Rocketbilly

Correct me if I'm wrong, but on closer examination of the Mandolorian Battlepack, it looks like there's some sort of weapon on a tripod, like the E-web in the Echo Base set. It's in the foreground, near the speeder bike thing. Having said that, there's also what looks like some sort of gun emplacement behind the bike, too, possibly similar to what we've seen in the original Clone Battlepack (2007?) Either way I'm definitely going to get the Imperial V-Wing if I can, and at least one apiece of the battlepacks. I can hope for the Jedi Shuttle, too but that's only really for the lovely Quinlan Vos figure - I find the rest of the ship unappealing and on my very tight budget I can't afford to buy the ship merely for the figure, but sadly I know that I'll at LEAST be able to buy a whole Battle Pack for the amount he'll probably go for on Bricklink. Of course, there's the inevitable Magnet set, but with so many new figures, who's to say he's guaranteed a magnet set appearance? I'm indifferent to the Clones battlepack, though - the ARC or ARF or whatever it is trooper is lovely, and the green Clone "Commando" is great, too - but something doesn't look right about the Bomb Squad troopers, but I can't put my finger on it. I think it might be the helmets - I hope that they are white helmets with orange printing, and not an orange helmet with the small amount of white printed over the top. Im hoping also that both battlepacks will come with those little packets of helmet add ons - you know, the visors/flashlights/rangefinders/antennae and stuff. It would be a nice bonus to get a spare set of pistols and a pauldron/kama included too (as they always come packaged with aforementioned helmet bits) , like in the latest Slave One but I doubt we'll get that. ALSO those new pistols are looking pretty snazzy, eh? I expect one will turn up in Han Solo's hands in future set appearances, it looks very much like his blaster. I hope they're going to be made of hard plastic like the rest of the Star Wars blasters, instead of the slightly softer plastic the original Star Wars pistols have been in. Will/Rocketbilly

I like this, you've done a good job in creating it so simply yet in proportion to a minifigure. Personally, I see nothing wrong with the claw. At this scale I imagine it would be a little difficult, but I think you've managed quite well. All Hail the claw! Will/Rocketbilly

fantastic, thankyou! All of these sets look fantastic, and it looks like we're getting a new scoped pistol mold, too. I know, not exactly the most magnificent thing about these pics but still. I like pistols. Thankyou! Will/Rocketbilly

Brilliant, simply fantastic. I love all of the details on this, and the boat hull usage is great, too. I like the little sleeping/living area, too - am I right in thinking it's in the boat hull, under the floor? I can't see very well at the moment as I have a terrible migraine But it looks like it to me. I think work this good merits being frontpaged, myself Will/Rocketbilly

Welcome to Eurobricks! I hope you enjoy your time here. Rocketbilly

I don't think it is, sorry. Nothing "Holiday" ish about it, and it's just sets that have been released before, in 2008 I think. Also,The sets involved are far too large to be in an advent calendar. ALSO it's blatantly not official Lego, either - the box is nothing like we've seen before and it's not even got the logo on it. ALSO coat guard isn't a current theme, and I don't think it will be in 2011. Nice find, though and this would be good as a normal set, as I regretably didn't get any coastguard wets when they came out Also, I see you're new. Welcome to Eurobricks, enjoy your time here. regards Will.Rocketbilly

Thankyou Klaus Dieter for all of the 2011 news! (I say NEWS not "RUMOURS" because I trust you and your sources). I think the "Pan" that the Mummy figure is holding would be an Ankh. It's a suitable object for it to hold, and I'd imagine it could look like a pan, too. Also KD, if you can remember, did the Space Alien figure have a molded or printed head? I expect it has the same gun as the astronaut from series one. Anyway, great news and thanks for sharing William/Rocketbilly

Okay, so this isn't a sale and it certainly isn't a deal, but my local Tesco is selling the Bionicle Stars for £15 each. Has anyone else seen them at this price in Tesco, or is it just a mistake at mine? I hope I put this in the right part of the forum, didn't want to clog the boards up with a whole topic for this. Will/Rocketbilly

Magnificent. Just. Magnificent. http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=4462-1 I'm a hot dog trolley. You know the shrieking kid we've got on the back pages of instructions these days? I like to imagine that this is the set he's so enthused about. This set alone. Imagine the fun you could have with two of this set. NO. That would be too much to handle. Will/Rocketbilly

Sadly I didn't go, I was a little run down. To be honest I doubt there'll be any left now, but I'll still have a look next time I'll there, which will be either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Any later than that and I can pretty much guarantee there'll be none left. Will/Rocketbilly

Wow! that's excellent, will definitely be checking it out tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up Looks like Dominoe's wil be shunned in favour of the Disney Store tomorrow, though somehow I doubt I'll be able to get much. Or anyhting. Oh well. Glad to see another Leicester AFOL, too! Will/Rocketbilly

Thankyou! looks like I'll have to adjust some of my designs, but I was pretty accurate. That's a lovely picture Darth Vader - I've always admired your reviews. I'd say they're better than the S@H pictures, but of course yours show the gaps on the model and things whereas Lego, obviously, hides them with clever posing and angles. Will/Rocketbilly

Thanks for the great review, VBBN. Very in depth, especially given the size of the subject matter, and I appreciate all the close ups of the new pieces they're really going to help my MOCS until I get my own sets. I've heard the silver being used in these sets is a new shade, but looking at it it looks quite a bit different to all the other shades of silver we've had in Bionicle. I've honestly lost count really. Lets hope this stays permanent, though it doesn't look all too metallic too me, which is a shame. Will/Rocketbilly

Here's another question, if anyone could help me that would be great: What connection points do we have on the backs of the Hero Torsos? (when they're wearing their armour) And to a further extent, what pieces can be attached to them? I realise that last part of the questionis a bit odd, obviously I don't want a complete list of every piece that fits properly, just a rough idea would be nice though I can probably work that out for myself anyway so it's not all that important. The reason I'm asking is I want to add wings/backpacks to some MOCs, and would like to start straight away, even though i don't have any of the figures. Thanks, Will/Rocketbilly

Yeah, I've been considering doing that Darth Vader, but the sad truth is almost all of my yellow is in the form of 2X4 basic bricks from the early 90's which have lost a lot of their shine and general "box fresh" coolness. However I have a few more recent, newer curved slope pieces I'd be tempted to integrate into the MOD. Sounds silly, but I'd never use System pieces in a Bionicle MOC before (well, with the exception of the odd 1x1 cylinder piece I suppose) but for some reason I think it's acceptable in a Hero Factory MOC. Must have something to do with either the specific pieces have in mind having a similar smooth,clean aesthetic to the the theme in general or I've just gradually been seduced into accepting the practice. After all, there's some great predominantly Bionicle MOCS out there that also make use of System pieces to great effect. Will/Rocketbilly

Nice MOC(s)! Good ideas too, thanks. I will likely follow your advice. I was considering using lime, and yes, I do have a Noctrun broken down I was stripping the carcass last night actually. I've been MOCing weapon arms and other such add ons in anticipation of my first Hero Factory sets. If my calculations are correct then the arms should fit, it's just a question of swapping them out when I build my first sets. I myself intend (well, hope) to get one of each Hero and a second Jimi Stringer and Duncan Bulk so I can do what I do with almost all themes: create my own custom, mostly black character. I can't wait to kit him out with my custom weapon arm. I expect I'll be bale to throw together a silver/orange hero, too which will actually probably end up being fused with the Bulk and Vapour version of Duncan, who I understand uses an orange Mahri tube in his construction which should look pretty slick. Will/Rocketbilly

Curses! my incompetence must be grating, sorry guys! I really need to take my sunglasses off once in a while! I even wear them in the bath but that against the point . I must pay more attention to these colours. Looks like my Bitil's getting maimed then for my mod. Having said that, Bitil's not got that many useful yellow parts for a mod of Meltdown. Oh well, I'll do my best as i can see Meltdown being the only villain I pick up, save for Vapour and one of the larger ones. Will/Rocketbilly

Ah. I thought Mata Nui was normal yellow. Now you've reminded me, you're quite correct - it's the titan Mata Nui that's got dashes of yellow that are out of place with the canister counterpart. I was under the impression it was the other way round. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Mata Nui's canister lid yellow too? maybe I've just got dodgy vision Will/Rocketbilly

Well played, VBBN My computer just about manages to spontaneously combust if it so much as hears the word "pdf file" so I'm grateful for those instruction scans. Looking at Meltdown from that angle and missing some of his larger pieces shows that he leaves a lot to be desired. Never mind, it's Lego, I can MOD it. Might buy a Mata Nui Legends set on the cheap for parts for Meltdown. thanks for all the help, everyone. Will/Rocketbilly

Great, thankyou! shame about the socket on Meltdown, but hey it looks like a face anyway so I'm actually kind of satisfied. Cheers, Will/Rocketbilly Thankyou! that's rather an odd solution for Von Nebula but functional I guess. Still, I bet it might look a little odd. He has eyes inthe back of his head! Will/Rocketbilly

You're lucky top have seen them! I'm wondering, the villains mask/helmets....whatever they are- what sort of head do they use? I presume a Glatorian head for consistency (with the exception of Von Nebula of course, who I assume uses a Metru head) I hope they do have heads, and not just pseudo-masks that the Mistika Makuta had that had no face underneath. Will/Rocketbilly

Nice little MOC Manta Man! That's a really really great idea to use that big drill piece for the shell the crab is living in, it's really creative. I like how your scooter also has lots of propellers on it, which is something the smaller Atlantis sets lack in any significant quantity so it's a lot more realistic. Lovely work indeed. Will/Rocketbilly

I have this figure, and the arms come in two sets of two arms each, that connect together to make the four arms, and then are connected to Dr. Octopuss' back via some sort of pin. So you're obviously missing one of the arm pieces, which is a shame. I got this figure with my Batcave when I got it second hand, so I'm unsure whether the pin that holds the arms to his back is a special piece or not as the hole in his back is smaller than a standard Technic pin so I assume it's just part oft he figure. Hope this helps. Will/Rocketbilly

I believe what you are referring to is a "title" - you can't give yourself one, and only members with authority, like Moderators can bestow one upon you. Oh, and they don't like it when you ask for one, either. I'm sure if you mingle around you'll eventually pick one up, or something. Will/Rocketbilly

Congratulations! That's a lovely set, and glad to see you've got your priorities right - Lego wins over that silly Football nonsense any day I picked up the smallest Prince of Persia set and the Manta Warrior impulse a few days ago. Lovely sets, though obviously the main draw is the Minifigs and accessories Will/Rocketbilly