blueandwhite

I think the larger threat may be to the secondary market which could easily become flooded with knockoff parts that look exactly like LEGO (down to the branding on the stud). I don't really see this technology doing a lot of damage to LEGO themselves. The way it's described, 3D printing sounds like a technology that has mostly commercial applications. Even if the price of such technology became considerably more affordable, I just don't see it becoming a home product. Acquiring the necessary materials in the appropriate colours doesn't seem like something the average consumer is ever going to do. Conversely, such a technology is probably perfect for smaller custom parts manufacturers looking for a solution for molding parts. It also seems like something folks making knockoff bricks would love to have.

I haven't had this happen personally but as I understand things if you're missing a part from one of the collectable figs you're flat out of luck. Apparently these collectables are a specialized item and replacement parts are not available. Perhaps LEGO will have changed their policy on this for Series 2. Good luck with your email. I was really disappointed to hear that LEGO isn't supporting customers with this line back when folks were talking about missing bits in Series 1. Hopefully everything works out.

Fortunately one of those two sets is incredibly cheap and includes three figs and a horse. Conversely, the only way to score a dark metallic breastplate is to either fork out for battlepacks (quality issues) or the large castle (price). Considering how hideous the dragon knights look without the breastplate this is a real travesty. Moreover, you can't even get a visored helm or fixed-grill helmet in dark metallic silver yet. I really hope we see some more variety with this line in the future. Still, if you look back at the first year of the Fantasy line, there's clearly a lot of room for growth here.

I would hazard to guess that the blue wizard is a throwback to Majesto. He even has a star-shaped wand like the original did. Still, I would have preferred a red wizard as he could have been considered a sort of stand-in for Santa. The non-town advent calendars never really seem all that festive. A few nods to the holidays would be nice.

Sorting simply takes time. Assess what your priorities are and gather the necessary trays. You may choose to sort by colour or element type (or in some cases both). Twelve pounds of LEGO isn't really a significant amount to sort through. There's no easy way to do this. Still, if folks here can manage 100-200 lbs of LEGO, I'm sure you'll be able to sort your collection without too much difficulty.

It's unfortunate that LEGO still hasn't properly addressed this. The knights in my advent calendar were pink. I had hoped they would have sorted this out by now. I guess that the European Advent Calender is okay whereas some North American copies still suffer from pinkitis.

Remember, you need to buy over $75 in LEGO for the free shipping to take effect. For me it was a perfect excuse to buy multiples .

I would suggest that you order the calendar directly from LEGO. There is a good chance that you will never happen upon one in Toys R Us. With a limited supply being made available to consumers, it is very possible that your local Toys R Us doesn't get any in stock. Save yourself the hassle and buy it online. Unlike the collectable minifigs you know exactly what you're getting.

From my point of view, very few sets are absolutely untouchable. I purchase LEGO with MOCing in mind so I have very little difficulty dismantling anything. If I need a part I'm more than willing to dismantle almost any set (of course there are a few exceptions). I place more value in MOCs which are for the most part one-of-a-kind as opposed to sets which are mass produced. Whatever you decide to MOC, it belongs to you and only you. A set is somebody else's idea. While many sets are wonderful models, they pale in comparison to a great MOC. I can certainly see how this might be more difficult for somebody who doesn't do a lot of MOCing. The same may be true for a person who isn't particularly confident in their building skills. Even in those circumstances I still prefer MOCs to actual sets. LEGO is all about innovation. I wouldn't hesitate to dismantle a set if there is an amazing (or even so-so) MOC following it up.

USA or Canada? As far as I've heard they are available in some US Toys R Us stores in the US. If you're in Canada you need to check out your local Walmarts. Thus far Series 2 distribution seems very similar to the distribution of Series 1. It also seems that parts of North America recieved only a few shipments. It's very easy to miss the window to purchase these in the US or Canada. Smaller shops and book stores are also worth considering although these too are hit and miss.

I'm pretty sure that this was just a packaging error. I wouldn't be too worried if I were you as case selections for both series 1 and series 2 have been overwhelmingly consistent. Considering the large quantities of collectable figs I've purchased thus far, I'm actually pleased as I really haven't come across any other packaging or quality control issues. I've had one extra accessory with a caveman in series 1 and no missing bits.

I'm just waiting for somebody to build a trojan horse at this point. I also won't be that surprised if at the next major AFOL event somebody stuffs a few AT-ATs full of Greek hoplites/Spartans. These guys are absolutely amazing.

Thanks for pointing that out. I was completely convinced that the two heads were the same.

As far as I know, Toys R Us doesn't have them. If this is anything like series 1, Toys R Us probably won't get them for a few weeks yet. As for Walmart; be persistent. The figures pop up every now and again but clear shelves really quickly. I've been checking every couple of days. I managed to pick up 20 new figures yesterday so I wouldn't be so quick to give up.

Packaging errors happen from time to time. I came across a new box today (still sealed) that only had two Spartans instead of the usual three. Despite this, the box still had 60 figs. It was a bit frustrating considering that almost every time I've come across a box of series 2 figs the Spartan seems to be hand picked out of the box before I arrive. Still, I shouldn't complain too much as I've managed to nab more than my fair share of these guys. Keep hunting!

When you say you got 'all the rare ones' did you mean that you cleaned the store out or that you bought a few of each. Either way, I managed to pick up a Spartan, a Singer and three Surfers at the Mavis Walmart today. I also scored big at the Erin Mills and Burnamthorpe Walmart. They had six boxes. There are still a bucketload of figures there but when I got there most of the Spartans were already cleaned out. Still, the selection is still very good (or at least it was a few hours ago). Good luck to those who are still searching.

Nice work. The red cloth in the background really brings out the detail in this MOC. I've never seen a MOC photographed on a dark background look so striking. The windmill is quite attractive although the trees look a bit out of place IMO. It's only conjecture, but I would imagine that most of the trees in the area would have been cleared before a windmill was built. The stonework on your windmill really stands out. You've managed to mix old and new grey together quite effectively; something that is not particularly easy to do. Again, good stuff!

I'm guessing that the trend of these being difficult to get in North America and easy to find in Europe will continue with Series 2. I've managed to complete the series, but I'm having more difficulty grabbing up multiples of high-demand figs (Spartan, Singer, Surfer, Mexican). I'm hoping to nab 16 Spartans but so far I've only been able to acquire 4, a far cry from my goal. Good luck on the hunt. These figures are a rare comodity if you live on this side of the pond.

Good eye! Is this the first unique part from the collector's series to make its way into a set? I certainly hope that these things aren't too difficult to acquire as I would love to pick up 2-4 of them for the holidays. The fact that the set includes two peasants and two nobles is wonderful as the mainline is comprised almost entirely of soldiers.

'Why' - I suppose that this would be a question that would have to be answered by the artist himself. This is certainly not the only large LEGO mosaic out there. If we were to ask many builders (I'll avoid the word artist here) why they build the things they do, a simple 'because' probably would be a fairly common response. While a reproduction of Jan Matejko's Grunwald painting may seem to be an odd choice, I find the work every bit as fascinating as the James May project. Both works are ventures into the absurd employing a popular children's toy to produce something decidedly different. In many ways, this work reminds me of the many tapestries which reproduce popular works of art as both mediums yield similar challenges with regards to colour and detail. While I'm not sufficiently versed in postmodernism to pass judgement on this as a work of art I feel comfortable saying that as a cool LEGO thingy, this mosaic is absolutely stunning.

I'm not a big fan of dedicated factions. Lining up hundreds of clone troopers in a medieval setting just doesn't appeal to me. As Antoi mentioned, feudal society was made up of a large number of vassal lords, who along with lesser knights pledged their alegence to a monarch (while often fighting amongst themselves). There were no uniform armies in the middle ages, so I've never felt compelled to try and group my figures together as such. Even as a child I never found this idea difficult to understand. For me each heraldic crest represents a single lord's house. In situations where I have multiple horsemen carrying that shield, I regard them as men-at-arms rather than treating them as actual knights. Only the lord himself is a true knight. Perhaps I'm mistaken but the idea of dedicated factions seems to be more popular amongst younger fans. When I was a child I found that LEGO didn't go to such great lengths to draw a distinction between supposed good and evil factions. In fact, prior to the late 90s minifigs always smiled regardless of what faction they belonged to. All of the pirates and wolfpack figures smiled just as much as their Imperial Soldier and Lion Knight counterparts did. With the original KKI, LEGO introduced a clearcut storyline with well defined heroes (King Leo?, Princess Storm? and Cedric the Bull???). The 'badguys' had glossy eyes and frowns while the heroic figures had stoic and determined faces. This has been pretty much constant for the last decade. It was almost as if LEGO needed to tell children who was good and who was bad. Now it seems that many fans are focused on creating clear-cut factions as well. I'm just not sure why everything needs to be so black and white.

Scale has always been a tricky issue for toys. While it's easy to make a small vehicle or chariot relatively in scale with a minifig, building a castle in anything close to minifig scale is simply not feasible. Most AFOLs are unable to produce castles or cathedrals that come close to being in scale for a minifig as such creations cost a small fortune. Taking it a step further; look at Star Wars sets like the Death Star or the Star Destroyer. Making either of these things even close to minifig scale is simply not possible. This is nothing new to LEGO and it's hardly unique to the LEGO brand. Other toys are just as guilty with many playsets being dramatically smaller than they should be in actuality. This is one reason I find requests for a UCS style castle to be so absurd. Most fans don't appreciate just how expensive such a set would be. Even a small tower house could cost several hundred dollars. A decent sized castle would likely be well over one thousand dollars. Building a castle that is in-scale with a minifig is no easy feat so it should hardly be a surprise that something like a carriage or chariot doesn't fit over a small drawbridge. Heck, many real castles had gates which are far too small to accomodate a horse and carriage so I can't say that I find the original complaint to be all that serious.

Perhaps we'll see a UCS-styled ship for this line. While most licences seem to lack the popularity to follow in Star Wars' footsteps, I could actually see LEGO giving a UCS Black Pearl a chance. This licence may be a disappointment for you pirates fans, but for MOCing it may be the best thing to come around in a good number of years. Looking back to the late 90s, Harry Potter was an amazing resource for castle fans. Who knows what bricks and accessories this theme will bring.

For me the novelty has already worn off with series 1. With series 1 we got a great assortment of unique yet usable figures across a variety of themes. So far I'm not really excited about series 2 and so far series 3 doesn't sound all that exciting either.

This is really a beautiful castle. It's been a long time since I've seen a castle this unique and well built. The architectural details really bring this to life. Given the castle's relative scale to a minifig, I would have liked to see a few shots with figures in them though as this castle would look simply perfect if it was bristling with life. Great job!