Paradosis

Well then, I'll admit to both using Facebook and really really loving Lego Pirates! As far as updating the Classic Pirates Facebook Page, I'll throw my hat in the ring, I'd be willing.

I'm generally wary of reboots or revivals... but I'd be interested in seeing what they would do with Dexter. That left off in such a bad place that I can't imagine it going anywhere but up. Plus given the way things ended they'd be pretty free creatively as far as location, secondary characters, etc. to take it wherever they wanted.

I like both, but it's too early for me for the new one to supplant the old one...

I love this! I mean, coming from a small coal mining town in W. Pennsylvania I might be a little bit biased, but even still I really like the constuction of this. Also nice to see a more industrial structure.

Is this a trick question?

The Last Days of Phil Hartman I'm a big fan of NewsRadio and knew some of the details surrounding Hartman's death, but about 90% of the stuff in this documentary was new to me. Maybe that counts more as a television doc/special, I dunno. I tried watching the movie Parasite last night but I just couldn't get into it and gave up after maybe 25 minutes. As for TV, I tried to watch The Office (UK) but again didn't get very far (I wasn't gaga over the US version of that show either, but I tolerated Carell's cringe better than what I saw of Gervais)

I didn't realise I could be watching this on Hulu shortly after it aired each week, but when I found out a couple days ago I decided to binge it in time for the finale. That part went well. What didn't go well was that, 15 minutes after the finale ended but before I had had a chance to watch it, someone spoiled me as to the results. Sigh. Overall I enjoyed the show, though I had the same problems that others have already brought up. I don't have cable anymore, but when I did I generally stuck to reality tv shows where something was created--Top Chef, Project Runway, etc.--and this fell pretty much in line with what I saw on those types of shows, where there's still quite a bit of time given to getting to know people. I don't have a problem with that, but there still needs to be adequate time for appreciating/evaluating the final creation, and many times with this show I thought it fell short with that. Besides the time issue there was also just the issue of how the final forms of the creations were presented. An animated version of the MOC "come to life" was usually fun, and there were those flashier moving shots, but I also wanted to see some more static shots lingering on parts of the build, zoomed in shots, etc. I guess that wouldn't exactly make for scintillating tv and would only appeal to a small group of people. The humor was very spotty for me; I thought the self-deprecating jokes by Will worked best, and the meta-jokes that poked fun at reality tv worked second best. The thing I literally laughed out loud at was when Sam said "I feel like you don't understand Lego." As for the finale...

Since I last posted: - 4 ebay auctions, the most noteworthy being the raised baseplate for the 90s Castle set 6079 Dark Forest Fortress, which starts at $70 on bricklink but which I got in good condition for $45 - 60239 Police Patrol Car - 60270 Police Brick Box - 60253 Ice-cream Truck - 60234 People Pack Fun Fair - 71027 Breakdancer Minifig

A usually don't buy sets just for parts, but rather because I'd like to put it together. However, once that's been done, and perhaps displayed a while (a month, a year... it depends) then I consider it fair game in making MOCs. It's enough for me to know that somewhere in the big mix of a collection it still exists, and can be put back together if I ever wanted to do so. I will say though that this has become more difficult in recent years, as sets have gotten larger and larger (compared to sets from my youth in the 80s/90s).

Ahh, that makes sense. I didn't even notice the uneven edging at the bottom before, and was looking on bricklink for a 32x32 baseplate with a river on the edge and two pits. Thanks for the help!

Does anyone know if the following is Lego brand, and if so from what set?

Was holding off for more info, but it's looking like this theme isn't going to be for me. Maybe if they were more traditional style builds at that price, or it was these sets but at a 33% lower price. I guess I can just see if I find it with a deep discount somewhere.

That's awesome

Thank you for this in-depth review! I had been considering buying some of these when I saw them in the local Walmart, but was unsure whether to pull the trigger. The only thing I didn't see in the review was an indicator of how much the cost-per-part avg. was, which for me is always the deciding factor, but I used some tools provided by a large software company to perform advanced maths to figure it out for myself. Your review has convinced me to indeed go ahead and buy many of these plates for my Christmas time display this year. I will put them on top of my bookshelves immediately to start collecting dust, that way by Christmas they will have that authentic rust-belt-of-America look to them.

I wonder how many people will be in a situation similar to mine, where the money coming in and going out has been roughly the same, except now in addition to that we're getting a check from the government at some point.

Thanks, that helped big time! Not sure why I didn't notice your comment when there were only three at the time :)

Besides sign-in it also obscures messages and notifications

Listening to some people play Minecraft on Twitch, trying to decide whether to join them in an ongoing thing they're starting for people involved in their Discord community. I played Minecraft years ago and didn't really like it, but since then I've liked other bricky-y games, like Dragon Quest Builders and Lego Worlds, so I'm just trying to figure out if it'd be worth the time commitment.

Love this

+1

Thanks for this, the interview and pics were quite informative and interesting!

I really like the set based on the images and will definitely be picking it up sooner rather than later. I was kind of bummed about the changes, though listening to the interview with the creators helped me understand the reasoning behind some of the changes, and I guess if I have minor gripes with the set then that's my thing to deal with. I will usually favor a "more authentic" color palette and design, but I know I have to be realistic about all the factors involved.

Yeah, I can appreciate her in hindsight. And even then, I think the let down wore off, cause 30 years later I still have memories of building it and even just looking at the packaging, so I must have enjoyed myself I also think there's something to what you're saying about missing out back then having a lasting impact. I've bought many of the sets on eBay that I missed out on as a youth, but I still haven't gotten some like Imperial Trading Post, and I really look forward to the day when I either buy it or just break down and figure out what parts I need to add to my collection to make it.

The first Pirate set I got was probably one of the cheap ones from around 1989/1990, but I don't remember which. The first set I have a definite memory getting though was Caribbean Clipper, which actually felt like a disappointment at the time because my best friend got Black Seas Barracuda that same Christmas (I was also jealous that he had Eldorado Fortress... though to be fair I had large Castle sets he didn't)

Hello o/