is because they are more aware of everything in general than what is directly in front of them? To go along with the delayed satisfaction and more spatial reasoning involving a long build. I've read of a similar study only involving four year olds and cookies. If they don't take the first cookie and wait 5 minutes (or some determined length of time) they would receive another cookie as a reward. Naturally a lot of the children took the first cookie full well knowing they would only get the one. But the few who waited ended up testing a lot better in the long run. It was really interesting and I wish I knew more of the details to share here. When are you selling a story versus inspiring the child to invent their own story? When do you take the training wheels off the bike? Would you be a better cyclist today if you'd never relied on training wheels to begin with? Again, I've read that you actually would be a better cyclist if you never had training wheels. There actually is a balance bike that teaches children how to balance first, then learn to pedal instead of learning to pedal and then constantly falling off of the bike once the trainers are removed because they have no idea to balance themselves. The article I first came across on that is here. Again that is a good point about 'take away the figures and how does the set stack up?' I love MOCing my own sets and I love collecting the figures, but I do agree it shouldn't be the main focus for sets. Let's get highly detailed figures with some pieces thrown in to satisfy everyone. Of course, if the figures didn't look so detailed I probably wouldn't collect them, but I would still purchase pieces/sets to build things. I do typically build a few select sets and display them and then MOC with the rest of the pieces as opposed to full on playing with any of the sets, but I'm also 28 years old. From a child's POV I would want to provide a more playable set/theme to allow more cognitive development. Not all toys have to be a learning toy, but it can't hurt something to be both fun and educational. In fact, if more toys were both fun and educational more children would probably enjoy going to school instead of just being taught how to test on the standardized tests. I don't know how much I've learned growing up that isn't pertinent to my every day life. I guess having numbered bags is LEGO's way of having these break points while still leaving the set unfinished. It does give a guaranteed spot to stop. I enjoyed the big pile of bricks and the search for the right piece as a kid, but as an adult I appreciate the numbered bags so I know if all of the pieces are accounted for. It's especially been helpful within the last year since I've had so many issues with missing pieces in my builds. I'd hate to get to the end and wonder where I went wrong only to find out that a part was missing the entire time. I agree that the Golden age is when you enjoyed it the most. My golden age (like many others) was the early 90s, but I was also aged 7-10 during that time (their target age range). If I was a child now, I might love it more with all of the pop culture involvement. But I did love the creating my own stories as a kid.

Something Revolutionary would be awesome. Anytime in the late 1700s/early 1800s is okay by me. Basically anything within the Georgian or Victorian era also would be welcome. I could understand more Steampunk type of sets for playability if they were to do a Victorian type era. But more suits/dresses/hats would be welcome for figures. And you could throw in more horses within the sets. If you consider Prince of Persia a quality theme at all (not everyone likes Licensed skin tones), but they had a lot of the Middle Eastern area style of weapons and attire and tried incorporating it into the structures. Granted it was based on a movie license and not history in general. But it did bring us ostriches and camels, so it can't be all bad.

The joys of the brain's plasticity. I think the Death Star is great for play value, but I don't play with my LEGOs very often and I just recently got into Star Wars in general. I don't own one and I don't plan on buying it. I agree that I can check off a lot of other sets I would want more. However, a large set like that certainly will have some benefits. The one downside (and most children won't mind) are the majority of the minifigures are different/more detailed now than they were when the Death Star was released. My daughter just turned 3, but she has been playing with LEGO almost all of her life. She has tons of Duplo that she barely touches and would rather play with my sets. So we bought her the majority of the Friends line. She likes the colors and the minidolls for playability, but she still prefers playing with Shelob from LOTR. And she is really into hospital related themes, so most of the City line doesn't work with Police/Fire, but for other kids I'm sure they provide a lot of playability. I remember as a child (which had much different sets than are available now), I loved castle/pirates the most, but out of City/Town theme, I had enjoyed the Riding Stables and a hospital. I think I had a lot of Police sets too, but I mostly MOCed from an early age for houses and other stores. So maximum playability probably is a little bit from every theme.

Thanks for sharing these. These definitely have some good potential in many layouts. I think they might be more useful if there were some other pictures or angles to see how some of them are connected? I know that would help me more. Thanks again.

WW: How did you get that tan on your chest? You'll no longer be able to be a member of Pale Force.

I agree constructing some of the figures that way can be misleading for the skimmers, but they will figure it out soon enough. I will definitely be doing that with my blue coats also. They might make a red coat version in the future, but I doubt it with the other red coats that are available.

Are you a LEGO minifigure? Negative, I am a meat popsicle. Brilliant MOC. I love the taxi the most, but the rest is brilliant too. I would never think to MOC this, but I love it. I may have to borrow some of this, if you don't mind. Speaking of which, maybe I should get off of my LOTR kick and rewatch this movie. Thanks for sharing!

I would say that definitely looks more like ScarJo than the official version. Well done!

They just gave you a figure? Wow, must be nice. I went into all of the GameStops around here and they all basically yelled at me for trying to get more. They said it is against policy and they don't want to get fired. I must have a lot of really "honest" people working around here haha.

Thanks for sharing Wolvarie. I will consider doing that because those Elves need a quiver. But I'm not into customizing LEGO pieces. The Gandalf polybag has some okay pieces, but it isn't like you can army build Gandalf. The Mirkwood archer polybag is neat, but without any Elven hairpieces or even a dark green cape (although I'd prefer an olive green Hood), it seems silly to buy multiples. I can put anyone in a hood and call him an elf. Although, I must be silly since I did buy multiples. As far as Hobbit sets, they have been in this part of Nebraska for almost a week. It's really odd that they aren't anywhere else in the country. We are the last to get most sets. But I agree, they aren't always in the LEGO aisle. In one Wal-Mart they had them right outside the LEGO aisle and in another they had them up front with a lot of random Christmas toys. So I guess look around. And those characters in the character pack look awesome. I hope LEGO makes many more characters for us.

I don't care for the sets too much, but the figures themselves are neat. I really don't like the helmet masks though. I may pick up some of the figures though. Thanks for the images!

Umm, awesome! I would never think to MOC a Seinfeld episode. I may have to copy some of these ideas. The apartment is about as spot on as it could be in LEGO form. The definitely looks like George. I can see that face on Elaine, and that SCREAMS Kramer! Brilliant work.

I would love pictures of this series. I had no idea they had other images from the other series. There is definite potential here though. I don't see too many army builders (thankfully) since the other series seem to have them. But I will definitely get at least one of most of them and then probably multiples of Caesar. We'll see.

Yeti - Definitely yes depending on how it looks. I would suspect a wampa yeti, not a minifigure sized yeti, but I'll take it nonetheless. Evil Mech - Not sure at the moment. I am not into space, but the evil robot was awesome. Welder - I will most likely pass, but I could see the welding helmet to be neat. Lady Robot - Maybe a Jetson's-esque robot. Jazz Musician - Depending on the instrument. Constable - I'll have to wait and see, but I won't be getting multiples. Holiday Elf - I will have to see how it comes out. I would assume short legs. Maybe some ice skate type of addition to the bottom to get big pointy shoes? Bavarian Lady - That could be really neat. I won't get multiples though. Scarecrow - Depending on how it looks, I could be in for one. The Batman Scarecrow will be awesome, so we'll see how this goes. Maybe Wizard of Oz type? Mountain Climber - Accessory a backpack? Maybe some sort of climbing axe or molded rope? Grandma - To go with grandpa maybe? I like the grandpa in the Winter Village set, so maybe we could get an old folk's home going. Tiki Warrior - Could be neat. Gingerbread Man - A giant Gingerbread man. How can I resist? I hope it has some nice gumdrop buttons. I wonder if the head will be printed or a new more round headpiece. Barbarian - Similar to the earlier series? I guess it depends on how it looks. But I doubt I will army build. Dinner Waitress - I like the idea of the Diner waitress. As a dinner waitress, it sounds more fancy. Scientist - I would imagine a more generic one with an unscathed white-coat. Could come in handy. This series isn't as exciting, but maybe that is because I haven't seen pictures yet. The previous series will have many army builders. This one not so much. I guess that helps where I put my money.

Sea Captain - Awesome. Looks just like the pictures from the one designer (can't think of his name). Count me in. Sad Clown - I assumed Pagliacci, so I will definitely get one for Crazy Joe Davola! Librarian - Whether it is the right name or not, I am in for two. The parts will be very useful. Grandpa - The bald-cap is brilliant. The torso will be useful too. Maybe two, but definitely one. Bumblebee Girl - I love it. And Fairy wings in white or opaque at least. Much better than the fairy. Count me in for at least 2. Roman Commander - Basically as many as I can find. I wasn't crazy for the Roman in series 6 originally, but then I found another batch at Target and I love it now. So this will be a great addition. Warrior Woman - Again awesome. How many army builders can there be in one series? I will get at least a few. Decorator - Neat idea, but not for me. Tomahawk Warrior - Another good addition to the ranks. I doubt I will buy many, but at least one will be good. Trendsetter - I like the pet. Probably just bricklink it. Baseball Fielder - I don't have the other baseball player, but the glove cannot be missed! Revolution Soldier - Again, buy as many as I can find. Luckily there are many places in town to look for it. I've been wanting a bluecoat of some sort for quite some time now. I will probably buy more of this than the Roman. Motorcycle Mechanic - I will pass. But neat idea. Medusa - Highly disappointed, so we will see the final outcome. I was expecting something different for some reason. Skydiver - Funny face, but not for me. Paintball Player - Definitely have no use for him, but again a neat idea. I'm sure there are people out there waiting for him. These series get better and better. It's a shame LEGO keeps producing such good themes. I'm running out of money! Thanks for the links/images. I would never have guessed this would happen.

My wife picked up Hobbit Riddles for the Ring set at wal-mart for my birthday. It's a neat little set. I think the Bilbo torso will be useful for multiples and supposedly Gollum is different from the LOTR version.

Mahtion - I purchased a whole bunch of the Elven helmets form Brickforge when I was building up a CMF army. The helmet looks really cool until you put it on a figure and then the lower back of the head is exposed and I've had multiple heads get stuck in the helmet. They might be easier to remove with the new brick separator, but they weren't easy to remove. I was very unhappy with my purchase. So I'll just end up waiting until LEGO releases an official helmet. I do agree that the back of the torso is very fitting, especially if you look at the LEGO screenshots of the game. I may have to try that. I would say LEGO may have planned on releasing the long blue cape originally, but then was unable to for whatever reason so they threw in the short cape and that ALL of the polybags will have the short cape. I emailed them last week when I picked up the game and they said they didn't have any long capes available in that color but maybe another color might be of interest. I replied and they never got back to me, so I don't know. I'll just have to call them again sometime. But they didn't say anything about it being a preorder for a game and they didn't tell me to look elsewhere to purchase pieces, so that's odd that they mentioned that to you Masked Builder. That is neat that toywiz will have them for individual purchase. That might drive the ebay/bricklink prices down a bit. Now I need to decide if multiples are worth that much for me. They definitely aren't worth $30 or whatever the going rate is. I went to every Game Stop in town and they were all saying they won't give them out unless you buy the game and it is against their policy to sell/give any out otherwise. So I think it all depends on who you talk with and some may be "shadier" than others. Although in this instance, I want to work with the "shady" people haha.

My local TRU in Lincoln, NE had dozens of the Mirkwood elf archer, but zero Hobbit sets. They said they wouldn't have the Hobbit sets until the 27th. Yet all of the Wal-Marts in town had the Hobbit sets (other than the exclusives). And TRU and one of our Wal-Marts are almost right next to each other, so you could stock up on Archers and then the sets! I would definitely prefer an olive green hood since there is no cape, or add in a dark green cape (even though the quiver is in the way) or give us more elven hairpieces! That is what I want the most. I only picked up 3 of the polybags, but if it had an olive green hood or elven hairpieces I would have cleared them out, without a doubt. I almost went back tonight to pick some more up, but there was a line almost a block long waiting for black Friday, so I didn't bother. I don't think I need any more of them anyway. I can put a hood on any figure and call it an elf, so it seems silly to spend 5 bucks to do that.

Very clever! I like the tree and the pathway to the building. You can easily see the original set in this redesign. I love seeing updated versions of the classics! Keep up the good work.

Well as odd as some of those sound, I actually think I will be getting multiples of quite a few then. The cyclops is actually towards the top of my list surprisingly. The Maid Marion has some odd color choices, but I welcome more olive green. Hopefully there won't be too much yellow on the torso and I can use it for the LOTR elves. Definitely pick up multiple Caesers, although I wasn't expecting that description I guess. The judge with a new hairpiece, could it finally be the wig!! And a Heroic knight sounds promising. I don't care for the helmet much, but the color scheme sounds awesome. I wonder what his shield emblem will be? Thanks for the list. Hopefully pictures will follow soon to confirm/deny.