Since I last posted on my the state of my collection, it has gone through a significant change. I no longer keep my individual sets separate. This means I have abandoned my views of being a set purist and have gone in the complete opposite direction by throwing all my pieces together.
This decision came when I realized I was holding myself back creatively. By having my sets separate I wasn't able to see all my pieces and there for didn't use my parts very efficiently. By combining all my sets, I can see how many of what piece I have. My collection is still very organized and each part has its place. I can still build my sets if I want. I'm excited for the change and can't wait to try my hand in some MOC's. Now I just need a place to keep all my LEGO out and not have to worry about storing them in the closet. That dream is getting closer to reality, soon hopefully.
I will post new pics of my collection soon. Maybe this weekend, when I have time to get it all together again.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
LEGO Resto
So I mentioned a few posts back about completely removing the yellowing off LEGO pieces that were exposed to UV light. This weekend I got to try it out. First off read my other post and check out the links it provides.
This process involves using high percentages of hydrogen peroxide so please be careful when doing this. Take the necessary precautions to avoid getting hurt.
Here are a few of my results.
After doing a bunch of white pieces I decided to try it on a printed piece. Some people have said that printed parts tend to fade. I thought since this flag had a lot printed on it and it was in good shape that it should be fine. This flag took about 2 hours. I think since the plastic is pretty thin that it went a lot faster.
I have seen some people reverse the yellow in clear plastic items. So I thought to try it on my clear LEGO parts. I have a few of these slopes all in the same condition. I had thought they were just really dirty and stained. Turns out it was just yellowed from UV. This part took about 6 hours. This slope is at least 25+ years old, now it looks like brand new.
I will be posting more results on my flickr page. So please add me as a contact to see new updates.
This process involves using high percentages of hydrogen peroxide so please be careful when doing this. Take the necessary precautions to avoid getting hurt.
Here are a few of my results.
After doing a bunch of white pieces I decided to try it on a printed piece. Some people have said that printed parts tend to fade. I thought since this flag had a lot printed on it and it was in good shape that it should be fine. This flag took about 2 hours. I think since the plastic is pretty thin that it went a lot faster.
I have seen some people reverse the yellow in clear plastic items. So I thought to try it on my clear LEGO parts. I have a few of these slopes all in the same condition. I had thought they were just really dirty and stained. Turns out it was just yellowed from UV. This part took about 6 hours. This slope is at least 25+ years old, now it looks like brand new.
I will be posting more results on my flickr page. So please add me as a contact to see new updates.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
New Month, New Store Flyer.
Every month I will try and post the LEGO stores flyer. It contains announcements on new sets, sales and free giveaways. For now I'm going to link you to toomuchdew's photos of this month. I will get my own up starting next month.
I know that I will be taking advantage of the Green Grocer sale.
I know that I will be taking advantage of the Green Grocer sale.
Clean Up Yellowed LEGO
This is something that I am quite excited about. When I got back into LEGO I started putting my old sets back together. As a kid I kept all my sets out on display, so as I put them back together, I noticed that the pieces had started to turn yellow. Most severe cases were white, blue, and light grey colors. I felt stupid for leaving my LEGO out and exposed to the sun. I looked around the internet to see if there was anything you could do to clean them. Everything I found said that it was permanent and there was nothing you can do. Some people said they used bleach on white parts, this kind of worked but left the pieces brittle and they lost their shine.
Seeing defeat, I bagged up all the discolored pieces and ordered replacements from bricklink. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, hoping that one day some miracle would come and I could fix them. Well, that miracle has come.
Yesterday TBB blogged about a group of vintage computer hobbyists / chemists that have found a way to COMPLETELY reverse the yellowing of older plastic!!! A solution of hydrogen peroxide, "Oxy" laundry detergent and UV light was perfected and given them name retr0bright. Check out their webpage.
This revolution has me SO excited. The geniuses over at retr0bright have become heroes to me.. in a way. The technique has found its way to the LEGO community and of course shows great results.
Tim Goddard shows his results here:
Smitty has set up a website using this formula specifically for LEGO:
LEGO Restoration
This process can take anywhere from 3-29 hours to fully reverse the yellowing. It also deals with using strong hydrogen peroxide which, if mishandled, can lead to serious health problems. Please fully read the posts on the retr0bright site and on smitty's site to fully understand what you are getting into.
I really want to try this out. As I said I have a one gallon ziplock bag full of yellowed LEGO. I will take some photos and detail my process as I go. I'll be sure to post the results.
UPDATE:
Follow my guide here
Seeing defeat, I bagged up all the discolored pieces and ordered replacements from bricklink. I couldn't bring myself to throw them away, hoping that one day some miracle would come and I could fix them. Well, that miracle has come.
Yesterday TBB blogged about a group of vintage computer hobbyists / chemists that have found a way to COMPLETELY reverse the yellowing of older plastic!!! A solution of hydrogen peroxide, "Oxy" laundry detergent and UV light was perfected and given them name retr0bright. Check out their webpage.
This revolution has me SO excited. The geniuses over at retr0bright have become heroes to me.. in a way. The technique has found its way to the LEGO community and of course shows great results.
Tim Goddard shows his results here:
Smitty has set up a website using this formula specifically for LEGO:
LEGO Restoration
This process can take anywhere from 3-29 hours to fully reverse the yellowing. It also deals with using strong hydrogen peroxide which, if mishandled, can lead to serious health problems. Please fully read the posts on the retr0bright site and on smitty's site to fully understand what you are getting into.
I really want to try this out. As I said I have a one gallon ziplock bag full of yellowed LEGO. I will take some photos and detail my process as I go. I'll be sure to post the results.
UPDATE:
Follow my guide here
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Got it!!!
It's been a long time since I posted last. Life has been turned up to 11 these past few months. I recently acquired a lot of used LEGO that deserved a post. After my miss on the old pirate sets I got the wheels turning and tried to make a program that would scan craigslist every 10 minutes or so and email me when a new LEGO ad was made. That program died quickly when I discovered a craigslist gadget I could add to my google home page. Largely in thanks to flickr user toomuchdew. He posted his LEGO themed google page and it showed a craigslist gadget so I went to add it to my page. This thing is awesome. I have only had it for a few weeks when it found me a gem of a sale.
Someone had posted an ad for "Huge LEGO Collection". As soon as I had opened that posting I new it was the deal of the month. 18 mid 90's sets complete and in box were priced at $200. Among the sets were 6991, 6339, 6195 and many others. I came across the posting a mere 20 minutes after it was posted and immediately called the number listed. I left a message and waited for 5 hours before I got a call back. I was the first to call and there for was the first to get called back. I drove 30 minutes to the persons house and looked over the lot. It appeared to have everything and most the boxes were still in great shape. Also along the way the seller had come across a few additional sets that they were just going to through in.
I walked out with 25 sets, 21 of which had there box, and a monorail for $200!! There are a few that I am going to keep and the rest will be up for auction soon. My wife and I have been having a blast getting all the sets ready for auction. It was a great find and I will make back $200 and them some. I will post some images when I get them all together.
EDIT: you can see all the sets I put up for auction here on flickr. They all sold, and are in hands of other AFOL's. I was sad to see them go, but I couldn't keep them all.
Someone had posted an ad for "Huge LEGO Collection". As soon as I had opened that posting I new it was the deal of the month. 18 mid 90's sets complete and in box were priced at $200. Among the sets were 6991, 6339, 6195 and many others. I came across the posting a mere 20 minutes after it was posted and immediately called the number listed. I left a message and waited for 5 hours before I got a call back. I was the first to call and there for was the first to get called back. I drove 30 minutes to the persons house and looked over the lot. It appeared to have everything and most the boxes were still in great shape. Also along the way the seller had come across a few additional sets that they were just going to through in.
I walked out with 25 sets, 21 of which had there box, and a monorail for $200!! There are a few that I am going to keep and the rest will be up for auction soon. My wife and I have been having a blast getting all the sets ready for auction. It was a great find and I will make back $200 and them some. I will post some images when I get them all together.
EDIT: you can see all the sets I put up for auction here on flickr. They all sold, and are in hands of other AFOL's. I was sad to see them go, but I couldn't keep them all.
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