Faefrost

I suspect that the bright green change is more an aesthetic change to kind of make the plates blend better both with standard System sets and Friends. With probably the greater desire for them leaning towards Friends and Creator, both of which lean more towards bright green for there bottom plates typically these days.

There is a great thread somewhere in the general forum that discusses why this is. It has to do with production line efficiencies. Remember each bag is packed by an automated line. There are only so many hoppers on a given filling line so there are limits to how many different types of pieces can be placed in each bag. When the Lego designers design a set they have to accommodate several factors that we never ever think about. Things like number of production stations needed to package it (fewer is better striving towards efficiency). Or is the part desired currently in inventory in surplus or does it require new parts be made (once again in stock where possible is better). And does the design and parts used translate into clear easy to follow 2d instructions? By using 2 1x4's instead of 1 1x8 they likely free up a fill station to use for something else. Or to simply make the production more efficient.

1. It should be released at some point this quarter. 2. Yes last review they did 2. However there are still finite limits on production capacity and scheduling. So the review team will, as part of the business case also look at when it could be made, and will strive to minimize backlog. 3. There are only 3 options once it hits review. Pass and get made, fail and all rights revert to creator, and the rare "still working on it" which only happens in special cases (licensing negotiations etc.) there is no option to hold off till later or pass but return to it in the future.

If normal people don't fall asleep 15 minutes in then a movie is clearly not Oscar worthy.

Well yes and it is both things at the same time. What they mean by "erring on the safe side" is that the single smaller parts tend to weigh close to or less than the margin of error of the weighing mechanism of the robots, so they do an x+1 to insure that they have the minimum needed. This is also why you often get doubles of some types of minifig accessories like helmet visors. The single part weighs less than the scales margin of error. It has the added bonus of providing a spare or two for the most easily lost parts. The costs of using customer service to replace a lost 1x1 stud are far greater than simply putting an extra part in to begin with. So bonus.

Hasbro like Lego is on a 10 year license cycle. I think they just renewed it 2011-12 or so. Right before the Disney deal. So license rates would be stable and on a schedule. Any sharp uptick would more likely be production costs on Hasbro's side. Unless Disney went back and renegotiated (which they do do. ) Tyderium would not likely give us Stormtroopers. That would be Endor Rebels vs Scout Troopers. IAC is likely something Rebels, no? So I would expect the Rebels print. More like calling a certain Star Trek Shuttle Galileo and another Copernicus. The make and model is "Lambda Cass Imperial Shuttle" the specific stolen shuttle that the Rebels used is name or call sign "Tyderium". Luke and Porkin's X-Wings have different markings.

We will probably get one now very a very simple reason. The CMF line just amortized the cost of a perfect headpiece and they will surely reuse the mold. Look at the new CMF series 13 Goblin's headpiece.

That looks perfect. I always loved those little Alco HH's. I custom built an N scale NYC HH600 back in the day. Yours looks amazing. I never would have imagined you could pull one off in Lego.

It is my understanding that intact returned sets get processed and clearanced out via the "damaged box" tables at select Lego stores. I don't think they offer them online. If they part a set out I don't believe it goes to anything sellable like Pick a Brick. Instead it goes into the pools that they use internally such as for display models or the in store building stations. They used to let the stores break down returned or damaged goods into "grab bags" themselves. And sell off their own damaged box sets. This apparently caused a few issues. Also I know the TH has in fact been offered and sold at a discounted $179. That is what price I bought mine at when it went on sale one Christmas, before they stopped discounting the D2C sets.

Oh that's the easiest to explain. It's just a question of which printer or printers at which factory was designated for a batch of manuals. There will be some age and make/model differences in the hardware and different printers will use different staples. Also some manuals may be outsourced for printing (I doubt Lego does the square bound glued binding ones in house). It's all just a question of where is the closest available capacity to where they are assembling the sets.

I think the one I am thinking of is available on Netflix. It shows the development and production of the new German Shepard design. There were also some online videos showing the development of the Minifigs for The Hobbit. All of them talked a bit about 3d prototyping. We've even seen these types of pictures before. Look at any of the pictures that leak out of the early year Toy fairs. The sets and box art Lego shows are often product prototypes and clearly marked as such. When put side by side with the finished products we can see that they are generally just early mock ups using things like existing minifig torso's, occasionally painted parts, swapped out placeholder parts such as headpieces and hair etc. That is likely where this picture came from. It's a very good mocked up photo of the set. Good enough that somebody probably mistook it for the finished production set and released it in a block of public photos.

Trust me it is a little more complicated then that. I normally make fun of marketing people but being able to predict demand is something they mostly do well. The Research Institute means they hit the right moment with the right product and did not over produce. The question then becomes is there follow up demand for more or similar product? If so is it enough to warrant a new product with a full production allotment? What factors influenced sales of the RI that may or may not be present for any similar follow on product? (Let's just say chances are nobody will be letting Mark Stafford off the leash to imply that any next set will be a single run low production run with no likely reruns, as happened with Exo Suit and RI, thus driving up the collectors market.) So the business case for the new project will not be quite as cut and dry as RI selling out. (Note the Mars Rover sold out in a day and they have no interest in making more.) it will be not simply past sales but a projection of remaining market. Personally I think both the RI and this one would have done well or better as a block of Polybag collectables rather than single boxed sets. But that's me.

1. Earth toned short figure, funny name 2. Earth toned hairy short figure really funny name 3. Earth toned human figure unpronounceable name 4. Earth toned other human figure similar unpronounceable name 5. Earth toned elf wearing a dress may be male? Completely unpronounceable name 6. Earth toned different elf. May or may not be same name, really hard to tell? 7. Earth toned Orc of some specificity 8. Earth toned different Orc, slightly different funny hat. 9. Gandalf 10. Gandalf 11. Legolas 12. Legolas 13. Legolas 14. Legolas 15. Legolas 16. Short hairy figure with funny name. Possibly Peter Jackson

There is another trick. If you build a wanted list of all the parts you need in what quantities, then go to your Wanted tab and select Wanted by Shop. In the sub selection choose by lots. This will then let you find sellers who have a large part of what you want all under one roof. Doing it this way can take 50 seperate orders and cut it down to 2 or 3. It is also worth playing a bit with the search options. One word of warning. Be very very cafefiul with the auto fill function once you find a seller. It can be weird. Many sellers have multiple small lots of the same part on their stores. Typically from when they tell the system what set they have and let it auto part it out. The system does not always auto consolidate these. So if you need 10 1x2 bricks and a seller has 3 entries or lots of them on his store. Say of 25, 30 and 12. Auto fill will auto fill all 3 lots for 10 so you end up with 30 parts. You need to go back and clean it up and delete the unwanted ones.

It looks like a prototype photo. The drum is not just 3d printed it also looks painted to my eye. And of course Lego uses 3d printing for prototyping. There are documentaries showing them doing it. It's probably an early photo of the set using some temped up prototype parts to generate early marketing and reference materials, when the final production parts were not yet available. The picture got mixed in with the general public marketing materials and Bricklink used it. This sort of thing happens all the time.

And Ideas does not allow "minifig projects" such as CMF line proposals.

I'm the exact opposite from you. I love the Diskworld and think a Turtle on the desk would be great. The second Alatariel set really does nothing for me. I haven't even found enthusiasm or even a desire to pop the seals on the first set that I have sitting in the closet. This one looks like just another smattering of the vignettes she created when she was first proposing a theme. They are nice enough, just not my thing. I don't know how well the Research Institute has done, I figure this next ones chances will all depend on how well it has done plus whether or not TLG perceives a deeper market there. I still think these would have been better as individual polybags, one vignette per.

The Rebel's Stormies have kinda grown on me. As someone who came out of his Dark Ages about 2-3 years ago, classic Stormies have been few and far between. And none of them seem quite uniform. But with these Rebels sets we have tons of cheap uniformed Stormtroopers. We have other supporting staff that match with them like the AT AP pilots and the Tie Pilot. I'm starting to like them, like the designs and love the Rebels sets. The only negative against them is the are not quite the classic Lego Stormtroopers. More and more I am having trouble holding that against them. Yeah JJ Abrams teased something of that table awhile back, so it's a safe bet that it is there. I assume that the actual Falcon's interior will be a bit better designed this go round, as the film producers actually mapped it out and built the 1:1 scale Falcon set. So no more Tardis MF bigger on the inside. A new Falcon interior may reflect some of those designs, within limitations of the scale and medium. Also remember the first wave or two of Ep VII Lego sets are based off of production and pre production materials. Not actual finished filmed scenes. So Lego will be working more off of the production art and blueprints them off any specific things that the camera happens to show us. ( Personally I'm betting this version of the MF will show us where the futuristic Wookie space toilet is on the MF. Just because that is the sort of thing that some of Lego designers seem to take amusement in, and they have never given us a Spaceship toilet before.)

Ooo? I think I remember reading about that design. Wasn't it a scrapped design for one of the early space alien races? Possibly the cancelled "Seatron"?

I'm going to guess unlikely. Just by eyeball estimates Kree-O has done horribly with D&D and MegaBloks cut short and cancelled their World of Warcraft line following lower than hoped for sales results. None of the more major players will bet on a licensed fantasy line for a few years unless something really hits it big at the box office. And I am guessing nobody is hoping for BestLock LotR sets?

From my somewhat limited understanding of this sort of thing. (many discussions with ex roomates brother an industrial designer who designed and made things like some of the Chevron Car toys and another friend who has long owned an industrial injection molding plant for aircraft parts. Sadly my own knowledge and background of manufacture comes from the technology and consumer electronics industry and what little plastics understanding I have is more related to dealing with things like case and housing subcontractors and designs.) any, from what I understand the molds have to be certified and tested with the various types of plastic they will be used with. So if they plan on making any trans clear polycarbonate parts using a certain mold, the tooling must have a lot of test parts run through it. The unusual colors may be a factor that flaws will show up better in color, or they may simply be that they had a certain quantity of that colored plastic pellet surplus to needs at the time of the test. At least up until they went to their modern color injection system. These days I would guess the cost of adding color is minimal and it probably makes it easier to find mold flaws. Just as they likely use red ABS for testing as it discolors and shows certain stresses.

We are 99% sure just based on some basic product and business analysis. The UCS line is a line targeted at aging boomers, gen X and Yers and older Milenials with high disposable income. This grouping goes for OT by an overwhelming margin. The few PT UCS sets they have done mainly fared poorly. (This is not to say that the OT loving core target group would turn up their noses at a UCS Venator mind you) but they will not risk a UCS product on an unseen new subject. The UCS line sells highly detailed nostalgia. The only exceptions might be a classic already done ship in an updated form, such as the MF or X Wing. Note they just opted to do the OT Slave 1 which has about 5 seconds of total on screen time, when the PT version has far more screen time and is actually seen in action. For UCS OT is the safe subject. The have not yet done a classic Tie. So classic Tie is what we will get. The new hot current stuff will be saved for the shorter shelf life mainstream retail system sets. Be careful in speculating too many figs for the Flash Speeder. Most of them will probably be battle droids. With yet another brick built Droidecas thrown in. If the rumors regarding name are correct and the shuttle is not simply "Imperial Shuttle" but "Tyderium" than that is pretty good confirmation of a Rebel crew of minifigs. The Tyderium was the specific shuttle that the rebels stole and flew to Endor. Not the name of the ship class or designation. That's why the previous Imperial driven shuttles were simply named "Imperial Shuttle" or "Imperial Inspection" etc. Oh and a word of warning about reading too much into late in the game leaks and rumors being applied to Lego's first wave ep VII products. Take a lesson from the LotR and SuperHeroes movie based sets. Lego is working from early concept art and very rough very early scene descriptions with little to no context. Many of the sets and figs will have wild inaccuracies from the final released movie. Do not expect all characters to be in their proper settings, dress, name, etc. so let's all remember to keep our expectations realistic, at least for the first wave. The first wave will only be things that were set and finalized and revealed to partners two years ago.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think they would look more at home guarding the Emerald City of Oz then Gondor? OoooWeeeOoo WeeOoOoo! Let's put it this way. The two other new themes that launched roughly alongside LoTR, Friends and SuperHeroes have both done so extraordinarily well that they gained the exceptionally rare "Evergreen" designation. Meaning they are more or less permanent recurring themes. So sadly no the Middle Earth lines are far from the top of that list.

There are blue white LED power functions elements. The train/headlights that come in the PF motor kit. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=61930c01&in=S But to my knowledge there is no self contained Blue White light brick.

It would depend on the building. The top one is the NYPD 25 TH precinct which I have always pictured as a near perfect building to translate to modular form. I think for it the brick would be either Dark Orange or Medium Flesh, with tan trim and blue windows. I would actually say the building probably is closest to Dark Orange. But to actually use it might make it look a little too similar to the TH. The second building would probably work with dark orange, reddish brown or even dark red. You will not find a perfect match for it in Lego's pallet, but any of those would give an interesting and effective result I think. Especially if blended with the unconventional dark bluish gray trim color.