fred67

I may be mistaken, but I think the car does show up (even if only briefly) in later movies... or maybe in the last book.

I know exactly where you're coming from... I feel very much like you do about it, but not having a large collection of HP myself (although I do have an earlier Hogwarts Express), I think I will get this anyway... I don't have most of the minifigures or the car. I feel the same way... I really don't know how to vote on this topic. Compared to the previous trains, I think it's a lot better... but that's not saying much. I understand where TLG is coming from, but as both a train fan and HP fan, $100 Emerald Night style + HP minifigures and a few extra = $130 to $150 set that I would be a lot happier with. What I will probably end up doing is buying a couple of these - one for the LEGO build, and one to use with a Ruby Night modified Emerald Night so that I get the figures and stickers... and a lot of extra train parts that will be useful. Yes, I have a mental condition that won't allow me to buy a set and not do the "real" build (although I allow myself minor MODs sometimes), so I need to buy two or more so that I can MOC and MOD it. Yes, OK, I have issues. As for WhiteFang - thanks for the great and detailed review, they are always appreciated before buying relatively expensive sets. I'd already decided to get it, and I'm not surprised at all by the review, but it's always nice to see the pictures and see any little details we may not have known before (I'm glad for the two sided Luna head... I hate the side with the glasses). I wish the car were a bit nicer, and since you gave the link to the old set, I am now sad I don't have an Uncle Vernon figure.

Very nice. Unfortunately I just got my order from BrickArms and I didn't buy any bayonets! I don't feel inclined to just order a couple of those, but it'll be on my list for next time. Thanks for the idea... it's looks great compared to a "rod."

Did you check Tony's store on bricklink? For some reason I'm doubting he can even sell instructions for what would be a licensed theme.

I agree with the others... it's a tough one. I personally am not enamored by the newer sets, but getting started with the Emerald Night will be 1) a much more complicated and longer build, and 2) 50% or more expensive. On the other hand, the end result will be a much nicer train... it's definitely something nice to run, but not as "playable" as the other sets, which include other things (like other vehicles and cargo). If you add a station and a few other bits, an Emerald Night solution will cost roughly twice as much. So... it's probably better to start with one of the current complete sets.

I guess what I meant was, then, the current "Kingdoms" theme. I agree with Itaria No Shintaku... Fantasy II, give me some elves. Sorry, I know I'm getting repetitive. That said, do we have a theme name? If we had a name like "Castle/Fanstasy Era," what is it now... "Kingdoms/<something>?" I know LEGO may not officially name them, but what about AFOLs?

Huh... as an AFOL, would you not want both? When I did model railroading (before moving to LEGO trains), I got several model railroading magazines. Moreover, I seriously doubt Master Builder will be too similar to brickjournal, which includes a lot of things that LEGO might not officially like (even if they permit it to be sold in their stores).... like modifying cables to make PF receivers work with old battery boxes and motors. They also often have a section where they talk about OTHER toys, and have ads for places I'm sure LEGO cannot officially endorse. On the other hand, I'm looking forward to getting both... I only ever had one subscription to brickmaster for one year - the little sets were nice, but the "magazine" made me feel like I was simply paying to be advertised to (for the most part). I'll give master builder a chance, though.

Kingdoms? It's already slated to be discontinued? What the heck? Actually, a lot of people prefer the "realistic" theme over the fantasy one. Not me, however. I know I'm beating a dead horse, but they should have released a few elf sets before starting Kingdoms. People would still want one, though, because it would likely be a bit different... but they wouldn't want an army of them (I wouldn't mind 10 or 20, but I'd be happy with 5).

When I have questions like this, I start with what I know - there exists a LEGO fishing rod. Then I go to bricklink, look up "fishing rod," (actually, I tried "pole" first, but when that yielded no results, I used "rod" and it worked) and go to the catalog entry for it. I see it was in 15 sets. I click on the link to which sets they were in, and see several fishing related ones (although it looks like they were creatively used for other things, too).

Collectible Minifigures. Yes, the category includes things like the new series 1 and 2, but it also includes all of these "vintage" minifigure sets.

Wow, it is very cool, I like it a lot... great job Blue Dolphin.... It immediately made me search for LEGO Grond... and I didn't find anything. That really surprised me. It's all very inspiring!

Please look in the buy/sell/trade forum, you'll probably have all your questions already answered there.

They will probably ship it to you. I got two orders from S@H, and I'm sure I could get away with a third, but I have the whole set now. When you see the review of the series here, the reviewer will point out any extra pieces that come with the figure. Moreover, you can check bricklink (or other websites) - the "set" inventory will include the extra pieces that come with the figures. Also, bricklink is a better place to buy - generally a lot more trustworthy than ebay. You can also trade with people here. I've done several successful trades here, on bricklink, and on fbtb.net.

+1 bamaker for the minifigure trade.

Ahhh... Medieval Market Village is probably the nicest I've ever bought. It sort of transcends various castle themes... I should pick up another before they disappear. I agree with this... if you try to wait until they go on clearance, you will very likely miss popular sets; if they even make it to the point they go on clearance, people will buy them up very quickly... I would say that if you're a day late, you'd miss out, but in reality it's more like an hour.

What Aanchir said. Plus... you never know how long a theme will last. Many of us were hoping that the Castle/Fantasy theme would last until they had elves (which many of us concluded they would, since they'd released a "map" as part of marketing that included a region for elves), but then they brought on Kingdoms... I've got nothing against Kingdoms, but I'd have liked some elves first. Now on to pirates, the current incarnation of which might have lasted longer if LEGO didn't pick up Pirates of the Caribbean. If they released original pirates themed sets, they'd be competing with themselves. In other words, you just never know... if a theme is very popular, it will last longer. Star Wars has been around over 10 years (and I've heard it's been renewed). The 9V trains were around for like 13 or 14 years. Fantasy/Castle... I don't know... 3 years? Just depends how popular.

I'd never heard an actual number... 40,000, but I did read before that AFOLs made up 5% of sales, and I'm fairly certain the number came from TLG. The things that got me: I don't normally care when non-LEGO enthusiasts say "Legos," it's not a big deal... but many of the people interviewed used the term "Legos," too... and then they had the BIG graphic: AFOL Adult Fans of Legos!

That's VERY cool, and thank you so much for including the LDD files.

It's very tricky, sometimes, to decipher these values. In this case they actually say "sales" and not "customers," so us 40,000 account for 5% of LEGO sales. When you think of perhaps tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions of LEGO customers worldwide, then 40,000 accounting for 5% of sales is pretty impressive.

AAACCCCCHHHHH!!! at "Legos" instead of LEGO!!!! Yes, I am a nerd.

I was expecting 30% off, which might actually bring prices below MSRP. I guess I set my expectations too high for TRU.

It would be too expensive. Ask Tony to estimate how much it cost, then imagine TLG trying to make a profit on it... and guess how well it would sell. You'd buy it, I'd probably buy it... but we're a tiny fraction of their audience.

So I've been checking out this great deal... and what I've found is that, ON SALE, most of these sets are STILL above MSRP! It's not all sets, the ad reads that all LEGO is on sale, including 30% on the "hottest" sets. What the heck does that mean? I can't find a single item at 30% off even TRU inflated prices! Great examples: 8014 Clone Troopers BP and 8084 Snow Trooper BP: $13.49. That's the SALE PRICE!!!! They're actually claiming list is $14.99!!!! MSRP is $11.99!!!! Slave 1 is still over $80, ON SALE!!!! Ridiculous. Unbelievable crap! EDIT: LOL at the Harry Potter prices, too.

30% is great, I will have to take a look. Sam's Club is ramping up for the holidays (yes, people in other countries should be rolling their eyes), but it's all good for LEGO enthusiasts. For $39.95 each, I saw at least the following sets: 8095: General Grievous Starfighter, msrp $49.99 5891: Apple Tree House, msrp $45.99 7596: Toy Story 3 Trash Compactor, msrp $49.99 An Atlantis set... someone help me out here, if they saw it - I'm guessing 8077 Exploration HQ, because the only other set that size is the Gateway of the Squid, and then you wouldn't be saving anything. I got the Apple Tree House myself, for a marginal $5.00 savings. Sorry I can't remember the Atlantis one... I'm not a fan of any of the sets, frankly, except the Apple Tree House, and didn't write anything down.

I'm not a big LEGO SW fan, but I grew up with the OT (I was 10 when Star Wars was released... they didn't call it "a new hope" back then, it was just Star Wars). Around the time LEGO started selling sets, my mom (knowing my Star Wars nerdiness) gave me a 7127 (Imperial AT-ST, with Chewbacca). I didn't really get into it at that time, because I felt it was too expensive, but I appreciated the gift and started buying the minis. Then there was a couple of Black Friday sales... for a few years in a row, I got the 4483 AT-AT for about half price; the next year I got the 4504 Millennium Falcon for roughly half the price, and the next year I got 4502 Dagobah X-Wing. It was around that time I was discovering LEGO trains, and the LEGO Store opened at one of our local malls... started making frequent trips, and decided that, since I had so much and many of the ships (like the TIE Fighters) weren't that much, so started buying them, too. I missed out on a lot, but I've managed to either build from my own parts or trade for other various TIE fighters, Y-Wing, and with the recent releases I got the Landspeeder, and am eying the Slave 1.