Dfenz

Just a heads up that the gunship 20010 is back up on LS@H (at least in the UK and Ireland). Its listed as 'back orders accepted' for shipment by 11 December.

As I posted earlier this week here http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?...st&p=615065 the Brickmaster exclusives for the AT-TE and Gunship were available to Lego Club members in certain European countries including Ireland the UK. The gunship, set 20010, is now listed as sold out despite the fact I haven't even received my magazine yet advising of the offer. Fortunately I'd acquired a couple of sets thanks to the heads up on Brickset. The AT-TE is still available, but for how much longer?

I've just ordered a few AT-TE and Republic Gunship minis off LS@H Ireland (while I'm a club magazine member I wasn't asked to provide any membership number) David

Not sure if its been posted before - I don't think it has but the Brickmaster US exclusives AT-TE and Republic Gunships are now available at LS@H Europe (Ireland and UK anyway) to Lego Club members. To locate them without the link (I don't have the magazine yet) I simply used the search function and the sets popped up as available. David

Just a heads up that this is available on Aer Lingus flights in Europe. However, if you want one I'd have a word with the stewards in advance as there might only be a copy or two on each flight.

Anyone planning to go to Billund next year that is in a position to visit Legoland Gunzburg between now and the end of the season (basically within the next two weeks) will be interested to hear that it is possible to acquire one of the Merlin Premium Super-duper dippity do dah all inclusive passes for only €10 if you spend more than €75 in total in most park stores. This upgraded pass will entitle you to access to Billund also. Basically spending €75 gets you a free annual pass and its €10 extra to get the premium upgrade. Those who acquired this pass at last year's event won't need a new one for the 2010 event as it will still be valid but if multiple trips later in the year are planned its possible to extend the pass to a date that is a year from the day you visit the park. For example although my pass was due to expire in May 2010, for €10 over and above my €75 (which I was spending anyway) I extended the expiration date last weekend to late October 2010, which is basically most of the 2010 season. By the way there was an unusually large amount of old grey pieces in the sales marque PAB section at Gunzburg.

All dates suit me at the moment. The best date is the weekend ending 2 May as the following Monday's a public holiday here in Ireland. David

The weekend 6-9 May should suit me fine. As I haven't officially been at a Billund event before I'd like any extra behind the scenes tours on offer. At this stage the key thing for me is to fix the dates so that I can watch flight prices and ensure I've no commitments at work for that time. The later date was not a public holiday here in Ireland anyway. David

Can anyone confirm for certain that the German annual passes (the super duper all inclusive Magic Merlin versions) will actually work in Denmark? I can't find anything on the legoland website to confirm this although I see that the ordinary annual pass allows one entry into Billund. All the posts seem to assume that the Merlin passes can be used outside Germany. This might be a little odd if annual passes for each park are different prices. As the event covers more than one day a single entry only would mean people would need to get a Billund annual pass also. Its late so maybe I've missed the small print somewhere.

The Irish contingent will be there again so that's me +1.

I received my copy of the book today and its an excellent read. I purchased mine on Amazon.co.uk but I've noticed that the book is also available at www.bookdepository.co.uk for stg

This thread has evolved well beyond the original post as you are well aware and the posts have come from a wide range of countries. All that 'EU crap' has nothing to do with taxes as the differential cannot be explained by minor differences in Vat rates, locations from depots or factories etc. I think UK AFOLs must realise that UK prices are too cheap compared to other countries because sterling is artificially low (even if the UK VAT rate is temporarily reduced also). Its nothing to do with 'free trade' either. In a proper functioning market one would imagine that consumers voting with their feet or air tickets (to use Brickzone's example) would ensure that prices are brought down to market levels where they are excessively priced because Lego can't sell the stuff at those prices. The main complaints in this thread are about pricing differentials within the EU, especially on LS@H exclusives, which in a common market should be of a minor nature, especially within the eurozone where direct price comparisons can be made. At the risk of prolonging the topic I'd point to the example of the UCS Millenium Falcon which is €659 (not including postage) to an address in Dundalk near the Border with Northern Ireland. The same set shipped to Newry a few miles away will cost you Stg£342 (approx €380) a saving of €280 excluding any additional postage saving. This is definitely a Lego pricing issue so I beg to differ with your statement that this is 'not Lego's fault'. It blatantly is when the only retailer of this set in Ireland is LS@H and Lego incur no overheads in Ireland. This would also be the case in other countries around Europe. The cost to Lego of supplying this set to an Irish or Finnish customer should be the same as the cost of shipping it to a UK customer except for (a) VAT differences which are insignificant in the context of the discussions (we're not talking about a 5% differential here!) and (b) postage to peripheral countries , but then the UK is a peripheral country especially where Northern Ireland is concerned.

Well according to my Brickset inventory I have the following 9v sets. Tracks etc. 4515 x15, 4519 x9, 4520 x 13, 4531 x 7. I've a bunch of loose curved 9v tracks which I acquired in bulk also. 4541 x1 4548 x4 Trains etc. 10001 x1, 10002 x1, 10014 x1, 10015 x2, 10017 x1 10020 x2, 10022 x4, 10025 x1, 10133 x1 10153 x7 10170 x1, 10173 x1, 10183 x3, 10194 x1 I've also the 9v level crossing 10128, cargo train 4512, train shed 10027, station 4513 and motorised hogworths. I got into trains a few years back when the Santa fe sets were on the way out. The sets struck me as fantastically realistic. As Holodoc has spotted I had to convert one bunch of carriages to have a complete collection of 10022 and 10025 rolling stock - this is a separate thread for this. I then went about getting some other sets (slowly due to rocketing prices). My best deals were €1 each for 3 9v controllers from a toy shop here in Ireland and the acquisition of the cargo train for about a third of its value by haggling with another store over price given that the (last) box had been opened. A visit back to the store the following day to locate some missing train bases and loose bags and hey presto I'd got this fabulous set on the cheap. I'd have probably got more trains over the years except for my Star Wars habit which is where the bulk of my lego catch-up spend went after my Harry Potter completionist phase. As I'm a 9v fan I've no RC or 12v trains. My train layout is dictated by the room layout with large window sills on each side of the room forming the end of the line which wraps around a star wars base MOC and my Hogworths layout on two tables. My one and only 9v MOC is an attempt at an Irish rail locomotive and engine which still needs some work. I'd post pics but my wife would be mortified given that the room needs a good tidy up. Anyway, that's my train story.

My vote would go to the UCS Imperial Star Destroyer 10030. A hugely impressive set when displayed.

If you search around you will find some discussions previously on lego shops in Berlin and in particular some comments on the Discovery Centre. My recollection is that many of the posts (including the one from me) were along the lines that it was somewhat of a disappointment. I also remember that some Department stores in Berlin had better deals and a wide selection of sets.

Lucky you. In Ireland its a euro for practically the same paper with a few Irish-specific front and back pages so no additional quality. Don't anyone ever complain about Lego exchange rates again!!

There is a crate with miscellaneous Lego in the sales tent behind the 4D cinema where you can cram Lego into containers for more reasonable prices. Selection won't be as good and you'll have to rummage but you never know what you might find. Discounted sets also available there. At this time of year the selection mightn't be as great as earlier in the season, at least that's what I've noticed previously when visiting in October. There are several other shops in the park selling sets, accessories, clothes etc. If you're coming from Munich direction remember there's a Lego store in Munich with PAB. I usually take a detour to there en-route from the airport to Gunzburg as its accessible from the ring road A99 and the A94.

Smyths have had them for weeks (at least in my local store). I think Argos have exclusivity on some of the sets. For example i didn't see Creationary in Smyths. By the way I obtained 5 of today's Mirror promo (speeder bike) no questions asked.

The sets will be available from tomorrow in Ireland also. Purchasers of the newspaper will need to bring the coupon to Smyths on the same day, each day as before. There is no mail-in offer unlike last time.

While I can access each auction individually through the links provided does anyone know why these auctions are not coming up in my ebay search results, e.g. if I search for Lego 10123 I don't get the above auctions on my list. I usually go into ebay through ebay.ie and had thought that by selecting 'worldwide' all auctions were visible to me. It seems this mightn't be the case which means I'm missing a lot on ebay Germany. David

A few thousand bed mattresses from the princess and the pea [set 5963] would do the trick !!!

No. I meant that 20% of the BrickIE members are Ambassadors. There are only 10 of us so far!! David

Well done to Copmike. There are two BrickIE members as Ambassadors although they double job with Brickish. That means 20% of our members at present are Ambassadors! David

Any UK price increases are most likely attributable to the weakness in sterling. Lego isn't made in the UK so it has to be imported from elsewhere where sterling isn't the functional currency. As was mentioned in a previous post I'm amazed Lego hasn't increased UK prices well before now to bring the prices closer to the rest of Europe based on existing exchange rates. Perhaps Lego was waiting to see if the sterling weakness was temporary. As sterling hasn't returned to its historical strength Lego will require more sterling from UK consumers to give the same return in euro or Danish currency than they might have got a year ago. This phenomenum isn't limited to Lego. If I was living in the UK I'd stock up while the prices are so low. For example take a look at LS@H UK prices for expensive star wars and exclusive sets applying a current FX rate of say 85p:1€.

Its now available at LS@H Europe. Prices vary significantly by country.