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Steve Jackson Shows Off the Texas Brick Railroad (Video)
Imagine game designer Steve Jackson and a bunch of friends building Lego trains and tracks and scenery, including buildings and other props. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? The group calls itself the Texas Brick Railroad. A lot of members have children, so their meetings tend to be family affairs. Plus, as they're doing here, they often display their train sets at public events where -- yes -- their trains attract children like crazy. This video shows off both current Lego trains and some of the classic, no-longer-sold Lego trains that members have collected over the years, including the highly-prized monorails. There's a transcript, but face it: This is basically visual material, and worth checking out on a computer or handheld that runs Flash if your normal one doesn't. (We've requested an upgrade from Flash-only video, but don't hold your breath. It might be a good while before we get it.)
I have to say, at least for the mono-rail track, 3-D printing seems the clear way to avoid prowling E-Bay for hard to find and expensive pieces.
I wonder if owners would consent to have their pieces scanned to produce a blue-print.
(Of course, then we'd see whether Lego wants to dare the bad publicity of preventing a trade in replica pieces that Lego no longer sells.)
I met him at a game shop owner's convention in New Orleans back in the mid 90s. He was pushing his "Illuminati" card game at the time. My customers tried it out, and it received a tepid at best response. Magic the Gathering was young back then and was steam rolling other card games trying to compete. GURPS didn't take so well with my customers either, sadly. I still carried it. You need a selection to contrast and compare in a game shop, plus it adds to the atmosphere.
He was friendly and decent to talk to. I told him I had been a fan of "Car Wars" since I was a kid. He thanked me, and said he now felt old.
Take the Red Pill.