Gabe

Damn, these look amazing! Love the civilian designs at the top. They do look very big though, and i guess this was in the days before the large exclusive sets we know and love today.

Aha, great idea, a real iron horse. Great angles. The wheels and the shocks look great too. Now how about a sidecar?

Thankyou all for such kind words! Very encouraging for a nascent MOC'cer such as myself. No, it's a fish delivery truck. The building behind the facade is a great deal larger (and deeper) than shown, and is where meat and seafood is sold. It is actually only one small part of the markets - there are vast seperate sections for fruit and veg, cheese and deli items and cheap knock-off imports, as lightningtiger mentioned! I can understand yr confusion though, with the truck hiding behind the traffic light. Quite probably. Cyclone Yasi wiped out over 80% of this seasons banana crop, so prices for bananas have gone, well, bananas. Not quite as bad as with cyclone Larry a few years back, when prices hit $15 a kilo and various Melb underworld characters were reputed to use them as legal tender, but certainly high enough for zoo staff to stop buying them for their primates! Oh you. It's ok, i prefer watching the rugby instead. Ikr?? I grew up in Perth too, it was quite a culture shock when i first moved over here.

Thankyou! Sorry, i should have explained the tennis player... idk, i just couldn't do a Melbourne MOC without a sportsperson being in there somewhere? (Melbournites are known for being utterly sports-obsessed) And we had the Australian Open recently, so it sort of fitted. As for the gorilla, he just came for the bananas.

8) Cheerleader, Surfer & Tennis Player by Cutlass_Iz, 1 point 17) Diver, Surfer & Fisherman by Cecilie, 1 point 20) Nurse, Surfer & Space Villain by Darkblane, 1 point Best of luck to all the entrants!

So many nice entries! Good luck everyone. But for what it's worth, here are my votes: 7. Pilot by Dan Church, 1 point 15. Gorilla suit by TazManiac, 1 point 30 Pilot by Brickcitydepot, 1 point

Great review, thankyou White Fang! Great to hear that many of the series 4 figs will have back printing. This has to be the first of the collectable series where i want to get all of them.

Wow - great stuff. I dig the braille and how you got the grouting to match up.

I like the idea of a jungle theme - but more Angkor Wat than Aztec perhaps. I'd love a waterfall with a hidden cave behind it (with treasures and ancient curses in it, of course), with the adventurers either shooting the falls in a boat or trying to climb past the falls on some kind of rope ladder. I also like the idea of an arctic/antarctic expidition - a good opportunity for LEGO to make polar bears, whales, penguins etc, as well as more boats!

Ahhh... that lighthouse looks brilliant. Getting one of those for sure! I quite like the "cool cruiser" as well.

Lovely creation Bernd! I love all the working elements, especially the lift. The steampunk boat was a nice (and unexpected!) touch too.

All right! I'm going to try for an entry in each theme - don't know if i'll manage it, but that's what a challenge is for, right? Thanks to the orginisers for coming up with such an awesome contest.

Yes, Targets 20% off sale is a terrible temptation! But i really pushed out the boat with my Lego budget last month, so i have to be a little more frugal for a while. I guess if i have to wait until the middle of the year (and that's a first surely, Aus getting sets before the US??) i'll have time to save up for a few of the bigger sets like the Atlantis temple. Have fun putting yr Pyramid together btw! It looks like such a beautiful set.

Ah, cool, thanks for the info! I did choose the cheapest option. Man, i can't wait! Patience was never my strong suit. The only PQ set B&N didn't have was the Flying Mummy Attack, i ended up ordering that from BL for $25. Mind you, the availability of stock at B&N seems to change quite frequently, so i'd check back if yr still looking for it. I'm waiting to see if they will get in the Temple of Atlantis set, i'd love to pick up that cheaply.

Just out of interest, for those who have ordered from B&N recently, how long has it taken them to ship to you? It's been a bit over 3 weeks now since they said they'd posted my order and it hasn't arrived yet. Should i be concerned, or just (more) patient? *sigh* I just want my PQ sets!

*groan* Good one! Ooh, i do hope it's a building contest! Maybe like Iron Chef where ISC will whip off the cover from a giant podium covered with dark red, dark tan and light blue pieces, and then everyone can dive in and grab as much as they can for thier creations - well, i can dream, can't i?

Congrats to all the winners! So is it going to be 6 for series 5 next?? Twas a fun raffle, thanks to all the orginisers.

Sheer utter brilliance. I thought i recognized the hill from Arzlan's Flickr - great to see it in situ at last.

Minifigs: Pro wrestler (series 1), Karate master (series 2) and Sumo wrestler (series 3) Title: Clash of the heavyweights "Hey, you can't toss my little brother around like that" growled the Sumo wrestler. "Pah! I think you will find i just have" chorted the pro wrestler. "Mwahahaha!" Enough with the trash talk! Lets get rrrready to rrrrumble!!

I don't bother with LDD when i'm planning a MOC. I've only used it once or twice but i find it takes too long and stifles my creativity too much. If i were you i'd go on an internet image hunt for structures that look roughly like what you want to build - or have elements that you want to steal for your creation. Then i'd do some rough sketches of how i'd put it all together. You can even do some scaling in studs so you have an idea of how large it's going to end up. To this point, all of yr planning is free, and it can really help crystallise in yr mind what yr going to need to build it. After that, i would try to build my idea with just the bricks that i have, even if i know i don't have enough of the right kind of elements. At this point, i'm just playing, mucking about, seeing what i can get away with. I'm not concerned with colour at this stage, just shape (It's easy to BL parts in the right colour later). Try it - it's a lot of fun, and often you can come up with some interesting solutions to problems in this way. Take it as far as you can! If you do want to buy a set or two to bolster yr collection of bricks for MOC'ing, then it's hard to go past the MMV for all those little bricks. If it's panels that you want (more limited in use, but they do throw up a castle wall or tower very quickly) then the recent lion knights castle (7946) is pretty good. Idk. Have a look around, pick out sets with colour schemes or elements that appeal to you, i guess. Good luck! Have fun building!

Surely no more intolerant than picking on aliens and rock monsters all the time? And at least all thier mummies keep thier pants on... Ah, it's just too bad, my entry for Cat. C would have been all ready to go this afternoon. Oh well.

Lovely MOC! Breathlessly awaiting the next installment.

Title: Elven sentry post Minifig: Elf Theme: Castle/fantasy All tree limbs are contained within the 2 stud overhang limit, documenting evidence can be found on my Brickshelf folder. Cheers!

... when you don't feel right watching telly without your "to be sorted" bucket. ... when you blow yr monthly lego budget and then start a MOC that you discover needs $70 worth of parts from bricklink - an order you place without hesitation! (guilty as charged!)

Damn, second that. Will it be Legolas look-a-like to the rescue, or is he on the side of the dragons? The suspense is killing me!