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Long-time member, sometime speaker. I thought it was time to get more active in the AFOL community, so I've started a YouTube channel. The first batch of videos will consist of my reviews of the new Harry Potter sets and Collectable Minifigure Series. Please find the first video, a review of the polybag 30407: Harry's Journey to Hogwarts, below. I'll add more reviews as I make them. Apologies for the varying picture quality. It's my first try! And I'm thinking: I should probably include more close-ups of the actual LEGO next time... Still, I hope this proves useful and/or entertaining to you. Thanks!

Hello There! Yesterday, I went to my local Lego Store in Warsaw and... there were available new Lego Star Wars summer sets!!! Probably this is the first review of this set :) Price - 129 PLN in Poland, others should be 29.99 USD or 29.99 EUR. 355 pieces and 3 minifigures - Tobias Beckett, Enfys Nest and Weazel Check my full review with ENG subtitles: My opinion - 9/10!!! Great set and I recommend this!

Introduction The battle of Hoth is maybe the most known conflict of the Star Wars' Original Trilogy. So naturally AFOLs were waiting for TLG to reproduce that battle in Lego. And they've finally done it! But... I guess everyone reading this review has something to add after that "but", so I'll try to ignore everything that had already been said about that set and to review it with an open mind. Thanks TLG for the opportunity to do this review, which will of course only reflect my own opinion. Set information Set Name: Assault on Hoth Set Number: 75098 Number of Pieces: 2144 Theme: Star Wars Year Release: 2016 Prices: £219.99 / $249.99 / €249.99 #75098 on Brickset #75098 on Rebrickable Packaging The box is pretty big. So big that I just couldn't take decent pictures of it... So I'll use the official images from TLG. The front of the box shows the whole set, except for the Tauntaun den, with the classic Star Wars logo and the Lego Star Wars UCS logo. On the top of the box you can see the 15 minifigures included in this set, as well as the Tauntaun and the Wampa. The back of the box shows the back of the set, with the Tauntaun's stable, and the numerous play features. Content of the box The box is 2/3 filled with 18 bags, numbered from 1 to 13. There is also some loose items: two 3026 6*24 white plates and two 6082 dark bluish grey BLURP. Two plastic bags contains the whole assemblies for the Tauntaun and the Wampa. The thick instructions booklet and the stickers sheet come packed together. The 21 sticker don't have the glossy look and stand out when applied, especially the white stickers on white parts. Instructions booklet The instructions booklet is pretty thick, with its hard cover and 280 pages. Inside you'll find pages about the Lego Designer team and of course the battle of Hoth. I found these few pages quite interresting. Instructions are clear to follow and shouldn't lead to any error. Unlike some reviewers, I don't think they are too simplistic or childish. Minifigures The set contains 15 minifigures and 2 large figures! Let's start with the named minifigs: R3-A2, K-3PO, Toryn Farr, Han Solo, Wes Janson, Wedge Antilles and Rebel Officer, who has the perfect name you can have to be an officer in the rebellion! Everyone here gets a backprinting, except for R3-A2. Rebel Officer gets a mustache, but no leg printings! Wes and Wedge are dressed as classic rebel pilots. What I miss the most is probably a hood for Han. Riding a Tauntaun without a hood will freeze his ears! Continuing with the named minifigs: Jeremy the Tauntaun, Luke skywalker and Bill the Wampa. Of course, when I took the picture above with all the named characters, I didn't forget Luke was still hanging in the Wampa cave... Luke has a double printed head, before and after meeting Bill. Sadly, no legs printing for him! Then we have 7 non-named characters: 5 rebel troopers, including 3 in cold resistant outfit, and 2 snowtroopers. the snowtroopers don't have any leg printings, but they have a skirt! Back printing for everyone, but no double-sided heads. Interesting parts The interesting parts of this set obviously include the Tauntaun and the Wampa. There are some rare parts, the only exclusive being the #64225 4x3 wedge in light bluish grey. 1x4 yellow tile with black stripes are nice, especially since I didn't own any! Build With bag 1 we'll build the left side of the trench and the whole imperial assault force, with its impressive E-Web blaster and a snowspeeder... Good luck guys! Bag 2 finishes the left side of the trench and brings the central part. We also build two canons and an 1.4 FD P-Tower. The trench is completed with bag 3, with which we build the right side of the trench, a loose snow patch, and two DF.9 batteries. In this bag, we also get 3 rebel troopers, who already outnumber the imperial forces. Bag 4 brings us the shield generator, with its four three round structures. With bag 5 we'll start building the T-47 airspeeder. And finish it with bag 6. Lots of stickers on that T-47. Bag 7 will start the Echo Base entrance, with part of the door opening mechanism. With bag 8 the Echo Base entrance is complete, with blast doors and lookout tower. With bag 9 we'll build the small control room. Bag 10 contains the Wampa's ice cavern. Luke can be suspended to the upper side of the cave and use the force to pull its lightsaber from the ice. I'm still wondering how a wampa can enter this cave... Bag 11 brings us a small moving crane, a small service vehicle and the Tauntaun stable. I always thought the Tauntaun was a carnivorous creature! The building of the v-150 ion cannon starts with bag 12... ... And ends with bag 13. Spare parts... Always welcome. The complete "outside" set finished. The "interior" parts of the set. Play features The play features of the set are simple but effective: the big door opens and closes, the studs shooter shoot studs and the lookout tower goes up and down... But let's take a look at what is, in my opinion, the nicest feature: the swapping elements. The two cannons, two DF.9 batteries, and the 1.4 FD P-Tower can be positioned at 7 different places on the trench part, the loose snow patch, and the Echo Base entrance. The shield generator also has a nice play feature as it can explode with a simple hit on a lever on the back of the build. But as you can see, when I was taking pictures, all my attempt resulted in the middle section always dropped down back in place... That may not have been the case with a four sections shield generator... Speaking of accuracy, the ion cannon firing sequence is really nice, as a pull on the back lever will pull back the "barrel" and shot the two darts one after the other. Toryn The ion cannon opens on the top to reveal nice firing and target control center that can fit a minifigure. The hatch can be closed with Toryn Farr inside. The 1.4 FD P-Tower has the same play feature, but there are no controls, and the hatch doesn't close. It seems pretty useless to me... Why? We have all read previous reviews of this set, and most of them were pretty harsh. I must say that I have mixed feelings toward this set. The minifigures, the lack of new elements, the use of older designs, etc... it's obvious that choices were made. What were the constraints that led the designer to make those choices? Sell price? Budget? Disney requests? All models look like they aren't finished, or at least needed a few more bricks. This is really visible on the ion cannon and the Echo Base doors. The name of the set, "Assault on Hoth", isn't well chosen too... The imperials are clearly outnumbered and have almost no firepower. How are they supposed to blow that 3 sections shield generator with just a snowspeeder bike? I would have sacrificed the wampa cave for an AT-ST. But what would have been the price to even the forces? While adding an AT-ST may have been possible, I don't see an AT-AT added to the set without a big price increase. And isn't that set already too pricey? Again I'm wondering what led to that lack of imperial forces... The Ultimate Collector's Series label. What does it mean? How is it applied to a set? Is that set worth of the label? I'm not in favor to give that label to playsets. To me a UCS is the Falcon, the Star Destroyer, the X-wing, not Assualt on Hoth or the Ewok Village. I think the UCS label is now only a commercial label that TLG applies to its Star Wars sets if they reach a given price tag. "Yes madam, it's an expensive box with lots of small plastic bricks, but it's an Ultimate Collector's Series box!" There is one last question that I'd like to ask: do we AFOL have some sort of responsibility? (Yes, you can start throwing rocks at me...) We expect a lot from TLG. And we are almost never happy. For years we wanted a Battle of Hoth set, and asked TLG to release one. Just take a minute to think at what would be your dream Hoth Battle set. Do you visualize it? Now try to fit it in a 250€/$ box... You'll have to make choices. And I'm sure your set won't appeal to me, but mine won't please you. And both won't please another AFOL... TLG tried to satisfy all of us AFOLs, with a product that is mainly aimed at children. They failed. But I'm sure kids will have a lot of fun with that set... Fun... Conclusion Design: 6/10 - The designs are simple and nice, nothing more. Parts: 6/10 - Not the best part selection I've seen, far from it (curved slopes!!) Build: 7/10 - Hours of good builds, but nothing complicated or with advanced techniques. Playability: 8/10 - A nice playset... for kids. Some good ideas. Minifigs: 8/10 - Saved by the number of minifigs, but they could have used some more printings and accessories. Price: 5/10 - Star Wars sets aren't cheap, and this one is way too pricey. Overall: 40/60 (66.6%) - A percentage score that may scare many of us! With reason... Too expensive, minifigures are ok but barely, almost no imperial forces... But still a nice playset. If you don't have oldest Hoth sets, I think you can enjoy the content of this set. Else, I think that Ben Kenobi could say "This is not the set you're looking for..."

Travel the LEGO® galaxy in the ultimate Millennium Falcon! Ten years ago, the 10179 - Ultimate Colletor's Millennium Falcon made its appearance. For one whole year it was the biggest official LEGO set ever. Unfortunately, only a year later the 10189 - Taj Mahal was released, deposing the beforementioned Falcon. Of course, it still remained the biggest Star Wars LEGO set ever, packing a whopping 5197 pieces. At the time I just came back from my dark ages (more info in my 75144 - UCS Snowspeeder Review) and the thought of forking out 500 euro for a LEGO set didn't even make it to the consideration phase. Two failed scam attempts later (in hindsight, they were too good to be true), I still didn't own the pinnacle of LEGO Star Wars vehicles. Around 2013 I resented not getting the 10179 so much, that I decided to start Bricklinking the parts. Several (a lot) of orders later I got most of the parts. Obviously, I skipped the riggings (80 euros each), the radar dish (60 euro) and the light bluish grey levers (1 euro a pop). I did buy black riggings for a couple of cents though. You never know what can be achieved with a little spray paint. Collecting the parts was actually half (possibly more) of the fun. After I stored the inventory in boxes I never got around to building that hunk of junk. I started working on it a year or two ago, but I never got passed the chassis. It has been taking up spacein the LEGO room for quite some time. Until recently. When I got word that I would be getting the new UCS Millennium Falcon, which is simply called 75192 - Millennium Falcon by the way, I felt the need to finish the old one, so I could do a proper comparison. Since my parts were stored with other LEGO parts it took forever to find all the pieces, so the build was actually quite tedious. Let's say I was glad that it was done. I will go into more details about both builds later. The Millennium Falcon from the saga has changed owners more than a few times, so you must be wondering how I obtained the Corellian Freighter. Well, we played a game of Sabacc and when another player thought he was winning, I countered, "Not so fast, it appears I have an Idiot's Array". I had a good feeling about that! For those of you still thinking "What the hell is an aluminum falcon?!", I recommend consulting the Wookiepedia. "This amazing LEGO interpretation of Han Solo’s unforgettable Corellian freighter has all the details that Star Wars fans of any age could wish for, including intricate exterior detailing, upper and lower quad laser cannons, landing legs, lowering boarding ramp and a 4-minifigure cockpit with detachable canopy. Remove individual hull plates to reveal the highly detailed main hold, rear compartment and gunnery station. This amazing model also features interchangeable sensor dishes and crew, so you decide whether to play out classic LEGO Star Wars adventures with Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO, or enter the world of Episode VII and VIII with older Han, Rey, Finn and BB-8!" PICTURES Normal pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. Whenever you see this icon, you can click the image (or swipe your mouse (or finger) from left to right) to change the image. Clicking on the left of the image will show the previous pictures, while clicking on the right side will show the next picture. More pictures can be found in my Flickr album. Pictures of the official press release can be found in this Flickr album. DISCLAIMER This set has been provided by the CEE Team of TLG. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG. 75192 Millennium Falcon™ Ages 16+. 7,541 pieces. US $799.99 - CA $899.99 - DE 799.99€ - UK £649.99 - DK 6999.00 DKK *Euro pricing varies by country. Please visit shop.LEGO.com for regional pricing. Number: 75192 Title: Millennium Falcon™ Theme: Star Wars Released: 2017 Part Count: 7541 Box Weight: 14,4 kg (approx) Box Dimensions: 53,5 cm x 45,5 cm x 38,5 cm Set Price (MSRP): US $799.99 - CA $899.99 - DE 799.99€ - UK £649.99 - DK 6999.00 DKK Price per Part: US $0.107 - CA $0.112 - DE 0.106€ - UK £0.086 - DK 0.928 DKK Links: Brickset, Bricklink How do you start a review of a set this big?! Well, just like any other review, with the box The main difference between this box and most other boxes is that this one is ginormous! Weighing over 14kg (14,4 kg according to the freigh letter), this is by far the biggest official LEGO set box you will see for a long time. It's not very likely that TLG will produce a non Star Wars set this big and it's not likely that TLG will produce an ever bigger Star Wars set in the near future either. Of course, this is mere speculation, because you never know what TLG will come up with. Most likely, there will be a new Taj Mahal in the near future and I will have made a fool of myself with this comment, but let's wait and see how long it will hold. The box measures 53,5 cm x 45,5 cm x 38,5 cm. The width and height are slightly less than some of the other big boxes, but the tremendous depth makes up for it. I need to find some good usage for the box, since I don't want to throw this away after building the set. Maybe pack some parts and/or other LEGO inventory in it. FRONT AND BACK SIDE The front of the box isn't cluttered with marketing gimmics or any other distractions. It shows what this set is all about...The Millennium Falcon! Granted, there are some Tie Fighters flying around and in the back you can see a Tibana gas mining colony floating in the clouds of planet Bespin, but other than that it clearly shows the star of the set. Showing Cloud City leads to believe that the front art is depicting a scene from The Empire Strikes Back, arguably the best movie in the saga In case the front image doesn't convince you, the rear side of the box emphasizes on some of the key characteristics of this new UCS version. It shows several interior sections, interchangeable radar dishes, removable gunnery station and a brand new cockpit canopy element. The rumors about an interior were true after all. Albeit not a very big interior, but an interior nonetheless. At least, there's more interior space than in the previous UCS MF. If you are not paying attention, there's a fifty-fifty percent chance you will end up opening the box on the wrong side. You need to open the side with the top and side blueprint images of the Falcon. Red and green icons have been printed to show you where to cut the sealings. In one's excitement, they can be easily missed though. To be honest, I totally missed them. I was simply lucky to open the box on the right side. The other side shows a partial bottom view blueprint, along with an action scene near the Death Star and a flavor text explaining in eight different languages why this is a must have set for all LEGO and/or Star Wars enthusiasts. It says: "You missed out on the 10179, haven't you? And you have regretted it ever since?! This is your chance to bring balance to the Force. This is the prophecy. You really need to get this set. No matter what it takes. You could sell a kidney. Or one of your kids. Maybe your wife. What are you waiting for?!". If you open up the box on the right side, you will be welcomed by the instruction booklet. Correction, the enormous ring bound instruction manual. As with other luxurious products, it starts with the unboxing experience. When you pick up the manual you realise the uniqueness of this set. Not only the size of the manual, but the weight as well. It weighs almost 3kg, which is unprecedented. Most LEGO sets don't even weigh 3kg, let alone the instruction manual. This is something you probably don't want to see when unboxing a luxurious UCS set like this, a sticker sheet. Unfortunately one has been included, which means that not all parts are printed. Even though I would prefer to have printed parts, I have come to peace with sticker sheets. It's simply not feasible to turn every stickered part into a new element. One can argue that for a set like this, exceptions could or should be made. Looking at the time it took for TLG to completely sell the initial stock, I don't think that it makes much of a difference. The outer box packs four inner boxes, containing a total of 66 bags. Four bags are unnumbered and the other bags are divided into 17 stages. Cool thing about the inner boxes is that combined they show a cool blueprint-like image of the Falcon. Each of the boxes shows a quote related to one of the movies. Box 1: She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid Box 2: I've made a lot of special modifications myself Box 3: It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs Box 4: She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy UNNUMBERED BAGS These are the four unnumbered bags, containing special parts. I will include thumbnail images for the bags used in each step in the building sections. The book contains no less than 466 pages with 1379 building steps, divided over 17 stages. I expected the build to be divided over more than 17 stages, but some stages contain multiple subassemblies. I have taken pictures of some of the pages. Of course, I haven't included all the goodies. That would spoil the fun. Click on the images to scroll through the pages. These pictures were taken after building the set, which explain some dents and bruises. The dark pages are easily smudged by the way. Or click on one of the thumbnails to view a high resolution picture. For some people the sticker sheet is even more annoying than Jar Jar Binks, but I have accepted the fact that not every part can be printed. It would be cool to have a printed UCS plaque though. That would probably be feasible (TLG pretty please). I really do like the hallway stickers though. I have read that some people don't like 'em, but I would go as far to say that I love 'em. They way they give the flat parts a more or less forced perspective look works really well in my opinion. Given the part count, this set doesn't contain a lot of very special parts. However, it does contain some cool printed trans clear parts, and not to forget the re-issued 10179 radar dish and boat mast riggings. CANOPY ELEMENT This part was first seen in the Ninjago Ice Tank from The LEGO Ninjago Movie. Upon seeing this new part in that set, it was immediately trans-clear (hehe, pun intended) that this part would also be used as a canopy element for the (at that time) rumored new UCS Millenium Falcon. Looks like one of the Apollo capsules, doesn't it? Creating a Saturn V in this scale would definitely make it an even bigger set than the Falcon. PRINTED TRANS-CLEAR 6X6 DISHES Besides the printed canopy part, this set comes with two types of printed 6x6 Radar Dishes, one with and one without handle. TRANS-LIGHT BLUE RIBBED HOSES Instead of 1x2 tiles, this version of the UCS MF uses six Trans-Light Blue Ribbed Hoses to comprise the hyperdrive engine. BOAT MAST RIGGINGS Here they are, back by popular demand. RADAR DISH While it does look like the original radar dish, it's actually a different part with a different print. Thanks to @LEGODrongo01 for pointing out the different print. All the new parts can already by found in the Bricklink Inventory. The part list is spread out over four pages. The previous UCS Falcon had only a two-page part list, which shows that the variety of parts in this set is way higher. Click on the image to scroll through the pages. Or click on one of the thumbnails to view a high resolution picture. The side of the box shows the array of included minifigures. Not counting the two Porg and BB-8, you get seven cool minifigures. Chewie and C3PO have been around for a while and they don't appear to be aging Even though a relatively new design on both figs, we have seen these before. The other five minifigs are divided into two crews. One for The Empire Strikes Back version of the Falcon and one for The Force Awakens. Cool thing about the crew for The Empire Strikes Back is that Han and Leia both have respiratory masks, used when they venture outside the ship, looking for Mynocks. Younger han is looking as slick as he does in the movies. Leia is ever so stylish, even in her thick jacket and gloves. The second version of the crew is the one we have seen in The Force Awakens, and it's comprised of older Han, Finn, Rey and good old Chewie. Chewie has taken a liking to Rey, which provides some continuity after certain events in the movie. We will probably see more of that duo in the upcoming installments. For certain in The Last Jedi, which will air in a couple of months. The picture belows shows the line-up of the actual figures. Except for Chewie and C3PO all of the figs have a double side head, revealing another facial expression or setup on the back. This picture shows the alternate faces. It isn't really sharp, sorry about that. As I mentioned earlier, I have built the previous (10179) Millennium Falcon recently. I didn't really enjoy the build. Part of this was because I had to lookup every part in a bigger inventory, which was very time consuming. Another issue was that I didn't really like the way the model is built, loosely attaching the panels to the frame. All in all, I experienced it to be a tedious build. I sure hope the build is better executed in the new version. STAGE 1: FRAME Bags: 6 (and the beams from the 2 unnumbered bags) Build duration: 2 hours (approx.) The frame is reminiscent of the old (10179) chassis. The designer more or less copied the way the 10179 was built. The reason behind this is explained in the instruction manual, but it basically boils down to "never change a winning team" or winning design in this case. The main difference between the two versions is that the new version uses more colors than the old one. I was expecting the chassis to be a complete color vomit, but that's not the case either. Using colors like tan, dark tan and brown, the chassis has a Steampunk feel to it. The 10179 used a lot of 3L Pin with Bush in red and I was surprised to see them included in light bluish grey. I was expecting them in red again. It somehow makes sense, also because red 3L Beams are used in red. It doesn't really matter since you won't be seing the pins anyway. A relatively new part, which hasn't been used in the 10179, is the 3L Pin Connector with 2 Pins and Center Hole. This part is used to keep the Technic Beams tightly together and provide rigidity to the frame. Click on the image to see a comparison between the old and new frame. STAGE 2: LANDING GEAR Bags: 3 Build duration: 45 minutes (approx.) During this stage six of the seven landing struts will be built. The last one will be built during a later stage. The image below shows the subtle differences between the new (left) and old (right) landing gear. The main difference is the 6x6 Webbed Radar Dish, instead of the 4x4 Round Brick. Looking at the actual Falcon from the movies, you can see that the 6x6 Dish is a better representation of the right scale. Comparing the old and new landing gear, it's clear that both models are built using the same scale. The size of both struts is identical. When you click on the image below, you can attach the landing gear to the frame. When you look at the attached landing pads, you can see that the vehicle is actually resting only on the middle axle. Turning the model in the upright position reveals the frame with six of the seven landing struts attached. STAGE 3: DEJARIK CONTROL ROOM AND FRAME ADD-ONS Bags: 5 Build duration: 1 hour 45 minutes (approx.) This stage introduces the first minifigures. Chewie, C3-PO (human cyborg relations) and two porgs make their appearance. Unfortunately they are in a bit of a predicament. The porg can't reach the Dejarik table, Chewie wants to blow it up and C3-PO needs to do some construction. Always wear your helmet by the way, safety first! CONCEALED CANNON The starboard bow bay of the ship contains a concealed blaster cannon. The guns pops out when you slide the panel to the side. The two pictures below show the mechanism. MAIN HOLD In contrast with the 10179, this model features several interior areas. One of them is the main hold which features a seating area with a Dejarik holographic game. This game was introduced in Star Wars IV - A New Hope. The main hold also features an engineering station with turning minifigure seat and a doorway with passageway decoration. Sorry if you have a bit of OCD, like me. This picture is killing me. My fingers are itching. The designer chose to add the Dejarik table early on, so when you need a break from building, you can play a game of holographic chess The fact that you add something of an interior early on in the build is really joyful. The 10179 was a rather dull build and adding these little rooms to the model, makes the build lots more enjoyable. I absolutely love everything about the main hold. The seating area is very cleverly built, the turning seat is properly built and not just the standard minifig chair. I also love the passageway decoration, with the forced perspective. It gives you the feeling that the room is bigger and that it's connected to other parts of the ship. It even has the combat remote training helmet, which Luke was using during his training. He failed miserably, until Obi-Wan put down his visor and let Luke use his senses to counter the combat remote. Thumbs up for the main hold. The main hold is actually hanging underneath the frame. This is a very practical solution to have an interior, while maintaining structural integrity. After adding the forward landing strut, the model looks like this. STAGE 4: REAR COMPARTMENT AND FRAME ADD-ONS Bags: 4 Build duration: 1 hour 45 minutes (approx.) After building the main hold, we continue by building the rear compartment, which is the engine room. Even though this room isn't very big, it packs all the important details, like the hyperdrive, computer consoles, two doorways and two hatches leading to the escape pods. The room also contains the hidden floor compartment where Rey and Finn try to hide from Han and Chewie. The compartment is hidden underneath the 2x4 Technic Plate with 3 Holes. Unfortunately, Han knows his own ship like no other, so they were easily found. Like the main hold, this room is attached to the frame using 3L Pins with Bush. Basically the compartments are hanging underneath the frame. This proves to be a proper mechanism, since they are well secured. I am very happy with both interior compartments. Some of you might feel disappointed that it's not one big interior, but given the size of the model, the frame should be very rigid. There's a trade-off between rigidity and playability. The designer managed to pack a lot of iconic details from the movies into this model. Han and Leia have joined the party. They are already inspecting the Millennium Falcon for Mynocks. Han is sure he heard one near the bottom of the ship, but they can't seem to find it. Makes you wonder where it is hiding. STAGE 5: SRB42 SUBLIGHT DRIVE Bags: 4 Build duration: 1 hour (approx.) During this stage the stern section of the vehicle is built, including the sublight drive. The SRB42 was a sublight drive manufactured by Girodyne that equipped the CECYT-1300 light freighter. The engines formed a long strip on the stern of the vessel that became known as a "wide bar" engine. I have never been a fan of the Boat Mast Riggings used to build the grill for the wide bar engine. It feels like a cop out. So I was very surprised that the new versions uses the exact same solution. There's only one good reason for using the riggings again and that's giving the fans the opportunity to get a hold of another set for their Bricklinked 10179. If so, thanks TLG, I really appreciate it. If not, I would be very interested to know why these parts have been used again. STAGE 6: FRONT MANDIBLES Bags: 4 Build duration: 1 hour (approx.) The ship is slowly taking shape. We are still missing the iconic front mandibles, which are used to lock the cargo payload. The mandibles hold various sensors and an anti-concussion field generator. There is also the freight barge clamp so the YT-1300 can act like a barge or tugboat and push around large cargo. Also on the port mandible there is the shield generator and projector. On the inner side of the mandibles there is a freight loading arm. At this point it's getting increasingly more difficult to take a proper photograph. STAGE 7: MANDIBLE BOTTOM PLATING Bags: 3 Build duration: 45 min (approx.) When building the 10179 this was the point after which it was mostly building panels to cover up the frame. Something tells me that's no different for this model. I have a bad feeling about this STAGE 8: DURALOY PLATING Bags: 3 Build duration: 45 min (approx.) Plating, plating and more Duraloy plating, rated 102 RU (Resistance Units). The bottom panels are quite hard to attach. The pins don't easily align with the hole, so it needs some pushing and pulling. In hindsight, one of the center panels was not entirely in the right position, giving the grey minifig baseplate not enough room. Problem solved, however the ship took some damage from lifting it and bumping it into the slanting cealing I have. Nothing the Falcon can't handle though. Roughly half way the build and we have spent around 10 hours building. So the estimated building time at this point is around 20 hours. STAGE 9: MANDIBLE TOP PLATING Bags: 3 Build duration: 1 hour (approx.) After building the bottom mandible plating, building the top mandible plating feels somewhat repetitive. Even though there are subtle differences, you are more or less building the same panel four times. On the bright side; the plating and mandibles do look a lot better than the previous version. So, when you are done with the repetitive section, you will be filled with joy. The hunk of junk is starting to take shape. The front side is mostly done and the greebling looks very cool. STAGE 10: BOARDING RAMP AND BOTTOM LASER CANNONS Bags: 5 Build duration: 1 hour (approx.) The boarding ramp features a neat little Technic mechanism, which allows the ramp to be lowered and raised. Other than that it's a pretty basic ramp. You are clearly looking at the bottom side of a plate. It's not a big deal, but it would have been nice to see a more studless solution. This section is fitted underneath the vehicle and it packs the bottom Quad Laser Cannons. The shape is definitely rounder than that of the previous UCS version. Apparently, we did make some progress over the last decade STAGE 11: ESCAPE POD CORRIDOR PLATING Bags: 3 Build duration: 30 min (approx.) One of my favorite improvements over the older version is the hull plating of the escape pod corridors. There's some confusion about the number of escape pods and where they are positioned. The floor plan has changed several time during the course of quite a few years by now. With lack of a definitive conclusion, I assume that the Falcon has two escape pods, located at port and starboard side of the vessel. Let me know if you think I am an noob, making this assumption One thing that was slightly bugging me after finishing the complete model is the visibility of the tan plate. You will cover up the model with several panels, but the tan 1x2 part of the plate (the actual plate is bigger) is clearly visible. It wouldn't hurt to cover it up with a dark bluish grey tile, or even making the plate ifself dark bluish grey. STAGE 12: REAR PLATING AND HEAT RADIATING VENTS Bags: 4 Build duration: 45 min (approx.) Since it's the fastes hunk of junk in the galaxy, the engines will get rather hot. To prevent extreme temperatures, the Falcon has heat radiation vents at the back of the vehicle. Here you can already see four of the six vents, installed by no other than Big Deal himself, with a little help from BB-8. This picture also clearly shows that there is ample room for another engineering or cargo section. STAGE 13: MORE REAR HULL PLATING AND MORE HEAT RADIATING VENTS Bags: 2 Build duration: 1 hour (approx.) Closing up the starboard stern section of the hull. The port stern section of the ship will be covered by a removable panel, allowing you to show the engineering section. The same goes for the panels covering the main hold with the Dejarik table. The hole covering the main hold is fairly small, so it's hard to be able to appreciate all the details in the room without having built the model. Of course, your friends and relatives will already be impressed by the rest of the model, so it's not that big of a deal STAGE 14: FRONT CENTER AND SIDE HULL PLATES Bags: 2 Build duration: 45 min (approx.) During this stage you will use the parts from two bags to make the front cross-shaped hull plating. I forgot to take a picture when I had built it, so here's one from a later stage. STAGE 15: ESCAPE PODS AND HULL PLATING Bags: 3 Build duration: 1 hour (approx.) One of the most significant changes, compared to the 10179, are the escape pods. Using several modern pieces allows for making shapes, which were impossible back in the days. While these new pods look way better than the old ones, I do think that the actual pods should be a hybrid version of the old and new ones. The new versions omit the tapered shape of the pods, clearly shown on the "actual" Falcon. That being said, I do love this design, together with the attached corridors. STAGE 16: COCKPIT AND CORRIDOR Bags: 4 Build duration: 1 hour 15 min (approx.) Nearing the end of the build, it's time to create the iconic cockpit section. Some of might argue that having basically two parts to represent the entire cockpit is not what LEGO is all about, but I beg to differ. Having such a detailed model requires a well formed cockpit. And these new parts allow for that. And the trans-clear one is printed, unlike the one used on the X-Wing. All things considered, I think this is a great solution. Did you know the cockpit is actually made of a material called Transparisteel? The cockpit canopy can be detached, which allows you to seat the crew in the otherwise very basic cockpit. No fancy stuff going on in there. No sign of the faulty compressor, Rey expertly circumvented. The cockpit allows four people to be seated. However, occupying four seats is only possible when you don't have any objections of someone invading your personal space, it's quite cosy. The better setup would be to have someone "riding bitch", like Chewie for example. As you can see the cockpit can actually be closed with a crew of four. The rounded corridor to the cockpit is nothing short of magnificent. This is arguably the best improvement over the old version. The shape is so much better than the plates and hinges solution. I am still not a big fan of the way you need to slap on all the panels though, but given the circumstances, the ones on this model do fit way better than the ones on its predecessor. STAGE 17: FINAL PLATING, GUNNERY STATION AND RADAR DISHES Bags: 4 Build duration: 1 hour 15 min (approx.) And now, the end is near. And so I face the final curt....building stage! The last stage is used to finalize the model, building the top quad laser cannons, operated via the gunnery station. One of the two 6x6 trans-clear printed radar dishes is used to provide some visibility. The inside of the gunnery station is very plain. Since this section is easy to open and it gives you a wide view of the interior, it could do with some extra greebling or decoration. You will also be building two versions of the radar dish. After Han was captured on Bespin, Lando took command of the Falcon once more to search for him, and later flew the ship at the Battle of Endor, where it entered the Death Star II and destroyed it from within. During this battle, the starship's circular military-grade sensor dish was knocked off as Calrissian piloted it through the Death Star's interior. Other than that it's cool that you can switch between the two versions, it's extremely kind of TLG to include the old style dish. This is a nice gesture, whether on purpose or not, towards the ones who have Bricklinked the old Falcon and skipped the unique parts. Be aware though, that it's not exactly the same part. It's a new part with a new print. As it turns out, Han and Leia were looking in all the wrong places. The Mynock is hiding behind the UCS plaque. FINISHED MODEL There she is...the new and improved YT-1300 492727ZED. Isn't she an ugly beauty! It measures a length of (approximately) 84 cm, it's 56 cm wide and 21 cm high. Total building time was approximately 17 hours, which is way less than I anticipated. Having numbered bags makes a world of difference. For Technic I usually account for 250 parts per hour and I know I do more with "regular" LEGO bricks. Having numbered bags result in doing around 450 parts per hour, not rushing things. I still like to take my time and try to enjoy the build, even when I am writing a review. And let's be honest, you don't want to rush building a unique and expensive set like this. Take your time and enjoy. Speaking of enjoying the build; even though this model is constructed in more or less the same way as the 10179, I found this build much more enjoyable. Part of it can be ascribed to not having to look ages for some of the parts, although some people actually love this. The interior sections are quite fun to build and they do add some identity to the model. Other than that, it is still mostly building panels. Building this model is definitely not as much fun as building a Modular Building for example. However, the end result is very rewarding, which kind of makes up for that. The combination of studded and studless design is spot on. At first sight I wasn't very enthusiastic about the design. I figured it looked to much like the old version and it should have been more studless. I even remember being a tad disappointed when I saw the first pictures. I wasn't even sure it was the real deal. However, when the press release images appeared and I looked at it in more detail, I realized that the design is actually very good. There's a great balance between studded and studless, which accounts for the Falcon still being a hunk of junk and not a very modern sleek looking spaceship. FRONT MANDIBLES Like the radar dish, the front mandibles can be altered to depict the later version of the ship. And by later I don't mean the one in The Force Awakens, but the one in The Last Jedi. Apparently, something is going to happen and the mandibles play an important role in it. Will it be tugging another spaceship? Who knows?! Well a lot of people do know, but I am not one of them. So, like most of you, I need to wait until the movie comes out. Part of me was hoping for a different engine setup, but this is not the case. Well, the 1x2 trans-dark blue tiles have been replaced by trans-light blue hoses. At first I thought it used 1x1 trans-light blue rounded bricks, which would immediately explain the high part count, but to my surprise only six hoses were used. Here's a picture of the entire crew posing in front of the ship. Old Han must feel weird, looking at the younger version of himself. In one of the most recent trailers there was a Porg in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. I have a Jar-Jar feeling about it. I don't mind some comic relief, as long as it's not overdone. Let's hope for the best. Porgs were an avian species native to the planet Ahch-To, where Jedi Master Luke Skywalker made his exile in the years following the Battle of Endor. The creatures, who dwelled on the cliffs of the island where Skywalker lived, could build nests and fly. Baby porgs were known as porglets. LEFTOVER PARTS As you can see, the leftover parts mainly consist of the usual smaller parts, with the long tubing as the exception. Yes, it's normal to have a spare. If you have any other spare parts than these, you should probably check the manual to see where you missed a part. COMPARISON WITH 10179 Inevitably, this model needs to be compared with the 30 year anniversary edition. I have already done some comparisons in this review and now we will take a look at both finished models. Upon glancing the images, one might think it's the same model. Some people didn't even realize the second version was the older model. Of course, there are some things that definitely give it away. First of all, the new version is a bit more colorful. The dark tan and green parts, placed on the hull here and there, provide some appeal to the design. I do like the fact that it's a bit less dull to look at, but from an accuracy point of view, one can debate whether it isn't too much?! Unless, the falcon will be covered in mud in The Last Jedi. Then it would perfectly depict some of the mud still attached to the hull. I do admit that the overall look is way better with some color on the model. Another difference is the use of more studless and more rounded elements. This provides for a more modern look, while still maintaining the characteristic scruffy look of the Falcon. And of course the cockpit section, with the molded canopy part, is significantly different and way better looking. While the old version does have the tapered forms for the escape pod corridors, I do like the new design better. In 2027 we will probably get a version combining the two designs to make the perfect shape Another difference is the way the engine exhaust vents are made. The new flat round tiles provide a nice smooth surface, while the old one was more studded. It's also clear that there has been a major improvement in the greebling. First of all, there's more variation and secondly, it's better executed. The holes in the mandibles are slightly smaller, but they aren't round anymore. So, the hole size is more accurate, while the shape isn't. All things considered, the old Falcon didn't look bad at all, but the new version is more up to par with the contemporary building techniques and looks. It's the logical evolution. This review is already very picture heavy, so I have chosen not to include a gazillion pictures of the old version as well. But if you are interested, you can click this link to open my Flickr album with some additional pictures, also of several building stages. COMPARISON WITH THE MOVIE VERSION It's nice to see a comparison with the 10179, but that's actually not as important as a comparison with the movie version. After all, it's modeled after that. Having discussed the cockpit and escape pods already, I like to focus on the top view, representing the actual shape of the vessel. By clicking or sliding the images you can reduce the opacity, revealing a blueprint I found on the line. I am not sure who made it and how accurate it is, but I have compared it to several other blueprints and models, and it seems to be accurate. Thank you unknown internet user for letting me borrow your picture The overall shape and size do match quite nicely. The mandibles have a slightly different angle, but there's only so much you can do with LEGO. Given the fact that LEGO basically only has a couple of angles, I'd say it's a job well done. The shape and location of the gunnery station is spot on. The engine vents and the equipment access bays aren't placed in the proper position though. The equipment access bays aren't even round anymore. The openings are smaller than in the 10179, but the shape isn't very accurate. To be clear; for me this is considered nitpicking, but I wanted to point it out anyway. Other than some minor inconsistencies, I do like to express that nothing in the design seems way off or is bothering me beyond belief. Well, except maybe for those tan plates I mentioned earlier hehe. Admittedly, at first I was somewhat disappointed and thought the new Falcon was underwhelming. Using the boat mast riggers again and being the same scale, I figured it was more of an evolution than a revolution. However, upon closer inspection of the hi-res press release images, I soon figured that there was more to it than I initially figured. The rumored and highly anticipated interior was indeed present. Albeit not a very big interior, but an interior nonetheless. The sheer size and fantastic looks of the model are nothing short of spectacular. This set being more of an evolution instead of a revolution actually makes sense. But in terms of building the model, I was hoping for a somewhat different setup than the previous version. Of course, it didn't help that I had built the previous version only days before this one, which emphasized the similarities. That being said; I did enjoy this build much more than building the 10179. The two interior sections were a very important aspect of enjoying the build. TLG managed to pack a tremendous amount of detail in both rooms, depicting lots of iconic aspects from the movies. I also like the sticker simulating the depth in the hallways, a forced perspective if you will. This gives you the sense that you can actually walk around in the ship. Well, that a minifig could walk around, of course. I know the part count is already very high, but how cool would it have been to have two rooms on the other side as well. Possibly two simple storage bays. The set is well built, but like the older Falcon, it's mostly a matter of slapping panels onto the frame. The finished model feels a bit more sturdy than the previous one, but the panels are still loosely connected, so they are not actually attached to the vehicle. They do seem to fit better, but you still can't hold the model upside down without panels falling off. Not that it's necessary to do this, but if you want to hang it on the wall, you will need to come up with a solution. There's always lots of debate about which minigures should have been included, instead of the ones TLG decided to put in the set. For me personally, I couldn't be happier with the setup in this set. The possibility to switch crews is very cool. I'm really taking a to the new crew, so I will definitely display it with the new ship setup and new crew. Maybe I will even put it in a display case and build a Jakku setting around it. For now, I have decided to like the two Porgs. Maybe I will revise this statement after seeing the new movie. The color vomit is actually not too bad in this set. I expected a lot more different colors used in the chassis, but the designer kept it nice and clean, using different shades of tan, combined with some bright accents. For me the tan color works really well in the chassis. Except for the two plates that is I never imagined I would bring this up in a review, but the size of this set can actually pose a problem. Usually, I disassemble my sets, especially the Technic sets. I do like to keep some of the UCS Star Wars sets built and I do have some display space behind my desk. This set will fit that display space, but if I use a display case, I need to find another place for it. But where?! I have the big Technic Porsch on my desk at work and I was contemplating on putting this there instead. That way I can look at it for approximately 40 hours a week. That's more time than I see @Kitty Not to mention the second (old) UCS Falcon I need to store/display somewhere. First world problems, I know. But it can seriously be an issue to give the model the proper display space it deserves. I have tried sneaking it into the living room, but somehow she noticed. Not sure what gave it away. Let's not pretend that we don't need to discuss the most important aspect of this set, the price! For some people price isn't an issue, but the majority of the fans will scratch behind their ears a couple of times before forking out this kind of cash. On the other hand; seeing the queues at the LEGO Brand Stores at midnight, makes you wonder if price really is an issue. There seem to be lots of fan willing to part from their cash in favor of getting this unique set. Not all of them are genuine fans, but this review is not the place to discuss that. Fact of the matter is that TLG sold out quickly, even at this price. Obviously, I was lucky to get it for the review, but otherwise I would have definitely purchased this set. This might sound a bit stupid, but this set isn't more expensive than the Snowspeeder, when it comes to price per part. Yes, it is expensive, but it's a huge number of parts. It's not an overpriced set. At least not more overpriced than other Star Wars sets. TL;DR To conclude this review I like to point out that this set is a must have for every Star Wars fan, even if you are only a casual LEGO fan. The biggest LEGO set ever released respresenting the most iconic ship of the Star Wars universe! I absolutely love the looks and the inclusion of the interior sections. The range of minifigs is spot on and the set is an absolutely eye-catcher. I rate it: 9 out of 10 MINI CONTEST Escaping from a fleet of Imperial ships, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia fly the Millennium Falcon into an asteroid field. Landing inside an asteroid, the crew wear breath masks to brave uncertain atmospheric conditions outside the Falcon. Soon they discover mynocks, energy-feeding parasites, chewing on the ship's power cables. As the asteroid begins to rumble, they quickly find that they are actually inside the gullet of a huge space slug. This is a scene from The Empire Strikes back. The picture below shows the Space Slug as seen in the movie. TLG has released a promotional LEGO set depicting this scene. You have a chance to win one of these rare promotional sets. What do you need to do? Tell us what you think of the new Millennium Falcon and post a mini build in this topic of your version of a space slug. It doesn't need to be this space slug, it can be any space slug. We're not taking this too serious, so by all means, go for a fun build. You will have at least two weeks to post your build. After two weeks I will choose a lucky winner, possibly two POLL Unfortunately, It's likely that the poll still isn't working. I would be great if you can express your opinion in a post in this topic

Hello, you might be asking yourself "what's a Star Wars Regulator doing a review of a Ninjago set for?" Well, I'll tell you. I've been a fan of Ninjago since season 2. When Ninjago first came out I thought, "what do I need a bright blue ninja for? Hiding behind bright blue curtains?" But as more sets came out and I started to watch the tv series, it began to grow on me. I'm still catching up on the episodes and haven't quite gotten to the Sons of Garmadon arc yet. So I can't tell you how they've handled the alternate Ninjago universe that is the Lego Ninjago Movie. But that also mean this review will be spoiler free, apart from some of the obvious spoilers that you can't avoid simply by looking at the box art. When the newest Ninjago line was released, the set that stood out to me the most was this one, Temple of Resurrection. Even if you aren't a fan of the Ninjago license, most of the sets are great parts packs and this one is no exception. So without further ado, here is my review. 70643 Temple of Resurrection Hopefully you can tell from the picture how thick this box is. I didn't get a tape measure out, but it seems to be about 50% thicker than your average $30-$60 set. And there doesn't seem to be an obvious reason for this. There are no large base plates or pre-fab pieces to accommodate. And the bags and instructions could have fit in a smaller box, or even a thinner one that was a little larger in surface area. Maybe Lego just wanted it to take more shelf depth. The back of the box illustrates all the play features. But it also shows off one of the main reasons I wanted this set. Each Ninjago line (as all "Adventure" themed Lego lines tend to) has a set of pieces/objects to collect. Most of the time you have to buy multiple sets to complete your collection. But recently Lego has been putting all the collectibles into one of the highest priced sets. For example, the Hands of Time sets allowed you to collect 4 Time Blades by buying 4 different sets. Or you just just buy the 2nd most expensive set and get all 4 that way. For Sons of Garmadon, you could buy 3 different sets to get all 3 Oni Masks, or you can just buy Temple of Resurrection to get all 3. Now, its time for a confession. The main reason I wanted all 3 Oni masks is because I'm a big Jackie Chan Adventures fan. One of the seasons dealt with Oni masks and seeing them re-created in Lego forum makes me geek out! Opening the box you can see that there are 6 bags and a sealed set of instructions/stickers. It's always nice to see the instructions and stickers protected and I wish Lego would do that in more sets, not just the large ones. My first reaction when I laid out the contents was "NO! The large windows are stickers not prints!" I have a love hate relationship with stickers, but it's mostly hate. If the piece I want to use in generic MOCs is stickered then I can just leave the sticker off to allow for more versatility. But if it's a piece I want to use for its intended purpose, like a decorative Asian wall panel, then I want it printed! I'll point this piece out again when we get to it in the building process. Sorry for the poor quality on this picture. I didn't go back and check my pictures before moving on to each building step, so I missed that this one didn't turn out well. It shows what things look like after Bag #1, as well as all the extra pieces. There are some unique pieces in Bag #1. We get some of the new flower molds with 5 petals, the white modified stud with shaft, and 2 printed pieces. The compass looking piece gets hidden in one of the boxes on the ground floor of the temple. I'm not sure what it's significance is, but a quick Bricklink search shows it's originally a Minecraft piece. That helps explain why it looks pixelated. Bag #2 finishes the extensions to the ground level. My guess is the red path is supposed to look like a tongue. You also get a bunch of spare parts, most of them extremely useful. You get an extra Mr. T. mohawk in red, one of each bandana style in black, a red katana (a new color for this piece), and a spare espresso lever. I find it odd that 1 set would have both styles of bandanas. The skeleton wears the new style introduced for the Ninjago line a few years back. And one of the Sons of Garmadon bad guys wears the Wild West version. Bag #3 builds the main floor of the 2nd story and achieves its stability with a lot of technic beams. The instructions have you build the entire floor before attaching it to the rest of the build. If you look at the base of the building that was built from bags 1 and 2, you can see that the connection points are on 4 different levels. The floor also had to fit around bricks already set along the edges. It was hard to line up and fit. And I assume that if I had trouble with it, the 8-14 year old this set was intended for will have even more. Something else interesting in Bag #3 was the varying shades of pearl gold. I know some colors are harder for Lego to keep consistent with every batch. But finding 2 different shades in the same bag seemed odd to me. I'd love to see the sorting process that brought this about. Was there really only 1 piece left from the previous batch that ended up in my set along with a bunch of the new batch? Or did one fall off a conveyor belt and a worker found it a week later, adding it to the batch of new ones? Who knows. Bag #3 ends very few extra pieces and now we are ready to build the 2nd floor and roof. Bag #4 has some great pieces in it. We get the oriental fence piece in pearl gold for the first time, the grooved dark red brick, some window and door pieces which are very useful for Asian style building, and an extra gold tassel. The gold tassel is in the Lego Ninjago Movie CMF, so it's not super rare any more. But it's nice to have more anyways. The lanterns are built using a Speed Champions' wheel in white which I thought was an ingenious use of that part. And Bag #4 wraps up with most of the walls being finished for the 2nd floor. There are also only 3 extra pieces in this bag. Bag #5 holds the pieces that almost made me cry when I first opened this set. Those two panels are stickers. Thankfully I was able to get them on straight enough to keep the perfectionist in me happy. But what if I had messed up? I seriously think Lego should start adding extra stickers sheets to all sets. Or at the very least, any set priced over $50. In this bag you also get some gold ingots which are used decoratively with the Oni masks and a dark pearl gray lightsaber handle. I'm not sure when Lego started doing this, but they now tell you at the beginning of a step whether you're going to need to build multiples of it or not. This saves a lot of time and frustration and I'm glad they started doing it! These revolving panels use one of the most interesting techniques in the set. By utilizing the anti-stud that is only in the middle of the window frame, the designer was able to offset two 1x2 plates. You later attached a small turntable to this spot which helps stabilize them as they turn. Bag #5 finishes off the structure of the 2nd floor and starts the roof. There are a few extra pieces shown at the bottom of the picture. Bag #6 has some great pieces! The black "L" tile has been around since 2016, but never in large quantities so every extra one is a nice addition to the collection. The red connector pin may not seem all that exciting, but this is the first year it's been produced in red. I was really hoping each Oni mask would have a matching colored helmet base. So I was very disappointed to see that all the helmet bases where black. You can't even see the black with the mask attached, but it means fewer cool helmet combos for other MOCs. With the finishing of Bag #6, the set is complete! There are some nice extra pieces like the dark bley horn and machete. Now to explore the play features! With a name like "Temple of Resurrection" it makes sense that the main play feature involves resurrecting Garmadon. You can see from the back that this is achieved with a lot of technic gears. By lifting the red arm, the gears move the roof. When it's lifted, the roof reverses direction and Garmadon is revealed. The side view shows that the build has a lot of openings. The bottom floor I understand as it allows you to position minifigures. But it would have been nice to get more windows with white panels to fill in the opening on the 2nd floor. This view is also the least flattering for the roof. It has to have gaps to be able to achieve the play feature, but this angle makes it look the most unsightly. Here's the temple with all the minifigures displayed. And in case you were wondering, minifigures can stay standing on the 2nd floor even when the roof transforms. The back shows that when the trap doors are activated the intruders are dropped into the armory. Probably not the best thought out plan. But it makes for a fun feature. And in case you were wondering, the Oni masks do not fit with the samurai helmet. Or course for many people the highlight will be the minifigures. As far as I can tell, the only minifigure you can find in another Sons of Garmadon set is Mr. E, the racer in black. Harumi, the female in green, and Hutchins, the man in green, and Garmadon are all exclusive to this set. Chopper Maroon, the man with the red mohawk, can be found in the S.O.G. Headquarters set with short legs and with the name of Nails. Cole seems to be exclusive, but he is very similar to the Ninjago movie version. Lloyd is listed as exclusive, but that's just because the other version excludes his katana holder. All minifigures have back printing. The baby does not have the new baby body mold. Instead it uses two pieces to achieve a swaddled look. I'd love to have another baby body mold, but this swaddled look works so well I can't complain. A couple more things to note about the minifigures. Harumi has some interesting printing on her lower legs. Does anyone know why those extra green belts are around her knees? Chopper Maroon has some detailed biker printing that gets covered by his bandana. And Garmadon, while looking very much like his Ninjago Movie version, is unique because of the purple "resurrection ooze." My overall thoughts? Go buy it! Or rather, find the best discount and then buy it. I got it 20% off at Target which seems to be the new normal price for this set. The minifigure selection is wonderful, the build process keeps you interested throughout, and even if you just want a parts pack, this set is a winner. So there you go. I hope you enjoyed the review as much as I enjoyed making it!

42055 - BUCKET WHEEL EXCAVATOR INTRODUCTION I never thought LEGO would make a bucket wheel excavator (BWE). First of all, the vast majority of Earth's population have no idea what it is (excepting the Germans). Secondly, such a model would have to be scaled around a bucket and therefore would be enormous even if made at the smallest possible scale. It just didn't seem likely, yet here it is. Bucket wheel excavators are among the largest pieces of mobile equipment ever created by humans. Whereas a standard hydraulic excavator removes material one bucket at a time and must empty each load individually, a BWE removes material continuously and transfers it via a complex series of conveyors to a fleet of waiting trucks. These machines are used in open pit mining to remove the over-burden: the loose soil and rock on top of the seam of target material. They excavate not downward, but forward. The machine is placed below grade, and then slews across a wall of material to bring the grade down to the level of the machine. Although they may have on-board hydraulics, these machines are electric and are tethered to the power grid via a cable large enough to run a small city. Though technically mobile, the machines move rarely and slowly and doing so is a major operation. They are constructed on-site at the mine since it is impossible to move them over long distances. Only the Germans have a unit large enough to describe the amount of material these machines remove: the scheisse-tonne. The LEGO model happens to include several scheisse-tonnes of overburden for your pit mining enjoyment. All BWEs share a common feature of a rotating bucket wheel, usually with at least 16 buckets. After that, the designs vary considerably. The largest and most familiar type of BWE is the gantry type. This type uses tall gantry booms and cables to support the bucket wheel arm. Set 42055 is clearly not intended to be a gantry type BWE, but seems modeled after a C-frame type like the Sandvik PE100. Even so there are clear differences. Whereas the LEGO model has the counterweight on the opposite end of the bucket wheel arm, the real BWE has the counterweight much lower for greater stability. Given the structural limitations of LEGO, this seems like a reasonable compromise. Although there has never been an official LEGO Technic model of a BWE before, the topic is not unknown among AFOLs. A couple of examples are shown below. The first, from Holger Matthes, is a gantry type built from traditional studded Technic. The second model by Desert752 uses studless building. Both models have many more parts and motors than 42055. SET INFORMATION Set Number: 42055 # of Parts: 3927 Main Model Weight: 3.5 kg Main Model Size: 83cm x 40cm x 30cm THE BOX This is a big box, roughly the same size as the UCS star destroyer and death star boxes. Unlike those boxes though, it does not have a cover that lifts off. Instead it has a top flap which shows the functions with a huge picture. The box opens to either end. Front Back Front flap CONTENTS OF THE BOX Instructions The instruction book is a massive brick nearly the size of the Porsche manual. It has 552 pages, 72 steps in the truck, 669 steps in the main model (not including callout steps). The manual is reasonably protected in a snug plastic bag along with the stickers but no cardboard. Mine was in good shape. Stickers There is an ample sticker sheet with all of these used for the main model. Quality is typical. Bags The parts are split into 8 sets of numbered bags which nearly fill the box. Some large bags contain smaller bags. 3x bags numbered 1 4x bags numbered 2 3x bags numbered 3 5x bags numbered 4 2x bags numbered 5 9x bags numbered 6 3x bags numbered 7 3x bags numbered 8 HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This set is a smorgasbord of parts, and not just because of the total part count. There are a huge number of useful and/or rare parts here including: 53x 5x7 frame 22x red 16-tooth idler gears 19x 20-tooth bevel idler gears 24x 90deg corner pin connectors The biggest obstacle to a model like this is the slew ring. The turntables in the LEGO parts palette were simply too small and weak to support a large overturning moment, so custom solutions were always required. LEGO has finally solved that problem with some new parts. These giant parts can be used as ring gears (like in the bucket wheel) or as huge turntable (like in the slew ring). 14 of them are included in the model. When four quarter segments are connected together, you get a complete circle with 140 teeth. There are also 8 new buckets. The 3 hole attachment along the back of the bucket was needed for this model. THE BUILD Bag 1 - The Truck The build begins with the mining dump truck in white. There is nothing special to say here except to note that it is NOT the same as the 42035 yellow truck. Although the scale and subject matter are the same, this truck does not have a moving engine. There are also a pile of rocks included for the BWE to dump into the truck. Bag 2 - The Carrier The second portion of the build is the main structure of the carrier. As you might expect, this needs to be really strong to support such a huge model. Looking at the picture, you can see that the entire thickness is supported with 5x7 frames making this thing a real brick. The corners are reinforced with 3x5L liftarms and 11L double angled liftarms. This assembly is mostly structural; the only moving parts here are the axles to drive the sprockets. The 4 red pins with bushing will be used to attach the superstructure. Bag 3 - The Treads The third bag builds the tread assemblies. These are two identical assemblies (rather than mirrored). I was a little surprised to see the black tread links here given that the conveyor uses DBG links. There is no suspension. Then the two tread assemblies are connected to the carrier, completing it. I was worried about the use of bevel gears in what is sure to be a highly loaded drive assembly, but the use of a gearbox bracket prevents slippage. Bag 4 - The Slew Ring The bottom of the superstructure is build next and sits atop the slew ring. There is a LOT going on here as you can see from this plan view. The only function that passes through the slew ring is main drive, but the smaller turntable also passes the power for the output conveyor. A few DBG wedge belt wheels can be seen positioned circumferentially. These ride on the slew ring to support the imbalance of the superstructure. The assembly is then connected to the carrier along with the linear actuators used for tilting the main arm. The three vertical axles seen in the front will receive power from the arm. Now the support towers have been started as well as the mechanism to control the angle of the output conveyor. Another 180 degrees worth of ring gears are used to support it and are concentric with the main slew ring. A pair (upper and lower) of standard size turntables are used to center the superstructure while the slew ring supports the weight and moment. Bag 5 - The Output Conveyor The relatively simple bag 5 is the output conveyor. It is just some sprockets, supports, treads, and a wall. This is suspended at a fixed elevated angle above the upper turntable, and a chute above it funnels the rock and earth from the main conveyor to the output conveyor. This is centered so that it works regardless of which direction the output is facing. Bag 6 - The Bucket Wheel Bag 6 represents by far the major portion of the build and makes up the main digging arm. We start with the support for the bucket wheel including the chute that funnels the material from the bucket to the conveyor. It is important that there be no gaps so parts can't into the mechanism and jam it. The bucket wheel itself is pretty simple. It uses 8 ring gear segments and 8 buckets. After the bucket wheel is attached, you can see the 6 pairs of 12-tooth double bevels gears which center and support it held by a radial spiderweb of structure. Now the main conveyor is built and a lot of structural reinforcement is added. This arm is cantilever a long way from the main frame, so it needs to be stiff not only in bending but also in torsion. The 5x7 frames and diagonal members you see help a lot with this. Here is a view of the completed bag 6 arm (bag 7 will build the back of it). The yellow axle protruding is used to drive the conveyor. Bag 7 - The Counterweight The back of the arm contains the counterweight. Why make it a boring inert mass when you can use batteries and a gearbox for weight instead?! The gearbox here is pretty intricate and is explained further later on. A single XL motor drives all functions and has plenty of power. At the stage shown, the gears are all present but nothing is supported yet. Now a bunch of structure has been added to properly support the gears. This view is from the bottom of the gearbox. After the gearbox counterweight is attached to the front of the arm you have a very long, but very rigid, beam assembly. The panels and labels for the switches effectively hide the awesomeness of the gearbox. I kind of wish the panels were transparent. The completed arm in a perspective view. Now the arm is attached to the main frame via a pair of small turntables about which it pivots. Then the top of the frame is added. The model may look complete at this point, but there are still a lot of aesthetic details to add. Bag 8 - The Operator Areas Box 8 adds the details needed for a human (or minifig) to actually operate such a beast. This includes railings, ladders, and the operator's cabin. This is what the model might look like to a mini figure for scale. Note however, that this model is much smaller than minifig scale. HOW DOES IT WORK? OK, we've built this thing and we know that it's huge, but what about the functions? Does it work, and how does it work? Is it just a big monster that doesn't do much? Hopefully this picture will answer that last question in the negative. There is in fact a lot going on here. In case you couldn't figure it all out from just looking at that cutaway, let's look at a color coded animation. This breaks the functions apart to make them more understandable. Blue is motor drive, orange is inside the gearbox, yellow is main drive, green is conveyors and bucket wheel, and red is rotation. Let's dig in further. Here is a view of just the gearbox, but it is still too hard to understand without some colors. You can see the 3 white clutch gears which are used to protect the gearbox from stalling. That's better. Blue is the motor drive. The XL motor is geared down 5:1 at the point that it rotates the center blue driving ring. If no driving rings are engages, nothing turns except for the blue parts. The center driving ring can engage either the orange or the green parts. The orange parts and internal to the gearbox and don't drive anything directly. The two orange driving rings rotate in opposite directions. The yellow driving ring outputs to the main drive, and can make the model go either forward or reverse depending on which direction is engaged. Note that the main drive is VERY slow, but I think this is probably scale accurate. Even if you desired the model to go faster, I wouldn't recommend trying to get any more power down that long gear train. If the green gears are engaged, they output to drive the conveyors and bucket wheel. The red driving ring can be engaged only if the red is already engaged. This controls the slewing and, like the orange gears, can reverse direction without reversing the direction of the motor. In fact, the battery box is blocked so the motor can only run one direction. Like the driving, the speed of the other functions is slow, but quite scale accurate. This shows the system for main drive, not counting the gearbox. The power has to go a LONG way to get down to those threads. As you can see, it has to run concentrically through the turntable and there are a pile of idler gears used along with an additional 5:1 reduction for a total of 52.1:1 (there was an additional 20:16 in the orange gears). I found that it works surprisingly well with no trouble moving the model on a level surface. The linear actuators for adjusting arm angle are as simple as it gets. I was surprised to see the the whole axle rotates even though it also supports weight. This is generally a bad idea, but in this case the arm is so well balanced that there is hardly any load here. Next is the slewing function. Note how the 20 tooth idler gear is used to pass the torque past the arm pivot axis. After than, it is just a pile of spur gears used to get us over the fixed internal ring gear. This shows the conveyor drive system. The sprocket for the main conveyor just tees off from the driveline. Note that the drive of the bucket wheel is actually powered by the tread links of the conveyor; there are no gears or axles running out the length of the arm. The main and output conveyors run off the same driveline so are always moving together. The gears for the output conveyor must pass through the upper turntable to allow the conveyor to pivot. Here is a close-up of the bucket wheel. The greatest inefficiency in the model happens here. The black double gears don't just drive the wheel, they actually support it. This means that the upper gears in particular have a lot of weight on the teeth which causes a bunch of friction. A real BWE would support the wheel with bearings so the gears only carry torque. With that said, the bucket wheel still works fine. I have not had any trouble with it but it can be a bit jerky because of all the compliance in the system. Finally, the output conveyor locking system is one of the more clever and unexpected functions in the model. The lower turntables rotates with the superstructure, and the upper turntable rotates with the output conveyor. If the driving ring is in neutral, then these turntables are independent and you can freely adjust the position of the output conveyor. If the right hand driving ring is engaged, then the conveyor is grounded to the superstructure and rotates with it. On the other hand, if the left hand driving ring is engaged then the upper and lower turntables are locked together and rotate in opposite directions. The effect of this is that position of the output conveyor remains fixed with respect to the ground while the superstructure slews. This is exactly what you want while loading a truck. Of course, there is plenty of backlash in the gears so it doesn't work perfectly, but it works well enough to demonstrate the idea. SUMMARY What can I say other than to utter lots of superlatives? This is the biggest Technic model ever in terms of dimensions and in terms of parts. It's complexity is right up there with the best, it works great, and it is a wonderful parts pack. Yes it costs a lot, but if you were starting a Technic collection from scratch this one model would provide everything you need for years of building (except, strangely, wheels). The main con is that many people probably don't know what it is. This may be a positive depending on how much you like to fool your friends. So just how big is it? It was hard to take a picture next to another big model, but I managed one with the Unimog. DISCLAIMER This set has been provided by the CEE Team of The LEGO Group. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG.

Which project do you think will be LEGO's choice for the Second 2017 Ideas Review? Likewise, what do you think LEGO's choice will be for the Third 2017 Ideas Review?

INTRODUCTION The smallest of the 2018 sets, is the Hook Loader. A hook lift truck is a heavy duty truck that is fitted with a hydraulic hook lift hoist system. The hydraulic hook lift hoist system allows haulers to quickly change various types of roll off containers, generally designed for the transportation of materials in the waste, recycling, scrap and demolition industries. Probably due to intricate loading mechanism, we have seen many instances of hook lift trucks being built as Lego models, both officially from Lego, in a form of LEGO Technic Container Truck (8052) ... and lots of nice models from mocers. My personal favorite, is a Hook Lift truck model, made by Jennifer Clark. Note: Most images can be clicked for hi-res versions. SET INFORMATION Number: 42084 Title: Hook Loader Theme: Technic Released: 2018 Part Count: 176 Box Weight: 265 gr Box Dimensions: 15,5 cm x 13,9 cm x 6,8 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 12,95 Price per Part: € 0,073 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX Being a small set, it obviously comes in a small box. The box measures 15,5 cm x 13,9 cm x 6,8 cm which is obviously not very big. The weight of the box is approximately 265 grams. FRONTSIDE The front of the box shows our Hook Loader unloading its container, standing on rough dirt surface, with some blurred buildings in the background. The box also states that this model is for the age of 7 till 14. More importantly, the 2-models in-1 logo is clearly visible, which means this set can be used to build two different models. BACKSIDE The backside shows a picture of the alternate model, which is the Airport Fire Truck. The conversion arrow and the 2-in-1 are printed to clarify that the main model can be converted into a secondary model. One of the sides shows a picture of the main model, and one of the wheels in actual size. CONTENT OF THE BOX The box contains: 2 Instructions Booklet 2 Technic Panels 3 Bags INSTRUCTION BOOKLETS The instruction booklet for the main model: (both booklets came folded in the box) The instruction booklet for the alternate model: EXAMPLE OF RANDOM INSTRUCTION STEP PANELS Dark Bluish Gray Technic Panels haven't been sealed in plastic bags. BAGS Three bags containing the rest of the parts. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the new and/or otherwise interesting parts. Axle Pin 3L with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and 1L Axle in RED This 3L Axle Pin has never been released in red before for general public and easily obtainable. This year, it was released in 8 sets in this color, and it was also released in one set in 2017, The Nutcracker (Lego 2017 Employee Exclusive). Technic Panel Curved 3x11 in DARK BLUISH GRAY This Technic Panel 3x11 has never been released in Dark Bluish Gray before. This year, it was released in 3 sets in this color: Hook Loader, Mack Anthem and Rally Car. TIRES These 30.4 x 14 Tires aren't very rare. They appear in 79 other sets. We got four tires in this set. PART LIST This set contains 176 parts, shown below. THE BUILD The build is not very fun, and is pretty straightforward. FINISHED MODEL Here is the finished Hook Loader! Since it's a small model, i was on the fence about its look and functions. Seeing it's functions in real life takes every doubt away, they work flawlessly. More on functions later. On the other side, look is not on par with functions. Given the fact that the model has small number of parts compared to average Technic set, visual aspect of the model had to be affected. Overall, look is satisfactory if you keep in mind how basic the set is. It does look like a truck, and even has some amount of detailing like black parts to simulate windshield or grill. I don't like low ground clearance in the front, due to the steering mechanism, and back tires could be placed a bit toward the front, it would look more balanced. The model does not have stickers, and as a simple truck/construction machine, it is probably better this way. The chassis is pretty basic, with steering system and hook lift mechanism occupying central part of the chassis. LEFTOVER PARTS A few common leftover parts. FUNCTIONS Here's a short presentation showing the model's two functions. STEERING Steering is done via the 12 Tooth Double Bevel gear at the back of the cabin, it does not have steering wheel. The gear is easily accessible. The turning radius is quite big, which slightly reduces playability. HOOK LIFT Hook Lift mechanism is operated by black 12T Double Bevel gear, marked on the animation. It turns three 8t gears, which in turn moves the hook and container. Operation is smooth, it has some friction, but that helps the hook to stop in any position. Container has "rollers" at its end, so it can glide on flat surfaces. It also has a nice trick to keep the container from sliding left-right when loaded onto the truck. Namely it has 2L liftarm at the back, which is secured on one point. When the container is loaded on the truck, the liftarm slides/drops between the chassis' main frame and keep the container stable. Being the main function of the model, the hook lift part is done very well. SUMMARY I think this is one clever small set. Its target audience, kids, will love this set. It does look like a truck, and even better, it looks like a truck that is drawn and imagined by a kid, in a good way. I have a luck that i have my young relative with me, and he is very excited about this set. His favorite part about it...the hook lift mechanism, ofc. He enjoyed filling the container with bricks and plates, and move them to other location, watching it unload etc... Be careful, though, 1x1 parts can slip through container's floor. Side plus: I enjoyed being asked to explain many things on real life trucks to him...this set clearly boosted his curiosity. SCORE 6 DESIGN Simple colors works nice. Looks like a truck, but very basic. Overall good given the amount of parts. 6 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Nothing out of the ordinary. 9 FEATURES For its size, it has two great functions. 9 PLAYABILITY Kids love it! 7 PARTS Common parts and colors, two parts in new colors. 8 VALUE FOR MONEY I would buy this set for my young relative in no time. 7,5 Hook on! Thank you for reading. Hope you will find it useful.

REVIEW - HISPABRICK MAGAZINE KIOSK INTRODUCTION Last year I was asked if I wanted to be the Eurobricks person to maintain contact with HispaBrick Magazine. I had never met Lluis or Jetro in person, but of course I was eager to maintain our good relationship with this great magazine. Due to some random events, I got to meet both Lluis and Jetro in Billund last year (2017) during the LEGO Fan Media Days. Turns out they are just as annoy...uhmmm.....friendly as they are online It's nice to meet people with the same, or even more, passion for the LEGO brick as myself or our own Eurobricks members. This month marks the 10th Anniversary of HispaBrick Magazine and they decided to design a commemorative set for this event. Being the contact sometimes pays off, because I was asked if I was interested in reviewing the set. Of course I was excited to see what the set was all about and do a little review. It isn't the most elaborate reviews of all time, but it's written with lots of respect for the team behind HispaBrick Magazine. Before you dive in the review, here's the link to the topic about HispaBrick Magazine 030. SET INFORMATION Set number: 1001 Set name: HispaBrick Magazine Kiosk Number of pieces: 249 THE BOX The box show that it's the 10th Anniversary Set and apparently I am one of the 50 proud owners of this unique set. Unless all the boxes show 38 of 50 The back tells us a bit about the history of the magazine in Spanish and English and it shows us the complete part list of the set. CONTENTS OF THE BOX The box contains: 1x Big bag filled with most of the parts. 1x Disclaimer note 1x Green 16x16 baseplate 1x Green 16x8 baseplate 1x Stickers sheet I wonder how HispaBricks customer service is?! Lucky for me, the set was 100% complete! The sticker sheet contains all the covers of the past magazines! How cool is that?! I do see a lot of familiar MOCs on those covers. I really love the one with that cool life sized Mindstorms Robot made by Jim from Eurobricks. Yeah, that's probably never going to happen SPECIAL PARTS The set contains three very special printed parts: The first HispaBrick Magazine printed, with the alien from the arvo brothers on the cover HispaBrick Minifig Torso HispaBrick 2x2 Tile PART LIST Here's the complete part list of all the bricks used in this set. Which more or less boils down to these parts: THE BUILD You start by building the kiosk booth, which shows a computer screen for the register and a wonderfully designed coffee machine. You can't read a great magazine without a great coffee to go along with it The roof of the kiosk is made by using an interesting building technique. You basically lay the two windows on the top of the building as a roof. They can be easily removed. There's a fresh coffee waiting for you on the counter. How about getting the latest edition of HispaBrick Magazine and reading it on the bench next to the kiosk. The backdoor of the kiosk...."Employees Only"! This lovely set doesn't consist of the kiosk alone. You can also rent a bike. And you don't even need to go to a front desk, it's fully automated. Connecting the bike to the rack is very cleverly done, using the Technic plate with hole to connect to the headlight part of the bike. COMPLETED MODEL Taddaaaa....the completed model. I haven't used the stickers on the two magazines, because I wanted to keep the sheet as new. The photographer is reading the latest edition... ...while the girls is fooling around with her skateboard. Isn't this the cutest set ever. I really like it and it will definitely look good in a bigger LEGO city display. One final shot of the set. CONCLUSION I like to express my special thanks Jetro and Lluis for sending me this set. I absolutely love it and I am very proud own it, and to have contributed to the the 10th Anniversary of HispaBrick Magazine. I wish you guys all the luck in the future and hopefully I will be writing another review in 5 or 10 years. Take care!

REVIEW - 75144 - SNOWSPEEDER INTRODUCTION The year is 2005. I am in a toy store looking for the Mindstorms set, unaware of the fact that the average toy store only sells the mainstream retail sets. I go home with a large Technic crane to fullfill my needs, basically ending my dark ages. At that time, the 10129 - Rebel Snowspeeder had been on the market for about 3 years (release date 2003), retailing for around 130 euro. After my dark ages, my passion for LEGO mainly focused on Technic, although I was (and still am) a big fan of Star Wars. To make a long story, I didn't get the Snowspeeder. I even skipped the 10179 - Millennium Falcon, although I'd rather not talk about that. Hopefully I can correct my worst LEGO decision later this year. In the meantime I have been able to correct my Snowspeeder mistake. For me the Snowspeeder (or T-47 Airspeeder) is one of the iconic Star Wars vehicles, together with the beforementioned Millennium Falcon, AT-AT, X-Wing and Tie Fighter. Lots of other cool and well known vehicles can be added to that list, but these probably end up in the Star Wars Top-5. We haven't seen an official UCS AT-AT yet, but the X-Wing and Tie Fighter both have a very cool UCS model. For now, we will be focussing on the 75144 Snowspeeder. Lots of Snowspeeder models have been released over the year, but we're talking UCS here! PICTURES Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. More pictures can be found in my Flickr album. DISCLAIMER This set has been provided by TLG. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG. SET INFORMATION Number: 75144 Title: Snowspeeder Theme: Star Wars Released: 2017 Part Count: 1703 Box Weight: 2529 gr Box Dimensions: 57,5 cm x 37,5 cm x 8,0 Set Price (MSRP): £169.99 / $199.99 / €199,99 Price per Part: £0.100 / $0.117 / €0,117 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX The box is the same size as the box for the Tie Fighter and Slave 1, which seems logical, since these sets share more or less the same part count. The front of the box shows the Snowspeeder in actions, with some AT-AT's in the background. This is reminiscent of the iconic battle scene on the planet Hoth. The front of the box also shows a top-down view of the model. Looking at both images, I am really anxious to start building. BACKSIDE The backside is filled with lots of smaller images, showing all the functions. Apparently, the Snowspeeder has a lot of functionality. Hopefully this will result in some playability. SIDE One of the sides shows the dimensions of the finished model. It will be 30cm wide and 40 cm long, so it will more or less cover two A4 (or Letter) sheets. Unlike the previous UCS Snowspeeder, this set comes with two minifigures, designated Rebel Snowspeeder Pilot and Rebel Snowspeeder Gunner. CONTENTS OF THE BOX After turning over the box, you will find this heap of bags and parts. 1 x Bound book 1 x Sticker sheet 13 x Numbered bag 1 x Black tile 1 x Grey plate SEALED BOOK AND STICKER SHEET STICKER SHEET BOUND BOOK BAGS The box contains 13 bags, numbered from 1 to 13. This means each bag represents a separate step during the build. PLATE AND TILE The tile (16x8) for the UCS plaque and a light bluish grey plate (16x8) are provided loose in the box. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS This section describes the unique and/or highlighted parts. Other than that, this set doesn't contain a lot of special or new parts. WINDSHIELD Like the 10240 - Red Five X-Wing Starfighter, this model introduces a new unique Windshield part. PART LIST Here's the complete part list, consisting of 1703 parts. MINIFIGURES This set contains two minifigures, designated Rebel Snowspeeder Pilot and Rebel Snowspeeder Gunner. Each of the minifigs has two different faces, a grin and a somewhat scared face. Both torsos are identical. The only difference between the minifigs is the type of helmet. THE BUILD The build consists of 13 steps, corresponding to the 13 numbered bags. But before the build commences, there are several pages with lots of cool content about the design process. STEP 1: REAR COCKPIT SECTION The build starts with the rear section of the cockpit and fuselage, using the parts below. The end result of step 1 is shown in the image below. As usual with UCS models there is some color vomit comprising the innards of the model, although it seems to be less vomit than other UCS models. STEP 2: FRONT COCKPIT SECTION Next you will build the front section of the cockpit and fuselage. This is where the front and rear section team up. The hinge in the middle is where the front landing gear is connected. Although "landing gear" is a bit exaggerated. When the front and rear are connected, the cockpit and fuselage are taking shape. This is how the bottom of the fuselage looks. STEP 3: COMPLETING THE FUSELAGE In this step more parts will be added to the fuselage. Upon completion of this step, the cockpit with control panels is almost finished. The front of the cockpit contains two 2x1 slopes and a 2x2 slope. The 2x2 slope, like the ones in the rear, are printed, while the 2x1 slopes are using stickers. You'd expect a UCS model to have printed 2x1 slopes as well. In the rear you can see an axle protruding the fuselage. It's connected to the Hinge Cylinder in the back of the cockpit. This is the mechanism for the gunner to operate the rear mounted gun. STEP 4: COCKPIT INTERIOR AND NOSE You can already see some of the orange parts, used to build the nose of the vehicle. Here's the finished cockpit, where you can clearly see the slopes with and without stickers. The finished fuselage with cockpit and interior. Two seats, one facing forward and one facing rearward, for the pilot and gunner respectively. The front wing is attached to the fuselage using two ball joints. The little side wings need to be positioned when both main wings are finished. At the rear of the cockpit you can see the controls for the rear (harpoon) gun, consisting of a steer and a screen with aim assist. The video below shows the controls for the rear gun in action. STEP 5: UCS STAND Mostly black parts. This can only mean one thing. Yup, it's the stand commonly used for UCS models. STEP 6: BOTTOM WINGS AND AIR BRAKES The paper container is packing two elastic bands. The two bottom wings are attached with hinges, but they are kept in place using elastic bands. I am not a big fan of these bands. They tend to turn brittle after a couple of years. The flaps on the backside are used to manoeuvre the vehicle. STEP 7: RIGHT WING A collection of plates used to build the right wing. The complete wing is pretty big and it has a sturdy feel to it. STEP 8: RIGHT WING LASER AND ENGINE I Parts for building part of the laser and engine. At the rear you can already see the mechanism to operate the air brakes. STEP 9: RIGHT WING LASER AND ENGINE II These parts are used to finish the laser cannons and air brakes. Here you can see the complete right wing. It sure does look cool. The wing is attached using the hinges on the fuselage. STEP 10, 11 AND 12: LEFT WING The next three steps (10, 11 and 12) are (mirrored) duplicates of steps 7, 8 and 9. Except for the 4x2 slope, the left wing is an exact copy of the right wing. Attaching the left wing to the vehicle can be a bit tricky. You need to firmly grip the speeder to be able to attach the wing. This can result in some parts coming loose. When you do succeed, you will see an almost finished model. The video below shows how to operate the air brakes. STEP 13: CANOPY, GUN AND FINS These are the remaining parts to finish the model. They are used to build the Canopy, rear mounted gun and the heat radiator fins. From wookieepedia: Hoth's extreme cold temperatures were too severe for these craft; the power generators would lock up since they ran hot, requiring a large bank of heat radiator fins for essential cooling. Rebel technicians modified the T-47 airspeeder by insulating each radiator fin with side panels to decrease the heat exchange in order to better suit the new environment. The canopy is decorated with several stickers. Although, we obviously would love to see a printed canopy, I find this solution much more elegant than the one used for the X-wing. The rear mounted gun is operated from the cockpit. The canopy can be opened to reveal the interior of the cockpit. The sides of the canopy are made of two large windshields, also found in the Mini. COMPLETED MODEL After several hours of enjoyable building time the model is completed. I absolutely love the looks on this model. Granted, I am a pretty big fan of the T47 Airspeeder. Lots of stickers are used, which is always a point of debate. I'd rather see printed parts on UCS models, even if that means the price will increase. I simply adds value to the model. Here's the completed model placed on its stand. REAR The rear of the vehicle, showing the characteristic cooling fins. The vehicle also looks stunning when seen from the rear. FRONT Two big laser blaster cannons and the peculiar setup of the wings, give this vehicle its distinctive look. SIDE One of the Minifigs is left in the dark. I guess he needs to accept the fact that he is playing the second fiddle. BOTTOM The bottom view where you can clearly see the ice skating minifig accessories. I like this detail, but they tend to fall of easily. And a video: ADDITIONAL Here are some additional pictures for your enjoyment. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS The Snowspeeder is part of the Ultimate Collector's Series, which mean that it's mostly a display model. This model does however pack a few functions. Canopy opens up, revealing the cockpit Rear set has controls to operate the rear mounted (harpoon) gun Turn laser cannon to operate the air brakes Manually adjustable flaps Manually operated front landing gear B-MODEL There's no B-model for this set, which is in line with the other UCS sets. SUMMARY So, what do I think of this model? Obviously, this version will be compared to the old UCS version and people will ask whether this version is better. I don't think it's really fair to compare both models, given the number of years in between. LEGO has evolved since the previous version, so yeah, this model looks better. Whether it's actually better...I don't know. And to be honest, I don't really care. What I do care about, is that this is a fantastic set! After the Hoth playset of last year, it was time for TLG to release a proper UCS set. This Snowspeeder definitely fits that bill. The build is enjoyable, even though it is somewhat repetitive. After all, three of the 13 steps are duplicates. This didn't botter me at all. If I had to mention something negative, it would be the rubber bands holding the lower part of the wings in place. Oh, and it includes two blaster pistols! PROS Awesome looking iconic model Several functions New canopy part Includes two blaster pistols CONS Attachments (wings etc) are a bit flimsy Elastic bands SCORE How do I rate this set? 9 DESIGN Stunning. 8 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Enjoyable build, although the bottom is somewhat flimsy. 7 FEATURES Acceptable for a UCS display model. 7 PLAYABILITY UCS sets hardly provide any playability, but this set still has some functions. 7 PARTS Contains a wide variety of (mostly) common parts. 9 VALUE FOR MONEY Must have for every fan. 7,8 WORTHY SUCCESSOR FINAL WORDS Below is the official designer video published by TLG.

Lego 5005358 Minifigure Factory As part of the 40th Anniversary celebration by Lego, they're giving this set as a freebie with $75 purchases in April 2018. I got mine for buying some sets I wanted and figured I'd share this cool free set. Name: Minifigure Factory Set Number: 5005358 Pieces: 86 Price: $Free (with $75 purchase) Minifigs: 1 (plus 5 microfigs) Theme: n/a Year of Release: 2018 Links: Bricklink Brickset The Box An unusual box, since all the normal print is a paper wrapper around the actual box. The Back of the Box That is a massive number of warning languages. The Wrapper and Box The wrapper slides off, revealing a printed box underneath. The box itself is not sealed at all - it just has a tab in a slot on the top. The Contents Inside are the manual, a printed interior, a grey plate that's glue into place in the box, a printed card, and the bag of parts. Interestingly, the bag is not the normal type of plastic that Lego uses. This plastic is softer and not crinkly. The Minifigs The Lego worker is a GREAT figure. The choice of yellow for the shirt is awkward though. I know it's the standard employee shirt (such as in Lego stores), but on the yellow-skinned fig it's weird. Is it a long sleeve shirt? If it was short-sleeved would we even know? Or is it sleeveless? But enough about him. Check out those microfigs! I think the white "hat" on the policeman is weird since it's not an actual hat, but I can overlook that. The Minifigs' Backs There's no second face on the figure, and limited printing on the microfigs, but I can't complain. The Build, 1 Not shown, you first build a little red cart. The main part of the build is shown like this - building on the grey plate - but the actual plate is glued into place in the box. Makes things a little more difficult for the big-handed among us, but nothing too hard. The Build, 2 The Build, 3 The assembly line itself. 2 of the 3 printed parts are shown here. The set includes 1x2 printed tiles in the yellow/black stripe pattern (4 of them), a 1x4 tile in the same pattern, and a 1x2 tile with a segmented arrow that's from the Boost and Ninjago City sets. But why green paint on the brush? They made a new paintbrush with medium azure paint on it for the Easter set - why not make that set and this one share a brush in a more common color, like red or blue? I'm thinking there must be another use for the medium azure brush coming, but that's just me thinking Lego wouldn't have made a custom printed brush for that one freebie set. Then again, they did custom print the egg for it.... The Build, 4 The assembly line sits onto the base and then pins are inserted from the back.... I sense a play feature coming! The card goes onto the pins and is held in place by Technic half bushes. Unfortunately, the card covers up the 2 printed photos on the back of the box (or at least one a time, depending on how the line is positioned). I love the detail Lego put into these - it wouldn't be a Lego set without a coffee cup, and they tied the green paintbrush in with the left picture. The Build, 5 This is why that card was added. As you slide the line back and forth, the picture in the window changes to match the microfig below. Simple but so cool of a feature to add. And nice representation of the minifigure patent hanging on the wall. The Build, 6 And we have the figure in his spot, working hard inspecting the microfigures. Not shown is one big flaw that I can't believe made it to production. You cannot slide the line far enough to the right to have the Pixal image fully in the window. It needs to go another stud over, but it can't. There's a stop on the underside of the line, plus it's hitting the side of the box. The End of the Manual The end of the manual has a 2 page spread of the history of the minifigure. The End of the Manual, 2 This page covers some more recent minifigure advances. Short legs, baby figs, but why is Mr. Gold on here? He was part of Series 10, so not the start of the collectible lines, and he's a figure that many fans are bitter about since he was so hard to find. The Conclusion I love this freebie. The microfigs are great representations of classic figures (well, most of them - I'm not sure that Pixal is worthy of inclusion) and it's a clever set. It closes back up nicely for storage, but this is one that will be sitting out on a lot of shelves I'm sure. The Ratings Value: 10/10 - It was free with purchase. And you get a custom box, custom printed microfigs, a cool minifig, and nice play features. Design: 8/10 - The box is great, but the line can't slide quite far enough to the right. Minifigs: 10/10 - IMHO, Pixal should have been something else. A castle fig would have been better, but I suspect Pixal was chosen both to represent Ninjago AND because the purple stands out. Playability: 8/10 - Small and simple, but clever design. Parts: 9/10 - I always love having the printed hazard stripe tiles, but these will be staying in this set. Otherwise nothing special, but nothing more was really needed. Overall: 9.5/10 - It's hard to complain about a freebie, but I do wish the line slid over further and they'd picked a different last microfig.

Hi everyone. It had been a while anyone posted any written review anywhere in the internet. The trend goes to video reviews instead of written ones, but I'm going to continue the effort of making written reviews and hopefully I can get more support as 'You can't save the world alone' quoting Justice League. Like my previous post, I am doing this one as a two in one combo. Don't Freeze. I NEVER freeze. Introduction The Black Panther himself is T’challa, the king of Wakanda, a mythical African nation that also happens to be the world’s most advanced civilization. He first appeared in Captain America 3: Civil War avenging his father thinking Bucky is responsible for the bombing in the UN causing the death of his father King T'Chaka. In this movie we will know more about Wakanda. Let's indulge in these vibranium rich LEGO sets. Overview Name: 76099 Rhino Face-Off by the MineYear: 2018Pieces: 229Minifigures: 3Price: £19.99 / $19.99 / 24.99€ Name: 76100 Royal Talon Fighter Attack.Year: 2018Pieces: 358Minifigures: 4 Price: £29.99 / $29.99 / 34.99€ The Box I got my copies from my local TRU and they are packed nicely with the plastic wrap which is very neat. The Royal Talon Fighter is with Wakanda city background and the Rhino scene took place in the vibranium mine. I always love the blue glowy color that represents vibranium. At the side of the box, you can see the minifigures are fighting between the good and the bad. (I still reluctant in removing the plastic wrap, they are so nice!) The Content Here for 76099 you get one sticker sheet, two instruction booklets and three numbered bags. For 76100, you get a thicker book for the fighter, and three numbered bags. I'm very happy that I did not see any stickers here thinking that this set has all the printed parts. I was wrong. It was hidden at the last page of the book. The Build The very elegantly designed Royal Talon Fighter and it looks very Wakandan I would say. This is the result of building bag one, bag two and bag three in 76100. My favorite part of this build is the rear thruster where the base brick is purple in color. It really resembles the scene where it flew in Wakanda, charging through the misty forest as in the trailer. There are 12 side wings in this fighter but unfortunately they are fixed. Curves are quite rare in LEGO but the ship looks nicely rounded. At the bottom the trans clear round plate is nicely used as the bottom thruster. I like the combination of technic elements with bricks to have such amazing design of the ship. The cockpit is quite spacious and the center cockpit is designed for Killmonger but I don't remember he is inside the ship at all. After all the center cockpit is empty, so you can put anyone inside. Nakia is piloting the ship. Let's go to the mine and play with the Rhino. The mine cart is full of vibranium(three trans blue 2x2 plates). I love the trans blue vibranium transport cart so much! The wheels fits perfectly on the railway and the only disappointment is the railway is too short! This cart is built from bag one of 76099. This Rhino actually reminded me of LEGO Chima. I love the build especially the head. It is built by sandwiching the center bricks with left and right side of the face. Okoye can ride one it and there will still be plenty of space left for other minifigures. The tail is cute, and this is built from bag two and bag three. War of the beasts! The Rhino is much sturdier than Fenris the skinny wolf. Little tips I learnt from the Internet. If you are frustrated in applying stickers, fret no more! This technique allows you to apply the stickers accurately! First you take out the sticker from the sheet, put it at the corner of the sticker sheet, then you can hold the large sticker sheet and apply it at the correct angle. Thanks to a person whom I forgot where he posted this trick in the internet. This is how it looks like when you paste it at the corner. The Minifigures Let's look at the main attractions of these two sets with seven great exclusive minifigures! Here we have our Wakandan King T'Challa in the Black Panther suit. This suit is quite old fashioned and manually worn. The prints is very detailed and you can see the eyes showing through the helmet. The teeth necklace around the chest are silver printed and very iconic to the character. In the trailer, the suit is purple, but why is this blue? This suit is enhanced and it is more advanced compared to the first suit and more complex design of the torso and the back. I love the color here but does anyone here agree that purple is nicer? Killmonger the villain. He got hold of his black panther suit (I wonder where it came from. A spare?). This suit is very nice in gold but looks villainy. The head looks like an alien head if you look closely. They call it the Golden Jaguar suit. Where are the prints on the earpiece and the legs? But their head and torso prints are amazingly detailed. You can appreciate more of their head prints after removing their ears. Done with the panthers. Now let's look at Okoye, She is the general of the Dora Milaje and the head of Wakanda's armed forces and intel. She is wearing brownish outfit with a belt that has a panther buckle. She is wielding a spear but I would prefer the spear to be chrome in color instead of this old common spear. Don't you think so? Nakia. She is wearing the red uniform of Dora Milaje, wielding her Ring Blades. You get three rings here, Thanks LEGO! Her uniform is also with a panther buckled belt and she is permitted to keep her hair because she is a spy. Her hair is also unique here in LEGO. She has a smiling face as the alternate expression. Erik Killmonger in his mercenary outfit and his special mask. Some say the blue outfit look similar to one of the Dragon Ball character. He is holding a blaster, quite uniquely designed. He has only one facial expression despite his mask covering the back of the head. The mask is rubbery and not rigid. These minifigures are great! Oh wait, I forgot the other villain in the movie. Did you forget him too? Too much Killmonger? Ulysses Klaue was a black-market arms dealer gangster who wanted to expose Wakanda to the rest of the world, with Klaue stealing a stockpile of Vibranium as a result. During an encounter with Ultron, Klaue sold all of his Vibranium to Ultron before losing his arm during an argument. Here you can see his left arm is equipped with a special weapon which will surprise you in the movie. He has two facial expressions and the white and blue shirt is very accurate to the movie. This is a new part representing the arm weapon. The hand will hold on the bar like other LEGO weapons. Where is our beloved Everett Ross? Bag end? Andy Serkis is a great actor! Who is the richest of them all? Conclusion Both are very nice sets in terms of minifigures and the builds especially the fighter and the Rhino. These two are smaller compared to Thor Ragnarok sets but still a good buy for the exclusive minifigures especially the Black Panthers. Review Summary Playability: 6/10 - Both sets are packed with play feature but the pretty low score is due to the features are quite simple. Design / Building Experience: 9/10 - The design is very iconic to Wakanda. The fighter is amazing and I love the Rhino. Only the vibranium cart is too small but still very nice. Minifigures: 10/10 - Great minifigures! All the printings and the details are marvelous! Overall: 9/10 - Get these two sets and you are complete for Black Panther. Oh wait, where is the Civil War Black Panther? Hope you enjoy the review, do share your thoughts in the comments!

I'm not entirely sure this is the right forum section for this review, but I couldn't find anywhere better :)

1:21Lego Forbidden Island 6270 Timelapse Review by JackyWackySmacky 7 views19 hours ago Classic 1989 Forbidden Island review. Hope you enjoy, and I will gladly accept any suggestions/constructive criticism.

Hi Everybody, I want to show you my reviews about LEGO Minifigures, Sets etc. LEGO Robin Hood Minifigure Review: LEGO Mexican Minifigure Review:

(Review) 21309 NASA Apollo Saturn v By: StangMan302 I recently bought this Lego set #21309, and ever since I got it I have wanted to review it. Some main points. Very strong construction. Great building techniques. Very fun building experience. Excellent scale for viewing/ playing. Box. Great artwork. Shows detail Apollo mission. Breaks down the rocket into stages. Gives some info on the 1969 moon landing. Construction overview Bag 1 This was the construction of the inner fuselage of stage 1. This part is very fragile but the second bag brings the whole thing together to make it super strong. Bags 2-6 Adding covering to stage one. Bag 7. Start of stage 2 construction. Bag 8-10. Stage 2 strengthening. Bag 11. Stage 3 construction. Bag 12. Lunar module and final stage assembly. Final thoughts. Building Experience: 9/10 Play ability: 9/10 Price per piece value: 9/10 Display ability 10/10 Details: 9/10 I would definitely recommend this set to anyone with a passion for space or rockets in general. Props to the designers of this set it is one of the best sets I have ever owned.

BOOK REVIEW: How to Build Brick Cars by Peter Blackert - Title: "How to Build Brick Cars" / "Detailed LEGO designs for sports cars, race cars, and muscle cars" - Author: Peter Blackert (lego911) - ISBN: ISBN0760352658-1 - Year of publication: 2017 - Publisher: Motorbooks, an imprint of The Quatro Group (QuatroKnows.com) - Number of pages: 192 - Review by: Lasse Deleuran, a computer scientist with experience building scale LEGO models Hot in the press right now is the first book by Peter Blackert, also known as "lego911" in the LEGO fan community. The book titled "How to Build Brick Cars" and subtitled "Detailed LEGO designs for sports cars, race cars, and muscle cars" is being published by Motorbooks and contains 192 color pages with building instructions for 12 LEGO vehicles (15 if you count variants. A variant can be to have a convertible instead of a hard top version of a car). Peter Blackert is an expert in building realistically scaled LEGO cars. In his blog he writes that he started building LEGO cars back in 1981 which is before many of us (including myself) were even born! With this book ýou can recreate some of his models and experience how it is to build in his style. The focus of the models is clearly on aesthetics, but there has also been space for including interior details and functions such as opening doors, hoods, and trunks. For the advanced models there are even mechanical details, such as suspension systems and moving piston engines. I would say that the style is very much similar to the LEGO Model Team line, and with realism as we know it from the very large Creator Expert car sets (10242 Mini, 10252 Beetle, etc.) The book contains an introduction followed by three sections with building instructions grouped by difficulty. Each section contains the building instructions for three to five cars. For this review I have built one car from each of the first two sections and two from the last. The instructions for each model are accompanied with a text providing some background information with history and significance of the car behind the model to be built. This text is accompanied by a placard with information such as country of origin, engine stats, and body type. There is also a bill of material (BOM) and most of the cars have a certain body color where the parts in the BOM are highlighted. A list of colored 1x1 bricks indicates which alternate body colors you can build the model in. Sample page taken from the preview provided by books.google.com It is recommended that the reader starts out with one of the Foundation models and I can fully back up this recommendation: The instructions are very compact with some innovative solutions which I have not seen before. I have made some mistakes getting used to this layout and am glad that most of my errors happened with the relatively simple 2CV rather than some of the advanced models! I have some general tips that might help others read the instructions: - Gather all parts before starting to build. There are some colors, especially when it comes to transparent elements, which are hard to see. This might just be a problem with the PDF-version; I have not seen the printed version yet. With the parts layed out in front of you it will be easier to guess the right colors should you ever be in doubt. - If you find yourself having a hard time getting from one step to the next in a sub-assembly, it might be because a new sub-assembly has started. The book uses only a single level for sub-assemblies, which means that, for example, steps 1 and 2 might be for one sub-assembly while steps 3 and 4 show another: Subsequent sub-assemblies might then combine former sub-assemblies. If a certain step confuses you, then I recommend looking some steps ahead and see where the sub-assembly is to be used. This has helped me every time I have been in this situation. - It can be difficult to see individual parts in when black parts are connected to other black parts. It might again just be a problem in the PDF version. I will know for sure once I get my hands on the printed book. When you are in doubt of which black parts to use, I recommend to simply build with what you prefer as long as you make the sub-assemblies as sturdy as possible. This worked for me, so chances are that it also works for you. Now. Let's take a look at the models. Citroën 2CV Charleston - 232 parts - 54 steps on 3 pages - Building time: 30 minutes - Body color: Dark red - 12 possible color combinations suggested. - Special features: Working front suspension. Opening trunk. Fits 2 minifigs. The Citroën 2CV is from the first category, titled "Foundation". This section contains cars in the small scale of 1:28 and seat minifigs. It turns out that you can fit a minifig into both the front and rear seat! The trunk opens: And my favorite feature: The working front suspension based on torsion bars: I will let the details of how the suspension is constructed be a surprise for the builders. As you can see, even though this model is categorized under "Foundation", it contains 232 parts and several interesting features. While none of the parts are rare, I personally failed to find a non-scratched windscreen in my collection. The instructions, while compact and spanning only 3 pages, were fairly easy to follow. When building you have to remove a couple of 1x1 bricks with one stud on the side in order to attach the headlight bricks for the front grille, but this is hardly a grievance. The model itself is fairly sturdy. The side windows are easy to push in and the 1x1 plates on the front bumper are easy to push out of alignment. Everything else is sturdy and the front suspension works really well. The building experience was also fun and I like the looks of the model. It is small, but instantly recognizable. Datsun 240Z Coupe - 312 parts - 98 steps on 7 pages - Building time: 1 hour 15 minutes - Body color: Orange. - 11 possible color combinations suggested. - Special features: Uneven width. Opening doors, trunk and hood. Interior and engine details. The Datsun 240Z Coupe is in the "Intermediate" category. Models in this category are aimed for 10-12 years old boys and this model is significantly more detailed and larger than the 2CV. Please notice that I have run out of 3x3 plates with cutout in gray, so the front bumper has been colored dark gray in my model. Orange is not a color I use a lot of, so I did not have the eight 2x2 corner plates needed. I tried instead to use 1x2 and 1x1 plates and luckily it turned out that you can indeed substitude these parts. In this model everything opens! I recommend using 1x2 plates with clip rather than the 1x1 plates with clip for the rear hatch. The 1x1 plates have a tendency to fall off when you open it. The doors can be difficult to close due to the simple hingle mechanism and completely flush body panels. I recommend detaching them rather than forcing them closed when closing the doors. My favorite detail is how the rear is sculpted with the curved bumper and body panels. Peter says that the black stripe on the side is there to allow fancy body colors like orange. If you choose to build the car in a color in which you can get the hinge plate, then you don't have to include the stripe. The interior is detailed and there are even windscreen wipers! I recommend using 2x2 carpet runners (or plates) behind the seats in order to support them and allow them to be adjusted without breaking. The inline 6 cylinder engine is nicely detailed and the hood is front hinged like on the real car. A cool detail is the placement of the side mirrors on the front - a characteristic of Japanese cars of this vintage. This is the only model in this review that does not come with any kind of working suspension. This is quickly forgiven when you see the many details that have been included instead. This is also the only model to be of odd width; The car is 9 studs wide (not counting fender flares) and is quite sturdy when considering the construction techniques that have to be used when making cars of this size. The fragile elements are mostly concerned moving functions (seats, rear hatch, engine cover). While I am in love with the styling, my better half has pointed out that she doesn't like how the front of the car is mostly studless, while the rear end is anything but studless. It shouldn't be hard to cover most of the studs in the rear with orange 1x1 tiles and transparent tiles if that is what you prefer. 2016 Ford GT Le Mans Racer - 587 parts - 111 steps on 8 pages - Building time: 1 hour 30 minutes - Body colors: American! - 1 possible color combination available. - Special features: 4 wheel independent suspension. Moving piston engine powered by the rear wheels. Interior and engine details. Opening doors. As a huge fan of Le Mans, the Ford GT Le Mans Racer was my first choice when selecting models for this review. It belongs to the "Advanced" category and this designation is no joke. The model is packed with details and even has a moving piston "fake" engine as seen in many Technic models. This is only a 2 cylinder engine (the real car has a V6) but it nicely shows how the MR-layout of the race car works. The coloring is taken straight out of Le Mans where Ford reentered in 2016 in order to celebrate its 50 years anniversary... with a win in its class. My favorite detail on the real car is between the main body and the rear wheel covers. Luckily Peter has recreated this detail on the model. You can see how the main body slopes together toward the rear section when seen from the top: The rear wheel wells are connected to the main body through these so-called "flying buttresses" This is a detail so important that even LEGO had to include it in their Speed Champions model Other details include opening doors. The doors on the real car open up instead of sideways. I do not know why Peter chose to hinge them this way on the model and why there are no side mirrors (both the Datsun and Veyron have side mirrors), but my guess would be for sturdiness - the models are supposed to be accessible for kids to play with. Inside there are interior details. This model comes with both a seat for driver and passenger. I believe the real race car only has a single seat and a lot of electronics occupying the other side. Another nifty detail: Deep front air ducts and the engine is also included. I prefer the level of detail paid to the engine in the Datsun, but that engine was also easier to decorate since it did not have any moving parts, and to be fair, the real race car has a very messy engine bay. You can't see the moving pistons from the outside. You have to look underneath for the action With 587 parts this is one of the largest models in this review. The parts are, however, mostly very common I only had issues finding the 2x4 brick with cutout for the right door and the 1x1 flat tile for the "blue oval" on the nose In my version it is a "blue square". Other details include the characteristic oversized rear diffuser and wing. Commentators at Le Mans didn't find these rear diffusers pretty, but I disagree. The rear lights on the real car have hollow centers - a clever aerodynamic detail. Here is an idea for you who like to MOD "official" models: Try to recreate this detail by replacing the rear lights with some that have a hollow center. Trans red 1x1 round bricks would be ideal. They should be turned so the underside faces outwards, but then you would also have to rebuild a significant portion of the rear light assembly. Unfortunately the round 1 x 1 plate with hollow stud doesn't exist in trans dark red yet. Overall I like this model. The building experience is fun with many sub-assemblies each having a part of the flat underside. This results in an assembly that progresses nicely as you slowly expand the base of the car. Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 - 593 parts - 104 steps on 7 pages - Building time: 1 hour 55 minutes - Body color: Red - 12 possible color combinations suggested. - Special features: 4 wheel independent suspension. Moving piston engine. 4WD. Colored interior. Engine details. Opening doors. Movable rear spoiler. This is by far the most challenging build. With 593 parts it is the largest models here, so its designation at the Advanced section is fully deserved There is also a trick to it. In STEP 8 you must flip the assembly from STEP 6 so that the gear is placed on the other side otherwise the car will be unable to drive. I have notified Peter of this, but it was unfortunately too late for the English language printing of the first edition. There are a couple of places where you have to remove parts in order to place sub-assemblies. I supposer this is part of the package when you have 104 building instructions steps compressed into 7 pages. Overall this is a very satisfying building experience: In some steps you have to open the doors in order to place sub-assemblies and in others you get a nice crunchy sound when pushing the sub-assemblies into place. The final model feels very compact and packed with details. The doors open: And the interior is decorated in dark red The suspension works with 4 wheel independent suspension and there is 4 wheel drive like in the real Veyron. The engine is a V4 (a similar W16 with moving pistons would be twice as long and at least twice as tall) The spoiler is even able to be moved into position so it functions as an air brake: Compared to the Ford GT the Veyron is similar, but with the double of everything: - In the Ford you can open the doors - in the Veyron you can also move the rear spoiler. - There is a V4 "fake" engine instead of a V2 (although you can't see the moving pistons on the Veyron either). - 4 wheel drive rather than only rear wheel drive And on top of that you have a prettier interior due to the dark red accent coloring and the possibility of choosing your own body color. In other words. This is a worthy flagship model of the book. Summary and conclusion While I have only built 4 of the 12 (or 15) models of the book, I can already now conclude that it offers a nice variety of builds with not only visually interesting, but also technically impressive LEGO models. I have learned new techniques (such as the drive trains in the advanced models) and I will look forward to give the remaining models a go once I get my hands on the full printed book. It seems like Peter has put a lot of work into each and every model. I am especially impressed with the Datsun; The proportions of every single detail seems to be spot on and it has actually overtaken the Ford GT as my personal favorite. Who would I recommend this book for? Anyone who wants to learn how to build scale models in the scales represented here. You will learn how to make compact drivetrains, compact suspension geometries, brick built windscreens, and try out different building techniques in order to recreate details in bodyworks of vehicles. I understand that there are mixed opinions when it comes to brick built windscreens. Not only are these real parts hogs, but many don't like the looks of them either. This is apparent whenever a MOC with this detail is presented here and in other fan forums. If you don't have enough transparent 1x2 plates or cheese slopes, then consider skipping a windscreen altogether. The models have interiors and A-pillars and will look good even without this detail. Finally I have a tip for before you go out and order parts on Brickowl or Bricklink. Take a look through the instructions and see where the parts are used. Black parts are often used in places where they can't be seen, or where they might as well be gray or dark gray. See if you can spot the places where I have used dark gray parts instead of black in the models here - it will not be easy ;) Thanks to Jim and the EB team for setting this up and allowing me to get early access to the instructions. And thank you Peter Blackert for giving the LEGO fan community this fine book. Disclosure: I was given advance preview of the parts lists and building instructions and have been promised a copy of the printed book.

REVIEW - 42054 - CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC INTRODUCTION First of all my apologies. Sorry it took so long for this review to be published. Sometimes there are other things in life that need attention. Next year I will try to keep July free for LEGO reviews With all the news about the 42056 - Porsche GT3 RS and the 42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator, you would almost forget there are two other great sets coming up during the second half of 2016. One of which is the 42053 - Volvo EW160E, while the other is the 42054 - Claas Xerion 5000 Trac VC. Today we will be reviewing the latter. Like LEGO it seems that CLAAS also likes its name spelled with capitals, so from now on I will happily oblige. While I live in an area which is flooded by tractors and farm equipment, the CLAAS doesn't seem to be very popular in Holland, while CLAAS is a brand which originated in Germany, not too far away. I have never been a real fan of LEGO Technic farm equipment models. To be honest; I have skipped all of them. They just didn't look interesting enough. How different the CLAAS is. I'll just throw it out there...this is love af first sight. Sometimes the real model looks even better than in the pictures. If this is the case with the CLAAS, it's definitely one of the best looking models ever made. Usually you don't draw conclusions in the introduction, but I simply felt the need to address the feeling that I have when I look at this model. CLAAS being one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) manufacturers of combine harvesters, we might be treated with another CLAAS model in the future. So, not having bought a single farm equipment set, combined with my limited knowledge of real farm equipment, I had to invest some time to get acquainted with the CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC. In case you are wondering what VC stands for, it's the designation for Variable Cab, meaning the cab can be rotated backwards, to facilitate driving backwards....or is it forward?! At CLAAS, VC stands for Variable Cab. The rotating cab is the most convenient reverse-drive system imaginable. At the press of a button, the entire cab moves from its central position to the rear-facing position above the rear axle in seconds. The controls rotate automatically with the cab, so all functions remain the same when operating in the rear position. For high driving comfort on the road, the cab is centrally positioned between the axles. In the silage clamp, on the field, in the forest or in the mountains, the XERION with the cab rotated over the rear axle becomes a user-friendly self-propelled machine with a unique view of the job in hand. If you are looking for more information, here's the Brochure and Technical data. Funny fact about this set is that it's simply addressed as one of the 2H 2016 sets, while with almost 2000 parts, it would definitely have qualified as a flagship a couple of years ago. This is a clear indication that the Technic product line has been evolving rapidly. I start to wonder how big this model actually is. Let's open the box and find out. SET INFORMATION Number: 42054 Title: Claas Xerion 5000 Trac VC Theme: Technic Released: 2016 Part Count: 1977 Box Weight: 2834 gr Box Dimensions: 58,0 cm x 37,2 cm x 9,8 cm Set Price (MSRP): € 159 Price per Part: € 0,080 Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX Having the Porsche and BWE around almost makes you forget that this isn't the Prima Donna of 2016. The box doesn't help either, since it's quite a big lady. A few years ago it could have easily passed as a flagship set. As usual, the front shows a nice picture of the model. The right side indicates that this is a PF powered set, where the M-motor and PF Battery Box are included. Bottom right tells us the crane arm and cabin are motorized. At this point it's not exactly clear what the motorization entails, but I bet the backside of the box will show us more details. BACK The back of the box (click to enlarge) shows us that the boom of the crane can be raised and lowered using Power Functions, as well as rotating the crane. Also, the cabin can be rotated using Power Functions, which is obviously super cool! I'm really anxious to find out how this works. The lower left corner shows us the three steering modes of the CLAAS XERION. Yes, you heard it right, three steering modes! Just like the Porsche should have had The lower right corner shows a picture of the B-model, which is actually the same tractor, with a different attachment. The crane has been transformed into a silage plow. As you can see, the cabin (and thus controls) are facing a different direction than in the picture of the A-model. Like the Unimog I expect lots of modifications and attachments for this model! CONTENTS OF THE BOX The box contains the following items: 1x Sealed instruction manual and sticker sheet 11x Bags for step 1 4x Bags for step 2 1x Unsealed PF battery box 1x Sealed PF M motor 4x Red rims 4x Awesome new tires This is how it looks when you throw everything on one big pile. INSTRUCTION MANUAL AND STICKERS The instructions are provided in a square bound book, sealed in a bag with the stickers. I really like this way of packing the manual and stickers. Keeps both the book and sticker sheet unharmed. Below are detailed pictures of the book and sticker sheet. The latter contains lots of little stickers for switches and controls. This means the model will have lots of functions....yay! PF COMPONENTS A PF Battery Box and a sealed PF M-motor. RIMS AND TIRES Without a doubt the single most eye-catching elements when opening the box are the new tires! 11 BAGS FOR STEP 1 4 BAGS FOR STEP 2 HIGHLIGHTED PARTS Back by popular demand is the Highlighted parts section. For this set it's quite elaborate. Not because it contains loads of new parts, but it does contain quite a few new-ish parts in large numbers. This indicates that the designer used some of the new building techniques in this set. And there's something funny going on with the axles, so let's start with those. AXLES Red and Yellow axles have been introduced in most of the 1H 2016 sets. What's striking though, is that this contains axles in both the regular black and grey color, as well as the latest yellow and red versions. Here you can see that we get both the grey and yellow 5L and 7L axles. I have included only a single grey version to make my point. Actually there are 11 yellow and 5 grey 5L axles and 6 yellow and 15 grey 7L axles. Same goes for the red 4L and 8L axles, which have a black counterpart (also a single one included in the picture). This set contains 9 red and 4 black 4L axles and 2 red and 2 black 8L axles. Makes sense, right?! At this point I am really starting to wonder what the strategy behind the axle color distribution is. Is TLG getting rid of their old stock or is there a better explanation? Hopefully we will discover some logic, but I highly doubt it. On the left you can see the new (2016) 3L Axle with Stop and on the right you see the 2012 4L Axle with Center Stop. Inclusion of the latter is not so special, if it weren't for the quantity. A total of 12 are included, which is more than in any other set. And even a single 11L axle in yellow, which completes the uneven yellow axle family (3L, 5L, 7L, 9L and 11L). Fun fact; the 3L axle in yellow has been introduced in 2015 (in the LEGO Ideas Wall-e set) and has been used in quite a few 2016 sets, but not in any of the Technic sets. Same goes for the 9L axle, which has been used in three non-Technic sets. Adds another layer to the axle mystery. Let's talk Pins and Pin Connectors. 3L PIN WITH 1L/2L AXLE This set includes 20 3L Pin with 2L Axle from 2015 and a whopping 31 3L Pin with 1L Axle from 2014. AXLE/PIN WITH PIN HOLE If you are in need of Pin with Pin Hole from 2014, look no further. This set contains 49 of 'em. Yes that's right, 49!! And 14 of its axle counterpart Axle with Pin Hole from 2016. AXLE AND PIN CONNECTOR HUB WITH 2 AXLES This set also comes with 12 Axle and Pin Connector Hub with 2 Axles. Already introduced in 2012, but relatively new in black. 1L PIN CONNECTOR Introduced in 2015, received with some surprise from the community. Why do we need this 1L Pin Connector?! Well, there's 54 in this set so we are bound to find out why it's useful. H-FRAME (DOG BONE) In my review of the 42023 Construction Crew (one of my two first reviews) I introduced this part. The Liftarm 3 X 5 Perpendicular H-Shape Thick a.k.a. Dog Bone Frame or H-Frame. A compact versatile frame which appeared in quite a few sets but never in such quantities. This set contains 10 of them. CURVED PANEL The 3 x 6 x 3 Curved Panel was already available in blue and yellow and now it's also available in black. You only get a single one in this set though. TURNTABLES This new turntable was introduced in 2015 and it's the first time it appears twice in a single set. It's comprised of two parts, The Top and The Base. STEERING WHEEL HUB Introduced in the Porsche (only because it was available first) and now also available in the CLAAS. Two of them in the Porsche but if you like to build 4W steering this is the set for you. It contains 4 Steering Wheel Hub Holder with 2 Pin Holes and 2 Axle Holes. LIME GREEN IS THE NEW YELLOW A reasonably large selection of lime green parts. Not sure if it's visible in this picture but apparently lime green is the new yellow, when it comes to parts being identically colored. Variation in lime green is significant. This picture shows a detailed view of the color difference. It's clearly visible near the 2x1 plate. The connectors and liftarm do differ as well. Good news is that there are some new parts available in lime green: 1x Panel Fairing # 5 Long Smooth, Side A 1x Panel Fairing # 6 Long Smooth, Side B 1x Panel Fairing # 1 Long Smooth, Side A 1x Panel Fairing # 2 Long Smooth, Side B 2x 16L Soft Axle (Flex Axle DISHES This 6x6 Inverted Rader Dish isn't new, but it's the first time we see it in red. This picture also shows the reflection of the light bounced off the ceiling. RIMS The rims are your run of the mill 56mm D. x 34mm Technic Racing Rims, with the unique feature that, like the 6x6 Inverted Dishes, these come in red for the first time. TIRES Four brand new 107 x 44R Tractor Tires! PART LIST Here's the complete list of 1977 parts. THE TRACTOR The build consists of two phases, the tractor and the crane. Obviously we will start with building the tractor. Get your #1 bags, rims, tires and PF components....we are about to begin! We start by building the chassis. The back side of the chassis to be specific. You can already see part of the steering mode selector mechanism taking shape. REAR MOUNT The manually operated rear mount which will later be used to attach the crane (or other attachments). Manual operations include raising and lowering the attachment. There's a PTO (Power take-off) which will be connected to the PF motor, so it's not operated manually. Here you can see the rear mount attached to the chassis. The bottom view shows the PTO drive shaft. STEERING Since this tractor has 4 wheel steering, the rear axle also needs to be steerable. To accomplish that, the new wheel hubs are used. No rack and pinion yet?! Or no rack and pinion at all?! I was wondering why the blue Axle Pin is used in favor of a Pin without friction. Normally my best guess is that these parts are used in the B-model, which isn't the case for this model. The only possible thing I can imagine is that the friction is needed to prevent wobbling, and the axle end makes sure the steering is smoothly. Best of both worlds kind of thing. The yellow 1/2 bush limits the steering angle. A limited steering angle is something that's bothering me frequently in Technic models. So I tried to remove the bushes and replace the 3L axles with 2L axles. This does improve the steering angle. However, as you can see in the pictures below, there's a reason the steering angle is limited. The left tire is touching the chassis. We will need to work with the default setup. Which actually isn't that bad in the end. The following picture clearly explains why we need red 4L axles, while there are also black 4L axles in this set. Or does it? Clearly no rack and pinion steering. Instead there's a cleaver mechanism transforming rotational movement into linear movement and back into rotational movement again. The linkage on the red axles can be moved into three different positions for the three different steering modes. Here's a short video demonstrating the mechanism: A manually operated lever on the back sets the linkage in one of three positions, selecting the steering mode. Stickers are used to indicate the different modes. Another short video of the steering mechanism: The pictures below show the different steering modes, respectively: Crab steering Front wheel steering Four wheel steering The video below shows a demonstration of the different steering modes: The bottom view of the chassis: The video below shows the bottom view of the steering mechanism: BARMAN Of course this mechanism is no surprise at all, since our good friend Barman already figured it out ages ago. Obviously a variation of the setup, but the basic are definitely the same. Well done Barman! PTO In the picture below you can clearly see that the PTO runs from the front to the back. Even though this model doesn't have a powered front attachment, it's prepared to have one. Kudos to the designer for this feature! GEARBOX This gearbox is used to power the different functions. As you can see there are two Clutch Gears. One is for the PTO and the other one is for the cab rotation. Here's how the gearbox will be attached to the chassis. Switching the change over catch results in changing direction of the function. This is confirmed by looking at the left side of the gearbox, the "differential like setup". MOTORIZATION A Power Functions M-motor is used to power all the functions. Since there's no driving or steering involved, the M-motor is just fine! CHASSIS Picture below shows the chassis without the battery box, but with both front and rear mounts Here you can see a video of how the battery box switch works. This is a rather ingenious mechanism. CONTROL PANEL In the images below you can see why we need 54 1L Connectors. They might not be necessary, but I do like 'em. They are aesthetically pleasing and avoids having gaps in the model. Otherwise bushes would be used, which definitely don't look as good as the 1L Connectors. Here's a detailed view of the control panel on the side of the vehicle. One switch will turn the battery box on and off, while the other rotates the cabin back and forth. Here's the control panel attached to the vehicle. This surely is one of the best looking control panels I have seen. HOOD The lime green hood, combined with the white roof and red rims, is one of the most recognizable sections of the CLAAS. Unlike other hoods this isn't just a couple of panels and done. It's actually quite a big build. The front of the hoods actually needs a CLAAS stickers, which I forgot before taking pictures. The hoods can be lifted and held up with a support axle. Usually you will see the fake engine, but now there's a battery box. To be clear; there's no fake engine at all. Which is perfectly fine given the fact that the battery box is well hidden inside the model. Closing the hood results in this pretty picture. I am already starting to like the looks of this model. The build also gets more interesting along the way. In the beginning there's much going on without really making sense. Seems like a bit here and a bit there. Some constructions seem rather flimsy. However, the further you progress, the better the builds get, to a point where it's actually a great building experience. CABIN Here you can see the base of the cabin, which actually has a nice feature. When the cabin rotates a little wheel underneath lifts the cabin a stud or two. This results in the cabin freely rotating around its axle. When it has turned 180 degrees, it falls in place again. Here you can see the up and down mode of the base of the cabin. The finished cabin looks stunning!! The back of the cabin has some intricate details, like the fire extinguisher and the 50 km/h sign. In the cabin there a computer display showing the field. I think you can even fit a minifig on the chair. Here's a sequence of images demonstrating the rotation of the cabin. You can clearly see the raising and lowering of the cabin when it rotates. FINISHED TRACTOR After finishing the cabin, you end stage 1 and the tractor is finished. I can only come to this conclusion: Yes, it looks great in real life too! And great is an understatement. This is one of the best looking Technic models ever! I wasn't a big fan of lime green, but it just went up a couple of notches on my ladder. Especially in combination with white and red! I can't think of a single thing I don't like about the tractor. Even the battery box is nicely hidden inside the model, while it still can be easily switched on and off. Cabin rotation is how it's supposed to be and there's a front and back PTO. Simply amazing! OOPS! I missed two of the headlights. Thanks to Charlesw for pointing this out THE CRANE After the 1st stage, you enter the 2nd stage...building the crane! I have included a picture of the crane on my work desktop, instead of my photography desktop. Looking at the pictures, it appears that I have no OCD when it comes to arranging parts before the build. On the left side of the crane (where I already applied the stickers) you can see the controls for the crane. Two levers, both with an up and down mode. One of them will rotate the crane, while the other will raise and lower the boom. For all you photography enthusiasts; these two pictures are taken with f14 instead of f20, resulting in a sharp picture but slightly blurred (out of focus) background. This draws attention to the model, while still being able to figure out what's going on in the background. I used to shoot everything with f20, which would have resulted in an entirely focused picture. Three more images of the base of the crane. This time without the unnecessary cluttering with extra parts. FINISHED CRANE Lo and behold, the crane! First of all, I am not the biggest fan of cranes. Why not? Because they have a tendency not to work properly, especially the Pneumatic ones (apologies to the Pneumatic fanboys). Therefor it's worth to mention that I actually like this one. A decent design with functions that actually work. Admittedly the manual functions are not that great and maybe a bit flimsy, but that will always be the case when building in this scale. Most important are the two motorized functions, which work like a charm. The mechanism to attach the crane to the tractor is nifty too, although it can be a bit of a struggle to attach it to the PTO. This takes some practice. FINISHED MODEL Meet the CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC! I have said it before and I will say it again; this is one good looking model. The shapes, the design, combined with the CLAAS color scheme makes it really stand out. Admittedly, the crane doesn't improve the looks of the model. Being an attachment, I don't really mind. The nose of the CLAAS looks so cool. Especially with the weights on the front attachment and those new tires. I really love this picture. Another think I absolutely love is the cabin of the model. All kinds of small details and the overall look is stunning. The crane is....well.....a crane. It's not ugly, nor is it a beauty. Technically it's working properly, which is the most important thing. It does kind of bend over a bit, but it doesn't bend the chassis. It's caused by the way it's mounted to the rear attachment. Raising the attachment will straighten the crane a bit. The rear attachment is quite solid, which is good thing. The outriggers need to used for extra stability. This side view show what I mean by the crane leaning over. The rear view of the entire model. I love the fire extinguisher and the 50 km/h sign! Another front view of the model. LEFT OVER PARTS Quite a few 1L Connectors left. Makes you wonder whether I skipped a few. Or they are used in the B-model. FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS So the model looks good. Does it function properly?! And what exactly are the functions?! After the last building step, the manual shows four pages with functions! The first two pages concentrate on operating the crane and cabin, using the PF functions. The other two pages focus on the different steering modes. Let's take a look at the video to see these functions in action: The front attachment is manually operated and can be raised and lowered. Attaching to the chassis is easy, so it can be easily changed for another attachment. There's a front PTO, which leaves you with loads of options. I'm sure we will see some nice MODs being published in the future. Rotating the cab is quite fun to do. It works as expected and the automatic raising and lowering of the cabin adds coolness to the operation. Thumbs up for the rotating cab Then there's the three mode steering. Basically the steering modes work fine. The mechanism is very clever. So it all good? Well, there are some minor issues. Turning the steering gear needs quite a bit of force, which can result in accidentaly turning the cabin instead of steering. Another issue is the significant amount of slack in the steering mechanism. New wheel hubs were introduced this year, but they are no improvement in terms of slack. This model is best steering when driving it. This will reduce the amount of force on the steering linkage and it will also diminish the slack. All in all the steering modes work properly and the entire steering mechanism is awesome. This makes up for the lack of rear wheel steering in the Porsche! Like I said earlier; usually I am not a big fan of cranes. However, this one works properly. The motorized functions have been implemented very well. They are easy to operate, without confusion about which function does what. The manual functions work as expected, nothing special. I haven't paid much attention to the tires so far. I reckon they deserve a review of their own. Enough has been said about them already, so I will simply echo what other have been saying; they are awesome! Best tire since the Unimog tires. They have enough grip for Truck Trial. One thing I am not sure about though is how well they will stick to the rim. As you can see in the video, they detach pretty easily. Something which might happen when driving through rough terrain. I hope TLG will release a smaller version of these tires in the near future, for other tractors or even combine harvesters. Both the attachments can be mounted and dismounted easily and the mechanisms to do so are nifty. Attaching an axle to the PTO can be tricky, but it will get easier after some practice. B-MODEL When building the B-model the tractor remains intact. The crane turns into a silage plow, which actually looks quite good. I will leave this one for you to build SUMMARY To summarize how I feel about this set is pretty easy. I love it! This set has everything a proper Technic set should have. Stunning looks and lots of great functions. Not sure if this is the best Technic set ever, but it is the best Technic set I ever reviewed. PROS Looks amazing Lots of functions Super cool three mode steering Functions working properly Lots of playability Front and rear PTO Suitable for MODding Lots of new pins and connectors Cool new tires Some parts in new colors Battery box nicely tucked away inside the model CONS Slack in steering Steering needs some force and can result in turning the cabin instead Makes you want another one I'd like to stress that these cons are really minor cons! SCORE Okay, so how do I grade this set? 9 DESIGN CLAAS written all over it. Looks amazing. 9 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Starts a bit unstructured, but ends well. 10 FEATURES Can't do any better than this. 9 PLAYABILITY All the cool functions offer lots of playability 9 PARTS High quantities of new pins and connectors. Oh, and them tires! 9 VALUE FOR MONEY This is what to expect of a big Technic set. 9,2 PINNACLE OF LEGO TECHNIC FINAL WORDS This set will be modified heavily, utilizing the front and rear PTO. Can't wait to see what people come up with. It's only a matter of time before we see a double wheeled version: Well, that didn't take long (posted by ctx1769, see next page): And what to think of a potential new CLAAS Lexion Combine Harvester with new smaller versions of the CLAAS tires in the rear. Yes please! Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found in my album.

Most of you know I'm a huge Star Wars fan. So when I saw the pictures of the new Sandspeeder on reddit, I knew I was going to get it. Well, thanks to others on this forum I was able to get the Target DCPI number (204-00-0294) and find one at my local store. It has a sticker price of $29.99. I've never done a review before, but since this is such a fun set and I know some of you want to know what it's like outside the box, I decided to dip my toes into the review world. So, here's my review of 75204 Sandspeeder. The front of the box has a background set on Jakku. I don't know if Battlefront 2 was their inspiration, or if we are getting clues to something from Last Jedi, but based on everything else I've read no one knows. So we'll leave the speculation for now and wait and see what Lego has for the official press release. The back of the box shows the play features. Pretty basic stuff. Swoosh the speeder, firing the missiles, and kill that sneaky snake! I was surprised to find 1 loose wing inside the box. I checked all the bags to make sure none were ripped, but all were sealed with no openings. Later in the instructions you can see that Lego left the wing out intentionally, but just the right wing. An odd move on Lego's part, but I guess it had to do with the size of the bags. Bag 3, which has the left wing, also has all the parts for the moisture-vaperator so it's bigger already and could fit the wing. There are some fun pieces in the set. The canopy is printed. You get 3 of the new black modified tile/plate that came out with the Ninjago Movie sets. And the printed computer is not very common, at least in the sets I've bought. You can see here that the loose wing was intentional. You can also see how the build looks after bag 1. I've never owned any of the previous snow-speeders so I don't know how to compare the sand-speeder to it's predecessors. But I found the underside of the wings to be very plain and almost unfinished. The plate-to-pin connectors are nicely covered with reverse curved slopes, but the missile shooter is left very exposed. They couldn't spare 3 extra pieces to cover it better? The rest of the underside is also pretty plain, but it connects to the body of the speeder very well so I guess I can't complain too much. And of course, everyone wants to see the new pilots! And here's the finished model. I love the feel and look of the speeder. And when part the set out, I'll have a bunch of earth toned plates for my castle MOCs! The moisture-vaporator seems very unfinished as the base is just a plate and a couple slopes. I'd rather they add Stormtrooper and a small turret or some other kind of antagonist for the speeder to attack. Overall though, I give this set a 4.5/5. I highly recommend picking it up!

Last May, I got my hands on a very special set: "Hampton by Hilton Modular Construction" set deigned by Lego Certified Professional (LCP) Dirk Denoyelle. Of course I snapped it at the chance. After I got it I struggled with myself for a while whether to keep it and hope to increase in value or build it up. I have decided on the latter and would like to let you participate. The box does not look very spectacular. The print is clean and crisp. But the box itself is much too flabby. It was hard to handle it without damage. But: the content counts. In the box neatly packed in ZIP lock bags are 1553 parts (minus one missing part plus various extra parts). The bigger plates and the construction manual are included loosely. The construction manual is a real highlight: really thick pages and perfect print quality. That makes up for the box. Especially nice in the manual is that the play starts with the construction. In the construction steps, the workers are always somewhere else, join in and also the crane helps. I have never seen it like this before. The building of the set starts rather boring, I say. First you build 24 identical containers. But after that it's fun until shortly before the end. Bricking the outer tiles is then somewhat monotonous again. Personally, I like the finished model much better than expected. I especially like the ground floor, which is completely furnished. The associated construction truck seems a bit out of time, or better, looks like from the 80s. There would have been more possible. The hotel itself is just a monolith and can not compete with the LCP set Hilton Paris Opera (also by Dirk Denoyelle). Both, however, would have to fit well in terms of scale to each other. The little London bus from Lego at least fits the hotel perfectly :) All in all, the Hampton is still a very nice, not everyday model. It is a pity that, contrary to the picture on the packaging, two tiles are not printed with the Hampton logo. I recorded the bulding of the hotel and the review in a video and tried stop motion instead of a speed build. Please tell me how you like it.

Just in time, to prevent Ragnarok, the end of everything! The movie will be up in a few days time! Let's indulge in the LEGO sets first before going into the cinema. Ragnarok is a word from the Norse Mythology which carried the meaning of “Final Destiny of the Gods”, or can be interpreted as “the doom or destruction of the Gods”. Another interpretation is from Taika, the director of the movie himself stated that it is the destruction of the old and rebirth of the new. Here the LEGO sets are designed to match the scenes of Thor’s third Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, “Thor: Ragnarok”. Introduction The Gods are made into LEGO sets as minifigures! Thor Ragnarok movie trailers were very colorful, resembling The Guardians of the Galaxies. In this review, I’m going to include both sets from the movie, 76084 The Ultimate Battle for Asgard and 76088 Thor vs Hulk Arena Clash. Let's see what both sets have to offer. Overview Name: 76084 The Ultimate Battle for AsgardYear: 2017Pieces: 400Minifigures: 6 Price: £49.99 / $49.99 / 49.99€ Name: 76088 Thor vs Hulk: Arena ClashYear: 2017Pieces: 492Minifigures: 4 plus Hulk big figPrice: £54.99 / $59.99 / 59.99€ The box The box art showing two different scene, one is the arena and another is a battle field where Thor and Hela had their final fight. It appeared that they actually fought in a snowy scene with the Asgard Palace as the background. In this scene, there is a distinct separation of good guys and bad guys. As you can see, Hela had brought her dead army and a wolf, fighting Thor, Banner and Valkyrie with their commodore at the other side. For 76088, the scene is with a backgroud of a stadium seats full of people watching the long due fight of Mighty Thor and The Incredible Hulk. Both the scene are very recognisable if you did watch the trailers. (I've lost count of how many times I've looped it.) As usual, the back of these two boxes 76084 and 76088 and the side are with the play features and some actions in it. I think the box arts are very interesting to look at until you already bought the sets. After that, it will be better to look at the content, right? Haha The Content For 76084, you get one bag with books, bag one, bag two, bag three Fenris, and one unnumbered bag. Oh yeah, stickers! There is a sticker sheet in the bag and gladly there are only eleven pieces of stickers here and they are quite easy to be applied. Since all of those stickers are for the commodore instead of Fenris the wolf, I’m not complaining. Haha. However in 76088, you get only one instruction book, bag one, bag two, bag three, one Hulk bag, and the same comic book from 76084. The comic books here contain spoilers to the movie, so I better not reveal anything inside until the movie is out. There is a sticker sheet here too. The minifigures This is the most exciting part of these two sets. The characters in both sets are exclusive and can’t be found in any other LEGO sets. Most importantly, they are not repeated! (Except for Thor and berserker but Thor is with different torso and we need more berserker to build a dead army of Hel!) Let’s start with the arena set 76088. We get four minifigures and one big figure Hulk. I personally love the vibrant color used for the character which makes them looked pleasing. Even the bad guys here are colorful. Thor, the God of Thunder is not a stranger to anyone. He is played by Chris Hemsworth and kind of irreplaceable by any other actor. This is quite true for other characters in MCU as well etc ‘Hugh Jackman as Logan’. Here in this set, he is wearing a grey plated armor with red gladiator paint. The red paint should be extended to the head piece to further distinguish him from the Thor in 76084. His new dark grey helmet is very nicely molded. For his leg, the blue kneepad is another print that differentiates him from the Thor outside the arena. Another highlight of this minifigure is the left arm printing that looks like his armor extended to his hand. In the movie trailer, Thor is wearing a blue pauldron on his left shoulder. Hence the ninjago sword holder here in blue color suits him best. This is my first LEGO sword holder in my life, so I got very excited when I have this part. I liked it especially the feeling when you put the sword in the sheath. This is Thor from 6868, 6869 and 30163 with his mighty hammer Mjolnir. The attire of new Thor is totally different from the Avengers version. I suppose Taika Waititi wants to make a really different version of the Mighty Thor. Gladiator Hulk! Whenever you see him, the iconic roaring entrance scene will definitely come into mind thanks to the trailers. It is said that Hulk didn’t change back into human form for two years in Sakaar after Age of Ultron. Hence Sakaarian get him to fight in the arena and able to ‘decorate’ him with this gladiator attire. This big figure’s awesomeness is further enhanced by his brick built giant axe and hammer which looks very similar to those in the trailers. Somehow I wonder why his pants changed into black in Sakaar. Will we get any explanation for that in the movie? Hmm… Upon removing the weapons, we have clearer views to his tattoos and bandage (can he bleed?). The silver helmet has a metallic paint and the carving was very detailed. The red fur plume on it matches the blue colored pauldron on his left shoulder. One thing I don’t really like here is the fact that the helmet is actually a separate part glued to his head (I think). Why kragled it while it’s better to be removable? Or maybe add a hairpiece for him? Other than that, this is a greatly designed figure and it should be a fantastic collector’s item for Gladiator Hulk. Comparison with the old light green Hulk from 6868, or I called it the pioneer Hulk. It improves in his angry expression where the old one looks a bit cartoony. The green also changes shade throughout the years in Sakaar. Both Hulks are great and now that I have them, I need to hunt the other Hulk in LEGO universe. I’m always amused by the reminder of this scene that Hulk and Loki interacted way back in the first Avengers movie. Now how did he get into Tolkien’s universe? The quinjet? Stark tech again.. Sakaarian guard. Even the bad guys is so fantastic. However I think this faceless dude is going to be a less appreciated minifigure. I liked the purple black color scheme of this servant of Grandmaster. He looked robotic and maybe he is some kind of cyborg in sakaar. He is holding a staff like Mordo in Dr. Strange’s set. Hello dude, I suppose we have the same fate of being ignored. Hey, you look scary too. The Grandmaster. He was played by Jeff Goldblum in the movie. It is said that he is the brother of the Collector in MCU, hence the similarity in the character. He has dual face printing. His torso is very nicely printed with pearl gold and light blue arms. However the lack of printings for his legs is a little bit disappointing. So you caught the God of Thunder? That’s interesting! Loki the God of Mischief. He has a very different look in this set. He is wearing a dark blue coat and a bright yellow cape. Besides, he has two facial expressions which I liked the scared face with sweats. This look is quite rare and quite useful in flesh colored headpiece. Here in this set, it represents the look of Loki when he found out Hulk is actually here in sakaar and he is still scared of him. There are two appearance of Loki here. One is with his horned gold helmet and another one is provided with short hair piece. Compared to the old Loki, the old one is more recognizable as the god of mischief. But for the cape, the new Loki came with this spongy stretchable fabric which is much more durable and flexible than the old traditional starched fabric. The latter is easily folded and crimped if you are not careful enough. Now you know why Loki is scared of the Hulk. Another thing about his hair. As I recall, Tom Hiddleston’s hair is quite long in the trailer. So I took Thorin’s hair and it matched! Maybe the short one is for Thor? But it’s too long for him. Hmm… Let’s move on to 76084. There are two distinct shades here whereby Hela and the villains looked dark and a little bit of green, and the good guys are red and blue. We get six minifigures here, so I think they compensated the lack of build in this set. Thor in this set is with a one sided cape. I think this is the first cape that looked like this (correct me if I’m wrong). The torso and legs are quite the same from the arena Thor, but this one is without the red war paint and blue kneepad. The armor print extended to the back of the torso which is very nice as well. This Thor is equipped with two trans blue power blasts and the color suits well with his ‘what are you the god of again?’ eyes. Looked very different but quite similar. Why is he still wearing the helmet in this set? I want his short hair! I have dire plans for destiny. Valkyrie. At first she worked for the Grandmaster collecting beings to fight in the arena as his entertainment. After that recruited by Thor to join the revengers to fight Hela. Her skin tone is light brown with white paint at her face just like the movie. She got a Mohawk hairstyle which they used for Taserface in Guardian of the Galaxy. The blue cape is also one sided, with jagged edges which I think it’s very special. Really? Now she joins the band. She has the long hair look in the movie too. I think LEGO wants us to be creative on changing their hair piece. Berserkers. We got two of them in this set. I really love the dark green printings on black torsos. I think batman digs it too. They have no eyes, only big mouth with nice teeth. They have this horn at their back and the ninjago blades to wield which makes them looked more bad megablocks fighting team revengers. These bad guys are really very awesomely printed. Do we need dentists? Who the hell is Hela? The goddess of death is said to be Loki’s daughter in the comics but apparently Loki is single in the MCU. So I guess the origin of Hela will be revealed in the movie. From the released clip, she seemed to know Odin very well. She is wearing a helmet which looks like Medusa’s hair. Those tentacles are rubbery. I think this is to prevent those parts of her hair to easily fractured if they are made rigid. Very wise thinking from the designers. Here she is wielding a dark sword and axe. She was provided with her hair in the set. At last, the right hair to have. The first look is the pretty Galadriel look. I prefer the Cate Blenchett look here than the catwoman look at the second one. The torso is printed with slightly glowy green and it really looks like she was from the dark world. She is also equipped with black power blasts as she can hurl energy balls towards her enemy. May the force be with you. Another reason to buy this set. We finally get Bruce Banner! Before this we only get Hulk and minifigure Hulks in various colors but never the human form of him. Now he is in his black jacket and a very nice molded hair for him. The best part is he comes with green eyes just before the transformation. This is a truly awesome minifigure for Hulk fans. Believe me. You don’t want me to be angry. Surprise… From these sets, I really love the helmet of the Gods. Loki’s helmet is already available way back in Avengers one. The new arena helmet for Thor is very nice and detailed. Although I would like some print on the side, this helmet is good enough. Hela’s helmet is truly exclusive and you won’t get it in any other sets. The design is very accurate to the movie and nothing to complain of. Here you can see the various expressions in flesh colored heads. Kind of a rejoice for mocers and LEGO photographers to get the scared face of Loki, thief look of Hela, for the other licensed minifigures. However I think Thor’s lightning eyes look is not that versatile. Another highlight is the capes. The colors are very sharp and both Valkyrie and Thor’s are very specially designed. More importantly, they are made with spongy stretchable fabric where you can pull and stretch to adjust them without worrying that they will be torn. This is pretty much sums up the characters from these two sets. It is so awesome and I think they will be much appreciated after the movie! The Build I will start with 76084. In the first bag, you get to build Fenris the wolf. It is said that he is Loki’s son in the comics but I think we have to wait for the movie to know about his origin in MCU. According to the comic, being a wolf god that can shape-shift and transform into anyone he's consumed, gaining power and abilities with each being he's fought and eaten, repeatedly battling Thor and other Asgardians like the "Warriors Three," being severely beaten by Beta-Ray Bill, to prophesies of him starting Ragnarok by eating the Asgardian sun and moon, as well as devouring Odin. Will all these happen in the MCU? Let’s wait and see. LEGO designed him to be a little bit skinny than the movie wolf. It can be ride by a minifigure. In the trailer, it’s quite obvious that he is one of the villains where he tried to ‘eat’ Hulk. However, I like the design of his head and the legs that make him always pose-able like he is preparing to attack somebody. He has a slender body where the studs are for minifigures to ride on and the slope right after the stud is a very brilliant touch to let the cape sit on without crimping them. The mouth can be opened but the mandible is quite small. I like the pointy ears where you can actually bend it forward and backward. The wolf is smaller than it should be but the colour combination of black and grey makes him look cool. Another cool feature of the wolf is LEGO added two ‘glow in the dark’ round plate as his eyes. His pose is quite limited despite the joints are all ball joints. The pointy parts of his fore and hind legs are blocking them to be turned 180 degrees. So this pose is the nicest for him to jump up and attack The Hulk. Can I get some bone? Another small build is the stand that Hela stood on. It resembles lord business’ extendable legs in The Lego Movie. I think it’s a bit redundant unless maybe there is a scene somewhere in the movie that Hela actually become taller than everyone else. Bag two and bag three brings out the red round Frisbee that appeared quite frequently in the trailer. It is just a jet with four stud shooters, a cockpit, a weapon container at the rear of the jet and the ‘Hulk Launcher’. Dr. Banner will be loaded at the bottom of the ship. The yellow round tile at the center of the ship acts as a button to push Banner out of the ship and he will become the Hulk as he falls. This is actually a quite interesting play feature that includes a minifigure as a ‘bullet’. The cockpit can fit only one minifigure and she must be leaned backward like the picture to close the lid. The console panel is a purple sticker which is quite a nice touch inside the driver’s seat. Let’s have a look at 76088. After the first two bags, you can actually make the iconic scene of Hulk bashing through the door. The build of this arena is considerably easy, just a few inter-connecting walls with the color of red and blue. The door is a little bit smaller than the Hulk figure which is quite accurate that he has to smash the door to make a grand entrance. Now let them have some avengers’ reunion talk. The whole arena consists of five separable walls with a black sliding door. It is quite long if you make it flat like this. Each wall has their own ply feature and I kind of like the idea that you can actually change the arrangement of the wall to suit your photography needs. The back of the walls are quite detailed too I would say. It is not simply left empty or messily looking rear. Here you can see Thor’s cell, sliding door with two pillars, weapons vault and the lever to smash the wall. With all the minifigures inside, you can curve the walls surrounding Thor and Hulk at the center of the ring. Grandmaster, Loki and sakaarian guard is happily watching at the top until Thor hit them with the help of the super jumper. The super jumper is something that sticks to the legs very strong where it is hard to be removed. So I did not include it here. This is a close up shot to the cell. It is a door panel with enough room for a minifigure to stand inside and close the door. The stickers actually added some nice details to the cell door. I like the digital lock which is a printed tile. Two were included in this set. Another small detail here that I liked very much here was the hanger for Thor’s katana. How nice to hang that so close yet beyond the reach of Thor from the cell! Behind the door you can see the Hulk is waiting impatiently for his name to be called upon. The mechanism to open the door is simply sliding the cheese slope at the top side of each door. At the other side of the stadium, the weapons are placed there loosely into three technic pin holes. This is quite a new way of holding the weapons instead of using clips. The other wall was loosely assembled with similar technique used in Helm’s Deep set where the bomb blows off the castle wall. A simple flick towards the 2x3 tile will scatter the wall pieces all over the arena. These two pictures are to illustrate the play feature of the arena walls. Quite a few of them are Thor’s target with the super jumper. Tada!!! I think they created the chaos to escape from the captivity by the Grandmaster. Conclusion Both of the sets are very worthy of their respective minifigures. However the build is kind of easy and a little bit boring. I was hoping for some rainbow bridge build or the palace of Asgard instead of the plane. The arena looks great with the sliding doors so I'm not so disappointed. Overall 76084 and 76088 are both a 'must buy' sets if you are a super heroes collector. Review Summary Playability: 5/10 - Both sets are packed with play features but I gave it a quite low score due to the looseness of the arena build to allow Thor to destroy it. For the commodore, the play mechanism is quite simple without any surprises. Design / Building Experience: 9/10 - The design is complete, nothing more. As I say, a rainbow bridge and palace of Asgard would have satisfied me. Minifigures: 10/10 - Great minifigures! All the printings and the details exceeds all expectations. Especially the Gladiator Hulk. How could you miss that? Overall: 9/10 - It's a must buy, you can't find minifigures this good any where else after the Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Carribean era. Hope you enjoy the review, do share your thoughts in the comments! Can't wait for the movie!

Review: 42059 Stunt Truck Name: Stunt Truck Number: 42059 Theme: Technic Year: 2017 Pieces: 142 Price: USD $19.99, Euro 19.99€, AUD $32.99 Brickset: Extra Info Technic Early 2017 Review Series Welcome to the fourth in my batch of 2017 Technic reviews! I was offered all the small sets early 2017 for review late last year... but I ended up getting them all! Thus I have a lot to review. I've been doing them in parallel and changing my process as I go so hopefully the latter ones will end up being the best. On that angle I'll probably retcon some of the earlier reviews if I improve my process. Due to this remember that I'm happy to take extra photos or provide extra info on request, and anything especially good will be added to the main body of the review. Do note though that sometimes the model may no longer exist if I have have made an alternate. On the subject of alternates, I will be making the alt model, if I have the instructions, think the model is worth making, and I have the time. Also I'll show mid stage construction only if I think it's relevant. Thus don't ask for construction photos or alt models if they aren't part of the review.... I am prepared to extract parts for detail photos though. Photos will all be hosted on Flickr so larger versions are available, and relevant videos will be on YouTube and linked to from here. I don't edit photos much; very rarely I'll crop one and almost never will "correct" them so the photos should be as natural as possible. I will try to not be repetitive; thus it's worth reading my other reviews. For example I'm not going to complain too much about the digital instructions; I'll try to complain about new things, or maybe not complain at all! Here's all the other reviews of H1 2017 Technic... 42057 Ultralight Helicopter 42058 Stunt Bike 42059 Stunt Truck (and 45058/42059 Combiner) 42060 Roadwork Crew 42061 Telehandler 42062 Container Yard 42063 BMW R 1200 GS Adventure 42064 Ocean Explorer 42065 Tracked Racer Mucho multi thanks to the EB LUG Ambassador CopMike and the LEGO CEE Team and Designers for allowing me to review these sets for Eurobricks. So onto the review! Packaging Front.... ...back.... ...top. Unboxing Standard punch box. Only one instruction book and it's staple bound without a substantial cover. Secondary model has instructions online only. The build is not sectioned... OK it is sorta. There's a "1" bag... and another. So in short, it's not. The panels in "Medium azure" and pullback motor are slightly special, with the ramp and the... ...the anniversary part being slightly more special than those. Parts list. Random instruction page. Build It's done! Spare parts. Power is directly applied to the rear wheel. No gearing or any other functions are in this model. The ramp is a custom colour with a wheel pattern that matches the respective vehicle and has rubber feet to help it grip rather than slip. You can see the anniversary part here on the top. Action video! The stickers are quite effective in this set as they help blend the colours. Power Racer (Combiner) I was considering making this into a separate review, but ultimately I don't have much to say about these sets, so I think it's more fair to include it here. (Do note though that I don't count this model when rating the set.) I made it after the main sets so I don't have photos without the stickers. I believe these are the spare parts. There could be some missing.... one of our resident cats slept here (hair left as evidence) and left me with doubts. I did think this part of the build was cool, in that it took advantage of the 45 degree cutouts to increase robustness. Overall I liked the look of this model. It reminded me of some the the early studless Technic models. The stickers worked well, even though one is upside down (correctly placed, it's just designed for the A model), and the colours blend well, which is impressive since there isn't always an even pairing of parts. Both of the anniversary parts are used, but only one is visible. Quick action video! Longer action video! Since I won't be rating the combiner, I will make a quick comment that I was impressed with how well it handled; when aimed well it was fast and jumped high. Ratings Function: Technic fans probably should look elsewhere. 2/10 Parts: The highlight really is the "Medium azure" 6/10 Price: The Australian price of this set seems rather high IMHO. 6/10 Accuracy: Considering the limited parts it's not a horrid truck model. 6/10 Fudge: Pullback cars aren't really my thing. But it's a good kit for experimenting with them. 6/10 Overall: It's the better deal of the pullbacks, but even so, there's better Technic for less money 5/10

HI! Do you have this set? It's very cool set i think))

Full disclosure: This review is copied in its entirety from my blog. This is my very first review, and as such is full of omissions and errors. As the text itself states I am looking for criticisms and advice on how to improve. Thank you in advance. The Quake Mech hasn’t been officially announced yet, but we did get a sneak peek in the Ninjago Movie ‘Making of’ book. What we do have is a scaled down polybag version of the mech: The build itself is of the expected polybag-size and is very nicely built. The only thing I dislike is that the wheel itself is brickbuilt, but it would’ve been impossible to stand on its own otherwise. I do hope that the actual set will have an actual wheel, even if it has to have additional support in order to stand. The arms have a lot of articulation, although the shoulders are a bit flimsy, but brilliantly built. They’re bigger than the rest of the body and give the mech that ‘hulky’ look. As I’ve mentioned the wheel is brickbuilt and flat on the base. The droid arms are not attached to it and are only there for aesthetics. The wheel is actually attached to the rest of the body via a 1×1 round trans piece that. It has a black bar running through it. The mech looks quite good from the back side as well, if a bit bland. However, there is room for attaching additional pieces there, so it can be improved upon with clever tinkering. I have to admit that I was quite impressed with this build. So much, in fact, that I bought two – one for my collection and one to use as a decoration on my desk (on which I usually keep souvenirs from my trips). This was my first ever review and I hope you liked it. Is there anything you would’ve liked to be included, or anything I missed? If you have any other comments, criticism and/or advice I hope that you will share them. I will allow me to improve and you can enjoy better reviews.

Hi, today I'm going to review the most famous piece of 'junk' in the galaxy far far away, The Millennium Falcon! This is actually a series one micro fighter version of Millennium Falcon. Introduction There are quite a number of Millennium Falcon released by LEGO in various sizes throughout the years. I've compiled the list of LEGO Millennium Falcons via Google and I found 10 different model here. 7190 Millennium Falcon (2000) 4488 Mini Millennium Falcon (2003) 4504 Millennium Falcon (2004) 10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon (2007, UCS) 7778 Midi-scale Millennium Falcon (2009, mid-scale) 7965 Millennium Falcon (2011) 7958 Star Wars Advent Calendar (Along with other vehicles) 75030 Millennium Falcon (2014, Microfighters) 75105 Millennium Falcon (2015) 75192 Millennium Falcon (2017, UCS) However today, let's focus on the micro fighter version. Overview Name: 75030 Millennium Falcon Theme: Star Wars Subtheme: Micro Fighters Year: 2014 Pieces: 94 Minifigures: Han Solo Price: £8.99 / $9.99 / 9.99€ / RM49.90 Resources: Brickset The Box The front of the box features the Millennium Falcon flying through the galaxy with a Death Star image at the bottom right corner of the box. At the back you can see the flick cannon function and all six models of series one micro fighters. The only minifigure in this set gets featured as the 1:1 picture at the side of the box. The box is quite small, but they are quite nice if you put all six boxes together. The Instruction Manual The booklet is quite thin staplered together. I like the light weighed book as it was easy to flip through. The booklet is folded in half to fit in the small square box. After all, it stays quite well while building if you fold the booklet like this. The Build Wow, in a small model I'm surprised that it took the shape of the base of the ship in just a few steps building. The half round rear and both the forward mandible has already taking shape in this picture. I really love the color scheme used here. The combination of trans red, trans blue and dark red mixed well with the greys of the whole ship. It's quite amazing that the designers actually put a little bit of effort for the interiors of the ship. Despite being showed outside, these areas won't be appreciated after the completed build as they can't be opened. So let us put some imagination here. The trans red cones at the centre of the ship might have been the game room and the light saber practice chamber for Luke. The modified 1x1 bricks at the side added some rod like structure as details at both side of the ship. The interiors are then closed by these quarter circle plates. Then a seat for Han is installed behind the base of the cockpit. Both the forward mandible was strenghtened by the 1x3 with one side slope. Then the whole ship was covered by this 6x6 round plate which added some layering details to the ship. A 2x2 round tile was placed at the side as the escape pods. In larger Millennium Falcon, there should be two escape pods at both side of the ship but in this small model, there is insufficient space to put the other one. The top view of the partially finished build. Its quite dull with only grey color present here so the last few steps are to add details on this grey canvas. These are the 'legs' of the ship which used 2x2 plates and 2x2 round tiles. I liked the sphere looking landing pads here. The buldging of the round tiles added some height to the model and it surprised me that the bottom of this model looks good too! (Even with all those anti studs here). This printed part is representing the cockpit of the ship. Its not exclusive to the set but it only appeared in three sets including this one and one SDCC set. So its quite valuable, don't lose it! Haha.. Quad laser cannons are the only play feature here whereby you install these two flick cannons at the top of the Millennium Falcon. So now the canvas is painted with these 1x1 wonderful tiles. The sensor dish is presented with this round dish attached to a T shaped rod, so miniature and brilliant choice of bricks to be used here. The two dark red tiles really added much detail and color to the grey here. Tadaaa!!! This is the completed build of the model. The flick cannons, sensor dish and the cockpit installed! Look at the windshield, its so small to even cover the hand of the pilot, lol. You can view this model at every angle of this Millennium Falcon in this picture. The color scheme is really very eye catching especially if you are a Star Wars fan. The Minifigure Han Solo in the black vest is the only minifigure in this set. He came with a small blaster and the iconic outfit and dark blue jeans with belt. He is not exclusive to this set where he appeared in 75052 Mos Eisley Cantina too. This is the Han that appeared in episode four where he bragged about his beloved Millennium Falcon in Mos Eisley Cantina. He has angry face as the alternate facial expression of this minifigure. The back of the torso is also very nicely printed. Conclusion I love this very cute build of the Millennium Falcon in this set! Small but packed with so much details is definitely a very worthy ship to own! Review Summary Playability: 5/10 - Flick cannons are easy to lose if you really play with it, lol. Design / Building Experience: 9/10 - Very nice building techniques and amazingly detailed exterior and interiors with only small bricks and tiles. Minifigures: 8/10 - Han Solo is the owner of this ship, so he is very suitable to be in the set. The prints are very similar to the outfit in the movie too. Overall: 9/10 - Its a must buy but too bad its retired. With the latest 75192 UCS Millennium Falcon coming, this set would be a very cute companion to be displayed alongside with the big ones. Nice gathering with the ship as background! Can it fly off and come back as the UCS version? Haha..