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I think my Helm's Deep has suffered an attack by Shelob!

Finally got my two lots from shopgoodwill. The first one was a pleasant surprise. It was listed as 28lbs of lego bionicle and I won it for 100bux just on the chance there was more to it than that. Found a 90% black pearl with all the minis. A complete 3181 passenger jet and 3182 airport. Found much of the 4440 police station. My son will get the bear, and tons of other minis. The second was an 18lb lot that I could just see the corner of a green grocer. Got it for 200 plus shipping. Went through and pulled all the sand green pieces and they are all there. Gonna Start sorting and Inventory on it Tomorrow. Out of the two lots I probably have around 100 minifigures that I will be selling to make my money back, mostly being star wars and all. All in all a good score.

My wife works with some lower income families and teen moms. I asked her about the teens' thought process. Did they not know what caused babies? Could they not get birth control? But her answer was that they just didn't think it would happen to them. Education only goes so far. Having the knowledge, doesn't guarantee you'll make good choices, just like having more money in your pocket doesn't guarantee you'll make good choices with it. The lower income families she deals with don't know any better, but they don't want to either. They don't have enough initiative to want to improve their life. If you gave these people more money, they wouldn't buy Lego for their kids at any price. They'd be at Walmart, on Black Friday, loading up on more DVDs, like I've seen them do. Had a family member get a good paying job in the oil field. His wife said it was like winning the lottery, and they treated it like that too. Bought new vehicles and bunches of other junk rather than paying off their debt. With the fall of oil prices, they were in a world hurt when he lost his job, but it was the fault of their poor choices. The point I'm tying to make is that just because someone has more money, doesn't mean they'll make good choices with it. I believe there people are out there that would benefit and be able to use an increase in minimum wage to improve their life, and maybe buy their kid a Lego set from time to time, but I also believe these people are the exception rather than the rule.

Testing on mobile app right now. Not looking too bad. Won't work on current build in App Store. Need to upload new binaries.

​That's where I saw it, thanks. That Haitian segment so pissed me off. I absolutely agree with this. What I don't get is, if you need to feed your family, put a roof over your head, why won't you do any type of work that pays? And subsequently, if you're going to do something, why not do it well? take pride in knowing you did a good job even if it's for a crappy job? It's something I get to see in my own family. My brother-in-law is 30, lives at home, delivers pizzas. He's bounced around with those kinds of jobs for years (IKEA, Target, Sbux). Doesn't have a lot of drive to get out of the house on his own. Flunked out of college twice. Started another degree at Devry, couldn't be bothered to finish, or take the certification test for network admin. Doesn't know what he wants to do. His parents basically bailed him out of the college thing, was letting him stay home without a plan, rent-free (they don't have a basement, otherwise, that's where he'd be). He drives a beat up lexus, because it's a lexus, even though he could've bought something cheaper/more reliable. Doesn't take a job pushing carts at Costco, because even though it pays $14/hr, it's beneath him to do that. Meanwhile my husband got kicked out at 16 for breaking the rules, put himself through college, and now has a successful career and gets to invest in lego on the side. They're just 4 years apart, but their parents raised each just enough differently that they're outcomes are significantly different. There's personality at play as well, so it's not all on my in-laws. My husband just summed it up as 'He wants a champagne life on a minimum wage job, while I want a practical life, on a champagne income'.

This is a dangerous topic, but let's see how it goes. People need to realize this is not about larger corporations. This will damage many small business owners and force them to find ways to function without employees. As a car wash owner, if this came to NJ, I would be forced to invest 300-400K into new equipment and POS systems and lay off most of my help. Ten people would lose their jobs. Minimum wage was designed for inexperienced and young workers to get a foot in the door...it was not meant to support a family.

​Have you guys seen a mixer (Scrambler) in real life? A ferris wheel dwarfs them and a mixer isn't all that impressive to look at, but it is a fun ride. I think the scale of it is perfect in comparison to the ferris wheel and the hauler truck and carnival games that come with it are just bonuses. I guess I'm a bit baffled why the mixer is so underwhelming for everyone?

LOL...OK...Wow, the thread lasted a day. Some good conversation, but it's getting a bit personal. No need for that. I don't have the answers, but I know raising the minimum wage nationwide will have some ramifications for all of us here in the US. Maybe more people will have access to LEGO sets, maybe more people will get involved in reselling, maybe less people will be parting out sets, maybe prices of LEGO sets will increase....maybe nothing happens. I am not smart enough to figure this all out. What I do know is that many small businesses will be hurt by such a practice and some people will get laid off because of it. I think what has been lost in all of this is the point of rewarding people for no reason. Owning several businesses for over 20 years, I have found that people get paid what they deserve. My assistant manager of the car wash came to the US 15 years ago with little money, skills or the ability to speak English, yet last week he just purchased his fourth house (3200 sq.ft) to go along with the other three he rents. He has two nice cars that are paid off and has raised three wonderful kids who excel in school. Basically he did this by working a minimum wage job and excelling at it..showing up on time, being reliable and trustworthy and working hard. No college education needed. He now makes over $60,000 a year from just doing the right things. On the flip side, I have hired and fired countless workers that were born here in the US with all the advantages of living in this country. They were not reliable. They did not show up for work. They had every excuse in the book why they didn't show up (one even said his father died when he didn't). They did poor jobs. Some were alcoholics. Some were drug addicts. Some had warrants that they never paid so they were arrested. I can go on. Point is, many of these fools would be the first to ask for more money. Why reward people for non-exceptional behavior? I appreciate the quality discussions of the last two days. I think it good to have some of this type of discussion on a forum such as this.

​I agree with this 100%. If we get even one more release in this series, the Mixer is going to be complete gold. Just like the modulars and Market Street. MS is a dog, looks terrible, yet it's the highest performing modular precisely because completists want every set. Mixer is part of the series, thats all that matters. That's it's first, some folks don't care for it and hence either haven't bought or invested, and its been a poor seller are all huge positives from a resell standpoint. On second thought, everyone is right. Mixer sucks. Don't buy it, certainly don't invest in it....

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all, please refrain from making posts personal against another member. attacks are not allowed and will be removed. i understand there was a couple of members going back and forth yesterday. those posts prob should have been removed. today is a new day and let's try to be civil. thanks, the mod team

Just want to say I did my first manual order on Brick Classifieds and it is a really cool and easy thing to do. I was chatting with another Brickpicker member here about some extra sets I have and we settled on a good deal that works for both of us. I went to my store area, added my set, enter the quantity and price then searched for their username. Sent. Two minutes later I got a notification it was paid for already from the invoice that is emailed out. Really nice job and hope to use it more

​I agree. Hopefully the resale market will be bigger, and richer, than the people that have attended the county fair and enjoyed the Scrambler.

As a guidance counselor at a public middle/high school, I see all sorts of family structures. My district has a 50%+ free/reduced lunch program (meaning at least half our students identify at poverty level or below). Poverty, money, work ethic--it's not all one-size-fits all. This is the main reason I'm skeptical that simply raising minimum wage will fix anything. Mentoring helps (Ed, I'm sure your assistant manager had some good guidance along the way) and education helps. Educate about money... what it really is, how to spend it, why debt hurts, the dangers of credit. The best lessons I've learned in life are those about working hard, being the boss of my money, and taking care of other people. Someone mentioned the "teach a man to fish" analogy earlier. Throwing fish--or money--at a "problem" fixes nothing. As I tell the teachers at my school--"You have a college degree and a professional job--you might be the only successful adult our students have in their lives. Use that power wisely."

​What happened ? Basically, it is easier to sell your craps to a bunch of impulsive irresponsible people than to a bunch of smart and/or educated people

​I own a business with about 8 employees, all of which do better than $15 per hour. I believe that someone working full time or close to it should be able to support themselves and have something left after rent, car, food. Period. Some of the comments in this thread have no basis in reality, nowhere in this country can anyone support themselves and a child, even with two people working, at the current minimum. Very few business owners will provide a living wage without some sort of prompting, the current back and forth here is ample evidence of that.

Went to Wal-Mart to pickup some $7 X-wing Microfighter (got 5) and came out with a mint 9493 X-wing located in the general clearance aisle for $40. I felt like a kid again when I saw it sitting there on the top shelf by itself.

Picked up another haul of the Jurassic World poly from TRU here in Canada :

Man, I am so stoked. I found a bunch of 70817 Batman and Super Angry Kitty Attack sets for $3.58 each marked down from $9.99 and 60042 High Speed Police Chase for $5.98 marked down from $19.99. I bought 10 of the Batman and 4 of the High Speed Chase sets. I am debating if I should get more of the Batman/Unikitty sets. I know that the market is saturated with Batman but for $3.58 I just couldn't pass on these sets. Even if I sold them at MSRP which is $9.99, I'll double my money and then some. It all depends on demand though. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I know the Double Decker Couch is a killer set with way more minifigs but I think this one is decent as well. I tried uploading a picture but there is a problem uploading it for some reason.

​I think this is also why the higher education system in the US is so messed up. In other parts of the world, people know what they want to do first and then use the higher education as a mean to achieve the goal. None of the wasting freshman & sophomore years "figuring out what to do" while partying, flunking classes, and accumulating debts. Especially in 3rd world countries where higher education is harder to come by, competitive to get into, and expensive as heck.

​12,813 posts proves you can't. My favorite rides as a kid were the stupid boats and rocket ship rides that just went round-and-round in circles. Now I can't stand anything that makes me spin around in circles... except I don't mind the Helicopter ride that you can make go up or down! I tolerate Ferris Wheels, but not a huge fan.

When I "career counsel" my students, I always talk about jobs that require physical presence. If you have to be there to do the job, it can't be sent to a country with internet access and cheaper labor. Think of the premiums paid for plumbers, electricians, skilled carpenters, nurses, mechanics, etc... not everyone will want these jobs (work ethic is required as well as effort), but they are necessary and in demand.

​... and hopefully wash their hands in between... though at minimum wage it may be too much to ask

​How about this...NO...I could care less about who you are and what you've done! Your arguments need to be able to stand on there own to truly persuade! Who you are and who the receiver is does not change the truthfulness of the argument. If Albert Einstein explained relativity to a mouse or a mouse explained relativity to Albert Einstein doesn't change the theory of relativity.

​that milk was mighty expensive. how much was diet soda?

im tired of this "victim of the environment" bull. this video only shows the outcome statistics, not the reasons the demographic groups arrived there. obviously the reason is how these children were raised and educated, so dont blame the society for individual's parents' choices. certain percent of EVERY group still managed to get to the top, didnt they? i came from a family way south of the poverty line when we first arrived in this country and both my parents and my siblings became educated and successful. wish everyone in the US would realize what opportunities they have here because they dont appear to have the slightest idea

This discussion reminded me of a youtube vid I saw a while back. Very informative:

It's always someone else's fault I can't afford it my 15 seconds of Google skills, here are free programs, in every state http://nursingcareertips.com/free-cna-training/ And that is just one of many many free training programs. When I took my training course I did it for "free" also by committing to work for a facility for 3 months so they would pay for it I could tear apart your sex ed comments but instead I will attribute this to the break down in family, and lack of two parent homes (that could thus teach the sex ed)

If it's not possible how about A- don't have kids you can't afford or B- get training/education so you aren't min wage I make more than most here. While in college 10 years ago I took a 4 week training program to be a nurses aide. After a month a made $13/hr and made more than my room mate who had a master's in social work

The min wage was not introduced in 1938 to provide a living wage, it was introduced to discourage child factory labor. Today the goals of a minimum wage are obviously different and one can argue one of those goals is to provide a living wage for working adults. I guess we as a society have to decide if every adult who works full time deserves to be paid a minimum amount to be able to subsist. If not, should the tax payer be expected to chip in to make up the difference as they have been? I don' think there is a simple answer but any policy that helps to reduce the poverty among working, productive adults I am all for.

​Me three? Heck, why don't you go ahead and grab them all for every BPer. Max out your credit cards, take out a loan, sell your belongings.

​Didn't know you were interested, I'll grab a few for you if I catch it back in stock. We can then arrange a pick-up.

​The trick is to take the pic of GC when it's not moving...

​Like a tank? ​I much prefer 60052 to this one. This reminds me more of 7939.

Regardless of how you feel about this particular issue I think most would agree that something must be done about income inequality in this country. If you personally are not willing to pay your neighbor a living wage for the work or goods they produce then how will they ever afford to buy the goods and services upon which your livelihood depends. The middle class is what made this country strong, a majority who could afford to buy the products their neighbors made. Now I agree raising the min wage is not the best action to effect change, but is it better than nothing? Only time will tell. There is an alternative solution of course that does not need the heavy hand of government and it is quite simple. If you want to keep your own livelihood you simply need to buy the things your neighbor produces. And furthermore demand that if a company (I am looking right at you Lego, Apple, Microsoft, Ford, GM etc) wants to sell its products in the most wealthy and profitable economies in the world then they must also employ here. And I don't just mean employ a few programmers or executives I mean real employment with production facilities and operations, and if it means their profits get cut a little or prices go up a little then that is something they and we must accept.

I say sept 6th as a birthday gift to me. To be replaced by James Bonds DB5.

​I agree that these colleges need less fancy buildings, prestigious sports programs, and artsy events and alternatively gear themselves toward more affordable education. Maybe this is what community colleges are supposed to offer and universities are for the more fortunate and scholarship privileged? The kids that do want a taste of university life have another option, go $150k-$200k in debt at the beginning of their career and pay it back for the next 10 years.

​Explain?

ppl who are getiing 20$ an hour will still be getting 20$ an hour after the minimum wage increases to 15$. And the prices on rent will increase but we will still be making same salaries. I think that most small businesses in Los Angeles area will hire illegal immigrants and will pay them under the table 11$ or less an hour instead of 15$. This will definitely affect me, and im totally against it.

​yeah, not equal. but your opinions are diminutive and rude.

​As you say, condoms are free at Planned Parenthood. And lots of other places. This minimum wage story is set in LA, which is in CA, so the laws of TX should not be an issue. I think the kids, who are innocent victims of their parents' bad choices, deserve help. But there's no guarantee that giving money to the parents will help their kids. These are parents with a track record of bad decisions. I would much rather help the kids through charter schools and school voucher programs to get them out of their lousy neighborhood public schools.

​A good price or a realistic price? Unless you find some crazy deal on Craig's List, or find one buried in a bulk lot, used complete sets w/o box are averaging $700 USD give or take the past month on ebay. I've seen some sell for over $800 on ebay the past two weeks. All the listings on Bricklink have risen above $700 at this point as of this week. A good price given this market would be below $625 in my opinion and a great price somewhere back down in the $500's but who knows if you'll find that. If you're not a purist, and don't mind substituting the Sand Green 1x8's on the sides of the GG for a mix of Sand Green 1x6's+1x2's and/or 1x4's+1x4's, then you can Bricklink GG with all new parts for under $500. If you go really crazy and change the color to Sand Blue, you can drop the price even further, probably below $400.

​I was going to type that I thought the engines were extremely similar but I hadn't looked very closely to them and didn't want the train snobs to come after me and point out the small differences

I was mobile and was able to redeem air miles coupons and get in 80 off on order of 3. Went in for another 1 to us Cineplex code but it poofed thanks very much Greg!

Stamps are still a good deal.

Ok folks... R2 is gone, but Arctic Supply Plane is back. http://www.toysrus.ca/product/index.jsp?productId=34246876 There are just over 30 left... Gobble 'em up and don't forget to use the CineplexFeb code. I've been selling these for $120+ shipping on eBay.

​ once minimum wage goes up, all wages go up. once every wage slave makes more money all prices will go up with it as the proprietors will have higher costs and will need to make more money to live or make their shareholders happy. unfortunately they will be many layoffs as a side effect. prices of toys will go up with the rest of luxuries and lets not forget that legos are a premium toy so i dont think they will be more accessible, maybe even the opposite to the less fortunate.

I was as awesome then as I am now Check out this pearl of wisdom: