Martin_B

A 'steampunk' theme would be really cool actually. I'm not sure how marketable it would be since I understand it to be a relatively minor cult thing amongst readers of SF/fantasy fiction (there have been some high-profile titles getting into the mainstream recently though, so maybe I'm wrong about that...?), but there would be a great historical aspect sitting alongside something that's more tech-geeky and imaginative. The designers could have a riot designing ships and vehicles! As for something more educational, I'd also like to see ancient Greece or Rome being represented. The trouble with historical themes is keeping it adventurous and exciting but leaving out the gruesome bits...not that kids have a problem with that, of course. It would just be harder to sell to the parents! Gladiator minifigs being fed to lions, anyone?

I've been in the Dark Ages until quite recently, but a quick look through the City range throws up some really cool and attention-grabbing vehicles that give the old four-stud stuff of my youth a run for their money. Yes, realism has improved a little, but I'd agree that there's less of an emphasis on 'non-emergency' sets and buildings in general. How can you expect to build your city if there aren't many shops and houses?! I suppose that Lego is fundamentally geared towards both "retail sets" and "MOCs" but there are still fewer of those restaurants, shops, private homes and other buildings than there were in, say, the 80s. Yes, you could make MOC buildings to fill in the gaps between those fire and police stations, but what bricks are you going to use? A kid in the 6-12 age range isn't going to go onto after-market places like Bricklink for that, so I'm sorry to say that TLG is forgetting a potential market niche at the monent, unless market research has told them otherwise. Of course, there are some nice buildings in the Creator range, but why is that a separate range/theme? The modulars are I think superb too - I just built the GE and think it's a wonderfully designed, good value-for-money set...except I'm an AFOL and Modular stuff is aimed at AFOLs (it took me an entire evening to build with patience I never had as a child). Where's the cheaper, smaller and easy-to-build equivalent in the City range to cater for a younger market? Or, to put it another way: where's the incentive for the next generation of AFOLs? The reason why I think so many of us love the Modular and Creator sets is because we grew up with a type of youngster-orientated range, which doesn't really feature as prominently any more.

I love it! The film's great - really imaginative and fun. You've got the little details spot-on too. The taxi's immediately recognisable, and of course it wouldn't be Bruce Willis without the signature white vest, would it? *laughs* How did you get the taxi to hover though? I can't see any wires!

I bagged the Grand Emporium through the Brick Friday deal, which means not only did I get the 10% discount, delivery will be free (not sure what will happen if it turns up while I'm at work like most parcels do though... ) and I got a limited ed christmas set thrown in. I guess conventional wisdom suggests I keep the limited ed set MISB as an investment, but I think my inner AFOL will be prodding me in the ribs and whispering "build iiiitttt..." in my ear instead!

That's amazing work...I appreciate the time you spent trying to get it all to work right! Good job! I LOVE rollercoasters.

Oh my...that is spectacular. Amazing work! The detail in the structure of the gantry, the outline of the shuttle, the crowd of minifigs that brings it to life...fantastic!

Yep. It is indeed. I think the offer extends through the weekend too. The T&Cs are on the store's site now though, so feel free to check that in case I misread it!

Wow...how do you guys notice these things?! You're absolutely right: the remake has two 2x4 bricks at the base of the rear main mast instead of four L-shaped 2x2 bricks in a square. The length of the anchor rope (35cm) isn't mentioned in the remake's instructions either. Even so, I had to type this with the original's instructions open on that page!

Nice! That set was one of my old faves too. I love seeing these new, expanded takes on the classics. Well done!

Awesome. The scaled-up recreation of the logo and the internal lighting are nice touches. Do you have more pics of the interior BTW? The bridge/cockpit looks fantastic, but the WIP photos seem to show a prison and engines...there must be loads of room in there! Very well done!

Mine's my first name and the initial of my surname. Boring or what? Possibly more amusing is "concretebadger", the domain name of my own site and the username I use on some other online places. The halls of residence at my old university were described by the student newspaper as "...designed by an army of one-armed badgers with a concrete fixation." The buildings were indeed ugly concrete things (the student paper is itself called 'Concrete'!) but I have a sentimental attachment to the place and it makes for a username that's never already taken when I register somewhere!

I'd quite like the idea of a modular bank and office block. I'm not sure how the underground vault would work, but a banking hall on the ground floor with office space above would work very well I think. If the rumours of a cinema are confirmed I'd be really happy about it though - there have been some excellent modular shop sets, but that would be a cool departure. Sorry if that's already been mentioned in this thread...in which case I agree with whoever suggested it!

I like where this train of thought is going (mmm...rum...). By the same logic then: Captain Roger/Redbeard looks like he'd steal all the rum. Captain Ironhook looks like he's drunk all the rum. So dishevelled! Captain Brickbeard looks like he'd start a fight with an empty rum bottle. He looks more...mischievous. Captain Pete would probably get a round of rum shots in. He looks too 'innocent' to be a true scoundrel. Captain Roger/Redbeard is the original Pirate captain in the same way that Sean Connery is *the* James Bond, despite some other later ones being great in their own right. My vote's Roger/Redbeard.

I've been thinking about how to use additional groups and factions, and decided on a role of subordinate guard within the main army, e.g. Lion Knights vs Dragon Knights with the Black Falcons being the soldiers of a knight/landowner who answers to the king. That way, there's the possibility for internal rivalries and attempts to overthrow the current ruler at the hands of a supposedly 'loyal' subject. Forestmen and that Bull guy are then outlaws or mercenaries who go wherever there's excitement/fame/fortune to be had!

Yeah. Since wooden fortifications have been built around the world across different eras, I guess it's a set that lends itself well to MOC-ing? I probably shouldn't go encouraging other people to go spend money, but the "Panel 2 x 6 x 6 Log Wall (Palisade)", "Brick, Modified 1 x 4 Log" and "Brown Brick, Modified 1 x 2 Log" parts are widely available on Bricklink if you want some. The Legoredo fort itself is an awesome set too if you can find it second-hand...I actually had all the pieces out because I was planning to put mine up for sale, but now I've seen how versatile the wood-effect parts are I'm now quite reluctant to part with it!

Thanks. Yeah, the battlement walkways look a bit 'off' being light grey...I simply grabbed whatever 2 X x plates were to hand, and happened to have more grey than, say, black ones nearby! It's just fun to 'doodle' sometimes, and occasionally I get some ideas that prove to be useful later on even if the thing itself looks rough and unfinished. Your suggestion of a 'still building' angle for instance has given me another idea, because that would actually work in the favour of the 'rushed' appearance that it has... Hmm. Yeah...I think that could work, and on a bigger scale too...

I got a bit bored yesterday evening after setting aside the pieces that used to belong to the 6769 Western fort. Unfortunately I'd pinched a load of the pieces for another MOC, so can't build it until I've got onto Bricklink and replaced them. Instead, I started fiddling around with some old Castle pieces and dug out my minifigs. Many of them are from the Leo's Castle from 2000-ish, while the rest are from the Black Knight sets from ten years previously. Remembering that, after the Norman conquest, many castles were initially hurriedly built from wood, I used the wood-effect panels to throw together a temporary stronghold while I work out what to do with my old Castle pieces! The King and his knights ride out: Trouble lurks just around the corner... The hastily-built courtyard is a hive of activity: The keep, such as it is, and postern gate: An old-school minifig on guard: It's not a full-scale MOC project by any stretch, but it was fun to see what I could do in the space of one saturday evening when I had nothing better to do. There's something about the old Castle themes that I really like, and would love to expand my small collection to build something bigger and more...permanent that I could incorporate into a Town layout or something. I know of online community projects such as NaNoWriMo and the RPM Challenge, which are organised by amateur writers and songwriters respectively, that involve creativity within a strict time limit. I'm now wondering about a 'speed-build' in which you have to build a MOC in the space of, say, a week or a month. It might be a cool challenge!

The closing track from a classic record. The drumming on this tune is legendary... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKkJHSO8A0

Ooh...thanks. I was thinking about ordering one of the modulars, so that offer would be a really nice incentive. I'll be dropping in on the Manchester store on December 2 though, so maybe there'll be some special offers then too...?

That's awesome! It reminds me a bit of a theatre somewhere in Vienna.

Wow! That's amazing work there. I'm a bit of a military hardware geek but I must admit that submarines don't usually do much for me - they're often black tubes that aren't very interesting to look at (and probably wouldn't be much fun to build models of either). It's a different story with the old 'uns though; as you say, this particular sub has a very cool conning tower and the moving parts you've incorporated into the model are the icing on the cake. The SNOT technique on the sides and the use of smooth tiles on the deck make all the difference I think. Very sleek and menacing!

I absolutely love Japanese architecture...it's so distinctive and has some really cool and unusual aesthetics. I think you've nailed it in this MOC (it makes me wish they'd done more with the original Ninjas line). The roof shape really is fantastic; well done! I've visited Japan twice now, and really ought to get my photos uploaded. Most of them are Tokyo cityscape shots, but I took my camera with me to Kyoto and Osaka too. I can upload them to Flickr if you, or anyone else who is into this type of architecture, would find them helpful. It might be an incentive to get them all organised!

I'm not sure how often this has been discussed before, but I think it might make for an interesting thread... Since I'm now getting back into buying Lego regularly again, I've been looking back on what I've acquired over the years. There are some pre-Dark Ages sets that I've rebuilt recently for nostalgia's sake, and despite remembering them being awesome on some long-past Christmas/birthday morning I'm not so impressed with them now. One or two make me think, "why did I buy/ask for that?" The Blacktron II 'Alpha Centauri Outpost' for instance had cool flashing lights that really *worked*, and I loved Blacktron II as a child. And yet, looking at it today it's not all that impressive for some reason. The same goes for a lot of my Space sets, which can't really be displayed alongside my Town layout. In contrast I paid what seemed like a crazy sum for the old Airport Monorail a couple of weeks back, but when I put it together I realised that it's in nearly-new condition so I don't feel so bad about clobbering my credit card for it! I think I can build an entire layout around it so in that sense it's not a set I regret having at all. Similarly, the Western Fort Legoredo was a christmas gift that unfortunately happened just before my Dark Ages so I never really got much use out of it. In terms of playability and parts though I'd say it's an awesome set. So yeah. There are a few sets I own that I don't care for while I'll hang onto some others forever, be it sentimental reasons or the fact that they're really cool in their own right. Who else has some sets that you regret buying, or only bought because there were useful parts for MOCs? Second half of the question: I'm tempted to sell my unwanted ones but I'm worried that I'll later regret letting them go. Unlike, say, books, DVDs or music equipment (the three other big money sinks of mine), Lego sets are collections of parts rather than 'whole' items so even if a set isn't all that great overall, I might find use for the pieces. Have any of you got 'seller's remorse' and wish you hadn't got rid of something, or did a set that's in itself disappointing contain some pieces that you've found numerous alternative uses for?

Nice colour scheme! The shape of it reminds me of Firefly for some reason. Very cool. The stand's also very neat; it's elegant but unobtrusive at the same time.

I've always liked the Castle theme, although I wasn't so keen on the 'Fright Knights' era...these days, LotR/Hobbit sets tick the fantasy box well enough so I doubt it'll be a return to those days. What I think is cool about the Castle theme generally - and why I think it's still a 'current theme - is the fact that it's historical, but not 'era-specific', for want of a better term. As in, I always thought of the classic Castle as being medieval Europe, but the general structure and design of the sets is a bit of a blank slate so can be made to look like any one of numerous times and places. Ancient Greek/Roman, Viking...heck, even Middle Eastern or Asian. This makes for some awesome MOCs of course, but it gives plenty of scope for TLG devising new ranges without having to start from scratch. There are I think loads of options left for a new Castle-based historical theme, although I suspect that after three decades or so we've had enough great medieval Europe themes!