ZO6

Time to dig up an old thread... I recently acquired a MISB copy of Gold City Junction off of Bricklink for $100 US. This is my first Wild West set, so I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I've been wanting to jump on-board the Wild West bandwagon since 1996. For years I've poured over the catalogs that show off the sets and always regretted that I never managed to even pick up a single set from the Wild West theme. Over the past few years, I've been picking up those last sets here and there that I needed to complete themes that I had collected (eg. Adventurers, Aquanauts). The time had finally come that I simply could no longer resist getting my first western set. After reading all of the reviews for the various sets, and checking Bricklink prices daily, I took the plunge and got myself Gold City Junction. My initial reaction to getting the set was that the box was smaller than I'd imagined it would be. In any case, it's not the size of the box that matters, but instead what is in it. I knew that the box had a flap to lift up in order to see a display tray and other parts contained in the set. Lifting these flaps to check the contents of the box, as well as reading the little stories that are written and looking at additional pics of the set is certainly one of my favorite aspects of these older kits. After opening the box, I realized that the bags of parts were really packed in and that there was hardly any empty space. As always, the instructions and extra catalogs were safely tucked away beneath everything and looked like they had just came out of the printer. Curiously, the sticker sheet was packed in one of the bags with some of the largest pieces. Luckily the sticker sheet was undamaged, so I immediately scanned it for backup. Again, with this being my first western set, the build was extremely enjoyable. One does not fully appreciate this set until they have built it and seen it in person. I have the Toy Story Woody's Roundup and it is interesting to compare Gold City Junction to the TS set (I'm sure the Sheriff's Lockup would make a better comparison, but I don't have that set... yet). It is surprising to note that Woody's Roundup has approximately 160 more pieces. The new Toy Story western set is quite a lot different than the stuff from 1996-1997. Anyway, back to Gold City Junction. I think that the set looks absolutely lovely. Everything is so charming. I was very pleased to see the details in the two buildings, I had not realized that the general store was so well stocked. The carriage is a wonderful addition to the set too. As for play features, I felt like a kid in a candy store. The exploding bank and carriage both work flawlessly. I was worried that the exploding bank would not work well, but I made sure that the removable wall/bench was nice and loose allowing it to go flying. Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the set. It has a nice spot in one of my glass display cases, but I can't help but keep pulling it out to play with. I very much look forward to picking up more of the western sets in the near future. Thanks for the Wild West reviews, Brickster!

I missed the race when it was live, but I caught some of the replay (though it was on during the Spain/Netherlands match, so much channel switching was needed ). Vettel really got dealt a bad hand at the start of the race. That was one heck of a comeback to make it into 7th (though the safety car really helped him a lot). Things only went from bad to worse for Alonso. With his strong qualifying I was hoping he'd get lots of points during the race. But alas I believe he was penalized wrongly for having to cut that corner and then a series of unfortunate events only put him in an even worse position. Kubica was going strong, so I was disappointed to see him have to retire. I see him pulling in lots of points over the second half of the season. Wish I had gotten to see more than just bits and pieces of the race, seems like it was a good one.

Lovely! Absolutely lovely! Your re-imagining of this classic set is a real feast for the eyes. There are so many wonderful details to take in, I could look at your creation for ages and keep spotting new things. How I wish TLC would do a theme similar to that of the Forestmen once again. The designs were all very unique and flawlessly managed to create an organic look and feel. I am always amazed at the prices that these sets fetch on Bricklink, I think it is a testament to how well loved the theme was. Thanks again for showing your creation!

Thanks for the epic review of such a brilliant set! I must admit that when I first saw images of the excavator, I had many doubts about how much functionality would actually be packed into the model. After reading these reviews and watching the videos, I couldn't be more pleased about the set. The excavator really delivers everything a technic fan could possibly want - a generous amount of pieces, loads of gears, a very complex build, and even a fully playable model that looks great! Thanks again for taking the time to do this comprehensive review!

I personally think the Extreme Team theme offered quite a lot of fun and action. What I appreciate the most is that the theme never had to resort to violence. Here you have these four daredevils - racing cars, flying planes, and going on expeditions up at some mountains. For me, the standout set in the theme was the Extreme Team Challenge. While TLC has released many versions of drag racers or other vehicles/planes, the concept of a set combining many high adrenaline recreational activities into one playset is fairly unique. Here you have a lovely baseplate with some structures on it, a handful of different vehicles, and your four team members out for a good time. Now, I'm sure next to Agents chasing down evil villains, or massive and heavily armed vehicles blasting each other as they race through a desert, the idea of some daredevils out camping might seem kind of lame. Because of a relatively low piece count, no structure or vehicle in the Extreme Team Challenge is particularly impressive, however they all have a purpose and are fully playable. It's the set as a whole that really delivers to offer a good time - using the little buggy with the spring suspension and driving over the bridge, having someone climb the mountain while the raft goes along the river and causes a land slide, the tired daredevil retiring to his tent only to have the floor collapse from under him. Again, the Extreme Team was about offering lots of fun and playability in the form of adventure and taking risks. Obviously weapons and violence have an undeniable presence in modern society, but it's always nice when action and excitement can come from something other than guns going off or good guys vs. bad guys. Note: I really just wanted to add that I have nothing against modern action themes, but they just simply don't appeal to me as much. This is coming from someone, who depending on their mood would consider the Adventurers to be their favorite theme. Meaning - I've got a soft spot for sets with baseplates, I like plentiful traps (especially those that are more complex), and I fully admit to having a great time setting up different scenarios of play to act out. Finally, and most importantly, I think that it is essential to not only have the Town/City themes and the crazy explosion packed actions themes, but to also have something in between the two.

I always tend to gravitate towards sets with structures or baseplates, so your MOC is certainly appealing to me. I think all of the sets from the World Racers themes could very well incorporate into scenery to enhanced display looks. However, save for the smallest sets, I think it would be harder to come up with scenery that would be feasible for a retail set. The first idea that came into my mind after seeing your MOC was an addition to Blizzard's Peak - a white baseplate with a combination of white and grey BURPS to create the sense of a snow covered area with some mountains along one side or corner. When the vehicles go racing across the snowy terrain past the mountains, they 'trigger an avalanche' with appropriate coloured parts in various shapes and sizes to come pouring down. I'm picturing Bandit's Secret Hideout or Boulder Cliff Canyon, but winterized. The biggest obstacle with adding scenery to the World Racers sets is the large size of most of the vehicles in the theme. Of course for most of us collectors with lots of parts for MOCing this would be quite do-able, but again, for retail it would likely be too costly in most cases.

You had me very excited there. With the set releasing in a few months, hopefully we do see some pics of it soon. I'm sure it will be a beauty!

Initial thoughts - in recent sets, the weapons seem to becoming the main play features for the models. There are more of the weapon systems on a model, and the way that they function can range anywhere from a flick-fire to something more complex. In the past, if weapons were featured in sets, they were often just for show and usually did not have any functionality. These older sets would have instead had other functions and play features. Ex. World Racers vs. the 2000 Race Theme This example can easily be applied to other themes- Space Police 3 vs. Space Police Another angle - modern sets often have two different factions within the same set. There is usually the good guy, and the bag guy. The sets are designed so that the two factions can interact, or battle against one another in a very direct way. In the past, a set would often just contain the model for a specific faction. The set would have functions of its own, and in many cases the model would be perfectly playable by itself, but often you would need to combine it with a set of the opposing faction so that more fun could be had. Ex. Atlantis vs. Aquazone Aquanauts & Aquasharks Again, many more examples of this formula can easily be found. More thoughts - Over the years, we have received many themes that have extremely obvious influences from earlier sets, but these "remakes" are much more action oriented. Some examples being, old Aquazone vs. Atlantis, Rock Raiders vs. Power Miners, 2000 Race vs. World Racers. Its seems that older themes seemed to be based more on exploration, discovery, and risk taking. While many newer themes, as mentioned before, are focused on lots of action and explosive (literally) play features. One of my favorite themes of all time - Adventurers, focused on exploration. These sets were for the most part structures, and they features many tricks and traps. The sets were much more along the lines of man vs nature (well...man vs. temple, or something like that), with the goal of finding treasure. There were of course villains, but they were not the focus of the sets. Fast forward to say Agents. Most of these sets were vehicle based. They were also strongly good guys vs. bad guys and primarily action oriented. While some other recent themes such as Power Minors or Atlantis try to throw in exploration for crystals or keys, the "bad guys" still have a very strong presence. I'm starting to forget where I'm going with all of this, so I'll just wrap things up. Action themes have simply just become much more action oriented than they were in the past. Kids like good guys vs. bad guys + explosions, and TLC is delivering.

Be sure to re-post your question in the "What LEGO Set Should I Buy" thread for additional feedback. My thoughts though - I own both the Temple of Doom and the AT-TE, and like them both very much. Out of the three sets that you've listed, I'd definitely say to get the AT-TE first, as its been around the longest and will be extremely hard to find soon. More thoughts - If you're a parts/price ratio guy, the AT-TE is the best value. The set is surprisingly large, and quite a lot of fun to play around with (more so when combined with the Gunship, Separatist Spider Droid, and Hailfire Droid/Spider droid). The Temple of Doom is a very satisfying set to own, however it is quite pricy, and you need to make sure you've got plenty of room if you plan on displaying it. The minifigures are definitely the best part of this set (and in my opinion better than the figs in the other two sets you're looking to buy). The mine cart requires a bit of modding to work properly otherwise the minifigures will smash their heads and get stuck while going under one of the traps (this is a very easy fix). Overall, the set is massive and extremely fun to play around with. Though I too plan on picking up the Slave 1, I will be doing so with some guilt. I don't normally complain about pricing, but in this case the cost of the set seems ridiculously high considering what you get. The ship is hardly a step up from the 2006 version (in fact, there are many aspects of the earlier version that I prefer) so again, I don't see the justification of the massive price increase. I am a fan of the new Boba Fett and other minifigures, but I'm apprehensive of any set whos biggest selling feature is the figs. So in my opinion, if you really want those three sets, get the AT-TE first, then the Temple of Doom, then the Slave 1 (especially keep an eye out for it on sale).

Thanks for this look at the Crater Cruiser, Cardinal Brick! Somehow I missed picking up any Unitron sets, so it's nice to get a look at them. I've got mixed feelings on this set after reading your review. Looking at the Crater Cruiser in catalogs all these years, I always thought it was a pretty cool vehicle. I've always liked the three sizes of wheels, the detachable mini-ship, and the colour scheme. Upon closer inspection, the vehicle is less complex/detailed than I thought it would be. The side view makes it seem very skeletal and quite full of holes. The set still looks extremely playable, and the minifigures are nicely detailed. I have one Unitron minifigure from the 6705 Space Explorers set, and I like the fig a lot. Thanks again for the review. I look forward to seeing the rest of the theme up close.

The Canadian TRU site has loads of new sets listed. Most of them are not yet available, and instead listed as "Out of Stock", but at least you can see what the prices will be like. Some of the new stuff listed includes: -Games (around 10 of them, I believe them to be all from the first wave except for the Harry Potter one) -Star Wars, basically all the new stuff (Slave 1 etc.) save for the newest AT-AT and UCS Shuttle -Some of the new Hero Factory stuff -All the new Technic stuff (Motorized Excavator etc.) -Trains -Public Transport, $140 ouch! Hopefully this means that all of these sets will be making their way into stores sometime in the near future!

Hmm, both sets have their fair share of attractions, but I think I prefer the Beach House. -First, the Beach House has just about the same amount of pieces as the Apple Tree house, but in Canada it is $20 cheaper. -In my opinion, the Beach house is a more interesting design. I found the build to be more enjoyable (save for the many 1x1 tiles to create the paths) and I think the end product is more eye catching. Depending on my mood, sometimes I prefer the exterior accessories and details (ex. BBQ and table etc of the Beach house, Lawn mower, basketball net of the Apple Tree house) of one house to the other, so I guess it's a tie for those. After building the two houses, I found that the Beach house was slightly larger than I had pictured it to be, while the Apple Tree house seemed very small. I was surprised to find that placed side by side, the Beach house is the larger of the two. I must admit that the colour scheme of the Apple Tree house is the most pleasing (especially the lovely dark blue roof). However, while I do appreciate having the different shade of baseplate, when you combine it with other sets the colour seems out of place. In terms of alternate models, I would say that both sets are tied. The cafe from the beach house, and the small A-shaped cottage from the apple tree house are both very lovely. The multi-story buildings on the other hand, don't seem quite as hot in my opinion. Ultimately, both sets are fantastic and I'm pleased to own them, but I have to give the slight nod to the Beach house.

When I was younger and before one had the ability to use the internet to look up Lego, I used to carry my catalogs around with me just about everywhere I went. It was such a thrill to see all the latest products - the new themes and sets, the descriptions and captions pointing about the different play features, the piece counts, and of course the prices. Even now with all the technology that we have at our fingertips, I still love to slowly flip through the newest calalogs to check out everything. Even though I've seen all the products and read reviews for many of them, there is still something very satisfying about having a physical catalog in your hands to be able to look up sets at any time.

I received my copy of the Canadian S@H catalog a couple of days ago. For those who are interested, here is a comparison against what is included in the US one that VBBN has shown: -Perhaps it is a mistake, but the Fire Brigade is listed for $149.99 Canadian in the catalog (It's still listed at $199.99 online as of writing this. Either a price drop is on its way, or its just a mistake) -The pages advertising the Prison Carriage Rescue, Knight's Showdown, Prison Tower Rescue, and battles packs are not present -No page about the LEGO design challenge -No racers (including the new Lamborghini) -Finally, there is of course no ad for the Brickmaster subscription

After picking up my UCS ISD from the post office, I decided to take it down to my basement to assemble it. While carrying the box down the stairs into the basement, I lost my footing and went sliding the down last 6 or so steps. I felt a very sharp pain in one of my toes, but I was too excited about building the Star Destroyer to worry much about my foot. Over the course of two days while building the ship, I noticed my toe getting progressively more bruised until it was completely black. Sometime much later I found out that I had broken the toe. Being the proud owner of the Star Destroyer more than made up for the injury though.

Way to go Kobayashi! Nice to see him not only finish a race but also have a pretty respectable result in 7th place. It will be interesting to see is any penalties end up being given out as Kobayashi could potentially end up in 3rd place. It really was not Webber's day. Not only did he have a terrible start, but that accident was brutal. Sure Kovalainen was the much slower car and should have moved out of the way more quickly, but I really think Webber could have done a better job trying to go around him instead of straight into the back of his car. In any case, I'm glad to see that Webber was not badly injured. Ferrari really had poor luck this weekend. Alonso and Massa both had decent grid positions, but that safety car ruined their day.

I finally got around to ordering this beauty from S@H. Oddly enough, when I placed my order, it said that I qualified for the Toy Story activity book. When I received my order yesterday, the activity book wasn't there (nor was it listed on the receipt/invoice) but it would have actually been more of a surprise to me had one actually made its way to me anyway. No big deal. Onto the set itself - pictures really do no do the Green Grocer justice. As with the other modular buildings, these things look simply amazing in person. I had thoroughly studied each of the reviews for this set at one point, but luckily there will still many surprises while building this myself. Something that I had never noticed all this time is that there is actually plastic windows in front of the curtains on the second floor. In seeing that woman in the blue overalls standing out on the little balcony in pictures, I always assumed that area in front of the curtains was open. Many of the others details are very nice, and I found myself much more impressed with the fire escape as it really is quite nifty seeing it in person. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the Green Grocer. My set came in a slightly different box, it did not have the cardboard tray inside. Otherwise, it still had the same amount of polybags as dunamis listed. A heads up - he has listed the total amount of numbered bags + the smaller bags found within some of the larger ones.

I've had my Star Destroyer built and on display for around 6 years as well. Its moved from one location in my house to another on multiple occasions, and even took a car ride to the local library to be put on display. In all those years, I've only had one of the bottom panels become unattached twice. I've heard a lot of complaints about the nose of the ship sagging, but I guess I've been a bit fortunate and this really hasn't been very much of a problem for me. It was the thought of having to re-do all of the greebles that prevented me from doing a review for this set for such a long time (and figuring out how I was going to photograph everything). The 32x of the greebles early on is pretty testing of ones patience, but the stuff on the super structure is significantly more fun as there is more variety in it. For the first couple of years after getting this set, I had it on display beside the main television in the house. Since then, its been sitting on my desk right beside the very computer that I'm typing on right now. I'm not one to disassemble and store away my Lego sets. Every set that I own is current assembled. I've got every wall in my room covered with shelves or display cases with my Lego out to be seen. The sets that I don't have room to display are all in cupboards and drawers in other places around the house, but every single one of them is still built. Everything takes up a ridiculous amount of room, but I really can't help it - I simply love to look at and play around with my Lego. Regarding the final picture - I've always thought it would be far too easy to significantly injure others by mishandling the Star Destroyer. The ship weighs in at around 10-15 pounds and is of course very large. This thing could easily destroy small children or animals if it was dropped on them. If flick missiles, those rubber technic launchers, and plastic bags can all have safety warnings on them, why shouldn't the Star Destroyer? It's big and pointy - the ultimate in weapons technology!

Thanks for this up close look at the Lamborghini Polizia! These cars that TLC are producing seem to look better and better all the time, and this Lamborghini seems like an improvement over the LP560-4. I'm especially glad to see brick built front headlights this time around. Should there be any more incarnations of this car in the future, it will be interesting to see what sort of building techniques are used to help eliminate sticker usage. Considering the dimensions and piece count used for the model, the overall shape of the car is captured relatively well. At this point I'd say my biggest complaint about the look of the car is the rims that bulge out past the sides of the tires. Finally, I think it's nice to see a special version of a car represented. Also, the extra accessories in this set are neat touch as well.

I noticed this saloon while looking at your post office, and I must say that it's always a pleasure to see your creations, Klaus-Dieter. The saloon looks great from the outside, and has a lovely detailed interior. You've included all the must haves of a saloon, including the bar, table for drinking and playing cards at, and the room upstairs for a bit of extra fun. I'm only finally just getting around to collecting sets from the Western theme myself, and if your creations were official sets for sale I'd snap them up instantly. Hopefully if we ever get a new western theme it includes more civilian based sets like the ones you've created. Thanks for sharing!

Lovely creation Klaus-Dieter! Your post office would surely fit in perfectly in a western town and would be a most welcome addition. The designs of both the post office and carriage are wonderful, and they are also generously detailed. Thanks for sharing!

I was wondering! I was watching a movie with my sister in the basement, and everything started rumbling and shaking. There is a lot of construction going on down the road, and I figured it was some heavy machinery driving by. I quickly ran to look out a window, but there wasn't any sign of a vehicle capable of making the house shake. I've wondered since then what caused the shaking, so thanks for clearing that up.

I made room for my minifigures a couple of minutes ago and took a picture of them. I've got them in a tall glass display case on one of the shelves. Perfect for showing them off and keeping them dust free.

I've got a number of large glass display cases that I store some of my Lego collection in. They are full at the moment, though I like to rotate what I display in them once in a whole. I imagine I'll make room for them in one of those cases in the near future.

I started taking piano lessons when I was around five years old. I continued these lessons for about 8 years. Since then I've been playing off and on when I feel like it, though in recently years since entering into school for Film and Television Production I've been playing more frequently. I like to come up with my own tunes to accompany my videos. My favorite music to play is Claude Debussy's work - I find a lot of his work extremely beautiful and epic sounding. I received an acoustic guitar when I was quite young. I took lessons for a couple of years, and then decided to continue on my own. I've never gotten very good at playing the guitar, but I still like to mess around with it from time to time. During public school and high school I played the trumpet in music class. I really enjoyed playing the instrument and was very good at it. I even managed to picked up a couple of music awards. Unfortunately, I haven't played the trumpet in years as I've never owned one myself. Overall, I'd say I'm the biggest fan of playing the piano. I've got a lovely full sized keyboard at home, and a more portable one to take with me when I travel (like at school/residence). I always find it nice to hear about others that play musical instruments.