Bearded Castle Guy

Ahh it's posted in all it's glory! The collab build just has fantastic detail, great job Torgar and zcerberus! Many of the MCBA Springcon attendees were just amazed that 'That's Lego?' It gathered a lot of attention and many folks took quite a few pictures of the collab. I can happily say I got to see this in person :) Kudos guys!

I picked up a small cup of 1x2 Purple tiles with my personal tradition of 4 2x4 grey bricks in the stud formed in the lid. This was at the MoA store, due to the timing of my visit the wall was pretty well picked over being late on a Sunday afternoon.

No, it's not the Ice Cream Stand, the Friends giveaway polybag at the event has no barcode or traditional set number on it. The only id number is ITEM: 6043173 which I assume is a LEGO internal tracking number. I didn't find any reference to said number on Brickset, I never tried Bricklink. Comparing the appearance of the polybag itself (printing, numbers or lack thereof etc) to 'regular' poly's I assume (guess, surmise,speculate) that this poly was designed specifically as a giveaway. I have yet to decide whether or not to open it for the parts or keep it sealed.

To some extent I view buying storage as investing in either time savings when building (well once I get stuff sorted, ARRRGGHH!) as well as protecting what I've spent on the parts already. By having proper storage I know it's unlikely that I'm going to have pieces get damaged, randomly lost etc. There is some cost to it but for practical reasons you need SOME way of storing your parts. Obviously there's a wide range of options with the same range of cost and usefulness. I posted a ways back that I choose the Stanely Professional Organizers in a mix of Deep and Shallow lift out bins (they're the black and yellow ones). The feature mix of having the lift out bins and a securely latching lid works for my active, sorted storage. Sets and larger or unsorted brick are in large flip-top storage totes. Collection size can also influence what you use to for storage and how easy it is to change it over, as well as the expense of doing so. I'd suggest keeping an eye out on which options are/have been available over time, very little is worse than have incompatiable stoarge, beyond have said storage fall over and spill out parts because it was incompatiable...... In the end folks need to decide what works for them, their budget and physical space, I think I can guarantee that it will be different from what I have wound up with.

I linked the Micropolis to show the technique , glad it's of some help. We just had a Micropolis display this past weekend, and the support layer varied from builder to builder (and how big the build above was). Some were solid, others were minimal. You should be able to easily adapt the shown spec's to whatever needs you have. if your not worried about matching the height specifcation an easy modification is to just start with a baseplate versus a layer of plates. The only real downsides I see to making completely solid are piece count and weight.

One thing you can take a look at is the Micropolis standard, that's a plate-brick that are used for the base and then you add your creation to the top of that. http://twinlug.com/m...-city-standard/ So normally you have plate-brick-plate/tile or the base of a building on top of that. It normally creates stiff base to build upon.

Correct Earthforce (aka humanity) didn't have gravity generation technology, at least until they access to the Minbari/Vorlon technologies after the Intersteller Alliance was formed. The Agamemnon was a EarthGov ship built well before the Shadow war and the formation of the Intersteller Alliance. The ship is a good overall representation of an Omega class destroyer for scale it's at, I do agree it could use a bit more detailing but it's not bad at all. Welcome to Eurobricks btw and thanks for posting your MOC that guy!

One place to look at some nice landscaping is Derfel Cadarn's Detailed guide to building a medieval village thread http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=60907 He covers various foliage and landscaping at different parts of the guide, useful even for those that are NOT looking to build a medieval village

Nice MOC, my first thought that it might have perhaps been inspired by 'Howl's Moving Castle' by Hayao Miyazaki. I like the look of the middle level the best. The top level is a bit 'busy' but given the subject matter it works, going from the railing to full height wall seems slightly out of place though. Overall the design works pretty good, keep up the good work.

I found a list of programs that are listed as handling the .eps format here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eps_file .

I doubt that it's primarily the Nicotine or any surface discoloration that folks are majorly concerned about when getting LEGO from a smoking home (there's a way to clean that easily enough), it's the SMELL from the smoke that can be released back out of the bricks over time, this is especially important for those allergic to elements of the smoke. Rinsing or even soaking doesn't always do much if anything about the smell, I don't recall offhand where I read it but there was speculation in the past about using a vacum bell in order to remove the ingrained elements of the smell. Some folks are sensitive to it, others are not, for those sensitive it's IMPORTANT information to take into consideration.

Multiples? heck yes, it's all about the parts, plus it'd be hard to build Castle armies with just a single copy of each set...... I whole greatly reccomend the MMV, singlely or in multiples. Most sets get... integrated into my LEGO Collective, but some sets are spared such a fate due to their design or even size and complexity. An example of this are the few trains I have or the 10210 Imperial Flagship. Edit to correct the IF set number...

I don't have the reciept handy but believe the ones I got locally were $3.99.

It is *Extremely* likely that the MMV is in it's twight time, it's 'place' in the lineup has been 'taken' by the Medevil Joust. In a over on Brickset, in a unconfirmable post but from a good source the MMV is on the list of End Of Life sets, aka it has already ceased production or will soon do so(in this case by the end of the year). Considering how long it's been out already I would not suprised if this is true. I'm a big fan of the MMV and would reccomend it to just about anyone to start with but I believe that if you want one at (or near) RRP you should consider it now before they're gone.

This would be a tough call, while there are a lot of sets that flash thru my mind just for their size and the amount of pieces you could get, such as any the various Modular's, UCS or even older sculpture lines, I'd have to go with something older. Also while the Classic Space sets have some draw I'd still have to bypass the likes of the 497 Galaxy Explorer for what's become my 'core' focus, something Castle related. The 6040 Blacksmiths Shop has eluded me, the 6002-2 or 0016-1 Castle Minifigs would be a great temptation, my choice would have to be a town set: http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=1592-1 Town Square- Castle Scene.

Harbor Freight has merchandise of varying quality to be sure, you just have to pay attention to what you are buying. It's a GREAT place to get stuff when you need something that just gets the job done, but yes don't expect some of it to last like Craftsman or Snap-On Tools. The flip side of that is you are NOT paying the PRICE you do for Craftsman or Snap-On Tools either (or in this case Stanley for the pretty direct comparison). Pretty much the best level of pricing I've seen for the 25 Compartment Stanley has been $13 for the gray/purple version @ Walmart. Compare that to Harbor Freight's $7.99 sale price well you can almost get 2 for 1 level of a deal. That is IF you are willing to put up with the gap/ potential migration of small pieces between bins, or only put larger parts in these. I don't scoff @ Harbor Freight, it's a great place to get certain items, especially if you are only needing to use the item a few times or it's not something that can cause injury if it fails/breaks.I don't buy cheap sockets, I've seen those break in use (almost injured an eye when it fractured)I get good ones and know it's not going to do that in normal use. I have decided on a similar path for storage, the Stanley's I use are NOT the cheapest solution by far, but I also know they will hold up and the pieces will stay put when I have to move them. For me the benefit to the cost is worth it....

Well it depends upon what you are defining 'Active' as in regards to LUG's. Is it only the ones that qualify to participate in LUGBulk and/or have an Ambassador? From what I recall any LUG that can qualifies for LUGBulk would also hit the requirements for an Ambassador but the reverse is not always true (Eurobricks or Classic Castle would both be fine examples of the later case, they don't hold regular in-person meetings for the membership). Or is it ongoing groups that they know of that may or may not meet the requirements for either LUGBulk and/or an Ambassador? The difference would definitely change the potential on(for?) the numbers. I don't know if an LUG that reported 20k+ members would meet 'traditional' LUG requirements but to my thinking the numbers seem inflated (but the Korean culture will sometimes take things to an fairly extreme level, just look at the Starcraft phenomenon...) so it's possible. I doubt anyone outside of LEGO would have a chance of knowing as we don't get access to their detailed sales numbers, if you have a LUG that really was that big it SHOULD show in the sales numbers...

Someone here is FULL of Entitlement...... You realize that the LEGO Ambassador's are liaison's between LEGO and various LUG's, don't you? There is *NO* specific Ambassador for Monster Fighters, LEGO Ambassador's are fan volunteers that do so to promote their hobby/interest with LEGO. As others have mentioned *YOU* posted in a *PUBLIC* forum, so it's YOU that opened this up to public comments. Their have been a number of good and valid points made about the content of the original post so I'll not repeat them. P.S. the U.S. Air Force is a branch of our Governments armed forces, *NOT* a company, the last time I checked. That's why your ultimate boss is an elected official (the President) versus a Corporate figurehead. What's sad is the image that some folks will get of Americans from your posts....

Umm guess what, the minifig packs were made in china as well.... I find that some chinese made 'figs seem pretty obviously of a somewhat more translucent quality than the ABS used in the European 'figs and other are hard to tell apart. You might want to call your store of choice before you visit if you are going just for either the Battlepacks or the Chess set. My local store hasn't had any Battlepack's approaching in a time frame approaching a year now. They also didn't have any Kingdom's Chess Set's in either.

It might be in the wrong forum (General) versus the Events forum but its certainly not a big secret, LEGO sent out post cards and one of the local news stations had a reporter out on Friday doing multiple (shortish) segments. There is a display from some local builders as well (go TwinLUG!, amongst others) it just happens to be in the rotunda on the East side of the MoA, not next to the store.

I'm guessing it's at one of the European LEGO stores given the way the USA store tend to turn over inventory. My definition of turning over inventory in this case is less on the volume side and more on the structure of the tax laws that encourages most retailers to eliminate stock that either under-performing or old. From what I recall of it, the Battlepacks in the USA were Kingdoms wave 1 only, I know I never saw any during the second Wave , though that was a much shortened release. @natesroom, if you want Kingdoms Minifigures look at the new Kingdoms Chess set, it's a great deal.....

I don't the pictures in front of me but they're different torso prints at the least. One has the triangular 'Arc Reactor' and the other has a circular 'Arc Reactor' so those that want one of each variation would be interested in JUST the Quinjet Iron Man 'fig. Generally any minfigures included factor into a set purchase, in fact in a number of cases getting a quantity of 'fig's has factored heavily into the purchasing decision for me. As many have said, parts are parts and are parts. I've got some sets kept together but I think they are cool, I keep some examples nisb(or even misb depending). Yet others get 'burst' and then absorbed by my parts collective. As my screenname states I'm very much into Castle, and have focused much of my attention there in acquiring examples of as many different sets from the line as I can. But that doesn't mean I'm solely buying or even collecting just whichever theme that currently flies the Castle flag (when there IS one), oh no, far from it. I want a couple of the Ninjago sets just because they are cool as is. The Quinjet is another that I said 'I want' when I saw the picture. I have a fair bit of Pirates, some Technic, some Ferrai sets etc. That said if I get a good enough price on a set I've been known to buy just about anything, inexpensive parts are inexpensive parts and variety can be good as well. Will I buy Friends sets if I find them at a good price? you betcha! It's all parts in the end and the more parts you have the better.....

Those two Stanley cases are what I've settled on myself for much the same reason's. Currently I've only finding the deep version locally @ Home Depot and a re-colored version @ Wal-Mart (apparently a charity donation for quantity moved deal). Target seems to have switched to a Stanley with moveable dividers which defeats the whole point of why I was buying them over the Plano type cases. What's interesting is I also found a 9 Compartment version that uses the same bins in the re-colored scheme. The measurement listed on the label are 8 1/4 x 13 1/8 x 2 1/8... Although I was just counting the bins and I seem to have 11 and not 9, my first suspicion is that somebody wanted more medium and less small bins since what's in the one I purchased is 2 large, 1 medium and 8 small bins. I'll try and dig up a link from the Stanley site if I can. Edit, bah I forgot how horrible the Stanley website is, they fail to list a lot of sku's or have inaccurate information about availability on it. Further inspection of the label reveals that this recolored line is part of a Wal-Mart exclusive line for women called Barbara's Way and the site for THAT fails to list either the 25 Compartment Organizer or the 9 Compartment Organizer as an available product. Nor does the Wal-Mart site list these either. Still the 9 Compartment version has the virtue of being smaller and thus more portable than either of the other 2 sizes listed AND the tray's are compatible with the shallow 25 Compartment version.

But they already HAVE changed the Minifig! I call it the friend 'fig but seem to recall it being officially called a mini doll or some such. Or you could go back to the '70's when they changed from what I call the (unposeable) 'Stiffy' 'figs to what we now call Minifigures...... I have a decent amount of the (now) old style horses so even if I do not blend the types into combined formations I will not be very limited in the size of same, I'm more likely to be limited in the number of newer ones in comparison.... To those lamenting that they have to replace their current horses? why? more variety is a GOOD thing, especially since the current saddles and barding will still work on both styles, I don't have any issue with the old head armor not working for the new horse, while necessary it often felt(looked) somewhat odd to me. So my older herd will have full access to my current stock of head armor but that's far FAR lss numerous than the horses themselves....

I've had some instructions stored in poly page protectors for over a decade now, some of the time they've been stored vertically and the rest of the time horizontally and I've not seen any noticeable issues in the instructions themselves. Now the binder has been packed quite full so there has not really been any ROOM for the instructions to crumble into...... I have a number of instructions that just do not 'play well' with the binder pocket system and those get stored flat in one of the various boxes I have. Lately I have acquired a a number of the following to hold some of the various printed material I have acquired: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/926905/Innovative-Storage-Designs-Hanging-Storage-Case/ They work pretty well for most bits of printed materials but there are still some things that just will not fit without damage (so those still get stored separately). These also work well to hold sticker sheets or cloth items like sails or teepee covers. I like the fact they have a latch, but you sometimes have to watch it as the latch doesn't have a real strong grip. They are cheaper at my local Office Depot than the online listed price and I'll admit I haven't done a lot of deep searching for the least expensive prices around. These might be worth looking at for some folks.