FiletOFish

the amount of complaining and whining in the beginning pages is just embarrassing. if only i could slap some of you through the internet. these sets look far better than the past bionicle sets in the stores. but, you have to keep in mind that computer generated Lego images typically look far better than their real life counterparts.

good review and thanks, but as for the actual set... i'm not a fan. there is way too much open space and not enough detail. i could of got this for $50 on Black Friday but passed. an unimpressive set imo.

Danim, you can easily find a complete minifig on Bricklink.com for $1 each. Check it out.

Not sure if this is the right subforum for this, but here it is, my mosaic: 2nd picture came out blurry, sorry. I will be seeing if there is any interest in this item in about several weeks when I list it for sale on Etsy. This thread is more or less for show. If it is in the wrong section, please let me know. Set details: My inspiration for this MOC was to showcase many different colors that Lego offers. I traditionally just use 4-5 colors for my mosaics and I wanted to do something different. I used a combination of rare and common colors. Rare colors: turquoise, sand green, medium green, dark blue, sand blue (at top right, small portion) Common colors: black, tan, white, medium blue, blue, lime green The piece is 31(H) X 110(L) X 1 brick thick. It takes up 3,410 lego spaces. Including the frame, it cost me a little more than $135 to make this. Only brand new pieces were used. Some medium green, sand blue, and turquoise 1X1 bricks were custom made from brand new 1X2 bricks. I used a dremel to cut down 1X2 bricks into 1X1 then sanded them down and washed them. I did this because I had no choice--1X1 (new) bricks of these colors were not being sold on the market when I was sourcing parts. Only the smooth, untouched sides are facing the front--the cut and sanded section is facing the backing of the frame which nobody sees. About 40 custom 1X1 bricks were used in this set. From initial planning, parts acquisition, piecing, and customizing, 15 hours were easily spent on this piece. I thought a geometric star would be perfect to showcase the colors since it has many different faces and sides. I tried to showcase lighter colors on the left star, and darker tones on the right. Thanks for looking and have a nice day

I agree with what was said from the other member: Lego needs to watch its pricing. Some of the licensed sets are just pure highway robbery.

ridiculously overpriced, not a tad bit overpriced. and with 100% copying capabilities, there is zero barriers to entry. i don't see this as a sustaining business at all.

95% chance the minifigs will come in whole figures, not mixed parts as some are speculating. reasoning: 1. target audience. it is in lego's best interest to target kids (primary market) and adults (secondary). by having mixed parts in a bag instead of whole figures, you greatly isolate the younger customers as they do not have the cash flow to chase after and build complete minifigures. 2. cost. it is much easier to produce a batch of minifig 1, package them, produce minifig 2, package them etc. then to mix all minifig parts and to allocate the parts to different bags. 3. practicality. some minifigs have accessories, some do not. if the bags involve mixed parts, it is possible for some bags to have, for example, the pom poms while another bag has no accessories. or, it's possible for one bag to have two accessories (2 pom poms) while another has just one (the nurse's syringe). mixing parts involves unnecessary headaches for TLG. 4. ethics. TLG is a business, no doubt, but as already mentioned, mixing parts would advance money over serving the fanbase. the mixed approach is hypocritical and contradictory to TLG's claimed values. We will see how Lego plays this out this June. Hopefully it makes the right decision.

from someone who has done MOCs before let me just tell you this... you're gonna have to buy from bricklink. even if it means buying from multiple vendors. you just have to suck it up, take the hit, and pay the minimum order requested and the shipping costs associated with different sellers. it sucks, been there done that, but when it comes to rare parts it's the only way.

^ both the millenium and death star at target are sold out.

^ definitely. the agents truck at $54 is an awesome deal. i picked up 5 of them. for me black friday went like this: 7:30PM-3:00AM outlet shopping (cloth) 4:00AM-500AM visited 2 TRUs for agent truck, got 5 total 5:30AM went to Target to pick up Dark Knight dvd for $3.99

What's up with the condescending tone? I'm just relaying info from my own speculation AND actual trip. There were ZERO big-set items at my KMART. No Endor, no Venator, no Titanium rig, no underground mining station--basically, they had no set there that was over $60 dollars. And no, they weren't there because people picked it up--the bar codes/tags weren't even on the shelf (meaning they don't carry it). So ya, they're gonna go from completely desolate to booming on Black Friday right? Probably not. In addition, my local KMART's Lego selection is not even 1 aisle long--something I wouldn't have found out if I didn't go. So ya, me recommending others to go check out their local KMART was really stupid of me huh? Sarcasm.. I would agree with your last sentence if they were having an item-specific promotion like most stores but they are doing a buy 2 get 1 free deal, meaning that their current selection can clue you in on what's going to be available on BF (except in larger quantities, not larger selection on BF). So, I repeat what I and Big Cam said earlier: Check out your local store beforehand.

bahahha. i wish i knew about this!! i would of hit up my local TRU :( so no more santa keychain??

I just came back from my local KMART 20 mins ago. I went to see what their selection was like for the first time. It was pretty disappointing. I will not be hitting KMART on Black Friday after today's visit. So yea, definitely take a look in advance like Big Cam said so that you don't waste a trip on Black Friday.

If you get to Target at 7AM then there is a good chance the sets will be gone. Last year I was at my local Target around 4 something. I was about the 50th person in line and was able to snag the Imperial Destroyer. By the time I got to the set, 2 of the Destroyers were already gone (my Target had 5). If your Target has inventory in the back and later fills the shelves after the initial wave of early bird customers then you may be still be able to grab the sets at 7 AM. Also, those sets aren't too popular so maybe the first wave will overlook the sets. Good luck though. UPDATE: I CALLED OLD NAVY AND THE GAME IS A DEMO, NOT THE REAL THING. IT IS NOW CONFIRMED!

Let's get this discussion rolling, Black Friday is coming up. This is what I know so far: KMART: Buy 2 get 1 free (of equal or lesser value) My opinion: KMART has few stores and their selection will be a huge wild card. I expect some KMARTs to have a decent selection while most will be disappointing. I will visit my local KMART as part of my last store visit (I am visiting several stores on Black Friday) but won't expect much. I expect very few people to be there in the morning as people have far better places to be. TARGET: Troll Warship and Indiana Jones Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for $50.00 each My opinion: Seems like Target is dumping the unpopular sets on Black Friday. Neither of these sets impress me. The savings are decent but not large enough for me to buy bad sets. For last year's Black Friday I went to Target on my last stop and picked up the Imperial Destroyer for $60, an awesome deal for a great set. This year Target is a big let down. TOYSRUS: Agents Mobile Command Center for $53.99 (Friday and Saturday), Indiana Jones Temple Escape for $42.99 (Friday and Saturday), and Twilight for $59.99 (Midnight to 1PM, Friday only) My opinion: The Twilight was a poor selling set, which caused Lego to lower the set's price on Lego.com in the past. At $59.99 the deal is definitely not a doorbuster; this is a bad deal. The Temple Escape is not a set I like and the savings comes down to about $17 dollars--I will pass. It's not an awful deal but it's also not impressive. The Command Center I am willing to buy at $54.00. I am going to ToysRUs specifically for the command center. In my opinion this is the best Black Friday Lego set deal for 2009. LEGO STORE: Random scratch card with varying savings. 10% 20% or 50% off. Or $10 $100 or $500 off. My opinion: The overwhelming majority of scratch cards will most likely be 10% off. Do not go to the Lego Store expecting to get the $100, $500, or 50% off card. The Lego Store's Black Friday sale is very weak as expected. As someone mentioned, if you want a risk-free shot at the scratch card, buy an item and get your scratch card. If the savings is pitiful (10%), then later return your purchase. I will visit my local Lego Store and ask for additional details in a couple days. OLD NAVY: Lego Rockband video game with $20.00 purchase My opinion: I'm very suspicious about this deal. If they are giving away the real Lego Rockband for PS3, XBOX, or Wii then this is a very good deal. What I and others are wondering is if they are giving away a demo rather than the full version. Also, what console version are they giving out? There is Lego Rockband for the Wii, XBOX, PS3, and DS. The text in the ad is very brief and general. For now, I plan on checking out Old Navy unless I hear that the copy is in fact a demo. UPDATE: AFTER CALLING OLD NAVY IT IS CONFIRMED TO BE A DEMO, NOT THE REAL GAME!! WALMART: BLACK FRIDAY DEALS UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME My Black Friday will begin at 9:45 PM Thursday and go until 8AM Friday. My first visit requires an hour drive . What are your plans? Let's keep the discussion alive and please share any Lego news you have.

Keep on dreaming

Many of us, both guys and girls, feel that Lego's approach to girly product lines (Belville, Clickits) has been a total disaster. If you happen to like one of these lines, then let me take nothing away from you--I do not intend to offend you. But, the overall consensus of the Lego community is that Lego's efforts to reach out to the girls have failed miserably. Please take a look at this example of epic failure: http://shop.lego.com/ByCategory/Product.as...n=378&d=412 Pieces: 450 Price: $79.99 USD <--Extremely overpriced. That is close to double the general 10 cents/piece rule. Besides pricing, there's construction and design issues. A woman suggested that Lego use classic lego pieces to build fairytale themes for girls. For example, a set involving a light-colored cottage in the woods or a small castle set involving a princess. I think this is a solid idea. I believe that classic Lego pieces (rather than using nonclassic, oversized pieces) can create girly sets that even appeal to guys. I for example would purchase a cottage, whether it was designed for girls or not, if it was designed well with classic pieces. It could be pink and I would still buy it if the design was solid. I know that the Paradisa theme from long ago used classic Lego pieces, but in my opinion Lego didn't think things through too well when designing the sets. They were poorly designed and boring (you may disagree) and were overwhelmingly one dimensional. I think the key to a successful girly line up is to make it balanced by 1. appealing to girls (obviously) and 2. providing a hook that give reasons for guys to purchase it as well. A simple hook, for example, may be a knight in shining armor in a princess set. What are your thoughts?

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input. After weighing spray paint, airbrush, and vinyl dye, I believe I will go the vinyl dye route. I hope it works well .

Girls are attracted to that thing in your signature, not Legos . But hey, more of us ..

There was one Lego set I purchased (Aquaraider/Aquazone 2161) where quality was just totally down. I know because I have 2 of the same set and one was normal while the other was not. Also, like many people here, I've built a lot of sets and know how a set is supposed to be. As I built my 2nd set, I realized that something just wasn't right. I noticed that the set was not locking right (for all pieces, not just a few) and making A LOT of noise as you press down on the pieces. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the set locked and made noise as if it was in snow for 10 years (but I purchased it new). I'm not sure what exactly happened with that set, but I hope to never receive a set like that again.

Hey guys I'm curious if anyone knows of a quality method of custom colorizing Lego bricks and plates (quality as in not using a brush to paint a Lego brick ). I am currently engaged in 2 mosaic projects and I realize how limited I am due to availability and price of certain colored bricks on Bricklink. Many of the exotic colors cost way too much (when you multiply it by 400) or are not available in the quantities necessary to build a decent-sized mosaic. I am curious if anyone knows of a way to custom colorize Legos.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate you going out of your way to help a stranger. Currently I am doing a similar but less efficient method in regards to the colors (I will try your method out soon). What I am doing is taking a screen shot of the For Sale index (left column) of colors offered for 1X1 bricks from BrickLink and posting it within Photoshop. I then use the eyedrop tool to sample a color from the screenshot. I then select all of a certain color within my mosaic and replace it with the color I eyedropped. It is a very rudimentary/ghetto method since a screenshot of the colors does not accurately maintain the color (parts of the color box become different colors, although from far away it looks like it's one color). Your HTML method is a much more accurate way to sample the colors and I will try it out when I have time (within a day or two). Again, I appreciate your help.

Best tutorial so far, but I have a problem. I loaded your color file to photoshop and used it. My design is done and I'm ready to order the parts. My problem is, I cannot identify the colors in photoshop as Lego colors on Bricklink. What I am doing is inspecting the RGB values of the colors you uploaded, and looking at peeron's color chart in hopes of getting an RGB value match. Once a match is established, I can see the color description/name (for example: reddish brown) and then purchase reddish brown 1X1 bricks. Problem is, the colors in Photoshop aren't matching with the Lego color chart! Example of my process: 1. Photoshop uses, for example, a certain brown from your uploaded color file. 2. I try to match this brown in Photoshop with a brown on Peeron's color chart. I do this by trying to find the same RGB values (for example, if a color in Photoshop is RGB:23, 18, 57, I will search for a color on Peeron's chart with the same values) 3. Once a match is established, I read the descriptive title/name of the color and order that part on Bricklink. Am I doing something wrong? Because the color set you uploaded already involves Lego colors, I should be able to order the colors featured in Photoshop. But, I cannot identify them . Please help!