fred67

How about long blond hair and Barbara Eden's (circa 1970) face?

Winter Toy Shop So here's the deal... occasionally Amazon is listing the Toy Shop at MSRP. It seems to sell out, and only be available from third parties for a lot more... the "sweet spot" seems to be around 11:00pm to 12:00am Eastern. I was able to get one for that price, as were a number of people at FBTB.net. EDIT: So I just checked my link and it's $107, but that's what it was for most of Tuesday, it seems to pop up at night at MSRP from Amazon.

I have only used the 3% Hydrogen Peroxide solutions available in supermarkets and the like, I haven't found anything stronger than that, although I haven't asked at a dedicated pharmacy (the store one said they only had what was on the shelf... 3%). I can confirm that adding oxyclean to undiluted 3% solution will, for me, get things clean in less than one day... I leave it out in the morning, and when I get home from work, the pieces are amazingly clean. You don't need the thickeners (xanthan gum or anything else) for LEGO... the reason the retrobright people used thickener is to spread it on large pieces, so unless you have like a 48x48 plate that you can't fit in another container, it's not necessary. Contrary to what a couple of people have posted, I've never had a piece crack; it may dissolve a top layer, but it must somehow expand the plastic because the pieces have better gripping power afterwards. I've used it on white and gray with great success. Used on clear, and the results were preferable to the yellowed pieces, but not entirely clean and clear. The plastic needs to cure, because it gets soft... I tried drying a piece with a tissue and it looked like I used sand paper on it, ruining a clear macaroni (expensive mistake). The others I just let sit for a few days, and they were not as clear as new, but preferable to the yellow they once were. All I can say is, for a solution you can make easily from stuff you get at the supermarket, it works amazingly well and anybody with old discolored pieces should at least try it on a few expendable pieces if they don't believe those of us that use it.

Like some other mentioned, I have fewer parts than I have ideas. LDD allows you to build and see if it will look decent. The alternative is spending money to order pieces from PAB or BL and then discovering your great idea might not have been so great. If I have the pieces, even in the wrong colors, I'll build it by hand and use my imagination, then order pieces I may not have. But I'm planning on using LDD a lot more. I'll still do MOCs and MODs without it. The other thing is that, while I'm currently laptopless, I'm planning on getting a netbook or cheaper laptop as I take my kids to their various after school activities and then often burn at least an hour waiting (I live 20 to 30 minutes from many of these activities, so it makes no sense for me to come home for an hour long class), so sometimes I have ideas burning in my head and I'll have a laptop (idiot me gave my last one to my wife). I also use it during slow times at work.

I had this same conversation with someone who missed a "Cafe Corner" probably by only about a month... the price on the secondary market immediately doubled when LEGO sold out... it sucks, but that's just the way it is... the market dictates the price. You essentially have four choices: 1. Get incredibly lucky 2. Cough up the money 3. Try to build it on your own (which I've done with other discontinued sets, but not this large). 4. Go without. I've done all of 2, 3, and 4. I never seem to get lucky finding LEGO deals (the one garage sale find was something I wasn't really interested in, even if it was a nice and expensive set), but so be it.

I love it... working with LEGO is hard enough, you and Karyn and the other modulex users are just outstanding working within the limits of modulex! I love little castles!

Update: I've been playing more with microfigures than building the castle (which is a shame, because only a few more sections will make it complete... but I want a new module that can hold a catapult or ballista, but I've been having fun with the microfigures and wanted to share "the joust." The next thing I need, apparently, is a lightbox, or some better setup to take pictures! I'm tired of these lousy images. Differences between last time... I decided while riding a horse the bottom half of the people should be square, not round; added "lamp holders" to hold shields. Brickshelf Gallery, when available.

I have a question... So, having received some bricklink orders where the sellers organized their inventory by putting bricks together (which minimizes the space requirements, too), and after reading in various locations about how others do this as well, and sorting my inventory by type instead of color (it's easier to find a red 1x2 in a bucket of various 1x2s than it is to find a red 1x2 in a bucket of a bunch of other red pieces), I decided to store my LEGO like that. So, for example, my 2x4 brick drawer has groups of 10 bricks of the same colors. That way, if I need 6 red ones, for example, I can just grab a stack of red instead of fishing around for them. Some bricks are just stacks of 5 (like 1x1s), and plates I offset by one to make them easy to take apart. Now I was thinking about this thread, and wondering if perhaps storing them this way is a bad idea. If you look at the pictures of willy_poodle's MMV (in this post), it's downright scary. To be fair, I've had my MMV sitting on a shelf for at least a year with no problems, personally.

No sweat! You weren't the first, you won't be the last!

AAARRRGGGG!!!! You guys who say things like that with no location in your profile drive me CRAZY!!!!

That's just fantastic... I love it. Every time I think about making a "bug," I get mired in thinking of how to get all the gears working in sync, and keep forgetting I've got a bunch of chain links. I like the "L-Shape with 1/4 elipse" pieces, too... I have a ton of them and can never think of how to use them (then again I'm a city/train/castle boy and only dabble in technic).

Are we allowed to hot link to BL (images link to BL catalog)? Maybe one of these: No housing, but you'd use: To connect to a lift-arm or something: Or this might look nicer: You would have to put pins or something in the ends of that last one to hold it in place, but then either the one you have now is being held by something or it's just loose (which is fine, by me). It might look better to me if the one you were using was simply a different color.... I think my problem with it is that your eye is just drawn to it immediately because it really sticks out, while I think you'd want it to be a lot more subtle so that people concentrated more on the rest of the MOC, which is superb. EDIT: In fact, now that I think about it, if you used the same kind of housing, but with a different color (white or green, maybe actually black would match your building), and that propeller that I linked to with the pin that I linked to, I think it would make the fan a lot more subtle. If I could I would build on in LDD and post a picture, or build a real one (I have the parts at home) and post a picture.

Is it wrong that the imperial officer in the skin tight outfit (the one "escorting" Darth Vader) turns me on? She could turn me to the dark side any day.

Huh... some people responding seem to think you can buy sets you missed at the original prices, but that's not the scenario the OP suggests (you can buy sets you had at the original prices). I can say, without hesitation, that out of all the sets I've purchased, the only ones that I would think twice about re-buying are the Star Wars non-OT sets. I'm simply not a fan of the PT or Clone Wars, and while there are some cool ships that I bought, they just don't fit in with everything else and I could certainly do without them. I even traded one to my son for his OT Y-Wing... he got it as a gift and doesn't like the OT as much as the newer stuff, so we were both happy. I also have very limited space, but that doesn't deter me... I hope to have a lot more shelves up at some point, and even move into a larger home (not because of LEGO, though, but it'll give me more room for that, too).

Wow, those are fanstastic, I love them. I don't think I've ever seen a "snake" like dragon done in LEGO, but then I don't get out much... very Asian style... The tail seems a bit much, but I don't know how you could remove any of it without impacting the look... I really like the horns. Well done, lisqr!

Hi Karyn, and welcome and thanks for posting... the greenhouse looks great and I have no problem with the look of combining some LEGO elements with Modulex, but I can't help but think there could have been a better propeller to use. I love the interior of the greenhouse... all the tables and the way the 1x1s are at angles make it look very "realistic" from the perspective of that top interior shot, and the marbled floor is not lost on me, either. Very nice!

"My name is Lee-Ann and I'm addicted to lego..." Hi, Lee-Ann! Welcome to Eurobricks... I'm also a fan of train and city (although more like modular and less play sets), so go to the train tech forums and join the registry. Cheers!

They didn't sell well because nobody(*) knew about them. I started in on LEGO trains in around 2001 or 2002, and never even new the SF existed until after it was discontinued. Being fortunate enough to live near a LEGO store, the only trains I saw in the store were BNSF and I got some intermodal cargo cars; when everything was going "kablooey" with 9V I managed to get some MOT stuff, but not SF and not the cars. Having modeled in other scales, I was very surprised that LEGO didn't advertise in train model train magazines, but maybe that's just me... I can picture a lot of model train enthusiast dads and grandfathers who'd have gotten their kids/grandkids LEGO sets if they even knew about it. (*) Not "nobody," of course, but you know what I mean... the only people who knew about it were a SUBSET of LEGO Train Enthusiasts. Of course they're not going to sell well... meanwhile, the trains that actually gets sold in Toys R Us sell out at Christmas. EDIT: Ok, wanted to add actual comments about the passenger train... I'm really underwhelmed. I will stick to building MOCs and buying sets like EN if they ever release another set like that. I will also get Hogwarts' Express and TS3 Western Train Chase, for various reasons, but not either of the two new "train" sets.

Trains... I was doing N-Scale model trains (I lived in apartment and needed a small scale). Then I moved into a house, had kids, and decided LEGO was a better "scale" to model in, and more fun for the kids, too. Since I started buying LEGO Trains, and being a Star Wars fan, my mom gave me the Imperial AT-ST for a gift, and that started in on Star Wars, too. Then LEGO started with the Fantasy Era Castle sets, and being a big LOTR fan, I started buying them.

Hey BrickWild! As others have said, it's a great start. The wall is kind of plain... perhaps a painting over the fireplace, or some bookshelves on the side. Having done a lot of castle stuff and experiencing "big gray wall syndrome," I notice the same thing with the chimney... an odd color brick here and there, or a few "studs out" techniques might help. Here's an article related to castle building, but some of the techniques have been "borrowed" from other types of buildings... in other words, the techniques are pretty much universally applicable. But it is a great start... I'd also like to see a couple of comfy chairs... Let us know if you update it!

Hi, Jamzee, welcome to Historic Themes, which Castle is definitely a part of. I will have a hard time recommending sets; I haven't gotten Kings Castle yet and am unsure if I ever will (I have Castle Siege from the last castle line, don't know where I'd put another castle), although I do think it's a very nice set. I don't know about Prison Tower Rescue, but I got the Wizard and, for the price, you might as well get it if you like to add that magical theme to your castles. Outpost Attack seems like a decent set for the price, I put it on my list of things to get. Also, while I'm not too thrilled about the Prison Carriage Rescue, I'm planning on getting at least four and building a larger wagon drawn by at least two, if not all four horses, and on top of that there'll be 12 minifigures as well. While we're on the subject of minifigures, even if (like me) you just like building vignettes and not really playing, the battlepacks are worthwhile to flesh out your scenes. Edit: wanted to add: you can order online from S@H, of course... my local LEGO store is always sold out (except for MMV), but Toy R Us has them... but Toys R Us I've decided has an unjustifiable markup from LEGO MSRP, so I'll buy LEGO there when they are having a good sale.

OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!!!

Thanks for the great review. I like this scale very much, but don't think $40 is a good price... it's around the $0.10/piece "magic" price people seem to be after, but there's a lot of small pieces there, as well, so you're obviously paying for the license. If/when WalMart has these for $25, like they did with the MF, it's a no brainer, but then Star Wars is not my primary LEGO line. I think it looks quite nice... yes, the bridge could have been better, but it is a very small (even if not mini) scale.

Wow... great ideas from both of you. Really appreciate the idea.

Hmmm.... not until just now.