gylman

Airtech Claw Rig. 8868. Never before or since has so much functionality been packed into such a (relatively) small package.

I assume the Mindstorms is the Bluetooth sets we heard about. Thank goodness - an up-to-date version of Mindstorms! There were rumors, but it's a relief to have confirmation. Hopefully we get a better interface than the current standard. And a proper RC motor control system would be welcome. Hope it is more compact than the big kludgy thing we get with the RC systems now. 1:8 Ferrari! That's pretty big! Hopefully it will be an interesting build - I didn't think the recent technic model was too interesting, but maybe this will be more wortwhile. Good news for AFOLs I would say. If only they would release a new Adventurers! (he shouts to the empty void, no one listening.....) Gyl

As a long time classic-castle person my response is......................... *sick* Sorry. Gyl (yes the figs are better, all else is worse).

Only companies or the truly idle rich can afford this. I assume that they have no upper limit. My bet is 72K Gyl

Well..... at 20K it went past my price range :-D Actually the real problem is that it's all glued together. I don't really like Star Wars, but this looks like a great parts pack ;) Just like my 12 ISDs ;) I assume it comes with instructions |-D for that price. Well, anyway, if it breaks in transit I can always rebuild it from the ebay picture :-D Most likely whoever wants to win this is bidding against George Lucas *satis* Good luck!! :')

Yay Adventurers!! Adventurers is among my favourite themes (more than Star Wars, more than Town, more than KK, more than almost anything other than Classic Castle or Technic). This is not so much because the sets are so excellent (although some are), but because it has by far the most play value, vignette value, fun value of any of the themes. This is where I spent 90% of my Lego play time with my kids. Frankly, I didn't like the Scorpion Palace as a set. Too many big pieces. The Emperor's Fortress, the big mama of the Orient Expedition collection, however, is one of the best Lego sets of the past few years. I will try to put a review of it up over the holidays (the only reason why not is that it sits in my work office, and I don't want to bring it home). There is an Adventurers' web site (http://www.adventurers.dk) with regular set reviews. Sadly only three people post there regularly. Everyone - feel free to give it a visit. Even more sadly, though, is that Lego seems to have forgotten about Johnny Thunder and his mates. I keep hoping 2006 will bring a revival..... Adventurers Western theme would be great, cost effective, and likely popular. Cheers. Gyl

Nice work, as usual. Now I've got to "santa"-fy RetroMan (my avatar). Or maybe "Frosty"-fy him. I guess he better take his Hogwart's jacket and nerd glasses off. "holy dilemma, Batman" "TO THE PAINT PROGRAM, Robin" .....

Gosh, I sure hope they can do better later in the year.

Well, I think Bionicle is always so heavily mass produced that it's nearly impossible for it to be out of stock. KK (frankly, in my opinion) was a disappointment, and they were massively discounting Vladek's dark castle even at TRU (to 80$ Canadian). This is not true, however, for the chess set, which by the way is totally sold out and selling for like 150-200 on eBay right now. TLC needs to do a chess set for StarWars - wouldn't that rock?! Obviously Star Wars is rocking even though I personally don't care for it. Ferrari was the surprise of the year for me. I never care much for cars, but the Scudaria truck set was so beautiful I had to buy it . It's been sold out for 1-2 months (I know because I was trying to get another one, but could not at retail or S@H) and is now selling for $200 on eBay I already have the good 2006 Ferrari sets as well. I think that will do just as well in 2006. HP is pretty easy to find in stores except for GYD, which is gone everywhere. I think success was mixed on that one. Technic is totally sold out as well at S@H, and most of them gone from TRU as well. That's a pleasant surprise. Technic has had a bit of a revival in the last 2 years. Next year, though, looks weak from what was announced. Hopefuly there will be more. Vikings - beautiful to my eyes, and not available at S@H any more. Seems to be a success mostly. Most of hte lego designer sets are gone too. I think this is TLCs most carefully thought out work. Building Bonanaza is sold out everywhere, and it is to my mind the best value for money (at full price) I have ever seen in a decent sized Lego Set. Xpods this year were vastly better than the first generation. So, TLC seems to have done many things right, little or nothing wrong, by way of set design. If they are not meeting demand due to production issues, that's a different story. Certainly there is a lot more they could have sold this year based on what's going on at eBay and TRU. I agree with you that there will be little treasure to be found at clearance this year. Sigh. I hope 2006 is just as good, but my feelings about what I have seen and heard so far are mixed. Go Lego GO! Cheers. Gyl

Indeed. As that's me up there at $106. Awesome set *wub*! I expect it will go higher. I have never seen eBay Lego prices higher than right now. I am hoping that the fact that this is a "used" toy will prevent prices from going totally insane.

Another surrealistic Keetongu post. Where would Eurobricks be without them! Wouldn't want to spend ALL day talking about Lego after all. We all need some relief from this shared obsession once in a while. *wacko*

This is totally my own observation - I have no inside info and I could be totally wrong. I've been very closely monitoring lego set sales on eBay, S@H and stores for a few years now. I have never seen a year like this one. Nearly everything at S@H Canada is sold out or backordered to 2006. eBay prices for MISB sets are insane, sometimes 3-4 times the list price for THIS YEARS' SETS!. I know some of this is Christmas fever, but I have not seen this intensity before (The Chess Set, The Scudaria Ferrari Truck, some of the SW sets). My regular discount stores where I get much of my stuff have been a wasteland. Nothing to be found. Last time this year I bought nearly 500$ worth of great sets at 50% off. This year... NOTHING! If Lego company did not turn a big fat profit this year, then I can't imagine they ever will. Go TLC GO! Are other people seeing what I am seeing too? Gyl

I have started watching the show with my two kids, and I have to say I am impressed. I am not sure what kind of sets they will get out of it (somehow a brick Appa does not appeal to me. I imagine some sort of a firebender ship will be there also), but given all the various choices, if they had to choose a license for the 6-12 year old crowd, this was a good choice. Story - 8/10 Animation 9/10 Character development 9/10

The crane will be an awesome parts pack for structure builders. Lego seems to be taking their construction theme quite seriously! Any idea about pricing??

Good news for you Star Wars people. For the rest.... bleh. No Adventurers, no Mindstorms 3, no decent castle set. Oh well. Maybe I can force myself to like Star Wars since that is where Lego is putting their efforts these days it seems.

Just awesome! When I see stuff like that I feel like I want to give away my collection because I'm not worthy of calling myself a Lego fan. How much time did that take to do!

Sorry dude, it says your folder is not yet public.

Now available, on eBay (haven't seen this one in a while for sale!) http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Lego-373-Offsh...bayphotohosting Cheers Gyl

Yeah. If there is no commonality among what people want, and they want crazy stuff (Disney princess??), then it's all just static. Sigh (wishes for 5000 piece castle in 1980's King's Castle style)

Inventory in the instruction manual has been present in some sets since last year (my giant technic crane, for example). Actually, speaking as a non-SW fan, I don't see what the fuss is about this set. It looks pretty ordinary. I find even the Exo-Force more interesting.

Actually, probably we've finally found a good use for many of the more useless Bionicle parts - tunneling tools!

Wow. Now I know where all my money went! :-D

Makuta Cad and Gad Boxor Takua and Pewku Toa Lhikan and Kikanalo (really, only Kikanalo is good)

Nice work starwars. I appreciate all your work to get this review up and running. I see lots of little things I like here (those robot figs look pretty cute), and the price is good, so I imagine I'll get one just to see it for myself, but there are way too many parts here I will likely never use again. It does not matter much whether I end up liking it, because I am 100% sure that my 7 year old nephew will like this A LOT! Actually my two girls may even like it, since they watch anime. I thought this Exo Force theme was gonna be total crapola. I think I was wrong to judge too quickly. I have mentally upgraded it into the "so so" to "possibly interesting" range. I remain deeply skeptical about the bigger mechas Thanks again.

OMG, how could we live without Bricklink? My keychain collection would be a......well... it would be a "never was"! I could not get boxes and instructions that I needed. I could not get 100 1 x 16 white bricks for my keychain display. etc etc etc. Bricklink is one of those things that makes being an AFOLego more worthwhile - and most vendors are fellow lego FANS, not FELONS. There are also FELONS in our government, but no one proposes that government is not necsesary because of this (there may be other, more valid, reasons, but we can discuss those on the anarchist forum) Is there anyone who seriously proposes that we would be better off without Bricklink? Lugnet, I could live without. Legofan, I could live without. Lego S@H I could live without. Bricklink... no way! Anyway, this is all highly off topic. {goes off to make an emergency purchase of 100 white pole reverser technic bits}