Venunder

So far I'm not looking forward to any theme next year. Except for Ninjago, A small set list in 2016 will give my wallet a break and give me time to catch up with all the sets I need to buy. A Ninjago zeppelin and sky-shark sound great. Two possible buildings also sound good.

Here are my predictions with thanks to previous posters for some great ideas. 1) Gardener with Trowel or Trug. 2) Blacksmith with Hammer and horseshoe 3) 30's Film Director with Beret and Megaphone 4) Female Elf warrior to match previous Elf.Using the old shield print, but the LOTR ELF weapon, 5) Juliette with poison vial, to match the Actor from previous series. 6) The Beekeeper, with smoke maker. 7) Doctor with Xray or Stethoscope. 8) Player 2. Video game Girl with controller. 9) Banana Suit Guy. 10) The Hobo with dog 11) The Female Graduate with degree, to match the male graduate from earlier series. 12) Baby, using Simpsons maggie body, with bottle of milk. 13) Paparazzo with camera. 14) Female Islander to go with the Islander from previous series. 15) Wild West Card player/Gambler with cards. 16) Postwoman with mailbag and letter.

I probably have enough lego right now, but I am aiming for 1 million bricks. Like most AFOL the real problem is storage and display space. One day I might have enough of both of those limiting commodities.

Very nice build. It would be good to have a few passages in the side walls leading to future expansions. The Castle on the headland would be a great place to start.

Wonderful house and street.. Full of lovely detail. :thumbup:

I'm surprised they did not put some brick profile bricks into the new 2015 set. The Chimney could have used some.......

Lots of good features and details. I'm not sure the Star Wars creatures work with the village. but they are interesting. :thumbup:

How were you planning to use them? The top of the arch will need a few slopes or cheeses if you are using the arch as horizontal branches. If the arches are used vertically, I'm guessing that the end of the arch will need to be attached to a hinge or bracket? to connect it to the ground.

£12 for a Large cup in the UK. Then £11.24 if you reuse your cup. With points I got the price down to £9.48 total. I managed to pack 3485 pieces of vegetation, flowers, 1x1's, 2x2 tan flat tiles and some 160 assembly element 03.2 into 2 cups. Retail cost would have been about £228.98. So I saved about 96%. I could probably have done even better if I packed in some higher cost items.

I think the answer to this is that TLG are expecting people to buy a combination of City, Creator, and Friends series sets to build the towns and villages that we want. Rather than people only buying City sets. But having said that.... I think there are too many vehicles and particularly helicopters, police and fire vehicles in the City Theme. In reality here in the UK most cities have maybe one or two helicopters flying over them each week. Not 5 or 6 each day. Most towns probably see a helicopter once per month or less. Police and Fire vehicles are probably outnumbered by the number of ambulances or paramedic response cars on the roads each day. Try and find a policeman when you want one......almost impossible sometimes. I have yet to see a burglar or thief who wears the Lego uniform. :)

Lovely little Park scene. Good forced perspective work on those flats / offices in the rear.

Excellent set of suburban houses. I particularly like the Scandinavian and the Normandie. The recent creator houses have been particularly small because of TLG putting silly play features into the models. I mean, the city theme has plenty of vehicles already, so who needs a car in the creator theme buildings? Particularly one that just one minifig can sit in.....

Brilliant elemental mages. Lovely build.

Many, many, great features in this set. An instant classic as far as I can see. I am going to need several of these. But why did they use Black for the base of the trees and not the rest of the tree trunks? Or give us a brown part instead of the black?

A Safari theme would be great. It gives scope for many new animals and the staple product of Lego, vehicles. There can also be new buildings for the safari Lodge, The Souvenir Shop and Camper vans, Caravans or Tents for the field trip. Also plenty of options for the vegetation, Tan Bushes, Tan Grasses etc.... A straight forward Zoo or Circus theme is probably a no go area in this era of animal rights and conservation. The other sub-theme would be shops. However this is unlikely with the current Creator shops that are available.

I think Humans dressed up as animals would have been a better theme for most Lego Fans, but TLG had to go with a more original idea. TLG kind of pitched the theme too young, 6-9?, so that cutesy animaloids worked better to draw youngsters in? Possibly TLG thought parents would see the theme as less "dangerous","scary", for children in this cutesy way? I also think the Insectoids were a great idea. But kind of clashed with the Galaxy Squad theme. The insects might also have pushed the theme to an older audience? Same with the zombies? The Swamp creatures kind of worked, but would have been a rehash of the Monster Fighters Swamp thing. The Gorillas had to be different to Planet of the Apes otherwise there could have been copyright problems.

Wow! Great City you have there.

A cunning play on words there. :laugh: As most Nessie pictures are probably "logs" or "otters" or "Elephants"! Your MOC is great too.....

Wonderful work again... Especially love the olive trees.

Amazing. I am surprised the bottom bricks can support the weight of the tower. I know the tower is the main feature but the surrounding Ring of Isenguard is required. "A great ring-wall of stone, like towering cliffs, stood out from the shelter of the mountain-side, from which it ran and then returned again... one who passed in and came at length out of the echoing tunnel, beheld a plain, a great circle, somewhat hollowed like a vast shallow bowl: a mile it measured from rim to rim. Once it had been green and filled with avenues, and groves of fruitful trees, watered by streams that flowed from the mountains to a lake. But no green thing grew there in the latter days of Saruman. The roads were paved with stone-flags dark and hard; and beside their borders instead of trees there marched long lines of pillars, some of marble, some of copper and of iron, joined by heavy chains, to the centre all the roads ran between their chains. There stood a tower of marvelous shape. It was fashioned by the builders of old, who smoothed the Ring of Isenguard, and yet it seemed a thing not made by the craft of men but riven from the bones of the earth in the ancient torment of the hills.

Ask G.Istok on Brickset.

Lord of the Rings Return of the King Theme. Minas Morgul. Minas Tirith. The Witch King and Eowen Battle. The Mumak. Grond. Battle packs for :- The Rangers of Ithilien The Gondorian Guards The Swan Knights of Prince Imrahil. The Rohirrim Battle Trolls in Armour. Mordor Uruk-hai. Mordor Orcs. Mordor Goblins. The Southrons. The Easterlings. The Nurnians. The Corsairs of Umbar.

Very good techniques and some good buildings. I look forward to seeing more.

Brilliant castle, with lots of play features. :thumbup:

He will be missed. Maybe TLG can make a UCS Saruman or Dooku to honour his memory?