The Cobra

I actually meant this one:

Except that oversized boxes now look even more oversized! Well, the yellow truck's a pimped version of an 80's classic that I proudly owned.

Thanks again!

I can hardly think of something better with such few pieces; this is one of the best small sets ever made by TLC. Outstanding, probably perfect!

I don't remember ever seeing that much competition while getting in or out a pit stop (I remember Badoer showing how slow he could be). As for Hamilton, he surely should have been penalized 2 weeks ago, while yesterday (they say) he just gained his place back after having being overtaken by Webber while the Safety car was in. And I wonder what will happen between Alonso and Massa.

Probably no big news: http://www.brickshop.nl/lego/lego-minifguren-verzamelen.html And if you feared you couldn't buy the one you wanted: http://www.brickshop.nl/lego-minifigs/Pagina-1-90.html (for 3 Euros instead of 2)

Done!

Yeah! Benvenuto, Calabar!

"Oh they say that it's over - And it just had to be - They say that it's over - And we're lost children of the sea (Black sabbath - Children of the sea) Set data: 8056: Monster crab clash Year: 2010 Theme: Atlantis Subtheme: N/A Pieces: 68 + 2 extras Price: 7 USD, 6 Euros, 5 UKP as of April 2010 Building time: less than 10 minutes MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Notes: Available in late 2009 in the U.S. Official description: On a dangerous deep-sea mission to recover the orange Atlantis treasure key from the murky depths of the ocean, the heroic diver comes face-to-face with the treasure's mighty guardian: a giant crab with powerful crushing claws! Set includes 1 heroic diver minifigure! Collectable orange Atlantis treasure key included; collect them all! Features monster crab with snapping claws and moveable legs! Box front: 140x120x45 mms, or 5.8x4.12x1.12", highlighting the ring (like other boxes in this theme). Box front: Basic (all?) features and rings line-up; diver showing scary side of heap piece. Box sides: Undersea swimming, a real 1:1 ring pic (sometimes Lego misses the correct ratio!) and the usual writings. Box content: Two bags, stickers, instructions. Pieces: Black, two shades of gray, orange (and lime flippers). Unusual pieces: 3 kind of cylinder hinges (each of them comes 6x), the new Atlantis helmet, one of two Y joints (which I thought I already owned, and I'll prove I was right), the orange crab ring, a slope mostly seen in Exo-Force sets and another 2010 premiere: the barb. Random instructions page: Building one of the claws. Stickers: Is it a fly? No, it's a sticker sheet! Minifig: Also new for 2010 is Alex's head. Front looks a lot like an old one (here portrayed on the same Atlantis suit)... Minifig: ..and here's how their backs look like. Also note that the ring is larger than a fig, standing at 3 studs wide. Diving into the past: An overview of classic and modern submarine minifigs. From left to right: Aquanaut diver (1995/1996), Aquashark diver (1995 to 1999), Ogel from Alpha team (2002), Aquaraiders diver (2007), Atlantis' Alex (2010). Crab core: 2x1 bricks w/axle hole hosting Tecnich pins, plates w/clips will host claws. Crab claws: each one is the mirror image of the other one. Crab legs: six legs (most real crabs have eight), and swapped claws (my bad). The naked crab: All pieces are now here (in the right place!), we're ready for stickers. The stickered crab: Bird's eye view on the fierce marine beast. Comparison time: Where did I see a LEGO six-legged orange and black animal? Enter Battle Arachnoid! The final shot: Complete and ready for action. Review: It took a while to realize that this set could be a blacker (?) rip-off of the Arachnoid stalker; that's probably my ExoForce sets lie on the highest stage of my Lego display. That takes a few points away from the MCC. The main reason I chose to review this set was that 8057 already had 4 reviews and the Crab only one. Was it so bad? Probably no. Monster crab clash, along with Impulse sets, features only one minifig (one of the good divers, opposed to the evil sea creature); given that sea creatures only have 3 kinds of humanoids (mantas, sharks and octopus), one was the impulse, one was in the Wreck raider and octopi is a "large sets exclusive". This makes 8056 somewhat similar to an AquaRaiders set, with human subs against bricky sea animals. As a proud owner of the Angler ambush (a 10 bucks set just like Wreck raider), let me add that that giant self illuminating fish came with printed eyes, and no stickers! Still, I'm not slaying this set. Building is fast and simple, and I wouldn't call 6 four-piece-legs "repetitive", 'cause such a short sequence would be hardly boring. A more proper comparison would be with the 5 Euros Deep sea treasure hunter, nearly the same price for a quite different set; a comparison the DSTH would likely win. Minifig (Alex) is not really different from other Atlantis humans; a double-sided face (with a scary "back" that will probably come back later this year in Kingdoms) and two accessories. As good as the new "helmet" looks, it would have been better without that back cut, but I fear it couldn't be helped. MCC ends up being another average set that some may overlook for something more expensive but multi-figged. 8056 falls in the same price category of mini Creators, Tiny Turbos, City Smart car, and likely the small Kingdoms set, which will probably happen to be the best in this group. Rating: Color scheme: 5/5. Orange and black. Just great. Minifigs and accessories: 4/5. A human fig with a double sided head piece and two utensils. Fair enough. Pieces: 3,5/5. A couple of multi-angled slopes, a few hinges cylinders, two Y technic joints Playability: 3/5. Unless you consider trying all legs posing options, there's not much to do with the set other than placing the jaws and have the crab eating the human. Design: 3,5/5. A sort of deja-vù, but not bad after all. Overall rating: 3/5. A fine cheap set worth its price. The final words: Those who buy most every <10 Euros set (like me) won't pass this one.

I only rate it "above average" instead of "outstanding" because if you take the two halves apart they will fall. Great review of a real classic!

My real name now reads "Mr. So acid oil". My nick: either "A botcher" or "Teach rob", "Beach rot", "A rob tech".

I've been using it for a few months now, so let's call it my SigFig:

When I was a kid I could build my 588 Police station from memory. Now I only build sets once, so it would be hard to build any set (leave Impulses aside) without instructions.

"There's traffic in the sky - And it doesn't seem to be getting much better - There's kids playing games on the pavement..." (Jack Johnson - Traffic in the sky) Set data: 4991: Police Helicopter Year: 2007 Theme: Town Subtheme: Police Pieces: 31 + 4 extras Price: N/A Building time: less than 5 MISB on review: Yes More info: Brickset - Peeron - Bricklink Notes: Available from Quick fast food restaurants in continental Europe, Sept. 2007. One of two sets included with Nov-Dec 2007 BrickMaster magazine. Set also given away free with the Daily Mirror newspaper (UK), October 2008. Promotion also in Ireland. (Brickset) Official description: N/A Polybag: They don't usually come with set names. But a lot of (same old) writings on the back Instructions: A one and a half sized sheet, with pieces number to help you ordering replacement parts (or an activity for Lego nerds who could tell you 7-digits code for any piece ever made). Loose pieces: If it's small, keep it simple. Black, white, grey and trans colors. Minifigure: I can hardly imagine an helicopter pilot with jacket and tie. Sub buildings: The cockpit is unbalanced when not lying on double inverted slopes. Complete model: So here it is, and with a few details for such a small set! The final shot: Helicopter, pilot and extra pieces. Review: Does the image above look familiar? (Pic is link to instructions). It looks like this small fire copter was a rip-off from the police one, given that 4900 came out the following year. It looked better in Fire colors (but the cockpit did not open); this probably means Lego designers knew they could have done it better. And you can probably just re-release a promo set without anyone grumping. Back on our 4991. At first sight, I thought it sucked. Then, the "in my hands" factor made it gain some points. First, minifig has an uncommon head piece, and that's a big pro. And I still think he would have looked better with a different torso (the police bikers torso would have been perfect). The copter is not totally bad. A windshield that remins me of SP2, a couple of utensils can can be taken off for more action and two propellors. These minis have always been around in Lego City/Town, much more than in real life (yes, these kind of mini-flyers do really exist). Given that Police has always had a "regular" helicopter, a mini such as this one would be great to monitor traffic, or just as an aerial support. It's the flying version of the Police motorbike; probably not that fast, but it can fly, and that's a traffic beater for sure. Design was smart; the Technic axle has has a stop on one hand in order not to slide into the cockpit (I first built it the wrong way, I'm sometimes so busy taking pics that I build something wrong), and with such a low piece count it comes with good features. This is a set that many may overlook, but worth giving a chance. Not the most realistc kit around, but a good compromise. If I never owned, I would have rated it only 2 out of five, but I change my mind. Rating: Color scheme: 5/5. Classic (or "Vintage", as Michael Cole would say) black and white Police. I wonder how would it look in white and blue. Minifigs and accessories: 4/5. Pros: unusual head piece, a couple of accessories. Con: Jacket_and_tie torso. Pieces: 3,5/5. A couple of propellors in a 30-pieces set. The rest is average. Playability: 4/5. Opening cockpit, loudhailer and camera/bazooka to take off the copter and put in minifig hands, and two propellors to spin! Design: 3/5. Good if compared to simpler 80's and 90's similar sets. But not eye-catchy to me before I bought it. Overall rating: 3/5. On the edge of averageness. The final words: The kind of set you can hardly love when you don't own it, but could when you do.

I "recently" got a new one: Human finger not included in box. See my NBA review to find out why. (I later thought I should have written "Human finger hopefully not included in box".)

How to ruin a potentially perfect minifig. Did the team she's supporting just trash their chance to win?

Funny how they started protecting stickers in such a set; maybe they'll think about doing it in double or triple digit priced boxes. Nice model, thanks for the review.

If Castle has become tiresome, what about Pirates? (nearly) Every 2009 set was a remake of an older one. Back on target: a little more fantasy would help (and I don't just mean Trolls, Dwarves and never_seen_Elves), but I still think this is a Timeless theme.

A great review of a nice set (just a bit overpriced). I guess 2x2 tiles and 2x2 jumper plates should look the same shade of tan, but they quite don't.

This isn't crazy, but many collectors would go crazy to own one: 500 pieces.

I'd pick the orange one, but I'd like to see a better shot of the lime one.

I changed my mind a bit about bucket-helmets, they look a little better in close-up shots. As for the battle packs, they could be great IF (and they all are huge IFs): - they were available everywhere and not on S@H only - they came for a fair price (and 13 Euros is far from fair) - they were made of quality materials. They could even be outstanding if the pieces came loose in a cardboard box instead of "already ready" in those ugly plastic shells.

That's got to be somewhere here in Italy, but it's really hard to tell since the pic is very tiny.

Ah-ehm... 7801 and 7802 have been available in the U.S. since late 2009 December. Just check eBay, there are a few around. And, English and Irish get free Lego. The rest of Europe has to pay, just like any other continent.

It absolutely is!