The Cobra

Oops, I wrote plates instead of tiles.

I can make you ice cream / We could be a sweet team (New young pony club - Ice cream) Set data: 6402: Sidewalk cafè Year: 1994 Theme: Town Subtheme: Paradisa Pieces: 40 + 2 extra Price: 7,25 USD (source: Peeron) Building time: less than 10 minutes MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Box front: On a seaside background, the Sidewalk cafè welcomes you. Box rear: Ingenious alternative models: girl shows us she works in a circus and can play banjo (that's too tiny to be a guitar) Box sides and comparison: Caution and everything. Most important: the Troll impulse set came in a box not much smaller than this set's. Click on these thumbnails for larger pics. Box content: One bag, two loose plates, instructions, miniposter, sticker sheet. Instructions and miniposter: Only one piece call-out, for the dispenser. Most of the poster is female-oriented, focusing on Paradisa and Belville. Click on these thumbnails for larger pics. Sticker: 6 wide, 1 and 1/3 high; a fine decoration. Loose pieces: White and pink for the building itself, plus grey for the sidewalk and green for the plants. Minifigs: Paradisa lies on the sea, so it's no surprise both figs wear swimsuits and tanktops. Building - Step 4: Pillars in the rear, space stand and ice cream desk in the front. Building - Step 6: Moustache man at work, we're close to complete the building. Building - Step 8: Most everything is there, here comes the riding girl. Building complete - Corner views: And now the sticker's there too The final shot: Set and extra pieces. Review: First things first. When I started building this set, I had a great feeling, because of the "click". The click you could year some years ago when putting together two Lego bricks. The click that got lost because pieces are now slightly thinner. That and the rise of stickers and fall of printed pieces are two of the reasons that make me like many old sets and fewer of the new. (Oh, and I loved antennas that came in one color -stick and base-). I had a chance to buy a bunch of such old sets for really cheap, including this one and another one in the theme (review will follow later this year/decade), so I finally put my hands on a Paradisa model. It's white and pink. Well, Paradisa was the most female-oriented theme in Lego history amongst those minifig scaled, so it could fit in any town. Long before Agents vs. Dr. Inferno and his bunch or Power Miners vs. Rock monster, here's a small set with two minifigs representing the oldest of the rivalries: men vs. women for an improved playability. The man is working at the ice cream desk; he has one of those "something added to the standard grin" head pieces; back then it would have been ok, now it would look lame to only have one pattern with a few variations. The moustache head has been used since 2005, and later came back in Minifig Collections. His shirt is not so popular, but there's something much rare in this set. The two printed plates tiles (thanks ZO6) are an exclusive to this very model. So there's your choice of (I guess) lemon, mint, strawberry and peach ice-cream on one tile and vanilla, pistachio, watermelon and wild berries on the other one. A nice addition to the desk is the cream dispenser. Unfortunately, ice cream scoops only were introduced in 1995, so our man sells invisible ice creams in clear glasses. As for the girl, here face was introduced that year, and her skirt is rarer than the man's. The flower pattern on pink background should have hit on YoungSFOLs. She is riding a red bicycle; I'd have to say, 60% of the bicycles we've seen were red. Pink were later used for Team Telekom promos. Another nice feature is the small table under the beach umbrella. The antenna would usually lie in the center of the space stand, while it was wisely put aside this time so that people could pose their cups while standing and having a talk. And I also liked the use of arches (that make you think of a porch) and plants. It's hard to find a con in this set. Maybe kids could have thought this was too girlish, but that's probably it. This set is: 1) small (and that means cheap) 2) civilian 3) including 2 minifigs, and one is a girl 4) including plates and some sort of building. That's a lot of pros. Rating: Color scheme: 4/5. Girls should have loved it. Minifigs and accessories: 4/5 Don't we all like sets that have at least two figs? Pieces: 3/5. Probably not the set one will buy for the pieces. Except for those ultra-rare printed tiles. Playability: 5/5. Doesn't every Lego town need a Sidewalk Cafè? Design: 4/5. Nice with the arches and green. Overall rating: 4/5. A nice small set that gets the job done. The final words: Please, TLC, we want civillian sets!.

Ferrari was fined 100.000 USD, because it was too evident it was a pit decision to have Massa been overtaken so easily. Yet it would have been stupid to throw away such a chance for a "double" (is that the English word for pilots from the same team finishing 1st and 2nd?) And, quite a boring race, compared to those we've seen before.

30011 is much better than last year's 30002. 30012 looks awful, hopefully better "live" than in the pic. 30013 is the Police version of 30000, but looks a bit better.

All right, 1 point each to: vynsane Igorlando private_lego

Here's my choice (1 point x) Johnnhiszippy3 Jan Bojan Pavsic

A larger view of 8211 (we only had the box pic, didn't we?)

In my book, a Limited Edition set can not be rated Outstanding, so I chose Above average. Thanks for the review!

Excellent idea, awful color scheme.

Most of the option I was given were about Cheaper prices and re-releasing old sets. And those are both great ideas!

This is not a sport you pay - To stand in line to see - It's a way of life on the streets - Made by you and me (Code 13 - Mondo aggro) Set data: 5015: Skater Year: 2003 Theme: Sports Subtheme: Gravity games Pieces: 17 + 1 extra Price: N/A. Free promo set. Building time: less than 5 minutes MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Notes: Skateboarder with ramp. One of twelve sets given away free in C1000 supermarkets in Holland. Also available with Walkers Crisps, UK, September 2003. (Brickset) Polybag front: No set name, not a surprise. Bag was made of a lighter / cheaper plastic compared to the ones we've been used to over the last year, and it tore itself open before I could take a shot. I scanned it to make it look decent. Polybag rear: Showing antenna use and featuring sportcasters. Bag content: All of them pieces. Funny how head is already placed on the torso and you'll have to remove it! Instructions: One and a half page sized; half a page highlights various Lego sports. Skater and board: Those are surely impressive sideburns for a young teener! The ramp: Simply but well designed, with two rotation points and great choice of posability. Hanging in the balance: It's easy to have the skateboard balanced on the rail with front wheels on one side and rear wheels on the other one. Hanging in the balance: It's not so easy to have the skateboard balanced on the rail with left wheels on one side and right wheels on the other one. But I made it. Conflict of generations? Standing on his pedestal, Zac Efron watches the now old skater guy from another decade. Review: Before Clone O'Patra told me about the rarity of the torso, I was quite unhappy with it. I remember carefully looking at it trying to understand wether it was a case of decoration fading due to the years. Hard to believe. It turns out there was no fading and the torso has only been available in this set, its twin set (minus ramp) 3389 and a Star wars set I ignored (I'm not a SW fan at all). As of June 10th, 2010, on Bricklink you can find a MISB 5015 for as low as 4,44 Euros and one of those torso alone for as high as 5,45 Euros! Plain grey legs, fine but not fascinating. While, matching helmet and skateboard are a perfect choice. Skateboard is the rarer two clip version (four clip version is more popular). The head piece was used in 2002 and 2003 in Sport sets (skating, basketball and go-kart racing). Teeth remind me of Tachibana twins. The ramp: grass green plates, wood brown slopes, black metal bar. I assume the tan tile is supposed to be a wooden board. Three parts, two rotation points. That should give players some fun. So, is this the usual polybag set with minifig, accessory and scenario? Maybe not. Let's talk about the use of bracket and antenna. Both as a kid and as an AFOL, I've been moving figs holding their head, torso, arms or legs. I never needed anything else (except for my pioneer Lego-Subbuteo goal keepers). Why did Lego decide to add this variation? Because it would have been easier and more practical to help our hero performing his tricks. Sometimes Lego added such a feature in bigger / regular Gravity games sets (example 1, example 2), most of the times they didn't. Is this a good feature? Yes. Is it essential? No. Do you have to use it? No, if you don't want to. Just don't put the bracket on the fig. Coming to an end, I like this set. In a town full of adults, before kids with minilegs arrived, teens were a great addition. Something that is out of the rescue/transportation/construction subthemes is a bit of a plus to me. Rating: Color scheme: 4/5. Nice and effective Minifigs and accessories: 4/5 A rare torso, a set-making utensil. Pieces: 3/5. It's hard to buy such a small set for the pieces it's made of. Playability: 4,5/5. I'm still not sure about how much I need/like that moving stick. Design: 4/5. Good for such a small set. Overall rating: 3,5/5. A tiny semi rarity with some interesting features. The final words: Smaller than some of today's promos, but no worse.

http://www.toywiz.com/villainfactory.html <- a totally blank page. So, who knows?

Worst: Space Police III 2nd worst: Mars Mission

What about Hamilton? It's not his fault, but I can't understand why did it take so much time to the Judges to decide what to do with him, so that the penalty had no influence on his race. Kobayashi had a great race; Ferrari was caught in the SC trap, but Alonso was not on his best day since he couldn't do much against the Toro Rosso he was trailing and Koba himself who took advantage of the fresh tyres. Webber's crash was terrible and miraculous, for how he was unhurt.

I thought about buying a clone set. I didn't want to spend more than 1,5 Euros, and tried to find a set I actually liked. Here's what I found. Disclaimer: This is not one of my ordinary reviews, no usual scheme, not too much time spent on shooting and editing pics. BOX: Most everything is written in Italian, lots of things are written in more languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Slovene and Dutch. This has been packaged and distributed in Italy, but obviously made in China (as stated on the back). BAG BUILDING: The bag is rubberish, so it was easier to bag-build than it is with ordinary Lego bags (yet, I missed the visor). PIECES: All Lego look-a-likes: the only differences I could find were: the goblet, lower and with a larger top and the round 1x1's that have flower petals on the side. MINIFIGS: The helmet was hard to take off the head, and the visor has no "dots" to make it stand on the helmet and rotate, but some kind of "lines" to do it. Pilot has a nose, not painted but embossed (I hope this is the right word). Helmet decoration is a plus. Helmet color spots are a minus! Legs look nothing like Lego. INSTRUCTIONS: A bit too concise. Where do I have to place the 2x2 black plate? COLORS: Red and green match Lego colors (any difference you see is because of the lightning). Pieces that should have been lime are a sort of sand green (and trans neon green pieces are actually trans green!) Plates have a dot on one of the studs, and nothing written on them. THE FINAL MODEL: The black 2x2 plate should have been placed on the rear wheels; I had to put in on the front wheels, otherwise they would have it the handles. Yet, they just don't spin! And one of the rear wheels doesn't either. So, three out of four wheels don't work. Minifig placing is a bit tricky, it appears to be too close or too far from the white handle. "Gainer" stickers have a limish background, but you hardly notice from one foot away. But it's hard not to note the "Great" sticker is too long and badly printed. Was it worth the 1,5 Euro I spent? That's half the RRP of an Impulse set, so let's say yes. But I think that as a child I would have called this cr*ppy compared to real Lego.

Ready to host series 2, 3 and 4!

This is an interesting set to me. It's not only a great car (I usually like Lamborghini more than Ferrari) but also a faithful rendition of a special version. I wouldn't be interested if it was "just an ordinary car" (like the yellow Lambo we already had), but this one is tempting. I'm not spending 50 Euros on it, but if I'd it on sale I could hardly resist. Thanks for the review.

Is the "idea" thing based on "now" or "eversince I've been playing with/collecting Lego"? Because that would make a huge difference in my answers.

My votes (1x): 20) Skater Boy Entry (Build by Noodles140) 23) Random Collectible Minifigs Entry (Build by Stanley Kbrick) 43) Wrestler Entry (Build by Fat Tony)

Promo means Promotional / Not for sale. These items are not (or rarely) to be found in stores, but can be given away for free. Over the last few years, Daily Mirror had a few promotional runs, so did McDonald's.

I've been thinking about the best way to display the figs, so here's what I came up with (ready to host series 2 and possibly 3 and 4):

I rate it average because of the awful price/piece&quality ratio and the figs coming already built. Give us back classic boxed battle packs! And cut the chinese cr*p!

As Edmond Dantes said, there was no limit for European customers, and I strongly hope there won't be for the next series either.

Sets are now in Italian toys shops. I'll just wait for a 15% off; standard prices are far too high.

This morning I hit 3 toys stores (out of 4 I wanted to go to), no figs yet (while some June sets were there). I still think I took the right decision buying a 60 bags box on S@H. And I used scissors to open the bags, not my teeth, so I can't tell if the smell turns into bad tast in your mouth