Sven F

About 2 hours later I tried again and everything went smoothly. I thought this glitch was fixed long ago. 1x2 rounded plates in lbg were available for me, and finally those evasive white wands, black dish/plates/minnie's ears and 4x4 curved tiles in black.

I have the same problem. Cleared cookies, tried a different computer in another place, tried about 5 times, first it says an unexpected error has occurred and my cart is empty and I'm back in the US region. Lovely way to spend 2 hours

I think a sort of "fan favorite" selection is already being tested. But this is limited to a tub or two. The primary demographic are still smaller children. Kids always want wheels, windshields, bright colored bricks, doors and windows. I've been to the Italian Bergamo certified store recently, and the selection must be the worst i have ever seen. Almost exclusively large bricks on the wall. I think since it is a certified store, they are trying to maximize their profits with larger elements that fill the cup with fewer pieces. The afol fanbase is quite big in Italy, I would expect them to be more inclined towards advanced builders.

I love these. If it weren't for political correctness issues, I think there would be potential for a whole Gypsy theme, maybe in the style of the discontinued Carnivàle series, mixed with a bit of supernatural.

I prefer this type of video over the previous ones, not that anything was wrong with them, but I am more interested in the design process and the designer than the set. There are plenty of reviewers out there who will dissect the set for you anyway.

I don't care about misb sets or investing, but Taj Mahal is made of all pieces which are currently produced anyway. It was a minimal logistical investment. The same can't be said about older modular buildings which are not only packed with out of production pieces, but also obsolete elements.

This is a funny story, worthy of a film sketch. When is the other girl's birthday? Maybe you should get her a puppy. I don't know if you can do anything. I was brought up to think that every non-lego toy was junk so I dismissed things like that myself but that was a time when clone brands were really ghastly looking things, except Playmobil which was then regarded as the evil sub-par competitor. I would leave it be, but subtly comment how the bricks are bad quality, children usually pick up opinions from parents, if not instantly. It shouldn't be a complete disaster having to separate bricks from one set even if it does get mixed in.

From the top of my head, I think Paul Hetherington aka Brickbaron is definitely inspiring, and just about hits the nerve with his style, colors, ideas and originality https://www.flickr.com/photos/14964802@N07/ I like builders who are all over the place, who get out of their comfort zones and do something new every time instead of sticking to one thing over and over.

That is some inspiring work. I am interested in the logistics of such a collaboration. Is one person designated with the overall concept design who then divides it into sections and authors or do you all throw in your own ideas and decide individually who is going to do which part? It seems like a difficult task to pull off without a chef architect to guide the process and ensure everything follows the theme standards and keeps it from going off track.

I think the part selection improved with the models, but I wouldn't defend it as a good business choice. I hope they think of a new way to get more diversity onto the wall.

Yep, this started about 2 or 3 years ago and the parts are getting more and more recent. I have also seen parts from Agents and castle minifigures. This must all be some kind of surplus. I found both the grey and dark orange cats, seagulls, spiders, scorpions, chihuahuas, snakes. No pigs or other dogs yet though. I noticed this hairpiece was available without the reddish brown ear print, which basically makes it an exclusive part. Accessories which consist of more than one element are never available, i suppose this would be difficult to control, so unfortunately no lbg bucket handles.

Hi. Here's a funicular I built for an exhibition hosted by our LUG Kockice. It is based on a real life model called "uspinjaca" from my hometown Zagreb, Croatia (south-eastern Europe). It's apparently one of the shortest and steepest lines in the world (although the Los Angeles funicular sometimes takes that title). It doesn't really matter. It is still in operation today, mostly used by tourists to get a good view of downtown Zagreb. (more on Wikipedia) The incline angle had to match any one of the existing LEGO slope pieces so I could adapt the cars and surroundings more easily, this makes the whole build hard to match real proportions, but that is always the case with LEGO. The cars are counter-weighed by boat weights and pulled by LEGO Technic spools. Only one M motor runs them through a worm gear. The switch is hidden beneath the track in the top station so the car that reaches the top can change the direction of the spools. The switch knobs can also be easily removed if you want to manually control the cars using a train speed regulator. Uspinjaca Funicular by Sven Franic, on Flickr Uspinjaca Funicular by Sven Franic, on Flickr If you are wondering why that guy is trying to burn the street lamp, we still have people who go around the old part of town every night with a special stick, manually lighting all the gas lamps. (nazigac on google). Uspinjaca Funicular by Sven Franic, on Flickr There is also a low quality video of it running on my flickr page.

The way bl prices are formed can be annoying. For example, a part introduced in a new colour for the first time will often not reach the same high prices as if the same part was previously retired. Parts which reach high prices due to rarity, tend to stay up even after the part is reintroduced. (example: brick hinge bases 3937 in tan) Avg. price $ 3.9, just because it used to be rare at some point. B&P doesn't base prices on supply & demand, so isn't affected by price adaptation lag.

Thanks again. @Laka; if all goes to plan, you should be able to see it in Skærbæk this year, that can't be too far from you.

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments.

Great to see a Fabuland review. This is one of the sets I didn't have, but i know all the pieces from Charlie's carry-all. Might add some of those roof pieces to my wanted list, you never know.

I think less people are involved in the development process of modular buildings than cmf's so more information can be kept to a need to know basis and the market is much smaller. But why would you want to know anyway? It would only prolong the wait until the next reveal.

Nope. While I can appreciate the design and idea that went into it, there is one problem. It's not made by The LEGO company. I hate the word "purist" it makes me sound like some kind of incestuous royal snob. It's not about brand loyalty, I see LEGO as a system, just like I see chess as a system. Using alternative parts, glue or methods outside the system defeats the purpose of the game. The challenge is to build within the system. The limited elements and colors is what makes it challenging. Otherwise you can just do arts & crafts which is a different set of skills. MOCing is a puzzle game for me. Well that and I don't care for military stuff.

Here's one of my later mocs, it was built for a contest which is great great because they make you build stuff you probably never would otherwise. It was an attempt to depict the rise of popular music through the 20th century. I had a different idea at first, but because the gramophone horn was so hard to make out of bricks, I wanted to do it out of pure stubbornness. That, and I never made a brick built character before. Twentieth Century Music by Sven Franic, on Flickr Twentieth Century Music by Sven Franic, on Flickr Twentieth Century Music by Sven Franic, on Flickr

Anything more than 4 days from payment to shipping is too long for me unless it's time around Christmas. I would never rate a store badly for taking longer, but would avoid ordering in the future. Marking the order as shipped and actually shipped often don't correspond though.

Thanks! Littleworlds; I needed something to fix the hand and microphone on, otherwise it would all fall off. I figured the scale of the "stage" would just be seen as artistic freedom.

This is great. I don't know if I am a bigger fan of Porsche or LEGO. I didn't compete, but followed the contest with great interest, prize well deserved. Thanks for sharing the experience.

Sand Green is now available again in 1x6 bricks, those shouldn't be too expensive once they are available on B&P. I have since torn down all the modulars, I don't care about sets anymore, just parts, but it was a fun experience.

INTRODUCTION This set is part of a new birthday party sub-theme in the Friends line consisting of 5 individual sets and is the second largest, and only one of two that come with a mini-doll. All five sets include animals, a gift box and a party invitation. Other sets in this theme are: 41110 Birthday Party 41112 Party Cakes 41113 Party Gift Shop 41114 Party Styling TECHNICAL: Set Name: Party Train Set Number: 41111 Number of Pieces: 104 Theme: Friends Designer: unknown Availability: retail Year Released: 2016 Price: $ 9.99 / € 9.99 Stickers: 0 New elements: 2 Exclusive minifigures: 1/1 Brickset entry Bricklink Inventory PARTS SELECTION: The set gives us a lot of recolored pieces and two new elements, the little chipmunks, or hamsters as bricklink refers to them, and some party hats. They are both obviously Friends style items, but I am sure fans of minifigures will find a use for them. The set comes in a box with two unnumbered bags. One of my favorite parts here is the new colored bike element in Bright light orange. We had a yellow bike in one single old set, so this is as close as it gets to that if you missed out on the one from the 90's. That's a new print on that 1x2 tile, and I assume it's an invitation for a birthday (or other) party - useful piece for generic use.The trans-clear round tile with pin isn't new as we got it last year, but if you missed it, you can get two of them here plus one extra. I am not exactly sure what they represent in the set, but they are useful pieces, so I am not complaining. The party hats are completely new elements and are held with pins like all the other Friends hair accessories and you get them in 3 different colors and an extra of each. The bright light orange 2x2 tile with bow print is in fact an inverted tile, it has studs on the bottom to fit snugly between panels of a box - these tiles aren't very common in general, and this might be the first printed one. MINIFIGURES: The little animals have holes in their heads so they can also hold accessories. I am not sure if these hamsters would be of use in a non-Friends environment, but if you find them too "cartoony" you can just pretend they are stuffed toys. Stephanie comes with an exclusive torso print for this set, and her hair is one of my favorite hairpieces for use on minifigures. It's her birthday, but she doesn't look a day older. BUILD: We start off with a gift box containing a bow and a little postbox so Stephanie can mail the invitations to her friends. Mind you she only has one, so I guess she doesn't want to attract a crowd. The next build is what looks like a park slide for kids, not sure exactly what all the pieces represent, there is something that looks like a soap dispenser attached to the slide, but just use your imagination, I suppose it's part of the venue where the party will be held. And then the actual train is powered by a push-bike connected to the carts. This may be the reason Stephanie only invited one friend, she only has room for one other person with all the gifts and pets. The first car has one of those panels to hold a mini-doll, the others are just 2x2 jumper plates. The bike element was designed long before mini-dolls so they aren't really adapted for them. She can loosely be seated on the seat, but her hands can't hold the handlebars which is a bit awkward. Maybe the friend she invited isn't a mini-doll. Leftover parts: CONCLUSION: The set is a great template for your own imaginative play and building. I don't think anything here is set very firmly to any particular story. Most of it doesn't make much sense from a grown-up point of view, but it's a great selection of parts with lots of variety and I think it can go very far for the low size and price. I am not going to estimate brick value here because there is more to it than that, This will be someones first LEGO set, any they'll always remember that funky, hamster-powered bike train. Just to get some AFOL perspective here, This set will probably be appealing to most of us for the bike. This is the 8th re-color of the bike element since 1985. The mold changed once for both the frame and the wheels, but the design remains unchanged. It works a bit better with classic minifigures though. Overall Design: 5/10 - Little brick goes a long way here, and just enough context is given to know what's going on, but I would have liked more accessibility which is partly due to restrictions of the mini-doll design. Parts selection: 8/10 – Considering the size and cost of this set, you get many new, and unique elements and no stickers. Play features: 8/10 – This set is all about play. Challenging build: 5/10 - I should look at this from a child's perspective, and I think it's just the right ratio between interesting and easy. Minifigures: n/a – I am no expert on mini-dolls, and I'm slightly biased when it comes to Stephanie because I like her hair piece. There's one figure, and it has unique printing, so that must be a win. You will have to get at least one other set to have someone to actually join the party though. Overall: 6/10

Yay! Curved top bricks/slopes in dark tan. It's great to know what's coming. I don't need those now, I just like to know which bricks not to buy in other ways if they will be available cheaper from PaB