Dr Lucky

Well, I went back and bought three more today, so now I have 16 green army men. Now I can do a great diorama or something...

I picked up one of these tonight and it is fantastic. I'm going to go back tomorrow and buy two or three more. I can't get enough of these guys. Yes, they fit onto a normal baseplate just fine. They take up the same amount of space as a normal 2x4 plate, but the two studs are offset (along the 2 wide dimension). They are a little tougher to pull up than a normal plate, because they fit pretty flush, but it isn't too hard because they don't have quite the same grip strength (just because of their odd shape, not because of any poor quality).

As for the rolling, not great but not terrible. The wheels are actually so huge and so textured that on a perfectly smooth surface, like my table, it almost wants to slide. On a surface with a little bit of texture, like a baseplate, or with lots of texture, like a carpet, it rolls great. I'll take some pics of the wheel and drill parts tonight, but it will be a while. I've got my last test of the semester tonight, then a party to attend, and then a hangover to suffer, so maybe the pics will actually go up tomorrow. Sorry about the huge pictures. I figured it was easier to err on the side of bigger images, which the forum will resize for people, so that those who want the size and detail can blow them back up.

I just picked up the Thunder Driller at Target tonight. It was the only Power Miners set they had, so I had to grab it. It was the first time I had seen any Power Miners in stores. I really want to get back to my Pirate Ship Project but I've still got one more big test tomorrow, so no heavy duty building. Instead, I thought this might be a fun little diversion for a bit. Box Front: Box Back: Parts: Of course, the first thing to do is to get the little rock monster out of the bag: I didn't apply the stickers, so this is what I had left over: Final Product: Another Shot: (See how nicely the TNT fits in the monster's mouth? It fits well enough that he can fully close his mouth.) A strange feature: The set is designed so that fire is shooting towards the pilot's crotch. I don't know what to make of this. Minifigs: Minifig Backs: Another shot of the Minifig Backs, where I tried to show the alternate faces: Sorry for the photo quality on that one. Review: Well, I wanted the rock monster pretty bad and he is really neat, so that's good. I guess this one is called Firox. He is a great little figure, and can easily eat a crystal or some TNT. Only time will tell what other bits he can eat. I'm happy to get new colored crystals. Also, more TNT never hurt anyone. (Well, actually...) The minifigs are pretty sweet too. The two sided torsos are good, the printed legs look great, and the heads are pretty good too. Both sides of the clean shaven guy's head look good, and the front (regular) expression of the other guy is pretty good too. As for the vehicle... It's really freaking green. Lime green. Also, the bright orange highlights help to make this thing even more subtle. Aside from the colors, it is actually kind of neat. I hate to admit that. The drill mechanism is quite clever. When you roll the whole thing forward, the drill spins, but the other drill piece spins in the opposite direction. Essentially, when the machine is coming towards you, you see the light gray piece spinning counter-clockwise and the dark gray piece spinning clockwise. The headlights look pretty good too. Also, I like the new vented slope piece (you can see it in the fire crotch picture) but I wish I had them in black instead of lime green. Even these big wheels are neat, though I have little use for them in the long run. All things considered, this set probably wasn't worth $30. I would be happy with it for $20, but $30 is hard to justify. Especially considering I can get the rock monster and crystals (in different colors) and the TNT in smaller, cheaper sets. I may well pick up some of the smaller Power Miners sets if I see them, but I don't see myself getting the biggest one, unless I come across it on sale.

If you don't count the sails, the only really costly thing will be the hulls. They are also the only part that is very bulky, so the shipping price on them will be high, so that will be the most important thing for you to find locally. Everything else is just small bits, so if you can get them from just a few different shops, it shouldn't be too bad, even including shipping. It really shouldn't be too costly to build it this way if you have good luck with the hulls, especially if you make your own sails and crew it with whatever pirate minifigs you might already have.

I don't think that's the issue. 4768 had an anchor on a chain instead of on string, and that looked fine. (They used a tap as a connection piece)

At $55 and buy one, get one half off, it might actually be worth picking up. Two of them for about $80 really isn't a bad deal, especially considering the original, rediculous price of $70 or $80. If you need some black viking ship hulls and tattered sails, that's the place to go. It's the only set to get those hull parts in black, and you really kind of need to sets to get a complete ship. Nothing else from that set is very special. The other option is you could get that and the Pirate Soldier's Fort for a total of $80, which wouldn't be too bad a deal either. I doubt this is a 're-release'. That set was a TRU exclusive. They probably just had a lot of backstock and are trying to clear it out during Christmas so they don't have to sell it even cheaper on clearance in the spring.

I've got: 2 x Brickbeard's Bounty 2 x Soldier's Fort 1 x Shipwreck Hideout 1 x Loot Island 1 x Krackin Attackin' 3 x Cannon Battle (So far, will be getting more when I see them) 3 x Soldier Impulse (Probably more of these too) 1 x Pirate Impulse

Here's the pics of Phase 1. All I did was lengthen the hull (which added more gun ports) and add the central mast. A lot of my Bricklink stuff showed up today, but I'm worried that I won't get much time to build for the next two weeks, so it may stay like this for a bit. Front View Side View Rear View New Mast The ship really is much bigger now. I'm pretty stoked about the overall length and height. I'm still going to add quite a bit of bulk to the sides, bow, and cabin, and do a lot of cosmetic stuff, but it's a lot closer to where I want it to be.

Well, I did Phase 1 today. I added two hull sections, extending it to four, and I also added a third mast in the center with three sails. Right now, its got ports for four cannons on each side, but I don't have wheels for all the cannons yet. I haven't added the rear mast yet, nor have I started bulking up the hull yet, because most of my Bricklink stuff hasn't arrived yet. Right now, it looks pretty much like Lego intended, just bigger, which is pretty sweet. I'm a heck of a lot happier with it already, but that isn't going to stop me from continuing the project once my orders arrive. I'll take a few pictures of it tonight.

How's this for lucky? When the Dwarve's Mine finally wound up back in stores a few months ago, my local Target had them for an absurdly low price. I bought the 3 that they had for less than $13 each. Sadly, when the next shipment came in, they increased the price. Of course, I can't complain after I got such a bargain on three of them. That's why my dwarf army is so big.

I went to TRU today and got them to retroactively help me with the sale. I got a second Brickbeard's Bound for my project, along with two Soldier's Forts. When I finish my project, maybe I'll start in on a bigger Fort. I think the Soldier's Fort would look great with some more buildings. I've got a Lagoon Lockup somewhere that could easily merge with this too... The sale is fantastic, but they were out of Cannon Battle sets. At this price, I probably would have picked up 6 more... Other than that, I couldn't be happier.

I built my Brickbeard's Bounty the other day, and it was cool, but not big enough. When I was a kid, I remember just how huge the Black Seas Barracuda seemed, and I really wanted that experience again. Of course, a lot of time has passed since then. I've grown up, and that memory has had 19 years to expand. I need to make Brickbeard's Bounty much bigger! My plan is to try to make Brickbeard's Bounty huge while maintaining a lot of the Lego system style. I do want to add details, not just empty space, but I don't want it to start looking like a historical recreation or a model. I just want an enormous Lego pirate ship. First thing, I went shopping. I bought another Brickbeard's Bounty, about a $100 worth of misc new reddish brown bits on Bricklink, an anchor, and some various other ship parts. Also, I've got enough new and old pirates to comfortably crew this thing, and enough new pirate cannons to really arm it. My rough plan is this: Expand the length of the ship - I will use three or possibly four hull middle sections, instead of the two current ones. I hesitate to use four because I don't want the ship to look too long for its width. Make the hull taller - In addition to the additional stackable hull end pieces I got with the second Brickbeard's Bounty, I ordered two more in one of my Bricklink orders. Those combined with the extra reddish brown bricks I got will really let me bulk up the hull. Also, I need to make sure that I don't just make the ship look like its floating too high in the water. A third main mast - I want to add a taller third mast, one with three sails. I plan to add it between the two smaller masts, unless there's a good reason to put it in front or back. A small rear mast - Basically like the one on the Skull's Eye Schooner. I will probably remove the cannon from on top of the cabin to make some room for this. More guns - I want four cannons on each side, and maybe five if I end up with four hull middle sections. I think I might place them higher than they are now, but below deck. If I put them on deck, they will take up practically the whole deck which isn't very exciting. I might make a few of them accessable from the top, like on the Black Seas Barracuda. More details on the deck - I need to put some stuff on the deck to spruce it up and keep it interesting once the cannons are below deck. I think I'm going to cover part of the hold with a grate like on the Durmstrang Ship (or even on the Red Beard Runner). I always thought that looked good. Expand the cabin - I'm actually pretty happy with the look of the cabin right now. I just need to make sure it still scales correctly. Plus, I'll add some more stuff to the deck on top of the cabin like a sextant and a compass. Add one or two small boats - I'm going to add one or two small row boats for the crew. I just don't know where to store them. I could possibly make room below deck, but that doesn't seem really practical. If I go with one, I could hang it behind the ship like on the Skull's Eye Schooner, but I don't really like the way that looks. I could also hang them along the side, possibly beside and slightly below the cabin. I think that might be the most practical, but I don't think it would look great. There are some things I really like about the existing ship that I want to keep intact: Masts - I like the new style of masts (using tubing) as opposed to the old masts. I still might add an old mast platform to my big mast, but in general, I don't want to switch over to old style masts. Cabin - I like the general shape and style of the cabin. I really don't want to alter it much if I don't have to. Bow - I like the existing bow and the set up with the front sail. I want to keep that intact. The mermaid is also staying, but she might get a Brick Forge trident instead of her sword. Color scheme - I like the colors that Lego used, and I plan to maintain the basic palette. General aesthetic - This is the most important thing! I really want to keep this looking like a Lego system, minifig scale pirate ship. Sure, it may dwarf my Black Seas Barracuda when I'm done, but I don't want it to make the Barracuda look totally silly either. So that's my plan. I'm open to any suggestions that anyone might have around here. I would love any ideas or feedback that anyone has. It will be a bit before I can get too deep into this because my Bricklink orders likely won't get here until late this week or early next. Also, I've got major tests from the 10th to the 17th, which will take up most of that time, plus a good amount of study time leading up to those days. (I'm in law school, which is a post-grad program in America, and must more time consuming than normal undergrad work) Of course, I will post pictures when I finish. I'll try to take pictures as I work too, especially if I hit any cool milestones.

I'm in.

I've got some classic bluecoats (complete with epulets, shakos, backpacks) I could trade, and some redcoats too. How many were you looking to get for your pirates? Also, I'm in the US, so shipping would be a lot easier for both of us, I think. PM me and we can talk more.

Target (at least in the US) no longer has layaway. I've heard they might still have layaway in some other countries, but I can't help you with that.

There are two toy shops close to the river. I spent the summer in Salzburg and I went to one of them a bunch of times. I can't remember what either shop was called though. Here's the one I went to: Location of the toy shop. I was always coming from Linzergasse. If you come from that direction, just cross the bridge, cross the street at the end of the bridge, and go straight down the "street." (It's not a modern street at this point, it's cobblestone) Go only a block (a very short block, 200 feet at most) and turn right. You'll see Getreidegasse, which looks a midieval castle street (it basically is), and has tons of little shops on each side. Go down a block, and a courtyard will open up on the right side. There's some cafe tables and usually a sausage vendor's cart (though this may be different in winter). The toy store will be on the far corner of the courtyard and Getreidegasse. Note that you can't get around in this part of town by car, though you can get close to it. This part of the city is only walking and bikes. This shop had a lot of Lego and a good selection of other stuff too. They had tons of the newest hobby board games (what we would call Euro games in America) which I would have loved, but they were all the German editions, and I don't speak German. (Most of them will probably be released here in a year or two, but in English and twice as expensive...) They also had all the other stuff: traditional board games, normal toys, video games (mostly Wii and DS), etc. I did see another toy store really close by too, but I never made it in. Second toy shop. I think the toy store is where I marked the map, but if it isn't, it is definately on that block. It's only like a two minute walk from the first toy shop I pointed out. They had a pretty big window display, and looked bigger than the other place, so it should be easy to find them. I think this is actually the one that David was talking about. Once you get to the right general area, don't be afraid to ask someone for directions if you can't find one of these places. Most of the locals (and almost everyone working in shops) speaks some English, and everyone I talked to was really friendly. Also, there are tons of great things to do in Salzburg. Go up to the Fortress. Have a liter of beer at Augustinerbrau. Go to the Trick Fountains at Hellbrunn. There's 10 more great things I didn't list for each of the ones I did. Take advantage of your time there.

Your roofing techniques are fantastic. Any chance we could get a tutorial, or at least some close in pictures of the two?

That figures. The one I had shipped from Germany just arrived today. Crappy timing.

This is a freaking great deal. I've already got one, but I couldn't pass up two more at this price. 48 Vikings for $50! This is fantastic.

If there is Indy Lego, does that mean all the WWII buff will finally get their Nazi minifigs? Or at least official Lego military weapons? It just seems like there are too many guns and Nazis in Indiana Jones for Lego to want the license. It could be cool though, especially if they give us a few sets from the old Indy movies. Imagine the Holy Grail chamber with tons of pearl gold goblets...

Sweet. I'm heading to law school this fall, so now I have something to aspire to if it doesn't work out...

Hey! I'm in California too. Where in California are you? I checked two local Toys R Us' in San Diego, and neither of them had any of the new stuff yet.

I'm honestly not too worried about the outsourcing. Flextronics is one of the biggest manufacturers globally of plastic products, and they really can do a good job. The company I work for does a lot of business with Flextronics and while we have had a few administrative issues with them, their quality has always been great. (We haven't worked with the specific factory in Mexico that deals with Lego, but we do regular business with one of their other facilities in Mexico, as well as one of their facilities in Asia.)

Nothing particularly special at the moment, but having dozens of Crown Knights and Skeletons sounds really appealing. Mini-figs are good.