Wodanis

Does anyone know if customer service deals with part numbers on Mini-figure legs or torsos and where they originate from? I was going to write their customer service to enquire but thought perhaps someone here may know the answer.

I'd love a return of the forest men from Castle. I'm not sure how much money the Castle line is making to warrant a return. I really miss the classic 80s Lego Castle sets as the new ones just don't seem to have much to build.

That's pretty good LegoDr. I was doing just that with my project. All those extra cheese rooftop pieces came in handy. Do you have a market street as well?

Let's hope that Lego addresses some of the issues with Chinese manufactured parts. Question in my mind is will Lego still source addition parts from China once their factory is up and running for 2017? They have stated that the factory being built there is for the Asian market. I went checking into a bit of my collection to see what Mini-figures had Chinese made parts. I used to buy the 3 pack build your own Lego mini-figures at the Lego store and half of the legs I purchased did not possess the © Lego logo on the base of the foot. Can anyone confirm if the Mexico factory uses the same types of numbers as the Chinese factory or do they also use the © Lego logo? Either way when I purchased them I knew they didn't look or feel quite the same but thought it was my imagination. Really disappointed now as I spent a lot of money on them. I will have to check some of my sets now. So far the only box I purchased recently actually stating made in China (in addition to the other factories) is the 2014 - 60056 Tow Truck. It is disconcerting that I've been spending a lot of money on Lego such as the CMFs and until last year I didn't realise they were made in China. The realisation cheapened my feelings towards those figures. Apparently one of the things I read from a Lego staffer is that the reason there was more production from China was solely to meet demand for their products, specifically mini-figures. If we could be assured that future products produced there are of the same quality as in Europe I would be ok with it, that however is another 3 years off. I have the mindset to reorder the parts and colours from Denmark. I love my Lego and I believe in the brand which is why until last year I didn't question the quality of their products.

I really liked your benches in the cafe Kristel. The interior is nicely done. :)

That was when the Lego Group lacked control over how many pieces were produced between the late 90's to 2003....

That makes sense. Especially with the lack of quality. Thought I would find out more about it and found this on their site. http://aboutus.lego.com/en-us/news-room/2013/march/lego-group-to-build-factory-in-china

These blatant knocks-offs really make me angry. It used to be I did not have to worry. Lego was Lego and one knew the quality even if it from the second hand market. Now we as consumers have to scrutinise our sets and mini-figures to discern what is Chinese made vs Denmark. I fear Lego branching into China will only make matters worse. Instead of being able to combat knock-offs, Lego potentially could get ripped off even more.

It's not so much picking on China as it is about what is being produced by their factories with concerns to Lego pieces. Lego has always had high standards for their products and what we have been seeing with some products is a slip in those standards. Just noticed on my Gail the construction worker, that her arms are a more translucent yellow than they should be. I'm paying $3.50 a pop so I don't want anything less than the Lego standard.

Can't say I've seen that technique before. I like the texture.

Really like the interior deco Sin. Maybe I will have to try and create more of an interior for my GE. Great work! The coffee bar is nice and effective.

That is why when I do PAB orders I usually wait till I am ordering something else to qualify for the free shipping after spending $75. Unfortunately as I wanted the January promo at the Lego store I paid for shipping this time. ($50 was the threshold.) It is easy for me to spend $75 with just PAB. I only wish Bricks and Pieces (BnP) orders counted for VIP points...

Chima, some of the friends line and the CMF are produced in China. I have valid concerns about quality and I wrote to Lego to ask about the quality. They told me that they retained all their standards in the factories and assured me that the quality is the same standard. For the most part I would agree with their statement but I have noticed some issues that cause doubt such as the legs on mini figures are looser than they should be. The colouring is some instances are off. I've also noticed that some of the head gear doesn't fit as snug on the head as well as they should. One of the things I love about Lego is that it is a high quality European product. I understand their demands to cash in on the Chinese market as most companies wish to do so, however I really wished they would either tell the Chinese government that they must let TLG to do things their way to ensure their standards are met or don't bother in China. (We all know that they won't not with a factory being built there for this year)

I think the mini-figures do affect how children play. Just not to exclusivity. Kids will build and play the the set its just that the mini figures do allow for kids to imagine stories and act them out. Growing up with Lego in the 80s and 90s I used to do epic battles for hours. Never worried over characters as I made my own if at all. In the 80s they lifted a ban on promotional cartoons and advertising on children's toys (fast food toys promotion and what not). This is how transformers and GI Joe cartoons were able to exist and the toys that went with them. As for Lego they didn't have any licensed sets so the way mini figures existed didn't rely on 'characters' rather the generic for play/role playing. Is it any wonder then with Ninjago characters a child will play with them first before building. Obviously this is not absolute. I'm sure there are many children who build in addition to playing with the mini-figures. Also to note the style of the Ninjago sets are not the same type of building as say in Lego City. The difference with licensing is that (Star Wars etc) the sets are targeting adults more so than the kids, hence the extra mini-figures. I appreciate a lot of the thoughts on this thread they make for a good read and I do share much of the same sentiments.

Yup that is what I did. I checked the design before I ordered. Works perfectly!

Thanks Redhead1982 that link for the furniture Flickr page was just what I needed to get some inspiration for decorating the interior of my cafe corner. :)

I really like this as well. Did you use 48x48 base plates? Such a tranquil scene :)

Excellent Sin! You will likely complete it before I do haha. I'm waiting for the Bricks and Pieces catalogue to come back online through TLG. By the time I can order on the 15th and wait for them to arrive it will be Feburary... Postage times vary with Bricklinked shops but to give you a rough idea, orders from the EU take about two weeks or less on average. The Netherlands and Germany have the bulk of good buys and decent postage costs but I also found sellers from Denmark quite good as well. The UK is quite expensive on postage and will either take a week or a month or more to arrive on average. As I live in Canada ordering from the US was the most economical until the post service increased prices. Not to mention some sellers in the US are problematic in sending orders using a package rate instead of regular mail. ($1-2 vs $8-15) I had one seller insist on a package rate for a very small order...they do it to make money. Other than that once you find a decent seller it's good to stick with them :)

I think the line of modular buildings are very much improving. I would say though we all have to keep in mind the purpose of each building and the designers who build the kit. The Parisian Restaurant wouldn't be big in scale but would be lavish on detail. Whereas the town hall is big as city halls usually are. The Green Grocer was the real start of the modular line with a detailed exterior and interior. I just spent the afternoon designing a Cafe Corner interior for the first floor so I'm glad the others have much more detailed interiors. On the other hand that is what MOC'ing is for. :) I don't think the modular buildings will keep shrinking. It solely depends on the purpose of the building. The next one will likely be a government/civic building so I would presume it will be larger than the PR.

That is the strategy I went for. I managed to get my sand green groove bricks just before they got discontinued. I chose the 1x6 -1x2 sand green route as it doesn't compromise the essence of the design. My changes have been small: Opted for medium azure 1x4 bows for the front awning The train style windows replaced with regular 1x2x3 windows with panels (again-discontinued in white) The sand greens 1x8s replaced with as stated above. Replaced the white kitty with the pet shop brown version (kitty with eyes 2 discontinued) So essentially I will 'have' the set. :) I've been contemplating building market street but after going over the design I can see how amateurish it really is. There is no real market and some odd smokestacks when it's open air beneath it! The interior is also lacking. So I think I will modify it. It was the least like of the modulars I'm missing.

I have been trying to build both Cafe Corner and Green Grocer together from scratch. I have 65$ left to go (mainly 1x1 and 1x2 plates and tiles). My advice go with PAB or the Bricks and Pieces catalogue for the majority of parts and any unique ones if they are still in production. For instance the Bright Blue bow 1x4 is no longer available through TLG and they are $3 each on Bricklink. The Cafe corner doors are also not available and have to be Bricklinked. However these are still costly. Pretty much if you can get the parts through Lego you'll save versus Bricklink. The cost of shipping and currency exchange outweigh the advantage of Brick Linking in my experience. The exception is the discontinued parts. That will be a cost regardless. I also made a spreadsheet that tabulates not only the costs but breaks down where the savings are etc. Hope this helps.

Lego has done a lot of research into how children learn and play with each other. Kids have a hard enough time as it is, to learn about themselves, the expectations placed on them and the world at large. Let them play however they wish to and give them the respect they deserve. This is why I get really annoyed though when adults project their (and consequently society's perspective on gender inequality) onto children and their toys. Children will play with whatever they want to. If one as a parent wants more female or male figures simply order them. How difficult is it to order some female heads at .25 a piece? I would happily buy Lego for my daughter or son regardless of any gender specificity. However I am happy with the ratio of boys to girls mini-figures. I do not believe a Janus head would be beneficial it would just add to the confusion children feel. I am delighted that new City sets are including more female mini-figures. You are absolutely right LukeWarmTea, she was speaking as a mother. This is a seriously flawed argument. No factual evidence, biased opinions and that staff members would be so blatantly sexist against men. Not to mention being disrespectful to the workplace. It is shameful.

I have four Star Wars sets I never opened. The original Tie Fighter, second version of the Snow Speeder, the original droid fighter and Watto's Junkyard. The first three sets were duplicates that I just never bothered to open. Watto's Junkyard I just forgot about when I went to Uni. My policy is to open my sets. It's Lego and it for me is meant to be built. I so far haven't gotten into buying for the sake of investments. Maybe in the future when I am flush with cash till then open'em up and have fun!

Actually Dr. Lego this is exactly what I do to clean. I had my old Blacktron sets caked in dust (never cleaned it as a kid) so I just used a bowl, warm water and a bit of dish soap. (Lego wrote to me once when I asked and advised this method) I used the microfiber cloth that one uses on glasses to clean each piece by hand, using the cloth around each stud on each piece. I found other brushes etc will scratch the pieces which for a purist like me is a big no-no. I get them back to about 99%. Of course it won't look like it came out of the box after so many years but ce la vie. Took me about 3 months to clean my Star Wars collection...whew... Oh and Faefrost, my thought on using canned air is that because the air comes out so cold it could potentially damage the pieces making them more brittle. I had to disassemble them. I let the parts dry out on a towel after I have soaked and cleaned them. Sometimes I may have to do it more than once. Water is ok on the parts, but I had some old stickers on my Republic Jumpship and the water and soap didn't remove them. Summer heat is what destroyed the stickers believe it or not.

Unfortunately no TLG would not produce that. Lego's philosophy has always maintained they would not make anything 'religious' or things based on the World Wars.