soccernamlak

The latter here for me in Eastern NC. The person in charge of our event was just a B&N worker who admitted not even playing with LEGO as a kid or adult, and the few other people that were there were mainly parents/kids building stuff. So definitely not up to par with the event description of Q&A and Discussion. And same with the box: it was tubs/bags provided. I debated picking up the one studio box that they did have there in stock, but for the time being decided against it.

Regarding your baseplates.... Red Baseplate came from 358-1 Rocket Base, released in 1973. Bricklink Link The very top green one is Set 340-3: Railroad Control Tower, released in 1968. The far right green (longer baseplate) is 341-1: Warehouse, released in 1968. Finally, the far left one is part of 345-1: House with Mini Wheel Car, released in 1969. Regarding why, my guess would be the outline of where to put your bricks instead of having to count manually.

I'm looking to expand my Train, City, and Modular collection while keeping up with the Architecture series. I'm also trying to get together a general display layout, but space always seems to be the issue.

I too collect the Architecture line. Regarding ones getting discontinued, surprisingly so far only the 2008 John Hancock Center has been fully discontinued, with the 2008 Sears Tower rebranded and repackaged in 2011 as Willis Tower. That being said, I'm anticipating within the next year at least the 2009 models disappearing soon. That includes the Seattle Space Needle. The White House came out in 2010, Rockefeller and Brandenburg 2011, Big Ben and Sungnyemun 2012. So, while Lego is free to discontinue any of them at any time, I'd say the one that has the highest chance of going soon is the Seattle Space Needle, as it will be pushing 4 years as a set in 2013.

I was surprised just one set got it, but I guess between licensing, market attraction, and theme conflicts it makes sense.

Finally getting 3 sets I've had my eyes on for a while: Maersk Train, VW Bus, and Fallingwater so I can start finishing up my Architecture collection.

Superb review! Now I just have to wait impatiently while it's shipped to my door... I agree it would have bee nice to see a bit more flexibility in that regards; perhaps a simple MOC fix will do the trick.