WaysofSorting

Poor students - crammed in that narrow bench slot! Great start on a solid diorama build - lots of stories can happen here! My main suggestion would be to increase the area of the teaching-table to allow for some scene setting down there. It would be great to see additional space (maybe a second build) that illustrates the part of room behind the instructor (chalk board, bookshelf, whatever). Also I wonder - what happens beneath the bleachers?

Great thread and map. Gainesville, FL (for the time being!) Thanks for all the entry-work on this!

I plan on making it to the LEGO store soon to do PAB. Probably early in the new year, when I can afford to fill a few cups. I know there's the PAB: What did you get Thread - but I think I will reply to this one, if you don't mind your thread Hijacked. Having a place for the "First time PAB" experience is a valuable thread, I believe. What were other people's "First time" with PAB like, and what could be good advise for others going to the big brick wall?

Whoever can make the System-ship equivalent to this chart will win the internet for some time - I would love to see all the classic space ships side by side in scale. http://dirkloechel.deviantart.com/art/Size-Comparison-Science-Fiction-spaceships-398790051

My closest brand store and PAB is about 2 1/2 hours. Not close enough for me to have made the pilgrimage yet. I sometimes daydream that I'm filling in little gaps with 1x1 round studs just like in this article. About how many bricks fit in these cups? Is it clearly a better deal than a set, or is it pretty comparable? Nice write-up regardless. Can we get a pre-sort/ poured out picture to see what your haul was?

TLG will not, I suspect, ever do this. One could argue that they could create a U.S. Exclusive line and it would do well - we're probably the only country that wouldn't bat an eye at the historical, political, or moral implications of a toy-line such as this - but I don't even think there's a need. They give us the pieces to make it, if we so choose. They feel the pressure of the third-parties' military lines and accessories (See the 2014 Movie Police Flak Jackets) but they won't get thrown into the mix themselves and make themselves the targets for any controversy. Cartoon Armies/Factions etc - they will do this - and builders will continue to do what they do. I mean - Star Wars is arguably just a repainting of many images directly taken from historical Wars (Dogfights of WWII, Helicopter Cavalry Landings of Korea and Vietnam) - so the cultural value of war is already being sold. But the layer of remove provided by the Cartoon Fiction is still an important one. The Repurposed military look for Dino Attack still saw these weapons not turned against humans or homes or farms. I support their difficult and ongoing decision to never do a true "military theme." I lived a year in Afghanistan as a combat medic...and while I would really enjoy building a model of the MRAP that was my home away from home, I am glad that when I go to the store, I don't see LEGO selling sets for children that focus on real wars.

Wow - intense! Was this a group build or all from one person's collection?! Did you run a wargame based on this battle, or was it only Diorama for viewing?

I really like this set. The more of it I see, the more it confirms that I'll be buying two, at least. Even if only for the cookies, but the scooter and pilot helmet and printed sign are nice additions too. Thanks for the review.

These are great display stands - Black is hard to photograph (nothing new in that statement!) but I think I have to agree with your choice in color - so classy for display!

Nicely done -

Freddy - way cool. I will need to file that information away. I had one of sebulba's legs (from the last podracer set) become damaged and needed this exact info (My instructions are off in far away storage).

Fun little glider car - reminds me of Blade Runner and other worlds inspired by that vision. I like the offset angles on the wings and the technic-hole intakes behind the front rails. I am interested in the careful decision to leave the studs visible. Some would say that at microscale the studs are distracting - but for some reason they feel right here. Can you tell us what/how you thought about that? Thanks for sharing! A little "less" colorful than I would have expected with the name butterfly, but I enjoy the simplicity of the transgreen/white/black scheme. Blacktron 2?

I love the wheels. I've never had a build go right with those (though I've tried several times) so I commend you! Great use of the old school doors and hinges, and innovation on using the light as part of the gun mechanism! Genius! Inspiring build, pure to the spirit of LEGO play. I would have fun with this set.

Thanks for the post. In the US most of the 160 jobs are for Lego Stores and Retail, it looks like. So - even though I'm not looking for work, I'm spreading it along to my friends near the stores....maybe they'll get an employee discount...

It's been a long time that the most exciting part of a model to me was the hallway. But...that's the case here. Don't get me wrong - everything else is spot on and really plays to my inner Red-shirted Ensign - but from a design standpoint, there's something perfect and appealing about the way you've done the corridors / walls - all that stuff we normally take for granted. Well done. I love the old moonbase standard, but I'd really enjoy seeing a group build using some of your standards here!

We did duplo pretty early on with my daughter. They even have a line for toddlers that have more basic shapes and patterns. I think those may be better for a 7 month old and for you at this point (no expectations about putting Ariel in the boat) but I think you'll be surprised at how quickly she figures it out. It wasn't long before she had the train of alphabet letters running around the house, carrying the dog and pig and cat. AND THEN you'll be surprised at how quickly she is done with all that and only wants to play with your lego. My kid _just_ turned 2 and is playing with only the System-scale lego now. She loves the Friends Minidolls and switching their legs and hair back and forth. They swoosh around the house in space police fighters. Here she is playing with the Jabba's palace. (evidently now Heartlake Hutt Palace*TM) (sort of a big picture) Again - always supervised - but I've found nothing but positive correlation between her motor skills, color recognition, and confidence as she plays with LEGO (of all sizes) The only thing to worry about is frustration levels - don't push her and let her figure out what she is able to, and wanting to do.

For a long time I was an avid hater of resellers and "investors." Arguably, I still am - but I'm also slowly leaning to the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality. I love the brick. If I can get two of a set, sell all the figures from one and end up breaking even (while still keeping one set of figs and two sets of pieces) - then why not? Where should my loyalty be? To myself, my family, and my wallet or to the plastic figures from set number 2? Hardly is a return that clear cut - but there are cases where it works that way. And there's the "squatter" mentality, where you buy a large set (especially at clearance) Allow it to retire, then sit another year, then put it on market for triple its MSRP. The internet is a weird place. Somewhere, out there...somebody will buy it. It takes an extra level of commitment and sacrifice on the front end (and a lot of patience in between) but I definitely see the benefit of doing this, if for no other reason than to offset and fund my main hobby. I have a friend who is currently doing this with Collectible Card Games. It took him six months of hundreds of essentially "microtransaction sales" but he's saved up enough to start an LLC, get a small inventory, and work with a distributor. He makes zero money, and all profits are going right back into the slowly, slowly growing business. But...a little over time adds up. I have a sizable chunk of funds ready for the holiday season...part of me wants to try an experiment where all I buy are sets to resell and see how well I do by next summer...

I think it looks sufficiently brutal to be a tough police building in a difficult district. The denizens of Adesville better be on their best behavior! Seriously - I think it looks a bit cheerless, which maybe is fitting - I haven't met the cops yet! There's a police station like this near my house. It's in what was considered years back a "bad neighborhood." They've tried painting it different colors to make it more friendly, but it's still a brick police station that the neighbors are afraid of. Maybe it just means the police will have to work that much harder to earn the neighbors hearts. Great detail and interior. I especially like that you have the helipad. No police HQ is complete without one!

I see them not being listed as a sound matter of tradition and good sense. I would love to know who was involved in each set and at what stage, but in the end, product wise, the names don't belong. This is a product made by a group of many many people, each playing their parts -

Back in the day I noticed that new minifigs always came with their hands upside-down (Bevel facing forward on the torso) but haven't looked closely in the latest sets - do they still come that way, out of the box?

I'm green with envy. About the same shade as the vinyl. This is great. Can't wait to see it built up - please keep the forums updated. My collection has been perpetually in transit, it seems for the past 7 years. I keep moving and packing and moving and packing - I really can't wait until I settle into a space where I can build a table like this! Good inspiration!

This is a great build - it looks very accurate. I like how each ripple has variations in sculpt and detail. Are the layouts of the figures based on historical reference? (Like - are the places where there's one missing true to the actual one?) Did they ever make a terracotta soldier minifig when the Adventurer theme visited Asia? If not, they really need to make one next time they go back there!

I for one am very excited about this set - to me it's got a number of army building elements. Panda notwithstanding (Not sure what kind of army they would make) I could use multiples of everything, except maybe Abe Lincoln. (Though, Abraham Lincoln Robots vs. All the Ex-Presidents would be an exciting sub theme). I haven't been very keen on the "Hat and headphones attached to your hair" selection of accessories, but then I haven't had many of them to work with. I'm excited about the LEGO Movie because it seems to celebrate the way children play with the bricks - and the ideas presented so far in the movie match up with the way I play in my own stories - so to me, all the figs work! This may be the first box I pre-order whole...

The crashed AT-AT is a great scene - I love the cutaway side. I enjoy the turret for the design, but keeping with the minifig scale. It would fit in nicely (though totally outshine) the official LEGO products. The AT-ST - I love the shaping of the head and the amount of detail on all sides of the model. To my eye, the feet look a bit small - but I am certain this was a design decision - what reference were you using? I'm used to only the old Kenner toy. So that's my frame of mind... Great work and thanks for sharing!

I think charging a fee would destroy the idea of an accessible community. I think you may retain a certain number of core followers, but lose many (and many future) users. Why not figure out a yearly budget and then do a crowdsourcing fund raiser on indiegogo or something. The perks could be tiered raffle tickets, cool forum tags, or an ads off option. Maybe if you got enough money, you could cancel ads for the year.