happymark

I wasn't very interested in NinjaGo in the beginning. except for some figs. however, I find boys love them. they play them a lot. I realized the reason - they like to pretend play fight! You are right, fight!! especially for 6-8 years old boys, they are a little tired of CITY. but like to make up their story about battle between good and bad. ninjas vs skeletons. they made some buildings and defined rules and story lines. made more weapons and scenes and.. dragons. They seems never had enough dragons! I admit the vehicles are really just so so (mostly white/black color). but dragon sets and Fire Temple are awesome.(well, I bought most of sets in discount). However, I feel kinda weird for new Green Theme Ninja. Haven't bought any yet. (not very attractive, maybe the color itself is weird to me?) but I think I might get some booster pack.. (expensive if you calculate price per piece.. )

first one is Skyblaster http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?itemID=78217&colorID=66 second one is from infamous Galidor http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=gal45

I read from another sites which talked about 'LEGO bubble'. http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/2371/speculation-in-the-lego-market-akin-to-tulip-mania-the-housing-bubble and http://www.toysnbricks.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4804&sid=b4ed48d19777adb531fc2a2a0b95169a&start=100 Many people noticed the increasing number of LEGO "hoarders" especially after 10179 UCS MF and 10182 Cafe Corner phenomenon. (yes. you can also count Batman/Spiderman or old HP sets) However, will current sets price increase as well? (I doubt FB/GE will, thinking many people already have dozen of FB for resale later. even MMV and EN are kept being produced. they are very nice sets by no means) I do agree there are some bubble about LEGO resale market. maybe will keep for a while. (one thing I noticed about China, the biggest market which is still in VERY initial state of LEGO collections/playing) sad is that if you want to invest on LEGO, you have to keep MISB. which means you cannot play with it (not even look into it!) or you can play and resell the used one which will be only half or less as MISB. another down side is that the LEGO box is big! it occupied space :( oh well, we all hope we can get profit from LEGO to support our Hobby! and if we can make a fortune. that would be better :D

I sold this Fluffy before. I don't remember I took it apart. (maybe since it could not save much space anyway?) I used a little box instead.

thank you for the reply! I think I am in the stage that following instruction to build the set would not satisfied me (for some sets). maybe that's the beginning of serious MOCing.. actually nowadays my kids build most of the sets by instructions. I am a little worried about the negative effect..

somehow, I feel that building by following instruction is kinda 'anti-creative'. sometime, I just feel I was building without brain/mind. although it worked but feel bored for the process.. :(

I guess somebody just forgot to remove the link?

Thank you Ralph_S, as the original poster, I totally agree with you. (actually I like your way to purchase LEGO - such as sometime, bought a set but do not build per instruction at all but for the pieces). I want to clarify that I should not talk 'Licensed sets' in general. because they are different. such as Cars 2, as Rook mentions.. too over-Decal for me. but others, like PtoC, or Harry Potter, do give us many very good pieces and in nicer colors. oh well, I am not complaining , (I believe I am going to buy some Batman sets for sure. and of course the Joker!) but maybe will think twice for over-decal sets.. or.. maybe I should NOT buy too many sets after all!! Thank you all guys for reply. I really appreciate all the comments! fred67, Thank you so much for the reply! well said!

It is pretty neat!! I am just worried you will run out of space soon :)

Okay. I did buy some CARS sets, good movie after all. but they are kinda lack of playability, maybe because they were based on the movie so really limited the imagination? and printed pieces have very limited usage for me. so is Toy Story, although very cute characters. same for PoP sets (many people agree PoP didn't sell well), I did buy some PoP sets when they were in clearance for the pieces. I know Starwars and Harry Potter are very successful. but I am really a little tired of them . oh well. My boys love play more NinjaGo now, and I like castle thing better. These really generic themes give more space for imagination.. what do you think? (I am sure I will buy some Batman next year though. even just for the Minifigure ;)

Ralph_S, I love your MOCs although I do not post comments often. I do agree with you and more people building in minifigure (or SYSTEM) scale, I guess 70% - 80% ? (think about Town/City and Castle/Pirate/Trains) Technic is one of big group which is not in SYSTEM scale. Actually your MOCs are more like 'Advanced Creator' scale. (by the way, nowadays Creator houses sets are also built in minifigure scale) Maybe need a new Forum about No-Minifig scale Mark

Yeah..good idea.. it doesn't work for me though.. normally I would either forget. or.. just hard for me to return any LEGO :)

and maybe this link: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=48621

totally agree with that! LEGO is for play (well)! of course, if I have the golden C3PO, I would keep it in closet :) sometime my son invites some kids for playdate also.. but I am fine with it. I am glad he has something he can showoff :)

I am really curious why the price in US is the lowest? because this is the biggest consumer market? because the debt US have? because unfair trading? by the way, actually I do feel I intend to spend more because it sounds much cheaper here.. (especially a lot of sales going on :( )

I am in US. for me, the price of the sets are related to 1) the time of the year 2) the popularity of the theme 3) the stock of the vendor/TLG example Nov/Dec, many vendor will have Black Friday sale, Christmas sale and Post holiday sale (Last year, Amazon had some sets deeply discounted) and Toysrus it has 25% off or 33% off sometime. The theme, such as PoP sets were not selling well as others. and Seems Toy Story are slow too. so sometime, they were sold for a good price. I do see some sets (because they are popular?) were re-stock again. such ask FB/GE/MMV or even Death Star and Battle of Endor. I feel they are longer in the shelf than they should be.. IMHO.

I would say both. I try to put them by themes ( Starwars, toy story, police and firefighter, harry potter, pirates, blue coat and red coats, castles etc) but I also keep some loose pieces (arms, helmets, unrecognized torsos..) but No. not completely parted out I would say most of them 80-90% are by themes (although some are mixed already ...by kids :( )

Okay. I stopped at BN book store (because of the 40% coupon). but could not decide which one to pick. Thinking about White House. but feel not quite worth it. they also have other architecture sets. they also have some CARS II. but not very interested. They have several CITY Police. but I do not feel impressive. They have HP Hogwarts set. but I already have the castle. They do have Ewok Battle set. Alien attach does not sounds very impressive either. so what to pick? (valuable?) or I should just save some money for year end sale? (I really hope they had CREATOR or TECHNIC sets :( Thanks!

good discussion. I would think it will drop. as a dad of two boys. I was thinking to buy a $15 batman figure for them. but now I just need to wait the 2012 (not the end of the world..) some kids are just starting into the super hero things. but the batman/spiderman minifigures were released even before they were born.

Yes. I got that too. actually I also ordered Starwars Character Encyclopedia which will arrive today! (actually compare LEGO bricks. the books seem to be pretty cheap :D ) here is my collection of LEGO books:

Just got my LEGO idea book from Amazon (US) yesterday. it is a very good book! full of creations (different MOCs). I love it! highly recommended! http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Ideas-Book-DK-Publishing/dp/0756686067

yes. of course. I still believe the paper ones are best. I am very attempting to buy an ipad (for reading pdf instructions) but afraid my kids would play too much games on it :( I did buy some instructions before from BL (they are heavy!) I am a little suprised that somebody even buy the BOX alone?

how about buy an ipad or andriod tablet?

Toysrus US has sale for $25 off $100. pretty good if you want to pick a MMV or EN?

http://www.amazon.com/Cult-LEGO-John-Baichtal/dp/1593273916 looks like another BOOK about AFOLs. cannot wait to read..