Cutty

Generic Demon / Black Gargoyle Gender: undetermined head: black with yellow or green evil eyes and big, tusk-laden grin. Cheekbone und frowning lines printed in dark-blue headgear: a "devil horns"-attachement similar, yet smaller than, that of SW's Saesee Tiin (sp.?) figure. neckgear: black demonic bat-wings with dark-blue highlights, comparable to PQ's new wings part torso: black with dark-blue muscle print similar to bare chested Dastan of PoP waistwear: a rubbery part to go between hips and torso, comparable to SW's "clone-skirt"-part, yet with a pointy devil's tail attached to the back legs: black, perhaps with some kind of "toe/claw" print similar to the old Adventurers' Pharaoh-figure's toe print This'd be great stuff!

Love it! The whole scene and arrangement convey an atmosphere of hostility and genuine misanthropia. I take it the image quality is as low on your intent? If so these could be confidential government pictures or postcards from a dystopian future. Either way: Grand!

I wish all staff and members of EB a very happy and smooth transition to 2011! Be it joyful and bring health and wisdom to you all! (I myself anticipate the asian new-year on feb. 3th. After e very mixed year of the tiger, maybe the hare will bring something more "fruitful" ;-) )

I amassed forces equivalent to the contains of 2 dragon knights BPs, 5 Kingdoms advent-calendars and 1 copy of set 7950. I'll leave the calculations up to you, as I'm seriously wasted as of now... However there's this whole conundrum as to how all those factions are going to be intertwined with already established army-building efforts, and I found that the newer lion-knights look fantastic as an uprising royalist faction once you swap grey arms and dark-grey legs for dark-tan arms and brown legs respectively. Somehow provincial in appearance yet regal enough to convey authority. The dragon-knights on the other hand have a feeling of being the "rogue"-team. Not forceful enough to rule, yet not as unforceful as to not be a threat to be reckoned with. Both their times shall come - for the better or the worse, only time will tell... Be well all, Cutty

We were graced with a rerun of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on Dec. 25th in Germany and I have to say, it still ranks high as one of my favourite modern classics. It blows the old movie starring Wilder out of the way hard. J. Depps performance alone, aloof and loony as can be, rocks the show like no other could. C. Lees supporting role adds to the experience. I don't get all the Depp-bashing; seems like dissappointed nostalgia to me... But to my tastes, ever since "Edward Scissorhands", everything that has "Johnny Depp" on its title has some bonus-points with me. He's such a strong actor! Yet: What's with that pageboy hairdo? That's the only ever irritating thing in that movie...

Ironically many Europeans wished boxes here had that information up-front so one could calculate piece/price-ratios without having to check online databases beforehand. But one does always desire the things one does NOT have, ain't it so? ;-)

Got my hands at the German january-may catalogue today and found the MSRP for this baby actually IS 19,99€! So my first hopes weren't in vain and thus I might get one earlier than first hoped for.

This little set would be perfect if they had included a skeleton that doesn't look like a stoned preschooler attending a pony-riding-party... seriously, what did they think of when designing that face? Apart from that, thanks for the review. I do now think I won't need this set, even for the gold scythe included. Be well all! Cutty

Contrary to my initial defense of "blue" here I reckon you might have a point: could this be the return of that "King-Mathias-blue" from KK2? That would be some darker hue of blue with a tint of violet. Still the fig's uniforms are worlds away from being baby-blue. Pretty obvious really! Maybe TLC graced them with an entirely new colour somewhat lighter than regular blue, yet I doubt that. In some of the scanned pics the vehicles and uniforms do not differ so much in colour at all, so my best guess would be to actually wait for a)clearer pics to appear or b)TLC disclosing its 2011 palette which might give some insight into the matter. Either cannot take so much longer... Be well all! Cutty edit: looked at some higher-resolution scans just now and found the vehicles and uniforms actually BEING different! The vehicles seem darker, yet not quite dark enough to be the dark-blue we know! There's a plot thickening here...

Whoa! 24,99€? That's a solid 5€ steeper than I had anticipated (and hoped for at the bottom of my empty treasure vault *tears*). Anyway it lives up to my expectations and will probably be in introduced to my collection when on clearance or I'm really lucky to find a seller with more... "reasonable" prices. Zane DX doesn't do much for me as his torso design is too specialised for my tastes. Thanks for that thorough review Dunjohn! Be well all! Cutty edit: +1 to all Gryphon Ink said!

More like: In the olden days you were afraid of Vampires, because they'd feed on your torn jugular. Nowadays you're afraid, because they keep on bugging you about how they cannot deal with unlife and its ramifiications...

In Germany we have a similar custom, only that it requires to actually touch that chimney sweeper. This would be the classical attire people associate with the profession. Stylised versions are ubiquitous symbols of good-look-wishing and present on greeting cards, holiday cards and new year's decoration. The top hat IS A MUST! ;-) edit: As I'm honing my English-skills back to the level they once had, this post underwent some rectifying procedures...

And it is still just regular blue. As in "One of Lego's five first colours ever". Not baby-blue at all... And yes: There are self-respecting soldiers/policemen wearing blue in RL. And frankly: Reminding me of myself at 7-12 I myself yould've loathed baby-blue! So blue, just blue, IS a valid colour choice.

I do not get why everone and his mother is complaining about the human fracttion wearing regular classic old (boring?) BLUE? There's no sight of it being light-, baby-, dark- or whatever hue of blue. It fits the setting and sets off well against the alien faction. A little more variation would be welcome (subject to change -> prelim pics!) but for a first wave either factions colour-scheme is solid and appealing to the target audience (boys 7-12). There's definitely not a tingle on my "Jayko-meter" (and the brick gods know I've been down THAT road, but weren't we all? :-) ). Come a second/third wave I suppose there'd be a strong potential of TLC pulling another "Atlantis-change" and add some new colours to the game. Be well all! Cutty

Once more something from me, after I had to hurry my initial reaction a bit. What struck me at a second glance were the names you chose for the individual dragons. While they have a fantastical flow and tune to them, you managed to avoid stereotypical and dull fantasyesque names even professional writers will fall back to regularly. And THAT, at least to my ear, is a major relief and great accomplishment in name-giving that just adds so much more to these awesome dragon-designs. I do not know, whether it's coincidence or not that Ragdha is my favourite of the lot, given it carries your sig-fig But names like "Imaust", "Skolek" (sounds a bit Slavic) and "Emget" (sounds Turkish :-D ) strike my fancy just as well. "Fythold" however is, name-wise, the fanciest of them all. If I ever found a book telling a story of "Fythold the dragon", and your backstory for him has potential (!), I'd pick it up in a heartbeat. He has some resemblance to that "How to train...-movie's "Night Fury" species, hasn't he? So I'll leave it at that, yet hope to see more of your designs in the future! Be well all! Cutty

Hmm, I originally intended to get the Spinjitzu-dojo set for Sensei Wu and cool architecture. Now I find the bigger fire temple set to be more fit for my tastes, as it includes Lord Garmadon with 2 skellie-minions and a skeleton brute, Sensei Wu, red, blue and white ninjas, the fire dragon (which isn't too hot, if you ask me :-( Pun intended! ) and an even better architecture. And a new sword piece (as seen in the movie). Sure it's more expensive, but there's all the goodness I need. Earth dragonS WILL strengthen my troll army! Colourwise they're perfect. Those pieces around the neck make it look like a frilled lizard of sorts. Which I like! And to add to that "heroic girl" discussion: Why is everybody thinking of the femininja as a "damsel in distress" in the dark fortress set? There is clearly no indication for that on the box art whatsoever! Much to the contrary, I might argue: She is clearly running with a katana in hand, HEADS ON!, into the thick of battle to aid red ninja in his struggle with the brute. From behind! = Theatrical ninja-style! Can I hear you say "sneak attack"? Then she's actually in a set that portrays the good taking the baddies on on their own grounds. She'd have to be a real "trooper" to ba a part of such a mission! All in all I find her to be a better example of femifigs in action themes! My 2 €-cents. Be well all! Cutty

WOOHAH! Now we're talking! Although just a LDD pic you captured the looks of my favourite intergalactic bounty hunter and his ride quite nice! Now get him some booze and alien-hoo'ers in that pic and he's all set to cause some serious megablock! (Sadly I only ever read the comics in german, so I wouldn't know his proper signature lines in english, else I'd really liked to give some quote...) As for improvements: Make that ride look more menacing with some skull structure on the front and seriously add some exhaust pipes to the back to make it more chopper-like. Flames from that exhausts add a lot! AND THE HOOK! You forgot his signature hook-on-a-chain! Add that! ;-D

Those are well done! Congratulations! Porportions, articulation, parts-selection, use of cloth, variation between dragons, build-execution and photography are A-grade material!

That's most likely a cultural problem, as our information-driven and text based culture puts strong emphasis on visual perception, whereas other senses, as the tactile one used for feeling those dots, are underdeveloped in most people. Simply because there's no need to use it on a regular basis to clearly distinguish textures and the like. By this light many people would prefer barcodes or any other kind of indicator they could see. So in the end it is a matter of training and getting used to it. :-) Be well all! Cutty

Woah! This theme should have existed back in the 90's when I was all into alien invasion stuff and playing "UFO: Enemy Unknown" for obscene amounts of time! I'll definitly look into getting me that tripod-vehicle at least, just for kicks!

+1 for the new animals and comments on both mill village and blacksmith set! Also: New battle axe! New civilian torsi! The 2008 "carriage" though was more of a chariot. This qualifies as a real carriage however! Kingdoms 2011? Awesome! Will be a hard time conceding appropriate funds to all those great new themes!

Haha! Or better: HoHoHo! That is an awesome idea! Were I still celebrating christmas, I'd probably ste..., errm, "borrow" your idea Peaceful holidays to you!

Yet still you omit, that those exact "ridiculous" flavours maybe other folks' favourites. And customers know beforehand they won't know what they're getting with blind packaging, giving them the option to either dare taking their chances and trade or sell away the unwanted "ridiculouses" or step away from the transaction completely should they find the odds unbefitting for their tastes. It's a compromise either way, anyway... And how, may I ask for the forum collective, are you getting that impression? The Sumo, and that I give you, is a bit bland. Yet there's only so much you could do to represent a naked fat dude in minifig-form. Some knottet belt printing on the back would have mended the situation a bit, yet the figure is accurate to what it is portraying no less than, say, the zombie or cheerleader. As for fresh ideas: I just need to open my window to get me an aweful lot of inspiration for future minifigures. And even some repetition on already existing concepts/professions are welcome as long as they explore some new aspect of it. Best examples: S4's skater and surfer! As S1 had only a limited production run and lots of people missed out on them (esp. in the US!) TLC is actually giving customers a new chance to get one. And at the same time approaching the "skater" concept in a fresh way. And at the same time introducing most welcome parts in most welcome colours (grey beanie-hat /w fancy print anyone? Me likes!). Same's true for the surfer girl with new face, torso* and hair in new colour. *which is also a sci-fi-tight design in my books, a fact that just ADDS to the cool factor. Perhaps you might just take a quick scan through this fine thread on EB, showing precisely that, when folks HERE are having a myriad of perfectly usable ideas, the designers at TLC, who are professionally trained to work creatively, might just be as productive, don't you think? ;-) Imagine! Be well, all! Cutty

Woah! I did see all the smaller pics before and hoped for the new viking to turn out well. And, like,... BOOM! Shield, torso-print, 3L bar as axe-handle, legs-print, FACE! All gorgeous! This face will so replace that generic "orangebeard-viking/castle-king-face" one of my most beloved figs (sadly) still wears (and has worn ever since...). Now I still need to figure whether to get me few dozen of these or not. Mixing this fig's pieces with existing viking outfits could be the bomb. And of course it was too much to ask for a "realistic" representation of norse cranial protective wear (as in: no horns!), as the existing piece obviously has some mileage left for TLC. Minor gripe. All the others are cool as well. I wonder though, as to how the hazmat-suit connects to that spray-gun/pump the fig holds... And I definitely prefer the Monster 4's werewolf head over the S4 one. Did everyone else note that purple stain on the artist's pants? Strangely there's no purple on his palette... (Yes, there's red and blue, but no indication of the two blobs actually being mixed for purple!)

I didn't read back on the last 20+ pages so please be kind should this be old news: Upon checking the hi-res pic of the Spinjitzu Dojo set I found that the ninja master sports a shiny new beard piece, clearly visible behind his staff. It appears sleeker and less bushy than the classic majisto-beard. It actually curves a bit to the left so a bit more of the torso can be seen. Essentially it could have "If found, please return to Saruman. Orthanc, Middle-Earth" plastered all over it. Good thing! Link to picture! Check for yourselves! Instant classic! And this set just got top-priority on my to buy list!