fred67

As I mentioned earlier, if you see the fan built monorails, they do it completely without any special parts. That doesn't make it a good way to do it, but obviously no new parts would be needed to make the monorail itself - brick built with PF seems to work just fine. The only thing would be track that might work better than brick built track, and they'd just need to start with straight and curves. If the interest is there, they could add a switch. Just because the old monorail could change elevation doesn't mean a new one would have to, but even that could come after they know if it's popular or not. Since track would be roughly half the size of train track, they could make twice as much with the same size mold. I get that people with old monorails might not be happy to not get new, compatible track, but if that's the way it has to be, then so be it. But they wouldn't even have to make specific track pieces... if they made some new interesting bricks, instead (like longer macaroni pieces for curves... yes, I know, laughably large ones... maybe curved technic lift arms), they might not even have to make monorail specific pieces. I'm not holding my breath, though - I'm duly inspired by what fans have created and have every intention of doing it myself anyway, but official sets tend to be a lot more cost effective (and often work better with pieces specifically designed for it), so it would just be nice to see.

I don't know about printed pieces; I certainly don't doubt it would destroy stickers. If you could test a printed piece and let us know, that'd be great. I've used the technique with some success on clear pieces, but it made the clear plastic soft and even trying to dry them with a tissue scratched the surface like sandpaper... clear pieces use a different plastic, from what I understand, and you need to let them "cure" for a few days. Luckily I only ruined one macaroni... the others are not crystal clear, but better than what they were.

Wow! Great and innovative technique; having just bought a bunch of brown pieces for trees, I really appreciate this design.

Yes, that's "normal," unfortunately.

Yup... some do, some don't. I consider myself lucky at the moment, although a nice change of pace (moving to Florida and working in some capacity in the hobby I love) would be nice. Plus FL has no state income tax. And... I hate living in GA, although I don't know how much better FL would be.

This is incredible - your own line of LEGO sets, all completely well thought out and brilliantly executed. What did you use for the dragon wings? I like the beat up/torn up look.

I actually would have preferred this be a hoax than for TLG to release such a dumb battle pack (yes, it's just my opinion, don't get all bent out of shape).

I applied for an IT job anyway. I'm doubting they can even come close to my current salary, but then there is no state income tax in FL, and I would probably enjoy the job more than my current one.

Unfortunately, there is no suitable jobs there for me to apply to that wouldn't be a huge step down. Not only would I really love to work there, but I'd love to move away from where I live right now.

I'm not a kid... so IMO, this is a terrible battle pack. It's certainly pointless to buy more than one.

My daughter wasn't interested in the Geisha... but did like just about every other female figure... but then she also liked all the monsters, too.

It wouldn't have to repeatedly send out signals... instead of saying "go plus 1" it would say "go speed x" and the train would continue at that speed (like it does now) until getting different input. That does mean that you might turn it up or down and the train doesn't change speed because it didn't receive the signal, but then that's what happens now anyway. An extra button to resend the signal would be better. Better still would be, as you suggest, bluetooth - or something else. Anything else, really.

I saw that... brickset and, I think, peeron, too... but they are brand new and, I think, added because of this thread. If you look at the "info" tab on brickset, it's dated today. There's just no "credible" sources... just this thread. I'm not saying it's not true, I'm saying, IMO, I won't believe it until I see more evidence. The sad thing is if it is true, it's a terrible "pack," so it sucks either way. Edit: No, not peeron... some other blog. They all link back to here. Edit 2: in response to chongcheng, I'm not calling you a liar, I'm questioning the legitimacy of these sets. It would be nice to see White Fang add a reply, if he can find these. I guess I'm actually more worried these are "real," because it's such a bad pack, IMO.

It does.. if it's hoax, it's a very good one, I admit. I just don't see how a set makes it all the way to being released, and the ONLY reference on the net (ALL day now!) is a link to THIS thread. Moreover, as a "battle pack" (I know there is debate about whether it's supposed to be a "battle" pack or not), it makes NO sense, unlike the alien conquest pack with generic aliens.... so, I suppose, even if it's the real deal, I have to wonder what the hell they were thinking. EDIT: The OP is YESTERDAY at 10:00am my time (Eastern US) and this thread is STILL the only reference on the net?

Until I see this on sale at LEGO.com, I'm not buying it's existence.... I don't recall any mention of this set anywhere; this it literally the first I've heard of it. Google searches all point back to this post... Like Big Cam says, it looks legitimate... but it simply makes no sense and was never mentioned before... when was the last time a set made it ALL THE WAY to release without us knowing about it? Even TLG advertises stuff before it comes out!

When I read the title of the thread, I thought I was going to get a new version of the replicant quiz from Blade Runner. If it's just a piece or two I toss it. Otherwise I donate it to Goodwill.

Is it really just me? The packaging looks real, but not having heard a PEEP about this before, and not seeing it ANYWHERE else, I have to assume it's a hoax. I can't believe TLG would release such a stupid BP.

My nephew tried to get me to play. It went something like this: Me: what's it about? Him: it's not about anything. Me: so what do you do? Him: what do you want to do? Me: play something else. Him: just try it, it's cool. Me: fine, show me. Me: what the hell is that? Him: a cow. Me: no, really, what is that? Him: a cow. Me: so what do I do now? Him: what do you want to do? Me: [gave him the "I'm going to smack you" look] Him: go to the tree and push the button. Me: [walks up to tree and pushes button, swings and hits tree] And? Him: push the button again. Me: [pushes again] AND? Him: hold the button down! Me: [chops chunk out of tree] Why is the rest of the tree floating there now? Him: the game's not really finished yet. Me: Now what? Him: build something. Me: How? By that point, a zombie comes up behind me and kills me. What fun. I can see how this could be fun, really, but I don't have enough time to live a "second life."

Well, this is all interesting, and we all seem to want monorail back. The argument against (in defense of TLG's not doing monorails) seems to rely on the fact that the monorail specific pieces were expensive and ultimately not profitable... But now we're in the PF age, and we already have seen many fans making perfectly fine brick-built sets. Given the fact they wouldn't have to make a motor or any monorail engine/car specific parts, it doesn't seem like it would be such a stretch to offer us a monorail set. What I think most of us would like to see is better track, but they could even do better than that and come out with new generic pieces (like larger radius macaroni pieces) instead of track specific to monorail. The difficulty for us are things like switches, things that TLG could do for a relatively small investment.

I don't think those are good sets for building a Hogwart's at all. I get you can use Harry's uniform, but other than that none of the figures/clothes are really repeatable. If you're trying to build the building larger, a single one of the new Hogwart's set is worth any 10 of either of those two, and you get different uniforms and street clothes for other figures. You still get stuck with another Lucius, but you get a lot more building per redundant figure.

I'm a bit incredulous... three of those guys are from Captain's Cabin plus one red coat from London Escape, and another from White Cap Bay... they are the exact figures. Doesn't seem like much of a battle pack when every set has a Jack. You would think a battle pack would have red coats and/or crewman from Flying Dutchman or CotBP crewmen. Battle packs normally have "generic" guys.

I have some propping up one side of my lop-sided monitor. I also plan on building an iTouch holder... set up an old stereo with line in for my wife; no iPod connection, so it'll have to use a standard headphone jack to the line in, and it's on the bottom of the iTouch, so I was planning on building a similar stand as yours, but it would be a LOT smaller.

There's nothing "unfair" about a company setting a price based on an item's popularity. Frustrating, greedy, annoying, disappointing... a lot of words, but not "unfair." As much as we like to think of TLG as being superior to other companies, it's still a profit driven company, and TLG's profit margins (as I've estimated) are quite high - a lot higher than most companies. That's their prerogative, as it is yours to buy something or not. I'm not saying people aren't allowed to complain about prices going up - I do it all the time, but it often bothers me when I see people use the "fair" word in this context. Sorry, it just bothers me. As far as the discussion is concerned, I would be very annoyed and angry if they raised prices here again, and so, as I mentioned, you have my sympathy. I certainly have a breaking point, too, that I'm not really that far from. I'm glad I should be able to at least get the "original" five sets, and I'm especially glad because series 5 does seem like it's one of the best yet, possibly the best, IMO.

It's amazing, isn't it? The wave is, as everyone else has said, fantastic... maybe a bit too big for the MOC, though. With all the detail on everything else, the sail seems a little disappointing, too. But overall it's beautifully done. EDIT: for anyone that hasn't looked, you must see the photostream - it's amazing.

I'm not a PT kind of guy either (assuming that's what Mr. Elijah Timms meant), but there is the occasional PT set that I like, and I like this one (also the Naboo Fighter). I don't know if I'll get it... and I may just be daft, but the most exciting thing here to me is transparent beams. (runs to bricklink to see what he's been missing) Edit: So they are new... that's very exciting to me!