Freddie

As one of the new participants this year, I will also need the entire EB-Event batch. As for color, just let me know where to send my two 1x8's!

Put me down for two of those planes as well! And as you instructed beforehand, I'll pay in advance.

Accepting VISA or not, it still might be a good idea to bring danish currency, DKK, for general purposes. I'm not sure how it's in the rest of europe, but Denmark has additional fees connected to card-usage (unless that policy has been done away with), unlike Norway where a plastic-card is the preferred form of payment. So using a card, excepting perhaps the DK-Card, is not a very smart move, financially. Oh, and Quarryman and DNL, in case you want to bring physical money with you, DKK can usually be bought at the ferry. So no stress with finding the correct foreign-currency minibank at Oslo S.

So, I'm looking at the LEGOLAND opening hours chart, and... is there anything special arranged for the 22nd of April?

A little update - it looks like the Norwegian Delegation will arrive at around midnight. Unless CopMike can secure an escort with blues and twos from the border to Göteborg, the earliest ferry we can reach is the 18.30 one, so I'm sorry to say there won't be any joint road trip with the swedes on the way down. Ah, well. We'll meet you there!

Fantastic piece of work! Love all the little details in, around and on the building, and the attention given to the fascade.

Same as you... Same as you... Same as you... Is there an echo here? And for punctuating Quarryman - we're probably even taking the same ferry as you, both directions. I say probably because I'm still waiting for DNL to confirm before I can order the tickets.

The closest possible purist solution would be using the headlight-bricks used in the trains and an old 9V battery-box. Even if a bit bulky, it works just fine, and LEGO themselves have had batteries in four-wide minifig-vehicles before (for sirens and flashing lights).

Well, I did participate in the last round, and most likely the very first speed-bump you're going to hit are the prices. That is somewhat remedied now, with the higher cost-limits, but it certainly was the first thing I and my fellow members at Brikkelauget had to adjust to before we could re-submit our order. I think that's how it went, anyways. And as for rejected items - well, you sort of have to find the limits yourself. I imagine one does it like last year - submit the order, if it needs to be modified to be accepted, you'll be notified and given a new, short, deadline for resubmitting it with modifications. And let me tell you, piece and color combinations are not as limited as they might appear - I myself managed to get hold of 50x trans-clear 1x2 tiles, parts which are not common in any way and, from the top of my head, available in only one set, and one that is extremely limited in circulation as well. If I were to recommend what parts to get, I would recommend ordering pieces you need in quantities that also are relatively rare, such as dark green 1xX bricks, dark tan plates and bricks and whatnot. Even if the rules limit what pieces you can get, keep in mind that there are far more piece/color combinations in ordinary production that you might think, and as such the selection is varied, to make an understatement. BURPS are expensive though, somewhere between 5 and 6 DKK per piece if I remember it right.

I think it looks fantastic, of what I can see, that is. As snefroe put it, it does lack grandeur, but it sure hit the nail on the head when it comes to resembling traditional departement stores - it can't be mistaken for anything else - the giant "shop"-sign above the entrance merely highlights the obvious. It's not as mind-blowing as, let's say, the two first buildings, but those were after all pioneering sets - we'd probably be as amazed by this if it came first, instead of Café Corner. As for getting it, I set aside the money the moment I caught the scent of it.

Thanks guys, and happy birthday to you too, Aredhel! So far the day has been just another one out of many (get up at four in the morning, immediatly get out and attempt to start car at a bazillion minus-celsius, etc.), with nothing special happening, and nothing planned for later either. Work was less stressed than normal, though, which is always nice.

I got hold of a norwegian swedish 2010-catalog today, and interestingly alot of the new sets have their release-date set to december (2009) and not january. Probably explains the early release a bit, altough I suspect last years' shortages have been a motivating factor in getting out new sets before christmas.

Gothenburg definetly sounds like the way to go. Its a bonus if we can leave with the 16.00-ferry as well.

Only at first glance - the Göteborg - Frederikshavn ferry is cheaper (1190 SEK) and travels at far more comfortable times (as in, not at night!) compared to the SuperSpeeds. But, I will have to take a closer look at this - the car costs money too, see. Holodoc - start with the weeks; you'll be surprised at how few of those there are left.

It is considerably faster than what we have now, at an equal expense of torque. The M-motor does approx 350 rpm at full power, and muster 10 N-cm of torque, the XL does some 160 rpm and wrenches out an axle-breaking torque of 40 N-cm. That's what I can remember from the top of my head, that is. Anyway, that would position this motor as the high-speed option of the motors, and while meant as an educational tool (doubling as a generator, for example) looks to be far easier to implement in non-technic creations, not only because of its stud-based design, but also because it doesn't need to be solidly fixed to a frame to keep the torque under control.

I don't see why we can't have you with us in the car. As for sailing down or driving through Sweden is yet undecided, as it heavily depends on which ferry-line we would choose (timetable, prices etc.), vs. the flexibilty of driving all the way. As for prices, they seem to be pretty competitive to the airlines: DFDS offers a return-trip for 2625NOK for three people and one car, if we leave Oslo 20th and depart from Copenhagen 25th. Stena's most comparable costs 1980, but requires us to depart from Fredrikshavn on monday evening instead, but there's still the cheaper option of sailing to Gothenburg instead and driving the last bit. Color-Line is by far the cheapest, costing 1190 for all of us, including car (yes, that is for a return trip) - but then we'll have to deal with a somewhat uncomfortable timetable and departure from and return to Kristiansand. Driving all the way would possibly end up costing just as much - and from experience, I can tell you that I by far prefer sailing to driving the distance. FYI; those dates are suggested in case there's any pre-event happenings taking place.

Lady GaGa - Bad Romance:

You lack of aspiration disturbs me. If one going to collect these, at the very least should that person try to get them all. Those are some excellent looking minifigures. The variety is wide and creative, and the uniqueness of them, not only in decorations but also in parts, should almost certainly cement their collectibility. Hmm, I should set aside some money for these...

Beautiful, just beautiful, all of it. Except maybe the bus, that's a fiver-sixer on a zero-to-ten scale, but the buildings are just fantastic. The street is equally impressive, with trees lining up the road and a full width pavement. I probably would have used green plates instead of tan tiles, to create more greenery, which IMO is always nice. And even though I have a very strong suspicion that it's not a permanent set-up, more life (i.e. pedestrians) is always a plus - something to consider when/if you bring this to an event.

A bit of break in discussion, but with winter, ice and snowy roads just around the corner (and me getting my car ready for it), I stumbled across this ancient Statoil-commercial. As funny it is, there is a surprising amount of people who do just what this guy does. Except maybe the last bit. Quick edit: Aww, no embedding :(. Sorry 'bout that, but trust me, its worth watching if you want to laugh. ;)

Yay! (Yeah, I also want the entire brick-budget going towards the building)

Just took a quick look at mine, and I would say there's plenty of clearance for the Emerald Night next to the station - there's a two stud clearance for normal trains, so the driving rods on the EN will not bump into the platform. But, like you where wondering in the first post - the Emerald Night is aimed at adults, who usually build their own stations. It'll fit, but the station will look tiny with the engine parked next to it; a bit like those small rural stations that always seem to be semi-abandoned, if you know what I mean.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Interesting look on the foundation as well. Not sure if I'd use monorail supports for keeping up that weight, but instead use the same technique used in the 7905 crane, which is extremely rugged and solid, without being heavy on the brick-supply.

The basic colors look surprisingly good when they're balanced with different colors, and that without sticking out like a sore thumb when placed next to the official modulars! Both buildings are a bit lacking in details (the blue building being the worst "offender"), but are still inspirational pieces of work with some effort clearly showing. Yeah, these are great.

Fine with me as well. But there won't be any changes after this, right? Otherwise it'll be difficult to explain to my boss why I can't decide on when I take my vacation.