XimenaPaulina

It's been a while since I've played, so I'd like to participate in this one. 1) Isla Paradisa, Bloodbrick II, Prison Riot, Gotham City Mafia, IMHOTEP, Yakuza 2) I like how you put up the gist of the game beforehand, gives people a good preview of what to expect. The factions and roles seem fair to all sides, and the set-up definitely encourages active participation from every player no matter what side. I like it, no complaints nor suggestions on my side. 3) Pussyfooting? First time I read/heard the term, had to look for the meaning. With respect to this game, if it means stealthily lurking / covert operation to infiltrate one side, then this is something I'd like to do more (which I haven't done in my previous games since I was always town). Looking forward playing in another def game.

If this was simply an upcoming April fool prank, then why would TLG involve another company (20th Century Fox) with this planned ruse right? I'm inclined to believe this is true, if not then they'd got us fooled big time. If ever this would materialize, I think it would be safe to assume all characters will require new head molds since the regular minifig head would simply not work (read: old Squidward).

I still don't get the rehash hate. It actually rubs me the wrong way that some (not all) collectors who owned the previous UCS X-Wing seemingly forget that they are NOT the only target market of UCS sets and they seem to fail (or refuse?) to recognize the fact that as time goes by more new AFOLs get into the hobby and would likely be UCS collectors as well. Don't also forget those old-timer AFOLs (like me) who, for some reason or another missed out on the previous version, appreciates this opportunity to finally own a UCS X-Wing. Again, I'll ask: why deprive new people from having the chance to own a UCS X-Wing? Isn't it a bit selfish if one would think that way? In the 13 years of TLG releasing SW UCS sets, this is the first-time a UCS set has been rehashed, so it's not as if TLG keeps on rehasing UCS sets. And I still stand by my opinion that if there was a perfect UCS set to rehash, it would be the X-Wing by virtue of being the most iconic ship of the SW saga. UCS TIE? UCS Landspeeder? Yes they are iconic, but not as iconic as the X-Wing or the Falcon. Come on, SW fans should know the hierarchy of the popularity of SW vehicles. Besides, whoever said there would be no UCS TIE or UCS Landspeeder or UCS LAAT/i? For all we know, these might already be in the UCS product pipeline of TLG, remember that TLG plans/designs waaay ahead, as in years before the actual release of a set. I guess some people need to re-learn the teachings of a great Jedi:

I share the same sentiments. This would have been a automatic pick-up for me if not for that crane, which makes this otherwise great-looking set prohibitively expensive. Really need to contemplate if it's worth to shell out extra bucks for the crane just to get the other elements (bike shop, pizza house, bus, street sweeper) which are really tempting.

I'm not much into this Redcoats vs. Bluecoats thing (though it seems to be 'fun to watch from the sidelines'), but I just had to commend the excellent comic work of this one: impressive graphics and effects, nice & clean presentation, good story telling, and an overall enjoyable read. Great job!

I'm on the same boat as those who happily welcome this 2nd iteration of the UCS X-Wing and appreciate the opportunity to finally own this UCS set after missing out on the first one. While I acknowledge that there are indeed some 'questionable' details of the model (nose, small diameter of the quad-engines, not-so-hexagonal shape of the rear, canopy stickers), I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt to the designers who I understand had restrictions to work on (such as parts count, total cost, parts availability, build stability, etc.), and overall I think they did the best job they could despite the imposed limitations. With regards to some complaints about re-releasing this UCS set, it actually makes perfect sense if one would think of the overall picture: the X-Wing is probably the most iconic ship in the whole of Star Wars (alongside the Falcon), so it is the ultimate ship that every hard-core Star Wars collector need to have and even those non-SW fans can identify to. Of course, this re-release would also give new LSW collectors or those who have missed the previous version the chance to own this UCS X-Wing. (Why deprive new collectors this chance right?)

Thanks for taking the time to read my comics! Hope you enjoyed it! C&C's are welcome!

Thanks! Salamat Kabayan!

Really love the woodwork on this one! The combination of different shades of brown really turned out great and realistically earthish. Excellent job Taz!

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the positive comments. Cheers, ~ Kiel

When the 2013 Friends product line-up were made public the first set that really got my attention is 41002 Emma’s Karate Class. I thought the concept behind a female doing a predominantly male-dominated activity is an interesting and refreshing take on the girl-oriented Friend’s theme (the same can be said of 41011 Stephanie’s Soccer Practice and 41001 Mia’s Magic Tricks). So how does this set compare to other Friends sets of the past year? Let’s take a closer look in this review. Name: Emma’s Karate Class Number: 41002 Theme: Friends Year: 2013 Pieces: 93 Minidolls: 1 Price: $9.99 | £9.99 Links: Brickset | Bricklink | Peeron (not yet inventoried) | Shop@Home The Box The presentation of the set elements are nicely executed, with proper spacing and even varying depths of perspective for the different builds. The light tranquil colors of the background give a Zen-like atmosphere highlighted by the oriental tree print behind. By now we’ve all been accustomed to the standard purple LEGO Friends boxart, it looks like nothing much has changed much since last year. Or has it? Upon closer look the Friends characters image in the upper right of the box is now more of a cartoon-anime illustration unlike the CGI image last year. Here is a comparison pic: Pandora touched on this in her Heartlake Pet Salon review, and I agree the cartoon depiction makes the Friends girls look like they’re somewhat ‘unsure of themselves’, compared to the more confident aura the characters have in last year’s CGI image. I honestly don’t know why those in charge of Friends decided on this change since last year’s image already looked good. Maybe they want to try to give a fresh take on the characters’ look? (but after only a year?). This is one of the cases where sometimes, things are better left unchanged IMO. The back follows the tried-and-tested formula of showing the playability features of the set. Once again we are greeted by the cartoon images of Emma (bust shot) and the whole gang at the bottom. The top is rather plain and simply shows the purple basket in the 1:1 panel. The usual LEGO manufacturing facilities are detailed at the bottom along with the other usual info that people ignore (barcode, recycle symbol, LEGO websites). Also interesting to note the difference in shades of purple of the top and bottom of the box. Both the sides of the box are almost identical, stating the Warning: Choking Hazard for small parts safety reminder in 29 different languages (yeah, I did bother to count ‘em all ). The “cleavage curve” print could also be seen on the both sides as part of the illusion to give the otherwise standard rectangular box a distinct “sexy” shape like the curved boxes of the larger Friends sets. The Contents Two unnumbered bags of LEGO goodness are what we get in this little set, along with the instruction booklet which unfortunately (but understandably) came folded. And hey what a surprise, no loose piece! The Instruction Booklet To avoid the redundancy of showing the instruction booklet simply having the same coverart as the boxart, I’d rather show some sample pages of the instruction booklet: Left: I noticed a small misprint in one of the piece callout boxes, not really a biggie but probably the only time I’ve experienced seeing this insignificant minor issue. Right: Nice touches of several faint “Friends symbols” prints at the bottom corner of pages break the monotony of the plain purple backdrop. Click the image for hi-res version At the last pages is a beautiful spread showing the 2013 Friends product line-up, with the right page showing each Friend character getting a set dedicated only for them; and the left page showcasing the whole line-up including the two large sets of this wave. The LEGO parts As what we’ve come to expect from Friends sets, the parts selection is peppered with the (society-dictated) feminine colors of pink, purple, yellow, with some azure on the side. Thrown in the usual blacks, whites, browns, etc. and you have a parts selection composed of 19 different colors! (1) The most noticeable (and only) interesting part for me is the trans-glass window with the oriental Japanese characters design. This piece, which can only be found in four sets, is not new but it’s the first time it’s been used outside of NinjaGo sets. With the help of EB’s resident Japanese culture consultant and fellow Fellow def, I found out that the Japanese characters actually mean “ninja”. (2) Despite the out-of-the-‘girly’-box concept of this set, there are still a couple of Friends-centric pieces: a purple basket and two hair ribbons (one is actually an extra). (3) As has always been the case, the mini-doll’s torso and leg pieces came in separately packaged, most likely since they’re produced in other manufacturing facility. The Mini-Doll In this set we get the ‘Karate Girl’ rendition of Emma, donning a full white Karate uniform (more properly called Karate gi) with purple linings and a floral logo. However, it seems the leg part is not as white as her torso. I don’t know if this is normal or there is a QC issue behind this. By virtue of having a black belt, it seems our dear Emma is already an expert in this particular style of martial arts! (Thou shall not mess with Emma! ). Though one questionable part of her outfit is her footwear, considering most karate practitioners are bare-footed when doing their karate training. But come to think of it, since the mold of the mini-doll feet are the same (only differing in footwear prints), it would be impractical for TLG to create a new single-use ‘bare-feet’ mold just for this small set, so from that POV I could forgive Emma wearing shoes while doing Karate. Here is a comparison pic of Karate Girl Emma and the regular garden variant Emma. It is only through this side-by-side comparison that I realized that the floral emblem on her karate uniform is actually the same flower on the print of her regular outfit! That’s a well thought-of personalized detail I must say! And before anyone points it out, yes, by my haste I wrongfully switched Stephanie’s pink skirt with Emma’s purple one (looks like somebody’s playing with LEGO Friends in his spare time… ) The Build Elements Bonsai A simple build yet perfect for the oriental theme of this set! This 11-piece set really works for me as it captures the overall look of a real-life bonsai. Needless to say, this definitely looks much much better than the 3-piece masterpiece of a tree in 60001 Fire Chief Car. Karate Chopping Block/Tile Karate practitioners practice their famous karate chops (or more technically known as the Knife-hand strike http://en.wikipedia....nifehand_strike), with the use of chopping boards/tiles/bricks. This brickbuilt rendition is a quite a nice representation, cleverly using the rail pieces to provide a two-level chopping challenge. Rest / Meditation Area This build probably gives the best oriental element on the set due to the Asian-style printing of the glass panel. The slope combination at the top corners imparts an overall shape reminiscent of Oriental Arches.This is also supposedly the resting area where Emma could take a break after training and sip some refreshments in her water bottle (trans-blue with white cap), but I’d like to think this could also be a meditation area, where Emma could practice Zen as part of her Karate training. Trophy Display Case As testament of her expertise in Karate, Emma has a display case for her top achievements, and looks like she has two – a gold goblet trophy and a gold medal (without straps). While the choice of the minifig trophy piece or the standard medal piece would’ve been obvious, it’s a nice to see the designers going the alternative route for the unusual picks of the goblet and 1x1 gold round tile. This build also serves as storage for the Kendo Helmet, Kendo Stick/Sword, and a tabletop for the basket. We’ll see more of these elements in the next section. Playability Features And we begin with the Trophy Display case, which interestingly has three modes of orientation owing to the simple yet effective use of the swivel bricks: (1) Straight Set-up – for spacious interiors and for maximum showcase of the trophy achievements! (2) Corner Set-up – as the name implies, this can be oriented on a 90-degree angle to fit corners of rooms. (3) Compact Set-up – this one is perfect for small interiors, and even the way the Kendo helmet and stick/sword is aligned together in this position is proof of how effectively-designed this part is. Here is Emma doing her “Karate-Chop exercise”. The unstable build of the 3-piece chopping block provides a clever way to recreate an actual block-chopping experience! Left: As mentioned earlier, the rest area could also be used as a meditation area. Too bad mini-dolls, or even minifigs for that matter, cannot assume the meditating sitting position. Right: Emma could also practice Kendo sword fight, as both the Kendo helmet and stick are compatible with Friends mini-dolls (she just has to remove her wig haha ) Here a couple of things Emma could do when she’s bored (or right before/after Karate training): (1) She could reminisce all her past glory by staring at her trophy and medal. (2) Or if she’s really that bored, she could just talk to the bonsai. The Completed Set The Scores: Design – 9/10 The reason I bought this set is primarily because of the individual build elements which I found to be interesting. I must say even if they are relatively simple builds they registered to me as well-conceptualized and nicely-executed. From the swivelling trophy display case to the cute little bonsai I think this set deserves a 9 in terms of design factoring in its relative size. Build – 7/10 Nothing exciting that you’d really expect from a small set, though nothing too difficult for kids to follow too. Parts – 7/10 I was impressed by the 19-color parts selection, even happy with the pretty neat Asian-style glass panel. Though I still have to find use for those brightly-colored pieces. Mini-doll – 8/10 It’s always nice to get different variations of minifigs, in this case minidoll, and the Karate outfit is certainly a welcome addition to the Friends line of outfits. The way Emma’s signature flower print is incorporated in her karate uniform also garners plus points for me! Playability – 7/10 Well of course as an AFOL it would be unfair to judge playability since I don’t play with these sets (or do I?), but putting myself once again in kids shoes I’d think I’d have a decent role-playing time with this set. I assume it may not be as exciting (for girls) as the usual cooking/dressing role-playing offered by other Friends sets, but the Karate playability in this set is a nice break from the usual girl-based activities. Price – 8/10 $10 for this set is actually not bad, just on the average 10 cents price/piece ratio. Overall: 77% Parting Shot I've created a comic to demonstrate this particular set in action! Pls. do take the time to check it out. Click the image to see the comic at the Brick Flicks & Comics section!

I like the fact that the two new Iron Man suits + War Machine + the villain Mandarin can be gotten from two relatively small cheap sets (my wallet will be happy ). And that speedboat is well-designed too.

I normally don't get excited about new Friends sets but when the new pictures of the upcoming 41015 Dolphin Cruiser surfaced from the German Toy Fair it really piqued my interest so I tried to recreate it using LDD and rendered it using LDD2PovRay. Here is the result: LDD Build by KielDaMan, rendered using LDD2PovRay with help from speed rendering technique from bbqqq. Click on image to see it in all its high resolution glory (2068 x 1536 pixels) General Remarks: Based on the limited views of the two reference images I used (below), I tried to replicate as much as possible the external design of the cruiser/yacht. Unfortunately there there is no interior in this digital model. Due to parts limitation in LDD, the Friends mini-dolls were replaced by standard minifigures (approximating the look of the Friends characters). The pink slide part is also not available in LDD. Stickers are also absent. The exact mini-doll count is still not certain up to this point, but for the fun of it I completed the five main Friends characters plus a couple more male figures to accompany the girls. Interesting parts include the front Boat Hull Brick 16 x 10 x 3 and the middle Boat Hull Large Middle 8 x 16 x 2 1/3 with 5 Holes which will be available in white for the first time in this set. There also seems to be a couple of new parts in this set: 1) a new curved part (2 x 1 x 2/3) which can be seen at the front bottom corners of the pilot station above and the pillow part of the beach bed in front (replaced by cheese slope+1x1 tile combo in this model); 2) a transparent 2 x 1 x 2 inverted slope which can be seen on both ends of the trans windows at the sides (replaced by two 1x1 trans bricks in this model, leaving a gap on the sloping part). [*]I'm not sure if dolphins are included in the set, but for the fun of literally taking its Dolphin Cruiser name I added a couple of them in this model. [*]Minor nitpick: The railings are so low that it defeats its safety purpose (but hey this is just LEGO so... ). Overall, this set looks really promising and I'll be eagerly anticipating the release of this set. I'm sure this will also be a nice 'base model' for modification into minfig-based yachts. If you'd like to inspect more of the build, here is the LXF file: NOTE: Pls. give credit if used for modding, etc. Reference Images: Photos courtesy of Facebook (left) and Karsten Grosser - NOZ.de (right) - taken from Heartlake Times blog.

Just to have an idea of the relative size of this cruiser, here is a comparison pic with other CITY boats: LEGO Boats Render by Kiel.Da.Man (LXF Sources: 4642 - Tontus; 7207 - BrickWild; 7739 - AndyC) All images are clickable to hi-res versions (2732 x 1447). It's quite surpsrising to see the Dolphin Cruiser larger than other CITY boats, especially those which we thought were already "big" for CITY standards (Coast Guard Ship, the Fire Boat). It's either the cruiser is too big or it's just about the right size and it's the other CITY boats that are undersized (I think it's the latter).

I don't know the specific reason for those black boundaries, but I tried to repeat this technique with another render (below, minus the dolphins) and I don't see such excessive black in the boundaries. Maybe it's due to the dolphin part?! Note that I retained the same render settings (though I followed bbqqq's tip on the B&W render). ++ LEGO Boats Render by Kiel.Da.Man (LXF Sources: 4642 - Tontus; 7207 - BrickWild; 7739 - AndyC) All images are clickable to hi-res versions (2732 x 1447). Render 1: original LDD Geometry only = 02:30:59 Render 2: No trans parts (original LDD Geometry + visible bevels) = 07:44:36 Render 3: Black & white (original LDD Geometry, lowest quality settings, quick color) = 00:00:08 TOTAL RENDER TIME = 10:15:43 All 2732x1536 pixels, Normal Radiosity, No AA, 3 lights (except for B&W).

I believe those floral prints on the shirt are Emma's signature flower prints.

Thanks for the tip! I'll set the B&W file to the lowest settings and share the results here again.

Thanks for the comments guys! I agree this is what's great about the compatibility of the Friends sets with standard LEGO, the cruiser/yacht is readily and easily modifiable to suit the CITY theme or even simply swap the mini-dolls with standard minifigs to recreate good ol' Paradisa. --- With the new image that has surfaced it seems I totally missed a significant portion at the rear part, thought I'm glad I got majority of the external design correct based on the two initial images. Also: There seems to be no new transparent 2 x 1 x 2 inverted slope piece in the sides of the windows and there are indeed gaps on both ends. But good to know my hunch was right about the two dolphins! (and new molds too!)

Yep that seems to be the general consensus so in that aspect the Friends design team succeeded in re-inventing the theme with fresh concepts and ideas. Thanks but let's just say both reviews are complementary of each other. Thanks! And with the second wave of sets this year, we'll be getting even more variety in mini-doll outfit with the introduction of more male torso and even the baker's outfit, teacher's uniform, etc.

I tried to use use this 3-part technique and here are my results: + + All images are clickable to hi-res versions (2068 x 1536). Thanks bbqqq for sharing this technique! It has drastically reduced my rendering times while still producing satisfying results! Thanks once again!

But... But... In the LEGO world both of them are ABS characters... Kidding aside, thanks man! It means a lot getting positive comments from you. Thanks, glad you loved it! Whenever I do my comics I always am not sure if it'll turn out as funny as I want it to be, so it's quite a relief to know that the intended humor came across to the readers.

4. Kristel - 1 5. dr_spock - 1 19. ROOK - 1 22. Oky - 1 27. Rumble Strike - 1

8. Iron Giant - cmaddison - 1 25. Micro Mars City - Cecilie - 1 28. Ice Planet - Crystal Station - Siercon and Coral - 1 41.Deployment Island - commanderhawk - 1 65. Planet Express - Oky - 1

Lots of great entries! It was hard to pick with just 5 points... 16. Froghead - Yatkuu - 1 22. Pigs VS Cows - Ninja Nin - 1 24. BannanaTank - alex54 - 1 37. rEvolution - zane_houston - 1 40. Dinosaur extinction? - Cecilie - 1 Honorable mention: 39. Dawn of Man- Praiter Yed 52. Ivory Poaching - Ecclesiastes 62. Mechsquirrel - toutouille Compliments to Si-MOCs for running sucessfully this ingenious contest!

Thanks for the comments guys, I really appreciate it! Glad you liked the comic. Haha, yeah I know, but even if this is an AFOL site, the are extremely gory even for adults like us, so I didn't want to associate such violence in a kid's toy. Besides, how could Kiel & Emma live happily (?) ever after if poor Kiel had his head/spine pulled off from his body?