David Thomsen

I was in a local library last week and my eye was caught by a couple of Lego displays in cabinets. They weren't very advanced displays, just a few random sets, and after closer inspection I learned that they were owned by a seven year old. This got me thinking... if they'll put up some random sets owned by a seven year old, surely they'd put some of my collection up. When I get next two modular buildings, the fire station and the emporium, I could make a nice street scene with all four of them. Or I could put up the Imperial Flagship, when I get that. It could be fighting Brickbeard's Bounty in a nice tableau. I have a couple of reservations, though... for one thing I'm only of those people who won't let ANYONE touch their lego. What seems like perfectly acceptable Lego behaviour to other people, like unnecessary use of the fingernails, is completely horrifying to me. What if one of the staff wanted to 'adjust' one of the sets while I was away? What if someone had been eating icecream and didn't wash their hands before handling my lego with their sticky fingers? Yes... it's a toy, most people think you're SUPPOSED to be treated this way. And some people might not take my request seriously, since it's just a toy, and play around with the sets anyway. And lets face it... if you were working in a library, and you had the keys to a lego display, and it was a set you had always wanted but had never seen built, wouldn't YOU be tempted to open the case up and have a closer look? Because, you know, the owner would never find out... The other thing is transportation. This isn't so much of a problem, since I'm sure I could sort something out. If I can sort something out with the staff, for example NO ONE touches my lego but me, I might be tempted to put up a display.

I think I'm a pecular case in that a lot of the fun I have with Lego is designing collections and thinking about which sets to buy and how they belong in each collection. So I have: Modular Buildings. I spent a lot of time thinking about whether Market Street belonged in my collection, but decided against it because the faces on the people weren't the classic smiles, so they wouldn't fit in with the rest of the population. Also... the building looked kind of MOC compared with the other buildings. Indiana Jones. Only the first three movies, not Crystal Skull. Partly because I enjoyed the original films much more than Crystal Skull, partly because the 1940s look of the vehicles in the original films doesn't go with the older look of the fourth movie. I rarely build all the sets at once, since it's hard to explain how a temple in Cairo can be next to a temple in India and a temple in Peru. Usually I build all the vehicles and only one of the locations. It still looks weird though because the locations are generally internal, and how do you fit a biplane in the Temple of Doom? Pirates. I build the main things according to the instructions, but the miscellaneous sets, like the BrickMaster book, the Advent Calendar and the two impulse sets get pooled into a Random Pile of Assorted Pirate-Themed Pieces. And then I use these RPoAP-TPs to make some kind of MOC structure, usually a tower of some sort. This is actually the only range where I do any MOCing, because this is the range where it is easiest to build some kind of haphazard structure and explain it as a ramshackle pirate lair. My pirates can stick two planks together to make anything. City. I'm building a small farming town. Boats or coastal sets don't fit because my town is inland. Freight trains go through it (or more usually, around). There is a small airfield, not big planes, only small ones. Big fire and police stations are way too big for my small town. If I think it's the sort of structure or vehicle that belongs in a small town, I'll buy it. Occasionally I will buy a large set, like the Police Command Centre, because it has one building or vehicle that fits perfectly in my town, in this case the small police outpost. There are quite a lot of trucks, and a small construction site. I actually started this collection because I wanted to get the Emerald Night and wanted some small farm sets for it to circle... and then the farm sets turned into a village, and I actually prefer freight trains to go through it rather than steam trains. So I didn't get the Emerald Night after all. Castle. This is a new range for me. I wasn't going to buy any, but I saw MMV in a toy shop and had to have it. Then I had to get a couple of other castle sets to go with it - only human stuff, no skeletons or goblins. And now the 2010 castle sets look exactly like what I need, so now I'll have three castle factions - the Fantasy Era humans and the two new human factions. I think the Fantasy Era human kingdom will be situated between the other two warring factions. They will be trying to keep the piece, because every time fighting breaks out, they literally get caught in the middle. Anyway... I could write about this stuff all day. As I said, quite often I enjoy thinking about how to build my collections than I enjoy the actual lego. Edit: By the way, I think the best way to deal with confrontations is to not escalate a conflict. Or if you want to reply to a comment you find disagreeable, but you think that your reply might provoke an even more disagreeable reaction... sometimes it's better to let the comment slide. There is a lot of conflict in this thread that I think could have been avoided. There is NO wrong way to play with lego, whatever a person wants to do with their OWN Lego is ALWAYS right, even if it seems childish and simple or unnecessarily methodical and clinical to someone else.

That's how you use them!!! I always looked at them and thought, 'how the heck is that thing supposed to separate bricks?' I think I need a couple now that I understand them properly.

Does anyone think the resurrection of Harry Potter could mean anything for Indiana Jones? I mean, if one theme can take a break for a couple of years and then return, why can't the other? Just food for thought.

What the heck? On the website it says 'backorders accepted, shipping estimated 5th February'. So I place an order just to make sure I don't miss out a second time, they send me an email telling me the ship is on backorder... and then I get another email just now telling me my order has been shipped!!! I think the whole system is a bit messed up. They clearly have stock. Anyway, I'll getting my 10210 much sooner than expected, which is awesome. Edit: No, wait. It was just the free keyring I got with my order. I guess I still have over a month to wait.

I have a feeling the accessories are going to be pretty common from next year onwards. Like, the syringe for example... hasn't it been a while since we last had hospital sets? Isn't one about due? These figures seem like an excuse to create moulds that would not otherwise be created, which I think is excellent, and they must surely plan ahead to think of moulds they can easily use in the future. Don't remind me about wave two... every time I think about I get too impatient with waiting. Will there be a pirate? A centurion? A cat burglar?

On the other hand, if each kid can afford three or four boxes and all their friends can also afford three or four boxes, they can all swap and trade parts until they each have a whole minifig. So really, if you have friends, like most kids do, and all your friends also like lego, like most friends do, you don't actually have to buy many boxes to be able to trade for complete minifigs. I think if you have one tub full of hats, one of heads, one of torsos, one of legs and one of accessories, and you pick one piece randomly from each tub, it doesn't cost too much. This is true. But if one kid gets a cowboy with two guns and his brother gets a zombie with no accessories at all, the brother is going to feel a bit disappointed. Better for all kids to get one head, one hat, one torso, one legs and one accessories, even if it does mean there are more accessories than matching figs. They are also a company that has been on the very brink of bankruptcy in the past... I think they must have hired some more astute money-makers to be able to survive that. And besides, the sets are random anyway, so there's only a one in sixteen chance of getting the minifig you want. If you lose, you have to buy again. How is this putting the fanbase before money? Sorry to play devil's advocate, but I really think mixed parts are just as likely as whole figs. On the other hand, the container we've seen is covered in complete minifigs... if they were going to have mixed parts, they would have designed graphics to suggest this. So yes, even though I've just argued with you, I do agree with you in the end.

Indeed... a chemical method is definitely better. Chemicals can tell the difference between ink and plastic... sandpaper can't.

[Luke Skywalker] Nooooooooo! [/Luke Skywalker] If they hadn't given the wrong release date, making me order some stuff from eBay instead, I'd have ordered mine now. Or maybe it was never actually released on the first and they meant to list it as 'backorders accepted'. Which means all those who have ordered it already won't actually get it in up to 18 days... But then, some people have got it from the Lego shops already. So was the first batch really small, or what? Or just that popular?

I was wondering if anyone could help me with this, or direct me to a thread where it's already discussed... (sometimes searching the entire forum for a particular thread is an impossible task) I'm trying to produce a comic that I might want to eventually sell in print form. 99% of the comic will be drawn in Flash and Photoshop, but there will be a few panels done entirely in Lego. Now... what legal issues are involved here? I know things like the Brick Testament have been published already, but I'm not sure if he needs special rights to do that, or what arrangement he has with the Lego company. Or maybe all he needs to do is have a disclaimer saying that the book isn't in any way connected with the Lego company, and that's his entire legal obligation. I just want to know beforehand what legal issues are involved in commercial use of Lego products in fiction.

Oh wait... do you mean the face doesn't fit in with Atlantis, but that in the Pirates theme, it would 'stand out' as in look exceptional?

The only person who seems to have any knowledge at my Toyworld, who I think is the manager, told me that they're he's not expecting the Imperial Flagship for another three months at least. I can't wait that long, so I'm willing to pay S@H for postage.

I don't mind if they don't know so much, I work in retail and I know how impossible it is to know everything about everything, and how frustrating it is when customers expect me to name every film with John Wayne in it... It's the fact that if they don't know, they bluff. They can't admit they don't know, or look it up on the computer or ask another staff member or anything. Thus I've heard such amazing lines as "we don't have the pirate impulse packs because they're exclusive to the Warehouse". Riiight... I know your job better than you do, pal.

Wow... an entire thread dedicated to finding Lego in New Zealand... I usually go to Moore Wilsons in Wellington, everything there is a bit cheaper than everywhere else. I used to go to Toyworld as a sort of socially responsible rebellion against big stores that undercut little stores, but the staff there generally don't have a clue what they're talking about. "When are the Pirate Lego sets coming out?" "Um... they're about three months away." "Oh. OK." Very next day, the Pirates are out on the shelves. Great customer service, guys. On the other hand, Toyworld do get some exclusives that no one else gets, like the Grand Carousel a month after it was released (!!!) so I do check in occasionally.

Huh... see, here was my reasoning... "How do I find out if a thread about collecting non-lego products already exists?" "I know, I'll do a search for 'transformers', because transformers are so very collectable and at least one other person on this forum must surely collect transformers." "Brilliant! And my search results find... no thread of this nature! I'll go ahead and create one." And so I create an identical thread less than a month after this one was created. Mea culpa...

You may be able to tell from my user pic that I'm also a fan of tranformers... when I was joining this forum I thought, 'hey, I could just have a lego picture... or I could be distinctive and confusing and have a transformer instead'. If I were in a Transformers forum I'd do the opposite. I thought it would be interesting to find out what other toys people collect, or even if they don't collect any other than Lego. Anything counts, from popular Transformers to realistic train sets to statuettes of Asuka Langley to rare Japanese tin robots from 1965. Here's my collection: Transformers Animated, Universe/Classic, Masterpiece and anything from the movies with a G1 name and colour scheme. Playmobil Just a few cheap pirates here and there. Barbie Um... actually, just one. Barbie's sister 'Skipper', who I am going to sew a pirate costume for when I get the time.

Oh... no, I meant an eBay order. Animated Skywarp, Longarm/Shockwave and Ultra Magnus. They were never released in New Zealand and I thought I'd get them just to fill the time before the Imperial Flagship became available. Hm... is there a thread where people can talk about what other toys they collect? I might start one otherwise... I had a feeling the date on S@H was incorrect, I should have gone with my instinct.

I can order it now as well!!! Before today it was the 29th of Jan... now suddenly it's available. Mff... dang it, if I hadn't put another order through this morning I'd be able to order it by now... GRRNARG.

Really? I don't see why... it just looks like the Admiral with an eyepatch.

The adventurers ran 1998-2000 and returned in 2003 as Orient Expedition.

The price will be driven down when there are more than two for sale. These are just trying to catch people who need it NOW and don't understand the basic rules of commerce.

I think the dark tower looks particularly excellent. The colour scheme, the detail, the design... it almost looks out of place next to the simplistic castle. On my table I'm going to have the Dragon Knights to the left and the Lion Knights to the right, and in between the old Fantasy Knights will be keeping the peace. So that's three factions.

This head has already been mentioned several times in the Non-pirate pirate thread... When I first saw it ages ago I thought it was almost certainly a sign that they intended to continue the pirates line... but then I found out it was double sided and it won't work with any of the pirate hats. It's a shame. Still, if you're photographing an MOC from a particular angle you could make it work, or if you used PhotoShop to blank one side of the head.

My girlfriend was lucky, too... I got her an unopened copy of the original Pirate raft, 6257. The one with three pirates and a shark. The box was a bit damaged, so I didn't have to pay mint price for it and my girlfriend didn't care about the box. I also got her the 2009 remake of the raft, 6240. So now she has the full Pirate Advent Calendar and two pirate rafts from different eras. She is quite happy. And I get to keep the little advertising brochure from 6257, which makes me happily nostalgic...

My usual mistake is to confuse black with dark grey, or dark grey with light grey. Then much later in the building process I suddenly can't find the right piece in the colour I'm looking for. With Green Grocer that happened a couple of times, and I had to rip the whole thing off. Often I don't get the right length for a place, so I'll have a 1x10 where I was supposed to have a 1x12. And then I can't figure out why nothing quite fits any more. The first time I remember having a problem was with this set. There was an almost imperceptible part of the instructions of a small piece behind a large piece, and suddenly one of my pillars was too short. Mum fixed it for me, though.