rollermonkey

Yeah, that was my first thought: Architecture? That goes in Special Themes... Great job, regardless. I like the grey, the day I was in Paris, (long train layover) I thought it was grey, but pictures on non-overcast days show otherwise.

There's a couple of interesting pieces there... What do the (black) Astromech legs plug into?

I don't know how you get so many issues as to have a block. Since I've come out of the dark ages, I've bought probably 100 sets, and have been missing 2, maybe 3 parts across the past 2 years. If you're buying 100 sets a month and calling them every month for missing parts, you ARE abusing the system, in a different way. I get curled up manuals and sticker sometimes, but I would NEVER call to get those replaced.

Seriously? I'd wager that no other company in the world sells so many different parts in such vast quantities, in so many iterations (sets), to so many locations, and with so few errors. I don't usually sing the high praises for everything that TLG does, but their quality control and resolution of the few issues that arise via customer service are absolutely A1, top-notch. OP, call customer service, or use the missing pieces link on the website. You'll get your missing part sent out to you surprisingly quickly, and with apologies from TLG. You paid for the part, and they are more than willing to get it to you.

That's awesome! Those would be official, non-watermarked pictures and would mean people can stop linking off-site. :)

Very nice. The only downside I see is now that you've essentially put the Phantom in backwards, you lose the rear-facing cannons, which have actually already been used in the show. (Even if we haven't seen the Phantom separate from the Ghost yet.)

Regular bricks go better on top of Duplo than under. The tubes in the bottom of regular bricks fit inside the studs of the Duplo and connect very firmly. The studs of regular bricks will engage the bottom of Duplo bricks, but with far less clutch power than the other way, and actually less than between regular bricks. So, you can build up height quickly with Duplo and fine tune with regular at the top, but if you start going laterally, building off the bottom of Duplo structure won't work very well.

I have no idea if I'm getting boxes or even instructions, but I am very appreciative of the package out for delivery to me today: 6110 and 8043 for $425, shipped from Europe to the US.

If TLG wants to bleed me dry, they will do just that.

Local control over inventory and display at LEGO stores is surprisingly small. There is some, obviously, but it's far less than at many other chain retailers. The managers at my two local stores are husband and wife, and one is also the regional manager for a couple other stores, as well, and they get most things directed to them from higher up.

I open bags as I need a part from them, and don't pour them out or sort them.

Great deal on the Imperial Shuttle... I'm a little jealous. <Got the 75050 B-Wing. I have the UCS B-wing, so I got it mostly because I don't want to pay $30 for the figures, but it turns out many of the parts can go into my bag towards my BL 10179, so that's a nice side benefit.

With piece counts, I'm guessing $40 and $60 for the price points.

That's a personal decision. I like amusement parks, they were my hobby for over a decade, and I've been to over 400 of them around the world. I was getting this set no matter what, but There are other things about the set that might interest other people.

I actually put the 4 Imperials from the Death Star Troopers BP into my ISD, making my minifig setup even closer to the original, even if it was inaccurate. IMO, another visual improvement to the 7055 is not seeing the white technic beams inside the hinged area, even if it means the edge isn't accurately shaped compared to 6211. Nice comparison, though.

I sent you a PM, Peppermint, although it might take an Admin to do the type of search I'm asking about.

All of this. That LM is so weak... For that matter, the subject barely registers as a blip in the world of Architecture, I wonder why they wouldn't choose something better? The US sales of this line are probably better than the rest of the world, but looking at the offerings. Why would it be any other way?

Why on earth wouldn't you just call the store where the event was being held instead of somebody 100's or 1000's of miles away?

Duplo 'beams' can get pretty costly for larger pieces like 2x8 and above... We were just talking about PPP for Duplo being upwards of $0.50 for most sets, and even those with the best PPP cost usually only have one or two bricks that large, if any.

Hard to say... I was having a CRAZY amount of Deja Vu last night that lasted for several hours and was not limited to what I was reading on this site... And everything I looked at, like old user profiles, typing set numbers from BL, wikipedia articles I'd actually searched for hours earlier but not looked at yet, googled images, things people said at my house, my movements, and more was doing it... It actually got more than a little scary. Can someone search the member DB for my old e-mail addresses? I have a theory which account here may have been mine, and it hasn't been on since 2008... I can't even see it's old posts that far back.

I think I have an old account, what should I do? Who'd be able to help me find out what it was, especially if I don't have access to the e-mail I used when I signed up... Should I send a PM to someone? I just looked into an old thread and the deja vu is practically killing me! All these user names and posts from 6-8 years ago!

I had 590, 709 and 316, all from 1978, but I know I had older sets than those... 712 and 492 were 1977... 254-1, 363-1, 659-1 and 367-1 from 1975... 1974 sets I had were 689-1, 612-2, 690-1, 691-1, 810, 812-1, 813, 658-1, 200-1, 614-1, 125-2, 145-1 and 752-2... I had Basic Set 1 and Duplo 508 from 1973... One of those had to be it. Holy crap I had a lot of sets, but I knew that. So many of those old sets were carried over for years... It's hard to say which one it was for certain. ...this topic just gave me HUGE deja vu... Like HUGE. I'm practically dizzy... I think I may have been here before and posted in this thread under a different name.

10 : 10 2 : 6 1 : 4 3 : 3 5 : 2 7 : 1

Maybe when the calendar was created (they show up online more than a month in advance) it wasn't known for sure that they'd be ready to unveil the UCS set at Brickcon, which would require getting a completed one to Seattle, but were certain they could post it on FB (from Billund) on the Monday. Also, the event isn't an official LEGO event, but rather put on by the SeaLUG. There must have been a decision somewhere after the calendar was created to do the reveal there. Besides, not everybody follows EB religiously and saw the set before Monday... I'm sure we'll get the Modular unveil in November. We knew there was a (rumored) Tumbler UCS and a Slave I UCS in development months ago, but the Modular rumors pointing at the Detective Agency are relatively new.

I think it's a matter of the tone people are using. As I mentioned, people have been wishing / begging for this set for at least as long as I have been out of the dark ages. Now that it's revealed, many people are focusing on the things they find wrong with it and ignoring that it's been a long wished-for set, and done pretty well, overall. That by itself isn't the issue that I take with recent comments. ...It is the statements people are making to the effect that a (relatively) minor cosmetic disparity, such as blue engine bells/flames instead of orange, or the wing connection points are red instead of a shade of orange that doesn't even exist in LEGO, absolutely RUINS the set completely for them to the point they won't even consider buying it, is absolutely ridiculous. Another way to say that you think something isn't to your taste, or accurate enough in your opinion, that isn't so melodramatic, would be to say, "I think I'll MOD it so the engines are trans-orange instead of blue." ...and leaving off the bit about what a tragedy the color choice made by the designers is for you. (collective you, I'm not singling anyone out.) Is that fair? Maybe all that trans-blue made for Ultra Agents this year meant there wasn't enough trans-orange in the pipeline, so a substitution was made to save on excess costs or avoid delays. We'll never know, but I'm sure the designers had a reason. All that said, I think it's a gorgeous set. I've actually never been a fan of Slave I, but this is amazing design IMO, and absolutely a day 1 purchase if I can afford it / get my hands on it. And if I were to make any MODs, I think I would try to close off the cargo area so carbonite Han can't fall in, and maybe try to add a sleeping berth under the cockpit, which I think would block the line-of-sight through the canopy and out the bottom. But even if I don't do either, it wouldn't end my world that those 'problems' exist.