jfbat

Ah, very much alike to the "tree" in set 60001: http://cache.lego.com/e/dynamic/is/image/LEGO/60001?$main$ Still: not adding anything to the set for me. But that's just personal...

I must have looked at pictures of this set hundreds of times (and no, I don't have it and doubt I'll ever get it), but I never noticed the tree. Now I have I must agree with you, the "tree" doesn't add anything to the set and would probably not even make it to the building stage if ever I would get this set...

What a nice building! Very realistic. Must have cost an arm and a leg to get those brick-pieces... One question though: how do you get those 6 wide vehicles with mirrors to work with the rolling doors? Mine won't fit through them...

I got this set a little over a week ago and though I think it is value for money and has great play features, it was one of those sets I immediately felt the need to mod. The back of the cain just didn't look right to me and the space behind the cabin is "empty". So I changed that and filled it up a bit. I also added some lighting to the back. This is one of the few sets where I had a feeling that I could see where cost-cutting decisions were made. No critisism, because that leaves plenty of room to mod it and keeps the price down a bit, but still.

Even here in the Netherlands it is not uncommon to see trucks this size and confoguration, used mainly to tow broken down trucks. And that's how I see this towtruck: as one specially meant to tow other trucks, not for regular cars. Broken down regular cars these days mostly get the flatbed treatment and we had a great set for that last year (or was it the year before that?) As I mentioned in the other review of this set against what I thought I have bought this set and I like it very much. Great value for money IMHO.

Ah, and again I'm strolling along memory lane… Had this set as a kid, fond memories of it!

I love this truck!

Yes, but on the other hand Mattel will likely be able to spend more money on product developement and stuff like that, so Mega Blocks might become a more serious competitor in the specific market LEGO operates in.

Why do you think GE is already gone? It's still available here in both s@h and regular stores.

I just looked at the back of my iPhone and you know what? I understand what you're saying, but buying Lego also means that money doesn't go back in my local community. And most Lego factories outside of Denmark are there because of lower cost of labour. The rest boils down to quality control (spanning from meeting tolerances to ethical and environmetnal standards) and that indeed is a serious concern when you buy something from a "non-western" brand. The set looks better than I would imagine, but there are quite a few things that put me off too. A bit too plasticy a look and things like that. I already have a bus (the one from 7641 City Corner) and if I want to add another one to my city, it's going to be a copy of that, Pick-a-Bricked if needed.

Just today overheard the shop manager of an Intertoys (the biggest chain of toystores in the Netherlands) saying they (Intertoys) will stop selling Mega Blocks in the near future and have already stopped ordering the brand. It'll be interesting to see what will happen with Mega Blocks over here, because I got the idea that they're actually doing quite bad in the Netherlands (and Europe in general). Most often the sets are hugely discounted, which lends them an aura of being one of those cheap brands that nobody really wants, but gets when lnot being able to afford "the real deal" or having to get something for the kid of people they're not really friends with. Maybe with some Mattel-advertising efforts and product developement investment they'll be able to turn things around. With Mattel backing them, they should be able to attract some interesting licenses. Also: Mattel is still a force to be reckoned with, having some brands that simply are must haves for toy stores, and it is not uncommon for companies like that to use that power to also generate shelfspace for other brands they own. No doubt we'll see the brand regaining some shelfspace in the future. But they will have to up quality, invent some interesting themes and make sure the public knows about it. But maybe Mattel won't really change anything and just wanted to get in to this market without having to build a brand first.

I was so not going to buy this set this year, or only if it got a considerable discount on it. So, today I bought it. Thing is, this weekend I began thinking about getting 31025 Mountain Hut and that started a train of thoughts, resulting in the idea to have a little camping site at the water, with 5766 Log Cabin, 5770 Lighthouse and 4435 Car and caravan. And that required the acquisition of this here vehicle. Did mod it almost immediately though: added a "ladder" to the back to break the great wall of white (and give the guys a chance to get to the canoo and the storage compartments on the top) and also a bumper to break the great wall of bley.

Apart from the house I had all these sets as a kid… My old Lego was stored with my parents. But my mom died, my father moved house and somehow I didn't find all that stuff that important at that time. My father said something about throwing it out if I wasn't interested and maybe he really did (I don't blame him), but maybe...

Still available over here at S@H, so I don't think Grand Emporium is discontinued.

In my case it was the build process, not the end result, i was a bit dissapointed with. ;) I think the word Prezes was looking for is "simple". And that it is, but as you say, that's the way they normally look. There is however mostly a way to get up there other that just "upper body strength" as the latter would defenitely not fly with the health inspectors.

And today the wait was over. Got this set, built it today too. To be honest: I'm a bit disappointed. With the building process that is, the end result is nice enough. When you've built a few of the 6 recent 6 wide trucks (and have mocced one or two as well as I have), this is a very straightforward build with no surprises. Also: too bad the cabin has holes in the back. But, as said, the end result is satisfying enough. Might get a second one to build a trailer. And I had enough bricks in stock to ad that indeed essential third tree trunk.

This week these sets finally arrived in the shops over here in the Netherlands (yeah, they took a while). As I thought I deserved a little present and had a coupon that had to be used before the end of the week, I went to the shops, mostly to buy 60059 Logging Truck but also maybe one other set. Remember this? Well, when I picked up the box it began to grow on me quickly. Before I knew it, I was at the counter and boght this set too. Built it this afternoon and to my surprise I found it to be a more fun build than 60059. The colours are great, the build solutions are nice and it's massive, you certainly get value for money (which, by the way, marked the return to the € 19,99 pricepoint at mayor retailer Intertoys for this series, last year the prices where between 21 and 23 euro!). And yes, within the hour it was modified to smoothe the studs at the back, which Lego should have done in the first place.

I agree, but to be honest: this goes for all Creator buildings so we should not really be surprised. A must have building for me this year is the Prisian Restaurant. I was keeping an eye on this Creator set as an extra, but won't be getting it at the RRP. Maybe if it gets discounted sometime in the future.

Very nice building!

I'm up to 7 now, and only have Emmet twice (which I don't mind, as he's useful in my city too). Today we got two, the mermaid was a dead giveaway. My girlfriend is into the "feeling" too and found WW Wildstyle. Next to that I've also got Lincoln, the female construction worker and the Business guy.

I liked Blue Thunder for it's helicopter and Ariwolf for the quirkyness of it's characters… ;) But I feel young seeing that I'm stil 5 years shy from your ages… Yeah, Lego do a lot of helicopters. Have three of them now, the police chinook (well, that's more or less my girlfriend's, she liked it a lot, I'm not too fond of it), the fire heli from the fire station from last year and a small police heli that came with a city brickmaster bookset. Actually, I seem to have nother heli from some years ago. No idea what it was, but I have the "undercarriage" in my partsboxes... Anyway, b.o.t...

I had the same thought, ZeeK! Well executed, de-marco. Almost completely SNOT, amazing.

My first thought too. Eliminaties any movement, because you've pushed the button some seconds earlier.

Hmm, a day has passed and the site is still down. That's slightly worrying...

I agree too. But I think it's a matter of pricepoints. The snowcat from 60036 is bigger and would therefore be more expensive than set 60033 is going to be. I wouldn't be surprised if a standalone version of the snowcat from 60036 would be priced at around the same price as the helicopter. And that is probably just not the pricepoint Lego were looking for in set 60033, as it now fits in nicely between the affordable snowscooter and the helicopter. Also: what I sometimes find annoying is that larger sets have simpler vehicles than the standalone vehicles in the same series. Especially in Fire, Police or Ambulance stations. The vehicles are just that little bit too simple sometimes in these sets. So I like that they decided to put a decent snowcat in the polar station set. But it puzzles me a bit too, as there is now no need to buy that extra set for a "decent" snowcat, from a sales point a bit of a lost opportunity.