I have been thinking the Home Alone announcement will be this week if Nov 1 is correct. Especially if there will be an early release for VIPs, it will have to be announced soon
In past years, I would only break down a couple of sets completely and store the rest built. But last year, I broke them all down because most of my enjoyment comes from building them
I pulled out my winter village sets today. I usually don't start building it in October, but I have big plans this year and I worry that if I don't start now, I won't have it done by December. I'm planning a 6' x 7' layout (42 base plates) and it should end up being close to 30k pieces.