deraven

Can you edit the permissions on the site you're hosting the images from so that we can see them (they're both "Permission Denied" and don't display here on the forum)? Or move them to a public sharing service like Flickr? Thanks!

It's been going for for several years at least (I found a reference from about a decade ago in another forum where they were talking about the strategy Lego uses for packing boxes & bags) but not sure if it's more prevalent now than it was then. I know I've also seen the opposite where some pieces have extra bagging (like big-figs where each piece of them is in their own bag or section of a multi-part perforated bag) whereas before those would just be loose in another bag or in 1 bag by itself. That seems easier to explain, though, with it likely being a case of those parts or the printing being damaged at a higher rate and thus given the extra protection.

I'm not going to comment on your environmental quip other than to say that every little bit helps. But this quote here: you just answered your own question. They put things in bags that make logical sense to do so with or need to for whatever reason. That would be "most parts." The others, those are what you see in the boxes not bagged.

This is craziness, but I like it. NPU throughout, but I especially like the droid parts in the head as well as the snake guts.

Yes, compressed air can work, but if this is a lot of loose bricks that's why I use the vacuum in those cases instead (too easy to blow bricks everywhere, though you can contain them in various ways... but then still you need to do it outside or something where you don't mind all the dust blowing ). I will also 2nd the use of a salad spinner for initial drying - that works very well to speed things along.

If there's a lot of dust and a lot of parts, DEFINITELY do something to get as much dust removed before you apply water of any sort, or you'll be sorry; it goes from tedious but easy to remove to dirt adhered at every edge and nook that has to be scrubbed off. Now, if they're really dirty (like were played with outside and have more dirt & mud than dust), you may as well go right to washing them. From my experience dealing with bulk parts in a similar situation, I'd start by vacuuming small batches of the parts, then go with warm (not hot) dishwater with just a tiny bit of dish soap and stir/scrub with a soft brush as needed, then rinse them in clean water with a touch of rinse aid (like you'd use in a dishwashing machine) to help prevent water spots all over them if you don't take the trouble to completely dry them all (the quick way is to dump them out into towels and pat them dry, then lay them out under a fan or other place with good airflow to let them finish drying). For the vacuuming of parts, I use the hose attachment on my vacuum and put something sturdy but with good airflow over the opening (cheese cloth, used dryer sheets work surprising well - something like that held with strong rubber bands) with a little bit of slack so it's not taught and prone to getting punctured, then literally just stick it into a shallow tray of parts and vacuum, stir, vacuum, repeat. If you have a dusting brush attachment for your vacuum, use that and put one layer of the cloth barrier you're using on the end that attaches to the hose (so it's just held in there by friction the way the attachment is) and another one actually loosely wrapped around the brush itself so it's got plenty of play to make contact with the bricks and move the dust. You'll need to turn off the vacuum now and then to peel off the layer of dust and hair and whatnot that builds up (like cleaning the lint filter in your clothes dryer), and just keep going that way dumping parts from the bulk lot into the tray and vacuuming until they seem OK, then doing a new batch. Seems a little weird, but works well and is much faster than other methods when dealing in bulk, and very little chance that any parts will get sucked up.

Very nice! Love that you included the ATV as well... and I agree that it looks better than the real one with the larger wheels and slightly differing proportions. Great build!

Welcome to EB, Alessandro! The Saturn V is definitely a set it's easy to get hooked on! Lot of AFOLs got back into Lego a little later in life after a dark age, so you're definitely not alone there. As for questions, the General Lego Discussion forum is a good place to start if your questions don't seem to fit nicely into one of the other categories, and the mods/admins are good about moving topics to the appropriate areas if needed. Happy building!

Certainly doesn't seem like good news to me. I won't rehash what others have said, but what it comes down to is that there a few ways TLG could make Bricklink better than it currently is, and about 10,000 ways they could easily make it much worse if they don't actively try to prevent themselves from doing so (and I have little to no faith that they will, not even because of ill intent but simply because they don't understand Bricklink as they view it through their corporate lens and a completely different perspective). This may, however, be the best thing to happen to BrickOwl in a long time. I'd be very curious to see what their account sign-ups look like over the next month or so...

It is quite concerning as it could be a great thing, but equal money that it completely disrupts the secondary market in a bad way. This could, however, be the best thing that has happened to BrickOwl.com in a while...

That pretty much sums it up, along with the environmental/needless waste issue. Just no reason for them to be in a bag. If offers no additional protection, and the parts are large enough that there's no way they'd slip out of the box unless it was very badly damaged in which case they would consider it to be non-salable anyway.

Yes, that can be normal. I don't know if there is a resource somewhere that will tell you which parts in which sets, but definitely larger pieces like some boat hulls, larger plates, sometimes larger tires, etc., can be loose in the box with the other parts all bagged as usual, so probably nothing out of the ordinary with those.

Yes, as long as it meets the other guidelines for acceptability and image quality as found in the official guidelines, a digital creation made in Stud.io is fine.

Cool! Nice functions, fun look, and I love your engineer, too!

Welcome to EB, Maxwell. Happy building!

Well, I also don't know that this is much of a problem in my life, but I definitely agree that the engineered solution is clever and well-executed! I love mechanical solutions like this. Great build!

(duplicate post - sorry!)

That's lovely, and the candy shop area is a nice addition. I would say that it could use a few more books downstairs (or maybe a couple magazine racks?), but otherwise I like the layout and interior features. The exterior looks great well. I like that it's not too busy with the tame color scheme, but still has plenty of visual interest. The top center window does seems a bit too square or unfinished somehow... something like giving it a half-stud inset might look good.

Welcome (officially) to EB, Vasco! Glad to have you back out of your dark ages and now visibly active on the forum. Happy building!

I guess the first question is if you have Photoshop or any similar software, since cropping and masking is a simple feature therein. If all yo've got is Paint, get something better! I would suggest GIMP as a solid, free alternative: https://www.gimp.org Once you've got that and if you're still having a challenge, there are tons of tutorials online that should get you where you want to be.

Sweet retro-future ride! I would suggest maybe doing a little more with the front steering fork area so it looks like it has more of a technological purpose rather than just a chunk of motorcycle with the tire removed (because it definitely needs something there with that general shaping to make it all feel right), but overall I think this is great and very well executed.

The is lovely. I would put in in the very best part of the "simple but effective" category - lots going on, plenty of fun to be had either playing with it or just enjoying a posed scene, and it really hits the Classic Pirates nostalgia button as Jevil said. Great build!

It looked quite interesting to me but I just couldn't cough up $20 for it. Based on your comment I'll take another look and see if I can catch one for the sale/clearance price!

It's certainly a great start. Good shaping on the bodywork already, and looking forward to seeing the rest!

Looks great and functions are integrated well. Good looking engine, and the modular front bumper is a nice touch. Great build!