Svelte

I'm against the rep button idea, not only because we already have multiple systems in place which encourage good members - tags, titles, changes in rank - but because it seems something which kids might enjoy due to the instant results but hardly appealing to AFOLs - and we are an AFOL community after all. Personally I would feel odd going around thinking 'Great post, Sandy! +10 Hit Points' or 'Boo, Jimbee! -10HP!'. I'm not here to judge my peers in that way. It would also seem to go against the grain of the site in terms of encouraging thoughtful, nuanced responses from members. For example, wasn't part of the reason that voting in competitions has moved away from the poll-based format to individual posts to make the results more transparent and accurate? I don't really favour the idea suggested by posades that such a system makes it easier for casual browsers to know who is a 'good' member or not - what are we, goldfish in a bowl? While we should always welcome new members, which we do, we shouldn't pander to them. You don't have to visit the site that much to get a sense of its flavour, and if in doubt, that's what mods and admins are for. If you want to be a part of the community; participate - that's all it takes!

I think Brickjournal is a great mag. For a fan-run publication which started as a freebie it is a real triumph due to the hard work and commitment of editor Joe Meno. He should get more credit, and if the recent survey suggests Lego is looking to formalise the link with Brickjournal, good on him (although independence has its advantages also). It blends news, events, reviews and regular features fairly well, but where it really excels is having a good relationship and access to The Lego Group. I enjoy immensely the interviews with set designers (I still refer to the Jamie Berard interview produced when Cafe Corner was released) and behind-the-scenes features such as the recent SP3 story and linking interview with a classic Space designer. These types of articles are very revealing pieces, not only for the exclusive images & insights, but also as a sense of TLG's legacy and scope (eg, it's amazing the longevity of some of the staff, such as the sculptors). The great advantage of a journal like this is that stories have room to breathe and grow, and you get a much more in-depth discussion than would be possible on somewhere like an online forum. Sure, it's not perfect and I think the design needs a polish, if resources allowed it - but at $US3.95 via PayPal for the digital edition (shipping is too expensive to Australia and who needs more paper anyway?) it is a bargain and I download a new issue immediately when it becomes available - I can't say I'm that motivated about most other magazines I read.

HP prices seem to fluctuate, and bargains can be had, but when you're in Australia you have to factor in international shipping

I agree. The potential future official LegoClub for adults, maybe?

There's this gender trouble from the 10196 Carousel: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/dsvelte/...tions-error.jpg From memory, the Indy Race for the Stolen Treasure had errors too. Probably because they're so specialised, minifig parts seem more prone to dodgy substitutions. Maybe this should be the 'Amusing Errors' Thread. Cutlass, you are now the keeper of the flame!

I've given up trying to keep track. I just lie back and think of Megabloks England and wait for the next permutation.

Those hinged sections just look structural to me - ie to give the distinctive angle of the winged panels on the side sections. Even if it did allow access to an interior, the space would have to be teensy. And it doesn't look like there is any room at the rear or front for any other decent sections. I would be happy to be proved wrong about the figs - although if they're as bog standard as everyone seems to think they'll be, for once I'd prefer a cheaper, larger ship with no minifigs included. I just think its odd that, for example, at the end of Book 2 of the 10196 Carousel manual, we have pics of the 10193 with figs, 10194 with figs, 10182 & 10185 (together with figs!), and 10195 with figs!, so why would they suddenly drop out of the 10197 page manual? I also agre e that this will look a lot chunkier once we have better shots. The perspective and distorted photography from the shot of that make it look a little odd.

Ooh-eeee-oooh, new series or old? I'm listening to Monkeytown Funkytown by Lipps Inc.

Well, there is a precedent in that the original UCS version was figless So we know Star Wars sets will continue to sell regardless. If you want to add figs, the Rebel battlepacks are still available via S@H, and I don't know why any AFOLs would want yet another C3P0, R2D2 and Leia anyway. TLG has made the figs such a virtue of the SW line - even this year putting them on *front* of the box art! - that if this pic has been sourced from 10197 I can't imagine why they wouldn't be included there.

Well, if we've definitely excluded this as an escape route, and there doesn't seem to be anything else of interest, we should press on. Perhaps I should leave a trail of M&Ms so we can always work our way backwards...

This set was originally $AUD39.99 on its release. CutlassIz, if you can get it for $60 from Toycorner I would do so - you won't find it cheaper on ebay or bricklink. Thanks for the review, Clone O'Patra! I only bought this set MISB late last year when I was going through a HP completist phase and picking up stuff I'd missed earlier. I wish I'd bought it sooner! It's a great set, with amazing figs. Really, even though it's only 4 years old, it already feels like a whole other era in terms of Lego's production history. There's so many rare pieces in beautiful colours - medium blue, dark blue, trans green flames, the dark green wall section... too many to list! And new moulds too such as the shark head and merperson.. alternate hairpiece for Viktor... sealife... it goes on! Often people only look at set in terms of piece count, but I think we're really missing out when such a stunning assortment of bricks would never make it onto shelves as a set today.

A few thoughts: 1) Usually in the back of the instructions for the Exclusive sets, when they publicise other sets such as the Taj, VW, Eiffel Tower, AT-OT etc, they normally just reproduce the art as it will ordinarily appear on the box. Even where they change the artwork, such as when placing modular houses together, they always manage to include the figs in some way. This leads me to believe, like darkrebellion, that the 10198 will be a fig-less midi-scale set. 2) Getting rid of the figs would mean they don't have to worry about an interior, which would look extremely limited from this pic, and would keep the costs down - perhaps this budget has been redistributed to printed cockpit pieces. 3) Those people fretting about the cost - I wouldn't panic. The prices from the Japanese catalogue when divided by 10 almost always match up with the Australian retail price when comparing sets between the countries. That puts this set Y2,490 to about $AUD250, which is a bit above the Venator and in line with the Cafe Corner price.

Long explanations mask poor understanding Basically, the log bricks are a guide only and don't really have an effect when the motor is running.

I think that's why they use the curved log bricks here though - to guide the inner part of the turntable as it goes round, but with less friction than if they used ordinary bricks. You do have to watch these parts early on in the build, as once you start to switch on the turntable motor, they did tend to pop off. Once everything is in place I haven't noticed this at all. There seems to be more pressure on the outer rim since the large wheel is quite firmly pushed against the turntable to keep the speed running consistently. The weakest spots build-wise seem to be the 4 wide tan plates, which have a tendency to 'lift and separate' (rather than wear), and the long blue tiled decorative sections in between each of the tan plate sections. They can pop off and drop under the turntable - annoying - but the protesting clicking as they get run over by the wheel acts as an alert! The great thing about the build is that, up to about where the first post in my review finishes, it's really easy to lift up the whole ring assembly and fish out any parts that have fallen down or adjust any plates that have come loose. I loved this aspect as I am not a natural Technic builder and find it difficult to 'see' errors that might be obvious to more experienced brains. In that sense, the set is flexible - once the horsies and canopy is in place it is much harder to make adjustments without other bits dropping off!

I think most of the wear would be on the wheels... it will be interesting to see how they hold up in the new cheaper plastic. I guess that issue is true of all sets with the new tyres. It's a simple but clever mechanism.

I'd that as a set! (Maybe with a Jedi cloak hidden in the closet?) I think we'll definitely have a Jar Jar and Padme in the coming year. They're so central to the series, it would be impossible not to!

Lego mind control - this is how it starts!

It's definitely a family-friendly set! The Walrus has intimated its on his wishlist, so hopefully it will be in Myer or another retailer on sale for Xmas

I only have chocolate covered peanut M&Ms. But they Schmelt in your mouth, and not in your hand.

Newish. The one with the Rogue Shadow Darth etc.

S@H has undergone some pricing tweaking. The Space bag is down to $AUD34.99, but the red and white logo bag is up to $59.99 Spongebob and the new Star Wars magnet set have dropped back to $AUD16.99

*EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* *EEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* *Attempts to emit bat-like sonar waves to detect any dangers or obstacles in the tunnel* *EEEEEEEEEEeeeeedadada-dadiddilydadadaeeeeeeee*

Auction Cockblock with a little Da-da-da...diddily da da da.... Because in building & reviewing the Carousel, the catchy tune from the sound brick invaded my brain and ate my soul! Awarded by Mr Fang. Da da da... da diddily da da da....

That poor decapitated horsey! I'll never live it down. If I get a chance in the next day or two I will retake the video.

I don't know exactly; a while! I built it over 5 nights. The first night I just unpacked everything and sorted it into bags. I worked on it a few hours each night after that. I don't like to build if I'm tired or not enjoying it, so it was done at a fairly relaxed pace. No, it's either on or off. It does move along! That poor horsey... the connections are kind of flimsy due to some of the stud's clutching power not being too strong with 1x1 plates or cylinders, so you do have to keep an eye out for breakages. I missed that one when photographing the set! By this stage I was probably exhausted enough not to notice until it all the photography was done! I didn't find it too bad at all. Unlike the Taj or Eiffel Tower, you don't need to build this in a linear fashion for the most part, so you can skip back and forth - do a few jester details here, do the roof sections, and so on. Also the sections are small, so they are not too time-consuming. Not as enjoyable as the Death Star build, but definitely more fun than the Taj or Eiffel Tower. Thanks Oky Wan! I think the AFOL community will make a lot of different themed Carousels. It wouldn't be too hard to do some parts substitutions. I wouldn't mind modding one, but I think I will recover from this review first! I was going to include a separate subsection on parts quality, but I ran out of energy! I am glad you asked, I may go back and add it in. Issues I noticed: - white shows some variance - plates especially seem more creamy. The myriad of 1x1 Technic bricks with holes seemed slightly transparent, probably as the plastic at the sides of the circular hole - both shades of bley showed slight variations between plates and bricks - red seemed OK, the tiles show slight transparency but really there's not that much in the set - the dark red 1x2 Technic bricks seem to have reverted to the style with the acle hole off centre (ie above the middle of the brick). I thought these had gone? - clutching power of the 1x1 cylinders and some of the 1x1 plates a bit weak, which is unfortunate as they're used structurally for horse heads etc - all in all, parts quality seemed quite good. No really major colour differences, which is refreshing I don't see anything! You're hallucinating Jimbee! Probably took a bump on the head during that whitewater expedition, maybe? Actually, I was praising the parts made in China as they come well-packed and neatly bagged. I don't think the stickers are made there, that's the problem