blueandwhite

I don't think any store is worried about their reputation when it comes to the sale of a relatively obscure item that is being produced in limited quantities. If collectors and scalpers hoard the product why would a retailer care? I mean, don't Toys R Us and Walmart employees often raid shipments for rare chase figures to sell on ebay? At the end of the day if a retailer is paid that's all that matters. These figures are low supply and high demand. A retailer doesn't really need to worry here. I don't actually expect production to increase. If these things become too commonplace fans may lose interest. For collector types, rarity and bragging rights are what drive sales. Easy to find items just don't cut it. If anything, I expect that LEGO will start making some of the rarer figures even harder to get. If there were 3 cheerleaders in series 1, I wouldn't be surprised if that in future series there are figures that are 1 in 60.

The interesting thing with these figures is that everybody likes something diferent. Personally I can't stand the dummies. I find the figure bland and have no real use for any of the parts. The same goes for the zombie yet for many the zombie is a must-have. Different strokes I suppose.

It's strange that US distribution has been so poor. Also, I find it surprising that stores are getting only 1-3 boxes of these figures. The Walmarts I've visited recieved about 10-12 boxes in two separate shipments. I was able to complete my collection without difficulty and pick up 14 cheerleaders and 16 forestmen without any difficulty. Still, I haven't seen a new shipment in over a week so I suspect that Walmart's supply has all but dried up. I'm going to be paying close attention this summer because I don't want to miss out on series 2.

Just to play devil's advocate, if we AFOLs are such a minor entity in the grand spectrum, then why should it matter if there are barcodes on the packages? Afterall, if only a small minority of purchasers are using them how does it negatively impact the market? The argument that AFOLs don't matter because they represent a small precentage of sales has never really done it for me. If that was the case, then why has LEGO gone to such lengths to humour us in the first place? Blind packaging isn't an underhanded marketing technique. Then again, using barcodes isn't cheating either. The idea that using information available to you to get what you want is somehow underhanded is absurd. How is that any different than feeling the bags to try and find specific parts (and possibly damaging some of the softer plastic pieces while you're at it to boot)? With truly blind packaging that isn't possible either. I accept that LEGO can change the packaging if they choose to do so. Just don't be surprised when wealthier buyers just up and buy the entire box instead of picking the figures they want. The unwanted figs can always be unloaded on ebay. As I see things, this still comes down to the fact that many AFOLs are not really into spending $100s of dollars on collectables. Certainly a builder who wants a specific figure or two probably doesn't enjoy dropping a small fortune just to get the Spaceman and Robot; the only figures from the line that he will ever use. The funny thing is, if these were theme-specific I couldn't care less about blind packaging. If it were castle for example, I would be content with pretty much any figure. Conversely, if the entire line was space I would probably forego the line intirely. The difficulty is that as builders we are always looking for that one element or figure to enhance our MOCs. I just don't feel like forking out a small fortune for a single figure. If blind packaging comes along, I'll either stop collecting these, go from bricklink or buy a few boxes from the shelves and liquidate the remaining figures to recoup the cost.

After reading the dimensions of the set and comparing them to the actual bridge I expect that we probably won't be seeing the outer towers. The actual bridge is 286 metres long, whereas the two pedestrian bridges at the top of the bridge are only 43 metres high. If we consider that the set is 102 cm x 45 cm, it would seem that LEGO has decided to simply build the two centre towers and forego the smaller towers which have the cables anchored to them. If the bridge includes all four towers and is still 45 cm high the proportions would be wonky. I guess we'll have to wait and see at Brickworld.

What minifigs are you looking to attach? Some of the newer figs (certainly the collector's series figs) are considerably loser when standing on plates or baseplates. When you combine a newer minifig with a new baseplate the combination isn't very pretty. Still, customer service is probably your best bet. This is an issue that they should address.

This is true, however with all four towers the bridge would be way too small to even force the issue. Tower Bridge is over 200 metres long. A minifig is about 1:50 scale. If the set is 1 metre in length, then if all four towers are included the scale is closer to 1:200 which is forcing the issue for even a minifig. If on the other hand LEGO drops the two shoreline towers that the bridge is suspended to the bridge could be built closer to 1:100 which isn't unreasonable for a minifig. I'm kind of hoping for the latter as it also leaves open the challenge of building your own shoreline towers while keeping this open for figs, something that is very important to me as an AFOL.

Well, this visor will be available with the advent calender. Still, I would definitely like to see this helmet in pearl dark-grey. It's a very cool piece, and while the bucket helmet is nice, I still prefer these. Still, the two helmets don't really fit together well as the bucket helmet is more like something you might see between 1200-1350, whereas the pointed visor looks like something a knight might be wearing between 1450-1550. I would actually like to see a few other helmet designs introduced such as a 15th century sallet or a bascinet. The current visored helmet we have looks like either a armet or closed helm making it far too modern when compared to the new bucket helmets. A transitional helmet would be nice.

The question I hav is whether the bridge will include the suspension cables that attach to the smaller towers at either end of the bridge. Without the smaller towers Tower Bridge just won't look right, but if they include all 4 towers I just can't imagine this being minifig scale. Does LEGO include the extra two towers and make the bridge very small (like the Taj and Eiffel Tower) or do they forego the land-based towers and just focus on the large towers, the upper walkway and the bascule mechanism? I'm kind of hoping for the latter as I would rather have this as close to minifig scale as possible.

I think Teddy's right. As I see things, the problem isn't the keystone itself; it's the lack of a second ring meeting up with the keystone. The colour is nice, and you certainly have the 'general feel' of the station however there's a noticeable lack of texture which makes the keystone look out of place. Soft brown hoses are very hard to come across (and thus, quite expensive), but they are a good idea. If anything, I would be focusing on adding a bit more relief to other areas of the station. This will probably make the keystones look less out-of-place.

Several people have purchased full boxes. The breakdown of figures is the same between each box. For the most part, none of the figures is particularly rare (at least in series 1). As I understand things, the breakdown is as follows: 3 Hunter 3 Cheerleader 3 Clown 3 Luchador 3 Nurse 3 Zombie 3 Skater 4 Robot 4 Magician 4 Spaceman 4 Forestman 4 Cowboy 4 Caveman 5 Diver 5 Ninja 5 Dummy

It's still possible that there could be another gold knight in the future. Of course, if it happens is entirely up to LEGO themselves. Personally I wouldn't mind a golden bucket helm but I also like the idea of the Golden Knight being a unique entity.

If Kingdoms continues, I expect 2-4 new sets next year. I could see either a new faction (forestmen) or a few civilians being thrown into the mix. Like most second-year runs, I expect that the Kingdoms offerings next year will be rather modest compared to this year's work. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Queen or wizard show up in a set either. Possibly a joust or a small wizard's cottage. I'd guess that we'll see a new space theme as well. While the Space Police may continue to play a role in that theme, I wouldn't be surprised to see LEGO revive one of the many "Trons" (M-Tron, Futron, Backtron I & II, etc.). Unlike castle, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of sets this year for space. With PoP flopping at boxoffices and in my location, toyshelves I would expect to see a new licence replace it next year. Toy Story also seems like a one-year licence with the bulk of the major characters already available. Town is pretty much a wild card. I have no idea what to expect (aside from the obligatory police and fire departments). I think a proper hospital would be nice, but I'm not counting on it. I would love to see a modular dentist's office or walk-in medical clinic though. Any other themes I have no guesses about.

Perfect choice for a landmark! And more than any of the other choices, this set sounds like it could be reasonably close to minifig scale. While I don't expect the 1:50 or so scale that I associate with minifigs, I could see 1:100 being very possible. It would still allow minifigs and vehicles on the bridge. The fact that it apparently comes with a cab is a nice bonus. I haven't purchased any of the other landmarks but this is really a difficult decision.

I think everyone would love to see a proper minifig scale castle. The real problem is size. Craigmillar Castle is actually a bit bigger than you've suggested. It's closer to 150 ft x 80 ft. The original L-shaped tower that was later fortified is actually 49 ft. x 53 ft.. The curtain wall makes the castle significantly larger. A 1:48 scale model would be closer to 37 inches x 20 inches. Castles like Caerlaverock and Burg Aggstein are even a bit bigger. Look at some builders who have MOCed castles at that scale. They are significantly larger than you might expect. A good place to look would be Dr. Carney's website. Not only does he build many of his castles in minifig (or close to) minifig scale; he also provides scale plans of many of the castles he builds. A 1:48 castle with a proper curtain wall would be exceedingly expensive (~$2000 or so). If you want to keep it in budget, I would suggest an even smaller castle such as Nunney in England or one of the many beautiful L shaped towers from Scotland. I've been stuck building a castle losely based on Caerlaverock for the better part of 5 years. Between the cost and finding bricks, this project has been anything but cheap. A castle with a curtain wall will dwarf the Millennium Falcon making costs absurd.

I suspect the real issue here is that there is a distinct difference between people who are genuine collectors and people who are traditional builders (ignoring for the moment the group that consider themselves both). Traditionally LEGO has been a building toy. Consumers have purchased what they want, when they wanted it. Fans have even focused on specific themes (Castle, Town and Space all being quite popular). For the traditional builder, these minifigs are simply valuable assets for building. As I understand things, for a collector the fun is in completing the collection. Collecting is typically cost-prohibitive so it doesn't necessarily fit within the plans of many builders. A dedicated builder probably is more likely to hord a single type of figure from a specific theme, primarily for MOCing purposes. This of course infuriates the completist collector who is simply looking to complete his or her collection. The current series clearly favours the traditional builder who is more interested in purchasing what he wants when he wants it, whereas series 3 is aimed squarely at a collector market. As somebody who looks to LEGO as a building toy, I have very little interest in series 3. I have no intention of spending $100 to get 1 or 2 figures that I will actually use, nor do I wish to pay heavy inflation on bricklink. I have no problems admitting that I have been using the barcodes to amass theme-relevant figures or I will be doing the same thing for series 2. Series 3 I will leave to kids and collectors; folks who have lots of cash to spend blindly on these figures.

The thing is, if most folks aren't using the barcodes and these figures are popular then they are going to sell well with or without the barcodes. The majority of buyers aren't aware of the barcode system and the majority of the figures are being purchased blind. It's not even like AFOLs agree on which minifig they want to collect in large quantities. The only thing removing the barcodes does is make this line less AFOL-friendly. I definitely agree that without the barcode system my collectable figure collection will stop growing. I don't plan on spending $100 just to get a complete set of figs that I probably won't make extensive use of.

Abuse? How does using the barcodes to select the figures you want constitute abuse? Let's not forget that only a very small minority of customers are even aware of these barcodes. They certainly don't impact the average consumer who is simply going to buy the figures blind. Heck, it's not even like any one figure is exceedingly rare. Every box has at least 3 of a given figure. On the flipside, without barcodes it is very possible that a fan will have to fork over considerable amounts of coin to complete a series (in this case series 3). LEGO has finally realized that minifigs sell, yet they want to reduce demand amongst AFOLs by eliminating the one feature that made purchasing these guys in large quantities a viable endeavour. I'm seriously considering skipping out on series 3 if LEGO decides to go this route. The barcodes were the best of both worlds.

It' almost as if LEGO is deliberately trying to upset the fans. The barcodes were perfect. They allowed people who want the element of surprise to purchase blind while aiding those of us who want specific figs to purchase what we want. If demand was higher than expected, why change the product in a negative way? I certainly won't be buying blind.

Honestly, the barcode check is the best way to go. No secondary market inflation and you can pretty much guarantee you get the figures you want. I just hope that distribution improves so that everybody here can get their paws on these guys. It's a shame that LEGO is sending people five duplicates of the same figure (or that they are limiting people to five in the first place). Here's hoping that they become available locally for everybody.

So far my collection looks like this: 14x Forestmen 12x Cheerleaders 6x Nurses 4x Cavemen 1x everything else. At this point I only care about Forestmen and Cheerleaders .

For me, the caveman, cheerleader, forestman and nurse are the best of the lot. They are the only figures I've purchased in multiples thus far. I hope to pick up a few more cheerleaders as I only have six right now but finding these guys is starting to become difficult (at least where I live).

1. No, there are better parts packs for the theme I build in. I will buy a set if I like the model 2. I purchase specific models, irrespective of theme. Still, I have a preference for castle-based themes and will generally buy more sets from this genre. 3. Neuschwanstein 4. Another Market Village/UCS Castle set. Perhaps a tournament, village square or manor home (small castle, proper scale). 5. As a fan of all things castle, I really appreciated the MMV. Like many AFOLs, I would love to see more sets modeled like this. While the youngins may love a constant stream of knights and dragons, we old folk love our peasantry. Castle is a personal favourite of mine so I would love to see the theme go beyond the simple good guy/bad guy fortification deal.

Perhaps, but to me that doesn't make a lot of sense. It's only in the past few years that we've seen these low-grade minifigs and the sets they come in are actually sold at a fairly hefty price. Most sets don't have these cheaper figs including impulse sets which are essentially a single figure with a few bricks. I have no issue with LEGO being produed in China, but I am really concerned when the quality starts dropping. It's a slippery slope. If we sit back and say nothing these figs may become the norm. I don't care if the plastic is a bit different, but when the figures have lose joints or their hands are too soft to properly hold items I become a bit concerned.

Great entries by all. For me it's: 1 vote for Lisgr (number 2 - Caveman entry). I absolutely love the frozen caveman idea. 1 vote for Fat Tony (number 43 - Wrestler entry). Perfect vig. Really, vigs don't get much better. The ring is just perfect and there's even a cage! 1 vote for greenskull139 (number 58 - Spaceman entry). Great humor. I love the toy rocket flying through the floor and the top of the roof. Very original. Congratulations to everybody who entered.