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I got mine! The sales lady said they are going fast. If you want one, order quickly!

I don't want to belabor the point -I was playing devil's advocate after all- but if TLG had, hypothetically, agreed that the set design was to be an exclusive for Vestas, then it would be the whole set, not just the stickers, that would be an exclusive. You might have a point with the advertising. As I mentioned, a VESTAS set was on the leaked set list for 2009, so a Vestas-LEGO combo is not out of the question.

Despite the latest news, we have not gotten an absolute "No, Never, not ever, in any form" from LEGO, so all this fuss seems a bit unseemly. Come on everyone, just cool your heels a bit and save the outrage until 2009. After all, the 2009 set list did mention a VESTAS set.. I would like to have this set released to the general public as much as anyone (I would buy it for sure), but , what's up with this undeserved sense of entitlement that so many folks seem to have, assuming that they have some kind of right to have this set. I'll play devil's advocate. 2 possible answers. 1) Contractual. The design of this set may be contractually limited based on an agreement with VESTAS. If VESTAS wants the set to be "special" then they may not want every tom, dick and harry to have a copy of this set that they went to the trouble of arranging especially for thier employees. Yes, brand awarness is a reason for VESTAS to relent, but even though they use LEGO in their displays, I don't think that toy stores are where most energy companies are looking to do their advertising. 2) Market questions. LEGO may have determined that this is not a set that will sell well on the wider market, and has decided not to do so. Not that TLG knows everything, but they do have professionals that work on this kind of thing, and alot of experience to guide their ideas of what will and won't sell. For example: Folks are up in arms about Castle Advent Calendar not being sold in the states, but the number of advent calendars that were on sale at US LEGO stores after Christmas last year clearly indicates that advent calendars don't sell as well as we think they should.

Good Job Brickster! This is a great review of an amazing set. THis has got to be one of the best LEGO Town/City sets that LEGO ever released. The playability, design, and parts selection is top knotch. If only I had gotten one back in the day... As befitting such a set, your review is extremely comprehensive. You really captured all the small details in the interior sections of the subs and bases. I can't find a flaw in the set or the review, except that the shark mentioned at the end of part 3 is not a Hammerhead. Keep it up!

Nice start to the review. I have this set and definatley enjoyed building it. I never planned to buy even a single train, but when this and Hobby train went on sale for half off at Shop at Home I couldn't resist. Thank heaven I got in before they completely discontinued 9V. As your pictures show, it has a really nice selection of minfigs and accessories filling up a charming set of train cars. My cousins love seeing it around the Christmas tree. It's also a great set to rebuild in different colors.

Great MOC. Among other techniques, your use of slanted tiles to simulate wood siding is magnificent! A couple critiques. The woman being hanged looks very alive. A crowd around her, or someone hoisting up the rope would probably be a nice touch if you are going for a depiction of her death. If she is to be dead already, a different head (not sure which one) might be in order. Also, as relates to Salem. It's been years since I read the crucible, but these were Puritans. Even in the throes of a which hunt, they would be orderly and "dignified". A good sturdy gallows, and having the head and face of the condemned cloaked (perhaps a ninja mask or a reversed castle cowl) might better fit the situation if this is to be Salem. These are small criticisms, however, for what is a really evocative and well executed MOC.

Looks awesome so far Joebot. I like seeing how folks organize store and display their LEGO. but this takes it too a whole new level. Keep us updated. I don't thinkthe slaughter will happen until Joebot's wife realizes that contrary to the drawings, the new basement is not the "new location of fluxington", but rather is actually expansion space for fluxington

How did I miss this MOC until now! Very well done MOC. I really like MOCs that are well done and funny. Perhaps it has been done before, but this is the first I've seen of ninja masks as baby blankets. That's a great suggestion for those of us (like me) who don't have any white turbans. The leaking water tank is another great orcish touch. Edit, oops, I just realized it's not a water tower, it;s the ork wizard's study. Faulty plumbing maybe?

Great review! Lots of good photography and explanation. I particularly like reviews that are done in a narrative style, as it makes it more interesting for the reader. You note that you didn't have the instructions, but even if you used the online instructions, it would have been nice to have some mention about the actual construction process (quality of directions, unique pieces contained in this set, etc, etc) Despite that, I was so charmed by this review that I gave it a "Perfect"

I said 5%. I'm pretty budget concious, so usually I'd vote for 0%, but sorted bags are really nice for larger sets because it enables me to quickly split up set sections. That makes it easier for my wife and I to build sets together. She doesn't MOC much, and I really enjoy building with her, so anything that facilitates this is worth my money. We've had a great time building CafeCorner, Market Street and Green Grocer among others. We still build un-numbered-bag-sets together, and I usually sort pieces myself for those kind of sets, but numbered sets make everything much easier.

It depends on how many you are planning to purchase. 1-I am not planning on getting more than 5-10, so I will probably be using them as officers for the rest of the red coats that I have. 2-Alternatively you could switch around tricorns for shakos and use one kind of redcoat as sailors, and one as soldiers. 3-You could use one on land and one on ships. 4-Creating a special guard or separate regiment is also an option 5-Creating a new separate faction is also an option. 6-Giving one of the redcoat types another color of pants (red or blue probably) could help with suggestions 4 or 5.

Thanks, for posting this! The jeep is the only Brickmaster set I've seen that I like, and this could be just the excuse I need to order some of the new parts in PAB online.... Clearly LEGO is giving in and giving Indy fans the set they really want.

I wouldn't hold out too much hope. I've seen alot of minifig stuff on PAB that remains higher on BL. You will definatley see higher quanitities, but they will usually come from sellers that are buying on PAB and marking up to sell on Bricklink. On the plus side, the PAB minifig prices are really cheap (naboo torso sells for $2.50 on BL and s $.54 on PAB), and since they are always available in quanitity, you can wait until you need alot from PAB and buy all at once.

"Stop! I mean Block! I mean MegaBlock!!" This butt-warming moment brought to you by "MegaBlock" the official safeword for kinky AFOL's worldwide.

The specific page is here http://www.ngltc.org/train_depot/inclines.htm. the number of tracks necessary to establish a new elevation (one or two plates of elevation per track) is prohibitive for most folks, but it looks like your layout may be large enough to pull it off. Be sure to let us know how it turns out.

Nice Selection Monkfish44, I also tend to stick with Minifig parts and certain special items when I shop PAB online. Most stuff there is a bit more expensive than BL, but they are almost unbeatable for the prices of thier minifig parts, and being able to order a bunch of some of the more odd pieces (fruit, iron gates, owls, etc) is awesome . The average minigfig assembled from PAB costs from $1.10 to $1.35! It's really a great deal.

Intresting post Brickster. I think it's you raise two very good topics worth discussing. 1) Castle/town combinations, where did they go, and are they viable for today? 2) Is LEGO moving in the direction of modern, or more classic architecture? I offer this criticism to be helpfull, so with that in mind... It is precisely because this article raises two very good distinct topics, that I rated it below average. A well written article should concentrate on one issue. It seems that in seeking to draw together enough information to comprise an "article" you over-reached the Castle/Town topic that you began with and extended it to draw in Cafe Corner which was not an effective counterpoint to earlier sets, as no one assumes that CC is medieval styled. Lastly I'm not entirely convinced that either question mentioned above is expansive enough to support an entire article. Some topics are better as points for discussion rather than "articles". To conclude, regardless of my feelings about the "article" format, I congratulate you on raising two very good points for discussion, and I'll address them both below. 1) Castle/Town combinations worked much better in an early LEGO universe that was far simpler and less diverse, both in design, color scheme and piece selection. The first years of introduciton of the castle/town combo sets you show above were years in which the colors of castles were still yellow, and there were very few Castle sets. Castle would not be firmly established as a viable separate line with it's own "realistic" color scheme unitl 1984. Until '84, this castle/town comination worked fairly well, but after '84, these kind of combinations were no longer really viable. It might not be stretching to assume that these early combinations were a way of trying to increase customer experience and awareness regarding new developing castle theme. As soon as Castle became it's own entity, LEGO stopped trying to combine them. Today, LEGO seems to have purposely diferentiated between the lines, but as you say, AFOL's cn do anything. A quick search on briclink, will reveal numerous examples of medieval architecture combined very effectively with modern buildings, with most examples representing the real combinations of architectural styles found in Europe. With few exceptions however, the age of Castle and Town minifigs walking the streets together has ended. 2) As far as LEGO's current building styles I would say that it not so much that they have recaptured classic architecture, but rather that they have begun to recognize that there is a desire for more than the blocky toy-ish buildings of Town and City which are charming, but of little "architectural" value, and offer buildings like Market street, Cafe Corner, and Town Plan (perhaps as Klaus mentioned Engine Shed could fit in there also) that reflect buildings of the 20th century. None of these buildings, contain any architecture that is representative or deriviateve of anything earlier than very late 1800's.

I would like to add, that I don't see myself actively seeking out fabuland stuff, but I'd take a bag of Fabuland over a bag of Bionicle any day. The only Fabuland I've seen in person has been a sample of Hinkley's stuff at Brickworld. Thus for me, Fabuland still has a kind of mythical quality, and if a fabuland fig ever shows up in the bags of LEGO I buy from Salvation army, it's definatley going to get a place of honor in my minifig collection.

I say thank heavens for fabuland, how else would we have gotten the minifig pipe wrench and the street lamp or "fabuland standard" as LEGO calls it. There's lots of other reasons to love fabuland, but if that was all those creepy animals gave us, we would still be indebted to them.

Thanks for posting these, my next expansion to Brickington is going to be a car ferry, and though I usually prefer 6-wide for trucks, I was just thinking that I need some good 4 wide designs for trucks to place on the ferry. I'll likley be borrowing some of your designs.

How did I not see these earlier! Great work. I especially like the SUV. Your work with long tiles as vehicle sides is very effective.

I already posted this in announcements, but the factory palete and PAB online selection has been updated to include the parts in Custom Car Garage!. In case you're wondering, all the minifig parts from the set are available!

That's right folks, There are new parts on PAB, I haven't had time to check all the sections, but the Naboo torso is up there... Check it out http://us.factory.lego.com/pab/?warning=fa...id=&shipto=

Great Job, I had a look at your brickshelf folder. Amazing stuff. I'm particularly impressed with detail and function you managed to introduce in minifig scale! Especially impressive to those of us like myslelf who struggle with MOCing vehicles.

Thanks for that, I just printed up pages 5-16 of part 1, the directions for the red roadster!