Canticleer blues

He might be mistakenly referring to the color known on Bricklink as "Light Turquoise", which is a similar-but-different color that fell out of use after 2004.

If I remember right, what he called 'service packs' ended up being released under the title of 'bulk bricks' in the catalogs of the era. Bricklink lists these sets under that name, although not every set released in that category in the catalogs is in there- some, like the train bulk brick packs, are listed under the Trains category's own 'supplemental' heading instead. So the releases you're thinking of would be the 'assorted bricks packs' 10145, 10146, and 10147, the 'assorted plates pack' 10148, 10149, 10150, as well as the continued offering of the older individual bulk piece packs such as 10064 and 10046. It's similar to what ended up happening with the cypress tree packs and the sand red packs of the same timeframe, really. As to how long they were available and why they were discontinued- can't say much on the latter, but I definitely remember most of them being gone by late 2005 at the earliest, and by 2006 none of the old bulk brick packs were available for sale, I think.

This is a little late, sorry, but- I'm not sure this holds, because from what I remember the Galaxy Explorer was put on discount almost the day after being released at stores like Walmart, well before any solid sales data could be established. It's likely that these discounts may reflect less on the sales of the item in question and more that regional brick and mortar retailers lacked confidence in the item's ability to sell even before it came out. Keep in mind this is all speculation- perhaps we're all wrong and the sales were part of a 90th anniversary sales technique, or the GE may have been intended as a loss leader or something else along those lines. Ultimately the only people who can truly determine this are the ones who set sales expectations for sets like, Barracuda Bay, and the Castle in the first place, and it's rare we ever get access to information like that.

I really like this model! The little details really make it. From the techniques used for the corrugated metal sides and locking gear on the outside, to the shape of the furniture on the inside- particularly the messy bed sheets and the art piece, very nice. Overall, there's a simple, elegant beauty to this one. Excellent work!

My understanding is that, at present, the Bricklink designer program acts as a sort of catch-all to produce projects that could have gotten through on ideas but didn't, and also as a sort of low-end alternative for fans to get models officially distributed that can't be done on the ideas site. They sort of act in tandem, serving two related areas. Otherwise, it's likely just that Lego wants to drive fan engagement as much as possible, and the designer program can reach a group that ideas doesn't. To try and stay on topic- I agree that the new Monkie Kid multipack bag seems like it has a lot of elements that would be great for decorations. Would be great to see 'em adorning a fancy throne room or treasury for sure.

These are all very impressive! I really enjoy the style of your mechs, and the articulation seems great too. Can't wait to see more of your mechs in the future!

Wow! The details on this are incredible. I really like how the torso area's shaping was achieved, as well as the thrusters on the back. Excellent work!

This is aimed at Sheps as well, but- since you both mentioned the price of the forestman's hat, I decided to look up what the price of that piece has been over the years. I've bought it every time it's been available, and there has been a gradual increase in prices over the years even before the new system was in place. In 2018, the dark green hat was $0.78 USD; in 2020, the light gray hat was $0.87; at the start of this year, the blue one was $0.88; and of course the current price for all forestman hats including the green one is $1.03. Of course, in the early days of PaB prices of the same pieces in different colors were different, so the regular green hat in 2017/18 could have been different from the dark green hat. But it just goes to show that this particular piece has undergone price increases in the past, and there was at least one that's comparable to the current increase, even if the current increase beats the past biggest increase by 6 cents.

Browsed the new pieces that landed yesterday and it seems that a few already had the "sold out" label early on in NA. For instance, the 88489 forestman hat and several other specialty pieces. Does anyone know if they actually were up, then sold out, or if they're just not available yet? Like, was anyone able to get the forestman hat, or the dark red hood, or any of the other pieces that said "sold out" yesterday?

I've read that in the 80s and early 90s, there would often be individual sets that would be released only in certain countries but not in others, usually as promos or parts of value packs. Starting in the mid 90s, there were also supposedly entire themes or subthemes that were exclusive to one region and not available in others- but finding out what was available where is difficult, as documentation on the matter seems to be lacking. From what I've gathered, a partial list of themes/subthemes/waves that were allegedly regionally exclusive includes: Unitron (1994) Dark Forest (1996) RoboForce (1997) Outback (1997) Pirates last wave (1997) Aquaraiders (1997) Football (1998) Adventurers Jungle (1999) What I've read is things like "Unitron was only sold in North America" and "The Outback subtheme was available in Europe and NA, but not Asia/Australia", but no one ever seems to be able to agree on what was sold where. So to clear things up, does anyone remember which 90s themes were or weren't regionally available, and in what countries they were released in?

I called in asking a similar question recently and the representative said the service would be back up towards the end of the month.

While looking through some of the new pieces on PaB, I found some that I couldn't identify. They don't have images on the site, and their numbers don't seem to match any entries on Brickset or Bricklink. Here's the info from the site: "Mini Hair W. Crown" 6359858/75872 (Sand Green) "Mini Wig W/ Hat No. 1" 6407462/86085 (Reddish Brown) Would anyone be able to identify them?

In my copies of the sets, only the Trouble on Tatooine set had the higher visor position. All my sets from the summer wave onwards, even the forge and advent calendar, had the lower position. I ordered two replacement helmets from customer service and both of them had the old, higher visor position instead. I suspect TLG is aware of the helmet error and is fixing it as a running change. So in the meantime, our best bet for getting fixed helmets is getting them directly from Lego for now.

@Flak Maniak and others: if you want the Cyber Drone head (6329386), you might want to check the site again, because it looks like it just became available.

I can confirm that it was available as of a week or two back. I'd been considering an order with it, but decided I'd place it later. Kinda regret that now, as you might imagine

I just ran that description through a translator, and supposedly it says something along the lines of: So that weird thing in Batman's hands is the Phantom Zone Projector! Woah. That Phantom Zone polybag makes a lot more sense now, huh.

@Robert8: According to CM4Sci, the Catwoman set is 70902:

@mbqui1: Someone (Delta, I think) said there's gonna be a Riddler's car set, with all the figures Falconfan1414 mentioned above . So far it seems like every villain in Arkham will be in a regular-wave set; and keep in mind we still don't know what's in the summer wave (consisting of two sets, if the rumor that there will be 15 sets total for the movie is true), so we can't count any of the rogues out yet, not even Two-Face. Speaking of the set list, I've been keeping tabs on the rumors, and want to address this: This helps put a few of the rumors in perspective, thanks! A few notes: The Batmobile is misplaced here. According to the NYCC setup, it's set 70905, not 70907. The price of 70905 on the list is also much more in line with what we know, especially when you compare it with 70906. As you said before, 70902 is likely the $20 Catwoman set. We're still not sure what 70900 is, aside from the rumors of it possibly containing a Joker variant. 70903 and 70904 are the same price. It's possible these are the Clayface and Killer Croc sets mentioned earlier. The $20 Scarecrow set doesn't appear to be on this list (as there's only two with that pricepoint present), so it's probably one of the January release sets, and will likely be an exclusive in the US along the lines of the Arkham set. So with that said, there are only two unaccounted-for Nov/Jan wave sets- the Riddler's car, and the Penguin's car. Personally, given the leak of the Riddler fig, I'm willing to believe the Riddler car set gets an earlier release (and isn't an exclusive in the US). Keep in mind that for the Lego Movie line we also had a one figure leak- the wrestler, from the Lord Business Hideout set. We didn't physically see anything from the retailer exclusive sets until later. Let's see if the pattern holds. On an unrelated note, there are rumored elements currently unaccounted for on most lists- those being a Comissioner Gordon fig, an Eraser fig, and a Batcycle build being present in these sets. Will they be present in the winter wave(s), or the summer waves? Guess we'll have to see!

Robert8: That's why I'm mainly asking for clarification. It's possible that some of these are the same set, but they've been presented as otherwise so far. A little more info could clear up any doubts we have. After all, we wouldn't want to get fooled again like that one time with the Bane's drill set, right?

Alright, hold up guys. Someone might be pulling our leg here. There’s only supposed to be 10 initial sets, and yet we’ve somehow got info on 12 of them, all allegedly from the winter wave! Let's get a quick refresh on what our sources are saying: According to Hulk_Smash: There’s going to be a CMF series with 20 figures, mostly batman variants and with some lady representatives. He also says that none of these figures are in sets. A Penguin's car set, featuring the new penguin mold as his minions. There’s going to be a cheap set with Mr. Freeze. Another cheap set with the Joker. There's a set with Catwoman on a bike. And finally we’re getting a Batcave with Alfred in it. Sir von Lego, in the DC 2017 thread, confirms that there are gonna be 10 sets for the first half of the year, and also corroborates Hulk_Smash in that there will be a batcave, small sets, and that the minifigs in the CMF line won’t be in sets, adding that all larger sets have about 4-8 minifigs in them and that there’s a vehicle that looks like a bat (likely the Batwing seen in the trailers, which looks like a bat from a top-down perspective), as well as implying that there will be a “feminine Gordon” in the CMF series. That last line probably means Barbera or her mother, although we have no confirmation that the mom appears in the movie. She typically has red hair like her daughter, and no character with that appearance has shown up yet, despite the one scene with Ms. Gordon being a ball/award scene of some kind with her father close at hand. According to Captain Unicorn, Delta Customs’ source, there’s gonna be: A $100+up Arkham set, with 12 figures, including a Barbera Gordon(!). A Batcave set, with a place for suits, the computer, a Batboat, and a Penguin Boat, plus roughly five or six figures. The small Mr. Freeze set. The Batwing; claims that Ivy is an included figure. A Killer Croc set, with swamp bits and the red pickup truck you can see in the trailer. A set with Clayface and the mayor. A set with Riddler’s car and other assorted villains. Notably also claims not to know what's in the summer wave. Now, some of this echoes what we’ve heard from other sources. But taken all together, we now have descriptions for 12 sets, which is at least two more than what Hulk_Smash and Sir von Lego have confirmed. In addition, a Barbera Gordon figure is alleged to come in the Arkham set despite Sir von Lego's implication of her being in the CMF. So let’s go over all the sets that we’ve heard of, confirmed and rumored: Official: 70605 The Batmobile 70606 The Joker’s Notorious Lowrider Hulk_Smash: Penguin Car set Mr. Freeze set Cheap Joker set Catwoman Bike Batcave Sir von Lego: The Batwing Captain Unicorn: Arkham Asylum Killer Croc Swamp set Clayface set Riddler Car set 12 sets in total. See what I mean? Delta Customs, I have nothing against you or your source, but this isn’t adding up, and I’m a little concerned. Maybe it’s all a misunderstanding of some sort. Could you perhaps ask for a little more clarification from your source? For the TL;DR crowd: See second sentence, above; there are some inconsistencies in the info we’ve been given here that aren’t all in line. Let’s try not to jump to conclusions, though, and ask for more information first and foremost.

CM4Sci, you might be onto something there! I checked USA Today's coverage of the news against /Film's, and it turns out there's more than just the Robin image that's different. Weirder still is that other outlets tend to have only one or the other's set- Gizmodo, for instance, has the USA Today version, while Collider has the /Film ones. There's too many sites to check so I can't be sure, but that seems to be the main difference, from what I saw. Also worth noting is that /Film's images seem to be the original size unmodified pics. Look at all the details you can see that are either out of frame or cut out in USA Today's article (among them the Joker's license plate, BG detail that makes it clear that they're in an industrial area, and even an entire extra car!). You can also see a bit more of the back of the Batmobile in the Robin closeup shot too.

Pharaoh's Quest was actually released back in 2011. I think five or so years is enough time for a valid reboot. : P For what it's worth I'd love to see an Adventurer's reboot myself, especially if they keep some of the old characters- I mean, Johnny Thunder was pretty prominent in pretty much every medium The Lego Movie was in, but that might just a pipe dream on my part. I'd also like to see the return of a full-on Forestman castle subtheme too, or dragon knights come to think of it. Otherwise I echo what's been said about an in-house western theme and especially some sort of new 'classic' space/Blacktron theme.

I doubt Lego would wait that long. Luke being in Episode 7 is a big deal; if he's not in a set, then he'll at least be in a polybag sometime next year for sure.

At the time, it was more about spoilers. Videos of the story clips were being leaked before the game came out, and Sakurai (the director) was upset that people were basically able to watch content that had taken his team a lot of effort to produce without actually buying the game itself. What we get now is something of a compromise; instead of a good chunk of memory space being devoted to adding in a whole story-based adventure, we get other new modes instead, like the Master Orders, 8-player, and Smash Tour mode, in addition to returning modes from previous games (like All-Star or Challenges, to name just a few). The other half of that is: we're still getting special professionally-produced videos showing the characters interacting (in the form of the character reveals and videos awarded for clearing Classic), and they'll be viewable in the game as well. So really, we're definitely getting at least as much, if not more content- it's just in different ways than the last game.

If there are second turns I'd be happy to take part. And, while I'm here: the model is coming along nicely! All the little details and small touches from various turns are really starting to add up now. I'm sure the end result is going to look amazing!