Aanchir

I had a hunch about the two grooved pieces, so I searched them on Bricklink, and sure enough, they are 635 and 636, two very old conveyor belt pieces. You'd need 631, 632, 633, 634, and 637 to use these for a full conveyor belt, but a capable MOCist could surely find other unintended uses for those two parts. With this said, all of your parts have been identified except those four red wheels with black tires. To be perfectly honest, the texture of the tires looks non-LEGO to me and reminds me more of some micro-RC cars I have seen at stores like Radio Shack in the past decade than like any LEGO tires. However, it's possible somebody else might have a more definite answer.

Well, the good thing about Creator is that even if the model displayed at Toy Fair isn't satisfactory, each set has two more chances to really impress because of its two additional models.

Well, my reason is that I'm not very good at Technic building, particularly on LDD (which I'd probably have to use since my Technic collection is not that large and mostly out-of-date). Making something that looks good and still functions would be beyond my level of expertise. I imagine that's probably true of a lot of action figure MOCists. I did at one point try to design a brick-built Hero Pod on LDD, since the new medium-sized Hero sets don't fit in the old-school canisters and since I thought that would be a nice, simple vehicle design to make. Boy, was I wrong! Trying to make a slab-shaped object with rounded corners both visually interesting and solid-looking was too much an ordeal for me.

I imagine that style of helmet was discontinued very deliberately. From my experience the chin strap on that helmet broke fairly easily, much like on the old-school space helmets. And the fact that that helmet has not been used for a decade is quite telling. Another helmet in that style, but a bit sturdier, might be effective, but one has to wonder if it would be worth a new mold. I'm no historian, but I've never had any problem with the current selection of LEGO Castle helmets. Even Knights' Kingdom (both iterations) was OK in my book. I imagine it's probably the same with many kids-- they might not object to a new "bullet helm", but it wouldn't necessarily excite them either. Well, for starters, most of those examples you describe were years ago, and the more recent examples like the Pharaoh's Quest and Indiana Jones sets to use raised baseplates were clear methods of cost-cutting-- I think I remember reading something about the Pharaoh's Quest Scorpion Pyramid and how the designer used the raised baseplate because a formidable-looking pyramid set would otherwise be incredibly difficult to create at a reasonable price point. Personally, while I can appreciate the creative use of a raised baseplate, I think that for the most part we're better off without them. They take the already overspecialized nature of traditional baseplates and push it to its logical extreme with a part not designed to function as anything BUT a base for your model. Anyway, somebody commented that the evil wizard had Gandalf's beard in black, but in the video you can see it's actually Sensei Wu's beard in black. Either way is very nice. All the minifigures look stellar IMO, as does their heraldry. More pics: Minifigures Castle, crossbow cart, and carriage Castle The ubiquitous treasure cart The dragon The gatehouse Source: http://www.spieletest.at/bericht.php?ID=1174

At Brickfair last year, Astrid Graabaek and Fenella Holden mentioned the number of handbags in the set. They said there was some internal skepticism over whether so many handbag molds were needed, but they justified it by pointing out just how many different sword molds are in a lot of Castle themes. Personally, I like the decision. I tend to use a brick-built backpack on my sigfig (when he's not in ninja garb, of course-- I need to change that eventually) since I'm not happy with the "camping-style" backpacks that tend to be featured in sets and came up with a brick-built solution that better echoes my real-life backpack. However, that didn't work when I considered giving my sigfig a portfolio to carry around, as I had to do at college last semester. Building certain types of accessories at a scale where they won't drag on the ground is a fiasco, and so having various styles of accessory can make sense in the long run (especially when it's something like a handbag that in real life exists in several styles).

What would make it look like a new hand piece? It would have to have the same connection points as the old one; otherwise it wouldn't be able to hold the upper part of the handles (this piece). Aquagon looks neat, if terribly plain. Evo, quite frankly, looks amazing. Interesting to see that unlike with past years, there is no differentiation in the packaging designs between sets for release in the first and second halves of the year. I had wondered whether the brain slug at the top might be changed to blue since that seems to be the typical color among the summer sets, but nope, same green brain slug we're used to. As a smaller villain, I like him a bit more than Scarox, who seemed to cut way too many corners just to work in that function, and as a result felt unfinished. This guy's design, while not very detailed, pretty consistently evokes some sort of spindly amphibian-creature.

Breez may not look decidedly female (and that's probably deliberate), but she at least looks more gender-ambiguous than the other heroes in most forms. Her helmet in her original, Breakout, and Brain Attack incarnations helps considerably, with its feminine-looking eyes and overall shape, and in her Breakout form she has some nice considerations such as the use of a 1.0 foot piece to give her back a little more curvature than, say, Rocka, who uses a 2.0 foot piece in the same place. My problem with Eris isn't that she isn't feminine enough (the main problem in that respect, IMO, is her head, which can't be seen very clearly in this pic), but some parts of her design don't seem like they'd work whether she's male OR female-- chiefly her long upper limbs and short lower limbs, which confuse me a great deal.

"Sitting neglected on the shelves?" I think that might be a bit of an exaggeration. There will some people who will probably buy any action figure set they think is cool-looking, regardless of whether they even know what the character is supposed to look like. On the other hand, given the target audience of Legends of Chima, I have a feeling that a lot of people familiar with the character would avoid buying Eris even if she looked very visibly feminine, just because she's a female character and thus quite likely "not as cool" to many six- to twelve-year-old boys. Making her not so visibly feminine could actually BOOST sales in this case, though in my personal opinion any female action figure set should at least look androgynous compared to the male characters in the same wave, if not outwardly feminine. To be honest, Eris's poorly-proportioned legs bother me more than anything else.

Just going to mention that if there is another RCB, I'm probably not going to be a part of it this time. In previous RCBs I have provided color-checking after each step, but frankly this semester my schoolwork is proving to be a huge burden and I don't want another obligation distracting me from it or taking up the time when I need to be unwinding after a long, stressful day. Color-checking on your own isn't too difficult. Some good resources are the Brickset parts browser, which while not 100% complete greatly simplifies the process of checking service.LEGO.com's database. Using the parts browser you can search for a Design ID to find colors it appeared in, or browse parts by category, color, and year released in sets. All parts are thoroughly cross-referenced, so when you view any part you can see other colors it has appeared in. And all parts use official Design IDs and color names. Additionally, by using the Brickset sets browser, you can find almost any set and, if it is inventoried on service.LEGO.com, view the "Parts" tab to see parts included in the set. It's a wonderful resource in general. The Bricklink Reference Catalog is another useful resource. Unlike the Brickset parts database, it is user-generated, so that usually means fewer omissions but more inaccuracies. It also does not use official LEGO color names or even part numbers in some cases, but Superkalle's LDD Manager software provides a usually-reliable chart for comparing Bricklink color names and numbers with TLG's names and numbers. LDD Manager also lets you upload an LXF and check which parts are listed in the Brickset database as available in sets-- an invaluable one-step tool in color-checking your model. And of course, don't forget that if you KNOW a part came in a certain set but it doesn't show up on Brickset's database (or if it's in Pick-A-Brick but not in Brickset's database), you can put the six- or seven-digit Element ID into this page's URL to view the page for it in TLG's customer service database. It may not have an image, in which case it will not appear in the Brickset database or the replacement parts menu at service.LEGO.com, but usually it will still have a page that will tell you the color name, design ID, and element ID (for example, here's the page for a certain LEGO soccer ball). So if you do end up starting another RCB or entering one as a builder, take full advantage of these resources! Best of luck to anyone who decides to get involved!

You can see in this video that the Chima display shows two Lion Temples back-to-back! Or part of them, anyway-- there's only one Chi fountain between the two of them. I wonder if this will be an advertised feature-- rarely do you see this kind of thing in a non-D2C set.

Great review. Your reviews are nothing if not thorough! This set is indeed awesome and it's really great to see LEGO Friends exploring subject matter different from the typical "pink aisle" fare-- but maintaining the stylish pastel aesthetic typical of the theme. It's also nice what a diversity of outfits there is in this year's Friends theme-- other than the riding outfits, most of last year's Friends sets featured typical casual clothes, but this year we've got swimsuits, gis, and tuxedos! Overall, LEGO Friends is really demonstrating its potential this year, and showing it's not just another "dollhouse theme" like Belville or Scala.

If you're really hoping for those so badly, have you tried service.LEGO.com[/url}? All you have to do is select "Buy a piece", put in Speeda Demon's set number, select the piece, and see if the folks at Customer Service can quote you a price. Obviously Customer Service isn't ideal as a primary source of pieces, but for certain pieces you're having a hard time getting through other channels it's probably worth a shot. Anyway, probably ought to put together a list of desired HF parts from Pick-A-Brick, though I'll probably wait and order when double VIP points are being offered.

Overall, I'm quite disappointed I see little attention put towards making Eris look feminine. I wasn't expecting a unique torso build or anything, but even her legs don't really feel too feminine. It's an awfully small pic, though, so I'll hold off my final opinions until we see clearer pics. The gorilla and raven sets look intense. Hope better pics don't show them to be less impressive than they appear here. Can't really judge Worriz because his head is at a bad angle for judging its shape. I see what look like some nice Dark Red shells, though.

Well, we might see a big Ninjago exclusive one day-- I wouldn't rule that out. While AFOL appeal is obviously a big deal for D2C sets, keep in mind that Monster Fighters was a heavily kid-oriented theme that nevertheless had a D2C set. What really makes D2C sets appeal to AFOLs isn't usually nostalgia alone, but also the overall complexity and ingenuity of the builds, and the "iconic" quality of the models. Even if AFOLs had no understanding of the Monster Fighters storyline or characters, the theme's use of familiar archetypes was nevertheless something anyone could appreciate, and a D2C Ninjago set might be able to manage this if its design focuses a bit more on an iconic Asian flavor rather than on trying to be a part of the theme's less familiar mythology. With that said, I don't see any reason to expect such a thing just yet. Even in 2014 they might be treading a bit lightly just to make sure that the demand for Ninjago hasn't dwindled during its "downtime". So while I expect a bigger wave than this 2013 wave as a means of re-invigorating the theme, I wouldn't expect a D2C model right then.

I agree almost entirely with this post. There are no KK2 similarities in this theme as far as I can tell, other than vague similarities in the color schemes, and very few KK1 similarities. Knights' Kingdom 2 was heavily stylized, many of the castles were very gappy, and of course the Castle of Morcia was heavily reliant on a BURP. In contrast, this model looks nothing if not solid. The throne room is enclosed on three sides, in contrast to the Kingdoms throne room which was OPEN on three sides and the Fantasy-Era throne room which was open on ALL sides. I will concede that this model uses more wall panels than Fantasy Era or Kingdoms, but frankly they are used for a very good purpose: enclosing as much of the castle as possible and allowing for a much bulkier gatehouse. Doing that out of regular bricks would have probably required cutting corners elsewhere in the model or bumping up the price. The end result is that this castle is incredibly formidable in appearance. It should be noted that there's one spot I find extremely lacking: the two octagonal corner towers. The problem I have with these is that they seem far too plain. But I think the fix for this would have been fairly easy: lower those windows on the corners a bit so they're not sitting right underneath those inverse slopes. That way it breaks up the surface a little better. More stickers could also have helped, but then the AFOL community would be whining even more than they already are. Another new part is a 4x4 45-degree facet brick on the towers. Previously we had only had 2x2, 3x3, and 5x5 versions May I also say that I much prefer the new lion emblem to the classic Royal Knights/KK1 version? The new one is simplified and slightly geometric in appearance, much like how an actual LEGO lion might appear if it were to show up in a set. In contrast, the lion from Royal Knights/KK1 was a lot more organic and detailed in its appearance. It always baffles me how so many AFOLs decry the increasing detail and complexity of LEGO molds, whether they be for animals, minifigures, or what-have-you, and yet demand a disproportionate amount of detail when it comes to printed patterns.

I dunno; the only set I would really compare Jet Rocka to from last year is Speeda Demon, whose bike WAS hugely Technic-intensive and used very little of the new building system except a few select armor pieces. Stormer and Frost Beast can both be seen in the background of the Jet Rocka pic, but no, I haven't seen any clearer pics of the rest of the Hero Factory lineup. I'm sure Atamaii.tv might have video of them on their YouTube channel eventually, just as they did of Breakout wave 2 sets in 2012.

Pick-A-Brick is in the process of being updated. There are dozens of new parts listed there that aren't yet marked as available. Hero Factory parts in particular seem to be seeing a lot of useful updates, but there are other scattered examples of great new PAB offerings.

Since nobody else seems to have pointed it out, take a look at who pilots the tank portion of the Blue Squad flagship...

I think people are talking about the jetpack's appearance in the episode trailer. Well, in this case, I think it's just a dopey mistake-- somebody assuming that Breez, who is not referred to by any pronouns like the other heroes in the shop.LEGO.com descriptions, is a guy just like the vast majority of the sets. But on the other hand, the choice not to use gender-indicative pronouns is in fact deliberate, because frankly TLG wants to draw as little attention to the fact that she's female as possible. While unfortunate, it's true that the core audience of boys is less likely to buy a set if they know it's a girl, and sales show it (this applies to action figures in general, not just LEGO action figure sets-- often female action figures are produced in smaller quantities than male ones just to compensate for the reduced demand). I think the white would have worked better if the set as a whole had been more streamlined. As it is, I don't think the white is awful-looking by any stretch of the imagination, But I had been expecting silver or gray based on the trailer.

They probably didn't want it centered. Asymmetry can add visual interest, and I think it works in this case. I'm not even certain all the Chima minifigure torso prints have the Chi centered, though Laval's and Cragger's do (their outfits in the minifigures are very different from the Ultrabuild outfits in general, though).

Very awesome work! It's quite a formidable MOC. Great physique, and nice color scheme.

Yeah, Jet Rocka isn't nearly as refined-looking as the Furno Bike and Drop Ship. But still, its functions might redeem it. I was hoping for gray or silver instead of white, but the white might work for it at other angles. Wish it had a larger windscreen as well-- was expecting the one from the Slave I, though that might not fit... hard to say. Stormer looks gorgeous in the background there. Looking forward to more pics. These are all from the Nuremberg Toy Fair.

Well, there have ALWAYS been "premium" sets, in a sense. The difference is that before 2012, the larger sets were always villains and the smaller sets were always heroes. I think that mixing that up is a great change, especially since the smaller villain sets (Thornraxx, Toxic Reapa, XT4, and Jawblade) turned out to be some of the most imaginative designs, while the larger hero sets (Breez, Rocka, Furno, and Bulk) have more equipment than could be included at a lower price point-- including, for all but Furno, actual back armor. The Hero Cores being all the same color is a bit less interesting than previous waves' colored cores, but personally I've grown to like the new Hero Cores with their uniform colors, and so I'm not too keen on seeing that change (it shouldn't be ignored that there are already technically four "variants" of the Hero Core, differentiated by the number of game points they offer-- so making each variant in an assortment of colors might mean having even more types of Hero Core in production than there were in 2010 and 2011).

Well, the goal of Pick-A-Brick isn't to be comprehensive. I for one appreciate that they're even providing so many great parts from Breakout wave two rather than just focusing on 2013 parts. EDIT: Just wanted to point out that I've cross-referenced some of the parts with their Element IDs on Service.LEGO.com and in the sets' instruction booklets. The undecorated Breakout torso shells are in fact NOT AN ERROR. Or rather, if they are an error, the error is not the image/360-degree spin but rather the parts' presence on the list, because the Element IDs listed specify the undecorated, never-released-in-sets versions of the parts (decorated ones have higher Element IDs). The same is true of the undecorated transparent Brain Attack visor-- its element ID doesn't correspond with the decorated version and its name does not indicate a decoration.

Yeah, it's quite likely that the Brain Attack storyline will be connected to that cliffhanger, but how is still unclear. We'll have a better idea once the episode premieres, whether on TV or online (some things seem to describe it as a webisode).