Sven F

I think the most stereotypical animal associated with the jungle is tiger even though they are quite rare now. Also elephants, they would certainly be bigger than minifigures which you made clear. I am thinking elephant in one color, one gender, two sizes. Elephants are endangered and it would make sense to have the whole theme revolve around good and bad guys, like poachers (probably not directly named as such) who keep bones in their hideout and an animal rescue team with vets, maybe whole facilities and animal transport vehicles. I kind of want to play with that now.

I think the current version of roadplates are entirely printed on the whole un-studded surface, not just the white markings. that's a lot of print to remove.

Thanks! Something I should maybe note is that this was written some time ago for the Reviewers Academy which means that certain parts, colors or prints I mention as rare or new might have become more common in the meantime.

INTRODUCTION This set is part of a new birthday party sub-theme in the Friends line consisting of 5 individual sets and is the second largest, and only one of two that come with a mini-doll. All five sets include animals, a gift box and a party invitation. Other sets in this theme are: 41110 Birthday Party 41112 Party Cakes 41113 Party Gift Shop 41114 Party Styling TECHNICAL: Set Name: Party Train Set Number: 41111 Number of Pieces: 104 Theme: Friends Designer: unknown Availability: retail Year Released: 2016 Price: $ 9.99 / € 9.99 Stickers: 0 New elements: 2 Exclusive minifigures: 1/1 Brickset entry Bricklink Inventory PARTS SELECTION: The set gives us a lot of recolored pieces and two new elements, the little chipmunks, or hamsters as bricklink refers to them, and some party hats. They are both obviously Friends style items, but I am sure fans of minifigures will find a use for them. The set comes in a box with two unnumbered bags. One of my favorite parts here is the new colored bike element in Bright light orange. We had a yellow bike in one single old set, so this is as close as it gets to that if you missed out on the one from the 90's. That's a new print on that 1x2 tile, and I assume it's an invitation for a birthday (or other) party - useful piece for generic use.The trans-clear round tile with pin isn't new as we got it last year, but if you missed it, you can get two of them here plus one extra. I am not exactly sure what they represent in the set, but they are useful pieces, so I am not complaining. The party hats are completely new elements and are held with pins like all the other Friends hair accessories and you get them in 3 different colors and an extra of each. The bright light orange 2x2 tile with bow print is in fact an inverted tile, it has studs on the bottom to fit snugly between panels of a box - these tiles aren't very common in general, and this might be the first printed one. MINIFIGURES: The little animals have holes in their heads so they can also hold accessories. I am not sure if these hamsters would be of use in a non-Friends environment, but if you find them too "cartoony" you can just pretend they are stuffed toys. Stephanie comes with an exclusive torso print for this set, and her hair is one of my favorite hairpieces for use on minifigures. It's her birthday, but she doesn't look a day older. BUILD: We start off with a gift box containing a bow and a little postbox so Stephanie can mail the invitations to her friends. Mind you she only has one, so I guess she doesn't want to attract a crowd. The next build is what looks like a park slide for kids, not sure exactly what all the pieces represent, there is something that looks like a soap dispenser attached to the slide, but just use your imagination, I suppose it's part of the venue where the party will be held. And then the actual train is powered by a push-bike connected to the carts. This may be the reason Stephanie only invited one friend, she only has room for one other person with all the gifts and pets. The first car has one of those panels to hold a mini-doll, the others are just 2x2 jumper plates. The bike element was designed long before mini-dolls so they aren't really adapted for them. She can loosely be seated on the seat, but her hands can't hold the handlebars which is a bit awkward. Maybe the friend she invited isn't a mini-doll. Leftover parts: CONCLUSION: The set is a great template for your own imaginative play and building. I don't think anything here is set very firmly to any particular story. Most of it doesn't make much sense from a grown-up point of view, but it's a great selection of parts with lots of variety and I think it can go very far for the low size and price. I am not going to estimate brick value here because there is more to it than that, This will be someones first LEGO set, any they'll always remember that funky, hamster-powered bike train. Just to get some AFOL perspective here, This set will probably be appealing to most of us for the bike. This is the 8th re-color of the bike element since 1985. The mold changed once for both the frame and the wheels, but the design remains unchanged. It works a bit better with classic minifigures though. Overall Design: 5/10 - Little brick goes a long way here, and just enough context is given to know what's going on, but I would have liked more accessibility which is partly due to restrictions of the mini-doll design. Parts selection: 8/10 – Considering the size and cost of this set, you get many new, and unique elements and no stickers. Play features: 8/10 – This set is all about play. Challenging build: 5/10 - I should look at this from a child's perspective, and I think it's just the right ratio between interesting and easy. Minifigures: n/a – I am no expert on mini-dolls, and I'm slightly biased when it comes to Stephanie because I like her hair piece. There's one figure, and it has unique printing, so that must be a win. You will have to get at least one other set to have someone to actually join the party though. Overall: 6/10

INTRODUCTION The research institute was the 6th Cuusoo / Ideas project to be released. It was a very short-lived set with an unexpectedly large following. This set got popular outside of LEGO circles due to its feminist message concerning the lack of portrayal of women as job workers in sets. (or something along those lines) This might have been unintentional, but got a lot of attention which may have influenced the sets early retirement, seen as The LEGO Group usually goes to great lengths in order to avoid being used as a tool to promote any political, religious or otherwise socially sensitive messages. It’s a set of 3 individual vignettes built on a 6x6 base, representing three jobs. A paleontologist, astronomer and chemist. TECHNICAL: Set Name: Research Institute Set Number: 21110 Number of Pieces: 165 Theme: Ideas Designer: Alatariel (Ellen Kooijman) Availability: LEGO Exclusive / retail Year Released: 2014 Price: $ 19.99 / € 19.99 Stickers: 0 New elements: 0 Exclusive minifigures: 1/3 Brickset entry Bricklink Inventory The set consists of 165 pieces and three minifigures. It’s easy to build but a small child may need some help, especially with the dinosaur. There are a lot of tiny pieces, so keep your cat and baby clear while building. The box is a step nicer than we are used to, Ideas sets tend to have non-standard box dimensions and fold open from flat like a box of chocolates. Inside you’ll find the instruction booklet. Unlike most sets, with Ideas you get a thicker, sometimes differently binded book with a smoother paper finish. Before the actual build you can read a story about the author, how the idea for the set was born and a short description about the Ideas project. The research institute booklet also describes each of the portrayed scientist jobs. PARTS SELECTION: There are no new or very special parts except a printed blackboard, but you do get a nice selection of lab accessories including a purple colored Erlenmeyer flask which isn’t very common. MINIFIGURES: You get three figures for three scientists. The white lab coat with an orange shirt is a torso print exclusive to this set. The other two minifigures use common parts seen in other town themed sets. I think the white coat chemist is a representation of the sets author which is why it might have gotten special treatment, even though this isn’t outright mentioned anywhere. All the characters have double faces if you want to get them angry or shocked. The paleontologist doesn’t seem to be having a good day either way. BUILD: After you are done with the little gang of scientists, you better give them something to do. We start with Alatariel’s, I mean the chemist’s workplace. This build is the quickest and simplest, but she gets all the nice glassware and other fancy bits and bobs. I would have liked some tiles on that floor but I guess the design team responsible for parts optimization and price boundaries at TLG would disagree. Some scientists get fancy flasks, others get floor furnishing. Moving onto the next gang member and probably the most interesting build of all. The dinosaur! After we are done mini-building this cool microscope stand which stalled us from getting to the dinosaur, we can finally begin work on that menacing T-Rex! … I mean research reference material. This is where the build gets slightly more interesting. The parts that make the skeleton are quite imaginative, someone put a lot of thought into this, hopefully not during work hours. (; No tiles here either, but with a prop this cool, you don't need them. Moving on to the third and last scientist. The astronomer. The build is tiny, but I like how the telescope is built. The use of a sextant and the bucket element for the lens is pretty genius. I think white might have been a better choice of color, but probably not worth the extra expense as some of these elements aren't available in that color. The floor tiles give it a nice finished look, and overall, in spite of the dinosaur, this is my favorite build of the three. And there you have it, the collective institute of researchers. Chemists are a common sight in many research institutions, but I don’t really think you would find a paleontologist and astronomer together in the same building, or at least not very often. I was thinking how to make use of these vignettes in a town setting, and finally chose to use up the empty space in my town hall set as a form of exhibitional and educational area. Leftover parts: Ideas sets are nice enough to always include a brick separator even with smaller sets. Nice to get an extra bone and syringe, but nothing rare or of great use is left from the build. CONCLUSION: I feel like this set is a piece of LEGO Ideas history, it’s the one that baffled with popularity, it held a message and gave us some variety. I’d love to see more specialized themes in LEGO, ones that aren’t firemen and cake shop vendors, something you could put on a bookshelf just for display even if you’re not a regular builder. I don’t think the set was targeted primarily at children, but I feel it could work quite well as a play set. The build is simple and instantly recognizable. Overall Design: 7/10 - All the props are within reach of the limited minifigure limb articulation capabilities except the microscope. Maybe the floor furnishings could be more consistent between the builds. I appreciate the choice of printing in place of stickers. Parts selection: 6/10 – Most of the elements and colors are common, you do get one or two interesting items. Play features: 7/10 – This set is probably not primarily intended for play, but would be up to the task nevertheless Challenging build: 7/10 - The set has a couple of interesting builds despite its small scale Minifigures: 6/10 – One is great, one is acceptable and one is dressed inappropriately for the job description. I think they could have done slightly better. The choice of faces is great though. Overall: 7/10

INTRODUCTION Ever since January 2015, the mini seasonal sets started to appear in a new format that would appeal to a wider audience. They represent a piece of life in the appropriate season, built on a tiny 8x8 vignette. Usually these sets include some interesting parts or rare colors and are jam-packed with cool accessories. This added detail makes them especially attractive to "afol's", "moc" builders and collectors while the older style sets seemed to mostly rely on novelty value and targeted children and the common buyer. So far, they've proven extremely popular. Painting Easter Eggs comes after the Valentines set, and will be followed by Halloween and Thanksgiving accordingly. TECHNICAL: Set Name: Painting Easter Eggs Set Number: 40121 Number of Pieces: 153 Theme: Seasonal Availability: LEGO Exclusive / retail Year Released: 2015 Price: $ 9.99 / € 9.99 Stickers: 0 New elements: 0 Exclusive minifigures: 0 Brickset entry Bricklink Inventory The set consists of 153 pieces, two minifigures and one animal. Most of the pieces are very small so it's advised to build in a controlled environment, (leave your cat in the other room) The box is the smallest available LEGO box after polybags. There is usually a short and simple story printed on the back, in this case the kid dropped one of the eggs on the floor while his mom observes unamused. PARTS SELECTION: The obvious stand out is the white chicken, but there's also a number of cool accessories included; you get a paint brush (plus one extra), a painters palette, a black pot, one green bottle, some cookie tiles and the common mug in red. These vignettes have a habit of including 1x2 bricks in rare and interesting colors, you get 7 masonry 1x2's in dark red and two in dark tan. The 1x1 transparent brick is also infrequent and you get 3 of them, 1 of which is hidden in the build. I believe the bricks representing white eggs were previously seen in Bionicle used for eyeballs, but are pretty cool as eggs, although in Europe our eggs are closer to tan than white. Did I mention the awesome chicken? MINIFIGURES: Two mini figures are included, a child and what is presumably his mother, or sister or whatever you like. We have seen her torso before in many creator and city sets. I am personally not a fan of the blue blouse, but the kid's torso print makes up for it. The cosmonaut t-shirt is fairly uncommon and popular. Both characters have double faces which adds to interactive play features. BUILD: Building is straightforward, The instructions start with the tiny additional plate of grass with the chicken's nest, I guess the chicken isn't allowed in the kitchen. The kitchen is built entirely on a 8x8 base and has a neat tiled floor in a checkered pattern which gives it a great finished look. The appliances and sink are in very lively colors and the dark red masonry forms the outside wall. The cookies are in the oven, the egg is boiling, almost ready for Easter. The espresso machine, transparent oven door and lively green colors give the kitchen a modern-day look, but still very cosy and cute. Almost done, The top shelf is up, the clock is ticking we need to start painting those eggs. There are four different colors of 1x1 round bricks included which represent paint cans. I think it would have been cool to have one or two of those egg pieces in a new color to represent an already painted egg, but the white's are more versatile if you want to use them to stock up a grocery or something, so I am not complaining. And the kitchen is done. I tried to copy the setting that was depicted on the box with the kid smashing one egg on the floor. That smashed egg is a nice piece to use on a plate too. The back view is not lacking in detail, The great color combination and texture of the outside facade could easily work as is, even in it's flat form. The light bright orange window curtains are a nice touch... uh oh, what's that kid up to? Given the size of the set, you get a lot of pieces left over, this is off course due to a lot of small 1x1 pieces. Nice to get an extra paintbrush and cookie. CONCLUSION: I consider myself fairly critical, but there is simply nothing to critique about this set. LEGO always put special effort into staying neutral in regards to race and religion, so depicting Easter may be a slight bend in those principles, but that could be said of almost any seasonal set. It's amazing how much value can be fitted into a tiny box, this set excels at "playability", "collectability" and parts selection, something that is generally hard not to compromise at this scale. I can picture anyone buying this, from an office clerk as his desk ornament to a little kid who wants to interact with the characters. It just has a hugely wide appeal which is probably why they sell out so quickly. If you collected some of the older Creator houses that came with sparse or no interior furnishings, and you are short on "moc-ing" ideas, these seasonal sets could serve as greatly detailed packs to fill the void. Overall Design: 10/10 - There is nothing I can think of, that could have been designed better, nothing falls off nor is clumsy to handle. Parts selection: 10/10 - This set must have skipped the optimization process as no element is spared or recycled. + you get a chicken! Play features: 7/10 - While the set provides sufficient scene for play and plenty accessories, there are no specially added play functions out of the obvious. Challenging build: 6/10 - The build is simple and easy, but far from boring or repetitive. Minifigures: 6/10 - Minifigures are not what makes this set, but from all the generic prints we could get, one of them has the best of the bunch. Price: n/a - I am sorry, but i don't like to comment on price as this varies between countries and individual expectations, but compared to sets of similar size and piece count, sans licence, I consider it good value. Overall: 9/1

I always thought American store return policies were too lenient and opened more possibilities for fraud than customer protection. People will always steal, especially if you make it easy for them. Some imbecile took a scalpel and cut through all the collectible minifigure bags just to see what's inside in one of the stores here.

Obviously we all make up opinions on this based on our own experience, and if you built hundreds of sets and never found a missing piece, It's just hard to believe someone would have this happen repeatedly. I can believe it happens sometimes, but if you opened 5 sets and had multiple missing pieces in each, it's just hard not to think something else isn't at stake. Usually it's either the piece is still stuck in the bags or the piece was put somewhere else instead. I have friends who bought the VW Camper set because they are classic VW fans, not LEGO fans, they never assembled a LEGO set before, and all three of them reported multiple pieces missing. When I looked at the models, they all put them together wrong in different ways, and of course, no pieces were missing, but it took a lot of persuasion to make them realize it's their own doing. Even if you are an intelligent and observing person who isn't new to lego, I would still place my bets on this being in some way an error on your part or 3rd party.

Thanks for sharing, I know the difference, but a lot of other people are confused. Not quite sure how putting untrained staff behind a store that does what it pleases behind such an established and reputable brand goes for protecting said brand, but what do I know. Nice to hear about the loyalty program. All the "deals" our certified store ever offered were pointless. Doing offers like 30% off where they actually just raise the old price up. They have a sort of program now which isn't worth carrying the card in your wallet for. Only thing I ever use the store for is the PaB wall which isn't as great a deal as your usual PaB because there are no cups, you put the bricks on a scale and pay by weight. 1kg = EUR 80 What are BrickBang and electricBricks in Madrid then? they look like old monobrand stores.

The "blue" L piece is going to be Dark Azure like a lot of other police vehicles this season. I'll take that over regular blue any day.

Sets in parts are always more expensive than sets bought as sets. You can buy most current pieces in most current colors. Though the prices are on average more expensive than pick-a brick online or bricklink and licensed parts are seldom available.

A picnic in February. No wonder the fountain froze up

I already have these goats but no sheep to keep them company.

Maybe someone can confirm we are NOT getting a shepherd with a sheep, since you can't say we are.

Not exactly "my" wall, this is in Germany, about 350 miles from me. Aren't the travis bricks or "daleks" part of the December penguin mini-build? I've seen them about two years ago at my local store, also in black. The green slopes are part of the summer mini-build dump truck.

There are some trans-clear 2x2 round tiles in sets, but they are printed. You just have the piece without the printing applied. It would be easy to remove printing so it will never be particularly rare.

Munchen Riem store. two large and one small cup I always realize too late that i could have better compensated between some part quantities.

When you say related to animals i am not sure if this means he is part animal or just works with animals. If it's the latter, i'm hoping shepherd.

The subject matter aside, it's a very original execution of an interesting idea.

Great idea. I wish lego made some tiny motors so we could power smaller vehicles too. Is the guide arm fixed to the chassis or is it hinged in some way?

One of the best employee gifts so far, it's a great idea. Not sure the 2016 Christmas train is much of a milestone for trains though.

It's hard to divide wishes from probability, but I'll guess we'll eventually see a generic small bird mold which can then be printed in different colors like grey for pigeons. They are so omnipresent in every town.

Thank you for such approving comments. I will try to share more MOC's in the future.

Most LEGO designers were once AFOLs themselves, I doubt they stop following trends in the fanbase after it becomes their job. When a new element comes out there are a number of ideas one can think of for using them, I don't think it's rare that two people unknowingly think of the same thing. I know I often think of something, then go check online, and find out the same thing has been done before. Should I now abolish my idea because it's already taken? It must be a big challenge for Creator Expert designers to think up a new never before seen design for something that reoccurs in every set, like a street lamp. What goes in their advantage are new elements and colors, and what goes in ours are phased out molds and illegal connections.

Very interesting. A lot of those initial boundaries have been crossed in the meantime, we have guns and weapons in many themes but LEGO still retained the image of a very happy, positive toy. Much more so than its closest toy competitors like Hasbro or Mattel. Controlling colors of elements is maybe a bit too much, you can't control what some people will do anyway. Seems like yellow hips are kept off the table since the early 90's