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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/01/2016 in all areas

  1. Your address can be posted here, so everyone can stop by to congratulate you when they arrive.
    11 points
  2. If we get to $70,000, I will throw in a SSD into the BrickPicker Bundle.
    9 points
  3. Here are the winning ticket #s that were listed on the Rallyup site. The winners will probably be notified shortly. Please contact me (PM) and I will discuss the prizes and shipping. Thanks again everyone. You really came though for the school and the kids, families and teachers...and me and Jeff too. If there are any issues, I will address them tomorrow. Time for bed...LOL Friends Bundle #6 115 Batman Bundle #4 143 Bundle #1 Grand Emporium & Parisian Restaurant 274 BrickPicker Bundle #5 485 Mystery Bundle #2: More Than 5000 Pieces!!! 535 Create a Bundle #3 564 LEGO Star Wars Death Star #10188 100343 LEGO Star Wars R2-D2 #10225 300345 Sealed Case of LEGO Series 10 Minifigures #71001 - Get Mr. Gold!!! 500460 LEGO Monster Haunted House #10228 600510 LEGO Creator Town Hall #10224 800397
    8 points
  4. Annddd done! Pretty much used Jang's as my reference, but there was a lot of trial and error as there were some pieces i could not find in black. Mainly the cockpick hinge pieces, so i had to sort of redo the roof section to make it come off as 1 pieces instead of hinge open. I can get the shuttle into a landing pose, but it's not entirely stable. However it will be displayed in flight mode anyways. Really love the teardrop red cockpit windows. This went from a bad looking model (in terms of screen accuracy) to one of my favourites. Aside from the stud shooters; there is practically no grey to be seen. Pictures below:
    7 points
  5. So why are you here and not at Walmart getting that thing?
    6 points
  6. This thread is starting to echo the PC thread from last year... ...and all we got is a new box for the PC.
    6 points
  7. 6 points
  8. MOC'd some movie posters for PC, coming to a Lego neighborhood soon!
    6 points
  9. Love me some good mega pickles
    5 points
  10. Jeff is going to write his contact at LEGO and tell them of the evil resellers saving a school. It really is a great story and illustrates that LEGO fans are a special breed.
    5 points
  11. I would be going to every walmart in the area if one of them had it for 49. That's 50% for a original trilogy ship, the only quesion should be is how many can you store and still have room to brush your teeth and leave your home to get more shuttles.
    4 points
  12. availability at shop at home usa: 10240 was available 2 years 6 months. 10221 2years 10 months 10212 2 years 2 months 10215 1 year 5 months 10225 2 yeasr 6 months 10240 was around basically the same as all the rest. it wasn't an outlier. it didn't stick around longer. it was around as long as r2d2 and people were surprised when that went eol. the only difference was there were more brickpickers hyping 10240 retirement. brickpickers didn't make it stick around longer. that's a fallacy.
    4 points
  13. I think you know that's not how this works. Someone says "buy" and you say "in for 3". Remember?
    4 points
  14. Congratulations to the winners of these fantastic prices, and congratulations to @Ed Mack for raising more than a whopping $60,000 for the support of the St. Paul school!!! As expected I didn't win any price, but am happy my money went to a good cause!
    4 points
  15. Completed the exterior mostly. Still need to add some floortiles but don't have enough. So far pretty satisfied how it worked out. It is massive tho. The inner yard. Probably add sandy tiles and some more green. Inside look from the yard into the main palace. Stairs go two sides up. Will need to add some furniture and further tiling
    4 points
  16. I just had to pop for another 35 tickets.... the cause is worth it no matter what we may or may not win because of it but the chance to win something adds a reason for people to give. While it's sad at the end of the day human nature prevails for some and the appeal to gain something (other than the amazingly awesome feeing of being able to help and be part of something bigger than ones self) provides the motivation to help. I'm happy to help but can admit that the potential for something like this just helps push me to give even more. So at the end of the day I applaud all of you that have donated without wanting a raffle ticket as you are truly a fine human being. For the rest of us keep donating more dammit! The kids need and deserve it and you can get another shot at winning some more awesome Legos. It's about the odds. It may only take one ticket to win but if you buy 100 or more you have an even better chance. Let's see this hit $60k. Hell let's see it hit $75k Heres to folks overseas winning everything because my bill for shipping will be huge and Ed said he is going to match those funds as a donation. Ed, I forgot to tell you that I'm hiring a private plane to help me deliver all the Legos to the winners. You can tag along since you are paying the bill. Sorry for for the long winded post as it probably wasn't necessary but I was reminded of people's tendencies during fund raising events while helping to finalize the annual fund raising event for a local charity I focus on. So I used this as my soapbox and hope to get people fired up to give even more!!
    4 points
  17. When I first got into LEGO as an AFOL I was looking at all of the Star Wars sets that I had missed and how much they cost. It became necessary to figure out a way to get the sets cheaper or make more money. I knew that some people must be making money buying bulk lots and taking out the stuff they wanted and selling the rest. That seemed like 2 birds with one stone. I looked at the bulk lots on Ebay, realizing that most of what I would get from these guys were common pieces. So I started looking at bigger lots, somewhat intimidated by their cost. I figured, however, if an Ebayer was getting $10 for a pound maybe I could make some money just throwing stuff in a box, easy money. I made a purchase of about 50 lbs for about $350 because I saw some Star Wars sets and minifigures in there. Oh boy, easy money and some treasures of my own. Boy, was I wrong. The money is anything but easy. I quickly discovered that out of my 50 lbs of mixed LEGO, at least 5 lbs were easily recognizable as not building bricks at all. Tinker toys, K'Nex, Hot Wheels, plastic army men, broken action figures, Lincoln logs, playing cards, thumb tacks, thorny burrs and even broken glass was mixed into the ABS blocks. On top of all that junk, the real problems started. All of the Mega Blocks, BTR, and assorted knock off blocks knocked another 5+ lbs out of the lot. That's at least 20% of my precious blocks that was basically trash. As you filter through, you discover broken bricks, severely teeth marked ones and yellowed pieces. profits are getting slimmer by the minute. Ok, so I regrouped and focused on the sets that were obviously present. I pulled out the stuff I immediately recognized most of a TIE Interceptor, a little car, Jedi Interceptor with Hyperdrive ring, half an ARC Fighter, etc. All of these I scattered around me like ancient peoples paying homage to their creator. How do I go from lots of partial sets to lots of complete sets that I can flip to make back the money that I sunk into this thing? Well first I needed to figure out what was missing. So, I looked at instruction books to see what steps I needed to take to complete them and what pieces were missing from there. Utter bust. That's an awful way to do it. So I took apart the sets I had figured out and checked the inventory against Bricklink. I discovered what was missing, and that sometimes kids substitute pieces in the middle of a build. Now that I knew what was missing, time to turn back to 20 lbs of assorted bulk. digging through mixed bricks looking for the piece or pieces I need was time consuming and futile. Time to sort them out to make it easier. My wife and I sorted that 20 lbs of pieces by color. We had 10+ bags of pieces separated loosely by color (old and new colors mixing futilely.) That made it easier to look for pieces, but still sometimes wasting a lot of time trying to pick out a small piece in a big bag. After exhausting my patience, I turned to Bricklink to acquire the pieces I needed, dumping more money into this hole. Eventually I sold a bunch of sets I made from this and a few other bulk lots. Between the Bricklink orders I placed to complete them and the fees and shipping, I think I made some money. My book keeping was pretty terrible. But it all taught me some things. Some of these things I learned could help some people just starting out trying to find treasure in Bulk lots. STEP 1: Valuation So, you're looking at a bulk lot that you found on Craigslist, Ebay, a garage sale, another auction or whatever. How should you evaluate it? Weight: The volume of pieces will tell you roughly how much is there. 2 lbs = not a lot. 25 lb = a lot. Since you're not buying the sets one by one, you have to immediately realize that you are going to be getting dead weight in addition to the treasures that you seek. Visible sets: Any visible set that you can place is good. That will give you an immediate idea of what you can make out of the lot. No visible sets or parts of sets means that there may or may not be gold in there. Minifigures: If minifigures are present that's good. If licensed minifigures are present, that's even better. a loose rule I use is to look for flesh colored minifigure heads and hands. Sure there's some dummies in that group, and some good figures that have yellow heads and hands, but it's a good starting point. Instructions and boxes: Both of these are a good gauge to show you what sets may be present, but could be red herrings. Sometimes the instructions stick around long after the main components of a set are lost. Non LEGO stuff: There's always some detritus. The flotsam and jetsam of stuff that parents scoop up into the boxes. The most common stuff is non LEGO bricks. They're not always easy to pick out at first glance, but they're usually there. What you are looking for is how much of the lot is obviously not LEGO. Do you see doll parts, nerf darts, Pokémon cards, buttons, etc.? usually this is a good sign to me. It means no one has searched it. but it is a pain to filter through. Filth: Sometimes you can see how dirty and played with the bricks are. Most bulk will be dusty or dirty. Some will even have paint or marker on them. So with these factors, let's talk about how they factor into the valuation. an average lot is usually in the $4-$6 per lb range. Average lots show some partial sets, some minifigures, maybe a few instructions, relatively clean, with not a lot of obvious non LEGO stuff. Depending on the quality and quantity of the better stuff, you might increase your valuation, but remember you're not paying top dollar for what you see, because there's still a lot of work to come. Plus, you're going to get some amount of stuff you don't want. I have been known to go as low as $2-$3 a pound for stuff that had no obvious sets, mediocre looking or no obvious minifigures and excess junk. Then again, I have gone as high as $10 a lb for lots of minifigures and several mostly complete sets of some value. Some people stick to a hard $5 lb. Some lots of only minifigures I have seen sold for close to $100 lb. Figure out your comfort level and stick to it. Be prepared to have wasted your money on a big group of Mega Blocks. STEP 2: Sorting and figuring out what you have Once you get the lot, now you have to do something with it. Boxes full of bulk sitting in the garage is just hoarding. You're doing this to make your money work for you. So, I start by trying to pull out all the non LEGO, but also anything that gives me a good idea of what is there. Pull out minifigures, instructions, partial sets and set them aside. I bag the partial sets, with the minifigures and instructions wherever possible. I would never again sort by color. Finding a red 1x1 modified tile with clip in a big bag of red parts is much harder than looking through a bag of 1x1 modified tile with clips of assorted colors. Instead I start by throwing all the flats in one box. Slopes go in a second box. Bricks are a third box, etc. It's the most general sorting at first. As I go, I look for unique identifiers of sets like printed pieces or unusual shapes. Once the initial sorting is accomplished, I sort again by element. STEP 3: Completing sets The best way to make back the bulk of your purchase price is to complete the sets that you received. Some people will complete everything that they can, others disdain anything below a certain dollar amount. It's up to you how far down the rabbit hole that you are going to head. Once you get your sets, you need to figure out what is missing. Even if the set looks complete, it is best to verify. Some people will make substitutions in the middle of a set. Your customers may not appreciate substitutions, especially if there are megablocks in the middle of a build. So, it's time to take them apart to verify the inventory. If the sets are partial, you definitely should take them apart to figure out how much is missing. Look through your new bulk to see if you can find the rest. Focus on the expensive sets first. Check through your minifigures, instructions, and interesting pieces to see what sets may have been broken down entirely and see if they are worth reconstituting. You could do another survey of your bulk to see if the seemingly random bulk is hiding some treasure. I look for the part numbers on the interesting pieces. Finding the part number can be difficult, since it's usually inside of the LEGO piece and hard to spot, except with the right light. If the piece appears in multiple sets, I check for context with other pieces in the lot. Again, the interesting pieces generally have a unique shape, sticker or printing. If you can't complete them this way, or even with other bulk you might have, then you have to decide if sinking some more money into them is worthwhile. Does spending $10, $20, or $50 more make sense? Only you know for sure, but you've already dug a hole into your resources and time. It's either keep digging, or see if you can punt it off somewhere. I tend to try to get as many sets working at a time as I can. Hopefully this will help me to get the most missing pieces for the least orders. STEP 4: Dealing with the true bulk You're going to have leftovers after you pull out the stuff that is easiest to sell. You have several options. You could write it off. Put it back in a box and donate it or stick it in the garage, hoping to forget about it. This is generally the least appealing option to me. I've put time and money into this, so I want to recover something more than the tax write off or another box in the garage. Sell it as bulk. You could try to recover something from it by selling it all as a big lot, or even breaking it up into more manageable 1, 2, 5 or 10 lb lots. There's a lot of competition that way, but it's not super hard to do. Save the pieces to help you complete other sets in your next bulk lot. This is appealing because you already have it on hand. There's no guarantee that it will do the job, but at least you have a chance to cut down on further expenses. Sell the pieces individually through Bricklink or Ebay or some other venue. This is the most time consuming way to do it. It's also the way to get the most total value from the pieces, eventually. A lot of pieces may not sell quickly if at all, but you have a higher return on every piece that does sell. So, after all of that. You have to figure out whether it was worth it. If you made some money, or got some stuff that you wanted for less than the going rate, it will give you that rosy glow. It's fun to initially dig through all of that stuff searching for buried treasures. When you find something, it really does feel like it's all worthwhile. In the long hours of sorting, searching for pieces, and waiting for Bricklink orders it may be less fun. Waiting for the stuff to sell to recoup your costs is even less fun than that. I like to do it, but at the end of the day, the monetary returns vs. my time may not be the best. It may be the worst paying job that I have ever had. You really do need to have a plan for evaluating what you are buying and for dealing with it once you do. If you've never done it before, it may be overwhelming. It will take a little while to get more proficient. It's definitely not a quick buck, but money is there to be had. If you are disorganized, if you lose patience, if you don't have the time,you're just throwing money into a hole. May the bricks be ever in your favor. pictures are used to demonstrate example bulk lots from real auctions. View full blog article
    3 points
  18. So why are you asking us about a used one if you're after a new one? And if you are interested in a used one, it's a simple question for yourself isn't it? Is it worth that to YOU? Why does it matter what we think?
    3 points
  19. I feel the need to defend Amazon packers a bit here. Judging by the last page in this thread most people are under the assumption that some lazy, inconsiderate minimum-wage employee gets to decide whether or not they want to place a bag of dog food on top of your collectible LEGO box. The packers have absolutely zero say in how your items are shipped. When you place an order on Amazon their computer algorithm takes all of the products in your order, calculates the weight and overall dimensions, and literally tells the packer everything to do. 1) It tells the packer which box(es) to use, and which items to place in each box. It even gives them a display on the computer showing where each item should go in the box (if necessary) 2) It tells the packer how much void fill to place in the box 3) It spits out an exact amount of tape necessary to seal the box In this case, the system told the packer that your LEGO box and your dog food would both fit in the same box. Whether the packer placed the dog food on top or on bottom, it would have had the same end result after being flipped around during transit. The only way to avoid this would be to place separate orders, waiting for your first one to package/ship before placing the second to ensure they don't get grouped together. That isn't to say the people packing these boxes actually care about your orders at all. They are paid commission/bonuses based on how many orders per hour they can ship out, so the system itself inherently promotes sloppy packaging... but it's not fair to blame the employees when the company forces them to package your orders a certain way.
    3 points
  20. I've posted a few sneak preview pics of these before, but they may finally be done after several months of Bricklinking, MOD'ing, and tweaking. The Cylon Raider is pretty much a UCS size set and is massive & heavy. 2 ships from the classic Battlestar Galactica TV Series Classic Cylon Raider - 1820 pieces Viper Mark II - 325 pieces
    3 points
  21. Unleash the horde! (BTW, I'm only looking for my personal "to build in a distant future when I finally have time" pile ).
    3 points
  22. Maybe a house or a convenience store.
    3 points
  23. Remember, the raffle goes off at 1:59AM EST. It was set to Arizona time. I will throw in a Tower of Orthanc into the BrickPicker Bundle as well as the SSD if we reach $70,000.
    3 points
  24. I will not write these off. I could care less about that stuff. I have said this time and again, that's not how I roll. There are no angles here. It's a win for me to see my son in St. Paul for another year. That's all this was ever about. Getting one more year. One battle at a time. This^^^^
    3 points
  25. We are getting there. This raffle really helped. I never really expected this. I was hoping just to make enough to cover the costs of the sets. Honestly., I am amazed by the recent activity. I knew people could help. But would they? The answer was a resounding yes. We still have a 6 or 7 hours to reach $60,000.
    3 points
  26. this set is an absolute no brainer. when was the last time they produced this set? How many more star wars movies will be coming out?
    2 points
  27. There was definitely a production run in late november in the states, because I waited over a month to finally get one right before Christmas. It became available again around that time and has stayed in stock since. However, it was OOS for quite some time before that period. With Amazon getting knocked out recently, and walmart just having the PC it could be another sign. When Amazon starts to post that message usually means the boxes they have left are the damaged ones and they are waiting for stock, or too many of the recent shipments were sent back, which may mean they might not get anymore in besides what's currently left in their warehouse. Many sets that recently got knocked out can have this message. Target is usually always the last retailer remaining. And, for those of us that pay attention, when Europe starts having stock depletion, it's a definite sign.
    2 points
  28. You can get RR down to $45 each using a $10 off $75 coupon here: http://shc.cpn2c.co/RecomService/web/bE3R Then use points and whatever other coupons you might have.
    2 points
  29. Maybe people are getting a little ahead of themselves - or could Tumbler rules apply?
    2 points
  30. I decided to jump on all 3 of those over the last few months because I didn't want to miss out and pay extra for them. I never really bothered with this series, but once I built one, I became a little obsessive/compulsive with this line. I don't know if you have built these yet, but man... they are perhaps the most fun things to build when it comes to lego sets. Although, I'm not investing in modulars and like to build and collect these for personal use. The PR is great though. It's such a well done and very beautifully designed set. Just all around greatness. It's also out of stock on amazon in the US... and looks like only target and lego LEGO Shop at Home are the last survivors.
    2 points
  31. TOS again in LEGO Shop at Home EU, after it was only briefly available for ordering. PS and PC are still available but either LEGO has difficulties supplying the demand for PR, or they're cranking down production. It looks like it's doing the dance...
    2 points
  32. 2 points
  33. I'd be shocked if anymore exclusives retire this year. I think most of what remains will be around until next year. Sure, some may go in and out of stock here and there, but should be obtainable at some point until around October/November. But, I do think there are a few sets that could be the next Sea Cow next year… It seems that everyone and their mother were buying Red5's and Tumblers last year and into this year, that they left sets like this go by the wayside. Thats obviously always a lesson. I guarantee at the end of the year, we'll be seeing "just bought 5 slave 1 posts every 10 minutes, or just "cleared out my lego store of parisian restaurants, pet shops, or palace cinemas" that some other set will just go, and the horde will be like "oohhh that set has no chance, it's lame because blah blah blah". And of course, it will be the best one of the bunch because few horded it, and in the end there was demand for it because in a world of 7 billion people there's always a variety of tastes and desires. I personally, always felt Sea Cow was one of the coolest looking sets made. It may not be everyone's taste, but it is a wild crazy and awesome set. Well worthy of parting many people from their cash. Regardless, I guess this is why it's always good to diversify too. Maybe instead of everyone buying 20 red 5s, some should have maybe cut back on that and bought a few sea cows, but then again if everyone did that, maybe that would limit it's growth since there would be more in the aftermarket. So follow the horde! It is always right
    2 points
  34. I am fairly certain his return will be a great school that his child and family will enjoy, with teachers and staff that will be grateful for what he and his family have done for them and the school.
    2 points
  35. could probably get someone to make a ROI spreadsheet on the ROI of donating sets... with a comprehensive analysis of why its not a good investment to give good sets away in a raffle even though its for a good cause... Then throw in the argument of whether Ed used his VIP points during double VIP month to obtain these sets that he raffled and whether that was a smart choice or not...
    2 points
  36. Egats Brain, that's a long time per listing. I sell a large amount of used sets from bulk lots so probably take more time per listing than most here because they're all one offs, but I'm still spending five minutes or less per listing. With loose sets I'll take lots of pictures showing the set, the mini figs, the instructions, any rare pieces. With sealed sets, like Loghamel mentioned, front, back, and I will take a shot of the mini figs. I'll also add pics as needed to highlight any imperfections in the box. The description should be brief (no one reads it anyway). Forth quarter last year almost 50% of my items were purchased from a mobile device, I guarantee you hardly any of those buyers read my three sentence description.
    2 points
  37. Added some front signage and a movie screen for good measure. Ready to build!
    2 points
  38. Make sure he includes a full extract of all the contact details of those resellers as well, so they can spray us all with ban-hammer love
    2 points
  39. Here is a short feature (eight minutes) JANGBRiCKS uploaded recently briefly going over the history of all interlocking types of bricks including ones many probably never even heard of. Roughly halfway through towards the end, he shows some of the original instructions among other memorabilia of these long past forgotten relics in inspired creativity.
    2 points
  40. Haven't built any thing in ages! Well the drought is finally over, I built these beauty's over Friday and today. Love the QA!
    2 points
  41. This is not really a MOC, so I thought I would place in this forum.... For the past few years we have had a school bring their 3rd grade classes to my workplace to do a tour. Each department gets a topic and explains that topic to the children. Our department explains about recycling efforts and energy use. So, I put together this layout to give a visual example as we explained things to the kids. I purchased the instructions to a Brick City Depot building (https://www.brickcitydepot.com/CB026/smokestacks_coffee_house) and modified it a bit to include a standby generator on the main floor. The generator lights up using Lifelites (http://www.lifelites.com/). I used a Brick Builders Pro sticker (http://www.brickbuilderspro.com/) for the "City Power" billboard. I also incorporated LED lights into the street lights and on top of the hydro dam. I have the LED lights on, but maybe difficult to see due to natural lighting /camera. In the layout we have a hydro dam, wind turbine, stationary solar panels on awning and building, rotating solar panels, standby generation, transmission lines and a recycling center (with Hulk getting “angry”). The only thing really missing is a generation plant (too big and expensive to build) and a nuclear facility – which, I’m waiting for a Simpson’s version! The entire grade seems to enjoy it, as do the teachers. This layout makes it sooo much easier to explain to third graders.
    2 points
  42. Back alive after 24 years. I build this when i was a child.
    2 points
  43. Pictures have emerged of the German attackers
    2 points
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