Yloquen

I'm not into trains or town, but this is, hands down, a great set. And a great review too, really gives a feeling of the build.

Well, maybe the flying vehicle is meant to transport the land craft between different mining spots without going underground :P

After long years of watching American Chopper and even without a single ride of one in my life I for some reason built this: I know what you think - there's gonna be a lot of screaming from anyone trying to ride this due to constantly frying his leg on the exhaust pipe :) Also I have no idea where you could put your legs, I guess it's one of those choppers, that are very low and your legs go forward. 2 more pics at MOCpages

I am one of those unlucky ones who saw (oh, no, I cannot unsee them) the leaked pictures of Power Miners and had deep prejudices about the line. Since then I have quite changed my opinion. A few of the things that caused that were: Seeing proper images of the models; Seeing the reviews; The general good design and marketing of the line - The models, the mini-site with the videos from the designers (I think that such videos should be made for any LEGO line) and also the combo-models that could be built with specific sets. The last point - the combo models is what made me choose the models 8958 and 8960. 8958 is in my opinion the best model from the line (judging only from review about the sets that I don't own). 8960 is also nice, though I'm always a bit worried when I see such big pieces as the ones intended for use as wheels and the drill machine. However, having seen them in person, and also having witnessed the versatile uses to which LEGO designers have put them, I'm optimistic about their MOCing potential. Without further ado, I want to present the point of this article - which is to show the combo models in a little bit more detail. There are reviews of the individual sets, but so far I haven't seen the assembled alternate models. The combo model of 8958 and 8960 is a flying transporter plus a miniature mining vehicle. That is a bit reminiscent of the harvester transporters from the game Dune. There isn't much to say about the flier. It has a cockpit with some controls that accepts a single minifig. It doesn't have a windshield, but a roll cage like structure. The engines show a potential use of those huge parts for the wheels. Front view. Back view. Ready to take off. The mining vehicle is nice and shows another use for the wheel parts. The front drum spins, not due to a mechanism but by contacting the ground. There is a catapult seen on the right (what a surprise) which uses the rubber band ... ... and a device for breaking the rock which can also be played with - it has some elasticity because there is an axle going through all its height, so if you pull it back and release it , it can punch a loose "rock" in front of it (it extends further than the drum). You can also see one of the problems of the model - the roll cage closes on top of the driving wheel And finally, when you have them both assembled you can grab the digger with the flier and go on a glorious mission. I must say the balance and the attachment are very good. Ratings: Design - 7/10 It shows that the models are built with pieces intended for something else. While you build, you may occasionally feel that some details were designed just to cram in a piece from the original model. Nevertheless, there are a few very nice touches - the front of the mining machine shows an ingenious use of the large pieces used for wheels (undoubtedly, this use is not a chance discovery but has been an intended design goal for the part). The overall look of both vehicles hints at their purpose and is pleasing. Value - 10/10 Well, since you get these models for free, it's quite good value for money. In reality, as any economist would tell you, the price for the work of the designers who came up with the alternate models is included in the price of the original sets. However, both sets being reasonably priced, the increase in price due to extra design or a piece that had to be included exclusively for the combo model is probably negligible. Playability - 9/10 I am not much into playing with models, but I think a kid would have quite a bit of fun with those. There is a flier for swooshing, and there is a land machine for destroying things. What more could you desire ( a catapult? ).

I like the house more than the white and tan houses , but less than the beach house (which I have :P) Still, I might get it. Also, the auto trailer is quite nice.

He he , that's funny :) Nice job breaking the stereotypes about trolls.

Awesome. Good vig and the choice of head for the Insmouthians is suiting. Lovecraft is one of my most favorite authors. To be honest though my favorite stories are: "The Whisperer in the Dark", "The Color out of Space" and "The Lost City" (not sure about the names since I didn't read them in English). Anyway - good job and I hope this theme catches on

I guess the bottom lines have made their minds about continuing those licenses. They most certainly wouldn't have stopped their licensed lines - Harry Potter, Batman, Spiderman if they were profitable. It seems that Star Wars is the undisputable king of licensed themes and Indy seems to be going strong too. But apart from sales, there is another factor - price of the license. If something is selling well, but the license is very expensive, LEGO might still be at a loss producing that franchise.

This is a work of fantastic quality. I just don't understand why you would concentrate so much on the Bible. Surely there are a lot of other books and interesting stories to be told.

Nice review and nice little set. The building manages to convey oriental flavor. The colors are bright and contrasting, without being too <insert that tiresome argument> and Johnny is of course cool. The one thing that I don't like about it is, yes you guessed it - Jun-Chi :) LEGO somehow doesn't manage to make a bigger figure that is as pleasing as the minifigs. Its recent attemprts with the giant trolls and new dragons show some improvement but they still need to work on them.

Interesting work, but I wouldn't call it a tank :) Looks to me like an all terrain, futuristic recon craft.

The infamous 88 :) Meant to shoot planes, but used to shoot tanks instead. Looks good. Only if memory serves me right, the nozzle was longer, but I may be wrong ...

Very nice. I especially like the guy crawling on the wall. Only complaint - bigger and more detailed photographs needed ;). These just don't do justice to the creation.

Heh , I guess there's no knight for her, because she is only a wench. Had she been a princess, knights would be queuing to save her ... :)

Great. It's very accurate, considering the scale. Especially the hair (was it hair or cables? ). But did you have to put a female soldier to the slaughter? ... :)

Quite nice exterior and very detailed interior :)

Thanks for the review. Personally, I see it for the first time so you may call me unprejudiced. With that in mind - I find the set pretty neat, meaning, I might be tempted to buy it :) My opinion on the Power Miners line is that it is intended more for children than AFOLs. And that's why here we might be bashing it a little bit more than it deserves ( I guess that if the members here are not mostly adults , at least the ratio of AFOLs to kids in the forum is skewed :)

I'm from Bulgaria. Being a country from the former Soviet block we had those. If anyone is interested BTR stands for - BroneTRansporter which is translated as Armored Transporter (being the equivalent of APC - Armored Personnel Carrier :). Here's a pic (this one is BTR-90 but it's similar): The mixing of old light grey and new light bley creates a very good camouflage effect :)

Thanks for the review. Not having the advent calendar or indeed any female minifig, this set is very attractive to me. I will probably be looking to buy it with a higher priority than the troll fortress, if a get the opportunity.

Pretty accurate representation. We had those in our armed forces (not sure about the exact model), only they were green.

Ha ha, yep, cowardly queen :) She might be the difference for me , between buying it and not buying it ... :)

I'm a bit disappointed that the troll fortress isn't made entirely out of wood. Somehow this one doesn't strike me as trollish and looks a bit generic. It would be better if everything was in the style of the door. The shaman looks cool, but I'm not sure I'll be getting this one. The bridge defense looks nice. I remember seeing pictures of it with a queen. Probably some preliminaries ... ? And lastly, these sets kinda destroy my hopes of an elven line. Oh, well, I gotta live with that ... :)

The method is simple but it has one problem :) - it only looks good from one of the sides, so its somewhat limited: The headlight and plate are used to set it into grid, though I'm not sure it's very exact, but good enough for my purposes. Also you may notice, that there is a gap in the center between the two fences. You can put a round 1x1 piece there too, but it fits quite loosely.

Two more pics at MOCPages

I like it. Here are a few thoughts on it: - Crownies minifigs are nice. There's a decent amount of them and also a few skeletons. - Good piece/price ratio. Mostly useful parts, but also some which I don't like a lot - namely the windowed wall piece, the half octagon turret top, and the BURPs (though some clever people have found good use even for them :). - Dragon is mediocre for me but still it's nice to have at least one. - Wide selection of basic pieces in good colors - most are lt bluish gray. Nothing kiddish like some older sets (most notably KK). - The build is interesting and easy. The castle is modular so it has high play value, also it is fully enclosed (should you wish to build it so). Overall - if you don't already have a large set of parts, I think it's worth it.