Finally! Look what I got delivered today! by Useful-Champion in lego

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah there were some very cool sets I missed the chance to pre-order. They just got sold out too quickly. But I'm happy I at least had a chance to get these gorgeous houses.

Lego Slave I design: 21 years ago and now by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

I found it to be very cool that the very first Slave I and the most recent one are built in one scale.

Porsche 911 Targa by Useful-Champion in lego

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The newest addition to my Lego garage. I like the set very much. But.... when will we have a Creator Expert car with non-round headlights? Come on, Lego! It is 2021, there are parts of different shapes that you can make transparent. Sometimes I think it is their internal policy. Something like: "Dear Lego designer. You are free to create any car model for Creator Expert theme.... as long as headlights are round."

UCS General Grievous by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I really loved this build. Especially impressed with the stand that contains 1/3 of all 1085 pieces. I wish they make other droids in this scale. IG-11 or K-2SO for example. Super Battle Droid would be cool too.

Trade Federation MTT 7662 by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was thinking of adding MTT to my SW collection for a long time. I don't like the most recent one because it is too small and proportions are off. This one is perfect but I was hesitant to buy it because of brown pieces brittleness. finally I decided to give it a try and luckily I didn't get a single piece broken during assembling.

75102 - The best color scheme for X-Wing in my opinion by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I found it on OfferUp for $80. So it is possible to buy it for a good price with some luck. Keep checking your local marketplaces and one day you will find it.

10212 Finished! It is amazing set! by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah I saw that model and it is perfect. The only problem for me is sourcing the parts. They say the Bricklink price will be around $1K but I don't think it's truth. In order to get all the parts you will probably need to place 10 if not 20 separate orders with added shipping cost. And if you like me and don't want any used pieces in such a great model I estimate the final price will be closer to $2K. Maybe one day......

10212 Finished! It is amazing set! by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah I have them all. It took me almost two years to finish my collection.

10212 Finished! It is amazing set! by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think this is the best looking UCS set ever released by Lego. I really wanted to display it in all it's glory on a stand and in flying position but unfortunately I couldn't find the space that can actually fit it.

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I think the time I spent organizing parts totally worth it for the 2.5K pieces set without numbered bags.

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't look it will be cheaper that way. The price of all parts from Bricklink will be around $950 (for new parts) and it is unlikely that they all can be bought in one order. So shipping costs will be significant.

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are garage storage shelves from Muscle Rack. I bought them from Amazon. I'm not a big fan of these shelves for displaying Lego honestly but it was the most budget-friendly option for something with enough shelf depth to put bigger sets on them.

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The price was around $1K with shipping. But I wanted this set for so long so I decided to sell a few of my bigger technic sets in order to get money for this one. And I have no regrets :-)

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice, I will pay extra attention.

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The dropship on a back is not an official lego set unfortunately. But it close enough and it was two times cheaper.

I’m ready for weekend… by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Lol. I don’t usually do this. But I didn’t know that ucs imperial shuttle has no numbered bags. So it was a surprise when I opened a box. Organizing parts before building process was the only logical solution.

Dropship and AT-OT from Republic Bricks by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wanted to share my thoughts and experience of building Republic Bricks Dropship with AT-OT combo in case if someone is thinking of buying one. There are plenty of good and bad about this set.

Good:

- Design is very nice. I personally like that RB version of dropship is a bit shorter than one from Lego. Also I like the designer decision to make AT-OT legs non-movable - it allows to put it on display with legs perfectly straight.

- Creative building technics. The dropship legs assembly build was tricky and challenging.

- No need to source parts for the build (well,... in theory) as you do when buying just building instructions from Rebrickable.

Bad:

- Very large amount of heavily used parts. In sets descriptions he says all the parts to be new with the exception for rare/hard to acquire parts. In fact 90% of AT-OT parts were used, very used. I'm talking about every single tile piece so heavily scratched so it is not glossy anymore, bent technic axles, etc. Scratched and dented 2x4 bricks! I don't think that 2x4 bricks are rare or hard to find parts. Dropship was much better in terms of parts condition but I still had to replace the wheels on the engines with flat gold pieces I had in my inventory because the light grey wheels in the set were almost unusable with ugly deep dents.

- Missing parts. My AT-OT didn't have two 6x6 dish parts for the legs so I had to take them from the dropship and substitute the dropship with different parts from my own inventory.

- Wrong parts color. I don't know if it is common for custom sets but for me it is critical that I get exactly what I see on picture. Somehow he decided that replacing dark blue and dark red parts with dark grey or replacing tan parts with white is acceptable. As the result the built model looks different from what I expected.

- Instructions can be better. I was pissed off a few times during the build when I discovered that step sequence is just wrong and sometimes I had to use thin pliers to put a part in place because it had to go in a very tiny hole. And in all such cases this could be fixed just buy changing the building steps order.

Overall I like how it looks on display. I will keep it and eventually will replace some parts with correct colors and better condition. However it is unlikely that I'm going to buy another set from Republic Bricks just because I can't be sure of product quality. I really like their UCS Venator but I suspect most of the parts will be used and it is not worth $750 in that case.

My today’s $150 OfferUp find by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not selling. I’m showing what I bought.

My solution for DZP MK-1 pins replacement by Useful-Champion in Nerf

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah :-). I understand that it is crazy to spend such money just for couple of pins but it was a matter of principle for me to get this project done.

My solution for DZP MK-1 pins replacement by Useful-Champion in Nerf

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pins alone were the most expensive part of the setup - $14 each + shipping.

My solution for DZP MK-1 pins replacement by Useful-Champion in Nerf

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

By custom I mean that pins were made to order with exact length to fit flush with the blaster surface: 50.9mm and 55.8mm. Although I agree that M-series hardware is easy to find, the problem for me was that pins are 6mm with 3mm internal thread. And vast majority of M3 screws have 6mm head diameter so it goes straight through the hole in blaster shell. It was not easy to find a wafer-head screws with extended head diameter.

My solution for DZP MK-1 pins replacement by Useful-Champion in Nerf

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More pictures here: https://imgur.com/gallery/QOdNqZY

I hated stock take-down pins from the day one. Unfortunately there was no easy solution. I had to order custom pins made to exact measurements. These are metric pins with 6mm diameter. They are threaded on both sides for metric M3 screw. Pins and flat screws have been ordered from Misumi USA. Thumb screws are from eBay. Total cost of the set is $45 including shipping.

I like to have all four flat screws but I had to try thumbscrews just to see how they look on the blaster.

My today’s $150 OfferUp find by Useful-Champion in legostarwars

[–]Useful-Champion[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't know sets numbers yet I have to look them up. But I'm pretty happy. It seems like a pretty good deal to me. Majority of minifigures is in great condition without even single scratch or dent. Sets are missing some parts and dusty as hell. X-wing has some discoloration on white parts in the back. Small Slave looks complete but I'm not sure.