The LEGO Corner

[lee gray]

Got this for just £1 today as a staff stock clearout

 

[sith-smith]

Cool! 8)

 

[monkey_roo]

That is great.

 

[monkey_roo]

May the 4th weekend is fast approaching and the legomoffer and set release this year is a very nice looking UC Tie Fighter, free poster and free Admeral minifig. All being discussed on brickset - http://www.bricksetforum.com/discussion/19488/uk-may-the-4th-lego-store-offers

The tie is a must have for me, even above the recently released helicarrier, also a lot cheaper than the helicarrier. Also or ours broke this week that the next UCS will be a full on Hoth set (again), but supposedly closer to the recent ewok village or Death Star...

 

[Stormtrooper37]

Not another Hoth Set :| Have Lego overproduced on white bricks or something :?

We need BESPIN sets FFS!

 

[sith-smith]

What more hoth wise could they do that they haven't already done?

The power generators? :?

 

[monkey_roo]

The roumor is it is a big ass complex playset, part death star part ewok village in style, I think after years of partial Hoth sets this might be one last crack at doing it right and then move on. there are also romours of an upgraded death star out there, but i think they might be like the Falcon roumors from a few months back.

Anyway, i have been getting all Avengers right now and what a film, but back to lego, this is my attempt to combine two Avenger towers sets to make one complete looking tower. Kept the same scale and made room for Iron Patriot and a nice recption area, not a major build but quite satisfying.

 

[monkey_roo]

a quick trip to Westfield saw a fair amount of Lego bought today for May the 4th, the helicarrier snuck into my bag, if that is possible, but the main attraction was the new UCS Tie-Fighter, it really does look spanking in the brick, the wings are massive and if you have the X-Wing and others to sit along side it then it will look great. The Admeral Yuleran figure is nice, maybe odd as a choice but well printed and will look nice mixed in with other Death Star commanders.
The discounts were pretty poor, but that is normal these days.
There were some fun stickers and bits and bobs in store for the kids. Now I have a lot of building over the coming months

 

[sith-smith]

Quick bit of price advice

I'm really looking to get all the modular sets. I know some are really expensive (even though they are all over the internet for sale!!)

What sort of prices would I be looking at for all the discontinued ones? Is eBay the best place to go?

 

[FLETCH]

Hi everyone not posted anything on the forum for a while as I gave up collecting vintage Star Wars a few years back and only collect lego now. I like what you have done with the tower monkey roo I did the same with the sw cantina set as I thought the original was to small

Gary have you looked at brick link I don't collect modulars but I know the early modulars like conner cafe and green grocers fetch silly money now people even go to the effort of buying individual part orders from bricklink to build these sets. The problem is there are thousands of adults like yourself that want these sets. If I ever was to collect them I would just get all the ones still available at retail and the ones still available at reasonable prices in the secondary market and forget the rest they bring a new one out every year anyway.

 

[monkey_roo]

Hey Gary
Looks like you have some good advice already on the modulars. I would buy the ones currently available from Lego directly at RRP, these rarely go on sale, if ever and you are guaranteed a new one a year for the forseeable future.

Bricklink, Brickowl and Brickset are all sites you can try for second hand sales on the other modulars, however, eBay is sadly the most likely avenue to get them.

Most modulars don't have rare parts so you could always try downloading the instructions from the Lego website and buying the parts brick at a time and then paying a bit more for the rarer parts as and when? Also looking at buying sets without figures etc. that brings the cost down a bit.

 

[Mr-shifter]

Anyone got any top tips for cleaning yellowed Lego? I have recently moved and packed up all my Star Wars Lego into Tupperware so that when I finally get the collection room going at the new place I can enjoy rebuilding the Lego.

Some of it though, particularly the xwing, has suffered a bit of sun damage. I have tried cleaning gently with cif but that didn't work.

Any other suggestions?

 

[sith-smith]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I have looked at brink link, just never sure who to trust on there as it's not a system I fully understand.

I assume if paying by PP I'd be fully covered?

 

[FLETCH]

Garry I was the same when I first used bricklink but I have now made hundreds of transactions both buying and selling all around the world without any problems

Don't think there are many scammers in the AFOL community

The main thing to do is read the sellers store terms some sellers charge lot, packaging fees and or paypal fees this can bump the price of the order up drastically I avoid any seller that charge lot fees i think it just complicates things and alway ask for postage quote before you buy from outside the UK

Once you make a order the seller will send you an invoice for the total amount and like you said you are covered by paypal anyway but I've never had to make a claim

Bricklinking a hole set from parts takes a lot of time and effort trying to find a seller with the right quanitty of parts you need to reduce the total amount of orders and keep the cost down is not an easy task but a lot of people do it on rarer sets

 

[ScruffyLookingNH]

Gary, I echo what Fletch says. Bricklink os a great resource although the search function is terrible to the uninitiated. My best advice would be to use the "wants" list feature. It's brilliant and saves a hell of a lot of bother.

Also, re the modular series. Retired stuff goes mental. I am selling off the last of my business stock (Lego) and just got £275 for a £100 Fire Station (great set). It was only retired about 12 months ago and had been around for years. If you want a Grand Emprorium then PM me. I have two left but they sell within days of me listing them. Happy to do a "direct" deal and can bring to FF if that helps.

Ben, an excellent way of restoring Lego to shiney white at this time of year (important!) is as follows:

1) Go to Boots and buy a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide (about £1.20)
2) Pour the HP into a glass (pyrex lasagna dish is good) dish and mix in about one half or up to a full scoop of Vanish powder (not kidding)
3) Place the discoloured Lego into the bowl. Get rid of air bubbles and keep lego separated so they don't touch if possible.
4) Place in direct sunlight. Ideally, rap the side of the glass bowl that is furthest from the window in foil to act as a sort of reflector to focus the sun in on the Lego.
5) Check the Lego every 4-8 hours it's exposed to sunlight. This is important. It is possible to overdo this method and the Lego can fade (even white). It will go cloudy and become brittle if left too long. When is enough? When it's white!
6) Stir the liquid and turn bricks over/around every 4 hours or so. Gives a more even finish.
7) Direct sunlight is essential!

It is possible to do this with coloured bricks also, but you have to be extra careful as they will go cloudy much sooner than you notice the effect on white bricks. I successfully bleached the yellow-brown colour out of 70s blue bricks. Worked a treat.

Simon

 

[sith-smith]

Thanks again guys.

I find it hard to believe how crazy these prices go. They were available in shops for ages 100's of thousands were probably made. And there's always loads of them for sale everywhere!

I will just have to go slow and make sure I pick up all the new ones!

 

[FLETCH]

Yes I think that's the best bet Gary with lego i just make sure that I get a copy of the sets I want before they retier there are lots of retired set I would like but I'm to tight to pay the premiums people are asking and getting

The biggest problem I think is that collecting lego is getting more popular all the time and there are thousands of adult fans out there that will pay these premiums for retired sets

Just make sure you don't miss anymore before they get retired

 

[sith-smith]

Yeah have 3 of the 4 currently available.

It was only the really the cinema I wanted. But then, collector that I am, once I got it I decided to get 2 of the others Lego had. And now thinking of going for the lot!

At least I've now picked up most of the Classic space Lego, just a few sets left there, so can concentrate on trying to get the remaining ones for reasonable prices if possible.

 

[FLETCH]

Good luck Garry on finding the rest you want at reasonable prices

 

[sith-smith]

Thanks

Though a lot depends on what 'reasonable' means!! :lol: