FOFC Lego Thread

[PurdueBrad]

I'm super-excited that my four year old has just decided to get into Legos. We bought the basic 6166 set for him. I have to admit that I'm amazed how expensive Legos seem so I'm combing through the E-bay listings to see what I can get for a reasonable price.

To demonstrate my hypocrisy, I have 13 of the various Star Wars sets for him saved up in my closet that I bought prior to his birth and, for some reason, as that point the money didn't bug me so much.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

I'm super-excited that my four year old has just decided to get into Legos. We bought the basic 6166 set for him. I have to admit that I'm amazed how expensive Legos seem so I'm combing through the E-bay listings to see what I can get for a reasonable price.

To demonstrate my hypocrisy, I have 13 of the various Star Wars sets for him saved up in my closet that I bought prior to his birth and, for some reason, as that point the money didn't bug me so much.

Yeah, you're going to want to stay away from eBay unless you have to have whatever it is you're looking for. You're not going to find 'deals' there very often. Either the minifigs will have been stripped, or folks will wait until the sets have been discontinued and then sell them at collector prices, or they'll just mark them up in general.

I get most of my Legos at Target or Walmart, and I try to wait for sales (either the kind I can pricematch or sales from those specific retailers) to do it.

My last 3 set buys have been clearanced, which saved some money. Walmart had the 9499 Gungan Sub for $48 (down from $70), Target had, as I said earlier, Shelob Attacks for $10 and Attack on Weathertop for $40 at two separate stores on clearance in the last couple weeks (normally $20 and $60). So, y'know, $52 saved between the three, it's almost like getting Weathertop free :-D

[Comey]

I have the 1960s Batman and Robin set that I have to put together. I really want to put together a baseball stadium, or basketball court. That would be sweet.

[PurdueBrad]

Thanks for the tip SackAttack, it had been driving me nuts on Ebay. I'll check the mainstream stores.

[SackAttack]

Yeah, the baseball player 'fielder' minifig in the series 10 collection and the 'batter' from series 3 have me seriously wanting to do a Lego stadium somehow.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Thanks for the tip SackAttack, it had been driving me nuts on Ebay. I'll check the mainstream stores.

No problem. FYI, Amazon's the same way if you order the sets from the marketplace sellers. If you look at Amazon, you can still get good deals, but you gotta make sure you're buying the set FROM Amazon.

Even the warehouse deals legos are at aftermarket prices.

Toys 'R Us is going to be overpriced, but they'll occasionally do Lego sales and you may be able to get other retailers to match their sales (I've had luck with Target). ShopKo here in Wisconsin is also over MSRP, but not quite to Toys 'R Us levels.

Target and Walmart have been, as I said, closer to what Lego themselves charge.

Last time I was in Goodwill, they had a big ol' package of bricks for $10, but it looked like a mix between Lego and knockoff, so I passed.

Craigslist is worth looking at, but a lot of the Lego sellers there seem to be looking for collector prices also.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Thanks for the tip SackAttack, it had been driving me nuts on Ebay. I'll check the mainstream stores.

Brickset is certainly a better site for news and Bricklink is a good way to totally blow money on old sets or individual pieces but I've found the following ToysnBricks to be the best spot for sales and deals. The forums are pretty well organized and the front page does a good job of emphasizing sales.

SI

[sterlingice]

I've spent a bit too much since getting back from Russia. Picked up 4 large vintage space sets for $40-$50 each (2 in hand, 2 still incoming):
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=6979-1
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6973-1
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6959-1
http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=6983-1

SI

[sterlingice]

The Lego Back to the Future set came out on the 1st and was instantly gone from Lego Shop @ Home. Good luck finding it in stores: the two in Houston sold out the day it came out and were told they won't get a new shipment in until the end of the month.

I ordered off of Amazon as they had it in stock for about a day but it's sold out again (tho scalpers are perfectly willing to mark it up to $50+). Also, Toys R Us has it listed on their site for $45, as opposed to the MSRP of $35.

But, as of yesterday, Lego Shop @ Home had it back in stock:
http://shop.lego.com/en-US/The-DeLor...isting=listing

As does TRU, tho at the markup:
LEGO Cuusoo Back to the Future 21103 - LEGO - Toys "R" Us

So, I expect this to be like Lego Cuusoo Minecraft: periods of hard to get and scalping before it appears everywhere until retired (seriously, my local Barnes and Noble had like 10 copies for a couple of months and they don't seem to have anything but Lego Architecture).

SI

[terpkristin]

Crap, I hadn't realized it had been released!

/tk

[terpkristin]

And now I've ordered it. And signed up for Lego emails.

/tk

[SackAttack]

Yeah, neither had I. SI told me yesterday, but by the time I was ready to whip out the wallet, Amazon was sold out. I don't really care to pay $7 in shipping at lego.com; for that price I almost might as well pay the extra $3 from TRU and get the extra Lego set they're including.

I'm gonna wait for either Target to get off their ass or Amazon to get it back in.

[SackAttack]

Amazon had it back in stock! Yay!

[sterlingice]

Big fan of the Back to the Future set. There are some really nice touches like the license plates, flux capacitor, and minifigs. The doors are kindof meh as is the windshield design. But, all in all, totally worth it.

SI

[Grover]

Official Ghostbusters LEGO Was Worth Waiting 30 Years

This is one of the finest looking sets I have ever seen!

[sterlingice]

I'm a little iffy on the price at $50 but I'll probably pick it up since it looks nice.

SI

[ColtCrazy]

I've been into board games so much lately that I'm behind on my lego collection. 2013 was basically keeping up with the Hobbit stuff and getting a few knights sets. I love that Ghostbuster one. My want list is currently the Pet Shop and Parisian restaurant.

[Grover]

Spoiler

Was in Target earlier and saw these were out. Picked up these five. I'm pretty happy with the way they've come out.

[bob]

The Simpsons ones are nice, but $3.99 instead of 2.99 as in the past. i know licensing and all, but I'm guessing the $3.99 price sticks from now on for the blind bag minifigures.

[Racer]

They're technically aren't Legos, but I've gotten into collecting the G.I. Joe Kreo line. Most of the figures look like they did in the old cartoon.

[SackAttack]

I'm jealous that you got Homer and Bart, Grover. Those are the two I'm looking for.

I currently have Grandpa Simpson, Maggie, Ned and Krusty.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I'm jealous that you got Homer and Bart, Grover. Those are the two I'm looking for.

I currently have Grandpa Simpson, Maggie, Ned and Krusty.

Was kind of hoping Bart had an actual slingshot (not one painted to his back pocket), and I was trying to think of some better items for Homer. All in all, I'm very pleased with the minifigs.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by bob

The Simpsons ones are nice, but $3.99 instead of 2.99 as in the past. i know licensing and all, but I'm guessing the $3.99 price sticks from now on for the blind bag minifigures.

They all have uniquely molded heads but the 3.99 price is a bit to stomach. And if it's the future CMF price, I'll cut back accordingly in future series.

That said, I picked up 14 of 16 this weekend. I'm missing Milhouse and Ralph. I meant to get one but I couldn't figure out which was which by feeling them since they're basically identical (both have 2x2 plates for accessory and the only difference is the slightly different head)

SI

[bob]

If this site is to be believed, the mini-figure price is 3.99 now:

LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 12 (71007) Minifigure List*|*The Brick Fan

Series 12 in October.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by bob

If this site is to be believed, the mini-figure price is 3.99 now:

LEGO Collectible Minifigures Series 12 (71007) Minifigure List*|*The Brick Fan

Series 12 in October.

Set list is pretty good but the rumors about $3.99 turn out to be truth, unfortunately.

SI

[Kodos]

Aliens - an album on Flickr

[sterlingice]

For the record, both Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! and the Ghostbusters set both came out this month and are now on my "to buy" list the first time I see anything remotely resembling a sale for them. Also the Trevi Fountain is a maybe. I thought I wasn't going to buy much this year, except the Simpsons minifigs as not many other sets have much that appeals to me.

SI

[Kodos]

Amazon.com: LEGO Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon: Toys & Games

Anybody have this bad boy?

[SackAttack]

There's a version Wal-Mart sells I'd get if I had the extra scratch. The Ghostbusters set is also on my 'get it' list once I'm employed.

[QuikSand]

So, I'm a Lego guy (duh) and my girls are getting into them now. I am now into the white architecture pieces, as I've always been more interested on free form building than "sets." Prices are silly on the surface, but the quality is so uniformly high I don't mind a ton. My 8yo is getting into the architecture stuff now too.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

So, I'm a Lego guy (duh) and my girls are getting into them now. I am now into the white architecture pieces, as I've always been more interested on free form building than "sets." Prices are silly on the surface, but the quality is so uniformly high I don't mind a ton. My 8yo is getting into the architecture stuff now too.

Have you picked up the Trevi Fountain one yet? I was considering that one but not quite enough to pull the trigger unless I see it on sale.

Also, for next month, I'm getting Benny's Spaceship, Spaceship, SPACESHIP! when the calendar turns September 1 because it will also come with a free white space man figure.

SI

[QuikSand]

We have done the White House (confirming daughter's interest) and Fallingwater. We liked doing both, but I'm really not a "kit" guy, so I held out for the Architecture Studio, and am now supplementing with add-ons purchased bulk or on ebay. Daughter is sort of on the fence between following the instructions and just making stuff up - about the best I could hope for at 8yo, and with her early introduction all being step-by-step kits.

[gstelmack]

My 9yo son likes the kits, but has also discovered Lego stop-motion movie making, and makes his own stuff for that.

[bob]

The latest set of Lego minifigures have started leaking out to stores. Lego is charging $3.99 each, but I picked up two today at Target for $2.99 each.

[gstelmack]

Just finished the Sopwith Camel - that one was a lot of fun.

[corbes]

Our four-year-old girl is ready for a Christmas present that consists of her first lego-table set. She already plays with *my* old legos at grandma's house. She tends to play with them in a dollhouse manner, so town- or city-style legos are the most appropriate. I've been looking at ebay for bulk lego sets. Any recommendations on the best way to acquire mass town or city-style legos via ebay or craigslist?

[Neuqua]

Just curious, for those with a bigger collection, where do you keep them all?

Enjoyed time with my nephew over the weekend but when I got to thinking about looking for other sets, I wasn't sure where I would even put the finished pieces.

[Fidatelo]

My parents bought my kids a bunch of Mixels for Christmas. I had seen them in the stores before and not thought much of them, but they were a big hit! The kids (5 and 4 years old) could each build them mostly without help, which was a first for them outside of the advent calendar builds. And one little package would keep them busy for at least 30 minutes building, which was fun too. Plus they come in little 'sets' of three that let you then build a bigger Mixel guy out of all the pieces of his set, so after building the smaller ones then they wanted to tear them apart and build the bigger guy (they needed help for the bigger ones, especially because the instructions are not included you need to download them). Then tear the big guy apart to rebuild the little guys.

And then they started making their own Mixels, just using different parts to make their own little robot-y creations. This is not something they've ever done before with anything outside of 'standard' Lego bricks (for example they have never tried to take a Ninjago model and make something different from it).

[ColtCrazy]

I ended up selling my entire collection over the summer. Somewhat for space issues and somewhat for choosing a hobby between board games (which also take up space) and Legos.

Miss building them, so my wife surprised me with a subscription to pley which is like Netflix for Legos. There's a wonderful list of big Legos to build (the Falcon, buildings, etc) so we'll see if it's worth it. There is the option to buy if you like which I won't do except for maybe the Sopwith Camel since it'll be a neat display for my war game room (and the Camel is now sold out at Lego.com).

[Eaglesfan27]

My 6 year old got a Princess Castle Set for Christmas. Putting it together with her (she did most of it and only needed help 1 or 2 times) was incredibly fun and we are going to buy a lot more legos in the near future.

[henry296]

You may want to look into Lego friends. Our seven and five year old girls really like them.

[PilotMan]

The kids were able to get Lord Business's Evil Lair yesterday for half price (34.99). An awesome deal and a very cool set if you liked the movie. It has all the main minifigs.

[Kodos]

My daughter and I put together her Rapunzel castle after Christmas. It was fun. Wish my son was into building Legos, and not just playing with the characters.

[Grover]

Dr. Who and Wall-E sets coming later this year.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Kodos

My daughter and I put together her Rapunzel castle after Christmas. It was fun. Wish my son was into building Legos, and not just playing with the characters.

How old is he? My kids, especially the oldest who is turning 6 next weekend (younger is 4.5), were all about the mini-figs for a couple of years but in the last few months they've suddenly become much more interested in the building component. You might just need to give him time.

[Kodos]

He's going to be 10 next month. Building just isn't his thing. When we play Minecraft, my daughter and I build stuff, and he finds guys to fight.

[PilotMan]

So I'm seriously considering buying Architecture Studio for my middle son (almost 13). It's seriously expensive, but it's a field of study that he is very interested in, that being Arch/Engineering. I'm wondering if anyone else has this and what their thoughts on it might be? This would be his first foray into the Arch Series, but like I said, it is something that he has expressed interest in, in the past.

[timmae]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

So I'm seriously considering buying Architecture Studio for my middle son (almost 13). It's seriously expensive, but it's a field of study that he is very interested in, that being Arch/Engineering. I'm wondering if anyone else has this and what their thoughts on it might be? This would be his first foray into the Arch Series, but like I said, it is something that he has expressed interest in, in the past.

I'd go for it... I'd have been totally into this if they had it when I was growing up. I was into creative building with legos, then sketching and drawing so I'd say this could be a greta stepping stone to the design profession. Very cool set (I have most of them , along with the design series, and I'm a 40 year old architect!10 year old kid at heart I guess..).

[Grover]

So they have released new Pirates sets.

The bane of my Lego existence. I will have pictures of 4/5 sets (minus the ship for now) a bit later.

Damn you, Lego.

Also working to find my 2009 series Pirates sets. I had all of those except for the Imperial Ship.

[terpkristin]

I've completed a few sets lately.

One is the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo ship: terpkristin on Twitter: "I finished Cygnus! #photo365 http://t.co/v2hG95TJJG" The kit is actually put together and sold as a kit by a coworker of mine. I had a lot of fun building it. He also sells a kit for a communications satellite that I want to get and put together (and update for our latest product line...).

I also did the Delorean: terpkristin on Twitter: "Had fun with the Back to the Future Lego set but couldn’t swap the plates. #photo365 http://t.co/emGjIyfQPB" This was a fun kit and had 2 sets of wheels and 2 license plates for the now/future versions of the car.

I did the Curiosity Rover: terpkristin on Twitter: "Hey look, I made a @SarcasticRover! #photo365 http://t.co/BhtPlgWeBF" Love this little robot.

And, for what it stands for, I ADORE the Lego Research Institute Set: terpkristin on Twitter: "Final model in the Research Institute set. #photo365 Women doing science!! Women in astronomy! http://t.co/qvGOinXHnf" and terpkristin on Twitter: "LOVED this part of the Research Ideas set. The dinosaur was a lot of fun. #photo365 Women doing SCIENCE! http://t.co/0SUWAIX8vs" and terpkristin on Twitter: "Lego Research Institute part 1. #photo365 Women do SCIENCE! http://t.co/xdgmRDeVRj"

/tk