Clone OPatra

You seem to want to ignore the Mod requests too given that you replied to that comment. You're not a Mod. Anyone else continue any part of this off-topic discussion and I'll lock this thread.

This topic started off with interesting subject matter and totally derailed. Yes, Eurobricks has always been fine with discussion of third-party produced parts that are made in good faith to enhance LEGO. We are not cool with bootleg parts that copy LEGO's designs and have shut down such discussions in the past. No one need discuss or speculate Eurobricks' obligations when it comes to our RLOC status. EB's staff and ambassador know what our obligations are. (And for those paying attention, we do still get a support package which we are trying our best to use as contest prizes for the benefit of our EB community). If people would like to get back to actually discussing what it's like without castle themes, maybe we can give this topic one more chance before we have to lock it.

Eurobricks' Holiday Gift Guide 2022 In the vein of our Revember reviewing bonanza last year, this year Eurobricks is bringing you a suite of reviews with an eye toward gift giving. Over the next five weeks, Star Wars Moderator @MKJoshA and Licensed Moderator @Clone OPatra (that's me) will be reviewing ten currently available sets across a range of themes and prices, though primarily ones in the kid-oriented side of LEGO. Look out for a new review from me each Monday and MKJoshA each Friday. We'll collect the reviews as they're posted in this topic, below. Let us know what you think of our opinions - agree, disagree, or somewhere in between. Thank you to LEGO for providing these sets at our request (besides the last set I'll be reviewing, which I paid for myself ) _____________________________________ 76400 Hogwarts Carriage and Thestrals by Clone OPatra 60299 Stunt Competition by MKJoshA 76912 Fast & Furious 1970 Dodge Charger by Clone OPatra 75333 Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Starfighter by MKJoshA 60347 Grocery Store by Clone OPatra 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck by MKJoshA 75336 Inquisitor Scythe Transport by Clone OPatra 75335 BD-1 by MKJoshA 76403 The Ministry of Magic and 76408 12 Grimmauld Place by Clone OPatra

It's not everyday you find a USD $20 set with an identity crisis. These days, that price point will barely give you one thing let alone multiple things that don't get along. But an identity crisis is exactly what we get in: SET INFORMATIONNumber: 76400Name: Hogwarts Carriage and ThestralsTheme: Wizarding WorldReleased: 2022Part Count: 121 Minifigures: 2Set Price (RRP): 19.99 EUR / 17.99 GBP / 32.99 AUD / 19.99 USD / 24.99 CADLinks: Brickset, Bricklink INTRODUCTIONWe're going to get right into this. No box pics. No fluff. It's a small set and it is what it is. But what it is is two different things from two different scenes. We have the Thestral-borne carriage that takes 2+ Years to Hogwarts on one hand, and a representation of that weird scene where Luna is feeding a baby Thestral for some reason on the other. Do the two make for a natural pairing? Possibly. Does the pairing work? Let's find out. Thank you to LEGO for providing this set at Eurobricks' request. THE MINIFIGURESAs always I appreciate the Harry Potter team's dedication to providing ultra-specific, scene accurate Minifigures. Harry with added blue jacket and Luna in her lavender cardigan with shoulder bag perfectly match the scene where she feeds the baby Thestral (film colour-grading notwithstanding). We certainly didn't need these two variants, but they are nice. Something extra for a contingent of Gryffindors, and a multi-purpose torso from Luna. Apart from the torsos, everything else has been seen before. They include all of the accessories necessary for the scene: the shoulder bag recoloured into dark blue, an apple that the baby Thestral doesn't want, a dark red 1x1 to be the piece of meat that the baby Thestral does want, wands because every Wizard always needs a wand, and the Quibbler thrown in for Luna's introduction on the carriage (though of course her outfit doesn't match that scene). THE THESTRALSMama Thestral remains unchanged from 75951 Grindelwald's Escape, where it was introduced, while baby Thestral is brand new. The big one has a good creepy look and imposing stature, though it is a shame that it has zero articulation for the mould itself. Yes you can flap the added on wings, but that's it. The baby Thestral looks cute with its weeny little wings moulded right on. I have no complaints with the piece LEGO has created, but my nagging question is: did anyone really want this? Did anyone find the Harry Potter line sorely lacking one? It is cool to get, the mould is well done, but out of all the things this line still needs, this one feels like an odd choice. Even a new Grim within this very wave would have been a better use of a creature mould. THE TREE SCENELEGO loves little trees when they can't think of anything else. It's nothing new. Way back in my review of 4865 The Forbidden Forest eleven years ago, I deemed 2011 to be the year of the tree. At least that set went with dark shades for a spooky look. This set goes for brighter shades that don't convey the look of the forest in the slightest. It's also so darn small that the lowest branch only barely clears Harry's head, unlike all of the extremely tall trees in the film. While the attention to screen accuracy in the figures, accessories and Thestral gives the sense that real care went into recreating this scene, the tree fails. THE CARRIAGE SCENE Finally we come to the carriage, and it succeeds! Of course it's a tad too large as LEGO's renditions of small vehicles tend to be, but it has good detail all around and scales with the Thestral well enough. The carriage has plenty of space to seat four characters like it does in the film, plus has pleasant details like an opening door at the rear and a nod towards a staircase down to the ground. It works from all angles. In fact, with the carriage hitched up to the Thestral and two figures atop it, this looks like a complete $10-$15 set. THE (ACTUAL) COMPLETE SET Unfortunately, the set had to go ahead and include the tree scene. Not only does the tree not look great by itself - it looks ludicrous next to the carriage, which absolutely dwarfs it. Maybe the real purpose of the tree is to stage the scene where Harry (and co, mostly not included) flies off to the Ministry, but that's a tongue-in-cheek stretch. CONCLUSION If it wasn't already clear, 76400 Hogwarts Carriage and Thestrals is a half-good set that gets mired with its lousy half. The adult Thestral is good (though sadly lacking articulation) and the carriage is good. The baby Thestral is cute but didn't need to exist, especially before other stuff like a proper Grim or Fang. The tree sucks. Honestly if the set simply lost the tree and baby Thestral and went for USD $15, I'd call it a great set. If it had to stick to $20, throw in another adult Thestral (people can use more than one anyway), and another minifigure, and you've got a better package than this set. There's still ok value with what you DO get here, but a lackluster overall experience. SCOREHow do I rate this set? 8 MINIFIGURES They have good attention to detail and provide a couple of new prints. Nothing amazing or super desirable though. 7 PIECES There's nothing spectacular about the pieces included, besides the Thestrals themselves and a couple of small accessories. The totally static nature of the adult Thestral lets it down a bit though. 6 DESIGN I really have to go harsh on this one. The points it earns for design are all for the carriage, and the points it loses are for the tree, which is disinteresting and doesn't match the source material or the rest of the set. 9 PLAYABILITY To be fair to the set, there's plenty to do with what's included and plenty to play around with. 7 PRICE The price of $20 is to be expected of a set with the two moulded creatures, but it feels a tad high especially because the tree is such a throwaway build. For a slight discount, it would be ok. 7.4 OVERALL - A set with some good aspects, but that has been padded to meet its price point and winds up including two scenes and builds that don't go together at all. GIFT GUIDEWith the holiday gift-giving season coming up, does 76400 make a good gift compared to other sets at its price point? Looking through the 20 USD/EUR and below sets on LEGO.com, $20 in many other themes will get you at least one more minifigure and/or a more substantial build. Within the Harry Potter line, 76386 Polyjuice Potion Mistake is vastly superior. For a kid... the play value here is ok, but not stupendous. If they like Harry Potter and don't yet have a Thestral, it's a worthwhile thing to get, and they might not mind the silly size of the tree as much as I do. That said, kids are discerning too. For an AFOL... the minifigures have a couple of new prints, the bag is new in dark blue though available on Pick a Brick, and the baby Thestral is new. Apart from those things, there isn't much of a draw that would make this a surefire gift. For a casual LEGO fan... I wouldn't recommend this set. The scenes aren't memorable enough and there's nothing inherently charming about the set. For a Harry Potter superfan... Even to a Harry Potter superfan I wouldn't say the scenes are memorable enough to matter. Nobody would display this set to show off their love of Harry Potter and the the characters' outfits are inconsequential, so you would have to assess if this HP fan wants the Thestrals to add to their collection. If you have a friend who you just know likes Harry Potter, I wouldn't gravitate towards this set. Next Monday, it's all about family...

To play devil's advocate, you could say this about any set that is fully enclosed and has an interior. Why have a detailed interior in the modulars when most people will just sit them on a shelf to display? Etc. Some people get a kick out of a thing being in a thing even if they're hardly every going to see it. It's not actually the Genie ear piece though, it's just very similar. The Genie one has a moulded earring and the skrull one does not.

Does anyone have experience with parts in a cart that go out of stock and then come back into stock again? I have been adding parts to my basket on a rolling basis (now that the system saves it), but some have gone out of stock and hence disappeared from my basket. When/if they come back into stock, will they reappear in my basket or will I have to re find and add them?

Nice to see some more new stuff show up. Intriguingly the previously unavailable Tan France/figure skater/ blue Everyone is Awesome hair has shown up, and what I think is Ms Marvel's hair from the Spidey 4+ set with a new item number and no picture? Gives me hope for more being added in the future, including hopefully at least the hairpieces from that new Foosball set (probably like a year from now).

Votes have been cast and winners have been chosen! @Kai NRG wins first place with Detection @Nokturn with Cryptid Hunters and @Oky with Monster Racers tie for second @Four Bricks Tall wins the Minifigure Lineup category with Galen's Row Thanks to everyone for entering and voting! Winners - check your PMs.

It's hilarious that LEGO still has an Overwatch 2 section on its shop Themes page, with a picture of the minifigures from the new set to boot, but then no products on the click through. How have they not removed that by now??

Sorry you didn't make it, even with the extension! (And to be honest the entry topic was open for another day after that so I might have let it slide in). I'm keen to see what you made anyway!

18+ is a branding device, not a content rating. It's a tactic for LEGO to say "hey adults, you might like this, spend your $$$". They haven't thrown their content policies totally out of the window, but they do seem to bend things here and there. I'm just not sure Futurama is currently (or ever has been) popular enough for LEGO to make something off of it.

I have merged the topics and added the Promobricks info to the first post. Carry on.

We put LotR in Historic and Pirates of the Caribbean in Pirates because those two areas rarely get any sets from LEGO any more, and while Licensed, those themes align with their forum sections. That's where they're going to stay. The Licensed Theme forum is bloated with discussion topics because LEGO does so many Licensed themes (including little one-offs) every year. It doesn't have as many topic overall as other forums because people post fewer MOCs in here, but it does have far more active theme discussion topics. This topic will be locked now. Carry on discussing LotR in Historic Themes - and you might check out some awesome historic MOCs while you're there!

2. - 1 point 4. - 1 point 11. - 1 point

8. - 1 point 15. - 1 point 17 - 1 point

Eurobricks' Create a Theme ContestVoting now open! Help us choose the winners of our Create a Theme Contest by voting now in the Best Theme and Best Minifigure Lineup topics. There are 20 great Best Theme entries and 12 varied Best Minifigure Lineup entries. If you're just learning about the contest, you can read more about it in the original contest thread here. Be quick - voting closes on Saturday October 1st. BEST THEME voting | BEST MINIFIGURE LINEUP voting

Voting is now open! Best Theme category Best Minifigure category

Eurobricks' Create a Theme Contest Category 2 - Best Minifigure Lineup Voting Thread Time to vote for your favourite entries in the Best Minifigure Lineup category of our Create a Theme Contest. We encourage everyone to click through and look at each entry in detail when deciding on your votes. Entries have been randomized below for fairness. Voting Rules: You each have Three (3) points to award. You can award them in any combination you like, all three to one entry, two to one and one to another, or one point each to three different entries. Please state entry numbers and the amount of points you award (For example: 1 - 2 points, 7 - 1 point) Only members who joined before 1st September 2022 are eligible to vote. Contest entrants may vote, but not for their own entries. Voting closes on Saturday October 1st at approximately 8:00am EST (UTC-5). You may vote up until this topic is locked, which will be at that time approximately. Please also visit the Category 1 - Best Theme voting topic and vote there as well! 1. Medieval Village Life 2. Detection 3. Isla Mistica 4. Adventures Across Legoland 5. Fight for Gold 6. Edie and Wicker Witches 7. Monster Racers 8. StoryQuest 9. Frontier Adventure 10. Galen's Row 11. Time Adventures 12. Enchanted Forest

Eurobricks' Create a Theme Contest Category 1 - Best Theme Voting Thread Time to vote for your favourite entries in the Best Theme category of our Create a Theme Contest. For brevity we will only display one image of each entry's two sets in this topic, but we encourage everyone to click through and look at each entry in detail when deciding on your votes. Entries have been randomized below for fairness. Voting Rules: You each have Three (3) points to award. You can award them in any combination you like, all three to one entry, two to one and one to another, or one point each to three different entries. Please state entry numbers and the amount of points you award (For example: 1 - 2 points, 7 - 1 point) Only members who joined before 1st September 2022 are eligible to vote. Contest entrants may vote, but not for their own entries. Voting closes on Saturday October 1st at approximately 8:00am EST (UTC-5). You may vote up until this topic is locked, which will be at that time approximately. After you have voted here, please head over to the Category 2 - Best Minifigure Lineup voting topic and vote there as well! 1. Siegenomicon 2. Galen's Row 3. Adventures Across Legoland 4. Paladins 5. Gloam Centaurs 6. Survivors 7. Edie and Wicker Witches 8. Isla Mistica 9. Monster Racers 10. Children of the Gods 11. The Great Filter 12. Detection 13. Fight for Gold 14. Medieval Village Life 15. Cryptid Hunters 16. Enchanted Forest 17. Mission: Lazarus 18. Time's Champions 19. Frontier Adventure 20. Time Adventures

Voting will be up by about Tuesday mid-morning US time, and all will be revealed then, but it won't be too different from past EB contests with voting.

Ok, Sunday September 25th, 11:59pm PST (California time). The voting window is going to be pretty short for logistical reasons with the prizes, but it should be ok.

The contest is to create your own theme. That sentence you mentioned is simply listing LEGO's themes in a flowery, introductory way, and it concludes with the phrase "your own fresh idea". Unless it's too blatantly obvious what existing themes you have used given your builds, I'd suggest you alter whatever descriptions you had planned, and present them as an original theme. Otherwise, perhaps just redo the figures a little if that is what would give it away? Feel free to PM me to discuss further.

He'll go from an arrogant arse who does it all for himself to an arrogant arse who puts his very nature to work in service of a Higher Cause. That's intriguing, nuanced development in my opinion, and all of the situations in the first three episodes have played out in ways that seem logical given how the characters are presented. It also seems to be one of the show's points so far about what will be necessary to build a successful Rebel Alliance, that it takes all types of people including some who are inherently not classic good (although not people as radical as Saw I guess). And if you want a show about the early formation of the Rebellion, have you watched Rebels' later seasons? Just don't get frustrated that there's no LEGO for most of it... sigh.

Now they just need to sell the UCS flying triangle with spots for at least three of the Ambush set to slot in. That'll encourage repeat purchases! But I agree. It's a good looking, accurate set, but it needed to come with a few more figures for it.

Inconspicuous! Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time! I miss your reviews from way back in the day. I love this. The theme idea feels very cohesive, and the builds give me super 90s vibes. The use of those old doors as platforms and roofs is wonderful.