22kane

The current Lego PF motor #88002 is not available and seems it won't be until November. I noticed a similar motor (#8866) that is available and I was curious if it works with the PF accessories. I took the motor from the current cargo train set to power my Maersk engine and would like to replace it. Sorry if this is a stupid question but I am new to the whole PF thing.

I am very excited about this set. Although I liked the last cargo set, this one appeals to me a bit more. The locomotive has a more classic industrial switcher design to it unlike the previous set that had a more "passenger" styled locomotive. I am interested in the box car and maintenance car the most. The only other box car I had was from the Load n Haul set back from 1992 and the doors were always popping off, I have since converted it into a gondola car. Maintenance cars are rare in the Lego line and this one really catches the eyes. I am also glad to see a new car like the ballast car as we need a wider variety of train cars without building our own. I was a bit skeptical of the PF system at first but have become quite comfortable with it. I hope that Lego continues to push more train sets and "special sets" as they have in this past year. The newer parts used in the Lego trains are far better than those made throughout the 90's and just a few years ago. Details have become much better as well as their operational abilities. I noticed in the review it said the set came in $20 cheaper than the previous so I am assuming we are talking $160? Regardless, I will have no problem shelling out for this set and look forward to more of these "industrial" themed sets. Thanks for the great review!!

I think the bus looks amazing but I'm not too sure on the post office. It's hard to see the detail but I think the bakery and toy shop are still far superior. Maybe I'll change my mind once I get a better view and see the price tag. The bus has a high piece count so I'm assuming it will be pricey. Regardless I'll still pick it up. Very cool.

I recently got back into Lego this year, heavily. I have been buying sets left and right as well as some older sets that I missed out on via eBay. So far out of all of the sets I have purchased two of them were missing parts. Both times that I called Lego customer service the representatives were extremely friendly and helpful. They immidietaly apologized for my inconvienience and shipped the missing parts to me ASAP. I can't remember the last time I have had such excellent service!! I am a store manager for a large retail chain and pride myself on our level of customer service but let's be honest, sometimes good help is hard to find. In this day and age with places like Walmart where customer service doesn't exist it's refreshing to deal with a company that has such a high level of it. I say kudos to lego and keep up the great work!! Buying a set with missing parts isn't even a problem when you're dealing with their reps. Great job!! I'm curious if anyone else out there would be interested in sharing some of their positive experiences with legos customer service?

Absolutely stunning!! Great work!! Now this is the type of rail structure I would like Lego to release.

Thanks for the tips, Toastie and Fonix. I tried a few different things with the placement of the controller and got a better response but like I said before it's still just not right. There is something about the old DC boxes that give you a better feel for train control. I'm not very well educated on wireless capabilities and was wondering if my wireless Internet may be playing a roll as well? Thanks again for the tips

Last night I ran my first Power Functions train. I recently bought the latest Cargo train set and assembled the engine then hooked up some of my older 9v cars. My overall thoughts are mixed. For some reason though disappointed comes to mind. The controls are jerky and a couple times the engine got away from me and derailed. I would turn the control wheel once and nothing. I would turn it twice and nothing. One more time and the engine would shoot off like a rocket. I like to run trains at lower realistic speeds and this seems like a problem for PF systems. I do like the fact that there are no wires but that's the only pro I can come up with right now. Also, in order for me to power my Emerald Night and Maersk set it's going to cost an additional $100. Now I understand what all the fuss was about. Was this really the best direction to take the Lego train line? I guess as time goes on I will master the controlling of PF and won't have these "rocket" issues. I will be very upset if I invest in PF for all of my trains and they change it all out to something else in the very near future. Almost forgot, I do like the fact that the track is much cheaper than the 9v rails and the fact that I can still use my 9v rails with the current system. So the real question is where can they go after PF? Aside from Lego trains I am an N scale modeler that uses DCC. Not much has changed in the latter except for the addition of microchips controlling each cab by a specific address. The installation of these DCC boards can be very difficult for adults as well as programming so I can see why it wouldn't work for Lego. In fact, one of the biggest topics in HO scale is battery powered locomotives and the possibility of them being readily available in the near future. Powered track even in DCC remains an issue because the connections must be even greater for the signal to remain constant. On my large N scale layout I had to solder every rail joint to ensure premium conductivity. The longer the track stretches the more feeder wires you need to keep the electricity from diminishing and that would not be an easy task for Lego trains. Now with PF, kids can set up a large layout and not have the problem of trains stuttering half way through their layout. Would I abbandon PF entirely? Absolutely not. All in all battery power is a good idea for Lego but here are some things that need improvement without changing the entire PF system. 1. Stronger signal strength 2. Higher power batteries Both of these will ensure smoother operating features. Would it drive the cost up? Maybe, but at the rate of technology it shouldn't be an issue for too long.

I cant wait for this to hit the shelves. I just purchased the current cargo train as well as the Emerald Night and Maersk set. I hope Lego continues to release more trains like they have been recently.

Ok, I'm impressed! What a fantastic layout. Great job!!

Funny how our children want to play with our toys. I too have a young daughter and she is autistic. I have always had to keep my n scale trains hidden from her due to how fragile they are. Recently I have gotten back into lego and have acquired several train sets that I can usually keep around her. Your story makes me laugh because I see I'm not alone when it comes to sharing my toys with my 4 year old. I guess for many of us it's hard to let go of our youth and although there is a large community of people that probably think we are nuts we still have fun "playing" with our toys. My hope is that when my daughter is a little older and can understand how to play with Daddy's toys nicely we can share the hobby together. This is a great way for you and your daughter to have some bonding time, something she will remember fondly later in life. Good for you, not freaking out over the incident. You sound like a good guy and I'm sure your daughter really enjoys her time playing with "daddy's" legos. By the way- I won't let my daughter touch my Emerald Night either. Lol.

I am actually an n-scale modeler and am going through the same situation reversed. I am cheating on my n scale trains with Lego. I recently broke out my old legos from my parents home and have been buying sets left and right from EBay to Toys R Us. I am planning on building a large lego train layout complete with an entire downtown area. Like many of the others said, it's ok to have several hobbies to go back and forth on. It requires some extra cash at times but staying with one hobby for years and years can become tiresome. I plan on re- focusing my attention on the n scale trains this winter but I'm having some fun with legos in the meantime. Some hobbies can be become stagnant and need a rest from time to time and if you're like me, an adult with ADD, it's difficult to stick with one thing all of the time. I say congrats to your new found hobby! Model railroading is extremely rewarding and fun just like legos. Enjoy!

Being that Lego is European for the most part we are mainly given European locomotives. I would really like to see more American locomotives preferably diesel. The model train companies reproduce actual replicas with authentic roadnames and paint schemes and this is something I would really love to see Lego do more with. Years ago they made a Santa Fe model that resembled an F3 and I've even seen a BNSF locomotive. How about the iconic GG1 in a Pennsylvania Brunswick green color complete with pin stripes? The Raymond Lowery design for those that know what I'm talking about. I would love to see some GP-38's or even an SD40-2 in several different roadnames like Conrail or Burlington Northern. Lego is really not that type of company though. Most of their designs are based on child playability and only a handful of models are directed to the adult collector each year. The other problem is that each model needs to be designed, built, tested and then produced in a large quantity in order for them to turn a profit. Something I like may not be appealing to someone else so they have to stick with a basic popular design. Almost a universal design for that matter. It has become evident that the train side of Lego is growing rapidly perhaps with the introduction of the new power function line. Before the locomotives were powered and there was no way around it. Now the models can be built with more complexity and a collector could just purchase the model to display with no intention of running it. For this very reason they may have seen a spike in their sales on the entire train line. It seems like we will be seeing a surge in train models from Lego in the near future and I certainly welcome just about any model at this point.

As an N Scale modeler that enjoys Lego trains as well I have found some very good responses here. Way back when, the Lego 9V days, Lego stayed with a very basic concept that worked very well and still does to this very day. Many Lego train modelers have stayed with that system and I see parts on ebay go for a considerable amount of money. I believe the Power Function system has it's advantages but it may very well be a fad. Anytime a new system is introduced it needs to not only incorporate the original system but improve on it in many ways. The PF system has made some of the older parts obsolete making collectors change their set-ups which many will not do. If Lego really wanted to have a huge success with the system they should have simplified it in so many ways. The problem is that you have to purchase so many different components separately and they are not cheap. Many parents will find that buying a full kit such as the Cargo train set would be sufficient enough however when purchasing the Emerald Night you still have another $100 of spending to make the model operational. Although it is true that Lego is not a train company it is an important part of their collection. Changing the models drastically to incorporate the new system imposes an issue later down the road. What happens when they decide to go with an entirely different system? Will that make the current and future models obsolete 10 years from now? I have already heard many complaints on the "Flex-Track" system as it is not stable and moves around with the force of the running trains. Although using "un-powered" track may have been a great idea is the new system affordable enough for most Lego enthusiasts? Most model trains still function in the same way they did 50 years ago except with the growing popularity of DCC. This enables each cab to respond to cab specific commands on the same powered track. Could Lego have used this technology? Absolutely and they may very well in the near future as its popularity and functionality grows. For now, the PF system will have to do and although I do not have a great amount of faith in it I will have to purchase it in order to make my current models run. I just hope they make the next system much more compatible with their current system.

The Jack Sparrow promo minifigures wouldn't ring up at my local walmart so the cashier just threw them into my bag without charging me. Ahhh, god bless the lazy walmart work force. If you are ever looking for cheap Lego sets try Target on-line. The sets reach a high clearance price before the actual stores do. I'll be waiting to pick up most of the POTC sets from them at about half the price.

I found this to be quite ironic as I just discovered my M-Tron collection in my parents attic last night. Since the instructions are long gone this will be very helpful. Thanks for the review!!

I just picked this set up today at my local Lego store. It's a pretty good deal for $40 if you ask me. Lego has always been a little expensive but when they do special models like this they tend to cost much more. I hope they keep producing more "special" themes like this around the $40 range. Many of the costly sets are very very cool (ie- Pet Shop, Maersk Train, Emerald night train etc) but as we know they tend to start around the $150 range. Kudos to Lego and keep up the great work! Wow!! Are we really getting upset over terminology? C'mon guys!

That reminds me... There was a mermaid tail in there but that was the only "rare" piece. I'll take your advice and check in on it every once in a while.

LEGO Store "Build a Minifigure" stations Please post questions and answers - and general discussion - in this thread! I read on a post a couple of days ago that the Lego stores had a "build your own Minifigure" station with various body parts and "tools". Someone had said that Lego took many of the parts from series one and is offering them in these little stations at the Lego stores. I decided to visit my local Lego store today and sure enough there it was. I immediately got excited until I saw the $9.99 price tag for three figures and was disappointed in the parts they were offering. Many of the torso's were common figures like a police man or a pirate shirt. There were only about five different faces available including the skeleton head but not his body. The tools were brooms, swords and a few other common pieces. I quickly realized that it certainly wasn't worth the 10 dollars as I probably already had most of the pieces. Here is the question... I am wondering if this various by store? Maybe most of the good stuff was picked through at the KOP location. Has anyone out there had better luck?

I must say I am very impressed. What a great idea and you matched the scenes perfectly. Outstanding!

Ok, heres another question... I noticed that Lego released a couple of Christmas themed sets like a bakery and a toy shop. I was actually thinking about getting these (they are still available) to set up under my tree with my Lego Train Set. Is Lego going to make more of these for future Christmas' or is this a one time thing? I have found the sets still available from Target for about $60 and noticed some ebayers selling them for about triple that. I never noticed any special Christmas sets like this before and was curious on the history of these.

Thanks for those replies. That pretty much answers my questions. I was able to purchase a sealed case of series 1 and 2 on eBay and was worried that there may be more out there than I had thought. I have noticed that for series 4 they seem to be everywhere and shouldn't hold such a strong value like series 1 & 2. I think many eBay sellers are thinking they can fetch the series 1 (inflated) values on the newer series which is annoying. I would imagine from here on out the future releases should be quite plentiful.

I was curious if anyone out there had any info on the actual production numbers of each minifigure series? I know that the more recent series 4 availability is much higher than say the first series but I can't seem to find actual production numbers. Most companies like trading card companies or even Hotwheels will release the amount of pieces produced and I'm not sure if Lego does. I know that many people were upset about the first minifigure series because of it's limited availability and it seemed that series 2 was a bit more plentiful however I have noticed that series 4 is everywhere. If anyone out there knows the actual (or close) production numbers on each series I would greatly appreciate it.