Blondie-Wan

Before today, I would have thought the misspelling would remain as it is; it's just a transposition of two letters in a truly tiny space, after all, and pretty easily overlooked. However, BrickFanatics has alerted us to an official TLG response: It could just be that they'll issue a sticker to go over the brick (which would undoubtedly be the least expensive way to address this), but as I'm frankly surprised they're looking into doing anything about it at all, that sounds like a good thing (at least having the choice to use either a printed brick with a misspelling or an error-free stickered brick is surely better than having only the misspelled printed brick option). But given that they have indeed posted an official response (and the unusual amount of attention the misspelling has garnered), I half-wonder whether they'll actually go ahead and reprint the brick (of course, this page doesn't out-and-out promise a response, and I could see them looking into it and then deciding it's just not worth the trouble to do anything about it at all, but I don't think they'd put the page up unless they'd already decided to issue some sort of fix, one way or another). I guess we'll see. At any rate, I think the page's very existence at all is another sign of the care they're putting into this set (and which they put into their products in general, actually), and that the griping some have had about TLG's "laziness" is really rather baseless. Say what you will about the finished design of the model (I certainly intend to see if I can mod the set to my own greater satisfaction), but it's abundantly clear LEGO's people have put a lot of effort, care and love into this set, and I for one appreciate that they have.

I must say, I'd particularly appreciate it if sandtrooper shoulder pauldrons were plastic rather than fabric.

This is still my choice for forum description, but other possibilities are good, too. If nothing else, though, could we please at least change "Toy Story 3" to "Toy Story" (since the LEGO theme covered the series in general) and "Spiderman" to "Spider-Man" (since that's the correct spelling... although if "Spiderman" is changed at all, it might as well be to "Superheroes," so that it covers everything from both Marvel and DC)? It's now been fully a year and a half since I started this thread, and the forum descriptor is unchanged - still no particular order to the list, still the weird emphasis on Toy Story 3 instead of the overall series, still the misspelling of "Spider-Man," and all. I know the descriptions do get changed every once in a while; is there something going on with this forum that prevents it from getting a better description for now? (Actually, I have been wondering about that forum lately, but the thing I was going to ask really deserves its own thread rather than going here...).

There might very well be; I'm not interested in buying the ship that way, so I haven't looked - I want the complete set, minifigures included, even if they're all versions of characters I already have (and anyway, where else am I going to get Luke in lightsaber / remote training mode with the blast shield printed down on his face?). The set is still readily available new, here; I'll get it that way. I just have a lot to catch up on, that's all.

I'd say it's this one: It's not just a great army builder; it actually debuted a whole entire troop type that hadn't been represented in the LEGO Star Wars theme at all up to that point, despite coming from the first film and released at a time when the theme had been around for nearly a decade, and it gave us four of these long-overdue "standard" Rebel troopers. It also was perfect for army building - all four minifigures were "generic" troops rather than specific, named characters, and thus had no figures "going to waste" if one bought multiples. And even the rest of the set was great - the craft is remarkably substantial and solid; one got a lot for one's money with this set, more than with some unlicensed sets at the same price point. What a great battlepack.

Because Chewie wasn't wearing shoulder armor in the Ewok village? (As I've noted before, I'm perfectly happy with the classic Chewbacca head / body mold. I think if they were going to update the figure, the only two things they could do that might be genuine improvements would be a) using a more detailed paint/print on that piece, and b) using a torso and hips/legs with the longer limbs created for certain Toy Story characters.)

Argh, I still need to get this! Blasted limited resources...

The pirate hook hand has also been in a transparent color (trans red, for Ogel, the villain from the Alpha Team theme).

Are those faction choices (clones and droids) chosen purely for example, by the way, or are they actually talking about doing them (that is, more clones and droids battlepacks for next year)? I was hoping we'd get more OT battlepacks (isn't it the OT's "turn" in 2014, going from the established pattern alternating between the OT and everything earlier, or am I miscounting)?

Like others here I'm a bit cool to the set. It's a bit funny - I consider myelf a huge Star Wars fan, and among LEGO themes it's the one I have by far the most sets from and the one that pulled me out of my dark ages in the first place, yet there's a huge chunk of the theme I just don't have as much interest in as I do most sets from totally different themes such as Friends. Chalk it up to my mixed feelings over the prequels in general. That said, this does appear to me to be a fine rendition of a vehicle; it's just that the source material doesn't move me as much as anything from my beloved original trilogy. I hope we'll get something new from the classics, even if it is a remake (as would seem likely, given that most major candidates for LEGO set treatment from the original three movies have now been done at least once in this theme's first thirteen or fourteen years - gads, it's been a long time now, hasn't it?). But I do hope they give us at least one thing from the OT that hasn't happened before, even if it's just a single character minifigure debut (c'mon, give us Aunt Beru! ). Huh?

I got my girlfriend into LEGO. We were both about to turn forty when we met a little over five years ago, and like most thirty-nine-year-olds she didn't have any particular interest in it, but as we got to know each other my own passion for it seems to have rubbed off on her, and now she has quite a few LEGO sets of her own, along with her own particular areas of building interest. As it happens, we just recently each gave the other some LEGO, just in the past few weeks (as we've each just turned forty-five within the last month, having been born a few weeks apart in 1968).

Well... for some AFOLs, anyway. I've actually been mulling over this issue lately, and was thinking about starting a topic on it, but now that this one's here I suppose I won't. I've been wondering whether it might not be better to have plastic rather than fabric for those elements that are die-cut from flat sheets, such as sails, segments of the tops of carousels, etc. I know cloth looks more realistic, but given that we're already building with inherently unrealistic-looking bricks, minifigures, etc., is that really such a priority? I'm starting to think that maybe plastic items would be better, mainly because of durability. Most regular bricks are remarkably durable items that retain their usefulness for years or even decades, but the fabric sails tend not to endure the way the bricks do unless treated carefully.

Wow, what a thorough and well-written review! I'm pleased to say it clearly illustrates the set's many virtues, and the whole thing is now much more attractive than it already was even after first seeing those disappointing photos of the final official model. It's a shame that the primary photo of it, the one adorning the box front (which will probably be the defining image most people associate with the set) shows it from what's arguably the worst-looking angle for the model. The many images in this review make clear that the model does look noticeably better from just about every other angle (something I'd already suspected after seeing the video review linked elsewhere). TLG did a very classy job on the overall set - prints for all decorated elements including several unique to this set, the lavishly-produced manual and packaging with all the background info, various nifty movie-faithful details, parts and instructions for optional builds to represent the time machine's different configurations for different scenes... even if that darned hood still doesn't look quite right, I have to say TLG's designers did a fine job on the whole. I want to mention my particular joy over the alternate expression for Doc Brown; his panicky look is just perfect. I find it incredibly endearing - it reminds me of how charmed I was years ago by how LEGO perfectly captured Han Solo's lopsided cocky smirk / smile, back when licensed characters were still yellow like any other minifigure, and how some years later they even found a way to translate the nightmarish shrunken head on Mola Ram's headdress to the adorable LEGO minifigure aesthetic. Doc Brown looks similarly great here, and his "Aiieee!!!" face is so winning I find it a tough call which face I'll use as the default display face. Like others, I do intend to mod the set, but perhaps not so much as I intially thought I'd "have" to in order to be satisfied. I do want to also do more configurations than the three represented by the official set, though, like the alternate original configuration (with the long lightning rod antenna), or the very final configuration (with train wheels). I suspect it's more a case of the hoverboard being used only when Marty and Doc are dressed differently from how he is here (Marty in his 2015 outfit disguised as his son, in the black leather jacket in '55, etc). Since the set includes minifigures of the characters as they appear only from the time machine's initial appearance, it doesn't come with all the other stuff they pick up and use over the course of their adventures. They could always have included the hoverboard and just not put Mattel's logo on it (like how the minifigure Short Round's cap doesn't have the NY emblem on it).

I'm most pleased to see everything's printed! That's very cool. :)

Thinking about it further, I'm starting to lean more towards the idea that TLG shouldn't have redesigned the set so drastically, even for functionality; I'm now starting to think it might have been better to just keep a single, excellent design without even bothering to include the multiple configurations. After all, it (presumably) has only the two minifigures, representing just a few scenes with a single configuration, rather than lots of different Martys and Docs (and other characters) to go with all the reconfigurations the car undergoes in the movies. But even with that, I'm still excited for the set, and definitely plan to get it. Well... probably LEGO fans overall (of which kids make up the overwhelming majority, of course), but AFOLs or other "serious" LEGO fans (i.e., the kind who'd get CUUSOO sets)? I wouldn't be too sure. I don't think it really requires many "collectors" of BttF toys, since this itself is just a single set rather than a whole theme. All it needs is BttF fans, many of whom do collect BttF stuff in general (just not so much toys, since there were never that many toys to begin with), and there are certainly plenty of people who love these movies. I'd hazard a guess that if this set doesn't do well it'll be because of the complaints many have about the final execution of the model (especially when compared to the beautiful proposal model), and not because nobody wants an official LEGO Back to the Future DeLorean time machine set. Wait - what? This is an actual licensed set. Do you really think LEGO would just go ahead and make a Back to the Future set without getting a license from Universal? The Universal logo is even there on the box.

This is really interesting to me, since it actually fits my own memories of my LEGO experience as a kid. I was born in June of 1968 (I just turned 45 a few weeks ago ), and I was an Air Force brat, so I moved around a lot with my family to wherever my dad was stationed. We lived at various places in the US up through the end of 1973, and I never saw LEGO anywhere before then, but then we moved to England in December '73 or January '74, and all of a sudden I started getting LEGO sets whenever my parents bought me toys; my memories of those early-to-mid-'70s sets that were the first ones I ever got are still quite vivid to this day. We stayed in England for about four and a half years, and returned to America in June of '78, and when I came back LEGO was as well-represented on US toy shelves as it had been in the UK. From my perspective, it always seemed like LEGO wasn't really around much in the US (if at all) until sometime while my family was overseas. For years I attributed this perception mainly to the fact I was such a young child when we left for England (that I didn't remember that many things from before then, didn't go on shopping outings much, etc.), but perhaps it's also because the product just wasn't nearly as prominent in the US market in the early '70s as it was just a few years later.

There have been LEGO City advent calendars each year since 2005, and at least one other calendar from some other theme every year since 2007; these have varied by year until just recently: 2007 - Belville 2008 - Castle 2009 - Pirates 2010 - Kingdoms 2011 - Star Wars 2012 - Star Wars 2012 - Friends Prior to 2010 with Kingdoms, these calendars were usually distributed only outside the US; the US (or North America in general?) got only City. Last year was the first year they repeated a theme other than City, unless one counts Kingdoms as a repeat of Castle; it's also the first year they had three different calendars (albeit with Friends being produced and distributed only in very limited quantities). Since they're now repeating all three of last year's themes, two of which were already repeats (one of them already a perennial) and all of which are "core" themes, I suspect these three themes will now get advent calendars each year for at least the next few years, though of course I don't really know what LEGO plans (this is just what makes sense to me). Oh, is that what it was? I knew the Friends one had a much more limited production run than usual, and as far as I know was offered only in brick and mortar LEGO Stores, not even in Shop at Home, but I didn't know the reason why. Where'd you hear this, if I may ask?

Ok, fair enough! I was just addressing the idea of it being overpriced for what one gets, not whether Winter Village sets at this price point are a good idea. I do think the set has plenty to justify it, but I totally get the complaint about $100 being difficult for some of us regardless of whether it's a good deal or not. Right now I'm actually agonizing over several local LEGO clearances I'd dearly love to take advantage of, since even with the lower prices I still just can't quite afford everything I'd like.

Cool! Thanks for the heads-up. I knew about the official sets, but had no idea about that earlier display model (I don't know if it's discussed in the LEGO / Maersk history info found in the manuals for the recent train - I have two copies of the set but haven't opened them yet, though of course I'm looking forward to doing so). :)

I'm still disappointed in the look of the final set (and like others, I understand the likely reason for the change, but don't see why TLG couldn't have come up with something that looked better than this), but at the same time I'm still delighted that there'll be an official set with elements suited for building a Delorean time machine; I'll just use the parts along with my own to make my own version.

Hm. Well, it's certainly possible, but FWIW LEGO's history with Maersk goes all the way back to 1974, when they did their first Maersk cargo ship, and it looked like this: (pic from Brickset) To date, they've done at least seven Maersk sets, including three of container ships (the third being a reissue of the second), three trucks and a train. The trucks and train have all been in some sort of minifigure scale, while the ships have all been in smaller ones. Now, obviously what they've done in the past doesn't necessarily absolutely dictate what they'll do in the future, but I do think it does at least show that they don't feel they particularly need to do Maersk container ships in minifigure scale. I'll be surprised if this new one is. But I guess we'll see!

Wow, this is really beautiful. I'm flabbergasted by the complaints; this looks to me like a set that could easily cost over $100 USD, and I'm pleased to see something this substantial, even if it is one of the two most expensive sets in the line. At least one certainly gets what one pays for - this has nine human minifigures, plus (uniquely printed!) horses, lots of accessories, mechanical functions... there's really a lot here. Well... wow. sgeureka's description (from almost five months ago!) of what a Christmas market should have matches this set almost perfectly; it's practically a blueprint for what we're getting. Very nicely done, sgeureka.

I've actually had almost this exact same idea! I've long wanted to build a recreation of the famous ceremony with Artoo, Threepio and Vader putting their footprints in cement in front of Grauman's in August of that year, and/or just have the movie playing at Grauman's or a Grauman's-like theater.

Well... wow. That is indeed very nicely done. And I don't mean that it's impressive just because of the size of it and all the time and money and such put into it (though it certainly is impressive for that), but it actually is an attractive build, with plenty of cool stuff to look at. I see the Minifigures Series 3 Alien in there. Nice to see the Star Wars universe get "filled out" a bit with LEGO elements that aren't officially from Star Wars, but can easily fit (I intend to help populate my own Mos Eisley Cantina and Jabba's Palace that way).

That's an excellent model of an underrepresented vessel. I do like the splashes of color with the pods (I'd actually have tried to make it even more colorful myself, since I think LEGO models of Star Wars vessels tend to suffer if they're made as gray as the source material suggests they perhaps should be, but that's just a personal preference; there's obviously no denying the validity of your approach). And I'm glad to see you included the Millennium Falcon. Beautiful!