The Lego Man - He's got all that!

Who would have thought that owning one of the worlds largest, private Lego collections could take you so far. Tom Lucieer of Angaston, South Australia, not only has met the Queen (of England) but is a frequent guest of her majesty and family when they are in Australia. He's also met Prince Charles, Lady Diana and Camila Parker-Bowles. Not only that, he grew up with TV Vet, Dr Harry, and is a friend of the Irwin family (yes, that's Steve Irwin's family).

Tom will happily tell you all this as part of the guided tour of his collection, which, aside from Lego, includes much railway memorabilia and colourful anecdotes about days gone by, his achievements and more. Frequently he will finish each particular monologue with the phrase, "Have you got that?", just to check that he hasn't confused you because, as he points out, his display and the stories behind it are a lot to take in at once.

In the photo you can see Tom holding a special award, which I think is for being the toy retailer of the year for 2004 (I'm not entirely sure, too much to take in). He explains he owns the Toyworld store in Nuriootpa - adding it's a great place to buy Lego. Obviously he is very proud of this award as it was by his prompting that I took this particular photo.

Tom's Lego collection is vast going right back to the days when Lego sold wooden toys (before they invented the plastic bricks). If you have followed my site for a number of years you will know that I'm something of a collector of Lego. I still have the very first sets I was bought from as early as 1974. Based on what Tom told us about the value of some sets, from periods later than this, I reckon I could be sitting on a collectors gold mine.

For example, Tom has a complete set of 'Fabuland' characters. These came out in the early to mid nineteen eighties and are no longer available. Tom's set is valued at around $4000 dollars. I've got a few Fabuland sets, still in very good condition.

One of the first sets I was ever bought was Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's 'Spirit of Saint Lewis' aeroplane which is in Tom's collection. I think it was released in 1974 but I'm not quite sure.

Aside from early Lego sets, Tom has all the latest sets too. He gets them even before they are released in the stores including all the latest Star Wars, Harry Potter and Batman sets. There is also has a good collection of working Lego trains, based on actual trains, which he demonstrates for you.

If you're a Lego collector of any level, Tom's display will be of great interest. Be sure to look him up. His details can be easily tracked down through local tourist guides or from one of the regions visitor information centres. It's probably a good idea to call him first, just to let him know you're coming. Set aside about an hour for the complete tour.

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

Course Review: YouTube for Bosses - Sunny Lenarduzzi. How to grow your YouTube Channel into a Business

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Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

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Review: FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes

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My Profile on the Braille Skateboarding App. Braille Skateboarding launched it's new Skateboarding App worldwide on November 23rd, 2020. About a month prior to that they did a 'soft launch' via email for anyone living in Australia. I'm guessing this was to give the app a final test in the real world before launching it proper. Rather than explain what it is, watch Aaron Kyro, founder of Braille Skateboarding, run you through the app in the launch video below. In a nutshell the app is virtually everything Braille has to offer accessed right from your phone, from tutorials to the Braille Army Community. The app is free but you can unlock more features if you upgrade to a paid membership. Braille App Trick List. One of the apps unique free features is keeping track of the tricks you've learned and giving you an overall score so you have some way to measure your progression. There is an extensive list of tricks, covering all types of skateboarding, categorized by diff

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Back in August of 2021 I made a final skateboarding video for my TET Life YouTube channel explaining that I wouldn't be making any more videos documenting my skateboard progression on account of some fairly painful stress injuries to both my feet. At that time I'd already stopped skating for about seven months. I was also planning on closing down some of my Print on Demand Stores, primarily my Threadless and BoardPusher stores. I'm tentatively planning to restart making fortnightly videos (or possibly even weekly) for my TET Life channel and, for those of you following just this blog, I wanted to post this mid February 2023 update video to let you know what I was thinking moving forward. As you may have seen in the video I'm planning to possibly combine some skate footage with creating my art perhaps? At this stage I'm not sure? I do want to make videos for my TET Life channel and, since my feet seem to be relatively fine again, it would be nice to maybe film som

One Week on Light n' Easy #lightneasy

My partner, Enigma, and I recently decided to try Light n' Easy to replace all our daily meals in an effort to eat healthier (and not have to think at all about cooking evening meals). Enigma is about to embark on her third week of their full menu but I caved after one and opted just to get the dinners.

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

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