Zeya

I would probably do that too, but the pdf files from Lego's website are hard to read. I made an LDD recreation of the Kingdoms prison tower set using the Lego-supplied pdf and it was hard to tell the difference between reddish brown and black, even. The dark brown and black were almost impossible to tell apart. It made my build take 3x as long. I keep my paper instructions in 3" or 4" binders with plastic sheets that are meant to hold standard 8.5"x11" paper. It's okay, but they really fill up quickly! I already have two full binders and I've only been an AFOL for less than a year. I think I might try that comic book style storage box that someone linked, where they stand upright. The only issue there is that I like to flip through them sometimes to see what sets I own. Then again, there's brickset for that too. Hmm.

EDIT: Nevermind, sorry.

4184 Black Pearl 804 Pieces $100 USD / $130 CAD Available in November And there aren't any photos of it yet, leaked or official.

There has also been buzz about a live action Star Wars TV series. Sounds like they haven't REALLY done any work on it or even started writing scripts. So that would be 2 or more years into the future, if it happens. But when it does, you can expect Lego to go crazy.

They probably changed the name because it would mislead you into thinking that the set included Blackbeard. Also, the new name explains why the QAR crew looks so weird. Time to add the collectible minifigure zombie to the crew!

There are no stairs leading up to the chest in the attic? I guess you rub the lamp and a genie will take you up there!

I live in San Jose, which is ~45 minutes down the peninsula from San Francisco. Where you will be and how far you will be willing to travel will determine which stores you can go to. But like Brickdoctor said, you can't go wrong with the Lego stores in San Mateo and Santa Clara. I've only been to the Santa Clara one, which is in a large mall called Valley Fair. If you go there, you can check out other stores if you want to do other shopping. Other than the Lego brand stores, the other places I shop are Toys R Us, Target, and Walmart. TRU has the best selection and has the most frequent/elaborate sales. But Target and Walmart have their normal prices set cheaper (at MSRP), whereas TRU has above-MSRP normal prices. Beyond that, I wouldn't bother with other stores for Lego sets. The only other stores I know of that have Lego don't have enough of a selection (or sales) to make it worth going to them. But I'll list them just in case: Borders - A bookstore chain in the process of going bankrupt. Has sets at above MSRP. Has collectible minifigures for $1 more than TRU. Barnes & Noble - Another bookstore chain with some sets. I preordered POTC sets from them online. Not sure what in store prices are like. Hobbytown - Above MSRP, small selection Marshall's - Some brickmaster books and surplus sets in the back corner. EDIT: If you go to Walmart, please please do not judge Americans by the clientele that you encounter there. I always leave Walmart in a bad mood and feeling anger and sadness at society. Always. You know what, just don't go to Walmart, lol.

I preordered from Barnes & Noble, but their product pages still say a ship date of May 1st. I wonder if it will take until then, or if they might ship ahead of that date.

Yes, it seems they have funding problems in the Dragon Knight land. Even that one knight is feeling the pinch and making a run on the poor blacksmith's merchandise! They probably had problems with risky financial products, such as credit default swaps. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the mill is underwater on its mortgage and the poor folk are being forcibly evicted.

What's up with this trailer hitch sort of part on the back of the carriage? Is it some sort of play function?

Sorry about linking the large images. And thanks for the box art.

Oh you know yesterday I put together the 2009 set Pirates Soldiers' Fort. I saw the palm tree on the box and remembered those palm trunk pieces from old Pirate sets from the early 90s. I remember really liking those pieces and looking forward to building palm trees again. But then to my dismay, it ended up being this large <insert that tiresome argument> tree trunk monstrosity:

I was a little late to the game with S1. I bought a set of 16 (sealed) on eBay for somewhere in the range of 50-65 USD. I'll bet you can still find complete sets to buy for something like 60 or 70. Don't pay 7 or 10 bucks a fig; you don't need to do that. Good luck.

A google search doesn't make this one blindingly obvious to me. Do you have a set number? Or are these just loose figs? "Knights King Leo X2 (2 Horses, 2 King Leo's, 2 Soldiers)"

It sounds like you guys are looking for old sets with the mug/cup piece and trying to figure out if it has a coffee machine construction in it, right? You can check old instructions here and look through to verify: http://www.brickfactory.info/set/index.html

Yesterday I got two City impulse sets - the City Traveler and the farmer one that has a pig and dog in it. They were from TRU and should have had stacking discounts but TRU screwed me. Had to fight to get my 30% off one of them. Was also supposed to be BOGO50 but they wouldn't do it. I didn't want to cause a struggle of cheapness, so I took it on the chin, lol.

I buy the Creator houses. I have the Beach House, Apple Tree House, Family Home, and Log Cabin. I think the Beach House is the best and the Log Cabin leaves something to be desired. The most recent sets seem to be getting smaller. And they're including minifigures now, which is kind of strange. The minifig in the Log Cabin is pretty generic. I think I'll still end up getting the upcoming Lighthouse and Hillside House, but I'm not terribly excited about them. I've found the creator sets are a good way to build up my fledgling brick collection, and also it's nice to have 3 different engaging models to build, which really increases the value of the set for me. I don't have as much time as I'd like to design and build MOCs, and that aspect gives me a similar satisfaction to making a MOC.

I picked up 30071 (Toy Story 3 Army Man polybag) at the Target checkout line. It looked like it had been through the ringer a little bit. But it's such a unique set, I wanted to get it. I like how everything is in green. Can't get enough green plates, and the helmet and radio are nice.

Treasures, eh? I'll be the judge of that. It'll probably be a secret message like "Drink more Ovaltine".

I guess every set has a collectible card. That's pretty cool. I wonder what exactly that code is on the back. Translating a snippet of the review with Babelfish, it says that the reviewer doesn't really know what the code is for either. I guess the website isn't set up to support those codes yet.

Yeah that's it! I found two of those in old gray out in the yard.

Haha yeah I meant sales tax. It is income tax season here so I guess it was on my mind.

When I moved into my house, I found two or three lego bricks in the back yard! One was a red 2x2 and I also found two light gray... not sure what you would call it, like a modified 2x2 plate where it has a 90 degree bend in it.

I preordered on the Barnes & Noble website. It's a bookstore here in the US, and I'm not sure if they do business in Canada. They have all of the sets available for preorder, with 10% off MSRP. You place your order, and then it seems they ship it when it "hits the streets". Note that they did charge me income tax, which I guess almost negates the 10% discount. (Shipping is free over a certain amount though, I think $25.) But then I don't imagine POTC sets will be on sale any time soon, right? Here's a specific link to the QAR set for preorder. They have all the other ones for preorder as well (except for Black Pearl which isn't really revealed yet).

I found those to be the hardest to identify as well. For the monster, he'll have no accessories, and you should try to isolate his hair/forhead piece. It'll be flat on top. The werewolf will have a tiny bone that you can usually shake to the bottom corner of your packet. The figure skater is pretty rough, but try to go by her hair and shake the ice skates to the bottom. Be aware that the hockey player has the same ice skate pieces too, so differentiate them by the hockey stick and armor and helmet. Good luck!