MAB

I see probably 2-3 large built figures per year at specialist toy auctions in the UK, but more frequently I see buildings and so on. You also occasionally see them at catawiki auctions, like this one: https://auction.catawiki.com/kavels/8528241-store-display-lego-lucky-luke-sculpture

His poncho looks like a doormat.

Old store displays are not that rare and they come up reasonably frequently at toy auctions and so on. Bear in mind many toy stores had something like this on display back in the 80s and 90s. Earlier still, there were models of buildings, ships, etc.

I think the Friends sets look great. I'm not too sure about the crazy bus, but the buildings continue strongly for me. One downside I see is that cake icing part. It is a shame it appears to be quite random in the sides, where the icing drips down. If this was more regular like the new large "flower" cogs, then we would have ones that could transfer rotation from one axis to another. But still, it looks good for the intended purpose.

It's an interesting fitness concept - make people climb some steep stairs before they can buy a burger!

They were in Ninjago in 2015, then again in 2018. So I guess this means that LEGO found they were successful enough first time around to bring them back in a later wave. And now they are trying them out in one City set. What is what they did? Remember - this is ONE set aimed at younger kids. They also added flyers to Ninjago (2x waves) in the past 5 years, and they must have been successful enough to do it twice.

Yes, so you can still get a brick-built helicopter if you like brick-built-helicopters. The last City Police helicopter in this style was 2017 (I think). So they are not taking away brick-built helicopters, but they are adding some simplified ones with the flying play feature. Again, I still don't see what the problem is.

You said you've seen the ones (plural) to be released in 2020 and don't like them. The buildable one is very similar to previous ones, so if you like previous ones there is still something for you in the 2020 range. LEGO is doing something extra here, not taking away brick-built helicopters (or brick-built sets in general). I think it is great that LEGO are putting other play features in City sets, especially aimed at younger kids. They have learnt that things like spinners and fliers have been relatively popular in Ninjago, so it is good they are trying out other ideas in their core City range. It is fairly necessary that they are simple construction, since if they are brick-built they will break when they hit the floor. LEGO has catered and is still catering for people that want brick-built vehicles. Yet they do something extra, even though the majority of new sets still follow the build styles they have done in the past, and they get slammed for it.

In the UK, the Post Office have nothing to do with delivering the mail. The Post Office sells stamps and some postal services, but it is the Royal Mail that delivers mail. A third company, Parcel Force also delivers some mail. Many of our post offices have disappeared as they have moved into other stores, and their buildings turned into things we really need, such as cafes, mobile phone stores and vape shops.

So what is wrong with this 2020 one ... compared to this 2017 one?

AFOLs have complained about the frequency of helicopters in City, so LEGO might as well go all out and make them as playable as possible for kids. I would have loved these flying ones when I was a kid. We had similar toys, but not lego compatible ones. We are getting a jewelry store: Sure it is simple, but it shows that if you want any building to be a jewelry store just put some jewels in it. Sets like this show kids can act out an action scene, such as the theft of a jewel and the subsequent police chase and capture of the robber, with an incredibly small amount of parts.

I almost said the same thing, but looking at this image, she appears to have some connection with Egypt (I have no clue about the source, I don't play the game). So the Egyptian Queen hair might be appropriate.

Where is the location of Newbury defined? I thought it was just some town, somewhere.

Yeah, but most coverings will do that. Worse still, any soft covering will knock bits off or out of the window. Personally, I'd just move the LEGO away from the window.

If all you want to do is cover it up, then why don't you just use a cardboard box or a blanket or anything that blocks sunlight.

As above. PAD printing is really only for doing very large runs of the same print on every part. If you want to do just a few copies of lots of designs, it is not for you. You can get relatively cheap presses if you don't mind manual stamping, for things like stamping a company advert on pens or golf balls. But they are one colour only and you have to align things very well if you want more than one colour in multiple passes / stamps.

Nice, I like the way you have carried the red and green through into the floor. Is that WIFI sign an official one / sticker? I wish they came up with a corner piece for the curved slopes as that would really finish off the roof nicely.

92259 Friends hair

It will be interesting to see if it is just the opening panels or if the whole thing or sections can spin around. For example, the light looks like an eye and I wonder if there is a plainer looking light on the other side. Mind you, it is my kid that mainly plays with this line and he likes the way they transform.

I really don't see how this can ever be called a MOD. Look at the past lighthouses from Scooby Doo, Creator and even Friends. They are all essentially the same at first glance - a lighthouse is a tall building with a light on top. But now look at construction. Sure there are differences in window placements and doors and so on but the tower is constructed from macaroni (curved) bricks plus studs up bricks to give it the shape. I'd say from a build perspective a lot of these are practically the same, the towers are studs up with stacks of macaronis at the corners for curves. Now look at the construction of this one below. Notice any difference? I do. This one is not studs up for a start. A lot of the sections are built sideways. There are no stacks of macaroni bricks in this one, unlike the past four above. Sure if you only glance at it, it looks like a lighthouse on rocks and so it looks like any lighthouse on rocks. But actually look at it and the build is completely different to the one in Scooby Doo, not just in play features but most importantly in the way it is built. There is no way it is practically the same. And to call it a mod is ridiculous, a mod implies minor changes. This doesn't even use the same style of building. EDIT: just read Exetrius comments, looks like we have the same opinion here in that the build is completely different.

I thought so, and it is the best set of the new wave.

The plain ones were available back in 2009/2010. There have been other licensed ones since then too.

I don't really see the problem with the subway station, it is just a small piece of one. The left hand side looks like a (small) section of platform and the taller middle arch is clearly the subway part, where the trains go. It appears that there is a train there, but that it is flipped open to reveal the monster inside it. I assume it looks more like a small train when flipped back down. I'm not sure what the third, right hand section is - it looks like a hole which might just be reminiscent of being an underground system, or maybe there is some specific use for it to be revealed.

It isn't a head-to-head competition though, as LEGO can accept any number they like.

Yes, I can search on BL, and I see that there are 1000s of stores with more than 5 police torsos in stock. This one for example, there are 19 stores that can sell you 10 or more in new condition: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=973px431c01#T=S&O={"st":"4","cond":"N","minqty":"10","rpp":"500","iconly":0} Or if you just search for police in torso assemblies, you will see about 400 lots* where the seller has 10 new torsos in stock. * The number will vary as I exclude some stores by default and some will not sell to you based on location. https://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?pg=1&q=police&catID=485&invNew=N&itemBrand=1000&itemType=P&viewFrom=sa&advOpt=Y&excFavL=Y&excStop=Y&sz=500&searchSort=Q Pick the one you want to use for your uniform, and find a seller with large stocks. There is a difference between secondary and primary markets. Kids want police sets, hence they sell well at retail stores (the primary market). However, the secondary market is much more AFOL focussed, and AFOLs tend not to want loads of police minifigures. Sets that contain them are generally quite cheap and plentiful and so there is a somewhat lower demand and higher supply on the secondary market for police minifigures. Thus they tend to be quite cheap.