Aanchir

In the latest magazine, yeah. Here's a scan of the first page; haven't seen any other scans around. I've heard that the pacing's not too good, though, perhaps partly because Greg Farshtey apparently isn't the writer of this one. Since I haven't read it I can't vouch for how accurate that criticism is. Pacing of the first page doesn't give me high hopes for the rest of it, though.

Well, definitely, but that applies for any sort of MOC judgment that limits the creativity of the MOCist. Personally, I dislike using illegal connections, and it pains me to see ones where the parts might be damaged. But that doesn't mean I can't acknowledge talented or creative MOCs that use these connections. There's similar snobbery in a lot of other fields of MOCing. for instance, BIONICLE/Hero Factory MOCs are often deemed inferior to System MOCs unless they're hugely complicated-- otherwise, they "all look the same", just like how some AFOLs feel about the actual sets in these themes. But that's just a matter of people's personal judgment, and from my experience people these days, at least here on Eurobricks, are a lot more open to many types of MOCs whether simple or SNOTted, studless or studded.

What are you talking about? The Technic website is still there. It's linked from the main products page, the same way as every other theme. It occasionally is linked from the LEGO.com front page, but the themes featured there change every week, so it's a good idea to get used to getting there through the products page. Haven't really used the LEGO Education site much myself, so can't speak to whether that is better or worse than before.

The LEGO City site now has a designer blog! I'm very impressed and hope to see a lot of interesting updates. It's always nice to see the hard work and decision-making that goes into the design of LEGO sets, IMO. Naturally I don't expect to see anything too in-depth there, since it like the rest of the site has a lot of children in its audience. But at the same time, I'm a big fan of the LEGO Creator designer blog, so hopefully this new one will be just as entertaining.

They did release Cars in Duplo before System. Maybe something similar would happen with Disney Princesses. I can certainly understand if they wanted to delay a licensed theme's System release in order to see how the Friends theme fares. Or, alternatively, they could hold off in order to tie the sets in with some movie/other event-- after all, as a young kid I watched far more "classic" Disney movies than I did in my preteen years. It seems pretty evident to me that the system-based Cars sets were released in anticipation of the theatrical release of Cars 2. While Disney Princesses are a much less continuous franchise (besides occasional direct-to-DVD spin-offs and sequels), there could still be something to bring the characters back into the public consciousness. Overall, though, I have a hard time guessing at what age range the market for Disney Princesses is at, or what types of products sell well within that franchise. I'm pretty out-of-touch with most things targeted at girls unless they have a direct connection with LEGO. I would be at least sort of peeved if a Disney Princesses license used the Friends figures, not because I dislike those figures but because LEGO has so many minifigure parts already that would be great for The Little Mermaid and it would be a real shame if those couldn't be used.

There are definitely situations in which SNOT or studless MOCs are good and situations in which they are bad. For instance, I generally don't like SNOT builds that end up causing the model to be unstable or fragile. And I don't like studless builds if a model is designed to resemble a set and the studlessness makes it overly complicated or reduces play value. At the same time, SNOT allows for a lot of parts to be used in ways other than how they were intended, which adds to the creativity of a model, and studlessness allows for smoother details. Even sets nowadays tend to use a lot more SNOT or studless building-- for instance, the sidewalks of modular buildings are studless. And it's not just in AFOL-oriented sets-- some Atlantis sets tended to conceal a lot of the studs, even if they were occasionally uncovered, and used SNOT techniques plentifully to create curved or irregular shapes.

Very nice. Glad to see the quality of the LEGO Minifigures sets are recognized even outside the LEGO fan community. A'course, when the LEGO rep they talk to mentions how the blind packaging cuts down on the cost of making unique packaging for each figure, it's painfully obvious how many other motivations he's neglecting to mention (for instance, the ability to release "niche" figures whose desirability isn't as universal, the "collect-them-all" aspect mentioned elsewhere in the article, and the component of surprise that comes with any type of "mystery-pack" item). It's interesting that the UK has been the top market for these minifigures. I wonder why that is-- is this the case with blind-packaged toys in general, is there a cultural factor involved, or does it have something to do with pricing and distribution?

Very nice review. I love how you were able to look at it from a child's perspective while still paying close attention to details both good and bad. The juniorization of these sets would be somewhat bothersome if there were some sort of standard I were expecting them to live up to, but as it is Fabuland seems merely designed to fill the gap between the Duplo and minifig-based System age range, and it is well-designed for that. If only there were more reviews showing such keen attention to sets that obviously lie outside an AFOL's usual interest range! It always bothers me that sets from beginner themes like Jack Stone and its mostly-superior successor 4 Juniors get largely ignored or rejected when they also have their share of useful pieces and creative designs. Likewise Belville and other girl-oriented "dollhouse" themes, although some reviewers here have taken the plunge and reviewed certain Belville sets in detail. Duplo reviews are still almost entirely absent on Eurobricks, especially of more expensive and complex Duplo sets like the Castle line. However, I have no animosity towards Fabuland for its disproportionate appeal among adult fans. Although I didn't live through the Fabuland phenomenon I certainly saw its legacy in parts like the columns mentioned in this review, or even the cauldron piece used in Fright Knights. Although nowadays the mold has been changed, my original Fright Knights cauldron still had "Fabuland" embossed on the bottom of the piece! That was some of my earliest exposure to this theme. The theme reminds me of the video game franchise Animal Crossing in some ways, with its simple community dynamic and charming animal characters. And while I no longer have much time for video games in my life, I certainly appreciate the appeal of such a cute storybook universe. I wonder if TLG will ever have a similarly successful foray into this intermediate age range, of if they've just decided that the transition period between Duplo and System is not significant enough to get its own line of sets.

The ship is actually from the London Escape set from this year's Pirates of the Caribbean theme. So it's not even new. Still not a bad piece, though. Anyway, great review. This is a very nice product design, especially for just a free "bonus" set with large purchases. The boldly-colored gifts, brightly-colored tree, and tasteful floor pattern are all remarkably sophisticated, especially for what is essentially LEGO's first foray into 8x8 vignettes (at least, their first in several years-- I suppose there were vignette qualities to some of those early dollhouse-style Harry Potter sets).

"New Dark Red" is a confusing color because it seems to be just a re-formulation of the original Dark Red without any change in material ID (still 154). The name New Dark Red has been used for this color for at least a year now, whereas before that it had been called just "Dark Red". So this will be the same Dark Red that has been appearing in sets all year if not longer. There will be lots of 1x1 round tiles in next year's sets, in colors including Medium Stone Grey, Warm Gold, Transparent Blue, Transparent Red, Transparent Green, and Transparent Yellow. Possibly others as well.

Wellm those sets weren't Creator sets, even though they are similar in content and some of the designers for those sets certainly worked on that theme. Those were Direct-to-Consumer sets that don't officially have any "theme" branding. Direct-to-consumer sets are often officially announced at times that coincide with AFOL conventions. So far, the 2012 ones that have been announced are 10223 Kingdoms Joust and 10230 Mini Modulars. Others not yet announced are listed at Bricker.ru with numbers in the form 10###. Only one of them seems like it might be similar to the "Creator"-style sets you are describing.

Also related to the whole "variety" thing is that a lot of people criticize the City theme and in fact many other themes as well for focusing primarily on vehicles and not on locations. The reason for this is that vehicles tend to sell better. Town builders, of course, hate it, because they end up with a town packed to the brim with great vehicle designs but with a huge shortage of well-designed buildings. The same would happen in the collectible minifigures, I'm sure. Female figs are already fewer proportionally than male figs, but it would become so much worse if demand were responsible for deciding how plentiful the figs are. If there weren't blind packaging, for instance, there might not have been enough demand to even release the Hula Dancer fig. Yet I know a lot of people really like this fig.

Alas, nope. The first number, 3001, specifies a 2x4 brick. The following numbers are Bricklink's color IDs, not TLG's. Thus: def = 3001/13 = 2x4 brick in Trans-Black (TLG's 111 Transparent Brown) I Scream Clone = 3001/6 = 2x4 brick in Green (TLG's 28 Dark Green) Khorne = 3001/29 = 2x4 brick in Earth Orange (TLG's 12 Light Orange Brown) Derfel Cadarn = 3001/87 = 2x4 brick in Sky Blue (TLG's 232 Dove Blue) Rick = 3001/59 = 2x4 brick in Dark Red (TLG's 154 Dark Red) Pandora = 3001/5 = 2x4 brick in Red (TLG's 21 Bright Red) etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Any with "pb####" in their names specifies a decoration, not a color. It's a cute naming scheme. While I would have personally preferred TLG colors to be referenced, the typical way to do that would involve using element IDs rather than design and material IDs, and besides some basic colors where the element ID is just the design followed by the material, those are quite unpredictable. I can't think of anyone who has them memorized, so that would make matters even more confusing for everyone.

I personally can see the logic behind choosing "Daniel" as the first name based on the fan community's perceptions. I'm not saying I like it, but consider the alternative: giving him a name other than Daniel would probably just lead to disappointment for anyone who didn't understand that the "old name" was a hoax. And seeing as TLG didn't have a name in place for Rocka anyway, why not get legal approval for the unique-yet-reasonable name that was already floating around? It's just like what happened with Av-Matoran in 2008-- previously it had been a fan nickname, and it was canonized to help fans transition to using an official name (and for lack of a better name). Furthermore, it's silly to connect this with BZPower's canonization of fan suggestions. IMO, this decision very likely has more to do with Kelly McKiernan than with Greg Farshtey. After all, Kelly's in charge of the web portion of Hero Factory, which is where the name Daniel Rocka really took hold. And wasn't it Kelly's suggestion for the 2010 Rahkshi set to be a Rahkshi of Heat Vision? Can't say he doesn't have influence in his role as web director. Ironically, the very channel that made fan suggestions so frequent in BIONICLE (BZPower's Ask Greg service) would have been really useful in this particular instance, if only as a means of confirming whether or not this name is official. But I'd have to say it seems official to me if it's on the DVD.

Obviously, too early to tell for sure, what with how blurry those pics are, but the graphics look like full 3-D. Pretty nice, IMO, and I hope it's evidence that TLG is dedicating a more significant budget to the HF web content (I felt Creep Crushers was pretty lousy in terms of graphics and gameplay).

Did anybody get really good pictures of this booth at the event? I can see some prototype Ninjago and Atlantis parts and minifigures, including 3:1 scale models. It would be very nice to see them in clearer detail.

I've seen opened minifigure packets in stores, unfortunately.

Not necessarily; the fire plane also has them. So does the Dirt Bike Transporter. And that's just in the City theme-- in other themes they're also quite plentiful, with Ninjago in particular having transparent ones with various prints, unprinted medium stone grey (light bluish gray) ones, and unprinted warm gold (pearl gold) ones.

I kind of disagree about the escape pod-- after all, there was an escape pod set in 2001 that didn't even have sandtroopers in it, so it's hard to argue that they'd be the only selling point for the model. Granted, I don't have sales figures for the original Droid Escape, but evidently LEGO thought it was noteworthy enough to justify a set back then, so perhaps they feel the same today. As for the Endor battle pack, I personally think that it's a pretty excellent set. While the tree isn't too impressive, people who buy more than one battle pack could easily build it into one larger tree or more. Also, I certainly don't mind speeder bikes in sets-- while they are common, they're also extremely well-designed these days IMO. My main criticism of the set is that the scout trooper isn't redesigned (seriously, he feels out-of-date next to the new Stormtrooper or even classic Stormtroopers). But with one of the rebel troopers having a brand-new torso print, this set seems perfect for filling out a Battle of Endor scene-- with the exception, of course, that there are not any Ewoks.

Clear minifigures are, as of yet, impossible, because polycarbonate (the material used for transparent parts) has different properties than ABS (the default material used for solid-colored parts). Specifically, polycarbonate has a lot of friction against other polycarbonate parts, as discussed here on pages 19 and 20. Since minifigures have many tight but delicate connections, such as the arm-torso, hand-arm, and leg-hip connections, the friction might cause these parts to snap easily. There have been attempts by TLG to create transparent minifigures in the past, but because of this problem they have never met LEGO's quality standards and thus have never been released in sets. I asked specifically about this at Brickfair this August, due to transparent minifigures being a frequent request on Eurobricks, and was told that transparent minifigures would unfortunately not be possible any time in the foreseeable future.

I am looking forward to the film. When news first broke that Steven Spielberg had plans to direct a film based on The Adventures of Tintin, I was thrilled. I watched the Nelvana cartoon when I was very young and quickly became a huge fan of the comic books' humor and intrigue. I had originally hoped that a LEGO theme could be based on the series. My hopes were somewhat dashed by the Indiana Jones theme, which is in a similar genre and so would not be likely to coexist with a Tintin license, but since the movie took so long to actually move towards completion that is not likely a factor. However, if there were plans for a license at this point, it would already have been announced to cash in on the movie, so I guess our only chances of that are if the movie is a huge enough success for LEGO to become interested. I have not done any Tintin MOCs I can remember, even though I'd love to see a model of the Unicorn or of Marlinspike Hall. Tintin minifigures, obviously, are hard to replicate, given such attributes as Haddock's shaggy beard or Tintin's extremely short hair.

Yeah, I think it's coincidence. Besides the big, square chin there really aren't any obvious similarities to Thunder, and, from my perspective at least, none to XPlode (the red side reminds me more of Hellboy than any Hero Factory character, personally, and has a smooth, almost organic appearance as opposed to XPlode's signature spikes). I don't think we ever got much in the way of backstory for the first wave's minor criminals, besides that most of them were criminals even before being enlisted by Von Nebula. You might be thinking of the second wave's villains, who were mining robots. With that said, the idea that there are multiple robots in Hero Factory that look somewhat similar isn't too far-fetched no matter what the villains' origins.

By merging, I meant older characters combining like Darth Nihilus mentioned above. I think it's a really terrible idea. But there's a lot of people who see the new sets and assume "OMG there's similarities to older characters so there must be some connection!" It's like how everyone assumed the figure on the Gear Up poster was some form of Makuta, except even more ludicrous since these are all known to be named characters with different names than previous sets, rather than completely unknown characters.

I personally have no objection to feeling the bags. It's something that in theory everyone can do, even though in practice not everyone is as much of a tactile thinker as some are. If a person were feeling the bags to find all of a fig they want in in a store, I would certainly question it, but anything done to excess has its faults. I usually go to a store and buy two to four different figs I don't already have, and I don't see much problem with it as long as the same opportunity is available to others. And when I say that, I don't want to act as though I'm morally superior to those who choose to army-build. I just tend to feel sympathetic towards other LEGO buyers, so I would be doing myself a disservice if I were to take that route and in one visit to a store deprive many others of figs they might want. Taking a more assertive approach to collecting the figs you want can easily be ethically justified; it's just not something I personally would do or recommend.

Indiana Jones would wholeheartedly agree. I wonder how many characters there will be in 2012 by the end of the year... more than in 2011? In 2011 there were four "basic" figs on each side (the ninjas and skeletons), four "deluxe/elite" figs on each side (the DX ninjas and skeleton generals), and a leader for each side (Sensei Wu and Lord Garmadon). There was also Nya, but she was the only source of imbalance between the two sides. The snakemen and ninjas next year have less of a 1:1 correlation, since the snakemen don't have any obvious elemental affiliation, and since there are characters like the Garmadon family whose alignment is not perfectly clear.