Kamzel

27 members of the EU plus free trade with European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, 15 Member States have adopted Euro and Slovakia is joining them on the 1st on January 2009. I think that when it comes to trade EU can be treated as a single country, especially the Euro zone, where you don't have to worry about the exchange rate. I wouldn't call the Euro experimental. Exchange rates were fixed in 1999, notes and coines introduced in 2002. All of the new members want to join the Euro zone, even Denmark and Sweden are considering it now. It is very improbable that any of the member states would like to drop the Euro - it is neither technically easy, nor politically/economically reasonable. In the times of crises it is even more improbable!

Count me in!

Those Pirate Impulse sets are really great, with so many useful accessories! EDIT: Yes, skulls seem to be gone from the sails. But the parrot is gone as well...

I don't think that buying LEGO bricks is any worse than buying expensive clothes, watches or cars, and some people spend not hundreds or thousands, but millions of Euros for such things. You can (maybe you should?) give money to charity organisations, but it is important to remember, that money can't change everything...

I think that he was called Rummy. Then of course there is Governor Broadside: ...and Lieutenant de Martinet

Well, I visited this site today and it seems to me that they don't have a great future ahead. IMHO Censorship (their "leaks" policy) and Internet forums don't go well together. I understand that publishing "leaked" pictures is not allowed - but to ban talking about them? Do we live in China or North Korea? What do you think about this? EDIT: I must admit I didn't know that this kind of "policy" (censorship) is a common one on the forums created by people living in democratic countries. I know why many things are forbidden on Internet forums (like improper language, etc...), but I cannot find a reason for banning comments on some next-year sets. Mister Phase wrote "they have their policies for a reason", does any of you know what reason is it? And one more thing: I do not want to criticise this particular site (FC), I just wanted to know what is your opinion on this kind of Internet self-censorship (perhaps this is not a good thread for this).

6242 - Fort What I like Old-style Imperial flags Plumes Crane Rat, Monkey Easy to make it larger (modularity) What I don't like Two pirate captains? Lack of backpacks for Soldiers Crocodile Buildings are a little too small New pirate flag (Jolly Roger) 6243 - Ship What I like Nice colors It is not a large, empty ship like the Vikings' one Windows and other details No strings Parrot, Monkey, Mermaid! Female figure that will look good in Castle as well What I don't like New Jolly Roger... Rear cannon Ship has no anchor Again - no backpack for a soldier The funny thing is that AFAIK LEGO currently makes white backpacks for... Mars Mission. So perhaps in the final sets the soldiers will have them?

I've never had much luck in such things, but - count me in!

Because English is a modern lingua franca, like Aramaic, Greek, Latin or French were in the previous centuries. The question is: is it the last one and will be used in this way forever, or perhaps it will be - like all of the aforementioned - substituted by another language (Chinese?? How am I supposed to learn a language which doesn't even have a true alphabet?.. ).

In Poland the minimal wage is 2 Euro per hour, the medium is around 5-6 Euro, and that is before taxing, social security, etc... which takes 20-40% of your income. Still, LEGO bricks are usually more expensive here than in Germany & the rest of Europe, and this is getting even worse as Polish zloty is getting stronger and stronger in the last two years. Luckily, some Allegro.pl (our auction site similar to eBay) sellers buy sets in Germany so that e.g. 7094 castle is now available here for around 90 Euro. But for the first few months it was like 110 euro or more. I can only hope that the recently announced Polish S@H will have decent prices...

Johnny. Two reasons: I don't like this current LEGO policy to make more and more licensed products instead of their own themes. I don't like this flesh colour as well.

Hello! People on Lugpol (Polish AFOLs' community) have found something quite interesting in the cache of LEGO Shop@Home website: Polish flag There are also Hungarian, Czech and Norwegian flags, but no other I've checked. I am now wondering if this might mean that LEGO is going to make S@H available in those countries soon. I think all Eurobricks members from those countries would really like that, wouldn't you? I would love to buy the Cafe Corner for my birthday in March so much...

It is really a great article! I am mainly into Castle and Space, but after reading this I've become interested in Pirates as well.