puddleglum

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

They kind of already do this in the US, LEGO stores near conventions and shows often offer discounts to those who are displaying at the show.

This was a lot of fun. It seemed like an obvious thing to do, I was surprised when I had the idea that it hadn't been done. (At least, I wasn't able to find it) I give you the Thunderous Drilling Machine:

I wish it was still available in the US!

But if those 900 2x4 bricks are, say, dark tan, the LUG member will probably be quite happy indeed to have saved so much money, since they would have cost over US $1000 on BrickLink, if there even were 900 of them for sale. (An extreme example, I know) Also, as others have said, if you are in a LUG with 20 people, there's nothing to say that 10 of them won't want to participate, which means the other 10 would have the opportuinity to buy more parts. Sure, there are a lot of rules and regulations, but keep in mind it's a pilot program. Hopefully it goes well and will be opened up a bit. As it is, LEGO is giving LUG members the opporunitiy to directly order bircks that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive to buy. I know everyone was hoping for LEGO to announce new program where you could just call the factory and they will make any brick you want in any color and sell them all for flat fee of $.01/brick with free shipping, but it looks like that's going to have to wait. As for the "no resale" clause - reguardless of the legailty/enforcability issue, LEGO could simply can the program if they felt it was being used in a way that was bad for their business.

If I understand it correctly, LUGs will have the opportunity to request production parts that are not available via PaB. I'm sure this would be a huge boon to many looking to aquire parts in rare colors that are otherwise only available via high prices at BL, or buy buying lots of a certain set. (For example, imagine being able to buy 1000 1x4 bricks in dark blue at the PaB price ($.20), instead of BL prices ($.28)).

In his defense, he didn't leak anything - he just commented on a leaked picture, saying that the sets are awesome, and that he's going to buy every one of them. :)

The person in question was recently hired as a master model builder and probably has, at the very least, seen the prelim sets. He's not the sort of guy to go running around lying about stuff.

I had the exact same thought. Saw blades, big wheels, a huge claw . . . really the only way it could be MORE like Power Miners is if it was lime and orange. However, I shall reserve judgement until we have better pictures and more information.

Great review, and I really like the looks of this set. I'm sure I would really be fascinated by the gearbox construction, seeing how it all works and goes together. However, as others said when this set first got unveiled - it seemed like the perfect opportunity for LEGO to make a new "small" or "micro" Power Functions motor that would go on the end of the crane to raise/lower the cable itself. Overall the set seems really nice, but I think I'm going to go for the new Front Loader.

On the other hand, since many builders already have all the requisite PF elements, they probably appreciate that the set is $80 without PF elements instead of $100 or $110 with PF included.

Man, if I had a dollar for every AFOL that thought they knew how to market LEGO to girls! If there was a simple solution, I think it's safe to say TLG would have figured it out by now.

Actually, in virtually all states, you are required to pay taxes on Internet purchases. It's just that once a online retailer has a physical presence in a state, they are required by the state to collect the tax themselves so it's impossible for you to avoid. As for Australia, I believe they have a national sales tax similar to a VAT, so they are probably already paying taxes on their online purchases anyways.

Yeah, I guess I wouldn't be too surprised if it was $30. But considering they are marketing it as a tic-tac-toe game, I think $30 would be a tough sell. We do have the precedent of the Castle tic-tac-toe game at $14.99 (And those figs were armed to the teeth!), so I think $20 is a more realistic guess. We shall see!

Yeah, "battle pack" is quite the misnomer for this set. It's a nice assortement of figs and accessories, but mainly it just duplicates what comes in Soldier's Fort. And if it's $14.99 like the Castle Battle Packs, it really won't be a great value. As others have said, it's funny that TTT will actually be a better battle pack, both in terms of fig selection, and price/value. (Unless it costs something ridiculous like $30!). Anyways, between these sets and the Pirate Advent Calendar, there will be no shortage of Pirate figs and accessories this winter!

Yes, most LEGO stores seem to hold their "grand opening" weekend a few weeks after their actual opening. I imagine it's mostly due to practicalities like scheduling a master model builder for the event, not wanting multiple openings on the same weekend, and giving the employees time to get up to speed.

I completely agree, these not a good value at all. I was at the Tyson's Corner store in VA on Sunday, and I didn't see anything that wasn't on the S@H PaB, where you can build a minifig with headgear and acessory for as little as $1.41! Even with expensive, two-part headgear, and a more expensive accesory, you still won't go over $2. Not to mention that $10 is more than a small PaB cup!! The only way this would be remotely worth it is if they started throwing in lots of rare torsos, heads, accesories, etc.

There is a feature on BrickLink called a "Wanted List": http://www.bricklink.com/wantedAdd.asp You can add parts in specific colors and quantities to the list. Then, you can see which shops have the most parts you need by clicking the "By Shop" tab and sorting by Lots (Unique). (If it's a very large list, you probably won't find one shop with every single part you need)

If you know already that you're going to need to buy parts from BrickLink, you can start building a prototype of your base, not worrying about having the right colors. So you should be able to build a good section of it just using the parts you have, only it will look like a 5-year old made it because the colors will be all whacky. From there, you can order the parts in the correct colors from BrickLink.

Make sure you set aside $14.99 for a large PaB cup! :-)

Mormonisim is a religion, not a race, unless I missed something. I think you meant to call him a "bigot." Sorry about your lack of LEGO stores!

^Making the effect discount 15%!

Hey everyone! This is my first Pirate MOC, which I made for a contest going on over at a certain other Pirate-themed LEGO site. ;) The contest is to use the 2x2x2 barrel in a creative way in a 10x10 vig. Pierre's Whac-a-Scallywag was an instant hit with local soldiers. The cathartic experience of whacking pirates was worth the price of admission alone; winning one of the fabulous prizes was just icing on the cake.

I heard from a LEGO Store employee that the discount is 30%.

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/uk/200907.shtml#2009-07-06115357 Wow whoever sent that scam email also hacked ebay's website and put up a message about it there too!