What will you get if you go to the USA?

Seems like I will be going to the USA soon for a business trip, and I was wondering what people would buy if they have the chance to go to a Lego store there (or is able to have some online shopping shipped to the hotel)?  Apart from the polybags, I’m not sure if the biggish boxes are worth the trouble of lugging back if I get 20% off all year round anyway (hey, I’m predicting a heavy enough luggage from all the clothes and shoes shopping there…)?

To be honest the latest modular Cinema set was my 1st choice until I realised that it’s finally in Singapore this week. I’ve gotten all the earlier exclusives so those are out too… since I really don’t want to come back and then wanna tear my hair out from not buy set XXXXX, suggestions would be greatly appreciated! An advance thanks! 🙂

 

Hello…

Wow, has been a while since I last posted.  The usual stuff happened, in the struggle with work-life balance, work has taken an upper hand and with less personal time available, I’ve simply re-prioritised where I want to/can spend my time on. So LEGO blogging now takes a back seat to actually trawling for latest news, playing with LEGO, or visiting LEGOLAND for the matter.

Some other changes to my LEGO habits since I realised that simply no longer have time to spare… I only buy those sets that I really like (and I try not to buy too many multiples, tho I still do), which still adds up to a heck of a lot of sets (what, like just all the Super Heroes sets, Lone Rangers, Monster Fighters, Modulars, UCS, etc, plus whichever SW, City, Creators & Friends sets that I fancy). As some of the local AFOLs have mentioned on the local forums (hey, I still read some of the forums now and then, and I can definitely track  links to my websites…), I can probably be termed as “semi-retired”. But I suspect that this semi-retired AFOL probably still spends a heck more on LEGO sets every month than most of the active AFOLs.

Anyway, I’ve started a few Pinterest boards and just thought to share. See, while I think I won’t have time with wordy posts, and blogging really needs a bit of time for prepping, Pinterest really takes the pain away. I just click “pin” and choose which board I want to add the pin to. Half the time (ok, more like 90%) I don’t even bother to edit the original comments. And with the Pinterest app being available on my iPhone (and iPad & Android), I can even add pins while queueing for my takeaway economy rice and kopi (local coffee) to eat at my desk (yes, work has been THAT busy).

So I now have 7 Pinterest boards, some with some LEGO-related pins but you can decide which ones you wanna browse thru. Flickr and the usual AFOL sites still have way more cool creations and latest news regarding LEGO so didn’t see the point of creating a Pinterest board just for LEGO. If you are a long-time Pinterest user, can you tell me why I can hardly find any of the latest jaw dropping creations on Pinterest?

My Pinterest boards are:

1. Dreamy homes I can live in… (think of it as a mood board for my future IDs, and includes some LEGO related ideas for my next home)
2. Random beauty (stuff that touch my soul… errr… really? Just whatever takes my fancy lar)
3. Useless info graphics you never knew you needed (those nuggets of info, all packaged in a nice info graphic…)
4. Random home stuff (anything else that’s home related but can’t fit in the ‘mood board’, and includes some LEGO related products)
5. Stupid funny stuff (can be stupid, or funny, or both)
6. Christmas decor ideas (never too early to start planning, ha)
7. So true quotes (yeah, that sort of quotes. Words of wisdom)

Some of them are quite sparsely pinned, but hey considering that I just started Pinterest and managed to accumulate over 400 pins so far, the overall stats is pretty darn impressive, if I say so myself.

So yeah, if you are interested do head on over to Pinterest to have a look. Click on the links or find me by searching under “People”, and type “amodularlife”. Simple ya? 🙂

Preview of my boards:

Duplo 10531 Mickey Mouse & Friends set in Singapore

One favourite theme in my collection is the Mickey Mouse series (from 2000, that’s 12 years ago!).  So no surprise that the sight of these Duplo sets actually stopped me in my tracks and made me consider for an insane second to buy bucket… Ok, so not such a normal reaction for most people but hey I really really like the Mickey Mouse sets.

Hope that this is a precursor to normal system sized sets. Ditto for the Princess series. Fingers crossed that TLG and Walt Disney Co will continue to have a great partnership!  🙂

My new Ninjago money bank

Finally got one. Popped by the Toysrus near my office and got a ‘ninja’ for home. Side-by-side with my megafig for scale comparison:

If you are curious, the legs are fixed and can’t be moved to ‘sitting position, and the hood cannot be removed.  The coin slot is near the top just at the back of the ‘head’, and the cover (to retrieve coins) is at the bottom of one of the legs.  Here’s the selection at the TRU that I visited:

Some stationery spotted in Hong Kong

Think these are new but I can’t be sure since I am honestly slightly out of touch (only slightly cos I do know about all the major new sets…).

Anyways, in case you are going to Hong Kong, you can look out for them in Toysrus (TRU).  Since I didn’t have the chance to check out any other stores, not sure if the little hobby stores would carry stationery too.

LEGO Minifigure Head Sharpener – SKN# 933562 / HKD24.90

Essentials Stationery Set – SKN# 959618 / HKD79.90

Ninjago Essentials Stationery Set – SKN# 959626 / HKD79.90

Drink Bottle – SKN# 959685  / HKD79.90

Ninjago Drink Bottle – SKN# 959693  / HKD79.90

Ok, a few others that I am lazy to add cos I don’t find them very interesting… colour pencils, activity books and the like. You may want to pop by the HK TRU site to see more: LINK

Is this a new series of “megafig” money banks?

As soon as I saw the pic in the local Toysrus (TRU) catalog when I visited Hong Kong, I wanted one.  Unfortunately the stock had not arrived when I left Hong Kong. TRU calls it the “LEGO Ninjago Collectible Money Bank”.  Measures 34 cm according to an eBay listing.  Will be great for displays or as presents for little (or bigger) boys. I can only hope that we’ll get it in Singapore soon, and have more designs to pick from… Imagine a clone trooper version. The SW fans will go crazy…

SKN# 933503

Price (each) : HK$299.90 (approx SGD50)

 

This is a bit late for the Singapore National Day…

But still… if you are interested to watch the Singapore national pledge spelt out in LEGO stop motion video (as well as take in some sights from around Singapore), enjoy:

And this quirky video that pokes fun of our tissue paper “chopeing” habits made me smile too.

Singaporeans are not the most demonstrative bunch of people around, so I found it really heartwarming to watch the efforts of those who were willing to put in the time and effort to produce these videos.

For all fellow Singaporeans, enjoy the long weekend.

P.S. For those strategising for the upcoming annual TRU LEGO clearance, have fun. I’ll be entertained reading the online comments and probably watching videos of the 1st rush in after the event. 🙂