Ash

Thanks for the review. The truck looks good from the front and sides, but horrible from the rear and under the tipper. Through your photos I assumed the red was just part of the infrastructure and you wouldn't see it in the final model... but you can. It just doesn't fit at all. Still, the theme is a nice change from the emergency services overload in recent years and I might get one or two. Probably not this though. p.s. Dynamite was also in a lot of Pharoah's Quest sets.

I think those Argos prices are the actual UK RRP prices. You can see them on the Lego site: http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Uruk-hai-Army-9471 Not cheap! At some point we need to get over the exchange rate stuff though. You just can't compare prices like-for-like between different countries because there's loads of other factors involved. When you buy a Can of Coke you don't do some calculations in your head, look up how much it costs in America and then have a meltdown when you find out their cans of coke are cheaper. You'd drive yourself crazy doing it for everything you buy (I know I drive myself crazy doing it for petrol). Lego isn't a special case, we're just more aware of it on an international scale. Obviously people are free to obsess over whatever they like (PETROL!) but at the end of the day comparisons to overseas prices simply aren't a good way to judge value.

I don't have many and there are a couple I'd really like, but for now my two favourites are: * Hazmat Guy: I just love the detail and the expression combined with his profession. He's sitting on my desk holding the "laser beam" from the Alien's gun in his other hand which looks like some kind of radioactive rod. * Intergalactic Girl: Just reminds me of really kitsch 70s/80s Sci-Fi... right down to the Farah-Fawcett big hair. The last couple of series have been so good though. Loads of cool and interesting stuff.

It's not so much the size of the box as a flat-rate for VAT. The problem is that if you do get charged VAT when it's imported into the country they also charge a handling fee on top of this (last time I think it was £9 for me) which really sucks! If it's an international retailer and they charge you VAT at the point of purchase you don't have to pay the fee. Amazon does this. The cool thing about Amazon is that if your package slips through the net and you don't get charged VAT then they refund it to you. Obviously you can't get Lego though so it's kind of moot (It's good for shoes though! I order most of my shoes through the US, pay about half the UK price, including postage, and most of the time VAT is refunded). Unfortunately most stores don't. If you're getting a friend to buy something you can generally escape paying VAT by having them value it low or mark it as a gift. However the postage tends to be pretty expensive for individuals sending stuff from the US. All this stuff eats into any savings. I've got a couple of things from the US and by the time you add everything up it's usually a little cheaper, but possibly not worth the hassle.

How annoying! Is there any way to tell for a given set or do you have to go all the way through the checkout process with your fingers crossed?

For me it's 1978-1980 or so. Castle, Space, Town, the rise of the Minifigure. I think it represents the birth of modern Lego. Despite minifigures becoming more detailed and having more accessories most of them haven't changed that much in basic design since. As a company Lego is having a great time at the moment. Succesfully licenses, Lego Star Wars as a brand in it's own right, success with both Ninjago and Friends, adult interest (powered by both nostalgia and exclusive sets), it's all falling into place. But I really think those couple of years defined the Lego brand more than any other (the only thing that comes close being getting the Star Wars license).

It's hard to compare the two. However I think a lot of people are underestimating just how popular Friends already is. On Amazon several Friends sets have been regular features in the top #20 in the toy bricks catagories since their release. Olivia's Tree House in particular has almost consistantly been the #1 item ordered as a gift in toy bricks on and off since release. Currently there are a load of Lord of the Rings sets dotted around there as well, but it remains to be seen if they stay in the chart for as long as the Friends sets have. At toy stores and supermarkets I see more people with Friends at the checkout than any other Lego range. Don't get me wrong I'm a massive fan of Lord of the Rings and have zero interest in Friends, but I think the line is a lot more succesful than some people are giving it credit for. As I see it it's pretty much the 'Wii' of Lego. While a lot of serious Lego fans have issues with it and dismiss it (although I know it does have a dedicated following here) for a variety of reasons. The general public don't care and are buying it like crazy.

That's a lot of gray! Not the most colourful set, then again the same is true for a lot of the big Star Wars sets. This is a really cool project. Looking forward to more.

Nah, a friend in the US when it was discounted on Amazon last week. It's gone back up now but it was 25% off (around $45). Probably a price match with Barnes and Noble who had a sale on them.

I'm keeping a close eye on those as well! I have Weathertop coming from the US (with postage it's still a bit under UK retail) but wouldn't mind a couple of the other sets as well. They (spain) have Helm's Deep and Moria for around 20% off, shipping in 3 to 5 weeks. Getting both with postage is £170 which is.... pretty much exactly UK retail... so no joy there! I've been informed by PM that the Star Wars deal has actually been around for a month or so. And here I was thinking I had a scoop! On the plus side it's confirmed that these are legit prices and they do ship to the UK at a flat rate no matter how much you buy.

Bah sorry. I assumed all the Eurozons did. Is it just Italy? I always try to help out you Aussie guys and girls as grew up their and know first-hand the pain of Australian Lego pricing.

Amazon.Es seem to have most of the new Star Wars sets for around 30% off. Some are not in stock, but you can still buy them. This includes Jabba's Palace, The Malevolance, Desert Skiff and the Sith Fury interceptor. In put these four in my basket, including postage (only 10 euro) to the UK it came to around £240 which is almost £100 less than what they're listed for at retail in the UK. I was so excited I wrote a blog post about it that has a bit more details. The prices are also on the Brick Badger Star Wars page. I can't get all four at the moment and am torn between The Sith Inteceptor or splurging on the Palace + Skiff. Cross-posting this from the UK thread as I thought it might be of interest to some other countries like Australia (although you Aussies seem to be obsessed with your own sales at the moment). Just noticed they have loads of other stuff 30% off as well including Falcon, Turbo Tank, X-wing etc. Note: If Brick Badger is showing a higer price and it's greyed out this is because Amazon is listing it as temporarily out of stock and it's defaulting to a third party. Follow the link then switch to the offers page "NUEVO" and you'll see the cheaper Amazon offer and can add that to your basket.

Amazon.Es seem to have most of the new Star Wars sets for around 30% off. Some are not in stock, but you can still buy them. This includes Jabba's Palace, The Malevolance, Desert Skiff and the Sith Fury interceptor. I put these four my basket and including postage (only 10 euro) to the UK it came to around £240 which is almost £100 less than what they're listed for at retail in the UK. I was so excited I wrote a blog post about it that has a bit more details. The prices are also on the Brick Badger Star Wars page. I can't get all four at the moment and am torn between The Sith Inteceptor or splurging on the Palace + Skiff. Just noticed they have loads of other stuff 30% off as well including Falcon, Turbo Tank, X-wing etc. Note: If Brick Badger is showing a higer price and it's greyed out this is because Amazon is listing it as temporarily out of stock and it's defaulting to a third party. Follow the link then switch to the offers page "NUEVO" and you'll see the cheaper Amazon offer and can add that to your basket. Edit: Someone's just informed me that this is actually quite an old sale and they've been at these prices for a while! Oh well, I thought I was onto some breaking news or something. Either way it's still a good deal and had been under my radar, and apparently they do honour these prices. Certainly a lot cheaper than getting them in the UK, that's for sure.

That's great. It looks just like it and is instantly recognisable. My wife and her family used to live in Maasluis and later her parents moved to Rozenburg. We visit Holland a couple of times a year and usually end up taking one or two trip on this ferry. Every time I ride it I always think.... someone should make a MOC of this! Edit: Just showed it to my wife and she got homesick!

I've seen a lot of reports that these orders are being cancelled as they were obvious misprices. Someone must have pressed the wrong button in the database or something.

Everything I've found (and there are some absurd prices Marina £9, Heroica Games £2 loads of others) is "currently unavailable" when you go to it's page. Either some kind of glitch or they just sold them all. :( I'm going to keep an eye on brick badger and hope there is a weird glitch and Amazon decides to match all those prices (it won't happen but I can dream!).

Really nice. Makes me wish there were more ADU sets as I really liked them, the aliens not so much.

Yeah, Lego Insect Riders. I'd be all over that. It doesn't seem like something totally out of the realms of possibility either. Pharoah's Quest has Scarabs. Atlantis has a big underwater scorpion thing. Insects could retask dome technic and hero factory type parts. Supported!

That's really nice. I love the colours (and it makes me wonder how many Rise of the Sphinxes died so that roof could be built!) and the interior detail. PArticularly the colours... it stands out a little from a lot of the other modulars, while still fitting in in design and aesthics. Great stuff.

Re Houses: Yeah, both of those are really tempting at that price... and the Hillside House as well. I haven't quite pulled the trigger on any of them yet, but I'm really tempted. There's always a back of my mind voice shouting "What if they're never this price again?" Re Minotaurus: I resisted the urge. It's really tempting as a just in case but I honestly can't think what I'd want lime green things for. I only have one MOC planned (if I ever get around to it) and that'll need loads of tan and other Pharoah's Quest colours... so my "just in case" money has been going towards that!

Speaking of Dino the big Dino Defence HQ just hit 28% off at Amazon. Brings it down under £60 which is pretty damn good. I ordered one to stash away for Christmas and there are only "3 left in stock" so might not last long. Also the Mintaurus game is 56% off which is the cheapest it's been. This was really popular when it was on sale last time. I assume because it's a really cheap way to get loads and loads of lime green bricks (close to 200 of them at well under 4p a piece). There's quite a few other interesting Amazon specials at the moment... probably shifting stock to make way for Monster Fighters and Lord of the Rings. Of course if you checked Brick Badger as often as I did you'd already know this

Nice review. I missed aquaraiders, but browsing it on Brickset now and in my opinion it looks so much better than the Atlantis stuff. I like the black atlantis sea beasties (8076 Deep Sea Striker in particular is awesome) but all the red submarines I've built I thought were horrible. Gah, they have the big AquaRaiders set for £50 on ebay which was it's retail price. That's very tempting, I like the look of it a lot.

I bought half a dozen ADU Jetpack guys from Alien Conquest polybags. I wanted a fe more and this was the cheapest way to get them in quantity. It was my first ever Bricklink order

I can't remember who did the Lord of the Rings action figures, but "The Bridge Direct" are doing The Hobbit figures. However stuff like this doesn't depend so much on a license existing as it does the the terms, nature and scope of the various licensing agreements. For the most part that kind of stuff isn't common knowledge. One thing I find interesting is the existence of licensed Lego games (Hogwarts, Hoth and the upcoming Hobbit one). Which suggests there isn't an exclusive boardgame license for those properties and individual games might be licensed on a case by case basis.

I hope so. Manchester store is supposed to open in July as well. Would be cool if they had some kind of LOTR related opening promotion. Although that's almost certainly wishful thinking. With Monster Fighters and LoTR taking their time and Alien Conquest and Atlantis no longer listed the online store is looking pretty anemic at the moment!