Peppermint_M

Well, I am off for five days to Cornwall for a nice if rather cold holiday.

Well, I studied History and Sociology at high school level (GCSE History and A-Level Sociology for those who understand) and I was always taught to base an opinion on research and when making an argument to have case studies and accredited sources (if not first hand experience) to back up my points and have something to contrast against my arguement too, (three for and three against, made revision a pain). So I decided to compare so called clone brands to the major brand to see if the opinion of Lego = Best is true or if there are good points to the cheaper brands. If you notice I do have some reviews on the site already, Kim T made an index that includes them... Also, the Best Lock figures are much more like Megablocks "transition" figures, not the earliest ones, nor the latest jointed figures. Examples include the power rangers, spider man and TMNT figures, far from anything near what Lego produces. Something you find out when you take a look for yourself. As for plastic quality? You should see Tyco Bricks, they were as high quality as current Lego and the yellow bricks I have are as shiny and smooth as new while the Lego from the same time is scratched and dirty looking.

Best Sets of the Year: Pirate Building Set. Rarely has a set given me such scope to build with such simple pieces. Classic Lego that even the grumpy old members can agree is what Lego should be. Plenty to build, a great minifig and its pure fun in a box. Robo Attack This set is awesome. The higlight of Agents 2.0. New civilian torso prints, new faces and a well designed "main feature" that robot oozes B-Movie baddie and fits perfectly into the theme. Worst Sets of the year: Space Speeder While the minifig is great, the set itself feels very "table scrap" and not even a good one at that. The part selection looks like the spares you get from a large set. You could make something better with a similar selection and compared to the quite cool space police K-9 Bot impulse its really bad. Assasin Droid Battlepack No minifigs, a shell of a ship and a high price? I got it as a parts pack to improve my Agents MOCs and I have to say, the dark blue was all that attracted me to this set. If I liked Star Wars a bit more it would be "ok" but still not excellent. The ship is a bit naff but that is a problem the battlepacks have. However the others managed to include a pretty cool model so I don't know what went wrong here. (No, I dont count spindliy droids as minifigs, couldn't we have had a droid battle pack with a bit of variety?). Those are the sets that I chose to cosider this year of the 28 and counting I bought this year, still two months for me to buy more and re-evaluate so I might dip back in later in the year. Edited for grammer.

See photographic proof doesn't always work. (so at one time i was like, super skinny and grunge, so someone thought I was a guy. I thinks it's my love of giant robots what tipped them towards that direction) I do have some photographic proof though Welcome Angel, have fun. It is nice to see someone making female characters in ther MOCs and such.

Oh no, not again. Other brands have created brick based construction sets. OH NOES TEH WORLDS WILL ENDZ You know, some of these brands make themes Lego doesn't dare touch. They create elements that Lego hasn't and to be blunt, most megablock accessories for fantasy castle are about 1000 times better than any of the Lego ones currently in production (nicer moulds and paint application, thank you very much). Competition is the basis of capatalism, as long as we live in a capatalist epoch then competitors will appear and create toys like Lego to compete with them. Lego need the competition or else they won't try to make good quality things. This christmas I will be continuing my ongoing clone brand reviews. Take a look and see what you summarily dismiss. (Now, bootlegs are another thing entirely.)

Flying Pickets: Smells Like Teen Spirit to it yourself.Capella grunge? Epic Stuff!

Looks like it might add a whole new dimension to Lego creations. Making holes in fabric and paper to match studs is awkward. Those will be really helpful.

The Daily Mirror is giving away 12 Lego sets over the next twelve days more info Here. Enjoy Edit:ooh, missed this, thank you friendly moderator for moving my post

Some people can't ID Lego minifig parts from memory like us sad sacks? (I mean really, I can't remember an important fact for an exam but i can see a picture of a minifig and say with 100% accuracy which theme each part came from)

29 January 2010 29 January 2010 29 January 2010 The date Astro Boy comes out in the UK. Does Hollywood hate the UK? Or just me?

Even the most unusual parts can be identified by using Bricklink. Like others said, find the brick and put the number in peeron or Bricklink. If you can't find a number then the Bricklink catalogue has lists of bricks by type and colour. You just have to figure out what the brick would be clasified as. You can also post pictures of them here and I am sure someone would know what it was and where it came from (In fact I think there might be a "name that brick" thread...)

My MOCing is haphazard. My insperation is a mix of pictures I see on the internet, pictures from the SpecFic books I read,other MOCs, my latest stories I have written/come up with. I build with parts from sets as I often buy a set to take apart for parts. On rare occasions I buy on bricklink for special or unavailable parts. I regularly take old MOCs and sets apart to build new things with. My method of building is random. Some days I have a picture in my head of what I want to build, I go through my collection to get everything I think I could use when building and build until I have created what I saw in my head. Other times I just go through my box for parts in a certain colour, or ones that are "cool" and build something. This is something I built with a ship in mind. This is something I built after collecting cool parts from my boxes. No idea where I was going with it when I started and when it was finished I was quite surprised at how it turned out. I rarely use LDD or LDraw as I prefer to play with real bricks. I only use computer ones when I cannot access my collection.

One in dark grey, I find it sometimes when I need it, other times it is nowhere to be found It is useful, but it can cause MOC failure so I don't use it that often.

You'd think Lego was made for children wouldn't you? So, any more pictures or a clue as to the purpose of those shields? I am also sure I saw a giant shark? Any news on that. Sorry if this was brought up earlier, it's sort of a long thread with much moaning, I can't be bothered to trawl through the acid...

Firebox has them in their christmas catalogue, along with the USB sticks. I think i might order one.

It might be ok, I am not entirely sure about it.

9 is not out til 30th of October. Astro Boy is looking good. Also, have to say Darth Sion (just noticed this) The Astro Boy from the 80s that you saw was Asian too, made in Japan based on the manga by the Godfather of Anime. Just like the 2003 version that I watched known as a combination of the dark 80s series and the fluffy 60s series. All the clips and stills look as awesome as this film should be.

I am a MOCer, thus my purchases are made in mind of parts, colour scheme, figures and design (some methods used in Lego halp me sort out issues I have with my MOCs. I do wish that some themes that provide useful things would last longer but I love the new parts that come with new themes. I like themes to last as long as they need to. The silver of power miners (and the water related parts) are going to be great. Atlantis is providing some great new things. SPIII wave two has great colours. Themes can last as long as Lego lets them, however innovation is fine too.

Really Dark Chocolate and peppermint cream :) (take some fondent icing and fold in peppermint oil to taste, ready rolled or home made fondant) then you can put that in instead of peanut butter. I do like the sound of the peanut butter ones though

I prefered the even older underwater subtheme. I remember finding some of those sets in a shop on holiday (the only time I was able to buy Lego as a child, with holiday spending money) and I wasn't too impressed with the huge differences from the Aquanauts and Aquashark sets. I bought some impulse sets from other prominent 1999 themes. In fact 1999 was a bumper year for Lego sets for me, with 10 sets, the most ever bought me in a year, not until 2003 did I get more (I like brickset ) Looking at my collection and my bricklink wishlist, I still am not bothered by the theme. The trans-green windows are cool though. Svelte: Isn't 1999 to early 2000s the years Lego wasn't doing so well in set design or sales?

Maybe the lava monsters are just living off the "Ninjas can't catch you if you are on fire" principle and don't need to be red hot to survive. Thus the Power Miners can douse them in a little water to save melting in the heat of crazy lava hugs? Jus' saying. Not sure why there has to be so many negative connotations stuck to toys.

Yes it is quite vexing isn't it? In Legoland they had them all on shelves and the price vs contents was a clear win in the licensed sets favour. Maybe it is because the battlepacks for star wars are an easier sell than the castle ones?

Its all a bit negative isnt it? If it works, Lego will make money and then they can make more themes and sets (Maybe even the system and figure style sets some desire). If it doesn't work Lego will lose a little money (not as badly as they did with Galidor, they are in better financial shape these days) and if they lose too much they can always produce another Star Wars set with exclusive figures I think I might get some of those purple bits if they are pin/peg attachments (they appear to be) and the wings look ever so interesting. My little brother will want some, certainly.

The buzz around Ben 10 means they will shift some of these, especialy if they hype the "create your own alien" thing. I know a whole pile of small boys in the target demographic would possibly want them. Some of the parts look useful to Bionicle fans and I certainly think I will be bricklink-ing for some of the elements in those sets. It looks like a gamble on Lego's part, but Ben 10 is hot property, the name sells a toy that is essentialy a method of encapsulating cheap plastic figures in agar jelly... It should sell alien action figures that you can swap sround, if only for a year or so.

Now I love bikes, I have adored them and coveted them from afar for many a year. In fact, until last thursday I was going to get myself a nice little Honda and learn to ride until I have the experiance to get an easy riding Triumph in an epic shade of purple (that was the long term plan). Um, then my colleague was knocked off his motorcycle by a van. About 200 yards from my house. He is ok (if two broken wrists, swollen ankles and gravel rash from belt to boots is "ok") but it sort of hit home that its a little more dangerous than my daydreams. If you consider that he is the top side of six foot and somewhat heavy set and I am 5"5 and 11 stone... Well the maths doesn't work out well in my favour. Alas, I must covet motorcycles from afar (It helps that my neighbour builds/repairs as a hobby). You all have/want some very nice bikes, might I add