Pellaeon

Thanks for the kind words everyone, and for not threatening me, Tereglith. As they say: know your audience. That's definitely fair criticism. Of course, the irony of losing a few points for unoriginality on this one is that this was my original concept, and the other was a "proof of concept" and insurance in case this one didn't get finished. I'm sure both will lose votes for being too much like the other... The ball is just rolled straight under the fortress, as some of the pics on flickr show more clearly. I really hope I have time to take better shots in the morning, as I'm really not too pleased with the ones I've got... I'm just not successfully communicating everything I need to in any 6 pics I've taken. I didn't come up with a plan for a "drop through" green inside the fortress that I was happy about, so I went with the straight pass-through. I do like that it's sort of realistic, because who hasn't seen a mini golf course where they have some awesome miniature castle/house/fort/lighthouse/etc, but all you do is roll the ball under it?

To summarize the goal: roll the ball under the fortress, down the hill, across the bridge, and into the hole. Just teeing up, it's a nice pirate lady with her son. With the collapse of the gem market, a little leftover treasure makes for good golfballs. In the picture above you can also see how they've dressed-up the putt-putt course a bit amidst the old ship's wreckage -- a makeshift hull and even a fake cannon, for the kids. Over on the other side, we can see the boy's father has putted first, and seems to have gotten his ball stuck under the fortress. Chalk it up to lousy maintenance -- they are pirates, after all. On the lower level, Brickbeard and a redcoat captain are finishing up the hole. Beware of the water hazard. It looks like the redcoat captain is a lousy putter... splash, rolled right into the drink! Brickbeard laughs, as his lead grows to 3 points. Lastly, a close-up of Eldorado Fortress. It's one of my favorite sets (and one of the few I still have built), and I'm pretty pleased with how the micro version turned out. I don't have any of my old bluecoats with me, so a printed flag will have to do. At least I didn't use a redcoat flag! This MOC a companion to my small entry, which MOC'ed up the 7th hole with a much steeper hill. I hope you enjoyed. More pictures can be found on my flickr. The other pictures include an overhead view, so you can marvel at how obsessive-compulsively I've ensured the ship's ribs all line up. Comments and criticism welcome. [updated 11 pm with better photos]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone! The staff have said the overhang is a bit much for a small entry, as I'd feared. I'm going to try pulling out a row of the sand green bricks without making it look overcrowded, and I'll give the kid a shave. I hope to post updated pics later today. I actually have a medium-sized mini-golf entry in the works, both as a back-up in case this small one doesn't work out, and to feature a "centerpiece" that I'm very excited about. Stay tuned! I can't believe I didn't see this! I didn't think anyone else had done a straight-up putt-putt MOC yet... guess I didn't go back enough pages. I like that your's has a second level, like some indoor mini-golf places will have, and I guess "great minds think alike" as far as the cheatin' pirate goes. Anyways, I'm sorry about that Tereglith... and I'm afraid I do have a medium-sized one in the works. But good luck to you, and to everyone else who's doing a putt-putt based PV2 entry! Next time, I'll go with my original plan for pirate bowling...

Thanks for the speedy replies, guys! I figured I was extending the SNOT green a bit far, but that's as small as I'd managed to get it. However, I might be able to pull a row of bricks off the lower level without making it look overcrowded. I'll post an update if I do, or mark that post "withdrawn" and just submit the medium build I'm working on. Thanks again! [update] I posted the new one. I pulled a row of bricks from the lower level, and removed the 1x3 from the upper. I hope that does the trick.

Hi, could I get a staff member discretionary ruling on my small entry's overhang? I posted my entry here, and there's a shot of a 1x8 next to it on my flickr page. The overhang is mostly a couple beams and some ribs, no baseplates, but I'm sure I'm pushing the limits for a "small" entry. Thanks, I appreciate it!

102d Shipwreck Links, Hole 7 Version 2, by Pellaeon Pillage the Village II: The Calm After the Storm Small Category With peace comes ample free time, and less of a need for secret coves and island hideouts. So, the pirates have come up with an obvious solution: convert Shipwreck Hideout into a putt-putt golf course. It's fun for the whole family! Rotting hulks make for exciting and varied courses. The view from above. Looks like it's started to rain (for real). It's the lady's turn. With the collapse of the gem market, a little leftover treasure makes for good golfballs. Imagine the course would extend off behind her. What the...? Hey buddy, no cheating!! I hope you enjoyed. A couple more pictures can be found on my flickr. Comments and criticism welcome, of course. My original version can be seen on flickr. It was ruled to have too much overhang, so I've shortened the green a bit. I also gave the kid a shave. Update 29/11/09: Please also be sure to check out Hole 3, my medium entry.

Christmas with the Joker! "Careful Robin!" Yes, even in this most festive time of year, there's no rest for Gotham's finest.

One of the options listed in this year's ad is a $10 gift card, which wouldn't even cover the sales tax on the Death Star. I would imagine the 10% off will be more common than the $10 gift card though.

Thanks for the thorough review, Big Cam. It's a decent set with a nice minifig lineup, though I agree it's not the most elegant ship in the Star Wars universe. It was edited into Star Wars: Special Edition:

If you look at that page's history, you'll see it the page hasn't been touched since 2008. Unless "Unregistered contributor 75.138.168.85" was a Jedi foreseeing sets 3+ years before they're announced, I'm pretty sure it's fake. Edit: Google reveals it's a MOC: http://www.fbtbforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=1304

Thanks for posting this! That BF card is a good deal, though I see you get it at checkout, so you don't know your discount amount until the very end -- might get stuck with $10 off a $500 purchase, or 50% off a $15 purchase. Guess that's what returns are for. There's no real way to predict, but Black Friday tends to mean crazy lines everywhere.

I'm interested in Batman figures too. I could potentially do Indy figures in exchange, or any of the Star Wars figures I posted before.

The 15% off last week was nice, since it knocked most of their sets under MSRP. And it was actually a sale for stuff like the Creator sets that TRU doesn't mark up. My personal favorite mark-up: the Agents Robo-Attack set, $49.99 MSRP, is normally $59.99 at TRU. With that 15% off deal, the Robo-Attack was a "steal" at $50.99!

The Bergen display looks amazing. I've only visited Bergen once (friend of mine getting his Ph.D. there), but scrolling through your pictures those jumped right out at me -- hey, you've been here! Thanks for sharing, Lorentzen!

If you luck into 25% or 50% off, that's pretty good. Unless a set ends up on clearance, Lego hardly ever gets that kind of markdown. And waiting for something to go on clearance is a bit of a crapshoot... though I passed on the 30% off Brickbeard's Bounty at TRU last week because I assume somebody will have it half off at some point. The other nice thing about this scratchcard would be that whenever you show up, you'd probably be able to get something decent on sale. As others have mentioned, the deals at places like Target and Walmart get cleaned out very quickly -- quickly enough that it's probably a waste of your time. 50% off Endor would be pretty sweet. Otherwise amazon.com is probably your best bet: it's currently $88.99, with free shipping, and -- most critically for us Californians -- no sales tax. If I had more self control, I'd get all my LEGO from amazon.com... Oh, speaking of Amazon: I do usually set my alarm for 7 am or whenever for Amazon's Black Friday deals. They usually have some decent sales, and I can get them from the luxury of my own home. I don't know if they've ever included Lego in their Black Friday sales though.

You could buy one at TRU today and then return it, unopened, to the Lego Store using your receipt from yesterday... they are identical sets, so it's a legitimate return.

Those ships are in fact Acclamators, so you've got another one for the wish list. Great review, as always def. I agree that Mar Tuuk was more interesting than the usual cannon fodder, so maybe his quick exit in an escape pod means we'll be seeing him again.

I found a comparison shot on flickr:

I'm missing a few figures from the Batman line, and before I run off to ebay/bricklink to buy them, I thought I'd see if anyone here would be interested in trading for them. Wants (ordered by desirability): Poison Ivy (would accept dark red ponytail instead of her original hair, if need be) Dark Knight Batman (dark bley suit) Killer Croc Bane Dark Blue Batman (link) Nightwing I'm vastly more interested in the first 3 than the last three (sorry Nightwing). What do I have to trade? Mostly minifigs, all in excellent condition, with several valued in the $20-30 range on bricklink. I'd could also throw in cash to sweeten a deal... Haves for trade: Chancellor Palpatine (Clone Wars style) Death Star hologram (link) Senate Commando x2 Plo Koon Yoda (CW, from MTT, not a magnet) Clone troopers (CW) Clone gunners (CW) Loathe to part with, but would: Joker (not magnet) Batman gray suit (link, not magnet) PM if you're interested. I'm in the US (California). Thanks for reading!

Nice review, thank you sir! It's a good looking set. I've seen the Leias from 4 different sets now (3 online, one at a LEGO Store), and she was having a "bad hair day" in all of them.

I guess nobody's received the new Tantive IV yet, so we've yet to see a review. However, I saw one in my local LEGO Store today, and snapped a couple quick pics to compare... most notably, the engines on the new model are quite undersized, throwing off the proportions: Here's Rufus' photo, for comparison: There is also a section of engines on the bottom that is missing to make room for structural supports. It's hardly noticeable though, and overall I was quite impressed with the new set. I look forward to a review!

A minifig scale Hindenburg (assuming the typical 1:44th scale) would, in fact, be over 18 feet long (5.6 meters). ... I think we can safely say TLC won't be making such a thing. Not that I wouldn't want one.

I dropped by the San Mateo store yesterday to grab a couple of the discounted Green Grocers. It's a good store, well stocked, and they did have the just-released Fire Brigade on the shelf (no sign of the Tantive IV). They have a decent minifig building station, but the Pick-a-Brick wall is sort of lousy. The Santa Clara store (likely) has a better PaB wall, but it's further from where I live, and getting into and parking at that mall it's in is sort of a pain in the a** (at least the couple times I've been there). I'd absolutely recommend calling ahead if there's anything specific you're after, as others have suggested. I've always gotten good service, both on the phone and in person.

Impressive turn-around time there, cole! I like the overall look of it, and particularly like the 3-car cart and the Indy-faced pilot. I'm less keen on the technician, though I realize you're stuck with a tan outfit if you base him on ANH. Anyway, great work!

Great review Rufus, and what a magnificent set. It is, hands down, the one set I most regret not owning... the new one looks really good, but this thing is stunning.