gylman

What's wrong with a bit of venting? It's not like any baby seals were killed or global warming has been accelerated.... on the other hand, with all the hot air flying around this topic, maybe it has. OK, time to shut off the topic in the name of our planet and its future survival!! The other reason to bring this topic up now and then is that it makes it clear to TLC that colour changes have a huge effect on serious builders. I suspect if they had known the impact of their gray colour change they might not have done it at the time, although obviously it won't go back now. I bet that at the time of the furor about gray, many execs at TLC shrugged and said, "whatever... they'll get over it". Or however you say that in Danish. But we haven't, and perhaps the fact that we haven't "gotten over it" made it clear to TLC that future colour changes need to be considered extremely carefully, and avoided at all costs if possible. Fact is, the number one quality issue with TLC now is colour unreliability.

I have always found the giant castles to be just too much for my simple brain to encompass, and I think a lot of the cleverness and attention to detail of the builder is lost in the enormous construction. Medium sized castles I think are a better expenditure of time/effort, and this is why things like El-Katar, Lethal Duck, and Stoneguard have been the kind of constructions I have admired most, defined as "gee, I wish I had the skill/talent to do that". But which is best.....? holy cow, how can you say. Maybe we need a poll? NOT!

More succinctly than I can say it, but this is just how I feel.

OMG! >:-( Seriously? This is a question? The switch from Gray to Bley has been a disaster for me. I've pretty much abandoned Castle theme buying because of it. :-X Sure, the modern castles suck (KK and beyond), and frankly I don't think this year's versions are much better, only the minifigs are. But I could have at least justified buying them for parts. But why the eff-you-see-clay would I want to buy a bunch of bley parts that will only go into the filler bin? I used to buy multiples of every castle, now I just buy one each of the large or medium sets just for the "collection". Frankly, I have not bought a single castle this year, and probably won't unless they go on 50% off. The gray=bley fiasco is the worst mistake TLC has ever made in marketing their product to AFOLs. How's that for an unopinionated opinion? Next, lets get going on the loss of real brown from the pallete. ^!@^%! Arguably even a more devastating colour change, it's just that we use more gray than brown, so the impact is not as obvious. But seriously, we no longer have a true brown in the pallete. Retarded!!!

The 6075 is probably overpriced, but the 6085 I actually thought would have gotten more money . 6073 MISB I have not seen in 2 years or more, and it is very hard to find with box. Probably the price is right for this medium sized set (from a collector's point of view). There are two available on Bricklink, at 300 which is incomplete with box in excellent condition, and $500 for one in perfect condition. So, really not unreasonable prices for the 6085 and 6073.

I've had a closer look now that your brickshelf folder was moderated. Even better than I had appreciated. -independent suspension on the boat trailer -very realistic looking hookup from yellow van to boat trailer -clever ramp setup on the tailer for the backhoe Although is is the smallest, I think I like the boat trailer the most - it does the most, with the least parts. It's practically perfect. Minor thoughts: -the fences you use on the big trailer somehow just don't fit with a truck trailer. I'm not sure what would work better. You have some unused holes in the technic beams underneath each of those fences... maybe you can attach something from the side using those holes? -a winch or gear mechanism to bring up or down the ramp from the big trailer would be coold if it did not occupy much space (can it be from below?). Or could a pneumatic be used gratuitously for this?? Probably not because it woudl take up too much space. -rounding off some of the corners of the trailers might make them look less "boxy". But I'm not sure about this. It could also make them look wierd, though. I wouldn't know unless I tried. I looked at some pictures of real trailers on the web and they basicall are platforms on wheels, without rounded corners. -? mudflaps behind the rear wheels for realism?

Very nice! I like the colour scheme especially - it matches the vehicles its designed to carry, and works well on its own. Also, it's obviously sturdier than anything TLC Is making these days. YAY technic beams! BOO liftarms.

Ninja technique. google it. And why do 98% of EBers call me glyman. GYLMAN G Y L MAN

Fine chakra control. You have to concentrate your chakra into a very fine thin line, razor sharp, and then you can cut anything with it. Orochimaru did it against the third Hokage, although the Hokage had a counter...

Frankly Hink (damn, that sound good, it rhymes with so many cool words) I voted for Norro. Dunno who voted for the BestSetOfAllTimeAirtechClawRig. Here's the poll for anyone insane enough to make it this far in the thread. http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...topic=10505&hl=

Whoa! Airtech takes the early lead. But for those who are not familiar, Norro's entry needs a bit more information, since some might not have seen his masterpiece. This was his construction, imagine it built in a bag. It might have been a bit harder than measuring and threading the 18 inch gray tube.... hard to say.

Stop chatting like my granda and vote, Hink! (can I call you that?)

OK Peeps, make your choice. This poll refers to the bag thread. Read it and weep tears of joy and admiration for our skilled contestants. http://eurobricks.hosting.ipsyn.com/eurofo...showtopic=10494

Seriously Piranha, if you knew the satisfaction got from identifying, then threading the 18 cm gray pneumatic tube through the 3rd hole from the left in the black 1x10 technic beams while keeping it separate from all the other 7 tubes in the set, while all the other bits and bobs were getting in my way (although truly, I did not have the instructions to deal with - they were outside the bag)... If you knew that feeling of accomplishment... Do you know how hard it is to measure 18 cm through a bag!! :-D It was well worth it, though. Oh, and your confusion about the thread is understandable. Pretty much every thread Hinkley participates in becomes a rant fairly quickly. It's part of his charm. *wub* Rant on!

This calls for a poll!!

I don't think it would be hard to have a checkbox for each user that is either checked on or off based on pament status, and when you log on the script checks if you are on or off and gives you the appropriate rights and privileges. It is true, though, that a 5$ payment through paypal is rather futile. They would take too much of a cut.

It's both a) and b). First of all, having looked through the other sites, I find Brickshelf still works best for me. I don't want comments, I don't slideshows, I just want directories and directories of pictures to which I can easily link from other sites, and which I can browse easily. Second, I am willing to pay up some bucks each year without expecting every other user to do the same. I'm no socialist, but I'm not expecting every 16 year old highschool kid to come up with the cash the way an adult with a job can. I won't pay 60$ annually ad infinitum, and I think no one will, but I think most AFOLs, after this situation, will not balk at paying a few months subscription each year to keep the cashflow going to BS, especially if he spruces it up a bit and make it look like he will stick around. Some will pay, all will play, and those who pay are more likely to be mature enough to realize that all will be poorer if the community fragments. It ends up being a donation model, basically, except there is a more specific and hopefully easier (PAYPAL!!!!) way to make the donation, and a more persistent reminder. It might work. I'd try this approach first before migrating to an inferior hosting service (inferior because of the lack of content, as well as the interface). I would not want to take away searching and browsing from the "freeloaders". But , if there are sensible advantages to paying (max num of pics, some improvement in the interface, no ads, whatever), there will be enough incentive to make it work.

Amateurs. You are all amateurs. :-D

It's not only about what I can get for the money. I'd pay some money to keep BS intact as a place where the community has a central repository that has most or all of their work so that we can search it, and view it easily without having to look at 4 different places, any one of which may change at any time. Not 60$ annually.

Meh, no point getting too stressed about the notion that we will have to pay $60 annually. Just pay a few months and think of it as a "donation". If he asked for 20$ I would pay without hesitation.So, I'll pay 4 months. I doubt I want or need the special services anyway. In effect he is letting us choose how much we pay, since he is not saying he will cut us off if we don't pay. So, you can make a donation of any amount you like from 5$ to 60$. See how it goes from there. MOCpages and flickr are not a substitute for BS. I looked at them in the last few days as all this unfolded, and was totally unimpressed. BS is a very efficient interface, and with very minor upgrades would be excellent. Who needs all the commenting, slideshows, etc etc. They are just a waste of bandwidth and loading time. The only thing I resent is the poor communication and uncertainty. All of this brouhaha could, should, have been avoided.

It's a freakin' soap opera! Was it really necessary to go through all this? All the wasted time, effort, angst? 5$ a month = 60$ a year. I am not sure how many takers there will be at that cost....

I have to agree- the Brickshelf crisis has made me look at so many amazing Lego creations that it is really inspiring. It's a silver lining in the cloud of this sad event.

It seems hard to believe that he is selectively blocking IPs, but I imagine a script could be written for this. I would imagine that the bandwidth BS has been using in the last couple of days is incredible.

Well, right now nothign is working for me at all, not even the BS home page.

Yep, I'm getting the same thing. I suspect that the traffic resulting from all these downloads is overwhelming the server, and the operator has shut things down for a while. Just a speculation.... I could be totall wrong. EDIT: People at classic space are reporting similar problems.