Inzane

There's what I hope and what I expect. I don't know what to expect, other than I already know to be disappointed with the minifig promo this year. What I HOPE we see is a significant discount on one or more large OT-themed SW sets. (We kinda got spoiled with the UCS B-wing surprise sale last year).

^ Bingo. Thank you Artanis. My apologies if I offended some people, but I (like possibly some others here) am also mildly offended by text/chat speak like was demonstrated...

This would be mine. 497 Galaxy Explorer! And as an AFOL, post dark-ages, definitely 10030 UCS Imperial Star Destroyer.

^ Free tutoring on your written english. You're welcome. ;)

Are you going to start pronouncing the letter 'Z' as ZED like the rest of us too, while you're at it?

You mean 2nd floor? Or are you calling the floor above the ground floor as 1st floor? I've never understood that convention. Here in Canada, the floor above the ground/main floor is always Floor 2.

MS is an ok set in it's own right. Like you said fan creation. Also consider it's original price point and piece count relative to the rest of the modular line. All said, its not bad. It's just not a standout. Green Grocer on the other hand, is hard to criticize in any department. It raised the bar. Also, one positive about market street is it may be the only set that would look good connected to the right side of Parisian Restaurant, given the stairway on the side. Most of the other buildings on that side would sort of block it and obscure the side view of the patio.

I had to look up the word pram, although I was able to guess just based on what is dark red obviously. Is pram a British term? (like how they say boot & bonnet instead of trunk and hood for a car) I've never heard that term before in my life, and I'm a parent too. Here in north america those are typically always referred to as "baby carriages", and some variants are referred to as strollers. It looks like that is the same part as 63965, just an alternate part #. (18274 doesn't even register in Bricklink). A closer look at your pics and I should've been able to figure that out. D'oh.

Say... WWHHhhaaaattttt??? I would agree with you on market street, but I think you need to give Green Grocer a closer look.

That dark red on the awning looks really good! I think I like that better than medium blue. With the exception of a couple of the rarer hair pieces, most of the minifig parts are fairly standard, and available right from Lego (some via PAB, most via BnP). When you add the cost of the parts, I think it was < $3 per minifig for most of them, building them piece meal. I think when I looked at minifig listings on BL, you'll pay more if you're buying them as complete minifigs. Your LDD model looks good. But for those two front balconies, I think the round fences would work better as just one piece per floor vs. two (won't stick out as much). But since i'm not modelling like some of you guys, I won't know how well it will work or look until I have those parts in-hand.

Very interesting. I like. Two questions. Are the skeleton legs just sitting flush against the wall or are they actually attached via a brick w/ side stud? Which "bar" did you use, part # 4095 (6.6L umbrella stand) or 63965?

I've hit a bit of a lull now. I'm essentially finished. I've built all three of the modulars I was piecing together, and have 99.9% of the parts. The only things remaining: CC: built with the newer panel w/ side supports for the 2nd storey windows, but have 20 1x2x3 window frames (and 10 glass inserts) onhand to do a possible substitution. (Doubling up the window frames will retain the depth look that the panels provided) I haven't bothered to tear back into the set yet. The panels don't bother me too much and if I don't end up doing the swap, I'll keep the window frames for some other project. GG: still contemplating sourcing regular blue for the awing. I don't mind the medium blue that I currently have. It's just one noticeable visual difference from original. Also I may still go after that last minifig hair. (the one lady hair that came from the harry potter prof.). However that said the alternate hair piece I did get looks fine and "works". MS: complete with the exception of the 2nd and 3rd storey balconies. option 1) I've got a couple of the curved fence piece (30056) in white on the way, to try out. I'll have to do some fiddling to see how best to use ONE curved fence per level. option 2) I also have some light grey hoses (but not enough grey arms to hold them). option 3) may still try and source some white hoses to retain the original look. Other than that, I still need to try and go back and update my spreadsheets to tally final costs (just for curiosity sake, as dangerous as that sounds). And of course... .PICTURES.

It is the GI-Joe license that attracted me to Kre-O. And I must say, of all the lego-clone products I've encountered up until now, Kre-O takes the cake as the best of the rest IMO. The parts/pieces themselves seem to be of decent quality and the fitment is quite good. Color consistency is also excellent. Where Kre-O really shines though is the minifigs (Kreons). They have done a spectacular job with the Joe and Cobra characters so far. I can't wait to add more to my collection.

That's what I did. In place of the 50 1x8s I used 50 additional 1x4s and 25 1x6s and 25 1x2s. That meant that every other 1x8 was replaced with either two 1x4s or a 1x2 + 1x6. It made it very easy to avoid any overlapped seams between bricks that way. BTW, another tip for those trying to save a few bucks on GG, I think it would be possible to cut out a few of the grooved 1x2s. Based on there placement there are a few that either point inwards or are partially obscured from view. I'd have to double check the number, but for example you might be able to get by with only 50-52 of them (of 56), and still retain "the look".

kids in bed - check evening chores completed - check PAB order contents checked and verified - check parts sorted by set - check It's building time!!!

Medium blue is the cheaper alternate, which I went with. Regular (traditional) blue is the correct color for the set. It's obviously up to the individual to decide what is worth it and what isn't. The 4 blue arches are a ~$10 hit. The minifig hair is a ~$5 hit. The 50 1x8 sand green bricks are a ~$150 hit!!! The 4 train windows are a ~$14+ hit etc. I can justify some. The biggest splurge I did was the 1x2 grooved sand green bricks. I paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $55-60 for those. But there was no way I was going to pay $3+ per brick for the fifty 1x8's, when combos of 1x4, 1x2 and 1x6 would accomplish the same thing for much less.

Well I'll hold my breath until I actually get home tonight after work and can confirm the parcel has come. The 2nd part is then verifying the contents. Assuming the order is complete and correct, then yes I will have everything to complete Green Grocer, and everything to complete Market Street (with the exception of a final balcony solution for the 2nd and 3rd floors). But as far as Green Grocer goes, I have everything to complete it, but the caveat is the following substitutions: - medium blue instead of regular blue for the awning - an alternate reddish-brown female hairpiece for the one minifig (in place of the rare harry potter one) - new style 1x2x2 white panels w/ side supports instead of the original panels - regular 1x2x3 white window frames instead of the "train" version I don't think I'd ever feel inclined to pursue the latter two parts, but for the blue arches and the minifig hair I might go for them at a later time. Still pondering, but at least I found a consolation prize for those so I wasn't stuck not being able to finish. I think I'll be quite happy with what I have.

I finally have trackable data from Canada Post that my PAB parcel is not only within Canada, but local and "out for delivery" today! With any luck I should be able to get back to the business of building bliss on my GG set tonight!!

Any color will do, since they're basically hidden from view. I used dark bley for those two basket ones and light bley for the ones under the roof plates.

Here is the only person who really got the point of my post. As for sj and his "sarcasm", where's the obscene gesture emoticon?

I can lay out a few of the highlights for you: black main door - not too expensive, you can substitute if you want but its a distinctive look light bley right door - very expensive, even used. consider sub'ing with light grey instead of light bley. Or go for a LEFT door instead of RIGHT. for the dark blue pieces, you'll probably spend the most on the 4 columns. The half-arches are completely hidden under the stairs so you could use an alternate color if you want. for the big arch, they are readily available now thanks to Winter Village Market, and not very expensive. light bley garbage can - get the 4 tab variety vs. the 2 tab. light bley turntable bases - forget them, way too expensive now. at least one maybe two are hidden so color won't matter. the ones clearly visible, black is probably the next best choice (or white). for the second floor windows which are those "panels" the original style is very expensive and not worth it in my opinion. the new panels w/ side supports don't look too bad. go with either that or the window (w/ glass) method a few of us have discussed. For the third floor windows, the price of those five original window frames are ridiculous now. go with the new substitute and the half-panes. while the old full panes are still available and cheap, they won't fit the newer frames unfortunately so they're basically useless unless you had the old style thick frames. (I found this out the hard way) forget the reddish brown 2x10 bricks - don't even go there. use combinations of other sizes. the dark red slopes for the roof - not really a concern, thanks to Pet Shop. they are readily available now, even from lego BnP. the 11 white skiis - while you could get away with the new style skiis, I didn't like them. The old style ones (discontinued) with the hinge tab on top look better and are much much easier to space out evenly on the hose. the one reddish brown female hairpiece - a little pricey (thanks to harry potter connection and discontinued). the rest of the minifig parts aren't a problem. there are other more minor things, like the type 1 vs. type 2 door frames. (who cares). Most of us probably have the newer white lamppost, rather than the original part (its a subtle difference). The white antennas flat style vs. rounded end style for the patio furniture. And so on. But that's nit picking.

That whole Jabba's Palace thing was ridiculous. Where were the complaints from religious groups when ROTJ first hit theater screens in 1983? People are stupid.

My wallet can't handle an increased frequency of new modular set releases.

A UCS falcon re-release doesn't sound very plausible. Who started that rumor? It doesn't make any logical sense for TLG to reissue one of their largest sets ever, so soon after its retirement.

As I mentioned before the CC listings on the low end of the price scale appear to have no box, no instructions and in some cases either some missing or substituted parts. It is also by definition a used set. If you're BL'ing it, most of us are sourcing NEW parts wherever possible (the one obvious exception is that damn door). Its hard to make a direct apples to apples comparison. If you could actually find a complete CC set WITH original instructions for around ~$500, that would probably be a deal to jump on. But I wouldn't expect that to be the norm. When I'm finished, I will attempt to calculate the per set costs and post my results. (been doing CC, GG & MS simultaneously). I gave up updating my spreadsheet a couple months back, so I've got a lot of work to do there. LOL I think what people are referring to is how many unique lots (types) of parts exist in the set's inventory. For example, Cafe Corner (according to my quick check) has 256 lots, not including minifigs or alternates, etc. An example of one of the lots is CC needs x19 of the dark blue 1x4 bricks. That's one "lot". Some people are simply recording their progress by how many lots they're completing, vs. a straight piece count.