rob-cubed
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Everything posted by rob-cubed
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The studs up or down on flowers thread got me to thinking... I have an itching desire to know why the "plant flower stem with three large leaves" is identified as"x8" in the various brick directories: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=x8 It seems to be originally associated with the "girly" sets like Scala and Belville, which do have other parts starting with an "x" though that naming convention follows no rhyme or reason. For example, some Scala-specific parts begin with "scl" and others that are unique to that line are regular old numbers. Can any LEGO historians shed light on what the logic was behind these catalog names and why they would have used the "x#" numbering system on just a handful of completely dissimilar elements? -
Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion
rob-cubed replied to The Jersey Brick Guy's topic in LEGO Town
^^ From what I understand, there is no planned retirement date. LEGO produces a bunch, and when the last one sells out it's retired. If it's an unpopuar set or if the production run is bigger, it may take longer to retire. 2-3 years on average. If you just got Grand Emporium, that's good since it'll likely be the next to sell out. Fire Brigade *just* retired, but you can still get one at a premium and they won't get any cheaper moving forward. EDIT: I don't know that Town Hall is bad per se, just more expensive and the play value isn't as high as other sets. -
EB Members Trading Collectable Minifigs Portal
rob-cubed replied to WhiteFang's topic in Buy, Sell, Trade and Finds
I'm specifically looking for the Roman-themed CMFs but I've listed a few others on my want list. Happy to entertain any trades in the US. --------------------------------- Here's what I have, all minifigs are complete with accessories except the Genie, who is missing his lamp: SERIES 3: - Fisherman - Race Car Driver SERIES 4: - Ice Skater - Punk Rocker - Sailor - Surfer Girl SERIES 5: - Cave Woman SERIES 6: - Genie (no lamp) - Mechanic SERIES 12 (LEGO Movie): - Cardio Carrie SERIES 13 (Simpsons): - Homer (x3) - Marge (x3) - Milhouse - Scratchy (x2) ---------------------------- Here's what I want: SERIES 1: - Skater SERIES 2: - Spartan Warrior SERIES 6: - Roman Soldier SERIES 9: - Roman Emperor SERIES 10: - Roman Commander - Librarian SERIES 11: - Pretzel Girl - Sax Player -
I grew up in the south, so this one really hits home for me. Bonfire tailgating... Really nice job. It'd be nice if you made the front grill more... grill-like... but really loving this basic design. If you don't have the neckbead and coonskin cap from the LEGO CMF Wiley Fuse Bot, those parts would be *awesome* as part of your minifigs.
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Wow, great! Very realistic details in a (fairly tiny but functional) 6-wide!
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Great job on a rustic diner! Very realistic layout and details. Maybe add a few items on the dining area... napkin holder, condiments, food? Those diners look awfully hungry... Brick on!
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That is one heck of a burger! Really nice job, the shrubbery and interior are perfect. Just needs a little more grease on the interior walls... LEGO should do more "classic" reboots like this one.
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Another way of looking at it... it's the buyers who are actually paying high prices that are greedy! Resellers are just reacting to demand. I left my dark ages too late for the beginning of the modulars and missed out on Cafe Corner and Green Grocer. I brick-build GG... and because of my own greed, I'm sure the cost of available 1x8 sand green and 1x2 groove bricks went up on the secondary market. I recognize I'm one half of the equation that makes retired sets or rare parts so expensive and creates the market that the resellers are targeting.
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Most CMF resellers will open packages to confirm, since the bumpcodes can be difficult to read and they want to be sure you are getting what you paid for. Most will tape the original polybag back up, others will repackage in new baggies. It seems odd to me that they just threw everything in a big bag... that's not "normal" in my experience. But it's pretty labor-intensive to flip minifigs for only $1 markup each... so they just got lazy when it came to repackaging everything carefully.
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OK, so, I'm going to have to head down there for "booze and bricks"... too bad it's 40 minutes from where I live...
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Small world! I've been there before, he strikes me as more of a fan supporting his own habit than trying to retire off of it. If you don't care about getting the minifigs, you can actually get a pretty good deal on new sets at a reduced price. You can even buy just one vehicle from a set. The full sets he does sell at a slight markup over retail but it's usually still cheaper than Toys R Us prices. Frankly I'd rather go to his place than the nearby LEGO store, because he carries some used/retired stuff as well. IMO he's in the same league as the people who buy bulk lots off Craigslist or at yard sales and then part them out for a small profit. Most of those guys also fall into the hobbyist camp and are providing a service back to the community. I don't feel he falls into the "greed" category because he's not sitting on a lot of NIB sets but immediately flipping them. There's clearly a market for it, and parents seem to be thrilled to be able to get "cheap" LEGO from him.
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I met a guy from Mattel who bought some LEGO for play testing
rob-cubed replied to legoman19892's topic in Community
Nothing like a little market research. At least the guy was honest! Some of the "off" brands make good basic bricks... Cobi's are nearly as good as LEGO in my opinion, and even duplicate the tiny italic letters on the studs. The ones in common colors like black and white are hard to tell apart... :-) -
Beautiful work on everything! The crenellations and inset wall bits are really nice. So much to like here, my favorite is the Tudor-style addition on top. Do any of the towers come apart to expose interiors?
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This is a great point. Certainly many of the more expensive retired sets would be cheaper to recreate if more part/color combos were available, and this would remove much of the speculative value for investors. However, I think it's in LEGO's best interest to keep certain part/color combos rare. This ensures certain retired sets retain their value (making me more willing to part with my hard-earned cash on the next one). It also creates artificial demand when a rare part is included in a new set. I know LEGO claims that us AFOLs are a tiny fraction of total sales, but it seems like some of their marketing tactics are pretty honed to adult sensibilities and finding that right balance between scarcity and demand to allow them to tease out the most retail profit. Especially when it comes to sets containing those rare colors/parts. I've considered buying a second Parisian Restaurant just for the OD Green bricks, which may or may not make it into future sets.
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Serious question about Lego flowers
rob-cubed replied to BirdOPrey5's topic in General LEGO Discussion
Both! The variety looks more natural. As an avid gardener (about all I've been doing every weekend for a month now) stud-up looks mature and stud-down looks like a flower that's just opened. Mix them up! I really appreciate the various flower styles included in Friends and Belville sets and wish they'd use them in "non-girly" sets. I'm dying to have a tulip flower mold. LEGO, you listening!?! -
Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion
rob-cubed replied to The Jersey Brick Guy's topic in LEGO Town
PR does look a little out of place, but no more than Market Street or even Palace Cinema. What got me into modulars were the architecture. I'm glad there is a Parisian-style building and another that feels like it belongs on a street in Hollywood. The PR while smaller, is packed with cool details. But I might be a little biased because I love French food. :D The next modular could be a modern building or something completely out-of-era to the 1930s/40s that the modulars have thusfar adhered to. I'm OK with that. It doesn't mean I'll buy it, but I like options. As long as we keep buying modulars, LEGO will keep producing new ones. Variety is the spice of life. -
As long as the other copycats are nipping at LEGOs heels, it benefits all of us. The amount of detail in LEGO sets and minifigs has grown exponentially over the last few years, driven partly by the higher level of realism seen in their competitor's stuff. I don't think it's done much to push down LEGOs retail prices, unfortunately, given the fact that sales are driven largely by themes these days. People who buy "off brands" do it for two reasons: they are cheaper, or they offer something LEGO doesn't. Which in many cases is military-themed sets LEGO won't touch. I think the one down-side to competition is that it has become all about licensing and not the brick itself: so in the near future, a competitor may land a license for a hot property. Scooby Doo comes to mind, I'm dying for a Mystery Machine set from LEGO but I doubt they'd touch it while CB/Cobi has a set on the shelves. Competition for licenses may actually drive costs up a little. But in my mind, the more competition the better.
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I like the fact that certain sets gain value after retirement. I spend way too much money on LEGO... so it sure does feel like an investment whether I plan to profit on it or not. If I can sell a retired set I no longer want for 2-3x what I paid for it, great. That's found money to spend on more LEGO. I bought the Simpsons set to build, take apart, and sell in 3-4 years. I wouldn't be as willing to pay $150+ for a modular that quickly devalued to it's actual worth... which is just a bunch of plastic bits. LEGO has clearly put some thought into the lifecycle and retirement of sets and how that affects the secondary market, and perception of their retail prices. The hard-core "investors" are definitely creating a bit of a bubble for the rest of us, but it's the people paying the high prices for retired sets that are really driving all of this. We can complain about it as hobbyists but ultimately we're the ones responsible for it.
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Modular Building Sets - Rumours and Discussion
rob-cubed replied to The Jersey Brick Guy's topic in LEGO Town
I hope it's more 16-wides like PS. These come the closest to feeling like a real city street, especially the use of a ground floor for a commercial space with residential above it. I know it's not "modular" but an iconic diner like this is high on my want list: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/56095 Though it's disappointing Nathan's diner isn't getting more votes, so maybe I'm in the minority on this one. Either way, I'm excited to see what's next. -
Thanks for posting that! I have to get busy on tweaking it based on all the good feedback thusfar.
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There are two good reasons I can think of: one is to create a more solid model that will stand up to play... the exosuit is a prime example of a MOC that looked great but fell apart too easily and needed to be tweaked. The second reason is to reduce cost... the chrome parts would come at a premium and don't hold up well to play so they were likely first to go, and sizing the car down slightly saved some bricks. I do love the idea of getting a digital download of the original to go with the official instructions though!
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I rarely buy multiples of anything, but this set is THAT cool. So pleased to see there are no stickers, and the instructions look to be very well designed and are perfect-bound which is a nice touch for a change even if it sounds like they haven't worked out how much glue to use to keep it together... Only a little disappointed in the final build... Brent's original hood contour, red fins, and chrome details were nicer than the LEGO-approved version, and the original hair on Venkman was spot-on. Hopefully they'll invest in a new, balding hair pattern in the future that we can retrofit him with. Nice job to everyone involved in this project, including WhiteFang's great review!
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Charming! Nice job on the interiors, I like the modern/Asian drawers tucked under the stairs and the sliding glass door. The lack of fireplaces is amusing given that you have chimneys.
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Modulars have begun to gravitate to a certain scale where the Town Hall should stand out as a little taller, wider, and more important. But in a real city, sometimes the seat of authority gets dwarfed by skyscrapers. I'm not sure there is a simple answer to this other than, build what you want. If it feels right, it is.
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Looks great! Hopefully the interior has a nice level of detail. I normally don't like brick-built animals but the reindeer are pretty cute. Mrs. Claus is perfect, love the apron.