Etzel

Thanks! It's stickers, from 70810 MetalBeard's Sea Cow.

Thanks a lot! It was indeed my intention to make it look like the inn was located in a forest, because that was how I pictured it when I first saw the set. A whole village would surely look awesome, but that's for someone else to build.

This is my take on the 41174 Starlight Inn set that I picked up a few weeks ago. I'm normally not a big fan of sets and usually only sees them as parts pack but I liked the idea of this one. However, I didn't really like the use of some colours and wanted to use them more realistically, e.g. only green plants and leaves and keep the purple and pink for the interior. The structure is made to reflect the set with a kitchen and sitting room at the ground floor, and a bedroom and a balcony with a telescope on the upper floor, as well as the rounded window. No thought has been given to how this would go with whatever stories goes on at the Elves tv show, comics, books or whatever, I don't care about them at all. This is just my try to make a better inn that could go with the Elves minidolls. Thanks for watching! /Etzel

That's a very nice siege tower! I also like your use of both crownies and the latest lion knights, they work very well together with their similar colour scheme. The variation of your Nokheimer Raiders is great, but what I like most about them is their dynamic poses. They really look so much more realistic when there are small variations in how they are holding their weapons, which foot they are lifting, which way they look etc. When I army build it's usually just a maximum of 20 minifigs, but that makes it easier to experiment with more rare shields and torsos. This is my small company that uses the bear shield from the Frightening Knight from the Collectible Minifigs sereis 15. I made a MOC with them for a mini-challenge in Guilds of Historica but it's essentially just an army build with some landscaping so I figured I could post it here as well. Just now I realized that I have some of the old KK2 bear shields, 3846pb16, that I could've used to make the company bigger. Maybe I'll use them in a later build.

Lovely! The darker colours on the ground and the minifigs together with the black background gives the whole build a sort of gritty and foreboding feeling. Perfect for the events that are to come! I'm intrigued to find out whether falcons and bears will go together nicely...

Stunning scene, Gideon! I really like how the canopy of your trees looks, nice and thick and probably way more stable than mine. I also think you manage to get a very nice vegetation on the ground. The use of the palm leaves sideways is really well done, you managed to hide their connections really well.

Awesome! I'd also like to thank you for bringing the challenge to my attention by posting your great entry on Swebrick's forum. Here is my entry: The Company of Lord Theodore Bruin aka. "Teddy's Bears" Maybe this is the start of another session of GoH building for me, I certainly hope so!

The Company of Lord Theodore Bruin has heard the call from the Desert King. Much like all the other mercenary companies that gather at Sultan's Gate, the so called "Teddy's Bears" are hoping to gain both gold and glory from the upcoming crusade. Travelling down from the North these Mitgardians need to pass trough some rough terrain before reaching the land of Kaliphlin. The company consists of three divisions, the knights, the footmen and the archers, all resourceful and reliable soldiers commanded by the respectable Lord Bruin and his counsellor. The company is of course also bringing their loyal mascot, the brown bear Boo. For the Desert King's Nocturnus Crusade Mini Challenge. /Etzel

Is this mini challenge for Kaliphlin only or can members from the other guilds enter as well? I just recently put together a small force in a session of fig-barfing and thought that with some nice landscaping around them it could fit right in for this challenge.

Nice to have a high quality picture! I really like Maleficent and Ursula, and Aladdin and Alice are also nice. Not a big fan of this series in total, but still better than the Simpsons series at least.

Two really great builds! The architecture of the building is really interesting and you managed to get a really nice colour scheme with the tan, dark green and gold. The tortoise is just adorable! Love how you did the legs, I can really imagine how it would stutter around on those!

Wonderful! Those eggs are really beautiful and have that luxurious feel about them just as the originals. I must say that I like your first one, the red and gold, the most, but your new ones are really well made as well and together they make a splendid collection.

It certainly looks much better with the brown door in my opinion. I recently bought this set as well and while I do like the style and consider it a reasonable good parts pack I can't stand some of the colour combinations. I know it's a common thing in today's LEGO sets to help kids build the sets but when you use 9 different colours for the first 12 pieces in the build it kind of bothers me. But since I did like the idea of the set I too decided to build my own version just the way I like it, it's just what LEGO is all about, right? I'm waiting for a BL order of some bright green tiles to finish of the roof and then I'll probably show it. Still has to decide if I want to stick with the colourful leaves or go with a more natural look.

A simple green tree in the snow is the best Christmas tree for me: Thanks for keeping the tradition going CopMike!

The Team GB series was a separate series, not interfering with the normal ones. And really, I can't see any reason for why this series would be available anywhere outside of Germany. Still, it would be reasonably easy to get hold of them if you want them considering how many German AFOLs and Bricklink shop owners there are. I remember having no problem getting a complete Team GB for a good price when they were out.

Highly unlikely. The Team GB Olympic minifigs were only available in their homeland and I doubt "Die Mannschaft" would sell well enough outside of Germany. We AFOLs in other countries will probably have to rely on our contacts in Germany to get our Özil, Götze and Müller minifigs I hope this rumour is true! I would love a complete football team and I guess the world champions is a wise choice! I would love a Zlatan minifig though!

Disc Launchers, Robo Horse, Blade cruiser... Please let there be good minifigs at least!

Outstanding! I thought those blasters were useless, but you found a brilliant way to use them. The ship is also amazingly detailed at such small scale.

Garage roller doors and Hero Factory robot arms.

It's a mining helmet:

Olive green grass stalks? GIVE ME NOW!

Thanks a lot CopMike! After a quick trade I received mine today.

I thought you were going to show this one, the skeleton captain even has a pirate hat:

Even if we get more and more outfits for the minidolls they are still less versatile and customizable than the minifigs, there is no way to deny that. Hand and leg movement (and ability to change them if you feel like doing that) are huge assets for both playability and building that the minidolls don't have. I don't mind If someone prefers the minidolls because of their more "human-like" appearance (which I guess is the biggest asset they have), but to someone who enjoys building their own characters and posing them in different positions in the sets and MOCs the minifigs are much better. I know that the minidolls have been thoroughly explored and tested before LEGO launched the Friends theme, and that they are probably popular enough to stay for a long time. I accept that, but hope at the same time that this doesn't make minifig-based themes aimed towards girls impossible.

They do look great for being minidolls, but nothing can change the fact that they aren't minifigs and therefore much less versatile and customisable. If Elves had minifigs I would love the theme, now it's just okay. I usually judge a set by its pieces and minifigs and while Elves has many interesting pieces in the sets, the only thing worth with the minidolls are their hairs. I'm still considering picking up the treehouse and the ship though if I can get them for a nice price.