DaleDVM

I turned on Sunday Morning but missed the LEGO segment. It must have been early in the program. Luckily CBS had the footage online and thanks for providing a link for everyone. It was a good story. I wonder if they got those sales and AFOL statistics from TLG? I am surprised CBS didn't do a little more research and find out about the LEGO vs Legos thing... Although I consider my LEGO hobby the nerdiest thing I do. I never got the feeling that Todd does at a convention. Maybe it is the cool people I hang out with at the cons... You guys and gals know who you are! Building my MOCs at home for many hours by myself and sorting brick endlessly is a very nerdy thing to do. When I go to the conventions I am surprised at how mainstream most of the AFOLs are. When we are sitting around eating, drinking, joking around, it feels more like a tailgate party than a nerd-a-thon.

We have liftoff!

1 crazy day to go! CapCom ready for launch. This is going to be a great weekend!

2 days to go. Recovery go for launch. I'm gonna need a week of recovery after this marathon of 14 to 16 hour building days!

3 days to go, Network is a go for launch. Chris I will not use harsh words but wisdom; When it comes to MOCing with LEGO. "A journey it is, a destination it is not." I figure all of this last minute building is not only with LEGO but my character as well. Polish guy I don't drink coffee but anything caffeinated will do! DHP I guess it is good we are all in this together. Thanks for your empathy.

Last year Stash, Cop Mike, and I ordered delivery to the hotel and ate in the hallway. The Westin has such comfy chairs... Stash was workin the pick a brick event that evening and with the light display going on I think we ate pretty late. However, I don't think that 20 of us eating pizza in the hall will work. Perhaps one of the conference rooms could be used. Bryan if you are keeping up with these posts let me know if this is even possible. Or maybe we are looking at going to the restaurant. It all depends on how far we want to get from our LEGO. I have spent so many hours building in the last month that I might get the shakes should I be away from plastic for too long! I would prefer to eat in the hotel as long as we can find a spot to sit relax and chat. 20 of us ordering at the restaurant could take 2-3 hours. Delivery is instant, as long as we order well ahead of time. Since I am local I am also willing to bring a cooler full of "soda" or like we Chicagoans call it "pop". Alcohol will have to be BYOB.

4 days to go. Procedures is a go for launch. I can't believe it is so close. My weekend help for building did not pan out so I am really pressed for time! Looking forward to meeting you firestorm. If I don't get a break I'm going to be the spacey one!

5 days to go. Control is a go for launch. Looking forward to meeting you quarryman. Dave you and Stacy are way ahead of schedule and much too relaxed. Perhaps you should come to my house and help me build until Thurday. Stash I have to give you a call. I will need to pick up a couple of sets on my way to the convention due to a screw up in my bricklink order. I hope you have a build a buzz set at the store!

6 days to go. Surgeon is go for launch... Do I have enough time to get everything done?

hilarious clone and cop Mike... Personally I find them very threatening! Do you have any idea how heavy one of those large deep dish pizzas are? They could do some serious damage in a food fight! However, I prefer the slow... painful... agonizing death from atherosclerosis, heart attack, and heart failure one of these pizzas can deliver! Pizza is the plan on Saturday night... but sausage for me. Cop Mike I think you are paying enough to travel and stay in Chicago. We can all pitch in and we can spring for Adam since he did for us last year.

7 days to Brickworld. Guidance is a go for launch... Definately hoping for a safe journey for everyone. Dave are you and Stacey staying at the hotel the whole time? Cuz that would be a long expensive stay... I took a day (mostly) off from building yesterday to work and watch the Blackhawks. The Stanley Cup Champs I might add! Now a frantic sprint to the finish. It is LEGO only for a week. Can't wait to see everyone and their bricks in space, space, spaaa...

If you can get to a lego store it is the best way to get light bley bricks. I find any brick with 6 or less studs can be bought cheapest this way. Right now 1x4 light bley bricks are available on pick a brick walls. Not all stores are smart enough to order that piece so call ahead and ask if they can get you a couple of cases. I have gone through 4 cases on my current project alone. I use bricklink for specialty bricks and for odd colors.

8 days to go. Booster is a go for launch...

All right Stash you called my bluff. I will still come to the convention... I guess we can all chip in for Pizza. Can't wait to see everyone. Back to building!

Let the countdown begin. 9 days to go till we see bricks in space, (echo) space, space, spaa... Give me a go / no go for launch.

Are you going to be buying us dinner again Stash? If so we might have to make a party of it! Lou's is perfectly safe for everyone except Italians who may be surprised that they didn't think of making pizza this way. Copmike is an exotic foreigner and he is coming back this year. I'm not even coming to the convention for the LEGO. I just want Adam "Stash" to buy me pizza!

I could see Jim Carrey "Ace Ventura" kicking a MOC in a box down the sidewalk. UPS coming through! Got a package people! I spent about 12 hours so far today building and rebuilding. I completely forgot to eat and it is after 7pm local time. I am so psyched about this year! Only 11 days to go... but I may starve to death before the convention! I better order a pizza so I don't have to stop MOCing. Do you guys forget to eat when you are really in the groove?

I like the fantasy, magical, and historical elements from the castle themed sets. Oh lets face it I just love the castle theme altogether! I would be very very surprised if LEGO does not come out with an adult dragon in the next wave of sets. My nephew loves the dragons and so do his friends. At age 11 he is the target audience for this theme. I think the magic in this theme is going to be far more powerfull than any of us can possibly imagine!

Thanks Metalandi. Great review. I truly find the video the most disturbing thing. My 25 year old figs hold a shield better than that! . I guess TLG hopes the kids will buy because AFOL's will be let down. I just can't believe they haven't fixed these issues yet. I don't mind the stamp inside of the arm so collectors can tell the difference between a battle pack fig and one from the sets but why let them be of lower quality as well? I absolutely love the new designs but ouch on the quality. The shields, helmets, and accessories are great. The downside on the dragons is that chain heavy torso which you cover up anyway. I wish they had two of the archer's torso. Last but not least those weapons really needed to be dark pearl. Why oh why are they not dark pearl? Needless to say I will probably buy atleast 10 of these. I may wait a bit to see if they address the quality issue at all. What can I say I am an army builder and I am goofy!

Good call blue and white. KK2 had some of the best shields ever made. I have an entire faction made up of those unicorn shields. Now thanks to the dragon knights I will get to add some of those archers as footmen. The dark green is the same color for both obviously. Sirens of Titan I really like the artwork! I like the eye shield idea. I'm not sure I would want the wizard faction to be purple, perhaps the wizard could be a black and white or black and grey combo? Then you could make the eye a dynamic color to make it stand out. IMHO Purple would be a great color for a very noble faction similar to the lions or the crownies. We did have a purple knight before... but I am guessing this time they won't make his entire armor purple! The dark grey/yellow is great as well. I have a faction with those colors using the KK2 dragon shield. It would make a great official color pattern. The blue reminds me too much of Jayko and I threw up in my mouth just thinking about him. The burgundy and pink and black is surprisingly cool. Would be good for some renegade soldiers. I would really love for lego to give us a round shield with a wooden plank print on it for citizen soldier types. We have also never had any orange colors for any of the lego factions.

I have 5 MMV's. I wish I had more. It has the best part per price for any castle set made. the fact that I picked them up at 20% off during a convention just adds to the incredible value. The only bricks that are a little less useful are the medium blue bricks in the set. I don't like making a lot of buildings out of that color. The cows, food parts, and little extras are just great. The added bonus is that the villager minifigs are vital for MOCs that include civilian life. Personally I find bricklink a somewhat expensive place to buy bulk brick. If I could find everything I wanted at one bricklink store it might not be bad... but I have to order from several stores every time I need parts. The shipping costs can be killer. I tend to buy specialty bricks and elements, large bricks, or special colors on bricklink. I know not everyone has access to a lego store but... Whenever possible I try to buy cases of bricks from pick a brick at my local lego store. For any brick that is 1x4 or a 2x2 size or smaller this is by far cheapest way to buy them. If you need a lot of brick buy the whole case and do not put them in those plastic pick a brick cups. The cups are not as good of a deal. Since I build castles I buy many cases of light bley bricks and supplement with bricks from sets like MMV. Larger bricks like 2x4s and up I buy on bricklink. Unfortunately not all types or colors of bricks are available at pick a brick and I have to resort to bricklink often.

There is an upholstry warehouse not far from me. I think I will go with a low density open cell foam that will squish a bit. My MOCs are very heavy but when spread out over a 40" x 40" piece of plywood I think the softer stuff will work pretty well. If there is another catastrophe I will just have to hang out with you guys by your train layouts! Thanks Dave and Adam for your input it makes me fell better.

Of course I am in and as you know I will be bringing my "mini me" in person.

I can't believe I just read this thread for the first time. It took me almost an entire year to find it! Obviously I spend too much time in the historic themes forum! So many of the posts made me laugh. Remembering Bryan's procrastination MOC... classic. I will be at Brickworld with bells on and I have to say I can't wait! I am looking forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends again! Please stop by my large gold and blue castle display and say hello. Also let me know who you are on Eurobricks so I can make the connection. With only 2 weeks to go I am shaking with anticipation. However, after the debacle of my castle falling to pieces while traveling to brickworld last year, I am a bit nervous as well. I kept myself out of the fun last year staying up to all hours of the night trying to repair something that took over a year to build. If I was smart I would have put a disaster sign on my pieces and just had fun! It may be a little late but... one thing I would add about the discussion between complete registration vs just attending as a member of the public. The public is only allowed in the convention halls for the public hours after that you will have to leave. Even if you can only attend for one day the full registration allows you to hang for the entire day and night! This at the very least will double your time. Socializing, MOC viewing, and asking questions is much easier when the rest of the public is not around. And last... some people are unavailable to socialize during public hours because they are working, voluteering, or just too busy with their MOCs. I recommend full registration. Go to the lego store and spend some money to make it up with that 20% discount. I was going to ask for a little advice from my fellow Eurobricks members. My layout stretches to 4 tables long now and there is absolutely no other way to trasport my MOC other than with my trailer. It is built in sections 40" x 40" and laying on 3/4" plywood. I was thinking about putting 2" of couch foam under the plywood pieces so when the MOC bounces a bit it will give and act as a shock absorber when it comes back down in the trailer. What do you guys think? Would that help? I did rebuild the entire MOC stronger and will be taking better precautions but thought the foam might help as well. Thanks in advance for any advice! Dale

Yes, Alex is correct. The torso and legs are the same as the prince in the advent calendar.