talos

Did this thread trigger a banner change? haha... Summer weather lasts till almost November here in Calif.

This story popped up on me today, its about the dying American dream and they use Lego and minifigs in the video. I thought some might like to see it too. Here is the link... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/american-dream-illustrated-with-legos-brookings-200611923.html

I went to the LEGO store at Disneyland last week, we went in the evening, about 9PM and what a mad house it was, packed with people. I still got one staff person ask me if I was finding what I wanted. We went back again in the morning, a couple days later and it was 100% better, not a crowd and I got helped by 3 different staff, all very nice, informative. Only negative was they didn't have the large pick a brick cups, but would give a discount on filling 2 of the small cups. I wonder if that is because its prone to huge crowds most of the time and spillage.

I never seem to have enough 2x2 dark bluish gray tiles either. The ones used in sidewalks on the modulars..

Here in my town, which is mostly a suburb, there are just a few, and they are all in residential areas, so not a lot of traffic. They do cause problems because they are rare and unfamiliar to people. Around here, even a 4-way stop sign is a challenge for a lot of the peeps...LOL We have to endure a lot of speed 'humps' to slow them down...

I used to use the dining table, but that became off limits after a while, so I set up part of my spare bedroom where my computer and desk are located. The bed is now buried in set boxes to be built and pick a brick cups. I have a spare computer table that has a pull out keyboard tray that works great for having the instruction book if I am building a set, or a sorting tray that I can pull out to get parts. I have one overfilled box of storage drawers on the side of the table too. My next improvement is a better light. The task light I have now is not so great, especially after dark, and there isn't any extra light coming from the window. I can just roll the chair from work table to desk as needed. The teak table is great too since its super durable and can work on it and not do any damage.

I counted I have 14 unbuilt sets backlogged...It started out as one that I kept postponing and then a lot of new sets came out and I would see other older sets I missed out on BrickLink and would buy, next thing I know, its 14 piled up.. I will have more time this winter to work on some of them. They keep bringing out more and more sets I want to get. I haven't scavenged any sets, only bought a second copy to use for MOC parts. I bought a second Town Hall just for the parts, for my MOC that is on Ideas as a project. I had enough parts left over to build one more building for my modular city. I have 2 other duplicates for future MOC's too.

I just got back from Disneyland and went to the Lego Store there, and wanted to pick up the VW Van, and they didn't have any; and I asked about it and they told me they weren't going to get any more, its soon to retire. So I am going to pick one up from S@H, its still available there...

In my experience, PAB didn't have nearly any of what I needed. I found everything on BL. I guess it all depends on what you need. The time delay and extra hassle with PAB are other negatives for me using it.

I like it, more or less. I look at the enormous looking clock face from the Town Hall set, and wonder why they couldn't of made the building just a little larger to be in better scale with it...oh well..maybe I will modify it.

I had not heard of the Serious Play line, till I saw them on Amazon. Realizing they are meant for corporate meeting team building exercises..so are meant to be bought by companies as a business expense and more willing to pay the high price... I wonder what companies buy them? My company only had silly putty and crap like that ;-)

I just today also got an apology email from TLG about not receiving any order confirmation emails for my last order, which was back on 18 July, here is the text: We apologize that due to a technical error with our email system between July 31 and August 7, you may not have received an order status, or shipping confirmation email regarding your order. If you have not received your order, you may check the status by visiting our Order Status Page. Here is some additional information on what your order status means: Your order will show a status of "Customer Service" during the review process and we will contact you only if there are any problems, in which case the status would change to "Please Contact Customer Service." If your status is "In Process," then your order has been reviewed and is ready for shipping. Once your order is "In Process," we cannot make any changes to the order. When your order ships, the status will change to "Shipped" and a tracking number will made available. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you for being a valued LEGO® shopper. Sincerely, Your LEGO® Customer Service Team I knew enough from past experience that it happens sometimes, and kept checking the status..glad to see they know and are trying to remedy things...

Once a project gets to 1K views, it stops showing the increasing numbers, until another 1K. Its hard to follow how many exactly have viewed a project between those increments. I think that is a flaw. Ideas is a nice idea with lots of flaws. The only real way to get more hits and support is to keep making updates to the project, that makes it pop up on the activity feed. Otherwise, it slowly sinks into the quicksand of a million projects... I have tried to drum up interest in my project, but its hard. There is a much larger group of supporters for certain categories than for the one I am in, which is buildings/modulars. The game is stacked against my type of project ever getting very far. I also foolishly didn't research the right tags to add to my project, and once its in there, it is set in stone, and you can't change anything about the initial posting, the text, photos or tags. I think that is kind of unfair. But I guess, live and learn...if I ever bother to try again with another project.

I have never thought of 'power functions' as a theme...it is a 'category' on the Lego site...an accessory or add on thing..

I have noticed things go from available September 15 to Available August 15 in one day and then the next day to being available now..lol, I think its all very conservative and really not that accurate what they put on the availability, just keep checking it... :-) Like others say too, it can go in the opposite direction, keep getting pushed farther into the future..

I too have not gotten an email sent after placing an order, but checking the order status should show 'customer service' first, then changes to 'processing' then last 'shipped' when a tracking number is added to the order summary. The only time VIP points are added to your account is when you make a purchase at a Lego store. The online takes at least 24 hours to show up, and only after the order is shipped. I have never ordered anything on backorder before, so would like to know how that is handled too. I always wait until it shows up as available and then order.

I just finished assembly of mine, it took about 2 days, with constant interruptions. I am really happy with how it turned out. The jerky steering was a worry, but I found if you keep it moving before hitting the steering control, its not that big of a deal looks pretty smooth, need to learn to plan the path ahead, so can steer on the move. It is weird how the extra parts I ended up with are exactly the same as in the review. I always thought there was some randomness about it...I also thought I might of left a black pin out somewhere, I found it sitting where it shouldn't of been after one of my innumerable interruptions..but I have the same number left over...whew...LOL. Now I need to go clean off the tires, after a couple complete circuits of the house, I realize I need to vacuum up the pet hair...arghh. I did a test too, it kept going about 5 feet out of my view into another room before it stopped, that seems pretty good for the IR functionality... Mine is also V1, far as I can tell..

I went down to my nearest Lego store and got the Technic Volvo (42030) busy day there with all the new sets available.

I saw everything become available late last night, but figured it would be no big deal to wait till this morning, but aha, so many things were out of stock already..including the Technic Volvo I wanted to get. I sort of wanted to go to an actual store anyway, so I did today, and they were selling pretty fast, but they had the Volvo in stock, they told me they had a lot of them in the back. While I was there, the shelf emptied out, but they refilled it again... I am so glad there is a store within driving distance! I got another mini Mini too, (min $99 purchase)

I just got home from the Lego store near me, and it was a pretty busy place. I bought the Technic Volvo, and they were flying off the shelf, at $250, I was a little awed..but then again...ahem... They did give me the mini Mini as a freebie, I have 2 of them now.. Its a minimum $99 purchase to get one in the US.

I just got back from my Lego store, and they had 2 on the shelf, I took one and then the other one was gone.. they had only been open about an hour. I have never had to stand in that long of a line to pay either! I asked and they said they had a lot of them in stock, and they refilled the shelf right away.

It is different here in the US, you only get the free mini Mini if you buy the Mini, it doesn't get added to the order otherwise. The free Shredder minifig must be ended also, its not getting added either.

I accidentally walked into my table in the dark, I forgot I had opened up the leaf, and it was in the way and bam! I have a pretty good bruise on my leg, and it knocked over every single minifig that was standing up. All the buildings survived, so Lego is earthquake proof..haha, this is Calif. earthquake country after all... :-)

http://www.thebrickfan.com is always up to date.

That is the feature that makes them modular, that you can easily remove the floors to get inside. All of them have the 1x4 plates with 2 studs to make them easily dismantled. I never noticed that the lamp post on PR was raised..I just went and looked at mine...I wonder if that was just a mistake? Or is it because its next to the bench, and it looked better to be taller? I know the sets that I have that have a fire hydrant, I have added a 1x1 plate under them to bring them up to the level of the sidewalk tiles...maybe that is what they wanted to achieve.. Maybe the future models will be raised up? Hmm..need to watch that in the future.. :-)