ChoklitReign
Member
Videodrome.
The LEGO Thread
- Thread starter wetwired
- Start date
- Status
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Boo ya! Grand Emporium is next. Debating if the second set is Pet Shop or Town Hall
Over 2000 pieces...I haven't bought a LEGO set in years, but that's tempting even at $150 whatnot. Is it best to buy it on the official LEGO site and wait for it to go into stock, or instead buy from an Amazon reseller?Finished the Fire Brigade this afternoon, and damn was that an awesome set.
Also I seem to see some people mentioning coupons/discounts. Are there tricks to get better deals? Thanks for posting the detailed review!
Over 2000 pieces...I haven't bought a LEGO set in years, but that's tempting even at $150 whatnot. Is it best to buy it on the official LEGO site and wait for it to go into stock, or instead buy from an Amazon reseller?
Also I seem to see some people mentioning coupons/discounts. Are there tricks to get better deals? Thanks for posting the detailed review!
Right now (until March 15th) you get double VIP points at LEGO.com. The Fire Brigade yields 300 VIP points which equates to 15 dollars off your next purchase from the LEGO store or website.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Whoa. Toys R Us.com does not have the Town Hall set on their site. How long does it take them to get the Modulars on there usually?
anonymous_abc
Member
Maybe we can work something out
make me an offer I cannot refuse.
well as long as I don't wake up with a horses head in bed ^^
Infinitemadness
Member
Got my Slave 1 from Amazon (yesterday, actually) Came in really great shape. I feel safer ordering from them now for the larger sets that occasionally go on sale. Also got my Fire Brigade. Between those, The Black Pearl and Medieval Village from V-Day, I think I'm set for a while.
(Lies, so using the B&N coupon for something else big)
Also completed Series 6 of Minifigures finally. Good Lego times.
(Lies, so using the B&N coupon for something else big)
Also completed Series 6 of Minifigures finally. Good Lego times.
Well my batmobile reached 500 votes on CUUSOO and I got an official comment from LEGO on it....
At this rate it will take another 19 months to reach 10000 votes
At this rate it will take another 19 months to reach 10000 votes
anonymous_abc
Member
Well my batmobile reached 500 votes on CUUSOO and I got an official comment from LEGO on it....
At this rate it will take another 19 months to reach 10000 votes
you will have to promote it in the Batman Thread and on other Batman related forums
PS its lacking the ability to turn into a motorbike
Chuckie
Member
Well my batmobile reached 500 votes on CUUSOO and I got an official comment from LEGO on it....
At this rate it will take another 19 months to reach 10000 votes
I voted for it just now.
As did I
Infinitemadness
Member
Got my vote.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
Well my batmobile reached 500 votes on CUUSOO and I got an official comment from LEGO on it....
At this rate it will take another 19 months to reach 10000 votes
It's a shame you have to sign up, then fill in a form to vote on stuff. I guess it prevents people just getting a whole community to just hit a button.
I called LEGO yesterday to get an update on my missing bag from Fire Brigade. They said it just passed through customs on 3/6, so should be here early next week. I didn't realize that they had to do international shipping for one little baggie. Sounds insane.
Both times I've called, the CSRs I've spoken to have been insanely nice and cheery! It's such a breath of fresh air, compared to your normal phone call to a customer service line. Kudos to LEGO!
Also, voted on the Batmobile. You're up to 537 now!
Both times I've called, the CSRs I've spoken to have been insanely nice and cheery! It's such a breath of fresh air, compared to your normal phone call to a customer service line. Kudos to LEGO!
Also, voted on the Batmobile. You're up to 537 now!
GroteSmurf
Member
I also voted for the batmobile. You're on 541 now 
Did the third build of the Creator Blue Roadster 6913.
It's a lot smaller and uses less pieces then the main build but I appreciate that Lego included it. I think when I'm tired of building this set I'll combine the bricks with my other Creator sets and start playing around with MOC stuff. Perhaps a flying car or hover craft?
It's a lot smaller and uses less pieces then the main build but I appreciate that Lego included it. I think when I'm tired of building this set I'll combine the bricks with my other Creator sets and start playing around with MOC stuff. Perhaps a flying car or hover craft?
Signed up, and voted for. Nice!
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Congrats on 500 votes wetwired!
Also, Friday means it's almost time to take a trip to the Lego store wooooo!
Also, Friday means it's almost time to take a trip to the Lego store wooooo!
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Well my batmobile reached 500 votes on CUUSOO and I got an official comment from LEGO on it....
At this rate it will take another 19 months to reach 10000 votes
My gf and I already vote for it awhile ago Wetwired. I'm gonna try and build it eventually, I really like the model. I voted for your Alan too, I really like that one.
yeah I actually prefer alan and the modular building of mine over the batmobile, but the IP attached to the batmobile will naturally make it more popular than my custom robot and building.
I've love to see my bot series become a reality starting with alan
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
yeah I actually prefer alan and the modular building of mine over the batmobile, but the IP attached to the batmobile will naturally make it more popular than my custom robot and building.
I've love to see my bot series become a reality starting with alan
I'd buy your robot series, I think they are awesome. I love the idea of the Cuusoo site, but it really doesn't seem to get much buzz, except for franchise ideas with large fan bases like Star Wars or Minecraft. With the popularity of Lego I would have thought more people would use it. Their almost needs to be a way to "advertise" the projects in a place that gets a lot of views. I've found some really great projects on there that only have a couple dozen votes each. Just seems strangely low to me.
Bakkuma371
Member
I think Cuusoo is a great idea but it is difficult to get small projects done because TLG still need to make money from it all.
Minecraft is a great example, your mechs would be a lot more fun but you don't have the fanbase behind you. I think them changing the votes needed from 1000 to 10000 was too big a jump.
Minecraft is a great example, your mechs would be a lot more fun but you don't have the fanbase behind you. I think them changing the votes needed from 1000 to 10000 was too big a jump.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
Cuusoo...Oh Cuusoo...I like the site, I really do. The problems with it, though, are numerous. Incoming quasi-rant...
Let's start with the huge selection of "reprint this" or "redo this" that flood the site. Lego doesn't need Cuusoo to know that reprinting the UCS Millenium Falcon or Taj Mahal or Green Grocer would make them a load of cash. They know damn well that reprinting certain sets would be crazy profitable. There are other reasons for them choosing not to print these sets again, though - reasons we as general consumers will more than likely never know.
The other huge problem with Cuusoo is that the success of a given set is not based on anything but how viral the set gets. Minecraft is a great example of this. Is Lego Minecraft going to sell well? Probably - to the loads of crazed Minecraft fanatics out there. Is it going to generate a repeatable profit outlet for Lego? I sincerely doubt it. Minecraft fans are going to buy the Minecraft line and that's probably it.
The Minecraft craze created this HUGE buzz about the Cuusoo Lego Minecraft thing, right? So the hundreds of thousands of Minecraft nuts got together and voted the set up in like, what - a few days? Great. I would honestly venture to say that a respectable majority of the Minecraft fan base will buy the set and move on. I imagine it will be a VERY small percentage of people that stick around and continue to enjoy and experience Lego for what it truly is.
So going beyond that, look at how many great ideas are on Cuusoo already. Even outside of that, look at MOCPages. The internet is FULL of amazing creations and communities that support Lego beyond anything TLG could have imagined. But Cuusoo has this problem...Let's use wetwired as an example, shall we?
Wetwired has submitted a really great Batmobile design that has just over 500 votes. The model is simple in design but complex in structure. It looks like something TLG would release, too - not too big, not too small. It's really a great fit for a Batman set. The problem is that wetwired's set will probably never make 10,000 votes (sorry man, just stating the facts based off the trends). Is it because the set isn't good? Nope. It's because it's not Minecraft, Pokemon, etc.
If Mojang put wetwired's Batmobile on the Minecraft home page, it would get 10,000 votes in a few days and have a slew of comments along the lines of, "Cool" or "gr8lolomg" or "SWEEEET". The issue being that there's no GOOD way to fix this problem, since this is the internet and all.
In my opinion, Cuusoo is based almost exclusively on viral marketing and how successful you are are forcing your idea down the throats of thousands of people. Lego.com needs to make Cuusoo a MUCH more prominent figure on it's website, too. It needs to get more exposure so that it can generate the traffic it needs to start hitting its marks.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Agreed completely. However, Lego itself has a huge fanbase too, just like Minecraft does. It's just not a huge active internet fanbase like the kind that Minecraft has.
Just to note, I'm an immense Minecraft enthusiast. I play the game several times a week, I've owned it since Alpha and I think it is the greatest game I've bought in almost a decade. But I don't think the Minecraft Cuusoo project is more deserving than several dozen other ideas on the site. I didn't even vote for it. The only reason it got the nod is because of the game's rabid community.
What Cuusoo needs is an active online Lego community to use it and feed it. As far as I can tell Eurobricks is the most active Lego presence online, but I don't know enough about it to know if they actively promote excellent Cuusoo projects or not. Bricklinks is an awesome high traffic site but it lacks the community tools like an organized forum to centralize it. We here at GAF have this thread that has exploded into activity, and we've garnered some attention to worthy Cuusoo projects, but it's nothing like what happened with the Minecraft set. Lego Cuusoo needs an active community like Minecraftforum.net and Reddit to "advertise" and reach tens of thousands of people quickly.
Without that, the only sets on Cuusoo that will be successful are the franchises with already existing tens of thousands of fans.
I wonder what we here at GAF could do to change the situation?
Fox Mulder
Member
They ship replacement stuff from poland
The Lamonster
Member
Lego should expand more in the States. There needs to be a store in St. Louis
parrotbeak
Member
Occupy TLG
Slave 1 came last night via UPS. Looks like it is back at full price on amazon so I'm glad I grabbed it when I did.
I want to build it immediately but fixing my computer is my first priority this weekend.
Slave 1 came last night via UPS. Looks like it is back at full price on amazon so I'm glad I grabbed it when I did.
I want to build it immediately but fixing my computer is my first priority this weekend.
Lego should expand more in the States. There needs to be a store in St. Louis
I'm so torn on this. While I would LOVE it if St. Louis had a store, it would be so bad for my bank account.
PhoncipleBone
Banned
Picked up another Star Wars set and continuing my desk layout.
Tar Heels represent!
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Allright, so say you had about $1200 to blow on Lego. No restrictions, no holds barred. How would you spend it?
I find myself in that very situation.
I just found out I'm getting a very nice bonus from work soon, and my gf and I have agreed to put half towards home projects and some tools, and the other half we'll spend on Lego for something fun we both can enjoy. So now that I'm faced with it, I find myself wondering what is the most efficient way to spend that money to get the most bricks and value possible? My brother has our childhood crate of Lego (it's over twenty years old), his gf's son has pretty much commandeered it, so I've recently decided to start my own Lego collection from scratch. I have a few sets and bricks now, but it's time to grow this so I can build more with it.
Am I better off buying a ton of bricks that I want off of Bricklink, or will I get more bang for my buck buying sets? The Lego VIP program seems to be a 5% discount, but is it better to look for sets in toy stores or on Amazon that have discounts of more than 5% MSRP? Lego sets seem to have their MSRP price set so that bricks cost about $0.12 / pc on average. Also, finding Lego on sale does not seem to be so easy a task.
Anyone have any suggestions for me? Right now I'm sorta leaning towards a mix of buying some bricks I want from Bricklink and getting a few sets from Lego.com next week for the double VIP points.
Hopefully the answers can help others spend their money more wisely on their Lego hobby too.
I find myself in that very situation.
I just found out I'm getting a very nice bonus from work soon, and my gf and I have agreed to put half towards home projects and some tools, and the other half we'll spend on Lego for something fun we both can enjoy. So now that I'm faced with it, I find myself wondering what is the most efficient way to spend that money to get the most bricks and value possible? My brother has our childhood crate of Lego (it's over twenty years old), his gf's son has pretty much commandeered it, so I've recently decided to start my own Lego collection from scratch. I have a few sets and bricks now, but it's time to grow this so I can build more with it.
Am I better off buying a ton of bricks that I want off of Bricklink, or will I get more bang for my buck buying sets? The Lego VIP program seems to be a 5% discount, but is it better to look for sets in toy stores or on Amazon that have discounts of more than 5% MSRP? Lego sets seem to have their MSRP price set so that bricks cost about $0.12 / pc on average. Also, finding Lego on sale does not seem to be so easy a task.
Anyone have any suggestions for me? Right now I'm sorta leaning towards a mix of buying some bricks I want from Bricklink and getting a few sets from Lego.com next week for the double VIP points.
Hopefully the answers can help others spend their money more wisely on their Lego hobby too.
Did the third build of the Creator Blue Roadster 6913.
It's a lot smaller and uses less pieces then the main build but I appreciate that Lego included it. I think when I'm tired of building this set I'll combine the bricks with my other Creator sets and start playing around with MOC stuff. Perhaps a flying car or hover craft?
Signed up, and voted for. Nice!
There's a 4th build for the roadster set on Lego's site.
http://cache.lego.com/upload/conten.../download168E0959B215763B04AEAB0E2B315760.pdf
Bakkuma371
Member
Just found myself in that same position and I did a mix purchases. Set wise I bought the SSD, Tantive IV and Obi Wan Star Fighter. I also placed orders on Bricklink to cover building the Metal Grudge and getting a start on about 4 other BL projects. One order from Lego.com got me the motors, battery boxes, remotes and receivers I will need for a short while too.
Throw in a few trips to the Lego store for a some PAB's, Minifigs and Brick Journal issues and I'm now back to spending what I make on eBay for a little while as we don't really have enough space as it is.
Still I think I came away with enough bricks and some good experiences. The SSD build has taught me well as I prepare to make my own SHiP.
Wolfe
Member
Check your PM's.
Mine came yesterday and it has a big ass crease down the middle of the box grrrrrrr. I hate that I care so much about a box, but the anal collector in me hates the imperfection.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
It goes both ways honestly. You can get a LOT of Lego from Bricklink with that money. But if you WANT sets, you can get a lot of wonderful sets, too. The first step is deciding what theme interests you and what route you want to take with building!
That bolded portion of your post is the issue with shopping around. The sets that DO go on sale may not even be what you're in the market for. I would say that you're best bet is going to be to browse lego.com and see what sets interest you. Once you come up with a full list of sets you like and want, we can all help you narrow down your purchase to include the best bang for your buck (between sets and Bricklink).
jtkauff
Member
Man, the end of work can't come quick enough. Wife just let me know my recent eBay purchase showed up - it's a partial UCS Imperial Star Destroyer. No idea how much of a set is there, not expecting more than 1/3 or 1/2 of it (probably missing most of the plates but looks like lots of greeble stuff), but it'll be a nice start to Bricklinking it. It was an unsorted lot and after studying the photos for about a half hour and referencing Bricklink a ton, it's pretty obvious that it's part of the ISD (seeing the tan magnet holders that were only in that set, amongst other things).
I did exactly that recently, but in £. Definitely buy sets, they are fun to put together and $1200 of Lego will give you lots of pieces for your own stuff too.
Plus double VIP points means effectively 10% bonus, so at the end you'd have another $120 to spend
Top sets right now (IMO)
- VW camper
- mini modulars
- pet shop
- shuttle expedition
- grand emporium OR fire brigade
- Star wars imperial shuttle
- pirates of the carribean. any of the ships
- Maersk train
- medievel market village
- x-wing/tie fighter
- tower bridge
Plus double VIP points means effectively 10% bonus, so at the end you'd have another $120 to spend
Top sets right now (IMO)
- VW camper
- mini modulars
- pet shop
- shuttle expedition
- grand emporium OR fire brigade
- Star wars imperial shuttle
- pirates of the carribean. any of the ships
- Maersk train
- medievel market village
- x-wing/tie fighter
- tower bridge
Woah! Thanks for the link! I'll have to look on Lego for more builds with other Creator sets.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
I did exactly that recently, but in £. Definitely buy sets, they are fun to put together and $1200 of Lego will give you lots of pieces for your own stuff too.
Plus double VIP points means effectively 10% bonus, so at the end you'd have another $120 to spend
Top sets right now (IMO)
- VW camper
- mini modulars
- pet shop
- shuttle expedition
- grand emporium OR fire brigade
- Star wars imperial shuttle
- pirates of the carribean. any of the ships
- Maersk train
- medievel market village
- x-wing/tie fighter
- tower bridge
I bolded the ones I think are absolutely yes. Pet Shop is newer, so you can wait on that. So are the Minis and VW, but they are just absolutely key sets to own in this current age of Lego.
The Imperial Shuttle, PotC, and Maersk Train are all very subjective to taste. If you like Star Wars, excellent buy! If you like pirates, PotC stuff is decent. If you're a train person, the Maersk is one of the best (next to Emerald Night...).
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
Good point about the motors and Metal Grudge, I definitely want to be able make that (or at least something similar, remote controlled) down the road. My brother and I have the 80's Lego motors, things have come a long way from that. What did you order that got you all the motors, controls, and battery boxes?
I have always loved the space sets (what is now called Classic Space theme, lol). I've built dozens of spaceships of my own designs, and I'll surely be doing that again. Modern Lego robots and mecha also amaze me. The possibilities today are so far beyond what we used to be able to make, I will absolutely be making mecha themed stuff too. I've always loved the castle theme sets. We have dozens of the old knight minifigs that seem to go for a pretty penny on Bricklink today. Of course today's castle themed minifigs are so much better.
Oh, and technic. I love the technic series stuff.
So I guess I'll be wanting to dabble in:
- space themes
- technic stuff
- remote controlled Lego
- castle or medieval theme
Some of the sets I've been considering buying, both for bricks and for ideas:
- Any or all of the pirate ships
- the space shuttle set
- a few creator and city sets
- a couple of the hero robot sets
- the new X-wing
- the lighthouse set (my gf wants this badly)
Honestly I am not familiar with all of the current sets, I need to spend some time this weekend surfing the Lego website and starting a wishlist.
Good choice of highlights. Of course a lot depends on his taste, but the bolded ones are pretty universally fantastic
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
List of responses incoming!
First off, MOC's (like making mechs and shit) will require a pretty large base of pieces. Sets will help build it like mrklaw said, but Bricklink will flesh it out.
For powering your sets, the new Power Functions with IR receiver and such are boss. You really should buy one of the new Technic super sets (Unimog U-400, Bulldozer, etc). They really show you how to incorporate some awesome PF stuff into your builds. Technic + System sets get you a huge selection of bricks and gears, both of which you'll need if you want to make something truly fantastic with motorized parts.
Space theme is sort of on a 1950's tangent at the moment (alien abductions like WOAH), so you'll ever have to pay after market prices for older stuff, grab the Shuttle Expedition, or wait it out.
For pirate ships, PotC has a few (two I think), and you MAY still get lucky and find an Imperial Flagship for minor markup, but don't hold your breath on it!
Creator sets rock, and the Lighthouse is an excellent buy. I always suggest the houses in the theme too, but that's because I've got a soft spot for houses/architectural builds.
The Tower Bridge and Modulars are fantastic AFOL pieces. If you're unsure about them, do some searching for them on display. They are both excellent excellent additions (and have crazy after market pricing...not like Star Wars, but still 200%+ resale value). Tower Bridge is a display model in every sense and will go the way of Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, etc soon.
Long story short, do some searching on the Lego S@H and get some ideas. It sounds like you want to power things, so grabbing a few of the higher tier Technic sets is probably a must, and various parts and pieces for using the Power Functions are pro, too. You may not need it, but pneumatic stuff is available on Bricklink (not sure if they're in sets anymore), and they make some great hinge/piston style assemblies.
Here's the important part about your nice chunk of Lego change...
Buy what you like and what makes you go WOW.
Chuckie
Member
Yeah you can. The whole back wall opens.
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