Zeahl

This looks simply amazing, inside and out.

The review is now updated with the alternative models for all three sets, as well as the combined model.

After my full review of the first series of Friends animals (Link) I found myself at a toy store to discover they already had the second series up for sale. Obviously I grabbed all 3 different bags, ran to the register to pay, and then hurried home to build them. Let's see if they hold up to the great first series. The bags The front of the bags has not changed much since the first series. Once again every bag shows a nice scene with the included set, an enlarged animal head in the top right corner, and the Lego Friends along the bottom, this time holding the three new pets. The back hasn't changed much either. still very much purple, with a 1:1 picture of the included pet for scale. The first thing we find upon opening the bag is a second bag with the parts. I still really like this, as it makes absolutely sure that all the parts will be in great condition when you get them. The second thing you'll find is the instruction booklet. Again with the same front as the bag. The booklet is folded in half to fit inside the bag. Inside the booklet we find the building instructions, which are very easy to follow, despite lacking a parts call out at each step. The colors are nicely differentiated, and I never had to do a double-check to see if I had the right piece, though this may also be due to the small number of pieces in each set. When we complete the build we come to the page containing a sample of the alternate build, and a web address where you can find the instructions to build it. After the single set alternative build, we find the "collect them all" build, made of all three sets in the second series. From the image it looks a bit better than the series 1 build, but we'll see. On the back we are once again assaulted by this creepy girl, telling us to "WIN!" by completing a survey. 41020 - Hedgehog's hideaway Set Nr: 41020 Theme: Friends Year released: 2013 Nr of parts: 34 Price: £2.99 / US$4.99 / €4.99 On the front of the bag we see the hedgehog and it's cute little hideaway standing in what looks like small clearing near the edge of some woods. In the foreground there are some flowers, and near the bush in the back are what I first thought to be hedgehog droppings, but to my relief turned out to be pine cones, or at least I hope that's what they are. Inside we find a nice assortment of parts. some various plates and bricks, two colors of plant leaves, of which I've never seen the dark red ones before. You also get a reddish brown pitchfork, a bright green apple and a few lavender bows. Overall nice earthen tones for the most part in this outdoor set, with a bit of pink thrown in there for the hell of it, it seems. The hedgehog itself is very well molded, with good quality printing. I feel they've really nailed the look on this one, except maybe for the overly cutesy eyes, but seeing as this is a Friends set, I'll let them get away with it. When you complete the build you have a nice hedgehog hideaway for the hedgehog to.. well.. hide away in. The hideaway itself is very nice, with a small jumper plate in the middle to attack the hedgehog. I don't really get the use of pink and purple in this build. wasn't this supposed to represent a natural outdoor area? The dark red leaves are stacked on top of a small place. I guess this is supposed to represent dead foliage lying on the forest floor. The apple and pitchfork feel like they are just thrown in there just so there are some accessories in the set. These are the parts you have left over when finished building the set. Nothing too impressive. All hail our lord and master, the Hedgehog! This looks a lot like some sort of shrine to worship the hedgehog (or any other animal you choose to put up there). It is quite simple in it's construction and all in all not a very great model. 41021 - Poodle's little palace Set Nr: 41021 Theme: Friends Year released: 2013 Nr of parts: 46 Price: £2.99 / US$4.99 / €4.99 The front of the bag shows the poodle and her accompanying set in the back yard of somebodies house. a few purple flowered plants adorn the foreground, whilst an apple tree casts it's shadow on the "palace". (apologies for the color quality in this foto. I am currently tinkering with my lighting setup and some photo's come out just..weird. I'll try updating it when I get to do the alternative models) Lots of pink and white in here, with some bright light blue. medium azure and bright light orange splashes, and green for the base of the models. For accessories you get a bright light orange brush, dark pink flowers, white bones, and a couple of magenta bows. The poodle itself is mostly white, with a scarf printed across it's chest, along with the printed face. The doggy is nicely molded, but I just don't really like poodles, even in Lego form. The completed set consists of a small square feeding bowl, with a bone in it (someone really need to give the dogs in the Lego world some real food, I don't think they can live off of bones alone.), a small pedestal with the brush, for the poodle to sit on, being brushed, looking all snobby, and a "palace", which is nothing more than a small dog house with a lot of pink parts. I feel some more work could have been done on the "palace", as it currently stand I doubt it would hold the poodles "magnificent" fur coat dry during any kind of rain fall, it's just too shallow. After finishing with the set, this is what's left over. The first thing I did after seeing three bricks left over was do a double take on the instructions to see if I missed anything, which was not the case. The only explanation I can come up with, is that they are used for the alternative model, but time will tell. Speaking about the alternative model... No, you don't use those bricks for that either. The model itself is a nice little seen of some sort of small bridge over a tiny body of water. It's...okay, I guess. 41022 - Bunny's hutch Set Nr: 41022 Theme: Friends Year released: 2013 Nr of parts: 37 Price: £2.99 / US$4.99 / €4.99 The front of the bag shows the set in some larger back yard area, near a vegetable garden. The most standing out part of this set for me are the medium dark flesh bricks with masonry profile, for the sole reason these are the first of these new bricks I've managed to acquire. Apart from that, a nice selection of colors, With three medium azure bows and an orange carrot for accessories. The bunny itself looks very cute, like it can hop away at any moment. The molding is well done, and the face print is of good quality. The completed set consists of the bunny hutch, which I'll come back onto in a moment, a small balance beam for the bunny to walk across (I never knew bunnies liked that kind of thing?) and a carrot sticking out of the ground as incentive for the bunny to cross the balance beam. As shown above, the roof of the hutch can be opened up to make it more easy to place and retrieve the bunny from within. The design of the hutch itself is quite nice, with some brickwork on the sides to give it a more real feel. When you're done with the model these parts are left over. The alternative build for the bunny is some sort of back wall with a carrot in front. I'm getting less and less impressed by these things, even though they clearly do the best they can with the small number of parts they have at their disposal, without making something that looks too much like the original model. Combined model The combined model consists of five smaller builds, that form one bigger scene. Let's look at the individual pieces first. The first part looks like a small waterfall appearing out of thin air, which ends up in a cute tiny pool of water with some flowers floating around in it. The second part is a small storage area for the brush and pitchfork. The third, and least impressive of the lot, build is a few loose patches of grass with some flowers sprouting from them. The fourth part is another shrine for the hedgehog. They must really worship hedgehogs at Lego... It's a cute little building, with a roof of leaves. The ramp seemingly leads to nowhere, but that is remedied by combining the smaller parts into one scene. The last part is a patch of grass, with a carrot sticking out of the ground, a bone lying on a patch of dirt, and a small ramp that leads to nowhere (guess where that will be going on the combined scene?) Surprice! When combined both ramps line up so that the holy hedgehog can get down from it's shrine and harass the lower creatures, who are just trying to enjoy their favorite foods. The other parts are nice little additions, though the small patches with flowers feel a bit excessive, and the small waterfall/pool area has no real use, seeing as there are no aquatic animals in series 2. Maybe it's meant for the turtle from series 1? Conclusions (Disclaimer: I don't believe in giving numerical scores. It is up to the reader to decide what they think of any given model, and I believe mandatory scores detract from this notion.) minifigs: Just like the first series, the animals are all made very well, but they may be a bit too cute for some. Parts: A good part selection for such small sets, and for a decent price as well. build/design: The individual models are mostly good. I will comment on the alternatives as soon as possible. Playability: On their own these sets offer little in terms of playability. But if you add a mini figure of mini doll, the possibilities are endless! Overall, I still quite like the idea behind these sets, and hope to see more of these in the future. For now let us bid farewell to all our animal Friends.

Thank you

Holy crap, those are amazing! Can't even tell it's Lego when viewed from a distance.

When I came out of my dark ages at the start of this year, one of the first things I did was get the latest Lego catalogue to see what was new, and what would be coming. One of the things that caught my attention what a small insert in the Friends section detailing 2 waves of animal poly bags. I instantly liked the look of these sets and decided to buy them as soon as they came out. Here we have all three bags I will be reviewing today. Let's get started shall we? Set nr.: 41017, 41018 and 41019 Theme: Friends Year Released: 2013 Nr of pieces: 41 (squirrel), 31 (cat), 33 (turtle) RRP: £2.99 / US$4.99 / €4.99 The Bags The bags are made of very high quality plastic, and as such are not very easy to rip or tear without the use of scissors or a knife. On the front of each bag is the Lego Friends logo, with a drawing of the animal included in the set next to it. On the bottom are the 5 Friends girls, holding the 3 animals that come with this first wave of bags. And, the most important part of the bags, in the center is a picture of the enclosed set, with a nice background that amplifies the atmosphere. On the back is a lot of purple, some warnings, two time the web address of the Lego Friends page (because one is never enough, right?), a reminder that this is only Series 1, and a 1:1 picture of the animal that is enclosed in that bag. When we open the bag we find a small bag with parts and an instruction booklet. We'll get to the parts later, for now let's concentrate on the booklet. The front of the booklet is the same the front of the bag. When we turn the booklet around we are greeted by a creepy looking girl and the opportunity to win Lego Friends products in various languages. The instructions are easy to follow, with a non-obtrusive purple background with some adornments in the bottom right corner. Near the end of the booklet is an alternate model for the set, with a web address that leads to the instructions to build said alternative model. I like this! Now bring back alternative models for all other sets as well! After the alternate model you come to a page that shows you yet another alternative model, which you can build if you collect all three bags, again with a web address to the instructions. I think this is a great incentive to get people to collect them all, even if they only like one or two of the animals. Now, let us move on to the individual sets. 41017 - Squirrel's Tree House When you open the bag, another bag comes out, containing the parts. A bag within a bag. Well, at least you can be certain the parts are secure enough in their packaging! When freed from their bag, you get a nice selection of parts. Probably the first thing you'll notice are the lime plates, of which you get four. Apart from that you get mostly brown and tan parts, with some yellow thrown in there for variation. The accessories. You get a yellow plate, four of the new flowers and 3 bow ties. And of course we can't forget the most important part: the squirrel itself. It is adorable! It has a hole on the tip of it's tail to attach an accessory, and a cute printed on face. The first thing we are instructed to do is to put a bow on the squirrel's tail, and put some 1x1 round plates together to create nuts for the squirrel to feast on. Though I must say, those are some huge nuts! The main part of this build is the small tree house in which the squirrel will reside. The small tree stump it sits on is quite simple, but effective. The house itself is very cute, with good use of the cheese slopes to make a simple ladder. The top of the little house can open up for easy access to the inside. With the squirrel in it's place, and the plate with the nuts set in front of the tree house, this sets depicts a nice little scene, which can be used in any larger garden layout, or function well enough on it's own. These are parts that are left over when the model is completed. Like i mentioned before, in the back of the instruction booklet is an alternative model. Seeing as this review would not feel complete if I left this out... Voila! The alternative model seems like a small tree stump with.. a window..? next to it. I must say I'm not too impressed with this one. It seems a bit random, but then again, there is only so much you can do with so few parts. 41018 - Cat's Playground Let's move on to the next set, Cat's playground. Again a nice selection of parts, in quite a large range of colors. The accessories you get with this set are a pink plate, a fish and three magenta bow ties. And of course the cat. The printing on this animal is done quite nicely, although I have to say the face is a bit too cutesy for my liking. On the top of the head is a small hole to attach an accessory. The first thing we have to do is put the bow on the cat's head and build the scratching pole. And then we build up the main playground. It has multiple platforms and a little ramp for the cat to play and jump around. When everything is combined this is a fun little play set. this can easily be places inside a house (or outside if the house is not quite big enough) or be used as a stand alone set. These are the spare parts after the model is completed. Of course this model has an alternative model as well. The alternative model for the cat is some sort of obstacle course for the cat to run, with a nice fish at the end to incentivize the cat to jump from pylon to pylon. A lot better than the alternative model for the squirrel. 41019 - Turtle's Little Oasis And here we come to the final bag in the first series. Let's open her up, shall we? Mostly brown and tan parts in this model. With a few yellow parts, five transparent dark pink 1x1 round plates, 5 gold telescopes and some green jumper plates and foliage. For accessories you get 3 lavender bow ties and a white clam shell. The small turtle is well molded and has nice printing on it's head and shell. There is a small hole on the top of it's head to insert an accessory in to. The completed model is a nice little water side hut for the turtle to dwell in. The turtle can enjoy the shade in her little hut, and use the ramp to easily gain access to the water for a little swim. And these are the spare parts you have left after completing the model. Of course the turtle can't be left out when it comes to the alternative models. It appears that, in it's off time, the turtle like to visit a shrine and worship the great clam shell which governs the waters around Heartlake city. All together now! Time to combine these sets and see how the combined model holds up against the individual sets. The combined model consists of two smaller models. The first of which is this little scene which contains a little tree trunk for the squirrel and a small patch of water for the turtle. The second part is a small.. shrine for the cat to worship those ribbons? I honestly don't get this part. It seems like they had too many parts left over and had to build something out of them, even if it didn't make any sense. Overall I'm not too impressed with the combined model. The first model is merely okay, but the second is just nonsensical, The normal models, however, are all very well designed for such small sets. Conclusions: (Disclaimer: I don't believe in giving numerical scores. It is up to the reader to decide what they think of any given model, and I believe mandatory scores detract from this notion.) minifigs: The animals are all made very well, but they may be a bit too cute for some. Parts: For such small sets, the parts you get are very nice. build/design: The individual models are great, but the alternatives are a mixed bag. Playability: With the self-contained sets you can have some fun. But if you combine these with normal Friends mini dolls, the playability jumps up ten-fold. I really, really like these small sets, and will make sure to get the second wave as soon as they hit the stores. All that's left now, is to wave goodbye to our small new friends, and hope the next three can keep up the momentum.

I wish I could get the pit crew here, but it doesn't seem like it is included with the promotion over here. After looking around there is no mention of that set, and the shell station attendees don't seem to have a clue what I'm talking about when I ask about it.

Yesterday, when pulling into our local Shell station for some gas, I discovered they had small Lego Ferrari promotional cars for sale. Obviously, I bought them all. (Can't have an incomplete collection now, can we?) After doing some research I found these have been sold at various Shell gas stations around the world, starting in 2012, The bags There are 6 poly bags in total: 30190: Ferrari 150° Italia 30191: Scunderia Ferrari Truck 30192: F40 30193: 250 GT Berlinetta 30194: 458 Italia 30195: FXX On the front is a nice image of the Lego car surrounded by the Lego logo in the top left corner, the Shell V-Power logo in the top right corner, the Ferrari logo in the bottom left corner, and a small picture showing of the pull-back action of the models in the bottom right corner. On the back are some more logo's, a small picture of all 6 cars and some warnings in most languages currently in existence. Inside each bag are (obviously) the bricks needed to build the model, a small single-sheet manual and some stickers. The stickers come inside a small cardboard box to prevent them from getting damaged in the small bags. This piece, which is in every bag and functions as the base of every vehicle is a small pull-back engine. After testing a finished model to see how far it went, I was amazed to find out the small car easily went 4 meters (about 13 feet, for you infidels that don't use the metric system), and would've gone on farther, if there wasn't a wall that stopped it dead in it's track. Like said before, the manual is a single-sheet paper with fairly easy to follow instructions. On the back of each manual is more promotional material for the other sets in this small series. The models: 30190: Ferrari 150° Italia This car, formerly known as the Ferrari F150, is a formula one motor racing car build by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro to compete in the 2011 Formula one season. This model hasn't got too many interesting parts, mostly in red and black, with a splash of white. The blue and green 1x1 round plates are used to simulate the driver's helmet, and allow you to choose from one color or the other, depending on which driver you prefer (Fernando Alonso or Felipe Massa, if my research is correct) The car comes with small sheet of stickers, again presenting a choice to the builder to which number they want on the nose. The choice of driver is nicely handled in the last step op the instructions, and is, I believe, very nice for formula one fans, who may have a preference for one driver or the other. (Me not being one of them, I just picked the color I liked best) When you've completed the build, the result is a nice formula one car, with just the right amount of sponsor stickers applied. The overall shape is easily identifiable as a formula one car, even though the spoiler is a bit simple. For it's scale it is a very nice model, which is vaguely reminiscent of the original. 30191: Scuderia Ferrari Truck The Scuderia Ferrari Truck is used to move the team's racing cars and equipment to and from racing events. Again an asortment of red and black bricks, this time with some grey added to the mix. The sticker sheet, with stickers for the sides and front of the truck, as well as a sticker for the coupling mechanism on the back, which I though is a nice detail. From the front the finished model looks quite nice, even though the sharp angled edges of the windscreen look a bit out of place above the nicely angled bumper. The back, however, is a bit of a mess. There are spaces underneath the cabin that look like the person who build it forgot to place some bricks during the building process, and back of the cabin is was too open for my taste, this could have easily been filled in with 2 or three more Lego pieces. Overall, it's not the best out of the bunch, but it's still kinda nice, and a truck breaks up the monotony of only fast racing cars quite nicely. 30192: F40 The Ferrari Model F40 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-door sports carthat was built to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary from 1987 to 1992. At the time it was the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive car that Ferrari sold to the public. There's a bit more color in the parts selection for this model. most of it is white and black, with a nice amount of yellow, a bit of red, a dark grey plate, and an oddly out of place blue plate. The hood piece is printed. The sticker sheet contains some sponsor stickers as well as some black fields, that will represent the windows on the model. The finished model is nice enough, with some nice color variations (a welcome change from the usual Ferrari red). The use of stickers for windows is not that great however, and I would have preferred the slope they are on to be printed instead. The spoiler is a bit bulky, but it seems like it is the best one could do on this scale. 30193: 250 GT Berlinetta The 250 Granturismo Berlinetta, nicknamed the "Long Wheelbase Berlinetta", was also called the "Tour de France" after successfully competing in the 10-day Tour de France automobile race. There were 77 Tour de Frances built. A number of 250 GT "Tour de France" Berlinettas were sold for GT races from 1956 through 1959. Not too many parts here. The hood, roof and rear are all molded pieces, which I guess would be necessary to get the distinctive shape of the car, which would be quite hard to achieve with bricks on this scale. The roof and rear have been printer, and the rims have a nice chrome finish. Only four stickers for this model, two for the sides and two for the hood. Nothing too bad here. The finished model looks amazing! I really like the look of this little car.I know some of the angles aren't correct when compared to the real thing, but I just love it so much, I don't care. 30194: 458 Italia The Ferrari 458 Italia is a mid-engined sports car produced by the Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari. The 458 Italia replaces the Ferrari F430. The 458 Italia was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September 2009. Again, not too many parts, mostly yellow this time. the hood and roof are printed, and the rims are finished with chrome. Again only a few stickers. My only complaint here is the sticker for the hood, which could have been much smaller and only contain the logo, instead of the large yellow field. But I guess they chose to do it this was to make sure you can't position the sticker incorrectly. The finished model looks nice and sleek. The yellow color makes it stand out among the rest of the models, and the printing of the distinctive headlights make sure you can't confuse this car with a different model easily. 30195: FXX The Ferrari FXX is a high performance race car and prototype built by automobile manufacturer Ferrari in Maranello, Italy. The FXX is based on the street-legal Enzo. Production of the FXX began in 2005. As one look at the model on the bag might suggest, this set has a LOT of black parts. the blue, grey and red parts are all invisible in the finished model. No printed parts here, though the rims are chromed. The main purpose of the stickers on this model is to add white stripes to break up the blackness. I really wish they had printed the racing stripes on the parts here, but once the stickers are applied, it's not too bad. The finished model looks quite nice, but a bit too black for my taste. It's hard to see much detail unless you point a bright lamp straight at it. Overall conclusion Conclusions: (Disclaimer: I don't believe in giving numerical scores. It is up to the reader to decide what they think of any given model, and I believe mandatory scores detract from this notion.) Parts: The sets are quite small, and as a result the number of parts isn't that great. The parts you do get are mostly quite generic, with a few more special molded bricks. build/design: The overall design on these tiny cars is great, especially if you take the scale into account Playability: A big thumbs up on this one. the cars are very fun to drive around the floor (and walls, if you are so inclined). On top of that the pull-back engines are quite powerful and make it fun to race the cars against each other. Overall: For the asking price (5 euro's each, 2 euro's if you put some gas in your car) these are very nice sets. They are very collectible, are fun to play with, and look great on a shelf. I am quite satisfied with my purchase, and suggest you go and see if they are being sold at a gas station near you.

Thank you for your kind words. That sounds like a great idea. If I ever see it lying around on store shelves I'll buy it and do a comparison review.

My entry for the Mermaid figure. Mr fisherman was just minding his own business, dreaming of a big catch, when suddenly with a splash a mermaid jumped on top of a rock that was sticking out of the water! As soon as he blinked, she was already gone. Did he see that right? Was it just his imagination? We might never know...

Take a look here: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=8549-1, I believe that's the set you're talking about? From that list you can directly search for sellers by clicking on the item codes. Hope this helps.

I'd like to join up with the academy. I just joined and posted my first review, and plan on putting up quite a few more, so I might as well see what I can do to better myself.

Thank you for the kind words. As for the reviewers academy, currently I'm discussing that option with myself.

Alright, my first review, let's get started shall we? Today I'll be reviewing set Nr. 6615: Eagle Stunt Flyer. Box image courtesy of Bricklink Today's review (stats are taken from Brickset): Set Nr.: 6615-1 Set name: Eagle Stunt Flyer Theme: Town Subtheme: Flight Year Released: 1996 Nr. of pieces: 76 minifigs: 1 RRP: US$ 8.75 I got this set quite late in my collecting "career", but I remember loving the look of this cute little bi-plane. Let's start by taking a look at the parts. (from here on in, click on the images to see a larger resolution) As you can see, there's a lot of red pieces here, interspersed with a few black and grey pieced and 2 wonderful chromed exhausts. The eagle on the tail piece and band of stars on the Technic wheel piece which if used for the engine are stickers, and while the stickers on the tail piece have held up remarkably well over the years, the sticker on the Technic wheel piece has clearly not. When assembling I just tend to point the imperfection down and out of sight. Next up, there's the manual. It is quite small in size, and only 15 pages long. Sample page: As all old sets, there are quite a few parts added each step (at least compared to modern building instructions) and there are no part callouts. As long as you pay attention building the model should not be too hard, though I found myself occasionally missing a part after getting used to the modern manuals with part callouts. The back of the manual: On the back, as with most manuals of the time, you can see some alternative models, which I will discuss later in this review. The minifig: The head is a basic smile with sunglasses, I like this design for it's simplicity of conveying "cool" without the need for an elaborate smirk or grumpy face, like most modern heads seem to have. The front of the torso is a nice looking leather jacket style print, with the zipper half-way down, revealing a black shirt underneath. As usual around this time period (atleast, I think so) The back of the torso has no printing. The legs are just plain black... Not much to say here. The build: I have photographed the build every fourth step, which I believe will give a good idea of how this model is put together. Step 4: Not much to say, the base of the plane is put together, and a plate is used in conjunction with a 1x2 plate in the area that will be the cockpit to ensure that the minifig will stay put in the cockpit if the plane is swooshed, while making sure that it can be taken out easily without too much trouble. I wish more models used this method, as I can't count the times I tried getting a minifig out of a vehicle, and getting only the torso, while the legs remained in place behind the wheel. Step 8: The plane is build up further. The exhausts are added and 2 Technic pins in the front will later connect to the Technic wheel piece to form the front of the plane. Step 12: By this step the tail is completed, the front is almost done, and the support for the upper wing structure is added. Step 16: After adding the wings on the top and the propeller, we turn the plane on it's back to add the landing gear. Cool use of the grey 1x1 round plates here to simulate suspension. The completed model: It's beautiful! Now, I must admid, I've always had a soft spot for bi-planes. There is something about them that just seems irresistible to me. The construction is quite sturdy, and while playing with it the chance of it falling apart is quite small. The only thing that irks me about the design are the exhausts. sure, they look gorgeous, but the way they are connected is a bit... wonky. They are attached by way of pinning into a headlight brick, which means they can pivot freely, which they regularly do when playing with it, or even trying to pose it for pictures, as even the slightest tough can knock them out of alignment. Alternative models: As promised, it's time to talk about the alternative models. I tried to construct the models from the pictures which, as it turns out, is not as easy as I thought it would be. After a bit of trial and error I can now present the alternative models! (or at least the closest approximations of them I could manage) The first model is some sort of drag racer / rocket car. It is quite sleek and an interesting use of the parts, though as you might see on the scan from the back of the manual, that sticker on the Technic wheel piece has shifted places, which is an effect I could obviously not replicate with my version. The second model is some sort of swamp boat. This one was a bit more underwhelming, but still nice enough for an alternative model. And last but... Certainly least is this.. thing. I guess it's supposed to resemble some sort of glider, but the design for it is just awful. The wheel on the tail is way too high up to be of any use, and I had a very hard time trying to figure out how they had made the "cockpit" area, which, in my best attempts, seemed to stay very wonky. Conclusions: (Disclaimer: I don't believe in giving numerical scores. It is up to the reader to decide what they think of any given model, and I believe mandatory scores detract from this notion.) Minifig: The minifig is nice enough for a set from this time. The head and torso are quite common, but by no means bad. Parts: This set has a decent number of pieces, some of which are just gorgeous (I'm looking at you, chrome exhausts!) build/design: The build is quick but fun, and never gets boring or repetitive. the design is very good looking and quite sturdy, apart from the exhausts. Playability: This little plane is extremely swoosh-able. I remember having a lot of playing fun just "flying" around the house and doing amazing stunts with my little red biplane. Overall: This is a very nice set, and I would recommend it to anyone who can get there hands on it cheaply. As this is my first review here, please let me know what you think, and what could be improved, any critique is appreciated, so don't be shy.

Like the title says, I'm kinda new here. I've been hanging out around this forum just looking around for about two weeks now, and decided to bite the proverbial bullet and join up. So, who am i? I am a 29 year old. recently rediscovered fan of Lego. My parents made the wise decision to buy me Duplo at a young age, to continue on to lots of normal lego and some Lego Technic when I grew old enough. Even at that age, I was crazy about the stuff. When I got pocket money, I saved it all up for new Lego. When it was my birthday, or any other kind of event, and I could choose what to get: Lego. I collected quite a number of sets (or at least it felt like a lot of sets to me) and played with it for countless hours. But then... As I'm sure most of you have experienced, the dark ages set in at around age 14. Luckily for me my parents just put the Lego away for the future and never even though of selling it. Now, fast forward to 15 years later, I still look at Lego every now and again, check out what's on the shelves in the stores, and even occasionally bought an impulse kit, just for the fun of it. Then, on my last birthday, my girlfriend had the brilliant idea of gifting me a big Lego set (10226 - Sopwith Camel) which had the effect of pulling me right out of my dark ages and into AFOL-hood. Having build the Camel, I wanted more, so I started looking at what was available, and stumbled upon the new Galaxy Squad Range, Which I loved from the start and just knew I had to have in all it's entirety. Having reignited my love for Lego I started to roam the internet, looking for anything Lego related, youtube videos, set reviews, and eventually this led met here, to Eurobricks. after having read quite a few reviews here another old hobby of mine started to rear it's head once more, writing. I started to think I'd love to write some reviews for the Lego sets I build as a kid and loved to bits, and the new stuff which manages to capture my imagination. I hope to have my first review up in not too long, and equally hope you would like reading it, and get to share some of the love I have for this fantastic product.