the enigma that is badger

Actually, the set came with the right head. I had already broken down the figure into my collection, and when I went to take pictures, I grabbed the wrong head from my Exo-Force bin. Just to be clear, the actual set does come with the Hayato head Sorry for the confusion! badger

Tell me about it; it was a pain to get good pics off due to the all-black design, and I ended up having to pour every light I have available onto it to see any of those (numerous) details. All in all, it's a very fun set for all the hidden extra, although it's not a particularly elegant design. badger

From my recent haul from a TLC store: Enjoy! badger

Rogue Shadow pics: Just for fun, two quick MOC figures I threw together using minfig elements from the set and my collection: Enjoy! badger

Whenever this happens, use the magic words: "Can I speak to your manager?" I've worked in retail in the past, and regardless of how insane the request, once it gets to a manager, they'll almost always ok it to keep you happy and willing to come back again to spend more money in their store. badger

Two pics of one of the new figs from the Impulse Castle sets: Printing seemed a tiny bit off on my fig, but it's much more noticeable in the picture than it is by eye. Macrophotography - making swine out of pearls! Alas, they didn't have the Wizard yet, but fingers crossed for next week! badger

Sure! Imperial Battle Pack: All in all, a much better set than I was anticipating. When you remove the "troop carrier" portion, the craft that remains has a neat, stripped down quality to it. Reminds me of an ornithopter from Dune. Rebel Battle Pack: AKA: the Bobsled of Freedom set. Cool enough, and a good start for MOC repulsor-craft. Rebel Figure: I really like this one; great torso design, and the helmet is interesting. In that last picture, the lighting almost makes him look yellow. <deep, remorseful sigh>

Thanks for all the kudos folks! Ah, sorry about that: the Juno fig does come with both a black kepi hat and the blonde hair. I do have the whole set, I'm just very busy this weekend with other things ('tis finals season, and for me that means both taking and giving). I will have shots of the Battle Packs later on today badger

As Hinckley requested, a new thread for some shots of my recently-acquired Star Wars figs! Group shot: Vader: The Apprentice: And here's the "reversable head" you may have heard of: Ooo, my favorite Dick Tracy character: the Blank! Juno Eclipse: Vader with the new Glow-in-the-dark saber blade from a new Racer set: And man, does it glow! Saber duel! I also picked up the two new Battle Packs, so I'll have close-up shots of the new Rebel fig tomorrow! badger

And now figure pics! Group shot: Vader shots: The Apprentice: And here's the "reversable head" you may have heard of: Ooo, my favorite Dick Tracy character: the Blank! Juno Eclipse: The new Impulse Castle figure: Printing was a bit off on the torso, but wasn't too bad: Vader with the new Glow-in-the-dark saber blade: And man, does it glow! Saber duel! Enjoy! badger

They did have the AT-PT, but since I'm more of a minifig collector and already have enough Red EpIII clones from the Clone Battle Pack, I decided to use those funds for purchasing more Shadow Trooper-goodness! Pics of the figs will be up soon! badger

Well, I have a stack of exams I need to have graded by the end of the weekend, but I can have shots of the minifigs up in a few hours if you'd like. Sunday should be more free, so I'll be able to take some nice shots of the build then. badger

Keeping in mind that these are preliminary sets and as such are only rough estimates of what the final production versions are going to be like, there are some interesting design ideas (the Brush Eater 3000 in particular) that should make for some great sets. I was one of the more vocal disparagers of the Indy line, but it's winning me over! badger

After hearing the news that LEGO stores might have some 2008 sets, I took a side trip downtown after work and was treated to a great sight: they had all of the new SW sets! Here's what I picked up (click picture for larger size image): The total haul: 2 Rebel BPs 3 Imperial BPs 1 Rouge Shadow 1 Exo-Force River Dragon 1 Impulse Castle set (soldier only - they didn't have the wizard) 1 new Racer set with the glow-in-the-dark bar pieces The hunt is on! badger

As someone who's old enough to remember the old castle minifig packs, these Impulse sets bring back fond memories, and the new torsos are icing on an already delicious cake. Merci buckets, TLC! badger

True, there are several larger uzi variants, but the Brickarms Uzi is based on the micro uzi variant, a weapon approximately the same size as a pistol. As such, the minifig accessory is properly scaled. badger

I'll add my voice to the call for having the fedora in more colors. There's always a chance we'll see other colors featured in the Indy line (white for Belloq and black for Toht has already been suggested), although it's also a possibility that other-colored fedoras might pop up in City sets as headgear for businessmen-types. badger

Well, I'm far from an unbiased source, but I can tell you that if by "quality" you mean the type of plastic used in their construction, Will Chapman (all-around grand pooba of Brickarms) uses the same kind of high-quality ABS plastic that TLC uses for their parts. There has been some discussion about modifying the mold of the uzi to add a wire-stock and perhaps a suppressor to the uzi design to make the weapon a more striking profile. However, with Will currently hard at work on Mold #3, this likely won't occur in the near future. Glad you liked the weapons! badger

Marcus? He'd get lost in his own vignette! badger

While I completely agree with this sentiment, I can somewhat appreciate why TLC would not want to include Hovitos as part of a set. While we all understand the role they played in the film and the context in which they were depicted, I think TLC has a valid concern that casual (i.e. Christmas) LEGO-buying shoppers unfamiliar with the detail of the film might have a strong reaction seeing a set dark-skin toned "primitive" minifig, especially given they'd most likely be "chucking" spears in Dr. Jones' general direction (a rod with a feather clip to simulate a blow-gun would be more accurate, but I'm willing to bet TLC would just give us the spear). It's true that the Islanders line didn't cause any issues as far as I know, but then the native peoples in those sets were clearly the protagonists of the line and as such were presented in a positive context; the Hovitos (tricked by Belloq though they were), however, would be depicted as the aggressors against Indy, and thus presented in a negative role, albeit one with mitigating factors (Indy stealing their idol). Regretfully, I think it's a case of TLC wanting to protect itself against a knee-jerk, ill-informed reaction to a Hovito minifig that would ultimately be shown to be false but still result in significant bad press for the company. badger

Assuming it's the former rather than the later, based on my retail work experience, it's often the case major releases are shipped out sometimes one or two weeks before a laydown (i.e. release) date to make sure the stores are prepared to have them out on the shelves. Considering these sets are scheduled for a mid-late December release Does anyone in the toy retail industry know if such dates are common for new releases, or are shipments just put out onto the shelves as soon as they arrive (hence the occassional early find)? badger

Great to hear the hair is solid ABS, and that torso will make for some great Sith MOCs. However, I'll have to add my voice to the "don't like the face" chorus. Thanks for the review! badger

I was on Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago today, and hit the TLC store. Unfortunately, I only scratched off 10%, but my purchase was only two pick-a-minifigs so the 10% made a nice enough dent in the overall cost. badger

Thanks, although I think TLC already had a longstanding tradition in regards to how it handled the design of "people" and altering that tradition for licensed lines is something with which I disagree. I've come to terms with flesh-tones (never did I thought I'd curse Billy Dee Williams for disrupting my MOC work), but this new shift towards greater "realism" or, more accurately speaking, matching source material is also something I don't like one bit. LEGO is LEGO and should be true to itself. badger