Hobbes

That's why your input is welcome. It's not based on subjective perception and guesswork and adds some "authenticity" to this discussion. And as you sure have noticed, while LEGO and Playmobil are competitors, no one here actually despises Playmobil (as opposed to MB). So, welcome to EB :-)

I agree with you on many things, but let's not turn this into a discussion about US politics. This is not the right place. PS: And not everything Michael Moore says is true. He does point out certain things, true, but he's just as "media horny" as anybody...

Yes, which my brother and I suggested (small print)! Where are my royalties?! *sing*

Damn, these sets look nice. But again, the backdrops add a lot, as with every product picture. Dunno how these sets would look on a colorful oriental rug from some cheap bazar, with a fish bone patterned hardwood floor and some victorian desk in the background ;-) I voted for the Emperor's Stronghold. The color scheme appealed at once. The flying fortress is pretty nice, too, but somehow... I dunno... too big. Reminds me of a police station in the middle of the Himalaya... Nice theme, though. Thanks for "warming it up", Brickster :-)

That's new, starting a poll about something you don't like/want... ;-)

AFAIK the gun law in the US is based on the constitution from way back when, when it actually made sense that you needed to defend yourself. What with a "brandnew country", indians, plunderes and all. Every pro arms movement uses this as an excu... sorry, argument today. And since it's in the constitution you can't change it just like that. While I like a game of paintball ("Gotcha") now and then I am not pro guns for citizens. Provocatively you could say the state isn't powerful enough to protect its own citizens. Considering they're out and about invading other countries it doesn't really come as a surprise, though >:-)

How 'bout a seperate forum for every single line here? And line them up alphabetically, then you'd have to scroll for half an hour to get to SW... Somehow everybody seems to be concerned about EB's forums structure lately. I'm sure the admin staff does their best to improve EB and so far they haven't disappointed. So, why not leave it to them to surprise us every now and then... Oh yeah, I voted "no"...

I already traded all my non-standard-smilie heads for :-) some time ago, so only :-) for me. And now I've got fleshies from two 4856 sets >:-(

I've never been into SW. I did buy a set in 99 or so, during my darkages, out of curiosity since I had seen Episode I before and was surprised LEGO made SW. Didn't do much for me, though, so I gave it to my brother. When I got back into LEGO it was through a train (who'd have thunk it?). SW still doesn't appeal to me. I like the movies, I've seen all 9 of 'em (Ep IV-VI, Ep IV-VI remastered, Ep I-III) but I still don't care about SW LEGO. And yes, I'm sick of it. I wasn't all too thrilled when I heard that the license has been renewed until 2011. Another 5(!) years of design manpower assigned away from other themes... To be honest, though, they're doing with SW what they've done with Town/City in the past: keep the theme alive, renew the bigger sets every 4-5 years (fire stations, police stations etc.), and add a few small ones inbetween...

There's tracks. On the "front page", the "headline", where it says "Topic Title", "Replies", "Topic Starter" etc.

From what I understood BM designed and made the backdrop and Alex54 provided the pics which he took himself.

When I read the title at first I thought, "What the..?!", but when I saw the pictures I had to smile ;-) I like the "figures". However, they look more like mechanical robots to me. They have a touch of the movie "Wild Wild West" which was funny. I wouldn't associate them with "Westworld", though (which is a good movie, too). Funny idea :-)

Thanks BM, Alex54 & jipay!

Your "setups" please the eye. I'd buy that ghost rider just to have the box art ;-) I really like your backdrops. They remind me of the ones LEGO used to use for their product pics. I might ask you for a few for my layout one day. Looking forward to seeing more *sweet*

Easy: I like tigers (and cats in general), I like Calvin & Hobbes, so, obvious choice :-) I've used it since I registered on ICQ in late 1999. Before that I didn't really use the www and its services and didn't need a screenname. Since this character is pretty popular, though, I often ran into troubles with the screenname on messenger or free e-mail services, where almost any variation of that name was taken already. Probably decades ago, too. So I sometimes had to use my alternate version "misterhobbes" or "mister.hobbes" (S@H for example). If none of these are available I don't register. But so far I'm registered on two message boards only, anyway, and I run my own e-mail server now ;-)

According to Amazon Germany on March 1, 2007. But we've seen those dates vary in the past, so it's more or less a timeframe, I'd say... City sets are scheduled for January, but they could pop up in the States earlier like last year.

Well, at least the standard skin works for this theme...

I didn't mean you. And I don't have a problem with different oppinions on sets. There's lots of themes I don't like, either. ;-) OK, accepted. That play-toy-thing isn't really new, though. And I think the Aqua Raiders is a step in the right direction. Of course they could have been way better. Every set LEGO ever produced could have. But with the designs we have seen in the past these new sets are pretty OK, I think. OK, also accepted ;-) As for the boat specifically: I think it was a logical step that a policeboat-turned-fireboat came out. So the use of the same hull in a different color is, too. I mean, the boats in the 1980s also used the same (modular) hull over all those years... So, again, I wasn't attacking anyone because of their different opinion, it just seemed that your comments (anywhere on the boards) were tinted negatively somehow ;-)

No offense, but is there anything that could "please" you at the moment? Reading your comments over the last few weeks I sometimes think not even a revival of Classic Space would make you happy...

Oh... hehe... should have checked the home page :-$ I don't see a problem borrowing ideas, either - if the customers do it, not the companies ;-) As for the quality: I do think LEGO has problems and to me it looks like quality is degrading. We'll see if that trend continues now that production has been outsorced. It's still way superior to MB, though. I have very few MB bricks among some lots I bought in the past and they stick out for a blind man to see...

It's some bionicle pieces...

The 15th birthday *cough* ends *cough* the 15th year ;-) Happy birthday!

4031 sure is one of the best fireboats around. I wouldn't call the swimming hull too small, though. I have the police boat and the hull's pretty big for the so called "minifig scale". It's because what you mentioned here: I'm disappointed in the overall look, too. Then again, I have 7046 which has enough pieces to make this new one look really good :-) Your link gave a "403 forbidden". I corrected it :-) That's what I was thinking. Interesting look. It is starting to grow on me. It didn't need growing for me but I agree :-)

Now that's really cool. Nice find!

At first I thought this one looked like 4886 Building Bonanza and wasn't too excited. Then I saw your "set pics". They give it a whole different look! Guess it was the green baseplate. Great work! And yeah, you do build damn fast ;-)