Trent

I've been buying old sets off eBay for a while now, and I always take care to look at the pictures, check feedback etc. I've had a few sets that have had pieces missing, but all of those sets were advertised as such. I bought a set the other night that was advertised as 100% complete, when it's anything but. It has the instruction manual with it and the set was built to be photographed, so there's no excuse for it to have been advertised as 100% complete if the seller didn't have those bricks. It's not even a case of having replacement pieces (and there are a few of those - e.g. a grey 2 x 4 brick instead of a black one, or two 1 x 2 bricks instead of one 1 x 4 brick etc) - but where there are just parts that aren't in the box at all. I'd say around 15% of the set is missing. I've contacted the seller, but in 9 years of using eBay, this is only the second time I've ever had a problem with the item not being as described. I'm just wondering how many of you had a positive resolution when there have been missing Lego pieces, or how many of you resorted to leaving negative feedback (which I'm not keen on doing)? Did eBay offer any assistance?

These are really inspirational - you've done an excellent job on the exteriors, and your eye to to detail on the interiors is second to none as well. Fantastic work!

Technically, it was my old Lego (notably Forbidden Island) that pulled me back out. I moaned for years at my parents for them having lost my Lego collection...and for some reason, it didn't occur to me to buy new Lego to replace it (I guess it's acceptable to have a nostalgic build of your old toys, but not really acceptable to start buying new!) - I just grumbled every so often about it. We found it when I came to move out, so I apologised(!) and started building. Once I'd built my old collection up, I started to look for old sets that I'd missed when I was younger and it snowballed from there. After buying some sets without instructions, I found sites such as this - and that's when I realised that the new sets were pretty amazing, and I should branch out a little from the Pirates line. This was the first set I bought after my dark ages: Sabre Island. It was only a small build, but then I figured that I wanted more! And my first non-Pirates set was Tower Bridge, which really got me hooked on the big builds.

The only time I've been disgruntled with buying lots off eBay was when I bought some treasure chests. They looked great in the picture, but when they arrived, the hinges were broken and the lids wouldn't attach at all. It seems that the seller craftily pictured them with the lids carefully balanced, so it looked like they were fine when they weren't. I do agree that the rash of inflated buy it now sales for MISB sets that are still available on S@H is irritating. The other thing that gripes is when someone sets the price for a ridiculous amount and it seems to mislead sellers (such as parents selling off their kid's Lego) into thinking that their set is worth more. I've lost count of how many sets one seller has up at over £100 for pretty basic stuff. Unsurprisingly, it's not shifted in over a year.

Thank you; I really appreciate it. Ah, thanks for that link - that's really helpful! (And to the other links posted in the thread too; I've been checking them all out.) I think I've been a bit overwhelmed of where to start with this collection of bricks. I was really fortunate to get hold of it (although the bricks are in less than stellar condition) but aside from MOC-ing, I don't really know where to begin with it. I figured that before I started lumping bricks into random projects, I should really make the effort to make a note of what I have got, before the bricks get accidentally mixed with all of my other stuff - and it would be handy to know which official sets I have that I'm not aware that I have! I can foresee this being a long project.

Either would be good - I'm intrigued to find out which sets the original owner did have, but at the same time, just knowing which ones would be possible out of the bricks he had would be amazing too. That feature sounds excellent, and I would be indebted to you if you managed to find it. Thanks too, Brickdoctor - I hadn't seen Basebrick, so I will take a look around.

Very clever technique; thanks for sharing it. The building as a whole is excellent.

I am sure there must be topics on this, but I think I'm using the wrong search terms! I recently bought a job lot of Lego, which came with no instructions and no indication of which sets might be in it (or how complete they may be). I have discovered a few unique bricks whilst I've been sorting, and using those, I've been able to establish a couple of sets that must've been owned at one point. I've been trying to work out what the most logical way of cataloguing these pieces would be. Currently, I have accounts on Peeron and Brickset, and I have got the, "I own this set," markers. I know on Peeron, that enables me to see if I am able to build other sets from my collection, but I don't really use that function as all of my sets are complete and built. What I would like to do is catalogue the entirety of this jumble (I might be slightly mad, there's tonnes of it) so that I can see which sets I could build out of the pieces, preferably without requiring pieces from my existing complete sets. I'm guessing this might require a new account that's separate to my own complete sets? Or would require me to delete my complete sets from my collection? I think it would also be handy to have a record of which bricks I have, so that when I want to build an MOC, I can check on the computer to see if I have the parts required. So, how do you guys do it? Do you use a website such as Peeron, or do you have a spreadsheet, or is there a special programme that you use?

This is wonderful!

Thanks for all of the help, guys. I plumped for Emerald Night and Grand Emporium in the end (I almost got sidetracked by Winter Toy Shop too - I should keep off S@H!).

I don't think I could do this justice, as although I'm fascinated by the Western theme, I don't have any minifigs that are suitable, so my scene would look a bit odd. Really looking forward to what everyone comes up with; it's an excellent competition.

Oh, if only!

I'm torn between a few items: Grand Emporium Emerald Night Imperial Flagship For reference, I only have one modular building (Fire Brigade) although ideally, I would like to get both GE and Pet Shop in time (but as Pet Shop has only just been released, I'm not thinking about that yet). I do not have any trains or track, but I like the look of Emerald Night and have heard positive reviews about the build. I am a classic Pirate collector (all of my sets are from the 80s/90s), but I was never tempted enough to buy ships - I have nearly all the bases, but not a single ship. So with all that in mind, you can probably see why I'm stuck what to get. Is there any information about set retirement out there? I know all 3 are probably nearing the end of their lifespan, but is one nearer the end than the others? Thanks for any help!

I got a bargain bunch of Lego a while back, although I've halted sorting it because it was a bit time consuming (and a little soul destroying with how dirty / chewed some of it was) - but I've been separating the Megabloks out and I'm donating them to the children of a friend. They're too young to really appreciate the difference, and they'll just enjoy having extra bricks.

I love opening this thread; the whole project is outstanding.

I am really excited about this. I am due to go to London in August, and I was planning a mass raid on the stores down there, but instead, I may just get a PAB cup or two, and then pop along to Liverpool when it opens. It's great news to have a northern Lego store...the others were far too far away, and S@H isn't always practical.

Good Lord. This project was obviously going to be impressive, right from the outset - but to see it all coming together...amazing.

I finally finished building this set. I thought it was a really enjoyable build, although as I built the towers concurrently, the cheese slopes got a little bit maddening. My favourite part was building the suspension links; even though it was a bit repetitive, I found it really calming! I understand why the smaller towers weren't included, although when you see a full picture of the bridge, it does seem a little odd that they're not there! Although I hate to think what the cost would've been if they had been added on! One of my favourite parts of this set was seeing the towers grow. A lot of the building seemed to be done 'off' the model - so you'd put together multiple cheese slopes and then attach them all to the building...so one minute the towers were quite small and bare, and seemingly 'in an instant' they'd shot up into something much more recognisable. The colours are fantastic, and I'm so glad that I bought the set. I would highly recommend it to other people!

Both of those are fantastic, and I love the details that you've added in the second version. It might please you to know that I've only been to Melbourne twice, and I recognised it straight away. If anyone was up for the challenge of building Flinders Street Station, I'd definitely watch that topic in awe. It's my favourite building in the world.

I would say: Original: She said that trapeze artist was an exciting job. My take: She said that being a trapeze artist was an exciting job. The original does make sense, but doesn't sound quite right. Original: She got the job by the circus. My take: She got the job at the circus. The original is confusing, and suggests that she got the job at a venue next to the circus. Original: In the show she has the part which is the most exciting. My take: She has the most exciting part in the show...or...In the show, she has the most exciting part. The original definitely sounds as if it's from a non-native speaker. Hope that helps.

This was an extremely good idea to show the 'find' and the dig, and very well executed. The story was told really well, and I particularly liked the touch at the end of taking the sepia photograph. The excavated building is interesting in itself, and the pictures at each stage show some really nice story details. The techniques throughout were really nice - even the sand/stones had a lot of thought put into them, giving a varied and interesting scene to dig into. Great stuff.

I like this as well. It's very well balanced, and looks convincing. The construction of the roof is nicely done.

This is a wonderful MOC. The details are superb, and the flooring is excellent throughout. The feathers are particularly good and I really like all of the interior. I'm stunned at just how good this is.

Those houses are absolutely fantastic!

I too suspect that the promotion will continue until the weekend. If you click on the Sun's terms and conditions, it states: