62Bricks

I was truly surprised how emotional people are about the color changes. Yes, I mean emotional - I have seen tears shed over this. Of course many users have not been there long enough to recall the various color changes that took place in the past. The original site was red, white and blue! Even when the dark green showed up it was just in the header and sidebar at first. The wide margins were white - much brighter than they are now. Bricklink did have a light blue color picked for the margins, and they put up a preview. People howled how jarring the color was. I didn't agree - I thought it was a neutral shade of blue. The development team was puzzled, too - they didn't understand the uproar. Then someone on the team noticed they were all using Macs (I have a Mac, too). Someone dug out a PC and fired it up and the page was practically vibrating the blue was so bright. It was maybe something about the default screen calibration. They changed it to gray - and the site architect had the whole team work only on PCs for a week to get another perspective.

They are working on a genuine mobile version. I believe it's scheduled to roll out next year,

A couple things: First, there's a script that hangs up when I try to load it with Firefox on a Mac. Couldn't get it to proceed. It worked in Chrome, but was very slow. Second, LEGO is very cool about fans using set and instruction images, etc., but using their logo on your page is a no-no. You might want to check out their guidelines here: http://www.lego.com/en-US/legal/legal-notice/fair-play

I recall walking down 5th Ave on a humid summer day and suddenly entering into a stream of cool, dry air. I looked around for the source of it, and saw that FAO Schwarz had its front doors propped open and were shooting the AC out onto the sidewalk. It was definitely bringing people into the store, but was probably a spendy way to do it. The LEGO section was pretty good last time I was there, and they had some sets that you usually only see at LEGO stores and never at the big-box retailers.

I've never used Brickficiency, but there is also a quick way to search for stores that have parts from a certain set using the Store Finder browsing function at Bricklink. It's at http://www.bricklink.com/storeFilter.asp You enter the set number (and set other options if you like, such as limiting to stores in your home country) and it will bring up a list of shops that have parts from that set. The default order shows you the shops with the most lots at the top of the list. You still have to manually look through the shops, but it does not require you to set up a want list first. That being said, it only works for sets. The Ganrash polybag is technically "gear" so you would not have been able to use this feature to search for the parts.

Check out the minifig identification tools at http://goatleg.com - you can enter basic information about a torso, head, or legs assembly and quickly narrow down the options in the Bricklink catalog.

One cool thing about Tente bricks is that the pins on the undersides fit into the holes in the studs, making it easy to place pieces at half-stud intervals. You can also join them bottom-to-bottom.

I never got caught up in collecting sets or themes, I just want lots of parts to build my own creations. That means Technic elements and architectural elements in neutral and muted colors. I also pick up classic pieces like slotted bricks when I can get them cheap. To control my spending, I have a Paypal account I use only for buying and selling LEGO. I have been doing eBay for years, but just started selling seriously at Bricklink a few months ago. This way I only spend what I've earned from selling things I don't want to keep and my habit feeds itself. I started this about 8 years ago with an initial investment of $60. Since that time I've grown my collection from about 20,000 pieces to over 50,000 (plus what is in my BL inventory) and I currently have several hundred dollars in my PayPal account to spend on more, so my habit has been self-sustaining. It's a good way to manage it, I think. I enjoy the selling part and I don't have to feel like I'm spending necessary funds on a "luxury."

Several new pages up at goatleg now - A tool to limit browsing for decorated parts by part type, size and decoration type (sticker or printed) - A tool to identify minifig torso assemblies by the colors of the torso, arms and hands - A tool to identify minifig torso patterns by common keywords - Code to put a "browse by set inventory" search box on your own Bricklink splash page Plus advanced search tools that let you search comments within listings for specific parts. goatleg.com

The new Lego store in Manhattan has been open for several months, now. It is larger than the Rockefeller Center store, and even larger than many mall stores I've been to. The selection isn't larger, just more floor space. It also has a small room in back for events. There is a very cool mural in the south window, also. One different thing is that the PAB wall is along one side rather than at the back like other stores. That means having to get out of the way more often if you're camped there filling cups. And there are a few places to put down a cup, but not the full counter like other stores. Of course the Rockefeller Center PAB wall has no counter space at all and is always crowded. Neither is real easy for PAB customers.

I think the fans of 3D printing have successfully hyped it to the point that everyone assumes it's going to disrupt every possible aspect of our lives. But true disruptions can't be planned. I predict zero impact on the plastic building toy market. Maybe some innovative designer will use it one day to design a superior toy building system, but when he or she wants to go into mass production, it will certainly be with injection molded parts.

Just updated to include 1x plates and Classic Space minifigs. Check it out: http://goatleg.com

I've put together the beginnings of a site that will let you search for part variations within Bricklink sale listings for specific parts when they are specified in the seller's comments. Some of the features: - Limit browsing results to include only listings that have comments - Refine browsing results by some common variations (pip location, type of plastic, logo style, etc.) - Search comments in listings for a specific part - For decorated parts, browse all decorated versions by part or limit to printed or stickered parts. Right now I just have some common 1x and 2x bricks available. Over the next few days I'll be adding plates, special pieces and minifig parts. Suggestions and feedback are appreciated. http://goatleg.com

This used to be the case, but LEGO does not have any physical presence in many states where they still collect sales tax online. This may be because of state laws that now require it even for companies that do not have a physical presence in the state. I live in Iowa, for example, where there is no LEGO store or other physical presence, yet I pay sales tax at shop.lego.com

And for the North Americans, you can have the same experience looking through the "Wish Books" from Sears, JC Penney, FAO Schwartz, Wards, etc. at http://www.wishbookweb.com/

I understand the frustration, but it is still January 1 in most of the world. The notice did not say the sets would be available at 12:01 in any particular time zone, just that they would be available January 1. I suspect they will be up in the next few hours. And I was right - they just went from Coming Soon to Out Of Stock. Nice.

The next thought that occurs is they suspected their system might not stand up to the demands and have delayed going live until they have made accommodations. Better to make people wait than to have a bunch of orders time out?

Has anyone tried calling? If it's just a website problem perhaps they can be ordered by phone.

They did Lufthansa sets in the past.

It's not a stretch at all to say that LEGO is promoting a company (ANY company) by choosing to sell models with that company's logo on it. LEGO is not being forced to produce accurate race car models in actual livery, it is choosing to. The stickers on the LEGO models serve exactly the same purpose as the stickers on the actual race cars: to promote those companies.

If my thumbnail trigonometry is correct, the inside diameter of your tower is just under 7.5 studs and the outside diameter about 9.5 studs. There are a couple round pieces that come close to fitting. One is this 10x10 dish: This is a curved surface, and may not work for you. Another option might be this 8x8 tile: which is flat. To attach them, you could use some of these technic bricks with axle holes If you put two of these on opposite sides of the inside of the tower a 7-stud axle would fit between them. You could then center two more of them along that axle to give you a 2x2 stud surface to attach either of the round pieces above. If that's not clear, I'll try to make up an example with LDraw later.

That's right. I have some 1970s sticker parts that are still firmly attached, too. What's more, I am usually able to carefully remove them and re-apply them (to wash the part or reposition a poorly-placed one) and they will still stick firmly.

No - there is no area for the stickered bricks (the chart still draws the line, though, even though the value is zero). There were no stickered parts until the early 70s. I believe the large spike in the 1950s was due to the release of those sets of 1x1s with printed letters and numbers.

In response to a question over at Bricklink, I put together a chart showing the number of decorated bricks produced by LEGO each year, and whether they were printed or stickered. This is an area chart, with the uppermost line showing the total number of decorated bricks, the blue area indicates the number of printed pieces and the red area the number of stickered pieces. This only charts the Brick, Decorated category, and only includes parts for which Bricklink has data for years of appearance. Click the chart to go to an interactive version.

I believe the cloth LEGO elements are made from acrylic-coated cotton. I have safely ironed creased and wrinkled flags using an iron on the cotton setting with low steam, and ironing directly onto the back side (the side without printing). You want an absolutely clean iron - a dirty one can stain the fabric. If you have stubborn creases, you can dip your finger in water, run it along the crease, then iron it. The "nuclear" option is to soak the whole flag in room-temperature water, lay it out flat to dry, then iron it. The flags are pretty durable. I would just avoid ironing directly onto any printing. If you want to be extra careful, put the flag printed side down and then put a very thin damp towel over it. Iron on a medium setting and see if that gets the wrinkles out. If not, try it again at a slightly higher setting and do that until they smooth out. If the flags are printed double-sided, then use this method. Also, if your iron is not completely clean (if it has any black spots on the heating surface), use the thin damp towel method.