madoka

I use the Force. Don't forget insanity!

I had a "what the heck am I thinking!?!?!?" moment about when I hit 6,000 SW figs and I slowed down around that time to concentrate on Castle. Today I'm around 9,000 SW figs, but that includes rebels, imperials and clones. "LEGO employees at LEGO UK head office in Slough assembled an "army" of 35,310 Clone Trooper mini-figs in six and a half hours in July 2008." http://www.recordholders.org/en/list/lego.html I always thought that pic was at an event or gathering of some sort and not his personal collection. All his pics from his personal collection seems much, much smaller. Do you know if that is all his?

Wow that looks so cool when grouped together like that. Please post updates when you get the new ships.

Knowing what's going to be released in the future is critical to buyers. For example, R2-Q5 sells for about $20 on BL. But knowing that he is coming up in the Advent set means you don't have to pay an inflated price to get him if you can wait a few months.

Does anyone else think Lego used the wrong helmet on the Imperial Trooper? They look like they have a black version of the Rebel Fleet Trooper: But Lego used the AT-ST helmet for them. I wonder if they will ever release a new version that is more accurate.

Forget chess/TTT sets. If you're making a wish list, why bother with sets that have pieces you don't want such as the game board. Lego should bring back the original mini-fig sets: If BL sellers can make a profit selling minifigs for $2 each, I don't see why Lego cannot. 5-6 figs at $10-$12, I would be buying them all day long.

Things you won't hear in the toy aisle any time soon: "But mom, I don't want that set with the jousting knights, catapults and weapons! I want that set with the peasants and buckets."

Variations like this have been around since 1989 when the original Pirates line was released. Nothing new and it's quite common.

More impressive than the green ninjas are the black shoguns. While I have an okay number of green ninjas, I only have 2 of those black shoguns. Back then I had trouble justifying the $4-$5 (I think) each one cost.

While it may sound cool, trust me - pics would just leave you wondering how anyone could let themselves go that far. Kind of like watching one of those hoarding shows. It leaves you feeling a bit sad and icky. Given the large size, everything is bagged and/or boxed up, so it's not very interesting to look at. Even fans would question my collection. I had a Star Wars fan ask me what I would possibly do with 20 AT-ATs when the Empire only used like 4-5 on Hoth. Recently I had Lego collectors question why I would own 35,000 castle helmets. That said, sometime this summer, I'm hoping to hire some day laborers to set-up a display of at least some of my mini-figures for me. I think I'll start with Space and Pirate as they are much more manageable size-wise.

I marvel at your patience in setting up all those figures by hand, rather than use that grey baseplate in the background.

Sadly no. I've filled up my current house and five storage rooms. It's an extreme solution, but I think it was the best one in my situation.

What I meant wasn't that it was a new color. But that armor has never appeared in that color before and is not in any other set in that color.

Too late! I'm buying the house next door as my current house is overrun with my hobbies (Lego being one of them). Made a deal not to bring any Lego into the new house and keep it all in the old one. Very pathetic, I know.

I've learned to be generally quiet about my Lego activities. Even other AFOLs are generally shocked over how much Lego I have. In fact, recently I made some purchases at a Lego store. After the salesperson looked up my VIP point total and how much I spent, he called me "clinically insane."

I just opened one of these sets and was surprised to find a new color for the armor that is unique to this set.

I keep pretty much everything. With Lego, I figure it doesn't hurt to have extra sets, which is why my house and five storage rooms are filled with stuff. Sadly, I once forgot I bought a laptop computer and found it unopened over a year later.

If I am about to place a large-ish order (over $150 or so), I usually ask if they will ship for free. 9 out of 10 will agree to do so. Then I remember who those are as am more likely to order from them again in the future. Every once in a while you can get burned by some seller who surprises you with much larger than anticipated shipping fees. I remember there used to be a seller from several years ago who would charge a large handling fee (it was something like $25 or $50, I forgot which one) for every order you placed.

Well, unless he has more than 40,000 minifigs, I'd say the analogy is reversed. I've bought the $400 Death Star multiple times, because I forgot I already owned one. So yeah, I have a terrible memory.

During the Shadow ARF promo, I bought: - Snowtrooper Battlepack x 65 - Clone Trooper Battle Pack x 15 - Mandalorian Battle Pack x 2 - 7929 The Battle of Naboo x 1 - Republic Swamp Speeder x 1 - maybe another AT-AT and a Turbo Tank (can't really remember any more) - received Shadow ARF x 11

So while sorting through my Castle minifig population, I found several shields, helmets, etc. I ran out of. After placing close to $900 in BL orders, I discovered various caches of parts that I did not know I had. Apparently, I already owned many of the things I placed orders for. Finding those parts was both exhilarating and depressing. While it's fun to discover Lego you never knew you owned, it's sad to think that your collection has spiralled so out of control that you can't keep track of large amounts of Lego. All told, I spent over $200 on new orders for unique parts that I will never have a need for. Among the things I found included: - a $385 BL order from February that I forgot to ever open consisting of mostly helmets - two baggies filled with misc. SW figs - 4 copies of Batman's flying wing - a box half-filled with old castle service packs:

I just spent 19 hours sorting and counting the minifigs in my Castle collection. My back is stiff and I have a headache. Furthermore, I spent an additional $875 on BL to pick up missing parts. That reminds me why I don't ever like to do a census of my minifig population.

I have similar numbers of these minifigs, so I know how hard they are to complete. The Blacktron I torsos and yellow legs are difficult to find in large quantities.

Most stores seemed to have a good sized box left over. They were really strict with them though and were instructed to return leftovers. Each ARF rang up as $9.99 and they were not sold separately. You had to buy $75 worth of Lego. I'm hoping they will be available during SW weekend that is coming up. I've got an odd number of them and it would be nice to get to a multiple of five.

If you're on a budget, Castle is the worst to army build. Each minifig often needs a bunch of accessories (e.g. weapons, armor, shields, barding, etc.). Buy in bulk whenever possible and don't forget to load up on the accessories. I end up spending more on helmets and shields than I do the figures. A well stocked armory is essential. I've got literally several thousand helmets, shields and swords in surplus waiting for the right minifigs to use them.