GI blockage

Indeed. Every self-respecting Emergency Department should have one on hand. And I find they work pretty well for separating plates...

original article link. Boy, 5, chokes on Lego block Marissa Calligeros August 26, 2010 - 2:00PM A five-year-old boy remains in a critical condition in a Brisbane hospital after choking on a Lego block on the Gold Coast last night. Paramedics performed CPR on the boy at his Pimpama home about 7.30pm. He was taken to Gold Coast Hospital where the plastic block was removed from his airways. He was later transferred to the Mater Children's Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said the boy - who had inhaled the Lego block - remained in a critical but stable condition this morning. - with AAP

Maybe. I'll ask next time. But as far as I'm aware, they're the only store in Sydney that has them on the shelves.

For those willing to pay the premium, I saw the following in Kidstuff, Camperdown (Sydney) Grievous $120 Wampa Cave $100 Yellow Truck $60

Wonderful news! Ever since I saw the Taj Mahal set I've had the Opera House on my mind, trying to think of the best way to get the curved sails looking right. I think I can have a shot at it, I just need a bit more hose and a few thousand white road sign clip-on triangles. I have two. I can't wait to see how they do it.

I’m a Sydneysider, and I catch these every day. This is instantly recognisable as one of our trains. Brilliant job. The only inaccuracy I feel is the windows in the middle section are more square than in reality, making the whole carriage seem a little short/squashed. Some 1x4x5 windows on their side may have fixed this issue, but that would be at the expense of the lovely (and true to life) effect provided by the old-style windows. IMHO your approach improves on reality. Well done.

My system seems elaborate but for me a system is necessary and it's easy to set up & maintain. I use manila wallets - booklets are thrown in as I collect them, and not arranged in any particular order. On the front of each wallet I write set numbers as they go in. I move on to a new wallet once the previous is full, and I code each wallet by letter. I record the contents of each wallet in an excel file. The excel file is also my main inventory/database and helps me locate everything - for me this is the key to maintaining some semblance of order amongst the growing chaos. Hope that's helpful.

I'm not feeling the love in this thread and I blame this JSF. To me, it's neither here nor there. Not quite grand enough to be gazed upon with awe, and not quite small enough to have play value. According to KielDaMan's comparison pics (reposted below), the UCS JSF looks out of proportion. I think the ship should be considerably longer and the wings should be wider by at least 4 studs. Either that or the cockpit (and droid) smaller. (Do we get a new printed droid body piece on the underside of the wing where its giant body is sticking through?) If only this set were properly proportioned I might find it more attractive.

Minifigure Series 1 is available at thinkgeek.com for US $4 a bag. Says they're sold as random bags. Shipping gets a little pricey as courier is the only option. They've also got a plethora of extremely cool stuff both Lego & non-Lego related, it's worth a browse even if you're not interested in the minifigs.

Good idea. And you can resell the set as new-in-sealed-bag! I wonder what is the biggest model that can be built like this? You could build the tram from 8404 Public Transport...

They lurk in the shadows. http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/men-in-black-are...00519-vfc5.html

Target Leichhardt has 4 fresh boxes of minifigs on the shelves. $3 with current 20% off sale. Normal price $3.75. The signs indicates the 20% off sale ends 26 May. The boxes are up the toy section, not up at the counters.

I saw Battle of Endor on the shelves at Myer Sydney city today. $200. So there's a good chance you'll see it somewhere on sale soon. They also had a small number of all the PoP sets, and they were setting up a little display cabinet with the aeronautically themed sets (I saw them attacking road plates with scissors! The horror!)

Amateurs. I have a diplodocus that I'm saving for the cheerleader.

starwarsshop.com still has anakin's y-wing for US$60. Also has home one for US$95 now.

With the 20% off toys sale at Target, 8063 technic tractor with trailer now has a clearance price of $40. There was three left at Burwood (NSW) earlier this arvo.

Seen at target: 8063 technic tractor with trailer - $50. Big wheely green panelly spare parts bargain. Now who says Target doesn't do clearances?

anyone else used viaddress successfully? I've been using vpost.com and it has all gone smoothly for importing into Australia - US purchases ship via Oregon so no sales tax - Ships via EMS - which is the advantage for me because I can collect the package from my local post office at my leisure - I don't have a work address and I can't predict when I'll be home for a courier. - Slow versus courier (and more likely to get caught up in customs???) - Pricing seems fairly comparable to the other services. Always has coupon codes to make it 10-25% cheaper than their standard rates. - they consolidate packages but i've never tried

For sydneysiders - this is currently on display at the MCA, until 11 April. Haven't seen it myself, I only saw it in a booklet today. I have a funny feeling this is old news and has been mentioned elsewhere long ago. Apologies if so. At least this will be a good reminder.

Kudos to whoever changed my username description. A minifig like this sure does blur the boundary between hobby and fetish.

This seems to be a recurring theme in many discussions. I too yearn more and more for the old days, and I’m not even old. But I am loving the way LEGO is evolving – it keeps material fresh. And the history it leaves behind creates a depth which makes things richer for us AFOLs, and broadens this community. The original space series has a quaint charm which modern sets just don’t have. Modern sets have a slickness which the old-school sets are missing. I see sets like hyperspeed pursuit and galaxy explorer and i think they're both perfect. I see ’quaint’ and ‘slick’ as two separate properties which are desirable but practically mutually exclusive. And we know that TLC knows this, and that’s why we have the intensely gorgeous ‘building sets’, the giant VW, etc. And I’m spending my hard-earned cash on the original space series (any aussies wanna spread the love??). But, as damaging as it would be to the value of my collection, what would make me feel warm&fuzziest is to see the original space sets re-released in an un-modernised form Or perhaps TLC will surprise us one day with the brilliant sets that perfectly combine both quaint charm and slickness. Something like a 1950s Mercedes gullwing. Someone wanna MOC one?

Is the view from behind too hot for the forums, or can the rest of us have an ogle too?

I hear Apple's suing LEGO over patent infringements - link

My answer is no. In fact, my feeling is that it promotes sympathy and awareness of these issues in a very basic and elegant way. In Agents, PM and SP3, one side is without individuality, the other side is full of personality, variety and is just more fun. And i think the sad Power Miners story holds a mirror up to society. If that's a bad thing, then, well... By the way, has anyone seen that episode of south park where they're debating over the town flag?

thankyou! sorry if i missed this news earlier. i think i read somewhere that they've already popped up in LEGO brand stores in the UK. That said, S@H reviews are indeed silly..