AmperZand

Brilliant designs! If this were a set, I would definitely get it for the Classic Castle and Classic Space builds.

Excellent! It’s so lifelike it almost doesn’t look like LEGO. Does it have an interior?

I don’t subscribe to any YouTube channels but sometimes watch Jang, Ashnflash, Brickmitri and Austrian Brick Fan, especially those last two.

@Rusty43, @Friscorays and @MAB have already identified the likely source of your confusion. Before starting building, I often look at videos showing the build process on YouTube. A search for ‘lego’, the set’s number and ‘build’ is usually sufficient to locate them. Ignore any that are only reviews of the set and don’t show its assembly process. Some build videos show the contents of each bag as the contents are used in its construction. Those are the ones I think you will find most helpful.

I’m definitely feeling these. Don’t want to wind up with minifigures I don’t like Just been watching YouTube reviews of the leaked images with this and that minifigure described as ‘lame’. The one minifigure that hasn’t been described as ‘lame’ is the wheelchair racer. How ironic! The wheelchair racer is OK, but as my collection is fantasy/historical and sci-fi themed, I won’t be getting it. I wish the moon warrior had elf ears. The bard, while not bad, should have been more flamboyant. Seems a little understated for a character that’s supposed to be showy. I like the snow warrior. It has vibes of a fantasy tundra or Arctic fighter.

I keep track in my head, generally know where to look in my spares, and often buy extra parts through BrickLink, Bricks & Pieces etc. If I need specific parts for a MOC or mod that I don’t have, can’t find or can’t be bothered to locate, I’ll order them through BL, B&P etc. My collection isn’t centred on sets; it’s minifigure- and loose parts-centric. So the methods that rely on set tracking like Brickset and Rebrickable don’t work for me. Besides, I’ve been an AFOL for a lot longer than those set tracking platforms have been around, so even if my collection had been set-based, it would have been a huge task to have retroactively catalogued my collection when those sites emerged.

@Ecclesiastes, Great review! I especially like how you pictured all the bags/steps as you went. If you're not familiar with the 3-in-1 concept or the set though, you might be left thinking that all the parts needed to create the combined version of two sets shown at the top of the review are included in just one copy. You may want to make it clearer that you'll need three copies to achieve the splendour of your opening pic. Admittedly beyond the scope of the review, but if anyone is interested in what the castle would look like with more minifigures (and some cosmetic changes), this picture might help:

The forthcoming Encanto sets have butterflies in them. I’m not sure if they’re new moulds or re-uses of the Friends one.

Mod of set 75951 Grindelwald's Escape given a gothic makeover.

Cool minifigures! I especially like the wizard in the top picture and the fire demon in the penultimate one, but they're all great

@jtooker Thanks! Very kind of you to say so

I wish I could order from BrickLink sellers in the Netherlands, but being in the UK, that’s a risky proposition. Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with orders from the Netherlands going missing (about 50%) or taking an inordinate time (up to 8 weeks by airmail). I suspect it has to do with packets of small parts being mistaken for narcotics and either stolen by postal workers (Netherlands’? UK’s?) or delayed by Customs. When I have ordered from Dutch sellers near the Belgian border, I always ask them to send from Belgium. I’ve never had a problem with an order from Belgium.

Deleted comment as thread merged by mods.

@Aurore, Great picture - a work of art in its own right! I already have a sheep and anglerfish. I’ll look into getting some of the other parts. Don’t know what I’ll do with them but they’ll probably find a use eventually.

It could be Artemis or a dark elf. Another possibility is an Arabian knight/desert warrior. The crescent moon is a symbol commonly but not exclusively used in Islam, so could be a nod to Arabic culture without transgressing LEGO’s rule against overtly religious symbolism. Very much looking forwards to this minifigure, the snow warrior, sylvan pixie and bard. The foal sounds cool too.

Thanks, Darkdragon . It seems to be OK now.

Haven't been able to access EB on my mobile/Safari device today. Keep getting a 'server stopped responding' message. Laptop/Chrome device works fine - which is how I'm posting this. The failure of the former vs the success of the latter makes me thinks something's wrong with EB. Please help.

Here are my latest MOC minifigures. They each use at least one part from the Disney+ CMFs or from the Vidiyo line. I don't know much about the Disney+ source material (I haven't seen the programmes yet - no spoilers please). Sylvie, though, looks like she has Japanese style armour so I turned her into Sylvie Samurai. Arguably, Captain Britain belongs more to the superhero genre than fantasy, though there is crossover between those domains especially in the comic book version of Capt Britain. Her sword is meant to be the Sword of Power, not the HP sword. The fairy isn't really modded - I just gave her an old style wand. Apologies for the inclusion of Zombenny. He's obviously sci-fi/horror. He wasn't meant to be in the picture: he photobombed me just as I was taking the shot. I hate space zombies!

Very nicely done! I especially like how the stream spills through the base - a kind of fourth wall break.

@sixf00t4, I’m sure that the corn piece in the pictures you linked to doesn’t currently exist as a LEGO part. That’s not to say it isn’t in the works (it could be), but it isn’t a piece at the time of writing. Thanks for the pictures by the way

Or use a small bead of Blu Tack.

@MelonHeadSeb, You may not like this solution, but it works: Give the area a thin coating of Humbrol Satin Cote and allow it to dry thoroughly (24 hours). If the clutch is still loose, add another thin layer and allow that to dry thoroughly. Repeat the process as necessary. You’ll probably find that one or two layers will do the trick. Satin Cote is transparent and matches the lustre of LEGO making it tricky to apply (you can’t see what you’re doing) but also results in an invisible correction.

Not familiar with the source material but the wizard’s chamber is very well done. Thanks for sharing

@MAB, Interesting point. Does that mean that a MOC can have multiple finishes? Is ‘a MOC’ even meaningful if so or is it a different MOC? How much needs to change for it to be a new MOC? It’s an ontological conundrum!

I do more modding of LEGO’s builds than MOCing. But either way, my baseline is if it’s as least as good as LEGO’s own design standard. That doesn’t tell me when to end though. So what’s my top line? I usually start with a concept or a particular improvement to one of LEGO’s design and consider it done when I reach that point. Sadly, cost is sometimes a limiting factor - my LEGO budget isn’t nearly as big as I would like!