Restaurant

As a part of the Lego City I was creating, I needed a place for everyone to grab a nice meal, hang out with some friends, and relax after a hard day of work.  What better place to do it at than a restaurant?

Front view of the Restaurant

Side and rear views of the restaurant

There were a few major internal elements I wanted to incorporate into my design.  A couple of outdoor tables with umbrellas for a patio, a bar with some stools for people to grab a drink, a hostess to help people find a table, a larger table for big groups of diners, and a kitchen with all the amenities.

Restaurant hostess and a grumpy business man at the bar.

The kitchen was easy to design, as I took elements from 6350 Pizza to Go to block it off from the dining area.  I placed its refrigerator in the corner.  I also used some of the roof pieces for a patio umbrella, the entryway, and the sink.

Chefs working in the kitchen

For the tables, I could only fit three inside, but I did get two out on the patio.  I put the bigger table in-between the two smaller ones.  It sits 8, where the smaller ones only have enough room for four.

Marines out for lunch at the big table

Family dinner at a smaller table

A couple of friends out for a drink on the patio

I have plenty of food stuff to serve everyone who comes in.  Drumsticks, pizza, croissants, carrots, bananas, fish, apples, clams, pie.  Almost too much food, as I have little room to actually store it in the Restaurant.  I've moved some of it to my Grocery Store, which will help this out the inventory.

Lego food

I've got plenty of Lego cups for beverages, but not enough of any one type and color to have a "standard" for the restaurant.  If I got enough of one kind, I could divvy up all the others to additional locations.

Lego cups

I've also got a lot of people to who could work at the restaurant, but I don't know where to put them all.  Among the guys potentially out of work include a couple of pizza guys, Taco Tuesday Man, and a couple of Diner Waitresses.

71007 Pizza Delivery Man and 71004 Taco Tuesday Man

The pizza delivery guy and truck from 6350 Pizza to Go

Two 71002 Diner Waitresses

Sets used: 6350, 71000, 71002, 71004, 71007

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.

Lego Haul - 1/3/15

The new year brings many great things to us.  One of the greatest things it brings me is new Lego sets.  After Christmas and my birthday, I've got $240 in Lego gift cards burning a hole in my pocket.  My wife and I went to the Mall of America Lego store yesterday, where I was hoping to get all of the new 71008 Series 13 Lego Minifigures, a 70818 Double Decker Couch from the Lego Movie, and a free 40140 Flower Wagon set for spending $75 at the Lego store.

It was slim pickings at the Lego store.  It turns out they were open on New Years Day (I wasn't sure if they would with it being a national holiday, and I had more important things to do that day, as my beloved Golden Gophers had a bowl date with Missouri).  There weren't many Lego Minifigures to choose from, as there were about 40 or so in the small bin.  The store was out of Double Decker Couch sets, if they even had any to begin with.  I didn't see a place on the shelf that marked where they would have been.  Several other sets I would have wanted were also nowhere to be found.  It did not look good for Homestar Runner.

Fortunately, I was able to adapt.  I only grabbed 11 Lego Minifigures, but I got to $75 with a 31035 Beach Hut and a 40120 Valentine's Day Dinner set, which my wife noticed before I had a chance to.

The haul for Saturday, January 3rd, 2015.

I may not have found what I originally wanted, but I was happy with what I got.  I've still got $150 in store credit left, and I'm sure they'll restock the shelves in the coming weeks.  I'm ready to get my ticket punched, after I get through the next several days.

The January 3rd, 2015 haul fully assembled.

What do I plan to do with my new Lego sets?  I'm glad you asked...

• The Beach Hut will be placed out at the Lake Shore.
• The Valentine's Day Dinner may go to the Restaurant, but I haven't decided yet.  It'll just be decoration until I figure it out.
• The Flower Wagon will go in the Plaza area.
• The Alien Trooper, Goblin, Lady Cyclops, Sheriff, and Snake Charmer minifigs will go to the costume party at the Grandstand.
• The Carpenter minifig will work at the Construction Site.
• The Egyptian Warrior minifig will be a Marine.
• The Fencer minifig is to be determined.
• The Galaxy Trooper minifig will work as a referee in the Laser Tag Arena.
• The Paleontologist minifig will go to the Research Lab.

10 of the 16 Series 13 Lego Minifigures

40140 Flower Wagon

40120 Valentine's Day Dinner contents and fully assembled

31035 Beach Hut contents

31035 Beach Hut open/front and closed/side views

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