Dfenz

You can report suspected fraudulent transactions even without bidding. I've now done so and await the ebay response.

I agree with the above. Cheese slopes of 1x1, 2x1 and 1x2 variety open up more possibilities to do detailed brick-built signs and livery especially in confined spaces such as trains. I've used all three types of slopes recently to recreate Irish rail logos. The angle of the 1x2 when turned upright can combine nicely with the 75 degree slope bricks (and inverted bricks) and 1x1s can sit on top of each other to give very fluid colour transitions e.g. diagonal stripes on the side of a train. Doubling the 1x1 cheese slope allows for better 'behind the scene' supports when there is a need to invert or rotate a cheese slope. Dfenz

There is another exhibition planned for the October bank holiday weekend organised by the South Dublin Model Railway Club at which we will be displaying a layout. Check-in on brick.ie for more details.

The station itself took about 6 months to build, a few hours per evening, a bit more at weekends when I didn't have to do the gardening or other household activities. It was a bit of a mad rush to finish it for last week and even now I know where I want to make some minor improvements. As this is the town forum (I'm not sure whether the train tech forum is just for trains) I didn't want to post too many pictures of the trains themselves (not all of which are mine) but there are more photos in the image gallery on brick.ie and on flickr if anyone is interested. At the risk of getting this thread moved to the train tech forum here is one pic of one of the Irish Rail locomotives which I may have posted here previously as it was built last year.

At last weekend's Dun Laoghaire (Dublin) model railway exhibition some of brick.ie members had a Lego display on show for the first time. For the occasion I created a replica of Dublin's Heuston train station. Some of the Irish trains were created by'Lostcarpark'. Enjoy Overview of Heuston Station Side view of the station Heuston awaits its trains Platform 1 at Heuston Rush hour at Heuston station Dublin

I'd also be likely to attend with family. Hopefully this time a certain Icelandic volcano won't force me to drive from Ireland!

Coincidentally, I picked up one of these last weekend and was pleasntly surprised. I normally don't cross over to the dark side of clone brands but this was far too tempting especially as it was also very very easy to 'feel' for daleks in the polybags nearby. I found the doors a bit fidgety to assemble (alignment with the holes) but eventually got it together. Also, the week before the recent Sun newspaper Lego promotion in the UK the Mirror newspaper had the Doctor Who minifigures as giveaways.

Snap! Two copies of a set I'm happy to pay retail for given the quantity of battle droids.

I'm visiting the San Francisco bay area in June again this year. If you are visiting relatives or friends in California another option might be to order sets from Amazon US for delivery to a US address and collect the sets when you travel over. Amazon don't charge sales tax and frequently offer free delivery. Prices are usually reasonable too. My Maersk train has arrived and is awaiting my collection later this year. Shipping times will be tight if you're travelling there later this month but not impossible. PS: I've been to that Lego Santa Clara store several times and its got the usual fantastic selection of sets.

Welcome to Eurobricks. Always good to see more ROI members. For Irish-specific news also don't forget www.brick.ie

Just a reminder that the Smyths White Boba Fett promotion starts today. I picked up a few earlier today from one of the Irish stores.

It looks like it. I posted the same thought on brick.ie It also looked like he'd a Lego watch. He kept holding the necklace so I'm not sure it was glued! Edit: link to video added (Will.I.am joins around 1.20)

These books are also available from the 'book depository' website My link No doubt Amazon has them also. I've seen them in bricks'n mortar stores (Smyths Ireland) also at slightly higher prices - they might be available in Smyths UK stores

And Ireland and presumably elsewhere in Europe. If anyone is looking to get double VIP points now is the time to acquire it. I wouldn't mind but I'd held off on some other LS@H purchases until Sunday night on the offchance it might be released early but had finally decided to get the double points while they were still available. I've now two LS@H purchases within 2 days which is really annoying from a double (€14.95) postage perspective.

Alfenz and I will attend. I'll probably also have Mrs and Ms Dfenz along also.

Dates are fine with me too. Bit nearer to drive to than this year!

Irish loco 071 MOC now updated with improved livery and with its coach

I forgot to mention that there are two of these and yes the design is rather basic!

Name: 8011 Jango Fett Theme: Technic/Star Wars Episode 2 Year Released: 2002 Parts: 422 Minifigs: 0 Price: n/a (Bricklink average price guide as at July 2010 €35) Age: 9+ Welcome to another star wars technic set review. This time my mission to go boldly where others have not gone before takes me to set 8011 Jango Fett. This set stands approximately a foot tall so its dimensions are similar to the battle droid, C-3PO and storm-trooper sets in the series. As I've mentioned elsewhere this review is being conducted as I dismantle the entire series (see my pic in the 8001 review) so I don't have box images etc. to hand. Jango Fett is very stable, thanks no doubt to the offset stance adopted by the positioning of the legs. It looks well but means that the legs can't be moved. However, at least there are no rubber bands supporting the legs as in the battle droid set. The hands are more flexible thanks to ball joints. There is also some movement in the head. As far as 'play' features go, the set is quite limited. There is an overused technic rubber missile firing device attached to Jango's back which presumably is meant to look like a jetpack and act like a weapon. However, it reminds me of a scene in the James Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me where a helicopter was blown out of the sky by conveniently hovering above a submerged Lotus Esprit. In other words if enemies are stupid enough to hover above Jango they are gonners. Now of course Jango could bend over and aim his missile at an approaching opponent. But wait, he can't bend over. However, he does have his trusty gun and a nice touch is the holster in which it can be kept when not in use. One gets the impression with these technic star wars sets that the complete collection might be better than the sum of the parts. While few individual sets stand out, they are not too bad together especially given the variety of colours. In design terms the set isn't that bad at all. The leg positioning spreads the legs further apart giving the set more substance and stability. The torso seems well proportioned and the helmet design isn't half bad. Best of all a bit of thought went into the colour scheme with blue, violet and old greys featuring predominantly. The set is put together well and I don't recall any particular difficulties with the build or more recently the dismantling of the set. The finished model Jango with Mindstorm R2D2 The pieces for this set came in 4 bags. The first bag contained the leg parts, the second the parts for the torso and gun, the third had the parts for the head/ helmet while the fourth bag had the parts for the arms. This set contains a number of interesting parts although the potential for using them in MOCs might be limited. I particular like the blue ribbed hosing while the particular brown ribbed hosing seems to be unique to this set. I believe the blue technic axle connector block 3x6 with 6 axles is unique while the brown technic axle pin connector and pearl light gret panels appear only in two sets. However, the most unique pieces are the 35 violet technic pieces which per Bricklink are not found in other sets. Now, if only there were some decent uses for violet technic pieces. Otherwise the parts are normal technic pieces. Bricklink parts inventory for 8011 There are no stickers in this set and there is only one rubber band which has stood the test of time on my bookshelf without any sign of perishing. It holds the torso in shape but any failure of it would not likely cause Jango to collapse. The instructions are up to the excellent high standard we've become to expect in the sets of this series. They are clear and properly spaced and parts are called out as per normal. There is no 'human hand' demonstration of the 'play' aspects. In this instance we must make do with arrows showing how to holster Jango's weapon. Random instruction shot There is no alternate model with this set. The challenge of designing something decent with the blue and violet parts must have been too great. My overall verdict on this set is that its between an average and an 'above average', primarily based on the colour scheme, helmet design and stability and taking into account that these sets, despite the technic missiles, would appear to be created mainly for display. Build 7/10 (Not a bad build for the number of pieces) Functionality 6/10 (It is designed to sit on a shelf - it does relatively little) Design 7/10 (Not the worst representation for the parts, sturdy and effort made with the violet colours) Parts 6/10 (Nothing too fantastic here although if you like violet and ribbed tubing this is the set for you) Price 6/10 (The Bricklink average price guide of €35 seems about right to me)

Name: 8008 Stormtrooper Theme: Technic/Star Wars Episode 4/5/6 Year Released: 2001 Parts: 361 Minifigs: 0 Price: n/a (Bricklink average price guide as at July 2010 €28) Age: 9+ This the fourth of my technic star wars sets to be dismantled. [see my review of 8001 for the full family pic]. To be honest this was the review I was least looking forward to as my initial impressions were that this was the weakest of the series. Did my view change? We shall see. This set is very similar in size to most of the other droids and characters. It stands 33cm tall and is reasonably stable despite relatively skinny legs and thanks no doubt to the lack of movement thereof. The left arm has a lot more flexibility due to a ball joint whereas the right arm movement is up and down by use of a gear wheel at the back similar to some of these other sets. The 'functionality' consists of raising the firing arm and pointing a technic rubber missile launcher at the target [C3PO - set 8007 - is the intended victim per the instructions). The weapon is fired by means of a technic ball pin near the shoulder which is connected by a cable. While I can understand the desire to try to increase the playability of these sets in my view the technic missile firing system is unsuitable for this set, being disproportionately large. Perhaps I'm simply sick of seeing this part cropping up in all sorts of sets. The head is fully posable - it can rotate and tilt. Front Rear This set contains primarily white technic pieces with a sprinkling of black and light grey parts, give or take a dark grey pin or two and a single orange technic liftarm (which appears in only two sets per Bricklink) The latter part is removable and is not shown in the picture. There is one unusual large part (at least for me) namely a black bionicle body trunk gear box. Its not that rare, appearing in three other sets. The white 'throwbot visors' used for boots appear to be unique to this set. There is one small sticker sheet which is applied to the rear of the stormtrooper on two 1x4 white plates and mercifully not over multiple parts. Thankfully no rubber bands this time either. The parts for this set come in 4 bags. The first contains the parts for the legs, the second is for the torso, the third for the head/helmet and the fourth contains the parts for the arms. Bricklnk inventory for 8008 Perhaps its the lack of availability of parts around the turn of the last century but the designers to me didn't do a great job with this set. The body looks quite short, the weapon oversized and the head nothing like a stormtrooper. The head looks more like a visually impaired centurion from battlestar galactica. Take a look at the 'eyes'. All that's missing is the white stick. The instructions follow the usual format for the series with reasonably clear steps and part call outs. There are no 'human hands' demonstrating the firing function this time round. The watermark in the paper is of a scene from one of the movies, lots of stormtroopers in a hall which is a neat touch. random instruction pic There is an alternate model to the storm trooper. Again like some of the other sets, with all those technic panels the designers chose a fighter craft with the firing mechanism presumably to improve 'swooshability'. Its not my cup of tea but others may like it. At 26 pages of instructions at least some effort went into it. All in all, I'd rate this set as below average as I don't think it design is good enough when compared to other sets in the series. Build 6/10 (Easy build for the number of pieces) Functionality 6/10 (It is designed to sit on a shelf - has an overused technic weapon) Design 5/10 (Not the best effort on the design front especially the helmet and the technic firing mechanism is a cheap overused 'playability' feature) Parts 5/10 (Nothing too fantastic here. Lots of white technic and little else of interest) Price 7/10 (The current Bricklink average price is quite low - perhaps reflecting the low interest in this set so it is possible for star wars completionists to pick this up fairly cheaply)

Thanks for this. Can you add the 8012 super battle droid review to the index also?

This is indeed an impressive set when built. By coincidence I completed it also last week. For some reason I have two bley wedge plates left over. I can't figure out where these were supposed to go and Bricklink isn't showing these as extras. It looks much nicer than a globe on my coffee table in the corner!

Name: 8007 C-3PO Theme: Technic/Star Wars Episode 4/5/6 Year Released: 2001 Parts: 341 Minifigs: 0 Price: n/a (Bricklink average price guide as at July 2010 €55) Age: 9+ This is the third technic set I've reviewed in the past three days as the dismantling of Technic star wars sets continues and I endeavour to fill some of the gaps in the review list. See my review of 8001 for a pic of all the gang. The last two sets were droids so it was interesting to see how one of the main characters C-3PO was put together. This set stands 33cm tall (per the instruction booklet) and is on a par scale to some of the other technic sets such as the battle droid and storm trooper. First impressions are of a nice shiny set that begs the question as to how this was achieved. The answer as we shall see was by use of a combination of gold parts and stickers. Drum roll for C-3PO C-3PO stands reasonably stable in part because the legs don't bend but then again that's probably in character. This set doesn't have rubber bands or technic joints to enable flexibilty. So this model is basically a display model with one key playability feature that I'll get to anon. The head moves to the left or right. Bricklink inventory for C-3PO 8007 The parts come in 5 bags which seems a bit of overkill. Bag 1 (per the instructions) builds the right leg and bag 2 the left (this latter bag seemingly containing the silver parts - as the set is being dismantled I can't verify if this is correct). Interestingly enough this is the reverse of the picture on the front and on page 58 of the instructions. The third bag contains the parts for the torso while bag 4 has the head pieces. Bag 5 has the pieces for the arms. As noted below there is also a sticker sheet. This is one of the few technic star wars sets to have a dreaded sticker sheet (DSS). There are 25 stickers in all some of which must be applied over multiple technic parts! The stickers are applied to the head, feet, upper and lower legs and arms and 'mouth'. After 4 years of sitting on a shelf I was somewhat surprised to find that the stickers were mostly in good shape with only one or two beginning to show signs of curling at the edges, not bad for stickers of this era. These stickers aren't the easiest to apply and there is no room for error. I particularly dislike applying stickers to curved surfaces which is the case here especially multiple curved surfaces like the forehead. Here's a pic of the parts with stickers. Most of the stickers are used to generate a nice metallic colour but perhaps the best parts in this set are the metallic gold technic panels which are clearly visible in this set. These parts seem to be unique to this set. There is also metallic silver panelling, metallic gold ribbed tubing and chrome gold dishes (for the eyes). There are two rubber bands in this set which facilitate the major 'play feature', an exploding C-3PO head and arms. If the middle dish is pressed, and the instructions suggest firing a technic missile at it (the stormtrooper model has this - see page 59 of the instructions), the head is supposed to pop up and out and the arms fall off. It may have worked when first constructed, I can't recall. But now the rubber bands located near the arm pit region have probably become too brittle to provide sufficient propellant and in my set the hands just hang limply at the sides as the head leans to one side or other. One major gripe with the set and it applies to some other sets is that very little thought seems to have gone into how the set could be dismantled. My fingers are beginning to get very sore with all the dismantling of tightly packed technic pieces. However, in this instance there are four instances of ribbed tubing with a 6 length technic axle that I simply cannot remove without risk of damage. This set is targeted at nine year olds that are likely to have some difficulty dismantling and thus re-using pieces in other models, which after all is what most people like about Lego. Of course the DSS over multiple pieces exacerbates the problem of being unable to dismantle and then rebuild the set. Things may have improved in recent years. The instructions like all these technic star wars models are very clear. This set again uses the human hand to demonstrate the exploding C-3PO feature which I think is really useful. There is an alternate model with this set, a speeder or star-fighter of some description - I can't make it out but no doubt others might. See above and below pics. At 28 pages its no afterthought. As I won't be doing an R2 D2 review, 8009 has already been reviewed, I cheated a little and photographed C3PO with the Mindstorms Droid developer kit version of R2D2. That's how a technic model should be built! [Even Sesame Street's Ernie is impressed!] All in all I'm a little disappointed with this set. However, I appreciate that to get the colours it was necessary to use lots of stickers. If only they didn't extend over multiple parts. I'll still give it an average is its not a bad set and the metallic gold technic panels might be of some use. I'm a sucker for nice shiny gold and silver parts. Build 7/10 (Easy build for the number of pieces. Impossible to fully dismantle this set even ignoring stickers which are needed to show this set off to its best) Functionality 6/10 (It is designed to sit on a shelf - its not unstable but does very little and there's only so many times C-3PO's head will explode) Design 6/10 (Not the worst representation for the parts but seems a bit flimsy in reality - chrome eyes are nice) Parts 6/10 (Nothing too fantastic here. Metallic gold pieces are the highlight and there's gold ribbed tubing - if only I could remove it from the technic axles!) Price 6/10 (The current Bricklink average price seems a bit steep to me - it may have been much better value upon release but no doubt this reflects the iconic nature of the character)

Name: 8012 Super Battle Droid Theme: Technic/Star Wars Episode 2 Year Released: 2002 Parts: 379 Minifigs: 0 Price: n/a (Bricklink average as at July 2010 €23) Age: 9+ Having just dismantled the cannon fodder battle droid 8001 it was time to tackle its bigger cousin the super battle droid. Was it super? We shall see. My first impression of this set was that it seemed a reasonable technic representation of the super battle droid, although admittedly I was using my republican gunship droid minifigs as my reference, not exactly the best reference. I immediately noticed once the set was constructed that it was far more stable than the battle droid as it was not reliant on brittle rubber bands to stay upright. There is only 1 rubber band in this set (for one of the arms) and it has survived in good shape after 4 years of preparing for battle in my bookshelf. As far as parts go this set contains some parts (primarily Bionicle) that appear to be in unique colours. There is a 5x5 shield in medium blue (along with many other technic pieces in that interesting colour such as a claw hook and several 3x3 dishes. There are also many metal blue technic pieces. Rest assured that the pieces are not the purple colour that printing of the instructions seems to represent. There are also 2 black bionicle tehunga claw arms and 8 silver hoses. Despite the rareness of some of these parts, i.e. many are unique to this set according to Bricklink, they don't command high prices in the secondary market. Perhaps this is a testament to the distain than bionicle parts are held in some quarters or perhaps its just the colours aren't exactly a good fit in other models. Bricklink parts list for 8012 Unlike the rubber band powered legs the super battle droid is very stable and well balanced. The legs can be moved as the technic rotation joints work very well. The arm has limited movement but like the battle droid the firing arm can be raised using a gear at the rear. This set was straightforward to put together but like all these technic sets its important to line up pieces correctly as trying to dismantle a mis-constructed section afterwards isn't always the easiest on the fingers (don't even think about using a brick separator on these sets - these technic sets eat brick separators for breakfast). There are no stickers in this set - it may come as a surprise to some that some of these star wars technic sets have suffered that fate Some parts of interest to me The parts for this set came in three bags. The first bag contained the parts for the torso and head, while the second contained the leg parts. The third and final bag contained the parts for the arms. The instructions for this set are reasonably clear and the part list for each step is quite clear. The only printing issue that I noted was that some of the steps had parts in purple/ lilac to represent the metal blue parts. Unlike some of the other sets this set doesn't feature a human helping hand perhaps because there are so few moving parts to this set that require explanation. On that note, while the model's 'limbs' can be moved I'd regard this more of a display model which contrasts nicely with the plain neutral colours used in the other models. See my review of 8001 for a family pic! Random instructions pic Those of you curious to see what alternate model these parts can be used for, will be disappointed. Even the Lego designers gave up on trying to use this selection of oddball parts in unusual colours to make an alternative model. So after completing the last step its straight onto the advertisement for the then current sets. For nostalgia purposes I've added a pic. This set is surprisingly cheap on bricklink with an average of only €23 as at July 2010, which is about half the average price for the battle droid. Obviously the colours are less attractive for other models and perhaps this model isn't as iconic as the battle droid. For those looking to complete star wars collections this is surprisingly good value for an 8 year old star wars set, even if it is technic. Build 7/10 (Easy build for the number of pieces although again my fingers will testify that technic sets aren't always the easiest to dismantle.) Functionality 6/10 (It is designed to sit on a shelf - it can't do a lot else even if legs and arms can be moved) Design 7/10 (Not a bad representation for the parts and the set is stable) Parts 6/10 (Nothing too fantastic here. Some technic parts in rare colours but they might be rare for a reason!) Price 7/10 (The current Bricklink average price is good value in my view) Overall, I'd give this model an 'average'. This is with the benefit of knowing what others sets are to come!

I intend to complete the gaps in the reviews so I'll be adding reviews of those sets that are not already reviewed. While I've taken pictures of the other sets and made some notes this was because I wasn't sure what sets had been reviewed when I was dismantling the sets earlier today. I don't think its necessary to add second reviews. By the way if someone with more techie knowledge than me can add a poll to the review that might be useful.