Millennium Falcon LEGO

There is definitely a problem of over-specialization of parts in the higher-level kits these days, but on the other hand you get a lot more interesting parts these days to build in really creative ways. It's amazing how well each part is designed to do different tasks. I've built a lot of the Star Wars kits and they do use a fair number of the same type of parts. But there are certainly a greater variety.

I am a huge Lego fan, and I'm super-jealous of the guys who can order this. I tried, but my wife put her foot down. So I created http://www.BuyMeALego.com to trade links/ads for tiny donations. If you know a small business or blog that needs more traffic, send them my way!

I second what Sid Morrison says.

Wow, that is a lot of scratch for a LEGO kit.

A problem I've noticed is that almost all of the LEGO sets in my local retail stores are chock full of very specialized pieces so that the kid(s) can build 1 specific model. In the old days, the pieces were a lot more generic (and cheaper) and children were able to use their imagination and creativity a lot better. Sure, what they wound up with looked a bit less like the Millennium Falcon, but they figured it out on their own, and when they were done, they could take it all apart and turn it into 1000 other models. Good luck finding the old "buckets of bricks" they used to sell. Yes, I know they are still offered that way, but I need to mail order them b/c the local stores only sell "Harry Potter", "Pirates of the Caribbean", or "Star Wars" sets that are highly constraining (and expensive!)

E 549? Ouch, oil prices must be up...

Thats pretty damn awesome.