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I returned from my dark ages less than 6-months ago. I'm caught up and ready for Brick Bank! I added the MMV to the Winter Village. Other "notable" details include Polar Bear championed by the Snowman, "wise man" Qui-Gon Jinn on a camel, and the Gingerbread man in his house. As for the modular city, things to see include the ominous Imperial Shuttle, standard Spider-man, Dracular doing his best E.T., minifig versions of the wife and I lightsaber dueling, and Doc Ock causing terror from atop the fairgrounds.

http://shop.lego.com/en-ES/Red-Five-X-wing-Starfighter-10240 http://shop.lego.com/en-ES/The-Tumbler-76023 2 more for the list.

RETIRED PRODUCT in EUROPE. http://shop.lego.com/en-ES/The-Tumbler-76023

Fellow Brickpickers, check out this crazy transaction with an eBay buyer. A customer bought a case of action figures (brand new sealed case, each character individually wrapped) for $155, free shipping. The package was delivered to the customer in Hawaii on Sat Dec 18. I get a return request stating "Aloha, I just received my item yesterday and we found rat feces all over the inside of the box. It looks like a rat had eaten through the cardboard box and gotten inside there was a hole on the outside it smelled of feces and urine my kids were taken to the hospital and the item was removed from our home. If I could please get an immediate refund so that I may purchase my children a present seeing as this one present that they wanted was taken from our home by the animal control here and the local police. Please respond as soon as possible".I authorized the return and let them know I was willing to offer a refund once the item was returned. If they were unable to return as already mentioned I needed some documentation from Animal Control, the Police report, or some pics in order to make a case in filing a claim/investigation with the Post Office.The customer replied back stating "I won't release my daughters medical record. If you call the the Molokai police department they will tell you that they do not release police reports here on island it needs to be done on Maui which is another island. I do not have any pictures as this happened all too fast and my daughters health and safety were more important". I never asked this customer for medical records. Since they say the package was disposed of and have nothing to return, I simply want to see some evidence they received a rat-infested package. Their story is hard to believe and since they claim they cannot return the package and will not provide any documentation, I told them they will have to wait and see how this case plays out with eBay. I already called eBay and they stated "No return, no refund". I'm not sure if this buyer looked at my feedback or history with eBay but I am a top rated seller, have excellent feedback, and know hot to sell online. Due to my 10 years of selling experience on eBay, I do not give in to scammers.

This story is extremely doubtful (for so many reasons) - I definitely smell a rat.

I think the challenge here is that you basically said we are all "greedy" ... like that was a condescending view. Most of the folks here are buying legos and then trying to make a profit. Your assumption that greed is bad is what set most folks off. Prices reflect a combination of supply and demand for any particular good or service. To blame a price on a "greedy" person simply conveys a particular bias and simply put, an ignorance, on how a simple market operates. Just because you assumed that this is a place for an "inside track" doesn't change the fact that you wanted something (greed) from the group as well. In the end we are all looking out for ourselves, our families, and simply put, our own best interests. To expect anything else is simply naive. I am sorry you had a bad experience, but my experience is that vast majority of folks in this forum are thoughtful and very interesting. I have grown to enjoy their participation and look to them for camaraderie and shared experience through our lego investing journey. I wish you much fun and happiness on your quest to find a Red 5. That is how many of us got started ....

If you call - You might want to skip mentioning "While I was busy, parting out my set".

Bwahaha. Most of the Target shops in around here are still selling Simpsons and Series 13... I did on a whim grab a Series 13 bag that fell out of the box on the shelf a few days ago and immediately recognised the Hot Dog minifig's suit. Much success!

No shortage at this Target, and they have more on an end cap. Only if I would have brought my sorting basket. I could have knocked these out in 10 minutes.

I enjoyed ep7 so much that I finally broke down and stopped by my local Kmart to buy some some of the action figures........

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown! by Chris Maddison

Yes, ignorance was thick in my first post. Ignorance on the market, not at all, I know capitalism. Just annoyed with it. However, I can't take back what I said and you nailed it in your first paragraph. I apologize to all of you. We are all selfish, and I put it right out there in a way that offended some. Thanks for your reconciliation, I appreciate your kindness.

Made this this morning. I am sure it's been done before but I wanted to try it myself and with only things I had on hand. The only goal was to fit the Haunted House onto the modular footprint without changing the HH. I used 16x32 baseplate and 4 8x16 baseplates so it still opens up. I did not use any new parts so it had an older look and love the differing shades of tiles I was able to find. The last image shows the placement and my original plan. I had to improvise due to colors on hand but wanted to post this in case others wanted to do their own. The black is the HH house, gate, and 2 bushes so you basically have to fill in the rest. I placed it next to PS so the back door was completely unobstructed. Next to GG, FB, and DO would also work. Edit: forgot to mention, I did have to commit the unholiest of unholy acts and cut a single stud (8A) out of the back left baseplate so it could open up. 9A is not covered with a tile due to the hinge. As you can see I used green baseplates. I realized at the end I should have used gray due to the inside having an exposed floor. I may go back in and tile the inside floor to make it more modular, but since it will likely never be opened it's not a priority. http://imgur.com/a/EQ1lX

Calling out "greedy resellers" in this forum may get you tarred and feathered... This should also be taken to PM.

Here's our Christmas village for this year - see if you can spot the sets between the MOCs Background decoration courtesy of my 9yr old son, bunch of MOC elements courtesy of my 9yr old daughter .... We have the winter village on a table, and a train and a "north pole" under the tree. More images in my Flickr gallery.

Just sold one earlier for nearly a grand. Bought it for 300, having used $100 in vip points. Works for me. If only I bought more than one, though, and not lots of city, friends, and other stuff.

IMO, this set is definitely not one to stockpile on. I'm at 2 and I'm good. I would not buy anymore unless it was ridiculously cheap, and I do not see that happening. I think the opportunity cost is too high investing in multiple of these sets.

As my yearly christmas present to myself (bought after christmas because of price cuts), I picked up a Creator blue power jet and a Star Wars imperial shuttle tyridium today.

PS is the old Death Star.

I can see a combo prize was added, the 10211 Grand Emporium and 10234 Parisian Restaurant. Great deal. Maybe more people will get off their butts and help out.

This is now available online: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=55543316&cp=2255956.2273442.2255962.3696486.3686928&parentPage=family Thanks for compiling the list of polybags.

Oh man, now you are making me feel old with that comment.

Love it! A blast from the past which is very appropriate for Kmart.

Fear. Just like selling with GSP. As long as I see that I'm covered I'll take the sale. So far, I've never been burned on a 0 feedback purchase (knock on wood). The only issue I had was someone stealing someone else's account, but that person had plenty of feedback and eBay was giving me protection.

I had to get MS to complete the set but it's just so ugly lol Still burned holes in my pockets but I've been learning from the school of BP therefore I managed to pick up most of it at decent prices so yeah, thanks guys.

This baffles me. If I imposed that restriction....if that was enforceable or if buyers paid attention and didn't buy because of that...I would have lost ALOT of sales. If other sellers really don't want the sale, I'll take it, but....why?!

Now retired on uk shop@home http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Red-Five-X-wing-Starfighter-10240

The thing about the Red 5 being 'sold out' online in the US (across Walmart, Target, TRU, ShopAtHome.com, etc), is that they have been readily available for months on Lego B&M store shelves across the US. I think Lego is hesitant to put the retiring soon or certainly not the retired tag while they are on shelves. It's like begging resellers to get overly aggressive in avoiding limits. That being said, i have no doubt that once in-store inventory is depleted these things are gone. I truly believe that Lego (in the US) did this intentionally. It's easier for them to enforce limits on a few dirty QFLL's when you they get to look them in the eye as you buy them. IE: Hey this guy hasn't showered this week, no X-wing for him. Also the appearance of a full shelf of 5 sets (and more in the back) makes the reseller THINK there are millions of these out there, no rush to scoop them up. In fact, there's around 75 stores in the US, so even if they had 20 sets each, that's 1500 sets. That amount would be gone in a BLINK online if it was marked Retired. I suspect lego "bottlenecked" the remaining Xwings by putting them in Lego brand stores only rather than selling them online to try to keep them in-stores through the holidays. Mission Accomplished, now off to retirement.

I am hoping to have a huge update by the end of the week. It's been nuts for the past 30+ days trying to get answers, updates and fixes for the data I am seeing. Maybe after it goes live I will explain all the differences. I am "supposed" to get an update later today with a chance to get more data to work with and see if its right. I am hoping it is, then I can work on it over the next few days and get the everything back in action again.

Sold out EU/AUS etc LEGO Shop at Home

A new blog entry was posted today, with all of the polybags listed in one place: Polybag Availability Update (January 2015)

The only account that works for taking out USD from PayPal to a Canadian bank account in USD is the USD RBC U.S. High Interest eSaving. Other accounts don't seem to work even if they are denominated in USD for some reason.

Cadillac Eldorado by Aliencat!

Hmmm, just curious Stephen_Rockefeller, what would you do if you sold a $155 Lego set and you were in this situation? This has nothing to do with being jaded; this is about trying to understand and substantiate this buyer's unbelievable claim. If this really happened they way they claim, I need to get the facts to make sure it doesn't happen again. Anyway, I'll let you all know how this turns out. The buyer filed this "item not described case" on 19 Dec. Needless to say I haven't heard anything else from them since I responded that day stating that I would not be refunding until they either returned the item (rat feces not required) or provided some documentation of their claim.

Holy poop! End of rant

Due to multiple articles about LEGO investing released over the last two days, we have had our best days ever and Brick Classifieds has benefitted as well, with its best two days traffic wise.

I'll just leave this here.... http://minifigpriceguide.com/wordpress/lego-marvel-ghost-riders-set-and-minifigure-coming-in-2016/

I totally understand. I can sell you one at cost: - $215 buy in - Gas and vehicle: $5 - Time: $50 x 3 hours = $150 - Shipping: $25 - Shipping materials: $5 Total: $400. Luckily you don't have to pay Ebay and Paypal fees.

Build it and sell it as used next year.

Build it

Nice one, those old Chima sets are as popular as a fart in a lift over here. Done Red 5, Series 1 Microfighters, all my winter exclusives and Minecraft Mine today. The stash gets smaller.

Those are truly limited edition exclusives- so far no worries of remakes. they are expensive, every year. I'd love to have those employee sets but they are way too expensive for me, soon Alpine, im sure you'll be able to find instructions on line. p.s. I still have to finish bricklinking marina bay sands and batpod.

Hey Ed! --- This raffle is wonderful and will perform miracles---- with the help of social media ! St. Paul School is truly a blessing and a wonderful place for children to grow and learn. I have 4 children, ages 21, 18, 13 and 9. My 2 oldest have graduated from St. Paul School and my third child is currently in the 8th grade and set to graduate this year--in fact she is in the video that is posted on your blog!! My youngest is in 3rd grade and my husband is an alumni as well. We have strong roots in this school lol! I have seen many changes at St. Paul School ......as well as in the world since my oldest daughter's first day there. St. Paul offers safety and top notch education. The teachers here really care about how the students are doing academically as well as emotionally. These days that is so important to kids.....especially in middle school. Though they may have BiG attitudes, they are still children inside. Every day the kids, the parents, the teachers , the administration.... all have a chance to interact together. And more importantly .... all are welcome to do that. Not every school can say that. It takes a village to raise a child .... there is no better "village" than St. Paul School! My older girls have gone on to graduate from Notre Dame High School (Catholic High School) in Lawrenceville and both excelled in honors and AP classes. My oldest was inducted in the National Honor Society at the Collegiate level and currently has a degree in Biology. My second daughter is currently a freshman at Rowan University and majoring in Chemical Engineering. She has received an academic scholarship. My 8th grader is in the National Junior Honor Society and has participated and placed in many math and academic competitions. She will take the SAT and the ACT in the spring as a "warm-up" before high school. My youngest is in 3rd grade but can write in cursive (have a signature!), read at a much higher level and is halfway learning division. All of this has been provided through the foundation that they received at St. Paul School--- ST. PAUL STRONG!!

If it helps, I'd still sell to you. You seem pretty swell. Also, I'm sure this is an old issue, but... Why would retailers ban paying customers, regardless of their buying habits? It seems like bad business to me.

Imagine if he sent you back a package with nothing but rat feces

Lol i think you took a wrong turn somewhere

Merry Christmas. I'm looking for a Christmas miracle here. Anything would be appreciated.

interesting, i always put a 20% restocking fee on my listings to qualify for the TRP discount. i haven't had a return on ebay in 2 years. this post probably jinxes that tho

Shipping in an outer box, or even in brown paper wrapping, for that matter, is not MANDATORY... but it is cheap, common, reasonable, and helps protect you as much if not more than tracking. Some sellers get it, some don't. This will go on until the end of time.

Next one (EU)...