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I designed several versions since my thread "Back to the DeLorean" in 2016. I admit, I completely forgot to share the new files and images this past winter. So many incarnations have come from this iconic ride and I am sharing with you 2 versions: The Studio renders and my actual model created with custom colored parts made with a 3rd party chrome service. My original design in 2016 was based on a 7 stud wide car. I shrunk it down into a 6 stud wide car and feel that the parts introduced in 2019 gave me the opportunity to finally develop it. The great part about this set, the Part 1 and Part 2 rear can be swapped out pretty quickly to move from nuclear rod power to Mr Fusion. The car rolls just fine with the current hubcap layers. The wheels come off and easy slide down the cut hoses that fit into the bar clip/hover mode attachments. You never have to remove anything in the mudguard area, just add the hover attachments inside where I designed side wall spots it will go into. My new scale matches all my other vehicles and ships: approximately 1:35 scale. DMC-12: 1981 model. BTTF: Part 1 BTTF: Part 2 BTTF: Part 3 The Interior: Physical Custom Moc: Consists of 3rd party non-lego parts: Brickarm Customized parts using LEGO parts: 1. Windscreen: Custom cut windscreen I have another model that can open the gull wings, partially built. I did build my alternative version with a functioning gull wing. I sacrifice several things to accomplish this. But, that is why i designed the windscreen parts the way i did. I cut LEGO parts to make this screen. Now the 2020 champions have a similar screen that is way too long, but if they produce one with grey or silver edges I will try it on this model. Otherwise, the train top in black works perfectly for a more slender design. I like the hard edges on my windscreen since the DeLorean doesn't have curves. 2. Various hoses were cut to fit the model. Red hoses. Also cut down a teal bar and smoothed it off into 2 studs wide parts. 3. 4 2x2 hinge tops were smoothed down to just the flat plate part to make a neat texture for the bottom of the car. Its not totally necessary, helps hold lego cord with studs in place, but more a decoration element for my model. 4. A hammer was shorted in my 2016/2017 model and I used it in this model. You can easily use the regular hammer as is. I just never replaced it. I lost the orange headlight seen in the render and i just placed a 1x1 black plate in there. minified fits fine with headlight in my model. 5. White bar holder with clip. It was a perfect size for the Mr Fusion and I used it for my 2017 model. I added a sticker for it and looks fine to me. The renders above use a round brick. 6. Custom stickers for Mr Fusion and DMC logo on the front of the car I also introduced my Doc Brown Value Van in 2016 in the thread as well. This was a massive build, 10 studs wide and over 30 studs long. This vehicle does fit this car since the inside dimensions were 8 studs across. None of their 6stud wide panels come without the stud wide walls like older smaller panels did in the 90s. I gave up on th idea of a minified scale van would contain the car. I present to you the 8 stud wide Value van scaled down to match the car's scale. Doc Browns Value van is more difficult than it looks. The film used a P-50 chassis value van from the 1960s-70s, which looks way different than the replacement van P-30 and P-90 models. Finding reference was tougher than i wanted to deal with, but alas some company had an old P-50 value van converted into a food truck in Cleveland Ohio. I took a lot of photos of the engine, undercarriage and interior to get an idea what this thing looked like. The front shape was a more complex design to covert into LEGo so the SNOT techniques are a bit crazy when you take off the slopes in the engine hood. All the partial stud widths in the grill to the flipping plates and upside down parts was rattling my brain. For those interested in seeing my minified scale Doc's Garage build, check it out in my other thread: Doc Brown's 1985 Garage.

My first attempt to make the DMC Delorean time machine form Back to the Future part II, I hope you like it.

Finally, the 2022 LEGO 10300 Back to the Future Time Machine the DeLorean - motorized with powered up ★ Building Instructions on Rebrickable (klick) ★ Features remote controlled motorization - fast driving, 40° steering angle - No scratching gears or rubbing tires Cockpit untouched not flying, but you can still modify it for Back to the future I, II and III version easy to reach Battery box for charging and switching on Off Battery box, Motors and Cable well hidden to not change the looks LED light kit fits in (discount code included) will add Instructions to make your own adapter to power the light kit from the buwizz instead of a seperate battery polygons very close to the movie (not flat as LEGO did it) Multi language instructions: ►english ►deutsch ►italiano ►française ►español ►čeština ►русский The Partfinder: An Inventory of left over parts in all bags to find the without scrubbing through all bags while buildingfor building from scratch Buwizz Profile - my programming for the buwizz included. ★ Details 40° of steering angle with virtual pivot point to not rub against that narrow frame Driven by upgeared large motor No Batteries in the interior, it is still there. Hood is still opening. switch the car on and off and charge from below I added a fix for the gull wing doors to stay up. Also I took the liberty to change the colors of some red/orange/tan bricks that you could see when opening the doors. I will put the bricks needed into the spare parts of the inventory. No instructions for the lights included, but they come with the Light kit. AND: I bought all my light set from Game of Bricks. And (after talking to them) I can give you a discount for a light kit for any of my motorizations. The code is included in the downloads.

Presenting my latest Back to the Future -themed MOC, a diorama featuring Marty McFly playing Johnny B. Goode on stage with the Starlighters at the 'Enchantment Under the Sea' dance in 1955. It's a 24x16 diorama with a stage, back curtain and custom instruments for the band. Build itself is quite conventional, base is built the same way as a MILS plate. The back curtain however was a bit more fiddly, it's built out of 2-plate/tile 'strands' which are connected at the top and rotate around the grey round plate at the top, so it gives the possibility to rotate it into a wavy pattern. Some more pictures: If you are interested, there's more info, parts list and free instructions for the stage and instruments on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-161810/firefabric/marty-mcfly-johnny-b-goode/

Finished another Back to the Future -inspired build, Biff Tannen's 1946 Ford De Luxe Convertible. The challenge was to create the round shapes of a classic car and it's always a compromise with Lego bricks so this is how it came out. I'm quite happy with the result, but of course it took quite a few iterations as usual. The structure is mostly conventional with brick- and plate-built chassis. There are a few interesting techniques used like an upside down section for the front fenders. As usual, I also created instructions, if you are interested they are available on Rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-161180/firefabric/biff-tannens-1946-ford-super-de-luxe/ Thanks!

New lighting kit installed, took 5 hours! It is my first time doing a kit. Does anyone have any good recommends? This was from Briksmax.

"GREAT SCOTT!" A double-corner style modular of the famous Clock Tower / Court House from "Back to the Future!" What a joy and challenge it was to design this MOC! Not only was it a challenge to match the look of the building (classical architecture is particularly sensitive to proportions) but also make sure it fit within the confines of the Modular Building style. To limit the piece count (and because the inside of the building was never meaningfully shown on-screen), the interior of this MOC is bare-bones but functional (see more pics on Rebrickable). This leaves you with plenty of fun and opportunity to design your own look. Anyone interested can find the instructions here and on Rebrickable.com!

A collaboration project with the original concept designer Brick-o-Tronic, my "Time Travel Ep.1 Portable Play Set" (instructions downloadable for free) is fully compatible and part of his modular Mobile City line. You can find more cool MC sets over @ rebrickable.com => Mobile City. Hope you like it. Play features: Step by step storage: Yes, it's Back to the Future and yes, it's Micro Machines - but this time in Lego... nearly endless possibilities ;)

Hello everyone, A few months ago I stumbled upon some digital renderings made by Reddit user u/brxstr of a Back-to-the-Future DMC DeLorean, which looked fantastic. He/she had (has?) the Stud.io file available on Rebrickable.com, so I downloaded it and planned to build it. In doing my due diligence I found out that the model was originally designed by user Troelskf on Brickshelf, so I want to make sure (s)he gets credit as well. I ended up redoing large parts of the design for several reasons: Part availability and cost. Several parts were very expensive (the F40 windscreen for example) so I came up with alternative solutions for those. Stability and Buildability. As the design has never been built IRL, certain parts of the design looked great in Stud.io, but did not work in the brick. For example, the click hinges for the shaping on the back were originally positioned right in between two clicks, which meant there was an ugly gap. The doors were so flimsy in their original design, they would fall apart when touched lightly. Operability. The doors were not opening in the original design, as there was no tolerance for the swing movement (they looked great opened and closed, but would have to be removed and reassembled to change them from opened to closed. The lid for Mr Fusion could not be opened for similar reasons. Improved looks. I completely redesigned the dashboard, adding more and more detailed instrumentation. I changed the gear lever and created a different flux capacitor design. I modified the hose work around the engine, and redesigned the back section to make it look more like the BttF version, including custom license plate. Generating instructions. The original file was a purely digital design, with no consideration for building the set with real bricks. I spent many hours redesigning the build sequence and creating detailed, step by step instructions. They are almost complete (Isn't it wonderful that if you move a part from one step to another in Stud.io, it decides to undo all the call-outs in the instructions which in turn leads to page layouts resetting?). I still have one change to make but then the 300+ page instructions are ready. Here is the final product. Hope you like it. More pictures in my Flickr album (click on any one of the images to get there). Total cost was ~$200 (US), but I had most of the common parts on hand. Would likely be closer to $300 if all 1600+ parts had to be purchased.

Imagine if LEGO brought back any of your favourite themes like The Simpsons, LOTR or POTC for a CMF series. Who will you choose to be in that said series.

Here's a MOC I've been working on. Lots of parts inspired by other MOCs. Feedback welcome.

"Please excuse the crudity of this model. I didn't have time to build it to scale or paint it." - Doc Brown This MOC is built in the style of the Architecture skyline series, and it features the evolution of the famous Hill Valley Clock Tower in 1885, 1955, and 2015! Let me know what you think! For anyone interested, instructions for an ever so slightly modified version can be found here and on Rebrickable.com.

A worldwide cultural phenomenon and the highest-grossing film of 1985, Back to the Future launched one of the most successful franchises in Universal's history, but, most of all ... one of the most loved movie trilogies of all times. I recreated iconic scenes and the even more iconic vehicles in the format of the skyline architecture series: - 1955 - The Hill Valley Courthouse struck by lightning sends the DeLorean back to the future - 1985A - Marty Jumps off from the Biff Tannen's Pleasure Paradise Casino Hotel... onto the DeLorean - 1955 - Biff crashes into the manure truck outdside River Road Tunnel while Marty and Doc fly away - 1885 - The Locomotive 131 passes the Point of no Return, sends the DeLorean back to the future where the Clayton Ravine is the Eastwood Ravine - 1985 - The Delorean is destroyed and Doc flyes away with is family in the Time Train. more images and instructions link Total parts: 546 Measures: 47 x 9 x 11studs 38x 7 x 9 cm 15 x 2,8 x 3,7 inches

Hi! My name is Rodrigo and I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I grew up watching the Back to the Future trilogy, and I believe it’s just a perfect set of films. The moment I heard there was going to be a LEGO set with the DeLorean featuring Marty and Doc, it was like a dream come true. It was a must buy, no questions asked. The minifigures were absolutely fantastic, even though the Cuusoo time machine wasn’t my favorite build. No windscreen? Why?? Nevermind. LEGO and BTTF together, can’t complain. A couple of years later, we got a couple of LEGO Dimensions sets. This time, very little to build, a new hair piece for Doc Brown (much more accurate btw), and a brand new hoverboard for Marty, which is fantastic. The thing is Marty and Doc had the same torso and legs design from the Cuusoo set . Couldn’t they try another designs? Never mind. Good to know LEGO still considers BTTF within their licenses and products. That’s great. A few weeks, LEGO announced that Marty and Doc will be in the new series of Brickheadz. Fantastic! Brand new line, seems to be doing great, good for Marty and Doc. The problem? Like Cuusoo and Dimensions, Marty is wearing the same shirt, the red vest, the clear jeans… And Doc with his all white nuclear radiaton suit. This is the moment when two of my biggest passions clash. Is it possible for LEGO to consider even making different minifig designs for Marty and Doc? I understand they won’t choose other characters, but Marty and Doc are constantly changing outfits during the trilogy… Is it too hard to design a Western Marty? Or a 1955 Doc Brown? Why does Ghostbusters get the Firehouse and BTTF can’t get the Clock Tower? Once the BTTF Hardcore fan shuts up, the LEGO AFOL comes around and says that this may be truth, but LEGO may not be that interested in investing time and resources in a franchise that doesn’t pay off as much as others. That maybe, I should be grateful that LEGO is still making BTTF sets. Sorry for the length, but I really wanted to share this slight disappointment regarding the way LEGO worked the BTTF license. It’s kind of a weird feeling, but I can’t help thinking how much good LEGO can do with so little, an do justice to a fantastic franchise such as Back to the Future.

Thrice upon a Time, in a city called Hill Valley California, there was a time machine made out of a Delorean sports car. But this is not about that device and it's many adventures, but a special steam engine that could also travel in time. It was known as... THE TIME TRAIN The Back to the Future (BTTF) Time Train "Jules Verne" has been made in real bricks, and is heavily inspired by he one Team BTTF had presented in their rejected LEGO Ideas model. In BTTF part III, the engine itself was really built, but the tender was CGI animated. The engine used in the film can be seen at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida On the original model, parts of it would spin and the engine could be motorized via Power Functions. I removed those features to save money and make it weight less. I did add working pistons to the model, though. The tender of the time train. "Doc" Emmett Brown (left) and his wife Clara (right) with the time train front and center. EDIT 4/14/15: I removed the cab interior and changed the orange parts on the tender, along with refining the front end. Also, the gizmo no longer spins. EDIT 5/9/18: Added newer pictures, revised the text, and changed some parts of the model to fit into a 10 wide space. EDIT 5/14/18: All but two Bricklink orders are in my hands, with one coming tomorrow and the other on it's way. EDIT 5/20/18: Added real life pictures and revised the text. EDIT 5/25/18: Added revised picture showing the working pistons. The updated LDD file for the finished model is available at Bricksafe.

Looks like LEGO's answer to Skylanders with real LEGO toys. Will be another TT Games LEGO video game about a villain tearing rifts between the various LEGO worlds and kidnapping certain characters. Uses many licenses and themes, including The LEGO Movie (which makes some of the other licenses redundant), Lord of the Rings, DC Comics, Back to the Future, Ninjago and surprisingly, The Wizard of Oz.

Time to power up to 1.21 gigawatts, hit that 88mph mark and lets go Back to the Future! Far out man. The official LEGO set blurb from the Shop@Home website says: Now on to the review. The box, like all the other dimensions sets, is more of a swing tag carton kind of thing. The level packs have an extra fold of cardboard on the front that creates a tab to add a little extra front space. This advertises the fact that the Level Pack unlocks a whole new game level. Displayed quite nicely are the character and the two vehicles, both iconic to Back to the Future. The side graphic, the trapezoid design of the carton makes the sides pretty hard to capture well on camera, the angle causes all sorts of issues! Though the unusual shape makes it stand out on the rails in shops. Here, like all the other boxes, there is a picture of the character with some action going on. The back of the box show cases the three in one nature of the vehicles. A little picture of each "mode" and an in-game shot of them in action. We also get the Dimensions graphic and the regular blurb and ratings information that is legally required. Inside the box are two polybags and the most pointless instruction manual you ever did see. The booklet only shows you how to build your minifigure and then directs you on to the game. Of course, this is part of the nature, the point, of LEGO Dimensions. Building real LEGO that then plays onscreen is what sets the game apart from other toy/gaming products. This does make it a little frustrating if you see the mini set and characters as display pieces and a nice gift for a Back to the Future fan. Though it is not impossible to track down the instructions online. Marty We've got the many layers that makes a Marty outift and the nifty printed game tag. I love the use of the Back to the Future font for his name. This is the same figure as the one that appeared in 21103 The DeLorian Time Machine, now with the guitar, unprinted. It is listed as a new part in Bricklink, but it looks a little like a number of other guitars that have appeared in varied printed designs. A decent way for a collector to pick up a Marty figure if they missed the limited set. Though, like all Dimensions, pricey from a purely bricks point of view. Here from the official LEGO Dimensions youtube channel: The character video for Marty. DeLorean Time Machine This one has a snazzy mini-kit style design with moving gull-wing doors. A very clever use of parts and great for display. Electric Time Machine The Electric Time Machine, it's electric! With the usual re-jigging of parts used to make the original flavour time machine, this one is a lot more sparkly with the trans-lite-blue parts. Like in a lot of LEGO games, lightning/electrical powers are needed to neutralise or power-up obstacles and puzzles in game. Ultimate Time Machine The Ultimate Time Machine: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads! The flying DeLorean (and many other flying cars) are the second most desired dohicky that featured in the far off year of 2015 in Back to the Future part Two. Again, kudos to the designers for making such a tidy little model using all the parts in two other builds. A neat looking car, matching the look from the movie at this scale. It is honestly competing with the original flavour DeLorean Time Machine for the spot of display vehicle. Hoverboard It is 2016, we have a hoverboard. Okay, so it is a LEGO one and it only hovers if we swoosh, but still. Hoverboard! The most desirable part being the actual hoverboard piece. The correct shape, colour and print (barring the rival toymaker's logo!) this was what was sorely missing from the original minifig scaled DeLorean set. Of course, it has a lot of extra "goings on" to fulfil the three vehicle mode requirement. They aren't too bad in this "mode" but still a little odd considering the sleek appearance of an "actual" hoverboard in the film. Ultimate Hover Jet - Now this one is the nicer of the designs if you're planning on keeping the hoveboard with all the extras. Though it looks like this is a board tooled up for a trans-atlantic flight instead of future style skateboard shenanigans. The Cyclone board for whirl-ey cyclone-ey powerups. This design is one of the more odd. I also feel like the clip arm should be holding something, so kept on searching in case there was something missing! Well, again a great set for the big Back to the Future fan in your life. Everyone loves a LEGO figure of a character they like and the mini-kit style DeLorean is an excellent design with two equally great alternates to build. A printed hoverboard is great fun for collectors and fans alike. Game wise, it is more of the same for a LEGO Game. With the gimmicks brought in by Dimensions and the game pad. Thanks to TLG and Eurobricks for providing me these sets to play with! Sorry it takes so long for me to play them!

Robin: "Jumping Jigowatts, Batman! Are you telling me that you built a Batmobile... out of a DeLorean time machine?" Batman: "The way I see it, if you're gonna to build a time machine into a Batmobile, why not do it with some style." Bat-DeLorean by Oky - Space Ranger, on Flickr This is an idea I had a while ago, but I didn't have time to build it with real bricks, so I did it in LDD instead. Apparently it traveled back in time to the wild west, before Gotham City was founded. Bat-DeLorean side by Oky - Space Ranger, on Flickr Aside from changing the colors, I didn't really do much. I only switched out the exhausts for bat wings, added the obligatory jet exhaust, and smoothed out the hood a bit. Bat-DeLorean back by Oky - Space Ranger, on Flickr Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for improvements in the comments. I might do an Ecto-1 Batmobile next. Thanks for your time. See what I did there?

LEGO MOC - Back to the Future 1955 Hill Valley We love movie , we created the scene of "Back to the Future" It is the model of 1955 Hill Valley according to the movie. This model is displayed at 2013 gathering of HKLUG , Minifigs.net , Brick Adventure Builder : Mythbot & Alan Photographer & Text Editor : Mythbot Photo Editor : Alan Size : 150cm x 70cm Pieces : 20000 pcs 1955 Hill Valley, main stage of the movie "Back To The Future" P.S. Time Machine From: LEGO Cuusoo#004 21103 The DeLorean time machine 1955 Hill Valley built by Alan and Mythbot. Our map reference Main Character Marty McFly (Left) and Dr. Emmett Brown (Right) Movie Scene: Marty McFly borrow skateboard from a kid Goldie Wilson (Left) and Chef (Right) Goldie Wilson is waiter in 1955. And become mayor of Hill Valley in 1985 Biff Tannen (The 2nd from the right) and his gang, which is the largest barrier when Marty McFly try to match his parents in the past. Movie Scene: Biff Tannen (The 2nd from the left) and his gang. Biff Tannen (on the driver seat) and his gang travel in the city by car in the movie Truck of Muck which Biff like and hate it. Court House At the centre of Hill Valley，you can see it involves most of main scenes in the movie Ruth's frock shop (Left) Statler Studebaker (Right) Bluebird Motel (Left) Western Auto (Middle) US Army Recrute (Right) Biff Tannen (brown hair with grey jacket) and his gang play a trick on Lorraine Baines (whose wearing blue dress) and her friend. ZALES (Left) Hill Valley Stationers (Middle) Elite Barder (Right) Ask Mr Poster Travel Service (Left) J.D. Armstrong Realty (Right) Bank of America Roy's Record (Lower Left) Lou's Cafe (Lower Right) Lou's Cafe is the main scene of the movie too. Lou's Cafe inside/ourside decoration. TEXACO Service Station Reproduce the Scene of 1955 Hill Valley in an Exhibition. Marty McFly escapes using skateboard and play tricks to Biff Tannen and his gang using truck with muck. Movie Scene: Dr. Emmett Brown Dr. Emmett Brown take risk to connect the cable on the clock of courthouse to make sure the car time machine has enough electricity for time travel. Dr. Emmett Brown connects the loose cable again in the last minute. They travel back to the future that the time machine must be reached at 88mph. In the End of Movie "Back to the Future I", Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown transfer the electricity of lighting from the cable to the antenna of the time machine for time travel back to 1985. Builder : Mythbot http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=mythbot Builder : Alanboar http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanboar http://lego.alanstudio.hk http://facebook.com/alanboar.creation

This is the table layout my wife Joanna and I did for our show Bricktober - Perth 2014 DSC_9708 by Technic70s, on Flickr IMG_0312 by Technic70s, on Flickr IMG_0314 by Technic70s, on Flickr IMG_0398 by Technic70s, on Flickr IMG_0309 by Technic70s, on Flickr

I have to say that I hated the original DeLorean set - blocky, ugly, awkward, Marty and Doc can't sit inside together, etc. Even before I bought it I knew it will have to be heavily modified. 1 by ivanstorm2, on Flickr I love the movies, but my main priority was to make the model look good. Which explains the curvy hood and licence plates - not very authentic, but they look good. 2 The doors took the longest time, because I really wanted them to be connected on both sides, and the front connection required a rather elaborate construction, since it's angled both horizontally and vertically. 4 I also wanted the doors to be closer to the real-life gull-wing doors, but I had to make some sacrifices to ensure they are sturdy enough (that's why the rear part is so thick). 5 Marty and Doc can sit side by side - that was the easiest part, done using jumper plates. 3 I copied the rear from someone else's MOD, looking so much better than the original. 6 Marty and Doc seem pretty happy with their new car.

“Run for it, Marty!” I hope you like this MOC of the VW camper driven by the Libyan terrorists in the opening movie of the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy. It was based around a similar camper in yellow which I found on Reddit, made by legopirate85 (on imgur). An LDD file is available upon request!

It's a bit older MOC of mine, but now it's ontopic again, so i thought, it's a good time to mention it here This is my MOC SET of UCS Back To The Future Creations starting with Hill Valley 2015 minifig scale I picked the situation after Biff's Gang crashed into Town Hall and got arrested by the Police. The minifig scale Delorean didn't quite satisfy me, so i had to do a real UCS style version to complete my personal BTTF product range, there's also the MR FUSION range and a 1:2 scale model of the famous NIKE MAG If you're interested in details and more fotos, you can visit my LEGO Back To The Future Gallery All those MOCS were done between 2010 and 2011 and were on numerous exhibitions since then. Enjoy and keep building ;-)

'If my calculations are correct, when this baby reaches 88 miles per hour ... you're gonna see some serious shit.' Dr Emmett Brown, Back to the Future So here it is! The long-awaited Back to the Future LEGO CUUSOO winner - and the first 'mainstream audience' model to pass the dreaded CUUSOO review stage. Few people can be unfamiliar with the iconic DeLorean Time Machine, and the lead characters of the BTTF movie franchise, Marty McFly and Doc Brown; despite having originated in the 1980s, with its fashion faux-pas and wildly inaccurate predictions of the Earth of the future, the trilogy is still surprisingly popular today, and is the sole reason why many have ever even heard of the unreliable stainless steel DeLorean car. It is hardly surprising then that the BTTF CUUSOO entry was able to garner the support required to enter the review stage, and the popular and family-friendly nature of the model and its parent movie lend it extremely well to conversion to a LEGO set. On paper, it should sell well; however, early leaked images have led to certain amount of disappointment, partly at the apparent lack of figures, and partly at the difference between the final version and its CUUSOO-winning original. Rest assured that Marty and Doc do indeed feature as figures in the set; as to the redesign: well, let's see .... Thank you once again to The LEGO Group for allowing us this early set review. Review: 21103 The DeLorean Time Machine Set Information Name: The DeLorean Time Machine Number: 21103 Theme: CUUSOO Back to the Future Release: 1 August 2013 (According to some members, it appears to be available already in some places) Parts: 401 Figures: 2 Price: GB £34.99 | US $34.99 | EUR 39.99 - 49.99 | AU $69.99 | CA $44.99 | DKK 449.00 Links ... Shop@Home ... Brickset ... Bricklink ... Peeron ... CUUSOO The Box Click for a larger full-frontal image As I pulled the set from the plain outer cardboard box it shipped in, I was momentarily disconcerted to think I had been sent an Architecture set by mistake, and I'm sure you can see the resemblance. However, here the usual Architecture austerity gives way to the colourful Back to the Future logo, and a blue-white clock and lightning motif that will be familiar to anyone who has seen the movies, and which continues onto the upper surface of the box. Any doubt about the inclusion of minifigures is quoshed with a little inset of Marty and Doc against a background which nicely matches the BTTF logo. The DeLorean itself is pictured in 'flying' mode, as seen at the end of the first and most of the second movie; as we shall see, I don't think this is her most flattering pose, but it isn't helped by the angle of the photograph - click the picture for a square-on view. The back of the box is rather busier, but demonstrates beautifully the full variety of the set: Click for a larger image The DeLorean versions of all three movies can be created from the set, though - as you might expect from the piece count - not at the same time. This is highlighted by the white-on-red text at the bottom right: itself rather amusingly resembling DYMO punch-labels that will be familiar to anyone who lived in the 80s. Small insets detail the wonderful printed parts which are included in the set, accompanied by explanatory text in English and French. This latter point - coupled with the inclusion of the piece count on the box front - makes me wonder whether this particular box is designed for the the North American market: the third language, visible on the right side, is Spanish. French will continue to feature prominently, starting on the left-hand side: In case you're not convinced that French is important in North America, the proof is on the box top, along with a wheel that provides the 1:1 scale here. The bottom reveals the licensing agreement with Universal Studios. The box is as wide as the Big Ben box is tall, but it's deeper and taller; in fact it's the exact same size as the similarly-priced Leaning Tower of Pisa. The contents are rather more colourful than a typical Architecture set, however: Sadly, we aren't encouraged to enjoy our building experience. Inside the box are five polybags, three loose plates, and a substantial instruction booklet that we'll look at presently. The Instructions The Architecture resemblance continues with this high-quality booklet, printed on sturdy paper with thick cardboard covers. The cover image is identical to the box front - minus the text - and affords us a clearer view of the car with its controversial front end. Inside the booklet, we are treated to a plethora of information related to the movie and the car, replete with pictures, and text in English and French (the latter on the facing page). Further 'DYMO' headers set the scene; the smart black background unfortunately shows up the dust. 'What - what the hell is a "jigowatt"???' I wondered at first whether 'jigowatts' is a mistake; according to Wikipedia, it's in the original movie script. I always thought the figure was 1.21 gigawatts, though with a soft leading 'g', in these times before the prefix 'giga' was rather common. My prized BBC Microcomputer from the same era ran games like Elite on as astonishing 32 kilobytes of memory; nowadays my 4 Gigabytes is still too little. Moving onward, we encouter further pictures from the movie with accompanying factoids, and occasional quotes. I'm not going to spoil all the contents of the booklet, but it is worth showing this wonderful rear-end shot of the 'real' DeLorean ... ... replete with its time-travel modifications listed as 'Highlights' (or 'Points Forts' if you're French, or Canadian). Architecture fans will be familiar with the black background of the instruction steps, and with the intermittent 'factoids' which accompany them: It can be a little tricky to make out the black parts against the background, but I didn't encounter any problems during construction. The build is nicely paced, with occasional sub-builds, as shown here in one of the later steps for the alternative movie versions: Here we build 'Mr. Fusion', with its complementary informative text. I can't wait to get my own Mr. Fusion in two years' time! The rear of the booklet contains the obligatory set inventory; page one in the inside front cover, and page two on the rear cover itself. Also towards the rear of the book are a page dedicated to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, and the following dedicated to the CUUSOO winning design team: It should be noted that 'Team BTTF' have decided to donate their share of the profits from the set to the Michael J Fox Foundation. If I were ever to have a set pass CUUSOO review into production, I'd be more than happy with just a page like this. The Parts The 401-strong part selection consists mainly of plates - there are only about twelve regular bricks in there. I've managed to fit them all into one picture: As expected, black and light bluish-grey dominates the colour palette. 'Useful' pieces - a highly subjective concept, I know - might include the black and bley headlight bricks in reasonable quantities, a sizeable selection of 1 x 'n' plates, jumpers and clippy-hinges; it's nice to see the older-style hinge-bricks with 1-wide top parts in both black and bley. Greebling fans will approve of the binoculars, and the metallic silver 1x1 round plates and grille tiles; plain tiles appear in reasonable quantities, and they haven't held back on cheese wedges. For me, the stand-out parts are the 8.5L hoses - the modern version of the Classic Space original is becoming more common, but no other set contains more than three. Incidentally, I had expected that the red wheel hubs would prove to be an example of an existing part in a new colour; I was mightily surprised to find that it has been included in two sets previously - and Brick Buckets of all things! Though they are from 2009, and not widely available today; certainly there aren't currently any such wheels available in red on Bricklink. Taking a closer look at the metallic silver grilles, I noticed a mold difference: Some have squarer, thicker edges. This is hardly a disaster, but the difference is particularly obvious in this shiny colour, and requires you to be careful where you place them if you're particular about symmetry. Finally, the pieces de resistance - the printed parts: The detail in the prints on these 1x2 tiles is astonishing - look at the 'OUTATIME' licence plate with its 'California' logo replete with setting sun. I was a little surprised to see the 'destination' date on the time console - I don't recall 28th January 1958 featuring in the movies - but it's all there in the manual: it's the date the first LEGO brick was patented. Maybe I should have known that. And here's the 2x1x2 panel bearing a print of the heart of the DeLorean Time Machine itself: the Flux Capacitor: It's a beautiful design, although in my case the print quality isn't perfect. Note the white-on-red text, true to the movie, that has clearly inspired the 'DYMO' headings in the instruction manual - a lovely touch. And by the way, LEGO, it's 'i' before 'e'. I wondered if the typo in 'SHEILD' was true to the movie, but it isn't: see here. To be fair, I didn't even notice the typo until CopMike pointed it out after member Kez noticed it from the high-res pics sent out by TLG. The Minifigures 'Hey, Biff! Get a load of this guy's life preserver. Dork things he's gonna drown!' Here are Doc and Marty! They are the characters of the original film's 1985: Doc in his radiation suit, and Marty in his jeans and 'life preserver'. (I am reliably informed that this garment is properly called a 'gilet'.) Marty has his trademark skateboard. It's funny to think that skateboarding was a bit of a fad in the mid-1980s, and I doubt the film-makers expected it to continue to be such a widespread phenomenon today (your mileage may vary). I was a little excited to see a purple skateboard - it's the first I've owned - but it's also available in the new Town Square and one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sets. Doc wears 'vampire' hair which is new in white for this set. I had half-expected a variant on this, but the style they've chosen is possibly the best existing mold for Doc's flyaway locks. He has a new, double-sided face print, in flesh for this licensed set; they've captured his expressionn pretty well for the 'surprise/shock' look, which Christopher Lloyd does a lot. Great Scott! The radiation suit torso has some nice detailing including a stopwatch; I love the big trefoil 'RADIATION' logo on the back. It's a shame, though, that we don't get Doc in more 'everyday' wear; but I bet you could improvise. Marty's multi-layered clothing is captured beautifully, though he looks strangely like Spiderman from the back: His new face-print is again double-sided, with a little smirk on one side and a good 'fear' look on the other. His hair is a reasonably choice; the dark brown is a little too dark for my tastes - in the films it looks almost fair in some shots, and I'd probably have gone with reddish-brown. It's also perhaps a little too neat and short; 'Anakin Skywalker' hair might have been better. His legs, like Doc's, aren't printed, but this part in Medium Blue is surprisingly rare. Here's what they should look like: Picture from Futurepedia I think TLG have captured the pair pretty well, all things considered - particularly Doc's 'surprised' face. I'm also pleased with the choice of torsos; Doc's radiation suit would probably be the most difficult to recreate from existing parts (though the 'future' garb would be a close second); and it does allow recreation of the scene where we first meet the DeLorean. Marty's outfit is a no-brainer, and if you want him in a rad-suit, all you need is a Hazmat Guy. The Build The DeLorean is essentially a big stack of plates, with some minor Technic reserved for the wheels; however, there are some interesting techniques thrown in here and there. The chassis is built around three long 2x16 plates sandwiching two black 4x8 plates; four identical Technic wheel apparati occupy the four corners: Note the red and blue round bricks sitting atop similarly-coloured 1x1 vertical-clip plates: these restrict the movement of the wheels around the car's longitudinal axis, and are vital for the conversion between 'driving' and 'flying' modes. The surprising use of red and blue has some logic; throughout, 'red' signifies the front of the car and 'blue' the rear, and it can be tricky to distinguish end from end without this visual clue. In the second panel, 1x8 plates have been added above the 3L Technic liftarms, allowing them the be built upon; there are gaps adjacent to the wheel mounts, front and rear ... ... into which are placed clippy-bricks. Black 1x2 cheese wedges form the appearance of seat-backs, and again note the use of red and blue for front and rear. In the inset, behold one of my favourite ever LEGO techniques: the foot of a headlight brick sits on the side-stud of another, allowing in this case the SNOT-mounting of a round plate and the inversion of a cheese wedge. Granted, it's not as impressive as Svelte's use (see it in situ here), but it's great to see this technique feature in an official LEGO set. Next, the dashboard is added onto hinge bricks, and some Technic pins will enable the SNOT-mounted front to sit at a half-stud offset, at the expense of a bit of wobble. Clippy-hinges at the rear allow the attachment of the rear vent-things, shown in the second panel to be constructed from slopes, hinge-bricks, black headlights and tiles. I'm surprised they didn't elect for the Nice Part Usage of black minifigure legs for this build; however, the lower set wouldn't fit into the slope, and I'm more than happy about the eight headlight bricks. The light bluish-grey jumpers here don't do anything, except add some hard-to-see greebing, perhaps. The yellow 1x1 round is where the Plutonium goes. Plutonium not included in set. The rear-end is almost complete, as we add the Flux Capacitor on its 1x2x2 panel piece, and some SNOT-mounted taps which represent some arcance tubing or whatever. You can see some similar blue things here. Meanwhile, controversial tiles have been sneaked onto the front whilst you were distracted, and the diminutive roof is added. Clippy-hinges will help to slope the sides; the silver grille tiles represent the strips around the sides which glow blue when the car time-jumps. Finally, the SNOT front panel is attached, and the 'gull-wing' doors are added ... ... followed by the SNOT rear, sloping hinged tiles for the windscreen, and wheels. The last touch is the tubing around the sides, which utilises the various clips and O-ring plates we've been adding, and is surprisingly trouble-free to attach. And we're done! The Complete DeLorean 'Time circuits on. Flux Capacitor ... fluxing. Engine running. All right.' (Engine cuts out) First things first: however you feel about the stepped, tiled front, I hope you agree that from this angle the car doesn't look nearly as bad as the rather unflattering views of the preview picture (or indeed the box front). In 'driving' mode, she has a sporty, low profile, and the slanting pillars forming the 'windscreen', coupled with the narrow roof, help to slope the sides in a manner very difficult to recreate in LEGO at this scale. I will deal specifically with the question of the redesigned front end later in the review, for now, let's look around the model carefully. The front end's seven stud-wide SNOT panel helps to taper the car's nose; from this angle, the tapering looks a little severe. Note that 1x2 trans-black tiles are used for the headlights instead of separate 1x1 tiles; these latter parts are somewhat rare. The model does reasonably well with the 1x2s, helped by the studs of the light bley plates behind; I was tempted to replace the light bley with dark bley to mimic the darker front panel of the real car, but that would spoil the effect of the headlights. From the front, the wheels protude a little uncomfortably far from the sides of the car. I noticed one or two complaints in response to the revealed catalogue picture about the use of 1x2 and 1x1 cheese wedges for the front panel; this does cause asymmetry, but helps to strengthen the panel, as the 1x2 cheese connects the 2x3 and 2x4 plates behind. You could easily replace it with two 1x1 cheese wedges with little loss of strength if you desire. The rear view is one of the best, helped in no small way by the 'OUTATIME' licence plate tile. It's by no means a perfect representation of the original, seen best in the instructions picture above, but it is probably as good as you could achieve at the scale whilst avoiding tricky and fragile techniques. The big vent constructions help here, though it's difficult to line them up perfectly. They should overhang the rear lights (and have four layers rather than two), but even the CUUSOO original doesn't do this. The sporty look is particularly in evidence from the side: The rake of the 'windscreen' is suitably shallow, if a trifle awkward at the base with the 1x1 clippy tiles looking unaccountably large. This version lacks the rear sloping stanchions of the 'real' car, but dark bley cheese graters compensate somewhat. You can see here how the tubing at the sides creates the illusion of wheel arches: one of the few features carried over from the CUUSOO original. They work surprisingly well, and compensate for the protruding wheels, in most views. This is a good place to admire the contour provided by the inverted cheese wedges at the rear - a lovely, if subtle, touch. Seen from above, the car has a chunky outline which reflects the feel of the model in your hand. For the most part, she's very sturdily built, and at 190 grammes (6.7 oz), surprisingly heavy. As I've already implied, the roof is perhaps a little too small; you have to imagine the side windows would fill some of the gap here; a six stud-wide roof might be better, but it would make the door opening mechanism look odd, and I don't think it's possible to create the gull-wing doors any other way at this scale. Underneath are the only visible remnants of the 'red and blue' scheme which assists in the build: these clippy plates are as essential part of the wheel mechanism. The long dark bley plates make a significant contribution to the strength of the model; some of the light bley plates aren't strictly necessary, but I'm not going to complain. This rear high view is one of my favourites: The bulky rear end features a number of small greebles packed into quite a tight space. The vents take up a lot of room, but they are the most important feature. The blue taps sit above two barely-visible red 1x1 round plates; an offset cheese wedge in the centre provides a little contouring. The 'Plutonium Chamber' sits between the vents; it probably ought to be mounted slightly more forward, but that would leave a big step behind the tap bit. Note the binoculars on the roof; I didn't recall from the movies what this is meant to represent, but you can see whatever it is in this picture, or here (thanks CopMike!). The Interior The doors, of course, open in the gull-wing style of the original DeLorean: The mechanism works well: it is smooth, and doesn't require you to remove any parts of the model. It isn't without its problems, though: as you can see, the 1x2 male clippy hinges connect to the door using only a single 1x1 black clippy tile, and that is a source of weakness. Be prepared for the doors to fall off at regular intervals. Indeed, the weight of the door itself tends to disconnect the parts here; also, the closed door sits slightly higher than the body, and as you close the door it is natural to put a little downward pressure on the door, making the problem occur more frequently: Also, the triangular gap behind the door is a little unsightly. This is caused by the use of a 1x1 clippy brick and cheese wedge rather than the single 1x2 slope that the CUUSOO original employs. The clippy brick is necessary here to keep the black tube in the correct position. I can forgive this gap; it's not too noticeable on the model as a whole. Let's take a close look at the passenger compartment. With the roof removed, we get to good view of the Flux Capacitor in its intended place. For such a vital feature, it's a little hard to see from the outside, but it looks great. Moving upwards, you can see the banked black 1x2 cheese wedges which I presume are meant to represent seat backs, not entirely effectively: Their positions, and the studded floor of the cabin, imply that the diver is meant to sit just left of centre, which would make it tricky to place both figures inside ... ... however, the steering wheel is mounted half a stud to the left of this position. Th dash is otherwise very pretty, with the time console and a dial sitting at an attractive angle thanks to the hinge bricks. There's another dial to the left of the steering wheel. Note the light bley cheese wedge on the floor, which makes sitting the driver a stud further to the left problematic, but not impossible. Here's Marty sitting in what is (I believe) the intended position: He has to lean back a lot in order to fit his head under the roof, but for a sports car that is probably a realistic seating angle. With Marty sitting here, you cannot (easily) fit a passenger in ... ... but if you move Marty a stud towards the door - which involves a bit of a struggle as his leg interferes with the bley cheese wedge - you can: In this position, you have to sit both figures a bit more upright, else their heads prevent the doors closing: look at Doc's head to see what I mean. However, the roof here no longer necessitates them leaning back so much. The sloping 'windscreen' stanchions obscure the view a little, which in Doc's case is exacerbated by the angle of the shot. Note that in either position, Marty isn't sitting directly behind the steering wheel. Ideally, there should be some jumper plates in there to allow them both to sit at a half-stud offset; modifying the model to achieve this shouldn't be too difficult, but it would involve removing the long 2x16 light bley plate which runs the length of the car (see here). I don't think that this would weaken the car too much. Flying DeLorean - Back to the Future II Actually, the Flying DeLorean first makes her appearance at the end of the first film, but she features most prominently throughout BTTF II, and is instrumental in Marty's getaway from Biff in 1985-A. To convert model one to model two, all you need to do is replace the 'OUTATIME' licence plate with the orange 2015 'barcode' one, add Mr. Fusion, and flip the wheels for flying mode. Note that I've left the yellow 1x1 round 'Plutonium Chamber' plate in place under Mr. Fusion; the instructions aren't particularly clear on this, but it might be better to remove it and have the white dome attached directly to the 2x2 round black plate. Flipping the wheels is simplicity itself. Here's the mechanism with a wheel removed: The red (or blue, at the rear) clippy plate keeps the wheel mount from over-extending in either position, and explains why 3L frictionless pins have been used. The set also comes with two trans-clear slopes and 1x2 plates to use as stands: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need ... roads. This view is similar to the promotional catalogue shot that caused such a lukewarm reaction when revealed. To be fair, firstly, there were no passengers inside, leading many to think that no figures were included; secondly, this really isn't the set's most flattering view. With the wheels folded, she loses a certain something. Partly, this is the width caused by the protruding wheels, but it doesn't help that the wheels don't pivot around their centre, as the original's do. Achieving such a result isn't impossible, but would require a vastly more intricate mechanism, with resulting fragility and probably a too-difficult build. I'm going to leave the car in 'driving' mode. 'Western' DeLorean - Back to the Future III This is the car that Doc accidentally took back to 1885, then hid so that Marty could rescue it in 1955, in order to take it back to 1885 again, and cause your head to explode thinking about it. It's meant to have '1950s' wheels - big red rims with whitewall tyres - as the originals had decayed over time, and the time circuits burned out during the lightning strike, necessitating 1950s Doc to build an alternative using valves as transistors hadn't been invented yet. Check your head. Still intact? Good. Conversion requires removing a 1x4 tile from in front of the 'windscreen', then adding the greebled orange plates that represent the 'valve technology' time circuits, then replacing the bley wheels with red. There's only one set of tyres included, so you have to switch these too; but if you're anything like me you'll have quite a few spares lying around. You should also leave Mr. Fusion on. This is probably the car's best looking guise - the front box disguises the stepped front, and the red wheels rather counter-intuitively add to the car's attractiveness, even if they don't recreate the over-sized 50s wheels perfectly. I'm not sure why orange was chosen for the 'box'; I'd have thought either dark orange or dark tan would be better choices; certainly the latter isn't hard to come by in 2x4 plates. The red wheels don't quite match up to the big 50s whitewall tyres of the original, but I don't know how they could be better represented at this scale. Here are all three versions of the 'real' DeLorean for comparison: Pictures from here, here, and here respectively. Comparison to the CUUSOO Original Model If you've seen the original CUUSOO entry, you might already have noticed that the final version is a vastly different kettle of frogs. The most obvious difference - noticed and commented on, mostly disapprovingly, as soon as the catalogue picture was revealed - is the shape of the front. The LEGO designer has chosen to create the front end from a stepped construction of tiles, rather than using the more obvious solution of a 6x8 sloped tile as the CUUSOO entrants chose. Why did they make this change? Part of the reason may be the difficulty in recreating the third movie DeLorean. Here's the CUUSOO version: There isn't an existing LEGO part that would allow the attachment of parts to its upper surface whilst retaining the shallow slope. The CUUSOO team must have used an adhesive substance here. I can forgive TLG for not wishing to create a unique, specialised mold just for this set, so an alternative solution would be necessary. Is this the sole reason? To answer that, I had to examine the original CUUSOO entry a little more closely ... so I built one, using the LDD instructions the CUUSOO team thoughtfully provided. I've had to substitute a few parts; my 7676 Republic Gunship is packed away, so I've used 1x2 smoke tiles rather than the four 1x1s the original uses, but you'll get the impression. Immediately you can see that the CUUSOO version is bigger, and taller; it isn't wider, but the straight-mounted 'windscreen' stanchions make the cabin more boxy. At the back, the rear bumper is the same ... but that's about it. The CUUSOO version has replicated the dark grey area around the rear lights, but the light configuration is no more accurate than LEGO's example, and looks a little fussy. The vents are similar, but LEGO's are individually tilted; the original has rear slanted stanchions, but, like those of the 'windscreen', they are square to the body. Mostly, the SNOT-mounted white tiles - which represent the blue-glowing time-travel whojimaflips of the original, and simulated in silver on the LEGO version - stand rather too proud of the model, and look uncomfortably square. They're also flimsy: attached only via a SNOT stud at the bottom and a 1x1 clip at the top. The choice of white for the time-travel thingumajigs explains the white front bumper. It's interesting that the white bumper has carried over to the LEGO version, even though its side whotsits are silver. I'd have preferred silver for the front bumper too, but the 1x2 bows don't exist in this colour. This is more apparent in the top view. LEGO's answer to the silvery stripes does result in discontinuity, but it's more subtle, and doesn't affect the lines of the car. As you can see, the CUUSOO version is far longer: a good four studs. This does allow more room for rear-end greebling, but at the expense of realism: the DeLoraean is a two-seater sports car, and it's dinky. CUUSOO's roomy cabin has lots of room for detail - there's even a keypad for entering destination dates, a gearstick, and the Time Circuit switch - the last two mounted centrally on jumper plates, and which interfere with each other. To be fair, this is a plot point in the original film. The seats are placed at positions 2 & 3 and 6 & 7 of the 8 stud-wide cabin, giving no ambiguity as to where the passengers sit, but they have to sit bolt upright in order to close the doors. Opening the doors requires you to lift the windscreen stanchions; the 1x1 clippy tiles I've used here are incredibly stiff, making this no mean feat. Marty and Doc have to keep their outboard arms raised in order for the doors to close, but they sit in there quite happily. The steering wheel is correctly mounted for the chairs. There is, of course, no Flux Capacitor print in this version. The CUUSOO version is much bigger, but at 214 grammes, only slightly heavier - its destiny density is less. This is the result of quite a flimsy structure: There's acres of space in there - I'd have strengthened it; perhaps the CUUSOO team decided not to in order to reduce the piece count. I strongly suspect that the model is originally conceived would not have passed TLG's stringent quality rules. It's also rather over-complicated; look at the wheel mechanism for an example. Note that I've substituted a few parts (eg. light bley clippy hinges for black; two 4x4 plates for one 4x8). Despite being lighter by 24 grammes, the LEGO version feels more heavy, and more sturdy. 'There's that word again: "heavy". Why is everything so heavy in the future? Is there something wrong with the Earth's gravitational pull?' The LEGO version is a vastly different model to the CUUSOO original - there are very few features carried over. Having built both, I can fully appreciate the redesign, and the reasons behind it. What results is a far sportier, and far sturdier model; it better resembles the compact DeLorean, and even though the smooth slope of the front end is lost, the result is more gently tapered in both vertical and horizontal directions. If you are thinking of replacing the front with the 6x8 slope, it isn't as easy as it looks. The windscreen stanchions will have to be moved, and the slope will overhang in an ugly way at the front corners. Mostly, the slope is too steep: the DeLorean's front end is nearly flat, and using the slope will result in a much bulkier front end than is desirable. It is because of this - and the excessive size of the CUUSOO version - that to me makes LEGO's version look the part of a stylish sports car converted into a time machine; while, in comparison, the CUUSOO original - despite its extra features - looks more like a Volvo. I'm glad they redesigned it. Conclusion I've been looking at, handling, and playing with this model for some four weeks now, and I have to say that - despite initial misgivings about the stepped front, I really like it. Having also built the CUUSOO original, I feel LEGO's version is a far better representation of the DeLorean: more accurate to scale with the minifigures, and much more in keeping with the lines and style of the iconic 1980s sports car. It has its flaws: seating two figures inside, while possible, requires some manual dexterity, and the doors have a dispiriting tendency to fall off (a problem shared with the CUUSOO version); even when you inevitably come to accept the stepped front, the use of two 2x4 tiles in the middle section looks a little odd (easily rectified with a simple modification). However, the overall result is a delightfully compact, sturdy, and playable sporty roadster that you can push around the table, flip the wheels, then swoosh around the room. Just don't do that above 88 miles per hour... Marty and Doc are fine representations of the characters, and have unique torsos and head pieces (and hair, in Doc's case). Add to that the 'Architecture-style' box and manual, and the very reasonable asking price of £35, and you have an affordable playset and collector's piece in one. I heartily recommend it. Design & Build 8 Whatever your feelings about the stepped front, I think you have to agree that the designer has captured the sporty feel of the DeLorean well, and succeeded in upholding TLG's quality standards in the process. I think the car is attractive, and fun, and I would choose the sleek, low-profile design over the Volvo look any day. The build doesn't exactly set the world on fire, but it is pacey, and involves a few interesting techniques - the headlight-brick attachment; the use of clippy-hinges for the doors; and the combination of clippy- and brick hinges on the vents are the highlights here. Parts 8 I'm sure many of you would be able to build the car from your own collection, but you'd miss out on the gorgeous printed parts; and the black tubes aren't common in quantity. I don't think the parts selection would be a major factor in your decision to buy it, but I'm not complaining about the headlight bricks. Figures 9 Doc's and Marty's torsos and faces are unique, and Marty's wearing the iconic 1980s gear. You might question the choice of the Radiation Suit for Doc, but it makes some sense - it's the first thing we see him wearing in the films, and you could recreate most other costumes from existing parts (with the possible exception of the 'future suit'. I'm sure these figures will be sought-after. Play & Display 10 The opening doors, swiveling wheels and the ability to change the car to match each of the films give rise to plenty of play options; you can push it or swoosh it to your heart's content. Or, it looks great on the shelf. I'd also like to include 'collectability' in this section - something I will consider for future Architecture reviews: the attention that has gone into the box art and instruction manual easily rival that of the Architecture range, and truly make this set a collector's dream. Value 10 Even purely on a parts to pennies ratio, this is good value, even though the parts are mostly plates; add in the licence, the collectability, the figures, and the car's design, and I think the price looks very reasonable. Overall 90% My Score 9/10 I'm delighted with this set, and if you're a fan of the films, you will be too. I urge you to look beyond the stepped front end; if you can't, well, maybe you guys just aren't ready for this yet. But your kids are gonna love it. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the review. Please let me know what you think! Rufus Resources Back To The Future wiki: Futurepedia Buy a REAL DeLorean! DeLorean.com LEGO CUUSOO Winner: Back to the Future(BTTF) - DeLorean Time Machine My flickr set Endpiece (I should have used the Lone Ranger train for this. ) If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

I just tore apart the Town Hall and started to make the Hill Valley clock tower from Back to the Future. Based on drawings I have acquired, I decided to make the model on three 32x32 baseplates. When complete, the finished model should be approximately 38 bricks tall. I finished the first floor mostly, aside from some bricks I am short. I won't place a bricklink order until I am done with all three floors to cut down on the number of orders I have to place. The rear of the building was never shown in the movie, as it didn't exist anyway, so I made the back look somewhat like the Town Hall's front. More pictures are uploaded to my flickr account here: https://www.flickr.c.../122646862@N02/ I hope to complete the next two floors next weekend. Then I can move onto the other project seen in the background in a couple of the pictures. That was has been on hiatus with parts stuck in customs for over 3 weeks. I bought replacement ones and they are stuck in customs as well now. Apparently, dark grey 1x1 plates are dangerous commodities.