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.

TV Station

About 10 or 15 years ago, my sister was kind enough to give me her Lego's.  We'd play together quite a bit as kids, although we had very different styles.  I played the "right way", giving equal focus to everything going on in town, thinking big picture, operating an egalitarian society.  She wanted special treatment, to be in charge of certain aspects of the town, and ignoring others.  It annoyed me.

The TV studio

She did, however, have good taste in Lego's.  A pizzeria, beachfront property, and maybe best of all, a television news crew.  When my town was smaller, it seemed a bit ridiculous, but now, it's brilliant.  There's so much going on in town (and even the region) that news broadcasts are necessary to let the citizens know what's going on.

The Action 4 News team!!

The basic pieces of the studio, which is just a newsroom, was to have a desk for all the reporters to sit at, with a screen between the two newscasters.  You know, when they bring up an image for the next story they'll be reporting on.  In front and to the right, is the greenscreen for the weather forecasts and maps.  On the other side, there sits a desk for the producer to oversee the broadcast and a technician to ensure it there aren't any disruptions in the broadcast.

The weatherman showing the Doppler radar map (left), while the technician and producer prepare the next segment

I'm missing a few elements to complete this building, but as you can see, it's functional.  I wish I had some more minifigure pieces, like a navy colored suit for the sports guy (far left at the news desk), and also some more equipment in the newsroom (like a couple of stands for the cameras.

I used the mobile news team below to show how the studio would operate in the studio shots above, but they'd primarily work out in the field.  The gal would still function as producer, but the two cameramen would stay out in the field.  I need a field reporter and a dedicated helicopter pilot.  A bigger news van would be nice too, as only one person fits in the current one.  If it could carry two people and equipment, that'd be ideal.

The mobile news team preparing to go out into the field

The news van (left) and helicopter (right)

The mobile news team is ready to roll out

Sets used: 6553

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.