Shu

oh my.. wow. how many pieces is this? is it more than the Taj Mahal set? the details are very clean. i'm all at awe...

actually this limited edition of lego by shell has seven sets. the seventh set 30196 is the Ferrari F1 Team Pit Crew that includes 3 minifigs.

bottom line is, yes, as you can practically sell anything at ebay.

an excellent way to use those parts we thought have nothing to use in our usual vehicular and buildings mocs. this is an inspiration, truly amazing. my favorites are the burying beetle and the mantis.

it's a marketing strategy. the more they see AFOL's want RC sets, the less likely they'll produce sets which are RC simply because they [TLG] have separate PF packs which based from experience, AFOL's purchase along with non-RC sets.

welcome! well, imo, almost any hobby is expensive depending on how you look at it. sports, music, culinary, and arts are all hobbies and they are all considered expensive especially when you're really into it. besides hobby is a leisure, not a necessity but you will realize how much it impacted your life. my advice is, if it makes you happy, why not?

yes 8043 is far superior compared to the two even without the PFs. however, i didn't like its bucket (bec it's big, and not too "lego" for me). i like how they innovated it on 42006 like a toothed arm.

of course! i'm not getting serious at profiteering with lego you know. i got a pretty decent job. you make a good point! thanks everyone for pouring their insights 'bout this.

9394 jet plane, lot of red panels and flex beams for such a small model and it's cheap. plus it has 2 of the rare 13m black gear rack which imo are very useful in MOCing. i didnt like the model. 8043 motorized excavator, but its beginning to be expensive now. technic set with a lot of pf parts and yellow beams and most number of gears. 8109 flatbed truck, pretty cheap, good amount of red and yellow panels and beams plus two of the rare 13m black gear rack again.

i definitely agree about removing the age range on the box. my girlfriend and non-AFOL friends can't understand why i'm buying a toy "prescribed" for 11-16 year olds for myself. i also agree that the inclusion of number of pieces on the box should be standardized because personally, this is one of the first things i look into a set. i doubt the possibility of downloadable ldd files, because imo these can be compared to as "cad" or "dwg" files us architects (designers) would not want to freely distribute. however the idea of a downloadable "original" stickers is good.

---after they're long been discontinued? the sets in question are: 10220 Volkswagen Camper Van 10197 Modular Fire Brigade 10218 Modular Pet Shop I ask this question because I was able to get these sets cheaper which rarely happens at my area.i'm planning to get a duplicate of one of these and "keep" it MISB and sell someday. Also, not in the choice, do you think Lego 10214 Tower Bridge will end up super expensive like the Taj Mahal today? i also have access to this one but it's not cheap, but considering the price of Taj Mahal today, i was thinking to get this also. edit: broken title

personally, i prefer bigger sets, sets starting from 1000+ pieces. the choosing of the theme is only second. what i meant with "bigger" is that the set builds into only one finish product, like technic, modular, landmark, some architecture set, some star wars and ultimately the UCS series. i don't dig sets with high piece count but ends up like a diaroma or that produces more than two builds. my advice is, you should know what you want, what to "prioritize". if you collect sets, it's natural that you would want to have its line complete. in my case, i'm a piece collector, and in my experience i get advantageous with these sets i mentioned. it doesnt matter to me which theme as long as the set qualifies my "standard"

ok, the recently opened Legoland Malaysia might indicate some hope on this. i'm actulally quite grateful that they chose Southeast Asia as Asia is so big. but Lego is a succesful company and old, but i can't understand why they havent opened official stores and production warehouses in Asia. heck there are first world countries in Asia like Japan, Singaopre, the Middle East just to name a few. as an AFOL based in Asia, the Philippines specifically, this quite frustrates me. it's no secret that Lego if ever available on this region is very expensive, aside from that we have very limited selection, always the small sets. and these sets are usually the "kiddie" sets, no technic theme, no sculpture theme, no landmark theme, no architecture theme, limited licensed theme, and ridiculously expensive UCS theme once in a while. basically no sets that target the AFOLs. not that i'm annoyed but sometimes i find it wierd when people from Europe and USA complain about the price, when that price if converted to my country's currency is considered cheap. oh well. it frustrates me the fact that i can afford but the availability hinders me from getting what i want. the shipping cost is often 50-70% the actual price of the package especially the large boxed sets. anyway, i hope you wouldnt see this as a rant even if it seems to be. i just wanted to be enlightened. And actually, i wanted to know if there are other Asians here and wanna know how they satisfy their lego cravings and how they purchase elusive sets.

mine is just a name of my persian cat. :)

are your IR receivers V2 as well? my 8043 purchase have V2 IRs, i believe this is the easiest indication that the set was the revised set. need confirmation though.