fred67

Agree with escortmad79, it's a shame they don't try to at least make the distributions as even as possible (which would mean nearly four complete sets). I understand some will be more popular than others, but they don't seem to be concerned about it and, in fact, it seems like they try to make the ones people will want more of less common... good for them, I suppose. Anyway, after seeing the review of the werewolf the other day I had exactly the same thought about using it for elf hair; in which case I would want a lot of werewolves just for the hair. Dark elves... Drow... either that, or use nail polish or something to make the ears yellow. I'm very excited about the "Kimono" Girl... I think she'll be great for MOCs with the Samurai, although with the painted face I would think she would be better named "Geisha." Don't know why the Gnome has a fishing pole, but whatever. My M.O. so far has been two of each figure, one for display, one to keep, and then there are a few that I pick for making MOCs and playing with. I know a lot of people like this series the best, but so far nothing has made me want so many multiples as the elf has. In this set I would like three extra Musketeers for obvious reasons (maybe four); a few Vikings and Dwarves... I have a handful of Fantasy Era Dwarves, so just a few of these would be nice. Enough to make 12 seemingly unique ones ought to do... I would like extra Kimono girls for MOCs involving the Samurai, but not necessarily the Sumo, and I don't recall Ninjas having women dote over them like Samurais would have. Hazmat guy, Frankenstein's monster, the scientist, the wolfman... I have some neat ideas (I think they're neat, anyway) for motion picture themed MOCs. Need a few more cameras, maybe. Overall, while the elf is still my favorite, this series definitely has more characters that I want extras of - I guess it has more possibilities, IMO.

I wish they still did track that way.

Yes.

Got my bonus at work... although I only "wasted" a small amount percent (less than 10% of what I got after taxes), I got an extra Emerald Night and MMV because I think they are going to be discontinued soon (and I always miss the clearance prices, although I'll buy more on clearance if I can). I also got a couple of the new train motors and battery boxes, and managed to find a damaged Imperial Shuttle box at the brick and mortar LEGO store, so I got a good discount on it. Need to build it quick to make sure everything is there, but the box was really just crunched a little, and not torn. Filled my last Christmas box, since I don't know when I'll make it back to the store again, and managed to find a couple of Elves.

Ummm... not really. It depends on what pieces you're getting. The only time I think I've gotten over 1000 pieces in a cup was when I was getting 1x1 plates. I guess they say it's around 160 to 170 2x4s; obviously more for smaller pieces. Depends on how you want to build. I think I would want 2x4 for minifigure scale, but I personally use 1x2 for microscale. Unfortunately, talking about the LEGO store, I don't think I've ever seen 1x2 light bley at TLS. I've seen dark bley, though, but not for very long... and mine currently has 1x1 dark bley; if I'm going to use bley, I want mostly light bley. If I could get a great deal on 1x2 light bley I'd do it... I'd buy several boxes if I could. Unfortunately, if the store ever had them, a lot of people like me were a lot quicker. I don't understand this... I had a credit card problem I had to work my way out of, and while I agree with Dave Ramsey about completely getting rid of them, I don't see the difference between buying something for $100 cash and buying something with a credit card and paying an extra $100 on your payment (unless fiscal discipline is the problem, which is very understandable). If you have a checking account, you can likely get a debit card that can be used like a credit card (although there are warnings about that, too).

Well... this is one of those topics that people really dislike my opinion on (one of many, I suppose), and I'd probably be better off just skipping this thread entirely, but I was shocked to find this little gem embedded in the article: "We can't force boys or girls to buy any particular product. Instead we try to understand the social and genetic influences children have and to appropriately meet them." In other words the representative from LEGO (The UK marketing director, at least) understands there are, GASP! actually genetic differences between boys and girls and while a large part of the problem may be gender-typing, there might actually be innate reasons why girls tend to not like construction toys as much as boys. Please don't throw down a barrage of anecdotal evidence to the contrary... I said "tend to," and I know there are plenty of girls who like LEGO (my 9yo daughter being one of them); the rep even said 20% of LEGO users are girls. I think this belies the point people make that TLG should simply put more female characters in their sets. I would like that, I wouldn't argue against it, and I have made it quite clear I dislike the gender imbalance of minifigures in sets (in fact, some of the female figures are the ones I'm most anxious to get in the upcoming CMF releases), but A) I think minifigures in sets should reflect reality, and B) I don't think merely putting in more females is all that's required to get more girls to play with LEGO. In fact, while many of you are applauding this as a "good thing," it scares me to an extent... "We're looking for the right balance of creativity that appeals to girls and construction. We don't want to take the construction away altogether, but there are degrees of 'constructability',... IOW, they are going to make "less" 'constructible' construction sets, just not take the 'construction away altogether." That's not what LEGO is all about, IMO. I don't know what the best answer is, but taking away part of what the boys like in order to attract more girls is not a good solution. It doesn't sound like they are going to release a "girl" oriented theme, either, it seems that these would make their way into regular sets... that could explain "Aqua de Vida"'s terrible large panel with a sticker. Oh... and, for the record, I like pink and purple bricks, too. Interesting. Never heard of "House of Night' date='" though. I don't think they like themes where a lot of people get dead... they posted some new guidelines recently would seem to contradict their Indiana Jones and Star Wars themes. I think they already do this... sure, not Star Wars or Castle, but most of the CMFs would fit that, and so would most of the city sets... although maybe not strictly what you were referring to; even the Christmas sets have the carolers and ice skaters and so forth, but I could see a beach party set or something.

While watching the third "Mummy" movie I was thinking this... the movie wasn't that great, but it reminded me of both several levels of Tomb Raider (the video game, not the movies) and some parts of an Indiana Jones video game in a similar style called "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine." (while not the Himalayas, still a temple in the cold mountains). I love that style of game play and those levels were really cool, so I like your suggestion a lot... I'd love to do that in LEGO.

I thought it was clear from the beginning that TLG was planning five series, I thought that was well known news from last spring. As far as how many sets they sell in a year... the problem last year is they didn't start until June, so it doesn't work out that well for them to sell three sets last year and keep a decent amount of time between releases. If they did every three months (January 1 - April -1) they should be able to do four sets a year. If they did every four months (September 1 - January 1) it would be three. But now 5 won't be until August? Did I get that right? That's four months again... I personally can't get enough and hope TLG has had enough success that they continue releasing them, and if they do that then maybe they'll have a much more regulated release schedule (every three or four months). On the other hand, I don't know how much they can do and still continue the popularity. I think people will grow tired of trying to keep up their collections.

I've never been to that one, so keep that in mind. The LEGO Store is great for the simple fact that it has every set currently available (unless sold out), and sometimes ones that aren't (ones that aren't shipped anymore but the store still has some inventory left), with the exception of new exclusives (although they seem to get them eventually) and some impulse sets (mostly like the ones sold at Target - the minis and bag sets they often have around the holidays). They even have the other LEGO exclusive holiday sets - the little ones like pumpkins, bats, some Christmas, Valentines Day and Easter sets (if they haven't sold out of them yet). I guess most, if not all, have the build-a-minifig section, which is pretty neat (but you'll pay more for your instant gratification than you would pay on bricklink). Look for the grab bags, as fullnovembermoon says... ask if you don't see them. The PAB wall isn't "all that." It's hit and miss whether or not it's got pieces you will find interesting, and they infuriatingly have those round containers for (typically) square bricks. Be patient and fit more in a cup by putting pieces together. If they have a piece you want a lot of, ask if they have a box they will sell you ($70). I think the crossover for value is between 2x3 and 2x4 (so, you could possibly get more 2x4 for the same amount of money if you are good at cramming them into the PAB cups, smaller pieces tend to be a better value by the box... but unless you have all day and you're an expert cup-packer, the box of 2x4 is worth it). Sometimes they have pieces that are too big for the cup. At our store they let you take one or two in addition to whatever you put in the PAB cup. Have fun. IMO, the managers are doing a disservice to their customers by not keeping up the brickbldr site (LEGO should do their own, IMO). I've been in the stores when they've been packed, and I've been in the stores when they've been "dead," and that down time is when I'd have someone make sure the site was up to date.

This thread is pretty much dead, so I've moved all my trades, include CMFs and sets, to a post in the bazaar forum.

It just wasn't very good. I'm sure it inspired people to make their own. I thought the turbine was cool, but not the truck, and it seems like you could build your own for a lot less and make it a lot nicer. They should have added an e-motor and LED to make it actually work; that would have been interesting.

I'm on PAB right now adding a few minor things (since I'm already ordering a number of other sets anyway). The Type 1 is listed as design ID 91922, type 2 is 91994... must be new, hence the no pictures or 360. I'm going to give this a few minutes, hopefully someone here can tell me which is which. There's no other information except "Type 1" and "Type 2." I would assume "Type 1" is the "normal" one and 2 is the plow... but I don't want to assume or order pieces I don't need.

Yes, transparent parts can get discolored (although you're more likely to notice it on clear pieces). Retrobright works, but with a cautionary tale... it seems to soften the plastic, so let it air dry and leave it for a few days before using it. I tried drying a "retro-brighted" clear macaroni with a tissue and it looked like I dragged sand paper across it.

I thought about that, but don't think it's that great... For example, if someone in Ireland wants to post what he's got for trade, does he put it in Ireland or UK? Or double post just to make sure he doesn't miss someone looking in Ireland only? I see a new web app for something like this, something like bricklink just for personal trading.

I'd like to add something... I normally try to limit the posts, but even now my latest is many pages back. Now when I do make a new post (if I've changed anything), I put a link to the edited post instead of making a whole new one. I like the idea of one post per member, though... could be an option for certain types of topics (could apply to some games and contest voting, too). But while we're on the subject, and I know this may sound draconian, but people ought to be required to fill in their location before posting in the BST forum at all.

Wow... a lot of "Emerald Night" answers. TLG should take note of that, even if we're just a tiny sampling. For me, I was doing N-Scale because I lived in an apartment and didn't have a lot of space. My first bucket of LEGO as an adult was bought to try to prototype over/unders, but it didn't work very well. We eventually moved into a house and after having kids who always wanted to play with my trains (N-Scale is not suitable for 2 and 3 year olds), we saw a LEGO train set on clearance at our local warehouse club. I figured that was much more suitable for the kids... and I never looked back. I recently sold all my N-Scale stuff, which had been sitting in a box since I got into LEGO trains. I am disappointed they went from powered rail to PF, since the only reason LEGO trains could replace other hobby trains, IMO, was that it started following suit and got away from the "baby" battery operated stuff, but I'm dealing and it's true that LEGO did battery operated better than anyone else (as far as trains go). Since I started collecting, though, I discovered a lot more LEGO that I wouldn't have otherwise known about, and have a pretty good city, castle, and Star Wars collection (and now CMF).

They are, but I was just perusing last night and every once in a while a picture simply doesn't work... in this case it was the train buffers, and they listed type 1 and type 2... with no picture. I know one has the angled "cow catcher" appearance, but I don't know which one, so that was kind of annoying. When I looked last night they had both black and dark gray (EDIT: black is 6x24, gray is 6x28, so point made). One thing I noticed, though, was that the ideal "new" style bogey would use new wheels and technic pins (connector w/ cross axle), which only come in tan (or blue if you don't mind "with friction," and in this case it shouldn't matter). So you have a black base, black wheels, black bogey... and tan or blue axles sticking out of the wheels. Sure, you could use a cross axle, but then you're losing differential - the train will run more smoothly through curves with the connector pins. They also don't sell this kind of brick on S@H: . While you can accomplish a decent bogey without one, this is the ideal piece for it. Just my opinion, but the old wheels/bearing elements look better... but will run over $8.00 for two 2 axle bogeys, not including the plate, when you add wheels (x8), the metal axles (x2 packs) and the bearing elements (x4). I have no opinion about the new buffers, though (the single piece units with the sealed magnets). I like them just fine. Plus the buffers more easily go with the old style.

Interesting, it's always good to see our favorite company doing so well. One thing that struck me is that I don't see any indicator of sales. Instead, what we see this year is the boasting that they took over market share (increasing their market share by nearly 25%)... but if global sales are down for other companies, they could have achieved that without increasing sales. That makes it hard for me to whine... assuming increased sales, but not 68% (which is how much net profit rose), they continue to raise their profit margins on sets, but it's hard to figure out by how much. Clearly no savings from cost cutting are passed onto the consumer, which will leave some of us complaining about "Chinese" LEGO (not me, however; from my experience it's "good enough"). Not that they're not entitled... it's a capitalistic business just like everyone else, but it's something I think people should know... most of us would rather pay extra for the great quality of LEGO (I know I would), but when they cut quality AND increase prices, that's something people might want to consider.

Acch.... just be honest. Don't ask don't tell. If someone cares enough to ask you what you do in your spare time, don't lie, but you don't have to walk around and advertise it if it makes you feel uncomfortable.

I wonder about this all the time... some of the BL stores sell "custom" packs, generally like a pack of some color plates or some such, but I never see things like this that would be greatly useful... I would think for the little extra work it would take, they'd sell a lot more pieces - and I'm not just talking about trains.

Yeah, I thought it was just Mutt at first. Is this thread just out of nowhere, or am I missing some series of posts about something? Anyway, if I had to comment on this picture alone, I would point out that I notice a possible past (skeleton), present (Indy looking guy), and future (?space? lady) theme going. I would also suggest the CMF bases can mean only one thing... are you ready for it? They didn't want the figures to fall down... If the middle one is from Atlantis (which I would still consider more a futuristic theme), then one thing that ties them altogether is adventure themes.

Nice work... love the cannons. If I ever build mine I'll have to see what I can MOD.

Good find, fluffy, finally the battery box is available in the U.S.

Except maybe Adam Reed Tucker. Edit: Okay (not ok-ey) dokey... I guess I should have said something about me; I have an MSCS with an emphasis on computer graphics and have been programming professionally for going on 20 years. To answer Tony... I respect that "real" engineers often need to go through certifications that computer programmers don't, so I don't like referring to myself as a software engineer. Of course there are certain certifications people can get, like MCSE, but while valuable to certain employers, most programmers I know consider those kinds of certifications to be somewhat of a joke. As an example, if an electrical or mechanical engineer, by thoughtless error, causes a U.S. naval vessel to be dead in the water, he'd probably lose his certification... but when Windows NT does it because of a division by zero error, people just shrug.

I don't think the EB search function works so well, personally, so I use google: Google Search: "2011 City Sets" site:eurobricks.com The first hit is this thread.