Berry Syedow

Yikes, some of those choices are just plain scary! The frigid Ice Planet babe has a nice outfit that also compliments her red hair. She gets my vote. *y*

I'm a viking kind of guy, so it's only fit that the flagship of that theme gets a vote from me. I seem to remember a discussion mentioning that there are two molds of the crown piece. One with a hole for a plume (the newer one) and one without. Am I imagining things?

I really do think that this is a brilliant little pirate ship. It has great sails, two jolly roger flags in both sizes, an excellent assortment of weaponry, along with four figs and the hull itself. The two negative points are the lack of an anchor and blue pieces. (Is it necessary for a ship of this size to have a wheel?) 4 out o' 5 for me.

Hewkii, this is a great creation! The MOC puts good use to a lot of unusual pieces. I also like how you gave the rider a black face, thus adding to the darkness of it all. (Both figuratively and literally. ;-)) I agree with this man. Had it not been for the specific wing link I would have remained oblivious!

I disagree with your assessment of the new castle theme, but I respect your opinion and I can understand why don't like the fantasy element. You mentioned that the only part of the new theme that you like is the princess. What about the new crown faction? I think TLC has done a great job designing the emblems, horse barding printing, and armor printing. When TLC discontinues this theme I hope they go in the direction of what you've listed below. We need many more sets based on peasant life. TLC also needs to create a new mold for the pitchfork piece, which could also serve as a new weapon for peasants to wield. :-P (I heard the original mold broke after a short production run?) I like all of the sets you've mentioned. Did you mean to type "Inn" instead of apartment? I'm pretty sure medieval villages didn't have those. ;-) I'll also add that TLC should keep designing modular buildings. Basic stuff like castle wall sections, towers, and gates varying in size and construction would be great! More tudor buildings are also greatly needed. Other elements that should be looked into are color variations of present animals and weaponry. TLC could easily reproduce the old dragon mold in different colors such as blue, red, yellow and so on. Other items such as the new flail piece should be produced in black and both bleys.

Though I haven't seen the movie, this is a great little western MOC. You also did a nice job of selecting the faces for the three brothers. They all look like they're related. (If I'm reading this right. ;-))

Greetings o' fan of aerodynamics. Have you taken a gander at these beauties? Red Baron Wright Flyer Don't take it as an insult. He's saying that he's up to "our level". ;-)

If there's one theme to enjoy since your dark age it's certainly city. I just hope TLC gives the other themes such as space and castle a chance to grow like city has. Speaking of castle, how do you think the latest castle theme compares to classic-castle?

Hello, Artemis Fowl. You might want to expand your interests into other themes, since it looks like TLC will be discontinuing the Avatar line. That's life I guess. :-/

Salutations, Sinner. I like the blue spaceship, along with all of the details you put into it. I kind of wish I had gotten the Red Beard ship or the Hairy Potter ship to see what the new hulls are like.

There are many more elements and pieces in new colors available on the Online Pick a Brick. I think they were added several days ago. Check out the accessories to get a glimpse at all of the food pieces!

Maybe I need to change sources. I've heard a lot of people say that AFOLs tend to overestimate their buying power while others say the exact opposite. The LEGO website should introduce tags such as AFOL/Parents/Teens and so on so that it can get some concrete data on who's buying what. I'd like to see a more realistic space theme; One that involves exploration, mining, and the shipment of materials without the silliness of martians. I'd also like to see a new space faction dedicated to overtaking the universe. :-D The kids must have really liked the storyline of KKII. The idea of Heroes with powers must be very appealing to them as well. Little children are also completely irrational. ;-)

Nice review, Brickster. This set isn't my cup of tea, but it is still a lot better than previous KK Castles. I kind of feel like the castle is too empty or gutted. The dragon definitely kept the castle from being as big as it could have been. I also feel that the center tower could have been built better. This is a great castle for bley castle pieces, I'll admit. It also has a fine selection of castle mini-figs. Does the bley color have any effect on you, Brickster? From the photos the castle appears very "cold" if that makes any sense.

Hmm, for some reason I thought that TLC would forgo a chess set this year since so many of the smaller sets can be used as army builders already. Unless the chess set includes unique figures, I think I'll wait for it to go on sale. Still, the chess sets must have been selling well enough for TLC to bother to pursue the concept, which is good.

I'm not sure if these have been mentioned already, but here they are: The Cattle Herder: Includes a cowboy/rancher on horseback guiding his cows to their destination along with a hound of some sort to keep them in check. It would be a fairly cheap set and would be a great way to collect cows. ~Retails for around $8 The Standoff: Includes two figures having a draw on a fairly small and narrow baseplate with a few building facades on either side. ~Retails for around $15-20 The Coffin Crafter: Includes a small shop that produces coffins. Inside we can see the store owner measuring some poor chap who's due for a shootout along with the shop owner's desk, pet owl, and various wooden coffins. ~Retails for around $35-40 TLC could also produce fig packs involving bandits, army men and officers (both blue and grey), rich folk and gamblers, and the average town folk. That's all I've got, so far.

Ah, gotcha ya. I really wish TLC would drop the whole non-violence act if they aren't going to be consistent.

Story does matter: Why do themes like creator succeed? It's probably because of parents. Is there any truth to this? I've read many a paragraph about a parent who doesn't buy sets from those other themes, preferring to tutor their children in the way of proper, imaginative LEGO building. Could this be the case? These type of sets are also brick heavy compared to their system counterparts. People like to get the most for their money... Sne/Asuka: Kids don't like lack of storyline in Castle; what about MM? Yeah, maybe it

I can't recall too many foolish LEGO human errors. The main one that I remember was when I received my very first LEGO set at my sixth birthday party. While I was building it, I couldn't for the life of me find a certain part and I thought for sure that it had not been included in the box it came with. Well after several minutes of frustration, sure enough I was staring at it, right in the middle of my pile o' bricks. The other occasion involved me losing a part with printing on it that was exclusive to one or two sets from the divers series (I think?). It was the little van with the yellow raft and the two diver figs. Well I lost one of the wall panels with printing on it when it fell onto the floor. It's the craziest thing. I scoured the white linoleum for that part, but never found it. Several years later I moved out of that house, thus sealing my tortuous fate of being destined to only own one of *two* panels with printing on them. I was only seven when that happened, so maybe that's why my feeble under developed eyes couldn't spot the missing part. :-P Mr. Tole, it's been a while since I last saw you around these parts! Welcome back. :-)

If this is the direction that TLC is heading then I am delighted! I'm not very supportive of the troll, (unless it will comprise many pieces that can be used for other things as well) but it's still nice to see TLC exploring new directions that don't involve oddly colored knights of valor. I'm excited about the dwarf the most. We all know how under represented midgets are in LEGO sets. ;-) More new helmet designs and more new beards = happier Mr. Syedow = less stingy-with-the-money LEGO-holic.

These are good ideas. I'll also add, a new faction of vikings with redesigned hornless helmets. The hornless helmets could come in other colors such as black or a variation of the "silver look". They could even be distant relatives of the current king in power. It would also be neat to see a force of mercenaries that make a temporary alliance with the evil wizard. These mercenaries only care about their payment, so whoever is willing to hand out the most cash would have their support. In the end, I believe the mercenaries would come out on top. ;-) I don't see that happening, however, because of TLC's unannounced policy of no fig on fig violence. P.S. Did you mean to say that the elves will have light green skin? Is this how the classic elf is supposed to appear?

I like these ideas of yours the most. I think they'd also be easy to execute, especially the castle battle packs (maybe with a few adjustments). Some sort of outpost would be interesting, though. It's one of those pieces of history that TLC hasn't really fleshed out (that or the set stunk), along with cogs, and peasant life. I don't really see peasants making an entrance in this castle theme since it seems to be centered on epic battles of good vs. evil (like the last theme), but with better execution, so far. In the skeleton battle pack, I'd also like to see one or two "normal" skeletons to allow for some variety.

Ah, this is such a beautifully conceived "unofficial set", Brick Miner! I'm ashamed I didn't take a gander, sooner. Everything from the mini-figs to the colors to the design is perfect. If TLC could design WW sets of this caliber in the future, I might just cave in and make a purchase. I agree that TLC missed out by not making a western train set of some sort. Trains are one of the staples of classic westerns.

This is a good idea if your skeleton needs to hold an object in a different manner. Unfortunately the newer skeletons can't hold a strait bar in both of their hands, can they? On a side note, nice army, Shakar. Do you plan to create a battle MOC in the near future? Same question for the Brickster.

Hurray, another lurker has finally decided to join the dark side! ;-) It was only a matter time anyway. I actually saw your armies just the other day. I'm incredibly envious of your kettle helm knights. I absolutely love those guys...

Arr! Ahoy to ye, madam! You will surely enjoy your stay, here. Everyone's pretty cool and collected. Our members have built some fantastic pirate creations, if you need any inspiration or just want to admire.