jonwil

I do wonder if the reason the site is disabled is because they have all these parts in their database that are marked as "in stock" when in fact they either don't have the part or they have it but aren't allowed to sell it (and hence they need to clean up the database before they have all these people ordering things that they then can't actually sell)

I just hope that once its all fixed the parts I want to order (including roller coaster track) are still for sale.

Too bad Mega owns the license for Futurama (unless that's changed recently)

Still not letting me in here in Australia (with the same yellow "its offline" box)

Not sure a project based on a music video featuring the members of Queen in drag is a good fit for the LEGO brand. Of course if by some miracle LEGO does decide to turn it into a set, I will be at the LEGO store day one to buy it since I love all things Queen :)

It has now shipped :)

I have had no issues with the site generally although they still haven't shipped the order I placed on Sunday (or given any indication its being processed)

Looks like my only hope is if LEGO fixes the site or if someone out there has a backdoor into a working Australian B&P cart item.

I have the purple Metalbeard mech on order from Shop @ Home here in Australia (ordered on Sunday although it hasn't shipped yet for some reason, already knew from talking to the Dreamworld store that the sets weren't comming to Oz)

Still haven't found a way to get into the site that shows prices in $A :(

If there was a way I could see prices in $A for parts (to avoid buying parts that cost too much or that are way cheaper on Bricklink and to see what's in stock vs not in stock) I would definitely try a phone order.

Looking at whats in the review, I doubt the Space Shuttle will make it (they already said something about the space shuttle being ruled out due to the Women of NASA set plus this one just looks too big even compared to something like the Saturn V Rocket). And they have done space shuttles in the past (including at least one that was actually NASA licensed and had real NASA logos on it IIRC) Thunderbirds could work if the license can be secured (don't know how likely that is) and if the vehicle can be done in a size that doesn't make the set too big/expensive. Pursuit of Flight seems great, its different and small enough to be worth making into a set. History museum is another "modular" and LEGO doesn't seem inclined to do anything in that size/form factor in Ideas. The Office might work (depending on licensing) although its a fair bit bigger than both Big Bang Theory and Friends which is a negative. Haven't watched enough of the show to know if its got any content that may not be appropriate. Medieval Blacksmith looks too big and detailed (bigger and more detailed than things like the Fishing Store for example) Winnie the Pooh comes down to Disney and licensing I suspect (that and whether Winnie the Pooh fits better with Duplo than LEGO given the previous Winnie the Pooh Duplo sets) NASA Spacecraft will probably be ruled out (too similar to other NASA stuff they have already done) Haunted Mansion could work although the size (and whether it conflicts with what they are doing on the Disney d2c sets going forward) might rule it out. The Dwarves House looks cool and would probably make a great set (its not so big as to be a problem but its got all the details it needs to work (again licensing will factor in here although they did use Snow White in a Disney Princess set so there's that)

If it has more torque (from the second motor) it should be able to perform better (same as how towing a 3000kg payload with a 2000kg-rated tow vehicle will be a lot harder than towing the same payload with a 3000kg-rated tow vehicle because the heavier rating means more torque and motor power)

In terms of neck print vs no neck print, from the 16 I bought (some of which are duplicates) the shower guy, gamer, explorer, space guy, bear suit guy and firefighter have neck prints. The coder, rugby player, gardener, dog walker, mountain biker and pizza suit guy have no neck print (although plain torsos dont have neck prints in general AFAIK) I did not buy the knight, monkey guy, mummy, or fox costume so I can't comment on whether those have neck prints or not (although the above image suggests the actual parts for both the fox and mummy do have the neck prints)

From memory there were a few that had some parts in inner plastic bags (the mountain biker was definitely one and there was one more that I can't remember, possibly the gardener or bear suit guy)

Can I use the remote control (I dont have a device that can run the Powered Up app) to run both motors? I guess I will have to lay some track on the floor of my garage (since its the only space I have that's large enough to run enough track for a proper test) and then see how the second motor affects the speed and pulling power of my train.

Bright orange for arctic/snow type vehicles is absolutely realistic IMO (lots of arctic vehicles exist in bright colors, mostly to make them stand out really well against the white snow and be more easily seen if there is low visibility). Even tents and structures can be in bright colors for the same reasons. I do agree that the color used for the jungle and volcano vehicles isn't all that realistic but at the same time, would the Jungle Explorer sets have been as popular with kids if they had been in earth green or sand yellow or dark bluish grey?

Even if I couldn't actually place an order right now, being able to see what price things are on Bricks & Pieces (for the Australian store and in Australian Dollars) would help me figure out what to order from BrickLink and what's so expensive on BrickLink that waiting for B&P to open up for orders again makes more sense...

I was able to place my sets order (PU motor and the purple Metalbeard mech) yesterday so that's working for me at least.

I have a train that is rather heavy and at the last train show it was running slowly and draining batteries fast. Is it possible to add a second Powered Up motor (plugged into the other slot on the battery box) and would that be likely to make the train run any better? I just ordered a second motor from Shop @ Home so hopefully it will make my train run better...

I doubt they would be opening new parts distribution centres, having more than what they have now just increases costs (having to ship parts to each of the parts centres, paying the running costs of those centres etc) and also increases the chance that parts are out of stock and people can't get what they want (or need in the case of "my new set has a missing/broken part"). I decided not to wait any longer and ordered the Powered Up train motor I need plus the purple Metalbeard mech I wanted (which isn't comming to Australia even to the LEGO Certified stores)

Because a company as big as LEGO clearly has an incompetent development team and IT department that can't do something as simple as run an online store in 2019, LEGO is going to lose out on $100-$200 (or maybe more) worth of parts order from me (and I am sure I am not alone) Unless there is something else going on and the current "offline" status is for reasons other than technical problems...

Picked mine up yesterday. So many fabulous pieces in here although I didn't think rugby players wore headgear (at least I haven't seen any when I see rugby on the TV) I love that the fire fighter could fit right alongside the 2019 fire sets and not look out of place. As for using Friends animals outside of Friends I think the only example is the bird in Steamboat Willie and that actually fits given the very cartoonish nature of the original source material.

Looks like (probably due to the issues they are having with payment) they have completly disabled Bricks & Pieces online and direct you to call and place an order if you really want parts. Me, I am going to place a Shop @ Home order for a couple things (a second Powered Up motor I need for my train and the purple Metalbeard mech which isn't being sold in Australia at all even at the LEGO store) and then use Bricklink to buy whatever parts from my wish list rather than waiting for LEGO to sort out B&P or try and make a phone or email order.

I have every City police station they made except that one with the light-up cop minifig and the re-issue of that same set without the light-up cop minifig (and if I can ever track down the light-up cop set at a reasonable price I would want it to complete the collection). I love LEGO police stations, they can often be great parts packs for the things I build. We know nothing about next years police station (size, price, piece count, features, what it looks like) and I already know I want it for my collection. I also absolutely do want to see an xtra road sign set with lots of signs, sign bases and stickers for those signs. Same with a flag set that could include a bunch of flags and flagpoles and a bunch of stickers of different national flags (they better not leave Australia off the list if they do it)