Sarah

I'm 40 and a lot like you -- I don't MOC. I MOD a little. But the Mixels have been GREAT for encouraging me to MOD more heavily. Both the ideas on the website about all the different combinations. and the fact that they aren't realistic. I don't have to make it LOOK like anything at all -- just please me. I'm eager for more series and thus more colors.

After putting together my first Mixel last night (Sergio) I bought three morning this morning (another black, a red and a yellow)

New for me! I came out of retirement when Friends came out 2011-ish. BTW My set didn't come with a brick separator.

I just put together my copy of this set and I am really charmed. I LOVE the two lamps on either side. I don't remember seeing that "light" piece beore. But the best part is the way they turn the platform with the Palantir on it. I was expecting it to be just a turntable. But the ingenious way it sets up to turn with a knob on the back of the play piece is fabulous! IT left me wanting to play with gears more!

I have noticed that the Lego sets on TRU website stays a lot closer to retail. My son once got two copies of the same Lego set for his birthday -- one was purchased in store. The other on the website. Between one thing and another both ended up being returned (both with gift receipts) and we got vastly different amounts for them.

I am VERY glad that Lego uses the different status. When my nephew is trying to decide what sets to buy, sometimes he waits too long to make his decision and the price is increased in his normal haunts. I can send him to the Lego site to find out if the set is simply popular or discontinued. IF it has a statement about next shipment coming XX date then he knows to wait and pay retail. If it is sold out, then it might be reasonable to pay over retail to get it.

I LOVE Cloud Cuckoo Palace. Not so interested in that other one. I like the way they packaged them JUST FINE thank you very much :)

Frozen came out in 2013.

My son did just this for his sixth birthday when presented with two Superhero sets with figures he liked. He chose the one without the girl in it. I was absolutely shocked. (especially because the person in his class he calls his best friend is a girl, and he absolutely loves playing with the girl next door. So I don't see a lot of disliking girls in RL)

What are bogies? The wheels on the bottom? Any idea which other models contain this base? I presume the Toys R Us and Lego trucks? The Mobile Police Unit previously mentioned. What about 60020 Cargo Truck? http://shop.lego.com/en-US/Cargo-Truck-60020?fromListing=listing

What does BAM stand for? PAB is PIck a Brick for the wall.

YES. I had my eye on that set already. (And the pony farm). This makes it a must grab

I am completely unfamiliar with most of the characters of Lego's history (I got out in the early 80s and have skimmed over the surface in between until Friends came out) But.. from what I understand of the movie, isn't it true that the Master Builders in each person's collection are going to be different?

Now see. The sets I can recall as a child. Late 70s, early 80s. 1. The Farm set -- had men and women figures. You built them up using blocks 2. The kitchen -- 1 little kid minifig. The other figures were family members built up using blocks 3. The bathroom -- 1 little kid minifig. And grandma I think to bathe her 4. The firehouse -- had one woman minifigure and some firemen. And two fire trucks and really cool roll up and down doors. 5. a couple of space sets -- don't remember the details But it was easy to turn anything into a spaceship. 5. A tiny set of "Figures" only. Castle men I think. 6. A tiny police car set. I have a technic set in the Lego I got from my parents that I don't recall at ALL. So even if I purchased it it made no impression on me. Did i lose interest in Lego because of a lack of female minifigs? or because of the themes in the sets. Honestly? I suspect it was the themes. I wanted to tell stories and have backdrops for my play and, as much as I enjoyed science fiction and space and such, the sets I could get were not satisfying my desire to play. I was the tomboy-type of girl with tons of Hot Wheels, Chemistry sets, Radio Shack 100-experiement electrical sets. I played with Star Wars action figures at a friend's house, and in his sandbox-fort. But I also enjoyed doll houses, Mandy dolls, Ginny dolls, Barbie and Skipper dolls, etc. I think if Friends type sets would have been around back then I would have lasted in Lego longer because my preferred way to play in Lego is the way Friends sets are designed for -- not just building a cool model. But Building a backdrop that you can then tell stories in. I am just thankful Lego is now building sets that can be a backdrop for stories. I don't care what they call the theme name or where they put it on the store shelves. And I don't find them overbearingly pink. I'm not a huge fan of pink, but the colors of Friends, while pleasing to the eye, are not sickeningly pink no matter what the criticism aimed at them. I am perfectly willing to walk down every aisle of the toy area for what I want. Won't be the first or the last time. And I am THRILLED at how well Friends are doing. Lego is doing something right with these sets now because they are flying off the shelves. PS Does anyone else who remembers their first sets ever thing to compare the building techniques in today's sets to then? I remember a LOT Of placing block on block. I don't remember a lot of the cool techniques I see now. Like making a piece and clicking it on to a bar, then flipping it back to put it in place. The flatter bricks are much harder to pull apart -- but they allow a lot more flexibility in the building. As for Superheroes -- as I got older, the "Super" themes I got into were Superman (movies) and Batman and Robin (TV show) (I even wrote fan fic in the TV Batman and Robin universe). I also enjoyed the Star Wars movies and watched the Star Trek TV reruns obsevively (Fanfic written here too). (And Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Little House on the Prairie, Brady Bunch, TNG, Babylon 5... etc. This is not an exhaustive list) I can't recall ever wondering where the female superheroes were or trying to insert extra girls into my written works because of some perceived lack of them, etc. When I chose what books to read, I read what I enjoyed, no matter if the protagonist was a girl or a boy. And I wonder if more girls are like me than boys. Or if I'm just really unique not to care at all if there is a true gender balance in my consumption?

It seems people only get upset when a certain subset of play-themes are exposed in toys. They don't have problem with cars or police or fire. Only with the dollhouse and makeup type themes. So girls who like the former are lauded and girls who liked the latter are dismissed as being just a product of their programming.

Both of our local Lego do not appear to have gotten new Lego in -- NONE of the Disney Princess. None of the new Lego Friends. they've even started putting Barbie sets in the Friends area! I'm actually rather shocked that here it is, February, and they are having so many problems getting new Lego in. At first I thought it was a sign of Lego having trouble keeping up with demand (esp since at first Target's shelves were bare as well) Now I am beginning to wonder if either Walmart is scaling back their Lego displays or Lego is slowing down shipments to Walmart in particular.

One thing that I'm really loving about the Lego Movie is the number of creatures/"people" put together from blocks! (snail, Unikitty, micro manager enemies... so far) I WAS never that creative as a kid. But I wish I was! It reminds me of the people, cow, pig, etc. that I started my Lego years putting together from blocks in my very first Farm themed set

...Okay now I want to see a picture of the Tree House with the laboratory! That sounds intriguing.

I love the open window front rooms. Very nice.

The accessories look light aqua to me too

I like the 2nd on the top row Wyldstyle. Those cute pigtails!

Do kids need 50/50 to be fair and normal? Even popular fiction that kids read isn't strictly 50/50. Lego City is getting more and more female minifigs. Female minifigs are also available in the CMF series. I'm not as familiar with other ranges. So yes, I stand by. If they want action they've got choices without trying to turn Friends into a copy of City or try to erase Friends off the map. (Ie saying it should not have been made)

Medical accessories? Not hair? COOL.

But if you want that action stuff, you've GOT a product already to fit your needs. for the girls who don't care about flick missiles and catching bad guys, there's now a theme to fit their needs as well. (Though I see plenty of different kinds of action here. Lots of shops for buying and selling pretty much anything, houses for living in, classrooms for activities, treehouses for secret meetings, horses for racing. Cruising. A few cars. A pool for swimming in. Even some vines coming this summer to go sailing through the trees on.

Look at all those animals. And the wonderful slide!