Graysmith

What an awesome-looking polybag! I so love that grandfather clock! Looks like the ghost has some bricks instead of legs though, to accomodate the ball and chain. Kinda wish they'd given him legs instead and that he'd hold the ball and chain instead. Not that I'll probably be able to get this polybag anyway..

Actually, it would seem that the Legoland ride is called "POLAR X-PLORER", not Polar Express/Xpress or Expedition. If you look at the sign in the first photo on this page it would seem that the main colour of the theme is going to be orange as well. Of course, it could be entirely unrelated, but if there really is a polar theme coming out next year it'd be very strange if it didn't match with the already existing ride.

DoctorBrikDady is back with another Monster Fighters review, this time for The Mummy:

If you think this guy (who easily is the best YouTube reviewer) is an "idiot" I can't wait to hear what you have to say about the other reviewers on there. Yeah, it's a bit odd that he hadn't seen that skeleton before, but so what? Maybe he just hasn't? Just because he reviews sets doesn't mean he has to be a certified LEGO guru who can recognize every single part and name every set that came out in 1977. Give the guy a break.

Ha! I feel even more confident that'll be the title of the theme then. It could've always been Polar Expedition too though, and it's legomilk's source who just got it wrong or misremembered it. Express, Expedition.. I could definitely see how that could get mixed up. It doesn't really make sense for such a theme to be called Polar Express either, especially not when (as I mentioned before) there's a famous book/movie with that name. Neither LEGO nor Warner Bros would want to create any chance of mix-ups or misunderstandings.

I can't help but think it would've been much cooler if it'd been a "normal" Bruce Banner minifigure instead since you'd then have Hulk in both states (kind of like how you get both Bruce Wayne and Batman in the new Batcave set). I get that a mini-Hulk is cooler/more valuable, but that minifigure doesn't really make any sense, and a Bruce Banner figure would've had far more playability. Another option could've been a Bruce Banner minifigure showing him just as he's transforming.. Like he'd be flesh-coloured but with a bit of green around his eyes, and printing on the torso/legs with rips in his shirt.. That would've been really cool too.

I'd like to see them split the turntable into the two separate pieces that it really is. I get that they'd never use these pieces without the other in official LEGO sets, but there are surely many who do MOCs using these pieces in other ways than intended.

6860 The Batcave is currently £54.99 (21% off) on Amazon.co.uk! Not a deep discount, but the cheapest it's been since it was released.

Really impressed by the Eomer and Rohan minifigures. Eomer looks like he might have the prettiest torso of any LOTR minifigure.. Lovely details.

Last year's 3368 Space Centre set came with a big, beautiful baseplate. I imagine they'll still be included in some sets every now and then when there's really a need for it. The Space Centre set really couldn't have been done without one because the support tower would've been way too easy to tip over if you'd just had some plates right underneath it. The new garage doesn't look like it has any baseplate judging by the box picture I posted yesterday. They may have used baseplates for the toy fair display, but that doesn't necessarily mean the actual set comes with any.

Like a few others have already mentioned, it's currently being included with purchase of a popular weekly children's comic book here in Sweden (and Denmark too apparently). No idea if any future issues will include other Avengers polybags, but I certainly hope so! Anyway, that's why I listed the price as ? since it didn't seem right to list the comic book's price.

Here are the direct links to the TRU hi-res(-ish) images of the Vampyre Castle. First two are vertically stretched though.. Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4

Hopefully "Polar Express" is just a working title. It ought to be considering there is a famous Christmas-themed book (and animated film) by the same name, and Warner Bros. might not be too happy to share the name with a completely unrelated LEGO theme. "Polar Expedition" would be a far better and more accurate name.

You all know what this means? A white polar bear version of the new bear! Also, minifigures hopefully wearing the new fur-lined hood.

Here's a slightly better look at the garage set box, courtesy of Brickset.

Wow, that's awful if it's true. Alien Conquest was (still is) easily the best space-related theme LEGO has done in the last 20 years. Nothing even comes close, as far as I'm concerned. I didn't love every single aspect of it, but the aliens and the homage to old alien invasion movies was so spot-on. It also lended it some fitting humour to make it more suitable for kids, while still appealing to adults who got all the classic alien invasion tropes like the tripod, the farmer abduction and such. A real home run from LEGO, in my opinion, so it's sad to hear that there were plans for more.. I can only hope that Stafford & Co. will be allowed to show off the scrapped models.. It'd be great just to see what they had in mind.

Maybe Smokey the Bear is secretly a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent?

I think the hearse will look great whether you put the sticker on or not. Without the sticker it'll look a bit more classy and "realistic", and with the sticker it'll have a funky hot rod feel to it.

Good that they're including plenty of extra rings.. That hopefully means they won't be wildly expensive on BrickLink should you ever need another.

Number: 30165 Name: Hawkeye with Equipment Theme: Super Heroes Year: 2012 Minifigures: 1 Pieces: 20 + 2 extra Price: ? It’s not often Sweden gets something first, so I thought I’d do a little review since we apparently got this polybag before anyone else. Haven’t done this before so hopefully I’m not breaking any reviewing rules. Comes in a standard polybag, and has a tiny fold-out instructions booklet. As you can see by the instructions below, it's a very simple build. Even though it's a really tiny set, it still manages to come with a few interesting pieces. Of course you get the new, modern-style bow but it also includes the new round candy-like tiles and a pair of light bley binoculars, which have only appeared in about a dozen other sets so far. The light bley binoculars were also a total surprise since the polybag makes it look like they're dark bley. Here's a look at Hawkeye. Exact same minifigure as in the other sets he appears in, so nothing new here. I don't get why LEGO put such a light brown (almost ginger) and slicked-back hairpiece on him, but other than that it's a good-looking minifigure. One good thing about him is that he’s not as distinct-looking as his more famous Avenger pals, so you could easily use his torso and legs for something else if you wanted to. The black gloved hand is a really nice added touch also. Onto his equipment rack. A very simple build, but I think it looks quite nice and all the pieces are highly useful too if you want to use them for something else. You get three dark blue 1x2 tiles, three different types of bricks/plates with grips as well as those nice round orange tiles that you just want to put in your mouth. And on top of that you get a good assortment of accessories! Here's an angled view so you can get a better look at the amazing red fire extinguisher. And here's the whole set. I can imagine this would be an ideal polybag to get if you own the Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout set and want to add a bit more detail to it. Here's an alternate build of the equipment rack I did so I could put Hawkeye's bow on there for when he's out fighting all the fires that seem to break out everywhere and all the time in the Avengers universe (really, what's with all the red fire extinguishers, LEGO?). A non-Avenger use for the rack would be to pair it with the new Galaxy Patrol collectable minifigure. The dark blue colours aren't the exact same though (the Galaxy Patrol is a bit deeper blue) but they still look pretty good together. Last but not least, here are the extra pieces. One orange candy and one extra pair of handcuffs. Not bad for such a tiny set! And now, the verdict: Design & Build: 6 Nothing amazing, but it looks nice with that dark blue and those transparent orange lights. Parts: 9 It's got 20 pieces but they're all really useful and some of them are even rather uncommon. Minifigure(s): 7 Hawkeye can't compete with the likes of Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, but it's still a nice minifigure. Playability: 5 You do get quite a few accessories, but you really do need something or someone else to make it a truly playable set. Overall: 8 Useful pieces, nice minifigure. A very solid polybag set, if you ask me.

Well I'm sold on the hearse now. Definite must-buy. :D

Looking at the images again I just realized that Legolas and Haldir have the newer, bigger longbow (the one that came with the Elf CMF) while the Rohan soldier in the Uruk-hai Army set only comes with the old, smaller bow.. Only elves get the longbows? I thought LEGO were replacing the old bow with the newer longbow, but I guess not.

Funny, I feel the exact opposite. The Vampyre Castle is the only must-buy for me, though I'm also interested in the mad scientist's laboratory set and I might get The Vampyre Hearse just because it'd be cool to have it with the castle.

Here are some more images, though only low-res: The Mummy The Werewolf The Ghost Train The Vampyre Castle Lord Vampyre has a pipe organ in one of the castle towers! I love it!

Yeah, I get that, especially since they put THE in every title, but it still kind of sounds boring. A more exciting name would probably be more appealing to kids, although here in Europe they don't put the set names on the boxes anyway so it doesn't matter.