yellost

Hi, I thought I'd do a review of an old set : 8475 RC Race Buggy. In fact, I fell upon it completely by chance not long after reading KimT's review of the Outdoor Challenger, and I was considering buying that one when I read that it wasn't actually compatible with standard LEGO... And then I found this littel baby on eBay for barely a third of the reatil price, so I jumped on the occasion. The great thing about it being that the motors and everything can be put to use on anything LEGO (providing there's enough room to put the RC unit, though...) First, the box : It's HUGE, and quite unnnecessarily so, but I guess that's my ecological upbringing cringing at the waste of material... I suppose, since it's a toy, the bigger the box, the happier the kid who recieves it... But still... As you can see, the box could have been cut in half and still contain enough room to store everything... And I'M running out of room to store all those giant boxes... There's also pic of the second model on the bottom of the box, a small F1 type car. The manual : It was clear enough to follow. And it had some funny features, like a comic on the first two pages. That comic was rather weird, actually, because it tells a story about a race between this buggy and another green car which if I remember well has only a 'pull-back' motor. But it's the green car that wins the race! Because the driver of the buggy is two scared to jump over a cleft or something... I'd have thought that TLC would rather want to confort people qho got his in telling them � YES, YOU GOT YOUR HAND ON THE BEST CAR THERE IS! �, instead of saying some kind of � boo, you'll lose! � lol Anyway... The build was clear enough. It was done in two part, the first being the main body of the motors and wheels, to calibrate the thing correctly so that it goes straight, and then the second part consists of putting on the chassis and all the elements to make the car look good. There were some nice little details in it, like the brake disks on the back wheels... They're not actually used, of course (hey, there're no brake to speak of :-P ) but it still nice. The main feature of this set is of course the RC parts. The RC unit has two connectors, one red, the main one, and a secondary grey one, and has the basic shape of the back of an F1 car. This set comes with two motors. The grey little circle where we can put an axle controls the steering. It turns one way or the other with the analog stick on the remote. The second part is the steering mechanism. it connects to the main unit by a small 2 studs long axle between the two. The nice thing here, is that there's a connector on both end of the piece, so if you have more than one, you can put them in a row... To make a 6-wheel car with four of them steering... Finally, there's the remote control. The two trigger on the back controls the feed of the secondary connector on the main unit (the grey one), which is not used here. While the analog sticks controls the main one (the red one).on the red one, the more you push the stick, the faster it goes. The grey one isn't analog. It's just on/off, one way for the right trigger and the other way for the left one... The only missing thing about the manual, is something that actually tells you that. Since the grey connector isn't used, I didn't quite know what the triggers were for or how you used the secondary connector... I had to do a bit of testing to find out on my own... Finally, some pics of the finished monster. It was really fun to build and as always, with RC car, it's always a pleasure to drive it around (all the more so here because of the LEGO part of it :-P). BUT, it's a real pain to pull apart. After I built the main model, I tried to do the other one, and pulling away all those technic pins literally wore my fingers to the bone... I was all bloodied after that... And the other model is just plain boring... There's nothing on it, really, just the main unit, the two motors and the steering mechanism... and a few pieces to hold it togther obviously, but still... It really wasn't worth the effort... and the injuries. Lol here are the pieces needed to buid the other model. All in all, I think it's a great set, and if it isn't as fast as the Outdoor Challenger, the fact that it's compatible with Standard LEGO makes way more than up for it... Now I'm gonna have to find one more to try and make a 4wheel drive... And those four steering wheels I've just thought of earlier... Overall : 8/10 (I'd have put a 9 if that box wasn't so uselessly big :-P)

Category A: #2 #3 Category B: #2 #4 Category C: #3 #4

Set Title: MetalBeard's Sea Cow Set #: 70810 Theme: The LEGO Movie Pieces: 2741 Minifigures: 6 Year of Release: 2014 Price at Release: USD 249,99/ EUR 249,99 /GBP 169,99 I had the joy of receiving this giant box yesterday and since noone seems to have done a review of it yet, I thought it'd be a good opportunity to do my part for this little community of ours ^^ So here goes. I admit, I shamelessly ripped off Clone O'Patra's structure to help me out in organising my thoughts. BOX this thing is massive. But I'm happy to say that it isn't needlessly so. The content actually takes most of the space inside. The art depicts a really nice dramatic night scene of the ship sailing the sea in the moonlight. Although the LEGO Movie takes a little too much space to my taste. And on the bottom right corner, we have the regular call out of all the minifigs included. Those figs are also better shown on the side of the box Then the back shows many of the features included in the set. CONTENTS obviously, 2700+ pieces count for something. They come in multiple bags numbered 1 to 9 (two or three per number) plus an extr aone containing the mast and sail pieces and the hull pieces were loose in the box The instruction book is a massive 287-page volume. this comes with the standard pieces call out before each step and was prety easy to follow. It even has the 1:1 image of some of the more confusing pieces when their length matters. Unfortunately, the set also comes with a sticker sheet. I was quite disappointed to sea the treasure maps on it too. BUILD The whole build took me around 7 hours to complete (since I'm a junkie, I did it all in one go) the first bag contains a first set of minifigs and a mini MetalBeard (which I counted among the minifigs but since he is brickbuild, I guess it's a matter of opinion ) A few pieces I'd never seen before : some miniature version of the ball joints and a different grapling hook Part two comes with the other figs, the micro managers and the famous double decker couch. And part 3 begins building the ship proper, starting with the hull and the gun deck Part 4 then adds more guns on the sides It also came with an interesting piece I'd never encountered : a 2x2 round tile with a hole in the middle Part 5 builds the round parts of the front and back of the hull, using the same technique as in the Imperial Flagship (another favourite set of mine) Then we build the rear cabin which contains the armory and some sort of engine. I assume it's for all the propellers at the back 7 adds the captain's cabin and one of the mast. This is where the sheer size of the ship starts making taking pictures a bit tricky. Also it was getting late and the light didn't really help... Bags 8 contains the rest of the masts and sails that are directly attached to the ship And finally, we build the middle deck and the steam engine. All in all, that was a very enjoyable build with quite a few nice surprises hidden here and there. MINIFIGS The set comes with Benny, Wyldstyle (are you Djing?), Emmet, Vitruvius, Queasy Kitty and MetalBeard (I'll get back to him in a minute) Since I don't have any other movie set, I assume they're the same (Emmet is from the promo polybag). Except for Queasy Kitty. She has a nice sick shade of green and her face is a printed piece. Also, I have to admit I'm a little disappointed in Benny's helmet. I realise they can't really break every model they make for the sake of accuracy but that mold still looks kind of weird. All the regular figs come with variant back printed head. Although I had to look really hard to spot the difference on Wyldstyle's (the bottom of her eye dots look like she's slightly squinting or something) Now Mini Metal Beard on the other hand, I really like. The ymanaged to capture his look in mini form pretty well. It even comes with an anchor on his peg leg and a shark on his right hand Although admittedly, the back is a little bland and he is rather hard to set in any sort of interesting action pose Then come the two micro managers The big one comes with hidden flick fire missiles on the sides an a radar dish that folds down from his back (the stand isn't included) And the smaller one is a cutesie that spits a net from its mouth SET And now for the actual set. Let's start with the really important part : the double decker couch, of course. This is where I must be more of an Emmet than a master builder, because I actually find the idea pretty nice (it doesn't come wit hidden compartments, though) And the ship That thing is huge. I called Benny to help me give a sense of scale The front view And the back. There should be a few stickers on there but I'm still on the fence on whether I should apply them or not... A few pieces of interest : the machine gun attached to the front mast. It looks really nice, although a little impractical since it cannot swivel left or right. The figure at the top of the highest mast reminds me of the head of one of those white parrots with yellow feathers on the back of their head. I don't know if that's what they were aiming for but I find it a nice touch none the less. The place where MetalBeard drives the ship looks like a giant armchair but I could'nt make him fit in there. As I said, his posability isn't too great although they did it on the box art, so it's obviously doable The shipcan be separated in three parts for easy access to the captain's cabin and the gun deck below The central piece even has some hidden gems tucked in the beams At the back of the top deck, there is a nice looking telescope, too And then just below is the captain's cabin. All those 4x4 tiles are supposed to be treasure maps and blueprints but I haven't applied the stickers. Tere shold also be a portrait on the 4x2 brown tile on he wall. Also, I have no idea what that thing along the window is supposed to be. It sort of looks like a morse machine or a stapler. It confuses me a little. But the other side has an inkpot and a ship in a bottle and some rhum on a shelve Finally, there is the armory/engine room with a nice candelbra hanging from the ceiling. It's accessible by the front or the sides that can be opened for easier access CONCLUSION I love it. It's big, full of nifty little details and the whole thing looks impressive while its proportions makes it a little cartoonish. Not an easy combination but they pulled it off anyway. It's definitely worth its value. I'm really glad LEGO started making those higher price ranges where the designers go crazy on the stuff they can include.

Do we know if they will eventually release some material with details ont the actual sets designed specifically for the moie ? I got quite a few of the sets and I know they have some differences from their movie counterparts, so it would be awesome (as everything ^^) if we could get some way to modify them to match more closely the originals. Or even better, get some detailed pics to build those that don't exist as sets. Man, that DVD better have the mother of all Making Of... LIke, on par with the extras on the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions... (Hey, one can dream, right ?)

forgive me for not going through 200+ pages but now that the Sandcrawler is out (great set, by the way), I seem to recall there was a second UCS set for this year. Did I dream it or is that true ? Any idea what it could be ? (also, is anyone going to update the first post ? It's missing a lot of pictures for sets I'm sure I've seen around for quite some time...)

21 : 2 30 : 1 39 : 3

12 : 1 15 : 2 20 : 3

I know those outfits are made up by tlc and I certainly don't mind, far from it. It's that they haven't done a complete set of each type that bothers me. What if a kid wants to have an adventure underwater (god knows I don't play with mine, I'm in my 30s ) ? He'll have to find a reason why mikey can't follow or has to remain in the sub... ... damn, that is a metal suit... From the face plate on the small pictures I thought it was another scuba suit... sad... Well, I hope they plan on releasing more of those...

Amen to that, I'm tired of having to tone down the hate of people evey time we talk about it. I mean, I don't expect it to be an amazing piece of art, considering who's involved but it certainly looks like a lot of fun. On topic I got the Turtle sub yesterday and I absolutely LOVE it. It's my favourite TMNT Set so far (I got all the previous wave but I have to admit this new one doesn't excite me as much). That set has a great look, a nice little detail (pedals on the seat ) and a really simple mechanic that makes the fins go flap when you roll it on the floor. It's awesome. I'm a bit confused by the minifig line up this time around, though. the turtle sub and mutation chamber have three turtles in scuba gear then the T-rawket has two in warm clothing and then the last three are in their basic look with just a belt. Are they going to release new set to fill in the missing ones in gear ? (Mikey is missing a scuba gear and Leo and Raph are bound to get cold, aparently)

While discussing the parts used in the Ghostbuster's Proton pack, we noticed that the handle of the straight whip (part 88704) seemes unfinished : it's lacking the ridges that the coiled one has. Just a visual bug, though. It didn't block anything from being slid around it and such.

Well, I'm going sound like a stubborn idiot now, but the other one is exactly like the one from indiana jones, except not coiled. But ultimately, I think you're right : in the pic, the whip does make a sharp angle right at the end of the handle where the straighter one probably wouldn't. But you do point out an error in LDD that might need reporting, though. Although it's funny, because you can clearly see that the geometry for the ridges is there on the model. It just looks like the modeler forgot to do the last step in actually digging them XD Nice one. Are you using Maya ?

here you go : 1 SLIDE SHOE ROUND 2X2 (Black) 1 LAMP HOLDER (Black) 2 PLATE 1X2 W. VERTICAL GRIP (Black) 1 PLATE 1X1 W/HOLDER VERTICAL (Dark Grey) 1 PLATE 1X2 W. STICK 3.18 (Black) 1 PLATE 1X1 W. UP RIGHT HOLDER (Black) 1 ROOF TILE 1 X 2 X 2/3, ABS (Black) 1 PLATE 1X1 W. UP RIGHT HOLDER (Black) 1 MINI FIG. BACK PLATE W. KNOB (Black) I attached the LDD file if you want to look at it. I think it's more likely the uncoiled whip, which came with the Ostrich Race from the Prince of Persia line. Although it's never been in black either. But I think it would be less of a pain to pose in the minifig's hand without having it springing back in its original position. proton_pack.lxf

that's my guess too. And a red stud with a hole in the middle attached to a lightsaber hilt for the actual shooting part (does it have a name ? I can't remember)

did a quick sketch in LDD from what I could see :

cool review, thanks. The only gripe I have with this set is the stairs. I've never had those parts before so I don't know what their secret is supposed to be but for the life of me, I cannot find any way to lock them in place... But from your review, it seems you have the same issue, so I guess it isn't just me. As for the picture in the tv, I take it as an easter egg from the comic. It looks to me like the first full page illustration of the very first issue from back in the 80s Although now that I look at it, apart from the sewer grate in the middle, they don't have that much in common... Oh well.

from august 3 to october 31 they will have the Art of the Brick exhibition in the Alamanc County Arts Council I have seen quite a few pictures from those but I didn't know they were made by Nathan Sawaya, nor that he exhibited them in different places. Would anyone be interested in going ? I've just moved down to Durham and I don't know anyone here, so I thought it might be a good opportunity to meet people of similar interest in the area

Here you go. I've never really managed to get the hinge align tool to ever work. What I always end up doing is building a temporary rig with pegs and such that gives me a better control on what to rotate and then do it manually with the rotation tool. (I don't know if that makes sense) Edit : erf, Brickdoctor beat me to it ^^ Brewery_fixed.lxf

wow I can't believe I missed that ! **runs to the nearest store... Damn it ! it's almost midnight XD**

Now we need TLC to make a new body to match that helmet and we can have an army of zombie stormtroopers \o/

Oh alright, then, I'm sold XD I'm really surprised how similar the two models seem to look and yet how different they are built. I like the x type wing mechanism. I discovered it on Mike's x-wing model and found it really clever. (So much so that I bricklinked all the part to build myself one ^^). I wonder how much of an influence that was on the designers (if at all...) Anyway. I can't wait for the end of my move so I can get my hands on one...

No, when Keira Knightley is impersonating the queen, she wears a black dress in the shiny ship at the beginning and a weird short one with matching hairdo during the final fight scene. The fancy complicated red dress only comes during the senate scene and that is Nathalie Portman wearing it.

mmmh, I don't know. The only real complain I have, is the apparent lack of landing gear :( Apart from that, it still looks awesome, even though not that different than the original. I just hope they aren't starting a new trend of rerelease of old UCS sets the way they currently do for the system ones. Yes, I know, there is only so much iconic ships they can make before running out but in UCS scale, there are still quite a few they haven't done yet. I'm definitely getting it.

Man, we need some buikding instructions for those, now. They're just beyond awesome. Especially the ECTO 1 ^^

Done Quite in depth indeed, I wasn't expecting that. But someone needs to tell them those bright colours are really painfull to the eyes when you have to look at them for so long XD

Wow; That's a definite buy from me. Although a part of me can't help regret that tey didn't go for a vintage plane they haven't done yet. ONe can only hope it's the first of a new serie of plane sculptures.