The Cobra

Series 4 is the best! I chose the punk rocker as best fig, and New pieces as my fav feature, and thought series 2 was the best up to now. Seriously, series 4 is only a bit short of awesome. We already had a surfer and a skateboarder, but these new renditions are welcome. And we have a musketeer with a nice headpiece (and not that stupid castle/pirate head that has been around far too long), painter, geisha, Frankenstein, Hockey player and Lionel Messi! It's really hard to find something I don't like; they really saved the best for last. And Radioactivity by Kraftwerk is a great song (in the original studio version).

Are you ready for Christmas? ITALY - Bennet (from November 2nd to December 24th) 7208 Fire station 50 (RRP 70-29%) 3182 Airport 60 (RRP 90-33%) 8078 Portal of Atlantis 60 (RRP 90-33%) 8864 Desert of destruction 60 (RRP 85-29%) 7597 Western train chase 60 (RRP 85-29%) 7946 King's Castle 70 (RRP 103-32%) 5508 Deluxe brick box 30 (RRP 45-33%)

I like the skellie armour and the weapons (and the fact you HAVE to say "Ninjago!" to play!). I'm a but too old to enjoy the game itself, but I'll collect some of the impulse sets (and probably none of the regular ones).

Figs that look awesome to me: samurai, fisher, rapper, elf, mummy, tennis girl (except for the hair), baseballer, gorilla. Figs that look average to me: hawaiian girl, indian chief, aviator, snowboarder, F1 pilot, Figs that look awful to me: space_what_it_is, sumotori, alien

I had one full box and found the same, so European boxes seem to be different than North Americans. By the way, today in a shopping mall (Il GIgante - Vertemate) I saw them for the cheapest I've ever seen: 1,50 Euros each! (25% off RRP).

I really like this car, both the real world vertsion and the Lego one. As for the box art, I'm thinking they made an odd artwork. That big thing on the background looks a lot like the Fountain of Trevi.

The Italian catalog has been out for a couple of weeks, but I've been quite busy. Scans are finally online. Gallery when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=443540 If you can't just wait: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/thecobra14/Italia-2010-2/2010_001.jpg to _100.jpg

How could I? A shopping mall, half an hour from home, last week received most of the September sets (including most Kingdoms sets except the two larger ones). Since it happened in Italy, that's nothing short of a miracle.

This review has got me interestd in something I would have just labeled "nice but expensive" and overlooked. Nice job, Svelte!

As a non-Star Wars fans, I still enjoied both your reviews. I will hardly buy a SW set other than battle packs, but now I can appreciate some details (like the helmeting machine!).

I Like this set (Above average, I say), and it will end up being my first Jester. Yet I think that Impulse sets should be army builders (like the old Crownie soldier or the Troll. Thanks for the review!

I like this set, too bad it's a license (= overpriced). I couldn't pick it up on Disney online store 50% off sale, but I would have loved to. I rate it "above average". Nice review WF!

Nice job Inky! I rated the set "above average" because,as good as it is, it's a bit too specific and I think it wouldn't fit in an "ordinary" bookshelf display as it could in a town layout.

Thanks everyone for your appreciation! @Sandy: good points; I wasn't sure about the "page" either, and I basically thought about the girl being a Princess and not a Queen because of the frog! @squiz: see the Post scriptum at the bottom of the review.

INDEXED It's an oldie but a goodie - Surf city, here we come (The Ramones - Surf city) Set data: 6595: Surf shack Year: 1993 Theme: City Subtheme: System/Town Pieces: 88 (including an extra Hinge control stick) Price: N/A. Box size suggests it could have been around 10$. Building time: less than 15 minutes MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Box front: Box got a bit bumped over the last 17 year, but that's no problem to me Box rear: Some interesting alternative builds, including a small Lifeguard station and a glider. Box side: A secret revealed: parted windsurfs can be safely hosted thanks to clips and arms. Box side: Some play action; it's a nice day to ride the sea waves. Box content: Medium bag, small bag, two loose baseplates, two loose #x16 pieces, a sticker, a mini-poster and the instructions booklet. Loose pieces: So we have lots of white, then red, blue, grey, yellow and green. A few black and trans clear. Random instructions page: A sort of piece call-out, one of the few. Building was very easy. Mini-poster: Front has an overview of the Town theme, where most everyone is waving at you and there are some great new sets for the new year (remember, it's 1993). Rear covers the rest of the line, and shows that Pirates and Castle CAN co-exist. Who could have guessed it? Click both pics for much larger images. Minifigs: Girl has matching hair and dress colors. That's stylish. Torso is quite rare, only 8 sets have it. Same goes for the moustache guy's torso, which is the same guy we saw in Sidewalk cafè; but this time, he's wearing trousers. The sunglasses head was popular and cool. So cool he doesn't need a print on his torso. Building: Let's put pieces together. Plates cover an area of 16x18 studs. Only two cups at the bar. See those clips? They're meant to host bars. Building: There are all those old space wings as board holders (too bad they don't hold at all) Building: So we're done. No odd tecniques, just an angled leaf placing. Surf shack: A view from behind the bartender's place. He's ready to pour some cold beverages to his guests. Surf shack: Side view, here's where bars and wings lie. Wave riders: Boards are not so popular, and the blue one is exclusive to this set. So is the "8" grey striped wing. Surf shack: Surfing day is over, let's have a drink. Review: I bought this set for 16 Euros, incl. S/H. That's just one Euro more than what I'd need to buy, say, a SW battle pack. But this is way better. It's good to have three figs in such a small set, and they're quite different from one another. Neither one is too specific so you can choose any to be the bartender and the other two to just drink from their cups. Windsurfs are good. They don't have a print on the board (the one on Minifigs Series 2 has), but that's no problem. Different boards and different wings are an excellent choice; it would have been terrific to have bars in blue, but the long one never existed in that color, and the short one only was used in blue in one SW set. While similar to some Paradisa sets, this has no pink. Red and white make a solid scheme; big leaves are a great plus, giving a palm feeling; yellow was a nice choice for what should look like sand. If such a set was released today, the obvious choice would be tan. The Shack is obviously not as detailed as a MOC would be, but the essential is there: two drink dispensers and two cups. It basically lacks another cup and maybe seats, but I guess these people could just lie on the beach sitting in the sand. Space wings are good to pose boards on, but here's tha main flow of this set: as soon as you move the Shack, boards will fall off. A little care will help, and after the first time you've seen what happens, you'll know what to expect and how to handle it. Building is fast and easy; instructions pages feature a nice seaside background. Miniposter were part of the content, and in those pre-Internet days they did provide a good coverage. It's no surprise that back then Town was made of Police, Fire, Rescue and Airport, while it's nice to see Adventure, Racing and Harbor. On the back, 7 themes or subthemes (like Town boats) are hosted. Again, I can't help but missing those days when there were no Agents or aliens or Rock Monsters, but Castle AND Pirates and some serious Space. "One" is the number of stickers we have here, and that is OK. Sure, if the panel was printed it would have even been better, but it's fine this way too. Box is the same size of some of today's sets, like 3178. That's what makes me think that the Surf shack could have once costed 10 USDs. That would be a steal. An oustanding small civilian set, something we have been lacking for years. Most AFOLs will love it, I wonder if today's kids would too. Rating: Color scheme: 5/5. Nothing to argue with. Minifigs and accessories: 5/5 3 figs including a female one in such a small set. Wonderful! Pieces: 4,5/5. 3 windsurfs in one set, and each has a different board color and wing design. One board and one wing are exclusive to this set. Playability: 4,5/5. Assembling and disassembling windsurfs, sailing waves or just having a chat with friends at the bar. Design: 4,5/5. Nearly perfect, except for those sliding boards. Overall rating: 5/5. If you can pass on those minor flaws, you'd agree this is an outstanding set. The final words: A compact everlasting classic, a perfect example of "small but great".

Christmas is here everywhere, oh - Christmas is here if you care, oh (Faith Hill - Where are you Christmas) Set info: 7952: Kingdoms Advent Calendar Year: 2010 Theme: Castle Subtheme: Kingdoms Pieces: 203 (including 35 extras) Price: 20 Euros (not on Lego Shop yet, but most Italian sites have the same price) Building time: 20-25 minutes MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Box front: A big and colorful Christmas tree welcomes you on the way to the King's Castle. Picture is revealing; we already can see the characters and some of the equipment. Some nice MMV-style houses on the road sides. Box rear: For those who don't know how an Advent Calendar works, our Danish friends decided to put a sort of tutorial. Let's just hope people know numbers, because there are 3 open cells, but not Days 2 and 3! (While, content belongs to actual Days 1, 2 and 3). Pieces inventory: You may want to click to see a bigger pic and get a closer look. I can hardly tell if any of this pieces is new (some torsos should), some are surely new for the year (2x2 jumper à-la Prince of Persia) Box side: Joy to the world. No pieces were made in China. Now that's a relief. Inner box: We reached the King's Castle, and we're ready to find out what's in; This is a detailed pic, so you might again want to click to see a larger version. Inner box: Just to see how the whole thing looks like. Birds'eye view of the main road to the big fortress. Cells: Here we spot where the minifigs and the other pieces are, and I already see a pretty lousy day. Side note: 6 pieces (1 extra) <- the first number always includes the extra pieces. Day 1 – Blacksmith. 6 pieces (1 extra) We kick off with an hard working man. A tough guy wearing a sleeveless shirt, he might be another blacksmith’s son. Comes with an hammer plus a spare one. One-sided face. Day 2 – Anvil and forge. 17 pieces (4 extras) Here’s the blacksmith’s workplace. The forge is kind of poor, will it be hot enough to make a proper sword. The anvil is quite nice, but it would have been better if it had a flat top (a tile on the stud). Day 3 – Weapons rack. 11 pieces (1 extra) A much larger bag (why?) hosts this nice little rack. Spear and battleaxe come in two different colors. Those have to be blacksmith’s previous creations. Day 4 – Dragon Knight soldier. 6 pieces (1 extra) And we’re ready for action with our first fighter. Another one-sided headpiece, nice prints on both torso (front and rear) and legs. He comes with the new “bucket” helmet (no flame/plume) and he’s armed with a flail (plus an extra one). Day 5 – One-man battle cart. 10 pieces (1 extra) Our Dragon Knight soldier has wheels. I hope he has strength and will to push his little “vehicle”. For such a small set, 4 colors is too much. If you ask me, those red clips are out of scheme. Yet the extra one could be added to hold the flail. Day 6 – Lion Knight armor and helm. 8 pieces (1 extra) Not only is the Dragon knight outscored two to one; he only has two days dedicated to the green cause. Here we have a plain grey armor (yep, no printing) plus helmet, visor and plume (Lion Knights have plumes!) Day 7 – Princess and frog. 7 pieces (1 extra) Let’s welcome everybody’s favorite. The lovely princess has a double-sided head (happy and angry; it probably depends on what happens after she kissed the frog), print on both sides of the torso and on front of her dress. Nice hair pieces and a golden tiara (plus a back-up one) Day 8 – Throne. 9 pieces (2 extra) I guess TLC had a surplus of gold jumpers and a lack of gold tiles, or is that stud supposed to be some kind of decoration. Wait, I got it! They are frog holders! But how am I supposed to sit the Princess, since she's wearing a dress? (You'll see!) Day 9 – Treasure chest. 8 pieces (3 extras) Pirated had gold colored chests, we’re back to wood brown. Looking at the instructions, it seems like only three diamonds make the treasure, and the other three are extras. I’ll probably just fill the chest. Day 10 – (Old fashion) Skeleton. 7 pieces (1 extra) Yes sir, we’re back to old looking skeletons, with kind of posable arms. No accessories. And this is not even the lame day I was talking about. Day 11 – Prison cell side with window. 16 pieces (2 extras) The most filled bag makes me think that the skeleton belonged to un unlucky prisoner. We have one side of a cell, with bars instead of glasses. Modern day handcuffs were already used back in the middle ages (we knew that from older sets), and you get a spare one too. Day 12 – Pig and apple. 2 pieces. (no extras) Ok, pigs are the new animal in town, one on the most interesting parts amongst those that were introduced in the current year. And apples are not that popular, so one is always welcome (One apple per day keeps the Doctor away, an Italian motto says). But I can’t help thinking this is a lousy day. Day 13 – Page (servant). 8 pieces (3 extras) Here comes the apprentice squire. Like most other people in here, he has a nice double-side printed torso, and details on his legs too. He should use a sword, he comes with three. Still, the oddest extra piece (so far) has to be his wig. Day 14 – Sword in the rock. 10 pieces (3 extras) 3 more swords, this time in a darker color. On a grass (green plate) lies a rock (2x2 round brick). A sword is in the rock. Legend has it that the one who… Day 15 – Ye ol’ training dummy. 9 pieces (1 extra) A nice add-on for training knights (and page servants too) is this mock knight. And not only did they have handcuffs back then, they had signal holders too! Day 16 – Happy courtesan. 4 pieces (no extras) They must have a surplus of this pirate girl torso too. But it’s Christmas time and we all are kinder. Plus, we all like boobs, even on Lego figs, so we just don’t mind. Once again, printings on both sides of the torso and on the front of the dress. One sided face. Day 17 – Barrel. 9 pieces (no extras) Is this what makes the girl so happy. There can’t be water in there, I know for sure. Barrel is placed horizontally and ready to spill. Day 18 – Cauldron, apple and knife. 4 pieces (1 extra) Not really much to cook in there (unless you add the pig). But they were forced to give us an extra knife. Day 19 – Lion Knights soldier with spear. 6 pieces (1 extra) We had to wait for two and a half weeks, but here comes crownie #1. He has a popular headpieces (no back printing) and one of those “helmets with chinstrap and wide brim”. In those war days you need as much weapons as you can have, so here’s another spare. Day 20 – Mini catapult. 10 pieces (3 extras) An extra Technic pin to the extra Technic pin? Oh well, whatever. A very small weapon lies on the grass. I guess it won’t shoot very far. (It doesn't. Either you push too softly, and the round brick just falls down, or you push too hardly, and the round brick hits your finger and falls down!) Day 21 – Lion Knights archer. 7 pieces (1 extra) An extra quiver. Why not an extra crossbow too? Never mind, a soldier obeys and doesn’t question. This torso is different from his buddy’s. Day 22 – Plant and owl. 6 pieces (no extra) The most popular and longest running color for the owl is white. So I’m not surprised to see the bird’s color. Well, a kind of lesser day but at least we have another animal. Right side of the pic purposely creepy Day 23 – Atanor (alchemist’s oven). 15 pieces (3 extras) Since we left the kitchen some time ago, I guess there’s no food in there but something magic and arcane is happening. I just hope that the person who deals with these arts knows what he’s doing. Day 24 – Mage. 8 pieces (2 extras) So Santa was once a Viking (see headpiece) and then a wizard. While soldiers need back-up weapons, he needs extra wands. I think there would have been better options than trans neon green, but X’mas is only one day away (or is it four months?), so let’s not argue. Torso is not printed (beard would cover it anyway), hat and legs are. If I could wave my magic wand......I'd make you disappear! Sub-sets Minifig details: Extra pieces! Final view Review: As many of you might know, two years ago che "classic" City Advent Calendar had a Castle counterpart. It didn't show up in Italian shops, then a friend of mine spotted it. "Do I have to buy it for you?" "No, thanks. If it's there, it's gonna be everywhere". Wrong. Oh, so wrong. So, after that very same friend told me that the Kingdoms Calendar was out, I just went and got one (one of the two left!), and here I am, after one day of taking and resizing pics, to tell you about it. Here are 9 minifigs. I say, 8 minifigs and a skellie. Now that they're not fighting crownies, they don't deserve a capital S and are hardly a minifig. Out of the 8, two are women. 25% is way more than we are used to in ordinary sets, so this is good. 3 are soldiers (2 on the Lions side, one on the Dragon side); then we have a page servant (that's what I call him mostly because of his haircut), a blacksmith (yay! Civilian power!) and a mage (Dragons have their own as an impulse set, this must be the Lions'). Up for now, I'm happy with the minifig/day ratio and their variety. No two faces are the same, lots of decorations on torsos and legs, lots of accessories (and many spares!). Then we have "the rest". Let's start from what's bad. The catapult is useless. As I earlier said, it won't shoot anywhere but down (about half an inch / 1 cm. away). Adding a 1x3 plate won't help. Nothing changes. So that has to be thew worst of the 24 days. "Pig and apple": I would have traded a couple of extra swords with a manger, but I tend to be insatiable (incidentally, that's what they say about pigs too), so let's call this "average". The owl on a tree is another of my less favorite ones. Just like the old impulse wizard, this mage needs an owl to stand by his side. 2 years ago the witch had a shelf with potions, this time we have a small oven so TLC probably wanted to do something different. The prison and the deceased outlaw: skeletons just work in Castle and Pirates, so they had to put one here. They couldn't give him a treasure map so they had to come up with something, hence they must have thought about prison. There will probably be a way do put it in the King's Castle; I'll leave to those who own it the chance to find it out. And now let's talk about the good. Weapons. So many weapons! Since Castle/Kingdoms is about rival factions at war, there have to be weapons. And there are. All three soldiers will be good add-ons to their armies. And weapons don't build themselves, a blacksmith does. A good addition to both Medieval Market Village and the castle. While some have already become soldiers, a yound man is apprenticing. That medeval dummy is well built, given that it's made of less than 10 pieces. The Princess' throne. I've been liking it since we saw the first pics. But I didn't realize the dress-sitting problem until I was building. So one should use fantasy and patience. Wait a minute. Is the throne meant to host the prince-once-frog? All these people needs to eat and drink, and the girl resembling a pirate female minifig will do the work. A couple of apples and one barrel will hardly feed a castle, but at least it's a start. What would have made the whole thing better? 5 less extra pieces, five more useful pieces (a Dragon shield, a green plume, some more food). Rating: Color scheme:4,5/5. It's hard to talk about "one" color scheme with basically 9 small sets. What I didn't like at all were the red clips on the battle cart, and the wizard's wand. Everything else looks fine. Minifigs and accessories: 5/5. I'm honest, we could have hardly seen something better. Pieces: 4,5/5. Outstanding torsos, dozens of weapons a couple of animals. Playability: 5/5. Just imagine! Design: 4,5/5. Above average but not perfect. Overall rating: 5/5. Who cares about the flaws, this set is great. For the same RRP, here in Italy you could buy any of these: Pirates' Loot island, Prince of Persia's Ostrich race, Toy story's Woody and Buzz to the rescue, Castle's King's battle chariot, World racer's Jagged jaws reef, Atlantis' Deep sea striker or Farm's 4WD w/horse trailer. What's your choice? The final words: Christmas came so early for me this year, and I couldn't be happier! Post scriptum: squiz (comment #14) brings an interesting point, so I add these words. I bought the Calendar on early Saturday afternoon, but when I came on I could only take box pics and didn't open the bags. I wrote all of the "day" comments by looking at the pieces and peeking into the box from the sides. Then on Sunday, over a few hours, I built the models and and took pics, so I changed my mind. Set quality / price ratio (comparing KAC to other 20 Euros sets) wa the icing on the cake. I had many rants throughout the review, but in the end I'm a happy owner of this set.

I have mixed feelings about this calendar. It's nice to have a whole family, but 6 minifigs is really a few. And that's with 2 Santas. Including a naked one. Last year's calendar was Holiday oriented, this one seems children oriented, with all those mini toys. Yet there are some good points with Santa's train, nice torsos, sausages, baguette and plenty of extra pieces. But we have a snowman for the third year in a row, and always getting worse. I think I'll only buy this on sale, like I did last year (while I absolutely want the Castle AC). Thanks for the review.

Thanks for another great review! I rated Series 2 Outstanding. Some great characters like Ayumi*, the Spartan/Roman/Greek/whatever, Ken** and That 70's DJ, some accessories like the Sombrero and the Trophy, I'll love them. The downpoints to me are the Witch (though I never owned one) and the CHiP, just beacuse tan torso makes me think more of Johnny Thunder than a policeman. Now let's wait. * Female pop singer / Ayumi Hamasaki ** Surfer / Barbie's fiancee

A nice little set I'd like to put my hands on. I rated it Above average. Thanks for teh review.

What do I do? Store them.

Thanks again for the news, Klaus-Dieter. I wouldn't slay this theme before we see it, up to now I'm more interested in Ninjago than in City 2011. As for Prateek's question, I wasn't so happy about them (KKII minifigs) but this might be better.

First of all, thanks Klaus-Dieter for the news. Police was an easy call, let's just hope sets are good. Space base hasn't been around in Lego town for a few years, so that could be a nice twist. Yet, I seriously hope something "new" comes out in late 2011, because after 2008/9 enthusiasm, I'm not that happy with this year sets and not too excited about next year's January wave.

Yep, it would be nice to add a larger pic until your folder becomes public.

In Italy: No. That's hardly a surprise, even if the catalog is supposed to came out in June. Let's just wait another month, just as every other year.

Twice the price of the 3221? And in Germany, 7848 is 20% off... (In Italy we don't even have Toys R us, so we shall seek for cheap on the net)