Svelte

Actually, we have discussed the line's sales several times. The only stuff we know for sure from the Lego annual reports is that (a) Indy sells better than in the US than in Europe (b) Lego was a surprise success for them (so they say, but this is just PR speak and could mean anything. Aquaraiders 2007 was a similar hit, according to the annual reports). In any case, sales data is not entirely relevant. There's a difference between 'profitable' and 'more profitable'. If Lego thinks another license will generate more sales $$$ than an already pre-existing yet profitable line, they will quite happily bump the old line in favour of the new one, even if it only runs 1 or 2 years. As pedro says, the non-SW licenses are now focussed on a short-term basis, based around 'event' movies. This shouldn't be a surprise; this is how the majority of licensed toy sales work anyway. In fact, Indy started out this way - there's no way we would have seen a line at all if it wasn't for the KOTCS film coming out. And those sets seemed to disappear off shelves and were only re-stocked in a very limited way, for a limited period, showing stores didn't want to be clogged up with KOTCS merchandise, even though the shelf-life of most Lego lines is at least 1 year (if not longer). Just because something is profitable one year, doesn't mean it will be profitable the next; my feeling is that they are dropping the line to concentrate on Disney and not to feature anything too similar to Prince of Persia. I expect we'll see a similar pattern to KOTCS - big launch a month or two before the movie, sets everywhere, big sales, but limited restocks.

Please post all Black Friday questions in this thread As for your question, the North American S@H and the rest of world S@H are entirely separate beasts. There has never been a special Thanksgiving sale for non NA markets with free shipping that I'm aware of.

Thanks for this detailed overview! I was well into my dark ages when this stuff came out, and I have to say that none of the sets with those enormous trans domes and octagonal cockpit pieces impressed me If they were included in sets today as a fresh piece, people would be screaming left, right and centre that 'Juniorisation has taken over!' and 'Lego died for me today!' so I'm amazed that many AFOLs have a fondness for the underwater and Space themes that feature them.

Subtle or not, some kind of slope makes it look like a windshield and not like a flatscreen TV!

Yes, exactly. I like the new piece but don't think it should be used all over the place just because it *is* new. It was great for the City Corner bus, but I don't think it works as a large window with a non-curved 1x5x6 panel on top, or as a windscreen in the firetruck. Compare the new Fire Station or Airport with something like the 2006 Airport or even the 2007 Aquabase - in the latter, there were lots of trans light-blue pieces including the curved panels, the connecting passage to the planes, 2x Slave I cockpits, etc - in the new sets, the part palette for these kind of pieces is limited to the ubiquitous 1x5x6 panels, curved windows, and 1x4x6 window pieces. Rick's pics are great in showing a modern fire engine, but there is still an angle in the windscreen which is entirely lacking in the new set.

I don't know; I don't own the scooters. BrickForge has a good reputation, however, and the order I placed seemed of high quality.

Mortymore, thanks for these lovely hi-res pics!

Batbrick had a nice layout where he showed many of the 07-08 sets together, although they weren't strictly combined. Maybe he can share a pic?

This topic is fine! Share away

Thanks for a very entertaining first Mafia game, everybody! It was a lot of fun, and I think I did quite well for a noob And thanks for an evocative death, Draggy! Play well!

Congrats to the winners - amazing work! (I do have a soft spot for ISC's Zacthan Station though ) Uh, TheBrickster, the poll still seems to be open for votes... Should this be closed now?

This belongs in the Buy/ Sell/ Trade Forum. Please have a look around and familiarise yourself with the forum structure if you are unsure where to post. Thanks!

I completely agree. The skinny new fire truck looks like it's evolving into the 7641 City Corner bus. The old 7239 that they have still available from 2004 is much more classically Lego-looking, but still with a modern design. The habit of using the same pieces in every set (the new windscreen and the 1x5x6 panels all over the Fire Station & Airport) is wearing thin.

Moved & welcome! Please take some time to read through the site guidelines if you haven't already done so. Thanks!

It was originally priced at GBP50 before being finally clearanced earlier this year. Presumably this is just the last scraps of the sale stock so I doubt its widespread, but probably worth checking out for UK customers. I'll move this to the Buy/Sell/Trade/Find forum, but feel free to post a new review of this set in Sci-Fi!

Moved to BSTF.

Let's all keep focussed on the discussion, thanks. Speculation about the larger aesthetic obsessions of AFOLs and the potential bankruptcy of Lego over a six-set kids show license are not warranted in this thread Personally, I don't think they're so bad. With only 6 sets, this is clearly a test line. If it does badly, they will lose a little but not so much comparatively. If they do well, then we'll see a lot more of these. But again, fashions in kid's TV change fairly quickly, so I'm not assuming this is planned as the next evergreen theme

Thanks Ian! You did a great job, they look seamless (The Aople Tree House is lovely in higher res too)

Some of the City sets seem to have a limited release - the Service Station set was only on shelves in Australia here for a month or two before disappearing evemore, although it's been available on S@H since its release.

Thanks Jamie! I am a huge fan of your work, so thanks for stopping in and taking the time to read this review! I really do like the set overall, and I can't wait to see what you have planned for us in 2010

There is. But apart from subtitling this 'NOT THE OTHER REVIEW!' there's no way to avoid the confusion, as far as I can see

just2good, please do NOT quote pictures - especially not a large amount as were in Oky Wan's post. Quote pictures only when you are responding specifically to one or two particular images. Thanks!

Review now live in Trains & Town Enjoy!

There isn't really a need for a separate thread to discuss the availability of each and every City subtheme, especially when we know from the natural order of things that sets usually last a year or two. I will rename this thread so a general 'City sets availability' thread (like the Star Wars one) so if people want, they can discuss this topic here. Bear in mind that the US/ North American S@H and European S@H are coordinated from different centres, so what is available in one region may not be available in the other. You can always check this on S@H by selecting a different country.

I like the Squidtron set - although I'm not really a fan of the recolour of Squidtron himself. The ATM is a great touch and the vehicle itself looks more solid and well-designed than most of the wave 1 sets. My main criticism is that the yellow part of the purple/ yellow combination is mostly stickered, apart from a few bricks. I don't like sets where a large amount of visual detail comes from stickering; it reminds me too much of the Hyena Droid Bomber Still, the bulky menace of the craft itself is impressive and chunky, and I will pick this up for sure