Dark Wanderer

Well, seeing as I don't actually have a tree and anything I put there would be from myself.... I blew my Christmas LEGO budget on the three modular buildings: Cafe Corner, Green Grocer, and Fire Brigade. And hopefully I'll be able to stop by the LEGO store a few days after, and see what they have, too. Maybe some 2010 stuff?

Squidman: the vile graffiti artist has escaped again! Can the Space Police catch him, or will their speeder fall out from under them? Does Squidman himself live up to his name? And is he really squidlike? That's your choice. Name: Squidman Escape Set Number: 5969 Theme: Space Police III Year: 2009 (summer) Pieces: 42 Minifigures: 2 Price: USD 5.99, GBP 4.89, EUR 5,99 Links Shop@Home Peeron Brickset This set, for an impulse, has one major BUY ME! factor: Squidman. If you don't have him, go get at least two. Right now. He's worth it. Or else. The Box Front A fairly small box, but it is the third-smallest set in the Space Police line, after all. We have the typical dome-thing in the background, some nice shiny effects on the speeder's lights, and a prominent display of Squidman. Essentially a typical impulse box, but you're not buying for the box, are you? Back Once again, a pretty typical impulse box. The two minifigures are once again placed prominently, and it makes it pretty obvious that you're getting a 100-bill, too. Also there is the punch-flap, which I never actually use, in favor of a knife. Overall, the box stands out enough to be noticed-- especially the gleeful Squidman. Box Contents So you dump out the box and get two polybags, a small dreadful sticker sheet, an instruction booklet, and a free LEGO club membership. We'll look at these part by part. The Instructions Front Pretty standard instructions, with the same image as the front of the box on them. Random Page No piece call-outs, but the print is quite clear and easy-to-read. Space Police Ad In the back of the instructions, we have a line-up of all of the criminals and the various SPIII sets. Parts List Not very many parts, but 33 of 42 are unique, so that's pretty good... The Sticker Sheet The Sheet A relatively small DSS, but some of these are kind of tricky to put on-- namely the long ones with the flame-like things on them. Nothing so difficult as the Thunder Driller, though. The Parts and Build, And Extra Pieces Too The Parts A nice variety of parts is present, some large, some small. Interesting are Squidman's cape (in a new, flatter type of cape-box), the 100-bill, and some of the big slope parts. And, of course, the minifigures. The Build The build of the speeder is quite quick-- it almost takes more time to build the minifigures. Of course, that's to be expected-- it is an impulse set, after all. There are some nice SNOT connections and an interesting use of a flag piece, but nothing really stunning. You're probably not going to buy this for the speeder, though: the minifigures, I suspect, will be of the most interest to AFOLs. Extra Pieces Only a few extra pieces, but extra cheese are always welcome and a visor is handy to have around too. The Minifigures The Policeman A typical Space Policeman, with leg- and back-printing. His head is double-sided and he probably has a very good use of that scared expression: his helmet isn't airtight and he hasn't got any air tanks. Squidman The crown jewel of this set: Squidman. He is the reason I bought this set-- two of this set-- and probably will buy more. He's front- and back-printed and has a cool cape (although it covers his back-printing). He has a bugeyed head with a neat green pattern on top. He's the cutest minifigure I've ever seen. You need one. Now. More Squidman You can see the beautiful head here, with that wonderful top-printing and those bugeyes. It's amazing how well the head integrates with the body-- it seems like it could be clumsy, but it's perfect instead. Two Squidmen Two Squidmen are better than one! The Set The Speeder The speeder isn't really anything special, but it serves its purpose. All of the stickers in the set go onto it, but I built my second one without any stickers and it looks fine without them as well. The Speeder, Front The speeder is quite sleek, and has two blasters on the front. The flag is quite cleverly used here to approximate the front slope. The Speeder, Side The bend is achieved by a click-joint, so it can be positioned however you like. A minifigure can fit on it in most configurations. The Speeder, Back The minifigure grabs onto the handle, and then their legs rest on the bent part. The plates with bars act mostly as greebles, though one might attach something more there. An engine, perhaps? The Speeder with Minifigure As you can see, a minifigure sits comfortably on the speeder, and can therefore zoom in pursuit of Squidman. Final Thoughts & Ratings The Ratings Playability/Swooshability: 8/10 The speeder is quite swooshable, and the Space Police can catch Squidman hundreds of times, but it is an impulse set, and so its playability is rather limited (but goes up to a 10 when combined with another set). Design: 10/10 The bike isn't about to fall apart and can take some pretty serious impacts. Price: 9/10 A little on the expensive side, but Squidman makes up for that. I bought my two on sale for USD 5.00, so it's not too bad, but it's worth even the regular price. Minifigures: 10/10 Sure, the policeman doesn't have any airtanks, but SQUIDMAN! makes up for him. It should be a law that everyone has to have a Squidman. The world would be a better place. Overall: 9.5/10 The stickers aren't too bad, the minifigures are great, and the speeder isn't half-bad. I'm happy with this set. It's relatively cheap, it has SQUIDMAN!, a decent speeder, and nicely balances out the Space Police III line. My thoughts? Get two if you see them. I'd be even glad to buy another. Brickshelf

I'm pretty sure my summer LEGO budget just went out the window... At least, if these are released in the US. And it would be murder if they weren't. Now I just have to work out how many I've got to buy to have a reasonable chance of getting all the parts.

Yes, the pictures are up, but the site's still down. My reviews and avatar, at least, are displaying... If there is some problem, perhaps they've gotten it working this far and are just seeing what to do next.

I've been on board with Bionicle for nearly ten years, and I'd like to see something like this too-- if they're going to drop the line, why not make it go with a real bang? Sort of like the Imperial ship/Pirates, for instance? I wouldn't be adverse to some System pieces, too, as long as they can make them integrate well... And I'd be willing to throw a substantial amount of cash at this, provided it was impressive enough. Even if it takes a year to design and produce, I'll be waiting.

Even Workerbots can deliver presents. ...despite being tablescraps... CopMike made me do it!

Partially-fastened tiles don't only work on sloped roofs-- they also work to create a very shallow slope, and can add some nice texture:

I listen to music on my laptop-- either movie soundtracks (preferably instrumental) or classical (Bach is pretty good for building to). No food, as I don't want it to get on my precious pieces.

Just so anyone who wants it knows... It's on Amazon US for USD 139.97, with free shipping. ..although how long that will last is a mystery....

Ah, now I've got to get Fire Brigade quite soon. My wallet can't take two $150 hits in such a short time... Maybe this'll be a corner building with an interior, hmm?

To be honest, I'm kind of sick of POTC. I'd much rather see more classic-style Pirates than a bunch of sickeningly expensive fleshie-filled sets. Besides, the main POTC market seems to be aimed at the younger kids and teen-agers, so anything from there might have nasty <insert that tiresome argument> pieces- and BURPs and LURPs are quite enough for me. So I say Classic Pirates or none at all.

I never actually acquired any of the original sets, but do recall drooling over Fort Legoredo.... Yeah, I'd definitely buy some if they came back. Signed.

Ahhh, trans-yellow windscreens... i do hope, however, that with the apparent return of Blacktron we get perhaps a few Human baddies. It'd get away from this aliens-are-evil balance and hearken back to the original Blacktrons. Otherwise I'll have to get a bunch of one set and swap out heads.

While I'm still unhappy about the Pirates being discontinued, this does mollify me somewhat... And now I'll have to get a Soldiers' Fort to go along with it.

"LEGO Kingdoms"?? Ergh. Why must they rename something that already has a perfectly good name? No matter how they mutilate its nomenclature, however, it will always be 'Castle' to me.

If that's seriously a revival of Blacktron... Well, I'll be happy for one. Although I hope that they go with a yellow-and-black color scheme- it's always seemed more classic to me.

Signing. We can't let this die on us.

Those bags are incredible. I've heard of them, but never actually seen any. Would anyone know if they exist at the Minnesota Mall of America LEGO store? For 7.99 apiece, that's quite a deal.

I guess I'll inflict this decision on someone else... What should I get: Crane Truck vs. Tantive IV vs. Fire Brigade vs. Galactic Enforcer vs. Trolls' Mountain Fortress vs. Temple of Doom? Alternately, it could also be Drawbridge Defense and Hyperspeed Pursuit together. Please note that if it's under $100 or possibly the Crane Truck that I could wheedle it out of someone for Christmas, and that any advice will probably be tossed out the window the moment I get to the store and see what they have and I will proceed to pace around muttering to myself for half an hour trying to decide what to get. Although it's worth a shot. Any advice would be greatly welcomed. Oh, and I've got a $20 gift card ready to spend.

Yes, it's already been used six times- and I foresee many more uses for it. The board only cost 2.50- but how much is the labor worth?

When I received my last LEGO catalog, I was interested to see the new ruler they produced; however, I was rather disappointed by its small dimensions. Most AFOLs can count up those measures in their heads. Something had to be done. Plans began to form in my mind. So, a few days ago went to the nearby home-building store (Home Depot) and purchased a 1.5 x .5 x 36 inch piece of oak for USD 2.67. Yesterday afternoon, then, I coerced some assistance into flattening the ends, rounding the edges, and sanding it down a little for it to be smooth; while he was doing that, I built a template to mark the first side of the ruler, the stud length. You may see it below. The Length Template And a close-up, detailing the marking: Close-Up As you may see, I first marked with pencil and the later went over it with pen after mostly erasing the pencil marks. Each brick now has a one-quarter inch mark on each side, every five bricks has a half-inch mark on each side, and every ten bricks has a number and a line that goes all the way across. You may see what I mean in later pictures. But first, onto the brick height, the second side of the ruler. The Height Template That's the template for the height: I added one brick, drew a line, added another, drew another line. A close-up: Another Close-Up, Height Side Afterwards, I followed the same procedure with the pen as I did with the length. And then, the ruler was finished. You can see the markings better in the next two pictures, where I'm actually testing it: The Length Side and the other side, the height: The Height Side And then two shots of the entire ruler, click on each image for a much larger version: The Whole Business, Height Side The Whole Business, Length Side The entire project took me perhaps three or four hours, and the only cost was for the board (provided, of course, that the clamp, saw, and sandpaper were free). The finished ruler ended up as 114 studs long, and 95 high. So, what do you think of it?

I don't really 'play' in a slamming-spaceship-into-walls style, but I don't collect either; mostly what I do is buy a set, build it, have it hang around for a month, then send it into my tackle boxes of parts, where it'll be eventually processed into some creation or other. Which I actually design to be tough enough to take some impacts before disintigrating, so perhaps that bit of the little kid is still lurking in me. My final thoughts? I'm in the middle: not collecting for the sake of collecting, but not 'just playing'. As a kid, though, I can remember grabbing some sets just because of what I saw as their play value: you could really make a scenario out of X set. Not so much anymore. Except for swooshing.

I wish they would, but I doubt it... I mean does that also show there'll be a steampunk airship and a really odd-looking pirate-guy?

I don't know why, but I can take a stab at it: it might have something to do with that the most of the licensed themes (all?) come from U.S. franchises? Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. are all from there, so perhaps it has something to do with the license itself?

Oh dear. I wish I had that many specifically Technic models. I've found that the only problem with using that type of case is that once one starts down that path, one cannot return... which is probably as good a reason as any for having 60+ of those kind of cases with thousands of parts in them.