Section8

I have this set and I like it a lot for its detail and design. It has to be one of the best-looking non-race cars made during this era by TLC.

Great review! I had no idea it was a modular set. Does it work with any other modular space sets, if you have any?

Well, there's this torso, the mad scientist from 1382 Scary Laboratory (as well as a few other sets). 6339 Launch Pad had a scientist, but his torso has the launch command logo on it. If you want a bunny suit (the full body containment suits), you could do any single color legs and torso, and use the old space helmets as the hood. As for heads, any number are suitable, but I suggest one with glasses, as most of us scientists do wear them

I really liked your design previously, but the pictures go to show that it is much better when built. I especially like all the little scenes you set up with figures. I liked the ones TLC put in their mini-catalogs in the 80s/90s and tried to make my own. Your construction scenes are particularly nice. Looks like the wind turbine transport would have a bit of difficulty driving through the city! I've seen big trucks like those try to drive in downtown areas in real life. It's kind of comical and the drivers' ability to do it safely is very impressive. I have a somewhat off-topic question: is your Main Street the 10041 Legend version? And if so, did it come with the pigtailed black female hair and parts to complete the hotel? I would look it up on Peeron, but it's down right now. I am heavily considering buying it.

I love the Googie style and your mocs fit it perfectly. Any plans to make more? I've always wanted to see LEGO make a space line that is Googie rather than modern, I guess the new SP is as close as we'll get. Younger kids would not understand it. Nice use of the Simpsons quote, that's one of my favorite segments on the show.

I like your plan for a city center, using mostly older-design buildings like most cities would have in their downtown. I am curious why you are putting the wind turbine there though. I understand it's a new set for you that you want to display, but it seems pretty close to the city center. Not that I think they shouldn't put them in cities in real life; the wind funneling between tall buildings would probably increase their power generation. I also prefer the old grey roadplates for the reasons you stated. I used to hand-draw city plans when I was very little. I haven't made any city plans in a long time, but I likely will in the next few months. I'm thinking of using the LDraw programs, as the baseplates are all pre-made plus some of the actual set files are available from other people. It'd take a pretty powerful computer to render a whole city though! You're right, the Metro Park & Service Tower is awesome and belongs there. I was looking through your previous city on brickshelf (impressive collection by the way!) and saw a few other sets that could fit. What about Main Street? Those would fit in an old city center quite well. Also the new hospital, though more modern, wouldn't look bad. I've found that set fits quite well on a 16x32 plate with a bit of modification, and looks better than the huge rock plate, in my opinion. But overall I'm just happy to see someone building a downtown that isn't all CC-style buildings

1) Purity for me means only LEGO-manufactured parts, whether they are bricks, stickers, sails, etc, from any set or theme. No custom/modified parts, other brands, etc. The only things I would permit are custom sails and strings, because official sails are rare and have historically-inaccurate printings; official strings can and have broken on me and needed to be replaced. Custom stickers are a grey area; I personally don't use them but I've seen other people use them to good effect. 2) Yep, I'm a purist. Never intentionally modified a part and I toss out any non-LEGO bricks I find in parts I buy. 3) I don't make non-pure MOCs but I don't criticize people who do. Build whatever you want however you want if it makes you happy. The only thing I would have problem with is use of non-LEGO specialized parts that do not have an equivalent LEGO brick. But I don't see very much of that.

Thanks for that video, Cavannus. They are definitely louder. How easily do they bend? I can envision them shifting over time as a result of the momentum of the engine when entering the curves if the track is on a smooth surface and the train is run for a long time.

LEGO Architecture (US) Lego has up a whole site for the Architecture line now. There are few things I found interesting: First, the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) is not on the website, but available at S@H (US). I cannot tell from the S@H pics if the name tile has been or will be changed. It will be interesting to hear from people who buy it now if it now says Willis Tower. The name change of the actual building happened July 16th. Second, the Architecture line is divided into three categories, Landmark, Architect, and Discovery. Landmark Series sets are the famous building mini-sculptures, like Willis Tower. The Architect series includes Fallingwater and the Guggenheim, both Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, hinting that multiple buildings by another single famous architect may be release again in the future. The Discovery series only says Coming Soon. If I were to speculate on the Discovery series, since Landmark focuses on the building, Architect on the architect, Discovery might focus on the style. It could also be more like Creator sets. I know it won't happen, but it would be neat if it was entire skylines created in miniature

The phrase written on the one noseart sticker says 'Laugh This Off" which is the same phrase as on the newest RGS. One of the stickers in this set is missing the second 'F' character of the phrase. Looks like the designers just recycled the sticker with a new picture. I like how LEGO is using the in-universe alphabet now, but I wouldn't mind a bit more variation among sets - UNLESS the prototypes from the movies/tv series really both have the same phrase. I've not seen the CW series, but I doubt it. I really like this set, makes me wish I cared more about the CW series. The comments about being light on figures is dead-on though; you can get 4 in a $10 battle pack, so why only 6 here?

I'd like to see all the old Light elements remade with LEDs. The old ones are bulbs and are prone to burning out. LEDs do not, and there is a dearth of L&S elements in sets in the current lineup. I'm pretty sure the old 9V system works with the new PF connections, can anyone confirm?

Another good moc from you! You don't have a very clear picture of it but I like the grandfather clock design. Is that blue and white tile on the front of the house an official piece? I've never seen it before. Also, I question the intelligence of a forester who keeps his money and best guns in a transparent cabinet and safe with a dollar sign on it! A burgler wouldn't even have to guess!

Since I have absolutely nothing better to do (), I translated the phrase on the sticker with the monkey lizard. It says "Laugh this off". Pretty funny. It means the angle of the slope is 10 degrees.

Great review! I own this set and enjoy it quite a bit. Zam is an excellent figure, and the ships are well-designed and interesting. I got it because I wanted to make a big Coruscant scene and thought they'd look good as generic ships in Coruscant traffic. I looked them up and alas, they are both unique or one-off ships in the SW universe Oh well. They are still neat with quite a few unique pieces (and no stickers!).

Those look good. You should post how your were able to add more cars to the Emerald Night. That has stumped me for some time with my own monorails.

That is neat! I would indeed like to see a line of models that are useable in real-life. I know people have made clocks before. I tried but gave up because it was too complex and I lacked most of the gears needed. I think an official LEGO pendulum clock would sell really well.

I'm impressed with this set, high praise since I was not impressed with the SP3 line as a whole. The station is neat, has that dirty feel that you'd expect of a place like that, and has a lot of playability. Most of the vehicles are nicely done, if small. I don't like that spiked vehicle at all; I think I have a new winner for Worst LEGO Piece Ever: those spikes.

Wow, good catch. Those look so similar it's easy to see how they could get mixed up. This is one of two Ice Planet sets I have. As the smallest in the line, it was a good way to get the new parts like the skis and sawblade. The set lives up to its name but isn't terribly exciting. It's shame they never made that visor in a non-transparent color.

This index would be very helpful if it were stuck to the top of the forum. I expected the adventurers index to be in the other sticky index, but it is not.

My sister was fond of the Paradisa sets she had before she turned about 10 or so (I enjoyed them too despite being 5 years older than her). They appealed to things both genders like (who doesn't like the beach?) and filled gaps in the System Town lineup of its time. I think it was the perfect way to attract girls to LEGO sets. The pink/pastels may have been a bit overdone, though when Paradisa sets are mixed together to build MOCs you get a far more uniform color mix than standard sets, especially with a small collection. If LEGO wants to attract more girls, here's a few suggestions: 1. Abandon any attempt at appealing to teens or pre-teens. I think it's hard enough to keep boys interested at this age, with their video games, cell phones, and running through older neighbors' lawns (i.e. mine). 2. Ditch Belville. This seems like an attempt to compete with Barbie and other dolls, when LEGO should play up the building aspect and not the figure aspect. Yes, Eilif, they are nightmarish looking too. The parts are often large and hard to use for different things. 3. Appeal to boys on some level to increase odds of success. I bought one or two Paradisa sets but they did seem overly girly. 6595 Surf Shack is an example of a perfect unisex-appeal set that is very similar in theme to some of the Paradisa sets. Ditto with the new horse trailer. Last but most obvious: have female minifigures, a balanced number of them. Girls won't want to play with only male minifigs!

I think it looks fine the way it's photographed. It's just a busy scene. I like it, especially the bridge, it does look like it was mangled in an attack. I would like to see more pictures of the larger ruined house. And the use of the wizard hat to resemble pouring water is the most inspired thing I've seen in a while!

Very nice, very modern. I like the staircase that has the glass windows enclosing it. Only nitpick is the green radar dish, which I see you changed for the expo. I second the request for interior shots, if any.

I appreciate the changes. I'm glad Agents has been moved out of Town and Trains, it seemed out of place there. The split between History and Adventure is also well done, as there was a lot of themes that fell into the old forum's category.

Really? I guess I never noticed. Or more accurately, I never needed to notice Another thing I saw, it says it's divided into sub-models for easier, faster play, yet you need to open both bags to even get the minifigures on the bike or board. That line doesn't really apply to single vehicle sets.

In real life, freight cars are of all different lengths. There are shorter and longer varieties of hoppers and tank cars. I-Beam (lumber) cars and auto carriers tend to be a bit longer and universal in length. Ore cars for standard gauge use are much shorter than the average hopper. Then there are the special cars you don't see often, such as crane cars, oversized load cars, and special use cars like hot metal cars in steel mills. These can be even larger and less uniform than the average freight car. So including cars of different lengths is perfectly realistic, especially if you have a mixed consist train. A unit train, where all the cars carry the same type of cargo, can sometimes have cars of identical proportions. However, this depends on the cargo and how new the cars are. Intermodal and newer tank trains would all be identical, while older tank trains and boxcars, etc, would vary in size. At least that's how it is in the States. I can go into a bit more detail on the reasons why if you want.