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Here is my review on 75325 The Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter: THE GOOD: Overall shape for the starfighter is good. First Mando to feature Din Jarin face. THE NOT SO GOOD: Wish the colour is chrome. Engine underneath the ship too easy to fall off. You may also say this is a bit too big compare to the actual ship in show, Originally, I pre-ordered this to reach a threshold for a GWP and wanted the dark saber and Din Jarin look. But didn't prioritise building and after a better version of the dark saber released (and I built that set too), finally decided to build this one. Turns it's pretty good. And surprisingly the start fighter is quite large (may be too larget) and the shape looks good, although this should have been chrome silver colour but I doubt LEGO could make that happen. Overall building experience for was great given I have not own any previous star fighter type set. And I like the 2 engines look, it just a bit frustrating to build. The minifigures are nice, at the time of the release but if you compare with more recent sets, it may be disappointing but you get an exclusive character in this set. Otherwise, it's ok but I'm a bit disappointed the thruster underneath the ship is so easy to fall off. At NZD $120 RRP, it's not cheap but like crazy expensive like some of the recent releases and if you like the show, this might just worth it with a reasonable discount. However, if you are just into the Mando minifigure, there are more updated version in more recent sets with cheaper price =)
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Here is my review on LEGO Marvel Spider-Man No way home 76280 Spider-Man vs. Sandman: Final Battle: THE GOOD: Sandman is great with a fun build and lots of movements. Finally getting Lizard minifigure. Able to integrate into last year final battle set seamlessly. THE NOT SO GOOD: Very very expensive. Do we really need a repeat for Spider-Man & Electro? I wish this was part of the Final Battle set released last year. On its own, it's great with a very good Sandman build. And Sandman has a lot of movements and I especially love the movements you are able to do with the neck and arms. He also looks very menacing too. Having its own stand makes it a very good and lively display. The minifigures are great, and finally you get a Lizard minifigure. While it is well done, I do wish Lizard is a big fig. Spider-man and electro are nice too but if you have bought other sets, it;s very repetitive. I wish Spider-man is also a new variant. Now, it's clear this set must have designed as part of the Final Battle set, as it fits seamlessly into it without issues. This also the main issue, because on its own, this set cost $80NZD which is very very high. I rather pay more for a bigger than to be honest and I wouldn't have bought this if it wasn't a 30% off discount. If you really want a complete scene from no way home or the lizard minifig, then it's probably a set for you with a high price, otherwise if you just a casual fan and already satisfied with the final battle set, then you don't really need to spend on this set.
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Here is my review on 2024 LEGO Harry Potter 76430 Hogwarts Castle Owlery: THE GOOD: 5 owls plus 2 hidden owls hidden in the build design. Very details on the exterior and surrounding terrain. No stickers. THE NOT SO GOOD: The price without discount is a bit too high. First I will call this the Owl Battle pack, given you get 5 different owls in this plus a few hidden, more abstract ones which I think it brilliant design of building experience. The Owlery itself is quite tall, in fact taller than I originally expected. And both the exterior and surrounding terrains are nicely designed. The 3 minifigures are great with very nice torsos, although the head pieces are still using variants from previous year. This set also has no stickers which is nice surprise. However, this set is not cheap without any discount. I only bought this set because Amazon AU was doing a time sale at 30% off which makes the price very competitive in today's standard. It's a recommendation from me but only when you can get a decent discount!
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Here is my review on LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog 76995 Shadow the Hedgehog Escape: THE GOOD: Shadow's bike actually look better than in pictures. Some very nice printed elements. Shadow is a great minifigure. THE NOT SO GOOD: Could have one more minifigure than just a brick built character but this might increase the price of the set. I ended up liking this set more than before I bought it. Apart from the Shadow minifigure looking great, the rest of the set is good. Yes it's simple but the bike turned out to be really good looking compared to the pictures. Also the chamber locking up Shadow is also a fun little build, plus that printed element with Shadow's vitals is just awesome. The Rhinobot is ok, and you do get a bird for this. I do wish for an extra minifig but this might make this set more expensive than it current price for a large margin. It's interesting so far, all Mario, Animal Crossing and Sonic sets have no stickers. With 20% plus discount on the Sonic theme in many places now, it makes this set really good value. If you like video game or interesting pieces, this is definitely a set for you.
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Here is my review on LEGO Speed Champions 76919 2023 McLaren Formula 1 Race Car: THE GOOD: Interesting building experience through out. Some surprising printed element. (Love the printed steering) Cool minifigure with McLaren helmet. THE NOT SO GOOD: Due to the design of the side body of the car, it can be a bit flimsy during the build but all good after everything is done. This is a pleasant surprise, and I absolutely loving it once built. First it's a nice looking F1 and the building experience has been interesting. Especially the techniques to create the body of this car. Both sides of the body and the engine area are some of the most interesting build I've seen in set this size. It does mean during the build, some parts did feel a bit flimsy while building it but it ends up all good and secure once completed. The use of spoon as side mirrors also very interesting. There are quite a bit of stickers but I love all the branding and only the DeWalt logo on the side was a bit difficult to apply. Having said that there are some very nice surprise in terms of printed element, and the google chrome logo wheel cover are great. And to finish thing off, it also includes a minifigure with a nice outfit and helmet with McLaren logo printed on it. This is a really good set and totally recommended. Price wise is great to considering lots of places having discount on this and I managed to buy this with 20% off =)
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Here is my review on LEGO Animal Crossing 77049 Isabelle's House Visit: THE GOOD: Great minifgures! Very authentic looking DIY bench. THE NOT SO GOOD: The furnitures are a bit big for the available interior Now I have completed the full wave. I regret I built the Nook Cranny's set first because the build of this is so similar to Rosie's House except the roof design which takes a lot of freshness away from the overall building experience. The set itself is good and I like it. The minifigures are great, it's interesting Isabelle is having a winter attire while Tom Nook is having summer attire. Fauna is also a great minifigure. The house is nicely done, with a different roof and entrance builds compared to Rosie's. and there are some nice furnitures build too (an awesome DIY bench). Having said that, due to some of the furnitures are pretty big, it does limit the space available inside. This set also feels the most exenpensive cosnidering not many shops doing 20% more discount until it goes to clearance. If you a fan of animal corssing, this is a must have and I do recommend it. And I will also advise that try to build this earlier than other Animal Crossing sets.
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Here is my review on LEGO Harry Potter 76428 Hagrid's Hut: An Unexpected Visit: THE GOOD: Fully enclosed hut with excellent details both exterior and interior. Great couches. Excellent minifigures and animal selection. THE NOT SO GOOD: New collectible portraits again! (Not that the piece is not good, it just very difficult to complete the set of 14) WOW, never would have thought a normal retail set from Harry Potter would release a fully enclosed hut. And this is great. It has a fun building experience with smart use of stickers to optimise the interior space. It's a good looking model with some nice touches on the exterior, the roof is interesting but not too complex, plus easily removable just like a modular building. You can also open the hut to better interior access. In terms of the interior, I really like the couches. Apart from the main build you also get to build the dog house which is also a great build. The minifigures and animals included are excellent. With new variant of Hagrid, and the 3 main characters, plus a new dog mould for Fang. And Fang is really one of my main reason that I bought this because I'm a fan of collecting LEGO animals. This set proves it doesn't have to be modular series to have a fully enclosed/complete house. At $150NZD without discount, it's a bit pricey but I bought this with 30% from amazon AU, which made this a very good deal. It's definitely a set I would recommend and now I wonder if I should open and build my 2019 Hagrid's Hut =).
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Here is my review on LEGO Ninjago Dragons Rising 71819 Dragon Stone Shrine: THE GOOD: Looks great in all angles. Very detailed exterior with lots of small pieces for added texture. A building experience nothing like before. The waterfall and the pond are brilliant. The 3 action features are incorporated into the build so well, you don't even notice by looking at it. Excellent minifigures! THE NOT SO GOOD: none. This set looks absolutely beautiful! I'm surprised with how well it display after finished building. First the building experience has been great, and I believe due to its design and volume, it felt so refreshing. The end product looks so well in every angles, despite the shrine area is opened at the back for accessibility, the other parts of the location are so well designed both the front and the back makes it a 360 degrees display model. The dragon is so detailed with an excellent waterfall, the effect of the water dropping into the pond is so good. On top of that, the 3 action features are integrated into the build so well, if you haven't build it, you won't even notice. And all 3 works very well. The highlight for me is the stone where Lloyd and Ras battle, it's like a balance board but the whole mechanism is completely hidden. The dragon arm is also surprising well done with more articulation joints than your typical mech. Plus you get 6 excellent minifigures. This is probably one of the best sets this year so far and best Ninjago location set outside Ninjago City modular series. Without discount it's a bit expensive, I bought with 20% and I do think it's worth the price. Totally recommend this to everyone.
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Here is my review on LEGO Animal Crossing 77047 Bunnie's Outdoor Activities: THE GOOD: Small but absolutely replicated the core game play of the game. The vaulting pole action is brilliant! Bunnie is an other excellent minifigure. THE NOT SO GOOD: None. This probably my second favourite set after Nook's Cranny. In terms of recreating the game play of Animal Crossing, this may be the best one. From the camp to the terrain, plus including all 4 key tools & the spider recall all the fun I had with the game. It actually makes me want more parts to create a bigger island. Despite being the 2nd smallest and cheapest set in the wave, it may have the best play feature too. Using the vaulting pole to jump across the river is just perfect. On top of. that, an excellent Bunnie minifigure. Can't wait for LEGO to release more bunny/rabbit type villagers. As a game player who enjoyed the game, this is definitely a must have. The build may not appeal to others who are not into the game but as a reasonable priced play set, it's still good.
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Here is my review on LEGO Animal Crossing 77048 Kapp'n's Island Boat Tour: THE GOOD: Marshal and Kapp'n are both excellent with a new squirrel tail piece! The LEGO hermit crab makes a return! Nice and unexpected details through out the build. THE NOT SO GOOD: none This set is again full of surprises, at $45NZD it's another very reasonably priced set in this wave. And it's surprisingly filled with interesting builds and details. Having bells hidden under a rock, 2 levels of the island with a ladder, a tree trunk DIY table, these all captures the essence of the game. It also has a very interesting way on how the coconuts are connected to the trees. More over Kapp'n boat is great and it's a smart way to create its engine! Both minifigures are excellent and Marshal is one of my favourite villager with a brand new squirrel tail piece! On top of everything, the hermit crab makes a return! I really can't find faults in this, another great entry to the Animal Crossing theme. If you love the game, again this is a must have.
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Here is my review on LEGO Animal Crossing 77050 Nook's Cranny & Rosie's House: THE GOOD: Absolutely captures the in game look. All printed, no stickers. Excellen minifigures. The customisation play feature is executed very well. Surprisingly inexpensive in comparison with other themes. THE NOT SO GOOD: none To be honest, I still cannot believe LEGO actually made this happen. And it's great! From the build to how it looks to the minifigures, this set is really good. Not because I'm a fan or having a 1000+ hours save of New Horizons, but as a LEGO set it is good. Both the Nook's Cranny and Rosie's house look good and really capture how it looks from the game. Yes, the back is open but it close to the scale you will see in game. Given the target audience primarily are kids to play with the sets, it makes sense to maximise the playability. Even then, there are quite a lot of details and interesting builds through out. Whether it's exterior or furnitures, they all have its uniqueness. One thing I'm very surprised is that the interior items are built separately and can be removed with no set layout, this makes it like you playing the game but with LEGO. The same applies to the outdoor, using a similar structures as the super mario theme, you can literally build your own island. The whole thing just executed brilliantly. On top of this, there are no stickers. So all the in game items like seeds, fish food, DIY card and KK's record are all printed! Then we have the minifigures, very nicely done moulded heads with excellent printed torso. And I absolutely love Tom Nook which is done so well. Now get me a variant with his winter attire! And I'm glad LEGO went with the minifigure route. With all these great things, you may think it's gonna be pricey like other licensed themes, but this whole wave is surprisingly reasonable priced. This biggest set from the wave is retailed at $130 NZD here, most shops will sell at 10 to 15% discount which makes it very very reasonable. Even some city sets are much more expensive than this. I just cannot find any negatives on this set, must have for fans and totally recommended to anyone who loves LEGO. If I really be picky, I would say one sack of bells is not enough and it's the only set in this wave have a sack of bells. Let's hope there are more sets coming this and next year.
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Here is my review on 2015 LEGO Jurassic World 75920 Raptor Escape: THE GOOD: Exclusives minifigures and Raptors! The dropping platform is actually fun. THE NOT SO GOOD: Very high RRP even back in 2015. Bought in 2015, opened and built 2024! Originally bought this for the raptors and Barry, and have very low expectation on the build. The raptors are nice and Barry minifigure is excellent. The buggy is what you would expect usually from a set like this. The enclosure though, while it is fully fenced, it is somewhat small. If you put 2 raptors in, it feels very overcrowded. And of course the fence are so low and the raptors are clearly can jump over easily. The build looks simple but there are little bit of complexities integrated into it. The falling platform is actually fun. Clearly, this is a pure play set with minimal display values. It's not a bad set if you intended to play with it, and it has some good parts too. The real issue is that this is an expensive set, even at retail price, it cost $90 NZD. With this set being retailer exclusive and very short shelf life, it wasn't easy to get a discount. Along with the exclusive minifigs and raptors, the current price of a new on nowadays is pretty crazy. If you enjoyed the Jurassic World movie, this is a set you don't want to miss but as a general LEGO collector, you may want to skip unless you find a really good deal on this.
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Here is my review on LEGO The Hobbit 79016 Attack on Lake-town: THE GOOD: 5 x great minifigures! Interesting use of parts/elements for the door handle on the first level. THE NOT SO GOOD: It looks empty in today's standard. The swinging barrel while is cool, it can't knock minifigures off the dock. After 9 years in the backlog, I finally decided to open and build this. Although I had a good building experience, I must admit the end result is somewhat simple compared to today's standard. It's fun play set with lots of space to place minifigures but could have added one or two interior details. Having said that, the door handle has a very interesting used of parts. With 3 action features, this is still primary a play set. I only realised this theme or 2014 introduced the spring load shooter, while the crossbow is huge, it lacks angle adjustment. Same with the the barrel as it cannot knock off any minifigures. The minifigures are great though with very detailed print. And having 5 minifigures in set of this size is very generous. I'm also glad none of the brown pieces break given this has been in storage since I bought it. Will I recommend this? Well if you are a fan of this theme then yes but the current after market price for new one is pretty steep, so only when you find a reasonable one. Having said that, this set has no stickers, so you may just be able to build your own with spare parts unless you are after the minifigures.
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REVIEW: 80054 Megapolis City 5th Anniversary
Pchan1983 posted a topic in LEGO Action and Adventure Themes
Here is my review on LEGO Monkie Kid 80054 Megapolis City 5th Anniversary: THE GOOD: Very lively looking build! Interesting selection of shops and businesses. The best mini builds for Gacha machine and A Claw Game. Very authentic roast duck restaurant. Tons of cool references and easter eggs through out. Excellent selection of minifigures. A working elevator. THE NOT SO GOOD: The ferris wheel did not work as smooth as it should. Less coherent comparing to Lantern City which is a very similar sets. Some references/easter eggs are completely hidden. (why bother adding it? XD) Laziness in using the same head for both the Silver Horn and Golden Horn demons. It may not beat the Heavenly Realm or Legendary Flower Fruits Mountain but I'm generally surprised how much fun packed in this. I had a fun building experience and ended up liking the set in the end. First off, it looks big but actually it's not that massive but it is indeed very tall due to the antenna on top. It has a very stable structure on the centre main piece, it also comes a varieties of buildings consist of shops and businesses have not appear before. The highlight of this set is definitely these buildings. While I'm not a fan of stickers, this set has tons of excellently designed stickers, although I did find a few very difficult to apply mostly due to me building the set in the evening and there is one stickers sheet using the clear transparent materials. There are couple of shops I really like. The Osteopathic Clinic, Gacha Machine Centre and Pigsy's Roast Duck. For me, these are great mostly due to my cultural background and I think LEGO did a great job capturing the authenticity of these despite the very limited space. The Gacha machines are great build. (google what are these if you are not sure). The Roast Duck place, have every key elements you often see in these kind of shop while I admit the use of the Turkey piece may not be the best in terms of size ratio. In terms of the Osteopathic Clinic, the interior has some smart builds but more importantly, it allows me to make joke/reference on the not so legit massage places you often seen in some Hong Kong crime thrillers XD. The other shops have some great references too. For example, the record shop has a nirvana easter egg on one of the sticker with an excellent sign build. The Jade gallery has a very nice way on displaying gems. Now, this leave us with the Ferris Wheel and the elevator. The elevator is a smart build and it works pretty well although I wish it can fit more than one minifig but I guess I'll be asking too much. The ferris wheel might be the weakest from the excellent selection of buildings, not because it doesn't look nice but it doesn't work smoothly as I expected as one part keep getting contact on the piece holding it. Not sure it's by designed or just me haven't get the alignment right. BUT, at the side of the ferris wheel LEGO probably gave us the best mini build of a Claw machine. It's such an excellent build and it also comes with a green classic spaceman helmet! As with most Monkie Kid, this set comes with excellent selection of minifigures. I particularly like the silver and golden horn demons, clearly these are playing a homage to Daft Punk. Although LEGO is a bit lazy in terms or parts of these 2 minifigures, instead of 2 unique heads, they both share the same minifigure head. To sum this up, this is a good Monkie Kid set with the usual positives from most Monkie kid set, it may be as good looking as the other and I still think the Lantern City might be just a bit more superior than this one. But it has enough details and fun references to make me like it. And if you have bought the Lantern City and Monkie Hideout, you will able to combine them into a massive Monkie Kid set. LEGO did not provide the instruction but it's all up to you. At $300NZD though, this is very pricey and probably $250 a more reasonable price. While I recommend this set to everyone especially you are into eastern cultures, I would suggest you wait for double VIP or a nice GWP to offset the high price. For me, I used my VIP points =) -
Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42615 Pet Adoption Day: THE GOOD: New Green Mohawk and White long straight hair, plus some cool new outfits for minidolls. Unique environment for each of stand for the corresponding pets/animal. 5 very cute animals included THE NOT SO GOOD: High RRP in my region. First, this is not a set targeting adult, so I reviewed this set with this in mind. Seeing a 25% discount, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some excellent new hair pieces instead of waiting for them to be available from PAB. Originally, I did feel the set overly simple and expecting a repetitive building experience before building it, but in the end I ended up quite like the set. Yes, it does not change the fact the set is very simple but it has very nice colours. I also see this as the Iron Man Armoury of Friends. Because each of the pet stand has an identical base with different colours & set up for the respective pets. The unique environment while being simple, it does fit the corresponding animals. All the 6 animals are cute, my favourite is definitely the hedgehog. With minidolls all have great new outfit and new uniqued hair pieces like the green mohawk, it's a great parts pack for adult and going to be fun entry set for kids. Now, I have to admit, regardless of the positives, I probably will still wait for PAB if I was not able to get a discount as the RRP here in NZ is $65 which is quite high. Otherwise it's a good entry level friends set I would recommend for a try if the price is right!
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Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71475 Mr. Oz's Space Car: THE GOOD: Printed LEGO brain!!! Awesome Mr. Oz's variant. The car does look nice on its own. THE NOT SO GOOD: It's require some effort to deconstruct and change to different variant, even just switch back to normal car is a bit of a pain as seen in video. Let's be honest, purely bought this for the printed LEGO brain on a minifigure head. And it's good, now so many macabre ideas arises lol. Back to the set, the car is surprisingly good on its own without any of the space modification. It has nice headlights, good colour and nice exhaust. With a very nice looking windscreen/canopy piece too. With the space mod, I personally prefer the default build (the flying variant) than the off roader type. It's actually not that difficult to switch build but due to the use of the pins, it does require some effort to deconstruct, and I did struggled a bit. As usual with Dreamzzz, this also comes with some excellent minifigures with 2 exclusive variant for Mr. Oz and Albert. Mr. Oz is so nicely done and can't wait for all the parts available from PAB. (This was my intention originally to not buy the set but a 25% off discount was just too good). If you are a fan of interesting LEGO parts, this is definitely a set for you!
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Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42606 Mobile Bakery Food Cart: THE GOOD: Surprisingly detailed food card with coffee machine, cookie jar and salad bar. Very cute Croissant mascot. THE NOT SO GOOD: none. Another nice small sent from LEGO friends. At the lowest price in range, there are really nothing to hate about this set. In fact, the mobile bakery food cart is surprisingly detailed given its size. You have coffee machine, salad bar and cookie jar. With a good selection of menu stickers, it's a very good addition to any LEGO city even you are not into friends. With a very cute Croissant mascot (I think this mascot has been referenced in other friends sets stickers too), and uncommon variant of minindolls, I would totally recommend this set to everyone. The only wish I have is I wish the face of the mascot is printed! Since LEGO decided to have a printed cat litter tile, why not this face too lol
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Here is my review on LEGO City 60417 Police Speedboat and Crooks' Hideout: THE GOOD: Very good gangster minifigure. The speedboat has a good build and very sporty look. THE NOT SO GOOD: It's a bit bland and not many play feature. The green container has too many gaps to incorporate the play feature. This wasn't on my wish list originally until I notice one of the bad guy minifigure, with an 30% discount a week earlier, I decided to buy this instead of waiting for the parts being available on PAB. First, the minifigure did not disappoint, it may be one of the most Badass looking minifigure lately. And surprisingly with legs printing too. The face and hair have a strong resemblance of Toguro from Yu Yu Hakusho. However, the set itself is just OK in my opinion. While the police speedboat is a nice surprise with refreshing building experience and very sport look, the rest of it really bland. And the play features limit to a few thing only. And because of the play feature incorporated in the blue shipping container, it causes a lot of gap around it. Even the main hideout is hard to say it's an hide out. Having said that, I do appreciate we get a new bull dog with new colour collar. Without discount at $55NZD, it's really not worth it considering the contents. However, if you also like me love the minifigure design and don't want to wait for PAB availability, then I would recommend this set if you able to get a decent discount =)
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Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42612 Cat Playground Adventure: THE GOOD: New Chonky Cat =) Surprise action feature with a unique print for cat litter! THE NOT SO GOOD: none given the target of this set. It wasn't my intention to buy this but then I noticed the new chonky cat variant, with a 25% off discount, why not? Given the size of the set , I wasn't having any expectation in terms of details or building experience. But I did get a nice surprise with the play feature designed. Never would have thought they have a cat litter print for this, typically it would be sticker. With some very nice parts included in this set, I can say I ended up being quite happy with it. And the new cat is great! Definitely recommended if you looking for new cat variant and some good part! Also it's nice addition to the Pet Hotel last year.
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Here is my review on LEGO Super Mario 71428 Yoshis' Egg-cellent Forest Expansion Set: THE GOOD: 2 Yoshis at a very great price. The Yoshi egg. THE NOT SO GOOD: none Finally I can get a Yoshi without spending too much. I did have the LEGO Super Mario but not a fan, hence I never able to convince myself to buy set with Yoshi. Then here comes this set in the cheapest price possible with 2 Yoshis. Although none of them is the prime Yoshi with green colour but I didn't mind. Plus I get a printed Yoshi's egg. Being someone never own a Yoshi before, the build is quite refreshing despite I need to build two. I can see how this can be boring for fans already bought other bigger sets with Yoshi. Other than that, nothing much from this set as it just a simple tree and a few more plates for you to connect to other Mario sets. I'm happy before of the Yoshis, but I will probably not recommend this to everyone unless you like Super Mario and not owning a Yoshi before. Otherwise it's a must have if you need a Yoshi and don't mind the colour.
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Here is my review on LEGO City 60404 Burger Truck: THE GOOD: Refreshing design for a food truck. Like the burger stand is actually detachable. No stickers! Nice new minifig torso with the shop logo print. THE NOT SO GOOD: None. Great small set and I like it very much. I'm genuinely surprised with no stickers, this open up opportunity to buy the printed pieces later to build a burger shop. The design of the prints are great and it's love they have the logo on the minifig torso too. It's actually a breath of fresh air with this design as usually you get a similar design in LEGO city food truck. And allowing the burger shop to be detachable, you can easily replace the burger stand with other shops or features utilising this sporty looking truck =) Really can't find anything negative about this set, and it's a good price too. And I managed to buy this with a 25% discount, so I'm very satisfied and totally recommended to everyone.
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Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42620 Olly and Paisley's Family Houses: THE GOOD: Both houses look great with great colours. Two houses are separate, yes not connected but you can place next to it. Both houses has very nice exterior details. Paisley's house has the edge in terms of interior details and one of the most detailed dinning room. THE NOT SO GOOD: Paisley's dinner room despite being very details, it's very inaccessible due to the roof cannot be opened easily and very tight space. This is one of the 2 friends sets in this wave that caught my eyes when the wave was first announced. The modern mansion and this. With some luck, this set was on 25% discount so bought it without hesitation. And it's GOOD. It's looks very nice and even in LEGO city, you rarely get to see houses with such unique characters and looking great at the same time. I really love the colours on both. And don't let the product image deceive you, you actually get to build 2 separate houses. There are nothing to fix them side by side on default. Both houses looks great on the exterior but I like Paisley's one slightly more. Olly's one has some nice designs but overall lack the same level of both exterior and interior details of Paisley's. And the vanity in the toilet may be just a bit too high for any minifigures or minidolls. Paisley's house has much more details, I like the exterior texture of the chimney and Paisley's also has a very very detailed dinning room with stove, fridge and dinning table. Also featuring a LEGO child sit! Despite all the cool details, Paisley's house is very hard to access as the roof is not easily removable. So you pretty much left to place minifigures or minidolls from the opened back side. And there are no rooms to do this for the dinning room. I wonder why they even bother to make the fridge openable lol. It's also a welcome to have a new leaves element with very nice violet colour. With 6 minidolls, it a set pack with details and fun. I do wonder why Paisley's mother is missing. I'm also very tempted to buy another one to make a full enclosed house but have other priorities on my wish list. This is probably the 2nd best Friends set this year, given it's very hard to top the Andres's mansion. With a very accessible price and lovely looking houses that can easily fit into any LEGO city, it's definitely a set not to be missed out!
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Here is my review on LEGO Sonic the Hedgehog 76996 Knuckles' Guardian Mech: THE GOOD: The Knuckle minifigure. The play feature with Rogue's glider is a nice surprised. THE NOT SO GOOD: The mech lack articulation joints to allow better play. The mech also looks surprisingly thing and flat from some angles. Honestly, I bought this set purely for Knuckles given me played a good deal of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it just feel incomplete without the Knuckles Minifigure. It's great LEGO releasing him in a set that does not break your bank. The minifigure is very well done, so does Rogue. The only things I wish it had happen is Knuckles's hands to be a new hand element rather than an accessory clipping onto the hands. The gloves are very well made though. Now, the mech build is your typical mech build and given the price of the set, it does not allow much details. Lacking articulation on the knees really take out most of the fun. The build itself is ok while it looks uncharacteristically thin and I'm also surprised to see no stickers, in fact I think the printed nexo knight shield piece would be very useful in other mechanical build. The other thing I was surprised with is the the gem stone play feature, you can used Rogue's glider and connects to the big gem and fly away with it. And that's pretty much sums up this set. It's a must have if you like Sonic the Hedgehog in some capacity, otherwise nothing much would stands out for LEGO fans which has no interests in this theme.
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Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71477 The Sandman's Tower: THE GOOD: Great looking tower with the primary build. Great colour pallet. Surprised with the spinning hourglass action feature. Excellent minifgs. THE NOT SO GOOD: Interior is a bit empty overall. It's not easy to deconstruct this set, switching to the alternate build can be a stressful task. I really like this set in the end. When this was first revealed, I really like the gear on the exterior and the selection of minifigures. Once I built it, I really appreciate how it looks and the colour pallet combination. It's a tall set but not as tall as the fantastical tree house, while the product images may give you a very shallow facade feel but it actually have quite a bit of space inside. It does feel a little bit empty for the interior as there are only 3 interior decors through out the default build. Having said that, the exterior is stunning and to my surprised, the action feature of the spinning clock plus the hourglass works so well. and the hourglass build is absolutely brilliant. As expected, the minifigures are excellent. Love sandman and the new villain, Never Witch. Plus the new body piece for SNEAK is going to be so useful. As with most dreamzzz sets, you have to deconstruct the primary build to build the alternate build, but this one rather a cosmetic change , you are building something entirely different and they gives you some extra pieces for it. However, because of the action features, it will be require some effort to deconstruct before you can build the alternate build. I opted the default one since I think it looks better and didn't bother to even try. Despite this, the primary build is very nice and at RRP of $170 NZD, it's not a bank breaking set and it does provide the values. Given I bought this with 25% off, it made this set price significantly more reasonable. It's a set definitely worth recommending to everyone, if you are not sure about DREAMZZZ, this one would be good for you to give it a try.
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Surprise! You didn't think EB was going to release a review for the newest CMF 25 series did you? Well, I'm no WhiteFang. But I recently moved from the United States to France and haven't found any good stores to buy CMFs from. So I went looking around online and found a great shop here in Europe selling a whole case of them. (And it's on sale till Jan 29th!) And since they shipped them so fast I had time to do a quick review. I've got to say, until Lego starts giving me the option to either 1) buy a full set of figures or 2) buy a whole case this is going to be my new way to buy CMFs. Inside my shipping box was this half-box from Lego. Not sure if Brickshop gets two cases per box or what, but this is how they shipped it to me. For those interested, this is the order I had for my figs. I've had people on Instagram tell me they had a different order for their figs. So use it at your own risk. But surely they use the same layout order within the same factory. First up are my favorite figs out of the bunch, the medieval ones. I was happy the Goatherd didn't have yellow hiding under the hood so I can use it with fleshies if I want. Biggest complaint from this bunch is that the injection mold spots are really obvious on the Bat helmet and the purple Harpy hair. I also wish the Barbarian's hair wasn't red but was a more muted color. I hope they re-use it in tan, blonde, or another more natural hair color shade. Up second are the city dwellers. I like the molded hearing aid on the Dog Groomer's hair. Though it does limit it's versatility a bit. My leas favorite part is the poor print job on the Workout Girl's abs. Yellow printed on Coral didn't work. We pay a premium Lego, get the details right! I also hope we see the para-olympic's legs with grey or black shorts in the future. I'd love to use those as Star Wars greebling! And last but not least are the costumes. I'm going to be using the Noir Detective's outfit as an Imperial uniform. And the inclusion of a honest-to-goodness Red Herring is amazing. The Dino's arms and legs are also getting repurposed as Trandosian parts. And the Mushroom hat will find a way into one of my castle MOCs at some point. My least favorite part is the mis-match of color on the train costume. I love that we got the wheels in dark-red. But the middle wheel (which is part of the molded costume piece where as the front and back and trolley wheels clipped on) should match them, not be normal red. Here's a closer look at the color inconsistencies. Verdict? SCORE DESIGN 7 I thought this was a good grouping of figures. The designs range from "good" to "amazing!" with nothing feeling overly sub-par. PARTS 8 We're all really here for the goat, I know. But even outside of that we get a really good selection of parts. And a good variety for City, Castle, and other kinds of builders. VALUE FOR MONEY 8 If you can get a whole case or manage to use an orthoscope, scale or other method to find the figs you want these are decent value for money. FINAL SCORE: 8 One of, if not the top favorite CMF series of all time. I think Lego really knocked it out of the park this time.
