Brainbox

Hmm... it's reminding me of a block of cheese. Not that that's a bad thing, of course, it's a timeless classic sci-fi shape! Neat!

Mmm, Penguin sub... So gloriously Siver Age! It's a shame the game version didn't include a beak, I think, that would look good here. Still, mustn't go giving away my ideas! Excellent representation though, and you know I'm always partial to the odd Bat-MOC!

There's a definite turning point in any given set build where the main structure tips from being "meaningless structure" to "ah, I can see what it is now, that's really cool!" One finds oneself saying that a lot of the time... That would be my favourite part, I think. On the flip side, least favourite part? Technic pins. I spend ages making sure the grooves are all perfectly positioned horizontally...

In my defense, I was thinking more of older music than what's coming out now. That's not my thing, so much. I think they make non-Brits pround to not be British.

I think Alien Conquest taps into a slightly different... not market exactly, but a different vein of space and sci-fi story telling. 'Traditional' Lego Space is about exploration (with a little combat thrown in, granted), whereas Insectoids and Mars Mission are more focussed on an action film sort of feel, and then Space Police III is an almost cartoony take on Space, with the over-the-top alien designs. Alien Conquest has the definite vibe of a 50s B-movie, with a bit of a modern 'saving the world' action slant to it. I'd say it was for a slightly different type of sci-fi fan than a lot of the previous lines. It feels different, both a continuation and an off-shoot of what has come before. TLC have dared to try something a bit different, and I for one will applaud them for it. It helps that a lot of the sets look nice too, of course.

Yay, I'm popular! I do like a nice bowtie, they're criminally underrated!

A normal head has worked with skellies for years, and I guess this wouldn't be too different but for being red with a slightly tweaked print (so, completely different then?). Done right, it could work. That said, if a special mold looked decent, that's cool too.

The fig we've seen certainly looked more movie-oriented than comics-based, so I'd say a Red Skull is a good bet. How many other Cap baddies would the average movie-going fan who might happen to want a Lego Captain America know, after all?

It does seem to be a little hard to find now... However, I had a bit of a search for you, and I turned up this one on Toy Arena. It's perhaps a little on the pricier side, but I think it's quite reasonable given that it's not always easy to find one. I'd have a look on eBay as well, just in case. Hope it helps!

I hate to bring up the point again or be pernickity or whatever, but that's not strictly true. The last person Batman gunned down was one of Hugo Strange's monster men, way back in the third story of Batman #1, while remarking "much as I hate to take human life, I'm afraid this time it's necessary." Note that said story was a product of Bill Finger and Bob Kane. The Code wasn't introduced until much later. Excepting Darkseid, of course, who he mortally wounded moments before he "died". I think I'm willing to give Catwoman a little more time, just in case some ears show up. But if they don't, then I agree on the "so-called." Bane, however, not really to my taste. I can see what they've tried to do, and the idea of a scary mouth-covering mask is a sound one, but the one they've chosen doesn't really work. I'm rather partial to the Adam West film, myself. Like the TV series, it is quite frankly wonderful.

I went to a wedding the other week, so I took the opportunity to put my finery on, bow tie and all:

How about the BBC, Doctor Who, Brian Blessed, Thunderbirds et al, many excellent British real ales, fish and chips, a fine tradition of silly local newspaper headlines, an education system that uses the much easier to understand "years" instead of "grades", Shakespeare, the Mr Men and Little Miss, Roald Dahl, Douglas Adams, brilliant music, black pudding and pantomime? Oh, and me of course.

Ah, there we go then. I remember something about Dark Knight Rises sets as well... It would makes sense, of course, the sets would ride the wave of popularity then. I certainly hope so, although I imagine the amount of trans-green pieces needed to give him lots of accessories might make it a little difficult. I think that's putting it mildly!

I remember someone managed to chew one of my minifig heads beyond recognition once, when I was little. I seem to remember not being too pleased... I'm not the sort of person who lends things very easily, I have issues with other people handling my things. But I am more than happy for close friends to have a bit of a potter with my Lego, as they have on occasion. Just because they're mature twenty year olds doesn't mean they aren't secretly children! Although I do tend to stand over them while they do it, just to be sure...

I went shopping earlier and snagged 7978 Angler Attack on sale for £10, and 8424 Mater's Spy Zone for £5. I only went out for a magazine...

I shall have a look, thank you! In fairness though... Leonard Nimoy! Sure, some more Shocky would have been great, but I'm more than happy to trade that for extra Nimoy, even if he was being all evil.

Don't you go lecturing me on comic-book history! And while, yes, it's true that he carried a gun for his first year of publishing, that's pretty much been retconned out since. At least, until Grant Morrison took over for his (excellent) run on the Bat-books. There he stated that Batman carried the gun that killed his parents (but never used it) for a bit, haunting Joe Chill, before giving him said gun to jolly well make him think about the hurt he caused. Of course, it's heavily implied that Chill then used the gun to commit suicide, and it's siggested that this is what ol' Bats wanted, but we'll gloss over that. Regardless, the whole "Batman doesn't kill" thing is so ingrained that it's taken as given fact. Comic books aren't realistic, comic book superheroes aren't that realisic, the world they live in isn't that realistic. It just sort of falls apart if one does too much to lose that tongue-in-cheek sense of fun...

I'm hoping to kick myself into spending more time on here, I think it might help bring about some improvements in my general mood. Hopefully, anyway.

Whatever I can find to stop myself singing Seasons of Love from Rent... It's been stuck in my head since our cast sang through it at a rehearsal earlier. Currently The Living Daylights by a-ha.

Oh, I loves me some polybags, I does! I'm afraid I, like others, just can't resist the appeal of that little printed plastic bag, perhaps piled up on some shop shelf, filled with a tiny yet satisfying amount of goodies. And in this one, we get a jetpack. Jetpacks are cool. And swooshable. I'm going to have to consider tracking one of these down...

Hmm. That's... strangely creepy... Nice job though, it made me smile! After I'd expunged the creeped out feeling, that is.

The Penguin was, however, retconned as a member of the original Injustice League as seen in the twelve one-shot comics The Silver Age (2000), which both tributed and gently parodied the comics of said era. So he has faced the Justice League, and while body-swapped with Batman no less! Do I remember something about the list of sets we've seen being Spring releases, with more following later in the Summer? Which would explain the absense of Green Lantern, among others. Or have I made that up?

The appeal of TF3 was really the big battle at the end though, wasn't it? And there was some great action there, so I'm happy! I do agree that some of the newbies could have got a little more attention though. To wade in on the Animated thing... I really liked Animated! Some of the designs were just wonderful, and the whole thing was so in-jokey it was unbvelievable! The Allspark Almanacs are great reads for that alone! I believe TF: Prime is premiering over here in the UK on September 5th on Cartoon Network. Not that I can get that channel, so I'll be tracking them down on the Internet.

I'll give you that one, I think. I'm not the biggest fan of Begins either, to be honest, but it was probably better than TDK. I understand that not everything that works in the world of comics would work on screen, for a general film-going audience who perhaps aren't as familiar with the source material as we nerds are. But that's not to say that a film has to be completely different! It'd certainly be nice to see a movie costume for Batman that isn't made of molded rubber (or whatever it is). But the biggest thing BB/TDK did wrong? Batman killed. He broke his biggest rule. In refusing to save Ra's, he killed him. In pushing Two-Face off that ledge, it's heavily implied that he killed him. But surely... Batman doesn't kill? Some things do probably need changing, but there are plenty that should be sacrosanct, for want of a better word.

...And that's me back again! Hopefully this return will be more permanent than the last one. But, you know, being at university without my Lego for half the year and battling bouts of depression tend to make me less active here than I'd like to be, which is a shame.