WaysofSorting

I am in the camp with Large88 - I only buy LEGO products - but also think I'm close to swaying over. I remember in the early 20-aughts, nobody would even dare think of using clone or other brand bricks. Now there are compatible products made by passionate third-parties, with quality and care. Even some of the clone companies at least put out some pieces using good plastic and design. Who's to say what's right and wrong anymore. Also - worth noting that in my perception the quality of some LEGO elements has indeed declined since back in my youth. Here I mean opacity and color strength, as well as general "softness" of the plastic. Not terribly, but again - when the CMF line is sometimes so poor in quality, who is to say a knock-off is bad in comparison (Especially when they could have possibly been made with the same-sourced materials) But ultimately, I think counterfeits are worse than clone brands. I've seen multiple ebay auctions that were clearly stolen from the bad QC pile from a factory or blatant knock-offs. Tempted sometimes (Just to feel the quality in-hand...maybe it's close?!). If anyone does buy one of these I'd enjoy hearing how the "not lego but fits lego" disclaimer matches up...I always heard tell of discarded molds being shopped on a black-market for other toys - I in no way doubt that LEGO molds are finding their way out in the wild as well. Worth noting - some cool Iron Man Variants in the seller's "portfolio." I wonder who generated those designs. I think if they came from another community member, I'd be more upset about THAT theft than from TLG or Marvel.

Nice. The tail-fin buttresses (That's all I can think to call them) give them a gothic, almost Sandlin-like 3vil quality. Gives it a bit of edge. Also really reminds me of a great old PC Game, Star Control II, where your capitol/colony ship was essentially this modular frame you kept adding pods too. (Well, at least in my foggy memory, that's what I did). I had wished Galaxy Squad would have been more like this - allowing the teams to plug into each other, Voltron style. Maybe it was? I didn't get enough of the sets to ultimately find out with sets in hand. Maybe LEGO will drop "conflict" as theme and go back to "modular" as theme for a new space collection.

Toy customizers often do this simple trick - not for purists, but it should work - Superglue (hear me out) - take the ball joint and apply a very thin amount and let it dry completely. Repeat if you need more thickness. This may add just the amount of friction to give a bit more "hold" to the joint. Useful for displays and such, I would imagine. Superglue also useful for sealing paint (for you super-customizers) around or on moving joints - less obvious than varnish, and often much stronger. I haven't tried this on HF or Bionicle pieces myself...so caveat.

ssss.plendid! Wow. Took me a while to get the word out of my mouth, so awestruck. Great build and all details are consistent to M-Tron original scale and level of detail - all seems right in place with an early 90's building environment. This could and should have been a catalog photo! Alternate universe. This may be the year of M-Tron - I love the many builds that it's been getting lately. Superb everywhere - I can't begin to say what I like best. Thanks!

Yes, please bring them back - I enjoyed the "Vikings versus Monster" theme from the original, but would much prefer the second approach being advocated for - the villages and life. I've really enjoyed the Banner Saga videogames. Beautiful animation with a viking theme - Would love to see that much love for the genre/history returned in brick form.

Yes - seems like way late in the game for Mattel to be coming into this arena. But this is probably in both companies' interests...Mega would get some marketing and licensing power behind them, while Mattel gets the established team from Mega Brands. Even though I really hate the product Mega puts out, I have been impressed at the speed and flexibility they have shown in obtaining licenses and brands. A few years ago I might have argued that MEGA had a leg up on TLG. Since then, the gap has clearly closed and it seems like MEGA is flailing. The Call of Duty line recently released seemed very "off brand" to me. But it probably works best where MEGA is strongest - value oriented discount box stores like Walmart and BigLots.

I agree with you - I think it was a great concept and could/should definitely be revisited. Videogames saw a nice revival of XCom, an alien themed strategy game (along with 1950's spin-off). The original TOPPS Attack From Mars products are having their own revival this year - I'd really like to see some more ADF versus the brainy alien overlords some time soon. Can you link to the Flickr gallery you're referring to? Is that in a recent thread?

These are cool. Thanks for keeping purist - I'm with you on appreciating that aspect...even if TLG seems to be making it more and more a moot point to do so. Anyway - love how that visor works with the Samurai helmet. The avengers group shot (with Improved Hawkeye) is great, as is Dr. Strange and Ghost Rider...I'm gonna see that guy everytime I hear the old Rollins Band version of the song, Ghostrider

These all look great - your MOC and the regular figs. Quite a number of extra pieces! Thanks for the build. You have certainly turned me on to this line - I will have to explore them more and keep my eyes open at the store.

Nice build. Blocky and ready for some hard labor. Do both hands splay, or is it just the one? Regardless, adds nice variety. Also - the feet are sweet. I really enjoy how the angles interact. Good use of the clicky sockets - from a knights figure or something? - I have never clearly decided which I prefer - the ease of integrating those with System builds, or the flexibility of the Bionicle ball-n-sockets (Despite the extra thinking it usually takes to integrate) but maybe all will be fine come the introduction of the Mixel ball and sockets. Hard for me to see the old builder mechs without thinking about the upcoming Construction mech from the lego Movie - but this has all I need. The chicken-leg knee angles sell me so well.

Okay. Wow. I think the price point is a bit high - but what I was expecting with the four minifigs and all. I just think this was an excellent fit with the LEGO universe - glad it's getting made - I can hopefully pick this one up on a sale later in the year...The car is a great detail and yes - having all the pieces printed seems like a must - here's hoping. Also - I was worried the backpacks wouldn't work out -but they look great, especially with the printed round piece.

This set is great. I was immediately sold on Benny's ship - but more for Nostalgia. This ship trumps it on pure awesome and I'll pass (and save..) on SPACESHIP! to get this. Maybe for new-nostalgia for the movie, but also because I really like the ship itself. Creative and weird, and totally fits with my style of building and play. Done.

spoilers. Do I even need to say? Can they build the double decker couch? I guess it would be part of the crazy submarine. I know we get some summer sets - like the flying SwatCop assault thing and Emmetts big Mech- Will it come with Angry-Uni Kitty? If not, then Anger Kitty Giant-Mouth eats some Micromanagers with a couple other "Bricksburg" builders fighting back battle pack. 19.99.

I got Unikitty, but I knew that would happen. Thanks for the quiz!

Just saw the movie myself. Two claw-hands up. Uh...spoilers? TC - you do a great job of not spoiling it - and your words are well chosen - I went into it expecting a twist, but what I was thinking of was eliminated within the first five or six minutes. (minutes 7 through 9 were me feeling stupid for even considering it, minute 10 I was back to enjoying the film). The denouement of the movie was well done. - though I was surprised and worried they wouldn't be able to pull it off. Also - nice spoiler in itself - I was so hyped about the video I had to wiki-google Vitruvius the historical figure to see why they named the wizard after him. edit - to keep on track with the canon talk, post viewing - I went into it thinking I wouldn't care what the movie expressed. I came out the same way - the movie plays tongue-in-cheek with some non-system themes, and certainly ribs the AFOLs. This was a great movie about generations - something you'd expect from LEGO, where family has always been important. When it comes to canon, then, I left movie the same way - this was all someone else's MoCanon/headcanon. Mine is safely mine, no need to even worry about the movie.