Dark Cloud Blogs already posted this on Facebook and Google Plus but I figured I'd a little wrinkle to it. Toys'R'Us is advertising 20% off on Disney Princess, City, and Minecraft sets. But if you click through the link you'll see there are also some Star Wars sets on sale too. Interesting. This sale stacks with the $5 off $25 Lego purchase coupon that expires today.
One of my local TRUs also has some interesting Clearance finds. 70132 Scorm's Scorpion Stinger for $29.98, 70131 Rogon's Rock Flinger for $24.98, 70704 Vermin Vaporizer for $59.98, 70700 Space Swarmer for $5.98, 70400 Forest Ambush for $7.98, 70402 The Gatehouse Raid for $19.98, 70706 Crater Creeper for $5.98, and 70702 Warp Stinger for $24.98. So you might want to check yours out, YMMV and all that.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
PAX East Observations 2015
I have some actual observations from this year but, I'm also going to look back at last year's and see what I managed to change.
1.) I gave out business cards this year, about 100 of them.
2.) Thanks to Mike Raichelson for getting me three MFZ shirts before the con after I ordered them at the last minute. Outstanding customer service, check out his website Mobilfra.me.
3.) I managed to take a day off and wander around the con. Still kind of aimlessly and I still didn't manage to play any games.
4.) My voice only got really rough on Friday evening. Luckily we had a supply of throat lozenges for the weekend.
5.) We managed to get in a full game of MFZ on Sunday. Passers-by seemed suitably impressed.
6.) I didn't do much demoing of Intercept Orbit this year.
7.) I managed to get a new set of dice for MFZ this year after talking about it for the last three.
8.) I'm need to rethink the contents of my demo bag. It's great for playing a whole game, but lugging that much plastic to and from the con is taxing.
8.1) I think my demo bag next year will be teams of canon frames, walls, felt drop-cloths, and dice.
9.) Coming down from the con is tough, even with a day off. All I want to is talk about the con and MFZ. I spent Monday scouring the net for any mention or picture of something that happened at the demo table.
10.) I didn't manage to arrange dinner plans with anyone this year, except for my traditional end-of-con dinner at No Name Seafood with my wife. Next year!
11.) I managed to spend most of Sunday walking around and experiencing the con with friends. Next year, more of us!
12.) I didn't get my panel submission accepted this year, but I have more -- and better -- ideas for next year.
13.) My friend Ron came up with a great idea for little "care packages". Anyone who plays a demo gets a little baggie with a business card, Lego brick, and a six-sided die. I'll try and implement that next year.
14.) Next year, stay properly caffeinated. I think this is what led to my headache on Saturday.
15.) Next year, I'm thinking about having Friday be my "me" day. The crowds are slightly less and there's less impetus to "get it all in" before the con closes.
16.) I have a bunch of ideas and plans for next year. I'll discuss those in a "Road to PAX East 2016" post.
17.) Get a bunch of business cards from Mike Raichelson for his website Mobilfra.me to hand out as I spent a lot of time talking about it.
18.) I still want a MFZ hockey jersey.
19.) As always, it was great to see everyone, all the friends I've made because of the con and my friends from outside the con.
1.) I gave out business cards this year, about 100 of them.
2.) Thanks to Mike Raichelson for getting me three MFZ shirts before the con after I ordered them at the last minute. Outstanding customer service, check out his website Mobilfra.me.
3.) I managed to take a day off and wander around the con. Still kind of aimlessly and I still didn't manage to play any games.
4.) My voice only got really rough on Friday evening. Luckily we had a supply of throat lozenges for the weekend.
5.) We managed to get in a full game of MFZ on Sunday. Passers-by seemed suitably impressed.
6.) I didn't do much demoing of Intercept Orbit this year.
7.) I managed to get a new set of dice for MFZ this year after talking about it for the last three.
8.) I'm need to rethink the contents of my demo bag. It's great for playing a whole game, but lugging that much plastic to and from the con is taxing.
8.1) I think my demo bag next year will be teams of canon frames, walls, felt drop-cloths, and dice.
9.) Coming down from the con is tough, even with a day off. All I want to is talk about the con and MFZ. I spent Monday scouring the net for any mention or picture of something that happened at the demo table.
10.) I didn't manage to arrange dinner plans with anyone this year, except for my traditional end-of-con dinner at No Name Seafood with my wife. Next year!
11.) I managed to spend most of Sunday walking around and experiencing the con with friends. Next year, more of us!
12.) I didn't get my panel submission accepted this year, but I have more -- and better -- ideas for next year.
13.) My friend Ron came up with a great idea for little "care packages". Anyone who plays a demo gets a little baggie with a business card, Lego brick, and a six-sided die. I'll try and implement that next year.
14.) Next year, stay properly caffeinated. I think this is what led to my headache on Saturday.
15.) Next year, I'm thinking about having Friday be my "me" day. The crowds are slightly less and there's less impetus to "get it all in" before the con closes.
16.) I have a bunch of ideas and plans for next year. I'll discuss those in a "Road to PAX East 2016" post.
17.) Get a bunch of business cards from Mike Raichelson for his website Mobilfra.me to hand out as I spent a lot of time talking about it.
18.) I still want a MFZ hockey jersey.
19.) As always, it was great to see everyone, all the friends I've made because of the con and my friends from outside the con.
Monday, March 9, 2015
PAX East 2015 Report
I'm back from PAX East. Only a semi-wonderful time as I had a bad headache on Saturday. Although the six player game of MFZ on Sunday kinda made up for it.
I managed to get in early on Friday which was nice as it gave me and one of the other guys that was helping demo time to set up the table. I ended up demoing MFZ: Rapid Attack at least fire times and MFZ: Intercept Orbit twice. I actually saw a RA team with Artillery win the demo game twice! We also had two one-shot kills in two different games -- one RA the other IO. I stopped demoing around 6:30 pm as my voice had taken a bit of a beating during the first IO demo.
Saturday didn't start out so well. I woke up with a bad headache that would not go away all day. I got in a little late after the con floor opened, 10:30 am. I managed to run three IO demos, and one RA demo -- although it could have been more. The first IO demo featured a Ram Attack that ended up destroying both ships. The board looked like an interstellar junkyard by the end of the game. My last IO demo was for Golden Meanie from the Hangar and his two sons. Vlad and Ryan also stopped by the table to say "hi". I quit around 4:00 and decided to go home.
Sunday was my day to enjoy the con so I wandered around with a friend for most of the day checking out the computer gaming end of the hall as I don't really spend much time there during PAX East. I did run one demo of RA though. Which I did right before the big event of the day. My local MFZ gaming group all had tickets for Sunday, so we got together and played a game right there at the con. Vlad from New Jersey, whom I've mentioned before on this blog, and Rob joined in to make it a six player game. From us sitting down at the table to me putting the final pieces back in my travel bag it ran four hours, 1pm to 5pm. It was a blast. The lead see-sawed around the table, alliances were made and shattered, and fun was had by all. I've already discovered four pictures from the game on Flickr. My friend Ron, who was observing, took a bunch and I know the other players did too. Hopefully I'll have a battle report done by the end of the week.
I met a lot of people, some for the first time, others again. I'm horrible with names so I'm not going to try and make any shout-outs other than the ones I've already done. It was great seeing all the friends I've made through the con again and I look forward to next year. The are a couple things in the works for next year but I'll talk about that later.
I managed to get in early on Friday which was nice as it gave me and one of the other guys that was helping demo time to set up the table. I ended up demoing MFZ: Rapid Attack at least fire times and MFZ: Intercept Orbit twice. I actually saw a RA team with Artillery win the demo game twice! We also had two one-shot kills in two different games -- one RA the other IO. I stopped demoing around 6:30 pm as my voice had taken a bit of a beating during the first IO demo.
Saturday didn't start out so well. I woke up with a bad headache that would not go away all day. I got in a little late after the con floor opened, 10:30 am. I managed to run three IO demos, and one RA demo -- although it could have been more. The first IO demo featured a Ram Attack that ended up destroying both ships. The board looked like an interstellar junkyard by the end of the game. My last IO demo was for Golden Meanie from the Hangar and his two sons. Vlad and Ryan also stopped by the table to say "hi". I quit around 4:00 and decided to go home.
Sunday was my day to enjoy the con so I wandered around with a friend for most of the day checking out the computer gaming end of the hall as I don't really spend much time there during PAX East. I did run one demo of RA though. Which I did right before the big event of the day. My local MFZ gaming group all had tickets for Sunday, so we got together and played a game right there at the con. Vlad from New Jersey, whom I've mentioned before on this blog, and Rob joined in to make it a six player game. From us sitting down at the table to me putting the final pieces back in my travel bag it ran four hours, 1pm to 5pm. It was a blast. The lead see-sawed around the table, alliances were made and shattered, and fun was had by all. I've already discovered four pictures from the game on Flickr. My friend Ron, who was observing, took a bunch and I know the other players did too. Hopefully I'll have a battle report done by the end of the week.
I met a lot of people, some for the first time, others again. I'm horrible with names so I'm not going to try and make any shout-outs other than the ones I've already done. It was great seeing all the friends I've made through the con again and I look forward to next year. The are a couple things in the works for next year but I'll talk about that later.
Friday, March 6, 2015
[TMOH] A Chorus of Bullfrogs
A while back I created my first all Kre-O frame called the Bullfrog. There were some minor problems with it, like the Clip Tiles that held the legs on being very loose on the Bar Plate they attached to. While it was nice that the initial frame design was a 99% SSC in the long run I wanted something I could field in a game. I also wanted to maintain its pure Kre-O nature. Over time I collected more sets and pieces and was able to replace the Clip Tiles with better versions. I tweaked the design a little and made a squad of them.
In the front is the Close Combat model (2Rh+d8/Gd8/2Y/2W).
In the back is the Heavy Hitter model (2Rd+d8/1Y/2W).
If you look closely at the group picture you'll notice
that the squad is equipped with a full set of SSRs.
Hopefully I'll have the chance to put them through their paces at PAX East this year.
On the sides are two copies of the Dual Ranged Hitter model (2Rd/2Ra/1Y/2W).
I also have another Bullfrog partially assembled.
I'm not sure what range I'm going to assign it to.
If you look closely at the group picture you'll notice
that the squad is equipped with a full set of SSRs.
I also have a full set of Stations for
this squad, which are pure Kre-O.
Hopefully I'll have the chance to put them through their paces at PAX East this year.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
The Price of Lego 5
Let's compare two newly released homegrown Lego lines.
Wow, that's interesting. Elves has less overall and average pieces but lower overall and average price, also the better Price per Piece and less figures -- I'm counting the animals in the Elves set as figures because that's essentially what they are. Elves also has the better Price Per Piece. Which is odd because it's a new line, with new pieces and colors, and City is the established one.
| Elves line. | |||||||
| Number | Title | Theme | Year | Pieces | Minidolls | MSRP | PpP |
| 41071 | Aira's Workshop | Elves | 2015 | 98 | 2 | $9.99 | $0.10 |
| 41076 | Farran ... Hollow | Elves | 2015 | 175 | 2 | $14.99 | $0.09 |
| 41072 | Nadia's ... Secret | Elves | 2015 | 249 | 2 | $19.99 | $0.08 |
| 41074 | Azari ... Bakery | Elves | 2015 | 324 | 3 | $29.99 | $0.09 |
| 41073 | Naida's ... Ship | Elves | 2015 | 312 | 2 | $29.99 | $0.10 |
| 41075 | Elves' ... Hideaway | Elves | 2015 | 505 | 4 | $49.99 | $0.10 |
| Total: | 1663 | 15 | $154.94 | $0.56 | |||
| Average: | 277 | 2.5 | $25.82 | $0.09 | |||
| City: Swamp line | |||||||
| Number | Title | Theme | Year | Pieces | Minifigs | MSRP | PpP |
| 60065 | ATV Patrol | City | 2015 | 59 | 2 | $6.99 | $0.12 |
| 60070 | Water Plane Chase | City | 2015 | 263 | 2 | $29.99 | $0.11 |
| 60067 | Helicopter Pursuit | City | 2015 | 253 | 3 | $39.99 | $0.16 |
| 60071 | Hovercraft Arrest | City | 2015 | 331 | 3 | $44.99 | $0.14 |
| 60068 | Crooks Hideout | City | 2015 | 473 | 5 | $69.99 | $0.15 |
| 60069 | Swamp Police Station | City | 2015 | 707 | 6 | $89.99 | $0.13 |
| Totals: | 2086 | 21 | $281.94 | $0.80 | |||
| Average: | 348 | 3.5 | $46.99 | $0.13 | |||
Wow, that's interesting. Elves has less overall and average pieces but lower overall and average price, also the better Price per Piece and less figures -- I'm counting the animals in the Elves set as figures because that's essentially what they are. Elves also has the better Price Per Piece. Which is odd because it's a new line, with new pieces and colors, and City is the established one.
Monday, March 2, 2015
PAX East 2015
Once again I'll be helping Vincent, Joshua, and the others demo Mobile Frame Zero. I'm definitely going to be there Friday (3/6), and Saturday (3/7). I'll be there Sunday (3/8) too, but I'll be wandering around the con with friends as I'm there on my own dime. I'll have my gear for all three days, and I will have a fleet or two for Alpha Bandit so we can give that a try. Here's a discussion thread over on the Hangar if you're interested on meeting up. We'll be at booth 701 so stop by and say "hello"!
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Sales Alert
Toys'R'Us has a coupon for $5 off $25 Lego purchase that's valid until 3/12/15.
I tend to stay away from announcing offers from the Lego company because they're different by region. But this month's offers -- at least in North America -- sound fairly interesting and open to being "gamed" a little.
North America March 2015 LEGO Offers:
-FREE LEGO Bionicle Hero Pack with any purchase (valid March 1-20)
-FREE Elves Azaris's Magic Fire polybag with any LEGO Elves purchase (valid March 1-31)
-Double VIP Points (March 14-19)
If you get Aira's Creative Workshop for $9.99, you end up with 134 pieces (9 from the Bionicle set and 27 from the polybag) which is $0.08 per piece, and if you buy this after the 14th you get double points for that purchase. Not bad for $10.
I tend to stay away from announcing offers from the Lego company because they're different by region. But this month's offers -- at least in North America -- sound fairly interesting and open to being "gamed" a little.
North America March 2015 LEGO Offers:
-FREE LEGO Bionicle Hero Pack with any purchase (valid March 1-20)
-FREE Elves Azaris's Magic Fire polybag with any LEGO Elves purchase (valid March 1-31)
-Double VIP Points (March 14-19)
If you get Aira's Creative Workshop for $9.99, you end up with 134 pieces (9 from the Bionicle set and 27 from the polybag) which is $0.08 per piece, and if you buy this after the 14th you get double points for that purchase. Not bad for $10.
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