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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/03/2014 in Posts
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Warning - Long post. I don't know whether the set is retir(ing/ed) or not. I do know that I don't have one and that's ok, this set was not on my immediate buy list - I am confident that I will find one for my own collection. Every time a set retires or goes OOS, there is a mad dash to get the remaining scraps but everyone has had over 2 years to get at least one of this set, particularly those members who have been here that long. Except for people interested in flipping, there is no reason to keep waiting to the last minute to pick up sets. Create a Plan - Unless you have tens of thousands of dollars at your disposal, you can't have EVERY set. Instead of being the person missing a SSD, GE, HH, TH, Mars Rover and scrambling to get one - buy them early or earlier or don't worry about them. Determine in advance what sets you are targeting as a build, as an flip/investment, or both. It seems to me that a lot of people here are looking to be short term flippers and long term sellers and that's great, but if you can't do both extremely well, then perhaps you should excel at one and just dabble in the other - an example is that people have been selling RIs at a HUGE profit. You could have flipped 10 of those into 3 Town Halls or 3.5 Haunted Houses and your investment would have been $200 + your time - a crazy deal - probably a lot better than turning it into 6 WVM If you don't have the Pet Shop (among other sets) and you want some - then now is the time. If you can't afford it AND you want one or some, then buy 6 $20 sets, sell them for 50 each and use that to buy yourself 2 Pet Shops. My biggest mistake in my almost 1 year of accumulating Lego (Nov. 2013) was ignoring the Fire Brigade and picking up a Palace Cinema instead (It was my first major purchase after finding this site and I was in build mode and owned no modulars and no investments). I had regrets at the time, but I realized that it wasn't meant to be and I need to pay more attention - if that is my only real mistake, then I think that I'm doing pretty well. I was looking through my living room yesterday and noticed that I have $5500 US in Lego sets proudly displayed - all obtained since I joined - at a final cost to me of $2240 (after selling off a handful of sets that came with them or in bulk lots). These are all exclusives, except for the Black Pearl. I have a plan that I have refined over the last 6 months and I am happy with my investments, and builds for my hobby. Major thanks to DNIIM for sage advice, even if he doesn't know it. If you are a newer member and you missed out, consider it a lesson learned and it didn't cost you a cent; people make a lot more expensive errors than that. I await the next 2 years to see established members saying that they have no Tumblers, EEE, Parisian Restaurants, etc.8 points
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Ever since I saw the movies I loved Star Wars. Being one of the most impressive vehicles on screen of course the AT-AT was something I wished for when I was younger, stay playing with LEGOs not thinking about investing ;-) There have been quite some AT-ATs and they all have something going for them, though since it's my first one I prefer the newest edition. Anyhow, I always would have loved to see a HUUUGE UCS model of this one. But as you all might be aware of there is nothing like it available. So some of you might already know those MOC AT-AT, but if you have not seen them before you might love them just as much as I do. (if you didn't know: MOC = my own creation, refers to everything that somebody did build by himself without an official LEGO manual (so don't get me wrong it's not MY personal own creation ;-) )) Please feel free to post other cool MOC AT-ATs It's difficult to pic a favorite, but to me it is the ATAT MOC8 (i posted). I also really like the Friends-theme version and the steam-punk one. And the VW bus is just hilarious :-D5 points
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Even if you missed out on this set, there are still so many potential winners over the next 6-12 months. Look at the sets that are nearing EOL: R2, T1, TB, AA, Orthanc, etc. So many opportunities to buy sets with great returns. Some simple advice for everyone. Keep an eye out for new TH stock and buy those up with whatever funds you can scrap together. If nothing shows up, move on to the next set that you think is a winner. Simple as that. You have to move on. Skate to where the puck is going to be.4 points
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A few Town Halls Maersk EEE Daily Bugles 1 divorce A few new friends under the bridge4 points
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Gave away a Vampyre Hearse to a family friend. They have no actual lego sets, just bricks and can't really afford new sets - it only cost me $9 so it's not a big deal, not as if I am giving away a SSD!3 points
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Meh to all of the non retirement comments. You may be right but I am with Ed Mack and what he did not say.3 points
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I was able to pick up a 100% complete, open Palace Cinema 10232 with box and manuals from Ebay. The Palace Cinema is, of course, part of the Creator "Modular" series and is considered Expert since it is labeled for ages 16+. It was released on March 1, 2013 and is the third corner building after the Cafe Corner and the Grand Emporium. The large red baseplate is unique to this set. It contains 2196 pieces, many dark tan and dark red, and retails at $149.99 USD. Some think the design is inspired by Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. The set contains 6 minifigures and a black convertible, however, my review does NOT contain the convertible due to missing pieces. THE BOX & MANUALS The large box measures 22.5" x 19" x 3.5" and is beautifully done: There is 1 instruction sticker sheet and 3 manuals: THE MINIFIGURES There are 6 minifigures - child star, chauffeur, female and male guest, photographer, and cinema worker. THE BUILD The build starts with the limousine (not pictured) and a couple minifigures before getting into the building's first floor. The sidewalk portion of the building utilizes a bunch of assorted tiles for a real smooth, clean look. The first floor interior is a little plain with a snack bar, a ticket booth, and a stairway up to the 2nd floor. Since the cinema is a corner building, the front doors are attached using claws and poles and they swing open wide. The second floor facade continues the use of arches and windows and an interesting use of "skeleton feet" to create a wrought-iron gate look. The interior of the second floor is the movie theatre itself - 2 rows of 3 seats facing a movie screen (sticker) with an old-fashioned movie reel in the back. The third floor is just the roof. The back part of the roof is rather plain, but does include an access door from the stairway below. Whatever the back lacks in detail and design, however, is made up for by the front facade of the roof - beautifully done "shingles" are created by utilizing 1x1 round cannonball pieces. The apex of the roof is also nicely done utilizing some snot techniques with dark red bricks. The final build is the marquee "Palace" sign that attaches to the front of the building. The design is very clever, spelling out the word "palace" using only blue and white bricks. When it all comes together, you're not disappointed: For investing purposes, the only "cons" that I could think of is that the building only contains 2 actual floors, when others have 3, and the use of stickers in key locations - like the marquee and the movie screen. However, that is nit-picking in my opinion. The Palace Cinema is a beautiful build and displays very, very well. It is only the 2nd modular building that includes a vehicle, and while the 6 minifigures aren't anything too special, they are typical for a modular. The corner design should help it's popularity, and the fact that most modular fans will want/need this set. Of course, there is speculation that the more recent modulars have been made in larger quantities than some of the earlier ones (like Cafe Corner, Market Street, and Green Grocer), but no one really has access to that information. I believe that even these recent modulars will be in high demand to some degree. There are "new" LEGO collectors entering the market every day - whether they are new to LEGO or coming out of their dark ages - and once they discover the modulars, they will want to include as many as possible in their collection. So while the Palace Cinema won't probably see values like the Cafe Corner, there's a good chance it's value could mirror the Fire Brigade after retirement.3 points
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Just popped up on LEGO Shop at Home to buy. Shipping Oct 18th http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=jfOcdvfTNg4&offerid=115554.10000006&type=3&subid=0 *Edit* trying to get the affiliate link in here somehow:3 points
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I agree it was not a good seller in my mind. I think it had the mentality of yes I would really like to get it but wow $200 and I can get this cool Cinema Palace or Grand Emporium or this or that instead for $150. I'll get it but I'll get it later. Then everyone planned to get it "LATER". Then no one got it. Now it may be EOL because of that.3 points
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Im having such a wonderful time reading about you blokes having your HH orders filled. Now bugger off. :-P2 points
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Fun reading: http://community.brickpicker.com/topic/5243-town-hall-eol/?hl=town%20hall Remember the May 2013 $154 TH? Good times.2 points
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Write your message > submit > about 5 seconds into sending kill the app = no more double posts2 points
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There are only two tracking websites that I am aware of. Nowinstock.net is one of them. Zoolert.com is the other. Both are too slow to catch these spurious stockings. They work if an item goes solidly in stock for 30 minutes or so. The enthusiasts here will have programming background and have set up their own scripts to ping or scrape the sites more often. If you want to try something less complex, you can run google chrome browser with the Page Monitor plugin and set it up to monitor pages for changes. You'll have to be near the PC to see the alert however. And you'll have to try different query conditions to prevent false alarms. For amazon, I use the Regex custom mode and test for "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" We should probably create a members-only post with the best known methods for users to create their own alerts. For the more-sophisticated users wanting to exchange script tricks, it might be useful as well to have a forum thread if one doesn't already exist. I know this is the secret sauce for some folks. I'm just banking karma points :)2 points
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Just a little heads up for US members who don't look at european LEGO Shop at Home . The only big sets that have signs of retirement are: - HH (sold out, but FYI seals of lastest sets are from middle of september) - SSD (OoS, expected shipping on Dec. 18th) - 9398 Crawler (OoS, expected shipping on Oct. 30th) The rest (GE, TB, PS, TH...) are "available now" (Tumbler excepted but the OoS is because of its success).2 points
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LOL...No, it implies he thought the set would be around for another year, so he has only 17 as of yesterday(according to his own words). But knowing Uncle Ed like I do, I bet he has his fake mustaches and beards out and is scouring the Maryland LEGO stores.2 points
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I am just catching up on this insanity, but I find it funny this thread had exactly 3 posts for 2 years and then suddenly blew up. Carry on.2 points
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Love to chat on the forums...but have to run now to Walmart for Chima!!!2 points
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I have zero Town Hall's and will continue to have zero. I spent the past year loading up on GE, SSD, HH, PS, and TB. I simply don't have any more money to invest in long term holds. I only buy on credit when I can pay it off the same month. I wonder how many are putting these on credit that they will be paying interest on for months to come. I could start selling now to buy some. Really want to get closer to xmas though. Can't buy everything, this many sets drying up at once makes it tough.2 points
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Sigh, and I wish the commonly accepted, non-slur word for homosexuality wasn't considered a bad word in these forums.2 points
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Hahaha ) It's not the 1st time this question appears on Lego forums. "Do you feel LEGO should include more female characters?" Shortly - No/it doesn't bother me. Why? Let's see. 1) I think classic Lego is for everyone. Those "special girlish" colors of Friends make me sick. 2) Collectible minifigures provide a lot of female characters. Go get them if you need more females. 3) Themes follow the books/movies. How many female characters are in Hobbit and LOTR? Harry Potter? Lone Ranger? POTC? Star Wars? 4) Classic Lego themes - say, Castle and Pirates. How many female characters are in classic books like Ivanhoe or Treasure Island? (2/sorta 1 - Jim's mother). Don't create a problem where there is none)) You wouldn't criticize Marx Toys for not including female characters in their famous toy soldiers sets 5) Large sets from Modulars or City normally include several female figures, I don't see a problem there. 6) Smaller sets - here we are. Well, you really want a cute girl to drive a huge truck?)) You can always find a set with a female if you wish, for example 60017.2 points
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Just leaving the Westfarms mall in Connecticut where they only have two Townhall's left. I just bought one which was all they would let me buy. The seal codes on this are 46R3. That would imply late 2013 manufacture. The manager said they were not getting any more in. They were surprised as well and said people have been coming all day buying them. They also had three tumblers, snag one of them and a mint pet shop. No GE.2 points
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Hello fellow BrickPickers... Starting October 1, 2014, BrickPicker will be starting a BrickPicker Blog Group. In the past, we utilized blog contests to acquire new content. We would like to improve on that method and actually pay experienced and knowledgeable BrickPicker members to write new content for the site. The content will be similar to older blog articles and reviews, with a heavy emphasis on LEGO investing...but any quality LEGO topic can qualify. Qualified members will earn a $5 Gift Card to Amazon, LEGO S@H, etc... for every 1000 words/5000 characters in the content that is submitted and approved by Jeff and myself. There is a new application in the Wordpress blog editor that tracks this and the "readability" of the blog. It is one method that I will use to differentiate quality writing from poor writing and helps take photos and images out of the equation as well. I will talk more about this to approved blog writers. How does one become an approved blog writer? Several ways. Mods will have access to the group and will be able to post new content. Previous blog contest winners/runner ups are automatically qualified to be a blog writer. Jeff and I will invite some people who we think would be qualified to write content(if they are interested in doing so). Also, members can either produce content or show me previous work that indicates high literary ability. Approval is not guaranteed, but we will be honest and fair with any member that is interested in joining the group. We are trying to up the content bar. Jeff is working on a new homepage that will have a more interactive blog section to it. Some blog writers will have the ability to produce daily updates/content on the homepage that be front and center on the homepage. We want to produce "new" content, not just post links from other sites...and are willing to pay for it. If you are interested in joining this group and believe you are qualified, let me or Jeff know by PM. We will be sending out some invites to people over the next week or so. If you want to start writing, you can begin in the Wordpress blog editor. Please ask Jeff or I to enable your access to the Wordpress editor. There will be a private forum for blog writers and I will go over the new editor app and readability indexes with members. Also, Jeff will come up with a basic tracking system for blog writers that shows what they have produced and how much they earned. Any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks...1 point
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LEGO Shop at Home checks addresses and won't ship to certain ones - for example, freight forwarders/brokers/package companies. Maybe because it knows that you aren't a residential address, that it has locked out your commercial address. I think that you have nothing to worry about.1 point
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He did say that he thought this thread was going to get popular. At the time, I took it to be a more reactionary statement to TH being on BO or SO at LEGO Shop at Home and selling fast at Walmart. In hindsight, it may have been a bit prophetic...1 point
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Honestly your best bet is the ebay app. Do a search then under options check sold listings. I just scroll a little and give a quick WAG on what the item in question is selling for1 point
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OK this will get voted down I am sure, but perhaps this could be part of a new paid BP subscription service that many of us want to do to help out BP and have people share tactics to those who actually will put up cash to help make BP even bigger and better.1 point
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lol I was coming to post the same thing Question: Does the buying limit of 2 on Amazon apply to the HH that keeps popping up?1 point
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Yeah! Just sold a set of series 1 Mixels for $110.1 point
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Price matching their own site would solve one of my major complaints. I doubt they'll ever price match other stores in my town since there is no competition.1 point
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Didn't realize I contradicted myself there - thanks! I should have the missing pieces for the limo brick linked soon.1 point
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I'm not impressed or indeed even comfortable when corporations try their hands at social engineering. I'd much prefer they concentrate on market trends (which will tag along after social trends) and let the common folks, who are more likely to be a bit purer in motive, concentrate on women's rights, *** rights, racial equality, etc.1 point
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This set always stood out to me as a stand alone Modular, like the HH. It was the nicest and most complete set of the sub theme IMO, but as with most people, I thought this set would outlive the Pet Shop. As I have stated many times before, don't wait on the important sets. Now is the time with the great VIP promo and freebie to buy these big exclusives that are 2 years old or more. You never know what will be next.1 point
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Overpriced is good. Less people buy it while it's in production, the more people pay once it's retired1 point
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Here is what I saw: - Limit of 2 at LEGO Shop at Home - Two different people on Brickpicker report LEGO Shop at Home definitively telling them it is going (yes we cannot trust them but two people were told straight up it is over as I remember) - Available most places - 2X VIP with option to backorder - Sold Out - Other stores start going sold out - Ed jumps in and says this thread should light up and be interesting and about missing the boat like SSD (read two comments above). Ed rarely says much unless it is like that - I scrambled and bought some from Lego Stores - They have many in some places but I predict they are gone soon - It will bounce in and out - It will be done My big factor is the people being told firmly (yes we cannot trust them) at 10% and Ed's comments at 90%. I was not scrambling to get them until Ed's comments. It was low on my list of priority that is why I scrambled not waiting to the last minute on everything (I have been loading up on Maersk's) Edit: Added not to can not trust them.1 point
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Considering it is sold out or out of stock everywhere, making money from affiliate links would be a futile endeavor...would it not?1 point
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I think people should keep an eye on Amazon. They mentioned something about problems with inventory...but it sounds like they still have some. Item Under Review While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!) We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.1 point
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