Legogal

This is a work of art! The design is very uplifting. What a beauty...congratulations!

Otw: "Not sure what TLG was thinking when they limited it so much," from my post just above yours. I try to point out the positive and negative issues surrounding a set, so many of my posts contain critical as well as laudatory comments about TLG. There is no need to blindly worship TLG here because your credibility quickly will be shot if all you do is praise the company. The reason I bought the set was because of the unusual (weird) design of the building and how it stands out in Singapore. And the fact that there are not enough Asian structures in the Architecture line. I don't feel that your question (above) is disrespectful; many comments address both sides of the issues. Enough has been said about TLG's error is producing such a small run of this set.

WF, Thanks for another great review! There seem to be two views of this building: 1. This is an outstanding building in real life. OR 2. This building is a major eyesore. In any event, it is worthy of an Architecture set because of Mr. Safdie, the architect, and how prominent the building is in downtown Singapore. It looks like an apparition the first time you see it in the distance. Those of us who are into the Architecture line won't be able to collect this set unless we BL it from Asia, with two sellers available in Hong Kong and Korea at the moment. I finally bought it yesterday because I like the design of the set, and want it for my collection. No, I am not a completist, but I have a lot of respect for the architect, and the design is quite innovative. It would be nice if it had been marketed as a regular Architecture set so that distribution would be widespread and the average collector would not have to pay at least twice the original price. Not sure what TLG was thinking when they limited it so much. Again thanks for the review and for making the set period. Architecture is a fascinating art and well worth the fine effort TLG has made to showcase so many outstanding structures.

This sounds like the best purchase period! Almost got killed trying to walk through my LEGO room. Time to sort it and put away those boxes and containers dangerously perched in perilous positions. Fortunately we had to clean up our house before Christmas dinner, and this required putting sets away in the LEGO room, which now looks like a disaster site. We definitely need to have company more often forcing us to clean up the place. Looking into twelve step programs for LEGO hoarders in the New Year. Any recommendations?

Wow! That looks fantastic, and what a cute face! Way to go, Dd!

Wonderful story! And perfect timing for Christmas Eve! Thanks!

Great review and nice model! Definitely not as warm as the previous one, but the extra space is nice. They should give the ladies a different color torso if it is going to be the same style. Otherwise they look like twins. This is a great canoe…we seem to have quite a few of these from the Islanders sets in the 90's. Thanks for taking the time to show us what is in the box!

I agree with Piranha…if you don't collect all of them and only buy the ones that you like the most, it seems less likely that you will have CMS burnout. It is getting harder to buy the ones you like if they are the 2 per box of 60 figs. Wish they would make equal numbers of all instead of playing games with the ratios.

Fingers crossed that the Netherlands gets its own store soon, too! Don't really understand this unless you have a lot of toy shops selling LEGO, and they don't want to upset the apple barrel. Hmmmm...

Very cool and so far from Paris! Hope they open more for the French…outside of the Paris area. There are so many LEGO collectors in France that they deserve a lot of LEGO stores!

Cloud Cuckoo looks wonderful! Love the bright colors!

Fantastic building! Looks like the Paris we all know. Good luck BrickLinking this one. Looks like a lifetime of work, but well worth it.

Andy D, It is great you live close enough to a Legoland Park to go several times a year. LL FL is at least a 12 hour drive for us; we are planning to fly there next month on business, but it is a drive from Orlando to the Park. Too bad it is not closer to Orlando, too, as we visit the east side of FL on business, and traffic through Orlando can be a killer much of the time. All, It is great to have an Oldies group. Modulars and Architecture seem to interest most of us, which is great. Due to our longevity and more extensive travel, we tend to have more of an appreciation of which buildings are more worthy of recognition as an Arch set. And face it, we have just seen more of life and what people do and don't do. Being in my sixties does not bother me because I can usually think my way through most situations and have a better understanding of where others are coming from. My mind and experience are my best assets besides my family and decent health. And I recognize that time is finite for each individual. That means we better do what we want with whom we choose before the clock runs out. It also means that we tend to focus more on the survival of future generations including those who have not yet arrived on Planet Earth. What kind of legacy do we want to leave them? What kind of values do we want to model for them? Spending time with our parents, children, grandchildren and good friends allows us to show what we think is important. Building LEGO with and for others sets an important example of how we value creative play. And things that don't require electronic devices. When we can build with others, it is a bonding experience that makes it even more fun than building alone. And the act of talking and listening to others is what makes us more human. SO please play on and enjoy life especially over the holidays. Cheers!

Mikey, Nope! Cockroaches and spammers can survive even Vikings AND nuclear attacks. They will be here long after we are gone! Because nuclear will totally wipe out the humans. I grew up in the desert where cockroaches outnumbered people about a zillion to one. If you turned on the light in the middle of the night, the floor literally moved. Ugh! Maybe all our Friends can serve them some sort of magic potion while entertaining them on their new Dolphin Cruiser. So who is Next?! (to post "solutions to the cockroach/spammer problem?")

Tom: Glad you finally made it to a PAB wall. Thanks for the informative write up. Congrats on your exams! PAB walls can be fun if they offer anything you need at the time. Our Raleigh store one finally put up some olive cheese slopes, and I filled a large 14.95USD cup with about 2500 of them yesterday. Using a $5. credit, my price was $10. plus 65 cents state sales tax. Ended up putting one half cup (120 ml/ four ounces) in a snack baggie after counting them. About 250 in each half cup. Then put them on our "you get investigated by the US gov when you buy a scale this accurate" scale, and measured the weight of each baggie…... full of bricks that is. (Would have no idea of what to do with a baggie filled with that other white substance!) Now awaiting the other pastel colors of cheese slopes at PAB. Could be a long, long wait. But it is fun checking the wall often and watching all those little kids messing up the bins and floor. I drop a lot, too, and fit right in with the stroller crowd. At least I don't try to eat them!

@Vee, Tan house #4954 was the one I was referring to. The inside is empty and a total disappointment. I don't buy anything with a red roof if I can avoid it because all LEGO seemed to offer for about 30 years was red roofs, and I detest that color of roof! So I only collect houses with non-red roofs, but would consider changing the color of a roof to something besides red if the rest of the house is exceptional. Is that quirky enough/!!! Not being a completist, I only purchase the sets that really strike me as outstanding. In any line. If I were BrickLinking one of the modulars, it would be easy for me to accept different parts for those that are too expensive. Especially if there is a better brick available. (But it is easy for me to say this because I have multiples of the ones I like, and can expand them any time using original parts.) It is cool seeing modulars built in colors different from the original ones. And with changes in the exterior and interior. And we all have favorite colors of bricks that could look better than what LEGO used.

Trash, Hahaha! Love you recent post! We are covering all kinds of new ground here, aren't we! The book about that house is available in the US. Too bad the sale to Windsor LL fell through. So the question is...da da da da.... How many of us Oldies aged 60 and over would buy a lifetime pass to all the Legoland Parks if it were priced at 500 USD? Reasonable question, eh? Myxo, ditto here about not owning LEGO before age forty. And it was 15 years later that the sets purchased were for me rather than the kids. This is common in the US because LEGO distribution was so limited until the Eighties it seems...when WalMart got into them big time.

Hahaha! Agree with you totally! Yes, the current price to the tan house 4956 is outrageous considering what you get…no interior, etc. My daughter in law saw it in a store in her university town in China and picked it up for me not knowing I was trying to find it in the US at a reasonable price…this was about five years ago. She joined us in Korea where we were visiting our other son in the USAF, and gave it to me as a gift. I almost fainted because she had no idea it was the set I really wanted the most at the time. Talk about luck! BL is the only way to do this house, and I would not worry about subbing the door color with those prices. Good luck with your suburb building…sounds like fun!

Hahaha! Guess that having paid full price to visit three Parks this year is getting to me! Did not mean to ruin your day! Cheers!

Andy, I do the same thing when in Lego aisles/stores/Parks. Seems that TLG should put us on the payroll we help sell so much of their products! It is fun sharing LEGO knowledge with those in the dark, which seem to be most of the folks we see shopping for LEGO. Wished I had a child working in a LEGO store, but both are employed elsewhere. Drats! One way to gently push kids into LEGO is to unplug the TV and computers, etc., and pull out the LEGO. This worked around our kids when they were under twelve. It does frighten me that all of these toddlers are now addicted to iPad and iPhone games. Will they have any social skills or enjoy making anything real? Sounds like parents now need to limit hours with these gadgets, which can be educational in small doses but addictive if allowed more than an hour or two a day. Maybe our future role as grandparents is to show the way by doing this. Grandparents are a huge target market for many products and services these days. So maybe TLG needs to begin actively marketing to them just like other groups. How about Lifetime Parks passes for $500. for those over 60? That way we can afford to take grandkids to Parks. The Lifetime Passes are incredibly expensive for Seniors if you look at actuarial tables and see how few years many of us will live. Why should we pay the same amount as a 25 year old for a Lifetime Pass? Especially those of us who live ten hours or more from a Park. Maybe TLG could offer a Grandparents' Club…with special packages for Juniors and Juniorettes at Parks and in stores. Many travel companies are going after this market quite successfully. Anyway enjoy shopping and building for others this holiday season as many of us Oldies spend a lot of time doing things for others. Cheerio!

Love the photos of your new town! An excellent set up in a great LEGO room. Congratulations!

Found an open box this morning in a TRU in Greenville, NC, but was late for lunch, so I just grabbed the box and headed for the register. Turns out there were 56 in the box….I had guessed about 30. Because I was a hundred miles from home and did not have time to feel anything, it was a good move. They were priced at $2.99 each. Just arrived home and unpacked the little buggers….they really are cute this time. Each one has something attractive or endearing. It looks like there were in my box of 56: -six of the Mr. Business, Emmet, and Panda Guy -four of Abe Lincoln, Wiley, Taco Tuesday, Pantless Guy, Larry Barista, and Cop -three of WW Wyldstyle -two of Calamity Drone, Cat Lady, Gail Construction Gal, Velma Stylebot, and Marsha Mermaid and -one of William Shakespeare. The only ones I guess were missing were Shakespeare and WWWildstyle because they were in odd numbers. Not sure who the other two missing ones are. Hard to pick favorites at this point, but Panda Guy and Wyldstyle have a slight lead in my book.

Nicely done! Cool throne and use of figures. Every WV needs one of these!

Sandy, This is the first time I have seen your list of female figs. Thanks for putting it together! This has to be a difficult process because there are so many slight variations of figs. I collect female figs and adore the fine design details of so many of these ladies. McGonagall, Trelawney, Offee, Secura, Elsa Schneider, Willie Scott, and a few others instantly come to my mind as favorites. Paradisa's pink lady with a white lace collar is at the top of my list of early female figs with its delicate design. It is wonderful seeing folks interested in these figs!

Hahahahaha! Falling off my chair laughing! What a lovely entry! And sure to make lots of money for that lucky charity! Wow!