Freddie

Received mine on thursday. Thanks, Dennimator!

When I ordered mine, it was specified on the receipt that it was the DE-version I would receive (i.e. the type of plug used in Norway), so I would be surprised if it wouldn't be possible to call customer service and have the order modified to include the desired variant.

I can honestly say that I'm not going to the show, and stay home and watch it on TV instead, simply because the ticket-prices are outrageous. It's 1600 NOK and upwards per ticket for the final, if one is lucky enough to get them, and I am not a big enough fan of ESC to pay that price. It's a great show, and IMO the quality of the competing songs have gone up the last years, which is all good in my book. Difficult so say which ones are likely to win, but here's my favourites-list, in no particular order: - Germany; Lena - Satellite - Noway; Didrik Solli-Tangen - My Heart Is Yours - France; Jessy Matador - Allez Ola Olé - Denmark; Chanée and N'evergreen - In a Moment Like This - Sweden; Anna Bergendahl - This Is My Life - Romania; Paula Seling and Ovi - Playing with fire - Latvia; Aisha - What for - Azerbaijan; Safura - Drip Drop

These new figures look every bit as nice as what I've sampled from the first series. And just like I'm planning with the first series, I'll cheat and just purchase an entire box of these, too.

Since I discovered that my first post in this thread has gone limp due to attached images disappearing, I've taken the liberty of replacing those with pictures that are uploaded to my Brickshelf-folder. And just like before, these are sourced from LEGO.com, back when they still had My-Own-Train and such.

Thanks for the review, Holodoc. The set looks very promising, with no major dissapointments, but one little thing. What does the back-side on the new train-front brick look like? I'm curious as to wether it's possible to fit the standard LEDs inside of it or not.

Brickset recently discovered that Amazon.co.jp had listed this year's advent calendars, complete with high-res pictures. Figured that some of you would like to study them (Castle-calendar).

Brickset recently discovered that this year's Advent Calendars, one being Castle-themed (and the other, obviously, being city-themed), have been listed on Amazon.co.jp.

The prices are independent from Bricklink - I can tell you that. That means rare bricks are cheap and easy to get hold off, while common bricks are still easy, but relatively more expensive compared to Bricklink. It is for instance much cheaper to get Dark Nougat pieces, or ostriches, cows, camels and such trough LUGBulk compared to Bricklink, while the latter is perfect for large purchases of, say, red 2x4 bricks. If you haven't, I suggest you also read through these two threads for the first 2010-round.

I'll agree with Duq here and say that a single M-motor should suffice. Switchers are relatively slow locomotives (or at least were!), and so speed isn't high-priority. Still, both the XL- and M-motors are slow motors (the XL being geared up 9:1 on the Emerald Night), and so a 1:1 ratio might be worth looking into if you're going for the M. The M also has the advantage of being smaller by a big margin (not to mention needs a less complex gearbox), and so also easier to hide, not to mention if you're building a slave-unit that houses the battery and receiver, and want to size-match them. Other than that I can only theorize on what would work. A big, heavy enginge will always be able to pull a lot more than a small, light one, but if the small engine can muster the same amount of traction, well then it's really up in the air. You'll have to experiment to see what works best for you, but I suspect that, as I mentioned above, that a single M-motor will do the job without any major trouble.

Well, lets hope not, because that would be a shame if that was the case. Still, it's a tram, which is a first for LEGO, and something I seriously didn't expect from this set. So it's a very nice surprise. I really like the rest of this set as well, and will seriously consider purchasing it.

Love the pictures, smokebelch. They're both funny and artistic. And don't worry about too many zombie-pictures, they're all great, and I suspect you won't run out of possible scenarios with those anytime soon.

Closer and better pictures reveal that is in fact a new type of battery-box, which houses six AAA-batteries.

It is really something to come to, if one can. As a participant in 2008, I can really recommend it, as I had fun, the exhibition was great, one gets to meet lots of people, contests, parties etc. But, as it is now, I haven't got a clue if I can attend this year. Good luck with the event, though, Henning!

Having had the opportunity to take a good look at the very train CopMike has reviewed, I can say that the train is simply outstanding, if not also a refreshing change from the trains we're used to seeing, this being a toy-train based on a toy-train. But, and this might be a big minus with this train, it isn't designed to accept any sort of motors from the get-go, altough it is possible to use the RC-train motor to power the big wheels, with the receiver and battery hidden somewhere on the train.

Lights or not, the headlights (as well as the rear lights) are on both the new trains attached to what appears to be a new headlight-piece, which I suspect features hollowed studs. It's just pure speculation, off course, but it would make sense to at least prepare the trains for lights, like how the 9V trains were.

I had a great time as well, and it the event lived up to my expectations based on what Quarryman told me of last year's event. I myself was home at around 22.30 after dropping off DNL and Quarryman in Oslo at 21-ish and having a 30-min dinner-break. It was nice meeting up with the Swedes and Izzy on the ferry on the way home as well.

The Norwegian Delegation is expected to be at Billund at around midnight. See you guys there!

What makes me worried is the amount of road-traffic that might appear in Göteborg due to the lack of airplanes. By the look of it now I might have to add an extra hour of travel-time to the dock, to make up for the potential time lost stuck in rush-hour traffic. And I have no idea if it's even possible to leave Oslo any earlier than planned! That is, we have to leave Oslo S Central-Station at 12.00 at the very latest! *sigh* DNL, check you PMs! Urgent!

Can I suggest the tapered connection as well? Using panels and SNOT'ed tiles (or perhaps curved slopes?), you can make a hinge-section that is slightly narrower than the rest of the body, but is still faithful to the real deal, if the Duewags in Oslo are an indicator.

Quickly shooting in that I would like magnets for my badge, please and thank you.

Same experience here. Uneven track is the worst enemy of the Emerald Night, since the drive-wheels will occasionally be lifted up from the track and lose traction. It's an excellent climber though, if the speed it reached on its own is any indication (incline: 2 plates every 16 studs) when I tested it.

1) The bricks were bought by NORBOAT and Hydrolift, with the cost split between them 2) The charity is the only one who didn't come up with this. The idea was initially very briefly mentioned at the first meeting, and very quickly grew during said meeting - but Hydrolift only joined later on, since we were initially going to build a Windy 52. 3) No glue, and no cheating! The boat is roughly 98-99% 2x4 bricks, of maybe 6500 bricks in total - some of these make up the internal frame in the hull, which connects the left and right sides of the hull, as well as providing bracing forwards and back, and also functions as the support for the floor. It's pretty solid, despite lack of glue, and relatively light - but it still weighs around 30kg!

Who would believe it? Me, actually building something! Well, Matija, DNL and myself, to be more exact. And for charity no less. Each year, NORBOAT, an association connecting all parts of the boating hobby and industry in Norway, hosts a fair, letting manufacturers, boats and motors alike, coachbuilders and hobbyists, show off their skills. This year, through LEGO, Brikkelauget was invited to partake in the fair, and bring our skills, as well. Already very early on it was decided on that a scale-model of a boat was to be built, and through a bit of coincidence, a debuting boat as well. Hydrolift were to present their new outboard-engined boat, a new field for them, and we were tasked with building it to scale in LEGO. So, in about a week, which includes scrapping and cannibalizing the first attempt (which took two days to build!), we built a 1:6 scale replica of a Hydrolift SX-22. More pictures can be found here. It'll be auctioned off tomorrow afternoon, and we're guessing that it will fetch and pretty nice sum of money, that will be donated to the Cancer Association, and aid in developing new medicines. Also, since we took these pictures, we've modified a few details as well. Pictures of those will be uploaded later!

Might as well add that I'm interested in extras as well. Cheaper or not, the last years' extras have all been interesting, and no doubt this year will be just as interesting.