dunamis

Looks nice. After seeing the post about the MTT, I called my local store and asked if they had it in. At first they didn't have a clue, then they said, "Oh, no sir. That set doesn't come out until August." I tried to explain that it was a MAY release and that some people already had it. There was no convincing them. It always seems that I know 10x more about any given set MONTHS in advance than they do. Oh, well. It will show up soon enough. I'd guess it will be available by the end of April.

Nice find! Looks like this will be a great set. I guess I'll start watching for it over the next few weeks.

Welcome back and congrats on the new sets. I hope you enjoy the sets.

Excellent! Star Wars is my favorite LEGO and I'm glad we gave it a dedicated forum.

I'm still guessing that we will see some type of Mindstorms NXT LEGO Star Wars set. Probably something iconic like R2D2 using all the new NXT parts to really boost interest in the NXT set.

FYI, I've been watching my local Targets lately and they finally reduced their clearance price on the 7784 UCS Batmobile to $17! Get them while they are hot! Also, keep an eye out for the 6209 Slave 1. It is on clearance for $34. That is 30% off of retail. You could wait to see if they make it down to $20-25 but I'm betting they will all be long gone before that. I've picked up a couple at $34 and they seem pretty scarce at that price. As usual, your mileage may vary...

It is the same here in the US. You need an additional 'rider' on your insurance policy to cover collectibles, jewlery, etc. Depending on the insurance carrier you are insured up to a certain dollar amount on those things, like $2,500 or so and after that you need the rider. That is why I am considering pricing out my collection and adding it to my policy. I have no idea what it is worth but I suspect it is approaching $10K. Now all I have to do is figure out how to explain this to the wife once I add it to the policy :-P Once she hears that, she'll want me to sell it so we can start building a pool...

Keep in mind that you don't have to be in a flood to have your collection get wet. As I mentioned, I had a leak in a pipe that caused a significant amount of damage to my house. I had to rip out a wall, a bathroom sink and cabinet, about 200 square feet of wood floor, 50 square feet of ceramic tile, etc. This all happened in January and I'm still not put back together. It will probably be May before everything is all done. Total cost to remediate > $20,000. My cost = my $2,000 deductable on my INSURANCE policy. Now, I was lucky. I have a couple of storage cabinets where I keep a lot of my MISB sets. Had the leak happened in that wall instead of the bathroom wall, it would have soaked all of those sets. Just something to keep in mind. It doesn't make sense for everyone.

Wow, he stuff is really good. Let us know if you reach him.

Interesting discussion as I have had the same thoughts. I recently had a water leak in my house. Fortunately, it did not get any of the areas where I store my LEGO. I do have a number of MISB sets and could just imagine if they got wet. Sure, the LEGO pieces would be fine, but the value of the set would decrease significantly (not to mention losing the manual and sticker sheet). I do have an electronic list of all my sets. I will probably go through the exercise of trying to assign a value to each set and finding the total value of the collection. It is probably worth putting it on file with the insurance company along with digital photos of the boxes just for proof.

The first floor stairs are made of bricks as you can see here (far right): The second floor stairs use this piece:

Those are really nice. I figured it would not be long before we started seeing these. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to put the 2nd floor into LDD then you could order just the bricks to make it multi-story? I'm sure people will start putting in additional floors into LDD and they we will really start to see some customizations...

Hello and welcome to EB! Enjoy your stay and don't be shy.

Unless I misunderstood your qustion, I believe this is already being done. There is an index of reviews pinned at the top of each forum with links to all the sets that have been reviewed. Is this what you are asking for?

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. It is done with 2x2 turntables on the top and bottom of each section of each floor. The adjacent pieces hold the angled front at a 45 degree angle. Pretty slick really. I can take a photo of the manual if you need further explanation. Dark and light bley combined I'd guess is 15-20%. The inventory is up on peeron (that was quick) and they list it as dark and light stone.

I posted my review tonight but I hope you will still review the set. I think it is good to hear the perspective an opinion of multiple reviewers and I look forward to your thoughts on the set. Plus, you need to try out your new camera...

Café Corner Reviewed by Dunamis Set 10182 2056 Pieces $139.95 from LEGO Retail Store (Glendale, CA) Build time 5.0 hours The Box: Interestingly, this is somewhat of a departure from the standard LEGO box we have seen in recent years. Gone are the breakable perforated tabs and the lift-up top. This box had four seals (two at each end) and re-sealable tabs at both ends of the box (think cereal box). Also, it looks like the box art design has been updated. For example, looking at the back of the box, the background has a light blue baseplate look to it. I think this adds more of an �adult� feel to it, perhaps catering to the AFOL crowd. Obviously, this set was not targeted to children given the price and somewhat advanced building techniques found inside. The set does show 16+ for the age on the box. We do see one alternate model on the back of the box, plus the additional versions of the Caf� Corner that you can build with multiple copies of this set. Inside the box, the parts are in only the sealed bags (no perforated bags). The two green baseplates are loose in the box along with the two manuals. One of my manuals was pretty bent from being loose in the box. Also, the bags are numbered (Yes!) The Manual: Two manuals included and they had the typical nice features that we have come to expect lately - Piece call outs for each step - Parts inventory at the end of the manual - Page numbers I did have some major color separation issues in the first part of the build, specifically in trying to distinguish between black and dark bley. Usually, these issues can be reconciled by the fact that you only have one color of the part in the set. In this case, the manual calls for a dark 1x1 round plate and when you go to the parts, there are both dark bley and black. Random manual photos Parts list Inspiration Model Otherwise, this is another fine effort from the LEGO manual designers. The Pieces: All I can say is wow! There is a huge assortment of parts and range of colors in this set. Bricks, plates, tiles, slopes, windows � it�s all there and lots of them. I love the use of the deep blue, brown and dark red colors. Very nice selection. Looking for trans-red 1x1 plates? How about some 1x1 tiles in white? You have come to the right place. Also, AFOLs must be dancing in the streets to see not one but TWO female minifigs! Very nice indeed (see the photo): I suppose some will complain that we need more minifigs in a set of this size (and cost) and I agree it would have been nice to have a couple of more. But adding a 4 or 5 more minifigs from your existing minifig stash is pretty easy or at the very least a bricklink order away� I do have a minor complaint about the windows (this was also mentioned in the BrickJournal article). The manufacturing process that creates the clear window panes leaves a noticeable circle in the middle of the window (see the photo). Also noteworthy is the red bike, frogs and grapes: Finally, there has been some concern with the quality of parts and the consistency of colors recently. I mentioned the clear panes above, but I also found more of the circles on some other bricks as well. This seemed to be more on some colors than others. Notice the circles in the studs on the dark red pieces below: I also did see some of the color difference that some other posters have mentioned. You can see it in the brown bricks in the walls shown in this photo (far left): I�m not sure what to make of this. The circles on the studs do not impact building, but the color consistency issue is noticeable. Hopefully, it is manageable and we won�t see it continue in other sets. LEGO has always been of the highest quality and it would be a shame to start sacrificing quality to increase profits. The Build: Well, it is kind of tedious right out of the gate. You�ve got a zillion of these little 1x1 tiles in multiple colors to put down in a pattern and it just took me a while (kind of like how it takes me an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes.) There is a lot of tile work as you can see from the photo: Also, getting each little tile straight is kind of a chore. Some of mine are a bit crooked which is why (at the request of my wife) I hired someone to retile the floor and counters in my kitchen. After that, the build is really straightforward and flows nicely. I mentioned the color issue in the manual, but otherwise that is it. The first book covers the first floor and the 2nd book is floors two and three. The second book definitely moves a lot faster. One interesting building step on the second floor called for 90 pieces (60 modified bricks and 30 tiles)! Obviously, due to the nature of the model some of the steps are a bit repetitive, but it is still pretty fun. Here are a few photos of interim building stages: The Design: I can�t say enough about the amazing design of this model. As soon as I saw the pictures of this set, I HAD to have it. It is really that good. This is what the AFOL community has been asking for and LEGO delivered. There are some really interesting design techniques used in this set like the angled corner, hotel sign, arch above the front door, etc. For me, these are really inspirational and I really enjoy building sets that use these techniques. As you probably already know, this set is modular in a couple of different ways. - You can add additional floors going up to make a taller building. - You can add buildings on either side to make a city block. Ideally, if this set sells well (which by all early indications it will), The LEGO Company will release additional buildings. No doubt the AFOL MOC community is on overdrive right now cranking out compatible buildings. I can�t wait to see the brickshelf galleries of this in a month or two. Also, I was glad to see the choice of color to come into the design decision. It would have been easy to just have all three floors be the same color scheme. I�m really glad the decision was made to have each floor be a different color scheme and building style that still flowed together and looks nice. That is part of the appeal of the set in my opinion. There has been discussion about the interior (or lack thereof) of the building. Personally, I don�t see this as a huge issue. It won�t take much to slap together a serviceable interior from any spare parts and the more industrious builders out there would want to customize anything LEGO gave us anyway. There is a working staircase that takes you from the door on the outside to the second and third floors. Notice the banisters in the photos above. Again, the detail and thought put in to this set is outstanding. Finally, I noticed that in many cases the design uses more smaller bricks were used instead of fewer larger bricks, i.e. four 1x2 bricks instead of one 1x8 brick. I suspect this is a function of the Creator line as it gives a lot more flexibility in building other models from the same parts inventory. Note that there were no stickers in this set. And here are some additional photos. Interesting building technique in the photo below: Notice the circles on the windows below: Nice exterior shots: And here is what is left over: Overall Thoughts: Wonderful set. A must-buy for any AFOL and will probably be a finalist for set of the year. This set will be permanently displayed in my office. The level of detail is incredible and will capture the attention of people passing by. One thought is that perhaps LEGO could make the parts for the second floor available in a service pack for purchase so that people who want to add floors but don�t want to purchase a second set. LEGO has really stepped it up in the last couple of years across all the lines and this is a great example. It seems that LEGO has also listened to the needs and wants of the community and responded well. As I understand, the financials for The LEGO Company look really good this year and hopefully they recognize this as a function of listening to the AFOL community. Lastly, I hope the manufacturing quality control issues get worked out. There is definitely a decrease in the color consistency especially in brown and a little in light bley. Final Rating: 96% Build 9/10 (Pretty quick for the number of pieces. Laying tile was a little tedious.) Functionality 10/10 (It is a great foundation for more buildings to come. Added bonus is the modularity of the set.) Design 10/10 (Outstanding) Parts 9/10 (Excellent. Would like to have seen more minifigs included�) Price 10/10 (The price ratio is great & amazing color selection. You get what you pay for�) As usual, I welcome your comments, suggestions, complaints, etc. Let me know what you think. If you want other photos, let me know as well and I'll post them.

I should be done with my review tonight. I have noticed a very slight bit of color difference on the yellow pieces but nowhere else. Although I haven't looked closely (I will tonight). I have to finish the third floor and finish the final thoughts on the review (I write while I build) and then it will be done. I will definitely check out the colors more cloesely tonight...

That is a bummer 5150. I had called my store and they said they were getting 24 in. I asked them to hold one for me. When I got there, they said they only received 6 of the 24 and 4 of them had already sold. They said they had a lot of people calling for it and it seemed to be a popular set already...

OK. Here is the info: The box is 22.5" by 18.5" by 4". Pretty big! I will be building this set and doing a full review over the next few days. Here are some things I noticed at first glance: - the box is different in that it is resealable. See photo: The bags are numbered (thank goodness) There are two instruction manuals: There is an alternate model shown and some inspiration ideas, but there are no building instructions: And for those of you wondering about the top of the door, here it is: Let me know if you have any questions. I'm going to start a new topic when I post the review.

As far as I can tell, it is only in the legs. The stormtrooper has a blank flesh head.

Ok, here are the magnets: Magnet Discussion

Ok, as promised here are the photos of the Star Wars Magnets that I picked up today at the LEGO Store in Glendale, California. Now, you must understand that magnets (or keychains) are not my deal so I really don't know if these are good or bad. Supposedly, the lady at the store told me these sell like crazy and I was the first person to buy them (they came straight from the shipping container.) She said people have been calling the store every days for a few weeks now. So, here they are. I left the resolution really high so you can see the detail. Ask your questions and I will try to answer them as best I can: Note: Boba's helmet does not come off. Enjoy!

I will have answers to both questions tonight (in about 6 hours.) I haven't opened the box, it is still in the car and I'm at work. The box was similar in size to the 6211 Star Destroyer box or maybe the Viking Fortress box.

Will do. Look for them in about 6 hours.