Dfenz

The eurohotel across the motorway has quadruple rooms that will take 4 adults and according to booking.com (via tripadvisor.com) these rooms are less than €100 per night per room (total for two nights = €195. Other websites offer the quadruple rooms at slightly higher nightly rates. Might be an overflow option. David

Hi I can confirm my attendance (plus son) but I won't need accommodation. (Arriving Friday afternoon and departing Sunday afternoon to Munich airport) If you are stuck for accommodation check out the eurohotel which looks like its easily within walking distance to the park just the other side of the motorway. I say 'looks' because while you can see the park from the hotel, I normally drive there and to access it by road you need to drive past it about a km and drive back to it - still within walking distance but a bit further than it might look from the air if there is no short-cut for pedestrians. Other hotels in Gunzburg are much further away and not practical without own transport. The Eurohotel is a perfectly adequate hotel if people can't get rooms on site. I've stayed there a few times when visiting Legoland. David

I agree that Disneyland in Cafe Corner style would be rather attractive to Collectors. There is already a series of non-Lego collectibles that is reproducing the main attractions one by one. If the buildings were modular you could connect them together to form a street. There would be scope for iconic buildings (Haunted Mansion, New orleans square (Pirates) Main street station), landmark attractions (splash mountain or the matterhorn), characters, vehicles (main street bus or fire engines), boats (Mark twain/ Columbia or just basic rafts or canoes, rides (e.g. tea-cups or Dumbo). If the idea was successful it would take years to exhaust the potential product line-up and that's before they even went near more complicated roller coaster type attractions such as Big THunder rmountain railroad. Given the normal lack of playability associated with buildings this would have to be marketed at collectors and be of a high quality to work. Given the likely licence fees payable to Disney unfortunately I agree that this is a long shot. David

I've been to the Reim Arcaden shopping centre [in Munich] a few times and it usually has a good selection of sets and PAB. I particularly liked the fact that I could pick up unusual pieces such as the 1x2x2 transparent panel/ window. As I hire a car when I visit Legoland (closed at the moment) its easy to access as its not far off the ring road from the airport (via A94). The shopping centre was built on the site of an old airport - you can still see the control tower on the drive in. Don't forget that the store gives out Lego stamps unlike the parks. If you are in Reim Arcaden there was a very good store at the other end of the mall (I think it was called Miller/Muller or something like that) which had a large selection of Lego sets, many of which were on sale each time I visited (no PAB though). David

Argos catalogues are normally officially released on Saturdays. But most shops (in Ireland) have late night opening on Fridays and have the catalogues available late in the day. While you can't use the stock checkers or online service until the official release date you can buy things from the new catalogue in the shop and I've done so several times. I always pop in to a store on the Friday night just in case they have any special offers - slim pickings in recent years unlike a few years back. David

For those interested in all things Argos the new Argos catalogue is out. I just picked up the new Argos (Ireland) catalogue today in a Dublin store. I didn't find the Lego selection particularly inspiring and the prices were more expensive than for Smyths toy stores (but slightly lower than LS@H Ireland), at least for the Star Wars sets. Availability seems to be limited. Perhaps its an initial stock thing but I picked up the one and only Hyena Droid in one Dublin store and the catalogue isn't even supposed to be launched until tomorrow. Some prices are higher than previously available. The sets have unusual price points. While there is a statement at the bottom of the page that "this catalogue includes new VAT reduced prices" I'm assuming that's a carryover from the UK edition. No such luck over here. The prices below are for the Irish edition of the catalogue. No doubt the UK catalogue, which normally has similar sets, will be much more competitively priced. Star wars Darth vader fighter €41.79 Hyena Droid Bomber €27.79 Anakins fighter €27.79 Republic attack shuttle €69.79 Republic attack gunship €111.99 ATTE walker €97.99 AAT €55.79 Battle packs €13.49 Indiana Jones Shanghai chase €34.79 Flying wing €55.79 Technic Hauler €69.79 Go-kart €18.99 Quad-bike €34.79 Excavator €55.79 City Dozer €27.79 Crawler crane €55.79 Dump truck €18.99 City construction site €83.99 Police station €69.79 !! (€15 mor expensive than the last catalogue) Police truck €41.79 Fire station €55.79 Power miners Granite grinder €11.29 Thunder driller €27.79 Crystal sweeper €55.79 Claw digger €20.79 David

The main Irish retailer Smyths now has many of the 2009 sets on shelves. Lots of assassin 8015 and clone walker 8014 battle packs and lesser quantities of the Republic assault shuttle 8019 and the AAT 8018 in my local store. There were also many copies of Darth Vader's tie-fighter 8017. All the sets are undercutting LS@H Ireland, e.g. 8019 is €10 cheaper at €64.99. Off-topic, they also have the latest sets in the power miners, Indiana Jones, city construction, pirates ranges and for the first time ever on Irish retail shelves as far as I can recall Spongebob. David

Its €59.99 in Ireland (one of the few recently released sets that actually cheaper than most of Europe) and only STG£39.15 in LS@H UK (well under €50 although the STG£/euro exchange rate has moved rapidly in past week). UK is best place to buy Lego in Europ at the moment. David

A similar system was also employed in Viking set 7020, that time with a double firing mechanism which I thought worked very well. David

I ordered two of these earlier today using a helpful work colleague's address in Northern Ireland for £68.50 each. I have already picked up all the pirates sets in the US in December and will acquire other sets in Northern Ireland when they start to appear in shops (e.g. Argos, where online reservations are possible or Smyths where they have an in-stock guarantee system). Interestingly enough the total postage to Northern Ireland is only £5.50 whereas the euro postage to ROI is over €14. Bring on sterling parity. Eventually I think that a weak sterling might have some impact on UK prices as the sets aren't made in the UK and it surely costs more in sterling terms to import the sets. Only adverse market conditions will keep the prices down - but then again poor economic conditions have not stopped lego trying to fleece Irish customers interested in 10193. David

I had the same problem on a crosstown craze set I opened yesterday. The wheels don't spin on one of the cars because the axel is slightly mishaped - its not perfectly round to accept the wheel smoothly. I'm not bothering putting a call in just for this piece but Lego customer service is the best around and they'll send you replacement parts if they are defective. David

I'm just back from a US pre-Christmas shopping trip and picked up what I think are all the new pirate sets, the three small creator sets with minifigures (one with a pirate, knight or fireman), and the small city farm set (the range-rover jeep with horsebox). I also managed to flat pack a few extra star wars sets into the cases including a sand crawler for $99 (not bad for European prices). I've seen some references elsewhere to large sets being on sale in stores such as Target etc. but I found the selection generally disappointing at the likes of Target, Walmart and ToysruS. The star wars sets (e.g. Republic gunship) in particular didn't look particularly cheap when considered in light of recent Argos Lego price reductions here in Ireland and the UK. The Lego store in Santa Clara California got the huge order. Thumbs up to the manager there who allowed me to fill up those special Christmas pick-a-brick boxes (you get one for every $75 spent) there and then rather than waiting a few weeks given that I was an overseas visitor. David

Ok I can't resist any longer. Add my name to th emystery raffle. David

Seeing as I'm from Ireland I surely don't have up to date info but when I was there 18 months ago there were two toy shops on the main shopping street parallel to the river (the one with the discrete McDonalds that is overlooked by the museum built into the cliff - can't remember the name of the street). One stocked some really old sets and if I remember correctly it was on a corner site not far from a main bridge over the river. If you've hired a car and fancy a drive its a 2 hour drive to Munich where there is a Lego store at Reim Arcaden - easily accessible from the ring road around Munich and Salzburg in particular. regards David

There's a Jackie Chan Movie called New Police Story where the climax is a fight in a Lego Store. And, no before you ask it wasn't over that last MIB monorail set!! David

I usually fly into Munich - its about 60-80 minutes drive from there on the A8 Autobahn and hire a car. I returned from Gunzburg yesterday and there are roadworks on route which slow traffic a bit. It seems from looking at the map that Stuttgart might be a similar distance in the other direction. For Ryanair fans there is an airport at Friedrichschafen which seems not to be a million miles away in yet another direction - problem for me with this option is flight times whereas Aer Lingus have twice daily flights most of the time to Munich (from Dublin) including an early morning departure. Not sure about public transport links although there is a rail line going through Gunzburg. There might be smaller airports nearer , e.g. Augsburg but these are probably of no use for international visitors. David

Thanks for the heads up. The Republic Gunship is particularly good value as it beats Smyths prices and €89.99 is way below the LS@H price for most European countries, including Ireland. Pity I've already got a small fleet of them. Its also an opportune time to pick up some more battlepacks. i'm not sure how it works with Argos, i.e. if its pot luck whether you get the rebels or stormies. David

All Smyths are participating. I picked up the Bulldozer today in Naas, Co. Kildare. However, as I picked up the paper late on Saturday when Smyths was closed I'll have to post in to get the police copter. This will be one of the 7 tokens I need to keep and then send in to get the lot for €9. In the meantime I'll use 5 of the tokens to get what I think are the best sets on the days in question. As Smyths are open til 11pm weekdays and its not a Dublin city store where demand might be an issue I should be able to manage this over the next week or so. By the way I was told that the spare sets are returned from the stores each evening so if you can't get to the store in question on the day, don't expect to pick it up the next morning. David

I was in Berlin last December 2007 and stayed just off the main shopping street where a number of department stores had excellent Lego sections. The Discovery centre was disappointing. The following is the post I made in another thread about Berlin lego shops back then. I'd add that I found an excellent hobby shop on a side street near the Swissotel (behind C&A) that stocked current Lego sets and was selling many of them at a 20% discount (for cash). regards David Given that this post refers specifically to Lego in Berlin it might be useful to repost some comments I made in the 'what did you buy today thread' (see below). I don't think you missed much at the Discovery Centre although if you have a 2007 Merlin or Legoland annual pass you might be able to get in for free. There are a few non-Christmas giant lego displays in the Sony centre including a giraffe. Not sure if you managed to get over to the Department Store at Alexanderplatz but there was an excellent castle display there last week when I visited. David "As an aside I also got a small amount of bits and pieces at Legoland Discovery Centre Berlin. But it wouldn't have been worth the entry fee if I had to pay into it. Fortunately I was allowed to use my 2007 annual pass from Gunzburg to get in for free but its pretty lame in my view and unlikely to generate much repeat business except for those with annual passes trying to kill an hour or two with kids. It is badly located within the Potsdamer Platz complex from a retail perspective, mostly underground with no shop open to the general public except through the cinema which wasn't open when we visited meaning that its only customers were coming from the discovery centre itself. Only the exiting elevators from the cinema were operating!! What a lame idea to have a discovery centre that does not have a high profile lego shop readily accessible (FOC) to the public. In any case the shop itself was nothing to write home about - ridiculously expensive with a very limited range especally when compared to the three Department stores, Wertheim, KadeWe and Gallerie (in Alexander Platz) that had extensive selections. By far the best display is in the Gallerie centre adjacent to the Alexander Platz train station where there is an absolutely amazing moving castle display with the skellies storming the King's castle over a ravine - the cliffs, caves, and lava effects in particular are brilliant. I took some pics which I'll try and post when I get a chance." PS there are some additional comments on this in the Eurobricks event thread in the past day or so! regards[/i]

If anyone is interested in road building techniques Railbricks Issue 4 on page 53 has some useful tips and pictures of different style roads. David http://railbricks.com/

I agree this is a good set but in Ireland its way overpriced at €74.99 compared to €49.99 listed in the review. David

The first, second and third times I won at strip poker on my old Sinclair Spectrum computer - with its massive 48k memory for those people too young to appreciate the joy of cassette tape loading games and rubbery keyboards. David

You can count me in too. David

Your wish has been granted. Its now euro 69.99 on LS@H to Irish and other euro country customers (listed as on 'sale' in Belgium for some reason). The UK price now stg£49.99! If I'd ordered it at euro99.99 I'd be looking for a refund. David

You can put myself and my son down as strong maybes depending on date. We have annual passes to Gunzburg and fly in from Dublin to Munich a few times a year so this should be easy to manage especially as there are normally very convenient flight times and daily flights. I'll probably also try to get to the Lego store in Reim Arcaden before driving to Gunzburg. David