Blondie-Wan

I was extremely skeptical when I first heard they were doing a fourth movie (especially given that the first three work as a trilogy, whatever one might think of the second and third movies), but I understand that they're drawing upon an extant piece of fiction rather than contriving something in the usual fashion of Hollywood sequels, and I'm pretty intrigued. You might remember these earlier posts from the thread: I've read "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers. Its very good, but very random. The main character, John Chandagnac, was on a ship that got attacked by pirates. The crew were shot by there own men, two passengers aboard the ship were killing the men and it was planned out. John eventually was forced to join the crew under the new name of "Shandy" or "Jack". So we can judge by the nickname whos going to be the main character. Davies, the captain, eventually routes up with Blackbeard shortly after the Charleston blockade happened. The herbs weren't actually for his crew, they were for sorcery. The main of the book is based around sorcery and magic, as well as pirates. So expect alot of special effects. The story eventually goes to the fountain of youth and unfolds from there, that's why Jack stole the map in the last movie. Theres also some ghost galleon ships thrown into the book, Voodoo, gun & sword fights. So all in all it looks to be a good movie. Oh and there should be a new female charecther in the movie if its following the book, Beth Hurwood. This book On Stranger Tides originally came out back in 1987, long before even the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and may even have been an influence on it (and the series by extension). As I understand it, rather than attempting to come up with an original story, Disney actually secured the rights to this novel, an original work with no shared characters or other connections to Pirates of the Caribbean other than the general theme and tone, but very much of the same style, and is adapting the screenplay for the new PotC from it. The novel is apparently quite well-regarded, so it sounds to me very much as though Disney went to unusual lengths to ensure it got a good story for this movie, rather than taking a more conventional route which might or might not yield a satisfying result. I haven't yet read the original On Stranger Tides myself, but based on what I've read about it and my understanding of how Disney is using it for the new movie, I'm cautiously optimistic for a really good fourth PotC adventure that can measure up to the original, or any other great pirate movie.

I'm pretty sure Adventurers does have an existing fanbase, and that there's a huge amount of overlap between that and the Indiana Jones fanbase. Prince of Persia, as far as a LEGO theme goes, is really somewhat akin to being a Castle subtheme, save for having fleshtoned figures. Mind you, I was just answering the question more than making a real argument. For the record, I do think Pirates of the Caribbean discussion is perhaps better suited for the Licensed forum than the Pirates one, but I'm not troubled by it (and if I were, I'd point out that Galidor is also a license and hence belongs in Licensed rather than Action Figures, or at least it would if anyone actually ever discussed it ). Frankly, there are lots of themes and subthemes that fit more than one forum as they're organized here, and I already see discussion of certain things pop up in multiple forums with nobody getting too worked up about it (the collectible minifigures get discussed all over the place, for example). I expect to see the same with Pirates of the Caribbean eventually, with some individual topics turning up in Licensed and some turning up in Pirates. That's not the first time I've seen this comment, but it's not an issue that's ever really bothered me. Don't lots of Star Wars fans display stuff from different worlds and eras together, for example? I do know some Indy fans will have their stuff on shelves, with each shelf representing a different nation or region, say. I'm personally not too worried about it (and frankly, I'm not able to display all my sets simultaneously anyway; most of them are stored in storage tubs at the moment). But to each his / her own, I guess... I think the answer to this may lie in just how well the theme does (and therefore, how many waves and sets it gets). I do think Pirates of the Caribbean is one theme that has potential for a long life with several waves and lots of sets, unlike certain "flash in the pan" licenses such as Speed Racer or Prince of Persia. It will have four films to draw upon, with a huge range of characters, locations and vessels, and various types of action scenarios, ranging from realistic, even almost historical engagements to pure fantasy with mythical creatures, and all of this in a milieu that already has a devoted following among LEGO fans. This theme has the potential to do really well, and I actually expect it to last beyond the bare minimum two waves we know about - possibly well beyond that, in fact. Of course we don't know yet how well it will do, but I think it will probably wind up being one of the two or three biggest licensed LEGO themes ever (Star Wars obviously being the top one, with Harry Potter probably being the second, or even third behind PotC), and I'm going to go on the record here as predicting PotC gets at least three or four waves, as Indiana Jones has.

To me, none of these numbers (save perhaps for the circus ringmaster) sounds particularly surprising if one assumes TLG actually was trying to anticipate the relative levels of demand for these among their core customers (children), rather than AFOLs. So... only three per box of the Greco-Roman soldier? Man, that's going to be one intensely-sought-after minifig. ________________________________ The two smaller, independent toy stores in my area that I've previously mentioned as having the Series 1 minifigures have now sold out; I was hoping to maybe pick up a few more of some of them, but I do have at least two of each and up to four of some of them, so I'm pretty satisfied, even if it would've been great to get more. I should probably just start planning and saving for Series 2. The owner of one of those two smaller stores said she should be getting more of Series 2 than of Series 1, which may reflect the statements we've seen indicating TLG is going to tweak the distribution of these in the future so that they aren't so hard to come by in the US as the first series has been. It took me a bit off-guard - when I first saw them in my local TRU back in late May, they were just hanging on the pegs not attracting much attention, and I was easily able to pick up one complete set right off the bat without much trouble, and they were still abundant for a few days after that. I therefore thought for about a week that they were turning out to be much easier to get than I'd originally feared they would be back when we first found out about them. After that, it seems, local LEGO fans finally caught on, and they stayed in stock for much shorter periods, and it turned out my earlier fears were correct, though thankfully I was indeed able to get a good number of them after all.

No worries; it's just worth remembering that even these days when merchants seem to want to push the Christmas season ever earlier and earlier, they still don't start selling Christmas goodies in July. Last year, I saw the LEGO City Advent Calendar at a number of major chains (Target, Toys 'R' Us, and IIRC Walmart), in addition to LEGO's own Shop at Home. However, for at least the past couple years if not a little longer, they've actually done two advent calendars each year - one City and one from one of the other themes (Pirates last year, Castle the year before that), and at least in those last two years, only the City ones were widely available in the US - the Castle and Pirates ones were released only overseas. Does anyone here know yet whether this year's Castle (Kingdoms) calendar will be available here?

Indiana Jones absolutely could go in either the Action Themes forum, or (preferably, in my opinion) the Historical Themes forum. That's already where its nearest non-licensed analogue (Adventurers) goes, and Indiana Jones is particularly tied to history. Batman would work in Action as well, but I also think City would be a decent fit. I don't know anyplace really well-suited for Harry Potter, though, aside from Licensed. In fairness, by the same token, a lot of people who have no interest in Prince of Persia as a movie (or video game) have plenty of interest in it as a LEGO theme, especially with regard to its applicability to LEGO creations that would fit the Historical Themes forum. I personally wouldn't have a problem with discussing it in either that forum or the Licensed one, though I presume most here prefer to keep it in the latter.

That's what I said (about the release setup) back in post #76 of this thread, though I didn't have any knowledge from a licensing convention and was just going by what TLG did with both Indiana Jones and Toy Story (for that matter, other licensees on both of those franchises used the same approach - with both series having new movies after long waits, licensees helped prime the market with toys based on the original movies several months before the new movies' releases, then released waves based on the new movies just before those movies' releases). TLG also issued press releases concerning those themes quite some time before we saw even the first leaked prototype images. I'm guessing we'll see a press release soon talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean theme in more detail, hopefully letting us know what the initial wave will cover.

Oh, I'm quite sure you're right about West not returning next year - but that certainly doesn't mean it'll never come back. I think there's a reasonable chance it'll return someday - perhaps in two years, perhaps in five, perhaps in ten, perhaps longer, but at any rate I don't think we've seen the last official Western set we'll ever get from TLG. I just think we'll have to wait a while.

I'm curious about LEGO's various original stories and characters. Obviously it's easy these days to go to LEGO's online product pages for various sets, and find things like the bios for the collectible minifigures, but this hasn't always been an option. I also know things like Bionicle are supported by their own comic books, DVD movies, etc., but it still seems like there's a lot of information about the worlds portrayed in LEGO's official sets that other fans sometimes seem to somehow just sort of know without ever having specifically learned it, if you get my meaning, and I find it fascinating and mysterious. For something like, say, the earlier Adventurers sets, just how did people learn all the character names and relationships - Dr. Kilroy, Lord Sinister, and so on? Was all this stuff in older LEGO Club magazines? The sets themselves usually don't have a ton of information, and while I know some set boxes and instructions have directed kids and other fans online to learn more about these LEGO worlds since at least as early as the early 2000s (IIRC, Alpha Team sets are some of the first I can remember seeing this sort of thing for, and more recent sci-fi action themes like Exo-Force seem to use it extensively), I didn't think it was done much in the '90s, when most of the Adventurers stuff was done. Am I wrong? And what are some of the other LEGO themes / subthemes with their own fairly richly developed internal mythologies, and how have these narratives been imparted to LEGO's core customers (i.e., children) over the years?

Ah, Ok. Sorry; no offense intended. I would absolutely love a slew of them. It's too bad they're (presumably) available in the US only at Toys 'R' Us; I suspect this set would be $2.99 or $3.49 from Target or from LEGO itself, rather than the $3.99 they cost at TRU - still quite affordable in small numbers, but the extra fifty cents or dollar or so per polybag really adds up if one wants to get vast quantities of them (though perhaps that's just as well, since it may prevent AFOLs from scarfing up all of them and leaving none for children). Oh, well. I do still intend to get at least a few more, if I can.

I think it's outrageous what they charge for a simple, freaking glass of water. Desert planet or not, haven't they heard of moisture vaporators? I mean, it's a well-established technology. And the bartender's pretty surly. At least they do make up for it with some cool house brews, and the band rocks. Er - the LEGO set? I loved it, back in the day. It's great to have a LEGO dewback. Of course Luke, Han and Ben no longer quite fit with more contemporary LEGO Star Wars builds since the shift from yellow to fleshtones, but I like having them for use in MOCs outside the Star Wars universe, and Han's legs here are still the definitive A New Hope Han Solo legs, since for whatever reason TLG has insisted on using brown pants on him since then, even for scenes from the original movie when he wore blue ones. I remember quite a bit of griping about the piece count for this set when it came out, and I always thought it was a little misplaced, considering the fact there were quite a few large, specialized pieces like the dewback elements, plus five humanoid minifigures, including one memorable character who to this day is still unique to this set. I picked up two copies and wish I could've gotten more. I also wish I could've gotten one in the Kenner-retro "Original Trilogy Edition" packaging - I can't save all my LEGO boxes, but I do try to hang onto at least a few, notably including all Star Wars ones for sets pertaining to A New Hope, and I really wish I had all those boxes (and all the sets that were released in them, for that matter).

Like it? I adore it! That's an excellent creation.

I'm a bit surprised at all the people speculating on whether or not this is fake, and "if" there'll really be a Pirates of the Caribbean theme and so on, so that I'm wondering whether I'm misunderstanding the SDCC teaser image we're being shown here. Isn't this image from TLG's own official presence at Comic-Con - something they have displayed at their table or booth or whatever? If so, I don't see how there could be any uncertainty - they wouldn't put out a teaser like this for a what is obviously a theme based on an a licensed property unless it were actually in the works.

Thanks for the review; these efforts are always appreciated. That said, I am a little mystified at a couple comments in the piece: Really? Seriously? The Toy Story Pizza Planet alien, not that interesting? I find it incredibly charming, surely one of the more interesting minifigures to debut this year. I also am unsure how to reconcile that assessment with the following one from your ratings: I agree, but you give a 10 out of 10 score to a minifigure you find uninteresting? Still, nice pics and all. I was thinking of reviewing it myself, but now that there are at least two reviews here already it seems kind of unnecessary. I will note I love the set and have gotten three so far, and will probably pick up more. Yay aliens! Yay Pizza Planet! Yay Toy Story!

You know, I think the Star Wars license markup is way overstated. I don't know that the price-per-piece ratio is really all that different from what we see in other themes, whether licensed or otherwise (take a look at Kingdoms 7949 - Prison Carriage Rescue or Toy Story 7590 - Woody and Buzz to the Rescue, for example). The real way to look at it isn't just how many individual pieces one gets, but what kinds of elements they are. I think most Star Wars sets are fine by this measure (as are the two other sets I just cited - the Toy Story set is more than twenty cents per piece, but those pieces include lots of printed elements plus a motor).

That's one possibility; another is that their license has simply expired. Remember, MegaBloks also had the license for Cars, but LEGO has it now, and so far there's just a single feature film in that franchise (plus shorts, but those aren't specifically the basis for most of the sets from either company anyway). Actually, the first wave of Indiana Jones sets covered scenes from the original movies, while the second wave was devoted to the new movie; that's pretty much what happened with Toy Story as well (the second wave does have one set based on a scene from Toy Story 2, but otherwise it's all about 3). Based on those two examples, I presume the first wave of Pirates of the Caribbean sets will cover the first three movies (or the series in general), followed by a second wave dealing more or less entirely with the new movie. If that's the case and if the theme lasts beyond those first two waves, I imagine the subsequent waves will deal with all four movies to varying degrees, as happened with the third and fourth waves of Indiana Jones.

For fellow fans of this theme in the US who've been wondering where, when and/or whether the polybagged promo sets will become available here, I'd just like to note I found 30070 (the Pizza Planet alien with spacecraft) at Toys 'R' Us today. I was hopeful, given that TRU was already known to carry it in Canada, but since I hadn't seen any confirmation (before today) of them coming to the US, I was a smidge concerned. (Please excuse me if it's already been reported here somewhere; I haven't been able to find any mention of it.)

I don't make nearly enough money or have nearly enough space for all the LEGO I want to get, but I try my best to keep up. Star Wars is the theme that pulled me out of my dark ages and it's the best-represented theme in my collection, but it's by no means my exclusive interest. I'm going to guess it makes up about 40% of my collection, though that number could be way off in either direction. I'd love to be able to get it all, but at the moment there's just no way I can, alas, so I focus on some intersection of what I'm most interested in - mostly the classic original trilogy) and what I'm most able to get (inexpensive stuff, sets on sale, etc.; I do have a fair number of larger, more expensive sets, but generally ones I've gotten at discount. The 10144 Sandcrawler is the largest and the highest-priced (original MSRP, not secondary market) Star Wars set in my collection, and the second-highest priced set of any kind I have (the top one being the original 9719 Mindstorms Robotics Invention System, though it neither goes for much money now as I understand it, nor did I pay much for it - it was recently given to me by a friend who was given one twelve years ago and never used it). Like many Star Wars fans I'm also an Indiana Jones fan, and Indiana Jones is the theme I've collected most successfully / completely, though at the same time it's the one that's currently bringing me the most anxiety in collecting. I do have at least one of each "regular" set in the line, and two or more of each of them except 7623 Temple Escape and the Brickmaster set 20004 (just one of each), but I want additional copies of many of them for the parts and color palettes, army-building / crowd-filling (including animal groups), etc. With the last wave disappearing from stores now and the future of the theme uncertain (I really, really hope it resumes next year, but there's no solid indication yet it will), I'm having to scramble now to get all the ones I desperately want, and I may never be able to get another copy I can be sure is genuine from any of the first three waves. Still, I guess I should be glad I do at least have one of each of the 17 regular sets - everything except the ultra-limited Comic-Con set and some of the "accessory" items (magnets, keychains, DS cases, etc.), though I did also get four of the six (?) keychains as well, just for fun. I intend to acquire additional copies of some of the Indy sets from the last wave in a couple days, and I may have to leave it at that; if so, I think I can be mostly happy about what I did manage to get, though it continues to sting that I didn't pick up a few more of the some of the earlier sets. While Indy is one of the few themes I'm managing to collect more or less to completion (the collectible minifigures are another, so far), there are other themes I do collect to whatever extent I can. I'm finding I really enjoy City, so I do try to get a bunch of City stuff, and I'm also fond of the various short-lived action themes, so I try to get at least a few sets from each of those (I'd get them all if I could, but I have to pick and choose). I do also try to get at least a token set from just about every theme, just to have it represented in my collection (so I have a Vikings set, a Western set, a Belville set, etc.). I love Toy Story and would like to try to get at least one of each set in the theme; unlike Indy, I don't feel I need multiples of everything, but I've decided I would like to try for at least one of each, so that is probably my next "completion" theme after Indy, though I have only a few of the sets so far - it's a good thing for me it's new and none of the sets are gone yet. Of all series currently or recently in production and which I'm currently getting, these are the ones I'm focusing most of my efforts on: Indiana Jones Star Wars (particularly OT) Toy Story City (particularly "civilian," transportation and farm stuff) Pirates Minifigures Power Miners Castle / Kingdoms I am very interested in the Prince of Persia sets (even if largely just to help fill out my Indiana Jones universe), but haven't actually gotten any of the sets yet so I don't know if I should count them, though I do intend to get at least one of each of them eventually. I have an interest in each of the three overall "classic / core" themes (City/Town, Castle, Space), but haven't been able to keep up with the recent "Castle" subtheme of Castle much; I hope to be able to pick up at least one or two more from this line before they're all totally gone. LEGO's Space in general interests me a lot, but police stuff tends to grab me a little less, so the current Space Police subtheme isn't demanding my attention right now as much as a more exploratory one like Life on Mars would. I do still want a few more Space Police sets, though. And I'm probably going to pick up one last Agents set soon if circumstances permit.

I just naturally see the "store" as being a store front, so the tiny size of the "store" doesn't bother me. I'd just go ahead and add on to it with bricks from my own parts inventory. I very much would like this set, even though I also want the LEGO truck, and two large trailer trucks of this sort is kind of a disproportionately large number for my own LEGO city (to say nothing of both of them being specifically part of toy distribution).

It's quite possible they know about the barcodes already, but don't use them because it would be way too much additional effort and hassle, and therefore refrain from mentioning the barcodes in the FAQ for simplicity's sake. For them to fulfill requests for specific figures would require that they: have someone go through all the baggies one-by-one and identify all the figures set up a way for customers to specify which minifigure they want (or create a separate listing for each of the sixteen, rather than a single "LEGO minifigure" listing)(yes, I see the "please specify" pulldown, but they'd also have to work out all the back-end stuff) tune their inventory tracking so it counts not just the total number of minifigs, but the total available of each of the sixteen different ones, and treat them all as separate products even though they all share the same SKU, catalog info, etc. deal with the different quantities available of different figures, and be prepared to run out of certain specific figures while the overall product, "LEGO minifigures," is still in stock ... and so on. It's just a lot more trouble than it's worth for a product they'll be able to sell no matter what (particularly since doing so might mean some of the less-sought-after figures might not sell as quickly), and this will be true for any regular retailer who sells through the mail. I think those of us seeking to cherry-pick specific minifigures will just have to be satisfied with either ordering them from "aftermarket" vendors via Bricklink, other LEGO fans and so on, or shop for them at physical stores where we can sort through the baggies and check out the barcodes before purchase. That said, if they're going to make snarky digs at liberal arts school graduates, it would probably be smart of them to make sure they've gotten their own facts straight re: a 1 in 16 chance of getting any particular figure (since it's not true if there indeed is a single common display box assortment, with figures variously packed three, four or five to a box). Even a liberal arts school graduate like myself can figure out that much.

Indeed, I can remember ninjas being popular with American kids at least as far back as the '80s. Back in the day, my own younger brother had his own kid-sized ninja outfit and an autographed photo of Shô Kosugi. Yeah, the second series seems a little more tilted toward unique or nearly unique individuals, rather than characters one would have in large groups (especially uniformed characters). That said, I still would love to have multiples of every single figure in both series; there's not one that doesn't have some parts I'd find useful for creating variety and so on. FWIW, my girlfriend and I have five robots between us (so far!), and on every one of them the claw fits in the arm just fine - snug and secure, yet still able to turn. They're perhaps a little on the tight side, but not problematically so. YMMV, of course...

I'm not sure even Series 1 really had a bunch of unwanted or useless figs. I personally love the crash test dummy, and would love to get at least one or two more to add to the three I've got (after all, if one's doing crash testing one wants to test vehicles for varying numbers of passengers, right?). Even the diver, while not the most exciting figure ever (simply because there've been so many divers in various themes already), is still a perfectly fine figure, and it's also one for which someone who does particularly want it is more likely to want / need several of it (for a whole dive team), like all the other "uniformed" or "non-unique" characters. As far as Series 2 goes, the explorer / adventurer is actually one of the ones I want most.

Hm? I was just asking a question and offering a correction. I'm not sure where this "fuss" is of which you speak.

I was thinking much the same! Honestly, the gunslinger actually really makes me think of Clint Eastwood's iconic spaghetti western persona.

Haven't they already renewed it?

Arrr, congratulations!