TheLegoDr

I agree with a lot that was said here, but what about the Female Minifigure Set and the previous Land Rover (I think) that said we are still looking into this set. How is that not a 'maybe?' I know it says that for the Female set currently. They ended up rejecting the other sets that were maybes, but it is a maybe. Now I agree, you wouldn't want to have a maybe floating out there and then reject it, only to have your own theme come about that is eerily similar. Obviously internal conflicts arise, but to say maybe and then no, vs just no, can be a big deal.

My local LEGO store also said they won't be restocking any, so what they have available up front is all they will get. Makes sense since the next series comes out in May, so you don't want to produce a whole bunch more of this series and then not have any interest in the next one. I don't think they underestimated the success of the LEGO movie considering there were tons of boxes available when they first came out in January (at least here) and now they are slowly getting smaller and smaller. So they just have been a big seller and not all of the figures were as desirable so there are a lot of leftovers. Good thing there weren't any good army builders for me.

^good thing it's cheap!

Thanks for the link to the calendar. I'll make the minimum purchase for the MM polybag, and then make multiple orders next month for double points. Too bad since I'd rather have multiple MM to offset the cost. It was just bonus to have double points.

Is there a link to the calendar? I know MM is the promo for March, but is there double points again? I know they've done that the last two Marches, but I can't remember seeing it on this calendar. Thanks!

Impressive armies. I haven't seen too many System figures using Licensed skin tones, but I've always preferred Licensed skin tones. Although all of my yellow figures are my Modular town figures. I guess if I had more licensed skin tone of the classic smiley, I would probably change those also. I like the use of the chin strapped head for the Black Falcon soldiers. I don't know how accurate it is, but it looks good!

^Exactly. Otherwise all CUUSOO submissions that reached 10k votes would be declined because of the inevitable discovery clause. Very interesting though that they called out this one license. I still don't think it is as globally popular as people make it out to be, but I could certainly be wrong. But if you think about it, if you only produce 10-20,000 sets, it doesn't have to be purchased by everyone all over the globe, just has to be purchased. Are there 10-20,000 fans of Dr. Who in the UK that are also LEGO fans that would love to buy something involving both? Maybe the US market wouldn't even need to be considered in the end. Although from a business standpoint, you'd want to attract as many consumers as possible.

^Great idea. Although I don't have any fear or embarrassment buying LEGO in stores. I think I'm over the whole hiding my hobby thing. Although, I do have a daughter who would love these Princess sets, so I would be buying them for her. I don't see them changing the minidoll shape for any other figures that may be of a different body shape, only because no other doll manufacturer does so. Usually they have the single template and all fall within that category. Hopefully they will come out with some new princesses next year. My daughter loves Rapunzel and Merida so those are a must buy, but it'd be nice to see Mulan, Pocahontas, even Tiana, only because they seem to be less popular and of a more heroine type instead of a damsel in distress like Cinderella, etc.

One thing I've noticed, there are tons of these figures still at target. Typically with other series, I had to get them quick because they would be sold out right away. So I did that with this series. But there are lots left still. I assume because of all of the hype. Too bad there weren't any good army builders. I got my 16 with a few spares and called it good. I guess buy them now since the next two series are going to be $1 more per pack. For a standard 16, that is an extra 5 figures you would have purchased!! Ridiculous.

I also feel overwhelmed about spending at times. I have cut back a lot since the Dark Ages, but still there are those times you want to buy something. I think the key is spreading it out over time...even though it feels great to get that brick fix! I've been slowly bricklinking CC and GG, but within the last few months I've been more interested in it, so buying more pieces. That is tough to let go of the money when all you receive are these little plastic bricks. But it can also be quite satisfying to build something fun/creative... The downside is trying to find money to enjoy building. I have very little. I guess the good thing is, I haven't bought a ton of LEGO for a while, just a few small purchases here and there (which was paid for from LEGO I've sold on Amazon), so it worked out quite well. But to Vee, I don't think I've spent that much on LEGO in the last 3 years! Kudos to you to be able to swing that expenditure.

I haven't seen the LEGO movie, but I keep hearing about the positive message it sends out to people everywhere. Especially since one of the main protagonists is a female. That's awesome (which I guess is a recurring theme in the movie). I have never noticed the boobs and hips on female figures. In reality, the only problem with the printing is how high the hips become compared to the hip (where it bends) on the actual leg assembly. My daughter is 4, so she is coming into the age where physical representations will probably be viewed by her more readily and she may take cues from that. I don't think she has paid too much attention to the figure printing. She knows people have different shapes and boobs. I don't think there is much more to it than that. As a general consensus, women have boobs. Some men have boobs, but that is hardly something to focus on. I didn't read the article, but if you want to be upset about boobs, Mini-dolls have actual nubbins where the breasts would be located. But again, most children are aware that women have breasts. As great as the current printing is, I rather do like the Modular line where it is classic smiley with different hairstyles to represent people. The torsos can reflect that also, but most of it is through the hair, which is interesting since hairstyles can be misrepresented also.

Very nicely done! That Market Street looks significantly better now. I may have to build this too! Grr!!! I would definitely go with the masonry profile bricks too. I never liked the grill bricks. I also planned on changing the back to have windows. I like your railing effect better than the original, although I would definitely go with the Town Hall version, but that's just me. Can't wait to see some interiors!

So even if the largest set did have less than 900 pieces at $130, I would hope the difference is due to a molded dragon of good size. However, if you look at Star Wars sets - Jabba's Palace 717 bricks, 7 figures for $119.99, and Jabba's Sail Barge 850 pieces, 5 figures for $119.99. That is including Jabba, who is molded, but not of really larger stature. Those are both priced significantly higher compared to piece count. So to me, piece count doesn't mean anything. If the set is substantial enough, then it might warrant the price. Otherwise, wait for an awesome sale like I did on those two above sets. I spent about $175 instead of the asking $240.

My wife is from Indiana and it's where I went to school (where we met), so it'd be neat to go back and check this out. Although we weren't going to go back until June for her brother's graduation.. Maybe another year. Is the set-up any good? I've never been to a convention before, but I've heard good things about some of the big ones (BrickWorld Chicago, BrickCon, BrickFair VA, etc)...

Well I have it set up as the corner, only straight. So imagine holding the corner building at the tower and folding the two sides to be straight in line with that along the front sidewalk. So the first floor is the same set-up -- windows all along the bottom until the central doorway and then the side door on the far right. With the 48 stud width, another door could certainly work. Although it does technically have the cafe doorway I guess. Granted I wasn't going to include the outdoor eatery area since the Parisian Restaurant did a really great job with that. So far with the widened building, I do have a double wide first floor entryway, which looks really nice. The downside is that makes that 8-10 studs wide instead of the 6 studs wide the original had (4 studs for doorway, 1 stud either side with the pillar). This makes the bottom level wider, but I wouldn't be able to widen the upper floor tower due to piece availability (the tan 1x6 arch doesn't come in a 1x8 arch, so would change the height also if I used a 2x8 arch). At the current size it will have a lot of room for an interior. The L shaped corner I was doing originally had even more space inside, but cost and shelf space decided against that route. This will at least fit on a shelf now. And I am using a 32x32 and a 16x32, I just said 3 16x32s to simplify my typing. The only straight CC I've seen was also a 48x32 and they had the tower on the left side (and they moved the dark blue archway entrance below that) and then a double wide center door for the cafe. The only appealing thing about this design was the ability to have HOTEL written across the roof instead of vertically on the side. But I didn't love how the rest of the building looked like that. So I wanted to change it up, but I like the idea of symmetry, so that leaves the tower centrally located. I may end up changing it so I can have HOTEL across the top. I really liked how that looked. (reminds me of Hotel Alex Johnson in Rapid City, SD)

^It would be different enough though. Just look at the UCS X-Wing that was recently released. It is different from the original, so I'd expect a MF to be changed also. Granted, I don't know if they could do it in the same scale though. UCS is one thing, but 5000 pieces is something altogether different. Since they re-released one model, I'd expect them to re-release more in the future depending on sales. I don't know how well the X-Wing has sold so far though. I plan on getting one sometime before it retires.

Is anyone else bothered by the huge gap on the side door? Below the arch and above the door. It seems like a huge gap. I wonder if there is a good way to fix that. I am glad I'm not bothered by the official minifigures of these sets. Although I wouldn't mind having that hairpiece, but only because I actually want the Umbridge character for my HP collection. My next dilemma: With my modified CC, I currently have the official set oriented straight instead of around a corner. Meaning, it takes up like 44 studs (or something close). I was planning on stretching it out to 48 width (essentially 3 16x32 baseplates), but I'll have to modify a few bits. Or do I shrink it down to only cover a 32x32 baseplate. It would essentially only have the tower on one side with the upper floor like normal and then the side door where it normally would be. If I keep it large 48 studs, it will have both sides of the upper levels, but the tower may look too small because of the width. Also, that would be centered and may look too much like Town Hall and Fire Brigade with they central tower and symmetrical sides... What do you guys think? That is, if I made sense and you can picture it in your heads. I thought about building the upper floor and see how small the tower looks, but I may change it to a smaller 32x32 baseplate design just to be different, yet again. So far great pictures Sin!

^a CMF or keychain or something cheap should cover it. I mostly just want the figures, but normally it does end up being about the same cost as bricklinking the figures separately vs the whole set brand new. Odd how that works. I'd rather have all of the bricks for 5-10$ more than just the figures alone.

I assumed it would be back. They seem to keep a couple winter sets each Christmas season. They will come out with a new one this year and have the market. I don't know if they will do the cottage again.

^I think the bigger reason is Simpsons have been going for 25 years strong and Futurama has been cancelled...twice... Needless to say I never cared for Futurama. It seems there are people on both sides there, rarely like both. I don't know why. It being the same creators and all... With that said, I haven't seen an episode of any new Simpsons in about 7 years since I cancelled cable back then.

So I haven't been paying much attention to the pictures and/or this topic. But it is exciting to see this as an official set. Those figures look great. Is that the 1x1 round with hole in stud in red now?? That is awesome. Thankfully they are including that in more colors instead of just white!

I keep the boxes, but mostly for the artwork. I have little interest in reselling, but it is nice to have the original box if I were to resell some sets. I slit the tape on both ends and flatten all of the boxes. They then stack on their side really easily in the corner behind other heavier object so they really only take up about a 3x1 square foot space. Not too shabby. Although I did recently start recycling some boxes since I didn't particularly care for the art on them. But otherwise I have all of the boxes from fall of 2010 when I came out of the Dark Ages...

Those are really neat. I really like the Mystery Machine, the snotwork on the RV and the newer Batmobile!

That's awesome Sin. Those prices of CC and MS are not too much more than the original price. I realize a few changes, but still overall seems worthwhile to bricklink them. I may have to bricklink MS sometime just so I have it. Although I'm not in love with it. I have no idea how to tally up the total spent on my projects since I've purchased pieces for other projects too AND a lot of pieces have come from other sets I purchased, plus I'm modifying mine. Either way, I think it will come up for far less than the official prices. I can't wait to see some more pictures.

I guess it depends on how much over the top it was. I've been over, but they were like "that's close enough" and then they tape on the top. I've never heard of them removing pieces to the lid fits snug. They should at the very least alert you if they were going to have to do that. I understand not wanting to abuse the system, but there should be some leniency somewhere or it should be strict everywhere.