blueandwhite

I'm not sick of anything LEGO. I'm just... broke. Honestly, LEGO is extremely expensive, and I simply can't justify purchasing every Star Wars set in the pipeline. I'm not that well-to-do. I'm going back to school next year (at the ripe old age of 30), so throwing money around on new sets is not an option. For me, the only set that really stands out this year (other than the Falcon of course), is the Federation MTT. Most of the other sets just don't look very impressive. At this point, I've pretty much given up on purchasing Star Wars sets (the Falcon was my last order). I don't have the money to spare, and the sets just aren't as exciting given that many of them are rehashes. Still, for new collectors, these sets are bound to be fun. I understand that re-releasing popular vehicles makes sense as many buyers may not have gotten around to purchasing the originals. It keeps the value of the older sets high, while offering new purchasers to get figures and vehicles they originally missed out on.

Honestly, I think that having too many themes can be problematic. A Greek (or Roman) theme, while certainly fascinating may not have the broad appeal needed to move sets. Certainly, I know that I have dedicated myself to a few specific lines. I simply don't have the money to spend beyond those themes. I think this may be true of alot of LEGO fans. For example, as cool as the Viking line was, I simply didn't have the money or dedication to follow the line. I ended up purchasing only 3 sets, and two of them were purchased simply to acquire a plain black breastplate (as well as an assortment of other bricks I desired). I would rather see some of LEGO's better lines return, rather than over-expanding into undesireable territory. I suspect more fans would prefer something like the proper return of Pirates, or Adventures. For me, LEGO was at its best when it focused on a few long-standing lines that featured highly popular themes. It allowed kids to collect a large assortment of bricks to do some really interesting MOCing.

Best? I don't know about that. It certainly is in the top 20-25, but there are alot of other wonderful castles on brickshelf to be found if you look hard enough. How about El Katar? Or what about Castle Drachenschlaf? And how can anybody forget Jojo's Falckenstein, one of the earliest and greatest brickshelf Castles. which in turn inspired this fine castle. There is also Anthony's Ulmaris And this awesome LEGO version of Disney's Cinderella Castle Not all great castles are huge. Hippotam's Operation Lethal Duck is a great example that good things do come in small packages. JLA's Stoneguard is another fine examle of good small castle. And all of this is only scratching the surface. Truth is, there are far too many wonderful castles for somebody to definitively claim that one is better than the rest.

Different strokes for different folks. For me, the skeletons are the only downside to this line. I love the new faction and the silvered armour.

How many Crown shields does 7091 come with? The picture shows one of the soldiers holding a shield. Is this a third shield, or simply one removed from the catapult? Still, this line is looking good.

Wow, I'm really out of the loop (actually had adult-onset chicken-pox). Congrats to Rexal! Can't wait to see her built.

Pretty much any colour that is easy to acquire in abundance. There is nothing worse than a great colour being available only on a few odd and otherwise useless elements. I really like dark red, however the number of elements that come in that colour are far too limiting (this is starting to improve though).

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Eiffel tower actually bigger than the Washington Monument?

Well, I find Peeron's colour chart to be pretty reliable. Yes, quality control issues do cause slight variations in colour from time-to-time (red and purple being frequent candidates). Peeron and Bricklink both have very comprehensive colour guides. Also, the peeron chart is based on LEGO's officia colour chart. Its fairly accurate. The on-screen colours for both Peeron and LDRAW may be a bit off, but the colour identification from Peeron can't be beat. If a colour is listed on Peeron, you can be pretty sure that there is a LEGO brick somewhere that uses that colour. As for the colours themselves: there are TOO MANY!! Some colours have only been used for a few pieces, making them relatively useless. Others are simply too similar to another colour. Do we really need 20 or so shades of blue, red, or yellow? The thing is, with so many colours to choose from, it becomes a real chore to collect the needed bricks in a specific colour.

I don't really understand how LEGO can consider 10176 to be a legend. The castle doesn't really share alot in common with 6090, the castle that supposedly inspired it. Its not a terrible design (though it is kind of dull), but there really was never much history behind this set. If anything, I think LEGO was testing the waters for the 2007 line with this one.

I don't see the need for multiple fantasy lines. I do think there is a place for fantasy in LEGO, however one line is more than enough. I could see fantastical elements in other, unrelated lines ala. the Adventures series, however the idea of carrying multiple fantasy products with a medieval flare seems a bit redundant. Consider that many fans don't even have a single line taylored to their interests. Fans of Adventures, Pirates, Western etc. have no current lines to collect. Fans of fantasy have had Harry Potter, Vikings, KKII, Avatar, and the new Castle line in recent years. There are more than enough dragons and wizards already.

Well, that's the problem isn't it? Honestly, Batman has always been about the toys. Without superpowers per se (the guy does seem to be pretty durable though), much of the focus has been on his tricked-out vehicles and hideout. Other heroes may use toys as well, but they hardly are a fixture in popular culture the way Batman's many vehicles have poven to be. I'm not sure if most LEGO fans would gravitate to a line where the only desireable feature are the figs themselves. Fantasticar indeed |-/ .

The Vend

Not another Superhero line. Batman works well only because the character is so dependant on vehicles that they have become ingrained in the Batman mythos. The Batmobile is as iconic as the character himself. The same can't be said of most other heroes. The one other line that might come close is the X-Men with their mansion, jet, and Sentinals. Of course, dollars to Mega Bloks that this won't happen as there is no way Mega Bloks is going to give the Marvel licence away.

1 metre? I'm a bit disappointed. I was hoping that it would be significantly larger. It certainly isn't minifig scale at that height. Unless the reported height is mis-stated, I think I'll probably be passing on this one. I'm sure it will look fine, but I was hoping for something a bit more... imposing. If this has 3600+ bricks, that would make it the 2nd largest set ever. I was hoping that it would actually be quite a bit taller, considering the Eiffel tower is largely skeletal.

YIKES!!! The base alone is worth $600 US. Assuming that this was built using nothing but Cafe Corners rather than bricklink or factory orders, then the entire thing must be worth over $10,000! That's insane. Somebody is positively rich here.

Sorry about that. I'll try and refrain in the future.

Very nice. I love the colour scheme. As others have said, I also prefer the original. I like the edge of the baseplate being visible, as it implies that the landscape carries on beyond the walls of the Saloon. Still, some of the additional detailing in the revamped model is quite impressive. Good work.

This thing is simply insane *wub* ! Who would have ever thought that LEGO would give us something as utterly and overwhelmingly beautiful as the Cafe Corner. And to think, there is still the Eiffel Tower, as well as the other mystery set to look forward too. I shutter at how awesome this stuff is. Between this, the Falcon and the return of actual Castle minifigs, this year is looking incredible! Awesome review BTW. Later.

This year is better than last year for the Falcon alone. Battle Packs are icing on the cake. Everything else is simply overkill.

Not my cup of tea. I really don't like the ship, and the dock just seems like a collection of random bricks, thrown in to drive the price up. Perfect for a Toys R Us exclusive I suppose.

I really hate April Fool's day *n* . Must we really endure 1000+ jokes that EVERYBODY sees coming. Why, oh why must all April Fool's jokes be so utterly obvious :'-( ?

People are taking this thing a bit too literally. As far as my understanding goes, SNOT doesn't require studs of any kind. It is simply aligning the brick in a different direction, allowing for connections at different angles (as opposed to vertically). The headlight brick is simply the most basic method of inducing SNOT-based design, allthough there are countless other bricks which can be used to change the vertical alignment of studs. It has been used in a number of rudementry ways for years. It is only in recent years however, that we have seen a true emphasis on SNOT-based design from LEGO themselves, with models that have studs aligned in a multitude of directions (Death Star, Star Destroyer etc.).

The fact that it has the word Skeleton in it pretty much means "no sale" for me. I'm just not that interested in the undead, so this one is a definite pass.

What I'd like to see? Get rid of the skeletons and replace them with outlaws/foresters. I'm already going to have a hard time getting much in the way of value for these things. Also, a minifig (read minifig, not minifig and skeleton) pack would be great.