brickmack

Not much of a concern. I suppose it is unlikely, because the seller would get bad reviews, and the printer itself is so expensive that they would have to sell millions of bricks to even break even. Also I like to think people are more honest than that (Though unfortunately that isn't often the case...)I too can think of a lot of non-LEGO uses for one of these... With enough plastic (And other materials which will hopefully be printable in the future) one could manufacture anything they need at home for a very low price.

I prefer the newer animals, they look more realistic, which I prefer. Also, that battle pig is great.

Glad cleaning them worked out well (Particularly the stickered ones). I kinda have to wonder if the cat was trying to tell you something ("Stop wasting your time with these things and pet/feed me!"). Cats do that sometimes...

A Nintendo theme would be cool, but it probably won't happen for a few years... Plenty of good MOCs though...

Very nice Terminator. I have't seen any of the movies, so I'm not sure about the accuracy, but it definitky looks cool. Hands are too small for my liking though. I like the design of the legs.

I take them apart a lot, mostly to change the direction (on the ones with the 2x2 top). Unfortunately, I've broken a lot... At some point I'm going to replace the broken ones, but it's probably going to cost a lot on Bricklink....

That's strange that licensed ones break more, I never noticed. I wonder if those minifigs are made at a different factory, or it's just random. As for the old ones cracking more, my guess is that TLG made some change to the plastic, or the manufacturing process, as I've noticed the same thing with many other part types as well. For example, I rarely break clips that are in the old grey colors (Which are a minimum of 7 years old, and often older because of getting sets from the 90's and before, since (If I remember correctly) the color change was in 2005, but newer clips I break all the time (About once a month for new ones, compared to less than 5 ever for the old ones).

Interesting. I definitively like the new one better. Aside from being held better by minifigures, it looks nicer I think.

Putting items in the hands wouldn't cause it (Though I have had some hands snap apart from that). My guess is (At least for ones that haven't been used at all) they were damaged at the factory, probably when the hand was being inserted. Moving the hands around and switching minifig parts (particularly the ones not designed for removal, such as legs from hips, and arms and hands from the torso) can also cause this in many types of minifig parts. Unfortunately there is no way that I have found to prevent this, so if it happens you will have to replace the broken part (LEGO replaces most parts that are still in production for free if they break, and individual hands, arms, armless torsos, hips, and legs are for sale on Bricklink.

I think in most of the places with visible studs, covering them up would make it look too blocky.

Both of these seem to have aspects of a Firefly-type theme. Too bad LEGO probably won't (and likely can't, since Fox doesn't seem to be doing anything with it) do a licensed Firefly theme. Something similar to that (Space western, "bad guys" as protagonists, etc) I would like to see in a new theme, LEGO hasn't done anything like that before.

Nice Serenity. Main body could be a bit more round, but the engine looks great.

Never thought of using the surgeons as clean room staff (Might have to get some and make a NASA cleanroom). Nice matching of the hair highlights on the astronaut fig.

Looks nice, I like the patches of geebling on the walls. Had the same thought myself.

I take apart almost all of my sets within a week or 2 after building (assuming I build them at all, sometimes they just go straight into a project or the sorting system), but some sets I don't. The modular buildings (except the Grand Emporium, which I needed parts for, but am planning to rebuild soon) I keep together, and whatever is the largest set I have (currently the Tower Bridge) is kept together on display. I sometimes get multiples of sets, but rarely to keep one on display. I just don't like the majority of the designs enough to keep them together, and I need room for projects and displaying my own stuff.

Names/initials of set designers often appear in sets (in City vehicles for example, the 2 letters in the license plates are often initials of the designer). An Insectoids reference in 5972 (Also apparently a classic space logo hidden behind the graffiti). 5983 has the logo for a shipping company featuring in City, and the Octan logo appears on a few minifigs Classic Space statue in 5974. Previous Space themes also featured numerous references to each other, in the early ones minifigs sometimes appeared in other themes' sets, etc.

Yes, with any new space theme LEGO does, I would like to see more aliens in a "good", or at least "neutral" role. Neutral aliens were shown in some of the SP3 stop motion videos, but never included in any sets. SP3 seemed to be rather racist to me, only aliens ever got arrested, and no humans. Of course, LEGO might not do it because of concerns that it would confuse the kids...

Looks nice. I like the fig sculpture on the top and the detailing between the pillars.

If you mean can it have more weapons, it probably could, but I only made the one cannon. A rocket launcher or other heavy artillery weapon might have looked good on the other side though.

A four-legged battle walker designed for use in a variety of environments, which are difficult to fight in using conventional vehicles. Armed with only one dual-barrel mini-cannon, it is far more effective when used to crush enemies than when shooting them. QP-7 Quadrupedal Attack vehicle by brickmack, on Flickr DSC_0030 by brickmack, on Flickr DSC_0031 by brickmack, on Flickr DSC_0032 by brickmack, on Flickr

Yes, I would have liked to get the legs a bit longer, but the versions I tried all were either not strong enough or didn't look right for various reasons...

Found a link to a part of the LEGO website for the "Learning institute". Here. A web address is also shown in the image you linked to, there might be some information there.

Like space-wizards and alien dragons and such you mean? Sounds a bit odd, but it could work if done right.

I'd really like to see a new exploration theme. Probably based on a moon-like environment, and taking lots of features from CS. Have a few sets with aliens (but primarily peaceful encounters). Or perhaps a space city sort of thing (could possibly have a few Space Police figures in it, since a city has to have a police force). There could be a monorail system throughout the city, buildings, flying cars, maybe a landing pad (with a ship to land on it). And the buildings and ships and such would have aliens working in them with humans. OF course, being (mostly) peaceful themes, TLG probably won't do it because they seem to think no kid on Earth would buy a set that doesn't have aliens getting blown up and obtrusive play features to do stuff... Oh well...

Yes, unfortunately the legs aren't very poseable. The top part can move a little bit, but it's movement is blocked by the part it connects to. The feet can move a bit more.