bamaker

As recently as two weeks ago the NorthPark store in Dallas had roughly two dozen sets out on the floor of the store. I don't know if they had any in back. I stopped at the Stonebriar Center location in Frisco (a suburb of Dallas) this past Friday, December 11, to see if they had anymore Winter Toyshops (no luck) and saw probably a dozen Cafe Corners out on the floor. Again, I don't know if they had anymore in the back. Quick, time is running out if you still haven't picked up this set.

I think this is a great set, and I feel that if it doesn't at least bring a smile to your face then you're taking life too seriously, or at least taking LEGO a little too seriously This set is what it is. It's a playset that will allow children to capture a little bit of the Toy Story magic with their imagination. If there were a poll, I'd vote this set as outstanding. That being said, I've been on the fence about buying this set; not because I think the mini-figs are blasphemous or anything, but rather it doesn't really fit into my collecting focus. But after seeing this review, I think I may be leaning towards the purchase side of the fence.

Well, according to Peeron my collection is worth a little over $7600.00 -- hmm, need to think about getting some insurance. For sentimental value, of course, my collection is worth more than that, but realistically I'm not sure how reliable the figure of $7600.00 is though. Doesn't Peeron just add up the MSRP for the sets and that's where the total comes from? The majority of my sets are open and probably wouldn't get retail price on eBay, so the total is actually lower (but still high enough to make checking my home owners policy worthwhile).

Took advantage of the Toys R Us Buy One Set and Get 50% Off Next Set sale here in the U.S. to pick up Temple of Doom and Trolls' Mountain Fortress. Both sets retail for $100 at TRU. So the Temple of Doom is $10 more expensive than at other stores (where it's usually $90), but the Trolls' set is priced the same as everywhere else. So I look at it as I either got the Troll set for $50 off everywhere else, or I got the Temple of Doom for $40 off everywhere else. Either way, it was a deal I could not pass up.

I voted 'Average.' There don't appear to be any "bells & whistles" on the set to really justify it being any higher. Question: When we vote on these polls, are we voting on the SET or the REVIEW? I thought the review was outstanding, but the set was average.

I was at the store in Northpark Center, Dallas, TX, two days ago and was able to pick up a set. There were still close to two dozen available. While I was checking out, the manager was on the phone discussing shipment of the set to a customer outside the Dallas area. For those still trying to get this set, I'd recommend doing some searching and start calling some LEGO stores to see if they can ship it to you; beats paying eBay prices. Also, the clerk behind the counter said a guy came in earlier that day and bought 10 of them.

It was actually a Wal-Mart Exclusive. The three big chains, Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys R Us, get their own exclusives each year. This year it's the Midi-Falcon at WM, Pirate Tank at Target, and Home One at TRU. Anyway, to get back on topic, this is a very nice review. You provide lots of pictures and they really help with seeing the whole completed model. For example, I always thought the wings could be fully opened without having to add risers to the model, but now thanks to your review I know better.

...haven't replied to this thread in a loooooong time. In the last month or so, I've picked up the following sets 7753 Pirate Tank 7754 Home One Mon Calamari Cruiser 7898 Cargo Train Deluxe 8039 Venator Attack Cruiser 8398 BBQ Stand 8402 Sports Car 8963 Rock Wrecker (ugh!) 8971 Aerial Defense Unit 10182 Cafe Corner 10185 Green Grocer 10199 Winter Toy Shop It's gonna be awhile before I get to each set and put it together.

Brickster, I'm loving your river gunboat (and all of your American Civil War series sets). Nice work on the packaging background, too. You're right about adding some green to give it the deep South look most commonly associated with the Civil War (even though there were Union & Confederate units operating way out west in Texas, New Mexico, and California).

Wonderful job on the Maxi-Fig! I'll echo others' compliments about the great job you did on capturing the look of the mini-fig helmet.

For the AFOLs in the US, when do the Star Wars winter sets traditionally begin showing up? If I remember correctly, the 2008-2009 winter sets didn't show up until after Christmas. I recall finding the Darth Vader TIE Fighter during the post-holiday sales.

I really like these two sets; much better than the summer sets we got this year. I pick and choose which PM sets I get, and so far I like the look of the 8190 Claw Catcher -- appears to be fairly sizeable and solid -- and 8191 Monster Jail. I might also get the new mech set, but I'll hold off until someone does a review.

Wonderful review; I especially liked the images with the Atlantis motif. Unfortunately, a wonderful review does not equal a wonderful set. I rated the Turbo Sub as below average. Too much technic and too exposed. It doesn't appear to be very sturdy either.

I haven't read an X-Men comic in awhile, but back in the 1980s the Blackbird was a staple of the X-Men comics. Clicky

Sticking only to the sets that I've purchased this year. Best Set: 8308 The Battle of Endor - great minifig selection and it provides a full range of play options Runners Up: 7195 Ambush at Cairo - again, great minifig selection and there are myriad play options for such a small set. 10199 Winter Toy Shop - only thing holding this back is I haven't had a chance to get it out of the box, yet. Worst Set: 8963 Rock Wrecker - what an overpriced, hunk of nothing; it costs $5.00 USD more than the Thunder Driller, but comes with fewer bricks & fewer minifigs. There are 4 big saw blades that dominate everything about the set, a too tiny cab for the driver, and then a bunch of nothing. Even the rock monster is kinda meh.

If LEGO were to bring back Spider-Man, I'd prefer it be part of an entire Marvel line, rather than just the ol' webhead. I thought the Spider-Man sets were too limited by only focusing on one small corner of the Marvel Universe. If LEGO were to branch out from just Spider-Man, we could have: X-Men: the SR-71 Blackbird the Danger Room vs Sentinel vs Savage Land dinos Magneto's volcano base Wolverine: Logan & motorcycle Weapon X laboratory the Hand battlepack Fantastic Four: the Fantasti-Car vs Galactus Dr. Doom's castle Avengers: Quinjet Shield Helicarrier Captain America/Fighter Plane Thor/Asgard Castle Hydra battlepack Hulk: vs tank transformation set Army battlepack and still bring back Spider-Man: since he's in NYC, just have a lot of City type sets battle on the bus, battle at the restaurant, battle at the firehouse, etc... There's enough there for 2-3 years of sets. I'm sure the folks paid to think up sets could come up with a ton more.

I own 1 grey brick separator, and I love it! For the longest time I thought it was a pointless tool. Why spend money on a separator when God gave me teeth and fingernails? But I found one in my daughter's old LEGO sets (she has moved on to make-up and clothes -- even more expensive than my LEGO hobby) and discovered what a wonderful tool it is. Now I keep it nearby where I can get my hands on it in a matter of seconds if the need arises.

Wow, I think the longest I've ever kept a set together is maybe 2 or 3 weeks, and that goes back to even my childhood. Usually after a couple of days, my sets get disassembled and and become fodder for tinkering. You guys (and gals) that are able to keep sets together for years and years .... that is impressive!

Coming up time for my next big purchase, and here's what I have on my wants list that qualify as a big purchase: Aerial Defense Unit Cafe Corner Medieval Market Village Tantive IV Temple of Doom Titanium Command Rig Venator So I ask you, dear EB user, should I get the Cafe Corner of MMV next? I figure these two sets have been out the longest, and the most likely to be discontinued before my next big purchase opportunity rolls around.

For 98% of the sets I buy, they are bought to be opened and built and fiddled with and photographed and ultimately dismantled -- until the itch to build that set comes up again . However, some sets I do pick up for resale (esp. during the after-Christmas sales or when certain sets go on clearance); these I will keep sealed. Occassionally, I'll purchase a set, never get around to building it, and now I don't want to open it because of its value. This is what happened with my Jabba's Sail Barge.

I regret not buying the Cloud City set. Many times, I had it in my shopping cart on S@H, but just couldn't justify what I considered the exhorbitant price of the set and I would cancel the transaction. I waited too long and missed out on it. If I'd only known... I also regret not getting 4504 Millenium Falcon when it was $50 during the holiday sales in 2006 or 2007 (when was that?); though I did end up getting one for original retail last spring. My biggest regret is selling all of my Star Wars sets back in Christmas 2003. I had the AT-AT, Mos Eisley Cantina, Republic Gunship, Watto's Junkyard, Jango's Slave I, plus almost every Star Wars set released up to that point. I sold them all at once, and got just under retail price for the whole lot. I was trying to generate funds to help with the purchase of a car -- we definitely needed the car, but there was other stuff I held on to, mostly Hasbro items, that I could've sold to generate funds. The kicker is I eventually ended up selling the other stuff at a huge loss last year (would've broken even or even made some profit in 2003) and the LEGO stuff I sold is now grabbing top dollar in today's market. Investment wizard I am not.

Take a look at this thread from earlier this year. You might find it helpful.

Great review; nice job getting a photo with the wings deployed. I bet that was not an easy balancing job. I voted this set as Outstanding. The technique for allowing the wings to gradually move into their flight position is wonderful. And even though I agree it is overpriced -- and I wish it had included a random clone or mechanic -- it's just such a fun set that I went out a purchased a second one. My plan is to display one in flight and the other sitting on the flight deck.

Fantastic review! Especially the scale shots with Leia; really shows how big this set is. I got to see a completed model of this set last Saturday during our meeting for the Dallas-area LUG. I was quite impressed with it and will begin saving my pennies to purchase this down the road. As a lot of folks have already pointed out, it works better as a display set. The exterior is remarkable, the interior not so much. I would hope LEGO might make a small Tantive IV hallway set, similar to the Jedi Defense sets from Episode I, that can be displayed alongside this model. <puts on nerd had>That's not Wedge Antilles. Wedge was a rebel pilot and survived all 3 original trilogy movies. This is Captain Raymus Antilles and he was dead 5 minutes into Episode IV.<takes off nerd hat>

Nice review; very thorough with tons of information on this set. I'd like to purchase the Venator, but there are so many things wrong with it: too small, too expensive, too chunky, too few mini-figures. I'm going to wait for a really good deal before pulling the trigger on this set.