gylman

As my sig should indicated, the thing that bothered me the most was loss of the Adventurers. My kids LOVED these, and I did too, and many of our games revolved around them. We are planning to buy all the Indiana Jones set, toss all the useless fleshy figs into the "use later" bin, and make them into Adventurers sets. The other disappiontment has been TLC's pricing policy. Most prices in Canadian dollars are 50% more than those of the US, the rest are 33% higher. Yet our Canadian dollar is 97% of the US dollar. And that's before we pay our various sales axes. It's a total ripoff, and I have stopped buying from Shop@Home or any retail stores here unless its a sale item. I haven't even gotten the bulldozer this year. I get all my new sets from the US when I really want them, and in truth I have bought much less than I used to because of it. Maybe I should actually thank TLC for overpricing their product so I don't buy as much. >:-(

LOL. Leave it to Hinckley to instantly spot the rarest piece in the entire MOC full of uncommon elements. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=791 Many of my sets were "sacrificed" for this MOC. Yes, the shutter came from the old maxifig hospital set. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?O=231-1 My cafe corner looks like they are ripping up the sidewalk to lay new wiring, my Scudaria truck - well, it's a Scudaria Flatbed now. And so on....

Thanks for the compliments people. The "hustle and bustle" effect was what I was going for, so thanks Casewindu for saying that it succeeded. I wasn't sure if to use tiles or studs on all the surfaces, but diners are supposed to be full of gleaming (hopefully) counters and walls, so I ended up with tiles. I used to have a LOT of tiles. Now.... I'm just about wiped out. :'-( The little girl with the glasses who is sweeping up the front and back, and taking some FABRIK sprockets out of the truck is my daughter. My daughter looks almost exactl like that. She carries her minifig of herself around, and insisted that she be part of the construction. She's very excite to "be on the internet". Thanks again everyone for the compliments.

Well, my entry is posted. Sorry it's so long.

B-OV-1B & V-LV-36C to V-LV-36E Well, this is my entry. Sorry about the length, but like Hinckley said... when you build something you want to show lots of pictures and details. So... It�s modeled after the classic American diner that were prevalent in the 1970�s. Big signs, flat buildings, lots of windows. These would good examples, but I wasn�t try to copy any, just the feel. http://www.dinercity.com/miDiner/miDiners.html So, here it is, in all it�s excessive glory. The pictures have links to higher res pictures too, for those who care. The folder, when moderated http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=273620 a) View from front, as you enter http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...ntviewsigns.jpg b) �minifig�s eye view� http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...fullfrontal.jpg c) right side http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...ghtsideview.jpg d) The �cheesy� giant sign http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...rippyburger.jpg e) Another view http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...eftroofview.jpg f) The back of the restaurant http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...toprearview.jpg g) bird�s eye view http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...ewfromabove.jpg h) This restaurant has very advanced mechanicals and electricals, from the main power room which has the AC coils, but also provides power to the giant rooftop sign. The chimneys to the right are for the cooktop hood http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...dvancedtech.jpg i) the AC coils and shack http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...radvancedac.jpg j) now the roof is off, so we can see inside. This one is worth seeing in high res. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...rviewclosed.jpg k) The back wall swings open to reveal the bathroom, and side wall swings open to provide a �behind the counter� look at the restaurant inside http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...rviewopened.jpg l) Behind the counter view http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...hindcounter.jpg m) The cook�s nook. I wouldn�t want what�s in that pot. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E..._-_cooknook.jpg n) The grill has a light brick under it, so it glows when the power is turned on http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...amesingrill.jpg o) this is a view from inside the restaurant, towards the counter, with the swinging wall closed. The medical people there are enjoying a healthy snack. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...counterwall.jpg p) The girls� soccer team is in one booth , and a couple of other dudes in the booth near the juke box http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...p_-_jukebox.jpg q) Two weird characters. What the heck is that walrus eating? http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...randhinkley.jpg r) the cleaning girl is heading downstairs to scrub the washroom. You are seeing her through the back door of the restaurant http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E..._-_backdoor.jpg s) The bathroom. There goes all my 1 x 1 tiles. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...-_bathroom1.jpg t) One of the soccer team girls is on the john. Lego voyeurism. http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...t_-_toilet1.jpg u, v , w, x, ) there are three cars at the diner. A small white doctor�s car, a �FABRIK� truck delivering sprockets from the FABRIK factory (thanks Copmike!), and a dragster type car http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...7/u_-_cars1.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...7/v_-_cars2.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...7/w_-_cars3.jpg http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/gylman/E...7/x_-_cars4.jpg

Jeez Hinckie, where do you find the time? Do you sleep? Do you have a clone somewhere doing the tedious stuff while you do the fun stuff?

S@H stuff Belville Advent Calendar (North Am and Europe) http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=7600 City Advent Calendar (North Am and Europe) http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=7907 Millenium Falcon "bag charm" (ARGH, I hate that name) http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=852113

I've never been fond of these sets, but still buy them every year because my daughters like them. I am, however, looking forward to the Belville Advent Calendar, which likely will have some parts that usually are quite hard to get in it. My girls will love it, and I love all the Belville parts. http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=7600 If anyone has pics of what is contained in this set I would love to see them.

I'll be submitting mine this weekend. Just about done.

Thanks Dunamis - very informative review. It's good to see these, even if they are for sets that I am not going to buy unless it's 50% off. It's a sad day for Technic when we get excited about the fact that a set has a universal joint. As far as I could tell, NOT a single classic technic brick ... just liftarms, axles and pins. And crazy colours. Not for me, but certainly it makes a nice combo with the tractor from last year if you have them both. I'll look forward to your bulldozer review... Of course I'll be getting that one eventually. I'm really curious how useful the motors will be.

Agree with wait-and-see to decide how to organize context. Vig-sized constructions should not be competing with 2000 piece behemoths. Also, I have built a few vehicles to go with my US 1970's style diner. Can they (1 or more) be entered in the vehicle? They won't win, but they should pad the entry numbers nicely....

LOL.... count on it. I'll be there, fate and Bricklink willing. I've done most of it... just some details and odd parts are missing. I never thought I would use up all my tiles, but I pretty much have. And I had to rape my Cafe Corner set too... Seriously, what is so good about the brewery is that it has a solid "fortress-like" block building look, which normally we associate with childish building technique, but in fact the way it is done is very subtle and totally original. It looks just right for the job, and is consistent all through, with a perfect colour scheme. Originality. That, in essence, is what I lack, and what you have been gifted with in spades. What goes on in that brain of yours?? Actually, leet building techinques aside, my fav part of your MOC was the Whacker and the Walrus ad poster. I wish I could do stuff like that... I suggest one cat for vehicles and one for buildings. I don't see the need for a separate modular building cat.

damn, Hinckley. I don't want to finish mine any more. Yours is too good. Makes mine look like a dog's breakfast

Welcome back indeed.

well, right now they are asking 9800 yen, which is about 85 USD, and there are no bids on it yet, 5 days left in the auction.

It's a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in home-made looking shrinkwrap....

http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b75577668 Is this a real Lego product? It does not seem like the kind of product they would make, but maybe it's something new - some things come out in Asia before they come elsewhere. Of course, some things are released only in Asia or Japan it seems.

It would be lovely to have parts counts, some vague instructions/details for these. Don't need full details, just some of the key tricks and connections. I'd love to try to build something similar

Actually McGill was 21st! So, almost there. But the private vs public thing is not really meaningful. The bottom line is what kind of product comes out of the country. In general, and forgive my generalizations, my impression is that publically supported and controlled things tend to be more homogenously average, while the private system has greater highs and lower lows. I think that does kind of describe much of the difference between the US and Canada. Canada has plenty of hate groups. They are not as public as in the US because the US has greater rules protecting freedom of speech and association. One could argue that it's better to have the haters visible in the open on youtube than hiding in secret chat rooms in Canada plotting god knows what. You are stereotyping Americans though, especially in the south. Its probably not fair to do that.

Yikes John, you've been reading too much propaganda by the Canadian media and your US hating high school teachers (who are all union members and vote left wing). First of all, I don

OK, no worries. Whatever works for everyone. Cheers.

Here's what I mean. Imagine a bunch of these for each contest entry. High Res

Sorry, I was away today. By chaotic I meant that basically you scroll down and see one giant picture after another,and in between is a bit of text. If you scroll too fast you end up going to the next entry without realizing it. Right now it's taking FOREVER to load up because Brickshelf is either very slow or down. You can't even tell whose MOC it is unless you scroll to the beginning of the posting, which sometimes is multiple screens due to the size of the pictures. Doesn't the forum software automatically do a thumbnail pic so that you can click on it for full details? Why we we have to look at all these giant pics one by on. I am sure I have had it automatically make the thumbnails for me. Anyway, it's not the end of the world, especially if you are planning to re-organize them once the voting starts. Seems to me that people should make your life easier by submitting a fixed number of pictures, of a fixed size, through links, and then all you have to do is cut and paste the links.

+ 1 for Holodoc, for the DACTA number he got for me.

This will be an excellent contest... One question Hinckley: Is there a better way to organize the entries? Right now trying to scan through the contest entry thread is somewhat chaotic.