Lego thread: Shiiiiiiiit, I don't got the money for this.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Lego thread: Shiiiiiiiit, I don't got the money for this.

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rickiep00h: Aug 16, 2010; BATDANCE

CADPAT posted:

I keep getting crappy minfigs and then just getting suckered into buying more... ARGH! I think I'm just going to buy a box and re-sell the rest. It will probably be cheaper that way.

Welcome to the Magic: The Gathering secondary market.

# ? Dec 28, 2011 23:08

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# ? May 14, 2024 18:40

youareoffthehook: Mar 24, 2008; On a scale of one to ten, I think that's an awesome!

Diosamblet posted:

Oh... oh god. I did not know there was a Lego Store in Bellevue Square. It's two blocks from my work, and two blocks from the apartment I'm applying for... in fact it's right in between. This is bad.

Try working there! Every time someone returns a retired set and it's super cheap, I'll usually pick it up. I have spent more on Lego while working there than any time before that.

Why cookie Rocket posted:

When do you expect to receive set 6857 - Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape? Its the only Superhero set I haven't seen in stock yet...

We had it in stock last week, but it was gone within a few hours. We get shipments every Monday, so usually Monday afternoons are the best time to call/come in and see if we have them.

IronSaber posted:

Cool! I think I might have seen you once when I visited it.

Creepy! No, just kidding, you probably did.

keevo posted:

Do I really need a cover letter when applying online?

I didn't. Did you fill out an interest card at the store? If not, you should do that, and if it's not too busy, introduce yourself to the manager. My manager was out of town, so I called when he got back and scheduled my interview.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 00:18

CADPAT: Jul 23, 2004; For the men
to my left and right!

So after some careful consideration I've decided I'm going to sell this bad boy:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=7476-1

Here's my SA Mart thread, or you can just drop me a message:
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3457461

Figured I'd give SA a shot at it before putting it up on BL.

CADPAT fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Dec 29, 2011

# ? Dec 29, 2011 01:11

keevo: Jun 16, 2011; WAKE UP

youareoffthehook posted:

I didn't. Did you fill out an interest card at the store? If not, you should do that, and if it's not too busy, introduce yourself to the manager. My manager was out of town, so I called when he got back and scheduled my interview.

Ah okay. I'll have to drop by and talk to them. I was just looking online and one of the first things they ask for is a resume and cover letter.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 02:13

Shimrra Jamaane: Aug 10, 2007; Obscure to all except those well-versed in Yuuzhan Vong lore.

What is the employee discount at the Lego Store?

# ? Dec 29, 2011 02:33

Aery: Nov 15, 2005; Where is my motherfucking HAT

Shimrra Jamaane posted:

What is the employee discount at the Lego Store?

I believe 30% daily, with a few 50% days throughout the year. At least that is what we non-retail LEGO employees got at our local LEGO retail stores!

# ? Dec 29, 2011 03:01

youareoffthehook: Mar 24, 2008; On a scale of one to ten, I think that's an awesome!

keevo posted:

Ah okay. I'll have to drop by and talk to them. I was just looking online and one of the first things they ask for is a resume and cover letter.

Yeah, I mean that's what they're going to look at, but going and introducing yourself doesn't hurt. The girl I gave my interest card to told my boss to hire me, so it's worth it!

Aery posted:

I believe 30% daily, with a few 50% days throughout the year. At least that is what we non-retail LEGO employees got at our local LEGO retail stores!

It is 30%, and then there's a day every quarter where we get 50%. At Bellevue Square there's also the mall discount.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 03:21

Doorknob Slobber: Sep 10, 2006; by Fluffdaddy

Where do you buy the minifigs, I've checked Toys R Us and Fred Meyer.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 03:49

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

youareoffthehook posted:

It is 30%, and then there's a day every quarter where we get 50%.

holy poo poo :ohdear:

# ? Dec 29, 2011 05:41

Pyroclastic: Jan 4, 2010

youareoffthehook posted:

Yeah, I mean that's what they're going to look at, but going and introducing yourself doesn't hurt. The girl I gave my interest card to told my boss to hire me, so it's worth it!

It is 30%, and then there's a day every quarter where we get 50%. At Bellevue Square there's also the mall discount.

So, uh, do you have limitations on those days? Could I paypal you $200+ tax and have you get me a Super Star Destroyer?

# ? Dec 29, 2011 05:53

youareoffthehook: Mar 24, 2008; On a scale of one to ten, I think that's an awesome!

Pyroclastic posted:

So, uh, do you have limitations on those days? Could I paypal you $200+ tax and have you get me a Super Star Destroyer?

There is no limitation. One of my coworkers alone bought over $1000 worth if sets. If I'm still working there or have friends willing to buy me stuff on the next 50% off day I'll totally do it.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 06:29

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

<runs into thread, stumbles, money tightly gripped in hand>

$75 Pet Shop please...

# ? Dec 29, 2011 09:57

Pyroclastic: Jan 4, 2010

Sounds like it'd be a hell of a way to supplement your income. Save up and by a couple grand worth of sets, then sell them off at like 80-100% MSRP. Especially when you know AFOL-bait sets are going to be discontinued.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 10:39

lorddazron: Mar 31, 2011

Pyroclastic posted:

Sounds like it'd be a hell of a way to supplement your income. Save up and by a couple grand worth of sets, then sell them off at like 80-100% MSRP. Especially when you know AFOL-bait sets are going to be discontinued.

I think you'd probably be instantly fired if you got caught, and I can imagine Lego being the kind of company that keeps an eye on the whole scene surrounding it, so you probably couldn't get away with it for too long. Especially when you rock upto work wanting to purchase 2grands worth of one item.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 18:18

Merchant of Death: Jan 19, 2006; Cha-Ching

I would spend more than I make if I worked at a lego store and the closest isn't 300 miles away.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 18:36

Chris Knight: Jun 5, 2002; me @ ur posts; Fun Shoe

So not only did I get the alien Tripod as a present from my friends, I returned home from my parents' place late Tuesday night to see a box with all the sets I bought from Why cookie Rocket! :dance:

# ? Dec 29, 2011 18:57

kensei: Dec 27, 2007; He has come home, where he belongs. The Ancient Mariner returns to lead his first team to glory, forever and ever. Amen!

Aery posted:

I believe 30% daily, with a few 50% days throughout the year. At least that is what we non-retail LEGO employees got at our local LEGO retail stores!

Hi Aery! I hope all is well with you after the Universe news :ohdear:

# ? Dec 29, 2011 19:02

Jut: May 16, 2005; by Ralp

all this talk about working for lego had me check the lego website for jobs. I found something that matches my skill set perfectly...working in lego education developing material for schools.
It's a shame they don't mention salary, denmark isn't a cheap country to live in. Any tips for applying?

# ? Dec 29, 2011 20:09

CADPAT: Jul 23, 2004; For the men
to my left and right!

So after spending a straight day browsing Bricklink to find just the right pieces to build an army of Lego space marines, it occurred to me that this thread has gotten me badly addicted to Lego. In the space of 6 months I went from owning about 10 lbs of Lego and some old sets to having a collection with multiple storage bins and tackle boxes, and buying sets used or 50% off not for the sets themselves but for the parts they contain.

Of course I haven't really done anything good with it until yesterday, when I successfully built something I've dreamed of building since childhood (pics will come soon!)

So I send out a sincere thanks for this awesome curse.

It occurred to me that I have to re-sort my whole collection again in such a way I can effectively build with it. I started googling for Lego storage ideas, and came across this (it's a long and funny read):

Lugnet posted:

The Evolution of Lego Sorting
-----------------------------
Let's assume you start your lego collection like most of us did: with one
set.

1. You don't sort your Lego. You just keep them in the box they came in.

(Then, over time, you get another set, then another, then another.
And your pile of bricks grows. How do you cope?)

2. You start sorting your Lego. You sort it by set.

(Your collection grows.)

3. You give up on individual set boxes and toss all your Lego in a big
storage bin or a Lego denim bag, or a couple of your large set boxes. You
become very familiar with the sound of someone digging through large bricks
looking for a 1x1 transparent red plate.

(Your collection grows.)

4. You begin to sort your Lego by category: normal-looking bricks in one
set box, other pieces in another box.

(And grows.)

5. Ok, you realize you actually have to sort it. You decide to sort the
obvious way: by color.

(And grows.)

6. You keep sorting by color, but you get pickier about how you do it,
and you start filtering out by type for the first time: probably the
first things you sort out by type are minifigs and wheels. You realize
you already had baseplates sorted out separately.

(Let's just assume at this point that between every paragraph, your
keep adding lego to your collection.)

7. You cave in and actually get a storage system. Maybe it's rubbermaid
bins, or piles of blue buckets, or fishing tackle boxes, or ziplocks. But
now you've got a system.

8. You grow weary of digging through all the yellow bricks looking for that
one specialized yellow piece somewhere in 2 cubic feet of yellow. But you
think of how much work it's going to take to split by part and you don't do
it.

9. Sorting becomes difficult enough that you decide, in some cases, not to
break some sets down and put them in your main pile of lego... instead, you
store them as a set, because that set is so cool just the way it is. (Ok,
so this set is from the 80s...) The pieces for that set are either in their
box, or in a ziplock or something. Congratulations, you've just invented
Set Archiving, and now you have two ways you store your Lego: broken down
by parts, and archived by set.

10. You give up and decide to sort your parts by type rather than by color.
You go get more bins or tackle boxes or whatever your container of choice
is, you dedicate an evening or a weekend or a month to it, and you split by
type.

11. You have now invented your own Lego categorization system. You have no
doubt separated out bricks, plates, wheels, minifigs, slopes, and so on,
but you've also clumped "things with curves" together, and doors and
windshields together. You also have a category called "misc". Your
categories, amazingly, don't look much like the LDraw categories.

12. You realize you have piles of stuff that don't fit easily into the
categorization system: RCX bricks, train track, those huge A-shaped
pieces, monorial supports, and rubber bands. You get a different sized
drawer system for stuff like that.

13. Your collection is now clearly housed in many different types of
containers ranging from buckets to drawers to bins to individual tackle box
components.

14. You begin to develop large piles of lego in various states of being
sorted, i.e:
the sorted stuff
the stuff you've kinda sorted and is ready to be put away
piles of lego you aren't going to sort because you think you'll use
it all to build something else anyway
lego sorted some other way than the way you sorted into drawers to see
if this way works better than that way did
your building projects
your new boxes of lego, some opened, some not
oh, and let's not forget your various models and MOCs

15. You begin to develop strong opinions on Plano vs. Stak-On and
Rubbermaid vs. Sterilite.

16. The original categories you made begin to follow this life cycle:
- They grow too large to fit into their container.
- You divide the category into two categories in order to get them
to fit into the containers... one for each category. (Now you
have windshields, doors, and windows, each as a different category
of pieces, each in their own containers.)
- You store those subcategories together, but as parts of them become
too numerous or too hard to find, you split them out. So your tackle
boxes now have a different compartment for each type of door.
You realize that at this point the endgame is that you will have a
different compartment for every type of piece you have.

16.5. Every once in a while, you open a drawer you haven't opened in a
while and discover that you've been sorting some piece into two separate
places in your drawers. This throws your categorization for a loop.
How exactly do you categorize the 1x2 plate with the little robot-looking
thing on it? Oh no... partsref doesn't have it either, augh!

17. You rearrange your house so that you can fit your storage system into,
hopefully, just one room.

18. You give up on the "one compartment for every piece" theory because you
can't keep up with that. Instead, you start putting some of the similar
things into shoebox-sized bins. The way you decide what to
compartmentalize and what to put into bins together is to think about how
long it takes to find an individual element. It's ok to dig through a pile
of windshields looking for the trans yellow blacktron hood. It's not ok to
dig through a pile of slopes looking for the specialized corner cap slope.

18.5. You document your categories so you don't get lost.

19. You develop a multi-stage sorting system. It may take a piece several
hops before it ends up in its final resting spot, but it's a bit more
efficient to sort this way, and you can do some of it while watching a
video.

20. Bizarrely enough, you actually give up and go back to sorting by color.
Only this time, you sort by color after sorting by piece. So you now have
a bin for yellow 1x3 plates, and a bin for black 1x3 plates, and so on.

21. Finally you create an "overflow" system of buckets, where, if the bin
of 1x3 yellow plates is full, you just any additional ones into that
overflow bucket, along with other plates. (One of the first indicators that
you should do this was that you didn't have a compartment big enough to hold
all your Lego horses...)

22. You begin to toss most pieces directly into overflow.

23. You now have what, to a stranger, would be a bizarre sorting system. You
have some parts thrown together in bins by type. You have some parts split
out with a separate bin for each part. You have some parts split out with
a separate bin for each color. You even have some parts split out by how
old they are: red 1x2s from the 60s, red 1x2s from the 70s, new red 1x2s
that hold really well, and all the other red 1x2s. And you have an
alphabetized pile of large buckets for the overflow pieces and another one
for the 1st stage of sorting.

23.5. That stranger would also think you were certifiably insane. Or at
least retentive.

24. You start looking for a new house. One with a large basement.

25. Vision recognition becomes interesting to you.

26. You begin to long for the day when you could sit at your desk and
actually reach every piece you owned without getting up.

27. You decide to keep a special set or two at your desk, away from the
huge sorting system, just to play with a few great sets without having
to sort them. And then you add another cool set. Pretty soon
you're digging through 3 inches of bricks trying to find that 1x1
transparent red plate and you think about sorting your bricks...

Of course, somewhere along the way, you probably quit buying just sets, and
started to do things like:
- Buy lego sets in bulk, to the point where you have 10s to 100s
of unopened boxes.
- Work on very large construction projects.
- Acquire other people's collections.
- Run large auctions over the net.
And those bring up entirely new sorting challenges.... but those won't
be written about tonight, at least not by me.

There is no hope.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 20:56

InfinEight: Apr 25, 2007; What planet is this again?-- OH SHIT

That seems like a pretty accurate outline, I think I'm at step 23. I actually believe that if I can build enough MOCs to use up pieces, and never take the MOCs apart, it will relieve the strain of having so many unsorted pieces. However I know I collect pieces much faster than I make stuff... plus then I have to store/display the MOCs :smithicide:

# ? Dec 29, 2011 21:27

Merchant of Death: Jan 19, 2006; Cha-Ching

I am step 24, I may not have much but I definatly regret selling my house and moving into an apartment while all my medical issues are being delt with. I need a house with a dedicated room for lego for me to be happy! Two maybe, one for parts the other for displays

# ? Dec 29, 2011 21:51

CADPAT: Jul 23, 2004; For the men
to my left and right!

I did it a bit backwards, because I hit step 16 last night, but I'm doing step 15 right now.

I think my upcoming "permanent" storage solution (which I realize will not be permanent at all) is to have a friend build me 3 of these with clear plastic fronts.

Hopefully that should settle me for a while.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ? Dec 29, 2011 21:57

Dre2Dee2: Dec 6, 2006; Just a striding through Kamen Rider...

We can talk about Kre-os in this thread, right? Cause Kre-os are loving awesome and you guys would dig em. They are also compatible with other major brands too* :c00l:

(*they just ripped-off LEGO pieces, ok)

# ? Dec 29, 2011 22:10

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

I like the "we didn't rip you off, some of our studs are hollow!" pieces.

drat, they even ripped off some of the "special" Lego pieces. Check out the thighs and codpiece.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 22:11

Dre2Dee2: Dec 6, 2006; Just a striding through Kamen Rider...

Yeah, it's completely ridiculous, but I would take Transformers LEGO from the devil himself if he was selling em!

...and probably is the case, actually

I'm also wondering if they hired like ex-LEGO designers or old designers with an axe to grind. I mean the kit is well designed... but it's not quite LEGO good. They do break some cardinal rules (stacking same size pieces on top of each other), and the instructions are dumb in the sense they practically want to show EVERY individual brick placement as a step.

Comes the closet any brick building usurper has come, though.

Dre2Dee2 fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Dec 29, 2011

# ? Dec 29, 2011 22:13

Fooley: Apr 25, 2006; Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shinin'...

Those Transformers sets look cool and all, but I'd still rather someone did scans of the instructions so I could redo them in LEGO. Do they still give a parts list at the end like LEGO instructions?

# ? Dec 29, 2011 22:26

Merchant of Death: Jan 19, 2006; Cha-Ching

I saw the transformers set in the store and picked it up and was less excited when I realized it didn't transform

I still have a 50% off coupon for zellers though.... maybe that would make it semi ok to go buy

with zero effort found the optimus prime instructions on hasbros website

http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_CA/shop/details.cfm?R=4CEA7F2B-5056-900B-10DD-612AEBAF2BB2:en_CA down at the bottom. I now have to try build one.

Merchant of Death fucked around with this message at 22:41 on Dec 29, 2011

# ? Dec 29, 2011 22:37

Dre2Dee2: Dec 6, 2006; Just a striding through Kamen Rider...

Fooley posted:

Those Transformers sets look cool and all, but I'd still rather someone did scans of the instructions so I could redo them in LEGO. Do they still give a parts list at the end like LEGO instructions?

Yup! Don't know if every piece exists in LEGO or not though. All the instructions are online here -

http://www.hasbro.com/kre-o/en_US/discover/instructions.cfm

# ? Dec 29, 2011 22:47

Pyroclastic: Jan 4, 2010

Dre2Dee2 posted:

Yup! Don't know if every piece exists in LEGO or not though. All the instructions are online here -

http://www.hasbro.com/kre-o/en_US/discover/instructions.cfm

Looking at it, there are quite a few pieces that don't exist in Lego. The motorcycle halves, longer ball-joint bricks, peg bricks with detailed molding, brackets with detail molding, brackets with technic pinhole bricks, flat hinges (at least, they aren't made anymore), 2x4 bricks with technic pinholes, 1x2x5? panels, 8x8 panels with studs at the corners, plates with ball-joint receptors, the wheel well things with half the well missing, a single brick version of a 1x2 brick stacked on a 2x2 brick, 2x6? straight slopes...
You could probably make a close approximation in Lego, but some of the missing bits seem structurally important and would have to be replaced with a bulkier solution.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 23:00

thebardyspoon: Jun 30, 2005

Anyone got any of the superhero stuff yet? I'm kind of interested in one of the cheaper sets like the Luthor Power Armour set or maybe the Carnival set with the Joker, Quinn and Riddler (that's 40 quid but looks fairly substantial).

# ? Dec 29, 2011 23:15

Merchant of Death: Jan 19, 2006; Cha-Ching

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60641

this optimus is lego, and transformes. suck it knock offs!

I still can't believe how expensive the knock off lego is, and how fast it had price cuts.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 23:15

Gravy Jones: Sep 13, 2003; I am not on your side

My LEGO sorting tips:

1. Minifigs and accessories in the little box (or under the couch).
2. Everything else in the big box.

# ? Dec 29, 2011 23:34

Dre2Dee2: Dec 6, 2006; Just a striding through Kamen Rider...

Merchant of Death posted:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60641

this optimus is lego, and transformes. suck it knock offs!

I still can't believe how expensive the knock off lego is, and how fast it had price cuts.

Haha, that's awesome. All we need is transparent orange pieces for the axe :allears:

Also I'm pretty sure they are pricing it based off LEGO kits of comparable piece size

# ? Dec 30, 2011 00:12

MaliciousOnion: Sep 23, 2009; Ignorance, the root of all evil

I am a big fan of both LEGO and Transformers, and when I heard about these I was seriously considering getting one. This was despite the fact that they were Kre-O and therefore inferior to LEGO. Then I found out they didn't transform.

I think the lack of transforming capability really hurt their sales. Without that, they're not real Transformers; and they're not real LEGO, either.

# ? Dec 30, 2011 01:33

Dre2Dee2: Dec 6, 2006; Just a striding through Kamen Rider...

MaliciousOnion posted:

I am a big fan of both LEGO and Transformers, and when I heard about these I was seriously considering getting one. This was despite the fact that they were Kre-O and therefore inferior to LEGO. Then I found out they didn't transform.

I think the lack of transforming capability really hurt their sales. Without that, they're not real Transformers; and they're not real LEGO, either.

They tried this actually with the Built To Rule line actually

it was an abomination to GOD. Seriously... it's shocking how bad they were. Absolute TRASH. I think doing it as a LEGO Creator kinda sets is the closest we'll get :ohdear:

# ? Dec 30, 2011 02:02

Pyroclastic: Jan 4, 2010

Gravy Jones posted:

My LEGO sorting tips:

1. Minifigs and accessories in the little box (or under the couch).
2. Everything else in the big box.

Little box? My Minifigs and a good chunk of their accessories consume an entire 21 quart bin.
And I think I'd need a 55 gallon drum to hold 'everything else'. Imagine digging through that for that drat 1x1 transblue round you know you have.

# ? Dec 30, 2011 02:17

youareoffthehook: Mar 24, 2008; On a scale of one to ten, I think that's an awesome!

Why cookie Rocket posted:

When do you expect to receive set 6857 - Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape? Its the only Superhero set I haven't seen in stock yet...

By the way, we got more in stock. There were still a ton there when I got off work about an hour ago.

# ? Dec 30, 2011 02:56

TheJadedOne: Aug 13, 2004

So after 20 years I am finding my love of Legos again. Thing is my favorite sets were always the castle and knight sets. Unfortunately it seems the kingdoms sets are not in production anymore.

But there is a lego store near me! So excited.

# ? Dec 30, 2011 03:15

Guzwar: Feb 21, 2006; Everything's coming up Milhouse!

AlexJade posted:

So after 20 years I am finding my love of Legos again. Thing is my favorite sets were always the castle and knight sets. Unfortunately it seems the kingdoms sets are not in production anymore. But there is a lego store near me! So excited.

I just built the Mill Village Raid a few days ago, and really regret not getting more Kingdoms/Castle sets. Shame that they're getting rid of them to make room for the LotR sets -- I think you could easily have both on the market at the same time, with Kingdoms acting as unofficial supplements. Yeah, the Hobbits totally stole that farmer's food. That blacksmith there, he's just making armour for the defense of the White City.

# ? Dec 30, 2011 03:51

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# ? May 14, 2024 18:40

Why cookie Rocket: Dec 2, 2003; Lemme tell ya 'bout your blood bamboo kid.
It ain't Coca-Cola, it's rice.

youareoffthehook posted:

By the way, we got more in stock. There were still a ton there when I got off work about an hour ago.

gently caress fuuuuuuuuck gotta get to bellevue

# ? Dec 30, 2011 04:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Lego thread: Shiiiiiiiit, I don't got the money for this.

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