CP5670

I usually avoid anything that will cause damage to parts over time. Some types of pieces such as flex tubes will always get deformed when you use them and are designed for that, but some other types of assemblies could be considered illegal. In general though, TLG has become a lot more strict about this with official Lego sets than they once used to be. This is a well known problem with the kind of plastic they're using for minifig accessories today. There is a description here.

I use wall-powered sources (control centers and speed regulators) whenever I can and tend to avoid battery boxes as much as possible. It would be good if TLG releases a native PF wall-powered source at some point. You currently have to use the converter cables with 9V sources. Rechargable batteries are an interesting option, but they run around 7.2V and make the motors slower and less powerful than they would be on 9V. One reason why I don't like normal, alkaline batteries is that their voltage drops as their charge is used up, long before they fully die out. I've had cases where a Technic model was not working properly and I couldn't see any obvious reason for it, but it turned out to be the battery box outputting a low voltage and making the motors weak.

I got a few of these off ebay some years ago. It's a neat concept, but in practice it's not very useful. It's too long for most purposes and is not as elastic as it might look, roughly comparable to long flex tubes, so using the axle at a sharp angle causes some friction in it. They are also pretty rare and expensive these days, so you can't use a large quantity of them in a model.

I have this too. It's an odd looking model and that massive laser cannon (that is indeed what it is, according to the S@H catalogs) looks hilariously out of proportion given the size of the ship, but it comes with all the features of the Exploriens theme and includes various unique parts. The BL prices on this are inflated though. I got mine unopened for $4 a few years ago on ebay (the original price was $8). You can kind of make it out in this picture. This was a cool idea but the theme only came with two of these stickers, so it becomes kind of boring to see the same fossils in every set. TLG made a few more tiles like this later on, but they were only released in one Divers set and are hard to come by today. These tiles are also slightly magnetized, and the larger Explorien sets included magnetic arms to pick them up.

Grand Emporium. It's the only one that I think looks fairly modern, and would fit in reasonably well alongside standard City sets. The interior is also quite nice.

I was always slightly annoyed by how the higher 8400 and 8800 numbers were taken over by all these other themes. Those numbers always defined the cream of the crop of Technic in my mind.

LDD and Bricklink are different kinds of things. It makes more sense to compare PAB and Bricklink or LDD and MLCad. Basic, common pieces are cheaper on Bricklink, while specialized parts, especially recently introduced ones, may be cheaper on PAB. On the whole, I think Bricklink has better prices, even if you only consider new parts. However, since you get free shipping on PAB parts when combined with S@H orders, I often add a few things from there to my orders.

Nice article. I've noticed many of these trends in the set numbering too. As you say, the numbers have become pretty haphazard since around 2000. City has moved into 7600-7900 these days, while Space was in 7600 with MM but is now 5900 with SP3. Technic has always remained in the 8x00 range, but it's now shared with Racers, Bionicle and other themes. For the last few years Technic has been in 8200, but those numbers are almost used up now and it looks like they're going to 8000 from this year onward. The 1x00 and 2x00 numbers have indicated some sort of limited release in the past. These lines include value packs, promotional sets (not available through standard retail channels or S@H), seasonal sets, and sets that were only released in some countries.

I find that the American stores are generally cheaper on basic, common pieces, especially in large quantities, while the European stores have better selections of rare, discontinued parts and are often the only places to get them in new condition. Although I don't spend anywhere close to that amount on BL.

Great read. I like how they mixed in the sci-fi, classic space models alongside the more realistic sculptures. Thanks for posting this. Was this included with some set? I've heard of these Lego World Shows but didn't know they made brochures like this.

Nice. I wish that worked for my broken red micromotors. I once tried throwing them across the room a few times and it didn't help.

That other model is amazing, and makes mine look small. I hadn't seen it before.

There has only been one case where I've had a problem with an assembled Technic model. The rear wheels on my 8856 cracked after 7 or 8 years on display. This may have been related to the single-sided wheel forks, which bend slightly and make the wheels touch the ground at a slight angle. I changed the forks to be double-sided and it has not gotten any worse since then. The vast majority of built models will not damage pieces over time, unless they are using some sort of illegal building technique. The pieces you show look bad enough that they had probably already gotten damaged in some other way, before the models were assembled.

I miss the universal/multi-model sets too. Apart from the idea books, these universal sets were the main source of unusual model concepts that had unique and clever mechanisms but might not have been marketable as standalone sets. The 8062 set you mentioned has a guy rowing a boat for example. The last set of this type was probably 8479, back in 1997. I think the disappearance of these sets is part of a larger trend we've seen over time, where the emphasis of Technic has shifted from exploring different kinds of mechanisms to creating realistic reproductions of vehicles. Some of the Mindstorms sets have taken the place of universal sets in the sense of having non-vehicle models and encouraging free-form building, but their focus is more on the programming aspects and they lack the mechanical complexity of Technic.

I think trans neon-green works the best of any color. Here are some examples:

There is a good description of the whole procedure at this site. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet though.

All the old space themes had slight variations on that grid pattern. The 6990 monorail actually included a Futuron backdrop, although it's much smaller than the size you are looking for.

That's a really clever idea, but I tried it out on a few of mine earlier today and was only able to remove some of them that way. From what I can see, the trans-blue ones have a noticeably stronger grip than the trans-red ones. Not sure how the other colors compare. Still, thanks for taking the time to post all this. There is actually one alternative I found that is a slight variation of what I mentioned earlier, although it's still not a perfect solution. You can put the pin into a Technic brick, stick a 1x4 antenna into the other side of the pin, and bend the antenna to the side. Even though the antenna is not held in place, this actually gives the pin's lip a surprisingly good grip on the Technic hole. You can then push against the Technic brick to remove the bulb.

I always like these classic-style MOCs with colored transparent parts. It looks very roomy inside and I especially like the chief's large desk.

This model captures the look of the set perfectly, and has just the right amount of detail. Now all you need is a brick-built Squidtron to go with it. I'm always impressed by how diverse your creations are in general. You seem to build great stuff in practically every theme.

I wouldn't work for any of the companies in this capacity, as they would not pay enough compared to other, unrelated jobs I could do. If I actually wanted to get into the toy design industry though, I wouldn't mind working for any brick company, aside from the illegit ones. I might ask for a higher pay with companies other than TLG, simply because building with Lego would be more fun for me and carry an increased job satisfaction.

Great idea. I had two of these assemblies from 8448 that I couldn't separate for many years. I did something similar to this last year to finally remove the pieces. Do you know of a way to separate these pieces? This setup is used in several SP3 sets. I mentioned earlier that you can sometimes remove them with the antenna/liftarm method, but that only sometimes works since the stud pins have smaller "lips" than friction pins and don't get a good grip on liftarms.

I'm only into a couple of current themes (City, SP3, Technic and Creator) and for quality reasons I only get the sets that I really think are exceptional these days. The time needed to enjoy the sets is more of an issue for me than the money. I used to buy old sets on ebay and Bricklink frequently around 2000-2004 and the bulk of my collection still consists of those, but I have cut back on that a lot in recent years after I got most of the stuff I wanted. I spend about as much on Bricklink part orders today as on sets. As far as the large, $100+ sets go, the only such sets I get these days are usually the Technic flagships. I think I'll get the Grand Emporium this year though. It's the first modular building that really appeals to me. One thing I've done in the last few years is to make all my bigger purchases at a Lego event and take advantage of the store discounts. At Brickfair in the past, the nearby Lego stores have given a 20% discount to attendees (separate from the damaged box sales), which can be substantial for a $300+ order.

If you discourage people from searching though, it increases the chances of them posting redundant threads. Does the new server help with this? I don't know how much search traffic EB gets, but it seems like the server should be fast enough to handle them without the time limits.

Great pictures and explanations. The last method is new to me, and looks like a clever idea. I've had trouble with the older version of those levers many times. Use a piece with a Technic hole for this. Technic holes have a stronger grip on studs than the normal stud receptacles on bricks/plates/etc. The 1x2 pin joiner works especially well. You can also use a transparent 1x4 antenna in the same way. Only transparent ones are good for this, which are made of PC and have a tighter grip on studs than the ABS ones.