rodiziorobs

You can always use wallofbricks.com or a similar site and see if the inventory for your local store was updated lately.

The entire series 3 was available at my local Target last week. I picked up the three Spikels (tan) and Wizwuz. I might pick up the rest of the Wiztastics (purple), but the green ones don't really do much for me because of the lime green and trans neon green. Now if they were dark green with trans-dark green that would be another story...

The problem with roundabouts where I live (Utah, USA) is that since they are rare, the city thinks they have to put a giant monument ("Look! Ta-Da! We have a roundabout!") to take up the space. So they put up some walls with gardens overhanging them and giant trees on every side, which obscures your view around any side of it to where you literally can't see if it is clear to enter until you already have. Thankfully, as they are getting more common this trend seems to be waning. Another problem is that where my parents live there is a roundabout with two lanes (with the above-stated visibility issue), six entries/exits, but a very small circumference--there is hardly any space between the roads leading in and out. If it were bigger it might work, but as is it simply doesn't. That and the motorists here are (generally speaking) the well-deserved butt of many jokes; we just barely figured out how a regular roundabout works, and now here's one with two lanes? **edit: I just followed that link on the Magic Roundabout, that is absolutely nuts.

Or they just make it ludicrously huge, like this.

I am excited to try my hand at this, but almost more excited to see what everyone else comes up with... While I am not a big LDD user, without it I would not be able to enter, so thank you Bob de Quatre!

Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

I would use that last design but with tan instead of grey, and add the sash back in, but in tan. It just needs that little bit back in, as it looks to bare without it.

I'm guessing that Ultron will be like the Exo-Force robots crossed with the Super Battle Droids from the Star Wars sets--bulked up torso, narrow limbs, and taller than the standard minifig. My guess is we get a new mold for the torso and head at least.

Sounds good, but where did you hear this? I wouldn't mind reading the original articles if you have a link (or even just the name of the site).

Looks like pretty much everyone here agrees on pictures because we have all seen so many terrible video reviews. But it also looks like we would all be more on board with video reviews if they: -were concise -were professionally made (i.e. with good lighting, no shaky camera, etc.) -focused on the model and not the reviewer -included some insight beyond just showing a 3d view of the model, such as highlighting new elements, play functions, or build techniques I'm thinking of the Designer videos that LEGO does for various models, which at times can seem a bit drawn out but for the most part hit the main points above. Romance14's pirate review linked to in the original post is a very good example of these attributes, but it is also of a very simple set. Granted, this all takes a lot more time and effort and talent than simply posting a few well-lit photos with a thoughtful description, which is probably why there are so few good video reviews out there.

As I usually follow EB on my mobile, I prefer picture reviews (it doesn't suck up my data), but occasionally I will watch a video review...but only after looking through the pictures, if they are intriguing enough. Also, many video reviews are too long. I don't need to watch the box opened up, or the sorting, or even the building for that matter. Even on my own Flickr account, if I post a video (to demonstrate a function), I post only a 2-3 second clip, accompanied by a written description.

Also, in one scene you can see the wings extend the same as the actual set. I guess it isn't very impressive that a toy matches the actual movie prop so well, considering that the prop itself is...a toy..but when I noticed that in the movie I was impressed nonetheless.

Printing on the statuette piece has been done before, in POTC.

I was relieved to hear that the Exo Suit was planned for more than one production run--not only because it means I might be able to get one, but also as a kind of a blow to the commenters on brickpicker who were bragging about their multiple accounts they had made to game the system in order to buy more sets. With the wider availability, the secondary market price won't rise like they had wanted. Serves 'em right.

I have only placed a few BL orders, but I don't want to place orders from more than one store if I have to. What I have done is look at which of the parts I want os likely to be most expensive, or will have the highest quantity. Then I search for a store where I can get the best deal on that, and get the rest there, as well. Unless you have a lot of specialty pieces then the rest of your order will stay about the same. Case in point: I needed one of the new dark brown bears, and the range of prices from sellers in my country (US) was several dollars in difference from highest to lowest. I started with the lowest price seller in the quantity I wanted, and browsed the rest of their store to see if they had what else I wanted. Turns out I had to go with the 2nd or 3rd cheapest to find the rest of my order from the same seller, but I ended up saving a couple bucks overall. I recently made my first trip to a PAB wall, and I can say this about it: if you aren't needing specific pieces for a MOC, just pieces "that would be nice to have" then the PAB wall is the way to go, as price is unbeatable and selection isn't as important. Also, shopping from BL can be exhausting and you have to wait for shipping, but shopping on the wall is fun in its own right and you walk out with pieces in hand and a free cup as a bonus.

That is because TLG's patents expired on their bricks, and the minifigure came to represent their trademark. Other brick companies copy the brick and knob design all they want, but they cannot (legitimately) copy the minifig design. Sure, Chinese knockoff brands still try(-ish: their figs look atrocious) but MegaBloks, Kre-o, and back in the day Tyco had to develop their own style of mini-person. With that in mind (and to return to the topic at hand), it is no small wonder why TLG has invested so much into designing and detailing minifigs. As stated in my earlier post about TLG using shaded curves to make gender easily recognizable, I believe that TLG also uses this method as it further establishes their own brand--not only is it easy to spot that the minifigure in question is female, it is easy to spot that it is specifically a LEGO female.

If Agents of SHIELD had been like this, I might have kept watching. Very clever, and very well done :)

I would say no to digital, but that is only because it makes it hard to test the functions of the model. Other than that, no objections. On a different note, I hope I can enter this one...I wanted to enter the last two contests here (MINI) and (TRIPLE), but just couldn't get an entry together. Third time's the charm... :)

My experience was the same, except I never was quite as severe in the first place. But it was kind of a wake up call to how I appreciate my family generally. Probably why I really enjoyed that part the first time around, whereas on subsequent viewings now all I can see is melodrama.

They could have gone for classic gamer and used Galaga, they already had rights to that image from the Hulk Helicarrier set. Although I guess that could have been a one-off. I expect that the after-market price of that sticker sheet will go way up with this CMF.

^My theatre applauded, but the post-credit scene got some audibly confused reactions and groans. I think I involuntarily let out a "what...?" myself. I hope that Marvel treads no farther down that path. Agreed that the Lego sets were almost perfectly spot-on! As far as Groot being huge, it does happen in the movie, so I think the size is accurate, but it seems like the figure itself is awkwardly built (I don't own it, so don't know for sure). Drax' color is not exactly accurate (but in order for that, they would need to bring back old dark grey, and then make it slightly lighter anyway), but the detail on his torso absolutely nailed it. The ships, everything. While watching the movie (which shows how nerdy I am here), I kept thinking how TLG must have had access to a lot of official concept art early on, and that Marvel must have learned their lesson on the IM3 tie-ins. Now I just have to find enough money to get all the sets...

Ditto.

edit: replaced "AFOL" with "parent" above. Let's face it, it's not just our Lego we want our kids out of. Whether I have a bunch of books around while doing research, my wife with her sewing or painting, or either of us with dinner before the whole family has gathered to eat, we tell our kids "hands off" a ton. In one way or another, every parent tells their kid "you've got your own bucket of Lego over there in the corner to play with," just that it doesn't always involve Lego.

I agree with you about Gamora, but I also figured out something else: Your ranking of the top three is close to mine, except that I also feel like the first Iron Man belongs up there. Maybe. Other than the finale with Stane, nothing in that movie disappointed me, and it showed what Marvel could do as their own studio. By the way, what is it with Marvel and their movie villains being letdowns? I mean, they've been getting better--Cap 2 had plenty of good villainy , Ronan and Nebula were quite good in GOTG--and then there's Loki, who has been consistently good in his roles. But other than that, I mean, Marvel has an amazing rogues' gallery yet their on-screen incarnations have tended to fall flat, particularly in the third act/finale. Stane, Whiplash, Killian, the Destroyer, Red Skull, Killian, Malekith (I really want to see what he was like before they wrote him out and wrote more Loki in), and Killian. Abomination was passable, but also forgettable. I just hope Ultron rises to the occasion.

Saw GOTG last night, and here are my spoiler-free thoughts: I didn't go into this expecting a great movie; I went in expecting to have a lot of fun watching a decent movie. It totally delivered and I had a ton of fun. That being said, I still think that both Avengers and Cap 2 (and maybe a few others) rank higher for me, with GOTG somewhere there near the top. Best bits: Each of the characters is great to watch on screen, from the heroes to the villains and everyone else along the way. All were near-perfectly cast, and superbly realized. Apart from being great individually, the whole cast meshed well together, also. Great effects. Rocket and Groot were expertly animated, along with most of the CGI backdrop. The spaceships and battles were incredible, not just visually but also in terms of creativity and story. Most of the MCU doesn't take itself too seriously (which I think it a big part of why it has been so successful), but in some instances, that means a serious-ish movie with lighthearted scenes sprinkled in. Not here; it's as though every scene was crafted first to look awesome and have good acting, and then any space leftover was crammed with humor. Its a very funny film from (just after the) start to finish and I loved that about it. Gripes: I get that a lot of exposition is needed to explain stuff--after all, this movie introduced a whole unfamiliar universe--but it seemed like a lot of dialogue in the first half-hour/40 mins was just exposition. Once that was all set up the movie sailed along, but it got it off to a slightly bumpy start. Case in point: in the trailer, where John C. Reilly tells us a rundown of all the guardians' backstory? That kind of dialogue is typical of much of the first half of the show. Also, the movie overall was a lot more vulgar than any other in the MCU. It was still pretty tame compared to other movies with the same rating, but it surprised me, especially in light of Kevin Feige's statement a while back. Spoilery stuff: