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Awesome, thank you so much for watching!

It is interesting that we can become so focused on regretting what we are missing that we completely forget to enjoy what we have. Thanks for watching!

@@waltherltdwell said

Thanks my friend! It is pretty crazy how many people turn out as adults who think they *should* be able to have whatever they want.

@@waltherltdI mean marketing these days has turned into a constantly bombarded message of “you exist so you deserve our non-essential thing as validation,” is it any wonder people are conditioned to think that way?

@@hamiltonandlaurenwhitney73 You are not wrong. This is me just trying to be a small voice of reason in the maelstrom.

Thanks, this summer has been super busy. I totally understand missing stuff, there is a lot I wish I could have gotten along the way but ultimately it hasn't changed my life in a negative way to go without some wants.

That is something of a mitigating factor for this one. They do make the choice really difficult with that GWP.

@ACOB Let’s be honest Sean, you’re a Barge Shill LOL!

Thanks for watching!

There just was not room to get it in the build. Thanks for watching.

It is great when you find good parts on the wall. There are certainly times when stacking is worth it, others time is more valuable than money. Thanks for watching!

It can be really hit and miss sometimes. Thanks for watching!

yeah, a lot of times there's only like 1 or 2 type of parts I may want to get, but it's not enough to want to try to get even a small box of just that. Then there's other times like today where I found 3 different color masonry bricks in a couple different sizes that can make it worth getting multiple boxes (if they have enough parts left to fill boxes). Depends on what you're looking for, but some of the popular stuff goes pretty fast!

The actual suitcase with stickers on it is from 76007 Iron Man: Malibu Mansion Attack. The Mark 5 minifigure came in 76125 Iron Man Hall of Armor. Thanks for watching!

That is a pretty awesome start to your collection! I want to get the Ornithopter as well. That one looks so cool.

Thank you I appreciate it. Good catch on the Tony fig!

Good luck getting them all! Thanks for watching.

I also found today when stacking a box full of masonry bricks, that they had some 1x4 tile pieces also on the wall. By using those to cap off the top row of studs, essentially got those "for free" as well. It's nice when you can find other ways to even further optimize your stacking with small/complimentary pieces to fill in gaps, etc.

@@truebnb Good job! I love this puzzling bit about the box, even if you can't optimize more than basically having a fully filled box ;)

Thanks for watching! It is amazing what nostalgia does to how we remember things.

That would have been a good addition. It appears that Star Wars got 33 retail sets in 2023, while Dreamzzz got 12.

@@waltherltd thank you

Agreed both of those sets are super fun! I am with you on waiting for the prices to drop, there is rarely a good reason to pay full price. Thanks for watching.

@@waltherltd I saved $100 on the Shark Ship and $50 on the Space Bus. As well as a bunch of the others on sale prices. Waited for Grim Keeper to go on clearance and got him really cheap.

Glad you enjoyed it! With 5 kids around it is tough to find a quiet time to record, so I try to do takes in between chaos.

@@waltherltd enjoy the chaos. They grow up so quickly.

Odie, thank you so much! This has been a fun journey so far and the LEGO fan community is amazing.

Thanks for the feedback and for watching.

Thanks for the feedback.

@@waltherltdI agree with this, but otherwise a really nice video. Keep up the good work!

@@waltherltd I’d maybe put in some b-roll of what you’re talking about in some sections where the flash changes to a new take.

Wow, thank you so much! I will have to look into that.

Isn't it great that we can like different things? Also yes, if you build MOCs that require different colors, the Dreamzzz sets are a gold mine. Thanks for watching.

For sure I do. I just recently bought 71477 The Sandman's Tower only for Display.

I agree, Dreamzzz is amazing as far as the parts and design go. Unfortunately for Star Wars they are stuck in the IP box. Not only that, fan expectations make that box even more confining. Thanks for watching!

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for your support!

That would be an interesting topic! I am not sure how exactly to do some of the research but I will noodle on it.

Definitely agree on the quality vs. quantity. There is definitely a difference in design philosophy between the Ninjago and Dreamzzz themes versus SW, Marvel, etc. Ninjago gets about 3-4 new villain figures each year but every single one of them is typically a banger. Same seems to be true of the Dreamzzz minifigs.

Iron Spider would be a decent addition here. Thanks for the suggestion!

Thank you for your support!

That is awesome! It can take a while, but finding them for decent prices is possible. Thanks for watching.

@@waltherltd no problem.

Is this satire?

Can't say that I agree with you at all, but thanks for watching.

@@charliestephens4686 No. I have bought some sets at a hefty discount (likely stolen) from FBM. All I care about is the price, not the ethics. As for stolen test minifigures, Lego should auction these off if they want to curb this market. I don't see anything wrong with buying selling this stuff. Besides, these test figures will just be tossed in the bin. 1 more thing for enthusiasts to collect is always good.

@@charliestephens4686 Nope. The market always wins.

You are correct and it made my own point, they bake a loss margin into their finances! The more theft happens, the larger that margin has to be. Theft from the factory has become larger scale over the last decade, which is costing the company more, retail theft is also up. This means they have to charge more to hit their profitability goals. After making the point that they take theft into account as a cost, but then claiming it isn't hurting anyone are contradictory claims. Your second point is also true, LEGO will charge what the market will bear. Inflation has drastically increased the cost of resources to manufacture LEGO parts in the past several years as well. There are many factors that play into price increases, they aren't mutually exclusive. LEGO hasn't been able to shut down the theft at their Mexico facility. It would not surprise me to see the Mexico factory close once the new factory in Virginia opens.

So when the Mexico factory closed down Lego will lower their prices, right?

Nothing to do with the background. The transparent clone trooper/Darth Vader figures are not ones that LEGO has ever produced for sale. They are being made illicitly and are being fenced to sellers on whatnot, ebay, etc. They are just an example though, a bunch of Captain Rex figures were also stolen last year and started selling before the Venator had even released.

Thanks for watching. These stolen items (including all the Captain Rex figures that appeared before the Venator even released) cost the company money. They pay for the plastic, the wear on their machinery and molds, and likely the wages of the people stealing them as well. If they are paying out that money, but getting no return on the resources because they are stolen, that goes against the LEGO Group's bottom line. The more items are stolen the more it hurts the company and the more prices go up to compensate for the losses. Plus, in the case of Rex, each stolen fig that sells directly influenced sales of the UCS Venator. Even if the customer for the stolen figure wasn't going to buy the Venator themselves, a person selling legitimate figures would have needed to buy the set to take the minifig from, this theft directly affects sales. This is by far not the only thing that influences price increases, but it is a factor. Theft absolutely affects company profitability, which in turn influences prices.

@@waltherltd they are indeed stolen items, workers took the Lego company's materials and partly wore down their molds, that is pretty objective and true, i would be shocked if anyone tried to contest that much. However im gonna need an official statement from the Lego company saying that this is somehow affecting the sales of their sets. these sellers are selling items that literally don't exist in any set, its the same mold, but a different color, that is a different part at the point. No one is buying up a light blue trans clear Captain Rex in place of any of the actual Captain Rex figures. if someone thinks spending 50-100 dollars on one of these guys is worth it then i would even say they are more likely to be buying the expensive Lego sets, if thats really the kind of disposable income they are working with.

Thanks for watching. The transparent figures are just one facet. I used the transparent figures as an example because it is obvious those are not regular production figures. Like I mentioned, the Captain Rex figures were the normal production version [not transparent] they were the fully printed minifigures from the Venator, the only difference was the lack of the pauldron. So yes, these figures being stolen and resold directly impacted the sale of the UCS Venator. It would not surprise me if the release of the microfighter including Rex coming up was partially in response to the theft of these minifigures.

Thanks for watching and the feedback. I am definitely working on that for future videos!

Agree, I had to skip the music part.

I had no issue with music, but there was a short part in the video at 6:49, where the voice was doubled. (maybe the stereo didn't sync up, I'm not an audio expert) It didn't take anything away from the video, but I just wanted to point that out.

Fair point, thanks for watching!

Appreciated the maths!

So true about the potential for copycat as well! Buyer beware.

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!