Brickadier General

On e-bay, I put 2 new things up. First, I have 12 Black Falcon minifigs, with the starting bid at $5.00 U.S. Next, I have 4 Red Imperial Guards, plus 2 extra shakos at a starting bid of $1.00 U.S. The next to things, I don't have on e-bay but would like to sell. First, I have this old Lego HO 1:87 scale, blue VW 1500. It is in near mint condition. The fenders and headlights are still intact, and the "glass" is in great condition (no cracks). The wheels are still nice and shiny too (no rust). I'm selling it for $60 U.S. I also have an extra copy of Gery Istok's nice "Unofficial Lego Sets/Parts Collectors Guide," brand new for $15. You have to really appreciate all the work that Mr. Istok put into this project. Nobody before has really made such an effort to release a big reference guide for old Lego toys. Not only does he list all the known sets and parts from 1949 to 1980, but he also delves into the history behind them. You need adobe acrobat to view this, and there are over 1,000 pages. Over 300 pages are devoted to an "insurance guide." Lots of illustrations too. The paper sleeve is what the disc came in, but I can ship it in a jewel case.

Yeah, I got lucky. It ended at $80.25. I certainly wasn't expecting that much.

So, I had some time today to fiddle around with my minifigs and ready 3 American Civil War regiments for photographing. I had already done the 54th Massachusetts and Zouaves using the Bespin guard torsos about 2 years ago but never really took any individual photos. The Louisiana Tigers were, a product of my tinkering around with minifig parts this evening to do something different. So here we go: First up, let's take a look at the 54th Massachusetts, made famous by the movie Glory (the officer I made is probably wrong, but I've never seen the movie). From what I understand, they were one of the key black regiments in the Union that paved the way for more black regiments. I would like to make more of these in the future, but the brown hands are harder to come by. Next up, we have the Coppen's Zouaves, who fought for the Confederacy [ignore the U.S. on the officer's belt ;-) ] These are perhaps the most famous of all the Zouaves during the Civil War, as their clothing was the closest to their French counterparts. The uniforms were pretty flashy (and my personal favorite). Soldiers in the regiment would either wear a red keppi or red fez with a colored tassel. From the moment I saw the Bespin guard torsos, I knew that I could use them for this unit, as the gold trim on blue fit right in with the coloring of the uniform. I will add more over time, but Bespin guards are not cheap. Last but not least, we have the Louisiana Tigers, whom were reputed for being fierce fighters for the Confederacy. People also often associated them with drunkenness and other lewd behavior. Many nationalities were represented within the Tigers, including French speaking Zouave units. I have looked for pictures on the internet and seen a few different things. One of the common things I've seen is the red uniform and brown overcoat, and white pants with vertical stripes. I also saw a picture of a Tigers unit in toy soldier form that had a "mixed look." Two of the soldiers had overcoats and the red fez, but the other guy didn't have the overcoat on and was wearing a regular "cowboy-style" hat. I wanted to try and emulate that "mixed look," so I found a good use for the Wild West deputy (with brown arms instead of red) and Flatfoot Tomphson torsos. They worked pretty good. And because I don't paint on my bricks, I gave them plain white pants. If you look closely, you will see I've incorporated some of the Indiana Jones parts in these figures, and I think they look quite nice with these figs. If you look at the bottom two toy soldier pictures, you can see those soldiers have pouches very similar to the Indy ones. I'd like to do other regiments in the future. In particular, I want to find out a little more about Native American units and how their uniforms looked. In the mean time, I hope you like what I have here.

Very nice. You've captured the shape very well. But wow! $$$$$

It's apparently $1,000 U.S. now. :-D Seriously, no joke. Check it out.

As cool as it would be to see Lego make Civil War sets, I doubt they would ever become a reality. While I know that there are many American Civil War enthusiasts throughout the world, there aren't enough to make to much of an international demand for such sets. It is pretty region specific, whereas something like World War I and World War II have broader appeal. I disagree with any ethical concerns over making such sets though. For one, Lego made native Americans and the Cavalry figs. Now that is a very touchy subject, considering what went on back then between the two subjects in real life. So I really don't get how making Confederate troops would be any more offensive. There seems to be this overly-romanticized view of the North, but a lot of people fail to realize that racism was just as strong in the North as the South at the time of the war. The big difference was that the North modernized with the industrial revolution moreso than the South, and therefor no longer needed to keep slavery. So really, I see nothing wrong with producing military kits for either side. It's not like there would be a plantation set. But again probably not gonna happen. But with the original Wild West cavalry figs, along with the custom Confederate decals, you don't need official sets. Just buy a lot of medium blue pants and accessories. Lego Bespin guard torsos make great Zouave uniforms, and for special regiments you can find Keppis on bricklink in other colors, like red, tan, and dark blue. Revolutionary war, again, has somewhat limited appeal. But I could see Lego making UCS sets for famous buildings and icons such as Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

I used to have mice a long time ago, and I would always use the large grey baseplate and build a maze on it. It was fun to watch them go through, but unfortunately they'd crap everywhere in it, and we always had to wash the baseplate.

I think it looks pretty good looking. It certainly isn't easy to make artwork on the PC, at least for me anyway.

Well, at least it's cheap shipping within the U.S. and Canada. Are you sure flat rate priority would be cheaper than that? Maybe there's a glitch in the shipping calculator? I don't know. I no, I'm not trying to stick it to the man. lol I could get in some trouble for that. Listing fees stink, but what can you do? I heard that e-bay would actually be lowering their listing fees and offering completely free multiple gallery pictures. But since I think they own paypal, my guess is paypal rates might go up too. Anywho, back on topic here...Most of the time, my weight estimates using a regular scale are fairly close within range of the actual weight. The package for the minifigs I sold ended up being the same exact weight I had put in for the listing, so I got lucky with that. Of course if I really screw up, then a partial refund is in order.

Sorry to say that I did end up selling them as a second chance offer. I didn't get $115, but I did get $90 which wasn't so bad. If I come across any in the future I'll probably end up posting them here. They're not really worth selling individually on e-bay.

That's pretty funny. You know, if it weren't for the suspenders that'd make a pretty nice Zangief.

This was my first and last attempt at doing a torso (did it about 2 years ago). It's a Pennsylvania Zouave uniform. If anybody wants to improve it, you're welcome to do so. I used this guy as a basis for designing it.

I have a few things in mind but can only do a little bit at time. I was thinking about putting up a bunch of the old roadplates since I use the "newer" wider type, but I'm not sure I want to because they are so hard to come by anymore. Until I exclusively use SNOT roads, which probably won't be for a long time, I'm stuck with using road plates. Another thing I know I'll be putting up is one of Gary Istok's "Unofficial Lego Sets/Parts Collector's Guide" CDs. I have an extra (and no it isn't a bootleg copy) and it's pretty nice. It chronicles the history of Lego, focusing on the period between 1949 to 1980. It talks not only about sets that were released, but changes in the bricks themselves and differences between North American and European sets/parts during the same time. There is also a value guide. I was also thinking about selling one of my little HO 1:87 scale cars, one that I have extra of. It's near mint, no rust on the wheels, and both headlights are still there. Other than that, expect to see numerous Dreamcast games. :-D

This is probably one of the first articles I've read where the journalist didn't refer to "Lego" as "Legos." And I really want one of those commemorative packs. Is this going to be a global tour?

Yeah, I know it's expensive. I use USPS, and those are the two cheapest options they offer for my type of package (on the e-bay shipping rate calculator anyway). Another problem I have is with weight. I usually have to estimate and only have a regular scale to help. Sometimes I'm very close, and sometimes I'm off by enough. If that's the case I refund the difference through paypal. I also don't get why it's slightly cheaper to ship to China, Japan, and Australia than it is to Europe. Cool, in this case I don't feel creeped out by it. :-D

I've heard a lot of good things about Kurosawa films, so I'll have to put that one on my list. He has a ton of films too, and was pretty influential. My friend told me that George Lucas borrowed story elements from one of Kurosawa's film, The Hidden Fortress I think. I think some of the light saber battles were also made to resemble samurai fighting, and Vader's outfit is like futuristic Samurai armor. I've seen one Kurosawa film myself, Rhapsody in August, and I think it came out around the 1990s. It's definitely worth seeing, and you should check it out if you can. As for me, well last night I saw The Last Samurai. Not exactly pure authenticity, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Think "Dances with Wolves" in Japan.

Seven of them in unused condition on e-bay. The starting bid is $5.00 U.S. with no reserve. I learned my lesson from last time... So bid until your heart's content. If anyone wants to know where I got them, they all came from Doc Ock sets, but I really have no use for them. And I'm pretty sure Lego discontinued these for general sale. If anybody has any information that proves otherwise, please let me know. That way, I can make the necessary changes.

That looks like a set after the Cobi-Bestlock merger, right? If so, I think their helmets and accessories are interchangeable with Lego figs. This is what their minifigs look like:

You might be able to get more putting them all together on e-bay I think. I think it's mainly the Star Wars collectors that drive the higher prices on e-bay. Then again, I could be wrong.

I use a filing folder and have no idea where it is right now. lol I think I'm going to switch to using a binder with plastic comic book/photo sleeves. These are two pretty good systems you might want to think about using.

Not sure if Shop at Home Europe has a similar deal, but for North America, the Advent Calendar sets are only $6.98 now. So that's what, 75% off? Not bad. Ooooh, and look they also have the T-Intersection road plates in the old style with green borders. And by old style, I mean the 1990s. $6.99 U.S. for a pack of 2.

Ahh, OK. I didn't know that. It makes sense though.

Sure, why not. This is from my MOCpages site:

Yeah, they do look nicer, but I can see why they didn't go with them in the set. They would've had to get 600 of them, and they would've probably made the set cost more.