Clone OPatra

More new, very crisp pics in FBTB's photostream. Check it out, everything looks as expected so far.

Oh, maybe that thing above Voldemort is the vanishing cabinet. Maybe? Eh, who cares really…

I'm not sure why the Burrow shouldn't be dark. Here's a picture from one of the films: It looks pretty dark even in the daylight, so I think LEGO's color match the film well. It looks like Ginny has a reversible head, since she definitely looks angry in the train picture while she looks happy in the Burrow picture. I don't remember when Ginny ever got very angry, but it's still nice. Voldemort looks like he's standing in a closet. And I still don't understand what that locked case on the floor above him is. In time, all must be revealed.

I think I just died and went to heaven, and then came back to buy all these sets. Now seeing the figures up close, the Burrow set transcends words. We all thought HP was dead dead dead, and now… even if it is only this wave, it is still so spectacular.

I don't think so. TS3 sets come out in the spring, since the movie comes out in June. HP sets don't come out until October, according to the Toy Fair cards anyway. That's a big gap between the two themes.

I was thinking the same thing about 3po. Perhaps some part of the base is included along with the walker, so that Han and 3po can run around just like in the movie? That would be nice. I find it amusing that the AT-AT also has the exact same figures as the battlepack (plus more, of course). That General Veers is just the guy from the pack, I think.

Here's the folder.

Huh? Are you planning on buying 203 of them Penguin? I'm not sure I could even imagine that, that would just be weird.

With the exclusion of Dobby's release and Hagrid's hut, I don't really feel that these are all that rehashed. Yes, there was a Quidditch set before, but this one feels more like a match since it comes with the team captains, and the stand is a bit different. A bit similar to the old one, but Quidditch is an important part of the books, so it's more like a new Quidditch set to me rather than a rehash of the olds one. The train actually looks different, comes with new figures, and a newly modeled car which never came with it before. Of course they need to make a train again since that appears in most movies and plenty of fans might have missed out on the previous ones. I think with the characters and included models significantly different than any previous trains, it's not such a rehash. The Castle is another new Castle, yes, though not the same as any one other before. It has a great hall this time, plus Dumbledore's office and a bunch of other rooms. Also, it comes with at least two figures that never appeared in any form before, which makes it different. This Castle does not remind me in look much of any of the other ones, so it seems more like a new thing than a rehash to me. And of course the Burrow was never done before at all, so that isn't a rehash. Though Hagrid's Hut does seem awfully similar to previous versions, I can see why it needs to be here. This wave of HP sets is mostly of iconic HP stuff, so it's quite necessary to have Hagrid's hut and his three best palls and Aragog with it. Really, Dobby's Release (or "Freeing Dobby" as the new box says) is the only sore thumb. Releasing Dobby wasn't so iconic, to me anyway, so it's odd that LEGO decided to rehash that. And that set is completely a rehash. But oh well, it's nice to get something small. The only thing I really am disappointed about is LEGO sticking with the old wands. Those bars are far, far too big for wands, and I really wished they'd make a new smaller mold with a little handle like is in the video game preview. Oh well.

I think the castle set is shown off well in this picture: The building looks good, and the courtyard itself is not too cramped. I especially like that the building is raised off the ground with stairs leading up to it, it gives it a majestic feel I think. Of all the PoP sets, this one looks best to me since it really captures a middle-eastern feel and is the best for the set. All of the sets come with nice figures, but this one comes with a beautiful set as well.

The diary is in the set. The book is both on the box and laying there next to the built model. It's just a brown aviator helmet. I suppose you meant the old Hoth trooper helmet (not the Battlepack one), though that piece has been around since the first Adventurers line. I love that the Quidditch set is year one themed. If it wasn't year one, we'd probably be getting another Ginny, and that would be unnecessary I think. The figures choice is superb!

Yes, more Commandos, and one of them is printed! Oh, that speeder set is going to be so nice because of it's figures.

Good spot on the suit of armor. I don't think that Draco comes with the set, which is kind of funny since it leaves an empty Slytherin common room (I think the room on the bottom floor with the green chairs and snakes in the Slytherin common room.) I'd like to know what that room with handcuffs under the astronomy tower is. The Hogwarts jail? I don't get it… Overall, though, this seems like the most detailed castle yet. So much food, newspapers, paintings on the walls, not to mention all of the new exclusive figures. Do we really have to wait until October?

I don't know, I think the Castle looks pretty big. And it has tons of new figures. $130 seems about the price LEGO would put on such a thing these days. I'm sure it also has some features that we're not seeing here, which give it a good amount of pieces. I'm sure the train will not be $40. The $80 seems about right for LEGO's prices nowadays. It does have 646 pieces according to the box, and Luna. Not a stellar price, but what we can expect. Frankly, I'm surprised the Burrow isn't more, since that set comes with tons of new figures and a nicely sized house. $60 seems like a real steal for such a nice set.

Aayla has sweet back printing, but still no good shot of Bane's face! Also, I think the Wampa officially looks spectacular. No Teddy Bear here, and the left arm is for picking up Luke. Fierce and sweet.

Oh, that's right. Was that in the movie though, or only the book? I think I've got to rewatch the first few films now. But really, mixing stuff doesn't matter to me, since the outcome is tons of new awesome figs!

Well, the invisibility cloak is in every movie, so it's not really out of place. Luna and Flying car, though, is completely mixed up.

I find it funny that some of the sets actually mix the movies in the set. The train has Luna, who didn't appear until five (and not on the train in the movies until six), and it also has the flying car from Two. I don't care, since it's awesome to get Luna and a car, it's just funny. The other sets seem mostly one movie specific. It's so cool to get actually named Oliver Wood and Marcus Flint minifigures in the Quidditch set. So cool!

I don't think Ron is in the Castle. Looking at the pic that shows the Castle box best, it seems the Castle comes with Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, Snape, Trelawney, Flitwick, Filtch, 2 Dementors, and Mcgonagall. A good haul even without Ron, and he comes in a lot of other sets anyway. Though I could be wrong about some of those figures, since the boxes are all very preliminary.

I think you're right, though I'm not so sure who that girl figure is. This picture clearly shows there are five figures in the set: Harry, Ron, Luna, Draco, and is the last one Ginny or Hermione? I think it's Ginny, so yes, no Hermione in the train.

Sooner, it starts at 10:00. Oh joy.

This theme wasn't really that short term. It did have three waves, which is pretty good for a non-evergreen theme, plus some of those sets were exclusives and there were a lot of sets overall, unlike Aqua-raiders which had basically just one wave with a handful of sets. These sets will probably still be on shelves a little while too, even though new ones may not be produced. For a non-evergreen theme, it seems to me that Power Miners had a good run.

Hmm, gotta disagree with you on that. First of all, it seemed way too long to me, and didn't need to be that 2 1/2 hours that you mention. During the long montages of him assimilating with the culture I was actually bored, thinking "where the heck is this going," "why the heck is this important," and "why the heck don't they cut to the chase." And I also can't say it did the job better than a lot of films, since I see a lot of films and of the B fare or sci-fi movies Avatar left me majorly unimpressed. To me it is a problem when a movie falls apart at even the most basic level of thinking about the plot. Yes, some things you have to take for granted, or you could never watch any Sci-Fi or vampire movies or anything of the like. But I've seen plenty of action/adventure or sci-fi movies this year that stand up much better than Avatar. To name two, Star Trek and (a movie I saw just today) The Wolfman. Both of these films have glorious scenery and cinematography. The new Star Trek has frankly the most gorgeous space battles I have ever seen, as well as beautiful planets and effects. Even the main bridge was a beautiful set with all of its white gleam. I fully believe that even though Star Trek did not spend years and years developing its CG it looks just as gorgeous as Avatar. Then, putting the plot under just a bit of scrutiny, Star Trek holds up while Avatar blasts apart. Even with its weird time warp old Spock stuff Star Trek basically makes sense and doesn't have much unnecessary stuff (other that chase on the Ice planet), and it has a whole lot of strong, developing characters. So both films have great effects, but one has so little else going for it that what really is the point? I'll also briefly compare Avatar to The Wolfman, though these films do not share a genre, and Wolfman is quite new so most of you probably won't know what I'm talking about. Wolfman is set in Victorian England, as as such it has lots of nice shots of olds manors and little towns and hills and forest. Landscapes that are just as nice to flying mountains and blue plants, to my eye anyway. The plot and characters are a bit hokey, what with galavanting werewolves and Scotland Yard inspectors and a distressed damsel, but they have some emotion and you can't read the whole thing at first glance. The movie also even has a slow pace, unlike Avatar which wants to have a fast pace but then gets bogged down in a slow pace that it shakes off later. But, even with a slow pace and hokey stuff going on, the plot can't be riddled with wholes too easily. What goes on makes sense, and there aren't any of the "Why didn't they do that yet, what's taking them so long" moments. So many times in Avatar, I thought "Why are the humans not just attacking yet, you know they're going to anyway" and similar queries. And I also got slightly bored in the middle. So, all in all, even though it was top-of-the-line eye candy, if there are other equally nice looking movies whose plots don't fall to pieces on the slightest touch, then this movie did not do a good job even at what it is.

I wouldn't count on it. The parts in these packs come from an outsourced company in China. They don't come from the same place that parts in normal sets come from, so I think it's unlikely that these "copy" moulds will appear in the regular sets. As yet, normal parts from the Chinese company have not gone into normal sets, except for certain things like the Jester hat, cow, Taun-Taun, etc. I'd always heard they were $2. That's not such a bad price, but I hope TRU won't decide it can mark that up too. That means a whole case is only $120. So what'll it be, the Clone Turbo Tank, or 60 minifigures? Hmmm, the hard decisions in life…

Well, just watched the latest episode, and while it was an ok end to the three-part-story, I was still left a bit disappointed. Where was the disappointment? Well, like was already said, that Mando assassin sucked at his job. He could've taken down the duchess and the informer about ten times, but he has to change positions, slowly set it up, etc. And then, they have a whole Mando army ready to go, but oh well, they can't use it. So now what for Death Watch? It looks like they're just going to disband, on to some other Clone Wars story. Which is ok, since an army of Mandos doesn't really make sense to me anyway, but it still seemed like a lame cop-out in the story line, like so many other things in the CW. But hey, it's just a kid's show, what can you expect? As long as they don't have another Lightsaber Lost like episode, it's still good enough for me most of the time.