Fatespuppet

That's a great MOC. I've been tossing around the idea of adding a church to my sleepy little town project and this is good inspiration. I drive by a large church going to work and often get stuck at the stoplight. I look at the entrace and think "I can make that in Lego". It has the set back arches like your windows and how you did this is exactly what I was thinking. I'm glad to see it not only works but looks great. I do think you need more rubble though. As an idea, how about some regular 2x2 grey tiles on the floor at random spots to show what the floor might've once looked like.

Thanks all for the kinds words. I was always planning to add carriages to the cannons, but I couldn't find them in my giant parts buckets(read 40 gallon totes). I'm also missing a few canons that are no doubt lodged somewhere just out of sight. The medallion was originally planned as a giant tile floor for a throne room that I never got around to building. I had it planned out on a base plate for years and finally decided to give it a home. There are lots of details I'd like to add, like weapon racks, shelving, and some ammunition would be nice. I actually view this as the first work in a larger town called Puppet's Cove. I've been fleshing out ideas while on phone conferences at work.

I wasn't sure which forum it should go in, but since the historical forum hosts so many more castles and forts I thought this would be better. I've always seen canons as fitting into the fantasy/medieval scheme, and the minifigs were simply to add flavor and scale. If I replaced them with knights and horses would it be more welcome?

I think it's excellent. The added colors don't bother me now so perhaps it was those light blues after all. Twas only a minor gripe though, but I must say I'm impressed with how fast you make changes. The river(moat?) is also a nice touch.

11d-Mil After all sorts of talk I've finally acquired a camera with which to bore all you folks with my own creations. My first posting is one of the buildings in and around Puppet's Cove. However, first I must present a bit of background material. Built shortly before the onset of the War of Crowns and in service for more then 3 centuries, the channel fortress of Puppet's Cove plays host to numerous legends of heroism and valor. None more memorable then the 30 year command of Captain Nathaniel Mikhail for which the fortress now derives its name. Mikhail was mortally wounded while defending the powder magazine from an enemy saboteur. His sacrifice saved the fortress and the town from certain destruction, and the anniversary of this event is celebrated even to this day with parades and reenactments. The story holds that Mikhail's last words were "so long as this town survives, I will never truly die". This event has also given rise to the legend of Mikhail's Ghost. It is said that on the eve of a storm a ghostly torchlight can be seen walking the now empty halls and ramparts of Mikhail's Watch. Rumors abound that this is the ghost of Nathaniel Mikhail checking his defenses as if in preparation for a coming battle. What is beyond doubt is that no life has ever been lost in Puppet's Cove during even the most terrible of storms. Now some pictures. If these are too large please let me know and I can resize them.(oh, and sorry for the horrendous backgrounds) The modular wall sections and corner are at the bottom. As you can see, I don't really have a ton of details in my wall designs. The tops are removeable so I can switch figures and stuff around without having to remove them and replace them. Front View Rear View Courtyard views Wall defenses Captain's war room(top removed) Down stair column Wall floors and captain's room removed Corner section broken down Wall Module breakdown Modularity(also EXPAND!!)

I don't really see Indy as even close to a replacement for Star Wars. Can you really sit down and think of 10 or so sets a year that Lego could release for Indy? I think they'll renew the license, but for all we know there could be some huge idea that knocks our socks off in 2 years making SW not as neccesary to their financial success.

Wow, all those must've cost a fortune, but they look great as a wheat field. My only concern is that the size of the new combine is as big as that entire field. Would be like having a lawnmower for that little strip of grass out front of a brownstone in NY.

I must say I'm amazed at how much hatred there seems to be toward the Star Wars theme from supposed fans. I, for one, hope the Lego Star Wars theme keeps going and brings in the EU. I'd personally love to have KotOR figures and ship sets. Besides, Star Wars media is going to be coming out for a very long time. Right now there's the already mentioned Live Action series in the works. Clone Wars the tv series is set to run for a good 4 years on Cartoon Network and there's the much rumored KoTOR MMO that is possibly in development. These alone give Lego plenty of material to produce a dozen sets a year for 3 more years(remember 08 is over). I think the new CW sets are excellent additions to the SW theme, and as mentioned previously this year has seen a return to great set design across the Lego world. I don't expect that to change for next year or even in the next 5 or so. It may be a wish for them to renew the license, but I'd be shocked if they let it go. I can't think of anything that could replace it as an income generator. Lord of the Rings is over and done with except for the Hobbit. I seriouly hope Lego doesn't consider dropping their current Castle line to make those. Anime and manga themed sets are a definite no no simply because they are too fad based. Classic space, though sure to please older fans, won't have the allure of Star Wars simply because it won't have a built in fan base of collectors of the same size. Comic based sets seem to do well, but without movie support they run out of steam quickly.

Yet another excellent modular castle. I've really got to get some picture of mine. These still whup up on mine, but it would be nice to at least get some critical views. I've found that the toughest parts of modular castles are corners and gate houses because they tend to mess up any counting scheme I've devised. These corners are excellent and love the skull mod. It might not fit the crownies but it shows how the same design could be converted to an evil faction with very little effort. I especially like the pushed out bricks and rocky scenery. They help give this a more bulit in feeling. I'm not even opposed to the hollow studs since they are such a minor detail in the overall look.

Oh lordy, 20 pages! I'll just throw my 2 pennies in knowing I'll undoubtedly copy someone else. I love these new sets and can't wait. I'm more excited about them then anything in the last 3 or 4 years at least. I hope this is merely the first step in the turn around to more sets from days past. The ship looks very similar in size to the Baracuda, and the other sets are eerily reminiscent of other pirate sets. I think that's why I like them so much and I don't doubt they'll fit right in with the old sets. Some random observations(sure to have been noticed by now) -new pirate flags -black barrels -dynamite(I am oldschool and prefer the tile) -dark green gator -gold spyglass!! -new parrot? -lots of new torsos -brick patterns appear to be stickers and not printed -shooting cannons!!!(woohooo!!) -blue rowboat -yellow/gold chest -Old pirate with torn pants patterned legs!!(awesome) -dark green bandanas -silver(maybe) and gold(maybe) epaulettes -new helmet medallions(look to be stickers but maybe not) -new prison door(to my eye it looks different somehow) And my favorite of all is that there looks to be at least one 10 dollar price point set with a cannon. That's going to be huge for army building and finally having enough to fill out the fortress I've built. All in all I think this is a great start and I fully expect the line to continue with a second release. The good guys have to have a ship and the pirates have to have a hideout. It's the natural order of things.

Quite an excellent MoC! This only fans the flames of my creativity. Must....finish....fortress....and....move....on....to....village.

The colored bricks definitely add something to the overall look, but I can't decide whether I like it or not. They tend to drag the eye away from some of the cooler points of the MoC. They definitely help break up the giant grey wall, but something I can't quite place irks me about them. Are the walls made entirely of bley or do they mix in some of the older light grey as well? Obviously it's just my opinion, but I've found that the two mixed together help to break up the overwhelming greyness just enough without forcing your eye away from the details. None the less, this is very impressive.

I must say I'm extremely happy to see the Pirate's line returning. It is the most nostalgic theme for me personaly, and I can't wait to add to my ship collection. There will be no sets not gotten by me on this one(unless they make con exclusives or some other random designed rarity) unlike the first Pirates run. I must say that I'm truly shocked about the return of the shooting cannon!! I can only hope that this is merely the beginning of a couple year run of new pirate themed sets. The farm and construction equipment all look quite nice, but they simply aren't up my alley. I am eagerly anticipating the new Star Wars and Castle sets and wish there was more on the list then simply Castle Themed Set. It's gonna be a long wait till 2009. I guess I'd best finish off my buying for this year so I can start saving up.

I've always wanted a Cafe Corner style theatre and when I saw the town plan I apparently had the same idea as a lot of folks. I never gave it a shot due to the limited availability of that blue. Now it appears it will be in even higher demand. This is an excellent build though. I might give this a shot but change the colors.

This is quite an excellent build. I've been working on my on, much simpler, modular castle design for quite some time and I'd love to see how the interior on this looks. I'd especially like to see the towers since those are what I've struggled with the most. Quite frankly, your's put mine to shame. I't too late for me to rethink the ones I've build for now, but these might work quite well for a different structure.

I did a quick google on this and couldn't seem to find a US version. I wonder if this is only in Europe. Anyone in the US been able to locate one yet?

I really believe the flesh tones and new weapons comes down more to attempting to mimic the movies. I, for one, love the differences that having multiple flesh tones brings in the licensed sets. I also enjoy having classic castle and town sets with simple smileys. Since I don't mix figures amongst MOCs I get to enjoy both. The new guns, IMHO, are simply an evolution of the megaphones that started many years ago with pirates and the like. I believe Lego would've done it on the first release of Star Wars, but they most likely wished to keep prices down and see how successful the theme would be before investing in the R&D and infrastructure to make blasters.

I'm no expert on the chemical properties of ABS, but from experience I'd expect very little change. I stored my legos in the attic of my parent's house for 10 years or more and noticed very little change. About the only differences were that the pieces don't fit as tightly together as fresh out of the box ones do. The longer the pieces were there(ie ones from childhood waiting for 20 years) the more noticeable the change in grip. 2 things about how I stored them to keep in mind. First, I'd separate bricks if at all possible so they aren't connected to anything. The bricks with the weakest hold were ones that had been left together with other bricks. Ones left loose are as strong as ever. Secondly, I live in North Carolina where we hit high 90s in the summer and teens in the winter. In an attic the summer heat is almost unbearable. With milder temperatures you might see almost no defects.

I really like the Knight Statue. A few of those could make for some incredible statues in a castle MOC. The minotaur is also quite good.

I remember this set. I found it at a TRU for 75% off and couldn't resist the price. The strange thing was that it came with two complete sets of instructions. The entire Ogel line, can't recall the theme name, wasn't half bad and encouraged playability. Great review of a blast from the past.

I didn't think about Legoland builders needing off-color parts. I could easily see leftovers going into the PaB bins. If we expect that bricks are made in batches, then it stands to reason that they have an odd piece here or there that wasn't needed. Unless it goes into someone's private collection it makes sense that they just drop it into the PaB.

Coming from the corporate world I have to concur with the sentiments already expressed in previous posts. Rants are going to get nowhere fast, especially when they are filled with typos and spelling errors. I'm obviously not a literary genius, but I picked up on half a dozen problems(ignoring the capitalized words) in the introduction alone. There is a reason so many people adopt simple methods of reviewing products and services in our society. A thumbs up or 3 star rating is quick and easy to understand. Be mindful of that in your letter and it will have a higher chance of avoiding deletion. The best criticism is one sandwiched between two praises.

I really like the couch and the big screen tv. Those are great pieces of furniture and would look great in some of my under-furnished buildings. My fledgling town is apparently filled with vacant buildings. I alos like the use of 1x1 bricks on the columns. That simple detail helps make them pop.

The sneaking around using machines after hours sounds like something I'd do if I had the opportunity. Then again, I wouldn't spend time making random colored Vader helmets. I'd be making batches of bricks in colors and sizes that aren't normally available, say for instance 1x10 dark red/blue/green. In either case, having one of these would be cool but the price is prohibitive. For that kind of cash I'd rather buy an entire set or pile of pieces for a MOC.

Great review. I was worried that this set would be constructed and partially glued, but it's nice to see that it requires work. I'm definitely getting one of these and I hope Lego continues the chess set sub-theme. I really think they are great display pieces and quite functional if you happen to play chess. I wonder if they'll ever make a Star Wars one?