RichardGoring

They didn't at the time I ordered, on the PAB website, any I didn't take the tint to look on other sites. But I figure they are pretty cheap, and it's always good to have a variety of heads. The eye patch with silver mustache is Mr Oz from Dreamzzz, but he normally has a moulded beard and mustache, so you don't see it, which seems a shame!

If they do offer an exclusive GWP, it sometimes doesn't happen until a while after release. Either way, I'd only buy it on release if there was something specific to it, and if not, happy to wait until something comes along that makes it better value. I finally got Rivdendell over the VIP weekend in November, and even then, only built it over the last few weeks, finishing last night. Have to say, it was pretty excellent. The final tree was fiddly, but otherwise, thought the process was great, and I love how it looks. I enjoyed being able to use a few of the spare pieces to add some detail to Gandalf's staff too. And using the space in the tower to store the spare minifigure elements.

These are all the ones that I arrived. I can't remember which ones had no image, but there are some fun ones in there:

I really could see LEGO doing a series of Icons sets from Indiana Jones. One per year or two, aimed at adults, fairly large, iconic scenes. It seems like the right kind of market for them, and it's a Disney property, so the rights should be easy enough to make it worth it for infrequent sets. The issue with playsets is that LEGO takes such a long time to get things into production (for various good reasons), and so trying to plan based on the popularity of a new movie or game is hard. They've been burned with enough movie flops, and it seems like they react late to popular culture, when they do at all. Even Star Wars doesn't get the volume of sets you'd expect for some of the new shows they're doing - but again, some are really popular, others less so. Which is why you end up with a stream of land speeders, X-wings, Falcons etc. To prompt a real discussion, what actual adult-focused, larger sets (probably $80+) do you think LEGO could do in the Icons range? The Holy Grail temple is the obvious one, and you could do the journey in a similar way to the Golden Idol temple. Nice one on LEGO Ideas from a few years ago - LEGO IDEAS - Indiana Jones: The Temple of the Holy Grail

Whereas, I placed four orders on November 18. One arrived nearly three weeks ago, the other on Thursday, while two others are still with DHL somewhere. The logistics of PAB! But, in the recent arrival were a load of mystery heads that I ordered without looking up photos of them. Some very cool ones, so that was fun to see.

I originally wondered whether the harbour would have animals, but then figured it would more likely focus on the functional/industrial aspects of it. Maybe an unprinted crab, but even then it would seem a bit out of place.

I used Fig Scanner | presented by Brick World successfully. Seems very similar to Bricksearch.

Hmmm... will they do a new mould for Super Sonic or just recolour something? Egg Drillster will be cool, as I only know Sonic 1 and 2 (vaguely Sonic 3), so fun to have that in the range. It's pretty small, so it suggests a decent amount of Green Hill Zone to go along with it. Kind of a shame that they're not expanding to other levels.

It would be great to have a tournament, and if they keep going with the level of complexity they've been doing, then some cool features in it too. But yes, probably a way off. And it assumes they'll do a regular release of a set every year or two.

They did two dual moulded monkeys in a set (which are expensive to produce), so I'd assume it would be the same formula of two animals.

Proper Batman Legacy sets visiting each of the films with sufficient detail over several years would be terrific, and a great way to avoid the constant Batman and Joker Batmobiles. But, presumably, that's what sells, so...

Same. I particularly liked multiples of the snowmobile for a winter village scene.

@Brick Clicker is reporting a new red panda and return of the tiger, as well as baby and adult gorilla in the city sets! Red panda in a $10 set, with a quadbike.

While it would be cool, it's also a very expensive line in the parts budget to use a large animal as a statue. I suspect they would prefer to include it to expand the play possibilities. And, and I could be very wrong here, isn't it usually military people on horses in statues? If so, further reason for LEGO to stay clear of it.

This may be something specific to Finland, or maybe just one store near you, but the majority of stores that sell LEGO anywhere I've been in the US or the UK have a wide selection. If it's a really small store (or, more likely a small LEGO selection in a non-specialist store), then you are most likely to get a Creator, City, and Friends set, and then if there is a fourth, probably Disney princess. I don't recognize your characterization of most stores selling only LEGO Star Wars. I have to say, it really does feel a like a bit of a broken record at the moment. I love the enthusiasm, but you keep making the same point over and over, and not moving the discussion on. I say this not to be negative, but that you may not be aware how your posts seem to come across. That in turn may be because of language, and I'd hate to pick on that. Again, not trying to be critical, and I love your enthusiasm and passion for LEGO.

I'd say discerning. I agree, it's a great set. The problem it has is being (rightly) compared to truly amazing ones like Barracuda Bay and Lion Knights' Castle, which are so magnificent. It is also hindered by trying to replicate the original design too faithfully, instead of doing something inspired by, but not the same as. As many have said, the extent to which the raised baseplate has to be made up if relatively small bricks seems a shame, and they hadn't tried to do that entirely, could those parts have been used for something more interesting? I'm still glad it exists, but I hope the reaction to it and Majisto's workshop, compared to the other retro sets, show LEGO that people tend to prefer modern sets inspired by classic ones, rather than complete remakes with new pieces. And that we get an inspired-type set with MTS.

That would be a great idea. Global adventures across the main jungle regions to bring more diversity of animals and builds.

I placed four orders on November 18. One of them arrived on January 2. The other three have only just hit the DHL facility in New Jersey, so they must have missed the boat by a few hours and had to wait for the next one. Sigh. That should mean they get to me within the next week though. I need to work my way through all of that before I do another PAB order. Also, as it's pointless to be in a rush with LEGO PAB, I almost always wait until a double VIP event to order. It also still looks like there are several thousand parts out of stock on PAB too. All of which means it will likely be a while before I order more.

Agreed. They are good sets in of themselves. But they underwhelm based on expectations. You just think that they could have done better. And they probably could, had they not been constrained by trying to make it as close to the original as possible.

The same thing happened with Lion Knight's Castle though, and that was generally very well received. I think it's OK to have high expectations for these sets. I continue to fall back on the difference between LKC and Majisto is the design philosophy of faithful recreation vs modern take on a classic. And it seems that most people, me included, prefer the modern take approach. Let's hope MTS follows this style.

I feel like the problem with the Majisto GWP and Eldorado Fortress was they were trying to replicate the classic sets too much, and they are underwhelming as a result as things have moved on so much. But Barracuda Bay, Galaxy Explorer, Forestmens' Hideout, and Lion Knights' Castle were inspired by classic sets, but with modern twists that give them a lot of additional value and make them really good. The worry is that the more recent sets follow the 'stick to the classic design' too rigidly, and that may apply to MTS as the next release. However, it seems like MTS was designed at the same time as the LKC, so I hope that it has the same design approach with the modern take on a classic set that we all appear to love.

The branding around the Fauna collection is, as you might expect for a new theme like this, a bit of a mess. The Creator 3-in-1 giraffe is superb, but not part of the Fauna collection. I wanted to like the Kingfisher, but the head doesn't do it for me at all, especially the eyes. It ruins the whole thing. Whereas the giraffe is awesome and looks so good. I know a lot of people really like the Creator 3-in1 tiger too, which I'm not a huge fan of as the face looks a bit squashed, but I recently bought one and look forward to seeing how it looks in real life. Will they do a 'Space' branding across multiple themes but for the Fauna collection? Or will there be specific animals with black bases designed for adult collectors and call only those the Fauna Collection?

I reckon an unprinted animal will sneak in there as an architectural detail, just to prove you wrong.

Agreed. I tested the 3mm scope camera I have on some boxes I'd already bought, to check if it damaged things. In 36 boxes, I think it damaged one, slightly, but only if you looked for it. With the rest, it didn't tear or break glue seals. But I was also careful to re-crease the fold to ensure that there wasn't space for anything to fall through (I think I had to do this on two or three, when it didn't just spring back into place naturally). Worth noting to this though, avoiding the already small risk that something would fall out.

I used figscanner.com for the first time today, finding a single large QR code pack. It took a few seconds to recognize it, but then confidently popped up with it being the train costume. I didn't buy it, and didn't have a scope camera to verify it, but it's a neat site. I then went into the nearby LEGO store, where they only had small QR code packs, and one of the employees was try to see if he could get the scanning to work. I do just hope they print the names of the figure on the pack.