Pchan1983

Here is my review on LEGO City 60407 Red Double-Decker Sightseeing Bus: THE GOOD: A great looking double decker in LEGO city scale. Love the fact there are 8 seats and even added the stairs. Very interesting build. New Baby Stroller! THE NOT SO GOOD: A bit pricey without discount. Another set added to my wish list when it was first revealed, particularly I like London Buses and I do think this one is inspired by them. Given it's a sight-seeing bus, the open top double decker design makes sense. The building experience has been fun and there are some interesting techniques to create the colour contrast pattern. A few stickers here and there to add a bit more vibe to this but the bus itself is very good looking and detailed. You can open it up very easily and it reveals the interior with details like the stairs. It also able to fit 8 passengers. The printed tiles for destination is just icing on the cake and will be very useful. While there are not new minifigure heads in this but there are some very nice torso plus a new baby stroller which has been done very well. Personally, I built this with a right hand drive configuration given where I live. It's a great little set I would recommend although the price without discount is a bit too high. Having said that I got this with 20% discount and it's not hard to find good deals on LEGO City sets!

good to know =)

Here is my review on LEGO Monkie Kid 80058 Celestial Pagoda: THE GOOD: Looks stunning with great colour co-ordiantion. Excellent minifigures with first ever Nuwa & Li Jing. Overal capture the essence of the pagoda really well from the source material. Actually a great building experience. THE NOT SO GOOD: Not sure if this count as negative but It screaming at me to get another one to build a full tower XD You can also say it lacks play features considering the size and price of this. Due to its height, it can be challenging to find proper display shelf. Another unbelievable set from LEGO Monkie Kid. You thought after Heavenly Realms & the dragon palace, it's very unlikely LEGO will have further traditional location sets based on Journey to the West, then you are wrong lol. And here we are with the Celestial Pagoda. It looks absolutely stunning and having a very refreshing building experience. Some of the windows build are just so nice. Blue and beige combination is also a great colour choice. It's open back but the lower level actually have lots of depth. The higher you go, it does feel a bit of a facade but that's how the tower structurally designed. Even the interior is very detailed and I absolutely love the mini vase builds. It does capture the essence of the original pagoda from the source materially extremely well too. The minifigures are execllent. Nuwa and Li-Jing are really unexpected inclusion, espeically Li-Jing. IF you are not aware, this is actually his tower. Nuwa's accessories can probably used a infinity stones too just missing an orange one. With the core monkie kid team all included in this set and each team members have unique number on their torso, nothing much bad I can say about them. Now this set is indeed very tall so finding a space to display can be tough and also it really doesn't have much play features considering the size and price of this set. Having said that, I cannot deny it's an excellent set especially if you are into the chinese culture. I'm really really tempted to buy another one to make a full towel, probably need some extra parts as well and some design to elevate this already excellent set. This does cost a bit though. OK, LEGO, please get us either the great buddha or the underworld palace!!!

Here is my review on 75373 Ambush on Mandalore™ Battle Pack: THE GOOD: All 4 minifigures are excellent. Good use of the clear curved pole for posing. THE NOT SO GOOD: The side build doesn't feel like it warrants the current price tag. Plain black heads for all 4 minifigures. When I watched season 3 of The Mandalorian, I immediately know the new Imperial Commandos will be in LEGO form at some stage. And here we are, and in a battle pack which I thought it's good for army building. The minifigures do not disappoint in this one. Both the Imperial Commandos and Mandalorians are done very well. I like the fact they have 2 variants of the Mandalorian. I just wish they didn't use a plain black head for all 4 of them. The side build is also much larger compared to the time when battle pack was way more cheaper. While the build has posing ability and lots of area to place minifigures, I cannot deny it looks somewhat boring. It's the moment I feel like a smaller side build might be better to lower the price a bit. Now this set can be connected to 75386 but that's pretty much it. This also means it will be quite a pricey exercise to even build an army of 10. Overall, I'm satisfied with the quality of minifigures but only wish it;s $10 cheaper. But if you love the show, then this is a set you don't want to miss as I believe this will be the cheapest option of get Imperial Commandos even in the near future.

Here is my review on LEGO City 60424 Jungle Explorer ATV Red Panda Mission: THE GOOD: The Red Panda is great and looks way better than they showed in official reveal Johnny Thunder The location build is compatible with a clip to be connected with sets in this wave. THE NOT SO GOOD: The ATV is bigger than recent one from set of this size but lacks the suspension or turning wheels gimmick. I wonder how many of us bought this because it's a low cost way to obtain the new Red Panda. It's always good to get new animal moulds in small set like this. This set also comes with some new elements. The ATV is much bigger compared to other ATV released recently but this time lacks any action like suspension or turning wheels. But it's ok, given the main draw on this set is really the new red panda, and it looks great. Way better proportion in real life than compared to what's in photos. With a small terrain build which you can connect with other jungle sets just released. At $19 NZD, it's really a good way to the new red panda. I do wish they included a second but this would probably increase the price. Anyway, it's a recommendation from me!

Friends line has set the bar really high in the past 24 months.

Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42638 Castle Bed and Breakfast: THE GOOD: Looking beautiful. New and interesting building techniques through out to create some of the exterior architecture. Packs with interior details with a stunning bathroom. Interesting new pieces like new printed postcard & rubber duck with no eye prints. THE NOT SO GOOD: can't find any. This is another absolute stunner from Friends. Already caught my eyes when it was first announced and I did prioritise my budget to get this first. And I was not disappointed. First, it looks absolutely beautiful with perfect colour coordinations and interesting details both on the exterior and inside the interior. It also have one of the most refreshing build I had lately because the new techniques they use to create the exterior. Especial the curved pillar type structure, it's so smart is also built the curtains for you to view from the inside. The build is designed to stack each level on top of each other in a modular way. It's not fully connected but much tighter than your typical modular build. One thing to note is that it looks smaller than you see in picture but it still look good. And it also utilise the microphone piece very well. Each level has very detailed interior, I particularly think the bathroom on the top level is one more the most elegant bathroom I've seen so far. the combination with the windows structure just made it even better. There is also a very interesting customisation do with the beds as it can be configured between double and 2 singles. This set also comes with some interesting new pieces like a new printed post card/letter tile which I absolutely love. Also a rubber duck with no eye prints. The minidolls are great with very fitting details and I particularly like Renee's hair style. Making this full modular can be challenging as it requires planning on what needs to be incorporated if you decide to build the other half of this building. With a more reasonable pricing compared to other reason sets and not difficult to get 20% off this set at least, I'm indeed tempted to buy another one to try modularise it. This is another set that I would absolutely recommend!!!

Here is my review on latest LEGO Batman 76274 Batman with the Batmobile vs. Harley Quinn and Mr. Freeze: THE GOOD: Looking really good and love the proportion and the front grill. A "cheaper" way to get this batman and I love the new cape. THE NOT SO GOOD: WTH with the price ... Wish the door/windshield designed with sliding forward action instead of flip open The seat is missing most part and you can see the rear wheels axel and gears If you enjoyed the Animated Series like I did back in the days, you will want this set due to the nostalgia factor. And in terms of how it looks and the building experience, it does not disappoint. I really dig the front grill and the proportion of this built. The side intakes and rear designs are also recreated by lego brilliantly considering the size of this. In terms of the colour, it's actually ok for me given I had other toys back then and most of them were the same or similar navy colour. But I did feel the inside is a bit incomplete with the seat only have the back cushion but not able to hide the technic piece and the gears, it feels like Batman has the danger of dropping out and crush by his own batmobile. One other nip pick in terms of of the batmobile is the door/windshield probably will be more accurate if it has a sliding mechanism instead of the traditional LEGO flip open style. The minifigures are great and it's nice to see Mr. Freeze instead of you know, Joker again. I also like the new cape piece and this set is a "cheaper" way to get the animated batman. Now the retail price without discount is ridiculous (it's $100NZD in NZ here), despite me really wanting the set, I did not plan to purchase this quickly until one of our local retailer decided to do a 25% off deals, and this is exactly why I bought this now. No doubt it's an awesome set for the fans but the RRP is really steep on this one. Otherwise definitely a recommendation only if you manage to get a good deal on this.

I'm surprised this polybag ain't part of any GWP promo since it's clearly an extension to the forbidden forest creatures set. I wouldn't mind they release more polybags like this though.

Just got the latest polybag and the baby gorilla is cute and always welcome polybags with new animals rather than buying the bigger sets.

Finally, these are available in NZ. So happy they brought back the unique themes baseplate and so many interesting transparent parts!

yes i understand but it's actually pretty big. Hopefully more discount on the way

Here is my review on LEGO Star Wars 75362 Ahsoka Tano's T-6 Jedi Shuttle: THE GOOD: The ship looks great with an excellent action feature allow you to rotate 360 degrees. 4 excellent minifigures exclusive to this set. THE NOT SO GOOD: None. I'm surprised how well this set is once I finished building it. As a LEGO fan does not have in depth knowledge of Star Wars lore and not collecting many spaceships, this has been a refreshing build. And I was blown away on how well the 360 degrees movement is executed. It is also great with most of the details are done with different elements and colours rather than rely on stickers. I can't comment on how accurate the ship is in terms of scale and look given I have yet watched the show, but just judging by the end product, I think it looks great. The 4 minifigures are excellent, I like the updated look of Ahsoka and the use of no colours transparent piece to create a more accurate lightsaber for her. Also great Sabine Wren with great details. The remaining minifigures are great too. More over these are currently exclusive to this set which makes it a really good deal with a pricing that is reasonable in comparison to other Star Wars sets released at the same time. And it's not hard to get a discount on this now. Definitely a recommendation from me.

Managed to get the polybag and it's great to get more minions minifigures. The polybag from Minions previously had a slight more challenging build though compared to this one. But still great.

bought it in 2016 and finally opened this one. let's put the original price aside, it's actually pretty good set.

Here is my review on LEGO Despicable Me 4 75580 Minions and Banana Car: THE GOOD: 4 Minions in the smallest and cheapest set. THE NOT SO GOOD: It feels like an army building pack but it isn't as all 4 minions are unique. This is a great set to get a few extra minions minifigures. The banana car is simple but does look like a banana. Rest of the set is really just minifigures plus very small side builds. 3 of them have unique torso print which makes it hard for army building. If your intention is for Army building, I would recommend the Party Bus set instead even though it is double the price but you get 3 traditional minions bodies instead of 1 here. Again, this set really is for fans of minions as apart from minifigures, there aren't much appeal to a wider audience. Overall, a decent entry to the theme and I had a great time.

Here is my review on LEGO Despicable Me 4 75581 Minions' Music Party Bus: THE GOOD: QR code sticker to a short video. Great for Minion army building. Love the DJ deck with spinning record. THE NOT SO GOOD: Bus is really short, ratio wise, and it does feel repetitive when building the upper are of it. RRP is probably $10NZD too expensive considering the content. This is another set I managed to get earlier than the dated launch. This set comes with 3 regular minions and 1 mega-minion which is great if you want to build a minions army. All 4 minions are unique and I like this mega minion with a cape moulded to its head. The bus itself is fairly short but have decent width. I like how the the front is designed and it has party features like DJ deck, dance floor and a jacuzzi/pool. I think the driver area could have been utilise more. The bus can be opened up quite wide for the minions to party but given the minions size, it's hard to fit all of them in. Couple of cool graphics design on the stickers and there is one QR code which you can scan to navigate to a special page to watch a LEGO Minion short =). The DJ deck is pretty cool though as you can actually spin the record. Having said that, while the bus has a some interesting building techniques involve, but it does also feel repetitive when you start building the uppper area of the bus. It's a set perfect for minions lovers but can be underwhelming given the recommend retail price.

Here is my review on LEGO Despicable Me 4 75583 Minions and Gru's Family Mansion: THE GOOD: Manison exterior captures the look of the house in film fairly well. Includes the whole Gru's family. The MEGA minions are surprisingly cool. The tree house is actually a good small set if released separately. THE NOT SO GOOD: Gru still doesn't look like Gru. The mansion has no side walls. Luckily our local toy stores dropped this early with 15% off, as someone who loved the sets from Minions few years ago, this is a no brainer purchase. When this set was announced, I was very skeptical on the build and turns out I was right. The mansion does capture the look of Gru's house in the film but this is a complete facade type build focused in play features given the target audience. In that aspect, it succeed. For those who wishes something like the Disney Up house, then you will be disappointed on the mansion it self as it doesn't even have side walls. Having said that, some of the play features inside the house are pretty stunning. Some highlights are the rotatable pillars with toilet and different equipment, Gru's throne, and the kid's bed. Although the bed looks authentic but it's way too big interms of the scale of the house. With the current set up, it will be a great challenge for those who wants to build a complete Gru's mansion. Now the tree house, I actually find this a way more interesting build and more satisfied in the end product compared to the mansion. It has a working zip line and I was impressed on how well the decoration on the tree trunk is attached. Even it's enhanced for playability, it feels more complete as a set compare to the mansion. But hey, to be honest, most of us would be buying this for the minions. This set doesn't include normal minions but only includes MEGA minions. Will have to wait until I've seen the film before I know the story but the MEGA minions are great, so obvious they played homage to the fantastic 4. In terms of other minifigures, it's great this set pretty much included the whole Gru's clan. I wish the dog Kyle is also included but I guess LEGO ran out of budget for an extra new mould. Gru still has issue without his iconic nose but give he is an middle age man in this settings, makes more sense to use adult legs compared to the Minions's Gru who was a kid and still use adult torso. Lucy is the highlight from the rest of the minifigure with an excellent secondary face print, the girls are great too but I wish they have use the mid legs for Mayo instead. If you are into minions, this is definitely a set for you but otherwise it's ok to skip if you don't care about this IP.

Here is my review on LEGO Disney 43230 Walt Disney Tribute Camera: THE GOOD: Looks great with cool features. An excellent building experience. No stickers. A high quality plastic film reel with very cool graphics. Rolling camera sound effect. Bambi and Dumbo. THE NOT SO GOOD: None but for those who owns the LEGO Ideas Steamboat Willie set, the Mickey and Minnie is not as good as those. Waited a long time for a decent discount on this set, and finally made the purchase. When this was announced, I truly thought it's another set with exclusive characters to get you to buy type of set. In some sense, this is still true but I was pleasantly surprised how good this set is. First, it looks great and it packs with features. The building experience is somewhat unique and really fresh for me. I had a great time building this. The details of the lens, tripod and even the minifigures stand are all great. It's also smart to use the film case to create the Disney 100 logo. The camera opens up with a small workshop and the coolest part is the sound of a rolling camera. One of the highlights for me is the film reel, made of plastic foil type materials. It has many many scenes of disney properties in minifigures. It's excellently done and makes you wonder if those characters will make an appearance in future set. Of cos most of us buy this set for the minifigures and animal characters, all of theme are excellent as expected. I do think the previous LEGO Ideas steamboat willie version of Mickey and Minnie are far more superior though. Having said that, the minifig stand is awesome, not just it's a working film clapper but the fact that 3 printed window/door pice that create a 3 dimensional looking scene is a decent surprised. The set itself is not cheap but it is not in the unaffordable range and with a discount, makes the pricing very competitive. Whether you are disney fan or not, it's definitely a set that I would recommend.

Here is my review on LEGO Sonic The Hedgehog 76994 Sonic's Green Hill Zone Loop Challenge: THE GOOD: It's fun and the challenge is a lot easier to accomplished compared to the LEGO city Stuntz challenges. The full course does capture the vibe of the game well. The launcher is actually quite powerful. Excellent minifigures. Interesting printed elements and many Sonic in universe animals. THE NOT SO GOOD: No exclusive minifigures considering this is the most expensive set. Price tag is high without discount. Managed to buy this set with 50% off and I really wanted the new colour for the loop and a Dr.Eggman minifig. And wow this was pretty fun. If you have been experienced the difficulties with LEGO City stuntz challenges, don't worry, this one has a higher success rate just because the launch works extremely well. The only worry I have if the case holding sonic will crack at some point. Obviously, this set is designed for play so there aren't much complex or detailed builds in this. The overall outlook is great and does capture the vibe of the game. As added bonus, Dr.Eggman's robot and some additional details are added around the course to give this an enjoyable building experience as well. And as usual, there are no stickers in this set. The minifigures are great but my only complain is none of these minifigures are exclusive to this set despite this is the biggest and most expensive set from the theme. Of course there are pros and cons with this, first you don't have to buy this set if you just trying to complete the minifigures, however the other sets are cheaper than this one but you may end up spending more money even though this set RRP is quite high without discount as other smallers sets are not cheap as well. This set overall is really fun but it's definitely not for anyone. If you love Sonic or has particular parts you want in this, I'll definitely recommend this if you manage to find a good deal. Otherwise, this set may not be for you. (I guess that's why it's on clearance)

Here is my review on 75325 The Mandalorian's N-1 Starfighter: THE GOOD: Overall shape for the starfighter is good. First Mando to feature Din Jarin face. THE NOT SO GOOD: Wish the colour is chrome. Engine underneath the ship too easy to fall off. You may also say this is a bit too big compare to the actual ship in show, Originally, I pre-ordered this to reach a threshold for a GWP and wanted the dark saber and Din Jarin look. But didn't prioritise building and after a better version of the dark saber released (and I built that set too), finally decided to build this one. Turns it's pretty good. And surprisingly the start fighter is quite large (may be too larget) and the shape looks good, although this should have been chrome silver colour but I doubt LEGO could make that happen. Overall building experience for was great given I have not own any previous star fighter type set. And I like the 2 engines look, it just a bit frustrating to build. The minifigures are nice, at the time of the release but if you compare with more recent sets, it may be disappointing but you get an exclusive character in this set. Otherwise, it's ok but I'm a bit disappointed the thruster underneath the ship is so easy to fall off. At NZD $120 RRP, it's not cheap but like crazy expensive like some of the recent releases and if you like the show, this might just worth it with a reasonable discount. However, if you are just into the Mando minifigure, there are more updated version in more recent sets with cheaper price =)

After nearly 9 years, I finally opened this set and I quite like it to be honest, and I'm glad I bought this while it was still on the shelf, saved me from paying few hundreds nowadays.

Here is my review on LEGO Marvel Spider-Man No way home 76280 Spider-Man vs. Sandman: Final Battle: THE GOOD: Sandman is great with a fun build and lots of movements. Finally getting Lizard minifigure. Able to integrate into last year final battle set seamlessly. THE NOT SO GOOD: Very very expensive. Do we really need a repeat for Spider-Man & Electro? I wish this was part of the Final Battle set released last year. On its own, it's great with a very good Sandman build. And Sandman has a lot of movements and I especially love the movements you are able to do with the neck and arms. He also looks very menacing too. Having its own stand makes it a very good and lively display. The minifigures are great, and finally you get a Lizard minifigure. While it is well done, I do wish Lizard is a big fig. Spider-man and electro are nice too but if you have bought other sets, it;s very repetitive. I wish Spider-man is also a new variant. Now, it's clear this set must have designed as part of the Final Battle set, as it fits seamlessly into it without issues. This also the main issue, because on its own, this set cost $80NZD which is very very high. I rather pay more for a bigger than to be honest and I wouldn't have bought this if it wasn't a 30% off discount. If you really want a complete scene from no way home or the lizard minifig, then it's probably a set for you with a high price, otherwise if you just a casual fan and already satisfied with the final battle set, then you don't really need to spend on this set.

Here is my review on 2024 LEGO Harry Potter 76430 Hogwarts Castle Owlery: THE GOOD: 5 owls plus 2 hidden owls hidden in the build design. Very details on the exterior and surrounding terrain. No stickers. THE NOT SO GOOD: The price without discount is a bit too high. First I will call this the Owl Battle pack, given you get 5 different owls in this plus a few hidden, more abstract ones which I think it brilliant design of building experience. The Owlery itself is quite tall, in fact taller than I originally expected. And both the exterior and surrounding terrains are nicely designed. The 3 minifigures are great with very nice torsos, although the head pieces are still using variants from previous year. This set also has no stickers which is nice surprise. However, this set is not cheap without any discount. I only bought this set because Amazon AU was doing a time sale at 30% off which makes the price very competitive in today's standard. It's a recommendation from me but only when you can get a decent discount!

3 years since buying this, finally opened. Apart from a few flaws, absolutely loving it!