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A lovely MOC. I never had army men as a kid, but their color still takes me back. Great use of a simple battle pack.

Sony has production rights to Spider-Man as long as they keep making movies. If they don't make films for x number of years (I don't know how many) then the rights revert back to Marvel. Same with the Fantastic Four at Fox. So those can't be licensed wholly by Marvel the way other characters can. Maybe in ten years or so, Marvel will have taken back control of all its licenses and have the freedom to easily work with Lego.

I only have one on that list, The Green Grocer, but it's a beautiful set. I just need somewhere to put it. It's been on the floor of my room for a month, and my wife has started to sit on it twice (that I saw, who knows what she does when I'm not home )

This is a cool little mini-fig. I love the buffalo hat. Thanks for showing us!

This doesn't work for me. I'm using Firefox on a Mac. All the other BB Codes work fine for me though.

I think a book club is a cool idea, but I think if it were like a real book club, that would be great. Agree on a book, and then spend the next month or so discussing it. I like reading, but it's a bummer that I can barely discuss them. I just finished Orson Scott Card's Shadow of the Hegemon and am now halfway through a book that Amazon "recommended" for me, the Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. I'd love to have people to chat with about these books. If this is a good idea to people, I would recommend to sticking to books from the Sci-fi Masterworks and Fantasy Masterworks series since they are established greats.

I checked most of the boxes except the X-Boxes and the PS3. Initially, I just wanted nothing to do with X-Box; it was ugly and Microsoft is not a company known for innovation. By the time the 360 came out, it seemed more interesting, though it seems like a FPS machine. But, I live in Japan, and by 2009 the X-Box 360 was already all but dead here. Toys R Us doesn't even carry it here. Price drops just couldn't help its reputation. I'll get a PS3 once it's less then $200. I'm doing fine without it, and by that time, it'll have lots of cheap AAA titles. I bought the Wii out of love for Zelda and Mario, and there's just enough games to make it worth it. Still, I only play it every other month. But no complaints.

I almost never venture into the sci-fi section, but I dusted off an old set, so hopefully this is of interest to people here! And I have another, older set to review later. As I'd gotten myself some Star Wars sets at the turn of the century, my interest was piqued by the Life on Mars series. Besides having the good taste to be named after a great David Bowie song, 2001 was also the year of NASA's Mars rover. The red planet was of interest. But the sets were quite bizarre overall. I picked up five of the smallest sets, this being the biggest, and of all of them, this was the one that showcased the series best, in my opinion. Let's take a look, shall we? Set#: 7314 Name: Recon Mech RP Theme: Life on Mars Year: 2001 Pieces: 194 Minifigs: 1, LoM Martian - Antares MSP: $20.00, £17.99 Peeron Brickset Bricklink The booklet The cover is <surprise!> the same as the box I don't have. A full rundown of the series is shown. I got the top four, and they have their good points and bad points. I really like the look of the bottom two sets, particularly the bottom right one, though I don't know if I ever would have picked it up. I still haven't got Blackbeard's pirate ship or the troll castle, and I'm pretty sure I like them. An interesting, unique line overall though. Random page of the guide, for those who like that sort of thing. I recall this from sets of the time, the word balloon that says click! Charming, but a bit childish, and poor for the international market since click is English onomatopoeia. An absolutely amazing feature of these sets is that we're invited to mix and match the modular parts. This feature gets a 10/10 from me. I realize the deluxe city sets are meant to be connected, but I'd like to see this feature used in other series too. The Pieces A reasonable amount of parts. The red seems a little duller or darker than the red used now. But the really strange colour is the dull pink, like a red mixed with grey. It's not beautiful. It's kind of dreary, but it grounds the whole set in a more realistic vibe, despite the utter campiness of it. A couple unique printed pieces and dayglo transparent pieces. The single figure, Antares. He's 80% battle droid, so I wasn't thrilled about that, but looking at him now, I find him kind of charming, with that stoned look on his face. What do they smoke on Mars? Yeah, digging this up out of my parent's basement after near ten years had passed was quite nostalgic. I like him. The Finished Product The set is modular, as mentioned in the Booklet section. The top is the cockpit and arms, which consist of a claw and a flamethrower. The tubing is a nice detail. The set really feels like the missing link between the blocky sets of my youth, and the highly greebled sets they produce today. The back has two prongs to attach to other parts, and the underside has a single hole to attach as well (not shown) The legs are simple, mechanical builds. Both the front and the back have two holes to join up to other pronged parts. What I'll assume is a fuel tank for the flame thrower. It pops in the back of the first section. And here it is, assembled. It's not too big, about 2/3 the height of the recent-ish Robo Attack set. Though it wasn't the first Lego mech, I think it really got the vibe right. The proportions and positioning of it are really nice. It pivots naturally on the center, natural for a mecha that is. The joints are excellent. Current mechas tend to use more ball joints, which are more posable, but using multiple bending joints gets a slightly more mechanical feel. And the machine stands up on its own without any problem. Lastly, the cockpit opens so Antares can get out. Not so much an alternate build as an alternate assembly. I can't say I find this all that intriguing. I suppose you can pretend it can fly, but I like the walking motion of the main design more. As did Lego, which is why it's the main build. The Final Verdict Design: 9/10 It's not as slick as the stuff coming out now, but it's still quite interesting looking. The set makes great use of its parts, and I can appreciate it without having to look at it through the eyes of the year 2001. I'm pretty on the fence about the grey-pink pieces though. Build: 6/10 Nothing special. This set's charm comes from design, not technique. Playability: 9/10 Solid construction, highly posable, and cool. Of interest is that it's a peaceful machine, despite the flame thrower; it's basically a Martian construction vehicle. Good for the kids in all ways. Minifigures: 7/10 Just one, and it's interesting, but not stunning. I like Antares though, he's not going back in the box. He's joining my active mini-figs collection. Price: 8/10 I think $20 is a reasonable price for a set like this. Overall: 8/10 This is the best of my Life on Mars sets and it's only getting an eight, so you can imagine what the rest of the sets I have are like. (If the space-heads on this board like this review, I'll do some more though) But this set works, as an alien technology set, and as a sci-fi set. And it wasn't too expensive. Very pleasant. While I don't think the Life on Mars is a great series, conceptually it was very good. I love the idea of humans encountering alien life, rather than fighting it. It might be a bit of hippie nonsense, but I think it fits right in with Lego. Though Lego isn't against violence, it's one of the more peaceful toy lines on the market. Unfortunately this series wasn't particularly successful and was retired in the first year, and Space was put on hiatus for five years. When it returned, the Martians had been turned into enemies. For whatever reason, it strikes me that the good vs bad is indulging the worst in children, and is less appealing to AFOL. On March 3, 2038, a member of the first human Mars exploration team has humanity's first encounter with a member of an alien species, the martians. And they're peaceful!

Personally, I'm getting a bit Star Wars-ed out and am not getting a lot of the 2010 line so far, but this set really looks really exceptional, and I plan to get it in February or March. I missed this ship the first time around, so I'm glad they're re-releasing it. Great review of a great looking set!

Cheers!

Here is my absolute last pic <I'm ashamed of how old and fat I've gotten> In my visit to Niagara Falls, I ate a 45 cm chili dog, and it was awesome. After six years of sushi and champuru, it was absolute Heaven to eat such high caliber junk. It was wild, but it was the first time in my life that I remember not finishing my plate. It was awesome.

Thanks. You're definitely one of the reviewers with an eye for reviews, so I take that as a compliment Does he really look that awkward? But seriously, you and Clonie are right, it fits more naturally above the hilt then below it. I'll take that into account for the other Ninja review I plan to do Appreciated.

A great introduction to yourself! Lovely MOC. Welcome to Eurobricks and a return from your dark ages.

Cheers Dodger, and welcome to Eurobricks! I'm an SW fan too, with an infant daughter to boot. This is the place to shoot the Megablocks

Welcome to the forum Vaiano, I hope you have a good time here

Welcome to the site (officially)! As an AFOL, it's important to have a place where people know what you're talking about, and this is a great place. Find your space, and enjoy yourself here

Call me a sheep I've really liked all the sets with a good reputation among AFOLs. If you ask about price vs reputation, I'd be harder pressed. But I've liked all the sets that Eurobricks has convinced me to buy I was a little disappointed at the Home One set this way. In Japan, it's over $200 U.S. I bought it in Canada at about $140 U.S. and it still was a bit disappointing, though it was an original build.

Between 10 and 23 was a dark age, then I had three years of mild clarity I returned to my dark ages, for the sake of women, work, and money, and in my 33rd year, saw a half price Y-Wing... since then, a little regret. I've spent way too much on Lego, and also taken up too much of the little space of my apartment. But that highly greebled Y-Wing can take the lionshare of the credit for my current habit.

Welcome to Eurobricks! I also started up with the Star Wars series, but gradually I've been moving into almost every series. As a favorite set, Mos Eisley is a decent choice. Have fun here!

Welcome to the forum. Looking forward to another bright reviewer!

I loved sailing the first time, but when I went to play it a second time, I just didn't want to do the mapping. The regular Link gameplay in Wind Waker was fantastic, more so than the Ocarina of Time. I remember playing through the first time, at one of the first castles, and stealthily shooting goblins from a distance before they could see me. The shadows and mood were excellent. There's a lot of good in that game.

Making LEGO reviews like a movie blockbuster... by Ol' Whitie For making this: Into this: One of the best Photoshop jobs I ever did

In the late 90's, I was a 20-something working at Toys R Us. At that time, like a healthy man, I was concerned with girls, weekends, and girls. Still, I could enjoy Star Wars fever, that was bubbling in anticipation of the Phantom Menace. Around that time, I started acquiring Star Wars Lego. It had my heart. The other stuff was 'for kids'. But was it? I majored in art history, world and Western, and Lego's ventures into the world's ethnic cultures was fascinating to me. It was a far cry from the Lego I'd grown up with, and really increased my respect for the company. The Adventurers line was the most obvious example, with the Aztec, Egyptian and Chinese motifs, but with its own line, Ninja was striking. This was the first set I got. Can it live up to such a long introduction? Set#: 6033 Name:　Treasure Transport Theme:　Castle/Ninja Year: 1998 Pieces: 54 Minifigs: 3: Ninja - Gray, Ninja - Robber, Brown, Ninja - Robber, Green MSP: $6 Peeron Brickset Bricklink The booklet Just a simple little booklet, a dozen pages, with an identical photo to the box cover. The build is simple enough, just a few pieces at a time. It's over before it's begun! The Pieces Not that many, but they come together well. Interestingly though, compared to similar mini sets I've gotten in Castle or Star Wars, the pieces come together into a much more useful whole. And, of course, it wouldn't be a "def" review if I didn't miss something and then realize after I'd put my photo set up away A 3x2 dark grey piece is missing from this pic. The mini-figs are great. They all appeared in other sets, but for a little set this size, three different figures with three different faces is amazing. The details are great; the ninja's shuriken, the robbers' tattered clothes, and the stubble on the face of the grizzled robber on the right. As detailed as the fronts are, the backs are inversely plain. The Finished Product The ninja's hiding spot is decent, but not outstanding. The greenery is good, but the square bricks aren't particularly rocky. Points for using two colors to flesh out the rocks though. I really don't understand this blue pole. I suppose it is just to increase posability, but the color is jarring. If it were a 'rock' color, it would still seem strange, so perhaps this is supposed to be like a blue screen effect. Just pretend you can't see it. The titular treasure transport is fantastic. The colors are distinctly Asian, the stickers on the doors add nice detailing, the chain actually prevents the door from opening even though it's loose. The flag flutters nicely in the breeze. The sword placement is really unique, in that half a stud height. They fit snugly, but not too tight. I've never seen this before or since. Inside, the Lego loot is stored. The Final Verdict On a narrow winding road, a ninja encounters his target. Design: 9/10 The transport is a perfectly designed piece, the rocks slightly less. The two make a great vignette, and is the kind of thing an AFOL would be able to get away with on their work station in their office. Legos, ninjas... this really could be a gateway set for an adult in their dark ages. Build: 6/10 The transport is a quick and simple build, but it's elegant. Playability: 8/10 The set comes with a narrative built in. I really like these kind of sets. Minifigures: 10/10 Three different figures for under $10, maybe $10 in 2010 dollars. Totally satisfying. Price: 10/10 I'm satisfied with that price. Overall: 9/10 This set is simple, but it achieves what it sets out to do exceptionally. The transport is an example of stellar Lego design. With standard pieces, it captures its subject perfectly. While I can't say it's a must have, I don't think I'd be disappointed with this set at twice the price (Lord knows I've shelled out cash on Lego that wasn't as satisfying as this set). If you get a chance... And now some stills from the film 山の盗難 <The Mountain Robbery> c.1973.

I got this yesterday, and I like it a lot. The only gripe is that the cockpit doesn't seem to fit snugly down, even without those gaps. The mini-figs are amazing though, and the set is well-designed. Thanks for the lightning fast review! I was waiting till I got mine delivered before I passed judgment on the set.

About the discussion of the details on the set... I have been primarily a Star Wars Lego guy, and in that series, I tend to divide the series between pre-2005 (or so) and post-2005 (or so). In that time, the sets made a massive jump in quality (ie. 2002 Slave and 2006 Slave). I don't have any Castle sets between 1984 and 2007, so I'm not one to speak as an authority, but this set, with the detailed front gate, amazing figures, and opening courtyard, seems very competitive to other Castle sets. The King's Castle/King's Castle Siege comparison seems like a Mickey Mantle/Sammy Sosa comparison. Well, to each their own. I liked the King's Castle Siege, but I dismantled it for parts.