Bearded Castle Guy

You need 10 posts to send or receive PM's or view member profiles. Perhaps you could put a post in the 'Hi I'm new here section' to add to your count.... I'll track down the link in a minute or 3 here and edit it into my post. Okies, here it is: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showforum=17 Actually I'm surprised you were able to post in BST at all, I thought THAT required 10 posts as well...... no matter. The 10 post thing is to prevent or at least slow down spammers or those that come just to sell something and NOT participate in the WHOLE set of boards, EuroBricks is NOT just a place to buy and sell or trade stuff, which you are likely to know if you've been lurking long enough :)

Agreed, in general for sets in normal availability it's usually cheaper to find them on sale at a multi-brand retailer rather than the LEGO store or Shop @ Home. You tend to see sales far more often from them. For sets that are Exclusive or Hard to Find it's a WHOLE different ballgame, your choices are so much more limited to begin with. I tend to buy only the sets or parts that I cannot get or are a pain to find at the local LIC, the Exclusives, Hard to Find, PaB wall and you can occasionally find good deals (or great deals) on sets that LEGO has decided are no longer to be carried. The LEGO stores usually carry the full line or as close as they can to it, other retailers pick and choose to fit into predetermined spaces. So if you are ordering form the LEGO catalog aka Shop @ Home, no matter if it's via phone, the website or thru the mail service, you generally have access to the full line of product, but you will also be paying MSRP and shipping unless they are running a promotion AND you qualify for it (often a $75 order, but it varies). In some states you'll pay sales tax as well, IF LEGO has a retail presence or you are in one of a few states they are otherwise required to collect it. S@H is still a valuable resource for those not living near a LEGO store, or in an area where the retailers do not carry a good selection (or are marked-up noticeably above MSRP). It also is a good choice if someone doesn't have a lot of time to physically just GO shopping, delivery is great :) Some retailers have bonus programs going as well that are not LEGO specific, TRU has their Rewards R US program, Target now has a 5% discount if you use one their Credit or Check Cards to pay for the purchase. Those are the two I recall off the top of my head, there are likely other programs out there as well.

Those of you using spreadsheets might want to look at Googledoc's, you can store stuff in google's cloud where it's unlikely a hardware crash would take it out, I'd keep a local copy as well though, it sucks to lose something due to no back-ups....... Personally, I know where the boxes holding my pieces are, and that's enough for me, knowing I have 1 of set X is usually of little value to me, although I may add some to Brickset now that I've signed up over there as well, we'll see.

I followed the Batch (lot) codes for series 3 & 4 in comparison to the dot (bump) codes, what I saw was, if the dots codes changed the batch codes changed. If the batch codes changed, the dot codes COULD change but didn't have to change, that is it was possible to have a batch code change with none or a small number of dot code changes. I personally gave up trying the read the dot codes as I had accuracy issues and reverted back to feeling the parts (or in a couple of cases shoveling discounted 'figs into the hand basket). Even then I'd delude myself on some of the ones I had done the feeling method, after 10-15 minutes I'd get impatient... In regards to the discounted ones any I need to confirm I'll just open :) I do recall seeing the same batch codes from different boxes and even retailers, or in some cases having multiple batch codes in the selection (but for both series 3 and 4 I didn't pick any fray sealed cases or even the tray packs, they all had been shuffled/randomized). I'm getting anxious to see series 5 locally actually.

Stands are easy to come by tho, I have a ton now. I *DO* like the alien Torso pictured in the version with the white ray gun MUCH better, it'd be time for some X-Com themed builds...... At the worst I'd get some of the plain gray torsos from the online PaB and swap them out, the head is the draw here.

If these do get released I just hope they are not glued seeing that they are a magnet set and supposedly all the newer magent sets were supposed to be glued......

It's not that I want the Statue 'fig to be something other than sand green, it just doesn't look quite like it is to me. I have sand green parts and know the color, perhaps being a CM and thus a china plant production some of the discrepancy is the less opaque/more translucent density of the 'fig's is rearing it's ugly head again.....

I respectfully disagree with the Eurobricks 'Master of Colors' on this one. Honestly the Statue of Liberty minifigure looks more like green rather than sand green in the picture. I get the sense that it's more of the Toy Story 3 Army men color than sand green, even though I'd prefer sand green for the Statue 'fig. Try pulling up a picture of both the Statue of Liberty 'fig and the Leprechaun 'fig side by side, the pictures appear to be from the same source and are thus likely to have the same or similar conditions/settings when taken.

There's a thread here on Eurobricks for US sales, it's one of the 'Sticky' posts http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10116&st=1080 In general if someone around here has such info it winds up there, the Brickset advice is good as well, they do a good job posting sale info over on their site.

Very nice, you gained a bunch of display space and made your whole setup more stable as the same time.

Usually the value of an ounce of gold has been enough to buy a good suit, thus it's a good stability hedge but you're not likely to see much actual appreciation.... @pennas2000, it does really sound like you just need to focus your collecting, you might decide to cull thru your current collection and sell some and/or just be a bit more specific as to what you purchase going forward (or you can buy the place next to yours...) :)

Some stores seem more willing to sell the K boxes than others I believe, but cannot say for sure about that. I looks as if one of the earlier posters might be able to help you get a K box if you PM them (hint) but it'd depend upon that store having your part in stock (I recall reading that they're not supposed to do special orders for specific pieces per say) but they should be able to ship it providing they have stock on hand from the sounds of it.

Many cities REQUIRE certain services(utilities) in order for a house to be occupied (used). I'm kinda surprised that he gets to skip the garbage collection on the second house, around here that's one of the bigger sticking points (the water bill usually covers sewer service as well, and you NEED to heat a house in many areas for at least part of the year or it'll deteriorate). I'd advise being more moderate and staying fiscally afloat (or you'll not be able to KEEP your amassed collection).

I believe Aanchir's point was that to some extent the Pab Wall availability and the Online PaB availability matches up to a certain extent, it's not a 100% if one version of PaB has it the other will but there is significant overlap between what they carry. Also a K box of grills pieces would be a BOATLOAD of them, I'm not sure what a person would do with a K box's worth, especially all in one color....

Lugbulk order Got a lot of plants, a number of baseplates and and about 380 or pieces of head gear, oh and a nice amount of copper clip-on axe blades. Popped in to the local Target, still the same limted number of sets on clearance yet, they ran out of 7949's since my last visit, but there were few left at that point anyways.

I know that the previous shuttle mission had the ISS sets go up and get built, but I forget if they has minifig's in them and am too lazy to look them up at the moment. There are also a number of humans 'stuffed away' in prison's and jails and such, so I think it's more of the matter of counting them opposed to counting those that are 'in use' or accessible. I'd many most LEGO users will have multiple minifig's but there are many 'unenlightened' soul's that have none so I'm honestly unsure which side has more numbers at this time, humans or minifig's. I would expect that the minifig population is growing at a faster rate though.

If you are planning on doing PaB cubs both day, bring back empty PaB cup from the first day (they should get a sticker applied upon purchase) for the reuse coupon discount. that' s $.50 off on a large cup think someone mentioned in the past that it's $.25 for a small.

Correct forum for sure, there has been discussion of this clearance event in the 'Sticky' sales thread but a separate post likely does not hurt but a mod may decide to merge it, if so no harm done either way

Based on past experience, the 'newer' sets that are on clearance are merely NOT going to be on the layout Target does, aka the 'Fall/Holiday' set and thus they have to go. Target in my experience has always been more aggressive in clearing out SKU's than any other toy retailer, they don't keep SKU's hanging around someplace hoping to sell them at msrp for long periods of time like TRU or many other retailers (this goes for items other than LEGO as well). So those Cars 2 sets and Banana Balance and any other newer sets are just not going to be on Target's shelves for the Fall/Holiday set.

Not all LUG's have or even need the same leadership structure, the one I'm part has had a very loose leadership structure per say, it's not a formalized thing or a strict voted in officer type deal. We've had a number of strong informal organizers in the past but the group works on a more informal basis, we've recently appointed a Secretary (think Secretary of State/ key contact person) so there is someone that can be an official/first contact person but some tasks/issues/interactions may be handed off to others on a case by case basis.

The Kingdoms Target Practice seems to be much more widely available and was not a random pack set, I'd go with the Series 1 Forestman. As mentioned by another poster LEGO has the Kingdoms Target Practice as a bonus for purchases over $75 this month and I've seen (and purchased) decent quantities from the assortment pack spot on Target Store's checklanes.

Starting a group like this is a lot of work, my advice is to not overextend yourself in the beginning to avoid burnout. The LUG I've joined was already an ongoing group when it moved to it's current message board host in 2007. You can start a LUG without LEGO's sanction, you'd just not be able to have some of the benefits of meeting their requirements (mostly being able to elect an Ambassador and LUGbulk I believe). I certainly didn't join the LUG I did to order LUGbulk, heck I've not even received anything from a LUGbulk order yet. I *DO* enjoy the talk and meeting folks that have a similar interest and seeing what folks have built and are showing. I congratulate you on starting a LUG, I hope it works out well for all involved. In general, Joining a LUG (or even starting one) just to get in a LUGbulk order is not to me, the point/spirit of why LUGbulk exists, it got started to help groups get pieces to build public displays, hence why I believe that the number of show required is in there. But maybe that's just me.

Oh, I have a bunch of recent sets to go thru and some that go back a decade or more. I've never done a good sort, I've been buying set, often but not always deboxing them and then storing most occasionally building a few and have them setup for a while then they too get stored, usually broken down. I've also dabbled in many themes but a couple years back realized I needed to narrow my focus somewhat. That doesn't mean I only buy a single theme but my primary focus is pointed at Castle as well as stuff that can be useful for Castle. I have sets ranging from town to technic to trains (9volt) to space and beyond. This summer my main project will be to actually SORT and Organize a good chunk of my collection, if I don't it will be very difficult to build anything, that's one reason I haven't been building other than some acquisitions per official instructions.

It sounds like your prices are the same on PaB then, I've never gotten a small cup, if I'm getting PaB I'm getting a Large PaB cup and that's that, the small cup seem less cost efficient to me. So I suspect your large cup's sticker is also fifty cents off a refill. I should try and get out to see what the LIC has but it's a mere week until we sort our LUGbulk order (starting to get antsy about it). I should hold off considering paying for my portion blows my weekly budget out of the water but we'll see... Agreed about the lids, the bottoms stack nicely but the lids, ug mess city.

I haven't posted pics of any faction yet, that would require 'Building', I'm in an 'Acquire' mode still Also am in sort mode as well, that's more of a block to building than the additions are....