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.

Grandstand

With the Minnesota State Fair wrapping up in a few days, I'll close out my two-part fair series with the Grandstand.  The State Fair always has good rock acts come through, and this year is no different, with Weezer playing this Saturday night.  They are my favorite band, so I have to check them out every time they come to town.

The Grandstand

The Grandstand is a combination of two ideas.  The first, a pavilion stage that one would find in a park for bands to play on.  It's just a platform with a wall and partial roof over it.  There are stairs leading up to the stage on both sides.  It's just enough to be useful, and that's all I ever try to do with all my buildings.

The band performing on stage

The second inspiration was trying to build a drum set out of Lego bricks.  I came up with the conceptual designs in Lego Digital Designer.  How could I get a bass drum and cymbals arranged in a small space so that the drummer can reasonably reach everything without feeling crammed in.  I don't have any toms mounted above the bass drum, but I think this worked.

 Conceptual design of a drum kit front (left) and rear (right)

:Lego beat me to the punch with the 850486 Rock Band Minifigure Accessory Set, but there were a couple of elements missing from their set that were in my conceptual design.  There was no kick pedal, but no big deal.  I just used the one from this Lego set.  I put it up on a platform, so it'd be above the rest of the band, like drummers in actual bands do.

 

 

The drummer banging it out on his drum kit.

Once I had the drumming situation figured out, I built the rest of the band around him.  I figured a bassist, a lead singer, and three guitar players would round things out.  Of course, I wound up with a few extra musicians.  I've still got an 8831 Rocker Girl, a 71002 Saxophone Player, an 8831 Bagpiper, and a newly acquired 71013 Mariachi.  I could put the Saxophone Guy in the band, and maybe the Rocker Girl (you can never go wrong with more guitars), but with my limited stage space, I don't have room for them up there.

Additional musicians (left to right) Rocker Girl, Saxophone Player, Bagpiper, and Mariachi

We've settled on who's performing at the Grandstand, but who's going to the show?  Easy, it's the minifigures dressed up in costume.  The band is playing AT A COSTUME PARTY.  It's brilliant!!  A concert is a great excuse to put on a bright, colorful outfit, like a zombie, a shark suit, or a Ninja Turtle, and wear it out in public.

Costume partygoers enjoying the music at their shindig

As always, the best way to build a Lego town is to take the pieces you have and build around them, not the other way around.

Sets used: 8684, 8804, 8831, 71002, 71007, 71013, 850486

Lego Haul - 4/8/16

Last weekend, I went onto my favorite secondary market for Lego pieces, Bricklink, and bought some bricks from one of my favorite vendors, ADOPT_A_BRICK.

This was my third time ordering from Jay, who is in Florida.  He's got a great selection, good prices, and fast service.  I highly recommend checking him out first when you're looking to buy bricks from people on Bricklink.

The Lego Haul from ADOPT_A_BRICK on Bricklink, which arrived on 4/8/16.

I got a good variety of pieces for several buildings, so I'll run down the list of what goes where here:

• Barracks: The window panes will do into the windows on the second floor.  I still don't have a frame to put them in, but those frames are the last pieces I need to complete this building.
• Grandstand: 4 for the 5 black 2x2 plates with a single stud are for microphone stands.  This will allow a couple of the guitar players to sing backup vocals in the band.
• Greenhouse: The round plate with the 4 studs and the corner plates finish up a couple of items outside the Hardware Store.  I'll be writing more about this next week.
• Grocery Store: The medium blue 1x1x2/3 roof tiles are the lids to some milk cartons sitting in the dairy case in the corner of the store.
• Hospital: The blue 2x8 and 2x10 plates will complete the last layer for the walls to this building.  I still need a good number of 2x8's, but I'm making progress.
• Laser Tag Arena: The Technic 1x10 brick (with the holes in the side) completed an obstacle on the second floor, while the 6x12 plate with studs around the outside is in the briefing room, where the officials review the rules with those who will be participating in laser tag.
• Marina Office: The dark stone grey 8x8 plate is to build the dock outside the office.
• Pyramid Nightclub: The yellow 6x10 plate is the overhang to the entrance into the nightclub.
• TV Studio: The last black 2x2 plate with a single stud will be the base of the camera in the studio broadcasting the news broadcast.
• Watch Tower: The dark stone grey 4x8 plates are for the floors in the Watch Tower.  I've nearly got one floor completely done, I just need one more of these pieces to finish it off.
• Winter Cottage: The white 2x2 plate with a single stud is the base for the broom held by the snowmen outside of the cottage.

Most of these pieces are for buildings I have not yet completed, but I'm much closer than I was before, and all for less than $13.  Bricklink and its vendors are so good to me, it's scary.

Lego Haul - 9/27/15

My wife and I went to Target on Sunday, and usually while we're there, I'll take a quick peek at what they have to Lego sets.  Good thing we checked this time around...

We were debating a trip to the Lego store at the Mall of America, but we didn't want to venture that far Sunday morning, as we were pretty run down from activities on Saturday (Minnesota Golden Gopher homecoming football game).  We had to make a Target run to pick up some essentials, however, and it turned out to be the route to go, as we FINALLY found Series 14 minifigures.

We grabbed 12 minifigures, as we were unwilling to check ALL the bags they had there, and we were pretty confident in our selections.  Our haul included a Fly Monster, a Banshee, a Wacky Witch, a Monster Rocker (or as we called him, Frankenstein Guitar Player), a Skeleton Guy, a Square Foot (Bigfoot), a Tiger Woman, a Wolf Guy, a Zombie Pirate, and a Zombie Businessman.

All these monsters (the theme for Series 14, since it's nearly Halloween) will be hanging out at the costume party at the Grandstand.  I'll also use them as decorations for All Hallow's Eve to give my sets that spooky flare.

I also grabbed a sand baseplate so I can develop a physical model for a beach, but that's a story for another day...

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.