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Hello everybody and let me present my version of a modified 42005 Monster Truck. It was my second set after my "dark age", that I've bought many years ago, after 42029 as supplementary set with a lot of useful pieces and planned to use for a live axle suspension and some other features for 42029 model. However, I liked the set as a simple and functional model and re-assembled it several times. Here is the model and later I'll provide the all details: A month ago, when I tired of infinite attempts to turn 41999 into a Muscle Car (the chassis isn't rigid enough, but I already did a great progress and hopefully will share it once) I returned to this model and set the task to motorize it adding 4WD, but keeping 4 wheels steering and current suspension (keep the original construction as possible as I can). First, I've analyzed the all existing attempts that I could find over EB, Rebrickable and YouTube and it happens that there were several MODs by different authors: First of all, it's @Splat’s MOD with all steered and driven axles (see topic here). I see no reason to duplicate its description, so let me just note that he saved the necessary features with adding Servo + L-Motor mounted under the hood and trunk. The chassis configuration is 4x4/4 or 4WD-4WS. It’s the best motorized model, I think, because of amazing simplicity and performance, but unfortunately it has a kind of “articulated” steering that isn't real, so was trying to made a "real" 4WD-4WS version, using this model as reference. Another one is Jan Dvorak’s (is he on EB?) MOD with all original features supplemented by on-axle L-Motor that drives the rear wheels and Servo for the 4WS. He added an additional 5X7 frame with differential that provided a necessary rigidness. The chassis configuration is 4x2/4 or RWD-4WS. Personally I don't like such a long axle sub-frame. However I've found a good idea of vertical gears inside the central shaft. The third one is @codefox421's MOD, inspired by Splat’s version, with the original front axle and non-steered custom rear axle with on-axle L-Motor. His custom rear axle, based on two portal hubs, is a quite compact and simple, but has no steering. The chassis configuration is 4x2/2 or RWD-FWS. It looks trial-ready with the portal hubs, but it's nearly impossible to add the steering here, so I got nothing from this model. An unusual @Tommy Styrvoky's MOD with an interesting feature: he modified the front axle, not the rear one, by adding a solid drivetrain with worm gear and on-axle M-Motor, so result is a front-wheels driven Monster Truck with oversized fake engine. The chassis configuration is 4x2/4 or FWD-4WS. Very aggressive! WRRRRR Daniel Wirasantosa’s (is he on EB?) MOD that differs from the previous ones by using of chassis-mounted L-Motor that drives the rear axle (that has a bit low ground clearance due to the 5x7 frame) and, moreover, he used a custom steering shaft that comes directly to the steering rack. The chassis configuration is 4x2/2 or RWD-FWS. Starting this version, I got a more or less defined plan: 4WD with off-axle (chassis-mounted) L-Motor that drives the both axles through the existing “drivetrain” (former steering shaft) and the off-axle Servo that steers the both axles through the custom steering shaft above the driveshaft. There were two more versions: Michael M’s stretched one and LEGOTechnic360’s solid-chassis version with no suspension, but they didn't help me with any new ideas. Nothing personal, guys, if you're reading it, I just had a full and consistent vision of my further MOD: Hull - the original with no changes. Axles geometry - original. I tried to save the all things like the wheels location, suspension mounting points, ground clearance, steering angles (that are even bigger a bit now)… And I still can't believe that made it, after a thousand tries! Suspension - original, with no changes. However I put the hard shock absorbers in the rear end, as the default ones were too weak to keep the BuWizz battery. Wheels - original. I decided to keep the original wheels and tires with no giant crawler ones or even Claas, that are too big even for a Monster Truck. Frame - mostly original, but possibly modified since it will have an L-Motor and Servo mounted above the axles (right under the cargo platform and hood). Drivetrain - it must be the ex-steering shaft that comes through the cardans inside the "big" ball joints to the both axles, connected to the L-Motor via the set of normal and clutch gears. Steering - for the all wheels, like in the original model, but the steering shaft comes above the drive shaft, in parallel with it and can slide a bit while the suspension moves. Enough the words...The most interesting part starts here. Following my plan, the bigger challenge was to modify the original axles - I tried several options, even trial-like with solid axles, but 4WS provides an amazing maneuverability due to big steering angles, so axle diffs are likely vital for such model (solid axles were making a permanent clicking noise in the transmission even with motor stalling sometimes) and I decided to make a fast Monster truck, not a slow crawler with a high torque. The drive train. There you can see how I did it: L-Motor rotates a set of 8T and 16T normal and clutch (required for the steering shaft) gears and then the main horizontal shaft, that were used for steering in the original model. After that the shaft rotates the 12T double bevel gears (ex-pinon gears from the original model), than 20T gears below, single-bevel 20T and the differentials. As result, the gearing ratio is 1:1.667 X 1:1.4 = 1.2334, and provides about ~100 RPM with 15.12 N.cm torque. The wheels connected by a wheel hubs, since I wasn't able to use the universal and CV joints with affordable steering angles, wheels position (I kept exactly the same position as in 42005) and rigidness. The steering. Here you can see the servo (mounted upside down in order to provide more space for the battery block above, steering shaft that goes above the driveshaft, 12T gears (pinions) and 13L racks joined to the wheel hubs. In order to allow the suspension travel, the gears has 1/2L offset from the racks and slides together with the shafts along the mounting points when the suspension compresses. It's a fully legal, but still allowed in LDD and works like a charm! The only mistake that the hubs must be from Claas, but they aren't presented in LDD unfortunately: Just to explain why I used the clutch gears (but with no gearbox actually, ha-ha ), the drive and steering systems intersects so hard, so followed TLG way and used the same solution that they did in the official models (42029, for example) - passed the one through the other. Green is a drive subsystem, blue - steering. The Axles. Here you can see how the steering shaft slides by 0.5L (notice the gap between the 12T black gear and LBG liftarm) - it provides about 1L suspension travel for the both axles. Other images, the story of a modified hull (by Phil), LDD file and instruction in PDF are coming soon...

I have seen others recreating the sets from the 2013 Castle line. Here is my take on "Forest Ambush." I made a small recreation of it. Unfortunately, in mine, there is no gold cart, puppy, and the bad guys win And here is a link to my FLICKR to see the first picture in the photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/92878490@N03/12914198254/ There is also a story attached to this in my FLICKR, as it is a build for my character Silas in the Lands of Classic Castle found at www.classic-castle.com I tried to incorporate new tree techniques and small foliage in ways I had not totally seen yet. I would appreciate any comments or criticism on the build itself.

Hi, I didn't see a topic like this anywhere and thought it would be interesting to get everyone's opinions. I'm a huge film buff and 2013, in my opinion, was a pretty great year for the industry. My top favorites are: 1. Inside Llewyn Davis 2. Frances Ha 3. Nebraska 4. Persistence of Vision (Ok, technically this started touring in 2012 film festivals, but it came to Houston in 2013; I'm going to count it) 5. Her l also really enjoyed (in no particular order): Much Ado About Nothing, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Enough Said, Fruitvale Station, and Pacific Rim. So what are your favorite films of 2013? (Also, sorry if this topic already existed)

I'm Back!! After forgetting to finish last years advent calendar after Day 18 or something like that, I came back! This year I will try my best to be punctual and get everyday in there! .... I hope .... Anyway, let's get started: Day 1: We have a police officer with his standard cup of joe. Baseball hat inclueded. Spares (Not pictured): Extra Black Hat Extra Red mug Oh, and i forgot to include a picture of the instruction sheet that just wanted to tell me about choking hazards and winning!

Vic Vipers are cool! Sci-fi, because Nick and Simon told me too. Here is my first vicviper and creations for charity donation, ill paste a link when it shows up in the store. stickers are from lego universe sticker book, many thanks to Sean and Steph! larger versions can be seen on my flickr (link in my signature) Well simon? :P David

My home LUG - CoWLUG, the Colorado-Wyoming Lego User's Group - was asked to put up a display at the Laramie Train Depot Open House two weeks ago. Our setup took two and a half hours, and we ran the show more or less all day over the course of the weekend. Stuart of lifelites.com was this show's organizer. He hacked together some PF IR receivers and a couple of barrel connectors as an experiment. What we ended up with was an awesome fully remote-controlled layout for both 9v and PF trains. This allowed us to not have to take shifts in the center "pit" where all the regulator gubbins were at. In addition, we also had interactive arcade buttons set up that allowed the visitors to control various functions in the layout. This was also the button's first outing and we plan to have more functions at the next display. This year, one button controlled the track power for the elevated Chicago-style trains, another controlled the pumpjack on top of the Steampunk district, and the third controlled the steam plant for "Peter Piper's Pickled Peppers Plant". The buttons also helped keep the kids from glomming onto the trains as they went by. Of course, now you'll want images I suppose. *sigh* ok Cows are indeed a running theme, considering how the name is "CoWLUG". Hide yo' kids and hide yo' cows. Grumpy Thor is grumpy. Lego displays = srs bsns (CoWLUG displays =/= srs bsns, however). This is where the real fun happens. I feel my camera car is especially graceful. Just look at that low profile! Did I mention Stuart also had a CNC and engraved bricks for a while? It broke though and he hasn't gotten it working again yet. So there is a use for those Dino Attack pieces, at least. I still think the squid in the lower middle is the best bit of this picture. Among other things not pictured, there was a Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. skyscraper (from the show Phineas and Ferb of the Disney Channel) and a prison complete with prison riot. There were guards dual-wielding bananas in one hand and tommy guns in the other. Ostriches were involved. Well, that should about wrap it up. Feel free to ask questions! Edit: D'oh, I forgot - I'll be posting my custom trains that I built for this event in their own thread. Look forward to that, I know I will Edit2: Oh snap, I forgot another thing. My mom took the pictures, which is why they're so good. Thanks Mom!

I would like to present my motorized and remote controlled (IR) version of this year's Monster Truck set (42005). My first goal was to keep the overall look and dimensions the same as the official model: The wheels, chassis and body are in the same positions, Only the axles, inner workings, and battery box have changed. My second goal was to somehow get the vehicle to have both steering and 4WD: As you can see above, I achieved the steering by making the entire front and rear axles turn via the use of gear racks and 6L links, while the drive goes through the ball joints, differentials, and portal hubs. Steering is handled by a PF Servo Motor, while drive is handled by a PF L motor. It is powered by a PF Rechargeable Battery, and a PF IR Receiver V2. My third goal was to increase the vehicles clearance as much as possible: And my last goal was to maintain a good amount of articulation: I had to modify the suspension attachment to allow an extra degree of movement to allow the suspension to operate smoothly. It runs quite well over small obstacles, however it is very top-heavy, so it does roll over quite easily. This isn't helped by the fact that as it turns, it leans outwards (opposite to how a skateboard works). Here are the parts (guts) that I had to remove from the original model: All pictures can be clicked on for larger versions at Brickshelf (once moderated). Here are some more pics: And last but not least, here is a link to the LDraw file: 42005_motorized_monster_truck.mpd Overall I am pleased that I was able to get this motorized given that there was only a small space to work with, and the model is very sturdy. I hope you like my motorized and RC 42005 Monster Truck. Any and all feedback/constructive criticism welcome. Edit: I have submitted this MOC to Rebrickable. Edit: I have created a quick video: Sorry about the audio quality - it was a very windy day!

It's that time of the year again! No, not Christmas, but the time when the new Star Wars Advent Calendar is released. Becoming a bit of a tradition for me reviewing the past two, I bring you our newest Advent Calender which seems to become a new standard, selling alongside the City Calendar. Being released no where near Christmas is strange, but only one/two of the windows are actually Christmas themed, so everything else is pretty nice to have just for the parts or collecting value. Set Name: Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar Set Number: 75023 Pieces: 254 (there are about 20-30 extras) Minifigures: 9 Price: $49.99 CDN $39.99 USD Year of Release: 2013 Onto our review, the box photographs very strange because some of the printing (on Jango most notably) is textured. Making the light reflect off it in quite a positive way. The box does however give away the surprise exclusive minifigure. The top of the box shows us some of the minifigures we'll be getting in their "actual size". The back shows us the proper way to open the box and some of it's contents plus a code for the Yoda Chronicles. So you have two options, cut the tape on the sides and pull out the tray, or cut the tape on the back and flip it open thusly. Sidenote: save the black tray, it's great for sorting pieces in larger sets. The instructions are found on the inside of each door, some of the larger micro models can be a bit difficult at first, but some of them just need a second look. Day 1: Yellow astromech, same guy we got in the most recent Y-Wing. I like him. Day 2: Count Dooku's Solar Sailer (I didn't know what it was at first) Day 3: Count Dooku's Pilot Droid Fitting in with Day 2, this inclusion is a bit weak. I don't see the need for two of these. Day 4: Zam Wessel`s Speeder Seems like a missed opportunity not making a redone Zam, or to build Anakin and Kenobi`s speeder. Bag 5: Cloud Car Day 6: Boro-wait..Endor Trooper Much angrier than any previous Rebel we`ve had. But he does have a reversible head. Settling down. Day 7: Weapon rack. It`s become a theme in Advent Calendars to not supply the minifigures with weapons, but to just throw them all together later on... Day 8 Republic Attack Gunship Ok, so this is a huge pet peeve of mine, I saw many comments praising this model, even though it is a complete rip-off of the other Gunship we got in the first advent calendar except this one has the binocular piece on top. Day 9: Acclamator It`s very tough to build large scale ships in micro, but this is a fairly good rendition. Day 10: Clone Trooper Fitting, seeing our last two builds. Day 11: AT-TE That strange stud on top? Patience grasshopper. Mother and child. Day 12: LAAT Dropship As you probably guessed, these two can hook up, quite well actually. Day 13: Battle Droid Nothing special here. Day 14: Geonosian Fighter Personally I hate this, I feel like the geonosian fighter is just to difficult to re-create in Lego, in any scale. Day 15: Geonosian No wings? Day 16: Another weapons rack. Day 17: Naboo Starship (before it's blown up at the beginning of Episode II Day 18: Scout Trooper Only seen in the new Ewok Village, this guy is a gem. Day 19: Separatist Shuttle. We've gotten one of these in the first calendar as well, but a little different build and different colour. Day 20: Obi Wan's Jedi Starfighter. Day 21: Jango Fett's Slave 1 Built in the same way as the first advent calendars Slave 1...but different colours obviously. Wings can rotate. Day 22: Boba Fett Lovely figure, exclusive to this set and I can't imagine being added into another set in the near future. Plus a reversible head when he's busy shooting Obi Wan. Day 23: A silly rocket sled dealy. Day 24: Jango Fett These seems to fall along the lines of the Santa Darth Maul, having a villain as the Santa character doesn't make any sense to me. The colours go horribly together and the torso is pretty much useless for anything else. Even with Jango being a popular character. I feel having Obi Wan being the Santa making more sense. (he does have the beard after all). Here is the entirety of the calendar all laid out. It's fairly lackluster to me, but oh well. Someone else will like it. Looks like the Kaminoans didn't give Jango enough money to provide his family with a large enough sled. In previous years the Advent Calendars have been a decent mix of the movies, but clearly thing one focuses much more on Episode II. With only 4 days being something other than AOTC related. Overall: Obviously the Advent Calendars are following suit with the regular sets, where the minifigures are the main draw to the set with the sets being less than average. Personally I would be much happier if TLC just hired Legostein to create all their new micro and mini models. Build: 7/10 It goes by pretty quick, but I imagine it being a lot more fun building it one per day like you're supposed to. Design: 3/10 Most of these builds are just awful, not to mention the ones that we've seen already. Come on, we've only had 3 calendars so far. Price: 8/10 I'm impartial to prices Pieces: 8/10 We do get a good array of small pieces, plus lots of extra goodies. Playability: 9/10 One of these days I'm going to make a huge battle scene consisting of micro scale vehicles. A lot of these do go together. LAAT/AT-TE, Clone/Battle Droid, Slave 1/Jedi Starfighter, Solar Sailer/Pilot Droid. Minifigures: 8/10 The plain old battle droid and the pilot droid bring down this mark a bit, but the Boba and the Scout Trooper more than make up for it. Total: 43/60

Hi, I haven't found any information regarding participation of Eurobricks Members in the Legoworld event in Utrecht (used to be in Zwolle). http://www.legoworld.nl/ Are there any EB activities? EB members going?

Felt like this was needed. 21105 The Village 21106 The Nether Discuss!

Well again for the Holidays LEGO will be giving away 2 Holiday sets with a purchase. These sets will be available through S@H as well as official Brand Stores But only in those countries where a LEGO brand store exists! The First set will be available from the 14th till 31st of October! 40082 Holiday Set 1/2 (Winter Village Tree Shop) Celebrate the 2013 festive season with a limited-edition buildable LEGO® set, featuring a Christmas tree shop, gate, 3 trees and 2 minifigures! Christmas 2013 will be one to remember with this limited-edition LEGO® set. And it all starts by picking the perfect tree from the festive Winter Village Tree Shop! Features an easy-to-build shop with hinged shutters that open and close, 3 trees, tool rack with axe and broom and 2 minifigures: shop owner and customer. Plus, red and green “ornamental” LEGO® bricks and money elements to get you in the holiday spirit. Makes a great gift or seasonal decor for home or office, especially when combined with 10235 Winter Village Market. • Includes Christmas tree shop, gate, tool rack, axe, broom, money elements and 3 trees • Also includes 2 minifigures: shop owner and customer • Hang a “string” of festive red and green LEGO® bricks from the shop roof! • Close the shutters at the end of the day! • Chop down the perfect Christmas tree! • Sweep up any needles that fall with the broom! • Makes a great gift or seasonal decoration! • Combine with 10235 Winter Village Market for even more holiday spirit! Warning main image links to HR version which can be +5000.pxl 40083 Holiday Set 2/2 (Available on "Brick" Black Friday in November!) Instructions for the two sets! 40082 Black Friday 2013 No. 1 Brick-based Specials 40083 Black Friday 2013 No. 2 Brick-based Specials All images ©2013 The LEGO Group and used here with permission! 2011 Holiday Sets 1/2 2/2 2012 Holiday Set Enjoy! :caroler:

When I first saw the Legends of Chima theme I wasn't sure what I think about it, the minifigs are beautifully detailed and good-looking but the vehicles looked somewhat silly to me. Now I dug deeper in the wrld of Chima and I came to really like it, so I decided to ge my first set and bring you a review. Theme: Legends of Chima Set Name: Lennox' Lion Attack Set Number: 70002 Year of release: 2013 Minifigs: 2 Pieces: 230 Price: 17.99 GBP / 24.99 USD / 19,99 EUR / 5990 HUF Set Description: Protect the Lion tribe’s CHI with Lennox’s Lion Attack! Crug is after the CHI powering the mighty Lion Attack vehicle. Catch him with the all-wheel drive then help brave Lennox to deploy the big claw attack. Load up the rapid-fire disc shooter and send that CHI-swiping scavenger back to the swamp where he came from! Includes 2 minifigures and a weapon. Includes 2 minifigures: Crug and Lennox and a weapon Features CHI, big claw attack function, all-wheel drive, lion head front and rapid-fire disc shooter Includes Crug’s standard weapon Power through the jungle with all-wheel drive! Shoot the rapid-fire discs! Fire the two flick missiles! Protect the Lion tribe’s CHI! Measures over 3" (10cm) high, 7" (19cm) long and 6" (16cm) wide Box: Front The box is from the smaller category but to my biggest surprise it's very stiff and heavy. It sports the usual design with the Lego and Chima logo. In the right corner we can see Lennox's head, I really like how TLG make every box unique with the current hero's face. The main image shows the lion vehicle in action (spitting mentos), chasing the bad croc guy who stole Chi from the lions on a dusty road, surrounded by forest/jungle. On the left we can see some info about the set but this being the europian version there isn't much. And finally we can see the minfigis on the low left corner, namely Crug form the crocodile tribe and Lennox from the Lion tribe. Their association to the bad/good side is easily recognizable, Crug has red background, while Lennox has blue. Back On the backside of the box we can see the play functions of the set through a little story where Crug is trying to steal the Chi, but Lennox with his Lion car is defeating him and takes it back. The functions are described in 6 different languages and we can see the guys arguing in the upper right corner (Give it to me! - No, you give it to me!) The content of the box We get 4 unnumbered bags, 2 Chi tubes, 2 Building instructions, 4 rims and a Sticker sheet. Interesting parts In this set there are beautiful new and/or rare Flame Yellowish Orange parts, some old parts in reddish brown, the new tooth pieces (which are made of rubbery, very soft plastic) in both white and reddish brown and the black technic piece for suspension. Last but not the least we have the new Chi part and the 2x3 plate with holder in trans lightblue. Building instructions I haven't inserted a pic about the front because it's the same as the box. The BI has a light blue background which makes the colors easier to recognize. There are 2 booklets and they are surprisingly long (wich is very good) and in the first booklet you can find a picture of all the figures from the first wave in the middle of the building, which is quite odd. The steps are easy to follow and there is little repetition. Sticker sheet There are stickers yes, but there is not much and they just add to the overall look of the set. Minifigs: The set contains two minifigs, for me Crug was the selling point in this set, he is my favorite Chima minifigure. Crug: According to Lego.com he is Cragger's loyal muscleman, if he needs raw force to get things done, then Crug is the one he hires for the job (Like taking the new refrigerator up to the 7th floor...). The minifigure looks beautiful, he is the brown croc in the theme. The paint job is spot on with all small details like the steel jaw with a screw in it and the fangs on his belt, with the ripped clothes, this figure is freakin' awesome! His head is dark brown while the body is reddish brown. We get a double-sided head with a calm killer's look and with a surprised/frightened look on the other side. Lennox: Lennox is the vehicle-pro guy of the lion tribe, a cool, careless young lion with hidden potential to do great things. Tha paint is beautiful here as well, the little details makes him perfect, like the lion head shaped knee-armor, the detailed belt and the greekish looking skirt. He has a double-sided head too with a shy smile on one and a fierce/angry look on the other. Unfortunately his only weapon is the Lion car, at least he could have a saber or something... The completed set: I'am very satisfied with the result, the vehicle is very sturdy and it rolls easily. The Lion head on the front looks great, but it somewhat resembles a cub more than an adult lion's frightening look, anyway I like the design. (Next time I'll have a walk with my vacuum cleaner before making a review ) The tubes connected to the claws makes the feel that there is really something flowing in to them, I really like these parts. The contras of this set is that the rear part of the car is almost empty, there is a curvy back with stickers, a little place to stand for Lennox (a real cockpit would've been better) and the Chi holder, which is very simple, the cannons cover some area but if you look from behind it's still a bit naked. The play functions: Now that's where the set stands out! First there is the disk shooting mechanism wich works fantasticly, the disks fly a long distance before they hit anybodys eyeballs . You have to load them up into a hole at the back of the lionhead and you pull the trans blue plate at the back which loads a disk in to the rail, then release the plate and Bang!!! Then we have suspension for the wheels which is not common out of the world of Technic. For flick-fire lovers I have good news, but I don't think there is actually somebody who loves them (I hope TLG readsthis). Moreover the cannons can rotate up/down and left/right. Rating the set Design 8/10 The designers captured the lion-ish look very well, the great choice of colors make it mor authentic. The 2 minus points are for the naked back. Build 10/10: It was really fun and took a surprisingly long time. The BI is easy to follow with good color differentation (In spite of this I managed to miss a step ) and with little repetition. Parts: 9/10 There are tons of parts here in rare/new color, which can be useful for MOCers, I myself can't complain. Minifigs: 9/10: Both figures are excellent (especially Crug ), with beautiful paint job all over them but it's a shame that Lennox doesn't have a weapon. Price: 8/10: Its a bit high but you get Crug (he only appears in a polybag and in a big set of the summer wave) and a fun little vehicle with great play features. Overall: 44/50 I'am very satisfied with this set, a few weeks ago I couldn't have imagined that I'll be buying this but here I am and happy with my Chima set Great play functions, beautiful figs, nice lion looking vehicle, tons of fun. I hope you enjoyed my review and it help you decide whether to buy this or not. End of story.

ItLUG is proud to organize once again: Ballabio 2013. All information can be found at the Official Site of the event.

Hi Eurobrick, My NickName is SanLouis and i love LEGO. This And my other sites are still under construction, if you like what you see leave a comment and please visit my Youtube cannel. In next time i will upload more. Thank you This is my new custom crawler 1.0 Big Bear from LEGO Technic set 9398. The crawler has 2 Xl Motor and LED lights, chassi, body and engine is not the same as the Original. And the driver train is very solid. Diff are normal no Lock. I dont like the knob gears. The weight is 2 kg Power Puller Wheels on the Back and on the front from 4×4 Offroad set. More videos on my You Tube cannel. Please vote and subscribe. Sorry the video is not so Good but the other ones are in HQ My Sites https://brickwave.wordpress.com

I've been wanting to get the funny lettered tiles for quite some time now, and this year, with little interest in other theme sets, I decided the time had come to explore this 'Office & School Supplies' section of the LEGO S@H website. I must admit the set did look a bit too colourful and childish at first glance, but the price was good, and it had a nice pieces selection. So, let's see how the set grades fro parts, appearance and 'playability'. Theme: Gear/Office & School Supplies Set name: Business Card Holder Set Number: 850425 Price: 14.99 $, 11.39 £, 12.99 Euro Pieces: 151 (+ 1 gear) Minifigures: 2 Year of release: 2012 Links: Bricklink and Brickset The Box Front Matching the set name, the box has a pretty clean, business-like design. The almost plain yellow background is split in the upper portion by a wave-y white line which separates the LEGO logo and set name from the rest of the info. I suppose this is a standard box for all countries (contrary to usual sets which have regional differences between NA and European versions); in fact, the set information include age range, pieces count and the words 'Building toy' (in three languages), just like the North American standard. On the other hand, the set number is conspicuously absent from the front of the box, probably due to the fact that this is a 'Gear' set and is sold in a different category from the normal themed ones. The size of the box is approximately that of a medium-small standard set. Back The back is quite bare as well, with only the set name (in 5 new languages this time; of course, Italian is not there!) and a shot of the minifigs and business card together with the parts callout. LEGO designers really wanted to keep things simple in this design. Sides Not much to say about the sides. The upper one (the only I photographed), sports a 1:1 mug shot of the smirking male minifigure, the LEGO logo and the usual info about production. Apparently parts in this set come from Denmark, Hungary, Mexico and China. Surprise! You may have notice the standard 'Put your finger here to open the box' spot on the back of the box. Well, that's a totally useless addition, as this box comes with not-glued side flaps and can be open normally, without any need to indent the back side. I can only suppose the box designers simply used a common template and did not bother to check the actual product they where working on... Contents Inside Inside the box, we find three thick polybags, one for the instructions and business card, one of the lettered tiles and one for the other pieces. All the polybags are made of recyclable plastic, but the bigger one includes some more ink for the usual LEGO safety warning in a plethora of languages. The parts' selection isn't spectacular, for the normal bricks, but includes ever useful parts in a number of colours. Of course, the raison d'etre of this set are the printed tiles, and there's plenty of those! New pieces The new pieces include all the special characters and number tiles (all of which in Black): Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '-' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '.' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '@' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver '_' Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 0 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 1 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 2 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 3 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 4 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 5 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 6 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 7 Pattern, Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 8 Pattern, and Tile 1 x 1 with Silver Number 9 Pattern. I'd also like to notice that , for some reason, the set includes (or, at least, this particular one does) 3 Q tiles, whereas the parts list only shows 2. It's also interesting that you cannot write a whole web address with these tiles, as there are only 2 W there... Maybe next version will include a special 'www.' tile as well. Instructions Upon opening the instructions and card polybag, I felt a rush of nostalgia for the old times, as the instructions 'booklet' is no booklet at all: it's an old style folded sheet. Now, I'm well aware we get plenty of these in polybags of all themes, but I haven't see something like this in bigger sets for a very long time. The back of the business card has blank spaces where to write your name, address, e-mail/web address, phone number and (I suppose) birthday. The instructions have a nice and relaxing light-blue background, almost no pieces call-outs (see next picture) and are easy to read and follow. Again, as on the back of the box, the last part of the instructions sheet is dedicated to the parts list. Minifigures Nothing spectacular in the minifigs compartment. These business couple sport some plain overalls, very common in the City theme nowadays and cured bill red caps, probably to give them a window-cleaner or bill sticker look to either make you feel as big boss or movie star. The faces, too, are very common, with the smirking male and soft-eyed, cherry-lips female. Always an useful addition to ones collection, but definitely no news at all. The back printing of the torso is no surprise even with such simple designs, nowadays. And, of course, the heads do not sport back printing, since the caps could not cover them. Building We start off by building a sort of small swimming pool-like, tiled box with a rainbow-ish back wall. We go up until al the 2x1 and 1x1 coloured bricks have been used, and top both sides with the 1x12 white plates. Do not worry, though: you won't have to look at the mix-matched wall for long! In fact, the business card will cover up most of the build and you will be able to rest your eyes on those smiling minifig faces (or your own personal info) for as long as you'll wish. Speaking of the two workers, they will have their personal stands to be impaled, well, stand on, while... ...they'll guard your bill-board yellow 6x10 plate. Here, I used up all the Es for the first word, so had to resort to a flipped 3 to complete the second word. Bonus images Let me introduce myself It's quite funny to browse through the tiles to pick up your letters and compose bill-board announcements and such. Just be aware of the limited number of letters at your disposal. Again, I had to resort to a little trick (photoshop, in this case), to complete the second word, having used all the (2) Rs in the glorious Eurobricks name. I would advise people to buy a second copy of this set if you think you'll need many of the same letter for your compositions. Final comments Overall, this is a nice little set, with pretty unique parts and a fine number of more common, ever used bricks and two generic worker minifigs. Design & Colour scheme – 8/10 (Very well proportioned and efficient. The only con is the somewhat too childish colour scheme, considering the business-oriented look of the set, as shown on the box.) Minifig – 8/10 (A happy working couple to set up our business card holder and guard the bill-board. Minus points for the very common parts, though.) Parts – 9/10 (All useful parts here, with the big plus of the printed tiles. The new special characters are an interesting addition, and the letters will be useful in any collection.) Playability – 6/10 (From an AFOL's point of view, this set is pretty poor in sheer playability. I mean, there isn't even a secret compartment of flick-fire missile! On the other hand, I suppose kids can have lots of fun with the little workers setting up and tearing down the bill-board.) Build – 6/10 (Very very simple and plain.) Price – 10/10 (Considering almost half of the parts are printed, this is a very good set price-wise.) Overall: 7.8/10 Very good As always, questions, comments, and pic requests welcome! If you like my reviews, and would like to learn how it's done, please consider joining the Reviewers Academy:

Hi, everybody. I submit to your attention the photoreview of a remarkable set of 79110 Silver Mine Shootout from the Lone Ranger series. Set details: Theme - Lone Ranger Year released - 2013 Pieces - 644 Minifigs - 5 RRP - £69.99 / US$69.99 Price per piece - 10.868p / 10.868c Age range - 9 - 14 Packaging Dimensions - 35.4 x 37.8 x 9.4 cm Weight - 1.34Kg Box of this set of very impressive sizes. And it is rather heavy. On the face, except the set, it is possible to see: - all heroes of this set - recommended age rating and the set name - company logo Disney, belonging the rights to "Lone Ranger" On the back party of a box are shown both game, and functional components of a set which in a set very much and there is a lot of! The face parties of a box - as scale here are represented... all minifigs of a set! Having opened a box, we see that she is almost completely killed! Its rather big weight also is explained by it. Box contents: - 7 big packages with details - instructions - are packed into packages and laid by a piece of cardboard that weren't rumpled! In the same place lie both falls imitation, and stickers. - Falls and stickers Instruction. In this set there are 2 parts of instructions. List of details: In a set there are many rare, interesting and simply necessary details! I want to pay your attention that the set justifies the name "Silver Mine Shootout" as here really there are a lot of silvery details! On a photo the part them is only small. Also in a set there are a lot of transparent details! And even there are rare Trans-Clear Tile 1 x 4! Minifigs. In a set of 5 minifigs, but all of them are interesting! - Chief Big Bear - the most remarkable minifigure of the Indian! Hairdress, torso, the head - everything in it is simply magnificent! The head at a figure the bilateral. Pay attention to a mouth - when it is closed, looks as though toothless and when it is open - all teeth on a place! The torso is also ornamented from 2 parties. The hairdress is executed from rubber. - Tonto - this Tonto differs a little from all other versions in sets of this series! The raven, hairdress (also rubber) and a tomahawk - all this meets and in other sets of "lone ranger". Distinction in drawings on the head, торсике and feet - all of them in dust \dirt! Ordinary Tonto's comparison with Tonto from this set: Thanks to sets of this series it is possible to collect quite good "army" of Indians! - Lone Ranger - this figure also differs from the standard ranger drawing on a face, a torso and feet. Comparison of rangers: - Kyle - quite interesting bandit. Hat, the weapon and scarf - all this already saw. And here a torso ornamented from two parties, quite interesting! Head, by the way, the unilateral! - Butch Cavendish - a figure remarkable and charismatic. But differs nothing from same in a set of 79111 Constitution Train Chase. Both the head, and a torso - bilateral. The hat with hair is uniform and executed from plastic. Bandits from all which are available for me, "Lone Ranger" sets! We pass to assembly. During assembly I will show you and functional features of a set. And them as you will see, there is a lot of! At first separate elements of a set gather. The cart car - is used for transportation of silver ore. Parts of mine which disappear at "manual explosion" Elements of a design and mine interior. Mine basis. Here the first function - car pushing. Function of "explosion" of a wall. "The second floor" mines. Function of "explosion" of the rock. "The third floor" mines. "Magic floor" function. One more feature of the "magic floor" function. Final part of assembly. Dynamite throwing. Firing function... cow skull! And so, assembly is finished! Let's consider mine on - in more detail. Let's "recover" mine, having added minifigs. In a set surprisingly there is a lot of spare details! Result: - Minifigures and a mine design in a set - are smart! In general, all sets of this series - ideal "revival" of the Western (IMHO)! I wait for your responses and comments! Also excuse for my bad English!

Hi! This is a new IP I've created. STAR KNIGHTS http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/42318 This is the set presented on cuusoo but I have more planned in the near future so stay tuned in XD Some of the Characters Hope you like it and support http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/42318 Cheers :D

Not Review Academy approved! Read at your own risk! I noticed that this set has not been reviewed, so this will be the 2nd time (besides board games) I've bought a new* (this one not so new for some) set and had the opportunity. This time I have a better camera but unfortunately I was in a hurry to build and photograph so I apologise in advance for a few shots. I also forgot to crop the photos. Full Flickr set available here. CREATOR: 31007 Power Mech 223 pieces 381g MSRP/RRP: $19.99 USD, £14.99 GBP, €19.99 EUR, $24.99 CAD, $29.99 AUD, $39.99 NZD Usual fluff from TLG: Blast into the future with the Power Mech’s articulated arms, grabbers and leg boosters or rebuild it into a helicopter or pickup truck! Be king of the robots with this amazing 3-in-1 Power Mech! Make way for the mighty Power Mech! Suit up for futuristic battle with strong green armor, powerful arms, grabbing claws and leg-mounted boosters and launch into the sky! The Power Mech is a bright battle bot ready for anything! Move the arms and legs for realistic robot action. Then rebuild it into a fast helicopter with moving rotor or a heavy-duty pickup truck with rugged offroad tires. •3-in-1 model: rebuilds into a fast helicopter or heavy-duty pickup truck •Features green armor, twin antennas, articulated arms and legs, hand grabbers and leg-mounted boosters •Helicopter features moving rotor and large engines •Pickup truck features folding tailgate, detailed engine and rugged off-road tires •Move the Power Mech’s arms, legs and hand grabbers for realistic robot action! •Spin the helicopter’s moving rotors! •Rev up for a wild ride with the pickup truck’s rugged offroad tires! •Measures over 6" (18cm) tall and 5" (12cm) wide •Helicopter measures over 1" (4cm) high, 5" (15cm) long and 3" (8cm) wide •Pickup truck measures over 2" (7cm) high, 7" (18cm) long and 2" (7cm) wide Instructions for download: http://cache.lego.co...ons/6036599.pdf (mech) http://cache.lego.co...ons/6036296.pdf (helicopter) http://cache.lego.co...ons/6036298.pdf (truck) Bricklink | Lego Shop @ Home | Brickset This set caught my attention due to the lime green colour (I've always been drawn in by green ) and the appearance of the mech really reminded me of mid 80s Transformers, specifically the head. The colour particularly invokes thoughts of the Constructicons/Devastator. I have not seen this set in a shop, I assume it's one of those annoyingly limited availability sets you can only get at a particular retailer - and one I don't live near . As I was placing an order for the Tower Of Orthanc set from S@H, I decided to grab this one while I was at it. So, get on with it... Box: Not a huge box, because it's not a huge set. On the front, the main build (a six-fingered man?!? My name is Inigo Montoya... ) is featured prominently in somewhat of a wrestling stance, and accompanied by the secondary & tertiary builds of a small helicopter and a truck (roughly minifig scale) featuring a closed tray. Australian boxes are the western European ones, so they have as little text as possible because there are so many languages to cover. "3 IN 1" advertises the fact that there are 3 models that can be built in this set. I don't remember seeing anywhere on the box anything about you only being able to have 1 built at a time. (I know it's obvious to us, but you know, Nans...) We do however have a parts inventory on the box (top or bottom? I forget): On the back, a very simple illustration showing the majesty of the power mech, with his sidekicks already transformed and ready to roll out. A quick look at one of the sides. Nice 3D bevel effects there. Instructions: Three booklets, one for each model predictably. Because the bags are not numbered, the inside cover shows us that it's helpful to sort the parts into separate colours rather than a big pile. Instructions are set out as you'd expect, the same as most Lego themes these days with simple steps and part call-outs the whole way. Step 1 of the mech was too much for me, I had to give up. Doesn't look like many parts, perhaps I've been buying too many large sets lately. Let's have a squiz at those next. Parts: As I mentioned, these sets don't use the numbered bag approach. Obvious reason being: if you want to build the models in a different order. This time around, it's 3 bags of parts. Let's lay them out for a better look: All fairly common parts really, if you are into multiple themes you would've seen this all before. (We even get 2 standard 2x4 bricks.) I have heard that the lime 2x1 cheese slopes are rare, well here's a bunch of them. On to the models. Model - Truck: I chose to start with the truck. Simple build really. Didn't take long (each model took 10-15 minutes roughly) to build, and quite a few parts were left over: Depending on where you live, you may know this vehicle as a pick-up truck, perhaps some variety of lorry, or in Australia it would be known as a utility vehicle/truck but referred to as a "ute". This particular model is the type with sides around the tray to drop your goods into, avoiding the need to tie things down. The rear tailgate wall folds down as in real life, but there is no canvas cover in this instance. It's one solid brute of a machine, take a look at the bonnet (hood)! Big headlights to warn the deer/cows/roos of a fair fight coming, (although that grille is a bit susceptible, better throw a bull-bar in front) and big honking wheels. The walls are solid! Nice detail with the step to get up into the cabin, and it's good to see a rear window, that's very useful! (Except that there's solid brick on the inside...) Unfortunately due to the part restriction (all 3 models using the same parts) the cabin cannot seat a minifig. You may be able to see the 2x4 wedge plates that close in the space. Easy modification if you're that sort of person. Let's check out all the angles: Obviously if you were to clean this up (replace some parts with others not in the set) you would change the white cheese for lime green, and the hinge plates for standard 1x4 plates, and rearrange the cabin area to fit a minifig in. There are a few areas in the chassis where other parts would fit better than what is included. Model - Helicopter: Next up is the helicopter. Even smaller build this time, but some more interesting moments than the truck. Nice snot on the sides and rear, I liked how that fit. Many parts left over: Not a lot to say about this model, it looks okay but it does still look a bit blocky from some angles. The rotor spins freely which is important for toy helicopters, and the details show nice use of the parts available. The cockpit opens too, that's a nice inclusion. Let's get some angles: As with the truck, I don't like the white parts showing. Swap them out for lime green or dark grey and we're good. I was surprised by the use of 2 2x2 tiles with pin for the rotor, that was a bit different to the usual. Model - Power Mech: Robot, automaton, mech, whatever you want to call it. This Lego set really is a transformer triple changer. The build this time used most of the parts (as was expected), and was a lot more modular compared to the linear nature of the truck. No surprises, as we are building feet, legs, arms, torso etc. Lots of snot involved, with only very minor greebles. Leftover parts: He's pretty solid. Nice big but well sculpted torso, arms & legs. The shoulder joints look a bit exposed, as do the hips. By adding more chunk to those areas we would lose poseability, I fear. The problem with the parts used to connect these legs to the torso is that they aren't symmetrical, and if (as in this case) the brick part is a different colour to the pin part you get an ugly situation. One hip is grey at the front and back at the back, the other is black at the front and grey at the back. My primary concern about this model. The white is not so much a problem on this model, it looks fine, but I think I would've used grey instead. I like the use of the wheel arches, I would've liked to have seen the wheels used somehow, but that may have been a bit too Hasbro inciting. Looking at it from behind, it's very bare (normal for the underside of sets). Being a standing model, I think it should have something, either snot, inverted slopes or those new inverted tiles. Something to cover his back. I like the view of the off-square angles better than the straight-on front & rear. The lights on the chest are interesting, and the little rockets on the lower legs. Let's talk poseability. Head rotates 180°, but doesn't tilt up or down. To look up, he has to bend at the hips. There is no flexibility in the core at all, this is not a problem really, just makes it harder to look up/down. The universal joints in the shoulders mean that the arms can position just as well and even better than normal human arms. Despite not having wrists, the combination of the universal shoulders with standard elbows mean that the hands can take any normal position. For the legs it's not quite so rosy, having no rotation at the waist makes the walking, well, robotic. The hips can move backwards, forwards and sideways. The unfortunate thing is that there are no functioning knee joints and the ankles only tilt sideays. One leg forward and one leg back to walk means that the leg is straight and the foot is not flat on the ground. It doesn't look too bad, but it maybe could've been better. At least he can show sass with the legs a bit sideways, the feet sit flat in that instance. He has opposable thumbs but only 2 fingers per hand, they must be pretty strong. And now some vogue... let's strike a pose! "Say wha?" "Step aside, sir" Aghast! Nice balance Flexible sideways splits, and double jointed ankles? Stayin' Alive Crab or something... Yes, he does transform: into this... thing. (And yes, he does have an anus, thanks for sharing... why I don't know...) I like the look of this guy, I'm not into those Bionicle/Hero Factory style figures. They seem to have big holes everywhere, and don't use much in the way of standard bricks. They don't really look "Lego" to me either. This guy is made primarily from stuff you'd find in a normal set, with studs everywhere. The body parts are all in decent scale to each other. Often the arms or legs will be too short or something like that. The final word: I built this model last because I was expecting to keep this one built rather than the other two. This is only my 4th Creator set, the other 3 I bought because of the parts. One of those I bought 3 of, so I built each model from separate sets before dismantling into storage. This one might stay built though. I thought that the inclusion of 4 big tyres only used in 1 minor model was a bit strange. Was it worth buying/the money? That's the question everyone wants answered when they read a review. My answer is always another question: "Is any set worth buying/the money?" I enjoyed it. Don't know if I enjoyed it as much as it cost, I never really know that. I liked the look of the set pictures, and I don't mind the final model in the end. To be perfectly honest I feel like I'm buying outside of my normal theme interest when it comes to Creator. Score? X apples out of Y oranges. You can probably get the feeling of a qualitative score by reading this post. Hope you enjoyed the "review" and thanks for reading/looking. If you have any further comments on this set or review feel free to contribute, any questions or photographical requests go ahead. I don't have the smaller Creator set (31006 or 31008?) to compare that mech to this though.

Eurobricks member GRogall brings us exclusive pictures of the Summer 2013 LEGO Galaxy Squad sets! Head to the Sci-Fi forum to see the whole set of pictures and comment!

Every teen wants the new V-22 Rager. The sleek and compact design allows for excellent travel distance. With VTOL technology, the Rager is the newest and safest vehicle in our line. With three landing struts, it lands and is very stable. The V-22 is electric, and a charging station is included as a stock item. Every anxious parent wants to keep tabs on their child and the onboard tracking device allows them to do that. The V-22 comes standard with a receiver built into the charging station. My sig-fig posing with the V-22 Rager. I've always thought propeller VTOL vehicles were cool. So why not make a near future one for the MocAthalon? So that's what I did. I tried to design something that was a mix between a sports-car and and dual-rotating propeller helicopter. I am really pleased with the way the nose of the vehicle turned out, has a good "sports-car" feel to it. Built for the Alternate Mode of Transportation category of the MocAthalon. And yes, I did write it like an ad. March 2013 Flickr Set Facebook

Okay so admittedly, these pictures aren't the best. I usually won't upload them in this state. However, I took this apart before I looked at the pictures so this is what I've got. Anyways, I built this over a year ago when I first got the new Batman sets, and I'm still quite happy with it. April 2013 Flickr Set Facebook

April Fool's day has passed, so it's time to get serious. After building my large speed chassis with the new hubs, I was so eager to build I disassembled it right away I think I have a video, but not completely sure, because I deleted some... Anyway after a couple days of messing around with various ideas I came up with a solid prototype. Features are: 4 link connections, gear reduction 1:9-using a nifty reduction right before the 5x7 frame(which has knob wheels so I don't break any bevel gears), a telescopic driveshaft which I got from a youtube video-not sure who it was by; new 8t gears, and to top it off, my 1.9 Rok Lox tires Photos: I guess I will build a chassis then the front axle. This crawler will probably use buggy motors considering the reduction.

New licensed themes are always a welcome development to our beloved hobby, but let's admit it, LEGO has been churning out new licensed themes lately at a pace that has become increasingly difficult for us FOLs to 'follow'. Good thing I'm a non-completist selective buyer, so I normally just pick up the best, or two, sets of the theme. So when the new licensed theme Disney's The Lone Ranger came out this year, the set that stood out among the rest for me and the one that really got my interest was the 79108 - Stagecoach Escape - for a variety of reasons: a great-looking minifig line-up, a good selection of new parts, and a visually-appealing stagecoach build. So how does the actual set meet my initial expectations? Join me in this review as I find out. Set Information Set Name: Stagecoach Escape Set Number: 79108 Theme: The Lone Ranger Year: 2013 Pieces: 279 Minifigures: 5 Price: $29.99 Links: Brickset | Bricklink | Peeron (not yet inventoried) | LEGO Shop@Home Product Description Make a famous Lone Ranger Stagecoach Escape! Look out for the bandits going after Red Harrington’s valuable silver locked in the vault in the Stagecoach Escape! Launch the baggage off the back to slow the bad guys down! Then jump down onto the galloping horses, detach them from the wagon and help the Lone Ranger and Tonto to chase the outlaws off before they steal the stash! Includes 5 minifigures with weapons and accessories: the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Red Harrington and 2 bandits, Jesus and Barret. • Includes 5 minifigures with weapons and accessories: the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Red Harrington and the 2 bandits, Jesus and Barret • Features opening doors and roof, baggage launch function, opening vault with silver bar, mailbag with letter and 2 detachable horses • Also includes bandit’s horse • Weapons include 3 revolvers, rifle and 2 knives • Accessories include a pocket watch decorated element and dynamite • Detach the horses and chase the bandits away! • Launch the baggage and send the villains tumbling! • Battle to protect the silver • Open the stagecoach roof and doors to play inside • Stagecoach measures over 5" (13cm) high, 5" (14cm) long and 2" (7cm) wide The Box The boxart for this new product line comprise of a top yellow motif with the obligatory logos of LEGO, Disney, and The Lone Ranger, along with the image of the Lone Ranger as he appears in the upcoming movie. The brightly-colored packaging seems a bit of a clashing contrast with the predominantly subdued earth-toned, steampunkish hues evoked by the movie source material. I like the action-packed scene depicted in the coverart, with all the characters and elements of the set involved in a seemingly high-speed Wild West chase, the details of which we won't know until the movie comes out in August. The usual minifig line-up appears at the bottom right corner (which we'll look at more closely later), and the rest of the standard set details complete the front of the box. As what we've all been accustomed to, the set features are presented at the back in separate panels surrounding the main image of the complete set. I do feel however, that most of the so-called 'playable' features of the set are kinda 'forced' and seems to have been thrown in there as "space fillers" (like Tonto holding a compass pocket-watch, and Red Harrington somewhat distressed with a letter?). I may be just saying this since I don't know the importance of these particular bits in the actual movie, so I'll try to give these the benefit of the doubt. There are two images of the minifig line-up shown in the box: the 1:1 actual size image of the minifigs at the top and the half versions in the front (lower right corner) with their descriptive names of the character. The font used is a nice touch consistent with the Wild Western theme of the movie. Now I'd like to highlight a significant mistake in the minifig line-up: the "Barret" shown is actually Kyle from 79110 Silver Mine Shootout (thanks to 8Brickmario for this info). Probably this was a last minute change in the minifig line-up (Kyle was supposed to be in this set until Barret was included instead). The Contents There are three plastic numbered bags containing the pieces of the set, along with a single instruction booklet and a sticker sheet. No loose parts are included. The Instruction Booklet The instruction booklet bears the same coverart as the box minus the set details and the minfig line-up, which allows you to appreciate more the minute details of the artwork, like the realistic sand drift dust effect. The Sticker Sheet There is one small sticker sheet included in the set, which provides the decorative printing of the stagecoach. It's interesting to see the slight gold metallic sheen in the stickers. The Parts Bag #1 Contents As the starting point of all LEGO sets, the first bag contains the initial parts needed for the base of the build - in this case the stagecoach's base, comprised of the greys, blacks, wooden browns, and the wagon wheels. The two new black horse molds are also inlcuded in this bag, as well as the first two minifgs - Lone Ranger and Jesus. Bag #2 Contents Black and red dominate the parts selection of the second bag, which will expectedly be used for the body of he stagecoach. The Tonto minifigure parts are in this bag, and note that the hairpiece comes in a separate plastic packaging, signifying it was produced or printed in a different location from the rest of the parts. Bag #3 Contents The last bag contains the finshing pieces for the build, together with the two remaining minfigs of the set - Red Harrington and Barret. The third brown horse of the set is also part of Bag #3. Interesting Pieces This set has several new (but not exclusive) pieces: like the Dark Bluish Gray Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Pin Hole, Black Technic, Pin Connector Perpendicular 2 x 4 Bent, and the new hand pistol pieces, in flat silver and pearl dark grey colors. (My apologies if I have inlcuded the Black Hinge Plate 2 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger on Top, which is new to me but is acually a 2-year old piece already. ) The compass pocket-watch piece has some nice detailed printing on the 1x1 tile, and the exclusive headpieces with detachable accessories are also something to behold. The Minifigs Consistent with the marketing strategy of sets nowadays, this set offers a sumptuous treat of beautiful-looking and highly-detailed minifigs of five of the characters in the movie. Aside from the aesthetics, another good aspect of this minifig line-up is the balance between the protagnosists (2) and the antagonsits (2), and one in between (1), plus the fact that the two main characters in the movie - the Lone Ranger and Tonto - are included, makes the set even more tempting to get. Now let's take a closer look at these lovely minfigures individually: The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger minfigure may not be as flamboyant as Tonto or Red Harrington, but it certainly succintly captures the look of the movie character. It has leg prints and back prints, though no alternative facial expression. Comparing it with the actual look of the movie chracacter, one would easily notice that the minifig is a clean-cut (shaven!) version of the Lone Ranger. The holster was also curiousy missing on the leg prints. But overall, the minifig is a pretty good representation of the Lone Ranger in LEGO. Tonto Thanks in part of being an eccentric Johnny Depp character, the Tonto minifig has 'lots of personality' on it. From the highly-detailed hairpiece with the dead crow accessory to the face-painted head to the intricate native American printing of the torso and legs, this minifig is as colorfully weird as it gets! The Tonto minifig has an alternative nervous/scared facial expression. Removing the hairpiece reveals the front hair and tribal necklace printing and the simple back muscle print details. The minifig is quite accurate with the source material, though IMO it would've been better if it had a more serious facial expression like the ones pictured (and from the trailers I've seen so far) as compared to the slight smile of the current one. And it seems the designers decided to give the minifig a dash of bright olive green accent on the hairpiece, which is clearly not found on the actual Tonto. Red Harrington Bright red dress, white stockings on one leg, curly orange hairdo with small green girly hat, quite a flmaboyant minifig isn't she? And using a short cape as a skirt piece? Brilliantly clever! (first time done on a minifig from what I know). The Red Harrington minfig also has a second expression - a scared damsel-in-distress facade. As mentioned earlier, the hat is detachable from the hairpiece, which makes both pieces useful in minfig customization. What's a Johnny Depp movie without Helena Bonham-Carter right? I think the three little facial line prints of the minifig is convincing enough to depict a middle-aged woman. The torso and leg prints seem to be accurate (the stocking can be seen in a scene in the latest movie trailer), but the hat is violet in the pictures shown (though she could have worn a green one in the movie - we still don't know yet). But personally, this the minfig I like the best in this line-up. Barret One of the two bandits in pursuit of Red Harrington and her silver-containing vault, the Barret minfigure is as Wild West Outlawish as it gets - a dirty villainous mug (unshaven face, evil sideburns, maniacal eye-bagged stare), unruly outfit and the signature black hat and gloves. Jesus I would go on a limb and assume the character's name is not pronounced as Jesus (Christ) but rather as Hey-sus (Mexican pronunciation). Now that is cleared, we could focus on the minifig . I like the fact that he has a completely different look than Barret even through they are scum buddies - different hat mold and color, different outfit color and print design, and he even has a bandit handkerchief. We don't know how important these characters are in the movie, but if they aren't, then it's an added bonus to get different variations of torso, legs, heads, and accessories considering minor roles in the source material. Here's a group shot of the protagonists: ...and the bad guys: Like I said, I love the variation of the minifig elements and accessories, which is very useful in minifig customization. Horses Well, horses aren't minifigures but I'd just like to highlight that the set gives a rare opportunity to get three of the new horse molds, with the two black horses exclusive to this set at the moment (different from the black Nazgul horses). When was the last time, and what was the last set, to give at least three horses in a set? (and a relatively small set to boot). Heck, even the large LOTR sets didn't give this much 'horse love'. The Build Bag # 1 Build The base of the stagecoach is solidly built from the first bag of parts, and unlike the initial builds from other sets, this could actually be ridden' and taken into action already, right? (the horses are ready, the wheel mechanism is soundly attached to the base, there is a space for the driver's seat - this one is ready to go! ) Bag #2 Build This is one minor repetitive step in the Bag #2 build - the sides of the stagecoach body. But other than that, almost all steps are unique and non-repeating. The majority of the stagecoach body is built from the second bag of parts, along with the Tonto figure. There is one interesting bit I noticed when building at this stage (though not pictured): 1x1 bricks with holes were used as regular 1x1 bricks, which I think is a clever cost-saving move (since the holed 1x1s have less plastic than the regular 1x1s but provide the same use). Also note that at this point, there was no instructions yet to add this build to the previous build from Bag #1. Bag #3 Build I deviated a bit from the instructions since I wanted to show the elements built from the third bag of pieces (those were actually meant to be added together with the two previous builds to form the final product): these include the curved base of the stagecoach body, the detachable roof, some decorative tiles and the baggage (mail, vault). One thing I noticed is that the four brown 4-L bars could've been already added to the body of the stagecoach built from Bag #2, so I don't know why these had to be added on the last part(?). The Completed Build Combining all the individual builds from the three bags and we'll end up with this lovely-looking stagecoach complemented by the five minifigs. Quite a nice array of elements for a pretty solid set isn't it? Leftover Parts There are a couple of those new pistols and the compass pocket-watch-printed 1x1 tile from the leftover parts. A closer look at the Stagecoach Despite how great-looking this stagecoach is the main criticism about it is it's insanely absurdly oversized. Wth this view, it is very clear that is indeed signficantly larger than real-world stagecoaches, like these ones: Now one could argue that this stagecoach is based on a fictional movie where there are machine gun-wielding Wild West trains or a man resurrected from the dead, so an over-sized stagecoach isn't a far-fetched idea right? In any case, the inherent beauty of LEGO is we could always modify builds according to our liking, so I'm pretty sure with the proper amount of inspiration and parts this could be easily 'modded' to approximate the size of real-life stagecoaches. Here's a couple more views of the stagecoach: Set Features Left: The driver's box comfortably seats one person, and it is accurately high as real-world stagecoaches. Right: The front wheel mechanism is cleverly designed in such a way that it could turn left or right and even adjust up-and-down in response to the motion of the horses. I think this is one of the brilliant aspects of the build and the designer's really went out of their way to give us a working wheel mechanism that is far better than the standard fixed wheel-hub set-up. The rear wheels are fixed by the way, but it has a certain 'fragility' that realistically captures the instability of horse-drawn carriages/coaches. So how does the passengers get on to the stagecoach? Owing to its ginormous size, one has to exert extrat effort to ride this baby. But seriously, the passengers can be put inside by removing the detachable roof and putting the minfigs inside (right). Ironically, despite its gigantic size, the stagecoach only accomodates two passengers inside, though a third could probably be squeezed in there and several more could hitch a ride at the top of the roof or at the sides using handrails. Getting out of the stagecoach is as problematic as getting in for minifigs. Now I know why Red Harrington had that scared alternative expression Good thing our ever-reliable duo are ready to help a lending catching hand. There is a storage compartment at the back of the stagecoach that has some sort of baggage-launching mechanism to "send the villains stumbling" as the S@H description says. All you need is to open the cover, push down on the technic knobs and the briefcase will flip away, though I'm not so sure about its accuracy against villainous bandits (haven't tried it, sorry! ). This vault is the primary reason why the two bandits are chasing our heroes in the stagecoach - it contains Red Harrington's valuable silver! Little do they know it's a decoy as it's just made of ABS plastic! Kidding aside, the vault is nicely built and serves its purpose - though we still don't know its accuracy until we see the movie. There are several more features that I wasn't able to take pictures of, like the detachable connection of the horses from the stagecoach (and apparently you could ride them that way as shown at the back of the box ), the detachable roof and the storage space above (though it can be seen from the other pics), and the 4-L bar and even the tan 1x2 modified plates at the top of the stagecoach windows which could be used as handrails. Rating the Set Design – 8/10 The stagecoach is a visual eye-candy, it's a gorgeous build with a nice balance of aesthetic beauty and working functionality (wheel mechanism, storage compartments, passenger interior) - well that is until it is placed side-by-side with standard minfigs and horses. I would've wanted to give this a perfect score, but its oversized stature simply cannot be ignored, so I'm rightfully bringing the score down a couple of notches. Build – 9/10 I was very pleased with the technic-based wheel mechanism, I thought it was a pretty neat realistic feature that required extra effort by the designers instead of giving us the old and tired fixed wheel set-up. It was also refreshing to see a conscious attempt to use less plastic in builds (using 1x1 bricks with holes for regular 1x1 bricks), that garners a plus point for me. Parts – 8/10 There was a good number of relatively new parts, though I'm impressed the most by the three horses provided by this set. Minifigures – 10/10 Normally, I try to not make the minifigs as the sole reason why I buy sets, but this turned out to be better than I expected as I bought this set mainly for the stagecoach but the minfigs made this a much more rewarding purchase. The wildly beautiful Tonto and Red Harrngton figs with exclusive pieces and accessories, the useful and interchangeable cowboy parts of the Lone Ranger and the two bandits, this minifig line-up is certainly a winner! Playability – 7/10 The designers tried their best to put in extra features like the baggage-launcher at the back of the stagecoach, but I still think the only playability this set offers is the "chase role-playing" between our heroes and the baddies. Though even if it's the only real play value, I think kids would still pretty much enjoy their playing time with this set. Price – 9/10 I think this has a great value for a US$30 set: well-designed stagecoach, five minifigures, three horses, and a good selection of parts, can't really complain about that - except that I live in that part of the world where its SRP is 250% more expensive (US$75) and even if I got it at 25% discount it still is god-damn expensive. Lucky Americans! Overall: 85% So did the set meet my initial expectations? I'd say it did, and it passed with flying colors! It's not a perfect set, but it's certainly a great-valued purchase. If there's any set that a casual FOL would like to buy to 'try' or 'sample' this new Lone Ranger theme - I highly recommend this one. Parting Shot Mix-and-match fashion isn't for everybody... And to get you excited for the upcoming The Lone Ranger movie, here is the latest trailer (the third one released so far I believe): Thanks for taking the time to read my review! Comments are always very much welcome! .

Hello everyone! I don't post a whole lot on Eurobricks, but I made some custom minifigs after seeing Iron Man 3 last weekend that I felt like I should share. It was a great movie with some great characters, so here they are! I don't have a whole lot of flesh parts so I made them with yellow flesh, but I think they still turned out pretty good. I also tried to stat as purist as possible. Anyway, enjoy! Tony Stark - Tony Stark after he crash lands in a snowy town. Happy Hogan (1999) - Happy sports long hair and a goatee at the party in 1999. Happy Hogan -Happy's present-day appearance. (This fig could use some work... ) Harley - The science-loving, potato-gun wielding kid that Tony meets in the snowy town. The Mandarin - A terrorist who is more than what he appears to be... Aldrich Killian - A scientist behind Advanced Idea Mechanics and buyer of the Extremis virus... ...and he also subjects himself to it, enhancing his physical abilities immensely. - And here are the two minifigs side by side. - A duel between Stark and Killian. Eric Savin - The gum-chewing Extremis soldier who helps steals the Iron Patriot armor. Maya Hansen - An long forgotten love interest of Tony's. She's also the inventor of the Extremis virus. Pepper Potts - Tony Stark's girlfriend. - Killian offers Stark Industries a place in his company. An altenative suit concept I came up with: - Just made this to kind of make the Lego head seem less massive. Thanks for viewing!

Mod please move, if this ins't the right place Well it's almost that time again for Bonnaroo! For those unfamiliar, Bonnaroo is a huge music festival on a 700 acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. It is a four day event (June 13-16) with a large line up! This will be my second time, went back in 2010, and had a great time. It has a bit of everything for everyone! I would like to know if anyone on here will be attending or if you have been in the past and maybe share your experience?