ResIpsaLoquitur

Any details on the Advent Calendar? All I've heard is Sandcrawler, reindeer R2, Santa 3PO. Curious what film if any it represents (we've had TPM, AOTC, and last year seemed to be TCW with bits of ANH, ESB thrown in).

Wouldn't it be great if some of the zombie parts ended up in the Build-a-figure station at the Lego Store? I'd love to army build some custom zombie figures that way.

Some people are completionists and would like an accurate set of characters. I'm not angling for a Boss Nass, but I won't hold it against someone who does.

OK, there is no way in hell I'm paying over $100 to get Sabine with a helmet when I can pay $20 to get her without it. I'd rather just find the helmet on Bricklink at that point.

My guess is that Lego wouldn't make a new 3PO mold for an Advent Calendar. Molds are expensive and that seems excessive for a limited-run product. You might be right, but my guess is that at best we'll get a 3PO holding a hat that he can't wear. I'd also guess that the R2 would have antlers similar to the design in the Santa's workshop set--I have no idea what the piece is called, but they formed the legs of Nute Gunray's walker chair in the 2011 Advent Calendar.

So, I read we're getting a Santa 3PO in the Advent Calendar and a reindeer R2D2. Curious how they'll do both, since 3PO's mold doesn't allow him to wear a hat. I assume R2 will have a T-bar plug into his head with some attachments on the sides. Presumably, they're going for this:

I picked up the Transport at Target. I've been meaning to get it, and it was the last one on the shelf, so I figured it's going to be a mover this winter. Good, price, too--at $12.99, that's basically a little over $3 per Stormtrooper, plus you get a bunch of bricks. I honestly think the Transport is a cheesy little set that barely resembles its counterpart on the show...but really, I bought it for the Stormies. I'd like to build a little Imperial Outpost MOC, so I may just cannibalize the Transport into something useful to me.

When I was younger, I kragled a brick-built Santa Claus to make it into a permanent ornament. Didn't work too well, since the Kragle actually became brittle over time. Happily, I've been able to rebuild the set out of fresh bricks. Normally I wouldn't Kragle something, but I was trying to make a permanent ornament there.

I don't think there's any harm in any company, including Lego, making religious products knowing that there's an audience for them. Even Playmobil (or as I like to think of them, "Lego without the Bricks," made a Natvity scene. "This exists" shouldn't be a threat to anyone. I'd love it if Lego made a Nativity snce I'm Christian; I wouldn't be bothered (but I also wouldn't be interested) if Lego made Muslim or Buddhist sets. My daughter did get a Lego rosary for her first communion last year, but of course that was from a third-party Etsy type seller.

Philadelphia could use another store, as they only have one in a part of town I seldom go to. I live in MD right now and have FIVE stores within a 90 minute drive--hard to believe Philly only has one. (Though there's probably some across the river in Jersey.)

There were a bunch of free builds in 2014. Off the top of my head: Emmet's car (twice), the May the Fourth X-Wing and TIE, the Ghost, and the Batsignal. They also had a building event around Christmas where they gave out stuff but had no official in-store build. I am betting there will be another May the Fourth this year.

In fairness, Milhouse fits in the Lego Movie sets.

I'd say it should be JAINA's Speeder, but that ship has sailed. It would be nice if Lego released a "preview" set in the summer to whet us for Episode VII. Hasbro did that with the prequels--I remember in advance of Episode II they released figures of Jango, Zam, a droid, and a Clone Trooper.

Hmmm... They could do a Sasquatch as a repaint of the Yeti. Headless Horseman would be pretty easy. And they could do a "Bride of Frankenstein" with a new really tall hairdo. What else could they do with the unique CMF molds we have?

This needs to be an Ideas project. It's not really a "play" set like Ghostbusters, but it would look great as wall art.

Well, I bought a Phantom set a few weeks ago when it was reduced at Target ($20 instead of $25), and I finally opened it today. It's not a awful little set for what you get. I wouldn't call it the greatest SW set ever, but it's a swooshable little ship and the folding wings are kind of cute. I just wish it had storage for Chopper--I have him holding onto the outer hull for dear life. I do think it's overpriced at $25, but the markdown made the purchase tolerable.

6. Athos - 1 9. Antp - 1 10. 6kyubi6 - 1 22. Emma - 1 26. Cara - 1

I'm in Maryland and Targets are variable around me (but the discounts are better the closer you get to D.C.). I did find a General Greivous Wheelbike marked down to the $17 range, which was great as I was holding out for a clearance price on that one. I'm also seeing discounts on last year's Creator sets and some of the Microfighters.

This is not my favorite wave, but that's because some of the figures just don't appeal to me. I can see that they'd appeal to other people, though. I'm not into Western, but that's a nice-looking cowboy. I did pick up three that I wanted today, though: Hot Dog Guy, Unicorn Girl, and Carpenter. My daughter happily has Unicorn Girl playing with Unikitty in Cloud Cuckoo Land. Hot Dog Guy is great, though I bet Lego had a heck of a time justifying production of that single-purpose mold (unless a future wave has "Polish Sausage Guy" in a different color).

I wish Unikitty tails were easier to come buy. Like you said, you've almost got enough parts for a second Kitty in there.

Quickie MOC here: it's a stealth version of the X-Wing in microscale (or "Advent Calendar") form. On the left is the original X-Wing from the 2011 Advent Calendar (which was rereleased at Toys R Us on May the Fourth). On the right is basically the same model, but in "stealth" form. The Stealth X-Wing was a secretive fighter used by Rogue Squadron on special top-secret missions for the Rebellion. It first appeared in Dark Horse Comics' "In the Shadow of Yavin" story where Leia had to find a leak in the Rebels' midst while trying to find a new base. (Hoth was still 3 years off.) This story is now considered "non-canon" thanks to Disney wiping the Expanded Universe, but it did give us a cool new X-Wing design which might be reused someday. Microscale obviously has its limits, but this was easy since all I had to do was copy the AC X-Wing in different colors. I'd prefer to use maroon 1x1 tiles instead of red, but I only have one in maroon, so red it is for now. I hope you like it. I have a lot of small parts to use, so I'm hoping to make some more microscale ships in the coming months. (I'm trying to crack the code on how to make a decent-looking TIE Interceptor. If you have any ideas, help!)

Happy New Year! Here's a small MOC of a bunch of 2014 Minifigures reveling as the new year comes in. Sorry for the poor lighting--I really need to buy a lightbox one of these days.

I made one more change--I swapped out the last photo. There was originally a lumberjack and sled in that shot which I used in a prior EB posting, and I didn't want to risk getting disqualified on that. (Not sure I would, but why take chances.) I notice a lot more entries have gone up now, so any feedback that can be provided before tomorrow is appreciated!

It's driving me crazy that DDC *almost* has enough spare pieces to make a second Unikitty.

Day 24....not me! Oh well...congrats to the 80% of you who did win. This is always fun.