Tyrant

Well, the Blacksmith and the Dragon Knight might have had a disagreement about the price of the weapons when the Dragon Knight decided, after seeing the finished weapons of course, that the price of "free, or I stab you" had a nice ring to it and the Blacksmith opted to take his chances with the latter of those choices.

Well, like I said the torso replacements were correctly colored (and they have been right in all of the sets I have bought lately too). It was just the barding, as far as the replacements. So, I was just wondering if correct ones actually exist. And, apparently they do. I'm wondering if I should contact them again? Also, someone mentioned the other barding in the large castle. I bought 3 of that set and they were all fine in the ones I got.

This is related to the pink/white issue that the Kingdoms sets had. I have 3 of the Prison Tower Rescue sets. The barding for the horses in all 3 have that pinkish tint to them (the squares along the bottom that should be white). I contacted LEGO about replacements (mainly for the torsos on the figures), but when they arrived the horse barding pieces were the same pinkish color (torsos were fine). So, I guess my question is does anyone out there actually have some that are white and I somehow got old stock from LEGO, or are they all pink?

RE: New Weapons, I like them. I think they will add a nice level of variety. I intend to get quite a few of the blacksmith set so I will have enough to go around. I like the regular swords we have had for decades, but I like a little variety. At least to me, these don't seem as out of proportion as the troll swords or the giant, shiny broadsword.

While not a poll, there is a thread for ideas about future sets. It links to a similar thread from last year and I believe if you look through that thread a couple of suggestions may jump out as being fairly similar to what we are getting this year (though it could be a pure coincidence). As for how many I will buy of what, I'm leaning towards the following with adjustments made for the budget as necessary: 2-4 Village Raids, 1 Carriage (more if I find a use for them), at least 6 Prisons, at least 6 Blacksmiths. I will buy a few of these at retail, then when the fall sales hit (like buy 2 get 1 free at TRU) I will buy lots and lots.

My problem with selling on Ebay, generally speaking, is that the seller fees are creeping into outrageous territory. Bricklink may be a more specialized selling platform (which has it's up sides and down sides), but it is more or less a set it and forget it setup. I put things up for sale, and that's it. I am not charged until they sell, I can remove them or alter the price at a whim, etc. On Ebay, I have to hope that the week I put it up is the same week someone is looking to buy it. If it is not during their free listing deals, you have to pay something just to list it. If it were anything other than LEGO, I would give some thought to Ebay. But, since there is a well known (amongst the community) site set up with the primary purpose of buying and selling LEGO that has far friendlier rates I would stick with Bricklink when it comes to LEGO. The obvious exception is if for some reason a set, part, etc is selling for some extremely higher price on Ebay. As for the decision to buy the sets or not, if I saw them for that price I would buy a few more of them.

I'm in relative agreement. For me, the ideal set up would be a wave of naval centric sets. It will probably never happen but here is my ideal set up. A port-Reasonable large. It would have two longish peers for ships to come up and dock. It would come with one mid sized ship. A balista or catapult either on the end of one of the docks or on the shore section. It would need a building or two on shore to represent store houses or stores. A small fishing boat with fisherman would be a nice touch. A harbormaster and a couple soldiers for the landside portion along with a few men to crew the ship. Sea Fortress-This could go a couple different ways. One possibility is a lone fortress on an island that is implied to be guarding the port. Another is a mostly landside fortress with some overhang onto the water. I favor the former. I would picture this being primarily a tall tower sticking out of a smallish fortress on an island with a small dock and a small boat. Think a little smaller than the Black Falcon Fortress, but with a fairly tall tower to act as an observation tower. The fortress would feature a balitsa or catapult (or both) to defend the port. Maybe a pair of flags, one to signal that everything is okay and one to signal that hostile ships are approaching. A similar set up to this would also work if the fortress were meant to be a prison island. Military Ship-This will be an attack ship/troop transport. It would feature 1 or 2 balistas on the front. I figure this one could be about the size of the Troll Warship, but with more to the ship. It should come with several archers or crossbowmen. Perhaps a knight on horseback to lead the charge once they hit the docks and spill out. If they are going to keep using wizards, I could see them putting one here to imply that is there to throw lightning and fireballs, or put more wind in the sails. Smaller Multipurpose Ship-I'm thinking something along the lines of the Sea Serpent set. If possible, a little longer and a little wider (2-4 pegs for both). This could be sold as a treasure transport, but would easily double as a cargo ship or smaller troop transport. Fishing Boat-This one would be the small set of the bunch. Either use the one piece boats from the Pirates line, or make a brick built one of similar size. Nothing terribly fancy. The only real question is one fisherman or two. Could be expanded into a larger set by including a seaside shack for the fisherman. That could be interesting.

I think everyone is still too busy drooling over or criticising the new sets. The port set is probably just a pippe dream. I want there to be a few more Castle ships and I think that is the best shot. Something like the Troll ship is probably too big. I would prefer ships a little larger than the old Sea Serpent set. But, I can understand not wanting ships. Some interesting ideas there. I do hope that we see more civilian sets in the future and that this isn't just a 1 time thing. I like the idea of a cottage to help round out the farm. The toll house/booth could be an interesting idea. A fortification that has the road run between two towers, along with a wagon trying to pass through. Maybe a seperate rider on a horse and a tree or two. I've been considering trying to build something like that, only it will have lots of dark bley so the fortress will sit in a valley between two rock walls and all the traffic has to pass through it. I would love to see a large, detailed castle to replace the MMV when it is finally time for it to go. To avoid being a $300+ set, it can't be a huge castle (unless they go the unlikely route of releasing it in pieces). I think something like the Black Knight's Castle (decent sized, includes a gatehouse and a tower with tudor-style details) could be done in a more detailed fashion for $250 or less (hopefully less). The piece count would rise a great deal when the panels are replaced with bricks and I assume they wouldn't use a baseplate. On the smaller end, it could be something the size of, though not necessarily inspired by, the Black Falcon Fortress. I do think the line could handle another faction in 2012 or 2013. This year is a slim year so my hope is that next year is a bigger year. I think the large Dragon Castle is as close to a sure bet as it gets for that. Beyond that, I see no reason that the Lions could get a little less representation to have room for someone else. My preference is for either a new Black Falcons or a new Forestmen (or their less savory counterparts the Wolfpack). I would like to see a Tavern/Inn type set. We have that with the MMV and that might be enough. However, I wouldn't mind seeing one in the regular line. I am shocked at our relatively siege weapon free line up for later this year. If we see more siege weapons (what am I saying, when we see more siege weapons), I would like to see a trebuchet and/or larger siege towers. A battering ram should be simple enough (though a ram's head molded piece for the head of the ram would be great). Another general idea I would like to see become reality is to see less common castle designs. We have a number of square/rectangular castles, so let's see some with round towers or rounded walls. Maybe one with walls who meet at angles other than 90 degrees. A castle with some wooden/tudor type additions to break up the stone look. A sea fortress/observation post with a high tower for watching the sea. Basically, let's see some variety.

What piece are you talking about?

There is another thread, found here, on this topic but it has been several months since there was a reply so I thought it best to just start a new thread. We have new sets that we now know about so a fresh start might be better than threadomancy. Now we know what are getting this year (barring exclusives), so what else would we like to see at some point? Some of the 2011 sets resemble some of the ideas from the other thread (though that could be purely a coincidence). So who knows, someone at TLG may read this and use some of the ideas. Here are some of my ideas from the other thread for those who don't want to read through it: Large Castle for the Dragon Knights -This one's kind of obvious. With the Lion guys having a large castle the other side needs one as well. I assume the Prison Tower is an indication of the general style any other structure for the Dragon Knights will follow. I imagine it will be more along the lines of the Troll Fortress. The walls closer together and being generally smaller in ground coverage, but having taller towers. I imagine it will be primarily black with brown accents to presumably represent wood. This set would serve to supply a number of Dragon Knights, possibly a king (and who knows, maybe a queen as well), and maybe some barding. A Seaside Port/Fortress-This would be similar to the one with the Skeleton Ship. It could be more like a seaside port and focus on a couple of small buildings, a peer, and some smaller boats. Or, it could be more of a seaside fortress with a small dock. This one would have an opening for smaller boats instead of the typical front gate and feature mounted siege weapons to fight off enemy ships. If it were a larger set, it could feature a ship about the size of the Skeleton ship or a larger version of the older Sea Serpent. The other set of options are if the ships are friends or foes. If they're friends then the ships will be cargo ships and if they are foes the ships will be attack ships. A Castle Creator set. A real one in the $50-70 range, not the small one from last year. There are a lot of ways to go with it. The first thing is, like the Creator houses, it probably won't have any figures. This will help it have a high piece count for it's cost. Beyond that, it could be just about anything that had lots of bley bricks. If it stuck primarily with bricks, there is no reason it couldn't be a small castle, a tower, a stretch of high border wall or outer castle wall, etc. I don't believe making alternate models will be difficult. It would be an excellent source of lots of bley parts. It could also be used as a place to get parts like roofing tiles that aren't easy to come by, like this one, hopefully in black or in bley for the structure itself. It would also be easy to finally release this piece in bley as well in a set like this. The set could serve as an intro to more detailed Castle building and could possibly feature limited landscaping as well. An idea I have seen around here (though I can't find the posts) that I would support is a large tournament set. It would need a crowd stand (with a small crowd), possibly a king/queen/prince/princess looking on, a jester/entertainer or 3, and preferably at least 4 factions represented with a knight and squire along with a barded horse and shield with emblem. This would not be a cheap set obviously. I honestly never thought we would see a line up like what we are going to see later this year so I am not sure what I want now that a lot of desires are about to be met.

I think it would depend on how large the castle is. If it is like a more detailed version of the Black Falcon Fortress then I can't see it exceeding $150, but if it is a more detailed version of Black Knight's Castle that uses bricks and plates instead of the wall panels and baseplate then I can see that easily being in the $250 range. I think I would buy either one though. I think the odds of it happening depends on how well the MMV has sold and how well sets like the modular buildings are selling.

I had a store near me close right around Christmas. They seem to put everything in the store on sale, even the shelving. That store never had a lot of LEGO, so there wasn't much by the time I got to looking into it, but there were sets. I have another one near me that is closing. I called them today and was told that they won't be getting in any new material and that their last batch of send back material was being returned to the store. They indicated that none of their stock was being sent out, it is all going to be sold. They will start clearance on Saturday. As time progresses the percentage discount will increase, though the selection will obviously decline. If it is like the other store that closed a few months ago, they should still honor coupons, but they won't stack with the clearance. If you are a member of the higher level borders rewards, the 10% discount should stack with the clearance. The store near me took a month to really start moving product, for whatever that is worth. I'm going to check out the one near me this Saturday to grab a few things.

I'm not sure I follow you. The Forestmen got a number of sets and appeared in a few others. The Wolfpack was a little short. The dwarves may have been a little short (no pun intended), but the Trolls got several sets and they were the 4th faction. It's not an insurmountable issue. You phase from one to the other instead of throwing one away and having another take it's place. For instance, let's say they bring in either Forestmen in 2012. We will have a number of Dragon and Lion sets at that point, so the Forestmen can swing a small set ($10-$30). The big set will likely be a big castle for the Dragons. Have a mid range set ($40-$60) as a base of sorts for the Forestmen. Include a small Lion set ($10-$30) and a small civilian set. Throw a Forestman in the Lion set, the Dragon set, and the civilian set to give them a presence. So, something like this: 2012 Dragon Castle-Dragon King, Dragon Knight, Dragon Soldiers, Lion Knight, Lion Soldiers, Forestman (maybe a dragon too) $100 Forestman Hidden Base-Forestman "leader", Forestwoman, 2-3 Forestmen, Dragon Soldier or Knight (attacking) $40-$60 (probably the higher end) Lion Jail/Prison-2 Lion Soldiers, Forestman prisoner ($20-$30) Forestman Archery Range-2 Forestmen ($10-$15) Civilian Cart-Peasant, Forestman (highway robber) ($7-$10) Impulse-Forestman, Dragon Jester (face painted white with highlights, reversable head with smile on one side and frown on the other)/Lion Wizard That line up gets them in the door while still having the other two factions. Then in 2013 you go with something like this: 2013 Black Falcon Castle-King, Knight, Soldiers, Lion or Dragon attackers (or both), Forestman prisonser $100 Forestman Base-Several Forestmen, Black Falcon prisoner/attacker ($30-$50)-It doesn't make sense to me for the Forestmen to have a huge castle Black Falcon Tower-2 Black Falcon soldiers, 2 attackers (Lions, Dragons, Forestman, whoever) ($20-$25) Lion Wagon-Lion soldier, 2 attackers (Dragons, Black Falcons, or Forestman) ($10-$15) That's a way that you can cycle in new factions without tossing the old ones to the curb. Black Falcons were only an example. You could switch their castle for a smaller fortress and give the Forestmen a large forest/ruins base instead and then go for the big Falcon castle the following year.

I'm all for seeing the old factions again. I would argue that they are already doing that, so I am not sure why anyone is saying that they won't. We've seen some variation of lions what, 3 times now? 2 or 3 Dragon groups. 2 sets of Forestmen. I don't see any reason to believe there won't be another version of the Black Falcons at some point. I would like to see the Black Falcons get another shot. I would like the crest to remain unchanged, but I am not sure how likely that is. Beyond that, I welcome the color scheme again with new details like the belts and chain mail. New printed armor pieces and long shields. Maybe even horse barding finally. I would like to see a new version of the Forestmen as well. With them, there could be a greater departure of appearance because they are a ragtag group to begin with so uniformity is actually counter productive. They might not have barding or printed armor as that seems out of place. A reimagined Wolfpack would be nice as well. Maybe even the double axe guys so they can actually be their own faction and not just rolled into the crusaders/lions. I could live with it if we were talking a couple of token sets for each and some way to get the figures enmasse, but ideally we would see something more. I also support the idea of either a very large (think S&H exclusive large, bigger than the MMV) tournament set that brings back some of the old factions with barding, bigger shields, and printed euro armor, or perhaps a sub set within the Kingdoms theme.

Well if I needed convincing I don't anymore. Multiples of all the sets for me. Mill, I will buy as many of this one as I can to help fill out the civilian side of things -It looks like all 3 peasants have new prints -Pitchforks (finally) -New Horse color (finally), and printed blinders apparently -Goats -Chickens, in 2 colors -New colored pigs -Scale armored Dragon Guy (nice to see these in 3 of the 4 sets) -New parts for the windmill blades (I think they are new anyway) -Bucket Wall/Prison (can't remember the name, 7187), this one looks like the one for giving the Dragon army mounted knights -Finally a shot of the Dragon barding, and it looks awesome -Dark pearl gray visor helmet -Long Dragon shield -Dragon scale armored guy Carriage, this is the weakest of the bunch (in my opinion), but given the strength of the other sets it had a lot to live up to so it's like being the lowest rated world class hotel -The carriage does more solid than some in the past (nice to see it's enclosed) -New print on the horses for the harness -It's a scene and not just a carriage -Nice parts for the trees to use elsewhere -Scale armor Dragon guy (yes, I really like this torso) Blacksmith, awesome accesories set -New weapons, several of them -Dark pearl gray euro armor (with no print) -Chicken -Bucket -I think the Blacksmith has a new body, but I can't tell for sure

I'm still working out who is allied with who in my LEGO Castle universe. For me the big challenge is explaining why there are 2 Dragon factions and a number of Lion factions. I thought of 2 possible ways to go. MY first idea was (this mainly applies to the Lions) for them to be one Kingdom, but representing different territories. They have a king on top with local governors beneath him and the governors use a variation of the king's emblem (the Lion) to show that they are loyal to the king, but from different territories in the kingdom. My other idea (which might work better for the Dragons) was that they were one kingdom that split in two upon the death of the previous king and now his two sons each rule half of the old kingdom so they have created variations on the dragon design to distinguish their kingdoms and their forces. They may coexist peacefully (could be twins and the king couldn't decide who should rule after him), they could be somewhat hostile (maybe twins again, they fought over who should rule and grudgingly split the kingdom, for now), or openly hostile (they tried to kill each other and failed, so the army took sides and the kingdom split). Beyond those, I think I will end up with my Undead (skeletons, ghosts, vampires, maybe mummies) and the Orcs be allied. Since I only have a few Vladek soldiers, but I really like their castle, I thought about having them be over run and absorbed into the Undead/Orc army. I've got a vampire figure armored up and crowned to act as the vampire king to rule the undead army. My Crownies will be one faction (likely have allies though) due to sheer size (I believe I have 150 or so Crownie soldiers). The Dwarves are mostly with the Crownies, but I will probably get some more stub legs and beards to put them in a few of the other factions as well. Most of my other factions are seperate entities. My biggest problem is that I don't have a ton of the pre Fantasy figures. Either my Crusaders or Black Falcons are my biggest "classic" faction but I don't think I have 50 of either one. I mixed the scale armored guys and the generic armor torso guys into various factions depending on their color scheme. So, here's how I break them down in terms of figures and alignment/alliances Black Falcons-Generic Black Falcon guys, generic armor chested guys (blue chest, blue or black arms), generic scale armored guys (blue torso, blue or black arms). I am unsure where they will fall on the alignment spectrum. I ultimately want a lot more of them to show that they are noticeable military force. I think some of elven armor pieces from Brickforge look good with the Black Falcon color scheme, so I am considering saying that they are a mix of humans and elves. Crusaders-Old Lion and Double Axe guys (though I have no clue how to explain the double axe guys), generic armor guys (red torso, blue arms), and generic scale armor guys (red torso, blue arms). They are good aligned and somehow allied with the other Lion factions. Forestmen-Forestmen and Dark Forestmen, maybe the Robin Hood collectible figure as a leader. These guys are basically Robin Hood and his Merry Men. They tend to prefer to fight the evil factions while the good factions turn a blind eye to them. They also oppose the Wolfpack. Wolfpack-Wolfpack guys, maybe some generic armor guys (black torso, black arms) to represent the better armed members. They are a gang of criminals and former soldiers (maybe some of Vladek's guys who escaped) who have banded together to raid and do occasional mercenary work. They oppose whoever they are paid to oppose, aside from whoever they are raiding at any given moment. Orcs/Undead-All Orcs, Skeletons (white and black from the Fantasy line, white ones built via PAB with the more evil looking skull, maybe some of the Ninjago skeletons), Ghosts, Vampires, figures cibbles together from bits and pieces to represent liches and a Vampire King, Vladek soldiers (some with skull heads to represent being reanimated), generic scale armored guys (red torso, black arms, skull heads) as bodyguards for the Vampire King, the Red Wizard, other Red Wizard bodies with different heads to represent apprentices, maybe some random figures with zombie and skull heads to represent enemy soldiers that were raised to fight again. The Orc King rules the Orcs with the Witch as his second, the Evil Wizard and his apprentices provide magic (along with the liches) and help reanimate the corpses, the Vampire King rules the whole lot. Orcs and skeletons make up most of the army. At some point they conquered Vladek's territory and killed Vladek. Afterwards they absorbed what they could of Vladek's army. The Vampire King knows they can keep replenishing the army because orcs reproduce fast and corpses can be reseurrected to fight for him, but he's immortal so there's no huge rush. Evil and trying to conquer or kill everyone else. They also have a dragon or two (the newer black and red ones). Collectively my largest army at somewhere over 300 figures. Crownies-All Crownie guys, some dwarves. They are good aligned and willing to align with other factions, mainly to fight the Undead hordes. They have a dragon (the newer green one). My Crownie army is somewhere around 150 figures. Dragon Factions-Dragon Master guys, Kingdoms Dragon guys, euro armored guys with visored helmets featuring dragon add ons. They are in a morally gray area because they are enemies of the Lion factions, but not outright evil like the Undead/Orcs. They have a few dragons (the older green ones, not sure about the black ones yet) on their side too. New Lions-New Lion guys. Allied with the Crusaders, generally good, enemies of the Dragons. Others I want to try to find a place for but haven't settled on anything yet: Aliens-Various non human heads from Space Police 3 (that would be put on Castle figures, except maybe Squidman). I want to use them to represent other non human races aside from the Orcs, Dwarves, and Elves. Sea People-Sea guys from the Atlantis line. They would be a sea based faction (obviously) that would either attack coastal settlements or ships, or use their own ships. Maybe they are a Lovecraft-esque under sea cult (like from the Shadow Over Insmouth) with the squid guys being the leaders. Crystal Monsters-Crystal Monster guys from Power Miners. These guys would either be monsters that fight the Dwarves down in the mines, or they would launch surprise attacks from underground by randomly erupting through the ground. My modified, 2 headed Crystal King is either their leader or their engine of destruction (or both I suppose). I have about 30 or so of these guys. Centaurs-These will be made with the custom parts from Brickforge once I get around to buying some of them. I have no idea who they will be allied with. I will either use the torsos of an existing faction for their upper bodies, or some custom ones with their sticker sheets.

I like how the possibilities for little Timmy's alternative activities are two relatively harmless activities (all things considered), and cannibalism.

For whatever it's worth, don't expect the same kind of movie from the other Coen Bros. movie that is in the same vain as Westerns (even though it takes place today), No Country for Old Men. While that movie is also quite good (in my opinion) it is very nihilistic. Depending on what you liked about it, some other Westerns that are among the better ones I have seen are Tombstone, Silverado, and Pale Rider. Honorable mention to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But I haven't watched a ton of Westerns (not a single John Wayne movie) so take that for what you will. Those movies aren't big on humor, for instance (though they have their moments). I also recently watched True Grit and I thought it was pretty good. I was surprised that the Coen Bros made a PG 13 movie since most of the recent movies have been R (I think), but there were still the scenes of sudden and graphic violence that I have come to expect from them and it wasn't toned down as much as I thought it would be (the cabin scene).

Updated after sucessful trade with Tung T Le I have the following figures for trade: Series 1 -Cowboy (loose) Series 2 -Weight Lifter (sealed) -Weight Lifter (loose) -Disco Guy (sealed) -Spartan (sealed) x4 Series 3 -Gorilla Suit Guy (loose) Looking for (can be loose, so long as complete), using a dot system to denote importance (more dots=more important): Series 1 -Zombies (several) *** -Robots (several) *** -Cheerleaders (2-3) ** -Space Guys (several) ** Series 2 -Traffic Cops (1-2) * -Pharaoh (2) ** -Pop Singer (1) * -Mime (1-2) * Series 3 -Elves (several) **** -Samurai (2-3) * -Mummies (several) ** -Hula Girl (2-3) * Obviously there is more on my wants than on my haves. I just wanted to be thorough in case someone had some hodgepodge of what I was after. If I have something you are looking for and you don't have anything on my wants list, I am also looking for older (from Fright Nights on back, Vladek/Scorpion soldiers are an exception) Castle figures and some Star Wars figures (Imperials and some Jedi). Likewise, I have other figures to try to sweeten any deal as necessary. Located in U.S. and I prefer to trade in the U.S. (I might change my mind for a good deal, so fire away).

I'm glad we can put the "Kingdom's isn't returning" speculation to rest. The sets look nice to me. It's nice to see that the Dragon Knights get mounted guys and horse barding (and maybe the visored helmet in their new dark gray like their weapons). The blacksmith set is very promising with the new weapons, the bucket, and a civilian in what looks to be a pretty cheap set. The new animals are nice too. The carriage is the only one I have to consider getting more than one of, the rest I will get in multiples. Since the windmill appears to be a retail set, I wonder if we are getting a new MMVesque set as an exclusive this year? Or if any retailers have any exclusives? TRU had 2 in the Fantasy line so it's not out of the question.

I have the following figures for trade: Series 1 -Caveman (sealed) -Ninja (loose) -Cowboy (loose) Series 2 -Weight Lifter (sealed) -Weight Lifter (loose) -Lifeguard (sealed) -Disco Guy (sealed) -Spartan (sealed) x5 Series 3 -Gorilla Suit Guy (loose) -Tennis Woman (loose) Looking for (can be loose, so long as complete), using a dot system to denote importance (more dots=more important): Series 1 -Zombies (several) *** -Robots (several) *** -Cheerleaders (2-3) ** -Space Guys (several) ** Series 2 -Witch (1-2) * -Traffic Cops (2-3) * -Pharaoh (2) ** -Pop Singer (1) * -Mexican (1-2) * -Mime (2-3) * Series 3 -Elves (several) **** -Samurai (2-3) * -Mummies (several) ** -Hula Girl (2-3) * Obviously there is more on my wants than on my haves. I just wanted to be thorough in case someone had some hodgepodge of what I was after. If I have something you are looking for and you don't have anything on my wants list, I am also looking for older (Fright Nights on back, Vladek/Scorpion soldiers are an exception) Castle figures and some Star Wars figures (Imperials and some Jedi). Likewise, I have other figures to try to sweeten any deal as necessary. Located in U.S. and I prefer to trade in the U.S. (I might change my mind for a good deal, so fire away).

Well, I use some of the impulses for army building or to get some part or another that is in them in real numbers. So, for me, the more variety the better.

I've never read the other bios, but I started reading through these. The Space Villain mentions numerous past Space series in his bio. I see references for Futuron, Spyrius, Insectoid, and MTron along with him being a Blacktron member. No mention of Ice Planet though. The Elf seems to reference the old map picture that lead lots of people to believe that elves were going to be another faction in the Castle Fantasy line, while seeming to blend in with Kingdoms as well. The Space Alien write up sounds like a SciFi Channel comedy in the making.

I hear the same thing at Wal Mart. LEGO isn't cheap (obviously I mean relative to other things in the U.S., on a global level it is cheap here) no matter what (obviously barring a sale or clearance, but we're talking MSRP so those don't matter) and the fact is there is a cheap clone brand (or brands, as the case may be) right next to it in most stores. I would also note that the TRU nearest to me has shelves that would be almost barren if they didn't have some 2011 sets on them right now. Just to be clear on my stance, I don't pay the inflated TRU price unless I absolutely have to. I try to plan my purchases so I can grab things during sales (there and elsewhere). I am not most buyers (draw whatever conclusions you want from that about the state of the buying public). If people are in disagreement about the pricing, the smart thing to do is look elsewhere not just give up and not buy anything. They may end up not buying anything if they can't find it elsewhere, but they will likely learn something along the way about being an educated and/or patient shopper.

Businesses exist to make money, not be nice. That is a terrible law, unless you have a number of other government controls in place covering numerous other price factors (rent, utilities, labor, property taxes, advertising, etc). Every business has different expenses and different issues they have to deal with. Trying to make every one the same is a futile enterprise. If you have a law like that there are only a handful of outcomes in the long run. Either the store cuts other expenses (likely labor) so they can afford to sell the products, or they convince the company to raise the MSRP which hurts everyone because other stores will raise their prices if they can get away with it, or they choose to not carry the products and you have fewer options on where to buy. None of those is a positive change. Especially when in this case you are talking about sticking it to 1 store that no one is forced to shop at to begin with. If people don't like the prices at TRU they can shop some place else. Holding everyone, by law, to the MSRP is bad for speciality stores (which translates to being bad for people who like options or who have hobbies that aren't easily supported by Wal Mart, like people who prefer a diversity of LEGO sets for instance). Wal Mart would love that law as it would help deliver the finishing blow to it's local and sppeciality competition. The flip side to consider is this, if they can regulate a price ceiling what is stopping them from instituting a price floor as well? Say, MSRP for instance? If they can enforce one, they can enforce the other. Also, don't think that inflated MSRPs can't exist either. Look at the MSRP for DVDs sometime. The MSRP for Inception is $29. I'm glad no one reinforces anything related to that price (except Borders sometimes, which I will never understand). I understand that other options may not exist around the holidays. This will sound cold hearted, but that's why you don't wait until the holidays to buy toys. Sure, there are lots of sales during the holidays, but there are also lots of other people trying to buy the same thing you are (more so if it's on sale). Don't be upset at TRU for trying to keep their doors open. Be upset at either your other stores not ordering enough stock or for TLG not having enough stock for S@H. When you wait you end up in a "beggars can't be choosers" situation. It's not pretty or nice, but it's the way the world works. I am glad that the OP was able to get a great deal from the Craigslist guy. The only deal I have ever managed to seal from Craigslist was pretty good for me. As for the overall anti TRU sentiment I see here and elsewhere, I just don't get it. No one is forced to shop there. If you are there, I assume it is because you are after something you can't find any place else. So, consider if TRU simply wasn't an option (a likely possibility if they can't charge over MSRP). Then where would you go? Nowhere, that's where. TRU is a speciality store and can't compete with a store like Wal Mart that can take cost hits for years if they succeed in killing their competition. TRU sells one thing (more or less, they do dabble in movies and games), toys. Their selection is greater than any chain store. They have exclusives that we would otherwise not likely have. They have a frequent buyer club (even if it is on the terrible side most of the time). They get sets before other stores (and usually charge MSRP for the first few weeks that they are exclusive). They bought into the collectible figures while the other stores weren't sold on the idea. They have decent sales (better than anything you will see at Wal Mart or S@H, short of clearance). They are an overall positive force in our shared hobby, so I just don't get the dislike. If it's around the holidays, you may be hard pressed to find another option. However, if they charged MSRP like everyone else, isn't it just as likely that they too would be sold out and you would be left with no options instead of an option you don't consider perfect. Which is better, an imperfect option or no options?