Brick Miner

the last new set for either theme was 1997... so both are equally as recent... needless to say, that was a year of bad decisions for LEGO ;-) but your right IS, western sets are cheaper comparatively in those last years... for example, the pirate figs from those last 2 years (1996-1997) are really valuable (especially the armada figs), where as the western figs (1996-1997) are not so much. - BM

nice. im glad to hear there are some western fans here !!! especial over a good quality theme like pirates. however, i think it can be argued that both themes have buildings, so im not sure that is a valid case for liking western in-and-of-itself... i think more so you have to compare transportation... in this case, boats vs. trains.though, i can agree with argument that the western theme encourages more "city life" building than the pirate theme does. it's just so tempting to expand on 6765. - BM

oddly, this is kind of a good topic... comparing and contrasting the pirate and western themes, that is. personally, i find this topic interesting because these are my two favorite themes (though city is creeping in on the number two slot ;-) ) !!! there are a couple factors in which i weigh when looking at the two themes... - official sets - MOCing potential - minifigs - also (but not as important) the availability of elements for resale on BL and ebay. when comparing official sets you have to weigh the number and quality of each theme. pirates obviously wins in quantity, but quality is up to interpretation (in which sentimental value plays an important role, and seems to be rather crutial when comparing two discontinued themes, like pirates and western). when looking at MOCing potential, you have to look inside yourself, and realize whether pirates or western provides more themes to which you would like to explore. personally, when i did this introspection on myself, i realized that within the western theme existed more MOCing potential based on my interests in LEGO building. for example, i like to "fill out" the possibilities that LEGO missed, and because the western theme was cut so short, many traditional western themes were never explored... thus western MOCing fits into my own personal LEGO collecting personality better than the pirates theme does. minifigs are another very personal choice... the pirate theme offers quite a few more than western, and has the unique quality of having very unique and very general minifigs, and also offers army building possibilities (which is a very fun aspect to the hobby). while the western theme offers less generic minifigs (most seem very unique to me), and does offer some army building characters (calvary and indians). however, the western theme shines with its unique minifigs - most have very unique personalities which LEGO developed (visually) very well, and are based on hollywood western character archetypes. personally, i find the unique pirate characters to have less developed personalities and character traits. basically, besides captain redbeard (roger) and king kahuka, all could be interpreted as generic. finally, we come to availability on the secondary market... western is far easier to come by, especially if you are looking for MISB sets. pirate sets (especially the larger ones) reach astronomical price ranges. however, if you aren't interested in sealed sets, i would say that both themes are similarly (and reasonably) priced. other smaller aspects i consider are - which form of small or "personal transportation" do i like better... one piece boats or horses ??? - which form of large transportation do i enjoy building more, large ships or trains ??? - what type of architecture do i like better, and do i enjoy land building or sea building better ??? -------------------------------------------------- and as far as which forum you wanted to post this in... i think it's up to you, and depends on the type of responses you would like to get. for example, i think you would get very different responses from this thread in the pirate forum. but somehow the history forum seems more fitting, as it is more neutral ground since it isn

oh, your right... looking at the castle sets, it shows the preliminary images and the trolls with yellow hands.well... i can only hope there are some major changes to the postal/cargo sets once they hits the shelves. on a side note, i can't believe both city trucks (cargo and police) feature the same ugly front configuration with wedge plate and that nasty one piece windbreaker on top of the cabin :-X the trucks from 2007 were so much better... and i loved the front plates on them. what was wrong with that set up i wonder ??? don't mess with perfection, LEGO !!! - BM

the single coolest thing for me is the new slope brick on the front of the squad car in the police station. i've been waiting for a piece like that for a while. i hope if comes in a few colors in the 2008 line up. that squad car is the best police vehicle i've seen LEGO make yet. im quite disappointed with the postal sets... i can't believe the postal carrier is not in a postal uniform. though, the big cargo plane looks the best out of the cargo/postal sets. - BM EDIT: oh, i forgot to ask, does it look like there are new cargo crate molds in the two cargo sets ??? if they are old pieces, i can't quite make out how they are built. i think some new opening cargo crates might be cool.

im not sure if a droid arm would work or not... but it definitely doesn't look like the batman cuffs. there seems to be an underside to the cuff around the bottom of the minifig hands.- BM

thanks hinckley. im most interested in the backside of the mine. i like seeing the path of the gold/silver, and how it starts in the bottom level of the mine, and its many outputs in front. the bottom of the mine looks dark and scary down there... so that's a nice touch. i only wish there was more bricks and slopes representing rocks in the bottom of the mine. all-in-all it's not a bad set, the playability is supurb, i just wish it was more enclosed and felt like a model, not just a playset. - BM

im surprised LEGO didn't reuse the batman handcuffs.- BM

thanks for trying asuka :-) yes, that plane looks nothing like the huge airliner LEGO produced here. i could imagine an aircraft that size... it just makes more sense.- BM

yes, phes... because of the cross-skin-theme problems, we are reduced to using only a few of the emoticons from the original set. i.e. only pirate emoticons with direct counterparts to the standard EB emoticons will be used from now on, so as to not encounter the problem again. the only "upgrading" we could do would be to swap out emoticons. (NOTE: you will probably notice the more narrow selection of pirate emoticons, currently.) again, no adding new at this point, and thanks for the understanding eveyone !!! and thanks for initiating that conversation, phes. - BM

that image is really really nice !!! it captures the spirit of the "LEGO pirate world" very well.i'd like to keep updated to your work, PLF... definietly post it here on EB ;-) - BM

i have never seen a police aircraft like this... if anyone has a reference photo i'd love to see it. to me, this thing seems totally made up. i don't know why the police have a commercial size aircraft for catching criminals.again, i don't get it *wacko* - BM

ya, i went and had to take a second look at the world city surveillance truck because though i don't own it, i remember liking it more than this... but now, after taking a second look, i like them both about the same... which is not very much. the thing i don't like about the new truck is the front end, i don't like that wedge plate. and i don

thanks phes... your probably right :-D thanks sinner, ya the piece counts are very similar, in fact i was able to get more out of less with the new one !!! the reason i was able to drop 9 pieces is because of the large 1x5x6 log panel walls and 1x4x5 windows, where as in the old one, i built up the front and sides with 1x2 log bricks. those log bricks add up quickly !!! also i took of the hinged roof of the first floor - though, this was done to be able to build on the second floor, not to reduce my piece count.and, because i decided to build on the second floor, i had to make it smaller so that a single 6x16 black plate could function as the floor of the second level. so, the building is actually 4 studs narrower, and that helped reduce the piece count of the table/chair/mechanism. all-in-all i was glad i felt there was enough piece left that i could add some details, like the perfume bottles. - BM

hmmm.... that is pretty weak too. i didn't mind the news of new police sets in 2008. in fact, i was excited that (after seeing the improved 2007 fire sets) we would finally get some nice modern and correct police sets. these are definitely not an improvement over anything - BM

i disagree... i think this is a terrible concept for a set, no matter what hull and construction techniques they used. i don't understand the need for a police plane. maybe after i see the costal HQ it will all make sense, but right now, im not getting it.- BM

so yes you did... :-D my mistake, sorry for the mis-quote. it seems norro is right, im so consumed with building a fort, that im even reading it everywhere !!! so little time. i wish i could design sets as a full time job, then i could give you an MOC every week, KD !!! though your enthusiasm for my MOCs is quite encouraging... thank you for pushing me !!!- BM

i don't know... what if LEGO said they were increasing the size of the standard system scale stud ??? and nothing produced further would be compatable with anything prior ???that is pretty much what we have here, just on a smaller scale. incompatablity. - BM

so true... i'd still be a SW fan today if i had never seen that movie. (thank goodness for me, SW LEGO are rather expensive !!!)in contrast, episodes 2 and 5 were the best *y* - BM

:-D ya, i like how KD put it... "it looks more like house than a fort." you know, the first version of my train station looked like a fort too... maybe i've secretly been pining to build a fort all these years... hmmmm... maybe that will be next WW project, i haven't done any calvary stuff yet.- BM

yes, alex, i thought of you when i was working on this image... i new you would like that, because as we have discussed before, i am doing with LEGOREDO, what town fans are doing with modern cities... building a community. you can imagine having the above bank, general store, and saloon combinded with the train station... and the sheriff's office... it's quite a becoming town !!! and its fun to set up the entire scene on my kitchen table and have the train roll through LEGOREDO and then through the outskirts of the desert where i have the gold mine, fort and other non-town items set up (including the ghost town of Shiversdale *skull* ). when i have released several MOCs, and have quite a collection, i want to take photos of the complete town, as you have done with your modern city. your setup looked like so much fun !!! thanks for the feedback KD / Pirahna !!! - BM

here is the part i don't like... how many choices have we had for train tracks now in the past few years... 9V old grey tracks 9V new grey tracks (for only a few years) RC tracks (for very few years) and now, powerfunctions tracks, possibly ??? or will it be the same as 9V ??? i don't like the idea of incompatability within LEGO SYSTEM... the whole system should be compatable, and the same, without slight color differences or production differences (for those of us who are track purists ;-) ). but i do agree with glyman, LEGO has been producing some good sets lately, so im hopeful for that this new system is great, and we AFOL can invest in it for years to come, and not have to worry about our purchases becoming out-dated and extinct with new train systems every 2-3 years. the LEGO "SYSTEM" mentality is the essence of their products, i hope they stick to this fundamental in the future. - BM

that is the most striking part of this news to me... not that we are finally seeing the end of 9V (i think we all knew that was coming). but i can't believe that LEGO took the time to develop an entirely new train system, and it only lasted for 3 years !!! now that is just stupid if they want dedicated fans to have faith in the longevity of their products.im just glad i didn't buy a large amount of the RC stuff, only to find out its finished after two sets !!! what a waist !!! so, the question is, can we put faith in the new "power functions" train system, or will it be abandoned after 1 or 2 sets ??? that is just silly. all-in-all, i don't really care what LEGO goes with, as long as its a "SYSTEM"... that is what LEGO is known for, a system of toys that work together in an integrated fashion, so that children and adults experience no limitations to our creativity with their products. with all of that out, looking at the positive... i'd like to see a new metroliner style train in the new system. i'll look forward to that. - BM

i think this is where the impulse line will shine... like the good magician, i'd like to see more unique figs in these. definitely, i'd like to see this one the most !!! something like this would be cool... especially if it came with a rare color bike like this yellow one !!! - BM

ok fine, i'll link it :-$ but im so ashamed of it though :'-( http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...wtopic=5127&hl= :-D - BM