Hobbes

I just stumbled upon this "gem": the LEGO website as it looked like in 1996! More here. :D

Like ?

The most expensive parts were the shelfs. I wanted to use those as the base first but they didn't line up with the posts of the side-units. So I decided to use chipboards and the shelfs will serve as what they are: shelfs (and maybe a sub-level to my city). The entire structure was about 200 Euro - not cheap, but I'm pretty mobile since the 80x50 "tables" can be arranged any way I want. Setting it up didn't take much time. But it's not finished yet, some "screwing" needs to be done still. Shouldn't last longer than half a day.

Ah, that's you - I've seen these layouts before when I was looking through brickshelf for "inspiration" ;) Very nice! I just don't have the tools nor the room to build those - let alone the skills...

Well, I have started working on my layout *satis* I've decided to use IKEA's IVAR Storage System as support and 16mm chipboards as "base", the big ones 85x50 cm, the smaller ones along the wall 85x30 cm. Here's some pics: The future "City Center": http://666kb.com/i/10ocgjqx0aj9c.JPG At the moment this construction is highly unstable cos I haven't fixed it yet (need some more cross-braces) but I wanted to see what it would look like. Here I'll probably put my Airportstrip and Shuttlebase: http://666kb.com/i/10och0p106s5c.JPG http://666kb.com/i/10och6bfdl3wg.JPG The "left side", that'll become my "Desert Strip", the Train route for the Santa Fe: http://666kb.com/i/10ochawajeakg.JPG http://666kb.com/i/10ochua2e6sjk.JPG And here the reason why I decided to use "IVAR": the side-units I used have the same height as my desk. And since my PC, Monitor and that stuff will disappear soon I can integrate the desk into the layout perfectly *satis* http://666kb.com/i/10ochzpwen20w.JPG Me happy |-D

I'm sorry, I meant Stefan as the German "version" of Stephen/Steven/Steve. In German there's two "versions": Stefan (emphansis on the "e" and the "e" spoken a bit longer) and Stephan (emphasis on the "e", too, but spoken shorter and the "ph" pronounced like two "f"). All I meant was that I haven't heard that name being given to somebody in the States. But since in this case it's sort of a short form of Estefan it's a whole different deal anyways...

Thx! Took me a few seconds to figure who you meant by "CT" ;) Today I visited a local TRU (again[1]) and witnessed a father and his son. I didn't understand them cos they were foreigners, somewhere from either Slovakia, Czech Republic or Poland (sorry, I can't distinguish between those languages). They were looking at the new Vikings sets, the big long-boat and the fortress, to be precise. Both not really cheap sets (the boat costs EUR 59.99, the fortress EUR 74.99). After a long debate and looking at other sets the dad - BOUGHT THE LONG-BOAT! YAY! FINALLY A PARENT BUYING LEGO FOR THEIR KIDS! WOOHOO! Sorry if I get carried away, but lately I've seen the opposite too often. OK, they weren't locals, but what the heck, a LEGO-set got sold *satis* [1] TRU had a "20 % off any LEGO-set if you buy at least EUR 40 worth"-sale. Unfortunately it seems they don't carry 4886 anymore. At 49.99 minus 20 % that would've been quite a nice deal, especially when S@H charges 51.99 :'(

There are ppl out there who do - I'm not one of them, though. It sure is a challenge in a way but not appealing to me. My sentiments exactly. LOL, that'd be a first :D :D Yep.

I've seen Vikings sets at local TRUs for some time now and did take a closer look last week. The "Long Boat" does look nice, but overall that line does nothing for me. The same goes for Dinos (from the pictures I saw) >-| I'm a Trains/Town-guy afterall and I'll wait for 2006 for new and interesting stuff - which seems to be released in the years' first halves only *twisted*

Hello and welcome :) Interesting name for a Texan (since it's spelled the "German way")... How's Michigan? My brother (also named Stefan btw) was there once. He said it wasn't that bad - but he's no Texan ;)

A rectangular hatch.

Thx :) I haven't finished it yet but so far it looks great and is fun to build. Those parts on one hand are great (and remind me of 4403) but on the other hand made me realize how limited my "MOCing" skills are because I could never come up with a "contraption" like those in this model :'( Then it worked exactly as I wanted it to ;)

You're right, I haven't thought about it that way :() That shows the superior quality of LEGO over standard NASA equipment... *satis*

Oh! I never paid much attention to those links that far "down". Thanks ;)

Does the forum-software support something like this? What I mean is: "My Assistent" shows new post since my last visit and "highlights" answers to topics I started. Is there a way to "highlight" answers to my posts? Sometimes it's quite difficult and time-consuming to browse through all the new messages and "sort" those out that are answers to what I had to say. Sure, this way I might stumble across a topic that I hadn't seen before and might be of interest but what I look for first are answers to my own posts (if any). It sometimes does happen that I simply forgot what and where I posted the last time and so I miss answers. The world doesn't end because of this but it would be a nice feature. I hope that wasn't too cryptic ;) Possible?

Ok, so they're back safe. But what was so difficult repairing the tiles? There's even instructions out there how to do it... Or in other words: Coinciding with the safe return of the real thing I received my replica today :-D Yes, that was a disguised "Guess what I got in the mail today"-thread. Since it's not that a classic set I had to attract attention somehow - GOTCHA *twisted*

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom ;)

Got a fully functional 9V Train Speed Regulator (with everything except the box) for EUR 3 plus shipping once. Considering its official price of EUR 53.99 here in Austria I think it's quite a good deal. I know it's available for around EUR 20 on ebay but comparing it to the retail price makes the deal seem bigger ;) Other deals I consider OK: 5590 Modelteam (MIB) for GBP 40 6276 Eldorado Fortress for EUR 35 (excellent condition) 6277 Imperial Trading Post (MIB) for EUR 30 (great condition) 6286 SES (MIB) for EUR 55 (great condition) 6339 Shuttle Ramp for EUR 35 (great condition) Other than that I had a few good and some not that great deals. But sometimes I just want things without waiting for a possible deal that comes in 6+ months...

I know "River Piracy" is another term for "River Capture" but at the moment I don't really see where you're getting at... ... hmmm... I'll sleep over it...

Q: Who wants a military theme? A: I don't. Q: Should LEGO start a military line? A: No. The answers in this post solely depict the poster's humble opinion.

Well, some lucky Irish mid-40s woman won it all, she was the only one to "guess" the right numbers. The exact Jackpot was 115,436,126 Euro. That's 139,977,846 US Dollars 171,374,877 Canadian Dollars 184,965,045 Australian Dollars Congratulations... I guess...

Oh, ok... maybe I just got it wrong... it's too hot to think straight...

LEGO made two versions of the SES: Europe had firing cannons, US didn't. LEGO makes two versions of Dinos: Europe has no guns, US has. Weird... then again I don't like the sets anyway...