xboxtravis7992

Now if that was what Chima sets looked like, I would be buying them! Excellent MOC.

This has been a spectacular project to watch, those renders are excellent.

I don't care about the monetary value of Lego bricks, being able to print any brick I want anytime I want would benefit me. 3D printing also probably has a long way to go before it can match the quality of an injection molded piece. All 3D printed parts are rough, and have grooves from where the layers were added to them. I have yet to be impressed by the quality of a 3D printed piece, and very few industries use 3D printers to make the final product, only prototypes. I think most Lego collectors would be able to easily spot the characteristics of a 3D printed piece easily.

I mixed and matched, however it was rarely a problem because most of my bricks were from grey/bley Star Wars sets. Even now though I will do small color cheats if it gets the build done. So I guess that still makes me an amateur MOC maker!

I like them, they look a lot like the real thing!

I find things which say Sneaky exist, but no photos.

How could I forget the Hiawatha? i made a crappy MOC trying to look like a Hiawatha once and I would love to see what TLC could do with that engine, plus a 4-4-2 is around the size of their previous trains.

Very good figures. We could always use more Cad Bane in our Star Wars.

I know you can get a decent view of the Mark XXXVII "Hammerhead" in the Iron Man 3 iOS/Android video game.

Put me in Tooele, Utah. (It is pronounced Too-Will-Uh not Tool-le, the pioneers were bad at spelling...)

Well somebody had to do it; so now us AFOL's are %100 percent sure Lego and explosives do not mix... Don't try it in your MOCs. Besides those Lego bricks kind of looked beat up anyway and being blown to bits is more honorable than being thrown in the trash to rot in a landfill.

Yeah, I think that is probably the case. We'll just have to see if they renew the series at 2014 or decided to cancel it. (Edit previous post to reflect this)

Yes the Hudson is very iconic, although I might have to point out the K4 is another highly iconic steam engine which was considered the rival of the Hudson. Other great American engines they could bring up could include the T1 Duplex or a green Southern 4-6-2 (although I guess you could MOD an Emerald Night into a Southern 4-6-2). Also if Lego returned to a British steam locomotives they could touch on maybe The City of Truro, or a Black 5. Even a German steam engine would look neat. So many possibilities.

I can't remember where I heard rumors Phineas and Ferb would come to an end, however it is Disney's longest running animated show (on a network notorious for canceling shows young) and with a movie scheduled to come out in 2014, I would not be surprised if that movie serves as a "Grand Finale" for the series. I also understand that while I laugh like a maniac at Animaniac's slapstick; I see how not everybody would like that type of humor. I think part of the reason I enjoy it so much is the recognition it is a continuation of the classic Looney Tune's style. However Animaniac's slapstick was balanced out in many ways by the presence of the (slightly) more serious Pinky and the Brain. It is no wonder that pair of mice ended up getting their own show two years latter! And yes the songs are excellent on Animaniacs, great way to make a show educational and not boring. I can't help but to start singing to them, "United States, Canada, Mexico , Panama..." Also my love of Animaniacs and Phineas and Ferb makes me wonder who the greater "world conquest" character was, Brain or Doof? The world may never know.

Just rediscovered Animaniacs, a few months ago, and have worked my way through the first 3 box sets, with one box set to go (3 more if I want to start Pinky and the Brain). I think Animaniacs is an example in how horrible most modern cartoons are compared to their 1990's counterparts. First off the animation used in Animaniacs is some of the best television animation I have seen, every second of the show seems to suggest lots of love and artistry went into every frame and shot. What also amazes me is that Animaniacs used a live orchestra, constantly giving its music a wonderful quality. Not to mention the music is extremely catchy. However the best part of Animaniacs is its humor and characters. Some of the jokes in the show hid so much innuendos I think there were moments when Animaniacs could be dirtier than The Simpsons, yet those jokes were done in such a manner you would still feel comfortable showing the show to young children. Not to mention the humor was constantly smart and slapstick, appealing to young and old alike. Then that cast of characters, hard to forget the likes of The Warner Brothers and Sister, Slappy Squirrel, Pinky and the Brain, Chicken Boo, and the rest of the outrageous cast. However there are a few cartoons today which I enjoy,Phineas and Ferb has always been fun to me even if it is not quite as good as my favorite 1990's cartoons. I also enjoyed both incarnations of Clone Wars and for the short time it aired I enjoyed Tron Uprising. Not to forget Futurama, that wonderfully nerdy show which has been cancelled about 3 times now (although I think the latest one is for real this time). Yes I also enjoyed the extremely short lived Napolean Dynamite The Animated Series if only because of its very Idaho-Utah specific jokes (I am not surprised it got canceled so fast though, every time I watched it I thought "I love this because I am from Utah, but how could anybody outside Idaho and Utah find this funny?" Unfortunately I was proven right). I also enjoy watching The Simpsons despite how it feels like a shadow of its former self. The sad thing about the current animated world though is that there are so few animated series right now. Back in the 1990's we had The Disney Afternoon block, the Warner Brother/Amblin stuff, Cartoon Cartoons, and several other blocks I cannot even remember. Now it seems the only animated series going strong are The Simpsons and South Park. Futurama just bit the dust again, The Clone Wars is set to end and Tron Uprising never got off the ground. Even Phineas and Ferb is set to be canceled in a few years might only run up to 2014. Really sad.

It does look like Lone Ranger and the Ghost Train had a child. A very good looking train child. My only critique would be the tender, a little bland compared to the rest of the train. One thing which I did to make my Emerald Night tender look better is fill it with loose bricks, they have a more natural coal look than bricks connected to each other.

So my funny story here. While buying several of the Lone Ranger sets from Shop at Home I signed up for the Lego VIP program. However, I soon realized what I though the VIP program was is not what it actually is. When I first heard of the program I believed VIP points worked like a form of alternative currency. So when I saw catalog pages saying "This set is X VIP points" I believed that is how many points it cost to buy the set. As such, I was under the belief VIP points were a half of deal; buy a set of one value, get another of equal value for free! That is not the case, instead it turned out every 100 VIP points equaled $5.00 USD, a 5% deal and not a %50. Still a nice discount but not as great as the one I imagined! So has anybody else been confused by the VIP program before? Kinda hoping I am not the only one who drastically misunderstood the program.

Mark XV "Sneaky" Mark XVI "Nightclub" Mark XXV "Striker" Mark XXXVII "Hammerhead" Mark XLI "Bones" And then if you want to do characters other than Iron Man: Iron Monger War Machine Mark I (I think Lego's War Machine is a Mark II) Sorry I don't know what they all look like, they are just the ones listed on Wikipedia.

Dang it, that is where I learned most of my 1930-1999 Lego history from... Maybe that is why I was able to buy it for $1 at the the Dollar Store?

Lego is not forced to make any licence, they make them because they sale well. If the licence collapses Lego cancels the theme. That seems to be what happened to Galidor, Prince of Persia, and Avatar the Last Airbender. .When sets don't sell Lego cancels them, sells what stock they have, and then moves on to the next theme. So even if Star Wars or Superheroes died out, Lego can pick up new licenses or make new IPs. The truth is Lego is a for profit company, not an ideology. They will pick up what ever license or make whatever IP they need to sell ABS plastic bricks to the masses. The only thing which would damage their reputation would be continually making a bad product. If anything licenses have given Lego plenty of opportunity to make great products, just look at Orthanc, The Executer, or the Constitution Train Chase. The market demands licensed themes, and Lego is delivering a strong product, strengthening brand image if anything. Furthermore outside of the AFOL population how much of the market cares about Lego's own IP's? Everybody can recognize Star Wars, only FOLs recognize Blacktron. Even my own favorite Lego IP's such as Bionicle are fading into the memory of a small niche market; yet brands such as Harry Potter will be famous for years down the road. Even if the Superhero market or Star Wars fandom collapsed today; people will still watch their DVD copies of Episode IV and The Avengers, they will still share those movies with their children. CUUSOO has proven this potential, their has not been a Back To The Future movie in years, yet its fans were so dedicated they literally told Lego, "We will pay you lots of money for a Lego Time Machine Delorean!" Lego cannot build such a loyal fan following with its own IP's, yet they can easily buy the rights to any IP they want. Not to mention how many Fans of Lego started of with a licensed theme; my own first system set was the 1999 X-Wing. It was only after years of buying Star Wars sets that I begin to care about things such as Modular Buildings, and Shop at Home exclusive trains. I don't even know if I would be an AFOL today if Lego did not sell Star Wars sets when I was a child. And while the new Castle sets don't appeal to me, they seem to be targeted at an age group which is to young to buy Lord of the Rings. If anything Lego is increasing their profit by dividing their themes by age demographics, Castle for the Kids, Lord of the Rings for Adults and Teens. Finally, history has shown that it was strict original themes which contributed to the near death of Lego. During the early 2000' when the only Licensed IPs when Lego held only a few Licenses; Lego nearly went bankrupt while pursing weird in house themes such as Jack Stone, Clikits, Island Extreme Sports, and Alpha Team. Lego was so into building its own licenses they helped fund the television production of Galidor just so they could own the toy rights instead of simply licensing the rights. The only success of this era was Bionicle which was a hit, yet by itself could not save the company. Fortunately Star Wars brought in the big bucks and Lego was able to restructure their finances, only to then rebound as one of the world's leading toy makers. Simply put, Star Wars saved Lego.

I have ordered the Calvary Builder, Stagecoach, and Constitution and plan on picking up Comanche Camp and Silver Mine soon. Very excited for them. However I can't bring myself to like Colby City; although it looks good I can't help but think about the Cuusoo Western Modular and when I look at Colby City I think, "Gee this is why we can't have the modular?" However; everything else looks great and it might be the first line where I will end up having most of the sets.

A Big Boy would be an awesome set, but probably could not fit in the normal price range for an exclusive train. However the US has a few other iconic trains such as the SP Daylights, the UP FEF, the New York Hudson, I would even be happy to have a small period freight loco such as a 2-8-0 or the like.

I followed the story pretty well from 2001 to 2007, then I lost interest. I don't know if the plot became more confusing at that point, or if 2006 was such a great story 2007 seemed to be a let down. I also think 2007 had some weird sets in comparison to 2006. I ultimately caught up with the story right before the line ended, and I enjoyed reading the final Bionicle comics, I thought it wrapped up stuff well. However I still have no clue what was up with most of the Bara Magna plot, only that "Hey Mata Nui, Takanuva and Tahu are back!" I do get the impression Hero Factory is not being given the same treatment, I don't notice many Hero Factory comics or films, I just think "Gee they are just robots who fight random villains." While Bionicle was that on the surface, there was a depth to it which made it interesting. Everything about Hero Factory seems like it never advances a plot.

I don't remember Batman there... Javier, "I have you now 24601..." Jean Valjean, "Look out!" Batman swoops down from a roof and grabs Javier, fires a grappling cord, and with Javier in tow swings away saying... Batman, "I'm Batman."

They could through a wrench in this though. I am sure a African Mallet Steam Engine, or a Chinese Steam Locomotive would all make great contenders for steam trains. Or Lego could dive into narrow gauge scale, maybe a 2-8-2 from the Denver and Rio Grande of a small engine from Tallyn would be a good place to test the narrow gauge waters. Also a redo of the Super Chief would be nice...