Kivi

This is original!!! Everything is so cartoon-like, from characters to igloo and snowmobile. Though generally I'm not a fan of stickers, this creation wouldn't be anywhere near as good without them. If this ever gets released, I'm pretty sure I will have to get it for my sons who are huge fans of Pingu. Though when I see what commotion the penguins do I sometimes wonder if this is really a cartoon for kids.

Very nice design. I like how you minimized the vegetation in the garden - those built with only 1x1 bricks look quite effective. The scattered 1x1 round plates around the house are also a nice addition. Well done.

Congratulations from me too! It's a very nice house with interesting interior, but the best part is the terrace set at an angle. The pattern on the bedspread is also a nice touch.

It was in the news recently that Lego is experiencing a huge sales growth in Asia. If it keeps it up, it might result in opening a franchise store there some day. Logistics might be one reason for not having already opened a store, as one single store in this part of the world would have been quite isolated and probably too far away from their distribution lines. Anyway, I keep my fingers crossed for you.

A bit unusual facade, but nicely executed with plates. Just as Kristel said, it might look better just for one section of the building, i.e. the angled wall. The interior, however, is another story. I love all the details, especially the drum kits and the recording studio. Well done!

Very nice work on microscale station and particularly the trains. And the 63 building is nothing short of any official architecture set.

What a great way to start the EB 'life'. Welcome! I can't agree more, it's stunning. The way the house opens to reveal the interior (which is absolutely perfect as well) is really ingenious.

Great work, especially on the interior. The exterior is also nicely redone, I like how you managed to place the inscription on the facade, great work on letters too. And as TomLego has already said, it really needs an old, disheveled, long-bearded minifig librarian climbing the ladder and looking for some forgotten books somewhere on the top shelf.

I agree completely. I visited NRM in York a few years ago and was more than impressed with all the stuff that's on display there. My most recent visit was last weekend in the railway museum in Trieste, Italy. Though relatively small, it has some very interesting displays and dioramas, with the emphasis on local railway lines, both those in use and those that no longer exist.

As already mentioned in a thread covering the same topic (which unfortunately never got finished) here is a complete review: Basic info: Set number & name: 10234 Sydney Opera House Year released: 2013 Age group: 16+ Number of pieces: 2988 (BrickLink) Theme: Sculptures Price: 279,99 EUR S@H Specific value (ppp): 0,094 EUR/part After three years a new building was finally released in the sculptures series (though now officially called creator expert and joining together some other exclusives as well) - the famous Sydney Opera House. An interesting fact is that the same building was already released in 2012 in miniature form in architecture series. However, it was quite an appropriate time to release it again, now in the largest official lego scale, as the opera is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Box: The box is huge and suggests already at first glance that it contains a lot of bricks. The length and the height are the same as with the modulars, while the thickness of 17 cms makes it the second thickest lego box, tied with 10888 Death Star and exceeded only by 10179 UCS Millenium Falcon. The new TLG approach is also evident inside the box as it is completely full. Contents: 16 bags, 1 blue 32x32 and 1 blue 48x48 baseplate, 4 instructions books and 1 big white box containing additional 12 bags, 1 dark tan plate 16x16 and 1 blue baseplate 16x32. A total of about 5 kilograms of contents. Unlike in Tower Bridge the bags are numbered here. As it customary with very big sets, the biggest bags also contain some smaller bags with the smallest parts. Interesting pieces: The predominant colour in the set is dark tan and consequently some bricks appear for the first time in this colour here. New bricks in dark tan in the year of release are plates 2x3 and 1x6, cheese slopes 1x1 and 1x2, slope 33 3x1 and new half arch 1x5x4. Plate 6x14, curved slope 1x4 and tile 1x3 are also new bricks in dark tan which are currently unique to this set. Trans black brick 1x2x5 and white slope 33 3x3 double concave are also unique to this set. Like Tower Bridge the opera is also built on blue baseplates which are not very common in sets. Since 1997 and the demise of the first generation of pirates, the 16x32 baseplate only appears in sculptures series. The 32x32 baseplate appears here as a part in the set for the first time in nearly 10 years, while the largest 48x48 baseplate is brand new and currently unique to this set. Instructions: The instructions come in 4 books. A random page from the instructions book. As the set is an officially licensed product, the first instructions book starts with a brief description of the original building. The build: The bricks from bags 1 and 2 are used to build the base and the lower part of the building. The building here comprises mostly the assembly of a sturdy support. Here the first detail appears that gives a hint what techniques would be used in roof construction. One of the most interesting elements of the second part of the base is extremely sophisticated curvature on the northern part of the building. It is very precisely filled with plates and wedge plates that leave almost no gaps between them and the edge. The original building has quite an asymmetric design that undoubtedly presented a challenge for TLG designers to re-create all these lines as accurately as possible in this model. The sections of the building not in alignment with the base are nicely designed with the use of hinges and some of such lines can also be seen on the sides of the base. The lower part finished. The bricks from bags 3 are used to build The Concert Hall on the western side of the building. It is built in two separate parts which are then joined together in a modular way. A base with support for the roof is built first and then the roof is attached to it. The distinctive shell-shaped roof is constructed in halves, with all segments following the same building principle. They are attached to the support via plates with pin bottom. A view under the roof before the last segment is put in place. The supporting frame is relatively simple. Its most interesting feature is being mounted at such an angle that it allows a very accurate imitation of the inclined roof. The support is mounted to the base via ball joints, yet the entire structure is rigid and consequently the roof segments do not sway. Third part finished. The shape is already very recognizable. Now only the bricks from bags 4 remain which are used to build The Opera Theatre on the eastern side, the roof of the restaurant on the southern side and the lamps on the edges. The roof is built in the same way as before - base, supports, roof segments. The second roof finished. Finished set: Of all the sets in the series this one looks the most 'compact', covering the area of 80x48 studs. The modern design of the original building dictated the use of more advanced building techniques, especially building at different angles. This is also the first set in the series that is not built symmetrically in its base. A view of the northern side. The glazing and other glass surfaces are nicely represented with black and trans black bricks. The difference in dimensions between both halves of the building and their positions at an angle can also be seen here. A detail of the roof. A detail of the side. The 'glazing' of black and trans black bricks is also present here. A view of the staircase on the southern side. Similar to Tower Bridge, the opera can be disassembled into two parts which are joined together with pins. The yellow technic beams represent a coupling system, acting as wedges and thereby preventing deformation at the joint when moving or lifting the entire building. The joint is further reinforced with 1x6 tile and 1x4 plate on both sides. Conclusion: Design: 10/10 The greatest achievement of TLG designers is a very truthfully re-created roof as the most distinguishable feature of the building, but there are many other fine details as well. Parts: 10/10 A very good selection of parts and great source of various dark tan parts, blue baseplates. Build: 10/10 Relatively straightforward at the begininng but sometimes quite complex hereinafter with many interesting techniques employed. The age group of 16+ is a fitting designation as building requires some skills and experience, especially when assembling the roof and its support. The bricks which are added in a particular step in the instructions have the colour border which allows for easier building, especially in assembly of the lower parts where many times bricks are added in very different positions in the same step. Price: 9/10 Maybe the only slight drawback of this set. At first glance rather overpriced at more than 0,09 EUR/part for such a big set, it already falls in the range of city sets in terms of ppp and thus being more expensive than all modulars and most of creator sets for example. But knowing it is an officially licensed product, it makes any further debate about the price virtually irrelevant. Overall: 9,8/10 Some more pictures of the finished set are here. Many thanks to EB member TanTile whose review in his blog I used to identify the different sections of the building.

Thanks for posting this, it is a wonderful reminder of my travel in New Zealand ten years ago (yes, I was getting around on Intercity coaches ). Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to experience such a close view as I was passing through the area in the night and the closest I could get to see the volcanoes like this was from Taupo. Hope that I could return some day...

Thanks for promoting my review. Unfortunately Google Translate does some bizzare translations here and there, so it might be better to post it here with more coherent description than the machines do. Just have to finish the translation...

10214 Tower Bridge is definitely a must if you're looking for tan parts, and considering its ppp it might also be worth getting two of them as it probably won't be around for very long. 10234 Sydney Opera House is also great as a source of dark tan parts, even if a bit pricey in terms of ppp. However, you can't fail anything with buying the modulars. No problem with that. Anyway, I recommend that you check beforehand the inventories of all the sets you intend to buy, it will give you a better overview of what you will get.

@all: Thanks. I already used this technique for the driver's cabin door, slightly discernible in fifth picture. Your suggestion is definitely in the place so I might use it for the train doors too. Unfortunately no, though I've been tempted to build them along one curve at least. As the curves are quite tight I would have to stack them relatively close together and that would consume lots of certain bricks. As it is intended to be a part of a display (sometime in the future probably) I put the pantographs in as my addition to the basic design of an EMU, since very few displays of lego trains I saw actually had both pantographs and overhead lines. Though adding a third rail to the track to re-create a power source wouldn't be difficult on straight tracks, but would probably have to be done with some flex elements to make the way around the curves and points.

So many details in such a small space. And you included even the drip tray next to the sink. Well done.

I keep most of my bricks in 1 litre ice cream containers sorted by colour (first) and by shape (second). So for example I keep all blue plates in one container. When it gets full I either start filling another one with the same parts or divide the existing stock of blue plates into two parts, e. g. smaller plates in one container and larger ones in another. Though most times I just put the excess parts into one big box of assorted bricks which I intend to sort 'once when I will have time'.

Somewhere in between 30.000 and 40.000 and growing.

My recent build is this suburban passenger train. It is not a replica of any real rolling stock, though the design and livery are roughly based on UK train operator South West Trains. The train is an electric multiple unit, consisting of three units. A driver's cab is located at both ends of the train. Unlike the model mentioned above which draws electricity from third rail this train picks it up from overhead line. The train is 96 studs long. Counting also the bumpers and coupling magnets which protrude slightly beyond the construction, the entire length is 99 studs. The driver's cab is virtually completely snoted. Actually this technique left a slight aesthetic flaw – cutouts at the end of the roof above the cabin. Front end The interior of the front car with segregated driver's cab. The same design is employed in the rear car, with the only difference being the fourth passenger seat which is missing here beacause of the placement of the battery box. Though the train appears to be supplied with energy from external source it still needs some standard PF components for independent motion. The IR receiver and battery box are placed in two different cars which allows easier masking of the compoments and better utilization of the passenger compartments. The motor is placed under the middle car. The interior of the middle car The pantograph is not completely my invention but I used the design that has already appeared in some creations here on Eurobricks.

Yes, lego is for kids to play with it and for adults to create with it. If you like it, take it up and enjoy it. You shouldn't particularly care about what 'everyone' says as long as it doesn't harm anyone.

Since it's built entirely of slopes and considering the size, it might be a good idea to check how it's made here and probably scale it up. As eurotrash has said, building it this way would be much easier with real bricks than in LDD unless you already know what are you going to put inside. And keep in mind that building in LDD is not 'dynamic' so what looks sturdy there might turn out to be fragile and unstable in reality.

What a lovely combination of white and dark red. The brick effect is very nice. Good luck with the interior.

It's quite usual that different production runs of the same set contain variations of a certain part if the mould changes during the period when the set is being produced. I remember the Apple Tree House - the one that I bought when it was released in the beginning of 2010 has this type of 1x6 arch and the other that I bought in late 2012 had this type. Though your example is a bit unusual as both the set and the part were launched in the same year.

Pet Shop is my least popular modular too, mainly because of its exterior appearance - it looks kind of reworked GG with a touch of CC, while Grand Emporium is one of my favourites. I agree with the rest of your opinions. If detailed interior is what you like, you should also get and build Town Hall.

This is huuuge and very nicely re-created. The official modulars look quite tiny placed next to it. There are many, many interesting details all around but my favourite are the hanging baskets. The subway station in the rear is a very clever idea and the colour combination of the arches is fantastic. Well done!

Nice work on the forest police, but it's the vehicles that drew my attention. It's nice that you included various types of them for different purposes. They really look set for the action, with all those sturdy bars and grilles. The interior of the mobile command is fantastic.