Vorkosigan

Oxford is the only clone brand I've ever bought from, partially due to me visiting Korea but also because of their original designs and good quality bricks with sturdy builds. Their WWII series that came out this summer is pretty impressive. Detailed Image Detailed Image Detailed Image Detailed Image Detailed Image Detailed Image

Maybe not pickabrick too much but bricks and pieces certainly. It all depends on the specific parts and timing, official LEGO sources are often better priced for very recent parts and figures. Not if you have a large collection and MOC from and it and then recycle the MOC after a few days / weeks / months. The cost of building up the collection was high, but at a certain point it becomes nearly self-sufficient UNLESS you want to keep your MOCs for a very long time. I have bought some other brands as souvenirs (Oxford, which has its own designs) but when it comes to clones of LEGO sets I see no point in buying them just to have a model sit on the shelf forever.

Really slick car, I especially like the shipping container module.

Last year the first pictures hit the net September 19th. Not so far away if this year is similar.

I think this thread probably belongs in "Forum Information and Help." I do agree that there are some cases of what I'd call "bad boarding," where people are not necessarily being rude or spamming but just don't do a good job of supporting a useful discussion. Going OT is one example, although whether its a big deal is very situational to me. Other cases that bother me are when people ask a question that was answered a page or two back in a long thread, but they pop into a thread and make it all about them instead of following along. Similarly when someone posts some sort of news like its a big deal even though it was posted and discussed a few pages back. At the same time I know it can be hard to correct people on these matters without the moderation seeming overly harsh or unwelcoming.

Brilliant build, love the contrast!

Have other people tried dressing up the scurriers with hair / hats and other theme accessories?

I think the large bricks are these: http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=x1446#T=S&O={} They should be in between duplo and quatro, basically 3x the size of normal bricks.

Ouch 12 hours away is quite a hike. To your question about sales, they will have clearance sales that are sometimes better than is what is on the website (totally dependent on the individual store). There are also "monthly mini-build" events if you can go to the store on a weekday morning, where you build a small model in store and get to keep it.

Max I'm going to interpret "must not be" as meaning "is not required to be" as I think that is what you're going for. I think one of the concepts of Technic at least on this forum is that it is about the functions. In my opinion a build can use many system "studded" parts and have functions and still be "Technic" even if it doesn't have visible liftarms etc. Edit: I also meant to ask, the rule about lights correlates it to using a motor driven pump. Can we use these light bricks with their own batteries even if we have a hand driven pump?

Thanks for the tip on Target Dimensions, I just wish they had the Fantastic Beasts pack available for preorder.

Jaw-dropping build.

Some research shows this is a custom set made to promote a gyrocopter / flying car, and 200 were made. Since its really just a nicely packaged MOC and not officially a set, it may not be well known enough to be very valuable. But you could always put it on ebay as an auction and see if you get any interest. It looks like the actual vehicle has been turned into a prototype but not gone to production. http://www.sparkdesi..._LEGO_Pal-V.jpg

But there already is an actual Indiana Jones whip piece... Although I basically got the figs I want I am disappointed in how this series was handled as it seems like there is a lot of untapped demand. These sold out within a few days near me but yet Disney series is still on shelves. If they actually restock Disney it seems like a big waste, but if these had more stock I'd pick up a few more.

My theory is that Friends drew a lot of new fans to LEGO, and that it did so not instantly but over the course of the first few years of the theme. Some of those new fans wanted to go back and "collect em all" and were driving up the prices of the old sets. But now that that theme is well established, there is less of a drive to try to collect all the back sets (and there are too many to make it practical for most), as well as more options. This is just my theory. Another factor that I think is that there are no fans of Friends who had sets as a kid and are now a grown up fan collecting sets from their childhood. There just hasn't been enough time. Perhaps in another decade or so early Friends sets will gain value from future AFOLs buying sets from nostalgia (as certainly happens on the older boys themes). This phenomenon affects all retired sets because of the way AFOLs often come out of their dark ages and then want to buy sets that are retired which they missed during their dark ages (not just really old sets from when they were kids). Anyways just speculation on my part.

Seems odd to me that Jestro gets the biggest set for two waves in a row, don't we need a big knight fortress? Maybe the Fortrex is really popular and they want to just keep it on the shelves a while longer.

Yea I think its unlikely that they would actually use a name so tied to a specific culture, but gnomes or something similar makes sense. Could be cool.

I assume the capes would still come in a box if you could buy them...

I know a lot of people were disappointed the silver hazmat guy was only in the big Volcano set, but their parts are up on Bricks and Pieces. I just received one and its a cool figure.

My hiker went on a trip this week...

The idea of the vehicle is that it's a rocket powered battering ram to break through the gate. But I guess it could use some shooters.

Nice build, I like all the houses and how their integrated into the natural environment.

For this MOC I decided to a "set style" build. To me that means relatively simple styling, no baseplate / minimal landscape, and of course a small "opposing force" to create an action scenario. This build is inspired by the classic gatehouse type of set, most recently seen in 70402, but with the styling of Jestro's fortress.

Promos have been $30, 50, 75, 100, or any purchase. Probably others I don't remember.

I hope so. BTW I tried to buy baby heads on BAP by looking up fun in the park and they charge over $2.00 for them . Normal figure heads from that set are all $0.25. Hope that comes down as it gets more common.