mostlytechnic

Well, I'm just starting out saying that I'm suspicious of everyone, but especially those who keep promoting donuts. I think that's actually slang for bribes of our police and other govt officials, and that's why we've got these problems here. And heck, looks like our police are so corrupt and lazy that it might be just actual donuts that ARE the bribe. Wouldn't surprise me!

I don't trust you. Lemme lay out the logic - cops are union AND eat donuts. And they failed today. So unions and donuts are both bad. You're promoting both, so obviously you're scum. Ha! Found one already! #firefighters4life #donutsareyummybutscummy #downwiththemafia #eatbettersoyoudontdieonthejob

I'm here! Now if only they'd use us firefighters instead of cops for some of these guard duties, maybe this wouldn't have happened!

I thought I had video of my longer train running, but here's all my cargo container cars in one train - so 4 locos and 12 cars (sorry, video is old and I don't remember how many motors are running among those locos at the time)

I'm not sure - scale wise, it's a better fit than the mixer. But I think the carousel is much more ornate and old-fashioned than the ferris wheel. I guess though a lot of parks keep an old-fashioned carousel around despite everything else being modern, so it could work. Would need some landscaping on the carousel - if I remember right, there's nothing except the motor in the back.

Well, it IS only half the price of the bike/cafe one too :) But I agree, it seems odd that they've made a couple "shop" creator sets that don't fit together in style like this. I guess they've done that for years with the creator houses though - none of those really work together. Interesting to get two comments right in a row with opposite opinions :) I don't have the bike/cafe set, but to me, they don't looks like they'd really go together. They're the same concept (two buildings that fold in half) but the sidewalk is different size and they just feel differently styled to me.

Sorry, I do not - but it'd be tiny and not look like the same scale. Well, I felt like the main model ALMOST got to good looking :) I'd replace some of the tan with black, but otherwise I'm ok with that one.

I thought this was supposed to be unpopular ideas... these are all dead on truth!

Lego 31036 Creator Toy and Grocery Shop Thanks to EuroBricks for making this review possible! For years, Lego has offered a house of some sort in the Creator line each year - with the standard Creator 3-in-1 instructions, that's given us a very wide variety of housing. In 2014, they added a business option with their 31026 Bike Shop and Cafe set. This continues into this year's Toy and Grocery Shop set. These shops are smaller than the very detailed modular buildings, but that should help them fit in better with the other City sets, and this also lets them get into more kids' cities with their lower pricetag. Name: Toy and Grocery Shop Set Number: 31036 Pieces: 466 Price: $39.99 Minifigs: 2 Theme: Creator Year of Release: 2015 Links: Bricklink Peeron Brickset The Box The front of the box shows the "A" version model out of the three, plus insets of the B and C versions. I like the sorta-European looking backdrop; it goes well with the styling of the buildings. Interestingly, the main model is shown opened up for play, while the two insets show those versions folded. The Box Top On the top of the box, Lego helpfully shows that with 3 of these sets, you can make a whole street. The Box Back On the back, you get to again see all three versions together, but this time, folded. It's a little creepy though with those clones running around :) The Manuals Yep, three actual, printed manuals. There's nothing indicating them as being A, B, and C models, but it's pretty obvious looking at the designs which is the "main" model and which are the alternates. The Contents Bags of parts and two plates. Nothing terribly exciting to see here.... The Minifigs Nothing new here, but two nice figs none-the-less. Well, Bricklink does say that both figs are unique to this set, but there's not any new parts to them. The closest thing to rare is the female head - it's only in this set, 2013's Dragon Mountain Castle set, a UK store grand opening set, and one of the 2014 Holiday freebie sets. The faces aren't that unique, but I guess this exact combo of two faces on the head is. I love the kid torso with the spaceman on it. The Minifig Backs No back printing on anything here except for an alternate female face. Sorry. I do like that her two faces are so different though. That's much better than when a head has a "scared" and a "more scared" face. The "C" Build Enough with the basics; let's build. I'm going to review them in the same order I built them, backwards. Since you can tell immediately looking at the 3 designs that they're going to use different numbers of pieces and so forth, I figured I'd build the smallest first lest it seem like a letdown. All three have some basic similarities - the two plates are hinged to give a building that opens for play. They also do have interiors, which you can see starting to form here. The "C" Build, Front It's a pretty quick build, so it's done already. Here's the front of the building with it opened up. Like this, it appears to be two separate stores, a newsstand and some sort of shop you can enter. All the printed tiles help give the newsstand a detailed appearance, but I'm not sure why they've got a $100 bill lying on the ledge... The "C" Build, Rear From the back side, the interiors are pretty plain. The shop half has a plant in a jar and a weird chair, and the newsstand just has a register. The "C" Build, Sides Here's the two sides of the folded building. On the hinge side, there's a bunch of windows in a disjointed wall with random colors. On the other, why did they put in a huge window when the set does include a trans-clear door that could have gone there? And you get a small patch of plants, like so many sets seem to have these days. The "C" Build, Extras That's a lot of leftovers there. And not just little stuff - multiple doors, stairs, etc. And unused sand green is always a little sad.... The "B" Build, 1 A pretty similar start, with the hinge and little garden and some tiles along the ground. The "B" Build, 2 Now we see a big windowed wall, some details like lights, and how it has the usual alternate model "weird part usage" - like a 1x4 brick with side studs being used over the doorway, even though those side studs will not get used. The "B" Build, Front The finished building gives us a nice little post office, with a letter-carrying bird on the roof. Hope that's not their normal method of delivery! Something about the colors just doesn't work for me though. The combo of white / light grey / dark grey / black / sand green plus tan is just too much. The tan window and door frames I don't like. The "B" Build, Inside On the inside, things are weird. The counter on the left is ok, but the light above the door (with a yellow clip? ugly!) is too big, and everything else over there by the door doesn't make much sense either. The "B" Build, Sides I like the front side here, except the colors are still too much. The bench, greenery, mailbox on the corner, and streetlight are all nice. The boy is a little creepy though - binoculars in hand PLUS a telescope on the roof of the post office? Why? The hinge side shows more of the weird colors you get in the wall, but that's going to be hidden when the set is open. Plus we even see that on big modulars at times, so it's not SO terrible. The "B" Build, Leftovers Again, a lot of leftover parts. It's obvious this was another alternate, but it'd be nice to see more of them used to make a bigger building. But let's move on to the model that DOES use them all... The "A" Build, 1 The first half starts like this. Maybe it's just my bias, but it already feels like a more detailed build. Bottles on the wall, the yellow and red awning over the window, etc. The "A" Build, 2 The other half starts off with detailed work too. I think that's a red vending machine. The stairs are also VERY solidly built. I also appreciate the effort to get that diagonal base where a door will be - it's such a nice touch to have sections of a building that aren't right angles. The "A" Build, 3 Not too much has been added, but I wanted to showcase the tiny toys before they get hidden by a wall. That robot and train are just fantastic little micro builds. The "A" Build, 4 Things are coming together quickly. The walls, windows, and doors get the first floor nearly done. I'm still not big on the sand green and tan combo, but I do really like the red and yellow awnings. The "A" Build, 5 It appears the shop owner lives upstairs, since we've got a bedroom forming here. The bed is a little plain, but the table and lamp on the other half are great. And my big fingers did not like putting all those railings on the balcony, with the telescope posts and tile tops. Knocked quite a few off before I got them all done. The "A" Build, Front And it's done. All the details make this set really feel like a mini-modular. The roofline has great greebling, and the shop contents, and on and on. It's not perfect though. The tiny car above the toy store door isn't nearly as good as the toys inside. And the kid's yellow scooter? The wheels aren't even on the ground, much less able to roll. The scooter looks decent though, so that counts for something. Well, at least as long as you are at this angle, since the boy's only got 1 foot on the 1 stud wide scooter. The "A" Build, Inside Most of the interior has been seen already. The roof though does a nice job of being interesting for a roof. A skylight, the edge rails, etc. And you can see there's not much "wrong color" in the walls. The "A" Model, Sides An interesting building when folded up. Very tall and skinny. You can tell it's not really meant to be displayed this way - it's meant to be open. The good - lots! I like the awning, the diagonal door, the flowerbox under the upper window, the folding gate on the balcony that lets it be used in open or closed mode, and the green / white / blue colors. The bad - well, the stairs end short of the upper door, I still don't really like the tan doorframes (I think black would have been better), and why don't the upper floors match up in size? The "A" Model, Leftovers Ah, that's more like it. Just a few small pieces left as spares. The Errors You might have to click through to the full-size versions, but I did catch a few weird errors in the manuals. First, in the photo of the newsstand, the map in the front corner is on there sideways. The map does have a clear north arrow printed on it. On the second image, the boy's feet are hanging off the edge. Just unusual to see an alignment error in the manual like that. The Comparison Here are this set and the modular Detective Office side by side. There's a huge difference - as you'd expect. But is the difference MORE than you'd expect? This set is 466 parts, $40. The DO is 2262 pieces and $160. 5 times the parts, 4 times the price. Looking at them side by side, I'd expect a bigger difference in both. The Conclusion So, what's my conclusion on this model? I love the main model, but the alternates are meh. It's a nice set for someone looking for a town building other than police and fire stations, but who isn't ready to move to the modular line. Compared to the modulars though, it seems overpriced. Part of that is because the huge modulars are actually a great deal compared to other Lego sets. I'm also a little surprised that it's so small, when you compare it to the City sets like a police station. Those are generally designed with much more open space, letting them be more of a playset. This one is small and cramped, so it'd be tougher to play in. It's not really a City set though. The Ratings Value: 7/10 - It's under the 10 cents a part mark, but that's largely due to having a TON of tiny parts. All those flowers and decorative 1x1 round studs add up quickly! Design: 7/10 - Good and bad on the colors, and there's a big difference between the quality of the main vs alternate models. Having so many leftover pieces is one thing when the Creator set makes 3 very different models (ie a boat, plane, and truck). When it's 3 buildings, it seems wasteful to have so many parts leftover. Minifigs: 6/10 - I'm not sure they both fit the set. I suppose the boy is going to the toy store and the woman is going to the grocery? But there's no storekeeper in either. The woman doesn't look like a storekeeper to me, so that's why I assume she's another shopper. I love the boy, but the woman is just so-so - except that I do appreciate the head having two very different expressions. But again, that doesn't fit the set. I can't see her scared face being used. Playability: 6/10 - The shops are detailed with registers and so forth, but it's all so tiny it'd be hard to play with the figs in it. Parts: 9/10 - Tons of windows and doors, plus nice sand green bricks. But some things (the large blue curves used on the roof for example) are weirdly specialized and would be hard to use in another building design. Overall: 7/10 - I'd recommend doing what I did - build the alternates first, then the main since that's how you'll want to leave it. I'd really like to see the price a little lower compared to other sets (again, the part count is inflated due to SO MANY tiny parts) and the finished building is tiny, but it's loaded with neat details.

Very nice!

I love how creative Lego has always been, stretching the usage of parts. Like the tiny window bricks as eyelets in the shoe, and the paddlewheel....

Tamo, your link to the EB Gold membership is broken, and that's sad cause I wanna read the rest of your essay!

1) Have you played mafia before and/or have you graduated from a mafia school? No, I don't think so. I'm new here. Can I still play? 2) Will you be available for the duration of the game? most likely. Except for my lengthy trip to northwestern Asia, where I'll only have internet via carrier pigeons. 3) Let's say in a totally hypothetical situation that's not going to be used when assigning you a character of course that you wanted to open a store. What would that store be and why? Toy, of course. Where else to stock up on the newest Lego sets? 4) Defiantly or definitely? well now, that would depend on the situation, now wouldn't it? If someone is being obnoxious, I definitely want to defiantly respond to them. 5) Please write a sixty page dissertation on the theory of mafia games. I'll just take the shortcut and recommend you go here: http://forum.mafiasc....php?f=5&t=9791 6) That last one is a joke, please don't do that. Oh. Then don't click that link. Besides, I didn't write it. And yes, I'll only make fun of your photography a little bit. Now, you'd better let me play because I already put this game in my sig. See! Down there...

Woo! Can't wait!

Love the details of it, especially the high-tech looking trucks!

That's fantastic - if I HAD roads in my layout, I'd 100% be making one of these!

Like it even more now, other than I'll definitely do some color swaps. Replace the light blue legs with something darker, maybe even just dark grey, and replace the green and purple gondolas with probably blue and red. Nice bold, primary colors.

Yeah, but I still say Lego was stupid to not have it already. Sure, if Lego registered 1 domain a year, that would give something away. But they should be registering 100 domains a year. 98 become nothing but redirects to lego.com, and the 2 that are "real" turn into something at the right time. Basically, if I was running a company like that (toy, music, movie, food, etc), I'd have "register relevant domain names" on the project checklist at a VERY early stage. They're dirt cheap and it would suck to not have one you want - or worse, find out too late that a name you're planning to use for your new product is already in use as a porn site or something. Rather than deal with potential squatters or any other issue, just prevent it by grabbing any name you think MIGHT become something you want.

I worked as a carnie for a traveling group for a number of years back in high school. We went to all sorts of community festivals and fundraisers all summer. From my experience (midwest, USA), the parking lots were used for parking :) The carnival rides were always set up in the grass. They didn't want us driving stakes (tie downs, grounding rods, etc) through the asphalt, and if there was anything set up on pavement, it was smaller booths, not the big heavy rides. I will agree that they don't go together well, since one is a big permanent set and one's mobile. It'd be hard to replicate many other mobile rides though, so I guess they're still feeling their way a bit. The mixer last year was less expensive and gets a feel for the market demand, and now we've got a bigger set to continue the market testing. Maybe next year (if this one does well) we'll get a big roller coaster?

Eh, I fault lego on this one. How on earth did they NOT already own that domain? As I read the story (didn't read your link, but I did read about it back when the game was first announced) - he'd heard rumors of the game the day before it was officially announced. Checked if the domain was bought as a way of checking if the name might be correct. When he discovered the domain was available, he snagged it, figuring that meant the rumors were wrong. But then when the game was announced the next day, Lego contacted him and he immediately turned it over to them without demanding anything. So seriously, all Lego's fault IMHO. The should have bought the domain a year ago. Names are dirt cheap and if you're constantly buying them for every idea you have, it's not like anyone would figure anything out from it. The solution to "hiding" what you're doing isn't to wait on buying names till it's too late, it's to buy so many there's no meaning to them.

Hm. Love the Mixer, so debating on this one now. I don't like the blue supports, and I'm not huge on the yellow/green/purple gondolas. I do like the sunburst look on the white wheel though. As for drive... I was looking at this part: There's a guide wheel there, with a white rubber band to keep it pressed against the wheel (and a matching one on the back side). However, is that a U-joint and grey axle going straight down? It also looks like there's a black axle running horizontally under the platform and out to near the back support legs, with possible a grey double-bevel gear on it there. Could easily be a manual crank with then an option to add a motor/batterybox under the platform for motorization, similar to how the mixer was manual or optionally motorized. And powering the wheel via guide wheels like that is the correct method, not putting a motor way up in the air like the old set: So as of now, I'm sure I'll get it and probably modify the colors a bit. It'll look nice someday when I get my train layout done, having this giving some motion to the scenery.

Yeah, I do know I screwed up that PM (for the others - I meant to say something about the tracker and said watcher instead, because scum had both, but caught it after sending the PM and sent another saying that I said the wrong thing because I was talking to too many people and getting myself mixed up). I was hoping later that I'd salvage it since Lind told me you'd asked him and I was able to (I thought) cover my tracks with you that it was an innocent mistake, but didn't know if my excuses worked or not.

Scumboard is here: http://123.writeboard.com/z55rjzq7g60v464sd7kjihnm (password scummo if I remember right) DF, what was making you think I was scum? I was trying to play as townie as normal, so I'm curious what was giving me away... Anyone else that was pinging on me feel free to chime in too

Oh, huge kudos to those stuck with the curses. Magnificent job with your posts, and I'm SO glad I never got one of those costumes :)

We did have a convert potential - we could have converted the SK, at which point DD would have lost the nightly kill and become a plain scum. However, we never had a scum not doing something at night to attempt a conversion, and since we had no idea who the SK was, it was a low chance of working. As it was, we were often debating which costume ability NOT to use so someone could do the nightly kill :) I think we were overly paranoid about being watched/tracked and caught. We knew those costumes right away and were trying to act townie and get results with whatever we had, so it meant we never tried to convert.