snefroe Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 i went to that sacred place called "the vault" a few days ago. it's basically a rather small room, i'd say 8-10 meters to 4-5 meters filled with mobile shelves of wich half is filled with lego sets going back to the 60's... i guess it won't surprise you to know i mostly focused on space sets: some space sets were missing in action, though. We couldn't find the '918', the smallest member of the family: still, they had this spectacular 8 wheeler, designed to torpedo all Hobbes' modified police boats and xwings :blacksmylielaughing: Quote
xwingyoda Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Ahh, that brings back great memories !! Tks for the cool pics Sne !! (are you going to upload the other pace pics btw ?) Vault On !! Yoda Quote
Jipay Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Imagine that one day someone steal everything what's inside this room and sell it on ebay. There would be a massive transfer of money from south korea to the seller :blacksmylielaughing: I'm amazed by those old sets (some of them coudl be sold for thousands) just lying there on the shelves, no protections, even a post it sticked on one box... A shame ! Quote
KimT Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Man I wish I could have been there... Please post more pics :redsmyliehappy: KimT Quote
Paradosis Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 What I would give to have such a place! :) Quote
Grrr Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 So how did you gain access to this most sacred place? The disorderley nature of it all really surprises me - they could quite happily have made a nice display out of them - or at least have them stacked in some sort of order. As for stealing them and Ebaying the lot - that would earn a small fortune. Being as though there are apparently four copies of every set in there, sell one of each - keep one or two misb - and build with the rest - well; at least that is what I would do - after somehow acquiring a custom-built dust free facilty free from yellowing lights (am not sure if that is possible, but I wouldn't steal from Lego either). One day - when I have lots of money! ... :). Quote
natelite Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 that looks like the basement. what would happen if it got flooded? :-P Quote
gylman Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Wow! I don't get something, though. Is this YOUR collection? Or someone elses. I am stunned by the quantity and quality of these sets. Are ANY for sale?? Quote
xwingyoda Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Wow! I don't get something, though. Is this YOUR collection? Or someone elses. I am stunned by the quantity and quality of these sets. Are ANY for sale?? Looool, I am sure Sne would love that hehe !! These pice where taken from Lego's "vault" in Billund: a place (at least one of the places to be precise) where TLC keeps several copies of every set ever produced !! That was simply an AMAZING place to visit !! A true collector and fan sanctuary IMO !! Hope that helped Gyl !! Yoda Quote
snefroe Posted August 26, 2006 Author Posted August 26, 2006 the vault is located in the basement of a fairly large house/warehouse of the company's plant not very far from Legoland. i don't know if i'm allowed to say how exactly I got in, but it helps to know a few people who work for the company ;-) They surely don't want to advertise this too much, after all, many of these sets are fragile and easily stolen. it's most definitely not their intention to turn the vault into a tourist attraction. in short, I was very very very lucky... the vault is organised based on year of release. Every shelf refers to a timeframe of a few years. However, it's very easy to missplace older boxes from one section to another, especially if you have people there who are taking pictures and need to find a good spot to position the sets they want to photograph... other sets come and go so it seems. at the back, there was a shelf filled with already released 2006 sets, like the xwing but also older stuff. Old pirate ships and a few other things where on a table nearby, probably to be put back into shelf; Other, like lego basic, was some place else as well... not every set ends up in the vault either. Promotional sets, being produced outside the Billund plant, are not always sent to the Billund vault. Consequently, several well known promos where just not in the house. This one wasn't there either Quote
BillytheKid Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 Those new 12v boxes *wub* ...............May I build thise please :'-) ? I put them nicely back when I'm done with it X-D . Quote
gylman Posted August 26, 2006 Posted August 26, 2006 OMG. THat explains it. Stuypid me. I knew there was a Lego vault, but I didn't think that was it. I couldn't imagine who would have such a collection. But I am stunned that the Lego Company keeps them stored in such an amateurish manner. If these are damaged.... I am afraid to think about it even. Frankly, people should not be allowed to touch these. Quote
snefroe Posted August 26, 2006 Author Posted August 26, 2006 (edited) OMG. THat explains it. Stuypid me. I knew there was a Lego vault, but I didn't think that was it. I couldn't imagine who would have such a collection. But I am stunned that the Lego Company keeps them stored in such an amateurish manner. If these are damaged.... I am afraid to think about it even. Frankly, people should not be allowed to touch these. when i first got the news i'd be allowed in, i thought i had to wear these plastic gloves and i most likely would not be allowed to take photos, especially with a flash light. The instructions however, were rather simple: "be very very carefull, if you pick them up, be very very carefull"; there was however, always some one keeping an eye on what was going on and i most defenitely think they only allow people in there they know/trust. so in the end, the risk of real damaging is small, even absent... also, the people I saw there had A LOT of respect for the boxes/sets; these are not the people who are to rip open boxes or damage sets in any way... quite the contrary even... Sure, not all boxes were in excellent condition, for whatever reason... they should spread them out more, limit the risk of shelf ware... i think the boxes/sets are safer than you'd think... the room is quite dark, the shelves are solid, i didn't see damaged/worn out boxes due to whatever circomstance. as an historian, i've seen archives and excuses of archives in conditions that were a lot worse than this ... Edited August 26, 2006 by snefroe1 Quote
Jipay Posted August 27, 2006 Posted August 27, 2006 I don't seem to notice one thing anywhere in your posts. Those pics were taken during some sort of mini EB event and Sne Wasn't alone there, he was allowed with a bunch of 4 other EB members, thanks to Tomas (DoubleT) who negociated this with TLC. I think we owe him this, don't we ? Quote
snefroe Posted August 27, 2006 Author Posted August 27, 2006 I don't seem to notice one thing anywhere in your posts. Those pics were taken during some sort of mini EB event and Sne Wasn't alone there, he was allowed with a bunch of 4 other EB members, thanks to Tomas (DoubleT) who negociated this with TLC.I think we owe him this, don't we ? trust me, we already toasted to TT at our own spot in the 'steak house'; i never mentioned the others there for two reasons: i don't know all the people who were there; i didn't want to implicate the others i do know where there, that's up to them don't know where you got this mini EB event thing from. apart from the fact that all 5 of us were eb members , this had nothing to do with EB, it was a private get-together of a few friends... Quote
Morten Posted August 27, 2006 Posted August 27, 2006 Nice pictures, this Vault place seems like heaven for freaks like us. Where there multible copies of the sets, or just 1? Was the guard armed in any way and was he carreing a radio? How was the escape route? Did you make drawings of the building? I wish I knew a guy called Eathen Hawk, who could helps us make a dream come through! Morten Quote
snefroe Posted August 27, 2006 Author Posted August 27, 2006 Nice pictures, this Vault place seems like heaven for freaks like us. Where there multible copies of the sets, or just 1? Was the guard armed in any way and was he carreing a radio? How was the escape route? Did you make drawings of the building? I wish I knew a guy called Eathen Hawk, who could helps us make a dream come through! Morten they mostly kept 2 copies of recent sets, but the older ones were unique, sometimes they even kept the sets in plastic packaging material, it seems they just took two or just one directly from the production/packaging factory straight to the vault. Didn't see yellow castle though... Quote
xwingyoda Posted August 27, 2006 Posted August 27, 2006 I don't seem to notice one thing anywhere in your posts. Those pics were taken during some sort of mini EB event and Sne Wasn't alone there, he was allowed with a bunch of 4 other EB members, thanks to Tomas (DoubleT) who negociated this with TLC. I think we owe him this, don't we ? trust me, we already toasted to TT at our own spot in the 'steak house'; i never mentioned the others there for two reasons: i don't know all the people who were there; i didn't want to implicate the others i do know where there, that's up to them don't know where you got this mini EB event thing from. apart from the fact that all 5 of us were eb members , this had nothing to do with EB, it was a private get-together of a few friends... Just another small insight to finish on that topic. Sure it was not an EB event per se BUT it was organised by TT with the amicable help from Lego. Also who was present ? 2 EB admins (TT and myself), one mod (Sne) (that makes 3 staff members out of the 5 who went there) and the other two are regulars of the EB events, SO by assimilation it was a "non-official" EB "Event". The only thing that allowed us to visit that "sacred" place (i.e. the "vault") is the connection of TT/EB and nothing else !! But I digress (as often hehe). I also want to stress that there is not 1 vault but 2 vaults (plus the one with promo sets): the second vault is not accessible to guests and I am sure that the second one has a lot more sets in it. Only a question of logic: if TLC has ONLY 1 copy of a rare set, where do think it puts it ? In the other vault of course winkie !! Yoda Quote
DoubleT Posted August 27, 2006 Posted August 27, 2006 Thank you jipay..... :) This was not a EB event just 5 collectors... But seeing all the old sets makes one happy.. Even two small Fabuland i still have he he Quote
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