Svelte

Yes, but they always say that. It's called 'PR'. Retailers aren't interested in dying themes and it's in Lego's interests to push everything as positive. Most of the time we don't even know themes are dead until after the fact - just look at Exo-Force or Batman (Harry Potter was probably the exception in that everyone suspected the axe was falling). The 2007 AquaRaiders was also mentioned as being a good seller and it went nowhere after the first wave. I'm not saying Indy falls in this category, just beware the 'Every theme is a bestseller!' hype

I've seen it in Sydney at TRU.

You're probably right. They seemed to be practically giving the 10159 Airport set away towards the end. I still think they could revisit the Legends theme, but pitch it differently. Instead of doing the huge, expensive sets that AFOLs adore but the general public isn't so keen on, they could play up the vintage angle. On the other hand, I guess that's what sets like the retro-styled Town Plan are for - Lego as people might remember it when they were kids, not what it actually was.

The transparent treasure chest came with the first Hogwart's Castle, 4709. On topic, I bought the 2 smallest Power Miners sets on sale, mainly for the great figs.

Beautiful! ISC, you just keep getting better and better! I love the shifty, sloping outline of the ruined ship. Very evocative. There's also the angled corner of the cabin and ruined deck as well as the curved walls on the bottom level for bonus psychedelia. My eyes don't know where to look! It is certainly organic. The sea snail is great (Gary's evil cousin?) and the toothy little horrors are simple yet effective. The pulled out drawer and the dropped treasure map are a great detail too, not to mention the organ itself. The overall composition is very nice, especially from the third shot. It does look looming and impressive. If I was to change anything, I'd replace those yellow fence pieces with the half-size pearl gold variety, but that's a quibble.

I'm going to have to disagree with most of the other commenters here and say that this set is a mix of the brilliant and the awful. On the one hand, we have delights such as the pearl gold accessories, the wonderfully brickbuilt greenhouse (lots of dark bley cheese slopes and trans clear window pieces) and some brilliant new figs. Umbridge's hairpiece alone was revolutionary and I remember when this set came out people were sighting the hair alone selling for 10 Euros on ebay On the other hand, this set felt to me like the last gasp of the line. There were too many large pieces - the round castle walls, the tan turrets, the sand green cone roof - to too little purpose. Apart from the greenhouse, construction is very simple, with none of the distinguishing detail that the previous Hogwarts had in terms of the tan brick-built crenellations, the cleverly angled roofs, and individually differentiated towers. As Matn points out, lin 5378, large areas are empty to no purpose. The front entrance is spartan to say the least, with the weird space torch lanterns, the cheap looking sand-green sloped roof, and the oddly positioned stained glass. A preponderance of stickers (even the shield!) doesn't help. This is a great review, it's just a shame about the set

That's a great resource, Sir Dillon - many thanks for the link. Even if my eyes will never be able to unsee this horror.

7665 has been sold out from S@H for a while, so this may be the last batch before they vanish entirely. I also noticed 8707 Boulder Blaster at TRU ($39.99) for crystal-heads Has anyone seen 7751 Ahsoka's Starfighter? It seems odd it isn't out yet, or I may have just missed it.

The Lego Collector's Guide lists the earliest castle as the Weetabix promotional one from 1970 (471 pieces) Next is the familiar 375 in 1978. 1980's 1592 has a yellow castle, as mentioned by Sir Dillon. The rerelease of 375 as 6075 took place in 1981. And there's nothing else until the greys take over in 1984 with 6073 Knight's Castle and 6080 King's Castle. At a pinch, some of the 1982 Fabuland sets are sort of large and yellowish (3667, 3672)

The new blue one is OK, but everyone knows ice cubes made from the original yellow tray taste better Those Belville moulds remind me of the cheap Ikea rubber trays you can get: http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/60146194 Lego probably bought up a cargo load of older ones and 're-branded' them as Belville. It's all hearts and butterflies in Belville land, right? Even at 70% off at Lego prices, they could still make a 100% profit even if they paid Ikea the full retail price

This really is amazing. Since I would have no idea how to even begin to do this I am doubly in awe And it dooes to show, every part has a use - even Zamor spheres! Thanks for sharing, KimT. And KimT's brother!

I think there is potential to bring back a limited range of 'Legends' - maybe 2 releases a year. Seriously, that way you get the best of every theme, without the dross. There's still plenty of potential in the older sets for revival. I know there are a host of problems with old moulds not being available etc, but these can be overcome. If they can bring back the turkey body for MMV, and re-do minifigs for the Vintage minifig collections, it can't be impossible to recreate select pieces. Old grey enthusiasts would probably complain that the new sets would be in bley tones, but you know what? I'd love to have some of the older sets redone in the new colours. Printed castle panels and corner walls, anyone? Lego also seems much more savvy these days to the vintage/ retro/ nostalgia dollar, so bringing back some Classic Town houses (like 6374) would be cheaper to produce (less parts than modern sets) while also cashing in on the feelgood factor. However I wouldn't want these new Legends to replace or push out the current amazing exclusives, hence the limited release of 2 per year.

Great topic, ISC I probably do spend more from being on EB, maybe because the excellent reviews here entice me to buy sets that I would probably otherwise dismiss. I'm looking at you, small Power Miners sets I've also definitely increased my bricklink spend due to the level of creative skill on display by our talented MOCers as well, and have stocked up on a lot of useful and unusual parts. I would say that EB has encouraged me to MOC more. I like the competitions as when you work full-time it can be daunting at the end of the day to think 'I will now start building my 20,000+ piece masterpiec!'. Having competitions with a set topic or theme and a variety of entry levels means everyone can participate, and having limitations actually encourages you to think more carefully about what you build. The constructive criticism and genuine enthusiasm by EB members to what other members are doing also is an incitement to MOC. Who doesn't like praise? It is also a great environment to post MOCs, as has also recently been discussed, as posting individual threads make it easy for MOCers who like to work with a narrative framework or lots of text (such as Sandy's Time Crash series) or joint projects (such as CCB) can do so with more flexibility than is just available on image hosting sites.

TRU has the Republic Cruiser back in stock for $120. I also saw the 2 Pirate impulses in store as well.

i think a lot of these are still prelim, but if you're looking for a Castle reference, the alien in the background has Rascus' torso.

Well, I went to Myer Sydney City this evening and they hadn't heard of this offer, so you may want to check your local stores before you go rushing in.

I'm definitely more familiar with the numbers than the set names. That's probably because when news of new sets hit, the theme and set number is the first thing that's known. Then we get the set name. And then maybe a blurry prelim... but always the set number first. If you look at the brickset cloud, half the people there are searching for things by set number. Hello and thanks for the news, capto. Goodbye and thanks for the Clone battle packs, Myer!

Maybe someone aimed a giant magnet at the server looking for Chrome Vaders, as per your suggestion. That is about when it went out...

Well, since news has leaked, people are perfectly entitled to call their local store and ask when the new modular fire station is coming out. It's up to the stores what information they subsequently disclose Considering TLG's past history with leaks, individual store managers have probably been warned there are dire consequences for anyone who lets things slip early, and there is a valid reason from their point of view to identify and plug the source of the leak.

I would have thought the answer was staring everyone in the face Since these are 'Chrome' Vaders, he obviously used a metal detector!

Going on the US/ UK listed prices on the previous page, I'd guess: King's Chariot - $AU30-40 Drawbridge Defence - $AUD60-$70 Troll Mountain Fortress - $AUD150

If this is true, let's hope they sort the dark red colour issue out before it hits production. It seems to be more orangey-reddy-brown than dark red these days (compare the small dark red curved slopes in 10193 with older runs of the same part to see what I mean). A fire station is not the most inspirational idea. I wonder what it will mean in terms of interior detail.

It will be nice to have a printed minifig guide to act as a companion for the Collecter's Guide, and also since the '50 Years of the Lego Brick' book didn't seem to cover them in any detail.

Great work, ISC! I love the mine tracks and especially the conveyer belt/ ore processing apparatus. It looks very sturdy and chunky! The tiles look fabulous, sort of askew and well-worn, and I like the usage of the black taps/ brown disks. The gears look very appropriate as well. Did a Sandcrawler die so this MOC may live? If I was going to add anything, I'd maybe like to see a few more minerals poking through the walls, or even a nook or tiny cave where an innocent dwarf is stumbling towards the glowing yellow eyes of a dragon or other monster...

I know, I saw your post in the neoclassicspace thread Classic-walrus still might be a goer