fred67

Did it say you were eligible? I see what happened with my Tantive IV order... backordered items are not eligible. The Tantive IV went backordered at around 3:00am EST, so they technically don't "owe" us the freebies. So, for the Tantive IV: 12:00 - Available. 12:45 - Backorders accepted, will ship in 30 days. 12:50 - Back to "Available." 03:00 - Back to "Backorders accepted, will ship in 30 days." 08:55 - Backorders accepted, expected ship date 22 May 2011

S@H Star Wars Sales (images link to product page): Obi-Wan's Starfighter, $79.98 (was $99.99) Republic Swamp Speeder, $26.98 (was $29.99) AT-AT Walker, $98.98 (was $109.99) Cad Bane's Speeder, $44.98 (was $49.99) Republic Dropship with AT-OT, $199.98 (was $249.99) Tantive IV, $119.98 (was $149.99) Availability of the last two has flip-flopped between "Available Now" and "Backordered," but you can still order it. It's not the greatest sale of all time, but the last two you can save some decent money - I'm just not sure. If I could get free shipping, I'd get the Tantive IV (not interested in the others). I'd run to the LEGO Store, but will not have the opportunity for some time.... ordering online just won't save me a whole lot. BIG EDIT: So I wanted to see what shipping would be... turns out it's FREE standard shipping, so I ordered a Tantive IV. It did not list the free figure or poster as part of the order, though. If someone else has ordered for a free figure, could you let me know if it showed in the cart or made some big deal about it when you ordered? Because my order said nothing. EDIT TWO: Please read the terms for the poster and free minifigure... "backorder" items are excluded.

So... it should just be a new combined piece. After all, if you're using the bow, your sword is sheathed (even if it's not a sheath, you know what I mean).

I ended up building the Holiday Train from my own collection of train bits and buying the pieces on BL. It really wasn't that bad.... a lot less than what people wanted for the set. It helps that I've amassed a substantial amount of train parts over the years (built my own Sante Fe cars instead of paying the exorbitant prices, too). They are not quite exact, but close enough for me. So... when the prices get really outrageous, there's always that route. I only missed the first modular, Market Street. I don't think it's all that great to begin with, so I haven't really missed it, but I occasionally consider building it from parts... I think it'd be substantially less than a new (or even used) set.

You never know until you start and try some techniques you think you might need on smaller structures. Some people never get there, some people pick it up right away.

I wouldn't pay that much for MISB... I will go for used/complete because if I'm buying an older set it's something I really want that I missed and I want it for me. That said, I have spend somewhat more than MSRP for older MISB sets because they weren't that outrageous (never more than 25% more, and only for lesser sets). I've spent a great deal of time (and much less money) buying parts to build some of the sets I've missed rather than pay outrageous prices. But I'm a big collector, and I have a lot of unopened sets because I bought ones I didn't want to miss out on, but don't really have the space to properly display them all. Neatly tucked away in closets and other storage areas so that I don't look like someone on Hoarders, some of the sets I bought with every intention to build have increased dramatically in price. So now I'm not sure what to do. My prime example is the 4504 Millennium Falcon. I paid $75 (maybe $80, I forget) during a Black Friday sale. I have no place to put it, since it takes up such a wide area (I also got a 2004 AT-AT walker on BF sale, but that actually fits on a shelf, so I built that one). Now the 4504, MISB, is $400 minimum on North America on Bricklink. Don't get me wrong... I like the set, but when I finally have space to build it, how much more LEGO could I buy with $400? Two new modular buildings and then some! I have this issue with a number of sets... if I have space to build it, I build it. Otherwise it goes in the closet - not because I'm "speculating," I mean, I was barely out of my dark ages at the time, and I was more into trains - but being a big Star Wars fan (I was 10 when Star Wars came out - the perfect age, IMO), when I saw them on sale I couldn't resist. It's been like that ever since... sometimes I make room to build something, but when it comes to the MF, it just takes up so much desk space (and wouldn't fit on a shelf less than 14 inches deep, I'd imagine, even with a huge portion of it hanging off), I just kept it, waiting for an opportunity. So - I don't understand why people want MISB when they can get a complete set they missed for so much less, but I don't care - if someone's willing to pay me that much for it, and then I can buy several times the amount of newer LEGO for me, then fine.

Yes... or not "repeats," but complementary figures. The elf was great for us Fantasy Era fans, and they are releasing another dwarf which, while I won't want as many of, I will want a few of them. Cleopatra also seems like a great complementary piece for Pharaoh's Quest and the previous Pharaoh and Mummy, and the "mixed"(*) themes still have a ways they can go... (*) Mixed being like how the Mummy goes both with the Pharaoh/Cleopatra and the movie monster theme... the Robot goes with Space and the movie monster theme, too. We've even had a repeat skateboarder without a lot complaints. More musicians/instruments.... athletes, historic/fantasy "warriors," they have quite a bit more they could without seeming dry or repetitive.

One of the reasons I hate buckets is the same reason I never really got into LEGO as a kid as much as I do now.... I don't want a red, yellow, blue and green building... so I'm not really partial to the big buckets where price per brick is relatively cheap because it doesn't help me unless I want to build a blue Empire State Building. Maybe I just have no imagination. There is a seller on BL who sells 2x4 bricks in large volume at better than PAB prices. In fact, doing the math it seems like he got boxes at the LEGO store and is reselling them for a small (very reasonable) profit. But the answer for me is the LEGO Store, if you have one nearby. The selection is limited, but you have to remember that many of us have been doing this for years, and continuously check our LEGO stores to see what new pieces they put on the PAB wall. If it's a piece I want a LOT of, I ask to buy a box (or two). Keep an eye out on bricklink. My most numerous piece (1x2 white) I got several years ago when I saw a seller selling them for $0.019 each. I bought several thousand, complemented by fewer 1x1 white and black and 1x2 black, which were slightly more ($0.029). Lucky timing, maybe, I don't see prices like that anymore.

IMO, open at least one of each. You might find you want to add cars to the Emerald Night or something, but you might as well experience all of them.

I still test 9v batteries with my tongue... is that wrong?

I guess some of us have more money than sense. I have all the sets and I don't regret it; they are on display in my office at work and are great conversation items. Yes, I could build most of them from parts I have, but I also get the books and keep the boxes, as well (I don't keep the boxes of other sets). Some of earlier sets I have autographed copies of. Since the sets are relatively rare (1 or 2 a year), it's not that much of a financial burden to be able to have an original set. It is true, though, that I am getting more disappointed as time goes on, but this Burj Khalifa set is no worse (in fact, it's quite a lot better) than some of the earlier ones - the Empire State Building, Sears Tower, and John Hancock Center, for three. If it's offered at the same price point as those then it'll be a good value by comparison. EDIT: BTW, I don't think people understand why these cost so much more... the architect who built them has to get his cut, and the building owners own the trademark, so these are like doubly licensed sets.

Except those were the only items they did that with... I've been monitoring the site for a couple of months, nothing else (until today) appeared on the sales page already with a status of sold out. Now, if they want to advertise it at a reduced price while it's sold out at S@H, but still available in stores (which makes sense, which is what I got from your first post), then that would be a great explanation... but they completely removed the items from the site in less than an hour. Not just removed from the sales page, but the links to those item pages no longer work... and yet here you are saying you can still buy it at the LEGO Store. That is not usual for LEGO.... usually items linger in sold out status for some time.

Well... the architecture line is different, created by a third party (see Brick Structures); the Taj Mahal and Tower Bridge are not part of that line. As far as I can tell, they are used for cross promotion... sold initially in the gift shops at the locations they represent. The first few sets were equally as simple and, frankly, not impressive... but I got a few (signed) sets anyway, and I like the series as a whole. There also seems to be two "types" of models... I don't know how I would call them, but one is the smaller ones, like Sears Tower, Empire State Building, and the Seattle Space Needle (among others); the other category is more detailed - Falling Water, White House... all of the smaller ones are pretty uninspired and overly simple. The only really interesting small one is the Seattle Space Needle, although after you look at you still think it's too expensive.

Not really... if they were still available in stores, they wouldn't have been completely removed from the website, sales page or not. That's why items linger on the website in "sold out" status, but those two items were eliminated entirely in less than an hour after being posted to the sales page. Again, I'm not saying it's malicious, I'm saying the software should know better.

Again this morning (4:50am, so I'm guessing there weren't a bunch of Easter bunny shoppers furiously refreshing the page waiting for these to go on sale). I saw that at Christmas time, too. I'm not accusing them of being malicious (otherwise I would have used stronger language than "shenanigans"), I just think their automated system should know better than to put sold out items on the sales page.

Well... it does seem a bit uninspired, and it's the first one that, right off the bat, I was thinking "maybe I'll just do it from pieces I have instead of buying this." But I have every set up until (not including) the Farnsworth House... and I will tell you that I do not believe this building is any worse. The Farnsworth House is an interesting house in real life, but in a LEGO set it's as uninspired as this one. The only saving grace is the furniture. I don't see how everyone got all ga-ga over it. In fact, most of these sets are not particularly notable at all; the Empire State Building and Sears Tower are nice looking, but incredibly simple builds. Wanting to be a completist, though, I will probably go ahead and get both Farnsworth and this. Eventually. When I feel like there's nothing better to buy.

Well... I don't think that proves anything. If someone was able to actually buy one, that might be interesting... but as fast as it all happened, it was probably more of a timing issue between different backend parts of the website. Actually, IMO, I'd think it go straight to "call for availability" at that point, sale or not, and if they only had a handful left I don't understand why they'd feel the need to put it on sale anyway, as it would be bound to sell out sooner than later... moreover, but if they only had a few left and still felt the need to get rid of them quickly, they wouldn't go straight to 50% off (generally speaking). Let me say this - it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility that my script ran both after the item was added and after it sold out. It polls every five minutes.... more frequently would be getting silly. But just think about it for a minute - that would mean that, without advanced notice that this was going on sale, enough people checked out the sales page after it was added, and actually checked out, in less than five minutes. Really, what seems more likely? I've also noted that 7896 (the tracks) had been sold out for some time, AFAIR. Is it possible they got some back? I think that would be very doubtful after all this time that the new track packs were being sold. I don't want to make a bigger fuss about it... I think it was a mistake, and I think they knew it was a mistake and that's why they pulled it. I don't know why so many people are LEGO apologists... I love LEGO, but they make mistakes on their website, that's just the way it is:

Completely... they were posted to the sales page even though the availability was "sold out," in less than an hour they were completely removed from the site. I don't have a problem with things on the sales page being "sold out," I have a problem with things being posted on that page being "sold out" from the very beginning. I find it hard to believe that it went to sold out in less than five minutes after being posted; and even if that was the case, the items tend to be there for days (sometimes weeks) before they are completely removed... these were removed entirely from the site in less than an hour. I don't have to call... it's just annoying. I don't mind missing out on sales if I'm late, it just bothers me that a company would post something that's not available on their sales page... I do not believe for a minute that enough people were sitting there waiting for these items to go on sale, refreshing their browsers every few seconds, and managed to place so many orders that they sold out in less than five minutes without even going through "call for availability." I believe it was an honest mistake they made.

You know what? I'm not going to get confrontational.... I don't know about Dooku's ship, but the tracks were sold out for quite some time (since it was the end of availability for curved tracks). I know it's the case, others know it's the case, and the fact that those two items are completely removed from S@H (less than an hour after they were posted for sale) indicates to me the website operators knew it was a mistake, too. Most items linger in "sold out" status for some time before being removed. If you're implying they were on the sales page already... I know for a fact this is not the case, script or not, because I check occasionally anyway.

Unless you are part of LUG-bulk (part of an established LEGO users group that meets TLG requirements, and offers bulk purchasing from time to time), you will not be able to just go buy a box of 1x1 black tiles. If you have a LEGO store to go to, you can ask if they have a box of the items they currently have on their PAB wall, but they don't let you special order anything, AFAIK.

A couple of months ago I realized that MMV and Emerald Night were coming to the end of their product life cycles, and anticipated a great clearance sale that I would miss, as I always do, finding out about it way too late. So I wrote a script on my computer that monitors the LEGO Sales page and sends me an email: a) if an item is added, b) if an item is removed, and c) if the availability or price of the item changes. It polls every few minutes. Count Dookus Solar Sailer and the tracks both definitely interest me at those prices... too bad they were NEVER available at those prices. As you can see, the "change" is that these are "new items", not "availability changed." I realize they have it automated and that they leave it up in "sold out" status for some time instead of just dropping the item completely, but it's just annoying... from what I recall, the tracks have been sold out for some time. EDIT:

It's plastic, but it's a softer plastic. It fits over one shoulder and under the opposite arm. It's a fantastic piece we've been waiting for for quite some time... One way to find a piece on BL, if you don't know what to call it or what category it's in, is to go to the inventory for the set: Scroll down a little and you find: Dark Brown Minifig, Utensil Scabbard with Shoulder Strap Edit: oh... how well does it stay on... I guess I don't really play, but it seems like it stays on well.

It looks great, very light suburban type industrial building, just as you called it. My only problem is it seems to me that the rendering software is making the seams between bricks more pronounced than they would be, making the "brick work" more visible than it would be in a physically built one. Otherwise it looks great, ready for a sign, great use of colors, and, where I'm from, a trashcan and some litter. It would be interesting to make the door open... a rolling door might be a bit difficult, but a canopy style door might be doable. Something like this would definitely look good on a train layout. EDIT: I like your skeleton staircase, too!

The problem is I can't get past the first few questions. Everything is a building technique... from simple stacking of bricks to SNOT to illegal connections to modifying bricks. Which ones do I use? It depends on the MOC... they're all different and require different methods. I guess the problem is that my interests are so broad; I don't just build technic vehicles, I don't just build buildings, I don't just build bridges, I don't just build simple little scenes... perhaps I'm over thinking it. Or, from an engineering perspective, are you asking about engineering techniques, like cantilevers and trusses?

Yeah... it can take a while. I'd give it another week before worrying about it.