Seasider

[REVIEW] 81000 Koi - Lego Forma

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9 hours ago, Aanchir said:

I think comments like this really betray how easy it is to incorrectly assume our own experience is universal.

I never implied my experience was universal, nice strawman. I was just saying that the marketing is a bid misleading.

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At first I didn't know what to think. It is obviously different and I really think it would also appeal to another public than people already enjoying LEGO. Especially with the blank sheets another possibility of creativity is added.

And how it looks also plays a role. It is not overly technique, which could scare of some people, or something completely brick build which may not be appealing/realistic enough for others. And there are plenty of possibilities to expand on this. Butterflies, Birds, Dinosaurs, just to name a few. A pity it is not already widely available.

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22 hours ago, Man with a hat said:

At first I didn't know what to think. It is obviously different and I really think it would also appeal to another public than people already enjoying LEGO. Especially with the blank sheets another possibility of creativity is added.

And how it looks also plays a role. It is not overly technique, which could scare of some people, or something completely brick build which may not be appealing/realistic enough for others. And there are plenty of possibilities to expand on this. Butterflies, Birds, Dinosaurs, just to name a few. A pity it is not already widely available.

That's what I meant.. It doesn't matter how successful it is if it's not widely available.

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@Ron Dayes - in terms of creativity you mentioned. The "Ink Koi Skin" 81003 is for you to colour in to your hearts desire and better than that through people asking about it Lego did provide templates via email so if you want you can print these out on Paper, or card, or whatever you can print on and make something totally different. I think you could quite easily with this make a Lizard or a Dragon if you wanted too!

 

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17 hours ago, Seasider said:

@Ron Dayes - in terms of creativity you mentioned. The "Ink Koi Skin" 81003 is for you to colour in to your hearts desire and better than that through people asking about it Lego did provide templates via email so if you want you can print these out on Paper, or card, or whatever you can print on and make something totally different. I think you could quite easily with this make a Lizard or a Dragon if you wanted too!

 

Ah really - well thats good news, yet still i think they should have provided at least 3 blank sheets for that price. I mean cardboard and cloth may (should) work - but in terms of longterm lifespan i think the Lego plastic sheets provided are the best (durable). Also you gotta invest to customize even if u buy cardboard types etc. Not too expensive, yet a bit annoying considering this set is meant to be “creative” from start on.

btw, have you tried using cardboard yet or any own designs? Maybe even thin cloth? Would be interesting to see if that works well...

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@Ron Dayes - if I get a chance over the next couple of weeks I may give it a go. My plan would be to print out on thin paper and work out my shapes. Test that they look ok, the 2 central ones are pretty much defined by the motion. Then transfer to card I think. But I’ll need to get some card and colouring pens/pencils and also some Lego parts for what I’d like to show. So please give me some time

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On ‎2‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 9:02 AM, Seasider said:

Part Count: 294

...

discretely in the corners the Lego and set number, name and age suggestion (12+ in this case).

...

The box contains:

3 x un-numbered bags

2 x "plasticised" card sheets (for the skin)

1 x booklet, unfortunately one of the normal stapled thin paper books and not the high quality bound ones which I prefer

1 x thank you card, a nice touch here for supporting the project

...

The model itself is a "kinematic sculpture" and you crank the handle at the front to make the Koi "swim". Strangely you do this by rotating this anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise), supposedly this is down to one of the development team being Left Handed. I looked at switching the gear and handle round but the swimming mechanism won't allow this, well not from my very quick look at the mechanism.

If you want to make the crank right-handed, instead of trying to switch the gear mechanism, it looks like an option would be to remove the crank, push the axle through to the other side, and reattach the crank. However, if the skins are only one-sided, the crank would then need to be in back, instead of reattaching the fins to have the fish face the opposite direction.

The video posted in the comments has a variant of the box that includes the part count of 294 for set 81000, but the box shown in the review does not appear to include the part count.  Would this be a difference between the US (with part count) and UK (without part count) versions, or was there an extra layer of packaging as a result of buying all the skins?  Was the part count listed somewhere else?  From summing the part count on the last page of the instructions, I counted only 293 parts, unless the thank you note is also counted as a part, which I would find odd.  Does the set use the new pin somewhere other than for holding on the skin?  It looks like the default skin only has 30 holes, and uses 30 of the new pin, with there then being 1 additional unused pin that is counted on the parts inventory, along with only 1 actual "extra" pin, similar to the other small parts.

For comparison, the 81001 shark skin appears to have 31 holes, but 2 locations are doubled up, for only 29 pins used. The 2 skin sheets bring the part count to the listed total of 31 as expected, plus the typical single extra pin in the bag. If the thank you note is not counted as a part, then my best guess at the discrepancy for set 81000 is that the skin was originally designed with another hole. Alternatively, the skins may have initially been 3 parts instead of 2.  From the video, it looks like the skin sheets for 81002 and 81003 are cut the same as 81000, with only 30 holes for 30 pins, plus 2 skins, and it seems likely that there would be an unused pin, plus the typical extra pin, unless there are 3 skin sheets.

The video also showed the new pins in red a few times, but the depictions of the completed builds showed white pins, so I suspect that the red would just be from testing the mold for the new part. Are the pins difficult to remove from the skins? The only reasons I can come up with for including more pins with the extra skins are for ease of use, for making greater quantities of the part available, for justifying the cost of new skin packs, or for a canceled plan of having other colors of the part available.

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I wish I would have been aware of this product. I really like the set and it would be a great display piece.

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@TimeCruiser to answer a few of your questions.

  • You can’t just put the crank handle on the other side as it would foul with a tan Bevel gear that’s placed horizontally.
  • only some of the skins are one sided. The tail, dorsal and (I think) pelvic fins are doubled sided, strangely the forward pectoral fins aren’t which is odd to me. The head and 3 skins that make up the body only need to be single sided as they wrap over the top of the model nd are pinned underneath.
  • no the extra skin packs and as “envelope” type packs and they all came delivered in a plain brown delivery box. As to the part count I wonder if someone in the US can confirm if the box is the same. I think for such a low volume it will be, and perhaps the video was showing a premilinary box and they removed the part count for the actual. Again a step to make it not look like traditional Lego.
  • Part count is 293 if you sum up the parts list at the back of the manual, assuming it’s correct. Interestingly the skins are counted as 2 parts (there are 2 sheets) and not the 10 individual parts they end up being when you push them out of the sheet. So the 294 from the early video must have either had someone who couldn’t count or they removed an unnecessary part from the model.
  • the new pins are only used for holding the skins on. The 31 pins in the parts list only get used 30 times, so it officially contains a spare not sure why? I looked at the original video and when it shows the skins all on a table you can see the Koi only has 30 holes.
  • As to the Shark, I haven’t built it yet but checking the instructions I can see that the head part does indeed double up holes on the pins to get the shape. But it still only has 30 holes as it doesn’t have pins on the top and bottom of the head piece like the Koi.
  • The red pins must have been prototypes. You definitely wouldn’t want them in red on the final model. To remove the skins from them you need to ideally take the skins with pins off the model, this then allows you to get flexibility in the skin to pry them off. The holes are sort of triangular and having just tested it pretty tight around the pins so you need to be careful to not damage them.
  • as to why you get pins with the skin packs. Perhaps so that once you’ve put the pins on the skin you just leave them there even when you take the skin off. Putting the pins in the skin holes can be fiddly. Also it could be a production volume issue as you say.

 

I’ve put on hold my plan to turn this into something else. Too many other Lego builds in progress. Sorry.

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I just got mine today - each of the three additional skins in its own slim cardboard envelope.  Won't have time to build for a while, though.  I will likely get extra parts from BL to have at least two in display at the same time.

Edited by JGW3000
Corrected details

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