Svelte

He's talking about Impulse sets, not the collectibles...

You will have plenty of time to enter the contest. And you will not need to use any official PoP parts anyway - they will be optional. Or would you rather we waited until July when everyone has the sets but noone gives a flying fig about PoP anymore? To coin a phrase from Jack Donaghy, 'Synergy'!

Thanks for a beautiful review, from a golden age of history when car parks were considered exciting! I doubt the kids that grew up with this set feel the same way about parking stations today. I can't say this set has ever been on my radar, but what I like most is the logical, ordered way that this set functions, like it's 'real world' counterpart - something that often seems lacking in newer sets. I wonder if this is a side-effect of the modularity you mention, where the emphasis is on specific functions rather than an overall cohesive model? The nostalgia shot is wonderful - look at the expression of awe on your younger self It's a shame that jack piece is no longer in production. Great review!

Welcome to Prince of Persia month! From now until the end of May, Eurobricks will take you on a journey through the desert sands and Lands of Licensed Legends. On your pilgrimage to Alamut to recover the mysterious Dagger of Time, you will face many exciting and dangerous challenges - pouty princesses and clawed Hassansins, madcap camels and awesome ostriches, an angry Nizam and his menacing minions. We will take you from desert traps through bustling markets and lavish palaces dolloped with golden domes. There may even be a contest to test your skills along the way. It's a race against time and only the most brave and honourable will survive! Shoulder that katana holder, and saddle up your camel - Eurobrick's own Prince of Persia month has begun! Share your thrills of anticipation here

Wow! Thanks for the beautiful review! The high points are the new figs and all the new dark green curved pieces I am unsure of the cherry red colour scheme, but the overall design does look sweet.

Ouch! That sucks. I can't say I'm surprised though when they announced the UK price of GBP1.99 per figure It makes the Big Bad Toystore look more enticing, even with their markup on everything - $US130 for 60 figures is only $US10 what they will be over if you bought them all from US stores, although Big Bad is obviously enjoying the retail discount by buying per box or their markup would be higher. I suspect it will be more economical just to buy the ones you want off a US based BL seller when they hit in large quantities.

A tragic loss to the community of a great talent.

Lovely colour work! Before I even read your text, those bushes remind me of Apple Tree The folded parasol is great too, but what makes this a perfect vignette is that you clearly get a sense of theme, setting and mood just from this very small corner. One can easily mentally sketch in the details of the beautiful old manor house, for example Now I want to see more!

Cyril says hello! (I'll update my sig with avvie when the game begins).

I may be outdone, but mine look nicer I think we can agree that 48 is probably too many 10211s for anyone Also, lose the flags! I still intend to do a fourth as I think that would be the optimum aesthetic size.

Flattery will get you everwhere! Travelling and seeing some of this architecture really made a difference when building this MOC. There's definitely potential for fort-uitois expansions but what is missing from LEGO's piece repertoire is the inverse of the new pointed arch to give the typically curvy crenellations along the top wall of crenellations (as in the ref pic below). You could use one of the small curved slopes but none of the colours are really available (except white). AFOLS - we always want more! The Fabuland saddle was just an addition to an old Bricklink order from last year, so I'm glad to finally put it to use. The flute is the same - just a random BL addition - but actually comes from the Harry Potter Forbidden Corridor set. Thanks Zorbas! Yes, I think it's one of my best too The potential is there but realistically you'd be adding just fortress wall sections either side of the gate, which might look a little dull. I like the concept of modularity, and the buildings are a good size, so I always like to build in some flexibility Yes, it can, although the style doesn't match with anything officially produced!

Brickset says they're in the Argos catalogue and Huw previously reported a release date in Brand stores/ S@H of 16 April.

Wow, those SNOT pieces really are interesting! If a clone brand can do it, why not LEGO? The horse hitching looks a little more flexible too, although I prefer the more simplified aesthetic of LEGO animals. Is that giant fort in the background also available as a set, or is it just box-art?

Thanks for the great review, Inconspicuous! I have to agree that in general the PoP sets are well packaged - the 7573 Alamut box is the same size as the 2007 Skeleton Tower box, which is rare for a flagship set from a line. I find this trend very encouraging! I do wonder about those 1x2 bricks with the cheese slopes. It's an odd piece of detailing both here and in the Alamut set. It doesn't seem to have any obvious analogue either in the movie trailer or Arabic architecture generally. I guess archers could use it to line up their bows but there are no archers in the line either! A great set, filled wih great pieces. The dark tan camel is much better looking than his tan associate. The dark red canopy deserves special mention for really 'lifting' the whole set colour-wise too

Happy birthday fallentomato! Hope you had/have a great day!

Mwahaahah! Maybe 1/2 of one. It's missing the pipe, so it's 1/2 price. You're the first to notice Thanks for all your high flattery. I might change my signature to 'Proudly providing AFOLs with Brickrections since 2008' or something

Happy birthday, Numero Uno! Have a great day!

Yeah, I wouldn't mind if we had to wait 2-3 years and then had another wave of sets. This seems a more sustainable model than the 'Milk 'em dry!' approach of releasing massive waves almost every year.

Dita Svelte = A Devil Test. I win!

Take care, and we'll see you when normal service resumes!

I am pretty sure the scene in the movie is set in a desert cave... I hadn't noticed any issues myself... If anyone has the same problem, let us know.

CopMike continues his minifig madness reviews with an exclusive of the fearsome black Ninja! Click on the pic to view this deadly assassin.

I've removed all the tags. Till next year! Thanks for being good sports!

Are you sure? It was $AUD160 when I bought it from DJs at full-price... and then $70 at Big W in the post Xmas sales a few months later. Aaah, good times! I wish I'd bought more than one.

These prices are high, but no real surprises to be had. Most of the second half releases seem designed to be discounted heavily in the lead-up to Xmas. Look at the Venator last year - was any retailer seriously trying to sell it for $240? $200 for the HP castle isn't too bad considering the US price is $US130 - at least they didn't outright double it! It should be a bargain when it gets cut down to $160 or $150. The Shreiking Shack was $AUD100 in 2004 (although it didn't sell well at that price) so $AUD100 for The Burrows is not a surprise and it has a lot of good stuff. $140 for Alamut? You could buy one off Bricklink with USPS shipping for a little over that right now. It is an amazing set, I will be definitely grabbing multiples of this one I think it's easily the best Castle in the last decade or more and probably one of the best parts packs ever. No big pieces (apart from 2 Castle turrets), just bricky goodness all the way!