MetroiD

Dust build-up on sets / MOCs on display is one thing I really try to avoid. So modulars in our house get stored / displayed in an IKEA Billy bookcase with doors, alongside a select few other sets / MOCs. Granted, those Billy doors do cover up quite a bit right in the middle, but I'm OK with that, as long as I can keep (some of) the dust away from the LEGO. As you can see on the picture below, I use a "regular" IKEA Billy bookcase for most modulars, and a short IKEA Billy for trains, etc. The Billy's depth is spot-on for a 32x32 baseplate and in terms of length, you can almost fit in three of them, albeit a tad squeezed. The attached photo was taken a couple of months ago (as you can tell by the Autumn theme we had got going on then), so there have been a few changes and additions since then. We've now also attached doors to the 'short' IKEA Billy bookshelf, since dust was starting to become a bit of a problem for the Frigate - unfortunately, no see-through doors are available for this kind of Billy bookshelf, so we had to go for solid white ones.

Lovely entries everyone, and some really elaborate and inspired MOCs there! I am voting purely based on the Wintery Warm & Fuzzies that the contestants' designs have suceeded in providing me with... And so I am going to distribute my 5 points as follows: 27. Galaktek - 2 28. Simon_S - 1 10. Louie le Brickvalier - 1 26. moctown - 1

Thank you for the feedback and for your very nice comments! It's great to hear that so many of you guys are also getting your hands on the Parisian Restaurant real soon. And thanks for bringing that up - as a matter of fact, I knew that actual set content and brick usability were among the topics that I couldn't really touch upon due to the kind of form I'd chosen for the textual content of the review. Still, I hope that the stop-motion building video and the in-build photos help readers get well acquainted with those aspects. Back to your comment - personally speaking, I stopped looking at the modular Exclusives as parts packs quite a while ago. That said, I think you bring up a fair point in saying that the Parisian Restaurant does indeed pale in comparison to the Pet Shop or the Green Grocer when considering the amount of 'novelty' bricks included. On the other hand, I could argue that the Palace Cinema, for example, despite providing AFOLs with a nice amount of dark tan pieces, doesn't really come close to the design and the wow factor that the Parisian Restaurant has -- as a set. So at the end of the day, I guess it's a matter of what one would consider most important when purchasing a modular Exclusive. Since I've noticed that most people tend to leave them intact and "collect" them, I still believe that Chez Albert is a great structure, and on a smiles per brick basis, is one of the top LEGO sets I've built in quite a while.

1050ccm producing 132 HP @ 9100 RPM. Mere digits, but they convey most of what the Triumph Speed Triple is about. That is -- raw power. And real British pride. As one of the world's most celebrated naked / streetfighter motorcycles, the Speed Triple has long been a respected feature and a contemporary fashion icon of sorts in Triumph's line-up. With this one, the idea is brilliantly simple: you either adore it or you're driven away by its design. As you could expect, it has long been one of my most favourite bikes. Ever. Its most distinct features, as re-designed and introduced back in 2005, are undoubtedly the bike's ever-present double round headlamps and the beefy upward-bent cut-off exhaust tailpipes (reference pic). Those were also the pillars on which I've tried to base my MOC of this wonderful motorcycle. Underneath that muscular body is a unique "heart" that pumps out of 3 chambers instead of 4, which is the norm in inline motorcycle engines. The inline-three-engine, which has become a trademark of norm-defying Triumph engineering down the years, lends the bike an unmistakable sound coming out of those chunky pipes - and a top-notch performance to go along with that. Clean white is a rare colour as far as motorcycle patterns are concerned and one of the few colours in which the Speed Triple has made multiple appearances over the years. Obviously, Triumph thought that this bike was bold enough to sport the "clean 'n mean" look. And sales figures have proven that their presumption was spot on. Don't be deceived, this one is not a "girly-bike" by a long shot. In fact, its aggressive nature, especially in the low range, turns this one into quite a monster - but it is still a rather tamable monster and one that can provide you with a fun, exciting and unbelievably agile ride. Judging by this bike's heavy looks, you probably wouldn't believe it, but it scales in at just below 190kgs, which is quite impressive. Seems like Anne here has managed to get a firm grip on those 190 kilos - and Joe the Biker has finally found a kindred soul to roam the roads with! A size comparison between my two Triumphs - as you could expect, their dimensions are pretty matched up. Despite that, I had to make sure that the Daytona still feels lower to the ground than the Speed Triple, as in real life. This last pic of our happy bikers couple is also a link to my other Triumph minifig-scale bike, the Daytona 675. More photos of the Speed Triple - in this flickr set

I've already started checking out the prices of airplane fares in hopes I could manage to book something at reasonable prices. Surprise surprise - ain't no such thing as cheap flights to Billund from this corner of the world. Will look into all possible options, I really want to finally meet you guys in person. I was even considering a road trip, but 2000+ km for a few days' stay is just too much, even by my standards. Any tips on flights to nearby places and convenient transportation to Billund would be very much appreciated!

Happy birthday, Svelte! You're probably well aware of the fact that we've been missing you around here, so I guess I won't go into that... Aaaand I'll just present you with your very svelte birthday cake: Keeping a figure is good, and from what I've heard asparagus is also good. Fortunately, I haven't had to try it! Have a great one Svelty!

Thanks for the information, Gary - I had in fact come across some of your comments regarding these older sets at various places on the net and I'd already noticed that if there's someone who can provide comprehensive information regarding those, it would be you and your Guide. By the way, that picture in your store does depict one of the boxes I own, which is definitely a surprise, considering how hard it is to find any image of those. I've been pondering for a while now whether I actually want to keep those sets or not - it was interesting to see "ancient" LEGO in the flesh, but I'm definitely not that type of collector. Besides, they're pretty large so storing them is a bit of an issue... We'll see. Thanks for the info - I might just stop over and buy a copy of your great Guide later on, once I get back to actively being involved in the hobby with MOCcing, etc.

I've got some sets from before 1985, but my oldest LEGO stuff definitely has to be a 1:87 HO-scale Bedford Tanker Truck and a couple of LEGO wooden boxes complete with allegedly original contents (wafer plates, 1x1 windows, tiny pseudo-doors, weird tyres and the lot). Thought it'd be interesting to have such relics in one's collection. The wooden boxes are so old, there's hardly any proper info on them - Brickset, Bricklink, Peeron... every bit of information that's on there is either incomplete, or incosistent. P.S.: Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten - my recent Fabuland frenzy also filled me up with figures that are definitely from before my time... but sooo worth having!

Sorry? You should be chuffed; you had me totally fooled and you played an absolutely great game! You deserve a lot of credit for keeping your cool throughout - it seems you play a thoroughly awesome Scumgame and I'll be sure to add you to my list of "don't-Rick-this-up-man!" players. Going through all the posts in this thread, I can't help thinking it's really appropriate for Meahon to have pink hair in the end... Sorta like the village idiot... Once again, I'm sorry for causing so much confusion in the Day threads; but Shadows - I don't think I contradicted myself at any point in time in public or in private? I was very much willing to bite the bullet for Town, but I was hoping my aggressive play would end up helping Town in some way, which I must admit it really didn't, in the end. In hindsight, the one thing I totally regret is that I never actually tried to work with Foog, even though based on his Day One actions, I was pretty sure he was Town. That could have made a great difference, even though he probably wouldn't have trusted me too much anyway. At least that way, once I'd died, there would have been one actual Townie left behind to use the info I had - and adding that to what was already going through his mind could have been pretty beneficial.

Obviously, you seem to know why I insisted there was something fishy about your behaviour on Day 1. But when my attempt to lynch you didn't work on Day 1, I tried something else entirely. Go through the day threads once again and you'll notice there wasn't any other mention of lynching you after my attempt on Day 1 was unsuccessful. Yes, I was unhappy, because a lynch on Day 1 could have helped us somewhat, but that was that - and whenever I spoke about Bess from that point onward, it was just as a reference. True, I dangled the idea of trying to revisit the Day l lynch options once again in private to see how people would react, but I never tried to convince anyone you were scum in public OR in private, so once again I don't see why you're reacting as though my motives were somehow personal!? I really can't understand why you and other Townies would always be so keen to jump to the conclusion that I was trying to lynch you again. I was trying to say what I was actually saying - and giving rational explanations to my behaviour, which obviously none of you were interested in anyway. For what it's worth - it seems that I was still right, in a weird way -- since if we had actually lynched you on Day One, it would have helped us in more than one way... Not only would we have been in a position to link people's votes/reactions to the results of the lynch, but we'd also have known that Cecilie was a (dead) Scumster. So, Cecilie and Rick's willingness to so easily accept my obviously lousy accusations against Bob could have turned into a very good scumtell for us, and pretty Bess could have killed us an Assassin as early as Day One. Combined with Shadows' investigation, we'd have taken care of two Assassins on the first two days. Instead, Day 1 was wasted for Town, with absolutely no useful alliances formed up. Then, on Day 2, I decided to mix it up and check out what people's responses would be to a claim that was actually true. I thought it was downright obvious that I was the protector from the moment I said that in public, but I was never going to come out and say that yes, I was the protector, because well - that's not the way I like to play, and obviously not what our host expected from us either. What I did forget though was the fact that the Scum would be much more organized considering their small numbers and would never allow themselves to be so obvious as I was - hence would not follow up on the opportunity I gave them to defend Rick. Day 3 started weirdly for me since I wasn't making any progress in private, and people weren't keen on speaking out in the Day threads either. Once Shadows decided I was scum, I tried to level with him and in the end did give him _all_ the info I was privy to. All I wanted was to be able to form a 3-way discussion with the other "confirmed" Townie. Obviously, he was lying about that, so my uneasy feeling about trusting Shadows to begin with was not so ill-advised. I didn't really believe he'd actually gotten a result on Rick on Night 1, so I only had myself to blame for the fact that I believed he had actually confirmed a Townie on Night 2. Either way, it's hard to work with someone when they're always trying to think of new ways to bamboozle you and then end up claiming that it's the "other people" I've been in contact with who'd been feeding me lies - which couldn't have been the case anyway, considering the lack of trust I had towards people I was in contact with up to that moment. Towards the end of Day 3, Shadows still didn't think the fact I was obviously the Town Protector was enough to try and save me -- and, on the other hand, the way Cecilie never placed a vote against me made me think she couldn't be scum. So I ended up telling her all my info / observations as well. And I also placed a vote in a way that I thought could help Town on the next day. Panda - I wasn't suspicious of you because you weren't ready and willing to form a Town hub and trust me from the off. What got me thinking was the fact that you tried to accuse me in private (your reaction to the "should we reconsider the Day 1 lynching options" talk I mentioned above), and it was a very scummy accusation, which didn't match the way you'd have reacted if you were Town. So from that moment onwards, I was working under the assumption that you were Scum. That was my only reasonable lead before I was lynched and was also something I shared with Shadows; that's also why I voted against you in public, even though it would never have changed the outcome of my lynching. I wanted Town to be wary of you and go after you afterwards. Instead, they blindly followed an accusation and lynched me for being obvious, without actually making any use of my death afterwards. As to the whole PM timestamp deal - I did clear that up with Shadows immediately after he notified me that he was suspicious due to that. It was a freaking P.S., dammit...

So in general, I tried to play a different / all-guns-blazing kind of game, and my downfall was the fact that I changed my approach towards the game, but not towards the players. I was way too easily fooled by Rick in private, even though I suspected Pandora as soon as we started talking "more". Also, I never trusted Shadows 100% until it was too late, and even when I did trust him and provide him with all my info, with ample time to turn the ship around, he didn't trust me in return - so there you have it, the day that Twit & Twat shot Town in the foot. Truth be told, once I'd posted my revelation about having protected Rick on Day 2, I regretted it immediately, because I wasn't really trusting anyone at that point. However, I was hoping that would lead to contacts with more people, and based on the information I present to them, I could make this work. Instead, it was my downfall. Scum goes out and openly says he defended other scumsters, then claims protector but doesn't want to reveal the protector's real identity. Obviously scum, let's lynch him. I mean, seriously Town? And vote me out for that? I've heard it on multiple occasions now that I dug my own grave, but I tried hard to level with many of you guys - the only ones who actually led a cautious conversation of sorts with me were scummy Cecilie and Rick. Once again, well played to the Scumsters though. For what it's worth, I think Shadows should _only_ play scum from now on - he's way too good at fabricating tons of stuff anyway and obviously, even if he ends up Town, he still confuses the hell out of each and every single one of us... Which, on this occasion, did not really help. P.S.: Oh, Hinck, and letting an obviously brilliant-as-ever Rick "live on" and keep in touch with his scummy mates from beyond the grave... I think that must have pretty much killed off any chance Town had in this game. He may have lost his ability or the option to vote / be active in the Day threads, but you know bloody well that observation is just as important in these games, so in my point of view that decision did definitely tip the scales. With Pandora converted and a Royal Family member killed off so early in the game, keeping Rick in the frame just made it way too easy for the Assassins. My 2 cents anyway.

So I'd been talking to scumsters all along. Rick on Day 1, then Pandora and Cecilie on Days 2 / 3. And trying to sort it out with Shadows by presenting him with all the info didn't help either. Ah, what a poor poor game I've had. I'm sorry, Townies, I really thought I was doing us all a favour by getting the action going in the way that I did. Oh and Panda - I just _knew_ it! You make angry bunny sad! I only got suspicious of Cecilie once I'd died, and by then it was already way too late... In any case, I must say scumsters, you did an absolutely great job. But Meahon's awesome hair is still the highlight of the game... sorry for stealing your thunder I'll be back later to post more detailed feedback on the game.

Great MOC and beautiful detailing - I especially appreciate the "greebling" of sorts on the top of the locomotive. And I applaud your decision to go for a brick-built logo rather than use a sticker - you've done a very good job there!

I think I most definitely fit in the "non-Technic" category (as described above), and as a non-Technic guy, I must admit I understand your gripes and the reasoning behind your desire for people who are not actively involved with Technic to refrain from voting since they can't really appreciate the models for what they're actually worth in terms of technical achievement. That said though, I think a lot can be said about how much this contest has helped liven up this part of the forum and, hopefully, bring more attention (and fans / MOCcers) to LEGO Technic in general. For one, I know that's definitely the case with me! Besides, aren't you forgetting the panel factor here? The way I saw things, that was precisely why there was a panel to begin with - in order to ensure that non-Technic entries would not be allowed to dilute the vote. So in that sense, I can't agree with the bashing-of-sorts that the Steampunk Shark is being subjected to. No, I didn't vote for it precisely due to the reasons you've pointed out - in terms of technical achievement, there were MOCs that were much more complex. But that doesn't mean the Shark isn't a Technic MOC, after all - and an awesome looking one as well! It might not be able to float and not be loaded with other ingenious functions, but it's still very much Technic. Just as it has been the case with other contests, there are voters who appreciate form over function, and I think one has to accept that. In order to help alleviate this issue, I think that in future Technic contests, the judging panel and their votes should be more significant - with the potential of this process of getting nominated for a judge turning into an all-year-round contest of sorts in terms of valuable contribution towards the Technic Community.

Hi Mark, good to hear you're getting into such a great hobby. I also started my Trains collection from scratch about 3 years ago, and I was pretty much in the same situation as you are now. For me personally, the thing that's worked best was purchasing train track in bulk - i.e., via eBay or Bricklink when there are good deals available. I've invested both in 9V and PF, since I'd like to run trains using both systems. If you've made up your mind though and will only be using the newer PF track, you should have no problem in acquiring large quantities of those on eBay as bulk lots. In case you decide that for one reason or another you'd still like to have metal rails, I could also recommend ME Models - at least for straight sections, since their curves are hard to come by. As for baseplates - you'll probably need those if you're planning on landscaping and ballasting the track. I've run my trains without baseplates on multiple occasions, but it's not a great sight since the track just doesn't look right. That is, of course, if you're into realism. If you just want to run some trains, you probably shouldn't worry too much about what you put the tracks on, as long as the surface is stable and flat. Incorporating that into a real layout though does require baseplates.

Happy Shadowday, birthday boy! (...boy?! ) Have a great one, and I hope it's the start of a very... awesomely shadowy year for you!

To tell you the truth, once I get back to MOCcing, that's probably among the very first things I'll try. I've got a tram city layout planned, so this use of RCX / the touch sensors is just a brilliant solution! Will keep you posted.

Amy! Happy happy birthday mate lass!!! Have a blast!

This is absolutelly brilliant. My current understanding of RCX / NXT is non-existent, however I feel that I'm going to have to develop some skills in that area if I am to successfully build the tram line I've been dreaming about! Thank you so much for this video, it literally looks like it will open up new worlds for me... P.S.: Being a train buff is pretty addictive... Glad to see you've put those Technic-y skills to proper use

Like it!? I _love_ it! Cuteness overload! And by the way - your mini animals are awesome

It is a very thin line indeed, but the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum and was meant to serve a religious purpose no more than, say, the Castel Sant’Angelo or the Lincoln Memorial. The Hagia Sophia always had religious roots before becoming a museum, as it is now. First it was a Christian basilica, afterwards it was converted into an Islam mosque. Just based on that last part you could imagine that it could be a very sensitive issue for many people, so it is perfectly understandable why TLG would decide that it does fit the religious bill and hence is not subject to approval for the Cuusoo project.

Thanks for all your videos from the show, I really loved those! The typical "model railway" style of setting up your layout is instantly recognizable and I must say that it seems like a great way to showcase those beautiful trains you have - much more effective than a cluttered-up Town style layout.

No prob, glad to see they're back and kudos on sorting it out so quickly