dhaas06

A lot of you don't seem to realize that the rainbow spaceman torso actually came out in an Agents set in 2009 and has been in a few other sets since. (I've also seen it in the Build-a-Minifigure assortment at a Lego store.) It's a great print, and I welcome the chance to get more!

I'm having trouble too, and just as I'm trying to add new stuff to my inventory EDIT: Looks like it's all back up now, yay!

Well 7752 was listed as available long enough for a Toys N Bricks member to start a thread for it, and the second reply seems to be proof that it wasn't "sold out" initially, since they were able to get it in the cart at least, only to have it be sold out during checkout. Here is the thread, but you have to log in to TNB to see it. If the quantity were tiny, such as 20 or less, then I can see it not even going to "call for availability". They would still have to put it back online to sell them, but I bet their web staff programmed this one to switch to "sold out" right after the number was hit, since there would be an exact count from the start and 20 units or less doesn't leave enough room for error (which is what the "call for availability" is for, where the last couple remaining from a huge number are hand-counted by the warehouse staff). Also, if the web staff knew these items would be gone very fast, then I could see them waiting for the sets to go and then promptly removing them from the site so that more people don't see them and get disappointed. I assume other items sit "sold out" for days because the staff has moved on and isn't even monitoring the sales section regularly. I do agree that it is annoying, whether any were actually sold or not, so I don't differ with you there. Just providing a different way of looking at it.

I'm pretty sure this was no mistake. Suppose those sets were thought to be sold out long ago, removed from the site, and then recently rediscovered during a warehouse inventory update or collected from returns. Then a very small number were added back to the sale page, sold out in a matter of minutes, and are now gone again. Under this unique and limited circumstance, your script may not be telling you the whole story. If you really need proof, call S@H and ask what happened.

$3 off of $20 is 15%, not 30%.

You don't have anything to worry about there! Even if 101219 sells so well that all current stock is depleted, you can bet Lego will put it on back-order and make more. Why would the company go through the long and expensive process of making a new set only to have it last for one batch? If anything, it would be a good sign for the set to initially sell out, because it would be an indication to Lego that they can make more money from this item than first expected. Then they will boost production and eagerly meet the high demand.

At first glance, this container may seem pretty standard. A closer look reveals that it is actually a livestock container with some very curious cargo! I have removed the other side to show the container's contents: The shipping companies waste no space packing those poor monkeys in there! Hopefully they make it to their destination okay.

Thank you for defining "troll" for anyone who may have been wondering! Otherwise, I'm not aware of any merit your post has in contributing to a discussion. "Blowing off steam" is better suited for diaries than in the Eurobricks forums.

Well if it isn't Flickr's favorite buffer-snob, Jaster! I love your work and have stalked Swoofty and your photo streams for a few years, and you'll be glad to know that your passionate buffer education opened my eyes to the continental differences. I have since adjusted all of my NA rolling stock and I can proudly declare that I've been buffer-free for a year now. Some could say you're a patriot.

That's really interesting. It's the new Maersk train but in Burlington Northern colors! It's too bad the sticker for the diagonal stripe is off-color.

To all who are wondering about the width, it is clearly 6-wide and not 8. Look at the 2x1 handle bricks on the ends of the flat cars. There is only room for one more between them — definitely not a 4 stud gap. Case closed!

Well, if you think about it, the Emerald Night was a European-styled train (American steam locos did not have smoke deflectors), and both of the current PF train sets are also European-style. I think it's only fair for this one to be American-styled. While it is true that this will be the third licensed American-styled locomotive set, at least this time it is a worldwide company and not just American specific (like BNSF or Santa Fe). Actually, it looks to be based on an SD40. Look at the length of the locomotive and especially the long hood. The only thing that it is missing is the 3rd axle, but we all know that's very difficult to do in Lego and still power it. Here's a real-world example (from BlueMoose at Brickset):

That logo is fantastic, nice work! I love how you worked in seams where all the sliding doors would be, it has a really nice effect.

Ridiculous? Sure, I suppose. But that really has nothing to do with it, because retailers have the right to charge whatever they want. The reason Toys R Us can even do so many B1G1 50% sales is because the sets are marked up the rest of the time. As long as you only buy during good pricing, the markups don't hurt you. It would be nice to get a pure B1G1 50% sale with no markup to get the full discount, but the sale wouldn't happen at all if the prices were all MSRP. That's just how TRU decides to operate. The real issue here is that looking for shortcuts in retail policies hurts all consumers later. It may seem fair to cheat the system, since you're working within their own rules, afterall, but this forces retailers to change these rules. The more some consumers try to slide companies, the more frustrating the rules become for the honest consumers too. For example, Walmart used to be known for having a very loose return policy and being the last major retailer to not require receipts, hand out cash in return, etc. Now that countless people have found ways to exploit that, the last time I tried returning something there it was very difficult, and even then I only got a "cash card" to use in-store. I would have preferred cash, since I was going to look for a better item somewhere else.

For anyone complaining about the guy in the photo with 11 boxes, try reading his article. They bought for several friends in their LUG, with only a few boxes each. Still a lot, but not exactly 11 for one guy. Sure, no kids will be able to buy any figures from that one particular store right this moment, but TLG showed us with series 2 that they fixed the supply issue and we know this new series will be around well into 2011. Besides, who is excited and hyped up about the next wave, kids or adults? Kids don't even know about it yet, because they don't browse the Lego forums looking for retailer catalog scans. AFOLs will buy up all the figures they want as soon as they're available, and then kids will get their chance once word trickles down to them that a new series is out.