FotD September 17, 2001

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Mike Walsh

As I continue to dig through stuff, I try to put together where it came from.  A couple days ago I was reassembling a 6562 Gas Stop Shop and I was trying to figure out why I had so many duplicate parts.  I knew I had one because I have the box and instructions but wasn’t sure where I picked up a second one.  After getting the first one complete, I got the second one as complete as I could.  It is all there except for the tanker truck.

It turns out this incomplete set came from an eBay lot I won back in 2001.  It was a pretty good haul of 9v Train stuff including parts from a 4564 Freight Rail Runner and a 4554 Metrostation.  There were quite a few other goodies in the box but in the back of the third gallery image you can see the partial 6562 Gas Stop Shop.  Ah-ha – so that is where is came from!  In the image you can also see that it is missing the tanker truck too.

At the time it was pretty common to post such a “find” on LUGNET as a “Find of the Day” or FOTD.  Here is the link to my original FOTD post.  $100 bucks for all of that stuff – not bad.

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The Big Purge Begins …

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Mike Walsh

I have previously mentioned my plan to downsize my LEGO collection. As any serious LEGO enthusiast knows, dis-assembling, sorting, rebuilding sets, is a time consuming task and each time I start working on it, I make a little bit of progress and then leave it for another day. Well, over the the 4th of July Holiday weekend I finally made some significant progress.

This past weekend I broke down roughly 60-70 sets and got them back to 100% complete (for the most part, there were a few things I couldn’t find). Before I list them on BrickLink I wanted to offer first crack at them to the NCLUG community and anyone who happens to run across my LEGO blog.

I will continue to add sets to the list as I re-assemble more and make some hard decisions on what I am keeping (not much) and what I am letting go. I am guessing this list represents about 60% of what I have in set form. There are only a couple of Train sets on it and I have quite a few of those yet to go through.

If you see something on this list, feel free to make me an offer.

Some answers to questions I am sure people have:

  1. Are the sets complete? Yes, for the most part. In a few cases I was unable to find a part or two or couldn’t find one of the minifigs. I have tried to note it on the list when it is missing pieces.
  2. Are the sets in good condition? Yes, for the most part. Some of these are pretty old but I kept them in good condition. A few have noticeable discoloration of while elements. I have tried to note where the sets have discoloration on the list.
  3. Are you flexible on prices? Absolutely. The more you buy, the more flexible I am!
  4. Can I come look at them? Sure if you’re local to Raleigh, North Carolina or happen to be in the area for some reason, contact me directly to make arrangements to come browse.
  5. Do you want to trade for anything? There really isn’t much I am looking for, my goal is to downsize my collection by about 90%. However, I am in the market for a Canon 16-35 or 17-40 lens so if you have one you want to trade, I am willing to barter.
  6. Payment? My preference is Cash (in person) but I am more than happy to take a Credit Card using Square on my iPad (also in person). I accept PayPal for any transaction which requires shipping.
  7. Do I plan to sell parts? Absolutely. Before I start selling parts I need to get through all of the sets first. I need to make sure the ones I want to keep and/or sell are as close to complete as possible. Once I do that I will begin selling parts. I have lots and lots of parts to sell. Many of them are still brand new from when I was actively running a BrickLink store but never got them listed for one reason or another.
  8. Will you break up the Star Wars mini-collection (4484, 4485, 4486, 4487)? Nope, you need to buy all four so you get all of the parts to build the Tie Fighter that is made from a few parts that came with each of the four sets.
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White Metroliner

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Mike Walsh

More old MOCs from my closet – this is a white rendition of the Metroliner.  I built this around 1998 when I first got into 9v trains.  At the time the Metroliner was selling for about $400 on the secondary market.  There was no way I was going to pay that sort of money for one so I decided to build my own in a different color scheme.  This train ran on some of the early NCLTC train layouts but I got a real Metroliner not long after I built so it basically went into mothballs.

My rendition of the  Club Car is pretty similar, there are a few minor differences but nothing substantial.  The rest of the train is very different.  At the time, 6×28 black wagon plates didn’t exist so I used the 6×24 version and “shortened” the train accordingly.  The real hard to find element in my train is the White Train Sloping Front Top which came in only one set, 6557 Treasure Hunters.  The 6557 set is rare, there is no price guide history on BrickLink.  The white train front itself sells for $20 used!

I should revisit this train and update now that black wagon plate is available in 6×28 (although only in the Maersk Train).  Over time I’ve also picked up a couple White Slope 45 6 x 6 Double / 33 (Train Roof) so I can do the roof properly too.

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Space Train

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Mike Walsh

I never built much in the way of Space but one year I built a “Space Train” for the Moonbase layout at NCLUG’s LEGOPalooza.  Here are a few pictures of it.  It has been sitting in a tub in my office since then.  The container cars (which are hauling crates of cheese) were based on James Mathis’ Double Stack design.

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Disassembling and Sorting

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Mike Walsh

Over the 4th of July holiday I have been doing a lot of dis-assembly and sorting.  I forget how tedious doing this can be. It always takes far longer to take things apart and put them away than it does to build them!  In the process I have found a few things that I am on the fence about taking apart but also found many things that there really is no reason to keep together any longer.  I’ve also tried to reconstruct a lot of sets.  I’ve probably reassembled 50 sets over the past three days.

Why am I doing this?  I am gearing up for a big purge.  I’ve talked about doing this for a few years and I finally am getting serious about it.  It is time for 90% of this stuff to go – I don’t build much any more and we need the space my LEGO collection is taking up.  How am I going to part with it?  I will likely hold a LEGO “yard sale” of sorts first and let the local NCLUG and NCLTC people have first crack at it.  After that, whatever is left, which I hope isn’t much, will go on BrickLink I guess.  Likely as bulk lots.

Stay tuned!

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