Marina

I may not have mentioned this in the past, or maybe I did.  Maybe you inferred from the context of or the pictures of my Lego city.  In any case, I'll just tell you.  It's a coastal city.  It always has been.  At first is was along a lake, but after I developed ideas for buildings alongside it, it lies next to the ocean.

A wide shot of the virtual model for the Marina

I came up with a number of items to put on the coast that I considered "standard" for a city by the sea.  A launch ramp for boat owners to get their crafts into the water.  An office building to oversee coastal operations.  Some docks for those who need to come ashore.

The Launch Ramp, Marina Office, and Docks

I'm still trying to find things to put by the ocean.  I'm missing some beachfront property, and I'd also like to put a scientific oceanic research facility there as well (I have several Aquazone sets from the mid-90's that need a purpose).  Before I created my Lake Shore area outside the city, I did have some of the housing units oceanside, but I ended up with too many, hence the creation of the Lake Shore.  Live and learn, I suppose...

The Police Dock and Marina Shop

Thanks to my Marine Base, I felt they needed an outpost along the sea to look out for oncoming invasion forces.  Sure, it sounds a bit medieval, but so are the men and women stationed here.  A couple of cannons, some patrol boats, pirates and knights armed with guns and swords.  No one is getting by these forces.

The Marine Fortification

Over the next few months, I'll go more in depth into the buildings on the coastline.  Just wanted to get you a bit of a preview here, so take a look and maybe you'll get some ideas as well.

Lego Haul - 11/27/16

My wife and I just came back from California, so we needed to run to Target to pick up some household supplies.  Every time we go to Target, we have to stroll by the Lego aisle to see what they've got on the shelf.  This time, they had some 30474 Reindeer sets on the end cap.  We though it'd be a great addition to the Santa Claus and Elves' Workshop sets I got earlier this month.

30474 Reindeer purchased at Target

30474 Reindeer contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

After I got the Reindeer assembled, I went downstairs to check the mail.  I found my online Pick-A-Brick order inside the box, so I ran upstairs and double-checked the order to ensure everything was here.  I got all my bricks.

Contents of my online Pick-A-Brick order from Lego's website

I only paid a few bucks for shipping, as I used VIP store credit for the bricks themselves.  These pieces are for completing or progressing with several buildings, as detailed below.

• Grandstand:  Two medium stone grey plate 2x2 angle pieces will hold speakers for pumping out the jams being performed on stage.
• Grocery Store: Three yellow green 1x1 bricks with the orange juice decals will go into the dairy case in the store.  Orange juice should always be refrigerated.
• Marina Office: The dark stone grey 16x16 plate finished off the floor for this building, so it is now complete.
• Winter Village: I don't remember what I was going to do with the white 1x2 plate with a single knob.  The note I had on my list didn't specify WHAT building in the Winter Village this was meant for.  I'll figure it out.
• Hospital: I got a blue 1x6 flat tile and a clear 1x6x5 wall element for the window between the observation and operating rooms.  The two blue 2x4 plates will help me finish up the walls on top.
• Pony Farm: All of the brick yellow pieces pictured above are for building the office at the Pony Farm.  Like the horse barn mentioned in my previous post, I need to make this building a bit larger to fit everyone and everything comfortably.
• Pyramid nightclub: The yellow 1x3 plate allowed me to finish up the inside wall at the Pyramid nightclub, in the area around the DJ booth.
• Watch Tower: Not sure why I ordered six dark stone grey 4x8 plates, as I only needed four to complete the third floor inside the Watch Tower.  It will remain a mystery.

I also got a dark stone grey 1x4 brick for some purpose that I did not document.  I'll also have to track down the cause of this acquisition.  Plenty of bricks to keep me busy until Christmas here.  Should be lots of fun.

Lego Haul - 11/21/16

I'm currently in California for Thanksgiving to visit my in-laws, and to kill some time, my wife and I went to the Lego store at Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento.  It's smaller than the Mall of America store, but why not, it may have the bricks I'm looking for.  And it did.

The Lego Haul from 11/21/16

Unlike the MOA Lego store, this one had the brick yellow 2x4 bricks I need to wrap up construction on the Pony Farm.  I needed 78 of them to assemble the building for housing the horses, and that's how many fit inside a small cup.  It's a match made in heaven.
 

The horse barn at the Pony Farm.

I threw in some other pieces to fill out the cup for some future projects.  What those are, I do not know yet.  It's always nice to have a variety of bricks on hand for anything that might come to mind.  For now, I'll stay focused on the Pony Farm.  After assembling the barn for housing the horses, I'll need a few more bricks to ensure they have enough room in there.

Lego Haul - 11/15/16

I went out to BrickLink again to get some more Lego pieces.  This time around, I visited a new vendor and got some parts for my Watch Tower and Hospital.

The Lego Haul from 11/15/16

The dark stone grey 6x8 plates and the black staircase are for the Watch Tower.  I nearly have the floor for the third level complete.  I need 4 more staircases and about a dozen dark stone grey 6x8 plates to finish that building off.  I'm aiming to get that finished up in the coming months so I can get the blog post written up this winter.

The 2x12 blue plate and white door 1x6x6 Freestyle are for the Hospital.  That building is barely closer to completion, but I've got an order of bricks on their way from Lego right now with more Hospital parts.  Stay tuned, folks...

Construction Site

As I acquire more and more Lego's, I try to find purposes for them.  Over the last few years, I've been getting more construction-related sets, so why not create a Construction Site to house them all?

The foreman's trailer for overseeing construction

I needed a building to house the foreman's office, the construction plans, and other things used to supervise the building process.  I'm not familiar with this industry, so I'm sure there is more I need inside, but it's there and it takes up space, which is really all I needed here.

A construction worker discussing saws with the foreman.

Outside the office, I put a couple of portable bathrooms, in case anyone working on site runs into digestive issues.  These also aren't all that fancy.  I focused more on making it look good on the outside than in.  But who needs a fancy toilet anyways?

A couple of portable restrooms in case anyone needs to..., well, you know...

I have plenty of vehicles to help with construction.  What are they building?  I don't know yet.  I haven't gotten that far yet.  When I'm ready, I've got a crane, a couple of cherry picker, a couple of earth movers, a cement truck, a jackhammer.  Plenty of tools to help break up and move dirt, lift items into the air, and get people up to perform bonding operating (hammering, welding, etc.).

All the vehicles on site at the Construction Site

I've got a number of leftover pieces from some construction-related Lego sets that I need to find a use for.  I haven't been able to invent a new vehicle to add into the mix, but then again, I don't know what I'll need or want.  Without a building for everyone here to start working on, how would anyone know what you'd need to construct it?

Extra pieces to make stuff to help with the construction efforts

I've got a basic idea for a building framework for these workers to put together.  I need to get a baseplate and some bricks together to get it started so I have something to show for it.  Maybe during the time between Christmas and New Year's, when I have the week off of work, I can start something.  We'll see...

Sets used:  3179, 6514, 10657, 30151, 30229, 30312, 60072, 60073, 71008

Lego Haul - 11/5/16

I went to the Lego store at the Mall of America, looking to pick up a small cup of 2x4 brick yellow bricks for my Pony Farm, but surprisingly, they did not have any on the Pick-a-Brick Wall.  The MOA store is usually great about having this staple bricks in all colors on the bottom two rows, but not luck this time around.  Sigh...

My wife and I did find the 2016 Christmas holiday sets.  We got one each of 40205 Elves' Workshop and 40206 Santa Claus.  Like the other holiday sets from 2016, they are figures you build with bricks, purely designed for decoration.

The Lego Haul from 11/5/16

40205 Elves' Workshop contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

40206 Santa Claus contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

The display figures that Lego came out with this year are a nice change of pace compared to last year's holiday scenes or the 2014 animals.  I'm curious as to what direct Lego goes next year.  We'll find out in January when Valentine's Day comes around.  Or sooner.  If you know something that I don't, I'd love to hear it.

The elves and Santa hard at work gearing up for Chrismas

Lego Haul - 10/30/16

My wife and I were finally able to get Lego Dimensions working after the 2.0.0 update, so we lifted our band on buying sets for that game.

The Lego Haul from 10/30/16

We did have to wait a couple of days before playing the new content, as I had a midterm exam on Halloween (seriously, who does that?).  I did get a little anxious opening the boxes and forgot to take pictures of their contents.

71247 Harry Potter Team Pack (left) and 71228 The Ghostbusters Level Pack (right), both fully assembled

We got 71228 The Ghostbusters Level Pack, 71242Ghostbusters Story Pack, and 71247 Harry Potter Team Pack.  This really helped open up a bunch of content.  We got to play the classic Ghostbusters content, plus the new The Shard realm. 

71242 Ghostbusters Story Pack contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

The ability to capture ghosts was paramount to completing several levels with 100% completion, in addition to more gold bricks in the free play worlds.  Harry Potter and Voldemort add some new unique abilities like Diffindo and Parseltongue Doors.  Not sure what that means, as we've only done the first level of the new realm.

That new realm rocks, as it follows the plot of the new Ghostbusters movie.  Fortunately, my wife and I are able to share Holtzmann like two civilized adults.  Kate McKinnon is so good...

All the new Lego Dimensions products, assembled and ready to go

With the new Lego Dimensions sets, I'll have to seriously revise my Lego Dimensions Cost Analysis report.  I've got a list of the new characters' abilities, but until I understand those that were not in the original game, I won't throw it together.  I'll be sure to include vehicle abilities as well.  Some vehicles can make characters  redundant.

Of course, at this point, I'm probably going to end up buying everything and recommending that you should do the same.