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  • #8940
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    Ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you a new feature on SteelCityLUG called Ask Matt. To make amends for my thread jacking, to show a contrite heart and as part of my penance I choose to create a new thread where a question about virtually anything can be posted.

    Sir Matt of Redfield, being our esteemed oracle, and being one of a very few people who read every SteelCityLUG message, will address any question that you have in this thread. I now present to you, “Ask Matt.”

    🙂

    #8946
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    Matt, do you think that this truck being controlled remotely and moving around on the floor near the LUG’s display would be a hit at shows, especially with a SteelCity logo on the side?

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-LEGO-TECHNIC-YELLOW-8285-CUSTOM-TRUCK-w-Power-Functions-8258-8436-9395-9397-/121490619407?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item1c4967bc0f

    If not, do you think there is another remote control vehicle that the LUG should have?

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    #8948
    Benjamin C Good
    Participant

    Dear Matt,
    Love the column, long time reader, first time writer. Please tell me, where is my Tower Bridge. The Statute of Limitations on Legos doesn’t lie. That set is totally mine.
    Sincerely,
    Ben

    #8958
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    Dear Matt,

    I have sold over 70 copies of the Christmas tree instructions that I made for the Greenberg toy show last year. I’ve netted a couple of Benjamins this way. Do you think I should submit this design to LEGO Idea? I would probably have to stop selling the instructions to try this. How much do you think the person who created the Research Institute earned from the initial sales of those sets? Do you forsee TLG selling a huge box with mostly green bricks?

    yours truly,
    Greg in Gibsonia

    #8962
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Ladies and gentleman, I introduce to you a new feature on SteelCityLUG called Ask Matt. To make amends for my thread jacking, to show a contrite heart and as part of my penance I choose to create a new thread where a question about virtually anything can be posted.

    Sir Matt of Redfield, being our esteemed oracle, and being one of a very few people who read every SteelCityLUG message, will address any question that you have in this thread. I now present to you, “Ask Matt.”

    :)

    I may have deserved that one…

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Matt Redfield.
    #8964
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Sir Matt of Redfield

    That’s Ambassador Redfield to you, peasants!

    #8965
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Matt, do you think that this truck being controlled remotely and moving around on the floor near the LUG’s display would be a hit at shows, especially with a SteelCity logo on the side?

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-LEGO-TECHNIC-YELLOW-8285-CUSTOM-TRUCK-w-Power-Functions-8258-8436-9395-9397-/121490619407?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item1c4967bc0f

    If not, do you think there is another remote control vehicle that the LUG should have?

    I don’t understand Power Functions. But I’m sure the kids would love it, and maybe it could even be a LUG fundraiser – charge $1 for 1 minute of driving it?

    #8966
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Dear Matt,
    Love the column, long time reader, first time writer. Please tell me, where is my Tower Bridge. The Statute of Limitations on Legos doesn’t lie. That set is totally mine.
    Sincerely,
    Ben

    I’m not aware of this “statute of limitations”; please have your lawyers contact mine with the original parchments in triplicate.

    If your assertions are correct, I’m in seriously deep doo doo with many more sets than the Tower Bridge. #theyllnevergetmeluckycharms!

    #8967
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Dear Matt,
    I have sold over 70 copies of the Christmas tree instructions that I made for the Greenberg toy show last year. I’ve netted a couple of Benjamins this way. Do you think I should submit this design to LEGO Idea? I would probably have to stop selling the instructions to try this. How much do you think the person who created the Research Institute earned from the initial sales of those sets? Do you forsee TLG selling a huge box with mostly green bricks?

    yours truly,
    Greg in Gibsonia

    If it ain’t licensed, it ain’t goin’ nowhere on LEGO Ideas. Nowhere, nohow. Go on, take the money and run!

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Matt Redfield.
    #8983
    Dan
    Participant

    Dear Matt,

    When can we expect your first Unitron base at a LUG event?

    Spyrius Captain Spiroid

    #8993
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Dear Matt,
    When can we expect your first Unitron base at a LUG event?

    Spyrius Captain Spiroid

    Ambassadors have many responsibilities. Not that I know what they are, just yet… but they are legion. There are plans in place, but they are competing with other MOC ideas. All in good time, my good rival… all in good time. #triplegood #nothesaurus

    #9018
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    Dear Ambassador Matt,

    A potential buyer in Canada told me that it will cost her $68 for me to ship a 7 pound package. In the recent past I have been able to sell items to international customers and then pay to ship the package to Kentucky, then eBay Global Shipping deals with the package after that.

    It only costs $8 to ship a 7 pound package to Kentucky. Do you know if anything changed recently regarding eBay Global shipping?

    thanks so much,
    Greg

    #9019
    Benjamin C Good
    Participant

    Dear Matt,

    I am definitely interested in the answer to Greg’s question, I am not familiar with eBay Global Shipping.

    I had a similar (although less extreme) situation just a month ago – I had bought some used duplos cheap on BrickLink (a lot of them were at Greenberg even though you couldn’t see them) and I found a whole mess of them super cheap, but they were in Canadia eh, and according to the seller it would’ve cost $30 to mail a $25 order (I added on other parts, of course, duh), mostly cause of the duplos. Fortunately they let me cancel the order, but if there’s a way to ship it cheaper, I would place that order again.

    Crapfully crap,
    Ben

    #9022
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Dear Ambassador Matt,
    A potential buyer in Canada told me that it will cost her $68 for me to ship a 7 pound package. In the recent past I have been able to sell items to international customers and then pay to ship the package to Kentucky, then eBay Global Shipping deals with the package after that.

    It only costs $8 to ship a 7 pound package to Kentucky. Do you know if anything changed recently regarding eBay Global shipping?

    thanks so much,
    Greg

    I’m confused – she wants to buy 7lbs of product from you, and she’s the one telling you what it’ll cost to ship?

    I don’t usually sell on eBay, so I can’t speak to that from a position of knowledge. Let me Google that for you, though. Google is your Friend!

    What I can tell you about shipping is this: check USPS.com “Calculate a Price”. When I ship internationally, it’s usually a $50 Bilbo Baggins in Blue Coat (Target Hobbit DVD Exclusive), and it weighs ~ 1oz., so I use First Class Mail International / First-Class Package International Service, and it costs $6.55. FCMI is only good up to 13oz, though, so your 7lb monstrosity has to go Priority Mail International, which is more expensive. That said, I’m seeing $43.55 ($38.57 if you buy postage online), which is still way cheaper than what she said. I think she’s either overestimating or using Canadian shipping companies with Socialism Tax.

    Dear Matt,

    I am definitely interested in the answer to Greg’s question, I am not familiar with eBay Global Shipping.

    I had a similar (although less extreme) situation just a month ago – I had bought some used duplos cheap on BrickLink (a lot of them were at Greenberg even though you couldn’t see them) and I found a whole mess of them super cheap, but they were in Canadia eh, and according to the seller it would’ve cost $30 to mail a $25 order (I added on other parts, of course, duh), mostly cause of the duplos. Fortunately they let me cancel the order, but if there’s a way to ship it cheaper, I would place that order again.

    Crapfully crap,
    Ben

    Thanks for the e-mail, Crap-for-crap! I’ve never used eCrap Global Crapping either, but I bet it’s pretty crappy! If I were you, I’d stop ordering crap from Crapada and buy good old American-made crap. And if you are going to order crap from other countries, always ask for a shipping quote before you place the order. And if you’re going to request insurance on the shipment, DEFINITELY mention that when you ask for the shipping quote – some guy in Korea bailed on a Bricklink order a few months ago because adding insurance means switching to Priority Mail Int’l which is at least $15 more than FCMI, as mentioned above.

    Anyway, I gotta go; I promised The Cheat we’d mess with Homestar at his Bar Mitzvah.

    Craptastically,

    Ambassador Strong Matt

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    #9042
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    I’m confused – she wants to buy 7 lbs of product from you, and she’s the one telling you what it’ll cost to ship?

    Yes. When you look at an auction on eBay, the shipping cost that a buyer has to pay appears under the item price. You can designate a fixed price or have the price depend on the buyer’s location.

    The potential customer said that the website showed that the shipping cost included an import fee/tax in Canada which was 11% of the product cost. 🙁

    #9051
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Crying shame, that. The Man’s always trying to keep us down, eh?

    #9075
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    another remote control vehicle that the LUG should have?

    What about this one?

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/LEGO-Technic-4X4-Crawler-9398-/191423085155?pt=Building_Toys_US&hash=item2c91b47a63

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    #9077
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    Dear Ambassador Matt,

    Is SteelCityLUG ready for a Cloud Cuckoo colored section of our displays?

    https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tag/4773243352.html is a good deal considering what all these sets cost new.

    Greg

    #9078
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    What about this one?

    I don’t understand Power Functions. But I’m sure the kids would love it, and maybe it could even be a LUG fundraiser – charge $1 for 1 minute of driving it?

    #9079
    Greg Schubert
    Participant

    I don’t understand Power Functions

    Its like 9V … without the cord.

    (thought you’d like that, Ben)

    #9080
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Dear Ambassador Matt,
    Is SteelCityLUG ready for a Cloud Cuckoo colored section of our displays?

    https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tag/4773243352.html is a good deal considering what all these sets cost new.

    Greg

    Fantastic deal – at least $200 worth of brick there. If I lived in Gibsonia, I’d be all over that.

    Not sure if we’re ready… but you know what they say…

    Also, I love that they’re so precise about how many times the sets were played with. Like they had to fill out a form each time, or something.

    #9096
    Joe
    Participant

    Matt,

    Can you please explain why my daughter did this to me/my very sorted LEGO!!!

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    #9101
    Matt Redfield
    Keymaster

    Dear Joe,

    Haven’t you watched The LEGO Movie?!? You can’t let your kids anywhere near your LEGO. Can’t trust the little brats.

    But really, this is a question best answered by @greg: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152697290581457&fref=nf

    #9110
    Joe
    Participant

    The LEGO Movie had the exact opposite effect on me. It taught me to not be a Lord Business type, my Kids, Wife, Brother, Sister-n-law, and Parents all called/referred to me as Lord Business for weeks after the movie came out, LOL. They even went out and bought me Lord Business Large Minifig that I now keep on the self to remind me LEGO (even my LEGO) can be touched by children, LOL….. But with all that said, Emma (my 11 month old) is not quit ready to be around LEGO, even if she live in a house full of it.

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    #9117
    David H Donley
    Participant

    The movie had the exact same affect on me. I have discovered that even if my son accidentally destroys something, I still have the instructions to rebuild it. So even in the bad (destruction) you still get to play with Lego and build something again.

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