drdavewatford

Excellent - the model is superb, and some of your building techniques are ingenious ! I'm also hugely impressed with the sail - very clever technique. Great work ! Dr. D.

Interesting thread, Pete. As of October last year, I had perhaps 5 SW Lego sets which I'd bought new years ago, built, displayed and forgotten about (apart from a UCS X-Wing which never even got built). For reasons I won't bore you with, I 'rediscovered' Lego, and particularly SW Lego, last December. Since then I've been on a crusade to get hold of as many of the SW sets as possible. I've picked up the current sets almost exclusively at lego stores or Lego S@H as these are usually cheaper than any regular store. The older sets I've bought via eBay. I'm now up to 96 Lego SW sets, with no end seemingly in sight ! The reason I tell you this is that I've picked up many of the old sets like those in your collection over the past 6 months on eBay, sometimes MISB, and the prices have been very reasonable. I got the Snowspeeder 7130 MISB for 18 pounds sterling, and Snowspeeder 4500 MISB for 26 pounds sterling. Other bargains include the 2 UCS Naboo fighters with all the lovely chrome on MISB (I found and bought this one twice as it's so beautiful - 1 is built, the other is still sealed). One I bought for only 32 pounds. I got a MISB 7111 Droid fighter BNIB for less than 5 pounds, and I bet it's possible to buy another 7111 MISB this week for less than 10 pounds on eBay. The point is that with a few big exceptions (e.g. Cloud City, Jabba's Palace, Cantina, UCS Blockade Runner & X-Wing, Hoth Rebel Base and a few others), retired SW Lego can currently be bought pretty cheaply, even in new condition. I can therefore only see these sets going up in value over time, although the condition of the boxes, instructions etc. is important. I totally disagree that the value will drop when the licence runs out - when Lego stops churning out new SW sets, there will be no supply of new SW sets for old and newer enthusiasts to buy, and they'll be forced to buy retired sets to feed their habit. Prices will rocket. I personally would therefore suggest that you hang on to your sets, including the duplicates, and take good care of the boxes. I think they will become true collectors items in the future. It's great you have duplicates because you can build one and keep all the copies in mint condition. Right now, however, I took a look at your Bricklink page, and I would be amazed if anyone is willing to pay those prices - if I can get these sets much cheaper, I'm sure others can. Dr. D.

Anyone know where and when these will be available ? Dr. D.

Magnificent review, Svelte - respect ! I'll be getting this, no doubt. The figs are awesome, and the whole thing just looks so cool ! Keep up the good work, Dr. D.

Sorry to venture off-topic, but I think the Toyota Prius is dreadful - barely more economical than the average exclusively petrol-engined car (and in fact some cars with superior performance are more economical....), hideously boring to drive, and looks terrible. I applaud those who consider the environment when they chose a car, but you really have to dislike driving to buy a Prius.... I fully agree with the earlier poster who described Lego as the ultimate recycleable toy, and I think there's a great advertising campaign for TLC in there ! Dr. D.

According to Brickset I have 301, but according to Peeron it's 337..... Mostly (more than 200) are Star Wars minifigs, although a number are duplicates (e.g. I seen to have lots of R2-D2's !) Dr. D.

"Re-release classic sets" seems to be a frequent theme - it came up in this survey and the last. I'd be happy just to order the pieces since the instructions for most old sets are available online anyway, but the issue would be pieces that aren't made any more. :-( Dr. D.

UK sale items : Head over to the Milton Keynes lego store - I found a number of sets there at half price today when I went to pick up Emerald Night. The sets I can remember are : - Rogue Shadow (I snapped up one of these !) - Twilight (I had already bought one of these half price when they were on sale at Lego S@H) - Troll Warship - Stegosaurus - Duplo Circus Probably a couple more that I couldn't remember as well. There were a few left of each of the above on the shelf at lunchtime on Saturday, but best to call to confirm availability before heading down there just in case. Cheers, D.

I'm a fan of Lego MK ! Good selection of sets, and a nice colourful pick a brick wall. Quite a few sets constructed and in glass cases too - Taj Mahal, Medieval Market Village etc. when I was there last, but I don't recall seeing any old sets in there unfortunately. Certainly a better selection than any other (non-Lego) store I've been in such as The Entertainer and TRU, so you shouldn't be disappointed. Compared with some high street stores the prices are lower too - the same as Lego S@H. Occasionally some bargains, through generally between Christmas and New Year.

I had a train in the 70's, but none since. Emerald Night has tempted me back, however - I pick mine up on Sunday. I wonder how many others will rediscover Lego trains thanks to this gorgeous set ? Incidentally, in the UK I'm told you can't buy the Emerald Night Collection (i.e. the train plus all the accessories such as Power Function stuff, flexible track) at the Milton Keynes Lego store. Not sure if that's also the case in Brighton and Bluewater. Apparently they have the train itself instore and they order all the accessories online from Lego S@H on your behalf, but with no postage to pay. Dr. D.

I was getting really sore hands recently until I tried the Brick Separator. Now I use it all the time, and my fingers are thanking me for it ! Dr. D.

Great tip - I will try t ! D.

Yep - ILike Pi is correct - sorry for not being clearer. I'll visit the Lego store next time they offer double loyalty stamps to buy the Emerald Night collection. My Millenium Falcon was purchased from a Lego Store last time there was a double loyalty stamp promotion, and I got enough loyalty stamps for a free Market Street which I'm building now ! Back on the subject of tracks, I wish it was possible to just buy straight track sections without the curves....... D.

I agree that you can laboriously recreate old designs using LDD and PAB, but my point is - there's a much easier way. Peeron already lists all the parts, and instructions for the old sets are readily available on the web. It would be far quicker and easier just to click a link on the relevant Peeron page to order the listed parts from Lego. Think how cool that would be ! D.

Lego has a pretty spectacular back catalogue - some wonderful old sets - which folks today are generally missing out on unless they are lucky enough to pick up a bargain on eBay or Bricklink. Looking through the Peeron piece listing for some old sets recently, it occurred to me that it surely wouldn't be too hard for TLC to link to Peeron so that users could literally place a parts order direct from Peeron. Instructions could be downloaded from the Lego website, and Lego therefore make money out of supplying parts for old, retired sets. The main issue would I guess be parts which Lego no longer manufacture, in which case the website would list these parts, and the buyer would decide whether to order anyway and substitute parts or source the missing pieces via Bricklink. Thoughts ? Cheers, D.

Great - I can't be doing with all those fiddly flexible track sections (although I can see that the flex track might be useful to create interesting lay-outs). I think a trip to the Lego Store to buy Emerald Night and a few packs of track the next time they offer double points for purchases is in order ! Reading through previous postings in this forum, it seems strange that some have avoided buying the RC trains because a 'new system' is on the way - surely RC can happily co-exist beside the new Power Function trains in the same layouts as the track is compatible, or am I missing somethng ? Cheers, D.

Hi, I'm looking to get into Lego trains, with the beautiful Emerald Night likely to be my first 'modern' Lego train (I have an old set from the 70's and that's it). I note that the "Emerald Night Collection" comes with the new flexible track, but none of the more practical straights and curves (e.g. set 7896) which you'd need to make a reasonable-sized layout. I assume that Emerald Night will work with the RC track - correct ? Reading the forums here I get the feeling that the RC trains are being phased out in favour of Power Functions, in which case does anyone know whether the RC track will remain available, or whether we'll be forced to move to all flexible track eventually ? It just seems strange not to include some proper track with the Emerald Night collection. Advice gratefully received ! Thanks, David.

You lucky lucky U.S. people - no new sale items on UK Lego S@H for a while now. How about an Easter sale for us UK folks as well, Lego ? D.

Sorry to be boring and agree with previous posters, but I'll give equal first place for best set to the Death Star and Green Grocer - both beautifully designed, wonderful to build and bring a smile to my face every time I look at them ! Of the sets I bought, I was probably least impressed by Anakin's Starfighter - I'm looking at it right now and it's just not doing it for me. Of the sets I didn't buy, Rogue Shadow is probably the one I can't get my head round - it just looks like a random collection of bricks that an 8 year old might have thrown together. Maybe the pictures just don't do it justice ? I'm certain that this set will eventually be heavily discounted, perhaps at the end of the year, in which case I'll probably pick it up then and see if it wins me over ! Dr. D.

Doesn't look like we're being blessed with this in the UK - I picked up a couple of sets at TRU on Saturday and didn't get anything free. :-( Prices were interesting though - the 2 sets I bought (Anakin's starfighter and Hailfire droid) were pretty much at the same price as Lego S@H (and therefore cheaper as no postage to pay), but a couple of the sets, e.g. Indiana Jones Peril in Peru, were subject to a massive mark up - around 30%. I'll never understand these pricing policies. Meanwhile "The Entertainer" in the UK is having a "Big Easter Sale", but only online. This means that their prices are about the same as Lego S@H now (!) with the exception of the AT-TE which at 60 pounds sterling is 8-9 pounds cheaper than Lego S@H. So if you're in the UK and looking for the AT-TE then I suggest you take a look. Dr. D.

I agree with the earlier comment - I actually don't mind stickers, except when they go over multiple pieces - I HATE that. Makes it hard to properly deconstruct sets and sort the pieces properly. Horrible. It would be an excellent idea for someone to set up a website hosting (good quality) scans of sticker sheets. People could then print the scans off onto sticker paper and use the stickers on their MOCs or if they want to make an authentic set out of existing pieces. Dr. D.

Excellent thread. The good news for all of you who have regrets is that almost all of the sets listed in this thread can still be bought, many of them for little more than the original price. You just have to look around. I'm surprised how many supposedly "rare" sets I've managed to pick up for reasonable prices on eBay recently, for example, many of them still sealed in their boxes. Some on Kim's "wanted" list are a little tricky - Yoda can be picked up for 70-80 pounds, but Darth Maul is tricky to find. Older UCS sets like the TIE Interceptor, Y-Wing, Blockade Runner, Snowspeeder and Y-Wing also don't come up for sale that often in good condition with their boxes, although they can definitely be bought - I know as I've been on a quest to pick all these up over the past 6 months and they come up for sale now and again. Not cheap, though - luckily I bought the UCS X-Wing when it was released, but the Blockade Runner was painfully expensive (though worth it !!) Still looking for the 4504 MF and a few others, but they can all be secured for a price, so no need for regrets ! Cheers, Dr. D.

38 years.....

10030 is a meter long, so it's unlikely to be much bigger......! If it does turn out to be bigger, however, and pieces are added for stability (rather than relying on magnets), you will need a crane to lift it ! Dr. D.

Anyone know of a good virus scanner for the Mac ?