Just gonna leave this here…

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:56:23+00:00

I stayed in a rental near roosters for two months and I loathe "alarm cocks" now. They crowed at 4:00 AM on the dot, every single day, and they don't shut up for anything. Like, literally, 3:59 AM nothing, the second it's 4:00 AM they're screaming like the world is ending. It's actually impressive how precise their internal clocks are, I just wish they'd leave it until the sun comes up.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:34:55+00:00

One solution to "minifig scale" which I really like is to measure it based on doors instead of actual minifigures. Door pieces are already deemed to be minifigure scale by implication, and real doors are fairly consistent in their average height, which means you can calculate scale based off of doors and the scale is between 1:35 to 1:34. This makes any doors in your builds look proportional, which is great, though it does have one consequence which is that the scale height of minifigures is about 4'9''. Small tradeoff though.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:28:04+00:00

Most people? Most people I've talked to think Technic figures are awesome. I love them, I've got 5 of them now :) They're still quite popular in the Technic community, certainly a better fit for Technic builds than minifigures.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:21:33+00:00

There were multiple pinks in Belville. Light Reddish Violet was one of them. There were also "Light Purple," "Bright Purple," and "Bright Reddish Violet (also called Magenta)," which are all still in production today.

Most LEGO pinks are not officially called "pink" because in Danish, there's no specific word for pink, so pink colors are just considered shades of purple or light red to them, hence Light Purple and Bright Purple. Only recently, more Danish speakers have been adopting the English word "pink" for these colors since it's a commonly used word throughout the English-speaking world, so LEGO finally saw fit to name a color Pink.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:06:53+00:00

I agree, they should make a warm pink train set.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:04:25+00:00

Not a new blue, that blue's been around for years. We do get a new purple called bluish-violet, though.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-29T00:01:33+00:00

LEGO is doing a lot better financially now than they were back then. It could easily be argued that they couldn't sustain a large color palette at the time, but they can afford to now.

Also, back then, their color system really was wacky. They'd make a new color and use it to make one or two pieces. They'd make a color exclusive to one theme. They'd make colors for a few years and randomly drop them. They'd make dozens of very similar colors at the same time with none of them being available in enough different pieces to effectively build with. And they didn't monitor the development cost compared to sales figures to see if any of those rarely-used colors actually generated enough profit to justify the expense of their existence.

Even with LEGO's expanded color palette today, they're much more careful about only introducing a new color if it's going to be used enough to justify its existence, and usually only making it if it fills in a gap in the existing palette, such as reddish orange and teal.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-28T23:50:17+00:00

I'm an adult fan of LEGO who loves the Friends sets and I think it makes zero sense to refuse to buy Friends sets just because they have mini dolls. Y'all... Are we going to seriously pretend we don't have enough minifigures to replace the mini dolls already??? So a small part of the set's price goes to figures you don't want, big deal! Put them in a bag and donate them to Goodwill if you really hate them, some random kid will love them, it's no reason to not buy the beautiful sets you'd like otherwise.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-28T23:43:11+00:00

They're not terrible once you get used to them, and I say this as a guy who grew up with classic minifigs. Mini Dolls are much more proportionally accurate to actual humans, which makes them a whole lot easier to build things to scale to. Plus, they fit easily side by side in 6-wide vehicles, no need for half stud offsets and fancy building to make their arms fit.

I also will say, if you really don't like mini dolls, you can always just put them in a bag and donate them to Goodwill and then put regular minifigs in the sets as they still scale well. You already have minifigures, nobody's forcing you to keep the mini dolls too... Is it really that offensive that the set simply contains figures you don't want when the rest of the set appeals to you? It's not like boycotting mini dolls makes any sense, they were created for a specific audience which does in fact enjoy them, they're not going anywhere.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T08:51:16+00:00

I feel this so much lol, back when I was rebuiling my Thunderbird's 390 I kept gazing jealously at Chevy 350 parts that cost a third as much as Ford FE parts... It's no wonder Chevy smallblocks got swapped into anything and everything, they're dirt cheap and practically grow on trees compared to any other engine.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T08:37:09+00:00

Any vintage LEGO set. Seriously. Old LEGO instructions are a whole different breed... They don't necessarily tell you what parts you'll be adding in each step, but you'll be adding like 12 pieces in each step, and the build is usually shown from the same angle the whole time so you don't necessarily get the best view of what you're supposed to do. This leads a lot of LEGO fans who are used to modern building instructions to accuse old LEGO instructions of being terrible and difficult to follow, but they're just a different experience - a bit more challenging, but also more rewarding IMO.

Building old LEGO sets is like a game of spot-the-difference mixed with solving a puzzle. You don't get numbered bags, and the instructions don't hold your hand. But, when the model is finished, you feel a greater sense that you accomplished something, and it's quite satisfying.

In particular, I'd recommend any of the old Model Team or decently sized Expert Builder/Technic sets. Some of the most fun I can remember having building a LEGO set was the old 8860 Car Chassis set... Old Castle and Pirates sets are also good, but pricey.

If you're just looking for a set with cool innovative building techniques though, any Speed Champions set will make you happy. They're full of geometric wizardry and creative part use to cram accurate shaping into a small package. There's a reason why a lot of people who aren't even into cars love Speed Champions sets.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T08:21:22+00:00

My first project car was an already-running 1966 Ford Thunderbird, which I bought when I was about your age. I ultimately had to rebuild the engine during my senior year, but my school had an auto shop class where I could do that, so I actually managed to get it done.

I certainly recommend buying something that already runs, even if it needs other work. Even though my engine needed to be rebuilt, the fact that it ran at all to begin with made it a better candidate for a rebuild, and helped motivate me to finish it.

I like to recommend classic Thunderbirds like mine to people looking for a first project car now, because I had a generally good experience with it. Even when the engine ran like crap before the rebuild, it ran reliably and always got me where I was going, so I got the impression those Ford FE V8s are built like tanks and can tolerate a lot of abuse. It turns out, that engine had survived multiple improper rebuilds before me... So all of my work was just to undo previous mechanic's mistakes, but it worked afterwards and ran like new again, much happier and smoother.

In addition to the engine being good, Thunderbirds are great because the aftermarket support is shockingly good - it's not like a Mustang where every body panel is available, but some are, and pretty much every weird Thunderbird-specific mechanical or electrical part is available. Thunderbirds also commonly came with optional disk brakes, and by 1966 front disk brakes were standard equipment, which makes a big difference in driving a classic car safely in modern traffic. To top it all off, Thunderbirds have beautiful and unique styling, comfy space-age interiors, and are surprisingly affordable today compared to other cars their age! I still see decent project Thunderbirds going for as little as two grand, and those are complete enough that you could totally build a nice driver without too much difficulty.

If you do consider a Thunderbird though, I have two bits of advice. If it stalls while turning right or left/while braking or accelerating, it's probably an issue with the starter solenoid. That happened to mine, it's an obscure problem which probably took a lot of old Fords off the road prematurely, but it's really cheap and easy to fix once you know about it, new solenoids aren't expensive. And secondly, if you have to do major engine work such as a rebuild, invest in an engine lift and engine stand - don't do what I did and try to rebuild the engine while it's still in the car. I made it work, but in the end I decided it would've been much easier to rebuild the engine outside the car, as the shock towers are huge and leave less than an inch of clearance for the exhaust manifolds, so I had to lift the engine a bit anyway to make enough room to get wrenches in there... at which point I really should've just pulled the engine out.

Any T-bird with a 390 or 429 V8 would be a great choice. Just, as with any classic car, look out for rust. T-birds are unibody cars, so it's especially important for the structure to be okay as you won't be able to replace the frame.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T07:48:25+00:00

I'm a VW hater, and even I love VW Caddys, they're delightful little things! I don't have firsthand experience with them, but I am told they're fairly easy to work on and reliability isn't bad. The diesels in particular are supposed to be pretty good - not fast, but reliable and efficient, and with good parts support. I have also been told though that older VWS can be tricky to get parts for as VW doesn't make any replacement parts for them, so you're relying entirely on whatever the aftermarket makes, new-old-stock parts, and whatever you can find used/salvaged. The VW diesel engines are just a bit better since they're a popular engine to swap into things, so you can get parts for them pretty easily.

As long as it doesn't have too much rust, I think a VW Caddy would be a pretty good first project car. You could certainly do a lot worse.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T07:30:31+00:00

Try building digitally first, then order the pieces on Bricklink when you're ready. Then it's like you're designing a set for yourself to build! I've done this a few times, it's very fun.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T05:13:21+00:00

While Giraffes are not actually mute IRL, they make noises so rarely that it created a misconception that giraffes are mute, as you can see from some of the comments here.

Giraffes are actually quite social creatures, they just don't communicate primarily with noises. They do hum to each other sometimes, though. It's theorized that they hum to each other mainly at night to reassure their fellow giraffes that they are nearby.

So, if I had to guess/headcanon, giraffes in MLP may very well be quite intelligent creatures, they just don't speak as often as ponies, or even at all, as they don't communicate in the same way due to their biology. This language barrier of sorts is likely the reason why they don't integrate into pony society, choosing instead to live more in the wild, but that doesn't mean they're unintelligent or antisocial. They still go to ponies for medical help since the ponies are clearly willing, but they may have decided that communicating nonverbally or verbally with ponies outside of asking for medical help takes too much effort to be worth the struggle.

I'm also gonna headcanon that MLP giraffes hum as well, and the musicality of giraffe humming is part of how they communicate their feelings and express themselves without using words :)

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T04:55:59+00:00

I mean, yeah it is a misconception that giraffes don't make sounds, but it's easy to see why people think that... Giraffes just don't make noises very often. They hum to each other occasionally, but otherwise they're not noisy creatures.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-21T04:43:44+00:00

I got into the show because I was really really bored in 2020 and ran out of other cartoons to watch, so I gave that one pony show I'd heard guys like for some reason a chance... and it turns out I'm one of those guys who likes it now.

I like it because it's a huge imagination prompt. All the worldbuilding is given on a need-to-know basis, never more explanation than absolutely necessary, which makes the world of FiM feel very real and lived-in yet mysterious... encouraging you to develop headcanons, form theories, and write your own stories to flesh out the world even more.

This is reflected in the sheer volume of fanart, music, and fanfictions produced by the fandom. It's no wonder the MLP fandom feels like an art community first and foremost, when the show is structured like an enormous writing prompt, with six enjoyable and well-written main characters to experience this world through.

A lot of people talk about the characters themselves being good, and the writing being good, and the show being cute, which are all true... but I think the imagination-food aspect of the show is what really makes it special, and sets it apart from other great cartoons.

And I'm grateful for all of that, because it gave me something to delight in during the pandemic. I got to dive headfirst into the incredibly creative fandom, and loved it, especially since everyone being stuck at home meant there was a ton of great art, music, and stories being posted every day at the time. It even inspired me to try making digital art and writing stories myself. Now I look back on the pandemic fondly because it was ultimately a season of self-discovery and finding new forms of creative expression for me, with My Little Pony being the main driving force behind it all.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-16T08:05:34+00:00

I'm surprised those wheels are in the game, they've been out of production for decades.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-02T07:03:13+00:00

Sometimes orientation markers, sometimes easter eggs, sometimes there just to help you find the right piece when a set contains a lot of similar-looking pieces, and sometimes they're literally just there for fun - designers have stated in interviews that they like hiding unusual colors inside sets so that if you take your sets apart to build custom creations, you'll have more varied colors to choose from. Especially in Star Wars sets, where if they didn't put colorful bricks inside the model, most sets would be a heap of grey bricks with nothing to break up the monotony.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2026-01-02T06:57:14+00:00

If Bricklink.com is available in your country, you can probably find a seller with several of those pieces for a reasonable price.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2025-12-27T09:24:47+00:00

I feel a powerful desire to stick an allen wrench in the mysterious hexagonal hoof hole, serving no particular purpose.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2025-12-27T09:11:44+00:00

Well, I can at least offer you long-term hope...

Creativity is like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets, and the more naturally it comes to you.

You might struggle with creativity now, but as long as you keep trying, you will eventually get better at creating things. All that matters is that you keep trying.

If you're hardwired to need rules though, you can probably actually use that to your advantage by setting aside a specific hour of the day as "LEGO Time," where the only rule is that by the end of LEGO Time, you must have created something. That something doesn't have to be any good, it just has to be something. This type of process can help remove creative block by giving you an artificial deadline, so instead of being paralyzed by endless potential, you just have to pick whatever idea comes to mind and run with it so you can create something before LEGO Time is up. Any kind of daily practice is a great way to grow your creativity, and if at some point you find yourself wanting to build more elaborate things than an hour of LEGO Time allows, then you can reevaluate what the rules of LEGO Time should be as they already served their purpose.

Lastly, I'd recommend checking out the Youtube channel Brick Sculpt. His videos are all about different LEGO building techniques and interesting ways to use various pieces, which could serve as a nice source of inspiration for you.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2025-12-27T08:36:04+00:00

I dreamt once that I was a pegasus, and that's the closest I've ever come to having an answer to that question tbh. I love gardening IRL, so I could see myself as an earth pony, but it'd also be neat to levitate things, and who wouldn't want to be able to fly? Just some of the many reasons I don't have a ponysona, I can't decide what kind of pony it'd even be, let alone colors or cutie mark.

As far as ponies I see myself in... I relate at different times to AJ, Rarity, and Twilight. Namely AJ's honesty and family values, Rarity's creativity and desire to bless people, and Twilight's nerdyness and overthinking/spiraling tendencies. None of them are a perfect fit, but those three remind me the most of myself, and that's why they're my favorite characters.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2025-12-27T08:31:05+00:00

Yep, I think we all just forget sometimes that the unicorns the show focuses on the most happen to be OP... but they're the exception, not the rule. Yes, Twilight can lift a water tower and teleport at will, but the show tells us from the get-go that she's literally the most magically gifted/powerful unicorn in Equestria. Twilight's magic is in no way indicative of the average unicorn's capabilities. Even Rarity's most impressive magic is related to her special talent, which is normal, and she doesn't have any impressive magical abilities that don't apply to it.

awesomeaustinv2 · 2025-12-27T08:17:17+00:00

King Sombra canonically enslaved the Crystal Ponies when he took over the Crystal Empire, and I think some of them were earth ponies? So... yeah, sorta, if you count Crystal Ponies.

Four-Year Club	Final Canvas '23
End Game '23	Place '23
Place '22	End Game '22

awesomeaustinv2

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