L@go

Hi there - I'm going to post a question in the Train Tech section, but having stuck to reading the posts there rather than making any of my own until now, I thought it might be polite to introduce myself to you train buffs first, and humbly ask to be included among the noble Train Tech members. I never owned a Lego train set when I was little, although I was always intrigued by them. They were expensive and hard to find, so I only knew about them from the catalogues. Then, a couple of years ago I came out of my dark ages with a Café Corner, then a Market Street, then... well, you know the drill. It's all gone a bit crazy. I'm sure you recognise the story :) Being very happy with the bigger Exclusive sets, I decided to go for the Emerald Night. It was my first train, and I liked it so much that I bought an extra wagon on eBay and then pieced together another one from BL. And then I discovered the My Own Train sets, the Super Chief, the BNSF... my wallet hurts just thinking about it. Anyway, my train collection now contains: - the aforementioned triple-wagon Emerald Night - two Super Chiefs with 3x10022 and 2x10025 - a BNSF with 2x10170 - a small brown My Own Train steam engine, pulling four different-coloured versions of 10015 (green, blue, red, and black) - a big dark grey My Own Train steam engine, pulling 10013, 10014, 10016, and 10017 - the green Brick Express GWR 5101, pulling three Blokbricks beverage wagons (red, green, and blue) - a 10183 Hobby Train - a 10173 Holiday Train - and right before Christmas, I found the 7939 Cargo Train on sale. So now I've got my first motorised train as well. It moved for the first time this afternoon... Add a used, but spotless 10027 Train Engine Shed, that I stumbled upon cheaply on eBay, a 10128 Train Level Crossing pieced together via BL, a 7997 Train Station, a 4514 Cargo Crane and a couple of other small train-related sets, and you get the idea. I've never really been interested in trains as such, though, so in this case it's a matter of Lego interest leading to interest in trains. Therefore, I don't feel like MOC'ing trains. I have, however, used some custom instructions I have found here and there. So, I've added these to the collection: - LGauge's EMD SD40-2 Diesel, external pic here - Anthony Sava's Ten Wheeler 4-6-0, pic of the creator's original here - Anthony Sava's amazing Hudson 4-6-4 Streamliner, complete with tender and five coaches. Looks really great - here's Mr. Sava's own rendering of the magnificent build. - Railbricks/João Campos' CP-5600, details here (built today - it's huge!) - Railbricks/Jeramy Spurgeon's Fairbanks Morse H10-44, details here (built today) - and Railbricks/James Mathis' B Unit, details here (also built today, being the problem child at the moment, see my question in the regular Train Tech section). And this is just the Train bit of my Lego mental illness. There's (all of) the modulars, the lovely Architecture sets, the Eiffel Tower in my livingroom, and the ridiculously expensive Statue of Liberty I bought off eBay in November... and as those of you who saw the Modular Pharmacy that I posted in the Town section before Christmas might have understood, I have also been MOC'ing a bit. Not too long ago, I added up the total worth of the Lego sets I currently own, and almost fell ill. But I can (almost) afford it. And although it's really a bit embarrassing, and I really don't have the space, and I can't set up any kind of display, and my friends (the few who have a clue) think I'm crazy... it's so much fun :) Now, I'm sure some of you can answer my Train Tech question, so please have a look at it, will you? Thanks for reading. It's a bit unnerving admitting having bought all this, even to people that I don't know at all - because you speak the Lego language. You know how expensive this hobby is... EDIT: AAARGHH!! You know, never mind! I found the solution to my own problem by comparing the B unit to the Super Chief. It was suddenly very obvious. So it seems I wrote an unbelievably long introduction to a question that I didn't ask...! But at least I can ask another, very simple, Super Chief related question then, to you people who know your trains: The correct way to put a Santa Fe set together would be two Super Chiefs back-to-back on the driving end, with the B unit in between, right?

A great review. I'm starting to regret buying the Community Minifigures Set instead of this... Regarding the chimney sweep, there are a couple of theories on that here (scroll down to the last couple of posts on the page). And, having said that - doesn't this really belong more in the Historic Themes section?

Ooh, this was a hard one. Lots of fantastic entries - well done, everybody! This is what I ended up with: Dix: 1 point cecilie: 1 point Colonel: 1 point Jameson42: 1 point twigman: 1 point

Yikes.

I've ordered this, and I still think it's a good set, but your review has pointed out one particular thing to me that I don't like: The double-sided female head used in minifigures where the headgear doesn't cover the back of the head. I wish you had included a picture of the back of the female construction worker, the award-winner, the female mechanic and the female firefighter - that must look utterly bizarre, and it's the thing I don't like about the double-sided heads: There's a whole lot of different headgear they don't work with. I do like the scarecrow and the baker's rolling pin - although it's a shame he has to wield it with one hand only. Also, the the snowmen are nice in a very weird kind of way...

That's very interesting - I voted for the Public Transport without having seen what other people said, and it seems to be the most popular by far. But then it should be - it isn't the "Fans' Choice" for nothing!

Wow, obey, this is just great! I did my modular pharmacy just the way you did this, created it digitally first and then ordered the bricks. I love all the details, and the color combinations work great, something I wouldn't have guessed with sand green and tan. And those white and lime awnings... I'm really looking forward to seeing this finished. Are you going to make changes on the roof, or leave it as it was originally?

If I'm not totally mistaken one of the 'rules' that the set designers have to stick to with the modulars is that they can only use parts that are currently in production. Which would mean that there will be no new molds for the next modular building. Current pieces in new or rare colours, on the other hand, are a different matter, as far as I recall. I think Jamie Berard mentioned this in an interview a while ago. Does anybody else remember this? That said, I'd love to have a pet shop or a post office... or just about anything else. The modular line in general, and Café Corner in particular, was what lured me back into Lego, and in my opinion the designers have done a pretty good job on all the buildings thus far.

The single most interesting point about the new Dacta Minifigures collection is the fact that half the figures - 11 out of 22 - are female. There's even a female construction worker and a female firefighter - which I believe are two nice firsts for TLC. It seems that equality between the sexes has finally caught up with Lego!

You really, really shouldn't be so lazy when you've got something so amazing to show off! I tend to lose interest when there isn't a single image in a post, and I almost missed this because of that. The attention to detail is great all over, and there are so many nice touches. I love the crocodile pool (so clever to leave just the top part of the head underneath the leaves like that), the cafe with the glass roof, the oriental-themed garden and the training facility where the Karate Kid lookalike is struggling under the supervision of his Mr. Miyagi... But my favourite part has to be the little dark blue fountain. Using an upside-down basketball net for that - that's creative! Well done, Karlo. I'll do you a favour by deeplinking to another of your pictures, so more people get the chance to see this! Note the basketball net in this pic: Edit: Swapped the picture for another, since Karlo edited his post to use the same link.

I mentioned it yesterday in the 2011 City topic, with that same pic - but I guess it's worth mentioning more than once

Oh, and another thing, which you fellow Europeans will probably have discovered if you've taken a look at the Community Minifigures Set, is that the other new sets are now available also in Europe, including the recently discovered limited edition sets. Which means this turned into quite an expensive afternoon for me - I ordered: #3648 Police Chase (NOK 299.50, GBP 18.99, EUR 24.99) #3661 Bank & Money Transfer (NOK 499, GBP 41.99, EUR 49.99) #5766 Log Cabin (NOK 299.50, GBP 25.99, EUR 29.99) ... and #10217 Diagon Alley (NOK 1599, GBP 132.99, EUR 149.99), which seems to have been released a few days early. This year, Christmas comes a few days into the new year...

I agree with the other guys here - this is really ultra-realistic, with all the wheels and everything. Looks just like the real thing that we use every year when we go skiing in the snowy Norwegian mountains :) - and you've got good reason to be prowd of those chairs. Great work! The cabin is neat, too. I'm just wondering what he's selling, using that cash register of his? It could be tickets, but then it's at the wrong end of the slope...

Hello - it's my first time around this part of the forum, but it doesn't seem anyone has pointed this out yet, and I thought you might like to know: I spotted #9349 Fairytale and Historic Minifigure Set on lego.com today. Contains 227 pieces and 22 minifigs, including two skeletons. It's only available in Europe for now, and you can find it under the Minifigures theme in the Lego shop. Price GBP 39.99, NOK 407.50, EUR 47.50. This is probably DACTA stuff, but I'm guessing it will be of interest for a lot of Castle fans as well. For some reason the zoom doesn't work on the pictures in the online Lego shop, but here's a small picture for you: There's much more than castle minifigs in there, but that does seem to be the main focus.

Actually, it seems to be available via this site - that's where the deeplinked picture came from. They seem to be specializing in teaching material, so it's possible that they don't sell to the private market. Edit: There's a few nice parts in here: The cap in orange and lime, the bicycle in green, the new dog... and a couple of mean-looking snowmen.

Haven't seen anyone mention this yet: Found set #9348 Lego Community Minifigure Set for sale at lego.com today. Contains 256 pieces and 22 minifigs. It's only available in Europe for now, and you can find it under the Minifigures theme in the Lego shop. Price GBP 39.99, NOK 407.50, EUR 47.50. This is probably DACTA stuff, but I'm guessing it will be of interest for a lot of City fans as well. Also worth mentioning is the Fairytale and Historic Minifigures set - same price, and some quite nice figures there, too

When the first images of the police and space-themed City sets leaked out, I thought, well, this could be a nice year for me to save some money. But Lego had other plans... by introducing minifigs to the Creator sets, they've effectively turned them into more advanced City sets - and for me, both the hillside house and the lighthouse are must-haves. The harbour looks good, and so does the fishing boat, but I agree that the marina could have been better. Still, I'm not complaining. I'm going to have to start eating cheaper food...

Oh, I thought you'd put some red color in the snow to indicate that he was bleeding from his nose after the fall - but I see now that it's only his red hands. My mistake! I see now that my comment must have seemed totally strange...

You should do something about that nose bleed of his :) or else he might become anemic... Great idea, very well executed!

That's true, but in most countries around the world it's illegal to have tyres that are wider than the car itself. The tyres could well be chunky, but they shouldn't stick out like that.

That's a great display. I particularly like the trees with snow on - from a distance they almost look like the real thing!

Congratulations on a fabulous MOC - it's stunning in all its details. I really love the colours you've picked for it, including the mosaic on the wall above the escalators. The tiling is great, the lampposts are great, the whole thing is wonderful - but the two details that stand out for me: The M above the entrance - and that amazing skylight. Bravo!

Thanks for a good review - the pictures confirm my thoughts about this set. I bought the old one and I'm happy I did - I think it's better than this one. And like somebody else said in the 2011 sets topic, it's so strange that they just swap an old prisoner transport for a new one, an old mobile command center for a new one, an old police station for a new one... you'd think the Lego designers would have better imagination than that. Boring! Thankfully, they're bringing out the police chase set and the bank set later. They look good. On another note, I just got a couple of the other new police sets, and noticed something strange, that can also be seen in your pictures here: On the page where the new space sets are advertised, the shuttle seen two times in the main picture is the finished product - but the picture of the box art, on the bottom of the page, seems to be a preliminary without the black snout. Seems like a weird slip-up...

Wow! There's so much detail here that it's hard to know where to start. But I love the boat - especially the hull, both the colour and the shape is great. And the buildings, the tarmac, the vehicles... it's stunning! Great work, de-marco.

My experience is that airlines typically sell these on intercontinental flights, although I may be wrong. I picked up an airline exclusive on the plane from NY to Amsterdam a year ago (KLM), and when I was in Africa this summer with Lufthansa the Lego exclusive was in the catalogue. Forgot to buy one, though, and I keep regretting that...