Grimmy

This is one of my complaints as well. If you read the reviews on the official Lego store, you'll see some parents talking about how it isn't fair that the Bellville sets aren't on par with other sets. You'll also see a demand for more girl oriented sets. Some say that girls don't just want only pink, they want girl sets but not the stereotypical girlie sets. I personally think it's a big mistake for Lego not to go for the girl market more. Their are a lot more females in the world then males. The ratio is something like 3 females to every male? A big market there. I've never owned a Bellville set but I've researched them and often people say that they don't have much to build. The figures are cute and nice, so are the animals, but the sets have too many huge already built pieces. I ended up buying my niece a 405 piece pink box. She liked it but wants more. I'm going to try one of the Bellville sets that are better rated. I read a lot of reviews on the official site shop and I watch youtube reviews on sets. Lego definitely knows that many moms of daughters out there want better girl sets. You can even sometimes see a Lego representative on the site replying to the mom saying they are sorry that they were not satisfied and explaining how Lego are trying to make everyone happy. Which was nice to see that the reps are watching and do care. I have a feeling more will come for girls in the future. Too many requests and responses to ignore. The toy story line looks like a good unisex theme. Some people are saying Legos are for boys and girls get Barbie. Well, girls do get Barbie but lemme tell ya, Barbie ends up in the old toy bin with all her friends and other new flashy toys after the hype has gone. They get dusty in there. Also, mother's have said that their little girl has brothers who love their Legos and she wants some too but just a tad more girlie.

I might have my dates off but this is my guess as to answer why Star Wars would get the green light but not LoTR. It was a matter of timing and money. Lego was originally against all this new stuff from what I've read they have turned away lots of license offers in the past. They don't like too many guns if any at all, and they don't like the Hollywood thing as it takes away kids imaginations and instead they focus on copying the TV. As an artist and someone into psychology I can go into this a lot but I don't want to get off track. Lego has Scandinavian toy making roots. They don't make toys purely for profit, they have a family view which I like. So anyway, as you may know Lego almost closed down when they lost money for a couple years, over 300mill. A new guy came in, I forget his position but he's at the top. This guy helped save the company by making tons of changes and that's when they started taking in a bunch of license deals. Sooo, I believe that the Lord of the Rings hype happened before all this, when Lego stuck to their roots, and what they believed in. It wasn't till after almost closing and the guy almost forcing the new ideas (Lego didn't want to do it at first) that then they took in all the stuff like Star Wars and Batman, ETC. Thanks to the new business plan, Lego was saved and is one of the top Toy Companies. Also oil which goes into making plastics, has gone back down per barrel price. While the economy is rough right now, Lego has been making a serious amount of money. I believe last year they made over 300mil. While other toy companies are in trouble they are doing awesome. Thanks to downsizing components and using power functions, taking in licenses, and venturing in other areas, etc. Less expensive molds to make, less set specific parts. When Peter Jackson's new Hobit Movie comes out, don't be surprised if Lego has a line come on. I'd bet they do. I'd actually love it if they did though it'd be more money for me to spend so I'll be fine if they don't lol. I did a ton of researching on Lego when I came back. My memory can be off at times so I can't remember the exact things said but that is the jist. :)

Same thoughts here. I do love the figures but they should leave them around for much longer. It gives kids a chance to get them or, "collect'em all" as they say for these products, or at least get their favs and trade with friends. I think since Lego has gotten a taste of the big success with Hollywood licenses, that they are doing things they used to be against. They aren't a company that normally does anything for profit and they have roots that ground them well. But little by little they are going against old roots a bit. This would give Lego the chance to break into other distribution points such as supermarkets and comic shops. This idea sounds like it's inspired from the Japanese toy crazy happening in America i.e. Anime toys area. If you go to a store such as Newbury Comics, you can see people going wild for these tiny boxes with a random figure inside. I have a friend who is into Japanese culture with daughters into Anime. They bought some while I was with them and clued me in on the whole scene. You might have noticed some American toys getting in on the action as well as even the French. I guess they call them Blind Box Figures but they also have Doll House food ones where you can get a plate of cheeseburgers or fruit. Although Lego putting them in bags is a big mistake. These are always in boxes for obvious reasons. I can see the whole Darth Vader Chrome limited edition random drop in box thing happening again. Remember that when people weighed hundreds of them going from store to store? I seen the youtube videos of people doing it. Steamboy Blind Box Figure Opening Look at the shelf behind them and you'll see a ton of open blind box figures on the shelf.

They look great! I used to be into comics in highschool. I'm guessing that you used sculpy to make the Hulk figure but I dunno cause it would probably melt the plastic if it baked in the oven to harden, so maybe plumbers putty like used in figure/puppet making? The Iron Man has some nice silk screen print on it. Even the arms! Nice! I'm going to have to look out for that one on Ebay. :)

I checked the new version of the Krabby Patty and I must agree, the newer one is really skimpy. I can't believe it has no plate space after the front. We have the old one which is decent but it's still very fragile. (a common complaint of Spongebob set reviews) I've even thought about glueing the thing so I did a search and found a bunch of people, parents asking what to use to glue them. (Usually a no no for most Lego builders I learned.)

This set has some great things in it. I live in the US though so I'll have to get one off Ebay. They are going for around $50 with shipping.

This set looks great! The Jaba figure is especially neat. I don't remember seeing this on the official Lego store and I just double checked. They have it at Amazon.com for $449.90 Oh my goodness! I just got back into Lego since childhood and as soon as something on the Lego site goes sold out, everywhere else, especially Ebay and Amazon, doubles and triples the prices! These things have a better worth then silver or gold! The value certainly raises a lot faster. I know, I sell silver bullion. I'm apparently in the wrong racket lol.

From reading on here and other sites as well as listening to the LAML Radio podcast, it seems a lot of people dislike the Spongebob sets. The first regular size Lego set I bought for my niece was the Karbby Patty. I was suprised that she didn't jump for joy at it! We love the Spongebob cartoons. But as the reviews say on the official Lego site, the buildings aren't build so well. They are very fragile! I personally love the minifigs though. The show isn't normally education but me and my niece are into aquarium fish. We learned that the creator of Spongebob was a marine biologist and me and my niece notice all the salt water sea creatures names and terminology that some average viewers might miss. She is only 6 years old and knows what an Anemone is and how to pronounce it, and how clown fish like Nemo can live in them and take care of them. So we do get something out of it then just pure entertainment. The set with Sandy's Rocket sold out yesterday and now on both Ebay and Amazon.com they are going for at least double the original price. I don't know if the people who dislike the Spongebob sets dislike them because they don't like a Lego Spongebob line or if they do but just don't like the builds?

This is great! Now I have another Lego Podcast suscribed to add to my iPhone 3G. I'm downloading all the episodes from iTunes right now :D I have LAML Radio which I found by searching in iTunes for "Lego" and now I have this one too! I have insomnia so I often listen to podcasts and audio books at night as they help a lot. LAML

I added my reply to your vid in youtube. :) I'm new here and new to mocs so my opinion is just coming from a casual observer. I really liked it. I'm a big fan of Hitcock and I loved the suspense here. I just wish the video and story was longer but I guess it's supposed to be short for this event here. I thought that the lady got kidnapped by a ghost or something. I really love her outfit. I hope the woman isn't trigger happy, her face looks funny but she looks annoyed so I hope it wasn't a girl scout selling cookies at the door lol!

Thanks Lorentzen, I'm pretty amazed at all the creations here. :)

Thank you all for the warm welcome and replies. @Mirandir I see it appears that their is a new Pirates of the Caribbean being worked on. Eeeew chewed up Lego bricks Yuck! As a kid I had a couple friends come over who'd chew my Lego bricks and I'd freak out! My little brother once peed in my Lego bucket! My mom washed them but they still smelt funny and I swear I thought they lost clutch power. I wonder if my brother now remembers that. I still have no clue why he did that. I suspect they will be adding more fantasy creatures because of the good feedback they have been getting and people asking for more. I hope to get a jester, a queen, and one of those kings that have a gold or chrome helm. @Cutlass_Iz I've never seen Fabuland. I think my niece would love those animal figures! She has Littlelest Petshops figures so I bet she'd like those like the mouse and kitty. I might have to get those from bricklink. Thank you for the recommendation. :) @lightningtiger Yes definitely going to get some of those Toy Story ones! My niece will surely enjoy that line. Before joining, I lurked the forums. All the people with "moc" creations linked in their sigs. Their was a department store, Newsprint factory by Jasper Jope Gears, goverment building, and I found this one too -> the reality dysfunction. The Pirate Cabin contest had great entries, who won? All of the Flicker linked galleries are just absolutely awesome. I'm trying to get back into photography again as I did it in highschool and I want to try stopmotion again, so maybe I'll try my hand at some pics when I get my Cannon Rebelt T1i. I created a Lego folder in my pictures directory and saved my favs with the creator's names.

Hello all. This is my introduction thread. A bit long but... I played with Lego Bricks as a kid it was my fav toy. One I really believe in. My fav game is Everquest 2. I produce electronica and been doing music all my life. I think I'm going to make a Lego song for people to use in their youtube vids. I notice a lot of Lego vids there.) I have a 6 year old niece. Other toys get tossed aside after a few days but Lego keeps going. We've been playing with Lego bricks since she was crawling. Started on blocks, then those huge Lego bricks. Skipped over Duplo, and now into regular ones starting with a Spongebob set as she loves the show. I checked the official Lego store for girl sets with pink (her fav color.) Bellville reviews were mixed. I bought a 400pc pink brick box. I wish it had more pink & magenta but she liked it. The other parts of the site and I couldn't believe all the stuff they have now! I would have freaked out in joy if I had this stuff as a kid. Some purists may not like all the new parts and figure heads but I love them! When I was a kid I had the King's Castle that opened up. Me and my brother didn't have any big Trolls or Dwarfs growin up. I ordered Dwarves Mine which is sold out on the official site like many other things. I'm overwhelmed. The power functions stuff looks awesome! Especially for someone who took apart remote control cars as a kid. Only negative is that it is RC IR like a TV remote instead of being RC RF and tough to drive in certain areas but I'm sure I could rig it to be Radio Frequency. I researched a lot on the whole Lego scene and even terms. I saw a list that said all the sets going out of production. So on Black Friday it said their was a nice percentage off for every $100 up to $300 so I ordered over $300 in stuff because all the sets we want seem to be selling out! On Ebay they are selling for an arm and a leg! I think I might as well start selling some Lego sets since I already sell things online. They remind me of gold and silver. Since the American dollar is so low and overinflated, gold and silver maintains value and rises. Well it seems to be the same with Lego sets. A $30 set looks as if it will always be worth $30 or way more on Ebay. Only way to get them for less is at an obscure toy shop with dusty shelves. I'm definitely going to get the Imperial Flagship. The review on here is great! No sure how the guy got a hold of the set so early lol must have connections. QUESTIONS: 1. These sets that are going out of production, been around long? Maybe I'm just coming in at a bad time where so much is being discontinued. 2. What is the best way to get a bunch of misc Lego pieces? Should I buy some from Ebay where they are $5-10 a pound? With all our sets built, we still don't have much to build our own creations. Barely any wheels especially. I did order some bricks from www.bricklink.com I got this awesome wolf minifig! :D 3. Everything is selling out! Are they going to restock sets such as Drawbridge Defense which has a Jester and a cute grumpy Queen? Am I going to get a chance to get these on the offical site or will I be doomed to pay big bux on Ebay? Here is what we got so far: *Spongebob Krusty Krab (First set after using the huge Lego Box Bricks) *Lego Large Pick-a-Brick Cup (Took my niece out to the store which we love! Kids were taking over the place lol! Lots of fun picking out pieces. Limited pieces but still fun) *Indiana Jones Shanghai Chase (Now sold out like a bunch of others :/ ) (Got this for the awesome chars and the princess blond girl for niece.) *Track Turbo RC (Also sold out) *Space Police $6 set (Great cheap set I got for the Squidman who is one my fav chars for his head. My niece doesn't like him though lol she likes the pretty girl from the Indy Set) *Pink 402pc Box (I was suprised to see that it came with some nice elements like cups/mugs) *Lego City 8402 Spots Car with a business man driving lol cliche (Great car! We never had wheel wells like these when I was a kid!) Lego Winter Toy Shop (Putting this together to put beside the Christmas Tree) (It is awesome! Sold out everywhere online and $80-100 on Ebay now. Orig. $60) Lego Advent Calendar (Will be a new uncle and niece tradition.) An interesting thing I learned when researching the Lego company was that Toy's R' Us has asked Lego to provide them with more stock but Lego doesn't seem to be able to. I did read about the company almost shutting down and how they made some great changes to do great now. I read about all their new ventures that I imagine is going to bring Lego into the mainstream more. A TV show, movies, new licenses, etc. I wrote a book here lol :)

That was really kewl. I like the story too. You packed a lot into a smal nice little place. lol I hope for their sake that they don't have any floor rot or else they could end up having a floor cave in when they have a few too many visitors over.