Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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The recent announcement of a Minecraft-inspired Lego set prompted a discussion of Lego collecting on Twitter, so I thought I would start a thread here for people who are interested in (or interested in being interest in) Lego. Whether you are interested in building or collecting or are too poor to do either but just like drooling over shiny new sets, this thread is for you! I hope this thread will be a helpful resource to people interested in getting involved with the hobby.
All hobbies have their own jargon, and Lego is no different, so to get things started I'll provide definitions for some common Lego lingo. To wit: AFOL: Adult Fan of Lego. Like me! Don't let anyone give you shit for playing with "kid's toys" — fully 20% of Lego's sales are to adults purchasing for themselves, and Lego is producing an increasing number of sets designed for the adult/collector market in mind. There's a large AFOL community online, and there's also conferences and local hobbyist groups. bley: Some years ago Lego changed the color of their grey bricks. Because we all know change is evil, this caused a major upset in the Lego community, as some people had hundreds of dollars' worth of the old bricks and the new bricks would not match. The colors are referred to as "new grey" and "old grey," but as the new grey bricks had a bit of a bluish tint, some have taken to affectionately referring to the new bricks as "bley." The more official term for the new colors is stone. BURPs: Big Ugly Rock Pieces. You know the kind. Creator: Creator sets are old-school Lego: big buckets of brightly colored bricks, or else simpler builds such as a house or an airplane. The sets that do come with instructions always come with instructions for three different models, so these sets don't have many specialized pieces or minifigures; that said, you do tend to get more bricks for your money with these sets, so they're not a bad way to build up a stable of bricks if you're more interested in the building side of things, especially if you're just starting and need a lot of colors. Pick a Brick, or PaB: A feature of Lego.com that allows you to order the exact bricks you need individually. Shop at Home, or S@H: Lego.com's store, which contains sets that are exclusive to the website (or print catalog, if you hate trees). SNOTs: A term for builds with the Studs Not On Top. themes: Creator sets are fine for nostalgia, but if you want minifigures or more specialized pieces you'll want to look at themed sets. Lego produces sets based on both their own "generic" themes (such as City, Kingdoms, and Space Police) and licensed themes (such as Star Wars, Harry Potter, and, starting this summer, Lord of the Rings). Many collectors focus on one theme or "genre" of themes (such as "Castle" or "Space"). The largest and longest-running theme by far is City, which actually comprises all of Lego's "modern day" sets; even farm sets and the wind turbine are considered part of the City theme. vignettes: The Lego equivalent of a haiku, vignettes are a Japanese style of model, that attempts to contain a story or "slice of life" in a very small footprint, often 8 * 8. Vignettes with a larger footprint, such as 12 * 12, are sometimes known as "bignettes." A nice blog focused on Lego vignettes is VignetteBricks. For further reading... The best resources for Lego on the web are Brickset, which is a very extensive Lego set database, Peeron, which has a database of Lego parts, and Bricklink, which is the most popular marketplace for Lego pieces. Brickshelf is a popular site for posting pictures of your builds, but these days a lot of people are just using Flickr. Happy building! and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong |
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Selfish Heathen
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
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Shit a Brick: Something that is so shocking, unusual, or angering that it would make you “shit a brick”. Alternatively:
The quality of this board depends on the quality of the posts. The only way to guarantee thoughtful, informative discussion is to write thoughtful, informative posts. AppleNova is not a real-time chat forum. You have time to compose messages and edit them before and after posting. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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They're building a Legoland in Atlanta. What did WE do to deserve one??
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Less than Stellar Member
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Legoland is actually kind of shitty. At least the one in Orlando was. The kids liked it but it was totally not worth the day spent when we could have gone to the Magic Kingdom one more time.
If it's not red and showing substantial musculature, you're wearing it wrong. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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My wife got me a little Lego set (one of the bagged ones) for my stocking this year, and that's sparked me to start collecting again. So far, I've just got three mini figures and a few accessories. They're all on my desk at work, and the setup is getting a lot of comments.
I'm hoping to get a couple more little sets in the next few weeks. The Toys R Us here has a pretty good Lego aisle, and one of the three Walmarts has a startlingly good selection too. Plus, we have a Lego store on the north side of Indy now that's pretty awesome. I'm surprised by how expensive it all is, though. I knew it was when I was a kid, but I don't think I really internalized it (since all my sets as a kid were gifts). I mean, I ordered a bulk pack of 300 bricks for my wife's classroom on Ebay last night, and it cost $16. If they come to us in good shape, I might buy one or two of those packs for myself later in the spring. |
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Space Pirate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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A lot of people selling Lego via Amazon charge more than MSRP. The Lego Smart car, for example, has an MSRP of $4.99, but people on Amazon were charging $9 for it last I checked. Toys R Us usually charges more than MSRP for their Lego — from a couple of dollars more for smaller sets to $20 more for sets like Hogwarts Castle. That said, they often have deals (like buy one get one 50% off) that counteract their price hikes. Of course, once Lego stops producing a set, all bets are off if you want one sealed. AFOLs with extra time on their hands can actually fund their hobby by buying sets, splitting them up, and selling the pieces individually on Bricklink for a profit (or else keeping the pieces they want and selling enough to break even). An in-demand minifig that's only available in a $100 set might sell for $25 by itself on the secondary market, for example. That said, this probably requires a bit of familiarity with the market; not all Lego sets are worth less than the sum of their parts, but many are. and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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The smart car is a great example. I found one at TRU yesterday, and it was $6 (didn't buy it), and it's still around $10 on Amazon.
I'm probably (until my kids are old enough to be into them too) just stick with little sets I can build and display in my office. The smaller (sub-$20) Creator sets are mostly what I prefer anyway, plus the collectable minifig packets. All bets are off when my daughter hits 5, though. She's into DUPLO now, so I've probably got another Lego fan in my house. |
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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Plus it's not like I'm not going to totally love this set. Haha Edit: I'm trying to eat better, and the collectable minifig packets are great non-candy incentives for doing unfun things. Did you know that you can actually tell which minifig is inside each packet? The barcodes are all different... and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong Last edited by Robo : 2012-01-30 at 12:33. |
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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From what I've read, the stories about differing barcodes (or "dots" on the package) aren't really true. The only way to ID them consistently is by molesting the packaging to find the unique pieces in each set. They all have something unique in there, so feeling for different traits may be the only "foolproof" way. But then you're relying on your own perception of what you're feeling. I'm gonna go back some time soon and feel them all up again. I want to find the one with the lizard suit before they sell all the series 5. TRU has series 5 and 6, but there was no price posted for either. |
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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I ordered 2 magician minifigs from eBay last year, so there must be some way to tell which character is inside the packaging. I think the seller mentioned the barcode thing - but I don't remember now.
I really like the Architecture series. Probably get either the Farnsworth House or Fallingwater this year sometime. So it goes. |
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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I know that the barcode thing was true for at least the earlier series of collectable minifigs. It's possible Lego wised up with the newer series, though. I haven't checked because I actually like the surprise, although it's admittedly much less fun when you already have most of them and keep getting duplicates.
and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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Dark Cat of the Sith
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So i have never owned lego before but now I need to. My favorite ship from SWTOR, my own PC's ship in fact, will be coming out as a lego model according to a leaked image. You guys you don't even knowwwwww how much I need this.
"A blind, deaf, comatose, lobotomy patient could feel my anger!" - Darth Baras twitter ; amateur photographer ; fanfiction writer ; roleplayer and worldbuilder |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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There's a big Lego event at the Indianapolis convention center this weekend. Is anybody else going? Has anybody been to something like this before? This will be my first Lego event,andim wondering what it will be like.
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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Go and let us know!
There's a big Lego convention in Portland (I think it's called Brickfest?) but I've never gone. I've heard good things from people who have gone to conventions, though. Lots of times different local builders groups will work together on a large diorama to display. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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I hope I remember to charge my SLR's battery. I bet I'll get lots of cool pictures there.
Also, we recently learned that our upcoming second child is a boy, and we're doing a robot-themed nursery. My wife has asked me to build a big model robot from Lego, so I'm looking for ideas online. Right now I'm thinking about a 10X version of the Series 6 collectable minifig robot. I've been checking my local Wal-Mart intermittently on my way to work (one of only three stores around me w/ Series 6), but they seem to be out of stock there right now. I'll be checking Target and probably Toys R Us this weekend. |
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Ice Arrow Sniper
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I noticed the event, but have to work! I'd have made the drive, otherwise.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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Sorry you can't make it, Rowdy. Are there any particular types of builds you like? I could try to get some pictures of cool stuff for you while I'm there.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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Dear god. I just checked out Bricklink for the first time. My life will never be the same.
I mean, I'd heard stories, but that site is amazing. Every single brick I want is cheaper there than anywhere else. I have no idea what shipping is like from the various vendors, but I think I'll be finding out very soon. Also, Brickworld was awesome. I got some pictures, but I haven't put them up online anywhere yet. As soon as I do, I'll post the good ones here. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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I just made my first Bricklink order. I got 49 bricks and accessories (15 unique items) for about $6.00. From Pick a Brick, it would have been closer to $20. I'm definitely hooked!
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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I made another BrickLink order last week, and I just bought 1,000 bricks on eBay for about $25 (I thought that was pretty amazing). I think I need to slow down buying for a little while.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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My eBay order was amazing. They're all in really good shape, and it was at least 85% Lego too.
Has anybody here grabbed a series 7 minifigure yet? They're not supposed to be out yet, but apparently some stores are stocking them. I'm going to Toys R Us this weekend to check there. I'm hoping to get either the programmer guy or the Poseidon-looking dude. Little Red Riding Hood looks pretty cool too, and I've read that she's one of e easiest to identify through the bag. |
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New Member
Join Date: May 2012
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I love lego mini mods, makes me want to make it a hobby. I see many of them online and they can be expensive to buy or even make. I love all the pieces you can buy for them, guns, armor, etc.
Also, many years ago I played Battletech. Sadly finding the models became difficult. Lately, I saw where some gamers are creating the Battlemechs out of legos to scale with the minis. They can be expensive but that would be incredible to play the game that way. I suppose the 'table top' would be either a very large table or an entire floor. |
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Formerly Roboman, still
awesome Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
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I was at Toys R Us today and they had them there. I didn't grab any, though. I'm moving next week, and I don't need any more tiny plastic pieces to lose.
and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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I got the programmer from somebody on Bricklink. It just came in tonight, and it's awesome.
I picked him up as part of an order for parts to build a robot to decorate my son's nursery. I've started building it, but I think I'm going to need a few more parts to do what I wanted. I'm off to a good start, though. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Near Indianapolis
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I ordered the modular Pet Shop from Amazon a few days ago, and it arrived yesterday. I've not had time to start building it yet, but I cracked open the box to look at the instructions. It's by far the most elaborate set I've ever seen.
First of all, the instructions are broken up into two books. I wasn't expecting that at all. The set is really two buildings, so it's one book per building. Second, the instructions are numbered per-floor. Both buildings are three stories tall, and each floor is between 25 and 30 steps. The last clue that it would take a while to build: The box is re-closeable, like a cereal box. It's sitting in my closet at home right now while I'm at work. I might get to start it tonight, but I doubt I'll get very far. Then I'm going camping for the whole weekend, so I won't be able to touch it again until probably Sunday night. Then my birthday is on Monday, when I expect that I'll be getting more Lego sets. Shit, I've got a backlog. That's never happened to me before. It's been a hell of a week. I finished the robot I built for my son's nursery. I'll try to get some good pictures of that tonight so I can post them. It's not very fancy, but I had a lot of fun building it. |
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9" monochrome
Join Date: May 2004
Location: 🇦🇺
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Robo - nice thread. Been meaning to contribute to it for a while, but motivated to do so now.
Went back to my parents' place today to help Dad clear out the garage and found these gems. Impressed by the low numbers for the sets. Don't know if it means much these days though. Growing up I loved the Technical Lego sets - as I remember them being called. I had the original tractor 851 from the first year of release and the motorbike and sidecar, but my favourite was 8860 - note that the suspension was different in Australia. (I switched the steering around too, of course.) [off topic] Lego aside, I also uncovered this today. Does anybody remember micronauts? Drew??? Commercials: http://youtu.be/ITMYl_oygRU and http://youtu.be/b9sPZqw9UCU Guns that fire real projectiles. God bless the 70s. |
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