Lego Haul - 12/4/17

I finally broke down and spend some of my Lego store credit on various bricks to continue construction on several of my buildings.  I ended up using $20 to get these pieces, and I'll tell you how they are going to be used now.

 

The Lego haul from 12/4/17

• The blue 2x6 and 2x8 plates will build up the last layers of my hospital's walls.
• The green 1x4 and 1x6 plates will fill in the gaps in the plates surrounding my Trevi Fountaion, which will be the centerpiece of my Plaza.
• Most of the white plates and both of the 2x4 pink bricks are for display fixtures in the Bakery
• All of the brick yellow plates are for the roof to the Pony Farm office
• The two 1x4, two 2x10, and the 1x1x1 corner bricks are finishing the Police Station walls
• The 6x8 dark grey stone plates build up the walkway for the top level of the Watch Tower.  So are the 8 1x1x1 black corner plates, as they will be used to secure the staircases between levels.
• The 1x3 and 1x6 bricks are for the display shower in the Plumber Shop.
• The brown 2x4 brick is for the Cargo Terminal.

I think that covers everything.  I should upload a second picture of this image with labels on everything.  Then change my bulleted list to a numbered one.  I think I will...  When I get a chance to do so.

Lego Haul - 9/10/17

I finally got a chance to go to the Lego store at the Mall of America last Saturday.  I originally wanted to get a large cup of bricks, some minifigures, and maybe a set or two.  Then my wife found the seasonal Halloween set.  I'm around ready to check out, making one last trip around the shelves and we saw some Lego Dimensions sets on sale.  So I grab one...  but my wife egged me on.  "Get another one, they're half off!!"  Such an enabler (but that's why I love her).

The Lego Haul for 9/10/17

It's been a while since I made such a large purchase at the Lego store.  But it felt good to do so.  There's a lot to cover here, so let's get to work.

Contents of my large Lego Cup

My large cup consisted of 2x4 bricks and nothing else.  15 white, 4 brown, 12 light blue, and about 100 pink.  The brown ones were for an additional layer to my police station.  The light blue are for redesigning the Princess Play Castle, and the pink and white ones for the Bakery I'm working on.

I haven't been seeing anything else good on the Pick-A-Brick wall at various Lego stores lately, so I think it's time to do an online order for bricks.  I've got my list ready to go, so I'll probably be ready to submit it in a week or so.

Contents of the 40260 LEGO Halloween Haunt

 40260 LEGO Halloween Haunt fully assembled with the gate closed (left) and open (right)

My wife loves Halloween mostly for the fun decorative items one can set up around the house.  Lego's are a great way to do that.  This year's set, the 40260 LEGO Halloween Haunt, is a great addition to my existing Lego sets.  I think I have enough for an outdoor Halloween haunted house-type thing.  I'll have to dig out the rest of my collection here in the coming weeks to help her get everything set up.

Contents of 60150 Pizza Van

60150 Pizza Van full assembled

Lego came out with yet another restaurant/food service type thing, and although I'm firmly in the belief that I have plenty of those kinds of sets and buildings, I had to get the 60150 Pizza Van.  Why?  BECAUSE THEY HAVE PIECES FOR INDIVIDUAL SLICES OF PIZZA.  Seriously, how can I be expected to say no to that?

I've got the Restaurant, a corner deli, separate pizza place, a grocery store, a coffee shop, a couple of hot dog carts...  There are plenty of places to eat in town.  I guess one more can't hurt.

But this is the end of it!!...  Maybe...

Three-pack of minifgures

I grabbed a three-pack of minifigures to get someone to run the Bakery, and maybe a couple of medical professionals as well.  So I grabbed a three-pack with some various accessories that could be used by others in town.

There is just one problem...  The dude at the register didn't ring them up...  Whoops.

I plan to, upon my next visit to the MOA Lego store, inform someone at my next checkout and square away my bill.

Lego's sales are down right now.  They don't need me walking out with merchandise that I didn't pay for.

Contents of 71248 Mission: Impossible Level Pack (left) and 71266 LEGO City Fun Pack (right)

71266 LEGO City Fun Pack (the first two two on the left) and 71248 Mission: Impossible Level Pack (last three on the right) fully assembled

Lego has recently started the next round of Dimensions game content updates and new sets to coincide with that.  This makes existing sets available on the cheap.  There's quite a bit of content my wife and I haven't unlocked yet.  Mainly because I rarely play it without her.  It's an activity for US to enjoy.  Especially when she unleashes on all the shit to break in the levels.  She's pretty good at figuring out some of the puzzles before I can as well.

She STRONGLY suggested getting some more sets, so I grabbed 71248 Mission: Impossible Level Pack and 71266 LEGO City Fun Pack.  It allowed us to unlock a few more levels in the game, and with the characters' abilities (like Ethan Hunt's x-ray vision), we can unlocked even more content.  Yay!!

 30428 Green Ninja Mech Dragon contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

Given the volume of stuff I purchased (regardless of how much I paid for it...), I got a free promotional 30428 Green Ninja Mech Dragon from the upcoming Lego Ninjago movie.  I don't plan on seeing it, as the Ninjago cartoon series or product line has never really appealed to me.  I'm just too old for it.  But a green dragon gives me an idea...

Uh oh, I'm thinking of building another restaurant.  Whelp. 

Everything fully assembled, surrounding the Bakery

Checking my list of the additional sets I want to buy...  Yeah, I'm going to keep have to keep going back there again and again and again...

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 - 11/15/16

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...

Hospital

When you design a Lego building with many rooms, there are lots of things to take into account to ensure you're using all the space as efficiently as possible.  A hospital is a perfect example of how we can try to overcome that obstacle.

The Hospital from various angles

My requirements for a Hospital were pretty basic.  Things I felt basic to a medical facility.  A reception/waiting room, a couple of doctor's examination rooms, a nurses' station for tracking patients in the facility, a storage room for medical equipment, a doctors' lounge for the staff to relax in, a couple of patient recovery rooms, and an emergency room for the ambulance to deliver patients to.

Reception (left) and a patient in the doctor's office (right)

Nurses' station (left) and storage closet (right)

Doctors' lounge (left) and patient rooms (right)

The ambulance bay

I also needed an operating room, but I struggled with how to configure it.  I also had some spare rooms for which I needed a purpose.  In the first iteration below, I was going to have a more advanced exam room and a second equipment storage room, but I was unable to figure out what I wanted in them.  An X-ray machine?  A treadmill?  An MRI?  I had nothing.

I then got the idea to use the storage room as a staging area for the OR.  Here, the surgeons would prepare the patient to go under the knife.  One important requirement was ensuring that a stretcher could turn the corners to get in there.  But I still had one extra room that needed a purpose no ideas to go with it.

As I was preparing this post, I realized I could move OR prep room to the extra space, and use the previous prep room to an observation area.  I already had a small window for viewing the surgery, but it was only big enough for one person to view the procedure.  With a bigger room and bigger window, several people could watch.  Perhaps the patient's family, or maybe some med students.

Evolution of the Operating Room

I still need a number of pieces to complete the building.  As you can see above, I have orange and red pieces in place, to help me keep track of which pieces are missing and still needed.  I'm preparing some more orders online for bricks to finish this off. from both Lego and vendors on BrickLink.  I need another one of those big doors as well, since I robbed from Peter to pay Paul to get the OR doors in place.

Current state of the operating room's construction

This is one building that'll be under construction for quite a while.  I'm just glad I've finally figured out where to put everything, so I'm not wasting any space here.

Sets used: 6666, 7890, 8827,

Lego Haul - 9/28/16

A few weeks ago, I helped a friend mail a guitar to some dude in Indiana.  My friend paid me back by sending me money over PayPal, so I thought the best way to put that money to use was to go on BrickLink and order some Lego bricks.

The Lego haul from 9/28

I ordered them from Jay and ADOPT-A-BRICK.  Jay is a good guy with excellent prices.  Among the bricks I got from him (and their uses):

• Black 2x4 plate - This is the base for a flat screen television to sit in the doctor's lounge at the Hospital
• 2 Blue 2x8 plates - These were used for finishing up the walls at the Hospital
• 6 Dark Blue Grey 4x8 plates and 2 Dark Blue Grey 6x8 plates - Used to build the floors inside the Watch Tower
• Dark Blue Grey 8x8 plate - I put this outside the Marina Office to build the dock outside the building
• 2 Light Blue Grey 2x2 corner tiles - They completed the meat department display area in the Grocery Store
• Trans-Clear Door 1x4x6 and White Door Frame 1x4x6 - I needed these to finish putting the dairy case display in the Grocery Store
• White Panel 2x2x2 Corner - This went into the meat department display.  I forget what's going to be held in there.  I think it's for the fried chicken...
• 2 Yellow Cone 1x1 - These are a part of the entryway to the Pyramid nightclub
• 2 Yellow 1x1 plate with a clip - I put these inside the Firehouse at the Forest Police and Fire Stations 

I didn't get much this time around, and definitely not enough to finish of any buildings, but every little bit helps.

Lego Haul - 4/26/16

I just got the other half of my Lego order in the mail Tuesday.  These are the pieces I selected from the online Pick-A-Brick.  I ordered just enough bricks to bring my order up to $75 bucks, but I got a nice assortment of bricks to help me finish off a few buildings.

The bricks I got from Lego's online Pick-A-Brick

As I did with my previous haul of bricks, I'll run down the list of the buildings I will be using them for.

• Grocery Store: The white 2x12 plates and 2x4 plates are for the final layer of bricks for the store's walls.  The white 1x3 and 2x3 plates are for the dairy case, where the milk and orange juice is stored.  The green 1x6 plates filled in a gap in the back wall where the meat department is.  The brown 3x4 boxes will hold fruits and vegetables in the produce section.  With these pieces, I'm done with the building itself and most of the interior.  I just need to organize the bakery area and put in a shelf for processed products, like cereal and chips and such.
• Hardware Store: The 2 red and 1 brown buckets are for inventory, but I'm not sure where I want to put them yet.  I'm on the fence between putting them inside or outside.  The white 1x6 and 1x8 plates are for assembling a backboard for a basketball hoop.
• Hospital: The blue 2x4 plates will go to finish building the walls.  I just need more 2x6 and 2x8 plates to finish it off.
• Islanders: The three white 1x4 bricks are for the picnic tables.  This building is now complete.
• Marina Office: The dark stone grey 8x8 plate is another piece for the dock outside the Marina Office.  I still need 5 more to finish it off, then people can start renting boats to take out on the ocean.
• Pyramid Nightclub: The yellow 1x8 plate and 1x2x2 corner plate are for the walls inside the nightclub.  I built the DJ booth into the wall, so I used these plates to level things out.  I still need a 1x3 plate to finish it off.
• Watch Tower: The dark stone grey 4x8 and 6x8 plates are for the floors in the Watch Tower.  With the former, I finished off the second floor.
• Winter Cottage: The white 4x8 plate was the last one I needed to finish covering the yard with snow, so the kids can play outside.

I need some more parts from Lego's online Pick-A-Brick.  I didn't order a door for the Grocery Store's dairy case, because I mistakenly thought I had one already.  I really need to verify what I need before I order parts online, but oh well.  I had fun regardless while putting my parts together.

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 - 2/13/16

My wife and I tried to go to the Lego store again last week to find some Series 15 minifigures, but still no luck.  As I usually do when we're at the Lego store, I looked at the Pick-A-Brick wall and filled a small cup with bricks

The small cup of bricks I purchase today

Today's haul was great, as I got nearly 40 2x6 blue plates needed to finish up my hospital. A small cup cost me less than $9, but the individual bricks, had I purchased them from Lego's website, would have cost more than that.  I can never resist a good Lego deal.  I also got the rest of the brick yellow (tan) 2x4 bricks I needed to finish up my Tech Startup Firm building.

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 - Christmas 2014

I tend to ask for Lego sets for Christmas as an adult.  I don't need stuff, as I am pretty self-sufficient, but my parents, my in-laws, and other cherished loved ones like to give me gifts because it means something to them.  Thank you to all who have contributed to my collection.

Here is what I got this year: 8804 Hockey Player, 8827 Butcher, 10674 Pony Farm, 60055 Monster Truck. 60057 Camper Van, 70804 Ice Cream Machine, 70811 The Flying Flusher, and 75034 Death Star Troopers.  I got pretty good haul, if I do say so myself.

The 2014 Christmas Haul

Now, blog posts like this are not product reviews.  There are plenty of those floating around the internet.  It's also not an unboxing and assembly (though I am posting pictures of such things).  Plenty of those out there too.  And I'm certainly not here to brag about the cool new swag I got.  I'm certainly not trying to be materialistic.

No, this post will cover what I plan TO DO with these sets and how they'll fit into my grand scheme of a Lego community.  So let's go through this set by set:

• The Hockey Player will go to the Winter Village.  After I got 40107 The Winter Skating Scene, I'm working on an ice rink for that area of town.
• The Butcher will go to the Restaurant for now, but once I get the new Toy & Grocery Store, I'll put him over there.
• The Pony Farm will be a new setup in the Lake Shore area.  I plan to expand on the design in the instructions and go bigger, as to fill up a 32x32 green baseplate.
• The Monster Truck will also go out to the Lake Shore.  For now, it'll just be a personal vehicle (although with another monster truck or two, I could expand the Fairgrounds, which will also be out at the lake).
• The Camper Van will be at the Lake Shore as well.  I'll probably put that couple in the Log Cabin.
• The Ice Cream Machine will cruise town selling ice cream,  Kinda obvious, but I can add more frozen treat type items to its inventory.
• The Flying Flusher will be the Plumber's truck.  That building is in the design stage.  The doctor will go to the hospital, and the portable toilet will go to the grandstand for the concert goers to use.
• The robotic drones from the previous two items may end up in the Marine Training Area.  They'll give my fighting forces a couple extra things to maneuver around/with/against.
• The Death Star Troopers will battle in the Laser Tag Arena.  Their laser gun, however, may also go to the Marine Training Area, though I'm not sure how I'll fit it in yet.

You'll see everything come around again as I get my blog posts written up and published.  But for now, just take a look at what I got here.  Thanks.

8827 Butcher and 8804 Hockey Player

 10674 Pony Farm contents

10674 Pony Farm assembled contents from bags 1, 2, and 3

Extra bricks from Bags 4 and 5 in 10674 Pony Farm

 60055 Monster Truck contents and assembled product

60057 Camper Van contents and assembled product 

Inside the Camper Van and the minifigure couple in the canoe

70804 The Flying Flusher contents and assembled product

70811 Ice Cream Machine contents and assembled product

 75034 Death Star Troopers contents and assembled product