Sirens-of-Titan

The minifigure has become the centerpiece of sets today; hands down. In the 80's and early 90's it might have seemed they were there as generic bots to fill the human role, but now they have personality and charm. The move to a more story-driven production has made the figures literally fill archetypes and many collectors these days collect solely figures, something that's hard to do with old classic minifigs. I would also say that the incorporation of inferior or what people call "Chinese" plastic has made quite a change in recent years. Lego used to be synonymous with the highest quality building toy, and with the lesser plastics have left people wondering things like; "what kind of plastic will this set include", and waiting for a go-ahead from a review before placing an order, as we have no indication as to which sets will, and which won't contain it.

That minifigure set is basically a way of disposing of a ton of overstocked parts; I see old pirate parts a PoP outfit, and a whole bunch of castle and kingdoms parts. Even the pants of the soldiers aren't in the deep blue that the original color scheme contained. It's like a grab-bag of parts, which i guess is good for those who never got the parts in regular sets, but honestly, even the name suggests for haphazardly it's been thrown together.

On the mother ship it's a sound feature if you look at the waves coming off it looks exactly like the adds that used to come on the "insectoids" theme sets. It's most likley going to have a classic hover sound and the all-so-popular and now cliche flying saucer take-off sound, as well as some 50's laser effects

Beautiful MOC ISC!! The design of the room is excellent and the creative technique for the fighters is just eye candy. A very wild and inspired creation!

Hey it's a time- tested formula! If you were going to bring back a theme to sell after 20 years of absence it might as well blow the previous one out of the water! And if you are the Lego Company and can't decide whether to bring back classic space, or UFO, might as well merge the two and satisfy everybody!

Beautiful dragons! I really love the skeletal one I've been trying to figure out how to build one but it never worked out and yet your is simply stunning! Job well done indeed!

Nice review! I can't believe it's Chinese plastic though, very dissapointing

I think in each wave there is a general consensus that one or more minifigure isn't as attractive or useful as the others; these usually appear more frequently and when people bought boxes the highest probability figures were the least desirable. They weren't poorly designed mind you; it's just that very few of us have use of something like a crash-test dummy in MOC's or something as specific as a Mexican wrestler, and so while they may be a neat idea, from a usefulness perspective, one could call them "filler". I look at them as the non-essential figures you wouldn't want unless you were just collecting to have a full set.

First off, great review tin_7, thank you for sacrificing your cash to discover just what is under the hood of these spinner packs. I have mixed feeling about this, on the one hand I, like yourself, usually get sets as part packs and for mini-figures and accessories, but it seems a bit drastic to pay upwards of 10$ per figure. Now the ninja looks great, and the skeleton is pretty decent, so hmm I may bricklink a few accessories and figures, but I have no use for the cards, fancy packaging and spinner bases. i hope this does sell well to kids though, if it does they'll keep up the regular sets as well, and that's where most AFOL's will be spending anyways

While all of these will sell well, the mill and the blacksmith will probably make a killing with AFOL's. Looking at the blacksmith I say it cant be more than 15$ and will probably be about 10$ and for that you get 2 new weapons, 2 chickens, and new bucket piece, a new civilian torso, a dragon knight with helm, and fantastic building supplies. I can easily see myself getting a few of these just for fantastic parts. As someone here once said this indeed may be the "best Lego year yet"

Looks like the human in the UFO abduction set has some type of new double-barrel weapon in his hand. The theme is fantastic; its like a merger between classic space, UFO, and old 50's movies! It's meant to be cheesy, and indeed it looks like there are weird alien slugs that attack to human heads Now I know where the hazmat suit guy from Series 4 is going!

I love the peaceful atmosphere of the mill (yes I know it's under attack) but the little animals and sunflowers in one corner make this almost a livable space for the mini-figs! Finally a home for my cows, pigs and landless peasants! Looking at it closer the carriage doesn't seem all that bad, although I can't quite make out what the story is with the roof; it looks like an onion, but there looks to be a .... second tier?? ... we shall see, I can't wait!

Yes the fabled mill!!!! Looks like a lot of folks are going to get their prayers answered; civilian sets with peasants, structures and new animal molds! The detail in the top ones is too blurry to make out save for what looks like the first ever dragon knights cavalry in the prison set. Sadly i can't make out whether or not the horse has any new dark green barding. Blacksmith attack though?? And another carriage... Great way to start the day!

There did seem to be an underlying message; there wasn't one good alien out there, just evil ones. So to anyone who is looking at these the theme is clear; human = good, non-human = bad It's segregation by species

There are a few theories; some say it's because they had to get rid of a lot of over-produced parts from the pirates, space and castle themes. Some say that the lead set designer woke up one night in cold sweat and feverishly drew the devilish designs. And there are those who theorize that the policy at the time was 'madcap creations" We may never know...

The sheer size of it is awe-inspiring! I like how you incorporated the new helms with the blue color-scheme; they look fantastic! Your wood, cliff and masonry techniques are perfect as always, very well done!

Beautiful MOC!! My favorite parts are the street lights (very neat technique) the toxic waste! and of course the fact that it lights up so well Job well done

Beautiful color scheme and detail on the church! The snow effects are also excellent, and the stained glass windows are to die for!

Brilliant and scary! I love the detail in his face, and also the skeletons in the base!

The figures give me an idea that might be the direction this will go in (I emphasize might, so don't take this as a heart-felt belief) This almost fits in as a sequel to the SPIII line, as the models looks similar and the alien is in the same general art style. Certainly after a few waves of police sets there are only so many law-enforcement situations you could make, but by introducing it as a new theme you open the door to possibilities like civilian sets, military sets, and of course, different alien archetypes, not just criminals.

Indeed! and Congrats on 1000 posts

Great find, these let you see each fig without the overlap. the viking looks amazing!

I agree they are expensive but there are a lot of unique pieces and colors with this theme, so it may be worth the tag price, although the spinners are not gonna sell well to adults (pity really there are some neat accessories)

Awesome creation; the Dumbledore head is perfect, and your attention to detail makes the scene come alive. I really like the pipe on the fireplace and the masonry