Cutty

Haven't checked the last 10+ pages of this thread, but anyway: On 1000steine.de member inof released an updated .pdf of Series 2's barcodes. These are valid for Europe, as they appear being recorded in Denmark: Click me!

That happens to me all the time. It's in fact the main reason I rarely ever post in fora anymore. The twitchy feeling of embarrassment is unbearable. Strangely enough my english is going down the drains because of the rare occurrence of me posting. I find it especially difficult to take if the "then dead" topic wasn't a vivid discussion to begin with, but a forum-game, a "Happy Birthday"-thread and the likes. The online world is just as bleak a place as the real one... *sad*

Looks good on an overall scale. The little Details really vivify the whole scene. Edit: Overlooked some pictures, so took out some request for more standalone pictures of the shuttle.

Having limited space atm I'm impeded in utilising my collection to its full potential. The minifigs are a great way to be creative while still being the Lego I am attached to. I cherish every figure that comes with sets, even multiples, since you never know when they're going to be useful in the future. Globally speaking I do not notice a surge in popularity. To my understanding it's more likely TLC tapping the full selling-power of one of it's most iconic products and making good use of it. The growing variation of faces, torso prints and now even a considerable amount of limb prints leads me to thinking TLC did underestimate the minifigure's appeal on its customers by far in the past and now making up for it! Customs and manufacturers like BrickForge and the like, who have been in business for some stretch of time now, are further proof for a high yet steady popularity in minifigures.

Most of these action themes do not have a great appeal on me. If I ever buy any sets of these themes it's only for parts/figs aso. And even so I do have a significant price threshold for these themes' sets, so they're either the cheapest ones or on discount. Looking back on my past purchases I find that I only got a handful of sets of Atlantis, the most expensive one being a gift mind you, and two copies of PowerMiners' Crystal-King. And considering this self-limitation I still do not have the feeling of missing out on something. Frankly? Would TLC cut back on the major overuse of lime-green and orange in its action themes and add roughly 2 to 3 years of support for these themes, they could have a greater impression on me. As it is now it's just picking raisins for me.

I saw "Skyward Sword"'s videos yesterday and I'm impressed! I didn't like those dark tone Zeldas at all (skipped TP entirely) but cherished every single polygon from WW all the more. That is what Zelda is about for me: A boy saving the kingdom from the uglies, and not "The Man" saving the kingdom from "The Beasts Of Hell"... So "Skyward Sword"'s return to a more cheerful tone is exactly of my liking. But I have to admit, that my view of Zelda is strongly influenced by the original NES and SNES Zeldas' booklet impressions, which are VERY similar in design to what we are about to experience in "Skyward Sword". So I might get this. Probably. And even if I don't, I still like it!

I like them! This is exactly the kind of strange/twisted humour I cherish in life, because it's generally not about happy-go-lucky-everyday-we-love-each-other-business. To name the more scantily clad Hermione "Fanfic Hermione" is hitting the nail spot on! That's what people do with fanfics, add more se...eroticism into the source material...or furries...or erotic furries. And THAT, and this goes to the unstable-without-medication crowd, IS DISTURBING AND INAPPROPRIATE . These images in comparison are a saturday afternoon BBQ with the 4-year olds from next door attending. So cope or turn away! It could BE much worse, and is in some parts of the internet...ye be warned!

Frankly? I am astounded this does not generate more interest here! To me your cathedral is almost perfect, given that you used a limited assortment of elements from official sets. And perhaps because of that deliberate limitation, it emanates the aura of an official set. If TLC ever decided to release a Castle-line cathedral*, I would not be astounded to it being VERY SIMILAR to your great effort! Double thumbs-up from me! *which they probably won't...

Well, I call that fantastic news! When we get two series a year it isn't impossible to actually collect them all as well! Joyful times!

It's perfectly fine you did! Here's a relatively new story of my own experience: I used to have a nice dog since I was 12. Sadly that nice female canine (she was female, so no insult used here!) passed away from awful cancer last december only days before christmas. Since I had been moving out and living ~30km from my mother's house, where the dog lived, I needed to rush there asap, when my sister called me early in the morning to give me news of the imminent parting of out beloved animal. Because I have no car I needed to get there by train, which took some time, but upon me arriving she was still alive and somewhat conscious. My sister, brother-in-law and mother all were living in that house, so all the close family, except myself that is, had the opportunity to tell her their good-byes beforehand. It was in that moment that she consciously felt and heared me that she took her last breath and finally went to rest, me telling her good-bye. The faithful soul clinged to her little life for as long as everyone who loved her was assembled and paid their respects. This does not qualify as a paranormal experience, but the intensity of the dog's will to see me is somewhat extraordinary, isn't it? (So point one here) When we cremated her in a animal-crematory in the local countryside, I instinctively took custody for her remains. And here the plot begins to thicken: The whole time I held the little box with the physical remains, I could actually FEEL some sort of wavelike warm presence from it! (Point two!) And here's the crunchy part: One night in this year's february I was sleeping alone, when I suddenly awoke and felt a presence in the room. I remained still, yet let my look scan through the room. I noticed that my dead dog was lying next to my right leg, like she always used to do when I still lived at my parent's house. Her behind comfortably stretched in my direction, nose pointing to my feet. She looked aphysical, like steam brought into solid shape, not transparent but clearly not opaque either! I stretched out my arm and, ACTUALLY FELT HER! It was not a feeling as one has when touching something living, breathing, although she moved. It was like touching solid air, with the texture of her fur clearly defined and as in her best ages, as if rejuvenated into an ageless form. I always thought, knowing I'm a little sissy when hearing of the paranormal, I'd freak out when something ghostlike would happen to me, but upon seeing and touching her, my heart and mind were filled with a wave of stillness and peace, as if a speechless voice told me: "It is all good." This solemn and peaceful atmosphere lasted for some minutes, me lying still and quiet and petting her back. And as sudden as it began, the manifestation dissolved into air again. (Point three!) I can heartfully assure you, I was awake at the time! When she disappeard, I examined the blanket and vicinity of my sleeping place intesively, just to be sure I had not mistakingly petted some random soft object. But nothing! It is since this day in february that I'm convinced death is not the end of us! Here's some random info I read in J.Blofeld's travel-report of his journeys to Daoist temples in pre-revolution china: Esoteric Daoism knows myriads of different gods, spirits, ghosts and demons. What struck me the most was a quote by a monk he met in a bigger monastery, that said all these different spiritual manifestations have their own domains, plains and living spaces in our common cosmos. And the reason they usually are imperceptible to us is because they want and need to keep to themselves and would only show up to mess with the living. Unless they are departed souls of mortals, who may be guides to us under the condition we actually shared a close emotional and spiritual bonding. That gave me lots of stuff to think about!

You are right Big Cam. And on top of that: On his Karate-Outfit he has a logo sitting were traditional embroidery of dojo-emblems usually go. The black belt is always a classic to identify practitioners of japanese martial-arts. And that golden trophy that was mistaken for an "academy award" may as well be ANY sort of trophy a successful martial artist would be awarded with in a great martial-artist competition. Hence, it's undoubtly a Karateka/Judoka... no actor at all...

The featured alien has been the one exciting me the most when Toy Fair pics hit the web. Now, upon a closer look, his face resembles THIS guy's munchy-munchy parts a lot ;-) Although the rest is quite different obviously... Nice figure, but probably nothing I will get for it being in expensive sets and me having not so big an interest in Space Police.

I had a strong impression it might be dark-red as well! Hopefully it is NOT only the rendered image playing tricks on us! More cape colours are always a welcome addition. (Although I still have no purpose for those two yellow capes I got from those Robin minifigs...)

Yeah! Definitely the highway-patrol dude... But as interests are different in kids, maybe the Mime won't get that much love either! Hehe, I myself have no real interest in creating such a diorama. I just wondered, knowing some strange people go above and beyond in hoarding rare figures, how long it would take before pictures of said diorama would appear.

I knew it would come to this! As long as people can generate profit without doing anything on their parts apart from ripping a package open, they WILL do it! In this case: Easy money!

Gender: Male Occupation: Wushu practitioner Headgear: [new mold] Manchu-style braid Face: stern, focused (perhaps asian eyes, as seen in the Adventurer's line) Torso:Changshan/Changpao in black or dark-blue. Perhaps some fancy dragon back print (embroidery) Legs: torso print continued Arms: white printed sleeves Accessories: chinese straight sword or chinese broad sword Gender: Female Occupation: Eastern nobledame Headgear: PoP Tamina-hair in black or [new mold] fancy "Geisha"-hair Face: timid smile, fancy make-up (perhaps asian eyes, as seen in the Adventurer's line) Torso: Cheongsam in dark-red or medium-blue. Perhaps some fancy pheonix back print (embroidery) Legs: torso print continued Arms: sleeves printed in matching colour (according to torso print) Accessories: a fancy chinese tea-set perhaps? Or a peacock as an animal companion!

I guess it's time to spare some cash for that Greek-Warrior army building project (He's not per se a spartan. He definitely lacks that iconic Lambda on the shield, which is incorrectly shaped mind you! And other greek poleis' hoplites were as likely to wear plumes and thigh protection in red as well!). The thorax (body-armour) print is fantastic and will definitely replace the C3P-O body I had used for an armour before on some figs! And I'm pumped to see, whether it fits well with that KKII Shadow Knights helmet in either colour! Can't wait! The Surf-dude's torso is also a strong candidate for multiples, although the rest of his stuff is... meh. The head perhaps but... Karateka, Britney, Witch, Pharaoh, Vampire Lord, Weightlifter, Sombrero-dude and the Mime are must-haves! Britney's hair is again a new mold, isn't it? I'll put that Adventurer/Archaeologist on hold until clearer pictures of his face are available. Same's true for Pam (the Lifeguard-girl)! I'd only get her for her face and another hair-piece. Hopefully that very hair-piece is again another colour (read: not the same one as the Cheerleader's...). Everything else is uninteresting for me in terms of the actual figures' profession (especially that highway-patrol dude...). On the other hand: Every single face-print is made of pure win! (Well, again excluding that same highway-patrol dude... ) Hooray for Greek-Warrior figs! Idea: Combine the Surf-dude's torso and Pam's legs to get male speedos! Or use Pam's legs on any FemiFig to get lingerie/underwear! God, the possibilities! Also a big Hooray for more brown legs with that Sombrero-dude! Again to update: I'm actually wondering how long it takes before some madman has assembled an actual 300 figs strong hoplite-taskforce and incorporates that into a giant battlescene-diorama using tons of PoP Hassansins (spelling?) as enemies...!!! Strong mental images start to appear Another update: The Mime's beret would make a fantastic medieval-citizen's headwear! Now if it only had a hole to add some plume...

I think these sets are A okay the way they are. Only gripe is: why aren't all owls in all sets printed versions? Or am I mistaken? At least those on Hagrid's hut (above the door) appear unprinted... Idea: who else thinks Voldemort's torso could be awesome on that new Kingdoms-line's sorceror? Instead of that bland unprinted one... Meh, still too expensive a set just for that piece :-( Or it's just TLC getting the most mileage out of a new face-print they can get... ;-) Clearly the attracted customers may be way different groups, both age- and interest-wise, so giving them a perfectly made scarred-smirk-face in both lines isn't so much of a compromise on either group's part. I think it's better to even not think of face-prints as a persona-based thing, especially when it comes down to secondary characters.

Some may think it's cheesy to jump on that "Retro"-bandwagon, yet I would definitely like to see the first five castle factions to do cameo-appearances in modern sets. These could and most likely SHOULD be updated versions of the original heraldry and colour-schemes. Why cameos? And how? Think of the usual joust set. It would not be difficult to imagine one participant coming from one of the "core-factions" of a current line (like the lion- or dragon-knights for "Kingdoms") while the other would be a "foreigner". They could even spruce this up majorly by introducing some kind of randomness into the game: As you know you are getting a joust set and you know you are getting a knight of the "core-faction" the other would be a random one out of 5, perhaps. Each would come completely armed, with horse and fitting barding, but each having his very own heraldry and colour-scheme. Buying multiples would then function as an army builder for one faction, and a collector's item for the others. As for new factions I'd like updated crusaders (?), with that crossed halberd emblem, and an actual knightly faction with a green/silver stag-heraldry. For a baddies-faction I'd like to see a fox-emblem consisting of a brown, grey, red colour-scheme with a one-off black knight as a companion having a wolf-emblem and a black, dark blue, silver colour-scheme. I think a black knight should be a solitary occurrence...

Good pictures! I'd actually preferred this in Crownie-style, but I can't change the transition of factions. Good things are the new wizard, the blacksmith (love that cowl in dark brown!) and the queen. The prince is somehow nice, but... I just can't lay my finger on it...something's missing. Perhaps if he had some sort of new tiara to signify royalty... The dragon-knight is a joke! Not even a shield! And that sparring-doll is ridiculous! For parts it'd be nice to have multiples of this set, but in figs I find it somehow lacking, without having something to say as to how it could improve...

Went to the local Karstadt's (Karstadt is a german department store chain...) toy section today to look out for the Minis. They had one open display in an aisle which had definitely being plundered before. The whole shop was literally squirming which parents, their children and many, many other consumer-zombies... Upon taking out the barcode-list and beginning to check, people were passing and giving me the odd looks I new from my last experience ;-) . What was new however was the guy in the business suit standing in my blind spot right behind me after a couple of minutes. When he noticed that I had noticed HIM he came around and asked what I was doing there. So I explained the function of the list and of the unnumbered barcodes on the packages... And guess what: He began to grin like a Cheshire Cat, waved his boss over (it turned out he was an employee there ;-)), who himself was crazed about the info I shared with them. The first guy asked me to pass him my list, so he could get a copy in the store's office (which I kindly agreed to :-) ). Then both got themselves the figs they THEMSELVES wanted (an astronaut and a wrestler...) and wished me best of luck for my hunt ;-) Upon that a random mother approached and timidly asked if I could help her get a skater-fig for her son. Sadly I had checked all the figs before and... no skaters! So I passed her my list, which she shyly took but thanked me. I think she did not expect such generosity from a random stranger... ;-) I think, all in all, this day is a prime example of how such a small thing as a Lego-minifigure can function as a great social "door-opener". Good times! Btw: the loot was two cavemen, two cheerleaders and another forestman! Hehe, it'll be zombies next time ;-)

I experienced many of the points made in that article. Especially that part about sales, which are becoming more and more usual in my vicinity. Frankly, I try avoiding a purchase at full price at all cost (does that even make sense? ;-) ). Safe for those 1,99€ Minifig-bags and the new Kingdom line's impulses I haven't paid full price in about two years or so! Hunting down THAT elusive out-of-production set is also one of my experiences. Right now, on german eBay, the crazy-sellers charge fortunes for two year-old sets and crazy-buyes bid ABOVE AND BEYOND to get them... Amazon's not better! It's even reached Lego store-employees' ears, so they know about "collector's-prices" as well! Not a good sign for the community all in all, if you ask me!

Why, oh why, was I thinking the same? Although slave-girls is not EXACTLY what I thought... Anyway these seem to be perfect. The Leia-slave-printed torso would make excellent fit with that female-barbarian concept I had in mind somewhile ago. Now to get some cash to pump into expensive accessories!

From what I understand, there exist two separate sets of barcodes. The one provided by Holodoc is valid for the european (and asian?) copies of the minifig-bags, while the other applies to the american versions. Where the other (sc. american) list of barcodes is to find, I sadly do not know... Some other forum-members might be able to fill you in on it's whereabouts.

My local TRU had plenty of open displays RIGHT before the cash register, just where lines of people would make lengthy checking of barcodes a chore... but I did! So, because I was in a hurry, I scanned through to get me two Forestmen, two Nurses and one Astronaut. Identification took some time (strangely all the figs I did NOT want piled exactly on the side of the display I began to check... ) but worked to perfection. People were giving me strange looks, when I pulled out the worn print-out of the barcode-list provided by Holodoc (thx again!), but probably understood what I was doing. My opinion: Nice designs. Plastic is the same as the one used in magnet-sets, which I noticed as soon as the milky-dull green of a Forestman's pants popped out of the bag... Some won't mind it, and I do not obsess about these kinds of quality differences, yet others might be seriously turned off by this. All in all, I will *perhaps* get at least one whole set, yet primarily these will be bought in multiple copies for parting out. Apparently it's the cheapest way for me to stockpile some bows and quivers while amassing enough "Castle-tight" civilian torsi with the Forestman. And that dashing smile's awesome! Astronaut's helmet is waaaay oversized! Nurse's face, hair and the syringes are cool features as well! Now it's time to hunt for that Cavemen-tribe (x10+?) and Zombie-corps(e ? hehe... x10+++)