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I just finished this late last night. Great build. Steering wheel is a bit big. Best part is the front and back seats. A close second is the picnic set fitting in the trunk. Enjoy the video.

I've had an unusual amount of building time the last few evenings... was going to start building the mini cooper, but this thing has been calling my name for a while now. Awesome model, and a fun build. Think I'm going to have this one on display in my office.

First picture of Tumbler box!!! Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

Hello everyone, Thought it time to reach out and introduce myself. I just got into LEGO within the last 10 months. It started as a bit of a hobby to pass the time in Greenland. My friend lived next to me in the dorms and he is a huge AFOL. He really peaked my interest when he told me about the value of certain LEGO sets. We'd literally spend hours talking bricks. He showed me pics from brick conventions, his 3rd place winning massive Black Pearl that he made, and all sorts of stuff that I found fascinating. At first, I was just interested in having a fun hobby where I could use my hands and find some peace. Very soon I was enticed by the challenge of using bricks as an investment vehicle. At the end of the day, if an investment doesn't pan out...it can always be built. Anyway, my favorite build so far was R2-D2...did that in Greenland. I purchased a couple Hoth sets to build...made sense seeing how I was in the Arctic for a year. I built a Technic 9392 and quickly developed a crush on Technic. Plus, I've worked a lot of construction in my career as a military engineer. I really just started to buy sets I thought would be fun to put together. SW was a big part of my childhood so I definitely favored those sets at first. But those hours of conversation and brick building with my friend really influenced me. I asked him a blunt question, "If I'm going to spend $1,000 on LEGO tonight as investments...what should I buy?" He mentioned Fire Brigade 10197, Haunted House 10228, Winter Village Cottage 10229, and Tower Bridge 10214. That was November 2013. I was hooked. I slowly purchased some larger sets over the winter and spring. Solely as long term investments. SW 10221 & 10227, Grand Emporium 10211, and some more of my previously purchased sets. When I returned to the US I went a little crazy...my brickfolio can be found here: my.brickpicker.com/jhammill24. You can probably see that I'm expirementing with some smaller, kids friendly sets to see how they perform in the near future. Did I mention that I have 4 kids? They love LEGO! We have a great time building sets together as a family activity. It's great for their motor skills, concentration, and problem solving. If they only knew of the sets I have hidden in my closet they'd overthrow me and open every box. I like to visit the LEGO shop and ask them which sets they think are the coolest and that kids would want the most. It has been helpful in identifying potential winners based on the features my kids highlight. We will be starting our own family business buying and selling LEGO in the very near future. So I'd love to hear any advice on the topic. I'd love to teach them basic math/business/research/investing principles with bricks. I spend a ton time reading the articles on brickpicker.com and getting info on sets at brickset.com. I scan through ebay and amazon several times a day to see what the vibe is. I really can't get enough of LEGO. I'm trying to control this addiction but everytime I look LEGO is releasing new sets... I'll try my best to hold-off for special VIP bonuses or Amazon sales. Just know, I'm in this with you...

I bet you have "reseller scum" on your file with them...

Back from Comic Con tonight. Let me tell you about my Lego experiences... First, to address what Kriterian above said, it wasn't the case this year. They had signs up "No Vendors or Exhibitors" for the exclusives. They didn't open the line until 9:30, and I was told they were pretty strongly checking to make sure it was only people that paid to get into Comic Con (vs Exhibitors) who were able to get in line and buy the exclusives. They sold out quick, though, so no exclusives for me. I checked out the Lego store, and it looked fine. Nothing special there. About the only thing I would have considered was Tower of Orthanc, but I can get it at Legoland California with my annual pass discount, so I passed (plus, I didn't feel like walking around with that beast all day). Walked around the floor. Some vendors were selling Ecto-1 GB for $75. I saw a couple of older SDCC exclusive Lego sets around (one was a 2009 Star Wars set, the other was an Indiana Jones set). A couple of vendors had polybags. I did see one vendor with a number of castle and vikings sets from the late 80s and early 90s. Came across a vendor that had Series 1 minifigs for $10 each, and Series 2, 3, 4, 5, Movie, and Simpsons minifigs for $5 each. I needed a bunch from the first 5 series, so I spend my time smooshing those and picking out about 25 that I needed. At 12:30, they opened up the line for the chance to win the Bard minifig. I went upstairs at 12:45. I saw quite a few people walking way with them. So, I started following the line to the end. I kept walking. And walking. And walking. After about 10 minutes of walking, and seeing the line continuing down to the marina on the backside of the convention center, I gave up. I decided any money I'd make on that single figure wasn't worth my the hour or longer that I'd be standing there, waiting for the chance to win. And, if I didn't win, I'd just be upset that I wasted the time. So no figure for me. And then the final capper - in the rush to get my kids out of the house today, and off to summer camp/day care, I forgot half my Emmet costume. So I wasn't in costume today. I'll try to wear it tomorrow and Sunday (the other two days I'm going).

Found these at a local Target for 70% off ... 10574: Creative Ice Cream - $4.48 60027: Monster Truck - $8.98 Got the two Friends polybags from Kmart for nothing with free SYWR points ... 41042: Tiger's Beautiful Temple 41043: Penguin's Playground

Love the pc background ;)

Thanks all, it was fun running it. Might come back to these entries in 6 months to see how a 1 year investment window would have changed things.

I started college in 2002 but had to stop before I finished because of the cost. I got back in to school two years ago and graduated today. My wife was very sweet and drove all the way across town to get this (and a gift card) for me. Of course I had to build it as soon as I got home. Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

Definitely check with your bank - if you feel iffy about it, just ask them to send a postal money order instead. You can verify at your post office (when you have it in hand) that it's legit and then go deposit it at your bank and ship right away. Side note: Bricklink found you that buyer, and it's against the TOS you agreed to to take that buyer off Bricklink and chouse them out of their fees. IMO, complete the transaction on Bricklink and pay what you promised.

A strict interpretation of that standard (discouraging most personally acquired news and opinions) would mean that about 9/10 posts in this thread should never have been made. Almost all the previous posts have been predictions of the SSD's EOL date and/or its post-retirement price gains. Given the thread's title and current content, it seems like a reasonable place for such posts. If only "definite" retirement dates were considered post-worthy, there wouldn't be much to read. Given Lego's very haphazard application of the "retiring soon" and "retired" labels, conjecture may be the best anyone outside the company's higher ranks can come up with until it's too late to act on the information.

Yeah, it kind of does. >A-10 by JustOneMoreBrick

I'm in!!!! You don't get quality like this nowadays!!!

... in an illegal workshop by chinese people located in your cellar ?

I personally don't think that it will go up in the future. It went up only 10% in value this year. I think that has a little more room for growth, but not enough that you can make a profit on it by buying it 200 euros.

Wow! Not only has Lego starting farming out their manufacturing, but it appears the box art design as well! It's all going to hell. I'm out.

My son, 7-years old, has started building UCS X-wing 10240, with me checking on things. He was a little wide-eyed (not in a good way) when all the bags poured onto our building table (old train table table with raised edge) and I showed him the 3 instruction booklets. So far, doing a little bit each night, he's almost done with bag 1 and a little unsure of what the end result will look like - he keeps asking to see the box. Anyway, fun to watch him figure it out. I'll post pics of progress.

So, here's the pic of the passenger car end of the train and just my luck, a missing piece... I'm missing a 1x8 black tile Sent from my iPhone using Brickpicker

I'll throw out a counter opinion for fun. There are a few things in this set's favor: - TRU exclusive, so it has not seen deep discounts, at least in the US. - It's true that there are a ton of other police sets, but the ones featuring the "robber hideout" element hold some appeal and the forest versions have performed well when retired early. - Pairs well with Museum break-out, which also features villain vehicles in the gray/black/red color scheme. I had picked up a couple of these a while back when TRU had them on a rare sale. I don't expect it to be a big gainer, but once this and Museum Break In retire, I think they could be a nice Christmas 2015 item if they retire by then. Like most things, probably better to just put money into exclusives though. :-)

I heard there is a gold benny in some boxes like the c3po, over on brickset they said (with packaging) it weighs about 30 grams.

Contact amazon, u should be able to get 20% off

Super nice! I really like what you did with the doors - showing both constructed at the same time, and comparing them, to get a view of the interior and exterior sides. Keep up the good work!

Where are the 9448 Samurai Mech and 6862 Lex' Power Armor ?

Muhahaha I'm gonna tell so they can block you... more nice deals for me

They don't. I am a smuggler. Didn't you know?

In case anyone is interested, the Scotch brand heavy duty Shipping tape is on sale at Costco. $23.49 - $7 = $16.49 for 8 rolls plus a bonus 1.88" x 400" decorative packaging tape.

Mini Cooper and mini Mini Cooper Thoughts: 1. Phenomenal design, great coloring and graphics, just a beautiful model 2. Engine is great 3. My big issue with the set is the steering wheel is just too big for the model. Its scale is just off. 4. The picnic basket and accessories are really nice touches on an already fabulous model. 5. I felt like I had to put the English license plates on and build the steering wheel on the left side of the car. Without these, the car wouldn't have felt authentic. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I like this model better than the VW camper. All in all, it looks so authentic. The body styling is so spot on, the coloring is awesome and the accessories just push this set over the edge. It is displayed proudly with the mini Mini Cooper, VW Camper, Mini VW Camper and the VW Beetle.

Lol...and my fingers hurt from smooshing in my effort to help you. Haha

other members have offered solid advice already... but I would say hold onto the set a bit longer if you can. great price point you got and nice stash. different market I know but my last 3 sets each sold for $140 plus shipping which is great, should go even higher by holidays, but I only have 3 left.

I read about that calamitous cancer. Poor things, I can't imagine having to suffer through such a slow death between that cancer and starvation. They may be wild animals but that is a cruel way for anyone or anything to die from. :cry:

rfish, I have been working with the public since 1985. I deal with thousands of customers a week and have realized one thing...people don't pay attention to signs, notes or anything that requires people to follow directions and/or explains something. I can put notes all over the forums and many people won't read them. That is the nature of the internet. As for EOL information, it's all just a guess isn't it? We can look at some telltale signs and make an educated guess, but it's still a guess until LEGO states it's retired. I believe there are some LEGO store employees that know what is going on. They care and pay attention to conversations, stock levels, and information like we do. Some might have access to official LEGO documents. The only way to really crack the EOL equation is to continue to discuss it and welcome new members that might have some useful information to share. Sent from my iPad using Brickpicker

I got the email that my Staples TRU GC would be delayed until 8/7. Then a phone call. Then an email from Giftcardmall with my giftcard.

As a former special effects artist and current Lego fan, I appreciate this on many levels. Excellent work! http://www.nerdist.com/2014/07/lego-boba-fett-costume/

I can see that Batman set staying higher in price than the average SDCC exclusive, but the Star Wars and Guardians sets should definitely come down. Also, the minifigure giveaways are supposedly limited to 1,750 each. Last year I think there were like 400-500 each and the year before there were 1,000 each so I would expect those prices to fall quite a bit if the numbers are accurate.

The Dragon makes it worthwhile to me. $130 is a fair price with that awesome maxifigure IMO. Sometimes piece count doesn't apply.

The prices will come down in time. Trust me. I made the mistake many times of buying these early and they usually end in the $125 range.

I'm Bricklinking the Batmobile, once instructions are leaked.

I've been collecting these SDCC sets/displays for years and even though the sets are usually 1 of 1000, they usually come down in price in a week or so. Don't pay $300 for this set. The only person making any money off of this will be the original seller.

Just had to share my insane luck with CL last night. I saw an ad advertising a person GIVING AWAY his childhood Lego FOR FREE. Needless to say I was skeptical but I messaged him immediately anyways. Turns out I only lived 5 minutes away, so I made arrangements to swing by, hoping that it wasn't a scam or practical joke someone was pulling on a friend. When I got there I picked up approximately 1 medium garbage bag filled with Lego, plus an empty Harry Potter 4709 Hogwarts Castle! I quickly gathered it, said thanks, and drove home as quickly as I could. When I emptied the bag, about 1/2 was filled with Mega Bloks and generic bricks, but the other 1/2 (haven't finished sorting yet) had parts/minifigs from HP 4709, 4714 Gringott's Bank, a couple more HP sets, and my personal favorite, Batman 7780 Batboat Hunt for Killer Croc. This is the sweetest find for me ever, especially at the price point It's perfect timing too as my 9 year old is starting to read the Harry Potter series so most of these sets are keepers. Hoping the sets are mostly if not fully complete.

I'm surprised this hasn't been link'd to yet: http://www.starwars.com/news/lego-star-wars-15th-anniversary-minifigure-case-special-preview

People should take a hard look at cash beating out almost 60% of the field. Flipping is not as easy as some may say hah.

RESULTS ARE IN: Final results based on data to the end of June: Congratulations to our winners: 1st = IAmElim 2nd = jojoyojimbi 3rd = checkers312 Ed or Jeff will be in contact with each of you in regards to your prizes, which I must publicly thank them for once again as when this comp was set up it was just going to be for a few Brickpoints from my stash, very generous - thank you. Thank you to all entrants and I hope you all found it a bit of fun and perhaps even took away a few grains of learning from the exercise. The winning strategy was IAmElim taking a full stake in 28 x Wolverine Choppers which appreciated by 75% over the run of the competition. I'll get around to posting a few more stats over the next week or so. Things like what the best strategy would have been, what were the worst/best sets etc.

Same thing was said about the Fire Brigade which was the most stocked set by members overall before being retired and look how that scenario turned out.

A LEGO Tumbler, the Caped Crusader's black armored vehicle of choice in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight movie trilogy, will be on display at Comic-Con this week beginning Wednesday. Following the pop-culture convention, which runs through July 27, the Tumbler toy (1,869 pieces, $199) goes on sale at LEGO stores and shop.LEGO.com in September. Measuring 15 inches tall and 9 inches wide, the LEGO Tumbler has an armored exterior, adjustable wings, a detailed interior (with a console screen that reads "INTIMIDATE") and oversized rubber-tread tires. It also comes with a fact sheet about the vehicle from the movies. If you're into character mini-figures, the stars of the set are a Christian Bale-styled Batman and the Joker, the first time Heath Ledger's The Dark Knight take on the villain has appeared in LEGO form. Source: USA Today

Like these? Still fun to look through every now and then. Look at all those awesome classic space sets....

You know what the call a quarter pounder in France? Royale with cheese. They don't know what the *&!* a quarter pounder is.