astra

This is so recognizable! Very frustrating indeed. This is probably the fact a lot of my 1980's friction pins have bite marks on them... A lot of times that was the only way to separate them...

absolutely breathtaking... and original too! Never seen anything like it. I wonder if this sparks some imagination with some of the very good MOC-ers overhere...

It makes more sense, that's for sure. Though it doesn't do any justice to the shop A shop this well suited is more a Bijenkorf than a Hema in my opinion. Or at least a V&D. Hmm.. Maybe that'll fit as well in stead of SHOP.

Nicely done! Something you don't see every day To make it more realistic maybe you can 'lose' a rear axle? In real life racetrucks don't have two rearaxles, to much friction in the corners. And usually the rearspoiler is either a bit bigger or not there at all: My compliments!

I think what's mentioned above about contacting the seller over the missing parts is the best thing you can do. About the odor problem, maybe this will help. I've bought some Lego parts on ebay some time ago, which also had a smoke smell surrounding them. I then used a product called "HG alle nare luchtjes weg" (yes that's Dutch). this is a spraycan from the company HG and get's rid of nasty smells, works really good! Now I don't know where you live, but in English the name of the product should be something around "eliminator of all unpleasant smells at source" I think. Perhaps you can go to a local drugstore and see if they sell it? Good luck!

I didn't buy anything myself today, but my son (4 years old) gave me the Lego City Small Car (3177) for my birthday, with the remark: "Daddy, I will built this for you so it is ready when you come from work"

Hmm. I liked the first photos better, now seeing the limo in a better perspective, it isn't such a 'wannahave' for me anymore. Although the helicopter still looks great!

Well sorry if everyone's falling over my question. It was just pure curiosity. Yes I know that Jamie (or one of his colleagues) can't give any details, I'm not asking now am I? What's wrong with being curious? I just struck my attention for so many Exclusives being discontinued and that got me wondering a bit. Is that so strange? I too agree that Eiffel Tower and the Beetle have been a long time for sale, no surprise there that they would be discontinued sometime, but hey, no harm in asking about a line of models without asking for details I thought. Guess nobody agrees with me on that part. Anyway it wasn't mend to be 'been there, done that' question. I must admit that I forgot about the Imperial Flagship as a part of the Exclusive line, Pirates aren't really my 'thing' Let's stick to the topic now ok? I won't be commenting any further about this, although I thought reactions on this (by the way, fun to read) forum where a bit more mature. my sincere apologies to those who's feeling offended about this question...

Now you come on. I didn't ask for anything specific, now do I? I'm just wondering if we can expect more Exclusive sets. Not what kind of sets. I know he can't answer questions which go in to anything specific, but it just got my attention that a lot of exclusives are being discontinued. Please read and quote my complete comment if you want to reply. I won't overstretch the topic any further, let's get back to the subject at hand, Grand Emporium. One that will most certain be in my collection as soon as I'm able to order it from S@H. I like the idea by the way to use the interior from the winter toy shop! I just put it completely away with the rest of the christmas stuff, but in March I too will use some elements in the GE

I received my VW Beetle My collection of Exclusives is steadily growing....

Hello Jamie, Thank you for al your answers so far! Really nice to see some facts from a Lego employee perspective! Although it isn't the right topic to ask, but can you tell us if there are other Exclusive sets (besides the Grand Emporium) in the planning? I know you can't reveal anything about what kind of items, but it is just my curiosity. The last couple of months I've noticed a lot of Exclusive sets are being discontinued (Eiffel Tower, Cafe Corner, VW Beetle etc) without any replacements. This caught me wondering if Lego was closing the Exclusive range or is it just not the right time of the year for some new (exclusive) sets? And again thanks for al your answers!

Even further stretched, in that way even Cafe Corner hinted at the Green Grocer, one of the minifigs is swiping some vegetables into the trashcan. vegetables > Green Grocer... In this view I agree with you, the next modular building will have something to do with the post :]

I'm so getting a space problem when this is added to my collection... I just ordered the Fire Brigade but I think that this one will be in my collection this year also :) Looks like a really nice and original addition! Can't wait to see what Lego is developing for the next addition!

I bought myself the 8258 Crane Truck. Very impressive Technic functions (again!) A really nice addition to my collection...

Yesterday I bought the 8258 crane truck and also placed an order with S@H for the 10197 Fire Brigade. Have to wait a couple of weeks though, it is in backorder...

Love the Lego Limo! Definitely on my wanted list, even though I don't have that much City sets. But in my opinion a very original set, can't remember ever seeing a limo before...

I don't/can't believe that Technic will disappear. However, it is possible that the emphasis will be put on some other ranges in the Lego product range, thus no spectacular sets for some time (years?). As far as I can remember that was also the case a couple of years ago, a lot of years went by without any challenging Technic sets, and then out of the blue came the 8421 crane. I really can remember that moment very well, it brought back my interest in Technic. O well, just wait and see...

I know for sure that it's available in the US, as I've written in my previous post, you can get a lot more interesting versions of the Journey over there...

Wow! that really gave a lot to talk about! Let me clear some things about 'my' Dodge. First of all, it is al very complete car, everything is in the car; 3-zone climate control, cruise control, parking camera and a navigation system with harddisk and DVD player. The only thing I had to pay extra for was the navigation system, the rest is standard on the SXT-version. About the wheels, yes, I agree those could be a bit bigger. These are 16". When I was choosing the options, I asked the salesperson if bigger wheels where an option. He told me that these wheels are specially for the engine in my car; the 2.4 petrol. When you order the Journey with a diesel-engine, you will get 17" wheels and when you order the top version (for europe that is) you get a 2.7 liter 6-cilinder petrol engine with 19" wheels. But that version is 8.000 euro more expensive then what I have now and that was a bit over the top I thought. Still, the USA is a better place to buy cars. My company paid 36.000 euro for this car. I went on the internet, to do some comparing with prices of the Journey in the States. Turned out that for that kind of money I could order a Journey with 4 wheel drive (not an option in the Netherlands) with the 3.8 V6 (not an option) and about every option package left in the brochure. Those darn taxes here! Anyway, it is a very comfortable car. I'm driving it since august '08 and it brought me to France (3 times) and to Sweden, summer and winter and it drives great! it's quiet, spacious (going on a winter vacation with two small kids needs a LOT of space, trust me) and drives very easy. The only downside is fuel consumption, 1l. every 8 km driving in town, 1l. every 11 km when driving on the freeway... Oh and Big Cam, you can order a Caliber here also, trust me, this one's considerably bigger... from the outside and the inside...

Nice! Why didn't I find this topic sooner :) I like driving cars and following the news, but won't bother you with that. These are the cars we are driving: Opel Astra Convertible '96 Dodge Journey SXT '08 @Widdi: Really? I didn't know that Astra's from the 90's where that bad... Ours is still going strong, very little rust in the wheel arches and technically it's in a good condition. (although we are thinking of buying something else next year, and that will be a convertible again... )

Received the first of my Bricklink orders for upgrading Mindstorms 1.0 to 2.0. Will take some time before it's complete I think, not all the parts are available (yet?)

According to brickshelf I own 69344 parts, used in 206 sets, with a total of 244 minifigs...

hmm... would be nice, but like what I said a couple of posts back, the difference in parts (numbers and types) is very big. I counted over 50 pieces which are of a different type or have a different amount of them in the set. And that's not counting the software, booklet or sensor... I definitely would buy an upgrade set if available, but I don't think this will ever happen.

Nice Find! And again I can extend my wanted list... I'm a bit curious what kind of interior will be fit into this set, since a grocery store setup is something that's already been done. Oh well, we'll just wait and see.

AMAZING. That's all I can say. Incredible, with just one NXT brick!