Alldarker

I have no problems at all with people selling their MOC designs. I have bought both instructions and complete MOC kits from the likes of BrickMania, BrickGun and MechanizedBrick, in the knowledge that these people actually make part or the whole of their income from their artistry and time. But even when people sell their designs without being dependant on the income, they have the absolute right to do so. Remember, no-one is forcing you to buy these designs! I fully endorse Blakbird's rights to ask whatever he wants for sharing these instructions. Selling other people's designs (on eBay and the like) without permission from / compensation to the original designer, however, is of course despicable. Whenever I come across those I usually try to notify the original designer so he can get the seller or the site to remove those designs.

I'll tell you: if soldiers in WWII actually wore uniforms in this color, they'd be dead in minutes. The green used is very inaccurate, even for jungle camouflage. Indiana Jones sets are still the way to go for WWII Lego soldiers.

Well, congratulations, you little scalper, you. Nice to know other people's misery this Christmas will make you very happy.

It's Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter set 4767 (Harry and the Hungarian Horntail)

Very slick... And I don't mean the captain's organ. My thoughts exactly... I was also hoping for a seamen joke in that review... Oh well. Anyhoo... Great review! I like this set, but I'm afraid this review hasn't convinced me to buy it. I'd wish they'd gone full out on sailors, cannons, rigging and the such. As it is now, it's just a little too bare for me.

Well, someone brought this topic back from the dead, but with good cause, as I'd never read Sandy's review before! First of all, what a great find! This final (sub)series of the Adventurers line was the only one which I really followed closely: at the time I bought the Temple of the Mount Everest, the passage of Jun Chi, Secret of the Tomb and the Yeti's Hideout, and I bough a MISB Dragon Fortress a couple of months ago. Anyhow, as TheBrickster said, the use of a chessboard to display the various minifigs is inspired. As is the way all the subthemes within Orient Expedition were reviewed seperately. Indeed, thanks for sharing! To finish up: the various Adventurers series were some of the best series Lego ever created. I've since collected the larger Egyptian sets and the Jungle sets (which weren't even available in the Netherlands), and even after ten year these still hold up very well, even (especially) against the Indiana Jones sets.

The BradfortRant thing / viral uses coördinates, that's true... But these are strange... The longtitude and latitude coördinates point to a spot in the middel of mainland China (Wuhan province)! If latitude is negative, then it would point to a location off the coast of Australia. If longtitude is negative, then the location would be several miles below Tucson, AZ... And if both are negative, it would point to a spot in the middle of the South Pacific. But in fact neither seem to be negative. ETA (estimated time of arrival?) of 00.23.30 doesn't make much sense either...

In fact, ALL seven of the early 2010 Atlantis sets are now available at the Vroom & Dreesman shops (this is the same chain that had the Power Miners sets first, late 2008): I've seen 8056, 8057, 8058, 8059, 8060, 8061 and 8075 all in stock on shop floor. I've only bought 8061 Gateway of the Squid so far (€39,99): haven't built it yet due to visiting Franz Ferdinand concert... The Neptune Carrier (€59,99) looks nice too, probably worth getting.

I'm a big fan of military MOC's and this one looks excellent, SpaceMonkey! Like you said, some concessions in the Lego version had to be made, especially in the back part, but the front especially is nice. Looking at your Brickshelf folder, I must say your LDraw M1A2 also looks very cool! Have you been able to build it in real Lego yet?

Looks slightly inspired by Daniel Siskind's T-34/85 which he had available in 2002 as a kit version. Good news about that one is that through Dan's Brickmania instruction club instructions are still available.

My ISD seems to be somewhat higher than the dimensions mentioned on these pages! Something for the revised edition?

No disrespect intended, because you have made a very commendable Nebulon B, but in all honesty, this one is about as good as they get. For your version I'd suggest a bit more greebling on the back end, which will definitely take some of the boxiness off.

Perhaps if you'd taken the time to read this thread from start to finish you'd have seen that about three posts after the very first one by Bonaparte, a relationship with PotC, Disney and Lego had already been mentioned, and has been mentioned several times since then. So, to answer you question, I 'm sure no-one else thinks so, Captain Obvious...

Although this type of topice seems very familiar, here I go one more time, with a rundown of the best sets of the last 10 years: 3. 10030 UCS Imperial Star Destroyer: an incredible concept when it came out, and still an incredibly impressive set to look at (but no dirty looks, or it will fall apart!). The best true UCS Lego set EVER. 2. 10188 Death Star Playset: again, an incredible concept when it was revealed. SW lego fans had been clammering for a Death Star play set for years, but most expected a watered down set, comparable to Cloud City. Instead, it was perfect. A huge 2' ball, with all the rooms and settings to recreate the scenes from both ANH and RotJ. This set is in close contention with my nr. 1 set, but only just loses out, and only due to sentimental reasons. 1. 4483 AT-AT! When the very first pictures appeared, taken at a German toyfair, I was as giddy as a schoolgirl! I counted down the days 'til it became available, and I lost a good couple of nights sleep just thinking about how cool this set was going to be. When I finally found one on a shop shelf (and it was at a time when SW Lego was hard to find in the Netherlands!) I was SO happy. And I wasn't disappointed. It was WAY ahead of it's time in accuracy and design, compared to other sets which were available back then. Definitely not the biggest set in my collection, but the one I have the fondest memories of. And it's the only large set I have of which I bought a full price second one!

I was pretty excited to see the first preliminary pictures of the current Pirate line, but to be honest, when we were able to get a good look at the sets I was very disappointed with the sets. Big pieces, unoriginal designs, and they put a tiny little octopus in a set called Kraken Attackin'! So as far as I'm concerned (which is a very small concern, I know) I don't mind, although I certainly do sympathise with all those who regret Lego's decision. The fact that there will be a new PotC movie coming out, combined with the Disney license, makes PotC Lego sets in the future a 99% certainty, and a no-brainer: unlike other licenses (Harry Potter and Spiderman come to mind) which went down a darker path, the Disney connection will keep PotC child-friendly, keeping very much in tune with Lego's image. If TLC are able to pull the PotC sets off as well as they have with the Star Wars and Harry Potter sets, I'm sure no one will really mind when the new sets are revealed. Like others have said, though, it's the 'licensed' price bump which will be the real stinger with the PotC license. It also means that they can't make any new sets, seeing as anything they put out early or late 2010 would probably still be lying on the shelves when the movie + merchandising comes out. And Disney definitely doesn''t want any competing products on the shelves in the publicity run-up to this movie!

The picture on the photo's of the bag and the instructions are both exactly the same, of course. But in the instructions, you are instructed to place this piece with the actual hinge in the middle of this piece as compared to the photo's, where the hinge goes at one end of that piece. I have added two pictures (borrowed from your review and edited) to show what I mean. I hope these make the difference clear: just look at the freedom of movement for the hose pieces in the photo's compared to in the instructions. That's about as well as I can explain it...

I have just finished building my first 30005 Swoop bike. Has anyone else noticed that the photo's on the bag and on the instructions differ slightly from the actual instructions? The 2x2 hinge top has been turned around 180 degrees, making the Swoop in the photo's one stud longer, because the hood arangement is placed forewards that one stud length. I think the instructions do make the Swoop look best, BTW.

You are, sadly, wrong. Your mistake has made the jester included in set 7079 cry... (picture borrowed with gratitude from mania3's excellent review of the Drawbridge Defense)

@Bobstink Even if I lived in the USA, (which I don't), and even if you wouldn't be making a profit on making these available, I wouldn't want to get an advent calendar from YOU, just because of your negative attitude. Anyhow, even as someone from Europe, I wholeheartedly would like to sign the petition to make the pirate calendar available in the USA (and Canada, and everywhere it's not currently available)!

Very nice review indeed! The set is slightly mehhh, though... Not much more to it than could be seen in the first pictures. It's without any surpising play features, and with a minifig selection which could now be called boring (for me 7th pearl gold C-3PO, 11th R2D2, 11th Rebel Fleet trooper, 3rd white robed Leia!). The set looks good from the outside though, and I guess displaying sets is what counts most for me. Still, being an OT collector, I did of course order it on day one, so if I'm lucky, it should be waiting on my doorstep tonight when I get back from work (EDIT: it was indeed!). After that, my biggest challenge will be finding the shelf space to display it...

Great review and especially great set! They might not be canon, but they do resemble the Mobquet Flare-S swoopbikes. I can well imagine these swoops in the Imperial army. Oh well, someone will probably declare me crazy, but not living in England or Scotland, and this being the only one of the promo sets I really like, just bought 5 of them on e-Bay, for less than the quoted Bricklink price at least. Well worth it, in my opinion! ---------------- Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have

The news of the 10198 Tantive IV has indeed been around for some time, but the official instructions on the Lego site are new. They show a lot of details and features which the earlier pictures didn't, such as the transport sled and the fact that the set doesn't have any stickers, but only printed parts. Are you perhaps still thinking of the 10019 UCS RBR?

Apologies if someone else has posted it somewhere else, but the instructions for the 10198 Tantive IV are now available through Customer Service instructions downloads at Lego Online. Direct links: Part I Part II The transport vehicle, previously unseen I believe, is featured in step 53, in the second booklet. Looks a bit , as was to be expected, though...

Also my all time favorite Lego SW set... I remember drooling over the first pictures we saw of this beauty, from a Lego event in ... Germany perhaps? Anyhow, I literally counted down the days until it became available and bought one even though I didn't really have the cash to spare AT ALL. A year after that, I just couldn't resist buying another one, this one in the blue box with the 3 dark blay square frames. I have doubles of several big SW sets, but this one is the only one I paid full price for both times.

BaronSat, That's a beautiful Higgins boat! Lately I've become very much interested in WW II vehicles, and this one really is something else! I know Dan Siskind has a really nice Higgins boat on his MOC page, and I am a fan of his models, but I dare say yours is better.