fred67

I don't see how, if you can post, that you can't put a URL in IMG tags.

Well... we don't know your bricklink proficiency. A lot of users here have never even used bricklink, and even those that have often have a hard time finding things in the catalog (even sellers with high feedback post part ID requests on bricklink). Speaking of which, did you ask in the forums there? How about this?

Are you sure it's LEGO? The inside of the brick does not quite look like LEGO. Plus, I did a catalog search at bricklink... go to this page to get a listing of all known decorated bricks, then search for "ice cream" or "cone," and you get very few results... none matching that picture. If it is LEGO, it may just be someone put a non-LEGO sticker on it. I believe that, in a few years, we'll have a lot more questions like this as people modify their LEGO, make their own stickers, their own custom figures...

Works for me... I put the URL in your post in IMG tags, and it just worked. Remember to include the http part.

Cool! One of my favorite movies. I always liked Fred Ward (maybe it's the name), and glad that the Family Ties dad got to curse in a movie. The MOC is awesome... it would be nice to see the "Graboid" in brown, maybe tan or dark tan, but you just don't get every piece in every color, so I can see it would have been very difficult.

For those thinking that TLG should lower prices now that they are the #1 toy manufacturer, you are forgetting the history of their near bankruptcy when they were trying to compete with companies like Mega on price. One of the (many) reasons they came out of bankruptcy is because they realized people bought LEGO because it was LEGO... they were the premium building brick brand, and so could stop losing money by charging more than the other guys. Prices slowly rose... and so did sales, as they got more lucrative licenses; they cut their other losses (non-building related things like running the theme parks, making videos and video games - all of which they licensed off to other companies to do), and now they are a very strong company. Don't get me wrong... I complain about their huge profit margins all the time - they could cut prices 10% across the board and still be making a higher profit margin than most companies. On some properties - especially the smaller things, like polybags and CMFs, they could cut the price 25% and still be making a higher margin than most companies. But TLG is to toys what Apple is to the computing industry... they are the high end; the luxury product of the toy industry. They are substantially better quality than most competitors; marginally better than the others... but always better, and until someone rivals their quality and the scope of their products, they will always be able to demand a premium for their product. Think about the news recently: you don't see big Megablock heists! LEGO is now up there with expensive commodities like jewelry and expensive electronics! It's unbelievable, frankly.

My problem with the skirts is they don't close... it always looks like the figure is showing some leg, like she's trying to look sexy. If they just made it one segment longer, it would overlap and not be a problem.

In the cases of 1 and 2, I don't hold it against TLG - they went through a great deal of effort trying to cut down on the parts/color combinations when they reorganized and became profitable again. These CMFs introduce some new parts, and at least a lot of new prints and colors. They need to restrain themselves to some extent, I think. I do not believe they care a whole lot about 4... at least they never have in the past. You snooze, you lose. Point 3 is what I believe really motivates the designers, though. What's a baseball hitter with a bat without a baseball fielder with a glove? What's a red cheerleader without an opposing blue cheerleader? And you can make a whole band from the music ones. The counterparts make the previous ones that much more useful, in most cases, to a large extent even simply giving us "evil" versions of "good" figures (or vice-versa). I actually find the princess the least objectionable of the "kiddie" ones. I also don't get your assertion that series 8 was the most childish one... I think Santa is pretty universal, which really only leaves the Fairy, IMO, as a "kiddie" figure, and even then it didn't have to be (but I didn't like that one, either... it's another one, like the current genie, I think they could have done much better). I suppose you could be referring to the man-bat, maybe the stereotypical pegleg pirate... but the manbat was just another counterpoint in the long running monsters theme, and pirate is more useful, IMO, as a pirate than the upcoming swashbuckler.

I don't like the stars, either. But again, I'm just a curmudgeonly old man.

Already supporting...

Agreed! At this point you'd have to be an idiot to even OPEN one of those comic-con exclusives, and if you did surely only to display in some protected environment! If you actually want to MOC or play with one, it only makes sense to use a cheap version.

I didn't buy all the sets... just a few, in fact. Some were in polybags, like Loki, some smaller sets had multiple decent figures, but mostly I just put them on my bricklink wishlist, and while shopping for other things I'd add any superheroes that I thought were worth the price. At least a couple were give-aways from TLG, like the Jor-El and Hulk polybags. In one case (and I know this is not Marvel or DC, but "superhero" nonetheless) The Lone Ranger... I bought the train set for the train. The Lone Ranger and Tonto went into my display case, the other figures in a bin of other figures I currently have no use for. I figure they're as much "super" heroes as Batman and Robin, having no super powers. EDIT: I'll see if I can't post a recent picture somewhere... I just got the Flash. So I've got 32 spots filled, and only one duplicate (Batman) because I have the classic gray one (which reminds me of the 60's TV show, and I may take him out to go with a MOC of the old batmobile) and a newer black suit one. I removed electrosuit and Arctic batman because I ran out of space. I think Batman is in like 90% of the superhero sets!

!!! I stand corrected!!! I was thinking more in terms of the magnitude of all 8 movies together, the same way I'd consider the magnitude of all of the extended LOTR movies together. You wouldn't want them to remake just ONE of them, would you? Even if compressed to three movies with the "filler" removed, it'd still be a huge undertaking to actually try to compete with what's already been done. Which is actually sad, IMO. I was disappointed by a lot of what they chose to keep in the movies, and what they chose to leave out. JK Rowling had a great story, and interesting characters, but it turns out she was (IMO) a fairly bad writer and did a terrible job "consulting" for the movies, if she actually did anything at all. The way the last few books blew up in size and "filler" because she insisted on not listening to her editor (and had the upper hand at that point) is case in point.... but as consultant, she didn't even let the director know what was important to keep in. I feel somewhat the same about the LOTR (and don't get me started on The Hobbit) movies... so good, done on a level not seen since that golden era... and yet not quite perfect, and it's a shame because it will be a LONG time, if ever, that someone tries to remake them and do it "right." I mean, I'm not one of those people that wants a page by page recreation on screen, but there were some fundamentals missing, and a bit too much embellishment.

I do that, but I keep them in their little zip-loc bags, but then it makes it harder (or more annoying). The other thing I'm encountering is that I'll do that, then visit PAB and get a bunch of those parts I only had one or two of... and now they're sharing a bin with other parts and there's no open bins in the case. It's just annoying, but what're you going to do?

Nice! I like the little additional set! I finished making a handful of reindeer (in the style of this set) because I didn't think there were enough. I just don't have the bricks with eyes. I'm really looking forward to my Christmas set up this year.

I was being facetious, but thinking about it I guess what bothers me is not that you merely don't like it but that you're actually "offended" by merely the thought of it. I find it hard to believe you've tried every clone brand and came to that conclusion. Like I said, I doubt anybody here denies the superior quality of LEGO, but some "clone" brands do things TLG won't, and have pieces TLG doesn't make... like plates with studs on both sides, or the kinds of things brickforge and brickarms make... of the variety of leaf colors offered by altbricks. I just think people's brand loyalty to TLG is terribly misplaced... if anything, TLG is the original clone manufacturer, and here we are, with most people bashing other companies for being clones.

Mostly a collector, I guess, but MOD sets a lot (usually adding something or removing play features for display). I've done a number of MOCs and have a number of larger ones planned, but don't have a lot of room at the moment, so it's difficult, so when I MOC it's usually something small.

Agreed on all points... I was actually more excited way back in the first few series, now I don't know if the "magic" of CMFs is wearing off on me, or if I'm getting tired of all the hit-and-miss series where the misses are more common in the box than the hits. I also think the skirts are a great idea, but fail in actual use. If they were one segment longer, they could overlap and not leave a gap, at least. Otherwise I'd prefer printing... although I suppose it's better than slopes for dresses. As for my opinions (not that anyone cares), I think they completely failed with the Genie (like they failed with the fairy before); it's not "cute" or "pretty" as intended (I Dream of Jeannie reference... Barbara Eden is still more attractive at 80 than most people are at 40). I know - it's a plastic little minifigure, I'm not suggesting it be sexy, but the facial expression is just terrible. The male genie from the previous series is a million times better. On the other hand, the Swashbuckler does Errol Flynn justice... but it's a pointless figure to me, because it's not a "realistic" pirate, it's too "movie." I can see some potential in that, if you wanted to make a MOC of a movie studio (and I do - but with the b-movie monsters and aliens they've released), or a MOC of the cover of some romance novel... but otherwise? I guess... I think this series is too "kiddy," with the princess, the genie with the stars printed on the legs/smoke/whatever part, and silver sparkles on her face... I'd rather have had a more serious look... and the Wizard? I mean, we have Gandalf and Saruman now as references to wizards; if you don't like them, then we have As reference... no stars! I think in this series the fantasy figures are too Disney-fied. But then I'm old and Curmudgeonly. I like the updates of existing figures (like the new Jester and Pizza guy) and continuation of series (like the Piggy suit guy and lifeguard). The rock singer is one, but I never thought of the music figures as being all that great to begin with, although the punk rocker's hair was neat. I'd already gotten guitars from from brickforge, so don't care that TLG is playing catch-up again. So, serious question, honestly, for those that love this Genie and/or Wizard, how do you plan on using them? As usual, I'll put them all in display, but I also keep extras for MOCs, and I just don't see the use. EDIT: And just wanted to say thank you, Whitefang, for another great review. These CMF reviews really help me decide whether to just get a case or not, and they're so detailed and obviously take a lot of time to make, so it's much appreciated.

I was expecting a tutorial on Steam Punk when I clicked the link... instead I got WOW! Very cool, Bricknave!

I'd been kind of ignoring this thread, as I don't need to be any kind of completist, nor am I the biggest comic book fan... but over the past few years, I've been picking up superheroes for a display, and I don't know how to feel about some of those pictures.... some of those bootleg sets are nearly exactly the real LEGO I've been collecting, and it seems like someone could catch up to where I am for pennies on the dollar in just one order. At the same time I kind of feel about it, I also think it's neat people can get stuff they just couldn't get otherwise... I may order a Fantastic Four set.

Same... except I did buy an extra GG because I got one of the two highly discounted on a damaged box special at the LEGO Store. I sold the other one to someone who missed out. I never bought MS because it just looked so ugly; now that I've collected all the others, I feel bad that I missed out, but will not spend extra for one because, really, it is ugly (IMO).

I find your offense offensive. What he said... I find it laughable that anybody still wants to feel "loyalty" to TLG because it's "original." I understand if you just think it's a better brand, but it's history is certainly marred. I also doubt anyone here doesn't appreciate LEGO as being a superior brand... but sometimes other companies make stuff TLG just won't. I buy brickarms and brickforge products, altbricks products... because they make things TLG doesn't. And I don't feel bad or uneasy or embarrassed... that'd just be crazy.

I like BBT, too, but I don't know that it makes a good LEGO Set.

I honestly think sales were waning at that point, as they stopped making sets altogether. One claim was that the books and movies got darker, and thus not suitable for LEGO... but that's a pile of horse poop; if it was selling and it was only fantasy violence, TLG would have kept selling it. They released the last wave when interest was getting renewed for the grand finale of the series. I managed to get all of the last wave sets, as well as a few of the earlier sets... not sure I would buy more, even ones I missed. Is is remarkable to me, though, that they can screw up Hogwart's Express so many times. The "Ruby" modification to the Emerald Knight is a much better approximation, if you're so inclined. I wouldn't hold anything past a Hollywood remake these days, but like LOTR, I think the scale was so enormous that it's not likely to be seen again. After all, nobody has tried to redo Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, or other "golden era" epics. And yet... Angelina Jolie is remaking Cleopatra, so you never know!