Lego Haul - 3/11/17

It's Double VIP points time at the Lego store again.  Of course I had to go buy some sets.  Who wouldn't?

The Lego Haul from 3/11/17

 
There's a lot on my want list these days.  I've paid off my wife's engagement ring, and I'm getting a small raise at work, so I've got a bit more disposable income these days.  I debated about what to get, constantly flip flopping between a few different items to purchase.  Fortunately, my wife had a wonderful suggestion.  "Get sets that you don't expect someone else to buy for you".

Or something like that.  It really helped.  For example, I don't expect to ever get Lego Classic sets for any occasion.  They're just totes with loose bricks.  I NEED bricks.  Not necessarily the ones that come in these sets.  But they do have their uses.

Contents of 10698 Lego Large Creative Brick Box

 
The bricks of interest from my 10698 Lego Large Creative Brick Box include some bright purple roof tiles and cool yellow bricks to add onto the 10686 Family House I got for Christmas a few years ago.  The flame yellowish orange bricks will be used as hay at the Pony Farm.  Yeah, hay isn't orange, but so what?  They're my bricks, I can do what I want with them.  The yellow roof tiles will be used for the Pyramid nightclub.  The other yellow pieces I have in the picture below could be used for my School Bus idea.

I also built the camera from the instructions included with this set.  Well, not included.  They are online.  If you wanna check it out, just visit the Lego website.  They are at https://www.lego.com/en-us/classic/activities/booklets/10698-camera-d2d6ba9de3924aefbaa6b5f648a69d9f.

The best bricks from 10698 Lego Large Creative Brick Box

I also thought about the release dates of sets on my wanted list.  I should get the oldest sets first.  So I picked up 76060 Doctor Strange's Sanctum Santorum.

 76060 Doctor Strange's Sanctum Santorum contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

That's one more Marvel superhero marked off the list.  Lego now has a 76078 Hulk vs. Red Hulk, so that'll help me mark another one off.  And Guardians of the Galaxy sets are out now as well, ahead of the Volume 2 movie release in May.  Just need a Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, and Vision.  Oh, and Agent "Phil" Coulson.

Lego was also giving away free 30351 Police Helicopter sets.  I wish they'd choose something besides police helicopters.  I have plenty already.

30351 Police Helicopter contents (left) and fully assembled (right)

I need to take all the police helicopters I have an build a bigger one.  One to rival the size of the 60010 Fire Helicopter...  Hmmm...

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 - 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 - 2/6/16

It's February, and Lego is cranking up the brick machines again.  When I started building my town four years ago, the early months of the year (January through March), it was slim pickings at the Lego store.  The company didn't do much to release new sets, usually waiting for mid-Spring to put the new sets out.

This is no longer the case, as the world's largest toymaker is now running production all 12 months these days.  As such, I tried to go get the new Series 15 minifigures and a Valentines Cupid Dog yesterday.  Sadly, my local Lego store was sold out of minfigs, but I did get the holiday set.  And I filled a small cup with bricks.

The Lego haul for 2/6/16

First, the 40201 Valentines Cupid Dog.  I found it odd that Lego used a dog, but considering they used a bear two years ago,...  I dunno, maybe that's how Danes celebrate this greeting card holiday.  It's a good dog model, so I won't get get out of shape over it.

40201 Valentines Cupid Dog contents

My cup of bricks was a melange of items.  The brick yellow 2x4 would help me finish off my tech startup building (but not enough, as I am still five bricks short.  Those blue plates with the two corners cut off will be used for a small octagonal outdoor table at someone's house.  The yellow 1x2 slopes are going to be bricks for the outside of the Pyramid Nightclub.

Fully assembled 40201 Valentines Cupid Dog and my Pick-A-Brick small cup contents

Other pieces will used for something else later.  What, I have no idea.  I was looking for inspiration on the Pick-A-Brick wall but couldn't come up with anything. I'm too focused on finishing up existing buildings with final details to think of bigger stuff to build.

Late October 2015 hauls

I've bought a lot of Lego sets and bricks lately, but haven't had a chance to sit down and write about them until now.  I had a paper to write for class, a Gopher football game to be disappointed by, a Jim Gaffigan show to attend (so freakin' hilarious), and work.  I finally got the chance to put finish everything together this weekend.

I bought a sand baseplate at Target, but since that's only one piece, I don't need to get into that (just yet).  I also ran to the Lego store on October 25th to grab a 10249 Winter Toy Shop and some yellow and sand 2x4 bricks.

Lego Haul from 10/25/15

The Winter Toy Shop will go with the rest of my Christmas-themed sets.  I have the Winter Village Cottage from 2012, the Winter Village Market from 2013, Santa's Workshop from 2014, so this makes me 4-for-4 for the exclusive seasonal sets.  Not that I'm keeping score or anything.  Seriously, I'm not, because I'm not trying to collect every single set out there.  I don't have that much money to spend on Lego's, geez...

10249 Winter Toy Shop (left) and 40138 Holiday Train, a large and a small Pick-A-Brick cop (right)

Obviously, the Winter Toy Shop and Christmas Train will go to the Mountain Village area outside of my Lego city.  My scheduled posts for November, December, and January will go into detail as to its progress, so stay tuned.

Pick-A-Brick cup contents

The Pick-A-Brick contents were almost entirely 2x4 bricks.  Yellow for my Pyramid nightclub, sand for my Tech Startup (for which The Big Bang Theory set will be used as the basis).  More on this later.

10249 Winter Toy Shop contents

The Winter Toy Shop is a bit redundant when paired with Santa's Workshop.  Two toy assembly sets is a bit overkill, even if one of those is also a retail facility.  I'd like to put them on a single baseplate, but that would be too crammed for a 32x32 area.  I'll place the two buildings side-by-side.

10249 Winter Toy Shop fully assembled

The Holiday Train is purely decorative.  I don't think I'll actually use it in my mountain village.  I'll put it on the shelf when Christmas rolls around every year.

40138 Holiday Train contents (right) and fully assembled

Now, let's get to the fun part: Online Pick-A-Brick.  I cashed in $10 of store credit to get various pieces to continue construction of several buildings.  These pieces went to the Grocery Store, Pyramid nightclub, Islanders luau, and Watch Tower.

Pick-A-Brick online order contents

Many of the white, gray, and green pieces built the meat department in the Grocery Store.  I'm built the layout of the Grocery Store around this counter.  I'll work on the next phase of construction soon, with another Online Pick-A-Brick order in late November or early December.

The meat department at the Grocery Store

The 2x4 yellow bricks I got at the Lego store allowed me to finish building the inner portion of the top of the Pyramid.  1x6 yellow bricks from the online order completed the inner wall for the bottom portion.  Now that walls are complete, I can figure out some the internal layout for a DJ booth, a bar, and a storage area inside the wall of the lower portion.  I still need 755 2x2 slope pieces, which I figure will take three large Pick-A-Brick cups to finish off the external sloping sides.

Top (left) and bottom (right) portions of the Pyramid nightclub.

I forgot to order four 1x4 white bricks for the picnic tables at the Islanders luau.  Otherwise, this complete.

Current progress of the Islanders luau

My online Pick-A-Brick order also had a couple of 2x4 medium stone grey plates to close up a gap next to the Watch Tower door.  I move the door up by one-third of a brick to close up a gap between the door and the arch above it, which created a gap at the bottom.  A 2x12 plate with four 2x4 plates (two on each side) took care of that, so there's no physical security breach anymore.

The gap in the Watch Tower doorway is no more

The sand baseplate I got at Target?  The 2x4 sand bricks from my Lego run on the 25th?  Remember those?  They and the Big Bang Theory set will be my Tech Startup Firm.  Not sure what to do with the whole crew, as you don't need that many people to manage the websites of all the Lego businesses and government entities.  Since they are biologists, I'll probably put Bernadette and Amy to work in the Medical Research Lab.  Penny and the guys should be able to run the IT web infrastructure for everyone, but even five people many be too many.  We'll see once I get the rest of the building laid out and assembled.

Tech Startup Firm enjoying dinner while discussing their clients

Lego Haul - 10/3/15

Made another Lego run this weekend.  But it got me thinking about this blog and what I'm trying to accomplish here.  Stay tuned for that post later this week...

The haul from October 3rd, 2015

I wasn't sure what to get this time around, because I had no idea what would be available.  My wife pretty much found everything for me.  I'll start with the large cup I filled.

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The contents of my large Pick-A-Brick cup.

The Pick-A-Brick wall was fully restocked with new product.  Nearly every bin was completely filled up.  Gone were the yellow 2x2 slope bricks, but they were replaced with yellow 1x4 bricks, which I needed for the inner wall to the Pyramid Nightclub.  I need some 1x6 bricks to finish up that inner wall, but I had enough to build up three more layers of 2x4 bricks.

I'm about 700 slope bricks short of building up the pyramid, but I'm at a point where I can start considering the internal layout.  A bar, a DJ's booth, a dance floor... This place is going to be off the hook.

Current progress of the Pyramid Nightclub

My wife located 40123 Thanksgiving Feast on the shelf and grabbed it right away.  Sure, Thanksgiving is still a couple months away, but as we've learned, you have to get while the gettin' is good.  I was so excited to put this set together that I forgot to take pictures of the three bags of pieces and instructions contained in the box.  It will go great with my other Thanksgiving sets, which will be featured in a future post.

40123 Thanksgiving Feast fully assembled.

The Lego Store at the Mall of America finally got some Series 14 minifigures in stock (or maybe just managed to hold onto some).  I needed five to complete the set, and we got them all.  They were pretty easy to feel out, as the parts to identify them were very unique to each minifigure..

Gargoyle, Plant Monster, Specter, Zombie Cheerleader, and Spider Lady

Not sure when the next haul is coming, as I'm awaiting the Holiday 2015 catalog to come in the mail.  Until then, I don't feel like I have much direction.  Like I said, I have to figure out what my next steps are here.

Lego Haul - 9/19/15

My wife and I went to the Lego store yesterday morning, and we're still not finding any Series 14 minifigures.  There were plenty of Series 13, and they were cheap.  Only 98 cents a piece.  Maybe we have to wait six months before we can find them.  Since we didn't find what we were looking for, I decided to grab more bricks for my Pyramid nightclub.

A large and a small cup of Lego bricks

I managed to get 161 yellow 2x4 bricks and 167 yellow roof tile 2x2.  I also grabbed a few other pieces, which I'll get to later.

Contents of the Pick-A-Brick cups (left), neatly stacked (right)

I went a little overboard with trying to put all the pieces together so they'd fit in the cups.  As you can see below, I cut my finger.  I didn't notice it at first.  The red marks on the yellow bricks clued me in.  Totally worth it.

No pain, no gain

I also grabbed a few bricks to finish off the Alligator model.  I'm still missing a yellowish green 2x2 plate for the body, but I'll probably get that through online Pick-A-Brick.

A nearly completed Alligator Pick-A-Brick model

With the bricks I've purchased, I was able to two levels of the exterior, and start on the third.  Although I have plenty of bricks to keep building up, stability of those bricks becomes and issue, so I'm holding off on construction until I get more 1x4 and 1x6 bricks for the inner wall.  I still need about 755 roof tiles and 175 2x4 bricks for the main body.  Filling the cups as I did this time around will take care of the bricks, and then probably two large cups of just roof tiles for the rest.  I hope to find the thinner bricks on the wall at some point before I finish this thing off.

The Pyramid nightclub construction progress, with the alligator enjoying the party.

Lego Haul - 9/7/15

Happy Labor Day everyone.  You know, designing a Lego city is a labor of love.  I put many hours into constructing buildings, laying everything out, planning for more...  It's not a full-time job, but I think about it like it is.

I do my best to stay on top of upcoming sets, to get them as soon as possible.  This past Monday provided me with yet another opportunity, when I picked up a 40122 Trick or Treat.

The haul from Labor Day 2015

The holiday scenes Lego came out with this year have been excellent.  Both the Valentine's Day Dinner and the Painting Easter Eggs sets make nice decorations and great additions to the civilian population.  I hope Lego plans to come out with more of them in the future.  I know there will be one for Thanksgiving, and Lego is always on top of their game for Christmas.  I look forward to adding them to my collection.

Contents and assembled 40122 Trick or Treat

I saw that the Pick-A-Brick wall at the Lego store had some yellow 2x2 roof tiles, which I need for my Pyramid nightclub.  I only had a small cup with me so I only grabbed 43 of them.  I grabbed 57 yellow 2x4 bricks and 8 yellow 2x6 bricks for the same purpose.  There's still a long way to go, as I need 922 roof tiles and 336 2x4 bricks, which would take up about 5 LARGE cups to fill.

Yellow bricks for my Pyramid nightclub

I've got like $45 worth of Lego store credit burning a hole in my pocket.  I want to use it for online Pick-A-Brick shopping, but it looks like slim pickings right now.  I need to sit down and make a list of my next purchase of individual bricks, and then we'll take it from there.

Lego Haul - 1/6/15

As a birthday present to myself, I ordered a 10682 Lego Creative Suitcase.  It didn't have any minifigures (which I knew) and no instructions (which I did not know).  It's kind of vanilla, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to have more bricks.

10682 Lego Creative Suitcase box

Contents of 10682 Lego Creative Suitcase

Bricks included in 10682 Lego Creative Suitcase

The best part of this entire set were the 16 Corner Brick 2x2/45° sloping brick.  I'm going to need a lot of them to build my Pyramid nightclub.

16 yellow Corner Brick 2x2/45° pieces included in 10682 Lego Creative Suitcase

All the bricks from 10682 Lego Creative Suitcase that would be used for the Pyramid nightclub.

I came up with the idea a couple of years ago, after I moved down to the Twin Cities.  With all my buildings, I didn't have a cool place for the Lego people to hang out at during the evenings.  I went backwards on this design.  First, I build a physical model, THEN I went digital.

Pyramid proof of concept physical model

Pyramid digital model (top) and physical model (bottom)

As you may be able to tell from my models, the original layout was for a 32x32 baseplate, but I determined that it only left me with about a 16x16 internal space, which wouldn't be a very big nightclub.  I had to go bigger.  I had to use a 48x48 baseplate to ensure I could have internal elements, like a DJ booth, a bar, a bouncer, and other typical nightclub fare.

Completed digital Pyramid model with 48x48 baseplate

I still have to add those internal items.  I haven't figured out how to make them fit yet, and the digital model is not conducive to that.  I have to go back to the physical model.

Costs of the building are also not in my favor.  Yet.  I need three large cups of 2x4 bricks, nearly 1000 2x2 roof tile bricks (also about three large cups worth), and 76 of the corner slopes, which you can't even buy individually from Lego's online Pick-A-Brick.  Putting this together is going to be a massive effort, probably running me close to $200.  At least.

Current building progress of the Pyramid Nightclub

For now, the trendy new hotspot won't be completed for years.  But it'll be pretty happenin' once it's finished.