Laura Beinbrech

Those are some sweet, sweet vehicles and artillery, and they definitely live up to the claim, "There's no such thing as overkill!"

Oh, man that brings back memories: Late nights at the Fleet Recreation Center in the Yokosuka Navy base getting my noob butt handed to me (at least until I actually started figuring out how to play the game that is)... I practically had every inch of that map memorized by the time I quit playing CS... Your rendition looks just like the real deal!

I just recently got Cole's Tread Assault, and I'm lovin' the minifigs: The snake tail part was perfect for making a naga, and Cole ZX is a perfect stand-in for Ryu Hayabusa...

Yes! That was what I was trying to point out earlier: I'm somewhat in the same general category as that author's son (i.e. I have some stereotypically "feminine" interests, like flowers and sewing), and I agree with what she's saying: Saying that marketing pink, frilly stuff for girls is JUST AS stereotypical as saying that all the quasi-military sets are "for boys"... BOTH are EQUALLY limiting and stereotypical... Unfortunately the root of the problem, as LightningTiger has already said, is that you still have entirely too many parents and grandparents who think it's 1911 instead of 2011 and think that girls should play with the pink princessy stuff and the boys should play with the blue shooty stuff, and that most likely won't change much until most of the old fossils are relegated to the history museum where they belong (this, of course is also why it's taken so long for the US military to allow women on submarines and why it'll probably be another 10-15 years before they allow female soldiers into actual combat roles or special forces: Too many old fogies at the pentagon who still think its 1953, and continue to perpetuate standards and regulations that have as much to do with modern warfare as smooth-bore muskets and wooden-hulled sailing ships. )

I'll second the Caras Galadon (Lothlorien's tree city). Also, anyone besides me want to see a Grond set (possibly to go with a section of wall from Minas Tirith, not unlike the 6059 Knights' Stronghold set)?

Heh, thanks to my buying and loaning the Flying Ninja Fortress and one of the Knights Kingdom I sets to the AD&D session we were running, the DM allowed my character to get a super-awesome weapon that would have otherwise not been available. Anyways, back on topic: Yeah, I have also seen lots and lots of PoTC and other licensed figures on Brick Link for reasonable prices, and most likely will see lots of LoTR figures as well. I mean, even some of the smaller, less "awesome" sets will still likely be very good parts packs. The Isla De Muerta set from the Pirates of the Caribbean line is a perfect example: It is the only PoTC set that I have bought multiples of, and mainly because it is cheap ($20) and has Lots and lots of useful parts (extra musketeer's hat, gold pieces, rowboat and tons of light bley bricks and slopes, all of which I use large quantities of). Several of the LoTR sets look like they might fit that description, particularly Moria, Weathertop, and the Uruk Hai battle pack.

What about those two soldier guys (who end up joining the Pirates near the end of At World's End)? The Interceptor would be perfect to include them + Will Turner and Jack Sparrow, and it would fit the "small ship" category that people have been wanting.

True: I might just get multiples of Jay and create a second squad of Blue ninjas for the same team (I'm already using the white ninja princess/Zane for the officers), and of course I'm already using the black and red ninjas for different factions, so no complaints there...

Ah, so that was your blog I linked earlier: I must say you pretty much hit the nail on the head, and I agree with just about everything you said... I guess for now, we should just relax and wait a bit to see how everything pans out....

I just wish they'd give one of the Ninjas, maybe Cole, a Dark Bley suit, because I'd like to add more members to Ninja Team 7, which is made up of the old dark gray ninjas....

Actually, I'm not so sure about that: In addition to LEGO, I was into Tabletop gaming for a bit (mostly D&D and other more pen and paper types, rather than Warhammer), but I guarantee that most Tabletop gamers will be buying these: Not only are most Tabletop gamers BIG Lord of the Rings fans, but (brace yourself), LEGO minifigs and sets are actually the CHEAP alternative, when compared to normal Tabletop gaming miniatures (a Warhammer Empire musket squad, which consists of six musketmen, costs about $30-$40, and that doesn't include the glue or paint). Furthermore, you don't have to paint minifigs, and LEGO minifigs are poseable and durable, unlike most gaming miniatures. Not to mention you can use the LEGO bricks to build up the scenery for much less than typical tabletop gaming scenery costs as well. As a matter of fact, that is why my gaming friends in the Navy and I used LEGOs instead of normal gaming miniatures and scenery for our D&D game sessions. ...Of course, that might get Games Workshop up in arms because nobody's buying their over-priced LoTR tabletop game miniatures, but it will, most likely, boost sales for LEGO.

Excellent review, as usual, White Fang! I'm definitely going to be getting a pile of Bandits, Romans, Aliens... Heck, probably multiples of everything except the skater girl, butcher, mechanic, sleepy head and surgeon. While I'm somewhat disappointed that the Minotaur's head is molded into the chest piece, meaning that it can't turn, I'll probably still get some and just replace the official head with Brick Warriors minotaur heads. I'll also be getting multiple Lady Liberties so I can use the Sand-Green heads (and hands of course) to make some FEMALE orcs for my collection.

Personally, I have no problem mixing fleshies and yellow minifigs together... Granted, since they're also, more often than not, living alongside elves, dwarves, orcs and aliens, the differences don't stand out as much....

Interesting cars, and I really like the police car... I'm not sure about the whole 7-wide style, but yours look great... BTW, how do your cars compare to 5/6-wide cars (i.e. the Adventurers/Pharaoh's Quest)?

That is, indeed true! The last sets I bought because I actually liked the set itself would most likely be Darth Vader's TIE fighter and the Raid VPR in the Space Police II line (and even then I modified it) and some of the better designed brick-built animal impulse sets (Scarab Attack and the Atlantis Octopus)... Other than that, I mostly view LEGO sets as Parts and Minifig packs, and I'll even admit that sometimes the minifigs included with the set is what ultimately makes or breaks my decision to buy it (unless it is completely packed with useful parts). ...That said, as Peppermint M said, these are PRELIMINARY pics, meaning that the minifigs are just placeholders, and on top of that, I'm actually LIKING some of the set designs (I like my old-timey cars).

The Federal Republic of America Special Operations Command Samurai division will be putting in purchasing orders for multiple units of the Samurai mech this summer... Yeah, the first thing I thought of when I saw the name "Samurai X" was, "Holy crap! LEGO is making Himura Kenshin?!" ...Then I saw that Samurai X is a girl and I was greatly pleased.

While I consider The Spirits Within to be Final Fantasy in name only and a rather lame movie, I will admit it had some cool power armor and vehicles in it, and you did an excellent job of re-creating the Bandit. Personally, I don't really see anything wrong with the scale you used.

Yes, I also would like to see a re-boot/update of the Imperial Trading post... I'm still kicking myself in the butt for not having bought it when it was actually out in stores (granted I didn't have the money for any sets that big back then, but still, I should have asked for it for Christmas or saved up the money I spent on impulse sets, but I digress). I'd also definitely like to see something like the Interceptor (the small British ship that Jack and Will stole COMMANDEERED near the beginning of "Curse of the Black Pearl" ) as well.

Those are some nice, clean and practical modifications you've made there, Toa of Justice! I personally prefer the Wheels for landing gear, myself. The reasons are not only do they look better, in my opinion, but based on my experience in the Navy, all military helicopters use wheels for landing gear (whether they are Chinooks, Cobras or Sea/Black Hawks), and since this helo (the REAL military term for a helicopter) is supposed to be for a military of sorts, then the wheels would be more fitting, at least to me. You, of course are free to go with whatever you think is best, but that's just my $0.02. Otherwise, it's perfect.

WOW! The good news just keeps rolling in (well good for me, bad for my wallet, what with LoTR, Friends, and PoTC, among others)! I'm not exactly a HUGE horror fan myself, but as has been said before many times, most of these monsters would fit in with any fantasy-type setting, and I just love the whole Adventurer's vibe going on with the vehicles (most of my cars are of the Adventurer's/Pharoh's Quest style), and am always on the lookout for more! ...Especially the Vampire's Hearse: Whoever it was that said it looked like the Dragula (the Munster's Car) was spot on (and Rob Zombie's song based on said car started playing in my head when I saw it). Also, is it just me, or does Mr. Bowler hat look rather like Jude Law's Dr. Watson from the latest Sherlock Holmes movies? Now I'm going to HAVE to get a Series 5 Detective so I can have Holmes and Watson in my collection. All in all, an interesting concept and some nifty sets and vehicles, although at this current stage, I'll have to agree that there IS a bit of a "Time Cruisers" vibe going on, but I will add that firstly, people should remember that these are very preliminary pictures and secondly, from what I remember, these sets are NOWHERE NEAR as random/slip-shoddy looking as the Time Cruisers/Time Twisters sets (I was active during that dark, dark era of LEGO sets)...

That Barracuda is AWESOME (I wish I had one in RL, but oh, well)! I haven't seen too many 8-wide cars, but this does confirm my suspicion that you'd most likely have to go 8-wide for a fully enclosed side-by-side seating automobile.

Ok, who else wants Stephanie's riding helmet for use on our regular minifigs? ...And my girlfriend would definitely like the Rabbit house.

Welcome PhoBWanKenobi, and I agree with you on the quality of discussion about this new theme on non-LEGO fan sites (most LEGO fan site discussions have been very civilized). That is a VERY good point... What do you think about Disney's latest trend to more action-oriented princesses (i.e. Tangled, Brave, etc)? The reason I'm asking is that a Disney Princesses theme for Duplo has been confirmed, and there have been rumors and conjecture floating around here about the possibility of a SYSTEM Disney Princess Theme, and I've seen some people posting concerns that such a theme might be done with Friends-style figures instead of normal minifigs, so it's tangentaly related.... I agree 100%: Not only are the builds good and solid, from what I can discern from the promo pics, but many of them would be entirely applicable to OTHER themes, such as the Robot (one of the main reasons I'm getting Olivia's Inventor's Workshop ), the Sports Car and the lawnmower in the Olivia's House set (I'm planning on attempting to make a dark-green and black version of Stephanie's Cool Convertible, a-la the Emerald Night train... Maybe call it the Emerald Night Rider? ). Yes, and the best part about that, IMO, is the fact that in most cases, the same character is wearing skirts or pants in different sets (Ex: Olivia, the brainy girl, wears a yellow top with green pants in her Inventor's Workshop set, a pink top and skirt in her Olivia's House set and a pink top and blue skirt with lavender leggings in her treehouse set), so you don't end up with the almost equally stereotypical "tomboy & girly-girl" dynamic that Western media seems to like so much... The cherry on top, as it were, is the fact that you can take the girl figs apart into the same amount of major parts that you can a standard minifig, so young ladies who like this line can mix and match parts to either customize a character they like or create an entirely new one, just like you can with regular minifigs (I'm mostly in it for the hair pieces and hair piece accessories such as ribbons and bows ) Oh, and welcome to the wonderful world of AFOL-dom.

Well, looks like LoTR and Ninjago are going to be eating up most of my LEGO budget next year... Hopefully I can have my next big ship project done before they come out....

Yes, I agree with this (although I did vote in the poll)... I didn't think that the sets were too sterotypically girly, but I also felt that there was room for improvement, and would have preferred some kind of "sorta" option for most of the "Yes/No" questions... Also, I think Lorax pretty much sums up the general drift of opinions here, but could add the overall consensus that most of us aren't particularly thrilled with the new girl-figs, but are willing to concede that they are at least better than the Bellville and Scala figs. While my niece is too young for the target group, indications are that she might go for the regular LEGO over this: Granted, she's only almost two years old, but she really likes trains, playing with Tonka Toys (toy dump trucks and bulldozers) and such, but we'll have to see in another two or three years.... Granted, the uproar will have died down by then, but it will still be interesting to see how her interests shape up. EDIT: I just came across this blog on The Brick Blogger that seems to agree with the majority of views expressed here, with an actually CIVILIZED comments section for once! (Yes, I know a genuine miracle on the internet....)