David Thomsen

It should be clear by now that they only choose minifigs for the CMF series if they know they won't be bringing the theme back any time soon. Forestmen, Western, Vikings... This is why I take comfort in the fact that still haven't released any CMF Pirates yet after six or seven series. It doesn't prove that Pirates will be returning, but it does indicate that they aren't definitively gone.

I think people are being unfair in comparing this set with the 48-brick-wide MOC of a professional Lego designer... The croissants do look a bit silly, especially as they are coloured like real croissants. Maybe dark bley would have been a better colour for them. I will leave them as they are though, if I can accept skeleton legs and convex clocks I can accept croissants. I doubt this will be the last modular building, they wouldn't have gone as far as six if they weren't selling in viable quantities.

I had the same thought as well, but I think it will just be a spiral staircase. I think the 'gap' you see is actually just a black drainpipe. Also, the cleaner is emerging from a trapdoor at the top, which would be an odd thing to have at the top of an elevator shaft. My money is on spiral staircase. As far as I can tell, if you don't count the bell and clock towers, the TH is about four bricks taller than the FB. Also, deeper. So that is where all of the extra pieces are going, if anyone wondered...

I don't think so, or they would have used them for the windows on the top floor instead of using the same window overlap trick they did for the GE. It looks like some clever arrangement of other parts, they probably don't even have glass in them.

I am not going to be able to leave the computer until hi-res photos are uploaded. Fortunately I have food within arms reach. I think by this stage it's pointless saying 'this new Modular Building looks too similar to that older one', since there have been five modular buildings already so it's going to get harder to think of new architectural features. Hm... I notice that on the back of the building, one of the columns of windows is missing, so presumably that is where a spiral staircase goes. You can see the cleaner emerging from a trap door there. The bride and groom are dancing in front of a bannister, so presumably one of the floors looks down on another. Although it looks like a mayor's office is in there, so there is at least one room, the whole thing isn't an open space like the GE. Four 1x1 round tiles used for decoration along he top there... possibly another crawls space at the bottom, although this time only one brick high... bell tower doesn't use the same parts from the FB, which is nice... I'm not sure, but it does go further back than most modular buildings, right? I think it will block that one odd window at the back of the GE. Okay. Hi-res internal pics, please.

The problem with Eurobricks is that it's hard to keep track of leaked preliminary images without following particular threads... I didn't even realise Monster Fighters was a theme, and then I find preliminary images have been around for ages. So far, I'm not impressed... it kind of seems like a wacky mash-up theme like 'Time Cruisers'. I do have some positive thoughts, though. Derby hats... awesome. Rapiers... awesome. Vampire Castle... not bad, actually. Vampire Car... lovably stupid. I might need to get that.

Since we know there won't be more Kingdoms sets after the Joust, I guess there isn't much to do but give our final opinions on the theme. Personally, it was my favourite Castle theme, and I wish my funds hadn't been tied up elsewhere or I would have collected it. I do admit that dark blue was a better colour than red, but since that had already just been used, I think red was the next best thing. I like the way the theme evoked the earliest castle themes, with lion knights versus dragon knights. I like the inclusion of civilian sets. I like that the 'Prison Tower' set isn't the traditional medieval castle, but something different. The only thing I didn't like is that the theme wasn't long enough. If they had brought out a Forestmen faction this year, I would have started collecting the theme and also acquired the previous sets. So my wallet was spared a blow there. I will be happy if they at least continue the 'historic' theme in some other manner. With both Pirates and Castle down, there isn't much left. They could of course revisit the Europa theme, which is like Castle sets in the era of Pirates, and will make everyone happy. Or they could revisit the Western, Ninja or Viking sets, or try something new like Roman or Greek.

Since there are obviously other people besides myself who haven't been following the LOTR discussion and weren't aware of the new horse design, I wonder if there are any other interesting details relevant to non-licensed castle fans that we might like to know about...

Too bad this horse didn't come out earlier, it could have been included in the Kingdoms Joust set. Still, one of the LOTR sets has a black charging horse, so that's easily substituted. Just need a white one now. Like POTC, I'm only really interested in how new parts can supplement classic themes. That horse is a good start. Can't see anything else though, but preliminary images use mostly pre-existing parts anyway. It's good that LOTR has already been out for a few years, Lego don't have to worry so much about keeping these images a secret.

Hmm... I'm kind of surprised that no one has leaked any details yet, if it's only two months away. Usually someone has seen it and can tell us how many minifigs there are, what the main colour of the building is and what details to expect. Also, in this case, where those extra 400 pieces go.

I don't think there are enough extra pieces to increase this from a 32x32 to a 32x48 building, unless the the Town Hall is literally just a 'hall' with a mostly empty space inside. I'm not sure if people would like that, I guess it would depend on how good the building looks on the outside. It would certainly make a change from the previous Modular Building set, which has about six cramped rooms. I also think the building should stick to mostly white - it's classic and elegant. Whatever the case though, there's very little possibility of me being upset by it, and no possibility of me not buying it.

Ooh - if possible, could you provide pictures of it next to the MMV? I've flicked through a few reviews but this is what I'm most interested in seeing. If you can deliver that, you will indeed be my hero.

Saruman the White, I think you are a little biased... we haven't even seen the sets yet. Personally, I grow tired of licensed themes. They are always made up of scenes from movies that don't really fit together well, like the Captain's Cabin from POTC doesn't fit with Cannibal Escape, and the Venice Canal Chase from Indiana Jones doesn't fit with the Temple of Doom. With a theme like 'Castle' or 'Pirates', at least you know that you can build all the sets together and it will always make sense.

Wow - I was expecting more pieces since the price has gone up, but not this many more pieces. I'm fully prepared to be wowed now, and I also wonder if we're finally going to see a unique printed piece or torso... I can't imagine a town hall without a mayor in mayoral chains.

I think it has reached the stage where no wants to start writing a review because they assume everyone else is just about to post their review and they don't want to put all the effort in just to be third. Maybe we should nominate someone to write the review.

I think Peter and Anna are supposed to be Olivia's parents, they have more grown-up clothing than anyone else. I think it will be a little weird if Olivia's dad hangs out with the rest of the group.

I have no intention of collecting all of the Friends sets, but when I started to think about which of the Friends I would buy the sets of if I could only have three or four sets, the answer was immediately Olivia. I have no interest in beauty shops or animals shows, but I can't deny that there is a lot of appeal in an invention workshop, a treehouse and a full-sized home. Also her set includes the only male in the entire theme. I have no idea what sets she is going to have in the future, but I wouldn't be surprised if she gets a mattress fort and a harrier jet. Andrea: Emma: Mia: Stephanie: Olivia: (Images from Brickset)

Most of my discussion about 'Friends' hasn't been on EB at all, but with my girlfriend, who is convinced that I am so dedicated to Lego that I will blindly defend the 'Friends' theme just because Lego designed it. I think that's the problem - anyone outside of EB is going to disregard any opinion on this forum as being biased. Of course, if I were 'blindly defending' the friends theme, I wouldn't criticise it for having no male friends in the group. Maybe they think people will assume that any male friends are necessarily a romantic interest (did Barbie have any platonic male friends?), but I'm quite sure that if I lived in Heartlake, I'd totally want to be freinds with Olivia because of all her cool stuff.

Good review, but could you provide more pictures of the car as a work-in-progress, and the sticker sheet? That 1x2 piece with the T-shaped panel is fascinating, although I think since the panel in the middle is the same thickness as the panels that go around the edges of those pieces, it's going to be slightly out of alignment in a lot of cases. Still it's nice to know there's a way to (kind of) secure these new figs in a sitting position. Edit: Actually, the bar in the middle seems to be thinner than the ones that go around the edges. So that limits its potential even further.

I can't believe no one has done a review yet, at least not a pictorial review (I don't bother with video reviews) I particularly want to see what it looks like with the MMV.

I can see it being reasonably successful. Star Wars is full of adults who love to collect toys and merchandise from that universe, and the Star Wars Lego theme has been going strong for ten years. Fans of Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean aren't as dedicated, and their Lego themes were shorter lived. While I don't think LOTR is as big a franchise as Star Wars, there are still quite a lot of avid followers who collect replica rings and take tours around New Zealand visiting the shooting locations of the films and that sort of thing. I think LOTR is probably going to be the second biggest licensed theme after LOTR, and I can't really think of a franchise that would be bigger than those two. (Note: I do live in Wellington, where LOTR worship is blown a little out of proportion, so LOTR might not be as big to the rest of the world as it seems here)

The message goes like this: Unless they didn't read the question properly, they seem to imply that Castle will continue in some form other than the Joust set. Or at least that is my wishful interpretation. Still, they're obviously wrapping up Kingdoms, and that makes me wonder where they could possibly take Castle next, since the fantasy-free Kingdoms theme crossed over with LOTR the least. Hmm, I wonder if... ...nah.

I believe she is designing a valentine trebuchet. For the girl who is really, really proactive. I know these sets are supposed to be all sexist and yadda yadda, but I kind of like them. In a 'brony' sort of way.

Wow, should have been paying closer attention, had no idea we've had pictures of the late 2012 sets for a couple of weeks. I quite like the hospital, it reminds me of the bank, architecturally speaking. I just wished they'd left the helicopter out so they could include more actual hospital... Unfortunately a mine doesn't belong in my town, and with the forest police, it looks like this year is going to be easy for a wallet. After the last few years, I'm actually looking forward to it.

I don't know if feminists or feminism is the enemy here... Any kind of social change or progress takes time, but unfortunately some people take a 'things should be exactly perfect right now' attitude that causes antagonism without any actual progress. There are many cogs in this system - parents who want their girls to play with pink dolls, children who want to play with pink dolls because that is what is advertised at them, toy companies who make pink dolls for girls because that is what parents and girls want, the media which encourages girls to want pink dolls, society which has a deeply ingrained idea that girls should play with pink dolls, etc. To point at any one of those cogs and say 'what you are doing is wrong and must stop now' is missing the point that all of the cogs are turning together. It takes a slow gradual shift in all of the cogs for them to start turning in the opposite direction. The best way to cause progress is by example. This is a slow and tedious way to cause progress, but much more effective than demanding things change to your satisfaction right away and that any parent who buys their daughter a pink dollhouse is an idiot. This is just going to cause resentment and can often delay actual progress from happening.