Vorkosigan

While clone brand reviews aren't too common on here, I quite like this Oxford set so I thought I'd give it a full write up. Oxford brings original designs and decent quality to the table. I think building non-LEGO brands can provide an interesting perspective on things LEGO does very well and things they could do better, as well as just being fun. Set: Oxford JK3461 Name: General Sun Shin Lee's Fortress Parts: 1209 Price: 79900 Won (~$73.72 USD) Year Released: 2013 The box artwork presents all the play features and showcases the potential for action scenarios. Here are the contents of the box. The box contained a sturdy cardboard tray as well which is nice to allow storage in the original box, however I was not able to fit it in my suitcase. Note the bags are numbered (with stickers), into 3 groups. There are two large instructions books, but not as thick as LEGO since the instructions are more like classic style LEGO, less hand holding than current instructions. Note the small carrying case included, for storing mini figures and weapons presumably. I will start with the interesting parts and then show the completed set. First off along the top row here are some very nice roof slopes for creating traditional asian style tiled roofs. There are 3 more variations which together provide a quite flexible system. The fact that they didn't cheap out for one big piece is impressive. The next row we have 1x1 masonry bricks, with a different pattern on each side. This allows for some cool effects by mixing the side facing out strategically. On the bottom left is a quite intriguing snot piece with an odd offset, and lastly a sloped L brick on the right. Here is the first batch of weapons. The use of the twist off trays is somewhat annoying, but the weapons are generally good with the swords that have sheathes as a particular highlight. More weapons in pearlescent gold. These new parts are pretty self explanatory, the 4x long technic style pin is the most intriguing for what possibilities it could open up in construction. I don't really get the need for a double fence / railing piece but there it is. For the last batch of parts the stairs and small BURP (or just URP?) have the most potential. Using only a 2 high section of stairs makes for a more flexible system, although less structural. The URPs have good potential for forming the basis of larger rock wall vs the LEGO version at this size that doesn't have any studs. The bottom row is decorative pieces, note the molding on the barrel lid and the 3D shape of the red flame. Here is a shot of the instructions. They are very clearly printed with a simple white background. For the minifigures, here are the "good guys" representing Korea. The printing quality and alignment is a bit questionable. The "bad guys" are invaders from Japan, though not explicitly designated as such. The artillery and horses, the cannons have a flick fire mechanism. Good simple builds for the cannon carriages. I don't care much for the molding on the horses heads. Finally here is the castle itself. It was assembled in 4 pieces with technic style pins for modularity. Note the curved walls made with hinged sections over a tiled base. The front gate has a play feature of dropping fire (burning oil)? on attackers. The keep has a table with a map sticker and a nicely displayed sword. If the enemy tries to steal the map or sword you can pull a pin to release a hammer from the ceiling. There is a jail in the keep with opening door and removable floor above for convenient access. The gold dragon headed statues are a nice touch. Overall a very enjoyable set with some intriguing parts, good build techniques, and generally solid quality. Although I would be hesitant to mix the pieces with actual LEGO, its interesting to note that the colors are fairly similar. The odd thing is the light gray in use here is a decent match to OLD light gray, while both an equivalent to old dark gray AND dark bluish gray are present.

Can you post a link, I can't find anything.

Exo suit is still available despite that banner. I half hope they will discount it.

By masonry brick I mean with this face:

I'm impressed you printed a whole castle's worth of parts. Looks pretty good considering. I feel like the tan color should be a bit darker for contrast with the light gray. To me it seems like custom minifig accessories would be the most useful thing to print, or different variations of bricks. I'd like to print 1x1 masonry bricks and a 2x2 corner L masonry brick for example.

The old magnets could snap together aggressively and pinch fingers or possibly chip off pieces. Someone correct me if there is a more accurate answer.

He didn't, they were posted in this thread many weeks ago after the toy fairs.

I dunno if that is an unpopular opinion amoung AFOLs. I think every MOC that makes the front page of EB (and many that don't) are more creative than his work. I also don't like that it reinforces the false dichotomy that LEGO is either sets that can only be made into one thing or the basic bricks which are creative.

Oh yea, I realized that when I saw the 80s/90s style castle wall pieces were not available. I thought that can't be, and realized it was because of everything was set to new.

Ok so here is the Brickficiency file: https://www.dropbox....Roller.bsx?dl=0 Here is a report that results in a seller in Poland and one in the Netherlands. Note the price on the files is in USD. Total in AUD is about $57 + shipping. The seller in the Netherlands is on vacation for a couple weeks so if you want you can copy their store number (125661) into the "blacklist" on Brickficiency. Since there aren't many sellers in Australia I searched worldwide. https://www.dropbox....eport.html?dl=0 Here is a slightly more expensive option with a store in Ireland: https://www.dropbox....tion2.html?dl=0 So here is what I did with the parts: Converted bricks that were uncommon "without center tube" into normal with center tube type Converted all tiles from "undetermined type" to "with groove" as that is the common, newest version Converted pins from non-existent colors to the most common color available (black, gray, or tan). You can experiment with changing some of the tan ones to light bluish gray or black if want and see if you can find sellers. Changed 1x1x3s to 3 1x1s because in black its fairly rare Changed 2x4 tiles to 2 2x2s just to reduce amount of unique parts Switched the 7 hole beams to 11 hole as you noted Only changes 4 through 6 should actually affect the assembly.

You need to make some more tweaks, don't worry I will post the files and detailed explanation this evening (US CST).

S_Bartfast I think I found a more affordable solution. I loaded your lxf file in Brickficiency and went through the parts. There were several parts in expensive or non-existent variants so I changed them to common versions. Also some things like the rare 1x1x3 I changed to 3 of 1x1. All the pins I changed to colors they actually exist in. I don't know where you are in Europe but I ran an optimization and got all the parts (611) for 41 euros from 2 sellers. I don't have time right now to upload the files but hopefully tomorrow.

Cool build, you can definitely get the sense of a badass battle in progress.

I guess I don't see why it wouldn't work, but can't really confirm it would sweep smoothly through all the positions. I am wondering why it would be so expensive, where are you looking at for buying the parts? Also is it possible some could be swapped for cheaper versions? There are often changes to parts and the old versions get expensive, or some new versions haven't come in many sets yet. For example I can't tell from the pics if those are the old castle wall panels or the new ones.

I really liked Castle 2013. Now I get a lot of the criticism, but for me just coming out of my dark ages it hit the right notes in terms of having all the classic set types but with modern figures, colors, and parts. I don't like MOCs that are excessively greebled, like every surface is made of tiny plates. Just not a style I enjoy.

Cool build, very dense castle. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but where are the dark grey helms from?

Nice vignettes! Each captures an atmosphere quite well. The zombie one is probably my favorite, I like the use of the no-entry sign and the build of the mounted machine gun.

Here is a small MOC I made as a present for a relative who lives by the beach. I had originally planned to make it larger but I saw another small MOC using the back hoe scoop for a mouth and that ended up guiding my scale.

Fun, had some good laughs. The figures are nicely put together as well.

Its not as hard as you think. Use bricklink to build up your supply of key parts and go for it. Also the set "Medieval Market Village" is a great introduction to these sorts of buildings in an official set. It is getting pricy these days for new in box but really not bad compared to discontinued modulars.

If we're talking about medieval times I think there are plenty of opportunities for use of bright color. Of course a lot of stone and wood were used but there were bright paints and tapestries and clothing as well. It all depends on specific setting and context.

Blondie-Wan I came in here to see if anyone was talking about that contest. Signed by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen is a pretty interesting aspect of it. I wonder if its the box that is signed or the plaque inside? Sorry to all non-US members that the contest is so limited.

For sure an amazing MOC, incredible details.

I bought some used sets recently and while it was a good deal objectively, it was also a pain. I always wash parts from sets bought used, and washing LEGO is such a chore. I'd rather sort for 10x as long than wash. I know there is probably a better method but for me that's a big reason I rarely buy used. Now I don't collect vintage lines like classic space, if you're into something like that then it is almost unavoidable to buy used.

If you want to get some dark tan or other similar colors then use bricklink. Random lots off ebay are not likely to have large quantities of less common colors like dark tan. Of course there may be some color specific lots but bricklink is still probably more efficient.