Capt. Redblade

Very neat use of match sticks as logs. Perfect proportioning for little men in capes who stand not even two inches tall. But Darth Legolas has a point... I would never let my minifigs get that near an open flame...

About 24 hours and 5 minutes. (Give or take.) Before Pirates II, we got steering wheels, cutlasses, and anchors back, so making a whole Woody's Round-up/Western set with an original, not-in-the-movie design, well, that's about as obvious as a TLG exec coming up to you on the street, slapping you in the face, and yelling: "We're bringing back Wild West, OK?! You got your freaking wish! Now like it or lump it!" Of course, even if none of that happens, I'll just buy the set and be satisfied with what I've got. And I don't know if I've said this before or not, but Lego army men for the win! (Even if they are inanimate plastic representations of animate plastic toys.)

Pirates is one of my favourite themes! I want the Advent Calendar in Canada! I am signing!

A much-deserved award, KDog! Yours is easily the best Lego photocomic I've seen in years! I think the relationship between Schwartz and Valkyrie is so endearingly human. (Aside from defending oneself against an alien using only a quote-on-quote "fishing rod".)

I would much rather prefer the tank.

Well, if this is true, then I am . I used to have a ton of sets from Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets, but I got rid of them for some reason. Every day I rue that decision. And on top of that, I could never find any of the Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire sets anywhere. (And the ones I did find were of poor quality.) I really, really, really want this to be true.

Apparently there's a rumour floating around mlnteam.net that Batman will return in 2010. I personally am taking absolutely no stock in this rumour at the moment, and I don't advise anyone to get their hopes way up, but there is a thin shred of hope.

It's a tie between the Turbocar Chase and the Volcano Base.

I'll just make a list: 1. Dust off the old skeleton molds, people! The poseable arms are fine for undead skeletons, but those guys can only find work in the Fantasy Era line which, I'm pretty sure, is almost over. 2. A greater variety of weapons, weapon accessories. I'm talkin' daggers, boarding axes, bayonets, rapiers, and sabers. 3. Big, 3-D island-shaped baseplates. (Look to the Rock Island Refuge for reference.) 4. Old-style put-it-together-yourself palm trees. 5. Printed wall pieces 6. Bring back the rigging! And I mean really, really, hit us hard with it. I miss the rope ladders and string rigging of yore. Also, try to use the bridge piece more. That's all I can think of for now. Now hoist the sails, ye dogs! The Captain has spoken!

Looks like DC is leading the poll by 18%. I personally voted for DC. They have Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, The Outsiders, Spectre, etcetera, etcetera. IF Lego does pick up some more DC licenses in the future, this could provide a lead-in to some other themes. For example, DC has some of the greatest western comics of all time: Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Nighthawk and Cinnamon, etc. Any one of these could lead into a resurrection of the WW theme. A Green Arrow theme could lead into a combination of City and Forestmen-esque products. And let us not forget some of DC's better wartime comics: Boy Commandos, Haunted Tank, Sgt. Rock and Easy Company (Nothing's ever easy in Easy.), the list goes on people! If we do see any more superhero licenses in the near future, make it DC Comics. SHAZAM!

Whoa whoa whoa. Did you say what I think you said? What I'm hearing is that you think you won the War of 1812. The Brits (and Canadian colonists) won fair and square. You ever heard of the Plains of Abraham? Yeah, well, we thoroughly kicked your butts in fifteen minutes flat. Not only that but the residents of Quebec successfully fended off two attacks by the American Army. And we burned down your White House. And we joined WWII two years before you did. And our life expectancy tops yours by something in the neighbourhood of eighteen months. Yes, that's right. Neighbourhood. With a "u".

Love the Scooby-Doo reference at 0:18! You slay me every time!

Um...yes. There was indeed a flag. It's actually an integral part of the scene.

I can attest to the greatness of this set! As I write this, I am holding Kazim's boat, just looking at it and splitting it in half. I swear it never gets old. If you don't go out and get this, you should be shunned for life!

I voted for King Kahuka. He managed to mold a tribe of bloodthirsty, primitive, pirate-fightin' savages into literate, cultured, pirate-fightin' savages. The Islanders are the coolest subtheme to ever sail the Lego Spanish Main. And Kahuka has the coolest hat TLG has ever invented.

You people are all too damn pessimistic. The fact is, if IJ only had one more year to go, we would've already noticed a visible decline in quality. For example: In its first year, Batman released six sets; in its penultimate year, two. Last year, Agents released eight sets of simply stunning quality. This year, five sets (of which I have three). Two of those three that I own have received a resounding "meh". Logic and experience say Agents will bow out next year. Now, we look at IJ. In the first year, a good nine sets. (Ten if you count the video game.) This year, seven. (Eight if you count the upcoming second video game, and there are rumours of yet another set to be released at a later date.) These sets live up to the quality of year one, if you ask me. If there were plans to axe Indy, we would know it. With the average amount of sets per theme that Lego releases every year, we have another couple of years to exhaust every single possibility. And SW and Spongebob show us that there's nothing wrong with remakes, just so long as they're well done. SW has rem-used the Slave I like, what, five times now? Another thing is publicity. Before a theme fades out, the publicity for said usually becomes lazy and lacklustre. So far, Indy's publicity seems as steady as ever. And besides, we have seen that, if done properly, a licensed theme can last at least two years longer than a regular theme, because the set designers don't have to come up with their own ideas. One of the biggest theme-killers is the fact that the Lego Group's creativity has declined by about 30% in the past decade or so. With licenses, they just take the pre-existing material and tweak it slightly. Relax, I think we have a good two-four years left. So sit back, take about six Valium as my dad would say, and haul your Venice Canal Chase off the shelf. We'll be OK.

:pir-laugh: :pir-laugh: I can't stop laughing. Your NNN series is incredibly well-written. And I love the way you used Elsa Schneider as the spokeswoman for SVELT. But I think it would've been a whole lot better (not that it isn't hilarious already) if you had had "customer testimony" like in the TV ads. Maybe with Malifios. That guy is so funny it's almost torture! :pir-laugh: :pir-laugh: Can't wait to see what comes next!

Oh, boy. Where do I begin? You know what? I'll make a list: 1. printed walls, NOT stickers 2. more variety for the colour scheme of the parrots 3. brick-built palm trees 4. Islanders and Imperial Soldiers a.k.a blue coats 5. more ships, rafts, etc with real old-time-y string rigging 6. more & larger island sets in the style of Rock Island Refuge (i.e. plenty of rope bridges, BURPs, docks, cannons, traps, and 3-D baseplates) 7. more & larger fortress sets in the style of El Dorado Fortress (i.e. plenty of 3-D baseplates, cannons, soldiers, docks, and prison cells) 8. more sea creatures 9. bring back the tiny, two-man sail boats 10. bring back the Legends theme and fill it with old Pirates sets, among other things I think that about covers everything. Now hop to it, ya dogs! Ye'd be wise ter obey the cap'n!

Alright, first off, in my time I have only seen one theme get a rerelease in its original form. I'll give you three guesses as to what I'm referring to, and the first two don't count. Give up? Let me give you a hint. It starts with "P" and ends with "irates". This shows you just how popular it is. It did not "reappear in a new form", it "reappeared". Lego knew that we wanted it back. They brought it back. They know we want it to stay. It'll stay. We see that Pirates has been incorporated into a coin bank, a minifigure pack, Tic Tac Toe, a T-shirt, a video game, etc. This brings the total of '09 sets to at least thirteen. If Pirates was set to vanish, it would have already. Pirates is here to stay. End of discussion.

I am glad that TLG is getting serious in the nostalgia department. The new stuff is good, but nothing beats vintage Lego. ( ) Plus, I'm happy that they're trying to re-mold Pirates into what it once was. I honestly think my heart stopped for a second when I saw that BP!

The Turbocar Chase dominates all!

Looking at the army men, I suddenly realize they could be used as makeshift Nazis for some of my Indy sets. Hmmm...;)

I don't care what the rest say, I eagerly awiat the arrival of the game. I look forward to drivng the flying car. (Hopefully.)

And besides, Get Smart is a cult classic. Do you know just how many people have heard of James Bond? Well, I think it's a safe bet that just as many people have heard of Get Smart. Plus, in Get Smart, the plots are much more absurd and can be resolved in half an hour. And don't even get me started on the characters. (And I mean that in a good way.) Get Smart is the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor you see in all the Lego games. They can turn it into light-hearted whimsy without P.O.'ing any hard core fans. With the other licenses, there'll always be a few critics who don't like that TLG turned a dark Indiana Jones movie into a hilarious, child-friendly entertainment product. I want to see Max's apartment, what with the invisible wall, net in the ceiling, and lamp head-bonker. OK, now I'm tired after all this writing. I'm going to go rewatch How To Succeed in The Spy Business Without Really Trying. "Shtarker! Ve don't 'aaaahhh' here!"