brickzone

Wonder if RoI folk can avail of this... (by mail that is - no Woolies here, and ELC here don't stock Lego) Not familiar with the tabloids, so I don't really know if Daily Mirror is stocked here or has an "Irish" edition. EDIT: yep, they have an "Irish Daily Mirror" so it probably doesn't have the giveaway. Will have a look in the local shop. EDIT: No mention of anything like this on the front page of the Irish Daily Mirror in the local shop this morning.

Here's a photo - I have two from the impulse knight set, they are in the top row of the photo. Subsequent copies of that set that I bought had normal shields

legopiotre: It's just an extension of the concept of selling items at different prices *within* a country (e.g. here in Ireland, retail and most other things are mostly more expensive in Dublin). Of course, like many other aspects of capitalism, it sucks when you are in the group that gets the bum deal (in order that some select few people can make more money). At least with the Euro we can simply compare prices and be aware just how much we are being ripped off. All that said, Ireland has had good deals from Lego as regards some larger sets - e.g. Green Grocer and Town Plan at €129.99 rather than €149.99.

Not having batteries is certainly more elegant, but the metal rails are so expensive. Even the plastic rails are pricy enough.

That's a mighty impressive display, and I like the minifigs. I was not a Harry Potter lego fan at the time it came out (my dark ages) but I think it was mainly due to the price, and the pillar and platform construction (which when price-conscious, seemed a con). Now however, I am a fan. They are very useful parts (not least *because* of the pillars and platforms, but also oodles of tan and grey shades) and have a lot of excellent minifig accessories and special parts. I'm rather happy to have managed to get most of them from ebay over the last year or two, although the pictured collection beats my own! The second Hogwarts Castle is a masterpiece and gem - I have kept it separate from my sorted collection.

Pieces not glued in my one. However, I bought a Viking chess set and it had some glued parts, even though one my brother bought did not. The boards are always glued.

Town Plan was at €129.99 on S@H here in Ireland, which was nice (I bought one soon after it came out). However, this notice has me wondering about the possibility of ordering Lego in the future from amazon.de. It would seem shipping charges to Ireland are about the same as from the UK. I'm not that great at navigating around in German or figuring it all out (12 years since I finished 4 years studying German) - maybe toys are not available to ship to Ireland and only things like books, dvds etc. can be.

I have just myself booked a trip to Germany! Going to Munich just before Christmas for some shopping. I found the "usual suspects" fantastic last time I was there - one of them even had a pick-a-brick section (I hope it still does) - think it was Karstadt. I wish we had such department stores in Ireland. They are absolutely wonderful for Christmas shopping and getting a range of items for people, and the toy sections in general are fantastic - not just the Lego section. They seem to have far more traditional and interesting items rather than cheap junk (which the main toy stores here have aisles of). I love the Christmas atmosphere there too. Reminds me of how it used to be here in Ireland at Christmas time (now it is pretty much entirely just marketing - even from Sept in some cases). Also, nowhere has more delicious Christmas food than Germany/Bavaria.

My local Tesco has stocked more Lego each week for the last couple of weeks. They rearranged their shelves and for the first time in a long time had a definitive Lego section (all levels of shelf filled with various sets on an entire shelf section). City - police helicopter, small fire jeep+trailer, cement truck, garbage truck. Agents - the smallest set. Indy - Chase for Treasure, and Swamp Chase. Small racer pods and creator pods. Bionicles. Mars Mission trike and €20 set. Visited again recently and the Lego has sold well enough that the shelves looked semi-ransacked. The Speed Racer set they had doesn't seem to be selling though. Mars Mission seems to have just about sold out. The prices are standard (as per S@H). I'm happy to see Tesco stock more Lego, as it's a lot more accessible to many people (more outlets, shopping malls rather than retail parks, etc.) and more suited to impulse purchases. This particular outlet used sell rakes of Lego back in the day when it was Quinnsworth.

blueandwhite: I wonder if the pirate wench and mediaeval woman torsos are swapped in the photo. Notice that the torso on the right not only does not have straps, but has a different belt and doesn't have white down the middle - it looks like it might be a different (but similar) torso entirely.

I like them all. As for which ones to use - I do not like the idea of too much uniformity among the footsoldiers/archers so I mix them. It is only knights that I try to keep a common theme (although even then I'll vary some aspects like plumes). My older castle guys for example, only the Falcons are uniform (cause they look the better for it). The black knights and lions all have different legs, helmets etc., pretty much as collected from the sets - only distinction is crossed axes for lion footsoldiers not archers. I too like the way the new torso carries on from the old ones. It also looks more like a surcoat, and so I think it lends a better air to the classic torsos too - as one can now imagine them working in the same fashion (wouldn't it be awesome to have a detailed torso like the third castle one, with the colours and emblems of the black falcons, or lion knights?).

I think the blacksmith's and stables are best left in the "open" position, and one could add stairs by building a "back" for the two buildings. I prefer with my own buildings to just have two adjoining walls hinge open in an L shape, rather than have the floors split. So I'll probably modify the inn to work in a similar fashion. I do indeed hope the price on this is definitely €100. That's about 11 hours work at minimum wage here in Ireland - I'm not on much different from that myself, being a post-grad student doing research.

The pirate wench and mediaeval woman don't seem to be quite the same top. I wonder if the two torsos are reversed in that photo, and the one on the right is in fact the pirate torso. It not only doesn't have the straps, but the belt is different and there is less white (it looks like it doesn't marry with the dress in the same fashion). I hope this is the case, as it would work better than the mediaeval woman's torso does with legs, and also it would be great if there are in fact two distinct new torsos rather than duplication.

misposted - sorry :(

Ah - I hadn't noticed that the flames connected to the pin-hole on the sextant rather than the larger peg-hole. (or should I reverse those terms?) I am looking at one of my sextants now - I hadn't noticed that they had pin holes at all (they in fact have two - one on the side also). Yes, it's all quite exciting. Gold and dark blues plumes for the crown guys would be amazing - I think I would pay the premium of getting extras from bricklink if sets came out with them (obviously I wouldn't have extras from such sets, as they would include someone who uses them). Well, the new flame parts won't be able to be connected in every way - having the pin on the bottom will prevent them connecting onto e.g. a hollow stud (peg-hole) but I wouldn't be concerned about that. To be honest, I think I prefer the waviness of this new plume compared to the style of the largest old plume.

I'm happy to tell you that you are mistaken :) One can see this used as a plume in the pirate prelim pics. Also, in one of the photos of this set (might be one of the personal photography rather than the official pics), you can see the extra "pin" sticking out below where the clip on the brick-built rooster attaches. The double usage of the new mold does allow for bizarre transparent flame plumes of course :) I don't like the brickbuilt birds, so I'm looking forward to an instant new plume for existing castle/pirate minifigs of mine when I get this set. Maybe there'll be a spare one included!!! EDIT: You can see the extra "pin" on the rooster tail feathers in this pic (hope the reposting below is OK):

Looks like a faint shape of the King's Castle Siege to me on the box art, except the mirror image (bridge on wrong side, bizarre small tower on the other).

Not sure how well it would work in practice, but it looks like the white dress torso and slope can be mix/matched with the princess dress. There was a valid complaint about the new dress printings that they spanned the two parts - however, both these dresses have a gold band at the waist. Just a thought I had. Looks fantastic. The princess hair is nicer imo in black than in brown.

Mind you, it does look like this set would actually look great with printed cardboard under it with the same design as the box art. Of course, anyone with oodles of tiles/flats can build their own Lego brick cobbles - but I doubt I have enough grey/dark grey small 1x1s, 1x2s or even 2x2s myself. So I might try to make my own printed surface for under the scene.

Those are two pretty awesome outfits. I'm not so sure on the tiara though - a bit meagre looking and I presume the new hairpieces have holes for the tiara to attach. The hairpieces look fantastic though!

Ogling over the photos. I think Lego may be getting more custom from some of the rest of my family as well as myself. Much oohing and ahhing. FOUR new mediaeval torsos (incl maiden from Advent Cal) - an awesome looking blacksmith and new peasant woman as well. A WHOLE turkey! Convincing cattle, fine fishies, fiery flames. Loads of dark green foliage on the best Lego set tree yet. Detailed and quaint hinged buildings, medium blue, loads of brown, even details like railing on the top of the outdoor stairs. Sextants for torch holders, dark brown telescopes for architecture detail! Detailed features like the water wheel, fireplaces, interior furnishings. Well - I guess keeping money in the bank isn't so great during these times anyways. May as well invest it in Lego :) With Pirates, presumably elves, and who knows what else, I'll be doing my bit to keep TLG going :)

Oh my word - I could not even have imagined it! 4x peasant tops (incl. a second peasant woman one), new cowl (beefier around neck/chin by the looks), cattle (didn't see in the farm set that horns could be attached), awesome buildings, a whole turkey, multiple fish, well leafed tree, much use of the new flame/plume, even telescope in brown as architecture, medium blue brick. Lego I am giving you all my money next year, credit crisis or not! I suspect I'll be getting all Castle next year, and all of Pirates! Piece count would suggest $/€ 160 - yikes!! Ah sure my money is safer invested in Lego than in a bank I guess :)

I have no motorised trains, but have the Hobby Train and Holiday Train and plain track (incl. some secondhand old track). I personally am waiting for the new Train system before looking at motorisation. I hope they bring out a single good value starter set to do this. 9V is appealling but it's too pricy for me.

Lack of sets I wished to buy (with limited finances - so I *had* to be choosy) and the awful Town Jr. The downturn in Castle was a factor - I didn't like Royal Knights, Fright Knights or KKI. I did build for a couple years after, but my dark ages did begin with a lack of Lego purchasing. I would probably have enjoyed Adventurers (indeed I am now collecting the sets). I love Harry Potter sets now, but they were vastly overpriced at the time. KK2 kept me away from Lego too - again not just due to the design, but combined with the prices it seemed a poor deal. Also about that time was when I left home and went off to Uni. So Lego wasn't on my mind (indeed I also went into dark ages as regards being a fan of Star Trek - that only changed last year with getting the entire Next Generation cheap on DVD). So what would have changed it all and prevented dark ages? More money, better Lego sets in the mid-late 90s, staying at home rather than moving out for Uni. City '06 and six-wide vehicles got me back into Lego, combined with awesome Lego sections in German dept. stores in Munich! First new purchases were the Airport Fire Truck, Ambulance and police car.

I agree with Eilif. Indeed, so much so, that I would wonder if TLG might continue to do well even during this present crisis, due to their strong position currently. Mind you, I would be concerned for their US market. I doubt they can indefinitely subsidise it with European and other markets. The dollar has moved slightly back up again, but I would still wonder if it will ever be in a strong position again? And it looks like increasing the prices in the US is not an option - many there seem loathe to pay even the current prices.