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Name: 75252 Imperial Star Destroyer Theme: Star Wars UCS Year: 2019 Pieces: 4784 Price: US $699.99 – CA $849.99 – DE €699.99 – UK £649.99 – FR €699.99 – DK 5299DKK --$1099.99 AUD Resources: Lego.com | Bricklink | Brickset Hello everyone and welcome to another review! This time around, I'll be stretching the limits of what my photo setup is capable of with one of the largest Lego sets ever, the UCS Star Destroyer 2.0! Following on the heels of the monumental UCS Falcon 2.0, Lego once again gives us a massive UCS set that breaks everyone's display space and wallets alike. I think many will agree that the Falcon is a crowning achievement of Lego, it's a massive set with a parts count to back it, and an unreal level of detail. Does the Star Destroyer follow in the Falcon's footsteps? Does it improve upon it's lineage in the Lego Star Wars brand? Let's find out. And before we begin, a massive thank you to The Lego Company for sending this our way to review. While the set was provided, I all opinions are of course, my own, and I will do my best to view this from the "is this worth $700 angle." The Box Front Similar to the Falcon, we are presented with a massive square box to contain the ~13 pounds of plastic hidden inside. The front is very simple, with a nice, clean banner depicting the UCS brand and a striking photo of the Destroyer itself. Usually when I get these review copies of sets they are the European packaging, and I have not seen this set in store yet here in the US, so I am not sure what additional details or warnings may be on the US one Back The rear showcases other angles of the ship, showing the rear, the top, bridge, and small hangar underneath. Again, very little in the way of warnings or anything, just a slew of nice photos of the set. Side 1 I won't show every side of the box since they get a little repetitive, but this side shows a nice shot of the underside of the star destroyer, something I really don;'t have a great way of doing in this review. Also note the the tape on the box indicates NOT to cut on this side. We will see why shortly. Side 2 Here's the side that should be opened, which showcases a neat outlined version of the ship, a size comparison to the Tantive IV, and the included minifigures. Opening the box As I said a moment before, the tape indicated which side of the box to open- doing so presents us with another sketch style image of the ship, this is the box containing the massive manual. People who experienced the UCS falcon will be familiar with this for sure. Inner boxes Removing the instructions box reveals the four smaller boxes, in typical large-set fashion, all filled the the brim with parts. The boxes aren't numbered, rather you go by the profession of the sketchy on the boxes- the topmost part of the ship is the first box, for example. However.... that doesn't really matter. The bags inside the boxes are numbered 1-19, but at random points in the build you'll need to use some extra large plates that are in unnumbered bags in boxes 3 and 4. So during the first few step of the build, you'll need to get parts from three of the boxes. Minifigures I'll talk about the part count and whatnot later on in this review, but here's the first point of conflict with this set- the mini figures. In the past, many UCS sets including the original Star Destroyer did not come with minifigures. Now however, we are getting figures in sets like this and the UCS falcon. This presents two issues. This is a $700 set, and including cool, exclusive mini figures in the set could make it worth it to the people buying the set. But, people who are interested in the figures but not the set, are stuck behind a $700 price wall. On the flip side, if the mini figures in the set are relatively uninteresting, then the people not interested in the set aren't missing out, but people buying the set may feel ripped off. This set... falls in the middle. it certainly has less figures than the UCS falcon, and while they are new and exclusive, they aren't exactly the most exciting figures, and they are more of troop builders, "battle pack" material as many have said. So people who wish to troop build these figures are stuck behind that price wall, and people who buy the set certainly aren't getting a slew of figures unlike the Falcon. A lose-lose situation, perhaps. The figures themselves look good enough, but personally I would have enjoyed some "filler" - Stormtroopers, A Vader with red eyes, etc. Omitting a Vader figure was probably the biggest shock I had with this set honestly. The Manual Before we get to the actual set, let's take a quick moment to talk about the manual. Its massive, equally as massive as the Falcon's manual. It's spiral bound, it's almost as wide as the box when closed, and similar to many large scale sets and IDEAS sets, there are numerous pages at the start of the manual that talk about the design, lore and history of the set. One page that I found pretty fun was the one photographed above, a feature on many of the previous incarnations of Star Destroyers, starting with the original UCS set that this one replaces. Sticker Sheet Just one sticker for the set, the infographic that is standard for UCS sets. Tantive IV The small Tantive IV included in the set is pretty good, I would say "par for the course" when it comes to polybag-sized builds. The shaping is done well, and I'd say it about as nice as the old one included with the original Star Destroyer, maybe a little better in certain areas. It's a fun extra to get. The Build: Phase 1: Stand First we build a simple stand that displays the infographic and minifigures. It's.. alright. It's definitely nothing special, and honestly it's hard to see this stuff once the SD is built due to how much more the ship overhangs over the stand. But it holds the ship up perfectly well. Do note however that it's bolted in to the technic frame, you cannot simply remove the ship from the stand- the larger pieces on top of the ship can be removed and allow you access to the inside to remove the axles and take the ship off the stand, but it's not the simplest process. The Build: Phase 2: Frame Now we begin the most critical part of this set, it's frame. This is an interesting process, you can see it's essentially a T-shaped frame surrounded by a triangle. Unlike the UCS Falcon though, this frame doesn't feel very sturdy at first. The more you add on the the build, the more the frame pulls together and strengthens under the weight of the set. We will see more of this later, but here's the perk- due to the relatively unobtrusive frame, the interior of the ship is damn near hollow, and that provides plenty of opportunity for interior work if you so desire. I know I'll certainly be doing such enhancements to my own copy. Note that you also start some greeble work on the sides- it's the same thing on both sides mirrored. The Build: Phase 3: Bottom Panels https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48721109467_765b6c8e4b_c.jpg[/img Okay so here's the part of the review where I say "get ready to do this, a lot." From here on out, a god portion of the build involves a lot of gray panels, colorful pieces to hold them together, and a variety of greebles, especially roller-skate pieces, cheese slopes, and 2x1 grills. Connecting The original UCS SD utilized magnets to achieve the angled shape of the ship. But, those have not held up well over time. This time around the connections are two fold. First, there are small mixes-sized ball joints that connect the flat edge of the panels to the outermost edges of the frame. Second, you mount the bottom of the panels to technic axles, as you can see in this photo. The overall structure is definitely better than the magnets, but not without its issues. Shield Array / Docking bay Here we have some further constructs for the underside of the ship. Nice in design, though very difficult to see with the display base Lego provided. I do really love that simple TIE Fighter build. The Build: Phase 4: Rear Next we build up the rear of the ship. Gone are the days of the large gray tires; this time around we use barrels and the large cockpit halves that originated with the Falcon. I'm okay with this choice, they aren't as obtrusive as pictures made them seem. The one issue is the three "flaps" on each one- the two angled flaps on each are very loosely connected. Bottom half done Here we have the bottom panels and rear of the ship done. As I said earlier, you can see here just how hollow the inside of the ship is allowing for plenty of creative changes later on. Also, while the ship is built at an angle, the front set of panels and the rear set all line up perfectly. What does this mean? Well, on it's own, there is more give to the bottom panels than I would like, but it' easy enough to add additional support to keep all of these large panels together. The Build: Phase 5: Top Panels Next we start the top panels. There's a few differences here, especially with the nice rotating turrets you construct but there's a lot of similar techniques at play as the bottom of the ship. One interesting this is that the panels do not utilize all of the balljoint sockets along the frame unlike the bottom. Why did lego have us put them there? Why not use them for more stability? The Build: Phase 6: Bridge Next up we start on the bridge which uses some interesting techniques, though ultimately its a frame that you add a bunch of angled gray plates with greebles onto, similar to the rest of the set. Another important thing to note here is this is the final stage of pieces really locking in to the frame. Everything beyond this point is only loosely connected, to allow you to easily remove the pieces so you can carry the set by its frame. The advantage here is this allows easy access to removing it from its stand, and also for you to work on an interior if you desire. Final constructs Heres a few shots of the last thing you build. Notable things here are the greeble work and the interesting angles they used. Completed set Once you place that last piece In place, you have to just sit back and take in how massive this set truly is. And then you remember you need to find a place to display this monster, and you quickly realize the space you had planned out isn't large enough. Profile Shot I'm letting photos do most of the talking, and I'll talk in full at the end of this review. But one major improvement over the previous Star Destroyer is the proportions, from the profile shot here we can see just how well the shaping has been captured. Rear I do love the detailing back here. I think this area has the most issues with proportions, the area between the edges of the big thrusters and the outermost part of the ship should be longer, but it's not a critical issue. Top Down View Size Comparison Here's a size comp with the only other "UCS" set I have, the Tumbler. Yeah, this thing is gigantic in comparison. Random Detail Shots (Note that the array can be angled up or don on top) Conclusion $700 is a big price tag for any Lego set, It’s more than double most of the previous Star Destroyer sets, and sits only $100 below the UCS Falcon. At only 4.7k parts, it’s also significantly lighter in parts and minifigure count to that Falcon. But the parts it does come with include a variety of large plates, and it’s completed size and weight are very comparable to its slightly more expensive rival. But we have to look at this set in many other angles to truly understand it’s value I have seen countless comparisons to both the original UCS SD, as well as the more recent UCS Falcon 2.0. In truth, there are many ways that this set is a better value, and many ways that it is a worse value. In my opinion, the target audience for this set has already been carved out. In fact, I almost question the value in a review of this set being posted because, well, I think you’ll make up your mind pretty quickly on this one. If you are buying this set, then you are a huge fan of Lego Star Wars and specifically this ship. It’s not a casual set you’ll pick up for the building experience like a UCS Slave II or Sand Crawler, and it’s not the flagship set title that the Falcon has laid claim to. It’s a massive wedge with engines. It’s gray. VERY gray. The building experience is, unique and fun, but at points it can definitely feel repetitive. Other than techniques used to achieve the bizarre angles of the set and a few neat techniques in the bridge and engine, the building experience is rather straightforward. Compared to the original UCS SD, this set feels more stable, and not relying on magnets will be beneficial in the long term. It’s a more accurate shape and silhouette than that original set, and of course takes up a larger footprint, if that is your thing. If you have the original SD, do I recommend this one? While I do not have that set in hand now, I will say it has held up remarkably well design wise. While not quite as accurate as this one nor as large, it’s still a really good set, and unless you can pull a big profit in selling that one to fund this one, I have a hard time recommending making the switch. It’s bigger it’s slightly more accurate. It’s likely a little more sturdy than that old model. But has enough changes occurred since that old model? Eh, I’d say that old set is still very good and still very competitive to this one, if you already have it or somehow snipe it at a great price I would say the upgrade from the Falcon 1.0 to the 2.0 is a more worthy upgrade than the SD 1.0 to SD 2.0, for whatever that’s worth. But, if you do not have that previous set, there is a lot of fun to be had here. I’ve never built a set this large before, and everyone who has seen it completed so far has been wow’d at its massive size. If I had shelled out the $700 for this, I think the biggest value for me comes from it’s display value and that wow factor it draws in. Here’s the thing- it has some fun bits in its build, but had this set been 30% smaller, I anticipate it would still have largely the same techniques. The size does not offer much to the build, but rather the size itself is where the value comes from. There is a sense of satisfaction to this set, it feels like you own a prop of this ship used in the film almost. But it’s not without its flaws- for $700, the minifigures are questionable. The interior is hollow, and I feel this space either could have been used for an interior, or for further support to the set. Luckily, this space will allow you to mod to your hearts content. Plus, there are a LOT of studded surfaces, and to some this may make the set feel unfinished when compared to the Falcon or some of the great MOCs posted here on the boards. It’s understandable, since tiling over all of these plates would prove almost impossible given the way it was constructed, and I can only image the price if they had tried to smooth the surface out. And in real life, the gray studded surfaces look smoother than in the harsh lighting of CGI and photos. To summize, a lot of the issues that you may have with the set are either easily fixable or aren’t necessarily such a big deal. I plan to make many mods to this set, but even without them, I think the finished product is fitting of its price tag when I look at the other elements of this set beyond its part and minifigure count. If you have the previous incarnation of the set, I don’t know that it’s worth upgrading to this set, but rather taking steps to mod and update your old copy. If you are simply looking for a massive, fun Lego experience, I would personally say the Falcon is a more enriching experience and carries a more unique color scheme to boot, whereas this ship is for an even more diehard audience. But if you love Star Destroyers, love collecting massive sets, or simply want to find something that will challenge your display space, this set is the one for you. Again, a massive thank you to LEGO for providing this. I was very young back in the early 2000s and sets like the UCS SD were something I dreamt of owning. It has been a fantastic experience to build this set and it looks ridiculously awesome on display. I can’t wait to see what everyone does with this set, and what LEGO does next to further push the limits. Thanks for reading! Please be sure to leave your comments below and vote in the poll, we share this valuable feedback with LEGO and this is a great chance for your thoughts to be relayed.

Star Wars is a poor point of comparison because it is not a Hasbro property, it's Lucasfilms. The market may have been dominated by hasbro & their acquisition of Kenner at one time, but as SW has grown, so too have the massive number of companies that LF licenses with, Lego and even Mattel included, it is not really accurate to compare pre and post Lego SW as many other brands entered the marketplace around that time . Assuming this post has a fragment of source to back it up, sure Hasbro may have come to the conclusion that partnering with Lego was detrimental previously, but there is a reason companies invest in continual research; things change. Hasbro has been heavily diversifying lately, especially in products that may not necessarily be competitors to their own. For example, Threezero makes high quality non-transformable figures with diecast, impressive paint and articulation, and higher price tags. If these figures could transform, then there would be an issue, as these would be in competition to Hasbro's masterpiece line of figures. However, by partnering with Threezero in this capacity, they suddenly attract the consumers such as myself who prefer high end collectibles like Hot Toys, Sideshow etc, that do not necessarily want the transformation hindered toys that Hasbro produces. By comparison, brick built Transformers aren't going to cannibalize Hasbro's sales. Using the example above, the sale of a brick built Optimus prime is not likely to replace the potential sale of an assembled Optimus toy. Someone who has a TF Generations collection is not going to replace a figure with a brick built alternative that is visually completely different. Someone who enjoys buildable figures but not typical action figures, though, may enjoy the Lego figure more, gaining Hasbro a sale that they wouldn't have captured through their normal toylines. They themselves produced three different buildable series (BTR, Kreo, ConstructBots) that spanned 9 years, it is quite clear their research proved that there was untapped market potential in the buildable figures area. But Hasbro does not have the patents, the infrastructure, the engineering, and most importantly the marketing and branding (keep in mind what I am talking about here is within the buildable figures market, specifically, this is very important to distinguish.) Partnering with Lego provides a lot of advantages in these areas and if this relationship is real, it's likely that the savings Hasbro can realize from outsourcing buildable figures to Lego is worth the profits they are seeking from this market - meaning this: Would Hasbro make as much money on the sale of a Lego Optimus set as they would if they created their own in-house buildable Optimus? On the surface, the income of an in-house product goes directly to Hasbro. But how much did they have to spend on creating that product that is fundamentally different from anything else they create? How much do they have to spend to get people to search "KreO" over Lego? What about shelf space? I never saw Kreo in stores, and even Mega Construx is fighting to gain more space after many years. And while many people in the company are talented at making a figure convert from a car to a robot, it's not likely that Hasbro has the knowledgebase to engineer figures that could transform effectively, stay durable, and survive other playtesting that companies like Lego already invest heavily in within its workforce.

The idea isn’t far fetched to me. LEGO already licenses out the Transformers brand to other companies for things that they don’t produce in house. Threezero, Prime 1 Studio, etc. So it makes sense to me that they would consider licensing to LEGO since they’ve tried many previous attempts at buildable transformers (BTR, KreO, and ConstructBots) but none have stuck in the long run. plus as some people have mentioned elsewhere, LEGO already has a relationship developed with Hasbro, there is some sort of Peppa Pig stuff that’s sold at LEGO parks or something so it’s not the most unbelievable rumor IMO

Hello everyone and welcome to a special review of a Lego-compatible product! Today, we will be looking at two of the hundreds of products available on www.lightailing.com, Lightailing sells a wide selection of LED lighting kits that are specifically created to work with Lego sets from a variety of different themes, sizes, etc. They were kind enough to send me some kits to review (though as always, any product I review is of my own opinion.) In particular, I wanted to take a look at two kits for some of the modular buildings series, as I believed these have quite a bit of lighting elements to take a look at given the size & complexity of these sets. The two kits in particular can be found at the below links: Light Kit For Assembly Square 10255 Light Kit For Bookshop 10270 Also, Lightailing has been generous enough to provide us with a discount code! If you use the promo code "eurobricks" at checkout, you will get an additional 20% off! Boxes As you can see, we will actually be looking at two different brands of kits in this review; BriksMax LED kit for the Bookshop, and Lightailing's own kit for Assembly square. Both sets come in a similar style box that is easy to open and can be used to store items later on. BricksMax Contents Upon opening the BricksMax kit, you can see the instructions, a user guide/warranty card, as well as a bubble wrapped package containing the various LED elements. Instructions The instructions for this kit are very clear and easy to follow. The instructions show you when pieces need to be removed, they call out specifically what elements you need for that particular step, and they use icons to help you understand the action that is taking place during that particular step (such as if you are being directed to insert the write though a Lego piece, as exemplified in this photo. Contents This kit contains 10 smaller packets, each containing a variety of elements from wires to connectors and adhesive strips. Some Lego elements are also included such as 1x6 plates and 1x1 studs that assist with the build process, these pieces are legitimate Lego brand elements. Also included are two large packages containing a replacement street lamp (more on this later) and the battery pack. Tree Lighting I won't go over every single element included in these kits as that would take far more than a simple review can show: but to show you some examples, here you can see the lighting elements needed for the tree. The LEDs are connected to wires with a connector at the end. Again, the studs were included with the kit. Lighting the tree is a simple process: you fish the wire though and open stud, and then cap it off with one of the 1x1 trans studs to hold it in place. It's very easy to do, and the results you will soon see are very bright and effective. Each wire eventually plugs into a power strip, as you can see here. The strip uses two small adhesive tiles to stick on to the back of the tree. it's worth noting that the entire system of lights for this kit are all linked together. So you can see here that the end result of this system is one single wire coming from the tree... ...which travels under the street and into another panel within the building itself. The circuit then continues from here. I am sure that my photos will only demonstrate a portion of this process, but again it's really quite clear to follow and will make sense in-hand. Room Lighting Here is an example of how the interior rooms of the building are lit up. As mentioned, the kit includes some 1x6 tiles, these are what the adhesive LED strips will be mounted to the underside of. Here you can see the completed unit mounted. Again, the circuit that started with the tree is connected though to here in one end, and the other end will go upstairs to to the next floor. Once you have wired up one side of the building, the wires are then carried over to the next side of the building. An important comment here is that once you fully wire this kit together, these two halves of the buildings will need to stay connected together, as the wiring interlocks them together at this point. Lamp Post The kit includes an entirely new lamp post that is already pre-wired. (Both kits features here do this.) Battery Pack The kit provides you with two differing options for how you can power the lights. You can light them using a USB, or you can mount a battery pack which takes three AA batteries. For my setup here, I chose to plug in the battery pack, which fits pretty snugly underneath the windowsill. Completed Bookshop Lighting The kit gives the set a wonderful glow when complete. I will show more detail in the following pictures, but something I would like to highlight is that they use different shades of light in different rooms; for example on the left you have a brighter white light in the book shop, but a warmer light in the rooms above. This adds some great realism to the set, as in real life you will often see different colors of light shown through rooms of a building. The lighting continues back here with all of the rooms being lit up. I should mention that the small crawlspace does end up being restricted, due to the tight wiring it may be tough to access this area once fully wired up. The battery box that I used for my setup is noticeable, but you could easily dress this up given the amount of studs around it with some plant life, or treat it as a generator/power box that one may find near a building. The buildings immediately feel warmer and more lifelike. You can truly see more details inside of these rooms that otherwise are hidden in darkness. You can see a few examples of the wires that run up the wall, they are quite small and not too noticeable, and again I think realistically it's not uncommon to have some wiring visible in places. Ultimately I think the kit does a good job of hiding these as best as possible (and the great thing of Lego is that you can always rebuild or find new ways to hide the wiring, if you choose.) The orange porch lights add quite some life to this little entranceway, and I love how the light shines through the clear plates above the door. Some of these details really are normally quite hard to see in the set once it's built, but with the light kit you can see them clearly, such as the nicely detailed grandfather clock here. Lightailing kit Next we will move on to the Lightailing kit. The same general idea behind what this kit does is present, but the execution of the kid does differ in some ways as you will see. Instructions The instructions are pretty similar to the Bricksmax kit, the main difference being that they don't call out which specific elements you need. This is because, as you will see below, the kit is organized in steps rather than in separated elements. Contents 8 bags of elements are included. You can see here that each step is numbered, so unlike the Bricksmax kit you will not be selecting elements from multiple bags at once. Step 1 Elements Two more differences can be observed here. First, the ceiling lights are already mounted to plates, rather than you adhering them separately. Second, this set is not built on one continuous circuit, but rather each step is it's own circuit that ends with a USB plug at the end. Step 2 Elements The Step 2 pieces show you another difference, the lights are all built directly into Lego pieces. So, rather than having a small light that fits into a stud as we saw previously, these ones are wired up from the start. Wiring up the coffee shop The wires themselves are also a bit different. Rather than being the twisted wires as seen in the Bricksmax kit, these ones are single wires, meaning they are thinner and thus easier to fish between plates. The counter to this is that there are mores overall to need to manage. Wiring the other side Okay so this set is one solid piece that does not split apart at the baseplates, so this comment in particular won't apply to this set, but in general is good to know: Unlike the Bricksmax kit, since each "building" has lights that are on their own circuits, it's feasible that you could split the buildings apart at their baseplates while retaining the lighting. Battery Box The power hookups are a little different here also. First, all of the USB ports we saw previously will connect to this unit. You can then either directly plus that in to a USB power source, or you can hook it up to the battery box, again which takes three AA batteries. The battery box features studs on one side and anti-studs on the other, so it's easy to build in to your layout or hide away with details. Wiring Complete I know this looks a little messy at first; Bear in mind that I needed to keep this all contained and easy to showcase in this review. However, if you have this building in a tabletown layout, you have plenty of wiring here that you can use to route this to an easy-to-reach and well-hidden area. After this review, I'll be spending more time to tidy up and hide away the wires, but you get the general idea of what you have to work with here. Completed Kit Similar tot he Bookshop, the finished kit for Assembly square is simply striking. In addition to what we've seen before, we have some other neat elements here such as illuminated shop signs (the coffee cup and roses), and a color-changing fountain. The fountain was a really neat surprise as I had no idea that the fountain would cycle through colors until having it in hand. You can see a video demonstrating this feature below. Additionally, the set features a few other items of note including light-up signs (the coffee cup and roses). From a rear view, we can see again that a majority of the set is lit up, the main exception being the bathroom on the upper left (which you likely wouldn't always have a light on in anyway). If I could make any improvement here, I would have enjoyed some form of string lights up on the outer patio of the apartment to add some nightlife to that area. As we head down to the cafe and this well-mannered dog, we notice some excellent exterior lighting. In comparison to the Bookshop, this set has a larger street scene, and many more exterior lights, and this lighting kit does a great job in capturing all of those pieces. The awnings on my set aren't set quite as straight as you could likely manage, though keep in mind that anytime you have wiring going between Lego bricks there will always be an unavoidable gap. The lighting not only lets you see the details of the interior and minifigures better, but also how dusty my set is! Even the skylight on top serves new purpose during darker settings. I mentioned this with the bookshop, but I do love the contrasts between light colors, for example the warm orange glow under the awnings contrasting with the bright white interior of the florist shop. Side note, but you may have noticed I've added a few smaller details into these setups, but no major changes were made to the sets overall. This dentistry sign is a detail I really forgot about, given it's placement and dark backing under normal circumstances, but it comes to life with this kit as you'd expect. Now the real question remains, who will make mini LED kits for these micro Lego builds?? Here we have both kits together. This was an important observation for me - if you are completing a modular city layout and you want to light up all of your builds, chances are you may end up with both Lightailing and BricksMax kits. How do they look together? Overall, I'd say they go very well. Both kits have equal emphasis on the kinds of details they light up, and both kits vary the lighting used to make the sets more realistic. I did notice the lamp posts on the BricksMax kit are slightly more yellow compared to Lightailing, but I consider this accidental realism (as in the real world, as lightbulbs are replaced/age, their colors may vary.) Both also have very bright lights 9and keep in mind that batteries as I used here tend to be dimmer, but I have no complaint about the brightness). Both kits absolutely enhance the experience of owning a modular building by allowing you to truly see the details inside, and turning simple things such as lamposts and 1x1 stud lights into glowing, atmosphere inducing elements. Both kits were pretty easy overall to install, with no special knowledge needed. I'd say that both kits pretty much equally place limitations on your builds (taking floors apart becomes more difficult, some tiles don't sit flush, etc.) I find these limitations to be feasible to work with, as in my opinion modular sets like these are true display pieces, and these kits serve to enhance that aspect of the sets. The one key difference between this kits is in how they are wired. The BricksMax kit is very self contained and runs on one single circuit, which as mentioned does limit the ability to split the building in half. The Lightailing kit uses numerous circuits and longer wires, which allows for more modularity and gives you more to work with when it comes to hiding the battery box (plus the battery box actually has studs/anti studs on it), though of course at first it may be a bit messier to deal with in comparison. So, each has it's ups and downs. Ultimately, I can't say that either one setup is superior to the other, this will completely depend on your preference, but I believe both are executed quite well. Last we come to the price, which is 56.99 USD for the Assembly Square kit, and 51.99 USD for the Bookshop kit. I do think these prices are fair, they give you a decent amount of stuff, it's packaged well, the final effect is truly set enchancing, and for expensive sets like these, I think it's a worthy addition to make. Plus, as mentioned above, you can use the promo code "eurobricks" at checkout and get 20% off, which makes these and even better value at those prices. Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you have any further questions on these kits.

Hey all, As Captain Nemo mentioned a few days ago, in the interest of mitigating spoilers related to Spider-Man: No Way Home, this thread will now be locked until December 20th, upon which we will kickstart the 2022 themed discussion. Thanks everyone!

Great review of a pretty meh set. It's unfortunate that after so much growth with 2021's Mclaren that we take such a severe step backwards in engineering for this year's releases at this scale. As far as pullbacks go, I do think it's nice to have a launch control feature here and does increase the playability surrounding such a set, and likely is something that'd be more difficult to implement at the lower price range. With that said, I think ultimately they should have endeavored to include these functions in a creator expert car - the looks of this set are okay, but as always they suffer because of the limitations of technic shaping, yet we don't have the features to excuse such a car being build with those limitations. it's quite unfortunate to not even have the "mini" piston builds that previous sets in this scale have utilized, especially in conjunction with the pullback motors.

Have you tried visiting the accessory section of their website? They have a bunch of elements available to purchase individually and tailor to your set or MOC however you'd like. In my opinion part of the price is definitely in the convenience/ease of putting the elements together. I've dabbled with LEDs for other non-LEGO projects and those typically involve wire twisting, shrink wrap etc, which are cheaper on an individual level but aren't quite as user friendly as I found these kits to be. Value is always up to your own preference but that's personally where I found some of the justification myself.

I am happy to present that this review is now live for viewing!

Not sure if it exists or not, but a decal set on my wishlist is for the Zebra Batman minifigure (based on the comic con version). Shouldn’t be too bad overall, if I ever do it myself I’ll update this post. I figure I’d have to customize a white cowl and would need to use an alternate material cape, other than that it’s pretty basic I’d think

That iron man buildable figure definitely interests me - I’m curious to see what else this spawns. More buildable figures in a similar scale? More Iron Man suits?Also wasn’t that rumored UCS Hulkbuster supposed to be massive, maybe this will integrate with it? I can’t say I love how it looks, but will be interested to see what the intentions are with this one. I agree with others that I would LOVE to see a Sentinel based on this platform, I would absolutely ride that wave. (also, is that a 4th gen ball socket piece that I spy? Is that new?)

Great review Jim! Im not really a sports fan (and being in the US my knowledge is a bit further removed from these stadiums), but I must say I am highly disappointed seeing photos of this set. It’s that same repetitive build style of Old Trafford and the Colosseum (all three are made by the same designer and honestly it shows). It’s a decent enough finished product, but these sets feel soulless to me at this point.

Thank you! Yes, that is definitely one issue I've faced with this one and I've seen some others call that out as well. For myself I will admit it doesn't bother me, I've never minded awkward proportions as Bionicle characters don't necessarily need to follow human proportioning. But with that said - I have a feeling you will much prefer the look of Gali when I reveal her as she has much narrower shoulders. However, due to the design of these shoulder pads, there are definitely some issues, as bringing the shoulders closer in like she will have causes them to collide with the edges of the chest armor when rotating the arms forward It's also worth noting that these shoulder pads do not allow much for outward arm extension, given they cover the top of the socket piece. I'll be doing a more thorough review of some of these commonly used 3D elements when the team is all assembled, but there's some initial thoughts.

Section 1 is about 17 inches, section 2 is about 15 inches, and section 3 is about 20.5 inches. (Though bare in mind that when you take the third section off, the internal engines stick out a bit - they add an additional 2.5 inches, so the third section could be a max of 23 inches

Set Number: 42105Set Name: CatamaranPieces: 404Price: $49.99 USD | 49,99 € | £44.99 | $89.99 Links: Lego.com | Bricklink | Brickset Hey and welcome to my review of the Catamaran, set 42105. This is definitely the most unique set in the 1HY 2020 lineup, and is to my memory the first Technic set on floating hulls. What unique features does this set have? Is it worth dropping $50 on? Let's take a look. Thanks to Lego for providing this set; as with all these 1HY reviews, the opinions here are my own and not those of Lego. Plus, with reviews like these, I really want photos to speak for themselves as ultimately, only you can decide your own opinion of a set. The Box Front The front of the box is one of the most striking from this range, it's a vertical box, and the bright blue and green colors of the set really pop. We can see the 2-in1 advertised, as well as the true savior of a boat set, "BOAT FLOATS." Rear The back of the box showcases the various set functions which we will take a look at shortly. The B model is also shown, it's possibly one of my favorite looking B models of this wave, though we will have to wait until instructions are available to get a true look at this. Once available, photos will be added to this review. Sails Here's the sails before they have been removed from their sheet. The sails are an interesting material, they sort of remind me of a thick vinyl-like material. They are sturdy, but still provide a lot of flexibility. Hull Here's a look at the hull, we get two included in the set. There two sets of 1x3 technic holes at the top as you can see, plus another 1x3 on the rear. Open For ease of cleaning and draining water, the hull can be opened like so The Build Beginning As we begin the build of the scaffold, we start the foundation for most of the set's functions. You can see two different cranks, these will control the direction of the sails, plus a gear at the back. Front Sail mount Here we begin to set up the front sail, you can see how the crank on the right will be used to rotate the front sail left to right. Dagger Boards Next we start building the constructs that will mount the hulls to the scaffold, and as well we build the function for the dagger boards. Mounted to hull Here we can see what the previous construct is for. If you turn the crank, the dagger boards can be dropped further below the hull. Mounted Here's everything together, mounted extremely securely as you would expect from a Technic set. Rudders Here's the rear rudders mounted. Mast Here we build the mast, the long axle construct will allow the rear sail to turn. Mast mounted Once the mast is up, you really get a feel for just how big this set is. Yeah, the sails are thin and the width is mostly the hulls, but it still takes a lot of real estate. Finished set Here we are, the finished set. A couple of notes, first, this set doesn't have any stickers. There is some good color variation here, and the graphics on the sails really help to keep the set visually interesting. Also, I have to say, it's a little difficult to get decent photos of this thing, mostly because of those dagger boards and rudders; you really have to have them lined up perfectly in order for this thing to stay upright, otherwise it'll fall forward. Rear Here's a view at the back, there's nothing really noteworthy here, other than seeing all of the cranks and gears used for the sets functions. Side View From this angle you can see what I mean about those pieces underneath. Unless you have this in water, it's always going to "float" like this, about an inch off the ground. Rudders and rear sail The function here is self explanatory, you turn the gear, it moves the rudders, the cool thing about this is that the white technic beam is essentially 'floating", it's held on by numerous 1x1 beams and so it's able to easily slide around when you turn the gear. You can also see that the rear sail will turn left or right, this is controled by the rear crank on the right. Front sail Similarly, the front sail can turn with the opposite crank. Detail view Here's another shot just to give you a view of one of the cranks that will move the dagger board up and down. It's tough to demonstrate in photos, so here is a video of these function- Overall In terms of a building experience, I think this was my favorite of the 1HY 2020 models (except for the Crane and Rally car, since I am not reviewing those ones). It's unique, and the functions you build here all serve their purpose very well. The set has a fantastic color scheme, it's got a convincing look, and the final size of the set is pretty large overall; 404 pieces for $50 isn't as good of a deal on paper as the Stunt Truck and Bike which is priced the same, but you get two large floating hulls and those sails to make up for it. With that said, the set feels like it needs to be in water. On land, some of it's functions like the dagger boards, are relatively useless all things considered. It's a fun set, but like many of these, one with a limited audience, I think. Stay tuned for a review of the B model, when available. Also, I'd like to take some photos of this thing in a more natural, outdoor element in the water... but that'll need to wait a while, since it's currently winter in Michigan.

Here you go! Hope this is what you needed. Ah gotcha - eh, it's hard to say. On one hand, I would have no issue if Lego used matching interior colors, I enjoy the process of searching through the parts I need and investigating where they need to go. On the other hand, you are pouring out 200+ pieces in every set of numbered bags - I often keep in mind that these LEGO For Adults sets aren't just aimed at AFOLS; they are also aimed at adults who are fans of these things (in this case, ships/shipbuilding/The Titanic), but who may not have much experience building Lego. So I can also see why these crazy interior colors is still used as it can make the building experience easier. Yep that is correct, it's 33.75 inches by my measurement (measuring from the outermost edges of the stands)

Sorry, I saw your question on my review thread but have been busy the last few days, I will work on getting photos of the inventory pages tonight

Super interested to see the buildable Iron Man. I know the going rumor is brick built, but that could very well pave the way for a potential brick-built replacement potential for a future of constraction themed characters. Wishful thinking I’m sure, but definitely looking forward to seeing it

Thank you everyone for your kind comments! I am glad that you have all enjoyed this review. Hmm, not sure I understand your question fully; are you referring to how it uses quite a bit of basic stacked-bricks? I have to say I was definitely surprised that there was so little Technic in here, but the build certainly makes for a sturdy final product. I think the internal structures of these super sized sets generally tend to be much more hollow than I would expect, though I do like that it leave potential room for people to modify the interiors more if they so choose. Height: 17.5 in. (44cm), Width: 6 in. (16cm), Length: 53 in. (135cm) I do not, though I will definitely update this with a comparison if I ever end up getting it. I definitely find it interesting that COBI was able to use an additional flag on the rear mast, I wonder if they got that licensed? My best guess is it took me roughly a box per day, about 10-12 hours to get through the building each day as well as photography. As you mention that does include time to take photos, so if someone really wanted I'm sure they could blast through it faster. At the same time, many elements of this set, such as the columns of 1x1 plates to build some of the windows, really get tedious and tiresome. If I was building this with less of a rush to get it ready for the embargo date, I'd probably build it one section (1/6th) at a time. I would think each section could take about 2.5-3 hours. It's worth noting that because the set tends to get repetitive, you definitely get faster as the build goes on since you kinda go into autopilot and know what's coming up next.

I knew I had seen it before somewhere, thanks for the clarification! I don't have the Colosseum unfortunately, seems like a set with far too many repetitive building steps for my taste. Though I will be visiting Italy next year, perhaps my mind will change once I've seen the real thing in person And yes! I mentioned at one point in the review that it's indeed called out as being 1:200 scale (in the instructions, actually) where they also reference the 1:200 scale Architecture Statue of Liberty.

It's necessary for a set of this price point Good catch, I was moving that section around and must have copied when I thought I cut it.

My review is now live!

Great review! I really like seeing the unique floor shape this set achieves. Having those complicated shapes really adds some visual interest to the set - plus it makes for a floor plan in the back that feels open and roomy, but also still seems contained and enclosed within the building.

Great review Oky! The Mario theme has certainly been a testing ground for LEGO to try some unconventional ideas. This set is no exception, but I think was well executed for what it is. I especially like the hidden treats the set has, not only is that in line with what Lego has been doing lately, but perfectly fits the mystery theme here.

Thanks for the great review Ecc! I really dig this set; I love the seasonal aspects to it. The accessories have been some of my favorite elements to these large scale cars , and they are not only well done here but help to keep this set fresh on display. I also like that they went unlicensed with this one; it still has some very defined features that make it look realistic, but blends enough styles to where it's something unique on it's own.