Space78

It did seem like it was just a matter of time given Lego did an up-scaled helmet in 40819 Up-Scaled Racing Driver Minifigure. So, who's ordering the max 5 sets on 1st day?

They're listed as "standard" parts on the US Lego site, not "bestseller", which means they ship from Denmark - so coming from Europe. We'll see if there is any change to that in coming days...

Both show out of stock as of now.

Yes, but not as good as when Wallmart put 10497 on clearance - less than $40, as I recall. I picked up 3.

Unfortunately, it's Next Generation rather than the original. Yeah, not worth buying the whole Blacktron set just for the trans yellow parts. Would work if one wanted all the black pieces. I'll have to look at the parts list on Bricklink.

Agree, I have no interest in this as a set, but it is favorably priced on clearance as a parts pack. Kind of depends if you need a lot of black or special yellow parts. I have no interest in Blacktron, just CS - so mostly blue and old light gray with trans yellow. I guess the trans yellow parts might be worth it?

That's a joke. Lego is the largest toy company in the world, has record profits and sales, and yet they need "support" by buying products we don't like?

Pictures are up on the USA Lego site. I'll likely get this one, but there are several disappointing features. Price is one of them for what you are getting. Agree this shows the back of the box with Power Up ready. One of the pictures of the side of the train shows the cable from the battery box to the motor. Not the nicest view as the power cable has to loop around under the engine because of its length. Also agree this is a poor rendition of a Lego steam engine. It looks much worse from the side than an angled view. The rear bogie ("truck" for us USA types) really does look like a diesel engine truck. It's also attached oddly to the "body" of the steam frame. Lot of air between the engine body and the rear truck/motor. The body of the engine looks more like a 5+ age build than something worthy of 18+ designation. Not sure I like the very large polar bear (in comparison to the train cars). It just seems very out of proportion to the train. I'm unclear where the price jump to $130 (US) is coming from. I don't see anything particularly special here, and it's 956 pieces. If Lego was trying to keep to a lower price point, how about a nice steam engine/tender and caboose, and drop the single car? Or do a UK-style tank engine with coal bunker followed by a boxcar for the battery box? Also not thrilled with the color scheme. Red/green is so traditional for the Christmas season AND looks great together. Why mess with that? The color scheme is more of an "Arctic Holiday Train" IMO.

Interesting… agree this looks like a bit of a “downgrade” compared to the previous holiday village train an/or the trolley. I don’t see any indication this includes a motor/battery., though the tender looks large enough for a battery box. Looks like a new element in the shape of a small blue steam engine.

I'm just wondering if Lego is reserving blue CS minifig for Benny specifically. Agree blue is popular, but to the mass public blue = Benny.

I don't want to be overly pessimistic, but I just feel like they've had ample opportunity to re-issue blue and black over the last 10 years, but for some reason Lego has not. Even red and yellow seemed like pretty limited release (only in sets 10497 Galaxy Explorer (red) 70841 Benny's Space Squad (yellow), I believe?) It seems white is the only CS minifig color Lego is willing to make generally available.

That's what I was thinking too. I'll be very surprised if the final version is blue.

Wow, great, and thanks for sharing the link. As one who loves Lego, Lego trains, and O gauge (Lionel) trains, it's great to see these paths cross. One huge difference between model railroading gauges and Lego trains is that the trains are powered through the rails rather than batteries. I think that severely limits the interest of "model railroaders" in Lego trains. Couple that with Lego's lack of support for a complete model rail road system, and it would be pretty tough for a model railroader to be happy with just Lego trains. I have to say, as much as I love Lego, my O gauge trains get a lot more play time than the Lego trains, and I have permanent layouts of both.

The vehicle look a bit like a Star Wars vehicle you'd find on Curuscant, though they don't seem to wear helmets in those vehicles.

Interesting, but not worth 2,500 points to me. Fun little set, though!

Yes, Bevins Bricks is in Michigan. Website is here.

BevinsBricks sells a metal wheel power pickup so you can use a Powered Up or Power Functions train motor powered by 9V tracks. I've thought about buying a set, but I've got plenty of 9V motors at the moment and only a handful of PuP/PF train motors.

In the U.S. 88011 Train motor shows "available" on Lego.com, 88010 Remote control shows "sold out", and 88009 Hub also is available. I can only assume Lego does not make these parts and instead has an external supplier? Or, at least Lego does not make the internal parts to these pieces? If so, could be supplier issues (though by now you'd think they would have been worked out). I also assume putting these components in sets is a priority over individual sale. So, if they are short on stock, the components will go into sets first.

Agree, this engine will be a nice complement to the red/silver Sante Fe engine from 2002. Since there are no printed bricks, it will be easy to customize with stickers. This is the ONE TIME I wish the order limit was higher on the BDP program. Assuming (hoping) the price will come in around $150.

Yes, it’s the Sante Fe freight engine paint scheme.

Cool!! As long as Lego doesn't somehow ruin it in the "refining" stage, I'll definitely get the two set limit.

Interesting collection of minifigs, $170 for the set is a lot just to get the space minifigs. I don't find the rest that interesting, and somehow no Redbeard minifig, which was prominently shown in the image of the winning submission?? Any rate, I think this was discussed earlier, but are the space minifig parts likely to show up at PAB so they can be purchased separately to build your own?

Yes, says the GWP is available through 5/23 or while supplies last. Wonder if it will be gone quickly like the Micro Launchpad from last year? Resellers have listings on e-bay for $50 and up. Will be interesting to see how popular this GWP is.

The "retro" spaceships are "one-offs", so it makes sense to me that they have a shorter run. People who want them are going to buy them, but there's nothing to add to them (other related sets). Unlike themes that get multiple sets in the theme (City, Friends, etc.) where parents buy one set for a gift, then another at the next occasion, and maybe the kid gets some money and picks out another set, so all the sets support each other and you have ongoing sales. Couple that with the fact that there is a LOT more turnover in Lego offerings from year to year than there was 20+ years ago, and you end up with shorter life spans for many sets. There are always exceptions for very popular sets as has been mentioned or other reasons only Lego knows. I think GE was reasonably popular, but it ran its course. I got three sets when Walmart had them on clearance at the end, but it was for online sales only. Is the BR set carried in any big box stores? If not, that probably contributes to lower sales = shorter run.

I saw a news item in the last year that Lego is moving toward all PAB parts being available as "best seller" in regions they deliver to, so there won't be two categories any more. I don't know where I saw this, if it was Brickset or here on Eurobricks, or the Lego site. I believe this is already the case in Australia? So, Lego is moving toward there not being two orders for parts. As it is, I usually wait until I need enough parts to clear the service fee and free shipping thresholds before placing an order. Agree if you want one minifig or just a few parts buying a set or finding things on Bricklink can be cheaper than PAB. Yes, sorry, I confused the two. It's $14 to waive the service fee and $35 to get free shipping.