M'Kyuun

The Rescue Helicopter and Ambulance was my first set..I was hooked for life. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?S=770-1

The aft section is the same piece used for the large passenger jet. If you look closely, you can see the plate sticking out on the side where the horizontal stabilizer attaches (on a plane). I wouldn't mind so much if TLC had designed this piece with a hinged cargo ramp in mind., but as it is, it's a bit limited in its usage. It fits this model pretty well.

I'm American, but found LugNet a bit tedious, FBTB OK, but Eurobricks, I think, has a better repoir among its members, not to mention the earliest looks at new LEGO sets, and news overall. Plus, I think it's interesting to see things from the European point of view. I'm an odd Yank, as I value history, architecture, science, as well as LEGO, Macross, and Transformers :-D over the latest antics of the Hollywood royalty.

Great post. I didn't care for any of the prequel movies, but thought the CW series was brilliant, everything the movies should have been, though the art style had to grow on me. But I'm glad there's a new series coming out, and I'm fine with TLC's decision to use it and the Force: Unleashed game for inspiration. The new gunship looks great, with or without the side turrets. Personally, I think it looks sleeker without them, but I don't see it as being a difficult mod if the final product doesn't include them, for those who want them. The possibility of an Asajj fig thrills me( one of the best characters in CW, IMHO), although I would have liked to have seen her come with the little ship from the cartoon. Still, beggars can't be choosers, so I'll be happy to get her in minifig form regardless. I'm on the fence about FF missiles , as they're integrated well into some sets, and stick out obtrusively in others. They appear obtrusive on this model, but hopefully TLC will design something more like a rotary launcher before the thing is finalized. The full bubbles on the wings are a welcome improvement. I liked the split front and tool box in the original, as it didn't change the overall look of the model, but was a cool "LEGO" touch. Looking forward to adding this to my collection in June. On the whole, I'm really happy with this year's sets thus far. I picked up the Rogue Shadow, AT-AP, Hailfire/Spider droid, and Anakin's Starfighter yesterday.. the RS, while a bit ugly :-D , has so many features that I couldn't help but love it. The chain wheels on my Hailfire don't spin very well, but it captures the look of the thing just fine. The AT-AP is *wub* , but I love walkers and mecha, so I'm biased. Ani's Sf is a nice little ship. The R2 ejection system doesn't push him out of the ship very far, unless one pushes the ejection lever in the back quickly, making R2 fly like in the movies. The landings aren't pretty, so I hope TLC makes a Droid Factory soon! Cheers, M'Kyuun

These do look great. The new AT-TE also has its upper turret moved back, and the dishes used on the feet make them stronger and more accurate to the design. While I loved the original, this set seems to improve on the flaws of its predecessor, minus the hopefully well-hidden projectile launcher. I like the blue STAP, too; it's a neat design in its own right. The Magna-Guard fighter looks sinister with that sloped canopy. I've always been partial to the P-38 and its inspirations. Funny, this design, according to the Art of ROTS book, was originally intended to be an Utupau fighter, and the Magna-Guards themselves were early concepts for Gen. Grievous. I don't recall the MGs having ships, as they always traveled in the company of Grievous. Still, the set captures the look of the concept art very well, and succeeds in looking better, IMHO, by widening the fuselage and using the sloped piece to good effect. I've hoped that TLC would make a version of the Torrent ever since I watched Clone Wars, and I'm pretty happy with the result. I wish it resembled the Clone Wars version more in terms of cockpit position and windscreen shape, but it's cool as is, and can always be modded. Sorta off topic, does anyone know if the Torrent appears in any of the licensed art books, as I have the Ep I and Ep III books only, and I've not seen it anywhere but the show. Just curious, as I always like comparing the sets to their original designs. BTW, in the ROTS art book, the AT-PT from the 08 lineup is on the opposite page facing the Utupau(Magna-Guard) Fighter concept. If TLC is using these books to choose sets to produce, I hope they make a tank droid concept( see the UCS MOC by Neutronbot..excellent), a Droid Dropship(see ACPin's MOC...the guy's very talented), and one or both of Ryan Church's "crab" droid concepts( listed in the book as Droid Concept 06 and Droid Soldier Concept, respectively.) Pics of the Soldier concept can be found on Google, and was produced as a toy by Hasbro under the name "Crab Droid". I couldn't find any pics of the "06 concept", but if anyone has the book it's at the top of pg 21. Cheers!

Although the pic is is obscured by glare, what I see of the new Agents set looks promising. I like the larger trucks, personally, as I think they're more to scale with the minifigs. However, I don't think they should go much larger than 8 studs wide, which is the ideal width for a truck, allowing 2 minifigs to sit in the cab. Love my Scuderia and my Heavy hauler. *wub* I also remember MASK, a pretty cool show, and it'd be fantastic if this theme was similar. *sweet* I'll agree with another member's sentiments concerning the possibility of a pullback motor... not crazy about that, nor the spring loaded projectile launchers. I guess the launchers must be popular with kids, however, because they seem to be in sets across nearly all themes. As far as serious looking figs w/ guns, well...bring em on. I grew up in the 80's where nearly all action figures had weeapons, esp guns, of some sort, so I have no qualms. The way I see it, if TLC doesn't include them in the sets, most kids will substitute something for a gun...I did when I was but a lad. Ultimately, I think it's natural, esp for boys, to create conflict, esp pretend gunplay. Both my opinion and experience.

I'm always bemused by the amount of set bashing that goes on when pics of new sets are shown. :-D Perusing the various threads, and having seen most of the preliminary pics for the '08 lineup ( my humble thanks to all of you who find and post these for the rest of us eager fans), I'm really impressed with most everything. I don't always fancy everything, but I do respect that TLC is at least infusing some diversity and some real creativity into the various themes. So far the 2007 and 2008 lineups are excellent on the whole, some of the best in years, IMHO. I sympathize with some of the complaints, but I also try to understand what TLC produces from a business standpoint. There's so much competition and just so many different toys and games vying for people's attention (and money) today. Toys have become works of art over the last 20 years, and we've come a long, long way from the old Atari 2600. Too, toy companies have been slow, or reluctant, to recognize their older collecting fanbases, and thus the target group is generally younger. TLC, Takara, Hasbro, & Bandai are all companies that have made strides towards making adult targeted products, to their collective credit., but the majority of their product will always be targetd to younger kids, as they should be...they are toys, after all. LEGO, and other building toys, however, have the built-in (pun intended) feature of becoming any other toy one can imagine and create.

I fifth that comment as well. Probably my favorite sound. It's the sound of the past, present, and future.

Well, I'm something of an anomoly , as I'm 36 years old, and I never had a dark age. It all started when my parents bought me a Lego rescue helicopter set for me when I was about 4, which I think they've regretted ever since! :-D Anyways, my sister still gets me Lego(my mom usually pitches in a little ) for birthdays and Christmas, as well as my wife, dear that she is. My wife wasn't into lego , but she now has a nearly complete collection of Harry Potter sets, as well as the ETX Alien Mothership Assault and ETX Alien Strike sets from Mars Mission. She still doesn't have much interest in Lego, though. More's the pity.

I was thinking that TLG would have made heavy use of all the curved slopes to give the cars a really curvy, nearly studless look, at least in the front. As it is though, I think they look good. There's no mistaking the Mach 5. I wonder if it'll have some of the car's features from the cartoon, i.e. extending double saw blades in front, the extending jacks, periscope, homing drone(looks like a robotic bird). In the show, the tires would change to super grip, and a dome would extend from somewhere to encapsulate the entire cockpit for underwater adventures. I'd be happy with just the jacks, as that was the signature feature used in almost every episode to catapult the car out of danger, over obstacles, etc. And they used the same sound effect for it in the trailer, too. Cool.

I have # 1,283. I live in Spokane, Washington.

Hi Kernow, last week, I used the replacement parts section in customer service, and called Lego Direct to request 2 Qui-Gon heads( yep, I bought two sets at my TRU only to find bearded Obi-Wan heads in both). Today, I got a letter from them stating they couldn't identify the part I was requesting. Once again, I filled out all the info in the replacement parts section in customer service which, btw, does not have the Qui-Gon head listed. I provided instruction booklet numbers, as well as the part number assigned to the head piece, the page number, a description, etc. My question is, how did you identify the head so they understood what you needed? Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks. -M'Kyuun

I hate fingerprints on my Lego pieces, so I wear gloves when I handle my Lego stuff. I hate wearing them, but suffer it for the sake of my shiny, unsullied pieces. My wife thinks I'm crazy. I can't argue.

Lego Transformers would be the culmination of my two favorite things. There are quite a few Macross related MOCs on Brickshelf. GlaGla, an extremely talented Japanese mecha designer, created several transforming robots involving quite complex transformations. Unfortunately, he closed out his Brickshelf account. A few pics of his projects can be found over on www.mechahub.com, a Lego mecha-centric website. Take a look.... some serious talent and imagination on display, pushing the limits of what's possible with Lego(and making me lament what Exo-Force could have been).

Well, if they do make Indy sets, I'd definitely second you on the German flying wing, and the tank from Last Crusade would be cool.

A cathedral in the same vein as the French or English Gothic would be superb. I had't thought of furnishings, or a bell that rings!...my favor lies in the actual architectural details of the building itself. If I worked for Lego, we'd all be stuck with really ornate yet empty buildings! But a wedding theme would work great, and add playability to what would otherwise be a dust collector for AFOLs, b/c kids probably wouldn't want an empty building, no matter how sweet the architectural details might be. I think of my Star Wars ISD...it's a beautiful set, but clearly not one for kids, as there's not an iota of playability to the thing outside of just building it. But, I loved looking at it before I finally dismantled it to make some room( for more Lego :-D ) However, I doubt we'll ever see a religious building as an official release, except as a UCS set along the lines of the new Eiffel Tower, i.e. a national landmark( a series I'd welcome with tearful eyes, and diminishing bank account). Which is why I suggested all the gothic detail be put into a government building... nobody will be offended by a city capital, or a town hall. Religion, unfortunately, divides people much more than it ever brings them together.

I believe the question of historic themes based on recent history and modern military was asked in an interview. In simple terms, the events of any war fought within the last 100 years, i.e. a potential human lifespan(and the American Civil War, I suspect) are still too close to home for a lot of people around the world. I like military stuff like the next guy, and think Lego versions of tanks, jets, aicraft carriers, etc would be cool as heck, but I fully understand TLC's reasons for not crossing into this area. Thus, I'm dubious of the possibility of an Indiana Jones theme, given the time period. Where do they draw the line? Nazi mini-figs? I doubt it; the term 'Nazi" and the swatstika, despite its very ancient origin as a symbol of arcane knowledge, still raise strong feelings of revulsion and have both generally become synonymous with evil. To see a swatstika represented in any way on a box of Lego would certainly raise eyebrows, and ,potentially, lawsuits. Too, people these days seem to have very thin skins, offend easily, and feel they are entitled to all sorts of reparations, whether justified or not. And there are lawyers who make their lucrative livings by virtue of these emotionally smitten 'victims'. I'd hate to see my all-time favorite toy manufacturer fall prey to such. I think TLC did well by creating the Johnny Thunder line; they're not limited by what was and wasn't in a movie, nor by licensing stipulations. And they can pretty much copy any scenario from a myriad of adventure games and movies, adding their brand of humor and charm. My $.02 - M'Kyuun

Everybody here has great ideas for Town sets that add life and personality to the theme. Browsing Brickshelf, I am always in awe of the talent on display, and find myself wondering, 'if only they released this as a set'. With that in mind, and given the Company's willingness to gamble on larger town sets utilizing unorthodox and extremely creative techniques, i.e. the Cafe Corner, I'd like to see them insitute a contest once or twice a year where contestants are invited to create a model, have it scrutinized and judged by Master Builders, and a final winner released as a SAH exclusive. In this way, I think we, as fans, would benefit from the diversity of the models offered. And it would give the AFOLs the chance to realize a dream: having their idea made into an official set. Eventually, something like this could be done with other themes as well, esp Castle, as there are so many awesome castle themed MOCs out there. They're close to this with the release of Factory sets made by fans. Unfortunately, LDD is still very limited as far as parts offered and part interactions...it's getting better, though. Personally, I'd love to see a gothic styled building find its way into either Town or Castle. A nice imposing government building with flying buttresses, spires, gargoyles, parapets, and stained glass windows would float my boat just fine, and avoid the stigma of religious implications, though I'd welcome a Synagogue, Mosque, Buddhist temple, or gothic cathedral merely for the architectural goodness. I'm an equal opportunity architecture fan. Anybody's thoughts?

I can't agree more! Just finished putting the Heavy Hauler together. What an excellent set! It should be the standard for Lego City trucks. The cab portion, if shortened some, would make an excellent semi-truck for any number of trailer ideas. The pics you posted of the car carriers are spot on with what I had in mind. I like the second, as it allows the truck to be used with other trailers. I'm partial to cabover trucks, i.e. with flat front end. I think it's all because of Optimus Prime! :-D Anyway, I'd like to see a trailer with 6 or 7 6-wide cars of different styles(sedans, sport cars, maybe an SUV). And your idea for a truck depot, if designed with 6 & 8 wide trucks with a large tow truck and repair bays would be great, not to mention pricey. Then again, if it was done well, it'd be worth the ducats. I still pine for a large cargo plane. With the exception of a large cargo transport lorry, it would complete all modes of travel for the Cargo Transport theme. Lego ambassadors, if your reading this....

I'll second you on all your proposals. And your fountain and benches ideas are excellent...hadn't even thought of exterior details outside of the actual building's construction. Lego City desperately needs to expand beyond fire, police, and construction. So far, 2007 is shaping up to be a great year. Your ideas, and those of the other posters here would also add some much needed life, uniqueness, and playability to what had become a stale theme. I forget who suggested the oil freighter and oil rig ideas, but I've been hoping for the latter since I was a teenager 20+ years ago. Lego even had a rig on the cover of one of their little set booklets, but I can't recall the year. 80's, I believe. I like the freighter idea, too. More big boats! :-P Shame they don't do military; an aircraft carrier would be pure love. TLC have been making a lot of changes over the last few years in terms of building styles, fan inputs, licensing, weapons, fleshtones, etc. I hope it continues, although I don't know if my wallet could handle the strain. As with any change, feelings have been mixed, but I personally like the direction they're heading. I also like 6-stud wide vehicles that can accommodate 2 minifigs-- even as a kid, never quite cottoned to the skinny 4-wide vehicles, especially trucks. I'm a big fan of Lego vehicles in proper scale; I love my huge cargo ship wih the Harbor set, and the 7992 Container Stacker. And, although I don't own any of the larger construction vehicles fom the last few years, I thought they were brilliantly done, as well as the 7998 Heavy Hauler. I think a vehicle can be made well in scale without venturing into DUPLO territory. I hold up the aforementioned construction sets as examples. And, look at what has been accomplished in the Star Wars theme; there is an abundance of large vehicles/ships that look great without being "<insert that tiresome argument>". But everybody has different ideas about things, thank goodness. It'd be pretty boring if everyone thought the same way. Creativity and diversity would be replaced by redundancy. No thanks. -M'Kyuun

I'd like to see: Large Cargo Plane: *wub* Using either the 7893 cockpit section or a new design that let's the nose raise or split open to allow cargo loading from the front, as well as the aft. In my mind, it would look like a scaled down C-17 Globemaster, and would come with a small forklift and a couple of the new cargo containers. It would be spacious enough to accommodate the container truck from the 7994 Harbor, aprox. 12 stud wide fuselage, with a 10 stud interior. It would feature a winch, a ramp that raises/lowers, several of those chains with the studded pieces at either end for securing the cargo, retracting landing gear( on my version, anyway),marshalling wands, etc. It would come with a pilot, co-pilot, and loadmaster. Any of those three could be a female figure, b/c we need more. Town Hall: Every town needs some governing. TLC could hold a contest to determine the final visual style, as government buildings change from region to region, as well as from country to country. It would be a cool way for TLC to get AFOL input, as well as add something unique to the Town theme. The set would feature the Mayor's office, his secretary's desk, a courtroom, the town licensing office, and the Mayor's car. It would come with the Mayor, a secretary, Judge(with gavel and wig), bailiff, and licensing office worker. Museum: Another good way to explore a lot of different building styles and a wide range of parts in one set. It would feature special pieces from all the historic themes, as well as each section would be built in the style of the period in modules. Once again, this could be done in the same way as my Town Hall idea, or in the same manner as the Cafe Corner. It would come with the Curator, a museum guard, and a couple spectators. Car Carrier Lorry: Essentially, a tractor-trailer with a more modern look and built to the current standard for Lego vehicles. Truck would be 8 studs wide(reminiscent of the Ferrari Scuderia truck), enough to accommodate a double-decked trailer with enough room to carry appoximately six 6-stud wide cars, similar to the car in 4728 Escape from Privet Drive from the Harry Potter theme. It would make use of the new faux hydraulic cylinders to raise and lower the upper deck. Comes with driver and mechanic. Of all these, though, the Cargo Plane, esp one with a newly designed nose section, would be an absolute must-buy for me. There's just something intrinsically cool about all modes of cargo transportation, most especially when they're designed with Lego.

My preference is for accuracy over playability. Over the last few years, TLG have been placing greater emphasis on accuracy in addition to playability; personally, I like the direction they're taking. Of course, not every set is going to be perfectly accurate, or at least as accurate as I/we would like; I just accept it. And mutter a bit when I think something could have been done better/ differently. I noticed the turn towards better accuracy with the release of the Ep II sets, esp the Clone Gunship and Jedi Starfighter(retractable landing gear!) The 2007 lineup follows the trend. Except for the Sith Infiltrator, which I had hoped would be larger and much more accurate than the smaller model that Lego opted to make. To me, though, the rest of the lineup more than makes up for one marginal design. Just my opinion.

I've been collecting for 30+ years as well. I never had missing parts in any sets as a kid. Within the last four years, I've had two parts that were incompletely molded(looked like the machine ran out of plastic beads halfway through the molding process), a wrong leg piece in my Aquaraiders Lobster Strike, missing and wrong pieces in several other sets. Personally, I think it sad that TLG have moved away from their traditional centralized manufacturing processes in favor of cost-cutting and relocation of factories, as the quality of their materials, colors, etc lack the consistency of the pre-milennial days. Consistency was always a Lego benchmark. Sadly, tis not the case anymore. On the positive side, I've had great experience dealing with their service dept, and I haven't detected any difference in the "gripping" quality of the brick. I still keep my brick separator handy.

I think it's odd that there's no mechanic in the Hoth set. There are tools, a repair vehicle, and a speeder with removable modules for repairs. TLC loves their little mechanic figs, and so do I. :-P Overall, it's a bit underwhelming. I would rather have held out for a Hoth base similar in scale with the Exo-Force base, complete with control room, hangar, wampa, taun-tauns, and Hoth-gear Luke. The turret, as mentioned, could certainly be much better. Odd that there are no flat tiles on the exposed interlocking portions of the blast doors. The RC is mostly what I would have expected for a large mini-fig scaled ship. Like most of the larger official sets, it's not bad, but could use some changes. I thought, overall, the MF scale ISD was great on the outside, sans neon turbolasers :-X , but woefully inadequate on the inside. At least on the RC, TLC designers didn't have to find a way to fit in the ever-loving escape pod, as the conical section under the bridge is just that, at least according to the Incredible Cross-Sections book. Still, after seeing what they've done with the new MTT set, the RC is lacking. I'd like to see the interior. I'd love to see the concept designs for both of these sets. Both will look great on my shelf in Sept!!

BlueandWhite and Asuka, great posts! While a little conflict, imposed or overt, can add excitement to a set, I don't think it should be the primary drive of every set within a conflict-based theme. A family cabin, or a blacksmith shop, or a boatbuilder's shop would add color and character to the Castle or Viking themes and break up the monotony of minifigs vs the creatures/enemy figs inherent in every set thus far. Generally, I don't mind conflict, as it can certainly inspire play. I think it's hard-wired into the human psyche to seek out conflict, or to create it, in play, in relationships, or in work. All forms of media dish it out consistently, and they prosper because people are drawn to it. Anyway, as a fellow who loves a good shooter or strategy game with lots of gore and a high death toll, and who wished long and hard with little expectation for Star Wars and mecha themes from TLC, even I have reached a point where I would honestly like to see a few sets in each of the conflict based themes that involve non-combat. Star Wars could feature the Larrs vaporator farm, or a med bay w/ droid, or an Ewok tree village(much as I despise the cutesy things). The Castle and Viking themes really cry out for medieval town sets. Exo-Force could stand to have a specialized maintenance droid, a large mech carrier, an all-purpose base similar to the Polar Base (#6575) with various specialized rooms, or even a repair bay for the robots(replacement arms and legs hanging on the walls, little welding torches, etc). In short, I understand the direction Lego has taken, as they are doing their best to appeal to their target consumer, kids...not us crusty middle-aged folks. However, I also think they are doing themselves, and kids,(and us :-P ) a disservice by not making sets within the various themes that offer an alternative to combat, conflict, whatever. That said, bring on the '07 City sets...and play well! M'Kyuun