kibosh

I am working on a retractable bridge, and have it working with two buttons. One button extends the bridge and the other retracts it. The problem is, if I'm not paying attention and extend the bridge when it's already extended, it breaks the mechanism apart. Same happens if I retract when it's already retracted. Is there a way to disable a control if a criteria is met? For example, if I extend the bridge, can I disable the extend function until I press the retract function?

I post a lot of work in progress pics, and I get a lot of good feedback. Other builders will have ideas I never thought of, and it helps me refine my work.

I totally agree. I used to read Lugnet religiously. Then I read EB religiously, but I drifted away the past few years. I spend way more time in Instagram and TikTok these days. And I will say this. The old guard who generally prefers channels like EB tend to be the gatekeepers. The newer channels are by and large far more welcoming on new fans. Agreed. I only recently came back to EB because I stumbled upon an old post of mine somewhere. I think Lego fan websites in general are waning. I can't be bothered to update a website anymore, but I'll post almost daily to TikTok and Instagram. I don't think it's a shift as much as an expansion. But the new breed of "collector" certainly seems to overshadow the "builder" in most social media channels. The question why, I believe, is what started this whole thread. A company giving its customers what they want in the hopes that it will increase revenue? Are they crazy? What they care about when they send those YouTubers free sets is the free advertising. People watch those channels to see what's coming. Sending them random bricks doesn't help generate sales. In may inspire creativity, but that's not their business. Their business is to sell as many bricks as possible and make money. Nothing wrong with that. Why is this bad? I would LOVE to be able to build my old Galaxy Explorer as it was and display it, unaltered, proudly. It's the nostalgia for me. Is it creative? Maybe not the model itself, but what it represents, certainly is. Is there a non-Star Wars UCS set? This is exactly what's going on. It's way easier to do a review than create new content every day/week. It's formulaic. You buy a set. You build it. You might even do a time lapse of it. And then you review it. That could be three videos right there without even having to think about it. The thing that could be unsustainable is the number of new parts they keep introducing. Unless they're retiring pieces at the same rate, they could have the same problem on their hands that almost ran them out of business not so long ago. This is gatekeeping at its finest. Lego is not ignoring anyone. They are being inclusive and broadening their appeal. Those new fans are passionate. Just not passionate about the things you're passionate about. And that's ok. You say it's not about the creativity or the MOCs anymore. Why can't you buy Star Wars sets and creatively find a way to use those bricks in a castle setting? Sounds like you are stuck in your ways. Castle or bust! Yep. They're formulaic because they get views. Exactly. It's good old elitism. My way is the right way because I've been here longer. It's that attitude that pushed a lot of people away from places like this. And the whole clique mentality. If you weren't one of the anointed builders, you were nothing.

What is he doing with that many police??? I have the best intentions of eventually building my dream castle and surrounding lands, so I feel I need one army, and the 12 or so you mentioned to represent various realms visiting for a festival or something. Who knows if it will ever happen though.

Totally agree. The minifigure collector is just another type of Lego collector. I love them because they tend to sell of their bricks cheaply to recoup some of their cost. :-) Agreed. I really don't get excited about City minifigs, and ironically, it's what I build most. While not licensed, those knights are way more recognizable than another version of a police officer. And no one is army building City figures. I think that's a lot of the popularity of Castle and Space. People love amassing them. Myself included. I was one of those that totally ignored the jellybean knight theme. How did I miss those blister packs??? I think it's an evolution. Lego is growing and evolving with the times. They are giving people what they want, and what they've asked for. And you're right. What's right for me might not be what's right for you. But we can both agree some form of Lego is right for both of us. While creativity may not be able to be learned, it can certainly be honed and trained. I become a better builder with every MOC I build. I become a better painter with every painting I do. And, yes, the idea of a thing never being "done" is something I only recently accepted. In my desire to create something perfect, I would often give up because it was not perfect in my eyes. I read something that had a profound impact on me. Done is better than perfect. Just create something. Put it out there. It can always be revised after the fact. Man, I feel this one in my soul.

You're right about YouTube. People talking about official sets are wildly popular. So are videos of people playing video games. I just don't understand YouTube. Maybe I'm just old, but I don't have the attention span for long form videos. I much prefer TikTok, Instagram, etc. Shorter content, and I feel more of an emphasis on MOC creation and helping fellow builders. While I have shifted from building sets to MOCs only in the last few years, I still do buy a lot of sets. I get construction ideas from them that I incorporate into my own builds. As for the differences in comments, is it intimidation? Anyone has the ability to buy sets, build them, and discuss them. Not everyone has access to the parts your typical AFOL does. Not everyone can build in the scale we do. Maybe that's what turns them off.

Hi everyone. I hope this is the right place for this. I'd like to present my first real MOC; Downton Abbey! I displayed it at Brick Bash 2020 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was pretty well received! You can see more about it on my blog if you're interested: http://allaboutthebricks.com/lego-downton-abbey-my-first-real-moc/

TOTALLY agree!

Yep. Tomorrow it will be Nipel.

Ahhhhhh... That's brilliant. Thank you!

Is this method illustrated anywhere?

I'm definitely leaning towards custom for my display tables for these very reasons. Fitting baseplates, and saving my back! Oh yes. This is a good one. ooooooooh, I like these. I love the simplicity of the leveling system. Any idea what one table costs on average in materials?

I finally stumbled upon some inspiration, and I'm building my pinterest board! I'd love to see what you're thinking.

This is probably a good plan. I got six 6-foot banquet tables off Craigslist that I will start with. 3 will hold my current display, and 3 will be my sort/build area. I have a bunch of various Akro Mills storage cabinets that will be mounted on the wall for parts storage. I am handy, so I'm leaning towards building my own. New houses will be going up in my neighborhood for the next few years, so there should be an adequate supply of scrap lumber to make use of! What should I search on? When I search "lego tables" I get a train tables for little kids.

Hi guys, I am in the US, and will be moving into the house of my dreams next month. I will finally have the basement I've dreamed about. The one where I will have plenty of room for storage, build space, and a large scale city display. This brings me to my point; what should I do about tables? I'm going to need tables for building on, sorting on, etc. And I'll need tables for my display(s). And I'll need a bunch of them. What's my best bet? My most economical option? Do I buy a bunch of tables? Or do I build my own? What have you guys done??? Thanks!

Odd. I don't think I've ever had a baseplate warp on me. Unless I stored it wonky somehow.

If you want to get really technical, they didn't say it was "technically incorrect". They said it wasn't "technically incorrect". I must be just a touch younger than you. While we had pong, Atari was our thing. And we called each other every now and then. Normally we'd just ride bikes to each others house and yell at their house until they came out.

When you were a kid, did you call your friend and say, "Hey, do you want to play Nintendo?" Or did you actually say, "Hey, do you want to come over to play a video game on my Nintendo Entertainment System console?"

that's what I was wondering. is it an accent thing? Here in Michigan, most everyone (with the exception of AFOLs) has always said LAY-go.

Thank you for this! I've been saying this forever. And on a related topic, I was just thinking about this the other day. Where is it stated that it is wrong to pronounce it LAYgo?

Once my LEGO hobby hit a tipping point, I realized I don't have room, or money, for multiple hobbies any more. I used to obsessive collect unopened Star Wars figures that just collected dust. No, I sell off what I can, and the rest gets opened and displayed in my offices at work. (I work in two locations so I have plenty of space!) I used to build prop replicas from movies. I have since sold off all my supplies. I used to be big into Lord of the Rings and Star Wars minis tabletop gaming. Once I realized my kids had no interest in playing, I sold them all off. Once I'm into my new house, and have some space, I do plan on getting back into costuming. I love Halloween!

Totally agree with this one. Especially if I buy a used set and the stickers are all jacked up. My biggest pet peeve is people correcting people that say "legos". Seriously. Give me a break. I think people already thing we (AFOLs) are an odd bunch, but then to through that in on top of it? I called them legos my entire childhood.

$1.50 - $2.00 is barely going to cover the cost of the torso itself. There is no room for any sort of profit here.

This would be awesome! Load it up with army builders. Orcs, goblins, dwarves, elves, armored knights, etc.

Rogue One shows why it doesn't always work. Vader's SSD drops out of hyper space just as the Rebel fleet is trying to enter hyper space to escape. Most of the ships just hit the SSD and disintegrate. And I highly doubt escape pods are capable of light speed. Same for the bombers.