Blondie-Wan

I'm honestly sorry you feel that way. I'm afraid it won't be in 2013, either; the Lord of the Rings theme isn't going to be a quick flash-in-the-pan license like Speed Racer, but something that instead will almost certainly go on for at least a couple years, as there'll be sets released alongside both of the new movies coming out around Christmas of 2012 and 2013 (The Hobbit is being done as a two-parter, just in case you weren't aware). A launch wave for the overall theme is planned for this summer, featuring sets from the extant Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a second wave will focus on the new Hobbit movie coming out at the end of the year; unless the line bombs abysmally from the start, it's pretty much certain it will continue with another wave in summer of next year and then another wave with the second part of The Hobbit in the winter. I can easily see it getting at least one or two more waves after that, which would carry the theme all the way through at least 2014. I therefore think it's going to be at least three years at a bare minimum before LEGO resumes doing its own original, non-licensed medieval/castle themes. That said, it will happen eventually, and in the meantime there's going to be this licensed theme based upon the towering, gold-standard achievement in fantasy literature / cinema. While it's going to have drawbacks for people wanting to do their own original things (such as non-yellow, fleshtoned minifigures, and perhaps higher prices), it's also surely going to introduce elements and designs and other things traditional LEGO castle enthusiasts have wanted for a long time, or in some cases haven't ever considered before but from which they'll benefit considerably. Good luck!

Regular Pirates sets got clearanced as well. Every theme has clearances. The Lord of the Rings theme isn't going to be a "one and done" one. Even if the first wave sells poorly, it will be too late for there not to be at least a second wave - there will be a LotR trilogy wave in the summer and a Hobbit wave a few months later. The next couple waves' sets will undoubtedly have been planned by that time, as well. If the first couple waves' sets somehow sell abysmally, they might cancel the line prematurely, but otherwise I think you can be assured of at least two years' worth of sets at a bare minimum. It's not some single summer movie theme like Prince of Persia or Speed Racer; there are three huge movies already in existence in this franchise, and two more movies coming out a year apart from one another, and there's much more interest in all of them than there ever was in either the Prince of Persia or Speed Racer movies. I think it's likelier this theme will get at least five or six waves over at least a three-year period, if not more. Now, whether that's a good thing or not is obviously up to each of us to decide for himself or herself, and I do understand many people just don't care for licensed themes, regardless of their fondness for whatever movie or other franchise is being licensed. But like it or not, I think it's safe to say LotR/The Hobbit is going to be around as a LEGO theme for at least a little while - longer than Kingdoms has been, anyway, to use the most suitable example.

Wow! I expect I'm too late to request these myself (though if I'm wrong, please let me know! ), but I do want to make note of what a wonderfully kind offer this is. Kudos!

I'm in Florida as well (in Tallahassee). My local Target clearanced Series 5 at $2.08 a few days ago; they were still that price as of yesterday, I think it was. They were mostly out by then as well, though they did still have a few. Some of the Walmarts around here have huge quantities of them still at full price. I don't know whether they'll be clearanced, but I'll be watching - it would be my best chance of amassing huge numbers of graduates for the commencement ceremonies I hope to hold in my LEGO City sometime (it's going to be very much a college town - I'm planning to have a whole part of town full of pizza places ).

I've gotten Olivia's Invention Workshop and I love it, and I think the rest of the line is really nicely done as well; I intend to get a bunch of these sets (to the extent that my eternally starved wallet will allow, anyway). I hope this theme does really well for LEGO and brings huge numbers of fresh new enthusiasts to the hobby.

Actually, there is a Marie; she comes with 3061 City Park Café, as an employee of the establishment. While naturally most of the minidolls in the Friends line are versions of the (so far) five Friends around whom the line is based, a few other characters are included for them to interact with - Olivia's parents Anna and Peter (with Olivia's House), Sophie the veterinarian (with Heartlake Vet), and Marie the barista. And yes, Marie is indeed blonde (but otherwise does indeed look remarkably like Olivia). (And who's to say blondes can't be clever? )

In the last couple days I've checked out five Walmarts, two Targets, one Kmart and one Toys 'R' Us near me (Tallahassee, Florida), and I've picked up a lot of sweet clearance deals (the primary reason for all this running around), but I haven't seen any Series 6 Minifigures anywhere yet. Series 5 is still pretty abundant - one of the Targets here doesn't seem to have any left, and the other has them on clearance for $2.08 and seems to be going through them quickly at that price, but most of the Walmarts have scads of them (interesting to me, since I've rarely seen the previous four series at any of the Walmarts here). There's also one hobby store near me that still has Series 3, 4 and 5, or at least did as of a few days ago.

Really? That's not what I got from it - it's more different from the previous ones than I'd realized. Or they're actually in the target market (i.e., young kids) for these sets, which means they might not have even started playing with LEGO or ever watched a Star Wars movie when 6212 first came out. They might not even have been born when 7140 came out. It's true that with the Star Wars theme in particular TLG takes adult fans into consideration, but the core customers are still kids.

I suspect Olivia has the most in common with the average EBer in general, actually - she's obviously fond of making things, and clearly no stranger to "build-y" activities and hobbies. I dare say Olivia's the Friend most likely to be a LEGO fan herself. I'm thinking of giving her some Modulex bricks to play with. In fact, it strikes me her robot is mostly white and grey, with some orange - still possibly a totally "scratchbuilt" 'bot given the environment of the set it's in (what with the tools and all), but also quite possibly her very own Mindstorms creation!

I like CallMePieOrDie's ideas here (perhaps with a qualification or two): That sounds good, except for perhaps Ferrari and Studios - do they in fact belong here? Obviously Ferrari is a license, but a different kind of license from all the narrative/character-based ones; I'd have thought it would go wherever most other Racers sets go, the same way Shell and Exxon stations go in LEGO Town (they do go in LEGO Town, right?). And Studios included a couple licensed subthemes (for Spider-Man and Jurassic Park), but the overall Studios theme was mostly LEGO original; I would have guessed Studios discussion should go in LEGO Town as well, unless it deals specifically with either of those (or perhaps Studios-style "behind the scenes" MOCs based on other licensed themes). I hope I'm not being too much of a pain by asking!

Well... only about as weird as it was the first time around, about six or seven years ago. The only thing was that the licenses were reversed - LEGO was doing sets specifically based on the movies (the first two, to be specific), while Mega Bloks did ones based on the classic comic-book Spider-Man, and/or the Spidey mythos in general. TLG's Spider-Man movie license ended after Spider-Man 2, and Mega Bloks picked up the rights and did sets for Spider-Man 3. Perhaps their forthcoming sets from the reboot are based on a simple continuation of their movie license from that, while their comics license expired a while ago (they began doing comic Spidey sets a few years earlier, at the same time TLG was doing movie sets, remember), thus freeing it for TLG. LEGO and Mega Bloks have had lots of licenses that have gone from one to the other, actually: - Marvel Comics (used in the broadest sense of both the original comics and Marvel's own productions based in them, as well as various other studios' adaptations such as Sony's Spider-Man movies; since these licenses are handled separately, there have been multiple times when both companies are doing sets based upon different incarnations of the same characters, as happened then and now - I can still see Mega Bloks sets based on Iron Man and Captain America at my local TRU right now, for example) - Pirates of the Caribbean - Cars - Dora the Explorer ... and perhaps a few I'm forgetting.

Ok, I know this is really anal-retentive and all, but the forum description for the LEGO Licensed forum has a few oddities and inaccuracies I find somewhat vexing: "Prince of Persia, Toy Story 3, Indiana Jones, Batman, Harry Potter, Spiderman, Spongebob Squarepants, Ferrari and more" First of all, why is it "Toy Story 3" specifically and not just "Toy Story," when all the other themes mentioned are referred to by the umbrella title of the overall franchise? It doesn't say "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Dark Knight Rises, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Spider-Man 2" and so on. TLG's Toy Story theme may emphasize the newest movie, but does include sets from the entire trilogy. Secondly, "Spiderman" should actually be "Spider-Man." Better yet, perhaps both "Batman" and "Spider-Man" should be replaced altogether by the more comprehensive "DC" and "Marvel," respectively, since they include Bats and Spidey anyway (and yes, I'm aware the earlier Spider-Man theme was something a little different from the overall Marvel license since it was specific to those movie adaptations, but still...). And finally, how about putting them in alphabetical order, as was the case with the LEGO Action Themes forum (at least until the recent / current themes of Atlantis, Pharaoh's Quest and Ninjago were appended at the end of the list)? Alternately, they could be listed in thematically related groupings (such as listing Marvel and DC next to each other).

I'll remember going to the grand opening of LEGOLAND Florida (and a preview day, and once again during the countdown to Christmas), the news of the Marvel, DC and Middle-earth licensed themes, the revelation of LEGO Friends, and all the LEGO sets I added to my collection this year. On the downside are the announcement of the closing of LEGO Universe just as I was finally able to begin playing a little more regularly, along with the discontinuation of far, far too many sets before I (and so many others who wanted them) were able to get them. On balance, though, it was mostly an excellent LEGO year, from where I sit. Here's looking forward to a great 2012!

Best wishes for 2012, everyone! My hopes and dreams for the new year: - that Friends is a huge success, and brings lots of little girls to LEGO (and that they then stick around to explore what else it has to offer) - that LEGO Universe goes out with a bang (or better yet, get an eleventh-hour reprieve, but I realize that's too much to hope for) - that we finally get positive concrete news about Indiana Jones V, and with it news about the forthcoming return of the LEGO Indiana Jones theme - that we get more nice civilian buildings in LEGO City for all those cops and firefighters to protect (and perhaps a hospital for any LEGO City civilians who didn't manage to avoid peril despite the legions of protectors) - that Trains flourish, with more track sets available, and more widely distributed - that the original Star Wars trilogy era continues to get love in LEGO Star Wars - that the Marvel and DC Superheroes and Middle-earth themes are every bit as successful as they have the potential to be - that we get news of a return to classic, exploration-based Space sets - that LEGOLAND Florida proves a huge success - that we see more and more element decoration done using printed parts rather than stickers - that the PAB selection continues to expand (how about some of those Friends colors in PAB?) - and that I'm able to afford all the LEGO sets I want :D My resolutions? Um... I hope to get back into building in a big way, and let this be the year I finally begin posting MOCs here at EB. :D

Indeed (certainly, if all those clones in that shot are his). To be specific, I'd say it sounds like he's a hardcore AFOLSW. I dearly love LSW, but I just can't afford to get all the stuff I want. Also, while my love of LSW is the result of my passion for SW in general, it's also that of a passion for LEGO in general (actually, it's probably better to say I'm a fan of LLF - LEGO Lucasfilm, the combined LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones - and that that's the natural result of my being a fan of both LEGO and Lucasfilm), and I do have interests in lots of other LEGO themes and "non-themes" (just free-form building having nothing to do with established, official LEGO themes and whatnot). I therefore have to spread my meager resources around on getting as much of everything as I can, and I just can't do as much of all of it as I'd like. But I do have something of an army of LEGO Star Warriors (or multiple armies, actually, given the different factions), and I'll try to post a pic here sometime....

*Finally* picked up my first 8089 Hoth Wampa Cave today (!), along with one copy apiece of the OT Hoth battlepacks, all on clearance for half price - huzzah! I think I shall get a few more shortly.

You know, I see this brought up all the time, but I don't see much actual evidence of it cited anywhere, and I'm not sure it's true. Well, Ok, technically "they" are significantly more expensive in the sense that several of the most expensive sets ever (in MSRP) are licensed ones, but that's also because they're just plain huge sets with scads of pieces (I'm obviously talking about the UCS Millennium Falcon, UCS Super Star Destroyer, etc.). But there are also lots of very inexpensive licensed sets. In pure, absolute terms, saying they're more expensive makes no sense - some are, and some aren't, just as among LEGO sets in general some are expensive and some aren't. The question is really whether licensed sets are inherently more expensive than comparable sets, and I'm not convinced at all that they are. Yes, I am of course aware that the licensing fees are figured into TLG's cost for a given set, but that's not all there is to it. For example, some licensed sets might be expected to sell lots more copies, which could mean the set price can be brought down a little. Price-per-piece is the most widely applied yardstick for determining how well a set is priced, but again it's subject to a lot of variation with other factors. Just what sorts of pieces are we talking about? Obviously a set with lots of large or complex pieces isn't going to be priced the same as a set with an equal number of mostly tiny, simple, common elements.

Er, wait - do you mean the rebel troopers? One of them is already just like the first one (well, the torso print, anyway). What modifications do these need to fit with the others? If you mean the hands, I thought I'd just treat them as having gloves...

Hmm. The one on the right (with the previously existing torso, that debuted with 8038 - The Battle of Endor) uses the open-mouth-grin variation head for Indiana Jones (that debuted with a couple sets in the summer '09 Indiana Jones wave). A good thing Han Solo apparently shaves regularly - otherwise the rest of the Rebel strike team would be mixing him up with this guy. Also, I'm a bit taken aback there's nothing in the review about the new blaster pistol! Granted, there's not much to it other than being a "Star Wars-y" gun smaller than the previous ones, but it's great to finally have something that'll look right in Han's hands (among others). Back to the trooper images shown, I'm relieved to see at least the Imperial Scout trooper didn't get a new torso (unless there's some back; it'll make it easier to use with my existing troops. I'm also having some thoughts about getting new sets now and keeping my uniformed troops consistent while still maximizing parts usage... Same here, but I'm thinking I can work around it to an extent. I think I might buy copies of this and other sets featuring the new torso, with the intention of mixing and matching elements from my current parts inventory to get as many stormtroopers as I can while still having them be uniform in appearance (also standardizing on the current blasters for all of them, freeing the old "megaphone blaster" elements for other uses).

I've just picked up two copies of 30062 - Target Practice (one as a stocking stuffer Christmas gift from my girlfriend shortly before Christmas, one clearanced at half price from Target the day after Christmas) and one of 7948 - Outpost Attack (also clearanced at half price at Walmart). I don't have a lot of other Kingdoms sets yet, but I plan to get a few more in the next few days while clearances are everywhere.

Wow, nifty. I've had that tile since I got the set when it was on clearance not too many months after it was released, but I never realized before now that there was that much legible story there.

You really think so? I'd have thought it was pretty much the exact opposite of moot, actually - this thread generated discussion of a possible, hypothetical theme which turned out to be pretty much dead on the money in describing an actual, honest-to-goodness LEGO theme that was in the works. How is that not incredibly cool and totally relevant? In fact, I propose the main, "official" Monster Fighters 2012 thread be merged with this one, and that to acknowledge the prescience of certain posters here the title of this thread be used as the main title (with "Monster Fighters 2012" added in parentheses or as the secondary description or something). In retrospect, it's simply too cool that EB members were able to call the actual theme like this; I think it'd be great if anyone from this point on wanting to check out the "historical" discussion on the theme saw how amazingly well discussion of an idea like this paralleled the actual theme, before anyone outside TLG knew it was coming. (Just a respectful suggestion / request, of course!)

Really? I don't think they do. I don't know it, myself - you have to remember these are made with kids in mind, and kids aren't necessarily interested in army-building historical soldiery.

How about a side-by-side comparison of the new figures with their older counterparts? I'd be interested in seeing how well/poorly they go together...

How about mini-/midi-/microscale models (perhaps in LEGO Architecture-style?) of noteworthy buildings and locations from the Marvel and DC universes? Latverian Embassy Daily Planet building Daily Bugle building Fortress of Solitude The Baxter Building Four Freedoms Plaza Xavier Institute for Higher Learning Wayne Manor ... and so on.