tedbeard

I enjoyed the article but you glossed over the effect of the Spinal Tap case and the connection to SLAPPs. If you can "win" by simply threatening legal action and the attendant costs involved the law no longer really matters. So what if I am right? If I cannot hope to defend myself in court because it is too expensive the law is meaningless. I like that you defend the right to use LEGO in creating something that you then sell. The pen idea is a great way to explain that part to someone.

My families (OK, me and the kids - my wife isn't impressed) summer TV show. We love the big balls and some of the acrobatics that result. My favorite section is the classic sweeper. Oooh, that would be cool to build with power functions...

Slightly off the collectible figs topic but I was excited to see that Canadian Graphic Novelist Scott Chantler's latest work , Two Generals, is finished and will be in stores in October 12. It is a graphic novel about Canadian soldiers who landed on Juno Beach and is based on the true story of his grandfather. I really enjoyed his fictional novel Northwest Passage and I think both books will make for great inspiration for MOCs when I get a chance.

How can you "review" the minifigs if you did not get them?

I went to both Wally World and TRU here in Victoria (Town & Country and Mayfair only) and found nothing but confused and slightly dubious sales staff.

Not sure what's happening (been busy with other things lately). There may be a server move in the works but I thought we'd get some warning before that happened. I'll try to find out.

Nope, Akela for the 2nd Fort Victoria Cub Pack. At 42 I'm a little old for Rovers.

I got a look at the garbage truck. It is a fantastic model and has a lot of really nice playability/functionality but I cannot see how it would possibly fit into a town layout. The scale is crazy huge. It's twice as big as a six-wide and putting it beside four-wide, well that would be ridiculous. Now, if someone was to build a town in TSS (Toy Story Scale), that could look really good. Think Duplo-sized people/objects but built of regular bricks.

Being that my hometown is Victoria, BC we have the biggest parade in Canada tomorrow which has been going for 112 years. I will be in it marching with Scouting youth and adults from all over the Greater Victoria area. Fun, yet annoying fact: the parade starts at a mall with a TRU except they will not open until after the parade has departed. I had hoped to pop in and check if they had any of the Collectible Minifigs.

Definitely too happy. Should be more

I saw the title and thought you were one of these:

I think you might be confusing the issue a little. The original question was regarding using LEGO elements as a material in a creation. Using LEGO elements to make jewelry or book covers or portraits or furniture etc. is not an infringement of LEGO patents, trademarks or copyrights*. A disclaimer is a good idea to avoid any such claim but generally making something with LEGO elements and selling it is OK. Making the customer believe that they are buying a finished product created and sold by the LEGO Company is fraud. *Note: Examples of infringement (keeping in mind I am not a lawyer - this is my understanding): PATENT infringement would be to copy the stud and tube system if a legally valid patent is registered in your country. TRADEMARK infringement would be to use the LEGO red-box with distinctive lettering on the item or it's packaging. COPYRIGHT infringement would be to photocopy instruction manuals and sell them. Hope this helps.

Until moderated by BS "staff" you have to use deeplinks (copy the URL as you actually are looking at an individual picture.) Or better yet, come into the 21st century and get a Flickr account. :) - no waiting - notes and comments - basic use is free and "pro" (unlimited pictures) is cheap

Our LUG has not received our Round 1 order yet so I cannot tell you how it turned out.

We could brick build initials (like KFC) much more easily I think. Some more suggestions: CB (Chicken Brick) BB (Bird Blocks) LLC (LegoLand Chicken) Or how about we use up all those annoying torsos and open Timmy's Chicken? Design a standard brick built "T" with a chicken on top? OK, maybe I'm getting a little silly but it is Friday and tomorrow is opening day for my football team.

Rather than go on some witch-hunt in search of evil traitors how about you try to determine what the issues are and work to resolve them like a mature responsible sysadmin? If there are no significant security or privacy issues won't they remove the warning? Who did this and why are frankly, unimportant. For every imagined scenario of registered-member EB-hating psychopaths there could be a non-member security specialist with genuine concerns. That said, if unsubstantiated complaints continue to be made over and over again, I'd agree you've got a psycho.

Hi Johnno, You are in the right place. Most people here I would guess subscribe to the theory that you an never have enough LEGO - at least until you run out of room, you run out of money or your wife/husband runs out of patience. :) Your next step is to find a convention to go to. Living out here on the Left Coast I go down ever year to Seattle for BrickCon in October. If you are more in the middle you might like to try for Chicago's Brickworld in June. And if you have crazy money there are lots of other great conventions (see BrickWiki: Events).

Odd, in Canada we use the standard lyrics "God save our gracious Queen, Long live our Noble Queen, God Save the Queen..." I guess in the "mother country" you don't have that special relationship we do. :) Funny story: when my mum was a small child she assumed people in Vancouver sang "Send her Vancouverous. happy and..." It made sense to a little a little girl from Victoria, BC who sang lustily, "Send her Victorious, happy and..."

I have lived in Ontario. Its a nice place to visit but I wouldn't wanna live there. Ontario: snow shovelling, blackflies, humidity Vancouver Island: sunshine, surfing, maybe a little rain But seriously, welcome aboard legobryne!

Oh my! I shudder every time I think of you guys Down Under and the premium you pay. I whine because we are right next door and S@H Canada is serviced from the same physical warehouse/offices as S@H USA. I don't know if I could afford LEGO as a hobby if I lived in New Zealand. Sets like the Imperial Flagship almost never appear in stores in Canada and we have no LEGO brand stores yet. If you are coming through Victoria (unlikely I know) I'd be happy to act as your "shipping location".

Gotta watch it however as you might get dinged for duty if you are out of Canada less than 24 hours. I understand Target is a pretty good place to buy LEGO in the US but I live in Victoria which means I save up and buy like crazy at the Bellevue LEGO store when I go to BrickCon in October. It's not really possible to hop across the border and pick up some LEGO. Although if they ever get a Target in Port Angeles... Maybe I'll see some of you in Seattle in October?

Any toy store in Detroit would be better than any store in Canada.Why? Because the $Cdn is basically at par with the $US making LEGO in Canada 25-30% more expensive. Last time this happened they gave us excuses and even beat down Wally-World, the only retail chain to complain. This time some economists are saying the rate may not go down for a couple of years. For the foreseeable future I will not be buying new LEGO in Canada and will be telling all my family and friends not to buy new LEGO in Canada either if they can avoid it.

I especially appreciated the comment about blaming others loudly then finding the piece in the next minute for an extreme embarrassment situation.

A local toy store who set up his own PaB with used LEGO is hoping to get these in but he is not very optimistic. My guess is here in Canada it will be rare to see these outside of TRU and if past experience is any indicator they will be available for about an hour after the case is opened and put out.

Very nice work! Simple and good looking.