Davey

Last year at Brickworld I bought one of the cardboard boxes for $120. It was totally worth it. :-) At $150 it might be a bit steep, but I guess it depends on what is in the PAB wall at the particular moment you buy it. I always carry the iPhone with so I can check Bricklink prices on the fly to see if I'm getting a decent deal. At the PAB wall in Mall of America, the staff are very good about stopping by to help you pack you PAB cup to ensure you get the most LEGO for your dollar. -Dave

Uncontrollable fun? Why that's my middle name. What day are you guys getting into town? We'll be there starting Tuesday night. We're going to the 'Harry Potter Exhibit' at the Museum of Science & Industry on Wednesday morning. -Dave

Nice work! The Edelweiss is a great vehicle from a great game. I agree that now we need Welkin and Alicia minifgs. The way you did the tank tread guides is great. Color scheme is decent, but would be awesome with a combination of Sand Blue and Light Blue (I know...really expensive to procure all of those parts). Anyway, great work. Glad to see someone working on some Valkyria Chronicles stuff. -Dave

I voted for the 'European Design' option...but I think my love of Classic Town is due to a number of things. One of them is certainly that Classic Town is what I grew up on. As a kid, I never had much Classic Space or Pirates stuff (a little here and there...but overall my stuff was Town). So for me there is some nostalgia factor there in addition to loving the design. I also like the minimalist design aspect. You can build a large town with a smaller collection. Don't get me wrong...I love layouts like SCLTC and NILTC and GMLTC. But seriously...the average person does not have enough brick to compete with them on their scale. This is one of the reasons that ToT-LUG (Stacy and I) build in a neo-Classic Town scale (4-wide cars and 6-wide trains). Our creations may be smaller....but they cost a lot less too. I think this is one reason microscale cities are catching on so much. I'm wandering a little here... I also have always loved the color scheme of Classic Town. Using those bring primary colors gives it a fantasy town look while still maintaining a sense of realism. It's the perfect medium for developing imaginative short stories from life experiences. There are so many reasons to love Classic Town...and LEGO in general. -Dave

Thanks for the warm welcome Broadside. Yeah, I'm new to Eurobricks. Been in the AFoL community about six years now since coming out of my dark ages. I've been collecting LEGO since before I can remember. Mom started buying me sets as soon as I was born and she just held onto them until I was old enough to play with them. After 29 years...I have amassed quite the collection. Having a good job, no kids, and a 'sugar-momma' wife helps too. -Dave

In my mind 'Classic Town' refers to things like 4-wide cars, 6-wide trains, buildings that are open in back and very simple in design. Things like that. You're best bet is to look at official LEGO sets produced from the mid-80's to mid-90's. That was (IMHO) the 'heyday' of 'Classic Town'. I consider what most people build now to be 'neo-Classic Town' or the 'Modular Town Standard'. These would be things like the Cafe Corner and Green Grocer. I would also consider 6-wide cars and 8-wide trains to fit more in the 'neo-Classic' category. Hope this helps. -Dave

I wouldn't even be able to guess. With 556 registered attendees, I think it really depends on how many people are hanging out in the main hall around that time and want to forgo dinner plans to get free LEGO. The opening ceremonies and group photo go til 6:30 pm. The combo build starts at 7:00 pm and goes til 8:30 pm. Then the LEGO in-store starts at 9:30 pm. That leaves a little time for dinner before the in-store...but not much. However, judging by how bonkers we all are for LEGO...I expect A LOT of people to enter. Good luck and see you there! -Dave

My wife and I being huge Harry Potter fans are pretty much geeked when ANYTHING HP-related is released. So naturally...the announcement of an HP video game has us giggling like school-children. Based on what Travelers Tales has come up with so far...I imagine this will be a hit as well. I agree that a 'free roaming' environment would be great. It will will be interesting to see what they come up with. Will it be task based? There isn't a lot of fighting in the HP books so I have a hard time believing it will be much like the SW games. I would imagine something task based with a little bit of fighting is what we'll see. On the subject of new HP sets, I spoke with a LEGO employee some time ago who indicated that LEGO had decided to move away from producing sets for two reasons. First, stores like Wal-Mart and Target claimed that 'Harry Potter mania is over' and they 'didn't want to stock new HP-related items'. Secondly, TLG felt that the later movies/books we a little too 'dark' to fit in with the LEGO mentality and be appropriate for the younger age bracket on the sets. However, the 'dark' perception may be changing (or at least I hope it is). Let's be honest...they made SW sets from Revenge of the Sith and the transformation of Anakin to Vader was pretty gruesome. So...am I hopeful that TLG will bring more sets out? Yes! Do I forsee it happening? I'd give it a 15% chance. Let's hope I'm wrong and we see new sets soon! -Dave

Very realistic and you nailed the scale! Very innovative and well done. Keep up the great work.

Isn't that the truth! They don't call it 'Cracklink' for nothing.

Welcome to Eurobricks! I'm sure you will enjoy it here. -Dave

Whatever you've heard from him...I swear it's not true. Actually...it probably all is. Looking forward to meeting you at Brickworld. Only 15 days left!!! -Dave

Starting a new MOC always seems to be the toughest part for me. With themed building like pirates, I think it often helps to come up with a short story to jump start your building. Maybe it's that the Imperials are defending their city from a pirate attack. Maybe Captain Brickbeard is stranded on an island and trying to find a way off. Perhaps it's a brothel in Tortuga where all the pirate wenches reside. And when all else fails...build one of the LEGO 'official sets' and get to modifying it. My wife had a case of 'builders block' recently and decided to build the 'Loot Island' set. She ended up using two of them to build a really cool 'Pirate Island'. If you will be at Brickworld 2009, you should stop and check it out. Otherwise I'll try and post pictures when I get back. Good luck and happy building! -Dave

Welcome Adam! Glad to see you here. This is a great community with a lot of fun people. I know you will have a great time! -Dave ToT-LUG

I'll be at Brickworld and would love to add my siggy to the picture. I'm sure my wife would be interested as well. Here are our sig's. Stop by the ToT-LUG layout and say hi when you're at BW. -Dave ToT-LUG

I bought a whole bunch of train track ballasting pieces (1x1 & 1x2 plates/tiles in black, light bley, and dark bley) on Bricklink to finish my track ballast for Brickworld 2009. :-) -Dave

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!!! CopMike: I am so excited we get to be next to you guys! That should be a blast. We're going to cause so much trouble together!!! I'm really glad I finally jumped on Eurobricks here. Things here are certainly more lively than over on LUGNET. -Dave

We will definitely make it a point to stop by the BiLD table! Looking forward to seeing you again and seeing what all you have come up with in the past year. -Dave

Stacy and I are planning on going this year. As soon as I find good airfare, I'm booking our tickets. We're excited to experience some of that 'West Coast Hospitality' we hear so much about. -Dave ToT-LUG

So, I've finally gotten in gear and got a Eurobricks account. I know, I know...where have I been. Anyway, Stacy (my wife) and I have been doing the AFoL thing since about 2003 when we met the great guys in GMLTC and TCLTC. Once they had corrupted us...there was no turning back. Last year we attended our first 'LEGO-con', Brickworld 2008. We'll be back again this year with our Train/Town/Harry Potter/Pirate/???? layout. Stop by and say hi if you are attending! -Dave ToT-LUG Edit: Dave's MOCPage Stacy's MOCPage ToT-LUG Photostream Brickshelf Gallery

Many of you have probably seen 'The Lair' before if you know us. If not, here's our storage/sorting setup that we have in our basement. You can see larger pictures and some info. on 'The Lair' over at my MOCPages page. Interestingly enough...LEGO is now starting to spill into the rest of the house as well. -Dave ToT-LUG

Ooohhh...looks nice. I'm looking forward to checking this out in a couple weeks.

ToT-LUG will be there once again with our 12.5'x18' Train/Town/Pirate/Harry Potter/????? layout. As such...mass chaos should ensue. :pir-skull: Be sure to stop by our layout table and say hi to Stacy, HeatherLEGOGirl, and me. -Dave Brickworld Checklist: ------------------------- MOC's - Check! Money - Check! Adult Beverages - Check! Clothing - Optional...

Share - Learn - Explore - Discover The Brickworld Team is excited to announce a slight schedule change for Brickworld 2009. In place of the 'Speed Build' that was to be held on Friday night, we will be trying a new 'Combo Build' event. The event will run from 7:00 pm until 8:30 pm. 30 Brickworld attendees will be selected to participate in this competition and will be asked to do an alternate model build. The trick? You have to build your alternate model from 3 LEGO kits. The best part...the contestants get to keep their kits at the end of the event!!! Many thanks to The LEGO Group for providing the kits for this competition. More details to be revealed at the event. This should be an exciting twist on the old 'alternate model build'. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago when we light up the night with World of Lights!!! Regards, The Brickworld Team Brickworld will be held June 18 - 21, 2009 at the Westin North Shore Hotel in Wheeling, IL (a suburb of Chicago). visit the Brickworld Web Site by clicking here.