notaromantic

Anyone know part what he's (Xenomurphy) using for the light-pole base here? I'm not sure if it's an octagonal, or cross-shaped brick, or perhaps a round brick picking up the reflection from the one above? Either way, I've looked and looked, and am pretty familiar with the Bricklink inventory and with my parts in general, but cannot seem to find something similar...

Yea, once you go Bricklink, you never go back. I don't use the bay for Lego at all anymore - unless its the random lot score or for something really rare that happens to show up unannounced. And I think many of us here have followed a similar AFOL trajectory. I cannot imagine not having Bricklink. I want it downloaded into my brain, and to be wirelessly accessible without an exterior device. That, and my P-yP-l account, and my Post Office Box... ... and the lamp, and that's all I need. And that's all I need too. I don't need one other thing, not one. Seriously though, if you haven't already: Bricklink.

Several things about this post of yours really moved me. And to see the boxes in the photograph, still there, and now amongst your own work area... Thank you for that. I wish I still had a toy box that my grandfather made for me when I was a boy. It was large enough to sleep in. Really, it was. So I say - one big, huge box. It was so fun digging in that thing.... And, a box disguised, to be part of the decor, or to serve as another piece of functional furniture - that would be even awesome-er. Like a secret stashing place - full of Lego.

Sadly, I think this is just residual of the way that LEGO is marketed these days - more as a playset, rather than as a building set - to a world that seems to want it given to them that way. The majority of it anyway. This is a very impatient age we've cultivated; and its finally hit us where we've casually come to escape it - in the LEGO world. Didn't you see the movie? It was the symbolic bon voyage to the Classic Lego World of the imagination, and the introduction to the corporate Lego world - into the one thats predetermined for us. And of course, that even sounds somewhat paranoid to me - but while typing this, I realize that that really has been the fate of most every line recently - modulars, minifigs, and even the bulk of most brick and mortar store-shelf types of sets. The modulars are sold with a story attached, the minifigs exist in a virtual world and are now associated with certain personalities, and the most popular sets are those set within a licensed world with origins and a scenery of their own. And none of this truly involves a risk or discipline of the imagination... But I digress. I don't have an axe to grind with LEGO, I'll do what I do with LEGO either way, and I'm not one of these people who really has a great concern over what LEGO does or does not do. Its just an impartial view of the way things seem to be all around us.

Could someone explain to me, why it is that so many of the suggestions that arise, when talking about future modulars, seem to be civil/ commercial/ business in nature?I've always found the residential builds to be the more interesting - even going back to my preferences for classic town kinds of sets. The Swiss Villa, Spanish Villa, Bungalow, for instance, always appealed to me way more than any police station, storefront, etc.. ever did. And it seems we have so few of these kinds of modular builds available as official sets these days. And yet, if you browse many of the popular "custom instruction" types of builds that one can find on the bay, most of those are also residences, vs. the latter. I'd like to see more rowhouses, perhaps a brownstone, a painted lady, anything victorian. I guess I've never been one to like to cruise the commercial area of a city to take in its flavor; its always been the historic home districts that wooed me...

"Aaahggg! A chicken with a spear! Whatever in the world could be worse?" A chicken with an axe.

I find it kind of fascinating to see the progression of your "building" - the verb, not the noun. Its disheartening to hear so many new people to LEGO post things about how they are not "as talented as some builders", or how they "don't have the skills of some Lego-ers", and therefore they conclude that they cannot do what others do. Yet, they forget that building, whether in terms of LEGO or any other pursuit, is an active and evolutionary process. Everything requires time, patience, and more importantly, failure. The psychologist Leon Fetzinger posited that perhaps, there is no such thing as "genius", and that it is nothing more than a term used by those who lack the discipline, drive, or whatever you what to refer to it as, to follow through with a process or challenge that at first seems daunting. We tend to forget that every amazing builder has gone through a similar trajectory of trial and error before they honed in on their own potential and were then able to convey that to others with a build that was, to them, successful. I don't believe too many people have just picked up some Lego and were able to instantly create something IDEAS worthy, so to speak. Not unless they were able to bring that experience of trial and error from another place which translated well into this. Most of us have been there, and are there now - in the midst of trying out things, many of which are not notable, to find that place where it begins to gel. So thank you, for sharing your own journey, where it is very clear to see that progression - of a tinkerer blossoming into a builder to contend with. Your city looks beautiful and is a direct reflection of how far you've come along. It really is inspiring to see those first kind of awkward photos alongside the most recent, which are anything but awkward. I find your roofs, something I am struggling with now, to be particularly inspiring. Lovely angles...

Well, I'm not a CITY person myself, so there is absolutely no expertise to be gleaned from my input - however, my first inclination is to say: Why choose between the two? Why not get both and combine them into one awesome building, taking what you like from each respective one?

Well, it does say, in very obvious print, right on the front of the box: "Goes Great With 10246 Detective's Office"...

Scissors = Me happy. This is one of those kinds of sets where, Christmas will make it look better and better and better to even those people who may now think they don't like it. It's really not my cup of tea either, as an 'I'd rather have bare-bones interiors and more focus on architectural design' kind of guy, but if I awoke on Christmas morning and the box was there, I'd be elated. And then I'd put all of the little frilly things in that jar that every AFOL has of all of those little frilly things that really can't be used in building, and the figs would be thrown in that drawer where all the extra figs are, and in time, after modifying it to no end, it would looking nothing like it once did. But that seems to be the beauty of this set. It seems, um, unfinished, I guess. Definitely not a display piece, it's meant to be played with in the way that Lego is meant to be played with. Now give me an architectural line that is minifig scale and we'll be talking...

Absolutely beautiful. An entire street of Gray-scale would be phenomenal. I think I'll try the Haunted House in gray-scale - thinking an HH in Mearsk Blue and Dark Red might actually be affordable is losing ground with me. Have you seen this before? "Lego Fan in Sad City" (Credit to Anne Mette V - Thank you.) I had a a grand reaction to it fist time I stumbled across it: https://www.flickr.c...57635100194498/ I believe there is a thread somewhere here dedicated to it; search function didn't reveal it yet, though.

I am making a hissing sound at this comment, like my cat does to me when I smell bad. I just can't comprehend its non-appeal. The red spaceman was, is, the absolute best of figs - ever. This summer, I had to find all of the classic colors of Spacemen, with pristine logos, because I was afraid they would be becoming very scarce, if not expensive, in the future. Glad I did. Only the white and black are comparable to the red. Yellow next. The blue, however, never really did settle well with me. But I do think that the Classic Spacemen, in many ways, encapsulated what Lego was really all about when it did finally hit us here in America. Nostalgic - perhaps. Bland - certainly not. Special - definitely.

Open your own Bricklink store. Keep what you want to keep; sell the rest.

I did my own GG, about a year or so ago, in Dark Blue with a White and Dark Red awning. It came out beautiful. Very classy looking, elegant. And I meshed both units of the PS into one, because I liked the first and second floor of the house, but the roof of the pet store - I did it in the grooved tan 1x2's, which believe me, were not cheap, and had to be bought from Germany. And that seemed to start a trend for me of doing the modulars in differing colors than their actual release colors. To bide me over in the interim of releases, I also did the "white picket fences" rowhouse of Kristel's (Thank you Kristel, for the free online instructions!!) in Lime with Brown trim, as well as expanding the Arkham Asylum building into a 48-wide modular. I'll have my girlfriend take some photos for me to post here in the near future. I don't expect that I'll ever be able to build a modular set as sold by TLG. To do so would leave me wanting. There's something about making them "my own" that rolls my socks up and down moreso than just collecting will ever do. My next project will be to do the Haunted House, although unhaunted, in Maersk Blue with Red/ Dark Red trim. Growing up, I had a very dear friend who lived in such a house and it has always preoccupied my memories. But I know trying to find the necessary bricks in Maersk Blue will be quite a chore, so I've been procrastinating starting down that road. Perhaps the snow will motivate me. Another project was to recreate Van Gogh's yellow house - which turned into a cozy little 10-wide Yellow and Green rowhouse. A completely Blue church based off of Brick City Depot's Mansard plans for the Haunted House parts was another project. I have a very eclectic street going on, I'll admit. But it works for me. Thank god for Bricklink. Seriously. And for European Bricklink vendors. The Netherlands' sellers have always been very good to me. Much gratitude for those of you out there that make my AFOL-ing possible. It keeps me sane.

Ah, #886.... And, it was one of the first sets I repurchased after my dark ages ended. I'd love to run across a sealed box for an affordable price. Someday, I'll compose a proggy, atmospheric and chromatic jazz tune and call it "Space Buggy". That's another dream of mine.

There is something about "policing" art that seems to disturb me greatly. I don't buy into your argument. Adeel, I would not change a thing about your arrangement. The neoplasticism is complimented greatly by the wood tones, organic feel, and elegant lines of your easel. It is an artistic statement in itself to have the two supporting and balancing one another. Its reminiscent of the "chairs" produced by fellow De Stijl artist Gerrit Rietveld. And like every artistic movement, theirs was also constantly evolving - so to corner it as having to be this or that goes entirely against what it was. Mondrian also painted a lot of trees, and forest scenes, so I don't believe he would've taken offense against your choice of exhibition. Intentional or not, it says something all on its own about modernity vs. what is "natural". It is a "piece of art" and it exists as such - if you ask me. Art, unlike science, should not suffer from "research"; it must exist in the moment - and be constructed with what the moment has to offer; even the moment's materials. Had he lived much longer, perhaps Mondrian would've chosen to do something similar himself. It is perfect the way it is.... and its now my newest desktop.

You mean Uncle Sam. That would be a cool minifig.

Not enough pink. There, I said it. And believe me, I'm not a Friends enthusiast. Nor a pink enthusiast. But a Pink Pearl, well, it should be pink....

Well, sad as it is to admit, our toys are a direct reflection of our world. And if we wish to correct what disturbs us in our playthings, we should probably correct what is malignant about our society. I find it myself hard to believe that we cannot come up with something more interesting to our reality than cops and robbers - than heroes and villains. And as there is an economy attached to all things modern, when a person is insistent on some kind of infamy or grand validation, they do a subconscious math and find that villainy is both more immediate and less investing than is heroism. You place that equation into a world that wants nothing less than immediate gratification, has no interest in personal disciple, and that has been taught that to step upon others to get what they want is an acceptable thing, and viola - we wonder why tyranny has become such domestic commonplace. Speaking to our own adult paradigm of this, try to find anything else on television but cops and killers. Perhaps, playtime is nothing more than the ways in which our children re-enact and attempt to find a resolution to this situation of ours. But inherently, by doing so, they must place themselves as actors upon that stage. And nobody wants to envision themselves as even second-tier characters. We all want to be the focus. And if it is made to be that difficult, for whatever reason, in the environment that they've been handed off on, to be a hero, villainy seems to suit many just fine - it requires almost no effort and can be manufactured overnight. I think Jung would agree with this. And it is most definitely not some kind of morality lesson, but rather, a moral observation. As much as we'd like to believe that we endorse a world without conflict, one of bicycles and cars and kitchenettes and dolls still, our reality tells us very soberly, that we obviously do not. Conflict is not merely a shameful part of the historic human past, but rather, it is a very current thing...

The little yellow plate-roofed, red-chimneyed house at the far left is adorable. Might have to try that... Better pics anywhere?

Another thing to do is try building a facade or two. Look at your favorite MOC's in detail, with attention to the facade - the number of bricks used to create the color for a wall, the types of doors and windows used, and the ways the overall decor and trim were made. Aside from color, a lot of architectural interest is derived with simple insets and offsets - this is true for much of design. Order enough bricks and parts, etc... to mimic what you see. ALso identify your favorite official LEGO modulars,and then find hi res pictures of them, find their inventories on Bricklink, and find a viewable version of the instructions to the set online. Compare the three with some attention to what you'd need to make something similar. Try one floor, change the color, alter the furniture, etc... Doing this will give you great insight into how the rest of a building can be constructed once you turn the corner, or when you move inward, or upward. It will also give you a taste for searching for parts and ordering them, which is what most of MOC'ing eventually becomes: familiarity with different parts, the ways to connect them, the colors available, the ways to obtain them, their cost and rarity, etc..., etc..., etc... This is when your mind will then begin to envision in more detail, and with more control - when you're able to associate what is in your head with the ways in which to actualize that vision. And pretty soon, it becomes not "...how can I build this?", but rather "...what can I build with this." Familiarity with parts and pieces is crucial to that process. Getting your feet wet into the ocean that is LEGO parts and pieces can only be done that way. Once you begin to recognize parts, you'll began to recognize techniques. Once you recognize techniques, you'll begin to see the whole, and then it is way less daunting than it once was. And then you'll envision your own buildings with more accuracy, and with more precision, imagine the ways to build what you see in the outside world as well. You'll never drive anywhere anymore without thinking - "Hmmm. I bet I can build that in LEGO..." Anyway, kinda' worked for me that way.

Well, the word itself, "building", implies one thing - to build. I agree with many of the replies - time to start building your "buildings". I believe Lego has done their job well - they've provided us with the raw materials, sans of course all of those specific parts we'd all like to see (doors and windows, please...), and they've provided us with a great platform from which to begin. And the Lego community has taken up the slack, meaning that never before have I seen such a plethora of Lego inspiration, tools, and supplies, and other various resources available to an AFOL of experience, or to a budding AFOL. Take advantage of it. Asking LEGO to also provide us with a detailed imagination, or to request that they deliver on all of our own whims, is going a tad too far and seems to actually defeat the purpose that LEGO begin with - to get children, and large children alike, to use their own initiative and take that great leap - to create. You may just feel frustrated, like many of us have and do, caught in that transitory period - between collector and MOC'er. Between "buyer" and "builder". And there, when your buying is not as satisfactory as it once was, and your building gene has been tapped, it is easy to place the blame upon LEGO - for not giving us what we need - to realize our own visions. But then I look around at all of the great, great work being done, using LEGO as an artistic medium, by clearly very artistic people. Which, to me, indicates that it is not the medium which is lacking - but rather, the artist using it. MOC-ing is not an easy task. Art is not an easy task. Creativity is far from an easy task... But at least LEGO engages us in the act. Not many modern companies care to do so, in fact, they'd rather we not think too deeply about what we're doing as long as the $$ is rolling in. The only sad thing is that LEGO has become such a market, that it may price some of us out of working in certain colors. I'm finding it extremely difficult to build in dark red or dark green this year, whereas last year those parts were easily obtainable. But that's another conversation... But then again, hey, if that inflation in price-per-piece is only because there are now more and more people "building", then it can't really be that bad of a thing now, can it?

Bay windows make me drool. They really do. This was a "gateway" set for me, turning me from collector into builder, and it is still the only official Lego modular that I've left somewhat intact - I BL'ed it about a year ago, in differing colors, and with some modifications, intending for it to be a flower shop - and now its a sort-of curio shop on my own WIP street. Used to be I prowled for minifigures; now I seem to prowl only for parts. It definitely turned me into a different kind of creature. Great building, it is.

Awesome. I don't have PR by the way. But I have thought about doing either an 18-stud or 10-stud wide version of it. I did think the trim was a little too "pretty" for my own modular street, initially. I've warmed to the white since, however. The olive sort of needs it to bring it back to life. But the clams and the croissants aren't really my kind of thing. I don't see myself BL'ing them in the near future.

I had to finally join because not being able to respond to this was driving me batso... Your logic there, like a badly built moc, is unstable. Because, you are inferring that men cannot inherently work in a certain palette of color and form, for the simple love of what that color or form is or may be. Van Gogh would be turning in his grave. What does that then say about us all, AFOL's, (by the way, AFOL, the first I've referred to myself as such in a public manner. Score for me.), about our "repressed desires" for enjoying so much what is to many people just another child's toy... I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. Thank you for providing me with the impetus to register and post, however. Carry on.