Blondie-Wan

"Accuracy?" You know some boxers who don't need to wear gloves over their hands because they already have gloves growing right out of their arms? I do like your acknowledgement that putting the cheerleader's pom-poms directly into her arms "would not be that accurate," though. Masterfully understated.

Good point! Also, I believe it's customary for the king to be the tallest piece on the board (and the queen the second tallest); therefore, the point others have expressed about putting Jake and Helena on pedestals would be good not only to help them stand out more, but to adhere to chess conventions (is that correct, Mrlegoninja?). That said... otherwise, this is truly fabulous, and I love it. I'd want this board for myself if it were an actual TLG product (of course, I'd be glad just to have all those wonderful printed elements from the old Adventurers sets ). Nicely done, Oky!

The same here. Indeed. I personally sought multiples of the fisherman partly for those parts; I was particularly interested in the new colors for his knit cap and the fish. The overall figure also sparked some ideas about crewing a fishing trawler, which I hadn't really considered before. I like the figure just fine and got three of it, and honestly I'd like more just for the fish if it weren't for the fact it's also supposed to be in Series 5. Its rarity or lack thereof doesn't interest me in the slightest; I go after figures I want (in all honesty, I'd be delighted to have a few more divers from S1, even though it's probably the least popular figure out of all four series). And I very much appreciate the scientist not because of the rarity factor (which I suspect may be rectified eventually, as it apparently was for the fisherman) but simply because I'm one of those sci-fi / horror fans who finds the figure inherently appealing simply for what it is. I've been trying to get at least two of each figure from each series, with more copies of those I feel I can most use additional copies of; the exact number I go for depends upon how many of the figure I feel I can use in my own creations.

It's interesting to me that you had this response; I haven't finished watching it all yet, but so far I've had exactly the opposite reaction - the company seems a little smaller, more intimate and more human to me than I had previously conceptualized it as being. I was already aware of the immensity of the production system (and that TLG is a huge international company with revenue in the billions of dollars each year), but understanding a little more about it helped me visualize how different elements would find their way to market and so on, and though the whole operation is huge it's still finite. Moreover, seeing people in the company whose family had worked there before them made the whole thing seem a bit more intimate and special. Also seeing how things like a major set release (such as the police station) are still designed by relatively small teams of enthusiastic employees, and how a new element such as the latest dog figure comes about, personalized the process a lot for me. The environmental impact, though, is something that's been on my mind since well before this segment showed up, and I do wonder sometimes about the consequences of my love for this toy.

Typical of what?

FWIW, some LEGO Stores sold (sell?) the rocketship sets on their own as well as giving them away with the game. I was at the Dallas, TX store in November, and they had copies of both the preorder astronaut minifigure and the rocketship set that they were giving away with purchases of the game, but while that was the only way they'd give one the astronaut, they were selling the ship on its own (I know the online store wouldn't do this - perhaps it was up to individual stores whether to sell the rocket independently or not?). If you got the astronaut, perhaps you could take comfort in that, and call around to the stores to see if any of them still have the rocket. Verrry interesting to hear you got a free copy of the game! Where are you located, if I may ask? That's interesting, and I'm sure a lot of people who haven't gotten into the game yet might give it a try if it went that route. I'm sure TLG is looking at various business models used by other MMOs and evaluating them to see what would work best for the game. I think LU is supposed to reflect pretty much all those other themes, rather than being tied to a single theme unto itself - it's like a virtual world made up of bricks just the way many kids might have their collections (i.e., all mixed together, with City cops, Castle knights, etc. all in one big pool). But I do think you have a point - it would be better to have more cross-pollination between the game world and our physical bricks. Perhaps they can entice more people to try the game with some exclusive sets? I do see they put LU blurbs on the sides of some set boxes now, so I think they're taking some tentative additional steps, but of course more would be better.

But what if someone wants to have the boxer before donning his gloves or after removing them? Or show them hanging up in the gym or something? I'd rather have the versatility that comes with being able to remove the gloves. Someone who doesn't want the gloves to come off can still leave them on the figure forever, if so inclined.

I've noticed my local TRU has gotten some more copies of Ambush in Cairo in at some point in the last week or two. Is there just a lot of stock left for this set sitting around in a warehouse somewhere? Why is TRU receiving more stock? Also, I was out of town last weekend and visited another TRU I hadn't seen before, and they still had not only Ambush in Cairo but also The Temple of Doom. Unfortunately I didn't think to ask someone there if it was more stock they'd put on the shelf just recently, or was instead just old stock that had been on the shelf for several months. Can anyone else here say whether their local TRUs have put any more Indiana Jones sets on their shelves recently? I'm starting to wonder whether TRU advance-ordered a bunch of Indy sets for this year, and they're getting fresh supply even though TLG no longer offers it, or what...

The cheerleader's pom-poms can easily be positioned so that one can't see the opening from either side, and I don't think they'd put permanently attached gloves on a torso assembly just for one of these minifigures. Note that even with the wealth of new elements used throughout this minifigures line, all of the basic "core" body parts - hip/legs assemblies, torso assemblies, heads - still conform to previously-existing part designs in shape, even though the prints and colors may be unique. If they made permanent boxing gloved hands for a minifigure, it'd be a first for this line.

Well... oops, then. It's hard to tell online sometimes. I think I'd have gotten your jest about the factory, had it not been coupled with the LU rubbish comment - my perception has been that some here do unfortunately view the game that way, so it sounded like an actual comment to me.

Same here, my wallet is almost depleted with spartans and elves, Series 4 hasnt arrived yet, perhaps for July they shall bring them, meanwhile trying to save as much as i can because on July too the Kingdoms Line releases it sets... Argh, tell me about it. I have a bad enough time as it is just trying to get all the other regular sets I want, and now I feel compelled to go after all these as well - and I want scads of all the "army builder / crowd filler" figures, and there's a slew of them - Cavemen! Zombies! Cheerleaders! Spartans! Sailors! Werewolves! Grad students! Elves! Musketeers! Forestmen! Robots! Spacemen! Hazmat suit guys! And on, and on, and on...

As of right now the anticipated October opening of LEGOLAND Florida is the 2011 development to which I'm most looking forward to, but the year is still young; there's plenty of time for new surprises...

Since when is the much-acclaimed LEGO Universe rubbish? It's true it's not doing as well as TLG had hoped, but I don't think that's because of any inherent problem with the game. Have you even played it? And as Aanchir points out, its existence doesn't really affect QC one way or another. As far as importing a whole factory goes... they might be able to shift production from one country to another (which I think would be the ideal solution if there really is an issue with the raw materials they have access to in China), but actually transplanting the factory? Workers and all? I don't think there's any way such an action could be feasible.

I picked up one apiece of each of the remaining nine figures yesterday to complete my first set of S4 - hooray! Next payday I'll seek out a bunch of duplicates.

I don't plan to have this as my permanent solution, but at the moment I'm keeping them in these $10 LEGO-licensed plastic project cases some of you may have seen in LEGO Stores and perhaps a few other stores. These are the ones made by Isis under LEGO licensing (they have both companies' logos molded into the top of the case), with minifigure heads printed on the tops of the hinged lids, and come with green 32x32 baseplates. I'm using a yellow case for Series 1, a red one for Series 2 (I don't have a blue one yet) and a green one for Series 3. I've just started getting Series 4 (just completed a set yesterday, but plan to get many additional duplicates, of course) and I only have three of these cases, so my Series 4 figures are in the yellow case with Series 1 at the moment (I may pick up a blue case and move the S2 figures to that, and then put S4 in the red, the closest match I've seen on these cases for the orange S4 packaging - are these cases available in orange, I wonder?). All three cases also have a few other miscellaneous small promo items, Pick-A-Brick elements, etc. rolling around in them, but the minifigures are reasonably organized on the baseplates in the cases.

It's indeed cool, but I'm going to assume it's a chimpanzee or some other ape (a bonobo, likely) based on its taillessness, and chimps aren't really readily available in reputable pet shops (for good reason).

I finally got my first few S4 figures over the weekend! I found them at a Toys 'R' Us - not the one here in my town, where I regularly go, but one in another town a long drive away (so, I won't go there regularly to shop for LEGO; I was there with my girlfriend to meet and visit some of her family members on her grandfather's birthday). I started sorting them by feel, and putting together one set, but was pressed for time and wound up grabbing a couple of the ones I knew, plus some random others I had sorted but gotten somewhat mixed again without realizing it, and wound up getting lots of duplicates. I'm fine with that - I want at least two of each (and have gotten at least two of each figure from the previous three series), but I'm just a hair perturbed that out of the twelve minifigures in my initial purchase from this series, I got only seven of the sixteen, plus five duplicates (a few of which I actually did seek since I'm ultimately going to want as many of them as I can get, but a few of the others I just want a couple of, and I was hoping to get my initial distribution spread out a little more - I was hoping to complete base sets before going wild on duplicates). Oh, and I would have picked up more than twelve, but as it happened this TRU also had a couple copies left of the Indiana Jones set The Temple of Doom, which I'd wanted more of but had thought I wouldn't have another opportunity to get any more of; I bought one copy of that unexpected find, and that shattered the budget I'd planned when I hadn't expected to find any lingering Indy sets on this trip. My S4 haul: 2x Hazmat suit guys 1x Garden gnome 1x Surfer 2x Frankenstein's monster(s) 2x Sailors 2x Punk rockers 2x Artists Shortly after I leave work (I'm posting from my workplace during my lunch break) I'm going to see if I can find a few more at a local store I expect to receive them (they've already had the previous three series, so I assume it's certain they'll have them eventually, though I don't know just when).

I collect them for mostly the same reason I get other LEGO sets - I want to make little creations with them! I collect these particular sets because they feature unique elements not available elsewhere, which are used in these sets to make unique minifigures (with accessories) not found in other sets, sometimes representing entire themes otherwise unrepresented in official sets. And even with those figures who represent roles commonly found in other sets (skateboarders, for example), the minifigures and accessories here offer a lot of opportunity for greater variety in my creations than I might otherwise get using just skateboarders and skateboards in "regular" sets, for example. I do also derive some enjoyment from the "collectible" aspect, but I get them largely because I want them, whether as complete sets unto themselves or for their component elements.

It does, now that you mention it. That's a really odd place for a stud, though, given how the rest of the top of the case is shaped. I think it might be not a stud but a small projection to represent a latch. It also appears to have a rectangular projection on the bottom, which I think might be the hinge (since the hinge would be a straight edge, but the main part of the case presumably has curved sides like a violin). With the oblong-shaped suitcases, the hinge can be incorporated directly into the suitcase walls, but for this it would probably need some "extra" plastic if they didn't give the case flat walls along the inner / bottom side(s).

Not boring to everyone, of course. For those people specifically interested in making things that use dwarves or snowboarders, the additional variety these figures provide is invaluable. Sherlock could've used a pipe, sure, but a magnifying glass is still nice, and as already noted they're just not going to do a pipe. If he hadn't come with a magnifying glass, it wouldn't mean he would come with a pipe; it would just mean he wouldn't come with anything (or they'd have to come up with something else entirely). Monkey? That's a chimpanzee, which they've never done before, and it's printed to boot. If you don't like chimps, fine, but I'm thinking of getting a slew of the zookeeper / animal trainer just to get a bunch of those chimps. Sure, different strokes for different folks. We all have some series we'll get more or less of than others. That doesn't necessarily mean a given series is weak, it just means different series meet different needs and desires for different people.

Chimpanzee! And yes, it has a printed face; we've seen one or two images somewhere that showed that before, but it's still cool. I hope they do a second ballplayer (from another team) sometime, and give that one a mitt. That way one can easily stage games between two teams, each fully equipped at any given time (since one could put the mitts on whichever team is on the field, and one needs just one bat for the batting team). I have to assume it does - I mean, they could mold it as a solid lump, which would use a lot more plastic, or save on materials costs by making it hollow, and if it's hollow they might as well do it as two halves on a hinge, like the regular minifigure suitcases. But we'll see... Indeed... though good luck getting TLG to produce anything smoking-related (and understandably so, given the target audience)! I was just noticing that! That's the most significant new thing I've noticed from these clearer, higher-res images. It looks awesome!

Well, there are several actors who play multiple characters in the actual Indiana Jones movies and episodes, so I say it's only fair to use the same minifigure heads for multiple characters in LEGO Indy (TLG itself does it, after all). Though that said, I don't know that I'd personally use the face of Indy himself for other characters in Indy creations (it's not like Harrison Ford or Sean Patrick Flanery appear as other characters in the series, after all), but perhaps that's just me.

All my LEGO acquisitions are meant to be used. I do have a lot of unopened sets at the moment, but that's just because I haven't gotten around to them for one reason or another; I don't intend to keep any sets unopened indefinitely. LEGO is best appreciated by being used, IMO. I do frequently buy multiples of sets when circumstances permit, but that's because I want multiples of those sets (or more specifically, I usually want multiples of the parts). A lot of those multiples are unopened, but I do plan to open them eventually, not just store them in their boxes forever.

To his hand. Or his raygun. Or his leg, if the hairpiece / hat has a stud of its own. So (s)he does come with a hat, then? Drat - mine are missing parts!

Well, never mind - I was just at this particular WM again, and saw *plenty* of Series 3, on shelves just across from the other LEGO sets. They had at least four open partial boxes out. I still have yet to see any of the series elsewhere, though.