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Japan beat Denmark 3-1? I genuinely couldn't believe it. Japan scored one goal in their first two games. The fever will carry on here.

Depends on what the figure needs. City LEGO rarely if ever have printed bottoms, and I visualized it as a City offshoot. The others were either specialized series or like the current special mini-figures which have full bottoms.

Really? The face was done in the style of Clone Wars figures (ie. big eyes) and based on the character in the show. What would you change? The same reason Lego characters wear their pants down over their feet

Good news everyone!

I will second the idea to keep both. Hobbies are only hobbies if you have interest. Sometimes, I'm quite obsessed with Lego, and then I can take a break from it. At the moment, I'm into it, and look forward to tomorrow's payday purchase. But in three months, I may be on a break. Hobbies aren't like smoking or drinking, where people declare a 'quit', there's an ebb and flow, and don't need to be consciously managed. If a girlfriend requests a pull-back, just nod and say yes, and go about your business. Either she'll stay or she'll go. My wife had no clue what a nerd I was when we met, but in the long term decided a toy-buyer and comic-reader was better than a cheater or a gambler. Don't change your hobbies for a woman unless you yourself think you're weird. If you think you're fine, then she's just too close-minded. Natural selection. It won't work unless you are compatible. If you circle a square to fit in a round hole, you'll be unhappy.

I the guy who voted don't enter I think your images are very powerful, but the build is much too simple. For me, I vote on the ingenuity of the build... How it could be made better? An in-perspective rendering of the inner temple with studs, to create an illusion of depth... Which I couldn't do myself. But keep in mind it's what I'd vote for. I think this scene is difficult to do at 16x16, since it should have some grandness, and think if you boosted it to 32x32, created an arch, and developed the stairs, you could do something wonderful. Again, on a positive note, your images are great (lighting, angles etc) but please increase the complexity.

Thanks. The robot is my favorite too, though I can't choose between the orange and grey. No plans for the time being to make them, it would kill me to butcher a minifig, but I might in the future. If anyone wants a vector of them to make them themselves, let me know and I'll pass the file along.

You did a good job. If I were to tweak it, in the bottom scene I'd add 1) a rail around Vader (maybe a flexi tube with straight droid arms) and those three tubes (http://thestranded.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/i-am-your-father.jpg) and 2) drop out the bottom, either leave it empty or make it very deeper. It misses the feeling of hanging in space. But, the top two work well

Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to take a break from mini-figs for a little while at least, but I'm sure I'll give it another go at some point.

This American Life podcasts. I've yet to be disappointed. For advanced listening, try Radiolab's podcast. As cool as science gets.

Here's some minis I did, I hope you like them The names should explain themselves. One thing I wanted to do was include active women rather than rescuable heroines.

I mixed tracks together, but I didn't do any remixing. I played on a laptop with a USB mixer using Tractor DJ software (I'm in Japan, but all my records are in Canada). Here's a shot of my set-up from my last gig, an island beach party. I'm glad I could finish with a special gig.

I didn't get anything My wife just told me my birthday was in August. She didn't even say Happy Father's Day. The baby doesn't have any cash to buy a present

Civ has sucked more hours of my life than any other game, from version 2 onwards, though probably 3 took the most time. I love 4, but it played a bit faster, no 20 hour games. I will get 5 as soon as I can.

I was a techno dj for a few years, before I was overtaken with other hobbies and marriage and a family. But I still like playing some good tunes now and then. I picked up a guitar when I was in high school and quit it within two months.

It's a strange question, like, why is gold more expensive than silver... I suppose Batman is more popular, but my understanding of the two toy lines is that Batman got a lot more respect from TLG. The Spider-Man sets seem to all be movie based, but the Batman sets hit a lot of different incarnations of Batman, importantly, a lot of comic versions and characters. The Batman sets seem to have been a whole lot better well made. A quick scan of Brickset, and all the Spider-man sets seem pretty weak.

Welcome back, Clonies! In advance of reviewing season 2 of the Clone Wars, I want to take the results of last years poll, and see how they turned out in terms of this years sets (as of summer 2010). Characters/vehicles made into Lego are in bold. (Thanks to Oky-Wan Kenobi for helping compile the list of releases) What's your most wanted LEGO vehicle? Republic Frigate [ 7 ] [9.86%] Munificent-class Star Frigate [ 20 ] [28.17%] Pod Hunter [ 3 ] [4.23%] Rail Jet [ 0 ] [0.00%] Skytop Station [ 3 ] [4.23%] H-Type Nubian Yacht [ 6 ] [8.45%] Crab Droid [ 4 ] [5.63%] Delta 7-B [ 2 ] [2.82%] Pirate Swoops [ 2 ] [2.82%] XT Beetle Transport [ 1 ] [1.41%] The Trident [ 2 ] [2.82%] Naboo Scout Carrier [ 2 ] [2.82%] Proton Cannon [ 6 ] [8.45%] AT-RT [ 13 ] [18.31%] Not on that list were Plo Koon's starfighter, which I didn't add for whatever reason, though I added Kit Fisto's. Sloppy of me As for Cad Bane's speeder, it didn't seem to be a character-specific vehicle, and I didn't think to add it. The other Clone Wars sets this year feature vehicles that will be turning up in season 2 (like the Republic Dropship with AT-OT Walker). What's your most wanted LEGO character/species/droid? Medic Droid [ 2 ] [2.82%] Kaminoan [ 4 ] [5.63%] Commando Droid [ 0 ] [0.00%] Gha Nachkt [ 0 ] [0.00%] R3-S6 [ 0 ] [0.00%] Luminara Uaduli [ 2 ] [2.82%] Nahdor Vebb [ 1 ] [1.41%] EV-A4-D [ 0 ] [0.00%] Senator Kharrus [ 1 ] [1.41%] Aayla Secura [ 18 ] [25.35%] Commander Bly [ 6 ] [8.45%] Lurmen [ 1 ] [1.41%] Tactial Droid [ 5 ] [7.04%] Rocket Droid [ 0 ] [0.00%] Luk Durd [ 1 ] [1.41%] Pantoran [ 0 ] [0.00%] Dr. Nuvo Vindi [ 2 ] [2.82%] Peppi Bow [ 0 ] [0.00%] Bomb Squad Trooper [ 4 ] [5.63%] Quarren [ 0 ] [0.00%] Mar Tuuk [ 1 ] [1.41%] Wat Tambor [ 6 ] [8.45%] ARF Trooper [ 3 ] [4.23%] Cad Bane [ 8 ] [11.27%] Aurra Sing [ 5 ] [7.04%] Luxury Droid [ 1 ] [1.41%] Here is Plo Koon's speeder in action. In episode three is also had a hyper-drive ring a la Obi-Wan's. The ship has very un-LEGO like radiating stripes, and so the LEGO version needs to use stickers. That said, the coloring and interpretation is lovely Cad Bane's Speeder is barely featured in its episode, 22, and is the exact same as a speeder driving next to it, so it's not really Cad Bane's, is it? That said, I don't know how well it's even been captured since the whole shape of it is not very well featured on the box. I like the minifigs here though. Lastly, an AT-RT has been thrown into the Clone Turbo Tank set. A lovely little addition to an always welcome vehicle. From Jansued's review: Before this blog was finished, the Freeco had been announced, and was a series favorite for most who saw it, I think. The ship is really a challenge to LEGO-fy, since it is so slender, but they did a nice job. From Kim T's review: We fared much better with minifigs. A long time missing character is the Medic Droid, that first appeared in Empire, but has also appeared a few times in Clone Wars, and has now turned up in this year's Palpatine's shuttle. From OneSnowTrooper's review: I'm thrilled with their decision to create some of the characters from one of my favorite episodes, Lair of Grievous. That single episode featured a swiftly dispatched Jedi, Nahdor Webb, and Grievous' personal assistant, EV-A4-D. From Mordatre's review Definitely the most wanted, though not on my favorite list, was the French accented, ab-flashing Jedi, Aayla Secura. The second most wanted, Cad Bane also has turned up, and they turn up together in the Clone Turbo Tank set. That alone makes that set worth picking up, in my book. Again, from Jansued's review: Other than that, we have the figures not voted on, in the already announced Freeco set. Namely, a parka wearing Annakin. From Kim T's review: And Thi-Sen, a member of the Talz. Again, from Kim T's review: There are a few other characters that I didn't mention; R7-F5, Shahan Alama, Helios-3D, and Captain Jayfon. Besides being very minor characters, they are all very similar to minifigs that have already been released, but feel free to make an argument as to why they're important! From here, I'm going to start in on season two, again, keeping in mind the LEGO possibilities and reviewing when our favorite LEGO ships appear. This year, I'll be tag-teaming episodes with Oky Wan Kenobi, so, besides giving me some room to breath, we'll get another opinion going from someone deeply affectionate to both Star Wars and Lego! Expect us to start soon.

A beautiful MOC. I was considering submitting something, but with high-quality MOCs like this, I don't even feel like bothering. You've shown strong vision with this, but beyond that, you've shown a lot of ingenuity. You're a strong contender, me thinks.

If there's space, I'd love to give it a go. 1) What is your experience with mafia games, here and elsewhere? I've done three, and died every time. But, I take part! I always take part. 2) What is your relationship with the Harry Potter -franchise? I've seen all the movies, but I'm not a super-fan. I liked the fourth film best. Then the third one after that.

You don't understand what the verb "see" means? Your schools have failed you.

You can't 'unsee' a movie that hasn't been made yet You know what the verb "see" means, right?

People struggling with simple activities in American TV commercials. Seat belts, saran wrap, shoes... These can be challenging items for many people.

Jusco in Japan has marked down all the non-bucket sets, and so I got the 2009 bulldozer and dump truck. Both had been in my "to buy" list, but had been dropped due to expenses. So, seeing them half price, I was happy to get them. In Japan, half-price LEGO is like a 20% off sale in the U.S. Welcome regardless. The bulldozer is pretty magnificent.

1 vote Redcross. A very classy piece. 1 vote graznador. Hilarious. 1 vote Skalldyr. Elegant.

I'm fully hooked on these mafia games now, and hope to be able to get nobly killed in this game as well