2008. The year in Review.

[ColdBricks]

So 2009 is almost upon us and we are already seeing new sets on the store shelves. But let's not forget 2008 just yet.

What are your thoughts on sets released this year? What have been your favourites? Have you been disappointed or pleasantly surprised by any sets? Did you spend way too much? <- bad question, don't we always spend too much!!

I have to say the 2008 was another great year, and again I think an improvement over the year before. Down here in NZ we don't get a great level of support from retailers so getting access to a full range is very hard. However I was able to make some great purchases so here are my thoughts.

Agents was a great surprise for me. Some of the set design has been very good. The Mission 8 truck is my fave from that line.

I'm really happy about the town plan set and of course the new modular sets (yet to get them!) but one thing I'm not happy about is that TLC hasn't really done anything major in regards to their anniversary. It all seemed to go by without much fanfare.

The castle revival was most welcome and the addition of the dwarves is just genius!

The biggest disappointment for me is the pricing of starwars and batman. Sure Lego has to pay fees for this stuff, but man oh man... prices are a killer.

Let's hear your views!!

[Batbrick]

I have to say that 2008 has been a wonderful year for Lego. Castle was as brillinat as ever and the Star Wars fans had a lot of fun with the new Clone Wars sets. City really remained strong too and I love the new Agents sets.

I hope 2009 can be as good as this year was for us Lego fans.

Batbrick Away!

[Algernon]

Why is everybody afraid to mention the dramatic improvement in Mars Mission? :D

That's my favorite part of the year. Otherwise, Castle is nice.

[darkrebellion]

In my opinion, this year is great but not over 2007 .

To start Agents looks like a good line even if I don´t any of them so goodchoice TLC.

City got a great year with the novelty of the Coast Guard line skipping the common police, firefighter and hospital theme.

Castle got another great year with some new things but not such a big step.

Batman is good and the new Harley Quinn minifig is a great addition to the line.

Star Wars is great like always but to be honest I prefer the last year better for its diversity of sets.

So here are my thoughts .

[natelite]

2008- the year the batman died... oh well...bad decision of keeping huge oversized vehicles kill that theme. but it was inevitable. it's not sexy.

i was quite surprised to find that agents theme is quite popular with kids. i suppose they have come to expect james bond-esque gadgets and vehicles. i suspect perhaps the same with batman. if only they had made the vehicles smaller and with more features. they could have sold well.

speed racer was a total train wreck. the show was a disaster and the sets equally bad. sets were on clearance almost immediately. no surprise there. my top complaint has always been oversized vehicles.

so far the surprise theme: spongebob. had no idea the popularity. still surviving well i guess...abet 2009 will be recycle the sets but meh...as long as it sells i guess.

good to see indy jones still surviving...though just nearly. no doubt they will be gone in 2010. the movie was not as good....though the vehicles are good, the real vehicles wanted are tanks, apv, etc. the $10 sets sold well though. great as parts packs.

[5150 Lego]

2008- the year the batman died... oh well...bad decision of keeping huge oversized vehicles kill that theme. but it was inevitable. it's not sexy.

i was quite surprised to find that agents theme is quite popular with kids. i suppose they have come to expect james bond-esque gadgets and vehicles. i suspect perhaps the same with batman. if only they had made the vehicles smaller and with more features. they could have sold well.

speed racer was a total train wreck. the show was a disaster and the sets equally bad. sets were on clearance almost immediately. no surprise there. my top complaint has always been oversized vehicles.

While you might not like big vehicles, many do, and i don't believe that oversized vehicles are the reason that there will be no Batman in 09, or why Speed Racer failed. As you meantioned, agents was very sucessfull, and nearly every vehicle was oversized, as was the very popular Coast Guard Theme. Little kids love bigger trucks with more gadgets and details. Somthing thatis harderto do in a smaller package.

Speed racer failed because the movie failed. Also other than the cars the sets sucks. Espeacaily that so called truck.

Forme the high light of 08 was Coast Guard. Great sets, great colors!

Techinc was good too! More power functions, as well as the introduction of linear Actuators!

[CP5670]

The main themes I'm interested in these days are City and Technic. City had several great sets and continued its revival from last year. The Town Plan (although technically not part of the theme) was an especially nice addition. Technic was a little disappointing after the last couple of years, which have each brought at least one outstanding flagship set, although the power functions pack was a great extension set and the linear actuators could have a lot of uses in MOCs. The Lego education pneumatics set was another interesting addon pack, although expensive.

The main gripe I had was the same issue as last year, the megablok-like brick quality in several colors. I rarely pay full price for anything but the absolute best sets these days and wait for most things to go on clearance. Hopefully that will change at some point next year, if that TLG engineer's comments at Brickfair were accurate.

[The Cobra]

Let's see.

Creator: another good year, yet I haven't bought anything. But I'll likely buy one or two of those Mini sets.

City: Coast guard is good; terrific colour scheme, good sets. Nice to have Post back (what about a post office?) and cargo. Nad I think blue fits great on Police sets.

Castle: exit skellies, enter trolls. Not a bad trade-off. Dwarves are good too.

Exo-Force: great. Too bad they're gone.

Agents: I'm not so impressed. I think Alpha team was better.

Indiana Jones: good, and it's here to stay.

Star wars: I'm really not a SW fan, I liked & bought the Imperial dropship and that's it.

Racers: Tiny turbos look great with Glow_in_the_dark pieces. TT Ferrari sets look lame.

Speed racer: they're nice, and they brought me waaaaaaaaaaaaay back to the anime. But the movie flopped so we'll probably not to see any more of them.

Technic: good, as always. Indeed, at 34 I bought my first technic set ever!

Mars Mission: better than 2007, too bad they weren't to be sold in Italy!

Everything else: I'm not interested in them.

[legotrainfan]

Town Plan and Green Grocer are the reasons why I have loved 2008!! They are two wonderful sets with lots of details. Unfortunately, I have neither yet. Apart from trains and town stuff, I'm not much interested in other sets though I'm eagerly waiting for the release of Pirates in Europe and the Medieval Market Place, but these are sets of the year 2009.

[SWMAN]

I really like what they did with Castle. The trolls and dwarves are really nice, but they still made some Crownies, which is great too. Star Wars was a little weak I am afraid. Way too much CW and not enough OT.

[meschepers]

I'm going to mirror what everyone is saying about Castle. It keeps getting better and better and I am excited to see what else comes out in 2009. However, I used to be a LEGO Star Wars fan but the Clone Wars sets later in the year killed it for me. I didn't like the minifigs (I understand that it isn't TLC's fault as they are told what to produce by the licensee) and the sets were highly overpriced. It looks like they will be continuing with that style into 2009 and if that is the case I won't be getting any more Star Wars sets, don't get me wrong, I liked the set design but I feel the minifigs wouldn't fit in with my existing ones (though I could easily switch out the heads and headgear/hair) and the sets themselves were far too expensive, more so than Star Wars sets of the past.

Though I didn't buy any of the Agents, City, Mars Mission, or Bionicle lines (with the exception of the big six wheeled truck for my brother when it was on clearance at S@H) I can see where the lines were popular. In my local store it was hard to find any sets of either theme on the shelves which speaks good thing to me. On the other end of that spectrum was the fact that in the same store they simply could not sell Bionicle, it was constantly on clearance and even then no one was buying it. The city sets were popular but so much as agents and Mars Mission as I could count on finding City sets on the shelves but which ones were there were always different.

Overall I like the direction TLC is going. I am excited to see 2009 come with Space Police, Pirates, Castle and City, the so-called "Big 4" themes. 2008 overall was a positive year. Some lines are going away but new versions of classics are coming back. This is great news for AFOLs everywhere.

Edited December 6, 2008 by meschepers

[simonjedi]

2008 has been a fantastic year for lego, but I still prefer 2007.

Is it just me or has this been the "year of the new molds?" There seems to be much more new parts this time around. There has been at least 2 new ranges (Indy and Agents) which needed whips and laptops and hats, as well as a new star wars sub theme (clone wars) which needed new hair and clone parts.

[WesternOutlaw]

Great topic!

I think 2008 was an outstanding year for Lego with the return of great City sets and Castle.

My favorite theme; however, was Indiana Jones. It was great to see Lego jump on this license and I'm looking forward to seeing what other great sets and scenes Lego will offer in 2009. To me, it's not just about the license, but the return of Adventurers. Lego hit the target on this one!

[Zarkan]

Honestly, I think 2008 nailed the coffin in TLC's dark ages. Finally, lego is back making well designed, fun sets with lots of colors, features, and cool minifigs. Core lines like Town and Castle are back in full force. Amazing exclusives like Green Grocer and the Taj Mahal are now regular expected kits each year. Best of all, TLC is finally listening to their older fans, and is consulting them and releasing sets that appeal to the older audience.

Yes, I know there are still gripes about quality of parts and boxes, excessive stickers, etc, but I'm honestly happier with TLC than I ever have been before. Long live lego, and long live the fans that support it!

[Erdbeereis]

I thought '08 was a great year, especially because it was my first full year after my dark age.

Indiana Jones was a great line, and one of my favorites especially for pieces. I always enjoyed Adventurers and Indy was no exception.

Agents was a great surprise in my opinion. When I first saw prelim images from the toy fair, I must admit I was extremely skeptical, however, by the time I saw some reviews and picked up the Command Center, I was convinced that it was a great line with even better pieces for MOCing.

I liked City pretty well, the first half I wasn't a big fan of, but the Coast Guard sets were quite nice. However next year looks even more promising for the line with the new farm sets

Star Wars was decent, the first part of the year was pretty disappointing for me. As for the Clone Wars sets, the brought strange looking heads, but overall, the sets looked great, especially the lovely Republic Gunship. I definitely look forward to the rumored OT sets next year such as the Endor Base and small Hoth set.

Castle was very good in my opinion. The Dwarves' Mine is fantastic and I loved the Tower Raid as well. Next year looks wonderful for Castle with the Market place and the great looking new figs.

I've never been a huge Mars Mission fan, but this year's sets were certainly better than last year's.

Speed Racer was just okay. I won't be missing it very much.

2008 also brought some excellent exclusives like the Green Grocer and the Taj Mahal, none of whice I have, but they look great in pictures!

Overall, an excellent year, and 2009 looks beautiful as well with new Pirates, some nice looking Star Wars OT and Clone Wars sets, more Agents, many more fantastic sounding Indy sets, City Farm, hopefully some great new Space, and lovely sounding Castle sets.

[brickzone]

2008 was some year! The Indy franchise has been a whopping great success, at least in my eyes and going by the amount of places stocking it, how fast it was selling, and how shops were restocking it again. I bought every set except the Peril in Peru (a bit too expensive, and things I would want more at that price, plus I have all the figs).

Agents has been a similar level of success, it's a really fun theme in my opinion, a great toy, and really well design sets/scenes that anyone can appreciate - the parts are great too, both specialised and the amounts of ordinary brick/plate in navy/grey/silver/black/orange. Agents is possibly my favorite theme from 2008. I've modded the silver Bond-ish car (coolest Lego car ever?) to have a pull-back motor inside it. I modded the baddies' jeep from the chase set to have the bigger tires of the coast-guard truck, and a cargo-carrying rear rather than trailer. Also I'm building an Agents base MoC on the 2005 Police Station 3D baseplate, using the mobile command centre and my stock bley (Citadel of Orlan 2x2x3 pillars useful), smoked glass ('05 police station) and few bits of navy (Scorpion Palace and a couple robbed pieces from Market Street and one or two others).

City has also been heavily stocked this year, and a feast of sets. The new police station, despite arriving while the old one is still stocked, is very well designed and has also been sold/restocked a lot by the looks of it - although here in Ireland the knock-down price of €55 retail (rather than €75 S@H) may be a factor. The mail/cargo sets are nicely done (though non-vehicle would be nice too).

The exclusives and "hard to find" have been astounding this year. I love Green Grocer and Town Plan. Taj Mahal and other sets are really impressive if just past the end of my list of priorities.

Castle '08 was a mix. Dwarves Mine was 2008 here, and a fine piece of work - gave the idea of an underground scene and looked smart even though it was essentially a pillar/platform design. I found the orc siege engine a bit same-y like the Viking ones, but I *loved* the siege tower (and tower). Really orc-ish rough look. The dwarves' mine defender was poor but nice minifigs, and the troll battle wheel was not useful enough parts-wise and overpriced for here (€45). The troll battleship I did buy, but it's a bit too cut-down (I think really the Dragons seem to add about €10 to the set price without corresponding parts increase).

Of course there was the masterpiece of the Chess set, but that was out of my league (plus it would be an expensive ornament, or I would have to be a philistine and break it up). The Castle Advent Calendar is a delight, I'm really enjoying it. They sold out fast on S@H for Ireland (but perhaps there weren't many allocated).

Mars Mission hasn't shifted much in the shops here, although the €20 models (both 2007 and 2008) seemed to sell out. I like the new big spaceship, at least from the main box art image (it looks seriously cool), but I don't want to spend that much, and I don't actually like the functionality or parts selection that much.

Speed Racer... not much to say. No-one took much notice of the film, neither have the sets moved much (although the €20 cars seem to be shifting a bit - I bought one myself, albeit at 25% off).

Edited December 6, 2008 by brickzone

[VBBN]

Ah, 2008:

Exo-Force: Horrid. Terrible story, with absolutly the worst ending(oh wait, their was none) The sets were okay but the quality of the ball joints was unacceptable.

City: The Janurary sets were play, and only a few Coast Guard sets impressed me. CG was an interesting theme, but I would like to see something less junorized. But, look at how many times fire and police have been revived, and they get better each time. Perhaps the same will happen with CG.

Bionicle: Other than a few sets, nothing was really outstanding.

Star Wars: No way would I buy these on my own, as they are way overpriced. Luckily I recieved a few of them as presents, and I enjoyed them quite a bit. I am not very fond of the new Droid color scheme.

Iniana Jones, Spongebob, Batman: Batman was amazing. Besides the freeze thing, all of the sets were amazing. Great. Outstanding. But spongebob? Crap. Why the megablox did they renew it in 09? Indy was okay, but I really only liked one set, the Treasure chase.

Agents: The Truck is awesome, but nothing spectacular about the other sets. Edit: Forgot, the Volcanoe Base is great, but I feel the lack of interior is a little saddening...

Castle: Pure awesomeness.

Creator: The car was nice...

Speed Racer:

So yeah, a little critical, but I am picky.

Edited December 9, 2008 by VBBN

[slimninj4]

Creator: I bought several of the small packs. 3-4 of each one. These just rock.

City: Coast Guard was nice but I may only pick up the platform set when it on sale.

Castle: Great year. Big castle and LOVE the dwarfs

Exo-Force: First year was best but still sad to see them go. I love mecha.

Agents: So so. Still need to pick up the set with sharks.

Indiana Jones: GREAT

Star wars: I picked up a few things this year. Not so impressed

Racers: Love the glow in the dark pieces but not so much the theme

Speed racer: LAME and glad its dead

Technic: AWESOME as always

Mars Mission: GREAT year for this.

Edited December 8, 2008 by slimninj4

[Dadster]

2008 was Great!!

By far, my favorite were the Castle sets. I look very forward to '09.

[Algernon]

2008 didn't knock my socks off but here's a more detailed overview.

SW: Mediocre. I got a few of the sets because the box art looked cool and I wasn't impressed. Horribly overpriced, sloppy construction, horrible minifigs. Glad I'm not a big fan of this theme.

Indiana Jones: Not a big fan of this theme either, so there's not much I can say.

Mars Mission: Excellent! This is the main reason why I had any fun in 2008. It's great to see a theme improve so drastically in one year!

City: I'm not very interested in City, but the Coast Guard is amazing.

Bionicle:

Agents: Great new take on Alpha team and great parts. However, I really did prefer Alpha Team in general. Still, very promising new theme.

Castle: I love this new direction but I didn't pick up many of these sets. Still, I very much approve.

Overall: 2008 was a good year for anti-license folks like myself, especially a Space fan. However, I won't lie that it wasn't my favorite. Agents failed to capture much of my attention and I've pretty much given up on Star Wars. I give 2008 a big fat 7/10- good, nothing outstanding.

Edited December 8, 2008 by Algernon

[mandziarat]

I loved the Agents this year. Until they fell of my shelf.

Edited December 8, 2008 by mandziarat