Galaxy Explorer

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Posts posted by Galaxy Explorer

  1. Posted

    I bought all of the first Pirate sets back in 1989 here in the US and all of them had the shooting cannons- I believe they were phased out the next year, with "fixed" shooters. Then they went with a new, one-piece mold that lasted through the rest of the Classic Pirate line. As far as the piece count difference between the original and the Legends one, I'm not sure since I do not own the Legends BSB. However, back in the day, minifigures were packed with their heads pre-assembled to the torso, making two parts counted as one- that could explain part of the difference.

  3. Posted

    I build a lot of Classic Space, Castle, and Town- parts I like to have a lot of on hand include basic 1x2 and 1x4 bricks in primary colors and grey. Plates of all sizes are handy, as well as doors and windows. I am always on the prowl for trans-yellow elements, and I can never have enough castle wall panels. As far as newer elements go, I use the 2x4 medium stone tile for all my city sidewalks, and the 2x2 round plate with 4 hooks is a great part to have for building trees.

  4. Posted

    I just picked up this set yesterday- Target is having a very nice sale right now on CITY, Creator, and Chima so I went with the Mountain Cabin. It's been a while since I've indulged in a Creator set, but at 20% off I thought it would be a good idea. I haven't built it yet, but the parts included seem pretty good. The green plates and BURPs will be useful for landscaping, and brown slopes are nice to have. My only complaint, as Malikon pointed out, the instruction manuals were in bad shape. They really looked like they were forced in, then more bags pushed in on top. I will probably request a replacement, but other than that, this looks like a decent set, especially on sale!

  6. Posted

    Personally I think this is the best CITY Fire Station they have done. It's a nice, tall building with plenty of windows, plates, and the always welcome garage door parts. The design of the building is similar to this year's Police Station, making them great companion pieces. The main fire truck is great, although I would have preferred a flat windshield instead of the sloped one. It's also the first CITY version to include a helicopter, making this fire station a "one stop shop" for all your firefighting needs- you really don't need to get anything else, although I did anyway!

    I gladly paid $100 for this set last year, so an almost 40% savings would be an incredible value for me.

  8. Posted

    Nice! Reminds me of the Field Museum here in Chicago- Lots of stairs! Did you build that as solid plates or is it hollow? A park bench or other scenery at the mid-level would look nice, IMO. This is one of my favorite CITY sets, so I'm always interested in other people's MODs.

  9. Posted

    Hearing about all these awesome Target clearance prices made me think of my "good old days" when I used to drive to all the Targets in my city and find INSANE mark-downs. I'm originally from Des Moines, Iowa, and I must have been the only FOL living there. I got the 1983 Police Station for $5.15. The Motorcycle Shop from 1984 for $3 and some change. In 1986 I got the King's Castle for $19! And the list goes on. I'd have to say that probably 90% of my collection from 1980-2005 was purchased at some kind of discount, likely starting at 20%. I think over the years more people have caught on, making it more of a challenge to find the deep discounts. I also think gift cards have had an influence on harder to find clearance LEGO. Kids get a lot of gift cards during the holidays and they use them the day after, thus depleting marked down sets quicker than in the past. It's what I do when I get one. I think living in a much bigger city (Chicago) makes it harder to find deals- the competition is fierce. Luckily I have good friends who look out for me and let me know when they see something, but it's usually far and few between. Still, great deals at Target can be found today, you just have to work harder for it.

  11. Posted

    I go to the Water Tower Place store quite a bit, and after ten years I don't have one bad thing to say- the staff there is incredibly nice and really seem to enjoy what they're doing- some are pretty passionate about it, too! I've also been to the store in Freehold, New Jersey, and they were just as good. It's nice to see such a high level of service in multiple locations.

  12. Posted

    Picked up a wooden box full of vintage LEGO today at a collectables shop for $25. After sorting all the parts I was able to piece together a few Classic Space sets including a Beta-1 Command Base! There was also a Dump Truck/Loader from 1976, and a Universal Building Set. The icing on the cake was about fifteen Classic Castle Minifigs with a huge assortment of swords, shields and other accessories. And if that wasn't enough, there were five horses as well. Very glad I decided to go shopping today!

  13. Posted

    I used to love the CITY calendars, but I lost interest a few years ago. Ironically, the main reason was that they just got too "holiday-ish" for me. The calendars were a great source for little things to populate your town with. I loved the yellow ATM that was in the 2006 one, and I remember little BBQ grills, ice cream carts and really cool train-themed accessories that don't seem to be included anymore. It was almost like getting a really big supplemental parts pack for CITY fans. Now I feel there is a stronger emphasis on the holiday season, which I really don't need for my layout. Plus I get enough holiday fill with all of the polybags and Winter Village sets.

    The other reason I've kind of backed off on these is the price increase, especially the Star Wars ones. I believe I paid $20 or so for the first CITY one in 2005, but it seemed like they really jumped up in price quickly, kind of like what happened to the roadplates. And to see the Star Wars ones all the way up to $50 at TRU was sickening. I was lucky enough to get the first two SW ones for $20 each, which made it worth it to me, but otherwise I would have passed. I never saw last year's calendar on sale, so I missed that one.

    I will always be interested to see what the new calendars have to offer, but I'll need more value or incentive for a purchase. Sales work, too!

  16. Posted

    The Sandcrawler looks amazing- a great improvement over the 2005 version. I was always bothered by the fact it didn't use plates instead of bricks, so I'm happy to see that change. And no stickered windows! I do hope it comes with more than just the vehicle, like part of the homestead. I noticed the photo is only one page, so maybe the opposite page will show more.

  18. Posted

    I'm Lovin' It! Great job on that roof- looks like the McDonald's from my childhood. I don't see these versions as much anymore, since the ones around here are incorporated into larger buildings. Will yours have a drive-thru, or are you going for an earlier version? Looking forward to seeing more!

  19. Posted

    Well it took me three visits to TRU this week, but I finally found most of the new sets just in time for the BOGO sale. I was able to get an AT-AP, a Droid Gunship, Anakin's fighter, the Vulture Droid, all of the BP's, and the ISD Microfighter. They had the V-wing, but I passed since they didn't have the Wheelbike. I generally do all my purchasing at the LEGO Store, but the sale combined with the fact none of the new sets had the TRU mark-up convinced me this was a pretty good deal. Sure, I missed out on 200 VIP points, but I saved over $50 in cash, which trumps a $10 LEGO Store credit!

  20. Posted

    I would imagine it will get a nomination in the animated feature category no matter what time of year it is released- It's a very good movie, and the animation is superb. I doubt it will earn a Best Picture nom, as there is so much more coming this year. However, Silence of the Lambs was released on 2/14/91 and took all the major awards the next year, so anything is possible.

    I'm hoping the LEGO characters make an appearance at the show this year- it would be nice to see them present this year's award for Best Animated Film!

  25. Posted

    This is interesting to hear. I follow EU to some degree, but am not an expert by any means. I don't have any EU LEGO, and very few CW sets. I am, however, a huge Episode collector, and this move will probably cost me a lot of cash! For the last six years or so, each Star Wars wave has been peppered with sets based on CW and EU, sometimes very heavily- 2008 comes to mind. Since I passed on most of these sets, I saved quite a bit (spent more on other themes) Rebels will certainly fill in the EU gap for a bit, and I will most likely pass on them as well. But I just can't resist sets from any of the films, with a special love for the OT. I can look forward to spending $$ but I can also look forward to a lot of cool sets!