datune

Eurobricks Vassals
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Everything posted by datune

  1. datune

    Contest Pimp My Camper! Voting Thread

    Wow, lego marketing should pick up on this and realize what a perfect example of just how creative lego let's you be. Incredible work from everybody! 5. Kombiprise by Jamesn (1 vote) 9. Oscar Meyer Wiener by Wachutuchief (1 vote) 15. The Van-Van by Trooper10 (2 votes) 81. T1 Cooking Van by Skaldyr (1 vote) 160 Friendly Butterfly Camper by Kristel (1 vote) 171 Imperial Van by Bayou (3 votes)
  2. datune

    10243 Parisian Restaurant

    Wow, it's like TLC got right inside our heads, I mean it has everything that has been discussed, requested, dreamed about and more! Incredible! No stickers, new bricks, "new" color (you know what I mean!), new techniques, new architecural style, jam packed with details inside AND outside...did I forget something? I will most certainly purchase this, and then some!
  3. Fantastic idea! This could also be useful for pen & paper roleplayers, I could easily imagine popping out a few of those modules to create a town center, castle scene etc... Supported!
  4. datune

    [MOC] Striped Townhouse

    Wow! What a lovely MOC, I could easily see this standing on the shelves next to the official sets! Perfect color combinations and creative use of the masonry brick! Bookmarked and added to my google doc file "Things to copy" ;-)
  5. I am aware that the topic of sorting has been discussed a few times, I did a thorough search but could not come up with anything related to my question... I have spent a decent amount of money to get some sorting cabinets, you know the ones usually sold in hardware stores, to sort screws etc...So I have all plates, tiles and 1x1 - 1x3 bricks sorted (larger 1x bricks are sorted in containers), however, I am starting to wonder what I am going to do when those cabinet containers are full with a certain type, then what? I imagine that over time the sorting cabinet containers will be full, I will need an extra sorting system just for the bricks that have no more room in the sorting cabinet, which seems completely counterproductive. I have some ideas of my own how to deal with this issue, but I would like to hear from others how they manage the same issue? How do you deal with large types of bricks, tiles, plates whatever...sorting wise that is? PS:Yes I am aware of the evolution of sorting post ;-)
  6. datune

    Terrarium (Running Waterfall)

    I'm sorry, but this has nothing to do with Lego anymore. There needs to be a new word to describe this...I don't know...LegoArt?... Seriously, this is incredible...bravo!
  7. On Wednesday I plan to go to legoland and do some (rather serious) shopping. Since there is not much time left, and I have only ever looked at the modular sets for parts, I wonder if there are any other non modular sets you would recommend that have useful parts for MOCs, specifically modulars. If I were to put € 2500 in your hands, which sets would you buy, knowing that you own one of each of the modulars, except for the first three, and... "No no, my preciousssss, we will never pay so much money for them old modulars! Thief, thief, thiefs! We hates it, we hates it forever! Gollum! Gollum!" Uhm, wtf? Ok, moving on... Keep in mind most sets are ment to be parted out, and hopefully contain lots of useful elements, ie. windows in 1x2x2 and 1x2x3 in many colors, doors, bricks, plates and tiles, in colors perhaps not present in the current modular line, and so forth. "We told it what we wants, we wants it, we needs it, yesssss...my love.... Bless us and splash us, my precious!" Thanks a lot you guys, don't think I am too lazy to do my homework, but lego has a big portfolio, too big for me to peruse through ;-) PS: You may even suggest older sets, but only if the markup of the set is not much more than 25% of the retail price, that is about the maximum I can stomach to pay for older sets
  8. Hey, I found this picture of a roof built with cheese slopes, which is exactly what I would like to accomplish, but for the life of me, I can not figure out how this was done. Could someone perhaps enlighten me? I am hoping that this can be done without the left-right offset, but with the less than one plate thick offset (that is what I can not figure out...) Thanks!
  9. datune

    Lego Quality Reference

    You guys, these are all new bricks (even if they don't look like it), can someone tell me if this is normal? I mean the bricks seem to be all over the place, there are even noticable gaps where you can look through! Here is another example:
  10. datune

    Modular Arkham Asylum

    Very nice! How did you manage to pull of that batsignal?
  11. Hey Andy, Yes, it was quite the day, believe you me ;-) You are of course correct about my sorting / storage area, however, there is no way I will be able to properly part out all sets at once. TBH, I am considering simply keeping everything in it's original box, and taking out what I need for starters...but that will take time...I still have not found a proper solution for scalability; ie. the ability to have my sorting / storage system grow along with the amount of bricks. Complicated issue, best left for another thread / day ;-) Thanks Andy D, much appreciated!
  12. Aaaw, don't be jealous, you can do the same thing, just safe your money for a year or so, like I did, then go on a big spending tour ;-) I did come pretty close to my budget, almost over it since I bought a few sets at a supermarket that had them really cheap (like the orc forge) I only bought the orc forge cause I managed to grab for very cheap at a supermarket, not really for parts. The Sydney Opera House should be around for quite a while, whereas the Tower Bridge will be gone, which is why I opted to buy that one twice as opposed to the Opera House. Not saying it isn't a good parts pack, just not for me right now... Did you build your opera house or went straight to parting out?
  13. Note: Obviously my lastname is not "Brickfan", but for the sake of telling this story, my last name is "Mr. Brickfan" The day before driving to legoland I had called ahead to see which sets were available, the store manager (or teamleader to be more precise) had taken note of all the things I wanted, mentioned a couple of times that I was most certainly not allowed to take more then 3 sets of any type, and even that was not a given, for the sets they had low stock it could be that I would only be allowed to take one box! Mkay... I got there at around 11:30, and since the city store would not open until 13:00, I went straight to the legoland factory, you know, where you can buy bricks per 100gr for € 9. Much to my suprise, I found a few of the sets I was going to buy from the city shop at the factory, so I figured, while I am here, I might as well grab those as well. What I am telling you now is not a joke or made up, I kid you not! I took the 10214 (Tower Bridge) and went to the counter, and asked if they could set it behind the counter because I wanted to grab another set (haunted house), and all of a sudden an employee said to me "But you know Mr. Brickfan (how the hell did he know who I was?!?), you can't buy more sets later on in the city shop, you are only allowed to buy the quantities agreed upon yesterday!". For a couple of seconds I was completely baffled, I mean, how did he know who I was, how could he be sure, and why do they keep reminding me that I can't buy more sets!". I have to admit, I did not enjoy being spoken to in this manner, and I expressed my feelings and said that I felt like I was being treated like someone who is trying to con legoland germany for their lego sets! Anyway, I continued to grab the sets I wanted to buy, along with ~4kg of loose lego parts and a bunch of baseplates, paid the whole bunch and asked if I could leave the wares behind their counter, which was no problem. So, I left the factory and went straight to the city shop, which had opened early. I asked for the person who would handle the rest of my business, was greeted by a friendly lady who instantly knew who I was (I have no freaking idea how they knew who I was!), and get this, she pulled a note out of her pocket and said:" So Mr. Brickfan, I see you have already paid for the following sets over at the factory...". She already knew exactly which sets I had bought!!! I was really freaking out now! I had just left the factory! Next she told me, that all the sets I wanted had already been set aside for me in their warehouse on a europalette, why did I buy the sets at the factory...Well, I told her that I had repeatedly been informed that it is not possible to have sets set aside, so it is not my fault that they made an exception without informing me about it. Anyway, long story short, I went on a trip with Andrea (teamleader, really cool girl!) to the factory, were we canceled my complete purchase I had made before, excluding of course the loose parts, then we went back to the city shop, where all my sets in pristine condition (unlike the ones from the factory) had been set aside. (Andrea to the right) Meanwhile I grabbed a bite, went back there where everything had been put in lego bags, and now comes the best part! Andrea said:" In order to make up for the stalking and making me feel like I was some sort of con, she would lend me 2 employees who would help me carry everything I bought and go with me to the parking lot, which I can tell you, is not around the corner, we walked for almost 10 minutes!". That was a really nice gesture, so a buddy of mine, two employees and me "schlepped" everything from the city store to my car. Great feeling, I can tell you ;-) By the way, they told me that the reason why they were so suspicious in the beginning is because apparently they have problems with lots of dealers who try to take advantage of promotions and buy everything available, which is obviously a lousy thing to do, so it's thanks to those measures that I was even able to buy sets to begin with. All in all, I have to say, great experience, great people, will be going again ;-) 1200 kilometers later and not enough sleep, I got back home. Only to realize that there was a huge flaw in my plan. Storage space! Nuff said? My car was full with lego boxes, but I had not thought about were I was going to put all those boxes. Unloading the car was delayed, brainstorming began, and a couple of hours later, it seemed the only solution was to buy another closet (there went my safings from the 20% discount...pfffft!) Ikea it is! Luckily, it's open until 21:00, so I unloaded the car, filled the kitchen and every other available space with bags of lego and I was on my way. Good thing I have the best wife in the world...Not really how I had thought I would spent the rest of the day after I got home from a 1200 km drive, oh well... everything is stacked away by now, phew! Here's a list of what I got in the end: 2x Tower Bridge 2x Haunted House 2x Pet Shop 1x Grand Emporium 1x Town Hall 1x Cinema Palace 1x Arkham Asylum 2x Helms Deep 2x Mines of Moria 1x Orc Forge 2x Family House Anyway, thanks everybody who contributed to this thread, it has been really helpful, now I need to think about how on earth I am going to sort a few of the sets if I part them out :-P
  14. Thanks for the link! What I ment to say was: "Not currently available at legoland", not in general.
  15. Hi Redhead! Sorry I forgot to reply to your post! This is actually a super recommendation, I have two of those, but I have never gotten around to actually look at the inventory. Looks like it has plenty of useful things, so thank you very much for bringing this set to my attention. I might just snatch some more of these!
  16. datune

    10197 - Fire Brigade Parts

    So I am contemplating whether or not I want to part out 1 or 2 fire brigades, however, upon perusing the inventory list, it seems that there are no noteworthy bricks in that set, most of them seem to be really common, so I think it might be wiser to just keep the boxes sealed. What do you think?
  17. datune

    10197 - Fire Brigade Parts

    Thanks for the responses, I should have probably mentioned this, I already have opened one and built it! I am not that much of an investor, I only have some extra because IF later on I want or need lots of parts available from that set, I don't want to pay crazy bricklink prices, and I am 100% sure that at the very least, this set will retain it's retail value, if it's MISB of course...
  18. Thank you Andy D, very useful information to take into consideration indeed. I have just learned that the Grand Emporium is also currently not available anymore, oh well. I'll just take that money back home again, no need to bruteforce the money spending ;-)
  19. Well, this is the current state of affairs, with the only thing still optional being the Sydney Opera House. I'm not sure if it really makes for a good parts pack... (the fire brigade is not available anymore...so I ordered two more online at 120 each ;-) As you can see, I was briefly considering the ewok village, because of the dark brown parts and the fauna, but I am not really sure. Too bad there is no inventory list to peruse...
  20. Tbh, I have studied the inventory list of the Opera House quite a bit, but I am not sure whether it makes for a good parts pack, I don't see much in useful amounts, and the 1 x X bricks in dark tan can be found in palace cinema, which I can buy two of for the price of one opera house. Would you care to elaborate a bit on why you label it as an "awesome" parts pack, I'd appreciate that a lot! I may have missed the obvious, I have been browsing so many inventory lists, perhaps I failed to see the forest whilst looking at the trees, if you know what I mean ;-) Hi! Mostly town houses, as in the current modular lines, no medieval scenes. When I come back home, I will snap a few pictures and share them in this thread, so you can see my "loot" ;-)
  21. Thanks everybody, please keep it coming, it is always good to to get input from others! Btw. I already have an annual pass, and of course I am aware of the 20% discount, it is the sole reason I am driving there to begin with. I also intend to go into the factory shop and buy useful parts, but I don't think they will have that many useful parts. When I am back home, I will update this post and share my loot... Regarding the Haunted House, I have 2 of those, one build and one in my closet, it is by far, and I mean literally, by far, my absolute favorite lego set ever, and I am not into monsters, at all! I intend to open another one and build a modular out of the parts... I also already own 10229, and as far as I know, it is currently not available, I think starting September 16th it can be bought again... So far I have put the following on the buy list: 1x Arkham Asylum (thanks Cwetqo!) 2x Haunted House 2x Fire Brigade 3x Pet Shop (Seriously would like to buy more of these, but legoland does not allow you to buy more than 3 sets per day...) 1x Tower Bridge 1x Grand Emporium (green windows are nice!) 1x Palace Cinema (this seems to be a great parts pack, it is going to be around for a long time, but for 20% off I might as well snatch one...) 1x Town Hall 2x Helms Deep (thanks alot Andy D, that is an excellent suggestion, I would have totally overlooked that set, it has incredible parts!) Still looking for suggestions from other sets, thanks everybody, it is very much appreciated. It's not like I can do this kind of shopping every day, it is special for me too ;-)
  22. Thanks cwetqo! @jfbat I am going to legoland germany, but good to know about billund, so thanks!
  23. datune

    AFOL Modular Experience Report

    Not even 3 months ago I got back into lego after many, many years, more than I care to admit ;-) Sure, whenever I was in a toy store I always went to the lego section, but never got back into it. Until I was on a visit in Belgium, and noticed the Horizon Express. During the last 3 weeks I built the VW Camper, Haunted House, Fire Brigade, Grand Emporium and Pet Shop, along with the Technic 9398, but that was only to confirm that Technic really is not my kind of thing ;-) I have read lots of reviews regarding the modulars, but I am not sure I agree with all of them, so to add to the mix, I thought I would share my experience building them. Haunted House: Without a doubt, this was the most fun to build, including a few neat building techniques and the most detailed house of all of them. To me, this set oozes charme, and opening up the house is quite the "Ooooh!" moment for friends and family. I am not going to go into any details of the set, there is excellent reviews available for that (for example this one), but if you, the reader do not have any of the "big" sets yet, I promise you will not be dissapointed with this one. Personally I think this is one of the best sets available right now, and keep in mind, I am not really into monsters at all, that should say a lot! Fire Brigade: Another really fun build, with lots of nice techniques, reasonable interiour, a brilliant looking facade, and it even has a car! There is a very nice selection of dark red parts! Without a doubt, this is a safe buy with little chance of dissapointment. Grand Emporium: Despite the reviews, this was the most dissapointing and least fun to build. Overall the build is repetitive, and the interiour is very poor, compared to all the other buildings. The first floor is practically empty? To me, it felt like the interiour was more of an after thought, forced, like, we have to put in something...The spinning door is certainly nice, and there are some clever techniques to be learned here. Once it is finished, it is very impressive, no doubt about it. So to summarize, looks great on the outside, and "OKish" on the inside. Pet Shop: For reasons completely unknown to me, this appears to be the least popular of the modular series, but I completely dissagree with the general opinion. After the haunted house, these 2 little houses were the most fun to build, and has some very cool techniques (I mean, using 2 skis to decorate the front, how cool is that, the angled windows, very clever!...). I had a lot of fun building them, and I think they look great! If you completely dislike the haunted house, my recommendation would be to get this one first, it's lots of fun to build, the pet shop especially is really nice! VW Camper Although this set has nothing to do with houses or modulars, I wanted to share my experience with it anyway. This set is, simply put, incredible. If you like the T1 Camper, you'll certainly like this. The detail is amazing, the build will keep you busy and is never, not once, boring. Obviously ment for displaying, it delivers, boy does it deliver! I liked this set so much, I bought it 4 times! "Nuff said" I hope this helps someone just getting back into lego, if nothing else, it hopefully provides another POV to consider ;-)
  24. datune

    AFOL Modular Experience Report

    Well I started building the Town Hall, and though I am still working on the ground floor, it is already very apparent that this has been designed by a talented architect with obvious nodges towards the AFOL. For example, they are using those white round 1x2 bricks with the pattern in it, in places where you will never see them! If this is not a gift to us, I don't know what is! I have no idea where the build is going to take me, but it seems that this might just be the pièce de résistance from the modularsI have built so far. Once I have finished the Town Hall, I will update my original post. @sonicstarlight Sadly I don't have the Cafe Corner or Green Grocer, so I can't really say anything about them. I was going to pull the trigger on the medieval market, but backed out last minute. Diagon Alley certainly seems nice enough, but again not worth the money people ask for it (IMHO!). Do you have pictures somewhere of the modularized buildings?
  25. datune

    Review: 10230 Mini Modulars

    I must be missing the obvious...according to bricklink, including the extra items, there are 1416 pieces in this set, at a retail price of € 69,99. ~ 5 cent per piece seems like very good value to me? If you can get this on sale and perhaps buy multiples this seems to make an excellent parts pack for those in need of a variety of plates, tiles and even a few bricks to boot in some nice colors (especially 1x1 bricks)