jFox

I came across this photo of someone's MOC, but can't figure out what is the grey piece (or pieces) in the nose? It looks like it has studs facing forward, and at an angle toward the left and right sides of the ship. I thought maybe it was several pieces connected with a hinge piece of some kind, but cant really see any seams between pieces. http://i.imgur.com/tKvQN9L.jpg

Do you have a list or breakdown of what you have in your collection? I might be interested in some of it (especially that army you have pictured), but definitely not all. I also live in Central Florida, and could pick it up.

Looks like they're all out: http://www.fbtb.net/2014/03/11/martian-manhunter-no-more/.

PM sent.

I think you may have forgotten a few zeroes; the total box office is over $300 million at this point: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lego.htm I agree that this year is a big one for Lego. With all of the new lines (or the continued success of existing ones) it can be tough for a single consumer to keep up with all of them--a good problem to have for the fans. I hope that as the the company continues to expand that it can maintain the same level of quality they are known for.

Ordered Furno XL, Surge and Dragon Bolt from Amazon, they're on sale for a pretty good discount.

Ordered mine today! I went back and forth on it a bit due to the price tag, especially considering there are other expensive sets I've put off getting that are getting older and possibly retiring. In the end the overall wackiness of it sold me. Seeing the movie again yesterday certainly helped to gently nudge me in this direction. I have a couple of pirate ships on display above my television in the living room, I can't wait to see how this will look sitting next to (and dwarfing!) the Black Pearl.

I did like the look of Jaw Beast, and the Flying Beast figure as well. Think I'll pick them up whenever they come out here in the U.S. Question for you: What are the four most useful parts that you mention? Right now they're still kind of a blur of ball/socket pieces, with the occasional fist or claw thrown in. I ended up getting some Chima figures (Eris and Laval) and I was really impressed with them! There's a lot of flexibility in them, very poseable. The combination of the two is a nice bonus, and does a good job demonstrating how to build figures with a bit more bulk. Liked them so much, I got Worriz, Cragger and Razar (don't like Gorzan very much, though his weapon is cool). And a Rocka. And a Frost Beast... aww crap, I think I'm in trouble.

Wow, there's a lot of really cool stuff in there, thanks for sharing! I really like a lot of those sets from the Lego Fusion group, including this guy: http://www.flickr.co...ol-1147625@N20/ That's a good way to put it. There wasn't always the crazy amount of pieces in system Lego sets, and the action figures have only been around for a short while, right (a few years, maybe)? The Bionicle sets I remember glancing at briefly, thinking they were too weird, and moving on. But the Hero Factory stuff seems more reusable, moving toward that "golden middle" that -N13OS- mentioned. Ah, so a bar will fit into those little holes on the armor pieces. That could open up all sorts of possibilities. I like mechs, and part of why I started looking more at the action figures was that they seemed to have a lot of ball and joint pieces for that, much more so than most regular system sets. That's a good way to explain it, as just an action-figure system. I think maybe was comparing the sets to action figures I've seen over the years that are incredibly detailed, but incapable of being modded (short of damaging the figures). Can't exactly take a Batman figure and give him an arm from Iron Man, etc. That Caitlyn Gauss XL MOC of yours is killer! Looks very armored up and solid! Thanks for the insights everyone. I think I'll take a closer look at some of these sets, maybe pick up a pair of the Chima figures and see how I like them.

I'm kind of intrigued by some of the sets I've seen recently (especially the Chima figures which combine 2-into-1), but for the most part the action figures look kind of generic to me. The lower-end sets (piece-wise) use what seems like the same armor pieces and the same basic structure, just maybe a different color here and there. This makes a lot of the sets look (to my uncultured, ignorant eyes) very similar. What if you wanted to make your own designs? What if you didn't want to just replace one piece of leg armor with another? Could you build your own leg armor and still have the figure be poseable? Even the smallest pieces seem too large to connect together very easily, unless you want to make a humongous figure. And even then I'm not sure how they would go together, looks like most clip onto arms or legs at one specific point and that's it. Most figures seem very sparse, very skeletal. Some of the larger figures do look pretty cool, like Mr. Witch Doctor over here: http://www.bricklink...m.asp?S=44011-1. But he seems to be on one extreme end of the spectrum, and at the other we have simple, skeletal frames. Is there a middle-ground somewhere? I'm curious as to other people's opinions on what makes these types of sets so appealing.

BrickWarriors makes top-notch stuff. The quality is excellent, and the amount of detail on everything they make is very impressive.

I just recently started looking at City sets, and a few times now I've seen the label of "Great Vehicle" in lists or discussions. Is this an official distinction by Lego, or just something that has come up informally by fans? Either way, what makes a vehicle a "Great Vehicle" instead of just a great set? I've seen camper vans and smaller race cars both called that, so I'm curious as to common attributes they may have.

Wow, that looks really good! I was impressed until I got to the picture with the crane and the side supports extended, then I was even more impressed! Slick, streamlined design, with functionality to boot! Great job on fitting a lot into a such a small package.

For me it was the City theme. Fantasy and sci-fi themes are what I normally gravitate toward for everything (books, movies, etc), so the "mundane" firefighters or police sets were rather boring for me. This year, though, I got into the Winter Village sets, partially fueled by my girlfriends love of Christmas. After seeing several of those in a small layout it got me thinking about building a town, maybe a downtown area with the big modular buildings. Then I saw the Museum Break-in set, with a Lego version of a famous painting, and I had to have it. Then I thought, a cool town would have a train in it, right? So I got the Lone Ranger train set . Now I'll need some train stations, and other buildings, so I should probably mix in some of those nice-looking Creator houses... I think I'm in trouble.

+1 to Praiter Yed

Very cool! You managed to cram a lot of detail into a small space. The hinged interior is really cool, reminds me a bit of the buildings from the Medievail Market Village.

I recently got a bunch of Space Police III sets, and I'm thinking of building a base for them. The official headquarters (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=5985-1) seems only so-so to me, and not really worth the prices on BrickLink or Ebay (though I do like the big blue domes and the garage door). I saw the recent police station set from the city sets (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=7498-1) and was surprised at how much better that would look as a Space Police HQ. After reading the review on here it seems like a good starting place. Has anyone done something similar? Or could you make recommendations on sets I should look at? Sets with a lot of white, black, and trans-blue would be useful.

+1 to fred67

I recently discovered the Space Police 3 line (holy cow are these sets cool!), and never have I bought a set so fast as the Lunar Limo. The set itself is pretty amazing, but something about the fact that Lego made a space pimp makes me giggle to no end. The base figure is pretty awesome by itself, but I thought he could use an upgrade. I gave him the following: Custom pimp cane (bar, lightsaber hilt, red gem) Golden gun (metallic gold fire hose nozzle) Custom purple coat (with fur! ) from BrickLink store CapeMadness The coat I bought from CapeMadness. It was listed as a prototype, where some fur was attached to the coat. You can get a regular, fur-less coat, but what self-respecting space pimp wear a coat without fur on it? And last, but not least, I made a few, um, "friends" for Brick Daddy. Because every good pimp needs a few friends* to spend time with as he flies around the galaxy in his Lunar Limo. They say pimpin' ain't easy, but Brick Daddy sure does make it look that way. *They're not friends, they're space hookers.

Exactly my issue with them as well. Heck, the gatehouse even comes with crown stickers for banners, yet a lion shield is place on the top of the gate! I was very iffy on the figures from early pictures, but once I gave in and got a set, I really like them. I kind of like the bright blue to set them apart from the Crownies that I already have; it's like they're a different section of the king's troops. The printing is really nice on them as well, especially the torso with the breastplate printing. The lion armor looks really nice too, as do the shields... I just don't know what I'm going to do with them.

Supply and demand, basically. If it's the only one for sale the seller can charge whatever for it in the hopes someone REALLY wants it. Same principle for the UCS Millennium Falcon and its unique radar dish, and the light bluish gray rigging pieces on the back. Unique to the set, selling for a silly amount of money nowadays.

+1 to SeanM

The minifigures in this theme are the real draw, and boy are they amazing! After trading for a few eagles I decided to give the sets a go, and they're... kind of a mixed bag. I was very impressed with Eris' Eagle Interceptor, even the mini-flyer for the ravens is okay. Razcal's Glider (the cheapest set) was actually pretty cool too. Laval's Royal Fighter (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=70005-1) on the other hand... Eh, not so good. It's a lot of technic parts to build up a frame, the treads are fixed at that strange angle, and there's really not much else to it. Though I will say the brick-built lion head on the front is impressive, as is the gun/cannon on the back. As a big tank I like there should be more bricks to close it up. It's like taking the body off of still-working car. Wakz' Pack Tracker is much better. The wolf head shape is pretty slick, like the lion head on Laval's tank, and it feels more solid, less naked than the lion vehicle. Regardless of which group you like, the figures are some of the best I've ever seen from Lego. I agree with what some have said about there being too much going on in the line. It's not just good guys vs bad guys (like Ninjago), it's... every man for himself? I'm excited for some of the upcoming sets though, especially that crazy gorilla mech!

Very cool! Never thought those barrels could be turned into a gigantic blunderbluss, well done. Dwarves are some of my favorites, good to see some of their creations. Also, in that last pic awesome use of Hagrid's beard over that armor. Looks like a pretty solid combination I might steal borrow for my own use some day.

+1 for LegoDad