jamtf

That is really disturbing. If the box came fresh from TLC without someone else involved, that is a bad situation. Imagine that a certain percentage of the boxes would contain flaws such as missing pieces, minifigs and all that... that is really bad for a company's reputation. And bad news for MISB collectors as well since you might be collecting incomplete sets due to failures such as these. A good thing for employment since customer service department will have a day job resolving this sort of problems. I happen to know that Lego works with a weight system. This seems to be quite sophisticated since the smallest weight problem (with a small brick or 2 missing) would result in the box being taken out for inspection. If your Agents sets should contain 2 or more minifigs, it is strange that this (weight) problem has not been detected at the end control. Lego seems to have more and more trouble coping with quality and demand. Many stores here in The Netherlands do not get their supply of Lego in time. It is bad if a new year begins and the store gets a load of (almost discontinued) 2009 sets delivered (since these were on back order) while customers ask for the newest items which they did not get. Also, the "China syndrom" has resulted in worse quality of parts (for example the Pirates Tic-Tac-Toe sets and maybe there is more that I do not remember). Lego is quite busy saving money by using all sorts of different production plants in locations all over the world (Czech Republic, Hungary, China, etc.) which somehow seems to cause all sorts of trouble (inferior quality and incomplete sets). In the end, all that counts is customer satisfaction. If I had to call customer service each time after receiving another incomplete set, that would be quite annoying (problem will eventually be resolved but it takes a lot of time and effort to get things right that should have been right from the start).

Disappointing to say the least. The discounts are not huge anyway. If you do not need a V-19 Torrent, a Troll Fortress or an Indiana Jones Peril in Peru set you might as well forget about ordering. Furthermore, it seems that they want us to believe that we are too late with shopping since everything that has not even been available for some time is now in the "sold out" section on the bottom of the page...

Yes, I had seen that Brickshelf folder too some time ago. Most likely, he is either a BrickLink seller or someone who placed one or more huge orders on BrickLink. Apparently, he received everything in the boxes that he photographed. I sometimes wonder why someone would buy a couple hundreds or thousands of exactly the same pieces... Perhaps he is planning to build a giant army of all sorts of different castle knights on horses with bardings. If this was a BL order, I think it must have cost a small fortune + shipping fee. Judging the photos, this guy should be somewhere in Asia.

Definitely a custom but well done for sure. I happen to know the Swedish Tradera site. It is smilar to the QXL site in Norway where I sometimes search for classic Tomte vinyl cars, one of my other hobbies besides collecting Lego.

Great job. Those 2 items really remind me of that Discovery World series called "American Loggers". All you need is a skidder, a dragline (to help with the recovery of trucks that tipped over) and a trailer for the truck and you pretty much capture the whole idea.

Do you also have a link to the sticker designs such as the one on the table inside (the map)? They look pretty neat if I may say so. Besides, welcome back BrickMiner. I really had the impression that you left Eurobricks some time ago since I had not seen any MOCs or posts from you for a long time. It is always good to have a talented builder / designer being part of our community, especially since Wild West does not seem to be the most popular theme around here.

Wouldn't it be cool to transform a US cannon with emblem into a shooting cannon? I am pretty sure it can be done since the mechanism is not that complicated. Nonetheless, you would need to open the non-shooting cannong with a saw or a drilling device in order to make the transformation. I am from Holland and we only had the shooting cannons as well. I do own a couple non-shooting cannons, 3 to be precise. They were part of an inconspicuous eBay lot with knights, pirates and related stuff that I purchased somewhere in 2006-2007. Two of those non-shooting cannons have the cool crossed cannon emblem on the nozzle, the other one doesn't but has a "black towball" instead of a dark gray one (where one normally would pull the cannon to let it shoot). Here is a link to the object (according to BrickLink this was only available in first pirate sets made between 1989 and 1991 (apparently it is an early design) and not in other lines where they used cannons such as Western sets: non-shooting cannon with black handle If the lack of shooting cannons is an object, it is always possible to win auctions off of European eBay sites (ebay.co.uk would do the trick for you) or to order them on BrickLink. Wonder what happens if one of those initially non-available cannons would cause a serious accident in the US ... TLG can not prevent people from buying them abroad anyway. All they can do is avoid them being offered in new sets in the US.

That is not too difficult with the brick color issues (different shades of green with that Toy Story Army men on Patrol set for instance) we seem to have of late...

For starters, you might want to buy 7666 Hoth Rebel Base if you don't own that set. That set has a few Rebels, some Snowtroopers, a turret, the entrance to the base, an imperial probe droid similar to yours and a Snowspeeder with Luke Skywalker and Dack Ralter. A couple 7749 Echo Base sets will help to get a few more figs and a load of white bricks to create trenches and some TaunTauns (and some extra Han Solo figs ). If you need more Snowspeeders, check sets such as 7130 (they old grey one) or 4500 (the white one) with sonar radar equipment and an extra Hoth Rebel fig with different snow goggles included. I think the 7130 Snowspeeder has the best design.

Another seller who made a mistake with the decimals separator. I think the seller really wants $124.89 for the set. In case of doubt or if you are interested, I would suggest to ask him right away and I am quite confident he well revise his eBay advertisement accordingly since the prices of his other items seem to be quite normal.

A tilt flat bed with winch would be nice. Perhaps you need some technic parts to make that.

How about making a hauler for stranded cars? The tow truck chassis is big enough for that. For inspiration look at the classic ANWB Breakdown Assistance promotional sets 1590 + 2140 for an idea of what I mean.

Too bad that TLC - unlike Playmobil - never came to the idea of making Mexican inhabitants with sombrero's and poncho's etc. On the other hand, with Lego it is always possible to create something out of the pieces that are available.

Great! Another EB member called Apache did this some time ago. That creation is part of the Western MOCs in the historic theme index and library. Unfortunately, the links to his photos do not seem to work anymore which might have to do with the photos being linked to a brickshelf- and flickr-like photo webhosting site called www.maj.com which seems to be gone. Edit: the photo of the Mexican outlaws was on photobucket but is gone nonetheless.

They came in some HP sets such as 4733 Dueling Club and certain Castle sets such as 6098 King Leo's Castle and some other KKI themed sets as well. These sets date back 2000 - 2002. With a little luck you can find some of these parts in used sets offered for sale on eBay but if you are looking for larger quantities BL is your way to go.

I have 2 questions: 1. Is it me or are the arms of Woody and Jessie really a bit longer compared to a normal minifig? The Stinky Pete torso is a normal one with standard sized arms, right? 2. Is it possible to disassemble the pre-assembled figs or are they glued together one-offs? Sorry if these questions have already been answered elsewhere. Thanks for the great review!

Nice creation although I am not too fond of using pirate figs (soldiers) in western MOCs. If the soldiers were to be Mexicans*), I think it would be best to give them flesh hands or white hands and the flesh sun tanned faces that are used in Indiana Jones sets such as the Ambush in Cairo set (thug) and the Venice Canal Chase set (Kazim and the other fellow). *) like in the Zorro series that used to be on TV long ago...

As far as I understand it, this was caused by theft. Lego has an almost 100% waterproof system when it comes to weight of boxes. If the figs were not there, this would have been noticed at the factory since the weight would not be OK. Most likely, a TRU customer or someone that worked in the "distribution chain" from factory to the TRU toy store must have opened the box professionally with a knife or something simliar. Then it is not that difficult anymore to take out all the fig parts from each bag. With a kitchen sealing device it is easy to reseal the original plastic bags. The bags look glued or "fried" after that treatment since electric (hot) sealing is a way to burn the plastic in order to glue it together. Everything was put back in the box afterwards and voila, there you have a tampered with new Legoset without the figs. It is a bit sad that the store did not take the set back. Of course, it is easy to think that you took the figs out yourself but I would have taken the box back shortly after the purchase and show them the contents (resealed bags with no figs) to the shop manager and ask for a solution. Usually, when something is wrong with sets at TRU in Germany (opened or heavily damaged boxes, etc.), they immediately remove the set from the shelf, write it off and send it back to TLC. TRU will get a full refund, even if the set got (deliberately) damaged by customers who visited the store and opened the box to take out pieces.

Sign me up since the western pieces in the new Toy Story line ain't enough. We need more bad guys and more variety in minifigs + some civilians and regular townspeople for instance and of course newly designed sets that are different from what we already know. Look at Playmobil. They usually have western sets in their range of products and as far as I know, they always had them. Ideas: - drugstore - blacksmith - saloon - arms dealer (store) - oil well - well's fargo coach - train station - cattle farm - bandit ambush with stage coach - US army / Confederate army battle packs - civilians, cowboys and indians battle packs - anything not yet mentioned

It is indeed hard to tell why Kazi and Enlighten (just to name a few) get away with this. If Lego decides to sue these manufacturers, they will have their very own version of "Clone Wars".

It is common knowledge that customs and postal staff throw with shipping boxes. If you did not know, now you do. :pir-skull: Best way to ship delicately designed items like that is partially disassemble them and pack each dissasembled section securely inside the outer box. The boat hull may stay intact providing it is packed well enough, the rest (cabin, masts, etc.) should be carefully wrapped and put inside smaller boxes or other packing material. One should try to pack everything as securely as possible and make sure it can't go anywhere (it should be locked solid inside the box). I know by personal experience that this is a lot of work but it is the only way to prevent something like this happening.

This is called "fraying" of the cape. See BL where some of the used figs are offered with such a cape. This usually happens when the figs are being played with by children or if they get tossed around a lot (and end up in a box of bricks after playing in which they can get damaged easily). A few of my used figs have capes that look the same, some others however don't. It is no problem though. With some ironing and a good pair of scissors it is possible to improve the condition of the cape.

How sad! I must say that I really liked the new pirate line that was launched this year. The diversity in new minifigs, parts, colors, etc. appeared to be a nice addition to the old line. I guess we all know what we need to do: buy these sets as long as they are still available. Will there be a couple new sets in January 2010 or are they not planning to create new sets? I was really hoping for a bigger pirate ship, some houses (dock and harbour scenery such as a tavern or a merchant's house), a governor's mansion and a huge soldier's fortress.

No sets, only a few minifigs and new parts through BrickLink. I have to wait a few more weeks before I can lay my hands on the first amount of sets that hit these shores. But then again, I am in Europe where the sets have not even been introduced so far, not even by the Lego Stores.

Great article with an in depth review of some of the most important characteristics. Apparently, you already own all of the new sets of the line, or perhaps all except 6243 Brickbeard's Bounty since there were no pics of the new maiden, figurehead and some of the other pirates that came with that set such as the one with the tan legs and tricorne hat. The photos are great quality too. I agree to most of the previous writers that this is the way to summarize things and describe the recently released sets. As a European, I can only relate to BrickLink or eBay for the moment being since none of the sets have surfaced on this side of the ocean so far. I have already BL-ed some of the figs and pieces (including some torches, new flames and newly designed red hat plumes, the new bird, bundle of dynamite sticks, etc.) and have a nice amount of them to compare and blend with the older sets. Yesterday's visit to the Oberhausen Lego Store in Germany was quite pointless and for the first time, I left the shop without buying a single item (although the Taj Mahal palace was a piece that I would have liked to take home but at € 299,99 that has to wait). Based on your review, I guess I will be adding all sets to my collection, including the small 6192 building set for its unique counterpart of the new pirate captain. Perhaps the blue torso will find its way in some of the new sets that are scheduled for Summer / Fall 2009. The impulse sets are good army builders, except it would have been nice if Lego had decided to randomly release these with different heads for the soldier. Also, the pirate impulse set is great for pieces but then again, it is quite pointless to have many of this since you will end up with many generic pirates with anchor tattoo and brown vest that do not show any sort of variety unless parts (such as hats, faces and legs) are swapped.