AmperZand

I voted for the Series 3 Elf. I waited so long for an elf and when it appeared, LEGO did not disappoint! Ironically, I didn’t vote for the one that, I strongly suspect, was inspired by one of MOCs. I’m not going to say which one it is, but more than appearance makes me think that my design inspired LEGO’s.

@Wardancer @SpacePolice89, Thanks for your kind words and apologies for the tardy response. @Wardancer, There are a couple of reasons for the self-imposed constraint: 1. It’s a fun challenge to see what you can do within limitations. I’m in admiration of some Rebrickable designers and wanted to test myself to see if I could do as well. 2. If I opened it up to unlimited additional parts, I’d wind up splurging on BrickLink when I’m trying to save for some of the summer releases. Sadly, my LEGO budget is pretty meagre. @SpacePolice89, This one’s a good size but I do like large LEGO dragons, too. I have Cinderhowl the D&D set dragon, the 2025 3in1 Creator dragon, and Maleficent in dragon form among others. I also have Smaug but it’s still in its box.

You certainly can re-whiten parts as long as they don’t have stickers on them that you’re not willing to sacrifice. Here’s how to re-whiten yellowed parts: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/forums/topic/7167-brick-de-yellowing-techniques/#findComment-1977178

@DonQuixote, Unfortunately, I don’t have any intel on the Castle minifigs. Sorry

I have it from a fairly reliable source that one of the CS astronauts is a shade of turquoise (teal) and the other is one of the azures, so they’re not both the same. I’m guessing - not based on any particular info - that there’s only one warm gold one and that the fourth spaceman is either a different colour or space themed but not from the CS era. It just seems that in a prize machine, it would be more fun to have a variety of colours/styles with no two minifigures the same.

@danth @SpacePolice89 @Feuer Zug @LEGO Train 12 Volts Thanks for your kind words. Apologies to anyone who came to this thread, couldn’t see the pic and was wondering what was being talked about. The picture is linked to Brickshelf which was down for quite some time. LEGO has a thing about not-minifigure-scale Classic Space. First there were the micro fig sets and today, 15 May, there’s a new GWP of an oversized red CS baby. I’m glad we’re getting new colours of CS astronaut minifigures in the forthcoming Prize Machine though will wait for the set to be on sale before getting it.

As a LEGO dragon fan, I had been eyeing up Ninjago set 71829 Lloyd's Green Forest Dragon for a while but hadn't pulled the trigger when a friend bought it for me as a surprise gift. The reason for not getting it myself was that there were features of the dragon that bothered me. I'm not particularly into Ninjago so was seeking a more generic green dragon, e.g. a quadruped, not a biped, and one that was better proportioned (the wings are very large compared to the body). When the set recently went on sale at a retailer where I have loyalty points, I couldn't resist the urge to get a second dragon and combine them. The resulting dragon is very much more to my liking. I set myself the following requirements: Quadrupedal dragon More proportional overall More posable/better articulation More greebling/more organic looking More generic fantasy/not specifically Ninjago Not designed to be ridden Smallest possible number of additional pieces, i.e. parts not from two 71829s In the end, I only used four additional parts: two 6043656 and two 6039479. This is what I came up with. What do you think?

Maybe I need to see the balrog in person at a LEGO store because the images make it look too squat and stocky even when you account for LEGO aesthetics. It should to be taller, leaner, more menacing. As is, it’s dangerously close to being chibi. Of the four spring/summer 2025 sets I was considering - this, Fantastic Four, Creator Castle and Prize Machine - this one comes last. It’s not bad, but not a must have. Also, as others in this thread have pointed out, it’s not good value.

As others have noted, NOT acetone/nail polish remover. Gently detach the arm, apply a very thin coat of Humbrol Satin Cote to the male part (the shoulder ball), allow 24 hours to dry and gently reinsert into the torso. If it’s not stiff enough, repeat the steps above. You won’t be able to see the shoulder ball once inserted but even if you could, Humbrol Satin Cote is clear and has identical lustre to LEGO’s ABS. The trickiest aspect of using it is that you can’t see it going on as you apply it because it’s invisible, so there’s a temptation to put too much.

I suspect the weird names are due to LEGO’s sales channels and timing. A significant percentage of LEGO’s sales is to resellers (Amazon, Walmart etc) and wholesalers, not direct to consumers. At the point in the sales cycle when the toy trade is making buying decisions, LEGO doesn’t have set images, just set names, piece counts and recommended pricing (which, incidentally, is why those details leak first). A trade buyer who isn’t necessarily very knowledgeable about LEGO or Marvel might not understand that ‘Fantastic Four vs Galactus’ isn’t a set of five minifigures costing $60 at retail. So LEGO explains in the set’s name that Galactus is a large, built figure. It seems stupid to us, but makes sense from a business perspective.

I’m not a purist and not an arbiter of purity. I was just putting it out there as a suggestion for those who see purity as a scale rather than a category.

Another way of doing new candles (ones that are unlit and therefore not melted) is to use this piece: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/search.page?q=String grips#T=A If you cut the string at the base of each bar and partway to the next bar, you get a great candle and wick. Some consider cutting string unpurest but I believe there’s precedence for cutting string in official instructions (though, admittedly, not this piece).

I started collecting History (fantasy, mythology, historical etc) minifigures back in 1993 as an offshoot of my interest in D&D. As a result, I've always been more interested in individual heroes than massed ranks (D&D for anyone who doesn't already know is centred on individuals, not armies). So my collection emphasises variety, not uniformity. That's in no way a value judgement: I very much enjoy seeing the armies of other collectors and even have one army - of Uruk-Hai - myself. But for the most part my 'armies' are themed groups of heroes, not rank and file soldiers.

The recently released Micro Command Centre (40786) is a great set, but because it's micro scaled it isn't easily integrated with most of the rest of Classic Space. I therefore modded it to make it minifig friendly. It wasn't my intention to make a proportionally scaled up version, only to modify it just enough to work for minifigures. I'm not a big fan of stickers, so none from the set were used. The microfigs appear here as space kids/babies. This mod follows on from my enlargement of the Micro Rocket Launchpad (40712) from a year ago some of which is included here.

I was also wondering about the positioning and suspect it will be a play for the premium end of the market. If so, it won't be competing with LEGO on price which will be a shame for many AFOLS, myself included. I'm not sure that it will be porting existing licences over to Mattel Brick Shop. Those IPs may already be too strongly associated with Mega Blocks/Construx. It may seek new IPs. It may compete with LEGO by being more innovative and varied in its products such as parts or materials that LEGO doesn't do or doesn't do much of. Parts with studs (or anti-studs) facing in opposite directions, elastomer (silicone) parts that flex, or sets with elaborate lighting systems (not just single light-up bricks) are a few possibilities. I wonder also about the segments Mattel will target. Will it go after the 18+ segment (architecture, plants, art) or particular geographies (China)? It could also compete with LEGO in certain non-IP themes either targeting kids or adults or both. Castle is ripe for development as are trains, pirates, western and modern warfare. I'm hoping for quite a lot from Mattel Brick Shop because there are so many ways in which LEGO could be improved. Ultimately though, Brick Shop may turn out to be quite disappointing. We'll have to wait and see.