Johnnhiszippy3

I agree - I think the prices are still too high. I bought a significant amount using LDD before the major price increase, and haven't bought anything since. I may buy small quantities eventually, but nothing like before. I didn't now about Bricklink until fairly recently, so I will probably resort to using it too, although I find it much more cumbersome than Lego's PAB. This piece has been available for awhile in sets, like the City harbor set from last year: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=48288

It appears the new icon is gone now, and replaced with the old one. I was able to see the new one yesterday and tried refreshing my browser a few times, but the new one is gone. Also the Batman category is gone.

I was at Legoland California last year and they had the BEST PAB that I've seen at anywhere. They had hundreds and hundreds of different pieces - many of which haven't been available in sets for years. They also sold pieces by the weight - instead of by volume, like in typical the Lego stores in the US. The store I'm refering to isn't the main store at the park but is hidden in a back corner of the park - it's called the "Lego Clubhouse" and is at the end of the "Lego Factory Tour"

I wouldn't be so quick to buy everything you've always wanted now that the prices are only about double what they were before. It's only been a week, so Lego doesn't have a great idea of how this will affect long-term sales. If their sales end up being 30% of what they were...we may see another reduction in the near future. Pieces I bought for $135 ten months ago now cost $250. Last week they were about $400. So in my opinion, the increases are not completly ridiculous, but they're still pretty high. It'd be very interesting to know what the reasons were... but I doubt we ever will.

mrchris - maybe they should let us chose if we want "double the pieces for double the price" or "half the pieces for half the price", if this is the case...ha! Here's Lego's response to my complaint (quite a bit different from yours!) and, their solution to fixing models that don't work ONLY works if it's been uploaded to their website, NOT if it's saved on your computer (like mine are)

Thanks for pointing out my error - I messed up the conversion factor.

Recently I read that Lego estimates there are 250,000 AFOLs worldwide. If each of those spend an anverage of 6000 DKK/year (about $1000/year) the revenue from AFOLs would be 1.4 Billion DKK ($250 million). Lego's total Revenue for 2008 was 9.5 billion DKK ($1.7 billion) Source. So the revenue from AFOLs is about 15% of the total revenue - assuming the average AFOL spends ONLY 6000 DKK/$1000. True, it isn't huge, but it isn't insignificant either. But it really comes down to how much people spend on PAB - a number that isn't available. As the econmy degrades people spend less money - thus Lego does not sell as many sets. I hope it's a mistake, but I don't think it is. It could be a test to see how people react, but I don't think Lego would make such a broad mistake (plus, the prices in the newest catalog match the new online prices). But who knows? maybe the price for 10195 is a mistake too....

Here's my theory - and it's only a theory: As everyone here knows, this is shapping up to be one of the BEST years ever for boxed sets in every theme and there are several new themes. I'm sure most of these sets were already in production before the economy took a dive, and now it's too late to hold off on some of those sets. So I think they may be worried about falling sales on their boxed sets - and what do you do if you have lots of leftover boxed sets other than sell them at a discount? It's pretty difficult to resort the pieces. My theory is that they are driving up Pick-a-Brick prices in hopes that people will buy more boxed sets this year and less pieces from PAB. It's much easier to put the brakes on PAB than a huge production line for sets, I imagine. And for people who don't see how this will drive up prices on Bricklink, here's how it will: People who typically buy from PAB will now turn to Bricklink, increasing demand, thus increasing prices. A higher demand would also encourage Bricklink store-owners to buy more boxed sets, supporting my theory above.

Nope, it doesn't appear they included these pieces - check it out there, there is a lot of new stuff (although you'll probably be blow away by the new prices )

WOW! these new prices are insane. At first I was just annoyed that my LDD models no longer work. But now I don't really care, because I won't be buying anything at these new prices. I didn't mind paying a premium to be able to choose specific pieces and to be able to buy in bulk - but this is just ridiculous. How could their costs have increased so much?

I just opened Lego Digital Designer - and realized that they updated the brick palette...again! This is good and bad: good because there are some awesome new pieces available , but bad beacuse most of my models can not be uploaded to the gallery, or purchased . I'm frustrated because just yesterday I was getting a design read to be purchased, and now it won't work. I wish Lego would give a notice a week or so before updating. Some of the new additions I'm really excited about: hinge pieces more plants more slope pieces Dissapointments: some of the rare-color pieces are gone

I have my doubts that this is true, although I think it has a lot of potential to be a cool addition to this line of Lego sets. (I was at the Glendale, CA store on the same day this post appeared, and didn't see anything) Assuming the next building in the series is a fire station, it will be interesting to see how Lego addresses some things, for example not one of the previous buildings in this line has included a vehicle, but how can you have a fire station without a fire truck?? So if they include a fire truck, would it be 6-wide or 8-wide? the City fire trucks are 6-wide, but i don't think a 6-wide fire truck would match the realisim and detail of the CC style buildings. More importantly: how would the fire pole be connected, if the floors can be removed?? It'd have to have a fire pole.

Whenever someone is fanatical (Adult Fanatic of Lego, right?) about something, they should expect to get funny looks, comments, and questions. It's just something that society finds interesting. I don't think it's just beacuse it's a child's toy we're buying - at least not all the time. One time I was buying a bunch at the Lego store at Disneyland and I got a "Woah!" comment from a kid - I don't think it was because I was an adult, but because I was buying so much (there were lots of adults in the store). If you're really into guitars and you go buy 6 guitars at once, I'm sure you'll get some weird looks too! My suggestion is, if you're worried about getting comments from people, just buy in smaller quantities! (or tell them you're just really creative for your age )

Whatever type of building this ends up being, I think it will be a corner building (like Cafe Corner). It would make sense since it was originally designed as a set of three buildings - a corner building would "finish" the lineup (although I hope after the third one the lineup isn't finished!) I could see the third building being an ice cream store - it's not exactly "food" and Lego already makes popsicles and ice cream scoops. (the 2008 City Advent Callender was the only 2008 set that I'm aware of that had ice cream scoops, so may it is a foreshadow - like the jester in the Castle Callender is in a new 2009 Castle set). An ice cream store is also something kids would love! I kind of hope it isn't an ice cream store though, because I've already turned the first floor of my Cafe Corner into a soda fountain... A fire station would be great. I already have a square in my layout set aside for a modular-type fire station!

I have a question for someone who owns this set: Is Yoda's head made from the new soft-rubbery plastic? (I'm guessing that because it's two colors [green and grey], it is) or the same type of plastic as a typical minifig? Does anyone know about the old Yoda? I'd like to add Yoda to my minifig collection, but not sure if I like the idea of one with a soft plastic head.

I didn't realize that Kit Fisto and Plo Koon were made of this material (I'm assuming it's just their heads?) I have been trying to decide if it was worth it to get the Jedi Starfighter (7661) so I could get Kit Fisto, but now that I know that he is made of that material, I will not be getting one. I don't know how the material will perform over time, but I really don't like that material in the fist place, it feels very cheap - and I'm sure it is, why else would Lego be using it for minfig heads? It would be interesting to know what kinds of tests Lego performs on a new material before putting it into production, but I'm sure they don't want their "competition" to know.

I just began working on a post-"dark ages" layout and began to buy roadplates, but then changed my mind and am now working on brick-built roads. The deciding factor for me was that I wanted to include a trolly or light-rail train in the middle of my road - something that would look pretty bad with baseplates. Some other advantages of brick-built roads that I've found are: - You can build in lenghts other than 32-studs long - The road width can be whatever you want (even two lanes in one direction or a turn lane!) - You don't get a crosswalk at every segment - You can make the road black with yellow stripes (or whatever color you want) - It's easier to build the road up, giving neighboring buildings basements or partial basements - You won't end up with lots of wasted cross-pieces - It looks a lot better! - As Joebot mentions, Lego does change their plate designs from time to time, so plates can look weird when combined. The one big dissadvantage: cost (also, it's hard to make curves look good)

Today I stopped by the Lego store in Glendale, California hoping they had the Medieval Market...the only new sets they had were a couple Power Miner sets (a couple boxes, not a couple different sets) and a few of the new SW sets, and barely anything old. I was dissapointed. I then went to the Target in the same mall, and it had the new Indiana Jones sets, new construction sets, new Star Wars, and several older sets. Kind of strange.....

The first set that I remember getting (I only remember because I've seen pictures of myself playing with it on Christmas) was the Light and Sound Hook and Ladder fire truck. My older brother got the Light and Sound Mobile Police Truck that same Christmas. Mine is still built and the lights still work! (Thanks to the high quality of Lego) Brickset shows that this set was released in 1985 - so I would have been one or two years old when i got it...I doubt it's recommended for that age group.

Theme Name : Inventors Characters : "Good Guys": caricatures of historic inventors, engineers and designers like Thomas Edison, Albert Enstein, etc. and other fictional inventors "Bad Guys": fictional "mad scientists" and general "bad guys" trying to steal the inventions or use them for bad. Conflict : The "good guys" create inventions to use for good while the "bad guys" create inventions and steal inventions to use for bad. Setting : The Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th century) Background Info : Takes place during the era of the Industrial Revolution with a "Jules Verne look" to the inventions. Examples may include the invention of a time machine, the invention of submarines, automobiles, and steam-powered trains and ships.