Toadtorrent

That's excellent...I really like the choice of armour parts.

As good as the description is...and how great the pics are...they both pale to seeing this thing in person. This was amazing to see at Brickfete...opened my eyes to seeing the world through MOC coloured glasses!!

Last time I did one like this, they weren't packs, but big buckets of sorted bricks. You get print out instructions and it's a bit chaotic as you grab bricks following the instructions to make the end product...so you can actually get a few more bricks than what's officially allowed. ;)

Wow...what a duo. Beautiful interior AND exterior work. The front end sculpting is stunning.

This is awesome...saw it at Brickfete...fantastic. It's HUGE!! Great job, vision, dedication and transportation skills to bring it to AH!

What a fun vignette. I love the tree design and your choice of head for the gnome thief. You've really captured a number of great scenes on a modest footprint!

Very impressive build. An interesting idea, great execution, and determined sourcing of white and trans-clear elements. I'm always impressed to see angular features on big scale projects and yours is a great execution!

Assuming you are talking about how to pick a set for your sister, start with what she likes...move to her age to find a kit that she can build...look at the prices of the kits and go from there. If she is just starting, I would suggest the pink brick bucket - 5580.

This is excellent...love the colour scheme and the column detail...

Holy Greebles Batman...love it. The walls are gorgeous. I love the use of the garbage can...great job.

That's a lot of black slope...nice! I fixed the deeplinks in the quote. Technically I shouldn't quote images, but seeing as the images didn't get nested properly to begin with, I figure it should be alright...or the mods can fix it for me.

Does anybody have any count of numbers or overall impression of attendance? Was there enough indication/proof to support having another?

I'm quite new at this as well...and have focussed more on kits at the moment...amassing parts from Bricklink to build the kits I'm interested in, but in incorrect colours, or non-matching parts. Technically I'm able to create the models, but aesthetically they are off because of colour...and the colour can often be what can drive the price of a project up immensely. If you're starting out like me, you have to make the decision on what you are inspired by the most - the shape of a model, or the detailed look of a model. If just the shape (or in my case, I was inspired by a lot of the function of the Power Miners kits, or the construction technique of a lot of the bigger construction sets like the Tower Crane or Vestas wind turbine), it can be a much cheaper enterprise. For the most part, I have opted for making sure I just have a required element regardless of colour, to build a model in question and have made the compromise that mixed colours are less of a big deal for the most part. Whe doing buildings though however, it can be the difference in a satisfying build, to make sure you have matching or appropriate colours. If you want the look, things like Dark Red Slope 75 2 x 1 x 3 can cost $3/brick and make projects prohibitively expensive to all but the most ardent and determined builder. I would suggest micro-builds as a challenge to start with...smaller scale, requiring less bricks and a different kind of thinking and challenge while being lighter on the pocket book and just as fun. When finances allow, start buying kits on sale (if you live in the US or have decent access to good kit pricing) to get lots of matching colour elements at a better price than Bricklink prices...and when you have a solid base of parts, build kits based on colour themes of the kits in your collection. I went from 200 pieces to about 25,000+ pieces in a few months...it can get addictive...but I'm also not using my parents money...I'm spending my children's college fund. ;)

...uuuh...and Noob AFOLs. A true ambassador...his Great Wall MOC was equally striking but without the novelty of the conveyor belt.

Yup...that was Si-mocs alright...amazing MOC that was...fantastic. Clever, fun, beautiful, and an impressive collection of alien robots!!!

This is amazing...truly amazing. The details...the overall look...the building techniques...colour scheme...everything is truly fantastic. I LOVE the theatre letter build and Art Deco look...beautiful...and the interior is so dense with features and detailed finishing from the mosaic floors, to the popcorn kettle..beautiful. This is stunning...truly stunning.

Thanks for the feedback!! Perhaps I will make a thread on how I made the instructions...it was a pretty interesting process.

Wow guys...what a show!! I was blown away by the size of the event, the quality of the projects presented and the enthusiasm of the builders. Amazing. Great to meet Si-mocs...dr_spock you had qute an impressive layout that was awesome to see in real life. Classic space MOC? MIND-BLOWING!!

...uuuuh...ask for your beer back.

I don't like this at all...it's too bleak, desolate...alone. ;) Great vig!! I really like your sculpting of the decayed building, and the view point is nice too, especially the look of the retainer wall...just like the ones in my city. The chewed up road is a nice touch, and I think would be a great opportunity to show a meteor impact hit by breaking down part of that retainer wall to add a bit of 3-D to the decay like a meteor hit the corner of the wall and road. Good stuff...and I would realy like to see more of your work.

I have just filed all mine in a cabinet in manila folders because I keep all my instructions in PDF form accessed on an iPad or laptop and build using that so I don't have to search for individual paper copies...just search through a database for models by picture or by part number for inspiration on how to use certain things (e.g. cockpits and or odd shaped things) and pull up the corresponding PDF instructions. I thought at one point of printing the instructions but I have more electronic than paper, and I want either all paper or all electronic...so it was easier, faster and cheaper to go the latter route.

Holy cow...this is incredible. I love the sculpting of the cliff face of the main castle...beautiful.

HAH...those cupholders had me sputter...GREAT detail and clever use of the tan round 1x1 to be the holder.

I love the detail of the net and then hanging sharks. Great little MOC...I kind of like the "emptiness" makes it seem like they are pioneers foraging a path in a new region...

Thanks all for the positive feedback. When you see some of the amazing MOCs on this site, it seems so simple but I still thought was effective for the gift. @lightningtiger - it's true about the door. I couldn't be bothered to add doors as it would have changed the room dimensions so much and I wouldn't have been able to fit things on the 32x32 baseplate without effecting the symmetry and outward balance of the house. Decisions / compromise / decisions / compromise...it was an ongoing battle. For anyone reading this contemplating a similar project...I have to say seeing a printed, bound manual and your project together is pretty rewarding...a lot of work...but rewarding.