ritzcrackerman

I'm currently working on one. Don't know if it will get approved, but hopefully I'll get to unveil it at BrickCon in Seattle this fall. It's a LEGO version of a Portland (OR, USA) landmark, so it at least has the historical factor going for it.

Cool! Very well done. Is the windshield modification a customer sticker? How did you make it?

Agree wholeheartedly. I really liked this built, and the car looks fantastic. One thing I noticed - all of my pieces fit together really well. Perfect clutch power. I didn't analyze too closely where they were made - but for contrast, the proton packs stick like glue, but Emmet's Piece of Resistance in nearly every LEGO Movie set I've purchased keeps falling off at the slightest touch (same neck bracket). Anyways, it was nice to get a set that felt solid at the end, and where my thumbs were ever-so-slightly sore afterwards, because they clutched so darn well. That's what should make LEGO stick out from their competitors! (aside from design quality).

As a non-space collector - I will still be buying this set on the first day. But for different reasons than any mentioned here thus far (nor in the review). The scene in TLM where Benny is finally able to build his spaceship after being rejected twice before was the most emotionally transcendent in the movie (far more so, in my opinion, than the live action scenes which I found to be contrived and preachy). I think we've all had felt rejection multiple times before finally succeeding and feeling validation. It captures rejection, trying again, sticking to it, perseverance, refusal to be deterred in the face of opposition, the human spirit. Benny's unbridled joy makes it that much more reasonant. It is simply my (and my wife's, and my 4-year old daughter's) favorite moment in the film. My brothers had CS sets; I didn't, they were long gone by the time I got into LEGO. But I'll be buying this set not so much for nostalgia, but because in addition to looking like a fun set and a great value, it captures that emotional apex in the film. And makes me happy just thinking about it.

Figuratively. I hope.

Love it. One of my favorite comic characters.

Second vote for 6285 Black Seas Barracuda. I have to confess, it's still packed away gently. I haven't brought it out yet, because I'm fearful of what my youngest will do to it! My modern favorite is the 10194 Emerald Night.

Here's one that gets no love - Venom. That fig is fantastic. The spiky appendage pieces are perfect for depicting the symbiote. His depiction in the Marvel Super Heroes video game is the one truly terrifying character. Worst? I'm disappointed in the new Cyclops fig. He deserved at least a headpiece rather than just printed visor.

This may be wishful thinking. I somehow got the impression from the press release from 20th Century Fox and LEGO that this was a one-off celebrating just the 25th anniversary of the Simpsons - and that nothing else is forecasted in the future. I don't think there will be a 2nd series... That being said - if TLG had excluded the five members of the Simpsons family from collectible minifigure release, wouldn't that have driven the sales on the Simpsons house through the roof?? If the SImpsons house had sold like gangbusters, then they could have justified a 2nd minifigure release. Odd decision there.

I'm cynical. I think that the chickens have come to roost, in a way - we're going to be paying much more in 2014 for TLG's rapid expansion over the previous few years - think tooling costs, costs of new manufacturing facilities, number of sets released, range of themes, etc. etc. MSRP on incoming sets are markedly higher this year, while consumer incomes are generally flat/stagnant. The recent sale of Mega Brands means that there will be more laser-focused competition on the toy aisles for construction bricks. I hope LEGO welcomes the competition and embraces it and does the right things to continue to entice buyers. But surfing the different forums, I see a lot of comments and murmuring to the effect of: 1) there too many themes to be able to buy everything I want, 2) the set quality and value is going down with focus on minifigures, 3) And piece/manufacturing quality has also gone down.

I like this a lot. I wish those bridge trusses would make a comeback and be available in more sets... Up until now, I've been content not trying to track down a monorail system on the cheap, but when I see layouts like yours, it reminds me just how much activity and liveliness it gives to a city layout.

Look at Mark Stafford's flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nabii/ You can also search for "Alien Conquest prototypes" and find some cool stuff. There was a specific quote, which I'm struggling to find. Something where he acknowledged it "was the best work" he'd done (And I agree). It may have been a Reddit discussion, but I'm blanking out at the moment.

I got a little wistful just now looking at some of the prototype drawings and interviews / Flickr comments from Mark Stafford. I miss this theme so much. There was so much potential. With Agents being reborn for the summer 2014 wave - is there any possibility that Alien Conquest could make a comeback?

Greetings to all! I'm fairly new to this site and these forums, and only started commenting in earnest about 4 months or so ago, after a period of more than a year lurking. First off, Eurobricks is my "go-to" site for LEGO news and information - what a fantastic resource! I admire and appreciate all who take their time to post thoughts, instructions, solutions, creations, etc. It is all enormously inspiring. A couple of things about me... 1) I got out of my "Dark Ages" around the time of the birth of my daughter in 2009. My first exposure to nouveau-LEGO was the release of the Emerald Night, which I saw in the windows of my local LEGO store. That train just caught my eye, and I couldn't stop thinking about it, I couldn't get that damned thing out of my head. A gracious mother-in-law, who assumed I had gone temporarily insane with the prospect of being a first-time dad, bought it jointly with my wife for my Christmas gift. The Emerald Night has a solid hold on my #2 spot for "Best LEGO set ever" (#1 remains, and always will remain, the Black Seas Barracuda which I got for Christmas when I was 6). 2) I received the Black Seas Barracuda for Christmas in 1989. I got my Emerald Night in 2009, 20 years later. 3) In no particular order - my favorite themes are/have been: Town, Train, Pirates, Creator "Expert" (modulars) and the Collectible Minifigure series. 4) I've also made recent room for Alien Conquest (RIP), The LEGO Movie, and Friends for my daughter. 5) I am 30 yrs old and live in Portland, OR - USA. 6) In addition to LEGO, my hobbies include: cooking, illustration, all things comics and graphic novels, and movies. I'm a budding audiophile and woodworking enthusiast. A couple of things I love about the LEGO hobby: -It gives me time to bond with my kids. It's fun to share something we can all relate to and for different reasons/motives. -The quality of the higher-end sets just boggles my mind. -The increased color pallet over the past few years -It may seem odd to say so, but I really like the direction of graphics team - the minifigures have so much personality and quality of printing has just gotten better and better -Correlations to my own job. Substitute "plastic injected molds" for "sand-casted steel," and the companies I've worked for professionally are very similar to LEGO (down to the manufacturing processes, supply chains, etc.) In fact, we use LEGO Adult education products for some of our internal training courses. Things I don't like about the LEGO hobby and wish would change: -Stickers. Boo. -Poorer quality manufacturing from overseas sources -Designs that got pumped into market way too fast. I almost feel like LEGO is overheating a bit these days and almost needs to scale back number of themes or new products to market. Too many are half-baked (and don't give me the "target market" argument - a poorly-thought out set design is a poorly-thought out set design, be it geared to the 5-12 age group or the 12-16 age group) -Pricing - especially for 2014. -Recent changes to exclusives discount policies (booo!)

Quinjet Lex Luthor's Power Mech Arkham Asylum (hardly fair to lump this in with everything else seeing it's so different, D2C, targed at older audience, etc. but it is what it is) Joker's Funhouse Everything else has been enormously disappointing.

Fantastic interpretation! This looks like it could be a D2C set, it has that nice polished look to it. Bravo!

That's kind of par for course, isn't it, with the majority of the Super Heroes theme? Crappy design, great minifigures. It's unfortunate. I can only think of maybe 1 or 2 mid-quality to stellar super hero models - Arkham Asylum obviously takes the cake; other than that - it's all pretty "meh." Then, the Spider tricycle came out, and everything else looks like a full-on masterpiece in comparison. The spider trike pretty much had to happen, maybe even strategically so, to inject some enthusiasm into the Super Heroes them (all future models will be judged more generously now because "at least it wasn't bad as that Spider trike!")

Not trying to bump this thread - but is this a retailer exclusive? I have not been able for the life of me to find this (in the US, at least) at Target, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, Toys R Us, etc. It seems like it may be the black sheep of the line, but it looks like a lot of fun. I can usually count on one of those retailers to put out a 20% off coupon periodically, which would prompt me to buy a copy. I can't recall how much (if any) screen time it gets in the movie, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled the next go-around.

The LEGO Marvel Superheroes gameplay left a little to be desired. I found running around New York and going back and forth to the helicarrier to be time-consuming and confusing (and I am strictly a casual gamer). Glad to hear that the Lego Movie video game is a little more linear.

Large single piece notwithstanding, the passenger train looks great! Much better representation than the 2006 bummer of a train. Cargo train is slightly disappointing. The freight, freight cars, etc. look even more piecemeal and disjointed than the yellow cargo train.

I'm surprised this set hasn't gotten more love. Well, kind of surprised, kind of not - style-wise, not everyone is into mechs, steam-punk, etc. I have high hopes that one the movie premieres, more love will be cast at the feet of Metalbeard. :) This is a super-fun build, and it's so crazy and out there. And the model looks almost movie-accurate (save a few widgets here and there on the cannon arm).

This looks great! (and my nerd-o-meter has also broken). I'm not usually a fan of otherwise typical LEGO city scenes populated with a bizarre menangerie of minifigures from different themes. I prefer a little more cohesion. But a comic book store? You have found a perfect home for virtually every odd-ball minifigure out there. Now I want to make a modular version of this... Cheers!

Thank you for your comments, they're spot-on. The modulars are not simply selling simply by virtue of interesting techniques or architecture - but evoking a scene that is appealing and tells a story. I'm inclined to even imply that Jaime's designs have typically been more successful (and adored by the AFOL community) because of the stories they tell. On another note - oz the malefic posted earlier in the Town forum his Comic Book shop: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=91230 Now I'm really excited about the (albeit, unlikely!) prospects of a future modular comic book store. What a great tie-in that would be with the DC/Marvel licenses (although probably not simultaneously) to include stickers for the windows of comic book characters, printed comic tiles, etc. It would be great to see a future architectural style of a repurposed industrial building. Well, now I'm all excited. I had better just make my own.

This would make a great discussion topic in the general forum: "What is the worst LEGO element ever made?" I suspect this piece would have to be in the top 10.

I still think LEGO made the right move; I said in a previous comment that the nose is the business end of a train; it makes or breaks the design. I think you can fudge it with generic airplanes, space shuttles, or other vehicles, but because trains are so distinct, a single piece is probably the right move. Who knows, once official images come out, I may hate it. :) But right now, I'm happy that they're revisiting and mimicking what is really a beautiful and unique train design (the ICE), and not sacrificing the front by trying to render it in brick. Another thing I've noted is that the carriages look to be made of fairly common parts (dk bley train bases) so making additional carriages should also be much easier than trying to elongate the previous 7897. This is a brilliant brick-built solution - but would be so cumbersome to try to render in a retail set. http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/128273