Toastie

Whoa! That could develop into a true fun discussion!!! I believe there are exactly 41 threads on this issue here on EB ... this thread could thus give the answer to everything! Some weird machine is also still deeply thinking about this issue, I was told. Maybe we'll have to wait, but maybe this thread, #42, will reveal the secret! Just to fire this up: The real question is: Does a plural of LEGO exist at all? This would mean that there are several LEGO companies? Possibly in other universes? See here: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/lego-group/the-lego-group-history Regarding true AFOLs, LEGO should be all caps, shouldn't it? As per the other discussions here on EB: It appears as if there are no Legos on this planet or even this universe, there are only LEGO bricks ... or plates, or, well pieces. And finally: I absolutely don't care. In my world, I have Legos from LEGO - and Pantasies from Pantasy - or Mouldkings from MouldKing. I do also refer to bricks from the latter as "sort of Legos" or Solegos. Sometimes even Legos. And yes, LEGO can sue me for that, so I only do that in private. (I am just kidding!!!) Here is to feeling good Best Thorsten

For me, there were too many colors, when they added more to red, yellow, green, blue, black, white, gray: I am color-"blind" - at a rather advanced scale. With the former palette, I never had much trouble; with what is currently available, I just installed a container for unidentified (possibly extraterrestrial) plastic pieces, or UPPs. From time to time, my daughters skim it and "click" pieces of the same color together. These go into the identified plastic pieces container as IPPs . When there are enough IPPs with a color name tag on the batch, I may use them ... And yes this is my very personal problem, I learned to live with "it" and actually have a lot of fun with "it". Just one example: On one ASMS conference in the US, I was selected as judge for best poster presentation. When that very friendly person explained to me, where my batch of posters was, she referred to the color coding (ASMS assembles some 7000 people each year). I said, that I am so sorry, but I am color-blind, just give me the poster numbers. She replied: "Oh dear, I am so sorry, do you need a wheelchair?" In Northern Germany we have a saying, that "you look like a cow when there is thunder to be heard". That was definitely my look. Much later, I got it and burst into laughter, leaving people around me with a look, cows show, when there is thunder ... Here is to the colors, cows, thunder, and to feeling good! All the best Thorsten

The Internet Archive seems to be another good place for archiving/preserving, doesn't it? It works perfectly well for pre-1990 "electronic" LEGO stuff, such as the Technic Control (4.5V) line - thanks to folks like @evank and others. Best Thorsten

@Auroralampinen Thank you very much for that screenshot! I really appreciate it. Best wishes Thorsten

@Auroralampinen Thank you very much for your note!!! I don't have Facebook - this is nice to know! Hey, then they may like my motorization of the Pantasy Steam Punk Air Ship (#85021) as well - I shall post a few photographs here in this forum as well. The air ship's Tenka motors (one for the propellers and one for turning it around in the air above the suspended train rails) are as well integrated into the remotely controlled (ESP32) and automated train operation. All the best Thorsten

Well, have you seen this? It is from early 2024 ... All the best Thorsten

Sorry, Ben, this small thing simply did not happen ... ... in contrast, it was an earthquake-like thing that happened: Wonderful wheels of all sizes, >perfectly< made, with >superior< service. It is a big, a very big role you had and will have in the LEGO train hobby. All the very best for whatever you will be doing Yours Thorsten P.S.: Yes, your wheels on a copy of Ben Beneke's 23 taught me: There is more. There always is, but you need to dream it up ...

Conclusion: You made it. Not only that, you blew it out of the water!!! This is so nice - building-wise (I could never do) as well as esthetically. Wow. The long time was absolutely worth waiting for: You created a masterpiece. Congratulations on your achievement!!! All the best Thorsten

Hi Sven, no, I don't like it. I simply love it. Man ... All the best Thosten

These are really cool. The best part is that Code Pilot rotation wheel - this means it can connect to the C/P brick! Wonderful. All the best, and be the Steam Punk with you! Thorsten

Amen to that - this is exactly what I have decided on maybe three years ago. For me, it was the Pantasy Steam Punk Train Station. The Steam Punk Air Ship is now circling over the train station ... while the train is moving back and forth (Oh, I sometimes buy used (and old) LEGO) All the best Thorsten P.S.: Looking forward to your reviews!

Hi Alex, no idea - maybe others here know more! I once opened a 9V mini-motor, and I believe I have the deteriorated ring magnet in my workshop - as show-and-tell object. The CyberMaster magnets appeared to be identical, however I got so damned frustrated when trying to get it out, that I broke stuff and then tossed it into the trash. OK, as good German, into the who-knows-what-this-is electronics recycling trash. Since the MircroScout runs on 3V power, I believe that the magnets in there could be different from the ones in 9V motors - if there are such magnets. I have no clue, sorry. So far, MicroScout motors never failed on me - there are about 8 of them here. Are you sure it is such a magnet, that stalls your MicroScout motor? Man, that would be bad - as this failure seems to be simply a matter of time - and karma. I should have documented my terrible failure in the CyberMaster unit. All the best Thorsten

In that case, I believe (for "sure") that it will work. Never tried, but these plates are so "soft". For anything else, I'd go with @Mylenium's advice. Best Thorsten

My trick is: Simply ignore the link and just enjoy the presentation. It always worked so far ... Best Thorsten

That's 53 years ago - I simply don't remember ... so I replied "no". But who knows ... To be honest, for me, LEGO is just some sort of “enabling” building method. Right now, I am using LEGO gear racks, the "enclosed" old worm gear drive, Technic bushes, wooden and metal pieces, Tenka Cubic elements and a lot of other stuff, to simply get my Pantasy Steam Punk Airship up in the air and circling the layout below ... Have fun and all the best Thorsten

of the good'ol days, right? Back in 12V world, we were listening to long, medium, and short wave radio. On LW/AM, badly maintained 12V trains, trailed by sparks flying all over the layout (OK, that's a bit exaggerated ) seriously jammed reception. Best Thorsten Does this translate to one train moves "forward" in the direction - let's call it left - when applying + voltage to the rails, whereas the other train does move right upon the same voltage (i.e., the plugs on your 12V train motors are reversed)? If so, the passing loop should work. I believe ... Best Thorsten

Done. Good luck on your research project! All the best Thorsten

@Shiva thank you very much; I read that Wikipedia article, but missed that part! @Nikonissen now it makes perfect sense! Thank very much as well! All the best Thorsten

Nice! Sometimes (but rarely) I pick up a copy in one of the - mostly grocery - stores around here. Are these magazines actually made by TLG? The imprint suggests not, as far as I remember (I recycle the magazines and just keep the instruction pages and file them - in an orderly fashion - literally “away” — for whatever reason. Hmmm — maybe I should seek professional advice ) I guess these are TLG endorsed magazine outlets or such? Best Thorsten

This a such unbelievably nice locomotive. As I said above, you captured it so perfectly ... no idea, how that can be done ... I just returned from wonderful family vacation (the > 30th time Fanø, we are all totally in love with); earlier watched some trains in Esbjerg's station arriving/leaving upon returning from a day trip to Billund ... spotted two trains, which were also running in Miniland. Never had the chance of spotting an DSB EA. From time to time, we visit my mother living in Rendsburg - some Danish trains are crossing the Kiel Canal over that remarkable bridge ... What I like so much as well is the carefully chosen naming of these beautiful locomotives (Ørstedt, Bohr, Wenck, Rømer ... it goes on and on) - O K Christiansen for your locomotive is absolutely appropriate. And naming it such - with some studs not featuring a logo - just tells so much about the width and depth of your dedication, design skills, building skills, and appreciation. One question: Where does the name "Litra" come from? Again, congratulations. Tipping hat, a slight nod - and a (deep) bow. All the best Thorsten

Well, I only have 3 Pantasy sets (Steam Punk Train Station, Steam Punk Air Ship, and Retro Telephone) - and none came with stickers but many, many prints. I guess stickers are used in the smaller (paly) sets? Oh my goodness - I need to check these components out!!! Thank you very much for posting this! All the best Thorsten

True. My post needs to be more specific and I stand correct: The absorption of window glass strongly depends on the type of glass used for fabricating the window, number of panes, thickness of panes, glass coating of the window surface, age of the glass and coating, among other many things. The other thing is "define UV". One way of categorizing UV is A/B/C. In my lab, we treat "UV" as light with shorter wavelengths than visible light and not passing borosilicate glass (e.g., "Pyrex"). And this is where I got it wrong: Pyrex begins to absorb below 400 nm and is almost fully opaque below 300 nm. 380 - 315 nm is considered as UV-A though. The same holds true to some extent for some window glass material; UV-A does penetrate to some extent through such material, and thus may induce some bond cleavage in polymers such as ABS. Sorry for that wrong statement and thank you very much for pointing it out, @TrexT! Best regards Thorsten

IMHO, Pantasy sets are >all< very quality, with regard to brick quality (GoBricks!), all prints = no stickers , building instructions, excessive usage of gold, silver bricks and plates, building style, and everything else . It's a long - a very long way - to Tipperary. I believe, TLG will never get there (anymore). They don't have the "simply go nuts" folks anymore - if they ever had. No, wrong, the 4.5/12V train theme was "go nuts" TLG improves on selling totally overpriced 18+ sets. The Dark Side ... it is very, very bright over here. I am wearing sunglasses all day and night All the best Thorsten

@HughC thank you very much! I believe that I now get it - the USB converter is USB2TTL, right? I am on vacation right now, but will check that out, when back home. Thanks again and all the best Thorsten