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Today I received the news, that Lego Master Builder Academy will be closed in 2014: It is with a heavy heart that I share this news: LEGO® Master Builder Academy is set to close in 2014. [...] LEGO MBA was launched in 2011 as a pilot in the US and tested in Germany in 2013. The project could see that the product was not scalable to other markets as it would have been overly complicated to provide each market with its own version.
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Wow. This set has been out for a year and nobody's reviewed it yet? One of the factors in whether I'd buy it was what the EB reviews said. Well, there was none, so I went and bought it anyway. I guess I owe you a review. Here we go, it's 20215 Master Builder Academy Kit 4: Invention Designer! This review is specificaly going to focus on the first of the three kits included, The Time Machine. As I get further into the set, I'll write separate reviews of the other two kits, World Architecture and Inventor's Lab. Set Title: Invention Designer Set #: 20215 Theme: Master Builder Academy Pieces: 675 (plus 3 books) Minifigures: 3 Year of Release: 2013 Price at Release: USD 79.99 INTRODUCTION The "Master Builder Academy" is a series of sets designed to be teaching kits for people who want to learn to be builders like Lego's professional designers. Originally set up as a subscription series, you can now buy the kits in the Lego Store, and they're also showing up at stores like Toys R' Us. Each "level" of the series revolves around three themes. Level 1 teaches you space design (its own introductory set at $29.99), microbuilding, and robot design (these last two packaged in a second kit for $49.99). Level 2 is airplanes, creatures, and automobiles. Level 3 revolves around storytelling and has three kits for making modular scenery. The most recent set, Level 4, is themed around building inventions and architecture. The architecture aspect of this particular set attracted me. I'm tempted to get the $150 Architecture Studio, but this seemed like an attractive alternative at half the price. Additionally, there's rumors that the MBA theme is going away (there's no new set this year, and these seem to just sit on the shelf at my Lego Store), so I wanted to grab it before it went away. Also also, I wanted to get last month's Martian Manhunter figure which required a $75 purchase. At $80, this set got me there, so yay! If you need to make a big purchase to get an exclusive, an MBA kit will probably get you there. THE BOX I like the MBA packaging. I don't normally keep boxes, but these are sturdy and great for storing the sets when you're done. Let's take a look. There's the Martian Manhunter to give you a sense of scale. The box is very attractive and gives you an overview of what goes in the three kits. This is a pretty big box, but it's made of a thick cardboard and the lid lifts off like on a board game. Side of the box gives you the usual safety warning and a preview of the minifigures in "actual scale." The back of the box gives you a further preview of the building possibilities and the manuals. Looking good so far! Let's open the box. Ummmm...hmmmm. It's a bunch of bags. That's weird. Let's take them out... So that's annoying. On opening the set, you get three big "1, 2, 3" bags, a smaller parts bag, a rubber thing, and the books. What's wrong with this? Well, three things. First, there's nothing to tell you which bag goes with which book. You're presumably opening the bags in the 1-2-3 order, but the books are labeled "Kit 10," "11," and "12." Logically, shouldn't the bags be labeled 10, 11, 12? And where does that small bag go? You can figure out from the books which bags go with which books, but this was already a little less user-friendly than I was expecting. One thing I'll warn you: do not open a bag until you're ready to do that book. All the parts in bag 1 are intended for book 10, so if you co-mingle the other parts, you'll have to sort through them to find what's intended for that kit. I highly recommend doing these one at a time until you're ready to mix everything. Second, there's no sorting tray. MBA Kit 1 (the only other kit I have) came with a nice plastic sorting tray which was really nice for sorting the parts by color. It made for great storage when I put the set away, rather than needing plastic bags or other storage. This has no such tray included. Maybe the box is too small for that and the books, but I can already envision that being quite a pain when I take the set apart and put it in storage. Third, there's no brick separator. What the heck? This is a big set with a lot of plates. I think MBA Kit 1 came with a separator, so maybe they're assuming you already have one. I have plenty of separators, so no problem for me, but someone who bought this as their first kit could really use one. So, the outer box is nice, but the interior could have used a few changes, particularly at this price. THE BOOKS Honestly, the books are the big draw of this set. Think of the MBA kits as a series of manuals with some parts to learn from, rather than the other way around. Each manual is intended to teach you at least two specific skills which you can incorporate in future Lego modeling. The skills are taught up front and appear throughout the accompanying instructions. For example, MBA Kit 1 teaches SIDEWAYS BUILDING and LOCKING, so anytime you use a SNOT brick, the instructions will scream at you that you're using SIDEWAYS BUILDING!!! It gets a little annoying, but they're trying to emphasize skill as part of the construction experience. The books are nice, thick manuals printed on very sturdy paper. It looks like they're color-coded per kit, as I recall MBA Kit 1 having a green spine. You can see that they're numbered on the side, so as you collect MBA kits, you can have a nice series of uniform manuals on your shelf. The front of the manual for Kit 10 includes a nice cartoon representation of the minifigure and the main model from the kit. The back is a more realistic representation of the same figure. We'll talk about him in a bit. The inside is gorgeous and richly illustrated with very readable text. The opening pages in this book give you an introduction to what you're getting into, particularly with the world of steampunk. It also directs you to the MBA website and gives you a code to get exclusive content and building instructions. (I realize that I posted MY code in this picture, but I already used it, so don't bother!) There's a cute little story running through all three manuals about who the minifigure is and what he's doing. The short of this manual is that he's a time traveler who finds himself shunted to an alternate reality where the Industrial Revolution happened early and steampunk is the dominant technology. The manuals have lots of cameos by classic Lego minifigures, so expect to be delighted. One of the draws of these manuals is that they teach you particular Lego skills. This page emphasizes the skill of MACHINERY--the idea being that you can use specific printed parts and unique pieces (like wheels, chains, gears, etc.) to give your creation the appearance of mechanics. Kit 10 specifically revolves around decorating your creations. Although the Time Machine has a Technic function, this set really isn't intended to teach you Technic (that comes in Kit 12). Here, you're learning to make your creations look believable. Here's a sample from the instructions pages. Yes, the various models have traditional instructions, but the manual specifically emphasizes MBA techniques at the bottom so you can learn as you're building. Edit: I think this review would be better if I outlined exactly what's in the manual, as I looked ahead at Kits 11 and 12 and realized that the books should really dominate the review. So, Kit 10's book has the following: An introduction to MBA Level 4 and your code for the MBA website (2 pages) An introduction to the theme of time travel (2 pages) An introduction to Steampunk (2 pages) A discussion of the MACHINERY technique that make your creations appear to be mechanical. (2 pages) A similar discussion of the MATERIALS technique that creators use to make plastic look like brick, wood, or metal. (2 pages) Building your Inventor minifigure. (2 pages) The Time Machine instructions. (24 pages. This may seem like a lot, but the instructions are littered with explanations on how to use the MACHINERY and MATERIALS tips and how they're incorporated into the model.) Smaller instructions on making Springboard Models to get you started on making a bigger creation. Included are the Steam Engine, Horseless Carriage, Mad Science Ray, and the Hover-Mobile. (32 pages. Again, these are very detailed instructions with lots of explanations.) There are further instructions on the MBA website when you use your code. A showcase of Lego fan creations of Steampunk models. (2 pages) A "time travel challenge" to be done on the MBA website. (If you do all the website challenges, you earn badges and a certificate.) (2 pages) A cute showcase of world history, from pre-history to the future. It's really a display of classic Lego minifigures and sets. (2 pages) A few pages which have interviews with a professional Lego designer and a MOCer as they discuss how they come up with models. (4 pages) A reflection on important inventions in history. (1 page) The parts list. (1 page) Did I mention that I really like the book? I'll admit that some of it is "filler," as I don't think the minifigure's instructions needed to be two pages. I suppose the designer was going for a particular look, and those two pages are consistent with it. However, the rest of the manual is rich with description on how and why you use certain parts to create a particular model. I'd almost say that this was a coffee-table quality book if it had been longer and had a hardbound cover. I really think collectors will enjoy having these available. THE PARTS Here's the bags you need for Kit 10, but you probably want to see it opened. I'll emphasize up front that this kit does NOT include a green plate; I just took it out so that I could nicely arrange the parts. There's a lot, so they don't all fit on there. You get a nice selection of plates, bricks, and slopes. More importantly, you get a lot of unique decorative parts in metallic colors, like the blades, chains, gears, wheels, etc. The idea of this kit is not to build any particular model, but to give you options on making a steampunk creation. You can, of course, add anything you like to your creations, and the manual even gives you some ideas on parts and colors to use. I will note that you'll need to get pretty creative in steampunking. MBA kit 10 is only a springboard to building, not an unlimited source of creating. For example, the manual recommends using brown curved pieces to give a 19th century wooden look, but no brown parts are included. There's also no wheels! Some of the creations recommend using the satellite dishes and round bricks as wheels...which you can do, but it doesn't look right in my opinion. Anyway, it's a nice variety, but be prepared to supplement if you want to go beyond what's included. THE MINIFIGURE Every MBA kit comes with a minifigure. In part, he's intended as a "trophy" for each level of building you achieve. He's also intended as a tool to help you develop your model: will a minifigure fit in what I'm building? So think of him less as something to collect and more as one more tool in your kit. MBA Level 4 figure is a genertic blue-and-white figure with the MBA logo on his chest. He also has the classic generic smiley face that you only see in Creator sets and on Emmet from the Movie. What's weird is that the MBA Kit 1 figure has been updated with the more modern face with white dots in the eyes. Not this guy. He's even more generic from the back. Keep in mind that you get two more of this figure in Kit 11 and 12. The only distinction is the accessories he comes with. Kit 10 is themed around steampunk, so the figure gets a top hat for that Victorian look. You'll also build him a small meter-suitcase thing, and the "Invento-Pack v.0" to clip onto him. The idea is that he's exploring this strange steampunk world, and it gives him a portable power source to carry. You'll note that it includes binoculars and a lightsaber handle. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be kibble to decorate the pack or accessories that he carries, but it looks great. Here he is, decked out and ready to explore. THE MODELS There's a lot you can build here. I really don't have the time to build and photograph every model in the book and from the website, so I'll focus on the main draw: the Time Machine. It's worth noting that the Time Machine model makes use of every part in the kit, minus the spares and the Invent-O Pack. The designers incorporated all the kibble to give this thing the feel of an H.G. Welles-style time machine. Although it has a Technic function, the main goal here is to decorate imaginatively. The ridged round brick becomes an engine; black cylinders become a smokestack; white round bricks become smoke. As you go through the manual, it'll give you ideas on how to use parts for storytelling. Here's the back view for another angle on how it all came together. You also make this toothbrush-looking thing. What the heck does that do? It actually ends up working as a Technic ripcord. Just insert the rod into the gear under the Time Machine's seat... Wheeeeee! The main cockpit spins for that steampunk-style time travel effect. It's a cute effect, though it also means that your cockpit will freely swivel if you decide to "swoosh" the Time Machine if you don't have the key in. What else can you build? The manual and the website give you a lot of starting points. They teach you to build a mad science ray, a horseless carriage, a rocket, and more. Again, these are all ideas, and there's no expectation that you actually build those things. They're intended to exercise your imagination until you're ready to build something else. The back of the manual gives you even crazier ideas on things to build from real Lego builders around the world. These inventions are well beyond the scope of the kit--they're really intended to jump start your imagination. CONCLUSION It's hard to judge the overall value of this set, because you're not getting a disassembled model that goes in your City or Castle setup. What you are getting is a toolkit to help you thinking about building. Yes, you can buy this set just for the Time Machine, but that's not the point of the kit. The point is to let your imagination run free and see what you can come up with. I'm hoping I can use this set to get my daughter thinking about the art of design--right now, she builds very imaginatively, but also haphazardly. As such, I'm not going to give this set a traditional "out of 10" rating, because there's no finalized model you're supposed to end up with. I will say that this is a hard sell because of the price: $80 U.S. The manuals are very nice, though, and I think a new Lego builder could have a lot of fun with them if he or she wanted to develop some professional-grade building skills. They'll also look really nice on a shelf. Seriously, it's tempting to go out and buy the other sets just so I can see those manuals 1-12 all nicely lined up. $80 is not really worthwhile for 675 bricks, but the bricks combined with the manuals make a nice package. If this set is cost-prohibitive, keep in mind that the rumor is that MBA is going away. As such, these may end up getting marked down at the Stores and online at some point. Alternatively, you might wait for a double VIP point month to really take advante of this set. (I liked getting the Martian Manhunter, but I bought this on March 30. If I'd waited one more day, I could have gotten double VIP points instead.) So I recommend this set, but keep in mind you really need to figure out if the parts and manuals are something you want at this cost. Also note that I've only reviewed a third of this set, including a third of the pieces. There's still the architecture and inventor's lab components to examine. I also haven't really played around with this set yet. At some point, I'd like to take the Time Machine apart and see what I can come up with on my own. So if you think "that's it?" from reading this review--no, there's a lot more. Stay tuned!
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I recently started reviewing the most recent Master Builder Academy (MBA) set, specifically focusing on the first of the three kits included: The Time Machine. In this review, I’ll focus on the second kit, World Architecture, and I’ll eventually review the third kit, Inventor’s Lab. Note that these kits are part of an ongoing sequential series in the MBA theme, so these sets are respectively known as Kits 10, 11, and 12. So let’s get into World Architecture! Set Title: Invention Designer Set #: 20215 Theme: Master Builder Academy Pieces: 675 (plus 3 books) Minifigures: 3 Year of Release: 2013 Price at Release: USD 79.99 INTRODUCTION I’m not going to rehash a description of the MBA theme or the packaging of this set, as I already covered that in my review of The Time Machine. Let’s skip the box and get right into Kit 11. World Architecture is essentially a tutorial in how to do Lego building construction. You’re not necessarily learning how to make complete buildings, so much as developing skills in how to make particular types of buildings and how to work ornate details into them so that the buildings actually resemble what you intend to build. Architecture has always been a staple of Lego building, but it’s really taken off in the last several years due to new highly specialized sets. The Architecture theme has focused on making recognizable models of famous world landmarks. This set doesn’t quite focus on microbuild models—that’s covered in Kit 2—but elements of microbuilding are present here, particularly in the Japanese temple aspect of the East-West Temple (more on that below) and in the Micro Castle you can build on the MBA website. Additionally, the popular Modular Building sub-series in the Creator line has seen tremendously detailed buildings in minifigure scale with very ornate and detailed buildings. This kit focuses more on that aspect—how can you make your own buildings that look realistic and resemble real buildings? THE BOOK As I said in the last review, the book is the big selling point of these sets. $80 for 700 pieces isn’t a great deal, but $80 for 700 pieces and three very high-quality books makes it much more worthwhile. Roughly, for one kit that’s $27 for 230 pieces and one nice book. I think that in the grand scheme of things, that math isn’t awful if you like all three kits and you’re a fan of Lego books. Repeating what I said in the last review: the front of the manual for Kit 11 includes a nice cartoon representation of the minifigure and the main model from the kit. The back is a more realistic representation of the same figure. We'll talk about him in a bit. Like the previous books, Kit 11’s manual focuses on helping you to develop two very specific skills: HISTORICAL DESIGN and ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS. (I’m putting those in all caps because that’s what the manual does.) The idea of HISTORICAL DESIGN is that you’re designing a building that resembles a particular piece of history. A Greco-Roman building is going to resemble marble and have lots of columns and statues. A Japanese building is going to incorporate lots of wood and natural elements. The manual doesn’t necessarily teach you how to build an Egyptian pyramid or Aztec temple or modern Frank Lloyd Wright house, but it is designed to get you thinking about how to make those kinds of designs in Lego. You’ll see the manual point out a lot of these tips in the instructions. For example, Japanese temples tended to taper as they go up, so the manual points that out as you construct the East-West temple. The other concept is ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS, which involves working small features into your buildings to make them look familiar. Here, the manual intends to inspire you to figure out what small Lego pieces can be turned into interesting building features. It illustrates examples from the modular buildings: sliding rail pieces became ledges; croissants became decorative frescoes; undercarriages were made into a decorative archway. The lessons in this manual will give you some ideas on how to do that. One aspect that I’ll fault this book on is that it doesn’t include a sheet of Lego “brick paper.” The manual in MBA Kit 1 (Space Designer) included a page of brick paper with instructions to download the paper from the MBA website. Brick paper is like graph paper, where each square is the size of a 1 x 1 tile (or three squares is the height of a 1 x 1 brick). One of the lessons taught in MBA Kit 1 was how to design a model by drawing it first on brick paper and them identifying what real-world bricks would work well in its place, based on how your drawing falls on the lines. You’ll note that the HISTORICAL DETAILS page shows an old building sketched on brick paper. It would have been nice if this kit included a sheet and/or directions on how to download some. I can imagine architecture lending itself very well to being drawn out on brick paper. Although the manual’s authors recommend doing so, they didn’t think to include a sheet or instructions to get some as a courtesy. As with Kit 10’s manual, the instructions are very detailed and emphasize the use of specific MBA skills into each step. You might be surprised at how long the steps of a particular model take, but the idea is that they are trying to teach you something with each step. Hence, it’s important that you do a detailed read of each step as you’re building the suggested models in the manual. Your goal is not to build the model, but to learn why the model is designed as it is. I should note that the instructions do occasionally reference MBA tips from prior kits. For example, the East-West Temple’s instructions reference using “SUPPORT ELEMENTS technique that you learned about in Kit 6.” Well, if you didn’t buy Kit 6, you won’t have learned that skill. That won’t stop you from building the model, but you may be somewhat disoriented. That’s the downside of these kits—the authors appear to have intended that you literally go through all 12 in order. The outline of Kit 11's manual is as follows: An introduction to MBA Level 4 and your code for the MBA website (2 pages, and pretty similar to Kit 10’s intro) An introduction to Architecture (2 pages) An introduction to architecture around the world (2 pages) A discussion of the HISTORICAL DESIGN technique (2 pages) A similar discussion of the ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS technique (2 pages) Building the minifigure’s Time Rover. (2 pages) The East-West Temple instructions. (26 pages) Smaller instructions on making Springboard Models to get you started on making a bigger creation. Included are the Roman Window, Spanish Fountain, and Asian Gazeobo. (16 pages.) There are further instructions on the MBA website when you use your code. A showcase of Lego fan creations of buildings. (2 pages) An "architecture challenge" to be done on the MBA website. (If you do all the website challenges, you earn badges and a certificate.) (1 page) Some building idea tips. (1 page) A very quick overview of architecture throughout history. (2 pages) Building design tip, including tips on structure and detail. (2 pages) A few interviews with professional and amateur Lego designers. (5 pages) The parts list. (1 page) THE PARTS Kit 11 consists of a single bag, labeled “2.” I personally think it should have been labeled “11”… The inside of the bag has two smaller bags with smaller parts. I'll emphasize again that this kit does NOT include a green baseplate; I just took it out so that I could nicely arrange the parts. Anyway, this kit contains some basic parts—mostly in green—to get you started on designing architecture. The goal here is not to build a complete building, but only to get you started on design. If the Modular Building series has taught you anything, it’s that any Lego piece can be incorporated into a building. This set includes a number of architectural staples: bricks, columns, tiles, and slopes. I’ll repeat this a few times in this review: the goal of this set is not to make complete buildings (at least not large ones), but to get you thinking about architecture. For example, if I wanted to design the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., this set wouldn’t give me enough to make the whole thing. But it does have enough to get me thinking about building its pillars, and I could supplement with my own bricks to build a lot more. (And actually I just checked—the Lincoln Memorial has Doric columns, not Ionic. Oops.) There’s a few oddities thrown in for details, such as a cone and a 5-studded 1 x 1 brick. I wouldn’t consider this a great parts pack by any stretch. For example, you get some masonry bricks: a total of three of them. Given how hard to find the masonry brick is, it would have been nice to get more—but the goal is to get you thinking about architecture, not to supply you with parts. Be forewarned, you will probably have a “I wish they’d included more of this part!” reaction at some point while going through the set. As with the last kit, be prepared to supplement if you want to go beyond what's included. THE MINIFIGURE I mentioned last time that Kit 11 comes with the exact same figure as in Kit 10. That’s pretty much the same as every other MBA set: you get three of the same figure. (The exception is MBA Level 1, which is split over two sets—the Space Designer comes with one figure, while the Microbuilder/Robot Designer comes with two.) I think the idea is to have a minifigure available for each Kit. The figure is less a toy and more “one more tool” in your box. I won’t belabor a review of the figure since I did that in the Kit 10 review. We’ll go right into his accessories. While Kit 10’s man came with a top hat and “Invent-o Pack,” this guy comes with a helmet and a little car. The manuals actually envision a storyline for him. In Kit 10, he was traveling between universes in his Time Machine. Now he’s exploring ancient Rome and feudal Japan on a quest to repair his ship. You’re going to build him a little “Time Rover” which he uses to explore history without interfering too much. Here’s the completed model. It’ a quaint model that reminds me of “Roller,” the little car that came with the Transformers’ Optimus Prime in the 1980s. (Anyone remember him?) It’s cute and gives some character to the figure. There’s not much here to specifically incorporate into MBA Kit 11, but if you get creative, maybe you can disassemble the Rover and make some interesting details for a building. THE MODELS As in Kit 10, there’s a lot you can build here. The main draw is the East-West Temple, a two-sided Roman/Japanese building which changes depending on how you look at it. A spinning platform in the middle allows the Minifigure to “time-travel” between them. Remember, the goal of the East-West Temple is not to make a neat building, but to learn about architectural design. As you put this thing together, you learn why the MBA designers included specific parts, so it pays to read the directions in full. For example, the Technic bricks are included so you can connect the building to other modular designs from MBA Kit 3. The black erling bricks show you a means of making tiny windows. The cheese slopes are used to create the upturned corners of traditional Japanese buildings. The Roman side looks just as plausible as the Japanese. The columns provide a lesson in making traditional and detailed support structures. The jumper plate above the arch gives you color and ornamentation. The flat tiles give you a smooth, marbled appearance. As always, you’re not restricted to the East-West Temple, though it is the only pre-designed model that uses all the parts in the box. Other options include… …an Asian gazebo… …and a Roman window. (Additional minifigures not included.) These are the only ones I got around to making. They do show you a few options for making different small buildings and/or springboards to larger structures. (The Roman window isn’t a building by itself, but they encourage you to design more to surround it.) A few other models on the MBA website include a doghouse, a temple window, an Asian gateway, a fireplace, a micro castle, and a market stand. CONCLUSION One again, I’m not going to give this set an “out of 10” rating because there’s no specific model you’re supposed to end up with. Rather, I’m just going to give this set a general “recommended” rating because I really like the book/parts tutorial combination. There’s a lot to learn in here about how to get a detailed building going. If you’re into the Modular Building or Architecture themes and you want to start designing your own, this set could be a good starting point for you. I will note that this set could be a more cost-effective version of the Architecture Studio which has worked its way back into stores. That set has a lot more bricks, but they’re all white. That overall set is also double the cost of this MBA set. However, the Architecture Studio has a much thicker book and focuses exclusively on architecture—you don’t need to worry about the Steampunk or Technic stuff if you’re not interested in it. My point is that people interested in the Architecture Studio may want to consider this set as an alternative. This has proven to be my favorite of the three MBA kits so far, though. I do wish it had included a few more parts (more arches and masonry bricks would have been nice). I also wish that it worked a little more independently of the other MBA sets—again, it tends to reference back to tips provided in earlier MBA sets. Those faults aside, this set does make for a wonderful introduction to architectural design, and serious building designers may want to give it a look. Coming up—I still need to review Kit 12, Inventor’s Laboratory. Stay Tuned!
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A few weeks ago I obtained MBA Set 20215, Invention Designer. Like most MBA sets, this comes with three kits, two of which I already reviewed. Kit 10 is the steampunk-themed Time Machine, and Kit 11 is World Architecture. So I still owe you a review of Kit 12, which is the Technic-heavy theme Inventor’s Lab. So let’s wrap up this series and tell you how this set compares to the other two. Set Title: Invention Designer Set #: 20215 Theme: Master Builder Academy Pieces: 675 (plus 3 books) Minifigures: 3 Year of Release: 2013 Price at Release: USD 79.99 INTRODUCTION I already reviewed the theme and packaging in my Kit 10 review, so we’re moving right into the set. Like all MBA Kits, this specific set has a storyline and a theme to it. The storyline continues from the other two kits, with the MBA minifigure losing control of his time machine and finding himself in Renaissance Italy, specifically in Leonardo DaVinci’s workshop. This story segues into the general theme of Kit 12: building simple DaVinci-style machines using Technic...um…techniques. If you’ve been with Lego for a long time now, you’ll have noticed that Technic has slowly crept into System-styled sets for many years now. System and Technic are still two very distinct lines, with Technic usually consisting of oversized models which are too big for minifigures but realistically capture features like rack-and-pinion steering. System-sized models haven’t gotten that complicated, but it’s not unusual for a System set to have some Technic beams or pins built in to give the model more functionality. In some rare instances, you might even have a gearing system built into the model which makes it as close to Technic as it will get. So what this particular kit teaches you is how to start building those Technic features. From what I gathered in the manual, one of the prior MBA kits features a specific lesson on Technic Features. Indeed, a lot of the earlier kits use some Technic pieces. However, this specific set focuses on how to really get those mechanical functions going. THE BOOK As I said in the last two review, the book is the big selling point of these sets. $80 for 700 pieces isn’t a great deal, but $80 for 700 pieces and three very high-quality books makes it much more worthwhile. Roughly, for one kit that’s $27 for 230 pieces and one nice book. I think that in the grand scheme of things, that math isn’t awful if you like all three kits and you’re a fan of Lego books. Again, the front of the manual for Kit 12 includes a nice cartoon representation of the minifigure and the main model from the kit. The back is a more realistic representation of the same figure. We'll talk about him below. Kit 12’s manual teaches you two specific skills: INVENTIONS and FUNCTIONS. (I’m putting those in all caps because that’s what the manual does.) The INVENTIONS technique is a weird one, since most other MBA kits teach you a technique by actually doing something as you build. For example, Kit 1 teaches you LOCKING with repeated instances of connecting bricks together with a longer brick or plate so you can secure them together. Kit 12 teaches you INVENTIONS by…recommending that you sit down and think about what you want to make. That’s…interesting, but it doesn’t translate into a teaching kit very well. At least the FUNCTIONS technique is based on using Technic elements to achieve a specific effect, like building a crank or a pump. As with Kit 10’s and 11’s manual, the instructions are very detailed and emphasize the use of specific MBA skills into each step. The initial model you’ll build—the DaVinci Paddleboat—has a lot of slow, deliberate steps, but the purpose is to teach you about why each step is designed the way it is. I should warn you that this Kit seems to be the climax of all prior MBA Kits, so you’ll see lots of references to prior kits’ building techniques such as SUPPORT ELEMENTS and SMALL PIECES. I don’t think you’ll be lost, but you’d definitely benefit from having done the other kits before moving onto this one. Kit 12's manual is laid out in this format: Introduction to Inventing (2 pages) Inventions That Changed the World (2 pages; this is really the minifigure’s story and a brief description of inventions) The Inventor’s Laboratory (2 pages about DaVinci) Inventions Technique (2 pages) Functions Technique (2 pages) Minifigure Instruction (2 pages) Leonard’s Boat Instructions (30 pages) Springboard Models (26 pages, with specific focus on the Four-Wheel Drive, the Helicopter, and the Flying Machine. The other six models are on the MBA website) Fan Creations (2 pages) Invention Challenge (2 pages to do on LegoMBA.com) Interview with a Lego Master Builder who designs Ninjago and Chima sets (2 pages) Examination of Technic Moving Functions (2 pages) An Interview with Lego MOCer Jason Allemann and how he designed his “strumming fingers” model (2 pages) A final send-off from the Lego MBA team (1 page) The parts list. (1 page) THE PARTS I’m dividing the parts between the Technic and non-Technic features. The standard pieces includes a large selection of pieces in light tan, probably to capture a light-colored wood that DaVinci might have used in his inventions. You get a few dark reds and blues, although many of these colors get masked in the boat model. Interesting pieces include the inverse slope bricks which are instrumental in the ship design. Personally, I found these pieces to be a drawback of the set: there’s a lot of useful pieces for building a ship, but you’ll have to get creative with them if you want them to be something else. The truly-Technic parts selection includes a smaller number of gears, axles, beams, and other pieces. Frankly, I was also disappointed by this setup, since there is a tremendous variety of Technic pieces out there. Here, we only get two sizes of gears and a few axels. You do get a few more Technic pieces in Kit 10, so there’s nothing to stop you from mingling pieces, but the variet in Kit 12 by itself is a bit lacking. As with the last two kits, be prepared to supplement if you want to go beyond what's included. Most of the designs in the book are “springboards” which are literally intended to get you started on building. For example, the “flying machine” model features a rough sketch of the minifigure in a basket which hangs under the build itself. Unfortunately, this kit doesn’t include the right pieces to build the basket, let alone the strings to hold it. THE MINIFIGURE Kit 12 includes the same minifigure as in Kits 10 and 11. That’s pretty much the same as every other MBA set: you get three of the same figure. (The exception is MBA Level 1, which is split over two sets—the Space Designer comes with one figure, while the Microbuilder/Robot Designer comes with two.) Remember that the minifigure is intended as a tool for your kit and not a collectable in itself; the idea is that it lets you model whether a minifigure would fit in your creation. This figure comes with a black touque for…some reason. It also comes with several pieces for building an old flash-photography style of camera. The camera is cute. The idea is that your minifigure is running around DaVinci’s workshop and photographing various invention ideas. The clip plate on top actually lies right around the minifigure’s eye when he’s holding it, so it actually looks like he’s trying to aim the camera. The figure also includes a back clip so he can store it while not in use. It really gives him a lot of personality. THE MODELS Like Kits 10 and 11, this set includes all the bricks you need to build the main model: in this case, a DaVinci-style paddleboat which was apparently inspired by an actual DaVinci design. I have to confess up front that I hate the boat. Really, I hate it. It’s extremely big (mostly so it can hold the colossal paddles) and it’s very blocky-looking thanks to the multiple layers of slope pieces. Lego has designed plenty of smaller ship-shaped pieces that would have resulted in a smoother build. It’s at this point that I need to remind myself that MBA probably built this Kit with multiple uses in mind, and using larger boat-shaped pieces probably would have limited the re-build-ability of the ship. So it’s probably a good thing that these specific pieces were selected for the kit, but the downside is that the boat model suffers IMHO. The mechanics of the boat are acceptable, though. A single crank in the back of the boat can spin, allowing the gears to turn which power the paddles. Some hinge pieces in the back create a rudder for steering. These mechanisms are all a bit oversized for the minifigure, but they work from a functional perspective. The overall mechanism for the paddles is a decent example of how to incorporate functional Technic mechanisms into a System-sized model. The other pre-designed models in this kit are a few “springboard” creations. As with Kits 10 and 11, the springboards are intended to be the beginnings of a model and it’s up to you to build around it to make it a full creation. For example, I built the Flying Machine model. What you end up with is a little piston-style engine with flapping wings on the side; it basically functions like a bird in flight. For better or worse, this is all that the instructions tell you how to make. The instructions include a sketch of the minifigure in a small boat underneath attached by strings, but there’s no instructions on how to make that, and the kit doesn’t come with strings anyway. So…it’s kind of up to you on what you want to do with the Flying Machine from there. This is where I get frustrated with Kit 12, and I also have to remind myself not to get frustrated. On the one hand, I’m disappointed because the alternate-model instructions aren’t very complete. They give you the beginnings of a model but don’t tell you where to go from there. As far as I can tell, the prior MBA kits give you fairly detailed and complete alt-models. The only other kit I own is Kit 1 (Spaceship designer), but the instructions there give you complete instructions for three spaceship models that use almost all of the pieces. Each model continues to teach you how to use the skills in that particular book, so the instructions continue the building lessons of that model. However…Lego and the MBA in particular are all about creativity. I have to remind myself that, no, we are not all Lord Business and subject to the limits of the instruction book. Lego MBA wants you to go beyond the instructions and learn to build for yourself. I suppose that giving only “springboard” instructions is intended to climax the prior MBA sets by asking you, the builder, to come up with your own larger models beyond what they’ve given you. It is a little inconsistent with the style of the prior MBA sets, though. Ultimately, the recipient of this set needs to be someone who’s interested in creativity rather than just building a pre-designed model. If they’re expecting a finalized product (other than the boat), they may be a little disappointed in this kit. CONCLUSION I’m reluctantly calling Kit 12 “not recommended” for the fact that the particular parts selection is lacking because it’s so oriented towards building the boat. There are so many inverse slopes included here that I think your options on what else you can build are really limited. Relatedly, the Technic selection is pretty weak as well. Oh, there’s a few styles of gearing systems that you can build, but there’s a great selection of Technic pieces out there such as different sizes of gears. I feel like there could be a lot more possibilities for a new builder who wants to learn if there had been a better variety of parts. I did enjoy the other two kits, however. I just felt that Kit 12 was something of an anti-climactic letdown after the prior two. Some of that may be my own fault, as I haven’t done MBA Kits 2 through 9, which would have built up to these last three kits. I should also note that I’m building as an adult. These kits are marketed for the ages 8 to 12 crowd. I really need to get my daughter into these kits and work through the lessons with her to see how she responds to them and whether she’s able to take away their techniques. In the end, I like the overall set of the Invention Designer. The three manuals are all very nice, and I bet owning a set of the MBA Manuals 1 through 12 would look very nice on a shelf and, even better, teach you a lot of professional Lego skills. The bricks are really intended to compliment the manuals and allow you to exercise their technique. The only downside with these kits (other than the cost) is that you’re buying them as a large package. If you want, for example, the World Architecture kit, you pretty much have to spend the $80 and take the other two kits with it. That’s somewhat of a cost-prohibitive model, so it’s no wonder that the MBA theme seems to have foundered at Kit 12. I’m doubtful that a fifth level will be released, which is a shame since there’s so much more Lego to learn. Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed these reviews and consider getting the MBA theme. Who knows—maybe it’ll go to EOL clearance later this year.
