deraven

Really great looking station, with a ton of great details and features as well! Nicely thought-out and executed, and the fact that the exterior is attractive and an interesting shape while keeping a functional interior is always great to see. Great build!

Looks great, and the features and interior you've worked in at this scale are very nice. And assuming it is sturdy enough, it would be very swooshable as well. Nice build!

I think these comments sum it up. I think Big Bang themes can work very well and be a lot of fun, producing great sets... but it all ends up being Ninjago or watered-down so it doesn't compete or overlap with Ninjago too much. Steampunk/Dieselpunk theme? Wrap it in Ninjago. Want some awesome Mechs? Make them Ninjago (though we've had mechs in a lot of themes now). Cyberpunk? Stick Ninjago inside video games. I think that's still resulted in some awesome sets. I liked Sky Pirates and bought several of those sets because I liked the dieselpunk feel, and the fact that it was a Ninjago season didn't really matter to me. Now, if Ninjago wasn't rolling along at the time and we got a full BB run of a similar theme, would it have been better? Probably. But would something like a whole dieselpunk BB line have even happened? I'm not so sure. So the question in my mind is this: would we prefer to have longer-running but very flexible themes where they can do shorter runs of different ideas like that which maybe aren't so "safe", or a few BB themes and hope they're interesting and well-executed? Personally, even though I'm a bit weary of Ninjago I think the current mix of standard themes & licensed properties, plus a long-running "flexible" theme, plus some shorter-run BB experiments, plus some good Ideas and D2C items mixed in works well. What I'd like to see less of is random licensing (Overwatch, Minions, Trolls, etc.) that probably takes talent and focus away from making BB themes really great and potentially more successful for Lego when not lost in the shuffle of 50 other product lines. But if Lego can do it all and not stumble into the problems they created for themselves in the past with over-diversification of product lines, more power to them. And I think if BB themes were bad strategy (meaning sales numbers weren't where they needed them to be), they've have already figured that out and stopped trying them. Everything beyond that is just AFOL preferences as to what we'd like to see them put their focus.

I'm in a similarly split position on this. I fully support their general stance to not promote military ("real world") violence, and as a company that is their decision to make, but the problem with this specific item does seem a little odd as others have noted given other products they produce. It's strange to draw the line here when they have superhero sets that prominently feature war machines (including real world ones like Humvees), and things like the Creator Blue Power Jet (31039) that is clearly based on real fighter aircraft. They've also made the City Cargo Heliplane (60021) which is very obviously an Osprey. If the real issue here comes down to the licensing with Bell/Boeing as damian_kane_iv noted, I can understand that. In that case, however, I would like to see a very lightly re-worked version of this released as "Tilt-rotor Rescue Aircraft" or something.

I believe that's what we were both referring to, yes. It's a wonderful machine, and it would be awesome if @sqiddster could release the the core as non-commercial-use open source or something. Would love to set up something like a 10-bin version in my garage and just let it run through as many passes as needed to get through the rest of my sorting backlog.

Hi Wigglesworth2 - welcome to EB! Just do a quick search for sorting on the board and you'll get very lengthy threads about techniques, philosophy, etc., that will give you a lot to work with and think about! Very briefly: Collections vary from no physical Lego (just digital building) or a few sets to literally millions of pieces, and the sorting necessarily varies with collection size and preferences. How long it takes to sort is also highly variable, but I think most people would say that it's a never-ending, continuous process, but an initial sort of a modest collection will take several days to a few weeks. A truly enormous collection might be best sorted to a highly granular level, all the way down to specific colors of specific pieces. What works best for me (with a largish collection) is simply sorting by part type. I have around 700 small parts drawers of a few different sizes and numerous larger bins (for things like regular 1x? and 2x? bricks or larger part types) that I sort into by part type. Some are subdivided where it makes sense to do so and all told I probably have things separated into about 1,000+ parts or categories. When a drawer is full, the spill-over just goes into a ziploc bag and those bags are put into larger bins that correspond to the individual drawer cabinets. That way, if I'm getting low on a part in a drawer or looking for additional pieces of a specific color not in the drawer, etc., I just pull the appropriate "back stock" bin and look in the overflow bag with that part. That way I can keep my sorting & storage layout basically the same as my collection grows (never really "outgrowing" drawers) and only need to find more bulk storage space from time to time. As for automation, you can use things like a screen (or Lego's own Sorting Head that they made, though it's small) to roughly break down pieces by size, but otherwise you're looking at things like what you referenced (AI-driven machine sorting). It would be fantastic if one of those devices was put out as a turn-key product (or even just open source) because I'd love to have a smaller-scale version of one of those that I could just let run for days at a time! Right now, my kids are part of my sorting automation process. Not sure how to answer how much space as it again depends on the size of the collection. For just the sorting part, I have large tubs (50-100 liter size) of unsorted Lego that I have out of the way and work through one at a time. For each "active" sorting tub I have 8 smaller bins that I do a pre-sort into with general categories (regular bricks, modified bricks, regular plates, modified plates, Technic & related, minifigs & accessories, slopes & wedges, and other/misc). Any time one of the smaller pre-sort bins gets full, the rest of the process pauses and that smaller bin is then sorted by piece. I like to use the inner trays from old Lego advent calendars to put individual pieces into. Once that's done, those parts go into drawers or overflow bags, and we keep going through that cycle. When not spread out for active sorting, all that can be stacked into a fairly small volume (especially if you put some of the smaller pre-sorting bins inside the larger unsorted bin as it starts to get emptied out). Hope that gives you some ideas. Happy building (and sorting)!

While I agree that it wasn't based on any particular real-life ship type, I would say it most closely resembles a flyut, again without the mizenmast. Take a look at, for example, some pictures of the Hector which is a replica flyut: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_(ship)

That's awesome! Is that a runway on the back, or is it supposed to be more of a ferry? I think if it's a runway/aircraft carrier you might have an issue with the placement of those front engines in relation to other aircraft operations on its back, but the concept is fun nonetheless. ... and the build is great!

That's the ticket! Looks like it's 2 cheese slopes and not a roof brick or anything else SNOT behind the grey plate. I would say the mystery has been solved!

Do you have a link to a better image? Kinda hard to see the area in question with the tiny, low-res version here when using the little EB storage space and I'm not even sure if that piece behind the modified grey plate is actually rounded at the top or if it's a roof brick or something. Doesn't seem to be a lot of images of it online...

Hi Jamie - welcome to EB! I'm sure you'll have lots of opinions from lots of people on which digital tools work best, but I would suggest going with Bricklink Studio (www.stud.io) at this point, or Ldraw if that has greater appeal to you for whatever reason. Lego Digital Designer (LDD) has had all support dropped for it a while back, and LeoCAD (which I've also used in the past and liked) is rarely updated these days. LDraw has a big community and regular if not frequent updates so there's plenty of longevity still in that platform. Studio, however, is a modern program in very active development with more frequent feature and parts updates, and since Lego bought Bricklink I think it's safe to assume that support and development will continue for a good long while. I think it has some ease-of-use advantages over LDraw as well with how nicely things like rendering, parts list creation, etc., are integrated but that's largely a matter of preference (and it's not as extensible as LDraw if you want to really get under the hood). Just my opinion on that - happy building, whatever you use!

The whole thing is just great, and I especially like the tiling on the front for that weathered wood look. And I agree that things like the axe stuck in the stump take it to another level of detail to enjoy. Great build!

Model Team look with some great functionality under the attractive shell - what's not to like? Very nice!

You can force it in, yes, but given the amount of force required it's definitely not "legal" to do it that way, so I was just wondering if there was another trick to it that wasn't obvious... because it's a great looking feature! I didn't mention it before, but it's also an interesting use of the curved slope in the sand green part of the building above the stall. Not sure about those grill tiles as shutters, but as Henjin_Quilones said, these things are just minor differences in preference and the fact that there's so much to talk about in this small build is impressive in itself.

Yeah, that's bugging me too. I have to assume it's not a "legal" connection as I don't know that 1x2 plate-sized piece has walls thin enough to fit the broom bristles. I think you could maybe force them into the bottom of a regular plate or tile, but...

Very nice! NPU on the brooms for awning support, and the basket for another tier of goods is a nice detail, too! Plenty of other nice details and techniques to enjoy in such a small build. It's great!

Really lovely, cozy-looking home. I heartily agree that the wall textures are great, and that long overhang for storage and livestock is nicely integrated. And that snow looks appropriately heavy and deep. Great build!

The additional interest from Fantasy MOCers is a good point - certainly could add a bit to the resale value above and beyond normal factors. I also agree that the theme was underrated (as you touched on in the topic post, Lego David) and I'll admit that while I didn't discount it at the time, looking at the sets again now I see several more that would have been nice to have!

I don't think there's anything special going on here- seems like pretty typical appreciation to me when a set gets retired, especially when it's still new enough that someone who is a completionist or looking for a specific minifig (minidoll in this case) may still be willing to pay a premium. The the prices will dip a bit, then as it ages it'll be less common to find the complete set and it'll go back up in price. Since these sets also are interesting to begin with (vs just another police car with a generic police officer from City - that kind of thing) and have animals and specific characters in them, they tend to remain at more of a premium. Take a look at some of the old Vikings sets, Ninjago, etc. - not at all uncommon for them to range from 2x to 5x the original retail price. Maybe a more direct comparison would be Friends sets: stuff from the last few years is 1-1.5x for generic vehicles or "scene" sets, but when you add a specific theme or interest (like sets with horses, veterinary sets, etc.) they prices jump back to that 2-3x range. I think you're seeing general market forces + timing there more than any other specific factor affecting price.

What a fine little shunter, and such a great job getting all the components worked in! Well done.

Correct. That info and more new member info here that you might want to take a quick look at for any similar questions: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=71241&view=findpost&p=1320166 I would agree - just participate in some more conversation and enjoy the board, and soon enough you'll be able to PM those folks and see if they still have the files floating around somewhere.

This is fantastic! Looks great, you've incorporated some nice features, and the building techniques used are interesting and effective as well. Oh, and great render/photography too; I honestly scrolled past the first picture to get to where the "lego version" was before taking a closer look. Great build - would be wonderful to see it in real ABS at some point.

Nice CS feel to it, and a nice homage to the Mineral Detector. I like the multiple levels and ability to carry passengers or cargo in the lower middle section. And nice to see the orange spaceman starting to make appearances!

Oh, sorry! I see now looking up the thread a little bit that even a year or two ago people were saying the file downloads were broken. Maybe google for the lxf file name and see if it pops up from another source?

That's interesting to see. Yeah, agreed that they probably just found a box of old stock and since they're not particularly valuable sets (like finding a box of retired Modulars or something) they just put them up for sale at the shop.