Zarkan

I voted yes, as I really don't care what the City sets are about as long as they are well designed and aren't just new versions of something we've already gotten. More civilian sets for the win!

Actually, we've had a comic for two issues in a row (Jan/Feb and March/April), and I believe Greg said we'll be getting three more this year. So, it looks like the May/June issue will be the only month this year without a comic.

One. When I was really little, I broke my leg when going down a slide, and it had to be put in cast. Later, when I was about 12 I broke my shoulder bone, and I had to wear a sling for about two weeks. But I've never broken more than one bone at a time.

I made a sigfig a while ago, but I never bothered to post it until now. So, here it is: Basically, the idea behind it is that since my name is a mispelling of the starwars character Grievous, I thought that it would be fun to make my sigfig a human that is taking his place - complete with a mechanical backpack with two robotic arms controled by the mind. Also, you can't see it in this picture, but his face is the face of the character Axle from the Rockraiders theme.

Okay, wow. Until just now, I thought you were an AFOL. This is really suprising to me, that's for sure.

Okay, time for a long list of my predictions: City - Most likely, we'll either be getting a redesign of another subtheme (probably Hospital or Airport), or... another Fire line. I hope we don't get the latter, but I wouldn't be suprised. If we do get the former, however, I suspect that we'll either get a large hospital or a large airport for a flagship set. If they go the airport route, I'm thinking they may do smaller passenger jets - perhaps with 6 wide fuselages instead of 8 wide ones. Perhaps we'll also see a second wave for the farm theme, if the first wave this year does well. Oh, and new trains should surface eventually. Castle - Elves, of course. Ever since that lego magazine map showed a lego elf design, we all knew that they'd be making them eventually. I'm betting that we may see a hybrid of elves and forestmen, complete with treehouses and lots of bows and arrows. I'm thinking we may also get a special UCS castle with a huge amount of minifigs, but I'm not really sure on that one. Space Police - I'm sure they'll do a second wave, and I'm betting it'll either have more wacky aliens or a new, Blacktron-like bad guy faction. Probalby the former though, as TLC just can't seem to break the human-vs-monsters formula. We'll probably get a ground base for the Space Police, and maybe a wheeled vehicle if we don't get one this year. Pirates - It'll continue for sure, but I doubt we'll get a new subfaction just yet. It'll probably still be Brickbeards Pirates vs. the Imperials. I think the flagship set will either be a ship for the Imperials or a large trading post that is compatible with the Soldier's Fort from this year. Agents - I dunno if it will continue or not, but I doubt it. And even if it does, I have no idea what they'll do. Starwars - More clone wars, obviously, and I'm sure we'll get at least one or two more classic trilogy sets. Maybe a big cantina set or a new Jabba's palace. Oh, and a couple more UCS sets wil probably surface as well. Indiana Jones - A Tank set will be a must if this is the last year for the theme, as many people believe. A Holy Grail chamber may come out as well, and perhaps a set based on Hanger 51 from KOTCS. Other than that, I really don't know, and I fear they may just do remakes of the old sets instead, like they are with the Spongebob theme. Disney - Toy Story, Cars, Prince of Persia, that's all we know. It's not hard to see what TLC could and probably will do for sets with the first two themes, though, and the other... not so sure. Bionicle - With the direction the storyline is going, I think we'll probably see sets of the Elemental Lords, which will be awesome. Again though, other than that I have no clue. Racers, Technic, Duplo - The usual. New Themes??? - We usually get one or two new themes each year, and Legomilk has rarely been wrong, so I'd say its a given that we'll get something new besides the Disney license. Perhaps a new history based theme? Western or Greeks are probably the best bets, but they probably won't be quite what many are hoping for. If they do Western, than there will probably be no Indians, as stuff like that just doesn't seem to fly with the modern day public and its "politically correct" atmosphere. If it's greeks, then expect lots of monsters and mythology, not an actual realistic history theme. Whew, that took a while. Good thing I've been thinking over a lot of this stuff for months.

At least 150 assembled minifigs, if not more. Also, I have a ton of sorted minifig parts, mostly from used lots and sets from themes that I don't display.

Well, when I first saw this topic, I found myself agreeing with svelte corps, but now that I've looked over the pictures again, I think my opinion is more in line with yours, Ralph. This new garage may not be quite as good as some of the other buildings we've gotten in the City range, but it's still a well designed kit with plenty of features. The office and the three vehicles included are quite nice, and the play features like the crane, car lift, and opening garage door all will be great for kids. Even the piece selection is actually pretty decent - I see lots of yellow, orange and green tiles, trans-smoke garage doors and windows, and other goodies. The only real problem is the price, but we all know that that is more of a widespread issue than a unique glaring problem with this one kit. I too remember how bad the quality of town kits was back in the Town Jr/City Center age. The two "garages" they released during that time period were both very similar, and they were both horrible. All they had going for them was simplistic, unrealistic vehicles, 20 piece buildings with shabby interiors, and a complete lack of play features. I mean, look at them: It's taken a while to get from that tripe to where we are now, so I think we need to be a bit more positive.

Since no one has mentioned it yet, the Antroz test animation that Greg mentioned has been found. And MAN, is it sweet! Other than the music, I mean.

Technically, you're wrong, but you might as well be right. I've been asking myself almost the same question - if 2009 allows for equal gender distrubution among the tribes, why is it that only ONE of the zillions of new characters we've learned about is female? And why is the only female character STILL a member of the water tribe? As far as I see it, TLC still wants elemental segregation. ~~END~~

Ah good, the entry I voted for won. However, I wasn't especially happy with the final 5 - like many others, I had envisioned Certavus as a mostly white warrior with a Metus helmet, and the only one that had those features was far too bulky for my liking. Oh well, can't have everything, I guess.

*sigh* I was hoping this was just a false rumor, but it looks like it really is happening. I'm afraid this really is one step too far for me.

I have to almost totally disagree with this. Although the dimension hopping is getting annoying, this time it actually served up an interesting plot twist, and it brought back a character that I enjoy (unlike you). Also, how exactly is Makuta annoying? He's the king of the Matoran universe now, so it's not suprising that he's now a bit more over the top and self confident. It's not unusual for a villian to become a real ham after he wins his ultimate victory, and IMO, it works fine in this case. (Then again, I'm also one that really enjoyed the Emperor in Starwars Episodes III and VI for the same reason). Ah, the peaceful agreement in this topic could only last for so long.

So, Ackar and Berix aren't significant just because they have the same helment design?

Ah, I was wondering why I couldn't access the site this morning. Many thanks to the server provider for acting fast - it would have been horrible if Eurobricks had suffered a server crash like BZP did last month.

Man, I was one of the few who thought all the serials last year were great, but MAN do the 2009 ones rock! As Ikki said, the names this year really rock, and it's great to see so many characters being introduced in just the first half of the year. I LOLed.

Chicken. Especially when my mom cooks it in a slow cooker with seasonings and vegetables. But really, I'll eat almost any kind of chicken. Also, I really love roast beef, ham, and turkey sandwiches. I usually have one every day for lunch, with cheese, lettuce and pickles for toppings. Oh, and another great favorite of mine is basically any kind of fresh fruit. Apples, bananas, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, watermelon, etc. I'm know most everyone else likes fruit as well, but I like it enough that I'd often rather have some of that instead of fancy dishes.

Happy belated birthday Mr. Eurobricks owner & other less important members! (j/k)

On Tuesday I picked up 8980 Gresh from Wal-Mart. He's easily the best bioncle canister set in years, and his color scheme and two-toned parts are amazing. Better yet, they seemed to have completely fixed the weak ball joint problem from last years sets. I've built the entire set twice with no parts breakage, and the connections in general feel smoother.

The new chapter of Riddle of the Great Beings was wonderful. I like the character of Surel, and especially his name - it reminds me of the word surreal. Also, the hints of an epic conflict are really making me drool with excitement.

Honestly, I have to disagree with both of you, as I really love both the Helicopter transport and the Camper. The Transport may be orange (which IMO is far from special now), but it has a really great cab design and includes a wonderful helicopter and orange bike. And while the Camper may have a poor interior, the exterior design is great, and I think the former could be easily modified while retaining the swinging door design of the back. Also, you can't go wrong with two awesome figures and the return of the surfboard (which I don't think has been seen for a very long time).

As others have said, the Modular and Classic styles just don't fit together well. There's such a vast difference between the two of them that you really can't combine sets from both styles in a good looking way. As it stands, I always have bought classic style sets, as the Modular sets are far too expensive for me to even consider buying them - it would cost a fortune to make even a small layout comprised of those kinds of buildings, as well as a ton of time spent building extra ones to go with the official lego sets. The Classic style is much easier (and IMO better) for making large layouts with lots of buildings, as sets in this style cost far less and don't take up as much room. However, despite my love of City, all the buildings in my town layout are actually either custom or from Classic Town. I would love to someday make a layout with all the recent City buildings, but I simply don't have the money to do that while still pursuing other themes like Castle, Pirates, and Bionicle. But I don't mind, as my current layout is still a lot of fun.

But see, here's the thing - TLC gave the impression with that drawing that they would make a monorail, NOT jus an elevated train. If they weren't even considering that as a possibility, they most likely would have just used one of the newer trains on elevated railroad tracks, instead of using the old Monorail design. Besides, if people show enough interest in number 2, what would stop TLC from making a new monorail system? They have a whole year to plan it, and I don't see it being impossible to make new monorail tracks. Just this year, they are already coming out with a brand new railroad track system using flexible tracks, and I'm sure that took a lot of work. A new monorail would as well, but if it resulted in profit, it would be worth it for TLC to spend extra time making two or three new molds just for that set. That's why I voted for number 2. I feel that there is still a chance we could see a resurection of the monorail line, and that to me would be even cooler than a town square. And also, if number two wins, I don't think that necessarily means no more shops and civilian buildings. If the City Corner set sells well this year, I think we'll be guarrenteed more sets like that - and, as other people have said, it's very possible that we could see all three options. What's stopping TLC from doing that?

Argh, this is so confusing! I don't actually know who to say happy birthday to! Ah well, happy birthday to whoever Copmike actually is now.

Great collection, Penguin. You've got a great balance of official and custom figures, with characters spanning all over the Bat mythos. Oh yes, do show us the villians please!