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A dark tan hood... we can dream. Nice MOC, took me a second to realise it was rendered rather than 'in the brick'.

Won't that be a bit confusing between 'Lego Galaxy' and the failed 'Lego Universe'? :S That said, the space/polar aspect would tie in with the idea that it would somehow be an update of the old Ice Planet stuff. My guess is a 'Power Ice Miners in space' sort of feel.

I've been loving your line of MOCs. They have such a nostalgic feel and really capture the spirit of those old castle sets. It would be quite easy to imagine that you have somehow unearthed some never before seen preliminary models. I think the modern day price is slightly optimistic, most modern sets don't seem to come with base plates, and 9 figs is a lot compared to the MVR, even more than the MMV. That said I'd love a MMV style set incoprorating your dock idea, but would probably guess a modern price of around £75-80.

They are exclusive to Tesco (not including Lego Brand Stores) for the month of September, so don't expect to see them in WHSmiths/Toy R Us etc until the 1st of October. As for smaller independent stores, who knows.

I really like these. The colour faded creases are definately an improvement and removing the middle fold makes the chest emblem a lot more prominent, which is good, especially remembering that it will be shrunk to minifig size! Imagine if Lego did a battle pack with updates of old factions like this! People would go nuts for it. You should share them over on the classic-castle forum as well, people would enjoy them.

Isn't this picture of a seal, rather than a Sea Lion? (Sea Lions have split tails/flippers so can 'walk' rather than shuffle like seals). But I'd be all for a seal or sea lion mould (if TLG would just hurry up and make a zoo theme already). Why aren't bears/polar bears on the list as existing animals? (eg a great 'polar' pack would be a Seal, Narwhal, Polar bear and penguin - despite being from the opposite poles).

Great review and awesome looking set. I can see peoples gripe about the price, but I guess it (currently) has some rare/sought after pieces and colours so maybe it can be justified. Slight typo by TLG on the newspaper stickers, as I'm sure it should be 'Prize' rather than price, but it wouldn't be the first time stickers made little or no sense (I'm thinking of the Kingdoms Dragon wizard "Powerfull" sticker). I would have liked to have seen a few more play features (trapdoors, secret doors, maybe a pipe organ) as the interior is a bit sparse of large items, which makes me think it isn't really aimed at children or part of the monster fighters theme (other than thematically). That said, even though I'm not collecting Monster Fighters, or the modulars, there's something about a haunted house that just stirs up nostalgia...

And quite a sloppy changing of 1:00 to 11:00 as well.

That evil stone warrior guy looks bad to the bone. Even if he does look like the illegitimate child of Darth Maul and Lord Garmadon. Darth Garmadon? With some sort of crab claws on his helmet. Rock on stone warriors! Woop!

Nice review. There seemed to be a suprise at the price of this set when it was announced, but looking at everything you get it seems to be about right (more than the other Marvel '3 figs and a build' £20/dollar sets). Just a side point, but the snape/ock hair also comes in the city marina, glider and Kingdoms Joust set. But appreciate it was probably created originally for the Snape figure in that colour (it appeared the same year in brown for PoP).

I got this set the other week, as my first dip into LOTR lego, and mainly to look at the new parts first-hand. While I am pleased with the figures (the parts and printing are excellent) I can't help but be slightly baffled by the cart. It contains a number of nice pieces, but just seems as it it was designed by someone 'trying to be clever' rather than creating an actual solid build. I also wonder why they used 2 1x2 plates instead of just using 1 2x2 plate in a couple of places? I can understand this in a larger set that might already have a large number of 1x2's, so it's easier to stick in a few more than add a different part. But does anyone know why TLG do this? It just seems like an attempt to inflate the piece count. Love the new horse mould though.

Great review and fantastic set. But the price is just a little too high... I appreciate licensed sets tend to be more expensive but I think I'll be waiting to see if the LOTR sets drop by about £5/10 each before jumping. (This goes for Uruk-Hai army set as well. Get army builder, but at £25 would be more desirable).

That printed (I assumming) Lego logo tile is also quite sought after. Especially if you're trying to piece together your own mini lego store (the store opening giveaway). Does it contain two minifigs? (The box art seems to suggest two of the same torsos with a male and female head).

I've been using the fantasy era barmaid/pirate female torso with the fantasy era witch skirt slope. The colour works well, but some of the printing lines are a bit off, buy hey even official printing is usually off, so let's not be too picky!

Your painting is amazing. At first I didn't even notice it, until I remembered what the original pieces look like. The hair/ponytail on the charger is especially impressive and neat. Didn't know the trick about toothpaste rubbing off print, not that I'm about to try it. The parts you've used work really well, and as for the rearing up... I guess TLG have to stay one step ahead of the game somehow! (Now if they'd have only given us some purist centaurs...).

Seeing as most people seem to be jumping on 'sppedorz' as a world racers type theme. What if it was actually steam-punk inspired? Plenty of chrome and gold, with antique but souped-up bi-planes, cars and motorbikes in an adventurers/steam-punk mash-up? I'm not saying this is what it is, but just saying that TLG can take a name and could make something awesome.

Not necessarily that it was a fake, just that they have no plans to release one. The rumour was that it got cancelled along with the mayan game. I read on another thread someone suggesting that the Mayan Mystica game may have been retooled into the hobbit game. The layout would make this credible, though I don't know the lead time on the game sets, and whether the hobbit game would have been developed way before the cancellation of MM?

Thanks! The legs are a combination of the Kingdoms Lion King and Wizard. The lines seemed to match up pretty well. I've now also attempted the Movie Avengers. See edit to first post!

The facts are a nice touch, especially the diver one, I love to hear the reasons for designing certain elements etc. Interesting that they say Series 8 Santa is the first official Lego Santa... So who were the figures in the advent calendars etc? And yes, now I want them ALL.

In previous online promotions it seems to have worked when you checkout with over £25 of any set... The system doesn't seem to recognise the difference in themes. This is what I've read, I haven't actually ordered online myself. But for only £25 it is tempting.

Thanks, I think Batman is the one who most naturally spans the ages. Contradiction how? Do you mean the name, in that America didn't 'exist'? That's why I've called him the First Avenger :D I have made some slight edits following comments and feedback of my original picture, both on here and flickr. I had wanted to give Superman a beard, hopefully now he looks less Loki, and people didn't like the hammer, so hopefully less like Thor now (though he has ended us with a more similar face/hair combo) thought the staff was more of a stand-in and something I'd like to put a bit more thought into. I think the spear and shield combo is a vast improvement on Wonder Woman. I made and since changed Robin following some suggestions, but think I still prefer him with hair to a hood. I hope to do some more superheroes/villains soon! The Boy Wonder, SuperMage and Wonder Warrior v2 by andhe :-), on Flickr

That's really cute. I'd love to see what it looked liked using a lego bear as well!

Thanks! The Superman inspiration was a mix of the idea that his powers would be considered as magic, and also the DC Superman character 'Steel' who has a hammer, but yes I guess when people see hammers they think Thor! I had ideas for other heroes, but these are the current figs/flesh heads that I had so will have to wait for the others. If anyone likes the 'What if' type comics, I'd recommend Marvel's 1602, which is uses the well known Avengers/X-Men characters but in Elizabethan England. Great fun.

The idea started with trying to give Captain America a dark blue hood, I then thought it would be fun to try and 'castle-ify' my current collection of Superhero figs. I've always liked the 'what if?' type comics, with Batman in the Dark Ages, or Superman in communist Russia etc I love that the characters are so iconic they remain recognisable even with a bit of tweaking. So here is my attempt at transplanting my superhero figs into a more castle/fantasy type setting. The whole gang by andhe :-), on Flickr (I couldn't decide whethet to post in the castle or superhero forum, please move it if you feel it would be better off elsewhere). edit: And my attempt at the Movie Avengers (minus Hulk). Thor was tricky as he is fairly 'castle' already, and on reflection, I think Iron Man should maybe have been a wizard. Castle Avengers by andhe :-), on Flickr

You can have a circus without animals. I'd like a Lego Fantasy theme (or a return of/wave 2). The dwarves and trolls were what drew me out of my 'dark age' and I was really looking forward to seeing what lego would come up with (imagine a lego elf/forestmen type set with treehouses etc!). I think non-licensed sets are a lot more creative. A Greek-type mythology theme would be great also.