Nyundi

So I stumbled on some old CC and Lugnet posts from years back about (and sorry if this is redundant, but a search for "black falcon left" turned up nada) how some Black Falcon torsos are printed in reverse, meaning the little falcon is facing left, not right. It seemed to be a pretty rare thing, so I thought I'd dig out my Falcons and see what I could find. Of the 22 Falcons that I have, 3 of them have the left-facing icon. Here's the interesting part: I've always kept my Legos in as good a condition as possible, but over 20 years things are going to happen :) Nonetheless, when I look at all of the Falcons in a row, the wear-and-tear of each is pretty average to the rest (meaning none are more worn than any of the others) with the exception that the three whose reverse printed falcon are *significantly* more faded (the printing that is, not the blue plastic). So faded in fact, that its tough to tell whats even going on. So I thought I'd share this, and see if anyone out there new what the story with these reverse printed Falcons was... and if there might be a connection to this "misprint" and the quality or coverage of the ink used (that would cause them to fade so much faster). Cheers!

I'll be interested to read that! Personally, my take on counterfeit Legos is one of idle curiosity, but not much more. I don't have any interest in them, being a purist and a collector. And I also don't see them as being any sort of financial threat to Lego (they'll likely never have the widespread exposure of Lego or the knockoff brands). If we take Lego's word for it that the majority of its sales still come from parents/guardians to children, then it seems unlikely to me that counterfeits available online only are going to extract much market share from something that can be found while browsing in a local toy store. However, you do bring up a good point: how do they get their hands on new molds so quickly?!

Sharks with lasers.... I'm sold. :-D

I've spent quite a lot of time trying to concoct a micro scale Minas Tirith with no luck (so far). I'll be sure to share if I can ever manage to get one with all 7 (?) levels in it *wacko*

Kinda funny to see a post like this pop up here, from my point of view at least. I spend a lot of time reading forums for my other obsession (World of Warcraft), and let me just say that the sheer amount of raging bs, ignorance, rudeness, and spite that is spawned there by the minute makes everyone here look like a bunch of angels *wub* In general though, you are completely right. Think before you type, and even more so, think from the other person's point of view. And most importantly, be willing to admit when you are wrong (or at least be willing to shut up! :-D ).

Do you happen to have a photo of the improperly mixed hair that you can share? I love defective pieces (odd huh?) and would love to see this! Most likely, I'd probably have considered this a big positive, being a collector of "misprints" as it were.

This is the first I'm seeing of the creator impulse sets: that train is adorable! *wub* *wub*

Hahahaha! Something about this is just wonderfully entertaining :-)

Don't know if they corrected it, or if I'm looking in the wrong place, but it seems to be regularly priced now.

I've often noticed lots of really nice pieces in Belville sets, put since they are all specialty/decoration pieces, and not often really useful "structural" pieces, I tend to just pick up the few that I want from bricklink instead of buying the full sets (I'm looking at you snow-covered-tree!!!). :-)

As much as we'd all like this (I'm sure), the problem that lies behind isn't really age, but maturity. Sure a lot of times these go hand in hand, but from personal experience with MMOs, a lot of times its the opposite of what you'd expect. The problem is, the internet creates anonymity... children may not quite get that, and may be more prone to acting slightly more responsibly. Us older types realize that we can say and do anything we want online with little fear of any real punishment as a result. If you've played any other MMOs you may have noticed how truly assholeish people can be for no apparent reason... and 9 times out of 10, we're talking about people who are at least 16. :-| I guess my point is, immaturity doesn't necessarily go away with age, and the internet sure doesn't help that at all! :-/ Pushing all of the children onto a different server may be good as far as shielding them from the rest of the idiots (but isn' that the parent's job, not LEGO's?... ok lets not get off topic on that one!), but it won't do any good for the rest of us. There will always be jerks online... always.

It is their one redeeming quality :-P

Exactly.... now how can I get some of these without paying a premium and without having to step foot in a McDonalds... :-X :-X

This is fabulous! I've played around with making self-contained scenes like this, but your design of the box is amazing, and the colors and decoration are perfect for the subject matter! *wub* *wub* Well done!

Voting ice planet babe! She's at a decided disadvantage: all her good looks are hidden by futuristic arctic-space gear. But underneath all that, clearly a supermodel :-D

Thats the kinda thing you can get absorbed in for a while and not realize it! At least it's for a good cause *wub*

I usually don't mind how they "jazz up" the sets by adding photoshop-style effects and background scenes. I also like how most instructions and advertisements picture multiple sets in a theme together (and even things that wouldn't necessarily be possible from collecting a theme without going overboard: such as the army of skeletons sometimes pictured in 2007 castle adverts). ...but this... this is a little deceiving. :-/

8-

I would probably buy 10-20 of a set like this. Ideally there would be more than one type so that there would be slight variety, but even as-is I would love to get my hands on this X-D

My personal feeling is that (and this is purely my opinion based on this and next years sets, and to a lesser degree last years) TLC is trying to create most of its sets to appeal to both 10 year olds and AFOLs. This, of course, is a huge challenge, but it seems to me that if they were targeting only 10 year olds then we'd all be whining constantly (more than usual) about how things haven't been good for 5 years; on the flip side if they were only targeting us, then we'd not even be talking about it. Sure there are some sets that are clearly targeted one way or another, but the vast majority seem to be plop in the middle... just enough whimsy and fun and "impulse" for the 10 year old, while being made out of less <insert that tiresome argument> pieces with better and better overall design. Just my 2p.

I'd grab the laptop, throw it in it's bag and toss that over my shoulder. All of my important records in the filing cabinet (plenty are unnecessary so I'd only grab the most important ones: titles, insurance info, etc.). I have a tiny box of extremely sentimental and important stuff, so that has to come. Then my degrees hanging in the office, followed by as much irreplaceable art as I could grab in the few remaining minutes. It's unlikely there would be any time left after that, so I guess I'll draw the line there :( Luckily, legos can be replaced ;-)

I've always preferred blue over red myself, but I have to say: if these showed up tomorrow I'd probably buy a thousand of them (err... well, as many as I could afford)! I think that sticking with a nation-neutral design is a great idea, and if pirates do make a comeback ( *wub* *wub* *wub* ) then hopefully it will be in way similar to this *sweet*

I've always thought like that.... however I'd never stoop to eating at Taco Bell. The proper order of importance should be: health > legos > all else X-D ;-)

Yeah I can definitely imagine that being a problem (and I'm not at all surprised). I guess the ballot system would keep people from buying up tickets for the express purpose of the most profitable scalp in the history of ever :-D

This MOC is fantastic! Funny, the image in my mind was always of the inside of the mountain. Kind of a Moria feel: I definitely imagined that the structure that came in the set was completely enclosed in rock :-) I only have one mine so far, but in another month or so I want to pick up a few more, and maybe I'll go to town and try to make an inner mine scene ;-)