Clone OPatra

It's interesting to me that the extremely chained-out dragon knight only comes in the tiniest non-impulse set and possibly the castle. It looks like the dragon knight with body armor in the castle set has the same chained printing on his legs as the one in the tiny set. With all those bad-megablocks looking chains, why wouldn't he be protecting the dragon knights' own tower? I'm happy enough with the figure selections in the sets, but I think there should have been another bad-megablocks chain dragon knight in the tower. Just having two simple dragon guards does not seem enough for the Dragon Knights' only stronghold in this wave. Besides that, these sets look well-detailed and great. The dragon tower has a great forest-y feel, and wonderful color combos. I also love that beacon on top, though I'm not sure what it's for. Maybe if we eventually get a Dragon castle, that will have a beacon too. The one other thing I don't like besides the lack of a chained out Dragon Knight in the tower is the use of the oriental spears. The one just holding the flags on the tower is ok since it's just decorative, but I do not like that the Lion Knights in the castle have them to use. I think these spears do not match a medieval style well at all, and they're just too big for figures to actually attack somebody with. I would have much rathered that they have halberds, or even more normal spears. Those oriental spears just don't work, especially in a Castle theme.

Well, LEGO learned something with the Snowspeeder: when they find a good design, keep it! But the thing is, why did they really need to release the Snowspeeder again, and why did they change the colors back to orange? Not that I minded the orange, since I actually liked the 2004 version very much, but it's just a little odd. I guess I understand it, though, since they're releasing a lot of Hoth sets this year. For someone just starting to collect this year, or for a new round of kids wanting a Hoth battle setup, it makes perfect sense for LEGO to release the snowspeeder again. And it is mildly different. Basically, I contradict myself. It's basically that same old argument: for someone who already has the old version, why would they want to shell out extra money for Hoth Luke and a Wampa for another annoying Snowspeeder. But from the other perspective, it makes perfect sense to add in a Snowpeeder somewhere. It would've been nice if they'd added another stock pilot though, even if only Zev was in the scene. Or Han, since he would fit in too.

Thanks for the pictures. It's nice to finally see the "function" in this Jedi Starfighter; it seems the pilot gets ejected this time. I also noticed that Luke's lightsaber looks chrome on the box. All of the other lightsabers on the other boxes seem to be the normal metallic color, but his is definetly shinier in the picture. Have you put the Wampa set together yet, so can you confirm if that is right?

I'm sorry, Eurobricks is not the place for life advice, and we do not want it here. Thanks.

Eh, that's going to be hard. The cinematography and makeup were absolutely smashing; I don't think you could ask for anything more than "on the same level." I omitted "character lines" from my quote of the post since some of those were a bit corny even in delivery, and some of the effects were not the best, so you could ask for better in that area too. But cinematography and makeup, I'm not sure what would be 'better' than the in the Trilogy.

Nice classic feel. Simple, of course, but that in no way means "bad." Also nice to see the shortsword in the dark metallic color, and the bucket is looking like a wonderful addition to the helmet possibilities. Although they are quite stereotyped, I actually like that about the head choices. Why is the good guy so happy when being attacked by an angry guy in an insane amount of chains? Who cares, that gives it a toyish feel. Good guys are happy, bad guys are angry, and that's the way it should be, kids. Just because it doesn't have orcs and skellies doesn't mean it isn't fantasy.

Well, I think that since this discussion is actually about the planned The Hobbit movie and it's sequel, I should change the title to reflect that. Personally, I am excited for this movie (if they ever start filming it, but I'm sure they will eventually). Yes, Peter Jackson is not directing it, but I have full faith that Guillermo del Toro can make an awesome Hobbit movie. Well, I think he can make an awesome any movie, but I mean to say that I think he can certainly make a Hobbit movie on par with the stunning LOTR trilogy films. Now, about that planned sequel, I'll bet that would be pretty good too. Jackson and del Toro are penning both films, and both are darn good screen-writers, so I bet they can come up with something nice that shows some time between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. Luckily for me, I've never read the LOTR novels (only The Hobbit), so I can't get insulted or angry if this invented gap film does not follow what I know of the LOTR universe. By this, I am not trying to insult any fans of the LOTR universe. I myself get a bit annoyed when the filmmakers of the Harry Potter films do things that go against my knowledge of the books (same with the Clone Wars tv show in relation to the SW universe), and I'm sure I would feel the same way if this gap film did go against my knowledge of the LOTR universe. But, since I have no knowledge of the LOTR universe past the films and The Hobbit novel, I might be able to enjoy the film better.

Lovely comic def! I really love your hair, with the three spikes. Did you actually wear it like that then? I've always thought of Toys R Us as a form of hell, turning the purchasing of toys into a big conglomerate enterprise. I'd love to shop at small, local toys stores more often, but hey, the biggies always have the LEGO (at least TRU does, anyway). Do you have more comics like this? It reminds me of American Splendor.

Yes. Well, truly all I've ever worked on is two monitors, but I'm pretty sure you could go up to three.

Hello lego 40k. It has been 11 days since your original post, and nobody has replied. Please do not keep bumping this topic unless somebody else actually posts first. We do not want logs of people's videos here, even if they are LEGO related. You can add a link to your youtube channel in the first post if you want to, but after that please stopping bumping this topic. Thanks for your understanding.

Well, at least looking at your pics Just2Good it seems that the bowler will be a separate piece, since Hamm in the non-train set has a stud on his head (I think). Still, seeing the characters up close make me not like this line more. Honestly, Toy Story LEGO sounds nice, but the two are just not compatible without compromising on one end. The Toy Story characters just do not fit with LEGO for the most part. If LEGO has to make this many uniquely molded characters to make any line happen, I'd rather they didn't do it. Characters should always be minifigures, not all of these separate molds.

You never cease to amaze, Svelte! Great parts usages all around here: the Fabuland (I think) bags on the camel, the celebration Luke torso on the mother, to name two. If there are stairs, is there any interior? Why is Tamina just watching up above instead of traveling with Dastan? And why did Dastan take his shirt off again?

Thanks for your responses, everyone. This truly is a great set. There were a few questions asked over the five pages, and I may go through and try to answer all of them at some point. For now, I will say that everything is great quality, no issues or anything like that, and the new sand dark orange bricks don't actually have any different shades - they're all about the same color. Also, the axes are NOT any taller. They are clearly a re-mould of the old axe piece (since they have a new weird circle on one side), but they are the exact same dimensions as the old axe.

New one: "Nipple-phobe!" because I posted something about Dastan's LEGO abs in the Ostrich Race review. I think it was Shadows.

Now even LEGO is selling the Prince of Persia sets, but before I knew that I was heartily surprised to receive… Set Title: Battle of Alamut Set #: 7573 Theme: Prince of Persia Sands of Time Pieces: 821 Minifigures: 7 Camels: 1 Year of Release: 2010 Price at Release: $80 INTRO From the time I saw the prelims of this set, I thought it looked awesome. The price, though, was higher than I usually spend on a single LEGO set, so I became resolved to read the reviews and look at the pictures and never have it myself. This week, I had to go to the hospital for a few days. And, as a get well present, I received this set. I can tell you it certainly helped me get on my way to becoming well. INSTRUCTIONS I have the box, but I honestly don't think it's the most important thing and it's too big for my studio setup right now anyway. I might add box pics later. Anyway, you get two pretty thick booklets. Mine were bent terribly, as it seemed as if someone jammed them into the box after all the bags had already gone in. If you thought the new WIN add was annoying enough on a small set, you've got something not to look forward to: that kid blown up to big size! Luckily, I hid it away with the back of the second booklet. The inside pages just have some sand lines on tan, a good choice for the theme. Black and dark bley distinction is really bad (what looks like dark bley on this page represent black), but none of the seven numbered bags had one piece in both black and dark bley, so it's not too hard to figure it out. PARTS To build a castle, you need bricks, lots of bricks. And so LEGO gives you lots of bricks, and lots of plates too. Here are two new pieces (I forgot to show the new catapult, but I got it up-close later). Both of these are in Grand Emporium too, I believe, but not in these colors. That's right, that arch piece is in the all new orangy color. I would call it sand dark orange, since it's just a lighter shade of the dark orange found in such sets as the Indian Orient Expedition ones. What surprised me was the new door. Like the new windows, LEGO has switched over from snapping hooks to standard clips. The new door is also taller, as you can see. The new door also has a different, but very nice look from the back, whereas the old one was pretty yucky. These are all the extras after the build. That's right, they give you an extra Dagger of Time and two extra claw accessories! MINIFIGURES I like nice parts, but my real favorite is nice minifigures. Oh, how nice these seven are! First, here are (from left to right) Dastan, Seso, and Alamut Guards. That guard on the left has a face similar to Bruce Wayne, but new. All of these are splendid, and I especially love getting another dark character to add to the African-lineage population of minifigs. The backs are not left out! I've turned Dastan's hair around so you can see his alternate expression. That katana holder is so nice. The named Baddies also sport excellent printing. According to the box (not the LEGO catalog), these guys are named (left to right) Gool, Nizam, and Tamah. I love Nizam and Tamah, and while I love Gool's upper body, it kind of seemed to me he showed up to the fight in blue jeans. That's my only gripe with any of these figures. The Baddies' back printing would make great front printing too; oh, the possibilities. If you'd like a better look at the intricate dark blue on Tamah's back, click (it's quite large). To get a better look at his stubble and intricately detailed front, here's Tamah with his hat off. ACCESSORIES Preparing for the titular battle, the minfigures grab their weapons. Don't know where that axe that Nizam is holding came from? You'll just have to read on… Yes, that katana is slightly different from the old one. Dastan still sports the old one on the box, but it's got a squarer base where the old one was octagonal. CAMEL Fresh out of one of those Chinese factory bags comes the all new LEGO camel, in tan. It's a lovely new addition the LEGO animal kingdom, and I appreciate that while the head has molded detail, the camel is simpler on both sides just like the horse. From front and back, the camel looks quite cute. Those split toes are an excellent detail. SET The build is pretty uninteresting, without any unusual techniques. You just build it up in sections, across seven bags. Building up means a lot of pieces, which gives this set its gracious piece count of 820. It's modular, so I'll show it to you in parts first. Crossbow-thingy Remember the original flick-fire missiles in the Batman sets, the ones that had no grab, fell out constantly, and barely worked? They're back! I really have no idea what this cart represents in real fictional life, so I guess it will reming a mystery until the movie comes out. It does somewhat level the odds between the two good guys and five bad guys, I suppose. Gateway With all the pieces in this single part, and the completed look of it, I could see LEGO releasing this separately as "Gateway of Alamut." How nice of them not to. The gateway looks quite imposing, even if the doors don't come together (the one problem). It gives off a superb Middle-Eastern vibe, especially with those white columns. Also note, the fire in this set is back to the old trans orange fire color, as opposed to the newer one that LEGO has been using for a few years. I'm not sure how to describe that too well. The inside is pretty plain, though the new doors look great. But what are those hinges up above? Aha, the guards can pour hot oil on intruders! (I didn't make it up, it's in the catalog.) Then there are two of the new short catapult piece to fire at approaching enemies. I tried these, and they work quite well. Right Wall From the box I thought the color scheme of the walls was a bit of mess, but it's grown on me a lot. The solid white acts as a nice smooth base, while the rest reminds me of mud and sandy stone on top. The horns would stop Dastan from running up those studs too fast. The inside is a bit yukkier, and I was quite perplexed by those technic pieces with tiles on them, since I have no idea what they could be. I didn't expect any detail here, though. I'm sure you've noticed the moveable tiles in the walls. Depending on how you put them, Gool can either come down on the inside of the wall… …or the outside. Left Wall This one looks very similar, but without the steps. Don't worry, there's a play feature here too. The inside here is extremely bland, as is too be expected. But what if Dastan decides to run on the wrong wall segment? Bam, the guard can knock it out. Palace Now the real goodies: the main palace! So much to take in: steps, arches, gold domes… Beautiful! This back view reveals some features I certainly wasn't aware of from the box. On the first floor, there are pedestals with some lovely gold work. In the middle, on a lovely circular base that reminds me of a well, there's a ruby. But that's not just a ruby, it's a hiding spot for the Dagger of Time! On the second floor, there is the arms holder where that axe came from. Funny it wasn't shown on the box. And a cramped throne room, for Nizam I suppose. Nizam can overlook Alamut well from the balcony. COMPLETED SET Time to put the section together to create a thing of real beauty! (Note, I took too many pictures for this section. To peruse them all, check my Flickr set) The palace part is obviously not as high up as on the box (where it is raised), but from this perspective you can still tell it's nice and tall. The set looks quite exciting from the front. Putting you in Dastan's shoes, here's what you'll see when trying to get in through the front. Pretty straight on from the side, you can tell the walls protect Alamut well. It doesn't look too easy to get over those. The majesty of this set, though, is really best shown looking a bit down on it so you get a view of it all. I originally had some reservation about the color scheme, but looking at the set complete in person makes me love it. The palace's colors are pure and flawless, while the courtyard walls look a bit dirtier, creating an excellent effect. Viewing from the other side, Alamut it once again magnificent. Truly an unparalleled set in styling. CONCLUSION Looking back over LEGO's history, I think that its very best Castles are the ones that don't come out of the Castle line. The Orient Expedition line yielded the great Chinese palace I could imagine, and the Indian Palace was wonderful as well. And now here's a new, Persian-ish styled palace that blows castles like King's Castle Siege out of the water. This year, it seems like Prince of Persia is the theme that is obviously replacing Indiana Jones. While I liked the Indy line and got just the few sets from it that especially peaked my interest, the one thing that it didn't have going for it was excellent non-vehicle sets. Seems like LEGO made up for that now, with the PoP line based completely on playsets. PoP is certainly a better license choice than Speed Racer, but even if, against all odds, the movie does flop, we'll have at least been blessed with the Alamut. RATINGS Minifigures: 9.9/10 - An odd rating, but Gool's blue jeans do tick me off .1. Everything else about these guys is brilliant! Parts: 10/10 - So many bricks? So much new sand dark orange? Gold domes? I'll take it! Build: 8.5/10 - Nothing too exciting, and there were a few of those dreaded 2X's. It took a nice long time. Price: 10/10 - $80 for 821 pieces? YES! Playability: 10/10 - Stuff to flick, and you can run up the walls. Really, for AFOLs playability might mean looking at the thing on the shelf, and so Alamut is a winner. Overall: 9.7/10 - Though I got it as a present, I definitely should have gotten it as a present to myself had I not. I would suggest that you should too. And remember, you get a LEGO camel!

Honestly, by saying that you are being rude. Reading his post carefully, you will find that he mentioned one example of an animal that will be extinct from over hunting: the do-do bird. He did not say that all hunting is bad, and there was no personal attack on hunters, it's just that in his opinion certain species will and have become extinct from over hunting. It is also a valid opinion to say that some animals may become extinct from a combination of deforestation and over hunting, which he also suggest in his posts. Please do not "kindly suggest" that someone edit their post. Please assume that every post made by every person was thought out and read over as every post is supposed to be, and read over posts yourself if you disagree with them at first glance. I can see that the issues discussed in this thread are very touchy, so please everyone make sure you do not seem argumentative in any way. If you blatantly disagree with someone but can't think of much to say further than "no way," just don't post.

I know this was posted yesterday (so long ago), but I'd still like to reply. If I remember correctly, the Endor set wasn't in the January US catalog either. Similarly, I recall completely that 7666 Hoth Door with More only appeared in one US catalog, but was still around for several months, though not too long. Still, Big Cam, I'd not wait any longer to order or go to a store and buy the Endor set. It's nearing a year since its release, and as a well-selling set it may not be available much longer. Just go buy it and put your mind at ease.

I got Battle For Alamut today. It came from a TRU, at the correct US price of $80.

Because he was dead. I think LEGO didn't want to be distasteful and throw in a dead or even still alive Cedirc and then say "Can Harry and Cedric stop Voldemort?" It just wouldn't have made sense. From the pictures, I really don't think Dumbledore's torso is new. But maybe I will be surprised. An alternate expression for him would be great, and seeing how much detail LEGO has put in to all the other figures I think it is definitely possible. Still, I think it would have been nice if Dumbledore had gotten more a a makeover, since he is a major character whose figure has remained not too different since the original sets (different outfit, that's it).

Wow, I would notice that at all. That Clone armor is really weird the way it "locks together. Especially on the Jedi, where it looks like Obi-Wan is going to poke somebody.

Well, I watched the episode, and yeah, it wasn't very good. Still, I'm not sure I agree with the criticism of it that I've read hear. Some say it was not Star Wars-y. Well, what is Star Wars-y? Does it have to be Jedi or Clones or a lot of running around? This reminded me somewhat of the deleted scenes on EpIII with Padme and the others talking about their feelings on the war. It's nice to see the senators actually do something, and that there's a police force on Coruscant. Other criticism has been that it was boring and obvious. Yes, I agree with that, but I still don't find this more boring and obvious then a whole bunch of other Episodes. The episode with Ahsoka chasing around that bad lady through Coruscant? Totally boring and obvious. For myself, I have to accept that at least a third if not more like a half of the episodes are going to be extremely boring and obvious. I will agree that the inspector sucked big time. Maybe the kiddies will like him, but he was just so awful that I kind of thought he was the bad guy along with the Rodian. I like Jar Jar, but this guy was an extremely low dip. And then there's the everlasting problem of some of the characters rendered so despicably ugly. I thought Mon Mothma looked good, actually, but Padme is always so horrendous to watch, and that Kaminoan senator was so much worse than necessary. The Kaminoans in EpII are weird looking, but they're not that ugly. And what's with the creators' obsession with old people with canes? Why did she have to be such an old hag? She could've been upright and good-enough looking, and still give off an evil presence and be counter to the "good guys'" wishes. The ugly art is an ongoing problem that I don't think will ever be fixed, since someone must like it that way.

Based on the five digit number with a bunch of zeroes, it will likely be a Brickmaster set in the U.S. Otherwise, it is some sort of other promotion, but not an impulse. Impulse sets always have normal numbers, and there's never been a licensed impulse yet anyhow, only small promotionals.

I very much agree with you about this, to a certain degree. Depending on how long it's been since I've played Mario last, it certainly can be boring or not boring at all if it's been a long time. Also, sometimes in certain Mario games it comes up that one jump that's hard to make but I know I can do it, so I get addicted until I've finally beaten the level. On the other hand, there are times that something comes up and I die so many times that I get frustrated instead and quit. Still, with the huge variety of Mario games, it is hard to get bored depending on which one you're playing. And that's one thing I really love about Mario, that there are many different versions with different powers and different elements of gameplay.

Where did you find episode 15 Senate Murders? I thought that didn't air until March 19th.

Ooh, three nice trucks, thanks LEGO! The Pizza Planet truck seems simply the best figure-wise. It's not too big of a set, but comes with Rex, Hamm, and an Alien! And another Buzz of course. Still, I'm sure the figures are odd and chinese, but it might just be too tempting.