The Cobra

Italy -> Iper -> card subscribers: from Jan.25th to Feb 7th, buy any Lego Ben Ten set for 14.50 Euros instead of 15 AND get a 4.35 coupon. Will it be enough to sell those things?

It's hard to tell how much would someone pay for it, selling price can increase or decrease a lot based on location and time of the year. But you can take a look here for a suggested value.

Hats off to this designing genius. I picked Green grocer as his best work, but I'm waiting to see more of the Grand Emporium.

And here comes complaining time... well, not this year! 2010 Jan-May Italian Catalog I have to say that most every new set is there (except the two SP3 sets; full 2010 line should be available later in the year. Still, no Impulses), but lots of 2009 is gone: No Castle at all No Agents at all (I don't care if I can't own a single set from this theme) Few Pirates sets (I already bought what I wanted to, plus there's some still around) Few Power Minsers set (see above) No Bionicle except the 6 new sets (hooray!) No 2009 Tiny Turbos If you look at the last page, you can see there are three brand new Italian sites. Actually, there WILL be three new Italian sites (domains not working and Italian only available in the Atlantis site)

A couple of old topics: Link 1 - Link 2 My usual suggestions: - Shopping malls can have good prices, but not great choice of sets (no Exclusives, no Licenses -except Ferrari-, and so on) - Toy store chains (Toys center, Giocheria) have most everything, but they are more expensive. And I'm far away from Rome so I can't be more specific.

Another outstanding modular building. The only thing I don't like is the "head and gift sign" on the top.

And in Italy too! Much sooner than expected. Trouble is, 2009 almost disappeared.

I was 10 when this sat came out, and I dreamed of owning it. Just outstanding. Thanks for an excellent review.

I like it; yet it's a bit too long to have 4 wheels only (and I'd get rid of the white pieces; red and gray all the way).

Ramses Pyramid brought back the Tan 32x32, Lunar command has it in Dark stone. Maybe some other board game will bring (back) other colors.

INDEXED Well, I've seen fire, and I've seen rain - I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end (Badlands - Fire and rain) Set data: 4938: Fire 4x4 Year: 2007 Theme: City Subtheme: Fire Pieces: 28 (plus 1 extra piece) Price: N/A Building time: less than 5 minutes MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Notes: Available from Quick fast food restaurants in continental Europe, Sept. 2007. Set also given away free with the Daily Mirror newspaper (UK), October 2008. Promotion also in Ireland. (credits: Brickset) Official description: N/A Polybag front: Standard European bag; no set name. Polybag rear: "Please keep this Lego address..." "Choking hazard...", we've seen them before. Polybag content: Pieces and instructions. Instructions: Side A of the included sheet; Lego code number provided for every piece (Did you know? That doesn't happen with Tiny Turbos). Promo poster: Side B. A focus on the (then new) 2007 Fire line. Minifigure: One of four twins (you can find his siblings in sets 5613 Firefighter, 20002 Brickmaster 4x4 Fire truck and 7724 2008 City Advent calendar) 4x4: Car body is made of carbon fiber ABS plastic. 4x4: Clockwise, starting from the left: Extra 1x1 trans round plate, windshield, right tyres and rims, rollbar, fireman, left tyres and steering wheel, front lights. Complete set: Building is over, we're off to fire patrol! Complete set: A view from the other side. Comparison shot: Regular set and promo set. Review: As bad as my memory is, I kind of remember that my first set with a modern minifig was 602 (as a promo with Ovomaltina here in Italy). Fire cars have come back many times throughout the years, including some awesome peaks (6643) to awful juniorizations (6407) What we have here is a simple car, with driver (4914 was lacking him!) but no accessories. We've later seen a few of the minifig, but in not-so-popular sets, so that's no big deal. The car itself looks good; a bit shorter and lower than the "official model" (7241), with a windshield so low that it can hardly protect your stomach, surely not your face. Panels in trans smoke are not rare, but the higher number you can find in a single set is 2, and this has to be the littlest one. I'm happy with most color choices, except for the steering wheel base; yet it looks like Lego most of the times (over the last decade) chose a "totally out of the scheme" color for this piece (just like "Hinge Control Stick Base"). The roll-bar and windhields are lower than the seated minifig and that would mean serious danger for the driver, but we all know how strong and sturdy minifigs are (just as much as their houses and vehicles!) An off-roader with few chances of alternate models, it looks like a good addition to a town / (fire) collection, but doesn't seem so great as a stand-alone. As always, it looks a bit better if you were given it for free, which could have happened in some European countries (and that obviously doesn't include Italy). Rating: Color scheme: 5/5. Classic Red for firemen! Minifigs and accessories: 3/5. A slightly overused minifig and no accessories. That's not good. Pieces: 4/5. Most everything that needs to be there is actually there. 5x4 mudguard will always be welcomed by classic town fans. No stickers and no printed pieces. Playability: 3/5. A fireman on a car; Likley to prevent, unlikely to protect. Design: 4/5. Good for a small and free set, not bad if you had to pay few for it. Overall rating: 3,5/5. Slightly above average, good if you actually got it for free. The final words: Me... want... free... Lego... in... Italy... too...

Instructions available on Lego.com; they are hidden under the "TS" theme.

Intructions available on Lego.com: select "Contraction IP" as theme.

New promos? 30030 Tiny Turbo Rally Raider - 30033 Truck - 30034 Tow truck - 30035 Off Raod Racer 2

New promo sets? 30020 Jet - 30021 Parrot Other 2010 instructions at the usual page, under LEGO Creator theme.

Atlantis "regular set" Instructions can be found at the usual page under the "New BB" theme.

Funny how they split City; now we have subthemes like Airport, Coast guard and so on. Or is it me that never noticed?

I always thought Lego should make a Car dealer set (like it once had a Bike dealer). This is a nice one indeed.

I'd say "not". Those numbers belong to 2010 Racers set (Tiny turbos and fold-outs)

And here are the (supposed, Italian) prices for this theme too (still courtesy of an Italian online store) 8863 Sfida al circolo polare artico = 66.99 (Challenge at the Arctic Cricle) 8864 Scontro nel deserto = 85.99 (Face-off in the desert) 8896 Testa a testa nel canyon = 9.99 (Nip and tuck in the Canyon) 8897 Duello sulle onde = 19.99 (Duel on waves) 8898 Confronto su strada = 29.99 (Head to head on the road) 8899 Competizione in palude = 39.99 (Swamp competition) Man, I kind of get from this names it's all gonna be about challenges!

According to an Italian online store, prices for summer upcoming sets will be: 3181 Aereo passeggeri = 34.99 (Passenger plane) 3182 Aeroporto = 89.99 (Airport) 3221 Autocarro = 29.99 (Big yellow truck) 7684 Trattore con rimorchio e maialini = 29.99 (Lime tractor and piggies)

Prices from an Italian online store: 7936 Level Crossing = 16.99 7937 Train Station = 39.99 7938 Passenger Train = 102.99 7939 Cargo Train = 164.99 Good news is that I'll probably own my first Lego train set ever (yeah, the cheapest one)

An Italian online store has prices for the summer sets: 5893 Fuoristrada e Quad = 69.99 (4WD & quad bike) 5868 Creature feroci = 26.99 (Fierce creatures) 5892 Sonic Boom = 49.99

"Kick cars" are: Lego 7967 - Racers Fast Lego 7968 - Racers Strong Lego 7970 - Racers Hero Lego 7971 - Racers Bad An Italian store calls them Serpente, toro, lupo, bandito (Serpent, Bull, Wolf, Bandit). That same store has prices for 8214 Police Gallardo (54.99) and 8211 Brick Street escape (49.99). Tiny Turbos and Foldouts will be priced like 2009 sets (4.99 and 14.99 each), while "kick cars" will be 11.99.

Prices of 2010 wave taken from an Italian online store (including a couple of Italian odd names) 5981 - Raid VPR = 9.99 (Bolide interstellare = Interstellar meteor) 5982 - Smash 'n' Grab = 19.99 (Furto alla banca spaziale = Space bank robbery) 5983 - Undercover Cruiser = 29.99 (Pattuglia segreta PS = Undercover Police) 5984 - Lunar Limo = 39.99 (Limousine lunare) 5985 - Space Police Central = 69.99 (Centrale Polizia Spaziale)