Matthieu

David Jones has the new blue Volkswagon set. (10187) Looks very nice but at $200 i don't wanna pay the $50 premium on top of shop at home prices..

Darth_legolis, could you kindly ask your brother where the lego store in Melbourne is?? I'd love to know but actually i doubt there is one because i probably would have already found it!! The one in Adelaide is awesome...

I wouldn't like to see any price increase just for something tempory like sorted bags. It doesn't affect the final model in any way. I guess I can't afford to be buying and building large models often enough to be worried about spending a tiny bit of extra time finding the pieces along the way. Also the sets that i've got with numbered bags i've always just opened all from the bags from the beginning anyway! All sets have small pieces and large pieces broadly seperated anyway and i usually get a couple of containers out for each type of piece and thus finding a pieces isn't a problem. What does get difficult is if you dismantle sets and mix pieces from different sets in together for storage. I recently had 4504, 7675 and 7676 (millennium falcon, at te and rgs) mixed together in one box and then decided i wanted to rebuild the gunship! Took me literally three times as long as it took to build the first time. Won't be making that mistake again...

Hey thanks for the review, i really wanted to buy this great set when i saw it in target for 20% off! I resisted though and i'm glad because i'm saving for the PF Buldozer which i consider a must have. I'm kicking myself i didn't get that one while it was in the shops... Anyway, does anyone think the tracks look slightly oversized for the scale of the rest of the model? I think the excavator arm being so slender makes the tracks look abit bulky. Just a minor detail, I would still love to have this set.

I also went down to Galaxy Toys quite a few times when i lived in Adelaide. They were great for their huge variety of vintage sets, however quite often the older sets weren't in perfect condition and were without boxes. I do credit them with probably my best lego deal ever. I traded in a bunch of old crap and he gave me a 100% complete 8880 Supercar for $50!! Unfortunately i sold it when i had to move to Melbourne but i got $260 on ebay:)

Hey I'll join..

I would say toycorner is reliable, but not sure what you really mean? I've never ordered anything from them online but i bought the Star Wars Landspeeder and Imperial Inspection sets from the store and they were both perfect. I was really blown off my feet first time i went in there, its a Lego goldmine!! Make sure you take plenty of cash though!!

bricknet.com.au - have limited stock but free shipping on orders over $150. SAH prices or less too which is good. iqtoys.com.au - again limited stock but shipping over $150 is free. Slightly inflated prices which sucks. toycorner.com.au - for those that live in Adelaide. Prices are high but they have a HUGE range of MISB retired sets. $300 for cloud city? not bad value actually.. toottoottoys.com.au - extremely limited range. They allow pickup in Melbourne which is handy for me. These are off the top of my head, if anyone else knows others please share, i'm always on the look out for extra Lego sources. The more different sources you have the more likelyhood you'll find something on sale!!

Wow these pictures totally exceeded my expectations for the impressiveness of this set!! I've got the Eiffel tower and i love that set but i didnt' intend to get this one mainly because I'd struggle to find the room to display it! However, after seeing these detailed pics i dont' think i'll be able to resist it! Can't wait for the instructions to go up on the Lego website..

New Technic 4X4 8297 is on sale at KMart Chadstone for $139. Looks like an awesome set i might pick up one tomorrow.

Great comparison Dr. S, i wish i had the original so i could do the same. You should have included a picture of the minifigs and extras that come with each set. Without having the 7163 i can't say for sure, but i would think the minifigs and awesome speeder might swing my vote the way of the 7676.

I have just recently bought both these sets and would recommend, very strongly, the 7676. I bought them both because i'm a collector and i wanted the minifigs, but if i had to just get one, the 7676 was miles ahead of the 7675. The main difference is the build. The 7675 build was, for me, quite underwhelming having too much technic and also building the legs is quite repetitive. The 7676 on the other hand is completely awesome and, at this stage, my favorite star wars lego set ever! Much better than 7675 and 7665 and even 4504.

I also gladly braved those sales at Chadstone Target. I actually managed to pick up two AT-TEs for $80 each and a V19 Torrent for $64!! I also grabbed the Gunship but unfortunately for full (sale - $144) price. The chick on the checkout obviously wasn't quite turned on that day...