fyrmedhatt

I finally got around to giving you my support, I've kind of been following this thread, but I'm almost never logged in to Cuusoo to support stuff. I have to admit I'm not very familiar with Shaun of the Dead, but this MOC rocks! Edit: Just saw five supporters roll in in less than a minute...crazy! Edit 2: over 5,100 votes now...

I have seen some very impressive extensions of the Fire Brigade and I think the same applies to the Town Hall. They need to be built out wider, so using two or three fire brigades you can make a wider fire station that has doors for two or three fire trucks. Using two or more Town Halls you can make a wider and more impressive building that would look good free standing. This of course is a more extensive modification than simply stacking extra floors or mirroring a building, but the result could nevertheless look very similar to the original modular. I think i've seen several builds like that on this board, and I'll try to look them up later to show some examples. With the Market Street, I agree it's more difficult to do anything with it just because it would look odd with simply an extra story. Expanding the courtyard might not be too bad though, and maybe widening the whole building as well.

This is a really cool set that I'm sad Lego didn't redo this spring like they did with the garbage truck, although I like the front on this truck a lot better than the one on the 2012 vehicles, it looks far more realistic than the weird stickered tiles. Great review as well, in my eyes there are reviews and then there are Reviewers Academy reviews, they are consistently the best Lego reviews on the internet!

I just bought the Jedi Interceptor and the X-wing in order to finish my collection of the winter 2012 PT/OT Star Wars sets and get a shadow ARF. This is seriously the best winter line of sets in a long time!

Seriously, if you give it time, bricks will come. You should already have a good starting point if you're willing to part out your sets, but if not there's plenty of ways to get bricks. I assume you are in the US based on the modulars you linked to, so if you have a nearby Lego store you should spend some time on the Pick-a-Brick wall. They will give you lots of useful bricks in the colors you mentioned, my local wall has been stocked with lots of bley, tan and black lately. For more hard to find pieces use Bricklink, and don't discount buying extra modulars to get pieces, they are full of windows, tiles and 1x bricks and plates. Look at the MOC index for this board and you'll see several modulars built from the pieces of one or several existing sets. I have to second asking neighbors or colleagues if they have kids that are willing to sell you their Lego, in an effort to save up for a car or a bike or whatever they might be very willing to sell you lots of stuff for cheap, and seeing how the sets probably are a few years old, if you don't like them you could be able to make a bit of money on selling them off, which you could then use to buy the pieces you need. Using LDD is an ok way to figure out which pieces to use for an MOC, but personally I feel the building experience to be a bit awkward, and it can be hard to assess which parts are cheaply available and which parts are expensive/non-existent. It can be just as well to sketch out the building you are making and then order in approximately the pieces you need to complete it.

I'm not sure, but wasn't the clone in the 2010 set identical to the original phase 2 clones other than the dotted mouth pattern? I think Lego will make a completely new mold for the helmets of the Clone Wars phase 2 clones, just as they did with the phase 1's. For anyone collecting Clone Wars figures that is tremendous news though, as we are going to see so many new clones made, I'm extremely impressed with the variety of clones already made over the last few years. To make this post on topic though, I'm happy Lego is finally taking non-CW minifigures seriously, this summer is exciting with the Skiff, Jabba's Palace, TOR sets, Gungan Sub and (hopefully) Palpatine's arrest. We are seeing an unprecedented amount of new characters, something I've been envious of in the CW sets for the last few years.

When I saw your first image, I thought to myself that there was something undoubtedly 70's about the boat, then scrolling down it's easy to see why... I like the boat and the scene, I think making it look "stylized" works, everything doesn't have to be photorealistic. Overall it's a well thought out and complete scene.

^Lucky bastard :p Sorry for going all Norwegian and not introducing the movie to the non-Norwegians out there, I probably should have spent some time doing so... I'm a Norwegian studying in university in the US, you are correct. Pinchcliffe Grand Prix was one of my favorites growing up, so when I saw your models and that you were Norwegian, I just had to ask... I agree that doing the Il Tempo Gigante in six-wide would be nearly impossible, but I'd love to see it in a larger scale, it would be such an epic model!

Stoutfiles, I don't really understand why you and many others are so threatened by rereleases, it's been twelve years since the UCS X-Wing was released, and the set will forever be rare due to it's age. It does suck for the collectors that spent large amounts of money to get the UCS X-Wing that the value will drop temporarily while the new ship is still in production, but the same can be said for people that spent several hundred dollars for a Jabba's palace five months ago. It's hard for me to see how Lego would care for the collectors so much as to never release a large-scale X-Wing or Millennium Falcon again. Their main concern is the bottom line, and for now at least it makes sense to release new sets that they have not done before to maximize sales. When they exhaust the mainstream OT ships and vehicles in a few years, it will be more profitable to redo some of the classics than to produce some obscure PT or EU ship, and I doubt they'll have any qualms about hurting a minority of collectors who have been around long enough to have 15-20 year old sets. Many AFOLs in a few years (when this will be an issue) were not even out of diapers when the UCS X-wing was available. Lego will never again do piece for piece copies as they did with the Legends line for economical reasons, as it makes more sense to do a redesign using the current parts palette. Thus any "re-issue" will never be the same as the precious set and all of the UCS sets will remain unique. The limited supply is simply due to the size and limited market for the sets, not because Lego consciously limited the numbers (other than with the first edition UCS MF's). The sets have all been available for several (as many as six) years, if Lego had made a conscious effort to keep them limited they'd number them or at least market how many there are, as we all now how great a marketing tool limited supply is. If you are collecting Lego simply because of the rarity of items then I'd suggest you'd find a different hobby, as almost all sets are produced in tens of thousands to millions of copies, and can hardly be described as limited. A large number of UCS X-wings have been produced (they were found in most reasonable toy stores in the western world from 2000-2002), these are not 1 in 750 Gentle Giant sculptures And how many AFOLs do you think would be ecstatic to be able to be building with sand green macaroni pieces (in the case of 3450)? I'd venture to guess a heck of a lot more than there would be collectors angry because their Statue of Liberty sets would be worth slightly less... Lego does redo rare pieces all the time, without there being much of an outcry form fans. The latest and maybe best example being the Maersk Blue helmet which went for several hundred dollars and is now dime a dozen. Personally I spent a fortune on tabbed white hoses, gray 4x5 doors and 1x8 dark blue arches when Bricklinking my Cafe Corner and Market Street, but I won't harbor any hard feelings against Lego when they are rereleased. I paid a premium because I wanted those pieces immediately, if I'd done it over a three year period it might have been cheaper, but it's the risk I took. Lego moves on because they are a company that cater to a new group of consumers every six years, and however much we like think we are the most important Lego consumers, the kids and casual fans are much more profitable.

I think given enough time, we might see redesigns of some of the more recognizable ships they have done. It will probably be several years before that happens, as there are still some very recognizable ships that have not received the UCs treatment, most notably the Slave 1 and the AT-AT. The X-Wing is certainly a set that will be redone as a UCS if the license lasts long enough, it's one of the most important ships in the movies. The same can be said for the Millennium Falcon, although it was only discontinued a few years ago, so it will probably be some time before they redo the set. I'm certain Lego has taken some notice of the extremely high resale value of 10179 and sees that as an indication that the market for a UCS Falcon is still not saturated. For the larger UCS ships, I would not be surprised if we see more large non-UCS playsets, as we already have with the 10019 RBR - 10198 Tantive IV and the 10143 Death Star II -10188 Death Star.

I love your cars, the Tine truck, mail van and world rally car are my favorites, but all of the vehicles are extremely cool. Your last vehicles, the Venom GT-E's scream Flåklypa Grand Prix to me for some reason, any chance we will ever see those vehicles in minifigure scale?

As mentioned earlier in this thread, it's a shame they've stopped having the floors interlock like they did until the Pet Shop. With this new type of connection this kind of uneven floors are bound to happen, while it was never a problem with the earlier modulars. I wonder if this has been done to save pieces, as the old method required a bunch of plates, while now they can use bricks with only a single layer of tiles on top.

Of those two, the Portal of Atlantis is a great value in terms of pieces, and the Railway chase is a great set if you're a train guy. Those are the two I'd recommend most as the Tie defender is grossly overpriced, and the ARC is also on the expensive side. If you're a Star Wars fan and want really want those sets at some point, get the ARC as it's the better value of the two.

Lego sells at MSRP because they can afford to do so, why would they diminish their profits if they don't have to? They have the huge advantage of people being mentally prepared to spend money on their product when they get there, and a small discount doesn't matter. It's the same reason why Toys R'US can sell above MSRP, people are ready to spend on toys when they get there, and so they are able to maximize profits. Target, Wal-Mart, Amazon etc. are all trying to undercut the two stores above as they don't have the advantage of the consumers automatically wanting to spend on toys when they go there, thus they have to be cheaper. If these stores could afford to charge more for Lego they would. They don't charge us less because they are a charity, it's because they have to in order to be competitive either in a short term perspective (as in price matching for Black Friday), or to preserve their reputation (if people perceived Amazon to be more expensive than their physical competitors they would likely lose a lot of business).

Not that I really know how Lego prints minifigures, but I assume they do so in layers. It looks like the original outline was printed where it should be, then the subsequent layers were printed lower than they were supposed to, giving the impression of eyelids. I also think Lego would make more significant alterations in the minifigure print if they went through the process of creating a new figure, as they could more easily use it as a selling point Edit: Upon a second look, one can see the dark eyelash print being lower than its supposed to, with the white eye printing being above and below the eyelash print, so I'd say 95% that it's a misprint.

I was under the impression that this number is a batch number, meaning all sets produced in one production run will have the same number. Most likely it's a duplicated or missing bag for parts of that production run. I'm not sure how to determine which factory they come from, but I guess it would be the same one where the other modulars were boxed (Billund?). The missing pieces issue happened last year with the 10197 Fire Brigade as well, where one batch number was affected with lots of missing pieces, and I'm really surprised this has happened again with the Town Hall. I'm sure Lego will have it fixed for you in no time though!

It was the same thing with the 7989 Hoth set last year, the pictures were not out until late spring. Lego and Toys R'US has no incentive to show the set yet, as no one but TRU (and S@H) will be able to sell the set. Most likely we won't see pictures until TRU puts the Lego Star Wars summer sets up on their website, which won't happen in months.

As far as I know, there has not been any kind of design change in the actual set other than the change of minifigure eyes, so it's not due to the set being different. The set has gone though several packaging changes in it's 4 year lifespan though, the first sets had boxes with geometric shapes identifying them, and no numbered bags, while later batches had numbered boxes and bags. However, those earlier copies are the ones labeled 12+ and the newer ones are 14+, despite being easier to build. I find it likely that Lego has changed their age recommendations slightly recently, as the 2012 City sets have simpler instructions than in the past, while retaining the same age recommendations, and I'd expect that to be the case across the product line. Other than the size, I'd say there is nothing in the Death Star set warranting this increase in recommended age, most of the build is simple brick on brick building, and nothing really exceeds the difficulty of a standard large 8-12 yr. Star Wars/ City/ Ninjago etc. set.

There can be big profits in buying and selling sets, especially in the US where sets are as cheap as they are. I think there are several threads on these boards where various aspects of selling and investing is discussed, so search around. Be aware that many sets, even UCS sets move slowly and do not appreciate in value that soon, so you could be sitting on sets for a while. The likelihood is greater now than even a year ago that this will happen as there are many AFOLs out there that are buying dozens and even hundreds of certain sets. That being said, it seems many sets still do well in the aftermarket, the recently discontinued Emerald Night and Imperial Flagship have both made sellers money, and it would be hard to imagine the Death Star and the Imperial Shuttle doing the same when they are discontinued. I wouldn't make it into a substitute for regular savings though, as the storage required and time consumed when selling is significant, but to sell some sets to finance this expensive hobby makes sense, and if a set does not appreciate you can simply absorb it into your collection.

I've done this with several expensive sets like the Market Street and the Cafe Corner, where I have saved lots of money going so. With the models you mentioned there should be room to save as well, since Star Wars sets command high prices due to the minifigures, especially on the secondary market, and models and parts themselves are not as sought-after. I'd say look for sets that have been split as well, where sellers are selling each model separately or have removed the minifigs, as there could be lots of savings that way.

I think the set is a TRU exclusive so we will not get any more information for a while, just like with the Hoth Rebel Base last year. With the $90-100 price point it should be fairly good though.

I parted together some of the minifigs for the Cafe Corner and Market Street as they are composed of common parts that together are more expensive. A problem with parting together some more expensive minifigures are that they are normally composed of unique parts that themselves are very expensive, so I can imagine you'd have to be lucky for it to be worth it.

As a juggler, I can really appreciate the pattern created by this animation, it's a three ball cascade, the most basic technique of juggling three balls. Makes me wonder if one could create other patterns as well. What an awesome machine!

Target has a $5 off $20 worth of Star Wars toys, including Lego. It's a great deal if you are looking at buying the Escape Pod or the Geonosian cannon. Link: Target

I'd go for the Hoth Snowtrooper Battle Pack, you really can't ever go wrong with Snowtroopers, they just look too cool, even if the AT-AT driver is a little boring. It's also the one that is the closest to being completely gone, as it seems to sell faster than the rebel trooper battle pack. Of the two Lego trucks, I'd say go for the Lego version if they are at MSRP, if you can get a discount you can consider the TRU truck. The lego truck is just a little more classic, even if it's more common. The additional toy shop with the TRU truck is a nice little building, but certainly not worth $15 in my eyes. Edit: To the poster below, I'd say the Toy Shop, it being an exclusive it's so very special and will be very hard to get in the future. The AQ Earth Defense set is also great, but I think it will be available for around MSRP until summer or so, and it's not as unique as the previous set.