blueandwhite

I'm pretty sure I'm not, or my law degree was a complete and total waste :-D . You may not be talking about images created by AFOLs, but I certainly am. The majority of photos on Bricklink aren't official photographs. While the set photos may be protected by copyright, what about the individual parts photos taken by Bricklink? The majority of Bricklink's catolog did not come from LEGO. The Bricklink catalog is predominantly fan made. For the most part, we are speaking of images created by AFOLs. You could be correct. Still, my personal experiences suggest that Bricklink does indeed have some impact on LEGO's business. prior to discovering Bricklink I spent far more on new LEGO than I do now. If I wanted a certain element or elements, I would often pony up for a set. With Bricklink, I simply don't need to do this. I ordered my Castle princess without needing to buy the actual set she came with. Without Bricklink I would have undoubtedly purchased this set. I would say from personal experience that Bricklink has saved me $1000s of dollars, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not alone on this. Whether this actually has any adverse impact on LEGO is of course pure speculation.

Is there an official price? The only pricing I've seen was the ebay auction which had them listed for

I'm really hoping that these show up at Shop @ Home because they look like an amazing way to amass an army. The real selling point IMO is the healthy number of shields included with each pack. Given the seeming rarity of newer shields, it's nice to see that each one of these guys is properly equipped. The fact that the ebay auction for these guys had a buy now price of $15 makes me hopeful that the price will be hard to resist. If it's cheap enough I may snap up 20 or so to boost my Crownie army to a respectable number. The best part is that for those of us who aren't big on fantasy figs, we can forego the Skellies, while people who love that sort of thing can amass a huge army of undead foes without buying Crownies. This looks to be the best pure minifig pack LEGO has ever produced (for Castle fans anyways). Just imagine how much SW fans would freak out for something like this but with Storm Troopers.

I honestly can't see why you would want to put him in History & Adventure. Indy is a great licence, but it IS a licence. That aspect of the line simply can't be overlooked.

Actually, I don't think LEGO could ask Bricklink to move most of the catalog images. The LEGO brand is property of the LEGO group, and as such use of the name is a violation of their trade name. Just as if you opened a convenience store named Walmart, you can bet there would be hell to pay. It's not the use of the LEGO name to describe their product that is an issue. It's people using the LEGO brand as a business name that makes this a problem. Alot of brands have lost their distinctiveness because their names have fallen into common use (kleenex, Q-tip etc.). LEGO will do everything they can to protect their name. With that, I'm not sure that LEGO can actually prevent bricklink from displaying photos or images of the different LEGO bricks available on Bricklink. Given that LEGO recently lost its copyright case against Megabloks, I'm not sure on what grounds they could ask to have the brick photographs removed. Moreover, if LEGO were able to do what you're suggesting, wouldn't this technically give other companies the same rights? It would essentially eliminate the right of an individual to sell anything on the second-hand market for fear of copyright violation. Heck, almost every item sold on ebay is accompanied by a photograph. I have no doubt that LEGO despises bricklink (despite how much it has done for the AFOL community). They undoubtedly eat heavily into LEGO's bottom line, even if the bulk brick market has never been served well by LEGO. The fact that fans don't have to buy sets (and large quantities of brick that they don't want or will never use) doesn't serve LEGO well. I simply imagine that if it were possible, LEGO would have shut Bricklink down years ago. Bricklink forever :-D !!

Amazing game! I love championchips in sports that come down to the nose. Unlike so many other Superbowls, this one was an absolute gem rather than a complete blowout. It's amazing to see a game this intense in any sport.

Battle packs? I could definitely get into these for a good price. I just hope they aren't unreasonable like our impulse knight.

I guess that's where I feel differently. While the new sets undoubtedly have a greater number of pieces and colours to choose from, I've always appreciated the clean designs of the castle sets of the 80s and early 90s. The best of those sets were incredible. I look at 6085 and 6080 so fondly because they are asthetically so pleasing. They may not have the fancy torso prints or new colours of the current castle line, but they are beautiful. I miss castles that have a proper gatehouse and clearly formed towers on each corner just as I miss the brick built portculis and modular building design which allowed for seemless expansion. I'm not saying that the new castle isn't a nice looking structure in its own way. I simply feel that when people say that this new line is flat out better that they don't necessarily understand why some of us old timers have such a fondness for the older designs. I respect your opinions and I definitely agree that some of the newer elements that have been introduced to the castle line are positively wonderful (I have re-equipped my lion knights with shinny new silver helms). At the same time I can't help but miss the compact well-designed castle structures of my childhood. What made the 80s/early 90s line so popular (and still popular amongst us geezers :-D ) goes beyond the simple nostalgia.

I guess this depends on your reasoning for disliking the colour change. For me it wasn't a matter of realism. I simply don't like the way the new colour mixes with the older bricks. LEGO, no matter how you cut it is still a toy. There are some excellent builders (many whom are far better than I could ever aspire to be) who synthesize both bley and grey into their MOCs. That being said, I still don't like the mixture of old and new colours. It's just a personal preference.

The key to any great set is that it should feel bigger and more impressive than it actually is. for me, this set is 6087. The double baseplate configuration along with the connecting corridor make this set a genuine winner. When I was a kid, I always liked sets that I could envision inhabiting. Castles with hidden passages or space stations with elaborate layouts were always a favourite. Too many of the other stations are simply too straightforward. With the Message-Intercept Base I could always see the minifigs going about a variety of activities. It just catches the eye in a way that no other space station has.

Not everyone feels that way. What you see and I see as being superior design are clearly two very different things. These sorts of things are largely subjective.

Obsolete? LEGO is NEVER obsolete! You youngsters and your crazy new age nonsens :-D . In all seriousness, I've never seen a major difference between the old and new knights. For me, the new Crown Knights work extremely well with older factions like the BF, Lion Knights (the REAL Lion Knights that is) and the Black Knights. they have a faction design that doesn't really seem that different. Sure, the torso prints are a bit more complex, but that hardly makes the figures seem out of place. Heck, while the torsos themselves are more complex, the heraldry of the older factions is every bit as detailed (or perhaps moreso). In some cases, the old designs are actually preferable. for me, I favour the blank breastplates over the printed ones that we have for the new Castle line as they can be used with any faction and actually look more believable (thank goodness the impulse knight has not printing on his). I appreciate the newer figs for having heraldry that looks reasonably authentic, much like the earlier classic castle lines (The Royal Knights and beyond moved to heraldry that was too cartoonish for my liking). Beyond that, I still prefer the set design of older classics like the BFF to the newer line. When BFF was re-released as a legend, I snapped up ten of them for parts alone; something that no recent castle set could motivate me to do. The new figures are quite nice, but I sometimes wonder if young fans actually like LEGO for anything beyond the figures themselves. For me, a major selling point of any LEGO set was the playability. A good set is one that offers a great mixture of bricks; ready for endless MOCing. This is something that most of the great classics always had. Some of the new Castle line's top sets feature similar possibilities, however I feel that this is one area in which the new line has taken a couple of steps back this year.

Wasn't it your idea to begin with :-D ? The idea itself isn't that bad but it definitely seems a bit too closely tied to the Steam Wars contest FBTB is holding.

It's not a question of hate. It's simply a difference in tastes. While I love some fantasy in fiction, as an AFOL my interests lay elsewhere. Just as many Johnny Thunder fans prefer Johnny over Indy, I prefer non fantasy castle themes over fantasy ones. A dedicated fantasy line means table scraps for those of us looking for villagers, outlaws and entertainers. I was able to partake in Castle year one because there was a decent balance of the fantastic with the conventional, however year two focuses predominantly on orcs, dwarves and trolls with a few humans thrown in for good measure. If the pendulum shifts further towards fantasy, is it not easy to understand why some fans might not like it? This isn't directed against fantasy or fans thereof. Some of us would simply prefer villagers and the like in our castle line. You can say that fantasy fans have been waiting some 20 years for a line like this. Well some people have been waiting about as long for a decent lot of villagers. Just because some of us want a human based theme doesn't mean that we're focused solely on good vs. evil. For me, I would be more than content with sets that feature dwarves and other heroic folk defending a villager(s) from orcs and trolls. I want to be able to make a medieval village where none of my villagers are forced into jedi robes. It all comes down to "different strokes for different folks".

Maybe if he were a rapper or hiphop artist. "Yo Brick" sounds a little modern to me :-D .

I thought that jesters were well respected in the middle ages. The joker or fool had certain rights when it came to speach that eluded even barons and earls. The ability to speak freely (and often inappropriately) about even the nobility made the jester a unique imp to say the least. Let's face it; making a joke about your monarch probably wouldn't win you many brownie points if you weren't a jester. If the King says "Hey you! Jester! Make me laugh or it's off with your head!", what does he say to the rest of the folks? "Hey you! Make me laugh AND it's off with your head!". I guess there's not that much difference when you think about it :-D .

I don't disagree that there are alot of fans (particularly children) who would love nothing but fantasy. Heck, most would probably be just as happy never to see another knight, peasant or forestman for the rest of their LEGO building days. That doesn't mean that there aren't those of us who do like those things. I would suspect that Elves were introduced that it would probably mean that there would be no human figs in next year's line. With Dwarves, Skeletons, Orcs, and Trolls already in the mix, the human characters could easily be trimmed from the line alltogether when Elves are thrown in. While this probably wouldn't bother you, for many of us it makes all the difference in the world. I'm inclined to believe that most of you fantasy fans would buy a castle set that features humans so long as you get a helping of fantasy folk to go along with them. The reverse is true for many of us medieval (not fantasy) fans. Castle year one was such a hit because it provided something to both sides. This year's line weighs towards the fantasy side of things, but still offers a few nuggets to the conventional castle fan including the impulse sets and the Advant Calender. If you drop all of the traditional medieval elements for a pure fantasy line, some fans will drop the line. I'm actually believe that the fantasy phase will probably not pass. In fact, I believe that this is likely to become the standard in the future. As you noted, fantasy cliches are incredibly popular. This more than anything else is why I would like to see something like peasants before any possibility of that ever happening is lost. LEGO's competitors have long since abandoned conventional medieval fare for the dragons, orcs and other such fantasy creatures. I don't see the pendulum swinging the other way on this issue. You say that this stage will pass and more human factions will be produced. Right now I kind of doubt that. If the line drops human figs alltogether, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see the knights and soldiers return again.

I'm inclined to side with the "Chester" faction. Chester the Jester has a nice ring to it.

That's absolutely awesome. Google desreves some major respect for showing kudos to the greatest brand of the 20th century! Excellent stuff.

Wouldn't this really limit the number of people who can/will enter a contest? I can't imagine alot of people running out to buy a bunch of sets for the sole purpose of entering a contest (where those five sets end up being the grand prize no less :-D ). Set based contests need to be developed around extremely popular sets.

"Supersize-me"! How about a contest that asks builders to take their favorite set and build it on a larger scale? The basic idea would be to take a pre-existing set and build it UCS-style with more detail and on a grander scale. It could be anything from a basic vehicle to a police station or the Galaxy Explorer. A perfect example would be Dan's jumbo King's Mountain Fortress 6081: as opposed to the original: While the MOC is clearly much bigger, it is immediately recognizable as being the King's Mountain Fortress. The beautiful thing about such a contest is that any set could be supersized regardless of size. A micro car from the 80s could be turned into a larger more contemporary version akin to what can be found in current sets (ie a 4-wide fire engine to something 6-8 studs in width). The key is that the MOC should be immediately recognized when compared with the original. A 30-50 piece set could be reinvented as something with 250-300 bricks, meaning anybody could compete. The best thing is that the parameters for building are so broad that you couldn't begin to predict the sorts of entries you might see.

Always loved this contest! I haven't entered since CCII, but it is always amazing seeing the incredible MOCs of CC's best builders. These days competing in such a contest almost feels too intimidating! For me, Castle yields some of the most incredibly diverse and interesting sets of MOCs, ranging from farms to fortresses; towers to cathedrals and of course some beautiful castles. That being said, I do wish that CC would some day have a pure castle category. It seems that we don't see alot of castles built these days. Alot of the great bohemoth-sized castles on Brickshelf are several years old. I appreciate that not everyone has the bricks to build such monsters, but looking at many of the entries in this year's contest it's quite clear that alot of great builders do. I would love to see some more castles from these brilliant AFOLs.

What's all this talk of elves? As much as some fans are all for an entirely fantasy-themed line, I'm not sure that it's a great idea. I can only speak for myself, but I suspect that there are others like me who would simply skip this line without major human presence (read Crown Knights, civilians, new soldiers, forestmen, etc.). In fact, other than the Advant calender and a few impulse sets (as well as a ton of armour from Helge on Bricklink), I have no intention of buying any of this year's castle sets. I have very little need of skeletons and orcs. Alot of castle fans are just that: fans of LEGO castle. Moving away from that foundation into pure fantasy simply doesn't provide me with anything useful as a castle builder. Right now, if next year's line reduces the human presence even further in favour of something like Elves, Lizard Men or any other fictional race I'll pass on the line entirely. I know that I'm not alone on this. I would even suspect that there are alot of kids who like the knights, soldiers and other more conventional medieval fare. For me, next to no humans=no sale.

Here's a thought: Pull out a small assortment of bricks/figs that aren't that important to you. Those can easily be designated as playthings for the child who is otherwise destroying your collection. Keep your prize bricks/MOCs in a position where they won't be annihilated. This allows you to be friendly with others (no rift between you and your GF) while feeling safe knowing that your collection won't be kicking the bucket anytime soon. For most people, LEGO is just kid's junk ideal for abuse. It's up to you to balance your interests with those of your friends.

*y* Monkey *y* . Four arms means 4x the fun!!!