Bob

*Kanye West* Sorry to interrupt, imma real happy for you Kiel, but I had the shortest mafia lifespan of all time Of all time! Crowd: Booooooooo! *end Kanye West* (Check Bloodbricks II)

No, that's the one I hosted that royally sucked.

Just don't read Prohibition Mafia.

Reserve judgement before you decline it immediately. It's a completely original storyline I made up, and it's not terribly futuristic. You'll see when the sign-up thread goes up eventually.

Say Yasu isn't a mutineer, and she's really just dumb. The scum killer tonight will just kill her knowing they have a clear target.

At this point this is our only lead, and we are allowed an unvote, so: Vote: Yasu (TheBoyWonder)

Coming soon, to a Eurobricks near you. P.S.: Banner is a Work in Progress.

I must agree with you. No matter what the outcome of the day is today, we should review the defenses and accusations that have been flying around today.

Maybe next time you'll respect your elders! Most likely lurking. With so many of us here, it's not really easy to bring forth new information.

I'm not looking forward to this. I am rather distressed that part of my family could possibly be trying to break this family apart. It's sad that we're forced to vote off our kin, but it's unfortunately the only way we can manage it. We must obey our grandfather, something I am honored to do.

I am here for the game? I will update my signature when I get to a computer.

Oh, sorry. I'm a noob.

Don't worry, you'll get a chance soon to be in a mafia school.

I'll play two characters if you want me too.

You're right, it's simple market economy principles. Anyway, I actually bought one of these models, the Starscream to be exact. I might now be considered a heathen, but I'm really a sucker for anything Starscream so I had to get it. Truthfully, the blocks aren't that bad, they're actually very nice quality. I'm sure because it comes from a reputable brand, Hasbro, but the build was semi-challenging and rather enjoyable. I've found that the pieces are sturdy and nothing has ever broken off. It's just my opinion, though.

From what I hear, there should be one very soon.

Thanks, and sorry for the rather delayed reply. Most of the Original Series of Star Trek either involved encountering a planet "very similar to Earth" or saving the ship because it was under attack by a mysterious entity. But, I love the Original Series the best.

I know I previously stated an interest, but honestly I'm not sure if I can really play. After my fiasco last game, I think that I need to take a break. I also just recently found out I am going to be away for a bit of time in March. I'm really sorry, and the concept looks excellent, but I'm afraid I'll have to withdraw my application.

I'm hoping to redeem myself. I've played in 15 games, all of them you can see on my About Me profile. I will be able to post for the next 6 weeks. I love U.S. History, as it's going to be my major next year, so admittedly my Japanese history is a bit basic. What I do know is mostly from the U.S. involvement with Japan, for example in 1853 (I believe 53') when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in an attempt to open trade. I also know Japan was in a war with Russia at the start of the twentieth century, in which they won and slowly became more important in the world.

I'm just making an observation. I'm (and I assume everyone else reading this thread will) likely going to continue buying more and more of these sets, because for me the minifigures are the primary lure. I already have the old Y-Wing and the X-Wing, and most of the other sets that are being remade this year, but I'll get them because the minifigures are new and I'll have to have them because they won't be in other sets. Until they're made into magnet sets or keychains when the set's sales start to dip.

I've never really thought that the weight of a set had to do with the price, but that could be because I'm unfamiliar with a few of the aspects of pricing. I'd say that some of the sets (The X-Wing and the Y-Wing) likely weight the same, while the TIE Fighter and the Jedi Starfighter are probably much less than the newer 2012 versions. I hope I'm understanding your question correctly.

I'm not sure what you're referring to.

While that may be true, the Collectable Minifigures are their own line completely uninvolved with Star Wars. I'll say this, the level of detail applied to most Star Wars figures does warrant it to be a tad more expensive, but what irks me a bit is when they advertise the new Gold Leader as a brand new figure when really all it's only a new helmet. I was using the Malevolence as an example of a new set that probably shouldn't be worth it's hefty price tag. Also, the length shouldn't have a bearing on the price either. It's just my opinion on the set. I wasn't aware that it had that many pieces, and doing research most sets that big are at the same price. However, I'm not sure where they're fitting that many pieces.

I don't mean to troll or start an argument here, but does anyone else find that the prices of these sets are starting to get a bit ridiculous? I was looking through the pictures of the Malevolence, and figuring that a ship like that had to be at least $100 or less, but it's $120. It doesn't even look halfway decent. It's rather sad that the cheapest product in the summer line (excluding the planets sets) is the $24.99 Desert Skiff. I know that over the past few years that prices on this line have slowly been going up. It's been noted many times before, and the answers are rather simple: people want these sets. As long as Lucasfilms continues making new stuff, then this theme will continue to thrive because kids are still going to beg their parents for it. So, logically, since they have a monopoly on Star Wars LEGO, they'll continue to raise the price. It's simple economics, really. We might also blame inflation on the recent increases in price as well. We can even cite that historically, licensed products have cost more than the original ideas. However, I've picked a few examples of new 2012 sets and compared them with older sets. Here's my results: (I'm not going to compare the sets from 2001 and 1999, like the skiff and the droid escape, because they're far too old and obviously not as well designed and made as the newer ones) 7658-1: Y Wing Starfighter (2007), 454 pieces, 2 minifigures; $39.99 9495-1: Gold Leader's Y-Wing Starfighter (2012), 458 pieces, 3 minifigures; $49.99 Comments: For one extra minifigure and four extra pieces, there's a markup of about ten dollars. 7263-1: TIE Fighter (2005), 159 pieces, 2 minifigures; $20.00 9492-1: TIE Fighter (2012), 413 pieces, 4 minifigures; $54.99 Comments: There's no contest here, about three hundred more pieces, two more figures, but a $34.99 increase. 9494-1: Anakin's Jedi Interceptor (2012), 300 pieces, 5 minifigures; $39.99 7256-1: [Anakin's] Jedi Starfighter and Vulture Droid (2005), 202 pieces, 1 minifigure; $19.99 Comments: Again, even though the new version is so much better and there's newer figures, did it have to be marked up by about twenty dollars for 99 more pieces and four more figures? 6212-1: X-wing Fighter (2006) 437 pieces, 6 minifigures; $49.99 9493-1: X-wing Starfighter (2012) 560 pieces, 4 minifigures; $59.99 Comments: For about ten dollars more, we get one hundred extra pieces but lose two figures. On the positive side, we gained two brand new figures in the 2012 set, whilst we only gained one new figure in the 2006 set. I'm going to say it in bold lettering, these sets have obviously gotten better as the years have gone by. However, there comes a point where certain sets don't need to be marked up this much. Obviously, many (as in kids) don't have the 2005, 2006, and 2007 sets because they weren't old enough at that time. So, naturally, LEGO is able to capitalize on the fact that they're releasing new older sets. Case in point, the Malevolence shouldn't be as expensive as it is. I'm starting to think that these sets are being marked up only because of the minifigures. LEGO has obviously learned that the minifigures are a core part of why we buy the sets (Hence the Battlepacks, and out of theme, the Collectable Minifigures) so they're able to justify putting a new figure in a set and then marking up the price because the know we will shell out the big bucks to buy the set and the new figure. It's simple market economics, and it's the same reason why the collectable minifigures are now 2.99 instead of their original 1.99. Back to the minifigure point, as I said with the Y-Wing, they're able to mark a price up by ten dollars for an extra minifigure. The answer is simple, they've advertized that all the figures are brand new. Gold Leader (really just a new helmet and a standard pilot head, torso, and legs), a new astromech droid, and a new Ceremonial Princess Leia. What about the X-Wing? It's got the same Luke and the same R2-D2, but it's also got a new astromech (different colour) and Porkins (well designed and better than Gold Leader). Overall, I might be contradicting myself here, and stating the obvious, but that's just the way I see it. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong space or something, I just felt it would go well here in the 2012 discussion thread about prices.

I know you weren't taking it seriously. There's people a lot worse off than you are. (Like those who are kept up at night contemplating the game)