gylman

I've been a reading demon (20 books a week until I went to university, much less now of course) all my life, and there are too many books to mention. I guess Lord of the Rings would be the most important book to me. I reread it about once a year every year since I was 12. I mostly favour fantasy. Used to love SF, but it got boring about 15 years ago (William Gibson's Neuromancer though is truly great). Currently I think the best Fantasy author is a local Toronto person (I guess I am biased), named Guy Gavriel Kay, who only put out a few books, but each one is incredibly well done. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Gavriel_Kay If you have not read something by him, you should. His first series, the Fionavar Tapestry, is a bit childish, but has matured hugely as an author, and probably the best is his Sarantine Mosaic series. Complex without being overwhelming, very exciting. It's more like historical fiction than fantasy. It's probably not a coincidence that Kay was a major assistant in putting Tolkien's work together, along with the son Christopher tolkien, after JRR Tolkien died. He helped edit the Silmarillion! Sean Russell is also a VERY good relatively new Fantasy author. All his stuff is good. http://www.sfsite.com/seanrussell/index.htm I can't think of any major fantasy series I have not read in whole or in part in the last 30 years. From the more recent big series, I liked Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, although it is getting a bit too long at this point (11 books and counting, he should have ended at about 7 tops). http://www.tor.com/jordan/ Non-fantasy, For Whom the Bell Tolls is my favourite book, although this is the only book of Hemingway's I like. The others are too boring and self-absorbed. Now, for my German friends, I have to ask, did you guys (and gal)read Karl May's western books? Winntou, Old Shatterhand, Old Surehand... As a child I was completely crazy about them! I knew they were (are?) popular in Germany and Europe generally, but in English only a few are available. I have looked for them for many years, and have a total of 5.

Sweet Jesus! OMG. It's beautiful. And Minifig scale. Two for me please: one for display, one for the vault to be buried with me when I die. Could this be the best Lego set ever made (for non Starwars fans)? Thank you. EDIT: 5 minutes later. Can't stop looking at it. WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE RELEASED?

I think that's the basic problem with the NXT for me. While I know that I CAN build much more than just bidped robots with it, it seems like that's all that Lego thinks need to be built with it. After Airtech Claw Rig, the greatest set ever made and possibly the apotheosis of human creativity and intelligence, one of my real Technic favs was 8094. There has to be more we can do with all these motors and controls than cars and biped robots. We know there is, since we see all the incredible things the true masters can make, but for mere humans like ourselves, it would be nice to have that as part of a set or at least a decent alternate.

Indeed! Very neat. I wouldn't have thought that would have worked very well due to the flimsiness of the litttle pneumatic compressors. I'll have to try that. That's quite the revalation - TLC compromised the quality and future usefulness of their motors (IMHO, anyway) just so people could build a kit out of the box in 30 minutes?

This is very encouraging. I am much more excited about this than I was about NXT - the motors seem to be compatible with past motors, only better. I still wish they were square with more studs, but certainly they look far more useful than the NXT motors. Looks like I'll end up buying a dinosaur just for the parts. And a couple of bulldozers of course. Of course... it's no Airtech Claw Rig...... but... :-D

Exchange ripoffs aside, this is good news. I think that TLC has to charge a bit "extra" for these sets, which are not going to sell as many units as regular store-bought items. Less volume usually means more margin needed per unit. Still, that should not be done on teh basis of exchange rate ripoffs, which are the only thing that I hate about the Lego Company's business practices. I am happy, any day, to pay 200$ for a non-<insert that tiresome argument> cleverly designed attractive set with useful bricks ands nice colours. I hope they turn out to be good sets, and if so I hope they sell well ehough to make it worth TLCs while to continue this. A "world house" Creator series, featuring different architectural styles from all over the world, woudl be awesome. (And of course, the UCS castle and a return of Adventurers...)

None of those have had much of an impact on my life. My Gameboy SP sure did though. Yes I know, this is a vote about consoles. Nothing tops its portability - in the lineup, in the waiting room, in the airport, on the john, in bed....SP ruled, and still does to a large extent.

It is inconceivable to me, as a parent, that if one of my children died I would sell their toys on eBay. And advertise that it's my dead child's toy? No freaking way. Its a crock.

This is easily the best set of the aquaraiders line (value for money-wise). I just got one from TRU, and plan to get a couple more for the parts and many unique elements. Excellent review.

"The harder you work, the luckier you get. " (Gary Player, but probably based on a Thomas Jefferson quote - "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have".) Actually nearly anything by Thomas Jefferson, the wisest American of all time http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/..._jefferson.html "Work expands to fill the time available." (Parkinson's law) "Dattebayo" (Naruto) "Sasuke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (Naruto). Oh, and if you got the feeling from these that basically I work like a dog, and I watch Naruto in my free time.... you'd have 90% of my life these days.

Agree. What a terrible colour scheme on that dinosaur. What a waste!

I wonder if the NXT "great sales" are the ones we are seeing on eBay for lower than retail. After all, those were bought from Lego. It's not that I don't want it to succeed. I want everything from TLC to succeed, so they can do more cool AFOL stuff. But it does does not accord with the evidence of my eyes and ears. There was a huge pent up demand for the next gen mindstorms, so I guess we are seeing that demand finally unleashed. Whether it carries into the next few years is what counts. Anyway... GO LEGO!

AAARRRRGGHbricks.com

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070212/sfm126.html?.v=49 I am pleasantly surprised by this info (has it been posted elsewhere?). Seems that Spongebob is a smashing success. Avatar not mentioned... that sounds bad Exo Force going strong Town strong Bionicle still strong Star Wars strong Creator Strong NXT the #2 most wished-for toy among American boys ages 9-12(4) and the top-selling LEGO item in the U.S. Really??? Lego seems to be crushing the other companies.

As a Bionicle fan from 2001 to 2005, I'd say there's not much left of the story anyway. I think Bionicle has lost its way. Nothing left to lose. But I like Jinzo's "year of nothing" better. Maybe a year off can reinvigorate the franchise. On the other hand. WTF do I know.... it seems to be selling. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070212/sfm126.html?.v=49

I can't imagine an acceptably sized, decent looking Eifel tower without too much Technic in it. A brick built version would be too big. Now, from what I recall, Legomilk usually has the goods.... so that's the only thing that makes me hting this could be true.

It's a great Lego model,maybe the best ever made, but I won't buy it. If it was old gray, I would have bought it. Then at least I know I can do something with the pieces after it has sat on my table for a year or two. The other problem is that it's too big - it's much easier to display tall thin large Lego constructions (like the Statue of Liberty). This thing would basically take up the entire table, but as it's flat, it doesn't really make a great display piece. Oh, yeah, and it would cost about 800$ including taxes in Canada.... that's a small problem too... :-( However, I'm with Wowplayer for the 5K part castle set. Even if it's bley.

I note that there are no boxes on most of these sets.... Is that right? Thanks. Gyl

Well! X-D I'll have you know that I've been advocating for a UCS-type castle on Lugnet, polls, emails to TLC, and other forums for the last 3 years. Like this http://news.lugnet.com/ambassadors/?n=51 And this http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...indpost&p=67424 So, please all join me in this endeavor (along with bringing back Adventurers). The reason I mentioned Creator is that as far as I am concerned, this is the only place where Lego has grown and shown really new ideas in the past 5 years. Somethings are better, truly, than before, but Creator has stood out for me. Sadly, I no longer believe Lego is capable of putting out a decent castle.

I would happily pay $200 for a creator set that is really impressive and detailed. I have no use for Star Wars sets, impressive though they may be, and it would be great if we could get "UCS type" sets for adults or kids who build at a higher level in the other themes - Creator and Castle would be the best ones for that.

Glad to help when I can IJ. Thanks for the vote, and one right back at you!

Gear grinders was one of the best sets of 2005. Maybe the best value for money of any set. If you want to get an 8-10 year old started with Lego, THIS is the set. And they were going for like 6$ on eBay. Crazy. While everyone makes a big fuss about the stupid licensed sets like Batman and Spongebob, excellent sets like this are being sold for way less money per brick, and with way more play value. Thanks for the pics.

Actually, the Hogwarts set is better than I thought it would be - did they break it down into three modules, or are we seeing some alternate builds. If all of those three modules are part of the set, it really would be good value for the money. The other thing I notice is that they are using a more reasonable Canadian dollar exchange rate in general. The Hogwards is a 33% increase (US to Can dollar amount), with other sets typically 33% to 40% . Given that in the past year or two it has been a 50% markup, I am very pleased. Maybe I can stop buying my sets off eBay now and go back to buying at Canadian retailers or S@H I am quite unimpressed by the Spongebob sets.

I wonder how Creator is doing in all this. To me, Creator has been the diamond in the Lego lineup. City 2007 looks to be the best in a decade, but the 2006 sets were not that great. If the line starts from a low value, it can show great growth without being very significant. I am truly puzzled about the massive technic sets being #5 and #7 in all toys! All toys? That's crazy. Did they not mean all Lego products? Even that is surprising. It woudl be very intersting to know what % of total Lego sales were from Star Wars, vs Bionicle, vs City etc etc.

Very nice indeed. I used to be mostly a Technic guy myself, and some of my technic MOCs have been quite challenging (the huge Keychain display weighed 20 lb.... just getting it to turn using a single 9V motor was quite the job), let alone all the different movements, but I have been rather dry of inspiration recently. I suspect that the uninspiring offerings from Lego, and especially all those stupid liftarms, have something to do with that, but mostly there has been a lack of time. I also don't like MOCing vehicles, which is unfortunately where nearly all Lego Technic is directed. Doing something mechanically interesting is far more fun. 8094 - that was one of the best Technic sets ever! I wish TLC would do something other than vehicles. I do find it harder to MOC in Technic than in system. Technic MOC require much more planning and sustained building time. System MOCs, at least the smallish to medium sized ones I do, can be done 20 minutes at a time in a semi conscious state, which is pretty much the only way I get to build anything these days, with family and work demands.