Vorkosigan

Awesome to get more character packs so soon!

I had been on the fence about getting Arendelle Castle Village, today I found it at Walmart 50% off and couldn't resist! So keep an eye out if you're looking for a discount.

My Target was well stocked with the new advent calendar today.

Thanks so much! Last update, I put up a tutorial on how to build Koopa's go cart:

Thanks so much everyone for the kind words! I feel like LEGO and Nintendo probably have their plans pretty well mapped out, but appreciate the suggestion! If anyone wants to build their own, I am making videos on each of the go carts. Here is the instructions for Mario's cart:

No figures beyond lakitu, but 2 more sets/levels:

I have been working on the same idea:

So of course with LEGO Mario sets being out the mind must consider, what about Mario Kart? So I made a couple karts and a short track that Mario can interact with. Of course the tiles we have now are not ideal for this purpose, and you can't go too fast if you want to be sure they'll scan. But it was still fun to see it work! And though Mario's proportions are a bit odd, I quite like how Koopa looks in his kart. Check out the video to see it work! Edit: I've created a video on how to build Mario's go cart: Edit 2: How to build Koopa's go cart:

So someone at my local Walmart has lost their mind and put the new friends sets out on clearance. According to Amazon they don't even release for 9 days. 41428 was only $30. Some dots and princess sets too.

Yes it updates via Bluetooth while you are connected to the app. Mine did first time I connected it to the app. Not true, you don't need the app connected for Mario to work. He is updatable over Bluetooth.

Images of all the barcodes can be found on Brickset: https://brickset.com/parts?query=Flat%20Tile%202X2,%20W/%20Sticker Also I saw a video where someone printed their own barcodes so it's possible, but seems like color accuracy is critical.

Checked out my local Target in Wisconsin, no CMF sadly but they did have the Astronomy Tower. I was not planning to get it right away, but couldn't resist with it in front of me!

Probably I'll make a detailed level at some point, with a few of these mechanisms connected. I have a slightly different Mario MOC I'm working on first.

I made another Mario MOC, this time simulating how Blooper the squid would pop up in the underwater levels. Enjoy!

FYI if people haven't seen yet, the new wave is available for pre-order from Amazon in the US, with a release of August 28th. I ordered the castle. https://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Mystery-App-Controlled-Shadow-Walker-Minifigures/dp/B0858FTHQB

So I saw this today and thought it was interesting. In a Walmart in the United States I saw LEGO sets that had white stickers applied to convert a global box to a US specific box, with the piece count and choking warning. See below how it looked. I could see through the sticker enough to tell there was no part count underneath. There were sets like this in City, Friends, Marvel, and Harry Potter themes. It was not a huge percentage of the aisle, but maybe 10% of sets. Has this happened before? I assume this is the result of COVID's impact on the Mexican factory, that sets manufactured in other factories for other markets are being modified for US distribution.

Looks right to me.

In the US everything is backordered at S@H except the starter set and character bags. Probably the character bags are only in stock because they restrict it to 3 max. On Amazon the starter set is backordered 2 to 4 weeks and is the #1 new release in building toys. At my Target they had a LOT of sets but character packs sold out on release day and starter sets after a couple days. Target still has most items except the starter set in stock online. Long story short, the theme is selling ok.

I have posted a Super Mario MOC, looks like the first one based on this theme here on EB:

I have put together a MOC for the new Super Mario theme, which is meant to recreate how Bullet Bill works in the 2D Mario games. The idea of recreating enemy behavior with LEGO mechanisms is interesting to me. This one uses a power function motor and a sideways tank tread to "fire" Bill out of the canon perpetually. Check out the video to see how it works.

Awesome progress! Here are some more barcodes for reference. It looks to me like Spiny and Beetle have the same barcode (sorry it's a little blurry).

FYI I had ordered the Burrow on July 1st in the US when it was briefly available for "preorder," and got an e-mail today that the status has been updated to "will ship by August 20th." I know there was some talk of a release on August 16th, this more or less aligns with that.

I tried just reproducing the barcodes and was unsuccessful, so it may be tricky. I tried different papers on a laser printer, then a dye sublimation photo printer. The barcodes look clear and accurate but Mario won't read them. Maybe a glare issue? So you can communicate to Mario, but how much development will be needed to make him display your own images? Is the micro on him one with readily available tools to build your own application? I'm also wondering if the light sensor is a full camera or not.

FYI Target is selling the character packs for $4 USD instead of $5. Online and in store. It's interesting they have them online because they don't carry CMF online.

Placed an order for a couple more Mario sets and character packs. Frustrating that there is a limit of 3 on character packs. I get they don't want scalpers to buy them all but when there are 10 varieties it seems like you should be able to buy 10.