Athos

It was a horrible year, and I will go so far as to say the worst we have seen so far. It is between movies, which isn't Lego's fault. There are somethings, however, that are firmly within Lego's control, so we cannot totally absolve them of the blame. My analysis: (read in comic-book guy voice): "Worst year ever" 1. We have only 11 sets released (6 system, 4 minis, 1 UCS) 2. Of those 6 system sets, not one was a truly new set. a. 7262, 4500 and 4504 were complete remakes b. 4502 is essentially a remake with an addition c. The set that came the closest to being an actual new set is 4501, which despite its great additions to the line (Greedo, Sandtrooper, and Dewback) still included a remade speeder and was a bit pricey. d. The biggest disappointment of the year: 10131 is another remake with an addition, with the inclusion of two of the same ships, it comes close to being a remake of a remake in the same set! 3. This was the year of the 'shot heard around the AFOL world:' the color change. 4. This was the year of the fleshtones. 5. The minis did not come with the bonus set, this was very disappointing 5. One the positive side a. The minis were nice, but hardly enough to balance out the negatives especially with the aforementioned absence of a bonus. b. The UCS Y-Wing looks really cool. I, however, do not really do the UCS thing (except for really good clearance deals) and as such it is from purely academic interest and the sake of fairness that I note it. 6. Comparison to Previous Years a. 1999: the flagship year; 13 released system sets (all new) and Droid Developer Kit; b. 2000: 13 released system sets (all new), 2 UCS sets, 3 technic sets and Dark Side Developer Kit; plus the original Millenium Falcon as a highlight of the year c. 2001: 6 system sets (all new), 2 technic sets, 2 UCS sets; all in all a weak year, but still 6 entirely new sets d. 2002: 13 new system sets, 2 rereleased system set, 4 minis (with bonus), 1 exclusive mini, 3 UCS sets including ISD, 4 technic sets; highlights of this year include ISD and Republic Gunship e. 2003: 9 new system sets, 1 arguably system set (Halfire Droid), 4 more minis (with bonus), 1 UCS set; highlights include AT-AT, Cloud City, and arguably Jabba and Slave Leia f. I won't even get into the introduction of minifigs broken down yearly. 7. Conclusion = Worst year yet Steve

Actually, that is the website that I do my "fact checking" from. When I need to make sure I have one of the official character's names spelt right and things like that, I check Mr. Rasmussen

Part III is available for your viewing pleasure: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg09.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg10.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg11.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg12.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg99.jpg Plus two new additions to the Cast of Characters: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...acters/shaw.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...cters/harry.jpg And the whole gallery when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=103976 Hope you like it. Comments are welcome, Steve

Well I do want a copy of it, but I'd already won one previously on ebay. I bid on this one because it came with 5988 as well. So I was able to pick up them both at once, and I figured I'd be able resell the 5986 to someone, and help share my win and offset the costs a bit. Steve

I'll have to check it out and let you know. I haven't received it from the seller yet. "Used" on ebay can be a bit vague and ambiguous. I do know the boat piece is missing. If you are interested, I might even be able to throw in the box. I'll let you know more when I get it, Steve

Well then I guess it is available to anyone else who may be interested. Steve

Hey, I just won an ebay auction for 5986 Amazon Ancient Ruins. It is missing the boat, but other than that the seller claims it is all there. I might be willing to part with it if you are interested and the price was right. I'll let you know more details when I get it in hand and have a chance to evaluate it. Let me know, Steve

Maybe he is just misunderstood. He seemed kind of lonely to me. I hope we'll be seeing more of Rem in the future... Steve

Have you ever checked out http://www.adventurers.dk? Steve P.S. Thanks for the kind words.

So hard to say. I found this to be one of the most disappointing years for my collection. My thoughts: KK2: Pros: Nice to see Castle again Cons: Everything about them |-D Spiderman Pros: some pretty cool figures and some nice city style sets Cons: flesh tones and I don't really do city much Alpha-Team Don't know about these. Don't own any World City Pro: getting close to classic sets, again nice for towns Cons: too much fire and police (is there any wonder the national debt is so huge?), and I don't do city Star Wars Pros: some strong sets (X-wing, Falcon), greedo, dewback Cons: flesh tones, remakes, high prices, only one "new" set Harry Potter Pros: stronger sets than last time, some great castle pieces, dementors, dogs, purple bus Cons: new colors (I "felt" the new greys and browns the most in this series) and flesh tones Conclusion: Based on the number of sets I own from this year, I would have to go with Harry Potter. But I have not bought many of the 2004 sets. So my vote goes to HP, but just barely, guess I'm the first one. Or I guess maybe I didn't vote. I punched the wrong button and submitted a 'null vote'. Help! Help! I've been disenfranchised! Steve

Maybe this thread could be locked, and we could have new threads to deal with each of the subthemes as they develop. That would significantly cut down on the size of the threads. And then you would only have to focus on the themes you are interested in. I for one, am not really interested in AlphaTeam, Racers, et. al. Just a suggestion, Steve

I found a good deal of pics on the forums of http://www.kostky.org]http://www.kostky.org[/url]. Including some of the Belville fantasy sets. Check out the list here: http://www.kostky.org/forum/index.php?topic=202.0 Check out the Belville sets here: (not much really new here, but still fun to look at all the same) http://www.robothek.de/Test/brickpics/5960-1.jpg Can't really see much from the picture. Looks a lot like the ice palace set. New colors for the ninja fish. Maybe that seahorse could be useful for a gigantic sea monster. I'm curious what they are serving on that table... http://www.robothek.de/Test/brickpics/5961-1.jpg Looks like that pine tree might be 'snow-capped.' That could be a very useful part if Lego includes them in enough of them in sets that we could get a good number. http://www.robothek.de/Test/brickpics/5962-1.jpg Garbage cans in different colors. Maybe some useful tiles. Not sure about that hound creature though... http://www.robothek.de/Test/brickpics/5963-1.jpg I see nothing in this one interesting at all. http://www.robothek.de/Test/brickpics/5964-1.jpg New color urn in this one. And that flower looks interesting, but can't tell for sure yet. My apologies if this has already been posted. I did not see it on the main page, and did not feel like reading through 32 pages of posts to make sure. Steve

Here is the next installment: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg05.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg06.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg07.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg08.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg99.jpg And the whole gallery when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=103976 Hope you like it. Comments are welcome, Steve

Hey all, I've started work on my latest installment of the AoJT(1)(2). It will probably be slow going as it is the season for the two Xs (that's eXams and X-mas), but I hope not to go too long between updates. Historical Note: This adventure takes place prior to that documented in Johnny Thunder and the Cave or Terror. So without further ado, I present the Adventures of Johnny Thunder: Johnny Thunder and Blackheart's Gold. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg01.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg02.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg03.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg04.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...sGold/bhg99.jpg And the whole gallery when moderated: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=103976 I hope you enjoy it, Steve Footnotes: (1) That's Adventures of Johnny Thunder. Maybe I can get a LOTR, or AOTC, thing going on here. (2) This is my first attempt at using footnotes here, how did you like it?

Hey all, With my girlfriend out of town for the week, I've been putting all my free time to good use. Started building sets for a new adventure for Johnny Thunder. Here is a preview pic: Also a Cast of Characters (of those who have signed on so far): http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...ters/johnny.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...ters/kilroy.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...ters/pippin.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...cters/baron.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Athos/Ad...cters/cooke.jpg And finally a Cast of Characters from The Cave of Terror: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=104103 Steve

To quote Darth Vader: "Most impressive, young [vader316]" Steve

I'm still not sure those numbers are Belville numbers. The older Adventurer sets were primarily in the 59xx range, while Belville seems confined, for the most part, to the 58xx range. Though of course, Belville has expanded into the 59xx range and Adventurers have moved to the 74xx range recently. Thus I am probably wrong. Steve

Well lets at least hope there are some good elements that can be used in system scale. Though I've still got my proverbial fingers crossed for system sets. I'm hoping for a good merfolk piece myself. Steve

I am quite intrigued by these. I hope they are system sized and not belville. They aren't belville numbers are they? Sounds like they would make great minifigs. Here's my guess as to what their English equivalents are: 5960: Little Mermaid 5961: Snow White? (Maybe a stretch) 5962: Aladin's Magic Lamp (either that or someone's magic zippo) 5963: good enough for me 5964: Thumbellina Here's hoping for system, Steve

Hello everyone, I've been posting this story in episodic parts at other Lego forums around the net. For anyone who was missed it, I thought I would post it here. Since it is now all finished, however, I think I'll dispense with the episodic posting and just give you the whole thing. If you would like the epidose feel, just read 4 panels a day and then read the last eight all together (that's the way I posted them). So without further ado, for your viewing pleasure, I present: The Adventures of Johnny Thunder: Johnny Thunder and the Cave of Terror! Warning: some materials may not be suitable for younger children, due to some gothic story elements I hope you like it, Happy Halloween, Steve