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    • LowestFormOfWit
      Let me start out by saying that the title is definitely stereotypical gender bias, but don't let that exclude anyone. If you've got a man/parent/other supporting you, by all means change the title in your head to whatever is applicable.
      This is a topic I don't think gets covered enough. The people in the background. The behind the scenes workers who don't get the spotlight, or even the credit sometimes, but are nonetheless pillars of all the business we do here.
      My woman is amazing. She is the reason I am able to do so much in the field of LEGO, both as a hobby and an on-the-side business.
      She let me repurpose a small room in our townhouse to a workroom. My command center and refuge for all things of the brick. I build here, shoot my photos, store my loose pieces, weigh, measure, pack, ship, drill, cut, file, etc. Without my space I'd drive her nuts invading the rest of the house.
      Secondly, my woman is stylish. Very hip. She has a great sense of style, fashion, is strikingly beautiful, and is generally mega rad. I'd like to say she rubs off on me, although she'd describe it as "stealing her cool". I suppose it's a little of both. She is the first person I go to with a new MOC design. She signs off on most things I do, because I value her imput and trust her judgment when mine is biased or comprimised.
      The biggest support she gives, though, is probably taking care of our daughter when I'm 'on the prowl'. My little one can't quite understand that not every Friends set I bring home is strictly for her to tear open and scatter all over her room.
      My woman wants to be more involved, and as my ebay venture grows she'd like to add personal touches to my auctions, like sewn bags or whatnot, which I am all for.
      I'll turn this over to you now by asking, "How does your woman, man, significant other, or whatever, support you?"
      Ask yourself if you do enough to involve them, or ask yourself what you do that is only possible because they've got your back. They're your employee of the month, your backbone, your cheerleader, your inspiration, and sometimes even your boss.
      Let's make sure they get proper credit. I'd be nothing like the man I am without her, and that's another debt in a long line of debts I'll never repay.
      But, that won't stop me from trying.
    • Quacs
      "You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
      These are the words of Morpheus, a prophet in the sci-fi thriller The Matrix, and I think they accurately describe the choice many Brickpicker members face early in their investing career. Should I try to learn and understand the Lego secondary market, or take it for granted that it will exist as it does now? This is not an easy decision since information about the aggregate market isn’t readily available. So taking the blue pill is simple: buy some sets people think are great and hope for the best. Taking the red pill is scarier: the more you learn about the market, the more daunting and wrought with peril it may seem. To be a savvy, profitable investor you must learn as much as you can about the market you seek to exploit. That way, you will be able to properly decipher threats to the market, and adjust your investing strategy as circumstances dictate.
      The most recent potential threat to the secondary market is Pleygo, an online Lego set rental company. Pleygo operates very similar to Netflix, the subscription movie delivery service that revolutionized the movie rental industry and killed brick and mortar movie rental companies. Pleygo appears to be quite user friendly. After signing up for a subscription, a new user adds sets to his Wish List, and Pleygo sends the first available set on the Wish List to him along with return postage. Once the user sends returns Lego set, Pleygo sends the next available set on the Wish List.
      Pleygo’s value proposition to parents is compelling: for a reasonable monthly fee, kids and adults can satisfy their "Lego fix" by building a variety of sets without the drawback of providing the space required for sets and boxes. Pleygo offers three levels of pricing, or “plans” that consumers may purchase: Fan, Super Fan and Mega Fan. The Fan package allows members to pick any small or medium sized Lego set, Super Fan’s may pick any small to large sized Lego set, and the Mega Fan plan will allow members to select any set in the Pleygo portfolio, including the enticing “huge” sized Lego sets that include Millennium Falcon (7965, not 10179 - sorry guys), Super Star Destroyer, Taj Mahal, etc. While there are only eleven “huge” sets to choose from, I’m sure Pleygo will add more as the business expands. Pleygo also emphasizes their commitment to safety and cleanliness by sanitizing every piece returned by a member.
      Pleygo sounds like a great concept, and indeed the business has already attracted venture capital funding, so a lot of smart people have bet on the future success of this business. If Pleygo succeeds, what effect will it have on the secondary investment market so important to Brickpicker members? To answer this, we must first determine whether Pleygo is a competitor to the secondary market. If it is, and the secondary market shrinks significantly because of Pleygo, Lego investors could be left holding millions in unsold inventory staring down the barrel of a significantly diminished market.
      To start, we must determine who buys Lego sets on the secondary market, and whether their Lego needs will be better satisfied with Pleygo. The clearest way to do this is to segment secondary market buyers. I believe secondary market buyers fall into one of two market segments: AFOLs or “Adult Fans of Lego”, and parents of children who insist on having certain sets.
       

       
      These market segments can be further segmented to properly illuminate the market. For the AFOL segment, secondary buyers include Lego collectors, MOCers, and casual adult Lego fans that typically purchase Lego sets for their kids rather than themselves.
       

       
      Among AFOLs, Pleygo may appeal to some in the Casuals and MOCers market segment, but MOCers will not forgo secondary market purchases for Pleygo. Those few Casuals that sign up for Pleygo themselves may stay with Plego instead of secondary market sets, but Casuals are the smallest segment of AFOL secondary buyers anyway and the few lost to Pleygo will likely not be significant. Collectors may want to use Pleygo to see whether they like a certain set before buying it, but I don’t see collectors buying fewer sets for their collections/displays because of this service. If anything, collectors may be encouraged to buy more sets since they can try out new ones frequently and cheaply with Pleygo.
      That leaves parents buying sets for their kids as the remaining possible market segment that could turn to Pleygo at the expense of the secondary market. Here is my simple segmentation of this market:
       

       
      The three market segments in the Parent Market are the Whiny Kid Buyer, the Lazy/Unsavvy Buyer and the Kid Collector Buyer. Everyone knows a parent like the Whiny Kid Buyer: they will drop untold amounts of money to keep their kids happy. These parents act at the whim of their child, and while Pleygo may be offered by Mom or Dad as an alternative to expensive sets demanded by “Little Whiny Johnny”, Johnny will not relent if he wants a retired Lego set. I see this remaining a strong segment for the secondary market. I believe the Kid Collector segment will maintain its connection to the secondary market for the same reasons the AFOL collector will. That leaves the Lazy/Unsavvy Buyer as the last remaining market segment to be stolen from secondary sellers. With proper marketing, Pleygo could make some inroads into this market segment, so the secondary market may feel a threat to this market segment from Pleygo.
      From Pleygo’s perspective, their key market demographic is parents who want to reduce their cost outlay on Lego sets and save storage space in their home. Their target demo is evident in their value proposition: saving money and saving space satisfy parental needs, not children’s. Generally, young Lego enthusiasts would rather own a Lego set, but will accept Pleygo as an alternative to no Legos, so they aren’t really Pleygo’s target market. Typically, Pleygo’s target buyer wouldn’t be using the secondary market to buy sets for their children anyway, unless they fall into the small Lazy/Unsavvy Buyer segment.
      As a result, I don’t see Pleygo threatening the secondary market much. While it’s possible there could be some defection from the Lazy/Unsavvy Buyer segment to Pleygo, it will likely be limited as the Lazy/Unsavvy Buyer uses eBay because it’s easy and familiar, and Pleygo would be something different. I believe Pleygo could actually be good for the secondary market since it could stimulate sales to collectors that may not be familiar with or closed off to themes they can access cheaply through Pleygo. Interestingly, Pleygo also has links to Amazon third party resellers for sets that have been retired, so Brickpicker members that are third party Amazon sellers could actually have a new market opened to them by Pleygo.
      I can’t stress enough to Lego investors how important it is to learn about the market. Savvy investors know the Lego secondary market inside and out, and can foresee trends instead of being caught by them. I would hope every Brickpicker member would "take the red pill", and try to thoroughly understand the market you hope to capture. In the words of Morpheus, “No one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”
    • Quacs
      As many of you can relate, my five year old son is crazy about Lego. He likes building sets, making his own little creations, and adding new sets to his collection. He loves minifigs. He loves Lego Star Wars, Legends of Chima, Ninjago, and now Castle Lego. He also likes to talk "investment sets" with me, and one day as I was perusing Amazon, he asked me why my Wish List was full of Lego sets.
      When I explained to him how the Wish List worked and what "priority" meant, he said, "Dad, I want to rank my own Lego sets".
       
      I started listing the ones he owned, but after a few he interrupted me, saying,
      "No, Dad, I mean the ones I don't have. I want to make MY OWN wish list."
      Being slightly intrigued about what my big shot Lego connoisseur was cooking up in his brain, I logged onto Lego S@H with him, and we proceeded to go through all of his favorite themes and rank his favorite Lego sets. At first, it was a little abstract for him and we ran into logic problems, i.e. set #1, ranked above set #2, was ranked below set #3 even though #2 was ranked higher than #3. After working out the kinks, he got the hang of it and the original list evenentually grew to include 60 sets!
      Before diving into the list, there are a couple of qualifications:
      1. We didn't include any sets either he or I already owned. These include four of the non-exclusive Chima sets (Cragger's Command Ship, Laval's Royal Fighter, Wakz' Pack Tracker and Razcal's Glider), 9493 X-Wing, Lone Ranger Commanche Camp, and a boatload of Ninjago sets. The only sets I owned at the time were the Tower Bridge, VW Camper and An Unexpected Gathering. These were all excluded from the list.
      2. I think he got a little hung up on set size, although that's probably indicative of how a five year old's mind works - bigger is almost always better.
      3. He told me he wants this list to double as his Christmas list. I quickly made him aware that he would NOT get everything on his list.
      Without further ado, here are his rankings from his favorite on down:
      1. 10236 Ewok’s Village
      2. 10237 Tower of Orthanc
      3. 70404 King’s Castle
      4. 7965 Millennium Falcon
      5. 10188 Death Star
      6. 10221 Super Star Destroyer
      7. 9450 Epic Dragon Battle
      8. 10227 B-Wing Starfighter
      9. 10225 R2 D2
      10. 10232 Palace Cinema
      11. 10223 Kingdoms Joust
      12. 10937 Batman Arkham Asylum Breakout
      13. 79008 Pirate Ship Ambush
      14. 10233 Horizon Express
      15. 6860 The Batcave
      16. 9474 Battle of Helm’s Deep
      17. 7879 Hoth Echo Base
      18. 10228 Haunted House
      19. 10226 Sopwith Camel
      20. 60014 Coast Guard Patrol
      21. 60004 Fire Station
      22. 7939 Cargo Train
      23. 7398 Passenger Train
      24. 9516 Jabba’s Palace
      25. 7498 Police Station
      26. 4204 The Mine
      27. 9468 Vampyre Castle
      28. 60008 Museum Break In
      29. 79111 Constitution Train Chase
      30. 79010 Goblin King Battle
      31. 70505 Temple of Light
      32. 10240 Red Five X-Wing Starfighter
      33. 4440 Forest Police Station
      34. 9500 Sith Fury Class Interceptor
      35. 9515 The Malevolence
      36. 70705 Bug Obliterator
      37. 9467 Ghost Train
      38. 79004 Barrel Escape
      39. 6857 Dynamic Duo Funhouse Escape
      40. 9449 Ultra Sonic Raider
      41. 9526 Palpatine’s Arrest
      42. 79003 Superman: Battle of Smallville
      43. 70403 Dragon Mountain
      44. 79103 Turtle Lair Attack
      45. 70012 Razar’s Chi Raider
      46. 70708 Hive Crawler
      47. 79104 The Shell Raiser Streetchase
      48. 50006 Legends of Chima game
      49. 70402 Gatehouse Raid
      50. 79110 Silver Mine Shoot Out
      51. 79109 Colby City Showdown
      52. 79019 Stagecoach Escape
      53. 60010 Fire Helicopter
      54. 70401 Gold Getaway
      55. 21102 Minecraft
      56. 70400 Forest Ambush
      57. 70002 Lenox’s Lion Attack
      58. 70003 Eris’ Eagle Interceptor
      59. 70011 Eagle Castle
      60. 79106 Cavalry Builder Set
      Congrats for making it this far! I posted this to show one five year old's preference in Lego sets. While I feel he has fairly representative tastes, take it for what it's worth. At the very least, the list can show where Lego may be succeeding with his age group, and where they may be falling short. Here are some of my observations on his list:
      1. Ewok Village at 1! After all these years, kids still love Star Wars OT. Also, six of the top ten are SW OT sets.
      2. Am I raising the ultimate consumer? Look at the MSRPs of the first 15-20 sets!
      3. I can't believe the new X-Wing wasn't higher than 32. As mentioned before, he does own 9493 X-Wing Starfighter, but he's even seen 10240 at the Lego Store, so he knows how big (and cool) that set is.
      4. Six City sets settle in just outside the top twenty, and although they are big sets, they're behind most of the other big sets. They seem to occupy the "best of the rest" spot that is after his favorite big sets, but before his favorite smaller sets.
      5. He appears to be a burgeoning Castle fan. The new King's Castle comes in at #3, an incredibly high ranking. For those badmouthing the new Castle releases, pre-teen boys is TLG's target audience for this line, and early returns (from my son) are great.
      6. My son has never seen either the LOTR or The Hobbit movies, yet Tower of Orthanc clocks in at #2, Pirate Ship Ambush at #13 and Helm's Deep at #16. Apparently, size matters as they say...
    • Fcbarcelona101
      Welcome to the 2nd Edition of the Re-Make Impact Evaluation section. For those of you who read the 1st Edition, the purpose of this article is already clear, but if you are new to my blogs, I recommend you to at least read the intro section of the first Impact Evaluation dedicated to the Sopwith Camel.
      As you all probably know, 9516 Jabba's Palace set was the focus of investor and collector's attention a couple of months ago when news about its possible early retirement were spread through the news networks. In those crazy days, the set saw a huge spike in price as a result of panic buying and short term flippers that has since faded out. Now that everything is back to normal, I think it is important to remember that this version of Jabba's Palace is actually the second one released by LEGO, since back in 2003 the 4480 Jabba's Palace was introduced.
      The older version of the Palace is obviously inferior to this current one, with a lot less detailing and lower quality minifigs. Back then, LEGO was still in the early years of what I think as of a huge jump in set design and quality, so the inferiority of the model is actually not that surprising. The older version included only around 200 pieces, but despite its small size and not great detailing the set actually performed great in the secondary market, with its highest point in the last 12 months reaching $ 170.
      Let's now take a look at how the set has behaved since the newer version was released around mid-year 2012:

      So, you can see on the graph that the trend for the old 4480 set has been negative for most of the time. We also have to consider that 9516 was made available in July, but that its official announcement was made some time before that. From the data, we see that over the past year alone 4480 has lost around 28% of its value, and currently sells for around $131. You may ask, how can we be so sure that the newer version is the cause of the sudden drop in value?, well there is no way to be completely sure without a very in depth analysis, but I can at least tell you that between the beginning of May 2011 through April 2012 the set lost only around 6 % of its value, while in the past year or so (May 2012 through April 2013) the set has lost that 28% we mentioned earlier. There is clearly some relation between the announcement and release of the new version and the sharp decrease in value of the old one.
      Of all of the sets I have been evaluating for this section, this one of the sets that has experienced such a large drop in value following the new release. It will be interesting to see if it continues to drop further in the following months, but it is very clear that most investors would be better served by selling some of their stock just in case the 4480 continues this downward trend.
    • Blackjack
      Before I was an investor, or even a collector, I was... A TRADER. I think that I started out back in 2006 with a friend who was years older than me and a large collection of Lego. I got a few figs off of him for some pieces (he was being generous) and was hooked from there. Through the years, I have expanded my minfigure collection through trading and buying, and now about 2/3 of my minifigures are pure profits from trading. (I don't want to argue out this whole profit thing now, so you can find one of my other trading posts if you want my explanation.
      Early on, I discovered that a tackle box is the wau to go. My first was a little thing with no separators, and I used this for a year or two. I moved up in the world of tackle boxes until I got the one you see here about a week ago. Minifigures are very valuable, and I believe that they must be protected carefully. I lay many of the more valuable ones on plushy cloth, and put others and small Zip-Lock bags. This greatly reduces the chances of scratching, and keeps them in great condition. This is the best way I have found to store minifigures so far, but I will keep searching for better ways!
       
    • Darth Lego
      LEGO CUUSOO has announced the results for the Fall 2012 LEGO Review. The sets up for selection included the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover by Perijove, the UCS Sandcrawler by mb_bricks, and the Thinking with Portals! by Brickthing and Team Jigsaw. Here is the official video.

      As many of you already know the process for production is a long one taking several months to a few years depending on how fast you gain supporters. First you post an idea on the LEGO CUUSOO website. Once you get 10,000 supporters, LEGO reviews the set/idea and determines if it can be mass produced as an official LEGO set/theme. Licensing, cost of new molds, MRSP of the set, popularity of the theme the set portrays, and many other factors have an impact on a set's approval. If the set is approved then you get 1% of the net sales of the set. A video with more details on the process is below.

      The Mars Rover was approved for production. The price and final production model is still pending along with a release date. (Late this year or early next year is my guess.) I think it’s a sweet model and has a good level of detail. The working suspension is a plus. I assume the lower price point of the model and the overall appeal of science/education/space sets helped this set get approval for production. NASA also had a factor in its approval since the real-life rover is designed by them and LEGO had to get a yes from them in order to produce the set. Pictures for this model are below.

      The UCS Sandcrawler if produced would easily be the biggest LEGO set of all time. It is motorized and has lighting throughout the model. I wasn't surprised to hear it got turned down considering the size of the set. I did have a small ray of hope that it would get approved, but it just didn't work out. Here are some facts about the model:
      As you can see from the details above this set is very complex and it was ultimately turned down by Lucasfilm.
      Below is a picture of the impressive model along with a video of it in action.

      The Portal project is still pending while they await test results. I really don't know much about The Portal, but I found it was a popular video game that was released about 6 years ago and a sequel called Portal 2 was released 2 years ago. If anyone has more information to share about The Portal please comment below. I have to say the designs look interesting enough with the orange and light blue portals, but I wonder if there really is a good demand/market for these sets? Would younger kids like these sets or will they be more popular among teens and adults? Let me know what you think in the comments section.
      Some Portal pictures are below.

      What do you think about LEGO’s selection of the Mars Rover, the rejection of the UCS Sandcrawler, and the pending approval of The Portal? Please let me know below and thanks for reading my article.
    • Fcbarcelona101
      This section of my personal blog will be dedicated to small posts about those sets that have performed the best over the past six months, namely those that are included in Brickpicker's own BrickIndex. As the Re-Make Impact Evaluation section, I hope to publish this one on a somewhat regular basis.
      I am not sure about how many of you out there make use of this interesting feature, but the way it works is using eBay's sold listings data in order to see which sets have been selling the most and for the most money in the past half year. It is very useful, as it can help you make decisions about purchasing sets that have already been retired but that have yet to reach their highest point, meaning that even if for some reason you missed on a particular set while it was still on the shelves you can go ahead and try to ride the wave while it climbs in value and make significant profits.
      To start this section, I decided to go with a set that has been talked about in the forums as of late: the Winter Village Bakery.
      At this point, the Bakery currently holds 2nd place in the BrickIndex with a 99.84% growth over the past six months. Keep in mind that it was only a little over a month ago that this set was listed as Retired in LEGO S@H, something that caught a lot of people by surprise, since for a few weeks it had only been listed as Sold Out while the Post Office was the one listed as Retired.
      In the month of April this set grew almost 20% in value relative to March and had a price (New) of around $124. Considering that the period of high growth or at least the price spike for this type of set has traditionally been in December, I am very excited about how good this has been doing so far this year. Come this Christmas, we will probably see it hit close to $150 if not more, in my opinion. Remember, that in April the news of its retirement were still not official.

      Now, how can the investor benefit from this type of information? Well, in the past few weeks we have seen several threads asking questions about a good price to get this set even well above retail pricing (around $100 or so if I remember correctly). The answer to that questions will of course vary according to the expectation of each investor, but by taking a look at the data above I believe that even at that price you will still be able to make some nice profits as early as this year and even more if you decide to hold until the 2014 holiday season.
      The Winter Village sets are really limited in terms of availability relative to most of the other LEGO sets, and that is part of their appeal and one of the reasons they perform so well in the secondary market. In my opinion, getting this set in the low 100s will still allow you to make a decent ROI, but it is up to you to decide if it is good enough based on your own investment strategies and expectations.
    • comicblast
      One of the biggest "home-grown" LEGO themes around today is called the Collectable Minifigure Series. In each series are 16 minifigures that can be found in plastic bags at LEGO distributers. Each bag is non-see through, so it is by chance that you get the minifigure that you want... Or is it?
      Just because you can't see what's inside, doesn't mean you can't feel for it. There are often distinct features of a minifigure that make them easy to feel for. The second method is by bump codes. These codes are imprinted onto the bottom seam of the backside of the package, and each minifigure supposedly has an individual bump code. I personally rely on the feel method.
      Now onto investing...
      Each LEGO CMS minifigure retails for a price of $2.99. Often investors and resellers either feel the bag for the minifigure or they open the minifigure directly, to confirm the contents. Both methods are fine, but I would feel much more confident if I knew for sure what was inside.
      There are a series of ways how to make money with CMS minifigures. One of them is via the traditional way of LEGO investing: waiting a few years and then selling for (hopefully) more than you paid. Often, investors who go this route buy sealed cases of CMS minifigures instead of individual bags, which reduces hastle on the seller.
      Another one of those ways is by only buying minifigures that are on demand and then selling them immediately for maybe $4-$5 a piece. Though the margin of profit is much less, many resellers go this route to cover the cost of other minifigures they might have bought for their personal colleciton.
      Before you say that both methods are hopeless and take too much work, let's look at a few examples of minifigures that have done well in the secondary market. Notice that many of these minifigures are from older series such as Series 1-5. Thanks to Brickset.com for some of the numbers below.
      Minifigure: Zombie
      Series Number: Series 1
      Year: 2010
      Average Price* : $21.05
      Minifigure: Spartan Warrior
      Series Number: Series 2
      Year: 2010
      Average Price*: $14.3
      1 Minifigure: Elf
      Series Number: Series 3
      Year: 2011
      Average Price*: $7.74
      Minifigure: Roman Soldier
      Series Number: Series 6
      Year: 2012
      Average Price*: $8.24
      *Prices are in USD and are as of 6/19/13 on Bricklink.com for items in NEW condition.
      Looking at these numbers, you can see that a few of the minifigures in the CMS series have struck gold. Though rare, they are still about. To pick good investments, try looking for minifigures that you can have more than one of, and your LEGO scene will still make sense, like "army-builders"! Good luck!
    • comicblast
      Hello, and welcome to my blog.
      My username here on BrickPicker and on many other sites is Comicblast. I've been a member here on BrickPicker ever since around late December of 2012. You can read more about how I discovered BrickPicker and about me in one of my other articles by clicking at the following link: http://www.brickpicker.com/forum/index.php/blog/4/entry-30-brick-brats-the-teenage-lego-investors-blog/?st=20#commentsStart. My article is the last on the page thus far, and is titled "Out of the Mouth of Babes: Teen LEGO Investing".
      In my blog, you will find tips and tricks that will hopefully lead you to striking gold in your conquests of LEGO Investing. As you probably have figured out, I am a teen, but do not discount me to that fact! As Ed Mack once said, "The younger crowd might be able to teach some of us old dogs, some new tricks..."
    • Quacs
      Last weekend, I had the pleasure of spending Saturday with my two kids and two of their friends at Brickworld Chicago 2013. Here are some of my observations from the weekend:
      1. I was very impressed by how well organized the show was. The check-in line took less than five minutes, and we arrived at a peak time of the day, roughly 11 AM. There were hundreds of people (dare I say thousands?) all trying to get into the show, but because of the organization and troops of volunteers, everyone was calm and orderly.
      2. I had never been to a Lego expo before so I had some really lofty expectations, yet every expectation I had was exceeded. The MOCs were phenomenal, and Lego even had a Legends of Chima Speedorz tournament booth that was very well attended!
      3. I was surprised at the number of vendors. I believe there was a cap of 20 or so imposed by the organizers, and every spot appeared filled. A large percentage had retired sets at secondary market prices.
      4. There were 3 groups of interviewers with microphones/cameras in the two hours I was there, and none were mainstream media reps who likely turned up later that day for the 5 PM local news. I looked for the BrickShow guy but didn't see him.
      5. I couldn't believe the number of LUGs from remote locales that were there. Off the top of my head, I remember seeing LUGs from Toronto, Philadelphia, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Michigan that joined local area LUGs from Chicago, Northern Illinois, and Kenosha.
      6. My favorite displays turned out to be ones that I wouldn't typically expect. Among them was a 3-D Clue game made exclusively of Lego bricks (couldn't find a picture of this), a viking display that had a viking ship that "sailed" around an island of monks (the ship was mounted to a railroad track) where a number of the monks moved independently through the use of magnets, and some of the sculptures that were just really done well (yes, that's the Purdue Pete CUUSOO that reached 10,000 votes in the background). The ball machine was incredible, too. The cherry on top of the sundae, though, was a model of the entire story of the Wizard of Oz. That one had everything: size, detail, a great storyline, moving parts and sheer beauty. It really blew me away.

      Viking ship and the Monk Island

      Amazing sculptures (yes, that's Purdue Pete behind him)

      This is less than 1/4 of the entire ball machine. Crazy huge!

      The Wizard of Oz movie in Lego. Unbelievable! This pic doesn't do it justice...
      7. Anyone that had a BNSF engine had me at hello. I have a soft place in my Lego heart for this engine because I live 2 blocks from the Burlington Northern Line that runs through Chicago's Western Suburbs. One display in particular had the BNSF train running on a track, and another had a large scale BNSF engine displayed with incredible detail. Great job.

      The BNSF is behind the cargo car. Unfortunately this was the best pic I could find.
      Congrats to the folks who put on Brickworld Chicago 2013 - you have made a lifelong fan of me and my kids. Also, thanks to the folks that posted the pics above on Brickworld's Flickr page.
      The countdown is on to Brickworld Chicago 2014. I can't wait!


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