Jimbobulus

Should get some online matches going on!

Agreed! People seem to miss the point- no-one is trying to say Megablocks (or any other clone brand) is better. We are just trying to say that there are other more affordable options for other people. No-one forces us to buy other brands,so I dont see the need for hate. I personally love Lego, it is the best. But, that wont stop me from buying a different brand if there is an interesting set, or a good value looking set. Aww poor Peppermint!! I have noticed your reviews That reminds me, other than the Toyrific reviews you have done, are you planning on doing any more? I have a few of their sets I was going to review, don't want to step on your toes if you have them in the pipeline though

Isn't this the same with all financial transactions? I find that money always goes out of my account exceedingly quickly.. whenever I (or anyone else) puts money into my account, it seems to disappear for 2/3 days until it finally makes its way into my account...

If these other companies weren't around, there would be no competition. This would lead to a decline in quality. Do you want that?

I don't really agrree with that article- FRODO vs LUKE Frodo hardly leads a 'plan, simple life' prior to his adventure by Hobbit standards. He inherits the richest estate in the Shire and is part of a family many people think are "queer". Additionally, Whilst Luke does live a simple life, he yearns for adventure, whilst all Frodo wants to do is smoke a good pipe and eat lots of food. Lukes 'power' (the Force) is one he trains and wields, and embraces. Frodos 'power' (the Ring) is something he shies away form using as much as possible, and in fact, it almost overwhelms him. AS for most of the other points, surely they arent really comparisons but more, the expected nature of their death defying adventures? i.e the injuries they both sustain, the loss of loved ones/mentors etc.. HAN SOLO VS ARAGORN How is Aragorn a Rogue? A Ranger is nothing like a Rogue, they are the descendants of the Men of Westernesse, i.e possibly the most noble men on Middle Earth. Han Solo is a Rogue who regularly cuts corners, bends the truth and commits crimes (in a lovable rogue way). Aragorn is in The Prancing Pony waiting for Gandalf, and his friends, and knows to look out for the Hobbits so he can help them. Han Solo is sort out by Kenobi and has to bargain extensively for his services. Solo was not waiting for them. AS for the other 'similarities' well, as the leader of the opposition, I would try to kill or destroy my big foes, so that's not really that surprising. R2D2 vs SAMWISE To Say that Sam is 'comic relief' is just insulting. He is one of the key characters and protagonists. Sam is not small compared to Frodo, infact he's probably bigger. R2 is however, quite considerably smaller than Luke. R2 does not carry any gear as far as I can remember. The idea of Sam being tougher than he looks applies to all Hobbits. Sam loves Frodo and they have a great friendship, this is perhaps the most important feature of the story. Luke and R2 do not 'love' each other. C3PO vs MERRY Again, Merry is not comic relief. It is in Hobbits' nature to be chirpy and good humoured, no matter what, making light of their bad circumstances. The ability to make a joke of something should not be misinterpreted as comic relief. Why should both characters being intelligent be a common similarity between the films? Most of our main protagonists are very clever. That comparison could be made by most of these. Merry only berates Pippin in the same way that great friends can berate each other. Pippin does like wise. R2 often does things his own way without seeming regard for C3PO, this cannot be said of the relationship between Merry and Pippin, which is a lot deeper than this article gives credit. No, C3PO is not related to Luke. In any way. PIPPIN VS JARJAR JarJar is comic relief, essentially. He is meant to be clumsy. Pippin, is a lot more than that. Pippin is always hungry? Well, so is every Hobbit. JarJar however is peculiar to his race in being always hungry. It's like saying Usain Bolt likes to run. Well yeah, he's the worlds best sprinter. JarJar often hides/is scared. He surrendered when surrounded on Naboo despite his superior telling him not to. Pippin would never have done this. CHEWBACCA VS GIMLI Chewbacca isn't scruffy. As I remember, he likes to preen himself. Also, all of the protagonists named so far are scruffy. Thy generally don't have the facilities or the means to make themselves pretty whilst trying to save the world. Gimils size isnt that different to the Hobbits. Also, Gimli is smaller than average, Chewbacca much taller. Surely this is a key difference between the two, not a similarity? Extremely loyal/stout hearts? Well yeah, these are the heroes of the stories.There is a reason they are the heroes. The idea of comic relief- almost every character in these films displays shows of humour, is called empathy, so the audience can relate to them. They arent similarities between two characters. WEDGE ANTILLES vs LEGOLAS GREENLEAF I don't think I can even dignify this comparison with an answer. Seriously? LANDO CALRISSIAN VS BOROMIR Lando and Han are good friends, old friends. Aragorn and Boromir met a few weeks/months ago, Boromir didnt even knoiw Aragorn existed. There was respect between the two, but not the same deep rooted friendship Hand and Lando had. OBI WAN VS GANDALF Gandalf is not a native of Middle Earth, he sent there by the Istari, and is not a warrior, although he can fight if needed. Obi Wan is a native of this world and trained to fight the forces of evil. Gandalf is not a human, Obi Wan is. The idea of Gandalf not being taken too seriously? By Whom?? Not everybody liked Gandalf, but not one person on Middle Earth didnt take him seriously. Saruman wasn't Gandalfs friend, he was his leader. Bilbo was friend, Saruman wasn't. Luke met Obi Wan having already grown up. Frodo had always known intimately of Gandalf. Obi Wan willingly and intentionally gave up his life. Gandalf didn't. Going into Moria Gandalf hoped to get out the other side. Obi Wan knew going to the Death Star, he wouldn't come out. Gandalf didn't die! YODA VS TOM BOMBADIL Tom Bombadil doesn't rival Saurons powers. He would get destroyed. He only has power in a very small area which he won't move out of. Yoda however, is the Don, the Man. Yoda is one of the most important figures on the whole of Star Wars lore. Bombadil is not. Bombadil has a wife, Yoda has no family MACE WINDU VS ELROND Isildur is not under Elronds influence. Mace is killed in part because of the protagonist under his influence. Elrond survives. QUI-GON JINN VS RADAGAST Rdagast is not a warrior. Jinn is. Jinn dies. Radagast does not. Jinn was Obi Wans mentor. Gandalf was a friend of Radagast, not a mentor. Radagast did not defy his orders. His 'speciality' was through nature, and it was in that medium he sought to fufil his duties. Jinn willingly defied orders, bringing about one of the greatest evils the Star Wars galaxy knew (Vader). JOCASTA NU VS GALADRIEL Galadriel is one of the most powerful and oldest characters in her universe. she also is an outcast, having left the Eldar willingly, and not returning. The Jedi Archives/The Mirror of Galadriel are two entirely different things. PADME AMIDALA VS ARWEN Padme falls in love with the great evil, Arwen falls in love with the great saviour. Arwen is/was immortal, and an elf, Padme is a human. LEIA ORGANA VS EOWYN Eowyn falls in love with Faramir. She fancied Aragorn for a bit. Neither Aragorn or Farmair are rogues. She likes them because of their virtuistic natures. Solo is a rogue, and thats why Leia likes him Leia controls her destiny, Eowyn has to defy her orders to do what she wants BAIL ORGANA VS THEODEN Doesn't Alderaan get blown up? CARLIST RIEEKAN VS EOMER Another really sketchy one. Eomer is at first considered a rebel/outcast by his own leader. Eomer then inherits the Kingdom. Rieekan does not. RAYMUS ANTILLES VS THEODRED Theodred isn't a soldier of high rank; he's the prince and heir. Theodred dies whilst his father still denies any war. Antilles dies with everyone knwoing what is at stake. OWEN LARS VS BILBO BAGGINS Bilbo is one of the most important characters in LOTR and he has a long back story. He also willingly invites Frodo into his home. Luke is foisted upon Owen (although I am sure he gladly accepted the burden). Bilbo was an adventurer who liked to explore. Own actively discouraged Luke from doing this. BERU LARS VS HAMFAST "THE GAFFER" GAMGEE One is female, one is not. What is so surprisng about characters having a relative? SHMI SKYWALKER VS LOBELIA SACKVILLE-BAGGINS Lobelia is a nasty piece of work, who wants to exploit Frodos estate. Shmi gives everything to her son. CLIEGG LARS VS OTHO SACKVILLE-BAGGINS Lars = nice, Lotho= not nice WATTO VS SANDYMAN THE MILLER Watto owns one of the key protagonists and his actions play a major part in what happens. No one cares about Sandyman. BIGGS DARKLIGHTER VS FREDEGAR "FATTY" BOLGER Biggs' name does not denote size. Fatty, obviously does CAMIE VS ROSE "ROSIE" COTTON Rosie has 3 or 4 kids with Sam LAZE "FIXER" LONEOZNER VS TOLMAN COTTON "With the given pictures both look strikingly alike aesthetically" Hmmm.If Cotton is a LOTR book exclusive character, where did they get that picture from? I will do the other half in a bit..

I play/have: The original Shogun The orginal Medieval Rome, with Alexander and Barbarian expansions Medieval 2 My favourite is Rome. Unfortunately my computer can't really do justice to anything Medieval 2 and newer. Plus, I find those games a bit too heavy. Rome is probably my favourite game of all time, bar nothing :)

I'm not particularly an Atlantis fan, so I just went for the smaller one. I noticed it normally retails for £20ish too, it's a very good deal methinks. That voucher code is also very useful!!

Phenomenal. Truly epic work, congrats.

Talking of Tesco, they have the LEGO Atlantis Deep Sea Striker 876 at half price, £5.24 from £10.48 http://www.tesco.com/direct/lego-atlantis-deep-sea-striker-876/208-5481.prd

Why don't you put it on ebay, with a reserve on it?

Actually, the community forum isn't really designed for Lego. It's more the non-Lego topics here, hence, the MegaBlocks thread. If you don't want to talk about MegaBlocks, don't post in this thread.. it's that simple. Not everyone has the finances to be able to buy Lego. Count yourself lucky you can.

Wwwwaaaazzzzzzaaaapppp to you too buddy Hope you enjoy the forums!

I think that's a good point. How long has the US had the LOTR sets for? And where they initially more expensive than they are now?

Will you be using additional bricks other than the sets you have mentioned?

Some really cool ideas. Love Lurtz Keep them coming!

Aww a happy story Welcome back Kelmonator! Don't forget your details this time

Seems legit to me.. having said that, I haven't heard of that company.. I would say it probably is legit, they are just a small company hence not having heard of them?

I think the poly bags are an bottom of the range, cheapest product available, for the most limited budgets. As a child I could never afford any sets over £10, and something about 35 was my absolute budget. So, if I was still a child, yes, I could imagine getting one of these quite easily. If, however, I had more money, I would of course buy the bigger set. I think the poly bags are about trying to maximise sales- as sad as it is, some people can't afford anything but the cheapest sets, and I am sure TLG would rather get a little money than none. I do see where you are coming from, and I do think it's a bit cheap of them not to make the poly bag Frodo unique.

I know this is an old thread, but I have 4/5 of the Toyrific sets and feel I can dd something.. Firstly, the Sue Ryder charity shops seem to sell these. I have been to two different shops in my local area, both of which stocked 3/4 different types of Toyrific sets, brand new MISB. Very random I know, but even 6 months after purchasing them, the Sue Ryder shops still are stocking these so I don't think they are a one off. I originally bought an islander/pirate set, and compared it to a Cobi set I bought at the same time, and the toyrifc set for me wins on price, quality, durability, and the two brands are level on quality. Some of the instructions could be thought out better, but other than that I have no complaints at all. I have enjoyed the Toyrific sets so much that I have actually bought the whole range, as far as I can find. Yes, they aren't quite up to scratch of TLG, but the TLg prices are at least double the price and I don't honestly think the price/quality differential is that extreme. If anyone wants me to review the sets I have, I would gladly do so :)

I've had a few of the Halo sets (my first ever Mega Blocks sets) and I was presently surprised. I thought the whole set was actually quite good. Not Lego standard (that's a given), but for the price, and what I received, I thought they were a bargain. Considering all the bad press Mega Blocks always gets, I have to say I was quite pleasantly surprised :)

Sorry, didn't realise you were from Lego themselves.. may I suggest you refer the matter over to your superiors? Although, other people have pointed out good business reasons as to why Lego have done it this way :) I'm sure Lego have done their research, they are quite a successful company as far as I know. I think these poly bags are more likely aimed at children to buy as pocket money, in which case I'm also sure the children probably aren't too fussed which Froo this is, etc. Whilst there are a lot of us Lego nuts out there who do care about that sort of thing, we don't actually make up Legos' mass market. :(

Love the rocks, they are a really good feature. And the Crocodile Shield I feel your pain at running out of bricks- I always find that my MOCs Dioramas end up being more multi coloured than i had intended

You don't have to buy the sets if you don't want them :)

I already have all these unfortunately :( I think I know where you sourced them from too Snap lol

I am going to see that this week, so I am looking forward to it... I hope you are right I watched Live and Let Die, the James bond film, last night. I have the complete box set and am going through them in order... it is amazing how they veer off from the stories of the books so completely. The books stories are much better!