Mr. Elijah Timms

I felt the build was more satisfying than the design itself... But as I said in another thread, just felt like the scale was way off... It makes the figs look like giants. Still, the figs are great. Especially Doom, and the Beetle's great too.

WHOA... totally didn't expect the Coast Guard prices to be where they are... Helicopter only $40 USD, Truck n Boat only $20, Patrol set is $80 USD. I'm pleasantly surprised!

This was originally started as a single post in the Castle 2013 thread, but it got a bit lengthy, so i decided to give it its own thread. If you're at all like me, you've been following the news of this new Castle 2013 theme intently not only to see the sets but to see how they might be incorporated into my existing Castle collection. I have a few Crownies, but not enough, and already have an entire faction of Dragon Knights from the recent Kingdoms line. I was very curious to see where these new factions might fit in, and was thrilled to learn last week that the new Lion Knights actually sport the very same Crown sigil as the last wave of Crownies. This meant that I could conceivably merge them into my existing Crown faction, perhaps getting some of the older shields from Bricklink. For the new knights, who actually do sport the new logo on their armor, I could position them as a lower family or house within the faction-- perhaps they've even intermarried with the red Lion Knights and created this new herald to pay homage to both crown and lion. The 'Crown Lions,' u will call them. As for the new Dragon knights, yes, I've already got the green Dragon knights, but this was an easy enough fix. The new faction will henceforth be known as the 'Red Dragons'. With that being said, I recently studied the recent Germany & New York pics to see which figs (and which torsos) would be in which sets, and in what quantities. I thought the results might be worth sharing, so here they are! For the sake of reference, I've classified the torsos into these listings: Crown Lion King: Blue torso w/ new print & Crown heraldry Crown Lion Knight : Pearl gray armor with Crown Lion heraldry, gray torso w/ unknown printing, blue arms, black hands (I'd presume the torso is the one listed next, like in the Kingdoms line, but who knows) Crown Lion Guard: Gray torso w/ gorget/chain mail/Crown logo belt buckle torso, blue arms black hands Crown Lion Archer: Blue torso w/ white & blue split tunic & brown diagonal strap, blue arms, black hands Crown Lion Man-at-arms: Blue torso w/ white & blue split tunic & breastplate w/ Crown sigil, blue arms, black hands Crown Lion Princess: White torso w/ new princess print Red Dragon Wizard: Black torso w/ wizard print, black arms, red hands Red Dragon Knight: Black armor with Red Dragon heraldry, red arms, black hands Red Dragon Guard: Black torso w/ silver shoulder guards, square mail pattern & small RD logo, red arms, black hands Red Dragon Man-at-arms: Black torso w/square mail pattern & small RD logo, red arms, black hands The Minifigs by Sets Breakdown (Note: these were recorded according to box artwork for each set, not necessarily fair displays) 70400 Forest Ambush ($9.99) 1. Crown Lion Man-at-arms w/ Silver neck protector helm, spear & Crown Lion shield 2. Crown Lion Guard w/ Silver broad-brimmed helm, new sword 3. Red Dragon Guard w/ Black neck protector helm, morning star & Red Dragon shield 4. Red Dragon Man-at-arms w/ Black ridged helm and battle axe 70401 Gold Getaway ($19.99) 1. Crown Lion Man-at-Arms w/ silver broad-brimmed helm, original sword & Crown Lion shield 2. Crown Lion Archer w/ Silver neck protector helm 3. Red Dragon Man-at-arms w/ Black ridged helm, battle axe & whip 70402 The Gatehouse Raid ($29.99) 1. Crown Lion knight w/ Silver slit-faced helm, new sword & ovoid Crown Lion shield 2. Crown Lion Archer w/ silver broad-brimmed helm & spear 3. Red Dragon Knight w/ Black crusader helm, Evil Knight longsword & ovoid Red Dragon shield 4. Red Dragon Guard w/ Black neck protector helm & spear 70403 Dragon Mountain ($49.99) 1. Crown Lion Knight w/ Silver visor helm, new sword & ovoid Crown Lion shield 2. Crown Lion Guard w/ Silver neck protector helm & spear 3. Crown Lion Princess w/ brown hairpiece & tiara 4. Red Dragon Wizard w/Sensei Wu beard & wizard hat with Red Dragon sigil 5. Red Dragon Man-at-arms w/ Black ridged helm, Evil Knight's long sword & Red Dragon shield 70404 King's Castle ($99.99) 1. Crown Lion King w/ Pearl old Evil Knight long sword 2. Crown Lion Knight w/ Silver visor helm, new sword & ovoid Crown Lion shield 3. Crown Lion Guard w/ Silver broad-brimmed helm, quiver & bow 4. Crown Lion Archer w/ Silver neck protector helm & crossbow 5. Red Dragon Knight w/ Black crusader helm, Evil Knight longsword & Red Dragon shield 6. Red Dragon Guard w/ Black neck protector helm & spear 7. Red Dragon Man-At-Arms w/ Black ridged helm & morning star Some observations if you we're to acquire the entire 2013 summer line: - You would have a total of 23 figs: 12 Crown Lions (13 including the princess), 10 Red Dragons - You'd have one king, princess and wizard each - You'd have 2 Crown Lion Man-at-arms torsos - You'd have 3 Crown Lion Knights, 2 with visor helm & ovoid shield & one with the slit-faced shield & triangular shield - You'd have 3 Crown Lion Guard and Crown Lion Archer torsos each - You'd have 2 Red Dragon Knights, one w/ the ovoid shield & one w/ the triangular shield - You'd have 3 Red Dragon Guard torsos - You'd have 4 Red Dragon Man-at-arms torsos Sorry I haven't included pics-- I'm in a bit of a rush today & don't have the time to crop them out of existing pics or post them online. Perhaps some other time I can go back and add them in. Personally, as for Castle 2013, I plan on buying out the entire theme, and maybe one or two more of the Forest Ambush sets. Hope this helps for anyone else curious about the specific quantity and diversity of the new figs. Thanks

I just don't understand... Why is the Mandarin driving .... A BUMPER CAR?!?

Wow, you're in a unique opportunity, October. I own none of the fantasy sets, and wish I did. On the other hand, I do own the Kingdoms Joust, and can confirm that yes, it is indeed pretty special. My two cents is this-- are you looking more for display or actual role play? Are you looking to build up factions of figs or is it just for the sets themselves? Are you looking to build up a war campaign, or more interested in the everyday people at court? And finally, how quickly could you raise up more funds? I'd probably suggest you get the fantasy sets... You'd get a wealth of beautiful figs, lots of sets to build and retired ones at that, AND the window would still remain open for a bit longer to get the Kingdoms Joust. In fact, in many venues its recently been discounted. But what I usually do in this scenario is fast-forward in my head and ask, in a year from now which would I most regret not getting??! Good luck!

I'd go with Jabba's Palace. Even without all of the amazing figs, that was one substantial set and a true "play set."

Just finished building the Museum Break-In set yesterday. I didn't do a review-- sorry I'm not more ambitious! Anyways, some thoughts I thought might be worth sharing: -- The Police van can easily hold up to five 'elite policemen,' as TLG calls them: Driver in front, two in the middle, two in the rear. I suppose you could throw the crooks in the back of the van, but that's not typical procedure for a SWAT team, right? -- Room for three in the thieves' van, one up front or two in back. Less if they're making off with the paintings, etc. -- The copter is bigger than I thought, about as big as the 7741 Police Helicopter from a few years back, minus the nose of the fuselage. I wish this was fully enclosed, but it's an easy enough MOD. As for the light brick/spotlight feature, the light is really only concentrated from about 10 inches away before it starts to dissipate. -- The museum's interior is in scale to about the size of my living room; I knew that going in, and actually think there's enough size for playability and storytelling. As a parent, I almost worry that it glamorizes the role of the burglar, breaking in from the window to make off with the loot. Certainly being the thief is the most fun out of this set. -- Finally, fwiw I got an extra gold katana in the parts, which might prove useful to a non-Ninjago collector like myself.

Wish we could get a glimpse of the new gray torso those Coast Guard personnel are wearing... Every shot I look the front print is covered up by a life vest...

Wow, the Octan racing set is OUTSTANDING!!!! Great designs, stocked with accessories and playability. And, the new Fire Boat set notwithstanding, a new torso design as well... Absolutely a winner! I LOVE THE NEW 4-WAY BREAKER BAR! What really surprised me is this Monster Truck Transporter set-- I was totally prepared to pass on this, but now I'm not so sure. The truck design looks pretty good, ESP. The raised suspension... AND ANOTHER NEW TORSO!! "Airborne Spoilers:" I wonder if that's a subtle dig to all the fans that have run spoiler pics of new sets in the past, haha Also, I think these pics confirm what I suspected about the new ear protection piece: There's no pin in the piece or hole in the hat as some people had previously suggested. That's the CMF Ser.2 Baseball Player hat, and nothing more. I think what some readers thought was a hole in the hat was just the little dimple thing at the top of the hat casting a shadow. The eraser must just clip onto its sides, and perhaps that little dimple helps hold it into place. Thoughts?

Thanks for the video find, KazeMonsuta!! So it's official, then-- THESE GUYS ARE ALL CROWN KNIGHTS!!!! All of the blue faction's torsos (save the king, not sure yet) sport The Crown on their printing, NOT the new lion sigil. This is a huge win as far as I'm concerned!!! I can now push the lion head into a sub-faction or perhaps a house within the Crown Knights!! Thanks to the video, we can all stop worrying about vampires and skin tones as well... Yeesh, the light in which those Germany pics were taken really generated a lot of speculation, didn't it?

Has anyone done or seen a review for the 60008 Museum Break-In set yet? Got mine the other night and will probably build it today... I've never one a full-fledged review but I suppose I could if it hasn't been done yet...

I can agree with that. Last night I had a half asleep vision/dream where I took all the foliage pieces out of the MMV and used some 1x1 jumper bricks to create hanging green all up the front and left side of this castle, and let me tell you-- in my vision it looked spectacular!!!

That castle is SOOOO becoming a home to my Crown Knights. I've already put aside the shields and lance with the colored 1x4 flags.... Wish we could.get more detailed pics of the torsos. I see at least two styles that are sporting the Crown only, and no Lion. Personally, the more this is the case the better!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE the big Coast Guard ship! Scale is much better than recent vessels and it's just packed with playability. I'm sure I'm biased b/c I wasn't into City during the last Coast Guard wave and missed those sets, but I think I'm sold on the sub-theme across the board. Well done, TLG!!

I just don't get it-- why are some of the blues sporting the lion as their primary herald, and others are wearing the crown?! Why not just re-use the crown then instead of the new lion eyesore I mean logo?? Hard to see where and how all this can smoothly fit into out existing collections... And maybe im in the minority, but I actually think the castle looks okay, if not spartan. I guess I'd developed such an expectation for something far worse from all the previous reports.

It's not a bad facade, but the scale is just off, like the Star Wars ships or something. You put Spidey hanging somewhere on the top and he kinda looks like he's a mini King Kong scaling some enormous skyscraper. As for blending in with the modulars, etc, it should be fine, but remember its only about 6 studs deep. I'd put it in the back of your layout for sure.

I love that little pontoon helicopter in the 60014 Coast Guard Patrol set. So simple, but a genius design. On the other hand, what's with all the helicopters lately? For kids just getting into City recently, they'll end up with more copters in their town than cars!!!

Man, TLG can't have not noticed our collective disappointment of the re-use of the Lion & Dragon standards. Apparently it's not a concern, haha

So what's the chances we finally get some up-close pics of these sets in London this week? There's always talk of picture confidentiality limitations, but that's typically for licensed sets where TLG doesn't want to spill the beans on an unreleased movie or other such property. But if these castle sets are there, we should see them, right??!

Yes, we are still talking about it. And yes, it probably is ridiculous. Will we stop? Don't count on it.

EDIT: seems to be a MOC. I'm not sure, but I think this is it. I clearly remember those upside down'candy' 2x2 discs all over the roof: http://amodularlife.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/happy-gingerbread-house/ I guess I did know that TLG features MOCs in the official stores, but I certainly forgot it at the time.

It was at the King of Prussia store outside Philadelphia. And NO, sorry-- in all the confusion of my kids building minifigs in a super-crowded Lego store during a weekend visit... I just plain forgot to take a picture of it. The G-men were dark brown, with lots of white accents. I think it was a standard minifig head, but I can't entirely remember... Sorry!

Whether its a dragon or a wolf, one thing is certain-- that's just not a very aesthetically pleasing design. After cranking out such impeccably beautiful shields and crests of late, both in Kingdoms and particularly in the CMFs, they give us THAT?!? I can only pray this is all placeholder nonsense and the good folks over at TLG are reading all this and having a bit of a chuckle at our expense...

Re: GINGERBREAD MAN Did anyone else see a Gingerbread House at their local Lego Store this holiday season? The structure itself was very cute-- good enough to eat, in fact-- but what really stole the show for me was all the little gingerbread men minifigs in the scene. dark brown figure parts with little icing details and gumdrop, etc on the torso. can't help but wonder if we got a sneak peek at this upcoming CMF???