Clone OPatra

I agree with that. The only silly thing was the discontinuity between Obi-Wan's vision and the visions of the other two in the last episode. While Ahsoke and Anakin see visions of people that seem pretty much there, Qui-Gon looks all ghosty and is surrounded by a lot of mist. Still, it seems to make sense that these visions were sort of 'dreams,' and being actually able to communicate with Qui-Gon as we suspect Obi-Wan will be able to do after Episode III is a new revelation.

It's actually not a prototype piece. The hat came in red in a Coca-Cola promotional, this one: It is rare, but it was supposed to be released. Also, in the future, stuff like this goes in the Lucky LEGO Finds over in Buy/Sell/Trade. We don't want too many single-story topics popping up in Community.

Probably not until next January at the earliest, though that could be a good bet. Although that episode had no Clone Wars feel whatsoever, it was reminiscent of some of the weirder Star Wars books and comics out there. It didn't really make a lot of sense, but it wasn't confusing either. It was at least better than the whole Savage arc, in my opinion anyway. Maybe that's just because I can't stand listening to Ventress' chain smoker voice, and the Night Mother's constant promises of revenge on Dooku were just depressing. The only conceptual thing that continues to bug me, especially in this episode, is how the Jedi whip out their lightsabers at every single occasion. I guess since it's their only weapon it makes sense most of the time, especially since the War in general brings a lot of conflict, but Obi-Wan holding his lightsaber to the ghost of Qui-Gon for a prolonged period of time was just silly. Maybe he would turn it on when he just realized Qui-Gon was there, but it just didn't make sense for him to have it on as long as he did. Ahsoka getting about two feet taller in her future self also didn't make a whole lot of sense, and the fact that she has a secondary short lightsaber… but whatever. They can do what they want.

I'm glad there is now confirmation on this, since I thought I spotted pics of the new Spongebob sets on a BBC news video. I captured the frame, but since there is a watermark across it I won't deeplink it. Here is a link, though. It's quite obscured, but it's a start. Now that we have the set descriptions, I think that it's probably a picture of the theme-park set, but who's to know. It looks like the Sandy figure again to me.

It is possible that Slughorn could wear that silly hat in the seventh film, part two. I think it is much more likely to be Sprout. Umbridge and Mrs. Weasley are women with legs, and since Sprout doesn't wear a long skirt, LEGO would probably not give her the tall skirt piece.

Hello and welcome to what is perhaps the second Belville review ever to hit Eurobricks! Yes, after you've read my review you have to go search for Seigfried's disturbing Belville review, but for now, it's time to turn your attention toward… Set Title: Garden Playmates Set #: 5840 Theme: Belville Pieces: 87 Minifigures: 1 - Belville style Year of Release: 1995 Price at Release: USD $20 Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink Peeron Browse the pics, skip the review? (Of course not!) Flickr set INTRODUCTION So, this is the second time a chap like me has reviewed a girl set. If you found yourself agreeing with the above sentence, you must be horribly sexist. Though you may not be into the color purple or lot of hearts or cuddly animals, you are (hopefully) into LEGO, and Belville is a wonderful way to get both rare pieces and regular pieces in rare colors. Not to mention accessories, and some other cool things. Even though all that is true, I myself would not actually buy Belville, since I don't care much about rare pieces of colors anyhow. That's where thrift stores come in. Thrift stores present you with a lot of junk that you never know you needed, and some things that aren't junk but you wouldn't have been willing to pay full price for anyway. Needless to say, it was a thrift store that delivered this set into my hands for a good price, and made me able to present you with this review today. BOX The thrift store where I found this set is one of those ones that doesn't even care about its own merchandise, and slaps tape everywhere and writes the price on everything. Please pardon the ugly tape and price. I don't really know very much about Belville circa 1995, but I'd guess that this packaging is pretty representative of the whole theme at the time. It's clearly meant to appeal to girls, with that lovely pastel background and those hearts that dot the purple border. The set itself also consists of bright colors, and features cuddly puppies. My sister for one hated cuddly puppies when she was younger, but I suppose girls like them in general? Maybe some of our female members can share their thoughts. Before I even get further let me pause to compare this packaging to one from the same era but of a "boy" line (pardon my sexism, but that is how LEGO markets). Yes, Majisto's Magical Workshop came out two years earlier, but its packaging is representative of the Castle line throughout the '90s. What strikes me is how comparatively "busy" the Belville box is. While the Castle set has a plain picture and really not much else, the Belville box has an oddly-shaped border to the picture, plus the hearts. Did LEGO feel its packaging had to pop more to appeal to girls? Onto the back. The photographers themselves must've gotten fed up with that annoying cloth skirt, as they took it off for all of these "action" shots. Even for a set this simple they made alternate models back then. How I miss it! (And there are more hearts.) The different sides were pretty standard for the time; the set name only appears on the top of the box, there's a note that it comes with instructions only for the main model, and there are a few pics. What is odd, though, is that the box doesn't say "Contents made in…" as most sets did at the time (and still do). Instead, it merely says "Made by LEGO Systems… Billund, Denmark." INSTRUCTIONS Of course I'm not surprised that the set comes with instructions, but honestly you don't need them. With only 87 pieces (and some of those are accessories), this set is a as simple as it looks from the boxart. There are no part call outs or things like that, but the build is so freaking simple that you get some puppy love pictures on every single page spread. It might not be easy to tell on my picture, but the background is a very light pink. There are no ads or anything like that, but on the back there is… this So what is that for? Writing your only little puppy love stories? I don't get it… MINIFIGURES It of course isn't a minifigure as you're used to; it's a Belville style figure, which seems much closer to action figures than normal minifigures due to the level of moulding detail on the head and the numerous points of articulation. Please note before I show the pictures of her that she is supposed to come with little light violet bows on her feet, which come off of this type of sprue. Since the set is supposed to come with the sprue, Bricklink lists the girl as wearing the headband from it as well in this set, though none of the boxart or pictures in the instructions show her with the headband. Unfortunately, I have neither the bows or the headband. Now onto what I do have. The girl wearing the skirt is exclusive to this set, but both the skirt and the girl herself come in other sets. I really find the figure rather ugly. Her skin color makes her look like she's been spending time in a tanning salon, and her passive face is just a bit creepy. The skirt is really a nuisance; the elastic on mine is a bit worn out, so the skirt always falls down. It's pretty enough, but it's annoying as heck. The drawback is that the girl's crotch area looks really strange without the skirt, but she's just a plastic toy, so what does it really matter. With thirteen points of articulation, she is pleasantly pose-able. Since she does have those attachment points for accessories, you can have fun dressing her up. The plumes don't quite fit into her feet, though. I also noticed that this size figure is the realistic size for normal minifigure accessories, which are always charmingly way out of proportion to normal minifigures. I love the hugeness of normal accessories, but they look good against an appropriately scaled figure as well. ANIMALS Another important aspect of the set is the animals, since it couldn't be called "Garden Playmates" if the girl had nothing to play with (that sounded wrong). We get the big black dog, two identical puppies in a playful pose, and the printed parrot that was quite common. Both types of dogs only ever appeared in Belville sets, and thus aren't very common. Though the moulds are nice enough, without any printing the dogs look rather strange. It isn't too bad on the puppies, though, since they have some expression in their blank faces. The lack of printing is much worse for the big dog. Since his mould is pretty simple, the fact that there is nothing on his face makes him rather scary, or at least unimpressive. This dog mould did come with some different printed patterns which give it much more character. How big is this dog, you wonder? Well, it's about the same size as the newish cow. If you want to create MOCs in normal scale with giant dogs, this is certainly the way to go. ACCESSORIES What would a Belville set be without great accessories? For some reason, the yellow case that I got came with the stickers on it that it features in Prize Pony Stables, but not in this set, I don't think. The baby bottle is nice but not too wonderful, but I love all the plates and brushes I can get (especially in "medium green"). And then the bucket… No way! They won't even chrome a lightsaber handle these days, and they chromed a freaking bucket?! Awesome… The case does open up, and can hold some of the other accessories, though only one at a time. PARTS For once, I felt I could actually lay out all of the parts for you (though I forgot the green bush). Yeah, there sure aren't very many, but there are some lovely bright colors that you don't see too often any more. Please note that both sets of flowers are supposed to be that lighter shade of pink, but one of the ones that I got is what Bricklink calls dark pink. You're supposed to learn from your students when you teach, and so I was inspired by Brickdoctor to use this technique of giving the amounts of each part for my interesting parts pic. The sink isn't very rare, but it is pretty nifty, and I always like curved pieces and arches. The gate is actually two parts, and it meshes wonderfully with the eight light violet fence pieces. The dark pink roof pieces are great as well. SET Since you could build this set blindfolded, build pictures would certainly be extraneous. So let me proceed directly to the "model," if you could call it one. Though it's really simple, the finished set does invoke a sunny, warm feel. With the outdoor sink and palm tree, it gives me a strong Florida vibe. For those who might not know, Florida is just a very relaxed, warm and mildly humid state, in my mind anyway. Also, you won't see the parrot anywhere in this picture. The instructions forgot about it. Even a model so simple can have design flaws. Who knew, right? I'm talking about the lack of fencing under the little doggy hut. I know that LEGO sets often have open backs, but this seems like the kind of set that shouldn't. It only gets worse from the back. Why did the designer not decide to add fencing all around? It's not like you couldn't have played with it if there was fencing in the back as well, and without it the model just seems unnecessarily unrealistic. The chair is nice, though. PLAY Since there isn't much going on in this set, I felt I might as well show off what a kid might actually want to do with it in order to better understand it. It also gives me a way to highlight a few more design flaws. First, the girl shows up at the doggy area to play with her favorite little puppies. "How aw woo doing today, Mistew cuddwes?" The girl then decides to check and see if the doggies have enough water, but since she is way too tall for their hut she smashes her head into it. "%@!" Seeing that the dogs have left her some 'special treats,' the girl carries them out in the shiny bucket. "Ew." After such dirty work, she needs to clean herself up. She suddenly has the urge to climb the tree. "Polly want a cracker?" Meanwhile, the adult dog decides it's time to escape their annoying playmate, and she ushers her puppies out of the unfenced portion of their pen. CONCLUSION Well, from this example I'm really not all that impressed by Belville. Apparently LEGO feels that girls wouldn't want actual models to build before playing with, so the company throws just enough pieces together to be able to still call it a LEGO set. It's great that there are some cool pieces in cool colors and nice accessories, but overall the set is a disappointment. This set feels worth ten bucks tops; twenty is too much. RATINGS Parts: 7/10 - The parts that you get are pretty nice, but there really isn't that much there. Design: 6/10 - If the pen was completely enclosed, there would be nothing wrong with the design. But the way it's left open is lame. Minifigures: 6/10 - She's ugly, and the skirt is annoying. She can pose, though. Price: 5/10 - Twenty bucks? No way LEGO. Playability: 7/10 - I can see this set keeping kids involved for a little while, but there aren't enough parts to rebuild it into anything exciting and faceless dogs have to get boring after a bit. Overall: 6.2/10 - That's a pretty poor score where I come from; a 'D' grade. Belville just really isn't worth it, but if you happen to come across a set or two of it for dirt cheap, then be my guest. Until next time!

I think he's talking about the white diamond on their helmets, which doesn't have white printing strong enough to looks full white. The white over orange looks a bit pink. Though I am working on more old figure funnies, as I just got the Luminara I had to use her...

What does that mean? Hinckley said in the contest thread that your MOC does not have to take place in winter; that is merely the title of the contest because the contest is being run in winter (in some parts of the world, anyway). The MOC doesn't have to incorporate anything wintry at all, it just has to be a building that isn't Hogwarts. I suppose you yourself could be looking for winter in your own criteria, but Matn's creation certainly fits into the terms of the contest just fine.

Well, seeing how bringing up Aliens basically discredited the source that you posted, I wouldn't say it was such a bad thing to interject. I think you are far overestimating the reliability of that article.

Whatever you want her to be doing I agree Brickdoctor that at nowadays there are some blaster choices that would work well for Jango. At the time, though, not so much. Still, giving him pistols was better than two megaphones.

Another PT one from me…

Very lovely creation Dix! I would certainly add the overall back view that you have in your flickrstream to the first post. Seeing the entire interior is wonderful! I especially like how you've built the shop in a sort of "cross-section" way; whole on one side, broken away on the other. That is great!

Wonderful work as always Matn. I knew you'd have a great entry for this contest. The whole thing really looks terrific. I always love seeing your irregular bases; they turn the whole creation into a sort of vignette, which is wonderful. Like the others above, I'm sure your well under 1000, but that's absolutely fine. The shack is superb as is. Ogden isn't quite in the swimsuit as described in the book, but he certainly fits in with the film look this way. Your Morfin is great as well.

No. Anywhere within the continental U.S. should be the same shipping for you. I regularly order from the West Coast and I live on the East Coast, and it still usually only takes about two to three days to get here after it's been shipped. I don't think it would necessarily be much faster even if it was mailed in your state. I've recently had great experiences with Plastic Bricks Direct and Snowtrooper Barracks. When you buy new minifigures with headgear that comes in the separate little baggies from Plastic Bricks Direct, they ship it still sealed in the bag! And the same goes to cloth accessories as well. Truly a wonderful store.

Yeah… so I'd take everything in that article with a big grain of salt.

You mean, when you make a terrible movie, you start having ideas for more potentially terrible movies? Although I don't think that source seems very credible, if the info is true it doesn't sound all that surprising. The Matrix is totally the sort of thing that the film companies would want to do more of in this 3D-crazed era. Since only the first Matrix really holds up in its entirety with out being weighed down by overbearing nonsense and that sort of overblown dialogue that the Frenchman is given (among everyone else), I have a feeling that any more sequels would be even worse duds. They'd probably sell tickets, though, so what do the production houses care?

Obi-Wan's beard was certainly a bit different, but I don't know about Anakin. Both of their hair is a little less "plasticy" in their redesigns as well, although now Anakin just sort of looks like he is wearing pudding on his head.

I really like what you've got so far JB! The cellar looks awesome, and I really wasn't expecting it to open up the way that it does. It looks like it's going to be pretty difficult to get the interior integrated in there, but I'm sure you have some planned way to do it. Although the opening technique is great, I'd say scrap it if you have to in favor of a full interior, but I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Yeah, Tiin was basically the "new ship" of this past episode. Since they didn't actually throw in any feasible new ships to be made into toys, they put in new characters for a second so that they can move some action figures. Same goes for the Commandos as well. They served absolutely no purpose in the episode other than to be made into CW merchandise and make a few fans happy to see them.

Maybe they can erase Obi-Wan's memory of it, just like that little "fix" that they did for C-3PO at the end of Episode III.

Really? I actually think BB was better than TDK. TDK had several big problems for me, such as Gotham completely changed from the first film to almost completely resemble Chicago, and the film not being edited quite as much as I thought it should have been. I think it was really much more drawn out and longer at times than it needed to be, especially during the final scene of the Joker hanging upside down. When I saw the film in a theater for the second time, that scene really seemed to go on too long. It still was a very good film, but I think that BB was just a bit better overall, especially because of the completely unrealistic look of Gotham in BB. I get a bit bothered when continuity can't be kept in a series, and I think the extremely gloomy Gotham in BB worked much better than the comparatively light and Chicago-y one in TDK. We'll see what it looks like this time around.

I believe what he is trying to say is that there was nobody that cared about Maul, so who helped him "get back together?" For Anakin, there was immediate help both times; the first time because there were a ton of Clones and Jedi around to get him immediate treatment, and the second time because the Emperor came in and rescued him quite quickly. Although people have a valid point that Savaage seemed too strong, him being that strong against the Jedi is ok in my mind. Yes, it's somewhat stupid, but even in the films you get the feeling that the Jedi always expect their opponents to fight in a civilized way and not with brute force. It doesn't seem all that "unrealistic" that they could be caught by surprise by people who fight in a vicious, manic style. What I though was the most lame about the episode was the way Savaage couldn't stand a chance against Dooku. Every time he got up, Dooku just zapped him again. Why didn't he have the brains to block it with his lightsaber? That was really pathetic. Anakin and Obi-Wan getting crushed by that huge pedestal and then getting right back up was also ridiculous, but it's the sort of lame thing that I'm not very surprised by in the show. I don't really expect their writing and ideas to ever get any better, since the kiddies probably aren't too bothered anyhow.

I haven't heard anything about it. I think this set is not supposed to come out in the U.S. until Spring. Not being on S@H already is a good indicator of that.

Personally, no matter who the baddies are I can't wait to see how Nolan finishes up his little trilogy. He's said that this is the end of this series, so I really hope he kills off some major characters in cool way. I was very surprised to see the love interest die in the last film, but it seems she truly is dead, and I appreciate that. My dream ending for this film would be for Batman to die, leaving plans or whatever about how to save Gotham to Alfred, and then see Michael Cane take out the Bat equipment and go kick some butt. I'm sure that is not what is going to happen, and it's much more likely that Alfred would be killed dramatically at some point, but I think it would make for a stupendous ending.

Nice to see your finished MOC now. BY the way, Sirius is spelled with an i, not an e. There is one major thing that I do not understand about your MOC: When the houses fold up, do you take off both the roof and the interior of Number 12? Since that is what it looks like. I enjoy the folding up function, and it's well done, but it's considerably odd if you have to take off the interior to do so. The other thing that is a little strange in my mind is that the facades of the other two houses side by side become the side walls of Number 12. The other aspect of the MOC that is a little odd is the way you've left the interior as one huge room. I like all of the details on the floor, but it would be much better with some sort of second story. Of course it does not have to match the film building in any way, but having that cavernous room just doesn't look too good. I would also now get rid of you WIP shots, so people can get right to the entry when they open up the thread. Please don't take my comments and criticisms the wrong way. My only intent is to be helpful and honestly tell you what I think.