AmperZand

Thanks for the link I meant moulded animals, not brick-built ones. I should have been clearer about that. Meesa should have brought more than a sling to fight this Philistine! Meesa goin’ to die!

@1974, The image you posted isn’t appearing. It just says ‘Cookies must be enabled’.

Noah’s Ark for the animals David vs Goliath for the minifigures (bigfig?) and new weapon pieces Jericho for the soldier minifigures, their new helmet pieces, and collapsible city walls Samson and Delilah for the minifigures, the new ‘weapon’ part (the jawbone of a donkey) and the collapsible Temple of Dagon The Witch of Endor for the minifigures As a yellowist, all the figures would be yellow, not fleshy A bit OT: Not Biblical but also unlikely for its religious/religiously named buildings, an Architecture set of Oxford’s skyline with buildings such as Christ Church, St Mary’s and Magdalen College.

I have some builds that have been assembled for almost 30 years and they are fine.

@seejay That is the best creation I’ve seen in a long time! Outstanding job. Thank you for sharing. If I were a pedant (which, of course, I am), I would point out that the laser-cannon that is attached to the escape pod in the original is just a single gun, whereas in your LEGO version it looks like it’s twinned. I have a MIB Star Bird. If you need any reference pictures, please let me know.

A fun topic that has cropped up before such as in this thread. Perhaps a friendly mod could combine them.

A mint in box Galaxy Explorer/Space Cruiser 928/497. I used to have this set and after several happy years it was eventually donated to a family that couldn’t afford LEGO. @Lego David, I did give serious consideration to getting the giant, fantasy Chess set when it was released but it was too expensive even then.

^ I thought it was a vulture too when I first saw it. As I already have two different moulded eagles, I would have preferred a vulture. But it’s not a bad recolour.

@Exetrius, It’s not a vulture. It’s an eagle. Specifically, a bateleur. Credit to @williejm for the identification.

Links: Crocodile Aquarium

I reckon that the B-build of 31120, the one that includes the windmill shown at the top of the back of the box, is not really intended by LEGO as a standalone construction. You can, of course, use it that way but I suspect you would be left with lots of spare parts. Instead, I believe it is intended to extend the back of the A-build and/or allow all three builds (A, B and C) to be combined into one super castle. What I would like to know but can’t figure out from the existing images is if the A- and C-builds can be combined without B. Any thoughts?

I found an image of the back of one of the boxes and there is a shot - or render - from a different angle suggesting that the neck is indeed better than the mammoth’s. It’s still not certain, but seems that way.

I very much hope the neck is shaped better than on the mammoth which was truncated in such a way that it left a large, flat area on the back-of-the-head but rounded withers, and a sizeable gap between them. Looked awful which is why I didn't get it. I had no idea what that meant so looked it up. It means I'm old!

Well identified! I think - but am not sure - that the adult elephants in the two sets are the same mould. The only difference seems to be their tusks. Also, while the head and lower trunk appear to be rotatable, it is unclear whether the neck can bend up/down. I don’t think it can but I could be wrong. With regards to the lion and cub, I prefer the light tan ones (and the adult male with the brown mane) to the white ones. I appreciate that not everyone will agree.

Certainly in terms of medium and large animals. We’ve had years when there were lots of small animals particularly with CMFs, but I can’t recall a year with so many medium/large ones, not since I became an AFOL in ‘93 anyway. The problem will be getting them all without selling a kidney and/or a lung.

Great creation. You can almost feel the action! Reminds me of the film Kingdom of Heaven which covers the same historical event. If I could change one thing with this build, it would be to use yellowies instead of fleshies. I appreciate that not everyone feels that way though.

I had the Ninjago jungle dragon but found it too cutesy and canine, and didn't like the gaping wings. I wanted a creature that was more ferocious looking and more lizard-like. So I modded the giant war lizard pictured below. Apart from eight gold horn pieces (see picture), a light bley 2 x 6 plate and a light bley 1 x 4 plate, all the parts came from the set. In that sense, it's a re-build, not just a mod. Structurally, it's unchanged from the original jungle dragon. Cosmetically though, it's more different than appears at first sight. The minifigures also used parts from outside the set including some third party parts, but the focus here is the giant war lizard. Although I like some Ninjago builds and minifigures, I'm not particularly invested in the franchise and don't consider any of my display collection to be Ninjago, hence this post being in Historic Themes, not Action and Adventure. Questions? Comments? Concern for the crazy shaman who summoned this beast?

Very nice even for someone who is sober, let alone tipsy. The stonework's texturing is particularly well done. Overall, a charming creation

I have inserted numbers in squiggly brackets just to make it easier to answer. 1. That is an impossible question to answer with certainty. Even LEGO's designers don't know absolutely what will/won't be produced in the long term. As a general rule though, parts that have limited use, are only briefly available, only come in expensive sets, are available in infrequently used colours or have theme- or character-specific print are more likely to become rare. Parts that are components of a joint such as a hinge sometimes become rare when LEGO figures out a better way of achieving that articulation. Similarly, parts that are constituents of a sub-system such as railway tracks (part of the rail sub-system) can become rare if/when the sub-system is discontinued. If you look on Bricklink at the time a part has been produced, the number of sets it has appeared in and the commonness of its colour, you can get a pretty good idea if it will still be around in a few years. 2. Bricklink is the main secondary market for LEGO enthusiasts. It is a peer-to-peer online marketplace and in that sense is like Ebay, but in other ways is different from it. Bricklink is owned by LEGO. You can shop for parts there - which is what most people use it for - or for sets. Both parts and sets can be new or used and will be marked as such. Bricklink is not the easiest site to navigate and find what you are looking for, but because it catalogues almost all parts by set, year, theme, function and colour, you can get parts there you could never find on Ebay. Also, the sellers on Bricklink are AFOLs themselves so tend to be far more honest than on Ebay. I have had hundreds of good experiences buying on Bricklink but only a handful of bad - and none that were outright swindles. The same cannot be said of Ebay. If you find a seller with good feedback on Bricklink (300+ positives), you can be pretty sure of good service. Unlike Ebay, each seller sets their own terms, so there may be packing fees, Paypal fees, different payment methods and postage speeds/costs - all of which you need to check on the seller's Bricklink store before placing an order. Being based in NL, you will have access to sellers across the EU with limited fuss. If you are after a part that isn't available in the EU or not available for a reasonable price, try sellers in Hong Kong. I have found them to be very accommodating with surprisingly reasonable postage to Europe. 3. A few examples of rare parts that I have that are up to10 times more expensive now than when I got them include the red wizard's hat in this picture. It was only ever a test piece and never appeared in a set. Mine is in mint condition. I have a dark bley elephant, also in mint condition. The one pictured is from Bricklink. Mine is the same one. Its price on Bricklink might come down as official images have just been released of a System elephant coming in summer 2021. The original Fluffy that I use as Cerberus. Mine is mint. Picture from Bricklink. The legendary System goat. I got the only set they came in when it came out and have kept the two goats in perfect condition since then. Picture from Bricklink.

I already have a System elephant and a lioness, so for me, the priority will be the 4+ set with the lion and lion cub. The printed snake in that set is an added bonus. I would like to get the new monkey but doubt I'll need to get a set to obtain one. My guess is they will be available in due course through BAM, Bricks & Pieces and/or Bricklink.

I don’t know if this has already been mentioned (apologies if it has) or if it affects others, but be really careful when opening these packs especially if you think you have Speedy Gonzales. I received one in a sealed pack that I ordered online. As usual with CMFs, I gave it a good shake before opening it to ensure everything had settled at the bottom of the packet and therefore wouldn’t be damaged when I cut the top. Well, Speedy’s tail was wedged into the top middle, maybe even trapped in the top seam of the packet... and I cut right through it. Aaargh! Fortunately, I had seen this series at a nearby Sainsbury’s earlier today, rushed back over there and managed to feel out a replacement. The tail was once again wedged into the top middle, but this time I was ultra cautious and managed to extricate it without damaging it. Yay! So if you think you have Speedy - and you should be able to tell tactilely thanks to the sombrero and cheese slopes - take extra care when opening the packet.

Lots of useful minifigure parts/accessories for fantasy/fantasy-horror enthusiasts in the Summer ‘21 wave of Vidiyo: Images on Brickset. The Metal Dragon, Folk Fairy, Bandmate Vampiress and Bandmate Mermaid are especially cool. The latter has a Japanese vibe complete with a print of a shuriken pendant! The squid-head piece has also caught my eye.

Which is exactly what I did! So I have a blue CS minifigure without Benny’s simulated damage. It’s a bit of a Ship of Theseus problem whether it’s still Benny, but as I’m not a huge TLM fan, I’m not too worried about that.

Unfortunate about your AC's hose being broken and therefore not long enough. Can you not repair it with duct or gaffer tape? A couple of weeks of 30C per year isn't too bad. I doubt it will make a measurable difference to the condition/life of your LEGO. I think you may be confusing North American culture with English culture. In England, where I live, the street level floor is also called the ground floor. That's true in the rest of the UK, Ireland and South Africa too. It's supposed to be that way in Australia and NZ as well, but not always. In the US and Canada (and possibly elsewhere in the English-speaking world), the street level floor is called the first floor. How many floors are beneath yours is not that important (unless you live high up in a skyscraper but you don't and that's a different matter anyway). What's important is how many floors are above. Specifically, whether you are on the top floor. Top floors are hotter in summer. The difference can be up to 10C. One strategy for preserving your LEGO is to try and figure out which parts are likely to become rare in future and to buy back-ups of them through Bricklink or Bricks and Pieces while the parts are current and therefore not too expensive. Then, if in years to come your LEGO discolours or cracks, you can replace common parts inexpensively and the rare parts from your spares. Some of my extra parts were pretty reasonable when I got them and are now shockingly dear.

To answer the OP, no, I don’t buy ‘old’ sets. I have been an AFOL since the early ‘90s when LEGO started doing fantasy in System, so for the most part have been able to get the sets that have interested me since then as they came out. The closest I have come to getting an old set is when I re-created 6927 All-Terrain Vehicle in 2014. It’s a set from 1981 for which I didn’t already have all the parts, so had to source some on the secondary market.