DrWeevil

Thanks Splat, I'll be sourcing mine from overseas - around $22 and $27 shipped. :)

I've been eyeing those off online - do you know how much they are selling for in store over here?

Gee, that's like what, three different Lego forums now Greenpaw? That's disappointing.

I'm most likely going to order the new Town Hall modular in the next week - if you are in MELBOURNE and would like to save on shipping I am happy to organise a group buy - send me a PM and I can add another to my order. Pick up from East Melbourne.

On the Myer front, just a heads up: they charge over rrp on certain sets, including all Super Heroes and also certain Star Wars sets. The superheroes sets were by around 10-12%. I was all ready to get a bunch at their 20+10% sale this past weekend but when checking on the prices on the phone Before I went in I was shocked when I heard what they were charging. The discount came to just a smidge (like a few cents) over 20% off rrp - ie what you can get at Target or plenty of online places. Shame on them! If small businesses can sell at 20% off retail but they, as a publicly listed giant will not, then I certainly know where my money *won't* be going! So greedy!

A question - does anybody know who will be selling the Super Heroes Funhouse Escape set? I know shopforme had it for like a day but even with 10% off I couldn't bring myself to pay that ridiculous price ($80) for a 320 piece set - so I'm hoping one of the majors will have it and I can at least get a 20% sale... Has anyone on here been able to source it at a decent price?

Yeah, they shipped in under 24h, shame! I'd ordered the xwing, batwing and superman sets. Doh! Win some, lose some!

Rats! I just ordered three of the newer sets from B&N - didn't think any coupons worked on Lego :( Bummer!

Creator Log Cabin is $35 at Kmart on clearance. That's around 30% off rrp and just a smidge over the Big W clearance price (sold out online anyway). Good value at that price (especially comparing it to the Kingdoms Kings Castle at the same price on clearance!). I was hoping their Alien Conquest was going to be also on clearance but no luck as yet... Also had my first look in person at the Superheroes Batwing and Batmobile sets - unbelievably overpriced at rrp, need to find a cheaper source o/s somewhere I think...

Scored a Spongebob Heroes of the Deep for $11aud at Target the other day, 60% off not too bad for Aussie stores!

Interesting you say that about TheHut - I had the opposite problem. I ordered a PC game and a large Lego set at the same time, but then found the same Lego set at a cheaper price locally. As it was still listed as 'processing' I tried to cancel the order - as their website stated was possible, prior to dispatch. THREE times I tried to cancel the Lego part of the order, to be told each time that it was 'Too Late' as the order was being dispatched - only the order was still 'processing' for another THREE DAYS! The game ended up shipping almost a week before the Lego did (ie over a week after I ordered it and 6 days after requesting an order cancellation) - I received the game two weeks ago, and it's now coming up to a month after being 'dispatched' and I still don't have my Lego set (or should I say second copy of the set I already own!). I've only ordered from them once before, when the set was 60% off aus rrp, but I would really seriously consider buying from them again. They're almost in the same category as Fishpond...

I have to echo the other statements here - I am bitterly disappointed this is being released as a small scale Architecture set. When I heard the SOH rumours I thought we were in for the next large scale model, and was eagerly anticipating what I thought would be an epic 4000-odd piece set - this, however, is the total opposite of that, and doesn't come close to doing justice to this great building. What a shame and such a missed opportunity... I really thought this would have fit perfectly with the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Tower Bridge as a larger scale super set, and I hope this doesn't mean we've seen the last of the larger scale model sets...

Yikes, I wouldn't be manning your gun stations just yet. None of my locals in Victoria have any of the new City sets either. There's nothing unique or dire about the situation in Aledaide. The market will be flooded in enough time. Personally I'm happy to be patient and wait for the sets I want to go on sale. And on that note - available to everyone in Australia - shopforme have the large hogwarts at under $110. I think that's a great buy if you don't already have it!

Oooh that's interesting information about the Customs conversion - thanks for the tip Brett!

Nice work Splat, thanks. That makes more sense, and probably won't be an issue for most of us.

Yeah... it removes the impulse buy element for me though, which could only be a good thing I guess! Usually my orders are only for 1 or 2 sets at a time, depending on what's going cheap at the time. I knew about the cheap shipping disappearing but it was a bigger jump than I was expecting - especially after my last order with A.it was only 20eud for 'flash' shipping on a >2x heavier set.

That is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I'm very jealous of your creativity and execution skill. I would buy your street without hesitation!

So I went through an Amazon France sale until the very last step but didn't see anything about this 'import duty' thing - where exactly do they charge it or is it something that's coming in the future? They did however, want to charge me $38aud for postage for a ~2kg set... and that's *with* our dollar being at 80 euro cents.

Excellent review! So much play value! It's actually a shame about the pink roof - if they'd made the colours a bit more 'gender neutral' they'd probably have captured a much wider market - I can see plenty of boys wanting such a set too. Really there's only one word I need to say here: Blender!

Cool review - and I like your review method. I have to say, pastel blocks notwithstanding, I totally would have wanted that set as a kid! As an adult I think I'll pass, but the more of these sets I see reviewed the more I like them and the less they look like TLG complying with the notion that all girls are girly girls. I think perhaps the biggest factor in making these sets look 'girly' are the boxes! Once the sets are seen away from the box they look 'pretty' yes, but not in a sickly pink way. I'm still not convinced about the Bratz figures they have going on, and feel Lego maybe could have put effort into designing better female minifigs rather than coming up with a whole new concept - I know I've never been fond of those minifig skirt blocks that prevent those poor women from sitting down, running, riding a motorbike etc etc... So while I think these new figures have better outfit possibilities (unhealthy body shape aside) you still can't move their legs separately, which I think is lame. Anyway, my bottom line is that these sets are better than I'd thought they would be. Also - I believe the piece of equipment with the metallic dish is just the examination table, and the dish is supposed to be the examination light.

The others come and go, but there is one game that will outlast all the others... SOLITAIRE FOR THE WIN!!!

So it's really an "International Buyer Surcharge", not an import duty - they can't charge an import duty. Hmm... perhaps they were triggered by large numbers of the same few sets going to the same addresses - i.e. resellers taking advantage of their specials and cheap shipping. It wouldn't surprise me if the change in policy came from The Lego Group, unless of course this is only if the charge applies to Lego. Out of curiosity, what does it work out to be?

Black Pearl FTW! There will always be another castle - and the current one wouldn't hold its own when pitted against Vladek's Dark Fortress IMHO - but I doubt there will be another black hulled, black sailed pirate ship. I'll shut up now.

We should be worrying less about the pinkness of the set and more about the fact that BMI-challenged Olivia is wearing flip flops in a science lab! Occupational Health and Safety experts will be up in arms! Though this could lead into the phase II set: Monica's Trauma Theatre - where she can operate on Olivia after she drops her power drill onto her foot.

That's interesting - I just went and read the thread - a Flying Dutchman would certainly be tempting. I already have the MVR (Amazon sale) - but I agree, that's a good set. Still can't decide between one, both or neither - though I did wait too long on the BP at DJs and there aren't any left in the state so don't think I'll be able to score that at better than 20% off now unfortunately. If I didn't already have a huge pile of unbuilt sets staring at me in the living room right now I'd probably have already bought both. This is why I should never be allowed to have time off from work. On another note - our local large Kmart is pretty much an official Lego wasteland... within 24 hours of going on clearance. It must be a hotspot for the ruthless "Lego Reseller" - denying poor kiddies the chance to score a Lego bargain with their Christmas money...