-R8-

I'd love to see more sculptures from you! You have quite the wonderful knack for it, and for some reason I haven't seen too many builders venture into that genre of building. This is my favorite LEGO set on the shelves today. It is an amazing deal for 650 new bricks, which at 30 bucks costs only ~$0.046 per brick. Granted, BrickLink gives you choice of what color and type of bricks and pricing, but directly from LEGO, this is still a viable option. Over the past year or so, I've probably bought five or six of these kits, and by now my brick collection has been near completely drained. While 650 bricks may sound like a lot, it's surprising to see how easily a huge amount of them can be eaten up in a few MOCs! I too agree that the lack of 1-wide bricks is disappointing, and it would be nice if the pieces count was perhaps distributed more equally. Fantastic review of this modern day brick kit!

Surfing through treacherous lava falls and protecting the citizens of the Bionicle universe...this is Toa Tahu Nuva, Spirit of Fire! Name: 8572 Tahu Nuva Theme: Bionicle Year: 2002 Pieces: 36 Minifigures: 0 Price: USD 7.99, GBP 4.99 Further References: Brickset.com, BrickLink.com, Peeron.com, flickr, Biosector01 Wiki (storyline information) Simply put, I love these canisters. Cleverly designed for both storage and playability purposes, and are much less bulkier than many of the canisters that were put out towards the end of Bionicle. The canister artwork still evokes nostalgic sentiments, this being a set from Bionicle's second year. My only criticism is that Tahu's pose is actually impossible - specifically, the angle that the head is facing. I will elaborate more on this later. The canister top is really cool too. Provided that you have enough head pieces and masks to go along with them, you can mount them on the top itself. It has slots, which are just Technic axle openings, for a total of six masks. We get a better sample of the Bionicle CGI artwork on the instruction booklet from the canister. But again, as cool as the pose may be, it is impossible in real life to recreate. This time, it's not only the head that can't be positioned like that, but the arms and legs don't bent either. The back of the instruction booklet has some sort of a montage of all the collectable Toa Nuva masks, and a link to Bionicle.com. Man, those years were golden. The instructions have a cool background, which emulates the texture of the energized protodermis the original Toa were submerged in to become the Toa Nuva. Tahu consists of a mixture of Technic and Bionicle pieces, like many of his counterparts. Many of these, we had seen before in Tahu's past incarnation, but a number of these pieces were also completely new, such as the leg, armor, weapon, and mask pieces. These armor pieces are my personal favorite in the wide array of Bionicle elements. I found their relatively simple design to be sufficient and easy to use in a MOC, and they looked great on the Toa Nuva. Tahu's fireswords are super neat too, and needless to say, act as a playability function for the set. Finally, I cannot ignore his awesome mask, which has a very warrior-like impression. The build, like with most Bionicle canister sets, is incredibly simple. The hardest part is getting the gears to align with each other so that the arms are oriented correctly, but other than that it is a mere walk in the park. Immediately, Tahu imposes a powerful and fiery aura, which is natural for his character. His mask design, armor, and fireswords work well in conjunction to deliver that impression. In comparison to the rest of his body, Tahu's fireswords appear to be quite significant in size. But not only do they serve as dual weapons, but... They also come together on his feet to form a lava 'surfboard.' Unfortunately, it's difficult to make an impressive pose with him while like this. Due to the fact that his head is attached to the body via an axle as opposed to a ball joint like later Bionicle sets, his head is limited to facing only in four different directions. Furthermore, while the mold and shape of the arm and legs might imply that they are able to move, they cannot. In my opinion, it's part of the novelty that the older sets have, but on the contrary it is somewhat of a disappointment that the lack of articulation could also potentially limit the amount of playability. Tahu, but without his weapons. Obviously he looks less impressive, and people suddenly begin to question why he doesn't have fingers. Here are all of the Tahus released throughout the lifetime of Bionicle. Going from left to right, we have 8534 Tahu (2001), 8572 Tahu Nuva (2002), 8689 Toa Tahu (2008), and 7116 Tahu (2010). The 2001 and 2002 Tahus are my favorite, although that is likely because I am definitely biased towards the old Bionicle sets. But even so, I appreciate the boldness in colors and the relative simplicity in design, as well as the incorporation of Technic in the older sets. The Toa Nuva are my favorite Toa line, and I really like all of the six sets in it. Tahu especially is a neat set, having such a great color scheme and character design. It was nice to see this character reappear many times in the storyline and as sets, even though I am not too fond with his latter incarnations. But despite that, Tahu is indeed one of the iconic characters of Bionicle, and great enough to have four sets dedicated to him over a decade-long lifespan of Bionicle.

I appreciate having large amounts of cheese slopes in any color in my collection, however I find that I don't use them as extensively as others in my MOCs. While that is because I use near exclusively just bricks and plates, I am not too crazy about utilizing a huge amount of them. Seeing cheese appear in so many LEGO sets has in my opinion, gotten to be like seeing Technic pins all over the place. In a short period of time, it has become a staple of LEGO sets and MOCing. Of course, the cheese slope has exponentially greater uses than a Technic pin, but has cheese found its way into scores of LEGO sets because it is indeed the one of best design solutions, or just for the sake of including cheese in a set? Cheese provides an angle to use in the smallest dimension of building, something which was not available to us before, which is primarily why I use them (albeit selectively). I think they add a certain degree of irregularity and naturalness to rock formations, but I concur that it can be used excessively when incorporated into other landscaping settings. And of course, cheese yields itself to the finer angles seen on vehicles and buildings. To sum up my opinion, as long as cheese is used in a thoughtful manner regardless of quantity, as opposed to being used for the sake that it's cheese, I don't mind the craze for cheese.

The glory days of 9V... Back in that wonderful era, LEGO released many great trains and rolling stock throughout the 1990s and the first half of the 2000s. In the early 2000s, LEGO did something unique with a concept known to the community as 'My Own Train.' Basically, it was an option for LEGO fans to customize and build their own train, by being able to order locomotives and tenders in all sorts of different colors, as well as a decent selection of rolling stock to pick from. In light of the Reviewers Academy 3rd Anniversary, today I shall be reviewing the Passenger Wagon, a classic train kit released along with the My Own Train series. Name: 10015 Passenger Wagon Theme: Trains (9V) Year: 2001 Pieces: 194 Minifigures: 0 Price: USD 19.99 Further References: Brickset.com, BrickLink.com, Peeron.com, flickr The Box (Credit to BrickLink for box picture) The box is quite unusual and unique from what people may be used to. For one, it features actual photographs of some typical railroad scenery, even though it is difficult to make out in this picture. The colors used in the photography work great to emanate an antique, old-fashioned feeling. Of course, the My Own Train logo is branded on top, with the passenger wagon superimposed on the background. The Instructions: Front Cover Back then, this particular series of trains was some of the special few sets that utilized the 5 digit numbering series. Many of these sets featured instruction booklets with relatively plain backgrounds, sans any faint images in the background that are typically seen on other instructions. The Instructions: Back Cover Oddly enough, the back cover is the last step of the instructions. No advertisements, no screaming kid, nothing like that. The Pieces All of the 194 pieces are in common, but welcoming colors. Many of the green pieces, like the doors and the windows, are rare. Needless to say, this train set also has a number of pieces unique to the train theme, many of which fetch for a few bucks each on BrickLink. Notable Pieces What treasures these are to any railgeek! I really like the windows, as they are only found on this set. The Build The build is very straightforward and simple, and should not pose any issues. Finished Build The simple build translates into a simple design, and in my opinion when it comes to rolling stock, simplicity works great. Design and Playability The Set (Note that the set doesn't come with any 9V track) I appreciate how the passenger wagon is conservatively designed, as it gives it a quaint and toyish look to it. I am also fond of the color scheme. Red and green work well together to allow this to fit in some LEGO Christmas layout, but simultaneously, the use of black offsets the holiday feel enough to make it seem more of a generic train car. It can work both ways. But wait - did you know that the passenger wagon also came in blue? It was released in a limited edition set called 4534 LEGO Express. But it's also super rare and expensive. Train Door The train features opening doors to the inside, where there are four chairs for minifigures to sit in. How do they get inside? The passenger wagon is designed for easy removal of the top, allowing the minifigures to be placed inside. Bogies While there isn't too much detail on the bogies, it does not really bother me much. It adds to the simplicity of the overall model. Coupled up to a large grey locomotive, the passenger wagon is now ready to service the LEGO town railway. Features ME Models track. Conclusion I am sorely disappointed that LEGO doesn't seem to be releasing individual pieces of rolling stock anymore. That was one of my favorite aspects of the 9V line, and many great freight and passenger pieces of rolling stock were released as a result. I regret not being into trains as much as I am today when I was younger, although space was always an issue when it came to LEGO trains. Nevertheless, I'm grateful that this sweet little passenger wagon is a part of my fledgling train collection. Thanks for reading, and a huge shoutout to the Reviewers Academy for three years of promoting the best LEGO set reviews on the Internet!

What a wonderful surprise! Congratulations to the other two winners! This was some great fun, and quite inspiring to see the vast diversity of all the creations here with just so few pieces. Just goes to show the versatility of the LEGO toy. Thanks Calabar, for organizing this great little contest!

Happy Birthday Pandora! Glad to hear you got lots of LEGO!

You guys beat us on the speed build by a minute or two, it was a really close competition! Congrats on beating the world record! Here is my flickr collection of pictures and videos from the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/-r8-/collections/72157627230441601/ Until next year!

Wow, what an event! Just got back home. It was fantastic seeing so much LEGO in person, and even a bit surreal since this was my first convention and I'd never been surrounded by so many serious LEGO fans before. How much LEGO did you all make away with? I spent about 55 bucks on LEGO, but with some of the great deals at the vendor area and the yard sale, plus all the free stuff, I have a bag full of probably 10-15 pounds of LEGO...which is peanuts compared to loot that some other people got! Ralph_S, CP5670, it was great meeting and talking to you both in person (I was the short guy with the glasses and rainbow plaid, and may or may not have had a LEGOLAND cap on). Hope to be back next year.

I'll be the guy with the LEGOLand California cap, and my badge will have a minifig on it along with my EB username. I am parked in the mixed area (by the Stay and Play section) with my sculptures.

I was reading on the BrickFair forums that there was a little discrepancy on whether the Potomac Mills store was participating in the BrickFair discount. Apparently, the store manager hadn't decided at the time whether the store would be a part of the sale. I guess they will have more information on the Community Board at the event. In any case, hope to see a lot of you in a few hours!

I was planning on hitting the Pick-a-Brick walls. Are they close to running out of bricks or is there still an adequate stock available?

Mariann, this is a fantastic replica of a unique building. It's even more impressive that the interior is fully designed as well. The amount of thought that went into designing and drafting the blueprints really paid off in the final product.

What a splendid design! The monochromatic color scheme works to help us focus entirely on the ship's unusual, but unique shape. I love how the nose of the ship is angled that way, a nice contrast with the rest of the ship. The different perspectives of the ship are really impressive to look at. Wonderful work.

Picked up 8201 Classic Mater today. Cute little four-wide vehicle that fits nicely in my city layout. I also got 5644 Chicken Coop for a young relative of mine, who I'll be seeing when I head down to VA for BrickFair. Figured it would be a good idea to start her off on something small on a journey to becoming a KFOL. I haven't picked up a Duplo set and bought it since my toddler years, and strangely enough a set designed for 1.5 - 5 year olds somehow intrigues me.

Great song pick to animate this to! The cinematography is beautiful, clear, and flowing. You've successfully captured the deeper symbolism in the song in LEGO. My favorite part was the large minifigure strumming the guitar, with the effect conveyed through the 1x1 cylindrical bricks. That is just incredible attention to detail and perspective. Easily one of the best Brickfilms of a music video, and now we know that Chris Martin looks great in plastic!

Everything from the build itself to the professional lighting is absolutely fantastic. You've really managed to capture the mood of a lava chamber. Are those Bionicle head pieces located in the lava? A very ingenious use for them!

My entry: The Goblin Schoolboy Here we have a goblin schoolboy, with his hat, knapsack, and book ready for another fun day at the Goblin Academy. Front View - Back view And the lxf file.

You probably won't find them in the States now. Sightings of them have occurred in Britain and throughout Europe, but they should hit American stores within a few weeks.

Pandora, this is a fantastic review! I have been following your progress in the Academy, and like everyone else, I am thrilled with all of the top-notch reviews you've put out to the community. This is one of those sets that I always pick up in the store, trying to decide if I want to buy it or not as a parts pack. This has many useful pieces like plates, slopes and the headlight bricks. I agree that the aircraft look very unusual without any landing gear, although I think it is a more discernible flaw on the biplane than on the helicopter. Adding some of these pieces would have been nice to see. Thanks for reviewing a fine, fairly priced set for us. Your magnificent photography makes this set so much more appealing to me than it was before!

I certainly agree that LEGO can be used to create art. However, what I was mainly getting at was what defines a LEGO MOC as art. For example, is a replica of a car with amazing accuracy still considered art, or is it just a technical achievement? Does there have to be a message that was conveyed by the creator in order for a LEGO creation to be art? Or is everything made out of LEGO art, sets, MOCs and everything else? Sorry if I didn't make that clear enough in the opening post.

I recently came across an interesting article over at the Brothers Brick, written a few years ago. It is an editorial about how the community interprets LEGO creations as art, and brings up some philosophical points that delve into the potentiality of creations being considered 'art.' Here is the link: click The article and the ensuing discussion on TBB got me thinking about whether LEGO can be considered to be a viable form of art. If there is a consensus that agrees that it is indeed art, then more questions are raised: is there any set definition for 'LEGO art?' Can any definition of art with a more conventional medium (ie paints, clay) be applied to LEGO as well? Can we consider LEGO creations to be art, or are they simply an example of a fine display of craftsmanship? Or is introducing the entire notion of art into the hobby taking it a step too far, complicating a hobby that should be what it is - a toy?

Thanks for the comments, everyone. They were hilarious to read! You mean Michelangelo? I don't think anyone can live up to his greatness, but that is a very nice thing to say. In retrospect, you're all completely right! I'm not sure why I didn't think of that as I was making it Thanks for the constructive feedback, everyone - Eurobricks is the best place for that!

flickr It's been a while since I've created a "serious" sculpture. I've always admired the works of Nathan Sawaya, Sean Kenney and the like, who are able to flawlessly replicate the natural beauty of a human body out of a geometric medium. I attempted to create a female mannequin and try to mimic the human form with rectangular bricks as much as possible. One of the challenges was replicating the natural curves on the human body out of bricks. This was done by creating slight gradients, so that when viewed from afar it would mimic the form as much as possible. Very rarely is the human body seen as one of nature's masterpieces, as opposed to an exploitable object. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and I think that's the point I'm trying to get across Comments and constructive criticism are most welcome.

Hello Hypersonic, welcome to Eurobricks! What a great way to start off by posting a great MOC! I am curious as to how you made the ridged texture on the train car. I think it is a very nice design that accurately captures the texture on actual rolling stock. The diesel locomotive features a lot of great techniques and element usage as well. I particularly like the SNOT work on the cabin, and the collectable minifig bases used on the sides of the diesel. Keep up the great work, I think trains is one of your specialties now.