brickzone

I would compromise for "planning to replace them all properly eventually". So for the time being display with missing figs and then just replace as you can. If taking this route, I'd just keep looking on ebay indefinitely if you can afford to check regularly. Use a generic search like Lego technic, with minuses for any terms that would cut out unwanted listings like mindstorms, bionicle, etc. and this way you may find poorly described listings. Even without that effort, it could be worthwhile to just have one of those automatic ebay things where it emails you if there are new listings for a search (like "Lego technic figure") - I found this useful for getting hold of a reasonably priced Winter Toy Shop for example. I like to collect regular Lego sets (albeit some of them used as parts - I still like to know that in theory I have all the parts) that I buy cheap secondhand off ebay and I frequently don't replace missing parts immediately, but just keep a mental note (or a list) of parts to look out for in adding to bricklink orders or in bulk or miscellaneous lots on ebay. It feels great when you do manage to get the missing parts cheaply as part of something you were going to buy anyway. Although I'm not entirely adhering to this as I did replace parts from an 8285 Tow Truck (Technic) that I got secondhand, including the quite pricy (for small parts) metallic silver tube connectors. I just liked the set so much I had to complete it fully.

Just a question - my brother recently got a Luke Skywalker Dagobah torso (bricklink ref) in a mixed lot of minifigs. The odd thing is, it has the same printing (showing sweat lines on the chest) on the back as well as the front. Does this torso normally have printing on both sides? And if so, is it supposed to have the same print on the back as the front?

It's great to see interest in this still, and thanks for all the further praise! I do indeed still have it built, though it is a bit dust-covered and I stole one or two pieces. Steel Dragon: The elevator does indeed move up and down (by hand) and you can open and close the elevator doors (again, manually). No, I haven't "played" with this enough - although partly a lack of display space to easily access it to muck around with it from time to time (I would tend towards creating a snapshot of a story idea in my head by posing all the figures, vehicles, etc. rather than acting it out or such). I'd forgotten about the plan for a trailer for the Agents speedboat. I think I might have a go at that next. I should really do up a list of my planned projects as I keep forgetting about them. With the Christmas tree down, I should have some display space, so perhaps Agents should get it for a month or so (I was thinking perhaps a pirates display, but maybe I'll leave that till I get the Imperial Flagship - if I have money this year!) I should really have a go at an expanded Volcano base too. My Opera House experienced disaster as it got knocked off a shelf and I had kind of got builders block halfway through anyway (and it was possibly at the same time too large to feasibly build and too small for the idea), so my MOC time is free for new projects again.

I loved classic town growing up, and all the four wide vehicles and so on. Unfortunately, I can never go back - I love the new style vehicles, six wide with less angular special vehicle parts. So while I can still appreciate classic town as being "cute" or having some nostalgia for it, for me, it isn't enough to want to actually own the old sets. I'd love to own the monorail, but to be honest, the old style of it (including only four-wide monorail train itself) would I think perhaps be a bit of a let-down. Ideally I'd like to get it cheap, perhaps not even complete or great condition, just for parts to MOC my own monorail (I'd make sure to get any missing parts so that at least in theory I would have the complete set). I can hear the howls of horror already from classic town fans! Sorry! Actually the limited colour palette of old Lego doesn't appeal to me so much either despite it being what I grew up with. Nevertheless, I would love to have pretty much every classic pirates set and classic castle set (and a good deal of late 80s onwards Space too). Indeed I do have quite a bit of those old sets (at least in second-hand form - i.e. owning all the parts and for the most part, original instructions). I guess I could suggest that I'm not so keen on Skull Eye Schooner - I don't like its colours or style as much as BSB, but it's not really a valid choice of set I don't like, as I would still love to own one (but not necessarily pay for it :) In terms of recent famous sets, I don't know if that many count as universally loved (though that goes for classic Lego too of course). I could add my voice to the Fire Brigade dissenters (yes the simpler style doesn't appeal to me as much, whether or not it is "American") but I think there are enough of those to make that set ineligible for the "universally loved" definition even bending the rules. Besides, again, if money was not an issue, I'd gladly add this set to my modular buildings collection!

Killerrabbit: Like I said, for this one, Ireland is for once getting ordinary pricing - €150. Recent exclusives (Fire Brigade, Tantive IV) were €175 for Ireland, where price was €150 for Germany, and from what I can tell, all at an eye-popping €200 for Finland. I emailed Lego several times about the price discrepencies and never had a satisfactory explanation other than basically they price what they think is appropriate for each market. Although the mail order prices are the same across the US, I think they do have the issue of stores charging different amounts in different states (i.e. not just due to taxes) but perhaps I'm wrong and there is some federal regulation of it to stop price disparities between regions? Anyway, the price differences are entirely Lego's choice, and cannot be accounted for by tax or operating costs. I'd like to see an end to this kind of thing by any companies selling mail order in the Eurozone.

Oops! Sorry I didn't notice! Obviously I need to relax a bit!

Sandy, in fairness I think people have only been discussing it and giving their opinion, not arguing. Certainly I was intending a contribution to the topic rather than making any kind of point (as you say, none of us really know until we see the sets for real). And though the issue is obviously of some interest to some of us, I don't think anyone is freaking about it or anything enough to have a full-blown topic - as you say there's no point in seriously debating it as we don't in fact know. So it was really just some remarks in response to the new images! Give us some slack :)

lisgr: Even easier alternative is simply to use an anagram of shop - p o s h. Somewhat generic still, but better than shop!

Nice large pictures. Something I only realised from looking at them is that each of the upper windows is composed of four panes! So we don't even get to see really on the box art one of the major features of the building! The view side-on must look quite different and impressive. I think it means 38 each of the small and taller windows to make that many!

I don't envy the mods their job. Immature posting is of course something that isn't useful, but on the other hand, some of the posters making such posts, *even* those who are genuinely *A*FOLs, are probably the younger up-and-coming Lego fans whom people do not want to discourage. I'm a member of various forums in unrelated areas and I think Eurobricks has some of the better moderation amongst the ones I participate in. And I do think that despite ordinary posters filling any forum and as such being the main influence, the quality of moderation is essential for any forum to survive. I am not a member of the all-too-prevalent Internet cult who think that people magically will behave properly if left to their own devices! For all that people talk about "online" and "in real life", the Internet is not some alternate reality but is in fact part of real life, and the same rules are needed (in this case, the requirement to have organisation and authority, as anarchy is unworkable). So in summary, my worst fear would be new mods slowly taking over who buy too much into the idea of "laissez-faire" moderation.

I sincerely hope you're right. A new "butterscotch" colour would not be anything like as good as having more of that lovely dark orange colour (I *almost* have a usable amount from Adventurers and a few additions to bricklink orders, but combined with the PoP stuff it would just be a really useful amount!) EDIT: I just took one of the photos and increased the saturation till the Lego logo and packaging looked more realistic - the butterscotch does indeed turn into something looking closer to dark orange. Please excuse the earlier short-lived panic :)

Killerrabbit: It's specifically the Finnish price that is off the wall in terms of acceptable pricing. The price for most European countries is a more reasonable €150. I know how it feels as Ireland often has similar pricing to Finland on Lego Shop @ Home. Fortunately our local toy retailers here usually have more like the German S@H price or even cheaper, but this doesn't solve the issue for exclusives. Maybe we need some regulation that multinationals can't price differently in different European Union member states, but this would be very restrictive and hard to implement. It might be possible for mail-order however (obviously you'd still have different delivery charges - probably even more skewed than at present). Even within countries the same problem occurs at present. E.g. here in Ireland, many national chains absolutely fleece people in Dublin as the higher cost of living there allows them to "hide" higher prices. Even something like convenience stores, they often have higher prices for the same products depending on the outlet being in even a regional city, or just a local village. Here in Ireland we also still have British chain stores that not only price way higher in Euros than Pounds (e.g. £1 = €1.50 rather than €1.10) but have the audacity to show just how much they are ripping us off as well (they leave the £ price on the price tags). We also have problems with Irish chains having to source European products from British distributors - so the manufacturers price "specially" in pounds for the UK, and then the UK distributors give us "Irish prices" in Euros, and if we are unlucky, there is a national distributor as well who takes a cut. So Lego is but a small part of the huge irritation of pricing here in Ireland. I notice Lego beancounters haven't decided on a reduction of prices for here in Ireland (for example, matching German prices) despite the recession, pay cuts all round, rising unemployment, and the retail price index falling (i.e. prices in shops are going down, and even prices for some services/utilities).

It looks really nice - can't wait to see better photos. Still, I'd like to own a copy of Svelte's creation :)

Although leaking batteries is something we would all like to avoid, in my experience it hasn't usually caused much damage - just a mess. Battery contacts even OK after a clean. So given that it seems less likely with button cells, I think I'd be inclined not to worry. I won't however be leaving AA batteries in my RC battery box in the modified Holiday Train I'll shortly be putting away.

I prefer my MOCs - but Lego's sets of recent years in particular, I often like to keep as they are (or modified) to combine with MOC elements. Some sets I consider more just parts, e.g. the entire Fantasy Castle theme, almost all of which I have and have disassembled for parts, much as I liked having them displayed for a while. The only thing to survive was the siege engine from the Tower Siege set. I might rebuild the Skeleton Tower to modify as an entrance into some evil castle - it is pretty cool looking in my opinion. By contrast, I have kept pretty much every City vehicle as is - although I can do nice vehicle MOCs (and yes, perhaps more realistic than Lego's own) I really love the style of recent Lego City vehicles and I find pretty much all of them "cute". There are some exceptions - I have no need for Heavy Hauler, the Fire Boat or the cargo ship from Harbour set (the hull I intend to use for a small cruise boat). I think that I'll stick with modifying the modular buildings. I like them too much to disassemble them and use them as parts. I have enough parts to do my own without disassembling the official ones, and I have no qualms about stealing the odd part if necessary. Some sets I have kept intact as I'd not like to have them mixed up in my collection - e.g. a pristine set of the Prisoner of Azkhaban Hogwarts (I just love the cute design of it). Also the Adventurer's Dragon Fortress. I will probably use these in a custom scene at some stage (obviously Harry Potter specific for the former) and/or modify them too (taking care to keep the original parts inventory together again when disassembling). I have indeed disassembled and used for parts pretty much all my other Harry Potter and Adventurers sets, though I liked them enough to get as sets rather than spend the money on just random Lego. I will probably resurrect some to do modified scenes based on the original set. I was pretty enamoured with Agents, partly I guess because I would have loved it as a kid, but also the humour and over-the-top style appeals to me. I've kept all the smaller vehicles intact to use along with any larger custom MOCs, although I did make a smaller Agents helicopter MOC and modify the turbocar to incorporate a pullback motor. Also I have Volcano Base parts all kept together for now as it is on the agenda to modify and expand it (although I have a lot more in the pipeline to get through before I get back to that). I've kept my 90s Space Lego intact partly out of nostalgia and collectorism - but I intend to haul some out to use in Space MOCs (e.g. space bases) or to modify. Finally there is Indy - I have used some of the sets for parts, but again I intend to modify or use the vehicles - particularly the Jungle Cutter. Also the two large sets (Temple Corridor Escape and Temple of Crystal Skull) I intend to "kit bash" into some insane huge tomb/temple MOC with a lot of custom expansion and joining of the components. So all in all, my purchase and use of official sets is partly out of appreciation of the design of Lego sets, partly out of being a collector, partly nostalgia, partly time-saving (expands the MOCs with little work), partly to bring out the best in the sets and MOCs and partly for parts, modifying and "just because".

Well, it may be an unsatisfactory approach, but rather than try to arrange the exact mechanism used in real life, how about instead just arranging a technic mechanism to acheive the same result - i.e. simple drop out of the wheel? So for example, could you use a shorter axle that only reaches halfway into the bushing either side of the wheel hub, and use two short axles (2L red for example, or some connector with short axle sticking out) as "pegs" that you just pull either side of the wheel to release it? Presumably there are other approaches to the concept of just two little stubs you pull either side of the wheel fork to release the wheel? Maybe not as satisfying as duplicating the real life mechanism, but it might be a challenge to acheive an alternate approach to wheel drop-out in a slick non-kludgelike manner?

It involved using the 1x1 plate modified with clip light (the sticking out bit with studs either side). The fence width allows it to be sandwiched between one side of that piece, and an arch. An arch on the other side hides the construction (so wall is three wide at the top). I can't really take photos (too much disassembly of the model required) but here's an LDD shot that hopefully shows the arrangement. The actual fences aren't included as LDD doesn't allow studs to join the sides of fences. The fence attaches to the two pieces either side of the arch at the top. The upside down fence is simply attached to the bottom fence by using some judiciously placed 1x2 trans plates across the two fences instead of 1x1s.

Ralph_S: I understand the point you are making (but I don't think it needs to be made in such a manner, or even made at all in such a thread), but I don't think you quite appreciate why people would include ordinary Lego sets in a custom scene. My Winter Village for example although with some MOCs I am quite proud of (Norman Church and the Village Station) is entirely complemented by the use of the modified Town Hall (from Town Plan), Emerald Night and Winter Toy Shop, and indeed their traits are amplified by the setting also. I absolutely consider this to involve artistic design, and it is not on a level of "painting by numbers".

Interesting observations. I like to vary my theme for MOCing, partly to keep my interest, and also partly to make best use of my Lego (I find that in general, the useful parts for MOCing often come from the same theme of sets - and I tend to buy sets I like in most themes). I don't do large scale dioramas or anything, but that is due to a lack of space as much as anything else (I probably would have enough relevant Lego for a city or castle diorama especially, but possibly even 90s-style space, and yes, I would incorporate some of the sets I like more). The Winter Village and the Mediaeval Village I collaborated on were the largest scenes I've put together (although the latter had no landscaping). I think incorporating official sets is partly due to the Lego catalogues we all remember that showed the sets off in a busy environment we couldn't hope as kids to recreate with our meagre Lego. It really brings the official sets to live to have them in a custom scene, and many of them even if simplistic or toy-like, are well designed and have a charming "look". Actually I think at times the simplistic look is really nice, and it is hard to acheive in one's own creations (I do sometimes strive for it to make my models look "official"). As much as I appreciate the incredible creations some post online, I do think it is also impressive when people manage a "set-like" model that is polished and doesn't look like a kid's creation! Importantly models like this can often be acheived with more limited parts.

I have a brick separator that I occasionally use, but mostly it is quicker and as efficient to use the method of grabbing a nearby brick and attaching it to the plate to be removed, then simply using "the Lego tilt" (as described in my Lego Monsters 4 instructions) to remove the combined brick+plate. I usually use the same size brick as the plate, e.g. 1x2 brick to remove a 1x2 plate. To remove a jumper plate, I use a headlamp brick on its side (i.e. the rear of the headlamp brick attached to the jumper's stud). Even 2x2 brick to remove a 2x2 plate works. I've found brick separators to be the best way to quickly and easily remove tiles. It doesn't seem like they would help, but due to the ledge around the base of tiles, if you position the brick separator atop the tile (ignoring the fact it has no studs to attach) and carefully use the Lego tilt, the back of the brick separator catches that ledge.

Of course one could go for four wide and use SNOT techniques and particular parts to acheive a wider "look" for the car despite a four-wide chassis.

I didn't entirely appreciate technic when I returned to Lego as an AFOL, and I never did much with it as a kid despite being bought some (it just seemed too difficult and looked ugly). However, the greater amount of technic in modern System sets has really opened my eyes as to the potential of technic. The parts even when not used for mechanisms offer a lot of versatility in helping even appearance, let alone play features, and I find myself using them more and more in MOCs. I've been playing around with ideas for Space MOCs, and technic parts seem to be featuring a lot in them - just so easy to use the parts as pretend mechanisms. I've even had the situation of not having *enough* of certain technic parts from my stock that comes mostly from recent parted out System sets. Now to cap it off I got a really awesome Technic set for Christmas (8285 Tow Truck), and I'm starting to understand why some people *LOVE* technic. Building it was a joy. I don't know that I'll quite grasp the principles of designing my own mechanisms and models incorporating them (technic MOCs as it were) but I think I can incorporate some tricks I learn into my general building. My advice to anyone less than enthusiastic about technic in System models is just to look at what Lego use the technic for in the models, and simply use the parts the same way in your own MOCs. Seriously, they add a lot of versatility. I do think this incorporation of Technic into System sets makes more sense from the point of view of Lego getting people into Technic, rather than exclusively focusing on "pure" Technic sets. Pure Technic sets are a bit daunting and do look a bit ugly at times (although actually in recent years although not "realistic" they look pretty swish with all the Bionicle panels and the liftarm construction).

Yay! I managed to pick up the motor set. I'll disassemble the Tow Truck maybe this weekend and build the alternate - I only just realised that the motor is used to motorise the crane rather than the lorry's drive. Maybe will get a chance to stick up a few photos of the alternate model build and/or finished. I just polished off my Tow Truck with the few missing parts, and it looks magnificent - it's an amazing set. I also now have a working pneumatic pump, and the lifting function of the rear platform is nice - I'm guessing with some more pneumatic equipment and technic building one could link up a second pump to unfold the platform using pneumatics rather than manual lever? I might try motorising the drive of the tow truck after that - if anyone has any advice I'd be glad to hear it (mainly on gearing - I'll figure out myself how to fit the equipment in and link it to the drive). I'm guessing if I hook things up wrong/directly I could drive things too fast and damage some parts. This set seems to be selling for quite a bit - I've seen a few on ebay in recent days. Nevertheless, I'd certainly highly recommend it! Incidentally, the crane doesn't seem to handle too much weight - just because it was there, I tried lifting my brother's Christmas present, an 8145 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Result - quite obviously far too large a model to lift. I think it's unlikely the platform holds too a large model either - the Airtech Rig displayed by the original reviewer must be on the upper edge of what can be lifted. However, perhaps the platform lifts more weight than the crane. I feel like such a Technic noob though :) Hopefully building and motorising the alternate model will contribute to my education!

paul delahaye: UK experience is not the norm. Amazon only just before Christmas finally got around to introducing supersaver delivery for Ireland (and it is *long* overdue and was very much desired - just a pity none of us now have money to make use of the facility). Argos charge €29.50 for online purchases to be delivered outside Dublin, and still €8 even within Dublin (although they don't even allow online purchase of small items like Lego). Ebay shipping to Ireland is only usually feasible from UK (except for heavier items), Germany (great value for heavier items, sometimes not so much for small if using DHL) or a few other countries like Netherlands. It usually isn't economical to buy items sub €10 on ebay as shipping is as much as the item itself. Actually bizarrely sometimes small items can be more easily bought from US as postage may be similar to from UK, but the items cost less. As for Lego, they charge €15 shipping on orders over €70 (smaller orders make no sense - €8 for a <€20 order!!)

Ah well, you can't be too smurful checking these things you know :)