Clone OPatra

I had a similar problem with my Elizabeth Swann minifigure. I'm glad that my Narcissa works out, but I can certainly commiserate with you. Those misaligned prints throw off the whole look of the figure.

Last fall's wave of Harry Potter sets threw me into a reviewing frenzy. The second wave didn't excite me quite as much, but I figured I'd still like to get the two non-vehicle sets. Hopefully I'll get to review 4867 Hogwarts as well, but at this moment the focus is on: Set Name: The Forbidden Forest Set #: 4865 Theme: Harry Potter Film Connection: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II Pieces: 64 Minifigures: 4 Year of Release: 2011 Price at Release: USD 12, CAD 15, GBP 10.50 Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink Peeron LEGO Just browse the photos? Flickr set INTRODUCTION This set really didn't have much of a draw for me, besides for the "ooh, it's a Harry Potter set, better get it" draw. It's a tree, end of story. If I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that the only draw was the Narcissa Malfoy minifigure, since I already had Voldemort and Hagrid from the last Hogwarts and Hagrid's Hut, and it would be a lie to say I actually wanted bunches of dark brown tree bits. But still, I opted to buy the whole set rather than just Bricklink Narcissa, and I needed to make the price cutoff for the "Free Shipping on $75" deal. The question remains: will this set leave me with a better impression than just being a bunch of stuff that comes with Narcissa Malfoy? BOX One thing certainly hasn't changed since the last wave: the sexy packaging. I first mentioned it in my Burrow review, and probably sound like a broken record by now, but this theme keeps delivering dark and spooky box-arts, which remains unusual for a LEGO theme. Of course, this boxart doesn't really make a whole lot of sense if you take a closer look; why would there be this short, leafy tree in the middle of a forest with extremely tall trees? Still, the background is quite beautiful, and I never expected box-art to make that much sense anyway. I felt like highlighting that, despite the PotC theme having smaller boxes, this set is still in a bigger size box. It's the same size as last year's Freeing Dobby, the first wave's set in the same price range (though it was a dollar cheaper, go figure). I know the environmentalists might hate me for not being 'green' enough, but I honestly prefer the bigger size box over the tiny PotC box. Even I, who am not an uneducated mother wandering into a toy isle, feel like I'm being cheated a little paying $12 for such a tiny little box. Now onto the back. The pasted notebook design remains, and in fact looks to be exactly the same as the design on the back of Freeing Dobby, although the red background flowery things are slightly different. It's a pleasing and uncluttered back, and of course shows off the one play feature: flicking a minifigure. Somebody on the design team must really like flicking minifigures, since that was the sole play feature in Freeing Dobby as well. This being a small set, the top of the box has room for just one figure, but I think most of us know the general size of a minifigure by now anyway. That wraparound red flowery stuff continues to be lovely. INSTRUCTIONS The instructions feature the lovely artwork again, although this time the minifigures are slightly shifted in their relation to the background. Really, while the background is nice, the way it integrates with the LEGO is not stellar. Perhaps since the two small HP sets are somewhat interior scenes, LEGO can't pull them off so well, since the structure in Freeing Dobby didn't make much sense inside of a hallway either. Also, note that the green snake has been left off for whatever reason (accident, artwork designer hates snakes? the possibilities are endless…). The inside of the instructions is pretty plain, but the build goes along nicely. Sometimes, like here, there are two steps on a page, which makes the booklet not too long. Still, I could imagine these steps all crammed together on a single sheet in the old days. On the emptier pages, we get the semi-creepy trio picture, still semi-creeping me out since the last wave. Towards the back, there's a page displaying all of the regular-release Harry Potter merchandise. What I really like about this page (and about the new Hogwarts set) is that it encourages buying sets that were released last fall. Too often LEGO is always skipping to the next thing, but this time they are actively promoting the purchase of the new sets with the old. I appreciate that very much. Then there is a teaser ad for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, depicting the final duel between Voldemort and Harry. Now that I have started playing Years 1-4 on my iPad, I am officially more excited for this game. MINIFIGURES I would take a gander that, for most people, the real draw of this set is the minifigures. Frankly I was quite surprised when I found out that LEGO was putting four minifigures in this set, including both Voldemort and Hagrid. All of these figures make good sense for the scene that this set depicts, but a selection this good seems generous on LEGO's part. But that's nothing to complain about, of course! For anyone who hadn't already bought the last Hogwarts or Hagrid's Hut, this selection is really quite nice, and even owning those sets already I am still a fan of this lineup. Some people might question the choice of robes for Harry at this point, but all I can say to that is he does wear robes at some point during the new film, although I don't know if he still has them on by this scene. Only two of the figures have alternate expressions: Harry and Narcissa. Most of us are probably already familiar with Harry's frowny face, though it continues to be my favorite of the two. Narcissa looks extremely angry, far angrier than I can imagine her being. I imagine her being extremely stern when she's angry, not all screamy like this. I have to remember that this is a LEGO minifigure I'm talking about, though. Harry and Narcissa are also the only ones to have back printing, both looking very nice. Still, I would've rather had Narcissa looking a little less slim. Since she's really the jewel of the set, I thought I'd take another closeup for you to feast your eyes upon. The dress is quite simple but still elegant, and her non-angry face works quite well for the character. I was expecting the hair to come in a separate baggie since it has printing, but it did not, for whatever reason. In the films, it's hard to tell if she has more blonde or more brown hair, but either way this printing still sort of evokes the essence of her character design, which is odd (but cool) to begin with. And here's Mama Malfoy with her relatives: Hubby Malfoy, Draco, and Sis Bella. They all look slick and evil together, and I especially like how trashy Bellatrix looks compared to the rest of them, just as she should. I mentioned in my Hagrid's Hut review (where I also compared him to the old Hagrid, if you'd like to see) that the new Hagrid looked much too happy. At least in the Hut set it was reasonable that he would be happy, because here it just doesn't work. With the beard on, it's hard to tell, but I still would've liked to see a scarred and sad face for Hagrid, him being all tied up and mocked and all. One last thing of note is that this Voldemort has the new head mould, with the solid head. Here he is pictured with the Voldemort I got in Hogwarts, with the non-solid head. You can find comparisons with the older Voldemorts there as well. ANIMALS Although the official set description says this set comes with an owl, as Admiral Ackbar would say: "It's a LIE!" (That wasn't quoted quite right, was it?) Anyway, the set does come with the usual, fairly boring spider and green snake. I was really excited about that green snake when I first got on in the Graveyard Duel set; these days, not so much. Seeing as there's one in 4867 Hogwarts too, LEGO might be trying to pass this snake off as Nagini, but I certainly hope not. Nagini deserves to have her own mould altogether, with printing. Or at least be the snake in dark green. That would be something. PARTS of INTEREST This is always quite a subjective section. Maybe you really dig dark brown slopes, or more dark green leafy pieces, or dark tan baseplates? Who's to say… What I picked out as most interesting, though, are the mushroom piece, blue flames, and black 1x3 tiles. I was surprised by that mushroom piece when it came in Hagrid's Hut, but I love getting another one. Trans light blue flames are not all that common, and so are cool to me. This one is also the new style, no dragon-mouth-connection flame piece. And black tiles? Well, I just like tiles. SET Alright, now onto the bulk of the set, the amazing, beautiful… hold on, it's just a tree? Yep, just a tree. But it is a nice and spooky-looking tree. You can see in this angle the place where you put a minifigure, and then launch it with the black technic piece. It worked pretty well the one time I tried it. But then when I was taking pictures for this review I already had forgotten about it. Here's an angled side view. Those blue flames are lovely, and quite magic-y at the same time. Nice! For some reason, I though from the official images that the tree would be normal brown with dark brown highlights, but it's actually dark brown with black highlights. I don't know how many tree are actually that dark, but this color scheme works well to convey a spooky feeling. And a back view: more tree. One point of interest is that LEGO moved the mushroom to the front of the set when they took the boxart image, but in the instructions is is placed in the back. I like it wherever it is. I think the black is a little strange in the tree, but it's probably better than the tree being monochromatic. Although it wasn't in the last pics, the spider is supposed to go on the top of the tree. Because humongous spiders live on top of trees, didn't you know? Duh… WHOLE SET and CONCLUSION I know the sets are extremely different, but this set leaves me with much the same impression as Freeing Dobby. The minifigure selection is wonderful, and the tree is pretty well designed. This seems to be the year of the tree for LEGO (showing up in NinjaGo, Kingdoms, PotC, and probably more), but they've done a good job with it, especially in this set. It's dark and spooky, adequately tall… really nothing to complain about. 64 pieces might seem a little slim, but when they make a nice model and are coupled with four minifigures, three of which are in demand, those 64 pieces seem right for the price. I've turned out happier with this set than I thought I would be, which is always a good feeling. It wasn't just for Narcissa Malfoy (but mostly). RATINGS Parts: 8.5/10 - not a lot of great parts, but dark brown is always a beautiful color and I like the fire and mushroom. Design: 9/10 - It really is a lovely looking tree. Minifigures: 10/10 - The new one is wonderful, and the overall lineup is enticing. Price: 9.5/10 - Why do the small sets keep inching up? Will they one day cost 17 USD? Who's to say, but I think 12 USD is still a fair price. Playability: 7/10 - the feature is really a nothing (though it works well), but I think that with the balanced good guys to bad guys ratio this set is playable enough. 8.8/10 - That's a nice, solid grade. This set isn't thrilling, but I would certainly pick it up for the minifigures, especially if you don't already have Voldemort and Narcissa. Here's a teaser for what's coming up…

People probably mean the UCS star destroyer, with it's studs-down bottom. Older models also had decent looking undersides, like the original Falcon and it's rounded bottom pieces to match the top.

That does mean AFOL; LEGO always puts 16+ on the big AFOL sets. I don't think their numbering system goes any higher.The play set part integrates quite nicely. It looks like you can fit in the mini figures with the roof on, although perhaps you could toss them all into the computer bays. But that's ok. Really I don't think that the play set feature sacrifices a good overall model as people feared.

What makes you say that? I'm sure there will be a whole set of TV Spots. Also, this is probably the sort of thing that technically should be in Culture and Multimedia.

I don't think it worked very well for Snape, for that matter. The IG-88 pic is certainly deceptive. Either the printed piece is a new piece altogether, or the CG makes it look like there is a stud on top, when there actually isn't. I know that the previous assassin droids weren't all that accurate exactly, but I thought the trans orange 1x1 bit did the job.

I'm not sure that's exactly how licensing issues work. Since Disney seems to actually be one of the film companies on Avengers, it would be a Disney deal, but that might not be true for any Marvel property. Just because Coke owns Sony pictures, I don't think a LEGO deal with a Sony Pictures film would say "under license from the Coca-Cola company" (but maybe, who really knows). In any case, an Avengers theme sounds like a likely rumor, which is great news. That could spawn some really cool sets, minifigures, etc.

I'm totally with you there simonjedi. I've been playing my way through Super Return of the Jedi and having a blast. I really can't understand why I would not want to sit on a couch with a controller when I play a video game.

Huh. Do you think an email should be necessary? I haven't received any shipping confirmation yet, which I found a bit odd. The pre-order for the last wave of HP sets went very smoothly, so I don't see why this one should've messed up.

I don't know why you say we will never see a Battle of Endor type playset again. It came out too recently to call its style a thing of the past. LEGO has made little control centers like the one in the original B-Wing several times; 7666 had one of them. While many people might claim 7666 was just a door, I really was hoping for a base that had a similar but perhaps smaller door, with the two folding bits sticking back having full walls and then interior. Alas, we got this big hot mess instead.

Uh, ok, but it seems you haven't been looking at the picture of the set in relation to my post. That walkway is up on top of the set, you can't stick an X-Wing under there.

Funny, these were the exact same thoughts that went through my head as well.Battle of Endor amazed me on so many levels; I never thought LEGO would come out with a SW playset so good. I almost never buy the big SW sets, but Battle of Endor just couldn't be passed up. I too thought that the idea of a big Hoth base could wow me in a similar way that Battle of Endor did, but I was unfortunately quite wrong. Perhaps since the Hoth base is buried in a pile of snow anyway it would never lend itself to being as good looking as the Endor bunker, but that's not the only thing that makes this set a disappointment. While Endor gave us three entirely new Ewoks and those amazing Rebel troopers that many people had wanted for a while, this set completely falls down in the minifigure area. Another color of protocal droid? Woohoo… Luke in underwear is ok, but honestly this was an opportunity to give us new characters from Hoth that we had not gotten before and the opportunity was passed by. They could've made a new and actually accurate Veers; that would've been something at least. The design of the set itself also seems lacking and mashed together. What stands out to me the most is that high walkway; what the heck is that thing about? It really does feel like this set would belong better in a theme like Alpha Team or Agents.

I believe you mean it's Luigi (the yellow one) that is the Fiat.

What the heck are you trying to say? Your writing is so muddled by lack of punctuation and capitalization that it is extremely difficult to understand what you are even saying. The Padme head is exactly the same as the recent Hermione one, which had the same two sides.

Exactly, which is why I wrote: Interesting about the different names, though. I suppose things need made up strings of numbers and letters to sound cool in the U.S., huh.

Really now, it's crystal clear in the rules.

Mostly, thrift stores are places for musty clothing and piles of junk. But sometimes, I score LEGO. Well, just recently I scored again! This time it was the Classic Space oldie: Set Name: XT-5 and Droid Set #: 6809 Pieces: 33 (of the interlocking variety) Minifigures: 1 (according to Bricklink, the Droid counts as a figure, but I wouldn't count it) Year of Release: 1988 Price at Release: ? - no data is available on the internet. I would imagine this probably sold for anywhere from $3 to $6 USD. A used one will run you under $10 likely without a box, while sealed it is going for $62 at the cheapest on BL upon this writing. (I scored mine complete and with box, but not sealed, for $3) Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink Peeron Just browse the pictures? Flickr set INTRODUCTION I lack that nostalgia factor for Classic Space that many LEGO fans have (due to my date of birth), but I still occasionally feel the pangs of longing for the good ol' days (that I never saw) when LEGO sets were all angular and play features consisted of flicking levers back and forth, swooshing in the nude, and sticking technic pins in holes. The cuteness of the classic minifigures is a fact that cannot be denied even by me, a fan of fleshies and minifigs with high levels of detail like the Ginnyfigure ( ). I appreciate a good and simple Black Knight, but even more so I appreciate the original quintet of jelly bean troops: the Classic Spacemen. Though I never had any sets, I BLed one Spaceman in each color a while ago, and love looking at them. There was absolutely nothing in the world that would keep me from purchasing a Classic Space set in good condition, with its box, and for the very reasonable price tag of $3. And, it isn't just any Classic Space set, but the last one ever! One year short of the tenth anniversary of Classic Space, 1988 had but one set fromt he line, since Futuron was taking the forefront along with its opposition, Blacktron. Some might argue that Futuron was pretty similar to Classic Space, but this was the last set ever to get one of the Classic Spacemen. The question is, will I like anything about this set other than the beautiful blue Spaceman? Come along with me as I find out… BOX This box was evidently meant to hang on a rack of some sort, hence the folded up top with the cutout. It was surely the impulse of its day, although only two Space sets released in 1988 had over 200 parts, with most being below 100. Anyhow, packaging with the grid background like this was introduced in 1987, a year before this set, but was then changed to blue in 1989. It's a nice bridge between Classic Space packaging and later retro grids, since it kept the silly sand dunes iconic of CS artwork. It certainly evokes a Space-y feel, without having much detail other than the set. I appreciate that, back then, even in America LEGO kept its box front free from too much information. Sorry if you found my history lesson on the last picture tedious. I'll keep it shorter from now on, mostly. The back is also uncluttered, and, in classic style, it features alternate model ideas. Honestly, the one on the right looks better than the set itself, while the others are just nonsensical. Each side of the box is the same, taken up entirely by a shot of the main model, but with the Droid having usurped the Spaceman's throne, um… flying machine. It's sad that sets nowadays have too much copyright info and the like on their boxes, without much room for full panels with pictures. I really love what's written on these boxes; it's so funny if you're in the right mood! On the top are the title and piece count (of 'interlocking' pieces), as well as a little blurb about how all 'LEGOLAND' sets work together. I guess LEGO (in America anyway) was not such a pervasive toy yet by 1988, so LEGO still felt the need to push their toy concept. What I find funny is that each word in both the first and last sentences of the blurb is capitalized, and LEGO is really pushing Endless Building Excitement (EBE?) By 1988 some parts were made in Denmark, Switzerland, and the U.S.A, although I have later sets that say Denmark only. Also note that the company was still called "Interlego A.G." It also helpfully tells you that you can use the box for storage… In fact, that's how I found it in the thrift store - with the set built and stored inside! Overall, I don't know how much the box would scream "Buy me!" but it does scream "Cuddle with me because I have a freaking cute smiley spaceman inside!" INSTRUCTIONS I wasn't sure which side to show first because there's no clear front, per se. As usual for sets of this era, the instructions are one folded piece of paper, as opposed to a booklet. Nowadays, it's only sets this small that don't have booklets. Anyway, here's the side that shows the two pictures of the set from the box and the final two steps. My copy had been folded for a long time, so I wasn't even going to attempt making it flat. This side shows the build of the minifigure, droid, and five of seven steps for the chair thing. The real difference between these instructions and modern ones is the way these have no wasted space; all the steps are crammed as closely together as possible. And the truth is, why not? It's still quite easy to tell what's going on. I thought I'd highlight the pictures of the minifigure in the instructions because they're just so cute! The straight-on perspective makes the figure look quite comical. MINIFIGURE If all else about this set fails, the minifigure alone makes it worth it. Classic Castle figures may be nice and all, but nothing can touch the Classic Spaceman in my book. The idea of a single-color suit was such a good one, and sadly something never done again. While the new, highly detailed figures of other themes are arguably better than their overly simplistic predecessors, the Space theme has never produced a better-looking figure than this classic guy right here. I understand that this old-style helmet was too thin and easily breakable, but it's a real shame it had to go. Its replacement works as a biking helmet with a visor (and for Castle), but it is nowhere near as stylish as the classic helmet which easily conveys a sense of there being invisible glass there. This exact helmet is the kind with a thick, reinforced chinstrap and no dimples to attach a visor. Here I compare it to another that also has the thick chinstrap with the addition of visor dimples. I like the one without dimples better as there are no use for them here anyway, but both still look better than the new helmet. Check here to see them all. Additionally, this copy of the figure (pictured right) has the old-style, solid stud with LEGO on it, matching normal studs on plates. ACCESSORY To communicate with Earth or base camp, our intrepid little space explorer has a standard-issue walkie-talkie. Funny that they use the exact same type in Town. PRINTED PARTS Kids, it's 1988, things like tiles and slopes are printed, not stickered. The tile was common enough, coming in 44 sets total, but this was one of only two normal sets that had the slope with this printing in grey. While both are nice by themselves, we will see that the tile is not used so well in the model… DROID So here is one half of what gives this set its name: the Droid. It seems straight from a bad '80s (or earlier) sci-fi movie to me, which I guess is what the set designer was going for anyway. It's pretty cute, especially because it seems portly, which is not how I usually think of robots. The only thing I'm not so fond of here is the grey eyes; trans-yellow would've worked much better. At the same time, I suppose the set designer wanted a two color only droid, which perhaps amounts to something. These days, Droid is pretty much synonymous with Star Wars (even the Droid phone uses the name under license from Lucasfilm), which got me wanting to compare a SW Droid with this one. Funny that the design for C-3PO came out more than a decade before this set, but it didn't first show up in LEGO for more than a decade later (and even later in dark pearl gold). XT-5 (aka chair) So now I've gotten past the awesome minifigure, past the fairly ok Droid, and onto the main build of the set, the XT-5. And how does it strike me? It's just a freaking chair! Seriously now, what purpose could this little vehicle actually serve? If I was an explorer or scientist working on a deserted moon-like planet, why the hell would I need a rocket chair? It seems like the only purpose would be for a bit of recreation; "oh, I'm bored, I'll go play around in the XT-5 for a bit until I get too dizzy" But there are also some outright design flaws. Besides for being extremely clunky looking, the rocket chair also features control levers that cannot be grasped by our smiley Spaceman friend, and a control panel tile that is… behind his head?! Fine, maybe it's just a sound system or something, but if those little dots on the tile are buttons like I think they are, why the hell would that be where the Spaceman couldn't touch them (and could accidentally smash his head into them)? This straight-on angle especially makes the XT-5 seem like just a drab Space throne. Maybe its purpose is for one of the Spacemen to sit in it and shout orders at the other ones. The side view isn't much of anything. It's a blocky little thing, and I don't understand the purpose of those green bits. But really, since it's just a chair, I guess the green lights are just for emphasis. The back conveniently has a place where you can attach the walkie-talkie so that you don't lose it while playing out endless adventures with blue spacey and his flying chair of glory. CONCLUSION There you have it, the XT-5 and Droid in its completed glory. Though this set is small, I have the same feeling about it that I do for all of Classic Space: cool figures, blocky, kitsch-y constructions. The overall drabness of it is a '70s and '80s style thing that will never come back, but it is an interesting idea in its own right. Honestly, who actually wants sets that are all grey? I, for one, like a bit more color. The Droid is ok, not so bad, semi-playable. The XT-5, though, is just a chair, and a flawed one at that. It's far from aerodynamic, doesn't have usable controls, and just serves no purpose. If I had been around really when this set came out, I don't think I would've been interested at all, save for the figure. He (or she!) is awesome. RATINGS Pieces: 8/10 - It's hard for me to rate pieces in this set. I just don't know, are these useful pieces? I like the two printed parts, and some of the other stuff is ok too. Minifigures: 10/10 - Need I saw more about the awesomeness that is the Classic Spaceman? Design - 5.5/10 - I hardly ever rate anything so low, but c'mon now, the chair is just silly. Price: 9/10 - I don't know what this retailed for, but if it was around $5 then it was a fine price. Playability: 7/10 - You can go on some adventures with your Droid friend perhaps, or rebuild the whole thing, so I guess it's sort of playable. Overall: 7.9/10 - That's not such a great grade where I come from; it's what we call 'average.' And that's exactly how I feel. Nowadays, with the set not being new on the shelves anyway, I would just BL the figure if I wanted one and pass on this boring little set. bzzzzztt Uh, sir, my Droid is getting a bit funky with the XT-5. bzzztt Immediate assistance requested. bbzzzttt Over.

Here you go: 7959 Geonosian Starfighter 7964 Republic Frigate 7956 Ewok Attack Those are all the ones currently.

I certainly have never seen it before. That's one of the villains, isn't it?

No! Not again; we need new figures! Although, Greyback fits perfectly into the scene, so it would be quite plausible. I highly doubt that LEGO will release a Malfoy Manor set though. Based on their current trend, they try for most of their sets to be representative of multiple films, and Malfoy Manor would be just one. The smallest sets and the Knight Bus do speak a little bit otherwise, but I still would think Malfoy Manor is too film-specific for LEGO's liking.

I think that sounds far too extreme. It's a good pun.

As StoutFiles said, the second video is in English, but that doesn't make it worth watching. I'd check the Imperiumdersteine reviews (that some members brought up earlier), since those are really quite good. Just popping them through Google translate lets English speakers get the gist of them; it worked for me.

You know, I had to reply to this to even be able to tell that you were linking to something. It seemed like you had just posted an emoticon, although I was pretty sure you wouldn't do that. Just for clarity's sake, perhaps writing in words to show the link to something would be better.

I think that face works perfectly for Lucas. Lovely setup on the shot too, Brick_Pig. I'm not sure how the other actors will respond to that costume, though

I'll answer briefly and try not to turn it into a whole discussion. My one PotC review may shed some light on my opinions of the theme, but it really boils down to some unsatisfying main-character minifigures (Jack and Elizabeth) and sets that don't look like much. As parts packs, PotC sets are great, but as models they are too full of little fiddly detail bits that turn them into models that seem too small for the price point. Getting back to the set, and something that relates to what Legoless said, I just noticed that under all the copyright lingo it says: 'Disney/Pixar elements: ©Disney/Pixar, not including underlying vehicles owned by third parties: Fiat™' I'm not sure what this means exactly in terms of licensing, but it is at least nice that TLG is allowed to make vehicles that are somewhat property of companies other than their direct license, unlike in Toy Story where they were probably not allowed to make Mr. Potatohead and other toys originating from other companies.