Cutty

Firstly this blacksmith will have a new torso, which is always good for variations. Secondly, why don't you mod your excess blacksmiths into other craftsmen like potters, carpenters, glass-blowers, shoe-makers?... you name it. A black apron is generic a working-attire enough to represent many professions.

It's most likely because the videogame market is a multi-BILLION-dollar industry that advertises its products very effectively so potential buyers (parents) are more likely to know them. How big is WOW worldwide in comparison to pen&paper rpg-products like D&D, that are effectively still the "satanist-stuff" in many a folk's mind. And watch the demographic: Same potential buyers are members of a generation who themselves grew up with videogames. Well, some will have had some exposure to rpg, but still! Furthermore, and I witnessed that with D&D 4th edition, even some modern pen&paper rpgs are in their essence a board-game simply because modern players tend to the casual game experience they are used to by playing videogames... the circle closes. Edit: One gilded Ultra-chocolate-cookie-with-awesome-frosting goes to Eichhorn for the first ever officially recorded mention of DSA* in this forum! *DSA = "Das Schwarze Auge" is one of the largest fantasy pen&paper rpgs in Germany. It's basically fairytales mixed with cultural influences from our world an a goog shot of Tolkien poured over, well stirred and boiled. It even saw a very short and limited release in english speaking countries as "The Dark Eye" (almost the same name as in German...)

After I vented my glee in the 2011 Kingdoms thread upon seeing pictures of this, hereby follows a short continuation: AWESOME! I can easily see this becoming my favourite ever theme ever. Ever. And I guess this'll be the day I'll start building microfig scale landscapes to embed Heroica's mode of play into. I already have ideas for modular kingdoms and locations, a random dungeon-system (somewhat as Brickquest does it...) and many many brick-built beasts. Now to amass some compatible current games to stock up on potential hero and villain microfigs! Be well all! Cutty

Wait a minute! Is that a dungeon-crawling game with troll-microfigs and a viable assortment of new accessories up there? HOW AWESOME IS THIS YEAR GOING TO GET! Stop r@ping my poor wallet TLC, I'm sore already! ;-) I'd never believe this day would come! TLC tapping into the casual-RPG segment * sheds tears of joy* This is so going to become a classic and VERY combinable with stuff like Minotaurus, Lava Dragon, the Ramses-games and ultimately everything that has some fantasy-potential to it. Microfig dungeon-crawl ftw! Please make this a recurring phenomenon and add to that game via expansion sets and alternately themed dungeon sets! Be well all (I CERTAINLY am dudes and dudettes!) Joyful Cutty Edit: Just read at Spieletest.at that different "worlds" for heroica are sold separately! Just as I wished for! YEAH! Hopefully if this game rocks we'll see this running for a loooong time! I could so see this happening!

So the "female figure with a suitcase" is actually a gymnast with a pink boom-box... faír enough! I'm already loving the stuffing out of these new characters! Especially the lumberjack (face!) and the graduate-student (cloth-coat!) will be desirable. The dwarf looked lighter in that initial leaked picture, yet his darker appearance in the Spielwarenmesse-video suits him well. If the red glowy eyes are kept, this "dark dwarf" or "underdwarf" as I like to call him, will face a fate akin to trusty S2's hoplites': bulk raids! Edit: Honorable mentions go to cavegirl (so cool!), mobster, the zoo warden (Small chimp! Who'd thaught of that as accessory?) and the inuit (I like his outfit. Will be very useful). BUT: Gender equality ftw, but do we need that male snowboarder so soon after his female counterpart? Come on! He'd better been on Series 7 or 8... He feels like the very first filler figure of all series combined to me. Keep them coming TLC! Well played! Be well all! Cutty

I love this! The juxtaposition of "civilised" inside and "wasteland" outside is met perfectly. The structure of the wall and watchtower convey an aura of vigilance I rarely encountered in likeminded MOCs. And then all the little deco-details: the dead tree and stabbed warrior's skeleton, ox skull*, small wooden cross, that shadowy wanderer and especially that little colourful detail made up of gold and dark-blue 1x1 rounds* are fantastic! (* may I "borrow" these for my little undertaking? ;-) ) Another aspect I love is the scenes base. The way either side almost organically forms an ovoid shape and fades to the edges is brilliant and so. very. copyable. (Is that actually a word? ;-D ) Keep up bringing us good stuff like this! Heartful thanks to you Dan Church, you made my day! Be well all! Cutty

Holy Skeletons, Batman! I want a few dozen of that ultra-awesome helicopter-thingy. What's not to love there? Multiple long bone pieces, a skeleton that doesn't look like a stoner in a small set, that new Atlantis triangular-clip-on-bar-piece and some wedges in purple. Want, want, want! -> also: perfect army-building set! Edit: Ha! In my initial glee I missed to comment on white ninja's little flying machine: I don't think it'd stand out that much if it hadn't this variety of gold-pieces. The prospect of getting 6 golden troll-scimitars in one little promo set however? Tasty! Want! Be well all! Cutty

So cool! Although my "Trek"-phase is long gone this brings a smile to my face :-)! Spock's expression appears like he's getting ready to tackle another sassy opponent with his signature infallible Vulcan-logic. LOGIC? Fascinating. (*raise eyebrow*) Be well all! Cutty

AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! That must have been a very tedious work to do in LDD. I just love all the little and subtle details, yet the entire construction works perfect as a whole. I'd love to see more such works from you in the future! Be well all! Cutty

Thanks to Grogall for another bunch of awesome hi-res pics! I am ever more sold on getting that fantastic viking in multiples and even that geisha is growing on me despite my initial dislike for her face. I just found it looked a little too chubby, but these pics remedy my misconception of her appearance. That garden gnome is still just a second chance to hoard that new beard-piece...You couldn't even use its hat for a "Link" minifig from "The Legend Of Zelda" VG-series: wrong curvature! Be well all! Cutty

+1! TLC seems to have tapped the potential one of their most iconic products, hence minifigures, to its full extent only about recently. As for POTC being better than Kingdoms: I like Kingdoms (yet not as much as Castle!) and I like the new POTC sets. But argueing over one being better than the other seems like comparing fish to birds: each has their properties and potentials, yet ever only so much in their own ways that MIGHT cross but do not need to. Same seems true here, as both lines convey different appeals and intentions. But, and this is my personal opinion, both lines are intrinsically "LEGO". As in: F@ck yesterday's innovation, we'll build a whole new world today! Just mix and match whatever you like, lean more to either side or keep equilibrium, be outlandish and creative; just let both themes support each other, try to integrate parts you like into a different theme or setting... and guess what? Whatever you do, it's right! It's Lego! In retrospect one could sum this up short as this: 1) Every theme has its own flavour 2) Mix flavours as favoured 3) Have fun with your own "cocktails" and don't mind what TLC tries to sell to you (well, unless you're a die-hard original set collector...) Be well all! Cutty

YES! JUST YES! I am a serious critic of pirates and their insane popularity right now, but THIS theme here is just awesome. Parts-wise especially! Although I doubt I'll make an effort to actually collect POTC-sets for the sake of collecting sets I'll seriously pick up any discounted items (come that time!) and part them out for my purposes. That antique globe is so going to become a center piece of one of my Castle-mages. Bottles! Hairpieces (even that one used for that Kylie Minogue-minifig that was shown last year!)! Even new BEARDS! Best guess is the following: TLC is seriously trying to wear me out financially... with success! Be well all! (And don't forget to cherish this awesome new theme!) Cutty

Yes! A cave-girl! Took 4 series before my cavemen tribe gets some females at last! New clown is meh...didn't like the first and this one's no better. People will love his bowler though! Gladiator is fine and most welcome. The helmet and gladius look like great new items. Egyptian queen! Looks like we'll have that long desired antiquity-theme complete only through collectable figs VERY soon ;-). Royal guard... that headgear could become useful. New dwarf is welcome, yet I'd rather get the dwarf helmet without the wings. His shield is epic! Sherlock-dude... Some folks will LOVE this guy to death. I won't. He looks and feels perfect in his own right, but there's no spark with me. Monster-dude! For reenacting those SFX-filming sessions of the original Legozilla-movie! Boxer. Nice. Wonder how the gloves connect to the hands. So far I'm exited for S5. Hope the rest are as good! Be well all! Cutty Edit: Just noticed those glowy-red eyes of the dwarf! Along with his overall darker tone, could he seriously be a "Dark Dwarf" or "Underdwarf"? How cool is that? :-D

If LEGO had plans for further Batman-sets with the awesome "The Brave And The Bold"-series now at full attention with children in the states and europe they'd long have done some. I know I'd get me some (Blue Beetle! Yeah!). I wouldn't expect for our master detective to return, even though Nolan's third installment is being made atm and released in not all to far future. Sad thing: This will keep me from acquiring a Harley Quinn-mini I'd so love to include into my castle-concept. German collectors' prices are insane in that regard (almost two thirds of the original set's MSRP! NO good!).

Got me two copies of Castle's 7097 (Troll Fortress) (both 50% off MSRP!*), one of 7078 (King's Chariot) (also reduced in price) and two collectable elves yesterday. Great reinforcement for my ever-growing crownies-realm! I was appalled to find long gone Castle-sets back on the shelves (frankly, it was my mother who did and informed me ;-) ) and that at fantastilicious prices! I also made an announcement about the deal in the Lego-discount-update thread, which is sadly mostly viable for folks in and close to Germany... But hey, at least we're GETTING some deals here ;-D!

I didn't know that and was too much of in a hurry to cross-examine their shipping-destinations, so I'd say: my bad! Although folks from neighbouring states living close to German borders may get some out of these deals! ;-) edit: spelling...

My wholehearted condolences and all best wishes to his family and friends. Although I never knew Zorro well, I have deep respect for his enthusiasm and will to improve the community on a global scale, which is apparent seeing how EB grew over the years and classic-pirates.com came into existence. Hopefully, all who knew and cherished him may one day overcome this terrible loss and keep him and his efforts in good memory and carry on what he did for us all here on EB. Be well all! (Sad) Cutty :-(

I don't know whether Germany-based sales are welcome here, yet anyway: At Galeria-Kaufhof stores they got CASTLE-line's 7097 (Troll Fortress) for 49.99€ (was 99.99€, so down by 50%!) and 7087 (King's Chariot) for 12.99€ (was 19.99€). Get them while they're hot! These seem to be leftover stock TLC is phasing out, so quantities might be limited. EDIT: These sets are also available through Galeria-Kaufhofs online store at the same price! Noticed the same for MMV which is trickling into regular toy-stores and lacks an "Exclusive"-tag in the latest S@H catalogue. So MMV might be gone sooner than I'd hoped for :-( . Be well all! Cutty

So S3 has finally hit German stores about a week ago (so much for that "late january" BS I got from a retailer!). First box I actually found had only about 1/3 of its contents left. And to my surprise the dot-code-identification was more strenuous than anticipated! So I got me some gorillas, blacktrons, a pilot and a hula-girl. Next day, in a bigger store, I found some unlpundered less crowded displays and took the hassle to get me 3 elves (identification for these buggers is the mother of all megablocks!) and trying to single out at least one fisherman. Got these and am satisfied! The new beard piece, although made of this dust-affine rubbery material, is an instant classic and needs to receive broader distribution in all hair colours and esp. in a black/white "flamed" variant for that all-so-butch salt'n'pepper-daddy look! Also I found the "Dagger of Time" from PoP to be a perfect elven sword. And no, I don't find that BF version, which is obviously based on a movie-design, to be distinctively "elvish" at all. More like LOTR-fanboyism...

Series 3 is now available on German S@H-website. Limited to 16 copies per purchase! Be well all! Cutty

Congratulations! Although a very simplistic custom, this conveys the new movie's look to a very high level! Holy lightcycle, I'm tempted to try putting something similar together right now! Thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks for that review there! Thankfully these "Mandalorians" (whatever type of venereal disease that may be ;-) ) look generic enough to be incorporated into a classic-space setup. Maybe as special forces or specialised personnel. I imagine they'd even look fancy upon switching some torso-designs and arm/leg-colours. The rest of the set is thankfully comprised of more useful parts, so there's no set-back in these. Maybe I'll get one or two copies of these, should I restart building something more "spacey". Be well all! Cutty

Hehe, I actually think more of a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" revival without the turtles-part but with more clichéd anime-elemental-magic-stuff. I mean, come on! Colour-coded teenage ninjas for your convenience? Which is probably on purpose, since both function as a wise and powerful educational figure for the immature portagonists. Compare those ninjas to young Luke... you get the idea.

Thanks to all for pointing out that potential rooster! It does really appear to be something along those lines. As for similarities between the MVR and the City-line's farm: just no. As for similarities between the MVR and actual factual medieval and early modern-era agricultural structures: YES! I paid a visit to an open-air museum in late september which is a collection* of structures and architecture from northern Germany and styled to give the impression of actual villages. And these sets recreate the impression I had while wandering there to an acute level of detail. Astoundingly even modern versions of classical fairytales were shot at said museum! A fact I only recently discovered upon reading that information in one those film's end-credit rolls. My recommendation: BE joyous and happy you ARE at the very least getting proper representations of medieval farm-life! Be well all! Cutty *the buildings were deconstructed in their original places and rebuilt and refit to their original appearance in that museum.

I scoured through my town's main shopping strip this morning and tried to dig up some series 3 goodness. Nothing! The store owner in the last shop I visited told me then, they wouldn't be out in Germany until late january... drats! However, he DID have a freshly opened box of series 2... Which is now devoid of hoplites and missing a witch and a mariachi (didn't even need to unholster my cheat-sheet... to quote "The Matrix": "I don't even see the code, all I see is..."; you get the idea ;) ). Be well all! Cutty