Andy D

It is amazing to me how many of this set I still see on store shelves. A couple of weeks ago they were still plentiful on shelves at my local LEGO store, and yesterday at Legoland CA they still had stock on the shelves along with al the other current modulars. Maybe it is discontinued, but not out of stock yet. Note to all of you saving the FB until it is old out and then waiting to jump in here with high prices... Good luck with that! I believe you may have to sit on it for years to get the kind of prices the CC and GG commanded, just too many of the FB and GE produced and sold and probably too many people sitting on it. I guess they could be sold out, not o be restocked in some areas, so... On the flip side, those of you wanting these two sets should get them so you don't have to wait years for those holding them to finally sell. Andy D

I think you can find examples of each type of building here on EB. Lots of the smaller dioramas and many of be modulars look like they could be sets. But, many of the larger scenes tend to be things that could not be sets because of extensive use of parts to make it look more realistic, more like art and less like a set. I tend to think of my LEGO as art, therefore I am not concened with the number of parts I use. I am sure many of us tend to think of our LEGO as art. All LEGO is art to me. It is just wheither it is viewable art (don't play with it) or art that is meant to be touched and played with. Andy D

Maybe all that is left of the seagull is the feathers on the top floor. ;) Andy D

Thanks. I had fun. More sorting going on than building though. I do mix my sorting with building though. Thanks, have fun with your castle. Thanks. Thanks to all, your comments are appreciated. Andy D

I have put my annual Halloween decorations together. I got started a little earlier this year and spent all the time I could find. Last year ( http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=75772&hl=halloween ) it was just the Haunted house and cemetery and witches. This year I added a Vampire’s Castle (actually 2 copies to make one larger castle) and some unhappy villagers. I believe the display is an improvement over last year, but it still needs work and time (time I just don’t have right now). But I have learned a few lessons which I will try to incorporate for my next seasonal display. C&C more than welcome. I am still trying to learn and to improve my MOC’ing skills. Haunted House to Castle This is a block (?) in Transylvania where the current Counts live(?). At one end of the block is the current youngest Count and his bride (in a run down house) at the other end is the reigning Count (who lives in the castle) with his bride. Between is the small park (just an open lot) where the witches occasionally gather to make a brew and the cemetery where the past Counts have been entombed for thousands of years. Storming the Castle On Halloween, every year the villagers get fed up with the reigning Count’s blood sucking taxes (his taxes leave the villagers drained and pale) and they don’t like the experiments and are just generally unhappy. So every year about this time the villagers just storm the castle with whatever they have to try to get their message across. While some just sing and dance While some villagers storm the castle other villagers just sing and dance The Count's Cemetery This is the entrance to where all the Counts and relatives have been entombed for thousands of years. But they don’t stay dead all year. On Halloween the first Count's statue turns from grey to full color. Cemetery top view On Halloween, the first count awakens from his sleep (a dead sleep) and he watches the festivities from the entrance of his tomb, one of the (younger, undead) counts leads a group of the undead in their favorite dance, the Thriller Dance, other of the undead escape their graves. They are just one partying group of undead. The Headless Horseman On hearing all the racket, the Headless Horseman rides to the Count's cemetery to see what all the celebration is all about. The Witches Brew A coven of witches (all 13) are celebrating by cooking up a new brew (it's better than Budweiser). The current (youngest) Count The current (youngest) Count and his bride watch the festivities from the front of their house. Some pet spiders have awakened to all the racket and are going to investigate. A Modular Street This Modular street has been taken over by zombies. The only safe place is in the buildings. If you stay in the buildings you do not become a zombie. Zombies just can't drive Zombies can't drive as is evidenced by the lack of cornering skills. All the people on the street become zombies every Halloween. Lost astronaut zombie. This astronaut zombie got lost. While a girl on bicycle wants to buy a hotdog. Bride and Groom. Bride and groom finish coffee, come out of the Cafe, become zombies and are almost run over by another zombie who just cannot drive who is followed by the zombie police officer on a motorcycle. My Halloween display This is just an overview of my studio showing my build and south wall display/storage space. Lessons learned: The castle would look better on a hill. Need more rubble in the cemetery. The witches park needs more detail. I should cover the countertop with white paper before putting up a display. The “leather-look” top looks good by itself, but I believe a white liner would make seasonal displays look better. I will either use a white vinyl sheet with no creases or maybe butcher paper or some other white paper. Putting the spider web material on the counter top and other places is very time consuming and requires two people. If I get time before Halloween I may try to change it out. Thanks for looking and C&C welcome and appreciated. Have a spooky Halloween! Andy D

If that is the seagul, where is the turkey? I also could not find the hotdogs, maybe they got eatten by the seagul, who flew away! Andy D

I am thinking of selling one of my black NXT bricks. It is a limited edition of 1998 made. I did not buy it as a collectable, I just thought it looked interesting. I used it one or two times, but not much at all. The certificate is a PDF that the buyer can put their name on and print. I have seen prices all over the map from $180 to $280. Any interest in the Black NXT brick for $150? For $150 I will pay packing and shipping to a USA address. I also have a grey NXT brick that I will sell for $85. For $85 I will pay packing and shipping to a USA address. Or both for $200 and I will pay packing and shipping to a USA address. Any interest? Andy D

I have been considering a form of labeling. My main storage is parts in freezer bags in 15 quart plastic bins in a closed cabinet. I am trying to keep the same color bricks in each bin. My thought is an 8.5 x 11 sheet in each bin with the contents of the bin, that way I would have a typed representation of what is in the bin. I am still sorting, have not yet got to th labeling. I am also trying to keep an inventory of parts and sets on Basebrick to help me to know what I have. I am going to use two Akron Mills storage sets wtih drawers to keep small pieces. My time in my studio is divided between building and sorting/storing. I hope I have a system reasonably complete and in place before the end of the year. I want to make next year the year of building! Andy D This is one of the better ideas I have seen, knowing where parts are located is the key to building. Andy D

Wow! This is just great! I usually get 2 copies of the modulars (1 to build, 1 for parts), but because of the colors I may just wind up with 3 of this one! Price increase, not so much... As I recall a typical modular ha around 2,200 parts, this one has more than 2,400 parts. To me that more than justifies the price increase. Geesh, too many things I need (beside LEGO), I must priortize, somehow. Thanks to the team designing this model (I assume Jamie was lead). Andy D

Very nice modular! The first floor windows on the butcher shop really caught my attention, as did the awning and the butcher shop sign, very clever. My favorite is the bank, it just shows what can be dome with a 10 stud width. Andy D

I look at LEGO as an art form. Using LEGO bricks to express artistic desires. The scale doesn't matter, it is how one expresses themselves. In any art form there are compromises to achieve the end result. In Micro scale I believe the objective is to "hint" at what is intended much like some abstract art. Unless one is building at full size, there are "hints" at what the artist intends. With LEGO it is all art. Just MHO, YMMV Andy D

Carl. Welcome to Eurobricks NorCal or SoCal? Andy D

Very nice. I like what you have done with the modifications to the EN. The black engine and tender look great, but you are right, the dust really shows in the photos and would probably not be visible at normal viewing distance. The Mail car is very nice, I believe a word that sums up the short Mail car is "cute". Overall... Great job! Andy D

Bummer... I really like buildings, not so much on vehicles. The Firehouse would make a great 16-wide modular (buy it in a heartbeat) and maybe include the Ecto-1. But the Ecto-1 is not really that important to me. I know many like the Ecto-1, it is a great reproduction, but not something I would buy by itself. Just MHO, YMMV, Andy D

Some of the pieces may come loose, but they are contained so I know what belongs to what for ease of reassembly. Not a problem for me. Andy D

Amazing and huge. Huge and amazing! Just three questions 1. How long to build? 2. How many bricks? 3. Where do you keep it? Great build, thanks for sharing this. Andy D

When I store assembled sts it is usually on a shelf in the closet, not close to anything else so nothing touches it and parts don't fall off or I stor them in boxes (plastic bins) either alone or bagged or wrapped so parts do not get misplaced. I haven't had problems yet (knock on wood). Andy D Andy D

If I am planning to display the set again at some future time I either, disassemble and keep the parts together or I just do not disassemble at all (I find a way to store it assembled). Usually when I disassemble I have no plans to reassemble that set/MOC, so the prts go in my inventory/collection. Andy D

Very impressive. Lots of little details. Your facade is really great, the parts usage gives lots of texture and interest. The first floor is really nice and detiled, but all the little things, the security camera on tha second floor (?) and he down spout, lots of detils to add to he realizism, and it fits in well with the other modulars. Andy D

Think old Marakesh Morocco. What I am working on is a semi-modular, stackable structure. BTW: I guess Winter Village Still goes in Town. Also a Halloween display with a lot of Monster Fighters should go in the Action Forum (like Monster Fighters) I guess. I just want to make sure I put stuff in the right place. Andy D

Where do minifig scale Creator Houses and the like go? How about a building that looks like a structrue from the mid-east? Andy D

This is really a wonderful design/implementation. It looks to me like a king that does not have a lot of land, so he made the best of what space he had (kind of like your sitution). Your tower looks very well thought out. Some towers look like the builder was just trying to see how high they could stack bricks. I am not normally a castle person, but this one is very nice. The clock is great, the space utilization is incredible, looks like a nice place to live/work, like a midievil high rise. Andy D

The apothecary cabinets look like a real classy idea. Makes LEGO storage like a well thought out, designed space. Like a space/room that you do not have to close the door on when you have non-LEGO visitors. No reason why a LEGO room cannot look classy. Good luck, Andy D

If you have some storage space available, you can get some plastic Sterlite storage boxes. Measure an approximate size, get a container just a little larger, add padding and store. For a less expensive alternative you might try moving boxes which you can get at your local self-storage places like Public Storage. You should be able to store assembled sets in larger boxes, but you still need space to store he boxes. Good luck, Andy D

Do you store mixed LEGO in those containers? If do, how do you find what you need when building? You must have (or plan on a lot of LEGO), as you storage solution will store about 330 Gallons (gallons as a unit of measure for LEGO ;) ;) ?) of LEGO. Nice storage solution now, what is your sorting solution? I guess I must have about 50 gallons of LEGO, my storage solution is comming along pretty good, but the sorting, but the sorting! I really need to be able to find the pieces I know I have! Andy D