Davey

Awesome pictures! Looks like it was a really great visit. I hope to make it over there myself someday. I really thought it was funny how the wind turbine fell apart right after you snapped the picture. Whoops. Thanks for sharing! -Dave

So are you telling us that every time you went into the LEGO Store, you managed to buy stuff in $25 increments every time? If you can't say that, you can't guarantee that this system is worse. I know I have had many times when I have spent $15 or $30 or $240 or some other increment that isn't divisible by $25 and walked away losing the difference. If you do that enough, you will likely make up for the lower level of rewards. Just another way to look at it. -Dave

Nice work! I the Chili's restaurant! You have a very nice setup and I like how you have incorporated multiple LEGO themes into your layout. I'm looking forward to seeing this setup grow. -Dave

Joebot: Actually, I know of a number of stores that offer rewards on both online and in-store purchases. REI Best Buy Toys'R'Us Barnes & Noble (not really a rewards thing...but a membership that discounts every purchase by 10%) So it would seem your logic is a little flawed regarding retail stores combining their rewards program with their online store. Let's assume for a minute that your idea of 'separate business units' is true...I buy that as a possibility. At the very least The LEGO Group could add a separate online rewards program just for S@H. It could mimic the in-store VIP program, but still be completely separate. I think what people want here is some reward for being loyal customers regardless of whether they shop in-store or online. And while a 5% reward may seem small to you, for those of us who spend a significant amount of money on LEGO every year it could add up to hundreds of dollars in savings. -Dave

Yes, S@H needs to be added into the mix ASAP. Those of us who visit the LEGO Store once or twice a year due to its distance from our place of residence need LEGO love too. -Dave

Fantastic work Matija! I absolutely the roof design. I would love to see more pictures of that. The whole scene is just beautiful and I love the idea of recapturing your childhood memories in a MOC. Great work. Also...I felt this needed to be blogged. -Dave

FWIW, I went in last night and bought a few different things. First Scenario: ----------------- #8111 River Dragon Advertised Price - $10.99 Ring Up Price - $4.66 Here the set was 50% and then they also added the 15% Bricktober discount. Second Scenario: --------------------- #6243 Brickbeard's Bounty Advertised Retail - $104.99 Sale Price - $73.49 Ring Up Price - $73.49 Here just the 30% discount was applied. So...it looks like if it's on clearance, the 15% will be applied on top of the clearance price. The 15% also applies to regular priced sets. For the sets getting the 30% discount, that would be the only discount. Hope this helps. -Dave

Stuff at TRU on sale for the 'Bricktober' promotion. Four copies of #8111 - River Dragon for $4.66/ea One copy of #6243 - Brickbeard's Bounty for $74 Not bad for a quick evening visit to TRU. -Dave

Sorry everyone. Looks like Stacy and I are going to miss Brickcon this year. We had a couple unexpected expenses come up the past couple months that ate up our Brickcon budget. We're planning for 2010 though for sure! Have fun everyone and take lots of pictures for us! -Dave

Wow. Nice work Jay! These big old steamers are tough to replicate in LEGO, but you have managed to do a great job. I love the fact that you have it powered (as that is usually a challenge with these) and your write-up really give a lot of nice detail that I think adds to this MOC. You also managed to do a nice job of getting it to navigate the standard LEGO curves. It looks pretty decent for a big old steamer going around those. Not too much hang-out on either end. Nice work! -Dave

Amazing work Kris! I the color scheme as it gives it a very old world urban feel. Dark red is delicious! And the lamps that hang over the track are fantastic. Great design work and I love the fact that they are even a little oversized. They just look great. I know the judges are going to have a really hard time selecting winners for this contest with all the amazing creations that have been posted. Great work! :thumbup: -Dave

Great work on this Cooper! This is the first I have seen a cab forward design. I never knew they existed until now and I am really glad you took on this difficult challenge. Great work on the boiler details and getting the power functions elements in there is always great. I would love to see video of this running sometime! Great work! :thumbup: -Dave

As of 7:35 am CDT on September 28th, 2009...I am getting a 'page load error' at http://www.bricklink.com/. Also, Bricklink is not showing up in any searches on Google. Can anyone confirm whether the site is down right now? Does anyone know what is going on? It was up at 10:30 pm CDT last night. Thanks, Dave

My big question is whether they will ever expand this to online purchases. Since many of us don't have a LEGO store in our backyard and purchase many things online at S@H, we really need a loyalty program that works online. -Dave

Great work Cagri! I totally this MOC. The offset of the house and the track are both fantastic and really add to the realism of this MOC as others have mentioned. I would be interested to see photos documenting how you secured the house and track to the base at those angles. I can only assume turntables and tiles? Overall, great work here. I love the general idea of the MOC being "what happens at the end of the line". Oh...and I've blogged this on Classic-Town.net. Great work and good luck in the contest! :thumbup: -Dave

Good question Brickster! Stacy and I tend to mix all the themes...but then again...that's how we roll. I don't think it's much of a stretch at all to mix in some Harry Potter. We have certainly mixed HP and Town sets significantly on our layout. In fact...we're working on building Diagon Alley for Brickworld 2010 as an addition to our Town/Train layout. I've also mixed Star Wars in...yes I said Star Wars. Awhile back I setup a 'back-lot' film scene where they were filming the Battle of Hoth. It worked really well and the crowds at the event we did thought it was cute. I'm also considering mixing in some Classic Space soon, but not sure how I am going to incorporate that. I'm considering some type of 'Mission to the Moon' idea to incorporate Classic Space, but we'll see. My big problem now is that I am running out of display space. I need to buy a bigger house. So in summary, I think mixing of themes is great! It's all in how you make the layout flow. I think just about any of the themes can be combined together in a fluid layout. Currently on our layout we have the following. Town, Train, Creator, Pirates, Harry Potter, Agents, Power Miners, Castle, Spongebob Squarepants, Paradisa, and Racers There might be one or two more, but I can't think of them right now. Cheers! -Dave

I've seen this done all over the internet, but never delved into it my self. I don't know why, but I just can't get excited about non-LEGO scenery. For me, part of the fun is trying to make your layout look more realistic using only LEGO elements. I know it can get pretty expensive building realistic looking trees, but for me the reward is what it looks like and being able to say to people it is all LEGO elements. I think everyone has their own take on this though and their own level of comfort with using non-LEGO stuff. -Dave

Hey Erik! Great introductory post and some really nice MOC's in your BS folder. Glad you could finally make it over here to EB. Enjoy your stay. -Dave

This is incredibly disappointing for LEGO fans in the United States. I would be most interested to hear why it was not co-developed for the United States especially after last year's Castle Advent Calendar fiasco. I support this petition to bring the Pirate Advent Calendar over to the US. -Dave

Nice work! You should try this 'trains' stuff more often. I love the striping and the general design. It just looks so...cute sitting there. Nice thought of using turntable bases for the vents. Good call! -Dave

Stash: Sorry dude, not gonna be able to make it this weekend. We've got some things that need to get done around the house and are trying to save money for X-mas LEGO purchases. Thanks for the offer though. We'll be thinking of you as we slave away in the yard. Miss ya buddy! -Dave

Nice work (as always) HoMa! I love the boiler design and the overall shape of the locomotive. The driving rod solution is interesting as well. As others have said, great idea to have the flatbed be carrying spare steam wheels. Great work! -Dave

Whether they are trying to say it or not, it's generally regarded as a fact. Scheduled passenger train transport in the US is a joke right now and is minimal compared to Europe. -Dave

This is just so cool! Made my day WF. I love it when people incorporate my sig-fig into scenes. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. It's a really nice looking classic scene and I'm excited to see what you have in store for our siggy's. Again, great work. -Dave

Great work Esben! I love the intricate SNOT work and the color scheme is just super-duper! As others have asked, have you run this train at all? How fragile is it? Oh...and this MOC has be BLOGGED on Classic-Town. Again, great work! -Dave