SlyOwl

Thanks guys Ah, I forgot - a special word for Brickdoctor, who was part of the team, but offered to step aside to let the other 5 compete - thanks mate In fairness to them, many of the top teams had a very high average score, and produced some great MOCs. But that's the eternal dilemna of personal satisfaction versus competitive advantage; lots of my MOCs are for contests, so often I'm not perfectly happy with them, but have to cut my losses and go for what the judges want...

As with the white Boba Fetts, it's getting more common as time goes by; but still a reasonably rare fig. Here in the UK, if you signed up for the Lego Club within the past month or so, you got a free Max minifig - mine arrived today.

Dawn at the barricades in Paris, June 1832 - the final attack. Gavroche and Éponine have already fallen during the preceding night, and Le Amis D'ABC are now outmanned and outgunned in their fatal struggle for democracy - Enjolras, Courfeyrac, Feuilly, Grantaire... I'd highly recommend this video - not so much for literatural accuracy, but for the sheer emotion of it. I plan on doing a more detailed and larger Les Mis barricade MOC at some point over the summer; but time is limited for the MOCathalon! Any suggestions/ideas would be much appreciated!

Not going to happen for me, as Bluewater's a bit of a trek, and I have parties both preceding nights! I should be able to make the next Westfields one, though.

Thanks again all! Dazmundo, that sounds amazing - two of the best characters (or parts) right there! Hmmm... looking back through my Flickr, it seems I haven't actually used it as much as I thought - this was the latest one. I guess it's that it's so familiar to me that I think everyone knows it! It wasn't intentional, but now that you mention it, I see what you mean... might have to think about incorporating that more thoroughly next time. For the most part, they are actually connected - there's a mish-mash of clips and hinges and whatnot behind the barricade - it's very fragile, though. When I do it again, I'll make sure it's more solid (and also has a back!)

Three blind mice, three blind mice, See how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the farmer's wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice? Before you ask, the cheese is Modulex, and the Braille spells out "home" For the 2011 MOCathalon.

Thanks guys - this MOC was quite emotional for me (as it were!), so it's good to hear you like it Mmmm, I recall there's some sort of copyright issue with the music in Germany which prevents the videos being playable there. Well, technically he should be Enjolras, but his identity in this is actually a bit blurred (as Enjolras could be the guy with the flag - I took quite a lot of liberties with this!) - and I wanted to convey the youthful heroism of the uprising, coupled with the tragedy of it. A screaming face didn't quite fit, nor did a grimace - I let them die as they lived. Awesome! Who's he playing? I'm planning on seeing it again in the summer maybe. I saw the production at the Barbican (which is just down the road from me, literally) - but missed the concert itself at the 02, unfortunately. Really? You must have seen it before... I felt a bit bad about rolling out the same technique again, just to score the points in the contest... It's seriously worth seeing. I think it's a bit on the pricey side (minimum of £20ish) - but it's really powerful stuff. And a great source of inspiration - various little things in all my MOCs have been inspired by Les Mis - familiar?

Thanks everyone It did feel rather similar to last year; apple core, mice, even the knife idea was there last year (there was a knife block, as I recall) - so I was trying desperately to distance the two (like I really struggled not to put in a PaB cup in the background!). A carving knife was too hard to make! Besides, cleavers make a far more satisfactory sounds when one details mice (not that I have any experience )... It was quite a challenge, really: the cleaver slots into a SNOTed angled hole in the board, and I jammed it in with a trans red plate... hasn't fallen over once yet! Alas, other categories call my attention! But maybe some day... *Googles Braille decipherer* - thanks!

Barracuda is a true old seadog; originally a gunner aboard the HMS Falstaf, he soon grew tired of the lack of plunder, and jumped ship in Tortuga, no less. Encountering fierce native tribes and mysterious Eastern seas, he gradually rose to captainhood, as the years grew as long and grey as his hair. A meticulous - if verging on shambolic - type, he is an ept commander, valuing above all his tactical expertise and cunning. A man of fine taste, his quarters reflect both his character and past - functional and sturdy, but not lacking in glamour or flamboyance where indulged. Apologies if this seems familiar - but it was built at great speed for the 2011 MOCathalon!

Thanks guys Thanks for the blog, mate! I agree about the hatch; just it looked a bit too much like a plain hole in the wall without it! I had originally planned a two-levelled MOC, with some fancy spiral stairs, but I realised that a) I couldn't be bothered and b) the upper level would have obscured the lower one, so I reasoned that in the interests of progressing with the contest quickly, I wouldn't do so. But I do plan to do some nicer, more complete interiors at some point. That was one influence - in fact, that whole contest was! This was mainly based on the promo image I did, mixed with a bit of oo7's and ISC's entries. It's a bit cheeky, really. It's part of a technic figure's arm (push out the pin, and pull the forearm away from the elbow). It slots into the hole in the bottom of a 1x1 plate very nicely, though. I'm putting it down to his previous experience as a Gunner in an Imperial ship... but I just thought it looked nice! As for the Maeve Aulsebrook, it has been rebuilt bigger and better than before, and is awaiting an interior at present.

Check her signature But here it is anyway!

Congrats to the winners! I was very impressed with the standard of entries (on the most part ) - Stacy's and Inconspicuous' are the ones that spring to mind (the latter must be the engineer in me speaking!), but I was blown away by loads of them.

It was good to meet you all today (however fleetingly, in some cases!), much enjoyed Thanks for the trade, Silentmode, good to get myself some Ninja stuff at last! Pinky, here's some of those roofing techniques I was talking about... yes, a lot of amputee minifigs around the place... I managed to get myself a bus, and that must have been at around 2:30 - and they still had a fair few in the box then. I had planned to try and get the display model if they'd run out, but someone knocked it onto the floor, and that was the end of that! Elf-wise, I think I'll be able to manage - the Sainsbury's near me has plenty of S3, and there's a WHSmith and a toy shop if they don't have one - but thanks for the offer to look out

I'm probably going to arrive at 1.00ish - I take it people will still be around -? Ah, I'm looking for these: x4 in dark bley x2 in dark bley To buy/trade, if'n you have? They come from Atlantis Seabed Scavenger, and I need double, but can't be bothered to Bricklink them!

Tesco and Sainsburys are now beginning to get the S3 figs in.

Well, I watched the Muppet Christmas Carol - and take it away Ernie!

I'll be there for one day (not sure which) - but I won't need accomodation.

I seem to recall there being a court case against Lego at some point over the name Kahuka - as it was allegedly a bastardised Polynesian name. And there's the answer. Of course, the sets don't draw on just one source - there's clear elements of Easter Island in some, whilst in others it has a very Caribbean aesthetic.

The mouth does hold a bar, yes. You might not want to click this, but it does give a good impression of minifig scale! Indcidentally, MicahBerger has an excellent brick-built bear, complete with instructions here. More posable too - just a thought

I may well come along - not so much for the trading, but to meet you guys and see the store (which I'm yet to do!). It'd probably be more convenient to start an hour or so later for me, but providing I don't go on one of the earlier grand opening days, I'm there! As for what I have to trade... hmm... I have 5 turkeys, if anyone wants? Fixed the title, BTW

+1 for nzkiwiman Edit: and +1 for Whitefang

Welcome to Eurobricks, and into AFOLdom! Getting started out as an AFOL can be a high-intensity process, but I'll do my best to answer your questions. 1. That depends. I tend to spend about £15 a month on Lego, which isn't much - but some people will spend thousands. But then again, I tend to build stuff, rather than collect stuff. 2. I think you pretty much cover it with the BSB and Enchanted Island. You could try picking up some smaller pirate sets from the recent line, such as Cannon Battle, as they're cheap and nicely detailed. There's a Pirates of the Caribbean line coming out soon, so that might be a good starting point for expanding your collection. 3. Yes, that seems a reasonable price. I bought mine for £20, but that was after a lot of waiting on eBay for the best price - they tend to average a bit higher than that. But it is an excellent set, generally worth more than it is sold for. 4. Light and dark grey bricks (1x2, 1x4, 2x4). Blue plates. Tan plates. Green plates. Dark and light grey plates or tiles. Brown tiles. Brown 1x1 and 2x2 round bricks. Cheese slopes (1x1 slopes) in any colour, in large quantities. That about summarises the parts I use most - there's a link in my signature to my MOCs, which more or less are similar to what you described. I tend to buy what parts I need per MOC, rather than stockpiling bricks. www.bricklink.com is excellent for buying individual parts; it's a bit confusing to use, but once you get the knack, it's an invaluable resource. 5. MLCAD is an unofficial design program. It's harder to use, but more expansive - and in your case, uses less memory (I think!). From a personal view, I would recommend just building with Lego in real life first, rather than doing it digitally. Just my two cents, though Hope that helps!

I worked with Dieter closely for quite some time as part of Classic-Pirates. He was invariably friendly, supportive, enthusiastic and level-headed: the voice of reason and pragmatism. His generosity, in time and money, to the Lego community is not to be forgotten - and I do not doubt that his memory will live on. It is most fitting that one of his earliest achievements as part of Eurobricks was being awarded the Creative Critic prize - for providing consistent and helpful feedback for people's models on the forums. I had anticipated meeting him at a Eurobricks event some time in the next few years - but that is not to be. But I've certainly got a lot of happy memories of him. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. -Barney (England)

SOLD Hey all, I got a spare complete set of the Daily Mirror Promotional Sets from last year, all MISB. The 10 sets are shown below, along with a playmat and box, should you want! I'm looking for £15 + P&P - I'm not making any profit (cost of papers + mail offer cost). I'll ship internationally. Drop me a PM if interested

Thanks again everyone Here's a photo of how the wall works, in case it wasn't clear enough: I bought them a couple of years back specifically for the roof technique - at around 2c each, it was one of the best $5 I've ever spent!