Dfenz

Its probably still a lot cheaper than buying more DK at an Irish or other euro-zone bank and getting ripped off not only with foreign exchange commission but also on the exchange rate itself. I've found the Visa conversion rates tend to be better than the rates at the currency exchange counters at bank branches. Remember in the unlikely event that I've any DK left after Legoland shops I'll have to convert it back so the banks scr*w me again. Furthermore as I'm flying via Scotland I'm already having to acquire sterling so I'll have three different currencies in my pocket when I arrive!!

We can bring credit cards but can we use them to pay for the accommodation? The first post refers to cash which makes sense if there are several people sharing rooms I suppose. As for getting Danish money out I've been able to get money out of the bank machine in Legoland without problems. The last time I visited Billund the credit card machines weren't working in the store near the entrance and I had to leave Afenz holding a bundle of newly released star wars sets in the store while I dashed to the nearby machine. I used a normal bank card. I can't remember if it was Cirrus or Maestro but if either or these are on your bank card it will probably work okay in the machines.

As I will be staying with my family in a 4 person room for 5 nights that would be €132 x 5 = €660. That's a lot of cash to be carrying around for the weekend and we leave on Monday after everyone else has gone home!! My home currency is euro so assuming direct payment to the hotel via credit card isn't an option, is payment to be made in Danish currency or euro? If payment in Danish currency is required I'll need to be prepared.

As far as I know this wasn't posted before and I have checked. The first post in this thread contained the first advertisement (which had spawned two separate threads after my original posting a few months back) and it starred Lewis Hamilton. My most recent post is a link to the brand new advertisement by the same bank which was shown on UK TV earlier this week (3 March). I've posted the link to the new ad into the first thread.

For those of you that liked the Lewis Hamilton Santander ad here are some more MOC ideas from the bank that likes giant red clone bricks http://www.visit4info.com/advert/LEGO-Subu...Santander/82825

'Is maith liom Lego' and that's about all I remember from my school days! If you haven't already done so why not check out the Brickies at www.Brick.ie

If you are referring to the digital issues they are available here http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/search?sea...p;search=search if you prefer to purchase from a European seller. They have the first 7 issues in 3 volumes. There is one final compenium of issue 8 and 9 which isn't available on the site. These are heavy so free postage is useful. I've purchased stuff from the book depository without any difficulties.

The Legoland Hotel lobby might kill a bit of time depending on age-group. Last time I visited there was a huge pile of bricks for the kids to play with in the public areas. There was also a few lego statutes and a small shop selling some Lego items (but not cheaply).

Thanks to those B******s at Ryanair my days have changed. Its now Dfenz +3 (so its a 4 person room) for 5 nights. I'll be arriving on Wednesday and departing on Monday and thanks to Ryanair's sneaky removal of direct flights from Dublin to Billund I will be flying via Edinburgh, a risky proposition with Ryanair, but there's lots of time between connections. There's a lesson here folks if flying Ryanair. Always check to see if your flight is still bookable. I noted that my flights had disappeared from the website and had to phone the airline myself to learn the flights in April had been cancelled. If I'd waited to be contacted who knows what the alternative flights would have cost and when I'd have been told!! David

Its me plus 3, so thats a 4 person room for the Irish. Mstr. Afenz and I will be arriving Wednesday and departing Sunday. Mrs Dfenz and Miss Afenz will be arriving Friday and departing Sunday. To keep things simple and avoid switching rooms we'll use a 4 person room throughout. David

I use Bricklink a lot and wouldn't necessarily share the view that people will naturally drift to stores with larger lots. People tend to look for x quantities of specific parts or certain specific sets. I suspect its irrelevant to most if the shop has 8,000 copies of a horrible Belville set (and by the way these often contain suprisingly nice parts) because the shopper is only interested in specific sets and parts. Its not like going in to a mall and seeing what X store has in stock today (despite various attempts in the Bricklink forum to highlight new stuff in stores). In that regard the wanted list and search functions would probably direct people to stores relatively efficiently and stores aren't ranked in results lists by quantity of stock held. A smaller store with a wider range of sets is likely to win more business from me than a large store with multiple copies of undesirable sets that no-one wants. On the other hand a store with large quantities of parts will gain business because of scale as its better to acquire as much as possible parts from the one store than try to meet your requirements from different stores - postage is the killer. this is why these stores can afford to charge slightly higher prices than some stores selling smaller quantities of parts. If you need 100s of an item there is a more limited choice of stores available. With a wider selection, many buyers I suspect add stuff to orders they don't really need simply to justify postage or meet minumum order requirements. My two cent.

A couple of years back I went about acquiring many of the 9v train sets via Bricklink. This wasn't cheap but typically what I'd do was identify a set I really wanted, e.g. the club car or metroliner at cheapest prices (taking into account possible postage and any funny exchange rates) and then see what other sets they had in the same store. If the extra set was reasonable (not necessarily the cheapest) when benchmarked against other stores I'd probably acquire the extra sets to save on postage. Generally the fewer stores you use the better but as trains can be expensive and the sets aren't the largest a bit more splitting up of orders than normal can be warranted. Fortunately I acquired the Santa Fe and some other sets from LS@H and the Cargo train just before 9v was discontinued.

.. especially if you arrive on Friday after the Nordics have already plundered and pillaged the stock!!! Also any time I've been to Billund its get it on Friday or forget it where new stock is concerned. I've twice been glad to pick up new star wars sets on the Friday rather than leaving it to Saturday when the shelves were bare. I don't recall there being any great deals in Billund over the years except perhaps one year when I recall filling up a rather large box for a reasonable price. I have tended to pick up new sets not cheap sets. I much prefer Gunzburg for value although with the way UK prices have dropped in the past year I'd be tempted by Windsor.

If this had happened in Ireland you would be entitled to your money back from the store as the set was not fit for purpose and would have breached the sale of goods act. I presume there are similar consumer rights legislation in other countries. I wouldn't have gone through Lego but as some others have said returned to the store with parents and asked to see the manager. Its the stores responsibility not Lego's as they sold you the set. Furthermore if the store employee made any accusations in public then there is the question of defamation. If an Irish store employee had made an incorrect accusation that I'd taken the parts out and tried to get a refund I'd be making a big deal out of it there and then in the store and threatened to sue the pants of them for defamation of my good character.

The bricks in this TV ad are a little larger than half a Lego brick tall

There's a new Clone Brick in town. Check out these super-sized bricks from Santander http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Lewis-LEG...Santander/81493 It appears that the image on the top of each brick is the group's logo not LEGO. UPDATE MARCH 2010 Here's the new ad. http://www.visit4info.com/advert/LEGO-Subu...Santander/82825

I went to see this yesterday and wasn't sure what to suspect. The film doesn't have the most original plot - large greedy corporation v nice natives. However I was totally amazed by the production itself. This film must be seen in 3D on a large screen. It won't have the same impact on DVD or tv. The 3D effects weren't the obvious gimmicks that you might get in a 3D theme park attraction - you know the type - spear and other sharp objects pointing into the audience. Instead they drew the audience into the film, not only in the jungle and battle scenes but in the less obvious areas such as when displaying technology in the laboratories (those curved screens and electronic tablets are fantastic). All in all, a spectacular experience. Despite the film's length I could only sit back and marvel as the spectacle unfolded. Oscar for best special effects anyone? I'm tempted to go again.

There has already been a poll set up for this set which I reviewed earlier in the year. I think the response was that this set was pretty average. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=27855 In that thread there is also a comparison with the newer version.

Quote from the link: Zum Sonderpreis von nur 69,00 Euro gibt es die Merlin PREMIUM-Jahreskarte im Heide-Park, die ein Jahr lang kostenlosen Eintritt in folgende Partnerattraktionen ermöglicht: Heide-Park Resort in Soltau alle SEA LIFE Center in Deutschland Madame Tussauds in Berlin LEGOLAND Discovery Centre LEGOLAND Deutschland LEGOLAND Billund in Dänemark Gardaland in Italien translation: For the special price of 69€ you´ll receive the Merlin premium annual pass, which allows you to enter the following attractions for one year: .... LEGOLAND Billund in Denmark One year is 365 days. So all members who are proud owners of the super-duper-MERLIN-all-inclusive-pass can get into the park in Billund FOR FREE on EVERY DAY of our 2010 event. I see that there is no mention of the 'Premium Merlin Annual Pass' on the Legoland Germany website but now its referring to the Merlin Annual Pass. The benefits look similar with the crucial difference that the access to Billund. like the normal annual pass of 2009 allows one entry only per season. I hope this isn't a sign of potential problems with using our limited edition 2009 Super duper passes in Billund. I picked up additional premium passes for my wife and daughter on the basis that they could use them in Billund!!

Ryanair seems to have good flight deals to Billund at the moment if anyone will be flying to Billund next year. I've got the return flight to Dublin on Sunday with no taxes and flights ex-Dublin to Billund on the Friday are also taxes-free. Presumably its the same for other routes to/from Billund around that weekend. My wife picked up fares for €11.99 each way - a total of €53.98 when luggage and booking fees taken into account. As I'll be travelling earlier its more expensive for me.

I rated it a 2. There is something unmagical about this year's set so far. I think each days offerings seem sparser than in previous years although this might just be my perception as I haven't compared the piece counts to previous sets. The pirate advent calendar which is being opened each day seems to be far superior. I also think that this year's set is overpriced.

My wife might say that I collect junk. Otherwise its postage stamps and Matchbox buses from the 1970s and 1980s.

I use Brickset.

Just back from Munich and the Lego store at Reim Arcaden had large bags of loose bricks for €15.99. Also there were minifig bags for €4.99 which when I returned home I discovered contained 15 torsos and heads plus lots of legs, tools, utensils, hats etc. The store also was giving out the xmas PAB boxes for every €75 spent (fillable after xmas)

I've been to Gunzburg, Billund and Carlsbad so that only leaves Windsor, which is ironic as its the nearest one to me and Lego is cheapest in the UK at the moment (for euro zone visitors)