Late October

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We made our a trip to our local Lego store (our second of the month). My son picked up an alarm clock and a couple sets. One of the sets turned out to be pretty darn cool and I suspect that I’ll be getting a copy for myself in the near future. I bought a big cup of bricks from the pick-a-brick wall. Since I still haven’t started building, my selection process is mostly speculation and desire.

As I browse MOCs on the internet, one of the things that intrigues me is how well many builders hide the studs. As a kid, all of my creations were built with plates and bricks with exposed studs. Modern builders work hard to minimize the number of exposed studs, using SNOT techniques and plates. Lots and lots of plates.

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I never had that many plates in my collection, so now every time I hit the wall, I grab handfuls of whatever plates they have in stock. This latest cup included a couple of varieties of red plate (1×8 and 2×2), as well as yellow 2x2s and purple 1x2s. I’m looking forward to getting some use out of these guys.

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I picked up some great decorative elements too: gold grills, red chairs and leafy bamboo. I don’t have many pieces in this gold color, so I couldn’t help but grab a handful. The foliage will come in handy too. I could just imagine the annoyance of trying to put together a cool diorama and not having any decent plants. The chairs were even more of an impulse, some part of my brain whispering that I might want to build a bus some day.

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Translucent pieces have always been attractive to me. I have been known to buy sets just for the interesting canopies that they included. Translucent 2×2 cylinders in fluorescent green and light blue are just to good to pass up. I don’t know what I’ll use them for, but I suspect that they might inspire MOCs just to highlight their awesomeness.

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Lastly, I picked up some pink and purple pieces (though my poor camera skills has rendered their colors mute). I can’t say that I am a huge fan of either color, but they fill important gaps in the LEGO palate. I doubt that I have more than a couple of pieces in either color, so another handful of each can only help.

I’m making slow progress in my sorting and organization, and this is my fourth pick-a-brick cup to add to the pile. I’ll probably sort the cups last, since the hardest task is still the two big tubs, with their mish-mash of pieces, both common and exotic. Who knows, maybe next time I will be pulling for a specific project!