xboxtravis7992

That does make sense. Even if the New Republic (hypothetically) had 10,000 or so frigates and 20,000 long range fighters that survived Hosnian Prime; it is not like they could regroup really fast. The Resistance was the only group able to respond to the Starkiller base threat because they were organized and ready. And the line from the movie that the New Republic fleet couldn't save them also makes sense in the moment because its not like somebody could order those scattered ships to organize in time to save the Resistance group; far more likely that those scattered ships were rushing to Hosnian Prime to save anybody they could and establish order in the system, rather than thinking about a small militia of political radicals on a far away planet. Still, it would make sense that group would show up in time for Episode 8. (Fingers crossed). Also I am very curious about how "advanced" the T-70 X-Wing is. As an audience it looks more advanced than the classic ship; but I get the impression that the Resistance was poor and strapped for cash so I don't see them spending all their money on a brand new fighter class. It wouldn't surprise me if the T-70 arrived around the end of the Galactic Civil War, and was already mothballed by the time the Force Awakens started, with the last in use ships of the class being those with the Resistance and other cash strapped groups. I say that mostly because it would be strange and interesting to see the New Republic finally showing up, using completely brand new fighters which make the Resistance look really poor in comparison.

Yeah that sucks. I never bought Lego when I was in Argentina; besides I only knew of a total of TWO places I saw real Lego being sold in a store. Most of the construction toys I saw were Chinese knockoff sets. Despite that knockoff pre-assembled Hero Factory sets were actually pretty common in Argentina; I wouldn't be surprised if the markets down there are full of knockoff Toa now!

Contrasting this with the image of Bionicle stock emptied out at a Target post Christmas last year. It's even getting hard to find freakin' Skull Scorpio now here to, he is starting to sell out! Seems like Bionicle is doing fine here in "Desseret." I wonder how regional preferences and interests affect sales of Lego sets. I really wonder how different Lego sets sell in different countries/states/cities/provinces etc. Still if sales are bad in one country (Italy) it makes me wonder what's happening world wide.

Yes buy any set! Not kidding, I actually don't own a lot of Lego trains yet, but the few I have purchased have given me a lot of experience in the limitations and capabilities of the system. But don't discount what you can learn building sets in OTHER themes. Star Wars, Ninjago, Modular buildings, Technic, Superheros etc; all will teach you Lego building methods and ideas that can all be used later to build trains. The only theme that hasn't taught me stuff that I've applied to trains yet is Bionicle (and I'm thinking about a way to get around that, Toa Train anyone?). Also download LDD. The learning curve is a bit steep, and you need to be careful to not design something that wouldn't support its weight in the real world. But LDD despite the draw backs offers the advantage of a lot of digital bricks. And it's all FREE!! Great place to start brainstorming ideas and screw around a bit. Also like any scale modeler, don't shy away from railfanning to gather info on what you want to build. Going trackside and learning how the prototype operates and looks is useful, wether it be HO scale or Lego bricks.

A big black American steam train would be a must buy for me. Still if TLG did a UK or mainland Europe, I'd be okay. But seeing it's a holiday train have we considered the worse? Yep a small engine in red and green pulling flat cars of trees... :(

Just got of work, checking Eurobricks and this pops up. DROOL!!! The one irony is modern day 844 (and soon 4014) burn fuel oil, so modeling that would be as exciting as an Octan truck set... But indeed in the 1940s-50s they burned coal, and I have seen many a picture of the FEFs and Big Boys at this coaling tower. And your MOC looks spot on with the pictures! So now that you got 4014, when is 3985 coming to visit? ;)

Wait so there are other Imperial remnants not part of the First Order? So some crazy old Moff on his system with an old Star Destroyer and a few volunteer stormtroopers at his command; trying everything he could to not join the New Republic or the FO? Sounds like that would be a fun story to explore someday... Anyway, I just find it odd to think of the entire Republic demilitarizing so much to the point that their last military remnants were all located in the Hosnian System. But; if there was some uber-pacifistic attempt at peace I can imagine a government making a stupid move such as that. Surely though there had to be some sort of small police force or military. Star Wars has lots of threats from pirates to the Hutts; I doubt the New Republic went so pacifist they didn't have at least some troops deployed to combat those forces. And if there were small fleets policing Hutt borders; then when Hosnian Prime fell those fleets would have been the NR's remaining military. Or even if their military was small; the population of the NR must be HUGE. Surely the Resistance could go on a post-Hosnian Destroyed recruiting spree and recruit thousands if not hundreds of thousands to join their military. I mean if the First Order could build such a huge army from the freaking Unknown Regions then surely thousands in the galactic core will rush to the Resistance to avenge Hosnian Prime. The fact Leia was able to build a decent sized force using war surplus and overly patriotic citizens shows that the New Republic has plenty of resources to aid a future fight. Heck, even if it is just a couple hundred more pilots in war surplus T-70's, T-65's, and BTL-Y's. Old sources suggested that the Rebel's had a recruiting spike after Alderran and the Battle of Yavin in the OT; and that was when the people joining them were citizens of the Empire. It should be a lot easier for the Resistance, seeing that joining them would not be an open rebellion against the government, but instead fighting a foreign foe.

Hmm, I like the North Korea analogy. But I wonder why blowing up the Hosnian Prime system was seen as "destroying the New Republic." I mean if the Republic is even half the size of the Republic in the Prequels it is still a pretty big group. Sure all the "federal" leaders are dead, but surely planetary and local system government remains in place. I furthermore doubt that the ENTIRE Republic fleet was at Hosnian Prime at the moment; I would assume their forces were spread across the galaxy, and assuming there is a chain of command somebody has taken control of it. I wonder if Episode 8 will have "The Resistance" becoming part of the larger Republic fleet remnant and push back against the First Order. It would be weird if they didn't show up to join the Resistance to take revenge on the First Order. And if they did show up; it would be a great chance to finally see what a Gen-3 Y-Wing and a Super Modern Mon Cal Cruiser would look like... Still even if the Republic fleet is grouped with the Resistance for Episode 8; I hope they loose. I don't want Episode 8 to be a cookie cutter copy of Empire Strikes Back (kind of how The Force Awakens took a LOT from A New Hope); but I hope they loose a big fight (like in Empire) to keep dramatic tension going in the new trilogy.

Maybe the First Order has more hubris? When the Empire fired the Death Star in AnH, it's not like they had the entire base staff lined up to watch it while Tarkin was giving a speech. The First Order on the other hand...

My thoughts: Brick Bank, spectacular! I will be trying to buy this one sometime this year. Ghostbusters HQ, meh. Very pricey to bank of 80's nostalgia. It's a good model; but as a "'millennial' (how I loathe to use that term...), in my mind Ghostbusters isn't that huge part of my life. Honestly I would have jumped to buy a large Back to the Future set a lot soon than Ghostbusters; especially since I feel BTTF has held its appeal into my generation. Batcave, it's cool, but I don't have that much interest in the subject to buy it. I definitely understand the appeal though (I would buy a Tony Stark D2C Mansion in a heartbeat though... Must be a matter of personal taste) Hoth, the pariah of sets this year? Perhaps. Unlike other FOL's, I don't own a lot of Hoth sets, so the only 'repeated' object in the set is the Snowspeeder. Despite that, I get the impression that I could buy similar stuff from previous sets on Bricklink, and MOC my own Hoth that will look better than the official set. The Village, I'm surprised I actually want this. I like playing Minecraft, but all the previous sets had no appeal to me. But the Village caught my eye instantly. It's big, it looks like a major game scene, and the minifigures would basically in one purchase give me everything I wanted without buying dozens of the uglier smaller sets. I'll be considering this one. I'll wait for info on Big Ben, the Beetle, and the Carousel to comment on those: Cinderella's Castle: If this is based on the structure in Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland, I'm going to flip! (If it's based on the cartoon, meh I'll pass). I hope for a $150-$200 Castle based on the park with high detail and decent playability. I would have preferred Sleeping Beauty's Castle in Anaheim, but that's a matter of personal preference... Anyways, I hope the set comes with some very "Disney Parks" looking figures, Mickey in a tuxedo, Cinderella, and a bunch of families of tourists. If this set lives up to its name, I'll ask for it in a heartbeat! Winter Train: I have bought every D2C train since the Emerald Night, and I am excited about the rumors of a new one. Another instant purchase for me!

Oh my friends wanted to go to the Drive In Theater last year, and the movies that played that night was Inside Out and then Fan-Four-Astic. How could such a great movie be paired with that disaster? How? Fortunately with the movie reaching into 2:00 in the morning I was asleep for half of Fan-Four-Astic...

So it sounds like it's a quality issue. Contact Lego customer service then. Should work :)

1) Check how they broke. Did they come straight out of the box like this? Or did it happen after your son playing with them? Frequently removing hands and arms from a figure will cause cracks like this. If your son has been pulling out arms, that would be a likely cause. Lego never designed their figures to have their arms removed frequently. 2) If this happened coming straight out of the box or after light play(I.e. your son is not removing arms), contact Lego customer service. They'll get the parts they have to you if their in stock. 3) If this happened due to rough play, purchase new parts from Bricklink or Lego's Bricks and Pieces store. This could be pricey though.

Don't worry I'm not offended; I just find it funny that somehow you managed to list several of my favorite movies and one of my favorite bands in your list of "worsts." Guess it shows everybody has different tastes. Now excuse me I'm going to go rock out to some Hammer to Fall...

Why haven't I responded to this yet; its a really good theory. I imagine most info on secret projects climbed up to the highest ranks, but at lower levels I doubt people would have known. Whats to say that new stormtroopers and navy troops on the Death Star knew that they were on a planet destroying base until it was actually used? Its not like the security guards had to know... And unlike Starkiller base there was no "outside" where troops could watch the explosion. They were probably confined a mile deep into the structure guarding prisons and what not; not know what was happening when the base fired its laser except that "its shaking in here!" The now non-canon novel Death Star also hinted at a small civilian population stationed on the base, operating shops, cafeterias, cantinas, and what not. So I highly doubt they would have known what was up on the Death Star until they got news of it blowing up planets. The Imperial mentality is probably definitely a "need to know" basis type thing.

Same here. Most of my hairline fractures on pieces are those from the "bankruptcy" era, along with my last few 2006-2007 Bionicle figures. My old Minifigures in particular were susceptible to this. I pried out a few Minifigure's arms and shoved them back in a few times as a kid, and I've noticed that caused lots of fracturing. Also frequently swapping hands might do it to. I even got a figure from Bricklink that is over a decade old, and it has underarm fractures to, a sign that a previous owner was also ripping out limbs at one point. But hairline fractures in new sets? Maybe I'm lucky but I just haven't seen any yet.

Beautiful, just beautiful!

1-5-1? Is that the notation used for steam engines in Spain? Since it would be a 2-10-2 in Whyte notation. And yeah, 10 drive wheels on five axles in Lego is pretty darn impressive.

Beautiful. Even if those shoulders aren't Lego, you found a good use for them!

Yeah thinking about it a bit more it does seem that was a some "un-sourced" opinions. I should have been suppose at the lack of quotes from actual Lego designers. Pity... Still, the note that aftermarket prices are higher is something that maybe could have been gathered accurately. It would be an interesting study to find if that info is correct.

Yeah the only thing we lacked in Harry Potter sets were Centaurs and Unicorns, and small things like Pixies; we got most of the other creatures though.

Manas suck! I own that set, and the motor fried very easily. It would be better to buy Power Function and make a MOC based on the Manas, because the motors the set came with are horrid. Good Rahi, Nui Jaga and Nui Rama are fun; but I think the Muaka and Kane RA two pack is the most iconic.

That interior looks great! Keep up the WIP!

Time to stop reading this forum until May comes...

Uh-oh here comes the Bionicle scalpers... Actually though, that sounds interesting. Lego knows these will go on early discounts? They purposefully run shorter runs of them? And all for the purpose of making their fans rush to get them in time? So all the things we thought were signs of Bionicle's downfall; are actually signs of how Lego handles it so it is actually successful? Strange business indeed.