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That's a fun little build. My favorite part is the astromech. What does the pilot of this little space truck do with the stick of cockpit glass in her hand?

Since the Red Arrows version of the BAE Hawk was not chosen for production, I doubt the Tucano and the SR-71 will make it. TLG seems to be OK with making aircraft that resemble modern military aircraft as long as they are too generic to be definitively tied to a single real-life aircraft and they are in bright airshow colors. The Red Arrows Hawk might have been interpreted as a corporate endorsement of British military engagements, and the Tucano might be interpreted as a corporate endorsement of Brazilian military engagements. The SR-71, brilliant bird though it is and submitted in NASA colors, also has some real-life combat history in Vietnam and elsewhere, so I can see Ideas steering clear of it. Personally, I expect the Amelia Earhart set and the Flintstones set to be produced.

The air pressure inside the base is kept equal to the water pressure outside, so the water doesn't get in. It's the same principle used in diving bells. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_pool

That Enterprise-E looks like a nice build. Do you mind posting more pictures?

Editing the first post to archive old content is becoming quite a bother, so I changed the topic title to something generic and I'll go back to posting new content in new replies. Over the past few days I've been refining my Galaxy Explorer remake some more. Every Classic Space fan has to try out a modern interpretation of the Galaxy Explorer, right? I made the following changes compared to the previous version in this thread: Structure is entirely rebuilt Deleted upturned wingtips Added stud shooters Refined roof, ramp, rear hatches, cockpit, rear wing and struts Replaced airlock compartment with extended garage and more cargo space Base is now inspired by 926 Command Base instead of the little box in 928 The goal is to bring the base and ship in at about 900-1100 parts, for an "RRP" of $120, which is about what the inflation-adjusted RRP of the original 928 was, while using only modern parts (within Stud.io availability, to be amended in a Bricklink order) and keeping the ship as close to the size and shape of the original as possible. Currently the build uses about 750 parts. I'm not sure how to make the base walls visually interesting instead of boring blue slabs without ruining the clean, simple look of the 1978-1979 Space wave. (I'm deliberately avoiding the heavily greebled look of most Neo-Classic Space builds.) Please, reply with any comments or criticism you may have. I'll do my best to incorporate any suggestions you may have into the build, as long as they make sense to me and seem to fit. Ship Hatches open Underneath Base Walls open

As a longtime reader who only recently joined, I'll answer the specific questions first and then describe my general perspective. Would you like to see more contests? I don't have the time or skill to invest in most contests, which are usually won by longtime members and expert builders who I can never hope to compete with. If there were more contests open to small, simple entries and digital builds, I might be more interested in building an entry, regardless of the competition and prizes or lack thereof. What is your opinion of Tags (those small images on the left <---)? Don't care about them. Don't know what they mean nor how to get them. Do you use, if ever, Eurobricks reference materials (ie. lists of Reviews, lists of MOCS, lists of Forums)? I really liked the Eurobricks review indexes about ten years ago, when I followed Eurobricks as a kid without an account. However, they haven't been maintained for so many years that they're practically useless now. If I want a set review with written words and still images, I Google "lego [set number] review" or read the reviews on Brickset. Much of the time the former approach pulls up a Eurobricks review from several years ago. Have you participated in games on Eurobricks (ie. Role-Playing, Mafia, etc.)? No. I have no interest in these games. Do you use/visit the Eurobricks Facebook page? Eurobricks on Flickr? etc. No. I didn't know about these pages. If I knew where a good aggregator of MOCs and set reviews was on Flickr, I might follow it. Do you post MOCs online? What hosting platform do you prefer to use? I have posted a few MOCs online. The images are hosted on Flickr for the sake of deeplinking in Eurobricks threads. Do you prefer broadly defined threads or multiple specialized threads? I prefer multiple specialized threads. What is the first page you visit when opening Eurobricks on your browser? Recent activity. Based on what I remember from following Eurobricks several years ago, I agree that the forums used to be more active and more constructive, particularly with respect to set reviews. Although it would be great if most posts in most threads were thoughtful responses that advance the topic at hand without rehashing old arguments and offer builders measured praise and constructive criticism without being vapid or trollish, that kind of response takes time and thought to craft. Most of the time I check the site on my phone, which isn't good for longform replies, or as a quick distraction while working on homework, which isn't a good time to craft a longform reply either. So if I don't have the time to write a longform reply or don't feel like I have anything new and constructive to say in the moment, I don't reply. Instead I hope that the builder sees the incremented page view as a "like," more or less. I would like to see more constructive comments and criticism on the few MOCs I have posted, but as a part of the problem rather than the solution myself, I can't complain. I agree with MAB that Eurobricks has a bad reputation on other sites, like the Brickset forum (which can also be rather slow) and Reddit. The general attitudes there are that Eurobricks is the best place to keep up with rumors and speculation, but you can never tell when you'll accidentally run afoul of a mod and get banned. That's another reason I don't post much - sometimes I'd like to say something to try and gently correct some of the toxic behavior that stifles some MOC topics and some news/rumors topics, but I don't want to look like I'm mini-modding and end up banned as a result. Perhaps it would encourage more people to post MOCs if moderators were to take a more active role in promoting MOC topics and in regulating behavior in them - setting the example by being the first to respond, with a thoughtful reply demonstrating personal engagement with the build, and preventing things from getting vapid or toxic. Just in the past few months, we've had quite a few promising new members give the forums and try and then quit because their MOC threads got sidetracked by personal attacks instead of staying focused on comments and criticism of the builds themselves. However, I recognize that that would result in a huge additional workload for the mods, so I don't expect it to happen. As for the general role of the forum as a place to share creations and discuss current sets instead of just speculate about future releases, I see two main factors at work now compared to in years past. First, set collecting is a much easier entry point into the hobby than MOC building, and therefore there are probably a lot more AFOLs who primarily collect sets than AFOLs who primarily build MOCs. It takes time, money, and creativity to build a MOC of any kind, but it only takes money to build a set. That's why Reddit is dominated by box hauls and by pictures of MOCs that, frankly, look childish. The same thing occurs on Eurobricks, but in the form of speculation and rumors instead of box hauls. Second, there have been a lot more large collectors sets released in the past five years than in the years 2005-2013 or so, and Lego has also been a lot more visible as a result of three big-screen movies. Add in the return of Star Wars and the Super Heroes licensing, and suddenly there's a lot more people who get into Lego because "I want that set" rather than "I like to see what I can make out of a pile of parts." For example, it's a lot easier to say as an adult getting into Lego that "I want an $80 Lego X-wing for myself" or "I want a $120 Lego Saturn V rocket for myself" than "I want an $80 bucket of loose Lego bricks for myself" or "I want a $90 Lego submarine base with crazy angles and colors [link] for myself so that I can rebuild it into a different submarine base with crazy angles and colors." The first set of examples gets shared across all sorts of tech web sites and blogs, and may even make it into mainstream newspapers and magazines. The second set of examples doesn't. So the supply-demand picture in the hobby has shifted significantly towards collecting as a result of market forces, and fan sites like Eurobricks must adapt or become irrelevant. I think we've seen that adaptation happening in the speculation threads that (in part) prompted this topic, and in the ascendancy of Brickset as a fan site specifically geared towards collecting as opposed to building.

The bodies, helmets, and jet packs are from this theme (link), but the faces are not. The space shuttle with a plastic sheet was probably this set (link).

^ Generally two Star Wars UCS sets are released each year, one in May and one in September. Last year 75144 Snowspeeder was released in May and 75192 Millennium Falcon was released in September. There was some speculation a few months ago that there would be no May release this year because the UCS MF is so enormous, but that rumor has been proven false.

This is a nice, unconventional build and a bit of a surprise - like Littleworlds, I expected something different. As it is, I'm getting vertigo just looking at it. The elevator, the pad itself, and the desert island are great, but I can't figure out how the struts attach to the underside of the pad. Do you mind posting more detailed pictures? Thanks.

After several reviews dominated by a few very large projects with niche appeal, it's refreshing to see so many projects in this review that are relatively small and diverse, yet with relatively broad appeal. I'd say the Flintstones and I Am Amelia Earhart have the best chance in this review batch. Still, it would be nice to see more small to medium sized original ideas without third party intellectual property of any kind, and this review batch doesn't have a lot of those.

Thanks for posting the detailed reference pictures. I've been wondering for a while how the wings were built. Now maybe I can add this to my ever-growing list of things to build in Stud.io and then order the parts for.

Sigh..."by the end of the year" is a long time to wait for things to make their way out of the rumor mill and into real life. That said, enough major sets have spun out of the rumor mill and into reality that I trust the rumors of Space in TLM2. In the meantime, I'm spending all the seed corn for TLM2 sets on retired kits that scratch one aspect or another of my Space itch. Those rumors better come true quick or else I won't have any money to respond to them! :)

I mostly just wish that whenever TLG introduced a new slope or wedge, it would also introduce its inverted counterpart. It seems like such an obvious thing to do, yet the catalog of inverted slopes and wedges is much sparser than the catalog of upright slopes and wedges. This would go a long way towards improving the shapes of starfighters (in particular, the A-wing, Naboo fighter, and T-70 X-wing) and also be widely useful in aircraft, boat, and Space builds.

The MVT Galactic Cruiser is one of the best Neo-Classic Space models I've seen in a long time. It pays a clear homage to the original theme without feeling like an uninspired imitation with modern parts and it's got a clear style of its own, but it's not too complex, too large, or overly greebled. Also, it seems much more practical in-universe than most NCS builds. I'd buy that. The Adventurers Car Chase has a sedan with 2x2 seating. I've wanted one of those since I was a kid, and TLG still hasn't made one. (The Simpsons police car only seats one in the back row, and the 2x2 seating in the Flash Speeder doesn't count.) I'd buy that too.

At this point I'd say just stop worrying about it. There's natural variation in parts, and the difference in wing angles looks like it's within the manufacturing tolerances.

Creator has been trending this way for some time, but this summer 2018 wave really is just City by another name: that is, City with alt builds. The alt builds on all of these look really nice, though. It reminds me of the best set + alt build combinations of 1990s Town. And that yacht is so amazing I just might get it.

Because the series is aimed at the general Lego consumer who doesn't know how to use Bricklink.

If the box and bags were sealed, then the hinges aren't the problem. If you got a used copy, they still might be. But if it's a new copy (sealed until you opened it), and you built it according to the instructions, perhaps the slight difference in wing angles isn't worth worrying about. I can't see it in the pictures in your first post.

If the basic wing structure and attachment lugs are the same on both sides, maybe it's just the extra weight of the droid that makes the left side droop. The extra weight would have a negligible effect on new hinges, but 75038 is four years old. If you've taken the set apart several times or moved the wings up and down a lot, the clutch power of the hinges could be noticeably reduced. Try swapping the hinges on either side and see if that fixes the problem.

I don't see the problem. Can you please explain the modifications you've made, and the problems you're having with the wing angles, in more detail?

They're relevant to kids, who are probably not following the latest Lego news online. The Lego catalog was always my favorite magazine as a kid, and I imagine that the relatively small advertising investment of sending catalogs in the mail to houses with children who send for them pays off handsomely even if the vast majority of children who get those catalogs don't remain interested in Lego as adults.

I would guess it's from this or this. The Jack Stone figures are smaller and have fewer degrees of freedom.

Actually, that red figure in the fifth picture is a Technic figure.

The best place to start is at Brickset.com. Search for the theme names you remember (Pirates, Space, etc) and the years you had Lego in as a kid, then see what sets you recognize. Look for the big recognizable parts from each set. Based on those pictures, some good search terms will be "9V," "monorail," "Space Police 2," "Blacktron 2," "Spyrius," "Imperial Flagship," "Octan," "Space Police," "M-Tron," "Ice Planet 2002," and "Dark Forest." I don't have time to go through the Brickset database and pick out the individual sets myself, but you can start there.

Last night I took a break from my usual pastime of persuading myself not to buy the 70816 Benny spaceship to build a different kind of Classic Space redux, based on 6931 FX Star Patroller instead of 928 Space Cruiser and Moon Base. Comments, criticism, and advice of all kinds are welcome! (The pictures are in the first post.)