Jim

SBrick - Smart way to control all your LEGO® Creations Once upon a time there was a group of LEGO fans that had a dream, namely the dream of not simply taking readily existing building blocks to create a new model, but rather to create something that would take the LEGO experience to an entirely new level. They started their journey half a year ago but in order to fully realize their dream they now need your support. Take a look at what they’ve achieved so far and play your part to help turn what was simply a dream six months ago into a reality today. Read all about it in the Technic Forum and show your support by Pledging this Kickstarter Project.

That looks really promising. I would love to build me a copy when you are done

Two weeks left to enter the Technic Mini Build Contest. Click on the image below to find out what it's all about and how you can join. The contest entry topic is now live!!

I have created the entry topic for the contest. http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=97822

MINI BUILD ENTRY TOPIC This is the entry topic for the Technic Mini Build Contest. DESCRIPTION Build a LEGO Technic model with a maximum of 200 LEGO parts! Imagine your set being sold as an official LEGO set. DEADLINE Contest closes on August 1st, 2014. CONTEST INFORMATION More information about the contest can be found in the general discussion topic. WHAT DO I NEED TO ENTER? Please take a careful look at the rules before posting in this topic. Each participant should create a post in this entry topic. Posts need to follow the rules stated below. Posts not following the rules will be disqualified so please read them carefully. ENTRY POST The entry post should contain: Entry name Part count Short summary of the functions Promotional image (this one should kick megablocks!) Parts image (a picture of all the parts used, spread out on a surface) Video's are not allowed in the entry post (they are allowed in your WIP topic) The promotional image needs to be clear and crisp image, which really shows the model in it's best way. Think of it as the image on the box. Building a great MOC is one thing, but a decent presentation really helps you to get more votes. It's allowed to do some photoshopping to enhance the quality of your image. It's even allowed to compose a single promotional image with a main picture and several subviews (example), as long as your image doesn't exceed the maximum width of 1024 pixels. So this is allowed and even encouraged: The part image needs to show ALL the parts used in the model. That way we can clearly see which, and how many, parts have been used. For example: IMPORTANT This topic should be used for entries only, so commenting is prohibited. Please use the general discussion topic for comments on the entries.

I seriously love this creation! And your presentation is well done. The last seconds made me smile! Do you have a nice picture of your MOC, so I can....I dunno.....frontpage it

You stole my answer

Why? Because we can!! Kingdom Tower will be the tallest tower in the world. Is this the tallest Technic tower in the world?!

Nice mini review. I rarely build B-models, but you got me enthusiastic to build this one Looks like it has some great features!

Thanks! Changing the steering wheel won't be a problem! You simply "reverse build" the dashboard.

Hi Kamsohal, Welcome to EB! When you ask a question, please try to be clear. And please use proper punctuation and capitalization. You can click one of the links in my footer for site guidelines and FAQs etc. Thanks and happy building

Hi Rog, You are right, of course. Not really sure why I thought it was a break light?! As for the HT leads....I simply didn't think of spark plug leads Thanks for the correction. I will edit my review.

Thanks I have never built the beetle so I wouldn't know how the two models compare in real life, but the MINI does feel pretty big and solid. But I can imagine that a bigger scaled version could look even better.

Nice review!! I especially like the review of the hovercraft. The opening cargo bay looks nicely done. Hmmm maybe I will pick up a second copy of this set after all.

LEGO has released another iconic classic car! Head over to the Special Themes forum and check out our review of the new MINI Cooper Mk VII.

REVIEW - 10242 - MINI COOPER Mk VII INTRODUCTION After the 10187 - Volkswagen Beetle in 2008 and the 10220 - Volkswagen T1 Camper Van in 2011 LEGO has released another brick built version of an iconic car. Now it's MINI's turn to be immortalized in the form of a LEGO Creator set. The model has been designed by British senior designer Andy Hugh Seenan, who allegedly can't work without coffee. He has been designing toys for LEGO since 2007 and joined the LEGO Creator department in 2011. He also designed the 31010 - LEGO Creator Tree House and 10525 - DUPLO Big Farm, which is his favorite self-designed model. We can judge by the Tree House that Andy is very creative in both implementing various features and maintaining aesthetics. Let's see if his creativity has founds it's way to the MINI. Review images can be clicked for hi-res versions. FROM LEGO PRESS RELEASE Take this MINI Cooper for a nostalgic drive down memory lane! Experience the iconic MINI Cooper first hand, with its classic lines, detailed interior and fun picnic theme. Take the iconic MINI Cooper for a drive! This beautifully crafted LEGO brick replica of the classic MINI Cooper Mk VII is full of authentic details, from the classic green and white color scheme with white wing mirrors and racing stripes, to the opening doors, hood and trunk, sporty fog lights, detailed engine and separate spare tire compartment. You can even remove the roof to access a tan colored interior with patterned seats, veneer-style dashboard, turning steering wheel, and moving gearshift and handbrake. And of course, no MINI Cooper would be complete without a picnic basket and blanket, the perfect accessories for a cozy day in the countryside! Features opening doors, bonnet and boot, spare wheel in separate compartment, detailed engine and 2 fog lights. Accessories include a picnic basket, bottle and blanket for nostalgic picnic theme. Authentic replica of the MINI Cooper Mk VII. Classic green and white color theme with white wing mirrors and racing stripes. Lift the bonnet to reveal the detailed engine. Remove the roof and access the detailed interior. Go on a countryside picnic with this iconic classic! MINI Cooper measures over 4” (11cm) high, 9” (25cm) long and 5” (14cm) wide. Available for VIPs from July 18th. SET INFORMATION Number: 10242 Title: Mini Cooper Theme: Creator (Expert) Released: July/August 2014 Part Count: 1.077 Box Weight: 1330 gr Box Dimensions: 37,2 x 35,0 x 8,9 cm (WxHxD) Set Price (MSRP): US $99.99 / CA $119.99 / AU $149.99 / DE 89.99€ / UK £74.99 / DK 799.00 DKK Price per Part: US $0.093 / CA $0.111 / AU $0.139 / DE 0.084€ / UK £0.070 / DK 0.742 DKK THE BOX The almost square box measures 37,2 x 35,0 x 8,9 cm and feels like it is filled with lots of parts. Holding the box and looking at the images, I immediately got the feeling that this will make a great present for young and old. The box is slightly smaller than the box of the VW Van which does have more parts. FRONT SIDE The front of the box shows the model in a countryside picknick scene. The age recommendation is 16+ which is a bit high in my opinion. The upper right corner shows the detachable roof. The box also states this model belongs to the Creator theme, Expert series. BACK SIDE The back side shows a variety of different smaller pictures, explaining most of the neat features. By the number of pictures we can see that there's a lot going on in this set. SIDES One of the sides shows a comparison between the model and it's real life counterpart. Most noticeable is the difference in the number of fog lights. And the rear of the real MINI is more curved than the LEGO version. The next side shows the front, side and back of the model. The front view is my favorite view. The combination of the grill, head lights and fog lights is well executed. The third side shows the part list, which is common for LEGO creator sets. What I like about the part list on the box is that you can see the variety of parts included in the box. Like most Creator sets, this set has a vast array of different colored bricks, which are very appealing to potential buyers. I would recommend including such an image on every larger box. CONTENTS OF THE BOX Since the box is not overly big, it feels like it's filled to the brim. It contains: 8 Numbered Bags (1, 2 and 3) 2 Booklets 2 Sticker Sheets 1 Brick Separator BAGS The set includes 8 numbered (1, 2 and 3) bags in varying sizes. The larger bags contain some smaller bag with smaller parts. The set also contains a brick separator. BOOKLETS The set contains two booklets with 64 and 51 pages for instructions, adding up to 76 steps. The booklets are almost identical. The only difference is the sequence number. STICKER SHEETS Not one, but two sticker sheets are included in this set. Two sticker sheets while there are a lot of printed parts?! One of the sheets has four stickers with metallic look. The other sticker sheet contains five different types of license plates to choose from. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS There are a lot of dark green parts in this set and some of them hadn't been released in this color before. Especially the first two common parts are very welcome in dark green! 1 x 1 PLATE Believe it or not, but this plate wasn't available in dark green before. 1 x 1 MODIFIED BRICK WITH STUD ON ONE SIDE Also a new part in dark green and a very useful one. 2 x 2 ROUND TILE & 3 x 2 PLATE WITH HOLE The round tile is new in dark green and the plate with hole hasn't been used since 2005. 3 x 4 x 2/3 PLATE WITH BOW WITH NOPS Not a very commonly used part, but from now on, it's available in dark green. 3 x 6 x 1 CURVED WINDSCREEN Like the previous one this part has a very specific use and is available in dark green for the first time. 1 x 4 x 1 1/3 MODIFIED BRICK WITH CURVED TOP This part is also new in dark green. It comes in two variants, one with and one without striped pattern. The stripes are printed on the part, so no hassle with applying stickers. 2 x 1 CURVED SLOPE A new flat silver curved slope. Introduced this year (2014) but not unique to this set. It has been used in several other sets. MINIFIGURE SKATE As we can see in the image below, the minifigure skate is a very versatile part! PART LIST Here's the complete list for all 1077 parts. BUILDING EXPERIENCE The set contains bags numbered 1, 2 and 3, which means the build consists of 3 stages. Each stage requires opening the corresponding bags. So let's start with the first stage! STAGE #1: CHASSIS The first stage requires opening the two bags numbered #1 which results in using the following parts. The chassis pretty symmetrical when it comes to the wheel base. Being a Creator set some oddly colored parts are used, like the blue Technic bricks. At the rear we can see the single fog light mounted on the right side of the fender. Here we can see the Neck Bracket with Technic Pin cleverly used as the exhaust pipe. The middle bottom section of the vehicle is where the front seats and rear couch will be mounted. The mounting points are already visible. The side skirts make sure the MINI gets it's sporty Cooper look. The shift stick is very simple and very well-thought-out at the same time. The base consists of a Modified 2 x 3 Tile with 2 Clips and a Technic Axle Towball, which results in a freely moveable stick. The floor of the trunk can be lifted to reveal the spare tire. Using the 1 x 6 x 5 Panel results in having room for the tire AND the entire picknick basket, which is quite an accomplishment for a model this size. At the end of stage #1 the chassis is complete. It already has the shift stick and trunk with spare tire. It's about 30 studs long and measures around 25 cm. STAGE #2: INTERIOR AND REAR BODYWORK During the next stage you will add the following parts to the model. A Curved 3 x 6 x 1 Windscreen is used as exterior wheel hump. The checkered upholstery looks fantastic and it's not even finished. The handbrake is one of the many great details! At the rear you see one of the stickers (MINI badge) you need to apply. funny enough, you need to apply this sticker to a part which has printed stripes on it. It's for the first time LEGO has printed a curved part like this. The dainty picknick basket is so cute! The details are remarkable. It even has two different types of cheese! Probably Gouda cheese The blanket is an actual piece of cloth, not plastic. The bottle and baguette are the icing on the cake. Being a right driven model, I have chosen the British registration. The MINI has an R registration, which means the year of registration is 1997/1998. Could this possibly be Andy's old registration number?! The boot is very efficient. It holds the spare tire and entire picknick set! STAGE #3: ENGINE BAY, FRONT BODYWORK AND ROOF During the final stage you will finish the front of the car and the roof. Lots of dark green parts will be added to the car. Under the hood the twin-carburetor 1,275 cc engine is mounted. I love the use of the Small Barb (Helmet Horn) as spark plug cables (or high tension leads). The dashboard is pretty detailed, with a glove compartment and several printed gauges. The steering wheel is a bit big, but the old MINI's did have a big steering wheel. Although the Cooper has a smaller sports steering wheel, I still think this one suits best. The seats and neck rests can be adjusted to a certain degree. The checkered upholstery looks amazing, much like the rest of the car. The door handles are actually Minifigure Iceskates. FINISHED MODEL It took me approximately 3 hours to build this model, one hour per stage. FRONT VIEW After finishing the model I really felt a WOW! Just WOW! Granted, the rear section should be a little more curved to resemble the real MINI better. In my opinion this is just a minor detail, since the model captures the overall look of it's real life counterpart very well! The front of the car with the grill, fog lights and bonnet, screams MINI Cooper! The white striping, mirrors and roof give this model it's iconic Cooper look. The sloping bonnet is very well designed. REAR VIEW The trunk lid with embedded license plate is another nice detail which adds to the recognizable MINI design. The tank filler cap is on the left side. Small details like this make the MINI an outstanding model. BOTTOM VIEW The bottom view shows the chassis of the car and in the front you can see the towball construction used for the shift stick. PARTS LEFT Most of the smaller parts have a spare one in every stage, so you end up with quite a few extra 1 x 1 plates and tiles. FEATURES This model some dainty details and exquisite features: Opening hood Opening bonnet Opening doors Detachable roof Storable spare tire Filled picknick basket with bottle Cooper-ish wheel covers Moveable steer Moveable shift stick Adjustable seats Should LEGO have gone the extra mile and include parts to turn this MINI into a convertible, like Dirk1313 did over here?! There's probably a good reason LEGO didn't, but it would have been a nice addition. On the other hand; you can easily do this yourself. SUMMARY Since the MINI has quite a few great details, building it is never boring. After every step it's getting better and better. When you have finished the model, you really get that WOW! feeling. Choosing dark green for the bodywork gives this model the characteristic British Racing Green look. Although it could have been blue or red, I think LEGO made the right choice with dark green. The model lacks a bit of playability when it comes to driving. Without actual steering it's hard to turn the car. Driving back and forth gets a little boring after a while. But then again; this model is probably not meant to play with. Maybe that's one of the reasons it has 16+ as an age recommendation. As a display model, this is one of the best cars LEGO has created...ever! Quite a few people will be having a hard time believing that this actually is a LEGO model. Andy has a great job capturing the essence of the real MINI in this LEGO Creator set. PROS Astonishing model Lots of dainty details Lots of features Lots of (new) parts in dark green Some silver/chrome parts Most of the decals are printed CONS Lack of steering Rear is a bit too square SCORE Design 9: The model screams MINI Cooper. Build 8: Fun build, never a dull moment. Features 9: Lots of nice features. Playability 8: Lack of steering diminishes playability. Parts 9: Great parts pack, if you like dark green. Value for Money 9: Iconic MINI Cooper for a reasonable price. 8,7 Instant classic! MEDIA I have included some extra content for your viewing pleasure! DESIGNER VIDEO PREVIEW VIDEOS Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading and please rate this set at the top of this topic!

Sure! Part list is already in the review, so go for it

I think it will remain Hot Blub Tractor from now on

https://www.flickr.com/groups/legos_models_and_trains/pool/tags/technic/page3/

Seems like a nice deal

I'm only following this project from the sideline, but a modular build with different outcomes seems like a nice idea. Base chassis for a truck (for example). Cabin (can have different versions) Different setups (crane, container, garbage truck) "Universal Truck Chassis" With this approach more people can build different modules. PS what Cumulonimbus said

You will indeed need a gyro sensor. Bricklink will probably have some sellers.

That's a valid point. I will clarify this in the rules and especially in the Entry topic. This image is like the backside of the box, where the features are highlighted. Very nice way of presenting your entry.

Hi BrickQuisitor, Welcome to EB! I love what you have done with the crawler. The color scheme looks really nice and the caps are well-thought-out

This is EXACTLY what the Hall of Fame is all about. Couldn't have said it better. Thank you Agreed!