More Buyer Beware

Second Post of the Day

I ran into another case of buyer beware last week. And I fell for it completely.

Look at this horsey Lego set.

Honoring the Budweiser Clydesdales, it came across my Facebook feed. I immediately took a screen shot and sent it to our family GroupMe chat.

"Please, please, PLEASE someone get this for me!! My birthday is coming up." (Not until the end of August, but still...)

And then, I got the bad news. It was not an official Lego set. 

It was the 5 digit number on the box that was the definitive proof. Even though the set had the official red Lego label on it, it was not a Lego product, it was an imitation. 

I am disappointed, but I'm also glad Kyle checked it out for me. Yet another case of buyer beware raising its ugly head.

And then, look what appeared in my social media feed yesterday.

I'd get that in a heartbeat for several family members! But no number appears to check for authenticity, and, even more telling, there is no red Lego sign on the box.

It's a fake!

And fakes can be hard to tell.

Some more so than others.

Stay 'tooned!

Lego Robotics - A Surprise Message

Sometimes you get something out of the blue that just makes your day. Such was the case with this message that I received from a girl who had been on the Lego Robotics team I'd sponsored at Hershey.

In 2018 Caterpillar had offered to sponsor one team for us (the very first one at Hershey ever) at a very hefty cost. The purpose was to get more girls introduced to and involved in STEM learning so it was to be an all-girls team. 

We had room for ten girls, but twenty showed up and wanted to participate. Bless Caterpillar; they agreed to sponsor a second team, and all the girls got to experience robotics.

This is an example of the fruits of their generosity. (And I have sent this on to the man who facilitated the grants and the team to pass on to Caterpillar.)

Read it and smile.

Cole's 2021 Christmas Village

Cole is a Lego lover and he and his family have a fun holiday tradition - they make a Lego Christmas village!

They set villages up for Easter, Thanksgiving, and other holidays, too. When the holiday is over, each piece is dismantled and put into individual plastic bags for storage. 

Cole uses these books for patterns. Bricks are bought at garage sales, on eBay, and from other sources. He resells what he doesn't need.

Here's another video (this one has sound) with Emily and Susie briefly sharing what they worked on and then Cole speeds up the train to Susie's delight. (Did you know that there is a robot in Santa's village? Neither did I, until Susie made one. Reminds me of the unicorn that showed up in our Nativity re-enactment last Christmas Eve.)