MAB

It goes to show how useless the reviews are (if buyers do nto read them). If buyers are expecting the old green, then they are clearly not reading the 1 star reviews about colour changes.

It sounds like your first attempts didn't seal properly then. Thin multiple coats seem to seal better. Good luck!

Yes, and also make sure there is a decent protective waterproof layer on top. I use three light passes of acrylic spray, rather than one heavy one.

First off, pirating is wrong. However, I can understand why some people would believe the books should be / are free (to them). In fact, I have never really understood why authors (or probably the publisher) allows books to be part of the pay what you like Humble bundles. If they do that, someone can buy often 10 books for 1c / 1p. These deals get listed on many deal websites at that value. Sure, the average value paid is higher than that. But once a book is part of a bundle available for a penny, I can understand why people think they should be free. Even if the book was one of the stretch goals. If the publisher has allowed them to be given away once, then why pay? Again, I think piracy is wrong, just like most here. But I can fully understand why some books are seen as costing nothing to some people.

Probably to get an idea of the build before purchasing, or to have a rough guide available if you lose them. Unfortunately some people sell CDs of instructions downloaded this way.

Have you definitely got inkjet waterslide paper and not LaserJet paper?

A few random locations don't build up a complete picture. However, many random locations do though, so long as they are widespread. That is why it is great when more people share there one-off observations. On their own, they are useless (apart from to that person and anyone in the vicinity). Together they are useful. Such collecting of random data is used a lot where you cannot have systematic data - so data on number of wild birds on a particular day, or the date of the first daffodils appearing, etc are often collected by individuals in their own gardens all over a country or continent. One piece of data is insignificant. But together they build a useful picture of what is happening to bird populations or climate. Just like if one person doesn't see a set in Target or Asda or their local supermarket or toy store, it is not very useful. But if everyone shopping in that brandstore all over their country reports the same, then it is significant. If no-one shares their seemingly insignificant data, then no-one can build a more complete picture.

We all got them. Lego has perfected the invisible man minifig. :-)

I don't think it is boring at all. There are a lot play features included in the set and hidden sections. I also think the parts used are good too. I've also read quite a lot of positive reviews about the set as a whole, not just Smaug. So I don't think it is right that the set is boring to most people. Concerning the price, yes, it is probably overpriced but then most of the line was. Fortunately most of the sets were on sale at some stage. That just makes this one look even more overpriced. Yes, and all those would probably have meant skipping new moulds for Smaug. I wouldn't want them to just reuse the existing dragon for Smaug just to get a Bolg. You don't have to deal with them, you choose to read them. Why not? Lots of observations in random locations that all say the same thing start to build up a complete picture of availability. And in some cases, they are not guesses at all. I have asked in stores that stocked waves 1 and 2 if they are stocking wave 3, and have been told no. That might be an unprofessional observation or a wild guess to you, but to others knowing that a store has chosen not to stock a line is useful information. Again, if you don't want to know about availabilty then don't read the posts about availability. Just because you don't want it doesn't mean others should not be able to discuss it.

Mine arrived (thanks!) ... in a chicken box. :-) No specials, but lots of group A kitties. Has anyone got a special one yet?

How are you counting new molds? Smaug alone has 10 or so. Then there is Thorin / crown, Dain, Witch-King, so that is 13 I can think of immediately. Also first wave sets are expected to have more, since they introduce character specific molds such as Fili / Kili hair, why replace it later on for these characters? Balin doesn't need a new hair/beard. For King Thorin in the crown, it makes sense to update the headpiece to wear a crown. But for other characters, there is no need to change their hair, beard, etc. They have already invested in the molds, why change them? The decided not to have a generic dwarf, so there is no need for them to increase the number of parts to make a generic dwarf possible when they don't intend to have one.

I buy most of my Lego online too rather than in store. It doesn't stop me checking out stores when doing my weekly shop though. The good thing about online is that you often know exactly how much stock a store has, and how fast it sells. By looking at stock levels you know sales speeds and also when they restock. I can tell you that Hobbit sales on amazon UK (direct from amazon) have not be good, much slower than wave 1 Hobbit, and slower than both LOTR waves.

You don't need to blend or break parts. Just pop the parts into a very small amount of acetone in a jar and leave them. Even if they are large duplo bricks in a tiny amount of acetone, they will slowly dissolve and as they dissolve, the upper ends fall into the solvent. If you want a decent thickness paint, keep adding lego parts until no more dissolves. You should leave it (with a lid on) for a few days to make sure they have fully dissolved. Then just pull out any undissolved parts and use the remaining thick paint. You'll be surprised how much lego you can dissolve in acetone. The first time I tried it I physically covered the parts in solvent, and the paint was much too weak. You probably only need 10% of that amount to dissolve it all and end up with a nice thick paint. Also the more acetone in it, the more that will evaporate off later, meaning longer drying time but also more shrinkage. Thsi is definitely a problem if you try to use it to mold parts. I did this even with the really thick stuff, and they still shrunk afterwards why they started drying.

Of course it is. Search for Smaug brick built and there are MOCs of Smaug. Not recreations of the official LEGO molded Smaug, but MOCs.

So far, not so good from what I've seen. But it is still available at retail, and hasn't gone on discount yet.

Sure, Lego knows their own sales figures better than anyone else. But many fans, and especially resellers, have quite a good idea about how sales are going. This is especially true online, where it is normally easy to monitor how fast items are selling. PS I can estimate 1cm without using a ruler. Hence the use of the word about.

You cannot get replacements for CMF from Lego. Lego sends a new random bag. They say they have no access to the parts.

Thanks copmike, I can only imagine the fun of posting that many parcels in one day. :-)

No, but when you combine it with discussions with afols, other parents of kids, an interest in what others are buying, or even picking up off the shelf, stock numbers available during sale periods and how fast that stock sells, levels of discounts needed before something sells in any quantity, whether a store stocks further waves, and so on gives a reasonable impression.

Why should these be based on Mary's Shelley's story? That type of monster has already been done. This one is more in the style of the Groovie Goolies ( .)Similarly, we already have a number of crazy scientists, so they have gone more in the director of an even more cartoonish crazy scientist. I have nto seen any claim by Lego that they are meant to be representations of the characters in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. They don't need to be true to them. They need to appeal to kids. You cannot, because the body would not be zombiefied just the head. Although if you want to use that argument, then it is an argument against any updated soldiers, etc. We already have two roman soliders, if you want more just replace the heads. If you want more spartans, just replace the heads. And so on.

It's also available in silver too.

If a store took wave 1 and 2, then doesn't take wave 3, then it is a fairly good indication that wave 1 was not a good seller for them. They would probably already have signed order contracts to get wave 2 while 1 was out, but not yet placed orders for wave 3. If you visit a store enough, you can often tell if stock is shifting. I once aligned a load of sets (this was SW, not Hobbit) so that they were staggered by about 1cm left and right. The same pattern of boxes was there a week later. I assume that none of them had been touched, by customer or staff.

^ Sex in the City. Probably. I'm male so don't watch stuff like that.

The warriors are not the same, but then neither are any of the new ones in S14. But if the zombies all count as the same idea / concept, then so should the ancient warriors. The fact that we may have a zombie businessman and a zombie pirate and a cheerleader zombie is no different to having a spartan warrior and a roman warrior and an egyptian warrior. The fact that we get more than one businessman zombie is also no different to getting more than one type of roman soldier. People that like a subject often like variation in that subject. People outside of it will just see yet another rehash, even though it is different.

I'd say a zombie cheerleader is a different concept to all the other zombies that have come in the past, and the cheerleaders that have come in the past. I'd put that on par with a Roman soldier following a Spartan. They are different but sort of the same idea - soldier from ancient times in different clothes / armour, zombie in different clothes. The werewolves are totally different too. The CMF one was a regular head with hairpiece, the MF one a molded head. This one appears to be a new molded head in a new colour. So that is similar to the Roman Soldier being followed by the Roman Commander. Very slightly different but essentially the same to someone that doesn't care about it, yet important for those who want that difference. I'm looking forward to the new werewolf head, it looks like a perfect match for Grandma Visitor / Red Riding Hood, better than the brown one. How many prospective buyers of these were collecting when Studios was out? How many were even born? I don't see that they are redundant, any more than another police station, another technic truck, another X-wing, another Luke Skywalker, all of which sell well for lego. People buy pocket money toys at halloween, these are likely to sell well. Lego doesn't care too much what has gone before, they care about what will sell now. I wonder if the same logic holds for other characters. Lego should never do a new Spartan or other Greek warrior, no more Romans (already has a rehash), no more Highlanders or knights (multiple rehashes), no more mythological creatues / gods (multiple counterparts already), no more Asian or African or Pacific warriors, no more female "Amazon" warriors from Greek history... all those concepts have been done. If lego sees the complaints and decides they should act* they won't change this set, it is coming no matter what. But maybe they will not do another themed set. A new ancient warriors CMF series (or pirates or castle or city or whatever takes your fancy)? No chance, the people don't want it. * I don't believe they will care too much what people say about it. If it sells, it is a success. That is all that matters to them. Personally, I would like to see many more rehashes (or counterparts) of other Greek warriors, Romans, Vikings, as well as Norman Conquerors and Saxon battlers. I'd like more mythology too. I'd even like a single themed CMF series ... It wouldn't worry me if the CMF series all became themed. Sure, sometimes I'd have to miss an entire theme due to lack of my interest in it rather than skipping probably 50%-75% of the minifigs in each series, but then I do that with other lego anyway. Sometimes I skip entire themes as they hold little interest for me. There are benefits and cons to having themed series. A big benefit for this one is that it is going to be out at the right time of year. Maybe past series haven't sold so well, and lego wants to try out having time sensitive themes like this to boost sales. It seems to work with the poly bags.