Clone OPatra

I think you underestimate consumers' own ability to be creative a little bit if you think that people stick to exactly what's given them in a Licensed set. LEGO needs to stay very competitive, and at least in the American market, I can understand why that means a lot of licenses in addition to their very successful original lines. Still, that doesn't mean a kid will get a licensed set and only play with it in terms of the license. They'll tear it apart, be creative, and build stuff. They won't say 'this is a Lone Ranger set in its own Lone Ranger world, I can't combine it with the Hobbit set over there." Licenses provide adults with a huge amount of awesome minifigures and new moulds, and they might sell well to kids because of the license (although with Disney that's not a given), so I don't see the problem. If the only non-License line left was city, I might agree that there is too much focus on licenses, but that isn't the case. Since Licensed themes provide some awesome sets in styles that LEGO wouldn't choose to produce otherwise, I feel it really is a win-win situation. I can't wait for some Western sets myself.

Here. Not much too it yet, but they did a good job giving a sneak peak at new parts. Looks like we'll be seeing the tomahawk from the collectible minifigs line and the bag that was with S8 santa, as well as a new cow skull with horns and more realistic pistols. I'm not 100% sold on the pistols, but I guess they don't look too real or action-figure-ish. It's hard to tell if the Lone Ranger's hat is new or just a white Indy hat. Either way, I will be pleased. Bring on more hat choices!

The next X-Men related film is The Wolverine, coming out in July. While they could make another Wolverine set for the summer wave, or even now, I think that would be a bit strange as they just released one.

The 'Western' genre is barely in style any more. I don't think kids are really playing 'cowboys and outlaws' so much, not like they once were. There used to be Western movies all the time (though admittedly, it was already dying down by the original Western theme), and now there is maybe one a year or less, usually targeted at adults. I'm not surprised in the least that LEGO wouldn't just decide to have a new Western theme. I think this theme could be quite promising, as long as the sets have some substantial 'set' parts and aren't just trees and rocks, which it thankfully doesn't sound like they will be.

You don't even have to click through to descriptions. In the very listing titles it says 'Lego Style.' That means not real Lego.

I don't understand why one good (looking) episode makes the whole arc seem good. Yes, that battle looks promising. There will still be parts with the kids that could be annoying, but maybe the episode will be good overall. Even if it is, that doesn't make the previous two better, or make the arc necessary in any way. If the arc was already bad, how does one good episode magically make the whole arc better?

A lot of figures and sets that are not yet scheduled for release have somehow gotten out and ended up on eBay. TMNT minifigures, Chima minifigures, a Batman minifigure... all completely real. I don't see why people doubt that this figure also is real; I'm sure it is.

I read the link, but the unofficial Lucas biographer who is 'spilling the beans' must have read those outlines in the '80s! That's no clear sign of anything at all. If it was still Lucas with 100% control, then maybe we would end up with those movies. But it's a whole different ballgame now, and I wouldn't put much stock in that article.

There's something called subtlety which Lucas lost all ability to do by the time he made the prequels. Luke doesn't moan, or cry, or give an 'oh-god-I'm-so-angry' stare. He doesn't need to say, in a terrible soliloquy, "I miss you, so mmmmmmuch." But his pain comes across. The way the character channels his pain is by deciding to help Obi-Wan, but he's clearly hurt when he tells Obi-Wan that there's nothing for him on Tatooine now. What does Anakin do? He goes ape-shit on some Tuskens, glares and stares, delivers a painful speech, mopes around, and then delivers an even more painful speech about how 'he wasn't strong enough' to save his mom. Subtlety=gone.

There have been three Superheroes sets so far that have been at the 20 dollar pricepoint with three figures, all of which were plenty decent sets. It had sounded from initial reports that the Spidey/Venom/Fury and Batman/Freeze/Aquaman sets would be at a below-20 price point, but it wouldn't be that surprising if they are larger than that, as the new price list would suggest. Perhaps this time both factions will get a small vehicle, which (given the size of the vehicles) would definitely add up to more than 13-ish dollar sets.

From the picture on that book, I'm not too sure that it is an entirely moulded head and not a mask over a regular head. The prelim pictures definitely looked like whole heads, but the size of this one makes it look like something possibly over a regular head.

I think it's just you. They look quite normal-sized to me.

I don't put much stock in 'replacements,' especially when it comes to Licenses. One License isn't cancelled specifically because another is obtained. Spongebob doesn't even have full waves by any means. It's a couple sets now and again. It could take off a year, and come back again. LEGO clearly has a deal with Nickelodean, so they can go right back to more Spongebob sets the year after. Spongebob has the power to last. They could even release a couple of TMNT sets every once in a while AND a couple of Spongebob sets every once in a while. The license is one and the same: Nickelodean.

Halloween is traditionally a time of spooky witches, glow-in-the-dark ghosts, scariness, and bright pink lovey-dovey goodness. That's why Target was selling this lovely little polybag in its Halloween section! Set Name: Ambiguous Stuff Stand (the internet calls it mailbox, but really, you and I both know that's a boring name) Set #: 30105 Theme: Friends Pieces: 41 Mini-dolls: 1 Year of Release: 2012 Price at Release: USD 4 Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink Brickset Just browse the pictures? Flickr set INTRODUCTION I went to three Targets to get the Monster Fighters ghost polybag. No, I'm not barking mad; the first two didn't have a Halloween section yet when I went. The third one had it, though. Lo and behold, Target decided that it would be unfair to only sell a LEGO bag for boys (since 9.3 out of 10 girls say they don't like ghosts and grandfather clocks), so they were selling this Friends offering as well (albeit low to the ground and hard to spot). Not having any Friends sets yet, I thought this would be a perfect (and most cost-effective) way to check out what this theme is all about! Let's see how I like it… BAG The bag is ridiculously large. I threw the figure into the picture to show you just how excessive the size is. This seems to be the standard size for polybags these days, and it does provide lots of room for artwork, but still. The artwork portrays Stephanie putting on forced happiness for the photo. Ok fine, I guess she could be happy about mailing a letter. LEGO wanted to let you know how big the figure is, so they slapped a 1x1 picture on the package (absent on the ghost bag). It's actually useful, since I really didn't know how big the Friends figure would be, it being a new thing and all. INSTRUCTIONS All folded up, the instructions seem a nice size and not excessively humongous like the bag. The lavender warning box ruins the nice art. Is it really necessary anyway? Does anybody say hmm, let me give this to my two year old, opening the bag now, looks good, OH SNAP! I DIDN'T NOTICE THE WARNING ON THE BAG, GOOD THING THERE'S ANOTHER ONE ON THE INSTRUCTIONS! Yeah, I didn't think so. Looks can be deceiving. All folded up these instructions were tiny, but unfolded they're HUGE (comparatively). This is the size of sheet LEGO would use for a 30 buck set back in the day; we really need this for a polybag? You need THREE steps to build the mailbox, really? These instructions are so large that LEGO managed to fit an ad for the entire first wave of non-10-and-below sets on here. Shaking…my…head………… MINIDOLL Meet Stephanie, the resident Heartlake blonde. This is a regular look of hers; she wears it to drive her car (illegally, since she's clearly under the legal driving age) and pilot her plane (recklessly, without a helmet; seriously, is there no adult supervising this girl?). She's got a pleasing color scheme, although it's almost too matchy. Even her lipstick is the same pink color! Ah well, it's good to have at least one hyper-color-coordinated Friend. Her hair is quite long, as are all the Friends' dos, as I understand. That's not unrealistic, though. Regular minifigure hair tends to not be this long on the whole, so it's good variety. I'd seen the pictures and read the reviews, but the size of the minidolls still surprised me in person. They're really tiny (for dolls)! It's great that LEGO went this direction, but those arms look so skinny and fragile. Can't argue with that, though, since in real life all women have no muscle and must be protected by big strong men #outrageoussexism. I don't think they really will break, but I don't want to test it by stepping on her. AMBIGUOUS STUFF Here's the proverbial meat of the set: two things I'm calling ambiguous. The thing on the left is a mailbox I suppose, so that's not overly ambiguous. The thing on the right, though… it seems like a kiosk for flowers and pastries, but the only sign is a cleverly constructed heart and there's nobody here to sell the stuff. Is it one of those stands that researchers place in cities to test how honest the population is? Hmm… While I love the color scheme on the mailbox, the stand is less than stellar; the base is too white, and I'm not convinced that pearl gold works that well with the other colors. The stand gets worse on the back, where you can see the hinge brick and the empty studs behind it. Another piece of a different color would work nicely there. Overall, superb mailbox; lame ambiguous stuff stand (I can't deny that there are some nice parts in it, though, like the 2x2 red jumper holding the treats). EXTRA PARTS LEGO pleasantly gives you a bunch of extras, all useful for detailing. Thanks, LEGO! WHOLE SET Well here it is. Our Friend™ Stephanie has come to mail a letter to some stud five years older than herself and make the moral decision of her life: to steal a 1x1 pink stud representing something ambiguous, or not to steal said thing. FUN BBC America recently aired a special on mid-size American cities, naming stands of ambiguous stuff the #1 spot for courting between youth. That's why CloneyO thought he might be able to find a pretty skinny minidoll lady to court and, if his luck is up, do other things with in the evening. CloneyO's significant other was less than happy about these devious actions. Glad she had hired a private eye to keep tabs on CloneyO at all times, Ginny swooped in and had to drag him away kicking and screaming. Literally. CONCLUSION Ratings on a set this size are useless. Here's the down-low: if you're looking to build up your minidoll army, want some little bits in bright colors and a few dime-a-dozen other pieces, or have an appropriate occasion to gift a small happy set to someone, this is a nice buy. If none of the above apply to you, forget this set. No matter what, I wouldn't expect anybody to keep the models built for long.

Charlie was always a loner. His great love was his room, his computer, his music, his privacy. When Big Big Mining Corp. started recruiting for their interstellar operations, Charlie's mother encouraged him to apply. He didn't realize he'd be the only one on the whole rock… But Charlie got used to it. What did he need other people for, anyway? The top slab with the shack rotates 360 degrees - in most of these pictures the bottom faces the same direction, while the top does not. The roof has no connection points; rather, it slots onto the inner walls of the shack and stays just fine (as long as I don't flip it upside down). Let's follow Charlie on an impromptu tour of his dwelling: Charlie whips up a nice meal on the stove. Full, he starts getting drowsy at the table. Guess it's time for bed! For more pictures, including interior shots without the minifigure, check the Flickr set! I'd greatly appreciate your comments and criticism.

What? I think you are thinking of the Electric-suit Batman that came in the book. The cold-weather suited white Batman shown at comic-con is what's being discussed, and rumored to come in the same set as Mr. Freeze.

This car is so cute! Just glancing at the sheet showing all six, this one is by far the most adorable. I love that LEGO has employed the Cars pieces for more vehicles. Just like the Cars sets, the big pieces here have the odd effect of making the car seem extremely light parts-wise while it actually isn't. The curves those pieces provide are wonderful. I was surprised to find out that there's a pullback motor here! That's an excellent new design for it (I think it's new anyway). It doesn't get any better than a super-cute car that zooms on it's own! I look forward to reviews of the other ones!

Perhaps he meant 'two more sets we don't already know about?' Two exclusives? Who knows. We already know Nolan-inspired figures won't be in those two, so yes, there are more than two.

Ice Batman, Aquaman, and Freeze are rumored to be in a small set together. Just Batman, Harley, Ivy, Joker, Scarecrow, and Guard are not too much for a big Arkham. The last one came with that many figures.

Perhaps red hips and/or a red torso like the old, perfectly balanced Spidey figure? Boot printing isn't really necessary, and shouldn't be used to fix a bad-looking figure. on Wonder-Woman, it makes sense, but any other time I think the main parts of the figure have to be in colors that make a nice look overall, even before printing.

TMNT is nothing like Ninjago. Just because both have Ninja in the title does not make them similar. Ninjago has its crazy vehicles and skeleton/snake/who knows what's next villains. TMNT is usually set in the real world, with villains usually being other mutant creatures plus Shredder, a human. The style of sets would really not overlap very much. It seems, though, that this would be a theme with a ton of those little baggies to open for figure parts. That's not exactly a problem, but I sure did get annoyed with all of the little bags in a few Toy Story sets! Still, I think this theme could have some terrific and unique minifgures.

That Stark Tower is hilarious Oky! It's a very fun concept overall. I can't wait to see some more views.

This set seems like an odd cross-breed between what LEGO was doing in the first two HP waves and later waves. It's similar in style to sets like Snape's Classroom or the various Final Challenge sets, except it can't connect to the new Hogwarts set that came with this wave. I found it odd that they would release a Hogwarts and a few sets that took place in Hogwarts but were a different scale. It's not bad, though, because it's something different and shows that Harry Potter sets didn't just have to be Hogwarts Castle after Hogwarts Castle after Hogwarts Castle, and similar locations. Another thing that always caught my eye about this set is the weird fish-eye lens they used to photograph it for the box art (unless it's digital manipulation). The arch and wall piece that would be right in front of the camera when looking at the set are distorted so that the arch goes off the picture to the left, giving you a nice view of Snape. It's also nice that LEGO used to put out these sets without Harry. It was very annoying that in the final two waves in 2010 and 2011, Harry came in every single set! I like that in this one, you can just concentrate on Neville and Lupin without Harry impeding. Thanks for showing off this set Phil!

I'm so glad there are others that like showcasing their old scores front and center! Seriously, I wish LEGO could ever be found this cheap any more. Too bad it's widely popular now… I wish I had this set, if only for Greedo. He's quite a great figure, especially the arm printing. I just love that. The dewback is pretty cool too. It looks much better than the Boga that came with General Grevious Chase. That one is ugly; the dewback looks quite cute. Excellent review too. The don't drink and drive and the attempt at combining the set with the Falcon really made me laugh!

This is so cute! Perhaps it could use a few more details here and there, but I like it already. I'm especially impressed that you worked in a functioning third leg drop!