VBBN

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Everything posted by VBBN

  1. VBBN

    Car Talk

    Looks like the last time I posted photos in here was when I was in a focus- here's my current ride, 2019 JL, had it for just over a year now Perfect for Michigan all seasons hehe [ (this one was before I got a softtop for it, now I roll soft top in summer and hard top in winter)
  2. Can anyone tell which functional power elements are required for this? Would like to get a jumpstart on getting those ordered if I need anything, definitely looks to be a cool ride filled with a slew of easter eggs
  3. VBBN

    Zarkan's Bionicle G2 customs.

    Welcome back! I definitely like some of your mods here, especially the changes/new addition to the skull villains. The removal of the orange color is an improvement, though I would definitely like to see some "sizing up" as I feel the skulls were relatively small in stature compared to the Toa. The Toa themselves are nice, I definitely like your mindset of combining the Masters and the Uniters together.
  4. VBBN

    [MOC] Lost Tribes of Planet Mixel

    I definitely regret not collecting all of the mixels when they were out- Love these! They definitely fit the aesthetic very well.
  5. VBBN

    What did you buy today?

    Just received the Assembly Square, a good set to build while stuck at home!
  6. VBBN

    Comment about this forum

    Warning points work as the IPB software allows, the expiration message is auto generated. Staff can add or remove to your warning at any time Ive already explained that each point in the warning system serves as a log of misbehavior.
  7. In this thread, I have seen 1) Stalkerish/threatening behavior towards other members 2) A complete disregard for the purpose of this thread, and continued disregard even after staff asked for the off-topic discussion to end. 3) Discussion of banned members None of these are positive trends to see, nor do they adhere to the maturity level we expect out of Eurobricks members. This thread had a valid discussion regarding the impact of social media on our forums- we have had similar good discussions Making Eurobricks More Active, and I expect such discussion will continue. However, given the direction this thread has gone, I am closing it down. Beyond that I will say this; Eurobricks is not a business, it is a community, it always has been, and it always will be. It's built around the people who share an interest in LEGO, who meet up for annual conventions, who share designs and ideas, and who together, make Eurobricks what it is.
  8. VBBN

    What did you buy today?

  9. VBBN

    Comment about this forum

    Obviously @MKJoshA or any of the Star Wars team can speak best to this, but the tone that's needed can definitely vary by forum. There are certain subforums that can tend to get off-topic much more quickly, need repeated warnings that are often ignored, and many times staff have to step in for further action because the thread gets derailed in any number of ways. We have community guidelines that every member agrees to when joining, but sometimes we have to reinforce these rules more prominently as people can often ignore them. Where possible, we would definitely like to lay out the expectations upfront to avoid this potential mess down the line; not only do people not following the rules cause us to have to step in, it can be disruptive for the community to work around those things like false information. In other words, I see the intention as "preventative not provocative"
  10. VBBN

    [MOC] Gharmeleon

    Love the colors! Very unique design, and a great use of those XT4 heads
  11. VBBN

    Marvel Superheroes 2020 - Rumors & Discussion

    The helicopter is alright, I’m not a big fan of those premade hulls, but seems like a decent set for $30. Lots of “content” to it which I always appreciate.
  12. Set Number: 42101Set Name: BuggyPieces: 117Price: $12.99 USD | 9,99 € | £8.99 | $15.99 Links: Lego.com | Bricklink | Brickset Hello everyone and welcome to my review of Buggy, the second $13 set in the 1HY 2020 range. When it comes to Technic, we've had a fair share of Buggy-esqe vehicles over the years, I've compiled a few of these below- There may be some others out there, but I think these are some of the main releases. Compared to these, 42101 is definitely the smallest, but is it the best? Let's find out. *A big thank you to Lego for sending these our way. As usual, the thoughts in this review are my own and do not reflect those of TLG, and if there's something I dislike about a set I won't let it go unsaid. The Box Front This may come as a surprise, but the front of the box shows the Buggy. I know, I should have warned you to sit down. Only other thing to note here is that this is the European packaging, and therefore does not have as much information as the American release. Rear The rear of the box showcases the B model instead of showing the A-model's functions. As of this time, the B-model instructions are not available on the app, I'll add some shots of that and show it's functions once they are. The Build Initial frame Nothing too exciting to see as we begin the build; note the red L-beams are meant to emulate the seat. Additionally, the white 1x2 will begin the steering functionality. Rear Suspension One of the main two functions of this set is a rear suspension, you can see here how it works, basically just one spring piston attached to some loose technic beams. Steering We then build up the front of the buggy, you can see here how it's mounted to that white 1x2 I mentioned a moment ago. Final Steps We build up the rear wheels, mount a spoiler, and are almost done. Finished Model Here's the finished model from the front, minus stickers. There are some nice bright light orange parts included in this set, paired with the red is a much more refreshing color scheme compared to previous Buggys. Finished Model rear You can see the finished suspension here, it's not the prettiest, but it works. Front Here's the front, with stickers applied. Profile View Here's the profile view, stickers applied. One thing I really like is the aggressive, hunched-over appearance this buggy has; it makes it look ready to take on aggressive trails, which is a big contrast to most of the previously released buggies that were more relaxed in stature. Rear Steering Function While not a terribly complicated steering function, it's cool that this set has a completely different system than it's fellow small set, the Mini Xerion. Size Comp Here's the size comparison to the Mini CLAAS. Parts count wise, the CLAAS has 13 more pieces, but both end up being very similar in dimensions. Function Demonstration: Overall: The Buggy is a very nice set. Similar to my thoughts on the Mini Xerion, it's hard to go wrong with this set at only $13. Visually, the color scheme is great, and even at this scale, it manages to pull off a very convincing shape. Functionally, you get a perfectly serviceable steering function and suspension. Certainly, neither of these are anything too complicated, but at this price point, they do what they need to and don't ruin the overall aesthetic. It's well built, sturdy, and yeah, that's about where my thoughts are at on this. What do you think of this? Will you be picking one up? As a disclaimer, as noted previously I will go ahead and review the B model of this once I am able.
  13. Definitely not a set for me, but it's fascinating they chose this as a release of this size. Granted, my knowledge of this is pretty limited, so I'm not entirely aware of how popular this is.
  14. Set Number: 42104Set Name: Race TruckPieces: 227Price: $19.99 USD | 19,99 € | £17.99 | $29.99 Links: Lego.com | Bricklink | Brickset Hello and welcome to my review of the Race truck, one of the two new pull-back sets in the 1HY 2020 Technic range. For most people, I think these pull-back sets tend to be an easy pass unless the parts are desirable, but how does this set stack up? Let's find out. As with the other Technic 1HY 2020 sets, this was graciously provided by Lego, but the opinions in this review are my own. The Box Front The front of the box shows the truck on a race track, naturally, and advertises the 2 in 1 abilities of the set, as well as a diagram of the pull back feature. I know this may surprise you, but the pull back feature means you pull the set back and it charges forward. Back Here we can see the features of the set; besides the pull-back, it also has an opening hood and doors. We can also see the B model, which is a fairly good looking race car, perhaps even more well-put together than the semi. Once instructions are available, I'll post some photos and thoughts of that as well. The Build Beginning steps The build starts off simple, here we can see a Technic frame built around the pull back motor. Headlights Here's the mount for the lights and eventual bumper Building the cockpit Now we get to the real meat of the set, the cab and hood. As you can see, function wise there isn't really much going on here, the hood is just a simple hinge. No engine, no interior, just a lot of orange beams. Body Panels We start giving shape to the truck with panels and...a lot of stickers. I get it, it's a racing truck, but to be honest these stickers always make Technic sets look like a mess to me, and a lot of the 1HY 2020 sets have similar looking ones. Finished Build Finished Build Front Visually, there's some good and some bad here. I generally like the shaping of the front of the truck quite a bit, and the silver elements offer a nice contrast. Rear Here's where things are, well, less great. The big spoiler isn't totally uncommon, I do see racing trucks with them, but I think the wheels are just a bit too massive. Functionally it's good, it propels the set more when you pull it back, but it does look...odd. Front Realism certainly isn't the goal here, and like most pull-backs, the bumper is built to be slammed into walls over and over again. Profile I'll repeat here, I'm really not a fan of the rear half, it just doesn't blend well with the front half. Rear Finish Line Here's the set complete with another little side build, a finish line. It's alright, most will probably consider this a parts inflation, but it's a neat addition if you collect pull-backs an will complete really any of them quite well. Opening Hood Nothing to really see under the hood, but a nice feature regardless. Doors Same story with the doors, they open about this far, but there isn't really an interior to see. Function Showcase Overall I think it's pretty self explanatory that this set has a limited audience. If you are a fan of Technic pull-backs, this could be a good one to pick up; Orange is a great color, it's a unique design that we haven't gotten before, and as I somewhat demonstrated in the video above, it works as well as you could hope. But for those who are not a fan of pull-backs, I struggle to recommend this one. There really aren't any actual functions to the set, the proportions are very exaggerated, and there isn't much in the way of an interior nor too many interesting parts worth the $20 price tag. Of the sets to gt in this wave, I think this one is on the lower end of the scale. What are your thoughts?
  15. Set Number: 42106Set Name: Stunt Show Truck & BikePieces: 610Price: $49.99 USD | 49,99 € | £44.99 | $89.99 Links: Lego.com | Bricklink | Brickset Hello and welcome to my review of the Stunt Show Truck & Bike, the set most people...aren't excited about. Initial reactions to this set haven't been great, what's wrong with this set? Let's find out just how good or bad this set is. A big thank you to Lego for providing this set; but as always, the thoughts in this review are my own, and I'll call something out when I need to. All honest thoughts here. The Box Front The front of the box showcases all of the elements of the set as per usual, as well as advertising the pull-back feature, and the "2 in 1" aspect. I've never really understood the 2 in 1 marketing; Every Lego set is 10000000 in 1, you can take it apart and build it into countless different creations. I normally think of 2 in 1 as being two different products in 1 package, and I guess that'd be true in this case (though obviously they are talking about the A and B model.) Back The back showcases the numerous components and a few of the sets features, though we will go over those later. We also see the B model, a...SUV...thing.... with a ramp and...uh, wall? Not really sure what's going on there, once instructions are available we will take a closer look at that. Bike Pull back engine Here we begin to build the bike, it's mostly made up of the pull-back engine/ Note the skull stickers we add here. Gears Since the bike's rear wheel doesn't directly go through the pull-back motor itself, we have to build this small gear system in order to transfer the power between the motor and the wheels. Rear wheel attached And here we can see how the wheel is mounted. Finished bike front Yeah, okay, I'm not going to pull my punches here. This is really not great. At this scale, in Technic, and with a pull back motor, it's really tough to pull off a good looking stunt bike. it's very unfinished looking and blocky, and has huge tires in order to successfully utilize the pull-back feature. Rear Plus, with the gear system necessary for the function, it's extremely wide at the back. Trailer Next, we build up the trailer, you can see here it's primarily a few large panels, we also begin to build up one function. Function built We will look at the function in a moment, but here's the mechanics behind it. Note the rubber 1x2s, those will keep the trailer in place when it's turned into a ramp, so the bike will not move it while in action. Finished trailer Here's the finalized trailer. The small peg is used to hold the bike on and prevent it from falling off, but it can easily be removed; it's held on by an axle-in-pinhole sort of situation. With Bike Here it is with the bike mounted. It works well, it's secure enough to drive it around. Ramp By twisting the gear, you drop down the props, and manually fold down the panels at the back to create a ramp. It works well, once in position it's sturdy. Though, it's not a very steep angle, so the bike doesn't get much air. Truck Now we begin the largest component of the set, the pickup truck. Steering The main function of the truck is, well, steering. You can see above how the system works, when you twist the gray vertical cylinder, it drives the small gear function at the front. it works fine, just as well as the systems on the small $13 sets. Truck Frame We continue to build up the cab of the truck, you can see some stickers are used near the engine. Again, really nothing functionally is built here, we are just shaping the truck. More building Here's two more shots of the build. A few things are apparent at this stage; first, this is obviously not meant to emulate any real-life truck. Second, it's a "slammed" truck in a way, the rear wheels are set very low into the bed of the truck. I'm not personally a fan of this look- I why they went for this design choice, as realistically you would want the truck lower so that the bike can easily jump the truck. But they missed an opportunity here to implement some kind of airbag suspension system into the design instead of yet another steering function. Complete without stickers Here's a few shots of the truck "clean," I do have some stickers on here as you have seen, but they are minimal things like a grill or V8 sticker. The rest of the stickers in the set are rather aggressive, so enjoy the clean look here before things get, well, messy. Front The front looks decent enough, some system was used for the headlights and a sticker is used for the grill. Rear Ah yes, there's the aggressive stickers. Here you can see the simple trailer hitch, it's pretty well mounted to the bumper. Profile The colorscheme isn't bad, but it feels very messy to me, especially with the stickers added on. Top down Top down, we can see a pretty big eyesore, the rear trailer bed is quite hollow. With trailer Combined with the trailer it looks good, they are two cohesive pieces for sure. Though I do not demonstrate it in this review, you get about 180 degrees of pivot out of the trailer hitch. Opening doors The first function we will take a quick look at is the doors, they can open thanks to a single axle connection point. Interior There's a few things to look at on the inside; seats, a speedometer, and the steering wheel which can be raised and lowered. Steering Complete set Here's the last little build of the set, a ring-of-almost-fire. This mounts to the back of the truck by a single pin, it cannot stand on it's own. The idea here is that you would park the truck, drop the ramp, and the bike would jump the ramp, over the truck and through the hoop. I've tried demonstrating this in the video below with limited space. Bonus Pics Just for fun, you can see the decent carrying capacity of the trailer. Overall At $50, this set does not aim to feel like one, large, complicated $50 model. It's not one single model comprised of over 600 pieces. No, instead they chose to give us a set with a lot of different components, it's a Technic set with a System mindset. And...it's okay. I think this set is a very acquired taste; for Technic fanatics, I really can't say this set offers you anything outside of pieces, the functions aren't groundbreaking and the design overall is mediocre. For system fans, this might be a good introduction to Technic since it follows a similar formula as many system sets, though to be fair, you again have the issue of "this set doesn't look great and doesn't have the functionality to back it up." Everything is always up to your opinion. In this review, my aim was to show you this set in as many ways as possible, and my opinions are just that, opinions. I'm not a hardcore Technic fan, so asa casual Technic fan I can say, I really don't get this set, unless you absolutely love the concept. Thanks for viewing! What are your thoughts?
  16. Yeah you are right, the build is correct, it’s just a matter of pushing down in the hood to achieve that shape. Definitely helps the look of the cabin.
  17. As per the System 2018 thread: 75533 Boba Fett Price: 29,99 EUR / 29,99 USD / 25,99 GBP Subtheme: Constraction Figures Pieces: 144 Release: Winter 2018 75534 Darth Vader Price: 39,99 EUR / 39,99 USD / 34,99 GBP Subtheme: Constraction Figures Pieces: 168 Release: Winter 2018 75535 Han Solo Price: 29.99 EUR / 24.99 USD / 25.99 GBP Subtheme: Constraction Figures Pieces: 101 Release: April 2018 75536 Range Trooper Price: 29.99 EUR / 24.99 USD / 25.99 GBP Subtheme: Constraction Figures Pieces: 101 Release: April 2018 75537 Darth Maul Price: 29.99 EUR / 29.99 USD / 25.99 GBP Subtheme: Constraction Figures Pieces: 104 Release: April 2018
  18. Set Number: 42103Set Name: DragsterPieces: 225Price: $19.99 USD | 19,99 € | £17.99 | $29.99 Links: Lego.com | Bricklink | Brickset Hello everyone and welcome to my review of the Dragster, one of the two pull-back sets in the 1HY 2020 technic range. Based on some of the most ridiculous "funny" car drag racers, this thing looks like it's built to be crazy fast, but how good is it as a set? Let's find out. As with the other reviews I'll be posting today, this set was provided by Lego graciously for us to review. The opinions in this review are my own, however, and do not reflect those of Lego. The Box Front The front of the box showcases the dragster, hold on to your seats, drag racing. I know, what a plot twist. The functionality of this one is interesting, you can see a preview there on the bottom we will detail that more in a bit. Rear Here's the rear of the box. Again, we will look at the function soon. But basically, you can adjust the wheelie bar on the back, and this will determine whether or not the dragster pulls a wheelie then it launches forward. Also you can see the B model, which looks to be a dragster with more of a body as opposed to the bare frame A model. Instructions are not yet out for this, but I will post additional photos when they are. The Build Track Light Similar to the Race Truck, we get a little side build in the form of a track light to indicate when the race begins. It's a decent build, and if you are into collecting pull-back models, this serves as a nice addition to your display. Beginning build The frame for the dragster is pretty basic, we can see here it's mostly a few technic beams mounted to the rear pull-back motor. Wheel bar mount Next we begin to build the wheel bar function, the long gray technic beams here will be the main bar. The red 1x2s serve as the "activation" for the function, but again we will look at that shortly. Mounted to frame Here we can see the finished wheelie bar mounted behind the pullback motor Body Panels Here we use some modern day panels to shape up the vehicle, again keeping that very thin triangular shape in mind.We also fill out a spoiler fit to be a dinner table. Completed Set Finished Set front (No stickers) I thought I'd share a photo here without stickers, since they tend to be quite aggressive like most stickers on these racing sets. Front As ridiculous as I think these tiny wheels are when used on sets as actual wheels, they are actually a decent choice for what this is based on. Rear Here we can see how well that massive spoiler is secured, and the wheelie bar in the "down" position Profile Alright so here we can talk about the function. As you can see, the design of the set is very back heavy. As a result, when you pull back the set, it has a tendency to naturally pull a wheelie for a few feet of its journey. So, we can drop the wheelie bar down to prevent this, though it's manual process. You must remove the red assembly as seen in the photo above, move the wheelie bar and the 1x3 black beam inside of that into a different position, and reattach it. Detail view Here's a closeup of the cockpit. The stickers are busy, but make sense given the set we are dealing with here. Inner detail The only detail in the cockpit is a small "fuel gauge" printed 1x1. With Race Truck Here's the two pullbacks together as well as their accompanying accessories. Here's also a... well, an attempt at showing the wheelie functionality. You get the idea. Overall: I share similar thoughts with this set as I do the race truck. Its a set with a very limited audience. It doesn't offer anything groundbreaking in terms of parts, the wheelie bar is a fine function but not exactly something a flagship-buying fan would care about, and it's very limited in what you can do with it. For most people, I doubt this is worth a buy. But if you like pull-back models, this might be worth picking up. It's overall a decent design, certainly evocative of those "funny car" design, and it's one of the best performing models I've seen next to the very similar 42033 Record Breaker. The accessory is nice, and I do like the ability to alter whether or not this can pull a wheelie. I guess, as far as a "pullback" goes, this is the first to my knowledge where the function can actually alter the performance of the pullback feature itself, and that's certainly neat for those into these models.
  19. I've never really been into the SC sets before at the 6w scale, they looked good for the scale they were at and I could tell what they were supposed to be... but I like this change to 8w. Personally I feel like it does a better job of capturing details of the sets, though I do hope we get larger wheels and better headlight solutions in time for some of these. As someone who is looking to get these purely for display and in no way a city collector, I like the change and am onboard for the future of SC myself. Definitely a series that I will be inspired to MOC with; interested to see how they stack up next to the GWP Batmobile since it's at a similar 8w scale, I was debating selling that freebie but I think I'll keep it to display alongside these.
  20. Man for some reason I wasn't feeling this series when the leaks were out, but I see at least 7 or 8 that I want to get my hands on now For some reason I totally missed the Superman and WW that were included in this series
  21. Was a successful day, we went a little early to the Lego store nearby and ended up 7th in A really long line. I did overhear one of the employees say they had 86 of these things in stock at that one store, so at least they anticipated the demand a bit, normally they stock like 3-5 of these big boys.
  22. VBBN

    TLG acquires Bricklink

    if that was the case I would think they'd have taken some kind of action against BrickOwl- though I wouldn't put it past LEGO to try to stop something like that. Very strange news indeed. I have never really paid much mind to the MOC shop due to prices and lack of interest, but i can imagine there will be a crackdown on that to avoid collision with IDEAS. The actual brick marketplace I imagine would stay intact, my hope is they would add more new-from-factory elements and sell directly through Bricklink instead of bricks and pieces. Only time will tell, this was not the headline I was expecting today that's for sure
  23. The new batmobile is most excellent, can't wait to display it next to the Tumbler (and eventual batpod when I get around to bricklinking that thing, didn't realize the prices of those tires went down to about 9$, used to be 50 a piece when I originally searched for them lol). I haven't searched every page of this thread but what is the expected release on this? Though it does make me want to consider modding the Tumbler to be smoother, all of the studded surfaces date it a bit and I think it's time for a refresh.