WesternOutlaw

I like that Shell Station. That's not an official set, is it? I recall having Shell stickers from one of the old Idea Books.

Good input - I have been wanting to do some work on the index, esp. the MOCs (maybe breaking it up by categories). Thanks Cap'Z. Appreciate you mentioning the existing index. I think a good forum will have lots of quality topics. This is a result of active and interested members. In looking at your index topics, I think most of the items you mention are categorized in the Index.

Welcome Mrblue. Looks like you've got a great collection of the classics.

Beautiful review Svelte - in fact, a 5-star review. Your pictures are fantastic. My set arrived this afternoon, and I'm planning to build it over the weekend. The Emporium looks really nice next to your custom modular, but didn't realize it is quite a bit shorter. Looking forward to the build, especially after seeing this review. Great job!

I think a green light in my Galaxy Explorer just turned on. What a wonderful review Rufus, and a set I don't remember from the early space collection - in fact, I don't recall seeing pictures of this set before. You're pictures are outstanding, and it looks like your set is in fantastic condition. This is well deserving of a 5, and I think it deserves special mention. Front-paged! And long live Classic Space.

Continuing incredible set reviews on EB, Classic Space fan Rufus takes us back to the early 80s with his outstanding review of 6930 Space Supply Station (aka Mission Control Centre in the UK). If you're not a fan of Classic Space, this review may change your mind.

Indiana Jones meets Space Police as part of De-marco's latest sci-fi automobile collection, Flying Cars:

Old review, but image links should work. I've updated, so they should appear now. Try refreshing if not.

Banditloon: it's always nice to see older trains combined with new City sets. That table works well for your layout. It's amazing how easy it is to fill a large space on a table with a LEGO town/train display. A grey tablecloth would hide the wood and blend in with your grey roadplates.

Welcome Merkal. Glad to have you! It's always nice to see those 12V collections. I love the one with the yellow mail/boxcar.

Caution! The Legoland repair crew is working on a street near you, inside the EB Town Forum. Check out this clever little construction scene by Lego-maniac.

Over the last few days, I wanted to revisit the last standing structure from my Mexican Village, the Mexican Church, making it into a complete structure. The result is this much larger building (without figs at this time), but now with an interior and more. New Photo! The original church as seen in the Mexican Village: Not much has changed toward the front, except for one higher layer of bricks, and the added bell: Two additional tan plates have been added to extend the front section: The church now has a bell: That can turn/swivel when the chain is pulled: The right side of the church: An extra door adds one additional access point: Shall we go inside? The big red roof lifts off easily: Inside right: Inside left: Next to the inner door is a small shelf for storing sacramental supplies: The priest can sit inside a small room to hear confession: The alter: Stairs and a ladder lead up into the tower: And lastly, the rear of the church with stain glass window: Please note: these images were taken at night, so a flash was present in all the images. Comments welcome.

Set sail for the Town Forum in one of DNL's Yachts. A sailing yacht, cabin cruiser, and more are included within his friendly fleet.

One of my first LEGO doors was received in the 1975 Brick Yard set containing a red 2×3 door. As a child, eager to open the unwrapped Christmas present, I was pleased as punch. “Hey, look at the little door”, I said to myself as I could not wait to attach it to the green baseplate. Unfortunately, although one could see through the clear plastic, the door had a major design flaw; it was molded shut. A few years later, LEGO would introduce a new 3×4 door contained in many Universal Building sets that allowed small fingers to open an attachable screen. Different color frames allowed mixing and matching to create interesting combinations. Red frame, yellow screen; white frame, yellow screen; red frame, blue screen were just some of the many color combinations. The only problem is that the doors were too small for the armless faceless minifigs introduced later in early LEGO town sets, and the same small hands would have to turn a minifig sideways flicking the fig through the doorway. While some children on the block got quite good at “fig flicking”, how realistic was a door that’s smaller than the average minifig? LEGO complicated the matter even more when they introduced the maxifig that was more than twice the height of the 3×4 door. A new door was certainly needed. A few years later and throughout the 80s and 90s, LEGO produced one of the best doors ever made, the 4×5 frameless door. Many of you know this door well, and the upper four pain openings that allowed peepers to see inside Classic Town structures. The door required no additional clear plastic or a frame, and it was molded in numerous colors including black, blue, green, light grey, red, brown, white, yellow, and even navy blue and pink. Pink? (note to self: must find a MISB copy of Dolphin Point Lighthouse). The 4×5 dimension for doors was so successful, it became a standard door size and also used for train doors, the 6-pain door, as well as 4×5 clear glass doors. In addition, windows would be made in the same size. 4×5 seemed to be the perfect size for LEGO minifigs. All things come to an end, and while LEGO city fans soon found themselves spending hours building their new modulars, their minds quickly forgot about the well-loved 4×5 door. Replacing the “perfect door” was the new 4×6 door, one stud higher contained in a frame. Cheaper, thinner plastic would replace the old 4×5, as well as the need to attach a round 1×1 plate for added door-opening ability. Clear plastic, as well as a 4-pain option is now the standard door size. While I applaud LEGO for recovering from the demise of Classic Town, part of me can’t help to wonder, “Is bigger better”? Has the LEGO door grown bigger to meet the needs of Toy Story Woody and a possible return of Pirates 4+, or do modular City fans have a growing need to see larger creations? From the 1975 small 2×3 door that didn’t open to the new 4×6 door twice the size, what will future LEGO doors offer? REFERENCES: Peeron, Eurobricks Town Reviews

With stealth and speed, can the black ninja fly into the samurai mountain top hideout to steal the sun gem? Find out in Def's recent review of 6045 Ninja Surprise.

Nice job on this Matt. I think one has to watch the video to appreciate what this little hopper can do. It's neat to see creations from old idea books. Thanks for sharing.

This is a great topic and I really enjoy seeing all the classic trains that some of you are sharing. Makes me somewhat envious that I missed out on all the early trains that weren't available in the U.S. While my first "blue-track era" train was returned when I was a kid (exchanged for the Yellow Castle), my first train was the My Own Train Steam Locomotive and individual cars that came seperately. Here's a little video around the old Wild West town (was just able to locate it and upload it to YouTube).

I almost tend to agree with you, although the Coast Guard set isn't bad. Your comment reminds me of a visit to this lighthouse in Santa Barbara. It's now a pizza restaurant:

Very nice RD. I'm a big fan of yellow submarines, and I think you've done a great job on the design of this D.4U. I like the overall shape of the middle section (sort of shark/fish like), and the use of the round 2x2s on the side with small propellors work well. The additional fins and wings give the sub a look of added undersea maneuverability. An additional hatch or opening for storing undersea gear in the back would add to the already nice quality of this creation. I hope you don't mind, but I've added a photo-edited background for the EB front-page. Great job!