drdavewatford

Like many retired LEGO Star Wars sets, 6209 is now selling at a massive premium on eBay, Bricklink etc. I personally prefer 6209 to the newer version, although as a collector I have all the Slave 1's anyway. If however you're not a collector and are faced with paying $200 for 6209, the newer version is surely a better bet UNLESS for some reason you absolutely hate the new one. And I think you'd have to REALLY hate the new one to pay more than twice as much for 6209....! Dr. D.

Same for me, and when I replied to the e-mail to point it out I was informed that the address wasn't monitored. Dr. D.

Simply magnificent. I don't think I've seen anyone do nature (greenery, flowers, rock, water) better than you - it's amazing the detail and realism you manage to get. Massive respect. Dr. D.

"While I think it's not spectacular, but it is a pretty decent representation of the Hogwarts Express. One should not expect super accurate models in Lego sets due to the piece/part count-to-price limitation." Huw on Brickset summed it up perfectly (read his comments here) - it's an incredibly lazy design, and a painfully wasted opportunity. Someone stated earlier on this thread that LEGO couldn't have used the big train wheels on the HP train because they would have been out of proportion, but this HP train IS a toy like the TS3 train, and it's even at the same price point, so I really dont see the difference. Put it another way - with the disastrous wheels they put on the HP train, is it anything like a real train now ? Of course not ! The supposedly toy-like TS3 train is more realistic !! As I said earlier, the Burrow and other sets in this revived HP theme are excellent, so the train is the only miss. I was just SO looking forward to a better LEGO rendition of the Hogwarts Express, but this is just as bad as the older versions but more expensive and without even a station. Still, at least the figs are good..... Dr. D.

Thanks ! Great review and lovely photos (apart from your 'watermark' which is a bit too intrusive - sorry !) Regarding the set, the owls are lovely and the minifigs are excellent, but the train is a massive let-down because of the ridiculous wheels. It really is crazy that the LEGO company should go to the trouble of producing beautiful, authentic large train wheels and then make such a disastrous mess of this train. It could have been a beautiful steam engine, but it's unfortunately just ugly. The other sets (and especially the upcoming Diagon Alley set) make up for this uncharacteristic error of judgement, however - I think this wave of HP sets have exceeded expectations overall. Dr. D.

Hi - welcome ! The answer kind of depends on what your husband will use the train for, and what kind of trains he likes. Emerald Night is beautiful - for me by far the most attractive and realistic LEGO train currently at retail - BUT it does not come with a motor, remote control, track or trackside buildings. You can certainly buy all the stuff you need to motorise and control Emerald Night, and you can also buy track, a station etc., but it will be more effort. If what he wants is a train set which he can play with, where everything he needs to run a train and control it remotely is in the box, you might be better off buying him 7938 Passenger Train and/or 7939 Cargo Train. If however he just wants a beautiful model which he can look at OR you don't mind the challenge of ordering all the bits you need to motorise the train, track etc. separately, then go for Emerald Night. Dr. D.

Sorry to go off at a tangent, but I'd never previously seen LEGO rip-offs like these, only ever other brands which happen to be LEGO-compatible. Looking at Union Pacific, you can see how some of the pieces have literally been copied like for like, e.g. the arms holding the side railings. That having been said, the inferior quality of these knock-offs is also clear - the colours seem washed out against the LEGO, and the models have a very 'waxy', almost translucent, look about them which I guess speaks to the cheap plastic used. Interesting. D.

I think it looks great, although if like you I'd' bought a second Grand Emporium set I would have probably just built the second one as a mirror image of the first and displayed them back to back, i.e. double the footprint. Then it would REALLY have looked like Harrod's ! Dr. D.

This is great - nice job ! Looks better to me than some of Angus Maclane's efforts, to be honest - excellent ! Do you have building instructions for him ? Dr. D.

Hi, At the risk of being a shocking self-publicist, I addressed this question during a recent blog posting. You can read my thoughts at : Gimme Lego Blockade Runner discussion In summary, I think 10019 UCS Blockade Runner is the clear winner for a number of reasons, although if your only interest is minifig collecting/playing with the set and/or money is a big issue then you might come to a different conclusion. Cheers, Dr. D. PS. Thanks, Legoman - lovely comparison shot !

Interesting that a number of people have commented on the Medieval Market Village in this thread. I personally think it's one of the best sets that LEGO has ever produced, and it was in fact voted "best ever set" in a recent poll of Brickish Association members. It can be hard to predict which sets will turn out to be "future classics", but this set is surely a nailed-on certainty in that regard. It's been around a while now, so surely can't last much longer. If I was you I'd therefore prioritise getting this set over the newer Kingdoms sets because (1) I think it's better, and (2) it might not be around for much longer. Dr. D.

Thanks, Pet-Lego. If I translate these prices into Pounds Sterling it looks like a reasonable deal but not outstanding - I could probably do this for less if I bought the individual sets from Amazon. Do you know how prices of LEGO in the Netherlands compare with the UK, in general ? Dr. D.

"your right, ordered it today (dutch online shop)" What's the URL, please ?

Oh man - that is amazing ! The kind of detail we'd expect in one of the modular buildings, but in a Harry Potter set. And just look at all the interesting pieces and cool colours, not to mention all the minifigs.... Spectacular - LEGO have got another winner here. They are really outdoing themselves on set design at the moment. And for those of you in the UK, I believe this set will be on display at the Great Western LEGO show in Swindon this weekend ! Dr. D.

There's never been an 'official' grey space minifig to my knowledge. "The gray airtanks in those Space sets also seem to be used as detail elements on vehicles rather than actual airtanks, but I can't tell for sure." You're absoutely right - I had a couple such sets as a kid, e.g. : Cheers, Dr D.

Also now available in the UK at shop@home ! The Winter Village Bakery can also be ordered now. Can't wait..... D.

"why can't we, as fans and consumers, come onto this board and post our thoughts? " You can, and you are !! That's what these forums are for. For what it's worth, I personally agree that this crackdown on preliminary images is pointless, and I also happen to agree that the hype and interest generated by the information leaks and preliminary pictures probably far outweighs any negative impact on sales of critical comments. I was however putting the other side of the argument, as stated by TLG - aren't they entitled to an opinion also ? Some people on this thread seem almost indignant and even angry that TLG are pulling these pics; that suggests to me that they think they have a right to view them, which they don't.

"I think it is a false issue. " That's your opinion, but LEGO themselves have stated the argument about preliminary images harming the business; if they really thought that the release of preliminary images would help the business I'm sure they'd turn a blind eye to it..... Let's be honest - we all love to see what new sets are coming, and if I stumble upon an image while browsing the forums I certainly don't close my eyes and change the page ! I do however get irritated when people think that (1) they have a right to see the images, and (2) they know better than TLG what's best for the business. Dr. D.

Aside from TLG's worries about cloning, another concern of the company is that new products will be slated on the basis of poor quality pictures of sets which aren't even finalised yet, which will in turn potentially affect sales. See it from their perspective - a poor quality scan is posted on the web, a bunch of people say the set looks rubbish and they won't buy it, this opinion is shared over a thousand websites and forums, and it's easy to see how, rather than creating a buzz about a new product, you get the opposite. All on the basis of poor quality, illegal images of a set which might not even be in it's final form yet.... It's almost as if people think they have a divine right to see whatever they want, when they want these days. Sorry to disappoint you, but you actually have no right at all ! Just enjoy the sets. and allow TLG to run their business how they see fit - they know much better than you do what's good for business and what isn't....

Thanks, Rufus - superb review and interesting commentary to go with it. I think the aircraft in the Indiana Jones "Fight on the Flying Wing" set is modelled on a real military plane, but it obviously lacks the degree of detail of the Camel or the Red Baron. Pricing-wise, you can pick this set up from eBay without breaking the bank, so I may just do that one of these days.... Cheers, Dr. D.

Thanks - excellent review. I was going to get this set anyway, but if I wasn't, you'd have convinced me....! Agree that the figures look amazing, and I love the colours - dark red, nougat etc. - as well as all the small details. I think these HP sets could be a real hit. Dr. D.

3 words - LEGO Death Star..... :-)

Sure - count me in. Dr. D.

Looks like a cut-scene from one of the LEGO Star Wars games, so maybe Travellers' Tales did it ?

Nice ! More fantastic mini MOC goodness from Legostein the master ! The blastboat is particularly neat, but as ever they're all great. Dr. D.