Svelte

I also passed on this set the first time round and bought it last year for about that price. It's a nice set. So many printed pieces! I couldn't believe it. I thin we're brainwashed these days to expect stickers on everything My only issue was that it had been sealed for so long the old-skool sticky tires had left a bit of residue over some of the other pieces!

Season 5 has been really good - much better than the middle years. The reset button really worked! Great work, Sandy. The Willie body is perfect for Gabrielle, Andrew looks suitably sulky, Lynette a bit worn out, Edie vampish and Dave evil. I'm not sure about Bree's face - it looks a little squinty and she's more sharp-featured - but everything else looks lovely. The only thing I'd suggest is that when you're photographing minifigs in a line, it can improve the overall effect if you turn the heads in a little bit for those figs not in the centre. When you look at it it can look a little strange in real life, but it means that often when you take the photo, they all appear to be looking ahead rather than slightly to the side.

Happy Birthday whatever time zone you're in!

Nice try, mania3, but you can't brainwash me. This set is still The colour scheme and build do nothing for me. I hate those overused joint pieces and the Crystal King doesn't look menacing at all with his weirdly oversized head and stunted, blocky limbs. I also wished they'd used a more lava-type colour scheme so at least the new pieces could be used in different contexts. Actually I think the effect you describe was stronger in last year's Agents sets They eventually became very well-received, but I still see a lot of resistance to Power Miners. Nice review; sucky set

Thanks for the review! The figs are great - so clever of TLG to add a double-side to the jester face to encourage AFOLs buy it The drawbridge tower looks really nice, and not too hard to replicate for people who have the parts, which is rare in a lot of new releases.

Nice idea, hewman I wonder what the volume of the sound-chip is to cover the noise of the motor? I always find PF stuff kind of loud when in operation. Did anyone attend the event and *hear* it in action?

The box art for the Troll Mountain Fortress looks superbly spooky with all those spindly, evil-looking trees to add some much-needed atmosphere. It's a shame some of those didn't make it into the set itself

Haha, that made me laugh. A touch of light bondage before bedtime never hurt anyone Woolly socks indeed! Cutlass_Iz, you are wicked! Is it Harry or Hairy though?

What a lovely addition to the entries! The buildings are both classic and modern looking at the same time, eg using techniques from the 7633 Construction Site such as the flowerbeds, and the primary colours of the major buildings complement each other well. Great use of Pirates figs to add some pomp and circumstance to the parade!

I did already try that, but moving the apparatus one stud along means the cart gets jammed in the 'Y' angle between the two limbs of the plank and Technic axle. Perhaps an offset would work better - back to the drawing board!

Good point! You're quite right. The straight track isn't in the set so we will see it later somewhere else. I really doubt it will be in a 7199 expansion set though.

A few things especially bother me about this set: 1) The minifigs are completely boring. This is a set obviously aimed at AFOLs, who are notoriously difficult to please when it comes to figs and often prize them above all else. So why not go the extra mile and make them attractive to adult fans by using new parts and prints? Even the retro Classic Space torso found in the Agents Robo attack set is available via PAB, so it can't be that much of a stretch. If it can be done with other large Exclusives like the cute selection in 10185 Green Grocer, why not here? 2) Why go to the trouble of making such an intricate and detailed set, designed to be eye-catching and aesthetically detailed, but not go the extra mile and take some trouble to disguise the hideous looking Power Functions? Vestas 4999 managed this cleverly by building them under a mountain - I would have liked anything except these faux steps with a few fence pieces on top. It really detracts from the overall look of the set. Indeed, the whole thing looks odd, slightly off-centred on the baseplate as it is. I normally love the 10xxx Exclusives, but I am finding it hard to like this. It feels like it needed another pass through the design review before being released. It's like a magnificent MOC which I would see and admire the ingenuity of on Brickshelf but have no desire to replicate myself! At the same price as the 10195 LAAT set, that one feels like better value to me, even at half the piece count. At least it looks aesthetically consistent and finished. I know that many prize the piece count/ price ration above all, but it isn't the be-all and end-all of a great set. The piece count of 10196 may be high, but that doesn't necessarily make the set good value. I guess it depends on how you feel about the pieces used. I have enough inverse dark red slopes and the thought of enough jester heads to fill a mass grave at a clown convention isn't appealing

Happy birthday! It's all about you, you, you today - make the most of it

I'm not a vehicles person but I loved the retro styling of these cars. I don't really think you'd want them any larger - they are pretty impressive looking as it is! The designs are close to the movies and all the slope pieces newly produced in tan really made this set a must-have. 5 minifigs, all of them new, is quite a rarity in a mid-range set and probably accounts for the higher price. However, considering the excellent design of the cars (for me anyway), it is a price I was quite happy to pay. I have enough Lego City trucks and cars (which all tend to be a bit samey, look at the upcoming Summer releases) so this was a pleasant diversion from Lego's normal aesthetic. Thanks for the great review!

Thanks for the lovely review, Cutlass_Iz! I bought this set when it first came out on sale for about $AUD8 - for the time, it was a very detailed parts pack with a lot of useful pieces (such as the then uncommon arched window frames and lots of small bricks) with great figs! Dobby does have such a hangdog expression - he is hard to resist. Those stress marks appear as soon as fold the books for the first time, but I've never had any break. HP was always a great line for printed pieces - thems were the days! Thanks again for the review!

It's hidden *inside* the fez. Sshh! Don't reveal my secret, or you'll be next Back on topic! How come we get better City civilians in this set than in the much-vaunted new 10196 Carousel? They may have 8 figs in that huge extravaganza, but they are pretty boring retreads of stuff we've seen a thousand times before. It seems odd that a $US50 non-licensed set would be so vastly superior in this respect.

Wow, over 100 votes and not a single one below 'Above Average'. That's an amazing feat!

I did want to test this, but my carts are packed away. I'll try and dig them out later today Looking at the Brickset pic of Dwarves Mine though, I think you wouldn't have any problems as both carts are 2 wide in the centre and the wheels are identical. Yes, that's what I plan to do as well

I guess that Eurobricks 'Brainwashing Ray' that Dr Inferno lent me is working after all, mwahahahah!

Thanks for providing these images, WhiteFang I wonder if confirmed pricing will be available at the event at which Lego was going to official launch the set?

Thanks for the tip, birdie100. I will certainly try it out

Well, if the price has dropped to $70, you can get 15% off when there's another sale. $60! I dismantled one today, it has a lot of beautiful parts. The greeny-gold dragon is very cool too and patriotic with that livery. Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oy Oy Oy!

Shmelt Borganson, at your service. I look like Erds!

Brilliant review! I like your sense of humour Six figs! Three new civilians! :wub: Lego has really gone to town on this one, hopefully we will see some brilliant new minifigs spilling over into the endlessly recycled City populace. Double-printing on the torsos *and* heads is just icing on the cake. I think this is easily the best set of the Agents 2.0 line. The egg cockpit is fantastic and the overall shape looks more sophisticated and less blocky than the Exo-Force mecha. Those 1x4 printed control pieces appeared also in 7197 Venice Chase but I wasn't sure if they were new or not; I think they might be. I also like that we get some nice metallic silver pieces such as the tiles and the quad bike handles. I love the 'flambe' setting on the sticker too You've done such a good job on this review, now you have to review the other smaller sets you got too

Baseplates are still around *everywhere*, although often in Creator sets or Exclusives. 10189 Taj Mahal - 6 16x32 blue baseplates 10182 and 10185 are both on 2 16x32 green baseplates 10181 Effiel Tower had 4 32x32 baseplates The Castle Giant Chess set had *2* 48x48 light bley baseplates All the Creator sets have used 16x32 baseplates in green or in dark bley. The 2007 tan Creator house had *3* 16x32 baseplates in dark bley. There are more green ones in the upcoming House set. Even System sets are still producing them, in large sizes and small. Eg: 8637 Farm has 2 16x32 baseplates The 2008 Police HQ had a 32x32 baseplate with driveway and 1 16x32 baseplate The recent Service Station set had the same 32x32 driveway baseplate with an 8x16 baseplate 8637 Volcano Agents base - 1 16x16 baseplate in dark bley, with 2 8x16 baseplates 7641 City Life has 3 8x16 baseplates! You could pick up very cheap 16x32 tan baseplates from the Krusty Krab set in 2006. That wasn't exactly a million years ago In point of fact HP sets rarely if ever used baseplates - they were largely built on 8x16 or 8x16 bricks! (and later ordinary plates) This is all just off the top of my head. I am sure I have missed heaps of examples! Flat baseplates aren't dead at all. Actually, since the relaunch of Castle, the only type of plates we do see less of are the raised baseplates that nobody seems to like much! The only big 4 sets (non Belville) to use them since 2005 are the older Police HQ, the 2006 Hospital, the KK2 10176 Castle and 7627 Temple of the Crystal Skull.