CP5670

2003 was their really bad year, and they had been making steady losses for several years prior to that. Interestingly, they had actually turned around many things in 2003 and came out with some very good sets that year. However, there was a lot of bad stuff too. Also, many sets were remarkably cheap that year, with lower prices than we have ever seen before or since then. They had obviously tried to increase their volume of sales, and it was great for buyers like us, but turned out bad for them. 2004 was a better year in which they did at least break even. In 2006-07, the main things that come to mind are the return of Space (Mars Mission) and non-police/fire/construction City sets, and the introduction of modular buildings with the Cafe Corner. That was also the time when they started various cost cutting and outsourcing operations that caused brick quality to suffer.

If you can't tell, he is just trolling. I think someone here created an alternate account for the lulz.

BUMP The JTF layout now has another addition. This station is a bit larger and more elaborate than the others. Check out the short conveyor video. This was the last station module I had originally planned, but I've got some more ideas now for expanding the layout further, and I still need to add the remaining track I have. This is going to be a never ending project at this rate.

Ah, I see. The effect on trans-neon green parts looks great. I need to get some of those Lifelites packs.

You have described all the differences nicely. The piece count is the one difference you can find across all time periods, and is still there today. In the US and Canada, the larger boxes with flaps also contained some text inside the flap, in English, French and sometimes Spanish. Before 1993 or so, it said something about the "creativity and quality craftsmanship" of Lego sets and after that point, it became a short description of the theme instead. I don't think the European boxes had this text. Japan and South Korea actually had their own localized versions of the boxes around the early 90s. They were similar to the European boxes in most ways, but contained the set names (and what I think are the theme names) in those respective languages.

I like these pieces a lot too and aside from one or two exceptions (like the Tower Bridge), don't find them to be overused. It's one of the most useful parts introduced in several years. Unlike many AFOL models, TLG rarely uses them to just cover up studs and they add fine details that would be difficult to include in other ways.

I don't see anything wrong with charging for instructions, especially since there are people willing to pay for them. It does take a lot of effort to make instructions, and unlike building the actual model, the work tends to be more tedious than fun. I used to make ldraw files for my MOCs at one point (for my own purposes more than anything else, although I put them up online), but don't do it anymore as it became too time-consuming. That being said, I wouldn't buy instructions for this particular model. It's good but very similar to a lot of other supercar MOCs out there, and doesn't really stand out from the pack to me. Unlike Nathanael's past models, it is not made up from only one or two sets either, and getting all the parts from Bricklink would take some work. I would be more interested if anyone was selling complete sets with all the parts.

They had become strict about this in recent years but seem to be going back on it now. I recall seeing such illegal assemblies in some other model too. It's easy to just replace the pins by an axle here though. As for the pins being cheap to replace, you can't count on that indefinitely. I don't take the availability of any piece for granted, especially with TLG often changing the colors of basic Technic pieces these days. Many old light gray Technic parts that were very common at one point are harder to get now.

Wow, this is even better than your other model. It has a great mix of classical and modern building styles. What kind of lights are you using for the antennas?

Beautiful model. The color scheme and lighting give it a perfect sci-fi look and feel.

The interior of this model is amazing, and is easily the best we have seen yet in a large-scale vehicle. It puts even 5571's interior to shame.

I ran into a guy like that on Bricklink once. He had 900+ feedback, all positive, and I placed an order but never got any invoice or responses to my emails. After a month or two, he had a spate of negatives complaining about no responses and his store/account was suspended. I never paid him, so it cost me nothing apart from wasted time. There was also one strange case of an ebay seller (lockhand, if anyone remembers) who was both buying and selling MISB sets on ebay for several years with 5000 or more feedback, all positive. I bought several things from him over the years. He went through what was seemingly his last batch of auctions last year, and then his account was removed entirely. It looked like he might have shut down the account himself, which can be done in principle, although I can't imagine why.

An airtank isn't all that useful for the (fairly weak) compressors in this set and in 8868. It would just take longer to build up pressure. You want to open the valves first and then run the compressor as needed, instead of first pumping air into the system and then releasing valves (as you would with an airtank). This makes movements smoother and more precise.

A total score of 20 is low in any case, even if they're all positive. I would look for at least 50 in a seller, and a lot more if there are any negatives or neutrals. As mentioned, you should also look at who is leaving the feedback and for what kinds of items. I used to take occasional risks on sellers with very low feedback (although 100% positive) many years ago and have gotten some great deals on old MISB sets that way, but I probably wouldn't do it today.

This is an excellent creation and looks deceptively simple. It must have taken a fair amount of work to get the bushes on the belts placed exactly right for this to work. It reminds me of those programmable models in the 8888 idea book. One of them has a belt like this that effectively contains "information" in the form of gear racks. These kinds of things wouldn't have sold well as standalone sets but showcased the possibilities of Technic in unexpected ways.

It was wonderful meeting everyone here and sharing MOCs with each other. I talked to several of you over the last few days and had some great discussions on Lego. I will put up my pictures of the event on Brickshelf soon. The speed build on Saturday evening was also an awesome experience, and the first time I have done that. Apparently we beat the existing record on the Tower Bridge, despite a lot of chaos and screw-ups near the end. I spent $260-odd at the Lego store (after the 30% discount) and got lucky with some free things at the event, including 700 or so pieces from the speed build and an 8068 from the door prizes. Still, I think people were a bit more conservative than in previous years, when the Bulls store sale encouraged everyone to go on crazy spending sprees.

The Tysons store had several Brickfair regulars hanging around yesterday, and many employees there have been to the show in the past and like to chat about MOCs. The PAB wall was stocked but there was little in the way of special parts there. 1x2 trans-clear bricks and 2x4x2 trans-clear windscreens were the only things that I noticed. As for recognizing me, my badge has this CP5670 handle on it. I'll be behind my (Unitron themed) MOCs in the space area at times during public hours, and will also be there at the IHOP tomorrow.

By the way, if you want to take advantage of the local Lego store discounts, it's best to go early. I went to the Tysons store today and they were already running out of a few things. They are supposed to get additional shipments of some sets on Monday.

Most people here are only saying that they are good corporate citizens or something to that effect, which entirely misses the point. Mind you, I can certainly see why TLG (or any other company) does this, and it is indeed a good business strategy. The few Glassdoor reviews on TLG are a mixed bag and indicate otherwise as far as the pay goes (although they have other good things to say).

I'm good with that. If anyone else here wants to join us or has ideas for other places/times, feel free to chime in.

That is interesting to know. Thanks for the correction. Does the oil dry up or evaporate over time? The tires are very slimy out of the box but become considerably better after a few years. It's a good thing they don't use this oil anymore in any case. The stuff rubs off on other Lego pieces and is very time-consuming to remove, as it won't come off with water alone.

That sounds great. 9:00 might be a bit early for me though. Would 10:00 or so work? Maybe we could go on Friday and avoid the weekend crowds. I'll be around on all four days.

I'm up for it. Send me a PM if you want to set up something and exchange phone numbers. I managed to finish up my final monorail station last week, so I will bring that along with a few things from last year. I look forward to seeing everyone else's MOCs.

I don't think you can actually get rid of the oil completely, as that's part of the substance the tires are made of. If you leave the models out on display for a few years, the tires will harden over time and become less slimy. However, you can remove it off other parts using alcohol. See the entry on oily tires here.

I thought this was the weakest Blacktron 1 set. The asymmetric design is a great idea, but there is little interior space for a ship of this size (no place for the second guy) and the whole thing is rather flimsy and poorly constructed. As you said, the modular sections are not as useful as they could have been. I modified mine into this model. There was an interview with a TLG designer posted here, who said that some German mothers in TLG's focus groups thought the model looked too aggressive for kids. I don't think you guys missed out on much though, except for some of the rare pieces like the 2x2 yellow grill tiles.