Zarkan

Actually, your opinion seems to be the dominant one among "hardcore" gamers. Despite Microsoft claiming that their device is the future of all gaming, the entire Kinect push has been aimed mainly at the same casual players that Nintendo owes the sucess of the Wii to. While there are some conventional gamers who see potential in motion controls, their numbers are rather low in comparision to those who would rather mash buttons. As for me, I have no problem with motion gaming, provided that it is incorporated into the game well and actually improves the experience. Things like pointer aiming in the Wii's few first person games and the upcoming 1:1 sword-fighting in Zelda: Skyward Sword are innovative and prove that motion controls can be a benifit to hardcore gaming. However, Kinect Star Wars appears to be nothing but a clunky mess, and considering that its being billed as one of the premier experiences for Microsoft's device, that's rather hilarious.

Okay, what is with that manta creature racing stage in Bespin? I sure don't remember anything like that from the movies. Honestly, this looks pretty lame IMO. I think there's a reason why they didn't show much lightsaber combat or force usage in this trailer and focused mainly on four nearly identical vehicle stages, and it isn't because they think people would rather race pod-racers than be a Jedi.

This is very interesting news, and if it does result in an Avenger's license, I have no doubt that TLC's kits would be the highlight of the merchandise released along with the movie. However, if TLC is considering this, I think they should just go the whole way and get a full-fledged Marvel Cinematic Universe license. That way, we could get kits based not only on the Avengers, but also all the movies connected to it. I'd love to see lego recreations of scenes like the Ice monster chase in Thor and the Hulk vs. Abomination fight in The Incredible Hulk. And since Marvel seems to be keen on releasing a couple new movies every yearm,the pool of material to draw inspiration from would never really die out.

Crap, so they decided to keep the tiny Witch Doctor staff instead of the much larger (and cooler) one on the prototype box art. Oh well, he still looks like a decent set, even if some of his minions are much cooler.

My gosh, that's probably the most new printed parts we've had in a set in a decade! Thanks for the review lightningtiger.

Wrong. That's what Transformers is usually about. But, in its rare incarnations that actually have good storylines and characterization, it has ended up being much more than that. Beast Wars, Animated, and some of the comic series are more memorable than just about anything else in the franchise because the writers actually cared about making their products more than mindless explosion-fests, and in an ideal world, Hasbro would have learned from their success. Sadly, this has not been the case, as the potential of the Transformers universe has been mostly squandered in favor of messes like Bay's movies and, yes, the original G1 series. And since this strategy has never failed to earn Hasbro gobs of cash, I don't expect them to change their practices any time soon. Even if Bay does quit after DOTM, they'll probably just get another "director" concerned entirely with robot explosions, tired plotlines putting the focus on lame human characters, and leering shots of supermodels. I certainly don't expect to see an adaption of War for Cybertron, that's for sure, as there's no homo sapiens and thus no hot chicks to be found on the Transformers home planet.

Well, between you and me, I don't trust Bay to get this right. He has yet to make a good movie in my mind, and I'm not expecting him to reform his movie-making style just because of a few fan complaints. Bad as it was, RoTF sold a literal slag-load of tickets and merchandise, and as long as people keep eating his Baysplosions up, we can expect to see a lot more high-octane crap in th future.

13: Attack of the Nile by Yatkuu - 3 points 15: Rise of the Dread Colossus by Aanchir - 2 points 17: Atlantis Seafood by lisqr - 2 points Since this was a contest specifically to design a Direct to Consumer set, I decided to base my votes on which MOCs best resembled something TLC would actually release. While there were many excellent creations in this competition, some which might actually be better overall than the three I chose, I think Yatkuu, Aanchir, and lisqr best captured the true spirit of this competition. Anyway, great job everyone!

Ah, I still have these games, along with every other major lego computer game released before the current Traveler's Tales age. I tend to prefer the first Lego Racers to the second, as it had individual themed tracks instead of a few words with different paths. The Time Trials were absolutely brutal, to the point that I only was able to beat two or three. The big draw of these games, of course, is the fact that you can build your own car and race it. In that area, Lego Racers 1 was also better, as it allowed you to unlock new parts to make new cars with, instead of just building one car at the begining of a world and having to stick with it. I still remember the Ice planet themed car I usually used with two giant rocket engines and a driver name Ulta. Most interestingly, Lego Racers was one of only two lego games I know of that could run without the CD in the drive(the other being Lego Loco). Even back then, with relatively small amounts of space required for instalation, this was a rarity in the PC gaming world, and it's basically non-heard-of today.

These better be fake, because they might perhaps be the laziest names we've ever gotten. Yetii? Kristal? Black 'Bot? Ulti(insert hero name)? Come on, they aren't even trying.

Fantastic review Brickster. This set is definitely the highlight of the POTC line, and although it isn't as good as the Imperial Flagship (which is to be expected, since its sixty dollars cheaper), it is incredibly distinctive and a feast on the eyes. However, there is one thing you ommitted to mention in your review, but is rather evident in your photos: the poor color quality of some of the torsos. This photo illustrates what I'm talking about best: It's obvious to me that the shirt opening of the left figure and the chest of the right figure were meant to be the same color as their hands and heads, but instead they're an odd shade of nougat that doesn't look good at all. In a line that highlights its fancy new figures over anything else, this is a serious problem.

I got up extra early this morning just to play it, and am already up to chapter five. Having loved the first game to death, I'm happy to say that Portal 2 easily blows it out of the water in every aspect. The graphics are far more colorful and detailed, the voice acting and writing are as wonderful as ever, and the puzzles flawlessly balance the mechanics of the first game with a host of creative new gadgets. So far, my favorite gameplay addition has to be the thermal discouragement beam, which serves both as a switch activation device and a weapon for turning those pesky turrets into burnt slag.

Honestly, I kind of like Shine's Stringer just a bit better, Aanchir, as yours is just too skinny for the character in my opinion. The big shoulder armor definitely looks good on him, though I don't really like some of the other changes Shine made. I think if you combined the armor design of his with the color scheme, weapons, and face mask of yours, you'll have the ideal Stringer 2.0. MOC.

This is a great creation, and in the case of the weapon improves singnificantly upon the hollow one-piece monstrosity the old Bulk was laden with. However, I'd kind of like to see him with his old helmet - I seem to recall it being in LDD Extended as well, though my copy is on the fritz right now so I can't verify that statement.

Webs 2.0 is the only one of these I can really say blew me away, but you've done a good job overall. However, this topic unfortunately illustrates how limited the hero customizer currently is, especially in regards to possible color schemes. Once TLC (hopefully) adds exclusive colors, Hero Recon will be much cooler in my eyes.

Great review, Brickthing, even if I don't share the same enthusiasm for this product as you and others do. What would have made the Hero Recon builder a must buy is if there was exclusive colors or pieces. As it stands, this service is suitable for its target audience, but not that interesting to older folks who want more customization freedom. What's up with that is that TLC is aiming this product mainly at boys who have not yet grown out of the "girls have cooties" phase. Official female sets like Breez 2.0 might still sell based on the fact that they aren't distinctly female in appearance, but no young boy with a dislike of the opposite sex is going to actually identify their custom hero to be anything other than a "manly man."

I've learned not to use Disney's trailers as an indication of their movies' actual quality. The company doesn't seem to know how to make good advertisements - heck, they've even stooped so low as to edit fart and burp noises into scenes in commericals for reissued classics.

I wouldn't say it's the best as much as I would say its the one that sucked the least, mainly because it wasn't bogged down by a horrid Romantic Plot Tumor like Episodes II and III were. Also, kid Anikan may not be that great, and queen Padme might not be that interesting, but I hold that neither of them were nearly as annoying as when they were involved in an awkward romance and the former was played by Hayden Christensen. By and large, The Phantom Menace was still inferior to the OT by a mile, but it was also relatively innocuous compared to the utter failure that followed in AOTC and ROTS.

Thanks for the great review, Kimt. I have to say, this is easily the best Maresk set yet, as well as one of Lego's best train sets overall. You can't go wrong with a complex design that uses lots of cool parts in Maresk blue.

Good gosh, that's a buttload of characters and vehicles!

Quick, somebody purchase all of them before TLC finds out and has them taken down!

The sheer number of previously established events the new Clone Wars series is contradicting astounds me, and it really makes it clear that George Lucas doesn't care squat about any Star Wars related product that doesn't directly conform to his vision. The problem is, his vision has been changing constantly since the very first drafts of what became Episode IV. I'm not sure if he's even thinking beyond dollar signs any more, and he doesn't seem to be interested in pleasing anyone besides the hordes of kids that buy oodles of merchandise but don't care squat about canon or continuty. Heck, who wants to bet that, if the live action series set between Episodes III and IV ever gets off the ground, it will completely screw with everything shown in The Force Unleashed video games?

How exactly are the color schemes kiddy?

No, because it's also been in every other Maresk exclusive ever, going all the way back to 1980.

You know, I'll be honest: even after clicking the frontpage link and seeing pictures of the new minifigs, the only think I was thinking was "WOOT, maresk blue cheese tiles!" Looking foward to the full review, Copmike.