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This is the sound of me discovering the Lego thread, reading the last 3 pages, and immediately buying the updated Galaxy Explorer. Then making plans to build my original one to display alongside it, believing I have all the original pieces (but I'm not entirely sure). I saved all my 70's and 80's Lego for my future kid, only to have a daughter who was entirely disinterested in them beyond building a wall as a toddler. I think it's time to do something with them again, especially knowing I can buy any missing or broken pieces I need, right? It's definitely not a good idea for me to go and read back farther.
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Jul 13, 2023 23:44
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 07:11 |
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So the new Galaxy Explorer inspired me to dig out my childhood collection. Turns out I didn't have the original Galaxy Explorer like I thought, just the Space Cruiser and the Moon Radar Station. Ironically my collection looks really small to me now, but as a kid I had the biggest collection of anyone I knew. I asked for Lego for every single birthday and christmas and nothing else, from about 1977 to 1983. Then I got into BMX and skateboarding, then I got into cars and that was that. Here's the boxes I have left:  Here's the expert builder and space instructions that I have left:  Here's the back of the Space Cruiser, which reminded me that I had the Moon base, except mine has the updated crater plate:  Very dirty crater plate and some of the screens:  Here's a few other misc instructions and promo materials:  Here's my tiny technic stuff semi-sorted:  Here's some of the extra vintage pieces that I inherited from my brother who was born in 1962:   You mounted the gears on to a wheel:  This is the rest:  And this is why I'm getting back in to them, Toplitzin from here on SA accidentally had two pyramids delivered so I bought his spare, and then reading this thread convinced me to get the new Galaxy Explorer.  I put the pyramid together in 3-1/2 hours and loved every second of it. Took me right back to 6th grade. Next I want to also build all my old stuff and find out what's missing and what I'm forgetting. I never, ever got rid of any unless they broke or wore out, or got vacuumed. I went through brickinstructions.com and found a few more sets that I know I had but lost both instructions and boxes for, like the police station and coast guard station. Sadly they're all filthy from careless storage (I only put them in bins when I moved in 2020). They're also pretty beat up because back in the day I stored them in one of those drawstring bags that I could open on the living room floor, spread them around, then when mom said to pick them up I'd just pull the string and they'd all go back in one big bundle that I could drop in the corner of my room. Anyway, thanks for letting me share. I definitely don't got the money for everything I want, I hope the Titanic doesn't go out of production before I can swing it. LloydDobler fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Jul 20, 2023 |
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Jul 20, 2023 05:18
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Oh god what have I done. Turns out I need to do a lot of sorting. Fortunately I buy enough packaged meat that I have a ton of those disposable tupperwares.  So this took less than an hour, even with the digging through to find stuff. I began isolating space parts as you can see in the background.  The crate was originally white but I couldn't find one of the white doors, but I had 2 in yellow so that's what it is. I also no longer have the sliding spring loaded forklift piece, so I had to improvise.   Flight controls.  The only missing pieces for that kit are the aforementioned white door, one blue hinge for the yellow lid (I substituted gray) and two 1x1 flat green transparent pieces for marker lights. I couldn't find a single one, but for some reason I have about 20 red ones. Then I built this, it was one of my first and (at the time) favorite sets. The stickers are all long gone but I still have all the parts.  I washed my crater plates with water and a brush, came out like new! I'm not sure how I'm going to wash the rest of the parts, I might build a set, then take it all apart and wash the pieces one at a time, let it dry and then rebuild it. That way I'm not randomly washing everything all at once. We'll see.
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Jul 21, 2023 00:18
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Waltzing Along posted:I wrote a guide on cleaning pieces. It's linked in the OP of this thread. Thanks! I read the OP a long time ago but never participated till now so I missed it.
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Jul 21, 2023 17:32
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I finished building out my space Lego sets, turns out there were two additional sets I forgot I even had, that I figured out by searching the old instructions and seeing specific combinations of pieces. And it turns out I've lost a lot more pieces than I was thinking when I started, although at this point I can only presume they got swept in to the trash or vacuumed up while I was still a kid because I've just had these in storage since like 1990. But here it is, a vintage space collection!  You'll notice some mismatched colors, not sure where I got a black engine for example, and I'm missing a lot of the tiny detail pieces, like steering wheels and tail fins (I cut the tops off 4 of them to make them "look cooler" for custom builds) and the little antenna pieces. Also all my transparent 1x1s are really brittle and I've lost all the green ones. But this is as complete as I can make it. Sadly the parts I'm missing are OOP and very expensive on ebay or bricklink. So this is what it is. Also I'm not sure what other sets require some of the pieces I've borrowed so as I build those out I'll be taking some of these apart. Here's the remaining space-specific pieces I have, there's either a small flying set I haven't figured out yet or I just got a few extra pieces from some other kid back in the day.  Here's one of the brochures which doesn't seem to have any of the ribbed rocket engines so it must have been a newer small set, if any.  I moved out of space and into expert builder (technic) after collecting all this. I'm deciding whether to go back and build the older city sets I have first, or move on to the motorcycle which was my first EB and favorite set of all time. deoju posted:Awesome as always. Yeah, that's impressive. LloydDobler fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Jul 29, 2023 |
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Jul 29, 2023 17:23
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Chris Knight posted:Might be something like this guy: https://rebrickable.com/sets/6842-1/shuttle-craft/ Now that you two have posted it I do remember having that set. I also found the white 90° angle and the black ladder thing and had no idea what they were for. I don't have a space logo white 2x3 ramp piece or the black 3 nozzle rockets. I've also lost about 1/3 of my astronaut figs. They were such a loyal crew. Just remembered the reason I started with my space stuff was because I bought the new galaxy explorer, so it's time to build that. Gonna be just like a time travel episode!
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Jul 30, 2023 07:34
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Built the new Galaxy Explorer last night. Really clever, well done and fun as poo poo. Tons of features and detail, if I were a kid I'd play with the finished model for DAYS. They start you out with one astronaut and the robot. They supervise while the robot passes out drinks.  A couple bags in, a couple more astronauts show up.  Last astronaut arrives, the robot is really tired of the guys refusing to hydrate.  I had to focus on this door mechanism, I haven't been building Lego for the last 35 years so this is really ingenious to me.    Making it functional and also having all this detail in really blows me away.  And then getting the angle and location right so it fits as a back wall to the main fuselage, it's like "how did they figure that out?"  No guys, you can't test drive now, there's no engines yet.  Alright finished model let's goooo  There's bunks, and I love the radar graphic.  Buggy in the cargo bay that rolls out when you pull out and drop the ramp.    Pass through all the way to the cockpit.  Howdy boys, we're from the future!  Worth the money for sure. Took me about 5 hours to build.
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Jul 31, 2023 21:20
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Infinitum posted:FROOGGGGG
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Aug 30, 2023 07:10
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3D Megadoodoo posted:So disappointed they didn't use OG tri-tööted tööt pieces in the rear section. e: I guess they don't make them anymore? The original would have been out of scale for this model. Their solution is elegant, and it adds to the part count by like 14 pieces.
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Sep 14, 2023 08:10
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I moved all mine in a combination of disposable food storage containers, medium sized storage totes and all of that stuffed into a large bin. Bonus is you can sort them by type and just slap the lids on and put them away. Like this: I have since added more containers and totes, and sorted much more thoroughly.
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Sep 14, 2023 21:01
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Carbohydrates posted:I am definitely still looking for a great car to do in pink, though. And magenta. And tan, spring green, and medium nougat. Those are at the top of my hit list. Do you take requests/commissions? You're doing amazing work with those cars, and several of us in Automotive Insanity have personal favorites. We have a guy with the classic 1958 Pink Cadillac which wouldn't be a bad choice.
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Sep 27, 2023 17:55
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I got a bonus from work so I almost pulled the trigger on the Titanic, which I still really want, but I realized I could get like 4 good sets for that money. So I started with the Ecto-1 and Space Shuttle. I was really torn between getting the Concorde or the Shuttle, and who am I kidding, I'll probably buy the Concorde after I finish these. I am loving adult Lego. I'm extra excited because my senior-in-college daughter talked me into the Ecto-1 because Halloween is coming and wants to build some of it on Saturday.
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Oct 4, 2023 20:12
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Probably smart of them not to show the dollar value of your wish list, mine's probably $3k or more, but that's mostly because I started with the Titanic and Concorde. Also I feel stupid, the last purchases I made were off Amazon because I wanted them shipped a little faster, but now I don't have any reward points for them.
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Oct 23, 2023 16:45
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They were roughhousing and bent the corner of the lid, it still works though, the burgs taste great. Also it has a propane leak from the left tank so don't use that one.
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Nov 14, 2023 21:48
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OH GOD I CAN'T DECIDE (just out of frame, massive Millennium Falcon and Venator cruiser) Just kidding I got a bonus not a winning lottery ticket.  Sure didn't feel like 90 minutes. Doesn't look it either.  Fun so far. Oh, I built one of those Ikea shelves with a few dividers missing so I can display stuff in the least dusty room in my house. Saving the very top for the Titanic, if my daughter can rally enough of my friends and family to chip in and buy the fuckin thing. (I planted the idea, I have no clue if she's thinking about it or not).  I have plenty of old sets to fill it with, just gotta get 'em built. Having a ton of fun with the new stuff though. Daughter has insisted on building the Ecto1 but she's in college and doesn't visit me often enough. She got through bag 3 at Halloween and didn't come here for Thanksgiving. Maybe we'll finish it at Christmas. edit: this was my first time in a Lego store, and they had plenty of everything for Black Friday. The strange part though was the bulk bins had really weird pieces in them, nothing you'd want to buy in bulk. Like a whole bin full of tree branches or antlers. Little brown sticks basically. LloydDobler fucked around with this message at 01:20 on Nov 28, 2023 |
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Nov 28, 2023 01:15
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Forgot to update when I got the Concorde finished. Very satisfying build, and it looks incredible up close. The droop snoot and landing gear are both really cleverly designed. Building is thirsty work.  The orange leftover parts are temporary pieces that aid in building it, including two gussets that keep the wings from tipping over as you build them vertically. Really nicely thought out. That leads us to Christmas. My 86 year old dad decided he wanted to buy everyone something expensive this year. My daughter dropped the knowledge that I wanted the Titanic so he got it for me. My daughter made it home from college this weekend and a bunch of my friends are sick, so party plans got cancelled. We had nothing else going on so we decided to ring in the new year drinking and building Lego. The Titanic is loving epic. I spent about three hours just to get this far:  Check out how they hang the anchors:     There is some seriously tedious poo poo going on but the detail is worth it.  I worked on this while she continued the Ecto 1 build that she started on Halloween.  First section finished at about 1AM:  Got started on the next section but burned out at about a quarter to three.  This represents about 9 solid hours of building. The booze did not slow me down, in fact the building distracted me so I wasn't as tipsy as I wanted to be when the ball dropped. My pictures suck but there is a shitload of detail in there with dozens of teeny pieces which is what makes it take so long. Just in these two sections it has about 75 portholes on each side of the black areas and each porthole pair is a little 5-6 piece assembly. You can see some in the anchor picture with flash. I've been dying to spend more time with my kid anyway so I could hardly think of a better way to spend the evening.
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Jan 1, 2024 18:37
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I'm thinking about taking them apart so that other people I know who like Lego but can't afford the huge sets can enjoy building it. Like my friend's 26 year old niece would looove to build the Concorde or Titanic. Maybe my own kid too, if she wants to.
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Jan 1, 2024 21:53
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Three days and about 20 hours of building the Titanic and I'm only about 3/4 done. Glad I'm going out of town until Sunday because holy gently caress my thumbs. I've never had hand pain from building Lego before. So many 1x1s.
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Jan 3, 2024 21:23
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Titanic build continued. What the heck is this? complete little assembly...  There's a hole in the deck for it  HOLY poo poo IT'S A LITTLE BENCH  And with a very satisfying snap. Yeah, there's like 20 little benches, the guys figured out two pieces that look like a super tiny bench when assembled sideways. So fun.  And another stage was completed.  This poo poo does get tedious but the detail is worth it.  And now we get to the segments that attach to each other! You build this little key.  The hull lightly snaps together to line up all those holes.  and you just drop the key in.  Don't even know what it is unless you know.  Aaaaand DONE!  Just kidding, that's the one I built and still have from when I was in grade school. It used to have thread connecting the masts to the funnels and down to those gray 1x1s. This is AFTER washing it, yeah the pieces are stained and filthy. I was a kid, and this has followed me around for 40 years. It's been in crawl spaces and basement shelves, just in a box with no lid, etc. But yeah like a lot of kids I went through a Titanic phase, I read all the books I could about it, including Raise the Titanic, which got me into Clive Cussler novels as a teenager, etc etc. I mean to say that there's definitely a reason that when I saw this model as an adult I just had to have it.  Some random close up details. More benches!  And I thought that there's no way the ship only had 16 lifeboats, and they took some artistic license. Nope. The most forward ones were not technically lifeboats but fast launch rescue boats, but they got it right nonetheless.  Anyway, I lost track but my best guess is that I spent 35 hours on this. I do want to disassemble it just to build it again. Maybe I'll alternate every year for Christmas: take it apart next year, put it together again the year after, etc. Maybe. Edit: Also I weighed it, it's about 17 pounds. LloydDobler fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Jan 14, 2024 |
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Jan 14, 2024 19:52
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I've decided to stop buying new lego and build out what I can from my childhood. Starting with what I recall as my absolute favorite set. My first expert builder set as well. 857 Motor Bike. I did not remember that the expert builder instructions had the part quantity for each step spelled out. None of the basic sets do.  This is a common problem with old lego, the split where the axle inserts. Fortunately it's only a problem if you play hard with them.  Old school SNOT. Did you all know that these lattice pieces are designed to snap on to studs? I forgot but now I remember! Also yeah yeah I didn't wash them I'm both too lazy and excited.  Frame coming along.  I loved the chain from the first time I snapped it on. Sorry my lighting sucks and it's hard to see.  Disappointed in how many pieces I've lost, I decided to substitute gray and white for some elements as if they were bondo and primer on this old beater bike. Also lost the turn signals. But here we are. I spent dozens of hours playing with this, built it multiple times over my childhood, as well as the alternate plans in the book. 
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Jan 17, 2024 03:50
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Been excited to build this ever since I found both engines and the tailfin. Silly I know but this is the first set I ever got when I was a kid that was new in box, not inherited from my brother. Hard to see but I only have 2 of the 5 window pieces. Still had everything else. Also I substituted 1x4s for the wingtips for efficiency. I remember the front 1x2 falling off all the time because it was only held on with 1 stud. I think it shall live here. 
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Jan 21, 2024 01:34
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 07:11 |
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I'm 52, divorced, and my daughter just made her last college tuition payment on her own, so I'm free and clear from now on! MOAR LEGO. I got several sets last year. And my about-to-die dad wants to blow his nest egg on fun things for his kids and grandkids so he bought me the Titanic for Christmas. It's a good time to be an AFOL.
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Mar 24, 2024 04:27
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