Eilif

Brilliant MOC. I've never seen the original, but your MOC's whimsy and color is smile inducing. Kudos also on the use of Fabuland parts. The roofline seems a bit abrupt, but as it appears that this is a facade, that may be inevitable. Well done.

I made some changes I thought you all might like to see. First, I updated the rear of the building Here's the much requested updated railing And I added a proper dumpster. In Chicago, blue with dual black plastic lids is a pretty common color combo. I was going to just make a brick box, but I decided to try some SNOT work. The dumpster is big enough that a minifig can sit inside, and a monkey can almost entirely fit in there. The economic slump has hit Brickington too. I found the system map sticker. I got this in a LEGO store grab bag, and have been saving it for just the right project. I'm pretty proud of the way this minifig turned out also. As minifigs go, She's pretty hip. Here's the far side of the station. with a new higher fence As you all suggested, I removed the red line created by the roof baseplates. Heres the near side of the station with my slightly modified "Indy" car: removed tarp, new window, improved side "mirrors" and streamlined trunk. Thanks again to everyone for their comments. I was going to leave it as it was originally, but your comments have helped make it a much better MOC.

I was photographing some other MOCs, so I thought I'd snap a shot of what it looks like now. Basically the same, except I did what you all suggested in moving the rear wheels together. Also, with some fiddling I was able to fit 3 trees in the bed.

Amazing job! I have a special place in my heart for 16 wide CC stuff. I agree that it might be nice to see it in color, but in greys it makes it really easy to see the way the various parts work together. Your MOC page is almost a How-To on building detailing. If you do recolor it, keep the grey images as well. I like the little details you captured like the security door, and the railings on the roof stairs I'll definitley be revisiting your building for inspiration.

Thanks, I'm happy to help. I wondered about the bionicle storylines too. I'm not very knowlegable about Bionicle, though, so someone else will have to answer that one. If there are bionicle deaths wouldn't be surprised if TLG justifies it as not being the death of "people".

As you guessed, it is the no violence policy. Mike Rayhawk, who has done some of the artwork for LEGO comics, cards talks a bit about that in his website. Here's one mention http://www.mikerayhawk.com/2004_playset.htm but there are a few others throughout his site. Apparently, in most cases, TLG productions won't show the death of "people" or even good guys hitting bad guys.

Since we are collecting all sorting discussion, here's how I sorted mine. I keep "special" pieces sorted by type in 8 large,and 4 small drawer containers. This includes things like clips, hinges, minifig parts and accessories, tiles, rounds, etc, etc. Everything else gets sorted by color and type (similar types often mixed). Most pieces are put into cheapo dollar store microwave containers and stacked on a shelving system. Bricks that I have alot of in one color and type, are placed in freezer bags and put in one of 19 LEGO suitcases, tubs and buckets. I also use 8 of the plastic shoeboxes for sorting large or numerous special pieces like BURPS and LURPS, wheels, castle walls, etc. Finally, I keep my minifigs on two 4 tier racks like this one Most recently, i sorted about 10,000 pieces into a 100k+ collection and I blogged the whole process here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?...&hl=sorting

That's the million dollar question. Mr Page died before learning of LEGO's success with his designs, but he wasn't a slouch with patents and defense of his designs. He had many patents, including those of his bricks. If he had learned of LEGO, he would likely have taken some action. However, when he passed on, Kiddiecraft's second leaders never took any action, and, it seemed that the later owners had no idea what patents they had. The 45,000 that LEGO paid for the patents (which were then owned by a third company) seems like a pittance compared to how much they made from the design. In LEGO's defense, after taking the Page design, LEGO entered their own patents in Denmark, and later added the interior "tubes"and patented them as well. Further, and kiddiecraft and the companies that purchased kiddiecraft in 77, 84, and 89 never pursued legal action.

That may be for clothes, but according to LEGO's own words, no pirated bricks that LEGO gets ahold of will end up anywhere but the incinerator. Happy to be of help! I think Mr. Page's suicide had more to do with fears about a possible failure of his company. He died before LEGO came to Brittan in '59, and his daughter has said that she's glad he died before learning about LEGO. http://www.hilarypagetoys.com/history.php?his_id=4 Interestingly, LEGO didn't buy the rights to the kiddicraft patents until they were just beginning their lawsuit against Tyco in '81. As to the lawyers, I'm sure it'd be alot of $ for you or I, but as a billion-plus dollar company, I'm quite sure that TLG has a team of Lawyers on retainer working for them at all times. Please, no one think that I'm trying to disparage TLG. Quite the contrary, I adore LEGO bricks and TLG. They still make the best bricks and sets, and have the best service and community involvement of any of the brick manufacturers. I just like to get the truth out there.

I think you are both right, I didn't think think the curves through. It's pretty much a moot point though, as I think that Section 8 may have the best explanation of the situation. I think this pretty much sums it up, especially when not only are 6 wide the norm, but 8 and even larger are frequently appearing.

Ah, young padawan, it's time you were introduced to the ugly truth about LEGO. It's a clone brand of Kiddiecraft bricks! Here's a page that will be of some interest to you. http://www.hilarypagetoys.com/ Read deep, there's some interesting info in there. Kiddiecraft came first, and LEGO made nearly identical bricks (with no compensation to kiddiecraft) until they finally bought the rights to the Kiddiecraft patents a few decades later for a pittance. Also, several subsequent lawsuits have resulted in the courts deciding that LEGO does not have exlusive rights to LEGO compatible brick based construction sets . That's why on the legitimate market you see tons of brick based sets, but no identical set copies. On the pirated market, however, you will see alot of sets that are direct clones of LEGO sets, right down to the instructions and box art. These are usually produced by the Brick/Enlighten/Shifty group, built in coutnries with no effective trademark or intelectual property laws, and are sold in private and second line retailers who aren't under the same scrutiny as the big names. Governments just doesn't have the resources to regulate all the toys that come into the country. However, when shipments are discovered, they are destroyed, as happened to a shipment intercepted some years back in finland http://www.lego.com/eng/info/default.asp?p...ountrycode=2057. Most of us who know the history still prefer LEGO because of the better quality sets, bricks, and service. However, there are alot of us who dabble in the dark side... Hope this clears it up for you.

Actually it's called p-e-r-m-a-n-e-n-t , and they are advertised as such. However, there are still solvents in other products that can often remove it. A bit of searching revealed that there is actually some basis for my experience with EXPO markers. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpie_(marker)#Erasing

This is a good suggestion. As Brickworld grows closer, perhaps we could post what we will be bringing or some other identifying feature for those of us who want to to be findable at brickworld, but don't share personal info online. For me, just come to the NILTC layout and ask who built the modular seaside section, aka. Brickington Island for you EB'ers who have been following it's progress. They will be happy to point you in my direction. You will also be able to find me at the "Building in Lawndale" (BILd) table.

I think they are qutie compatible. For me the key is the same as with other lines. Mixing up some of the newer heads and headgear with older minifigs and older heads and headgear with newer figs is the way to make them all look more alike. As for the sets themselves, I don't see much in the way of incompatibility, even with the somewhat different color schemes.

Since I don't use roadplates in my layout, I should be neutral on this, but I wish they would include roadplates in sets. I assume they have stopped for the same reasons that blue baseplates haven't returned in any of the pirate sets. However, with all the sets that have built in sidewalks, I wouldn't mind seeing lego roadplates that were 16x32, comprised of just the road, with perhaps one or two lines of studs on each side. Then TLG could save money on the size of the plates, and let the builders decide if/how to incorporate sidewalks, parkways, etc.

I see the beginning of an interesting MOC here, but the pictures do need work. Direct artificial light will often create the glare and shadows that you see in your pictures. try facing the lamp away from the MOC, and reflecting it back with a piece of white paper. (I use a piece of glossy white cardboard) This will give you more even soft light. Also, keep the light source to the side and behind the camera. Best of luck with the MOC and the photography.

I'm not sure about sharpie brand specifically, but sometimes writing over marker in expo marker and then wiping it off will remove the original marker.

Trade is in the works. I'm going to open a new thread with a more broad subject line and contents. Mods please close.

Nice job on the bike. It seemed a bit oversize at first, but based on the screen shots, it looks like it's just the right length, and only a bit taller. You definatley captured the essence of the bike. The front and back look very much like the picture, however, the area in the middle by the seat is a bit sparse, perhaps another set of pipes (as in the picture) might look good there.

Thanks for the review. I got the peeves torso in a mixed lot a while back, but I didn't know what it was until I saw this review. I also got the brick with the potion shelf printing, and now I know where that piece comes from also. Looks like a nice set. As with many of the HP sets, the walls are a bit skeletal, but they compensate with lots of great accessories.

This is exactly what I think. I recently made a large cliff, and in some points where I staggered the BURPS and LURPS and filled in some of the gaps it looks realistic, and at others where the pattern is more uniform, it looks uneven. I'm going to go back and revisit the cliff and try and use the above principles more thouroughly. In all honesty BUPPS and LURPS are not the most realistic ways to create cliffs, but when you need to make large clifflines it's a great way to conserve time/bricks/money.

We now return you to a thread about a beautifully done orange juice stan... Great job on the orange stand. It's the kind of building that you see at county fairs or amusement parks where you know exactly what is going to be sold as soon as you see it, and you've carried that recognizability right into your MOC. Well Done!

I know that gas station. I mentioned it and my wife said, "oh yeah, the one that looks like star trek". Great inspiration!

Nice job. I'm looking for ward to seeing what havoc the monkeys are able to wreak on the rest of your train. Too bad about the bananas though... As for the pictures. If you set your camera for a lower resolution like 3m, it will take pictures that you will not have to resize. Since all my pictures of MOCs are intended for the internet or computer, I take most of them at 3M now.

Great job. A MOC that looks exactly as it should, and the functionality is brilliant. Maybe a redesign is in order to accommodate a minifig, but either way it looks great!