jonwil

For those wanting a grand emporium, both the Perth CBD store and the Kariynup store said "we have more stock on order" (one store implied they had 4 more sets on order) I suggest calling up your local store and asking if they will be getting more in. Given the limited availability of this set, I hope that AFOLs here arent being greedy and buying multiples when some people cant even get ONE :)

Sad to hear about Dan's passing. Not only BrickLink it a great place to buy and sell LEGO but its the largest online database of LEGO parts and sets in the world (if a part exists, theres a good chance BrickLink can tell you where to get one or even sell you some)

Building an actual Transformer out of LEGO is GREAT. I wish LEGO would get a Transformers license and make some sets that can transform like that.

A couple really cool ads from Australia: This one is a full symphony orchestra playing the theme music for Victoria Bitter beer using bottles of Victoria Bitter beer as instruments. Best Aussie beer ad ever IMO (that one with the beer delivery system from earlier in the thread is cool though) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbGuqmaDgLA This is from QANTAS (national airline of Australia) and features the national boys and girls choirs singing a great Aussie song and doing it in all kinds of locations. Only QANTAS would have the resources (aircraft, routes etc) to pull this off and only QANTAS is respected enough worldwide to get permission to film in the locations they filmed in.

For those looking for the City House, I recommend shopping around. I have seen some stores with stock at RRP, some at RRP+10 and some at RRP-10 (I got mine at RRP-10 from the Claremont store)

Why cant Perth get a LEGO section like that. Although I doubt that a renovated LEGO section could make up for the lack of stock... The LEGO section in both DJs and MYER in Perth has definatly gotten smaller in the time since I have been collecting (back when MYER had its section on the top floor, it was definatly larger and DJs hasn't moved, just had LEGO replaced by other toys)

I think the new grating piece from Kingdoms would be good for the door of the Rancor pit.

I picked up the City House from Toyworld in Claremont today with a price tag of $59.99 (that is $10 less than RRP). Both Fremantle and Subiaco also had stock but Claremont was the store that was open late enough for me to get there after work. Given the report from elsewhere that its being sold at some stores for $10 above RRP, my suggestion is to call all the stores you are in a position to get to and see who has it at the best price. Also, David Jones (Karryinup anyway) had 2 Atlantis activity books, one came with a shark-head minifig and the other one had a squid figure.

The closest you can get to a piano keyboard in LEGO are these 2 tiles: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=2431pb69 http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=6636pb14 and the sticker sheet they come from: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=5942stk01

Very nice holdens you got there. Must take some photos of my Holden Dealer (once I rebuild it after stepping on it last night by mistake)

Do you have any of the checkered flag pieces from various racing themed sets? If you do, putting a couple on the roof near the edges might look good.

Went to Toyworld Midland yesterday to look for the house and they were CLOSED :( Most of the Toyworlds around here are hard to get to :( Wouldn't surprise me if LEGO corporate is only allocating small quantities of this set to Australia and redirecting supplies to other countries (it may only have had a small initial production run too with production time being allocated to more important things like Hero Factory and Harry Potter)

Great figs, you should do some x-men figs next...

Anyone in Perth who wants Figures series 2, Target in Midland has good stock on the shelf in the LEGO section. No full boxes but something like 3 partial boxes.

A small airport would look good in your town LT. Gotta have somewhere for the RFDS to land when there is an emergency... :)

The new ribbed columns would be PERFECT for a modular bank. Would look great in tan or light bley (or even white like Gringotts) and could include all sorts of architectural elements. The set could include an armored car, ATM, bank vault (with big round door) and managers office (with fancy desk) plus lots of the greeen 100 note tiles. (maybe some gold bars, gold coins or gemstones too) Figs included could be: Bank manager (in a suit of course) Bank teller Armored car driver Security guard plus 2 or 3 customers

True, the last backhoe loader was in 2003. But we have had a backhoe or front end loader of some kind every year since then. There are so many wonderful things TLG could be doing in Technic (and have been doing in the past) instead of the same thing again and again.

What is being used for the pen in the guys hand?

You need a big-screen TV hanging in the bar for the punters to watch the sport on. Maybe a pool table in the space upstairs... You also need some beer signage (bar mat maybe?) matching whatever brand of beer you like (or that fits with the location of your town)

Bah, these sets are no good. We get YET ANOTHER small helicoptor (in fact, its red just like the one from 2010) We get YET ANOTHER backhoe (again, we just had one) Yet another crane Plus we get a "supercar" thats nothing like the classic supercars (8865 test car, 8880 supercar, 8448 super street sensation, 8466 4x4 off-roader). Not only that, its red (why is it that LEGO seems to think sports cars are always red or yellow?) Why does LEGO keep producing the same things over and over? (and in the same colors too) Why not some different colors for once? (for example, I think the supercar would look cooler say black)

Green is not possible as the mudguard does not exist in that color.

That light brick needs a "warning do not stare directly into the light" warning, if you look at it directly (especially if its close to your face), its blindlingly bright. I agree that it should have been orange but I dont know if orange LEDs exist or how much one would cost compared to the yellow LED.

Blame LEGO Australia for how much stock DJs gets. Seems like DJs only ever gets limited amounts of any exclusives for some reason. On the other hand, if you want a Modular Fire Station, you should have no problems whatsoever finding stock :)

For those who want the Grand Emporium, BUY IT NOW. The David Jones in Perth had 2 in stock, both of which were bought by other local AFOLs (I was there at the time but couldn't afford to buy one after having bought all 6 HP sets and the others had the money so I let them take the 2 sets) The guy at DJs said "the 2 on the shelf are all we have and its unlikely we will be getting any more in". Whether David Jones only orders small amounts of these sets or (more likely) LEGO only gives them small amounts of stock I dont know. So if you are in Perth, dont bother trying to find one locally as there are none left. If you are in the eastern states and can still find stock (and are willing to pay the $250 RRP) BUY IT NOW and dont wait as you will regret it.

Does anyone know of a place that will sell me a Grand Emporium in USD at something approximating US RRP, ship it to Australia and accept my VISA card? Even with the shipping costs, if I can find someone who can supply it, the record high exchange rate means I can make a fair whack of savings compared to even a potential 20% off at David Jones.