Mr. Lego-builder

Yes. It's these problems and more, along with its competitors (mainly MEGA BLOKS) producing products with horrid quality, having them cost less, and therefore having it drain away LEGO's profits like a leech, when in reality, LEGO is the superb company and more people should realize this. I always say: Quality over quanity. And MEGA BLOKS against LEGO is a perfect example.

Having missed the survey, how surpirsed I am that TLC would ask such a question. Having read this, I have doubts about TLC's future. Just when I thought they were actually improving, they drop to their lowest point yet... :(

The new Technic sets are now available via Amazon.com, but there are no pictures: *NEW* Technic Forklift (8416) And: *NEW* Technic Street Bike (8420) There are pictures of this set here. (Brickshelf). Sadly there is no sign of the new crane yet. IMO, the forklift and the street bike looks good. I think there should be some sort of penumatic functions on the forklift becauuse of the high price. The alternate chopper bike for the street bike also looks interesting... Those are only my opinions. Discuss yours here!

Having the set, I confirm that Brickster is absoulutely correct. There is the same accracy with the sails. Also, the scale is also very accurate for most of the ship, at about 1:250 scale.

Oh, yes. In England, their currency is pounds, not dollars.

Is 44 pounds the weight? Or it is the store name? *wacko* The weight of the set is more like 10 to 15 pounds.

Like you asked, here are my thoughts: 1. INSTRUCTIONS: The instuctions aren't that hard to follow. But it might be harder for younger fans if they are used to the modern way of the LEGO instuctions. In such big set, there are only 16 steps to building the whole thing. Therefore, there are many bricks involved in 1 step. Some of the bricks in one step go as high as 20 bricks! Compared to the average 5 to 10 bricks for each step of modern times, this is alot of bricks! 2. DESIGN: The design is extremely well done. Some of the features include: ~alot of SNOT design (the cannons, the sails, the details) ~rotatable ship's wheel ~rotatable rudder turner thing (what's it called?), even though there is no real rudder ~turnable and adjustable sails (3 posts with 4 "sails" on each) ~a nice impression of a ship's hull, even though it is a bit blocky. (But it gives the set more of a "classic LEGO" look) ~very nice stand for the ship 3. PRICE: As for the price, very good. It is so low because of the amount of classic pieces it features. ------&------ 4. PIECES: Speaking of pieces, there are such an abundance of nice pieces: ~26 low black fence pieces ~26 black and (old) grey 1x1 pieces ~39 black 1x1 black smooth tiles ~52 1x1 round (old) grey bricks ~16 yellow headlight bricks ~lot and lots of plates (especially 1x2 and 2x8) ~a good selection of old hinge plates 5. APPEARANCE: As for the amount of realism this set carries: here's the real one, docked in Baltimore, Maryland:the real U.S.S. Constellation.* It has now turned into a museum. 6. OVERALL: In conclusion, this set is much like a bunch of bulk sets throw together to make such a nice war-ship; the famous U.S.S. Constellation! If you're into war-ships, this set can look good anywhere you put it! Even though I'm not such a big fan of ships, I still give it a rating of 9.9/10. Only -0.1 for the confusing(ish) instructions. **EDIT:** *= To see the images, click on the first text link ("The Little Reveiw Photos"). After reaching the page, scroll down to "Ships" and click on the links to the U.S.S. Constellation. It seem like the owner doesn't want us to directly link to the images. Sorry for any inconvenience.

**EDIT: Ignore this post, my written reveiw is just below!** I have it. But I bought it for quite a long time (for a year or so, maybe). I'll see what I can dig up...

We don't actually know what the interior looks like, so I guess that's why the designers didn't put much in. Also, put alot of interior details would bring up the price. Even so, the room with the crystal ball makes sense, because as seen in this commericial on the homepage, at the very end, it shows Valdek looking into the crystal ball, when the voice over says "Evil is watching." So I guess some thought was put into the interior, but not much.

ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SEE THE ALREADY WRITTEN REVIEW, SEE HERE: VALDEK'S DARK FORTRESS PICTORIAL REVIEW COURTESY OF BLOODY JAY

Watch out! The diverse one always comes out first! |-D I say 15 is a good number. You won't want hundreds of detectives in one house! :P GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Of course they're printed! On the topic of printing, I'm pretty sure that the shields, horses, flags, and figures are the ONLY printed pieces in the set, and there are NO stickers whatsoever. Great news! I hope there's less printing from now on! ;)

I thought so. And are the sheilds printed? I hope so. I absolutely agree with you in terms of parts, pieces, and selection. GREAT SET! (minus the bad-ish vehicles). I really like the abundance of the pillars, the castle window-wall pieces, and the wide selection of minifigs! This set might bring me back into the Castle theme, even though I'm more of a Town person. I remember the good old* days *=It depends on how old you call "old." For me, still being a teenager, old is not really that "old." :D :P

One more question. On the laucher thing (the vehicle) which part do you use to launch it? By pushing the Technic piece, or by turning the Technic gear above?

At least this time the sides are rearrangeable. This adds to the real meaning of a castle. This way it looks much more closed that the other castle (Castle of Morcia). I can see what you mean by lack of detail. The inside is plain and boring. Ah, well, just more room for customization! That's what LEGO's all about isn't it?

You just keep adding more, don't you?! Keep it coming!

WOW!! I'm speechless! I can see what you meant by impressive! :o :oo :oD The entranceway looks really nice. I liked the re-introduction of the raisable drawbridge and I love the dumping "hot tub of tar" as you call it. Really nice functions!

Brickster, In my opinion, the different time zones and the different schedules everybody has would make it difficult to decide really if anybody got the correct answers first. What if someone knows the answers, but has to wait until they have time in order to send you a PM? In my opinion, there should be a rule concerning this matter. Maybe you post the parts of the story, and the participant can't PM you until a full 24 hours has past. This way, everybody, no matter what time zone, or on almost any schedule would be treated fairly. (This is just a suggestion, so you can of course ignore it. ;) ) Also, I hope the already posted rules would strictly reinforced, especially when prizes are involved. But my point is that some people look through the real point of this contest, and only think about getting their hands on the prizes. The real point of this and any other contest is to have fun; and I hope all the participants agree with me. >-| Thanks, Mr. Lego Bildur

What is your Brickshelf Username, Bloody Jay? All this time has past and I still don't know where everyone's pictures are stored on Brickshelf. It's sad, I know.

Can't Wait! I bet I'll be joining you (and everybody who sees the pics) saying: holy megablock! ;) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (You're always the one with unexpected extra pieces, aren't you?) |-/

Good prediction. TLC should work more closely with AFOLs, having the color incident happen a few years back. :/

Happy Birthday! Make those Bday wishes count! ;) On the other hand, becareful what you wish for! :^D

First heard on Lugnet: When I heard this, I immediately went on the Brickshelf website. Here's what I found: Below the Brickshelf logo:"All users are encouraged to migrate their files to maj.com" And at the intruction scans portal:No more scans! (Loss of sponser?) ---------------------------------- What does this mean for Brickshelf? Is it going away for sure? I don't have any Brickshelf files, but I know many people who do, many of which who post in the Eurobricks forum. First Mocpages.com and now Brickshelf.com? I can feel the end of the ability to share MOCs. (But fortunately we still have this forum.) PLEASE POST IF YOU HAVE ANY INFO!

I know that duhhhhh ;) Its just that two people who registered after me were inscribed.... Go figure (I could edit his post and add my name but its just not me ;) ) I really don't want to miss the fun hehe ;) Off course I knew that! I saw that you were being sarcastic, so I decided to join you! :P :D Besides, It says you can sign up, so you should use your moderator abilities, and actually sign up! ;)

How are the designs going, Phes? But on the other hand, it would be really hard to make minifig hands with thumbs, because they don't have any thumbs or fingers! :P