HawkLord

I just feel for the sword. Once I find a heavier pack with a suit of some kind, I either feel for that sword or the gun. Most times if I shake the bag alittle, those smaller accessories fall to the bottom corner and I can feel for them.

So, even within your own arguement, you still can't make any sense. You picked a quote that references Shelob recieving free reign in Sauron's tunnels in exchange for guarding them and yet you don't think that Sauron and Shelob had a deal? You don't think they ever talked about this? Or that Shelob was willingly helping Sauron? How does Shelob protect something of value to Sauron and is then not considered to be helping him? I'm sorry, I can't help you anymore with this. That Rosie is perfect.

I did actually prove the point when I stated that Shelob was born sometime in the First Age. Hence, she's at least a couple thousand years old. Now to survive in all that time takes alot more intelligence than your example of the average lion or bear. Sure, they're great predators, but not on the same level as a fantasy creature. Middle Earth is an entirely different place that most would consider to be much more dangerous than our world, meaning surviving there would take alot more effort, let alone surviving for so long is a place of evil such as Mordor. You also didn't read my post thoroughly, Shelob's mother was the one driven away by a throng of Balrogs, not Shelob herself. Plus, if you were paying attention, you'd also remember that the "glowing vial" was a very powerful elven magic item, as was Sting, a powerful elven magic sword. And I won't even go into the idea that the Ring may have played a part in Sam' success, as surely it did not want to sit inside the belly of a Spider forever. As mentioned, you really should read the books entirely and try to have a firmer grasp of the subject before you speak on it. There are whole courses taught at universities on the subject of Middle Earth and Tolkien fiction - so there's alot to appreciate.

These are all very well and easily recognizable. I particularly like the borders on the bases - it makes them feel like display pieces.

Whoa! Now, I don't like to pull the whole "Tolkien Lore" card, but seriously this is completely off. Shelob was rumored to have been born in the First Age of Middle Earth, making her thousands of years old. She was a spawn of Ungoliant, who let's just say was a evil spirit in the form of a spider. And let's just say that this spirit was so powerful that in one battle it took multiple Balrogs to drive her away. As for Shelob having nothing to do with Sauron, that's not true. Sauron actually was aware that Shelob dwelled in Mordor and allowed her to stay there because she was proficient at guarding the various tunnels and networks. Shelob is a major player in the LOTR/Tolkien.

The Hogwarts Express polybag was offered last year as a promo/bonus with the purchase of Diagon Alley - meaning it was never in retail stores like Target. It's doubtful that we'll see it there either, this more just overstock that lego is trying to move.

The Monster Fighters line has some good minifigures with robotic arms and legs, plus period style clothes and weapons.

Masterfully done. This MOC belongs in a museum or something.

Fantastic review - thank you for posting that. Personally, I'll have to get this set. I never had the original and even though I have everyone except Amidala, I don't mind getting extra minifigures of TPM characters.

A Hagrid sized scale is a great idea, since not everyone should be as big as the Hulk, but should be bigger than a minifigure. Hulk: Should always be big, except for the Ferrigno promo Hulk Thing: Mid-scale Kingpin: Mid-scale Venom: Mid-scale, with alot of extra parts, like the upcoming Diamond Select action figure Colossus: Mid-scale Juggernaut: Mid-scale, with bulky armor Blob: Hulk-scale Abomination: Hulk-scale Volstagg: Mid-scale Apocalypse: Mid-scale

Well, if I'm following this correctly, the question is how should CMF fit in with the themes/sets they are most closely linked to. To be honest, I think the CMF are unique, to some degree, and compliment their respective themes just fine. The OP referenced the idea that Lego might want to make a school set to incorporate the CMF Cheerleader and possibly the CMF sports characters. I don't think Lego needs to be concerned with this. The CMF Cheerleader and sports figures are generic enough that they could fit in other City displays, you wouldn't neccessarily need a school to showcase them. In the end, the CMF line should just be an assortment of "greatest hit" style figures mixed in with alittle creative effort that stands alone or can be added to respective themes. As we're coming on Series 8, I'd say they're doing great so far.

Solid set idea. I'd be in for a couple of these. These would be good sets to add in the lesser known (or smaller role) Dwarves, because it would help complete the Dwarf party without devoting too much to them.

I'm saving mine. Just seems like it'd be more fun to get something big than to just use them here and there.

These look amazing. Lego should really pick-up something like this.

Elrond carried an elven two-handed sword in the movie, like the minifigure in the pic. When you look at the pic, you can just make out where the handle ends and the larger, flat blade portion begins.

Start small and then add brick by brick. This is a project that could be overwhelming before it even starts. I'd also suggest building the Oliphants - in the movie they're huge and if they're not scaled well, they could look very out-of-place (like the upcoming Rancor).

Definitely a market here. NECA, Valve, and Think Geek have been making various Portal 2 related items and all seem to sell very well. The recent NECA SDCC P-Body Portal gun sold out immediately and now brings decent prices on the secondary market. As for Portal Legos, I'd be in for any and all, except for the Lego game. I just can't see why I'd play the Lego game over the real thing... unless there's a brick included that has a small audio player of Ellen McLain or JK Simmons that plays new material.

It's funny, I haven't bought anything from a gumball machine in years, yet everytime I go past a bank of them, I have to look. At TRU, in the mall, wherever, I always check them out to see if there's something interesting I might be tempted to buy. Now if I found one with some Star Wars Legos, I would certainly jump at it. Especially, those bagged Stormtroopers with Speeders...

A similiar one worked well enough for Anakin on Tatooine in AOTC... Great review. The set itself is just not exciting enough for me. I have Luke's Landspeeder, so I already have a good C-3PO, R2, and a decent Sandie. The Sandie detail and orange pauldron in this set are nice, but not enough to warrant a purchase. An excellent review - thanks for posting it.

As mentioned, I would also really like it if some of these Lego exclusives could be offered on their site with a stipulation of one-per-household for people who can't make the cons. Sideshow, Gentle Giant, Hot Toys, Hasbro, and NECA all offer their SDCC figures online during the con. This is particularly useful for those people attending because they can even buy the figures from the site and not have to worry about lugging them around the con or traveling home with them. Maybe even make the ones at the con single figure bags and the ones on the site could be the full figure set in a box, like the VIP CMF set. That way, Lego could charge a decent amount for, say 6-8 minifigures at $50-70 and still make a tidy profit. It's not like minifigures have a really high production cost. Meanwhile, people at SDCC can just pick-up the single bags as they like.

I expected it. As mentioned, sure, a Nazgul would be nice, but then that's an army-builder figure with a specific number (seven if you already have Weathertop or nine if you don't) for people to collect. It's much more pfoitable to offer a couple Nazgul in sets here and there to get you to nine, but after having bought maybe three of four sets.

Well, Sideshow and Gentle Giant offer what are called "non-attendee" copies of the same exclusives at SDCC to people who can't make it. They've both been doing that for years and I can understand that one may not want a copy of a SDCC exclusive because they may feel as though because they weren't there it doesn't have the same meaning. However, alot of people will never be able to make it to SDCC and should have a fair shot of getting those items without paying so much more on Ebay. Case in point, Sideshow's 1:6 scale Clone Commander Fox. You can get him at the con for $125 or buy him form the site for $125. Even people who are going to SDCC still buy him online because they don't want to be stuck traveling with that figure on a plane. As for the part about not being able to get one with an edition size of 3,000, that's easy. Just make the item one per household like Sideshow and Gentle Giant do. Sure, con exclusives are by definition exclusive, but it's very helpful when a company offers people who can't go an opportunity to purchase those exclusives.

The mass retail stuff, like Hasbro and NECA usually have high edition sizes similiar to their mass market releases. Sideshow and Gentle Giant can have editions sizes of around 1,000+. Either way, since Lego minifigures are such a small product and the maunfacturing costs on a single minifigure are alot lower than what you'd find with a high-end item, there's no reason why Lego couldn't at least offer some on their site. Even a run of say, 3,000 at $15 a piece would sell-out. Slap "SDCC Exclusive" on the label and watch them fly.

Right now, I think Marvel is really pushing the "First Class" series, so the next X-Men movie will be a sequel to last years "X-Men: First Class". There's also a second Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) movie in the works. As for rights issues, it all depends on how much Marvel/Disney wants to buy back.

I just got the Sopwith polybag for impulsively buying a couple LOTR sets yesterday. I have no particular interest in the Sopwith, so I'm just keeping mine sealed. I don't flip Legos, so it's really just a matter of keeping on-hand for a rainy day. Besides, if you check aucion sites, you'll find people selling it for $8-10 - not really a rare piece, in any case.