LCC Happy 2016 Reunion

Yesterday, our nice Facebook group LCC (short for Lego Collector`s Club Belgie en Nederland) held it`s first official event.

Now, this group is ran by a lovely couple, Sophie and Gaetan, together with dutchmen Jeroen and `sales controller` Jaco.  it has grown in the year since it`s founding to a 1000+ members, and we gathered in the Colmar restaurant in Antwerp for a lunch.

The whole event started off with a speech by the `chairlady` about the progress of the group of the year.

This was then followed by her husband taking the word about what we can expect in the following year, with ideas for future events and the likes.

Jaco then took a moment to bring some great news to Sophie.  Someone had bought up one of the LCC exclusive Wall-E`s for his `collection`, then sold it at quadrupple price in another group.  But the buyers where a collaboration by LCC members to bring the little build that was a GIFT back into the `family`.

We then moved to the foodstuffs, before doing the group activity.

This was another LCC build like the Wall-E we got at the AFOL Night back in October, and it contained the Poe X-Wing, in an even smaller version then the polybag edition.  Really cute little thing if you ask me!

Another gift was a new customer card for Bricksworld Megastore, whose owner is also a member of the group.  This saved us the trip to the Netherlands to have it registred, and you get a 10% discount wether buying in the physical store or on their website.

After the builds, it was dessert time (or for me, second desserts, I already attacked that buffet part before the building moment).

A jersey isn't just a glorified sweater. Or some sweaty uniform that gets worn during a game. Jerseys are much more than that — they're the tuxedo of geeks.

Worn all over the world, for any occasion, they demand attention. But something has always been missing from jerseys, a bit of je ne sais quoi, you might say.

So we moved on to the tombola (which is a fancy word for bingo) and every family obtained a price.  I walked home with the Chima lot.  I really dig this, okay so the playmat is something I perhaps have grown to old for, but the foilpack figure, the Chima promopack with it`s keychain and foil trading cards, the holosticker (already on my carry case as you read this) and the Icebite keychain are more then welcome for my collection.

And then there was a trading moment, the loot (Queen Anne, Armada flagship, etc etc) can be seen in yesterday`s Haul Report post on this blog as I had made some nice exchanges through the group.

Of course, there was also the limited edition event brick shown at the beginning, which now adorns my `brick badge` as well :-)

For me, the event was a great success.  Since it was a casual get together and not the regular trade fairs and the likes, this meant you had actually time to do some nice chats and laughs in a relaxed atmosphere.  And it is always fantastic to get together with like minded individuals to talk a bit about your hobby, your projects and the more without the intense pressure conventions tend to bring along.

Onwards to the next event!


Want to now more about LCC?  Their website can be found HERE.

Lego Build: 30272 A-Wing Starfighter

In today`s build report, I`m putting together one of the Star Wars spaceship polybags, the little A-Wing.

Now, of all the spacefighters the Rebels used in the original trilogy, I always liked the sleek lines of these small fighters the most, and remember, it was actually an A-wing that fired the finishing shot of the second Death Star.

Opening the bag, we get a nice pile of mostly white and dark red elements, and dark red is something I can always appreciate in sets.

We commence the build by stacking two 2x4 dark reds with a white round plate together, to serve as the underside of the fighter.

On the top side, white wings are attached, and grey elements to add the sides of the engine compartment.

Jumpers are put in place on the top side, in order to facilitate the cockpit, while long red curved elements go in the front.  These make the long elegant nose of the little fighter.

Said cockpit is then installed with trans-black pieces, while we put a clear element at the bottom to position the model.

The small side compartments are then put together, which we do two times so we can add them to either side of the vessel.

Finally, we put the guns on the side compartments, before we start the last section of the vessel.

This is the engine section, with a white plate as the basis to which round bricks are added.  On top of those, blue transparent dishes serve as the exhausts, and we add the whole construction to the back of the vessel.

And the little fighter is completed:

Of course, a few extra parts are included in the set:

I really like this particular polybag.  Not only does it have a nice selection of elements and in usefull colours, it also is quit a good looker when completed.  Definitly worth the few euro you have to put down for it!

The Haul Report #14

I know, I normally do this on sunday mornings, but I moved it forward a few hours for a good reason.

Today, we had a small Lego gathering, and I promised not to blog about it before tomorrow or monday evening to not steal the spotlights from the lovely couple that organised it.

Add to it that I did some excellent trades on the event (well, through the FB group, with people that came to the lunch), so I could close off the week in style.

But let`s begin at, well, the beginning.  Last saturday, I received the texts that my pre-orders where in at the local Game Mania.  So tuesday afternoon I picked up my PS3 and Vita copies of the new Marvel Avengers game, and a duo of Silver Centurions to boot.

Next, it was time to open some BrickLink parcels.

The first was a small order for more red cheese slopes, to decorate my Corrington builds with.

Another order contained some tan parts, always handy, and 100+ small light bley studs for my `streets` in the same city.

The final one was the `used complete` set of the Captain`s Cabin for the Queen Anne from Pirates of the Carribean, a ship which you will see showing up at the end of this particular post...

I also received a parcel from a fellow Facebook`er, containing the parts for 5 `redcoats` and some additional torsos.  I had traded those with him for 5 bluecoats and some, well, bluecoat torsos.

My bi-monthly `magic bundle` order from Awesome Books arrived as well, containing some more novels for my Alexander Kent `Bolitho` series. 

And then the week slowed down, and we went to said meeting.

The first thing I picked up there was this small City set.  I bought it from someone that bought it double by accident, and for the price she actually paid for it, and it`ll end up as trade material itself, City not being my, but a lot of people out there, thing.

Then the trading started.  The first one was with the guy I also traded the Queen Anne with.  Ever back at the AFOL Night in october 2015, he had this at the side for me, in case I had some superhero polybag he fancied, and I had a Jor-El one lying on the side.  As we met today, we exchanged the bags at last :-)

But he also brought me the Queen Anne.  As I said before, the Helicarrier was a bit of a let down for me, and used complete on Bricklink it goes about the same rate as the Queen Anne these days.  So I had placed a post in the group that I wanted to trade, and trade only, the Helicarrier for the elegant sailing ship.  My dutch friend had one, he wanted the SHIELD behemoth, and we worked it out.  So the big pirate ship will soon be joining my Black Pearl on my shelves.

But I came back with another ship as well.  The `spanish armada` flagship, some flags and palmtrees, and a bunch of redcoats came to me in exchange for an old space set, which I traded with another member of the LCC Facebook group.

Because let`s face it, trading and exchanging is still a more enjoyable way to get your things together, especially older sets, then just selling something off and buying things you want.  And I also saw already in the group he couldn`t wait to build his spaceship until tomorrow, it`s already assembled and in his collection, so I`m happy, he`s happy, and we both have a great feeling about new gems in our collection.

And then saving for last, my Series 15 sealed box of Minifigures was brought along to the meeting as well, so one of the days I can open the box, crack the packages, and sort in the `figures I need`, `figures I`ll be using parts from` and `for trade` piles :-)

Well, that`s the whole shabang for this report, until next week!