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Master Builder 20214-20215 Out early

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They're out early if you desperately need them now (Lego Store at Bridgewater Mall NJ).

AC

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Hi

i do not know anything about this MBA theme. Can someone olease explain what this is all about? Looks in general like a partspack of two maincolorsmbut with many Creator like manuals.

Dino

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Hi

i do not know anything about this MBA theme. Can someone olease explain what this is all about? Looks in general like a partspack of two maincolorsmbut with many Creator like manuals.

Dino

You've got some of the basics down, but the manuals are far more in-depth than Creator manuals. Master Builder Academy is about teaching building techniques, and as such the building steps are filled with callouts explaining just why that part of the build is constructed in that particular way. As an example, here is the manual for Kit 1 (Space Designer). It teaches the techniques of Locking and Sideways Building (SNOT).

The manuals are thick and sturdy, unlike most other LEGO instructions. The closest other LEGO sets I've owned in terms of manual quality are the old LEGO Mindstorms sets and the LEGO Studios Steven Spielberg Movie Maker Set. In other words, it's more like a sturdy paperback book than a leaflet held together with staples. Other features in the manuals include interviews with LEGO Master Builders and MOCists, inspiration pages with paintings or photographs, and additional design tips.

Each MBA manual also includes a code that can be entered on the Master Builder Academy Website. This unlocks lots of things including building challenges, downloadable brick paper, product development images (concept art, sketch models, etc), designer videos, etc. It is meant to be an interactive experience, so there are "checkpoints" you have to meet to unlock some of these things (some are easy, like watching certain videos, others require completing the building challenges).

Starting with Level 3 (Kits 7, 8, and 9) the building instructions start to change in terms of format. These kits are the Adventure Designer kits, and focus on teaching you to tell stories with your MOCs in addition to the more functional building techniques. Each manual starts with a fantasy story explaining the main model — the three stories are all separate chapters of one big story. Instead of giving directions for three complete models, they give directions for one main model and several smaller "springboard models". The building challenges encourage you to use the springboard models as a start for a larger model. So as an example, some of the springboard models for Kit 7 include a staircase, a door, and a drawbridge. Additional springboard model building instructions are available on the MBA site.

MBA is clearly geared toward kids, but there are still lots of things that AFOLs can learn from it, I think. This especially goes for less experienced MOCists. The parts selection isn't bad either. My favorite kits were Kit 2 (Microscale Designer), Kit 3 (Robot Designer), and Kit 5 (Creature Designer). All these kits were very well-suited to my preferred style of building.

Edited by Aanchir

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Hi

Many thanks Aanchir. I am wondering why those setsnare so unpopular/not discussed in the public. But your post explains it, as well as they are only sold in the US - sadly.

Dino

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What do these sets cost? I'm really leaning towards the 7-9 set...

It was $80 last time it was available earlier this year. I don't see any reason for TLG to change the price now that it has been repackaged. It is a good value if you factor in the value of the books. The boxes are also the same type used for LEGO boardgames so you can use them for storage.

Hi

Many thanks Aanchir. I am wondering why those setsnare so unpopular/not discussed in the public. But your post explains it, as well as they are only sold in the US - sadly.

Dino

There is still a possibility that LEGO MBA will eventually come to Europe and other markets. When the product line was first announced in 2011, TLG stated their intention to expand into other markets the following year. To explain why this didn't happen, you have to look at the history of the product line.

LEGO MBA was orginally created as a successor to BrickMaster and thus it was structured around a subscription business model. Kit 1 was sold in stores as an introduction but subsequent kits required a subscription. With a subscription, one kit would arrive in the mail every two months. Each kit consisted of a polybag of parts and its corresponding book. TLG learned through feedback that customers would rather have boxed sets. As a result, the subscription model was phased out in favor of boxed sets containing multiple kits. This change in business strategy led to level 3 (kits 7-9) subscriptions being retired earlier this year.

TLG doesn't want to expand into Europe if there are still wrinkles that need ironing out.

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That paddle boat design looks familiar! *oh2*

It's even called Leonardo's boat! They've gone DaVinciPunk! and they even have the gear stop in there! :blush: I didn't even try that. Cool!!

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It was $80 last time it was available earlier this year. I don't see any reason for TLG to change the price now that it has been repackaged. It is a good value if you factor in the value of the books. The boxes are also the same type used for LEGO boardgames so you can use them for storage.

I'm kind of curious about one detail, actually. The old MBA box sets included sorting trays. Will these kits have that too, and if so, will they have larger sorting trays to match the larger box? If so, that could be invaluable. Previously you only got a sorting tray every three kits, yet it was hardly sufficient to store three kits worth of pieces. A larger sorting tray could help with that considerably.

I'd almost worry that the lack of mention or depiction of the sorting trays anywhere on the boxes mean that the sets don't have ANY sorting trays of any kind. But if they kept the fancy, heavy-duty storage boxes, they'd surely have kept the sorting trays as well... right? :look:

There is still a possibility that LEGO MBA will eventually come to Europe and other markets. When the product line was first announced in 2011, TLG stated their intention to expand into other markets the following year. To explain why this didn't happen, you have to look at the history of the product line.

LEGO MBA was orginally created as a successor to BrickMaster and thus it was structured around a subscription business model. Kit 1 was sold in stores as an introduction but subsequent kits required a subscription. With a subscription, one kit would arrive in the mail every two months. Each kit consisted of a polybag of parts and its corresponding book. TLG learned through feedback that customers would rather have boxed sets. As a result, the subscription model was phased out in favor of boxed sets containing multiple kits. This change in business strategy led to level 3 (kits 7-9) subscriptions being retired earlier this year.

TLG doesn't want to expand into Europe if there are still wrinkles that need ironing out.

There's also another logistical issue. Europe has a LOT of languages. And I believe similarly wordy instruction manuals in the past (early 2000s Mindstorms and Studios manuals, specifically) have been translated into local languages rather than simply limited to English. This especially makes sense in the context of the target audience of kids, since while adults in Europe are often multilingual, kids with English as a second language might have a hard time digesting a lot of the material in these manuals. That means a lot of work has to go into prepping these sets for other regions, and consequently a lot of work determining which regions will have enough demand for the product to justify all that work.

Certainly some close-by countries could share a multilingual manual between them. It is common practice, as a matter of fact. But I am not kidding when I tell you that the MBA manuals are fairly thick, and printed on remarkably good-quality paper, and full of text. Since the MBA manuals have building tip callouts and other text on almost every page, it's not even as simple as with the LEGO Architecture sets, in which the majority of the text is in an "introduction" that can be repeated two or three times while the main body of the manual (the building instructions themselves) occurs just once. You'd be at LEAST doubling the thickness of each manual if you wanted it to have the same content in three languages.

So yeah, I'm sure there are a lot of puzzles that the LEGO Group is going to want to sort through before MBA makes it to non-English-speaking regions (Britain and Australia may get them sooner, if TLG decides there's demand in those regions). In the meantime, if you're that interested in having the MBA kits and don't care if they're in English, you may soon be able to buy MBA kits from resellers in the U.S. (now that they're not a one-per-household subscription-based model). And given the well-known discrepancy between U.S. prices and prices in the rest of the world, you may even end up paying less than you would for the localized version of the product. :tongue:

Edited by Aanchir

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Thank you for the comprehensive commentary on the MBA sets - that is really helpful. As I live in the UK I can hope they may release them sooner here but may dip my toes in and try and buy some sets from the USA.

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I just got the 20214 and I am going to get the 20215 as well. I was wondering if there is a PDF of the documents online anywhere?

I like to use my iPad because I can read anywhere (don't have to take the books with me) and I can make things bigger if I need to (kind of like have in a magnifying glass, my vision isn't what it once was).

I just discovered set 20216 which has the robot designer and what am more interested in, the Micro Scale designer. I think these three sets (20214, 20215 and 20216) may be just what I need to help me with learning more for my MOCs.

Any help much appreciated.

Andy D

Edited by Andy D

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I just got the 20214 and I am going to get the 20215 as well. I was wondering if there is a PDF of the documents online anywhere?

I like to use my iPad because I can read anywhere (don't have to take the books with me) and I can make things bigger if I need to (kind of like have in a magnifying glass, my vision isn't what it once was).

I just discovered set 20216 which has the robot designer and what am more interested in, the Micro Scale designer. I think these three sets (20214, 20215 and 20216) may be just what I need to help me with learning more for my MOCs.

Any help much appreciated.

Andy D

If you have the set, it should be easy. On the back of the instruction booklet there should be a seven-digit number. Go to any instruction booklet on the LEGO Customer Service website and replace the seven-digit number in the URL with the one from the back of your booklet, and it should take you to an online version of the manual. It might not work for just-released sets, but it does work for instruction manuals not normally listed at service.LEGO.com, such as MBA manuals or certain extended-line sets.

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Thanks,

Do you mean the URL you get when you request an instruction set that ends in a number xxxxxxx.pdf?

I tried that with all three books in the 20214 set, and no joy. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I will try again later and let you know.

Thanks,

Andy D

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Thanks,

Do you mean the URL you get when you request an instruction set that ends in a number xxxxxxx.pdf?

I tried that with all three books in the 20214 set, and no joy. Maybe I was doing something wrong, I will try again later and let you know.

Thanks,

Andy D

Hmmm, again, could be just that the sets are too new. The instruction booklets are usually not uploaded right away.

But then again, I just tried with one of the Level 3 building instructions and it didn't work. Maybe it's just Level One that they made available in that way.

My suggestion? E-mail Customer Service. They might have a digital copy they can e-mail you. Worth a shot.

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Hmmm, again, could be just that the sets are too new. The instruction booklets are usually not uploaded right away.

But then again, I just tried with one of the Level 3 building instructions and it didn't work. Maybe it's just Level One that they made available in that way.

My suggestion? E-mail Customer Service. They might have a digital copy they can e-mail you. Worth a shot.

Thanks. I just sent an email using the contact form on the LEGO website.

Thanks,

Andy D

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