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Judging by those photos it looks like the 'Bavarian Boy' (still waiting for an offical name on this one... He has a moustache) does have a spare plume. I guess this being one of the smaller 'accessories'. Pretty nice if it does, as we haven't had a white plume like that in a long time (TMK).

I've enjoyed the other games but I find it a bit odd that it bears no real connection to the actual Hobbit storyline, would have expected more of a Heroica style questing aspect. And was hoping for a hobbit/Bilbo microfig... Pictures for those that missed them hobbitgame2 by andhe :-), on Flickr hobbitgame by andhe :-), on Flickr

Out of 16 figs I can see 10 new parts/moulds (Alien cape, cowgirl hat? santa hat and sack? pretzel, diving bell, trophy cup? fairy wings, ruff, dj hair). This seems quite low compared to previous series where it felt like every fig has something new. I'm liking the conquistador (looks like his face is gold? the 'ancient' thespis is more of a shakespearean actor/hamlet but the ruff and torso print look great. And no short legs in this series? The bavarian boy, is obviously a man, judging by the moustache, unless they grow up a lot quicker in bavaria. And a new alien head would have been cool, rather than rehashing the ugly AQ one! I say now that I'm not fussed about collecting them all, but undoubtably will, and hope that series 9 offers us some real 'home runs'. Series 8 feels like a stop gap, they've obviously had their main efforts on the superhero/LOTR stuff.

Skater? Kidding. I'd go with baker, male spanish dancer (or matador, but maybe there would be issues with representing a modern day bloodsport) or Caesar. As much as I'd like to also see a female cowboy/cowgirl, or Celtic female warrior (thinking Boudicca, especially with the release of the new Pixar film), I think my first 3 are more likely.

Yes you still need to roll a shield to use the special ability. I don't have Ilrion but am guessing that my 'magic bar' rule should still work (each hero starts with 4 'magic' similar to health. On rolling a shield you can either use your magic or regenerate it. Each magic point either counts as a hit point (where enemies have health to the value of their strength) or life point in the case of the druid/staff). I'd forgotten they had said that! I hope they have plans for something big, as one new set hardly counts as 'our year'... Maybe some grand finale set? With all heroes, new monsters and a final big boss.

The first pictures we got for series 6 (from what I can remember) where of leaked figures from a factory, followed shortly by group pictures of series 6 and 7. I'm guessing that perhaps TLG has tightened up on their production to prevent factory workers sneaking the figures out. I have no idea how long it takes to produce, packaged and distribute that many figures for a September release, but if that make it to the official release date without any 'leaks' I'll be very surprised. There's just a lot going on with the LOTR sets still hitting stores, so their official press releases tend to allow space for people to spend their money on each wave of sets :D

Like this...? Due South by andhe :-), on Flickr

These look great, especially the decal on Elvis. Great choice of face as well. But what is a vintager? Edit: just google it. "Someone who harvest grapes". Wow. You learn something new every day.

I guess a lot of people/kids WON'T have all the figs or complete sets of every series. The series 2 surfer has been pretty rare up til now, so guess this is a good way to get these figs. But can these be really counted as the same 'collectable' figs? Will people be buying these to complete their sets, or just to add some beach figs to their collections?

Apparently Universal are developing a Hero Factory Movie. This is not connected to the Lego movie being developed by WB. What do you think? The next Toy Story, or straight to DVD? http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=34085 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/universal-lego-hero-factory-robots-movie-328785?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

I'm guessing there's probably a limit to what counts as an 'accessory' eg the bike. And without a bike, a cyclist is fairly useless (or at least I could see complaints), this is probably why we haven't seen one released with the Team GB figs.

I agree. As a castle collector I find it odd that they used the same face for the Crownie Gold Knight and MMV Blacksmith (in the Fantasy Era) and also the Dragon Wizard (in the Kingdoms Era) as well as the Admiral in the Pirates theme. Whilst I can accept reusing heads across different themes, and can accept generic soldiers having the same face, I really feel like 'character' figures should be distinct. This is especially true in licensed themes (and only seems to have become an issue in the current Superheroes line to my knowledge). I appreciate that you can obviously change the heads, or that children will create their own 'characters' anyway, but it's just a little bit disappointing as a collector to see the same head reused for central figures.

An interesting study. But I think it's mostly a personal opinion as to which figs are classed as excellent, good etc. I'll agree that some definately are 'chase' figures and would agree with most of your 'excellent category figs, due to rarity and desirability. I think series 1 should by higher for desirability over all, as a lot of people missed out on them altogether.

Oh yeah, the angels/devils thing confused me. The Red Devils are actually the parachute display team! Still, great build.

Wow! That looks really nice. I guess the they are the US version of the UK's Red Devils display team. It looks like a great build, and I like that you've kept it minifig scale rather than 'real scale'. The only bit that looks a bit odd is the trans slopes in front of the cockpit. I don't know if there's a windscreen/shield piece that would complete the curve instead. Looks very swooshable!

Seems like a number of people over on the Heroica Facebook Fan group have been able to pick up the new Ilrion set from TRU. The new characters are a Sage (white) who can pick up one items up to 4 spaces away, and a prince (dark blue) who when he defeats a monster can move up to 2 spaces. The green potion is defensive and can be used to prevent any loss on your turn. The zombies are strength 2, vampire bats are strength 1, the vampire lord is strength 3. The giant vampire bat is strength 4 and it has it’s own health bar. The 'coffins' are the barriers of the game, if you roll a Skull you lose 1 health and move back one as normal, but also vampire bat on top of the coffin. The relic is the Fang of Fury which can be used as a melee skill. You defeat the monster and gain 1 health. (Thank you to Ted on Facebook for the info).

I'm sure there will be people willing to trade so stay tuned! Personally I'm more interested in the new colour moulds and picking up a bunch of new faces and black bows, than I am about the actual figs. Hopefully now this announcement is out the way we might start to hear some series 8 news!!

The gymnast pictured is the same as the one in the prelim pictures, so guess they might have been fairly accurate...? Edit: Picture here http://www.toynews-online.biz/news/36204/Lego-unveils-Team-GB-Minifigures

Fantastic! I was wondering about having a go at something like this. Well for a barding actually. The character strikes me as more of the lone black knight archetype, as amassing an army of these my be difficult. I much prefer your red boar, as I imagine that's what TLG were trying to do (especially if you look at the designs) but the printing just hasn't been very successful onto the black. I also find his head a bit odd, with the face wrinkles being mainly hidden by his helmet. He looks a whole lot more haggard without his mask! If I was making a faction I'd probably want to switch out this head for a more generic angry one. Is there a template for horse barding anywhere?

That... is... amazing...! The choice of colours is superb for the subject matter, and the build is detailed yet not overly fussy.

A few things that would have made this set a bit more exciting in my opinion... A dark green hood - this could have been used on a dragon 'bishop' A green jester - probably not in keeping with the dragon knights, but would have been nice to complete the set of crown/lion/dragon jesters. A dragon King - wouldn't have taken much effort, a torso printing would have been great, but even sticking a bronze crown on a dragon knight would have show a bit more thought then re-using the wizard. A dragon Queen! - either a full printed skirt, or even using the full 'barmaid' with Queen hair (or that dark green hood) would have been cool. A red wizard hat - ok I can dream. That said, if this hangs around long enough, I may see if I can pick one up on clearance, and just build my own 'dream' figures :D Do we think we will see more Kingdoms products like tic-tac-toe etc? May be a way of using up figs whilst LOTR dominate the castle set theme.

They've also made the mistake of including the Uruk-hai set in the Helms Deep picture. This was an image I found misleading when promo images were released. Obviously these sets are designed to go together, but that image implies the Helms deep set contains 4 more Orcs and 2 more soldiers than it actually does. What is the project case? A LOTR labelled lego box?

I hope not! The in-game map implied there was at least three more stages, unless they've decided to cut the plans short. Looks about the same price as Waldurk and Nathuz? The Vampire, Zombies and new heroes are exciting additions. I wonder what the new powers will be? (as there doesn't appear to be any new weapons).

AFOLCON has kicked off in the UK, with people reporting on the event as it takes place. Mark Stafford (Lego Designer) has been giving a lecture on the Ninjago design process (I'm not there, just following the forum posts). And hadn't seen the set behind him in the picture before. Some sort of Snake train. Bigger picture. EDIT: Just a prototype for the seminar, SORRY! Snake Train

Nice to see the happy little Orcs busy at work in the forge. :P Seems an odd choice, when most other sets seem to revolve around conflict. Playing 'orc forge' doesn't really sound that exciting, other than this being an oversized battle-pack.