MAB

I wonder what it would look like if it was done like a (small) dinosaur or a bigfig. At best I imagine it would have rigid legs that are articulated at the waist, and similar up/down articulation for the arms and an articulated neck, and up down for the tail and wings. That is nine molded parts (8 different if the wings are symmetric). Maybe better still if they did articulated wrists. At worst, it could be one completely rigid body with articulated wings and arms (so 5 parts in total, 7 if they articulated the wrists). I think I'd prefer it to be brick built rather than like a cave troll with wings and a tail.

Why would yes have sufficed? You explained using a number of words why you think it is cartoony, so I'll use words to explain why I think it is OK.

I think it looks OK for a LEGO model where heads tend to be oversized compared to bodies. All LEGO figures look a bit cartoony, and that is part of their appeal. If I wanted a screen accurate model, I wouldn't buy one made from LEGO.

The concept and the design/detail put into it are different things. I'm not a fan of the concept as I don't see the point of book nooks but I still like the detail they have put into it even if it has to be a book nook. The implied lighting was also effectively done in Barad-Dûr. I don't really get the link to a Mixel. Totally different size and build style. I think the Balrog is quite well done for the upper half but rather chunky for the lower half. To me the lower half is more mech like, but presumably this is necessary for stability. A heavy mass on narrow legs often doesn't work so well.

That sofa will seat precisely one minifigure! I don't have the room for the set, but I think I might pick up Sideshow Bob, Squeaky Voice Teen and possibly the new Krusty. I've still got a few Marge and Maggie from last time, so I'll put the price up for those now it is clear we are not getting them again. No doubt other sellers will follow suit as this set becomes known about and the cheaper ones sell out so buy them now if you didn't get them first time around.

If many smaller models got more positive feedback and fewer large ones did, then maybe they would shift the balance of large vs small sets that they choose. This is kind of an extension of what karalora was saying - that people tend to sway to big and detailed because they are big and detailed at the expense of smaller designs.

I think the function got removed / broken in an update, so no longer exists for new posts. However you can do this ....and use white text and it won't show up unless someone changes the background colour or highlights the text.

I know one person's vote makes no difference at all, but I'm only voting positively for BDP designs under 1000 parts, and 'not for me' on anything above that.

The car is from "Homie the Clown". The roof looks pretty accurate to the cartoon but obviously the building is a lot smaller. I don't think the sign is that bad, given it is built so has to have some depth rather than a flat piece.

I don't think CMF factions count as Castle here. If they do, then my vote would be for the S3 elf.

Sale price, manufacturing cost and perceived value are three different things. Sometimes they are proportional but often not. The missing cost price is probably in a lot of little parts. The perceived value of a brick built Balrog might seem lower to some people than a large molded one piece lump of plastic but to others the point of the set will be that it is brick built.

LEGO made Notre Dame, an actual real life cathedral used for religious services.

I think it looks OK, but I don't get the point of it being a book nook. It almost looks like they want to do small sets but feel they have to be adult oriented so turn them into one off display objects rather than traditional play sets. If they had sold this opened up without the need to fold, lost some of the bricks to make the background, and made the Balrog more action figure like with poseable joints it would be a perfect mid-range set of a theme. But alas, they are still only after the big money sets. Freudian slip?

Designers of (successful) large sets make significantly more money than designers of (successful) small sets. LEGO make more money when they sell out the quota of large sets than when they sell out the same quota of small sets. It is no wonder that bigger sets get promoted more and LEGO allows piece counts to increase with time and recently even break their published thresholds. As for getting feedback, new (or old) designers/builders can post on sites like this. However, some people ask for feedback even though they have already submitted to IDEAS or BDP. In that case, asking for feedback is just promoting their submission. I think both programmes have grown too much, although really it is the money behind them that has grown too much especially for BDP, that has turned it into being a competition for independent designer/advertisers making it a full time or almost full time job for some. They are not really fan designers doing it for enjoyment but essentially freelance workers that need to maximise publicity by posting in as many forms and get as many blog mentions as they can to promote their submissions. I think that is just as damaging to "fan designers" that work on a design and submit it, as they are up against semi-professional designers submitting multiple designs every time.

I don't think the reviews on lego.com are that bad. Most of the low ranked ones are from people complaining about duplicates which happens with CMF too. Then there is a very bad review complaining that they replaced CMF with these, presumably from someone that hasn't bought them. A couple of people mention generic instructions for all cars being hard to follow when it comes to different colours.

Lord of the Rings reveals are never late, nor are they early. They are revealed precisely when they mean to be revealed.

And that is why such threads are pointless. Even if it was true, there is not really anything to discuss until something is actually known about the set.

But then you'll get Classic Space fans arguing over what the roles are based on the minifigure colour. Stone mason? Scaffold constructor? Quarry worker?

Castle is not exclusively medieval or historical though. When LEGO includes dragons and trolls in Castle, then Castle contains fantasy. That list contains medieval/historical movies, but they are not all that "castle movies" can contain because that is not a well defined category of movie. Fantasy (and in some cases medieval/fantasy) movies like Excalibur, Lady Hawk, Beastmaster, Dragonslayer, Conan, etc are also "castle movies" in the sense that they would fit into what LEGO has produced within the Castle theme. LEGO Castle contains fantasy, we know that for sure as LEGO has included fantasy within Castle.

PAD printing tends to be used only for fairly large print runs as there is significant cost in producing and setting up the printing cliches. You are probably better off using UV printing for one offs or small runs. Or home printed decals if you want reasonably cheap.

There were "old" brown as opposed to reddish brown versions of the cannon base in vintage sets, but the last set to contain that colour was from 2002 - the reissued Fort Legoredo. So I doubt they would have included old brown in a set as late as 2011.

Having fantasy in Castle is like having aliens in Space. For me, both are perfectly fine especially if including them would help sales and keep themes alive.

I won't be voting for it. You should be honest about promoting your own designs.

Historically, no. In fact, if a piece was missing or damaged then customer service used to send a new blind bag instead, saying that even they do not know what is inside so cannot send the correct replacement implying that they don't have access to parts either. I don't think I've seen any CMF exclusive parts on PAB online since.

Try contacting the person you bought the instructions from.