ResIpsaLoquitur

Meanwhile, I see that this set has popped up on Brickset. The Lego Stores are advertising a free accessory pack starting the last week of January, so this is probably it. I'm personally underwhelmed. I remember getting the Monster Fighters accessory pack in 2012, which was useful because it came with a skeleton and a spider. There was a recent Friends accessory pack which had the parts to build a cake, plus a minidoll-compatible apron. This looks to be microbuilds of two of the existing sets. If you're a microbuilder, then sure, this could be fun. Me, I was hoping it'd be something compatible with the sets.

How about young Jedi Anakin from the Naboo celebration?

Well, on the one hand, that appears to be an Emmet-in-pajamas polybagged figure. On the other hand, anyone with a spare Sleepyhead and Emmet figure could make one of those. (Maybe that figure will come with the DVD release as well.)

Cute! I wish I had some of those flexy-pieces you used for the arms, as that is the part that the "real" MMs are using.

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. 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. Uh, except for this month. They seem to have a glitch as of this writing, as they have instructions for January 2013's MMB, not 2014's. Oops. Well, if you read through this review, you'll know what to build without Lego's help. Set Title: Snowplough Set #: 40094-1 Theme: Monthly Mini Build Pieces: 43 Minifigures: None Year of Release: 2014 Price at release: Free! FREE! So this month is a snowplough. That's what Bricklink is calling it, anyway. Here in the States, we tend to call them "snowplows," as we like a "w" more than a "gh." Either way, it's a truck with a shovel in the front. First things first, my daughter and I got in line at the store and received this card: That's your ticket into the store to attend the build. Stores only give out 150 of these, so get in line early if you want to play. My local store wasn't too packed today (probably because it was absurdly cold, and nobody wanted to go out), but I've seen at least one other store with a very long line. Plan accordingly. Here you get a single two-sided sheet of instructions. Sometimes, they've just had the instructions tacked to the wall, but lately they've been letting the kids take the instructions home. I appreciate this, as I'm not sure we could recreate some of these builds from memory. Parts inventory, with three spares (an orange and red 1 x 1 plate, and a trans-yellow cheese). So this is 43 pieces, plus the three spares. It's a nice selection with some parts I haven't seen too often, like the yellow wheel wells and the 2 x 4 SNOT piece. One thing I enjoy about the builds is when you get some "symmetry": more than one of a single piece, so the build looks the same on both sides. I like that here, we'll have a consistently-shaped object with the same wheel well in the front and back. Here's the initial chassis of the truck. All this is built on top of the 2 x 8 light bley plate. This was probably the trickiest part of the build for my daughter, as there's two 2 x 3 yellow bricks between the wheel wells sitting astride the 2 x 8 plate. They easily popped off as she was trying to get it together. Definitely build this part on a flat surface. Here's the first part of how the "plow/plough" will attach: two hinge bricks on the SNOT plate under the headlights. I love how functional this will be with a clever use of SNOT pieces. Ahhh...here, the truck is definitely coming together. Note that the yellow angled plates come over the SNOT plate. Both my daughter and I made the mistake of putting them against the dark bley plates, which isn't correct. You need to leave a 1 x 4 space so the last 1 x 4 yellow plate can go back there. Sorry, this picture turned out fuzzy for some reason. I did want to give you a good look at the truck, pre-plow attachment, for one specific reason.... Here comes the plow! It's a simple combination of two hinge plates with a 1 x 4 plate and an edged tile. I think a 1 x 4 flat tile would have worked better than a plate, but maybe you could attach white bricks to the plate to show "snow" being moved by the truck. Ta-da! The finished product is a very cute little truck. The only weird thing is that because of how the plow/ough attaches, the headlights are now covered. In real life, the driver isn't going to be able to see where he's going. Snowplows often operate at night and in the dark, so this isn't the safest way to do it. Well, drive safely. I put it next to last year's Toys R' Us Police Car (which I reviewed here) for comparative purposes. They look great together. I don't know why Lego doesn't do more small-sized cars for the kids, particularly since 4-wide vehicles are out and six-wide vehicles are all the rage for minifigures. They still seem to be using the molds for 4-wide models, and I think smaller, non-minifig scale cars would be a hit with the kids. I'm tempted to build some more to go with these two. CONCLUSION Design: 9/10. This thing looks exactly like it should. The only thing I don't like is how the yellow angled plates go slightly under the trans-slopes that make up the windows. Parts: 9/10. A great selection of pieces where a lot of clever builds make this into an accurate mini-model. Build: 7/10; it's an easy build, but my daughter struggled with it some. Minifigs: N/A. I downgraded the TRU Police Car specifically because it was advertised as a "City" vehicle but couldn't hold a minifig. This vehicle makes no pretentions about what it is, so I won't downgrade it. Playability: 10/10. It's a moveable toy, and the plow is actually functional. Dump a bunch of white bricks on the floor and let your kids get to moving them. Price: 10/10. It was free! Overall: 45/50. That's about 90% of perfection, folks. Unfortunately, we don't yet know what the rest of this year's MMB lineup will be. Next month will be...oh yes...a Micro Manager from The Lego Movie, and it looks to be in-scale with the main toy line. The rest of the year is still unknown. They tend to be seasonal, so expect some spring themes for March-May, summer themes for June-August, and holiday themes for October, November, and December. Still, this model is a GREAT start to the year! As I always say, if you can get out to the store for these, they're awesome.

Here's an odd one: my local TRU had an abundance of 40011 Thanksgiving Turkey, which is from 2 years ago. They also had 40035 Rocking Horse, which makes sense as seasonal overstock from last year--but the Turkey is just weird. Oh, and they had a few of The Hobbit Lake Town Guard sets. Not many left. I'm keeping an eye out for The Lego Movie polybags there, since TRU tends to have licensed polys for only a week. Anyone seen any yet?

I'm in the U.S. too. Sorry....

Edit: If you're new to this thread--start dropping pictures of your custom Micro Managers in here! I was a little bored last night and dumped the bricks on the floor. Here's a quickie Micro Manager I put together (since I still don't have any TLM sets, and with my budget, I likely won't anytime soon). Is it Movie accurate? I don't know. I carefully looked at every Micro Manager in each movie set and noticed that they're all different. They all have some features in common: they're black and box shaped with red "eyes," but the sky's the limit after that. So I figure I can't go wrong as long as I stick with those parameters. I did inadvertently add a play feature. I don't have many SNOT pieces, so the side panels are loosely held by the red 1 x 2 pieces and they fall off with only a little pressure. However, I'm justifying them as "breakaway" panels so the Micro Manager can be defeated. Here's Gail jackhammering off the panels to set Lincoln loose. I hope you enjoy my lone Micro Manager! If anybody else wants to customize a MM, feel free to post here (or your own thread if you prefer).

That would be this book. Unless there's some other book I don't know about.

So what are the real-world objects that are going to be in the movie? I never noticed until now that Vitruvius' staff is an actual, non-brick built lollipop on a stick. I imagine that the Kragle and battery are going to be "real" too, and that there will probably also be a Sharpie marker. Anything else?

I don't know if anyone's done a feel-guide yet, but here's my strategy: - Emmet: Feel for the 1x2 tile and the hardhat. I mistakenly got a Bad Cop because I didn't feel the helmet correctly; make sure what you feel has bumps. - Lincoln: The 2 x 2 tile and/or the round top hat. - Bad Cop: Feel for both the 1 x 2 tile and the handcuffs. Again, easily mixed up with Emmet. - Scratchen-Post: She's on the rare side. Feel for the cat. - Wiley Fusebot: I've felt the beard multiple times, but the obvious thing to feel for is the dynamite. - President Business: The cup. - Calamity Drone: The skirt will stand out to you. Then feel for the rifle. (I've also felt her hat numerous times. It's a weird object which you'll only conclude is the hat once you realize that it's the only thing it could be.) - Larry: The cup. It feels almost but not quite like a 1 x 1 cylindrical brick. - Taco Tuesday Man: The bowl or the hat, but the hat is very obvious from its pointy shape. - Where Are My Pants Guy: He's tricky--you need to feel both pairs of legs in there. If you think it's him, find one pair of pants, hold it with your thumb, and then feel for the second pair. Make sure to swivel the legs to ensure that it's pants and not another large object. - Gail: Her hardhat is identical to Emmet's, but has a ponytail. The jackhammer is also obvious. - Panda Guy: The mask is a very weirdly shaped object. If you feel a very large round object, check for two bumps (which are the ears). Alternatively, find the panda doll. - Shakespeare: I haven't found him yet. I guess find the 2 x 2 tile and make sure it isn't Lincoln or Velma. - Marsha: The mermaid tail is huge. - Velma: Again, I haven't found her--try for the 2 x 2 tile. - Wyldestyle: LIke Calamity Drone, start with the skirt piece. If you find that, make sure there's NO gun. I went through a ton of Drones before finding Wyldestyle. The ponytail is the other distinguishing feature once you get the skirt.

Apparently that's Benny's catchphrase.

...unfortunately, Garbage Man Grant had an unfortunate accident and lost his arm in the Trash Chomper. He gave himself a bionic replacement and changed his name to "Jack McHammer," then spent his days pursuing the zombified Gordon Zola.

I am seeing other TLM gear in stores, including Emmett and Lord Business pens, keylights, notepads, etc. We're probably going to see a lot of non-toy product on the shelves soon.

Ha! I was pretty close.

If you need a Batman, try tracking down this polybag. It's the same costume he's wearing in the movie.

I found some Lego Movie notepads in Target today. This news wouldn't be relevant to the CMFs, except that the cover of one was a larger version of what's on Emmet's 1 x 2 tile. It's something like "Instructions for a Happy Life" and includes "How to Fit In." There was a caption next to the guy getting eaten by a shark. Wish I could find a picture of it, but at least it's nice to know what's on that tile he's holding.

5. Dr. Spock - 1 17. Kristel - 1 21. Darkblane - 1 28. Simon_S - 1 38. vecchiasignoranceppo - 1

Wow, so there are four wheels. This wasn't clear from the box art. I bet one could convert the Fire Mech into a workable fire engine with the parts included, even if no 2-in-1 instructions are included. Same with the farm contraption--it sure looks like it could become some kind of small barn.

Nah, that's cool--I think I can see everything.

I want instructions for the couch. Because let's face it, most of us will not have the money to blow on the ship, but we probably all have enough parts lying around to make the Double-Decker Couch for watching TV with our buddies.

Can you do a photo of just the pirate parts? Looks like this would be a great pirate parts pack, what with the steering wheel, shark, cannons, etc.

Is it possible that these came from display models or the monthly Lego Club meetings? Maybe the Store employees dumped the minifigure parts into the figure bins when it came time to clean up.

Check out Bad Cop's official biography for a possible explanation of what the Scribble-Face means. (Spoilers ahead!)

Taking an LDD stab at what Micro Manager Battle will look like: If this is it, I don't think that's too bad-looking. I'm hoping that's film accurate, since licensed polybags often take liberties. (As said earlier, Thor certainly didn't find the Cosmic Cube in some contraption.) Most of the bigger set Micro Managers are made of 4 x 4 or 6 x 6 plates, so a 2 x 2 is pretty puny...but maybe there are some in the film that are that small. As it is, this could be a nice way to get some Micro Managers on the cheap since most of them come in the $30 and up sets. I'm guessing that Wyldestyle will get a set of nunchucks, as I can't imagine what else the telescopes and chain are for.