Ardelon

Or maybe the guy is just a really intense method actor! If all this is the case, I can see an anti-defamation lawsuit by Octan coming up... But this theory is pretty elegant and it appeals to me in not having yet another canon. I will wait for the movie to make up mu mind though...

I pretty mych agree with Deathleech and the rest of you guys, maybe with the exception of Orcrist, which seems pretty unique. But the most necessary mould for me would be the Gondorian helmet, closely followed by a new helmet for Mordor/Morgul Orcs.

Thanks, but I thought the guy in the 2nd row far right was the Mameluke? I guess you meant 3rd rown far right, which I originally thoght was the Mangudai, which I guess would rather be 2nd row 2nd right...

I noticed that the sets with robo SWAT figs appeal to me rather less than the sets with the micro managers. Funny, since the robo figs are pretty neat, its just that the sets they appear it seem less interesting. All in all great figs, zany sets, cool transforming functions, and great parts. This line would be a hit even if there was no movie.

Thanks for the pic Aanchir. I see Im not alone in liking the set a lot more now.

No war elephant? Since I didnt have any expansions, I cant identify them all, but most are instantly recognizable.

No offense taken, but if what you say was the case, why did the designers bother with alternate models on the other sets?

It always seemed to me that the plane didnt have enough pieces to rebuild it into even a facade of a saloon. I agree that the others look easy to mod into their "mundane" forms though... Im most surprised that the designers didnt take this chance of a Transformers-like set for the fire mech. Edit: Huh, so Joe the Plumber made it into minifig form...

Wow, looks just like I would picture a LEGO model Enterprise... very streamlined for LEGO bricks. Cool!

Just wanted to mention that in the news Star Wars 75041 Vulture Droid set there is a Neimoidian warrior with the morion in the reown or bronze/copper color. Looks like a new color for the piece. Not that I would buy the set just for the morion, but considering the absence of anything Pirate related, anything like this seems newsworthy... http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/uploads//gallery/album_258/gallery_11254_258_26058.jpg

This is my internal theory as well. As for the second part of the question(s), I dont plan to buy the sets at all, but if I did, I would mix them up with my other sets no problem.

I would assume TLG would stick to the formula of classic Pirates: pirates vs islanders would be ok, imperials vs islanders would not, so as not to raise issues of colonialism and clash of civilizations. Though I wonder whether TLG would condone a faction of "bad guy" islanders (violent, barbaric, cannibalistic, superstitious, etc) or whether the PR people would think it's too dangerously close to racism and stereotyping. (I'm talking about in-house themes, I'm aware iof the Pelegosto natives in the PotC set.)

The beard and hat look more like a single piece to me, like Bombur or some of the other Dwarves.

If Castle is a summer theme, I wouldnt expect news for some time yet.

Still in form, Artizan!

While I would love a (pre-reboot) Trek theme, I'm not sure its LEGO material. There aren't a lot of small vehicles where you can put minifigs in and swoosh them around. So we would probably end up with two types of sets - ships far below minifig scale, for swooshing or display, and minifig-scale interior scenes like BaronSat's sickbay right here, but simplifed and incomplete. And I can't really think of any play features to go with the sets - flick-fire photon torpedoes for the microscale ships? Or trapdoors on starship decks? Now none of this would actually be that bad, but for the fact that a Trek license would logically be based on the reboot movies, and while it's only my opinion, to that I can only say .

Cute set. The one piece that stands out for me is the printed pineapple, though I would have expected it on a cylinder rather than a head - it would go better with standard minifigs like that. Otherwise not really interested, same as the animal sets. Thanks to everyone for the pics.

After the Simpsonbs series, there should be another "semi-licensed" series based on the LEGO Minifig game, IIRC, so we will have to wait a bit longer for a normal "independent" series. Or so says word on the street (well, forum). Who knows what the naming/number scheme for that series will be...

Very inventive! But what's the body/rump part for picture number 10?

I wonder whether the three robots will have some kind of personality. Wiley at least seems pretty intense... As to the numbering, I'm highly skeptical of there being parallel regular series at any point throughout the year - the three slots per year are logically filled by the three "licensed" series we know of. It will be interesting to see if, when the regular CMF series (hopefully) resume in 2015, they will be numbered as S12 or S15. Right now I have no idea which is more probable.

And now for something completely different... cool build, though now I have a nitpick with the roof above the columns - it seems too narrow. I would have recommended this piece: http://www.peeron.com/inv/parts/4515, but since there is no corner version, I would probably recommend adding several studs worth of straight/flat plates and then finishing off with the sloped roof bricks. It wouldnt be a perfect slope, but I think it would capture the look more. Otherwise though, still great!

Not too thrilled with our new "Castle" set. Will wait to see the alternate model, maybe that will change my mind...

The fig is obviously meant to evoke Julius Caesar, judging by his quote „Veni, vidi, vici.“ on the parchment tile – though if you choose to interpret it as Nero or some other guy reading Caesar's qoutes, whos to stop you? I, for one, would not recognize Washington in minifig form from any generic revolutionary soldier in a wig and uniform. Likenesses from portraits won't always translate well into less-detailed minifig form, and Washington would IMO be a victim of this. I agree with some other ideas already posted, like: Jesus, Napoleon, Henry VIII, Einstein, Chaplin, Hitler, Gandhi, Elvis, Mother Theresa, Gorbachov... Now these are figs which I myself consider to be unique enough in their appearance or style to be recognizable as minifigs (provided the viewer knows them, of course – if someone never saw a pic of Lincoln, they wouldn't recognize the fig, no matter how accurate it was): Christopher Columbus, Blackbeard, Daniel Boone, Giuseppe Garbaldi (in the right clothes, like his red shirt), Colonel George Custer, Emperor Francis Joseph, maybe Otto von Bismarck, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, Charles de Gaulle, maybe Francisco Franco... Also some after the 1950 boundary: Mao Tse-tung / Zedong, maybe Jawaharlal Nehru (by his clothing, I would bet a billion Indians would recognize him), maybe Leila Khaled (by her famous photos), Leonid Brezhnev, Yasser Arafat, pope Benedict 16th (just use sidious's face - http://cheezburger.com/1290833152 - yeah, old...)

Thanks for the link, Cammo. I must say that face is pretty nightmarish. All of a sudden the "bad cop" persona seems rather likeable...

Well, one way to get around this is to turn the name tag into a company badge - have the barristas work at a coffeeshop chain named Larry('s), the Waitresses at a diner named Tara('s), etc. Problem solved.