Lego Otaku

Thanks, do let me know. I am still looking for this set.

Not really official entry but I had a picture on Bricklink of Darth Vader in drag: http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=479281

While I would have preferred Macintosh for many reasons, price kept me to PC and I don't think LDD would run on my old G3 iMac with OS 9.2 So I voted for PC.

What about Mindstorm NXT? I would think they go as technic?

I was shopping at a local Walmart when I saw they had 3 boxes of NXT 2.0 on clearance sale. Regular: $279.96 sale $279.00 Gee whiz a 97 cents saving on a Lego set! How nice they marked it down by a whopping 0.3%! I think someone isn't happy these set aren't selling and is hoping a clearance sale sign would make customer a little more interested.

One glaring omission: no LDD 4.0 download

Still looking for this train set.

Check Lego.com later, I would think they'd offer it and those Christmas sets I got were released too soon or something. Don't forget Bricklink is also a good place for buying Lego sets.

Today I notices at 2 different stores (Walmart and Meijer) the entire like of Lego Prince of Persia are on clearance sale 25% off. It almost looks like it's discontinued now. I got 3x sets 7573 for $59 each mostly for parts.

Pere Marquette 1225 would probably work the best. Then rely on word of mouth that Polar Express train uses the same engine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pere_Marquette_1225 As it happens I live in Tuscola County, Michigan it would be easy for me to get to the engine. I'll print the first page of Sava's manual or bring along Lego model and try to get photograph of it next to the real thing.

http://www.flintarts.org/college_town_events.html Tomorrow in Flint if anyone local is interested. It's mostly art competition and not a show or something so I probably won't go.

Mine had trans-yellow cheese slop the first visit and gone second visit. They also had trans-orange cheese slope both days so it may not be as popular as yellow.

The first picture in my initial post is the front of the store. It does look a bit small, maybe 20 feet wide

I searched for this but didn't find any topic matching this so probably no one ever discussed what a Lego store is like. When I went there Monday to raid their PAB, I also had my camera with me and took a few pictures. This is mostly for people who has never been to one. As usual, click on thumbnail to see larger images The front of the store at The Somerset Collection in Troy, MI. Row and rows of assorted Lego sets and a few display models. Star Wars sets with a Death Star II on display along with a few smaller displays. Some displays are custom made and not in any official sets, as you'll see below: One looks like a movie theater featuring a shark chasing a diver. Jaws perhaps? Other display shows a giant version of 2x2 flowers and green stems with a couple snails. I couldn't use flash as it'd produce a much worse glare than just background lights that shows up in the pictures. There are many more displays, some custom and some official sets. And finally, my favorite section of the store: Pick A Bricks!! They look like a bunch of gray 1x2 bricks with clear studs mounted sideway. The top 3 rows are just display, there are nothing for people to grab, and they are repeats of the same that are available at lower rows. I don't know how often the selection changes but a few got changed in the 3 days between my visits. They may rotate whenever one is out of stock, and they may rotate a few at random. The lady on left (in yellow apron) is one of the store employee. The employees at Troy, MI location are extremely friendly and fun to chat with when things are slow. I've seen picture of PAB display at other Lego stores in USA, they can vary by size and numbers of "studs" Not photographed: mini-fig stand where you can pick out parts to assemble your own minifig, 3 for $10. Also a table with bunch of Lego bricks, some baseplates, and few computers running LDD If you lived near one, it is worth driving to visit them. If you don't know where they are, you could check the store locator at Lego.com (USA, UK, Germany, and Canada, no idea about oversea stores) I would like to go there a lot if only to bug the employees but it is 3 hours drive (round trip) there and home so unless I had a reason to be in northern part of Detroit Metro area, I can't go there. The next nearest store is in Ohio and would be about 5 hours drive for me just to get there

I finally found the other 2 holiday sets. Both sold for $4.99 USD, same as 4008 that I posted a few days ago. Winter Fireplace & Tree has the exact same tree as in set 40008 and comes with a little fireplace, red and white striped stocking, and a total of 4 presents. Officially 85 pieces included, I got 5 extra pieces left including a pink bow (clickto see bigger image) Santa on Sleigh with Reindeer has just 1 reindeer but with creative work you may be able to string up 8. Santa himself looks fat as well and there are 2 presents in the sleigh. 71 pieces + 6 leftover. I used a red cheese piece on top of his hat to hide the stud. (not pictured is a red cheese slope)

Unless you really want a cheap train set for display and not to play with, I'd avoid them. I've read stories about Enlighten bricks being very loose and comes apart easily. Plus they rip off many of official instruction and even pictures, they are true counterfeit. Not like Mega Bloks clone but blatant pirated stuff. I've resorted to adding -enlighten to all of eBay searched just to get rid of them. Having said that, it is possible to add motor to it. But don't count on a long running display while pulling more than 2 cars, it will likely fall apart. PS anyone know if there is a VERO Lego account on eBay? There's a lot of Enlighten and Enlightenment[sic] all over Lego category.

Checked Bricklink (kind of like eBay for Lego) http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=61657 $33.99 is the cheapest to buy

Ouch Canada is more expensive anyway, even after factoring US$ to CDN$ difference.

My new wish for LDD 4.0: LEGO SHALL RELEASE IT!!!

Most of the current sets generally last a year* before Lego discontinue it so in most case, a minimum of 1 year on shelf. Longer depending on the stores. A few sets have been reissued but not often at all. Lego used to keep some sets in production for a few years in the 1970's and 80's, which was a boon for little kids who needed 2 summer worth of lawnmowing job to get that big set like the Yellow Castle. I guess Lego changed that to a year to keep fresh product on shelves. *holiday sets like 40008 Snowman Set may only get a few month of production run and released a few month before the target holiday. With the exception of 10199 Toy Shop, holiday never gets reissued.

I had an excuse to go into northern part of Metro area so I stopped at Lego store again and went round 2 with their PAB display. They changed a few things since I was there Saturday. Gone are things like trans-orange cheese and 6x6 dark bley plates. I got in the place lots of sandy blue 2x4 and 2x2, lots of red and white 1x10 bricks, lots of 4x6 black plates, lots of 1x1 lever, lots more trans-green 1x2 bricks, and 16 of 2x3x2 red cabinets with white doors, and some more I can't remember. These 3 cups were packed so tightly it doesn't rattle. However the employee taped them shut because of the ominous creaking sound. Oh yeah I picked up a bag of Lego imitation from a store 2 doors down from Lego No Lego lawyers around. They are 100% sugar and 0% compatible with Lego. They can however be assembled like Lego bricks, albeit with weak clutch strength. The fact there's a candy store 2 doors from Lego store would mean you should never let your kid out of sight if you went to Lego store in Troy, MI. Otherwise the excitement from Lego and sugar OD from the candy store would launch your kids into orbit. EDIT: forgot the picture: haven't counted anything yet. My 16 weeks old kitten is giving me a hard time as she feels lonely so I got to play with her.

There are 2 more I didn't see it at the store yesterday but they are on eBay by some other sellers. and numbered 40009 and 40010 Now I need to go back to the store with these pictures and ask them.

True it'd probably cost more due to higher brick count, and it's a good bet that only 1 car would be included, not 3. But Polar Express is a fairly popular holiday movie and I'm sure lots of kids would like this set. I'm hoping the instruction will be released before this holiday so I could have one.

I would think us AFOL spend a lot more than that. I figure I spent about $3,000 on Lego just the past 3 months. No 10 year old kid with allowance gets to spend that much in a single year. Should that line read "In fact, they account for ninety-five percent of all Lego sales."

Found my camera. Thank goodness it didn't end up in Canada with my parent but under the count with a hyper 16 weeks old Lego Monster. for the assembled set.