Hey Joe
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Very cool. Love the cars and photos. Joe
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Very cool and it reminds me of the 'Snoopy and the Red Baron' song I listened to when I was a kid. Joe
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I was a little taken aback by the rifle, then I read it again, then I thought, oh...horse... duh, I got it finally! Thanks, Joe
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Ban Bao (which really should be Bang Bao as that's how it's pronounced in Chinese) is located in Shantou, China. They're probably the largest Chinese manufacturer of toy construction blocks. The link to their English web-site is here. Are the blocks a little taller than Lego? If so, then they're made by Ban Bao. I guess any person or company can commission sets, I wonder what the minimum order would be? I also wonder if Hershey approached Lego first but were rebuffed? Maybe Lego wanted too much $$$? They certainly want too much of mine so I wouldn't be surprised. Interesting! Joe
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It's unfortunate that they don't have free shipping in conjunction with the double VIP points this year like they did last. I was hoping to buy a couple large sets. The shipping in the US is more than the 10% of points you get and then you add on the tax, well, it's just too expensive for me. It would have been a completely non-essential purchase so no great loss. Guess I'll buy a few more Enlighten trains instead and keep an eye out for bargains in other places, how about you guys? Joe
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Looks great, especially those yellow cars. Joe
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Another beauty, thanks for sharing. Joe
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That's beautiful, thanks for sharing. Joe
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Congradulations! You've woken up and smelled the coffee as it were. Now, go build something and enjoy what you have! Joe
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Steven Seagull? Sounds too violent for Fabuland. Cool plane, thanks. Joe
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That's a good question and I'd forgotten to include it in my original post. According to Wikipedia; LiPo manufacturers such as Sanyo claim 500 charging cycles before capacity is reduced to 80%. The latest Eneloop NiMH batteries can do 1500 apparently. When was 8878 first put on the market? Has anyone recharged it 500 times yet? Thanks, Joe
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I've been out of serious railfanning for awhile and don't know a lot about UK rolling stock but it's possible that they're designing the function of the buffers into the internal structure of the rolling stock? It's kinda what they do with autos these days, it improves the aerodynamics. Joe
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I think there was a thread with some blurry photos a few months back. Use Google to search for it, it seems to work better than the site's search function. Maybe I'm telling you something you already know but you can include the word 'eurobricks' in your query. Joe
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Funky, thanks for sharing! Joe
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Beautiful, thanks for sharing. Joe
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Please remember that no ones had a chance to tinker around with the Lone Ranger train yet. I guess it won't be a big problem to put PF in it but who knows? Joe
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Really cool and beautiful photos, thanks! Joe
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You make some excellent points paanjang16. Here are a few thoughts off the top of my head: - I've read where 40% of the costs of things here in China are due to inefficent transportation (which really seems excessive to me so I suspect it may include under-the-table expenses as well if you know what I mean). If the factory is located in your area it should reduce those costs? - Perhaps South Korea is the distribution point so they get it faster? I imagine it's Hong Kong for China but it could be anywhere, I have no idea. - Lego says the quality will be the same. Time will tell on that one, let's keep our fingers crossed. - There is a cachet to foreign goods here in China, Lego may lose a little of that by opening a factory here but I imagine that what they hope to gain would be far greater. Also, Lego's overall product is so superior to the local brands, if they can maintain quality it shouldn't be an issue. I mean, just look at Apple's products. Designed in the west, built here; sells like hotcakes.
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I'm kinda new to Lego trains myself but I've got a three year old, maybe my advice could be useful. Apparently children prefer to push trains around rather than run them with motors so you might consider that new Lone Ranger train that's coming out soon. The yellow Freight Train would probably be the best of the three you mentioned as it has some play features. The passenger trains just whiz around. Both sets I mentioned have loops of track included in them, get one for you and one for your girl! Have fun! Joe
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Those birthday things are great, aren't they? My son got a 50 RMB coupon at the local Toys R Us so we used it to buy a 350 RMB set so that was a nice little discount. Joe
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Ok, that's a very good point. I guess they've made some kind of deal to get the good ABS (another proprietary formula surrendered to the Middle Kingdom?). If so then it's probably a positive move as they'll now have control over their own factory rather than contracting it out. The press release said that none of the products made in China will be sold in the west (didn't it?) so does that mean that the CMFs will still be made with crappy plastic by contractors? There are lots of places to buy Lego here in Beijing but the problem is that it's so d@mned expensive only the rich can afford it. There's a new mall right down the street from my home that has a Toys R Us and a Lego Shop (a JV with Kidsland, not a 'real' Lego shop). I can only drool over the products as my wife would kill me if I actually bought one more than occasionally. Most of the Lego I buy is from Amazon US and is piling up unopened at my parents home there. I otherwise have to make do with the local brands which are very much hit-and-miss (mostly miss). Anyway, it's a huge market here with lots of potential. Lego needs a factory in China for lots of reasons. Having a place to print the boxes in Chinese is one simple no-brainer reason. Joe
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Hmmm...I feel really conflicted about this particularly as I live here in China. I don't know what to think. How can they make entire sets from the substandard ABS plastic that they're forced to use here? Is that the plan? Ok, so the sets will only be sold in this region but that stuff is going to enter the secondary market supply chain (as has been pointed out by others). Hopefully the parts will be marked a little differently? Perhaps my first reaction upon hearing the news is the most appropriate; time to find another hobby.
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Thanks for your insights, it's helpful. I have the Maersk but haven't opened it yet. I should probably get the 8878 for it. Yeah, I don't blame you. 4X is steep. If you include the cost of the rechargeable batteries you need for 88000 then 8878 is only about 2X in the US so $50 doesn't seem crazy but I do like to watch my pennies. Seems like I mostly watch them fly out of my pocket when it comes to Lego! Is 8878 smaller than 88000? I didn't realize that. Cheers, Joe
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Hi, hope it's ok to start a new topic about this but I searched a didn't find a suitable, current thread related solely to trains. The best PF battery threads are several years old now and are mostly geared toward Technic. I'm mulling over whether to get the 8878 Rechargeable Battery Box (US$ 50) or use the 88000 Battery Box (US$ 13 and included in many sets) and then use rechargeable batteries in that. I have a young child so I don't want to use LiPo rechargeables in 88000 (because of possible safety issues) but from what I've read, Lego has protection circuitry built into their 8878 LiPo Rechargeable Battery Box. If I go with the 88000 then those 3rd generation Eneloop NiMH rechargeables seem to be the way to go. I don't really mind swapping out batteries but they only deliver 7.2v. Apparently Lego claims that their 8878 Rechargeable Battery Box delivers 7.4v so that seems to be a selling point but is it noticeable in any way? What are your thoughts on this? What do you use for your PF trains? Do you use both 8878 and 88000 with NiMH rechargeables and do you notice any performance differences between the two? Personally I'm not planning on having any monster-long trains or hills but who knows what the future has in store? Ok, thanks in advance, Joe
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Very cool, thanks for sharing! Joe
