Alldarker

Total mini-mod badness (bad alldarker, bad alldarker! Sorry real mods ), but 1. we have the Star Wars sets anyone? forum for availability and finds and 2. there you will find this post: In other (Amazon-related) news, I just received an advertisement from Amazon.de which features a picture of the German Lego Brickmaster Book! Strangely enough, it looks totally different from the picture in the first post. Looks like we might be getting a droid and a clone trooper... With the two generic mifigs and the two midi-sized sets that can most probably be build with the bricks included featuring on the cover, this seems more of a finished cover than the currently known picture (of the AT-OT and LAAT/i on the cover) was. However, this still looks like an unfinished mock up of the final cover to me, though.

I've recently gotten a hold of all five of the Prince of Persia sets, and I like them. A lot. I'd also like to keep them in good condition. However, I also collect Transformers. And one of the things most Transformers collectors fear most is the dreaded "Gold Plastic Syndrome", or GPS for short. Gold Plastic Syndrome is caused by a chemical proces within several plastics, mostly with gold swirls / flakes in them, which causes this plastic to disassemble, become brittle, break and crumble over time (10 - 20 years). There is really no cure for GPS and no way to stop this proces; it just happens. Considering the amount of gold colored ABS parts in the PoP sets (like the domes on Alamut Palace) I was wondering if anyone else shares my fears for GPS in these parts, and more importantly, if we can get some confimation that GPS will not become an issue in these gold colored parts (a question for the ambassadors, perhaps?).

Great review of a really very interesting set! I bought my first one on the day it became known to the Lego Community by suddenly and unexpectedly appearing on the Shop@Home site: still one of the most unexpected appearances of a Lego set ever, in my opinion. It's certainly not the most stable of sets, but I still liked it so much that I bought another when it did go on sale. That one is still MISB, due to space constraints. Like you mention, the box is designed the was of the original Star Wars sets of the late '70's and the '80's; in my opinion the best design for Star Wars Lego in the whole line. The biggest flaw I found was the stickers on the windscreens. In fact, my very first Bricklink order was for a couple of trans yellow parts to replace the brown stickered pieces! They do make this set look a whole lot better.

I stand totally corrected by both LuxorV and you! My appologies; it was the theme pages which weren't showing up yet, but the set search works like a charm! Great news for everyone here in Europe who wants these sets. And thanks for organising the excellent competition!

Are you sure? Because when I just checked, they didn't show up for either the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway or the UK: and those were just the countries I checked randomly. Best not to get people's hopes up too early! EDIT: Thankfully, I was wrong and Svelte and LuxorV corrected me! They are all available!

Sweet! I really like the new skin! I received all five Prince of Persia sets yesterday (import from the USA) so I'm all set for the Prince of Persia month. I loved the PoP games trilogy (on Playstation 2) A LOT, and I can't wait to see the movie.

Hmmm... By the look of the review it does look like an ultimate Slave 1 would probably be a mash up of the 6209's color scheme with some of the designs tweaks of this one. And even these tweaks aren't for the better: for example, this new one is 4 studs shorter than the 6209, which is very disappointing: it should have been made bigger if anything. I know that if the 8097 had been released earlier and the 6209 was the newer Slave 1 design, we would all have been drooling over the improvements of the 6209 compared to the 8097. The figures and the carbonite block are certainly nice though... So I'm buying this set for the figures but I'm keeping the 6209 on display. Hmm... With the neutered AT-AT design and this neutered Slave 1 design, it seems we might have left the years of constant SW design improvements (for example the X-Wing, AT-TE, TIE Advanced, MTT) behind us...

To me, this theme seems pretty recent, but that probably shows my age Although I never bought any of these sets, I did like the transforming idea, due to a very logical reason: I used to love MASK toys when I was young (OK, so I still love MASK!). This vehicle reminds me a lot of both MASK's Condor toy, the motorbike / helicopter and MASK's Switchblade toy, the helicopter / jet fighter. It's a great review, and it makes me want to check out Bricklink to see some of the prices for the vehicles in this theme...

Great review as always! My first thought: all the minifig parts in one bag... that's making it mighty easy for minifig thieves I'm suspecting there will be a LOT of these sets bought, opened and returned and resold without the minifig bag, and I'd say it's a big FAIL. Apart from that, this review made me like this set a whole lot better. I too thought it was a bit random, but looking at it, I get the itch to whip out the old PlayStation 2 and start playing PoP: the Sand of Time. Which is good! Minifig selection could have been better, I suppose, with this set not containing any unique minifigs, but it looks fun none the less.

When compared to the 4483 AT-AT, this new version IS actually a couple of studs shorter (front to back and top to bottom). This is most obvious in the front panels and back panels on the main body, which are each two studs shorter front to back than the original, making this one at least 4 studs shorter than the original. The main side panels are two studs shorter in height than the 4483 one, making it a little less tall as well. I'd say the legs are pretty comparable in length with the oldest AT-AT, which makes this one slighter better in scale with itself than the 4483 was, although of course it's become even less in scale with minifigs. To be honest, I like it well enough, but mostly because it looks like the 4483 again. Even though I have two of the 4483 AT-AT already, I'll be getting one of these, to keep my OT collection complete.

I actually recently bought one extra of this set just because I got the feeling that this excellent set is becoming less and less common in shops. There have of course been enough instances of sets only being available for a relatively limited period, this might indeed be one of those sets.

To be honest, I really, REALLY hate the look of the German plane: I'm a sucker for detailed WWII models, and the German plane doesn't look like any real life plane, except perhaps like a crop duster. The cockpit is wrong, and especially the landing gear is a total mess. I understand this plane was designed around the snap-off wings gimmick, but I really wish they'd used the available parts more wisely... On the other hand, I do like the biplane: it looks a lot more like a real life Tiger Moth... It's strange that on the biplane the landing gear looks so much better than on the German plane...

Excellent review and an excellent set! In this theme I have the 5976 Amazon Ancient Ruins and the 5986 River Expedition, which I both love, and I do check e-Bay now and again for this set, but as stated, it's usually pretty expensive. With the Indiana Jones theme having come to a full stop already I feel a new Adventurers line would be very well timed. I mean, with the Atlantis theme Lego is already onto their third underwater theme... The Adventurers line has always been at the base of some of the nicest Lego sets: just take a look at the Orient Expedition themed Adventurers sets, which seven years on still blows the (comparable) Prince of Persia sets right out of the water (and seems to have inspired the excellent PS3 game Uncharted 2 ).

I don't think lightningtiger actually suggested it would be a Comic-Con exclusive, but rather that the (theoretical) set would get a Comic-Con unveiling, and become generally available some time after.

I think this is the imperiumdersteine.de page you probably wanted to link to: both links you quote don't seem to mention the sets not appearing in Germany. Anyhow, it's definitely strange if Lego don't release the PoP sets in Germany. Release date of the movie can't be the issue: German release date is May 20th, and a full week before it will open in the USA. I can imagine German fans getting angry over this decision, even if the PoP sets will be available at the German Lego stores or on S@H. I'm looking forward to these sets, and I certainly hope they will be available in the Netherlands.

Thanks for posting this news, ILikepi! Still, I'd like to make a couple of points: 1. Why feel sorry for those people? I'm pretty sure that to the people who were willing to buy these figures at the prices they fetch on e-Bay or Bricklink, a sum of $550-$650 is but a pittance. They probably won't miss it due to having good earning jobs. Although you might have to feel sorry for the scalpers who bought these expecting a huge profit on their investment! 2. A total of less than 20,000 globally is still a very small amount of items made. Especially because the way these will be distributed is going to be vague, to say the least, but distribution will evidently be targeted towards the real SW Lego fans who are less likely to part with the minfigs. And remember, the 10,000 gold chrome C-3PO's are still fetching around $120, even though boxes of these were handed out at ComiCon. I'm not expecting these to suddenly get cheaper, in any case, although this news will certainly shake the market up a bit. 3. Most of the people who shelved out $550-$650 also got the 2010 SW product booklet. Now, with a limited print run of 2,000, this product booklet is even more rare than the chrome C-3PO. Although it's not a minifig, it's no less a collectible for lots of SW Lego fans. Five times rare than a $120 gold chrome C-3PO: you do the maths! Anyhow... I wonder if Lego means the top 100 GLOBAL S@H customers, or if it's the top 100 customers per S@H location (currently 23 countries). The latter case would at least give me some chance of getting one of these figures.

I too can't wait for these sets... Especially the Battle of Alamut. I'll probably buy all these sets the day they can be found in shops in the Netherlands; I just hope it will be in April already. To be honest, I'm not too keen on the gold colored pieces, but the minifigs are very cool (especially the Princess Tamina minifig). I loved playing the Sands of Time trilogy games; I only hope the movie is as good. I thought Johnny Depp was funny enough in all the Pirates of the Carribean movies, but as movies, the two sequels to Curse of the Black Pearl were pretty horrendous, in my opinion. I am hoping Prince of Persia will be at least as big a success as PotC, but I especially hope it will have a better story! I also don't agree with the fact that these sets are bland. I'm a bit hesitant about 7572 Quest Against Time, which looks to me like the weakest set of all of these, but the others are very good: varied pieces, lots of new and useful minifigs, helmets, hairstyles and torso's and even the ostriches and camels are nice, although not even the highlight of these sets.

I'm pretty sure the white, yellow, red and black Mandalorian helmets are custom made. We don't get to see very many official Lego prototype molds reach the open market (the red Darth Vader helmet, red Ghost etc. come to mind), and these Mandalorian helmets suddenly turning up in four new colors is pretty suspicious. I'd say the home made molds probably wear down quickly after only a few casts have been made; that is probably also a reason why he has so few for sale. But I agree with Bobskink: having only one or two 'available' makes them seem more rare.

Some of these definitely aren't new! I've had the Darth Vader adult watch since May of last year, when I got one as a gift from my wife at the Lego Store in Downtown Disney, Orlando... They had the Stormtrooper watch there as well (in metal tins, with a little plastic box in it with extra red / black links). I'm not sure if they had the other four there, so they might actually be new. But the Darth Vader watch is right here on my wrist (and yes, I have been wearing it to the office). EDIT: hmmm... on the S@H it really does say it's new. Probably only now available beyond the brick & mortar Lego Stores?

The price mentioned in the guide is probably missing a zero or two... even if the minifig was molten into a little golden nugget! 14k gold is worth about 1150 USD per ounce. But the rarity of these gold and silver C3PO's should multiply the material value by a factor 10 to 20... (just look at the white Mandalorian, made of $0.25 worth of ABS but currently available at around $600 on e-Bay).

You'll probably find me strange, but I recon Bariss Offee has one of the cutest female faces I've ever seen in Lego... Must be the freckles/tattoos.

Nice find indeed! I have all these 1999 sets too, stashed away in my wardrobe, but I know exactly where they are. Actually, come to think of it, even back then I bought three of the original Snowspeeder and two Y-Wings/TIE Fighters... They are very cool in their own right; it's just too bad that they really don't display that well anymore next to the modern SW sets. I also have plenty of SW sets (doubles of ones I've bought and built) still stashed away MISB, not for reselling but mostly because I don't have the display room to build them. ALthough I have them all categorized on Brickset and Peeron, when I check these sets out I'm always surprised by how many of these MISB sets I actually have (ranging from battlepacks to the 6211 ISD and the Sandcrawler).

Thats a very nice collection you have: I can imagine your son has a LOT of fun playing with all of this. I'd like to see Endor be a bit more green and have more tall trees, but Hoth especially is superb! I'd love to have the space (basement?) you have to display your MOC's and diorama's... Ah well, my wife's promised me a Lego room when we move to a bigger place, somewhere in the next couple of years.

The white Mandalorian armor is actually based on Ralph McQuarrie's original concept. Retrojunk.com has some more information on very early Boba Fett, as does this page, which mentions early film tests existing from pre-filming ESB, of a totally white Boba Fett which was later painted the trademark blue with battle damages and markings. So yes... I'd definitely call that a bit of Star Wars history... I'm sorry if I misinterpreted you. Like you, I don't think Lego is purposely feeding a black market with rare items. The fact is that giving something special and unique is a token of appreciation, moreso than giving something generic and readily available. Anyhow... I wouldn't mind seeing these white Boba Fetts become more common, perhaps in a magnet pack. And i'm sure minifig customizers wouldn't mind much either!

You know how it is: "Het is maar wat de gek ervoor geeft". This is a Dutch proverb meaning: something is worth as much as what a fool is willing to give for it. At the end of the day this minifig is only a bit of molded and printed ABS: materials costing perhaps $0.05 per figure. Perhaps a little more due to the limited production and the labor associated with changing molds and ABS pellets and printing. But likewise, the materials and even the labor costs used to make a Van Gogh painting or, even more comparable, a Damien Hirst work of art, are 'worth' just a minimal fraction of the millions of dollars people are prepared to pay for these things. I guess the important word you use is 'exclusive'... People like to own something special, because they hope it makes them special in turn. Bragging rights, showing off, you name it. And yes, even though I can rationalize it too, I have to admit that owning something exclusive does feel good to me as well. @fenris: to be honest, the dark chrome Darth Vader isn't that expensive anymore if you check e-Bay or comparable sites. Definitely not €300.00 expensive. Lots of dark chrome Darth Vaders were released, at least a whole lot more than the 10.000 gold chrome C-3P0's. Lego is into making profits based on material costs, production costs, labor costs and marketing costs. As a large company, trying to make a profit based on (artifically created) scarcity is a very bad business model, due to economics of scale (it's just much cheaper to do large production runs)! This creation of scarcity can sometimes be quite a good profit turner for small businesses who can't afford big production runs, but who are able to create a hype around their products. Then again, if the hype around the (overpriced) item they are trying to flog doesn't pick up, they lose.