MAB

The 18+ doesn't mean that they are doing riskier material suitable for adults only. It seems to be more for (i) making the same set that would normally be a 12+ or maybe 16+ more appealling to adults, (ii) nostalgia based sets not likely to be of interest to younger kids, (iii) boring repetitive tasks that are for stress-relief and not interesting for kids.

Futurama DVDs are typically rated 12/13/14 depending on location. If LEGO did Futurama, they should aim it partly at kids to include that demographic. However, that doesn't necessarily mean they couldn't be of interest to adults. Like what they did with The Simpsons, with 12+ sets, but adult price range, plus the CMF series.

Or loads of alternative outfit Avengers and Spiderman characters. :-)

That does seem very surprising. It's 50% more parts than the Taj Mahal. And even coming in at 5c / 5p a piece like the Taj Mahal, that would be $450 / £450. Plus would they really knock the UCS MF off top spot?

I had to agree to it this morning. Most of the changes are to get through the VAT changes for Europe, and the charging of sales tax for (some) US customers.

It's a shame - I'd like a minifigure headpiece which is like a cardinal's cap. Some more torsos for the 15-16-17th century Europeans would be good too.

It is LEGO site, and it is LEGO selling them, so it is LEGO's policy. I imagine they want to keep it ambiguous as to which companies favours no licensed parts to be sold individually and whether or not this is specifically written into contracts with the partner companies. That way, they can always say that "we cannot sell licensed parts" without making it clear whether this is their decision or enforced by contract.

I guess the problem here would be Cardinal Richelieu. Would they do a religious minifigure? I guess they have done Nazis in Indy, so maybe. Although I'm not sure what they could really add. I bought about a dozen musketeers when they first came out, they look good as an army. But I doubt the scenery would be much of an addition. Similar in style to Lone Ranger sets, they could do some locations but they can be MOCed anyway. Stick three (or four) musketeers in almost anything and they look like The Three Musketeers.

I've got about 20 packs of 50cm string from genuine sets that I usually use when I need short lengths or need to be purist. For longer lengths, I bought a reel of "leather sewing thread" in black. You can get it in various thicknesses such as 0.5mm, 0.8mm, 1.0mm. I got 50m of 0.8mm for the equivalent of about 5 USD. It is not quite the same as LEGO's but if you use the same string though the whole MOC, it does not show.

I've done it on other toy parts using a UV torch, and it is only just into the UV (in fact, a lot of visible purple). Worked fine. I'd try anything that is a cheap UV source first. I imagine the problem is a whole range of effects combined. I rarely have any problem with LEGO yellowing, although mine is never stored on a window ledge and the temperature here is reasonably consistent throughout the year (in terms of no extremes of heat and cold). I have seen other people's collections here that have yellowed where they have been on a window sill or in bright light. It also seems more people in the USA have problems with yellowed LEGO than people here. Whereas I've had it bad on some old electronics and old action figures.

Why promote it across all sub-forums? For some, it is not likely to be very relevant. For example, in the Mindstorms / Robotics and in the Action Figures, this one is not really relevant. Also maybe not really relevant in Star Wars, but someone could have done one in a Star Wars theme if they wanted to. In City or Historical, it might be more relevant. So if they announce the contest in every sub-forum, in some places it will be irrelevant, in others highly relevant, and in some not so relevant. If they didn't announce it in Robotics or Star Wars, then those members might feel excluded even if they did want to join in. But others might feel why are you highlighting a competition about flowers in robotics? Surely it is better to have one announcement on the frontpage, so that the same announcement is shown to everyone, and once. Also, other sites such as brickset often have competitions and show off some of the entries before closing time. It helps raise awareness and I don't think it affects the results. In this competition, you had to scroll through all the entries to be able to vote. So anyone voting would have seen all the entries.

I'd buy box files instead. They are easier to label so you know what is where and not too heavy when full. Alternatively, you could use empty LEGO boxes for the same thing. If you want a tub, have a look at what is in the "classic" section on lego.com, although much of these type of "bucket sets" are now boxes rather than tubs.

There is a recommendation that international mail has the customer's phone number or email address on it, and some countries enforce this. So sellers often ask for it for international mail, as if the receiving country refuses it, not only does it get returned to the seller meaning longer time to get to the buyer but the seller also has to pay again to send it.

I don't really see a link between the two. The City set would have been designed last year, and the hat is an existing part that was last used in 2018, so still reasonably recent.

If they wanted to do Barney, they could have done him as a astronaut, Plow King, Be Sharps, or just without a beer (and maybe with his combed rather than messy hair). Same for Moe, he could have been in a Pin Pals shirt (and people would have bought four then!) or a regular suit or with an apron but with a coffee cup or with a telephone (being prank called by Bart). They have also done this guy serving "grape juice".

I don't think it is always that clear. Sometimes obviously licensed parts are listed for sale, sometimes listed but not for sale, and sometimes not listed. Same with regular parts, most of the time they are listed and for sale, sometimes listed but out of stock and occasionally not listed at all. It has been so long since that Scorpion Palace and the basic set that contained them, that they would not have any stock for B+P, but it will likely be for sale once they have stocks.

They didn't have to do Barney and Moe with booze either. They could have done them in other situations.

Congratualtions to @Aurore, I loved that design when I first saw it posted in historical and it deserved all three of my points! The mini-details did it for me, especially the cupcakes for flowerheads and the hidden details like the chameleon.

It is similar (although not quite as bad) in reverse.

Why the need for pirates here? Why not just a fantasy theme against mythical creatures? Or pirates in a conventional setting? Fantasy builders wouldn't want it if the minifigures were pirate based. Pirate builders wouldn't want it as the minifigures are fantasy based ghosts and zombies. To me, it wouldn't be of much interest to either fan base, much like complaints of Nexo Knights from Castle fans and Space fans. After all, join Castle and Space and you please two fan groups, right? When in reality, you end up appealing to neither.

The downside of that is that you have to identify and sort multiple times - so it has taken 3x as long in this case.

You don't have to watch the TV series though. My son really enjoyed Chima sets when they first came out but didn't see the cartoons until about 4 years later. He used to have lions and crocs as allies against all the birds. Yet even if you do watch the TV series or read the magazines, you can still make up your own adventures based on what you know about the characters just like you can make up your own adventures based on what you know about the stereotypical characters in pirate or Robin Hood style stories, whether you read them in books or saw them in movies or on TV.

Exactly, that is my point. You cut out part of my response, saying that they would blame it on coronavirus, then giving a made up reason such as not having access to parts to test.

They are also checking VAT registration of EU sellers, but again it should not really affect much at all. Yes, I used to buy quite a bit at just under £15 from the USA (to get under the VAT threshold), but stopped in about 2011/12 due to price increases for postage. Now postage prices from the USA have gone crazy.

You can buy bulk new bricks from parted out sets on eBay, Bricklink, Facebook marketplace, Craig's list, and so on.