My LEGO®-related Rambles
I’m always short of Headlight bricks, so when I found a couple of Buy It Now lots in random colours on eBay, I jumped at the chance. They were a good price too.
The same seller also had mixed lots of 1×2 jumper plates, so I grabbed a couple of those while I was at it, to make the most of the reduced postage.
I’m looking forward to using a few of these very soon!
Postie brought me several packages today.
The Bricklink orders included – lots of 2×4 black tiles and 2×14 black plates to make some nice edging for Micropolis modules; red 1×2 bricks and white 1×6 plates for a future MOC in progress; trans light blue and purple boat studs plus white 4×6 plates for a little modern Church which I have almost finished; varioius flower and foliage elements and some old printed slopes and plates from an eBay lot I had won.
I can make use of some of these right away…
I won this fantastic mixed lot of transparent pieces on eBay the other day. They were already sorted by colour, but I tend to keep my stuff sorted by part as much as possible now. Still, an excellent haul and I will look forward to using some of the pieces very soon.
A while ago I pulled out all the other transparent elements from my parts bins and gathered them together – since they are so integral to starting a Micropolis build, and when they were mixed with solid colours, I had difficulty getting a handle on what parts I had. With the arrival of this haul I had run out of storage space again so had to pop back to Home Bargains for more compartment trays – the same as I’m using to store my Technic parts. So now they all sit nicely organised like this – and it’s much easier to see what I’ve got to build with:
In the process of sorting, I came across one very odd piece – bug-eyes in transparent neon green. Here’s a shot with a rory next to it for comparison:
I had never seen anything like it! And there certainly weren’t any “legal” connection points to studs – but it did have a stamp saying LEGO on on side. I did some digging and discovered it is the eye section from a face mask included in the Insectoids Combined Set (2490). I honestly can’t see how I would use it for any of my MOCs, so I have offered it to an AFOL friend who builds M:Tron stuff – he’s delighted with the possibilities it has for spaceship cockpit windows – and has promised me some nice goodies in return. So we’re both a winner!
Today was also the first day of the London Model Engineering Show at Ally Pally – where I’m exhibiting my two GBC modules. I will do a full write up in the next few days. But on the way back from London, I stopped off at Stratford and did another raid on the PAB wall there – gathering some more black 1×2 grille bricks, some trans neon orange cockpit pieces, dark bluish grey wheel arches and white 2×2 turntable bases, amongst other things. I forgot to take a photo of it all before sorting it into storage, but I will definitely be using a few of those bits for MOCs soon.
I had a Bricklink order arrive today, some tiles and a few larger bricks for making Micropolis bases. Plus a couple of lots from eBay – one with a load of 16×16 baseplates (again for Micropolis modules) and a mixed lot of light bluish grey stuff, to be used for all sorts of things. Now all I need to do is sort it!
As well as having the big Classic Space fleet on my to-be-re-purchased wishlist, I’m also keeping my eye out for some of the smaller sets to add to the collection. A couple arrived from eBay today. Firstly, set 889 Radar Truck. I definitely remember having this one as a kid. The example I bought has one or two bits of a more modern vintage, but most of it is original, and I was very pleased with the price.
It came with some instructions and didn’t take long to put it together. The Minifig face has a little bit of wear but his torso print is very good, showing hardly any wear to the gold planet. He’s ready to roam the Moon’s surface and get on with his work!
The other set was 6803 Space Patrol, a small one-seater craft from 1983. I’m not sure I was still collecting Space LEGO by then, but it fits well with the other models and has a consistent colour scheme. (One reason I’m unlikely to acquire some of the more recent Space themed sets is I’m a sucker for the original grey/blue/trans yellow combo, so if it ain’t that, I ain’t interested!).
Again, it didn’t take too long to put together and the white-suited astronaut has a reasonable chest print and a nice smiley face. In the course of adding the trans-red cones to the nose, I managed to break the plate with bars which was provided by the eBay seller – gah! So for the moment, I’ve substituted the bley version until I can get an older authentic part.
Ever since I emerged from my Dark Ages, I have regretted selling my Classic Space sets as a teenager, just before going to University. I used to keep them very well and I’m sure that they would still be in great condition if I had only put them away in a box somewhere. Hey ho.
But it has meant that I have been keeping an eye open on eBay to replace some of my favourite sets. I’m not sure I ever owned the famed 928 (it was a big set) but I definitely had 918 and I recently found this specimen for a reasonable price.
The bricks are in decent condition – although I suspect one or two may be bley rather than vintage old light grey. Benny’s red buddy has a broken chinstrap! But it doesn’t really show that much, and at least the gold on his chest print is still in evidence.
The set arrived in a made up condition, parts of it are a bit dusty so I think I will carefully dismantle it and give the pieces a gentle wash. Then it will look as good as new! 918 Has Landed!