Svelte

Please don't post separate topics for 'what should I buy threads'. Discussion belongs here! Thanks.

That's really the crux of the problem, isn't it? With so little to go on, we're all just obsessively watching each other's voting patterns, regardless of time zones nap breaks But Duchess Dufay, did indicate that Simon was one to watch, and she did come to my side and support me before her unfortunatee end, so I am going to trust her on this, posthumously.

Um, because he wasn't? He was seventh - right after you. I think it's quite possible that a conniving Dragon could scent which way the wind was blowing and vote against their own to throw off suspicion. It was fairly obvious by that point Beatrice was on the way out. With all due respect, that's just guesswork. Or do you have some special knowledge of the Dragon's power structure?

The Duchess Dufay defended me as a loyal citizen, and she does seem to have had special inside knowledge. I also put my trust in her. May she blessed in Heaven above. In the absence of anyone else with new and compelling evidence, and to expedite proceedings today, I also Vote: Simon/ ISC. I agree with Hugh - there are many 'silent witnesses' amongst us, but I warn you: don't think you've gone unnoticed! Today's vote will indeed be revealing.

It's nice to see 'ole Silver-Tongue pull a rabbit out of a hat, since he so spectacularly failed to do so in the game itself A lovely interview. Yay for the Walrus Keeper! I hear rumours you're moving in less than a fortnight but 90% of the Lego is still unpacked! Crack that whip! But who is the keeper and who is the kept? You seem to have adapted remarkably well to the Lego addiction! I wish my partner was as understanding! The last present I got was a 7723 Police Pontoon Plane. If you don't already know, the Walrus can explain why that's not a great thing

I imagine it depends on how long that particular cave has been open to the public. Natural wear and tear, and so forth. Wait - why are we talking about spelunking?

Happy birthday Erds! Have a lovely long weekend and enjoy your pressies! Draggy has taken the cake already. *stares at Draggy*

Personally, when you go spelunking, as you put it, I think you may need more protective measures than just a Lego minifig. I thought they already did that. Doesn't it vibrate?

The band is just for joining - something else will come along Sometimes they have cool alt-builds as well. Issue 4 last year had a cute T-22 Armoured Airspeeder made from AT-TE parts.

This was a pretty poor issue, but sometimes they have sweet stuff. And you usually get one cool thing (small set or keychain) a year, as well as the retail catalogues. I actually like the mag comics! (Not the Bionicle ones.)

I was hoping for a 50 pic spread featuring Lady Harcourt's spectacular dismemberment! Boo! I'm told there may be a Director's cut as a DVD extra though

The new Fire Station does look nice, with the nicely detailed garage section I think I will get this one, since I haven't bought any Fire sets since the 05 line. I am not really keen on how windows and doors keep on expanding though. 6 wide vehicles is one thing, but all these 6 wide windows in buildings are getting out of control Vertically extending them using the new windscreen piece doesn't look to be the best solution.

It is interesting that Lady Juliana was the first to vote for Simon, and she immediately became a target last night

Well, mixed news indeed, my children. The loss of Duchess Juliana Dufay is indeed a tragedy She was a devout follower of the Lord, and a loyal citizen. On the upside, as per my suspicions, our first vile Dragon is dead May Lady Harcourt's soul boil for her sins! You can hold your applause til the end of my sermon. Thankyou. I'm here all week! Does anyone have any news they wish to share with us?

I think the fact that 5 out of every 6 sets released in the City theme is some kind of fuel-guzzling vehicle - whether 4WD, passenger plane or sports car - means that Lego is never really going to look or feel 'green'

It can't be that old, since this concept uses the 2007 City double driveway garage piece as a hangar bay The end 'Design' section was one of my favourite parts of the book. It's really interesting to see these prototype models. You can see how this is really built to give an indication of overall structure and form, rather than worrying too much about colours and part selection etc. I think it would have made a nice set, but you can already see where Lego would chip away - get rid of the baseplates, put it all on plates, etc. I'd imagine it would end up something like Home One - one room and a hangar bay I'd buy a book just full of the SW Lego concept art and design sketches myself There's a concept model of the Separatist Shuttle, too. But the released set does look nicer.

I'm talking about 'Standing Small', yes. (Same with the SW errors ) I wouldn't say 'The Lego Book' has better Castle coverage generally, though. Most play themes only get a limited number of pages and the focus is on more recent sets and themes. There are a few nice alternate-angle sets of some classic castle sets which I hadn't seen before, which is a plus! However 'The Lego Book' is not intended as an exhaustive guide so a lot of stuff has dropped off the radar.

I'll answer in the Castle thread

Call the Lego shop and see what the intended availability is, then. It would be interesting to know if it will be around only in the leadup to Xmas 09 or if it is intended to have a longer shelf-life.

Probably both. Seasonal sets tend to sell out quickly (since it doesn't make sense to have sets sitting on shelves for the next 12 months leading up to Xmas) and usually Advent calendars tend to disappear by November. I would expect a smaller production run and higher turnover. Unlike other Exclusives, I think this is designed for quick sales in the lead-up to Xmas. The last big Xmas exclusive - the 10173 Holiday Train - ended up going for 1/2 price during the sales, so TLG has probably learned its lesson since then.

Part of the DK Visual Guide house style is to put little labels all over the place identifying things. If it was a picture of a cat, there'd be a line and a little tag with 'Cat!' attached to it. These books are designed to be as helpful as possible. Regardless of your level of SW knoweldge, I doubt the graphic designers had much say in flexibility when it comes to this sort of thing and it gives readers some idea of what to expect.

$AUD109.99 is a little pricey. Especially considering GBP39.15 is currently about $AUD72. Even compared to Euros, the price is high. Looks like it's a bargain in some countries, and not in others

The large Fire Station window pieces are not new. They're the standard 1x5x6 panel on top of the curved windscreen pieces from 7641, all in trans light blue. I like the beachgoers in the Airport diorama - under a flight path is probably not the best place for a picnic, but there you go! Amazing that 7239 is listed on this page, so it looks like it will be around for a while. That almost rivals the old days of set production in terms of length! Thanks for the pics!

The SW Visual Dictionary holds up much better than 'The Lego Book', that's all I was saying. So actually it was a compliment to the former It's brilliant to have printed high quality set images all in one place, and the timelines are brilliant. Classifying the battlepacks as EU was an interesting move, too - do we take that as official?

I hadn't seen the AT-OT since the July sale, so they'd definitely restocked. I never saw the DS at all! And $AUD109.99 for the 10199 Winter Toy Shop! What! Since it's GBP39.15 and 60 Euro, even without the favourable exchange rate a pricepoint of $AUD99.99 would have been the uppermost limit I'd expect to pay. I bought 2 off a US Bricklink seller, so with shipping it ended up $AUD250 - still less than S@H with it's snail-crawl shipping Not impressed at all.