WesternOutlaw

Interesting topic Ignacj, and applicable to other themes as well. I never use stickers, unless I make them myself with photo paper. When I use to have a functioning scanner, I would copy set stickers for an extra useable set - at least I did this with the My Own Train steam engine. They weren't as dark/black, but it worked. Now I just tuck the sticker sheets away in the instructions. It is kind of fun to make your own decals for custom creations. Here's a few: I use regular photo paper with scotch tape, but they are still sometimes hard to get off. This is one of the reasons I don't like to use set stickers, and that they will get sloppy in time.

Friction: thank you for sharing. Your images are LARGER than our site guidelines of 800x600. Please resize or they will be removed. EDIT 7/15/10: Images have been removed.

Beautiful Davey! You certainly build a mean diesel engine. I love the colors and the use of light grey tiles along the middle section. The sloped black grill design really adds some nice detail. Are those vintage 2x2 blue windows? I want some of those! Really, a fine job. I think this deserves a front-page. Fantastic!

Peering into EB's Train Tech forum, you may spy this impressive LEGO Train creation by Davey. Just 6-studs wide with slider trucks, Davey has shared his GE ES44AC in CSX Livery; a blue, light grey, and yellow beauty that may compete with the LEGO Burlington Northern Santa Fe or even the legendary Santa Fe Super Chief. Doesn't Davey build a mean LEGO Train engine? Share your thoughts HERE.

NCD: I was at my local TRU today and saw this set in an old display. In looking for an image review here on EB, I noticed that we didn't have one - at least until I tried searching for the set number, then stumbled upon this. Not sure how I missed it (noticing you had just shared it last week). In any case, I really like this set! I think it's a great City/Adventure/Action combo set that has a pretty nice design. While the LEGO City garage has the same colors (which I'm not too fond off), this looks nice with the helicopter and truck combination. It was in a TRU display with the garage, and that's probably why I never noticed it. Does the storage container come off the trailer? It looks like it might. I think I'm going to look into getting this set, and maybe add a few World Raicer motorcycles for added adventure. On a side note, I wish you and your family well thoughts in the loss of your grandmother.

Outstanding review Rufus! - Great high-quality images. I think this definitely deserves some front-page attention! Thanks for sharing. EDIT: this quaint little home really has some Classic Town charm. In looking at your rating, I think 73% is a low overall rating. Maybe if you added an additional factor, "Classic Town Charm" and rate PARTS a little higher, it would boost the score to the 80s. I think it deserves much higher. EDIT 2: A tree house, green trash can, fire hydrant, mail box, all in the same set! How cool is that?

UCS Reviewer Magnifico (and LEGO Town fan) Rufus brings the LEGO community it's first high-quality image review of the new 8403 Family House. If you're a Classic Town or LEGO City fan, stop by the EB Town Forum today to check out the outstanding review!

Greg: thanks for sharing pictures. I always like these little book & brick combination sets. especially when they're Action/Adventure themed. These make nice introductory sets to the Atlantis theme and will certainly appeal to kids. Neat!

What a great time to enjoy some Sizzling Summer Fun! Do the dog days of summer have you hidden in a shady place under the air conditioning vent? – not to fret. Do you own any LEGO Town/City Leisure, IslandXtreme, Divers, Coast Guard, or other nautical/beach related set(s)? If so, now is the time to break them out. Even if you never had a chance to pick up any of these classics, there’s always the 2009 white and lime green City Camper (7639) ready for some vacationing fun. It even includes a surfboard for your beachside destination. You could even trade one of your Zombie Minifigures from the Series 1 collection for an orange-finned Diver Dan. Make yourself an ice-cold smoothie or favorite tropical drink, and start building! Here’s six ideas for some sensational summer scenes: Day at the Beach: grab a few palms and some tan baseplates adding blue plates/bricks for water. Blue baseplates are still available in many stores that sell LEGO, and you can pull the shorts from a business man while he tries on pants in the Grand Emporium. Some Pirate sets like 6241 Loot Island can provide useful pieces. Surf Shack: got a few brown log bricks left over from Fort Legoredo? If so, try your hand at a surf shack. While surfboards may be hard to come by, you could always try selling lemonade, bicycles, or icecream at your new summertime establishment. Beach House: did you know that LEGO Creator set 4996 Beach House is still available? If not, don’t let this set get away. For $34.99 (USD), it has 522 useful pieces for building three different models, including the main model, a wonderful beach house. Add some flowers, additional shrumbs, trees, and maybe a small area of ocean-front landscaping, and you’ve got the perfect summer get-away. Bridge Over Troubled Water: got a land-locked Train Town or City that hasn’t seen rain in a long time? Add some blue baseplates for water and try building a bridge for cars, trucks, or even a train to pass over your new water feature. Make sure you leave some room for your favorite LEGO boat/ship and perhaps a few Coast Guard vehicles for a rescue scene. Into the Blue: grab those Diver Minifigures and get busy building your own Diver, Nautica, or ocean exploration vessel. 7207 Fire Boat or even 7213 Off-Road Fire Truck & Fireboat can provide that perfect hull/raft for your nautical expedition. Just be careful when exploring black lago0ns! 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: haven’t picked up an Atlantis set yet, nows the perfect time. Most of the new theme sets are still available in stores and at LEGO Shop at Home. Combine a few to create your favorite underwater action adventure. So what’s stopping you from enjoying any of these sizzling summer scenes? Get busy and start building! You won’t even need sunscreen

Not to mention being font-paged here on Eurobricks!

LEGO Space fan Catarino creates this most unique Single Wheeled Exploring Platform. If you think the creation is nicely designed, this mobile lab explorer is fully functional with a LEGO Power Functions system. To see the video, check out the creation in the EB LEGO Sci-fi forum.

Thanks for the front-page Svelte!

Indexed and Poll added.

Welcome to this exclusive LEGO EB review of the new 2010 Architecture set, 21006 The White House. Set Name: The White House Theme: Architecture Year Released: 2010 Pieces: 560 Price: $49.99 USD Special Elements: 2x4 black and light grey tiles, White House printed tile The back of the nice black box includes a brief history of the White House: A close up of the history of the White House and James Hoban, White House designer: While I knew this Architecture set would be small before opening, I was surprised to find this many pieces (560) within the box: After about one hour worth of building (and a little television in between), I was almost ready for the roof. The most tedious part of the build was creating 16 of the same sub-assemblies of the small black windowed wall sections that go between the columns of the house: About 1.5 hours of building time, I had completed the house: A diagonal view: Trans grey bricks would have made better windows than the holed black 1x1 bricks. Holed bricks, you ask? Yes, not quite sure why, but all the black window sections use black holed 1x1s turned to show the non-holed side: One of the trickier parts of the build was adding the columns to skellie arms in the back of the house: Four of the columns attach to the skellie arms, and two to regular 1x1 hooks: The roof uses standard black slopes. In this picture, you can also see the new 2x4 tiles: For size comparison, here is minifig next to the White House: And compared to something a little larger, a small dinosaur: Lastly, the extra pieces: Thoughts of this set: This is my first Architecture set. I didn't plan to buy any of these models but have an admiration for Federal architecture, and of the history of the White House. I do appreciate and applaud LEGO for offering these non-System/minifig scale buildings of historic landmarks. At the same time, I do find that they are rather pricey - for the amount of small pieces contained in this and other Architecture sets. The build isn't too fun, especially with the large number of 1x1 plates. Nothing stood out for me, aside from adding the roof which neared the completion (no more tiny pieces!) I find it interesting that this house is white and black vs. white and grey, or other lighter color. As I said above, trans/smoked grey bricks would have made the windows look more realistic, but the finished model still looks nice. A removable roof would have added a nice feature allowing one to add coins, dollar bills, or other little secret items. As it is, the roof would be difficult to remove without causing significant damage to the walls. A printed 1x2 American flag tile or other colored tile (red or blue) would have added a nice contrasting detail rather than a 1x1 hook piece. In regard to other aspects of this set, I think the liftable box front and black color makes a nice collectable feature. The added history on the back of the box, picture of White House, and the additional history contained within the instruction booklet adds to the overall value. For play, this set is a zero. From a historic and collectable stand-point, the set is quite nice. For pieces, it's probably fair/average. If I were to visit the Seattle Space Needle or the White House, and find one of these Architectue sets in the gift shop, it would make an awesome souvenir/keepsake. I will most likely display this set in my living room or even my desk at work, far away from my LEGO Train Town. While I would most likely buy this set again (from a collector's/historic standpoint), I'm still not completely sold on the Architecture theme, especially the larger/more expensive sets mainly because of the price and number of small elements. They offer little to no play value, so are incompatible with existing LEGO collections - unless you have a huge miniscale city. My final vote - it's an average to slightly above average set (based on the historic aspect). Share your thoughts.

Scruf: I always enjoy and appreciate your outstanding train wagons. Right off, I love the dark red and black color combination. Secondly, the sideways wall to create the base of the hopper is a most clever design and one that I don't recall seeing in trains before. The cement hoppers themselves look really nice with the added details of the gauges, railing, and tubing. Also impressive is your nicely designed track and rail bed. The black tiles work well with the new bley track. I think this deserves a front-page! Great job and thanks for sharing here in Train Tech!

One of the things that LEGO Train fans would certainly appreciate is more single rolling stock cars. LEGO Train builder Scruffulous shares one of his recent creations, a Victorian Railways J Cement Hopper. Using a dark red and black color palette, as well as some nicely placed SNOT sections, his cement hopper would definitely make an outstanding rolling stock set. Does anyone envision a new My Own LEGO Hobby Train sub-theme?You can read more about this impressive hopper in the Train Tech forum.

Thanks SD - I missed that.

What a clever little design. I think this deserves a front-page!