L'Exocet

7993 Service Station 7994 LEGO City Harbor (30 per cent off the list price, sweet!) two 7996 Train Rail Crossing for RC Trains

Yeah, most of this year is looking great. I really wait to see many of them reviewed here in EB, that seems to be the best way to get a good idea of the sets "true nature" and get help to decide whether their worth getting or not. BTW, did anyone else, especially you town folk, notice there is a very nice new motorbike desing in 7787 Bat tank. Looks like one of those huge BMW or KTM touring enduros you see in desert races, although its still a bit out of mf-scale.

I'm sorry if I gave an impression that I'm dismissing AR as a theme or any of it's elements, creature or otherwise. For me, "kid oriented" is not a bad thing, on the contrary - us adults should always remeber the primary target group of TLC - the kids. Without them, or their interest, we'll loose our dear hobby. The first criteria for judgement should always be playability,and that AR seems to have a lot. For adults, mocking is easy, and the use of pieces depend solely on our own creativity (and what we've managed to gather in our brickpile), not what TLC prints on the instructions. It's true that it is unfair to compare old divers and AR, the times, the kids and the TLC is different, and we'll just have to live with it (and keep on mocin'). What I meant was, and as you went on you got to that too, that maybe they are testing the secondary target groups' interests. The Shipwreck set obviously stands out from the rest of AR (for lack of beasts, mostly), and has exceptionally lot of the old-school "Legolized realism" in it (not that the others wouldn't have at least a hint of it, too). On the other hand, it's not that far from the rest of the line, so it could also be a kind of an pull-in product, a "marketing trap" in a way. Toys form themes, kids want them in themes, and when they get one (and like it), they want the rest too. You get parent (dad) to buy this one he likes to his kid, the kid probably wants more. And I don't mean either that it wouldn't be great on it's on or as part of it's theme. Heck, it's just so great set and fun to talk about. Again, I'm sorry for giving wrong impression, I'm really happy with the whole AquaRiders theme.

I too have waited for that sub to surface :-) and the the new pics look even better. I really want that on the deck of my sea exploration ship. Minus the weaponary of course... too many harpoons for peaceful research missions. Could it be that TLC intends this to be an AFOL-"pre-moc" set, the rest of the line being obviously more action/kid oriented? I still wonder about the "Special edition" tag though... In the German catalogue here it's shown as a part of the theme (Well, ok, it is in a seperate box, maybe that's suppose to make it obvious that it is a "special edition" |-/ ) Anyway, I think TRU/Target exclusives have not been seen in the medium catalogs before (please correct me if I'm wrong), so probably "special edition" means "available for limited period". I really do hope so.

I too really love the line-up for 2007; lot's of wunderbar (as a reference to the european feel of sets) stuff to spend my euros and cents on, many times over. I also agree that the TLC has brought the "sexy back" on town, and yes, I do think we're closing in on another golden era... however, the 80's to mid 90's glamour is still far away. The seaport is something I've been dreaming since I was just a kid (so, over 20 years... :-$ )... I think the ship is spot on - not too big, but right size for the current line-up. And the gas station is close enough to classics, so no need to hunt the old ones in the net sales anymore. With modding you can make several "franchised" Octan stations, with different level of service. I know that the town-oriented creator sets are discussed on different threads, eg. here, but I just have to say that especially the house(s) and the ferris wheel (which seems easy to convert for MF's) both are essential for the revival of the good'ol times town spirit. My oppinion on the RC trains: I like them. Of course, I can see why they do not satisfy the hard-core train modellers, and for serious use, they have too many flaws... But, I'm doing a town-life oriented layout, with trains as a minor detail ("to add realism"), so they're not that important to me anyway... Just as long as some trains run on some tracks, start and stop on stations and so on, I'm happy. The new cross-over will be beneficial for me, since it saves spaces... as for the station, I'll probably get too and merge them into one bigger. Here's my view on the gender issue: My town has a female mayor, and the country that it is supposed to be located (I call it "Legolandia") is ruled by a queen. And I think there's still some hope... The new castle line has a damsel in distress, so unleast they have saved the some molds of female hairs :-P

I waited, I dreamed., I feared... and TLC delivered! First impressions for the City 2007: just love all of them (and as for the Aquaraiders, shipwreck is not an exclusive, yippee!)!

Yeah, me too... What is it with this guy? And I kind of feel that the cart has a zoo-ish feel to it, too, like some animal food in that bin or something. I've always hoped that hoped that TLC would come up with MF-Zoo... But I guess that would be too much to hope for. And Thank You for this thread, I look forward in reading the daily posts here almost as much as in opening the next door in the actual calender :-)

Ok, so they got the right AR pics on S@H now. But STILL no shipwreck... :'-(

Wow! Nearly choked on my evening tea seeing those... things... But they HAVE TO be prototypes... X-O right..? :'-( And still no shipwreck... :'-( :'-(

Thanks for this one too, bdd! I quite agree on that with you, snef. But without the fire department stickers and the flashing lights it'll make a nice civilian pick-up.

Thanks for the reviews, bdd! Nice to see some of that old glam coming back to Legoland :'-) . AR sets are really cool, in every way! I'm a bit worried though, the only set in the series that really interests me is the shipwreck - if that's going to be an exclusive of some sort, I think I'll just forget it - the railing of my town is eating up the budget as it is.

I'm not really a business person, but personally I think the reason for the shortages are caused by two main reasons. Firstly, TLC, like any company, likes to keep it's stock small and relies on short logistics chains both in quantity and time. They do that kind of on purpose, it's better to stay on short supply then have tons of unsold products on stock. Of course the shortage can be partially caused by structural changes in the production. Secondly, and maybe even more importantly, TLC has basicly had a really bad decade, and they do not dare to response on the potential growth of demand. In the meanwhile, those of us who were kids and played with Lego in the "golden era" of System are becoming parents (hitting our late 20's to mid 30's), and we want to buy Lego to our kids, too, because it's a safe and dear brand for us. With my own and very subjective experience I'd say traditional toys are making a strong comeback to childrens rooms - the parents of today know a lot more about the computers, games and internet then the parents 10 years ago, and will think twice before plugging the kids into the cyberspace. Hence, they buy, and guide their kids with their own spending money to buy, more traditional toys like Lego sets.

Thank you Alex for your review! Now I'm even more sure I need to get this soon... One question's been bothering me for some time now. Before and at the time when IR trains were released, there was some speculation whether or not one could use 1,2v rechargerable batteries in them. I don't remember anyone saying anything about that since, but has someone tried?

I think a fuel tanker (ship) and a big rig would make sense, especially with the forthcoming cargo sea port and this year's cargo train - it's the city cargo theme! We'll probably see a new ship hull, and I'd think those containers might be a complete new design, too... Personally I really look forward on what LEGO will throw us, so far 2007 seems like a very good (if somewhat expensive) year. Even the horribly named Aquaraiders look good, if you strip the arsenal of harpoons from them... Definately potential for city-moc diving theme! By the way, has anyone else noticed this neat follow up thing TLC has now made - first there is Duplo pirates, followed by System divers exploring the sunken treasures? I think that's so cool, kind of a continuing story.

A difficult choice this was... Finally, I chose 6380, 'cause it's an '80s set, no other reason. In my oppinion, TLC has never been able to produce a really great healthcare facilities as sets, though great ambulances (including even a great ambulance aeroplane) and rescue choppers have appeared throughout the years. In contrast, I think that the idea books have had really good hospital mocs.

I cho-cho-choose the classic 6392. It's a matter of pure nostalgia, though... I still recall that cloudy day in December, I just had turned ten a fortnight ago, and going to supermarket I crabbed the new '85 catalog in anticipation what great thingies TLC had come up with that year... And leafing through the colourful pages, I hit the town section, and there it was... Oh, my imagination just took of, and I stared and stared at the picture of that set for weeks. It was the time when my love for little yellow men grew from sparks to bonfire. Unfortunately, I never actually got the set, but one day I will moc it up... I too like the small-town feel that the early and mid-80's sets had, this Big City thing isn't really for me (I still like to give all my MF's a name and personal history...) These small-scale sets seem more closer to my idea of Lego's main idea, imitation of the day-to-day life of ordinary people.

Sure, they look a lot alike. But, I think, Lego one has one major advantage: You can redesign, and rebuild it. I actually plan on mocing the Airport 7894 in to something that will resemble more the "classic" airports (6392, 6396 and 6597). And after that, I think I will still have enough parts for something that will be a lot like the Breezeway Caf

My favorite castle piece is definately the original sword or shortsword in old gray (unfortunately I have only old 'darkies' left :( ) Hmm... it looks somehow Roman, doesn't it? *wink*

Very nice... Especially some of the cars seem very neat, "commercial" even.

I just love "the Krusty Krab" (3825) . With a little moding it's a perfect diner to my town :)

I agree with you, the Brickster, about not going too far down in the line of

I'm really happy with the new 2006 City sets I've got my hands on so far. For second year running - there were many goodies introduced in 2005 as well - Lego is once again making toys that are BUILT, and have great playbility as well. One thing that bothers me though is that there's practically zero female minifigs in the City sets! In the catalog, TLC hides this fact quite cleaverly - there's almost equal amount of males and females in the promotion pictures - but the sets have only guys. I can understand if the female MF's are not tough enough to become construction workers or fire(wo)men, but no girl cops, no air hostesses (nor female passengers) in the plane(s), no female nurses (although I think the hospital has only doctors and paramedics), not even female patients in the hospital? I do not want to believe this is an matter of gender discrimination by TLC, but it can't be just a mistake either and I hope we'll see the return of Female-MFs in 2007.

My idea would be Alpha Team in mountains, mixing elements from Cliffhanger and James Bond to the Alpha story line. Sets could include a high mountain made of bricks with an extreme north wall, a forest with those wonderful old long pine trees and a wolfpack, a gloomy ravine with grizzly bear. Ogel's base would be located on the summit (like the nest of Blofeld in the "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"). And the Alpha Team is the one theme that really needs (more) guns, so plenty of them in it too. After all, they're fighting the very anti-lego forces :^D I also like the aeroplane idea. It also reminds me of that 70's puppet animation "Captain Scarlett", with a hovering carrier baseship and those sleek Valkyrie Jets.

I definately vote for Time Cruisers (& Twisters). No one liked it, no one defended it, but many got really upset and angry ( *devil* ) about it - I remember the beating it got everytime someone just mentioned the word "time" in the same or next sentence with "Lego". That theme made some serious damage to the image of TLC.

Wow, I just just love that idea! All the elements of a great theme just... well, click together in that - it's fan-didly-tastic! :) . Or almost - forget the guns ("X-Files" has very little gunfights anyway...), it should be about secrets, suspence and science :| . Additional sets could include same skywatchers camped by the electric fence, and of course the secret experimental spyplane (a resurrection of that "blackbird" kind of plane in 6582: Daredevil Flight Squad) that would "give a plausible explanation for the lights in the sky" ;)