Legogal

I definitely would buy this modular set! So many cool details from the circular entrance to the two exteriors built out. WOW!!!

As many children all over the world will be chewing on LEGO parts from now to eternity, it could enlighten everyone if TLG used an independent lab to run toxicity testing on parts produced everywhere and provided public results. This should be required of all toy companies. My son and his Chinese wife are concerned enough about the extraordinary levels of pollution in China this winter that they are minimizing their time there for the benefit of the health of themselves and their child on the way. The issue is how to identify the products that are too toxic to be around humans and especially children.

What a dress and water effect! Congratulations!

Shay, That is quite a tradition! That shows an enormous amount of self discipline to not use your points throughout the year. Of course, our lips are sealed! We just built PR and the new Eiffel Tower, and they are both first class. Looks like you will have a busy weekend coming up with all the building. All. I just received two very old Duplo sets in great condition off eBay, 2754 and 2756, the kitchen and bathroom, from a wonderful seller, gilmark, who threw in two extra kitchens, all for a total of under $20. plus shipping. Nice dealing with such a great seller. These pieces will fit perfectly in my Duplo playhouses! Almost finished building new sets that have been sitting on the floor for way too long. It looks like 2014 will be the year that my LEGO end up in the same room in usable condition with access to containers that have been moved several times during renovations over the past two years. It will be great to focus on building my own stuff rather than new sets. At some point I guess we just need to stop buying for a while and focus on building; it is hard to do with so many cool sets coming out every month or so. Fortunately there are more than enough new AFOLs out there to pick up the slack in buying if some of us decide to do our own builds for awhile. (This could lead us to the slippery question of how much LEGO is enough...a place we don't want to go for sure!) For the past year I have focused more on visiting Legoland Parks for the first time rather than buying sets. This is even harder on the wallet than buying sets because the Parks are so spread out. And it takes times as well to visit each Park. My focus has been on enjoying the Parks and not buying LEGO there. It has been a worthwhile experience and has given me a greater appreciation of LEGO.

Rob, That is just gorgeous lit up! Way to go!

Finally on the top floor of the PR! OMG is it a wonderful set, or what? Hope to finish it tonight. And yes, Otw, it is great to have something to build inside when it is so friggin' cold outside. We southerners definitely are spoiled. So glad your wife chained you to her wrist and forced you to march in that mall with you! At least you did not come out with twenty pairs of shoes for her and nuttin' for you! Now that you have a copy to build, who cares when the second one arrives? You must have plenty of other boxed sets that need built if you are like us. Hubby has been my slave the past week dutifully building those Architecture sets that were piled up all over the house. He just finished the Eiffel Tower, and swears he will never go up that thing in person. When we were last there, he just looked up at it and almost fainted. So I did it alone as usual. All he has left to build is Robbie House, which is a biggie and has been hidden so he doesn't not go on strike. I just made chic chip brownies for him, so he is holding up okay. All, If you miss PR, you will greatly dislike yourself for sure. It is just outstanding. Can't wait to tile the outside deck and stairwell once I get the roof on. Would love to build this baby in reverse in light yellow; just may have enough if I tear up another house. Woooooeee! Still have Palace Cinema and Sydney Op House in the box. Need another week off. Cheerio!

Just went there in October for part of a day. Make sure they are open that day. And check their hours. My main concern would be traffic from Long Beach to LL. We once drove from SFO to LA arriving at rush hour and went around LA to an Angels game in Anaheim that evening. Just made it. Get some input from locals as to how long the drive takes at what time of day. It is a pretty pricey place. Check online prices a week before you go. I bought a ticket that day because it was the only day I could go, and if I was sick, that would be a waste of money. As I flew out from the East Coast the day before via San Diego, and flew back the morning of day three, it was a very rushed trip. But I did accomplish my mission. You may want to go when you can take your granddaughter and spend the entire day there. Also they are open later when days are longer I think. The PAB wall was not that impressive compared to Gunzburg's big brick shop. You may be better off buying bricks on BL depending on what you need. Good luck!

naf, I agree about separating your LEGO collection from that of your child's if you want to keep it in good condition. My sons loved to play with LEGO on our dirty cement floor downstairs and sometimes took it outside to play. We did not know how badly the sun would fade it. Once we learned that, we kept it inside. Now it goes only on a clean table surface and out of the sunlight. And my favorite sets are hidden from the grown up children....period. And old bricks are stored in a separate container away from the newer ones so I don't have to sort them out while building. Lots of folks have to chew on something constantly...including my son and hubby, both grown men. So just make sure they have something besides LEGO to chew on!

Gary, That is an impressive lot of very old LEGO! Wow! All, I have bought used LEGO on eBay, and once when half of the bricks were not LEGO after the seller claimed they were, I contacted her and she immediately refunded half of the price and shipping. I emailed her photos of the LEGO pile and the NON-Lego pile. Then I gave the non-LEGO stuff to charity. She was very nice about it and said they were her son's toys. It could be that much of the time the seller does not know what they are selling. I find that the work of sorting out the non-LEGO bricks and cleaning everything often is not worth the effort. Especially when you get bricks that stink of smoke or other horrible smells. Washing them may or may not get rid of the smells. But if you are short on funds and have time to spare doing this, it can pay off.

Wow! This us so inviting! Makes us want to be there in person. Fantastic set up. Nice color scheme on the exterior, too. Reminds me of the pirate sets my son collected in the early Nineties. Thanks for sharing!

When he was under the age of ten, I always made sure that my son had a LEGO piece or two (that I did not want)t to chew on. He could chomp down on swords and other weapons all he wanted as long as they came from that special pile. He got in the habit of knawing on weapons and leaving my stuff alone. When we find a mangled weapon in the yard or under something, it brings back lots of fond memories now that he is 25. Hubby likes to chew on parts, too, but usually does it worth scrap pieces from his n-scale train sets. Our dentist stays very busy. It is a good idea not to buy used LEGO unless it is for children. BL sellers with good feedback seem to be much more honest about selling damaged parts than random eBay sellers. You can store damaged bricks separately and only use them as filler inside larger builds. After they turn three, most kids who do have to chew on something seem to do okay chomping on rubber bands to their hearts delight. Surely better than knawing on wooden window sills that happen to be at the level of the mouth of a one year old who is teething and leaning on the wall learning to walk. Glad we were living in a rental home at that stage!

Wow! Very cool set and great review! I understood everything you said, and the photos were most helpful! Another term for hydro cycles is jet ski, and they are quite popular in the U.S. These two look outstanding in design and choice of colors! The truck or jeep appears muscular with those huge wheels, which are popular among the off the road fanatics around here. This set should do well in the U.S. Not sure about the rest of the world. Thanks for your review and Happy New Year!

Just picked up a PR at our Lego store and am building it now! A very cool set! Olive green walls are lovely and the details are astounding. The price of 160US is amazing for what you get. Hubby just finished Imperial Hotel, which is a very classy design. Next are Robbie house and Palace Cinema. Gotta get those new sets sitting in boxes on the floor for way too long out of the way. Also picked up the new small Eiffel Tower this morning. It looks great, too. The holidays are such a wonderful time for building!

Mikey, you gotta admit at least it is entertaining when they do blow a fuse, isn't it! Maybe we should start a master plan detailing exactly how we will manage to buy this limited edition in Billund before all three sets offered there sell out. Should we ask the NSA to place a series of webcams in all four Billund shops and alert us with sirens (in case we are asleep at that second) as soon as the product lands on a shelf? And maybe have our credit card info already entered so we are automatically charged and the set is auto shipped within two seconds of hitting the shelf? Glad to hear that someone in the US finally received their Marina Bay Sands! Happy New Year to all!

Marcos, Congrats on a very imaginative build! Love the figs, too, especially Vitruvius! Can't wait to see how this fits into the movie. Clonie, Great review as usual. Your enthusiasm is infectious! Makes me want to start Krazy Glueing things all over…..oooops! (Now my clothes won't come off and my fingers are webbed!)

Wow! What a lovely design! The band and head dispenser are nice touches, too. This is very easy on the eyes. Way to go!

Hehehehe! Glad to see that humor has not evaporated this New Year's Day! Otw, you are forgiven! (not sure for what though!) Oooooh, the perils of being a completist. Not sure I could sleep at night with that much pressure. Happy New Year, Folks!

Congratulations! Such a fine build with amazing roof towers. The scale is perfect. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thanks guys. Good points to consider! Only time will tell if this building becomes as famous as others in this theme. Singapore's location (so far from Europe and the US) does not help either. But... It is well located within that part of Asia making a potentially huge market for this set. I am very excited that this building rated an Architecture set. We do need more sets from places outside of Europe and the US. Maybe the distribution was limited in order to test the waters. We do know that the Taj Mahal set was quite successful, but does anyone know how many were produced? And it certainly is a much more well known building captured in a huge, expensive set. Hummm......

It would be interesting to know why LEGO produced such a limited quantity of the set. Without knowing that, it is difficult to react to such a move. Could it be that the owners of Marina Bay Sands decided to commission the set paying up front to have it made? But then why would they not get a huge quantity to sell ONLY at their gift store? And why would they not want the set to be marketed internationally to everyone to gain publicity about their resort in Singapore? If there was a limited quantity, it would seem to make more sense to sell it through the resort and maybe Legoland Malaysia as the only outlets. It is hard to believe that the set cost so much to make that the resort agreed to subsidize the making of a limited run if they did not get to completely control its distribution. Something is not adding up here. Can't put my finger on it. Looks like we need some input from an insider here. (Note: I am not bitter about this matter. Really just quite curious. And wondering if it will happen again with another set.) And we come back to the question of why was it released as an Architecture set in such limited quantities while this theme is collected widely by adults from all over the world. Hmmmmm

Mike, Ditto! Thanks for the building tips! With a few substitutions, we should be able to build it. I applaud TLG for introducing this set because curves can be frightfully difficult to get right. Happy New Years fellow Brickers!

Wow! You were sooooo lucky to find this set at Legoland Malaysia, and $100US is a real bargain price! I looked for it in Singapore and at that Park in early October and just missed it. I would have purchased ten of them to bring home if they had been available then. (Mine came from Rophan in Hong Kong on BL for $125 plus shipping.) The least expensive I can find now is for $133us on BL in Taiwan. The seller has no completed transactions….yet. All: Not sure why so few were produced, but it seems that each Legoland Park needs to sell a couple of sets that are based on something found only in that part of the world. And this set is perfect for Legoland Malaysia. That is where it should be sold. And also in the gift shop of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Visitors to each Park should be able to purchase such a set or two to remember the Park by and to add value to their visits. It is fine with me if they sell the set only at that specific Park and at the location on which the set is based. And maybe they should listen to Otw and not make them official Architecture sets, but rather Legoland Park sets. Fortunately I am not a completist or my family would be starving to death if I spent all the grocery money on LEGO! Many Architecture sets have been available on eBayUS at around half price if you don't mind a smashed box, etc. (I rarely keep boxes, so it is fine if they are smashed.) Maybe TLG learned something from the limited release of this set: how to piss off so many potential collectors. Anyway life is too short to be mad or angry, so go build something or spend some time with a friend or your family, and BE HAPPY like most of the Danes are. According to recent happiness studies, they generally rank at the top.

Hahaha...again. Me thinks you have the question backwards.

Herky and Otw, I did not take the comment above personally. I agree that too many posts gush about TLG. When I have something nice to say about them, I do it. Generally I try to address the issue at hand. Sometimes it is hard to give constructive comments about a build, so it is easier to say it "looks great, etc." Especially when someone is just starting to build their first MOC. It is a bit like what to say when your 6 year old child shows you a finger painting the/she made at school. Parents and teachers tend to be positive and complimentary because we are trained not to destroy the "artistic talents" of young people. Hrw, It is not clear to me which piece you are referring to that is "drooping off the side of the building." Are you referring to the overhang on one side of the bottom of the edge of the building? Guess it does not bother me if I can't identify it. But it is clear that this is important to your view of the set. This building is incredibly difficult to model as a mini because it has so many curves and unusual features. Those characteristics make it interesting to me and validate its selection as an Architecture set. Each of us has a different approach to and understanding of architecture and experience with buildings we have been in, etc., which affects how we relate to a certain structure. And those of us who collect Architecture sets have our own levels of expertise to these builds based on our backgrounds, etc. Like any work of art, how we interpret it is based on where we are coming from and what we are looking for…very subjective matters for sure. This forum is there for recording our reactions to things we see. So each comment can shed light on our total understanding of the build shown. Cheeers!

Great concept! Maybe a little snow on the roof would bring out the winter spirit. Nice to see the inside.