Fugazi

Don't you insult bagpipes!

I don't think investing and playing Lego are self-exclusive: as far as I can tell, more and more AFOLs combine business and pleasure by buying multiple copies of exclusive sets, so they can both play with them and save some for later when they can sell them with profit and auto-finance their hobby to some extent. Were TLG to drop their prices on the Pick-a-brick selection and add to the variety of parts, they could bring down prices on Bricklink as well. But it doesn't seem to be their priority, and I wonder how sustainable is their online PAB operation. I read somewhere that up to 25% of their sales are from collectors so this is definitely a big market for them. If I were to guess, I would say that Lego wants to cater to collectors more than to AFOLs, although there is definitely an overlap here. Collectors generate big revenues for TLG, whereas PAB and similar operations may not be worth their while, especially with the competition from Bricklink. So AFOLs should be happy with awesome sets like the Grand Emporium* and not hope to much on the official PAB to fullfill their part needs * Just to stay on topic... barely

Hmm... any part made in China?

I agree with you that making money off AFOLs' backs doesn't seem right to me. But perhaps investment in Lego isn't such a bad thing after all... If more and more AFOLs buy duplicates of 'investment' sets for future resale, then the laws of offer and demand dictate that prices will have to go down, as there will be too much offer to support asking prices of unpteen times the original MSRP. So discontinued sets could become more affordable in the future if this trend continues. And this way Lego sells more sets that it would otherwise do, and they may afford to issue more exclusive sets to cater to the AFOL/investor market niche. Does this make any sense?

I don't really care about tags but I'm curious... What makes one deserve a country flag? Strong patriotism?!

Beautiful! I am always impressed by great landscaping, and yours is really well done, including those different trees! I also appreciate the small touches of unusual colours (dark orange, tan). Good work!

Maybe they're just normal printed heads turned backwards? That would be very considerate of them!

Lady in red: "I'm looking everywhere for normal sized dishes, why do you keep selling only these giant dog bowls I could bathe a baby in?" Lady in grey: "We're sorry ma'am, perhaps you should try this Bricklink shop next door..."

I remember back to my very first sets, I spent hours taking in the back of my boxes and trying to figure out how to build the alternative models. I think they were a great incentive to break apart the main model and try out different things. Some of the alternate designs were wacky or unrealistic, but it didn't matter at all. I think definitely LEGO should bring them back, because not all the parents and kids realize the flexibility of Lego bricks. But, they should also provide a big disclaimer on the box that "no instructions are provided for alternate models, use your imagination!"... That should safeguard them from disappointing parents and kids, and designers won't have to spend so much time on drawing up alternate instructions.

Wow, there's more decoration on the 2nd level than what I was expecting! And look at that whole wall of dark green windows, it's positively decadent! (in a good way! )

Very good review, thanks! Love the quality photos. I would say, brown plates around the tap are mud, yellow is hay?

Well it's an impressive palette. The problem is, many of the colours, like the different flesh colours, are only used for some specific parts. How many are the colours in which there is actually a good variety of building bricks available? Say for instance a random selection of the most common pieces, like 1x2 brick, 1x2 plate and 1x2 tile. Nothing fancy! According to bricklink, the 3 selected pieces have been made and are available in the following of the 2010 colours: 1 White 5 Tan 21 Red 23 Blue 24 Yellow 26 Black 28 Green 102 Medium Blue 106 Orange 119 Lime 135 Sand Blue 138 Dark Tan 140 Navy Blue 141 Dark Green 151 Sand Green 154 Dark Red 192 Brown 194 Medium Stone 199 Dark Stone So these would be the "really" available colours according to my totally unscientific investigation. By the way, I left the transparent colours aside for now, too much work for one day So we have 2 reds, 4 blues, 3 yellows/tans, 4 greens, 2 greys, plus orange and brown. Dark orange could also be included in the list if the Prince of Persia sets provide enough variety of that colour. What's missing? The purple-pink colours don't seem to be well represented, this may be due to some changing colour codes in the recent years as older pinks are generally available. Turquoise? Sand red? Another shade of grey? What other colours would you like to come back or be introduced?

I share some of the same concerns, having recently bought Green Grocer along with a bunch of tan bricks from a Pick-a-Brick wall. The plan was to build the set once for the thrill of it, then convert it into something else. I think the parts/$ ratio in the Cafe Corner series is hard to beat, so as long as there is a good proportion of parts that will end up in your MOC, it's a better deal than buying everything apiece. Speaking about tan bricks, you could buy the Grand Emporium in March and use the tan bricks to convert Green Grocer according to your plans!

6665 River Runners appears to be one of them, I don't know if this is the one you're looking for?

My oldest is Basic set 722, which was introduced in 1979. Such great fun! Since I only got it in 1982 or so, it's my oldest but not my first set. Curiously, my box had no set number at all. I believe it was some alternative Samsonite Canada packaging, since the content was right and the instruction book did have 722 written on it! from Peeron:

Wow this is an amazingly accurate depiction of a SD40-2, it captures the look so well! Definitely a model I will keep in mind when I start building my train layout. And the paint scheme is really well done! Good work! Edit: I can see where your dynamic brake fans come from, but what part have you used for the radiator fans?

A random thought... The pompoms of the cheerleader would make great Tribbles in a Star Trek MOC, were they other colours, or a new type of small plant. Is this a new piece? Crossing my fingers that it reappears someday in green, brown, etc.

A few more suggestions: 1x1 round tile (already mentioned in the Pirates thread) realistic city bus doors (2-piece doors) rubber piece to make articulated (bendy) buses

Normally I would point out that Lego should focus more on the actual sets than on all these Made-in-China peripheral products, but there are be so many awesome sets coming out in 2010 that I can't really complain, can I?

If I can add my $0.02 here... I wholly approve of the concept of limiting interiors details in order to maintain reasonable prices for the CC sets. Don't get me wrong, I love detailed interiors as much as anyone. But I think the current format is a good compromise between set price and interior decoration, and I'd rather be able to afford the sets as they are now rather than turning them down in the future if they become super-duper-deluxe-extra-detailed-collectors buildings at $400 each! As it is, the Grand Emporium looks like it has great detail on the ground floor, and less detailed upper floors, and that's quite fine with me!

I agree, the photo was probably cleaned and retouched (photoshopped) like the models in fashion magazines, but still they look to me like physical minifigs.

One part suggestion that's not specific to the Pirate theme but could be useful nevertheless is a 1x1 round tile, has it been brought up already? It could be used in a Pirate setting as a different type of money/treasure (different possible colors/printing or even um... stickers?) but more importantly for MOCers as a decorative element, as rocks on roads and buildings (could be alternated with regular 1x1 round plates for variety)... And of course both opaque and transparent 1x1 round tiles could also be used in most other themes (City, Space, etc). It could even be used as a new kind of haircut if stuck on the head of our minifigs Ok I'm sure you can think of better ideas!

I was looking for the UK LUG webpage and can't seem to find it anywhere. I though I was good at Googleing stuff, turns out this one eludes me! I was looking for more info about activities, membership, etc. Or maybe is there a Scot-LUG instead? I'm sure there are British members here who could steer me in the right direction, thanks if you can help!

Thanks for the insight into your building methods, much appreciated! Looking forward to more of your work! Cheers

Beautiful, really impressive! The building is terrific, but I'm also quite taken with the naturally flowing and curving lansdcape. How is it done, is the hill completely filled with LEGO bricks or do you work out some sort of scaffolding? This is actually a question to anybody who builds raised landscapes like this!