WesternOutlaw

Nice color combination. I really like the roomy cab.

Nice job on the pneumatics, but I must admit I was waiting for it to shoot water. Oh, and welcome to EB!

Absolutely CF. Welcome!

LEGO Train fan Scrat shares his LEGO rendition of an EU40/E401 in the Train Tech forum, a great place to share your LEGO Train creations.

This is a very nice creation, but was it built from instructions of Reinhard Ben Beneke's BR23 shared through Rail Bricks?

Cute moves. I think you should change some of their faces and hair pieces. It would create the look of a real team, rather than a collection of five Minifigures.

It's great to read the various comments regarding each of these wonderful Creator houses. Thanks! I built the Apple Tree House over the weekend, then after creating this poll, had to rebuild the Beach House for a fair comparison. I arranged the houses in my Train Town (which is becoming pretty busy now - in fact, I had to place the Beach House over the area where i had my desert stream and cactus) like so: All things considered, while the Apple Tree has better colors and the "quaint look" about it, I had to vote for the Beach House. The overall design, both exterior and esp. the interior seems more spacious. The price is better, and it just seems more thought went into the details of the house itself. I also liked the build better, esp. the sun roof. The patio furniture and grill reminds me of the summer. Beach House for me!

Interesting thoughts. I don't know about that. I actually like the design and style of the Classic sets better. Perhaps you are correct that the "Extreme Action" look and boxart is more appealing to the kiddies though. Perhaps my AFOL eyes are getting old, but the newer sets (esp. Island Xtreme and World Racers just look so much like a 'mish-mash' of pieces and colors. I chose the word "Extreme" because it's used in the names of a few of the LEGO Action themes (eg. X-Treme Team, Extreme Stunts). I wasn't really describing the violence level. In fact, there are many more violent LEGO themes, esp. in the License category. I don't have an issue with the violence level as I think it is representative of our modern society, but that's a completely different topic. To me, "Extreme" means shooting crocodiles and sharks with laser guns, high-speed chases, high action, explosions, etc. Yes, I believe you are correct here. And why do you think that is? I think it's because "Extreme Action" is what sells the sets - through marketing, not superior or outstanding design. I doubt that any of these sets will become legends 20 years from now, but quickly forgotten; but then again, that's coming from an AFOL perspective. Kids now adays may have a differing opinion. Yes - partly. In terms of LEGO "going too far", no, I didn't mean that; but rather, has quality design been replaced by high action marketing? Minimalist design can still be incorporated creatively, and I don't think that a poorly designed set with new colors and larger pieces can be considered thinking outside the box to a greater degree. I think that's a matter of perspective. I'd take a Classic Town set like Outback over the majority of any new Action theme set (or at least the majority of them). That's not to say that I don't like the new Action themes though. Action themes are great, but I don't think that Agents or other theme provide any more creativity opportunities than those of Town/City, or any other theme. I believe that any theme can serve as a jumping point for creative building and play, and the less defined that it by LEGO, the greater the opportunity. I'm looking at the new World Racer sets (especially the larger set with the semi-truck) thinking, "ouch, it's Island Extreme Stunts all over again). I don't feel that most of the Action themes have improved; but that's just my personal opinion. In fact, I think sets 20-25 years ago were better designed and faced the limitations of square bricks vs. specialized pieces. Sure, a 2010 airplane will look sleeker with a specialized front-nose piece, but how about building one with bricks? Piece count in these new Action themes also make alternate models very limited. Yes - cool pieces are a plus (and a negative as well). I do like the colors of some of the newer Action sets, as well as the minifigs. Blame it all on video games. We have created quite a "give it to me now society", play hard, play fast, dispose of it when it becomes old - but that's another topic. Truly, the thought of Action Themes becoming too violent never crossed my mind when creating this topic. I was really getting at the loss of good design with specialized pieces, new colors, and lots of fancy action boxart that markets to the kiddies like a 30 second fast-flying commercial. Did we lose something in pursuit of Extreme Action? More comments and thoughts are certainly welcome. EDIT: Missed your post Z06. It's really interesting to read your thoughts ZO6. That's an excellent point you make in regard to exploration of older action themes to the explosions of today; and quite a nice comparison to sum up one of the major differences. LEGO is certainly delivering what the young boys want. I just wish they did so with some better designs and less specialized pieces.

Over the past 10-15 years, LEGO fans have seen LEGO action themes slowly evolve into high flying, road battling races for everything from world cups to world domination. What started as a pleasant Town sub-theme of Modern Adventure sets with classics like 6444 Outback Airstrip (1997) moving to Extreme Team and Res-Q themes, LEGO continued their extreme action by introducing Island Xtreme Stunts in the early 2000s. Theme upon theme of action assault to Agents and World Racers, has LEGO sacrificed classic and minimalist design to bright/new colors and concept in more recent years? While the theme ideas have been fantastic, simply stated, are the sets any good? What are your thoughts... Have Action Themes Become Extreme?

In this exciting EB Town face-off, two 'still available' Creator fan favorites will do battle: Set Comparison 4996 Beach House Pieces: 522 Price: $34.99 (USD) Main Colors: Yellow and Black Accesories: Grill, Patio Furniture Alternate Models: Cafe, Apartment Building 5891 Apple Tree House Pieces: 539 Price: $44.99 Main Colors: White and Dark Blue Accessories: Lawn Mower, Basketball Hoop Alternate Models: Townhouse, Summer Home Individual EB ratings indicate the following scores: Beach: 88.8% (out of 25 votes) Apple Tree: 78.6% (out of 74 votes) All things considered, which set do you like better? Discuss your choice below.

Pretty clever puzzle Taltos, and you've done a fantastic job at creating a LEGO version. I'm interested in seeing how the train cars are attached on the other side. I think this is most unique and deserving of a front-page.

Completely unique to the LEGO Train theme, TaltosVT shares this most complexing Timesaver Switching Puzzle. Built in microscale, this interesting creation is based on the original HO version by John Allen. You can read more about the puzzle in the Train Tech forum.

I actually like the color combination. It's been a long time since I built anything in white (esp. since the introduction of tan). Finding space in ones' Tabletown is the challenge:

What about the new blue roof Apple Tree House?

Awesome Grogall! Thanks for sharing the new images. I think this deserves a front-page announcement.

Where might these happy City minifigures be travelling to? Well, they're on their way to everyone's favorite LEGO City community, the EB Town Forum. Why are they going there? Our very own 'high-res hero', Grogall, has shared new high resolution images of the late 2010 LEGO City sets. If you haven't seen them already, check them out here!

Interesting thoughts all. Seems I snuck in a 'Designer' house by accident (4886 Building Bonanza). I couldn't find the set on LSAH, so Googled "Creator". This popped up, and I thought I had it. The tan and black house, while not too ornate, was an outstanding parts pack. Never picked up one of these bad boys. I just finished building the Apple Tree House last night, and while it looks nice in design, I was a tad bit disappointed with the closed interior and closed back/side walls, especially compared to the Yellow Beach House; which in contrast, offers more interior playability. The lawn mower and basketball hoop are certainly nice details, but an old NBA basketball would have made a better piece - probably would have gotten stuck in the toilet seat though. I think what many of these sets needs are some standard flowers and trees, or trees similar to those contained in newer City sets (like that from the Town Plan). Interior furnishings would certainly spruce up the houses, as well as a few figs (but then again, that would make it a City house, wouldn't it? -but then again, what's wrong with that? So it's great to see Town/City fans adding these Creator homes to your layouts.

Great images guys! The Creator homes look good in your towns.

Creator. CREATOR. -Definitely a creative endeavor by LEGO. In the past few years, we've seen LEGO return to their roots in offering a revised Basic/Universal set (in the shape of a modular house) to encourage building and promote the imagination, fundamentals of the LEGO brick. Creator sets; specifically house sets, are certainly a long way away from the Exclusive Modulars, yet more detailed than the backless structures of Classic and New City sets. FLASHBACK: some of the earliest building history that I remember involved cars and houses. In fact, I recall building elaborate two and three-level homes with a multitude of doors and shuttered windows. Unfortunately, these vintage 70s homes didn't allow much play in the way of minifigures as they're roofs were sealed tight. The LEGO solution was the introduction of the 'open back' structure save an occasional hinged structured Town House or Vacation Home. Later, I and a good friend found ourselves creating open roof houses for the additional play. Here's a picture of my earliest Floorville. Note the yellow and white houses in the upper left hand corner of the image. Now we have the CREATOR home, modular in its liftable 2nd floor, yet closed to dust and dirt; no minifigs to inhabit their stylish walls and pleasant furnishings, but appealing to the eyes in their basic designs. I must admit that I have only the Yellow Beach House, but will soon find myself enjoying the engrossing build of the Apple Tree House. So where am I going with this topic? you might ask. Let me elaborate... For those of you Town and City fans, are you a collector of the Creator Homes? If so, is it merely for the pieces, or do you find yourself adding these structures to your Tabletowns? Do Creator Homes offer play not found in standard City sets? What do you do to spruce up a Creator Home 'City-Sizing' it to blend in with the architecture and inhabitants of your LEGO Cities? Are Creator Homes too different than Exclusive Modular sets or 'open-back structures' to tie in nicely? Is the scale of the Creator Homes made more for Pirate 4+ or Jack Stone minifigs? These are just some of the questions in 'City-Sizing Your Creator Sets'. Discuss your thoughts here.