CP5670

This was an excellent set despite a few flaws. The Code Pilot is of limited use since it has only one output, but it had some cool sound effects and was pioneering for its time. My favorite part is how the pitch of the sound changes based on the white timing wheel. It was probably the last set with almost entirely studded construction. Those clutch gears are also the rare variety with light gray centers, which have a higher clutch resistance than the usual dark gray type. I think the battery contacts on the Code Pilot may corrode over time. Mine still works fine but I have to rig up a wire in one spot between two contacts. I've heard of the early versions of those motors failing as well, although mine hasn't had any issue. There is a special pre-programmed barcode in the manual that contains all the functionality for the truck. It was actually done quite frequently (8868, 8880, etc.). This model's long chains of gears were a bit unusual for its time, although for the drive train it made sense due to the location of the motor (as opposed to a usual piston engine).

Really impressive. I love the wavy part with the three levels. Seeing this makes me want to buy more monorail track and expand my layout.

Cool MOCs. I especially like the TS Nod minifigs. That helmet gives them exactly the right look. One of the classic moments in gaming.

It's usually the model for me. I rely on Bricklink and PAB/Lego direct for parts these days, and buy very few sets in the first place. If I do get a set, it's because I like the model itself.

I think I voted for this one too. I hadn't seen the model before. Bringing the model wasn't a bad idea but he definitely should not have put it into the drawing.

This was an interesting set. It was one of the first sets to have a mostly studless exterior and was a sign of things to come. The red pistons only appeared in this and one other set, and weren't used again after that year. I also never saw the purpose of all the idler gears in the drivetrain, although they were rare back then so it was always good to have more.

This is a nice model, and is something I could imagine actually being an official set unlike a lot of the Cuusoo stuff. I like the sky crane better than the rover itself though; it seems like some compromises had to be made on the rover due to the scale. Stephen (the person who made this) is a great guy by the way. His models were next to mine at the last Brickfair and he had this on display alongside a clock showing the time left for the real rover to land, which was going to happen the day after the event.

I plan to come there on Thursday at probably around 3:00 or so. If anyone wants to have an informal gathering/lunch/etc. on one of the days, post here or send me a PM. It's too bad you can't come, Ralph. We'll see you next year.

Boxed sets are easy enough to move. I moved a year ago and just let the movers handle my 80-odd MISB sets (as well as all my boxes), without doing any of my own packing. They delivered everything in 2 or 3 days though. If it will be in storage for a long time, it may make sense to put them in larger boxes so it isn't obvious what they are. I took all the built models and loose parts myself, which was manageable in two trips with my minivan.

I've been ordering stuff from there for many years. The prices are good on some less common parts, like the airtanks. It's also a good place to get studded Technic bricks in decent quantities. The LA is actually one of the few bad deals there though. You can get the LA itself from TLG's parts order service for $7 or so.

I agree. The dinosaur in 8485 is fantastic, but the other models are not quite as impressive mechanically. In contrast, 3 of the 4 models in 8094 have some totally unique mechanism or concept. 8094's piece count is surprisingly low for its size, but I think it actually had more "useful" pieces, especially for its time. You can jury-rig a transformer to the battery contacts on the old control center. That makes it more convenient to use. It does have very strict current limits though and is useless for running the XL or 9V RC motors, while the new control center handles them fine.

I see what you mean now. This type of configuration is certainly something we want to count. The connection point approach will easily account for it, but will include other cases with overlapping bricks that we don't want. This is basically the approach I described earlier. Even more than the storage though, the real problem is finding a way to easily detect and rule out any physically impossible configurations (where bricks overlap). There are many different models that share the same connection points (which we want to think of as a single equivalence class), but it's not clear how big such a class is. Specifically, if we have a "nonphysical" model, is there some way to ensure that there always exists some other, "physical" model with the same connection points? I wonder if there is some explicit formula or recurrence relation for this problem, instead of having to enumerate all the individual cases with a computer program. It would be really cool to get some asymptotic bound as the brick count increases, like that paper does, but including the non-aligned cases too.

Those old pins are really annoying. They actually discolor any brick they're placed in over time due to their extremely strong grip, and every method I know of for removing them also has the effect of wearing away the brick's plastic. I just use them as rocks or other granulated material.

I'll bring the Blacktron carrier (which I've taken to past events but not at this location), a selection of Unitron models (a trailer and a small fighter to go along with this and this), a small diner made from Tower Bridge parts and probably the office building as well, although it's basically just a shell at this point.

Great thread. One way to exclude rotated versions is to define a configuration as the set of connection points between bricks, without caring about the positions of the bricks themselves. This will be independent of the coordinate system the model exists in or how it's rotated. There would still have to be some way of avoiding configurations with overlapping bricks though. Maybe you can consider two overhanging bricks as having "ghost" connections at their boundaries, in a 5x3 shape for each brick, which means that any two interlocking bricks always have at least two "connection" points, at least in the axis aligned case. That paper is quite interesting as well, especially the argument on the lower bounds. I'm not sure what you mean here. The way you defined axis alignment, you can have one brick hanging off another brick by a single stud, and it can point in any direction relative to the first one. I guess we want to think of all of these as the same configuration, except for the two endpoint cases where the bricks are connected by two studs.

This set looks much more interesting to me than 9398. We haven't had a large helicopter like this in ages and the gearing/transmission setup is more complex than I thought. It's a bit like what the old 954 Sky Copter used. I was actually hoping to see a full swashplate from the preview pictures, which I think was doable at this scale, although I do like how it's connected to the control stick in the cockpit.

I have quite a few old sets with the squeaky, high clutch power bricks, especially from the late 80s. It may be caused by aging but there are other factors involved too. Sets containing smoky bricks (discussed here) have this problem to the greatest extent, so it's related to the air quality in which the bricks are stored. Not all sets are affected to the same extent, and in some cases I recall that the bricks were simply like that even back then, which suggests that TLG has changed the bricks over time to have a looser grip. The bricks tend to lose that strong grip and become normal if you leave them on a model for a long time, in regular room temperature.

I'm a mathematician working in EE/CS research. I haven't really been able to connect that stuff to my Lego hobby though.

That was just the example I had in mind. If you look at the "compressor & pneumatic" feature logo, which was obviously based on this set, it uses the smaller pulleys as well.

The box often shows a pre-production version of the set, before it was fully released. The instructions usually show the production version with any last minute changes TLG made. There have been many cases of this in the past. I use whichever version I like better, or something else entirely. Like purpleparadox, I change small things on official models to my liking all the time.

Yeah, the clear one is a test mold. It didn't appear in any set. I have 9 of these motors, of which 3 are broken. The unusual gear reduction mechanism it uses is very prone to locking up. It doesn't seem to be easy to fix it without damaging the motor casing.

The most interesting set to me is the Technic helicopter. That's the first helicopter in over 30 years with a realistic swashplate mechanism, which is hard to do in a small space (but possible) with currently available parts. The Town Hall also looks good. I especially like the elevator design.

This brick opacity problem goes back to late 2006 and there have been complaints about it ever since then. However, the consumers who are annoyed enough for this to influence their purchases are in an extreme minority. Just look at the responses in this thread. When a few hardcore AFOLs on a fan forum are divided on the significance of these problems, how many kids and casual buyers (parents) are going to care? If anything, reading these discussions would assure TLG that there is nothing to worry about. It's no surprise that there has never been any serious attempt from TLG to fix the problem. Most sets today contain at least a few parts like the one in that photo. The difference is most prominent when seen through a light source but can be seen easily in normal lighting conditions. The studs have a "faded" look and cast much lighter shadows on the brick than usual.

I can't see why this is suddenly news. This translucency is no different from we have seen with several other colors in countless sets over the last 5 or 6 years. Are people seriously noticing it for the first time? I would ultimately stop buying Lego if the hassle outweighs the fun factor, and things are a long ways off from that. I still have lots of fun with Lego. However, I have long since stopped thinking of Lego as a premium, "only the best is good enough" product of any kind. There are probably clone brands like Oxford that offer comparable brick quality today. I buy very few sets these days (usually on discounts) but still spend a fair amount on Bricklink parts orders, and tend to limit myself to certain colors where I know the quality is consistent. About 70% of the parts I buy are black for this reason. You are quite right, which is precisely the problem. A few isolated AFOLs might complain about things like this (and promptly get shouted down by fanboys) but by and large, TLG's consumers don't notice or care. In this situation, it would be a poor business move for TLG to spend money and resources on fixing these problems, and they know it.

I would like to see a repository of these too. Peeron and Brickfactory (and one or two other sites) are good sources for the small mini-catalogs included in sets, but it's much harder to find the full-size S@H catalogs or club magazines (Mania/Brick Kicks/etc.). They're certainly fun to look at and have back-story material on many themes that you can't get elsewhere. I have the catalogs from 1995-2002 or so, but that's it.