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WhiteFang

6th Anniversary REVIEW: 31015 Emerald Express

On a scale of 1 to 5   

30 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you rate this set?

    • 1 - Poor
    • 2 - Below Average
      0
    • 3 - Average
    • 4 - Above Average
    • 5 - Outstanding
  2. 2. Which design do you like the most?

    • 1) Emerald Express - main design
    • 2) Rocket Train - alternate design (1)
    • 3) Carriage - alternate design (2)
      0
  3. 3. Which train combination do you like best?

    • 1) Emerald Express combined with carriage
    • 2) Rocket Train combined with carriage
      0
    • 3) All three different designs combined together
  4. 4. How many sets will you buy?

    • 1) 1 or 2 sets will do
    • 2) 3 sets for me
    • 3) More than 4 sets
    • 4) None for me, I will give this a miss


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Hello everyone,

I am very excited to share this review with all of you, More importantly, I just realised that this is my first actual LEGO Creator review that I will be doing even though I have been buying and building LEGO Creator sets. I hope this review will also inspire many others to own this small Creator set and encourage you to buy more than one copy. Without further ado, let's take a train ride to see how good this set really is!

Name: 31015 Emerald Express

Theme: LEGO System / Creator

Year: 2014

Pieces: 56

Minifigs: 0 minifigure

Price: USD $4.99, GBP 4.99, EURO 4.99, SGD $9.90

Resources: Brickset, BrickLink

Climb aboard for fun with this old-fashioned 3-in-1 steam train!

Full steam ahead! The exciting and colorful Emerald Express steam train is packed with detail, from the old-fashioned funnel to the driver’s cab and the bars at the front that push cows out of its way. Moo! When it’s time for a change, you can rebuild it into a fast rocket train or a carriage. Combine with additional Emerald Express sets to create an even longer train!

• 3-in-1 model: rebuilds into a rocket train or a carriage

• Features chunky wheels, funnel, light, cattle bars and a driver’s cab with windows

• Watch out for passing cows!

• Train measures over 2” (7cm) high, 3” (8cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide

• Rocket train measures over 1” (4cm) high, 3” (9cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide

• Carriage measures over 1” (4cm) high, 2” (6cm) long and 1” (3cm) wide

• Combine with additional 31015 Emerald Express sets for an even longer train

An original box image of the 31015 Emerald Express

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Back view of the original box image of the 31015 Emerald Express

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Persuading you to acquire all three same sets to achieve this end-result

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As you look at the back of the box, you notice that this is one of the uncommon features in LEGO Creator sets. Most of the time, LEGO Creators will promote individual '3' in '1' designs based on its own design merit. In this case, the 31015 Emerald Express is also based on the design merit and able to contribute two other alternate designs to form with the primary design. In this image, it is able to show the co-relation and subtly encourage you to acquire more than just one set.

Presenting one of the most beautiful LEGO Creator Mini Set

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I am not exaggerating but this is one of the most amazing and beautiful LEGO Creator Mini set in the small box set size. The sheer design of able to build of these three different designs of your choice with only a total of 56 bricks is pure incredible. I applaud the designer's sheer creativity to put across the combination of these limited amount of bricks to build a Emerald Express, a Rocket Train or a Carriage of your choice.

Without any minifigures presence, this Creator set is able to attract buyers to acquire this set for the design. If you have probably recognise, this Emerald Express is actually form a close resemblance to iconic and popular 10194 Emerald Night train in 2009. Not exactly similar, but the Emerald Express utilise the same colour schema of 'Earth Green' or 'Emerald Green' to build up this set and these colour bricks are very well received among LEGO AFOLs.

The content of the sealed box

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The sealed box comes with two mint packages and an instruction manual to guide the user to build up the set. After the building is completed based on the selected design, the remaining spare parts varies. The amount of remaining spare parts will be shared in the later part of this review after each presented design segment in this review.

Beautiful bricks laid down nicely and ready for building

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Main Design: Emerald Express

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The main design which is known as the Emerald Express measures over 7cm high, 8cm long and 3cm wide. This old steam locomotive is very nice to view and it bear most of the distinct steam train features such as the chimney, driver's cab, bar at the front, etc. This is just nicely done and I think you will agree with me that this set is one classic looking train. You can see some nice details of the Emerald Express in this view and this view. The train chimney also can be adjusted as well.

The completed built of Emerald Express with the remaining spare parts

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Alternate Design (1): Rocket Train

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The first alternate design which is known as the Rocket Train measures over 4cm high, 9cm long and 3cm wide. I am not sure why this is coined as a Rocket Train. It could be due to the front of the train bearing similar rocket front design which is why it was given the name of Rocket Train. I will tend to think that this is quite a modern looking locomotive that does not utilise steam to push the train forward. I could be wrong since I am not really into trains or having sound knowledge in this area too. I personally felt that the design is done nicely and it somehow may even pass off as a rear in the Emerald Express as you can seen in the earlier image. You can see some nice details of the Rocket Train in these several different views as highlighted in here, there, across and over here.

The completed built of Rocket Train with the remaining spare parts

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Alternate Design (2): Carriage

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The second alternate design which is known as the Carriage measures over 4cm high, 6cm long and 3cm wide. This Carriage is just incredible. This design may actually allow you to army build train carriages to cater for either Emerald Express or the Rocket Train which can be accompanied with a row of carriages to carry the passengers. I am not sure how long you will like your train to have but I will personally think that a total of five sections will be pretty impressive. I am sure it will also be fun to be pulling it around. I am confident that one of the main reason why people buy many of these sets is due to army build of carriages.

It happens in Singapore when it was first released in January 2014 and when there is a 20% sales being declared, this small Creator set is one of the few that will no longer be on the shelves. You can see some nice details of the Carriage in these different views as highlighted in here and over here. You can also remove the carriage roof top to reveal what is inside. The designer utilise the 1x1 transparent round yellow flat brick to represent the presence of the train passenger.

All three completed original Creator Designs

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So, what do you think after you see all of the three built original designs? Yes, I actually bought a total of three sets, not because I want to showcase it for this review but because I felt that this Creator set is best represented if you actually acquired all three sets. Most of the other Creator sets, be it big or small, they are actually most likely to be stand-alone. In this case, this can actually be integrated together to your liking and you are actually getting it more to expand the train capacity.

Although this is categorise as a small Creator set and it could not be used for actual LEGO Train sets in City settings since it cannot be placed onto the tracks, but this small Creator set is charming and delightful of a small miniature set that can be much suitable to be placed onto your working table or a display piece in your cabinet. It does not really take up a lot of space as well.

I have also put up a poll to see what type of train variations do you like. It will be fun to gauge what the rest feel. :sweet:

A contrast comparison with Emerald Express and Rocket Train

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Emerald Express combined with carriage

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Rocket Train combined with carriage

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All three different designs combined together

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Moving off to the next station

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LEGO passengers awaiting at the platform

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To conclude, I am very pleased with this purchase and getting more than just one set, is just welcoming. The price tag is not too high and it is affordable to buy this Creator set on impulse despite of the lack of minifigure. You probably interested in this set if you find this train lovely or due to the interest or similar colour scheme of the 10194 Emerald Night.

Summary review

Playability: 8/10 (Interchangeable with the given built designs.)

Design: 10/10 (Top marks for the design, as it able to utilise such a small pool of bricks to form three different original designs in a single related theme.)

Price: 9/10 (Price is very reasonable but it will be best if you can get this during discount even though it may not make much of a huge difference.)

Overall: 9/10 (Top notch small LEGO Creator set and it is not your typical design that you will see often.)

I gave it a "5" based on my Review Score Card. :wink: What about yours?

I hope every one of you enjoyed reading this simple review of mine. Comments and Criticisms are strongly welcomed.

Pictures can be found in My Flickr.

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The set is fairly simple, but your review was most certainly not! Before reading the review, I hadn't given this set a second thought. But now I need to consider getting one for myself because the design is so clever. Well done!

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I loved this set, one of those little indulgences between bigger buys.

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This set pales in comparison to its 2008 counterpart, 4837. This new set is smaller and not as well proportioned, and the omission of the second set of small wheels makes the set less dynamic. The carriage in particular looks out of proportion being so short with such large wheels. The red accents are also unwelcome as they don't tie well with the rest of the set. A step back in my books!

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Nice review Fangy. I did consider getting this set just for the parts at one point, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth it. Your review, however, does show that you can have some fun with this set, especially in multiples. Alrhough I agree with pinioncorp that 4837 was better, despite it's slightly less appealing color scheme, thanks to having a few more parts. The proportions are indeed off in this set, but I think that's what they were going for, a sort of cute chibi look.I definitely like the main model the best.

By the way, your resources links don't seem to be working.

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Great review, great pictures WhiteFang. There's a lot of nice parts in what's a smaller Creator set (bows, technic pins, transparent bricks, radar dishes and a cone, ball/socket elements, 2x2 tile, dark green, multiple different SNOT elements etc.). The build(s) themselves are very charming too - much better in person than on the box. It would be neat if further train sets were produced in this size.

Edited by GregoryBrick

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Thanks guys for your kind thoughts and insight. It is interesting to hear from pinioncorp and Oky from a different perspective. I am no train expert but honestly, I felt the scale was just right. I don't feel that the wheels are too big for the train, but it is a fair comparison with the 4837.

Oky, I have amended the links. Thanks for pointing it out.

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Great review. I was given one by an awesome member of my LUG. I had to MOD some additions for it since it feels like tiny Emerald Night to me.

12240379913_c89edeaf26_c.jpgEmerald Express Additions by dr_spock_888, on Flickr

I think these tiny sets make good loot bag items for kid birthday parties.

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train
dr_spock : awsome!

My kid ( 5 ) instantly asked to build it when he saw the picture.

Do you have a layout, or a part list perhaps ?

I see you changed the coupling from the locomotive to the cart, but it isn't clear which part you used :)

Edited by petuhr

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dr_spock : awsome!

My kid ( 5 ) instantly asked to build it when he saw the picture.

Do you have a layout, or a part list perhaps ?

I see you changed the coupling from the locomotive to the cart, but it isn't clear which part you used :)

I used these parts to joint the engine and the tender due to the height difference. I'm afraid I don't have the train any longer. I gave it to my young nephew who lives in another city. Pretty much all the pieces used are visible in the photo. All current parts, nothing rare. Hope that helps.

Picture%2025375_zpsft1dqjpx.jpg

love the mod with tender and coach.

Thank you.

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I used these parts to joint the engine and the tender due to the height difference. I'm afraid I don't have the train any longer. I gave it to my young nephew who lives in another city. Pretty much all the pieces used are visible in the photo. All current parts, nothing rare. Hope that helps.

Pretty much got it build by now. The only brick i can't seem to place is the one in the tender ( rooftile upside down ? ).

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