Sign in to follow this  
LuxorV

Review Review - 850425 Business Card Holder

How do you rate this set?  

8 members have voted

  1. 1. On a scale of 1-5

    • Poor
      0
    • Below Average
      0
    • Average
      1
    • Above Average
      5
    • Outstanding
      2


Recommended Posts

gallery_6705_157_22742.png

gallery_1771_261_135938.jpg

I've been wanting to get the funny lettered tiles for quite some time now, and this year, with little interest in other theme sets, I decided the time had come to explore this 'Office & School Supplies' section of the LEGO S@H website. I must admit the set did look a bit too colourful and childish at first glance, but the price was good, and it had a nice pieces selection. So, let's see how the set grades fro parts, appearance and 'playability'.

Theme: Gear/Office & School Supplies

Set name: Business Card Holder

Set Number: 850425

Price: 14.99 $, 11.39 £, 12.99 Euro

Pieces: 151 (+ 1 gear)

Minifigures: 2

Year of release: 2012

Build your very own Business Card Holder!

What’s the best way to show off your building credentials? Build your very own Business Card Holder out of LEGO® bricks! The set includes letters plates for building a business card, and 2 minifigures. A great gift for LEGO fans!

• Includes 2 minifigures: boy and girl

• Use the letter plates to build a business card!

• Makes a great gift for LEGO® fans!

• 150 pieces.

Links: Bricklink and Brickset

The Box

Front

gallery_1771_261_152586.jpg

Matching the set name, the box has a pretty clean, business-like design. The almost plain yellow background is split in the upper portion by a wave-y white line which separates the LEGO logo and set name from the rest of the info. I suppose this is a standard box for all countries (contrary to usual sets which have regional differences between NA and European versions); in fact, the set information include age range, pieces count and the words 'Building toy' (in three languages), just like the North American standard. On the other hand, the set number is conspicuously absent from the front of the box, probably due to the fact that this is a 'Gear' set and is sold in a different category from the normal themed ones.

The size of the box is approximately that of a medium-small standard set.

Back

gallery_1771_261_224251.jpg

The back is quite bare as well, with only the set name (in 5 new languages this time; of course, Italian is not there!) and a shot of the minifigs and business card together with the parts callout. LEGO designers really wanted to keep things simple in this design.

Sides

gallery_1771_261_97235.jpg

Not much to say about the sides. The upper one (the only I photographed), sports a 1:1 mug shot of the smirking male minifigure, the LEGO logo and the usual info about production. Apparently parts in this set come from Denmark, Hungary, Mexico and China.

Surprise!

gallery_1771_261_3375.jpg

You may have notice the standard 'Put your finger here to open the box' spot on the back of the box. Well, that's a totally useless addition, as this box comes with not-glued side flaps and can be open normally, without any need to indent the back side. I can only suppose the box designers simply used a common template and did not bother to check the actual product they where working on...

Contents

Inside

gallery_1771_261_39836.jpg

Inside the box, we find three thick polybags, one for the instructions and business card, one of the lettered tiles and one for the other pieces. All the polybags are made of recyclable plastic, but the bigger one includes some more ink for the usual LEGO safety warning in a plethora of languages.

gallery_1771_261_54251.jpg

The parts' selection isn't spectacular, for the normal bricks, but includes ever useful parts in a number of colours.

gallery_1771_261_133661.jpg

Of course, the raison d'etre of this set are the printed tiles, and there's plenty of those!

New pieces

gallery_1771_261_68515.jpg

The new pieces include all the special characters and number tiles (all of which in Black): Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '-' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '.' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '@' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '_' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 0 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 1 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 2 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 3 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 4 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 5 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 6 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 7 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 8 Pattern, and Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 9 Pattern.

I'd also like to notice that , for some reason, the set includes (or, at least, this particular one does) 3 Q tiles, whereas the parts list only shows 2. It's also interesting that you cannot write a whole web address with these tiles, as there are only 2 W there... Maybe next version will include a special 'www.' tile as well.

Instructions

gallery_1771_261_147830.jpg

Upon opening the instructions and card polybag, I felt a rush of nostalgia for the old times, as the instructions 'booklet' is no booklet at all: it's an old style folded sheet. Now, I'm well aware we get plenty of these in polybags of all themes, but I haven't see something like this in bigger sets for a very long time.

gallery_1771_261_131843.jpg

The back of the business card has blank spaces where to write your name, address, e-mail/web address, phone number and (I suppose) birthday.

The instructions have a nice and relaxing light-blue background, almost no pieces call-outs (see next picture) and are easy to read and follow.

gallery_1771_261_212261.jpg

Again, as on the back of the box, the last part of the instructions sheet is dedicated to the parts list.

Minifigures

gallery_1771_261_26117.jpg

Nothing spectacular in the minifigs compartment. These business couple sport some plain overalls, very common in the City theme nowadays and cured bill red caps, probably to give them a window-cleaner or bill sticker look to either make you feel as big boss or movie star. The faces, too, are very common, with the smirking male and soft-eyed, cherry-lips female. Always an useful addition to ones collection, but definitely no news at all.

gallery_1771_261_73964.jpg

The back printing of the torso is no surprise even with such simple designs, nowadays. And, of course, the heads do not sport back printing, since the caps could not cover them.

Building

gallery_1771_261_111074.jpg

We start off by building a sort of small swimming pool-like, tiled box with a rainbow-ish back wall.

gallery_1771_261_55484.jpg

We go up until al the 2x1 and 1x1 coloured bricks have been used, and top both sides with the 1x12 white plates. Do not worry, though: you won't have to look at the mix-matched wall for long!

gallery_1771_261_77911.jpg

In fact, the business card will cover up most of the build and you will be able to rest your eyes on those smiling minifig faces (or your own personal info) for as long as you'll wish.

gallery_1771_261_127283.jpg

Speaking of the two workers, they will have their personal stands to be impaled, well, stand on, while...

gallery_1771_261_67883.jpg

...they'll guard your bill-board yellow 6x10 plate.

Here, I used up all the Es for the first word, so had to resort to a flipped 3 to complete the second word.

Bonus images

Let me introduce myself

gallery_1771_261_51413.jpg

It's quite funny to browse through the tiles to pick up your letters and compose bill-board announcements and such. Just be aware of the limited number of letters at your disposal. Again, I had to resort to a little trick (photoshop, in this case), to complete the second word, having used all the (2) Rs in the glorious Eurobricks name.

I would advise people to buy a second copy of this set if you think you'll need many of the same letter for your compositions.

Final comments

Overall, this is a nice little set, with pretty unique parts and a fine number of more common, ever used bricks and two generic worker minifigs.

Design & Colour scheme – 8/10 (Very well proportioned and efficient. The only con is the somewhat too childish colour scheme, considering the business-oriented look of the set, as shown on the box.)

Minifig – 8/10 (A happy working couple to set up our business card holder and guard the bill-board. Minus points for the very common parts, though.)

Parts – 9/10 (All useful parts here, with the big plus of the printed tiles. The new special characters are an interesting addition, and the letters will be useful in any collection.)

Playability – 6/10 (From an AFOL's point of view, this set is pretty poor in sheer playability. I mean, there isn't even a secret compartment of flick-fire missile! On the other hand, I suppose kids can have lots of fun with the little workers setting up and tearing down the bill-board.)

Build – 6/10 (Very very simple and plain.)

Price – 10/10 (Considering almost half of the parts are printed, this is a very good set price-wise.)

Overall: 7.8/10 Very good

As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome!

If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

logo-academy-v4.png

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wonderful review.

And, ive never seen this set. Now its a must have.

I always wondered where people had gotten those printed tiles i se now and then. I guess they are from here.

Thanks for sharing. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you for the review.

Strange with so many Q's, an extra E would have been better and an extra W.

I have been looking at it so many times, because the letters would be nice to have in a MOC.

Wonderful review.

And, ive never seen this set. Now its a must have.

I always wondered where people had gotten those printed tiles i se now and then. I guess they are from here.

Thanks for sharing. :)

They have it at the LEGO-store in Copenhagen :classic:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you for the review.

Strange with so many Q's, an extra E would have been better and an extra W.

I have been looking at it so many times, because the letters would be nice to have in a MOC.

They have it at the LEGO-store in Copenhagen :classic:

Thats just awesome. Considering that im in there like 2 times a week and havent seen it, must be because im always heading straight for the PAB wall.

Now i need to buy a few of those sets on friday or monday.

Thanks for letting me know. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review! The number of each letter is a bit odd though. I might pick one up, or I may try to get some of those letters loose via bricklink.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good review. I'd wager the lack of a third "w" is because the ".com" tiles are intended not for web addresses, but for e–mail addresses. Still, some of the letter distribution is a bit odd. The third Q is probably just a fluke (easy for extras of small pieces like that to sneak in), but why no third r, s, i, or o?

I also have to wonder if there might be different versions of this set for different markets. I suppose the many languages on the package make that unlikely, but some languages might need different letter distributions or certain letters with special accent marks (the old Key Chain Name Kit notably had a lot of letters common in Danish such as Æ, Ø, Å, etc). Then again, again, maybe the letter distribution is specifically geared towards web addresses, which tend not to use letters not used in English.

All in all, it passes a few of my personal tests: it has enough letters and numbers to spell out my name, my phone number (regrettably, there's only one hyphen and no parentheses or slashes, so I could not separate my phone number and area code with anything but a space), my e–mail address, my deviantART address, or my typical screenname (Aanchir). Spelling out two or more of the above could present issues, but truthfully there's not a whole lot I would need to list as identifiers in any given context. Furthermore there's not a whole lot of space on the "card" — my e–mail address or deviantART alone would each take up at least three lines! That might be a bit of a flaw in the practicality of this, though obviously its primary function is to hold actual paper business cards (which you could print yourself or photocopy from the one provided), and the "brick card" is mainly in case you run out.

Good review of an unusual sort of product!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I too have this set. Bought it last year when I was in Legoland Malaysia. The idea is good, but the lack of letters is of a big disadvantage. I can spell my full name with the letters available since my name only has 10 alphabets but I doubt there is enough letters for typical Malay and Indian names which is very long and includes their father's name as well.

So we have a European product which is suited for the Continental market but not suitable for the Asian market.

Furthermore it is NOT cheap!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good review!

As other posters have pointed out there's a bunch of Q's, J's and K's and seemingly insufficient E's, I's, and O's. The question I've got is about the distribution of letters and I was wondering whether TLG was going to do different local market versions to reflect the different frequency distribution of letters.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You are right Aanchir, there are no Æ, Ø, Å, Æ, Ö or Ä.

If it's for web og e-mail, Æ = AE, Ø = OE and Å = AA, are sometimes used, the sometimes Ø = O, Æ = A. :wacko:

danish is a strange language, some rules and so many exceptions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review. I will definitely be getting one to distribute at the office holiday party, and then probably one or two for myself (for the extra letters) - What I really need to build on my desk is a "cell phone propper upper"

They could also make an "Executive Name Plate" set with larger letters on 2x2 tiles. I'd buy that too!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review! I really think that this does have great MOC potential, just because the letters are useful in putting up signs at stores and the likes. That being said, I know there are easier ways of getting the letters on BL. This actually would be a set I wouldn't mind having!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Excellent review, LuxorV. It is truly a pleasure to read this reviewing coverage as it provide me a lot of insight into this lifestyle set. Personally, I am quite hesitant to pick this up as the price tag in Singapore as I can recall, seem to be a little on the high side. I could be wrong and now I really hope to pick this up locally as soon as I have the time to visit a store here. I will love to construct a name for my own name and it does not hurt to have a few more additional packs too. :sweet:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice review. I have purchased several of these sets for the letters alone, to build signs around my city display. I use one set as a "sign" for in front of my MOCs when display those in shows.

Ralph

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good to see you did the review!

I had prepared one for this set as well, but was too lazy to upload it... :innocent:

Thanks God I didn't do it - yours is soo much better. :excited:

dsc_0016.jpg

There really is a lack of O's!

Some more examples:

dsc_0044.jpg

dsc_0045.jpg

dsc_0046.jpg

dsc_0043.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good review. I picked a few of them for more letters. They are useful for a classroom.

9585022923_d5febf36c7_n.jpg

I wonder if you can add a poll to the review for the "how do you rate this set?"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the review. I'd love to pick one of these sets up, but I also have never really looked in that department of the website, so whenever I place an order I forget to look there. I wonder what the people at work would say if I built a nicer looking one for my business cards.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great review! This set looks worth of getting, though I doubt whether I'll ever see it on a store in Finland. Those letter pieces would be useful in MOCing.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.