Sirens-of-Titan

Excellent Review Bricknave, thank you! I think it has to do with the fact that its the second-larges set in the theme, and second most-expensive, but it offers recycled minifigures; Jake again like all other sets and 2 generic mummies. (One could acquire these with the two cheapest sets. ) The other reason is the design of the sphinx; try as I must I can't seem to like it. The head is nice and all, but the body is pretty awful. So lack of useful minifigs, parts, design and a steep price will discourage most buyers. The best part of the set is that golden sword.

@ Jack Bricker, AMEN! You've beautifully laid out the crux of the argument; examples and all, very well done sir. I like the facts about the gray I never thought it had that detrimental of an effect on the look of a set. I guess evolution of something that has been a constant like Lego is sometimes hard to fathom, but as you mentioned the alternative leaves no room for expansion and leaves you bored and frustrated. It's also note-worthy to mention that if Lego was to release castles in the style of the classic castle sets, most people would not be happy. We've gotten used to a whole new way of building and designing sets so anyone who was to build something like this as a MOC, would get a ton of criticism to expand and improve the walls, towers etc.

Thank you for that sir, no I joined the same year you did. I would say you have a point, there's not much going on in Space but it depends on what you want out of a "space theme". For me it's space ships, aliens and a consistent art style throughout. So far we have that, and I like to think that as a bonus we get humans who aren't all that spacey looking but still bring a unique opposing faction to the table. This is the first alien theme that brings the war to Earth and I think it's about time they did, what with us invading Mars so heavily in the last decade and all.

Wow! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! ISC, I love everything about it; the torsos on the villagers, the fire effects, the lava, the Earth splitting and the palm trees! I like how the scene would have been perfectly peaceful and happy just a few moments before the eruption. Very well done!

Wow looking at pictures of the Queen Anne's revenge I must say it's gonna be a true beauty as a Lego creation The gallery/quarterdeck are absolutely HUGE! It might be the most decorated ship ever released by Lego, and the rear of the ship will probably contain enough pearl-gold pieces to fill several vaults worth.

You're 100% right, let's all take turns saying we've discovered there's an alien that fits like a helmet, and that there is something written at the bottom of the box, as well as complain that the pictures are too blurry.

You are right, but consider the look of the minifigures today: they have pupils, detailed face features, cartoonish expressions and rounded detailed accessories. The animals reflect this style, and more classic looking animals would seem out of place in a set with highly detailed and animated minifigures. If we are looking at 90's and early 2000's sets I agree with you, but with the way sets look now I'm happier animals look more realistic than not.

I like your excitement but please read the thread a few pages back before you post; 90% of what you just said has been discussed to great lengths for a month now and it's getting very repetitive. The trident is not a new design its just a a preliminary substitute.

I DO work stiff and spend my own money but still get antsy when I'm buying a set. I'm more confident buying condoms, to be honest I feel more at home in the age-bracket!

Damn I love how cheap these end up being in the US! It's unfortunate that they are marked up so much for other countries. I grew up in Europe and I remember it was almost the event of the year to get a decent Lego set as a kid, because of how expensive they were. Almost makes me feel bad about buying multiples to this day... Anyways, prices seem like what was expected, I am astonished by the piece count on the QAR, I hope it is a full ship and not just a play-set.

I actually don't believe the horse will be changing. It's not only a staple in the castle theme, but has had countless face-masks, saddles, barding and accessories made for it over the years, and for the Lego group to change it wouldn't make too much sense. I think of horses like I do of minigifigs; a timeless design that can be altered and accented by accessories and printing but not changed itself. The basic proportion and stance are perfect and just like the blocky minifigure body will be around for a very very long time. It make sense to me that certain new animal molds are made sleeker and less blocky, but that is because we haven't seen them before. (I wouldn't like a blocky pig or goats etc.) The creative way to alter the horse can be seen in last year's Kingdoms headgear which made it look like the most realistic horse to date without any alteration to the animal itself. I believe we are at a point where minifigures are half realistic, half cartoony, and so they can still look sleek or choppy, as long as they don't look like supplements to toys.

The box of the UFO abduction has a tag in the lower corner that says "Abduction Function and Light Effect" The mother ship has a similar tag that reads "Sound Effect". These are clearly readable, are you still looking at the blurry pictures by any chance?

Yes they are in a few sets: Look at the tripod invader (the business man is being attacked by it), and the alien mother-ship (the reporter is being attacked there)

So good so far! I see a lot of classic sets in there, and although I agree it could benefit from a bit more space, I think it's got a good flow to it. If you are thinking of expanding it and purchasing new bricks let me advise this: a lot of your pieces you have are very traditional classic pieces from the 80's and 90's and that is a style that newer sets have moved away from. I don't know how you feel about it, but you certainly could utilize them without having to alter your city too much. Getting a few vehicles, maybe a new plane set, and a few street lights, new minifigure accessories etc, will be a wonderful addition to your town. Cheers!

The "head slugs" we are referring to are the "alien pets" in the theme. They are clearly visible in the pics which makes me think you are actually looking for little brain slugs.

Wow this is fantastic! Answer me this though: did the blue flames get added on after you built it, or were they waht sparked the idea to build this thing?

The prices are pretty expected, it looks like they shaved the price range off in both the high and low end and there are a lot of medium-priced sets which holds an inherent danger to do more financial damage. With the smallest new sets starting at about $11 USD, I wonder if there will be new impulse sets as that niche is now wide open. After all, Atlantis got a new impulse set with every wave so this isn't too far off. I personally would love an impulse set with a farmer and a few chickens, but that seems unlikely as they already have those in other sets. What is more probable are exclusive figures (like the jester and wizard) which kind of complete the sets, but are unique in themselves. If that is the case, I am rooting for a bandit/robber, or some kind of count or baron from the dragons faction who could be used as a leader.

Ah, sorry I didn't specify that there is no contest announced, I'm just assuming there will be one as the first two series each got one and members were quite excited about them.

What a fun idea! To be honest, although this started out looking like a continuation of the SP3 line, the more and more I look at these sets, the more I realize just how dissimilar they are to the police sets. This is different era, but also different genre; SP3 is sci-fi with alien/human mixed societies where both posses advanced technology and aliens are more of a nuisance than a threat. AC is a War of the worlds, Area 51, Independence Day mash-up of Earth based humans fighting for their lives with aged technology and aliens who are clearly there to pillage and burn. In a way this is a first for Lego; no other alien invader has been this deadly, powerful and driven to eradicating humanity. There is no attempt to make the aliens look like admirable bad guys; they are a pest, slimy looking and invasive (cue brain slug attack) Even the UFO theme let you play with hilarious-looking robots and complex spacecraft while AC has little of that. (They are cute in a cartoony kind of way but still creepy as hell)

Well the PoP sets stopped selling because the movie tanked big time. To be honest I'm surprised the sets came out so well looking at how poor the movie was in characters and distinctive scenes. I think these will fare much better because people love these movies, and after all it is Johnny Depp, and which kid doesn't want to own at least one Johnny minifigure!! As far as useful parts and new parts I say wait a bit for HD pics before judjuing! PoP's smallest sets had no unique parts except for the parts on the minifigures and animals, and those are still preliminary in the blurry pics.

While I get you're having a bit of fun with this and I like a sense of humor, I don't think what he asked for was all that bizarre. After all we are in a period of Lego sets that introduces a ton of new molds, and especially in the last 2 years with a cow, pig, dog, camel, and now chickens and goats, hitting the light of day for the first time, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me to desire more farm animals. If it were up to me, I'd say go the whole 9 yards and make a mold for every furry, feathery or scaly critter out there!

Indeed it does, and there are chickens, weapons, dragon Knight etc, and tons of earth color pieces, so I'll be picking up about 4-5 and making a chicken farmer's hovel

Doesn't nobody like the cannibal escape set?? It's the first time we've seen islanders in over a decade and they come with that bone peice for their hair. I feel classic islander fans just got a boost unlike anything bricklink can provide!

Very nice I like your ruins and the trailing goo! Looks like someone finally found a use for the weight lifter! My only idea to add is if you have the Series 2 surfer to give the guy the surfer torso so there is more detail on the minifig. Wonderful work overall!

Great vessel!! The octopus piece is genius, and I like the towering segment at the rear, it looks very neat. Do you mind pointing out where the control room is on this baby?