Clone OPatra

Yeah, we've been down this road before and had to shut it down. There are always people who come out of the woodwork and claim that Christmas and Easter as depicted in LEGO don't relate to anything actually Christian. Which to me is absolute bollocks (they're Christian holidays after all), but anyway... Let's not have this discussion again.

And Daoist things in the Lunar New Year sets.

Same boat, ordered on October 9th. My bestseller olive green croc that I ordered at the same time is still waiting for its standard tail

It's LEGO... just take the wall with the door off if you want? Personally, while I'm not interested in buying into this new system for myself, from a play perspective I think the closed up rooms that you pull out and open up is pretty cool and magical. I would dig it as a kid. My only critiques are just that, so far, the rooms have struck me as expensive and/or underwhelming, but the concept and structure of the system is good.

I think the only Friends animal that has crossed over is the raccoon recently used for baby Rocket Raccoon, while in the other direction the small bird, chicken and small owl have all crossed over from non-Friends into Friends. I've started just accepting it and mixing some Friends animals into minifigure displays, like the chonky cats. The disparity in eye style and general roundedness of many Friends animals compared to non-Friends one is still a little too far for me though, and I wish City would just get half as many animals as Friends gets. Clearly they aren't SO expensive to produce when Friends has an outpouring of fresh animals every year without ridiculous set prices.

Frogs are like an in joke with designers at this point, especially in the Harry Potter theme. They use them as much as they can.

You're fine. Go ahead and do 6990 of you'd like. Brick Economy says it was $130 USD and $155 strikes me as one of those catalogue prices that includes the shipping, since they used to not do shipping separately.

Nope, I signalled long ago that 2025 would be a return to the rules. We can keep this thread open for continued jonkling though.

Ok. This topic is way off the rails. I'm tempted to start the 2025 DC thread a little early, and leave this one de-pinned as the Aslume thread for all you Alsumers here. But then people in all the other threads will wonder why we haven't started 2025 threads for everything.

To me it's not that this sentiment is negative, it's just that it's incredibly selfish and self-centred. If the theme isn't giving anything new you want, simply don't buy it? Nobody is forcing you. The rest of us, and for successive waves of children who don't have sets from even five years ago, find things to like and buy, and derive enjoyment from the theme's continued existence. For what it's worth, this year alone LEGO has continued to do some new stuff within the theme, so the idea that they've exhausted everything is, to me, a bit ludicrous.

Ooh the Flying Lesson set is paradoxically one where I actually like the build a lot but don't care about the figures one bit! The Knight Bus looks like the most rectangular version yet, though...

Yep it can be entirely different. In fact it's encouraged! It's allowed, but one of the judging criteria in the Choosing the Winners section is originality, so you might lose points in that category.

Eurobricks' Alt-Build Contest Entries close January 27 2025 Contest announcement! Grab a set and make an alternative build out of it. There are three size categories to enter: Small - sets up to $30 USD RRP Medium - sets between $31 and $80 USD RRP Large - sets between $81 and $150 USD RRP Go to the contest topic for more details and to ask any questions. Entries close January 27th, 2025. Happy building!

Eurobricks' Alt-Build Contest Entries close January 27 2025 Post a link to your entry in a comment below. For the rules and contest guidelines, or to ask any questions, see here.

Eurobricks' Alt-Build Contest Entries close January 27 2025 Make like it's 1999, and design an alt-build for the back of the hypothetical box! This is a contest for you to flex your creativity with a finite selection of parts. Contest Categories & Parameters To even the playing field a bit, we'll have three categories split simply by the original USD RRP of the set(s) you choose to alt-build (check Brickset for RRPs if you're unsure): Small category: Make an alternative build for a set with an RRP up to $30 USD Medium category: Make an alternative build for a set with an RRP from $31 to $80 USD Large category: Make an alternative build for a set with an RRP from $81 to $150 USD Your alternative build must only use parts from one copy of one set. However, you don't have to use all the parts from the set. Sets from any theme of any era are allowed (if you want to alt-build Znap or Galidor, go for it). Digital builds are allowed, with the same parameters. Check the Bricklink inventory for your set to ensure you're only using parts from the set if building digitally. How to Enter To enter, post a new topic in the section of Eurobricks where discussion of your set's theme would be found - i.e. if it's a Star Wars set, post it in the LEGO Star Wars section; if it's an Adventurers set, post it in LEGO Action and Adventure Themes, etc. (ask here if you're unsure). Title your topic [Alt-Build Contest] ________ (number and name of the set). Leave a link to your topic in the Contest Entry Thread in Special Themes. Rules Entries close on Monday January 27th 2025. As long as it's still Monday January 27th 2025 somewhere in the world, you can post or update your entry. You can join Eurobricks any time to post an entry. You can enter as many categories as you like, as many times as you like. However, to spread the prize love around, each Eurobricks member will only win once. All creations must be new for this contest and never before posted anywhere online. Your creation must follow the guidelines set out in "Contest Categories" about the original RRP of the set and not using parts from any other set. All work must be your own - plagiarizing MOCs will result in immediate disqualification. Prizes Winners of each category will get to pick prize pools from LEGO: Large category valued at 180€, medium category at 150€, and small category at 110€. Runners up to be announced! Choosing the Winners A panel of judges will rate the entries on the following criteria: Aesthetics - How pleasing and well-rounded is your model Creativity - Have you used the parts in creative and unexpected ways Originality - How different is your alt-build from the set it's made out of Fine Print By entering, you consent to Eurobricks reposting your entry on Eurobricks' social media channels, crediting you. Prize values are determined in accordance with German Shop at Home and prizes are subject to availability on the Shop at Home in the winners' local countries. Some back and forth with Eurobricks staff might be required to select an available prize. Prizes could take 8-10 weeks to arrive but we will keep you updated as much as we are able. Comment in this topic with any questions!

I was really hoping we'd see a new piece for Flitwick's beard that actually fits the character design, and they could've used the existing talk conical wizard hat with a cool print up the side too. The student selection is also massively boring. The Duelling Club is better, and I'm glad to have a way to get the upgraded Snape in a cheaper set, along with the new Lockhart which I do like. They play feature also looks good. Both of these don't wow me, but I suppose the Duelling Club is something I'd buy.

And it wasn't even originally from Mrs Cattermole - it was a random Jurassic World spinoff character. Oh yeah, there it is! Nice that it's an uncommon head, but not nice for Lucius. What's with them using head prints designed for 20-year-olds (Paul and Jyn) for people in their late 40s? Yes Minifigure detailing is subtle but LEGO knows how to make middle-aged characters look middle-aged. These don't fit. And I'm still befuddled that they forgot they had a Draco-specific head design, unless the renders are incorrect.

Let's return from talking about WWI and world history to just talking about fictional stuff like Batman etc. Thanks.

Oh wait Draco is back to that reused Kaz head too rather than the Draco specific one! What the heck, why??? I agree with how you've put it. It's just too mixed for a set of its price point. I know people don't universally love Grimmauld Place and the Ministry of Magic (especially the latter), but for larger location sets of never before done locations, they really both had the it factor for me. Good looks, a ton of great figures (without super glaring omissions or reused heads for main characters apart from Yaxley), and an important location.

Alrighty then. The interior definitely makes the set more interesting. I was not expecting that type of placement for the main hall/dining table scene, but it works well. Of course the rest of the interior spaces are pretty cramped as is always the case with sets like this, but that's alright. I'm mixed on the minifigures though: -Lucius and Bellatrix at least have their own torso and face prints (even if Lucius looks like he's got a LotR elf head), so they're good -Dobby and Harry are good! -Hermione is good and accurate, if not exciting -Draco is also fine though the torso choice is weird -Not vibing Voldemort's kind of goofy face print -Luna is good but I don't like to see her with a reused head print suddenly when her more grown up one would've still worked -Narcissa, possibly the character that should've gotten the most attention and will be most sought-after, is the worst of the bunch. Ill-suited reused head print, inaccurate hair choice that was fine for 2011 but not now. A real shame, really.

Yeah I'm very disappointed in Narcissa's hair. It was cool in 2011 (and I have and like that figure very much) but they could do much better in 2025.

I think it's the one from the recent reboot of Friends, previously only in dark orange until now.

I'm with you there. These don't look enticing at all, to the point that I just don't understand the rationale. I'm cool with things that aren't minifigures, but I just don't see what would be appealing about these to anyone. It looks like they don't even have face prints!

Ok set, horrendous price. I like seeing a mid-legs Ahsoka personally, but how about go all out on the figures LEGO? They gave adult Ahsoka printed arms - why no printed arms for Clone Wars Ahsoka? And how about finally printing the silver metal bands of Anakin's big glove? After that awesome Mace with printed arms I was really looking forward to getting more super highly detailed Clone Wars Jedi, but alas.

It's kind of fun. Not for me personally, but these statue-type sets must sell, and this is an iconic thing. Hedwig is the only part that looks bad to me.