I could see this working as a short term investment, rather than a long term holding. For example, there was an "ultimate collector series" millenium falcon they made (which was huge, much bigger than the set my son plays with) that sold for about $500. If I'd thought about it, I'd have realized it would sell out and that only a couple of years later, it would be worth $1800-2000, for about a 200% to 300% profit. It's not major income, but a small, short term thing that could have generated some hobby funds or something.

Not all legos are equal, they have sort of diverged into two types: the traditional brick type (and in that I include even the specialized pieces, as long as they fit together in the traditional stud/brick mechanism) and the Technic/Mindstorms type, which use pieces more like girders that fit together with special connectors. The brick type has moved more in the licensing/set model direction, and those I sort of agree that the creativity seems to be missing these days. But I have to admit I'm glad they came up with a decent lego millenium falcon, which was absolutely perfect for my son for Christmas a year ago.

On the other hand, the Technic/Mindstorms type still focuses a lot on creativity, with alternate directions for different models included, and lots of resources available for idea books and programming and such. If you look on the Lego education site, they seemed to almost have moved in the opposite/more creative direction, with resources for bodging together Mindstorms electronic components with a metal frame & RC servo-based robotics construction system (vertex? Tetrix? I forget what it was called) that another company makes.

Bottom line, if you want to emphasize creativity, go Technic early, then maybe branch off to mindstorms.

One other fact nobody has mentioned is that by flying this over people, PETA is also violating several provisions of the code of conduct established b the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) intended to help keep the public safe. Model helicopters in the $4K range are no-joke dangerous if they hit someone. This sort of activity (especially using a helicopter to harass people) puts at risk the rights of geeks everywhere to build and fly model aircraft, by encouraging legislators and bureaucrats to pass new laws and regulations.

AMA code

If any of the PETA people doing this are AMA members, I hope they have their memberships revoked...

Which version comes with the see-through side panels and LED-lit motor fan? Oh, and don't forget those cold cathode UV lights!

Actually it sounds more like fidonet. Store and forward networking just like early infrastructure that let email from dial up bbs nodes eventually reach a destination.

He used to be a good scientist. He's become too enthralled with himself since the Pluto debacle. Now he seems more into being a celebrity, and envisions himself as the next Carl Sagan... even planning to film a new Cosmos series. And a purple Cadillac? And a role in a Superman comic book? Please.

And there's got to be some joke in there about deciding Krypton isn't a planet. After all, one of the more valid criticisms of the definition his camp came up with for defining a planet was that it wasn't particularly suited to classifying exoplanets (planets not in our solar system).

I'm torn between thinking you need to be modded up and feeling like Lucas lost claim to Star Wars when he got his studio's films crossed and put Roger Rabbit in Episode 1 (just renamed Jar Jar Binks).

So, would that be the US, that invented the Internet (TCP/IP, Ethernet, BGP, etc.) or Switzerland/CERN that invented the Web?

Leaving it for a while as a lifeboat might be an idea for the future, but it might not be a bad idea either to go ahead and let it return its first time out, as a test.

Plus, it's not like it's returning empty. I gather they're using it to ship some stuff back, and I expect they'd rather go ahead and get it landed.