einsteinonthebeach

Almost sure it will be a Pet Shop, saw the set # too. Mark

LEGO Labyrinth (AKA Minotaurus x4) Dimensions: 50''x50'' Pieces: Approx 20,000 Build Time: 2 months Playable Factions: Peasants, Forestmen, Wolfpack, Crusaders Ages: 8+ Players: 2-4 Object of game: To successfully navigate your three figures from the outside of the labyrinth to the inside. Playing: On each players turn roll both die (ACTION and MOVEMENT). Perform the ACTION die first and then move your character the number of spaces shown on the MOVEMENT die (NO diagonal movement). ACTION DIE DIRECTIONS: Black: Move the Fright Knight Lord 8 spaces. If the Night Lord touches any player, they must return to their starting position and the Night Lord returns to the center of the Labyrinth. Light Grey: Rotate one of the walls 360 degrees. Any moveable walls and figures touched by the rotating wall must be returned to their original position. Dark Grey: Take any dark grey moveable wall and place it anywhere in the maze. Great for blocking paths and stopping the walls from rotating. Red: Use one of two catapults to try and hit your opponent with a giant boulder. Any moveable walls or figures hit must be returned to their original starting position. Dark Brown: If you can move one of your figures to a dark brown doorway, you may place your figure on top of the labyrinth on the designated pedestal. Your figure will be safe from all attacks on top of the maze and can stay in the safe zone for as many turns as desired. x2 Tile: Move your figure twice the number of spaces as shown on the MOVEMENT die. (Ex: Roll a "6" with x2, move 12 spaces) Brickshelf (when public): http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=456756 Flickr: Thanks, Mark Bauer

Absolutely gorgeous! This is the must-buy set of 2011!

My first vote as well! A dark green cypress would be awesome! (Black cows as well!) Mark

1. No 2. Whole 3. Sydney Opera House 4. A large, detailed castle 5. More sets for castle aimed at medieval life. Medieval Market Village was an amazing step in the right direction for Adult Castle fans, we would love more!

Thanks for the early review. The set looks excellent. Gotta love those black Belville arches! Mark

Nice job ISC! Love the crossbeam technique, looks like they are not attached but I assume they're quite snug? The rock work is superb! Mark

Thanks for the early review CopMike! June is going to be a very expensive month! MLB

Really amazing work! Love how you use the brown wooden door for a dock! The witch hunt party coming through the woods is hilarious! I really like how you used the Islander face for another Jester, it works really well! Great job, off to look at more detailed shots! Mark

I always disassemble them after a public showing and pictures. I only build big (15,000+ pieces) so I really can't afford to display MOCs while building another one. Mark

Hey Dillon, first let me say thanks for the front page spot! Thanks for the advice on the 2x2 tiles on the front tower, I agree you. It was my first attempt at building a round tower with ratchet pieces, the next MOC will incorporate more variety in the rounded wall sections. Transportation was surprisingly very easy. The back two sections each weigh around 30-40lb so we had to wheel those around in a cart. The front two sections are very sturdy and light and can easily be carried by one person. Mark

Thanks for coming out to see it. The turnout was great and only 3 figures were stolen . The estimated piece count was about 21,000. Looking through some of the 500+ ballots, there are a few that are coming within 500 pieces of the answer. Mark

I'll be there but plan on ordering a Grand Emporium as we are still out of stock. We'll get you free shipping to your house if you order in the store. MLB

ALL PICTURES NOW ON FLICKR! http://www.flickr.com/photos/einsteinonthe...57623806788760/ Brickshelf (when public) http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=426315 PS: Can a MOD delete the "PREVIEW:" in the Post Title as it is no longer a 'preview'. Thanks!

Starwars: 8038 Battle of Endor. Unless we see another set with Ewoks in the next few years, this set should skyrocket in price once it's discontinued. Castle: 10193 Market Village. Unique figures, cows! Toy Story: Army Men on Patrol, for reasons already stated. City: City Corner. The classic look and great bus design will probably increase the value of this set. Creator: Apple Tree House. Only set with dark blue roof, the value will increase! Space Police: The upcoming Lunar Limo, if only for the figure "Brick (Pimp) Daddy" Power Miners: I don't think any current set will truly skyrocket in price. Exclusives: They'll all go up in price (except perhaps the Architecture series)

I always have a bowl of Jujubes at my table, I think it's become a superstition of sorts. I listen to music (Sigur Ros, Johann Johannson, Classical) or pop in an MST3K episode for background noise.

At this point I have approx. 152,000 pieces plus 500 minifigures (mostly castle/city). This does include PaB cups which do get counted (yes I know I am very anal about my collection). MLB

Good topic! I'm only including sets I own and have built: BEST: -Medieval Market Village: No commentary needed... -Titanium Command Rig: A one trick-pony that works and looks awesome! -Camper: Classic-Town feel plus that awesome female figure -Ambush in Cairo: Excellent parts pack! WORST: -Rock Wrecker: Most deceiving box art ever. Despite how huge the set may look on the box, it is small and barren. -Ferrari Truck: Worst sticker sheet experience ever! Even the figs needed stickers! -Garage: Points were already made in an earlier post -Squidman's Pit Stop: Silly looking set with poorly designed vehicles. Only good for getting most of the alien figs in one set. MLB

Amazing work! I love all the little details. My favorite details are the subtle addition of sand-blue in the gray castle and the variety of foliage in the trees. Does the windmill have power functions? What are the small purple objects that are near the windmill? Nice work! MLB

Signed. They should at least release a large imperial ship. MLB

Just a quick update for you guys, Most LEGO Stores in the US received a display copy about 2 weeks ago. The light-up brick is in the house up in the second floor where the shopkeeper makes his toys. I think we are expecting to see it show up at the stores sometime in October. MLB

Sign me up! And, as an employee of the LEGO Store at MOA, let me also state that there are many many other people who work for the company who are outraged that this set will not be available in the US. I cannot believe LEGO did not do something different this time around after what happened with the Castle Calendar. Frustrated with my own company, MLB

Thanks everyone for all the comments. I'm glad you all liked it and weren't too disturbed by the subject matter. Surprisingly, when I displayed this MOC at the LEGO Store at the Mall of America I never received a complaint. Most of the parents loved it and thanked me for inspiring their children to build their own creations. Now, back to work on a much less macabre MOC. MLB

Here is my latest MOC. I hope you enjoy it! Hill House; Homage to the Horror Genre; a LEGO Creation by Mark Bauer Dimensions:40''x25'' Build Time:Approx. 60 hours over the course of 2 months Pieces Count:Approx. 10,000 Key Features -Many vignettes related to the Horror Genre [fear of spiders, snakes, dogs, clowns] -One of the first, if not the first, LEGO Pentagram designs, with cow sacrifice on top -Light up brick feature in the spider cavern Many more images available at: Brickshelf (When Public): http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=399552 Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/einsteinonthe...57622202635220/ Please feel free to leave some feedback or else... The Killer Clown will get you in your sleep! MLB

LEGO has kept this one a secret! As of this review date it is still not on SaH and already sold out at the LEGO Store at the Mall of America. We only received 8 copies of this lovely set and they latest less than a day. But is this the army builder to end all army builders (for pirates that is)? Read on to find out. Set #:852751 Item #:4563624 Theme:Pirates/Games Set Name:Pirate Chess Set Year of Release:2009 Number of Pieces:289 Minifigures:24 plus 2 monkeys Price:US $49.99 Part 1: Box The Front The front design is very well suited for the pirate theme. The dark blue is a lovely color choice. The Back The back lays out all of the specifics of set. Our cast of characters. The selection is really nice. You get all of the harder to find figures in one set! An action shot, for those who don't know what a chess set might look like. The Side Here is the nice latching device. It is a very nice touch and keeps all the pieces secure for transportation. The Inside Here is the inside. The chess board is held in with 4 small Velcro pads. The figures each have a small molded area for storage. The fit is looser on some, notice the King on the Imperials. Here is the picture underneath the chess board. This is a very helpful tool not only for those who are just learning chess, but also for those who need a friendly reminder about which piece is which. The Board Your standard chess board. The 4x4 plates are NOT glued down, and the 32x32 base plate is green. The bottom of the board. Notice the Velcro pads. I haven't tried pulling them off but I'm sure that wouldn't be an issue. The Figures Imperials Pawns. Lovely! Rooks. Decent design. Good supply of window frames. Knights. The weakest piece of the set. Using a cannon or parrot would have been more suited for pirates. These pieces feel as though they belong in a Castle chess set. Bishops. Double swords! For army building purposes, LEGO really should have used this hat with the pawns and visa versa. King and Queen. The crown jewel of the set. The queen figure is lovely and is now going to be much more affordable for collectors! Pirates Pawns. This is the reason to get this set! The variety in these figures is top notch! Rooks. Same design as the Imperials. The crows nests are a nice touch. Knights. The best piece of the set! Not only is it a monkey piece, but it's a monkey with a knife. Now that is one chess piece you do not want to mess with! Bishops. Standard pirate, nothing too special. Again the double swords is nice. King and Queen. The standard figures. Although notice that the pirate wench has the dark green dress on in this set instead of standard legs. Overall Shots Conclusion: I am very pleased with this set. It works great as an army builder and good as a chess set. I would recommend it for both. The figure variety is great and the weapon/accessory selection is excellent! The only cons I see with the figures is that the base of the rook piece comes off easily when playing, and because the 4x4 base plate pieces are not glued down, they sometimes will come off during play. Also, the Imperials' knight design is not suited for the pirates theme. The box design is great. I do hope the dark blue color scheme will continue with pirates in 2010. The box is sturdy enough for transporting the set around, and the molds for the figures makes it all the more easy. The one thing that would have helped would be a handle on the side. I must address one more issue that has been talked about more recently in the forums. The figures do appear to be of a lesser quality than standard figures found in sets. The hands are a different shade of yellow and the neck stud on the torso is missing the black mark. For further information concerning this issue please see Apache's thread: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32278. I personally do not mind the slight difference in the figures. The number of figures that you get for the price offsets and concerns I have with this issue. To quote Joey Lock, "Despite the quality, you won't exactly see the detailing on a collar [or hand] if your looking at an army of 150 men..." Build:N/A Design:8/10 The rook designs could use some MODing Playability:9/10 Endless hours of chess playing! Minifigures: 9/10 If you can look past the slightly lower quality in the minifigures, this is an excellent set for army building! Price: 9/10 About $2 per figure, plus all the great weapons/accessories. Adding a couple of cannons and parrots would have raised it to a 10. MLB Full brickshelf gallery (when public): http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=397988 PS: This being my first review at EB, and feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!