David Thomsen

Just picked up a Hillside House for $100 from Farmers. I didn't really notice what other things are on special but Cars seem to all be 20% off.

It's not that much clearer, but I think this is as good as we're going to get from a printed catalogue. A lot of things are clearer, although the inside of the gazebo still baffles me and I can't make out the logo for the post office. I don't think the banjo has a lightsabre handle, it's just a bar with a roadsign attached to it. Now that I can see the dark green thing on top of the truck is a parcel and not some weird thing built on the truck itself I like it better.

I don't want absolutely everything in these sets to be Christmas themed... I prefer the idea that this is an ordinary (if somewhat twee) village that happens to be set up during the Christmas season. Otherwise it's some kind of weird village where everything is permanently Christmas themed.

Maybe this thread should be renamed... as a 'battle pack' this set is a complete failure, but there is nothing on the packaging to suggest that this actually is a 'battle pack'. It's more of a 'character collection'. Even then it's a failure, because it only has one notable character from the films... two if you're being generous and include Scrum... but still a more accurate description. Actually... I don't know. What is the purpose of this set, exactly?

I had this thought after I saw a Modular style Western MOC. I think it has great potential, though I don't see Lego doing two Modular ranges at the same time. The best part is that if they're feeling squeamish about using Native Americans again (not necessarily very PC any more), they don't have to, because unlike most Lego ranges, the exclusive Modular sets aren't based around conflict and don't need to have two opposing sides. Alternatively they could take the 'Christmas Village' route and have a smaller but well designed exclusive building every year. I'm not sure I could afford two Modulars every year anyway. OR they could just bring the theme back as a standard range. I'm not fussy.

In 2009, the set 'Temple of Doom' was released with some curved and ramped narrow railways, which seemed to indicate the possibility of a roller coaster set in the future. Now in 2011 the only other thing they've been used in is the Alien Mothership, and then not even for the purpose of a railway. We still haven't seen any straight tracks to be used with these narrow railways, nor have we seen metal axles that would actually allow things to run on them smoothly. Were they ever intending to use these for anything other than the Temple of Doom? It seems weird, considering the other sets they could have made for Indiana Jones that didn't require the molding of two very large and specialised pieces. Is it possible that they're still working on a roller coaster, but something so large and technically advanced requires a lot of preparation? Can't they think of other things that could use these tracks, so we might actually get straight sections? They could always do a miniature train for a theme park. [edit] I know this probably belongs in the Train Tech forum but I think miniature trains and roller coasters have a more general appeal.

I think it's supposed to be a leach for the dog, made out of a curled whip. He's trying to lure it back with a bone. Aaah! I spent ages trying to figure that out. All I could think of was the that the guy on the left is holding a kite, and the guy on the right is holding a reel. The musicians make much more sense.

What they should have done if they really wanted money is to include two bluecoat soldiers. Especially if the torsos don't have any flesh on them...

I don't know, I think that's more of a gazebo. I can't make out what's on the inside of it. The post office is going to look weird in my village with a mostly bare roof when the other two both have totally white rooves, but this one looks like it has a steeper roof so I guess snow doesn't gather as easily. Anyway, this can be easily modified if I think it stands out too much. The truck looks kind of weird, need to get a better look at the way it's built. I think it might have a giant red crate on the back, or something? I don't know. Either way, more vintage vehicles are welcome - it can go with my fire truck and the Indiana Jones and Pharaoh's Quest vehicles. I might MOC a Lego Car Museum eventually... The building looks great though, if you took away the clock and the post boxes and other bits and pieces you could probably fit it in the MMV. I haven't got my Bakery yet, but I'm already looking forward to this one more.

I'm glad I got my new soldier's torsos from BrickLink before these came out, I hate to think that the market might have been saturated with ones of sub-standard quality. I also don't see it being much of a 'battle pack'. It should have two soldiers, not one, it shouldn't have Jack Sparrow because that doesn't make any sense, and it should have two generic pirates, not Scrum. I really don't like the lack of generic pirates in the POTC, it's one of the major reason's I'm not collecting the range.

I just watched 'Mater's Tall Tales' and I think it's useful to see this before watching the second film, if you can. It creates a kind of transition from the slow daily life of the first film to the adventure of the second film. Also there are some genuinely funny bits as well, including a hilarious reference to Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

It's possible to make speculations based on known patterns, though. Obviously not about specific sets, but the ebb and flow of specific themes is fairly measurable. City Fire, Police and Airport sets all released between 2010 and 2011. Need a 'big' theme for 2012. No City construction sets since 2009, and this is a known recurring subtheme. High probability of their return. In 2007, Humans and Skeletons released in Castle 'Fantasy' theme. Next year, Trolls and Dwarves introduced. Seems likely that a new faction will be released in 'Kingdoms' theme, probably something different from the two existing factions, and going by the 'realistic' nature of theme, Forestmen seems the most likely choice. These things I think are fairly likely. Probably there are other patterns I can't think of right now. I think an 'Alien Conquest' ground-based alien set is probable as well, since they like to do things slightly different in the second year of a theme's release.

Hmmm... how to think like Lego thinks... it doesn't have to be related to a post office, because a giant Christmas tree and a frozen pond are not related to a toy shop and a bakery either. Maybe a train platform attached to a couple of bits of track? The Holiday Train needs to pull in somewhere. Maybe a park bench with a picnic on it. Maybe an arbor, like this: These are my three guesses.

Okay, start with the inevitable... Castle, City and Space. Oh, and Star Wars, of course. I don't imagine 'Kingdoms' will be replaced with a new Castle theme so soon, so we can expect more of that... I doubt they'll have more civilian sets, though. I'm pretty amazed they had civilian Castle sets at all. But we might see a new faction, like... forestmen? And maybe some dragons? I imagine we'll see more Alien Conquest sets next year, the last two Space themes lasted for two years each so this will probably be the same. I haven't really been following this theme so I don't know what to expect. City will continue the same, of course. Between 2010 and 2011 we've seen Police, Airport and Fire, so we'll get Hospital or Construction in 2012. Probably mostly Construction, with maybe a hospital and an ambulance. I don't know. Star Wars... I don't follow this theme either. There'll be an Exclusive based around a noteworthy location, though... maybe the dirt farm Luke grew up in, or whatever. I also thought of Jabba's Palace, so this seems to be something people are expecting. I don't know if Harry Potter will continue, given the fact that there will be no more movies. I wouldn't count on it, though. At least Star Wars has ongoing fictional material, and a lucrative *cough* I mean, a dedicated fanbase. Pirates of the Caribbean... maybe another wave or two. Still need a lot of characters, and the Flying Dutchman will sell like hotcakes. Atlantis... so long and thanks for all the fish! Pharaoh's Quest... I'm guessing we won't see more of this. We only saw one wave of the 2009 pirates, which was similarly a revisitation of a previous line. And then we'll get a Whole New Theme! With any luck we'll get India Quest, or some other continuation of the New Adventurers. Otherwise I'm sure there'll be a new theme nobody can possibly predict, but it will involve at least two factions and a battle between good and evil... American Elections 2012?

...Hound of the Baskervilles?

I don't know about other people, but I think of 'classic' as anything before POTC. I don't think the question is deliberately leaving out the 2009-2010 range.

Okay, yeah... failure to pay attention a bit. (I was tired!)

This is actually very impressive... I'd be far more inclined to buy this than the Kre-O sets they're currently offering. Although I'd love to have some of those Kreon minifigs.

You realise you might miss out on what is potentially going to be the largest official Lego sailing ship of all time?

I don't think I've posted ideas in this thread here... I made a similar topic a while ago, and it's interesting to see what ideas people had back then. My previous list was crazy long, so I'll do my two favourites here: Tia Dalma Shack I can imagine this being a very fun build. Shanghai Pirate Ship A new design of ship we've never had before.

Ooh, nice. I would never have thought of that. There's a whole bunch of chickens, goats and pigs in the Mill Village Raid that would be useful on a ship. There's also four of these in reddish brown: Almost certainly going to appear in MOCs in the near future. Also there are buckets, the new shutter from the London Escape, some torsos that can be used... and the buildings themselves can function as a piraet hideout. In all a perfect set for Lego Pirate aficionados.

This is interesting, I prefer the exact opposite... POTC seems too detailed to me, I like the generic and simplified look of classic pirates. I like the colours of tan and white and red and brown of the 2009 range to the grey and black of POTC. As I mentioned on the first page, I like that you can mix and match the classic pirates to make new pirates, whereas Jack Sparrow's hair, face, torso and legs will never belong to anyone but Jack Sparrow. I like the fact that my Brickbeard's Bounty is crewed by 12 distinctive pirates, whereas the Black Pearl is crewed by Jack Sparrow, Joshamee Gibbs and Will Turner. How do you make up the rest of the crew, with fleshies? I don't know. Classic Pirates FTW

Which bit is the spoiler? It's been common knowledge for a while now that there's a Toy Story short at the beginning of Cars 2. The Lego isn't much of a spoiler, and seemed an appropriate thing to mention here.

There are a few generic minifigs in the Toy Story short at the beginning of Cars 2.

I got back from seeing the film just now. I've been warned a couple of times about talking about the POTC film in the POTC thread, so all I will say is that it's more fun than the first film, but still not at the level of the Toy Story films. Maybe next time...? Unlike POTC and their 'Fountain of Youth' set, the Cars range is actually pretty faithful to the film. All of the characters are fairly important as well, except for the Japanese race car in that one set who doesn't actually have any lines, but I guess they needed a third race car and he fit in best with the nationality of the set. Grem is completely the wrong colour, though. He's more like Ron's hair at the top of this page. They had the colour, why didn't they use it? I don't think there are any major characters from the second film left out, only Doc Hudson from the first film and a couple of other residents of Radiator Springs. I'm not sure why they chose Francesco for the third Ultimate Build. Finn McMissile would have been a much better choice, and indeed other toy ranges tend to put their emphasis on him. "See, THESE guys know how to respect the Caine." I'd like to see more of the Ultimate Builds in the future, but something tells me this just isn't happening. OOH and keep an eye out for the Lego minifigs in the Toy Story feature at the beginning! Lego and Disney... totally BFF.