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ResIpsaLoquitur

Winter Village: Old Man Winter's General Store

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So I was already building a "mom and pop" general store for the Winter Village when this contest opened, and it was decided that it had to be North Pole/mythological themed. I wanted to keep the store going, but what mythological character would possibly be running one at the North Pole? I'm betting we're going to see a lot of gingerbread houses, so who's left? And then I remembered: Old Man Winter.

I'm not sure if Old Man Winter is a real mythological character, but he's a popular representation of the dry, grumpy feeling we get in a bitter winter. Fortunately, my Old Man is a little merrier than that and runs a nice (if somewhat chilly) store to sell provisions to North Polers and other visitor.

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Old Man Winter runs a traditional old-fashioned general store, though it gets frosted over quite frequently. He has it decorated in sparking blue lights and he's helped by an Arctic Explorer who brings supplies, a helper who gets rid of the icicles, and the Abombinable Snowman who's available for pictures with visitors. It's a great place for the Fantasy characters to stock up on tools and goods--just look at Santa with his new wheelbarrow.

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The roof is removable for easier access to the interior. Inside is a store full of, well, everything. You never know what's for sale at the North Pole--like any general store, it's "whatever's in this week." There's plenty of ice cream, though! Or you can read up on the latest Lego news, buy some frozen fruit or canned goods, get some tools, spare cheese for your fondue, or even some old tires.

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You didn't expect to be getting hot coffee from a guy named Old Man Winter, did you?

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The Abominable Snowman is not somebody you want working in a store full of stuff, so Old Man Winter keeps him happy with popsicles and lets him pose for pictures with visitors. He sits on a chair made out of pure ice! (Fortunately, it's padded so the Abombinable Snowman doesn't freeze his bottom.)

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Here's an alternate shot of the interior.

I have more pictures available on my Photobucket site. I think I'm going to still be doing some mods to this set to get the colors more consistent. I've put in a Bricklink order for a bunch of white doors and windows and some blue shutters to get a colder, wintry look going. In the meantime, I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions on this shop! I've been slowly modding this building for the last two years (and I had to buy a ton of 1 x 4 brown wood bricks) to get it just right, but there's always room for improvement. I look forward to your suggestions and to everyone else's entries!

Edited by ResIpsaLoquitur

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Updates: I changed out the yellow windows for white ones to give the place a "frostier" look, and I think it's much better now. I'm debating whether I should change the shutters to blue. I like the green, but the blue might look "colder." I also swapped out some of the civilans for more fairy tale characters, so you can now see Gingerbread Man in the house. Lastly, I removed the green baseplate--the rules seem to disfavor using them.

Thoughts are appreciated!

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I made one more change--I swapped out the last photo. There was originally a lumberjack and sled in that shot which I used in a prior EB posting, and I didn't want to risk getting disqualified on that. (Not sure I would, but why take chances.) I notice a lot more entries have gone up now, so any feedback that can be provided before tomorrow is appreciated!

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Blue Christmas lights were always my favorites ones. The front facade is nicely done - the porch, wagon wheels and white fences look great :thumbup:

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I hope Santa doesn't take that can from the bottom of the stack.....he'll be on his own naughty list ! :laugh:

Great entry, very wilderness like indeed......good luck and Brick On 'ResipsaLoquitor' ! :grin:

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