Mister No's Pics & Vids

[Super]

Foot tapping, head bobbing music

Are the Lemax buildings ceramic/porcelain like the Department 56's?

Most of Lemax's buildings are, according to the specification, made of porcelain or polyresin, the details on each of them are individually painted (handmade), so in fact no two houses are exactly the same. Batteries (3xAA) are used for lighting, and more complex objects with "animations" and music run on electricity (adapters required). They are quite heavy and very fragile, so great care should be taken as they are full of details that could easily break.

Some elements (for example, signs on houses, skating rinks, railway tracks and signals) are plastic.

It seems to me that they have a much bigger range than Department 56 (I like their Dickens' Village Series, though), and what is especially significant, there are a lot of Lemax retailers in the EU, so they are easy to get here too! 

[Super]

With your VAT and other fees and shipping, it must drive up the cost considerably for you on these porcelain/ceramic items as the boxes are quite large and weighty. My experience with Lemax and Dept56 is that they really pack their items well in the manufacturers box with perfectly formed Styrofoam inner package to protect the breakable contents. I this Ripley has some Xmas Layout videos showing all his Dept56 and Lemax lighted buildings.

As it happens, I rarely buy anything at "domestic market" (EU), so I was surprised not paying several times the price, and besides, this German shop has also free shipping (depending on amount you spent, and the country of delivery). That's really something, considering the huge box I had to go to the main post office in the city, because they don't deliver packages as big as that to your home, and perfect packaging of particular items, as you mentioned. The Italian shop (which had some houses not available in Germany: Tuscany Hills & Venice Canal Shops) had 26% Black Friday discount! I really couldn't resist that. 

Oh, Super, that platform you see is exactly the same as the one that comes with the upcoming Nia & the Elephant Set  you were asking about recently (maybe slightly different colour). I've got mine with "Carly's Crossing Set". No gimmicks, but I think it looks good with some Plakids workers and goods!

[Super]

Those Green, See Inside Dinning Cars look great being pulled by Shane..... Boing!

I love these coaches! I had them in my videos before, pulled by Stanley. They are a relict from the times gone by, when TrackMaster trains were still... nice and normal.

[Super]

They are super cool and always thought that they could add to the series with Sleeper Cars or Commuters too. Although I think they should come up with a better way of opening rather than those big, ugly, get in the way hinges. They could put the hinges on the inside or use the method that Plarail uses on their 'See Insider' but I suppose that the current method is really durable for rough child's play.

[Super]