Svelte

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I've moved this into the Licensed, since that's where Harry Potter discussion belongs. Personally I don't believe Lego would announce this news via a customer service response and we've seen and heard nothing which suggests that the theme is to be revived, but I'll leave this open for discussion for the time being.

Bricks to the World is selling Chrome Stromtroopers for $AUD16.95 for those that don't wish to go through S@H.

Sure, let's get tanked! If anything, the pleasantly anaesthetic effect of my Longer Island Iced Teas will distract from the pain and mutilation and dismemberment and so on when the members of the Town Council make their final and horrific moves... *Schmelt whimpers!*

They can also be ordered directly from the creator at brickstructures.com rather than bricklink Unless a specialist retailer in London carries them, they don't seem to have wide release - even in the US the locations where these are sold are limited.

Whether this has any influence on Lego remains to be seen, as they're the ones who pick and choose the licenses, not the other way round. They don't have a great sales record when it comes to superhero based sets, like Spiderman or Batman, but pursuing one-off licences to coincide with summer blockbusters may be the way of the future rather than extensive multi-wave themes spanning several years. Most blockbusters make most of their ticket sales in the week or two of release, so it makes sense that Lego plan future releases around the same commercial imperative - the difficulty is completing the design, production and distribution cycles to coordinate with film release dates. I'm not panicking yet about the thought of Jonas Bros figs or a Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana based theme

This is hilarious, and reminds me of the Charles Atlas 'kicking the sand in the puny beachgoer's face' comic book adverts. Like many musclemen, these droids really need to concentrate on their legs - they're so top-heavy! Is this the first in a series?

Absolutely! Part of the fun for me is designing the functions, even if they are rarely used. It's kind of the 'Idea Book' mentality, or even the pleasure we get from looking at new set images - part of the fun is guessing what the functions are and how they work. For that reason, the single greatest invention in System remains the minifig, as it allows the child/AFOL an 'actor' who can interact with houses, cars, spaceships, other minifigs, and so on. Without the minifig, Lego feels sculptural, such as the very earliest Town Plan type sets or Star Wars UCS models which look amazing but do little.

Even as kids, what it means to 'play' evolves as we grow, so I'm not sure why a clear delineation must be made between the meanings ascribed to play as children do it, and the activity of adults. To me, it feels more like a Kinsey scale of play ( ), where you can't truly and exclusvely place yourself as an adult or a child, but where everyone falls in between. As a kid, I was interested in Lego both for the narrative stories I could tell with it but also as a substance of possibility - I spent equal time flying my spaceship around exploring alien planets as I did using house-building parts kits to design elaborate gable rooves and French windows. These days I find Lego more rewarding as a building material to express ideas and as a medium of creativity rather than as a platform for stories - however from the number of Lego comics and short films people are creating, the narrative aspect of Lego is alive and well within many AFOLs. Dare I say it, even organising and hosting a mystery game includes many of these narrative aspects of play which many assume are lost in the move from childhood to adult life I wouldn't classify myself as a collector or artistic builder as for me any Lego creation must contain (a) structural sturdiness and (b) playable features to be successful. There are many AFOLs doing brilliant work but if it falls over if I breathe on it or there isn't some cute operative detail (whether it be a secret passage or working crane) then it doesn't feel like Lego to me. The unique thing about Lego, compared to some other artform like drawing, is that you physically can interact with it to produce specific real-world effects - if that isn't a form of play, or even of narrative, then what is?

This is so exciting! I can't wait to get back to my day job as a McDonald's chef civilisation!

The cinema building, definitely. It has the most interesting colour scheme, best pieces and is a radically different design from any other official Lego building. It also has a nice level of detail with the popcorn stand and so on, and even hows a sense of humour in its poster design (I ended up buying the Creator Spider just so I could recreate scenes from the faux films!). The gas station is nice, but would have worked better as a straightforward 32x32 modular gas station rather than the hinged version we have, which doesn't really fit IMO, although it looks very nice. The Town Hall has a great selection of dark green but just doesn't have the 'look at me' retro appeal of the cinema.

This was a great little small set - very 'Classic' feeling and better than most of the MM sets. I liked that it was small, functional, but had fun little details like the clip-on robot. I never really got into the theme, but this and the 7645 Crystal Reaper were probably my favourites. Thanks for this review! In light of the somewhat disappointing SP3 sets (apart from the minifigs), it does make me revisit what I did like about the theme.

Arin gave me some 'dolls' earlier, I think she was trying to seduce me. Now I'm feeling... wunderbar! (Wait, that's not Belgian.) I mean, magnifique! Bags not sitting on top of the tractor wheel in case the vibrations shake my liver loose. (What's left of it.)

...so Erds. I found the recipe for the strawberry icecream like you said, but some recipes say exchange quantities of milk for cream, so it's a richer texture? What do you think of this idea? I don't want it to be too rich - last time we had a staff dinner party, Siegfried choked on a walrus hairball and sicked all over the carpet. That was totally not fun to clear up! Especially coz I know walruses are like, totally carnivorous, and he was later eyeing up my cat. Anyway, the icecream churn is all set up and I'm ready to go. But I'm unsure if I need the Knusperkekse to go with it - are they really necessary, do you think? But they look tasty, and who doesn't love a ginger cookie? Well, Shadows, with his allergies, obviously, but apart from that? Let me know. Anyway. This is going to the best Oktoberfest ever! As long as Sieggy stays away from the cat of course. And Captain Blue hair doesn't get so drunk he starts chatting up the hatstand. And Stash Hilton wears some pants for a change. And.... OMG I just realised I posted this in the wrong thread! I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you stalking meddling kids!

Did the summer wave come with alt-models from combined sets, or have they stopped doing that already?

Ack! Don't put mud on the wound, you clod! You don't know where it's been! Ack! I need a bandage. Not tighty-whities - a real bandage!

Eeep! In that case, I think I am going to stand completely still and wait for the rainstorm to pass. I really, REALLY don't want to stumble into the cornfield and get lost. *Schmelt whimpers* If anyone bumps into me, I think I'll grab them. Unless they have the cold dead hand of a scarecrow.... *Schmelt whimpers some more*

I'm getting muddy! How long before we get there? I'm a bit concerned that I can't see anything. Jeb, do you mind if we hold hands so you can guide us safely through? Crocodile rock chain!

Wave your hands in the air, like you just don't care! Woo! This is such a pleasant detour! I think I will stay behind Jeb as we walk, if you don't mind.

I notice with the expansion of this little community, the Farm has gone and has been replaced by a Hotel! I guess that's what they call progress...

Thanks, The Cobra! I probably would have missed those otherwise

I am not wise. That's the key difference A fairy guild sounds like a great idea! It could work well with that new Fairy subtheme as demonstrated by the discovery of that keychain with the Pirates Governor's Daughter Torso and the Belville wings!

Pfft! I don't need to learn any lessons. Paradisa only produced 18 sets between 1992-1997, and it's only innovation was to pinkify System. Most of the interesting pieces were just sourced from other themes such as the slide from Fabuland and the dolphin from Divers. Apart from that, there's a few pink torsos and that's all that's unique. The revival of Scala at a larger scale from 1997 onwards is intensely more interesting from a parts point of view (most of the best accessories come from that theme and are still in use today) and also in its more diverse and realistic colour scheme. Whilst still focussing mainly on homemaker/ doll-dressing activities, it does not rely on a pastel pinkwash to soften young brains into thinking 'girls = cat bottom lips and a life of leisure spent in bars and tourist traps'. Belville, of course, continues this tradition and builds on it. When my thesis on why Belville is superior to Paradisa is published, you will come to see the propaganda of the 'Paradisa Princess' for what it truly is - propaganda, and nothing more.

JCC, just stay on topic. The next off-topic post and I'll lock this thread for 24 hours.

Thanks for the lovely review, Clone O'Patra. To be honest, this set confirms my distrust of the Paradisa theme. It's like an accessories pack with pretensions. I don't think I've ever seen a set come with just flowers supposed to stand by themselves before That choice of minty green doesn't look nearly as nice as standard green, either. That poor bald girl... doomed to spend the rest of her life going over one teensy hurdle on her giant horse. The Sisyphus of showjumpers! I actually think the recent Belville horsey-themed set is a much more playable and useful than this odd little set. At least with Belville horses you can brush the manes! However, for $US4 it was probably quite a good buy at the time. The fence/ plant technique is also cute - thanks for sharing.