They're Haunting My Dreams! Who? The Libyans!!!!!!!!!!

When the Lego Delorean came out last year I knew I wanted it, I mean I knew Chase wanted it, but I decided I had to watch the movie with him first so he could really understand and appreciate it.
The problem was finding the time. Since Julian doesn't nap anymore it's very hard to get 2 hours without him.
My day off on Martin Luther King Day, and Chase's strep throat (they both had school) gave us the opportunity.
He really liked the movie, and though he had difficulty following at times, I explained some things and he asked some questions so he did understand what happened.

A few funny points:

1) We talked about the bad language and after it was over he told me Marty said "o-s-h-i-t" and he heard a couple of "stu words" but he hasn't repeated them.
2) I told him not to hold onto a car while skateboarding, because it wasn't safe in real life. He said "if it's not real why didn't the inventor guy just put rockets on his skateboard?"
3) Later we tried to get him to explain the plot to Mrs. Poop (just to see what he retained) and he started with "the inventor had so many clocks, but they were wrong so the kid was late to school." When we told him to skip ahead a little he said "the kid saw himself and the inventor guy got shot, but he was wearing a bullet proof vest. Then he made the car fly."
4) He said "I don't like Biff, cuz he's mean and he's a bully."

Also the movie provided us a good opportunity to talk about self-confidence and doing anything you can set your mind to. Though I hope he doesn't go around punching people to boost his self-confidence and launch a class president campaign.

There was one drawback though. The night we saw the movie Chase came down about 30 minutes after he went to bed (which is 29 minutes after he normally falls asleep) and said he couldn't sleep because he was having nightmares about the Libyans, and he wanted to know if they were real. The next day he was still concerned so I explained the Libyans were only mad at Doc because he cheated them. That's why he shot them.

Now that we got that squared away it was time to build.
This was actually one of the most complicated, difficult builds we've ever done. Lots of tiny little pieces and very few traditional Lego bricks.

Including a flux capacitor. Or a flex capacitator as Chase called it.

The awesome license plate, OUTATIME.

And an accurate Doc and Marty. He even has the life vest. Dork thinks he's gonna drown.

But the finished product looks awesome.

Chase Really Wants This

Maybe the coolest product ever goes on sale today.

I'm not sure if I have the entire story correct but it seems there is a site where you make your own original Lego creations, and if enough people like it (10,000) Lego will review it and potentially start selling as a boxed set. And the designer gets 1% of the net sales, which may seem small but it really doesn't take a genius to figure out how cool the DeLorean will be. In this case the designer is going to donate his cut to the Michael J Fox Foundation. Obviously Lego needed to strike a licensing deal with the owners of the rights to Back to the Future, but with that out of the way how long before we see another Back to the Future themed set on display in my living room.

Save the clock tower!

Note: It may be a few weeks before Lego stores actually have it. But it should be on sale in time for Chase's birthday, because like I said, he really wants this.

Greed is Not Good

Thomas Langenbach, who lives in a $2 million home in San Carlos, Calif., and is a top executive at German software giant SAP, allegedly plastered his homemade bar codes on Legos at the Cupertino Target. After taking them home, he sold them on eBay using the name “tomsbrickyard,” according to police.
"In his house, we found hundreds of boxes of unopened Lego sets," Liz Wylie, a spokeswoman for the Mountain View police, told the Mercury News. "He sold 2,100 items in just over a year on eBay, and made $30,000.”v Police were tipped off by loss prevention officers at Target. They spotted him on security tape buying the toys at unsanctioned discounts (he'd mark down $100 sets to $30) and put out fliers alerting clerks to the scam.
On May 8, a loss prevention officer on duty at the Mountain View Target recognized Langenbach and trailed him through the store, observing as he allegedly placed his own bar codes on several items. After he checked out, store security detained him until police arrived.
Armed with a search warrant, cops found a massive stockpile of Legos in Langenbach’s house, as well as dozens of his homemade bar code stickers in his car.


Interesting scam perpetrated by Langenbach and quite genius actually. He didn't get caught because of a flaw in his system, it was his greed that allowed him to be apprehended. I have always said this about counterfeiters. If you can make really good counterfeit bills you can probably pass them at any store in town and get away with it. What's wrong with never paying for a meal or gas or groceries ever again with little fear of getting caught. The problem is when they get greedy and try to buy a Jaguar in cash.
And this is what brought down Mr. Langenbach. And he probably didn't even need the money. He was an executive at SAP and living in a fancy home. He probably did it just for the thrill of getting away with something. If I were to do this I would go once a week to Target, maybe to Toys R Us, perhaps to a couple different locations and buy one set at a time. You'd be the best dad ever, and could even make a few bucks on eBay if you choose to fence the items. But when you buy 2,000 Lego sets you start to raise suspicion.