Legogal

Wow! God bless them because a little color is nice for sure! A few colorful bushes and some flower boxes could help, too, with little expense. Maybe my words were too harsh. It is interesting how well the Eiffel Tower is loved now compared to when it was built. Looks like the Usonian exhibit house will have to be built on my own schedule due to some unexpected business travel and a close friend being near death after a long struggle. Also the long winter killed half of the plants in our yard, and we have to replace them by May first due to summer heat. Argh! The base for the house has been a real pain. It is three layers of plates 30 by 64 studs including the black tile trim. How do you get the buggers to lie flat? Without a flat base, the house will be crooked, too. The top two layers of plates are new and range from 16 by 16 down to 4 by 4. Any suggestions as to how to build a flat base? The walls are going just fine, but I am afraid to attach them. My other builds have all been on single large base plates without this problem.

Duq, I vote for the Schroder house, too. Cheers!

So glad that the Aussies finally get to see The Lego Movie! It is about time! My neighbor loaned us a DVD, and we are watching "Borgen" the first year. The title refers to the castle, which is the nickname for the Danish government headquarters. OMG! It rocks! It is the Danish version of the West Wing, which we loved. The acting is so outstanding, and the subtitles are not annoying. It is very easy to understand for the most part. It is about how the Danish Prime Minister is chosen and how their Parliament operates. Very well written. And the score by Halan E (on iTunes) is also first class. (Note: If you have the DVD option on Flix in the US, you can order the discs.)

The angles make this house shine. While it appears quite secure, it is not designed like a blocky castle. The arches, curves, windows and vaulted roof (typical of old Capri) add intrigue. And it looks like a composite of three millennia of building. It is exciting to think where all the pieces of this build came from in real life. Using the a Roman ruins in the Dentilles of France as an example, most of the original structures were dismantled with blocks being used to make anything you can imagine. Likewise this is what happened to most of the a Great Wall of China. The blocks and bricks are found in nearby houses built much later. We tend to forget that ancient architecture developed stunningly gorgeous buildings using very basic materials. And very little of this is seen in structures after the 1709's. The Alhambra is a good place to get the feel for Moorish designs making the best of the physical environment. Congrats on a fine build. Tan on tan is perfect, and the olive green vine represents the life it supports.

Wow! What an awesome ship! The scale is perfect with sails that take away your breath! Can you imagine leaning over the yards and dragging up these gorgeous sails as the masts tilt far over in strong winds? Yikes! It beats a roller coaster any old day because you really are hanging on for life for real. Thirty days of crewing a tall ship (the Stella Maris) in the Caribbean made me appreciate the view from up high. The sails and rigging are just some of the highlights; the marine oak deck, windows and flags are perfect. Congrats on an outstanding creation!

Rolli, Great! Way to go, ISC! Don't worry...I won't tell your mum what she already knows!

Rolli, You certainly have expensive tastes! Bilbo Baggins Blue Coat sells for 40US on BL and over 45US on ebay US. Do you really want to spend that much for this guy? Let me know one way or the other. There was one listed for 63US and make an offer on our eBay, but the seller has already turned down 6 offers, so that looks pretty hopeless. Cheers!

Rodriquez' soundtrack for Searching for Sugar Man. A brilliant film and score. He sounds like Jim Croce but has the delivery and lyrics of Bob Dylan. An amazing life story of a rock star no one has heard of outside of South Africa.

Yup, that is correct. And the specific one I saw was temporarily assembled in front of the Smithsonian in 1988 to show whar they looked like. It was part of an exhibit that went to several cities, and really was a cool model. Have some poor photos that don't show much and may have to find another build of it if a clearer photo is not available. There were several built, but decent photos and plans are rare. The landscaping often obscures the building itself. Anyway the more important topc here is a HUGE CONGRATS on taking the plunge, man! Hope your wife is into LEGO! Will she get to stop by Billund while we are there? I hope we don't frighten her off with our group addiction!

Okay, I'll try to build the Usonian House by Frank Lloyd Wright. If I can just find a decent photo.

Wow, good luck with all that dental work. Glad you are having it done now to save the rest of your teeth! I picked up a Friends' Jewelry Box 40114 yesterday at TLS in Raleigh. It is full of delightful bright parts and looks wonderful built. Also brought home my first Friends' penguin 41043 both with points. Really nice builds and a free Stepanie's Bakery cart thrown in with the lot.

Perfect for a laundromat, and every city needs them. The balcony looks lovely. The "watering can" made me laugh. All of the little details make this MOC sing out loud and clear. And of course the creative sign catches the eye. CONGRATULATIONS!

Amtrak tries to go a little faster than I can drive, but they usually end up smashing into a car or truck at every other intersection it seems. Hubby once spent 18 hours parked in a FL orange grove without power or AC after his train hit something. I don't think that Acela is very high speed. Seriously the condition of the tracks in this country really stinks. "High speed train" means over 30 MPH in most cases. It is quite sad because many of us would like to ride Amtrak, but they are not reliable for the most part.

Qman, Sorry. You are late to the game. All five Goblin sets already taken....whoosh. Not sure about BrickWorld this June...Billund may leave my bank account gasping for air. And these large sets are a pain in the big behind to check in ones limited baggage. Will keep my eyes open for you just in case someone from here does head to Chicago in June.

Wow! Some very cool trains for sure! The TGV is my favorite of the two. High speed trains are incredibly invigorating and promising as well as entertaining. Your TGV's remind me of riding that train in the utterly gorgeous French countryside full of blooming lavender during May and the instant blur of another TGV passing in the opposite direction. It is a startling feeling when you realize that the combined passing speed could be 500 mph. Before riding that train, the fastest I had travelled on land was 120 on the rear of a boyfriend's BMW cycle, when I was quite young and extremely dumb. Even the little Cessna 150's I used to fly became airborne at 55 mph or so. The speed at which the TGV passes entire villages just blows me away. Folks in the US have to travel to Japan or Europe to ride such fast trains. (I would not ride the ones in China except from the airport into Shanghai, which seemed safe over a short distance.) The quality of our train tracks will never meet the requirement of such high speed trains. If you want to view some other inspiring train designs, go to the kato.com website or visit their store/museum in Tokyo. We spent a Sunday morning there in 2009 and left with eight N scale trains in large bags we carried home on the plane. The first high speed one I rode was the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto as a college student in 1973. They still amaze me.

I don't have enough room in my LEGO Room for the sets and other bricks, much less for the boxes. So out they go into recycling except for a couple of very rare set boxes (MBS, etc.) A large stack of them makes a fire hazard, and cockroaches love boxes. If a friend (who has a BL store) is in town, I will give him what I have now and then. There are many collectors out there who will buy sets without the boxes, so I would not worry too much about not being able to sell sets without boxes in the future. The price may be a bit lower without the box, but storing all those boxes is not a great idea if you have hardwood floors made of maple, which burns quite easily. All of the instructions booklets (including multiples for many sets) are stored safely in a container because that is how I identified many of the older sets my son had in the nineties. It is very hard to identify broken down sets from twenty years ago that did not have instructions. But as they say, to each his own.

My eyes are even more crossed than normal after reading all of these trading posts...am getting dizzy now, too! My one checked bag will be filled with stuff from various Legoland parks. Peppy gets first dibs (she was a wonderful roomie at BrickWorld two years ago,) then y'all can fight over the others, okay? Hint: Sizes vary a lot, so you will have to try them on for fit. (Thanks to lovely Ryanair from Stansted to Billund, my LEGO will be staying at home. I have heard that they charge for the air you breathe on the plane.) This means I cannot bring the four huge 79010 Goblin sets found today in the middle of nowhere (Franklin, VA) for just $30. each. This is how we built a collection for my son during the 90's by stopping at every blasted WM for months after the Christmas holidays looking for 70 per cent markdowns, etc. If I got paid for all the time spent looking for LEGO bargains, retirement would be my current occupation. It is entertaining to say the least seeing what is at the top of everyones want list. Carry on....

Wow! You must have very steady hands! This is outstanding work...love the Coliseum!

(Hint, hint: Maybe no one else should bother to enter because this guy has blasted the ball out of the park! I am just blown away.)

Hahaha! Now if we can just shrink down to fit those car and race the four year olds! I really want to drive through the car wash and get wet. Tired of watching little tikes have all the fun at Legoland. Sounds like discrimination to me....can someone figure out just how we can do this? Maybe hook two cars together to hold each leg so we can fit in? Hummmm!

Stumbled upon 30300 Batman Tumbler car (57 pieces) at Target (in Apex, NC) while waiting in the check out line. A very cool polybag for 3.99. I picked up a few at two registers...not sure how many they have. I quick looking at registers because they have had the same Chima and SW poly's for two years or more. (BTW there is no mini fig in this poly. Guess it uses Googles driverless car software. )

Wow! Yup, it is recognizable as a Bowie! I dig the lips....wow, wow and wow. Are you trying to give Michelangelo a run for the money? As a Bowie fan, too, this is outstanding. You captured the anemic druggie look so wel!

And it seems that the person handling their reservations is out again until mid-April. So don't expect a quick response to your email as it may a long while before you get a reply. We are in our fourth month of a very long "conversation" with that office. My, oh my! Patience, my man.

Cigar and smoke....impressive! Nice head! Scary guy!

1974, Very nice parts! Thanks for showing some of them to us. It is fun to own a few rare parts; each to his own. Cheers!