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Hello folks and look what I found yesterday in my local toy store... The Box contains of 9 plastic bags. Interesting that Lego shifted back from paper for this one. Same as from the Fell Beast from 2024 After finishing Bags 1 & 2 After bag 6 Gandalf is the same mini figure as from Bag End set. Bag 7-9 is for the Balrog. It has interessting building techniques for the wing folding mechanism. The head is fully printed - no stickers. The wings are connected with the back of the structure so the Balrog stays in place when you close the Book Nook. Overall a very nice set which was fun to build and will display nicely between my other LotR sets. If you have questions feel free to ask them.

Avast, me hearties! A Pirate set marked down? I need a Bluecoat to fight my Redcoats. I must acquire this piece of AFOL treasure. SET INFORMATION: Number - 70409 Name – Shipwreck Defense Theme – Pirates Year – 2015 Minifigures – 2 Pieces – 84 Price – $15.99CAD, $12.99USD, £8.99 Links: Brickset - http://brickset.com/sets/70409-1/Shipwreck-Defence BrickLink - http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=70409-1#T=S&O={} LEGO Product Summary Recover the hidden treasure from the pirate’s shipwreck hideout! Ahoy there! A Bluecoat Soldier has discovered a marooned pirate living among the ruins of his fortified shipwreck, along with a stash of stolen treasure. Launch a surprise attack! Fire the spring-loaded cannon and blast the swaggering pirate’s hideout to smithereens, then recover the treasure and put the rogue behind bars where he belongs! Enjoy swashbuckling adventures with the LEGO® Pirates Shipwreck Defense, featuring a pirate’s shipwreck hideout with a hinged port side for realistic cannon-impact effect. Combine with 70411 Treasure Island for an even bigger pirate adventure! Includes 2 minifigures with assorted weapons: a Bluecoat Soldier and a pirate. • Includes 2 minifigures with assorted weapons: a Bluecoat Soldier and a pirate • Features a pirate shipwreck hideout and a spring-loaded cannon with torch and flame • Pirate shipwreck hideout features a fireplace with hidden treasure, collapsing port side, mast with crow’s nest, flag, bottle and a paddle • Weapons include a gun, pistol and a cutlass • Hoist the Jolly Roger! • Hide the treasure • Blast the pirate’s shipwreck hideout • Shipwreck hideout measures over 4” (12cm) high, and 4”(11cm) wide and 1” (5cm) deep • Spring-loaded cannon measures over 2” (6cm) long, under 1” (2cm) high and under 1” (2cm) wide • Combine with 70411 Treasure Island for an even bigger pirate adventure! THE BOX: The front of the box shows a Bluecoat soldier attacking the pirate's shipwreck hideout with a cannon. The pirate has some precious gem stones treasure the Bluecoat might be after. The box features the pirates artwork logo and in the background there are sharks in the distance. There are the usual LEGO labeling. The ages 5-12 is merely a suggestion that AFOLs don't have to follow. Do be aware of the choking hazard warning. My box also has a discount sticker stuck to it. I got it for $10.98CAD plus tax. The back of box shows the features of this set. It demonstrates how to shoot the 1x1 cylinder bricks out of the spring loaded cannon. There is an insert picture of the 70411 Treasure Island set. 70411 can be combined with this set if you have it. This side of the box shows where the components are made in English, French and Spanish. It also have the same of the set in French and Spanish. Interesting if you like reading other languages. Here we see the choking hazard warnings in French and Spanish. Not for childrens 3 and under. Here we have the UPC barcode, trademark and copyright notices, URL for LEGO service and club, and the logo for responsible packaging. There is 08R5 packaging code which probably means it was packaged in Mexico in the 8th week of 2015. This side has a picture of a fish chasing after Bluecoat who is chasing after the pirate with the treasure. There is an actual size cutlass picture. We have finished our journey around the box. INSIDE THE BOX: There are two bags of parts and an instruction booklet. The bags are not numbered. I don't think it is necessary for a small set like this. Here are the contents of the two part bags spreadout. The pirate flag is a printed piece. Yay, no stickers. My favorite piece is the cannon. There are also plenty of other weapons like rifles, pistols and swords. There is not much reddish browns or dark brown pieces to reuse for pirate MOCs. THE MINIFIGURES: Here is the front of the minifigures. The pirate has the new style head rag wrap. Not everybody likes the new style. He has an anchor tattoo on his chest. His clothes are pretty ragged and patchy. He has a hashtag or tic-tac-toe mark on this cheek. The Bluecoat soldier is better dressed than the pirate. He has a shako, white epaulette, and is clean shaven. The shako appears to be same design as the Redcoat ones in 2009. Both minifigures feature back printing. The head rag wrap looks a bit like tied down bunny ears from the back. THE INSTRUCTIONS: Here is a sample page of the instruction booklet. The steps are well laid out and clear. I had no problems following them. In the back of the instruction booklet is a parts list. Handy for ordering replacements or extras through LEGO or BrickLink. THE BUILD: With 84 pieces and good instructions, the build was completed quickly and without any problems. I guess you can call it a speed build. Here is the finished set. Yikes,the pirate is looking down the barrel of a cannon. These are the extra leftover pieces from the build. You get a flame, two pistols, two swords, 1x2 curved slope, a white epaulette, and a piece of cheese Let's look at some of the features in detail. Removing the fish cooker from the barrel shows hidden treasure gems. The Bluecoat will never think to look under there. The side of the shipwreck hull tilts backward when struck with a cannon shot. Good thing the pirate has clutch powers in his feet to keep him from falling off. The crow nest provides the pirate a good view of the approaching Bluecoat. 70409 VS 6239: This set feels like a Bluecoat version of the 6239 Cannon Battle from the 2009 Pirates wave. How do they compare? 6239 has 45 pieces and sold for $6.99CAD. 70409 has 84 pieces and retailed for $15.99CAD. Canadian price per piece is 15.5 vs 19, a 23% increase. For playability, 70409 has more features and accessories. 6239 does have a nicer gun carriage. Personally, I think 70409 is more fun to play with. It is easier to right the shipwreck hull back up after a cannon ball hit than reassembling the wall pieces from 6239. SUMMARY: Playability: 9/10 Design: 8/10 Price: 7/10 Parts: 8/10 Minifigures: 9/10 Overall: 8/10 There is something fun shooting LEGO 1x1 cylinder bricks around with a spring loaded cannon trying to hit the shipwreck hull and that feeling when it is on target. This set certainly provides that kind of play. Along with the extra accessories and weapons, you can let your play imagination go wild. I give it a 9/10 for play. The design is good for a small set. I like the rock works and shaping of the hull. Also the tilt function is useful to reset the target after a direct hit. There are places to hide things and for the pirate to be located. 8/10 for design. Price-wise, it is what it is. It was the lowest priced set you can get a Bluecoat in the 2015 Pirates wave. I managed to get it on sale at a 13 cents CAD per piece which is around 10 cents USD at the exchange rate. 7/10. Looking at the parts, the cannon, weapons, and bottle of rum are great for pirate MOCs. The other pieces can find some use here and there in MOCs. It is good the pirate flag is a printed piece instead of stickered. 8/10. I really bought this set for the Bluecoat soldier. Having a pirate fig is a bonus. You can never have enough Bluecoats (and/or Redcoats). 9/10 for the minifigures. Overall, I give it at 8/10. Bluecoats and Redcoats are more interested in fighting each other than the pirates. So the pirates get treated to a good show with some food and drinks.

Here is my review on LEGO Disney 43268 Lilo and Stitch Beach House: THE GOOD: Great looking house, while it is open back design, it has enough depth to be great looking. Simple but yet very interesting builds with some cool details through out. Surprisingly good space ship build despite its size. Excellent minifigures. THE NOT SO GOOD: A bit pricey but expected with Disney license. I was never a stitch fan nor have watched the animation but this set immediately caught my eyes with vibrant coloured beach house when it was first announced. With a 20% off deal, which made the pricing somewhat competitive, I show no hesitation to get this. And it was fun to build. It's very similar to the UP house in terms of details and level of building. But because if its size and exterior, this allows some very interesting details across the build. The results do look good. The fun extends into the interior with some great furniture builds as well. I'm also impress with the small space ship build, as it is small yet effective. In the end, it has a great building experience while looking great. Of course it also have the potential to extend into a very impressive beach house. All 5 (6 if you count the soft toy) minifigures are excellent, while Stitch has a more vibrant colour than previous variants and Lilo reused some parts from last year Fatnasia Mickey's variant. All minifigures has its own characters and I just love them. The use of Dreamlings body for the soft toy is smart, although the scale is a bit off but guess that's how you work your way around without making new moulds which would have push the price of this set further. As I mentioned before, although I have no attachments to the licensed property, I had lots of fun and absolutely love the end results. It's definitely a set I would recommend to everyone if you are into cool LEGO buildings and unique minifigures.

[pid][/pid] Hello! Today I bring you the Lego Pirates 6285 Black Sea's Barracuda Review! Name: Black Sea's Barracuda Set number: 6285 Pieces: 865 Year: 1989 (Then re-released in 2002 for the "Legends" set collection number 10040) Mini-figures: 7 (Including Red Beard and a Female Pirate) The box is surprisingly large, even though the set has only 865 pieces. The box uses the original pirates yellow "LegoLand" borders. (I miss those boxes!) The box is very sturdy, it is made from several thick cardboard layers. I have included a Bluecoat mini-figure to compare the size, and give you a good feel for the width and height. The inside of the box features plastic inner trays, to display the mini figures, parts, and the hull of the ship. The trays hold the mini figures tightly and prevent them from falling out when the box is sealed. The first thing that caught my eye when I first opened the box was a yellow printed standard size piece of paper, and a cardboard game board. The piece of paper has some nice visuals, and instructions for playing a game with some friends, and the lego pieces and mini figures in the set. The game board is made of cardboard, and can easily be destroyed or damaged, so I imagine that this is a very rare item indeed. It is very visually appealing, as it contains hand drawn images of every lego set in the first wave release. The point of the game is to reach the finish line first, using your mini figures. The game requires a dice, but does not come with one :/ Different numbers that appear on the dice give different weather effects, such as "Fair Wind" or "Gale" and other natural effects such as "Hit a Reef" and "Shark Attack" which will effect the way your mini figures progress. The set has a variety of colours, making the set easier to build when you separate them. However, there are very many black pieces. The instructions, I assume, would be difficult for a newer builder to follow because of the amount of steps on each page, and the instructions do not clearly identify them. At least the instructions are not black and white ;) It took me some time to build it, but the build was enjoyable, seeing all the crevices and storage areas in the lower hull. Once build, she is a very fine boat… err… I mean Ship! You also get a good mix of mini figures, including the rare female pirate mini figure. You also get Captain red beard, but he is found in almost every mid-large Pirates set. (and some small ones) You get seven (7) mini figures in total, it is a good amount, it makes the ship feel lively. (However, I think that 9 would have been better). You also get a standard brown rowboat. (There are never too many rowboats in any lego pirates collection!) The figurehead on the vessel is nice, a bit plain, but gives a "Classic Pirates" feel to the set. The yellow cup is also a nice addition, but a yellow headband may have also been cool to include. It would have made is seem more like a statue. The ship features many cool details, including opening lower deck doors, and a nice detailed captains cabin, accessible from the top, and rear of the ship. They open to give full access for the best play and display capabilities. There back of the ship has some nice details, and the yellow brings a very friendly feel to the pirates aboard the vessel. The deck has so many features that I am sure it will keep any builder happy for a long time. It also makes for some nice photos. Below you can see some of the crew in action! Overall I am very satisfied with the set. I believe that it is my favourite pirate ship, but I have yet to get my hands on the Skulls Eye Schooner. (It looks nice) I hope you like my review, and I hope it gives you some information, or at least some pretty photos to look at ;) Let me know how you feel about the set, and the fun game that comes with it! If you would like more photos, just ask! Could someone please add a poll for me? Maybe a poll from 1-5? I would love to know how people rate this set! Keep an eye out, I have more reviews coming!

Here is my review on LEGO Monkie Kid 80066 Mythical Creature Qilin: THE GOOD: The Qilin. is great. Many cool side builds. Excellent miifigures. THE NOT SO GOOD: Not cheap. Wasn't in the plan to buy this one but needed a set to reach a GWP threshold last month and here we are, what a nice surprise. I have to admit, there are better sets in the theme but coming in with no expectation at all, the build and the Qilin itself has quite a few thing to praise about. First, the building experience, it may due to the fact I mostly build buildings, I did enjoy it quite well. Especially the outer details and the head has been the most fun to build. There are some interesting use of parts too. The finished the Qilin is slightly smaller than expected but still decent size to look lively. I really the use of flames around the legs which made it look more authentic. It has plenty of movements to allow great posing although the legs joint is more stationary but I think it's needed for stability. Now the side builds do not disappoint, the Pigsy's dumpling cart is brilliant and can be placed in any lego city. The hover craft is simple but integrate with the Qilin very well as a saddle. I also like how the designers came up with yet another unique build from flying cloud. Just like other Monkie Kid's sets, this one also comes with excellent minifigures. I also noticed they use a different hair piece for Sandy instead of usual mohawk. Yes the set is not cheap just like other monkie kid set, but I mean nowadays which LEGO doesn't feel expensive? Put that a side, it's a decent set that I would definitely recommend if you like asian cultures.

Here is my review on LEGO City 60460 No Limits: Race Car Ramp Track: THE GOOD: Great build for a potential bridge. No stickers with cool printed design tiles! Both the hot dogs and toilet racers are great. Cool new minifigures torsos. THE NOT SO GOOD: Could be better if the other side of the ramp also have the printed tiles. Bought this for the Toilet Race to accompany the hospital bed racer I bought earlier. Didn't have much expectation to be honest but this turns out to be a very cool set. First I was surprised that there are no stickers and all those cool design tiles are printed. Comes with cool new minifigures torsos, and of course 2 very cool mini racers. Both the hot dog and toilet are fun, I do wish the toilet has no exposed studs at the back though. The biggest surprise is how strong the ramp is, it really has a potential for you to buy multiples and build a city bridge or highway but this of course will come with a cost. I wish more of the printed tiles were included so that the banners do not just appear on one side of the ramp. In terms of fun factors, the targeted age group will surely have fun and the play mechanism works better than the previous failed STUNTZ sub theme as some of those designed plays were impossible to pull off. Overall, at this price and usually getting a decent discount, I did not feel it broke my wallet but do wish just a bit more cheaper. But as a LEGO City overall, it's great. But let's be honest, if it wasn't the toilet racer, I would probably not have buy this lol. Looking forward for the parts to be available on PAB so I can build my own custom racers.

Here is my review on Monkie Kid 80065 Erlang's Celestial Mech: THE GOOD: Despite flaws of the mech, the legs are probably one of the best mech legs I've ever built. Good selection of minifigures if you are into chinese myth. The mini cloud build and hover bike are surprisingly cool. THE NOT SO GOOD: The waist is too thin proportion wise, although the cape did help to visually hide this. Somewhat small in comparison with other mech in the same themes. With 2x Insider points earlier and my desire to have a Erland's mech against the Monkey King Warrior Mech, ended up buying this. To be frank, I was very skeptical on the mech build when this was first announced, well while I had fun building this and there are indeed cool things come with it, it did not change my view that this mech could have been better. Before talking about the flaws, the legs build are one of the best pair of legs I've built. With great movement and interesting use of parts. The shoulder with the Celestial Dog heads are also very detailed and look cool. But with these pair of legs and shoulders, the rest of the mech doesn't feel in the same ratio so it does feel like a mech with incorrect proportion. The arms seem short compared to the length of legs and size of palms. And the waist is just too thin with no waist movements. The cape did well to visually make it look good but if you removed it, then it does look odd. The head is fun to build and looks nice but I can't help to feel it looks like optimus prime. You get a massive spear with cool parts but there are visual gaps due to the parts use. Overall the size is relatively small compared to other mechs in the theme. When I place this next to the OG Monkey King Warrior mech, my immediately feeling is, Erlang has no chances of winning XD. The minifigures though are excellent. While Monkie Kid and Monkey King only have small variation compared to others already released, you do get an updated Erlang and Celesital General. The Celestial general would be great if you want to build an epic chinese army, though it will likely to be quite costly when the parts are available on PAB later. I also liked the mini cloud and the hover bike, small yet effective build. Pricing wise, not as bad as some sets released in the past but still not cheap. Waiting for insider points double will probably get you best deals or hope of sales on LEGO store. And in the end, it's probably a set that is skippable unless there are elements you really want in this.

Here is my review on LEGO Marvel 76311 Spider-Verse: Miles Morales vs. The Spot: THE GOOD: 4 excellent currently exclusive minifigures based on the Sony Spiderverse animated movies. New hair piece for Miles. Surprisingly fun build and cool looking police car. THE NOT SO GOOD: The Deli felt incomplete. High retail price. Finally we have a set based on the Sony's Spiderverse animated movies. Obviously the key thing hooked me to the set when it was first announced are the minifigures. Having 4 variants (currently exclusive) of characters from Spiderverse is great. All 4 of them are excellent, the best is probably SPOT for me. And surprisingly, LEGO made a new hair piece for Miles. To my surprise, the police car is looking really fine when finished, I like the look of it and overall slightly different to the police cars in other themes I've built. The Deli, while it has great graphic design on the stickers and look great from the front, it does feel incomplete due to the lack of roof and how little space it has. While the ATM action feature is nice, I really don't mind if it is not included and make the set cheaper. One interesting thing I noticed is the pin connection on the side, and the piece you usually use to stack of modulars, so may be there are more sets coming in the near future. While the minifigures are great and must have for marvel fans, the price tag of this set is really on the high end. although I did get a 20% discount but still feeling the hit. Overall, it's a fun marvel set with excellent minifigures, I only recommend you buy this set if you absolutely want the minifig and can't wait for a bigger discount.

Here is my review on LEGO Sonic The Hedgehog 77003 Super Shadow vs. Biolizard: THE GOOD: Super sonic & Super Shadow in one set! Biolizard is a surpringsly fun and detailed build. THE NOT SO GOOD: none. When super sonic minifig debut last year, I was a bit sad because it was in a expensive set that I don't really want, so when this was announced and with a cheaper price, plus a build looks more interesting, I knew I will buy this. Turns out, the biolizard is a very fun build. it's bigger than expected which allow some cool details. Overall shape is good and I like how the make it very posable with articulation points around most key joints. The build of the front legs is the most interesting for me. And of course, there are no stickers! The launcher is the same build if you have previously built the sonic launcher, and this one with no star prints as it's supposed to launch Super version of the characters. It can interact with the play features built into the biolizard but you will need to make sure it generate enough power. The biolizard is quite strong. And of course most importantly, the minifigures. Having both super sonic and shadow in one set is just great. And both minifigures are very good. Overall I cannot find anything I don't like in the set, with 20% off discount, made this a very good buy. More over, the lizard build can potentially customised to creatures or machine from other games. I immediately thought of the devine beast in Breath of the Wild.

Here is my review on LEGO DC 76303 Superman Mech vs. Lex Luthor: THE GOOD: The printed 'S' logo is great. Lex is a more superior minifigure than superman this time. THE NOT SO GOOD: Still don't like the element used for fingers as it still look more like a monster hand. Superman minifigure without his iconic hair and no dual moulded legs. Originally not planning to buy this until I found out the 'S' logo is printed. Turns out, the mech is really bland. There are way better mech in this series. Still don't feel right with the current use of element for figners, to me still looks like a villain robot than the good ones. As usually, this type of mech have no articulation joints for elbow and knees which makes posing limited. Having said that, the printed 'S' logo is really nice. My biggest issues with the set is actually the superman minifigure, I think it could benefits to use the classic superman hair, plus dual moulded legs or having his red briefs printed. But well, when superman is not as good then you get a very nice Lex Luxor minifigure. At this price, it's still a fun set for those who nenver own a superman minifigure, but only buy when you really needed. The excellent printed 'S' logo is tempting but likely you may find cheaper way to get it through bricklink or brickowl.

Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42641 Surfing Dogs and Scooter Adventure: THE GOOD: The Corgis are excellent and good. they include not one but two. The scooter is a fun build. THE NOT SO GOOD: none. Once again LEGO Friends delivers with small sets like this. I'm going to be honest, just like most people, I bought this set for the Corgis. And they are excellent and the overall mould and prints works well with LEGO City too. Including two, even though it's a colour variation is very good. Surprisingly, the scooter is also a fun build, at least for me, I haven't build anything like that yet. Land yatch is simple yet functional but I did have a thought, may be it can minus the land yatch and make this set the lowest price point but current pricing still very competitive. And never will say no to minidolls because they often come with cool hair and head gears. IF you like to collect LEGO animals like me, this is definitely a set for you.

Here is my review on LEGO City 60459 Airplane vs. Hospital Bed Race Car Pack: THE GOOD: The hospital bed delivers as promised. Love the vitals monitor print. New wheels piece works well. THE NOT SO GOOD: none. The moment I saw the hospital bed, I knew I will buy this. And this is what small set like this should, fun to build, fun to play and comes with some cool parts. The hospital bed delivers the silliness just right with details. Great the racer is wearing the hospital gown and the badges are just a plus. Would be beyond expectation if the minifigure head also have bruises. Despite being such small set, it gives you a IV drip and a printed vitals monitor. The aeroplane is also pretty nice at this scale, and the new pilot jacket torso is great. And you probably notice the designer try to make the figure to look like Amelia Earhart. While this sandbox cart may not be as fast as the stuntz bike, as a sub-theme, it's pretty cool and simplify the play. The new chasis and wheels work really in my opinion. I wonder how this will work with the ramp, which I did buy for the toilet cart but yet to build. At this price, it's definitely a fun set to have you won't be disappointed.

Here is my review on LEGO Animal Crossing 77053 Stargazing with Celeste: THE GOOD: surprisingly nice set on its good with a great crescent moon. Somehow LEGO managed to keep the price of this set low. THE NOT SO GOOD: Doesn't really fit the other existing animal crossing sets with this scene. If you have played the game, this new set with Celeste will definitely catch your eyes. The smallest set in the whole theme excluding polybag comes with one of the popular character and a very pretty small build. While connectivity is one of the key sell points for this theme, this one on its own made great desktop display due to how well the crescent moon is done. Celeste's head done really well but I do with they use the wings instead of standard arms, I do understand why they chose arms as the intention is to let Celeste to be able to hold some accessories. I also found the star fragments build interesting with the pieces they use. And somehow LEGO managed to keep this at the lowest price point. The only thing that doesn't work well is the connectivity with other sets. Largely because this is a night scene and most other sets doesn't give the same vibe, The same can be said with Julian's birthday party and the town hall set due to different seasons. Having said that, this small set is still excellent and definitely a must have for fans of the game.

Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71487 Z-Blob's Robot and Vehicle Adventures: THE GOOD: Surprisingly, more posable than mech/robot twice its size. Great minifig torso and cool new Z-Blob piece THE NOT SO GOOD: Again, 20-in-1 doesn't seem necessary. Another 20 in 1 from LEGO DreamZzz, already commented on the 20 in 1 gimmick in the other set review which feel pretty much the same in this aspect so will jump directly on the build of this set. Once again I chose to build the default design and it's surprisingly fun to build and mobile. Despite its size, it has more joints articulation than mech or robot twice it's size. Which makes it really fun to pose. Obviously it has less colours compared to the other one but the minifigure and the new Z-blob piece are great. I like the design of the somewhat melting looking of the late 80s/early 90s space suit. Again, at $18NZD it's a great set to get a cool fig with a cool mini robot.

Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71488 Bunchu's Creative Animal Adventures: THE GOOD: Great minifigure and accessory. Buchun is surprisingly posable and has pretty good joints movements. THE NOT SO GOOD: 20 in 1 is purely for marketing purpose. Bought this for the exclusive variant of the new Plush Toy accessory and it does not disappoint. Good to get Izzie with the new torso variant and the new plush toy piece. Buchun build is actually very fun given the size of the set and is extremely posable. The joints have enough articulation to allow you do more than some bigger brick built creatures. Although apart from the head it's far from rabbit looking. The set comes with 10 instructions and you have to find the other 10 online, while 20 in 1 sounds a lot it is more of a marketing strategy than actual feature. We all know we can build way more than 20 with these parts but realistically speaking, if you decided to build the default build, the deconstruction can be more frustrating and the other builds are so small in comparison, not sure if it's worth the time. And I doubt anyone will buy 20 of these. Having said that, the default build and the minifigure are excellent, at just $18NZD, it's a fun little set to have or perfect gift for kids =)

Here is my review on 40813 Lucky Cat: THE GOOD: Looks cute. A fun interesting build. The movement of the left palm moves just like many others Lucky Cat statue. THE NOT SO GOOD: The coin and palm should have been printed. Interestingly, LEGO decided to have Lucky Cat as part of the Spring Festivals (Chinese New Year) theme given it's more a Japanese culture related item. But anyway, this is an excellent build. The building process was fun and the end results looks great. It has good proportion to be very cute looking. And it works great as a desktop display. The highlight for me is the movement of the left arm. The way it is designed gave it a movement that mimics most other lucky cat status so well. I can't stop making it move every time I see it. It does come with 2 various of the coins in front but unfortunately these and the left palm are stickers but not printed. I've got a feeling and due to the set number, this might have originally planned to be a GWP or some sort. Now, at $45NZD it does feel a little too high for a set like this but the end results is good enough to justify the spending. It's great to put this next to the Lucky Cat Brickheadz released few years ago. I would recommend this if you are into asian cultures or just want something fun and cute!

Here is my review on 75374 The Onyx Cinder: THE GOOD: Excellent minifigures for Fans of The Skeleton Crew. Surprisingly fun to build. THE NOT SO GOOD: Could have more interior details or at least make the current interior more accessible. Somewhat expensive without discount. Originally not planning to get this set but after watching Skeleton Crew, fall in love with the characters and really wanted the minifigures. A 30% off discount gave me a further push to buy this. Turns out, it was a very fun and cool looking build. While the actual ship scale is far from minifigure compatible which limit the interior details of this, it's something different to your typical spaceship build and the building experience was actually quite refreshing for me. It's good the ship is not entirely symmetrical which makes it feel less repetitive. The interior, the designer tried their best have fit an area with sits and tables for the minifigures to gather. The bed is somewhat hard to access but overall the ship is great with some interesting building techniques to produce some unique features. The action feature of the engine is simple but yet effective. Considering the actual ship size in the show, this may be the best iteration to make it to the regular retail set lines. The highlight of this definitely are the minifigures. All 5 are excellently done, and really capture the vibes of their characters. yes, it's missing SM-33 but I can live with that. By no means it's a perfect set and with a high price point but you do get what you usually paid for this type of sets. It's definitely a set you would want if you like the show, if not, it may not have enough appeal. Now can't wait to see what install in the 2nd half of the season and if there may be future potential sets on Skeleton Crew!

Here is my review on LEGO Chinese New Year 80116 Trotting Lantern: THE GOOD: A full 360 degrees build rather than just half of a lantern. Excellently executed action feature to replicate an actual trotting lantern. Windows decorations are printed. New dumplings piece. THE NOT SO GOOD: The navy colour on top of the roof does not fit the overall colour scheme well. Significantly less minifigures compared to sets releases last 2 CNY. Cannot fit ALL minifigures inside the lantern. Lucky enough to be able to get this a few day earlier. To be honest, when this set was first announced, I was a bit skeptical because the key image appeared like just half a lantern. But once I've built this, it's another WIN from the Chinese New Year theme. First the building experience was fun, while quite a few sections you need to build 8 times, it didn't feel repetitive. Exterior is nicely done with some cool new printed parts. The use of transparent glittering window pieces is brilliant. Although the navy colour on top does feel a bit off. It even managed to add 3 mini stalls in the 2nd level and you take these out as you like. The end results of the lantern itself is excellent. Originally thought this is only half a lantern from the product images, but it is actually a set you can display from any angles. And the best part, it is actually a working trotting lantern. The little mechanism allows you to have this lantern running manually. It even includes one extra piece with different pattern if you want to switch the image shown in the lantern. This set also includes a few of the new dumplings piece which is one of the highlights in this set. Minifigures include a family and the snake costume guy, only 2 new torsos variant though, in comparison with other CNY sets, it is significantly less in umbers as we got spoilt in these aspects in the past few years. Also these minifigures cannot fit all inside the lantern. It's now the 7th zodiac sign and if you like CNY theme or collecting the costume minifig, this is a must have. With less piece count and low price than last year excellent chinese restaurant, while providing a nice looking latern and functions, I will still recommend to any one. Only 5 more years to go from completing all 12 zodiacs!

Here is my review on LEGO Ideas 21353 The Botanical Garden: THE GOOD: Look absolutely beautiful. With some very nice interior details. Good selection of plants with interesting building experience. Love the new flowers pieces. Comes with surprisingly high number of lego birds and even the D&D CMF brown bird. THE NOT SO GOOD: A bit too expensive. The centre roof need extra care to put on as one of the tree often interfere with it. Bought this day one with the GWP promo and what a beautiful looking set. I only appreciate the look of it once I completed the build. It's an enjoyable build with lots of details with relatively no surprises. Most of the build are very traditional in , the only parts I felt wow I didn't know you can build like this were one of the big tree with the trunk built by gears and the small balcony inside but this is due to the fact I have built lots of big sets in the past 10 years. The exterior looks great but the interior is fun too. The cafe has some very simple yet detailed mini builds that I absolutely love. The new flowers piece is so flexible and great to look at. It's also good to see LEGO include 12 minifigures which is rare in a LEGO Ideas set. Although most of them are just utilising existing parts, but the new vision impaired minifigure head does look good and has lots of potential. One thing to note though, LEGO tried their best to pack the transparent pieces in seperate bags to minimise scratches but I still got a few noticeable scratches. And while the big tree is nice, it sometimes does caught in the edge of the roof when putting the roof on, not big issue and can be avoided with care but I wish this goes smoother.The GWP has the same pavements design and look fits well. However, due to different base plates, it does look odd to have it placed right in front without lifting up the Botanical Garden. In the end, this is a very beautiful set but also fairly expensive. It does gives you more in terms of volume and details compare to the X-Mansion released at the same time but still the price feel a bit expensive. If you don't mind the price, it's definitely one of the best this year. Otherwise the LEGO friends one is probably is also an alternative with a more interesting building experience.

REVIEW - 42082 - ROUGH TERRAIN CRANE INTRODUCTION The biggest set of the second wave of 2018 sets is the Rough Terrain Crane. Actually, it is THE biggest Technic set ever, with 4057 parts, surpassing the 42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator, which has 3929 parts. This set contains 128 parts more than the BWE. Which immediately raises the question; has TLG purposely made this set bigger, so it has the highest part count ever? The reason I am asking out loud, is that there has been some debate in the Technic Forum about the growing size of the sets, related to the functions. Some say that the part count is intentionally high, without adding significantly more (or better) functionality. While I do see a trend in sets getting bigger (i.e. higher part count, thus higher price), I don't think that TLG designers are filling their workday finding out ways to add lots of unnecessary parts. I do like to think that the style of building is adapting/evolving to the contemporary standards/requirements. Of course, I don't want to sound too naive, because at the end of the day, it's all 'bout the money. It's all 'bout the dun dun do do do dumb. I don't think it's funny to..... Anyway, why not use this review to dive into this delicate matter. Before we start I like to point out that I do like big sets. The experience of opening the box and seeing the plethora of parts is overwhelming. On the other hand, with Technic sets getting more and more expensive, I can understand that people stop buying the (bigger) sets. In this review, I simply want to find out if this set could have been made with, let's say, 3000-odd parts while maintaining the same functionality. Another thing I'd like to address in this review is the use of extra elements (playable items), like a chains, tools etc. There has been some debate about this in the Technic forum, so I like to give you my opinion. If you see this icon, you can click the image on the left or right side of the image, to cycle through alternative images. PICTURES Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. More pictures can be found in my Flickr album. DISCLAIMER This set has been provided by the CEE Team of TLG. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG. SET INFORMATION Number: 42082 Title: Rough Terrain Crane Theme: Technic Released: 2018 Part Count: 4.057 Box Weight: > 5kg (I forgot to weigh the box, because my kitchen scale couldn't handle it.) Box Dimensions: 57,5 cm x 47,2 cm x 16,5 cm Set Price (RRP): £ / $ 299.99 / € 229,99 Price per Part: £ / $ 0.074 / € 0,056 Links: Brickset, Bricklink So, with an RRP of 229 euro, the price per part comes down to 5,6 cent per part, which is a steal. It's even slightly less than the BWE (5,9 cents per part). This makes it one of the cheapest Technic sets in terms of price per part. Let's compare some stats with previous flagships. COMPARISON WITH OLDER SETS 2011 - 8110 - Unimog - 189 euro, 2048 parts, 9,3 cent per part. 2012 - 9398 - 4x4 Crawler - 169 euro, 1327 parts, 12,8 cent per part. 2013 - 42009 - Mobile Crane Mk II - 199 euro, 2606 parts, 7,7 cent per part. 2014 - 42030 - Volvo L350F - 219 euro, 1636 parts, 13,4 cent per part. 2015 - 42043 - Arocs - 199 euro, 2793 parts, which is 7,2 cent per part. 2016 - 42055 - BWE - 229 euro, 3929 parts, 5,9 cents per part. 2017 - 42070 - All Terrain Truck - 249 euro, 1862 parts, 13,4 cent per part. 2018 - 42082 - Rough Terrain Crane - 229 euro, 4057 parts, 5,6 cent per part. All of these sets have Power Functions, some more than others. The Volvo is literally packed with Power Functions, which explains the high price and low part count. A potential candidate for a comparison with the 42082 - Rough Terrain Crane is the 42009 - Mobile Crane Mk II. The 42009 packs 2606 parts for 7,7 cent per part, while the 42082 packs 4057 parts for 5,6 cent per part. So, the universally praised Mk II crane has a 37,5% increase in price per part. Or the 42082 has a 27,3% decrease in price per part, depending on how you want to look at it. That is 5 years ago, and I'm not taking inflation into account. In other words; for 30 euro extra you get 1451 extra parts. This comes down to 2,1 cent per parts, which isn't bad at all. Some of you might argue that this is not the way to compare two sets, but these numbers are based on RRP and part count, which are numbers we can work with. Since this set has four of the big Claas wheels, a gearbox, and not a lot of PF, I could also compare it to the 42070. But that set was way overpriced, so I don't think that would be fair. The average price of a part in a flagship, based on these 8 sets, is 9,4 cent. So for 229 euro you can expect 2155 parts. You get 1901 more than that. Thus drawing the preliminary conclusion that this set is big, but the price is more than reasonable. Of course, the original debate wasn't focused on the price per se, but whether the models are getting unnecessarily big. Let's carry on unboxing so we can find out. THE BOX The front of the box shows the model and its Power Functions components, a Battery Box and a Large Motor. No sign of new Powered Up elements yet. It also shows a picture of the model with an extended boom, measuring 100 cm high till the end of the boom and a chassis size of 48 cm long. Going by the size this isn't some two-bit crane. But size doesn't always matter. The box has the same width and height as last year's flagship (42070 - 6x6 All Terrain Truck), but it's a couple of centimeters deeper. INSIDE FLAP Like the 42070, this box also has the flap, common to flagship sets. The inside shows a big picture of the model, which is most likely almost 1:1 scale. It's pretty impressive, that's for sure. You can also see that the upper body with the boom can rotate freely, thus 360 degree. This means that most of the mechanics, and battery box, are probably placed in the upper body and not in the chassis. This makes sense, and we have seen it before. Another picture shows the boom can be raised up to 60 degrees. BACKSIDE The back is divided into two sections/sides. The left side shows the functions of the main model, while the right side shows the alternative model, a Mobile Pile Driver. I will express my love for the B-model later this review CONTENTS OF THE BOX The box contains: 1x Inner box 1x Sealed pack with two booklets and the sticker sheet 4x Rim 4x Tire 25x Numbered bags (8 of which are in the inner box) INNER BOX The inner box contains the sealed pack with instruction booklets and sticker sheet. And it contains the bags for steps 1 to 4. INSTRUCTION BOOKLETS Two instruction booklets. One for the chassis and one for the crane. Makes you wonder if one person can start building the chassis, while the other starts working on the crane. STICKER SHEET Quite a few stickers to decorate this model. A construction vehicle just isn't the same without black and yellow stripes. And of course, a bunch of stickers indicating how to operate the functions. POWER FUNCTIONS ELEMENTS A battery box and a large motor. TIRES These, so called Unimog Tires, seems to be very common nowadays, but they have only been used in two Technic sets before. RIMS Four big red rims, also used in the 42054 - Claas Xerion and the 42077 - Rally Car. TIRES ON RIMS Here a picture with the tires fitted on the rims. NUMBERED BAGS A total of 25 numbered bags. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS Actually there is only one interesting part in this set and that is the 11 x 11 Curved Gear Rack (or banana gear as some call them) from the 42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator in a new color black. I am very happy that this gear has appeared in a color which can more easily be used in a MOC, for example an EV3 Robot Not sure why I forgot to take a picture of the part itself, but here is a picture of the subassembly. This set contains a total of eight of these curved gear racks. PART LIST A whopping 4.057 parts, but still only two pages with parts. THE BUILD Bags, bags, bags and more bags. Lucky for us, they are numbered. If you like a challenge, open all the bags and create a big unsorted pile. That will keep you busy for quite some time. I will simply go from step to step As expected we start with the chassis. And to be more precise; with the gearbox in the chassis. Really, orange pins?! Yes, really! Right off the bat, lots of gears are added to the chassis. A white clutch gear is used in the bottom of the chassis. This indicates that these gears/axles will be connected to the Power Functions. At the end of the first step the center of the chassis has finished. This chassis with center gearbox is kind of reminiscent of models like th 8110 - Unimog and the 8258 - Crane Truck. Lots of gears, densily packed in a small space. There's little room left. The bottom of the gearbox. This set contains the 5x7 frames in two colors, light bluish grey and black. This is what you can do with two different color frames. I am not really fond of these kind of solutions, but I understand it can be convenient. Ohhh, and then there's the green liftarms. Because we need green in a red vehicle. I reckon someone opened up the bucket with green dye, so we do need to use more of these of parts in green Actually, I am being semi-serious here. The Forest Machine uses these liftarms in green, so it's probably cost-effective to use them in multiple sets. We are seeing this with other parts as well. For example, the beforementioned orange 3L pins with bush and white 1L connector, etc. TLG tends to minimize the overall number of different parts used in (Technic) sets. I reckon this has something to do with optimizing their warehouse space. New parts are added every year and storage space is limited. Instead of using five different colors TLG uses one (maybe two) color. Doing this over the entire range of sets will save up a lot of space. Technic seems to be the ideal theme to use these kind of strategies. And it adheres to the "color vommit in the chassis" strategy. One of the wheel assemblies. As you can see there is no actual suspension. Not even pendular suspension. Which seems odd for an Rough Terrain Crane, but I am no expert. Here's the subassembly attached to the center of the chassis. An almost similar assembly attached to the other side. Instead of green liftarms, this one uses orange ones. This way you can more easily tell the sides apart. This is actually not a bad thing. I have mentioned it before, but I am actually a big fan of the color vommit approach. Altough I must admit that using these orange 3L pins with bush is definitely pusing it. Blue might have been a better choice, but that would have confliced with the Bugatti color scheme. Therefore, I think TLG made the decision to use orange in this as well. By the way; this set does also contain 40 of these 3L pins with bush in black. The picture below shows how you can align the wheels. After aligning them, you slide the 16T gear in position. When I was building the set, I wondered why there was space between the gear and the liftarm, but it soon made sense. A subassebly for the outriggers. I do like the design, but as with most outriggers on Technic models, they op...e....ra.....te.....ve......ry......slow......ly. I would love to show you a video of the outriggers, but since it's Tuesday now, I don't have enough time to lower them before the embargo date of this review Just kidding of course. They do take a while, but since they are outriggers I find this acceptable. As long as the other functions aren't that slow. The chassis with front and rear wheel assemblies, and the front and rear outriggers. This is what you would expect from a crane this size. No unncessary use of extra parts so far. Next stop is the V8 engine with white oil filter and orange propellor/fan. I really like the oil filter. It's simple, but it adds detail to the model. The choice of orange as the color for the propellor seems odd, but it's likely a safety precaution. The emphasize that this is a part you need to watch, since it will be rotating when you move the crane. Not entirely sure, but it must be something along these lines. After the engine you will be building the connection between the chassis and the upper structure (crane body). This is done by using eight curved gear racks and an ingenious system in between. Click on the images to construct the ring. At that point you will attach the rims and the chassis is done. Worth noting is that the wheel caps in the rims use a lot of extra parts. Per cap approximately 12 parts are used, which boils down to 48 extra parts, just for the caps. This picture will be very hard to shoot with the crane attached, so I will give it to you now. This model implements Ackerman Steering Geometry. Or Reversed Ackerman Steering. Or even Reversed Reversed Ackerman Steering hehe. Not sure what the consensus in the forum was. I am no expert on steering assemblies, but Ackerman Steering boils down to the inner wheels turning at a different angle than the outer wheels, due to the fact the outer wheels have to travel a wider diameter. Ackerman Steering is something Technic fans like to see in models. For more information I suggest you start with Wikepedia and go from there SECOND BOOKLET This is an interesting part in the build. Reminds us of the 8043 - Motorized Excavator. Admittedly, I didn't think of this myself, but it has been addressed in the forum. Since the two 20T Bevel Gear with Pinhole have been placed on opposite sides of the actuators, this results in them turning in a different direction when the boom is raised (or lowered). Basically, this means that when the boom is raised, one of the LA's extends, while the other retracts. If one of the 20T gears was placed the other way around, this problem would not occur. Of course, the turning direction of one of the axles feeding the LA should be reversed for this to work. Since the gears attached to the LA's only rotate a tiny fraction when raising the boom, it leads me to believe that this is a calculated flaw. In this video I try to demonstrate the issue at hand. You continue to work your way back to the rear of the superstructure. Again, lots of gears and space which will be filled with gearboxes. This is the point in the second booklet where you can't build any further, untill you finish the first booklet. At this stage you will attach the upper section to the chassis. The boom is really massive. Feels solid like a rock. I am impressed with the sturdyness of this boom. It does a lot of panels and H-frames, so it's only logical, but I was still impressed. No wormgear to extend the boom this time. The other side of the boom with a white clutch gear for safety. The boom attached to the crane. Needless to say I am having a hard time getting the entire boom in the picture. The back of the upper section is closed with panels. The black ones can be removed for easy access to the battery. There are two gearboxes on the top of the crane. The left (bottom) one is to switch between crane and chassis functions. The right (upper) one is to switch between raising/lowering the boom, extracting/retracting the boom and lowering/raising the hook. The chassis functions are rotating the super structure and raising/lowering the outriggers. COMPLETED MODEL It is rather difficult to shoot decent pictures in the photo studio. I sure hope sets won't get much bigger than this. Looking at this model, I think TLG has done a remarkable job with this Rough Terrain Crane. The black chassis, with red elements, combined with the red super structure looks spot on. Lots of technic gears and elements provide an interesting build. I love how the two (or three) gearboxes work together. Here you can clearly see the gearbox on this side of the chassis is used to rotate the crane. Because of the weight, the chassis tends to bend a little, but nothing to worry about. The boom of the crane can exend way more than this, but that makes is impossible for me to take pictures. A close up from the front of the vehicle. The cabin door swings open to reveal the interior of the cabin. And one from the reaar. I'm sorry I don't have anymore pictures of the completed model, but I think you have seen most of it. You can find out more by building it yourself FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This model packs features you would expect from a mobile crane. Raising/Lowering the boom Extracting/Retracting the boom Raising/Lowering the hook Raising/Lowering the outriggers Four wheel (Ackermann) steering Working fake engine Other than that there are some details like two cabinets which can be opened to store some gear. TLG has even added some walls which can be turned into part of a house or cabin. OUTRIGGERS Okay, let's get this out of the way. The outriggers are slow, really slow. I turned them on this morning and when I came home from work, they were halfway. Obviously, I am joking...I didn't go to work today. It's not that bad, but it would be nice if they operated a wee bit faster. You do need to use the four plates for them to properly reach the ground. STEERING AND DRIVING For a set this size steering and driving work properly. Even better than I expected. CRANE The thing I am most impressed with are the crane functions. These work like a charm. And, unlike the 42043 - Mercedes Arocs, this gearbox (or rather gearboxes) is very easy to understand. One look at the stickers is all it takes to be able to operate this thing. It offers a ton of playability. Linking gearboxes, instead of direct connection to a motor, can cause some slack. This can be seen when turning the crane. But this is just a minor gripe, just like the outriggers. DOOR A nice detail is the sliding door. PLAYABLE ITEMS It's time to talk about the added playable items, like this toolbox. Some people don't feel this is necessary and some even seem to be a bit annoyed by it. I have addressed this in my 42069 - Extreme Adventure review where I state that I like these added details. And I still do. The Forest Machine also packs some extra's like a chainsaw, some logs etc. Actually, I see it in most of the Technic sets. What I have seen is that this greatly enhances playability for younger LEGO fans. I am absolutely aware that this is a 11+ set, so it is not designed for a 5-year old. But seeing a 5-year old play with these Technic models and use all the extra items in the set for his "story" makes you realise that by adding playable items to a Technic set, it suddenly becomes a set for all ages. So, a handful of extra parts might be enough to prepare a 5-year old for Technic enthusiasm later down the line. After all, he (or she) is the future Technic target audience. Therefore, I am 100% in favor of adding these little details to Technic sets, even if these sets are 11+. PART COUNT And now for the part count discussion. No doubt this model could have been made using less parts. It you take away the playable items, wheel caps, grey construction panel and outrigger plates, you already save a couple of hundred parts. In the old days a Technic model used to be liftarms with gears inside. These days are over. Models are becoming more and more realistically looking, which means that less of the interior is visible. This also goes for the boom for example. In the old days we would have seen the interior of the boom and now it's covered with panels. I am not convinced that TLG is deliberately adding parts to the boom just to have more parts. I think TLG is doing this because they need to compete with other toys in the stores and these toys look like the real thing. Therefore TLG wants its models to look more like the real thing to, resulting in adding panels and other embellishments. Granted, TLG's marketing department won't mind having the biggest Technic set every year, so they can use this in Ads. Like I said in the introduction; I am a fan of big sets. I love putting together a 4057 part set. But I reckon people are more upset about the price of bigger sets than the part count. This can be a false assumption, because I know not all AFOLs think like this. But if TLG had used 3057 parts instead of 4057 they could have easily maintained the same RRP. 3000 parts at 229 euro is 7,6 cents a piece, which is still rather cheap. So my conclusion is that TLG might have upped the part count a bit, but still presented this set at a very affordable price. We already see this set popping up for around 179 euro, which boils down to 4,5 cent a piece, which is extremely affordabl for a Technic set. For me it would have been an issue if TLG priced this set at 349 euro RRP. Then I would have figured TLG was doing it on purpose. Basically, this is a UCS-like Technic set and you get it for 229 euro, or less if you do some online shopping. Personally, I think this is extremely good value for money. Of course your mileage may vary, but this is how I see things. B-MODEL The B-model, a Mobile Pile Driver, is a cop out, nothing more, nothing less. I mean, seriously?! 4000+ parts and we get a model that is 95% the same as the original model. And if that's not the worst part, it's ugly AF, as some people would like to phrase it. The Pile Driver extension looks like something I could have built....when I was four . Maybe, well probably, I am insulting someone at The LEGO Group, but I can only hope that they were lacking time and/or resources, so they came up with this at the last moment. The argument of time is rendered invalid, because this is what you can in a couple of days. Well, maybe not everybody, but @nico71 was able to turn this set into a front loader. Nobody will probably argue that this would have been a better B-model. Not sure what TLG's policy is regarding alternate models but the 42030 isn't in production anymore, so I don't see any reason not go for something like this. The rear view of the model. And even the grey construction elements can be turned into something useful. SUMMARY I am a big fan of this set. It packs a lot of functionality and parts, for a decent price. The forum contains pages and pages with potential improvements, but that's out of scope for my review. Almost every set gets improved by AFOLs, so that's no surprise. Bottomline is that this is great set for existing AFOLs and new AFOLs alike. I can remember coming out of my dark ages in 2005, building the 8421 - Mobile Crane, which had a whopping 1885 parts. I remember the endless quantity of parts coming out of the box. Imagine a set with more than twice the part count. And again, this doesn't automatically mean a better set, but you will be impressed when you open this box. Much has been said about the color vommit in the chassis of this model. I have grown fond of color vommit, because I like the variety in the parts. I do enjoy seeing all the colored parts. However, using orange 3L Pins with Bush is pushing it to the limit, especially on a red model. I would have preferred blue instead of orange. My final conclusion is that for around 200 euro, you do get a LOT of value for money. I can see myself getting an extra copy, just because of that. I would almost go as far a stating that this could be considered a UCS Technic set. PROS Good looking model Properly working functions (even Ackermann steering) Several (linked) gearboxes Great parts pack (especially for people new to Technic) Very affordable, almost cheap CONS Some slack due to drivetrains and gearboxes Outriggers operate very slowly No suspension No special parts besides the new curved gear rack in black SCORE How do I rate this set? 9 DESIGN I love the looks, color scheme, everything. 9 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Very enjoyable build with several gearboxes and other functionality. 8 FEATURES Great features, with some room for improvement. No suspension though. 9 PLAYABILITY Implemented features provide lots of playability. 8 PARTS Mostly common parts, but you do get a lot of them. 10 VALUE FOR MONEY Price goes down to 4,8 cent per part if you shop around. It doesn't get any cheaper than this. 8,8 UCS ANYONE? Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found here.

Here is my review on LEGO Marvel 76292 Captain America vs. Red Hulk Battle: THE GOOD: Good looking jet and fun build consider the size of the set. Exclusive minifigures of new iteration of MCU characters. THE NOT SO GOOD: unjustifiable pricing. Based on the upcoming movie, Captain America Brave New World. LEGO once again delivered another Marvel set that is ridiculously priced. Put pricing aside for a moment, the set itself ain't bad to be honest. Given the size of the set, the jet has a pretty fun build with great use of parts to create some colour patterns & design. It also look pretty good, however how well it matches the one in the movie cannot be verified for now given the movie is not out until FEB. All minifigures are currently exclusive to this set. All have good qualify print, I particularly like Sam here. Although I do feel the earlier variant in CMF series is far more superior. Good to get the new falcon, I do feel they could use a better helmet as current design doesn't feel sleak enough. Red Hulk is good to have but it basically a green hulk figure in RED. Given the cotent of this set, if this was under $60NZD, it will be a great fun set. BUT, this set is currently retailed at $100NZD, even if LEGO gives me 20% discount it still overpriced. Unfortunately, this set is currently exclusive to LEGO Store in New Zealand so there is no chance to get discount at least for now. While as a MCU fan, this is probably a set you would want but due to the price, it's hard to justify the purchase. With the underwhelming reception from the trailer and a lot of negative reports surrounding the production, it's unlikely the movie will do well and this set will be popular. So there may be a chance this get a 50% off clearance in the future.

Here is my review on 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion: THE GOOD: Looks great standalone with lots of areas to make the set extremely lively. An easter egg on the famous Wolverine meme. Gambit minifigure. Great Sentinel build. THE NOT SO GOOD: The 3 half base plates configuration makes it difficult to transport given the the top levels not having any connection to the section next to it. Also have visible gaps some times between the section. If you own earlier version of the charecters minifigiures. the minifigs selection might disappoint you. Doesn't fit with other modulars in terms of its size. It's one of my most anticipated sets this year and while it has some issues, I still enjoyed the build and like the completed model. First as a standalone piece, it looks very good with tons of details both around the courtyard and the exterior of the mansion. It has lots of areas ready for some battle effects, and joints allow you to place minifigures to pretend flying. This allows the build to look very lively. Personal preference is to have it more static, and you can easily do that by replacing some of the bricks. The interior is also packs with details and easter eggs despite it does feel a bit tight with the spaces. Highlights for me are the lab, main hall and the danger room. The dorm & class room are just a bit too small but still have some cool references. And rarely for a D2C set, it also features some exciting play features like the exploding roof. The building experience is not at expert level and is quite straight forward but the moment you noticed a reference it increases the enjoyment. Now, if you place this next to a standard modular, or even all the marvel ones, it does feel the odd one out. But if LEGO decides to go with same scale, I do not think the 3 x half base plates configuration would work and it will significantly increase the piece count and price. The minifigures are great, it's nice to finally have Gambit, unfortunately his cards are stickers which is not helpful if you keep switching between effect or simply holding in Gambit's hands. I did not buy the X-Jet, so I'm very satisfied with the minifigs included, for some this could be repetitive as you get Cyclops and Rogue again despite the versions in this mansion have more details. Some of the noticeable flaws apart from lack of rooms and space, is the 3 base plates configurations. While the middle and the section of each side are fairly secured with some techniq pieces hidden in the foundation but because the playability as modular, the upper levels do not have any connected bricks which made this set a challenge to move around and also depending on how you place it, there might be visible gaps between each section. At 550NZD, it does lean towards the higher end of the price, with the Cerebro GWP being independent to this set, and this is likely to be available from retail stores, I would suggest if you are interested, try hold off until you see a sale. Otherwise if you desperately need some of the fig or the mansion and a fan of X-Men then this is a set for you,.

Preface This theme means a lot to me, even though I never owned any myself when I was a kid since I wasn't old enough at the release to be interested in these kind of sets. I did, however, have a lot of old 90s Lego catalogues from my older cousins, who passed them down to me. When I was a bit older I acquired a taste for this line, but it was discontinued for years at that time, so I had to wait. Opening this set sealed really meant a lot to me, since I always wanted to do this. In the future I intend to hunt down all other UFO sets, preferably sealed and I might do a review on those as well. I made this review so that you can see how it was like to unbox and assemble this set back in 1997 and because I never found a similar modern review of the set, when I was looking to buy it. There are a lot of reviews on it, but I couldn't find any that would include a sealed box. I tried my best to make this review as comprehensive as I can. This is my first review so any feedback you might have is welcome. I hope you enjoy this review! Information Set name: Interstellar Starfighter Set number: 6979 Number of pieces: 292 Year released: 1997 Minifigures: 3 Price (then): 80.00 USD Theme: U.F.O. Introduction Description of the theme on Brickipedia: »The UFO Aliens come from the planet Humorless. They spend their time fighting the Exploriens and Roboforce, and scare Earth farmers in their free time. They have the ability to read minds. They have droids do their work for them, though they usually steal those droids, like in Andy Droid's case. Alpha Draconis is their leader.« source U.F.O. alien species is called Zotaxian. Their backstory differs from region to region - promotional materials back in the day weren't in sync and thus we get different backstories – in some versions Zotaxians even invaded then equivalent of Lego City, while in other versions the story was confined to space themes only. source A thing to mention is that aliens from Insectoids theme are also Zotaxians and come from the same planet as U.F.O. aliens. For different reasons, depending on the local promotional materials issued at the time they had to flee their native world and find a new home. U.F.O. theme was also featured in Lego Racers video game from 1999. There was a racing map where both U.F.O. and Insectoids themes were interlaced. I got this set sealed via BrickLink. The box was in overall good contention, aside from some print wear. But most importantly, no dents! You can check BrickLink listings for this set here. The box Here's the front view of the box. Wear on the edges shows that it was sealed for almost 24 years but I guess that is a necessary evil and not really that important. This is the front of the box with its flap up, revealing transparent windows showcasing some elements of the set. Yes, I learned that was very common for Lego sets at the time but I grew up with sets that had simpler boxes with no flaps so this feels alien to me... I'll see myself out Upon closer inspection we can see what is showcased – 2 minifigs (Alpha Draconis on the right, Andy Droid on the left). Above them (the very top of the window) are 2 transparent neon-green circular pieces that the U.F.O. theme is most known for. They form cockpit canopy of the starfighter. Between the figures are alien helmets – black one on top (Alpha Draconis') and below it one in grey (Chamon's). Fun fact is that Chamon (the 3rd figure in the set that the grey helmet belongs to and has shoulder pads, just like Alpha Draconis) is not showcased in this transparent window, but his helmet is. Instead, Andy Droid was chosen to be showcased. I wonder what was the reason for this? On the very bottom of the largest window is the battery box that takes 9V battery. Yes, this set has electronic parts that produce visuals (and also some audio but I don't think that was the designer's intention – more on that later). Immediately below is another tiny window, showcasing the cockpit lights. Lastly on the very bottom we have a line of 5 small transparent windows. The contents showcased are (from left to right): electric wire with brick, 2 magnets, red electric micro motor, 2 magnets, electric wire with brick. Below are additional pictures of the box. The top of the box. An observation – I noticed a number imprint on the top of the box (4217). I have no idea what this was used for. Maybe something to do with production and/or distribution system back in the 90s? Left side of the box. Bottom side of the box. A closeup of legal and production information on the bottom of the box. It says the set was made in Billund, Denmark. Right side of the box. The back of the box, showing mostly alternative builds - a practice that is not that common for set packaging nowadays. Below are pictures of box seals, which can be found on the front of the box, under the flap. This is where you are supposed to open the set. You have to take the cardboard with transparent windows off in order to access the box contents. Unboxing Like mentioned before, you have to open the box from the front, with its flap out of the way. I cut the seals with a knife along highlighted areas and the lifted the cardboard with transparent windows up from the box to access its contents. This how contents of the box are distributed in the box. The box is divided in several compartments (light green cardboard), each holding specific bags of parts or larger parts. Items showcased via transparent windows are held in a separate packaging which sits on top of the compartments. Instructions and promotional materials are located on the very bottom , under cardboard compartments. Another imprint on one of the green compartment cardboard (4107390). Here are all box contents stretched on a table. These are all parts that not packed in any plastic bags or additional packaging inside the box. Above 2 pictures show all the printed elements excluding minifigures and their accessories. On the left are the instructions, in the middle are promotional materials and on the very right is a ... poster? Indeed, you get a cool one-sided poster with this set. This was a very pleasant surprise and I guess that a much more common practice in the past. This is a separate packaging, containing all the elements that are showcased via transparent windows on the packaging. These are all plastic bags containing the remaining bricks. Plastic bags are of the old type, of course, with holes all over them to enable air circulation. Nothing remarkable otherwise. Note the bag on the very bottom right-hand side contains the only sticker this set has, 2 light grey 1 x 12 beams, along with 9 optic fibres (they might be difficult to observe in this picture). This is the only sticker in the set. For those unfamiliar with the theme – this sticker is somewhat special because it changes colour based on heat. The idea is that you put your finger on it and it then changes to green colour, revealing U.F.O. symbol as shown in above picture. These are optical fibres you get in the set. 9 in total, 8 to use and one spare. Above are shown all electronic components of the set. On top is the battery box, below it are (left to right) black electric twin lights, red micro motor and light grey fibre optics electric element. Lastly there are two black electric wires with brick. Finally, you also get four black cylindrical magnets. Minifigures UFO Red Droid/ Andy Droid This is the only minifigure in the set without a helmet or a shoulder armour. It is the only robot in the set and supposed brother of more known Ann Droid from Exploriens theme. source The minifigure sports quite interesting printing (front of the minifig only), with U.F.O. logo on the top left-hand side of the torso, remaining printing looking like exposed wiring and electronic components to me. Below are additional pictures of the minifigure from remaining angles. Red UFO alien / Chamon One of 2 Zotaxians in the set, also referred to as the Red UFO alien. The figure sports grey alien helmet and a black shoulder armour. Printing on the minifigure itself is also only present on its front. The only other printing can be found on the front angle of the helmet, looking to me as a brain with interlaced cybernetic implants. Below are pictures of the figure with all its accessories from the remaining angles. Here is the front view of Chamon without its helmet and shoulder armour. The face is one of the more memorable ones for me – that grin makes the figure look both funny and creepy at the same time. The printing on the torso and legs is also quite detailed but looks more organised to me that, say, the printing on Andy Droid's torso. Mandatory U.F.O. logo is also present on the torso, this time on the top right-hand side. Below are pictures of Chamon figure with no accessories from remaining angles. Alpha Draconis The only (consistently) named minifigure in the U.F.O. theme. Although his role is again not consistent in promotional materials between regions, he is supposed to be the leader of Zotaxians in some capacity (ranging from dictator of planet Humoreless to leader of the Zotaxian fleet). He was also featured both as a playable character and an npc in the legendary Lego Racers video game from 1999 (although he was missing his shoulder armour). He is most famous for his black helmet and grey shoulder armour. Printing on the helmet is the same as on Chamoin's helmet, but the torso and leg printing are a tad different. Below are pictures of the figure with all its accessories from the remaining angles. Here is Alpha Dracoins without his accessories. His face print looks to me almost bug-like. I wonder if this connected somehow with Insectoids theme? His torso printing is different from Chamon's and Andy Droid's. There are no electronics in sight, only a large U.F.O. logo in the middle of the torso. There are hints of electronics shown on his leg printing. Printing is, again, only present on the front of the figure. Below are pictures of the figure from different angles. Building the set I unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the set assembly but to be honest there is not much I can say on that except the instructions did not age too well. There are no required parts shown for each step of the building process so you have to have a keen eye for details and every step feels like a game of finding all the differences between pictures. My worst fear was that I would end up with an extra piece at the end that I knew I missed somewhere. Fortunately it did not come to that and I'm rather proud of myself for achieving this These are all the extra pieces of the set – one optic fibre and one trans-red electric light bulb cover. The back of the instructions. Assembled set This is the assembled Interstellar Starfighter. I'll try to capture as many angles as I can. The front view – one of the best angles in my opinion. Angled front view. You can clearly see black electric wires coming from the battery box just behind the main cockpit and going to micro motor and optics fibre element hidden behind a printed trans-neon green element located in the middle of the starfighter. The back of the starfighter. Another side view. Front view of the fighter, more level with the ground. Definitely not one of the good-looking angles. Side view, more close to the ground. Another side view from ground level. Top view. Next to 6900 Cyber Saucer. Another feature of the set is that it has a smaller detachable space craft. The main ship Magnets on the back of the main ship are used to connect main ship with the smaller detachable space craft. Below are some pictures of main ship only. Above is the bottom of the main ship. It is clear that the preferred angle to look this set at is from above. Detachable space craft Below are some pictures of the smaller space craft. It is assembled from two smaller circular pieces with a trans-neon green cockpit. On the top of the latter is where the only sticker is located. Do the electronics work? Not all. The twin lights in the cockpit work flawlessly, while red micro motor is dead, effectively rendering fibre optics in the back bust. The grey fibre optics element works on its own though. Fibre optics in the back should flash one optic at the time. This is caused by rotating a Technic rod in the grey fibre optics element, allowing only one fibre optic to be lit at the time and providing flashing of all fibre optics. Rotation should be achieved by using the red micro motor, while grey optic element only provides red light. But since micro motor is dead only front twin bulb lights in the cockpit work. The micro motor is known to produce some noise so that's what I was referring to when I said there was some unintentional audio produced by electronic parts. Better working front lights and optic element than nothing! I have heard that these red micro motors are a bit iffy anyway, so this is something I was half-expecting. A gif and a picture showing working front cockpit lights, proving I am not full of... err... brick? A side note: when taking the battery box out of the set it's a good idea to utilise one of the holes in the plate below the battery box in combination with a Technic or a normal rod to push the battery box out of the set from below first. Otherwise the bottom battery cover might stick to the plate and you'll end up tearing the upper portion of the battery box out of the set while the bottom will be stuck to the plate. When this happened to me it caused me a mini heart attack (the crack noise mostly) but fortunately I did not break anything. Using this method is a safer alternative. Note that none of the parts used on the rod assembly on the picture above are a part of this set – I borrowed the tip of one of the s-foils cannons on my UCS X-Wing. Conclusion Opening this set was a very interesting experience for me and it was hard for me to be objective when reviewing this set. The price of this set sealed is also something that a lot of people would find hard to justify. But for someone like me, who adores the theme it was worth it. I would not recommend this set sealed to anyone however – you have to be either a big fan with the means to buy it, otherwise just get a used set. Sure you'll miss all the fun unboxing experience and the parts might be in poor condition/broken but it's going to be way cheaper. On the other hand, if you are a big fun with a budget – go for it, just don't expect all electronics to work. Hopefully this review will make you help make the decision whether to buy this set either sealed or used. Design: 8/10. The front of the fighter looks really nice but the main issue I have is with detachable space craft. No full circular shape - what were they thinking? Parts: 8/10. Electronic parts, along with circular parts and minifigures are really nice, it's a shame that the red micro motor is not working though. Build: 5/10. Oh how building instructions have improved. Hats off to any former kids building large sets before required parts for every building step were established as a norm. It's a game of concentration and patience. The build itself is nice but it's the instructions that bring the experience down significantly. Minifigures: 10/10. The helmet design, shoulder armour, printing... these figs have it all in my view. Still one of the best figures TLG ever produced and they aged really well too. Playability: 8/10. Lots of functionalities present on this set. From flashing lights and detachable smaller space craft to alternate builds – you decide how to play! Price (sealed): 6/10. I don't think I paid an unfair price for this set but it was still substantial. I know other older sets with higher demand sell for way more, so I can't complain too much. The price could always be better though. I hope you enjoyed this review and that you got to know more about the theme in general or just learned something new about the set. On display.

Here is my review on 71747 The Keeper's Village from Ninjago: THE GOOD: Great looking set. Interesting build techniques through out. Great design in the dragon head. Excellent printings on minifigures. Some nice new elements like the piece on top of the statue and the printed sheilds. THE NOT SO GOOD: The price. My own preference but I would want more tribe person instead of 3 ninjas. Overall, I like this set a lot. It reminds me of island people from the old pirate theme. This set does look really good although it's not really a village. I enjoyed the building experience a lot especially the dragon head and the throne chair. The printed shield does look like Godzilla and I wish they included more new elements like that. Although the minifigures are great I do wish they swap on ninja for one more village people as this theme does not have many sets, it's a mission to build an army of this tribe given B&P recently does not sell much Ninjago pieces. The price is on the higher end and I do wish it is $20NZD cheaper but in the end I'm very satisfied with the outcome and still recommend this set to everyone.

I can't believe this set released 20+ years ago. Here is my review on 3409 Championship Challenge. THE GOOD: Fun set for everyone and football fans. The shooting mechanism works really well. Great utilisation of pieces to create the goal and using net for goal net. Added as much variations of face as they can at the time of production to give characters to each team. THE NOT SO GOOD: Can't really find any fault given the set is really selling the unlimited possibilities of the play feature. Overall, this is a great play set. It's definitely not a set for you if you are into building experience. I like how the shooting mechanism works. It's also great to see how easily they can make a goal with the limited piece variations back then. I definitely look at this set differently compared to how I would see it 20 years ago. It's great they included 2 teams for obvious reasons and I'm surprised how long those stickers last! All I say is I still like this set and would recommend to all football fans or if you looking for something that you can have fun with friends and family.