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Many thanks to Mikael for attracting additional attention to this issue! As someone may know there are parts of the world, where no S@H/LEGO stores exist. Russia is one of them. So as long as you're anxious about the price differences there's a certain amount of speculators or resellers who sell GG or FB for 10 000 roubles (1 USD = 30 roubles) - that is more than 300 USD per set! Moreover, the prices we have for "regular range" are about as high (or higher) than most expensive EU countries have. Okay (not ok-ey), it looks like Russian LEGO fans are as rich as Sweden ones :) - we're able to afford US' MSPR multiplied by 2. The sad fact is - these money do not go to LEGO. Those who are not buying LEGO abroad had to pay to the "middlemen".

Very nice customization, espacially the worn-off marks. I've checked the set at Flickr - may be you'll have a chance to make photos with better lighting?

Hello everyone, could anyone who owns VIKING CHESS set please take a very close look at the stickered shields and compare your observation with the image under the link: SHIELDS CLOSE-UP PICTURE, 3 MB (!!!) It looks like the one on the right (the "chess" ones) have dotted-printing, while the regular ones on the left do not. Could anyone please confirm that these shields in the chess set have the same "dotted" stickers? Many thanks in advance!

many thanks for this awesome review. Great photos of pigs. This set has just been launched in our local stores, so when the discussions come to set, a lot of our community members turn to this review and they find it brilliant. Great review!!!

Thank you very much for sharing your awesome MOC here - it looks like a lot of people like it. As it was mentioned befor both locally and at EB - it's very CITY-looking vehicle and it does fit well with LEGO "rescue" line - 7903 etc Just to give an additional details regarding this work, i'd like to mention that this is one of the entries for our LUG's hovercraft contest (Link in Russian). Also one can find my entry here at EuroBricks. It was great contest and your MOC is absolutely great!!!

Being able to see more de-marco's works at our local forums, I totally agree: I'm a conformist!!Hey, may be it's time to show that rescue hovercraft? I think it is worth to be shown here... In the separate topic, of course...

I've had the same question and I was able to receive the answer at LA forum - it appears that some early headgear was initially produced from non-ABS plastic and the molding not included LEGO logo (pigtails and police hats were early minifig accessories) So - no worries, it's all LEGO in perfect condition. Many congratulations - you're lucky to have such elements.

I think those who saw LEGO prices went down should be happy!! In Russia we had two price increases during last year: ~13% increase in August 2009 and new sets of 2010 range are considered ~15% more expensive than comparable sets from 2009. So the "average" rate is +15% per year ... and that's not mentioning severe quality issues. However LEGO in Russia has a very good tradition to cut prices about 20% twice a year for limited range/quantity of sets - so it's possible to have some sets for kind of "adequate" ( USA's MSRP multiplied by 1.5 instead of 2) price. So I can't say I've noticed any reduction this year...

I'm embarrassed... Many thanks to you all for sharing you opinions and constructive critics! I'll be able to take some additional pics of the slightly modified vessel soon, and I've already promised my son to take photos of mis "mod" of the hovercraft. To be honest, there things to be changed to make this playable ship the real model... The main thing was to encourage the members of our community to build snth new and unconventional - do you think that hovercrafts are still "unconventional"? :) Mmmm... I'd love to, though i think that this is not as perfect as the other front-pagers. Also the "LEGO Other themes" doesn't look as popular as SW or City etc. - may be one day... Once again - thank you very much for your attention. Cheers!

We specifically agreed on "no limits" conditions regarding the size, etc. The others are good, however this baby has won. It's very easy to handle - my son's working on attaching as many guns as possible to it, at the moment the hovercraft looks like very upset hedgehog :)Thank you for the comment, Oky Wan!

In early December 2009 four members of Russian community decided to have a small unofficial competition. And we've chosen "the minifig scaled unarmed hovercraft" as the object to be built. So, if you can read Russian or are aware of Google Translate service, here's THE LINK to the voting theme - hope you'll find all hovercrafts interesting. Here's my entry... The design is "classic" the main rotors in the back, the hovering rotors on the sides, the bridge is in the center of upper deck. The front view. I was not going to create the scale model of the real hovercraft, so I do understand there are certain mistakes. So critics are welcome. I've tried to add some kind of "curved look" to the windows, and at the moment I'm pleased with the result. There are doors on the both sides, to the crew can get access to the upper deck... ... to give the main rotors the final check before the mission. I know, that ExoForce turbines could be replaces with the brick-built structure to fit the "scale", but i haven't mastered one so far... Currently it's diameter is 10 studs, any ideas on 15-wide turbine of similar design - let me know!!! The front door is used by the assault team - no ramp for vehicles Yes, this is another thing that could be improved. I've seen Aleksander Stein's hovercraft at Flickr, so i'm going to change the design of the front to put the ramp there. Side doors for normal boadring. The raft in the back is a joke - i think they use self-inflatable rafts now :) The upper deck can be easily removed to get access to the inside... ... where more removable elements are located The accommodation for the assault squad: The removable elements The weapon holders The crew at the bridge The captain's workplace - the indicators, the communication facilities, the radar screens and very comfortable arm-chair with head support Pipe all hands on deck! Your opinions and critics are welcome. See Flickr Set for some additional photos

Great set and great review - it has all the information to be the perfect review. BTW, I've just found out that local (Russian) price will be 299 roubles (it's about $10 - 7236 has the same price...) - that's ridiculous! :( Sorry for this complaint.

Being one of those "russians" I think i have to add my two cents here... - the building itself captures the typical Church, as long as the cementry - in most cases the sphere-shaped roofs are not black, however the color used in the MOC brings more atmosphere - i don't have any objections - the fence shows that the church is poor - may be this church is located in the village etc. - i don't think i've ever seen any monuments located so close to the church - i'll double check :) Many thanks for the MOC! It really looks very russian!

Though i really liked the mod (i'd definetely buy one for my son, if the set was available, i must agre with I think that a small tour through Ralph_S brickshelf/Flickr gallery will give you additional inspiration... Or, maybe there's something here (though I do think that Ralph_S' SWAT truck is brilliant)

Looking at all these amazing creations has made me absolutely confident that the proposal from my fellow mates to build new western display more Mexican is great. We'll pick up as many fine things we see here as possible to make the display vero LEGOish and LEGOristic (LEGO-realistic) :) Great sets - i'm sure one day LEGO will revive the Western!

The Penguin AKA The Mythbuster: Russians are militarists - BUSTED! Bears are walking along the streets of Moscow (e.g.) - BUSTED! Perestroika, Kalashnikov, Sharapova - BUSTED! Nice conversion of polar bear into the "typical" one Nice use of BA's AK-47 Sweet "sickle-and-hammer" round plate It's a pity nnoone (eve Brickforge) do not supply military helmets in Khaki Green - those kepis do not match with Soviet Army's uniform.

It took me some effort to choose between "Trains & Town" and "Other themes" forums, however the subtitle "the world we live in" has made my mind, so here we go... I think we've all heard requests to LEGO to bring EDUCATION to the current City range. While I do not know, whether the minifigs will go to school/college ect. or not, i've put some under thorough examination in MINIFIG ANATOMY Actually I think that these pics will talk for themselves, because everyone has attended the school. And here's the teacher himself: Some additional photos at Flickr Your opinions and critics are much appreciated.

It looks like LEGO has firseen such services... Just checked with SHIPITO the possible 10199 shipment to Russia and they can not send this via USPS - the box (even the LEGO box, without packaging) exceeds the limits - it's too wide, more than 13" (the box is 15") :( So the number of AFOLs will have to pay european price + shipment costs + some BL premium (no S@H/LEGO store in Russia)

If LEGO will continue to produce new big patrs, one day we'll be able to build An-225 with 80 parts. Just joke. I've tried to build larger aircrafts - no great results so far :( As long as one does not use this as a kind of glider - it's OK. Though, i think it's next to illegal to use this technique :) Thanks for the replies!

Hello, I've built this MOC to participate in the contest held at www.phantoms.su some time ago. The objective was to build miniscaled aircraft with 80 pieces or less (a kind of "Creator" mini-set) After a certain amount of research, i've come across blueprints of the Antonov An-14 airplane in very convenient scale... So I've been able to put pieces together right on the printed sheet (of course, there are some limitations I haven't managed to overcome). So, here's the result: I don't think it's perfect but the "general impression" has been achieved. Some more pictures at Flickr

Hi there, great review of the great set. BTW, does anyone know the exact box size? (BrickLink does't haму this info ) I'm going to ask my UK friends to bring some sets to Russia (no S@H, no LEGO Store here... grrrr!!!!), so the size REALLY matters in this case... Thanks in advance!

More nice characters of the famous saga!However, I wouldn't use so much contrast on these pictures. Maybe this link (in Russian) will give some tips? (Though i do know you've left DB)

The photos have not been removed. I've asked him to put link instead of images.There were several thousands visitors - and most of them had cameras, so it's not possible to ban something. Just a more polite way. I think we'll be able to put kind of review about the fest soon and post it at EB.

That helicopter is also using the same way to build the angled sides of the aircraft.

I think the new seaplane door usage is similaк to the old-school horse trailer: This helps to create the angle. Regarding the exact way to connect pieces, will refer to Brickfactory: As far as I can recollect now, the plane has two doors, and there's a small luggage compartment, the suitcase was placed there. Klaus-Dieter, you're correct there's no point in selling airport and plane separately. Though, as I've mentioned before, I can't be 100% sure, since these are preliminary sets. Anyway, i'm not City-air-whatever fan, and I prefer MOCs :)