TheLegoDr

If this all came to be, Kree-o may still exist to create competition in the marketplace, but that doesn't mean they would get any better at making their sets. As others have mentioned, Disney would not give up their contract with LEGO to take them on directly with their own building block sets. Disney has a lot of money, but they also play into being a well known brand with a history of (one would assume) better quality. Same goes for TLG, so I doubt they would want to ruin things.

That's neat! I'd love to have some good deals right before the store gets crowded/emptied. My first visit to a LEGO store was a few weeks ago and I was the only person in there aside from my wife and the employees. So I had all the time I wanted to linger at the sets and the Pick-a-brick wall. It was really nice. I have spent a fair amount from S@H but I doubt I'd be invited, and even if I was I wouldn't be able to attend since I live so far away from a store. But I have also curbed my spending quite a bit this year. Which is odd since there are more great themes out this year than last year when I went crazy. It makes me wonder what I spent my money on last year... Have fun with your shopping everyone who goes. Be sure and let us know of your finds!

Canada_7 - I like the looks of the trains, but I don't currently own any (apart from Hogwarts Express 2010). I think the Maersk train is a huge hit because of the rare Maersk blue color. The train does look nice, but which would go with your layout better. A light blue train or an orange train. I think the Horizon Express looks neat too and it might be more functional for a city layout. But that Maersk blue is nice to have also. And I know nothing about the Hayabusa. I'd say go for whatever you can afford! Multiverse - It looks like a nice set, but I don't know about that price. And the fact it is half-off seems disturbing to me. I didn't realize it was that expensive I guess. I think if you aren't into the minifigures at all you might want to look into if bricklinking the pieces would be any cheaper. Or just setting out for the exact pieces you think you need or want. Most sets I buy I want the figures AND the pieces, but there are times when some of the pieces don't work out with what I want to use them for. I'd suggest going to bricklink or peeron and look at the inventory and see if there actually is enough pieces to justify that price tag. I wanted the Monster Fighter Castle but when I looked at it some of the pieces weren't as usable as I thought. Now you probably could sell off the minifigures and make some of the money back. That just sounds like a lot of money for a parts pack. Unless you absolutely need those specific pieces for something. Bubu - Welcome to EB. You should head on over to the Introduction board to get a few more tips on how things work around here. Those sets are a little varied. Are you a huge Star Wars nut? Or do you prefer to build modulars? I haven't built the Pet Shop yet, but the Grand Emporium is a nice looking structure when complete. Obviously the figure selection isn't ideal if you are into detailed figures or even Licensed themes, but the build makes up for it. I'd get the Grand Emporium before the Pet Shop since it will be discontinued earlier and it has more pieces for the same price. The Millennium Falcon is a nice looking build. I only recently got into Star Wars and I think it fits the iconic ship nicely and with a great figure selection. But since it is Licensed and a ship instead of a building it has about 1,000 fewer pieces. I think it goes back to the ultimate question, do you want a great display piece as a ship (it might even be pretty swooshable) or do you want a nice city building to display. Since I already have the Modulars I would obviously go with the ship, but if I was looking at all three in front of me at a store, I may actually lean towards the Falcon just because of those figures. Thanks, now I want one.

I agree with everyone else, if the figure isn't with the game anymore there is no reason to keep the game. With the cost of the figure being as high as it is, I would just end up waiting until the game goes on clearance as it inevitably will. I don't have time to play it now anyway, I just wanted it for the free figure. But if I go in and they say no more figures are available, then I will just return it on the spot. I wonder how much business GameStop will lose. They should look into a thing called customer service, ya know, being a retail customer oriented business and all. I never deal with GS, so I had no idea they were this bad. I will know not to shop with them in the future then.

This is a nice looking build! I am not well versed in many of the ships of SW, but I am impressed by this one. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see what else you have in store for us.

This is a really creative and well built display piece for those figures! I finally watched that movie for the first time. And I think this is pretty spot on. Very well done. I may have to copy this idea. Keep up the good work.

Within the limitations of LEGO, you did a great job! Too bad there wasn't a modified nose you could throw in there Good luck in the contest.

That is very neat. I've seen it done before, but it is still impressive to see. I may have to try that. Now you can add in some Inferi to spice it up! Keep up the good work. I love all things Harry Potter.

Those look awesome. That is a remarkable skill to have. Especially for people who love LEGO and love Comics and love drawing. Keep up the awesome work. I will definitely check back again.

It is nice to finally see some more photos of the sets. I am definitely less interested and more interested at the same time. I do think I will skip the larger sets and maybe pick up some of the cheaper sets. I really wouldn't mind getting the figures and typically I just buy the set because it can be cheaper, but I feel there are fewer figures I really want out of this theme and most of the pieces don't look like they could be reused that easily for my purposes. So I will probably just figure out what is cheaper and go that way. I think for my purposes getting Kraang Lab Escape, Shredder Bike, and Baxter Robot Rampage and then just bricklink Leo and maybe Splinter. That way you'll get the 4 turtles and the only bad guys I care about (and April!). I don't care about Fish Face or Dogpound. I'm sure it is similar to the source material (I haven't watched it), but since I'm not the Target audience, then it doesn't really affect me. But I will say the Lair is much better than the Shellraiser, especially for the price.

It does look like a fine model. I like the black version, probably because it can hide any faults being all black. The camo tumbler is nice, but there isn't enough camo basically. And short of painting the actual pieces, the look cannot be achieved. Now LEGO could have printed the pieces just right to look camouflaged, but they didn't so we can deal with it. Thanks for sharing. It looks great and I will be doing this in the near future!

That is very fitting, although LEGO doesn't do it justice with the coloring and detail. Although original, it isn't very creative. I was expecting more of a scene. But good work either way. Good luck in the contest!

That is amazing. Mosaics always can be impressive and this fits really well. We'll see what happens if this gets allowed, but either way you should be proud of the work done.

I was going to make a joke and wonder if Bane has an alternative face with slightly angrier eyes . I think Freeze would do well with a second face, so we'll wait and see. They gave Harry Pott, I mean Doc Ock a second face with his goggles flipped down, so I'd think Freeze would benefit more from that. The bigger box arts look promising. I really like this wave of sets. Maybe the novelty ran off quicker last year with all of the Avenger hype, but these new figures are looking great to me (and I'm not a Spiderman fan).

There was an article that LightningTiger posted about LEGO in Australia. The person being interviewed directly stated that Licensing is where toys are these days due to easier marketing. So I'm sure that is why there are so many Licensed themes now, because kids are buying them more than original toys including LEGO themes. To be honest, Harry Potter got me out of my Dark Ages, so licensing works, but Kingdoms kept me going all of last year. If I had come out of my DA this year, then it still would have been LOTR keeping me going instead of Kingdoms, so either way a Licensed theme would have won me over.

Ceroknight - I have a handful of spinners and am not into Ninjago at all. The spinners are actually fun to just spin like a top and watch them go around the room. I know my toddler daughter loves that. The figures are indeed cool looking and that is the reason why I bought them. I say, if you want that set, go for it! If you don't want the spinner, you could look into bricklink, but I did that recently and they were sometimes just as (if not more) expensive plus shipping than just buying the spinner set and you don't get the weapons. That's why I almost always buy straight from LEGO or a distributor. Bricklink and eBay are hard to beat the MSRP most often (unless of course you want one figure from a $100 set). And the fact that he would be free with VIP points is all the better. I agree that using the VIP points for something more expensive is a good idea because then you get a much better deal, but if this is what you want, then do it! Live the LEGO life with no regrets.

That would be really neat to see those coins. I believe a new movie is on the horizon, but probably not for another year or two. And hopefully when they release new sets they will include sets from the other movies instead of mainly the new movie (even though that has the best chances of support). But TLG did release a new coin for Two-Face in the Batman theme, so there is definite hope for some new pirate money too.

I agree that it doesn't feel overwhelming for its size, mostly because of the color scheme. I'm not sure how much I like the roof color and the two blues together, but at the same time I can't seem to turn away. It's very peculiar. I do love the overall design structure of the building though. The gold accents do play off of those browns. It is amazing how different those two browns are when put side by side. Keep up the good work. That's quite an interesting city you have there. You must have a lot of space and time!

Great start. I don't mind the masonry bricks, but I'm not as fond of them as most people. In this situation, it adds some nice texturing to the building so it doesn't look too plain, but I feel overwhelmed with all of the masonry. With that said, I really like the windows and the double doors. I like the two arches at the front. That really stands out to me. The stripe works really well also. I like the outer pillars on the side and middle with the windows kind of indented in. I think this definitely looks more academia of some sort. Keep up the good work. I can't wait to see how this progresses.

Nice little build. I very much like the tree and the use of sand green on the fort. What torsos are those?

The mountain is brilliant. I love the ski-lift and the ski jump. It is a very snowy scene (which I hold close to my heart for some reason). I like seeing the Winter Village sets in there and the buildings you added fit in perfectly! I absolutely love the dark red building off to the right side by the mountain edge. I may have to borrow some of that build aesthetic. It fits right in. Congrats on the monster build. I bet you feel accomplished.

I never claim to know anything for sure since I don't control release dates. But I would suspect that set to be available at least another year since it just came out. I think the Toy Shoppe might have just been discontinued? which it is the older of the current 4 Winter Village sets. The Bakery would probably be the next to go, then the Post Office, then the Cottage meaning you should have plenty of time to pick it up. But it will probably only be for sale around the holidays. Don't quote me on anything since I try to buy everything I want when it comes out so I don't have to worry about it being discontinued. I'm sure someone with more knowledge will be along shortly to help out.

I would have bought many many windows had there been any when I was in my local (3+ hours away) store. I can't wait to see what you can build with them!

I love the Imperial Flagship. I highly recommend it. A great selection of redcoats and a pretty rare female is included. The ship itself is very impressive when built, especially if you are used to the other LEGO ships. It is one of the few sets I still have together after coming out of my dark ages. I'm not sure if the price is good, but with it being discontinued, I would imagine it will only go up in price. As far as the modulars go, is that in addition to the Flagship or instead of? If it is in addition to, I would recommend the GE for a few reasons. One being the obvious choice with it being almost out of production. But another reason is it being a nice build when it is all said and done. Yes, the top floors are a bit repetitive, but the aesthetic is really nice. TLG did a great job modeling it after more historic shopping buildings. I recently bought the PS for Christmas, so I can't attest to that build, but I like the variety of colors and the little buildings. But I think the GE will be more impressive in that scale. Plus, if you want them all, get the GE first and with time you could get the PS. I also want the Joust, so I can't attest to that one either, but with it having come out this year, you probably have some time to get that one too. But are you more into Castle or City layouts? I have the problem of liking too many themes, so it really adds up quick. To sum up: Go for the IFS if possible! Then go for GE as the modular. Good luck!

The reason I mentioned the LOTR ring was simply to avoid a new mold. I like new molds as much as the next person, but I could also see TLG doing that to save some money on a new mold. They would be a bit wider towards the center and one would want sprinkles on top to better signify it is a donut. I've always spelled it doughnut, but donut doesn't get flagged as a typo on here, so I went with that version. Maybe the policeman could have a baton. I don't recall seeing one of those before, but I may have missed it since I don't follow the City Police theme. A humanoid ape sounds like a great idea! It could have a new head mold similar to the new molds of TMNT (not a turtle head mind you). But it'd be neat to have a new mold again for a head, but from a business stand point I don't know many new molds they want to release in these CMF series.