I'm still here!

I'm still around.  Just have been very busy with my 2 month old daughter.  I will be getting the next part of the Bricklink guide up soon.

New User's Guide to Buying on Bricklink: part 1

I think I mentioned writing a Bricklink guide when I first started this blog.  I guess better late then never.  I will be breaking this up into parts due to how huge it can be.  So part one will be focusing on creating and setting up wanted lists.  Part 2 will be about buying parts on your wanted list.  There may be more parts in the future.

As an AFOL you may have heard about Bricklink.  As the picture states, it is the "Unofficial LEGO Marketplace".  What this means is that you can buy parts, sets, minifigures, boxes and instructions of any Lego set ever!  Are you missing a part for your old childhood set? Need to buy 500 1x2 Bley bricks for a MoC?  You can get these on Bricklink.  I will do my best to guide you through your first time using Bricklink.  I know from experience that getting the hang of BL takes some time.  I am still finding cool new things that makes purchasing easier.

1. Username

Create a username.  You can't do anything until you have set up your username and password.  Much like eBay this username will track your purchases, orders and feedback.  You can also use the forums and set up your own store.

Once you have a username and have logged into the site. You should go to the "My Bricklink" tab.  In this tab you see your BL ID and a site map that you have access to.  Also you can see if you have any action items.  Action items are things that may need your attention.  They can include orders that need to be paid, status of orders (shipped, packed) or if you need to leave feedback.  I recommend looking around here for a bit to get familiar.

My Bricklink tab has all the areas you have access to

2. Wanted Lists

I think that wanted lists are the heart of BL.  These are customizable lists that you create.  These lists can include anything that is sold on BL.

2.1 Creating a wanted list

Go to the "Wanted" tab.  You can add items to a list one by one, many via xml document or by parting out sets. For beginners I would recommend just adding one by one.  As an example I want to add a red 2x4 brick to my list.  Here's how I would do it.

- From the "Wanted" tab click "Parts" and hit submit

- in the next window, pick "Brick" in the category drop down box

- click on "Brick 2 x 4"

- click "View Image" to make sure it is the right part

      BL used to update the color of the part based on your color pick, but it doesn't seem to do that anymore.

- select "Red" in the color drop down

     color is split up in "Known Colors" which are colors that this part appears in sets and "Lego Colors" which are all the Lego colors but the part might not be made in it.  Stick with "Known Colors"

- the rest of the options are pretty straight forward.  By default the part is added to you Main wanted list.  You can create new ones to help organize the parts you want.  For example I have a list just for minifigure parts, lists for missing parts in individual sets and a list for bulk parts.

The other options that I use are quantity and notify by email.  I turn off notify by email and it can be set to default off in your settings in the upper right corner of the window.

- click "Add Item"

The next screen will let you know that your part has been added successfully.  You have the option to see this part in your wanted list or just keep adding parts.

Adding a Red 2x4 brick with a quantity of 10

Repeat until all items you want are added to your list.  You can go back and select other categories to get boxes, instructions and minifigures.

2.2 Settings for your wanted list


Go to the "Wanted" > "My Settings" tab.  Here you can refine what BL does when you try and search shops for your wanted list and how BL notifies you about your wanted list.

This is a pretty straight forward tab.  It can help you set up the way shops come up when you search your wanted list.  I leave most to deafault settings.  I turn off all notification though.

Wanted list settings.  Tailor however you like.

That's it for part 1.  Hopefully this is enough for someone to start getting their lists in order.  I will edit and update this with any suggestions.

I'll start working on part 2 soon. I know once I had my wanted lists I was eager to get buying.  So stay tuned.

MoC: Gone ICE Fishin'

UPDATE - This entry took 5th place in the contest!  This the first time I placed in a contest.  I am quite thrilled, 5th out of 51 is not to shabby.  Thanks to Eurobricks for putting on the great contest.

Here is a MoC I made for the Eurobricks Collectable LEGO Minifigures Series 3 Building Contest.

The category was to build an 8x8 vignette that would accommodate one of the minifigures from series 3 without the figure in the scene.  I chose the fisherman because he is one of my favorites.

The scene is a shack on a frozen lake for ice fishing.  Entitled, "Gone ICE Fishin'".  So here are some shots of my creation.

Photos also on my flickr page 

NEW: Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Sets

It has been known for awhile now that Lego will be putting out Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC) sets. Speculation came when Lego discontinued the new Pirate line and started picking up more Disney themed sets, Prince of Persia, Toy Story. We have seen confidential preliminary images of these which left many not too excited about the line.

Today we got high resolution images of what the final set designs look like and I am impressed!

The first run of the PotC line will include 8 sets. All of which hold some new and exciting parts/ features.

Click on thumbnails for larger images:

Prices and descriptions are taken from 2011 Toy Fair Fact Sheet.

4195 - Queen Anne's Revenge - $119.99

From the captain’s quarters perched high on his magnificent

ship, Blackbeard secretly looks on as Jack Sparrow and the

motley crew attempt mutiny against Angelica and the zombies.

Will our heroes be able to take control of the ship before

Blackbeard reveals himself? Includes Jack Sparrow, Angelica

and Blackbeard figures

4194 - Whitecap Bay - $79.99

At Whitecap Bay, Jack Sparrow and the other pirates

encounter the mermaids. Spot them using the searchlight and

shoot the net from the boathouse cannon. But beware! If the

whale oil tips over, the whole lighthouse is sure to go up in

flames! Includes Jack Sparrow, three mermaids and three

other pirate minifigs, mini-boat with pirates’ victims, crewmates

and a collapsing lighthouse

4193 - The London Escape

4192 - The Fountain of Youth - $19.99

The race is on to see who will make it to the Fountain of Youth

first! Will Jack Sparrow be outsmarted by Blackbeard or

wooed by Angelica, or will he beat his rivals to the coveted

pools of eternal youth? Set includes Jack Sparrow, Barbossa

with peg leg and Blackbeard minifigs, plastic waterfall detail

and two chalices

4191 - The Captain's Cabin - $10.99

Will Jack Sparrow escape the captain’s cabin with a coveted

prize or be captured by Zombies? Includes Jack Sparrow and

two Zombie minifigs, buildable shelf and two ships in a bottle

4183 - The Mill
4182 - The Cannibal Escape
4181 - Isla De La Muerta

As you can see these sets are mostly from the new PotC movie "On Stranger Tides" out this summer. The last three are from the other movies. They also have lower set numbers meaning that they are planning to release more sets from the first three movies.

Here is what I'm excited about:

- All the Minifigs

- Wine Bottles

- Gold bars

- Sword Holders

- Arched windows with shutters

- Queen Anne's Revenge

I think that all these sets are really cool. I would love to have multiples of The Captain's Cabin and The London Escape. These two sets have great new parts which I can see using in many new pirate/ castle builds.

EDIT: Just read Disney's press release for Pirates of the Caribbean toys. And they are saying Lego will release NINE sets this year. We have 8 pictured. Some people are saying the Black Pearl ship will be the ninth. Who knows?

Link to pictures of the actual sets from a Disney Event

SALE: Winter Village Bakery

If you haven't all ready picked up this years new seasonal set 10216 - Winter Village Bakery, do it now.

I was just at my local Lego store and it is on clearance at the price of $38. Regular price is $55. This is great set and is really fun to bring out for the holidays. It also has some great parts. The new 8x8 trans blue plate and some of the new nougat colored bricks.

Also being liquidated are the Star Wars magnets at $4.30 down from $15. These are the magnets that can be separated from the figures. 3 different sets:

C-3PO, Princess Leia & Admiral Ackbar
Chancellor Palpatine, Nute Gunray and Onaconda Farr
Han Solo, Paploo and Biker Scout

The magnets are also on sale at Lego shop@home for the same price, but the bakery is still regular MSRP.

I'm assuming this will follow at all Lego stores, but I have only been to mine which is the Hillsdale store in San Mateo, CA. My store had plenty of everything but act fast if you want these sets.

Have fun!

Edit: Looks like Lego shop@home only has C-3PO, Princess Leia & Admiral Ackbar left. So if you want the other two make way to your Lego store.

Collectible Minifigure Series

Look a new post all ready!

I want to talk about the new Collectible Minifigure Series that Lego has out. These are sets of 16 unique minifigures that boast new figure designs and at least a new element. The torso, hair, faces and accessories can only be found in these sets. The fun little gimmick is that these minifigures are sold separately in opaque mylar bags. The idea is that you are not supposed to know what figure you are getting and can lead to multiples of figure before you complete the set of 16. Of course there are ways around that.

I think this is a great idea for Lego. You know there will be people out there trying to complete the set of 16 and buying as many as they need to do it. Lego fans have also been buying complete boxes of 60 just to get as many as they can.

Currently these are on the third series. I first got to see these at last years BBTB convention. I wasn't too into them at the time. So series 1 and 2 went by and I didn't jump on them. When series 3 rumors started showing up and what new figures were going to be in it, I got excited. Mainly because of this guy:



I am a fan of all the Lord of the Rings books and a huge fan of the castle/ Forestmen themes that Lego has. So this dude was a must for my future mocs. So how do I get these? Luckily I have a coworker who is into collecting these figures. So when he got the option to pre-order a box of 60 for series 3 I went halfsies and am now the proud owner of all 16 figures plus 3 elves!

Pictures of series 4 are out and they look even better then previous series. My coworker has all ready placed an order for the box of 60. Again, I might go halfsies to get this. I'm still mulling over it, though that hazmat suit guy is very tempting.

Series 4


I highly recommend these awesome figures. If you can get your hands on some, go for it.

Nearly A Year!

Wow! Nearly a year has gone by since my last post. My last post was about the first Bay Area Lego convention, "Bricks by the Bay". And now that convention is coming up again in March! Sadly I won't be attending due to the good news in the next paragraph.

Since my last post my life has changed dramatically. Shortly after posting about BBTB, my wife and I got the great news that we will be expecting our first child in late December! We started planning and preparing for our new addition. We ended up moving to a larger apartment to have more space for our baby at the end of August. We are really happy with our new place and are even more excited for our baby to come.

Our daughter was born a week late and has been the greatest joy in my life since then. I'm glad to say that both my wife and my baby are doing great! Now when she is older I have a great excuse to go to Legoland and hopefully the MMB at the Lego store.

Enough excuses all ready. Back to posting about everyone's favorite hobby, Lego.

I have still been adding to my collection. Albeit more slowly then before (baby stuff is expensive). The two biggest additions to my collection are the most awesome 6295 - Black Seas Barracuda (picked off eBay for little more then MSRP, w/ box) and 10179 - Millennium Falcon UCS (picked up during the clearance on Lego shop online). Both of these sets have been something I've been wanting for a long time now. 6295 - BSB was a set that I drooled over as a child and never got my hands on. I have yet to put together the 10179. I opened the box and was overwhelmed by the size of this thing. It may be something that I put together in the future with my daughter or I just might get the building itch and spend a week or two building it when I get off work.

I haven't been building too much lately. Time has been a precious commodity and even though we moved to a larger place I still don't have an optimal Lego building area. I did however get more storage and re-organized my parts. I have been seeing a lot of great MoC's lately and I have been wanting to get building. Do you think my daughter will mind if I take up part of her room for Lego? I am going try and make it my resolution to build more with Lego and post more about it. There are just a few other hobbies I need to kick out first. I see that at this point in my life I need to focus on a couple things rather then half ass'ing many things.

So hopefully you will be hearing from me more often. Until then, Keep Bricking.

Brick by the Bay

This weekend is Northern California's first annual LEGO convention! Bricks by the Bay will be in Fremont, CA this Fri- Sun.

This will be my first LEGO convention and I'm so excited. My wife is coming with me and we will be staying at the hotel to allow maximum exposure. It looks like they have some really great stuff lined up, including shopping after hours at the LEGO store in Valley Fair Mall. Being my first con I've decided not to show any of my creations. I want to get a feel for everything. I hope to see some amazing builds and meet some people who share my passion for the ABS.

I will be bringing my camera and I'll post some pictures when I get back. I'm sure there will be lots of other places you can see photos too.

SCORE!!!!

Once again my craigslist monitor has nabbed me another sweet deal. While I was up in Portland this last weekend for my brother's wedding I got 30 pounds of LEGO for $120. That in itself is a great deal at $4 per pound, but mixed into that lot were some truly amazing sets. First, set 10182 Cafe Corner, 10123 Cloud City, 10185 Green Grocer, 6209 Slave I, 7785 Arkham Asylum. Now not all of those are 100% complete. Particularly Arkham Asylum is only 25% or so and there are some missing minifigs, namely the printed legs and arms Boba Fett. Still, this is one of the best finds I have come across in a long time. All the parts are clean and look pretty much brand new. The kid that had these sure did take care of them. I plan on keeping most of this lot, but my wife is starting to tell me we are running out of room to store my LEGO. I plan on bagging up one gallon bags and selling off what I don't keep. Pics will be posted soon.

April Store Flyer

Getting back on track to uploading the monthly store flyer. Here's the new one for April 2010.




The Prince of Persia sets are out! You can find them now at LEGO.com so soon they will be showing up in stores. Buy them between April 26th and 30th and get double VIP points. Also shown is the cute Ducky for the MMMB. They are really starting to advertise Lego Universe. The new online game from Lego that is currently in Beta testing.

LEGO Whitening Guide

I posted about this on here before but I thought I should do a more in depth guide for this process strictly from a LEGO user's point of view. First I must give credit to the guy's over on Retr0Bright's site. These are the people that pioneered this process and have perfected it for everyone else to use. Also thanks to The Brothers Brick for posting about it last year. I would have never found out about it if it wasn't for them. Now on to it.

If you are like me you have a bag of parts that have been exposed to the Sun for too long and are now yellow-y. This process will reverse the effect of UV light and change those yellowed bricks back to their original color. I will try and answer any questions about this process in this guide. The picture at the top shows a well-yellowed 1x4 brick and the same brick after 2 1/2 hours.


What do I need?
- Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) between 3% and 12% (10 - 40 volume)
- An "Oxy" detergent
- Sunlight or UV light
- Plastic gloves
- A container large enough to hold the solution and your bricks (preferably Glass or clear plastic)
- A measuring cup that goes up to 500 ml
- Yellowed bricks


Yes, those are all supposed to be white.

That's it. There is another recipe for the solution that involves Xanthum Gum and blending it to make more of a paste but I found that a straight liquid works fine for LEGO. Make sure that the Peroxide is the clear/ liquid form and NOT the cream form. The cream has added chemicals such as Terpene which will harm the LEGO. Most "Oxy" detergents will work. The ingredient we are looking for is tetra acetyl ethylene diamine or TAED. Now some detergents don't list this as an ingredient but if it says Sodium Precarbonate and Sodium Carbonite you're good.


Sunlight or UV light is also needed. The UV blacklight should be UV-A with a range of 300 - 350nm. That is the ideal range to get the process going.

The Recipe
- 500ml of H2O2
- 1/4 tsp of "Oxy" detergent

First put on your gloves. Best way to do this is measure and pour the H2O2 into the container. Then add the 1/4 tsp of Oxy to a small amount of warm water to help it dissolve then mix the Oxy and water into the H2O2. Adding a little water won't do anything to the process. It will dilute it just a little but not enough to effect anything.



Once it is mixed together the reaction is starting and you need to add your LEGO parts. A trick to make it so the parts don't float is to dip them in slowly so all air bubbles get filled in. Or submerge them in water first then put them in the H2O2.


Now wait. Depending on severity of discoloration and strength of the H2O2 it can take anywhere from 2 hours to 24 hours to reverse the damage. Check every few hours to see if everything is ok. If you see tiny bubbles forming on the parts then you know it is working.


When you see parts that are done. Get them out and rinse them off. Set them aside with a fan to dry them quicker. Enjoy your new looking older bricks!

DO's and DON'Ts
DO - keep an eye on everything. Check every few hours to submerge any floaters and to pull out parts that look done.
DO - use this on printed parts. If the printing is in good shape there shouldn't be a problem but if the printing is old and worn you might see some fading.
DO - set your container on tin foil. This will help reflect the light back into the LEGO.

DON'T - put any metal parts in (wheel axles). The Oxy will eat at the metal and turn to rust
DON'T - leave in a hot place. Yes you want it in the sun, but if it gets too hot the plastic can warp
DON'T - use more then a 1/4 tsp of Oxy. Using more won't make it go faster. In fact it won't do anything but waste your detergent.

For more questions, look at the FAQ in the next post.

LEGO Whitening FAQ

If your question isn't answered here, comment and I will try my best to answer it.

Where do I buy Hydrogen Peroxide?
H2O2 can be found in many places. Your local drug store will probably carry a 3% solution. Larger percentages can be found at beauty supply stores. Sally's is a worldwide chain and it is where I get mine. Remember to only get the "clear" kind and NOT "cream". Also 10 volume = 3%, 40 volume = 12%.

Does this only work on White?
No. I have had success using this on blue, old gray, and trans clear. I will warn you though, blue and old gray need to be watched. If left in too long the will become bleached. Or as the guys on Retr0Bright call it "bloom". So be careful with blues and old grays.


Will this fade printed bricks?
Usually No. If the printing is in good condition it should hold up to the process. If the printing is all ready faded or worn it may suffer more fading. All my printed parts have turned out ok. My suggestion is to test this for yourself.


Does the solution last forever?
No. Once the Oxy detergent has been mixed in with the H2O2 the process has started and the Hydrogen is being depleted. Once all the Hydrogen is gone, it will no longer work.

Why leave it in the Sun? Isn't it what started the whole thing?
True, the UV light made your parts turn yellow. But the UV light is what makes this process reverse itself. The UV light gets the Bromine atoms excited again but this time instead of oxygen we are force feeding it hydrogen. See next question.

How does this work?
LEGO bricks are made from ABS plastic. A common chemical found in ABS from the 80's to late 90's is Bromine. Bromine is a flame retardant and its natural color is brown. UV light degrades Bromine and it attaches to oxygen atoms. These brominated chemicals start to move around in the plastic, usually coming to the surface, and show their natural brown color. The solution and UV light break down these radical Bromine atoms and replace the unstable oxygen atom with a more stable hydrogen atom. That was the really brief explanation, for a more scientific one head over to Retr0Bright.

Why use Gloves?
Hydrogen Peroxide can burn your skin. Using plastic gloves will protect you and allow you to work more easily with the solution.

Is it bad if the LEGO is floating?
Kind of. Try your best to submerge all the parts and get rid of any air bubbles. Toothpicks work wonderfully there. If the solution isn't touching the plastic it won't work. So if it is out of it, nothing will happen.

Will this Oxy detergent work?
My advice is to check on Retr0Bright. They have tried many different brands and have answered this question many times over there.

How much does this cost?
Not a lot. 950ml of H2O2 is less then $6 and the Oxy detergent (which my wife all ready uses so we have it) is less then $10.

My part is taking forever, is it working?
Weaker H2O2 (3%) will take longer then stronger (12%) ones. Also if the part is really yellow, it will take longer. I have noticed that the thinner the plastic the faster it goes. So an old Pirate Flag will take less time then a 2x8 Brick.



Can I leave this going over night?
Yes. If you are using a UV lightbulb feel free to keep this going. If you are just using the sun not much will change in the dark. Remember to watch blues and old grays.

Are these bricks now immune to UV?
No. These bricks are not immune to UV. They can get yellowed if left in UV light. So please take care of your LEGO.

Lego Universe

I have been chosen!! I received a beta invite to LEGO's upcoming online game Lego Universe. I have been playing MMO's for over 10 years now and have been a fan of LEGO for my whole life. So an MMO about LEGO is something I think I would enjoy.

I've played the game a few times now. They limit the hours when the servers are up and being on the West Coast gives me odd play times. Now, I can't say too much because I did agree to an NDA. What I can say is that it seems to be a good game for 8-12 year olds, as they are the targeted age group. As an adult, this probably won't be something you'll play. There is one feature that might catch AFOL's eyes. Let's just say I would love to see one of Brian Kescenovitz' Dawn Forge Mechs in LU.

Being a BETA build there a lot of bugs and unaccessible areas. I hope that I get to keep exploring it and seeing the improvements in the game. I will keep you posted with information that I'm able to give.

Its Been SOOOO Long!

Hey,

It's been a really long time since I last posted. Since the holiday season I have acquired a good amount of LEGO and sets. My wife came to me and said that after new years we should look to find LEGO to buy and sell. This got me all excited because the fact that she is interested and excited about LEGO and I love finding good deals. Since the beginning of the year I have been scouring craigslist for good deals. The first few months were slow and the postings weren't the best. I have only bought one lot off a guy and my wife and I have all ready turned that around for a nice profit. That profit has now gone into buying a few classic castle sets.

So to name a few sets that I have gotten: 10197 Fire Brigade, 7595 Army Men on Patrol, 6075 Wolfpack Tower, 8084 Snowtrooper Battle Pack, 6066 Camouflaged Outpost, and a bunch of random parts and instruction manuals. I will soon update my lists with everything that I have.

I still need to post new photos of my collection as it is still growing and taking over the apartment. I'm going to try and post at least once a week. And keep posting cool news and updates as I find them.

Happy Holidays!!

The Holidays are coming and for many of us it means killer deals on LEGO. Stores like Target, Toys R Us, Kmart and the Lego store have amazing deals on LEGO if you are willing to get up and be there at 4:00 am.

Rumors and deals are all ready starting to surface. Old Navy is rumored to have a FREE Lego Rock Band w/ $20 purchase. No one knows for sure if you get to choose your platform or if it is just a demo. Sites like FBTB.net are usually pretty good at keeping the readers up to date on latest LEGO deals.


Black-friday.net is a place where leaked Day After Thanksgiving ads are posted. So keep an eye on there for when Target and Toys R Us ads get posted.

Good luck and happy hunting. I know I'm glad that I don't work in retail anymore. Although I do miss the crazy looks on some customers when the doors open, or being bribed $200 to sneak a customer one of the hot ticket items. However your experience is I hope you all get what you want.

**UPDATE**
Kmart is having buy 2 get 1 free on LEGO for the day after. Doors open at 6am and is limited to equal or lesser value. No mention on limit per customer.

Collection 2.0

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.

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.

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.

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

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.