johnsocal

Hoth base + AT-AT = Great!!! Deathstar playset + EP4 Mil Falcon = Even greater!!! I would love to see the AT-AT and EP4 Falcon released this summer to replace the SD and SailBarge at retail stores and keep the Deathstar playset and Hoth base as S@H exlusives to replace the outgoing Sandcrawler and etc.

Wow! Who could have thought that one could make their own. ;-) I ask the question about the old sets being used for Batman villians because often they can be bought cheap and have unique pieces or colors that I don't own or are currently being used in one of my MOCs. My youngest son loves Batman and because of his young age I actually glue some pieces together so the vehicles are sturdy enough for him to play with. I know this must sound like blasphemy to some here but when you have a young kid who loves to play with LEGOs its sad to seem him get frustrated when the vehicle crumbles in his hand. Since I have to glue some of these sets together Im looking for old complete sets/vehicles I can buy without having to use pieces that I use for MOCs. Sure I can buy normal Batman Action figures and etc, but my kids love LEGO's (like their dad).

Some of the 2004 Artic Alpha team sets make for good Mr. Freeze vehicles and the one set even makes for a good Mr. Freeze base. What other old LEGO sets could be used for all the other Batman villians that don't have vehicles? Note:** I didn't intend for my previous thread (that got closed) to be viewed as me trying to sell something because I dont have a bricklink shop and I don't know anybody who does. I just wanted to point out that one of these old sets could be bought cheap and serve the role of a Mr. Freeze Assualt Vehicle.

LEGO set 4746 makes for the perfect Mr. Freeze Assault Vehicle with only a few mods. Sold in the store for $50 in 2004 but you can find them pretty easy NEW in box for only $25 @ http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?viewFr...rchSort=C&sz=10

I wonder if the big changes LEGO is making will help bring Europes prices down closer to what Americans are paying or if US prices will start to climb towards Euro prices. I guess prices in both countries could go up or even go down, but things could just stay as they are, |-/

A significant reason why I would like to see a peaceful SPACE CITY and maybe even a CASTLE TOWN because they can provide dual purposes. Besides their peaceful use they would also make great landscapes for the violent sets in which people could use them for battle scenerios if they so choose. Just as the current CITY sets could become landscapes for the more violent Batman sets.

Any word on 2007 or 2008 Pirate sets?

Just as LEGO RACERS includes everything from small $10 sets up to an expensive $250 RC car, 'LEGO ROBOTS' could be the same thing. New 'LEGO ROBOTS' would offer everything form basic little $10 droids and bots that dont have any motors and batteries and then larger sets with more features. An RC robot that does not require programing or a computer could be offered for around $99 while the current Mindstorm NXT set would become 'LEGO ROBOTS NXT' for their top model. There's a logical reason why premium brands like BMW, Cadillac, Mercedes, and etc use alpha-numeric names like 7 series, SRX, or S-class because all those alpha numeric names require you to use their brand name prior (such as 'BMW' 7-series, 'Cadillac' SRX, or 'Mercedes' S-Class). Doing this requires the consumer to emphasize the brand (BMW) and not the current model (7 series) since particular models can come and go but the brand must remain. While using generic terms like ROBOTS, SPACE, CASTLE, PIRATES, CITY and RACERS isn't exactly the same as using alpha-numeric names. This generic terminology would require a person to use the 'LEGO' brand before the generic term and therefore promote the 'LEGO' brand in every mention.

The Galaxy Explorer #497 sold for $32 (USD$) in 1979 and when you adjust that price for inflation it equals $91 (USD$) in 2007. This set wasn't cheap by todays standards since it only had 325 pcs. [ http://peeron.com/inv/sets/497-1 ] 10 cents in 1979 is equal to 30 cents in 2007 so for LEGO to have the similar profit margins like they had in the late 1970's they would need to charge nearly 3 times more for sets then they do today. Sure LEGO can cut costs and outsource what they can, but those things only mask the reality that LEGO has been experiencing deflationary retail pricing pressure on a global scale while operating costs have continued to rise. Using that as just one example you can see that LEGOs were far more profitable in the past then they are for the LEGO Group today. When you consider the LEGO Group makes less money per set today in conjunction with a more fractured retail toy environment and its no wonder LEGO struggles financially. What could give LEGO improved profitability per set that exlcude cost cutting measures like outsourcing and moving MFG to countries with cheaper labor (which they are already doing)? 1. Good designs that inspire young and old alike are always the best solution. LEGO must simplify their own iconic brands and prevent market confusion by labeling them simply as LEGO City, LEGO Castle, LEGO Space, LEGO Pirates, LEGO Racers, and LEGO Robots. Names like 'Mars Mission', 'Knights Kingdom', 'Exo-Force' and even 'MindStorms' dilute the LEGO brand. LEGO can even merge some of their own brands together such as making 'SPACE CITY', 'SPACE RACERS' and even 'SPACE PIRATES' who will cause havoc for residents of 'SPACE CITY'. 2. Continue to license other (non-LEGO) brands (like Star Wars) that have a loyal following and are willing to pay a premium. 3. Continue to expand S@H's internet presence with more internet driven advertising on Google and etc. 4. Continue to open LEGO stores in malls with heavy traffic since they also make great forms of advertising. Even though LEGO owned and operated stores have better profit margins since they bypass the middle-man (like a Wal-mart or TRU) they still don't have anywhere near the annual sales volume of a Wal-mart or TRU which brings me to my 5th suggestion. 5. Franchise LEGO stores in a similar way as fast food restaurants like Subway. * Exclaimer* - I realize that many countries around the world pay far more for LEGOs than the USA.

Would you like to see LEGO make a new theme titled 'SPACE CITY' that would be centered around small SPACE CITY modules built on 32x32 grey baseplates? Each SPACE CITY module would include at least 1 baseplate and a SPACE CITY sub-theme module like a SPACE Fire Station, SPACE Police station, SPACE landing pad (airport), SPACE Miners (construction), SPACE fuel station (gas station), SPACE bio-dome (zoo and/or farm), SPACE Train, cargo transporter (trucks) and etc. The airlocks part of the modules would be similar in size (and functionality) to the ones created by AFOLs but they would be made of large specialized pieces to cut costs. In fact LEGO could create a space port set for their regular City theme so that regular City folks can travel back and forth to the new SPACE CITY.

http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/printe...newsid=17665125 For more info about the company who will be running LEGO's online store in 2007 check out - http://digital50.com/news/items/BW/2001/07...-to-consum.html More info about the company who will be making the actual LEGO bricks in 2007 visit- http://www.flextronics.com/en/AboutUs/tabid/53/Default.aspx

Just as LEGO dumped Knights Kingdom and went to just calling those new themed sets "Castle", I had high hopes of the new space theme just being called "SPACE" with the appropriate logo. I was really hoping to have some cool moon-base like sets to build with my kids to offer a real alternative to SW's space war theme. Don't get me wrong, Im all for space wars, but SW's just does it a whole lot better. Now my kids will never learn the concepts of peaceful space exploration and it will all be LEGOs fault ;)

If a LEGO Space set doesnt include this then it really can't be considered Space.

I guess you're telling me that LEGO will be adding violent street gangs and drug dealers in every City set for now on because who in their right mind would want to build a peaceful city;) I was hoping that LEGO would come out with the new them title 'SPACE' and made it centered around future moon-like bases and made it more like Future City with cargo transporting and etc.

Not bad, but not that great either. I really wanted new SPACE to be about 'peaceful' space exploration, terraforming, cargo transporting, biodoming/future space city, and etc. For space warfare I still prefer Star Wars sets by a significant margin. Having 2 seperate Space battle themes is a huge mistake in my opinion and the heavy use of orange on large pieces (especially large orange wheels) is somewhat of a turn off (I do like some of the orange trim).

According to FBTB there will be NO Gunship or NO Blockade Runner so who knows.

I sure hope a Death Star playset (like the Batman Batcave) shows up sometime in 2007. Even if was only a S@H exclusive at first (like the Sandcrawler) I would be happy.

morten, Did look like the pic below , but with a Hyper-Ring? It would be cool if LEGO released a Utapau "Orange" Clone battle pack this summer to go along with Obi-Wans Blue starfighter that he flew to Utapau to defeat Grievous.

I agree. Just color them black and add wings and presto.

Because the movies are in 2D ;-) ........and it's a cheap low budget Deathstar.

Here

After Boba Fett rediscovers the source of Mandamental the Mandalorians become very wealthy by selling Mandametal to anyone who will pay their extremely high prices. This new properity also gives them the financial ability to create new highly fortified/secured manufacturing facilities to produce mass amounts of Mandalorian armor for the new reborn Mandalorian army. When Boba visited Kuat he negotiated a deal with them (one they couldn't refuse ) to be the sole supplier of all new Mandalorian ships and Boba wanted these new crafts to be instantly recognizable to the infamous Slave 1 that's renown throughout the entire galaxy to symbolize the he is indeed the new Mandalore. When someone (friend or foe) came in contact with one of the new Mandalorian ships they knew exactly who they were dealing with. Boba had his pilots adopt an orange color scheme as well as a sign of respect for the rebel pilots who defeated the Empire at the battle of Endor. In Boba's opinion those pilots had all the odds against them and were true underdogs, but were able to defeat their adversary by skill and determination. I just made that up- but I hope that helps.

Here’s my custom Mandalorian Fighter craft. Servant 1- Mandalorian small tactical fighter craft built by Kuat Engineering Systems Gallery of Mocs - http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=johnsocal

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. My whole reason for doing the gunship is to give it a very strong resemblance to Boba's Slave 1 in style and color and therefore calling is Slave-Master 1 The idea behind it was to create a gunship that was built by the same shipyard (Kuat Systems) that created the original Slave1 since Boba would have strong emotional attachment to that vehicle. Since Boba becomes the leader (Mandalore) of the Mandalorians 26 years after the Galactic Empire fell, I thought it would be unique for Boba to rebuild the Mandalorians in his own image. Thie rebuilding of the Mandalorians in Boba's image would even give new Mandalorian vehicles instant recognition to Boba's legacy and would be just the beginning of the Mandalorians returning to their rightful position of power in the galaxy. "Rebirth of the Mandalorians"