snefroe

oh well, i don't understand why they've replaced the trans dark screens in the first place

i agree.. these sources are always kinda vague, aren't they... that's what they said, though... it resembles rockraiders but it's not quite the same... i'm guessing the general theme is something with rocks, probably the underground exploration, there, they'll meet either monsters or aliens

just bought my last 2006 sets of the year this weekend: two giant planes (7893) , they were only 30 euro and i couldn't resist. also bought the last 2005 set I still wanted: the XXL crane for another 30. for the rest of the year i'll be buying BL parts and old sets...

well i'd like it to be on the 13th of may, because we probably have elections that day, so i'd like to be out of the country ... :-$ however, if not, i'll just visit Yoda in Paris, together we'll raid a TRU! yeah!! sounds like a plan! :-P

i little bird whispered to me that the new space sets resemble 'rockraiders' from a few years back. 'this little bird' has seen them and knows a thing or two about Lego. ;-) it's still a new theme, not a copy of a past theme, but it's more or less in that direction... it seems... g... we need pics!

what i don't really like about these new Lego sets, and why I'm posting it here, are these new 2x4 slopes as on this one. the surface of these slopes is completely smooth these days, they used to have a different surface compared to any other Lego brick; i liked that... :'-(

well i'm not too fond of the trans-blue windshield, though... trans-dark would have made the entire set more compatible with the rest

oops, sorry... Medium stone grey is light bluish grey Dark stone grey is dark bluish grey not so long ago i talked to a lego girl and she said the old 'classic space grey is no longer available, i'm guessing 'light grey' may be the ultra light grey that, to my knoledge was never used except for 1x1 plates. i've got a load of that by mistake and i can only use it to fill gaps here and there... oh well, you can always order and see for yourself. 3 dollars isn't the end of the world...

medium stone grey is light grey dark stone grey is dark bluish grey officialy, simple 'dark grey' is no longer in their stocks to sell to the public

i think it's a nice set in addition to the large fire truck. for, instance, you can replace the back section of the fire truck (the one with the boat on top) by this one... I don't like the windscreen, though...

not spectacular, this one

true. every theme needs tos have his 'eyecatcher', the one set that attracts potental fans. In 'castle', that used to be a brilliantly designed castle with several knights, in Space themes, that used to be a huge space ship or a space station. Once people want that large set, they'll go for the smaller ones as well, because they want to complete that particular large set, make it even bigger/better. 'Fright knights' did not have that. so i guess it's not only a lack of design of the sets, it's most of all the absence of that one spectacular castle...

Lego also seems to be using a weird program. if you, as a shop, want to order sets, you need to order for a serious amount of Lego sets at once, i believe for about 15000 euro, which is quite a lot for smaller shops and you have to choose between two different programs, 1 program has lots of smaller sets and several big ones, the other has fewer small sets and more larger sets. It seems they're doing that to make sure they won't get stuck with sets nobody wants. That way, they're protecting themselves against the risk of next year when it turns out that one particular set/theme does not reach expectations.

absolutely agree! :-P

as a kid, i bought sets from all minifig themes; i built cities, trains, spaceships, castles, whatever. I can't remember having had any preference before 1980-1981 or so. That all changed in the early 80's when the tv started all sorts of SF-series, like battlestar galactica, Buck Rogers, Blake's 7, ... Suddenly, Space took the lead. Star wars may have played a role as well, but not in today's preferences, really. Today, my first concern is loyalty to Space. Whatever the sets, crap or no crap, i'll buy all space sets. second, and by far the major element since space left: quality: I have to like it, or it's a good parts pack, or i'm just curious to see the model and if it's not too expensive. I don't care what theme it's from. Apart from Space, i wouldn't say there's one theme out there that I'll buy completely just because of the theme title.

yep we've got ourselves a specialist *sweet* welcome!

well there were several themes lacking quality in the late 90's; 'fright knights' is no exception... I guess the difference between this theme and older themes, next to the quality, is that the older themes heavily relied on the medieval theme: castles, knights fighting each other for the hand of the princess, ... later on we got 'robin hood' themes... all very easy to recognice for the general public. this theme, however, doesn't really have anything to do with the medieval theme at all. it's more like a fantasy story, closer to 'Lord of the rings' than to 'Robin Hood'

the highest price i've ever seen any one paying for any old set was 1500 dollars for a new Galaxy Explorer. i'd be very surprised if this 6081 could be sold for 1200... you're better off buying on bl...

From what i know, it's been quite the opposite, honestly. they used to transport lego through Holland to Belgium. No doubt, the shortest way. Now, they're shipping it to the UK, they go all the way to Dover I guess, take the train or boat to France or Belgium and supply Belgian shops. the reason is simple: wages in the UK seem lower than in Holland and Belgium so they're using British companies... In any case, it's a mess... i was under the impression that games were taking even more ground than last year and in most cases, I don't even see parents when kids go out and buy this stuff...

i'm going to assume that this is some kind of mistake

this is old news really. they've always had supply shortages, especially from october onwards. the reason is simple: no shop wants a full catalogue of Lego during the entire year because they can't sell it all. they're all telling Lego to supply them with sets from October to december. That part of the year is highseason, making more than half of Lego's turnover. My small toyshop has already received a letter from Lego not to expect new supplies before February next year... to be fair, nobody expected an increase of the traditional toy market this year. the evolution of this section has been going down for quite some time now and it's more or less a mystery why consumers suddenly want their classic toys instead of other stuff, like multimedia, games, ... i think it's just that European consumers are spending far more money than ever before in the EU and our market for children has had a serious boost in the last 10 years. Even 8 year olds are now solid consumers with a budget of their own... they're also victim of their own success. They have been producing lots of high quality sets.

great review! we're finally getting nicely detailed sets it seems! *sweet* i like the blue truck the most... it's a shame they didn't produce a seperate set like this... :'-) what i don't like is this concept of a cargo train: it's got too many different types of wagons: one with a crane, one with a car, and two others that don't really belong together. i'd prefer 4 wagons of one type, but that's probably too boring for lego... :'-(

he did do lots of space sets but it's just fine posting it here. *sweet* i especially like the galaxy explorer, right now, i really wanna go to a toyshop and buy one! *wub* unfortunately, the last new explorer I saw was in a small shop in 1992 or so... :'-) anyway, the trans colours don't look that perfect though...

yep i was... it's a common element that many non-lego folk miss when they're selling stuff on ebay...