Eilif

First off, I'm definitely a Tarantino fan. I've seen just about every Tarantino directed, and most tarantino written films except IB. However, I don't think that anyone who goes to one of his films should be surprised when a film is long and has alot of dialogue. Extended conversational character exposition is as much a Tarantino film trait as stylized violence. A few other points. 1) If you went to IB expecting a comedy, you're going to be dissapointed from the get-go 2) If you're familiar with older films and genre's (70's films, Spaghetti Westerns, Kurosawa films, Blacksploitation films, ww2 films, etc) you'll get alot more out of his films. Almost every one of his films has been a riff on a certain type or types of classic films. 3) Dusk til Dawn is written by Tarantino, but is definitely a Robert Rodriguez film in the vein of Desperado and Once upon a time in Mexico. 4)Feelings about other Tarantino films: Jackie Brown: Neat plot and charachters, but coming a while after pulp fiction, it could be better. A riff on the Balcksploitation films of the 70's. Good, but not one of my favorites. 4 Rooms. Room (Film) #4, The Man From Hollywood: Abolutely Brilliant adaption of the Rohld Dahl short story! My favorite Tarantino script, and it's only a quarter of the movie. Reservoir Dogs: One of the more brutal Films, and really only for one disturbing scene, that will stick with you longer than you would like. Very well written, again with tons of dialogue. Kill Bill 1,2: Two of my favorites. It's like getting a history of Tarantino's favorite films in 4 hours. Violence at it's most stylized, and alot of memorably characters. Pulp Fiction: This pretty much defines Tarantino for most folks. Probably his most watchable film, as it's several plot lines and various characters keep it moving quicker than most of his other films. Not my favorite, but it's about half way up the list, and it's a ton of fun! Death Proof: I'm still not totally sure about this one. Very 1970's, however, in making a 70's film, he also seems to have taken some of the flaws of 70s films like disjointed character development and an odd ending. Still a good one, but not one of my favorites.

Thanks for posting this. Clones are generally spit upon here, but there are those of us who like to look into the dark side from time to time. This Kazi set is not a perfect clone, but it's really a testament to how the Clone brands have improved. It looks like the brick quality has improved a bit, and the color matching is extremely close. Please continue with a review of the enlighten set!

Perhaps the way to get more members is to advertise in the "Real" world of AFOLs. If Eurobricks had a booth, at european conventions it might raise awareness of the site. Sponsoring competitions at conventions, or doing some kind of charity raffle at those conventions would be another way to get the word out there. As far as I know, most online AFOL groups are online, only, but in venturing into the real world some MOCs, a nice "Eurobricks" banner and maybe a poster or two on tripods showing what Eurobricks has to offer would go a long way toward drawing in new members, maybe even new members who hadn't previusly taken the online LEGO fan community seriously.

Hey Jim, Looking at your selection, I can see why it might have been more difficult to stack. Stacking does work better when you are getting enough of an element to make stacks as high as the cup. That said, it's always worth it to either build a brick of pieces at the bottom or at least line the edges of the cup with stacks, and then fill in the edges with loose brick Better luck next time!

very interesting. I'm not as much into sci fi, so the pistol isn't of much interest to me, but the sniper rifle is simply brilliant and looks great with the bipod. BA fans have long awaited the release of something to replace the discontinued sniper rifle. Additionally, Will is doing great work in adding historically significant bladed weapons, and the claymore is a thing of beauty. As has been noted, the SMG and chainblade have a very Warhammer 40k look to them. The SMG looks alot like 80's/Early90's versions of the Bolter. In that vein, I think the Chainblade would be better suited at a larger size as a "Chainsword". Ouch! As it happens, they are made of the same kind of plastic that LEGO uses for it's minifigure accessories. However you can be excused for thinking as you do, since they do look a bit different when viewed in person at real (not blown up) size.

I'm quite sure that LEGO isn't going to freak out if an order ends up just below the minimum. However it shouldn't be hard to get close to the price guidelines since the rules state that the club submits a 150 part wishlist, and LEGO will returns with 100 parts (with prices) from that list based on availability. It would be great to see a direct rewards system for LUG displays, though without a LEGO employee to visit every show, it would be extremely difficult to gauge the "size/amount/quality of the displays". A simple measure of number of shows, members displaying, and attendance might be a better system.

Depending on the character of the scientist, you may want to use the professor kilroy head. It's a bit on the pulp-adveture/steampunk side of things, but it does have glasses and a professorial beard. Also has the advantage of being quite common and inexpensive on bricklink. A search for minifig heads in Bricklink with the term "glasses" reveals quite a few other options. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?v...P&catID=238 Here's a similar search for "lab" in minifig torsos. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogList.asp?v...P&catID=485 One other thing that was suggested a while back about medical figs is to use flesh hands on yellow figs to represent latex gloves. I'm not totally sold on the idea, but it's one thing to try. All the best on the crime lab!

Wow, this is beautiful. This is the kind of thing I had in mind for my seaplane when I eventually just gave up and simplified. You however really made it work! Your colorscheme is really good, especially since it's all brick-built, and I'm always a fan of making modifications in order to fit minifigs. Great job!

I'm not sure I totally understand what you are getting at. What is this "something worse"? As to whether it is a business or a hobby service, it might be either. However my guess is that it is neither. It seems to be more of a "reward" for LUGs who are spreading the hobby. I sincerely doubt LEGO will make much money off this, but I don't think that's the point, and if they can't make money off it, it would be silly to open it up to everyone. Rather, it seems that they are using this service as a very targeted encouragement to groups already serving them in the arena of public awareness. My LUG, NILTC, doesn't qualify based on geography, but I'm very happy to see this (probalby "pilot") program being tried, What is it about your LUG that doesn't qualify for the service?

You said what I was trying to say much better than I. I don't think of it as some fans being better than others, but rather as LEGO rewarding groups who are out there actively promoting the hobby largely without the support of TLG. It's true that not every region has a LUG, but if some folks want to start a LUG, and are willing to push through the slow years at the beginning, there's no reason that they can't start one on their own. The time and effort don't make it worth while, to start a LUG just to get the discount, but I think that's a good thing. In the most basic sense, EB is a "Lego User Group" however, I was under the impression that it's generally accepted that a LUG has the following elements. 1) A geographic focus. 2) Meetings where the members gather in-person. In this case, LEGO has added the element of public displays as a criteria also. EB does not have in-person meetings or a geographic focus. Who knows though? Perhaps if EB were to put on some shows, maybe LEGO would extend some version of this to them.

Wow Sandy, this is pretty negative! This is not a program for everyone, it's a program for LUG's who need hard-to-find bricks in bulk for certain projects. I know that NILTC would be thrilled with this kind of opportunity if it were available in the USA> I don't think they will be able to regulate the re-sell for ever, but this is going to be alot of work for some LEGO employees, and it seems completely fair to limit the resale of bricks for a while at least. I wouldn't be surprised at all if LUGs found to abuse the system are banned from future purchases. Alot of LUGs, especially Lego Train Clubs do more than two shows a year. If you are in a club, it's not hard to set up two weekend displays at public libraries in one year. If your club is interested in promoting the LEGO hobby outside the club, they are probably doing that many shows already. Wow, there are alot of whiners. LEGO is trying to do something new to service LUGs (not everyone, just LUGs) who do so much to promote the LEGO hobby. Sure it has alot of limits, but if fans participate rather than complain, who knows but that there might be an expansion of the program limits. I also like the idea that if this program continues and expands it may encourage more folks to join LUGs, and more LUGs to be more active.

Great Article. You make a great case, and one that I mostly agree with. I still prefer the minifigs, color schemes and slightly steam-punk'ish vibe of Rock Raiders, but after acquiring 4 of the first run of Power miners sets, I have to say that I'm sold on the PM set designs being far superior. Also, even though I'm not thrilled with lime green, it has been shown pretty conclusively that it is a very realistic color for underground construction and mining vehicles. There are a few "dud" sets in the line, but overall, LEGO seems to have designed a very well designed and cohesive theme.

First off, this should definitely be in Trains and Town, but I'm sure a moderator will be along shortly to attend to that. As for interior detailing, go to this site http://www.brickshelf.com/ and put what you are looking for into the search function. Words like kitchen, Bedroom, etc, will tend to pull up alot of great pics of interior details. Best of luck with the project!

I'm not sure how I missed this the first time. Thanks for putting this together. There wasn't anything I didn't know already, but it's still a very well assembled article with alot of good information "Published" is a pretty flexible term on a forum like this. The "edit" button is there for a reason. Modifying a post when new information is discovered is definitely the right thing to do, especially if you want your article to be a reference for future readers. Sounds great, I'll be looking forward to it!

Great Job, and good idea for a project. They look just as I remember them. I have the game, but had forgotten just how simple the game buildings are. Anyone want their own LEGO Island CD?

You've created a very interesting vehicle here, but I don't think it looks like either vehicle in the shot. If you're going for the one on the right (and I think you are) then the front wheels need to be moved forward until the wheel wells attach to the bumper. Also missing is the spare tire on the right side and the headlights which are a vital part of the car's appearance. Lastly, it's not an amphibious craft, and doesn't need to have the front raised as such. If you're going for the vehicle on the left, then you need uniform sides, a flat top, and no front grill. Personally I like the look of the vehicle you've created, I just don't think it achieves your goal of MOCing the vehicle in the shot.

Wow! This is quite impressive. I'm very glad you went with realism instead of playability. I like the tractor, but the trainer and crane is the real beauty. This just begs to be part of a railroad layout. I'll be eagerly awaiting your other logging vehicles. Looks like I've got to go add a crane to my light logging truck.

I don't have much to add, you've got a great building here, and as others mentioned, your bike racks are inspired. Unlike some of the others, I like the blocky diagonals. I realize it isn't "correct" but I like it anyway. ALso, the nice wide platform leaves alot of room for minifig action and scene setting. Well done.

Very interesting. LEGO must have determined that the general mills promotion was a success, because this is just more of thesame. While the sections (notice I did not use the term "pieces") are different, there do seem to be black windows (painted or plastic?), and the advert suggests possible hubcap pieces, these are essentially the same kind of useless pieces that were in the Cereal boxes. The only difference is that these are even less useful in that the wheel base is no longer a plain base with wheels -which could be used in MOCs, but rather it too is one of these odd contoured pieces, making it nearly useless for MOC'ing. All that said, it might be neat to have a contest to see what folks can come up with using one of these, and no more than 20 other pieces.

The test has no relation to "general opinion". At second look, it appears that when taking the test any acceptance or even ambivalence about "impurity" gives you no points toward purity. Thus if you're not clearly on the side of purity, the test says you are impure. Ironically, that's a fairly accurate scale, since even though we frequently use terms like __% pure, if you're not 100% pure, then you are by definition "impure".

How is this possible? I got a score of 0.00/10 !! Here's the results

Thanks for posting this! Brian is one of the most talented and focused builders of our club (NILTC) but sadly, he's always been quite underrepresented online. The layout you see here has been evolving over a couple years, and as awesome as the pictures are, seeing it all lit up in person is over-the-top-amazing. There's alot more to see of his layout, so let's hope he posts it soon!

Alot of purists frequently site their enjoyment of the challenge of staying completely inside the boundaries of the LEGO system. That's a valid point, but I think there are other very valid points of view. Many of those of us -like myself0 who are not purists enjoy the challenge of incorporating non-official elements and pushing the boundaries a bit while working to retain the LEGO "feel". Further out on the spectrum then there are other folks who view bricks of any type as a medium for creative expression with no boundaries. On a related tangent, I think it's a credit to the LEGO system that it so easily incorporates other "brands" and has inspired so many customizers and independent accessory makers who have opened the experience up for so many non-purists.

1) Purism: The standard of building a creation using only unaltered elements produced bty LEGO. 2) Am I a purist? No. I use a some clone elements (Tyco 1x3 "shingled" roof slopes are a favorite) and some clone accessories (Enlighten chrome sabers and brown bandanas). I also use aftermarket weapons (BF, BA, etc) and Brickforge scooters. I've also altered elements at times, and used custom decals. I don't do it much, and most folks who see my layout can't immidiately tell, but I'm definitely not a purist. 3) How do I feel about it? I like Purist, Clone, and Mixed MOCs and I even regularly check in at the clone brick forum. As for the display of clone MOCs, if there's just a bit of clone stuff mixed, in I don't care, but if there is alot, then it's a good idea to mentioned it. One common hipocrisy I have noticed is that alot of folks have no problem with a MOC filled with custom decals and Brickarms, but as soon as they notice Megabloks pieces they get indignant.

I like it, a very nice simple design. You really captured the look of a classic oven, and this could work in a variety of historical and modern settings. Adding a bit of variation to the floor could add some visual interest though. Using too much of one color makes even a good MOC look less interesting. Your pictures are within size limits, so you should post a few of them rather than linkin all of them. That might get you some more comments as well.