5150 Lego

While i understand where your coming from, one important factor that you need to remember is that this is NOT classic city. Correct me if i'm wrong, but lego didn't have any licenced theme's back then, so it was probbly in there best interest to make sub themes as compatable as they could. As far as race tracks and garages go, i'm assuming that your talking about the size of the road plates vs. speed racers cars. Me personally, have never let that hold me back. with any theme's. And this is lego. You can build a building/garage as big as you want! This was even proven with the Ferrari pit garages! There nice no doubt, but a larger version would without a doubt carry more detail. Maybe for the second wave of speed racer they might do some smaller versions to please the 4 stud wide crowd, but for the first wave, it was very important that the sets had as much detail as possible. Unfortunatly, I think this is partially true. Think of it from producers/owners of lego and the speed racer licenece. Lets say that Lego had some models for you to choose from to be the first wave of legos speed racer line of toys. There are many aspects that you need to think about when selling a licenced theme like this. ( Detail, price, size of the set/vehicle, staying true to the license etc.) Lets say they put a 4 wide, and the current 8 wide versions of the cars in front of you. From a marketing stand point, whitch would you choose? I know its hard since we don't have any 4 wide's to compare to, but from a marketing stand point, it makes sence to go with the more detailed and more "reconizable" set. Yes, the more parts equal a higher cost, but in this case, i think it will be money well spent. Again, we don't have any 4 wide's to compare to so i guess you really couldn't say for sure if this is is true, but in past sets, this has been the case. lets look at ferrari for example. The F1 cars built for mini figs in my opinion are perfect scale. Any thing smaller would have taken away from the detail, and made the sets less enjoyable and quite frankly, would have looked half megablocks if they did. I'm not say that lego doesn't take things like that into consideration, but in cases like this, detail and scale SHOULD win every time over being able to fit in a classic town layout. Now this year lego did introduce there "Mini line" of sets, but these can't hold mini figs. Basicly what i'm getting at is certain theme's shouldn't be confined to the age old 4 vs. 6 vs. 8 wide debate. Themes like Speed Racer, Ferrari, Indie and Agents should be built to a scale that best shows there detail. If they can do that by going 4 or 6 wide, then great, but they shouldn't be limited either.

Nice. Counting down the days till they arrive in the states!

pobbly around 10 years ago, in my last house i had some sets up on some book shelfs. My parents had some people come in to clean the vents in every room. Well, the book shelf with all my legos sets was right by the vent and they needed to moveit to get there machine in. Yup, you guessed it. They knocked over the shelf with all my lego, and some plasctic models i had built as well. They gave my parents 50% off the service, and i spent the next week putting my sets back together.

Thats a nice little fuel truck. To bad you can't fit a mini fig though. I'd love to see a modern 8 wide version!! Never said it would be impossible, but just like your saying, the level of detail just wouldn't be there in a 4 wide version. With a licence like Speed Racer, detail shouldn't be sacraficed just so you can fit it in a town.

Turkish Grand Prix practice starts tomorow! Glad to see Hinki Kovalien is ok and will be racing this weekend!

Agreed. My personal daily driven vehicle is a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Its a 4 wheel drive mid size SUV. I bought it cause i needed a vehicle to haul tools and equipment, as well as tow my shop trailer. I love it to death. Best vehicle i've ever owned. It also gets the worse gas mileage out of any vehicle i've ever owned. (It averages 16MPG). This is my reality and Lego is my ecape from reality. So the last thing i want is lego to start "Following the rules" and down size its vehicles to be "enviormentlly correct". The bigger the better. The Scuderia ferrari truck while might be a bit big, is still in my opinion one of the best sets lego has ever come out with. Defenetly the best in the Ferrari line. The detail is fantastic, and is practically identical to the real thing. This would have been very hard to do without making it the size it is. For me 4 wide is fine for cars, but trucks need to be 6 wide, and big rigs need to be 8 wide. While i can appreaciate classic lego, i prefer my vehicles to be more to scale. For me, they also make the vehicles more enjoyable to play with. (yes, i'm 26 and i still play with my lego!!! ) In my opinion, Speed Racer NEEDS to be 8 stud wide. While they might be to big to fit in most peoples town, they need to be this big to get the detail of the cars there based on. There not going to fit in a standard to town because they just simply were not designed to. As for the agents, although there not based on anything in paticular, their still there own seperate theme and shouldn't be limited to the size of current town vehicles. Even at 8 wide, they still look good next to mini figs due to there details.

Agreed 100%. I really think that Ralph_S hit it on thenose hear. I think many people are looking at these sets at more of an Adult level and lets be honest, there just not aimed at adults. Younger kids are going to go nuts over these. I've heard alot ofpeople complain about the size of the big rig. While it may not be to scale, or able to fit in most peoples towns or cities, there absolutly no denying the playability of that thing. Man, i know for a fact if i was a 10 year old kid, i would be staring atmy lego catalog everyday till the day i was able to get it. And thatswhat you need to think about when you see sets like these. I for one like the truck. Defenate buy for me!

If i'm correct, Mclaren doersn't build there wheels. Outside manufacture. Could have happened to any of the teams. As far Hamilton, is this the same Lewis Hamilton that won the first grand prix of the year? Or placed second last year in points in his first year, and is second in points this year behind kimi? I'm not saying that Hamiltion hasn't made his mistakes, but he has proven that he is a very talented driver, and he will only get better as time goes on. And only real teams showing any real force is Ferrari and BMW? Are you kidding? Mclaren is only 1 point behind BMW, and the next is williams Toyota and there 22 points behind. Not to meantion that Fernado Alonso is is 10th in drivers points, and renault is 7th over all with 6 points. So ya, mclaren IS much beter off.

I really fail to see any real improvment with renault. Ya Alanso qualified in on the front line, but his car blew up and he failed to finish the race along with his team mate. It still seems that renault cars aren't up to par with Mclaren, BMW and ferrari. And before that i think the best qualifing postion he has had has been 8th, and has failed to finish with a podeim spot. Mclaren did not blow it by not giving him "true#1 status". If he was as good as he claimed he was, then beating a rookie like Hamiltion shouldn't have been a problem. Alonso showed his true colors by blocking his own team mate, and talking smack. Mclaren is much better off without him, and its showing.

BMW is defenatly uped there game this year. No doubt about that! I too was shocked to see Hinki Kovolians crash, but relieved he was ok. As far as renault goes...... Ya, i guess there doing a bit better than last year, but i still think its clear that they don't have a better car than ferrari, mclaren., or even BMW for that matter. Though i don't care for Fernado Alonso (Never will after the crap he pulled last year. ) i know he's one of the few drivers that could give them another championship, but with the way things are going, that seem to be les and less likely. I mean, both Renault's DNF the last race to to mechanical failures. I understand that every manufacture has the mechanical problems every now and then, but they seem to have more, as well as more trouble getting there cars set up. Oh well, its not over till its over, so anything can happen!

2010 Lineup McLaren Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button Mercedes GP Nico Rosberg & Michael Schumacher Red Bull Sebastian Vettel & Mark Webber Ferrari Fernando Alonso & Felipe Massa Williams Rubens Barrichello & Nico Hulkenberg Renault Robert Kubica & V Petrov Force India Adrian Sutil & Vitantonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso Sebastien Buemi & Jaime Alguersuari Lotus NEW! Jarno Trulli & Heikki Kovalainen HRT NEW! Bruno Senna & Karun Chandhok BMW Sauber Kobayashi & Pedro De La Rosa Virgin NEW! Timo Glock & Lucas Di Grassi 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship Race Calendar 12 - 14 Mar Bahrain GP (Sakhir) Fernando Alonso 26 - 28 Mar Australian GP (Melbourne) Jenson Button 02 - 04 Apr Malaysian GP (Kuala Lumpur) Sebastian Vettel 16 - 18 Apr Chinese GP (Shanghai) Jenson Button 07 - 09 May Spanish GP (Catalunya) Mark Webber 13 - 16 May Monaco GP (Monte Carlo) Mark Webber 28 - 30 May Turkish GP (Istanbul) Lewis Hamilton 11 - 13 Jun Canadian GP (Montreal) Lewis Hamilton 25 - 27 Jun European GP (Valencia) Sebastian Vettel 09 - 11 Jul British GP (Silverstone) Mark Webber 23 - 25 Jul German GP (Hockenheim) Fernando Alonso 30 - 01 Aug Hungarian GP (Budapest) Mark Webber 27 - 29 Aug Belgian GP (Spa-Francorchamps) Lewis Hamilton 10 - 12 Sep Italian GP (Monza) 24 - 26 Sep Singaporean GP (Singapore) 08 - 10 Oct Japanese GP (Suzuka) 22 - 24 Oct Korean GP (Yeongam) 05 - 07 Nov Brasilian GP (Sao Paulo) 12 - 14 Nov Abu Dhabi GP (Yas Marina Circuit)

While i can respect the doing the first person perspective to be differnt and to try and add to the realisim, it also took away from it at the same time. I have to ay at least 1/4 of the audience walked out due to that. I know cause while waiting in line people coming out of the theater were all saying how dizzy they were after. While i could live with it, many couldn't. I did really like how the army just came out blasting the hell out of it with tanks and stuff, and the B-2 Stealth bomer bombing the hell out of it towards the end. As for where it comes from, maybe it lived in the depths of the ocean and we just never discoverd it cause we have never been able to go that deep. Who knows.

Very good point.

Nice. My city construction crew is going to be quite busy this year! Hope i'll have room!

I really like the tank. I like how you used sterring wheels for the wheels for the treads. Very creative.

Its not really a problem of "Getting it" that i've found most people have had, but more the way it was filmed. I understood the film just fine, as did my family, but using the hand held camera for the whole movie just got sickning. If tht doesn't bother you than fine, but i felt it took away from the movie. I have to say that it does give you an effect that your really there since your litteraly getting somones point of view. I did like the part where they got caught between the military fighting the creature. Kinda did give you a sense that tanks really were blasting right in front of you. Its no doubt that that was one of the senses that the director was trying to make more realistic than normal third person camera shots. But at the same time, with the camera constantly shaking, it took away from the affect at the same time :( (if that makes any sense).

Don't get me wrong, i'll defenatly give this a chance, i'm just saying that they have some very big shoes to fill.

Saw "Cloverfield" a few days ago. It was..... ok. Doesn't live up to all the hype. I apreaciate the concept of using the perspective of an amuter camerma man to capture everything in a hope to make it more "real" but the camera was constantly moving all around, and you could never focus on anything. My girlfriend got really dizzy, and some people even walked out. Over all it was ok. Would have been much better if they just used regular camera's instead of the perspective thing. Defenatly won't be seeing thi again.

Hinckley, My apoligizes. I didn't realize that my behavior was becoming to agressive. I'll make sure to keep it in check. :-) And if i offended anyone in any of my posts i apolagize.

Actually no. Killing is not nessasary. The point of the military in any country is to protect there counrty from harm . Weather that be Foriegn, domestic, alien whatever. You don't need need to kill them to do that. You could "dispose" of the enemy in the exact same way you would in any of lego's other violent theme's. Death is not nessasry for a military type theme to exsist. Com'on now. I think your insisting a bit much. :-| Sorry, but i felt his points in his argument were contradicting. Please don't try and make it seem like i was out to insult him, cause i wasn't. I guess i didn't say it in the absolute nicest way possible, but i didn't insult him, nor call him a name either. But to help avoid future missunderstandings, i'll make sure to be a bit more nice if i disagree with someones coments. :-) This is exactly what i've been getting at. Lego already has had war type themes, just not using modern day vehicles. People seem to think that once modern day vehicles are used all of a sudden its completly differnt. But you know whats funny? Though this isn't the first time i've said this, people make all sorts of excuses for the themes that already exsist with violence in them. Espeacially if its a theme that they like. I've heard some many differnt excuses from "Well pirates have smilely faces, so they were ok", to "Well, Batman uses tommy guns, so there not modern day, so those guns are ok". Not to meantion that the more violence that lego introduces in there themes, some people like to change lego's own policy. First it started out as "Lego has a no violence policy, so that idea will never work" Then were intrduced with a theme that has violence so it then changes to.. "Well lego has a no modern day weapons policy, so that idea will never happen" We then see modern day style weapons for mini figs, so the policyonce again changes to.. "well Lego has a no killing policy, so you'll never see it happen". :-| I'm not quoting anyone in paticular. It just seems like people are running out of excuses to kill the idea of a military type theme from ever happening, so there moddifing Lego's own so called "policy" to suit there reasoning. Again, i'm not quoting anyone in paticular, nor am i trying to call out anyone in this thread. Though i may not agree with everyones reasoning for violence being ok in some themes and not others, i respect those reasonings. :-) I understand that there of course a line is going to have to be drawn at some point, but i really feel that a military TYPE theme could be done without crossing that line, or without going any farther than TLC has already gone. It doesn't have to be country against counrty.. It doesn't have to be about killing. its more than possible to get a theme with modern day looking vehicles without it being as bad as people are making it out to be. People seem to think that if TLC ever did go this route that it would for some reason bankrupt the company, and that would be the end of Lego. Even if they did do this theme for a year or two, and cancel it, its not like lego has never had a theme that wasn't sucessfull. Oh well, time will tell.

Great review! My only grip with this set is you can only fit one pallet in the truck. It should have been the same size as the trailer so you can at least fit 2 pallets. Seems like alotof wasted space. If i'm going to transport cargo, i want to use the maximum amount of space aviable!! X-D

Agreed. And ithink thatsgonna be a big problem, espeacailly for alot of hardcore star trek fans. I really don't see anyone playing the parts of the original cast other than the orginal cast.

Interesting way of looking at it. While i understand your take, you can still have a military type theme without it resorting to being as grafic as the movies you gave as an example. Just cause the vehicles used would be modern day, or even of the world war II era wouldn't mean it would all of a sudden be any move violent than any other theme lego currently has now. Lets look at the Indiana Jones sets for example. The Indiana Jones moves were all rated PG-13 if i remeber correctly. Would you consider the legosets there based on to have a "PG-13 rating" type rating? No. Why, cause lego did what they needed to do to make the sets more "PG" or "G" rated. There's no reason why lego couldn't do that with a military type theme that wouldn't be any more violent than Indie,Exo Force, or Agents. Its quite possible.

Just saw this on brickshelf myself. Looks good! Even though its blocky, i still think it flows better than the large techinc ferrari sets we've been getting the last few years. Can't wait to see some better pics.

Please don't get me wrong. I fully respect your opinion. :-) I wasn't insisting that it was wrong in any way, just that it didn't make sense to me. Personally, i really don't see a differnce in a set that contains violence, versus a set about it. I see the point your trying to make, but in all reality, they really are quite the same. And again, it doesn't have to be about violence. As iv'e said before, there are plenty of ways to get around that. Your "Post apocaliptic" theme idea is a good example. But to be honest, all i really want (and i'm sure most who support a military type theme) are some modern day militray style tanks, trucks, jeeps, jets helocopters and such. heck i've said this many times before, i'd be happy with USC sets of an Humvee, Jeep, tank or somthing of that nature.