GBC General Discussion

[Maico]

This weekend I have attended the event Modelbouwdagen 2015 in Elst, NL

Here is a video of the GBC circuit we had setup:

[alanburchill]

Here is a vide of 9 GBC modules that I am plannin on displaying at the up coming BrisBicks LEGO show at Strathpie. This year we will have about 14 modules on diplay. You can see 3 pump modules in the shot that I could not put in line as I do not have enough ball.

[alanburchill]

OK... so i know this is a long shot... But i am looking for a video of a GBC i saw a number of months ago and cannot find now. I can best describe it as a self contained GBC module about 4 base plates wide that had a massive number of counting and multiplexing functions in it. I also recall there was a number of mingures on it, i have a feeling there was even a hot tub with star wars figures in it... It would count about 10,000 balls and then once it hit that number it would stop and then it had a run dry functionatliy that stopped it when the last ball circulated. It was apparnetly also a winner of the show that it was entered in... I really want to take another look at it but for the life i me i cannot find it on Youtube... does anyone have the link?

[ELItheICEman]

OK... so i know this is a long shot... But i am looking for a video of a GBC i saw a number of months ago and cannot find now. I can best describe it as a self contained GBC module about 4 base plates wide that had a massive number of counting and multiplexing functions in it. I also recall there was a number of mingures on it, i have a feeling there was even a hot tub with star wars figures in it... It would count about 10,000 balls and then once it hit that number it would stop and then it had a run dry functionatliy that stopped it when the last ball circulated. It was apparnetly also a winner of the show that it was entered in... I really want to take another look at it but for the life i me i cannot find it on Youtube... does anyone have the link?

This.... I would like to see

Ha. I wish. I have ~100 balls, so when I run out of balls to feed the module, I empty the container that had been collecting the balls, and add another hundred to the count.

I'm stuck using marbles for the moment, I can't seem to find any official lego balls for less than ~2$ each, am I missing some secret supplier or is this an investment every GBC builder makes?

[alanburchill]

Ok i have found it...

[torso]

I'm stuck using marbles for the moment, I can't seem to find any official lego balls for less than ~2$ each, am I missing some secret supplier or is this an investment every GBC builder makes?

You can buy balls from Bricks & Pieces. Search for part 72824.

[dr_spock]

I'm stuck using marbles for the moment, I can't seem to find any official lego balls for less than ~2$ each, am I missing some secret supplier or is this an investment every GBC builder makes?

You can also find the Friends set balls on Bricklink:

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x45

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x45pb06

[RohanBeckett]

I raided bricklink a month or so ago, and got 40+ balls for around 50c each.. but there's not many large quantities left any more!

Bricks and Pieces wants AUD$1.12ea!

[dr_spock]

I raided bricklink a month or so ago, and got 40+ balls for around 50c each.. but there's not many large quantities left any more!

Bricks and Pieces wants AUD$1.12ea!

I wonder if there is any correlation between release of build instructions and demand on balls.

They are 98 cents CAD on Bricks and Pieces. At one time they were under 30 cents CAD on BrickLink.

[RohanBeckett]

I was wondering the same with other parts..

I had a couple of orders ready to go with 3 BL sellers.. (picked via the Brickficiency program)

I delayed my order

By the time I placed the order, one of them was out of one of the parts - 2x2 regular brick in DBG - a core part of Akiyuki's Ballfactory ;)

Of course, it could have just been bad luck that someone else decided to order from that seller, for some other MOC

RB

[Captainowie]

I do wonder what the price of those brown half-barrels has done in the last few months...

[dr_spock]

I do wonder what the price of those brown half-barrels has done in the last few months...

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=64951&colorID=88

They also come in lavender and medium blue if you want to build the pink version that Blackbird rendered for DrJB.

[bj51]

I do wonder what the price of those brown half-barrels has done in the last few months...

IMHO, Not enough people will try to build Akiyuki's creation for the price to change that much.

[Captainowie]

http://www.bricklink...4951&colorID=88

They also come in lavender and medium blue if you want to build the pink version that Blackbird rendered for DrJB.

Wow, I didn't know you could get that information out of Bricklink.

[DrJB]

http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=64951&colorID=88

They also come in lavender and medium blue if you want to build the pink version that Blackbird rendered for DrJB.

Just for the record: DrJB is a fully grown 'he' (male) ... lol

That said, And thanks to my 2 girls, I have many pink/purple/fushia/lavender parts in my collection.

Edited May 23, 2015 by DrJB

[RohanBeckett]

haha.. on the left hand side - spot all the purchases of '20'

that'll be a GOOD estimate of all the people building Akiyuki's Ballfactory! :D

I counted around 35 orders of 20, since Jan - when TheRebricker started creating video instructions..

The Used lot of 20, in April, was probably mine.

that said, despite choosing used barrels... they are in pristine condition!

[RohanBeckett]

While waiting for the last BrickLink order for the BallFactory to come in (picked up the baseboards on the weekend!)

I decided to build the 'Catch and Release' module

This was a fun build - easy to figure out, just from the video... uses pretty common parts, and is mesmerising to watch!

It's a good module that can happily cope with a large influx of balls, and not jam up, too!

Edited June 1, 2015 by RohanBeckett

[Maico]

last weekend I was in Germany at absout steinchen.

We had setup this GBC circuit:

[Captainowie]

last weekend I was in Germany at absout steinchen.

We had setup this GBC circuit:

Nice. Lots of modules I'd seen before on various videos, but plenty of new ones too.

[dr_spock]

last weekend I was in Germany at absout steinchen.

We had setup this GBC circuit:

Nice. Do you find you lose many balls at events?

[ALittleSlow]

Nice to see all the new modules.

Some questions about the student contributions:

What kind of instruction did the students get? How much help and guidance did they have while building? What was the reliability of their designs compared to what is normally found with new GBC builders? Where did they get the parts to build with, and the balls to test with?

From my brief viewing, the inverted train pushing the track is my favorite of the new ones. A double inversion of thinking!

[Maico]

You will always have to keep that in mind you will lose balls. In this case we had about 750 balls running arround and ending up losing about 20.

The students have to do some projects, one being creating a GBC module. Stefan Vorst does give workshps in GBC regularly and makes the parts and balls available to these students. That train track is already an old one, I think you can find it in one of the early movies of ABSolut Steinchen.

[RohanBeckett]

Love watching all of these...

but I hate it, as it gives me more ideas, and I already have too many modules in half built states! :D

A lot of very nice, simple modules there too

RB

[Maico]

May sound silly, but try to finish some of these modules you have build in a half state...

Then you can bring them to ean event or convention too...

And that's what these movies are about: to give people ideas...

Edited June 9, 2015 by Maico

[RohanBeckett]

Yes.. I am slowly finishing some.. (I have about 3-4 complete ones) - And I have 218 days left until 'Brickvention 2016' in Melbourne :)

CaptainOwie above, did a great job of organising a bunch of us for the 2015 one, in Jan... and I think most of us are looking forward to making one even bigger and better!