nychase

See...now this is the CAN-DO spirit I was trying to encourage.

So here is the funny part. I was going to do this as an April Fools Joke LAST YEAR!! But then I decided to take the high road, thinking that Eric had enough on his plate. My hope was to show the overwhelming interest the general public has in getting 1996 (and ya know, 97-13) done. So, lets show our interest!!

Finally! http://technicopedia.com/

I actually have a few (8) 8880's that I could sell if someone was interested. You can always direct someone my way if they are looking to buy sets.

Well then I got ripped off at the university I went to for my degree. I think that you are highlighting a very specialized world of people looking to merely extract ideas for their own purposes. When I build someones model I am not looking to see how I can apply it elsewhere rather I am looking at the circumstances that led them to draw their (often brilliant) solution. Plus, I am usually interested in displaying the model more than anything. Hence, I stick to larger 2000+ part models.

I read this forum many times a day and somehow this thread eluded me so sorry about the delayed post. There is a guy on ebay (and he has posted twice on EB) that has successfully sold 20+ copies of his 3450 pedestal base instructions for 65-100 dollars. (I was one of the buyers....) Yes, I am creating MOCplans but I really want nothing to do with what people will charge for their stuff. That being said, I can tell you that anywhere between 5-10% of the total cost of the MOC is starting to become an acceptable range. Who would be unwilling to pay 50 dollars to build a model when they are spending 1k on the parts?? I have built most of HAN's stuff and can say that I would happily pay for it now that I know how good it is. (HAN, I will gush to you about how much I love your models in a PM rather than spilling out all over this thread). Frankly, I can't believe he has kept it free this whole time. Clearly his stuff is VERY popular since his 6x6 created shortages on so many parts for so long. And perhaps thats the key to all of this. Having a designer prove their worth via a free instructions or at least being able to read a review of someone building it reassures the potential buyer that they will receive the enjoyment they are expecting. On that note...expect an update about MOCplans very soon!

There are quite a few wives that would beg to differ...

Right, but then we don't have the total "voters" to have a real breakdown of peoples buying habits.

There is a gaping hole in your survey for Model team. Many of the people on here also have a love for Model team stuff since it was so similar to Technic in the 90's except that it was a "finished" model and less functional. Also, Creator should have its own section since creator is sometimes viewed as the replacement for model team but it also has sets with PF stuff. On that note. Model team for me, and some sculptures.

Up until now I was feeling pretty good about building 5590 (Whirl and Wheel Super Truck) by myself in 12 hours at age 6. Maybe we are looking at a future designer for the "crowkillers design haus"

So, even though I have the worlds supply of Black 40t Gears there are currently more than enough on BL for someone in the US to get a proper look. Thats correct, despite my love affair with them I have held off snapping them all up so that someone else could have a complete JS220. Enjoy!

Pauls personal facebook page

Given my recent foray into CAD building I also noticed that many, if not most of the new PF parts were modeled by him. Very much appreciated!!

I can confirm that there are two numbered bags, the two wheels and the instructions. I have recently sold 3 "open box" 8420's where I opened one to confirm the other two were complete.

Why?! Great question. A few reasons 1) I build quite a few MOC's so my way of building them cheaper is to be prepared. Sure I have to order the parts in quantities that I couldn't possibly be prepared for but you can be sure that i almost never have to buy gears, pins, axles, technic bricks, or most any connectors. 2) When I started buying legos (about 3 years ago) I would buy stuff from Ebay and Craigslist in bolster my parts collection since I was buying so many incomplete sets on ebay and then completing them for my personal "set" collection. Which as I said before is over 260 sets 3) I have swallowed up a few different collections in the last two years from big collectors. Mostly people interested in RCX and NXT since the parts I can use and the computer bricks and sensors I can sell. Sometimes i sell the extras and sometimes I keep them. 4) In the case of the Black gears and the Red Pistons (which are RUST by the way) I just like the parts. Since I have built so many MOC's I have made many, many orders around the world. So, since I always have certain parts on my Wanted List I just grab them when a store has them. Do I need that many, No, but Ill be prepared if Paul makes his next car with DBG Engines and Red Pistons (or DBG but that would look terrible...or even Dark Turquoise....those took a LONG time to collect). 5) I buy parts for MOC's that I HOPE to build. For instance, I have 2 sets of 8448 wheels (from parted out purchases on Ebay) just hoping that the opportunity arrives for me to build Either of Sheepos Bugatti or 911. 6) In the case of the Yellow springs and the hubs from 8466. I have MANY of them. Total..probably 14 now but only 9 are still in "set" form. The rest are parted out since it has so many useful (and valuable parts). Plus I needed the Wheels for other projects so the suspensions are left. 7) ...and I can't say this in bold enough letters.... INVESTMENT! I started out buying some rare parts when I thought they were going to never be made again and that if I had to, I could sell them at a nice profit. I haven't been wrong yet. Notice the large bags of Black Bushes and Black Axle pins? I saw they were getting expensive years ago and stocked up. I think there are over a 1000 of the black bushes and and 850 pins. Then again.... I do have quite a bit and I cringe every time the next purchase forces me to completely re-sort everything because a particular part has out-grown its space.

Now is as good as time as any. http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=523627 These are most of my parts. I don't have pictures of wheels (there are an entire massive bins worth) panels, hooks, hoses, system bricks and other specialty parts that are hard to fit in cases like this. In all I am missing about 1/3rd of the parts for the photos but you get the general idea. Most of the cases are the stanley sortmaster cases that you can pick up for around 13 bucks on amazon. The cases are 8 bricks or 24 plates tall or 10 studs tall. In many of the beam photos you will see stacks of beam with a #10 axle holding them together vertically....so there are either 10 or 20 of them stacked. The engine blocks are 4 per stack. Basically, the cases are much deeper than they appear in pictures and ALOT of parts fit in each. The axle case alone weighs 18lbs. Of course none of this includes the parts for any of the real models (there are 260 of them) or any of the MOC's...I lost count. These are just my "spare" parts.

Oh, I completely trust you and your models. Just like I trust that I will one day soon be building the Bugatti and 911 ;) I would love to build this in white and with a roof (probably add extra springs to counter the sag) although I haven't actually checked to see if the parts are available but I think they are. I worked at a LR dealer in High School and got to take a white 110 on the course since one came in on trade. Along with the D90 the 110's are very, very rare in the US so being able to drive one was quite a treat (especially on the obstacle course). I have never even seen a D130 in person.

Take it from someone that has a 1m+ part collection that if you can avoid it, just buy what you need from bricklink. For years I have bought larger lots and sets to break apart for parts for building various Mocs but I can tell you that its just as much of a burden as it is an asset. I will have pictures finally posted soon of all my parts and you will see that its quite alot to try and keep organized and useful.

I can vouch for the quality of his pneumatic tubing. In fact I have about 10 feet for my own 5571 tow truck....and about 100ft for JC's excavator!

@lotusman Just put your email in a post and I will email you directly to discuss the 5571's. Chase

If anyone is really interested in building this model and wants to take Eric's approach... I have about 6 or 7 used copies of 5571 so I could sell a few.

I have collected for (not built...) but I must issue a word of caution to ANYONE attempting to build this MOC. Its EXTREMELY expensive. The 6month sales value of this model is currently US $1200, with the current inventory well over $1300. The wheels are very expensive and the 4 pneumatic cylinder brackets are now quite expensive. The only good news is the windshield went from very rare to very common so that price has come back down to earth. Just thought everyone would like to know.

You can thank 2 things for that: A) Power Puller wheels were even higher and these were cheap in comparrison B) Han's 6x6 Articulated Dumper. I (known for my decisive purchases) actually purchased them at those higher prices last year just so I could get a set, and of course this was before we knew that they were coming back out.

Yes, Instructions have already been created by Blakbird for the first 9 cars (the 10th car "Eagle Weslake" is in process). These instruction files will be available for purchase with the launch of MOCplans.com.

Not in the US. It will not even say the prices....it asks you to wait one to two days and they will get back to you with a price. Also, its quite unusual for the price to be cheaper from lego unless the part is new and supply is very restricted on BL (the new 8tooth gear for example). There are of course other exceptions which is why lego needs to still be on your list of places to shop if the part was made in the last 3 years and is super expensive on bricklink.