#730 of Year 2 Lego 7066 Alien Conquest Earth Defense HQ

It's the last day of the year.  This is the year that I celebrated the 30th anniversary of my Lego collecting 'habit'.  Next year is another big anniversary for me though - it'll be the 30th anniversary of my Lego Space collection - I'm a huge Space and Castle collector.  And that's why I'm ending this year with a spacey theme and the largest from the Alien Conquest subtheme.

#729 of Year 2 Lego 7067 Alien Conquest Jet-Copter Encounter

It's the penultimate day of the Alien Conquest week, and the penultimate day of the year.  Last time this year, I was in the UK, hitting up Toys R Us and The Entertainer.  Well, I'm more or less broke this year, so I just have to settle for Lego at home.  But that's not a bad thing in my book.

#728 of Year 2 Lego 7065 Alien Conquest Alien Mothership

It's day 5 of the Alien Conquest-athon and this is the largest of the Aliens set.  it's a huge saucer, with a spinning, urm... saucer out rim.

#727 of Year 2 Lego 7052 Alien Conquest UFO Abduction

Another day of Alien Conquest, and it's a proper space saucer today.  These sets really tap into the retro Space Invaders look and although it's not bad, I still do miss my non-movie-inspired sci-fi space base Space theme.

#726 of Year 2 Lego 7051 Alien Conquest Tripod Invader

After a couple of days break for Christmas, it's another day of the Alien Conquest streak... and the boxes are definitely getting bigger!

12 Things I'd like to see in MotUC in 2012

2012 is going to be a bumper year for MotUC.  That's because Mattel is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the line.  Hooray.

#725 of Year 2 Lego 10211 Modular Grand Emporium

Happy 30th anniversary to my Lego collection.  Yes, it's been 30 years.  And to cap it off in celebration, here's the Grand Emporium from the modular houses theme.

10 things for 2011 - a review at the end of 2011

Last year, I made a list of the 10 things I'd like to see for MotUC in 2011.  Let's go back and review to see whether Mattel has met my predictions.

#724 of Year 2 Lego 10218 Modular Pet Shop

It's not Christmas everyday.  And I did reserve one of the best for this year's Christmas build!

My Top 11 Toylines for 2011

It's another Top 11 for 2011 list, and this list is going to be a tad difficult to write.  It's not because there are so many excellent toylines this year.  Far from it.  the Green Lantern movie line was a dud and the Thor line was boring.  So what made it to my top 11 for 2011?

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 24

It's Christmas eve.. and this is the last window of the advent calendar for this year...

My Top 11 MotUC for 2011

It's the end of the year.  There's a number of top 10 lists flying around out there, but since this is 2011, I'm gonna be a bit different and do Top 11 lists.  I'll start off with MotUC, which put out quite a bit of product this year.  This wasn't an easy list to cut down to 11, but I think I've succeeded.

#723 of Year 2 Lego 7050 Alien Conquest Alien Defender

Another day, another Alien Conquest set.  I guess I'm going in order of the size of the box, from the smallest to the biggest.  Being day 2, well, it's the second smallext box, which happens to be a vehicle.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 23

It's the penultimate day, and I'm actually a bit sad that I won't have an advent calendar to open after tomorrow.  Wait, the whole Toy a Day for the past 2 years has been like an advent calendar, and well, was basically based off the advent calendar concept anyways.  It's a pity that that too is coming to a close at the end of the year... but oh well, let's enjoy this while it still lasts!

#722 of Year 2 Lego 7049 Alien Conquest Alien Striker

I'm going to close out the year with the Alien Conquest sets.  Today, it's the small Alien Striker set.  The entire Space subtheme was released this year.  This is the direction that Space has taken - more Star Wars, less Vehicles in space sort of thing.  It breaks my heart somewhat.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 22

Two swans necking!  Or whatever those Bingo announcers do to call out the numbers.  I have no idea what 22 is though, but I do know it's another window on the Lego Advent Calendar.

#721 of Year 2 Lego 7848 City Toys R Us City Truck

Lego does have certain exclusive sets - sets sold on ferries and planes, but also sets sold in retail stores like this one that's specially made for Toys R Us.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 21

The final four days of the calendar... Four more days to go to Ho Ho Ho.

#720 of Year 2 Lego 5766 Creator Log Cabin

OK, so this is a Creator set, and it's a bit odd because although it's a house, it's not really a town or city house.  A log cabin... now that's interesting.  Yet, despite the idea, the house actually doesn't look all that different from a town house once the river and the kayak is removed... would it fit into my residential town layout?

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 20

It's day 20 and with the amount of Cops and Robbers for the past two weeks, I'm not hoping for much today.

#719 of Year 2 Lego 7630 City Front-End Loader

In for a penny, in for a pound?  There was the backhoe in yesterday's set, and I was surprised that I got a front-end loader as well.  At least this is a small set.  It was probably an impulse buy!

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 19

Day 19 - things are really getting busy now, but it's still one window per day from the Lego City Advent Calendar.

#718 of Year 2 Lego 7633 City Construction Site

There seems to be a trifecta of Lego City sets these days - Police, Fire and Construction.  Sprinkle in Trains, Planes, Harbour and Space every now and then and the theme seems complete.  Almost.  I'm not a huge fan of construction sets, but wait, Lego was actually smart enough to actually throw in a four storey building in this set, which is why I got it, of course.

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 18

There's a week left to the big day, will we get some festive Lego today?

#717 of Year 2 Lego 10219 Maersk Train

One of the biggest names in the Danish business world is... Maersk.  Well, biggest name besides Lego, that is.  Lego has had a partnership with Maersk over the years, but this is the first time that they joined together to create a Maersk train.  I was on the fence about getting this - it's not motorised after all, but I was glad that I bit the bullet and just got it!

#700 of Year 2 Lego 7553 City Advent Calendar Day 17

It's Day 17, which means there's slightly over a week of toys to open before the big day of opening more toys!