ResIpsaLoquitur

It's that time again! The first Tuesday of the month means that the Lego Brick-and-Mortar Stores have put out their Monthly Mini Builds for the kids. The Stores do these once a month (at least) to get you into the store and spending money. However, you do walk out with some free bricks and a possibly functional model. I recently reviewed all of 2013's MMB's in this article. I also reviewed January's model here, and February's here. It was from both articles that I quickly copied-and-pasted this introductory paragraph because I have stuff to do and it's late. If you're sad because you don't have a Lego Store near you, that's ok, because Lego publishes the instructions for each month's builds on their website. If it's not up yet, it should be soon. This month, we're reviewing a small tree which may or may not be alive. It's Lego, so your imagination is the limit. Set Title: Springtime Tree Set #: 40096-1 Theme: Monthly Mini Build Pieces: 62. That's a lot. On the other hand, most of these are 1 x 1 round studs. Minifigures: None Year of Release: 2014 Price at release: Tree...I mean, "Free." First things first. When you get in line outside the store, you get a ticket with the parts list on the back and a picture of the item on the front. It's got a spot to write in the builder's name so you can proudly display it at home. When you actually get your model, you get a 1-sheet of instructions. This month's instructions seems to be a little bigger than I remember most MMBs having. Anyway, here's both the card and the instructions in a single photo. (We also got the monthly calendar and the bi-monthly Lego Club Magazine for free.) Yeesh, this is a lot of parts. Most MMBs come in around 40 parts. Last month's Micro Manager set an unofficial record for me at 50. This one is 62 (plus 5 spares, which are in the lower right corner). However, a lot of these are the single stud pieces which seem to dominate Pick-a-Brick walls. You otherwise have an oddly-numbered assortment of brown and tan pieces. It's an interesting selection, if not very symmetrical. The base of this tree is an assortment of brown bricks and those tan arches from the "Prince of Persia" line. It's an odd but interesting use for them. You only get three, so if you want to rebuild them into some arches, you're left with half of one. Two other oddities: one, the arches are in a light tan while the rest of the tree is brown. It gives some color variety, but the branches do look odd in that color. Two: the base is made of two 2 x 4 plates instead of a single 4 x 4. The light green is a nice early spring color, so maybe Lego doesn't have a 4 x 4 in that color? Suffice it to say that two plates made building a little challenging for my daughter. The bird is your typical brick-built bird made out of a 4-stud SNOT brick and some traffic light colors. I don't care for brick-built animals, but he does the job for decorative purposes. Plus, Vitruvius from The Lego Movie uses brick-birds, so who am I to complain? Here's the finished ent...or tree. The latter half was pretty tricky for my 7 year-old daughter. The method of overlaying the green branches was confusing for her, and assembling all the blossoms was tedious. (Pink stud on white stud, repeat.) It came together in the end, but it took longer than I expected. Side view. From the side, it's...still a tree. Back view. Still a tree! But it looks a little flat from back here. For decorative purposes, you may not care. I do like that this isn't too abstract of a tree. For sizing purposes, it's fairly compatible with your minifigures depending on how you want to use it. For example, those colossal eyes could very well make it a baby Ent getting ready to march on your Tower of Orthanc with his dad, no? Or maybe that's a little silly and you just want to incorporate it into your City scene instead. It can make a nice spot for a guy to propose to his gal, while some hibernating animal peeks out looking for warmer weather. What are those eyes supposed to be? An owl? A really big squirrel? Who knows? I am a little let down after the last two months' MMBs. January was a functional snowplow which worked well for winter. Last month was a functional Micro Manager which makes a great supplement for Lego Movie fans. This month is...a tree. And it's not even spring yet! We're recovering from a nasty snowstorm where I live that caused the kids to miss two days of school. I personally wish this had been a Mardi Gras/Carnival themed model since today is the end of that season. Now, all that ranting aside, the model is cute. Functional, no. But it is minifigure-compatible if your imagination allows it, so that makes it OK with me. CONCLUSION Design: 7/10. I don't like the tan branches where brown could have worked. I get the need to add some color variety, but the tan really looks off. Parts: 8/10. I can't complain much about the parts, except there's a distinct lack of symmetry here. This model isn't great for rebuilding anything except another tree. You do get the new 1 x 1 eye tiles, though. Build: 6/10. My daughter struggled with this one and I had to help some. It's a solid, stable model though. I knocked it on the floor and the bird was the only thing to come off. Minifigs: N/A. But it's minifigure-sized and could fit well in your City scene. Playability: 3/10. I had to mark it down here: it's a TREE. You can move the bird around, but it's a stationary tree. In fairness, most MMBs don't do much. Over the last few months, though, there's been some functionality in the models, so the fact that it does nothing hurts it some. Price: 10/10. It was free! Free! Overall: 34/50. This was a free model, Lego's gift to your kids, so I'm not going to knock it. It's nice and works for what it is. Consider this a score of practical use versus a review of whether your kids should go to The Lego Store. Coming next month: April's build is a small helicopter, and it appears to be minifigure sized. Will it beat February's Micro-Manager? We'll see.... Thanks to the good staff at the Westfield Annapolis Mall Lego Store for putting on the free monthly build as usual.

You know, since this movie could be a serious contender for Best Animated Picture next year...Lego and WB would be smart to re-release this film in theaters next December. AND they'd be smart to either re-release the toy sets or jam out some new ones in time for Christmas. How about it, Lego?

Another The Lego Movie polybag has been released into the wild! I previously reviewed the first set, The Piece of Resistance, in another thread. This time it's the Super Secret Police Enforcer, a little hoverbike which is exclusive to Toys R Us. Licensed polys often appear and disappear from TRU very quickly, so hopefully this review will give you an idea of whether you should try to find it before it's gone. Set Title: Super Secret Police Enforcer Set #: 30281 Theme: The Lego Movie Pieces: 40 (and spares) Minifigures: 1 Year of Release: 2014 Price at release: $4.99 US Here's the set in its usual, mid-sized polybag with the Minifigure next to it for comparative purposes. The bag has the same flashy packaging as the main retail sets. It is funny to see the traditional Lego logo next to the movie logo--what, as if we didn't know who made this product? Anyway, the overall package is decent. The back of the packaging lets you get a kid into Legoland for free. Actually, that's not too bad given that those parks are pretty expensive. It also works for the Legoland Discovery Centers which are appearing in more places, so if you live thousands of miles from California or Florida, you might not have to travel as far. Anyway, the back of the package gives you information in other languages. I guess "Enforcer" is the name of the minifigure as opposed to his scooter. For some reason, I thought the "enforcer" was the bike! Here's the parts. It's a motley selection, but if you're in the market for spare white angles or black curved slopes, this might be for you. The spare pieces. No surprises here. Everyone needs an extra visor, right? Here's the completed minifigure and his weapon. If you feel the need to army build for TLM, then this set may be your easy option to get this particular Robo-SWAt officer. The next cheapest option is to get the Melting Room ($12 US), which comes with a similar cop who has a different head and headpiece. Another option is the Super Cycle Chase ($40 US), which comes with the same minifig, but he's got a vest attachment. That gun accessory is new. It's a nice looking sci-fi rifle and could be useful in a variety of customized settings, so I hope Lego makes more of them. There's an odd clip on the top of the rifle and I'm not clear if it's intended for anything or if it's supposed to be a sight that just happens to be shaped like a clip. However, there is something neat you can do with it, which I'll discuss a little later. Here he is from the back. He actually has back printing. You can see that his voice transmitter from the front is wired to a walkie-talkie on his back. That's nice attention to detail. Here's the usual sheet of instructions. Nothing special to see here. The craft isn't very complicated. Here it is mostly built, except for the wings. Those are cleverly attached with hinged plates that do make a nice, sci-fi angled effect. The wings go on like so. I found this part a little confusing; my gut was to put them the other way since the angled white plates go on the inside. Remember: the blue and red lights go out. All finished. It's a cute little bike-thing that seems appropriate for a polybag. Remember how I said the rifle has a clip? You can conveniently attach it to the top of the SWAT-bot's seat. This frees up both of his hands to work the controls. He can almost reach behind his head to grab the hilt (except that his helmet gets in the way of his arm). It's a nice touch, whether the designer intended it or not. I did take a look at the bottom of the craft and decided that it's kind of...blah. Normally, I don't care about the bottom of a build, since it's just tubes and holes, but something really bothers me about how plain this is. I do recommend adding a clear piece to the bottom so that you can have a "hover" effect. I added one here to give you an idea of what to use. Lastly, here it is in "hover" mode. Adding a clear brick really lets this set "take off." I think that's my one disappointment, that they didn't include one. How is it overall? Compared to the Piece of Resistance set, I think this makes a nice little polybag. There really tend to be two kinds of licensed polys out there: true "promotional" sets, and "army builders." The Emmet set is the former: it was just the same Emmet you could get in most other TLM sets with a pile of rock, and it wasn't particularly film-accurate. (That set would have been a nice pairing with TRU's giveaway of Emmet's car, because they handed out a car without Emmet himself.) That set really had no use unless you really wanted an extra Emmet or are a poly completionist. This ranks it with other sets that have a unique figure which you can get elsewhere, like Thor and the Cosmic Cube, or Frodo and his small stove, or the Lone Ranger's Pump Car. I guess they're meant to be a gateway drug to larger sets, but they have no value added if you're already buying everything. On the other hand, you have "army builders" who can be bought in other sets, but they enhance what you already have. You want more of these guys because the source material has a lot of them. Examples are the Lord of the Rings Orc or the Hobbit's Lake Town Guard. (Too bad Star Wars never gives us polys with Stormtroopers or Clones.) If you're getting Super Cycle Chase or the Police Dropship, you probably want one of these to have just one more SWAT robot. I will say that I just watched the movie again yesterday and didn't see this craft anywhere. Maybe I missed it, but odds are this set is a unique toy you won't find in the film. And that's OK, since the film is all about creativity. It certainly looks like something that could be in the film, and it's one more cop for your assault on Cloud Cuckoo Land. CONCLUSION Design: 9/10. I like it! It's a nice "Blade Runner" kind of bike even if it wasn't in the film. Like I said, the addition of a clear piece to elevate it would have been nice. Parts: 7/10. Hmmmm. The parts are ok, but nothing I was personally screaming for. They come together nicely, though. Build: 8/10. The build is short and easy, but not complicated (other than the wings being a little confusing). Minifigs: 9/10. Army builders are always good. Playability: 8/10. It's a nice "swooshable" craft. It has no real play features. I guess you can rotate the wings, but I don't think they're intended to rotate (but use your imagination). Price: 8/10. I'd like to have paid a dollar less, but I think that's decreasingly likely with prices slowly creeping up. (I just paid $5.50 for a poly at Target.) Total: 49/60. Hmmmm. I'd have thought that would have come out higher. I like it and I think it makes a nice little addition to the TLM sets. Compared to the Piece of Resistance, it's a much nicer polybag. I suspect I'll like it a lot better than the Micro Manager Battle poly which nobody's been able to locate yet. My verdict is to buy it. Coming up next: has anyone seen the Wyldstyle/Piece of Resistance set yet?

...does this explain why I'm seeing them in TRU now (with obscene mark-up)? I got Set 1 for Christmas. I'd like to get at least one other set (either the vehicle kit or the steampunk one) but I'm waiting on my birthday. (Now I wonder if I should buy them up for investment.)

Still, it'd be fun to recreate this hearty crew:

The stuff that I'm still most commonly on the shelves are the 2-in-1 vehicles. My guess is it's because they don't have any main characters in them.

I just saw the movie a second time and I realized what figure could come with the DVD: pre-mutilation Metalbeard!

I think you just came up with the plot for the next film!

Man! But then, how did you not see it when you collected your garbage? I'm not saying it's impossible--I had an action figure disappear a few years ago when my daughter became interested in him AND the trash can around the same time. He never turned up in a sweep of the house, and we can only conclude that she put him in there. How I didn't see it, I'll never know...

It does have a two-page spread where Emmet is doing various things. They comment that he has more acting ability than Kristen Stewart.

You can roll the dice with Target and see what goes on clearance in a few months. If they have any left, it'll presumably get hit by their slow markdowns. They tend to mark down 3 times--a little bit at first, then maybe to 30%, and eventually to 50%. Waiting it out only tends to work with pegwarmers and massive sets, though.

Man, these have all VANISHED from most stores around me. I do have one Target that still has a load of them, and I've found everybody but Shakespeare at this point. I hate that he's shortpacked. He might have been there, but I ran out of time to check every bag. I have noticed a lot of older waves suddenly reappearing in place of the LMCMFs. Really--series 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 have all shown up again at my Targets. Maybe they're putting them out as a compensation prize--"Gee, these CMFs are really selling--put some more out!" not realizing that since they're not the Movie series, people won't care.

Target seems to be all over the place with polybags lately. I have something like 7 Targets near me, and they're each carrying, among other things: the TIE Fighter, the Republic Assault Ship, the Fire Car, a Police Helicopter from a few years ago, and Ewar's Acro-Fighter. As of today, I finally spotted the Batman Tumbler poly. My TRU finally had The Lego Movie Super Secret Police craft the other day, but only a few of them. They still have a ton of Iron Man vs. Fighting Drone, a bunch of Mia's Picnics, and weirdly, some Tonto's Campfire sets.

A thought: The movie's popularity WILL die down between now and the DVD release, and again between then and the sequel. TLG can't turn out TLM sets forever, because there's a limited pool of things from the movie to be made, and because kids' interests will lie elsewhere. Having said that, what if TLG kept the characters going in other lines? Batman will continue to appear in Super Hero sets. I think the City theme is due for more construction stuff, so what if future Emmet minifigures were included there? What if Wyldstyle was added to the Agents line? What if future Space sets found a way to work in Benny? (Alternatively, Benny could be included in a nostalgia space set.) How about some Creator sets with Unikitty? Lastly, what if TLG started including more alternate build ideas on either the back of the box or in the instructions? The spirit of TLM can live on even if the line ends.

If nobody's mentioned it yet: in the US (and maybe Canada), Target's Easter items are out. This round, my Target has out that Stephanie's mini bakery polybag, which is a great little set since it has a pretzel and a printed cookie. Price has gone up to $5.50, though.

Agreed. Of course, you could wait until after Easter for the clearance sales. However, Easter is almost two months away, so who knows if there will be any polys left? It's a calculated gamble...

Target's Easter items are out. Included are that Lego Friends polybag where Stephanie has a little bakery, and 30187 Fast Car. The price has gone up a little--now it's around $5.50 US for a poly. (Yeesh.)

Well, I think you've pretty much finished it there (except for the colors being off, but who cares?). The next time I get around to Bricklinking, I'll need to remember to order those parts.

Wow, about time. I've been checking TRU weekly and still haven't seen it. My two TRUs tend to sell out of polybags, but they don't sell out THAT fast...so either they were all snatched up, or they're finally starting to show. Anyone else? Also, anyone seen the Wyldstyle poly yet?

Thanks. I also didn't realize until recently that Lego makes two types of small flames: some with two little brackets on the peg, and some that just have a peg. The ones without the peg should fit in the smaller rockets. It's part # 4261397.

No. I'm avoiding clutter. The exception I sometimes make is for the Advent Calenders, where the inside flap depicts a scene on which the daily models go. Even then, I eventually toss that to decrease clutter and just build a scene for the pieces instead.

Yeah, Frozen has a nomination for Best Animated for this year. (I assume that the Oscars are for films in a given year from January 1 to December 31.)

Not only do I want an Advent Calendar, but I had a brilliant thought: Christmas Kitty. Unikitty in a red and white scheme. Who's with me???

I hope this doesn't throw fuel on the fire, but Lando and Shaquille O'Neal were dark-skinned. Then again, they're "fleshies" of a darker color. Yellow still seems to be yellow.