blueandwhite

I feel your pain. I'm 28, and I've had one heck of a time trying to procure employment. I've been out of Law School for over a year, and have found it impossible to land a proper job. Keep looking (that's all you can do). Of couse, the employment gap on your resume is like cancer to most employers. It can be very depressing. On that note, I am thankful that these Exo Force sets don't really look that hot. The fact I don't have the money to waste on these guys doesn't bother me in the least. This line really seems like a poor attempt to cash in on the increasing popularity of Japanese animation. It kind of reminds me when a father attempt to be 'hip' to impress his kids, only to make a complete fool of himself. I'm really not keen on this line. The set designs seem uninspired, and the minifigs look hideous (my opinion at least). There may be a few worthwhile pieces here and there, but overall this line is looking quite drab. Later.

A large quantity of my grey was purchased through shop@home. I aquired 14 Black Falcon Fortresses among other things, and over $1000 in grey bricks & plates (expansion packs). Other elements were aquired over bricklink. These aquisitions were made over the span of several year (not a one-time purchase), and came at the expense of not purchasing many of the exicting sets LEGO has seen fit to release. If given the choice between a new set and $100 in pieces from Bricklink or shop@home, I would almost always choose the latter. Bricklink is a wonderful source of rarer bricks, necessary for intricite details. Just make sure the seller is reputable (Personally, I haven't had a problem with Bricklink). The best thing to do when collecting bricks is to start small. Building smaller, more design intensive MOCs is actually a great way to improve your building skills before moving onto a large-scale project. I have since added more grey to my collection (though brickmoor didn't exhaust it entirely), and have started to plan my next castle which I hope to complete sometime next year. For a builder who is starting out, I suggest (as I did in the other thread) collecting new grey. The Harry Potter Graveyard Duel is a great source of grey at an amazing price. You'd be hard pressed to get a better assortment of bricks for that price anywhere else. Later.

The reason the contrast between the new grey (bley) and the old grey (good old grey) is so stark in the first MOC is because that MOC is composed of dark grey and bley, rather than the more conventional light grey that most castle MOCs are built from. Dark grey is a stronger colour (less diluted) than its lighter counterpart. The earth tones and blues are far more noticable in dark grey than in the lighter grey. The second MOC, not being exclusively dark bley/grey, does a better job hiding the shortcomings of the colour change. That being said, the blue tones of the new grey do not sit particularly well with the earthy tones of its predecessor. This makes it difficult to properly mix bley with grey in a MOC as it suggests brick discolouration rather than two distinct colours. For newer collectors, or collectors with smaller collections, bley is the way to go. It is the wave of the future as it were. New grey is brighter, and fits well with the LEGO brand. For old collectors with large quantities of bricks, I personally believe it is best to separate your bleys from your greys as the mixture of the two elements tends to clash. Personally, I find the contrast between bley and grey to be one of the biggest challenges for vetran builders. The new colours actually work well with space MOCs, as they appear slightly metallic, while classic grey goes well with castle based MOCs. New grey is nice, but it doesn't mix well with its predecessor (in my opinion of course). Later.

Owing to a few requests, I've decided to make a thread featuring my last major MOC, Brickmoor Castle. This Castle measures about 100 studs in width by 75 studs in depth. The floor of the castle is raised, and the interior fully accessable. Here are a few pics to give you a taste of Brickmoor. As it stands, Brickmoor is my largest MOC to date. Currently, Brickmoor is still standing, however planning has begun on an appropriate successor. Depending on how things work out, I may post some concept sketches for her replacement in the foreseeable future. For now, I would ask you to enjoy Brickmoor as she now stands. The Brickmoor Gallery may be seen HERE. For my other MOCs, my Brickshelf Gallery can be found HERE. Again, thank you for taking the time to view my folder. Feel free to comment as constructive criticism is always welcome :-D . Later.

Good call... What is the MOC in your Avatar... looks cool(and it looks like OLD (Real) grey too!) The castle I'm using for my avatar is one of my MOCs. If your looking for the gallery, try HERE. I made this castle last year. Currently I'm in the planning stages for something bigger. And yes, this is all old grey. Later.

Bley and Grey do not mix! The new grey (bley) is too blue to go with the earth tones of the earlier grey. This mixture doesn't work for me. In fact, I've pretty much given up on buying sets that include large amounts of bley so as to prevent cross-contamination of my collection. Later.

Nice work. That being said, I think you should consider moving your tubs out of the background when taking pictures. The tubs really clutter the scene and dimminish the appearance of your MOC. You might in the alternative consider hanging a sheet to hide background details. I think your doing your work a great injustice by failing to clear away that clutter. Still, this is a fine looking MOC. Congrats. Later.

I voted for "Burtonman", simply for the 1989 Batmobile. The costume itself wasn't great (gotta go with the animated series for that), but nothing beats the 1989 Batmobile for sheer coolness! Sure it isn't as functional as the Tumbler, but it looks way cooler! More than likely, this LEGO Batman will be his own entity though. Later.

Okay, sorry, I know this is a bit off-topic for a Lego forum, but I have to respond to this statement. I'm an animator, so statements like this get to me. Saying anime is overrated is like saying "movies are overrated" or "books are overrated." Anime is a medium, not a genre. There is a tremendous bulk of anime out there, some good, some bad, some great, some terrible. I'm not sure where Avatar falls in that continuum, I've only seen 1/2 of one episode. But please don't dismiss the entire anime world so casually. Also, to folks saying that Avatar is "fake" anime because it is done in the U.S., that's doing a disservice to the animation industry in general. Art influences art, and as long as it's not outright stealing ideas or selling itself as being from Japan (which it may be doing, I don't know) I don't think it's fair to automatically dismiss it as some sort of imposter. Okay, sorry, stepping down off my soap box now. :$ And I promise to only talk about lego in my next few posts! Well, we are all entitled to our opinions. You shouldn't let mine get to you. Personally, I still feel that anime is highly overrated by many of its proponents. If you feel differently, that's fine. Don't get me wrong; I'm not suggesting that good anime doesn't exist. I am merely suggesting that many anime enthusiasts sing highly its praises, without recognizing its faults. Surely as an animator, you can admit that. And anime is not a medium. Medium speaks to format, not style. Saying anime is overrated is more like saying fantasy novels, or harlequin romance novels are overrated (which in many cases they are). When a particular style gains a strong following, many of those followers tend to overvalue products coming from that style. These same fans refuse to acknowledge some of the obvious shortcomings inherent to that same style. From my experience, many proponents of anime fit this description nicely, condemning other styles while ignoring the faults with the style they prefer. One other thing; suggesting that something is overrated is not the same as dismissing it. I think that Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter are all overrated, but I enjoy all of them. I simply appreciate that they are not as perfect as many fans would have you believe. So lets relax and talk LEGO intead. Later.

Brown. For a true builder, no other colour comes close! Allthough some of the choices look nice, they simply aren't as versatile. I don't want my colour choices predetermined by a multicoloured hull. Most ship hulls require you to incorporate certain colours into the design to make an attractive MOC. The original brown hulls (6085, 6074) don't place this restriction on me as a builder. For that reason alone, they are far more appealing. The red and brown hull of 6286 (Skull's Eye Schooner) is a close second, but the red highlight reduces versatility, making it inferior to a plain brown hull. Hulls that preclude the basic brown midsection are easily the worst. Later.

Hoping that these sets use stickers as opposed to printed bricks. I mean, there are some decent bricks there, but the sets themselves are autrocious! If these are printed bricks, then I suspect many builders will likely pass on this line. I suppose it will appeal to children though. Later.

Hmmmm... Waste of money?! Maybe, maybe not. Personally, I don't care about the licence behind the product as much as I care about the product itself. I don't really care if Avatar is 'real anime' or not. Mediocre animation from Japan doesn't interest me any more than mediocre animation from the United States. The real selling point of this line will be the sets themselves. If they come with a decent assortment of useful bricks, I'll be happy. Heck, both Harry Potter and Starwars delivered a great assortment of new and useful bricks. If Avatar does this, I'll have nothing to complain about. The fact that its based on a goofy children's show doesn't bother me whatsoever. I've been buying sets for over 20 years, and it certainly hasn't been because of any licence LEGO has acquired. Anime (fake or not) is overrated. Hopefully these sets won't be. In the end, its all about the bricks! Later.

6285, or the Black Seas Barracuda is easily the best of the bunch. In terms of colour and design, I much prefer the yellow, black and red of the BSB to the red, grey, black and white of the Skull's Eye Schooner. I also prefer the more ornate design of the cabin when compared to other ships. In fact, the BSB is easily one of my favorite all-time sets! BSB>>>>>>All other ships. Later.

Looking at the sets for 2006, it almost seems inevitable. I had hoped that the rampant juniorization of the 1990s would gradually fall back, but this isn't the case. 2006 looks like it could be the most <insert that tiresome argument> year in LEGO history. With so many specialized bricks coming to market these days, it seems like its only a matter of time before ordinary LEGO bricks fall out of use alltogether. Shame really. Secondary market is going to get mighty expensive in the coming years. Later.

I'm not to familiar with Japanese culture, so I may be misinformed. That being said, the pirate theme certainly does tie into Europe and the colonial period far more than the Western theme which is obviously post-US war of independence. Knights and castles are also firmly entrenched in western culture. I also appreciate that there is a large western following of Japanese culture, which might explain the popularity of the Ninja line (allthough it only lasted 3 years). Western themes on the other hand seem uniquely American, and while a niche may exist for Wild West products in other lands, it doesn't seem particularly strong. I do feel that the Western theme could have been played out for a few more years, however if it was really popular, would LEGO have abandoned it so quickly? As a Canadian, fronteer themes are certainly interesting, however I would still prefer to invest in a more conventional theme such as the castle line. I'm just not convinced that a Western theme has a large enough audience to truly support it. The romanticism of the west seems to have gone the way of the Spagetti Western. Fort Legorado did rock though!

The problem with the Western theme was that it wasn't universally appealing. Certainly, North Americans could identify with this theme, however I'm uncertain if Europeans or Asians really care for the 'fronteer' motif. It doesn't seem to have the same broad appeal as the pirate theme, which in turn wasn't as universal as the castle theme. Simply put, I'm not sure if this theme really had an audience. Castle has been one of LEGO's biggest themes. The pirate theme also enjoyed some popularity. I don't think the Western theme will ever be as highly regarded. LEGO is a European company. The Western theme simply seems to foreign. Later.

Yes, the planes look good. What about the building potential? I mean, how are you going to build any new or exciting MOCs when everything becomes so specialized? In many ways, these sets are reminding me more and more of Playmobil. Still, if you don't have the pieces to build new and exciting MOCs, LEGO is no longer a building toy. Don't get me wrong, I think the plane looks great. I'm just worried that LEGO is going to juniorize itself out of the building toy business. Now perhaps that's what children want. Personally, I yearn for a bit more. These sets really suggest that LEGO bricks are going the way of the Dodo. Later.

I'm not feeling this. The designs are average at best. I understand that this generation has a love affair with anime, but these designs are pretty bad. In fact, they seem like a poor attempt to capitalize on a market trend without really understanding it. These designs look like a rehash of 'Life on Mars', which doesn't really enspire me. With so many printed bricks, these pieces aren't very versitile, and the mech designs aren't anything to write home about. I wonder how Japanese consumers will percieve this line? I suspect that some will actually find it offensive. Time will tell I suppose. At least KKII year 3 looks promising. Strange times we're living in. Later.

Is anybody else alarmed by the noticable increase of <insert that tiresome argument> elements this year? Maybe I'm alone on this, but it seems that this years sets are more like playmobil than LEGO. Just wondering if anybody feels the same way? Personally, that plane is NOT LEGO!!! Later.

Personally, I don't care for the larger KKII figures, and these are no exception. They are not particularly useful for me, and that will not change with this new batch. That being said, these guys have me VERY excited! In fact, I haven't been this excited by anything castle related in over a decade!! These guys are a marked improvement over their KKII predecessors. 1) Improved colour selection. Unlike our current heroes, these Knights have foresaken the rainbow coloured helmets of the past two years for something more conventional. The colourful torsoes play well against the armoured bodies of the figures. No more purple or baby blue visors here! 2) Improved design. The previous knights suffered greatly due to the odd design choices made by LEGO designers. Space swords and helmets simply seemed out of place with the medieval theme, making the line feel decidedly futuristic. This current batch of knights can be seen in more conventional armour, far more suited to the era. In fact, Sir Adric's helmet could easily pass itself off as a great helm, something castle fans have been clamouring for over the past decade. Karzon's helmet could also be used as a sort of great helm. Unlike the futuristic designs of years 1 & 2, year 3 actually seems to include more conventional elements. Hopefully these will make the transition to minifig form. 3) Improved heraldry. Finally, no more monkey or scorpion shields. Although the animal theme seems to be a bit redundant, I much prefer the horse, dragon, bull and snake to the odd animal choices from years 1 & 2. The scorpion, and monkey just felt out of place. Not the case with these new shields. 4) Evenly matched forces. It looks like two of the new knights are villians. This is a refeshing change from previous years where all of our knights were heroes, going after the lone villian Vladek. Overall, things are looking up. Hopefully, the set designs will match the figures. This looks like it could be a good year. Later.

How... Disappointing :'( ! Really, this is the best LEGO has to offer? After a great year, I honestly was hoping that they were getting back to basics. Apparently this isn't the case. These days, there isn't much to distinguish LEGO from its competitors. The rampant juniorization is absolutely killing me! City: The hospital looks poor. The raised baseplate is totally misused here. That being said, its still better than the airport. The new planes are terrible!!! What is this, playmobile?!! The one-piece design just doesn't do it for me. Sure it looks nice, but it isn't LEGO. This is the second-most <insert that tiresome argument> set I HAVE EVER SEEN! The airport terminal is ok, but this is completely offset by another one of those planes. The sleeper set of the bunch is the rescue helecopter (7903) which looks fantastic. And its made out of bricks! Exo Force: Another dud. This line is autrocious! From the stereotypical 'anime' styled minifigs, to the Life on Mars styled mechs, this line is horrible! Easily the worst LEGO line yet. Heck, this doesn't even look to be worth it for piece harvesting. Football: This isn't LEGO! A bunch of minifigs with a pre-molded table football game? At least the previous version included a few bricks! This is THE MOST <insert that tiresome argument> set EVER! The Ferarri sets are still top-notch though. At least they are still made with bricks. Creator: Still looks good. Nothing that exciting though. I'll probably pick up a few of these gems. KKII year 3: This has me interested. Not in the maxi-figs mind you, but in the potential minifigs. These new knights with their more neutral colours may bode well for next year's minifigs. Hopefully, text year's knights will be wearing more traditional armour. The helmets are also a marked improvement on this year's designs. Sir Adic's helmet implies we may finally get a true great helm after all of these years. Overall, I'm quite disappointed. It really seems that LEGO is abandoning building toys in favour of snap together models. This year looks to be the most <insert that tiresome argument> year yet. Guess its time to focus on the aftermarket. Later.

Sorry. I've been busy. Here's a decent shot. STAIRCASE And here's an exterior shot. BRICKMOOR The spiral staircase piece is actually quite useful if your willing to adapt it to your MOCs. The rotation is easily preventable, and as a piece it looks great. Sorry about the poor lighting. Later.

Sounds highly speculative. Afterall, seven years is an eternity for most businesses. I expect LEGO to expand its efforts in the digital front, however I am very skeptical that they will drop the brick in the near future. Children still like tactile elements. The ability to build something tangeble hasn't died off alltogether. LEGO would be making a grave error if they elect to drop the brick. I think this one is likely bogus! Later.

This is actually not a bad part. Its quite easy to set the stairs so they don't rotate. More importantly, these stairs are great for using in round towers! Its not that hard to build something similar, but these are just so user friendly! I've never had any difficulty with them. With a few clever building techniques, these stairs should never rotate, and they look amazing! Still, building a round tower with a spiral staircase requires your fair share of bricks. It looks good, but be prepared to use a good chunk of LEGO to make it work. Later.

Yes, this is annoying. There are actually three variations (that I know of) on this piece. The oldest two are slightly larger than the helmets now being used. The earlier two helmets have 'softer' edges, and seem slightly 'puffier. To discern the difference between each type, take a look at the stud-connection inside of each helmet. The earliest design is a single undivided ring that attaches to a minifig head. This sticks better to the stud on a minifig head. Unfortuantely, the new visors are too tight, and scratch the helmet. The follow-up design looks similar to the first design, however the connector ring has two gooves (one at the front, and one at the back of the helmet) in it. Again, the new visors are just too small. The newest helmet is slightly smaller, and is easily recognized by its sharper contours. its connector ring is also divided by two grooves, however these grooves run side-to-side instead of front to back. The first two helmets are essentially the same piece. The third helmet is distinctly different. Much like the old space helmets where they reinforced the bridge at the bottom of the helmet, the new helmets do not share the same dimensions as their larger predecessors. This means you need a new helmet for your KKII visors (could be a problem when buying 2nd hand). Later.