DaddyDeuce

How about this: http://i.imgur.com/vUVQu.jpg

Just wanted to say "good job". By coincidence I was trying to come up with something similar last week, but the parts you've identified are a much better path.

What about the 1x1 round tile?

The little passenger cars are mechanized; they have wings that flap up-and-down when they are rolled. I think they needed a high-friction wheel (technic pulley with o-rings) in order to drive the mechanism. Regular train wheels wouldn't have done that I bet.

Is there any compatibility between RC and Power Functions? For example, can the Power Functions remote talk to the IR receiver in the RC train base plate (#2016)? Conversely, can the RC remote talk to the Power Functions IR tower? All I've been able to come up with from looking at pictures is that the RC base 2016 should be able to send power to PF motors with an appropriate adapter cable, but I'm wondering if there is more compatibility than just that.

Thanks all so far. I had no idea that the smaller Hogwarts set was an add-on to the larger Castle. I was completely overlooking it as a possible purchase as I assumed I would buy the castle as soon as I could find it on discount. In looking over the sets and minifigs, I realize that *every* set has at least one exclusive minifigure. Clever of LEGO there. But if it boils down to just needing a few single minifigs there is always the secondary market. Right now I'm thinking at least the train and the castle are "essential", and I'm trying to pick and choose my way through the others. What about 4736 Freeing Dobby or 4865 Forbidden Forest? Neither set looks like it has a ton of play value, and I could always get a Narcissa and Dobby on the secondary market if needed (and assuming I get Voldemort and Hagrid somewhere else).

Thanks all for the suggestions so far. I should add that *I* haven't watched HP series myself so I personally don't know which characters are key. I won't "reveal" the sets to them until they have seen the appropriate movies for context, so if I got The Burrow they won't see it until they understand it. I'll mull over what you've shared so far, and try to map out which minifigs come which which sets. Thanks!

Hi all, My kids are into LEGO now but haven't started watching the HP movies yet (oldest child is only 5). I have a feeling that when they do watch the series they will enjoy it very much. Seeing as how it looks like the entire licensed theme is being discontinued, I'd like to set aside some HP sets under the assumption that they will have a blast with them when they are older. What would you say are the "essential" HP sets that have great play value? Not necessarily just the big sets, but the small ones that are fun builds and can lead to interactive play? What would you set aside if you were in the same position? Thanks!

Hey Mojo, I love that graph. A couple of questions? 1: Have you considered having the lines on the axis line up with January of each year (instead of July). It would help me visualize things by year. 2: What are you using to create the graphs? I'd love to create something similar in Excel but can't find a graph type that matches what you've done. Thanks!

I know, but I think the Maersk container ship was only sold in the United States for six months. Just wondered if this being "Maersk" might mean it would have a shorter-than-normal life?

Simply amazing. Looking at where you started, and where you are now, just makes me say "wow".

This set is just beautiful. Bravo! I'd love a set of "Tombstone" inspired minifigs to go along with it.

Does anybody have an educated guess on the discontinuation status of the Maersk train? I'd like to buy a few copies but the timing isn't perfect for me now; but I'd hate to have it go OOP and not have one at all.

Well, there was the twist that the box photos (on at least one) showed them being "mixed and matched" together.

I'd called them that too, but wondered if there was an "official" name. Some say that 7848 is also part of this series:

My mistake, somehow I missed this thread. Still glad to see the wheels being used again (and this meaning they probably won't cost an arm and leg on BL). Hopefully this time the pictures will stay up since the set has been publicly shown and LEGO doesn't need to keep it confidential anymore. Now, does it come with blind drivers?

With 10194 (Emerald Night) discontinued, and 7597 (Western Train Chase) in the process of selling out, I was afraid that LEGO might not offer any sets with the new large 85489a/85489b driver wheels. I had been contemplating trying to buy a bunch of extra black wheels from the secondary market since the only apparent source was people parting out their Emerald Nights. Pictures of the new 9467 Ghost Train from the Nuremberg toy show have begun to show up online and it looks like this set will include the new drivers in black as well as the 90201 Cow Catcher in black. From this fuzzy picture it is hard to get a good view of the engine. Maybe someone else has found a better photo? Hard to say how the engine would look with all the "skeleton" greebles stripped off, as well as whether it was designed for easy motorization?

Hi all, Over the past few years LEGO has been releasing a series of building where the building levels are somewhat modular, and the levels can be interchanged between sets by stacking them on top of each other. At the least, these buildings have been part of this series: 7641 City Corner 7633 Construction Site 8403 Family House 3661 Bank & Money Transfer Is there an official name for this series of buildings? Am I missing any others in this series that aren't in my list above? Thanks!

Hi all, As I mentioned in my intro post on the community board I'm an AFOL just coming out of my dark ages. I'm completely new to LEGO train; even in my "early years" my play with only with brick and technic, train never entered my LEGO world then. I've been slowly introducing my daughters to LEGO and we've begun putting together a little town. What started as the idea of having a train set going around the Christmas tree has turned into a minor obsession with understanding LEGO trains. I've done as much reading as I can to understand the history of LEGO train as one of the first decisions I had to make was whether to go with Power Functions or whether to purchase some second-hand 9V to build our system around. In thinking about the history of LEGO train it dawned on me that *this* might be considered a new "golden age" due to the breadth of train related sets that have been released in the last few years. Just thing about everything that has been on the market in 2010-2011 and the groundwork that LEGO has laid for this hobby. The correction of some of the flaws of RC with the introduction of PF. Three separate complete train sets (7939, 3677, and 7938) Two detailed models for hobbyists (10194 and 10219) Two themed trains (4841 and 7597) Two different train stations (7997 and 7937) A new level crossing (7936) Now granted, some of the train decisions LEGO has made have been questioned by the fan community. But when I look at the selection of what is available now (or has been available quite recently), and think about how PF could expand the options of train fans, it seems like this is quite an exciting new era for LEGO train. Certainly this could be my "new-AFOL" excitement talking, and certainly train fans with a longer history will have a different perspective, but is anybody else impressed with the effort that LEGO has put into train recently?

Just thought I'd post a little introduction from the western United States. I'm just coming out of my dark ages thanks to being the father of three lovely daughters. I'm hoping I can foster their creativity and love of understanding how things work with LEGO. My personal "Golden Age" of LEGO was a while back. This was my first set: I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but some sets I fondly remember include: 145 Building Set (1974) 420 Police Car (1973) 709 Police Boat (1976) 370 Police Headquarters (1976) 775 Fire Fighter Ship (1978) 493 Space Command Center (1979) 497 Galaxy Explorer (1979) 948 Go-Kart(1978) 954 Helicopter (1978) 956 Auto Chassis (1978) 960 Power Pack (1978) 787 Play Mat with Drawstring (1977) I remember one day deciding I was all grown up and too old for my LEGOs, so I put them all in that denim drawstring bag and gave them away to the son of a friend. I have no idea if he got the play out of them that I did, but I often wish I had just put them away in a closet instead. LEGO was one of the most influential toys from my childhood, along with Big Trak and the Atari 2600, that helped lead me into the career of engineering. Here's wishing that in another 30 years I'll have as many happy memories of LEGO with my daughters as I do from my own childhood.