AmperZand

Almost certainly misnamed. If it is what I suspect, it should be called Elizabeth Tower.

Is that the Malaysia-based company? I have some of their weapons. They're well conceived with separate hafts and weapon heads. The production quality is OK. I last ordered from them over 18 months ago - could even have been longer. I don't have a current link for them. You might get more of a response if you posted in the Minifig Customisation forum.

I don't know about Mega Bloks and COBI, but I do have plastic toys by other companies (I collect fantasy toys generally: dragons, wizards etc) and they sometimes get sticky after a few years. I have read this is due to the plastic breaking down chemically. You can reduce or even remove the stickiness using isopropyl alcohol, but that only solves the effect, not the cause; the plastic is still breaking down. I have never had a LEGO part become sticky and have been an AFOL for over 20 years.

I don't know about the printing, but I would be surprised if ABS were damaged by the oils in your skin. Some materials such as steel definitely are susceptible to staining due to skin oils, but ABS isn't as far as I know. Is there a materials scientist who specialises in plastics here on EB who can provide a definitive answer?

That's true but it becomes inevitable eventually as TLG makes changes. The old style round-ended swords look funny next to pointy newer ones, old grey looks dated next to bley, plastic capes look clunky compared to cloth ones, some hats without hair look weird compared to combined hat 'n' hair pieces, and the classic smiley face appears simplistic compared to later face printing for example.

Minifigures parts made of ABS, i.e. most minifig parts, left on a shelf won't crack at room temperature and humidity. However, sunlight can cause parts to turn yellowy which is especially noticeable on white parts. I have minifigures that I bought in 1993 that are in as good condition today as they were when I bought them.

Indeed, it does. TLG once used a BrickForge helmet in a toy industry promotion because they didn't have their own ready, not even a prototype. That doesn't of course prove that they hadn't thought of the idea of that style of helmet before or independently of BF, but as BF's had been out for a few years before TLG's, it is suggestive.

Neither Brick Fortress nor BrickForge are 3D 'printed'. They're both injection-moulded ABS, just as LEGO is - and their production quality is close or equal to TLG's. There are people who use 3D 'printing' to produce parts. But I'm not aware of any 3D 'printed' minifig parts that are up to LEGO quality standards at the same price point.

If you're willing to go non-purist, Brick Fortress ( http://www.brickfortress.com/ ) does good quality articulated short legs. Again, if you're OK going non-purist, BrickForge ( https://www.brickforge.com/store/product.php?productid=18663&cat=594&page=1 ) does brown sheep. They used to do black ones and white ones but they seem to be out of stock of those colours.

I ordered a bunch of parts from TLG once. Most were correct, but a few were totally wrong, i.e. not just the wrong colour or size, but completely wrong. I called explaining what had happened and offered to send back the wrong parts but they told me to keep them. They said they would send me the right parts at no extra charge which they did, but the replacements took an age to arrive. I gave most of the wrong parts to a friend and fellow EBer.

I totally agree that there is a lifecycle effect, that is, a point in your life when you just don't care much what other people think. I also believe there is a cohort effect. During the last 20 years or so there has been greater acceptance of 'kidulthood', i.e. enjoying as adults things aimed mostly at kids. When we were in our early twenties, adults didn't dress up as super heroes and attend comic book conventions, play fantasy/sicfi games or collect toys nearly as much as they do today. When I became an AFOL in the early 1990s, I thought I was the only adult who collected LEGO. I figured there might be others but without the benefit of the internet, I never knew for sure. I have a feeling that if the internet had not been invented, kidulthood and AFOLdom would not have burgeoned the way they have. Does anyone know when the acronym "AFOL" was coined?

I believe the picture is of a prototype, not the finished product. I'd rather have legs that looked right (i.e. shaped like goat legs) and functioned wrong (i.e. no articulation) than looked wrong (i.e. standard legs) but functioned right (i.e. articulated). That said, I can see why others would disagree. It would be impossible for example to sit a satyr with static legs down - and they are often portrayed in period paintings sitting or reclining. Obviously from my previous post, I'm not a purist. But I understand the appeal of purism.

Yes, I agree. What I thought TLG would do - and should have clarified in my previous post - was make a single piece pair of goat legs. In other words, the legs wouldn't be articulated. They would be static in the same way short legs are. I still think that might be what TLG plans. I really hope Itaria is wrong and they don't go with double peg legs. I've seen that in MOC satyrs and it doesn't look right. If the satyr comes with standard or peg legs, I'll swap them out for the faun legs being produced by Crazy Bricks: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crazybricks/crazy-arms-for-your-miniature-brick-figures/posts/1342449

A new leg mould to go with this fantastic headpiece would be ideal. Standard or short legs wouldn't look right. What makes you think that the new headpiece makes new legs less likely? Sure, there's a production cost constraint, but we have had two new moulds in one CMF before; I think the chicken suit guy, bagpiper and maracas player (Mexican) for examples each had two new moulds. Why not the satyr?

Very cool! You could put a couple of red LEDs in the skull, one for each eye, set back from the eye socket. Would look great for Halloween.

Thanks very much indeed, Sorrelon! Interesting pictures. As others have mentioned, I believe the S15 satyr will use a recoloured S14 gargoyle's headpiece so the satyr is unlikely to be exactly like the game's version. As for the game's Greek mythological deities, I don't think they're distinctive enough to be CMFs. If you saw Hades or Zeus out of context, you might not know who they were supposed to be.

I got heavily into the fantasy genre (literature, games, miniatures) as a teen and it's still a passion of mine. At the time, TLG didn't really do fantasy. When they started introducing fantasy minifigures (a ghost and a wizard) in the early 1990s, I got back into LEGO and have been hooked ever since.

KFOLs are motivated by achievement (biggest, fastest, most guns, highest status), morality (right over wrong) and functionality (play features, articulation) while AFOLs are driven more by creativity and artistry (their own or an appreciation of others' including TLG's). TFOLs, as you might expect, are somewhere in-between. A brilliantly designed LEGO mosaic of the Mona Lisa will be of greater interest to adults than kids. In contrast, a huge LEGO spaceship with loads of guns, working projectiles and hidden hatches flown by good-guy secret agents will appeal more to kids. These are generalities of course and therefore not universally true, but they are based on observations of myself as a KFOL and AFOL, my young nephews, friends who are AFOLs and the wider AFOL community.

Exactly. I used to do medieval/renaissance European combat training as a martial art and can attest to the effectiveness of bucklers. Their primary function is defensive of course, but you can also use them offensively especially their edge. Some people imagine that the larger the shield, the better, but in hand-to-hand combat, that often isn't true. Large shields are handy for battlefield formations, defending against missiles, hiding behind for reloading crossbows, some siege situations and sometimes on horseback. The rest of the time including all the down-time when you're travelling, smaller shields/bucklers are better.

Screenshots of Zeus, Hades and any other mythological/fantasy characters would be cool if it isn't too much trouble.

Because that would be boaring? :P

Nothing would be wrong with that per se except that we already know that the dancer is female. We don't know that (or do we?). The French list was from Amazon.fr. I suspect that the person there saw an image provided by TLG and devised the names based on what they saw rather that it being a translation from English or Danish. With regards to the winged helmet, given that we have had Poseidon- and Athena-like minifigs in previous CMF series, a Hermes-like minifig would not surprise me. I don't think that TLG would do a Thor CMF: it would be thematically too close to the existing Marvel superhero minifig.

If you mean that the French list was poorly translated by Amazon.fr from Danish or English, that's entirely possible. If you mean my translation from French to English is dodgy, I'm afraid it isn't. There are other possible translations in addition to the ones I provided (such as "janitor" for "concierge"), but mine are correct.

My translation rather than Google's: - queen - pest controller or zoo keeper - jewel thief - tribal woman - female dancer - flying or winged warrior - satyr - scary/evil knight - wrestling champion - shark costume guy - clumsy guy/klutz - kendo warrior/kendoka - astronaut - robot with laser - receptionist - male farmer. My guess is that the names that appear on Amazon.fr aren't the official French names, but descriptions of images by someone at Amazon in France.

Just order directly from BrickWarriors. Their P&P rates to the UK are very reasonable. You just have to make sure you're not over the threshold for duty, VAT and Royal Mail's £8 handling fee. If you will be, place more than one order, each one a few days apart. The extra P&P will be small compared to the customs and RM charges.