natelite

got a super good deal from ebay: slave 1, b-wing, a-wing, tie interceptor, clone scout walker, 2x v-wing. all for $60 (price included shipping, items still in poly bags but no box). ;-) bargain prices still work! *wacko*

i have had "different parts" issue 3 times now. both robo pod and 7706 mobile defense tank, i got this in white instead of this. now i'm not upset at all since i was still able to complete the model but it is just annoying how they can pack different items into a set instead of the original. if you think that's a small matter how about this? here's the peeron scan of another manual... http://www.peeron.com/scans/7153-1/23 notice anything different? :-D :-| i was able to figure things out but if you got the first set of instructions and you were an 8 y-o kid...how long would it take you to figure out you WEREN'T missing any parts at all?

well, you can't take it to your grave so it will be sold at some point. :-/ or handed down generation to generation until one day it ended up in a lego museum. :-D

like hobbes said, nothing was "missing" they were just plain wrong. like the batmobile rims.

they are in the ny and nj stores. isd playset at 109.99, sailbarge at 89.99. batcave at 99.99, mythical creature at 35.99, hero tank at 35.99. with the sale you get some slight discount.

maybe for europeans. i'm not buying something at a 30% discount when it was marked up 30% vs the us S@H. *sad*

ah, i would never think of having any in my office. not even keychains/magnets. *sad*

drat...wanted the second wave of exoforce.

if i order one lot a day, i could potentially get the whole model/set in a month or two. :-/ i thought they would need the serial number of the box at least. oh well, i think we already know TLG didn't exactly hired the smartest people in the world. no wonder they keep losing money. i betcha it's from "customer service" cost. imagine them having to send individual parts, the postage cost, the packaging cost, all for a cost of $2 to replace a $0.05 part. if through this method i get a whole set worth $10-20 retail, you can easily see how lego is losing $30 or more just by sending "replacement" parts. massive abuse can easily run the "customer service" to the point where all they do is bring profit to shipping companies and incurring serious losses. this is actually bad for consumers because price of future sets will go up to cover the "customer service" cost or TLG will go bankrupt servicing "customers."

umm, what are your colleagues' reaction when they see a grown man (or manager) with kid toys in the office? 8-|

i demand a new rebel helmet with visor dimple. i demand a new trans-orange visor in the shape of wedge's iconic visor. *sweet* btw, if you want a very close mock up of wedge, you can try hikaru's head. the problem though it is a yellow head not flesh tone. :-P (plus the eyes are funny). http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=3626bpb015

i like the use of the inverted windscreen, very original. i think it would have been better as the front since it reminds me of an airport control tower which fits in nicely with sensei's role being the playmaker/general instead of a front line trooper. armaments are kinda spot on for me. since he is the quarterback or playmaker, his weapons should reflect that, ie missiles instead of machinegun...tactically taking out key role players or cover important flanks. the con for me are the legs but it is something which TLG would have done as can be seen from uplink and gate defender. if you made it into chicken legs ala battletech/mechwarrior type it would be perfect since the mech is non-android from the lack of arms. also did you notice? meca one's mech is also chicken leg style. and it also has 2 big gigantic bombs. *sweet*

cool! pics unlimited, and any dimension for brickshelf folder. please include link to folder. ;-) if included in thread, max pics = 5, pic dimension = 640x480 (max - can be smaller than that)

haha, it's funny. wedge is just a smiley face. flesh tone rather than yellow i presume but otherwise similar. the spaceship itself seems to be similar to 4502. i guess fans with 4504 and 4502 will probably skip this set then since there is nothing really to collect. if you want the black pattern helmet might as well just get it from BL for like $5 or so than to pay full price.

ops, i'm a contest virgin. :-D thanks for the pointers. when you refer to arms, none are necessary. you can make a battle tech style mech with 2 rocket batteries instead of arms or you can make a full android aka gundam/macross style mech.

sure. any lego parts are allowed. i have a request msg and i thought about it and it seems reasonable. steampunk entries are also acceptable. if you decide to make a steampunk mecha, then the color rule is relaxed to include brown as well. while i know exoforce is futuristic mecha, i thought about why sensei doesn't go into battle. while he is the engineer of the robots and mechs before they turn on the humans, i kinda buy the argument that he probably kept a steampunk mech as a hobby, much like how many collectors keep old vintage cars. so yeah, if you can make a good steampunk mecha - please enter!

Awesome! a contestant. sure - weapons can be of any color. only the mech needs to be in white and/or gray. feel free to use different colors for rockets batteries etc. for size, maybe i mistated but i think i said any but not large. certainly nothing so large it can crush the entire robot army. so for comparison wise, let's put it as no bigger than a supernova.

well, i got my batman sets from ebay and it's way cheaper than retail or bricklink. not a sbsp fan though. :-/

can you do a tutorial on that hobbes? i may just get a train set for christmas... :-D

hmm, all very good points. one thing i have come to realize is that i am more critical now for realism than i was when i was a kid. what i couldn't build then i would substitute with imagination. but still i can't imagine why they substituted classic space with insectoid or lom or ufo.

i used to love tintin and asterix when i was a kid. too bad the vibrant characters would die in a lego world. i'm not sure if you notice but in lego everyone is practically the same size. how would you make the many different shapes and sizes characters in asterix? the only thing that is of common size would be the roman soldiers. hmm, on second thoughts maybe they should make a barbarians vs romans asterix theme! :-D

alright, now that you have heard of the positives from fans, i'll present my negative views... i was in my dark ages then but this is one theme i'll not miss. for one it is hard to "play" with these sets simple because underwater theme required some form of a dense medium like water. having half of the adventure above water and half under, it's hard for any kid to focus on the story. the only way i can see this happening is if somehow there is a transparent shelf to put the boat on and a bottom shelf to put the seabed on. i also don't know what is up with lego and colorful themes. the color coordination is not sexy nor cool. set 4888 is way cooler than any of the diver sets. set 4888 has so many cool models it's a crime to get just 1 set if you're into underwater theme. the downside is that many of 4888 models are not to minifig scale. what a bummer. i think the 1990s was a phase in which lego liked to design rainbow colored themes. have a look at insectoids or ufos or lom. the sets are hediously ugly imo. [/simon cowell criticism]

?!?!?!?!?!?! the train number is 10173...what were you reading? *wacko*

somehow i doubt that ben. just the other day i bought 7706 from tru and the parts list showed 18 of these but the set only contained one. if i wanted to make the alternative model i will need 2. luckily i have some from this set not to mention instead of getting this in white i got this instead. now i'm not upset at all since i was still able to complete the model but it is just annoying how they can pack different items into a set instead of the original. same with 7781. i got the funny looking new rims. but i can't complain about that since i bought it from ebay, not from an authorized retailer.

okay - after seeing the knight competition how about having a mecha competition? no prize though, just the glory of being declared the winner of the competition. intro- we know the keiken sensei sits behind and direct his boys to battle and he doesn't have a mech (at least not officially). but when the robots invaded the fortress it is the final stand for the humans. every being has to be useful at that stage...even the civilian sensei. so, the competition is to moc a mech for him. rules- mech color scheme: white and light (bluish or old) gray to match his suit and hair. you can use black or dark grey for joints or minor parts but major observable parts need to either be white or light gray. eg, supernova is considered yellow and red despite having lots of hidden white/dark grey/black parts. *** IMPORTANT: if you decide to make a steampunk mech, then the color rule is relaxed to include brown *** size: any except large. you can make him a body armor suit, a mini exo like the gate defender or uplink or a medium exo like grand titan or stealth hunter. you can't make a mech which requires 2 or more pilots (like striking venom, hero tank or bridge walker) or a mech so large it looks like it can crush the entire robot force by itself. shape: biped preferred (humanoid or chicken) and will get full point for each vote. 3 or more legs will get 75% for each vote and vehicular will get 0.5 point for each vote. no limit to number of entries. competition ends in 1 month and may be extended on majority's request. :-) *PIC POSTING* if you post in the thread, please allow a maximum of 5 and with maximum dimension of 640x480. story optional but will significantly improve readers connection with your moc. you can provide brickshelf folder should you choose to have more pics. please provide folder link. no limit on dimension or number of pics for brickshelf link. judging will be held as a poll with EBers voting for their favorites. p.s. if you dont have the sensei mf feel free to use any mf or moc your own sensei mf. just need someone in white and an old man's head. feel free to use a helmet instead of the hairpiece.