Legos, anyone?

[Kelsain]

As much as I would love to have the UCS millenium falcon, I can't see myself ever shelling out close to 1k for a toy. 

Highly Sophisticated Interlocking Brick System.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Kelsain

[M'Kyuun]

3 hours ago, Valkyrie Driver said:

As much as I would love to have the UCS millenium falcon, I can't see myself ever shelling out close to 1k for a toy. 

You might change your mind if you got to see one up close, handle it, or just build it yourself. Sets like these are usually full of interesting techniques and novel parts usage. The journey to the final model is as much fun as the model itself, and, honestly, while it is really expensive, given the number of larger parts throughout the model, the price to parts is reasonable. You're getting a giant box of plastic, and a ring bound catalog of instructions.

Considering what a lot of other hobbies cost, LEGO's not too bad, and sets like these not only hold their value, but increase exponentially once they're retired. I should know; I just paid over $200 for two old Classic Space sets in remarkably good condition. No regrets.

Edited November 21, 2017 by M'Kyuun

[Chronocidal]

Arguably, look at the community on this forum.  Spending $800 on toys is a pretty common occurrence, and arguably, you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck out of that set than you would out of the 4-5 Arcadia/Bandai valks you'd get out of the same investment.

Plus, you can rebuild it into something else if the original design gets boring, and if something breaks or is missing, you don't have to make your own replacements with Shapeways.  

In other news, my local walmart had the Batman movie jet marked down to $70, so I caved, and I'm enjoying building it up.  TONS of playability in this thing, and I love how it's giving me all kinds of classic Blacktron vibes.

 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

Preach!

Edited November 21, 2017 by M'Kyuun

[Valkyrie Driver]

2 hours ago, Kelsain said:

Highly Sophisticated Interlocking Brick System.

Fair enough.

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

You might change your mind if you got to see one up close, handle it, or just build it yourself. Sets like these are usually full of interesting techniques and novel parts usage. The journey to the final model is as much fun as the model itself, and, honestly, while it is really expensive, given the number of larger parts throughout the model, the price to parts is reasonable. You're getting a giant box of plastic, and a ring bound catalog of instructions.

Considering what a lot of other hobbies cost, LEGO's not too bad, and sets like these not only hold their value, but increase exponentially once they're retired. I should know; I just paid over $200 for two old Classic Space sets in remarkably good condition. No regrets.

I don't doubt any of that. First, I do not have that kind of money. Second, if I did, I would have to consider very hard what I spent it on. Third, if I could afford it and all of my other needs, I'd do it in a heartbeat. 

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Arguably, look at the community on this forum.  Spending $800 on toys is a pretty common occurrence, and arguably, you're going to get a lot more bang for your buck out of that set than you would out of the 4-5 Arcadia/Bandai valks you'd get out of the same investment.

I know. I have  7 DX Chogokin valks, 6 Yamato Valks, and 1 Yamato Destroid. I'm well familiar with the investment. But I tend to control my spending pretty well, Averaging 1-2 Valks per year, That's mostly because I don't make a ton of money.

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Plus, you can rebuild it into something else if the original design gets boring, and if something breaks or is missing, you don't have to make your own replacements with Shapeways.  

That's certainly true. 

2 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Preach!

I'm not meaning to disparage anyone. I'm just saying that, it's hard for me to justify because I'm living on a fixed income. I get paid once a month, and so I have to budget very closely to survive. So, you can see my dilemma. When I can afford things like this, that'll be another story...

[M'Kyuun]

I understand well; I'm retired Air Force living on my pension; I'll never be anywhere close to rich. I've cut down on my spending and when I spend, since LEGO, Macross, and Transformers (both official and some third party), are all becoming pricier each year. I've learned patience, waiting for markdowns, and just being choosier about what I buy. Know your limits, but don't forget to enjoy a little, either, otherwise, what's the point in making money if all you do is exist on it?

Um, LEGO! So, I lucked out the other day at TRU and managed to snag a copy of Cole's Quake Mech from the LEGO Ninjago Movie https://brickset.com/sets/70632-1/Quake-Mech, which was put out erroneously ahead of release date. Fortunately, they let me have it (bonus, it was improperly priced at $20 less than MSRP, and they let me have it at that price, too), and I was pretty pleased with my good fortune. I built the set yesterday, and was pretty impressed with some of the techniques used, esp to create friction for the shoulder joints (they used those large technic turntables with bevel gears at either end of the diameter attached by friction pins. Works great, and could be modified to have more friction by substituting a different pin). There are a few new interesting parts in the set, and the overall mech is pretty impressive once completed ( it 'stands' on a single large tractor tire with a built in stand to allow it to rest upright and the shoulders open to reveal speakers). I wish LEGO would make more mecha sets like this; I also have Kai's red mech from the Movie, and it's pretty neat, too, although I wish they'd added a little more poseability to the legs. These mecha designs are what I wanted Exo-Force to be, and I hope we see more in the future.

[Chronocidal]

I might have to try that trick with the Batwing I just got actually.  It uses those same turntables for the engine rotations, which are an amazing solution for larger joints to get away from a single axle centerpoint.  Thing is, they geared them to operate together and rotate using a small knob on the top side, but the rotation is pretty sloppy, so I might try and add some friction-pinned gears on the opposite side of the turntable.

On the other hand, I'm also really tempted to re-engineer that set, and turn it into the old Batman TAS batwing, or some amalgamation of the two.  That design is just a classic.

[DyNo]

Finally after 2 years of sitting under my desk...

Edited November 25, 2017 by DyNo

[Valkyrie Driver]

I have completed a couple of sets:

 

[Chronocidal]

Ugh.. Ideas review came through... kinda.. incredibly disappointed.

https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/f93d358e-bd2e-4295-8ad9-d308db7e3b0b

 

[M'Kyuun]

I haven't been keeping up with the latest Ideas review; I'm still stoked that Voltron made it from the last. That said, while I dig the Tron Light Cycle, there are a few models in that review that stand out, IMHO, as far better building experiences: the Medieval Watermill, the Red Arrow jet, and the Venetian Houses. The review model for Tron looks static; I hope LEGO make the final version playable, at least. It'd be nice if they expanded the minifigs to include Tron and Quorra, as I'm guessing Sam Flynn comes with the bike. In truth, I wouldn't mind a set from the original movie to go with this.

[danth]

On 11/21/2017 at 12:58 PM, M'Kyuun said:

I just paid over $200 for two old Classic Space sets in remarkably good condition. No regrets.

Ooh, which ones? Classic Space is my main jam right now.

[danth]

18 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Ugh.. Ideas review came through... kinda.. incredibly disappointed.

https://ideas.lego.com/blogs/a4ae09b6-0d4c-4307-9da8-3ee9f3d368d6/post/f93d358e-bd2e-4295-8ad9-d308db7e3b0b

 

Yikes, that Light Cycle is boring.

[Chronocidal]

I mean, maybe they'll make it more worthwhile and design something that'll be bigger and more elaborate out of it?  Maybe a pair of bikes, and a few figures, or something?

I would hope so.. like, I'm fairly certain I can build that set out of parts I've already acquired in an hour or less, and it's pretty much the least interesting set out of the entire selection this round.  I don't think the movie was even popular enough to sell much merchandise when it was new.

Blech.  

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, danth said:

Ooh, which ones? Classic Space is my main jam right now.

6950 Mobile Rocket Transport, a set I've wanted since its release in 1982.  It's in excellent condition showing little wear, esp the canopies and the various printed parts including minifigs. For $70, a great deal.

6980 Galaxy Commander, which released in 1983. I've only recently developed an interest in this set, and given its very well-kept condition, I couldn't pass it up. Again, all printed parts are immaculate, the white parts look new and gleamy, and the canopies show little wear. The only mark against it was one of the yellow astronauts had a broken hand, easily replaceable. For $125, another good deal.  So, my math was off in the above post- I paid under $200 for these sets, which is an even better deal, esp if you're looking at buying these on Ebay or Bricklink, where you don't really know the true condition until it's in your hands. These were sold by a vendor at a Con, packed in clear Ziplocks, so I could see what I was getting, and I was able to build them and verify the parts in my hotel room in case there were any issues- I totally missed the broken hand, as I was so stoked over the condition of the minifig prints and the general condition of the whole sets.

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I mean, maybe they'll make it more worthwhile and design something that'll be bigger and more elaborate out of it?  Maybe a pair of bikes, and a few figures, or something?

I would hope so.. like, I'm fairly certain I can build that set out of parts I've already acquired in an hour or less, and it's pretty much the least interesting set out of the entire selection this round.  I don't think the movie was even popular enough to sell much merchandise when it was new.

Blech.  

I, too, hope they'll extrapolate the set out to include more than is seen in the review model. As it is, pretty lackluster, esp compared to the competing projects. I like Tron, so an official set of figs and a well designed Light Cycle would be cool, but given that this is the Ideas program, many of the other submissions were far better than this and should have gotten the thumbs up. That's the point of this program, yeah?

Edited December 5, 2017 by M'Kyuun

[spanner]

On 8/29/2017 at 1:36 PM, David Hingtgen said:

Then on to the next one---Ideas SR-71:  https://ideas.lego.com/projects/a0a7940a-e575-420f-ace5-2b7bd3d962c7

I figure being in NASA's scheme, used for research, and even when the USAF had it, it only ever carried cameras, it may "slip past" LEGO's unofficial "no war machines" rule.  

WOW! absolutely love this! Hope it becomes a thing!

[Silverstreak]

My 3yo son has started to outgrow his Duplo collection and has taken an interest in the City line. So we have picked him up a few small sets with some more to Put under the tree from Santa. I collect a bit of Lego but apart from a few UCS sets haven't had time to build much of it. But for a line aimed at kids there are some very cool little tricks employed in the build and some of the smaller sets are very cool.

Plus it's incredible how good Lego is for little kids fine motor skills. Where as when he got his first City set about 3 weeks ago he could barely sit the minifigure in its seat, now he's onto pulling some of the very small bagged sets completely apart and rebuilding them with only advisory input from me!

Pretty amazing stuff.

[Valkyrie Driver]

I love lego. It's definitely a great thing for children. When I have kids its one of the things that I plan to share with them. I talked about UCS sets earlier and how I'd have a hard time justifying getting one. If I had a child to share the experience with, that could be worth it. For now I'll stick to the other sets, and I've kind of hit a wall, because of the sets I want to build in the Star Wars line, most of it is new trilogy stuff... Also I'm running out of places to display my toys...

[danth]

On 12/5/2017 at 3:00 PM, M'Kyuun said:

6950 Mobile Rocket Transport, a set I've wanted since its release in 1982.  It's in excellent condition showing little wear, esp the canopies and the various printed parts including minifigs. For $70, a great deal.

6980 Galaxy Commander, which released in 1983. I've only recently developed an interest in this set, and given its very well-kept condition, I couldn't pass it up. Again, all printed parts are immaculate, the white parts look new and gleamy, and the canopies show little wear. The only mark against it was one of the yellow astronauts had a broken hand, easily replaceable. For $125, another good deal.  So, my math was off in the above post- I paid under $200 for these sets, which is an even better deal, esp if you're looking at buying these on Ebay or Bricklink, where you don't really know the true condition until it's in your hands. These were sold by a vendor at a Con, packed in clear Ziplocks, so I could see what I was getting, and I was able to build them and verify the parts in my hotel room in case there were any issues- I totally missed the broken hand, as I was so stoked over the condition of the minifig prints and the general condition of the whole sets.

I love Mobile Rocket Transport! I wanted it for so long, and like you, finally got a set in amazing condition. I actually have two now. The great thing about that set is it desperately wants to be reconfigured into a space ship. It has all the wings and rocket pieces. Here's my alt build: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/107606-classic-space-alternate-builds/&do=findComment&comment=2179030

6980 is another great set. I was lucky enough to find a couple of these sealed for good prices. I have a used one as well. The white & blue colors give the set a wintery look. With all the different colored "lights" it feels almost like a Christmas space ship! Or maybe a predecessor to Deep Freeze Defender which has a similar double-cockpit thing going on.

[M'Kyuun]

Those alt builds are pretty neat. Good on you for finding sealed CS sets at decent prices; these days, most folks selling LEGO are in the know about its rising value and demand some pretty outrageous sums for these old sets. Keep on building!

[len_d69]

Tried my luck  - https://ideas.lego.com/projects/05fa98d7-1b21-4b5d-b923-0c7617b3fc85

[M'Kyuun]

Nice Valkyrie, len_d96. It's already been tried in Ideas, but didn't pass, most likely due to Macross licensing issues, esp here in North America where Harmony Gold still holds sway. Wait until 2021- things might be different then. Fingers crossed.

len_d96, any insider word on a probable release date for Voltron? Looking forward to getting a copy, or two. 

[Chronocidal]

Anyone trying to get the new Millennium Falcon, it's up on the webshop now.  ^_^ I'd been planning to pull the trigger on this one the instant it went up for sale again, and managed to catch an open sales window about 20 minutes ago.

[Scyla]

53 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Anyone trying to get the new Millennium Falcon, it's up on the webshop now.  ^_^ I'd been planning to pull the trigger on this one the instant it went up for sale again, and managed to catch an open sales window about 20 minutes ago.

In my parts of the woods it went from "available soon" yesterday to "sold out" today. 

[Chronocidal]

Sheesh.. The fact that there is a dedicated help topic on the official site specifically about this set speaks volumes to the problems they're having.

Wish they would just move to a "take a number" system and let people order them instead.  Same for the Saturn V, which I've never seen actually go back in stock since mid-July (probably a few short windows like this one).

I want to say this should have blown most of my toy budget at least until summer, but I'm taking a serious look at some of the other Ideas sets coming out, like the fishing store, and maybe the 50s diner. 

I've been cataloguing the sets I have on Brickpicker, and realizing that I actually have that many stand-alone sets, meaning a lot of the pieces I have must have been supplemented by spare parts sets from years back.

[wm cheng]

I ended up buying it in store before Christmas when I literally, knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy who worked at a Lego store and he heavily hinted that there was a shipment of 36 boxes the next day.  I got there at 11am (they opened at 10am) and 20 were sold already and they had already gone through their reserved list (I couldn't get on the reserved list at the store because I called the next day after they were available on Sep 15 instead of the 14th when I was busy online with their servers crashing on me and after spending 2 hours to get through on the phone!).  Argh!  They are the Danish Bandai!!!  Yeah, I wished there was a take a number reservation, my online VIP reservations were supposed to email me when they became available online, I only got an email last week about that.  Try calling your local Lego Store, you might have better luck there than online.

 

I have actually seen a quite a few Saturn V sets at the lego stores in stock - highly recommend that as its the best build experience I've ever had with lego - I think its the perfect size/length and it displays so well.  The UCS Milf is a little too long/complex and you can't really swoosh it around as much as its heavy and fragile - great for display, but even that its a little too big. 

[M'Kyuun]

The Sunday over New Year's weekend, I saw four or five copies of the Saturn V at TRU. I was pleasantly surprised to see them, actually, although my TRU is pretty good about keeping Ideas sets in stock. Another place to check is Barnes and Noble; that's where I got mine months ago, with a nice member's discount no less. I must agree with Master Chen on his assessment; it's one of the most rewarding sets I've built, and I've built literally thousands of sets. If I may impart a slight detour; I just built the Tracker I set, which is a custom ship made by LEGO for its Freemaker Star Wars cartoon, and it shames just about every ship design in Force Awakens. It has a triangular cockpit which makes for a really neat build- one of the more notably enjoyable spaceship sets I've built. Sorry to derail.

I think I'm gonna wait out the UCS Falcon until another double VIP point window, and hope I can get my order in before they sell out again. Fortunately, I have over $200 in VIP points that I've been saving to soften the blow, and I'll likely pad that a bit more between now and the next double point window. As for where to put it- I'm out of room to display small sets, let alone that monstrosity. So, time is good, as it'll give me time to come up with a solution. 

[Chronocidal]

I was actually kind of impressed by the Tracker I honestly, gave me a lot of good memories of the old TIE Phantom design.  It doesn't take much to surpass the stuff from the new movies though, those designs have been almost universally terrible.  

[M'Kyuun]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

I was actually kind of impressed by the Tracker I honestly, gave me a lot of good memories of the old TIE Phantom design.  It doesn't take much to surpass the stuff from the new movies though, those designs have been almost universally terrible.  

Yep; whoever thought a flying shoebox was a great design was sadly mistaken. All the toy companies and replica makers must have been like 'WTF' when Lucasfilms gave them early concepts to work from. Hell, they didn't even let LEGO know that Kylo Ren's ship, one of the better designs IMHO, could splay its wings in flight. But yeah, for a franchise known for cool ships, the last two Episode films were pretty lackluster. I like the U-Wing from Rogue One, though- neat ship, and it was a pretty nice set to boot.

As for Tracker I, I got a TIE Defender vibe from it.  The Tracker's cooler though, IMHO. The other ship LEGO created for the Freemaker series, The Arrowhead, is pretty sweet, too. I have yet to build it, but I love it on looks alone. Again, it's a far cooler design than most of what we've seen in the last two Episodes. That's a sad statement.

[David Hingtgen]

Nope, TIE Defender is coolest TIE ever.  Spent too many hours on TIE Fighter (LucasArts PC) to ever think otherwise.  (Still the best SW game ever)  

coincidently, I should have a bricklink order arriving very soon, with parts for a Defender MOC.  

[Chronocidal]

Have to admit, I was surprised to see the official Defender set on a store shelf one day.  I forget why I didn't wind up buying it at the time.  My biggest regret though is that I didn't grab the old Action Fleet version one day when I saw it in a shop.

I'm almost tempted to buy three of the Bandai Tie Striker kits, and kitbash the solar panels into a Defender, since the solar panels are the correct pattern.  I think they're too large though, and I'd need a much larger cockpit module for the wings to be in scale.

What I'm personally waiting for is a revamp of the UCS Y-Wing, and a UCS A-wing so I can round out the OT rebel fighters.  I've actually had a UCS scaled A-Wing for years, but it could use a full rebuild.  I think I put that thing together sometime in 1999.  

[David Hingtgen]

I'm pretty this is based on the Striker, based on the parts used:

(yes, all TIE's will share a lot of parts---but this seems to be especially similar).   It's what I just got parts for (don't own a Striker, actual LEGO Defender can only supply a few dozen parts).   I'm not following it exactly, but probably 85-90%.  

Also----a new UCS Y-Wing is very likely soon.  It's in the "so rumored it'd be a surprise if that's not it" category.  Set 75181.   I was *this* close to Bricklinking a "color-substituted" version of the old UCS when I found out.  (You can save a lot of money by swapping rare colors for similar, common ones---and IT'S A Y-WING, so it's not supposed to match anyways)

[Axelay]

I also found that TIE Defender video a few days ago, and I did not hesitate to Bricklink the parts for it. I can't believe how much better that one looks than the stock Lego version. I can hardly wait to start building once everything is here. Curiously, the most obscure part in the whole build is the cone-shaped piece which goes on the rear of the fuselage.

[David Hingtgen]

That's the area I'm doing myself---his MOC is kind of a hybrid between the standard one in Rebels, and the "Elite" version seen in its latest appearance.  The "long skinny conical rear" is unique to the one in that ep, and not the "standard" Rebels version nor any of its earlier semi-canon appearances.  But he doesn't have the Elite-style pylons for the wings, just the standard ones.  Also, he has NO engines on his.  The Defender has been variously portrayed as having 2 standard, 3 medium-sized, or 1 huge engine.  I'm planning on three.  

(TIE means Triple Ion Engine, ya know!)   

[Chronocidal]

I might have to grab a Striker to pick up some of those parts, but I've also been eyeing a new UCS-style A-Wing MOC, and wondering how much I would have to order to build it.  It's huge, but beautiful.  Found some internal pics that show the structure, and I think I can recreate it with a few mods for personal preference.

Far as the UCS Y-Wing goes, I wasn't impressed by the nose design on the previous one.  There are a lot better ways to make the cockpit than using one of the stock printed minifig scale canopies, nose needs a bit better shaping, and the whole thing looked a bit off in proportion.

I need a breather though.. right on the heels of getting my Falcon, I went and ordered a couple city sets, along with the Ideas Fishing Store.  I'm feeling a sudden renewed interest in LEGO, and feel the urge to go buy up everything fun I can find.  

Edited January 15, 2018 by Chronocidal