fred67

First things first: bfads.com has Target's Black Friday ad up now. Some of you are good guessers. Both for $64.99: Space Police Galactic Enforcers and Troll Mountain Fortress (page 13 of the flyer, 25 of the megablock PDF bfads posted). Accountant's Ink. The story is that most retail stores operate "in the red" (at an overall loss for the year) until sales increase for the Christmas season, at which point they start realizing their profits (shown in black ink instead of red). Of course it's not quite that way anymore, but that's the story for how it gets it's name.... Black Friday is the first day after Thanksgiving, the last federal holiday before Christmas, and the "official" start of the Christmas season.

Thanks for the replies, guys. It's just nice getting back to basics and seeing kids learning while doing something ultimately very cool with LEGO.

What happens when they flush the toilet? EDIT: Wait... I don't want to know.

Very nice! Is that a complete bathroom I see in there? I love the non-uniform walls and the 1x1 plates in the arch in the window... very nice job.

My son is, sadly, not "into" LEGO as much as I am. Now, I'm not a huge technics fan, but I do dabble and have a lot of technic parts for various reasons. Still, he often resorts to LEGO to do school projects (like a diorama of Isaac Newton, complete with a falling apple). He was on an academic team (Odyssey of the Mind, for anyone that may have heard of it) and built a vehicle using mostly LEGO a couple of years ago. We had a lot of conversation about speed versus torque at that time, so when he had to do his science fair project this year, he wanted to demonstrate how the same motor can be used for different uses by changing the gearing. So... they haven't learned things like "gear ratios," or even "ratios" yet, so he's avoiding that terminology. Anyhow, he had one vehicle with a simple configuration where one axle drove another; one with a 12 tooth gear, one with a 20, and he could simply swap them to either make it faster or have more torque. That's one of my dogs inspecting the vehicle. He ran several trials runs in each configuration, timing how long it took the car to travel a certain distance with variable amounts of weight. By the time he got to a three pound hand weight, the vehicle geared for speed wouldn't even move, but the vehicle geared for higher torque completed the task even with a five pound weight. I know we could reduce even more and probably pull a lot more weight, but it was just a simple experiment and worked really well, I think. So I know this isn't something new and amazing to you technic'ers on Eurobricks, but it's just the kind of thing I like sharing about LEGO. I know FLL and others do far more, but I think it's pretty cool at his age level, and there's no FLL around here, nor any kind of LEGO club at his school.

When I read the title I was picturing Vader standing on line in the Death Star Cafeteria, with lime green Jello, and a cashier at the end; maybe Vader arguing because he left his wallet at home and the cashier saying "I need to see some ID." Great job, Cecilie! I love the little details; the bib, the expression on the cook... awesome. I think if Vader ate like that every day his figure would be more like Jaba's, though.

Fantastic; fudging the scales in LEGO is something that HAS to be done at some point when dealing with minifigures for obvious reasons, and it's my incapacity to think in those terms that limits my own ability to come up with creations like this on my own. Not only the building fabulous but, as others have pointed out, the whole layout is. I'm simply envious of the space, for one. I dream of having a new house with a room large enough to build a display that large, if only I had the talent to fill it! I disagree with some of the criticisms; for example, I don't think it's too white at all. The first floor and roof belie that complaint, and the "smoked" windows do an excellent job. With all the little details, even if white were a problem, there is nothing monotonous about it. Fantastic work, Brick Miner, the job with LEGO couldn't have gone to a more worthy LEGO enthusiast.

Sorry, I only really want a sealed skier, but I'd trade you for something else, feel free to make an offer. I'm pretty easy going about it. I have some sealed zombies, I could let two go. I have opened: magician, space man, crash test dummy. They are still in the bags and complete with all the pieces, never used, but it was when I wasn't sure I was getting the bar codes right and double checked by opening them.

Ok, it's been awhile, I have some new ones and am looking for new ones and will trade for non-collectible figures, too... Have (all new/sealed): Disco Guy Lifeguard (x3) Vampire Weightlifter Surfer (x2) Ringmaster Mime Martial Arts (x2) Want: Pharaoh (x1, sealed) Skier (x1, sealed) Tribal Warrior Castle Figures: (no skeletons!) trolls, knights, medieval folk (especially women!) Train Figures: conductors, engineers, etc., don't want passengers. Star Wars: OT figures (too many to list, but don't want all of them either) Also would entertain the idea of trading small sets. Have traded with a couple of Eurobricks and FBTB members with no problems. -Fred

Laugh all you want, my first thought was to cut one in half. But I don't have enough (i.e. any) spare croissants to experiment with.

Interesting Idea... I have a lot of black torsos and legs, I'd be willing to bet you could make good pilgrims... plus now we have "tribal warriors" to go with them, as well as Turkey... we just need LEGO cornucopias.

Thanks, spacepilot; I'm not adverse to a little hard work or drilling 1x1 clips to run wire through... I just got about 500 of them for microscale castles and think I can spare a dozen. I'll have to see if I can find those LEDs, though; I don't think Fry's has them, although I'm probably better off not buying at Fry's anyway.

I did at one point, then asked myself "why?" and couldn't come up with a good answer. When I did it, though, I would break the seals on both ends of the boxes so that I could store them flat. Made them easier to throw away, too. Depends on how big the set is. I don't sort at first, but when I'm looking for a piece in the mess I'll sort only until I find it. As time goes on it gets more sorted and even loose pieces are easier to find.

WOW!!! Sorry I didn't comment on this the other day... been very busy since Sunday... but I'm really impressed. First, on the layout... fantastic. I have those sets, but I'm not planning on a lot of white LEGO "snow," I was just going to rely on the snow "fabric" (that white, almost felt-like fabric with the sparkles in it?) and I'm still not inclined to go as far as you did. As such, I wouldn't be able to do something as cools as the shoveled walkways without having them look stupid, so bravo to all that extra work... that's the kind of thing that turns a simple display of LEGO sets into a real nice MOC, and not just your average MOC, but a GREAT one. Of course, it's the lights that make it stand out... and I NEED to ask how you did the string of lights. I see the extra wire (just barely though), but I just got a new pack of 3mm white LEDs and had planned on doing the lampposts, but that string of lights is awesome.... but even these tiny LEDs I can't imagine how you fit them into the back of those clips. Anyhow, congratulations on your Diorama.... you will have me beat for techniques, for sure! (although that doesn't take much) Also, not to jones in on your thread, but a tip for people who want to do something like this.... these (as well as many other interesting things) are available from LEGO Education: I may order some more. I have a set for my Hoth display.

Yes, they round down, but you'll get full credit for everything you buy after that (up to 99 things). So if you buy two $9.99 items ($19.98) you'll get 19 points... not two times 9 points. I don't find it objectionable compared to the old system, where you could buy $124 worth of stuff and only get four $25 "stamps" on your card.

Barnes and Noble is having a sale, 10% off. On top of that, there was a coupon code and they had a buy 2 get 1 on a limited number of sets. Hogwarts Castle is one of them, so a lot of people are scooping them up at a double discount PLUS 3 for 2, as reported on FBTB.net. Myself, I don't want three and don't want to spend the extra money (regardless of what a great deal it is), so I ended up getting one for $91, FREE shipping, plus tax. I also ordered the Hogwarts Express (completes the new set of HP sets for me), Sponge Bob Good Neighbors at Bikini Bottom set (don't ask me why, I like Spongebob, and am planning a fun underwater section of my railroad layout). While I was at it I got some more collectible minifigures, for no particular reason.

You seemed far too happy to be alive.

Yeah... I thought it was one action per night, so that post raised an eyebrow, but I think it was just Dragonator last night, and the "and" referred to previous nights. I'd like to take credit for killing someone, but didn't get PM to let me know if I was the successful one or not. I started the first two nights by merely investigating... everyone I investigated was dead by the time I found them, and with all the wanton killing I decided it was time for action instead of waiting to be offed myself.

My apologies. No comment.

Hmmm... I investigated Claude Von Rome and found him already fit to be eaten... I should have known and gone straight for the killing. I don't know what's worse... that I didn't get to kill the real one, or that I didn't get to kill the impostor. Ada! I'm sorry I doubted you. But like I said, it wasn't at my hands. You "blocked" someone? Sounds like scaredy band-member talk to me. Fellow citizens, I ask you: did any one else actually waste their night on a "block?" After your "I'm alive!" comment the other day (you sounded surprised), Je t'accuse! On the other hand, if we ax Folio Dewey, we won't have to listen to his babble about books anymore, band member or not.

On the other hand, if we kill you we won't have to hear your rhymes anymore whether you're an interloper or not. But fear not, if you die this night, it will not be at my hands. Or shovel. Or pickax. Or knife.

The same one who boasts of killing ten of my friends with only six silver bullets. You're welcome, you suspiciously rhyming fiend. I'm guessing you'd like to set those rhymes to a bit of music, eh? Hmmm.... Tim Burnest was hardly just insane random killing (not that there's anything wrong with that). I proclaim we have at least two other obvious choices in our midst. Of course, disdain for random killing makes it three. Make if four. Sure you are.

Edit: Never mind.

CASSANDRA! Sure, I was a little suspicious of how easy it would be for an outsider to hide behind your mask, but at least I wanted to find out, first! All I found was the lifeless corpse of the real Cassandra. Oh well... My oh my, I'll be a busy boy today! Seven sets of my favorite food, to boot! But there's something wrong here... an admitted outsider managed to make it through the night? And now that Morris is gone I'll have to bury unprepared corpses... I suppose it's all good, they ripen quicker that way. Edit: Hey Ada... nice RHYME.

Since the thread got bumped, it's late, my wife's been watching Ghost Hunters all evening, and I'm just bored at my computer, I read through more of the stories, and when I read "awesomebrick's" story, it reminded me of something akin to Deja Vu... where a song has been stuck in my head for hours, and I turn on the radio and that song is playing. You'd chalk it up to coincidence except that I'm not into pop music and a lot of the music I grew up liking in the 80's was not the most popular stuff. I figure I'll tell my story now, though... the TV's off, and my wife is sleeping on the couch, and I'm just sitting here... Anyway, the overnight camp I went to, Camp Trexler, on Lake Stahahe in NY, had four "encampments" every summer, which were 2 week long sessions that you could sign up for. I'd been going to the camp for several years, and this was to be my last, so I asked my parents if I could go for two, and ended up going to the last one. The last one takes place in August, and it's starts to get cold at night at that time, which makes for a cool view when you get up in the morning, as the lake is covered with mist. Each encampment had at least one overnight hike, and you get to sign up for them by age, so since I was in the oldest group I got to choose first, and I figured I'd take it easy and pick the canoe ride to the other end of the lake (only about a half mile away or so) where we camped on a small island in a group of small islands. There was maybe a dozen of us, including two counselors. Since it was such an easy "hike," we got there really early, and I was just reading along with a friend I'd made at the camp (I loaned him my books - Xanth books, by Piers Anthony). So we're just hanging out on one side of this small island (very bumpy, rocky, a lot of trees, maybe an acre in size), and hear music. Like a flute. Nobody had a radio or anything. It wasn't coming from shore, that would be too far away. We looked at each other, and went to see what it was... climbed up a rock at the very edge of the island, and there's another island very close (maybe ten feet of water, but that island was only maybe 1/10th the size of our island, but that's where the music sounded like it was coming from; by the time we looked over it had stopped and there was no one there. My friend said the first thing that popped into his head was Pan. Nothing else odd happened until after dark. We were all sitting around the fire, and someone pointed out a huge ball of flame in the sky; it looked like it was coming towards us... not exactly, but fairly close, and we were just in awe, and suggesting things like a comet or asteroid or huge meteorite... when it took a hard left (our right) and disappeared behind some mountains (we were in the Appalachian area). It was always descending... it didn't look like some odd space craft or something, just a big ball of flame. As soon as whatever it was was gone, the youngest member of the group freaked everyone out with the statement "My eye came out." None of us knew at the time he had a glass eye, and being a little kid didn't like the way the lubricating gel felt, so he would purposely "forget" to go to the nurse. So one of the counselors, as darks as it was, took him directly to the nearest shore and walked him back to camp to see the nurse (faster than rowing all the way back, as they hit the road that ran along the lake that led to the camp). As our fire wained, we started hearing strange noises. Splashes in the water; noises coming from the tree tops... and finally a voice off the island screaming for us to shine our flashlights at him... it was the counselor, coming back from the camp (after leaving the boy with the nurse)... he was completely freaking out, thought something was following him - all the way from shore, and as we were doing this, two separate things "fell" out of the trees into the water.... first one, then we all turned our flashlights to see something else jump from branch to branch and then jump completely off into the water. It was maybe the size of a raccoon, but boy, it was NOT a raccoon... and two adult camp counselors, who had gone on these overnight hikes dozens of times, were absolutely speechless. The one that was rowing back panicked at the thought of something ELSE chasing him. I myself had been on these overnights many times (and have had other freaky experiences, but NOTHING like that night), and I can't explain what I saw. What was interesting was it wasn't just me... I wasn't the only one who heard music, or saw a flaming meteor (or whatever it was) suddenly change direction, or saw some "thing" jump into the water from the tree tops. Now really, I could probably come up with something to explain most of it... an optical illusion, some tree dwelling lake critter; we've actually seen turtles climb trees... some have those sharp claws, and then they just "fall" into the lake off the branch they were on, but that's not on a typical tall pine or something, it's usually a bent over tree hanging over water. But out of all that, the thing that freaked me out the LEAST is the one I can't explain... the music.