Nick Wolfe

I wish we could get a closer look, looks fantastic! I like how harry wobbles a little bit, it makes him look a bit more like he's flying.

This is incredible in a super impressive way! I love the domes on New Century and the Firefighters, and the statues like the geezers and lady liberty justice. The facades are all so elegant and as a whole the block looks stunning!

That's adorable! I love boxer shorts trooper.

This is awesome! I've always like the official sail barge sets, never actually got one, and you've done an excellent job of making a UCS scale moc! I love all the added detail, especially the little pilot's room. I also like how you kept the little room at the back with Max Rebo from 75020, a nice nod to the official set. If this was an official set I might want a better look at Jabba from the outside ut I think your version is more accurate to the movie. Overall you really did a wonderful job!

I used to work for LEGO so I know a bit about how the company sees this question since you seem to be mostly concerned with making sure as much of your money gets to the company as possible. So bottom line is your friend is mostly right. Buying from the LEGO store or online makes sure the most money goes directly to the company and, given the option, the company would rather consumers buy from them. Buying through other retailers does mean that the company gets less of the money you spend. The whole point of promos and the VIP loyalty program is to encourage people to buy directly from the company as opposed to from other retailers. The more people buying directly from the source the better the profits are. It is absolutely true that many many more sets are bought from other retailers than from LEGO directly and the profits overall are greater from those sales than from direct to consumer sales but that is entirely because of the scale. LEGO is in no danger of having their toys pulled from shelves because they aren't selling. The company has stopped it's decade of exponential growth and undergone a restructure but sales haven't really dropped. Walmart and Target are still making loads of money on selling the sets and definitely won't stop buying the bulk orders, or even dropping quantities by much, most of the business done in those stores is from people who have decided to go to Target and then buy a toy there than people who have decided to buy a LEGO set and are deciding where to purchase it. The point I'm trying to make here is that your decision to buy from LEGO directly, or even the collective decision of the whole AFOL community, would do nothing to hurt it. The sales to retailers would drop but they would continue to sell the product while the company itself would gain the extra profit from every set bought directly. Now here's the thing. Overall the company doesn't really care where you're buying the sets from. They get profits any way you purchase and even their customer service reps will recommend you take advantage of the excellent discount at the other store. The company's business model focuses more on building a relationship with it's consumers so even buying sets from places like bricklink where none of the profit is going directly to the company helps in the long run because they want people to have the toys more than they want people to buy them directly. So, yeah essentially it doesn't matter. Get the best price, the company will never hold it against you. If you really want to make sure that as much of your money goes to lego as possible then buy from the website. Buying online will never hurt Walmart's sales enough to make them sever ties.

I think that compared to the last two versions of Aragog this spider is a great improvement but I keep wanting to compare it to the Shelob set which was a phenomenal giant spider. It does feel a bit like a step down from that and I'm still tempted to let Shelob keep doubling as Aragog. Although this spider's face does look really similar to the way it does in the movie i think the legs are just too small.

I think he looks perfect! Almost like an official set would (they'd probably have a printed part for the shirt but I think your solution is wonderful! definitely more clever) I think his shoulders make him look suitably wide and the belt detail really sells it!

I would say that stickers definitely do, whether they're applied to the intended pieces or to different ones. The old wooden toys would be an interesting argument but since they were created before the LEGO system of interlocking parts I would say they are not. Theoretically the Instructions and packaging could be considered purist too but here's the caveat to that. Purist parts can't be altered physically eg: painted or broken. So in order to use the instructions you wouldn't be able to tear or cut them at all, you would have to use the entire instruction booklet as is. So if you're using them as a tent for minifigures or having the minifigures use them to build something like they do in the LEGO movie then they would be purist. The packaging, by these same rules, presents a different challenge. The plastic bags with parts inside are right out because they have to be torn to remove the bricks inside. The actual boxes could be considered purist if they are kept intact and not torn when being opened. Weather cutting tape counts as defacing a part is up for debate but my first instinct is to say no. This is an interesting philosophical question! If you're asking because you're entering a purist competition then you would probably do better to ask whoever judges that contest because it's really up to each individual's discretion but in that case my instinct would be no to all except for stickers. In any case I say that since finding new and interesting ways to use the materials you have is the core of the LEGO spirit that if you have any ideas that involve any of these grey areas please make them! Pushing limits and finding ways around rules is what fosters creativity and innovation!

I wish they had used the new scarf piece from Ninjago movie for Dean's griffindor scarf instead of printing it . The scarf is pretty iconic and it would have been nice to put it onto Harry or other characters. It's disappointing when there is printing for a detail that could have easily been represented with an existing mold. I also might be the only one who's not a fan of the medium legs? I feel like they just make the figure look more awkward rather than smaller. I'll probably replace all the solid colored ones, like Luna and Cho, but the printed ones on the flagship figs is kinda annoying. I'm more upset about trelawny and luna being two per box than grindelwald being 1 per box. Johnny Depp looks awful as the character anyway lol. Also don't like the new Nagini! It would have been excellent if it was actually in system, really disappointed that the curls don't have anti studs underneath. I'd rather have a stylized Nagini that fits than a hyper realistic one that feels like a normal non lego plastic snake bc I could always just use a non lego plastic snake for Nagini. Even with these complaints, though this is probably the best thing to come out of the new Harry Potter revival. I love the brickheads but I think most of the sets don't offer much aside from a couple of improved figures and the 2010 line was much more exciting. But these figs are excellent! Definitely my favorite line of minifigures, possibly excepting the all Halloween series. I'll be trying to pick up everyone! (except Graves and Creedence, ugh)

I love the meshing of the old and new parts, I can see bits from the old quidditch sets and bits from earlier ages of Harry Potter and they all mesh pretty well here where I feel like sometimes they don't look quite so good together. Excellent job!

I love how you pulled off the satyr legs! the whole concept is really awesome and you did a fantastic job executing it.

The USS Hornet was an actual battleship that was converted into a museum in the town where I grew up! Completely off topic but that's why I checked this out. It's wonderfully shaped and I love the parts usage to make it look finished and sleek from all angles.

I saw this on tumblr! This is pretty cool, I play a bard and i love the aesthetic of the headdress and the build of the upper body works really nicely to bring out the shape of the figure.

I didn't like Nexo Knights at first but it has started to grow on me since I started getting into Voltron, just because the aesthetics are similar. I think that the over the top weapon shaped vehicles are pretty cool and I absolutely agree that the red orcs are a great addition to parts collection. I love classic castle and even though there are plenty of new placed that LEGO could go with it I would rather have something creative like this than another boring castle rehash like Kingdoms.

This is so pretty! I love the builds of all the skeleton floats and the stilt walker is adorable! The whole thing screams festive!

I definitely think voltron is a strong contender, glad to hear that the rights holder likes the idea, I also think women of nasa is likely because of the stem focus lego has done in the past. I also voted addams family, which may be naive but considering the addams family influence on lego sets like the haunted house and cmf creepy girl i think it's possible, may be wishful thinking though.

Oh I love Elvis, great job on the frilly outfit! And I like the afro build on ronald

I love the incorporation of system elements, and that crossbow is awesome! I also like the use of the bionicle hands as elbows, that's a piece i don't see used a lot out of it's intended purpose.

I agree with Mercury. I think a good rule of thumb is if you're not enjoying the forums then leave those forums alone. Don't scold people for not following what you think they should be posting about. I came here to have fun and talk about legos and this forum does a wonderful job of doing that. If you can't handle someone cracking a joke between leaks and press releases then maybe a forum isn't what you're looking for. We're all here to have a discussion, not wallow in our thinly veiled bitterness that anyone else might dare to have fun.

Oooh! I love it. Don't see a ton of Elves mocs but the sets are some of my favorites right now and this gets the aesthetic just right! I like the little faerie ring in particular.

I'm super excited for the Kabuki Twins! I love the The Batman cartoon and I really like that it seems to be a trend for Lego to be releasing sets/ figures based on early 2000's cartoons (along with the '03 Clone Wars set from last year). I don't know how I feel about the Joker Figure, I'll probably like it better once I see the movie. The rest of the low rider set is great though! I really like Harley's design (looks better than Suicide Squad at any rate), and Batgirl looks great. I also love that they're giving Batgirl darker skin.

Glow in the dark Snape is hilariously terrible, I think glow in the dark Voldemort, from the goblet of fire set, is also terrible. They just ripped the Sorcerer's Stone face (with the eye markings) and used a dementor cape that makes him look like a large angry baby. Also that time that they thought this looked enough like Squidward to pass.

I also thought the Archery stuff was for Robin Hood until someone said Brave.... I just don't have space for all these big sets anymore! It's so pretty though!

"Vader's new ride" Is actually from Poe's X-Wing set, I think it's supposed to be a little cargo buggy thing. They did stick some od those paint rollers on for handles though! I so wish they had released the size accurate Rey's speeder as a set! Doesn't look too hard to build though.

I like bits and pieces, chose story over sets. I like elements of the story but much prefer gen 1, even as it got into the later years (2007 is my fav). I like the sets too, the first six toa sets, new Ekimu and antler Umark, but then so many others are so subpar, like the skeletons last year and the beasts this year, and I think the new toa are bulky and ugly. Maybe I just like the style of old Bionicle better, despite the gorilla arms and inika builds. And I still think the story is far superior, I may be one of the few people who really like the slow shift from tribal island to full blown sci fi.