[CP5670]

I know the number and release year of every Technic, Space, Aquazone and Model Team set by heart, and most of the Town stuff as well. For many non-standard pieces, especially Technic ones, I also know exactly which sets came with them and in what colors/quantities.

I am a fanatic.

[Roanoke]

*Backs away. Slowly*   

Still waiting for the JCB 


I think there's a post service strike soon/tomorrow/today/now, too.

[CP5670]

Post a picture when you have it built.

By the way, you'll need to be a little careful with the pneumatic tubes in this set, especially if they seem to be stuck on any pneumatic nozzles on pumps/pistons/etc. They grip on the nozzles very firmly and it's actually possible to break off the nozzles if you pull the tubes too hard when removing them (I have had this happen with my set, although the Lego company replaced my broken pistons for free). This can be avoided by peeling the tubes off at the edges rather than pulling them straight out.

I don't use that pneumatic tubing at all anymore, as it tends to degrade the nozzles over time. They switched to a newer type in 1992 that doesn't have these problems.

[colecampbell666]

Why dont they make Space sets anymore? They were so awesome back in the day.. Ice Planet, M-Tron, Blacktron, the Aquanauts, Space Police... They all kicked ass. The should totally make more scifi ones.

Someone should contact the LEGO company about making an FS line of lego. God knows that the current sets (Bionicle and Exo-Force) suck. The only good things are a select few of the new Technics and the star wars sets.

[CP5670]

I actually like many of their recent sets. Things like the 10182 Cafe Corner have a stunning amount of detail, comparable to the best fanmade creations. The real problem is that the quality of the individual pieces is going downhill. This has only started to become an issue in the last few months, but I've increasingly been noticing color variations in some yellow and white pieces, with many consisting of a less dense plastic that looks lower quality than their usual bricks. It's making me wary of buying many things that I would get without thinking twice otherwise.

I doubt we'll see any FS models actually become official, as FS is essentially unknown compared to something like Star Wars.

[colecampbell666]

I've been noticing that too, lately. As forthe second part, that was just me daydreaming. I've been thinking about trying to build a detailed Herc. Or maybe a mini Orion.

[Roanoke]

The Backhoe arrived last night, partially dismantled, so I spent an hour ripping the bits apart (including a few dozen of those black pins). Not my idea of fun.

I'm going to miss a big weekend car 'n' beer show because I couldn't get time off work so I'll be treating myself to either 8880 or 8868 soon.

[CP5670]

I did say that those old pins would kill your hands. Fortunately, you won't have to worry about them on 8868 or 8880 (or just about anything else mentioned in this thread).

I've been noticing that too, lately.

Are there any specific sets where you have gotten the dud pieces? I'm trying to figure out exactly when it started happening, since it seems to be a very recent thing.

[Snail]

THIS is what you've been wasting time on? Eh? Time to play with Lego^TM but not to make a sequel to PI? Eh? EH?

j/k of course

[Roanoke]

the jcb seems to be missing a couple of pieces.

Wow, that's annoying.

Hey CP, can you suggest where to look on BrickLink for the black counter-weight from 8862 ?

[CP5670]

THIS is what you've been wasting time on? Eh? Time to play with Lego^TM but not to make a sequel to PI? Eh? EH?

j/k of course

I have a lot of free time right now, but it will only last until September. Making a good campaign in two months is a hopeless task.

the jcb seems to be missing a couple of pieces.

Wow, that's annoying.

Hey CP, can you suggest where to look on BrickLink for the black counter-weight from 8862 ?

Try this: http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?invXrefID=55219&invType=F

In general, you can check the completeness of your set using the inventory lists on http://www.peeron.com .

[Roanoke]

AirTech Rig 8868 ordered ($100) from bricklink, along with a couple of bits missing from the Backhoe.

Photobucket seems down so no piccys yet.

I have a lot of free time right now, but it will only last until September. Making a good campaign in two months is a hopeless task.

Yeah the last one only took 6 years.....  

 

[CP5670]

I could have probably cut it down to three or four years if I had worked on it more regularly and hadn't run into hardware failures, but that is still a lot of time you're looking at.

When I first learned about that set in 2000, I knew I had to get it right away. That "Compressor & Pneumatic" icon on the box simply screams coolness. It sparked off a long buying spree on ebay.

[Mongoose]

Just out of curiosity, CP, how long does it take you to dust off your collection?  The pirate ship alone that I posted a few pages back takes a solid hour or two.  I'm almost thankful that I don't have nearly enough shelf space for my models, since I'm able to keep a bunch of them in drawers or in a bin under my bed, where they won't gather that loathsome dust.

[Roanoke]

I fancy remaking the buckets using bricks, as per http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/856-1?showpic=7094
And I think I'll get a job-lot of grey pins and bin all those little black beasties.....

[colecampbell666]

You probably got the old backhoe for nostalgia, but there is a newer, more detailed one out (8455, I think)

[Roanoke]

You probably got the old backhoe for nostalgia, but there is a newer, more detailed one out (8455, I think)

yup 

If you're talking about the Technic one, 8862, I will actually be selling one of those soon, along with several other sets I recently got at a local garage sale. I tend to be extremely picky about the part conditions and most of the sets are a little too playworn for my liking, but most people aren't so concerned about that and I figured I could make a decent profit on them.

That being said, you might want to get the newer one (8455) instead. I have both and this is one of the rare cases where the newer version is easily the superior one, even though the original was already an excellent set.

Nah. The newer version seems to fetch a premium and I'm not paying £80 ($160 approx) for Lego. Besides, this is just a nostalgia trip for me and 8862 was the top model when Roanoke was in short pants....

[CP5670]

I fancy remaking the buckets using bricks, as per http://www.peeron.com/inv/sets/856-1?showpic=7094
And I think I'll get a job-lot of grey pins and bin all those little black beasties.....

Looks good. You could clean up that tubing a bit though. It's supposed to fit right under that axle above the turntable section.

The black ones are fine. Any black pins you get on Bricklink now will be the 1990 variety, which have no problems. They have thin slits in the center to distinguish them from the old ones. The gray ones are too weak in many cases.

Just out of curiosity, CP, how long does it take you to dust off your collection?  The pirate ship alone that I posted a few pages back takes a solid hour or two.  I'm almost thankful that I don't have nearly enough shelf space for my models, since I'm able to keep a bunch of them in drawers or in a bin under my bed, where they won't gather that loathsome dust.

I keep a brush around (a vacuum cleaner attachment actually, but it works well) and run it over the models every few months, but doing a thorough job would easily take a week. I don't bother trying to clean all the little nooks in the models. The only way to do that is to disassemble the models and clean the pieces individually, which is very easy to do by rubbing them on my carpet, but rebuilding everything takes far too long for that to be practical.

I was planning to have shelves with glass covers installed along the walls at one point, but never got around to pursuing that. I also have one of those air purifiers that is supposed to reduce the dust in the room, but haven't tried it yet.

[Roanoke]

Looks good. You could clean up that tubing a bit though. It's supposed to fit right under that axle above the turntable section.

Already at it. Took the beastie apart to make the Combine, changed my mind and am redoing the 'hoe.

[CP5670]

Speaking of alternate models, you definitely want to check out the 8868's one. It's better than it looks in the pictures. It's the only official model to have a pneumatic control circuit, which operates the switches automatically in a looping sequence.