Aanchir

Good review! I personally find all the Chima constraction sets quite nice. I long for the day when at least some female characters can be given more unique builds, but it's understandable that they went with this generic torso construction, and they did ag least give her the narrower shoulders. As far as her face is concerned, I agree that it looks gender-neutral rather than decidedly masculine, and that's good enough for me, especially since it means the head sculpt can be reused for other characters. Makes me wonder whether we might see other characters as constraction sets in future years if these sets are successful-- even if not, I'm sure with a set of model paints and a bit of imagination it wouldn't be hard to create custom constraction versions of the other characters. I'm personally a fan of the wing construction. Certainly the wings can't fold very well, but then, neither can most custom solutions I've attempted since the new HF building system came out. The combi model looks better than I imagined, and I look forward to instructions for those being posted online. It's neat how versatile this weapon design is, much like Laval's sword. It's especially nice since until recently weapon designs were still some of the most specialized new elements each year.

That's interesting to know, thanks! Recently the Danish advertising agency Advance, which has been working with the LEGO Group for over three and a half decades, posted briefly highlighting some of their involvement in the marketing and creative direction of LEGO Friends. A familiar face to BIONICLE fans is Christian Faber, one of the chief creative minds behind that theme's mythology and art direction.

The other greenish-yellow shade is Spring Yellowish Green (Yellowish Green on Bricklink), a color which so far has been used for bricks in exactly one Duplo set and a textile element in one collectible minifigure (though there may be other themes that feature printing in this color). I'm also happy to see more colors in the Hero Factory building system, though I do really wish that we'd see some more use of the rarer colors that have already been featured. Currently there are a handful of Bright Green pieces, exactly two Dark Green (classic green) pieces, and now a small number of Olive Green and Earth Green (Metru green) pieces. That doesn't even get into the small selection of Transparent Bright Green and Transparent Fluorescent Green parts. It's nice to have this much variety, but at the same time it's a bit frustrating for MOCing that there are so few pieces in any of these various green colors. Even Bright Yellowish Green (lime) has been quite rare in sets this year, though certainly there has been enough of it previous years that it's in no short supply.

Possibly someone who used dupe accounts to support another project which had a more suspicious vote count also gave your project two votes. In instances like this I believe the offending accounts are deleted altogether, so any projects they supported with those accounts would have their supports deducted.

The reason the mini-dolls' hands are spaced as they are is so that like minifigures, they can hold parts like 3839 or 98288. Likewise, this means that minifigures can use the handlebars piece 98397 which was designed for the LEGO Friends mini-dolls — however, they can only do so with their hands at their sides, which won't look too natural when using these handlebars as actual handlebars for a vehicle. The only difference from minifigures in this regard is that the spacing remains constant at all angles of the arms, rather than getting narrower when the arms are raised. This was possibly an aesthetic consideration, or a functional one... after all, while it makes using certain accessories impractical, it also means that other accessories are less dependent on the angle of the arms than they would be for minifigures. As far as steering wheels are concerned, try 40001 or 2819. 40001 may work best because it would be less likely to collide with the figure's lap, though it also won't necessarily look right for all types of vehicles. I haven't tested these myself so forgive me if they don't work — however, on LDD, the spacing looks correct.

Yeah, I agree, Friends critters can look somewhat odd in layouts with regular minifigures. And I agree that more simplified eye prints could solve the problem for many of them. One animal type I'd love to see new eye prints for is the various dogs. Currently, there are few LEGO dogs in themes other than Friends that have the floppy ears characteristic of many breeds. Given that what you want is simplicity, it's possible that you could use a weak chemical solvent to remove the prints from Friends animals and apply newer, more simplified eye prints using paints or decals. I've never seen anyone do this for Friends animals but I'm sure it could be fairly effective if you're careful enough applying the new pattern.

Personally, I think some parts like this are ones that may have once been produced, but only as test runs and never for inclusion in actual sets. There are lots of other examples, such as skeleton minifigure parts in several transparent colors.

I've seen some examples of 2.0 joints becoming severely brittle because the owner had (for some reason he didn't make totally clear) sprayed them with ant spray. Is there any chance your sets could have been exposed to any kind of chemicals (for instance, if you had to have an exterminator in your house at any time)? Otherwise, I have no idea what could have caused this problem and I sure hope it's just a fluke. I've never heard of age alone causing such severe fragility in these kinds of parts.

I like the translucent weapons myself. And to be honest, TLG has been doing it for quite a while. Remember Toa Hordika Vakama's blazer claws? Prime example right there. Likewise, various Glatorian helmets and weapons used the same effect quite nicely.

In both the U.S. and the U.K. you can be certified for solo flight in a powered aircraft at age 16, or for solo flight in balloons and gliders at age 14. So that's not totally unreasonable. Boating laws are more diverse and I'm having a hard time finding any general laws, but I believe in many cases for boats under a certain size the boating age would be consistent with the driving age. Despite being a very big boat compared to most previous LEGO boats, based on its accommodations I imagine the Dolphin Cruiser is meant to be a luxury cabin cruiser, not a larger yacht which would require a larger crew.

Well, I have to say, looking at the one in 7633, I definitely believe a reboot was much needed at this point in time. Granted, the one in 7633 had an operator's cab (one thing bizarrely missing from the new one), but note also that it lacks functional pistons and just feels way blockier than the new one. The new crane also seems smaller, which isn't strictly necessary in terms of realism but helps it fit better in a City layout. I'm largely of the belief that the crane was added to give kids another way to interact with the town square. Thanks to the crane, the statue and bike shop sign which are otherwise just static display elements become play features in their own right.

NOT SO! It is very easy to get models built on classic baseplates and on regular plates "in system" with one another. Just set the baseplates the buildings are built on onto a "foundation" of other baseplates and road plates. The top surface of a baseplate sitting on top of studs will be almost perfectly aligned with a regular plate attached to the same studs. Try it yourself! The main disadvantage is that you'll go through a lot more baseplates this way. Now, the only way this won't really work out is if the baseplates of your City buildings are supposed to go straight to the curb of your road plates. This would leave a conspicuous gap. But the bank, City Corner, TRU would not leave much sidewalk in that case, so better to make a one or two rows of tiles to act as the curb (much like on the Modular Buildings) and place any buildings within the perimeter created by that curb. Besides, if you want your buildings right up to the curb, you'd have to transplant them anyway. Incidentally, I've long wished for TLG to do away with road plates altogether and introduce a new system of more customizable roads based on parts like this one, printed or stickered with road markings. Imagine being able to place a crosswalk at any point along a road, for instance, or place a modular building right up to the curb without transplanting it from its baseplate. I'm still planning to customize some parts and possibly make a LEGO Cuusoo proposal based on this idea, but I'm not sure it'd get much support, since many AFOLs are VERY attached to the idea of road plates (and the rest typically make custom roads with SNOT techniques that would still be more versatile than my idea).

Funny reading your post because at first from your username I thought you were a BIONICLE fan, which would be impossible if you were in your dark ages during that whole time! Kivi was a minor character's name in a 2003 BIONICLE online game. It's an understandable coincidence, considering that most of the new character names in that game were real-world words and given names plucked from an assortment of world languages. I didn't have any dark ages, myself, and I like to credit that to BIONICLE. Not only was BIONICLE my main theme of interest during what might otherwise have been my dark ages, due to its complex story-driven nature, but it also was a big part of why I became interested in other LEGO themes as a teenager. Knights' Kingdom II and Exo-Force were decent adventure themes on their own, but it helped that both provided great parts for BIONICLE MOCs. Then again, a lot of the themes during my teenage years were story-driven in one way or another, so perhaps my interest in BIONICLE was the outcome of the kind of LEGO themes I liked rather than the cause, and if it hadn't existed it might have just freed up my budget for other LEGO themes like Orient Expedition and Alpha Team. I guess I'll never know.

Mark Stafford (Nabii) posted this lovely prototype of 70003 to Flickr. Great design, even though the final design does improve on it in some ways. I definitely feel those prototype wings feel a lot more substantial than the final set's wings which use that mechanical "feather" piece, though of course I'm grateful the mechanical feather piece came out since it's a useful part for Hero Factory builds, as the CHI Eris and CHI Razar constraction sets demonstrate.

This guy is beefy, well-armed, and well-armored, but even going beyond that, I love his skeleton. Very unique, particularly in the torso build, but the end result looks nice and solid. I'm always interested in creative skeleton designs like this one. The only part I'm a little uneasy about is the leg design. The way the front and back of the legs operate independently reminds me not too fondly of the Toa Nuva Kaita and other BIONICLE combi models that used a similar leg design. While this design often looks good in a few poses, oftentimes it is hard to pose with the legs bent without them looking out-of-place. Of course, in this case, the figure's stylized, cartoony look works to his advantage, giving a bit more freedom than a figure with more naturalistic proportions and shaping might have been afforded. Overall, this guy is a very fun design, who would make a great boss in a video game. Great weapons, intimidating physique, and lots of personality.

I think the point of the tribes chosen was not dependent on which were good or bad but rather which three were the most iconic and the most diverse. So they have the lions (a mammal), the eagles (a bird), and the crocodiles (a reptile). They could have chosen the wolves or gorillas instead of the lions and the ravens instead of the eagles, but the lions and eagles are more prominent in the theme's marketing than those other tribes, probably because they were the most popular with test audiences. Chances are that each player is meant to play as a different tribe, and all three tribes would compete against one another. I can't know for sure until the rule book is up online, of course, but that seems like what would make the most sense from a gameplay perspective, even if it contradicts the theme's story. On another note, I think the lion, eagle, and crocodile microfigs are meant as generic tribe members, not as specific characters, just like how the skeletons in the Ninjago board game were meant as generic skeletons rather than particular characters. The lions do wear a costume that is almost certainly based on Laval's, but the way the CHI is worn (pinned to the cloak rather than on a harness that wraps around the body) resembles the costume of LaGravis (as seen here), and the coat color resembles Longtooth. The crocodile's scales are colored like Cragger's or Crooler's, he wears his CHI on a string necklace like Crawley or Crooler, he has a male physique, and he has two functional eyes rather than a glass eye like Cragger's. The eagle has armor on his lower torso resembling that of Equila or Ewar, body colors resembling Equila, Eris, or Ewar, and a face color resembling Eglor. On the whole, I think the intention was to create composites of existing characters so they suggest more generic tribe members, rather than a particular individual from each tribe.

Very neat. I agree with DraikNova; the lower legs and feet are one of the places where this could use work. With a model this size, it's important for it to look like it has a stable foundation. Otherwise, it starts to look rickety and precarious rather than powerful and intimidating. I feel like the yellow parts on the center portion of the mech are a bit distracting as it becomes hard to tell how exactly he's strapped in and holding the controls at a glance. However, this may be less of a problem in real life than in photos since there'd be a sense of depth. Yellow on the legs or arms would be fine, but as it is it makes things a bit confusing from front view. The claw is nice, although if you were to fiddle around with some Technic that'd be a great place to incorporate a function, and the blaster is well-suited to a model of this size. Finally, Witch Doctor's leg design works very well for this mech. So that was an excellent design decision. Just needs some more armor on those lower legs.

This is the kind of opinion I dislike. There's no reason "generic approval" and "in-depth discussion" have to be an "either/or". Outside the Internet, there's certainly room for both things. Why should a website be any different? I think it's silly people think a "like" button would turn the site into a contentless Facebook clone. Even more bizarre since I HAVE had plenty of thoughtful conversations on Facebook, and a like button has done nothing to prevent that. If the people you know on Facebook don't use it for meaningful discussion, that's hardly the fault of the website. It's just the nature of the people in question, or perhaps the fact that there's literally nothing worth discussing about the topics in question (a picture of a cute kitten or an image macro with a funny caption hardly demands in-depth discussion, after all). Another site I use which has a frequently-used "like" button is the Brickset forum, and there are still dozens of long, thoughtful posts added every day. In fact, the Brickset forum has a lot of lengthy discussion topics I don't even have the time or patience to keep up with.

Wow, that's a very insightful reply. I usually don't ask LEGO Customer Service those kind of non-product-related questions, but maybe I should if I ever have one that's particularly bugging me. Speaking of ages, I wonder if LEGO Friends will ever introduce figs representing younger kids. The torsos do already have three or four body types: the standard young female torso for the main characters and most secondary characters, an adult female torso for Olivia's mom Anna, an adult male torso for Olivia's dad Peter, and a young male torso for the two boys who come in this year's summer sets. But there are no arm or leg pieces for depicting preteen kids. Still, of course, there's no rush, considering that only one of the torso styles already out has seen much use.

Very neat, although I have to wonder whether constant assembly and disassembly might put more stress on a brick than occasional assembly and disassembly. Perhaps if the machine were run at a lower speed it'd take more cycles for the bricks to lose clutch power.

Really, I don't think the crane is terribly oversized. Maybe larger than it needs to be to lift the bike shop sign or statue, but definitely at a fairly reasonable scale for this variety of crane truck, which like most construction vehicles can get fairly large depending on the size of load they have to lift. The only thing I really find lacking about it is that it should probably have an operator's cab on the base of the boom, much like the beautiful but dreadfully out-of-scale XXL Mobile Crane from the debut year of LEGO City, or like most LEGO Technic crane trucks of this sort.

I think the way they paired up the combi models makes quite a bit of sense, actually. Laval and Eris both share a number of gold and transparent blue parts. Razar and Gorzan obviously have mostly black parts. And while Worriz and Cragger don't share too many colors, it helps that Worriz has mostly neutral colors rather than colors that would clash with Cragger's more brightly colored parts. Really, I can't think of much of a better setup. Worriz could maybe be paired with Razar, since they both share silver parts, but then the only really good match for Gorzan would be Laval, leaving the tremendously awkward combination of Cragger and Eris. Really Cragger is the spanner in the works as far as color schemes are concerned, since his main colors are not shared by any other characters. Regardless, there's no guarantee that the combi models will even use all of the parts for the figures (in fact, I'd consider it pretty unlikely, given what we've seen in the past), and the way the assorted colors are arranged could somewhat redeem even the most disparate color schemes. Personally, I somewhat think criticisms of color schemes for combi models somewhat miss the point of the models: working within severe constraints to create something new and different. This year's combi models in Hero Factory are much more uniform in terms of color schemes than last year's, but the models themselves are also far more boring. I get the idea that they were a result of kids not responding well to last year's, where often the two sets were assembled into a brand-new creature not featured in the Hero Factory story, often with a disjointed color scheme. As a consequence, not only are this year's combi models paired according to color, but they are all essentially "upgraded" versions of the Hero sets used to make them, so that they can be identifiable as familiar characters rather than as bizarre and unfamiliar monsters.

Yep. According to the shop.LEGO.com bios (they're up on the German version of the site), Laval combines with Eris, Gorzan with Razar, and Worriz with Cragger. Instructions are going to be online only, though, and aren't up yet.

Basically, since LDD mode (mostly) limits itself to existing color combinations, though of course it's loaded with examples of parts that were never released in sets in particular colors, it's just more work to update that mode. LDD Extended Mode basically just needs the bricks to be included in the software, whereas LDD mode needs the part and color combinations to be added more selectively. As such, LDD Extended Mode's parts palette is updated with pretty much every LDD brick update, whereas the basic LDD mode is updated less frequently, and updates may not necessarily be as comprehensive. In the case of certain older parts, LDD mode can't really include them because its color palette is limited to the 2012 LEGO color palette (probably the next time it does get updated it will be updated with colors introduced since then). Certain parts only exist in colors that were discontinued before that time.

I don't know, I don't think Creator sets in general have had any consistent decline in quality. I'm quite fond of this year's sets, and I'd say 31012 Family House is definitely at least as good as the Apple Tree House; perhaps even better in some respects since it has a furnished interior. I was also fond of last year's Seaside House and the previous year's Hillside House. They might not suit everyone's particular tastes but they each have their own unique character with a substantial level of detail and very clever B and C models. I don't mean this as an insult to the older Creator houses — I never owned them, but built a number of them on LDD, and I truly admire some of them such as the Apple Tree House and Model Town House. But despite some changes in design considerations for the more recent houses, I think they still manage to measure up to the old ones, at least as much as they can at their particular price points.