alex54

Wow! What a great moc! I've seen it since it was blogged on Classic-town (really usefull blog to have a nice quick view of nice EB members T&T stuff!) but only take the time post! (busy life!). Your cinema is very very great! I love it! The color scheme is very well chosen : dark blue and grey work very well together. You've put some nice details everywhere, like those nice curtains, cup of flowers. But the detail I love the more is the use of this piece shifted of 1:2 stud, that looks really great! And you don't have negleted the back of this baby! It looks as good as the front! The statue is a very nice touch! And the staging with all those minifigs, the red carpet and more bring the final touch, bringing to life this great building! The only bad thing is that, now we are very curious to look inside and see a furnitured interior...

Hey! Yesterday, I've bought the new 7641 city corner set (for only 40€ ), so I built it when I came at home. Nothing really special during the building process. I started to build the minifig from the bike shop. And came the moment when you have to put the red cap on the cylinder in the shop. So I keep the cap and… What?! My red cap is damaged?! The visor was not flat but curved! Impossible! I mean I never had a damaged piece in a new set! But after all, with all the quality problems from those year, why not? And after a quick and closer view, it seems that I’ve got in my hand an all new LEGO cap! It looks more Playmobile IMO, and a quite more modern in its design than the regular one. The visor is shorter and more curved, everything looks more rounding, and the back is shorter too. So, if you want to look like a 50cent, with the visor in the back, now you can see! Well, some pics are better than words in this case so enjoy! It's a little out off topic, but I've also got a "strange" flag (not in the city corner of course!). You will see in the next picture the regular flag on the top, and the "strange" one below. It's exactly the same, but it’s its symmetrical version! Very strange…

Me too! Well it’s a good idea, but I’m not a great sticker maker, I don’t have the good paper nor the printer, so… Thanks, but there are so many better builder than me before ! Thanks Mr. Holodoc ! Time, dear time, why are you running so fast? Sorry, but no! I’ve already destroyed it! I wasn’t happy with it. I don’t know if I’m the only one, but when I build a MOC, I immediately know if I’m satisfied with it or no. I mean, when I start to build something, when the MOC starts to look like something, I know if I will keep it built or if I will destroy it. In that case, I will wait more or less time, depending on my self conviction which told me “hey, you don’t have made a bad work, give this moc a chance to grow in you!”. For my corner building, I didn’t take the time to finish it. But I’ve already work on its successor. Building the first and already dead version of my corner building, I realise a thing: I find less interested to build a whole house 100% conceived and imagined in my head. Now, I prefer to look at some nice building around me or seeing on pictures to have some inspirations. I don’t pretend to build the LEGO version of those models, but I try to capture the feeling (proportions, style, particularities, nice details) of the original version. Sometimes it makes the building harder but more challenged. This is the way I took for the second try of my corner building. It’s not finished yet, but I’m quite happy with it for now. I will post some pics in time…

I totally agree with you! Compared to the Metroliner, the interior of IST 4511 looks very empty and basic with just few chairs and simple table, without anything else, for not a cheap price!

Well, this Fire Station looks very amercian for me, like in this picture from Teddy: And hopefully TLC doesn't build a French Fire Station. Because our Fire Stations look like this: They look like a big garage area made with some metal cladding, nothing really exiting! So the cliché of the Amercian Fire Station is very well done by TLC! And like I said before, I don't think that this modular building: - is less detailed than the 3 previous one. In fact, we find some very interesting details like the grey parts on the top (made with curved bricks), the car grill, the brick built wall, the bell tower ( It seems you're right. First, I though of a golden chrom bucket... )-uses less interesting builind technics. In fact, we can see some snot here and there, like the windows on top of the garage door, the 1932 logo, and the use of upside-down bricks like the car grill (it seems to be the new building technic from this set), and some good used of "standard" pieces like frogs or doors for the roof. The color scheme works very well for me. So my only complain for this set is the proportion. When you look at the pics with the 3 buildings, the Fire Station looks kinda different. In term of architecture of course (but that is not a big deal for me) but un term of size! I mean, CC and GG look very similar in proportion. They really seem to be made from the same scale, contrary to the Fire Station. This station looks too big and small at the same. Maybe too big because of its lighter front. Even if it is detailed, the front looks more empty than CC and GG which details look finer. Maybe too small because I would have imagined a taller, biger and more impressive building for such an american firestation... This is just my though... And for the furniture, the fridge looks pretty nice...

Well, I'm like you! This building is very beautiful with nice details everywhere (can't wait to see how they put the radiator grill part on top of the windows, and the bell seems pretty good!) but, I'm not that impressed than I was with CC, MS and GG! Maybe it's due to its architecture. In fact this firestation (FS) looks very US (just look at the flag!), far away from the more european styled CC, MS and GG. So this FS don't looks very good beside the two previous modular buildings. Even more than the architecture aspect, the proportions of the FS look too different : it's a "small" ans "simple" building (just 1 floor) but it's as big as the other 2. I don't say that I dislike american buildings (some diversities are always good and welcome!) but I really don't like the too big difference between the two styles. This FS will looks beter beside a bigger version of the theater from Town plan for example. But I know that I will buy it, just for the pieces, the bell section and to learn some new building technics! The only complain is about the tree. Please, for the next modular building, give us a decent brickbuilt tree! And I confirme that the holders are frogs, it's really clear from the pics! Poor frogs, they don't deserve to be treated this way! They would be better in our plates (miam!)

Well, I've got some trouble making my Emerald Night (EN) running on my layout. Firstly, I have to specify that I don't miss the CRITICAL step: my wheels are offset by a quarter. Secondly, I have to specify that I've used a classic 9V motor on the passenger car. I don't have any PF motor and I wanted to see my dark green baby moving. So I decided to put a 9V motor on the passenger car. After this modification, I put my EN on my 9V tracks and turn the yellow button of the speed regulator. Go on! Because of the weigh, it started moving slowly on my straight portion. And became the first curve. And drama! My EN stopped without derailed! So I turn the yellow button back to make it moving back and nothing too! After this, I've tried to make it pass a swith. And I've got the same disapointing result! So, my last test was a high speed test. I've put all my straight tracks together and turn the yellow button at high power. And it only moved slowly. And the wheels of the 9V motor seemed to "spin". So maybe EN can't be moved by an other power than its own (e-i using the Technic mechanism...)

B-RM-4C Thanks for your comment! For the corners, I've planed to put some plants grass flowers and trees, with fences. And for the interiors, I've got a lot of work too! I know that those pictures look abandoned, like a gosth town, but it's just to show that I'm still working on it, and they don't show the final result that I want to finally share... Need more time! So, in the same spirit, I'm working on a small, but hard to build, corner house. Contrary to the Café Corner, my projet is harder to build because I don't have that much place to make it. It has to feet on a 1-x16 baseplate and be insered in a corner of my "city place". I have starting with this : but I need some tips or better, somepics from real similar building in terms of integration. I have never really see thopse kind of building, or I cant' remember me them... And Google is not that much your friend for thise kind of special research when you don't really know what to ask for...

Well, I had put them in my PaB selection when I came back home (a stupid idea, that added 20 more pieces to store among all of those new bricks... ) For eventies with very good eyes, we can start a new competition : what as my 20 black bricks? Price : a jelly rat that I found on one of my tire. Maybe it stucked here when we leave the hotel... And it survived from the Gunsburg - Nancy trip! (Ok, I'm not that credible).

I'm pleased that you enjoyed this review! ANd for people who asked, I don't have the Club car yet, but now that I've got the Metroliner, maybe I will try to find it... I've got it very recently, for more than a week now. So I don't have any problem with the rotation of my wheels. I have heard about this on a Freelug I think. They gave some tips on how to cut the boggies. This problem is due to the wear around the metal axle if I can remember... I never expected this Legend-set to be as faithful to the original! I've bought the Legend version of the airport, and the changes were bigger, like some differents roofwindows or worst, baseplate! It's an idea for a future review... And yes the stickers for the cargo-doors mimick the original printed colours, with the not so white white. This white aspect don't bothered me that much, as the difference of length for the stripes (especially the red one), compared to the "too short" aspect of those stickers... Thanks! And even if you're not a train collector, I whish you to have one train just for the pleasure to see it runs around

Name: Metroliner Ref: 10001 Theme: Legend Year: 2001 Pieces: 772 Minifigs: 11 Introduction: This 10001 Metroliner is a re-released version of the 4558 Metroliner from1991. Like most of the Legend sets, there are some differences between the two versions. For this Metroliner, the first difference is the number of pieces, 768 for the original version VS 772 for the re-released one. Before we’re going onto the review, I would like to bring you back to the fact that the Metroliner belong to the first wave of the 9V train system. So 1991 bring a lot of new pieces due to this system (motors and tracks) but not only. This piece appears of the first time in 1991 and in 3 train sets only! This stripped piece is common those days and very useful to add some textures and details. The box: The box is in black and white, far away the colourful design of the traditional boxes! Like it’s written on the back of the box, if you don’t know this set, Just Imagine… what the colours are supposed to be! The LEGO logo without any colours looks really joyless. The front shows the set itself, which is less appealing in B&W. You can read that it’s a re-released version of the original 4558: Like its brother, the speed regulator is not included. If you don’t have it, the playability of this set decreases so much! But I’m not concerned, I’ve got 3 of this regulator… The parts: So, what’s in this box? Tada! We’ve got: -11 bags (1 was opened inside the unopened box! No matter, all the bricks are here!) -3 old grey bases -16 curved tracks (again…) -4 straight tracks (only… never enough of them) -1 9V motor (which begin to become a rare piece…) -1 9V link -1 stickers sheet -1 instruction booklet Looking at all those bricks, the box seems a little small nowadays. On the first page of the instruction booklet, we can see two models, the Metroliner and an alternative model. It’s the same front page than the older version, except the reference number of course! The back shows some details of the Metroliner. Hopefully the booklet is not in B&W, which is easier for the building! A closer view of the DSS (we will return on it later…): and all the pieces mixed together (TLC allows it when there are no numbered bag ). I’ve taken a picture of some very interesting pieces, not that common nowadays (black bike, magnet part, white gate…) and new to me (those fast door, small glass, front of the train and that black classic space piece). The building: Like always (not totally, just remind the 7774 crab crusher Aquaraider set), we start with the minifigs. Even if the Legend version was released in 2001, LTC keeps the 90’s design of instruction, which means horrible representation of minifigs! (But nowadays, even with the use of high tech computer and printer, we have some horrors like those black everywhere in minifigs hair! ). And here the real better looking version: There are no printing backs of course! So we’ve got 11 minifigs in one set, which is not so common those days for such a price rank set. I know that everybody has notice one of the big difference between 4558 and 10001! No?!... Look at her, yes her, the girl with the red necklace! Her hair is the small ponytail released in 1992 with the Paradisa theme! The original version has this hair with pigtails! . With those 11 figs, we’ve got almost all the city torsos of 1991! And for people who complain about the fact that we’ve got the same recurrent minifig heads from 5 years, just look at all those smiley faces! All the same! The minifigs come with 7 suitcases, which is pretty good too! After 3 steps in the building, I discovered a totally new piece: I didn’t know that such a brick has existed : a classic 1x2 brick but it’s hollow with a notch. This notch permit the link to pass trough the brick without being crushed. A pic is better than words, so: A random page of the booklet : After some years with “put one by one brick instructions”, this booklet seems pretty hard to follow! I’ve lost the habit of watching carefully each step to make sure I don’t forget to put bricks! Now, children are very assisted by TLC, what a pity! What amused me is this page! It seems that the anachronistic ponytail give the instruction designer some difficulties. Just look at this page: We clearly see some perspective and plane problem, with the tail in front of the white panel, which is strictly impossible because they are aligned: A good point of this booklet is that we’ve got the instruction of the alternative model: Nowadays, we don’t even have pics from alternative models, so… The instructions are in 1 booklet of 44 pages only for two models! The model : Here some view of the whole set : (the old pantographs look thiner and better than the new one!) The first carriage, (side, front back and up): Here a view with opened doors: In this picture, we can see the second big difference between 4558 and 10001. And what a big difference… No?!...Yet this one is a little more troublesome… The large grey doors are not printed but stickered! And those stickers are not long enough to cover the curved section of the doors, causing a discontinuity in the strips! And finally some details on the inside: We’ve got the restaurant section of the train. But do not be too hungry, there are only drinks! (As long as there is beer... This is for you, my eventees ) We can also see the engine of this train. What a shame, it’s just a dummy engine! And here, the cockpit of the Metroliner. Even if it’s an old set, this cockpit looks pretty modern and high tech. The middle carriage (side, front/back, up) We’ve got a toilet with a nice tap. We’ve got 4 seats and some places under the table to put some luggage. The third carriage (side, the front/back/up are the same at the first one): Some details on the inside: We’ve got a bed section, in which you can put two minifigs. Just note that TLC has chosen the man in suit for sleeping! And the classic-space printed tile prevent the bed to fall on the lady! After, we’ve got a small cargo area to put some boxes and bikes. The cockpit is exactly the same as the first carriage, except on the fact that we don’t have any 9V link. The platform: Nothing really special here. A simple but effective platform to wait for the train with seats, lights and schedules. Extra parts : Nothing special, except on that grey small piece of plastic (not really useful I know! ) Conclusion : The Metroliner is a true LEGO train classic. The re-released version is one notch below the 4558 because of the non printed large doors (a small detail I know, but not so small after all!). It’s a very complete set with a nice plateforme and a full train. You don’t need to buy two copies of this set or additional carriages to have a decent train (like it was with the 4511 High Speed Train!). The global colour scheme is not very colourful for a LEGO city set, but it gives this train a realistic look. And its look makes this train the more beautiful passenger train of the 9V generation. TLC has released 2 years after the 4558, the 4547 Club Car which was a nice addition to the train. Just hope that TLC will bring us a PF train as good as this Metroliner, with add-on cars! My personal impression: The 90’s were the years of my childhood, when I spent hours and hours eating the LEGO catalogues with my eyes, wanting all the sets, trying to learn how to build those sets just with few pictures. But train sets were apart. In fact, it was the only theme in which I didn’t have any sets. My parents didn’t want me to buy them because of the price and because my father has a model train layout with which we could play. Maybe, but his trains weren’t in LEGO! So trains were, for a long time, unattainable theme… During five years, the Metroliner was shown in LEGO catalogues, and it was always a dream! And they re-released it in 2001. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the money to buy it! My first train was the 4511 High Speed Train from 2003. It’s a great train but it lakes some nice interior details and don’t have the Metroliner feeling (nostalgia). So I was very happy to finally have this baby! And making it moving along the tracks is always a magical moment! I can spend hours looking at trains moving around! Building this set those days was a real “back in time” trip in the building : not numbered bag, old instruction style, old grey bricks… What a pleasure to have all those “old” bricks in new condition, without any dust or other time damage! Building with new old gray bricks will be more and more rare moments… It was also a childhood dream become true! After the cypress trees, now the Metroliner! So thanks a lot Mr. Making my LEGO dreams come true! So this is the end of this review. But I know that everybody have seen a strange minifig somewhere… No?!... Just look closer: Still nothing?!... Just wait, she will go down the Metroliner… Hey, it’s Monique, the incredible last (wo)man standing who wants to say hello to the Pagong and to the Tagi as well! We’ll let her here with this poor workman! (She will probably try to have a baby with him, like always! ).

Here a pic of all my lego stuff from the event : extras and so on, my swipper prize, my ambulance plaine prize, my promo '09 plane (Once again, thanks a lot for all those bricks), my PaB selection and the medieval village and Emerauld Night. @ Captain Green Hair : the Emerauld Night is really a true piece of beauty! So sad that there were no box for you this time! And just let me know how do you find Town plan... And thanks for sharing your pics! Looking at them, I feel nostalgic...

So, like everybody, I would like to thank Ras, Holodoc and Copmike for the great organisation of this event. The extra parts and other polybags are very nice! When we’ve go them, it was like a chrismas day for me! The exclusive EB event set, aka the “droid cantina” is very well done too, and even if I’m not a SW fan, I’m proud to have this exclusive set (like the others, and especially the chrome Vader). But all those bricks are just a small part of the event. The other part is all the souvenirs of greats and friendly moments. Seeing people in real is very nice, and this more when those people are nice and so friendly! I know that I don’t have spoken a lot with you (it’s easier for me to read, write and listen than to speak, I need to practice my oral English for the next event!) but that didn’t prevent me to spend a great event! The different games from the “regular” competition were very funny (I’ve to learn my Bible and have some special training for the next event…), as the CGH pull back motor competition (well, it seems my so small powered motor allows me to win a round! Now, I’ve got an idea for a better car for the next event…) So with a lot of bricks, a lot of good moment and games, my first event was like a LEGO dream! It was one of my best LEGO moments in my life! It will be hard for me to go to work tomorrow, with those few days in mind… Hope to see you soon guys and girl.

Everything will be completely different this year, I'm here... I need to see with Jipay on when we will be in Gunsburg. It sounds so great!

Layout, B-OM-10A to B-OM-10E So, it’s time to me to post some pics about my (always under construction) layout, or rather some pics about my mocs. There are nothing really new here, but I have made some modification on all my houses. When I have built my smaller version of CC some years ago now, there were a 7 studs free area behind the houses, as you can see here : But I dislike it, making the back not well finished and no closed, even if my buildings are opened back. And this position on the baseplate just let me around 6 studs (the 6 of the roadplates) to put some street live (streetlight, benches, and other flowers) which seem too few. So, I decided to translate my building on the edge of the baseplate. I decided to make the 2 studs larger to have a bigger inside space for the future “furnitured” interiors. The adaptation of my two cornered buildings take me more time than the other, and I had to take some decision about their size and proportion. In fact, I need to respect some modular criteria : the corner module has to be made on a L 32x32 studs. And now, I need to find some inspiration for my CC neighbour. I have also made some effort in the way to build the inside structure, which is visible in an open back style. And I try to make them as strong as possible (we can see some very nice creation on BS and elsewhere, but the way the bricks are put together is, sometime, really fragile). My town hall. I’m not quite happy with the entrance section, I need to work on it… My new proportioned bank corner. I have put some playability in it with a safe…But don’t say a word about it, there are so many bad guys in LEGO city… (and policemen too!). Some two downtown houses My smaller GG And my lonely smaller CC The second step of my work is the pavement. I realise that I prefer studless steets, so I decided to put some tiles everywhere (I need a lot of dark bley tiles now! What at good idea!). I don’t like that much the 2x2 pavement that we can find in LEGO sets (CC, MS, GG…). The look of this pavement is too regular and too strict for me. So I have search how to have a more chaotic pavement staying in a module… After some mathematical reflexions, I came up with the idea of making a 4 stud wide ground. For a more random aspect I used some 1x1, 1x2 and 2x2 tiles. The module was here : After that, I just had to apply it on my roadplates : one ground up, one down, one up, one down… to give a more random aspect. And tada! I have to admit that I’m very pleased with it! Now, I just hope to find some tiles in a PaB (At last, I have seen them in the factory selection…) I’ve got a lot of work yet to finish this damned layout… And the 80-90’s feeling seems to be behind me now...

I'm interested in one of this set too!

Don't worry about that, I'm a tolerant guy!

So here the new skin! I will start making my black sheep... Sorry Hinckley, but the first thing I saw in this banner was the hand of the first man: it's upside down! Once again, sorry, but this is the kind of details I very dislike! When I build a new set, the firts thing I do, is building the minifig and put their hands in the right way... Maybe I've got some psycological trouble with hands (I need to remember my chilhood for that...). Exept that the new banner is more colorful and has this classic feeling everywhere even if you use some more "modern" pieces like the lion head or the arched window. It seems that you've made an eco-banner. Your figs don't use some individual pollutant transports : there is no cars, just bike and public transport. And all this green (grass and lovely trees ). Good point! And last but not least, a small details which has a lot of importance in a global view : the fonts, yes, I like a lot the fonts of the buttons like reply and other. Great work Mr. Hincky!

Those sketches are really interesting... Vig n°1 : Just put town plan and the '09 pizzeria, and you will have it. We can notice that there is a green and yellow taxi (what a strange color scheme for a taxi...) Vig n°2 : we can clearlly see that the monorail is the 6399 version. So, I don't think that we will have this set. We can see the yellow bus form the upcoming larger city set, so no buses in the exclusif set. And we have the tram and two green and yellow taxis. A tram will be a very expensive set. So maybe we will have the taxi. Vig n°3 : we can see some trucks, and particularely the white Octan truck. I just hope that we will se it on shelves. So, in conclusion, if you choose n°1, we will have the taxi. n°2, the taxi as well. n°3, the oil transportation truck. Thanks TLC for that choice! I voted for n°2, for a mertoliner, even if It wouldn't be in a future set...

I can't wait to see what we will have!...

Well, well,well. Everybody says it's a beautifull mocs and so one. Yes of course it is, but there are 2 points that I think you could have improved my dear Hinckley ... The first point is the vegetation of the "terrace-roof". The use of the plant flower parts makes the vegetation looks like some grass. Or, on that kind of roof, if you can't go on it on a regular way (it seems to be the case here), you've got a special vegetation, which doesn't need some maintenance. This vegetation is very short, it looks more like some mosses. Maybe some plant leave parts would have been better. The second point is the front wood structure which seems to be to hight (not thin enought) compared to what we can see from the picture of the real house (the beams are as tall as a wood strip from the walls. It's the kind of details that arctitectes are very attached, I can see it in my job... ). And some landsacpe details would have been nice too... (I stop before geting some tomates in the face... ) All in all, it's a very nice moc. I especially like the way the corner windows are made, very well done!

What a great moc, a pure piece of beauty! The size is pretty good (not too big, not too small, the kind of size I like a lot!), the colour scheme classic is a classic but always work very well and some very nice details everywhere! The top of the roof has a lot of details that add a lot to the moc, adding a mess in a more strict architecture (roofs are the place to put all the technical parts without being seen from the street). And of course, the angle of the tan building gives all its spell th this lovely moc! Great work Aliencat!

Thanks everybody! Yes, me too! I hope to take the time for that...

Oh ! So you've got some real space ship lift (I've learned the lesson...)! I know that you will do the same with me!

I've got 6 boxes of 836 If any of you are intertesed...