Faefrost

The Military vehicles dance a fine line with Lego. It sorta has to be an "future tank" kind of thing, preferably colored in Blue for shield to get around their desire to not make modern military subjects. (Or at least none in Military colors and aspects. Lego City Fire Services seems to sport some disturbingly heavy duty vehicles of destruction, just painted red).

You are right we have seen pretty much no AotC sets in ages. What few we have seen are things that also cross over with TCW. Stuff like the Gunship (and yeah I know they aren't quite the same) and Dooku's solar sailer. So we should be due for some stuff. I' m betting an ATTE as it once again has TCW crossover, a Jango Fett Slave I, and a redo of the classic Bounty Hunter pursuit. Maybe a geonosis Arena scene? They have these nice new Genosian figs might as well use them.

I would love to see a "Classic SciFi" type line. Not so much a single large license, but a series of smaller ones that would allow them to do some onsies and twosies of some classic stuff and have it blend with their existing materials. Say a Glen Larson license that allows for a Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper, A classic Cylon Raider, and a Buck Rogers Thunderfighter. or/and an Irwin Allen based license that would get us a nice big Lost in Space Juipiter 2 (with full Robinson Family, Robot and Dr Smith), A Chariott set and maybe a small Space Pod set, A Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Seaview and Flying Sub, Maybe a Land of the Giants Spindrift (ok maybe a little obscure for Lego). or an NBC Universal license that would include stuff like a Nightrider Kitt and support tractor trailer. Just a blanket series that lets them do 2 or 3 of these at a time, maybe even as exclusives. Lego is I believe the first company since classic Mego to hold the licenses to both Marvel and DC Superheroes in the same base product line, to produce toys or goods that can interchange and play with each other. Extend that level of cross compatibility to other subjects. Oddly I don't think a Star Trek license would work well as a Lego line. There just aren't that many clearly recognizable or repeatable places that would make decent sets. we would get "Enterprise Classic Bridge with minifigs, Enterprise D bridge with minifigs, Voyager bridge with minifigs, Enterprise NX01 Bridge with minifigs, Ooo Klingon Bridge with minifigs" See where I am going with this? The ships themselves don't lend themselves well to minifig scale swooshable playsets. Some of the core cost saving secrets that kept the various Star Trek shows in production for so many series and years, things like the transporters, or fixating on the bridge sets, works against them in this regard.

It's not so much an "in the movie" thing as Cap on a motorcycle is a more classic Captain America thing from the comics. It became particularly prominant in the 1970's during the brief Captain America TV series which used the bike and van as a major plot element. Ever since then Cap has often been pictured driving both. When Lego designed these sets they were working from pre production materials mostly. The movie had not been finished, nor in all likihood did anyone at Lego see it. So much of at least the first round of sets are probably of a more speculative nature, or are simply trying to keep with the traditions of the characters. (such as both Black Widow and Hawkeye are frequent Quinjet pilots in the various comic incarnations. It can be safely assumed that either can and may fly the plane regardless of who appears doing it in the movie, whereas Cap, Thor and Iron Man and most certainly Hulk would not be doing so for various character related reasons). Frankly I'm amazed at how dead on they got some stuff, such as the Quinjet and the Shield Truck.

Hmmm? Canadian Mounty (goes nicely with Lumberjack) Female Alien, something a little more feminine in an interesting color/heabpiece White Knight/ Paladin (the counterpoint to the evil knight) Skydiver Catholic or girls school uniform school girl (we need more children especially female ones) Classic Female Robot (ala Hel/Maria from Metropolis) Commercial Deep sea Diver (modern full helmet orange suit type) Classic American Pioneer (Think Davy Crockett, buckskin jacket, fur or coon cap musket etc) Government Official (Man in Black type dude. Sunglasses, headset/mic, etc, think Secret Service) Politician (Blue pinstriped suit. Vote for me signage, completely vacant expression, good hair) Professional Photographer (photo vest, press pass, camera accessories) Vampire Hunter (big floppy Cad Bane hat, scarred grim face, semi period clothes, crossbow etc) Modern Jet Pilot (Flight suit, modern type helmet ala Rebel Pilots, life vest etc) Modern Movie Monster (hockey mask, overalls, chainsaw) Modern Slacker girl/college girl (hoodie, bookbag and books, long hair with molded printed stocking cap) Gypsy Fortune Teller (colorful "gypsy style top and skirt, long hair with bandana) Marching band member (snappy uniform and hat, trumpet and drum this way you can collect a bunch and build a band)

Well written. I think we all basically understand where Lego is comming from with the adult oriented content concerns. It sort of brings to mind that old US Supreme Court statement regarding obscenity. "we're not quite sure where the boundries are but we all know it when we see it." I think the one area everyone seems to be the most argumentative about is the boundaries regarding violence. It isn't so much simply the presence of violence as it is also the context. Bugs Bunny Cartoons and "Ghost in the Shell" both have a high degree of arguably violent acts in them. But I think we would all agree that there is a stark difference between the two. Lego is applying a similar measure to their licensed properties. Star Wars, PotC, PoP, Harry Potter etc fall mainly on the Bugs Bunny side of the equation, excepting very specific story driven events. Sean of the Dead and Firefly, as much as we love them, do fall more on the Ghost in the Shell side of the equation. The violence carries a terrorizing component to it as opposed to simply an action component. The players drip with blood and pain etc. We may not completely agree with all of TLG's decisions in this regard, but at least we can see where they are coming from. One of the other interesting components of that context is "time frame". In this Lego is not alone, but it is always a little strange to see. Historical violence is ok. Future spaceman violence is ok so long as non humans are involved. Modern person vs person violence is not. (note no guns for Lego police). The only semi Lego lines that feature weaponry and as such violence are those where the antagonists are very cartoony or non human. Classic Monsters (Monster Hunters), Robots, Mind controlled skeletons, or weird cyborg cartoon type supervillains (Agents). (Once again the rules seem vague and confusing when you try and write them down, but at heart we all do sorta understand what they are). Perhaps the most disappointing item on their nogo list is how hard the Religious one is. While I agree that Lego should not be making famous scenes from the Old Testament, or the Koran or whatever. I am fine with that. Arguments over matters of faith are not something we need to be carrying out over ABS plastic bricks. But I am truly hoping that this does not apply to the Architecture. Some of the most spectacular buildings in the world are Cathedrals, Temples, Mosques, Shrines etc. I would hate to never see any of them as subjects for some of the more spectacular AFOL oriented sets. No alchohol? In present day situations? So there is still some hope for my suggested UCS Jabba's Sail Barge R2D2 that comes complete with a built in bottle of Single Malt and a spigot?

Oh man that picture and concept sound so cool too. I love that tank truck that looks like it compliments the EDF HQ, and the hazmat suit guys!!! Plus this could easily have been where we saw the Space Marines used. Is there any chance they might return to this theme next year? I think the abduction set was the best seller of he alien ones. And overall the most appealing. The tripods and the big mother ship just didn't find a good target niche. I know some AFOL'S love the mother ship, largely for all of its odd parts, it is a weird, oversized hard to display piece that is awkward to play with and doesn't pack a lot of minifigs value for its size. The blue human hero sets suffered from holes in the opposite way. The top end HQ set was grabbed off the shelves and is probably the years best single set. An all time classic. But all that sits on the shelf price wise between it and the dinky little ATV set is the upper mid priced jet copter, which is really kind of an old school ugly and unexciting. It needed a ground vehicle set in the $30 price point. ( lesson there buyers do not treat the hero and villain sets the same. Just because the line has a $30 villain set does not eliminate the need for a hero set in that range.)

Wow! Thank you for sharing with us how you design these wonderful sets, and what it is that you have to factor in. And in particular thank you for such a great ship. I originally didn't think I would like this one. The pictures just didn't pull me in. But my wife convinced me to get it, and wow! I fell in love with this thing. Beautiful lines. I love the dynamic tilting and rotating of the wingtips. The cockpit and passenger area are just wonderfully detailed, and easy to access. Thank you so much for designing this thing. My only unbelievably minor bit of feedback or criticism. The thing is so beautifully color matched and color designed... except for that one Bright Red plate that holds the nose gear on the bottom. It seems a little off? Was that intentional or some limitation of the parts? Other than that I want to particularly thank you for the truly spectacular way you managed to make it so the m odel looks good from any angle. Even from below. This is not that common a thing in the larger Lego sets, many of which look like suspension bridges from underneath (I'm looking at YOU Sith Infiltrator!). But the Quinjet maintains it lines and flow all the way around. Marvelous! I am still undecided on the whole drone launching mechanism. My adult brain keeps complaining that it is stupid and that I should probably just pull it out and fill in the hole in the belly. However since I built the plane I can't seem to stop playing with the drone launcher. Over and Over and Over. So there is something compelling going on there. I have to cede to your greater wisdom on this subject. My inner child seems to love the feature.

This set is probably my least liked of the Marvel sets. It isn't any major flaws, just a lot of little ones that turn me off to it. For a play set there doesn't seem to be a lot of play. It's weirdly shaped and doesn't fit or display well on the shelf. The minifigs are kinda uninspiring as everything but the hulk you can get elsewhere, and the plane looks suspiciously like an " egg plane" one of those cute humorous and weird Japanese model kits. ( seriously 5 minutes of modification on the blue Ninjago plane yields a better looking Shield fighter than this thing.) It's not a bad set. It's just not great at the current asking price. Too much for MOC parts and a hulk.

Lol, that wasn't so much my wish list as I just rewatched all the movies this weekend, and was postulating what in them would make a viable Lego kit, mainly using stuff they have already produced. For example Look at the Thor arrives one. They already have a Unimog designed with a computer control center and satellite dish. ( 4205 off road command center) just add a Jane, Darcy and squashed Thor minifigs and some box art. Done and on the shelves. That's kind of how I looked at everything I put on my long list. What scenes or things from these movies can they do today, within their normal price points, and still basically have 2-5 minifigs, a vehicle or a decent to moderate play set. Just from watching the movies with half an eye towards that, the list was surprisingly long. My key thought in all of it is what could we reasonably hope to see if Lego started treating all of the Marvel movies as a single set, much like they do with Star Wars, rather than producing stuff for just whatever is current, like the mainly did for PotC and HP. So for Star Wars each release cycle we can see a mix of subjects from any movie or show. This is part of what has driven the license for 10 years. Marvel is probably the first time they have encountered a property that they have the option of managing that same way. I am kind of hoping they pick up the ball and run with it that way. ( the almost total unavailability of any Avengers sets on store shelves, including Lego stores, today, Monday after the movie released, sparks some hope for growth of this line.) does any of this make any sense?

Oh I know, and thanks. I just managed to get a good deal on a used mobile command center, but was trying to figure out the insanely high prices on the turbocharge pursuit one. ( which is a shame, cause that ride just screams Nick Fury flying car )

Is that the official "final" box? Or is it a pic of the mocked up ones they have been using for the Toy Fairs? The pics of the box's from the NY Toy fair were clearly mockups as the minifigs shown on them were much cruder than the actual figs displayed. It is most clearly evident in the Sith Fury box as the Sith Troopers looked radically different and Darth Malgus was basically Darth Vader without a helmet.

I know it was a great theme, I'm just curious why this particular one seems to have an aftermarket and collectors price so much higher than any of the other non licensed Lego in house subjects? ( well exceptmaybe the Fantasy Castle series?) beyond the obvious "market forces" what drives the prices on these so much higher than the other Adventure themed stuff?

The best overall value set, and the one that will command an absurd price in years to come will be the Skiff. A small low priced set with some incredible and distinct mini figs. This is the must get set of the series. Collectable. As much as I hate to say it the key collectable set will be the over priced Jabba's Palace. Too many unique minifigs etc. The big set of the classic scene. The number two in this regard may end up as the Gungan Sub. It is overpriced enough at release that it may be rarer in years to come. Plus that distinctive Padme minifig. For Display? That's a huge matter of taste. I am actually leaning towards the Sith Fury and the Pre Vizla Mando fighter as the better display pieces. Just because they are so distinctive and different, yet at the same time being so clearly Star Wars related. Jabba's Palace is cool, but takes up a lot of space for what is essentially a dull building. The Malevolance is just bleah visually. I'll also give high display marks to the Republic Striker and the Bongo, just not as high as the Pre Vizla or the Fury. True, but they have so far been able to mostly reuse those helmets across multiple sets. Even some of the odder ones such as the Clone Pilot helmets were reused as Imperial pilots. I'm just not sure how much continued mileage they can get out of the TOR Sith Trooper helmet (or the Leia/Boush one for that matter)? As a SWTOR fan I hope they release a Battle Pack of the little guys. But I am not optimistic. Or better yet, if this is a sign that they have figured out a cheaper way to make a wider variety of more specialized helmets... WOOHOO! Bring it on!

Given the probable size and cost of the Jabba mold I am sure we will see it again. Figure the Sail Barge, plus as some of the other Hutts that we have seen in Clone Wars (a Ziro and Sly Snoodles Swamp boat set anyone?) I assume it will be recolored a few times to redeem costs. The Sith Troopers are strange. The only thing specifically unique on them is the helmets. All the rest is just printing. They will be reused if Lego makes more SWTOR sets as they are just the generic troops ala Stormtroopers. I assume that it is much cheaper and easier for Lego to make new or short run tooling for the softer more rubbery parts such as alien heads, dinosaurs and Jabba than it is to make the more precise and high temperature, high preassure molds they need for the ABS bricks.

Assuming Lego will mostly try and avoid potential licensing conflicts between itself and those that hold the non Marvel controlled movie rights (ie Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X Men), here are a few sets I would like to see. Also assuming that they are going the Star Wars route and will start treating the entirety of the Marvel movies as a single property, and not mearly going "Avengers" From the Movies Thor's Arrival - Thor, Padme err Jane, Darcy a unimog full of sciency stuff. Easy Peasy set to make. Thor's Hammer - Civy clothed Thor, Jane, Hawkeye, Agent Colson and a set based on the ET'ish tents and tubes covering the Hammer. The posibilities for some neat transclear tubular builds. The Howlers - A set of the 5 Howling Commando's and a captured Hydra Tank The Red Skulls Bomber - Red Skull, WW2 geared Cap, lots o Hydra goons and a smaller mini plane. Big ticket set, big plane. Cap Parachute Rescue - A small to mid size ish plane. Howard Stark Piloting, Agent Carter, Improvised / original gear Cap. Some terrain type pieces or a motorcycle. Iron Man vs Iron Monger - Mark III Iron Man, Iron Monger as a big ride in robot ala Lex Luthor, Destructable set of the Arc Reactor at Stark HQ. Pepper Potts Iron Man vs Whiplash at the Racetrack - Suitcase IM, Whiplash, the race car, the limo, Happy, Pepper Hulk Helicopter assault - probably the only vehicle based scene from the Hulk movie that does not have the Hulk crushing army guys. Banner, Betty, Gen Thuderbolt Ross, pilot minifigs, Hulk and Abomination big figs and a Helicopter ala Coast Guard one. Maybe a play feature where you drop Banner through a hole in the heli and the Hulk falls out the bottom. Captain America Project Rebirth - skinny Steve Rogers, Cap Steve Rogers, Dr Erskine, Howard Stark, Peggy, Hydra Agent, Transformation chamber and room. Hidden explosives play feature. Heck make it one of the big showpiece sets and throw in the Hydra mini sub. Avengers Stark Tower battle - Loki, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, the IM transformation rig and the Mark VIII missile thingy, the building top with the living room, bar, and the little round platforms. The Cube and gateway machine etc. And from Comics, I think they will want to stay a bit clear of anything that can be construed as appearing in the third party movies to any high degree. So more stuff from famous comic scenes. X Men Danger Room - Classic Clairemont / Byrne X Men. Storm, Nightcrawler, Collosus Wolverine in their early Danger Room settings with Professor X looking on. Lots of traps and levers. A robot or two etc. Dr Doom's Castle - Combine some Castle type building with lots of traps and henchmen/Doombots. Add Super team of your choice. The Baxter Building - Fantastic 4 figs, Reeds Lab, classic bathtub Fantasticar. Dr. Stranges house - That classic building with the Window. Doc Strange, Wong, Baron Mordo Ghost Rider and Cycle - a small set just the flaming head one and the tricked out flaming bike. (honestly while GR himself is something Lego would love I can see them shying away from some of the aspects of his villains). Just some suggestions based on what we saw on screen.

One thing I notcied last night, while trying to find shelf space for this new beast. The Avengers stuuf, in particular the Shield stuff (So this, the Helicarrier set and the Truck from Loki's Cosmic Cube Escape) all use a similar styling and color pattern as the Agents vehicles. Which just happen to be sitting there with big A markings all over the place, just waiting to be commandeered from the lemonheads for use by the newly formed completely overbearing dept of homeland... err Shield. (Dear Agent Charge, due to Federal Budget cuts your division has been restructured. Please hand over the keys to all vehicles to the man in the shiny metal suit and report to Division H for reactor testing and development. Thank you for your continued service.)

Believe it or not, that means you got the newer truck sized just right. Every real world fire department has encountered that issue where the new style modern fire trucks are just a hair too long to fit in the old in unmodified buildings. Often they discover this when they back the new truck in and knock down an interior wall Pretty much every classic pre 1970's street front / brick front firehouse has had to have its vehicle bays modified and extended by 1-3 feet ( .5 - 1 meters) in order to fit a modern standard " class A" pumper truck.

I like it! I know it's meant as a Mad Max interceptor, but I can't help seeing the lines of a Knight Industries 2000 in there. All it needs is a red blinky light and a big black tractor trailor to park in. Hmmm? I wonder how many black bricks I have?

I would love to join the reviewers academy. I have about 20-30 sets, including some that I didn't see posted reviews for. A reasonable hand with the written word, And I can definitely use any help I can get on the photography side.

I still say it is something more than simply whether or not the designated villains look cool. It certainly helps. But it isn't an absolute. The Atlantis foes looked cool. The newer Space Police villains are some of the best Lego ever mde. But they still get outsold by the "hero" sets. The Dragon Knights work because good or bad there is still that element of empathy. The kids can naturally get inside the knights. But how well did the Troll sets do? The Dragon Knihts work for kids because it is essentially " these knights vs those knight" but those knights also get the wizards and dragons... " gimme!" All of the elements are starting from a well known and trodden path in the child or AFOL's mind. Whereas no matter how cool you make the minifigs, " tentacled green thing that eats brains" will still elicit a surprisingly high degree of "ick!" and " I don't wanna be that!" amongst the target audience. Much the same with generic bug people, generic evil snake ninja people, skeletons and battle droids, and underwater fish people. There is a subtle psychology going on there. A successful theme needs to be able to feed that user empathy across all of its price points. And the villains need to be more or less accessory elements of the sets. ( ie dinosaurs, monster hunters, pharoahs quest, etc. well ok in MH it's the heros that are tha accessories, but that's a special case.)

My mind is blown. A truly gorgeous. Diorama filled with such life and personality, all in the day to day setting of an airport. Bravo! That moc and story board deserves some sort of award.

I know I am once again late to the party, but thank you for the great review. You just inspired me to get one of these off of Bricklink to go along with my shiny new 4430 " Firetank". My main reason for posting. I saw a few posts asking what this truck was supposed to be, and I was surprised that no one recognized what it is? It looks very clearly like a fairly typical Oshkosh heavy flatbed transport truck. And yes these things are that big. They are primarily used by the U S Army for all sorts of things. They are rare but not unheard of as fire trucks, with one common exception. Those monstrous airport crash fire trucks are almost always made from these as they are one of the few chassis that can handle the massive water tanks they need.

Scottwb is 100% correct. They are trying to shoehorn what is not essentially a "vehicle" centric play theme into a Garage and heliport. Yeah a Hospital needs an ambulance and a place for a helicopter. But more key it needs places to play doctor and fix patients. It needs an ER. It needs an OR. It needs an X-ray or ct machine. There is a better "hospital" feel in the back half of the back of the Alien Conquest HQ then there is in this set. What little interior there is is relegated to a waiting room and registration desk. Ooooo! Can I role play a government health care services bureacrat? Can we all pray for a gargantuan old school $200 modular series 3 story hospital? Oh and a quick edit to ask, what is it with the use of the "Star of Life" symbol all over the hospital? Is that common in Europe? In the US and Canada that blue star symbol almost exclusively means EMS ( emergency medical services, ie Ambulances) and Rescue services. It is similar to how a Maltese Cross designates Fire Services and a Shield Police. It would never ever be found on a hospital building except to designate where the Ambulances park or enter. I know it's a minor thing, but it still makes the whole thing feel wrong.

It may be confusing because they have a new glow in the dark plastic. I don't think it is that traditional translucent greenish white. It is among other things a straight up opaque looking white. So it can be hard to spot the glow in the dark parts in pictures now.