TheLegGodt

By definition there must be some kind of interior since the cargo bay can open and close and hold the carbonated Han Solo. I have a gut feeling the canopy will open to reveal a probably very limited cockpit. The rest of the guts will surely be technic just like Fire spray 31 says.

Have all of them except Market Street which i will never own because I don't like the look of it enough to justify the price tag. Don't buy multiples. I have five more slots available in my city layout before it gets full in that area. So around 2020 I will need to decide which Modular I box as i start a rotating process. Or I get a bigger layout by then ;-)

I sometimes eat while I build (mindful to keep my hands clean)

I am more like 90% a collector while I do apply some MODs if the out-of-the box model does not fully fit my city layout. But usually that is limited to removing a base plate. My biggest MOD was turning the Crator Town House into a Train Station for my city layout. I have ordered though around EUR 1000 of bricks through PAB to build scenery for my layout (i.e. trees, pavements, roads, hills, beaches, docks, etc.). So I guess that makes me a bit of a MOCcer after all ;-)

I'm rooting for Doctor Who

I speculate that TLG sees the CMFs as promotional sets to attract new customers amd promote the brand in general at various locations where boxes sets are hardly sold (e.g. Petrol stations). For example, the little bags make great gifts to handout at kids birthday parties. Like any marketing tool, it is a cost that only needs to be recovered. No goal to make a profit just break-even. I think Playmobil does the same with their mini dolls they promote in a similar fashion. On our big AFOL sets they do need to make a profit and probably there is less volume so margin is even more important. And then I guess stickers are cheaper than printed pieces. So an easy way to keep margins healthy. And TLG must be and should driven by profit and not a social goal to please us AFOLs beyond what is commercialy healthy. I mesn, we would hate to see them cease production of AFOL sets and only target kids again. Of course there is the other POV: AFOLs also get their own kids into LEGO. So a balance must be found as usual and apparently TLG is succeeding in that regard quite well given their financial performance. But i think I m going way off-topic here...

Looks like a great series to add to my complete collection minus 1: Mr. gold. Personally I don't have the patience to feel me way through countless packets to get each series complete. I just team up with a couple of other LEGO enhusiasts (sometimes mothers buying tem for their KIDS ahum) to buy a box of 60 with hardly a difference in cost. How do most AFOLs acquire their CMF collection? The easy way or the hard way? Perhaps an idea for a poll....

Toy and grocery shop does indeed sound like a continuation of the bike shop and cafe corner as a sort of sub theme within Creator to compliment the modular Creator expert models. Would be great if that became true... The beach hut sounds like another Creator house model (i.e. Town House, Mountain hut). And as a coincidence I am in need of a beach hut formmy beach scene. Looking forward to the first pictures!

Picture reviews for me. I can speed read them and if I find them interesting slow down to take in more details of the photos. Video just take too long to get through, doesn't work for me in general but I appreciate that they are there as well in case I find a set very interesting and worth investing more time

Ah that's a different story. So it changed from sold out to temporarily out of stock? Personally I've never known that to happen before, sounds very promising. In Holland by the way it still says sold out...

Thanks for your very extensive answer and the trouble you took to write it. I think your advice sounds correct. I guess it will be a new experience to give BL a try sometime.,,

Yeah the review is just about due... Bit more than 2 weeks to go until they are officially released

Very lucky!

This is so true. Let us enjoy our wonderfully fun hobby that lets us be little kids again rather than get all lofty, arty farty and moralistic - boring!

I feel certain barrier to ordering over BrickLink. Perhaps it's a case of it simply being unknown to me, i have never ordered through BL before. Perhaps in some people's books that does not make me a serious AFOL/MOCcer? ;-) But if you do order on BL, do you buy from multiple sellers or not? I kind of expect it to be a hassle and honestly I am quite prepared to pay a bit more to aboid that. Judging by othere replies here that you can easily match a list from LDD to BL (is that really the caee?) for people designing in LDD first i can imagine that convinience is worth something however, which kind of balances this point? Then there's the selection argument and I pretty sure you guys are right that BL wins hands down there. Then the picing, this surprises me most since in theory there are more 'middle men' in the BL process who all want to earn their share of income for their trouble of scavenging through sets, putting their 'wares' out there and dealing with orders, payments and logistics. I would have thought TLG must be more efficient at this since they eliminates the need for the middle man. Also, as someone pointed out, you get VIP points. Has anyone really compared the prices between BL and PAB and how much do they really differ on average? Also, what about returns policies? I have never questioned an order through PAB online but they do mention if you have any concerns to immediately contact customer service. Given my other experiences in this regard, i would think you will receive new parts if the ones delivered are damaged/incomplete. Has anyone any experiences in this regard concerning an online PAB order? What is that like for BL orders? Finally quality: the pieces ordered from PAB are all spankingly brand new. Can the same be said for orders through BL and how can you determine / trust upfront the quality? As it stands for now I personally have not heard enough convincing arguments to change my preference for online PAB orders unless the parts I want are not abailable. But perhaps I am not seeing the whole picture? Interesting points Brickbuilder711 and in part answers some of the points in my reply I just posted as well! I see though you are more used driving to a store for the Brick Wall which may well be worth it to you. For me, the closest one is 2 hours drive away and besides gas (which is free since I drive a lease car) my 'opportunity cost' is scarce time I could have spent on building. Or my family.

Can you be more specific?

Without going into heated discussions where everyone is telling each other what fenimism is or isn't, here's a quote from myself about the Research Institute:

I seriously doubt it going by their website. Why not then say temporarily out of stock like they do other times (e.g. Delorean). No, sold out in my experience really means sold out. But here's hoping I am proven wrong!

Why not use PAB? You have a lot more choice and can get exactly what you need (as long as it's on the PAB list, which is quite extensive). I think I must have spent close to 500 euros over various PAB orders, always very happy how fast it arrives. Tip: use PAB to fill up your basket to 55 euros to get free postage (e.g. Exosuit, Research Inst. and PAB - my last order ;-)

The detail on the body by the back wings is also different... Edit: oh no it's not it's just the lighting reflecting

Sounds very credible - how do you get this kind of info?

Since you took the trouble to add a stud for the astronomer why not then also for the chemist? Built this set this evening with my 7 year old daughter. She already has a very anaytical mind and is an independent thinker. She ended exclaiming she wanted to be a scientest too when she is older. I think tihis is a testomony to the original designer and TLG! And yes, she also plays with Friends and Princess LEGO so imagine my relief her mind had not been poisoned by all those pinks and purples haha! Diversity rules!

I ordered them day 1 anticipating a run, so personally I am set. But for people who lost out I sure hope you are right. I fear the worst though, on S@H it states sold out...

The official press release and designer video is now available. Brickset.com has it on their website. Here is the link: http://brickset.com/article/11995/santa-s-workshop-unveiled-at-bricks-by-the-bay Shouldn't a mod post thiss on the frontpage? On a side note, i was surprised to see Marcus (I think that's his name, the designer of the Arkam Asylum) design this one. I didn't think he worked on Creator stuff but more on licensed stuff. Looks like a great set, definetely day 1 stuff and I am in the camp of people appreciating the brick built reindeers!

We all suspected the latest 2 CUSOO/IDEAS sets would he hits but they are sold out wthin a week! Same happened to the MARS rover at the beginning of the years. Meanwhile, Ghostbusters ECTO-1 and the Delorean are still available. The funny thing is, I would have thought the licensed sets would have sold out a lot faster than MOC-inspired ones. Do LEGO simply produce more licensed-inspired IDEAS sets than MOC-inspried sets? Or do AFOLs prefer the MOC-inspired sets more? What is the message that the buying behaviour of us AFOLs is sending TLG regarding the IDEAS line?