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Another signature from me. I find Harry Potter to be a very interesting theme, whilst I am not a fan of the books or films, I do appreciate the interesting MiniFigs, and sets, that this theme produced. Also on a second level of analysis, if I had kids, I would much prefer them to be a fan of books about wizards and magic (rather than a superficial video game), and for me the Harry Potter license seems to fit with my view of how Lego can integrate itself with the mainstream licensed media, with out 'selling out'. I would deffinetly purchase new Harry Potter sets.

This might be the page you are looking for: ntbricks, although it is based on 4 x 2 Wedge Bricks.

To me they are nearly all perfect, the only figures that I am not over impressed with are number 6 Diver, and number 13 Rocker, because to me they do seem particularly special. To pick my favourate would be number 1 Caveman. Such a great idea, and is a subject Lego have never explored (apart from in Duplo). But other favourates are Clown, Cheerleader, Native American, Forestman, Nurse and Cowboy.

I happen to agree 100% with these comments. It seems to me to that these opaque bags are a cynical (and not child friendly) attempt to generate cash. As adult collectors we are able to buy multiple packets, or bricklink/ eBay the MiniFig (if we wish), but what about kid's with a limited budget who might want a particular MiniFig, with normal themes they might wait for christmas or a birthday to request what they want, with these 'collectables' this can't happen because they do not get the chance to choose what they want (never mind the limited production time). I totally agree that this concept seems to head towards being 'immoral', and does not fit with my interpretation of the Lego 'core values'. Which brings me onto: I hope i'm wrong, but, I can see these (limited run, lots of printing) to be of a low quailty. This will be the deciding factor for me, because out of principle I will not buy inferior products. But having said that I do not agree with concept, if they are of good quailty I will be eager to buy them (and expect to pay a heavy price). Nearly all of the designs are outstanding (although I can not see what is special about number 6 Diver, and I am not sure what number 13 represents).

A great review of a great set. For me this is a must have Atlantis set, the Shark Figure and Diver MiniFig without an over large red vehicle. To be fair I actually quite like the vehicle in this set, it has a nice design and looks reasonably realistic. But the Shark Person is the best part I think.

Deffinetly, Scythia was conquered by Darius I around 512BCE, and Scythian soldiers fought at Marathon 490BCE, and were present in the second invasion when they are known to have been selected alongside Persian, Median, Baktrian and Indian forces to stay in Greece when the Persian army split in 480BCE. You could watch 300, its probably not 100% historically accurate, but wins on the epicness scale!

The Prince of Persia figures will definetly have good potential, ive had that idea in mind aswell! I have found a decent book, The Persian Army 560-330 BC, on Google Book Preview. Its not the full text, but its got some good pictures, you could have a look at that for some inspiration.

Herodotus describes the equipment of the Persian soldier as a soft felt cap, an embroidered sleeved tunic with iron 'fish-scales, trousers, a wicker shield, a big bow, cane arrows, a short spear and a dagger. This is considered standard for the Iranian contingent. An itemised list of equipment for a cavalry man from Uruk, dating to 422BCE is known: food and money, horse and harness, saddlecloth, iron breast plate, helmet with neck gaurd, shield, 130 arrows, an iron club and 2 javelins, with no mention of armour for the horse, (known for cavalry of a later date). By the time of the Greek wars the army would have consisted of 46 different 'peoples', the core being 'Median', with the rest drawn from the vast empire that had been conquered by 480BCE, Herodutus mentions Ethiopians, Nubians, Arabs, Babylonians, Lydians... This army would obviously have been very diverse in equipment with the King in the centre, accompanied by Magi, the empty chariot of Ahuramazda (the God of the Truth) drawn by 8 white horses, and perhaps 360 concubines (mentioned by Herdotus when he described Darius III setting out from Babylon 333BCE). If you have access to a good library look for J.M. Cook The Persians, my source, although it is quite academic. A little bit more accesible would be Tom Holland Persian Fire, which I would really recomend.

I hope you are both right about these, because I think these look excellent figures. The Caveman (with a club!), the Adventurer, a Cheerleader? to me are all must have figures! I hope they will be standard quaility, and not the inferior 2009 battlepack rubbish.

This is just great! I'm not really an Agents fan, but I do like to see a good Agents MOC, and this deffinetly one of them. The train is really well designed, and includes a Big Laser Cannon, what more could you ask from an Agents MOC! Powered by Pure Evil? That must cut the fuel bills a little! You have put a smile on my face on a very wet and cold morning.

I'm quite happy to see Fantasy Creatures, I think it just adds another level to the sets. We are free to pick and choose what Fantasy Elements we want to use in our MOC's. Mainly I like to build something 'realistic', but other times I value the option to throw in a few Orcs or a Skeleton Warrior. It all adds to the fun. I voted for Like To See Fantasy Creatures, although I would not like to see more Fantasy Elements than what we get now, I think the current line has just the right mix. The Orcs are great little characters (although I would like to see a few different faces!). I do think that it would be nice to have a few more Dwarf sets though.

me to! This looks like a very usefull piece, with the big advantage of having a solid back, and no dreaded blue half pin showing!

I prefer to read the interview aswell. To include Audio is a nice addition, but for myself, I would not want to see an Audio Only format. I rated this feature as Excellent, because I find them very interesting, and hope that you continue to do more!

This is just epic, very beautifull and organic. The way the castle sits and curls around the landscaped rocks is so realistic. The hints of Tan, Dark Blay and Sand Green sit perfectly into the walls. An inspiration to us all.

Argos have started to cut prices again on Indy: 7199 Temple Of Doom Was £74.99 Now £56.22 Save £18 7198 Fighter Plane Attack Was £44.99 Now £33.73 Save £11 7197 Venice Canal Chase Was £29.99 Now £22.48 Save £7 7196 Chauchilla Cemetery Battle Was £18.99 Now £14.24 Save £4 7195 Ambush In Cairo Was £9.99 Now £7.49 Save £2 I'm a bit gutted about Venice Canal Chase because I bought it the other week for £26.99 (reduced £3), but I knew it would drop further. Its a gamble with Argos because they may reduce again or sell out before you can buy!

I would love to see a Classical Theme and I would prefer it to be based on Rome. But I would even settle for a Generic Classical Theme and would not even mind a Fantasy element (as long as the Fantasy would not dominate the theme). I would not be happy to see Flesh Tone, or even worse Big Heads, in any Castle Theme! Especially a Roman based theme, because I presume many of the Torso and Legs would be inflicted with the dreaded Flesh Tone, making it impossible to deflesh them. The less said about Big Heads, the better.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle announces the arrival of the Vikings onto the shores of Eastern England... And in the year 2005 Lego would introduce a Viking Theme, which unfortunatly would not really live up to its potential, and only last to see a handfull of sets... Army of Vikings with Heavy Artillery Wagon Released in 2006, with a recommended retail price of £17.99 The front of the box... And the back... Of course the highlight of this set are the 7 MiniFigs! I think the Viking MiniFig's are exceptional designs, and are all very usuable for any Castle scene, containing both an interesting Torso and Head. I am not really a fan of the Greatsword Angular style of sword, and the Horned Helmet is more Wagner than Viking, but historical accuracy is not something that this set (or the theme) was aiming for! As I was unable to get a Decent Parts Picture, the BrickLink Inventory shows the range of Parts, and the large quantity of Technic pieces within the set. Although I would like to highlight the intresting parts: Apart from the beautifull printed Tan Dish, the Brown Tile with a golden intertwined snake is a work of art. And the unusual, these two are used to create the Play Feature of rapid firing missiles. The instructions, with artwork on the bottom corner and misty sea scape in the background. This page is unusual with having a Piece Call Out Box, generally this is not a feature, and alongside that more pieces are put on in each step than recent instructions, it took me longer than usual to build the set. The dominance of Technic is apparent from the initial stages as the frame begins to take shape. A sub model which will be the base of the Rapid Fire Missiles. Attached to the frame with large Technic beams, the rapid fire mechanism can be seen, and will operate as the handle is turned. This will cause the two Sports Bases to be pulled back, one after each other, which would Fire the missiles. These are held in a studless beam, which drops down as each missile is fired. The front of the Wagon is made from usefull Reddish Brown. And attached to the Technic frame. This is how the Army of Vikings will pull thier heavy Wagon. Another tiny sub model, which will fit inside the Wagon. A few spare pieces are left over. So now our Heavy Artillery Wagon is built, what does it look like? Well its big, and lets be honest not that nice looking! The Rapid Fire System in all its Technic Glory! And with the MiniFigs. Design: 6 I really think this is an Ugly model, it is far to big and everything about it is unrealistic. But the Missile System is actually quite clever, it works well (I only tested it for review purposes!) and is of a good design. I just don't think it belongs in a Viking Set! Parts: 8 This has many Technic Parts, although some of them are quite usefull such as long studded beams. There is a reasonable selection of Reddish Brown. Of course the beautifull printed parts increase the score aswell. Considering the RRP it does deserve an 8. Build: 9 I knew I would not like this set from the moment I saw it, but I have to say that I enjoyed building it. Many sub-models and Technic pieces, along with the instructions which require more concentration made it an enjoyable build. Minifigs: 10 Seven Minifigs! Playability: 8 Although I am not a fan of Flick Fire Missiles, I can see the attraction for a 9 year old. And to be fair these work well. Price: 8 Based of a RRP of £17.99 to get 7 MiniFigs and 269 pieces (even though many are Technic) is acceptable. Total: 49/ 60 My reason for buying this was the MiniFig's, I paid £25 with delivery, which I think is good value for these interesting characters togethor with a reasonable selection of parts. I knew I would not like the actual model, but I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed the building process. The Viking Theme could have been spectacular but was ruined with Technic Monsters and Fantasy Based Vehicles, but we were given some excellent Torsos with which we can create our own more fitting tribute to the splendour of medieval anglo-scandinavian civilization.

This is an amazing creation, to me it looks dreamlike, high fantasy concept art, that Tolkien may have dreamed up, but been beyond his powers of description! Your version 1 is also an outstanding creation aswell.

That is an excellent bargain! I think it is good value at the standard UK price (which I presume is very near to the Netherlands), to save 25% on that is outstanding! Today I fell to the temptation of buying a set that I consider an ugly and un-realistic design, a terrible parts to price ratio... The King's Battle Chariot, what made me part with my money was of course the Giant Wagon Wheels, and the King Minifig. Plus I don't mind getting two more Orcs. I'm not even sure I'm going to waste my time building it, I might just sort the pieces instead! (i doubt it will take me that long considering there are only 83 of them!).

A nice review of a great little set I think. I remember playing with 6645 for hours as a kid, and think this is a fitting revisit of the set, the only possible criticism I could make is that the Red Pressure Tank is hollow, but this could be fixed in seconds with a Round 2 x 2 plate. I like it because it looks cute, and has a MiniFig head with so much character, although maybe a specific Street Cleaner/ Garbage Services Torso would have been a nice addition, I could live with the standard Orange Construction Torso. I was surprised to see this still for sale at Tesco last month, I made a mental note to get it next time I was their, but every time I visit that store it is out of stock (although the Ticket remains, which gives me hope that they might restock this again?). If I see it again, I will not hesitate to buy! I rate it Above Average, it is a cute and quite realistic little model, and you get a nice MiniFig head!

Wow, another great promotion from the Mirror. I am particulary looking forward to the 4899 Tractor on the first Monday, I actually think it looks like a nice and realistic model of a small John Deere tractor. The creator Dinosaur and Lizard look like good supplies of green aswell. Looks like I will be forced to buy the Mirror again! Cheers for the information.

Your cars are looking excellent, the Black Arches to create the back look very sleek. In the group shot the Lego version from Shangai Chase really stands out for being to blocky, maybe you could convert this into some kind of truck? You Furniture is also excellent, you have really captured the style well. All are really excellent detailed designs. Good luck with your 1930's project, I am sure it will look good if you keep up this standard!

Generally I do not have a problem with a degree of technic in system sets, but... I do not like to see random colours either, but this can happen with none technic parts in many system sets. Of course these are usually easy to change to more complimentary colours. I also find the new studless technic beams to quote usefull sometimes. My biggest complaint would be the dominance of the Blue Half Pin in system sets, whilst I can understand the importance of using these in a complicated Technic Build, often in system sets these could be replaced with Black or Blay, and the instructions still easy enough to follow. I vote for 'A Good Balance', I am happy with the amount included at the moment, but would not want to see more of it in the future.

Just One More Order... I got a Dwarves Mine Defender and another Cannon Battle yesterday. My first ever Dwarf, the Helmet and Beard are excellent, and some usefull pieces in the set. And a few fixes from BrickLink recently!

I really think this might be a viable product line for Lego. We might not see the Forestmen for a few years, but if such Mature Targeted Sets, such as MMV, the Redcoat Ship, Modular Buildings, prove to make Lego a profit I am quite sure they would pursue these concepts. Your statistics of the sales of MMV really gives me hope that they will see a need to continue to create a few Mature sets each year. And to tie this in with the Nostalgia Factor of a revival of retired themes, which the Adult collectors hold close to their heart, seems a perfect combination. Even if we would only see one amazing exclusive set a year, that would be perfect for me (I doubt I could afford more than one per year anyhow!).