toorayay

I I've got two GEs, and neither of them have any noticeable bending up of the corner. I didn't even realize this was a phenomenon until today. To keep this on topic, I saw the Palace Cinema at Brickfair Alabama this weekend, and March can't come soon enough. Once you see it in person you'll know why they used the lowercase "a"s in the marquee. The Technic bricks are a nice touch.

Thanks for all the great feedback! It's swiped from a Harry Potter set, so London it is.

My first contest! I wanted to enter into last year's Winter Village contest, but didn't have any ideas at the time. Shortly after this year's contest was announced, I had a flash of inspiration and decided to enter. So, I present to you, the Winter Village Train Depot! Here's the whole layout. This would be the biggest Winter Village set yet were it to be produced, with a large platform and a couple of pieces of railroad track to go along with the main building, the outlying lamp and picnic table, and the hand cart. There are also nine minifigures: The conductor, maintenance man, ticketing rep, and six travelers waiting for the next train. The icicles were something I had not seen before, and worked out better than I had initially envisioned. An alternate shot of the main structure from the other side. I used the masonry bricks for the foundation, and was partly inspired by a few real life buildings in this regard. As with the existing Winter Village sets, I incorporated a light brick. This one is a bit different in that it projects outdoors, illuminating the lamp above the front door. A shot of the interior, where the ticketing rep is hiding. I built the fireplace and other interior details to be as consistent as I could with the previous sets in this line. A closer view of the interior to show off a couple of the simple details I'm proudest of in this build: The bow around the support pole, the SNOT-built bubblegum machine. and the cozy corner with a different type of brick built tree. The chairs behind the counter are brick-built and the hearth of the fireplace faces the front door, but they were difficult to photograph. There are more pics, including a building from which I drew inspiration, in my Brickshelf folder: http://www.brickshel...ry.cgi?f=518699

I assume that this also means that official LEGO decals will also be allowed for the sake of this contest, correct?

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/562128_430028823696339_847242401_n.jpg It still looks awesome, and I will be sure to pick it up as soon as it becomes available.

Definitely the alternate models. I drew so much inspiration as a child by looking at the alternate models on the backs of the boxes, as well as in the official Lego idea books. The only sets that seem to encourage alternate models today are the Creator sets, and even they just do them as "official" alternates rather than ones that involve the builder's own imagination.

I posted this here last year. Now I have put it on Cuusoo so it can be voted on. I don't anticipate 10,000 votes, but it's a nice pipe dream. Cehck it out and vote if you like: http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/11851

1. tatertots - 1 4. Dix - 2 13. Cecilie - 1 14. Jameson42 - 1

Really? Hate? Hate? I mean, that's your prerogative, but that sounds awfully negative. When I see sets on clearance, I usually pick them up if they look to be something I can use later. Sometimes, I need to part something out and open up a box and sort it (the creator Beach House has been a wonderful world of parts for the stuff I build, and I grabbed a dozen or so from Target when they were 50% off) but sometimes, I wind up purging it - especially if I notice an unusually high aftermarket value. This helps pay for an otherwise expensive hobby. I'm not "profiting" per se, just managing my available space and helping fuel the hobby I love so much. If it doesn't inflate in value, then so be it - that's just more parts I can use later. I did recently sell my second Cafe Corner. I bought it at the LEGO store at 10% off, due to it having a slightly damaged box. My closet was teeming with sets and I was running out of room, so I sold off a few. I got almost $900 for the Cafe Corner on eBay, so I managed to turn a $125 set into a 600% profit, but that's just money I can spend on LEGO - thus helping them, thus helping us all. Oh, it also went to someone in Norway, who was perfectly willing to pay that much (as well as another $60 in shipping) for an item that he couldn't get locally. In other words, I helped a fellow fan of LEGO. There's a reason why prices inflate, and it's not because of greed; it's simply based on what the market will bear.

Hi! I decided to upload some images of a MOC I put together a few years ago. It's been sitting in my town for so long sealed up that I almost had forgotten how happy I was with what was on the inside. It's not my first firehouse, and it likely won't be my last, but here it is to share with you: An overhead shot of the station. Looks like the crew is having a party on the roof. Let's take a couple of closer looks: There are a total of four stories, plus a couple more worth of tower. Here are a couple of shots from the backside, including the basketball court on the side. Here's the crew, assembled for a photo opportunity. The helicopter pilot is out on a mission. Here comes the Chief, who got a break to come enjoy a BBQ with the other guys. Now we're going to look at the nuts and bolts. The top levels of the tower lift off, as does the main roof. Inside we can see the Chief's office and the stairs to the recreational level, as well as the door to the rooftop area. Here are a couple of closer looks at the top floor. One goal of mine was to create a realistic building in which the interior and exterior walls were different colors on a couple of the levels. I used red bricks for the exterior walls and white for the interior. Now, here comes the good part! The level directly below the roof is the rec level. There's a rec room with a TV, sofa, coffee table, lamp, stationary bicycles, a video game cabinet, and a ping pong table. There are also bathrooms, a shower room, and sleeping quarters. There are also lockers and the all-important fire pole. Here is a closeup of the bathrooms with their tiled floors. A closeup of the shower room. The sleeping quarters. A long shot of the entire rec room to give details on the furniture and other accessories. The game and some wall art. The ping pong table was actually designed before the first images of Fire Brigade were released. I used a wind visor on hinges rather than the fence piece. The storage closet behind the table could be holding coats, or board games, or whatever else these guys might need to store. These firemen have a pretty good decorator! There are also lockers for the boys to keep their valuables whenever they're out on a mission. Another closeup of the TV room as well as a shot of the fire pole. It leads directly down to the garage below. Watch your step! The rec level lifts off as well, revealing the garage and kitchen downstairs. The kitchen is a split level area that is technically the second floor. The same level from the front side. A close up of the kitchen level. There's a fridge, stove, oven, cabinets, and the kitchen sink. There's also a coffee maker as well as a bistro table. Another angle of the kitchen area. I guess the pizza was less exciting than the BBQ grill on the roof. And now, for my favorite part: The kitchen level lifts out from the floor to reveal another level underneath: The receptionist's office is below the kitchen. There is a desk, waiting room chairs, and a water cooler, plus a nice flower arrangement to brighten up the room a little. The door opens up into the garage. A close up of the reception area from the window. And another. This is the washing area for the fire trucks in the back of the garage. The door leads to the receptionist's office. The fire pole ends to the right. The station is not built to the modular Cafe Corner standard, but it fits pretty well into a town design. It is designed to accommodate other modular-styled buildings on either side, hence the odd window placement on the side. Here it is with some other buildings: A few other MOCs on either side to complete the block. The garage doors are unfinished, as I haven't cracked open the police station set I picked up on sale at Toys R Us a few months ago to pull the rest of the garage parts out in order to complete them yet. I also have some MOC fire trucks that have strangely gone missing, otherwise I'd add them to the scene as well. All the images here are resized, but you can see the full-sized images in the Brickshelf Gallery.

B-OM-13E A couple of months ago I posted a couple of large MOCs I had designed (you can find them here and here.) I got some good feedback, but people were noting the lack of interiors. This is a Cafe Corner-style modular that I've been working on for a few months, and I've finally got it to where I'm ready to share it. A few shots of the overall building, front and back. Of course, in true modular fashion, this one comes apart at each floor. So, here it is in pieces! The bottom floor is a barbershop. Floors 2 and 3 are a nightclub with a bar level and a dance floor level. And of course, it fits in with other modular buildings. Here is is wedged between Green Grocer and Grand Emporium. The full gallery can be found at Brickshelf.

No interior in the ones I've posted thus far. I've got some with full interiors I plan to post eventually (including the one I'm about 90% finished with at this point, a barber shop with a nightclub above it.)

The staircase off to the left leads to a monorail station. There's a (very old) video of the monorail in action in my brickshelf folder. Thanks for the kind words on the firehouse, but I don't really hold it in high regard. That was my first large-scale MOC after coming out of my dark ages, and I really was just messing around. I've built a new one since, which I'll likely post at some point too.

Hi! Last week I posted my Park West creation, and I got some great feedback, so I thought I'd post another of my MOCs here this week. This hotel is built in a European style and features first floor shops. It also severely drained my supply of brown elements. Here are a few links to additional images in the brickshelf gallery. The hotel is fixed to the baseplates, otherwise, I'd get a shot of the back, which has windows all around and a loading dock as well. You can also access the brickshelf gallery directly.

Thanks for the kind words, and I'm flattered to have been blogged already! The 'toorayay' is from an Irish lullaby, but yes, Dexy's Midnight Runners did borrow it for 'Come on Eileen'.

It's not a first MOC by any means...I've been out of my dark ages for several years and was almost exclusively a MOC-builder even as a child. It's just the first one I've posted here. But the kind words are appreciated by all. I'll post some more stuff here soon.

Building realistic city buildings can be a chore when the most common brick color seems to be yellow, right? Well, I managed to make good use of my bevy of yellow bricks with the Park West building. This is my first MOC to be posted on Eurobricks. More are soon to follow. See more images in the brickshelf gallery: