gary_sabol

Thanks for the great pic! I can't wait to add it to my collection for this Christmas. Oversized Image EDIT: Please do not post pictures larger than our site guidelines of 800x600. This picture has been replaced with a link. -TheBrickster

I would like to join the academy. I've done several reviews already on Eurobricks but I want to improve my reviewing skills. I have at least three sets that need to be reviewed and meet the other requirments. Thank you. Gary

I know. Even though they put out quite a few sets, it seems like this is a theme they could have continued. Happy New Year! Gary

Since I just finished a review of an Indians set, I thought I would review one of the Western theme sets. Showdown Canyon is a fun set that lets you be the good or the bad guys in your Old West shootouts. The set includes two individual sets packaged in a single box. The individual set boxes aren't even marked with a number! I hope you like the review. Name: Showdown Canyon Theme: LEGO System / Western Year: 1997 Pieces: 57 Minifigs: 4 Price: N/A Resources: Brickset, Peeron Here's the original box that contains the two sets. Notice the background on the box. It looks like you're riding in the Old West! Here's the first box with the two bandits. Again, notice that there is no set number on this box. ...and the instruction booklet. Here are the two great minifig bandits. I love the facial expressions on these bad guys. You can tell life isn't easy for them. Also, some great detail on their torsos. Here are all the assorted pieces that came with this first set. You don't get a whole lot but you do get a nice assortment of firearms and the dynamite printed tile. And here's the finished product with the Gatling gun. Can you imagine riding out of Fort Legoredo and seeing one of these in your path??!? Okay. On to the next part of this review...the second set! It's sort of horse-drawn stagecoach/trailer/carriage. Check out the box. Here's the instruction sheet. Here are the pieces for this set. You get a better selection than the bandit's set. Notice the brown horse, wheels and hinged pieces. The minifigs for this set aren't bad but I like the bandits better. You get the sheriff and his deputy/cowboy. There is some nice detail on their torsos. Here is the finished stagecoach with the sheriff in front and the cowboy riding shotgun...sort of. The strongbox is in the back and contains the printed money tiles. The whip is pretty cool too. ...and the final picture with both sets. The background diorama adds some nice playability. I really like this set. Even though there aren't that many pieces, there's enough to have a lot of fun. Especially since you have the good guys and the bad guys that can fight each other. If you get the chance, I recommend picking up this set if you can. Summary review Playability: 9/10 (Good guys fighting bad guys in the Wild West. What more could you want?) Design: 7/10 (Not bad but the stagecoach could have been better.) Price: N/A (I don't remember what the price was...sorry) Overall: 8/10 (A nice little set with a lot of playability.)

Thanks for the great information. I'll do that right now. Okay. I think I fixed the images.

Sorry about that. How do I resize without messing up the review? Do I upload the resized images in Brickshelf? I'm still trying to learn all this stuff.

I appreciate the advice. How do you join the academy? Gary

I have done a couple of reviews but this is my first Western/Indians review. I would appreciate any advice on how to improve this review. This is a great little set that includes an indian warrior in a kayak. There a quite a few nice pieces here including a black bow and quiver and the assorted elements for the warrior. Name: Indian Kayak Theme: LEGO System / Western / Indians Year: 1997 Pieces: 12 Minifigs: 1 Price: N/A Resources: Brickset, Peeron There's just something great about breaking into a new box after sitting on the shelf for 13 years. Here are all the pieces once they were removed from the sealed box. You don't get very many pieces but you don't need many to make this kayak. Here is a shot of the instruction sheet. This has got to be one of the smallest instruction sheets that I've ever seen. These small box sets tend to have the miniature instructions. This is probably the best part of the whole set...the indian warrior! Bricklink lists this figure as "Indian Tan Shirt, Quiver." What I like best about this figure are the printed legs. This was back in the day when TLC didn't really do this and it was refreshing to see. Obviously, the legs match very well with the torso and the printed face. As someone else mentioned in their review, this is when TLC put noses on their indian minifig heads The hair and the feather are nice as well but the black quiver and bow really complete this figure. The black bow and quiver are unique to the indian sets. Here is the final picture that includes the kayak. There not really much to the kayak. It's essentially a 2x8 black plate that includes two red modified bricks with the curved top. You can clip a spear to the kayak and a paddle to the other side. There's also a bush that attaches to the back which I can only assume helps the indian warrior try to blend in with his surroundings. If you're a fan of the Indians subtheme, you should really pick up this set. It's very small but it would make a nice addition to any indian layout. Summary review Playability: 7/10 (Despite being a small set, it's a lot of fun.) Design: 4/10 (Aside from the indian, not much thought was put into designing the kayak.) Price: 10/10 (Very reasonable price...even nowadays!) Overall: 7/10 (Aside from the simple design, it's actually a lot of fun to play with.)

It's a no brainer. Please bring this theme back! Gary

That's too bad. I hope you're able to find one somewhere. It really is a great set. It's interesting. The box that the Winter Toy Shop comes in is the exact same holiday color scheme that the Holiday Train came in. I wonder if LEGO is going to produce more sets that have this holiday theme?

Here is my picture of the Winter Toy Shop. I placed it underneath our Christmas Tree along with the Holiday Train. It's hard to tell from the picture (since I used a flash) but the toy shop has three 12V lights inside that help to light the shop. I also incorporated several other 12V features into my 9V train layout. The Remote Control Signal (the solid red light in the upper left corner) actually stops the 9V train when it hits a certain part in the track. I also incorporated parts of the Remote Control Road Crossing into the layout and the gates raise and lower as you hit the button. Since I live in the US and we only use 110V, I had to get a step-up converter to make the 12V functionality work with my layout. Enjoy! Gary

Woo hoo! It's now up and running again!

I didn't know that. Thank you for the update. Gary

That's good to know. However, this seems like more of a long-term outage. The actual computer server, Northstar Computers (http://www.northcomp.com/) is down. I think Brickset.com is also hosted on this server and they're down too.

Yeah. I have the same problem today. It worked fine last night. Gary These types of outages on Bricklink don't happen very often. In the past, the outages are sporadic or only last for a couple of minutes. This outage seems a little more longterm. Gary

This is the best news I've heard all morning. Thanks!

Thanks, Panda. Wow! It looks like you have most of the 12v stuff out there already. I really like my 9v layouts. It's just that there are some great features of the 12v that I really like that were never made for the 9v sets like the signals and remote control crossing gates. If there were some way to incorporate these into my existing layout, it would add to its accuracy and playability. I'm just trying to figure out if that 12v transformer will work to power the lights. I would prefer this over a battery box. I stumbled across this article on how to incorporate the signal lights into an existing 9v layout: 12V Signals in a 9V setup

In the early 80's, I received a Fischer Technik electric train set from my dad for Christmas. I remember it had the two prong, UK plug and it had an adapter so it would fit into a US 110v outlet. It seemed to work fine but maybe it was because the transformer was so small??? I don't believe there was any converter connected to it; just the adapter for the US outlet. I would imagine the LEGO transformer would be similar but would love to hear from anyone who has actually made this work. There are just so many great 12v features that I'd love to add to my 9v layout!

I have used the 9 volt train system for years. However, there are features I like from the 12 volt train system. In particular, I like the Electric, Train 220V - 12V Transformer Type 1 but I don't know if there is any way to use this transformer in the United States since it's 220V and the US uses a 110V standard. I obviously wouldn't use this transformer to run the train; it would power all the lights, etc. that would encircle my 9 volt layout. Thanks! Gary

I don't mean to hijack this thread but how do you get the 12V system to work in the US? Isn't it a 220V system? How does that convert to the 110V US standard? I have always used the 9V train system but love some of the features of the 12V system, in particular the electronic crossing signals. If anyone has any information on how to use the 12V system in the US, I'd love to know how. Thanks! Gary

Please bring this set to the US! Gary Sabol Edmonds, WA USA

I am new to Eurobricks and this is my first review. Set#: 4501 Year of Release: 2003 Minifigures: 5 Pieces: 193 Original Price: $29.95 (This is what I paid for it at the Downtown Disney LEGO store in Anaheim.) I've always enjoyed this set. At the time, I thought 30 dollars for a set with only 193 pieces was a lot to spend. However, when I put it together and saw what I got for the 30 dollars, I was very happy. Of course, the value of the set has increased dramatically due to Greedo! Here is the original "blue" box for this set: And the original instructions: One of the best parts of this set is the great selection of minifigures. From left to right, you have Greedo (more about him below), Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, Luke, Han Solo and a Sandtrooper. Luke and Han have the nice decorated legs. Of course, the biggest draw to this set is Greedo He has an amazing head which looks just like his character in Episode IV. He also has the great printed arms similar to Boba Fett in the Cloud City set. And his color scheme looks very nice. After you put together the minifigs, you move on to the dewback. After Greedo, this is my favorite part of the set. The dewback is segmented similar to some of the dinosaurs and other ground creatures. Not only is the dewback great but the Sandtrooper is also quite detailed with his pauldron and rebreather. Of course, he decided to have his dewback run over Luke and this is what happened to the dewback when it came in contact with Luke's lightsaber!!! Next comes Luke's landspeeder. I believe by this point this is the second version of the landspeeder and this is much improved over its predecessor: It uses the really nice sand red color bricks to accent the top of it and there's a lot more detail than the previous version. It even has different colored engines like the movie. Here's the storage bin for Luke's lightsaber. You can also see more of the detail in the cockpit. The last model in this set is the cantina itself. This is by far my least favorite part of the set. While I like some of the accents with the rounded walls and the "bar", this model is WAY too small although the entryway is kind of cool. Also, you can hide Han's blaster under the table before he blows away Greedo! And here are all the models together. All in all, I really like this set. It has a lot of playability and Greedo and the dewback are very cool. Price: 9/10 - At the time I thought it was a lot to pay but Greedo and the dewback really make it worth it. Parts: 10/10 - A great selection of parts with the sand red and sand blue bricks. Minifigures: 9/10 - I gave this a 9 because I think it could have included another sandtrooper and threepio and R2. Build: 7/10 - This was a very easy build. I didn't like the cantina which is why I rated it lower. Overall: 8.5/10 - A great set. I would certainly pick it up if you get the chance.

Thanks for all the great advice! Here is the link to my Brickshelf folder which shows more detail on the engine, tender and coaches: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=399956 Gary

ENTERED Here is my entry for Category 1. I never liked the various Hogwarts Express trains that LEGO put out so I decided to create my own. Drawing on inspiration from those various Hogwarts Express sets, the Emerald Night and various images of the actual engine, tender and coaches, this is what I came up with. I hope you like it. It's not the best picture but I think you get the idea. I will be posting more pics to my Brickshelf account. Gary

Thank you for the information. Now that I've re-read the rules, I see the part that talks about the TTCE for the entries. Gary