Soccer Field

Shortly before I went home from college for the summer of 2002, I picked up a 3421 3v3 Shootout.  I wasn't going to take it with me on the plane, so I left it at a friends' apartment so they could play with it after it was assembled.

I, like many Americans, got caught up in World Cup fever.  But I wouldn't consider myself a typical American.  I follow the USMNT in various international competitions, I can name a good handful of players on the squad, I know who well we've placed in every World Cup since 1990.

2002 would have been an absolute blast, if all the pieces fell into place.  My dad, an Army Reservist, was called to active duty in October 2001, after 9/11.  He got stationed in Japan, and if he had completed his one year tour over there, I might have been able to fly up there to see him and even attend a match or two.

It wasn't meant to be though.  My sister got cancer in January, and my dad's knees had gotten so bad he was given a medical discharge in April.  Really sucks, since the U.S. got to the Quarterfinals.  Man, that would have been fun.

Virtual design for bleachers and the Soccer Field

Construction progress of the bleachers

I ran into two problems constructing the Soccer Field.  One was putting seating areas together.  After I saw that 32x32 baseplates were not wide enough so I could have bleachers on both sides of the field.  I put them all on one side, but now as I write this, I could have split them up on both sides, after raising them to a higher level (hindsight and whatnot).  I also had issues tracking down the white 2x8 plates to make the bleachers.  I could have went with multicolor bleachers, but that looked a bit too tacky for me.

The second was where to put it.  I wanted it in a more residential neighborhood, but the Grandstand kind got in the way.  So do I face the field towards the Grandstand or away from it?  What prevents concertgoers from sneaking a free peak at the game, or soccer fans from playing more attention to the rock show?  And could I sacrifice enough space in front of the Grandstand for a Soccer Field to be built?  There's going to be a lot of people there, all dressed up in costume.  If they were all standing the whole time, no problem, but I'm sure they'd like to sit, drink, and get off their feet.

I'll always second guess myself on this one.  But I should just set it, and forget it.  Yeah, city layouts can always be redone.  I've already done it three or four times with all the buildings I keep adding.  I dunno.  I'll leave it as is and come back to it if and when I need to.

Completed Soccer Field

Close ups of the fans in the bleachers

Sets used: 3421

Lego Haul - 3/29/15

Another day, another dollar...  To spend on Lego's.  I made another run today to pick up a few sets for my city.  I grabbed three, 10677 Beach Trip, 10684 Supermarket Suitcase, and 31036 Toy & Grocery Store.

From left to right: 31036 Toy & Grocery Store, 10684 Supermarket Suitcase, and 10677 Beach Trip

Now, there may be some people out there wondering why I bought two Lego Juniors sets in pretty pink packaging.  And to you I say, "Get over yourself".  Just because I'm a 34-year old man, that doesn't mean I can't by sets with a bit more feminine appeal?  Please.  My main consideration is how utilitarian it would be to have some beach decor, a grocery store, and a few more female minifigures to balance out the gender ratio.  I have no idea what that ratio is, but 4:1 female to male in today's haul is pretty good.  And when I have kids one day, I don't want my daughter distraught over the lack of girl characters.  I think Lego has a ways to do to make it better, but baby steps here.  Baby steps.

The Beach Trip set will help me build up an oceanside beach in my City, where people can go to relax and have fun.  I still need to design a full beach area, but this will really help.

10677 Beach Trip contents and assembled product

The Supermarket Suitcase, along with accessories from the Toy & Grocery Store, will help me build a grocery store.  I've got plenty of restaurant fare in town, but what about those who want to cook a nice meal at home?  They should have a place to go pick up a few things to throw a meal together.

10684 Supermarket Suitcase, instruction manuals, and bags of bricks

This set came with a nice little platform which I'll probably use for a meat department, run by 8827 Butcher.  I'll be putting together a glass case for hot dogs, chicken legs, and steak, with the Butcher behind the counter waiting to serve the next customer.

Platform included with 10684 Supermarket Suitcase

10684 Supermarket Suitcase assembled contents

Both the Grocery Store detailed above and the Toy & Grocery Store will go into my city's Plaza area.  I'll use the building from 31036 Toy & Grocery Store as a Toy Store only, since I have a separate set to use for the basis of my Grocery Store.

31036 Toy & Grocery Store contents

31036 Toy & Grocery Store fully assembled

The Toy & Grocery Store also came with instructions to build a newsstand.  I haven't looked at them yet, but I think I could modify it to use pieces in my inventory for construction.  Yes, the Newsstand will go in the Plaza.

Front and rear views of the Toy & Grocery Store

With additional buildings come the excuse to buy bricks off the Pick a Brick wall and some baseplates.  Since it was double VIP points at the Lego Store yesterday, I've earned $5 dollars in store credit, and I'm halfway to earning another $5.  Those will help me fill a large cup of bricks to put a building together.  And that will be great.

Follow up on An Open Letter to Lego Group

What Lego may lack in terms of properly anticipating product supply and demand, they more than make up for in terms of customer service.

So, if you read An Open Letter to Lego Group, you know I was unhappy with my attempts to purchase 40121 Painting Easter Eggs.  Thankfully, their customer service team responded to my feedback.  Last Thursday, the 19th, I received a voicemail and am e-mail for them, letting me know that they located this set in their Austin, TX retail location, and they would hold it for me.  I was able to call them, provide them with my address and payment information, and they sent it out to me (at no additional cost for shipping).

It arrived today, via FedEx.  Faith in Lego (and humanity) restored.

Most people tend to post directly on Lego's Facebook page with their complaints, which I find a little classless.  I kept my issues with them, relatively private.  Sure, I wrote a blog post about it (which was read by like 6 people) and shared the link to it on my personal Facebook page, but I didn't want to embarrass Lego.  I felt I kept my emotions in check when I wrote my letter, instead of lashing out at their for something that's not entirely their fault (but mostly was).  I'll be leaving positive feedback for them in the surveys they would like me to fill out on this whole situation.

I put the set together as soon as I got it.  And I'm quite pleased with how things turned out in the end.  Next time, I'll make sure I don't get behind the 8-ball with the next limited edition seasonal set they produce.

40121 Painting Easter Eggs

40121 Painting Easter Eggs contents

40121 Paiting Easter Eggs assembled contents

An Open Letter to Lego Group

Dear Lego Group,

I am writing you today in regards to my recent disappointments trying to purchase products, both from your retail location and on your website.

In hopes of acquiring a 40121 Painting Easter Eggs set, I twice visited your Mall of America store in Bloomington, MN, and came up empty.  Most recently, when I went this past Saturday, March 14th. I was told that more were expected arrive next week.  Being familiar with this store, I know that usually means Monday morning.  I was also given a redemption code for free shipping on my next online order.

Neither of these things turned out to be true.  I went onto your online store this afternoon, and the Painting Easter Eggs set was sold out.  Since there were additional sets I wanted to order, I filled my shopping cart with other items.  But when I went to checkout and entered my code for free shipping, I was told that it was not valid.  Upon further inspection, the Free Shipping card a store associate had given me had an expiration date of December 31, 2014.

I then opted to go back to the Lego store in Bloomington to buy the Painting Easter Eggs set, but there were none in stock.  I spoke to another associate, and she had never even SEEN the set.  She was aware of the product shortages and commented how that location could not keep 40121 in stock for very long.

Needless to say, I am quite displeased with my recent adventures to purchase your products.  I would expect the #1 toy manufacturer in the world to have sufficient means to produce enough quantities of your product to match consumer demand AND fulfill your distribution paths to ensure your customers have nothing less than an excellent experience with you.

I understand that late winter and early spring are usually lean times for your company.  I also understand that you've recently opened new factories in several countries and a number of new stores around the world.  But it appears that you haven't properly prepared for every possible scenario with the expansion of your organization.

You are a very good company, and you make an excellent product.  I just expected better from you.

Sincerely,
Paul

P.S. -- I will be sharing this letter both on my blog, located at https://velspilletpaul.blogspot.com and with my friends on Facebook.

Medical Research Lab

The Medical Research Lab is basically just 4851 The Origins, a Lego set based on the 2002 Spider-Man film.  You know, the good ones, starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.  Not that horrible AMAZING Spider-Man.  What a joke...

Virtual design for the Medical Research Lab

But I digress.  I bought this Lego set because I was such a big fan of those Sam Raimi films.  Maguire was such a good choice for the starring role, and the rest of the cast of that trilogy was stellar.  Everyone played their role so well.  You could keep your X-Men flicks and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, I'd take the web slinger any day of the week.

It's too bad the series went downhill after the third one.  That flick was too long, it really should have been split in two.  But that trend didn't occur to Hollywood until Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Anyways, we're getting off-topic again.  This blog isn't about movies, it's about the Lego's.

 

Early construction progress on the Medical Research Lab

I took the two scenes from The Origins and placed them in a medium blue building with a blue baseplate.  I had hoped to make this building bright blue and my Hospital medium blue, but medium blue bricks didn't come any bigger than 2x4, and since the Hospital had larger bricks and a more complex design, I swapped colors.

Completed Medical Research Lab

I've added a couple of 71002 Scientist minifigures to help Peter, Mary-Jane, Norman, and the Scientist (that came with 4851) with the research.  I took out the spiders, because I don't see how studying spiders would lead to medical breakthroughs.  Norman is the patient being examined and studied, because he doesn't have a shirt on.

The researchers hard at work, running the equipment, setting up the tests, and analyzing results.

Getting Norman Osborn ready for the next set of medical testing.

The research crew at the Medical Research Lab

Sets used: 4851, 71002

Lego Haul - 3/14/15

I made a Lego run this morning to see if I could get a Painting Easter Eggs set and possibly a 3-pack of minifigures.  After those two strikes, I stepped up to the Pick-A-Brick wall to see if I could find some medium stone grey 2x6 bricks to make further process on my Watch Tower.  I nearly struck out there, but then I found a whole bin of medium azur 2x4 bricks, which I need for my Plumbers shop.

Today's Lego haul

I filled an entire Large cup of those medium azur 2x4 bricks.  There are plenty of YouTube videos and other websites out there on how to fill up a Large cup of 2x4 bricks to maximize your yield.  I follow this pattern (from top to bottom):

2x2 cube

3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 5, 5, 4, 3

2, 4, 5, 5, 6, 5, 5, 4, 2

2, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 2

3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 3

3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

The layers of 2x4 bricks for a Large cup

This results in 145 bricks.  Some people are able to get more in there, but I don't push my luck.  If I tried to put more in a Large cup, it'd get all bent out of shape and start cracking up the sides.

145 bricks

I also picked up a new sand 32x32 baseplate.  It'll be great for building the beach area.  Sand replaced blue as a baseplate, and I plan on picking a few up for some of my already completed buildings.  I just wish they didn't cost an extra $3 now.  Good thing I bought so many before the first of the year.  And the extra large medium stone gray 48x48 baseplates are still $15.

The sand 32x32 baseplate

The Lego store was also giving away a free Bionicle Hero Pack with every purchase.  It was nothing special.  Literally.  It contained two masks, four arm thingies, a sticker sheet, a poster, and a short promotional booklet.  A part of me was thinking, "why even bother?"  Lego brought back it's Bionicle line, but it never appealed to me.  I won't be buying any, as I have no need for robotics figurines in my town.

Contents and assembled product of  the Bionicle Hero Pack

Both sides of the Bionicle poster included in the Hero Pack

Lego Haul - 3/10/15

This past weekend, I went on BrickLink, a great site for the secondary market of Lego bricks and sets.  I could write a whole post on why it's so awesome (and I will).  It has a much bigger selection of pieces than Lego's Pick-A-Brick wall for lower prices (if you don't mind used bricks).

I'm at a point where I'm going to make better progress on my buildings going to resellers than I will buying directly from Lego.  I bought from two vendors, Brick Art and 1 2 Many Bricks.  Between the two, I spent $27 on nearly $35 worth of pieces, some of which I can't get from Lego at this time.

The first order was mostly blue 2x6 and 2x8 plates for my Hospital.  The little black clips are for holding tools at the Research Lab, the blue door frames are for the portable toilets at the Construction Site, the stairs and 1x8 Technic brick will be in the Laser Tag Arena, the gray set of bars will complete the jail cell in the Police Station, the brown plates are bases for tiki torches at the Islanders performance area, and the white plate is for a whiteboard (location to be determined).

Bricks ordered from Brick Art

The second order was the better of my two scores, IMO.  I got 16 8x8 dark stone grey plates, which cost $1.10 each from Lego, only ran me 41 cents each used.  Half of them are for my Watch Tower, while the other half are for the Marina Office.  The other dark stone grey plates and the black stairs are also for completing the Watch Tower.  The Blue 2x6 plates are for the Hospital, the black plate is for a television at the bar in the Restaurant, the black fences are for the Laser Tag Arena, and the two white pedestals are for tables on sale at the Hardware Store and Greenhouse.

Bricks ordered from 1 2 Many Bricks

If I had bought these bricks, they would have cost me $28.50 PLUS shipping.  The BrickLink orders were less than $27 for everything, including the shipping.  It's like I got free pieces out of the deal.  The black fences, the stairs, the white pedestals, the blue door frames...  It was all a bonus.

You can wait for things to happen, or you can MAKE them happen.  I could have waited a lifetime to buy these parts from Lego.  I don't have that kind of time.  I need to finish up my Lego city now.

Lego Haul - 2/7/15

Last month, I finally broke down and decided to use my Lego VIP points to order some bricks.  I had 900 points, which is worth $45 worth of store credit.  I spent $35 on the online Pick A Brick to get pieces I needed to complete various buildings in my city.

Online Pick A Brick elements I purchased

Online Pick A Brick is not cheap.  Larger bricks, like 2x6 and 2x8, can cost 50 cents a piece, while large plates, measuring 6x16 and 8x8 can cost a buck or two.

As you can see, I got a lot of gray and brown bricks.  They never show up on the wall in the MOA Lego Store.  The wall there goes through so many brighter colored bricks that there just isn't any room for the things I want.  If I had been lucky enough to find all these bricks on the wall, I could have fit them all in a Large cup with plenty of room for more bricks.

The bricks I ordered helped me put 13 buildings together: Auto Repair Shop, City Services, Grandstand, the Police Dock at the marina, Research Lab, Restaurant, TV Studio, Barracks, Delivery Services, Greenhouse, Stables, Watch Tower, and Pony Farm.

30312 Demolition Driller bag and assembled contents

I spent $35 on the online Pick A Brick so I could get a 30312 Demolition Driller free with purchase.  It's a great addition to my Construction Site and City Services buildings.  It can drill holes in roads before they can be patched up, or on a construction site for setting up electrical wiring (I don't know, I never worked in construction).

I made the order on February 7th and got the Demolition Driller a week later, on the 14th.  The assortment of bricks didn't come until the 27th, since they were shipped from Poland.  The anticipation of the Pick A Brick portion of my order killed me, but I had so much fun putting all my bricks in place.  Especially the Watch Tower, since I completed a whole floor and started the next one below it.

The variety of the online Pick A Brick was lacking, so once I build up more VIP points, and when Lego expands their selection of pieces, I'll put the trigger on more bricks.  Stay tuned, sports fans.