RichardGoring

The back of the Gru's house set feels a lot better than I thought it would, given the simplicity of things at the front, and they've certainly crammed a lot in there. Too much though? It definitely feels like it lacks the depth it deserves. Or perhaps it just needs a little at the sides to close it in very slightly. It seems like it's all bursting out of the facade of the house. Nice individual details though.

You are of course correct. The print could probably pass for a leopard, but the set it's from definitely suggests jaguar. Oops. Clearly wasn't thinking. The gorillas come in a $100 set, but I can well imagine it being nearly as expensive to buy the set as a couple of gorillas on PAB if it's three separate pieces.

New Friends style animals - donkey (baby?) and leopard - in two new Encanto sets. Possibly more as one is Antonio's Animal Sanctuary. Brick Clicker has a video on YouTube with both of them pictured at around 9:30.

The banana car is neat, but seems vastly overpriced at $25. I was shocked at seeing the price after the photos.

Brick Clicker has said that the 40687 Space Diner GWP will have a yellow and orange classic space figure. Not sure if that's a mistake, or the original report of white is a mistake, but interesting. May 14 release.

They're all great. I suspect I will only get the Never Witch's raven as I don't enjoy mechs as much, but they all look like such fun builds and playsets.

I can't remember the rumoured size, but I think it's about 1m tall, which would make each 1cm of the model about 15ft of the real tower. So Nanofigures would be 2-3x too large. But then, there are many parts where LEGO elements don't allow you perfect scaling at this size. The Hogwarts UCS castle has loads of variation of scale in specific details, although I don't think it generally detracts from the overall model.

What's the four-legged creature that comes with the new Dreamzzz sets? Looks like a separate body with a minifig head on and he bat ears hairpiece. Is that body new and could work with other moulded heads to produce different animals? Maybe different dog breeds or baby big cats? Certainly interesting to go for multi-part moulded animals at that scale.

For me the surprise is that it's not a BTAS Batmobile, given the other BTAS sets releasing. Although maybe that's the point, and it gives more variety to an already very narrowly focused theme. I think the 66 Batmobile is a cool car, and I like the minifigure scale version of it. I personally would have much preferred a BTAS version, but this is fine, and it should be a good model and fun to make. The major surprise/disappointment is the lack of Robin, or any other figures. If it does only have a single Batman figure it will be a real shame. Also, can't quite get over the minifigure scale BTAS Batmobile being $60. It's so crazy, and not terribly far from the cost of a UCS version. It had better be utterly amazing, but the X-Jet and Hoopty show that it could very well be mediocre and just severely overpriced. Sigh.

Kind of a shame that the D2C will be a 66 Batmobile, but I get that it's coming off the neck of a popular minifig scale one. Arkham or BTAS would have been better. But if they are going to do it, then only one figure?! Really?!?! It needs Robin. And ideally Catwoman. How ludicrous to only have a single figure. It will look ridiculous. Sigh.

Really disappointing if it is a bust of Shadow. It's inspired me to create a MOC of Marble Hill Zone in the style of the Ideas Green Hill Zone though!

Leaked image of the GWP!

I don't see why they can't make an Icons or 18+ small battle pack set. Especially as they're going to be doing a small GWP set, so where does that fit in the structure? And, they make up the rules, so they can add anyone they like to the icons lineup. A battle pack for LotR could easily be thought of as more adult if you wanted it to be, and could be fine with an all black box art style. I'm not saying it's likely, but I don't think it's impossible because there is no dedicated theme.

Got a receipt from LEGO for my March 13 PaB order with cancelled pieces, and it shows as shipped. So hopefully yours is the same, or will be soon.

How many figures would you need to make a satisfactory UCS Helm's Deep? Probably quite a lot. And would LEGO put enough into it to make it feel right? Probably not. The worry about a UCS Helm's Deep is that it would be really hard to get sufficient figures, so I'd hope they'd release a battle pack alongside it. Less likely, but still viable, would be to put the massable figures on PaB. The nice thing about LotR is that there are a lot of great subjects for UCS sets, and I hope they continue to release them at a reasonable pace, every couple of years.

Here's a vote for let them play with it. And, to my mind, let them add in whatever they want with imaginative play. My children are 3 and 7 and they love the modulars, especially Brick Bank and Detective's Office for the storyline aspects of them. But they've also had loads of other stuff added to them, Friends minidolls, Unikitty, loads of extra pieces. To a collector it's carnage. To a child it's amazing. I always figure that in 15 years I will have time take them all back to instructed perfection. Until then, they can be playtime perfection. The only thing I try to maintain (fairly successfully) is not losing anything from the sets, but they can add all they want. If it stresses you out, then find something else do to with them that will bring more joy. Have fun either way!

I got four of the Minifigure Visual History books on clearance for £7 each for the orange classic space figure and was happy with that. Always thought it was a bad move to put them exclusively in an expensive book. And now they're doing them in a GWP. It would be nice if these were in a set available to buy. Perhaps they will appear on PaB. The description of the GWP sounds great though. Looking forward to seeing it. It really is, isn't it? I continue to be so impressed with the Friends sets. I genuinely believe they are the best line LEGO does. It balances so well everything LEGO should be, to me. That set is pretty terrific.

It's not been discounted so far in the US, so I bought it during double points in November, coupled with 10% cash back, and GWPs. I was happy enough with that deal. I then built it over the holidays, finishing mid-January. It was great, but I would be in no rush to get Barad Dur, although likely would if there was a particularly good GWP with it. I didn't get the D&D castle on release, the GWP wasn't appealing enough, but I think I will get it eventually.

No. The order that arrived, but had missing parts, didn't have any of the cancelled animals in at all. The missing parts were two different colours of crate/box. I placed another order at the same time which did contain some of the animals that were later cancelled. That has yet to ship, just like yours. Really very odd.

I don't get why they are trying to hide the mutated minions when the movie doesn't release until July, and the sets are going to be released in May. Also, without the side builds, the house looks really terrible value, so there's not much point in revealing just half of the set early. Do it right, or not at all. This was a case of not needing to do an early reveal, so why bother? I rather like the house. It seems very shallow, which is a shame. I hope one of the other sets might connect with it to provide more interior. The side builds aren't that interesting, but add a lot to the cost sadly. The buildable figures aren't great. The Minions are the wrong shape. The base is quite parts heavy for a function that no one will use, surely? And Gru is really spoilt by the eyes, the gaps, the shaping at the side of his head. Oh well. Hopefully something nicer with the other sets in a few weeks.

Didn't encourage them! Although I did build a MOC/SEC of a Yoshi that's not too far from maxifigure scale, and it was surprisingly satisfying, so maybe...

Sounds good to me. Rivendell is a not too live up to, but this is showing progress towards that.

It's an April Fool's joke. Fortunately.

Agreed it likely won't come back. Just pondering really. I wasn't too attached to it really, and would prefer something more interesting at a later date. Curiously, people on Reddit are now saying that their orders with the mimic GWP are now showing the GWP as being cancelled, with someone saying that it actually sold out after 30 minutes. Not sure how they know, but kind of shocking really.

Just had time to get online and the Mimic GWP has gone already. Wow. I was on the fence about whether to order now, as the eyes are the only exclusive part, and I think I prefer others anyway, but that's a shame. I wonder if they will release more on April 4 for general release, or if that will be it? At least I can wait until a more enticing offer to buy comes along.