twenty6twelve

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MSRP was $119.99. Amazon currently has it, with no tax and free shipping - if you're looking to get the set, I'd suggest picking it up now, because it may be your last chance to purchase it below MSRP. A week ago it was $109.99 (which I snagged it for.)

I have plenty of sets I've not yet opened, a few of which have no reviews here on Eurobricks. In my desire to give back to the community, I'd like to be able to join the Academy, please.

Welcome to Eurobricks. You're sure to find a welcome home in the Technic forum. Hope to see what you have to share with us soon!

Welcome to the forums, crayonboi! I too lurked for months before joining - you'll be glad you did. We share similar interests as well - the Winter Village series, Modular Buildings and collectible minifigures are favorites of mine. Hope to see you around the Town forum

Out of curiosity, do you own the international or the Samsonite (USA) version? They have different baseplates. The Samsonite version has a plethora of studs in the center, while the TLG version had only the necessary studs on the edges. In either case, I'd hang on to either - they're worth a pretty penny. On topic: Nice to see where it all began - not to mention a MOD possible at the time of the set's release! I'd like to see someone tackle this simple train and use it as the inspiration for a modern MOC..

Out of your favorites, "The Stud & Barrel" is my pick. I could make hundreds more suggestions, but I'll avoid turning this into a 'generic Lego puns' thread..

I understand your point better now that you've defined your meaning more thoroughly. From your initial post, I had been under the impression that you felt that Lego set designers were less creative than they had been some decades ago, and that you were merely missing the absence of the non-emergency themed sets from Lego's current offerings. Therefore, I had been attempting to point out that such variety still does exist, albeit in other themes. Now that I understand that your comments are chiefly regarding playability in the design of sets, I can better understand your longing for days gone by. As I mentioned, I did not intend to imply to compare the Modular series with the City line, rather than to showcase that designers are still creative in their output. Make no mistake. I've always been a classic Town fan. One of the first sets I received as a child was a secondhand 1981's 6382 Fire Station, featuring the debut of the rolling garage doors, and from then on I asked for any Town series set I could find. As this was my favorite theme as a child, it was therefore what I played with. I love the classic aesthetics of the sets of Town's past, and there will always be a soft spot in my heart for it. As an adult, my desire to 'play' with Lego is not as strong as my desire to 'create' with it, and thusly my wants are satisfied by offerings from other themes. Despite that I do completely understand the playability angle as I was once a child Town fan, who was dismayed as the original theme descended into Town Jr. and then into nothingness in the early 2000's. I spent 13 years of my life sharing my home with a daycare and subsequently spending that time with the young children there. In all that came and went, many of them enjoyed Lego toys, but among those of who were in the modern City theme's target audience, I can't recall a one who didn't prefer the antics of policemen and firemen to shops and services. Recently, working for a large superstore chain, I have assisted several children and parents to "find the Lego aisle," and the few children who were not after a fire truck were usually looking for Star Wars or Ninjago. I'm therefore inclined to mostly believe Lego's statement that fire and police sets are what sells nine times out of ten. Here in the United States, Playmobil presently has very little to no retail presence, at least that I have observed. While I have no doubts that a return of great diversity to the City theme specifically would sell (which, for the record, is a change I would heartily welcome), I'm inclined to believe that such sets won't sell as well as the traditional 'hero' roles that rescue sets fill, and thusly Lego, as a business, probably has little interest in a product that would sell less than another. I sincerely hope that none of my comments and reasoning have come across as hostile or insulting.

I nearly caved the other day - my hand hovered for quite a while over the 'Buy it Now' option for Enlighten's track packages; a great deal cheaper and more convenient than Lego's own. In the end, however, despite their apparent quality, I couldn't bring myself to do it, and ended up plunking down an 1/3rd more on old 4.5v track. My dilemma is rather silly. I've no issue with using third-party AFOL made parts like Lifelites and the like - in a sense, Enlighten is no different. Were I needing track for more than just the yearly holiday display I put together (no room for a permanent layout!) I'd probably give in. I'll report back if I ever venture to the dark side.

Maybe it should scream "Larger radius curves I won't derail on, please!"

What a gorgeous shine to that plastic! There's nothing like the sheen of crisp brick.. a gray and black building could easily turn out drab and dull in Lego but you've captured the original wonderfully. That is possibly the nicest creation I've seen in light bley. I adore the brick chimneys!

That's some fantastic SNOT work as per usual, Sérgio. Having seen your previous MOCs I don't doubt this won't look just as gorgeous built in reality. I can't wait to see it constructed. Admittedly, yellow is not a favorite color of mine, but it looks great on this little tram! The pantograph is unique, too - all in all, great work. Good luck with your close coupling system! If you look closely, you can spot that he's got larger diameter wheels in the center, which I can only assume are small spoked RC train wheels, so I believe you're right..

Morty, your creations never disappoint. Absolutely stellar - not to mention huge! What a great contribution to the celebration. If this won't be it's centerpiece then I'd be afraid to know what would be! Is this to minifigure or miniland scale? Better judgement tells me it's the former, but my eyes might deceive me.

I absolutely love your creation! A childhood aspiration of mine was to be a marine biologist, so I have a soft spot in my heart for sea life. I like the use of the old Sports series ramps for the dolphin show's pool and the tiling at the center of the floor

Hi there Chri5kng, It is an unfortunate fact that has been discussed several times on this forum that emergency-themed sets sell the best with the theme's target age group - young boys aged 6 - 12. While, as in eveything, there are exceptions, on the whole "most" young boys in that age group prefer playing with fire, police and rescue themed sets rather than say, postal delivery, grocery stores or townhouses. While it is true that adult fans often adore the more 'mundane,' we make up a very small percentage of the market and are generally (again, there are exceptions) not taken into a great deal of consideration in the design of this theme. In addition, while the City theme is primarily composed of rescue and construction subthemes, there are several others: 2006's and 2010's airports, 2009-2010's wonderful Farm subtheme, 2007 and 2011's harbors, 2010's house, the traffic subtheme with such highlights as the City Corner and City Garage, just to name a few. They aren't the highlights of the range, but there are many exceptions. Look around on Brickset for more greats, past and present. The Creator subtheme is home to several great "family" style homes, with lots of classic bricks, just like the Town sets of yesteryear. Additionally, especially for the adult fan, the Advanced Models line (which will be renamed Creator Expert in 2013) is home to the outstanding Modular Buildings series, arguably some of the best sets Lego have ever produced, and heartily desired by many who grew up with the Town themes. One look at any of those, and I have to wholeheartedly disagree with your comment: I beg to differ. I am a classic Town fan, born and bred, but do you believe that this set: 10185 Green Grocer, circa 2008, is any less creative or imaginative than this grocery store model from idea book 6000, circa 1980? It really is comparing apples and oranges here. If you aren't satisfied with Lego's current offerings, that's fine. Everyone has their own tastes and preferences - but I hardly see how modern Lego designers have been anything less than brilliant given that they are, in the ultimate scheme of things, a toy business designed to sell toys to small children (while handily managing to sell quite a bit to adults as well! ) Leg Godt.

Great to see this contest return! I'm looking forward to the entries.. Do you need contributions to the prize pool? I have a spare Brick Friday 2012 set I could offer

Lovely vignette. I adore the color scheme of the kitchen and the knobs on the cupboard doors.. Were there only smoke pouring from the oven as well this would perfectly replicate a Thanksgiving of mine about five years ago, my horrified aunt trying to extinguish the flaming turkey.. needless to say we ended up buying a ham!

I am positively awestruck by the sheer size of your creation. I remember seeing your LDD model in the Train Tech Registry when you first joined and highly anticipated seeing it in the brick! When I was a small child I had the chance to sit in the cab of a surviving member of one of these beasts - I'll have to see if I can find a picture! Fantastic work. Can't wait to see the finishing touches.

(The following photographs, with the exception of the first which was taken by myself, are posted without intent to infringe on the copyrights of the original photographers.) This is not a steam locomotive at all, but in fact a large truck in disguise belonging to a local heritage society: This 4-2-4T locomotive was used by the Leigh Valley Railroad in the late 19th century as an 'inspection locomotive.' Note the cab enclosing the majority of the boiler! These were actually fairly common locos for their time period; many North American railroads owned one specifically for the purpose of showing railway inspectors on tours of railroad property. This standard gauge Plymouth gasoline locomotive and 4-wheeled 'bobber' caboose aren't particularly strange or unusual, but all the same are quite different from the types of stock most enthusiasts model. These would prove interesting subjects with the caboose's sliding side door (presumably converted to a revenue earning car) and the locomotive's short stature, long hood, large radiator and tall chimney. This two foot gauge tiny chain-driven steam loco was built from scratch by an enthusiast in Germany and is a mere eight feet long!

As Lazarus mentioned, tender locomotives rarely carried water tanks separate from the tender. Such deviations were designated by the suffix "T+T/T&T" for "tank plus/and tender." In those cases, as in that of the LNER Y9 class, the tenders were very small and carried only fuel: My suggestions would be to shorten your design by removing it's water capacity - perhaps to a length of nine studs or so. There also isn't any 'curve' to the bottom of the boiler, with no visible daylight between it and the frames - which, as in the above case, prototypical instances exist, but were rare. Of course, it's your creation, so it's fine as is, and you can do whatever you feel like in the end.

Thanks for such an in-depth review! Out of the three direct trains thus far, I'd have to say this one is the most attractive - and that's coming from a pretty die-hard steam fan. It's bright, alluring and eye-catching and your review helps to showcase some of the more exciting bits of the build. I'd been encouraging myself to steer clear of this set as I really don't have the space to provide it a place to run, but come January I sincerely doubt I won't have $260 plus tax and shipping missing from my bank account..

If I remember correctly, the only time we had a plain yellow train door was in 7735's parcels wagon.. Lovely work, Steinkopf. Really like your axleboxes.. hard to tell there's a 9v motor beneath! A real charismatic build.

The length of five studs is 40mm. Lego's own large drive wheels are 30mm in diameter. Ben's largest, the XL drivers, are 36.8mm in diameter, which would be the closest to what you're looking for if you'll accept that much of a scale compromise. Hope that helps!

So I'm a bit stuck as to how to MOD my modular buildings series: I want to furnish a complete interior for both Cafe Corner and Market Street and embellish the interiors featured in the five buildings since. However, I'm dissatisfied with the inability to easily view the interior; as is the standard the only means is to separate the modules and look down into the building from the ceiling, which makes both viewing and photography awkward. Lego's solution is to photograph the interior with the exterior walls deconstructed to some extent, but I desire a more permanent method to display the building's 'guts.' My dilemma is thus: I can't decide which solution I should pursue, out of the three following options, in order of least to most intrusive in regards to their original design: 1). Raise each floor (Technic connecting bricks excepted) by the height of one plate with a layer of tiles This method effectively separates the literal floor of each module from the walls, splitting them into an interior and an exterior module.This would require the least amount of modification and would be all but unnoticeable until close inspection. This would allow each interior to be photographed and displayed with ease separate from the building. The con to this method is that, as in the original design of the buildings, the interior is not readily visible without the unit being disassembled. Although it allows a 360 degree view at minifigure eye level to be had of the interior, it only allows this when taken outside of the building. 2). Build hinges into one of the side (i.e. connecting) walls of the buildings This was the most immediately apparent solution and requires a reasonable amount of modification of each building. The placement of the hinges is crucial - they must not protrude out from the sides so as to interfere connection with other modulars. This method allows the interior to be viewed inside the building without dissasembly of the modules, unlike the one mentioned previous. It's downside, however, is twofold: not all of the modifications would be so easily unnoticed, as hinges do not exist in all the colors needed to 'seamlessly' blend into the walls. Secondly, it would allow a view into the building from the hinged side only, which while improved upon the modulars as built, is not entirely ideal. 3). Rebuild the modulars with partial or no back walls (Rightmost creation and image is the property of valgarise on Flickr) The most radical solution I've fathomed is to rebuild the modulars with either minimized or reduced back walls, in the style of Classic Town buildings. An inherent advantage to this method is not only the ability to view the module's interior with little obstruction but also, with minimized or non-existent back walls, a good deal of parts are then recycled into 'MOC inventory.' The issues, however, are obvious - with the exception of Cafe Corner and Market Street, as they do not feature rear detail, the lack of most or all of a back wall detracts from some of the character of the standard. While not vastly detailed, they do help to distance the series from traditional town playsets. Light shining through the windows of the building's facade will also highlight the absence. Thoughts and opinions?

Leaving work today (where we 'save you money so you can live better' ) we apparently decided to take a four foot section out of our Lego aisle to dedicate to K'nex Grumpy Sparrows merchandise, of all things. Apparently a copy of 5770 was in the way, which we'd marked down to $20! 10% associate discount later and it came home with me for the princely sum of $18, less than half MSRP. (EDIT: Angree Birds [purposely misspelled] sets off a wordfilter? What.)