mostlytechnic

I've got some of the second that I'm using for making powered versions of the 7747 windmill. Helps tremendously in keeping the gears from slipping. But yeah, I can see where they're less common now that technic has gone all studless.

No, I'm not complaining, just curious how this works from Lego's perspective. A few primary colored parts in a set makes sense. In the particular case I cited though, it makes no sense at all. 4 trans-dark blue bricks, that can't be seen, and haven't been produced in 4 years... the ONLY way I can come up with that makes sense is that Lego had a bin of them and wanted to use them up. Otherwise, they SHOULD have used some red or blue bricks - the same color benefits and variety, but using parts that are readily available.

We've all seen how Lego uses random colored parts in builds where it won't be seen - like inside structures, etc. Sometimes though, this just baffles me. For example, last night the wife and I build the 10231 Space Shuttle. Great build, lots of white and black of course. Inside the orange large fuel tank though, there are 4 2x2 bricks in trans-dark blue used as part of the reinforcing structure. Why on earth did Lego do that? That brick hasn't been seen in that color since 2007, according to Bricklink (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3003&colorID=14&in=A). So did Lego just have a bin of those sitting in the warehouse that they wanted to use up? Or are they coming back in an upcoming set? I can't believe that Lego would make them, just to be hidden inside the tank, when they already have 2x2 bricks in other colors in the set. Surely it'd be cheaper from an inventory standpoint to just put more white ones in the set rather than a new color. Sometimes the odd color can make sense - sticking a random red or blue plate in a structure can make the instructions easier to follow. But sometimes, I just go huh?

Yep, pretty sure those are both scams. There's 3 ways that apparently "good" ebay sellers (good feedback, long history of selling) can be in this. One, it's a legit seller who went bad. Two, it's a stolen ebay account on top of the stolen credit card. Three, sometimes scammers will set up accounts and actually sell a bunch of stuff (usually cheaply, like used CDs, garage sale type junk, etc) to build up a history and feedback before starting the scam. Then they'll sell as much high $$$ stuff as they can very fast, and then disappear.

I've seen K-Box used as the name for the boxes of a single element, used to fill the PAB wall. Not sure if that's an official name, or something some AFOL gave it, or what, but I've seen that used here on EB before.

Was it actually sent directly from Lego, or was it just the Lego shipping box with the invoice left in? (ie ON the actual invoice, was your address listed? Was there a new shipping label stuck over an original one on the outside of the box?)

Continuing the tangent, but I've been surprised to see that out of all my shopping (I run a BL store, so I buy LOTS of lego in stores) I've yet to see a single person actually look at the Transformers or Halo or Need for Speed sets - only actual Lego. That's been true at ToysRUs (which has a Lego aisle and the others are in a separate aisle) and Target (usually have them on opposites sides of the same aisle, so facing each other, and HUGE displays for the megabloks sets) and Walmart (usually facing each other like Target). Seems like people really do value the Lego brand and the knockoffs are struggling... I'd be curious to get actual sales numbers to see what's actually selling.

Watch Bricklink - you can often find "incomplete" sets listed under the main set listing that are exactly this. For example, I know right now the 3677 train listing has numerous partial sets listed there. You can buy just one wagon, or just the truck, or just the locomotive, etc. That might be the easiest way, although then one person has to buy the full set and hope someone else will buy the parts they don't want :)

Thanks - glad you enjoyed the set :) Definitely try one of the bigger sets. I don't have any of the current sets other than the supercar, so I can't really recommend where to go next, but check out other reviews here and see what looks good to you.

The two remote mods are for different types of vehicles. The Sariel one is for something like the unimog - one channel (the one w/ a wheel added) controls the steering, one (the un-modified one, I'd add a stick to it) does the drive. The mod for the variable-speed remote is for a tracked vehicle (like the 8043, or the 8275 bulldozer) where you have a separate motor for each SIDE of the vehicle and use them to drive and steer.

Yeah, I'd probably do it that way too if micromotors weren't $20 each for USED ones!

The fourth is because I have "future connection" shafts going out both sides of the hut. I plan to have 3 windmills, and I'd put the powered one in the middle with shafts going out each side to the other ones.

1. Yes, you remove the one screw on the back panel to access the battery compartment. 2. There's no "programming" needed. The two knobs control the speed of two motors (if you have two...). The red button below each is a "stop" button. The black sliding switches reverse direction (so if you want clockwise to mean "forward" and it actually makes your train go backwards, flip the black switch to reverse it). The center orange slider chooses between 4 channels. On the IR receiver, there's a matching slider. So set the remote and receiver to the same channel, and then the left knob/button control the left output on the receiver, and the right half of the remote does the right half of the receiver. To control 2 trains (assuming 1 motor per train), attach the motor from train #1 to the left output of the receiver, and put the remote and receiver on the same channel. On train #2, put the receiver on the same channel, but attach the motor to the right output. Now the two dials will control the two trains individually. If you had more trains (or other things), just set their receivers to different channels and move the slider on the remote to control them. In general, I think the instructions for the remote are in the manuals for the sets that it comes with (so check the manuals online for the 7938 / 7939 / 3677 trains if you can find them) and I guess Lego assumes anyone buying the remote alone knows what they're doing already ;) Hope that helps!

And I doubt we have to worry about Lego getting a Nintendo license, since Knex currently has one (at least for Mario Kart).

Not the greatest deal ever, but pretty good I think... won an ebay auction the other day for 7939 Cargo Train (~$200) 7996 Double Switch track (~65 on bricklink) 4519 Rail Crossing (~25) TEN 7896 track packs (so 80 straights [~2] and 80 curved [~0.50] track pieces) Current value is about $485. I won it for $330. I plan to sell off parts of it and keep some to expand my train layout :)

The EN was my first train, and now I've got it, the Maersk, the 7939 cargo train, the 3677 train, and bunches of track. We're currently in the planning stages of a largish (probably 8x10 feet) layout in our basement :) So yes, trains can get addictive fast!

Yes, you do. In that photo, the gear at the bottom is the drive coming into the square. The top gear is connected to the tower to power this windmill. The side two have shafts going out the sides of the hut to connect to two more windmills once I have my layout setup. You can see the shaft coming out the right side in that same picture.

Yep, roaminstudio, I like your shorter wagons too. Decided for my layout though, I'd rather have the longer cars w/ double axle trucks than the short style tanks. I especially like how you used the license plate stickers on the tanks - might have to do that to mine. Just a nice extra touch of detail.

Yep, I'll definitely be changing the building. Probably a dark grey or something more industrial. This was just enclosing it to get an idea of size as-is - the final building will be bigger too to enclose the battery box as well. I just didn't want to dig through the larger part collection to find better building pieces, and I had the log bricks handy.

I want to add a windmill farm to the train layout we're planning to build in our basement. I've had the 7747 set for a while, but finally had some time to work on motorizing it to make things more interesting. (click the video or photos to go to the original full size ones) First, a quick video. You can see that when you first turn it on, the motion is a little jerky. There's a fair bit of angular inertia to overcome, as well as backlash in the gearing and a long vertical axle to twist a bit. Once it's been running a few seconds, it smooths out and looks nice. The hut hiding the motor and gears is just temporary and quickly thrown together. I'll eventually make something larger to hide the battery box in there as well. One problem with the mod - it's much less stable than the original windmill. If you're not familiar with it, the stock windmill has a long 32 axle running up the center of the white column. Every couple sections of the column there's a blue round 2x2 brick with axlehole, which the long axle runs through. This provides a lot of strength to the structure. I removed the long axle and replaced it with several shorter ones with axle joiners - it's less springy that way. Obviously the bricks had to come out too to allow the axle to rotate, but now ONLY the column itself is providing structural strength. It's pretty easy to knock over. Definitely no longer kid-friendly :) It does keep the rotatability of the original model though, so I can turn the windmill to face whatever direction I want in the scene. In the hut, there's a M motor with a 8 tooth gear, driving a 40 tooth. That cuts the speed a lot. Then it goes through a 16 to 20 reduction (the 20 is black, so hard to see in the photo). The net result is a 1:6.25 reduction, which gives something like 30-40 rpm as the final speed. I want a small wind farm, so I ran an extra axle out each side of the hut. I'll hopefully end up with three windmills in the train layout, all running off the one motor in this one.

During Target clearances, I picked up 10 of the 3180 set for cheap. I don't really need 10 tank trucks, but I could use some new train cars. So I made this: I also tried replacing the solid 6 wide black plates under the tank with wedges (6 wide at the ends of the car; narrower in the middle) but I only had dark grey handy and didn't like the color. I might try again with black wedge plates. Right now there's only 1 ladder - I might leave it that way, or I might get some more and add a matching ladder to the other side of the car. I'm also not sure I have enough of the large steering wheel for the top, but I can always bricklink some more. I figure it'll be a while before our basement layout gets built, so I have time to play around and tweak the design before making 10 of them :)

We're planning a large train layout, so we need to build some big stuff. One part will be a cliff, so we want some old grey (light and dark) to make it more interesting... I'm hoping that maybe someone has a pile of random old grey (and old brown too) bricks/slopes/whatever they don't need. My preference is trading, but I might buy if the price is right too. Take a look around my bricklink store (http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=virocolor) and see if anything interests you.

9V and 12V are older systems that have metal on the tracks themselves to provide power for the train, much like a "typical" model train. Power Functions use all plastic rails (the same size as the older 9v rails) and batteries in the train for power. Basically, the older systems are more like a regular model train, but are getting very expensive now that the motors and track are no longer made.

Has anyone bought a K box from the Columbus OH store? That's the closest to me, so I figured I'd see how they are about it before I make a special trip...

Thanks. I've never been there, but I've heard James MacDonald speak before. One time was in college - a tornado came through the town and knocked out the power. He preached to a room of 3500 people with no amplification or light other than a small flashlight for an hour. Crazy night...