jaysapathy

Stopped in on Saturday and picked up two cups: one cup that was mostly wheels, axles, and tires (plus assorted odds and ends) and a second one that had a bunch of generic 1x2s in their normal color. Got some tan 1x3s too. The store is reporting that their PAB wall is getting low, and will hopefully be getting a shipment soon, but we'll see.. The real win was the Minifig bin though -- witches hats, spiders, women's dress bases, saxophonist hats (and saxophones!), pitchforks, and a host of new torsos. Rawr.

That could have very easily have been me filling the three cups. Although, it would have been me and the wife filling them (she's as crazy about them as me), so probably not. It's quite a hoot to see the mentality of Utah-ites, trying to get every last penny out of the cups in ways I didn't think possible. Nobody's as stingy as a Utah mommy. When I saw on the Facebook page that they'd be handing out tickets starting @ 6am Friday and then saw people camped on the sidewalk for it at 6am THURSDAY, I knew then that I wasn't going to be bothered with the GO. Especially with Mormon Conference going on the same weekend. SLC was a nightmare for traffic. Have you talked to the manager about making a special order for your metallic grills? She can put in requests at the very least. Haven't been in to the store in the last 10 days or so -- not sure what's changed on the wall. I keep meaning to go up and buy the rest of my missing modulars, but something always comes up. In that sense, I mean that if I wait until Monday, I get a free Christmas set with my modular, and if I buy both of them in separate transactions, I get both Christmas sets free plus double points. I'm anxious for Monday to hurry up and get here. A shame, though, because the 10% off coupon expires on the 13th..

Alright, so I'm bumping an old thread, but I wanted to let you guys know that Miran's still going, both on ebay and on his own website: modulars.nl and http://www.ebay.com/itm/251248875277?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 .. At least he's giving credit where it's due now I guess?

Had to chime in here -- the wife and I are now card carrying modular building members. We finished the Fire Station last weekend, and bought the Grand Emporium last eve. We're already through the first floor. Finishing it up this weekend. Some of the stuff I've seen in this thread is inspiring me to alter the already creative designs. Darn the lot of you for sparking my creativity. :D

Found out yesterday that the store here is getting ready to place an order for their PAB wall. Can't wait. Right now, the wall looks like this: http://wallofbricks.com/pab-display.php?country=USA&pab_store_id=127 For a city builder, there's not much. Most of what I use is 1x, not 2x, but the kids love them and right now it's what moves. I put in my request for black headlights and gray 2x2 tiles, so we'll see what happens. Fingers crossed!

My local Lego store has close to 50 of these. If you can get to the stores, they have that and the spring set too.

In my travels on eBay, I somehow came across this guy who has a new site he's pimping out: rarebricksets.com. He's selling memberships to his site there. For $27, you get access to 20 instructions plus all "future instructions" as planned through the site. A little amateur sleuthing tells me that the site has been open since early May, the guy has written an SEO book, and imports/sells Persian rugs as a day job. The site seems to be more geared towards getting you to sign up (and in fact, when you attempt to do so, Paypal calls it a "Silver Member Subscription," -- those of you who are familiar with multi level marketing scams just shuddered), and I tend to shy away from this one, regardless of how cool a modular Dunkin Donuts might be. My question for the masses is pretty simple: is he ripping stuff off and selling it? Are these original designs worth looking into, or is this just some fly by night scam artist I should avoid giving my money to? EDIT: I posted on the guy's Facebook page, looking for info. He told me he had some free instructions on his site, so I went looking to see what I could find. He offers instructions for a train station, but it's all done through short videos via a private YouTube account and a parts list via the website. When I asked if they did "printed" instructions (PDF), he said no, and deleted our entire conversation so nobody else could see. He somewhat misrepresents himself on the Facebook page, indicating that there's actual "instructions" instead of a bunch of random videos of watching him put stuff together. I'm leaning more towards con artist now -- if he doesn't do printed instructions, it's harder for people to claim he's ripping them off. Everything about this guy just seems used car salesman-ish, so I think I answered my own question here. If anyone else has experience with this, I'd be happy to hear it.

Really Useful Boxes. Oh yes. Win.

Right, I'm with you. Totally clear on that concept, I've just never heard it termed as such. Mostly, it's "Bricklink XML Parts List" or something similar. :D The wife and I ordered our first modular this week (the fire station, only $100 after a $50 gift card, woohoo), so we'll definitely be deciding what the next building to attach is after we have a starting point in the village. With double points coming up next month, I'm pretty sure we'll end up picking up all the other modulars available: the grand emporium, the theater, the pet shop, and the town hall. Then, naturally, we add a game shop and the Winchester to it, and we've graduated from a village to a town, if all goes well. I'll have to look into more of these instructions. I found myself trying to explain it to my wife yesterday ("What do you mean you just get some digital file? For 8 bucks they don't send you an actual physical copy? No, I don't think we should pay for some goofy digital download"), so we might be experiencing a roadblock. Maybe I should get involved with a LUG just to be able to see some of these before I buy them.. Maybe that'd convince her. Ah well. Has anyone actually bought/put together the Ice Cream Shop or the Pizza Parlor from Brick City Depot? I'm readdressing my previous fears in that they look pretty much the same. The pizza parlor looks like it has the same floor twice. And considering the modulars we're going to have by the end of the month, does anyone have other recommendations as to what would look good with that setup? I know I've seen a McDonald's and a Baskin Robbins out there in YouTube videos, but I haven't been able to find the instructions.

Again, read the thread. There's statistics laid out all through here, you just have to look carefully. Most people are reporting an average of 20% more if you pack it properly. I myself ran an experiment with my pile of thick tan 1x3's last night: by throwing everything willy nilly in, they took up the entire cup. If I stacked them, it took up less than half the space. Depending on what you're doing, it's incredibly space efficient to stack, but for other things it just doesn't matter.

When I was putting the minifigs together, it was interesting to see mermaid tails/torsos and long female hair. They also had tommy guns. Every figure got one, except the mermaid. She got two. I've been in there three times since the opening filling PAB cups, and every time I end up holding some sort of impromptu seminar on how to properly pack a cup. Whether it's another AFOL, a father filling a cup for his kid, or some guy who thinks he knows what he's doing and gets put to shame by my simplistic methods, everyone takes interest in me. Except the guy who was there last time -- he got a large cup filled with nothing but 1x1 rounded translucent red studs. He got in line behind me and was teasing me about still being able to see air inbetween the pieces.. And then dropped his untaped cup on the floor because he wasn't paying attention. I had red studs in my shoes after that. As far as the second half of your question, perhaps I'm not understanding. Are we reading the same thing? This thread is full of useful information that relates directly to what you're asking. I would recommend starting at page one and reading through to page 39, absorbing all the information. That's what I did. :D

I just noticed that. The others listed on Amazon, however, aren't on his site. My biggest concern is if I buy them, I may not be able to get as good a resolution as I'd like if I have to convert from whatever format Kindle uses to PDF. That, and I'm thinking they might all end up being the same instructions, just with different colors. :) Not in the Bricklink stores, no. I've picked up the occasional odd, such as the Winchester pub, but I'll have to keep an eye out for those. I've seen the Chili's one, and was intrigued enough to buy it, but a "web site glitch" meant that I was out the money and didn't get the instructions. Nobody responded to emails, so I called it a wash. Brickbuilderspro's online system went without a hitch, and gave me the link once the purchase was made, but when I emailed him to ask about whether or not he still sells these sets (three times, in fact) I didn't hear anything back. Understandably, between glitches costing me money and people who don't respond, I'm kind of hesitant to start ordering instructions online, which is why I tend to look towards community developed ones. To be honest, I actually signed up for Prime so I could evaluate the instructions through the Lending program, but got shot down when I found out that there wasn't that ability for a generic Android/iOS device. You have to have a Kindle. Ah well. I'm considering picking up the Seafood Restaurant, as it's only $3.50. If it's awful, I'm only out pocket change. Those are fantastically detailed and well done. I wouldn't think twice about paying $5 for those. I may have to do that with my haunted house, because it fits into the street a lot easier. I think you've lost me -- can you elaborate? Thanks for all the feedback!

I'm in need of advice (hopefully this is in the right place). My wife and I are starting our own modular city -- right now it's a little more than a colony, with four lego figures and a covered wagon (you get the idea) -- and have been looking at purchasing a few instructions. I bought the Video Game Shop instructions from Brick Builders Pro (http://www.brickbuilderspro.com/video-game-shop-pdf-instructions/), and my better half has been crawling Amazon looking for others. She found a few by the same guy, and has her heart set on this one: http://www.amazon.com/Build-Cute-Cream-Shop-ebook/dp/B007C4WJOM/ I checked the guy's website, and he doesn't sell this through there anymore (or any of the other 6 he has listed on Amazon -- Mellow Yellow Jazz Club, Fresh Flower Shop, Kelly Green Deli, The Brick Town House, and the Seafood Cafe). Amazon sells these as Kindle books, which I could check out using their Lending Library.. If I owned a Kindle. :P Has anyone checked any of these instructions out? Are they pretty much the same as his Game Shop? It's frustrating not being able to see them before I buy them, as Amazon has the first six pages as a preview, as opposed to the center of the instructions where you get a good bead on what's going on. Any and all input welcome. Should I just buy these and hope for the best? Or is there somewhere else I should be looking to purchase similar instructions?

Stopped in again last night to find out my local store had restocked for the third time in three days. So much win. Bricks are flying out the door like they're giving away money. The guy I talked to before said they'd opened 20 boxes since the store opening. Whoa. Picked up a boatload of thick, tan 1x3 pieces, which as it turns out, I needed and didn't even know it. Now if they'd just put out the smooth 2x2s..

So it's kind of hard to see behind the figures, but I filled my first actual, factual brick cup on Friday during the grand opening: http://s23.postimg.org/72d3pnl6z/IMG_20130920_205524.jpg After thinking it over for a week or so, I came up with some solid strategies for how to get as much as I could in the cup. The place was a zoo, so I set everything on the counter, and the wife and I got to work. Suddenly, everyone was interested in what I was doing. I was filling for about 45 minutes, and EVERYBODY WHO PASSED BY had to stop and gawk. I found myself giving impromptu lessons to people about my technique, how I was getting the most out of the cup, etc. In the end, I managed to get 688 pieces, .021 cents each. The selection on the wall for opening day was somewhat slim, with mostly 2x2 / 2x4 blocks (this is, after all, a "family town" and the store is trying to cater to kids for the grand opening). There were a few nice surprises there though, with blue/red/green 1x2's, windows, and flowers. No greenery though. The guy I got talking to was telling me that the entire back room was full of boxes for the PAB wall, and they'd be gradually changing things out. During the hour and 20 minutes I was in the store total, I saw 5 PAB bins refilled. They were flying out the door (in small cups no less) just as fast as they could fill it. The place was pretty crazy. The nicest surprise on the PAB wall were plates: black 4x6, gray 4x4/4x6. Filled as much as I could before I threatened to split the cup. Had to go buy more containers to house everything. Yum.

First store ever in Utah soft-opens today. Couldn't be more excited. The official grand opening is 2/3/4th of October, so I'll be there all three days. They're giving away an exclusive Lego set as well as an exclusive minifig package. Should be good!

That would indeed be it. A shame that not many stores are carrying it. If the new local store has them, I'm going to get 4 large cups full. Tomorrow just can't get here soon enough. *sigh*

Long time lurker, first time poster, etc. and I've got to tell you, this thread makes my man-nipples erect. Seriously. Poking right through the tee shirt. Our first Lego store in the area opens Friday. It's a 20 minute drive away, and I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. One question I do have though, which doesn't appear to be covered in the pictures/textuals over the last 38 pages: Does the PaB wall traditionally see smooth 2x2 bluish-gray pieces? The stuff us city builders usually use for sidewalks around building MOCs..