Tohst

"I told you getting into the frat would be harder than you thought AND you have to drink our special 'swampwater' using this trumpet as a funnel before we even let you on the bicycle" -Tohst

Thanks to both you and Asuka for the kind words on the photography. Truth be told, thats my wife's doing. The black and white is strictly a stylistic choice. I like how it makes some of the pictures look. I think it adds contrast. I do think its easier to build in Duplo if you're doing something like this. If I was going for something with fine detail and was forced to do the Duplo to Lego to Duplo connections to add SNOT work or detail. I think it would be a huge challenge. But I think you could come up with some interesting looks. Maybe I'll tackle that if I ever grow bored of this. Come to think of it. Todd Lehman had some interesting Duplo Dinosaur/ Lego System battle beast models back in the day. If you're interested in that sort of fusion. http://www.lugnet.com/~1/DinoTron/ -Tohst

So, I haven't seen many Duplo MOCs. They are very satisfying in a weird way to me. Anyway, this is from the Duplo Castle series a couple years back. It looks like there will be a couple more sets in 2008 so maybe I'll revamp this if they ever come to the US. And my next Castle MOC will be real Castle. Well, it will be Harry Potter so I lie. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14802561@N05/...57604398229597/ -Tohst

Those little guys are great. But they are now running into the same issue I had with the action figures of saturation. They've done all the main characters and now are getting to characters I don't want or need. Plus, mixing them with the old core characters so you end up with 37 Lukes! Anyway, to answer your question, in many cases the figures have 1 point of articulation. For the jedi, its usually the wrist with the lightsaber. For others, its usually an arm. None of the legs move. The weapons are molded or glued to the hands that hold them. They are, so to speak, INaction figures. -Tohst

That looks really good. It really captures the design in the movie. And since a full scale Serenity is out of the realm of possibility for most builders, how about one of the smaller Reaver ships to chase this thing around with? I think it might be a challenge to do Reaver mini-figs without customization. Hrmmm, a challenge. -Tohst

This also sounds like the first mini-fig idea book with Bill and Mary starting in town and then eventually taking a space ship through space and then visiting the castle planet. With no words, it was hard to know if they were visiting another planet or going through time or what. While I like the idea, I worry that instead of getting a cool pirate theme or a cool Roman theme, we'd get a goofy spaceship, a generic looking wall, and a decorated mini-fig. I'd much rather have Lego do full blown themes and just pretend that Star Justice Cruiser can make its way between them. Although the idea of a bad guy from Agents and a Time Agent being extra random mini-figs in historical sets over the course of a few years would make me smile. You know, some castle guy with the cybernetic head and then some Roman with sunglasses and an earpiece. -Tohst

Build your own Episode 3 Jedi Starfighter. Like the old Build your own train which was the same train in different colors. I think its a great little ship and wouldn't mind expanding my fleet. Other than a set with a Tauntaun, thats about it. Hopefully they can surprise me with something I didn't know I wanted until I see it in its glory. -Tohst

What a great blast from the past. Thanks for putting this together. I've enjoyed your MOCs and this gives some great background to the 'youngins'. :-) Hey you! Get off of my lawn *Waves cane!* A couple of points, Particle Ionizer came in two versions. One with the 'helicopter blades' as shown on the box and then with the modified design. Nothing on the box indicates the change as far as I know (although I still have one of those boxes clanging around somewhere, I don't have two to compare). There is a great official picture with a very large M:Tron tower. I believe it came from one of the UK catalogues. I wonder if I could dig that up. Lastly, I it should be noted that M:Tron figures were available with glued Lego studs to their backs as part of a promotion. I'm fuzzy on the details but lots (I think they were being sold in lots of 400 figures!) of these ended up being sold via ebay with Futuron Red, Futuron Yellow, and BlackTron 1 figures. They were glued (even the visors). -Tohst

Ha! My wife last night bought a Lego bag to use as a camera bag and a Lego mug. For the most part she is only interested in the actual pieces in how they make me happy but all that other stuff, she really digs. Tried to get me to buy the pen and notebook and what looked like a business card holder set. And she was upset the yellow lego face t-shirt didn't come in adult size (she probably would've bought it for me). So, there are people who appreciate all that stuff. -Tohst

Thanks, those stickers look really good. Do you know if he does downward white arrows? I'd really like to put a couple on the cement mixer engines. Also Thanks, I went back and forth on landing gear. Build something retractable and probably do a bad job and ruin the lines of the ship, None at all and just have it land on its belly. Finally went with the minimal fixed to better mimic the classic-space. I'll probably try retractable with MkII, I just wasn't confident it would look at all good for the first go. -Tohst who is wondering when the heck he is going to have time for MkII

I'd love to do a review but I'm going on a business trip. I don't even have time to build it *wacko* much less take the time to do a review justice. I'm kinda bummed as I finally find an early set and don't even have time to build the whole thing until I get back Saturday. If there isn't a much better review than I could do by then, I'll write one up but there are a lot of members in the Chicago area so I'm assuming someone will rise to the challenge. I did build the ground vehicle last night. Yes, I should've been preparing for my trip but I am a legoholic. It comes together really simply and nicely. I was very concerned about the canopy being open but then you add the SNOT work on the sides and its pretty well sealed. Well, close enough for goverment work. It reminds me more of Uranium Search Vehicle than Mobile Rocket Launcher which has inspired me to try to redo it with a rocket next week. And maybe some steering. I don't like the robots for some reason. Maybe when I finish building them and get some play time in they will grow on me. So, so far, a nice SNOT-heavy selection of pieces and a clean build that is already making me think of more possibilities. Highly Recommended at this point. -Tohst

Yes, 100 bucks. At least its loyalty card double stamp week. A few notes: IT was getting a lot of positive attention from customers of different ages and people who worked there alike. First day on the shelves maybe. Two different people commented negatively on the price looking at the size of the box compared to Market Street which is only 50 dollars more. -Tohst

I'm posting from blackberry so please forgive spelling mistakes I just picked up star justice in the woodfield il lego store Its out baby! No sign of the space skulls -tohst

Thanks for the kind words. I like how some like the snub nosed version and some like the long nosed version. I was pretty torn between the two myself. The long nosed version would never pass the heat test of a real lego model. Of course, I don't think the cement mixer pieces would stay on either in that event. The range in greys is a happy accident of me being too lazy to try to find the pieces in either all old grey or bley but hey, if they make greebling unnecessary, perfect :-) -Tohst

I really like the bow and arrow. Any pics of the back? Does he have a quiver or just one arrow? Not having a unified color scheme is different but not bad in my mind. Although maybe without so much silver it would look like shirt and pants of different colors. Good work, -Tohst

Thanks! If you don't have the cargo area filled with Cargo, you can comfortably seat 5. If you want to clown car it, probably 8 or 9. -Tohst

Insuring past a certain point (if I remember, it was $30,000) becomes very difficult. I've had two insurance companies say they would take ebay evaluations of sets as a costing baseline but Bricklink seems to confuse them. So, do you look up every set on Ebay? Prior to hitting that point, you can insure it as a collection with an estimated value and no need to itemize. I mean, in the scheme of things, the collection is just a small part of what your home and contents is worth in the case you need to file a claim. -Tohst

So, as soon as I saw the new Lego Cement mixer I wanted to use the pieces for big honkin' engines for a Galaxy Explorer homage. When I found out they were two big pieces instead of round sections, well, I didn't let it stop me. Please take a look and let me know what you think. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14802561@N05/...57604214812775/ So, I need to figure out how to do a thumbnail from Flickr. -Tohst

I should've mentioned thanks for the pictures as well. These do look like nice little sets. I wasn't expecting much from them but they seem like simple fun builds without random added play features. The cars don't have launchers or bits that fly off. Its very retro in a way. I'm likin' it. -Tohst

Are you sure about that. To me, the new mudguard looks like its attached to the whole arch. Still more useful but not as nice as I was hoping. Or are we talking about different pieces? -Tohst

I think that just proves what a great set Mutran is. Visorak-kal and I have very different viewpoints about Bionicle, both the sets themselves and the brand in general. And yet we both knew a winner when we saw it. ;-) I commend VK on his excellent taste. -Tohst

So, using my amazing mental powers I predict Red is your favorite color! Seriously, I like the angled wheel look. Probably impractical as all get out but it does make for a unique look. The whole thing really does evoke classic M:Tron sets. Great Job! I also like the magnetic coupling as it seems a great way to have a series of components that easily hook together. -Tohst

Mutran and little buddy. Like a mash up of the other bad guys but at a few bucks off for the two of them. It also doesn't hurt that I found the Toa pretty darn lackluster. What was sad was this poll made me realize how unexcited I am for the whole 2008 spring line. Thats not entirely fair. The bad guys have a cool creepy vibe about them I like a lot. Ah well, more money for Space Justice! -Tohst

I think it looks great but....always that but. The red spaceman's insignia makes me sad. If I send you a picture of one with a bright shiney planet, can we switch that out? -Tohst

OW! :) -Tohst