rodiziorobs

Wow, I hadn't heard all of that. Bits here and there but it makes a lot more sense now, thanks.

Suddenly I can see myself spending money on Nexo. The color scheme is reminiscent of Blacktron II, and looks great. I wish we could get a better look at the villains.

I noticed these pieces after I posted my earlier comment, and I agree: I want those!

Read this article over at The Brick Fan for more info. Allen, who runs the site, is a TRU employee. He says that business will carry on as usual, at least in the short term. No stores shuttering their doors immediately, new product still being available, etc. Part of the difference is that this isn't Chapter 7 (fire sale) bankruptcy, but Chapter 11, which basically allows the company to restructure and renegotiate their debt while still operating. It's obviously a lot more nuanced than that, though.

For the first time, I successfully found something on 4chan. That place... Honestly, the sets look disappointing. I know the pictures are just prelims, so hopefully they improve significantly IRL. The villainess looks decent, her castle/tower looks promising. I'm not a huge fan of the bat-mites. The large animal heads (and builds) are off-putting.

Destiny's Bounty $160 Ninjago City $300 Goblin King Dragon $30 Elves Airship $40 Goblin Village $60 $60 for CMFs... and I would get some stuff specifically for my kids with the remaining $150, probably more Ninjago sets. Although ideally I would use some of the $$$ to pick off eBay deals as they came along. A lot of times that's honestly half of the fun for me, and buying at a store feels like cheating .

I checked the dimensions of the pin, it is a hair wider than 2 mm, and 33 mm in length. The last 8 mm at either end have flanges on them to keep the pin from popping out of the wheel. Probably some heavy duty baling wire would do it, although that will be somewhat pliable so may bend.

They weren't great, but probably receive more hate than they deserve. Worthy of note is that they were groundbreaking, TPH in particular--no movie before had used CGI so extensively, to the point of having a major character and multiple settings entirely animated. Granted, the effects haven't aged particularly well, but it showed what was possible, and set a precedent which nearly every blockbuster made today follows. Imagine the current cinema landscape without the influence of TPH. Yet as evidence of the hate towards it, when VES (Visual Effects Society) lists their most influential movies of all time, TPH is notably omitted. Heh, a similar argument could be made for the OT by just replacing a few movie-specific details and the word "hate" with "love".

First off, welcome to EB! Second, I have a bunch of Tyco and agree that their quality is good--I'd say completely on par with Lego from the same period. I have a bunch of those axles, as well, but I have never seen them separated from the wheel before! I will check soon, hopefully today, to see what I can find about them or a viable substitute, then post here. As for Bricklink, I find it ironic about the discussion there since BL as posted pics before (a site-maintenance thing IIRC) of MOCs that prominently used Tyco blocks.

I'm pretty sure it's from the DC Comics Darkseid Invasion set, minus the canopy glass and roof.

A fantastic sci-fi short film called Seam on youtube. It's a shame it's only ~20 min long, it deserves to be full-length. It's more like a teaser for a full movie, since it leaves a lot of questions unanswered...but you would love to see more to find out what those answers were.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to say there were no good mid-range sets. As you point out, there are a few that are nice: the ones you mention, along with some Elves sets, the only recent theme to really grab my attention. It just seems like (to me) the value isn't always there for a lot of them. For example, I almost bought the Arctic Roller; it was so different from anything else, some great part usage, etc. But when I held the box in person (after reading reviews and such online) it felt...I dunno, insubstantial. I ended up not getting it. Now that I am sitting here typing this out I can see that it is probably just me being a jaded adult with bills to pay.

Maybe this is just me, but I think that laying off nearly 1/12 of the people who depend on you for their livelihood because this year's pile of new money is 1/20 smaller than last years is an excessive response. Granted, I don't have all the numbers in front of me, but after years of solidly phenomenal growth for TLG, numbers should only be a part of this equation. Hopefully everything is handled equitably. Edit: My guess is that they wouldn't be laying these folks off if they thought this was just a blip on the radar, a fluke--they would keep (many of) them on and weather the storm. Since they are doing the layoffs, they probably have a poor outlook going into the foreseeable future. I wonder what kind if systemic changes will be made as part of the restructuring?

^This. I work in a lab where we use a lot of solvents, and most people who haven't had to handle the stuff in large quantities don't realize how even a little of the stuff can be harmful depending on the nature of your exposure.

Problem is most of those sets are over $100, and the couple that aren't (the Batman stuff you list) have a niche appeal and while nice, are overpriced for what they are. For me the strength of the product doesn't depend on the quality or value of their most expensive items (since I will never be able to afford all those sets you list), but by the low to mid-range items. I agree with @Hive that there is very little that appeals to me that isn't expensive--while I would love to spend a little here and a little there, there is not much that's worth it unless you want to plunk down a lot of $$$ for a set.

This would be more useful to me, as plenty of swimwear tops are available from Friends, but I would appreciate more variety for better customizing.

Woah. Just...woah. That's impressive.

Your stories and builds are always good (if not a little confusing to those who haven't kept up), but I am frankly jealous of your photography. Really nicely composed shots, with the focus right where you want it.

My kids were gifted a giant bag of off-brand bricks. We opened them up and played with them and then bagged them up again. They are used to playing with stuff separately (so the brothers' stuff doesn't get confused with each other's or with mine) so they just naturally kept it apart. Later when my wife asked them why they didn't combine it with the family's communal Lego I heard them tell her that it was "fake Lego." I am pretty sure I didn't feed them that response, but I was pleased nonetheless. We still have it but have talked about giving it away to someone (with kid's approval of course). I'm glad we didn't mix it in, but we had a good time with it anyway. If stuff gets mixed in, its pretty easy to sort out later on if you or your daughter wants to.

I think of "classic" as any theme that debuted under the LEGOLAND banner, even if a particular later set was released under SYSTEM. This means that "classic" status is closed to everything but Space, Castle, Town, and Pirates, as well as unthemed block sets, which even carry the name "Classic" as branding now. However, I don't think that later subthemes of those (I would probably discount anything after the late-90's or so) are necessarily able to qualify--Knights Kingdom, POTC, and Galaxy Squad (for example) wouldn't be classic because they aren't really continuations of those themes, but have their own look and feel. If a theme came along that closely mimicked the classics, then I suppose we would see it as homage and give it some kind of qualified name like "neo-classic" or "classic revival" I think this kind of mentality will endure, also. I can't see FOLs 20 years from now calling Ninjago "classic" any more than we do today with the original SW sets. If anything, they will just differentiate it with words like "original," "old(er)," or "early," like Bionicle. But then there's the issue of Technic and Trains. Do FOLs of those themes have their own definition of "classic"? They kind of exist apart from the bulk of traditional system themes (despite a lot of overlap), and I suspect that their constituent fan bases see their history differently, too.

I agree with this point, but as I said, the most beloved film in DC's current iteration of film is the one with the looser ties. Other than the 2 minutes of Bruce Wayne bookends, the movie has no real ties to the rest of their oeuvre. Also, WW was hampered by the ties it did have to BvS, mainly in her "signature theme" which is fairly horrible and didn't fit in with the rest of the WW score at all. Was the movie good? Yes. Does it inspire confidence in the rest of the DCEU? Not really, especially when it's so far removed, both in front of the camera and behind it. I'd take a handful of WW sequels over nearly anything else DC has on their slate. Agreed about Marvel's forumla. I was fully on board with them after about Thor and CA:TFA, but after Ultron my enthusiasm waned considerably. I was excited again for CA:CW but it let me down (which has me less than pumped for IW and its sequel, since the crew responsible for CW's gaffes is the same crew on that film). SM:HC I didn't care too see, and when I did see it it didn't change my opinion much. I am excited for Thor: Ragnarok, but that's mostly because I want to see how Waititi fares with this kind of project, and because Thor is my favorite Marvel character. I also agree that maybe DC shouldn't be trying to mimic Marvel. But they are. I don't see the "different approach" you claim they are taking--it looks to me like they are fully in catch-up mode, like a hare who realizes the tortoise has been chugging on a long time by now. This is the point I was suggesting: maybe DC should abandon the shared universe thing. It seems like with Marvel's chosen approach to their characters, the shared universe is feasible and largely enjoyable. I like Thor and I like Hulk, and the prospect of them teaming up in a movie sounds like stupid tons of fun. I also like Batman and I like WW. But do I need to see them fighting a side-by-side battle? I dunno. A crossover event film seems ripe with opportunity for fun hijinks, yet the dour outlook DC started out with makes it seem like those would be out of place. Now they are changing up the tone (as evident by the newer trailers and statements by Geoff Johns), which seems to be a course-correction on their part to get back on Marvel's rails. But you know, maybe rather than having the GL Corps pop up in a Cyborg film, they should just make a good GL film. Maybe the term "standalone" shouldn't be reserved for a villain-centered prequel, but for more individual heroes. Maybe DC ought to treat all their heroes' respective universes the way they treat their movie and tv universes: just let them do their own thing, without worrying about setting the stage for the next act. This has definitely been one of Marvel's biggest weaknesses, and DC could completely bypass it. That's not to say they can't still do that with their current planned projects. Perhaps there are signs they actually do know what they want to do with these characters, but if there are I guess I'm just not seeing them. Wow I didn't mean for this post to become so long-winded.

Substantial rumors are going around about two new Joker-centric films, one of which will be part of the DCEU and one which won't. Apparently the second will also be an origin story. This news, in addition to the Justice League Dark movie, current JL lineup and related films, SS sequel, GC Sirens, a long list of directors who have abandoned DC projects, and confusion over whether Matt Reeves' Batman movie will be standalone makes me wonder if WB has a clue what they are even doing (and it seems vaguely reminiscent of Sony's ridiculous Spiderverse ideas). Even if these movies were to turn out good, it's hard to see them going in so many different directions and be confident that they actually have a vision or plan other than "throw everything we have at the wall and see what sticks." The Joker movie falling outside the shared continuity is also troubling, as if WB themselves aren't confident in their cinematic universe: are they in or out? It's telling that their most beloved film so far has been the one that had the loosest ties to the others. Maybe (just maybe) cinematic universes aren't for everybody. I'd like to be hopeful here, but I'm finding it hard.

I'll echo this. It was a very enjoyable and informative review, with great pics. Thanks! I probably won't be picking it up, though, having shelled out a more-than-responsible amount for Elves sets.

The Iron Giant.

I like it but I'm gonna be honest: after seeing it (but before seeing the piece count) I thought it would be a $40, maybe $50 set. How did they hide nearly 1,000 pieces in there? I'll have to take a closer look at the designer video, because it looks way too small from the pics.