Eilif

Beautiful, I love it! The tunnel is a nice touch, and I especialy like the turret on the third floor and the flower cart. your sink with dishes and the washing machine on the second floor are also very well excecuted. I see you used the same yellow flower brick/decal as I did. I got mine in a mixed batch, do you know what set it came from?

Prices are back down, reflecting only a moderate price increase! No overview of the changes, but a few of the special elements I have noticed. -Two colors of dwarf legs -minifig hair (black princess, new male hair, etc) -Minifig headgear: flying helments, goggles, skateboard helmets, -Minifig torosos of many kinds -battleaxes and quivers -Barrels and treasure chests -dog -drawers for cupboards -Prison and classic doors for 4x6x1 frames -16x16 Green and 8x16 dark grey baseplates -small and large inverted windscreens -2x2 "clock" tile -ice cream -nozzle with shaft, aka "agents pistol" -spear -sextant -Beard, backpack, farmer backpack (panier), swim fins Unfortunately most dark red and dark blue bricks seem to be gone...

I'm looking at PAB right now, there has been some moderate price increases, but it appears that across the board, prices are down, and the pics for all elements are up!! YAAY!! When the people make their voices heard, LEGO listens!

I always take the time to pack my cup. I've found that you can usually get as much as 20% more stuff in when you carefully pack than when you just carefully pour in. I build stacks of bricks and slide them into the box that, IIRC, are 13 bricks high. I will use flowers, plants and 1x1 plates to fill in small gaps. Basically, you get a solid core of brick from top to bottom of the cup with smaller stacks and odd shaped items filling in the sides. Other tips: -When I buy window frames, I will stack them and fill the inside with bricks. -If I'm stocking up on basic brick, I will build two large blocks pieces and fill in the sides with bricks. -The only pieces I will take the time to stack are tiles, and even then, I will often use them to pack around other stacked elements. -Remember to build a 4x4x3 block to put in the "stud" in the top. There's some good pictures on Brickshelf (when it's working), and here's Here's another interesting method of packing http://news.lugnet.com/general/?n=44307 Next time I pack a cup, I'll try and remember to take a picture of how it is packed.

Grab those, they are great for sorting! Consider starting with the food containers first. Before I acquired all the drawer containers, and before my collection expanded, I used the 2-section microwave food containers. A stack of these containers don't take up much more room than just a bin of bricks. Also, from a system based around food containers you can later expand (as you get more bricks and space) into some drawer containers for special pieces, and larger containers for bulk storage.

Yep, I emailed them my request on the 1st. Hope yours arives soon.

Great Job Brickarms! Each year at Brickworld I make a buy of brickarms, and it looks like this year will be my biggest and most diverse purchase yet. The Lewis gun and dadao are brilliant, and I'm particularly impressed with the sword, rapier, and navy revolver. Those 3 remind me of some of the playmobile accessories, and I mean that in a good way. Brickarms' getting into bladed weapons and offering alternate colors crosses over into areas formerly monopolized by Brickforge. This kind of compeition/complementing is sure go produce alot of great accessories from both companies in the future, and that can only be a good thing.

Just updated with more minifig parts and pictures for many of the items that I have for trade. make me an offer!

Just got my english copy in the mail! Very interesting reading. Lots of stuff about the business, toy buying habits around the world, lego education, standards, etc. Full Color glossy, very impressive.

It seems like we are getting some very mixed messages from TLG. They said this is the first price raise for PAB, but that is patently untrue, as the prices have gone up at least once before. They said they had made a mistake on pricing, but it's almost a week later, and as far as we've been able to see, the only prices that have gone down are the prices on items that were in the spring catalog. TLG execs talk about wanting to bridge the gap between virtual building and physical play and say that they want to increase the ability of folks to be able to order those creations but they have created a price structure that makes "virtually created" models nearly 4 times the price of models from a LEGO store. I think that TLG needs to allign their vision and implementation, and double check their facts before they send out untrue emails to thier fans. By the way, here's the link to the message from the LUGNET ambasador that The Green Brick Giant mentioned. VERY interesting reading, and a very insightfull price comparison.

Well done Dryw, The rear wheel is a very clever use of parts, and the engine is a thing of beauty. It looks to be about in scale with the older technic figures. Very cool.

Martinsuper, that's Brilliant! When I have children, I hope that I can be as supportive as your dad.

Great Job Brickster, It really captures the spirit of the original. When you visited, did they let you go inside the clock tower?

Looks like you're off to a good start. It seems like you have alot of buildings in progress at once. We'll be looking forward to future additions, keep it up!

Thanks VBBN, I really like the way they turned out, I think inverse arches will make alot of appearances in future Brickington buildings. Since you mentioned the greenhouse, and it's getting near my bedtime... Here's the rear of the greenhiouse. A nice view of a variety of plant life. The front of the greenhouse. Who's that inside? The roof of the greenhouse removes to reveal Mateo tending his flowers. Another shot if the interior. Not totally necessary, but it does show one of my favorite flower techniques. Flower heads pushed on the ends of LEGO bushes. I had to use forceps to hold some of the branches stiff enough to get the flowers on, but the results are well worth it. Hope you enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Kunjufu's Flower shop.

Thanks! I'm glad you like them. I've been trying to make each building unique, I'm glad that has come across in the final products. You will be pleased to know that the yellow accent side is more of an alternate building, than a part of the flower shop. Most of the time it will be hidden by the adjoining building, and when it's visible, the "front" side will likely be hidden. Sorry to steal your thunder... You're florist truck was a great inspiration to me to get work on building my florist. I'll be watching for yours. Now then, here's the second floor, and my hand, and a cat... The flower window was meant to look like some of the antique stained glass windows that are seen in many turn of the century homes. Unfortunately the piece it is on is an 8x3x2 red Fabuland brick that required some careful positioning and concealing. Getting the upside down arches to stay in place was also a bit of a chore. In the next pic you can see how I allowed for the bulk of the pieces holding in the arches, and tried to disguise the back of the red fabuland brick. Lastly, here's the view from the other side of the interior. The couch is actually the last remaining piece of furniture from a 1 brick to one foot model I made of a house my wife and I were considering buying a few years ago. We didn't buy it, and the LEGO version was demolished shortly thereafter. That's all for now. I'll be back with the last floor late tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks for weighing in on this Omi. In these kinds of situations it's always nice to hear from someone with real information. I voted for #2, and I'm still glad I did. We might not even get a train of any kind, but I have a very strong feeling that any small rail system would use the 4 wide tracks from the Temple of Doom set. Still, a small-rail set like that would be a nice addition to a LEGO town, and folks with 9V, PF, Monorail, or whatever system could find ways of retrofitting the TRU exclusive kit onto our existing rail systems. As you say, one important thing for everyone to remember, it looks like for all three pictures, LEGO purposely primarily used sets that have already been released or are slated for release soon. This should not suggest that we are getting reissues, rather it's just a jumping off point for a theme, not an accurate picture of a set contents.

Glad to see that Grimetown is growing. Don't sell yourself short on your interiors. Your partial interiors are better than alot of folks "full" interiors. Keep it up! My only comments would be that the railing by the entrance to the apartment building doesn't look quite finished, the lawn area of that building looks a bit sparse, and rather than having orange accents on the balconies, and green at the entrance, perhaps the building could have one accent color. Maybe the blue from the awning, or the red from the roof would be a good choice. Minor quibbles however for a well done pair of buildings.

Thanks Brickster, I think the florist will be integral to the marital health of Brickingtonians. I'm glad you like the green, I found a whole bunch of 2x2 round green plates and 1x4 green tiles, and it was a total blessing. It wouldn't be half as nice without them. As for a sign, I think you may be right. In the layout it will need something to definitively show that it is a florist and not just someone who likes flowers. I may make a hanging sign, or maybe just some tilted bins of flowers out front, but it does need something... Thanks, The ovals were a pain in the butt. I'll give more info when I get to the second floor pics. I may steal some ideas from the Otters, I love their flower truck. You asked for it... All right, I couldn't resist. I need a quick break from work, so here's the first floor. View looking from the front of the store towards the back. Kristie in the white hat, attending to a customer. You can't see it, but she has the very appropriate yellow floral pattern torso. From the rear of the shop, looking out. Perhaps this customer doesn't like the price of the daisies? Enjoy!

Great job on this one. I wish all my "experiments" turned out so well. It's nice to see a church building that doesn't focus so much on the entryway. Having the entrances smaller and on the sides makes the entire structure appear much larger and more impressive. A very nice effect!

Nice job on this one. I think the grey roof looks a little "off" but otherwise it's quite nice, and the coordinating minfig is a nice touch.

Good morning all, Here's my latest Moc for Brickington. Like every other Brickington building, it's built on a Market Street Modular base of 16x16. And of course as has become my tradition, I'll introduce it in narrative form. Without further ado... With the rapid commercial growth following the installation of proper ferry service, Brickington Island has become something of a destination, not only for travelers and vacationers, but also for those seeking an attractive location for special events. Young couples especially are finding that a short ferry ride can connect them and their guests with a beautiful location for their wedding at a price far below that of the more expensive locations in LEGO City. Thus has arisen the need for a whole host of cottage industries, not the least of which is a florist. Mateo and Kristie Kunjufu have setup their flower shop in the heart of Brickington in a classic restored limestone facade structure where they have built a proper greenhouse on the roof, and living accomadations in the middle floor. The Kunjufu's and their shop have quickly become a fixture of Brickington social life. A Master Botanist, Mateo immigrated to Brickland as a boy some 15 years ago. Native Bricklandian and Brickingtonian Kristie on the other hand is rebuilding her life in Brickington, after leaving the island as a small girl following the demise of her father in what her mother will only refer to as the day of green death. Here's the front facade. Here's the left facade. I wanted to make the left facade attractive. Unlike the sides of most buildings, this side will be visible, as it will be located along side a small canal. Here's the rear of the building, quite plain, but showing a bit more of the greenhouse. As with several other of my buildings, (Tomaselli's Italian dining, police station, etc) I've created a completely alternate facade for one side of the building. Whether for use on a corner, or simply turning it sideways to create a new building, I like my modules to be as flexible as possible. Only a third or so of my structures have interiors, but I've been thinking for some time that I should be creating more detailed interiors for all my modules. Consequently, this module has a full interior on all three floors. I'll post each floor's interior and exterior shots in later posts.

Hey LEGO King, I wouldn't hold your breath. Darth_Ewok hasn't posted since September. It's a shame, I was curious about his game, but Google reveals nothing about it, and the posts from others suggest that nothing ever came of it. Check out www.brikwars.com for a good playable LEGO game.

I voted for no for fitting together. However, the particular set you used for classic is one of the few classic styled kits that might not look too bad along side modular buildings. I love the modular buildings, and have them all, but for building a whole layout I find them a bit cost prohibitive in terms of how many pieces they use. That's why I do MOC my layout in modular, but it's almost all Market Street styled 16x16 based buildings. I find it's a nice balance between classic town, which tend to be too small and simple, and CC size modular buildings which -while impressive- are just to expensive for me to build en'masse. I also like the way MStreet modules allow you to access the insides by virtue of having separate floors without having distracting open backs. All that said, if I did build "Tabletowns" of official LEGO sets, I would not be able to resist having modular and classic buildings on the same layout. Sure they don't look quite right, but 4 and 6 wide cars don't look quite right either, and why limit yourself just to "old" sets (though they are very nice) when there are so many great new city and city'ish sets available now.

I wouldn't say better or worse, I would say different. Yes, the new figs are more colorful, but all of LEGO has gotten more colorful. When pirates first came out, they were the first figs with faces other than smileys, and they were wildly successful. The trend has continued, and now that we are seeing more detailed torsos and heads, folks are calling it "cartoony". Yes, the prices have gone up, and piece count has gone down, but the price of everything has gone up since the past pirates theme. Deal with it. If you want to see more and better pirate sets, buy the current sets, and LEGO will continue the line and release new ones. I wouldn't say dirt cheap, but you're definitely right about price comparisons. People who complain about set price increases rarely take inflation into account. With a few exceptions LEGO is no more expensive now then it ever was, and in many cases is cheaper. BB is one of those exceptions, but it's clearly priced on size rather than piece count.