Multiverse

I'm still considering whether or not to get the Frankenstein set, but I'm certain I'll buy the Zombies. My main motivation for that is the minifigures, though, so if you personally prefer the Frankenstein figure, I'd say go for that.

With hopefully as little as possible offence to the author, I'm very critical about this. I've been missing a real lego book, one that can be interesting to non-FOLs and AFOLs alike. I don't expect to find this in a 58-page paperback which, on its very cover, declares itself a joke. While this is a funny little idea, I think its ideal media would be something like a mini-essay in a magazine or blog. Paying nearly £5 pounds - a price, I might add, which isn't significantly smaller than Amazon's paperback price for so many other wonderful books (only a week ago, I bought a hardcover book there for £2,5) - is, to be frank, not even something I'd consider. Particularly not for just 58 pages in relatively large print and a lot of unneccessarily empty space. The 'items in which you might be interested'-column led me to a book called The Cult of Lego, though, and while I'm not buying that either at its current price (something like £26), that looks like it might be the book I've been looking for. I'll definitely be watching it.

Just to throw this in: I keep as much of my Lego collection as possible in marshmallow boxes. These particular boxes are made of relatively sturdy, transparent plastic, and they fit perfectly in IKEA's Billy-model shelf system. Their size, roughly 16x26 studs and 8 bricks high (as presented in an international measurement unit which is always at hand), is pretty much perfect for a collection of my size. The only downside is that I'm getting pretty tired of marshmallows. EDIT:

Okay. =) May I suggest that you sort a number of bricks (a lot of bricks, since you're that many) into, say, 18 piles. Make sure that each pile includes a good number of useful bricks like plates or SNOT bricks (you could also try to theme a few of them, like having a pile with a lot of medium blue, or a pile that has many leaf pieces). Then at the beginning of the game, you'd divide the players into teams with two or three on each. The teams would then take turns choosing a pile of bricks each, until there's no more piles. Then the team who took the last pile would come up with a theme for the first round (and another team comes up with a theme for round 2, etc.). After something like 5-10 minutes, the round would be over, and each team would give five points to their favourite build (apart from their own), three to their second choice, and one to their third. Whoever wound up with the most points when the round is over wins (and is allowed to take three pieces from each of the opponent team's piles, perhaps?). Of course, you just asked for an idea for a voting system, so feel free to ignore everything you don't need in this post. =)

Well, I might have a suggestion for a system. How many will you be?

According to your profile, you're from the UK, and in that case I'd definitely pick the Fire Brigade - it's only £100 from S@H at the moment, compared to the Pet Shop at £120, and the other two, I believe, at £150. On top of all that, it's the next modular to be taken off the shelves.

Well, if you have any of the official Lego games, you can of course always play one of those. Otherwise, you could have a speed build contest (though you'd need a few of the same at-least-moderately-sized set for that, so that's a bit rough on the budget). I personally think the theme building contest you mention sounds like a blast, and I'd definitely go with that. =)

I suppose the main difference between Portal and Minecraft is that Portal is just the level higher in commerciality, being distributed by a larger company than the developers' company. The license will be harder to achieve than that of Minecraft, since it's not just the developers' consent that's needed. I imagine Valve would agree wholeheartedly to let Lego produce a product like this, but EA is another case entirely, and I doubt they'd give their consent without pay. And while it might be a cheaper consent to buy than George Lucas', it's also something that will be used in presumably only one set of limited release, making the budget that much tighter. That said, I would buy that set in a heartbeat. My brother have both Portal games, and I love them!

Thanks! =D With that in mind, I'm leaning towards getting the Mines and the Crazy Scientist, perhaps QAR as well if I still have enough money. I won't be buying any sets later that I can get there, since it's an annual sale that I plan my entire Lego budget after. I don't buy sets if they're not exclusive or >40% off. It's nice to have your input on the Knight Bus, too. =)

Okay, thanks. =) I'd like to see that sort of blue in a WV set. I imagine it'd go well with the white and the earth-shades there tends to be in them.

Intriguing news indeed! I'm certainly looking forward to see how this will turn out. =) Say, could you tell from the picture what shade of blue it was? And roughly what size was the cottage - regular WV, or (as some rumours have it) a bit larger?

It looks like Lego really paid attention to our wishes here. I mean, an actual santa hat, a black bowler hat, headphones, an opposing cheerleader? Aren't these all things that we've been yearning for since the CMFs started? =D Pretty much the only figure here I'm not too hyped about is the Cowgirl, though in person I'm sure she'll be a positive surprise, as these tends to be. =)

Though he's also Sauron, which is at least something slightly more humanoid. =J

With Martin Freeman's face, right? The best thing is that Benedict Cumberbatch is also in the movie, so there's a pretty good chance of getting Sherlock as well. :D

I've helped my brother build the Pearl, and I can pretty much vouch for it. It's a great build, and nearly made me go out and buy QAR just so I'd have another ship to build. I only got one response to this (btw, thanks, TheLegoDr), and it was pretty much based on the presumption that I'm buying for the builds. Really it's almost exclusively for the parts (except for QAR. That'd be for the build and the parts). So I hope it won't be too much of a problem if I drag back into the eye of the public. =J

Thank you. =)

Thanks, Lightningtiger and Grahamm5001! =D

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But thanks! Thank you to Ferrik and Soccerkid, too. =)

I personally see the Pyramid as more of a play set, with all of its features, so for display value I'd go for the Starfighter (I don't even know what startfighter is the USC one, but I think starfighters generally make for good display sets, and I know USC are the big ones). If you want MOCing resources, though, I'd take the pyramid instead. =) EDIT: Oh, it's the Obi-Wan one, isn't it? I'd choose that over the pyramid. =)

He's a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal of action! (duh-bi-duh-bi-duh-bah!) "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!"

Hey there! The Astromech contest seemed fun to me, and an Astromech Droid (I'm pretty sure it's Artoo himself, actually) is actually among the four or five non-trooper SW figures I have, so I figured I'd give it a try. =) I've decided to join in with a vignette, considering that size doesn't seem to play much of a role in this particular contest. So I give you... R2-DJ by Multi Versal, on Flickr ...R2's electric dancefloor! R2-DJ is a modified droid of the R2 series, originally bought in bulk by an intergalactic trading company who'd modify them and infuse them with musical knowledge modules and some extra record-handling gear. They'd then sell them to rich music fanatics at twice the original price point, making a huge profit even after the investment in new parts. The company has now given up that particular business and taken to selling pens instead, and only a little more than a hundred functional DJ droids are in existence. Needless to say, prices have rocketed, and now they're only available to the filthily rich, often functioning as a symbol of wealth rather than their original purpose, the creation of new and pleasant music patterns. This R2-DJ, however, is a lucky one, and gets an entire DJ stall of its own. =) (Wow. It's amazing what fun, little stories you can come up with when you have five minutes and a keyboard.) Astromech Workplace: R2-DJ by Multi Versal, on Flickr R2-DJ_4 by Multi Versal, on Flickr EDIT: Oh, sorry! I seem to have misremembered the rules. Would a moderator please change the title to 'Astromech Workplace Contest: R2-DJ's Dancefloor'? =J

...and if there is, just imagine the MOCs. =)

I have the bakery, and intend to get the Post Office when it's on clearance just after christmas. I'd suggest you get the bakery and do the same. The PO should stick around for another two years, after all. ;J As far as the completionist thing goes, I've managed to convince myself that the train isn't really a part of the series. If you're getting it just for the parts, I'd take that risk. If it's for the build, I wouldn't. Another solution: if the store has unopened versions of the same set, but at the full price, bring a kitchen scale to weigh and compare the sets to figure out the percentage of parts missing. =)

That's wonderful! I like how it's simply a pink void behind the scenery it's breaking.

Oh, that's brilliant! I love the dynamic feel to the whole thing, particularly in the eel. Whatever that tan thing (plant? Rock formation?) is, I'm really stunned by that, too. It's so simple, yet so well placed.