Algernon

Wow... respect to TLC!

Or you're like me and just leave the stickers off entirely.

All of the themes, including what you call classic, have seen huge changes to appeal more broadly to today's market. Castle is now more like a LOTR/fantasy type theme and "Town" is now "City" with an emphasis on action subthemes like Police and Coast Guard. The only difference between City/Castle and Space is that Space took a long break, and now it's back. Space Police 3 may not be a classic theme, but Space is, and SP3 qualifies as a Space theme, so as far as I'm concerned, this is every bit as classic as City and Castle. The change is just more dramatic because it didn't happen gradually like it did with Castle. Also, Star Wars is one of the worst examples of overpriced LEGO, and that theme is anything but classic. I think it's far more likely that LEGO raises the prices on themes they know will sell well. With the newer, less profitable themes (like you said), they lower the prices so that people will buy them. I seriously doubt the prices have anything to do with "classic" status.

Well, this is quite a dilemma. The AT-OT is an amazing set, but $250 is way more than I usually spend on LEGO for a single set. I'll have to think this over...

How is Space Police not classic?

I agree, the prices are not nearly as bad as I had feared. I guess LEGO is busy ripping off those poor Star Wars fans.

The interior alone might convince me to buy this set, even if it will be $99.

Some great additional coverage: http://www.flickr.com/photos/no_onions/set...57613851041074/ And look: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3400/328222...8fea7ee.jpg?v=0 AN INTERIOR!

I can't get over how incredibly bad the Crystal King is. It has a huge, <insert that tiresome argument> head and some of the worst construction I have -EVER- seen. My little brother could build a better set than that. What was LEGO thinking? The other two are better, but not incredible. I'm almost glad of this- my wallet is already wincing from the dent Space Police 3 will put into it.

Dude! It's a statue of classic LEGO Space! :thumbup: I assume the villains are stealing it. My thoughts on the new pictures: The Hyperspeed Pursuit and Gold Heist are by far the best looking sets from SP3 (besides the exclusives, which we have yet to see). The Space Police ships from either set are both fantastic... some of the best original designs LEGO's ever come up with! Check out those engines on the Hyperspeed Pursuit police ship! I have a feeling Nabii is behind these. The Container Heist is probably my least favorite, mostly due to the lack of a SP vehicle, but it's not bad. Even if it is sticker excessive, the decals themselves look GOOD, so I can let that one slide. The Galactic Enforcer appears to include a ground vehicle (woot!) and that dramatically increases it's appeal to me. Talk about a reference to the Galactic Mediator! Despite this I feel like it could have been pulled off a little bit better... the turrets on the wings aren't as cool as I had hoped they would be. I hope this one is a improved a little bit, but I'll probably get it no matter what. The two smaller sets, Freeze Ray Frenzy and Squidman Escape, look brilliant. Freeze Ray Frenzy more so. I love the stop sign and stop light- AWESOME touch there. The cop space bike is amazing as well. I will end up getting both of these. Overall, this is a dramatic return for LEGO Space! Everything looks great, from the minifigs, to the aesthetics, to the construction! Well done LEGO! Well done indeed!

I guess the bad guy is stealing it.

The Mountain Fortress looks decent. All in all though, 2009 won't be Castle's best year.

The Titans are, but I think the winter canister sets far superior to these.

I don't understand that statue at all...

$249.99?!? I was preparing to spend $200, but $249.99?! It's not even 2,000 pieces!! DAMN YOU, LEGO! DAMN YOU!

Yeah, I posted those before. Look nice don't they? I like all of them except the truck thing. FIRST TOYFAIR COVERAGE!

Holy crap... That set looks INCREDIBLE... and I had resolved not to buy Star Wars this year.

My guess is a lot. I'd warrant $40-$60.

At least the Twins are in one of the better sets. It's not like you're being forced to buy horrible sets for the minifigs.

The Clone Wars minifigs are hella weak, I don't care how many of them there are. The 2009 sets haven't been very impressive thus far, but the 08 wave wasn't much better. Frankly I think Star Wars is running out of juice, and I haven't seen a set in a long time that's looked like more than a bundle of flick-fire missiles and old designs. The summer wave is better because it has some OT sets, but for the most part, I'm still not impressed...

Now that I think about it, Hinkley didn't ask me to remove any links, I just did it because it seemed like common sense.

This topic is a joke. Kids are not SO susceptible to what they play with that defeating aliens with humans will make them racists. People are so freaking sensitive about potentially "racist" or "sexist" remarks these days that you can get your head bitten off for even suggesting that some inherent differences may exist between the races or the sexes, be them in favor of one or the other. Nothing makes me sicker than further evidence of how deeply our society has it's head up it's buttocks. Just because you find something offensive does not mean that something should be wiped clean off the map. Freedom of speech implies that people can say/do things you may not approve of, and yes, this extends to LEGO's marketing strategy.

Yes, this is likely.

Look at the old pic: Edit by Hinckley: Algernon, stop it. It's hard to say but I think it's the same color as the new one. Now look at the actual set: Sounds to me like a simple mistake.

I understand; the helmets bug me too, but I just don't mind them as much as you (since when has LEGO obeyed the laws of physics?). A consistent color scheme, though, is different entirely. Arbitrarily switching cockpit hues is just ridiculous. But I realize these are preliminary.