Subject:
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Re: Technic in Israel?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.loc.il
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Date:
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Mon, 19 Nov 2001 20:56:02 GMT
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Viewed:
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3012 times
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Hi David.
Thank you so much for your post. It is very informative. You mentioned many
sets so this serves as a nice little introduction to good sets that are out
there. I'll certainly look them up before I go on this next shopping round.
> What made you decide to order the RIS set from Australia?
> I went through a different route - first I got addicted to Technic after
> picking up an old <set:8880> I saw on Han Toys on discount and only after
> I was deep into Technic I ordered a RIS 1.5 set from the
states.
I read about Mindstorms on the net. When I saw the stuff people did with it,
I decided I must get it, and get it fast!
This was after more than 10 lego-free years (I'm 23 now).
I like programming so it made sense that it would be fun. However, upon
getting the RIS I find that I actually enjoy building more than programming.
Since I program a lot every day, getting to build stuff with your hands is a
welcome retreat.
I bought the set from a guy in Australia because he had "good karma",
meaning many people have praised his service and I actually talked to a guy
in Israel who had bought a RIS from him.
His name in Jason King (http://www.brickbay.com/store.asp?u=jasonoz), for
those interested.
> About shipping, there is also an option to buy a POB on the states through • a
> company that handles the POB and ships the things you order to that POB to
> Israel (for a hefty fee, naturally). Last time I checked, though, they had • no
> office in Jerusalem so I would have had to go to Tel Aviv to get my • packages
> which is a major setback of course.
I was just going to recommend www.mustop.co.il. My brother used their
service and was satisfied. But guess what: I went there now and it turns out
they closed down!
I agree with you it's too bad that few (adult) people in Israel share an
interest in Mindstorms/technic. It would make the LEGO much cheaper and
easier to acquire. I'd also like to take part in one of those lego
exhibitions/contests that are always going on in more 'advanced' countries.
But it seems that many (most?) Israelis would rather save up all their free
income in order to fly abroad. They are interested in little else.
By the way, I saw on another post of yours that you are affiliated (work,
teach, study ?) with the Hebrew University. I'm an undergraduate there (CS
and Life Science combo), so we're practically neighbors.
Anyway, thanks again for your help. I'll use the info as soon as I can. I
have so little time lately, despite the blessed lecturers' strike.
- Aviv
"David Arnon" <arnon@NOSPAMsilicon-value.com> wrote in message
news:GMvDD9.G03@lugnet.com...
> Hi Aviv!
>
> Welcome! It's nice to finally hear of someone with a similar mania [1] • here in
> Israel (and in Jerusalem, no less! I live in Mevaseret).
>
> What made you decide to order the RIS set from Australia?
> I went through a different route - first I got addicted to Technic after
> picking up an old <set:8880> I saw on Han Toys on discount and only after
> I was deep into Technic I ordered a RIS 1.5 set from the • states.
>
> I have no idea why they don't import Mindstorms sets to Israel, but I'm • sure
> it's strongly connected to the reason they don't import the UCS sets (like
> <set:7181> & <set:7191>), barely import the big Technic sets (I saw just • one
> <set:8458> and no <set:8457>) and charge OUTRAGEOUS amounts of money for
> anything with the LEGO logo on it.
>
> In almost all of the cases it's cheaper to pay someone abroad to ship a • set to
> Israel [2] than to buy it over here.
>
> I see no reason for LEGO to cost 2-3 times more here in Israel than it • does in
> the states. The shipping from Denmark shouldn't be different and the • costumes
> for toys is only 17%.
>
> O.K., enough complaining, I'm already used to buying my LEGO abroad and • have
> it shipped over here. I mainly use eBay [3]. DYA [4] and BusyBee [5] also
> ship to Israel.
>
> I was pleasantly surprised the new <set:8466> wasn't something like 1200 • NIS
> like <set:8448> or <set:8458> were. I was able to get it for 689 NIS which • is
> still very expensive, but at least makes you think twice before you order • it
> at the regular price from the states. It's a great set by the way and I • highly
> recommend it. If you see it in Han Toys for 800 NIS ask for their discount
> card and get a 14% discount. (20%, but you have to pay 50 NIS for the • card)
>
> Good Technic is hard to come by these days (Don't get me started on
> Bionicles...)
> If you want more motors and don't want to pay 300 NIS for <set:8735> you • can
> either search for it on eBay (always a couple for sale there) or search • for
> bigger sets that have a motor and more useful Technic pieces.
> <set:8479> has one new style motor, two touch sensors and a great • selection of
> beams and gears.
> <set:8480> has one old style motor and one micro motor and is an amazing • set
> for all Technic lovers (a heavy contender for the greatest Technic set • ever)
> <set:8485> is the winner with three(!) old style motors, a control center • and
> an amazing selection of all the useful Technic pieces (tons of beams, • gears
> and even flex cables), but it usually goes for a lot of money on eBay.
>
> DYA has <set:8482> for 70.00$ that has a new style motor, some useful • stuff
> and the cybermaster brick which is a simple version of the RCX. It has a • RF
> connection to the computer instead of the IR link the RCX has.
>
> About shipping, there is also an option to buy a POB on the states through • a
> company that handles the POB and ships the things you order to that POB to
> Israel (for a hefty fee, naturally). Last time I checked, though, they had • no
> office in Jerusalem so I would have had to go to Tel Aviv to get my • packages
> which is a major setback of course.
>
> Hope that helps, Don't hesitate to ask for clarifications, it's nice to • know
> I'm not alone here in Israel!
>
> - David
>
>
> [1] Technic & Mindstorms
>
> [2] and pay extra for:
> a. the profit of the extra middleman
> b. shipping
> c. costumes
> d. exchange rate
> e. transferring funds abroad (paypal, bidpay, western union all have • their
> fees)
>
> [3] <http://www.ebay.com/>
> eBay LEGO Technic:
> <http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/all/category19012/index.html>
> eBay LEGO MindStorms:
> <http://listings.ebay.com/aw/plistings/list/all/category19005/index.html>
> [4] <http://www.dya-shopping.com/en/home.html>
> [5] <http://www.busybeetoys.co.uk/> Be advised that the shipping from • the
> UK is unbelievable. I bought <set:8462> [6] from BusyBee for 39.00 GBP and
> paid 40.00 GBP for shipping (!!!)
> Shipping from France (DYA) is much more reasonable.
>
> [6] A good pneumatic set - you should definitely try some pneumatics • sometime,
> people did some amazing stuff with RIS & pneumatics!
>
>
>
> In lugnet.loc.il, Aviv Hurvitz writes:
> > Hi all.
> >
> > I've recently bought the Mindstorms RIS and it is so much fun. I'm • spending
> > hours and hours on this thing, and it seems to be the last toy I'll ever
> > need.
> >
> > Unfortunately, it turns out that "im haochel ba hate'avon", as the Hebrew
> > proverb
> > says. My latest ideas need more beams, more motors, more more more...
> >
> > Anyway, I searched for technic pieces in Jerusalem but all I saw are very
> > simple models or the Bionicle thingys.
> >
> > Question is: does anyone know of a good place to buy LEGO, especially
> > technic? Do you know of a good way to have it shipped from abroad?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Aviv
> >
> > BTW, if you were wondering, I had my Mindstorms shipped from Australia. • I've
> > been told that Lego has formally decided not to sell it in Israel. Can
> > anyone suggest an explanation for this?
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Technic in Israel?
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| (...) Keep in mind that the older sets (the ones that came out more than two years ago) are usually hard to find. They rarely show up in the stores here in Israel. For a better reference on Technic sets you can check some excellent review sites: (...) (23 years ago, 20-Nov-01, to lugnet.loc.il)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Technic in Israel?
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| Hi Aviv! Welcome! It's nice to finally hear of someone with a similar mania [1] here in Israel (and in Jerusalem, no less! I live in Mevaseret). What made you decide to order the RIS set from Australia? I went through a different route - first I got (...) (23 years ago, 16-Nov-01, to lugnet.loc.il)
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