Lord Rahl of Clannad

I wouldn't exactly say that it couldn't get any better, for there is at least one imperfection in casting that I have seen so far, and that is who they have cast to play Beetee. I don't like his casting or how his character appears because it bears no resemblance to the book version of Beetee. I'm hoping that they compensate for this by giving him a near-flawless version of Beetee's personality from the book.

It's a decent enough clip, but it was nothing unexpected. It was good for giving Bilbo some additional character development though.

Well... that Turtle Van is pretty cool. Hopefully, if this license is to continue for the new movie, we see that as a set. It's not necessarily what I had anticipated it to look like (though I don't really know what I anticipated it to look like), but it is very cool nevertheless and will surely translate well into a LEGO set.

As with everyone else here, I am eagerly awaiting Whitefang's Series 11 review. As for my favourite minifigure of the series, that would be the Tiki Warrior (as you probably guessed from my avatar).

I'm glad that LEGO are making more Minecraft sets; the game is unusually addictive and it translates more or less perfectly in LEGO. The 1st set (released last year) was a good set, and the two upcoming sets are also good sets. I'll be sure to buy both, and I hope that we get even more sets in the future.

Such a funny song this one, though it surprised and disturbed me to see Jimmy Saville make an appearance in this video. *EDIT* And I've also been listening to this masterpiece as well.

The set itself is very nice, but that box art is horrible . I can understand why they went with movie reels and the like on the box, but it just looks terrible, especially when compared to virtually all other LEGO box art.

^ Picture of Rhino doesn't work.

Grogall said in the Series 11 topic that Series 11 will be released in European brand stores and on S@H on August 1st. He's a very reliable source, so it's more or less safe to say that he is correct. *EDIT* 200th post!

6 down, 10 more to go. I'm sure I can manage that before the end of August and the wider release of Series 11 (which arrives in European LEGO Stores, but not general retailers, in a mere 4 days in my timezone).

I don't see what the fuss is about not getting a tan Azog, seeing as Azog isn't even tan in the film (and if he is, the lighting certainly doesn't make him look it at any point). I think it's far better that we are getting a different coloured Azog at some point. Hopefully it ends up being white like the Warg from the Attack of the Wargs set. As the photoshop of the Comic-Con Azog shows, it looks much better in white, and I would be very satisfied if we got Azog like that.

In a way this is both good and bad for me. If Series 11 comes out in August then I can get them all very quickly and complete it without waiting until the last minute, but I also won't be able to complete Series 10 as I had hoped to do over the Summer. I don't usually shop at LEGO brand stores, but if they come out in brand stores in August it can be presumed that they will come out in other retailers as well. Hopefully I'm wrong, and other retailers don't release Series 11 until September (at least in the UK) so I can complete Series 10 (or at least get another 4 or so more).

I haven't seen a film in almost a month now. The last one I did see was Man of Steel. And I was certainly very impressed with it. It's up there with the best superhero films I have seen so far.

http://www.flickr.co...s/99156425@N03/ Pictures of 9 of the minifigures in the flesh (or should that be plastic?) here. *EDIT* It seems that whoever took the pictures put the skates of the Diner Waitress on the Yeti. He said on Brickset that he is only missing the Tiki Warrior and the Jazz Musician (which is annoying as I want to see them in the flesh/plastic).

I'm a bit late to the party but I may as well provide my thoughts as well on this new series. Barbarian: Disappointing that it lacks new parts but it is still a good figure nonetheless IMO. Scarecrow: One of the highlights of the series. An unique idea brought to life in a brilliant manner. Good use of the crow piece from The Lone Ranger theme as well. The only thing I'm not too keen on is the facial expression. Scarecrows (DC aside) are not alive, so why is this one smiling? Bavarian Lady: Better than I had expected. Excellent counterpart to the Bavarian Boy from Series 8. Another pretzel is nice. The torso is very detailed and very nice. The cloth skirt piece is an obvious addition, although they always annoy me when it comes to trying to put them on and make it look good from all angles (a virtually impossible task). A neutral facial expression would have been preferred to the beaming smile that she has. Evil Mech: Very nicely designed, but the fact that it is a recolour of a figure released earlier in the year makes it disappointing. Even so, it's a good addition to the series. Tiki Warrior: As you may have guessed from my avatar, the Tiki Warrior is my favourite of this series. Even when we only had the list I knew it would end up being my favourite. The mask is very, very impressive. It's also good that it is a neck piece rather than a helmet. This leaves room for the classical hair which adds to the look of the mask (from the front at least). From what I can see of it, the face looks very interesting. The torso appears to be an average tribal design, but it is good enough. The old spear is unexpected but makes sense for more primitive (presumably) warriors like this. This may be one which I try to get duplicates of as well. Gingerbread Man: I quite like this one, and it surprises me that it is not more popular. Another nice addition to the holiday collection and would probably look quite nice on a Christmas tree. I would have preferred a new candy cane piece to the printed mug though. Apart from that, I have no complaints about this one. Holiday Elf: Decent figure, but the facial expression is utterly atrocious. The present is nice, and another teddy bear is a good thing to have. The hat is a very good piece and could be used for a future Legend of Zelda set, if one gets approved through Cuusoo. Yeti: One of my favourites of this series. The ice lolly piece is a nice addition (and in a new colour as well). The head piece is a very good mould which is also highly detailed. Hopefully it is ABS plastic rather than rubber. The furry legs and torso are very simple but look cool at the same time. Mountain Climber: An average figure in my opinion, and more or less what I had been expecting. The fact that he appears to be a medic of some kind is a surprise though, but at least it makes the figure more interesting. As others have already said, he really should have a smaller pick axe. Welder: Most of the time I find these City figures to be quite boring, but this is one of the few exceptions (another exception is the Hazmat Suit Guy from Series 4). The mask is utterly brilliant and could easily be used for robots as well. The torso with scorch marks is a very nice touch as well. The welding equipment he is using is quite interesting as well. Female Scientist: I'm getting sick and tired of seeing that generic female hairpiece in these CMFs now; it's incredibly overused. It makes it seem like LEGO is too lazy to provide female minifigures with a higher variety of hair styles. The torso is plain and simple, but not too bad. The new vials are the highlights of this otherwise bland minifigure. It's not a bad figure, but it is quite bland and repetitive. Jazz Musician: That saxophone piece is stunning! The figure himself is just as I imagined him: simple and understated with an epic instrument piece. It also allows us to (if we so desired) to make our own LEGO mafia with a bit more diversity. Very impressed with this one, even if the facial expression makes him look permanently annoyed. Diner Waitress: Ugh. This is a woeful effort by TLG. The problem is the colour of the shirt; if it was pink, it wouldn't be as woeful as it is. The hair is a nice new piece though. Old Woman/Grandmother: This is more or less what I had expected really, The new cat piece is amazingly well done and will go well with the most recent dog piece. The cat jumper is a very nice touch and is probably the highlight of this minifigure. The basket doesn't make much sense with the rest of the figure, but another one of them will come in handy at some point. Overall, a perfect counterpart to the Old Man/Grandfather.. British Constable: A simple but very impressive effort by TLG. As with the Series 9 Policeman, this is much more detailed than any efforts beforehand. I'm relieved that LEGO did not use a pith helmet for his helmet and instead made a new piece. The baton is a great piece as well and rounds off a great minifigure. Lady Robot: Good god! This is one of the worst minifigures of the entire CMF line. How did something that awful get through the design phase? It's disappointing because this could have been so much better. If it was a pink version of the Series 1 Robot, it would have been brilliant. Overall, a good series, though not perfect by any means. I'm not sure if this is the best series of them all, but I haven't recently been particularly bothered about such things. I'll hopefully be able to get all 16, one way or another.

Wow! That set is awesome! Once again the Super Heroes line surprises me with another wonderful set. I definitely need to pick up 76003.

I'm somewhat disappointed that the grand Star Wars set this time around seems to be an Ewok Village. For me, it is baffling why we are getting an Ewok Village before a long-overdue remake of Cloud City. Cloud City is more desired and hasn't been touched upon very much recently; Endor, on the other hand, has had quite a few sets lately (but it's not in overkill territory yet). Oh well, nothing can change it. Though I do wonder what this Ewok Village will be able to give us.

Curse my absurdly small budget! These sets are so amazing (70706 asides), yet I probably won't be able to get any when they come to the UK. A shame, because they are so well designed. Hopefully this theme continues into 2014 and beyond.

Nothing too extravagant today...

Had a bit of a boring weekend, so I made things interesting by watching the Michael Bay Transformers trilogy. A lot of people criticise them for one reason or another, but I highly enjoy them.

I would hope for us to see them in the 2014 winter wave, but I do not know for sure. Heck, we may not get them at all (though I really hope that we do).

I thought that Brave was good, and I didn't have to lower my expectations for it. I had seen the trailer beforehand, and while it did take a somewhat different route to the film, I still think we got something epic and new. As for incorporating past Disney story lines, that's close to inevitable with the amount of films Disney has made. I was also impressed by Cars 2, which I thought was better than the original because of the weird spy story line. I'm hoping that Monsters University doesn't disappoint when it comes out.