Svelte

Hi all, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who voted for me! I was very surprised and thrilled that so many people liked my little scene. All the entries were great and I picked up a few techniques I'll be using in my own foresty type MOCs in future Thanks also to Hinckley for being such a benevolent and wise Elflands contest runner. Hopefully the serial killer of Histeria Lane hasn't run amok whilst your attention has been diverted

Brickset says that Amazon.co.uk has the new SW sets now for preorder. 7673 MagnaGuard Starfighter £39.99 7674 TMV 19 Torrent £49.99 7675 AT-TE Walker £69.99 7676 Republic Attack Gunship £79.99 Looking at these prices all grouped together, does anyone else think TLC's release strategy is odd? 4 sets all released at the same time, with the cheapest one 40 pounds and the most expensive 80? What happened to the idea of releasing a line of sets with a range of price points? 240 pounds all in one hit is a big sum. I think it may impact sales, at least in the short term. Or maybe the plan is to have a lot of big, expensive sets on shelf in the run up to Xmas and have the cheaper lines in January when parents have less disposable cash to spend on the kiddies? What do others think?

The figs in Grand Prix are great (and there is a monkey!) but as Sinner says, it doesn't have the new windscreens, and as Hewman says, it is kind of pricey. Personally I found the colour scheme for Grand Prix very bley-ey, white and black unless you apply all 2-billion+ stickers supplied with it. The 2 smallest sets aren't bad value, personally I just prefer the vehicle design and figs from Taejo vs Racer X. They're a bit more solid-looking than the Snake Oiler ones. Wait til they're on sale and get both!

Go the Racer X and Taejo set. The colours aren't as exciting (yellow and red) but the design of the cars is way better than the other 2-car set and the figs are awesome too.

True. Fingers crossed! You're right, it was weird last year, the catalogues said Castle stuff was coming out in August or September and then Big W had everything in July.

The secret life of Sinner's boot fetish revealed. Intriguing... yet disturbing. *Looks thoughtful*

This thread has inspired me to buy Idea Book 6000 from Bricklink. You're right, the Brickster, there is definitely something about having the physical copy in your hands or next to your building area for inspiration. Thanks

Not yet. Usually June or July. Big W has already started pre-advertising for theirs but no details yet.

I've also seen Jungle Duel at K-Mart and Toys R Us had about a million of 'em yesterday as part of their shiny new IJ4 display! On-topic: I bought the Battle Wheel yesterday. 56 new dark brown 2x6 plates! Yay! I actually like it as it's a medium-sized castle set that's NOT a catapult (although it does have one teensy one).

Then I wish the new sets released in 08 (impulse sets, Battle Wheel etc) wouldn't have the pic of 7094 along with the other new sets in the instruction manual! In other news, Target Australia is having a 20% off Lego from this Thursday. They usually have a kid's sale just after Mother's Day - presumably Mum is all buttered up by then to buy toys

Thanks for the great review! It seems like the most awesome part of the set is the sticker sheet, which is a reversal of the usual situation!

No, Nikola, this is just for the troll line (Tower Assault, Warship, Dwarves Mine Defender etc). It's odd because it means they'll have been available at Shop at Home for 8 months prior to being in stores in Australia.

Bizarre. Thanks for the news, I Scream Clone.

Great topic, The Brickster! I gew up with this one: When I came out of my dark ages it took me a while to remember I still had this hidden away somewhere, and when I dug it out it was nostalgia overload. So much great classic Town, Space and Castle ideas! I only ever had the basic Castle catapult with 2 falcon knights so the double paged spreads of massive Castle layouts sent me goggle-eyed with desire. When I discovered online scans libraries of old instructions the one you posted above (6000) was one of the first ones I looked up. There's a huge amount of interesting techniques and inspiring deas still in these books so their use-value is still going strong. I don't know why alternate builds are no longer featured on box art but I'm guessing it's for financial reasons - time and money! I for one would love a new Ideas book along the same lines as the old ones but I think it would have to be pitched at the right market - maybe a limited edition art book aimed at AFOLs along the lines of nostalgia sets such as Town Plan or the Modular Houses series. It wouldn't even have to be published by TLC itself, it could be something that featured the best-of techniques of respected AFOL builders in detail (eg like the current video of Jamie Berard making columns in the Designers sections of the website). Which leads me to another point... I think from an official standpoint Lego Factory supplants the concept of the Idea book as a LDD user can log online and view hundreds of inspirational models from other users, view building instructions and even purchase the sets themselves if they so wish. That was definitely one of the problems of the Ideas books for me - without enough parts, some of the models were beyond my scope. At least you can go online these days and buy as many Space Skulls stickers (or whatever it is you want) as you need! The only thing lacking from this model of an user-generated online Ideas Book is the great tableaus and photography which made the old printed ones so special to me as a kid. Eg in 6000, the opening narrative of the couple driving out the country, arranging all the bricks, slowly building their house, only to have it erupt in flames, is both a neat story, a good guide to building a simple house, and a humorous vignette! It's that kind of detail that TLC is slowly redeveloping by revisiting classic Town lines and producing adult-oriented high-end sets.

It reminded me of the same set as well - except I couldn't remember the set name! - thanks for the reminder.

I voted for LegoJoe as it's a great playset, the rock detailing is very naturalistic, and the figs are excellent too! I also love Tohst's entry as I am a sucker for excellent forest/ greenery design . Inspiring contest with some neat ideas from everyone.

You can spot some 80s Lego sets in a toystore featured in 'Gremlins 2'. The stageplay of Priscilla in Oz a few years ago also featured a kid playing with Building Bonanza 4886.

I don't think Lego itself has a gender specific attachment to this piece - it was used for Snape in some of the Harry Potter sets a few years back.

The 7645 Crystal Reaper is amazing - great to look at, not too technicy. The inclusion of power function instructions is a huge plus and makes the set a 'must-buy' rather than a 'would like' - I guess we'll be seeing more of this kind of integration in the future. The other ones I can take or leave, though. The 766 Hypersonic thing is a bit of a hot mess. The robot in 7646 looks great but I can live without the alien craft. I think it's hilarious that the alien commander has to attach into his seat via a clip through the spine - jelly road safety rules ON!

I've had a lot of shields and horse bardings with this problem with the new castle line. Same with the green dragon head in the Troll Warship. And the wizard's hat in the impulse set. My question is - is a bad print job enough to request a replacement part from Lego? It's kind of annoying when you buy a set just to stock up on something like bardings and they come smudged or offset badly. On the other hand, I do shell out a fair amount of cash on Lego and so expect a certain standard of quality. I haven't asked for replacement parts because it seems a bit demanding, especially for something like an Impulse set, but what do people think? Are we entitled to expect 100% perfection? What's the threshold where we should complain if something is bad? As for the heads issue TinyPiesRUs - thanks for the tip! Again it seems wrong that just turning the head on a minifig makes me a bit fearful I'm damaging it if it's really hard to get off. EDIT and OT: I just realised what you meant in my 7627 review thread about my 'new title'. I thought you meant becoming a citizen but now I see what you really meant. That's fab Thanks, whoever is responsible - I'm guessing Hinckley??

Thanks Chuck - great find. Look forward to checking these out in more detail.

Wow, awesome news. Thanks Klaus-Dieter. I'm amazed these are up so soon. When is the release date for Europe? I thought everything (Agents, Star Wars etc) was coming out in August or is that just the US? Great find. Thoughts so far: The CG sets are a mixed bunch, I think. Some have great bits and not-so-great bits. The raft in 7738 is great but the helicopter is a mixed blessing. The tail plane is a disappointment but so are the (new?) helicopter blade pieces. Similarly with 7739 the ship is just a little too simple and the tower is a bit meh. I really like the smaller truck with boat though. And the rocks in the final page... rock!

Hilarious! Love the first one especially. He does look confused. The poor dog!

Great pics, Doctor Sinister! They really emphasise that this is a silver/ dark blue vs orange/ black theme! The sharks are fantastic! And dark green crocs are sooooo beautiful as anyone who has the IJ River Chase set knows. Nice to get 2 in one set. Not enthused about the helicopter with that bizarro windscreen piece though - but the silver/ dark blue car that comes with it is a must-have.

That's what I thought too when I was posting these pics... but then I went back and rebuilt this section to see if this feature would work better (it does) and the stickers are positioned like that in the instructions as well. So either it's a mistake there or it really is supposed to look wrongly reversed Axle, I will try and post a pic of the pit tomorrow, although you can see the sticker on the pic of the sticker sheet. (The legacy of xwingyoda, we'll always have the DSS!). I definitely misaligned that one though, thankfully it's hidden! The clear-printed stickers are much harder to 'adjust' than ones printed on the white paper, and the pit one is in an awkward spot. Thanks for the info legobear - very interesting theory! Dr Sinister, sorry to hear about your cats . Mine does like to get involved in the build - usually she likes to lie in front of me on the pieces as I'm building. I think they massage her tummy, or something! Cat-shiatsu! She also likes to chew those long thin aerials common in City sets