Mithrandir

I'm 1/2 done with the dune buggy. I didn't have time to finish it last night, though I peeked ahead in the instructions. One pleasant surprise about this set is that it came with a technic driving ring! Woooo! However, one disappointment is that it's not even used in the main Buggy model; only in the alternate tractor. Hah! This is one of the strangest sets I've ever seen. Most of the time the alternate is a subset of the main set, and is less detailed and uses less pieces... but for this one, there's a lot of pieces that aren't shared between the two sets at all. Weird! On a positive note: I'm really glad Lego has started going back to the old school, and including extra instructions to add a motor to the set :) That brings me back...

I'm actually looking forward to the crane. Bulldozer chain links, more boat weights, and apparently it has a pretty cool ratchet mechanism using the flexible 2-holed axle holder. I'm not a big fan of strings though, mainly because every time I take the set apart the strings always get knotted up :P As far as the release date, I'm not sure. Last year the 2nd phase technic stuff was released this same week (I remember because I bought the Street Bike on June 20th), so maybe we'll be seeing them sooner than September? (God I hope). *can't wait*

I had a light gray 6x8 plate from Roaring Roadsters with a deformed stud on top. It's the stud where the injection point is, it was all weird shaped and I had to get an xacto knife to cut off the excess plastic. Also that set was missing two pieces (first lego set I've ever seen to be missing two; dark grey 1x6 plate, dark gray 1x2 plate with handle), and the absolute weirdest thing ever: the set came with one OLD dark grey 2x4 plate. WTF? The only lego piece I've ever broken was an old 24-tooth technic gear (the one with the extra axle holes). I, in my youth, had just learned the concept of trading torque for speed, so I decided to build the biggest gearbox I could create, using every gear I had. Using 24t gears to spin 8t gears, I created a system that increased the speed of each axle by a factor of 3, using 7 axles, I managed to obtain a gearing ratio of 729:1. Content with my geniousocicity, I decided to spin the lowest gear. It didn't work, there was too much friction. After generously adding bushings all over the place and using more plates to brace the box, I decided to give it another go. MARVELOUS! The highest gear instantly whipped into action! Now Faster! FASTER! FASTER!!!!! *SNAP* The last 24t gear made a loud snapping noise, and flew up and whacked me in my forehead. Crapsticks. The plastic in the gear broke on one of the outer axleholes. I lost a good gear that day. I'm guessing this is why they redesigned the gear without the extra axleholes:

Yeah, that's the impression that I get too. I notice this a lot with the designer series, and I figure the reason they opt for the smaller combinations of parts is simply because they can be arranged in different combinations for the other models better. Regardless, I built this set last night, I'm impressed. The wings were a little confusing at first because the third hole didn't reach all the way to the end of the wing! Then I remembered the Pythagorean theorem and realised I put the diagonal edge of the wing in the wrong place :P Anyways, awesome set. I wasn't too psyched for this set before I got it, but after I built it I was really impressed.

That doesn't make sense. Why would Lego care if it's just parts or an actual model? They make money either way. Heck, they could make even more money if they gave you an option to turn off the box printing and just get generic boxes of bricks.

Looks like there were 15 different Viking minifigs.

No, no agreement; it was simply the webmasters own rule in order to avoid hurting Lego sales. It was 3 years, because Lego had a classical 3 year product cycle (ie: sets would be available for 3 years). But now Lego has abandoned it and does 1 (or less!) year product cycles. Anyways, as others have probably already pointed out, Lego now keeps new instructions online in PDF format, so they can tell people to download them if they are ripped/lost/whatever.

Also interesting. I assumed the light brick in the Mythical Creatures was going to be the same Exo-Force light brick, but this one is quite different. Uses 2 batteries which means it's probably brighter. I wonder why they designed a new light brick so soon after the last one?

interesting. Someone on Bricklink has the new Ferarri F1 1:8 for $150. I guess that means it will be out soon?

http://shop.lego.com/leaf.asp?cn=243&d=11&t=5 WOOHOOOOO!!! I'm going to buy em :)

1) I find that most sets look good even without the stickers, so I rarely have a complaint about them. 2) Yeah; the way I look at this, though, is that it's Lego, and if you don't want it in your model, don't put it in :) 3) I don't think that will be a problem, honestly. I think they're likely to use the same old Pirate hulls. I was pleased to see that the Viking boat used the same middle-hull piece as the old pirate sets, so this proves that they are willing to use old molds. (unfortunately, the use of that piece made the viking boat too big, because the hull piece was designed for wider ships, and they needed 3 of them to make the longboat the proper dimensions, so the scale is way bigger than minifig scale) 4) Not sure what this means 5) I think I remember an old female pirate MF, or am I remembering wrong?

I think the reason the initial rush died out was because there wasn't enough variation in the original run of sets; From the second run, it looks a lot more interesting than the first. Yeah I *hated* that. I want to buy the sets without the dinosaurs. *sigh* I disagree. I think people who are paid to be creative are probably better at it, because they don't have to go to work and waste all day doing stupid things; instead their work is creativity, and they get paid for it too. I think the real reason lego sets aren't as good as some MOC's out there is because Lego is a business, and it cannot afford to make $300 sets or else they'd go out of business. I feel that the Lego designers do their absolute best and their creativity shows through in spite of the restrictions TLC puts on the sets. Hmm, I only see 2 (or 5) main characters. The two anime humans and the three non-copper robots (blue, green, red). Personally, I don't like the anime humans at all. I've put Alpha-Team and Dino-Attack figs in my mechs, heh. Regardless, I do agree with you that there are far too few human figs.

You know, I really doubt it. Everything I read shows that us adults make up a very small part of the core Lego audience and it's still almost entirely kid driven. The only way this would tank the sets market is if the majority of sets are only bought for their parts, and all indications show that this is not the case.

I predict even worse results. Rechargables are typically 1.2V (AA are 1.5V), so it'll end up running with only 7.2V, and rechargables carry less mAH than nonrechargables, so not only will they produce an even weaker engine, but they'll last a shorter time too. *sigh* Lego, there's a reason why model trains use 12V metal tracks!!

Aye. I'd prefer an evolution of the old Pirates theme. I really don't mind if they introduce storylines either.

I was afraid of this... sigh.

Lego has had spider-man running at the same time as alpha-team; I don't think the batman license will preclude them from an action theme. I miss alpha-team already though; Dino Attack was 50% awesome and 50% blah, so I was disappointed that that was the successor to AT. I bought the DA helicopter, absolutely amazing design, but I don't like the colors, and I think the dinosaur is... blech... 5 unique pieces that can't really be used anywhere else... By the way, the T-Rex has © 2004 Lego on it, when it was released in 2005/2006.... does that seem weird or is this normal? I can't find that piece in any other set, so I assume it's new...

Er, Batman, Spongebob, Avatar? That's just this year...

Heh heh, brilliant.

The figs and armour are the shizzle. I miss the 90's pointed nose helm though :( I only had 1 as a kid and I lost it, heh.

Same with Technic, although the eventual plan is to get everything up there eventually. Here's to hope :)

A little piece of me has just died inside. :'-( MOC's are allways a good idea. Maybe a MOC of The Black Pearl and a Harbor getting attacked. Im sure Mr. Phes would love such MOC's. I can't go to S@H and buy a pirate MOC though :( And pirate pieces are getting more and more expensive on bricklink, due to them having not made any in 10 years :(

Assuming TLC Is not losing money on any single element, I don't see why they would care if people make a model with their bricks or not. I predict a run on dark red parts :-) Sadly there are only 4 (1x2 brick, 1x2 plate, 1x1 plate, and a hat) Someone made this absolutely stunning MOC made entirely of 1x2 red bricks. I don't think I could have done better myself :-D

I finally bought Land Busters, which is an absolutely amazing set. Next in my sights is Air Blazers, which is a little on the expensive side, but probably worth it, if the reviews are any indication.

It's the same motor that came with Motor Movers. It's faster than the 9V motor, and fits in better with studless technic designs too. I love it :)