Eilif

Settle down, no need for Rancorous (sorry couldn't resist) debate here. I humbly suggest that before you go off replying in haste to a post, you read the quote in context (my location should be enough to indicate that I was referring to US pricing), and read the entire thread (in post 18 I state complete agreement with your feelings about brit/euro pricing).

Nice article, lots of good suggestions on substituting stickers, preserving instructions, etc, but I think it needs to do more to address on of the most universal problems of LEGO builders, the yellowing of white bricks. That would be a good addition to the article. Overall, it's a very good article. The set preserver who follows this article will likely find that thier collection retains it's quality and value for decades. Even as someone who has zero interest in "preserving" sets, I found it to be a very well organized and informative read. The Sub-title "how to keep..." does a good job of letting the reader know that this is primarily aimed at those who are interested in peserving individual sets. This is good for AFOLs like myself who are primarily MOC'ers who will find usefull information inside, but won't be expecting an article aimed directly at them.

TRAVIS Sorry, I don't have a good logo of theirs, but that's pretty much what it looks like. They never really got thier proper due this side of the pond, and had a bit of a stumble with "12 memories" (still a good listen though), but the last time they came through Chicago supporting "The Boy With No Name", they were absolutely spectacular. Truely one of the great, if underappreciated, bands of the '90's-'00's. Second place: Wilco. Best live sound I've heard from a rock band. Probably the best current American rock band. Runners up: Cousteau, Beatles, Led Zepplin.

You realize that's stealing right? Sure it's only 3 bucks, but you had enough $ for the PAB cup. In other news... I wish there had been some dwarf legs when I visited, I'd gladly pay 3 bucks for 5 dwarf legs. There aren't enough little kids in my layout.

Strange discrepencies in price. As for the US, I'm not sure why folks are saying that it's a bad deal. Here in the US it's 70 bucks, which is pretty much average for a set with nearly 900 pieces. Not quite the deal that Market street is, with it's 1200 bricks for $90, but still a fair deal. It's a different story in Europe. I can't understand why it would be 99eru and more than Market street. It's certainly not worth it for buyers in europe. Folks who are focused on classic town and 4 wide vehicles will probalby not like it, but there's no denying that 10200 has some of the most detailed automobiles we have yet seen in the new 6 wide city standard. If I were into hot rod cars, I would definatley buy it, but as $ is tight these days and I have other LEGO priorities, I will probably pass it up. As I mentioned in an earlier post though, I will definately be waiting for the arrival of the new batch of PAB parts.

Seems like a good set and a good deal as far as the number of parts is concerned. The main picture on the LEGO site only shows the garage and one car. I think this is a VERY BAD presentation on LEGO's part as parents not looking closely at the description are probably going to judge the set to be a poor deal, as one car and garage is clearly not worth the price. Otherwise, great set, and if it really is a true Factory set, I'll be looking for the SW torso in PAB online soon!

I also hope the colors are the result of overexposed and underfocused pictures, but these are boxes with set numbers for a line that's coming out fairly soon, so I don't think these are preliminaries. What you see is what you get folks. :( I hope it all looks better in the light of the toy store, but I'm a bit disapointed with most of the line at this time.

Retro future, raygun gothic and paleo, future all have some design elements that I can incorporate, but I'm not terribly interested in a sci-fi future, and of those elements can be found in art-deco and streamline modern styles.

You pretty much described the selection of figures that we had around here last season. In addition to your list, a few things I remember seeing were basketball legs in red and purple, legs and torso from some star wars bounty hunter type, yellow slave Leia legs and torso, tan legs with pockets on front, ski mask heads in black and red, trans-clear heads with brain print, trans-yellow heads with no print, a basketball torso, and sand green legs. Most of the things you and I listed are not offered anymore, but this year on 2 occasions I got an employee to go in the back and bring out last seasons build-a-fig parts and get the managers permission to fill a PAB cup with them. At one store they only had legs, and at the other they mostly only had torsos and heads left, so it worked out pretty well. I've only paid the $3 bucks a fig (3$ for 5 parts) a couple of times, and rather than getting a whole fig, most times I picked 5 pieces that looked most interesting, usually hair or torsos. Your not being able to find hair, probably is the result of folks like me buying them. In the end, unless it's a really rare part, like hippie/princess hair, it's rarely worth the three bucks, so I usually prefer to get my minifigs other ways.

I'm pretty sure this was the explaination. I bet that same LEGO employee is laughing right now!

WOW! First Nepal and now this. Two incredibly inovative MOCs in two completely different genre's, both revealed in the space of a week. Very Impressive! Great use of parts on this one. The sparseness of the frame really communicates a dark souless evil feeling, which is well reflected in your choosen minifig.

That's good news for me. I have a forestwoman, but I don't have her green headscarf, and there's certianly no way I will be paying BL prices for one. I'm not a completionist or anything, but it would be nice to get matching headgear. Right now the closest I have is a brown headscarf that I got from a Shifty/Brick/Enlighten knock-off impulse set. I don't think there's any danger of the USA not getting Pirates. Judging the availalbility of the line based on the castle advent kit (the rest of the castle line is in the USA) is just silly.

I feel the same way. With the exception of some star wars, the return of 80's/90's style GI JOE, and the more realistic modern military 3.25 inch military action figures (I wish those were around when I was a kid) and vehicles that are presently produced under several brands, I don't see much in most toy lines out there. Much to my wife's relief LEGO is the only toy line I currently purchase.

This stinks. My wife and I do the LEGO advent calendar(s) every year, and with the slightly repetative nature of the city calendar (we'll still probably get it anyway) we were really looking forward to the Castle calendar. Is there anybody in europe who would be willing to explore the possiblities of shipping one to me here in the USA? I'd be happy to pay shipping, but I can't afford to pay bricklink-style markup at this time. If anyone is willing to discuss this please PM me.

Thanks for posting this. It's really great to see that TYG's restructuring and returning to it's roots is continuing to pay off. Go LEGO Group!

Great start to a new season. I don't think it was too short at all. Shorter, and more frequent is preferrable to longer and less frequent, IMHO. I'll be waiting patiently for the next installment

Thanks for that. No doubt now that Power miners is Rock raiders 2.0. It's interesting to see some technic and bionicle elements incorporated in this new line. However, I'm still undecided about wether or not I'm interested in this line. I really hope that we are seeing sand green in the pics, because if it's some neon'ish color then I will likely not be picking up any of these.

I disagree with this statement. Sub-lines were not the reason they almost lost everything. While it's true that some of the sub-lines -rock raiders and dino-island- were not particularly well executed, It's very well documented that the real reasons were, wastefull business practices, an inneficient supply and delivery chain, and focus on non-brick-based product lines. For everyone who thinks they know why LEGO almost died, I recomend thoroughly reading this article. http://www.strategy-business.com/press/art...7-1876-26315955 Whether or not it's financially wise , and I'm giving LEGO the benefit of the doubt that it is in their best financial interest, it's clear from LEGO's own lips that well executed short-lived, and profitable sub-lines are, at present, part of their business strategy. Post turnaround Exo-force, Dino attack, and Agents are all examples of apparently profitable sub-lines that were well executed, but clearly lines with limited lives.

Great review of a set I didn't even know existed. It's a very distinctive design that most folks could probably -with a few adjustments- replicate from their collection. Hmm, gas prices being what they are, maybe my seaside village needs a double-decker...

Holiday home. High peaked roof, nice arched walls around the carpark, garage doors pieces snuck in as an awning, cypress tree, and dual pony tail female wig definately make it the winner. Holiday villa does have two large picture windows, and a better female torso, but those are the only points where I feel it exceeds it's counterpart. Am I the only one who despises those red/white/blue stickers that are used in old Town sets to represent drapes and awning fringe? Ugh.

Good job. Your mod looks much more like the kind of trucks that I am acustomed to seeing here in the USA. Quite an imposing vehicle with the single trailer.

A few things. 1) My thought exactly, though at this point collectable could mean a bionicle-like business plan, collectable gaming elements like some of the old adventurers sets, or it could just be collectable as in collect them all. It is notable that LEGO specificaly used the word "collectable. 2) It seems like alot of AFOL's still haven't come around to LEGO's stated plan to continue to release small short lived lines along with what they call "evergreen" lines. Lets give LEGO the benefit of the doubt that this new line will be as good as the other post-TLG-turnaround lines like agents, exo force and dino attack. The lesson here is that in the fast moving toy market LEGO has found that it's profitable to develop alot of small lines that may only last a few years. LEGO's prime market is not AFOL's who will be dedicated to LEGO lines for decades, it's market is kids whose total LEGO experience (pre-dark ages) will likely total less than 9 years (ages 5-14), and whose interests/trends may change yearly. So enjoy these lines for what they are, but if it ain't "evergreen", don't get too attached.

I have four 3 foot long shelves above my building area. About two thirds of this space is for sets that I haven't required the parts from and disassembled yet. I pride myself on being someone who doesn't tend to save kits, but rather disassembles them and sorts them into my collection. However recently some of the Star wars kits have held on for 6 months of more. The MTT, Anakin fighter, Republic cruiser, and Y wing among others have all managed to keep their spaces on the shelves. I just can't bring myself to disassemble them. Yet.

Crap! The pressure is on to develop a whole new theme, and I'm not even finished with my Contemporary-bavarian Airport yet. However, buliding in "Streamline Moderne" would give me a chance to use the PAB of these http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=6091 in light grey that I picked up last year.

Great quote. I think you may have set a high standard for new members. I don't think many (any) EB members have put so much into their first two posts, or started as deep a thread with their first post. Stick around.