Algernon

I've always really loved the Christmas exclusives and this set is probably my favorite out of the three. I really love the unique contours of the roof and the lamp post, and the inclusion of the musicians is a great touch. This set has a lot of personality. It's only August but at this rate I'm going to start thinking about Christmas a little earlier this year.

Oddly enough, I actually did wind up getting this set on Ebay, but due to a dishonest description of the model I wound up with a half-assembled version and some broken pieces. A bad LEGO experience to say the least. That said, I don't dislike the model as much as other people seem to (don't hang me for this, but I find it much more attractive than the other Blacktron 1 sets) but it definitely suffers from some design flaws. Still, I really like the idea of it. I wish LEGO would experiment with asymmetry more often. Thanks for that nostalgic review!

Wow - how did I miss this?? I can't wait to get a first look at the sets!

I don't know why, but I really like Alpha Team. Something about the sets just appeal to me, even more than Agents ever did. One of the reasons has to be sets like this, since the Arctic wave of sets were definitely some of the best. I just love the transforming feature, although here it's probably not the most outstanding element of the model, its still a cool play feature. Awesome color scheme, and cool cockpit pieces as well. Reading your review makes me wish I hadn't broken my Tundra Tracker a long time ago. Great review, I'd love to see more.

I like Mechs, so I think an ADU mech would be cool, provided it's not the skeletal action-figure mechas we saw in Exo-Force. Or perhaps a proper alien mothership!

That's a definite possibility, after all most new themes run for two years before being replaced. I'd also say that it's premature to write off PQ as a one-wave theme (a la Dino Attack), especially considering that the trend these days is to stick around for at least two years. Look at Alpha Team, or Agents. I really enjoy Alien Conquest, but to be honest I wouldn't complain too much if it only lasted one year. After all, all of the important aspects of an alien invasion theme are touched on here. Still, I think it's quite possible that we'll see another wave. After all, we haven't seen anything of 2012 yet!

Uhm... wow. That is one massive diorama. There really isn't much to be said other than it's fantastic. I like this detail in particular: http://guss.teammu.com/guss/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&func=detail&catid=161&id=5248&Itemid=0

They're both reasonably priced, too; it's so nice to see LEGO Space living up to our high standards again! I absolutely adore Calvin and Hobbes, so I completely agree with you. I even have the $100 complete collection sitting by my desk. In my opinion, Bill Watterson is right up there with Charles Schulz!

This and the Earth Defense HQ are my two favorite sets from this theme. I just love the sleek, clean design to the vehicles. This set is definitely on my list. Thanks for the review!

With the last movie coming out this Summer, I seriously doubt there will be a market for Harry Potter at all in 2012. LEGO expressed some doubts on Harry Potter before, so I seriously doubt it would release another wave of sets when all the movies and books are old news. I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.

Finally picking this set up today; the 2010-2011 HP sets are all very good, but I think set is the most complete since it's one of the few sets to include Harry, Ron, AND Hermione (Ron seems to be hard to find for some reason) and it really has the most HP atmosphere. I just love the look of Olivanders - I remember somebody saying that it was a little odd, but frankly I don't see that at all. I think its gorgeous. Awesome minifig selection, too! I might be doing my own review once I pick it up, even though there are several already.

I'm real disappointed with this. Minifigures never sell a set to me, and the actual model is incredibly unremarkable. It's not bad, just bland. There's nothing eye-catching about it at all. I understand its supposed to be the BLACK pearl, but come on.

This is just awesome. I do play the games, and this is a very accurate representation of the Marauder II. Just amazingly cool. This is why I prefer Western-style mechs to the Japanese style. Great job, I hope to see more from you!

I definitely agree that there's little point in picking up this set unless you already have the other Hogwarts castle released this year; it looks quite nice all together, but separately, its extremely dull. Unfortunately the combined price tag makes this a tough sell for me. I'd rather go with the Diagon Alley set, personally. Nice review!

"Indian Quest" has kind of a strange ring to it, but that could still be an awesome follow-up to Pharoah's quest... lets hope its real!

My 20th birthday is coming up... guess who's going to celebrate a year older with a massive amount of Alien Conquest?

While I agree that the prototype designs are pretty eye-catching in general, I have to say that I think the designers did a terrific job of rounding out all of those sketch models into a coherent LEGO theme while retaining most of the best design elements of the prototypes. I don't think they did that with SPIII quite as well (and I liked SPIII). I actually think some of the models improved with the final version. Kudos to the designers there.

Pretty good looking model imo. I like the design of the Jet-copter, but as you alluded to, the concept is a little... awkward. How does it fly? Helicopters and jets are two rather different things. But the sleek design makes up for it. I might pick this up. Thanks for the review!

Its not THAT bad, although I agree that it generally lacks the "star wars" vibe. I like the detailing and bacta tank. Still, I haven't bought Star Wars in a long time because of the inflated prices, and I doubt this will be much different.

Well, as The Penguin said, the color scheme was a pretty big draw for me for the Pyramid set. I really like the ADU HQ as well, but for some reason it looks less impressive on the whole to me. I guess I'll have to look at those reviews again Thanks for the advice!

Really? I've only heard good things about the Pyramid. It looks a lot better than the mid-priced sets. But its a little pricey.

I can't decide between the Pyramid set and the Alien Conquest command center. Any suggestions?

Top-quality review! I think this is one of my favorite sets from the AC line. That tractor beam effect is just awesome. I agree with you about the alien though - he's not quite right. Another very entertaining review, thank you! Any chance you'll be doing the Jet-copter?

Quite an entertaining review! This set is awesome, I can't wait to pick it up. Also, nice touch at the end there.

I'm not a huge fan of this set. It's not terrible, but it seems pretty lacking in detail and looks more like a smallish airplane than a spacefairing vessel. And with the excellent Shuttle Adventure available, I don't see a reason to pick this up at all. Thanks for the review!