Mr Hobbles

Hi guys, I just knocked a quick tool that lists the PaB part numbers and quantities for ordering when you paste in the LXFML. You can find it here. Instructions: Rename .lxf file to .zip, unzip, then open the .lxfml file. Copy and paste the XML into the big field on the left, then click the "Go" button. WARNING: This was a quick 30 min job, so there's no design yet, and the code is untidy. I also haven't done enough testing to verify whether the info it generates is correct, but it seems ok from the couple of files I've tested it on. I'm gonna keep working on it though, so any feedback is appreciated! PS: For those worried about stuff getting uploading to my server, it's all done in Javascript on the client-side, so no need to worry. Cheers!

Most sets seem to have a shelf life of 2 years or so. I think Public Transport is only about 6 months old?

Was in my local Tesco Extra in Dundee today, and noticed they had the midi-scale Star Destroyer for £19.98. The sticker said promotion is valid until 31/01/2011 but I imagine it'll only last as long as the stocks do.

They wouldn't have to make many new pieces for a pet shop either. There are countless minifig animals in the LEGO range: Monkeys, mice, cats, dogs, rabbits, parrots, frogs, bats, etc. I'd be happy with either choice though.

I too am looking forward to finding out about the next modular building. I've been having withdrawal symptoms!

An army of Hazmat suits from series 4... Zombies from series 1... I see a zombie apocalypse diorama coming up!

I find that primarily I buy the Modular Buildings series. These brought me out of my dark ages, and I haven't missed one yet. I also buy the ocassional City vehicle to go with the buildings. I also have a large collection of Mini Turbos, but far from a complete collection. I also have complete sets of Minifigures series 1 and 2, and will do the same with series 3. I do buy other random sets however, but I don't collect whole themes. For example I bought two of the midi scale Star Destroyer and a couple of Atlantis sets to go with a couple of promos I got. That's about it though.

I MUST HAVE IT. Ahem. I simply need that model of the ISS. Awesome that it comes with a couple of spacecraft too, but I wish it also came with a microscale model of the Space Shuttle to dock with it. :) I see a MOC coming on!

Don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but in LDD4 for Mac, they seem to have disabled Backspace to delete the selection. VERY annoying as Mac's largely don't have Delete keys (We use Backspace instead :P). We now have to hold Function + Backspace to delete. Why'd it get removed? Is it just a bug?

Pay day on Friday, so caught up with some more sets that I was missing. :) Ordered Grand Emporium, Winter Toy Shop, Winter Bakery, and my first Design by Me set, a small Winter train platform designed to go with the Holiday Train from a couple of years back! (And in the style of the Toy Shop and Bakery). Gonna have a Winter village with train going round the tree this year. :)

10197 Fire Brigade. :) Figured I was falling behind on my modular buildings collection, and there cant be that many moons left in 10197's life cycle. Thought I'd better plunk down the cash before it disappeared to the depths of eBay and Bricklink! Next month - 10211 Grand Emporium, and my first Design by Me MOC.

My apologies, I didn't bother to calculate it exactly, I thought it was obvious that 1,600m didn't go into 19km.

Found out something interesting today. I really like this model, and plan on buying it, but a diorama idea crossed my mind (Which, unfortunately, was quickly discarded). A couple of these Star Destroyers, flying along side an Executor Super Star Destroyer, would be really cool. So I looked up some stats and figured out that the Executor SSD is 12 times the length of a Star Destroyer (1,600m vs. 19km). This would mean the SSD would be just under 3 meters long. Then I discovered that the studio model used for filming the Executor in the movies was 282cm long. This means that in proportion to the Executor, these little Lego beauties are studio scale! :D

Just an fyi for peeps in the UK, Tesco Direct's new catalog launched today. As usual, it comes with certain launch offers. :) £5 worth of extra clubcard points on all orders over £50 £10 worth of extra clubcard points on Toys & Games orders over £75 See here for codes: http://direct.tesco....s/ecoupons.aspx

Just an fyi for peeps in the UK, Tesco Direct's new catalog launched today. As usual, it comes with certain launch offers. :) £5 worth of extra clubcard points on all orders over £50 £10 worth of extra clubcard points on Toys & Games orders over £75 See here for codes: http://direct.tesco.com/content/specials/ecoupons.aspx Edit: Woops, didnt notice there was a UK deals thread thing.

Out of curiosity, is this an "official" set? I mean, I see the Lego logo, and the usual text on the side, but there's a lack of set number and the parts are in zip lock bags. Nevertheless it is pretty cool though.

Do I spy train wheels on the bottom of the tram?

Thanks. Decided to give it a miss. All in all I enjoyed this, my first newspaper promo. I picked up 6 LEGO sets (With a bunch of useful parts, and some quite cool models imo), a box, and a playmat for less than £4. A good deal in my opinion, especially since it gave me an excuse to leave the office and pick up the paper at lunch time. Btw, one of the days I got a spare of the red rally car. I gave it to a couple of colleagues at work, one aged 50+ and one aged 30+. It took them an hour and a half to built a toy car designed for 6-12 year olds. It's now the office mascot.

Being the big kid I am, I picked up the playmat today. :p Surprisingly good, could fit any of the tiny turbos really well! Does anyone know what the stickers tomorrow are? Are they just general ones, or are they designed to be added to the free cars?

Howdy, I was searching Vimeo randomly this evening and came across this gem: AFOL - A Blocumentary. It's basically a 30 minute long, very well done, documentary about AFOL's, their lives, and why they do what they do. Well worth a watch! (Apologies if this has been posted already, had a quick search but couldn't see anything.)

My complaint has nothing to do with price differences across countries. If you read my post, you'd see that my issue is with price inconsistencies. Two items, Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium, which both cost $149.99 in the US, cost £99 and £140 respectively in the UK. Can you explain that? I wont mention the fact that $149.99 to £139.99 is a near 1:1 price ratio, which is absurd, regardless of taxes, duties, distribution, etc.

Why is Fire Brigade and Grand Emporium the same price in the US, while in the UK there's a £40 difference? I can understand pricing errors normally, but what makes Grand Emporium with £40 more in the UK, and the same price against Fire Brigade in the US?

The point of the post wasn't to address the difference in pricing between different markets, it was to demonstrate a difference between pricing in similar products in the same line. It is illogical, inconsistent pricing. Either raise the price of Fire Brigade or lower the price of Grand Emporium. And even if so, £140 to $150 is a very drastic exchange rate, considering that Lego products are made in Europe and therefore shipping and taxes are low...

I don't understand: Fire Brigade - $149.99 US,

Simply awesome. I love these buildings. A small favour to ask though, any chance you can post a picture or two of the buildings in this configuration? MS .... FB CC GG GE The two I have left to buy are Fire Brigade and the Grand Emporium, but it'd be cool to see them how I intend to set them up before I buy.