blueandwhite

Awesome stuff! The landscape is rich with detailing, but for me the real highlight is the waterfall which is broken up by rocks that jut through. This really makes the scene for me.

Great ship. I really love the asymmetry of the thing. In particular, I like that you've put the cockpit on the side rather than on the top of the ship. The lighting is again 1st rate and really lends an eerie quality to the whole thing. The whole thing seems very utilitarian which would makes complete sense considering the ship is being used by a bounty hunter. It has that jumble-of-parts quality that makes the Falcon so appealing.

Kill away . Seriously, I get the scalpers but it really is a shady thing to do. I suspect that a guy like this simply purchased the $35 minimum, passed it to a friend and then proceeded to make four other purchases. There's no way that they could police something like this with so many people in the store. I wonder if he's even a fan or if he simply knows how desperate some collectors can be.

Another great series. The only downside is that we're only on series 5 which means we'll be waiting a while for these. The best part is that this series is skateboarder/surfer free. There are a few dull figures here like the knight, but most of the figures we're getting look incredible. Space marines look like they will be the hot ticket item here. Also, the female swimmer is pretty timely with the Summer Olympics in 2012. This isn't my favourite series, but it has a lot of truly nice figures.

Jojo made a tan Black Falcon version that looks pretty nice. If you're looking for the reverse; Stegu made versions of 6080 and 6074 in yellow. &

This is certainly a nice surprise. The set looks to be a perfect parts pack with a great assortment of castle figures and usable bricks. It's interesting to see that it can be combined with a second copy to complete the towers and the bridge. While not nearly as nice as the MMV, it certainly looks like good value at under 10 cents a brick. I look forward to snapping up a few of these when they become available..

Last week to get in the mood for Pearl Jam I was listening to Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns by Mother Love Bone. Who would have believed that Pearl Jam would end up covering it on Sunday!! For a Pearl Jam geek, this is huge as Pearl Jam has never covered a full Chloe into Crown before. Mother Love Bone (1989) Pearl Jam 09-11-2011 Sheer awesomeness (for Pearl Jam fans at least)!

With Pearl Jam coming to Toronto this weekend I'm brushing up on my 90s music. Right now I'm listening to Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns. Mother Love Bone really was something else. It would be interesting to know how the 90s would have turned out if Andrew Wood never overdosed.

With the recent LOTR rumours posted in the licensed forums, I really hope that there are no fantasy elements in this rumoured set as it may well be the last chance to get a traditional castle set for some time. If LOTR does come to fruition, we'll have plenty of opportunities for orcs, dwarves, elves, and other fantasy folk, but it also means we may not see Kingdoms carry on beyond 2011. In many ways, this reminds me of the MMV and Imperial Flagship which served as book ends for their respective lines. Perhaps we'll see a late 2011 release if we're lucky. I'm hoping for a huge set with a lot of peasants and a couple of mounted knights. Dragons, wizards, dwarves and elves need not apply .

Nice work. I've seen some nice carnival rides built out of LEGO but the fact you've actually built the various trucks to transport them takes the cake! This is one of the most original set of MOCs I've seen in a few years. While I'm not too keen on a few of the modified pieces (the silver baseplates in particular), the overall quality of this MOC is hard to ignore. Do you have any video footage of the "Deca Dance" in operation. I really like the setup for this MOC and I would love to see it in motion. These MOCs are certainly a great way to introduce yourself to the Eurobricks forums. Keep them coming !

These guys are awesome! In this particular situation I really like how you've set the sparrows up in a real-world environment. As they look to be approximately 1:1, having them on a fountain or sitting on a park bench is a perfect way to highlight how well done these MOCs actually are. You might want to adjust your camera settings slightly though as some of the images are a bit overexposed. I must say, you really have a lot of talent so I look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

A hobby is only as healthy or unhealthy as the person who pursues it. There are countless numbers of people who can't budget for their day-to-day lives, spending far too much on frivolities. Video games, casual drinking, clubbing, fine dining, are but a few of the things that I see people spend thousands of dollars on each year. Heck, cell phones, cable and internet costs can be a significant expenditure depending on what your consumption is like. People who place their hobbies ahead of their families or their personal well being may have a problem, but it doesn't necessarily speak poorly of the hobby itself. I think one of the problems with toy collecting as adults is that there is a largely negative stigma associated with it by the public at large. We're geeks and we are viewed somewhat negatively by others. If you were to spend a similar amount of money on sports, cars, travel or almost any other 'cool' hobby your any overspending would likely go unnoticed. How many folks do you know who are 'car poor' or financially strapped because they are constantly traveling, yet the word addiction never seems to come up. Racking up debt is never a healthy thing, but I don't think LEGO is any different than any number of costly pursuits that people spend large amounts of money on.

I love the concept of medieval zombies, but I think you need more brain-eating outlaws for this scene. This is obviously the other plague they don't teach you about in medieval history. Beyond the sparsity of zombies, the scene itself is nicely rendered. Good work!

While not a town per se, I really like this MOC. Your rocky spire is beautifully rendered. I really like the different browns and tans you've mixed in to create layers of rock. Smaller humorous elements like the goat with the dynamite and the scene with the bear and mule really help keep the scene exciting. The track design is also quite innovative. My favourite element is the shed (entrance to the mine?) that the train is exiting. The mixture of different greys and small bit of tan really suggest a weathered surface. It really does look like old dried out wood. For some reason, the roof of the shed doesn't quite do it for me. The upturned shingles seem a bit too pronounced IMO. Overall this is a really amazing piece of work. One other thing; with all the snap hinges you've incorporated into the build, how stable is she?

The fear of being honest really does limit what one can say when giving feedback. In my experience, being overly critical will only land you in hot water, not only from the builder who feels personally offended but from other members of the community who take it upon themselves to lambaste you for suggesting that a MOC is anything less than perfect. It pretty much limits feedback to unconditional praise with a few superficial suggestions. Unfortunately, even if you ask for honest feedback, the responses from most posters still tend to be little more than praise and encouragement. Perhaps I'm being a bit negative here, but I find that many MOCs don't get feedback because most AFOLs are too hesitant to criticize the work but can't find anything to compliment either. We're an exceedingly polite community that seems to suffer a mild case of hypersensitivity. Still, there are definitely opportunities for feedback if your looking for it. I'll point out a few that I've observed. 1) MOCs built for contests are generally subject to more views and more constructive feedback IMO. More often than not, contest organizers will be very honest with their assessments if you ask for their opinions. Running a contest ultimately means that a judgement must be made so you tend to see more useful feedback. 2) Build across themes. Builders who are prolific in a variety of themes get noticed, and subsequently get more feedback. A castle fan may look at a town or pirate MOC by a builder like Derfel Cadarn because they know his work on the history boards. 3) Ask. Many people simply don't ask for feedback. It may not get you more posts (which is pretty irrelevant), but it may provide you with a helpful tip to improve your work in the future. 4) Post at the right time. This is something a lot of people overlook but it is significant. Posting a MOC during a contest, a holiday or on a weekend may generate more feedback simply because there is more traffic on the forums. A MOC posted on a Monday or Tuesday may be bumped to a second or third page by the weekend with many people never having looked at it. 5) Be honest with yourself. Not all MOCs are created equally. There is a reason that some builders are regularly front paged while others go completely unnoticed. Some MOCs will receive over a hundred-thousand views while others will receive only a few. Some MOCs just aren't that impressive. Your work may be good, but it may not stand out the way a master builder's latest project does. Don't let a lack of feedback discourage you. Feedback is great, but you may have to work hard to get it. Heck, if your dissatisfied with the feedback your getting you could probably mention that your looking for more constructive criticism than you usually see in your opening post.

I found series 5 at Walmart today. I picked up all 16 with 4 extra gladiators, 3 extra royal guards, 2 extra dwarfs, and an extra cave girl. I really like the pie that comes with the clown though, so I may need to grab a few more before all is said and done. I actually found this series to be better than I first expected.

I finally completed series 5 today. I absolutely love the pie that comes with the clown. I think I'll pick up a few more of these guys just for those pies!

Considering the shape of the Troll Mountain Fortress, you might consider making a gladiatorial combat ring where slaves (Crownies and the like) duel it out a monstrous crowd of troll and skeleton spectators. ...or, go with SI-Moc's slow pitch suggestion. The idea reminds me of the scene from Hook where Hook's pirates play baseball with Peter Pan's kid.

This is a problem with the older torsos. With the lion knights in particular, the gold paint literally rubbed off of the figures leaving the blue or black shield (crossed axes) in the background. You may notice that gold print comes off quite easily even on some newer figures. The gold lining and the golden keys on the Knights Kingdom I queen rub off quite easily as well. Even figures which are simply exposed to the air seem to suffer some torso fading. If you look at this photo from bricklink, you'll notice that the keys have become red as the gold leaf has been removed. It sucks, but there isn't much that can be done about it. Some torsos suffer from this effect, others are just fine. The newer lion knights don't seem to experience this setback.

This is a hot-button issue on most LEGO forums. Moreover, it's not going to change anytime soon. Simply put; talking about it won't change it and will probably only stir up an unneeded debate on international pricing.

Interesting. Seeing an set number gives a lot more weight to this rumor. The fact that this has a 10000 set number is also exciting as it suggests a set targeted at an older fan base. Could this be a genuine follow up to the MMV? Hopefully we'll see pics in the near future.

My first LEGO (non-Duplo) set was 555. Of course, a few months later I got 6929 and 375/6075 which I considered to be far cooler sets.

Oh, I think that the old factions are every bit as unique as the new ones. The original lion knights had two different pieces of heraldry (the lion and the crossed axes), the black falcons are the only faction to use a black and blue colour scheme and feature mostly black armour. The so-called black knights introduced the kite shield and introduced the dragon plumes; an element only shared by their lessor counterparts the dragonmasters. While the old factions were certainly more simplistic, I don't think they lacked distinctiveness.

We felt it way up here in Ontario (Canada). Wobbly is the only way to describe it here as there weren't any true tremors or anything like that.

That's what I was waiting to here! I'll be off to Walmart either tonight or tomorrow. You don't happen to have the price? I'm curious to know if the price has gone up again.