ResIpsaLoquitur

Sorry if this has been asked already, but is there any word on whether the completed Yoda Chronicles DVD will come with a minifigure? It looks like it's coming out in a few weeks. No sign of a mini, though. It'd be over the moon if we got a Lindo Calrissian figure.

So what's the availability of TLM sets in everyone's area at this point? Most of the Wal-Marts and Targets in my area are largely cleared out of them. Target around me still has some of the $30 and up sets, but the two $13 sets and Cloud Cuckoo Palace have mostly vanished. Even the Lego Store is sold out of the smaller sets. (I'm curious what they'll do for the Club meeting this weekend--they usually give out a low-cost set as part of your admission cost, and the cheapest TLM sets are gone. If they just give out CMFs as the goodie, I'll be disappointed.)

You know what? I'd like it if they'd re-release the Monthly Mini Build Micromanager as a polybag so we can get more of them. Lego has done this before--there's a turkey polybag that was a November monthly mini build. Maybe in time for the DVD?

Best picture? Unfortunately, I don't see that happening by even the slimmest of margins. One, if TLM were going for an Oscar, the timing of its release couldn't be worse. It's a February movie. There's a reason why you don't see Oscar-nominated films appearing in theaters until the last part of the year--they are trying to be fresh enough in the public consciousness that the Academy will notice them. That's why Gravity and 12 Years a Slave have all come out in the last few months, not in the summer. Two, there's a universally-agreed upon snubbing of animated films by the Academy. My recollection is that people in the film industry were bothered by movies such as Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story getting Oscar attention despite being cartoons. If my understanding is correct, the B.A.F. category was created to give animated films their own niche without infringing on the "real" contenders. (If true, I don't agree with this philosophy--I really wish Up had gotten a Best Picture award.) Three, TLM is, for better or worse, a toy movie. The Academy leans heavily towards "art" or "social commentary" films for their best picture. Not always, of course--people were utterly shocked when Return of the King got a Best Picture a few years ago. Yes, Up and Toy Story 3 were nominated, but I think the deck was heavily stacked against them going in. Hey, I'd root for "Best Picture" if it gets nominated, but I wouldn't put money on it. Best Animated? That's a stronger possibility.

Well, yeah, I didn't think it would. My point was that the only animated films for this year so far are either lame or reheated properties. Big Hero 6 might be the only other major contender, but I have no idea if that will be any good or not--I can only acknowledge that it exists and that Disney will be giving it a push.

I wonder if it'll get an Oscar. So far, its competition is The Nut Job and Mr. Peabody and Sherman. I guess there's a few other animated movies coming this year, like Rio 2 and some Wizard of Oz movie. Oh, and another Planes movie. The only big contender might be Disney's Big Hero 6, which is an adaption of a Marvel Comics property. Disney is pushing it up to its "Animated Feature" level, so it could get some hefty production. Plus, TLM came out before this year's Oscars have even been chosen, so it might be well out of the public consciousness by the 2015 Oscars. Still, I'd be over the moon if it won Best Animated Feature.

I'm inwardly groaning, as I was hoping the calendar would be more Episode III-centric with more army builders. Like: Santa Vader and the Tree Droid. OK: The Phase II Clone Trooper (I wish he came with a helmet instead of or in addition to a Santa hat). the Super Battle Droid (we got one in 2012, but I guess more of those rare guys are OK), the Snowspeeder Pilot (technically got one in 2011, but this one's colors are accurate). Dislike: Tatooine Luke (I have two, don't need another), General Rieeken (including specific people in the calendar is weird), the Snowtrooper (got one 2 years ago), the Tie Pilot (got one in the 2011 calendar). Wish we'd gotten: an Episode III Clone Pilot instead of the Snowspeeder pilot; a Magna Guard instead of the Super Battle Droid; a Wookiee instead of Rieeken (maybe Taarful); and an updated Tusken instead of Tatooine Luke. The fireplace instead of the usual useless weapons rack is nice, though.

I'll go with "pretty good" for my store (Annapolis, MD). The manager has gotten specific PAB pieces out of the back for me, and some of the employees are happy to feel Collectible Minifig packages to tell me what figures are in there. Just last week, I wanted to get the "Piece of Resistance" freebie which required a $50 purchase. I asked them if I could return a $40 purchase and re-purchase it with $10 more stuff to get it. They just rang up the $10 item and threw in the POR set for free. So, really happy with my store. If it helps, you might fill out the customer service survey at the bottom of your receipt and let them know what the problem is. I gave positive feedback on a recent purchase and the manager wrote me back a personal e-mail thanking me for the feedback. Maybe it will cut both ways if you let them know about a problem.

Target's after-Valentine's clearance is on, so the Coast Guard Seaplane poly is discounted to somewhere under $2.

Spoiler-filled photo ahead!

It could also be that they just didn't have time to get a visit to Heartlake City in the story. The bulk of the film was set in the "City" realm, with a good portion in "the Old West." There was a minimal appearance by the "Castle" theme, and only brief nods to the Pirate and Classic Space themes. In other words, there is a LOT of potential Lego themes they could have explored in this movie, and they just couldn't. To do too much would make the movie seem very, very crammed. We saw very brief nods to these other themes (I distinctly remember "Pharaoh's Quest" being on Business' map), but there just wasn't time to go everywhere. Plus, it could have violated the overall integrity of what the film was supposed to be: Maybe the sequel will get there. Maybe they'll find a credible reason to get into Friends, Technic, CUUSOO, Microbuilding, and who knows what else.

Well, yeah, I knew that but didn't want to quite spoil it. That does add a layer of weirdness to the movie toy sets, because several of them come with brick-built versions of real-world objects that are "real" in the film. Plus, the real version of the Kragle doesn't even look like it does in the film; the design has changed since then. I do wonder

What I wish is that the stud for Emmet's back had been at the bottom of the brick, not the top. In the film, when Emmet is trying to put the POR back where it belongs, it's facing in the other direction on his back. To make it accurate, the stud has to be down and the female stud-connector should be up. However, trying to put it on the figure that way is impossible, because Emmet's hair and head are in the way. Groan.

I had a surprise in the mail tonight. Thanks, CopMike! My godson is apparently big on Lord of the Rings, so I'm happily going to pass the Cave Troll onto him. And now I've got a Saruman to fight Gandalf!

Alright, EBers, we've gotten reviews of every The Lego Movie set released so far EXCEPT the polybags. This is probably because the polys are just making their way onto the market now. The Super Secret Police cycle is making its way to Toys R Us, and there's a Wyldstyle poly out there...somewhere. And then there's this guy, which is (so far) exclusive to the Lego Store. Is it essential to your TLM collection, or can you skip it? Read on! (Warning: movie spoilers ahead!) Set Title: The Piece of Resistance Set #: 30280 Theme: The Lego Movie Pieces: 33 (and spares) Minifigures: 1 Year of Release: 2014 Price at release: Free with a $50 (US) purchase at The Lego Store (though its retail value should be $4.99 US) 30280 is your standard 2014 small polybag dressed up in TLM style. I've put out a ruler as a size reference, so it looks to be approximately 6' x 6', or bigger than, say, a bottle of Kragle. (N.B.: I wish I had a proper bottle of Krazy Glue so I could compare the "piece of resistance" to what comes in the set. If I can get a bottle in the next few days, I'll update the photos.) The set includes your standard "tiny" polybag instructions which fold up to approximately the size of a minifigure. Here it is unfolded, but in folded condition, it's half the size of the set image in the top left corner. The set includes 33 pieces in an odd mix of slopes, clear plates, and some Technic parts. Included above are the spare pieces: one Technic stud, one cheese slope, one trans-yellow plate, and one minifigure back plate. Surprisingly, there's no spare coffee mug. Most sets where I've gotten a coffee mug came with spares--last year's City Advent Calendar was loaded with them. Oh, well--you take what you can get. Anyway, there's otherwise nothing unusual in this set other than the Piece of Resistance and Emmet's unique hair. If you buy EVERY TLM set, you're going to have a lot of Emmets with only some unique variances in the face. The Emmet from this set is in the middle, placed for comparison with Pyjamas Emmet on the left and CMF Emmet on the right. He's clearly similar to the CMF edition, except he's got the trademark "cowlick" hair and a toothy face. Frankly, this Emmet appears to be identical to the one in the Cloud Cuckoo Palace set, so there's nothing unique about the Emmet in this set. The back view. Emmet's back printing just shows the continuation of his safety stripes on his vest. His face is again the same as the Cloud Cuckoo version with the "scared" face. If you've seen the movie, then you'll know that the face is moderately appropriate for his encounter with the PoR. Here's a closeup of the PoR brick itself. If you don't know by now, it's a 1 x 1 brick with the unique feature of being two bricks high and having a stud-sized indent in the back. For film purposes, it's intended to be the It'll be interesting if Lego decides to incorporate it into other building sets in the future. What, I don't know, but a good Master Builder will find a use for anything. This set is intended to capture Emmet's discovery of the PoR, which he finds in a cave at the bottom of a hole. How well does it capture this? Well, let's look at the rock formation where the PoR is found. It's built on a 4 x 4 light bley base and made from a variety of bley slopes with the yellow 1 x 1 plates to add some glitter. The "rock" is initially built as seen above, with the Technic parts forming a lever which will be explained in a moment. The completed rock is finished like so. The PoR is hidden on the Technic mechanism behind the tall dark bley slope. Press the Technic lever and the dark bley slope pops off, and out comes the PoR. If this style looks familiar to you, it's because Lego uses the same basic idea in polybag set 30163, Thor and the Cosmic Cube. What this set and 30163 also have in common is that these polys don't really capture what happened in the movie, although this set is a little more accurate than the Avengers set. I don't think I'm spoiling much here--in the film, Emmet simply finds the PoR on a glowing rock; there's no revelation where a rock pops open as in this set. I don't think the rock quite looked like this, either--my recollection is that in The Lego Movie, the rock was black and looked like glowing lava. I could be wrong, but it didn't look like this. Also, Emmet didn't have a coffee mug in this scene. If anything, he should come with the phone he was carrying just before he fell in the pit, though maybe a printed tile matching Emmet's phone doesn't exist yet. Anyway, that's the set. So, is the set worth it? Pyjamas Emmet on the left is pretty bored by this set; PoR Emmet in the middle is confused, and CMF Emmet on the right thinks it's awesome! In other words, you'll have one of these three attitudes from the set. I think I personally fall in the middle. On the one hand, this particular scene is appropriate for a polybag. In the film, there's nothing visually exciting in the cave that would translate well into a playset. Emmet doesn't meet anyone in the pit. He simply falls down and finds the PoR. There's not a lot that would work in a full set, so a poly is probably the best choice to represent this limited scene. On the other hand, there's nothing unique to this set that can't be bought elsewhere. If you can purchase this Emmet at retail cost or if you get him incident to a $50 purchase that you were already making at the Lego Store, then he's your cheapest means of getting this Emmet. But should you go out of your way to get him? If you're already getting Cloud Cuckoo Palace, then no. Heck, even if you get Melting Room or Getaway Glider, you'll already get an Emmet who wouldn't have this exact head, but would be close. The PoR also comes in almost any set with an Emmet. Unless you're a polybag or TLM completist, or if you really, really need some bley slopes, there's not a lot of appeal here. I may put this Emmet on my desk, but that's about it for him. Really, this polybag seems to be an odd marketing tool. The draw of polys is that they're a cheap impulse buy intended to get the customer hooked to a Lego theme at a low price. They also give Lego the opportunity to get one more use out of a unique mold, so I guess this allowed them to produce a few more PoRs and Emmet hairpieces. Being the main character of the film, I can see why Emmet would be an easy candidate for a poly. However, this poly is being offered to a very limited segment: people who go through Lego's exclusive store and are spending $50. I suppose that it might be intended to hook Lego shoppers who are on the fence about getting into TLM toys, but chances are that if you shop at the Lego Store, you'll be seeing TLM and will be buying the sets. This set might have worked well as a promo at Toys R' Us, which gave away Emmet's car (without an Emmet) last Saturday. That makes sense--come in for Emmet's car, and for $5 more, you can buy an actual Emmet. And hey, while you're here, here's all the movie sets. The Lego Store's exclusive then could have been the Secret Police cycle which TRU is releasing at some point (as of tonight, mine still doesn't have it). Oh, well--it's your loss, Lego. Overall, this isn't a bad set, but there's nothing amazing enough about it that would make me tell you to go spend $50 at Lego just to get it. These types of polys do sometimes seem to end up for sale at the Lego Store, or they eventually make their way to Wal-Mart. If you're wanting this set but you're patient, it may turn up elsewhere. I can keep an eye on my store if anyone is desperate for one. CONCLUSION Design: 5/10. It's a pile of rocks that doesn't quite look like the film scene should. The Technic mechanism is cute, but again, the PoR doesn't manifest that way in the movie. Parts: 6/10. If you need light bley slopes, this is for you. I wasn't really wowed by anything in here. Build: 8/10. The build is short and easy, though the top slopes don't really secure in any way due to the mechanism. Minifigs: 7/10. It's Emmet. It's not a particularly unique Emmet. If they'd included a standard hardhat or a phone, I might rate this a little higher. Playability: 5/10. Push the lever, out pops the PoR. Granted, polybags have limited playability due to their size, but don't expect much other than "out comes the brick." Price: 7/10. It was technically free, but it's likely a $4.99 value. I believe that's standard for a licensed theme poly, but I was hoping for more pieces or something special. Total: 38/60. Not a great set. Not really a lousy set, either; it's just sort of "there" and you're not missing much unless you really need to have every TLM set. If you find it for sale after February when the exclusive offer has ended, go ahead and buy it if you want a cheap, quick Emmet source.

One thing I'm wondering.... Thoughts?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and wish for something that we probably won't get: an Advent Calendar. From what I've seen, this year's City Calendar looks a little disappointing (and I'll probably get the Star Wars calendar, though I'm disappointed with their minifigure selection), so a Movie Calendar could have been a nice way to get some army builders. Maybe we could have gotten a Robot-SWAT, a Micro Manager, and Vitruvius as Santa out of it. Plus, if they put the DVD sales off until November, they'd tie together nicely. (Believe me, I don't want a delay of the DVD.)

I managed to get a Piece of Resistance polybag set at my Store tonight. I may take pictures later on and do a review. The Super Secret Police Enforcer polybag STILL has not shown up at either of my TRUs. As for the Wyldstyle polybag, I'm wondering if it will be an Easter item at Target. I have no reason to believe that other than I can't imagine where else it will show up.

Yeah, that's my problem is the varying sizes. BIG instructions for sets like the Millennium Falcon and the Haunted House go wonderfully in a folder. Smaller ones that come in $10-$20 sets are awkward, because they're usually packed folded which makes them doubly stack weird. I also have LOTS of tiny instructions from smaller builds like polybags, $10 sets, or monthly mini-builds. Those don't go anywhere useful at all.

Wondering what people do with their instructions. I've been keeping mine in a folder, but it's really starting to overflow and I need a better system. Plus, instructions are very awkward since booklets have multiple sizes. My Haunted House instructions fill the folder, but the other ones make this smaller, awkward stack on top of them. At this point, I'm tempted to separate out my instructions by line. At least my Monster Fighters instructions will be in a limited folder that's not going to get any bigger unless Lego revives the line. However, my City and Friends folders will probably continue to expand. So...what do you all do?

I just want a polybag with Benny. Also, I'd like to see instructions for the Double Decker couch. I'm not paying $250 for the Sea Cow, but we can all easily get parts for the couch.

Oh gosh, I just had a horrible thought. What if the DVD/Blu-Ray release comes with a different minifigure depending on where you buy it? Like, buy it at Target and it comes with Emmet in Robot Disguise. Buy it at Best Buy and you get Emmet in one of his many costumes from his apartment. Buy it from Wal-Mart and you get Wyldstyle in Robot Disguise. I hope this wouldn't happen, but I do remember that Target was the only store last year to come with an exclusive minifigure for The Hobbit DVD release.

Wyldestyle: Start with the sloped legs/dress. If there's no gun, it's Wyldstyle. If there is a gun, it's Calamity Drone. Emmet: Find the 1 x 2 tile. If you also find handcuffs, it's Bad Cop. If there's seemingly no handcuffs, check the helmet for bumps. Shakespeare: Haven't found him yet, but the 2 x 2 tile is your starting point. Larry: The coffee cup. This one is tricky, because it might feel like a head, but it should be narrower. Wiley: The dynamite. Taco Tuesday: The big round dish is a dead giveaway. I did find what I think is Mrs. Scratchen-Post today. We'll find out for sure on Friday, as I'm leaving it out as a Valentine's treat for my daughter. Her hair is HUGE, though. It's ridiculous feeling for the cat, though, because within the package it feels like a brick with weird bumps on it. I felt the curve of the tail, so I'm pretty sure that it's Scratchen-Post. (I wonder which cat it is? Jeff?)

My wife and I observed that every main character in the movie seems to have some kind of mental illness. Emmet: Depression Wyldstyle: Insecurity Benny: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Unikitty: Bipolar Batman: Egomania Lord Business: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I guess Vitruvius and Metalbeard were fairly normal. This isn't intended to make fun of mental illness, BTW--our daughter has issues (she's either bipolar or ADHD, we're not sure which yet) and Unikitty definitely reminded us of her. It actually gave us an opportunity to talk to her about how Unikitty bottled her emotions in an unhealthy way.

Whew. I got my 3177 in the mail today and built my Emmet's car. I'm only missing a few pieces: the trans round tiles and the round bumper (I stole one from my Hulk's Helicarrier Breakout, but I'd like to get a spare so I can put the original back). I guess the TRU set also uses light bley 1 x 2 plates, instead of 3177's green ones, but I think I can live with green. I also added a radio tile behind to the dashboard, so Emmet can listen to "Everything is Awesome" while he's driving!