caperberry

Makes sense, I was 6 in 1977 so the yellows have dominated my memory :0) I haven't got to that chapter yet. I'll remember your pain when I do

Ah those lovely yellow pages. I'd pore over them as a child in Australia, but never ordered anything. I'm unsure why I didn't; much as I desired spare parts I guess I didn't have a strong enough need for things. It's much the same with PAB walls now; coming across something I need happens far less than finding something I want. Either way, I now have sufficient pocket money to buy ;O)

I guess Bricklink could often be the first AFOL site newbies come across, so if a gallery inspires them then that's nice. Just seems an odd direction for a resale site to devote time and money to. Given they are rebuilding from the ground up with competitors already launched, I'd have thought they had enough on their plates.

What do people think of the addition of MOC profiles to the site? Strikes me as odd and a tad unrelated to the purpose of the site. Like if eBay added the ability for you to upload pictures of how you used your purchases!

Wow haven't seen those studless bricks before, Gary. And to think it then took close to 60 years to release the 1x1 round tile!

Noticed a tiny mould change in 4287 Slope, Inverted 33 3 x 1 (Roof Tile 1X3/25° Inv.) the other day. The small rectangular facet at the front was standardised at some point (anyone know the year?) to be the same size as 45° inverted slopes always had been (which is also the same size that modern inverted bows are, like 13547 as seen here). If you're interested, I waffle on about this in my latest blog post. I can also detect a reeeeeally tiny change in height between the two old ones shown here - the yellow is one or two LDU larger than the dark grey - which puzzles me.

It's called Tower Bridge. Yes, it's in London, but London Bridge is a totally separate bridge. Sorry to be a pedant but it's really distracting me! The current London Bridge was built in the 1970s so although I would enjoy an official set of it, I estimate 99.99% of FOLs would not!

I agree re daleks and sets, but I still don't own any. Thankfully said non-AFOLs have never bought me any either! You could replace 'Doctor Who' with any of the IPs that clone brands make. Like 'Barbie'. a Brand Store staff member was telling me they get this all the time. Another thing he said they get a bit are parents describing a set they've seen online they want to buy for Little Timmy, which turns out to be a MOC. He's had customers that get quite stroppy when it is explained that no, Lego do not sell this model, no you can't get instructions, no we don't have a set that has about the same pieces.

"Have you got the Doctor Who Lego?"

Couldn't resist checking; yup the file is unavailable today [edit: OK, now it's back! Probably just my computer being dumb. Anyways...] I hope this incident causes TLG to finally get their act together re. not automatically posting every instruction book - I'm all for free distribution of information and am glad I got a copy of something they might never sell in this country... but overall, still have a chip on my shoulder that they published the Villy Thomsen instructions early!

Maybe they'll resurrect the Romana II/Princess Astra explanation... I sure hope not. Thrilled about Capaldi and his greater age. Hope this steers the show back on course after a depressing year.

That's precisely why the lawyer's comment disturbed me so much! I feel a lot better now though :) Well, I take your sentiment, but a dealer is anyone that buys and sells any commodity. Just because drug dealers are included in that doesn't mean we should (or could!) disassociate ourselves with the word.

Mostly I think it was unintentional because that book has obviously cost them a lot of money to make; if they actually wanted to be charitable they wouldn't be charging $150 a set. Like you I'd love it to be potential goodwill, but I (very rudely) called them potential idiots because they're a company not a charity, and this will lose them sales. How many? Maybe just the equivalent of a drop in the water as far as TLG are concerned, but probably more than that IMHO. A lot of FOLs seem to be on the fence about this set, feeling the parts don't offer value to them, but are interested in the book so are now very happy to download that for nothing. That's great and in no way am I condemning them, as (intentional or not) TLG have put it on their site for free download. I have no sympathy for TLG if it was an error - they've made mistakes in the past by uploading other instructions that shouldn't have been, most recently the 2013 Inside Tour model before the tours began. Plus the book contains exercises that can't be done with white elements, which devalues the experience of the set a bit to me. I want the whole set. I want the printed book, to have the pleasant experience of reading real pages laid out as intended, and to do the exercises away from the computer. But since there is no word from TLG as to whether they will sell this set to me (as I do not live in the US), I have downloaded the book in case - plus of course to have a sneak peek at a few pages to get a feel!

Yeah, I had no such vibes. But sorry you didn't have a nice day. I went in May and loved it. It has a real charming atmosphere, especially compared to British theme parks I've been to. I live in london but have never been to Windsor! But the mates I was with have and they said Billund Miniland was way way better; they described Windsor Miniland in similarly depressed tones. Yes much is faded and old but heck, I can't even keep the models in my house very clean and straight! There are new models in Miniland, I saw many. But having never been before I can't compare to times of old. Same with cost. EVERYTHING in Denmark seemed terrifyingly expensive! Some big theme park company did not just come in and take over the Parks, by the way. TLG actively selected and invested in Merlin and turned them into a big theme park company, of which Kjeld owns a third.

So true. A mother once saw me stacking a PAB cup and said to her son "ooh I'd love HIS job!" I couldn't let it pass and said I was not staff! She gave me a look as she processed this - astonishment, confusion, incomprehension and horror all rolled into one - then burst out laughing. I did too!

It's only available in the US, and may stay that way. If you want the download I suggest getting it now; surely TLG adding it online was an error. If it was intentional, they're complete idiots.

I did wonder that, thanks. Yes I've no doubt it's a dumb, isolated incident from a trash rag but there's plenty more trash rags and tweet journos happy for a catchy media savvy quote. The longer I think about it the more it disturbs me...maybe I'll go for a nice walk in the sunshine and flowers!

What is most interesting to me about the report is the lawyer's quote. Google Translate was understandably unable to convey the finer nuances of his words so I asked a Dutch friend. Original: ,,Lego is erg in trek en raakt men wel kwijt. Als kinderen eenmaal het eerste blokje hebben gehad, dan hangen de ouders.’’ Friend's translation: "People are always looking for Lego. It is easy to resell. Once kids have handled their first brick, the parents are screwed." What a disturbing defence... it seems to hint that parents themselves are pushing the 'drug' of LEGO onto their kids and are a vital link in the chain. The parallels are interesting, I'm sure we've all referred to our 'habit', but how bizarre and sick to tie the two things together. That would be nice but I fear this is just the kind of news story that will run and run. Childhood innocence meets adult depravity, all wrapped up in a 'funny' eye-catching headline... I suspect we've not heard the last of this story, but I hope we have.

Well that's terrible but highly amusing. I wonder if the dealer is an AFOL needing his own 'fix' or just resells. Either way, it's the innocent bricks I feel sorry for!

Agreed it is quite funny at times with the extreme hyperbole, and I've heard all her points (and worse) spouted by different FOLs at different times too. But she has been lazy with her writing. Most notably just dismissing Friends as 'pink crap' without even feeling it is necessary to explain anything further than that.

Are any US/Canadian readers here going to the Friends in-Store event tomorrow (1 Aug) for the jewellery box build? I'm keen to know if there are Medium Lavender 1x4 bricks included, if you go pls reply here or on my blog post, thanks.

I think what you meant to say was "Building with Lego is less of a waste than watching football or hockey matches. It's a different thing; a hobby that is creative" ;0)

So stupid of them; the book is a major selling point!

FOLs say some of those things way too much too :0) Another one I get a lot, but is very sweet, is "man when I was a kid I had the BIGGEST Lego city ever!" No you didn't.

I'm amused I wasn't the only one who thought that! Hope you liked my version!