August | 2010 | A Modular Life

2010 City Advent Calendar Review (2824)

Fri, August 20, 2010, 20:50 8 Comments

SPOILERS ALERT!

DHCP1121 from EB has shared his review of the 2010 City Advent Calendar here: Link.

I really like the minature toys!

Filed under Christmas, Lego

TRU Sale Madness

Fri, August 20, 2010, 13:02

Update at 8 pm:

Just read some crap posting on local Lego forums that made me very angry!!! I can assure you at least that the sets I bought are not intended for re-sale.

I’m a hardcore collector, same for most of the AFOLs I know. Of course we check the boxes. Why on earth would we want to buy crushed boxes when we are collectors? But, I did get crushed boxes at the sale, simply cos I don’t care, I need the bricks. A typical modular MOC takes at least 3 normal sets to build up. My Winter Toy Shop MOC using a 16×32 baseplate took 2 sets, plus loads of basic bricks. My Town Plan MOCs take 3 sets, on 32×32 baseplates plus loads of basic bricks. Why so many SW sets? How many Wampas do you need to make a decent Hoth scene? You go and figure. Sheesh.

Anyway no mentioned that we passed out loads of extra boxes out to the people earlier in the day when they asked nicely, including SW, creators, Toy Story etc. To the ones who came in much later, really sorry but we have been there for hours by the time they had their sleep/ breakfast/ lunch and strolled in looking for bargains. Don’t forget that we all took leave as well.

I did hear though that some of the people in the q are indeed ebay sellers, but don’t go barking up the wrong tree.

Btw, the bad behaviour I meant was those people who charged in trying to snatch/push/ grab/quarrel into getting sets. The same ones who I later saw had huge loads in the q to pay.

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Post-mortem at 7 pm:

Finally home after a long and tiring day.

I got a huge haul. Like HUGE. Am I happy? Yeah. Broke? Very. But other than just the haul I had fun meeting with lots of other AFOLs in the morning (hey, we did have to wait for a few hours together so it’s like a gathering and then getting all excited with the pre-sales buzz) and also practice teamwork during the sales.

Also met with quite a few of you who read my blog, and some unexpected readers, so that’s nice too. 🙂

Next time you see me at some sales, don’t forget to say ‘hi’ ya?

In previous years, I was one of the crowd who came down at lunch and picked at ‘scraps’. So for those who couldn’t come down earlier, I can understand the pain and frustration. Been reading the posts from some of the local forums about the group that swiped the sets, etc, etc but hey can u imagine when I went down in the morning (and I typically NEVER wake up before the sun rises), I was one of the late ones? So imagine how many hours the people in the front of the queue was there.

As you can see from the before and after pics below, not much left by the afternoon. Will there be more stocks tmr? I think yes, but fairly limited. Probably if you can’t be down early, don’t bother. I was there at 10-ish last year on Saturday and I didn’t stand a chance. First 10 pax grabbed basically all the decent sets. Not sure if they kept more aside this year.

Btw there were some SW sets (the Bariss one) and Agents (Robo Attack – my fav in the series) topped up mid-afternoon, along with some basic duplo bricks in a yellow tub. The SW sets were wiped out pretty quick like in 5 min.

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As with previous sales, those who arrived only at 11 am when the TRU sale is supposed to start missed the best of the bargains. By 10 the q to enter the sales went one round. By 11 the q was doubling around itself.

After a hectic morning queuing, waiting, and sometimes jumping (to see the sets available), now have to wait 2 hours to make payment. Imagine the snaking q now inside rather than out!

Anyway once a year for one crazy day.

To those sour over missing the bargains, u could either come earlier or camp overnight. If not, then don’t complain.

No stocks replenishments so no point going down if u missed the morning madness.

Initially blogged via iPhone 4

Filed under Lego, Shopping, Singapore

Lego Architecture set sales again on Amazon.com

Thu, August 19, 2010, 23:08 17 Comments

News from Toys N Bricks. I can’t rem local (SG) prices to compare cost to buy & ship in vs from local stores tho.

Btw Borderlinx now has 30% off shipping with promo code 730317, so shipping should be cheaper than the S$71.25 I spent shipping in all 6 sets a while ago (see post here).

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Amazon.com is having LEGO Architecture sets on sale again. As usual, receive FREE Super Saver Shipping on purchases above $25. Thanks to forum member brickz for the heads up.

LEGO 21005 Fallingwater $69.95 (reg.$99.99)
LEGO 21004 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum $32.76 (reg.$39.99)
LEGO 21002 Empire State Building $17.1 (reg.$19.99)
LEGO 21003 Seeatle Space Needle $17.1 (reg.$19.99)
LEGO 21001 John Hancock Center $17.89 (reg.$19.99)

Filed under Architecture, Lego, Shopping, USA

North America Minifig Series 2 Barcodes (8684)

Thu, August 19, 2010, 01:29 5 Comments

Update: Grogall has done up wonderfully formatted pdf version in single page of the barcodes for both Europe & USA: PDF <– great version to use if your part of the world has both sets.

Now just waiting for the sets to be released in my part of the world!

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SavaTheAggie said “cos he’s a nice guy”. I believe him… and while I don’t need the codes since SG gets the Europe version, here they are for all you North American visitors.

Have fun and happy hunting. 🙂

Filed under Barcodes, Collectible Minifigs, Lego, Shopping, USA

Singapore TRU Lego Clearance Sale 2010

Wed, August 18, 2010, 21:37

If you are an AFOL in Singapore, you’ve probably heard about the coming TRU Lego clearance sale at United Square.

The good stuff: It’s an opportunity to get marked down sets – whatever they are, be it the ones you have been eyeing but not prioritised yet or more sets for bricks to MOC with.

The bad stuff: You wouldn’t believe the amount of bad behaviour you see at such sales.

For this reason, I’ve disabled comments for this post and will probably do the same for future posts related to the TRU sale. From reading posts from prior sales, there can be an unbelievable amount of bad blood generated.

I should be able to do some on-site updates though so stay tuned on Friday. 🙂

Filed under Lego, Shopping, Singapore

Collectible Minifigs Series 2 (8684) pre-order offer in Singapore

Wed, August 18, 2010, 21:06 3 Comments

Finally, we are getting them. And at a pretty good price too! Bricksworld is offering member pre-orders for series 2 at 20% off the RRP, so that means… S$3.12 /minifig.

If you still need to be convinced to get them, go ahead & read Whitefang‘s great series review and probability analysis in EB: Link

What are you collecting? My favs for now are: Spartan (300!); Lifeguard; Mime Artist (tho I can’t see myself buying that many mimes); Popstar (not thrilled about the face but hey it’s female); Karate Master; Surfer Dude & Pharaoh.

Compared to series 1 where I only collected cheerleader, zombie, nurse & forest guy, I seem to want more in series 2. Hmm… mabbe I need to pre-order more from Bricksworld.

Witch has definite potential for castle army builders… at least I think so for those who have already amassed an army of wizards from the recent impulse series.

Anyways, I’m lazy to format so just copy n paste the latest newsletter here.

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Member Pre-order Special for Minifigures Series 2

Pre-order Product: #4590556 LEGO Minifigures Series 2 (Display Box)

PRE-ORDER SPECIAL
(Exclusive to members only)

Your mystery minifigure might be: Mexican, Weightlifter, Pop Star, Skier, DJ, Judoka, Surfer, Pharaoh, Spartan, Ringmaster, Witch, Vampire, Traffic Cop, Junger Explorer, Lifeguard or Mime artist.
A must-have for all LEGO minifigure collectors
Only 1 of 16 individual minifigures in each package.
60 package per display box.

Terms and conditions for pre-order: