Timmay

Awesome elves! I especially like the use of the Samurai head. That's a great looking elf. Great work! I've been toying with the idea of doing the same using LOTR/Hobbit piece, painting the flesh ears yellow. Hadn't thought of using nail polish. You've inspired me to finally build the elf army I've always wanted.

I have to go with the CMF elf, for the same reason as others have said... he's yellow and matches all my other castle figures. I think the LOTR figures are beautiful, and I would love to include the elves with my other figures, but the flesh color looks out of place among my yellow skinned minifigs.

Fantastic design! You really captured the subject. This was my favorite display at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, and it always brings back fond memories when I see an animal tile or two at museums around the world. Your mic has done the same for me. Well done!

Howdy, There's a post over at Geekdad today showing an exclusive preview of the villain art for the upcoming Traveller's Tales LOTR video game. Check it out: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/09/lego-lotr-5-things-villains/ Tim PS: If this is the wrong forum for posting video game news, my apologies to the admins. Edited to include image preview.

Wow, Naperville, IL. That's cool. :-) Incredible to see how much the franchise has grown. I started working at the original Jet's, for the Jet brothers, back in the mid-90's. At that point, there were maybe a dozen locations, all within a 20 minute radius. They've come a long way since then.

I'm going to echo everyone else. Very nicely done. Out of curiosity, which Jet's do you work at? I started working for Jet's back in high school, and was there for a good 7 or 8 years. Store #1 in Sterling Heights.

Poor guy. He has no idea how he got stuck inside this box, and can't find the way back out.

In my (limited) experience, there is not a set schedule that stores put items on clearance. I make it a habit to check clearance shelves whenever I'm in a store. Sometimes I get lucky (I found a bunch of Atlantis and Space Police on clearance at Meijer the other day). I also watch a few blogs for sales. Someone posted a thread here on Eurobricks. I also have http://toysnbricks.com/ in my blog reader; they're pretty good about posting when items are on sale at the big chains. But like I said, a big part of it is luck.

Yeah, A couple of them seem completely dead and don't do anything when put on the tracks and powered up. The other two, with some gentle nudging and pushing, I can get a little life out of. But even at full power it's jerky, stops a lot, and never gets up to any decent speed. Not like it used to. I can't complain though. I think I got my first train in '91 or '92. It was either Metroliner or the Load and Haul Railroad; I can't remember which came out first. They're 18 or 19 years old, and have sat untouched for years. I definitely got my use out of them. I never considered taking them apart to clean them. I'll try and track down that thread. Thanks for letting me know about that! And thanks again to everyone for their input and help.

Thanks. This is the cord that connects the battery to the motor, I assume?

Excellent. Thank you so much for the response and the help. I really appreciate it. Tim

Hey there, In the early to mid 90's I collected several of the 9v trains which, unfortunately, don't run too well anymore. Over the years I've forgotten about my trains and focused on my other Lego love, castle. But people seem to be giving power functions some favorable reviews, which has kindled an interest to rebuild these old trains and convert them to PF. My problem is, I'm not sure what to buy. I thought about buying one of the new trains out there, but can't afford that expense right now (I'm a full time student). So I went to the power functions and train pages of shop.lego.com, and saw a number of things I'm not sure if I really need; multiple motors, multiple remote controls, a train motor which is different than the other motors, etc. So my question to you experts here: What power functions components do I need for the easiest / cheapest / best setup for converting my old 9v trains to power functions? Please help guide my renewed interest in Lego train. Thanks, Timmay