Ogre

Didn't BUY it today, but it ARRIVED today: Kingdoms "King's Castle" from B&N. Even though the shipping took over two weeks, for the price, I'd do it again. With a 30% off B&N coupon, I paid $80 and change, including tax and shipping. The Canadian sticker price is $129.99, plus tax (and shipping, if applicable). Even when TRU Canada had it on sale at 20% off, the price was still $20+ more, not including tax.

Yes. Sort of. The cabinet is a 'Billy' bookcase from IKEA, with wood-framed glass doors and the top two shelves are glass, instead of wood. The drapes and blinds in that room only get opened for picture-taking. Otherwise, sunlight is BANNED!

That was my plan, as well. Unfortunately, never got a second GG. Prices were always more than I was willing to pay for a duplicate set.

Thank you. For anyone wondering, that's basically the contents of two 'Echo Base' sets, two each of rebel and Imperial battle packs (only the relevant figs though), Wampa Cave and motorized walking AT-AT. It was just kind of 'thrown together' (as were the other two shelves) with recent Hoth purchases and doesn't include any older sets like my other snowspeeders, or my original AT-AT. It's the middle shelf of three...Tatooine on the bottom, Endor on the top (photos cropped to conserve space). Not a lot of room to work with, so I basically just had one large set to represent each planet, then 'filled in' with figs and smaller sets/parts of smaller sets that were already assembled at the time. I really need to fill in the bottom shelf more, with the cantina and perhaps Jabba's palace. We'll see.

Does anyone happen to know if those PQ polybags will be showing up at retailers in Canada?

I agree. I love the Pharaoh's Quest line but, if I had to make a choice between the pyramid and the HQ, I would go for the HQ, hands down. It's a great looking set, with a real 'classic space' vibe to it and IMO, it's one of the best sets to come out this year.

Agreed. Looks a tad 'off balance' the way it is currently shown.

Small shelf with no real 'Echo Base' but, yeah, that sort of thing can work...

So, I went kind of insane this past week and bought all of the Kingdoms sets that I didn't have, because of various sales, coupons, etc. The only one I'm still waiting on is the King's Castle (shipping via Canada Post from B&N...ugh) but, the rest are already in my hot little hands. I was only missing two of the older sets: the castle and the Dragon's tower set. Built the tower last night. Not bad. A decent build but, I don't know why they needed two instruction booklets for it. I also picked up duplicates of the "Knight's showdown" and "Prison Carriage Rescue" just to bulk-up my troops a bit. In addition, I managed to snag the entire new summer line of sets, including two of the blacksmith set and two of the Dragon's prison set. I have to say, ALL of the sets are mighty stellar and all of them look MUCH better in person than they do in pictures (IMO, of course). The best of the bunch, IMO, is the Mill Village Raid...by FAR. Runner-up though, is the new King's Carriage. Very impressive carriage and the printing on the king is just STELLAR! I'm loving the fact that LEGO is getting MUCH more detailed with their minifigs now. Leg printing, back printing, intricate details...just fantastic! IMO, if you've been 'on the fence' about getting these new Kingdoms sets, you really should snag them...especially if you can find them on sale. They are TOTALLY worth the purchase and you'll find that they are a wonderful addition to any 'castle' layout/collection you've got going on.

I'm in the east end but, I thought Toronto's first LEGO store should have been more 'central', such as the Eaton Centre.

Fairview's turned into a 'jerk mall', too. Mostly 'upscale fashion' stores. Blech.

I got three posters from online and all were in the x,xxx range. 2094 of 23,500 5455 5717 "North American Limited Edition"

Received my free POTC poster from LEGO (#2,159 of 23,000) yesterday and my copies of "LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World" (exclusive fig is Harry in formal attire, for those that didn't know), "LEGO Harry Potter Ultimate Sticker Collection" and "Escape from LEGO City" (sticker book). And currently waiting on some replacement parts due to some COMPLETE F***TARD messing with a set I was bought from Walmart! Wife bought me a copy of 7950 that was reduced in price...box had a bit of a dent on one end...no big deal, since she knows I don't keep the boxes. Went to open the set...it had been cut open, then taped shut again using double-sided tape, so you couldn't tell it had been messed with! Almost everything had been taken. Only a couple of 2x4s, 1x6s and a few other pieces were left. Walmart had no more, so I called LEGO and explained what happened. Those totally awesome folks are sending me my missing pieces! I've never had a bad experience with LEGO's customer service but, this was 'above and beyond' anything I ever expected. Two thumbs up, LEGO!

I disagree. I think Toronto could easily handle three LEGO stores...one east, one west and one downtown (Eaton Centre). Chicago has something like, what, FOUR stores? Plus the Discovery Centre? Yeah, I think Toronto (3 million+ people) can handle more than ONE store. I miss the old Woodside Square Zellers more than I'll miss the Bridlewood one. Always had fewer crowds and a better selection of LEGO. I'm TOTALLY stoked that Target is coming to Bridlewood though. Well, I WILL be totally stoked IF they stock those 'Target only' polybags! If they don't, I'm going to be PISSED!

I keep the pamphlets in the pouch that the figure came in and I affix a label to the pouch, indicating which figure was in it, then I put all of the pouches from one series into a 'ziploc' type baggie, then put all of THOSE into a box that I keep my City set instructions in. Yup...I'm weird.

I would like to see one or two new series per year, instead of the recent 'crush' of series that we got. But, I'm not hoping for an END. I'm loving the variety...especially since we're now getting figs that I've wanted for a loooooooong time (elf, Spartan, clowns, better monsters, etc., etc.).

I really need to scan ALL the topics more often! WOOHOO! I was hoping for at least 8 series! *doing happy dance* True but, the traffic cop was a nice variant, just as a firefighter in tan bunker gear would be and another (DIFFERENT) pirate captain would be a nice addition to the mix, IMO. The robber...well, yeah, I'm kinda sick of seeing those.

I agree. And, strangely, I actually feel BETTER about the set, now that I finally figured out what was bothering me about it. I already have two Falcons (original and 10179) but, I'll probably snag this one if there's a decent sale/coupon/whatever.

And...any news on whether or not "wooden Jack" will be available in Canada? (which would be nice, considering how badly 'overlooked' we get on polybag sets)

After checking out that pic, I think what's bugging me most ISN'T the mandibles, it's the cockpit. Looks very out of scale to the rest of the ship.

I'm guessing it's related to the set, since I used that code for the King's Castle (Kingdoms) and my last email from them said that my order is 'ready to ship'.

First pics I saw, I wasn't too keen on. 'Official release' pics changed my mind. They made the set look MUCH better. Seeing in 'live and in person' on Saturday firmed my decision...I WILL be getting this set, probably 'sooner' rather than 'later'. I still think the townhouse is the weaker of the two but, the pet shop looks so nice that I don't really care THAT much about the townhouse.

You too, huh? I'm kind of like Pavlov's dog...mention "new Hoth LEGO set" and I start to drool. And what's with the Falcon? It just looks...wrong. Can't put my finger on it (I'm no SW ship wiz) but, it just looks 'off'.

Quite honestly, I haven't had to buy any in so long, I can't recall. I scored a huge stash of stock plastic many years ago when a local hobby shop was closing up. So, if I need to cut more dividers, I just grab on already made, compare thickness next to a new sheet, then mark and cut. If in doubt on thickness, just bring one of the manufacturer provided dividers with you and find some sheet styrene that is close to the same thickness but, not thicker (I find that slightly THINNER is actually better, just in case). When you're ready to make your own, just use the provided divider as a template, trace around it with a pencil (I find that marking out a whole row at a time makes life easier, whether I need that many, or not), then use a hobby knife, or scoring tool (preferred) to cut to shape. Make sure to round the bottom edges of the cut dividers though, just like in most manufacturer's styles. It makes the fit much easier. Wow. I'd love to be able to do that but, I'm guessing that must get quite expensive!

I noticed the same thing. The rest of the mall was a ghost town, with most stores only having employees inside (this was between 10am and 11am on Saturday) but, the LEGO store was PACKED. Lots of kids and lots of adults (including obvious AFOLs 'feeling up' the series three and four minifigs ). Sherway Gardens can be reached by TTC as well (subway to Royal York and grab the #15 Evans Rd. bus, or subway to Kipling and grab the #123C...the #15 runs more often on Saturday but, the #123C is closer to the mall, so it's a toss up), unfortunately, commuting from the opposite end of the city takes it's toll, both in time and 'numb butt syndrome'.