JSN

That is a fantastic town you have there. I don't normally look at videos of peoples towns but I am really glad I did in this case.

Thanks Captain Braunsfeld. There are two reasons for the mainly grey colour scheme, first I am wanting to build a series of modulars in an older run down part of town so there won't be too many bright colours. Second most of my collection is in my parents house several thousand miles away so my choices are a bit limited just now! Thanks, pirzky. As you say there isn't much space for another window since a lot of the ground floor is taken by the alley though I am not sure if Barry's shop will ever be inviting! Great idea on the sign, the shop does need some outside advertising. I will see what parts I have available to make one. Thanks gazumpty. I like the sign you posted and will see what bricks I have to make one with. Good to see another Scotsman on EB Thanks lightningtiger. Thanks d-delay. Not sure I want to get into the DO debate just now, might comment when I get round to buying it but I think if you suggested Barry's story for an official set LEGO might not be too happy Glad you liked the story. My plan at the moment is to make a series of MOCs ultimately making up a part of my town based on buildings you would see in rundown parts of big cities (bar, bus/train station etc) featuring some other characters I have ideas for but that is not to say Barry won't make another appearance...

Ladies and gentlemen of Eurobricks meet Barry. Barry lives in Lego City but not the Lego City you may see on TV because the real Lego City has a seedy underbelly and despite what the Legoland Tourism Company would like us to think not everything is awesome....... Barry was once a corporal in the Legoland Army until he thrown out after returning late from a bar and hitting his commanding officer. Bitter and short of cash he turned to crime but after a few brushes with the Lego City Police he decided to go straight. Thanks to a few helpful donations to a local councillors favourite charities Barry was able to obtain a licence to open a pawn shop. Barry would like to help me today by giving you a tour of my first modular MOC, Barry's pawn shop and apartment. This building is a 16 wide modular with the ground floor consisting of Barry's Pawn shop and a side alley with Barry's apartment on the first floor Behind the shop is the stairway to Barry's apartment, some overgrown bushes and bins full of rubbish. There is also Barry's nemesis, a stray cat that he chases but always comes back to annoy him. There is a hatch from the apartment to the roof and a water tank. As you would expect the local seagull has left some presents on the roof. There are also some strange crates... On the ground floor is Barry's shop. It has some tools and household junk, jewellery, sports gear and a guitar that unfortunate residents of Lego City have had to sell to Barry when they hit hard times. Running alongside the shop is an alley that is home to rats by day but some more unsavoury characters after dark..... Here are the household and jewellery cabinets and Barry's counter. Behind the counter is his "tool kit" the bat for driving away tramps who sleep in the alley, troublesome customers and the cat! There is also something for when residents even more dislikable than Barry decide to pay him a visit Barry leads a simple life but not a neat one. His only furniture is a bed, sofa and TV. Not being the domestic sort the apartment is full of empty bottles, pizza boxes and takeaway containers and the cups in the sink may have been there a while. Then there is a shotgun in case the shop has any late night visitors..... Look, here come Dave and Tony from the Lego City PD, maybe they have heard Barry is attacking the cat or could our heroic law enforcers know something about Barry that we don't??? Unfortunately the cops may not be so heroic after all and Barry is persuading them to look the other way, but why would a law abiding citizen need to do that? Because maybe Barry never went straight after all and the shop is just his front Thanks for taking the time to view my creation. As it was my first modular build and first proper MOC in a long time I have tried to keep it simple but wanted to add some story at the same time. I would love to hear any comments and criticisms you have about it.

Western!

I have just been to America on business and took the oportunity to make a few purchases at the LEGO stores there and through BrickLink and thought nothing of it. As LEGO takes a lot of space when boxed I broke all the sets down. When I got home I started building a couple of sets and to my surprise found a card mixed in with the pile of instructions saying my luggage had been searched by the TSA! The agents face must have been a picture since the bag they searched contained only a few items of dirty clothes and about 20kg of LEGO! Just a funny story I wanted to share with you guys, has anyone else experienced this with airport security?

Hi, Is it possible to generate a list of parts used to make a model in LDD? Thanks, John

I got in touch with the LEGO store and they said there is no problem using the holiday boxes after March. Fantastic customer service

Your suggestion to call reminds me I have the email of the manager of the store I was in, thank you for helping jog my memory!

Hello, This isn't related to minifig customisation but another project I have in mind, hope its still ok to ask here as it seems like the best place What I am wanting to do is make a helicopter for my LEGO military. Due to a lack of available parts (and talent!) I am going to do a mod of http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=7738-1 in tan and dark bley. Unfortunately the large tail piece is only available in a combination of dark bley and green or white. Can anyone recommend which shade of model paint would work best for this (and a brand if there are any that work particularly well). Alternatively if there is a better way of recouloring this part I would love to hear it! Thanks, John

Hello, While in a LEGO store in the US in November I got two of the free holiday pick a brick boxes. These have to be used by the end of March but I won't be in America again until mid-late April. Does anyone know how strict they are on applying the dates for these? Is it worth trying to use them or not worth bothering? Thanks, John

I went to the LEGO Store in the Houston Woodlands Mall last week and all I had to do was give him my VIP number, didn't need the card. Thanks for all the replies

Hello, I might have a chance to go to a LEGO store this week but I can't find my VIP card anywhere (I think it might be in Scotland!) Does anyone know if you can still collect points in store if you only provide them with the VIP number and not the card itself? Thanks, John

Thanks for all the comments, much appreciated Unfortunately I am a bit limited on parts just now and I don't think I have any flesh heads that would suit. I will need to see which ones are available as the flesh heads tend to be more elaborate than may be required. I'm not too happy with the mic right now but don't really have anything else with me that would work better, any tips for Freddie's distinctive mic would be appreciated. The torso is Indy's but recoloured by Shadows in this thread http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=25918 I have been meaning to do this for a while because I thought of Freddie as soon as I saw the yellow one

BrickArms U-clip

On the day that would have been his 67th birthday I present my custom Freddie Mercury fig Credit to Shadows http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=25918 for the decal

Can you please put a Scottish flag in the Wave, Muscat, Oman? Thanks.

Does anyone know if there is any kind of AFOL scene in the Middle East/GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) area? I guess the answer is no as there are less than 100 members in the Middle East (excluding Israel and Turkey) on Bricklink and most of them are zero feedback. Also I have found the prices to be crazy in Oman and Dubai (GBP price plus at least 50%) but thought I would ask anyway. Thanks, John

Thanks for all the comments guys. Yes, the male's head is double sided.

Hello, Welcome to my first review, July's free set for orders of £50 or more, 40078 Hot Dog Cart! As this is my first review I welcome any comments and criticism to improve any future reviews I do. Name: Hot Dog Cart Number: 40078 Year: 2013 Theme: Creator (but I am reviewing here as it fits nicely into a city IMHO) Parts: 31 Minifigs: 2 Price: Free with purchases over £50 from S@H UK First a look at the polybag, nothing much to report, just a lady buying a hotdog! Next up the parts: two figs, a bike and all you need for a hot dog cart As you would expect from a free set there are no special or unique pieces here. The only one that really stands out for me is the bike in a colour Bricklink calls "medium azure" (I call it sky blue ). I have never seen this colour before but BL says it is in Town Square and some Friends sets which makes sense since they wouldn't put a unique colour in a freebie Now for the instructions. The first page shows the early steps while the second completes the build and takes up the remaining space with pics of Town Hall and Palace Cimema The set comes with two minifigs, the hot dog seller and a customer. The seller is nothing special but I do like the lady customer, its always good to have more ladies in town! Now for the final build. Overall this is a great little freebie set. The cart design is really nice, the female fig is excellent and I love the new bike colour. This would fit in nicely with my Lego town if it was built just now! Hope you have enjoyed my first review and I welcome your comments.

Hi, Hope this is in the right place. Last year I moved from the UK to the Middle East but only took a little LEGO, mostly minifigs with me. I am now thinking of moving the rest of my collection out here, in total I would probably have 20 large boxes. Has anyone got any experience of having done this? What are the best ways to pack, best companies to move with, expected cost, etc. Is doing this practical or will I have to wait till I am back home to reunite with all my LEGO? Thanks, John

Got it, thanks Classicsmiley

What a random place to put it! Thank you for your help Sebeus I! By the way is there any way to put a minifig in a seated position or can they only stand up?

Hi, I am trying to find this part http://www.bricklink...Item.asp?P=4865 in LDD but can't find it in any of the categories so any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, John

Thanks guys. That was the answer I was expecting unfortunately, just thought I would post here on the off chance there was something hidden in the App Store that I missed. John

Hi, Are there any LEGO digital design programs available for iPads? Thanks, John