====> LEGO sale: AucZILLA is here! <====
Todd Lehman
Phone the neighbors,
wake the kids...
IT'S HERE!
The father of the Internet LEGO auction returns with the
biggest and ugliest electronic LEGO sale ever conceived!
And there's something for everyone!
WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT THIS ONE?
* Over 30,000 LEGO pieces -- all brand new -- taken from 500 new LEGO
sets, divided up into unique parts packs you can't get in any store
or from LEGO Shop At Home Service.
* Over 2,000 items to choose from. Whereas past piece-auctions have been
geared toward a small number of large-sized parts packs, this auction
is geared toward a large number of small-to-medium-sized parts packs.
* Low opening bids (many $.25 or less) and low minimum bid increments
using a sliding scale that goes down to a nickel.
* Free shipping to everyone in the U.S., no matter what your total.
* $1.00 credit to the first 25 bidders.
* Automated auction server with personalized auction updates via e-mail
so you don't have to wade through hundreds of items just to see the 5
(or 50) you're interested in -- you see only what you want to see.
Plus, you get an instantaneous dollar total with each update so you
always know where you stand -- no need to add things up by hand.
WHAT KINDS OF PARTS PACKS ARE THERE?
* Over 650 mini-figures, in whole and in parts, from Town, Space, Castle,
Pirates, and Paradisa, including more than a dozen separate female mini-
figure heads for cross-theme conversion.
* Plenty of non-human creatures: Three dozen horses, two dragons, lots
of alligators, sharks, monkeys, parrots, and falcons.
* Twenty gallons of bricks and plates, in dozens and dozens of assortment
sizes.
* Zillions of decorated elements -- Town, Space, Paradisa, you name it.
Even the pizzas from #6350.
* Miscellaneous -- among hundreds of other things:
. A purely pink parts pack
. 35 baseplates of various sizes, colors, and patterns
. Oodles of green foliage pieces
. Lots of large green 4xN and 6xN plates
. Lots of large brown castle walls
. A monorail car (guts only)
. Several large clear blue quarter-dome windows
* Building instruction booklets -- from the miniscule to the large multi-
pagers. If you thought a particular set was cool but didn't want to
shell out a jillion bucks for it, here's your chance to get the
original instructions separately.
* Box art -- front and back of boxes -- mostly the larger sets. Enjoy a
particular box design and want to hang it on your wall, but wouldn't
dream of hacking up your own box? Here you go.
WHAT MAKES ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE?
* I reinvested the returns from my October-November 1994 auction into
this auction and spent the past three months sorting pieces.
* I've got this auction thing down to a science now. With the auction
software, I can service one bid per second, compared to only two per
minute the old fashioned way (editing a text file by hand). An auction
of this magnitude would not be possible using traditional methods.
* I guess I'm a bit crazy... This is an awful lot of work just to raise
dough to support my Space LEGO habit. But heck, the great thing is,
it's a two-way street and until The LEGO Group reinstates their bulk
sale policy (if ever), I'm happy to be one of the people providing this
service.
WHAT SETS WERE DIVIDED UP?
Here's an itemized list. All of these are brand-new sets bought off the
shelf at stores in the past three months.
Total
Set Qty x Pieces = Pieces
------------------------------------------ --- ------ ------
SPACE
1887 <blacktron ship> 8 27 216
1969 <space police robot> 20 33 660
6705 Space Explorers 3 34 102
6813 Galactic Chief 2 23 46
6897 Space Police Rebel Hunter 2 143 286
6959 Spyrius Lunar Launch Site 6 270 1,620
6973 Ice Planet Deep Freeze Defender 2 412 824
PIRATES/ISLANDERS
1464 Pirate Lookout 6 16 96
1492 Battle Cove 4 25 100
1795 <Imperial Guard & cannon> 2 36 72
1871 <pirate & cannon> 10 15 150
1872 <imperial soldiers> 10 26 260
1873 <pirate & treasure> 10 44 440
1889 <pirate, monkey, treasure> 8 37 296
1970 Pirate's Gun Cart 24 30 720
6236 King Kahuka 24 42 1,008
6237 Pirates' Plunder 20 20 400
6246 Crocodile Cage 4 56 224
6247 Bounty Boat 4 33 132
6252 Sea Mates 3 29 87
6256 Islander Catamaran 1 56 56
6258 Smuggler's Shanty 4 68 272
6264 Forbidden Cove 1 207 207
6266 Cannon Cove 4 101 404
CASTLE
1463 Treasure Cart 12 21 252
1491 Dual Defender 4 45 180
1794 <Horse, cart, Dragon Master> 2 31 62
1888 Ghost Hideout 7 49 343
1906 Majisto's Tower 2 190 380
1971 <small battering ram> 16 35 560
6009 Black Knight 16 19 304
6020 Magic Shop 32 45 1,440
6038 Wolfpack Renegades 5 93 465
6043 Dragon Defender 2 151 302
6048 Majisto's Magical Workshop 2 183 366
6056 Dragon Wagon 2 103 206
6057 Sea Serpent 4 117 468
6103 Castle Mini-Figures 2 31 62
6105 Medieval Knights 3 28 84
TOWN
1682 Space Shuttle 1 392 392
1890 Octan Racer 9 39 351
1958 Windsurfer 25 18 450
1959 Ultralight Aircraft 24 25 600
1990 <red white blue race car> 2 30 60
1991 <race service truck> 2 79 158
1992 <red/blue dragster pair> 2 96 192
6314 City People 3 27 81
6537 Hydro Racer 3 48 144
6350 Pizza to Go 2 142 284
6398 Central Precinct Headquarters 1 603 603
6399 Airport Shuttle 1 743 743
6571 Flame Fighters 1 416 416
6648 Mag Racer 1 55 55
6664 Chopper Cops 4 64 256
6665 River Runners 3 73 219
PARADISA
6402 Sidewalk Cafe 4 43 172
6405 Sunset Stables 1 126 126
6410 Cabana Beach 1 145 145
6419 Rolling Acres Ranch 2 357 714
CHRISTMAS
1978 Build-A-Santa 24 36 864
1979 Build-A-Snowman 36 39 1,404
1980 Build-A-Pair of Elves 20 29 580
BASIC
315 Building Set 2 59 118
325 Tote Pack 2 102 204
335 Tote Pack 1 244 244
345 <really small pink bucket> 1 127 127
545 Build-N-Store Chest 1 409 409
1602 Trial Size Imagination 10 16 160
1688 <medium pink bucket> 2 202 404
1706 <small red bucket> 4 250 1,000
1708 <large blue bucket> 8 650 5,200
---- ------
TOTALS 496 31,027
Sets Pieces
HOW DOES BIDDING WORK?
* Everyone is welcome to join in, even if you're not bidding.
* Send mail to leh...@winternet.com (that's me) and state that you want
to participate. Or, just reply to an announcement in the newsgroup.
If you'll be submitting bids from multiple e-mail addresses, designate
one as your favorite for receiving updates. I'll add your name and
address(es) to the bidder database so the auction software can recognize
you.
* Auction updates list your name next your bids, normally in a first-name,
last-initial format ("Todd L", "David K", "Raymond F"). If you prefer
anonymity, please suggest a short pseudonym.
* Submit bids and/or requests via Internet e-mail to leh...@witnernet.com
I'll feed the auction server everyone's e-mail in batches twice daily
(maybe more). Updates are sent back to you automagically via e-mail
when something on your watch list changes).
* Items change to Going Once, Going Twice, or Sold after sitting for 72
hours without a new bid.
* Bidding on the mini-figures commences immediately, and new batches of
items will be added weekly. Nothing will be marked Going Once until at
least a week after the last batch is announced, probably around the end
of March.
ITEM CODES
Each item has a 3-character code -- two letters A-Z plus a digit 0-9 (for
example BC3). The letter portion is an item group, used in your personal
watch list.
When you watch, say, item BC3, you're really watching all items starting
with BC. This allows you to bid on BC3 but watch the progression of
similar items BC1, BC2, BC4, etc. BC3 might be a pack of 100 widgets, BC1
might be 50 widgets, and BC4 might be 400 widgets.
Many items (especially mini-figures) are listed several times. Repetition
indicates multiple instances of an item -- if you see seven AA1's listed,
it means there are seven identical AA1 items for sale. Each AA1 carries a
separate bid, and you can bid on as many or as few as you like. The AA1's
are listed in order of bid amount, with lower bids dropping off the bottom.
For example, if Aaron K had 3 @ $.90 and Mark G had 4 @ $.75,
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.90 Aaron K
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.90 Aaron K
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.90 Aaron K
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.75 Mark G
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.75 Mark G
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.75 Mark G
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.75 Mark G
then if you submitted 2 @ $1, it would bump 2 of Mark G's off the bottom:
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $1.00 Chaz L
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $1.00 Chaz L
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.90 Aaron K
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.90 Aaron K
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.90 Aaron K
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.75 Mark G
BA1 Ghost mini-figure $0.75 Mark G
Many many thanks go to Raymond Flournoy for this suggestion. I had planned
originally on selling mini-figures in small arbitrary-size bunches (4, 6,
10, etc), but Raymond's way is better because it lets you bin on exactly
the number you need.
(Bricks and most other types of elements are still divided into bunches. :-)
MINIMUM BID INCREMENTS
As noted earlier, the auction software uses a sliding scale going down to
a nickel. Here's a chart:
Minimum
Current High Bid Increment
$0.00 - $.99 $.05
$1.00 - $4.99 $.10
$5.00 - $19.99 $.25
$20.00 - $49.99 $.50
$50.00 - $1.00
I chose this untraditional granularity because (1) on my end, a $.05 bump
is hardly a pain in the butt since the computer is doing all the gruntwork,
and (2) on your end, half a dozen $.25 bumps would add up a lot quicker
than half a dozen $.05 bumps, especially in a big auction like this. Of
course you're always allowed to go higher than the minimum.
AUCTION UPDATES
A typical update contains three sections: (1) a "bid feedback" section
listing accepted, rejected, and overturned bids, (2) a personalized watch
list section listing just the items you're interested in, and (3) a summary
section giving your current dollar total for pending and sold items.
Sometimes all or part of the bid feedback section is empty, depending on
how recently you've submitted bids.
Here is a hypothetical example:
_______________________________________________________________________________
To: ch...@foo.bar.edu
From: leh...@winternet.com
Subject: ToddL's Auction -- Personal Update
--- BID FEEDBACK ---
Rejected:
BD1 Already sold
BS2 Equal bid went to another bidder 47 minutes earlier
Accepted:
AA1 Upped $.25 (minimum increment was $0.10)
AD1 Upped $.10
BP3 Opened at minimum
Overturned:
AC3 Upped by another bidder
--- YOUR PERSONAL WATCH LIST ---
AA1 Blacktron I General (male) > $2.75 Chaz L
AC3 Ice Planet Pilot (female) > $2.40 Aaron K
" AC3 Ice Planet Pilot (female) $2.10 Aaron K
AD1 Unitron Subcommander (unisex) $1.30 Mark G
AD1 Unitron Subcommander (unisex) $1.30 Mark G
AD1 Unitron Subcommander (unisex) > $1.20 Chaz L
$ BD1 Red Crusader (unisex) $1.60 Chaz L
$ BD1 Red Crusader (unisex) $1.60 Chaz L
BP3 Dragon Master [blue] (male) > $1.00 Stan A
BP3 Dragon Master [blue] (male) > $1.00 Chaz L
BS2 Forestmen Archer (unisex) > $2.20 Chris M
' BS2 Forestmen Archer (unisex) $2.00 Mark G
(6 changes)
--- YOUR PERSONAL SUMMARY ---
AA1 Blacktron I General (male) $2.75
AD1 Unitron Subcommander (unisex) $1.20
BP3 Dragon Master [blue] (male) $1.00
--------
$4.95 Pending
$ BD1 Red Crusader (unisex) $1.60
$ BD1 Red Crusader (unisex) $1.60
--------
$3.20 SOLD
_______________________________________________________________________________
What are all those crazy symbols? The ' " $ markers on the far left mean
Going Once, Going Twice, and Sold, respectively. The > marker near the
right notes items which have had new bids since your last update. Sometimes
instead of a > there will be a ' or " or $ which simply means the item has
been bumped from Standing to Going Once, or from Going Once to Going Twice,
or from Going Twice to Sold, since your last update.
After three or four of these updates you should have no problem interpreting
all these things. :-)
AUCTION COMMANDS
There are three basic commands to the auction server:
* Bid. Just reply to your latest update (or to an item announcement in
in the newsgroup), change the amount after the dollar sign ($), and
delete all items you don't want to bid on. A bid is accepted if it is
greater than the current high, or if it is equal to or greater than the
opening amount. (So, for opening bids, you don't even have to change
the dollar amount -- just echo back that line.)
* Watch/Unwatch. This is for items you're not bidding on now but may want
to bid on later, or for items that you're just curious about. Each bid
you submit automatically adds that item group to your personalized watch
list. You can also explicitly add and delete item groups from your
watch list. Examples:
watch AA
watch BL
unwatch NP
Submit each watch or unwatch command as a separate line.
* Inter-bidder message. If you need to get a hold of another bidder, to
discuss a split or perhaps to haggle someone, you can send a short one-
line message. Put one or more bidder names in square brackets, followed
by your message. Examples:
mail [Aaron K] I hate your guts. :-)
mail [Mark G,Chaz L] Re AA1 please contact me: bo...@u.bar.edu
God forbid should you need to contact the entire bidding community, you
can use * as a wildcard to broadcast a message to everyone:
mail [*] Hello everyone.
If your e-mail editor supports lines greater than 80 columns, you can
send some really long messages (text is wrapped at 72 columns). But
this is really for simple things like giving your e-mail address to
someone.
Messages are delievered as separate e-mail, not as part of the updates.
There is no verification of delivery.
TRADE OPPORTUNITIES
I am looking for various parts of various LEGO Space sets to round out my
collection.
Set Seeking
-------------------------------------------- -------------------------
1507 Space Value Pack [1557/1558] ('86) Backing card
1557 Space Scooter ('86) Box, instructions, pieces
1558 Mobile Command Trailer ('86) Box
1969 "3 Set Special" [6847/6848/6825] ('85) Backing card
6702 Space Mini-figures ('86) Box, instructions, pieces
6711 Lego Mini-Figures ('83) Box, instructions, pieces
6802 Space Probe ('86) Box
6804 Surface Rover ('84) Box, instructions
6806 Surface Hopper ('85) Box, instructions
6820 Starfire I ('86) Box
6821 Shovel Buggy ('80) Box, instructions, pieces
6826 Crater Crawler ('85) Box
6844 Sismobile ('84) Box, instructions, pieces
6845 Cosmic Charger ('86) Box
6846 Tri-star voyager ('84) Box
6861 Blacktron Super Vehicle ('91) Backing card
6871 Star-Patrol Launcher ('84) Box
6872 Lunar Patrol Craft ('86) Box
6874 Moonrover ('86) Box, instructions, pieces
6881 Lunar Rocket Launcher ('84) Box, instructions, pieces
6926 Mobile Recovery Vehicle ('86) Box, instructions, pieces
6928 Uranium Search Vehicle ('84) Box, instructions, pieces
6930 Space Supply Station ('83) Box, instructions, pieces
6971 Inter-Galactic Command Base ('84) Box, instructions, pieces
6980 Galaxy Commander ('83) Box, pieces
If you have an old, torn-up instruction booklet and lots of missing pieces,
that's still valuable to me since I can put that together with a set from
someone else who is missing the instruction booklet but has the pieces.
Send a list of any Space stuff you are willing to trade. And I don't mind
getting duplicates.
IN CLOSING
Well, if this is a flop (due to the post-holiday timing, immense size, or
whatever), there's bound to be some really great deals. I hope to hear
from you soon -- this should be a lot of fun for everyone.
Keep your eyes open in rec.toys.lego for more announcements as more items
are folded in. We'll start with the 650+ mini-figures.
If you have Web access, the latest announcements can also be found in the
AucZILLA Home Page http://www.winternet.com/~lehman/auczilla.html
--
Todd Lehman
leh...@winternet.com