domboy

Sorry to bring back an old topic, but I have an additional question... is there any difference in the above parts mention aesthetically speaking? The links take me to: 2878c01 Black Train Wheel Pair, Complete Assembly 2878c02 Black Train Wheel RC Pair, Complete Assembly The Bricklink pictures look more or less the same, but not having examples of both in hand I'm not completely sure. Basically I want to know, if buying parts to assemble rolling stock sets (example My Own Train sets), is there any reason to go for the original part over the newer one? Or should I just base it on part price or availability? And can they be mixed without looking funny? My apologies if this is a no-brainer... I'm rather new to Lego trains...

I'm a new guy just getting into Lego Trains. I've loved both trains and Lego since I was very little, and always liked looking at the Lego catalogs and admiring sets, but I never had any trains (cost prohibitive, plus I don't ever remember seeing any in stores either). For some reason is the one set I've always remembered fondly from those old catalogs is 7835 Road Crossing. Technically my first Lego train is 4837-1: Mini Trains. Great little set my wife gave me for Christmas a few years ago. Soon after that I got inspired to go dig out my old childhood sets (mostly Castle, Pirates, and a few town and space sets), probably due to the realization that I need to make sure my little boy gets into Lego too!! We started collecting some newer sets (Castle, Pirates, Modular houses), but no trains, though I figured someday I'd like to add them to a town layout, as my wife likes town setups. We have both admired the 10194 Emerald Night during stops by the Lego stores, and almost bought it on a couple occasions (very tempting), but I've been hesitant to get into trains fearing it might be a $$ drain (and/or obsession, probably both). I've also not been all that interested in the regular city train sets, as they are rather simple and don't really appeal to me. Oddly enough it was the new 10219 Maersk Train that finally flipped the switch for me. This is more like the kind of Locomotive that I see go by my house on occasion, and it's a Lego exclusive (which means a fun build). Of course, once I decided to get this I knew I had to get the Emerald Night. It's a freaking steam engine! With powered drivers! So I bought both. Though of the two I think I like the Emerald Night a bit better. Pictures don't do justice to how gorgeous it is in person. But they both appeal to me in different ways. Anyway, now I'm hooked. I just need some track, power functions, and some more rolling stock. I bought the current 7936 Level Crossing (before I actually got the trains), but I hope maybe someday to pickup the old 7835 Road Crossing. I've also started bricklinking 10027 Train Engine Shed, as well as a few of the My Own Train rolling stock (10014-10016). I also wouldn't mind getting 10133 BNSF someday (love the Orange) if I can find one without breaking the bank, but I don't plan on getting into 9V. It's funny to read how many were pulled into Lego Trains by the Emerald Night.

Thanks for the review! I've almost bought this set on a few occasions over the past couple years, but didn't. Afraid I couldn't afford to get into Lego trains... which is probably true. Oddly enough it was the new Maersk train that finally changed my mind. I've loved trains since I was little, and once that switch flipped, I knew I had to get the Emerald Night. This review help convince me of that. My only fear was that I wouldn't make it to the Lego store in time... after all this train has been available since April of 09... that's a pretty decent lifespan... who knows how much longer it'll last. But I got it this past Saturday... the Lego store still had quite a few in stock, so I'm very thankful I didn't miss this. And wow is it impressive in real life. A gorgeous engine. Quite heavy too. I don't think I realized how large it really is just looking at the pictures. But I guess I don't have anything to compare it to either (yet...haven't built the Maersk which I also got). Now I just need some track and the power functions... what a great start to Lego trains! I can't believe it took me so long to buy this set! Yep, mine included two extra wheels as well... I'm not complaining, but it is curious...

Cool, thanks for that link!

Sorry to dig up an oldish topic, but has anybody tried this solution for connect the Indy tracks to the "Dwarves Mine" tracks (which I believe are the same as those old blue tracks, just in light blue gray color)? Seems like if it works for regular Lego train scale (6 wide?) it ought to work on the smaller scale (4 wide?) too.

Cool... neat to hear somebody else already bricklinked it. Thank you!! That's exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for. I'm definitely going to work on building one then.

I voted round house... they've at least made one shed. Speaking of this shed, it's spectacular! I'm surprised nobody has written a review of it (that I've been able to find). I accidentally recently discovered it, as I've only just recently sparked an interesting in getting into Lego trains. I wish I had a copy... but the prices of a complete set new or used is crazy. I'm thinking it might not be too hard to acquire the parts to build one via bricklink, as most of the pieces are fairly common (expect those black sliding train doors on the side), no stickers or even printed bricks that I've been able to discern. But that does bring me to one question which has been partially answer in other's comments in this thread... what locomotives will fit in it?? So that's the answer for one of the locomotives I'm planing on purchasing. What about the new 10219 Maersk Train (the other one I want)?? If not, what does fit?? Of course, even if nothing I want will fit, I still may have to build one... it just looks too awesome not to have.

Great, thanks for clearing that up!

Ok, I've read through this thread but I still have questions about powering the Emerald Night, which I hope to purchase next week (please Lego keep it available for one more week at least!!). I'm new to Lego trains so please pardon my probable ignorance. According to everything I have read, the recommended power source is: 8878 Rechargeable Battery Box. This appears to be 8 studs long, and four studs wide. Not sure on the height. Output voltage is 7.4 V However, it looks very similar to this new box: 88000 Power Functions AAA Battery Box. This also is 8 studs long, four studs wide. Also no sure on the height. Uses 6 AAA batteries, for maybe ~9V, I'm not sure if this is exact or not. Description says "Powers 2 XL-Motors or 4 M-Motors at once Same size as #8878 LEGO® Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box." Would it be possible to use 88000 instead of 8878? To power the Emerald Night (or the new 10219 Maersk Train for that matter)???

What a great review! Thanks for such detail!! My sister had this set when we were little, and always thought it was neat. Recent I got extremely lucky and happened upon somebody selling a copy locally via a yard sale website. It was 100% complete, box instructions, poster, and cheap. Wow! Now I really like this set! I've always thought the pieces was a vine, and the minifig whip was a secondary use of it (in black of course). My first experience with the pieces was from 6054 Forestmen's Hideout where it is also used as a vine. I guess you must have first got a black one as a whip. I find it funny how our first experience of a piece can affect our perception of what a pieces is and how it is used.

Nice review, thanks! I've been working on completing a copy of this set that I got in a big lot off ebay (one of the sets I figured out based on the parts in the lot, even though instructions for this one weren't included). Seeing the close-up pictures I'm glad I'll have this set... it looks really nice. Can't wait until it's done! It's really too bad your copy came with the wrong torso for the Admiral... that's not a cheap part, I know because I had to buy one off bricklink myself. I hope you got a refund or the seller sent you the correct part.

My thoughts exactly! Some say it looks cartoonish, but I'm liking it MUCH better than Brickbeard's Bounty from the 2009 Pirates release. I don't have any of the old ships, so I'm thinking this might be my ticket to finally owning a Pirate ship. Probably the one set I'm really interested in at the moment. I wonder how much it will cost? And I also wonder how it will compare to The Black Pearl... I haven't seen any leaks of that ship (if there are any), so I have no idea which is going to be the grander ship, or which will be more pricey. I guess time will tell which ship I should buy. But it definitely looks like a lego pirate ship to me! I'm happy to see a lot of common piratey elements reused, so that should help bridge the gap between Pirate and POTC themes.

My vote is for 7029 Skeleton ship attack. As a fan of both Castle and Pirates this set is unique... it is basically a pirate ghost ship in the castle universe! According to the box art the skeletons are after the treasure... you can't get much more piratey than that! Love it!

Right, except it's like 20 pages... which I guess is technically over 5... Link to it: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=34048

I agree it would have been nice to include a report on it's playability. But if you'll read the review, he expressly states that he didn't play it: I just found it funny that he twice mentioned he preferred Xbox to "these types of games"... I just used your comment, Big Cam, as a springboard to point that out. My apologies if my post came out out sounding offensive. I watched the link to how it's play on lego.com that ILikePi posted, and it does look like a rather fun game. I wouldn't find getting it sometime too.

I think the reviewer made it perfectly clear he prefers Xbox games to this kind of non-video type game... It is an interesting looking set. Thanks for all the pictures... I especially like the really large treasure chest

Well, the theme is "Pirates" not "Soldiers", so obviously the pirates are the primary focus and are the heroes, and the soldiers are mostly there to provide conflict. Kids dream of being a pirate, they don't dream of being the soldier fighting the pirates... well, at least that's how me and my siblings were. On an aside note, look at the Pirates of the Caribbean movies... most of the memorable characters are pirates or in league with them... same idea. That's what I think anyway.

I for one thought the roof technique brilliant... the visual effect of the criss-crossed dark gray technic pieces beneath the wreath is very festive looking. But I guess everyone has an opinion... and the right to it... I think this whole set is fantastic! I mean really exceptional. The build experience was a lot more challenging than I was expecting, as the set was so much more detailed than I was expecting. In other words, I had loads of fun with it!! And I love it that the Jack-in-the-box includes a classic simple smiley head! Thanks for the review!

Does it suffer from the quality issues some of the other recent specialty sets have had (battle packs, tic-tac-toe, etc.)??

Amazing!! Now I'm really glad I didn't buy Brickbeard's Bounty... this is so much better... along the lines of the old ships. But I don't have any pirate ship to go with it... I'll have to try to get an older one sometime.... I just hope this set, as a Lego exclusive, will stay available past when the rest of the pirate line ends... I finally just got the Medieval Market Village, so it'll be awhile before I can afford to get another big Lego exclusive...

Actually, that's debatable. The box art shows it one way, and the instructions (at least my copy) shows it the way he's got in in the review. I like the way he's got it better... makes the soldier look more like the classic version...

I'd buy them, but... ... I keep hearing that we won't be getting Elves, and I don't have to have them, but it'd be really cool. Either way, I hope Lego continues to develop the current fantasy castle line, and not restarted it, especially not as a human-only line. They've been there and done that many times already, and fantasy has so much more potential!!

Maybe not next year, but perhaps someday... Signed by the way...

This is such a cool set, and I\'m glad I finally found a review on it! Many thanks to the reviewer for displaying the set in detail! I accidentally discovered this set one day when looking at parts inventories on peeron.com, and I couldn\'t believe how awesome it was! Then to discover what a limited release it was (and still is right?)... what a disappointment. But thanks to this review thread and another thread on this set I realized that besides the green rock pieces and the three white technic plates at the end of the blades, the rest of the parts are pretty common. I\'m going to have to gather the parts myself... yes I\'m another 4999-obsessed Lego fan... Thanks for that tip! If I get the 8293 Power Functions set, all that'll be left is the 50cm extension cables as far as the power functions go...

Wow, this is surprising! And disappointing. And quite confusing. I mean, Lego is ultimately a kids toy... and what kid doesn't want to be a pirate??? As a kid my favorite Legos were Castle and Pirates. Sure I dabbled in other themes, but looking at my original collection, it was mostly those two themes. What got me interested in Lego as an adult? The new Castle and Pirates! More specifically, it was seeing 6253 Shipwreck Hideout sitting on the shelf at the end of an isle at TRU that started the pull back in.