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On the brickarms/megablocks front... I toss megablocks because they're cheaply made, look like poo poo, and don't fit well enough for my tastes. Not because they're 'impure.' Brickarms look solid. I wouldn't be above usin' 'em. But at the same time, one of the appeals of lego (and sharing your MOCs with a community) is that anybody could reproduce your design. This only works because there's a limited number of lego brick shapes and colors. Even then, that number is getting so big that it's very difficult to just reproduce somebody else's MOC with your collection - any sizable MOC will still be a SHIP. At least if all the parts are official LEGO brand, you have resources to help you track down what was used. Once you start allowing for non-lego parts, it makes it harder to look at a MOC and figure out what all is used in it. Allowing brickarms and ONLY brickarms wouldn't actually cause a problem here, so I figure it's a personal choice. But if the group consensus was that 'anything goes', and that pieces can be painted, glued, other parts can be used, etc... well, then it becomes more sculptures that incorporates lego, than lego sculptures proper. And I can see why the majority prefer to stick to lego sculptures. I get the impression in the lego robotics community they're a lot less concerned with this, and it's more about function and form than 'authenticity.'
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Jul 16, 2010 23:21
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Uglycat posted:But if the group consensus was that 'anything goes', and that pieces can be painted, glued, other parts can be used, etc... well, then it becomes more sculptures that incorporates lego, than lego sculptures proper. Counterpoint.
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Jul 17, 2010 00:37
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3 posted:Counterpoint. Yeah, but he worked his rear end off to earn that right. When you have a gallery like his, you can cheat too.
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Jul 17, 2010 00:44
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Sham I Am posted:I am curious as to how much you guys tend to spend on this hobby a year? 3 posted:Counterpoint. When I'm designing a MOC, I start with the most important or difficult part and work around it, piecing it all together. I love the challenge of finding a way for the parts to go together and work the way I envision them. Modifying parts feels like cheating or giving up on trying to make it work within the constraints of the LEGO system and it wouldn't be satisfying for me. It also conflicts with another thing I love about LEGO, which is that any part can be anything. Revolvers can be handlebars, pillars can be gun barrels, minifig limbs can be furniture. Cutting or painting a part to fit your MOC removes that freedom and makes it just another overly specialized piece modified just for the purpose of one MOC. So yeah, I like Brickarms stuff for figs, but I wouldn't use anything like that in the actual build phase. Exceptions: Stuff that there really is no way to do with LEGO, such as advanced lighting systems and those alternate size train drivers and such. I'm cool with decals most of the time, too. I just don't like it when they're used to create detail that could have been brick built, like vents or something.
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Jul 17, 2010 05:18
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3 posted:Counterpoint. I don't care what someone else does. And if the end result looks impressive, I'll offer praise. A lot of people have this misconception that there's somehow 'cannon' and 'eu' lego MOCs. There ain't. Each person has their own rules that they adhere to for their reasons. And each fan appreciates the finished product in their own way for whatever reasons they choose to. 'least that's how I see it. But I only use genuine lego. And I ain't never built nothin' that's worth of posting on the internet. yet.
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Jul 17, 2010 07:38
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A funny thing I noticed in regards to Lego and Brickarms is that years ago, Lego didn't make guns for their Star Wars line. Minifigs that had guns used megaphone pieces with round trans red bits on the end. Brickarms came along and produced Star Wars guns. I think at the time they called them space guns, but they were definitely Star Wars blasters. Now Lego produces Star Wars weapons that look like guns instead of stand ins. It seems to me that Brickarms got Lego to produce Star Wars guns instead of a stand in. Maybe that's not the case, but its an coincidence otherwise.
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Jul 17, 2010 08:29
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Megabloks bricks are in general pretty rubbish, with poor fit and plastic quality, but their minifigures are actually pretty neat. The ones that came with the Halo Wars sets are practically tiny action figures, with ball joints and good posability.
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Jul 17, 2010 08:33
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Carbohydrates posted:He was a great builder, but the modded and clone parts do kinda bother me. From looking at some of the MOCs clicking around his Flickr, very few if any seem to be modified(I know there's some that have many, such as some of the Classic Space stuff he made). The blue ship that's the first result on his Flickr, the missiles have shaved-down white horns to fill the tips of the missiles so that only a single stud, the one on the tip of the jet, is shown on the entire model. There is no Lego piece, not one, that could take that place on the missiles without breaking the coloring, as the only other thing I can think of that would fit the bill would be chrome spears from Aquanauts and those would stand out like a sore thumb. His stuff is fantastic art and he was one of the most consistently talented creators the community had, getting anal about his parts modification ignores all the things he did without modified parts. It's abundantly clear that if there were a way to do it without sacrificing the uniformity of color or design for a creation, he was more than capable of and definitely would have thought of it. He wanted to go the extra mile to do truly amazing things with what he built, and looking at the results, it's extremely difficult for me to fault him for it. Speaking of Nnenn. A goon in the previous thread, "Peepot", compiled and renamed all the images from his Flickr account, a huge amount of work that many are thankful for. Some really staggering stuff in here. Peepot posted:Here is nnenn's flickr gallery. 1188 images, 88MB. Edit: also, Carbohydrates, if you could add that quote above to the OP as well as sticking the Autofabrik link back into the quote of videos(just relink it in there with "Autofabrik automatic Lego car building factory" for the link description or something) that'd be awesome. I don't mean to impose on your OP, honest, I just feel Nnenn's stuff, regardless of your stance on modified parts, are really things worth seeing!  If you want preview thumbnails for examples of the stuff in the collection file, these should work as an example of the quality therein:    
Captain Invictus fucked around with this message at 13:14 on Jul 17, 2010 |
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Jul 17, 2010 12:41
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That Awful Nick posted:It's more like "buy two copies of set, build one, wait for the set to go out of production or stop being available at retail outlets, then sell the second set at a markup that covers at least the cost of both." Yeah, this is usually how it goes for me. Any set from a licensed theme tends to get retarded expensive the day it stops being produced...you'd think by now people would just buy what they want at retail instead of paying the premium the week after it leaves stores, but I don't mind...it funds the habit nicely. I also take advantage of sales and do my best to manipulate companies that price their sets differently. Case in point, when Toys R Us does a buy-one get-one 50% sale, I've been known to grab two $100+ sets, keep one and exchange the second one at the LEGO store for full price in store credit. I still spend $150+ on LEGO, but I end up with $200+ worth of actual bricks/sets. It's the best perk of living in a town with a LEGO store...no-receipt, no questions exchange policy 
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Jul 17, 2010 14:38
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I moved out of the family home a few weeks ago, and whilst moving, I came across my Lego collection. I had been quite grumpy for the past few years, because I became convinced that it had somehow been sold in my absence - but no, apologies to my parents - we found it in full! There isn't an awful lot to it - there's a couple of racing cars and speedboats, and a mishmash of City stuff (which was my brother's and I just used for MOCs), but I do have a couple of extra Pirate bits that I didn't realise I had. I knew for certain that I had Forbidden Island because that was my only big set, and an awesome Christmas present - but it turns out that I also own Broadside's Brig, Castaway's Raft and Harbour Sentry. And they're all in glorious condition. Now I've rebuilt them, I'm really seeing the need for some more Imperial Soldier sets and I'd love to extend into the Islanders too. Or has anyone got any ideas on other sets which work well with Pirate sets? Maybe Castles? I lurked in the other thread a lot - I feel like a Lego novice!
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Jul 17, 2010 14:47
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So, today my folks decided to do a big spring cleaning. Well, my mom decided that for the rest of us. So I've finally gotten around to cleaning my room properly, discard shitloads of random useless memorabilia gathered over a decade and make room on my shelves for my collection. I also took this chance to move my lego collection (which is still unsorted) from a big black plastic ugly-rear end tub to more suitable containers, making sorting and building much more manageable. I will probably spend the evening sorting through my poo poo, and finally getting around to starting my zombie invasion diorama. I've also noticed that the stickers which I never, ever use, actually will play a part in my diorama. The new Space Police has some awesome stickers which will perfectly suit my police/armymen fighting the zombies. I might post pictures of my WIPs, but don't count on anything as spectacular as the things you guys make.
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Jul 17, 2010 15:15
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Any Legoons that know Japanese? http://www.takaratomy-arts.co.jp/specials/lego/ I see that it says July, but does it say when in July? Or where they will be? I went to the ClickBrick store today and they knew zero English.
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Jul 17, 2010 15:34
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Speaking of Japanese... http://www.flickr.com/photos/misaqa/sets/72157624484791238/ Jesus loving Christ.
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Jul 17, 2010 16:12
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Revol posted:Jesus loving Christ.  I really wish they had some closeups of the top part of the human castle on the right though. I cannot divine how they made it so nice.
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Jul 17, 2010 16:43
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kensei posted:Wooo hooo new thread with an awesome OP. Do you know offhand what the North American one is gonna be for this year? City, I presume 
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Jul 17, 2010 16:51
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Sharp_angus posted:Do you know offhand what the North American one is gonna be for this year? City, I presume Yeah, City: http://www.toywiz.com/lego2824.html 
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Jul 17, 2010 16:56
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Some of my favorite photo sets are from people who either make a LEGO robot suit for their minifigs or from people recreating scenes from favorite books that aren't already a LEGO set (Harry Potter).
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Jul 17, 2010 16:58
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djfooboo posted:Any Legoons that know Japanese? It just says they'll be in those capsule vending machines countrywide the second third of the month, which means they're probably already on sale or will be by the twentieth.
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Jul 17, 2010 18:38
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kensei posted:Yeah, City: http://www.toywiz.com/lego2824.html At least it has a naked santa in the shower.
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Jul 17, 2010 18:58
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John Carstairs posted:It just says they'll be in those capsule vending machines countrywide the second third of the month, which means they're probably already on sale or will be by the twentieth. Thanks a ton!
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Jul 17, 2010 20:30
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Does anyone know if Cad Bane's Speeder is out, and if so where? Google search gives me a shop.lego page, but it's not available in the US. I thought the rumor was that it would be a Target exclusive? I'm hoping I can make up most of the cost by selling the minifigs, because the speeder itself looks pretty cool.
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Jul 17, 2010 22:14
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I have a quick question about the in-store Pick-a-Brick - I've seen where people started carefully packing the PAB containers, stacking bricks and arranging things smartly to get much higher piece yeilds and significantly lower cost per piece than randomly dumping pieces in. I'm tempted to drive to Columbus and get $100+ of PAB pieces for building and designing. Do the Lego store people get pissy if someone is doing that, or do they not really care if someone packs the PAB container?
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Jul 17, 2010 22:32
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Three-Phase posted:I have a quick question about the in-store Pick-a-Brick - I've seen where people started carefully packing the PAB containers, stacking bricks and arranging things smartly to get much higher piece yeilds and significantly lower cost per piece than randomly dumping pieces in. I'm tempted to drive to Columbus and get $100+ of PAB pieces for building and designing. Whenever I go, I usually wind up spending at least a half-hour deciding what to get and doing a decent pack. I've never seen them annoyed at anyone. I think the kids that spill Lego all over the floor rate higher on their annoyance scales. Of course, if you're a rude, smelly neckbeard who shoves little kids out of the way because there's only a few purple flames left or something, they'd get a little miffed. Just grab a handful, hang back by the counter and pack it, then go back; don't block the wall, because it can get crowded (as you might expect, there are far fewer people in there at 10am on a school day than there are on a weekend or at 4pm on Friday afternoon). You may find it hard to spend $100 in PAB unless they have something you specifically need for a SHIP; it's rare I get more than two large cups. If they do, though, they might have the $150 cardboard box that will get more more parts than 10 $15 cups. If you ask, they may even sell you the bags they get the parts in for like $75.
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Jul 17, 2010 22:56
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Three-Phase posted:I have a quick question about the in-store Pick-a-Brick - I've seen where people started carefully packing the PAB containers, stacking bricks and arranging things smartly to get much higher piece yeilds and significantly lower cost per piece than randomly dumping pieces in. I'm tempted to drive to Columbus and get $100+ of PAB pieces for building and designing. I did that with my last two visits, and I suspect that they see it a lot, so I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Be as slow and precise about it is as you want. I finally got one of these today: http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Product.aspx?p=8996&cn=559 since TRU has them for 25% off. With tax, it equals how much it is on Lego.com, and it has a ton of useful parts I can't wait to use 
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Jul 17, 2010 23:47
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Pyroclastic posted:Whenever I go, I usually wind up spending at least a half-hour deciding what to get and doing a decent pack. I've never seen them annoyed at anyone. I think the kids that spill Lego all over the floor rate higher on their annoyance scales. Hahahaha, I laughed at the smelly neckbeard shoving the kids away. I could see someone doing that. No, I would be a bit more careful and curteous than that. I like the idea of setting down a cup and going back and forth carefully like that. Too bad they don't have PAB for Technic pieces.
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Jul 18, 2010 00:05
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Three-Phase posted:Hahahaha, I laughed at the smelly neckbeard shoving the kids away. I could see someone doing that. No, I would be a bit more careful and curteous than that. I like the idea of setting down a cup and going back and forth carefully like that. If there are a bunch of kids in the store, just keep an eye on your cup. Last time I was there, a ~4-year-old decided he liked my cups and tried to take them.  I help out parents all the time at the wall. Let them know if there are sets (wheels, tires, axles), or to remind them to get stems with the handful of flowers their little girl grabbed, point out other plant life if they're looking for any, and to sprinkle in some small pieces to fill gaps. At Lego cons, registered attendees might have an after-hours pilgrimage to a Lego store if there's one nearby (Brick-con in Seattle does this). I didn't go to the one last year, but it's possible that since the managers know a bunch are coming, they might order pieces more suited to AFOLs. Still, it'd be awesome to have a technic PAB, even if the large cups cost twice as much. Also, ask an employee if they have a 'sample cup' of PAB stuff they haven't moved to the wall yet. Pyroclastic fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 00:26
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I haven't messed around with Lego's in ages, but yesterday I came across something magical after an utterly crappy day at work. I had limped on over to the Wal-Mart to finish some errands, when something on one of the end-shelves caught my eye. "Oh, just some lego set," I thought to myself at first, but then I looked closer at the little image in the corner of the box that was calling to me: "Is...is that what I think it is?"  "OH MY GOD THAT'S A SPACE-PIMP" Fastest impulse-purchase I have ever made. A man just can't refuse a stylin' space-pimp and his matching blinged-out space-limousine. And after assembling the set, I felt compelled to award my new star-faring lord of prostitution his own space-pimp-cane and funky-fresh science fiction posse made from my old junk:  Baron Von DapperStache, Brick Daddy, and TURBO-PHARAOH 5000 are ready to tighten their respective hands/mandibles/robo-hooks around their wood-paneled city. Aw yeah.
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Jul 18, 2010 02:11
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Three-Phase posted:I have a quick question about the in-store Pick-a-Brick - I've seen where people started carefully packing the PAB containers, stacking bricks and arranging things smartly to get much higher piece yeilds and significantly lower cost per piece than randomly dumping pieces in. I'm tempted to drive to Columbus and get $100+ of PAB pieces for building and designing. I definitely wouldn't worry about it as long as you're polite. At least at the PA store where I go, almost all the employees are AFOLs themselves, so they understand. Besdies, if you pack carefully, in-store PaB is the absolute cheapest way to buy Lego.
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Jul 18, 2010 02:21
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When I went to the PAB wall at the Brighton (England) Lego store, I was slightly disappointed because it was almost all bricks. Proper bricks like 2x4 blocks in various colours. None of the nice interesting little bits that I was hoping for. There were stairs, orange flames and stems/flowers, but nearly everything else was bricks, so I passed. Also, a large cup was £11 ($16), so... uh, no.
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Jul 18, 2010 02:32
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The_Doctor posted:When I went to the PAB wall at the Brighton (England) Lego store, I was slightly disappointed because it was almost all bricks. Proper bricks like 2x4 blocks in various colours. None of the nice interesting little bits that I was hoping for. There were stairs, orange flames and stems/flowers, but nearly everything else was bricks, so I passed. Yeah, unfortunately the adult fan market is not the primary concern of Lego when they offer the stores things to put on the wall. First, all the lower cubbies have to be stocked with large parts (basically just 2x4 bricks and larger) because of the choking risk for small children. Also, they want to include lots of bright colors to catch the eye, which is another thing we tend not to want as much of. That said, if you're able to get to know the people at the store you might be able to make requests. I think I said this in the other thread, but basically how it works is that the store gets an order form that shows all the parts they can order. The manager places orders, but doesn't always get everything they ask for, so it is a bit hit or miss. At any rate, there usually are small plates and tiles on the list somewhere, and I've gotten some great parts that way.
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Jul 18, 2010 04:12
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I was really disappointed in the PAB selection at my LEGO store. Granted, it was a 'LEGO outlet' so I don't know if it differs from other stores. I managed to get a full PAB cup the first time, but the second trip I couldn't even be compelled to fill up the smallest container. Worst selection of bricks ever. I was so proud of my little girl. She put together SpongeBob's house all by herself. I really need to stop buying stuff on Bricklink and save up for one of those huge sets like the department store.
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Jul 18, 2010 04:22
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There are Lego...outlets? As in Lego at a discount price from the source?  I must know where one is.
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Jul 18, 2010 04:24
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Big Mean Jerk posted:There are Lego...outlets? As in Lego at a discount price from the source? It's called a LEGO Outlet (located in Georgia at Discover Mills), but I've never noticed anything terribly cheap. The only things discounted are keychains. I imagine they've got bins of Mutt keychains for 50% off at most LEGO stores.
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Jul 18, 2010 04:28
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What is better than one Excavator? How about two, with TRU's Buy One, Get One 50% off deal for $325 with tax? Their bags don't support the weight of two of these things.
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Jul 18, 2010 08:35
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Mine GO BOOM posted:What is better than one Excavator? How about two, with TRU's Buy One, Get One 50% off deal for $325 with tax? Goddamn, man. I'm wary enough as it is about spending $200 on 1100 pieces, even if there are 4 M motors, 2 IR receivers, 2 remotes, and a battery box. Yeah, you wanna get the best deal you can when it comes to expensive sets, but, sheesh. Shame Borders doesn't carry high-end Lego sets like that. Love to use a 40% off coupon on one of those!
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Jul 18, 2010 09:46
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The_Doctor posted:When I went to the PAB wall at the Brighton (England) Lego store, I was slightly disappointed because it was almost all bricks. Proper bricks like 2x4 blocks in various colours. None of the nice interesting little bits that I was hoping for. There were stairs, orange flames and stems/flowers, but nearly everything else was bricks, so I passed. At least you get a cup. Legoland Windsor Lego Store does PAB ... by weight. You can be as clever as you like putting them in the box but it matters not one jot. As a result I can honestly say I've never seen anyone using the PAB section in the last 2 times I have been. In other news I went shopping yesterday: I probably shouldn't be so happy about a box. But it was nice to find a decent condition box for my earliest LEGO.    Plus. Set 50. And I remember having it as a kid. How old does that make me feel? Especially when I glance over and see a recent set I bought which is over 10,000 in set number. Still, I'm well chuffed. Now to sort all the orriginal pieces from this set and set about building some of the godawful, but cute, suggestions on the box. I also picked up the Spanish Armada Flagship. I can honestly say I had never seen it before, had no idea it existed but it is soooo pretty. I'm looking forward to building it later.  (image hosting my own) toochilled fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 13:48
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ChickenHeart posted:
Where can I get that Baron minifig? I've never seen it and the moustache is enchanting.
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Jul 18, 2010 14:00
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Guzwar posted:Where can I get that Baron minifig? I've never seen it and the moustache is enchanting. (Second note: There are two versions of that head, one with just the moustache, and one with squintier eyes and a goatee. Very useful for having the evil mirror universe version of your character). Dame Cook fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Jul 18, 2010 |
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Jul 18, 2010 16:57
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Mine GO BOOM posted:What is better than one Excavator? How about two, with TRU's Buy One, Get One 50% off deal for $325 with tax? I wish they were out here
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Jul 18, 2010 20:25
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Sham I Am posted:I am curious as to how much you guys tend to spend on this hobby a year? Brickset.com puts my collection total at $2278. I added most of the Lego sets I had as a kid but I might have missed a few. I've also picked up several hundred dollars in brick link orders and ebay/garage sale stuff over the past few years. I'd put my total collection at closer to $2600. Of that, probably $1350 is Lego I've purchased in the past 2-3 years since I got back into the hobby. My interest in Lego comes and goes now but I see myself easily spending $500 a year right now. If I could afford it I would be spending a lot more. A LOT more. I usually have to put my Lego purchases in perspective with how much money I make an hour. So I'll tell myself, "well, I'd like to buy this $100 Lego set but is it worth having to work an entire day for it?"
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Jul 18, 2010 21:43
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