Whittleberry

Hmmmm this is an interesting point. I'm an Aussie but I picked up a VIP card when I was in the UK in January. I logged into the VIP website recently, and if I change my S@H country to Australia then it converts all my points to $AUD. This means theoretically I can get better value for my money by earning AU points and then redeeming them in the UK, if the cost of the set I'm buying with the credit is just as cheap in the UK. I've only used the card in the UK though, I'm not sure what they'll say if I try and use it here in AUS for S@H purchases.

I don't believe that they will own the Chinese factory anytime soon, I have a feeling that there aren't many western companies that directly own factories in China....but if they're in China for the long haul it would definitely be better in order to improve working conditions and an attitude towards Only The Best Is Good Enough. I just checked mine, it seems fine.

Has anyone seen any left in Victoria? I'd love to pick one up for that price. I looked in South Yarra Big W on Monday and there were none.

I love it. Only thing missing is a few pairs of those Adidas-printed pants from a few years back, then it'd be perfect.

They had a 20% off sale around the time GG was released. They went quickly AFAIK, I had to trek to find one (got one at Westfield Doncaster). As for what they'll do this time...I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't put them on sale.

Oh, that's a shame. It's a good fake. Well it's an impulse with a decent build and uncommon parts. What more can you expect from an impulse? Cypress trees?

Wow, this deluge of High Res pics is exciting! Can't wait to get my mits on the public transport set and building set. Although I am a bit disappointed about all the stickers in the PT set; those postcards are so numerous and tiny that it wouldn't have been a bad idea to print them. I don't think I'll be using any of the stickers in the set. The tram's wheels look like the tiny ones from the Indy minecart set, so the tram will have to be modded quite a bit to be powered. Looks like it'll be L-gauge though. Also it got sort of lost in the rush of comments, but just2good has found a new impulse: It looks awesome. I'll pick up at least two for the mdblue suitcase and what appears to be a printed phone slope.

Ah excellent, I'm glad I'm not the only person who has been wasting their time completing inventories and then not having them even acknowledged :)

I haven't had this problem, but since you've raised the Peeron issue I'll voice my views. I find that Peeron is an excellent site for keeping track of how many of each part I have in each colour, and in which sets they can be found. That said, I haven't been pleased with how whenever I've submitted corrections or inventories in the past 2 years I haven't received any response and my corrections/inventories have never shown up. I'm extremely disappointed with the Peeron administration about that. Same thing happened when I submitted a scan of a catalogue they didn't have (although I also submitted it to Brickfactory and they didn't post it either). I would hate to think that Peeron's incompleteness when it comes to recent sets is due to users not being able to successfully submit their inventories. What Peeron needs is a makeover, and to be linked up with the database from Bricklink. Completing two separate sets of the same inventories on two different sites seems like a waste of effort, so it would be a good idea to have them copied across from Bricklink if they're missing from Peeron. Also Peeron's appearance is starting to look a bit aged, and could do with some modernising. I suppose this all comes down to who's on the administration team and what they're capable of/can be bothered doing. But despite these problems I think Peeron is one of the most useful sites for AFOLs.

There's already a thread for discussing Australian sales, here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19244

Absolutely stunning! The outside looks marvelous....but then you look inside and see all the amazing detail you've managed to fit in! My favourite bits are the toilet and the kitchen.

They do, I've used it many a time.

Supposing LEGO does sell this set to the general public, and that they can whip up batches of "dead colours" now, what's stopping them from whipping up a pre-bley-era re-release? Bring it on, I say!

Thanks in advance to LEGO and the Abassadors for conducting this market research! 1) I buy LEGO Direct products mainly because of the finished model, but if they include a range of uncommon and useful elements then that plays a major role in persuading me to buy them. For example, the modular buildings always include rare pieces, and pieces that are very useful for architecture, whereas the Taj Mahal features eleventy thousand 2x2 turntable bases. I know which one I'd rather buy, even if cost was no factor. These large sets would be a good opportunity to make large quantities of uncommon parts/colours available to fans. 2) I only buy LEGO direct products that appeal to me, but I am collecting all of the modular buildings (of course it goes without saying that they all appeal to me a lot). 3) My ideas for world icons are: -Sydney Opera House -Reichstag -London Eye -Westminster/Big Ben -The Gherkin -Tower Bridge (I believe this is what other people are referring to when they say "London Bridge", as, compared to the instantly recognisable Tower Bridge, London Bridge is rather unremarkable) -the White Tower of the Tower of London 4) I'd like to see more modular buildings, naturally. A modern building would make a nice addition to the street. I'm thinking postmodern design, steel and glass? Also, shops such as a restaurant, florist, bakery (stocked with yummy LEGO cupcakes, croissants and baguettes), library, cinema, LEGO Store, bike shop. Also, -More minifig sculptures (missed out on that one when it came out ages ago) -PF monorail (if it's semi-compatible with the old 9V monorail then that'd be sick) -A light rail vehicle/ low floor tram, released as a set that can run on LEGO tracks and is optionally powerable, like how the Emerald Night was. Something a bit more realistically scaled than the small tram in the upcoming public transport set. 5) As someone else has said, make more colours of elements available to fans in basic bricks, such as the old sand red, sand blue, sand purple, light yellow, dark orange/earth orange colours. Perhaps an upcoming modular house could make use of an uncommon colour like one of these? The fact they sell like hotcakes, and that LEGO can mix its own colours now means that it shouldn't be that economically nonviable, and the inclusion of an uncommon colour en masse would help the set sell even more. Also, the whole minifig-manufacturing-in-China matter needs to be reviewed. I'm not being unreasonably whingey by saying this; I understand that many different elements need to be produced in China due to constraints in what the machinery in Europe and Mexico can produce. What I don't get is why the minifigure, arguably one of the LEGO System's key assets, is also now being made there. Despite the fact that overall quality has improved, a recent review of a Chinese-made figure pack has shown that the quality is still noticeably sub-par. Given TLG's motto, "Only the best is good enough", it's a surprise and a shame that LEGO hasn't decided to just make all its figs on the one production line. Having one set of high-quality knights from Europe, then a set of subpar knights from China, and selling them both in the same shop doesn't really seem to inspire consumer confidence. And to be honest, I thought that making them all one one production line would be cheaper? I would guess that at least 99% of the Kingdoms knights produced are made in Europe, so it doesn't really make sense to manufacture the 1% destined for battlepacks somewhere else.

As I posted in another topic, the quickest way to get to Bluewater from central London is to take the Southeastern Highspeed train from St Pancras (right next to King's Cross) to Ebbsfleet International, and then a Fastrack bus from there to Bluewater, where there's a LEGO Store. Total travel time is just over 30mins each way, plus waiting time, which is excellent if you want to get other things done the same day.

I can't say I'm a fan of this set. While it uses printed parts instead of stickers, it looks way too kitschy and loud for my taste (which is that real looking trains are cool and tacky looking things like this aren't). But I realise this is the aim of the design. Pricing is screwed up too, for a set of its size. For that much you can almost afford the powered passenger train! Def, does Hamm's bowler hat suit a minifigure? Also you didn't mention the two free train wheels that come in the set.

I'm fairly certain Myer's 25% off toys will last for the duration of the stocktake sale. The DJs sale is for everyone, not just card holders. I know it was like that before though, I saw one of those card holder signs when I was in DJs a few days ago. And despite DJs saying toys (inc LEGO) are between 30% and 50% off, the LEGO is only 25% off. Pooh. And that's all LEGO, not just selected sets.

Went to Myer CBD yesterday to stock up on cheap PoP. No imperial ships. Went back today on the way to DJs. Still no ships. Perhaps they're keeping them til after the sale? DJs now has 25% off too, and being the stingy bastards they are, they have quite a stockpile of last year's sets that haven't moved until now due to being at RRP. I've been to the Glen Waverley, CBD and Camberwell Targets in the past few days. No minifigs left. Kudos to the guy at Camberwell Target who knew what they were, said they were popular, and said they should be getting more in soon (as in, check back next week kind of soon). Unless I missed them, they haven't appeared at all at the GW Target, and the staff were clueless.

Very nice! Having seen plenty of photos of Leslie Green's stations, and having seen some in real life, I can say that the building is instantly recognisable. It's a shame LEGO hasn't produced those arches in Dark Red - using dark red rather than red-brown would have made it look spot-on.

Actually you're both wrong, it's German The guy didn't say much at the end that we don't know already though, basically: -Physics are improved, so when you kick objects then they move realistically -You can build with LEGO elements better (I think that's what he's saying anyway) -There's an impressive underwater level (I'm guessing this is the second challenge in book 4) -The story's been a bit compressed to fit in the game, but if you've read the books or seen the films you know where you are -Comes out June on all consoles/platforms

LEGO doesn't actually own the Chinese factory. But it does own all the others (Europe and Mexico).

Ooh heck it just changed! The new design is pretty, and complements the EB logo well.

Whoa, this is amazing! The attention to detail is incredible. And you have nailed that old-style sweetshop interior feel with your shelves and bottles. Cutting up flex hose was a good way to make small lollies. And that piano is ingenious.

Myer's will be open from 5:30pm on June 1; they're kicking off their stocktake sales with a preview evening! 25% off all toys :thumbup:

Yes, at Moore Education. They're not cheap though, considering they are mainly basic bricks.