Blondie-Wan

Of all the new molds to debut in the battlepacks, you left out my favorite!

Mmm, very interesting; thanks for sharing. Indeed, it's worth noting a whole slew of those individually-listed Marvel and DC comics characters have now made it into the Superheroes theme/themes, and The Hobbit / The Lord of the Rings has also become a theme (or a pair of linked themes). On the other hand, Alien is also listed, and I'm pretty sure that's one theme they'd absolutely never, ever do; it's interesting and peculiar that it was mentioned there at all. I'm guessing they included it to gather some contextual data about what other franchises AFOLs enjoy, whether they'd ever become LEGO themes or not. Anyway, as noted, I do think LEGO (CUUSOO) Ghostbusters has a darn good chance.

I agree, but it's all tempered by circumstance (Doc's death is prevented by Marty's meddling, etc.), and the overall tone is one of a family movie, even if there are elements that might raise eyebrows out of context. I also suspect the movie's status as an enduring classic makes it a little more palatable to TLG than it might otherwise have been (which is something that really can't be said of, say, Teen Wolf). I do think the Ghostbusters proposal(s) has / have some chance, though, now that they've hit the magic number of votes to qualify for review. Ghostbusters might be seen as perhaps just a wee bit more "adult" than Back to the Future, but not so much to be able to say outright that it won't happen - in fact, I'd guess it's fairly likely to pass TLG's review, just so long as there aren't any unknown licensing constraints (it could be that an existing active GB toy license out there somewhere already covers construction toys, even if there aren't actually any GB construction toys being made just now/yet).

Keep in mind I'm talking about overall popularity (i.e., including the UK), not just its popularity in the US. Does Doctor Who have more or fewer overall fans (everywhere on the planet - both in and outside both the UK and the US) than Avatar: The Last Airbender does/did? I'd think the established popularity of DW in the UK and its increasing popularity in the US would be enough to put it over the line, but perhaps I'm wrong. The thing is, the USA doesn't hold a monopoly on LEGO sales; the UK is among the many countries to which they sell. There's even a LEGO Star Wars game sold over there but not here in the US, undoubtedly due to licensing restrictions concerning Star Wars boardgames. Is Star Wars more popular in the UK than Doctor Who (honest question; I really don't know)? At any rate, DW is obviously popular enough for another maker of construction toys to consider it worth doing. Now, I realize TLG is much much much larger and undoubtedly has higher hopes and expectations saleswise for its themes (any of them, licensed or not) than pretty much every one of its construction toy competitors, but still. ________________________________________________ All this said, though, and as previously noted, it's all moot as long as said competing company does indeed hold the license anyway (and the same applies for Star Trek, of course).

I'd think she'd get something more like an ordinary slope brick, or perhaps even a couple of the new-ish 1x2 plates with a slope on one end.

There's plenty for TLG to object to (sniffing out the pot stash, multiple scenes of adolescents buying beer or trying to do so, sex, etc.). If by "nothing 'adult'" you mean "not exactly brimming with maturity" then I can see your point, but there's plenty there for TLG to object to. It's not enough for the property to not be truly adult (hard-R-rated, abundant profanity / sex and/or nudity / extreme violence and gore, etc.); it has to be actually "kid friendly." You may remember "non-kid friendly" as a term I paired with "adult" in my original post specifically to try to cover everything that might not fall squarely under "adult" but to which TLG would object on the same grounds. The Blues Brothers is great (and I do enjoy Teen Wolf), but... they're just not viewed as "family-friendly" entertainment in the same way or to the same extent as, say, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Back to the Future, Dora the Explorer, Spongebob Squarepants, Cars, the Marvel and DC universes and other entertainment properties on which TLG has created sets. The Blues Brothers is just not a kids' movie. Teen Wolf is... well, really a teen movie, certainly, but not a kid one. Some of the other movies TLG has done like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Indiana Jones adventures certainly do contain darker elements, but are still movies that a pretty fair number of families will take kids to, and which probably the majority of consumers in the countries in which TLG sells its products consider okay for kids in the age range generally targeted by TLG's products. The Blues Brothers and Teen Wolf just aren't. Perhaps I'm wrong, and frankly I'd be happy if I were (since I'd certainly dig having an official LEGO Bluesmobile set myself); I'm just calling it the way I think TLG is likely to. I also fully intend to propose and/or support some LEGO CUUSOO projects that I don't think are particularly likely to get approved (though more for reasons of relative obscurity than content), just in case, so I'm certainly not telling you you shouldn't try to get a Bluesmobile or a Wolfmobile or whatever. I just think it's profoundly unlikely to pass review, and here are the reasons why.

Great little house, but why has no one mentioned the roof yet? It's beautiful! Seriously, that's adorable. Nicely done.

Actually, Doctor Who has become increasingly popular outside the UK (and specifically in the US) in recent years, to the point at which I think it actually would be worth TLG's consideration, if only the rights weren't currently sewn up by another maker of construction toys. Surely if they could have a theme (even a small one) for Avatar: The Last Airbender they could have one for the more popular Doctor Who. However, the fact another company has the rights does make it moot, and it's for the same reason that we won't see sets based on Star Trek anytime soon, and a not-entirely-dissimilar reason we won't see ever see sets based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I'd personally love official LEGO themes based on all three, but oh well. ________________________________ One thing worth noting is that, up until Star Wars exploded on the cultural landscape in 1977 and changed everything, licensees tended to prefer doing toys based off TV shows than movies, since even a successful movie would have a shorter "shelf life" than a successful TV show - a movie might have lasted in theaters for several months, but a TV show could run continuously for years, providing near-constant, ongoing long-term support for a toy line. To an extent, there's still some truth to that even now.

Some of the others you mention might be possible, but I suspect these two are too adult / "kid-unfriendly" for TLG to want to do.

There are multiple CUUSOO proposals that reflect this, and I'm inclined to agree. I haven't seen much of the show yet (just started watching), but from what I can tell it's a good fit for LEGO (with the caveat that it would obviously require some new molds), and so long as there aren't any unknown roadblocks (say, another company having already gotten the construction toy rights, for example), I'll be surprised (and disappointed) if LEGO doesn't go for it. It should be noted there are also TV series represented in a number of other franchises for which LEGO has created themes, such as Star Wars and Marvel and DC Superheroes.

Wow! It sounds like your reintroduction to LEGO wasn't gradual at all, but really took off in a hurry. Way to come out of your Dark Ages, and welcome to Eurobricks!

Mine arrived today, a day before the estimated delivery date - it is a time machine, after all. Yay!

Yeah, but LEGO already has toy rights for those characters as part of the Marvel Comics Universe; I really doubt they'd negotiate a separate license just to be able to have a (sub-)theme built around a condensed, alternate version of stories and characters they already have the rights to the original versions of. If they were to do sets based specifically upon those films, I'd imagine it'd be as an extension of their existing license from Marvel, rather than a wholly new one from Fox. Back to The Simpsons... Hm. I think one likely set candidate actually might be the car Homer designed.

I doubt anything will bring back monorail elements, alas, and even if they're doing The Simpsons I don't think LEGO would do a set of a bar. But the Kwik-E-Mart is probably a possibility. But how many things does Fox have that TLG would do? We already know Firefly / Serenity is out, and obviously Alien / Predator / Prometheus will never ever happen. Perhaps Avatar (the James Cameron one, not the Last Airbender one, though that was already a theme once)? What are other possibilities there? Fox once owned the copyright on the original movie itself, but never more than that; all the merchandising rights, sequels, ownership of the characters, name, etc. have always belonged to Lucasfilm.

Holy smokes. I wouldn't have thought they'd be interested in this particular franchise; this shows how little I know. Might anyone here be able to translate the article? I loved The Simpsons in its early years, but haven't cared for it in a long time, yet as with any theme I can see myself getting at least some sets (certainly if there's one with Professor Frink I'll have to get it!). Now, if only they'd do LEGO Futurama...

Hah! Well, there you go - and even faster than usual.

Ooh, how'd I miss this? My misgivings about the actual Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire project itself notwithstanding (not exactly my favorite part of the EU, I must admit, even if the OT era in general is my favorite SW time period), I think I'd really like to be in on this. It'll be a challenge, since I'm still mired in getting my bricks organized, my building area set up, etc., but perhaps this endeavor will be just the kick in the pants I need to help me do all that, so... win-win, I guess! Oh, and I totally want to be a Rebel pilot.

Oh, something to think about regarding that - often, when a brand new LEGO set first comes out, TRU will carry it at the MSRP for a few days or a week or so before applying their usual exorbitant mark-ups. If I were planning on getting it from TRU, I'd try to do it ASAP, while it's still only $34.99.

Well, I forget what exact time I placed my order, but I do know it was at 5-something in the morning, and that's here in Tallahassee, Florida (in EST). Are you in a different time zone that would make your order later than mine? Or could it perhaps be something else in your order? Here's my total order: 21103 The DeLorean Time Machine 3367 Space Shuttle 9679 AT-ST & Endor 41020 Hedgehog's Hideaway ... plus two freebies for ordering those other items: 30106 LEGO® Friends Ice Cream Stand 30230 Mini Mech None of my stuff was backordered or anything like that. Might you have had something else in your order that they were waiting on?

Yes, mine has (I mentioned it in the post right above yours ). I suspect my getting my order in early was a factor - I ordered it from my workplace desk at work before 6 this morning (I go to work early), so it was just a few hours into the set's first day of official availability.

It does still happen from time to time. Not as often as I'd like, but there are a number of sets that TRU actually does offer at MSRP, even though they do mark up the majority of them. Meanwhile, mine has shipped! Woohoo!

I actually do want it for the pod parts (albeit not necessarily the build so much as those parts). I do want the minifigures too - to an extent, anyway, but I'd actually want them much more if they hadn't changed the trooper prints.

I placed an order of mostly non-SW stuff this morning, but threw in another copy of the Series 2 Planets set 9679 AT-ST & Endor, since it was clearanced and all and I can always use more AT-ST drivers. Pretty close (it was a Toys 'R' Us exclusive).

I ordered it (and a few other sets I "needed" ) this morning, and I've gotten my confirmation email. I can't wait! Nice hood mod, Real Indy. I'm planning on doing something very similar. I believe they'll keep making this one as long as it does well enough for them to do so, so I think you can wait. The main reason to buy one NOW NOW NOW would be, well, to have it NOW NOW NOW , and perhaps also to get the flux capacitor element with the error (assuming you want the misspelling, for some reason), since it appears LEGO is going to fix it somehow, which may mean doing a new version of the print and replacing the erroroneous element with the fixed one in future production runs (though I hasten to add that we don't know yet exactly what they're going to do, and we don't even know for sure that they will do something about it at all, but it appears likely).

It really boils down to how successful it is, of course, but 17 "regular" retail sets plus its own whole minifigures line (!) plus a DK book plus a videogame (perhaps with its own preorder bonus polybagged minifigure, as so many of the other games have gotten) plus the other ancillary stuff we know about so far certainly puts this above so many of the one-wave-and-done "action themes" (a la Dino, Pharaohs Quest, Alien Conquest, etc.) in terms of how LEGO is treating it, and how big they apparently expect it to be; it's more like the launch of a major new theme (like Legend of Chima, Friends, etc.). It could even be one - after all, if the movie itself is succesful enough, it'll surely get a sequel...