JopieK

Really nice review indeed and nice set. My brother has one from before our dark ages and we now have at least two in total but it is a really nice set with nice details! B.t.w. those are not decals but stickers (decals are those ugly water based things).

Well just like last year we plan to build one again for LEGOWorld 2008 (Zwolle, Netherlands), but since we have 3 of these sets now we can combine some parts ;)

I agree, very hard to take pictures of this set. It is just too large :s Try to improve some. Update: at least fixed the most obvious ones. Even with lightcube and diffuser on external flash still hard to get both no reflection and a nice color tone.

Name: Dwarves' Mine Number: 7036 Theme: Castle Year: 2007 Pieces: 575 Minfigs: 6 plus a large troll (8cm tall) Price: EUR 54,95€ / USD 59,99$ / GBP 39,99£ Special parts: The green 3 x 2 doors (2 left and 2 right) The brown 1 x 2 bricks on the carts as well (they are at least not very common on bricklink) Quite a lot of nice 1 x 1 sloped tiles. According to bricklink, the set can have either 3730 or the new 63082 "Black Plate, Modified 2 x 2 with Towball Socket" our sets all had the new one. The most expensive item on Bricklink is the Troll (average new price of $11.54) Introduction: Although we almost never buy Castle sets, the Dwarves' Mine was an exception. We bought 2 for ourselves and 1 for the review so now we have 3 of them. We are planning some narrow gauge railroad project and like the small cars very much, so that is why. Anyway. The set is quite nice, so let's see just how nice! First let's start with the huge box. It's quite nice with and gives a good impression of the set. The back side of the box is also quite impressive with some humorous scenes as well :) There are two booklets included. The set is quite easy to build due to the good instructions that are in the booklets. Not only air but a heap of bags was found inside the box. Our family of trolls and dwarves saying "cheese" for the photo guy. The troll is quite large. We have seen it before but then in green. It has horns at his back and on his head (ears I guess). A nice variety of tools, weapons and utensil. LEGO was quite generous in this set. The mining cars: narrow gauge, four studs wide. They used the old 12V era tracks but then without the beam openings just like in the harbour sets etc. 4 Metallic Silver Rocks and 4 Metallic Gold Rocks are included to make nicely filled-up carts. First we build the main tower. It is quite large and rocky. A throne for the dwarves' king. Next, the crane tower that goes to the right of the main tower. It is connected with technic pins. A large wheel is used to hoist the heavy buckets with produce. Note: there was a mistake in the instructions the "Reddish Brown Technic Connector Hub with 4 Bars" was reversed in one of the drawings (and can only fit one way). The combined towers. Already 2/3 of the mine is completed! Then the left tower. Here it still looks quite empty but that will soon change as it gets a sliding slope to let the produce fall down and a connection to the 'cable car' system. The furnace and the barrel with a drumstick are nice details, as is the table with the cup. There is a catapult as a large defense system (to knock out the large troll?!) The wheels give it a nice tought they are not very useful. The catapult is mounted on the left tower. There is a blacksmith working in front of the mine. Too bad that he doesn't have a fireplace (the one inside is too far away). His huge mallet and of course his anvil are really nice!!! The dwarves' king is no good at all. He just sits in his throne (actually stands since the small legs can't really bend) enjoying his spirits and jewels. The mine has a very special transportation system. Another look at the transportation system. Not too realistic, but nice for children. The minerals or metals can also be put in the carts with a nice system. This is quite strange, those 'coals' on top of that LURP (Large Ugly Rock Piece for the people that don't know the acronym). There were some parts left after building. I checked but couldn't find where they would need to go. The finished mine in all its' glory. Just after taking all important pictures, my large troll just got naughty. After behaving so civilized in the figures' photo shoot he suddenly went for it!!! The troll grabbed one of the dwarfs rocked it really hard ;) The other dwarf got a headache by a blow that was so hard that the helmet almost crushed, and now the dwarf is even shorter. Aah, maybe the troll was just greedy and just wanted the money. Too bad LEGO didn't put those coins in the set :) Hope you enjoyed the review and have a better insight in this set now! Parting it at bricklink (average for sale price) makes it $129.72 so that shows that the set indeed has very nice parts I guess! This set can be found on: Peeron Lugnet Brickset Bricklink entries Playability: 10/10 (Children can play a lot with it. The amount of figures, the transportation systems etc are really making it almost perfect!) Design: 7/10 (Nice set but a not really realistic design I'm afraid) Price: 8/10 (I got mine for 45€ and parting them for $129.72 should say a lot.) Overall: 8/10 (nice set, even for non-Castle people like us) N.b. I share the LEGO hobby with my brother and cousin, that is why I generally use plural forms :)

count me in ;)

Are there already instructions somewhere? I need the sizes of the windmill for a sticker question of our beloved Dutch Ambassador (Paul). He sent me a scan but not the sizes.

LEGOMAN, why are you kicking a topic from the beginning of this year with such an irrelevant reply after all?!

I should have taken a better look at the one my brother has ;) It still is a nice truck, much better than all the strange sets that were release those 'dark ages' before.

we use zip bags nowadays to make it easy for us to see how many we have from a certain part. I used to stack before my dark ages. Then we started sorting special parts / windows / wheels / technic / plates (by color) / bricks (by color). Now we are also sorting inside those cathegories.

nice truck indeed, but the yellow one is better I think, at least if you put them on a roadplate it seems to me that those road plates are too small for that. Also it will not empty completely because of that panel. Well, for the rest it is a nice set and a fine review!

Maybe you should get some basic lessons in mechanics ;) but b.t.w. LEGO released 3 monorails so that isn't that bad either.

@Freddie: yups now I see what you mean! I checked the instructions and indeed the chairs are in the wrong place... Whoops, you are totally right, I meant 7740 instead of 7745 (fixed it)!

The chair was just loose so it should be placed on the 2x2 plate that is also visible in the picture of the middle car. B.t.w. the front magnet is the old type. I have some decouplers but we don't use them because they are not really that reliable. LEGO just release a whole line of trains at the same time. I just discussed with my parents and they told be LEGO had those sets longer in store back then. I must have gotten the 7745 somewhere in 1983 or even 1984 although it was released in 1981. I started of with the 7710 (push along train) and then upgraded the tracks with current rails when I got the 7745.

well I got mine with a daring dual review ;) Might add an other dual review soon, but first added an avatar that goes along with the title: A minifig with a classic OS face: I'm a Mac lover (actually the only teacher in our computer science school that doesn't have a Windows system). The funny thing is that that image has a dual (maybe even triple?) face as well ;) if my sticker printer works again I might try to make a sticker and replace this avatar with a photo.

well I like it, it is the idea that counts with LEGO most of the time...

Being a teacher is not too difficult, it happens to me every working day Being a student is harder

very strange... you also get the error when just those bricks are there?! Well, I just tried, mine has the same problem... So must be server side!

I agree, have that 6382 set for about 27 years now, but I have always like that one 'futuristic' truck when I was a child so I also still have some feelings for this set as well. @Crazydance: nice review after all!!!

Name: Electric Passenger Train Set No.: 7725 Theme: LEGO / SYSTEM / Trains / 12v / Train Set Year: 1981 Pieces: 485 Minifigs: 1 Price: USD 70.00$ (which equals about EUR 50€ and GBP 40£) Introduction: Our most favorite theme is 12V trains. Actually I got my first 77-series back in 1981 (5th of December, I was 2,5 years old) just a week before my brother was born. Some years later I got the 7740. After our Dark ages we (my brother, cousin and myself) got all 12V trains at least once. This 7725 was gathering dust in my brothers' room. The train in all its splendor. As you can see it doesn't occur at the back of the 12V era train instructions although its larger brother the 7740 does. Some investigation learned that all the sets at the back of the instructions date from 1980 so the 7725 wasn't released yet. Here you can see the front of the 7725 with the driver in the cockpit. The driver is in fact the only minifig that was included in the set. As you can see, our version of the train has a different front than the one in the instructions. Apparently the former owner used 7861 (Lighting Set (12 V)) to upgrade the train with working back- and frontlights. I like the original lights but didn't notice that the train had those double lights until I did the review. Maybe we will give the train again it's original signs and put custom LEDs in it or so so that the train can drive into two directions with accurately working lights. Another thing about the lights that puzzle me are the Backlights. While typing this I realise that the former owner might have added those, so let's have a look at the instructions then. As it turns out, the lights are there also in the instructions. I recently learned that only the last car or coach of a train has it's red lights on. So unless the train drives with only the front car it will never use those red backlights. Here you can see the cockpit with the engineer. The cables don't look very pretty but well, the train at least has working light. Here you can take a look at the inside of the engine car. While the 7745 has a nice 'fake engine' there, just the weight bricks and the ugly cables, apart from the engineer and his cockpit, no other nice features here. B.t.w. LEGO always used tiles in such a trains to make it easier for kids to take off the roof and have access to the minifig passengers etc. Here the 'proof' that it is an electric train. The pantograph of the front car. It has the same kind of panthographs that the 7745 has. The middle car has 4 chairs. As you can see, some vandal must have nocked over this one. Hope they leave the cables alone. This early morning train seems to have one passenger: a workman. I like the small 2x3 windows from this car very much! They give this care a nice look. Also the door in the middle adds something special to the train. As far as I know, no other passenger train has the doors in the middle. Here you see the side of the train, just after the train has left Brickingham Station where the worker, probably from set 6647 (Highway Repair) that was also released in 1980. A closeup of the last car with steering stand to allow the train to travel back and forth without having to 'make head', in other words: putting the engine in front again. The train, shunted to an end track so it can be cleaned (I think it is apparent that it definitely needs cleaning very badly). This set can be found on: Peeron Lugnet Brickset Bricklink entries Playability: 5/10 (The train is fine, but with only one minifig not very playable without other sets; also no accessories at all!) Design: 7/10 (Nice train, the inside could have been a lot better, but I really like to original front lights!) Price: 7/10 (the train came with motor so not a bad price, goes now for quite some money at eBay.) Overall: 6.5/10 (nice set but the 7745 is a better train I'm sure) Well that was it for today. I hope you have enjoyed this review and got tears in your eyes seeing how nice the 12V era was... It never comes back, but maybe LEGO rereleases some of this sets in the 2009+ train era (very likely that this is just wishful thinking).

Thanks of course for the flattery but, do you then from your profession understand what the purpose is of the front 'spouts' that even can be hide, since that puzzles me. It can be that the LEGO designers thought it was a nice touch and didn't bothered about the realistic value of such a feature but I don't suppose that that is the case here.

Take a look at bricklink, there are quite some nice shops in the UK that I'm aware of (probably sending it to Belfast isn't that costly). Other option is indeed ebay but bricks in one color aren't that cheap on ebay I'm afraid. We buy kilos there but then you need quite some kilos to have enough of the same color as well.

maybe your model has some parts that are: - not available through factory - not available anymore through factory - not available in your country (Restarting the program doesn't work?!)

About this tip: "TIP: Don't lend your minifigs to your friends or make them part of school projects. You may never see them again." Well, the new First LEGO League sets have about 12 Minifigs so let them use those instead indeed ;)

Well I might want to do that, but then in a different way as the railroad maintenance: I will then review the orange one and make comments on it compared to this one.

Nice set, but nicer review! Looks like the set has quite some nice parts.