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The Classic-Castle Team is proud to announce our fourth annual building contest: The Colossal Castle Contest IV. It will begin on November 1st and end on December 31st, 2006. This contest is a bit different than other contests. We have a variety of categories each with one prize for the winner. Some categories require small creations and others need larger ones. Everyone, even with a limited supply of bricks, should be able to enter several categories. We are looking for creativity, not who has the most LEGO bricks. Check out the prizes. Six LEGOLAND Castle sets including the famed Yellow Castle are prizes. There are are also rare accessories, custom castle figures and accessories, new sets, and a mystery prize. It truly is colossal! http://www.classic-castle.com/events/conte...st4/prizes.html Thank you to LEGO, Little Armory Toys, Red Bean Studio, Nathan Todd, and Ben Ellermann for donating prizes. The rules can be found here: http://www.classic-castle.com/events/conte...t4/contest.html Enjoy! Ben Ellermann LEGO Ambassador

Many ambassadors grew up building Pirates and like them very much. We discuss many issues and I think Pirates came at one time. Recently there have been threads on multiple fan sites and of course the pirate section here at EB. It is a good time to bring up Pirates again. One of the best ways to get the attention of the LEGO Company is to be enthusiastic. Starting fan sites also helps. Hopefully Pirate fans can build on what has been done here and start their own exclusive Pirate site. Space, Castle, Star Wars, Bionicle, etc have well established popular sites. Pirates should as well. I have been interested in this but with my activity as a CC Admin, LEGO Ambassador, member of my lug, building, etc time is limited. Hard working and dedicated fans should start sites for Pirates, Town, Fabuland, Galidor, etc :-P Ben

I agree. The LEGO Pirates theme is much better than the MB sets. Those sets look great on the boxes but do not have the play value of LEGO sets. Plus, with all of the new elements and color released since the original Pirates line, a great new line could be made. Ben

Trust me, we remind the company frequently that everyone wants minifig packs and accessory packs. I think that the increased number of figures in regular sets, the chess sets, and dacta town pack is positive step. Fans, such as myself, would prefer an $8-10 pack with 5 figures like the good old days. Atleast we have options, even if they force us to buy larger sets ;) It is strange how the Company can be very aware of certain fan requests but not others. Ambassadors point out the main requests for the different themes on a regular basis. When the new cycle starts up, I will make sure to start a discussion on how fans want pirate sets again. Ben

Hum, I am not sure about that :-| '06 was a great year for exemples: Nick licences products ONLY for the US/Canada, a Boeing sculpture plane, a christmas cheesy looking train (ok Germany is also a reason admit), 9 ambassadors out of 21 !! And the US/Canada represent a 1/3 of the world market |-/ So I wouldn't be surprised to see more US/Canada intended sets only in the future and I totally despise that !! *yoda* In the fourth cycle there are 7 ambassadors from the USA, 10 ambassadors from Europe, 2 from Canada, 1 from Singapore, and 1 from Australia. There are plenty of sets that are Europe only including world cup, airplane promos, keychains, gear, etc. I am pretty sure that Vikings is a line inspired from European history and mythology ;) My point is that both Europe and America get exclusives. Instead of griping that sets are inspired by European or American history, fans should get together and let LEGO know that we want all sets and gear in all markets. In the case of Avatar and Spongebob that could be a Nick decision and not a LEGO one. Companies licensing their products have a lot of say where things will be sold and what they will look like. A better idea than the War of Independance (or other conflicts like the Napoleonic Wars) would be a return of Pirates. The "Imperial" sets could expand to have more forts, settlements, galleons, trading posts, towns, etc. Civilian sets inspired from French, English, and Spanish settlements would be fantastic. Ben It should be pointed out that George Washington was the only US President before the civil war who freed all of his own slaves. Even Thomas Jefferson did not do this. That does not condone slavery in any way but does show that Washington changed his mind on slavery and actually did something about it.

Well, the people I know are holding on to the sets unfortunately. One guy has multiple copies of misb small and mid range sets in his basement just to use for the pieces... I also need a 6080 misb. It is amazing that fans wouldn't even sell one copy of an old set they have multiples of. Ben

The amount of castle collectors willing to pay large amounts for sets has increased tremendously in the last year. I suspect that the final bidder on this item will not pay. Only 3-4 years ago a misb 6080 and 6074 together was under $200. Paying more for a misb Kings Castle than a misb Yellow Castle does not make any sense to me. The Kings Castle had a larger production run in more countries and isnt as rare. Anything over $300 is likely paying too much. I know people who have lots of 1980's castle sets misb in their basements. The sets are out there. Ben

Ben posted a review on classic-castle.com. Here's the link. It's at the bottom of the page. His profile says he lives in "Saint Louis, MO USA". That's odd. I live in the same general area, but will get mine on Tuesday. I think that he probably used faster shipping, but i am on a budget, and son't want to spend anoth $10 for it to arrive a few days earlier. I chose the least expensive shipping also. It may be due to the fact I pre-ordered mine quite early and that affected shipping order. Unfortunately a storm knocked out my power at home and I will not be able to do a review until I get it back. Ben

LEGO is a global company. The recent outsourcing and production changes show this more than ever. Americans did not complain about the Maersk Sealiner set even though Maersk is based in Europe. Decisions on promos have much more to do with the other company and not LEGO. Boeing probably approached LEGO for a set while Airbus did not. Quite a few airline companies have the 4032 Passenger Plane Promotional Set. KLM had a very nice model, 4778 Bi-plane last year. LEGO is frequently producing sets along with various companies, including many in Europe, when those companies want sets. On the train I agree with you that the colors are a strange choice. I do not think that all of the licensed sculptures are great. I find the UCS Batmobile very blocky and with less detail than I would hope. Ben

The 787 set is official and will be on Shop at Home. The pictures were given to LEGOfan.org by LEGO. I can look into whether the set was requested by Boeing and then became a set. In the past few years, LEGO Direct has made Maersk and Burlington Northern Santa Fe models available to the public. Ben Ellermann LEGO Ambassador P.S. I like the model and think it captures the overall shape and color scheme of the plane. The nose should be worked on. I am also glad that there is a another airplane sculpture as I collect these and build my own. Other models like the Spirit of Saint Louis would be nice. Maybe a Spruce Goose model... /jk

Don't know if i'll do one. I'll just have to see if someone does one first. I don't think it is available in retail, only lego stores, so many people might not get it before i do. It will get here monday, which is only 5 days after its release on wednesday. By the way, as anyone else ordered this set? From the sounds of this post, no one has yet. I know it was just released wednesday, but I know a lot of people who order as soon as something is out. And, if someone has who lives on the east coast, you will probably get it before me. Don't wait to see if I am going to do a photo review before you do one. I am more than happy to let anyone do one. I recieved mine from LEGO on Friday and built it yesteray. I was surprised at the large amount of 1x light bley bricks and inverted slopes. The set has several nice features including the dungeon and blacksmith. While the set could be better, it is one of the best castles on that particular baseplate first used in 6091 King Leo's Castle. The figures and new colored ghost are very nice. Ben

Oh, sorry. I didn't mean what was different, but why it's different. I could tell it what was different, and I think I might actually like the one shown on the box more, even if it's not the 'real' version. The people at LEGO who arrange box art must have thought the set looked better with one tower not attached instead of the symmetrical layout. How a set appears on the box does affect sales. This is likely the reasoning behind the difference. Ben

Customer service makes a few mistakes from time to time. They may have misunderstood your request or did not have the axle in the replacement parts stock. I suggest calling and speaking to a rep. LEGO will replace the part. Quality is something the company takes very seriously. If you still do not have luck on the phones, I could look into it for you. Ben Ellermann LEGO Ambassador

Giving away set images is the most damaging thing someone can do to LEGO. In the space of a month or two the competition can pump out inferior products that look very similar to the LEGO set. Then it may even be on shelves before the set by LEGO. Either way there would be another brand's set with a lower price (and lower quality) in the same store aisle. If fans with connections want the trust of LEGO they need to refrain from leaking product images and information. Ben

Yes. That is exactly what I meant. Lugnet has been around for over 7 years. Eurobricks is just a newer site that is still growing. It does not have a giant core group of long time users like Lugnet. I have no doubt that EB will grow to be very large. More CC members have been posting here in the last few days. On the other hand many CC people, especially those who like Pirates, were already very active here. I find that most afols online post on many sites but have one or two favorites that they are most dedicated to. Ben

Like Bruce I am registered at many of the main sites. Eurobricks is a general LEGO forum. Most of these I just post if I read a very interesting topic. But I do browse many sites daily. Eurobricks has an advantage over Lugnet for several reasons including ease of joining, no fees, and a friendly atmosphere. On the other hand it is not as established yet. General sites are great for discussion but they never have the in depth information that a site dedicated to one theme has. This is why sites like bzpower, fbtb, classic-castle, and classic-space will continue to thrive. Ben

The server that hosts Classic-Castle.com and several other sites was compromised. We are currently working to have the site back up as soon as possible. It may take until Monday but hopefully not that long. Please be patient and we apologize for the inconvenience. Ben Ellermann CC Team P.S. CC is not closing. This is our first major server problem in three years of operation. We will take more steps to further protect our site.

I highly recommend Ras 74. I bought a Knights Kingdom magnet pack from him. The international shipping was fast and it was packed very well. Thanks! Ben

Thanks Ras. There is one magnet pack with three kk2 knights. The other pack of 6 guys has majisto the wizard, king mathias, and various town figures. I would like that one as well. Ben

Hi John, I am interested in the two magnet sets with knights kingdom figures in them. How much are those? Would you be willing to purchase them for me if I send you money for them and shipping? Any viking helmets, shields, or coins would also be cool ;) Ben E. Sets Admin at Classic-Castle email: bellermann@antispam.lycos.com (remove antispam)