Zeya

A quick note up front: After doing my sorting this weekend, I think I definitely need the "box4blox". Has anyone reading this used this tool? I might actually make a special thread about this. I think that will really help the sorting process. I also learned that it is better to sort elements in smaller chunks, rather than a larger quantity. I think I want to get the brick separator tool as well. I'm hoping that thing will make it possible to separate two 1x2 plates that are stacked together. I also have a 10x10 plate with a little 1x1 plate (not round stud) stuck in the middle of it that I can't get off. Well this weekend I broke down my winter bakery and winter toy shop sets and sorted them out and stored them in the akro-mils cabinet. I stacked everything to save on space and because that's how I want to do it. I kind of sorted by mold, but ended up combining some molds in the same drawer. For example, I have a drawer for "technic stuff that pins and whatnot go into". My favorite drawer is the minifig head drawer. Also the stickered/printed part drawer. And the small animal mold/light brick/rope-thread drawer. And... you get the picture. Oh yeah and there are these dividers you can cut out on the back. If you get this cabinet, make sure you do that first! I had it filled with bricks when I did; nothing happened because I was very careful, but yeah. The dividers fit into slots that are there for you in the middle of the drawers and bisect the drawer in two equal parts. This is great for example on my drawer where I have 1x1 snot tiles next to the 1x1 slope pieces, thus avoiding having to use a whole other drawer for it and wasting space. My only gripe is that there aren't enough of the dividers included; I think you can buy extra dividers though. So in summary: Akro-Mils gets a thumbs up from me. But on the same token, I can see it filling up quickly. The cabinet I got that has a mix of small and large drawers was a good place to start. But if I were to buy it all over again in hindsight, I would get two cabinets: one with just small drawers and one with just big drawers. Just because I know it will definitely get used. Any questions, don't hesitate to PM me!

+1 for UsernameMDM

Welcome Gainsbrick! Where in California are you? I live in San Jose.

Is this all still hypothetical as the first post in this thread seems to imply? Or are there new details released about the MBA? I'm confused as to why people are talking about 1000 bricks for $100 and such...

I got a 6253 Shipwreck Hideout from amazon. My girlfriend actually got it for me. Now I just need the soldiers fort and I'm basically done getting all the 2009 sets I missed. (Dont feel the need to get the impulses or battlepack since there are no unique elements I can spot.)

Oh great here I go. (Sorry.) I got that 2004 DVD set for Christmas that year, and I'm still disappointed. I thought it was the original trilogy without the extra BS, but it wasn't. They have some but not all of the terrible "special edition" scenes with CGI. It's like a half baked bastardized Star Wars. But then I guess all the modern releases are messed up. Greedo shooting first and all that nonsense. My mom and dad probably spent a bloody fortune on that DVD set. Shame on you Lucas. I know they didn't force anyone to buy it, but still. I won't go to see some 3D star wars. It's just not right. They need to just leave it be and stop fiddling with the movies once they're made. The only SW news that intrigues me was hearing about them working on a live action TV show. But last I read, progress on that was going slowly or halted altogether. And who knows what the quality would be like anyway. But that's another topic.

Ah, right. I remember being a little irked when they used the same shtick with the same giant wheel duel. I really need to re-watch these movies. I'm looking forward to seeing Ian McShane in the new one. He was great in Deadwood and the perfect actor to play Blackbeard. I even want to read the novel too because it's apparently pretty good.

Yeah I see now. The chest the conch-shell zombie is carrying. I was wondering what that was too. I don't remember the movie well enough to recall what the deal was with the treasure chest.

What current or upcoming sets have more than average greenery? (I worded it that way because I know there really doesn't exist many sets that I would say have a lot of greenery.) I'm talking about leaves, plants, flowers, palm fronds, those big leaf pieces, etc.

I don't see it. I see a compass tile in Jack's hand and a circular map tile on the floor propped up on the fountain edge. Where on the image are you looking? I'm still trying to figure out the doorway. Are they large trans-blue pieces like a gate? I see a wheel that probably turns a rope or gears and opens the "door".

You're right, I mis-counted. There are six on each side. That just makes it all the stranger to be short-changed on the cannons. I guess I can go buy 3 of the Cannon Battle impulses. Well did you see all the detail with the bones/skeletons and the big hanging lantern? It may be a bit much in terms of detail if anything. I'm really liking the QAR the more I see of it. And oh my, I didn't see the sword holsters at first glance. That's a real step forward for minifig detail. Cool.

Hmm well I found the following in the comments of this very interesting article (LINK): Most interesting is the claim of the 1960s bricks that are still fully functional. I can answer this now. I got my Akro-Mils container yesterday from Amazon. While I only have one right now, it does have two nice big slots on top that have a slight downward slope, and I'm confident that this makes them fit together well. They may not fully interlock (not sure) like a couple of 2x4 lego bricks would, but I don't see this as a problem. The slots would keep the one on top from shifting left-to-right or forward, and might even stop it from shifting backwards too. Basically, it looks pretty solid to me. Some other notes... You can fully pull out the drawers, which is nice. But there is also a bit of a stopper resistance so that you can slide it almost all the way out and leave it open if you want to rifle through like that. So I don't think I'll run into an issue where I accidentally pull too hard and little bits go flying all over the room. On the back of the unit there is a bit of extra plastic you can cut out and put into the drawers as partitions/dividers. I haven't done this yet. The drawers aren't totally transparent. They're a little bit "smoky", but mostly see-through. I haven't done any sorting/storing yet so I can't report how much of an issue this is (if at all). The small drawers are smaller than I expected. Basically I thought the whole thing was going to be a little bit larger. I easily see myself getting another one, maybe with larger drawers, in the near future. For now... I gotta stop spending money on this hobby lol.

Yes, now we are talking. It's amazing how much better things look with (near-) final minifigs. Don't forget to look at the other non-box images on some of the links. My impressions... Isla De La Muerta - Oh nice a lot of gold stuff. Hmm, are those coins colored with the non-shiny gold color to match the goblet? There's a gold bar with printing; two of them! I'm loving that Barbossa skeleton with boots and a pegleg. This image must not be final because in the main part he has a pegleg, but in the corner, he doesn't. Hmm. Elizabeth Swan has very nice printing. Jack has a compass in his hand (printed/sticker 1x1 tile). Cannibal Escape - Ahaha Jack has that awesome 6-eye face printing, just like in the movie. The throne has some nice skull heads and a big printed piece. The islanders look cool. Looks like the islanders aren't exactly the same; at least their faces are different, maybe even their bodies. The skull cage is now a mix of white and light tan, and that makes it look better. The Orlando Bloom minifigure isn't really exciting me here. The Mill - Ohh the undead crewman is really cool. That conch shell helmet is awesome. What is that inside the chest? I don't remember the first movie so well. Looks like they have stickers on the windows, just like in the Kingdoms castle. Also a new sticker for a 1x2x4 wall piece. Is that a gold bell in the top floor of the tower? Maybe it will swing on a rope. It's too bad there is no donkey and mechanism here like there was in the movie. A Pirate blacksmith shop could have been awesome; looks like they toned it down here probably to save on costs. The wheel looks like fun for the kids and an interesting build. The Captain's Cabin - That globe is tasty. That has to be printed; there's no way anyone can put on a sticker like that. There's a round looking map tile piece on the table that looks cool too; must be from the movie. At least this set has 3 minifigures in it; probably the cheapest way to get a Jack Sparrow and the closest we will have to an impulse set. The pirate minifigures look cool; regular sword molds. Does Jack have a special sword mold? His is a different color too; looks like dark pearl. Jack has that compass tile piece again. Why is it on a blue tile (prelim)? It should be tan to match the sticker. Aqua de Vida - The figs are making this one. Blackbeard looks AWESOME. That beard and hat. That sword is ridiculous; must be preliminary. The peg leg pirate is cool. That round map tile again. Nice trans-blue pieces here and pillars like in Atlantis. This could be another $7 impulse small set like TLG seems to be leaning towards this year. Whitecap Bay - Batteries included? Is that more than a light brick perhaps? Maybe an LED of some sort? Do the mermaids have bendable tails here? The mermaid from Brickbeard's Bounty and that fantasy minifig collection are one solid piece I think. Heavy use of the background box art here to make the scene look busy. I have a feeling this set will be a bit overpriced. At least there are 6 minifigures. Queen Anne's Revenge - Epic. I love the sails and how they look worn. Looks like 3 cannons but 5 cannon ports on each side; that's rather cheap of TLG! The stern looks pretty intense and could be a very fun build. The mizzen mast looks cool. I wonder if the stern windows are a big piece or made of smaller window elements. The skull heads around the stern are really cool. Interesting use of cloth pieces on the sides. This set is a must-have. All-in-all I'm excited about these. They've even added some bricks since the prelim images. I'm a little sad that some of them are so small. I'm afraid they may end up being a bit overpriced. I think that the QAR is almost as big as the Imperial Flagship (although fewer bricks), so I see that set probably costing around the same or a little more. I do notice that as for minifigs, Jack Sparrow comes in every single set, Blackbeard is in two sets (one small, one huge), and Elizabeth Swan is in only one set! So I think Swan will be the most valuable figure and so will Blackbeard. Also the conch shell crewman is pretty unique and only in the windmill set. I think future waves might have more of Swan, but she'll almost certainly have different clothes (printing). Here's looking forward to May!

My two cents: wait about three weeks to let the novelty wear off a bit. If the excitement and appeal hasn't worn off, then go for it. But keep in mind that their bricks probably won't work with Lego so much. Dr. Who isn't as popular here in North America as it is in Britain. I know one or two people who watch the show. I've seen a couple episodes and it was pretty cool; at least it's one of the few outlets for science fiction right now. (I mean what else is there, maybe Stargate in its fifteenth season? lol). I personally love Top Gear and can't get enough of it. They just started airing an American version of Top Gear by the way... but now I'm rambling. I love cars.

Good idea with splitting. I have to say, it will be much easier to sell chunks of things. If you can gather things together into full sets this might be easier to sell and net you more money. If you put up a group of sets for sale on eBay, say all from the same theme and all the same year, I think there will be more success. And that way it will still be a large enough chunk such that you won't be making too many trips to ship (and buy packing supplies). If possible try and sell sets that you would be less attached to, but ideally sell for a larger price and are likely to sell quickly. Good luck. It's rough out there right now for many people; just know that you aren't alone and you'll make it through.

Well it seems that Lego is really mixing things up now with the dot identifiers, or non-identifiers as the case may be. It seems like going forward, the only way to weed out figs will be the feeling method. I don't know about you all, but I think for series 5 onward, I will be buying large lots of packets and doing a store return on the ones I don't want. I'm not going to stand there in the store for an hour or more; I'm going to take them home and return the unwanted ones later. Either that or I'll just pay a few dollars more and get a full set on eBay/BL.

I got my Akro-Mils drawer cabinet today. But before I start sorting... I've looked around to try and find the answer to this question. If you store bricks by stacking them, does that really have a damaging effect on them? I am inclined to store them all stacked together to both save space and to make it easier to quickly grab a certain quantity of bricks. I see mention here and there that it might loosen them up, but I'm kind of skeptical that's really a problem. Has anyone left bricks stacked together for a long period of time and had a problem?

I also got a half-off Gateway of the Squid yesterday. And today I got an Atlantis impulse with a $5 coupon they emailed me; it's just a diver minifig with a little underwater jetski. Hmm. I hope I don't get sucked into the Atlantis theme, but I probably will.

I just got two sets from fellow board member VBBN: Brickbeard's Bounty Loot Island Looking forward to putting them together. I also have the Imperial Flagship, Cannon Battle, and Kraken Attackin'. Now I need the fort and maybe even Shipwreck Hideout.

+1 for VBBN

Ohhh I know what Ro87n is talking about here. If you go to the Lego.com site for the minifigs and browse through each bio, they show some stats for each one like strength, creativity, and speed. Here's a link: http://minifigures.lego.com/en-us/Bios/Default.aspx#Tennis%20Player They have a bio and some "skills". Hmm, I wonder if Lego is/was planning some sort of game with these things?

I don't have a problem with any of the knights' helmets. But my king's crown won't hold the feather in well. The feather just drops in without fitting snugly; if I tip him upside down, the feather will fall right out with no resistance.

I got a 30062 Target Practice polybag last week. There's nothing terribly special about it, but I felt compelled to get it anyway. Oh I also got a binder and clear sleeves for my instruction manuals.

Ah, good topic brought back from the dead. Here are some rituals: -Wash hands -Build all minifigures first. When they're all build, run and show them to my girlfriend. (She pretends to enjoy this, which I appreciate.) "This one has a female minifigure with a printed dress. She goes for like ten bucks online! What? No, I'm not going to sell it!" -"Stack" the bricks. That is, connect all 1x2 pieces (for example) in a big stick, keeping colors together. Sort everything that doesn't stack into little tupperware cups. Sorting prolongs the process as a whole (a good thing) and yet makes building easier and more enjoyable. -After building is complete, run and show them to my girlfriend. (She pretends to enjoy this, which I appreciate.) "See, you can pull this and the door opens, and then there's a cannon PEW PEW!" -Nurse my sore spine that was damaged from all the hunching over.

7947-1: Prison Tower Rescue This set is maybe 1/3 black. It has some brown and green too. But note that some of the black pieces are sort of <insert that tiresome argument>. I thought I'd just offer it as a possibility.