Yatkuu

+1, I have read this post 5 times and I'm afraid it does not make any sense to me!

Nice, but why did they include the same "painting" in the 2 vignettes?

I hate Hello Kitty.. but your design is cool! My nieces would probably go crazy over this...if these were pink.

I doubt this would catch any real mouse but it is very funny and a clever build too!

Hello! I have tried the "miracle" process with my 20 years old yellowed white bricks... here is my experience. I used these products: (I live in Belgium, bought these from a "Di" shop) I mixed 2 tea spoon of the powder with enough peroxyde to submerge the bricks in a clear plastic cup and left it outside in the sun for a full day (one day of sun in Belgium is already a miracle in itself!). Here is the result: On the left hand side, the bricks that have been "cleaned", on the right hand side identical bricks that did not spent the day in the mixture. Conclusion, I did not find it so spectacular but it is still totally worth it. For some reason that I can't explain the process worked better on some bricks, but in the end it is still better than nothing.

Movie: The Mist MF: Series 5 Lumberjack - Series 4 Skater Fear changes everything... they heard something pushing on the loading dock door... now they just wish they didn't open it. At least David did his best with the axe he found and managed to cut one of the tentacles... The smoke is real and made with dry ice (yes, the setup was difficult) The vignette with the fig can be seen on My Flickr.

Theme: Looking for a Halloween costume? MF: Lizard suit guy The vignette with the fig can be seen on my Flickr

Congratulations to all participants! 3. Ninja Nin's Underwater Bank & Money Transfer 2 points 11. Thor Lund's Subvan Campicus SXF 2000 1 point 12. Legostein's Submarine slip-up 2 point (1 point for the entry and 1 point for such a good first contest participation!)

The fact that you are sharing your techniques in this manner is telling us a lot about the man behind these awesome creations. I take my hat off to you sir.

Awesome! The only thing that bothers me a little is the leg (not the wooden one!) that I find a bit too skinny.

Very nice idea, and your Halloween themed calendar is great! I must admit I did not even think of customizing mine...I just move around the skater MF, each day in a different position.

Congratulations to the winners, some amazing stuff in all categories. Also a big thanks to everyone who voted for my combined entries with Pixel Fox.

Cool! I like how you have used the tires... Well done!

ah-ah! That must be it then! Thanks Matn! Funny, I had not realized you were from Belgium too... It only leaves one question that will likely remain unanswered... what in the world the person who picked those bricks had in mind?

Glad you like it! Yes it's printed paper, the horse logo has been designed by Pixel Fox...(I think he got some of his inspiration from a well known F1 racing team...) and my wife helped me in finding the back story/pun... a real team work!

Harry Zampolli from his real name is a second generation Italian immigrant who got the nickname of "Fair Harry" because of his habit of always giving back his winnings to his poker partners! Harry was a well known wagon maker, inventor of the "SUW" or Sport Utility Wagon. Back in his days, his wagons were famous for their sportive look and performances and driving a "Fair Harry" wagon was generally perceived as a mark of wealth and good taste... Some say it still is the case nowadays! This MOC is the result of a collaboration between myself and Pixel Fox, we hope you like it!

"escapism" - that's a nice term and I think you nailed the problem quite well. I would only add that the Lego hobby has the particularity of being a child's toy to begin with. It occurred to me, as adult, that immersing myself into a toy's world was a way to go back to a state where responsibilities are absent. Again, that's not unhealthy per se but a slippery slope nonetheless.

I'm glad to have some serious feedbacks here! I'm convinced that a lot of us go through the same types of experiences - good or bad and it's great to share them. I fully agree with both of you, I'm sure that a lot of the dynamics that define the Lego hobby could be applied to any other type of hobby activity. But let's not forget that LEGO is for a lot of us a representation of life itself and that's really specific to our little bricks. I'm thinking of course more about the city fans than the other themes here, but not everything needs to be rational either. Whether we build a modular street or a giant space diorama we are building a fantasy world and we somehow project ourselves in it. Anyone ever got this feeling of “getting lost” in his MOCs? I'm currently going trough some counselling to help me with setting a few things right in my life (not just to talk about Lego stuff ) and the therapist gave me a good image to think about - picture that you are locked up in a room where there is hardly any air, it's warm and uncomfortable - to make it better you could either go out for a walk which would bring you a temporary relief or try to open a window and make the relief permanent. When I apply this to my life I fear that Lego has become the "little walk" - and worse that it could ultimately become a long walk if I'm not careful. Such a situation can have as consequence to slowly disconnect you completely from your real life and as you say kaykay to even suck the joy out of Lego.

I would be surprised that this topic had never been raised before but I could not find a thread matching the scope of my concern so I decided to create this new one. I apologize if this is some sort of a duplicate and I would appreciate the help of a mod if this subject does not belong here. I have been asking myself quite a lot of questions lately regarding my hobby and I sort of came to the conclusion that a part of it was good and healthy but there is also another side to that coin that is not that shiny. I wanted to have other people’s input on the matter and see if others who would have a profile similar to mine had perhaps come to the same conclusions… and if so how do they deal with it. Please note I don’t mean to discuss the “addiction” problem here. To me addiction is a very specific problem leading to specific types of issues going from financial problems to social distress. To date I have only met 2 AFOL in real life – 2 guys I bought sets from on EBay – and I can tell that these guys were addicted and had real problems because of that. One of them had a wife & 2 kids and I could tell from seeing where they lived that they did not have too much to spare but he nevertheless had a collection of dozens of expensive unopened Lego sets (UCS stuff and rarities) – I mean, the house was a total mess, the kids were wearing crappy clothes but he had a room full of MINT LEGO boxes (along with other collectible stuff..). Anyway, what I would like to do here is tackle the question of how Lego can be and remain a healthy part of a normal adult’s life – someone that has a family, a job / a social life and that might actually be wondering if Lego is not starting to take too much space (and I don’t mean it literally because that is another problem!). If I had to list the positive aspects of what Lego is bringing to me I would mention the creativity, the artistic expression, the intellectual challenge of overcoming the building difficulties but also the capacity to enjoy simple things. It is a medium that can be used to ease the daily frustrations, to blow some steam form a very often hectic business/private life scheme. Lego can also be social, although it all depends on how you manage it. For instance, to me spending hours on a forum posting comments on MOCs or participating in a discussion is not really a social activity. IMO it only starts to become a social activity when you actually connect with people, it does not necessarily have to be IRL but there is a whole difference between sending a private mail to someone and signing it with your name and just posting anonymous messages on a board. On the “dark side”… I sometimes have the feeling that I use Lego to run away from the “real” world and all the responsibilities that come with it. Unlike the real life, a Lego universe is a space you can actually control and when you are playing with your bricks nobody is calling the shots but you. The question could then be: when does this private space stops being a healthy secret garden and becomes a refuge from the outside world? (outside world can also mean your close relatives). The relationship towards MF is also difficult to define. After all, MF are made in our image, they are representation of people and they are meant to be used as such. Kids impersonate their Figs and that’s normal as part of a learning/growing process but aren’t we doing the same as adults, and is that really healthy?

I don't know if there were similar promotions in Belgium... But if this piece selection is really the result of a manual selection... that would be the one of either the dumbest or the most insane MOCer! I was actually wondering about that. Assuming you could find wedges in a PaB wall, would the left and right be grouped in the same box or placed into separate ones? Mmhh... Set 3833 is an interesting finding! Now I know I could always try using these large lime wedges to build a giant Krusty Krab burger!

Thanks for the feedbacks, I did not know about grab bags... I must agree with you... I'm a bit disapointed with my finding! When I bought I did not really took the time to check the content of the bags in detail (remember it was just 3 euros!) I just asked the woman who was selling it where she got it and she just replied, "dunno, my son never played with it" - no wonder given the pieces, if that's all the Lego her son had, I understand why he never played with them! Possible but... What in the world could you build with that!?

I bought this from a flee market this morning: 2 strange bags with a very strange pieces selection! The bricks are in mint condition and I got this for 3 euros so I think it is worth it... But where the heck does this comes from? The bags have a set number - 4521. I googled it but did not really find an answer. My guess is that it has to come from some kind of PAB, but... A) there is no PAB where I live (belgium) B) I thought PAB where only using cups? C) why is there only 1 type of wedges? (and what am I going to do with these now... ) Amongst the strangest pieces there are 8 black MF headpieces, 5 shovels, 4 books and 1 MF dress (I thought PAB did not have MF accessories?) and 2 "AT-AT" decorated slopes... Any ideas?

Thanks for sharing your technique, I probably would not have thought of the wheel piece - great idea!

Eviv Bulgroz! I love the figs shot, the look on the 1st caveman's face is hilarious! I'm planning to do a MOC with a "tentacle monster" and I really like yours, where do those pieces come from?

I think I have found a way to measure how bad AFOLs are being affected by this new disease... Building a tower out of CMF stands stacked on top of each other! Based on a few feedbacks from members I'm sure we could establish some sort of scale... Mine is 35 cm high (+- 110 figs) and I consider myself a reasonable CMF buyer.