Apocalypse

This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the great explanation! I will try to be a little more diligent in researching my next MOC. And of course I will think about all the great advice you have given. Thanks again! Thank you! Is there anything in particular you like?

Thanks for the compliments. It does actually have some figs. I am pretty apprehensive about adding a lot of figs to a MOC. I think things get a big overcrowded quickly. I do have a small collection of red coats that I would like to use ultimately, but they didn't fit in with the house (I intend it to be a private residence). No apology necessary! Your advice was great. I will try to implement it on another structure and let you all know when I have something to show for it. Thanks for the advice! I've never sold Lego but that seems like a practical solution to getting some red tiles and avoiding the premiums at Bricklink.

Thanks for the advice in this (and your previous) post. To be honest, I actually made a conscious effort to avoid designing the wall in the manner you described (that is, with sparser brick work); I can appreciate the points you made. I actually have some justification for this. Essentially this has to do with the manner in which I imagined the structure was built - initially it would have been uniformly covered in bricks, but over time weathering/vandalism/etc would have led to missing bricks. The effect is most dramatic on the front of the structure as this is the side exposed to the port. The sides of the house retain more bricks because they are protected by adjacent structures. (The structure on one side has yet to be built.) At any rate, this is just what I imagined. My reasoning may be entirely flawed. And I want to stress I really appreciate your well-though out constructive criticism! Anyway, I really like the idea of replacing some tiles with dark red, Since I still need to make Bricklink purchase(s) to complete the interior I'll go ahead and order some dark red 1x2 tiles. Thanks again for the comments and consideration you've given my MOC.

I have finally taken pictures of a new addition to the port. It's a house that I have slowly been working on for the past few months. It's still a WIP, as are a number of other additions/changes I've received as feedback. The picture is a link to the MOCpage (including a couple shots of the house as it sits in the rest of the port).

Sorry to revive an old thread but I just checked my flickr account and had a couple messages, one of which led me here. Thank you everyone for the comments and suggestions. I can't say how flattered I am, especially to get comments from folks like you. I lurk here extremely infrequently (dug up my ancient username/password to post for a change) but I know the quality work you guys do here. I wish I could build half as well as the folks on this forum. Its odd that you all even found this since I never posted it anywhere (aside from brickshelf and flickr). To make this post not entirely me babbling about how utterly honored to have my creation here, I suppose I can mention that I am actually working on adding to this port. I don't intend to add much if anything to what you've already seen. There were some suggestions about adding more detail but I am worried that adding more minifigs/scenery would overcrowd things a bit. Instead I am building an additional structure near the existing one, although I can't really say exactly what that will be yet (still working that out). Anyway, I'll stop rambling (and probably go back to lurking) but I wanted to really thank you all for noticing this and again for your comments and suggestions.

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere but for a few days now (at least) Lego brand stores have been selling these sets in the U.S....

I am probably a bit late with this news but... The instructions will soon be up at Peeron!

mister_phes, I don't mean to pick apart your post (or excellent question) but when you ask "why were the cannons from Northern American non-firing?" I don't know how to answer except to say that the cannons from North America were capable of firing..... At least some were. When I was younger and collected all kinds of Lego my collection came exclusively from local Toysr'Us and similar stores here in the US. And I know for a fact that I had quite a few of the firing cannons (although I no longer have the originals so I cannot prove this). I also had a number of non-firing cannons. (It is possible that I got the firing cannons all earlier than the non-firing) Anyway sorry for the long rambling post. I just wanted to say that Lego did have firing cannons here in North America at one point. - Apocalypse P.S. I seem to remember that my firing cannons had black firing mechanisms (the piece at the back) with the usual dark grey cannon itself....

In the Southwestern USA (Arizona, more specifically Northern Arizona): Apologies as I do not have specific addresses for these stores (If anyone is/will be in the area and needs addresses I will be more than happy to post them :-D ). Also apologies in advance if this list is too similar to Orlego's or SuvieD's lists (I don't think the US is that different from state to state). - KayBEE toys usually has older sets and sometimes a good deal. For the most part they seem to either have really good prices (especially on the older sets) or outrageous prices (about 5$ more on average for newer sets, i.e. Ep III sets). - Walmart tends to have a decent selection of Lego on the shelf. One big benefit is the clearance aisle/section. On many occasions I have got sets such as the 8781 The Castle of Morcia (I know not the best castle out there...) for 15$ (So I bought 2 ;) ). If you have the time, and you check often (especially after Christmas) you can find outrageous deals! - Target at least locally, they seem to have a dwindling selection on the shelf. Clearance items are pretty much non-existent at my local Target, but I have been to some larger Targets in other cities with a large selection (including many clearance sets). I guess it depends on where you go. - Sears isn't always the place most people think of for Lego but if you check after Christmas you might be surprised what you will find. I got 9 of the Maximum Wheels Creator Set (I think its set# 4100), for 18$ total! Another one of those stores where you just have to play it by ear, you might find a great deal. - ToysR'US isn't in my immediate area but they are worth going out of the way for. Although not as much as I remember seeing years ago, they still keep a pretty good stock of Lego and for the most part have competitive pricing. Occasionally they have a deal that makes them better than the other stores in the area but usually they are at least the same price (with better selection). - KMart is hit or miss like Target. At least in my experience, KMart might have that new set you can't find anywhere else or virtually no Lego at all *wacko* :'(. Still worth looking though! - Flea Markets/Swap Meets I have found can be good places to shop for Lego (and other interesting junk ;) ). Only problem with these is that people sometimes have an inflated sense of value in what they are selling. As always use your best judgement. Finally, as mentioned before garage sales can be great places to shop around. If you drive through residential neighborhoods on any weekend you are bound to come across a dozen garage sales and maybe one or two with some Lego. A lot of times it seems the folks selling them don't understand their value (to the buyers benefit) and so they may sell you some old/rare/expensive sets for next to nothing.[/i][/b]

Good stuff, mister_phes! File size not a problem here either (cable internet connection). At any rate, I understand you made this awhile back and all, but I have a small suggestion: change the text at the end on the button from "Yep!" to "Yarr" or some other quasi-pirate affirmative response. I suppose "Aye" or "Aye cap'n" or something along those lines might be appropriate... Any way, the flash was funny and well done! Don't take my criticism as an indication of my opinion :-D (I don't want to be made to walk the plank!)

Definetly a YES! Besides, as mentioned previously, it would be appreciated by many throughout the LEGO community (not just those here on Eurobricks)

I always have this problem when I receive a bulk lot purchased from someone through Ebay. The auction listing will say "100% Lego" and things like that and they will swear up and down they checked twice, but inevitebaly when I received my "50 lbs of lego" or whatever that lot is it is always 49.8 lbs lego and .2 lbs junk.... I guess my point though is some junk is hard to tell. Especially for an AFOL like me just coming back from my dark ages in the past year or so. Many specialty pieces were released in the 7 or so years I was "away" and so sometimes I find myself thinking, "is this a Lego piece and I just can't find the logo, or there is no logo, or its a farking megablock!" Sometimes I',m not sure and so for that reason I end up saving this pile of stuff that are the "maybes"

As has probably been noted somewhere on Eurobircks, The Death Star II is now available for preorder (with the 30$ off as was already mentioned) Now the only question is where am I going to get 1500$ (roughly) to order my limit of 5 :-D ;)

Well, now the folks at TLC have set a limit of 5 per customer but still no pre-order option. It looks like it is still set for September 30, and it will still be 299.00 Of course I anticipate this changing soon.... :-D

Hi, I'm Apocalypse. Well.... that's about it.... I suppose I should give you all a brief bit about my lego history. I started playing with legos at about 2 (like most of you all). Castle was always my favorite, but I really enjoyed all themes. One day (many years ago) I decided I was too old for legos and so I gave a younger cousin of mine about 2/3's of my lego collection at the time (which was roughly 100 pounds of legos :( ) I kept the remaining third which were all legos I deemed to be castle legos (directly or indirectly - such as bricks from other themes that I could work in my castle displays). So anyway the castle pieces went in the attic and sat there for a good 8 years until 2004. One day (in 2004) I was looking at clearance merchandise at work (I work at Sears), and I found that I could get a substantial number of one of the creator sets for very little money so I decided what the heck, I'll buy all that I could. I decded at that point that I would resume purchasing legos only when they were very cheap (clearnace and such). That didn't last though when I found some of the star wars sets that I couldn't live without (the millineum falcon and the ISD), so I had S@H send those to me, and I have been buying like there is no tommorrow ever since. Today my collection is back to about where I left off. Ok maybe a little bit further since I have recently purchased a couple 50 lb lego lots through ebay in addition to the castle pieces I recovered from the attic and the few thousand I have spent in new (mostly star wars and harry potter - for the castle bits) legos. Thats it! I am once again a lego maniac (and now apparently an AFOL) ;) :D