IAmWillGibson

I picked it up last year when it was kicking around local stores for about a month or two, because I love seasonal LEGO. And I love this set. I especially like that it's an ornament. There can never be enough robot snowmen.

Central as in where? I'm not defending the location [it's sort of a jerk mall], but I have the feeling people think Sherway is harder to get to than it really is. [Just take the 123 from Kipling; it's a 15 minute ride that'll drop you off in front of the place.] All in all, though, I think I might have preferred Yorkdale, even though that's unquestionably a jerk mall. Anything to skip a bus is preferred.

That does appear to be a verifyable source. Very neat. Now to prepare my resume.

Thanks so far, guys. What I'm particularly pleased with myself about is the slab [or tilt bed, if you will] is designed to be made using two Collectible Minifigure bases [even though technically in the picture, that's not how it's made, because those pieces don't exist in the LDD]. I don't know if I'm officially the first person to use these as something other than to stand figures on, but I'm going to convince myself that I am. Downside of the LDD is there's no reason to ever be done because it's so easy to futz with stuff.

So seeing that Series 4 comes not only with a Frankenstein's Monster but also a fairly mad-looking scientist, it feels only right that I add to my slowly-growing Spookytown faux-theme by putting together a little thing for them. My parts collection is woefully small, so I'm doing most of my building in LDD, and if I love the crud out of what I make, I'll worry about buying the parts for it then. And with all of the above taken into account, this is a set I'm gonna wanna buy the parts for and make in real life. However, LDD allows a sort of work-in-progress that's pretty cool in it's own right, so I'd love to ask anyone out there with an opinion how they'd tweak and jazz up and perfect this set. The goal is to have it a fairly small vignette on an 8x8 plate, made of stuff you can get in LDD [actually, through the pick-a-brick, 'cause, you know, cheaper, although I really need to get comfortable using Bricklink]. Anyway, so far it's pretty standard with a slab and a bookshelf and some equipment: It just seems a little... spartan right now, but I don't want it to be cluttered, which it sort of also feels like. Either way, obviously the grey dude would be the monster, and there's a clip for the doctor's flask. That's also currently the best I could do to replicate electricity with the parts at hand. I was gonna attach the LDD file to this too, but it says I'm not allowed to.

Just in case you're going to visit.

I'm not gonna weigh in on whether I think they will or not, as I really have no idea. But I can say that I'd be all over a Hobbit line like a dirty shirt. I've always been wishy washy on larger Lego sets, never really "needing" anything. But Hobbit stuff I would have to get all of, affordable or not. Maybe they'd take the time to finally engineer mini-legs that have a hip joint.

I know, I know, it's the Derleth/Chaosium one, but that's why I said it's AN elder sign, not THE elder sign. Also, the Lovecraft version didn't really translate as effectively. At least not so far, but I'm plenty open to suggestion! EDIT: Okay, just for you, this is now on the back of the stand:

So here's something I've been experimenting with for the last couple days. I was going to attempt something in LDD that seemed like it could be a UCS-level thing. I wanted to make a full Cthulhu model. I also decided not to use Universe mode, as, I dunno, a challenge. And if I ended up loving the thing and I fell onto a pile of money, maybe I'd order it. I'm not sure I do and I know I didn't, so it will remain virtual for the time being. I also left it as a bust rather than a full figure, mostly because of the LDD parts limitations, and constructing an entire body still might be a little beyond me. Still, here are some photos: I guess it could also work as just a monster squid thing. Although it's pretty wonky if that's the case. I didn't really know how to round the head out, so I went with a transparency with some alien extradimensional brains inside. I'm not in love with the underside, but it was hard coaxing LDD into letting me get pieces into some of those angles, and maintain some level of [virtual] stability. Speaking of LDD being a pain in the rump, instead of a name plate I made an Elder Sign: That Flex tool is super aggravating! Anyway, yeah. What's terrible about it?

This thing is cool beans. I think I'm gonna have to mention it to people.

Maybe it's just the timing of when I came back into this [around 2 months ago] but it feels like there's always something on sale at TRU lately. Maybe not the best sale, sure, but something is usually kicking around at 15-20% off. I'm assuming this is just a pre-Christmas push, though, that'll flatten out in the new year. But I'm with you on the non-sale cost. I've yet to get any Pharaoh stuff, and I've got my eye on the ATM-jacking City set, although TRU has raised the prices on City stuff something fierce [while conversely lowering the cost of the Bricks N' More sets. Huh.]

Not enough respect for

I'm more jonsed about more of these figures than Series 3, that's for sure. There's pretty much none in here I don't want. S3 has a few I actually want to avoid, but not here. Looks like a full set for me. Also, I thought the figure skater was an 80's star before I saw the skates. She's pretty glam.

It's retrotastic. That's a compliment, by the way. But yeah, I like the old-school flavour of it a lot.

Indigo in the Eaton Centre has a metric butt-load upstairs. Also, as said above, Mastermind [at least the one on Mt. Pleasant] had a bunch too. If you don't care about expense, you could go to Toys Toys Toys, but they'll overcharge the pants offa you.

Am I drunk, or have LEGO made the upper age 99 on some products before? I'm sure I've seen it.

Where in Canada are you? There's a tonne of Series 2 kicking around here still [Toronto]. Or at least there was on Saturday. But I haven't seen Series 3 anywhere yet.

I'm sure this has been discussed before in the hundreds of years since LEGO's inception, and if there is one great debate on here, please kindly direct me to it, but something that's been bugging me since, well, I was 9+ was why LEGO places the suggested age range on most of their products. Now, I get the lower age, that makes perfect sense, but more often than not [i know it's not 100%] they slap an upper-end on there too, and I've never quite known why. Is there a reason there's a "You're too old for this" cut off? Was it only there to give my dad a talking-point during the great "When are you gonna grow up?" debate? Despite the strong legacy of LEGO as a respected product, I can't help but feel some twinge of... embarrassment, maybe, buying something that clearly says I'm almost 20 years too old to be buying. With some further thought, I see that some of the sets I have here that remain unopened [for the time being] are 7-12 and 7-14, which is a little older than I thought was the norm for non-Technic/non-Exclusive stuff. Maybe it's there to give kids older than 7 but younger than 14 some level of confidence that they're not playing with a toy for a 7 year old? But what about all the 17 year olds out there? So many things to ponder.

This is my first b/s/t post on here, so I'm starting with something simple. I have the "dirty" Jessie minifigure from Toy Story set 7599 Garbage Truck Getaway up for grabs. She's brand new, still technically in the box, although she'd be loose when you get her, natch. Anyway, I'd be interested in trading her, perhaps for one of the Series 1 Minifigures I was never able to find [Zombie or Caveman]. Or other offers. I'm located in Canada. Thanks!

Nards, you're right! Hey, I'm easing myself into the code system. I'll get the hang of it eventually. Now to find someone who would love to give that Jessie minifigure a new home [i have little use for her].

There were quite a few at the Dufferin Mall Toys R Us this afternoon. Also, in the Walmart along the back wall was a big stack of Gateway of the Squid [8161] that scanned at 10 bucks. Mind-blowing! If I had more capacity it'd almost be worth getting 2. Here's a funny story: I called Yonge and Eglinton this morning, asking for 7599. They gave me some lady and I was like, "Hi, I'd like to see if there's a Lego set in stock," and she said "Yeah okay I'll check," and put me on hold right away. She came back and said, "Oh, no, we don't have that." I asked "Which set?" and she was like, "Uh, I give you to someone else." But it was good, because it sent me to the Dirty Duff, where the Squid set was, so it worked out.

But does the Kingdoms one have a naked Santa? I don't think so.

There's a bus involved, so it bumps up the transit time. Although I assume yours does too, but going from bus to subway is faster than subway to bus [because your start time is adjusted]. I'm at Yonge and Bloor and it would take me probably 40 minutes to get to Sherway Gardens. Either way, it's all hypothetical at this point. But an official Lego store anywhere in the GTA would be nice, because it'd cut down the costs of pick-a-brickin' online [i think]. [Dunno if this is news or not, but Walmart at Square One had some crazy deals: Echo Base, Crystal King and Magma Mech were 15 bucks, other stuff was on sale too.]

I'm new 'round these parts, but I'll chime in with a rumour. While I was at the Rockefeller Center Lego Store last month, while filling out my VIP thing the checkout guy said, rather hush-hush, "I hear there's a store opening soon in Richmond Hill, wink wink." Which struck me as odd for two reasons: 1] why would a guy in New York know a location as specific as Richmond Hill vs, say, Toronto, and B] why the hell would it be in Richmond Hill? I mean, now I see that's where Lego Canada seems to be headquartered, but still. Did he have insider knowledge? Did he have some sort of information confused? Was he just shootin' the breeze? Ponder as you may! And I don't mind Sherway Gardens, really. It's not terrible to get to on TTC, and if you look at the demographic, it feels like it sorta fits. I mean, I don't have a ton of experience with the stores in any other locations, but it seems official Lego stores veer towards the upper-scale, and Sherway's kind of a jerk mall. By which I mean a bit snootier. Either way, I will apply to work there.

Thanks, guys. I'll try to get up some pictures of the cemetery that [sort of but not really] goes with this, although I'm having trouble getting good photos of it. Now I just need to print off some stickers to give the organ proper keys and it'll be set. Although I think it works well enough as is.