Aanchir

We're already getting those in the LotR theme. But I get your point-- this would be a much more economical way to accumulate parts like that.

Fourth-model instructions are generally "bonus" instructions developed specifically for the LEGO Club, as far as I'm aware. As such they don't necessarily exist for all Creator sets. I was quite fond of the Vespa-style scooter design one magazine provided instructions for as an alternate build for the Cool Convertible.

There's more to determining where a store will go than just the population of customers in the area. The profitability of a store can be dependent on many factors. Here in the United States, some localities are simply considered better for business than others due to factors like tax rates, the number of employees with the right qualifications looking for work, what laws and incentives are in place to protect businesses (or entice them to start new stores), what competitors are in the immediate area, and of course whether or not there are vacant stores in malls and shopping centers that get a satisfactory amount of business. Just being in an area with a lot of potential customers doesn't guarantee a store will be profitable. And this applies not only on a local level, but on an international one. Granted, I'm sure that there are plenty of locations worldwide where TLG could start very successful stores. But to gain confidence in the profitability of such a decision, TLG has to work from what they know, and as such it could be a long time before they are ready to put stores in those places.

Shortcut to Part One: Hero Factory Shortcut to Part Two: Ninjago This year, I was able to go to the New York International Toy Fair for the first time as a representative of the BIONICLE wiki BIONICLEsector01 and its sister site HEROsector01. Together with fellow BS01/HS01 staff member Chols, who took most of the photos, I attended the LEGO Collectors Preview where representatives of LEGO fansites can view and photograph the new sets for an extended two-hour timeframe (our invitations unfortunately did not cover admission to the full three-day Toy Fair event, so externally-produced LEGO products like clocks and watches were not among the things we saw). Since our sites' normal coverage doesn't extend outside the constraction themes, we reached an agreement with Eurobricks to share with them our coverage of the LEGO Collectors Preview and all the sets and themes on display. Part three of our coverage is LEGO City, one of the most traditional LEGO themes for 2012 but one which still pushes the envelope by relocating the setting to outside the usual city limits. I know I promised Monster Fighters coverage at the end of Part Two, but that's been delayed slightly, so we're pushing LEGO City ahead in the sequence to satisfy your appetite for new set news. This coverage doesn't include store exclusive (limited edition/special edition) sets, which weren't on display, so if the numbers of sets for each subtheme seem off it's (probably) not a mistake. Three sets were released in January for the Forest Fire subtheme. We weren't able to take any good photos of these ones, so instead we'll be offering links to high-resolution images on cache.LEGO.com. 4208 Fire Truck 243 pieces USD 19.99 CAD 24.99 Other currencies from Brickset Link to high-resolution image from cache.LEGO.com This fire truck looks a bit unusual for a LEGO City vehicle, but apparently it actually resembles some of the types of fire engine used for fighting forest fires. It includes a nicely-designed tree in a style that appears in many of this year's City sets, as well as one firefighter in the new Flame Yellowish Orange (Bricklink's Bright Light Orange) uniform design. 4209 Fire Plane 522 pieces USD 59.99 CAD 74.99 Other currencies from Brickset Link to high-resolution image from cache.LEGO.com This set is very nicely-designed in my opinion, with attractive engines and pontoons. It has two great-looking trees, a jeep with equipment chart, and three minifigures (a uniformed firefighter and two pilots). 4427 Fire ATV 50 pieces USD 5.99 CAD 7.99 Other currencies from Brickset Link to high-resolution image from cache.LEGO.com This ATV is simplistic in design, but still rather stylish. It includes a fire extinguisher, a chainsaw, and a uniformed firefighter minifigure. Five sets were released in January for the Great Vehicles subtheme: 4431 Ambulance 199 pieces USD 19.99 CAD 24.99 Other currencies from Brickset This is a very accurate model of an American-style ambulance, although I'm a bit upset that the hood sticker does not have the word "Ambulance" mirrored (as it appears on many ambulances so it will be correctly aligned when viewed in a rear-view mirror). Stickers in this set add a lot of versatile detail, such as the dashboard sticker (which could be used in all scores of 6-wide vehicles) and the grille sticker (with "CITY" branding in the center). The set's minifigures include two EMTs and a civilian for them to rescue. One of the EMTs can fit in the back of the ambulance with the stretcher, while the other drives. 4432 Garbage Truck 208 pieces USD 19.99 CAD 24.99 Other currencies from Brickset Link to high-resolution image from cache.LEGO.com We didn't get any good photos of this set, but it strongly resembles the sorts of garbage trucks I might see in everyday life. Its primary color is Bright Green, a much rarer color than the typical LEGO green, or dark green (Bricklink's Green). It is a bit unusual that it is covered in recycling-symbol stickers, but this is obviously so that it can follow LEGO City's trend of having a uniform logo for each City subtheme. It has two garbage collector minifigures, one male and one female. 4433 Dirt Bike Transporter 201 pieces USD 19.99 CAD 24.99 Other currencies from Brickset This set features a nice SUV and trailer, plus two dirt bikes. The color scheme is a nice deviation from the typical LEGO City civilian vehicles. Also included are a spare tire on the roof, two cones/flags, and two minifigures in classic-looking Octan racing/mechanic uniforms. 4434 Tipper Truck 222 pieces USD 19.99 CAD 24.99 Other currencies from Brickset This set introduces two great new bracket pieces that form its tipper bed. Also included are a fence, two worker minifigures, and a bright red wheelbarrow. 4435 Car and Caravan 218 pieces USD 19.99 CAD 24.99 Other currencies from Brickset It's always nice to see a leisure-oriented LEGO City set. The caravan can open to reveal the interior. the 4-wide car is the same bright yellow as many, many LEGO City sports cars from previous years, which might turn off some buyers. A minifigure couple completes the set. Five sets were released in January for the Forest Police subtheme: 4436 Patrol Car 97 pieces USD 11.99 CAD 14.99 Other currencies from Brickset The police car in this set is a modest size but still maintains a nice streamlined look. The barricade and bear crossing sign help complete the set. Minifigures include a rather generic convict and a forest police officer. I'm not especially happy that the police badge design has changed from the design that had been standard since 2005. 4437 Police Pursuit 129 pieces USD 17.99 CAD 19.99 Other currencies from Brickset There's a cute little police ATV in this set and a forest police officer in a helmet rather than a flat-brimmed hat. But the real draw in this set is the souped-up pickup truck and the convict in ripped sleeves driving it. Some LEGO fans would be happy that this set is entirely sticker-free. 4439 Heavy-Lift Helicopter 393 pieces USD 49.99 CAD 64.99 Other currencies from Brickset This police helicopter resembles a Chinook, far from standard equipment in most police departments. But it's still extremely well-designed, looking streamlined without relying on any specialized nose or tail pieces. Minifigures include a forest police officer and two brand-new police pilots. 4440 Forest Police Station 633 pieces USD 79.99 CAD 99.99 Other currencies from Brickset This police station is a masterpiece. Unlike some of the other forest police sets, this one is entirely unlike anything seen in any other LEGO City Police sets. The SUV is well designed, although the helicopter is not especially streamlined. Minifigures include a male forest police officer, a female forest police officer, a forest police pilot, a convict with ripped sleeves, and a convict with overalls. Plus, this set includes the amazing new LEGO bear, a rock that opens to act as a hiding place for stolen money and gold, and a couple trees to further establish the forest setting. 4441 Police Dog Van 313 pieces USD 34.99 CAD 44.99 Other currencies from Brickset A police dog van might not be on the top of many people's wish lists since we got one just last year. This one is much larger and more formidable than the last, which could be a positive or a negative depending on one's perspective. But it includes two police dogs, a stylish sports car for the convict, and an abandoned gold mine that can serve as a hiding place. Minifigures include a convict in a ratty old jacket (seen in many sets last year) and a forest police officer. Five sets are due for release in August as part of the Mining subtheme: 4200 Mining 4x4 102 pieces USD 11.99 CAD 14.99 This "work truck" feels formidable while keeping to a modest 4-stud-wide chassis. One miner minifigure is included with a stick of dynamite and a plunger/detonator. I'm not as fond of the plunger as I am of the more blocky one that appeared in the Explosion Studio during my childhood. It's possible that round plunger boxes exist, but I am having trouble finding information on the subject. One definite advantage of this plunger design is that the handle can slide in or out, adding play value. 4201 Loader and Tipper 139 pieces USD 17.99 CAD 19.99 This set's contents are fairly generic-- the sorts of vehicles you might find in any construction theme. I'm not especially impressed by either vehicle's design, although the tipper uses that same new Technic-based hinge that is seen in some of the sets in the Great Vehicles subtheme. Two miners are included, along with a boulder and a stick of dynamite, but no plunger in any pictures we were able to get. Like the boulder in the 4x4 set, this set's boulder includes both rubble (1x1 round plates) and warm gold (pearl gold) crystals. 4202 Mining Truck 269 pieces USD 34.99 CAD 44.99 This set originally struck me as mundane, but now I consider it one of the most visually impressive vehicles in this subtheme. It's definitely a powerful dump truck design, with an entirely brick-built hauler bed. I'm not sure if the 2x2 round tiles on the front are supposed to be stickered-- they have no decoration at all in any of the pics I've seen, which is confusing as I would think of them as headlights, and there are stickers elsewhere in the build. Two minifigures, two boulders full of gold, a stick of dynamite, and a warning sign are included here. 4203 Excavator Transport 305 pieces USD 39.99 CAD 49.99 The excavator and truck here are both fairly generic, and I have a hard time imagining somebody buying this set rather than the cheaper and IMO more desirable Mining Truck. But of course, ideally, TLG wants kids to buy both for a full mining collection. Two minifigures and two boulders full of warm gold 1x1 round plates are included, along with dynamite and an alternate drill head that can be switched with the excavator's scoop. 4204 The Mine 748 pieces USD 99.99 CAD 119.99 The amount of play value in this set is stunning, and there's no question as to why it's the largest set in the theme. Besides the mine itself, which is filled with gold crystals, the set includes a large tipper truck, a modern-day minecart, a vault, a crane, a wheelbarrow, and a tunnel-boring machine which is unique to this set. All of these things are rendered quite attractively. In addition to the set's four minifigures, there is a caution fence, a caution sign, two plungers, two sticks of dynamite, and lots of gold and rubble. One of the minifigures who stands out is the mine foreman, in his button-down shirt, tie, and suspenders. One set is due for release in September: 4428 LEGO City Advent Calendar 248 pieces USD 39.99 CAD 39.99 This year's LEGO City Advent Calendar is fire-themed, in contrast with last year's police-themed one. It isn't without its faults-- Santa Claus's snowmobile is quite underwhelming in my personal opinion-- but in some ways I feel it definitely improves on last year's design. In lieu of a proper fire station this year, this set provides some nice wall segments with equipment racks, making good use of the new 1x2 masonry relief bricks. While they can be connected together, they look a lot better on their own than the police station walls of last year's Advent Calendar. There is also a small ATV, with a separate day's build for the wheels and tires, but this time the tires are placed with a handcart so they look a bit more like a proper model on their own. This is a nice touch compared to last year's three-day police buggy. Last year's snowball catapults were a bit silly, but this year there's an even sillier-looking one, visible in the second photo. It doesn't make as much sense here, either. Sure, it's a winter-oriented set, but at least last year the catapult offered some winter hijinks for the "crooks". Still, the Christmas spirit is well-represented with a Christmas tree, some presents, and one particularly cute model, a microscale fire engine with a remote control (reminiscent of the many toy vehicles in the 2010 advent calendar). There are seven minifigures in the overall model: Three firefighters (two male, one female), two kids (one male, one female), a mechanic, and the obligatory Santa Claus. It's fewer than have been in some advent calendars, perhaps because there is also a dog that may be treated as a minifigure. This concludes our LEGO City coverage! Next up (hopefully) will be coverage of the Dino and Monster Fighters themes! Keep your eyes on the Action Themes subforum over the next week.

Something to note is that as of yet TLG can't print the entire surface of a minifigure arm. An example can be seen here on the Lumberjack. The plaid printing on his arms doesn't extend all the way across the shoulder. This would look awkward for a short-sleeved shirt print, like instead of a sleeve a person had part of a sleeve taped to the side of their arm.

That's true, especially with today's "scroll cards" that essentially instruct you to set up a minigame for your spinners. That makes it so that it's no longer just a matter of knocking your opponent off his or her spinner. You have to actually have some skill (or luck) at making the spinner go where you want it to go and do what you want it to do.

As has been mentioned in the article, this International Space Station model can only be built in zero-gravity-- it isn't designed with the stability that would be necessary for Earth's gravity. I should mention that LEGOspace.com has updated with lots of new photos and videos. Some of them are related to this article, while some are not. I'm particularly impressed with the Soyuz spacecraft sketch model, which uses Technic panels for its rockets. The ISS vignettes are also nice. I believe I read last year that they were designed as gifts for NASA astronauts.

Some news: First, Bjarne Hansen has updated his blog with 2012 concept art for the TV series. Second, the Ninjago site has updated with a new game called "Viper Smash". It has roughly the same ripped-straight-from-Megaman-Battle-Network gameplay as the Spinjitzu Smash games before it. But it looks cool. Right now I'm a bit more interested in Spinjitzu Spinball, which I'm watching my younger brother play. This is my first time seeing the gameplay, and it looks very fun.

The LEGO Dino site is updated with the "Base", "Nest", and "Fun Zone sections. The Nest sections shows you things about the dinos, while the Base section shows you things about the human characters. The main character's name in the Base section is Josh Thunder. Discuss.

There are a lot of things that can be said about XT4, but I don't at all think he's jumbled. He'd run the risk of looking jumbled if the designers were tempted to put shells on all his limbs or something to that effect. But as it is, his arms are all designed similarly (unlike the legs of Scorpio, which were wildly inconsistent) and he adheres pretty strictly to a three-color color scheme (bright yellow, medium stone grey, and black). That is a bad picture of him, though. This pic I took might show him a bit better, although it's the same pose. He scarcely has enough pieces on him to look jumbled if he's posed competently, with the arms spread out a bit more broadly.

I think Shakar was referring to the Y-joints actually, since those are new to Jawblade. The phrasing was a little misleading/ambiguous, but that's how I interpreted the post.

Pythor is still the character we know the least about, despite his important role in the show. He has no bio on LEGO.com, and as such we know hardly anything about him or his tribe that wasn't stated in the show. Is ravenous hunger in fact a general Anacondrai trait? What function does the anti-venom in their staff serve? They don't even have any emblem as far as we know (since the staffs in the show don't feature a Serpentine emblem on them).

Those pictures are actually from New York. I know not only from being there but because the prices listed on the name cards are in U.S. dollars. The pictures are nice but don't clarify one thing I found myself wondering after the Collectors Preview, that being what XT4's torso looks like underneath that armor. From the looks of things it would have a Technic pin hole and a ball joint in the same point in the center of the torso, which would arguably be possible but would be extremely unusual compared to what we've seen in other Hero Factory torso and leg beams. The way Bulk's rocket launcher attaches to his back will probably be disappointing for a lot of people because it adds some superfluous red to the color scheme. But it should be no serious problem for the most devoted fans of Bulk to mod it with those parts in black, or with a different connection entirely.

Thanks for the review! To be honest, I agree, it's not a perfect likeness. And while that could be said of most of the Architecture sets, the complex contours of the real-life Sydney Opera House make those slight differences in contours a lot more noticeable. In a model where the complexity that makes it so distinctive is the same complexity that makes it so difficult to match, and the same complexity that makes any inaccuracies glaringly obvious in a side-by-side comparison, I admire the audacity of trying to design a set of the location in the first place! Overall I don't have any special liking for the Architecture theme. They are well-designed sets and great display pieces, but I have no desire to collect them myself. Still, I appreciate this set along with TLG's overall trend of moving away from famous American houses and skyscrapers and focusing on more global architecture, including extremely non-traditional structures such as this!

I love these designs! They are very imaginative, the way they take inspiration not only from the uniforms a human in these roles would wear but also (especially in the cases of MA-X and EARL) from the vehicles and equipment used by individuals performing these jobs. I also love the cute names you gave them. My favorite of these is FRANK, whose rotund shape and attractive firefighting uniform make him extremely endearing. The scene you've photographed MA-X in is grimly amusing as well. A part of me kind of thinks that EARL would be cool with a pair of the handcuffs from this year's Hero Factory, but on the other hand I like how these guys rely on brick-built detail rather than designated "action figure parts". Great work on all of these! They have a lot of personality and charm. Regarding breaking ball joints, the newest style of female joint is not prone to breaking. It was introduced last year and is magnificently sturdy. It can be found on Pick-A-Brick or Bricklink under the Design ID/part number 92013.

Not entirely. It made its debut in last year's Pirates of the Caribbean sets.

Sorry about that, not sure why the links didn't work. They worked fine for me. The Ninjago music can be found here. Just click "Hear" and scroll down. The tracks from the latest episode are listed under "Zane Battles the Guardian", "Remembering Father", and "True Potential". I have all of them on my iPod, where the three tracks are titled "Iron Man", "A Memory Switch", and "Zane's True Potential".

Upper and lower leg bones so far exist in all the same lengths though... it looks like those are 7M, which appeared in Rocka XL in Medium Stone Grey. I guess that wouldn't match the color scheme, though. I hope they eventually come out in more colors.

The search function is pretty easy to use if you know the design IDs of the parts, and these days design IDs are fairly easy to look up from various sources (either Bricklink or service.LEGO.com is usually a good bet). As far as the names are concerned, those parts you mention have pretty logical names IMO. The leaves are called "limb elements" because they're basically tree limbs with leaves at the end, while the shuriken is essentially a star with a 3.2 mm wheel-- that is to say, it has 3.2 mm diameter attachment points around it in a circle so that a minifigure hand can clip it. There's no way they could make the search function work perfectly for all users. If they called the shuriken a shuriken there would still be people who didn't know what it was called and would search "throwing star". The solution isn't to change the problems but rather to learn the names and categories for the parts you need, which you'd have to do with most other parts databases anyway.

"Tick Tock" is by far the best episode I've seen. Since most people have already commented on the plot of it (Lyichir's post sums up my own thoughts pretty well), let me mention something that hasn't really been mentioned: the music. This episode's music was incredible. I've loved the falcon's theme music from the beginning, but the music as they are pursuing the falcon is epic. The tracks "Zane's True Potential" and "A Memory Switch" are also both brilliant. Overall, the episode really began to show the plot moving along at a faster pace. First, the Ninja demonstrate how much they have advanced in their training in a brief montage. Then, Sensei Wu shares details about Lord Garmadon's backstory. And finally, Zane discovers his past, his nature, and his true potential. Overall, a lot of these things could have been done poorly, but I think they were done quite well, and I look forward to whatever character development awaits Jay, Kai, and Cole as they learn to unlock their own true potential. I very much look forward to the next episode, which based on a synopsis I read involves

My, oh, my. He's looking incredible now. I love his bulky aesthetic. The Jetbug/Nitroblast head really goes well with those sphere detail pieces. The color scheme is well-organized, and he seems nicely-armored from all angles. One thing I would change would be to give him "upper limb" bones for his lower limbs, kind of like XT4. Those seem to work better with this style of foot since the foot joint is lined up how it is, perpendicular to how it is aligned on most BIONICLE/Hero Factory foot designs.

Yes, sorry, I should have clarified that. They're not going to identify a matching minifigure for you.

There's already a discussion on Kre-O here. Anyway, Kre-O isn't a clone brand I'm especially fond of. Some of their parts are near-identical to even specialized LEGO parts like this, with only slight modifications. Their figures (Kreons) are unique, which sets them apart from some clone brands who have figures very much like LEGO's minifigs, but they are also fairly ugly-looking. At the same time, I'm not opposed to the existence of Kre-O or any clone brand; I just think that their current products are somewhat embarrassing, and I think they could use improvement before they're a competitor on a level playing field with TLG. As it is, I doubt any of the Kre-O sets would be successful if they weren't tied to Hasbro's already-successful product lines like Transformers, unlike other brands like Mega Bloks which have created their own unique product lines that aim to be a low-cost alternative to LEGO products.