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Here guys, I got a few of the minifigs at a convention and wanted to know if anyone has seen them before. They haven't been opened and have just been sitting at my desk, the torso doesn't appear to be a decal or anything, so I thought i'd get your opinion.

Hi all, As the title suggests! Is anyone after any Lester minifigs? I should be getting some this afternoon (qty to be confirmed). Feel free to PM me. Thanks!

Returning BIONICLE fans will remember the Toa Haga that came out in 2005. They possessed the Metru build and were originally intended to be the "normal" forms of Toa Duma and Toa Nidhiki (their apperances being painfully obvious leftovers of what could have been). They were released to celebrate LEGO's 50th aniversary, and were instead made into the Toas Iruini and Norik. These sets brought cool recolors of existing pieces, and whole new pieces that would be used in later sets (Norik's mask+ the armors and Iruini's mask respectively) What if a similar concept were applied with the new LEGO line? Take something from a previous year, and put it into an alternate style. More CCBS-inspired modernizations of older sets perhaps? This could be a cool throwback to Old Bionicle, even in the event of a reboot (if handled correctly). This thread is mainly for fun to wait til we find out more at NYCC. What few (because we wont see every character come back) sets would you give a remake of in an anniversary scenario, why, and how would you do it? (actual designs down to the piece count are cool but not required) My ideas: I touched on this in the 2015 thread, and it met some criticisms: Vezon, the Traveling Thief Named in a style similar to "[Name], the [Title]' we have with the new Toa. My reasoning for Vezon is that he is an old-plot character that has an easy enough way to explain him getting a brief cameo or mention. There are certain things about his original design that could look really cool in CCBS, and could bring us some interesting new parts. (Please at least read "Incorporation with the Plot") Build: Major New Features: Incorporation with Plot: So: Me and someone else in the 2015 thread mentioned Takanuva. He could totally be justified on similar lines to Vezon and it isnt too unlikely that he wont be a member of the new Toa team or that there could already be plans to make him a Titan. EDIT: Fix some copy/pasting seams and my Vezon writeup

Between us we probably own a lot of the exclusive SDCC and NYCC figs. There seems to be a lot of uncertainty over how many there are of each figure. If we all say what we have, we can probably work out the real numbers by adding ebay and BL inventory, which I think would be helpful. So, I'll go first. I own 1 NYCC Iron Man 1 NYCC Shadow Leonardo 1 NYCC Kraang 2 SDCC Pheonix 2 SDCC Shazam 1 SDCC Bizarro 1 SDCC Venom 1 SDCC Green Lantern 1 SDCC Batman (TDK) 1 SDCC ASM Spiderman 1 SDCC Green Arrow 1 SDCC Black Superman What else do we have on EB?

Hi All, It isn't often I promote eBay listings, but tomorrow I have 55 auctions ending so I thought I would post in case one or more of my many items catches your eye! All 55 auctions are no reserve, starting at a .99 bid. They end tomorrow starting at roughly 5pm EST (or 2pm PST). Most auctions offer worldwide shipping. There are a variety of items up for sale, from vintage minifigures, exclusive minifigures, used sets, star wars, knights, city, etc.. Here is a link, check them out! http://www.ebay.com/sch/unclesamsantiques/m.html?item=201010588215&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 Thanks and best of luck if you choose to bid!

Another year, another Comic Con, and as you probably know, TLG always likes to sell exclusive sets at these cons which are very popular. However, they are not the only exclusives being sold there. Another hugely popular SDCC exclusive are Funko's POP! vinyl figures. They are stylish, adorable representations of characters from various licenses. There are hundreds of them and collectors can't get enough of them. So, for this year's San Diego Comic Con, TLG seems to have decided to appeal to both LEGO and Funko fans by debuting their upcoming Brickheadz, a series of brick-built figures in a similar style to the POP! figs, just blockier. I was able to acquire one of the four sets that were available while I was at the con and it contains the stars of the latest Marvel blockbuster, Captain America: Civil War. So, do Lego bricks and the vinyl figure style go well together or do they clash like the two Marvel heroes did in the movie? Lets find out! Set Number: 41492 Name: Iron Man & Captain America Theme: Brickheadz Subtheme: Marvel Super Heroes Year of Release: 2016 Pieces: 184 Minifigs: 0 Price: $39.99 USD Links: Brickset Bricklink Before we begin, I would like to tell you about my experience at San Diego Comic Con. I have been going to this convention and its sister convention, Wondercon, for the past 3 years. I always enjoy it a lot as it is great to get together with other nerds and just geek out about the things you love. You can see everyone's cosplays, meet artists and celebrities, get sneak peeks for upcoming media, watch world premiere cartoons, and get neat stuff! However, with every passing year I have been noticing how increasingly crowded it has gotten, and the more crowded it got, the less enjoyable it has become. The first time I went to SDCC, I had no problem walking around, getting exclusives, and getting into the panels I wanted to see (except for the Marvel/DC ones in Hall H - those have always had a notoriously long line). But within just three years it has gotten to the point where navigating the exhibit hall is virtually impossible without pushing your way through masses of warm, sweaty people and you have to get in line for exclusives and panels multiple hours in advance to even stand a chance to enter them. I spent most of my time just standing in line in the hot summer sun and most of the time the exclusives were sold out or the panel was already over by the time I got halfway through the line, so I walked away with nothing but a bad sunburn and had to try my luck at the next line. The line for the exclusive minifigs stretched from one end of the convention center to the other and the worst thing is that most of the people were scalpers who were only there so they could sell them for ridiculous prices later. So while the panels and booths that I did get to see were great, I definitely think that TLG and the whole Comic Con team need to organize this event better somehow. Needless to say, I will think twice before I attempt to get an exclusive next time, if I even go at all. That said, after getting in line at 4 in the morning, getting lucky in the raffle, and standing in another line at the Lego booth to buy it for forty bucks, I did manage to get this set as a souvenir, so lets open this bad boy! The Box The set comes in a thick, shiny box which is much more sturdy than your average Lego box. The background transitions from a yellow/orange gradient on Iron Man's side to a black/red gradient on Captain America's side via a dot pattern which gives it that comic book feel. At the top of the front there is a big LEGO BRICKHEADZ logo and a little circle letting you know that this is a SDCC 2016 exclusive. Thanks yellow circle! I never would have guessed! The Brickheadz logo is a bit bland and the Z instead of an S seems a bit corny, but it's cute how they stylized the H to look like a Brickhead. On the bottom, there is the Marvel logo and labels for the two Brickheadz included in the set accompanied by a little icon for each of them which is a nice touch. The backside has a similar layout with the same logos, but what's fun is that the Brickheadz are shown from their backside here. It also features a picture that assures you that the figures are indeed removable from their base, and instead of the labels there is a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. The sides of the box continue the theme of showing the Brickheadz as if the box was see-through by showing Iron Man's right-hand side on the left side of the box and Cap's left-hand side on the right. Even on top of the box you see the top of the "headz" of the Brickheadz. However, on the bottom you don't see the bottom of the figs. It's just black and there is a fancy tape stretching across it with the Brickheadz logo and a shadowy impression of the eyes of a Brickhead printed on it. Now I'm going to do something that is probably unthinkable for all those scalpers at SDCC: I'm actually going to open and build this Lego set! The way you open the box is you cut the tape at the bottom and slide the cover off. Contents The box contains one instructions booket and one parts bag for each Brickhead. Much like the box, the bags are not the usual kind. You don't need to rip them open as they have an easy to open flap on the back. They also each have a sticker with some mysterious numbers on it. This is the first page of both of the instruction booklets. It shows both of the SDCC exclusive Marvel Brickheadz sets together on the left side and a teaser image for the upcoming Brickheadz line on the right which confirms the release date of the theme to be March 1st, 2017. The instructions are presented on a solid black background which provides a nice contrast and gives you the sophisticated feeling that you are putting together a collectible display item rather than a kids toy. The callouts are clear and the build is very simple as it only involves some basic SNOT. Good news! There are no stickers in this set! All the decals are printed, giving us a nice assortment of exclusive parts. The most notable printed piece is the black 2x4 tile with the Lego logo and the hashtag "LEGOSDCC" which there are two of in the set. It bugs me a little that they put a hashtag onto the set itself as it seems like a blatant attempt to get social media exposure for the event, but at least it marks it as an SDCC exclusive. Aside from Cap and Tony's torso and helmet pieces, there is also the new Brickheadz eye tile and Iron Man's eye tiles which are trans-light-blue 1x1 tiles with a simple white square printed on it. As always, the light printing on dark parts is not very strong, so things like the "LEGO" and "A" fonts are not as white as they could be. There are also some new recolors in this set such as the 1x2 plate with clip in red and the 1x1 round tile with small tube in white. The trans-clear stud with handle from the latest Spider-Man sets is included as well. Now we know where Spidey got that new web-shooter tech from. Assembling the Avengers You can start the build with either one of the Brickheadz. I'd like to build these in alphabetical order, so let's start with the guy who has a big "A" on his forehead. The parts contained in the bag for Captain America are the following. You start the build from the waste up and add the legs later on as you've seen on the sample instructions page earlier. Two round bricks serve as a center support for the torso. All of the SNOT is achieved by using the double brick with four studs on the side which was introduced earlier this year. The inner walls of the head are entirely comprised of them. What's funny is that in the center of the head they included a 2x2 brick in pink so that it looks like there is a brick-shaped brain inside of the brick-headz. Well played, designers. Here is the finished Captain. He looks quite adorable with that big head and glissening eyes. It's interesting that they made the highlights in his eyes square to stick with the brick theme of these figures. Next up is Iron Man. He has a few more parts as you can see in the lineup below. Iron Man's torso is similar to Cap's, but it's more intricate as it uses a lot of headlight bricks to attach his armor plating (or should I say tiling?). The inner structure is the same, including the brain brick which is the same size as that of any other Brickhead. I guess Tony is not so smart after all. After you add the plates around the head and add the legs, you're finished! Iron Man looks quite good with his armor tiles and repulsor beams, and the trans-light-blue showing around the eyes gives them that blue glow that they have in the movies which is an effect that the minifig version has yet to achieve. My only gripe is that the red strip on his forehead is interrupted by a yellow line, but that's excusable. The Completed Set Don't they look adorable together? It's hard to imagine these little guys starting a civil war. Both of them are based on their comic counterparts, so their costumes look very colorful, especially when standing next to each other. As you can see looking at them from the front, the boost from Iron Man's jet boots makes him stand one plate taller than Cap and all the other Brickheadz. Also, the use of tiles on his chest and slopes on his shoulders give the impression that he is wearing armor. The printing on both of their faces and torsos is very minimalist, but works with the simplified look that they're going for. For comparison, here is a picture of Funko's POP! versions of these characters. They look quite similar, don't they? TLG is not even trying to hide the fact that they are copying Funko's style. Captain America looks almost the same and the only difference on Iron Man is the use of standard black eyes (although they did use white eyes in the later movie versions of the character). I like how they used that white claw piece to represent the little wings on Cap's helmet. I can see them using the same technique for the Flash. I also like the way Iron Man holds his repulsor beams. This trans-clear stud with handle is a very useful part and I hope they use the same technique for the Iron Man minifig in future sets. Like in the comics, the printing on Cap's costume is exactly the same on the back as it is in the front. It's a bit lazy, but it's nice to see that he does have printing here, unlike Iron Man who is completely blank. They already printed so many parts in this set, so it would have been nice if they would have just printed these two tiles too. Cap's shield-holding hand is different from his left hand as it uses the 1x2 plate variant with the clip on the short side rather than the long side. This is supposed to give the arm an angled look which sort of works, although it does look a bit awkward. I should also mention that they are obviously top-heavy, especially Iron Man, so they tend to fall over backwards when they are not standing on a flat surface. However, this can be fixed by mounting them onto the center of their base. When I first saw these, I was hoping that their heads and arms were mounted on turntables so that you could pose them a little bit like you can with the Funko POPs, but alas this is not the case. They have zero points of articulation, making them decidedly more display items than toys. Here they are compared to their minifig counterparts. As you can see, they are about twice the size of a minifigure. Ratings Design: 5/5 - I think both of these figures look great. The designers managed to replicate the cute vinyl figure look fairly well while putting their own blocky spin on it, and the pink "brain" brick is a nice touch. Build: 2/5 - A very quick and easy build with nothing special aside from some basic SNOT. Nothing challenging. Playability: 1/5 - The Brickheadz don't have any articulation or play features, so they are clearly meant to be displayed rather than played with. Although the fact that the set includes two characters who have quite a history in both the comics and movies does allow for some role play. Parts: 4/5 - Most of the bricks included here are fairly common, but they're useful nonetheless. Some of the parts are exclusive to the set and all decals are printed which is always nice to see, although the lack of printing on Iron Man's back armor is disappointing. Price: 1/5 - I know I don't really have a right to complain since most people have to pay extortion prices on ebay to get these, but $40 for just 184 pieces is way too high already for me. When these are officially released, I hope that they cost only half as much or less. Overall: 3/5 - I have never bought a vinyl figure since I try to limit myself to collecting only one type of toy (#Lego4Life ), but I do see the charm that people see in them, so when it was announced that Lego will be making their own Funko-style figures, I was quite excited. While I don't think that Lego will become a serious competitor to Funko and other real vinyl figures, I do think that these Brickheadz are pretty cool on their own. Kids might not be interested in them due to their lack of playability, but some adult collectors like myself might find them charming. That said, I do not recommend getting this set, especially at aftermarket prices. It's just too much money for two little figures that might get released for a much more reasonable price in about half a year. The only special thing about it is the packaging and the hashtag-tiles. The only reason I got it was that I didn't want to leave the con empty-handed. In conclusion, while the process of acquiring these wasn't much fun and I payed more for them than I would've liked, I don't regret getting them as they do look rather nice and I look forward to see what TLG will do with this theme. I really like the Brickheadz style and might even build some of my own! I hope you enjoyed this review, and since it's the trendy thing to do this year, I added a poll above where you can vote for your favorite superhero, so go and vote! It's sure to be an easier choice than the presidential election this year. To end this review, there are so many jokes that could be made with these, but I'll settle for this one:

Hi, This topic is for posting modifications of 41999. I am planning to do lot of them. 1. The first is pimped with the help of Chrome Block City BL store. You can buy parts used in this modifications here http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=Aurimax

Greetings, my friends! Summer is finally here, and what better place to enjoy it than on the water? The popular Friends line has had a few beach-themed sets already, but not an actual ship yet. However, this is about to change soon with what is literally the flagship set of this year's Friends sets, and today it is my honor to bring you this exclusive early review of one of the most anticipated sets this summer, the Dolphin Cruiser! Set Number: 41015 Name: Dolphin Cruiser Theme: Friends Year of Release: 2013 Pieces: 612 Minidolls: 3 Price: $69.99 USD Brickset Bricklink Brickshelf The Box A few days ago, I received a package at my doorstep with the Lego logo and an official Lego address label on it. Inside this package was the set, which despite the lack of any cushioning material was still in very good shape! It's a fairly large and wide box with the usual purple frame and the indented side edges. It also has the same updated illustration of the main five girls in the upper right corner as the sets that were released earlier this year. The box art depicts a gorgeous scene of the Dolphin Cruiser swimming by the Heartlake beach and the Friends having fun. As you can see, this is one of the European boxes which are known to have much less text than the American versions. There is not much information about the set other than the set number and the intended age range. There is also a statement below those numbers proclaiming that this "ship does not float". This may be a disappointment to some people, but for those of us who have some experience with Lego ships this was already expected. Aside from the Lego Friends logo and the set number, there isn't anything at the top of the box except for these pictures of the minidolls. It doesn't even mention their names, just that the picture of Mia is at a 1:1 scale, but that's OK since it states their names on the front of the box. I guess in Europe they really let the pictures do all the talking, which is not a bad thing. The back of the box has a picture which shows that the top of the ship can be taken off to reveal the interior and lots of small panels showing various scenes that can be played out with this set. There are also pictures which tell you helpful things about the set as in every Friends set, such as how many bags there are, how many parts the minidolls consist of, or what kind of accessories are included. I kind of wish other Lego sets would have this kind of information. It sure looks like the friends are having a lot of fun. I just hope that dolphin sees Mia coming down that slide in time. Contents Looks like the picture on the back of the box was correct! There are indeed 5 numbered bags and two instruction booklets, along with a fairly small sticker sheet and some loose large parts such as the boat hulls, the water slide, and the flex tubes. The first page of the instructions has a demonstration of a minidoll building a set step by step which is adorable in my opinion. It's a perfect Friends version of that generic City minifig doing the same in other Lego instructions. Here's a random instructions page. All pages have a lavender background and clear part call-outs. Also, every page with an odd page number has a light silhouette of some butterflies and hearts. On the last page of booklet 1 there is a check list of all the minidolls from this year's sets. Towards the end of booklet 2 it shows you where all the summer sets are located at in Heartlake City. That's some pretty neat information which, again, I wish they would have in other Lego themes. There are many other nice pictures and illustrations of the Dolphin Cruiser and the other summer sets which I will let you discover on your own. They sure put a lot of effort into making these sets look good and appealing to girls! These are some of the notable pieces in this set. There are various pieces in medium azure, including skis which have been exclusive to the Friends advent calendar in this color until now. We also get the hair accessories in dark purple which only appear in one other set, the Pet Salon. Other pieces in rare colors include 1x1 round tiles in orange, 1x2 tiles in magenta, and 1x2 bricks in trans-purple. There are some new molds as well, such as a 1x2x2 curved slope, a 1x2 plate with a clip at the center of one side, and the ice cream cone which made its debut earlier this year in the Heartlake City Pool and the Ice Cream Stand polybag. There are some printed pieces too, such as the pink life preserver tile and the 1x1 orange juice box brick which have appeared in a few sets before, but also a new piece which no teenaged girl should be without: a smartphone! Looks like Heartlake City's technology is a few decades ahead of Lego City, who are still using walkie talkies and landlines. Minidolls This set comes with three minidolls: two girls and (gasp!) a boy! One of the girls is Mia the animal lover, who makes a lot of sense to be included in this set since it is named after an animal! She even sports a new summerly outfit with a dolphin and seastar motif on it. The other one is Maya who is a new character. The cherry blossoms on her shirt and her dark hair with bangs make me think she is supposed to be Asian, but I can't say for sure. She has Stephanie's hair in black and the same legs as Isabella. The boy's name is Andrew and he brings some much wanted gender deversity to Heartlake City. He has a surfer hairpiece and a blue shirt with a small sailboat on it, both of which are very fitting for the set. I can't put my finger on it, but somehow Andrew reminds me of another boy who preteen girls like... Well played, Lego, well played. But how is anybody supposed to compete with a guy who looks like a teen idol?! When you look at the minidolls from the side, you'll see that the boy's torso mold is different from the girls. Which is good because it would be quite odd if he had breasts. None of them have back printing unfortunately, but that's common for minidolls. And here are the stars of the set, the dolphins! We get two in different colors in this set, sand blue and light blue. The eye lashes on one of them tell me that the darker one is supposed to be a boy and the other a girl. They are smaller and rounder than the old Paradisa dolphins, and due to that and their eye prints they probably wont integrate into other Lego themes too well, but for the Friends theme they are perfect! They have two anti-studs on their tails and one on their belly, so they can be posed as if they're jumping out of the water or lying on an elevated surface. It's also possible to stick them on a pole. Not sure how that could be useful, but it's good to know. Their fins are shaped so that a minifig/doll can hold on to it and ride them. Also, their blowholes can be plugged up with bows and other accessories. Seems kind of cruel to me, but whatever. The Build The first bag contains Mia, Andrew, the male dolphin, and the parts for the jetski and the base of the boat. First, you build the jetski. It's a quick and simple build, but it ends up looking pretty good. Certainly much better than the one in 41000 Water Scooter Fun. It has some clips on one side, but more on that later. Next, you assemble the base of the Cruiser. Not a lot of details at this point. The second bag contains Maya, the female dolphin, and most of the interior of the ship. The beds and sofa are attached to the ground only by two 2x2 round plates each which makes it easy to put them in and, if you wish, take them back out later. The third bag has most of the pieces to finish off the lower deck. Lots of white and tan here. You almost can't tell this is part of a Friends set! This is the part where you attach the water slide. Bag four contains all the pieces to finish off the second storey. After this part, it already starts looking like a complete ship. The fifth bag includes all the pieces for the upper deck, which happen to be most of the pieces with the girly colors. And here is the finished Cruiser! It looks quite impressive, and not too girly. The overall design definitely makes it look modern and luxurious. It looks great from just about every angle. All those azure pieces give it a cool, refreshing feel. The only thing I find odd is that there seem to be windows missing in the second storey. There is already a sloped window piece that would fit perfectly into those six gaps, so I don't know why they left them out, but if it really bothers you and you have six of those windows on hand, that should be an easy fix. The wave stickers at the front give it a nice dynamic look. One of them reads "HLC" which I'm guessing stands for Heartlake City. There is a large opening in the back that allows you to see right into the interior since there are no doors. Lets hope it doesn't get too windy out at sea! Looking at it from the side, the Dolphin Cruiser looks quite sleek. There is a life preserver on the left side. There is no life preserver on the other side since that's where the slide is. The slide is not too obtrusive and actually adds to the overall dynamic look of the ship. The only thing that bugs me a little here is that triangle-shaped gap between the row of windows and the white slope at the lower front. Again, if you have an extra two of those windows, that should be an easy fix, but it just makes me wonder why TLG didn't include those pieces to begin with and avoided this little flaw.. Looking from above, it just has the usual Lego boat shape. No complaints here. At the bottom it has several of those round slide shoe parts to make it glide over the floor better. The Complete Set Here's the ship with the jetski, dolphins, and minidolls. Now we're ready to go on a cruise! They all look very nice together, don't they? Play Features There is lots to do on this ship! On the top deck, you can seat a minidoll at the steering wheel or serve drinks at the little bar. There is a sonar for finding dolphins and there are two studs on the wall which act as a socket for the smartphone so that you can pretend to play music from it over the speakers on the sides. The only thing that I don't like here is that the steering wheel is way too far for a minidoll to reach, but that's a common issue with the Friends sets. On the main deck, you can have the girls relax on the sun loungers and enjoy a drink or a banana. Also, the big window in the front can be opened to see inside. In the back of the ship, the friends can climb up the ladder (which has a similar design as the one in Olivia's Tree House - plus points for consistency!) and slide down the water slide (which is the same as in the Heartlake City Pool from earlier this year) or feed the Dolphins with the bucket of fish. There is also a life vest sticker and a shower with a shampoo bottle and knobs for hot and cold water. The use of a frying pan as a shower head is quite clever here. Also, as you can see, the jetski's clips can be used to attach it to the bar underneath the life preserver in order to store it. Neat! The top of the Cruiser can easily be taken off to play inside the cabin. There are cheese slopes and arches which help it slide back into place easily. The interior is surprisingly well furnished! Inside the first room there is a plant and a big couch for relaxing. The next room is a restroom with a toilet and a rack of towels. I guess there is no such thing as privacy in the world of Friends, though, because there are no doors and one of the walls is transparent. On the other side of the couch, there is little kitchen area with a sink and a small fridge where the orange juice can be stored. On top of the fridge there is some ice cream, one for each of the friends. I think this area is a little dark and boring and doesn't quite fit with the rest of the set. I would have prefered it if they would have included two more cupboards instead of these black bricks. There is another sink in the bathroom, along with some Technic beams where you can stick the combs, hair dryer, and mirror. It's kind of tough to put them there since it's such a small space, but maybe it's just because I have such big manly hands. I think it would have been nice if they would have included a mirror sticker to put behind the faucet, but not necessary I guess. Did I mention I'm manly? In the back, there is a bedroom with two beds with brick-built flower patterns on the sheets. It's nice that they didn't use a sticker for these, and that they made the beds different. There is also a lamp, a box to store the hair accessories in, a TV, and a pin board with pictures. Seems quite cozy! And just for fun, here's a comparison to my Friend Ship. They look quite similar, don't they? Either Lego stole my idea or I'm really good at predicting sets! Spare Parts There are various 1x1 pieces left over, along with a string and the brick seperator. Ratings Design: 5/5 - Aside from some missing windows and doors, this ship looks beautiful! It's mostly white and doesn't have many parts in girly colors, so it will appeal to boys and girls alike and will easily integrate into Lego City as well! It's sleek, modern, and luxurious. What more could you ask for? Build: 5/5 - Aside from the boat hull and the slide, there aren't many large pieces, so there is a lot to build, and the build is diverse enough to keep it interesting throughout. Minidolls: 5/5 - All the minidolls are exclusive to this set and have very fitting outfits. Maya and Andrew are both new characters and it's great to finally get some more males in this theme! And do I even need to mention how cute and awesome the dolphins are? Playability: 5/5 - There is a lot to do in this set! You can drive around, look for dolphins, feed them, ride the water slide, take a shower, take a nap or freshen up in the cabin, serve drinks at the bar, ski on the water, and much more! There are hours of fun to be had with this set! Parts: 5/5 - There are several parts in rare colors or molds and not many of them are in Friends-specific colors, so most of them are reusable in other themes. The azure pieces are especially nice to have. Price: 4/5 - $70 for 612 pieces does seem a tad much, but considering that there are some very large pieces like the hull and the slide included, it actually seems fair and it's well worth it for such a great set. Overall: 5/5 - Lego has got a real winner on their hands here! I was not very interested in the Friends line when it first came out, but I find myself liking it more and more, whether it's for the rare parts or for the thoughtful designs. This is a beautiful and fun set that will appeal to most people. It has a ton of play features and some nice exclusive figures, including dolphins! It's a perfect summer time set and I'm sure every girl would love to have it. I would recommend it to anyone. Well, that's all I have to say about this set. I hope you enjoyed this exclusive early review. If you liked it and would like to learn how to make reviews like this, join us in the Eurobricks Reviewers Academy! Now if you'll excuse me, I feel the need to go grill a steak or wrestle a bear or do something else manly.

Hello there fellow AFOLs, I am trying to buy a copy of this Lego book published in Hong Kong or China. Can someone please help and let me know which store/bookstore carries it and in which city? Thanks in advance.

Merry Christmas everybody! Christmas may be winding down now, but regardless, please enjoy my present to you: an overly-long review of… Set Name: Batman: Arkham Asylum Breakout Set #: 10937 Theme: DC Universe Superheroes Pieces: 1619 Minifigures: 7 (and two halves) Year of Release: 2012 Price at Release: US $159.99 - CA $209.99 - DE 159.99€ - UK 129.99£ - DK 1399.00 DKK Buy it? Inventory? Bricklink LEGO Just browse the pictures? Flickr set INTRODUCTION First of all, credit must be given where credit is due: to our own Bonaparte and LEGO for sending me this set to review, and so speedily to boot! Many thanks to you! (LEGO really is the most wonderful company when it comes to community interaction, although since I don't participate on the international Coca-Cola forums, I can't really say that Coke doesn't have such a high level of interaction as well.) A quick note about the pictures: unlike my usual reviews, this time I've uploaded the pictures in their huge un-shrunk glory, so please check out the Flickr set link above if you'd like to see the minute details of all the dust that accumulated on the set in the five seconds between when I took it out of the box and when I snapped the photos. And now, without further ado, let's see what this big bad boy has to offer… BOX This box is just one thing: beastly. Really, it's absolutely ginormous (I've added Riddler for a little size comparison). This being the European version, the front isn't adulterated with parts count and stuff, so you can really enjoy the humungous, gloomy, dark scene. The artwork is quite beautiful and suits Arkham very well. There's more action here than you usually find on the big exclusives; it's still a Superhero thing after all. Since the box is so darn large, the back feels empty despite having all the usual back-of-box trappings. It's fun that LEGO still puts on the comic-style arrows and noise words even on a big-kid geared set. Just because this box dwarfs all the others by a factor of twelve doesn't mean it isn't part of the line! For the top they went with the character that physically takes up the greatest amount of space, because hey, they could. I never knew the top of European boxes were so empty… There are some more box views in the Flickr set, but I felt we had more important things to see. You can see the box yourself in a LEGO store any time. CONTENTS In the box we get nine numbered bags, one bag with big plates and the white rope, and this lovely thing to keep our sticker sheet, comic, and instructions from getting bent out of shape! I don't really care about smashed instruction manuals on small sets, but on such a large one like this it would be quite a bother. It's great LEGO makes sure that doesn't happen! Here's the front of the comic, which I'm pretty sure is exactly the same one you get in the Arctic Batman set except a lot bigger because why not. Just like Oky mentioned in his Arctic Batman review, it's got an odd smattering of stuff inspired by different media, movie Bane being the biggest sore thumb (though the Tumbler is the background is a little odd too). The inside contains a fun but average wordless comic that you can enjoy flipping through once and then never look at again. The back, just like on the Marvel comic, has last year's DC figure lineup and this January's. Some choices are a bit odd, though, like putting Ivy and the guard in both when they're exactly the same, having two Harleys in the right-side one, and not having blue-winged Batman on the left side. But ok, whatever. Lots to collect, go buy sets, etc. We get three lovely instruction manuals that cut off in completely arbitrary places. I literally have no idea why LEGO decides to move onto another manual when they do, especially because these manuals have different amounts of pages. It's not like you move onto a new build; no, one step you're in one manual, the next step you're in the next one. But… #thingsthatdontmatter The inside is an orangey-yellow gradient that looks just fine. It doesn't muddle things up, anyway. Here you see how the minifigures are spread out over the bags to spice things up just when you were starting to feel minifigure-withdrawal. The steps are easy to follow, and there are piece callouts (though I don't use them because I'm stuck in the old 'search the picture for differences' method). I found just one mistake in the instructions, and luckily not a biggie. It's just that the grill piece already appears in this step, when it isn't added for a few more steps. Odd. Lastly, everybody's favorite: the DSS. Most of these stickers are just fine, and I didn't mind them (although the instructions do seem to mock you by showing the stickers going on perfectly straight). The ones for license plates, though, are terrible because they're smaller than the length of the plates on which they go so it's quite annoying getting them smack-dab in the middle. As you'll notice on the set pictures, I wasn't having the best stickering day in general. PARTS …or, the section in which I arbitrarily pick some pieces out that I find interesting! No, I'll try to actually comment on the parts, bag by bag, with the parts I find interesting in a picture-within-a-picture. Bag 1 builds the truck and the restraining stretcher for Joker, so we get a whole bunch of lovely fresh white. It might make you think there are actual colors in this set, if you count white as a color (I think it's more of a color than grey). Parts of interest are the big white doors, small white doors, some SNOT stuff, that curvy Cars part exclusively in white and the clear windshield, just because… well, it's not actually rare, but you know, it's nice. No more tricks; here's the actual color scheme for the set. Grey, grey, grey, and black. Still, less grey than a Star Wars set. In Bag 2, which builds the gate, we get four lovely black wings from Chima, the 3L brown flex tubing that's also in TMNT sets, and the Ninjago skeleton arm now in dark bley! Plus dark green and dark red, and a bunch of dark metallic sais, lovely. The two big plates are from the unnumbered bag of big stuff, but the rest is Bag 3, which builds the entrance. From now on, we'll see lots of the tall grey pieces with a groove in them, which lend a lovely look to the finished model as we shall see. I had no idea this piece has only been around since 2010! Before that they just stacked up 1x2 ones when they needed a tall column for garage doors. Other cools parts here are the chair in dark green (because dark green), the brick brick (because it's still slightly a novelty), and the red phone (because yeah). You build above the entrance with Bag 4. Included are those tall black industrial-like pillars, more groove columns, metallic teeth, square bricks with groove, that printed computer screen, and some nice accessories. Plus lots of trans-black little screen parts; large quantities of things are always fun. Bag 5 makes the cell block, and there's nothing of exceptional interest. Many grey 'log' bricks are nice, though, as are dark red and leaves. There are also more jail bar parts than I think you'd see in a City set normally. As you might be able to tell, Bag 6 builds Poison Ivy's cell and surrounding small room. The corner brick with double concave slope makes an appearance, there are a couple nice smoke tiles, and the big clear rounded panels are cool. Black periscope… not super sure why I threw that one in there. Bag 7 builds the tower cell. A bunch of cool stuff to be found here: trans-red doughnut piece, grey double clip piece, dark grey frog, more dark grey skellie arms, trans light-blue cheese… nice! Bag 8 makes the bottom portion of the remaining Arkham section. Just the same old cool parts we saw before. This caps it off! A little more tan to break up the grey/black combo. The brick with grooves actually appears to be new in tan, though there's just one. As we'll see in the model, I'm not sure why it's necessary at all, but hey, I'll take it. Maybe it'll be more prevalent in another upcoming set. There are more extra parts in this set than there are parts in a SW Battlepack! Ok, maybe not, but there's still a boatload of extras here. Somebody should start a 'build using only extra pieces in big sets' challenge. MINIFIGURES For once, I'm not more excited about discussing minifigures than I am about discussing a set. But still, minifigures are lovely goodies! Let's look at 'em. I've collaborated with The Penguin to bring you info about the inspiration for the specific designs of each figure; since the set's not tied to any particular media, it's interesting to see what designs were chosen. Here's everybody; from left to right: big-wing Batman, Robin, random guard #7, Scarecrow, Penguin, Poison Ivy, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, and prison outfit Joker. But they're so far away when they're all lined up; you need to see them up-close! The Good Guys All of these guys are not so fresh. The guard is the twin of the one that failed to stop Two-Face's robbery last year, though he still has a snappy torso. This Robin is styled after the one in the Arkham City game, which would make him Tim Drake, the third Robin. Of course, he just uses parts from the Robin of last year, but it's cool to see him in this darker outfit anyway. An all-new Nightwing would've been better, though. Batman may also come from Arkham City because of the wings, though I think the wings are a common move, so he really could be anything. He'd be better with an alternate cape, but I do like the winged look. Unlike in the Catwoman set where Bats has a whole jetpack on his wings, these he wears straight up. Perhaps they're really just supposed to be a cape, as Bats often does have a cape that becomes stiff to help him swoosh around. Robin's cape feels pretty soft, which surprised me. Being older and more experienced in the weight-room, Bruce has better back muscles than his young buddy. Bats still has his good old cheeky reverse face, and Robin has his ridiculous face. It doesn't work as well with the hood as it did with his other outfit, though. Overall, these good guys are necessary, but nothing outstanding. The Old Bad Guys Old because we've seen them before, but still possibly my two favorite figures in the set. Poison Ivy, who is just an amalgamation of regular comic-book Ivy looks, is a gorgeous figure. The printing in her hair, the plant-y body, the green lipstick… lovely. A nice addition too for anybody that didn't get the Batcave. Joker is also wonderful. He wore a prison outfit in the Batman: Under the Red Hood movie, so this outfit could be based on that; regardless, it's a great torso with wide usefulness. The Joker face and hair was superb to begin with, so coupled with the lovely torso, it's just another superb figure. I was surprised to find that the color under the neck is actually flesh (sorry yellow lovers); I thought it was white from pictures. Both have reverse faces that I like less. Joker's works well for being locked up and maniacal, but the grin is a bit too creepy-wide for me. Ivy's mouth looks a little too close to her eyes, but it's still ok. Ivy has some quite low-cut back printing, and Joker has a inmate number. The number is really the only detracting factor from the torso - if you collected a bunch of the torso, all your prisoners would have the same number! Or maybe that's useful for something. The New Bad Guys Dr. Harleen Quinzel is clearly from Batman: The Animated Series where she's introduced, subsequently goes mad and becomes Harley Quinn. The Harley outfit under her doctor's coat isn't from anything specifically, but perhaps in the context of this set it's showing that she's already Harley Quinn and is merely dressing up like her old self. The face is great (girls with glasses, yay!) but I find the torso to be fairly bland and single-use. This Penguin with lovely lilac pants is reminiscent of the Gotham Underground Penguin; LEGO pulled off a fat look very well, and it's useful parts all around, but still I find his face pretty ugly (ugly still is useful, though). Scarecrow has a generic Scarecrow look, but frankly looks amazing! The old one was a bit creepier, but this one is more on the adorably creepy side, which I like. He looks so sly and mischievous. More lovely stitch-work on Scarecrow's back, while the others have fairly regular, by-the-books back printing. Still nice for a well rounded figure in today's LEGO day and age. Harley has a reverse 'Harley' head with sloppily applied white face paint - a great touch. Scarecrow has lovely printing on the back of his head that could be quite useful for other things, like plain scarecrows. It's stuff like this that make him a standout figure. I was sad to find that the Harley face is the same as the one on the full-Harley figure. This would've been a great opportunity to get a third expression for her, but instead we're stuck with the same one I didn't like much last time anyway. Her hat is glossier this time, though. Minifigure Accessories There are surprisingly few true accessories. I say 'true accessories' because plenty of the detail bits in this set, like the sais or the axe blades or spears, could double as accessories, but these are the only ones LEGO tells you to use as accessories. Just a plain pole for Robin, a batarang for Batman, handcuffs for the guard, and a fish and umbrella for the Penguin. Scarecrow is really sorely missing a scythe. BUILD HIGHLIGHTS I'm not going to show the whole build; most of it is pretty straight forward, or you can see what's done on the finished model. There were just a few things that stood out, so I'll show you them and provide musings, as always. Quite early on is the use of two newish SNOT pieces together to make the front of the truck. Just made me think about how useful all the new SNOT pieces are, and how well they work together. I imagine that to people who actually MOC regularly (unlike myself), these must be amazing. You think that SNOT is cool, check out the side of the truck. Seriously, this thing needs a tissue. But it's awesome! This is a nice little assembly for a lantern that I hadn't seen before. The single stud is the top, and the cone slots onto another bar. This assembly, though, is utterly annoying. These are necessary to attached the windows on the center part, so four are built over time. Stacking everything straight is a nightmare! I'm not sure of an alternative, and you can power through it, but man is it annoying. Shorter ones are also needed for the shorter window assemblies. Finally, somebody employed Shire architects in Gotham! It's the same technique used in the Bag End Hobbit set, and I was surprised to find that once it's closed with another arch on the other side, the window isn't actually snug - it rattles around. Still, the effect is worth it. THE COMPLETED SET After hours of toiling, the set is finished! Builds this big really do take quite a while. Before we get to the main shebang, the big cheese, *ahem* the Asylum itself, we need to go through the other stuff! The Van and Restraining Stretcher This van model is the best I've seen in LEGO. It's quite old school, with a 40s-ish vibe, and that's excellent. The front makes it look pretty tough, and it certainly gives you the feeling it's going to an old-school institute for the insane. The curved Cars part is employed so well in front of the windshield. Also major props to the set designer on the studlessness. Truly an amazing vehicle. The big tiles on the side give it a great, boxy look. I just love how the tiles hide half the wheels. Really this whole thing has spot-on proportions and coloring, and parts use. I know it'd still look great as an unmarked van without the stickers. Those big white doors on the back are great too. I can almost see this being converted into a milk truck; big white doors say 'refrigerator' to me. Here we also have the worst sticker - that annoying license plate that you're supposed to center somehow on a 6-long tile. The cabin is quite detailed, with a stickered radio console, steering wheel, and shift. There's even enough room that you could probably fit another figure in, though it'd be tight. Now then, since this is an Arkham prisoner transport truck, the guard is guiding Joker into the restraining stretcher. The bars and droid arms work so well on this thing to give it a creepy metal feel. Looks like the type of contraption Hannibal would be transported in. Once Joker is strapped (or in LEGO - clipped), he can be easily slid into the truck. The one thing I'd worry about is that there's no barrier between him and the guard in there, so if he breaks free that spells doom for our security friend. The Gate The black gate (no LotR reference) is quite intimidating. It's odd that the separate gate halves aren't designed to come together, but they still seem a bit tough regardless. The color scheme for the entire building is set up here: grey with dark red highlights and some black. The designer's got nice consistency going through the set, really bringing the gate and the building together. These dark guardian statues are wonderful. The Chima wings really take them to the next level, making them supremely spooky and intimidating. The angled piece below for a robe is also inspired parts use. Here you can also see the nice lantern build I showed earlier, and that the security camera is on a grey skeleton arm, another nice part use. I'm not too sure what the pieces with spears angling off are about; I suppose they give the illusion that the fence continues, which is nice. I'm not sure they're totally necessary, but I'll take it. The van, as you can see, fits nicely through the gate. The Asylum - Exterior We've made it to the main event, the Asylum! That is one freaking nice-looking building. It's got excellent repeating architectural themes running through it, like the wall pieces with groove, the rounded modified pieces at the bottom of each wall segment, the dark red, the similar windows, etc. but then each part of the building is spiced up with something unique to keep it from being monotonous. I love how the whole part of the building under the tower is a bit different, what with the big slope going down. It makes it look like it's built up more to support the tower. There are a lot of excellent small and larger details to see. The little spires with teeth and unicorn horns are lovely and provide a nice stronger look compared to the sais. The use of hand-claw weapons is also quite good. A very impressive larger aspect is the window design; for a moment I wondered why they didn't just use smoke pieces in 1x4 instead of all the 1x2s, but the 1x2s really give it a great window-ish look. It's great how there are taller window units on the main room, and then a shorter one of similar design off on the other room. This little gargoyle deserves special note. Another absolutely inspired use of parts, coming together to make this wonderful little guy (guys, since there are two). When I first saw pictures of the set, I thought it was some new head attachment, but no, just a frog! Brilliant. I just wanted to finish this section off with perhaps my favorite portion of all: the entrance. The doors, the surrounding steps, the little lanters… everything about this part is brilliant. The Asylum - Interior This set doesn't skimp in the slightest on interior design. Here's the overview, but that won't do… we need close-ups! I'll start with my favorite section - which is again the entrance. The doors look so strong due to the black handle parts and smooth-bottom tiles. Very asylum-like. The fire extinguisher is fun too, as is the phone, though I'm not sure why the danger phone is just sitting there in the hall. Unless it's not a danger phone. Really, my love for this section comes down to the security station. The way it's a step down from the main entrance, with the wood table-top part, and the controls and panic button - it feels so real and fun. There isn't even much to it, but sometimes it's the littlest things that work the best. Moving over to the right is the weakest part of the set: the rotating thing. On this side are the extra prison cell signs, so you can swap out figures if you want to/have them (aka go buy the other sets!). But let's think about this for a second. Ivy already has a dedicated cell upstairs, as does Freeze, as we shall see. So those are useless. I don't know who LEGO could've put instead; since I'm pretty sure Riddler never went to Arkham. Or if he did, then he should be here. Did Catwoman? Lex Luthor? In any case, two of these don't make real sense. On the other side is this little makeup stand where Harley pours out her love for Joker on a mirror and does herself up in clown makeup. The stand is well-detailed, and I dig the little bottles made out of flowers and round tiles, but there's no room at this thing. Harley has to stand off the building just to fit. Good idea, but bad execution. Also, the way the set is, I'd think a guard could just walk in and see her. Good thing there's only one guard staffing the place, I guess. On the other side of the entrance is the cell block. This part looks quite good: lots of bars, doors, nice printed tiles that look like electronic locks - no wild parts uses, but it does the trick. You may wonder why there is that odd 3-long technic pin receptor above the cells (I thought it was just for decoration at first), but all shall be revealed. The doors are constructed so that they can be slid away together for some whole-prison break fun. Sliding is fun! Or you could just open a single door, though it's harder to get your fingers in there to extract the figure. As you see, you can also have a bit of fun with the signs, lumping a lot of people in a single cell. Above Harley's secret area is a little office, probably also for her (I mean, do you see another Doctor in the set?). The desk is more ornate than it needs to be, though I do like the design. I'm not even sure what material it's reminiscent of in real life, but it looks great. The armchair is also a cute build with excellent color choices. One interesting note above: the roof uses two styles of hinges, allowing it to be in a very certain place but achieve angles that it couldn't with only click-hinges. The middle room is an examination area. The big black columns make the ceiling feel very high, and the room spacious. Small cramped spaces are scary, but there's something equally creepy about the thought of being experimented on in a cavernous room where your screams could really echo. Ok, enough morbidity. The table has some great details, like the bottles of stuff, and the drawers, one of which uses a hinge brick to permanently look open. It's weird, but looks cool. You could always 'close' it by taking out the hinge brick. The exam table is also a great use of parts. To the left we have the room with Ivy's cell. I love the huge glass doors, which I hope are made out of thick glass in the 'play' world. Otherwise, Ivy could easily cause plants to smash through them. The little plant build in the corner is cute, and kind of mocks Ivy. You know, heh, I'm a plant, etc. Ok, never mind. The use of cheese slopes on the window Scarecrow smashed out of produces a wonderful broken effect. Perhaps Arkham staff is especially nice to women, since Ivy gets a cell far more spacious than any other in here. Up top is the tower, with a lovely sticker showing temperature control. I love on the sticker the yellow button that mimics the design on the printed tiles (a design which has been in use for ages, I might add). But, why does it need temp control, you ask? It's a cell for Mr. Freeze, complete with some white snow and trans-light-blue ice! Very nice of LEGO to add this cell, making you want to spend more money on the Mr. Freeze set. Well, I haven't done that yet, so in the meantime they locked up Thi Sen. He can deal with cold, anyway. ALTERNATE CONTRUCTION Somehow I didn't even realize this until I got the set, but Arkham can be rearranged! It breaks apart into three sections, like so: Taking it apart is the easy part, though. Making all those pins line up is far more difficult, resulting in a bunch of what I like to call KABLAMOS. They look like this: Once you figure it out, you get this new arrangement. Personally, I'm not a huge fan. If you have very little shelf space, maybe do this to save room, but otherwise the first look is better. This set is already not physically that huge - it's packed with parts and details, but the actual space it takes up in the world once built is not that great. In this second arrangement, it takes up even less space, making it less impressive. Moving the tower off to the side also isn't as nice. The interior produced has ups and downs. Harley now has a lot of room by her secret Joker-fetish stand, but now nobody can stand on the other side of her desk. Also, it's much harder to access the second cell in the cell block in this configuration. CONCLUSION There's a lot to like in this set. Time and time again, I found myself wowed by building techniques and parts usages. I don't regularly get any of the exclusive sets, so that may be a common thing, but I'm really impressed with it in this set. The overall facade detailing of Arkham is also fantastic - not too monotonous, but very far from a hot mess too. The interior is good overall, especially in the entrance area, with the perfect little security station. The only part that really fails is the Harley stand, though the desk and chair in the office also are kind of filler despite being well-built. The van - I don't have many more words about it. The van is truly amazing. I'd buy it if they released it separately, no questions. The minifigure selection is good, not fantastic, but maybe that's just because I'm not a huge Batman fan. A different Robin would've been greatly appreciated, but there's a lot good about what you do get. The one slight problem in my mind is, again, size. I've been feeling it with most LEGO sets recently - there are tons of detailed packed in, but the resulting model isn't huge. This building is, of course, quite large, but not really bigger than older castle sets or the old Ninja Fortress in footprint, just way more parts put into detailing. Now, does it matter? To MOCers, certainly not. To people who want display pieces, still not really, because this is an impressive building. It's just odd how LEGO sets have gotten a bit… smaller. I'm not trying to say this set isn't a good value, and eventually I'll just have to get over the size thing. For now, though, I still don't know how I feel. RATINGS Minifigures: 8/10 - Robin is dull, and Harley isn't so exciting herself. Not bad, just not standout. Parts: 10/10 - A lot of parts period, and a lot of interesting things, including a few parts in exclusive colors. Great! Design: 8.7/10 - Great consistently, but there are some parts that are downright annoying to build or annoying to sticker. Rearranging the model can also get tough, though I'm not sure anything's to be done about that. Price: 9.5/10 - Feels right for the US market anyway, though again, the finished thing isn't extremely large. Playability: 10/10 - Quite a lot of fun to be had in the set, roleplaying with the minifigures, sliding the cell doors, driving the van around, etc. I 'played' for an hour taking pictures of fun! Overall: 9.24/10 - A high score. There are a few little things about this set that don't completely hit the mark, but it still has quite a lot going for it. If you're on the fence, I'd say go for it if you like excellent buildings, or Batman, or cool vans, or hopefully all of that. I took quite a few fun or atmospheric pictures that I didn't end up using in the review to let a little of your bandwidth survive, so please check out the Flickr set if you'd like! Here's one I thought to take because I wished the rope in this set had been a different color: Thanks again to Bonaparte and LEGO for giving me this grand reviewing opportunity!