BooTheMightyHamster

I set my blog up to document how I got back into Lego after a long time away. I write mostly about Technic, but occasionally drift into other areas. Just Another Lego Blog... http://www.justanotherlegoblog.blogspot.co.uk

Is there a hard and fast date for the 2nd half Technic sets to be released? I'd assumed it was July / August time, but I was at the AFOL shopping event on Saturday, and got talking to a member of staff at the Watford store. He said the 2nd half stuff would start hitting the shelves in June. I have to assume he knows far better than me. Can't wait!

/bump for the Academy admins - or are you not accepting new people any more?

That's great - thanks, Tom!

Thanks for the comments. I'll probably leave it for a while, as I don't have enough experience to know which parts are useful and which parts are less so. But I suspect I'll start off by buying a couple of kits to break down. I think the brickpicker route is fine if you have a specific design that you're trying to build, and you need certain parts to complete it, but I think to start me off, I basically want a 'box of bits' to play with and see where I go. No idea whether I want to build trucks / cars / construction machines, roller coasters etc I'll wait until I've built the sets I have, and see which I enjoy the most. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

After many years away, I've got back into Lego recently, and I'm sticking (at the moment) to Technic. I really want to keep all the sets 'separate', and not mix the parts up, but I'd also, at some point, like to start on some Technic based MOC's. In order to get a basic set of parts for Moc'ing, I can see a few options : A) buy a bunch of parts direct from Lego / Brickpicker etc B) buy bags of second-hand parts from ebay or the like C) buy some Technic sets, specifically for parts I work for a UK retailer who sells Lego, and I get a 25% discount, so C is possible. If I decided to go down that route, which (currently available) sets would people suggest be best to create a 'starter set'? I guess you don't want a set that contains too many model specific parts, but as yet, I don't know enough to determine which parts are most useful. Unimog? 4x4 Crawler? Any suggestions / comments welcome. Thanks, Boo

I was there yesterday, and it was indeed chaos. Although having gone back this morning, the staff said that it died down mid-morning, and the brand store models actually lasted until just before midday. Some people said they managed to get two. Was much quieter today (around 60 people there by 9.00am). Gift today was three minifig's in numbered, Watford Grand Opening packaging. We had a builder/lumberjack, a railway station worker and a kid with a skateboard. My first store opening - really nice to meet up with some other afol's.

That's an incredible piece of engineering! I'm just concentrating on collecting Technic at the moment, since I 'got back into' Lego, but the big kid in me is eyeing up the Mindstorms EV3, stamping his feet and saying 'I want one!' Up until now though, the adult in me has been thinking, 'Yes, it's undoubtedly cool, but after you've built some robots, what can you actually do with it?' Luc2000 has given a perfect example of the sort of thing you can use it for when combining it with other Lego. It's not a 'Mindstorms' project. It's a project that utilises Mindstorms. Well that's me one step closer to buying one when it's released! Congrats again - marvellous build.

Thanks Darkdragon. Ironically, the slightly 'jerky' feel was the only bit I was completely happy about! That was what I was aiming for, rather than smooth 'film-like' animation. The things I need to gen up on are focussing, framing, lighting and appropriate backgrounds, to name but a few. I take your point about sound / music. Really not sure what to do about that. For copyright reasons, I can't just add a piece of music that I already own, and while I am a musician, nobody wants to listen to a three and a half minute drum solo! I'll either have to start investigating copyright-free music, or start playing around with Garageband.

Hi, When my wife bought me the 8070 Supercar for Christmas, I thought I'd like to have a crack at making a stop motion movie of the build. But given that I know nothing about it, I figured I'd start small. So I made a couple of attempts, using the 9390 Mini Tow truck. The first one's got all sorts of problems, the second one's marginally better. If anyone's got any comments of feedback, I'd be grateful. Thanks! Boo

I wasn't sure about 42008 when I first saw it, but I have to agree with francisalmario - it's growing on me. Well the design is anyway. I don't think I'm ever going to like that green!

There are indeed many automated warehouse systems. But as Gekke Ted says, that's more for bulk items. Mind you... I suspect there are people on this forum who, given enough Technic and a crateful of Mindstorms kits, could probably come up with something! Lego systems supplying Lego systems... Hmm. /has visions of Skynet ;o)

I'd say for the customer that's an ideal solution. However, look at it from TLG's point of view. Unless you're building something very small, a typical order - whether it be for a specific MOC or just a builder adding to their parts collection - is likely to be hundreds, if not thousands of pieces. Unless TLG can develop an extremely sophisticated fulfilment system, then it's likely that the parts selection will have to be done by hand. Even for an experienced employee who knows where all the parts are, each order will take a considerable amount of time to complete. Plus of course the packing etc. For such a labour intensive operation as this, to make it viable, the cost per piece is likely to be so high as to put all but the most dedicated builder off. Which means that the demand for the service is driven down. And if there's little or no demand, then why do it? I'd be fairly certain that TLG have considered this - at the end of the day they're a business that exists to make a profit - and they will have come to the conclusion that it's simply not a viable proposition. It may be that in the future, technology advances to the point where this does become practical. If 3D printing or similar gets to the stage where parts can be produced on demand, then we could see a turnaround. But while parts are produced in bulk, and would probably have to be picked by hand, I think you're going to have to stick with Bricklink.

Hello, I've just come back from a 30 year 'dark age', and I've been picking up a number of Technic sets recently. I'd certainly be curious to learn more about the photography side of reveiwing, so if you don't mind the fact that I'm new to EB, then can you sign me up please? Thanks! Boo

I'll have a look at the links you posted. Thanks very much!