fred67

Apologies for reviving an old thread, but it seemed appropriate since I finally decided to bricklink a Market Street. Indeed, a lot of the parts in the correct colors are even WAY more expensive now than they were a few years ago; bricks and pieces shows all the interesting parts as unavailable, but I did skim through the PAB selection and found that some parts, considering I needed a lot (more than 50 or so) ended up being cheaper that way and, given free shipping and the current "gimme" space car set for "free" was a good deal. The railing definitely looks better in gray than white, but I'm going for black for the wrought iron look, like I think it should be, and I also got bit by the white hoses - I actually already had 3 (I really don't know why), but was shocked by the price for one, even used, on bricklink. So black is cheaper AND looks better, IMO. So when I run across these ridiculously expensive pieces, I've been looking as closely as possible at the actual build and how the parts are being used, and although I want to do this set because it's the only modular I never bought, I'm constantly reminded why I never bought it - it's just plain old butt ugly. I feel like the person who built it was just wanting certain parts in certain colors in bulk rather than actually making a beautiful building. I just want to have a "version" at least, for completeness, if not the actual set. Ok, so enough ragging on the set; I have most of the parts, but I'm actually going to back out of a few colors and use substitutions even though I have the correct colors already. The stupidly expensive doors will be black - they will match both the railing and the first floor door. I'd already ordered the five dark blue arches; they are expensive, but I was able to get them at a relatively decent price (compared to other sellers), and all in one order from one seller. Other changes, just from looking at the review pictures: - Changing tan "doorknobs" on the black gates to black. - I think I will remove the attempt to make it look old by removing the profile bricks from the mix.... at least a few, I think. The gray arches for the window are also terrible - they make them in medium blue, now, so will swap those out for medium blue. - Not sure what I will do with it, if anything, but don't like the mis-matched stair stepping on the front roof facade. Are there any reference photos to show what kind of building this might be based on? Not the entire set, but that style of roof? Not just the stair-stepping, I've seen that before, but with all those tile pieces on it? Still need a few more orders, but will definitely post pictures when I'm done; please don't ask cost estimates - I'm sorry, but I already had well over half of what I needed in my collection.

Agree and, to an extent, disagree with a lot of posts - I agree that he's not going to take over any LEGO territory which his "realistic LEGO," and I also agree that there's not much use for most of it once it's put together... but the grass and road parts on Daryl's motorcycle display are kind of neat, and I noticed the wood flooring from the governor's office a while back... too detailed? Probably... but pretty cool. But no, I would not buy one of these sets, as big of a Walking Dead fan as I am, and you'd have to buy an awful lot to make use of those parts.... and they certainly could look out of place.

Sadly, I agree. They will never let a LEGO fan out-class them on one of their current themes.

Whatever you do, do NOT ignore LEGO Shop at Home's Pick-a-Brick entirely. It's true that I get the vast majority of bricks on bricklink, but ESPECIALLY if you need non-basic colors (like Dark Red, Dark Blue, Medium Blue, etc.) in large quantities, you're likely to actually get a better deal at Shop and Home and be guaranteed they're new bricks. I'm trying to assemble the only modular I don't have, and found buying a lot of medium blue bricks on Shop at Home was cheaper than anywhere else I could get them in North America in the quantity that I needed, and with a large enough purchase, shipping is free.... I even got the bonus of the little astronaut car they're giving away at this time - I didn't even know it until after I ordered. It's not the first time I've discovered shop at home was cheaper. Most bricklink sellers don't look at shop at home, they look only at what other bricklink sellers are asking... but more rare parts/colors then often go up very high in price for sellers that have good quantities. I ended up with four bricklink orders and one shop at home order. Of course, the best way is if you live near a LEGO Store and get lucky with the PAB wall.

No... Addams Family, definitely.

Most of the sets I build I tend to keep together - the only thing being that some sets I will partially disassemble to put in storage to make more shelf space for new sets - but some will be there permanently, like Ghostbuster's Ecto-1 and modular buildings. I've had some creator houses on display for at least 10 years, but I may pack them up because I have a renewed interest in building, but won't unless I have somewhere to put the new things. I've also had the original four architecture buildings on display (in a shadow box) at my office since 2009. So... I guess it just depends on you.

^^ yes, that's what I was saying about Enlighten, but at the same time, while I don't like companies ripping off actual LEGO sets, the MOTs haven't been available for quite some time, so it never bothered me that Enlighten picked up the mantle and ran with it, including doing a lot of new, original trains. The only reason I never got any was that, while they had a great price, the shipping was always killer. I could probably get them now from Alibaba with free shipping. I also don't like mixing LEGO with clones, and I have a number of MOT sets.

This is a really great looking piece! I like it a lot. I'm wondering how you know it's anatomically accurate, though.

Enlighten did seem to have almost exact duplicates of LEGO MOT stuff, but long after MOT went away. Some of these brands also bring stuff to the table that TLG just doesn't or won't, like the Enlighten brown train tracks, the Chinese brands do copy of a lot of LEGO, which I find disappointing, but they also make figures that TLG doesn't... in both cases, both Enlighten and the Chinese "clone" brands are bringing things to the table you wouldn't be able to get otherwise, and I don't accept the "then you should just do without because it's not LEGO" argument.

Isn't "fake clone" like a double negative? Anyway, I have not bought a set that was a clone of a LEGO set, I've only ever bought things that TLG never made, and so far I've not had a problem with them. They are usually noticeably different, but not always.

You could replace it with a straight piece. That it's even curved in real life is barely noticeable... if you were going to add a decent floor, it would be worth it to lose the curve.

Because they can.

As a matter of fact, I think CMFs were always made in China.

Withdrawn. If you're interested in the Zombies set, see the link in my signature.

I appreciate the posts about Walmart and Target, but you guys need to be REALLY specific about which store - mine NEVER have any LEGO on clearance. Not even just a general location - it really varies from specific store to store, unless it's a publicized weekly ad that applies across the board.

Those two are much better - I particularly like the first one.

I can already tell you so far, from the pictures, that while most characters are instantly recognizable, some are not really all that great - I though the first figure in the first set was Carl because he was wearing the police hat (although he was full height), which Rick hasn't done since giving it to Carl, but zooming in it's quite obviously supposed to be Rick. I think it looks terrible. At the same time, without zooming in, most of the main characters are easy to pick out, and you get a nice selection of walkers.... I'll post some pictures when I get them... what? Two months from now? Fantastic Four actually didn't take that long, so I'll be optimistic about it.

It is a neat idea (one that I've been toying with for some time - actually to make a functional clock tower), but the execution on this one is way too simple. Although I'd like to answer "what time is it?" with something like "it's half past batman."

So you decided to start a new topic? As long as what you're saying is useful and adds to the conversation, or if you're giving props to someone's MOC or something... then it's not a problem. I'm sure I have two month spans where I've posted more than that. On average I post a lot less, but there are some people who've been here just a year or two with more posts than me. If you have something to say, say it! Just don't do things like revive old threads with a "me too!" kind of post, and you'll be fine.

I'm glad you guys are keeping this thread going. I have a problem buying knock-offs of what TLG releases, but I think things TLG hasn't or won't release is pretty fair game. When this thread first started I was well on my way to collecting most of the (what I considered) iconic superheroes and villains that TLG had released... but the very first post has the Fantastic Four, which TLG did not do. I ordered it right away, and while I built a nice little display cube for the figures, I can't bring myself to put them in the display with the real LEGO. But given the price, and the lack of production from TLG, I'm glad I got them. So I come back to this thread every so often, and was inspired to check out alibaba again, just to see what's what, and I found Walking Dead figures! I had to laugh... but three different sets of them for $20 total? So I just pulled the trigger. Like a lot of LEGO fans, I feel awkward buying third party stuff, and it kills me to see a picture of a lot that is being sold that contains the figures I spent hundreds collecting for like $22, but it's cool that stuff TLG won't make is available, and I appreciate you guys keeping the thread alive for so long.

He did say "light inclusion of steam-punk inspired stuff," not that the theme was steam punk oriented. I could see that working; it actually sounds interesting if they don't push it too far.

Ahh... modern day business is not what it used to be. I see suits all the time that look like they'd be more at home on a surf-board.

I agree about one thing - the only set I really want is the mystery machine, but I must have Thelma and Daphne, too... and I need two of each to give the mystery machine to a friend who would really appreciate it, but I doubt she'd give a darn about any of the other sets. The series may not be popular, that remains to be seen, but supposedly there's going to be a tie-in, no? So is Cartoon Network reviving Scooby Doo or something?

I would look more - there's at least two large threads with ideas (including the one you linked to); in that thread, here's my version... no need for: And many of the ideas fit neatly into the Container Store displays. Scan through those threads, there's a lot of great ideas there. Anything with a LEGO logo on (made by LEGO or licensed) are just too expensive, IMO, and you never know when they'll be discontinued. The displays like the one you linked to (and like mine) have the greatest density for displaying a LOT of figures in a minimal amount of space.

That's really cool, anothergol.