Eilif

Great job. An elegant solution for a very common workplace item.

1) If no one's going to see it, I don't worry too much. Usually it's not so much different colors, as irregular walls. However, I've been doing more and more interiors recently, so I've been more carefull to make interior walls even, in case I decide to make an interior later. 2) Sets of any kind only last as long as I don't need the pieces for a MOC. I have a couple of favorite sets that may stay on my shelf for over a year, but the majority of them are only one MOC away from ruthless disassembly.

I don't mean switch the arms, but rather lower the body on the cross and angle the arms down ward a bit to create the look of hanging. You're welcome

You'll get no sympathy from me... Yep, I think that Charity shops, Resale stores, Thrift stores, etc, are pretty much all the same thing: shops selling used stuff at low prices. In the US, we have resale shops of several varities. We have alot of resale shops run by charities such as Salvation Army, Goodwill, St. Vincent DePaul, etc. We also have some resale shops that are run as for-profit organizations. Ironically, alot of these stores buy in bulk from charities who accept donations but do not have thier own retail outlets. Finally, there are some shops that operate soley by taking items on consignement and taking a percentage of the sales.

The stereo piece comes in several sets, but hasn't been around since '99. It appears in these sets. I got mine in a resale shop mixed lot, so I'm not sure where it came from I wasn't commenting on old LEGO, I was joking about.... Yep, that's what I was kidding about. I remember when the tape tile came out, and it seemed so modern to have a video cassette tape piece.

Martin, I don't mean to burst your bubble, but it's not LEGO talking down to you. It's accepted practice for companies to protect the proprietary designs of their products by not accepting any unsolicited input or product suggestions. A company that accepts unsolicited customer suggestions may later be sued by that customer for using their design without compensation. Thus the line about "origin of products". In many companies, the established rule is to not even acknowledge the suggestion with a response so that there is no legal basis for establishing that the company recieved the suggestion. I think that I read your earlier letter (this should really be in that thread for the sake of continuity), and it appears that your letter was flagged for having a set suggestion, and thus you received the form letter above. I agree that it would have been nice to recieve a personal response, but businesses these days just can't afford to do that for every letter (as shown by the form letters that we all recieved durring the PAB price boondoggle) and a response addressing your specific suggestion would have been in breach of thier policy. I also think that LEGO could do more to involve thier customers, but it must be said that in the past 10 years, LEGO has become a MUCH more responsive company. Ambassadors, participation in AFOL events, using selected groups of AFOL's for development of certain sets, etc are huge changes from the way LEGO used to be run. I don't want to be the LEGO fanboy here, I just wanted to make everyone aware of certain realities.

Thanks. In answer to your question, unfortunately washing won't usually change the color of your bricks. Cleaning will take away dirt and two cleanings will usually get rid of a smokey smell, but it won't change the effects of yellowing which is a chemical process. However, there are a few meathods that folks have tried that will remove or reverse much of the yellowing. They usually revolve around oxyclean, hydrogen peroxide, or bleach. Don't go mixing those unless you know what you are doing. I've got alot of yellowed bricks, and I'm on the lookout for some 30% strenth hydrogen peroxide, as that seems to be a good, relatively safe meathod. Do a search on EB for "yellowing" or "bleaching" and you're likely to find what you are looking for.

I'm going to watch this thread, as I'm curious about other ways to do incorporate Duplo into System. I use Duplo to support the clifftop/tunnel on my Brickington island layout. It's all standard connections of Duplo on top of traditional System Baseplates attached to the "roof" of the tunnel which is duplo bricks plugged into large brick basplates. Duplo does wonders for creating supports that would take at least 4 times as many system bricks.

Happy to be of help. I saw your post in the IKEA thread, and it appears that disassmembly and sorting of parts is really the best option for you considering the small amount of storage space that you have. All the best with the sorting!

I am speechless. This is stunning! The original is a nice enough MOC, but this is display-worthy. The harnesses for the horses brilliant, and the colors of the coach are quite nice, though the brown back is a bit of an abrupt change. I'm especially in awe of the buffalo. I'm not very adept at organic shapes and curves, but you make it look quite easy. My father is a Buffalo fanatic, so I may have to copy your design and surprise him with one the next time I visit him.

Have you considered having a few small boxes and sorting them by color as you take apart set or acquire new sets? I've tried to do something like this in the past, and it makes it alot easier. With the bricks already separated by color you can decide to sort just one color at a time, so it doesn't seem like you have to sort it all at once, which can be quite overwhelming. Also, I don't want to rain on your parade, since you have the commendable patience to sort your minifig parts, but I've found that the best way to find minifig parts is to have as many as possible assembled on minifigs, and have the minifigs on baseplates so that I can quickly look over the figs and find the parts that I am looking for. It takes a bit more time, but I've found it to be waaay faster. Whatever you decide, good luck satisfing your inner filing monkey. You should definitely upload them. One of the best ways to grow as a builder is to get other people's comments and criticisms (criticisms are the most usefull if you can take it) on your MOCs, and I can assure you we'd like to see them. As for rate of disassembly, most of my MOCs are for my train club module, so they tend to stay together for quite a while. The bulk of my mess comes from pieces left over after I build, or leftover from sets I take apart for pieces.

Great job. The sausage factory turned out quite well. I look forward to seeing these at Brickworld. Where did you find the Brown Parrots?

I have this shelving system, that I was told was from IKEA. I don't think, it's made anymore, but the depth and height of the compartments is similar to the Expedit series. The shelve pictured here (over the desk) is the LACK series. LACK available in lots of colors and finishes, and the optional metal supports are quite classy looking IMHO. I have 4 of them over my workspace for displaying MOCs and sets (until I need the pieces). I also like the fact that they don't take up lower wall space, so you can have a chair or desk, or whatever, under your display space. While you are at IKEA, check these out. They are bigger in size and compartment than plano cases or thread cases, and they are great for storing parts, and small MOCs. GLIS box with lid $3.99 http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10073345 I have 10 of these that I use to store and transport all the parts of my train club module that are not buildings or bases. (cars, people, fences, small structures, etc. All the best with your new display space!

Nice Job on the MOC. The face and feet (fins) are a bit distracting, but overall the more "realistic" look (rather than a more traditional approach) works well for this MOC. The means by which the hands grip the crossbar is quite well done also, though the arms should probably be angled downward rather than upward since he is hanging on the cross, rather than levitating on it. Overall, a good MOC as is, or an excellent one with some adjustments. I felt the same way, but it's apropriate that you should have to dislocate the arms to make the MOC work, since part of the horror of Crucifixion is that the victims arms are often slowly dislocated by the gradual lessening of the ability of the nailed feet to support the body's weight.

Ah,you mean the 1x2 reel to reel tape piece. Here's a boom box piece, one of my favorite printed LEGO pieces ever. As for the tape piece, it's been neat to see this classic piece reappear in modern sets. In MOC's I usually use it as part of a VCR, or as a VCR tape. I have a feeling that a carefull reading of this thread is going to clearly separate the AFOL's from the TFOL's Prateek, eyes on a robot is Brilliant Idea!!

Good question, I usually disassemble MOCs and sets when I need the pieces for a new MOC. Some of the largest things that I have disassembled in recent memory, are Cafe Corner, and Market street. Becuase even large MOCs and sets tend to use alot of the same pieces, sorting them back into my collection is quite quick. Second to being able to easily find the piece you are looking for, being able to quickly sort brick back into your collection is probably the bigggest benefit of a good sorting system. I just finished sorting and storing 2 very mixed full LEGO tubs worth of bricks back into the collection, and it was probably the work of an afternoon and two evenings. If I was more disciplined about sorting, 5 minutes of sorting each time I build would likely keep me from ever having to do large scale sorting.

Wow, that is brilliant! Of course, I'd need a facebook page first... Maybe my wife will let me use hers?

This year, I'm probably averaging $50 a month or less, and that includes, sets, PAB, resale shops, etc. With my wife in school, I'm spending alot less than last year, or the year before where on average, I probably spent $75-$100 a month.

That sounds about right. I've only bought 3 or 4 of the small cups. That was when there was only one or two parts on the PAB wall that I was interested in, such as tiles, 1x1 plates, or similar items. If I'm going to purchase any bricks or larger elements items I'll always go with the larger cups. The small cups are great for sorting and storing pieces in your collection though.

Thanks for doing this review dragonator. Great job and good observations on what appear to be some excellent products. I can't wait until Brickworld when I'll stock up on these new items.

You'll probably have to call ahead to find out if they have PAB, but here's the list of LEGO stores http://stores.lego.com/en-US/default.aspx I know exactly what you mean. Besides flag poles, I've never seen light sabers or other "rod" pieces in PAB, but you've got a good idea there right idea. It's all about finding out which pieces will fit in between which other pieces. Some other hints: -Stacks of roof slopes can be reversed and slid together. -Stacks of flower stems can fit in odd sized crevasses.

Do "Classic Torsos" include the non-printed plain torsos of the same era?

I didn't pack that PAB bin, but I think that somewhere I did record how many pieces I packed into mine. I can't seem to find it. If I run across it I'll post it. Further down in this old thread on lugnet, there are two examples (including this one) with lists of pieces they've fit into a PAB tub and links to pics. http://news.lugnet.com/market/shopping/?n=...amp;t=f&v=a You're welcome, and thank you! Unfortunately there are no more PAB tubs. However, see below... While the tubs are long gone, some LEGO stores have a cardboard box that you can fill for $150. Unfortunately the cardboard boxes are only ever so slightly larger than the old PAB bins, so as well as not getting a useful green tub, you really have to pack it to make it worth while. I've not purchased one and probably won't bother, but I know a couple of guys who have, and they seem satisfied with what they got. Also, since it's a cardboard box with strait sides, you can really pack it tight.

Agreed, I'd rather this thread be about PAB packing strategies, and not a complaint thread for the lack of PAB walls in certain areas. I've packed dozens of PAB cups at stores in Minnesota, Oregon, and Illinois and I've never had a problem. In fact, if business is slow, I often have pleasant conversations with LEGO store staff. I've heard from other AFOL's that at some stores, they will actually give you hints on packing a PAB cup. Sometimes I'll pack more than one cup, and if any of you remember the $100 PAB tubs that were sold for a while in 2007, once a friend an I took nearly an hour to pack one (it was quite heavy when we were done) at a wall located right behind the cash register and got nothing but friendly conversation with the staff. This is not my pic, but it's the same tub packed similarly. Happy Easter!!