gylman

Oddly, in Toronto, Canada, MB prices out about half of Megabloks. TRU has much more self space for Lego. MB is very prominent in the bargain stores, especially Winners, while Lego is almost gone from them except for Bionicle. I am also puzzled about the "sales leader" information. I had a look at the MB site. They only sold 112 Mil of toys in the 1st half of 207, even that fraction included multiple brands, including Magnetix. By comparison, Lego in 2006 had income of 7.8 billion Krone, which is about 1.3 billion $, and these days really the only thing they sell is bricks / bionicle. I assume their furniture sales are not a significant source of profit..... :-) So, looking at this, Lego outsells MB probably 6 or 7 to 1, or more. Further, MB sales in Europe for the first half of 2007 including non-toy products were only 58 million. I think Lego does half their business in Europe, so they are probably crushing MB in Europe and England more than 10 to 1. Also, this report from 2007 indicating that Lego share of the US construction toy market is 63%,. Unless I misunderstand this, it means everyone else added up get 37%!! And their lead is increasing... http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:5y1tF...lient=firefox-a So, unless I have missed somehting obvious, I have to question the accuracy of your statements about who is the industry leader. I wouldn't be surprised if even Bionicle by itself is bigger than all of Megabloks.

Here's hoping that the "special" set will be that UCS Castle I've been pushing for the last 2 years. The Cafe Corner of castle Lego. Maybe we can call it "Castle Corner". This being said, and all the enthusiasm here notwithstanding, I have to stay that other than the improved minifigs, I don't find the Castle offerings for this year so amazing. Better than past 3 years.... yes of course. Close to anything between 6080 and 6095, or the Forestmen? Of course not. I'll hope that 2008 will provide more clever and more brick built structures than 2007 did...

This one I think I will try to enter. I need somethign to force me to do a bit of building. One of the reason I never like contests is that I always feel I am ripping off someone else's MOC, since pretty much anything I make I have seen before somewhere and derived the inspiration, but I have seen so many MOCs that it is impossible to credit anyone anymore (except if someone is being whacked by a stale baguette, thrown in a toilet, dumped in a garbage can, or similarly abused... in which case I clearly can credit Hinkley). At home I can rip off all the great builders and enjoy what I build for myself. Once it goes on display, I am always paranoid about plagiarism so I really try for whatever I make to be different, to the point where I end up not building much. Stupid huh? Oh well, we all have our psychiatric issues.

Bionicle: Maxilos and Spinax http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=8924 North America

Obviously, there are 30 hours (or far more) in your day. Or where else do you find the time to do all this? Slick and hilarious!!!!!!!!

Technic bulldozer (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8275&cn=57&d=70 available now at S@H 150 US$ 200 CAN$ Off Road Truck http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8273&cn=57&d=70 available now at S@H North America Only for now.

Sinner is working on it. :-D

Sir Dillon's vig is, IMHO, one of the finest vigs I have ever seen, in any category, for any contest or non-contest. Off the top of my head I don't remember a better one. The art of MOCs (he offers, pompously) is as much the simplicity as the detail. The finest vig MOCs (IMPO) are not necessarily those with details, but those with mood and setting, and the less pieces and details used to achieve those, the more noteworthy the work. So, while I wouldn't normally state my preference in a contest because I respect all those who make the effort and enter, Dillon's entry is just so amazing that I felt obliged to do so. I've admired it for weeks. Part of it's power, though, comes from the personality we associate with the figs in the EB community, which Sir Dillon also captured). (Yo, Dill, can I have my 50 cents now.....)

I find the commercials quite funny and appropriate to the times. More importantly, I just couldn't take my eyes off the sets: 6080, 6085, Black Seas Barracuda. OMG. They are so much better than what we have now.

I tried watching One Piece a while back.... not really my kind of show, but someone must like that show. Apparently it's pretty big in Japan and all over the world. Right now Claymore is rocking. If you like gory violence with chicks dealing the damage, this one is for you!

Of course, true. But even so I don't find the Arrancar arc as good, so far, as the Soul Society rescue arc - which was so good it was almost magical. It's like Naruto. They are back in the storyline, but you lose the momentum of the show and so far Shippuden has been relatively disappointing (better animatio and story telling, but the pace is SOOOOOOOO slow).

Oh, the colours are bad all right. Really bad. But obviously it's the parts selection. Colour selection is the most under-rated aspect of MOCing. But what does one expect with part selection from Exo Force and Harry Potter, perhaps the two most colour-challenged themes in LEGO history.

The video is pretty fun if you follow Bleach, otherwise it's more about animation than about Lego. I see no potential for Bleach as a Lego license. Wrong audience. Wrong themes for TLC (death, ghosts, the joy of fighting). And what would they build? Sure Seireitei is a great generic walled city, but it's not currently an important part of the story,and does not show any sign of becoming important again. Hollows? That woudl be a Bionicle type license. NOPE. Bleach was a great anime, but I dunno what it's future is. The first arc was great, but it's been pretty bleh ever since. In general, it seems to be that any marriage between decent Anime and Lego (I said decent to exclude childish stuff like Exo-Force) is not going to work, because they are geared to different audiences and good Anime has mature themes that Lego wouldn't touch with a 32 stud axle). Avatar actually does come closer to a Lego-appropriate decent show, but of course it's not true Anime, and in any case the owners of that show (Nick Jr) are total idiots and have let a show with great potential fade while they pimp Dora and Spongebob.

Jarring colour dissonance. I think that's the common theme here. Both MOCs are good given the parts available - I don't want to say who I voted for, as I respect both builders.

Excellent, thanks. I'd totally forgotten about the half barrels! too bad they don't make them in white, but light gray is acceptable in a pinch, and reasonably priced (unlike some of the other colours).

Hi peeps. AFter interminable delays I am getting around to building a display system for my space theme keychains. It will be a Saturn V like rockship. It will be red and white. Here's one evolving prototype - a classic multlayer design. You can see the mostly complete second to last white layer which ocntains a cabine, and the shell of the midlle red layer. So, there is still a red layer to come below, a while layer above, anda classic pointy tip to come above as well. Obviously there are colour mismatchesi n some parts.... they are just placedholder parts until I get the right colours off Bricklink. Below the thickest red layer at the bottom there will be be thrusting rockets. I'm lookng for advice about what parts to use for the exhaust cones for the engines at the base. I vaguely recall seeing Lego ships that had pretty good exhaust cones, but I'm definitely not a space guy, and I was not able to find them browsing the lugnet catalog. I don't want to brick-build them and make something blockly. I am thinking they will probably need to be a about ab 4 x 4 stud diameter at the open bottom, and maybe 2 x 2 diameter at the top. This cone would be obvious, but does not come in white http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=4742 This is much largers, and I guess I could fill it with flames http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=47543pb01 Thisis probably too but, but anyway does not come in white http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=47543 There are other cones, but I'd like to capture the layered look of a real booster rocket. Any advice? Or links to brickshelf pics of builders who have done this? I had a looky around, but not much success. I really want the engines to be white, which is somewhat limiting.

!!!! Great clearance sale at S@H North Am on bulk Lego 1 x 4 green bricks 85% off! http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=3471 1 x 4 red bricks 85% off http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=3472 1 x 1 plates (light gray, middle gray, dark gray) 67% off http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=BAG2 Windows and door pack 88% off http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=10044 And a bunch of others now sold out. I think they must be clearing out the end of the old type of inventory. I'd bet the grays are real gray, not bley. Europe has had these for some time, but: Finally, the cement Mixer available at S@H http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=7990&cn=223&d=9 Also the gas station http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=7993&cn=356&d=9 Also Karzahni (from the other topic, I copied the info into here) http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?...40&cn=433&d=351 Thsi seems to be worldwide, but I am not sure when it became available, so it may not be "news".

Take care. Look forward to seeing you back.

Well, I thoughtI already had a "bag charm" holder that I carried with me at all times, :-D but it certainly won't accomodate these new "charms". I'll work on something...

pics updated.

Good point. I can see kids hooking these on their school knapsacks and sports bags.

I was able to find two of the three new Star Wars keychains at

My kids had zero interest in the Starwars games. THis looks cute. Maybe if I tell them it's Johnny Thunder they'll be more interested in this. Indiana Jones is not exactly a household world in the 8-12 year old world. I still think TLC has not picked a long-term winner here.

Combine Harvester available at S@H North America only http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8274&cn=57&d=70 70$ US, 95$ Can Available NOW

I believe that is exactly the case - I read something along those lines precisely. Doesn't mean it's true.... but sounds reasonable enough. I remember there was all this talk about a consistent palette of colours, but in the end it's all about the bottom line, no?