Faefrost

Not necessarily. I keep going back to that great business lecture about Lego, how they nearly fell in the early 2000's, and how they rose again. The one thing that stuck was when he described how in 2002 only Star Wars, City and Harry Potter made money... And how Harry Potter only made money in the years it had a corresponding movie. That's the key. If there is another PotC movie in the pipeline, Lego will see more profit from sitting on the license for a year or so, then releasing more stuff to tie with it, than they would from releasing off year waves to sit on shelves. But this all depends on how well the last waves of PotC did? If they didn't do great than Lego may simply move on and let the license expire. But I suspect that even with license costs the PotC line was more profitable than the 2009 line.

The Old Republic is possible but unlikely. Disney seems to be more looking to tune the property for a streamlined introduction to the next generation of films. They want ease of accessibility. While TOR is a great era, there is literally no familiar reference points for most of the billion fans of the movies. At least beyond Sith and Jedi. Something in the main timeline is way more likely. The Legacy Era has the problem that that is pretty much where ep VII will have to be sitting if they will be using Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carries Fisher etc.

The announcement was specifically regarding Lucas Animation, so we know the new show will be animated. And given Disney's ownership and interests it will almost certainly be on one of the Disney Channels. Most likely DisneyXD. The only alternative might be ABCFamily.

I think there may be an option "C" in the mix for 2014. Take note of the Lucasfilms official statement about the animation stuff. "As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming. We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come. As part of this shift, we have also made some key decisions affecting Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Detours." In other words... TCW isn't being Cancelled. It's being REPLACED. So assume that we will be getting a good push for sets based on this new series and time period. My speculation would be either "early empire, rise of Darth Vader" type series set between eps III and IV or an early post "fall of the empire" series that will establish some of the connecting from the 30 years between ep VI and the new movies. I tend to think it will be more the second choice. Remember Mark Hamill has long reinvented himself as oneof the worlds best voice actors. Luke Skywalker as an animated character is a no brainer.

Let's be honest with ourselves. TCW had to end. It had an inerrant problem of the limited timespan between ep II and III. I can't see Disney not doing a new show to help drive eyeballs and excitement to the new movies, and to drive eyeballs to one of their channels. But probably something a little more focused around the OT time period. Either between III and IV or just post VI. There may also be licensing issues involved. Disney may be moving away from or shutting done things that did not originate on or are closely associated with networks or sources other than their own. TCW and Detours both have heavy WB underpinnings. 1313 just didn't seem Star Wars. Looked more like a bad Mass Effect clone. Here's hoping that they don't simply cancel, but replace it with something awesome.

Would that include a Lumpy and an Art Carney minifig?

I don't think we will get the ghosts, and not because of the trans clear minifig issues. The problem will be the sets minifig budget. The ghosts eat up 3 Minifigs, for characters that appear for roughly 5 seconds and have no real play value. An Ewok village already would have such a high demand for other figs that squeezing in the 3 ghosts will be difficult. You need the 3 primaries, Han, Leia, Luke. You need C3PO. You need 2 or 3 Ewoks. You need a few Stormtroopers and Scout Troopers. That is a huge minifig budget for a set. Unless this is a truly HUGE set on par with the Death Star I don't think they will go with three Minifigs just for collectors. We have a better chance of seeing a single Obi Wan ghost fig in a new Wampa Cave or Dagobah set. At least in those scenes their is some interaction with the ghost, so some play value.

It depends. I don't think that they have the flexibility with the Disney licenses that they have with the WB LotR license. As we saw with the CuuSoo Modular Western Project, Disney has some fairly strong no competing products clauses in their licenses. Lego most likely has two active Disney Pirate themed licenses. One targeted very young, Jake and the Pirates Duplo, and one PotC geared older. PotC may be inactive at the moment, but we don't know that the license is finished. We will not see any true Lego in house Pirates until that one has formally and legally expired.

Wonderful little MOC instantly recognize able. Now we just need Sheriff Bart and the Waco Kid Minifigs.

How exactly would you go about shipping it?

I can't see the Simpsons being a direction they would go in now. Not because of any adult humor, but more because of the age of the property. Yeah it still has a following, but Bart isn't driving toy sales these days. The kids that grew up on the Simpsons are 40 now. Granted it might simply be an easy inexpensive license that goes along with other Fox properties. (Maybe Xmen movie or Fantastic Four movie sets?)

Fascinating as always. The yellowing effect of Lego bricks over time is not really a QC issue or defect, nor is it something that Lego has a lot of control over. It is caused by the flame retardant chemical that is added to the ABS (which in turn is mandated by safety regulations). There isn't much in Legos production process or in user care and handling of the bricks that can effect it.

Has there been any confirmation that Disney XD will be getting season 6? Ahsoka's departure was both powerful, and one of the single most illuminating moments in the entire Star Wars saga. It more than anything explains why the Jedi order not only fell, but literally had to fall at that time. Ahsoka in essence walked away from an abusive and controlling relationship. Through Ahsoka's struggles since her introduction it has been clearer and cleaer that the Jedi were not living up to the image that they sought. That whole ending where the council basically told her 'It's ok babe. WE forgive YOU for all of this. You can come back to US." was amazing in how wonderfully uncomfortable it was. Oh and it was a brilliant answer to the Ahsoka problem, should Season 6 never see the light of day, or morph into something else. Ahsoka has always had to be the worst case for those running and writing the show. Especially given the rumored Lucas mandate that everyone not in IV V and VI needs to be dead or well off the board by the end. Ahsoka has in many ways been the POV character. The viewers have watched her grow from a child to the warrior that she is. To just shoot her in the back during Order 66 would have been an unconscionable scene on par with the RotS death of Padme. Just the sort of thing that totally ticks off the fans for little to no dramatic or story benefit. Insteaf they now have the option to move her off the board. She's not a Jedi. She's out of it. Until they choose to bring her back in. Even going so far as ep VII.

It may simply be a huge architectural type set for the advanced builder. Just a big highly detailed black tower. No detailed interior and no figs. Like how some of the non minifig scale and UCS items are.

Man Bat is a surprise. The MF molds are great for him. Killer Croc would really be more or less just the printing style from Chima. In most representations he does not have the full Croc's snout. If anything they would use that croc head piece for Leatherhead over in the TMNT. One thing that may effect the use of some of what we view as non licensed parts in licensed sets. I am beginning to more and more suspect that there are actually 3 tiers or categories of licensing. Not the two (licensed and non licensed) that we normally assume. I think there is a newer third category of "internal Lego license". Things like Ninjago, Chima and Bionacle. While an internal product, at least some character specific parts will be treated as licensed for the duration of the theme. We probably will not see any specific head pieces used cross theme in these cases.

I wish my German was good enough to follow along with those :(

/Sigh! We need one of these in White now http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=30381 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I84VBoGrdoI I cannot unsee an Assasin Creed's hooded dude minifig swinging between my pirate ships now

CuuSoo just officially posted the qualifiers for the Spring Review. http://legocuusoo.posterous.com/check-out-the-lego-cuusoo-spring-review-quali Sadly no word yet on Fall or Winter results. Kind of an interesting mix this go round. Right now my money is leaning towards the massive Technics Land Rover. I think Lego CuuSoo would love to give some true attention to the more in house specialty branches. Not simply common pop culture licenses.

Well yes. CuuSoo is not simply a MOC showplace. It as a true real professional pitch of your project. Presentation counts. And before the Nintendnuts start waving their angry little fists of Zelda fueled indignation, take a closer look at the new BttF train figs. They look great and help sell the idea. Yet those custom parts are ultimately completely superfluous to an actual production project. Those 4 figs can easily be made to an acceptable and presentable level using parts found in the new Lone Ranger sets mixed with some creative printing. Achieving the look of the BttF Minifigs is a problem that has multiple solutions. The problem with Zelda is not simply that the project proposal featured a new mold, but that neither the project creator nor the Lego design team could find an alternate solution that did not require a new mold, that would still achieve the required look. This is why CuuSoo does not disallow projects that ask for or propose new minifig elements. But any that actually require the new elements will probably fail review.

Are there any markings on them? There are some parts that legitimately do not have the logo. But there are also a lot of clones and knock offs on eBay. Bricklink dealers are normally pretty good about that. And the parts can be matched to their database.

It always blows my mind how you get so much texture and depth to your ground and terrain effects. And that water is just astonishing.

Call me old school, but I think the 2011 Supes looks way way better than the new movie one. I just hate the way the new costume just seems to be trying so hard to draw the eye to his crotch. Who designed that suit, Joel Shumacher?

The Revolutionary Soldier is just perfect for Piraty stuff, either as is or parted out (That wig!). I think he Medusa has some good possibilities if you are playing around in a Fantasy'ish PotC type environment of Mermaids, Ghost Pirates and classic sea monsters. Kind of a classic Sea Hag. For the more historically minded, this new Native American Warrior is a much better match for the Eastern North American Natives that would be appropriate for Pirate MOC's. just will look funny if you attempt to army build them. The Xena Warrior Woman, Roman, Sea Captain have great faces and heads for pirate stuff. The Sea Captain in particular would look great in a Captain or Admirals uniform.

The Spider Cycle is actually a quite good set for the price. Almost worth it for the figs alone. Spiderman (ok kinda common now) Venom (A great fig) and Nick Fury ( :wub: ). The "Spider Cycle" is soso better for what it is than most of the batcycles, but not much better. Whereas Nick Fury's car is a great little build in every way. Arkham is a wonderful set, just very very expensive. And I like most wish there was more depth to the building.

I'm jealous. I still need to get this one. Oh well maybe if the tax return comes this week. And yeah, I find about 1 wood grain board to every 4 or 5 normal brown ones does a good job of giving it the feel. It also helps to force the visual trick a bit to put a couple off set close to the point where your eyes are looking in. So if your eyes pass over the wood grain tiles while looking at the rest they sort of auto complete the image in your head.