Algernon

Excellent review, and excellent set. This is one of my top picks from the MF line. Lots of charm, and excellent minifigs! Decent price point, too. I will most likely pick this up sometime.

The video is indeed private, but I have to say this set was well worth the wait!! Goodness, all that detail is simply eye-poping and 2,000+ parts for under $200!!! This is without a doubt on my must-buy list, which does not bode well for my wallet. Such a shame.

Well done. I'm forcing myself to wait until Autumn to pick up any Monster Fighters. I really love the theme, but in the interest of sticking to my budget I figure I'm better off focusing on some other interests for now and then picking up MF around October (when they're in season!). Looking at all these pictures is making it difficult though...

I would probably only pick up this set to add the Helm's Deep model, if I ever have enough money for them both. It looks great though, I'm loving the construction on ALL the LotR sets, they're really aiming for an older audience with these. Great stuff.

Great to see Mars Mission getting some love - the theme was underrated, in my opinion. Very unique design you have here, it definitely catches the eye. I like the greebles, but my favorite part is that it has a could-be-a-real-set quality to it. Looks quite nice, something I would probably buy if LEGO had released it.

I've been avoiding this set. It's massive, beautifully designed, fairly priced (somewhat) and full of playability. It has so much potential to completely upend my budget for the year that I can't bear to look at it. I don't even like Castle that much, but this is so movie-faithful and lovely to display that I'm sorely tempted. In my opinion, it's the best of the LotR sets thus far. So much bang for your buck! Thanks a lot for this nice, in-depth review.

If you don't mind, I'll probably do my own review of this set when I pick it up this weekend. I'll take some of the missing photos.

I honestly don't see how that set is exciting at all.

Good stuff. As luck would have it, two brand-new Castlevania games were recently announced. It's a good year for those of us who enjoy Gothic horror! I went to my local Wal-Mart recently, and was disappointed to see a lack of any Summer sets whatsoever. I don't know about Toys R' Us (I suspect they have them) but I think some areas are probably going to be without MF until June.

Phenomenal set and an absolute must-buy in my opinion. It's just dripping with moody gothic atmosphere. Personally, I'm going to hold back on buying it until we're closer to Halloween, so I can really get my monster fighting groove on. Thanks for the review.

My thoughts exactly. This set is probably the theme's weakest, imo. There's just nothing about it that intrigues me, even the figs. It's a decent parts pack, though. Thanks for the review, I hope to see more!

I have to ask, how did you get your hands on this? From what I've heard, it's not hitting shelves until June 1st, at least in the states. Thanks very much for the review, however. This is one of the few sets that's stayed on my must-have list since it was announced.

Excellent choices! I wish I had the spare bank to pick up a nice lot like this. Any chance for some out-of-box photos?

Easily missed, since it's not (as far as we know) associated with MF at all. I actually prefer it that way, not because I dislike MF (heck, I adore them!) but for a set like that I like the idea of a straight-up Haunted Mansion. It's far more thematically flexible that way - could be modded into a Luigi's Mansion or decked out into some true horror setpiece! Hope we get more details on that soon. Now that these are popping up in stores, I hope we'll see some reviews soon! I doubt I'll be the first to get the Castle, but if I am, I'll be happy to do one.

:oh: After watching that, the Vampire Castle has shot to the top of my must-buy list! So much juicy detail and such a wonderfully well-realized aesthetic. I love Castlevania and Halloween in general, so seeing it brought to life with such detail is really a treat. I cannot WAIT to get my hands on that beauty!

I honestly don't think I ever would have noticed.

So, something like the mini Sopwith Camel promotion coming out on June 1st? That makes sense, and I agree that this particular polybag doesn't seem to relate to the Monster Fighters theme all that much. That's a good sign that the monster minifigs and elements being introduced in Monster Fighters are going to become commonplace pieces for LEGO in future sets. All the more reason to get the haunted house, I suppose!

An odd comparison. I really liked Bionicle back in 2001, when it was one of the most original action figure lines around. I do feel like it degenerated quickly, but it maintained a LEGO-quality standard as far as parts and building technique is involved. Galidor introduced an entirely new building system that was way too restrictive and, frankly, completely devoid of LEGO. It flopped for a reason, and Bionicle persisted for a decade. I think the winner here is clear; you don't even have to like Bionicle that much to see that.

That polybag has definitely exceeded my expectations! I would love to get this. I don't understand though, where exactly are these sold? I also like that Batman Jetski polybag but I have no idea where to look for it.

It's 11% in Chicago. I don't shop at TRU on principle because of that obscene mark-up, lets face it LEGO is an expensive enough hobby without arbitrary price hikes. If I spot the Vampire Castle at a Wal-Mart somewhere, I just might pick it up and do a review.

Can't wait!

Why must it be so expensive...

This will be my first buy from the LotR wave. I like the Gandalf minifigure, and the carriage has enough interesting parts to make it seem like a compliment to the set. The new horse is great, too. Loving these sets.

Alpha team was great! I personally prefer it to Agents, although that theme was great too.

There have been a lot of "mythological"-themed minifigs in the recent CMF releases. Reminds me of Monster Fighters, and how many of the monster figs are just modified versions of the CMF ones. I'd say this is pretty plausible, although it's far too early to know for sure yet.