Brickadier General

That seems hard to believe. That's really bizarre and unLEGO-like. The only thing I can think is that they were either having a bad day or thought you were trolling them. Either way, there was no excuse for her behaving like that. If she did it to you so readily, she probably did it to a lot of other people too. Hope she got reprimanded, too.

Wow, very nice! Your tree turned out excellent. I never would have thought of using the lime green pots like that. From a distance, it looks very organic. Great job!

As your first post-dark age MOC, the quality of your build is pretty impressive. It looks very organic, and you have a lot of neat techniques in there. I like how you made the creek very narrow.

As a librarian, I commend your efforts in creating such a beautiful library. Placing it in a desert landscape gives it a mysterious feeling. I would love to have an office on the top floor.

It sounds like there's two different types of "replicas" you mention here. I would lump them into two categories: custom minifigures and counterfeit (bootleg) minifigures. Custom minifigures use real LEGO parts (and sometimes 3rd party accessories) - The creator uses decals or printing to make the figure. Generally speaking, the designs are usually original (especially for the big name customizers). Counterfeit minifigures are made up of fake LEGO parts and are often made out of a different type of plastic. There are two subcategories of counterfeit minifgures. There are those that are nearly identical copies of LEGO minifigures (ie: the Comic-Con exclusives), and there are those that are recolors or new characters that LEGO has not yet done. Some of the "Big-Figs" use entirely unique molds to capture the look of a character, such as Decool's Hulkbuster Iron Man and bigfig Groot. I still consider these counterfeit because they do not have the license to the IP, and they are designed to look like they could have been made by LEGO. The Difference Generally speaking, the quality of LEGO minifigures will almost always be better than the knockoffs. Counterfeiters aren't following the same levels of quality control as LEGO. Many do not use ABS plastic and, in some cases, the printing may be more prone to wear with use. One of the highest quality knockoffs is Decool. The designs for original characters are usually really nice, and the plastic appears to be of a higher quality than most other knockoffs. Still, the quality isn't quite on par with LEGO. I have gotten some and found some flaws that would have been less likely to appear in a stock LEGO set. One of my Fantastic Four minifigures had some marbling in the plastic (his head), and one had some print worn off their face (before having opened their bag. Other knockoffs are hit or miss. There are a lot of bad ones out there that either don't look like what's advertised on the box or that are really bad quality (loose parts, cheap plastic, etc). To Buy or Not to Buy That is the question...that only you can answer. I have some myself, but mainly got them for fun while traveling through Hong Kong and Thailand. I wouldn't personally recommend going out of your way to get them. Maybe the comic-con and "original" figs. Beyond that, I wouldn't bother. My main concern is what the long-term impact of these minifigures being in the market will be. I have a feeling more and more will turn up in used lots of bricks in the future. As a collector, I would also think twice before buying a "real" comic-con minifigure, because someone could easily get the fake version and resell it as the real thing. I don't have a lot of patience for people who knowingly do that.

This is really a wonderful Elves MOC! The shape of the building is interesting, and I like that you have the trees growing out of it. It makes feel very "Elvesy." I noticed the windows on the first floor have a lattice pattern. Is that printed or a sticker? I might have to get some of those... I like the shape of the smoke coming out of the chimney, too. The use of the white bread rolls, horns and plumes really make it feel like the smoke is billowing out.

You made a mighty awesome Mighty Micro. Those new small wedge plates worked really well for the front-end.

There are some nice techniques in there you used to get the shaping. It looks really nice!

Done, Good luck with your thesis!

Couldn't you find the logo inside the recess of the studs? Or is it too hard to see? I have them in pearl gold and silver and have to take them under really good lighting. It takes a bit to see it, but it's definitely there. I've looked over the comments about resealing and, honestly, this doesn't feel like a resealing. If that were the case, I could see someone taking out the entire minifigs, not just the heads and headgear. They're worth more in their entirety. They wouldn't have any reason to insert another piece either. The other thing is....A person resealing this would have had to open the bags with the parts inside, right? When you opened the set, were the bags sealed? I know some BrickLinkers have equipment to reseal baggies but think it would be unlikely in this case. If it were a high end set with figures exclusive to it, I could maybe see it happening. But a much more common and cheap set? That sounds pretty unlikely.

I always enjoyed reading RailBricks and would welcome another publication. To answer your questions in order: Absolutely - Bring it on! How about the title, "All A-Brick!" hehe A paid subscription would be dependent on how much you're thinking about asking. I think offering Print & Digital and Digital-Only (like BrickJournal) would be a good idea. If digital is cheaper, then I'm more likely to go with that. No need to buy advertising. I would be willing to write on an ad-hoc basis. I have written some articles for BrickJournal on a voluntary basis and have had a great degree of creative freedom with most (in terms of picking subject matter and writing style). I write on an irregular basis - usually only when I have time (which you mention is a problem). When in doubt, always bribe in LEGO. I do a lot of writing articles for work and sometimes get a little burnt out on it. A small incentive, while not absolutely necessary would be welcome if it were feasible to do so. I think I would also be more willing to take on assigned topics. When I write for BrickJournal I usually receive a complimentary issue or 2, and that has always made me happy.

The short answer is...however much someone is willing to pay for it. You can find parts in non production colors on bricklink - These are usually found in quantity, even if its with 1 or 2 sellers who have them. For those, the price can range from a few dollars to double and even triple digits (and those are asking prices mind you.). In the past, I remember the ghost shroud appearing in weird colors like black, red, trans clear and bright orange. There were usually very few of them...like 1 each, and the asking price was often more than $100. I checked bricklink, and nobody has a trans red ray gun for sale yet, and none have sold on the site. I checked ebay and couldn't find any. That means, so far, you are the only known person to have one. You could name your price and probably get over $100 for it. If that gun ever gets released in set in trans red, and you still have this, you will have missed your window of opportunity. If you share a picture of the ray gun in this flickr group, you might even get someone contacting you to see if it's for sale: https://www.flickr.com/groups/2822044@N22/ A few years ago, my little brother received a large Harry Potter set. When he was building, he had two duplicate bags of parts but that the one bag he needed to finish the set was missing. In other words, the duplicate bag replaced the one that was needed. In light of that, and taking into consideration the existence of parts in weird colors, it's not all that far-fetched.

Decool might have one, but they do not have the LEGO logo anywhere on their products - studs and all (at least the ones I've obtained do not). The trans red gun you have should have the LEGO logo within the recess of the studs. It's a little hard to see because its recessed but take it under a good light and look long enough. You should see it. If you do plan on selling it, that is something you would want to note. LEGO does test parts in non-production colors and sometimes they slip out into the wild. This may have been one of those cases. So you might want to retitle your post, "Best Worst LEGO Experience."

Looks spot-on for a Mixels rapper. Is the little bit of white above his blue shorts supposed to be his underpants? If so, he is probably a '90s rapper.

What a wonderful build! That's a really cool roof technique. I've never seen the curved slopes used like that before, but it really gives the roof a nice texture. My favorite part has to be the little alchemy "lab" in the front yard. Using the old fiber optic light to make curvy glass tubes was a clever idea that works really well. I may have to borrow that technique in the future.

Sorry to hear you had a negative shopping experience with a BL seller. If the parts were noticeably broken, this seller should have listed them as such. If they did so knowingly, they were being misleading. You are in the right here. They either intentionally left out information or missed the damages unintentionally (with a high volume of work, this can happen). It's best if you can see if you can resolve things before having to resort to filing a PayPal claim. Just send him a message about what you found, including the part numbers/names and the value of the damaged parts. If it was an error and they are a reputable seller, they will work with you to fix the problem. If they aren't willing to make things right, then you can file a PayPal claim.

I remember this coming up in one of the designer interviews, either on YouTube or one of the BrickFair seminars. Marcos Besa was talking about the Guardians of the Galaxy Milano ship, which designed. He pointed out the extinguisher. It's more or less a running gag. It's kind of similar to how LEGO likes to include duck references in various sets as an homage to its earlier wooden toy duck.

Thanks for supporting the project. :-)

This is the latest addition to my arsenal of microscale Batman baddie vehicles. My friend, Omar Ovalle made a Mr. Freeze microfigure (he also edited the first photo). I thought he needed a vehicle and this was the result! For ideas, I looked to polar research vehicles, past and present. That's why the vehicle is big and has treads. It is also functional; The front end is meant to look like a snow plow at first. But they can turn into hands, capable of capturing Batman! The Ice Crawler's trailer carries an icy prison. This was also made as an update to our LEGO Ideas project, "Mini Battle for the Batcave," which you can see here: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/120166 Who should be next in line for a micro vehicle?

Looks fantastic. The lighting below really feels "batcavey" and adds to the atmosphere. That's 2 months well-spent!

A number of people have given you some great suggestions. One person I would suggest touching base with is Marianne Asanuma. She was a former Master Model Builder at LEGOLand, CA, and she eventually left and focused on working independently. She has a lot of experience with commissions and has even done some commissioned buildings in the past. Given all that she's learned along the way, I think she would be a great person to work with. Here is her website: http://www.modelbuildingsecrets.com/Home_Page.html

In most cases, I mix everything across years. The exceptions to this are the pre-1970s Samsonite bricks and sets. Because the logo on the studs is so distinct, it's easier to sort out. I also like to have it separate in case I want to "restore" one of my dad's old sets (most of the Samsonite era bricks were my dads).

Yes, there are a lot of projects that don't seem like they should be on LEGO Ideas but does that mean we should limit the site even further? I don't think so. Let the public decide what they want. That's the way it works. Back in the CUUSOO days when Minecraft projects were being posted I thought it would never happen. "A building system set representing a video game with its own building system?" Back then, the idea felt a bit insane. However, tons of people went for it in a relatively short period, enough to make a strong business case. As a content creator, sometimes you risk making something people won't jump on. In my opinion, that's fine. It's a part of the process. You learn more about the system, what people like/don't like, etc. In crowdfunding, it's also important to build a strong following to be successful. Posting ideas on a regular basis is one way to remain relevant (not saying you have to put something on for the sake of putting something on). When you post future projects, you will have a built-in fan base. In fact, if you want to do LEGO Ideas I strongly suggest creating multiple projects over a period of time. Let the projects speak for themselves, and the public will decide what they want to see. It has produced some decent sets so far.

I really like this. It has a very retro-futuristic feeling, falling in line with what was popular back in the 1950s (in terms of styling with actual cars and artistic renderings of the future).

This is really cute and funny. It's also visually pleasing because the placement of the action draws your eyes from top to bottom. Best of luck with the contest!