L'Exocet

Still no longbows? There goes my Robin Hood forrest...

I actually rather like the new fire chopper, despite the so-called <insert that tiresome argument> parts. Why? Well, if you take a good look at it, it's one of the most realistic looking that TLG has ever produced, it's not too big (compared to classic scale) nor too small (compared to current scale), and finally, it's really good reproduction of my absolute favourite modern helicopter, the NH90, with hints of another great machine, EH-101 Merlin (google'em to see what I mean). The only small complaint is the colour (red really doesn't match with special ops), but I can live with that.

A Gallardo? That's unexpected, considering the licence with Ferrari, but I these guys have no need for monopoly like some... er, people in the entertainment biz. Then again, maybe TLC got the licence along the Beetle (I believe Lambo is part of the Volkswagen Group nowadays). Anyway, great news, my absolutely favorite super car and in nice displayable size if in 1:17, too. I have to take a shot at the colour: Lime Green, just got to be, it seems to be the new black in Lego world.

Oh boy this really made my year! I love all of them, and I think my town plans will be on a definate halt to give space to a Lego- Caribbean trading post and treasure island... or lots of them, dozens... . Yeah, the ship sure seems steeply prized, thank goodness for the strong Euro. Otherwise, no surprises, still a bit cheaper would have been nice as always. I feel you, Jon man, I really do, living on the backwoods of Northern Europe (and coincedently in the exact opposite edge of the globe) I fear the release dates here will fall back to summer, perhaps even autumn. But I've waited for so long time, one more year won't be that hard.

EDIT: Never mind, got it

Oh gosh, I take that back. I have to say I hate those - even considering they're probably preliminary. But for anyone they work, enjoy, please don't let me be a killjoy

Very nice Minifiguraziation indeed! goes kinda off-topic, but I loved the games (originating from Finland), both 1 and 2 - The Fall of Max Payne. Plot of the movie seems stupid with supernatural elements though (not REALLY present in the fabilous plot lines games). The word is there will be no more Max Payne games, that's too bad.

Very Nice move from TLC! Triumphious return right back smack to the 80's and 90's golden age. Sorely missed Pirates, long-awaited Farm-in-Town sets, and, hopefully, a re-issue of one the most under rated, yet ingenious and beautiful theme the Rock Raiders aka Power Miners - all points to one of the best Lego-Years since the birth of our beloved MF. I admit I have been weak in faith, but as I see all the things I've missed and dreamd appearing and reappearing, I know I haven't fell back to dark ages. Are you kidding, man? For years AFOLs and kids alke have hoped, asked, begged, cried and raged to get the Pirates back to Legoland waters - let's just enjoy that now, ok?

Well, I'd say yellow slave Leia from the 4480- "Jabba's Palace" - a rarity in one of the first sets i got after getting out of my dark ages

6373 Motorcycle Shop - Man I wish I had it!! I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on the catalog, but never got to own one. A couple of years ago one guy told me he had this for sale, but he never returned my call . The old motorcycles are so beautiful compared to the new oversized Superbike (IMO new dirt bike is better), unfortunately I have only a couple of gray ones. 6699 Cycle Fix-It Shop is nearly as good, I miss those bicycles so much too, I so wish TLC brings them back to city sets someday.

Wow, that's fantastic, 57! I've been planning a museum of natural sciences for my town too, and your work is just inspiring. If you want to improve it, you could make it bigger It so great that libraries, museums and schools are turning up here in EB nowadays. In fact, IMO that is exactly the direction to which TLC should develop the City - schools, museums etc. They have so much stuff that would easily make great exhibitions in history, wildlife, space or what ever. But considering the failure of science based sets, that's hardly likely to happen, so I guess it's back to mocing board again.

Um, sorry to be a killjoy, but could someone please explain the idea of that platform to me - an oil rig turned into a rescue station? Why? So that it could be easily towed to disaster areas? Or is the building ground on the shores of LEGO City so expensive that the public services need to find more creative solutions? And what's with that mini-monorail thingie, wouldn't it be a lot more efficient and safer (and cheaper) to just walk those ten steps to helipad? On the plus side, it is fairly easy to convert (back) into an oil rig, too bad the colors is all wrong for Octan. And the chopper is nice (although the patient may disagree).

675 Snack bar for me, absolutely - it just happens to be the very first LEGO set I ever got! I also had the Hamburger Stand, which is quite nice, so it's number two, and third would be Pizza To Go, still light years ahead of the rest of the bunch.

Here's another view to the topic. First, I do not mean to diss roadplates, on the contrary, if you can get them easily and with reasonable price, that's just wonderful! But there is an option, which is also in line with LEGO heritage. I also tried to collect just one sort of roadplates, first the oldest ones and then the newer ones, for years, but when TLC started packing X's with Curves and T's with straights I got so fed up with it I rethought the whole concept and decided to go really old school: I do not use roadplates at all anymore, but rather just baseplates like 32 x 32 greens and 48 x 48 greys to create blocks and areas. Here's the old school thing: I use printed cardboard for roads, generally following the baseplate dimensions and geometry, but some times also altering it for better fit. This gives more flexibility in landscaping, and is a lot cheaper.

Spot on! IMO that's exactly what TLC should do, and should done with the previous version a couple of your ago. I especially love the downstair waiting room.. oh, that's so 90's *sigh* - and completely in line with recent fire & police stations. Watch out, they may soon "adopt" your design

Congratulations, I think that is a really beutiful MOC. You could use 1 x 2 plates in various colours as books, Harry Potter books would be just too big. But I must disagree with you on something... I think there's no town too small for library, no matter what the politicians say ! But still, I'm glad your minifigs get the books, even from the bus !

Thank you so very much for the great pictures, Deinonychus! All in all, mixed emotions for me . First of all the guns, what's up with that? In premilimanary photos there where either Batman guns or SW Blasters, but then they end up arming these guys with the worst choice available (ok, no guns would be worse, but next to worse). A hose nozzle is hardly a gun, not even plated with gold. Well, I guess it's all about mocing now... The jet is just ok for me. My guess was right, the afterburner is a barrel, and, for me, it looks just like a barrel stuck to the tale. That canopy is even worse then it seemed from other angles, too. But with some heavy modifications, it still has potential. O the more positive note, I love the colour scheme, and the jeep is much better looking and design then I expected.

Thanks for the review, that made me hungry for more! And I concure mammymarf, I want to see pics too, especially the jet exhaust and bottom. Or could you, Deinonychus, at least describe them, which pieces etc.?

Nice set altogether. For me, the gold-buttoned fireman is THE Town Fig, and has a double role as a guardian soldier (equipped with proper headwear and a musket). the Octan-guys face is a pure classic too, since (I think) the pointy mustache was one of the first additions to "eyes and smile" -pattern. I quess dr. Frankenstein is there just to demonstrate what eventually went wrong in minifig evolution... I still wonder who hired that guy to Coast Watch ... Too bad there's no girls (in this collection), but then again, Lego female/male minifig ratio is probably closer to 1 in 40 then 1 in 4.

I love those sheeps! Just the right scale, simple yet life-like. I was having a bit of Shaun the Sheep marathon with my family just this morning and wondering how to make sheeps out of Lego. Absolutely brilliant! And a very nicely set up MOC altogether, too.

Thanks for a very good review! Agent line seems better all the time... Looking forward in seeing review on Mission 2 Gold Chase (and new pictures of the jet) really soon!

If you're a user of iGoogle, you might want to check out the designer theme of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac ( http://www.google.com/help/ig/art/artists/jcdc.html ). Some real eye candy! Sorry if this have been posted before and please move to right topic if in wrong place.

Looking good... Most of the sets are really nice moc material, much more so then the Alpha Team ever was. The sharks are wonderful, kind of a need species living among the old ones (which, mind you, come back with the CG sets). I especially like the Mission 1 fighter jet, to which I have already started to plan some modification to meet my town's air defence needs... Can anyone tell me what part is used as the jet exhaust/afterburner? Is it the new 2-wide set seen in 2230 (which would be nice) or is it the barrel (as it seems)? And is it true there no undercarriage? Or do I have to wait until autumn to find out ... And I think a truck of that size must have it's own on board-mini-fusion reactor

I think Lego should remake some of the HP sets. I was really sad when Lego dropped the licence, before I could get any of the sets that seemed in retrospective excellent for town, some out of the box, some modded. The sets I like to see resurrected include (but are not limited to ) 4708 Hogwarts Express 4728 Escape from Privet Drive 4756 Shrieking Shack You should learn you numbers, bro . The code actually tells nothing about the release date, for example 2008 Creator sets are 4xxx-numbered, and 2006 Avatar and Sponge Bob sets are 3xxx-coded. As for authenticity of these new HP sets, seems somewhat unlikely, but IF it would turn out to be true, great!

Thank you for a wonderful review! This is one of my all-time favorite sets, and I'm lucky enough to own one, too! I plan to include it unmodified to my big "golden age" town project.