tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7950492406048975812024-03-13T14:30:34.731+00:00Gimme LegoThe musings of a LEGO obsessivedrdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.comBlogger263125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-32842652567803995432020-05-19T08:35:00.000+01:002020-05-19T10:03:42.867+01:00Poor Relation?OK, so I don't need anyone to remind me that I haven't exactly been prolific over the past few years when it comes to posting on Gimme LEGO.... That having been said, what I <u>have</u> posted provides a big clue to the identity of possibly my greatest passion when it comes to LEGO, namely space sets. A quick skim of the <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/index.html">index of previous posts</a></b> reveals that even if you exclude Star Wars I've served up significantly more reviews of space sets than of any other theme; vintage space sets such as <b><a href="https://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2018/06/hens-teeth.html">924 Space Cruiser</a></b>, <b><a href="https://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2017/09/retro-space-revisited.html">6896 Celestial Forager</a></b> and <b><a href="https://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/alt-space.html">6897 Rebel Hunter</a></b> have been particularly well represented. A recent trawl through some of those old reviews whetted my appetite for more, so I thought I'd dig out an old space set from a subtheme that I'd not previously covered on Gimme LEGO and share it with you.<br />
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<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6900-1/Cyber-Saucer">6900 Cyber Saucer</a></b> was released in 1997 as part of the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-UFO">UFO subtheme</a></b> of LEGO Space. The front of the box (above) looks frankly psychedelic, showcasing the completed craft flying above a green quasi-organic planet surface which is almost as retina-searing as the trans-neon green accents of the ship itself. Blurred clouds of magenta space dust and stars provide a suitably vivid backdrop. The back of my bashed box (below) is dominated by images of a couple of dubious-looking alternate builds. There are also a couple of panels which illustrate play features of the set, namely a rotation function and what appears to be a temperature-sensitive print on one of the elements.<br />
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The front of the instruction booklet (below) features the same image as the front of the box, but with one interesting difference, specifically the inclusion of an alternative set number (6999) alongside the actual set number. I initially assumed that 6999 was the number of the set in the US or elsewhere, but it turns out that 6999 was in fact the set number of a limited edition bundle consisting of a copy of 6900 plus a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?G=ufomask#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">hard plastic promotional mask</a></b>. The instruction booklet comprises 15 pages, all of which are occupied by building instructions; there's no advertising, which is always a bit of a shame in older sets, while the back cover is pretty much identical to the back of the box and therefore not shown here.<br />
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The set contains a solitary minifigure, designated as <b><a href="https://brickset.com/minifigs/sp042/ufo-alien-blue">UFO Zotaxian Alien - Blue Officer (Commander X)</a></b> by Bricklink. This minifigure only appears in a single set, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6975-1/Alien-Avenger">6975 Alien Avenger</a></b>, in addition to 6900 and 6999. The torso and legs, with their intricate prints, are exclusive to this minifigure. The black <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=x141&colorID=11&in=A">breastplate and shoulder protector</a></b> is shared with a number of other minifigures across the UFO and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-Insectoids">Insectoids</a></b> space subthemes, while the light grey printed helmet is shared with a <b><a href="https://brickset.com/minifigs/sp046/ufo-zotaxian-alien-red-pilot-with-armor-and-printed-helmet-(chamon)">UFO Zotaxian Red Pilot</a></b> minifigure which appears in a number of other UFO sets.<br />
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Beneath the <b><a href="https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/1*J4-hZJb4esywjgMYFbYA5Q.jpeg">Predator</a></b>-esque helmet is a printed trans-neon green minifigure head. As was the case for the printed torso and legs, the head print is exclusive to this particular minifigure. There's no back print on the head.<br />
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The breastplate and shoulder protector also provides substantial protection for the upper back. In marked contrast to the extensive and complex printing on the front of the minifigure there's no printing at all on the back of the helmet, torso or legs.<br />
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Moving on to the saucer, the shape is largely defined by four <b><a href="https://rebrickable.com/parts/30117/panel-10-x-10-x-2-13-quarter-saucer-top/">10 x 10 x 2 1/3 quarter saucer top panels</a></b>. Two of these panels are trans-neon green in colour and have appeared in just <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30117&in=S&colorID=16&ov=Y">4 sets</a></b> including this one and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6999-1/Cyber-Saucer">6999</a></b>, while the other two are printed old grey left and right variants which have each appeared in a total of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30117pb05&in=S">5 sets</a></b>. The orange, black and silver <b><a href="https://rebrickable.com/media/parts/photos/7/30117pb01-7-dda3d6f8-f7c3-4585-ac92-6089e0b0e19d.jpg">prints</a></b> on the latter two elements are great, featuring a stylised representation of the alien minifigure helmet from above together with some additional detailing. The quarter panels surround a simple brick-built cockpit containing a solitary red seat. A couple of decorative <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/PL/73590c02a.jpg?0">black 8.5L flexible hoses</a></b> attach to the sides of the cockpit beneath the panels, while a pair of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30034&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">3 x 5 deltoid panels</a></b> attach to the outside edge of the saucer on opposite sides. Given the shiny silver stickers which are attached to them I suspect that they're supposed to be solar arrays. In addition to the deltoid panels, the exterior of the saucer is embellished with numerous other attachments including trans-neon green <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2569&idColor=16#T=C&C=16">8H whip antennae</a></b>, black 4 x 4 inverted dishes, a minifigure loudhailer tipped with a trans-neon green 1 x 1 cone, and a minifigure space scanner tool. All of the attachments can be either rotated or tilted on small hinges, thus boosting the play value.<br />
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The cockpit is enclosed by a trans-neon green <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2418b&idColor=16#T=C&C=16">6 x 6 octagonal canopy</a></b> which is hinged at the rear to provide easy cockpit access. A black 2 x 2 round tile sits on top of the canopy. This tile is decorated with a heat-sensitive sticker, which is something that I've never encountered in a LEGO set before. When the sticker is cold the central area is blank, but when the sticker is pressed and warmed with a fingertip a dark green pattern appears in the central area. This 'play feature' is demonstrated in the instruction booklet (below). The sticker in my copy of the set shows a faint olive green pattern even when untouched, however, similar to what you can see <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PN/11/4150pb005.png">here</a></b>; I'm not sure whether that's because the ambient temperature is currently quite high in my LEGO room, or just because the sticker is now at least 23 years old and therefore not operating quite as efficiently as it was when it was new.<br />
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The saucer sits on top of a simple landing stage. This is supported at its periphery by four light grey <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30119&colorID=9&in=A">bi-level wings</a></b> and centrally by a pillar which incorporates four black <b><a href="https://brickset.com/parts/394026/undercarriage-2x2x2">2 x 2 x 2 stands</a></b>. The bi-level wings are quite rare in light grey, having appeared in just four sets in this colour including 6900 and 6999. There's a black 2 x 2 x 2 container mounted on one of the peripheral supports. The open face of the container is enclosed by a trans-neon green door which opens to reveal a <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PN/11/3069bpx32.png">printed tile</a></b> that's presumably supposed to represent tech of some sort. The landing stage is topped by a red 4 x 4 turntable with square base.<br />
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The neon-green and light grey elements incorporated into the landing stage provide some welcome consistency with the saucer's colour scheme. The saucer fits neatly on top of the landing stage, and since the only point of attachment is the 4 x 4 turntable it can consequently rotate freely through 360 degrees.<br />
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I have to admit that I was initially quite sceptical about this set, and was ready to pretty much write off the UFO subtheme as a poor relation of the much-loved Classic Space sets of the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s. The colour scheme is less appealing to me than the palette of the older space sets, and the preponderance of large, prefabricated elements such as the 10 x 10 quarter panels and the landing stage supports made the build all too brief and had me wishing that I had chosen to assemble a set which didn't rely so heavily on such short-cuts. Now that I've built it, however, I'm feeling a little more charitable - I like the minifigure, the saucer is more swooshable than I expected, and the build is crammed with play features - literally everything attached to the upper surface of the saucer can be tilted or rotated and the saucer spins freely on its landing stage. Furthermore, the design does a decent enough job of aping the cliched flying saucer stereotype, and I'm mindful that there are probably legions of twenty-somethings out there who look back misty-eyed at the UFO sets of their youth the same way as older AFOLs revere the Classic Space sets. <br />
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Set <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6900-1/Cyber-Saucer">6900 Cyber Saucer</a></b> contains 114 parts and was released back in 1997. There's clearly love for the set out there as at time of writing the cheapest complete boxed example of the set is listed at almost £50 plus shipping on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6900-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b>. Complete unboxed examples start at about half that, however, and you might also be able to find one cheaper on eBay.<br />
<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-18456266575249713092020-04-21T08:31:00.000+01:002020-04-21T08:31:09.729+01:00Unfinished Business<b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2019/07/letting-off-steam.html">Back in the summer of 2019</a></b> I revealed that I'd be exhibiting my <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10224-1/Town-Hall">10224 Town Hall</a></b>-inspired railway station <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">MOC</a></b> (below) as part of a collaborative display at the 2019 Great Western Brick Show, but that it'd need some fairly substantial modifications in order to fit into the display.<br />
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The display, a LEGO city made up of fan-designed modular-style buildings complemented by brick-built roads, roadside structures, a canal and appropriate landscaping, would also feature a working passenger railway. The plan was for the railway to be elevated for part of its course, and Simon the display organiser asked if I'd be willing to modify my MOC to incorporate a platform at the rear in order to serve the elevated section of track. This seemed like an interesting challenge so I agreed. Simon sent over some specifications and a few photographs to illustrate how my station would fit into the overall display, including the exact dimensions of the plot it would occupy and how high the platform needed to be, so I got to work. As usual I worked in <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">LDD</a></b>, modifying a previous LDD file to reflect the new design brief, and eventually I came up with the sketch below.<br />
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As you can see, my plan was for the elevated section of railway to run on top of the ground floor of the building, which would mean that I had to extend the ground floor backwards to a considerable extent. The roof of the new, extended ground floor section would serve as the track bed, meaning that it would have to bear the weight of the track and train and be constructed accordingly. I'd also need to build a station platform at second floor level and attach a canopy a suitable height above it. The 16 x 6 area of open studs at the rear and to the side would eventually accommodate a bridge support, carrying the rail track from a bridge onto the station. From a purely technical perspective the build would be pretty straightforward, but the existing rear of the station (below) would nevertheless require substantial modification.<br />
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After double- and triple-checking that my design would fit the specified dimensions I sent an LDD screengrab to Simon for his approval, and after a bit of back-and-forth he was happy with it and I had the green light to get cracking with the modifications. To my surprise it turned out that I already had most of the LEGO elements that I needed for the build, but there were inevitably a few parts that I didn't have. This necessitated a gratifyingly small, if depressingly expensive, <b><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/">Bricklink</a></b> order. Still, at least the parts arrived quickly and in perfect condition, so I was soon ready to build. It was the first meaningful LEGO project that I'd undertaken for a while on account of work, holidays and family commitments and it felt great to get my head down and do some building, so much so that I really got into it, burned the midnight oil and managed to complete most of the work in just a couple of nights. <br />
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As you can see from the picture above, I didn't make any modifications to the front of the building. The rear (below) was however much altered. I followed my LDD sketch pretty much to the brick, although I did make a couple of additional minor tweaks at the end, supporting the floating platform canopy with four lengths of black rigid 3mm hose and swapping out the old window sills with tan 2 x 4 tiles to make them look a bit less chunky. The building remains modular and splits into four sections, namely the expanded ground floor complete with track bed, the second floor which includes the station platform, a third floor to which the canopy attaches, and the roof which features the clock tower.<br />
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With the modified station now complete my next job was to figure out how to get it to the Great Western Brick Show venue in Swindon intact, and transporting it turned out to be a bigger challenge than I had anticipated. While the upper levels of the building just about squeezed into a large plastic crate, the expanded lower level was too big to fit into any box or crate that I owned or could lay my hands at short notice. I therefore ended up having to wrap it in a bed sheet and shoehorn it into the pitifully inadequate boot/trunk of my car and just pray that it survived the 80 mile journey without disintegrating, which it thankfully did, just about. Simon had arrived at the venue the previous evening, as had many of the other exhibitors, so the display was already in an advanced state of completion when I arrived at the venue on the morning of the show. All that was left for me to do was drop the station into the vacant plot, stand back and admire the view.<br />
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My station was assigned a nice central position in the display. Thanks to some impressive planning by Simon the station was flawlessly integrated into the display's rail loop by way of a pair of elegant dark green railway bridges complete with tan bridge supports which flanked the station on either side as you can see in the picture above. The narrow pavement in front of the station conceals electrical wiring which supplies a number of working LED street lamps, and beyond the pavement lies a section of brick-built road, some more pavement, and then a canal which is spanned by a pair of brick-built humpback bridges. A small courtyard completely enclosed by a number of buildings lies to the rear of the station beyond the rail track (below).<br />
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In addition to the integration of new features such as a working railway loop, an automated level crossing and LED street lights, the display had also physically expanded to a significant degree since its debut appearance at the 2018 Great Western Brick show. Click on the image below for a brief video tour of the city; if you're having difficulty viewing the embedded video then click <b><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/drdavewatford/r7176K">here</a></b> to watch it on Flickr or <b><a href="https://youtu.be/HSGF7kjgtQA">here</a></b> to watch it on YouTube.<br />
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To my knowledge there aren't any plans to display the modular city at any further events. Even if future displays materialise I'd probably be hesitant to include my station as I don't think it's ideal for the same MOCs to keep appearing at multiple events over an extended period. It's therefore time for my station to come home and once again grace my own <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2017/02/hit-road.html">MOC City Layout</a></b>. That'll mean that a lot of the recent changes will need to be reversed in order for the station to fit into its allocated space, but hey - it's all part of the fun!<br />
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Stay at home if you can, and keep safe.<br />
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<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-10859035458455849192020-04-13T10:28:00.000+01:002020-04-13T10:28:09.677+01:00Taxi!Given everything that's going on in the world right now, I've felt in desperate need of some light relief to lift the spirits. One thing that works for me is to take solace in an old LEGO set and wallow in some much-needed nostalgia. My latest trip down memory lane was <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/368-1/Taxi-Garage">368 Taxi Garage</a></b>, released in 1976. I spotted my copy of the set perched atop of a bunch of other sets on a bookcase and I thought it would fit the bill nicely.<br />
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The front of the box is dominated by a simple image of the set contents assembled and ready to be played with, together with a 6+ age recommendation. The back of the box features a number of panels containing images of alternate builds including a small taxi stand, a vintage taxi and two quite respectable reimagined versions of the taxi garage. The alternate builds don't stop there, either - there's also a horse-drawn taxi carriage on one of the side panels of the box.<br />
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To open the box you just slide off the outer sleeve. This reveals a white inner tray containing the parts and an instruction sheet.<br />
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The building instructions are printed on a large double-sided sheet more than half a metre long and 27 cm wide. This folds down into a square measuring around 13.5 cm x 13.5 cm, and once folded the image above appears on the front 'cover', while the back 'cover' (below) showcases a selection of the alternate builds which adorn the box.<br />
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The set includes a pair of what LEGO have termed "stage extra" figures (below) which are I assume supposed to be a taxi driver and his female passenger. Figures like these were the precursors of modern minifigures and started to appear in sets in 1975. Unlike their modern counterparts they don't have moveable arms and legs, and there isn't any printing on their heads or torsos, although they did occasionally feature stickered torsos as you can see <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=old046s#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">here</a></b>. They were superseded by modern minifigures in 1978 so weren't produced for long, but they remain an interesting and important evolutionary step in the development of the minifigure. While the individual elements making up these particular figures could be found in numerous sets, this is the only set which included the taxi driver figure, while the female passenger only ever appeared in two sets in addition to this one.<br />
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According to <b><a href="https://brickset.com/inventories/368-1/rebrickable">Brickset</a></b> 368 Taxi Garage contains 156 elements, although <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=368-1&name=Taxi%20Station&category=%5BLegoland%5D%5BBuilding%5D#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b> reckons the part count is 144 plus an additional 8 elements for the figures. The garage itself is constructed on a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=374&idColor=6#T=S&C=6&O={"color":6,"iconly":0}">green 16 x 32 baseplate with rounded corners</a></b> which only ever appeared in two sets including this one. The set also includes a number of printed elements. The 1 x 4 yellow brick with black 'TAXI' print is unique to this set, as are a pair of black 2 x 3 bricks with white sans-serif 'TAXI' print; of note, a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3002oldpb08&in=S">black 2 x 3 brick with white serif 'TAXI' print</a></b> was produced in 1971 and can also only be found in one set, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/605-2/Taxi">605 Taxi</a></b>. Other notable printed elements include a black 1 x 4 brick embossed with a chrome car grille print and a white 1 x 2 brick printed with the Shell logo.<br />
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I built the taxi first. In most respects it's identical to the vehicle in the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/605-2/Taxi">605 Taxi</a> </b>set<b> </b>but there are a couple of differences. Firstly, as mentioned above a different font is used for the 'TAXI' print on the side. More notably, however, the rear end has been redesigned; the older standalone taxi is just two studs long behind the rear wheels, but the newer taxi has been inexplicably lengthened by a stud and the rear looks dreadful. A yellow 1 x 2 tile is wedged between studs on the roof of the vehicle, indicating that the taxi is available for hire; this building technique wasn't uncommon back in the day but was later deemed "illegal" by LEGO as it places undue stress on the elements concerned.<br />
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By 1976 LEGO had stopped printing a dot pattern on baseplates (like you can see <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PN/6/374px1.png">here</a></b>, for instance) to guide placement of elements so the 16 x 32 baseplate supplied with this set is consequently unprinted. Construction of the taxi garage is predictably quick and straightforward, requiring only 12 steps on the instruction leaflet. As previously stated the yellow 1 x 4 brick with 'TAXI' print on the garage roof is exclusive to this set, while the pair of <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PN/3/3644.png">1 x 4 x 6 yellow doors</a></b> which enclose the garage appeared for the first time ever in this set before going on to appear in a further 9 sets between 1976 and 1990.<br />
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With the notable exception of the <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2010/09/modular-magic.html">modular buildings</a></b>, most buildings which appear in modern sets tend to be open at the back, ostensibly to facilitate play, but also to minimise the parts count and hence the cost. Here, while the rear of the building is undoubtedly simpler than the front, it is at least enclosed, and efforts have been made to embellish the appearance of side and rear walls via the use of <b><a href="https://rebrickable.com/parts/3659/brick-arch-1-x-4/4/">red 1 x 4 brick arches</a></b> which only started to appear in sets the year this set was released.<br />
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With the building finished all that was left to do was to construct the Shell-branded petrol pump and attach it to the baseplate along with a 4 x 4 x 6 2/3 large pine tree and the figures. Lovely! While I have no doubt that the warm fuzzy feeling I experienced while inspecting the completed build was largely driven by nostalgia, it's undoubtedly an attractive set and still looks almost brand new; I picked it up from eBay almost 10 years ago as part of a job lot of older sets and can't believe how pristine most of the elements are.<br />
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<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/368-1/Taxi-Garage">368 Taxi Garage</a></b> contains 156 elements and was released in 1976. At time of writing, complete boxed examples can be had for less than £30 plus shipping on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=368-1&name=Taxi%20Station&category=%5BLegoland%5D%5BBuilding%5D#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b>, and if you're willing to forego the box then you'll potentially pay less than £20. Bargain!<br />
<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-76990085783343735902019-09-12T07:49:00.000+01:002019-09-12T11:59:11.758+01:00End of the Road?As I've previously mentioned on these pages, I have LEGO Star Wars to thank for rescuing me from my LEGO <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">Dark Ages</a></b>. Specifically, it was the arrival of <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2010/10/love-letter.html">10188 Death Star</a></b> in 2008 which started my slide down the slippery slope. My wife bought me the set as a Christmas present, and I bet she's regretted that decision ever since....<br />
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Following the arrival of 10188 and its construction over the Christmas holidays I was basically hooked. With my passion for both LEGO and Star Wars rekindled I became gripped by a mania of sorts and decided to try and get hold of complete, boxed examples of all of the LEGO Star Wars sets going back to the first appearance of the theme in 1999.<br />
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Most of the sets were reasonably easy to find on eBay back then if you were patient, and the majority weren't particularly expensive either. A few, such as <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2016/09/every-cloud.html">10123 Cloud City</a></b> with its exclusive Boba Fett minifigure (above) turned out to be harder to track down than most and/or painfully expensive, but they were thankfully in the minority. As chronicled in <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2012/12/one-hundred-percent.html">this old post</a></b> I also had to make some tricky decisions about exactly what to collect, for instance whether to restrict my growing collection to retail sets alone or whether to also pursue rare promotional items such as the <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2012/12/theyre-for-sale-if-you-want-them.html">2012 New York Comic Con model of Luke's Landspeeder</a></b> below. I eventually opted to focus on collecting the retail sets. Promo sets would be welcomed with open arms when the opportunity arose, but they'd be considered "nice to have" additions rather than a part of the core collection.</div>
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As it turned out, however, securing a copy of every retail set to date was only the start of the story. Because while I was picking up old retired Star Wars sets, LEGO was hard at work releasing an ever-increasing number of new sets every year, and after you've invested the time, effort and expense of tracking down the full back catalogue, you feel almost obliged to pick up all the new sets too in order to stay up to date. LEGO released 13 Star Wars sets back in 1999 when the theme first appeared, and 19 sets were released the year I started my collection, so staying up to date wasn't as financially prohibitive back then. The problem is that since then the number of releases has continued to increase to a point where there were <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/year-2018">69 LEGO Star Wars releases in 2018</a></b>. Not all of those were retail sets, granted, but if I'd known how the release schedule would explode over time I might have thought twice about starting to collect the theme back in 2008....<br />
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<a href="https://brickset.com/sets/7877-1/Naboo-Starfighter"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://images.brickset.com/sets/AdditionalImages/7877-1/7877_alt1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Looking back, even prior to the announcement of the <b><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/lego-starwars-idUSL5E8DD84U20120213">LEGO Star Wars licence extension</a></b> in February 2012 my enthusiasm was starting to wane, as I confessed in <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2011/10/blasphemy.html">this posting</a></b> in 2011. Central to my disaffection was the sheer number of remakes of previously-released sets. Many of these remakes, such as <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/7877-1/Naboo-Starfighter">7877 Naboo Starfighter</a></b> above, were arguably not even a meaningful improvement on previous versions, unless of course you consider an increase in price to be an upgrade. A growing focus on minifigures in Star Wars sets was also becoming a frustration; my love of LEGO is principally founded on the building experience rather than which minifigures a set contains, and it was starting to feel like the build was being included as an afterthought in some sets (for example <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/7879-1/Hoth-Echo-Base">7879 Hoth Echo Base</a></b> below) with the minifigures being the main driver for the release.<br />
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And yet despite my misgivings I've continued to dutifully pick up all of the LEGO Star Wars retail offerings year after year up to and including 2018, and I've also made a start on the 2019 sets. The thing is, however, it's felt like a particular slog this year, with relatively few sets really getting me excited. And so it is that with no end in sight to the annual tidal wave of Star Wars sets I've finally made the decision to stop collecting them. It stops right now, so no <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75235-1/X-wing-Starfighter-Trench-Run">75235 X-wing Starfighter Trench Run</a></b> (below) for me....<br />
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Obviously this decision has been a long time coming. While there hasn't been anything in particular that has finally forced my hand, my previous complaints about the number of remakes and preponderance of minifigure-focused sets are as relevant as ever this year. To that you can add my lack of enthusiasm for the increased number of sets aimed at younger children, particularly the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/year-2019/subtheme-4-Plus">4+</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/year-2019/subtheme-MicroFighters">Microfighters</a></b> offerings, and the prevalence of sets such as 75235 above and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75237-1/TIE-Fighter-Attack">75237 TIE Fighter Attack</a></b> below which feature crude, basic builds. All things considered, there seem to be fewer and fewer Star Wars sets of interest to me this year, so it's time to see sense and call a halt to this expensive and space-occupying obsession.<br />
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Before anybody points out the obvious, namely that I'm no longer the target audience for LEGO Star Wars, let me be clear that I'm not criticising LEGO for their continuation of the theme. While I have concerns about the way that the company does things sometimes, for instance lining the pockets of scalpers by releasing hard-to-find promo items as discussed <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2012/04/headache.html">here</a></b> and <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2012/08/more-exclusives.html">here</a></b>, Star Wars continues to be an extremely popular and successful product line for the company, so you can hardly blame them for continuing to pump out sets year after year. After all, youngsters are discovering the Star Wars universe for the first time every day, and the remakes of classic vehicles are serving their needs. Furthermore, LEGO can hardly be faulted for the disappointing and uninspired vehicle designs which populate the newer Star Wars movies and series'.<br />
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While my unhealthy need to collect all the Star Wars sets is now hopefully over, I do still anticipate picking up some of the Star Wars offerings. There's a good chance that I'll continue to acquire the <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">UCS</a></b> sets, for instance - the soon-to-be-released <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75252-1/Imperial-Star-Destroyer">Imperial Star Destroyer</a></b> above will surely be impossible to resist - and any sets featuring genuinely interesting new vehicles from the Star Wars universe (assuming we actually get some) will also be fair game. I might even be tempted by the occasional remake, providing that it genuinely offers something over and above previous iterations other than just a higher purchase price. What I won't be doing, however, is just buying Star Wars sets to keep my collection 100% up to date, and that thought fills me with relief. I really should have made this decision years ago.drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-52479992563123589012019-07-31T13:54:00.001+01:002019-07-31T14:08:16.201+01:00Letting Off STEAMIt feels like a lifetime since I last posted (<b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2018/09/modular-row.html">here</a></b>). On that occasion I was preparing to finish up my railway station <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">MOC</a></b> in preparation for its appearance as part of a display of modular buildings at the <b><a href="https://www.greatwesternbrickshow.com/">Great Western Brick Show</a></b> a.k.a. STEAM in Swindon. I'm pleased to report that all the elements that I ordered from Bricklink to complete the build duly arrived as promised, and the MOC (below) was completed in good time for its public unveiling.<br />
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In addition to completing the sides and rear of the station, a couple of modifications were necessary in order to accommodate the transition from my <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2017/02/hit-road.html">LEGO city layout</a></b> to the STEAM display. Firstly, I needed to mount the build on baseplates and tile around the edges. Then I needed to figure out what to do about the area under the two arches at the front of the building. In my city layout each of these arches encloses a stairway which descends to a subway platform on the lower level, but this wasn't an option for the STEAM display which is on a single level. In the end I blocked off each arch with a door, using reddish-brown tiles to mimic a wood effect as you can see in the picture below.<br />
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The rear of the building (below) follows the <b><a href="https://flic.kr/p/McxASe">LDD design</a></b> that I shared in my previous post. It's something of a temporary solution - while in place in my city layout the station has track running behind it, and the plan is ultimately to build a station platform at the rear of the building together with a canopy over the platform. Also, if I hadn't been in such a rush to complete the build for STEAM then I'd have embedded a few more skylights into the roof; unfortunately this'll have to wait until I have more time.<br />
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The left and right sides of the building take their design cues from the front, with almost identical designs employed for the various windows, sills and decorative lintels (below).<br />
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With the build complete it was time to pack up the station in preparation for the drive down to Swindon. I was planning to separate the building's four floors and pack them into a pair of large rectangular crates, but it turned out that the crates were too small to accommodate the ground floor so I ended up wrapping that section in an old bed sheet and carefully wedging it in the boot of my car. Thankfully all sections survived the journey and arrived at the venue relatively unscathed on the Saturday morning. Many of the exhibitors had already arrived and set up the day before, so I had the simple task of locating the station-sized plot in the almost-complete modular display and re-assembling my build in the allotted space.<br />
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You can see the station in position above (thanks to <i><b><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/97154687@N02/albums/72157674449938808">Jamie Douglas</a></b></i> for the picture). As well as mobilising <b><a href="https://brickish.org/">Brickish</a></b> members such as myself to contribute a variety of modular buildings, display organiser Simon Kennedy did an impressive job of recruiting members to construct sections of brick-built road and pavement, vehicles, trees and various roadside structures which really brought the display to life. The lime green Porsche 911 that you can see in front of the station in the picture above was taken from set <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75888-1/Porsche-911-RSR-and-911-Turbo-3-0">75888 Porsche 911 RSR and 911 Turbo 3.0</a></b> and is the very car that I built for my <b><a href="https://brickset.com/article/34709">Brickset review</a></b> of the set. More pictures of the completed modular display, together with images of other LEGO creations that were shown at STEAM, can be found <b><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/97154687@N02/albums/72157674449938808">here</a></b> on Jamie's Flickr stream.<br />
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Embarrassingly, it's taken me so long to write and publish this post that the 2018 event has long passed and the <b><a href="https://brickish.org/event/great-western-brick-show-2019/">2019 Great Western Brick Show</a></b> is now fast approaching.... I'm pleased to report that thanks to the positive reaction to the 2018 modular display there will be an improved and expanded modular display on show at the 2019 event. This will feature a number of new modulars together with modified versions of some of the existing buildings, and there are also plans to add a canal, a railway and working street lighting. As a result of the inclusion of a railway I've been asked to modify my station to include a platform at the rear. As it passes behind the station the track will be elevated, so my next challenge is to figure out how best to attach a platform halfway up the rear of the building and somehow integrate it into the overall structure. STEAM 2019 will take place on the 5th and 6th of October so I'd better get on with it....drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-87329472008321948702018-09-25T08:05:00.000+01:002018-09-25T08:05:41.275+01:00Modular RowRemarkably, in November of this year it'll be fully eight years since I booted up <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">LDD</a></b> and <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2010/11/withdrawal.html">started to design my own LEGO City</a></b>. To say that progress has been slow would be an understatement of epic proportions - you could probably have built a real city in the time that it's taken me to build mine so far.... My <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2017/02/hit-road.html">last update</a></b>, which described the partial construction and installation of a <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10224-1/Town-Hall">10224 Town Hall</a></b>-inspired railway station <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">MOC</a></b> (below), was posted a year and a half ago, and since then the project has ground to a halt for the umpteenth time as my LEGO room has once again had to serve as a storage room during a protracted period of real-life building work.<br />
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Even though my LEGO room has yet to return to normality, an opportunity to work on the project, albeit in a roundabout way, has nevertheless presented itself. As previously described on these pages (for instance <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2013/10/steamrollered.html">here</a></b> and <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2012/10/blown-away.html">here</a></b>), there's an <b><a href="https://www.greatwesternbrickshow.com/">annual event</a></b> hosted by the Museum of the Great Western Railway in Swindon which showcases LEGO creations built by members of UK LEGO User Group <b><a href="http://www.brickish.org/">The Brickish Association</a></b>. As a Brickish member I'm eligible to exhibit my builds at the show, affectionately known as STEAM. This year one of the displays will be a collaborative display of more than thirty <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2010/09/modular-magic.html">modular buildings</a></b> designed and built by Brickish members. Anyway, I figured that if I signed up my railway station for the collaborative build then I'd have extra incentive to get off my backside and finish it off. It seemed like an excellent idea at the time, so I went ahead and signed up as a participant, figuring that it shouldn't take too much work to make my build display-ready. In hindsight, however, perhaps I should have taken a closer look at the back of my work-in-progress MOC (below) before being quite so dismissive about the amount of work involved....<br />
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With no clear idea of how to complete the build I powered up LDD, dug out the LDD file for the build thus far, and had a play with it. Ultimately I'm planning to replace the back of the building with a full length station platform complete with a canopy which will overhang the platform and railway track. With STEAM fast approaching, however, and with elements to source and little time to play with I decided to keep things simple for the upcoming display and follow the design used for the back of 10224 Town Hall, extending it for the full width of the expanded building. The side walls, meanwhile, would take inspiration from the front of the station which I'd already completed. Having settled on a plan of action I went ahead and completed two-thirds of the building in LDD, both to reassure myself that I'd be happy with the overall look, and also to help me estimate what additional elements I'd need; you can see an LDD screen grab of part of the back of the building below.<br />
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With the design now sketched out in LDD I was ready to crack on with the actual build. In order to integrate the railway station into my City layout I'd had to mount it on an idiosyncratic arrangement of small baseplates, so my first job was to strip these away and replace them with standard 32 x 32 baseplates. When it came to the rest of the building I thankfully already had most of the basic bricks and plates required to construct the outer shell, but I was predictably lacking when it came to the huge number of windows that I'd need, not to mention the larger white plates for the individual floors and various other bits and pieces. I therefore built as much as I could before diving into <b><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/">Bricklink</a></b> to order the elements that I didn't have. All told I ended up having to order almost 450 elements to complete the build, but at least I was able to find a single EU-based seller who had everything I needed (thanks, <b><a href="https://store.bricklink.com/KepesBricks?p=KepesBricks#/splash">Kepes</a></b>!)<br />
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My Bricklink order duly arrived a few days ago which leaves me with the best part of 2 weeks to finish my railway station. I'll post pictures of the build on Gimme LEGO after the event, so stay tuned. Or better still why not come to STEAM a.k.a. the <b><a href="https://www.greatwesternbrickshow.com/">Great Western Brick Show</a></b> and see it for yourself?!drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-11348594129750268992018-06-05T07:59:00.000+01:002018-06-05T07:59:55.510+01:00Hen's TeethLapsed LEGO fans can emerge from their <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">Dark Ages</a></b> and re-enter the hobby via any number of different routes, but one of the most common motivations seems to be a desire to rediscover the beloved sets of their youth. That was certainly a major factor for me; while the initial trigger was the arrival of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10188-1/Death-Star">10188 Death Star</a></b> as a Christmas present, the next stage was a protracted trawl through my childhood LEGO collection and the painstaking restoration of my childhood sets. The desire to replace missing parts lead to the discovery of <b><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/">Bricklink</a></b>, while building instructions were secured from the likes of <b><a href="http://www.brickset.com/">Brickset</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.peeron.com/">Peeron</a></b>; the realisation that boxed examples of my childhood favourites could be secured, at a price, from the likes of <b><a href="http://www.ebay.co.uk/"><span id="goog_1992916807"></span>eBay<span id="goog_1992916808"></span></a></b> and Bricklink lead to ever more expensive competition with fellow <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/p/lego-glossary.html">AFOLs</a></b>, and thus was my descent into obsessive LEGO fandom confirmed....<br />
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I think the first set that I scraped together from my childhood collection and then subsequently purchased a boxed example of was probably <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/928-1/Space-Cruiser-And-Moonbase">928 Galaxy Explorer</a></b> (above). Over time I gradually tracked down boxed examples of other childhood <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-Classic">Classic Space</a></b> favourites via eBay and Bricklink, after which I started to home in on sets that I'd never owned as a child in order to try and expand my collection. A number of Classic Space sets have remained stubbornly elusive over the years, however, with reasonably priced boxed examples being hard to come by, but I did recently manage to track down one of them, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/924-1/Space-Transporter">924 Space Cruiser</a></b>, so I thought I'd share it with you here.<br />
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According to Brickset the name of the set is <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/924-1/Space-Transporter">Space Transporter</a></b>, while Bricklink calls it <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=5845#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Space Cruiser</a></b>. I'd normally side with Brickset, out of loyalty to my favourite LEGO site if nothing else, but in this case I consulted the excellent <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/ISBN393597664X-1/LEGO-Collector-2nd-Edition">LEGO Collector's Guide, Second Edition</a></b> which calls it Space Cruiser so I went with that. The front of the box (above) consists of a flap which lifts up to reveal the set contents. The flap is printed with a slightly over-exposed image of the LL 924 Space Cruiser spacecraft in flight over the surface of a barren planetoid. A blurry forklift, the set's small ancilliary build, is pictured in the background along with one of the set's two minifigures. Unfortunately, my copy of the set features the unwelcome 'bonus' of an unsightly mark caused by ancient adhesive tape running across the front of the box; normally such an addition would discourage me from parting with my cash, but when boxed examples of a set are in such short supply you sometimes just have to bite the bullet. The back of the box (below) showcases a number of alternative builds which can be assembled from the set contents.<br />
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The A4-sized instruction booklet arrived folded in half in order to fit into the box but has been unfolded here so I could photograph it. The front cover (below) features an upper panel which reproduces the artwork from the front of the box, while the lower panel contains assembly instructions for the set's two minifigures together with a small cargo container.<br />
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The back of the instruction booklet (below) showcases a number of Classic Space sets from 1978 and 1979, a sight sure to bring joy to the hearts of nostalgic AFOLs worldwide!<br />
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The box also contains a folded promotional leaflet which advertises offerings from a myriad of different LEGO themes from Duplo to Castle, Technic and beyond. You can see the panels promoting a selection of Classic Space sets below, and I've also scanned a few of the other panels which you can see on the <i>Gimme LEGO</i> Flickr stream <b><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/drdavewatford/albums/72157696785018855">here</a></b>.<br />
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As mentioned above the set contains two minifigures. I've waxed lyrical about these guys in previous reviews, for instance <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2012/06/spaced-out.html">here</a></b> and <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2014/06/one-man-show.html">here</a></b>, but I make no apology for reiterating how much affection I still have for them almost 40 years after my first encounter. The iconic Classic Space torso print, which has launched a thousand t-shirts, has predictably faded somewhat on the red figure but looks surprisingly fresh and sharp on the white figure even if the torso has yellowed a little over the years.<br />
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Most notable from the rear are the air tanks, the design of which is the same now as it was back in 1979. There's no backprinting on the torsos or the classic smiley heads.<br />
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With the minifigures assembled it's time to start on the build proper. First to be constructed is a small cargo container. This consists of white <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-door-1-x-3-x-1-left-3822">left</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-door-1-x-3-x-1-right-3821">right 1 x 3 x 1 doors</a> </b>and little else, although at least the doors can be opened to provide access to the cargo, a trans-green 1 x 1 round brick. A simple forklift is provided to move the cargo around; while only consisting of seven elements, the vehicle features an impressive light grey <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3430c03&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">spring-loaded fork assembly</a></b> at the front which only ever appeared in this set, its U.S. doppelganger (<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/487-1/Space-Cruiser">487</a></b>) and a rare <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/SN/0/13-1.png">Service Pack</a> </b>which I wasn't even aware existed until I wrote this article.<br />
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The ship itself is built on a light grey 16 x 6 plate, upon which various other light grey plates are progressively stacked in order to form the distinctive Classic Space silhouette. As in the likes of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/918-1/One-Man-Space-Ship">918</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/928-1/Space-Cruiser-And-Moonbase">928</a></b> light grey left and right 8 x 4 wedge plates play a key role in defining the outline of the ship, while even early on in the build further nods to other Classic Space offerings are provided by way of the yellow and black detailing on the wings and the trans-green and trans-red 1 x 1 plates. The ship is supported underneath by four <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3940a&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">2 x 2 x 2 stands</a></b>, and a couple of 2 x 2 round bricks are also attached to the underside, presumably representing vertical thrusters.<br />
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I'm not sure there's such a thing as a 'beloved LEGO element' but if there was then the blue <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-slope-33-3-x-6-with-classic-space-large-with-inner-walls-3939">33 degree 3 x 6 slope printed with the Classic Space Logo</a></b> at the front of the ship would surely qualify. Both sides of the fuselage incorporate a blue 1 x 4 brick printed with the ship's '<b><i>LL 924</i></b>' identifier; these printed elements are predictably unique to this set and its U.S. equivalent. The cockpit contains a couple of light grey 45 degree printed 2 x 2 slopes (<b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3039p34&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">this one</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3039p23&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">this one</a></b>) which make up an instrument panel, and there's more than enough room for both minifigures despite the presence of a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3829c01&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">steering wheel</a></b>. The cockpit is enclosed by a number of delicious trans-yellow elements including a pair of uncommon 33 degree 3 x 6 slopes which form the windscreen, 1 x 2 and 1 x 4 bricks, and a rare 4 x 10 plate. The fuselage walls also incorporate a pair of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3004p90&idColor=7#T=C&C=7">blue 1 x 2 bricks printed with the Classic Space logo</a></b>.<br />
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From behind the view is dominated by a pair of light grey <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3943a&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">4 x 4 x 2 cones</a></b> which serve as the main engines. These have only ever appeared in a total of seven sets in this colour. They're mounted on the back of the brick-built cargo bay doors which swing open on swivel hinge bricks to reveal a compact cargo bay. The cargo bay doors incorporate a pair of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3004p20&idColor=7#T=C&C=7">blue 1 x 2 bricks printed with a down arrow</a></b>. The blue 1 x 2 tile on top of the tail prevents the cargo doors from swinging open unintentionally.<br />
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The completed LL 924 build together with the forklift, cargo and minifigures can be seen in the picture below. The cockpit roof is attached via a pair of hinges which enable it to be tilted, thus providing cockpit access. The cargo bay can just about accommodate the cargo, but is nowhere near big enough for the forklift to fit into.<br />
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Having now built LL 924 and had the opportunity to compare it with its baby brother (<b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2014/06/one-man-show.html">918</a></b>) and big brother (<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/928-1/Space-Cruiser-And-Moonbase">928</a></b>) I reckon that in terms of its overall proportions it arguably looks the best of the bunch. For all its obvious splendour and deserved iconic status, LL 928 is maybe just a fraction too big and bulky to be considered sleek, while LL 918 is a bit of an ugly duckling. I think LL 924 hits the sweet spot in terms of size, however, and aside from the awkward transition from the light grey wedge plates to the <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3839a&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">modified 1 x 2 plate with handles</a></b> at the front of the ship, and the row of exposed, open studs on top of the <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3479&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">4 x 2 x 2 tails</a></b> on either side, I reckon it looks damn-near perfect.<br />
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Given the obvious merits of LL 924, it's interesting that boxed examples of the set seem to be so much harder to come by compared with 918 or 928, the implication being that the set didn't sell well. Maybe that's because it lacks the grandeur and playability of 928, with its <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-light-gray-baseplate-32-x-32-9-stud-landing-pad-with-yellow-circle-pattern">landing pad</a></b>, <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-light-gray-baseplate-raised-32-x-32-crater-without-crater-studs-3947">crater baseplate</a></b>, moon base and moon buggy which fits inside the cargo hold, while simultaneously lacking the affordability of 918. Regardless of the reason, it's still well worth picking up if you can find it at a reasonable price.<br />
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Set 924 Space Cruiser was released in 1979 and contains 170 pieces. I purchased my copy from eBay for around £90, having waited a long time for an affordable boxed example to be listed there. If however you're not willing to wait, various sellers have the set listed for sale on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=924-1&name=Space%20Cruiser&category=%5BSpace%5D%5BClassic%20Space%5D#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b>, with prices for a boxed example starting at £125 plus shipping. At time of writing there are only three complete boxed copies available, however, so be quick!drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-80128488422845378642018-05-01T18:04:00.000+01:002018-05-01T18:34:55.344+01:00Great Balls of FireOK, so <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/mined-out.html">when I last wrote</a></b> I was preparing to take my first, faltering steps into the world of Great Ball Contraptions, or GBCs. I'd found instructions online to a GBC which could be constructed using only the elements contained in a single Technic set, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/42049-1/Mine-Loader">42049 Mine Loader</a></b>, and prior to cannabalising the parts I'd built and reviewed both the Mine Loader and the alternate build, a Rock Cutter.<br />
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My next job was to disassemble the Rock Cutter, after which it was time to get to work on my first GBC. I had initially planned to reverse engineer the GBC, which was designed by <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwXlRnGwBkUdDoBPApPcNJw">Great Ball Pit</a></b>, from a <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKEUznlzRpQ">video clip</a> </b>but I ended up paying to download a set of instructions instead which, as it turned out, made my life a whole lot easier. The download, which is in .pdf format, consists of a total of 62 pages and you can see a full listing of the content in the screengrab below. As well as a 54-page building guide the document also incorporates other content including hints for fine-tuning the GBC mechanisms and instructions for upgrading the module with Power Functions. The building guide is fairly easy to follow; at each stage the parts you need to add are highlighted in pink, and the build is logically sequenced.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">I was about a third of the way through the build when I took the photograph below. The GBC module has been designed to be mounted onto a trailer, and the trailer chassis is pretty much done by this point. A pair of wheels will later be attached to the axle that you can see in the foreground, while the various gears embedded into the chassis are part of the mechanism that makes a single cylinder move up and down in the chassis-mounted engine block when the GBC module is activated. The stickers that you can see here and in subsequent pictures are a reminder that we're using recycled elements from a donor 42049 Mine Loader set, and they don't have any significance with respect to the GBC module.</span><br />
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With the chassis complete it's time to get to work on the section of the GBC which is responsible for moving the balls (below). The mechanism consists of a series of sweeper arms which pass the balls along the line as they rotate. The arms obviously need to work together in perfect harmony to make this happen, and in order for the arms move in unison they're connected underneath via a system of gears. Timing is critical - one sweeper arm can't pass the ball to the next unless the rotation of the arms is carefully coordinated - and for this reason specific instructions are provided to ensure that the sweeper arms are correctly positioned relative to each other.<br />
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Another important part of the module can be seen on the left side of the picture above. A black <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2739a&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">1 x 6 Technic link</a></b> connects the spindle of the first sweeper arm to a pivoting structure; as the spindle turns it rocks the structure backwards and forwards, which has the effect of feeding balls from the "in-basket" to the first sweeper arm in the finished module.<br />
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You can see how everything fits together in the pictures above and below which show the completed GBC module from the front and the back. The GBC mechanism is activated by turning a crank which is located to the left of the wheel in the picture above. Once the balls are swept to the top of the slope by the arms they're 'recycled' along a rear return channel and roll back down into the in-basket, thus creating a perpetual loop. The light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=14682&idColor=86#T=C&C=86">exhaust pipe element</a></b> at the top of the slope diverts the balls down the return channel, but if you want the balls to be transferred to an adjacent GBC module instead then the exhaust pipe can be removed and the balls will then drop off the end of the conveyor and into the in-basket of the next module.<br />
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You can motorise the module quickly and easily by replacing the hand crank with a LEGO Power Functions motor. I used a standard <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/8882-1/XL-Motor">XL Motor</a></b> powered by a <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/8881-1/Battery-Box">Battery Box</a></b> containing six rechargeable <b><a href="http://main.panasonic-eneloop.eu/en/batteries/eneloop/eneloop-aa-1900-mah-4-blisterpack">eneloop AA batteries</a></b> and you can see the result in the video clip below; if you're having difficulty viewing the embedded video clip then you can watch it <b><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/drdavewatford/83FG56">here</a></b> instead.<br />
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Occasionally the ball at the front of the queue needs a nudge from one of the returning balls in order to launch it onto the conveyer, but otherwise the mechanism runs smoothly and the balls are quickly and efficiently whisked up the slope. Watching the module operate is actually quite hypnotic, and it's certainly given me a taste for more. There's still the issue that I don't have many loose Technic elements, but having now built a GBC with the aid of instructions I at least have a better idea of what I'll need in order to build one of my own design and I've also picked up a few techniques that I can potentially make use of so overall it was a valuable learning experience.<br />
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If you'd like to build this GBC then you can purchase instructions from <a href="https://pv-productions.com/product/lego-gbc-25-42049-building-instructions/" style="font-weight: bold;">here</a> for €9.95. I don't have any financial interest in the sale of these instructions, incidentally, and I paid for my own copy.</div>
drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-2178246535472442942018-03-26T08:03:00.000+01:002018-05-01T17:22:39.713+01:00Mined OutOne of the great things about the LEGO hobby is the sheer number and variety of niches to be found within it. Although I entered the fray as a big LEGO Star Wars fan, my areas of interest have expanded since then to encompass <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/modular-magic.html">Modular Buildings</a></b>, constructing my own <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/spook-central.html">MOCs</a></b>, collecting various other LEGO themes and even dabbling with the odd bit of <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/technic-temptation.html">Technic</a></b>.<br />
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One niche that I haven't previously dipped my toe into, however, is <i><b>Great Ball Contraptions</b></i>, or GBCs. GBCs are machines built from LEGO and usually powered by LEGO motors which transport small balls from one place to another. Multiple GBCs are typically chained together, with balls being passed from one GBC module to another, sometimes over considerable distances. In order to facilitate collaboration between GBC builders so that their modules are compatible with each other, a <b><a href="http://www.greatballcontraption.com/wiki/Standard">GBC standard</a></b> has been defined. This standard legislates for various factors such as the size and location of a module's 'in-basket' and the rate of ball flow into the machine, amongst others.<br />
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I'd been largely oblivious to the GBC scene until recently when a <b><a href="http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/27879/great-ball-contraptions/p1">GBC discussion thread</a></b> on the Brickset Forum caught my eye. Particularly interesting were postings which linked to a selection of spectacular GBC modules such as the <b><i>Strain Wave Gearing GBC Module</i></b> (above) built by <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/akiyuky/videos">akiyuky</a> </b>who was also responsible for the incredible collection of GBC modules that you can see <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkvtCQc6oY">here</a></b>. I was so impressed that I decided I wanted to have a go at building a GBC myself, but where to start? I've built a few Technic sets, for instance <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/favourite-sets-6-tractor.html">this one</a></b>, but have never built a Technic <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">MOC</a></b>. Also, pretty much all of my Technic elements are tied up in official sets, so I initially wasn't sure how best to proceed.<br />
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Thankfully the community came to my rescue in the form of a posting by Brickset Forum member <b><i>greatballpit </i></b>who linked to <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKEUznlzRpQ">this video</a></b> that he'd posted on YouTube. The video showcases a fully functional GBC module that can be constructed in its entirety using the elements contained in just one recent Technic set, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/42049-1/Mine-Loader">42049 Mine Loader</a></b>. I initially assumed that I'd need to reverse-engineer the build by studying the video clip, but it later transpired that instructions are available to download for €9.95 so I decided to take the plunge, pay the money and make my life a whole lot easier. In addition to getting me started in the world of GBCs, the project would also give me the perfect excuse to review the mine loader set, an official LEGO offering that I hadn't previously paid much attention to.<br />
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The front of the box (above) showcases the finished mine loader model which is a decidedly odd-looking vehicle - I did a quick internet search and couldn't actually find its exact real-world equivalent, although <b><a href="https://www.cat.com/en_US/products/product-comparison.html?productId=18348371&type=new">Caterpillar</a></b> do manufacture a variety of underground mine loaders which appear broadly similar apart from the attachment at the front. Technic sets characteristically feature an alternate build which can be constructed with the elements contained within the set. In the case of 42049 the 'B' model is a rock cutting vehicle and this is shown on the back of the box (below).<br />
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The box opens via a couple thumb tabs on the left side, although as usual I ignored these and instead carefully slid a knife under the seams and opened the left side, thus minimising damage to the box. The box contains four unnumbered bags of elements, three instruction booklets and a sticker sheet (below). There are also four huge rubber tyres loose in the box.<br />
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The mine loader is the larger of the two builds and has two instruction booklets as against one for the rock cutter. Both mine loader booklets have front covers which are identical apart from the booklet number in the bottom right corner.<br />
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I seldom build Technic. It's therefore not surprising that when I do I should encounter elements that I haven't seen before. This time it was red 6L and yellow 7L axles that caught my eye, although it turns out that these have been around for years and have appeared in multiple sets. Genuinely uncommon elements appearing in the set include a yellow <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-yellow-beam-3-x-3-t-shaped-60484">Technic 3 x 3 T-shaped thick liftarm</a></b> which is only appearing in a set for the tenth time in this colour, and a light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-baseplate-for-turntable-z60-18939">large Technic turntable base</a></b> plus its black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-upper-part-for-turntable-z60-18938">large Technic turntable top</a> </b>counterpart, both of<b> </b>which have only appeared in a total of 10 sets to date.<br />
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In terms of notable features, the build incorporates a 2-cylinder engine; it's actually not the first time that I've built a LEGO Technic engine but I still find it impressive the way that the LEGO crankshaft smoothly drives the pistons in the engine block. The crankshaft also attaches to a flat silver <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-flat-silver-propellor-8-blade-5-diameter-41530">8 blade propeller</a></b> which represents a cooling fan and which has only previously appeared in seven sets in this colour. By the end of the first instruction booklet we're well beyond the halfway point in the build (below).<br />
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With the bulk of the internal structure and Technic mechanisms already completed, much of the remaining build consists of predominantly cosmetic details. The mudguards behind the front wheels consist of yellow <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-yellow-panel-curved-3-x-6-x-3-24116">Technic curved 3 x 6 x 3 panels</a></b> which are only appearing in a set for the third time. These are decorated with black and yellow striped warning stickers and provide the attachment point for bilateral twin headlights. The driver's cab bolts on to the left side of the vehicle and includes a single seat which is made up of a couple of blue 2 x 4 L-shaped thick Technic liftarms. A single exhaust represented by a light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-stone-gray-exhaust-pipe-with-technic-pin-and-flat-end-14682">vehicle exhaust pipe with Technic pin</a></b> emerges from the left side of the engine, and a couple more of the yellow Technic curved 3 x 6 x 3 panels are used to create the corners of the rear bumper which also incorporates a pair of trans-red tail lights.<br />
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The build is nearly complete now. An aerial, represented by a <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-minifigure-rapier-93550">flat silver rapier</a></b>, attaches just in front of the engine, after which the four wheels with their huge <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-tire-62-4-x-20-32019-75999">62.4mm tyres</a></b> are attached. Finally a red drum, made up of a pair of stickered interlocking <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-red-cylinder-half-3-x-8-x-5-with-3-holes-15361">red 3 x 5 x 8 cylinder halves</a> </b>which are exclusive to the set in this colour, is assembled and we're finished (below).<br />
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I asked my ten year old what he thought of the finished build and I have to report that he wasn't particularly impressed with the look of it; I'd have to agree that it's rather underwhelming from an aesthetic point of view. The build does however incorporate a number of functions, and all of the mechanisms work well.<br />
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The large Technic turntable I mentioned earlier connects the front and rear sections of the vehicle. Turning the small black gear next to the cab rotates the turntable; this pivots the entire front section and thus steers the vehicle as you can see in the picture below. Meanwhile, pushing the vehicle forwards or backwards causes the pistons in the engine block to smoothly rise and fall, and the cooling fan at the back to rotate. At the front of the vehicle the claw can be raised and lowered; it's in the fully raised position in the picture above, and the lowered position below. The claw can also be closed and opened so as to grab and subsequently drop the red drum; this is accomplished by rotating another small black gear which is located just in front of the engine. The gear connects to the claw via a long axle assembly running almost the whole length of the vehicle.<br />
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With the mine loader completed and photographed it was time to take it apart in preparation for building the 'B' model. One of the reasons that I've struggled to love Technic over the years is the misery of deconstructing the builds, which is both time consuming and a cause of physical discomfort. Thankfully the mine loader is modestly sized so taking it apart didn't take too long, although as ever it was not a comfortable experience for my fingers.<br />
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The 'B' model, a rock cutter, is another curious-looking vehicle and a quick online search didn't reveal any real-world examples of machines that looked remotely similar. Like the mine loader it incorporates a 2-cylinder engine, with the pair of red cylinder halves which were previously used to fashion the drum being repurposed as engine covers that wrap around either side of the engine block. The turntable assembly, previously utilised as a steering mechanism for the mine loader, is incorporated into the boom of the rock cutter.<br />
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Attaching the boom doubles the length of the vehicle and makes it predictably unwieldy. Despite this, the weight of the body ensures that the centre of gravity is far enough back for the vehicle to be nice and stable, although like the mine loader it's a decidedly strange-looking beast. Following completion of the rock cutter there are 57 elements left over, of which 11 are spares. The rock cutter therefore utilises more than 90% of the set's total of 476 elements.<br />
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Function-wise I found the rock cutter to be more interesting than the mine loader. The vehicle can be steered by rotating the prominent tan gear in front of the engine which turns the front wheels, and similar to the mine loader the pistons in the engine block smoothly rise and fall when the rear wheels rotate. The boom can be raised and lowered by turning a crank on the right side of the vehicle, and unlike the claw at the front of the mine loader it has a substantial range of vertical movement. As you can see in the picture below the orientation of the blade can be changed; a pair of red bushes are attached to an axle just above the turntable, and turning these bushes rotates the turntable which changes the angle of the front section of the boom and hence the blade. Finally, you can spin the blade itself by rotating the tan gear at the base of the boom.<br />
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So that's both the 'A' and 'B' models built, then. Overall, while neither of these strange-looking vehicles will ever win a beauty contest, they were both enjoyable to assemble. Furthermore, they both manage to cram in a fair number of functions, all of which operate smoothly and reliably.<br />
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<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/42049-1/Mine-Loader">42049 Mine Loader</a></b> was released in 2016 at a price of <b>£29.99 / US$49.99 / 39.99€</b>. You may struggle to find this set at retail now, but at time of writing new sealed examples can still be acquired at or below the RRP over at <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=140549#T=S&O={"cond":"N","iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b> which is where I bought my copy from.<br />
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Right, now to disassemble the rock cutter in preparation for my first attempt at building a Great Ball Contraption. Check back in a couple of weeks to find out how I got on....drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-88084092656828754002018-02-22T19:04:00.001+00:002018-02-22T19:23:07.745+00:00Still on TrackOne of the cool things about working for the LEGO company is that it gives presents to its employees in the form of LEGO sets. These aren't just any LEGO sets either - they're exclusive employee sets. These sets are typically given out at Christmas, and they're almost invariably well worth having. Highlights from the past few years have included <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4002014-1/LEGO-HUB-Birds">4002014 LEGO HUB Birds</a> </b>(below) which was given to employees as a Christmas gift back in 2014, and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4002017-1/Nutcracker">4002017 Nutcracker</a></b> which employees received at Christmas 2017.<br />
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While these employee sets aren't available at retail, it's nevertheless fairly easy for non-employees to get hold of them as some LEGO employees view them as an opportunity to make a quick buck and consequently sell them on eBay, Bricklink or elsewhere. They're not cheap, though - with the increase in popularity of LEGO and the rise of LEGO collecting as a hobby there's a ready market for such exclusive items, meaning that employees can get good money for them.<br />
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Of all the sets gifted to employees over the past few years, perhaps the most desirable of all from my perspective is <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4002016-1/50-Years-on-Track">4002016 50 Years on Track</a></b> from 2016 which is a celebration of 50 years of LEGO trains. The set contains predominantly 4-wide miniature versions of six different trains released by LEGO over the years, most of which can be considered noteworthy or iconic. As a fan and collector of LEGO trains I was predictably drawn to this set, and eventually took the plunge on a sealed copy from Bricklink which I bought for myself as a belated Christmas present!<br />
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The box leaves little to the imagination, showcasing all six miniature builds on the front (above). These images are accompanied by a black and white picture of Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, former president and CEO of The LEGO Group, playing trains with a young girl. The same image appears on the back of the box (below), next to a picture of Kjeld's father Godtfred Kirk Christiansen playing trains with a young boy. I did wonder whether the youngsters might be family members, but the identities of the children are not stated. Given how much I paid for the set, I had to smile ruefully at a 'Not for sale' message printed in eight languages on the right side of the box....<br />
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The box opens in a similar fashion to a typical LEGO Architecture set. Cutting a couple of tape seals allows the front of the box to be lifted up, revealing Christmas greetings printed in a variety of languages on the front edge of the box. Nestled inside the box are six sealed bags of LEGO elements and six booklets containing building instructions. There's no sticker sheet.<br />
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Each individual build has its own numbered bag of elements and booklet. You can see the cover of the first booklet above; this 36-page booklet provides instructions for building a miniature version of the locomotive from <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/113-2/Motorized-Train-Set">113 Motorized Train Set</a></b> which was the first train that LEGO ever released back in 1966. All six booklets contain a brief introduction to the set which inspired their particular miniature build. The first booklet also contains a short introduction to the entire 50 Years On Track collection, while the sixth booklet contains an inventory of all the elements appearing in the set. All six booklets have the same back cover (below).<br />
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Construction of the miniature Motorized Train commences with the assembly of a display base. This incorporates a pair of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3228c&colorID=86&in=A">light bley rails</a></b> which have only previously appeared in four sets in this colour. The rails are mounted on dark bley 6 x 6 plates and are accompanied by an arrangement of reddish brown tiles which serve as sleepers. A <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=6179pb115&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">display plaque</a></b> consisting of a modified 4 x 4 tile with studs on one edge printed with the words '<b><i>Motorized Train Set 1966</i></b>' is mounted on the edge of the display base by way of a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=15706&colorID=88&in=A">reddish brown A-shape wedge plate with 2 rows of 4 studs</a></b> and an uncommon <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=6134&colorID=88&in=A">reddish brown 2 x 2 top hinge plate</a></b>.<br />
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The miniature locomotive itself is a fairly straightforward build which doesn't employ any particularly rare elements apart from <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=50254&colorID=5&in=A">small red train wheels</a></b> which are exclusive to this set. Even so, it's a pretty good representation of the crudely-styled original locomotive, thanks in part to the use of a variety of modern elements such as single and <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=85984&idColor=7#T=C&C=7">double cheese slopes</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=15573&idColor=7#T=C&C=7">jumper plates</a></b>. You can see the original 1966 locomotive running in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICejLyfIuJg" style="font-weight: bold;">this video clip</a>.<br />
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We jump forward 10 years for the subject of our second miniature train which is the locomotive from <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/726-1/Western-Train">726 Western Train</a></b> released in 1976. According to the corresponding booklet (below) it's believed that set 726 was the inspiration for the Western locomotives that appeared in LEGOLAND shortly afterwards.<br />
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Once again the build commences with construction of a display base which is identical to that employed for the miniature Motorized Train apart from the printing on the display plaque. Similar to the previous build the train's headlights are fashioned from a pair of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4070&idColor=3#T=C&C=3">modified 1 x 1 headlight bricks</a></b> which are laid on their backs thus making them 2- rather than 3-plates high, and again there's liberal use of jumper plates and cheese slopes which help to neatly mimic the original design at a smaller scale. The windows are formed from stacks of yellow <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4085d&idColor=3#T=C&C=3">modified 1 x 1 plates with vertical clip</a></b>. This element exists in a number of different variants, and irritatingly those supplied with my copy of the set are a mixture of two different types and this is evident in the build as the clips don't line up as neatly as they should.<br />
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The sides of the boiler are fashioned from blue and black <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=92946&idColor=7#T=C&C=7">45 degree 2 x 1 slopes with 2/3 cutout</a></b>.<br />
An uncommon yellow <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=87552&idColor=3#T=C&C=3">1 x 2 x 2 panel with side supports</a></b> makes an appearance at the front of the cab, while the back of the locomotive is made up of a red <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=14718&idColor=5#T=C&C=5">1 x 4 x 2 panel with side supports</a></b>; this element is only appearing in a set for the sixth time ever in this colour. The attention to detail is laudable - even the buffers and magnetic couplings of the original locomotive are modeled via the use of black <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=32474&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">Technic ball joints</a></b> and red & blue 1 x 1 round tiles respectively. The coupling rods are also reproduced via the use of yellow <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=63965&idColor=3#T=C&C=3">6L bars with stop ring</a></b> which have only previously appeared in five sets in this colour. Overall, it's an excellent representation of 726 Western Train and a nice little display model in its own right.<br />
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<b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">AFOLs</a></b> have been clamouring for the return of monorail for more than a decade now, and LEGO has steadfastly refused to bring it back, so it's perhaps ironic that the next set chosen to be immortalised in miniature form is the classic <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6990-1/Monorail-Transport-System">6990 Monorail Transport System</a></b> from 1987....<br />
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Consistent with the other builds the display base is first to be assembled, although uniquely in this case the base incorporates a section of elevated monorail track. The stanchions which support the single light bluish grey 16L track section upon which the monorail rests are represented by <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2508&idColor=11#T=C&C=11" style="font-weight: bold;">modified 1 x 2 plates with long towball</a>.<br />
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The designers have done a cracking job of reproducing the full size monorail in miniature form, managing to nicely capture the overall shape and include most of the pertinent exterior details. Construction of the 3-wide chassis is facilitated by the use of an uncommon black 3 x 3 plate which is only appearing in a set for the tenth time in this colour and which forms a part of the floor of the monorail. <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=58176&idColor=17#T=C&C=17">Bionicle Barraki eyes</a></b> are used to represent the characteristic trans-dark blue and trans-red lights on either side of the monorail. The full-sized monorail's 9V motor and connecting cable are particularly impressively reproduced, utilising a white <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30361c&idColor=1#T=C&C=1">robot body</a></b> and a black <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=88704&idColor=11#T=C&C=11" style="font-weight: bold;">flexible whip</a>, while a pair of white <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=93559&idColor=1#T=C&C=1">hockey sticks</a></b>, which were only previously available in eight sets in this colour, cleverly mimic the flexible hose which forms a loop at the front of the original model. There's also ingenious use of pairs of flat silver <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=93555&idColor=95#T=C&C=95">ice skates</a></b> which attach to the underside of the body and are perfectly spaced to ensure that the monorail fits snugly on the single rail beneath and can smoothly slide backwards and forwards.<br />
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The classics just keep on coming with the much-loved <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4558-1/Metroliner">4558 Metroliner</a></b> from 1991 next up for miniaturisation. Such was its popularity that the Metroliner was re-released in 2001 with a new set number (<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10001-1/Metroliner">10001</a></b>).<br />
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For the miniature Metroliner build we're back to using the same style of ground-level display base that was previously used for the Motorized Train Set and Western Train.<br />
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This is another great-looking miniature build which is once again pleasingly faithful to the original design. The distinctive red, white and blue stripes along the sides of the locomotive appropriately survive the miniaturisation process, as do various other prominent external landmarks. The front of the locomotive is fashioned from a variety of 45 degree slopes including black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-slope-45-1-x-2-with-plate-15672-92946">2 x 1 45 degree slopes with 2/3 cutout</a></b> and a trans-black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-transparent-black-windscreen-3-x-4-x-1-33-2437">3 x 4 x 1 1/3 windscreen with 2 studs on top</a></b>; all that's missing is a slope printed with the <b><a href="https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/uploads/monthly_01_2012/post-1771-132549787371.png">LEGO train logo from the 1990's</a></b>. The attention to detail extends to the construction of twin bogies, each of which attaches to the underside of the train via a <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-tile-2-x-2-with-vertical-pin-2460">modified 2 x 2 tile with pin</a></b>. This allows the bogies to rotate, which is impressive but ultimately unnecessary given that the train will never have to navigate a section of curved track. Black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-minifig-handlebars-30031">minifig handlebars</a> </b>representing a pantograph attach<b> </b>to the roof and complete the build.<br />
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We now come to the build that I was most looking forward to, the miniature version of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10194-1/Emerald-Night">10194 Emerald Night</a></b> which is one of my all-time favourite sets. Released in 2009, Emerald Night set a new standard for LEGO trains, and the high aftermarket prices are testament to its enduring popularity - it's an absolutely beauty!<br />
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Once again the same ground-level display base is utilized, and as a consequence there's only space to reproduce and display the locomotive itself - a miniature version of the tender is unfortunately not included in the build. That having been said, I don't think it would be particularly difficult to increase the length of the display base and design your own tender should you feel so inclined.<br />
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I'm pleased to report that the miniature Emerald Night doesn't disappoint - it's an excellent little build. Pretty much all of the key exterior detailing is reproduced apart from the connecting and coupling rods over the drive wheels. The front of the locomotive is cleverly sculpted by way of a black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-wedge-4-x-3-curved-with-2-x-2-cutout-47755">4 x 3 wedge open with cutout and 4 studs</a></b>, while the sides of the boiler are shaped via the use of 3 x 1 and 2 x 2 dark green curved slopes. Stickers featuring the set number in gold print are attached to the sides of the driver's cab in the original set; this detail is crudely reproduced here via the use of pearl gold 1 x 1 plates. The miniature build utilises six <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-train-wheel-with-axle-hole-and-friction-band-55423-57999">spoked train wheels with Technic axle hole and rubber friction band</a></b>; fitting these is tricky as they need to be squeezed beneath tight overhangs, and in addition the 4L axles that attach them to the chassis are a very tight fit. The original Emerald Night features a total of six smaller front and trailing wheels in addition to its six large driving wheels, and these are also faithfully reproduced in the miniature version via more of the black small train wheels seen previously in the Metroliner miniature build.<br />
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The final build is a miniature version of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10254-1/Winter-Holiday-Train">10254 Winter Holiday Train</a></b> which was released in late 2016. This is in some ways a slightly surprising choice for inclusion in this collection given that it's such a recent offering and arguably not in the 'classic' bracket. Even so, it certainly brings the collection bang up to date.<br />
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After building the now-familiar ground-level display base for the fifth and final time, attention quickly shifts to the locomotive. Two sand green <a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-sand-green-brick-1-x-1-with-studs-on-two-opposite-sides-47905" style="font-weight: bold;">modified 1 x 1 bricks with studs on opposite sides</a>, which are only appearing in a set for the second time, form part of the internal structure of the boiler, while the exterior of the boiler is shaped via the use of green 1 x 2 and 2 x 2 curved slopes with no studs. The roof of the driver's cab is made up of more green curved slopes, and a pearl gold <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-pearl-gold-plate-1-x-2-with-handle-on-side-closed-ends-48336">modified 1 x 2 with handle on side - closed ends</a></b> provides some decoration at the front of the cab.<br />
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The main drive wheels consist of a pair of red <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-red-train-wheel-with-axle-hole-and-friction-band-55423-57999">spoked train wheels with Technic axle hole and rubber friction band</a></b><b> </b>which are only appearing in a set for the second time in this colour, while four of the exclusive red small train wheels mimic the original's front wheels. The original Winter Holiday Train build featured a cow catcher at the front, and a black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-plate-1-x-2-with-angled-handles-92692">modified 1 x 2 plate with angled handles on the side</a></b> does a good job of representing this in the miniature build.<br />
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With the miniature Winter Village Train build finished the full 50 Years on Track collection is complete and can be seen laid out below.<br />
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As a longstanding fan of LEGO trains I found this set to be an absolute joy to build. All six miniature models are superb representations of the full-size originals, and the attention to detail lavished on each of the builds is commendable. The set isn't quite perfect - given the choice I would probably have dropped the miniature Western Train and Winter Village Train and replaced them with miniature versions of any two of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/396-1/Thatcher-Perkins-Locomotive">396 Thatcher Perkins Locomotive</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/7740-1/Inter-City-Passenger-Train-Set">7740 Inter-City Passenger Train Set</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6399-1/Airport-Shuttle">6399 Airport Shuttle</a></b>, or even <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10233-1/Horizon-Express">10233 Horizon Express</a></b>. Minor gripes aside, however, the selection is undoubtedly varied and interesting, and I suspect that any longstanding fan of LEGO trains is pretty much guaranteed to find at least one of their favourites among them.<br />
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Similar to <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/dont-mess-with-fett.html">41498 Boba Fett and Han Solo in Carbonite</a></b> which I <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/dont-mess-with-fett.html">reviewed</a></b> a few weeks back, it's a real shame that <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4002016-1/50-Years-on-Track">4002016 50 years on Track</a></b> was never available at retail and is thus destined to remain out of reach for many LEGO fans. If you want to acquire a copy of the set you'll need to venture on to the likes of Bricklink, which is what I did, or eBay; at time of writing, <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=4002016-1&name=50%20Years%20On%20Track&category=%5B(Other)%5D#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b> prices start at around <b>£125/$175</b> plus shipping for a new, sealed copy of the set. Not cheap, but I have no regrets - outstanding!drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-79204311666860428912018-01-29T18:02:00.000+00:002018-01-29T18:05:38.688+00:00Don't mess with the Fett....Another Comic Con, another desirable exclusive.... This time the location was New York City and the event was the 2017 New York Comic Con (NYCC) where a few hundred lucky attendees were able to purchase a copy of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/41498-1/Boba-Fett-and-Han-Solo-in-Carbonite">41498 Boba Fett and Han Solo in Carbonite</a></b>, an exclusive <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-BrickHeadz">Brickheadz</a></b> set. I'm generally able to resist the lure of LEGO Star Wars exclusives, contenting myself with the Star Wars retail sets as discussed <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/one-hundred-percent.html">here</a></b>; occasionally, however, a Star Wars exclusive comes along that I can't ignore and this set is one of those. And so it was that I dived into eBay and took the plunge on a copy of the set which arrived from the U.S. a couple of weeks later.<br />
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The sturdy packaging features an outer box (above) that's considerably thicker and more robust than that of the retail Brickheadz. Cutting the twin paper seals at the base allows the outer box to slide up and off, revealing a similarly robust black inner box (below). The front of the outer box features a shot of Boba Fett and Han in Carbonite without their display stands, beneath which are decorative rows of black bricks running along the bottom edge of the box which also appear on the retail set boxes.<br />
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The back of the box (below) features an alternative view of Boba Fett and Han. There's also stylised text identifying the set as a New York Comic Con exclusive, beneath which is a picture which illustrates the use of Boba Fett's display stand. I was pleased that I managed to acquire a copy of the set which had been signed by set designer Marcos Bessa. Marcos is rapidly becoming one of LEGO's most well-known set designers, having been responsible for a number of high profile sets including <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/71040-1/Disney-Castle">71040 Disney Castle</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75827-1/Firehouse-Headquarters">75827 Firehouse Headquarters</a> </b>as well as this Comic Con exclusive and a number of other Brickheadz.<br />
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The inner box contains two sealed bags of elements, one for the Boba Fett build and the other for Han. There are also two instruction booklets, one for each build. There's no sticker sheet.<br />
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Each booklet measures approximately 15cm x 10cm and is bound by way of a pair of staples down the left side. The booklet containing the building instructions for Boba Fett (cover above) is the shorter of the two at only 40 pages, while Han's booklet (cover below) weighs in at 52 pages in length. Both booklets incorporate a 2-page inventory of elements at the back specific to the individual build. The page backgrounds in both booklets are black, lending a stylish appearance to the building instructions which are clear and easy to follow.<br />
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The set includes a number of printed elements (below), all of which I assume are unique to the set. I built Boba Fett first. Construction follows the standard Brickheadz blueprint which is nicely summarised <b><a href="https://brickset.com/article/26620">here</a></b>. As is the case with other Brickheadz a handful of light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-stone-gray-brick-1-x-2-x-1-66-with-studs-on-1-side-22885">modified 1 x 2 x 1 2/3 bricks with studs on 1 side</a> </b>feature prominently in the construction of a central core. These are accompanied by a variety of other <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">SNOT</a></b> bricks including a reddish brown <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-reddish-brown-brick-1-x-1-x-1-33-with-vert-knobs-32952">modified 1 x 1 x 1 2/3 brick with studs on one side</a></b> which at the time the set was released was only appearing for the second time in this colour. The core of SNOT bricks provides abundant attachment points for the external detailing which brings the Brickheadz to life.<br />
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Fett's shoulders are made up of a pair of bright light orange <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-bright-light-orange-slope-31-30-1-x-2-x-0-67-85984">double cheese slopes</a></b>, one of which is printed with a <b><a href="https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/3/35/JaingHead.svg/revision/latest?cb=20080221055448">mythosaur skull</a></b>. This Mandalorian symbol has become synonymous with Boba Fett. The upper body utilises a number of dark green 1 x 1 tiles, and immediately above the waist is a printed reddish brown curved 4 x 1 double slope with no studs which represents a tool belt with 4 pockets. A dark green <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-dark-green-plate-3-x-2-with-hole-3176">modified 3 x 2 plate with hole</a></b>, appearing in a set for only the eighth time in this colour, attaches below the waist and presumably represents Fett's armoured codpiece, while his tiny legs are made up of a stack of small plates including bright light orange 1 x 1 plates to represent his knee pads.<br />
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Much of the build is concerned with crafting Fett's iconic helmet. The visor consists of a black 1 x 4 tile with a dark red print, while a pair of sand green <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-sand-green-plate-1-x-2-with-door-rail-32028">modified 1 x 2 plates with door rail </a></b>form part of the top of the helmet; these are only appearing in a set for the fifth time in this colour. In the movies, Boba Fett's helmet has a number of distinguishing features including a dent at the front and some yellow kill stripes on the left side. These have been reproduced by way of printed elements; the curved front of his helmet is formed from a couple of <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-sand-green-slope-curved-2-x-2-x-0-66-15068">sand green 2 x 2 curved slopes</a></b>, one of which is printed with the dent pattern, while the yellow kill stripes are printed on a sand green 2 x 4 tile. Unprinted sand green 2 x 4 tiles form the right side and back of the helmet, while the top of the helmet is crafted from more sand green 2 x 2 curved slopes. The triangular plates at the front of the helmet are made up of dark green left and right 2 x 2 wedge plates which haven't previously been available in this colour.<br />
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At the rear, a dark tan 3 x 3 wedge plate and an uncommon dark tan 1 x 3 plate make up the bottom of Fett's brick-built cloak; the cloak is decorated with a couple of medium dark flesh <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-dark-flesh-slope-curved-1-x-2-x-0-66-11477">2 x 1 curved slopes</a></b> which have only previously graced a single set. A light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-stone-gray-brick-1-x-2-x-0-667-with-studs-on-sides-4595">modified 1 x 2 x 2/3 brick with studs on the sides</a></b> forms the core of Fett's sizeable jetpack; this is surrounded by various sand green elements including more modified 1 x 2 plates with door rail. The two jet nozzles, which are represented by sand green 1 x 1 cones, are attached to the body of the jetpack by black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-plate-1-x-1-round-with-horizontal-3-2-shaft-32828">1 x 1 round plates with 1L bar</a></b> that have only previously appeared in three sets. A flat silver harpoon passing through a pair of sand green 1 x 1 cones forms the missile attached to the top of the jetpack.<br />
With the jetpack completed and attached to Boba Fett's back, all that's left to do is assemble his blaster which is crafted from six elements, and build the display base featuring the printed black 2 x 4 souvenir tile.<br />
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With Boba Fett now built it's time to assemble Han Solo in carbonite. This build incorporates more printed elements than is immediately evident. As was the case for Boba Fett, I suspect that all of the printed elements are currently unique to the set. In true Brickheadz style the core is predominantly populated by SNOT elements, although in this case the elements concerned are a variety of brackets as opposed to the usual SNOT bricks. A couple of 2017 sets including <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70620-1/NINJAGO-City">70620 NINJAGO City</a></b> included a black <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-plate-1-x-3-with-2-knobs-34103">modified 1 x 3 plate with 2 studs</a></b> a.k.a. double jumper which hadn't previously been available. This element now makes an appearance here in a new colour, light bluish grey. Further recolours follow soon afterwards in the build, specifically light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-slope-1-x-2-45-with-o-knobs-28192">45 degree 1 x 2 slopes with cutout and without stud</a></b> and light bluish grey left and right <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-right-plate-1-x-2-with-bow-45-cut-29119">curved 2 x 1 slopes with no studs and stud notch</a></b>, none of which to my knowledge had previously appeared in a set in his colour. The latter are combined with some light bluish grey <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-stone-gray-tile-quarter-circle-1-x-1-25269">1 x 1 round quarter tiles</a></b> to make up Han's petrified hair. Han's closed eyes, represented by exclusive printed light bluish grey 1 x 1 round tiles, are then put into place, after which all that's left to do is finish up the background carbonite block.<br />
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The sides of the carbonite block feature a number of printed 1 x 2 tiles which represent digital readouts, buttons and switches; there are two different designs of printed tile utilised, both of which are presumably exclusive to the set. Four trans-clear 1 x 2 x 1 panels attach to the back of the block (below), and when the build is laid horizontally they help to create the illusion that it's floating above the ground. Once upright the block doesn't attach to the display base via studs; instead it sits within a tiled slot bounded by black 1 x 4 x 1 and 1 x 2 x 1 panels. The base incorporates a second NYCC-printed 2 x 4 souvenir tile identical to that found on the base of the Boba Fett Brickheadz.<br />
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You can see the pair of completed builds below. The set is a delight for anyone who loves Star Wars and is a fan of the Brickheadz aesthetic. Given how cool the set is, it's a huge pity that LEGO chose to release it as a NYCC exclusive rather than as a retail set, and it's unfortunately far from being the first time that LEGO have severely restricted supply of a desirable item like this - longstanding readers of Gimme LEGO may recall my past rants on the subject, for instance <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/exclusives-are-rubbish.html">this one</a></b>. It's clear however that the practice of restricting desirable collectables to a lucky few on the basis of geography or just dumb luck is clearly not going away anytime soon. I guess there's always a chance that LEGO will take pity on fans and decide to release the set, or at least a variation of it, at retail at some point. Past history doesn't provide much cause for optimism in this respect, however, and in all likelihood it'll therefore be a case of having to stump up the cash on the secondary market or just going without. It's not even as if these Brickheadz can be accurately Bricklinked, given the number of exclusive printed elements that they incorporate.<br />
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Determined collectors can at least aquire a copy of the set from the likes of eBay and Bricklink if they're feeling sufficiently flush. Most copies of the set currently listed for sale are located in the U.S., meaning that unless you're based there you can expect the overall cost of acquisition to be considerably bumped up by the addition of shipping fees and import duty. At time of writing there are a number of boxed, sealed examples of the set available on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=41498-1&name=Boba%20Fett%20and%20Han%20Solo%20in%20Carbonite&category=%5BBrickHeadz%5D%5BStar%20Wars%5D%5BStar%20Wars%20Episode%204/5/6%5D#T=S&O={"iconly":0}">Bricklink</a></b> starting at £125 plus shipping, although you may be able to find one for less on eBay. Happy hunting!<br />
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<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-74927167859822995642018-01-23T18:09:00.000+00:002018-01-23T18:27:56.978+00:00"And the Gimme LEGO Readers' Choice Award for Best Set of 2017 goes to...."....<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/21309-1/NASA-Apollo-Saturn-V">21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V</a></b>.<br />
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For me, 2017 was a high water mark in terms of truly outstanding sets - I reckon that there were as many as six 2017 sets which would potentially have strolled to victory in the Gimme LEGO Readers' Choice Award any other year. I was therefore fascinated to see which set Gimme LEGO readers would choose as their favourite, and in the end Saturn V won surprisingly comfortably.</div>
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While the ease of the victory might have been unexpected it's certainly no surprise that the set has attracted so much adoration. Measuring a whopping 100cm in height, it almost goes without saying that the completed build is huge and imposing, but there's also a wonderful attention to detail evident throughout. The overall shaping and texturing of the exterior is commendably faithful to the subject matter right down to the inclusion of unique printed elements, and the set also includes appropriately scaled lunar, service and command modules and even a pair of suitably decorated astronaut microfigures (above). Furthermore, the build is surprisingly stable and can be handled without fear of distintegration which is no mean feat given its cylindrical shape. The icing on the cake is the price - a very reasonable £109.99 / $119.99 / 119.99€ for a one metre tall model made up of almost 2,000 elements.</div>
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It's quite clear that this superb set has caught the imagination of the LEGO fan community - the set's almost perpetual 'sold out' status on <b><a href="https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/LEGO-NASA-Apollo-Saturn-V-21309">shop.lego.com</a></b> up until recently is testament to that - and it's a worthy winner of the 2017 Gimme LEGO Readers' Choice Award. Congratulations to <b><i>Felix Stiessen</i></b> and <b><i>Valérie Roche</i></b> who submitted the original Saturn V proposal to LEGO Ideas, and also to the team of LEGO designers who turned the proposal into a truly memorable retail set - we salute you!</div>
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The overall Readers' Choice Award rankings are shown below together with the number of votes polled by each of the sets. Saturn V ended up polling around a third of the votes, a relatively low winning total which reflects the intense competition faced by the set. My personal favourite, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70620-1/NINJAGO-City">70620 NINJAGO City</a></b>, initially looked like it would run Saturn V close but ended up falling short by around 20 votes, finishing as runner up with a little over a quarter of the votes. Further back the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/21310-1/Old-Fishing-Store">Old Fishing Store</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70618-1/Destiny-s-Bounty">Destiny's Bounty</a></b> and the new <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75192-1/Millennium-Falcon">UCS Millennium Falcon</a></b> were locked together in the rankings and ended up polling less than 10% of the vote each. I did wonder whether <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/17101-1/Creative-Toolbox">17101 Creative Toolbox</a></b> might turn out to be a dark horse - it's received some strong reviews and has been the subject of an active discussion thread over at the <b><a href="http://bricksetforum.com/discussion/26765/lego-boost-discussion-and-support/p1">Brickset Forum</a></b> for some months now - but in the end it brought up the rear with just a single vote.</div>
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Many thanks to all of you who voted, and thanks as ever to <b><a href="http://www.brickset.com/">Brickset</a></b> for publicising the poll.</div>
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<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-52016301099482417082017-12-31T10:09:00.000+00:002018-01-15T08:53:57.165+00:00The Gimme LEGO Awards 2017Welcome to my annual round up of the best and worst of the year from an <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">AFOL</a></b> perspective. This is the seventh consecutive year that I've published these awards, and I have to confess to approaching the 2017 awards with a mixture of excitement and trepidation as I'm struggling to recall a year which has featured quite so many standout sets in some categories. As ever this is obviously a personal take on the highlights and lowlights, so if you disagree with any of my selections then please feel free to make your case in the comments below....<br />
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<b>1. <u>Best Theme</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: Ninjago<br />
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<b>2017 winner: <i>The</i> <i>LEGO Ninjago Movie</i></b><br />
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After bagging my <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2016.html">2016 theme of the year award</a></b> I didn't think that Ninjago managed to maintain the same lofty standards this time round. That however opened the door for a new theme to steal in and grab the crown, and truth be told the LEGO Ninjago Movie theme actually takes the 2017 award by quite a distance. Consisting of a total of 29 retail, magazine and promotional sets, the theme takes full advantage of the varied and vibrant subject matter provided by the movie, serving up a high quality selection of sets for kids and AFOLs alike.<br />
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When it comes to any theme the flagship sets will inevitably attract most of the attention, and in the case of the LEGO Ninjago Movie theme the superb <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70620-1/NINJAGO-City">70620 NINJAGO City</a></b> (above) has certainly taken its share of the plaudits. What's at least as impressive however is the way that the theme manages to serve up a number of excellent sets at a variety of different price points; at the lower end, for instance, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70608-1/Master-Falls">70608 Master Falls</a></b> (below) features an attractive and detailed structure plus four minifigures for just £24.99/$29.99, and pretty much whatever your budget you'll find a worthy offering.<br />
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One aspect of the theme which greatly appealed to me is the focus on mechs, some of which are excellent. <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70612-1/Green-Ninja-Mech-Dragon">70612 Green Ninja Mech Dragon</a></b> (below) is both great to look at and packs a ton of playability, while of the more orthodox mechs on offer, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70615-1/Fire-Mech">70615 Fire Mech</a></b> (reviewed by me <b><a href="https://brickset.com/article/30880">here</a></b>) is imposing, stable and eminently posable. As one might expect in an action theme there's a predictable focus on vehicles, but a number of sets feature location-based subject matter so there really is something for everybody.<br />
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Aside from the widely-available retail sets the theme also features a mixture of other offerings including some desirable polybags and other assorted promo items to keep collectors on their toes. Overall, when you consider the variety of offerings and consistent quality across the theme, plus the presence of two genuine set of the year contenders in <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70620-1/NINJAGO-City">70620 NINJAGO City</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70618-1/Destiny-s-Bounty">70618 Destiny's Bounty</a></b> (below), it made the choice of the LEGO Ninjago Movie as theme of the year pretty straightforward.<br />
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<b style="font-style: italic;">Honourable mention: LEGO Ideas. </b>Another theme to serve up a couple of set of the year contenders, namely <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/21309-1/NASA-Apollo-Saturn-V">21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/21310-1/Old-Fishing-Store">21310 Old Fishing Store</a></b>, was LEGO Ideas. That's particularly impressive, given that there were only four releases under the LEGO Ideas banner in 2017. It's probably fair to say that this was a breakout year for Ideas - we've had some excellent releases in previous years, but this was the year that LEGO decided to loosen the shackles and push the boundaries in terms of part counts as well as excellent design.<br />
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If I'm honest, I think it's unlikely that Ideas will ever win the Gimme LEGO 'Best Theme' award outright - too many of the projects that get the thumbs up for release are basically licensed fan service in search of a set and they leave me completely cold. If however we continue to get a couple of real gems every year like we have for the past few years then I'll be delighted.<br />
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Honourable mention #2: Star Wars. </i>Despite LEGO Star Wars being the catalyst for my return to the LEGO fold a decade ago I've been pretty critical of the LEGO Star Wars theme for some time now. High prices, a profusion of lazy remakes and some dubious design decisions have blighted the LEGO Star Wars theme for as long as I can remember, and despite being a big Star Wars fan I've struggled to retain much enthusiasm for the theme.<br />
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I'd be lying if I claimed that all in the LEGO Star Wars garden was suddenly rosy in 2017, but I've certainly found more to like in the selection of sets on offer this year. Part of this is undoubtedly down to the availability of new and interesting subject matter upon which to base sets, but the theme has also featured some genuinely desirable and well-designed sets this year at a variety of price points.<br />
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Examples of outrageous pricing unfortunately remain, and the theme continues to be over-dependent on remakes and bloated by too many sets, but I'm finally able to muster some enthusiasm for LEGO Star Wars again, and that's definitely a good sign.<br />
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<b>2. <u>Most Disappointing Theme</u></b><br />
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Last year's 'winner': LEGO Classic<br />
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<b>2017 'winner': <i>No outright winner</i></b><br />
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No one theme stood out in this category, although a few themes perhaps fell slightly below expectations this year. <b><i>Technic</i></b>, for instance, was absolutely outstanding in 2016, and with this year being the 40th anniversary of the evergreen theme I would have expected LEGO to pull out all the stops to celebrate; as it turned out, the flagship sets in particular were perhaps not up to the lofty standards set in 2016, and the daddy of them all, <b><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_2108182172"></span>42070 6x6 All Terrain Tow Truck<span id="goog_2108182173"></span></a></b> (below), was horribly overpriced to boot.<br />
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Also disappointing was the way that<b><i> Dimensions</i></b> fizzled out in 2017. I've enjoyed playing the game on XBOX One and collecting the multitude of expansion packs, and having invested so much in the Dimensions experience it felt like a real kick in the teeth when Warner Bros pulled the plug on it just two years into its planned three year run. I've lost count of how many unlikely properties have been immortalised in LEGO as a result of Dimensions - <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/71349-1/Beetlejuice">Beetlejuice</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/71203-1/Portal-2-Level-Pack">Portal</a></b> and the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/71251-1/B-A-Baracus">A-Team</a></b> to name just three - and the theme will be missed, by me at least.<br />
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<b>3. <u>The "Medieval Market Village" award for Best Non-Licensed Set</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner : 10251 Brick Bank<br />
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<b>2017 winner: <i>21310 Old Fishing Store</i></b><br />
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As mentioned above, 2017 was the year that LEGO Ideas started to push the boundaries in terms of set size. My pick for best non-licensed set was a major beneficiary of this, the sublime <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/21310-1/Old-Fishing-Store">Old Fishing Store</a></b>. I can remember being very impressed with the <b><a href="https://ideas.lego.com/projects/25822826-4360-4a8d-9665-2766d064677c">original concept</a></b> posted on the Ideas website, but thinking that it unfortunately had no chance of being green-lit by LEGO. My surprise at subsequently learning that the project had in fact been approved after all was matched by my delight at how faithful to the highly detailed original concept the retail set turned out to be.<br />
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Most of the past winners of the Gimme LEGO Best Non-Licensed Set award have been Modular buildings, so it's fitting that the Old Fishing Store features incredible levels of detail both inside and out that stand comparison with any of the modulars. While building the set I couldn't believe quite how much time was spent assembling the interior and exterior fixtures and fittings; indeed, such is the level of detail that decorating the interior can get quite fiddly at times and is occasionally frustrating, but it's worth it in the end.<br />
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In addition to looking amazing the Old Fishing Store includes a whole host of rare, and in some cases unique, elements. Those builders planning to cannibalise the set for parts can also expect a generous helping of sand green tiles and <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">SNOT</a></b> bricks to use in their own creations. Even the included minifigures (below) are worthy of mention since they're all unique to the set and a couple of them incorporate new dual-moulded legs and exclusive torso prints.<br />
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The Old Fishing Store is one of those rare sets that has remained proudly and prominently on display in my house ever since I finished building it. It was fun to build and looks amazing; if it's a taste of the kind of sets that we can expect from the LEGO Ideas theme in years to come then I for one will be absolutely delighted.<br />
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<b><i>Honourable Mention: 10255 Assembly Square.</i></b> If you're going to make a fuss about an anniversary then you need to make sure you don't drop the ball in the process. While the Technic 40th anniversary selection felt a bit underwhelming, no such criticism can be levelled at <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10255-1/Assembly-Square">10255 Assembly Square</a></b> which turned out to be a fitting 10th anniversary tribute to LEGO's much-loved Modular building line.<br />
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I think it looks wonderful - three attractive, distinct buildings which dovetail beautifully and form the centrepiece of a bustling scene. All the expected Modular tropes such as the appearance of rare colours, ingenious parts usage and extravagant detail both inside and out are present and correct in abundance; my favourite example of clever parts usage is the incorporation of black excavator buckets in the roof of the sand green flower shop. As an added bonus, the standard 32 x 32 Modular footprint has been expanded to 32 x 48 for this set, and even then it's hard to see how anything else could have been crammed in.<br />
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<b><i>Other contenders:</i></b> <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/21309-1/NASA-Apollo-Saturn-V">21309 NASA Apollo Saturn V</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/17101-1/Creative-Toolbox">17101 Creative Toolbox</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10257-1/Carousel">10257 Carousel</a></b>.<br />
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<b>4. <u>Best Licensed Set</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: 75827 Firehouse Headquarters<br />
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<b>2017 winner: </b><b><i>70620 NINJAGO City</i></b><br />
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Following in a tradition of unexpected left-field releases established by the likes of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70810-1/MetalBeard-s-Sea-Cow">MetalBeard's Sea Cow</a></b> and the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70751-1/Temple-of-Airjitzu">Temple of Airjitzu</a></b> in previous years, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70620-1">70620 NINJAGO City</a></b> was announced in June of this year and it frankly blew me away.<br />
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I literally shook my head in wonderment at the retina-searing riot of colours and different building styles when I first saw the set 'in the flesh'. Such is the eclectic nature of the design that you'd think it shouldn't work, but it somehow manages to hang together as a cohesive whole and looks amazing. Furthermore, as a consequence of the multitude of different zones shoehorned into the set it must surely be one of the most varied and entertaining builds of recent times; it's at times reminiscent of constructing <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10188-1/Death-Star">10188 Death Star</a></b> and the experience of building a number of stylistically diverse areas such as the garbage compactor, the prison block and the Emperor's throne room.<br />
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As you'd expect from a LEGO Ninjago Movie set 70620 NINJAGO City scores highly from the perspective of playability thanks to the incorporation of countless little vignettes, not to mention a number of interactive mechanisms such as an elevator, a cash machine, a sushi conveyer belt and a crab grill. The set is also replete with rare elements, some of them appearing for the first time, and similar to the Modular buildings there's an impressive array of advanced building techniques in evidence, plus some unexpected and ingenious parts usage.<br />
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It always feels a bit odd talking about value for money when discussing a toy costing hundreds of pounds, but at 4,867 elements and retailing for £259.99 / US$299.99 / 299.99€ I have to say that NINJAGO City feels pretty reasonably priced to me. Overall, it's hard to imagine any LEGO fan failing to enjoy building this set, and it's my licensed set of the year by some distance.<br />
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<b><i>Honourable Mention: 75098 BB-8</i></b>. This set was one of the main reasons that I started to rediscover some love for the LEGO Star Wars theme in 2017. That LEGO found a way to release a decent-looking version of BB-8 and not charge the earth for it was impressive enough, but the fact that the designer also somehow managed to incorporate a number of play features into the build without compromising the appearance means that it's up there as one of my very favourite sets of the year - excellent!<br />
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<b><i>Other contenders: </i><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/70618-1/Destiny-s-Bounty">70618 Destiny's Bounty</a></b>, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75192-1/Millennium-Falcon">75192 Millennium Falcon</a></b><br />
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<b>5. <u>The "Phantom Menace" Award for Most Disappointing Set</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: 75098 Assault on Hoth<br />
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<b>2017 winner: <i>10256 Taj Mahal</i></b><br />
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OK, so a potentially controversial pick here. I know that many will disagree with this award, particularly those who missed out on this set the first time it was released, in which case feel free to have your say in the 'comments' section below if you feel so inclined....<br />
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Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past few months you'll probably be aware that this set is a re-release of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10189-1">10189 Taj Mahal</a></b> which appeared on shelves back in 2008. At 5,922 elements the original Taj Mahal set was at that time the largest set that LEGO had ever released, a crown it proudly held on to until the release of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75192-1/Millennium-Falcon">75192 Millennium Falcon</a></b> some nine years later. Following its retirement in 2010, the aftermarket price of the original Taj Mahal set rose steadily, with sealed examples eventually selling for thousands of pounds. The set came to be viewed as one of a select group of all-time classics alongside the likes of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10182-1/Cafe-Corner">10182 Cafe Corner</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10179-1/Ultimate-Collector-s-Millennium-Falcon">10179 Millennium Falcon</a></b>, and it was one of the sets that helped to fuel the LEGO investment boom.<br />
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Given the degree of price speculation you might think that the unexpected re-release of the original Taj Mahal set in a new box would have been roundly welcomed by AFOLs, but picking through the comments of LEGO fans within the various online communities it appears that reaction is definitely split. Many AFOLs who missed out on 10189 Taj Mahal are predictably supportive of the re-release, but others fear that the value of their LEGO collections will decrease as a result of such re-releases, arguing that it's the healthy LEGO resale values which have given them the confidence to build their collections. Others are resentful that, having saved their pennies and eventually accumulated enough to pay the inflated aftermarket prices for the Taj Mahal, they're now seeing others buy an identical re-release for a fraction of what they paid for theirs. I can see some logic in the argument that re-releases such as this would impact the LEGO aftermarket, potentially making AFOLs more cautious about spending the amounts of money that they currently do on big, adult-oriented sets at retail; this would have a knock-on effect on the sale volume of such items, which in turn might make LEGO less likely to release such sets in the future.<br />
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For all the arguments above, however, there's a more compelling reason why 10256 Taj Mahal is the most disappointing set of the year and that's the fact that it's first and foremost a massive wasted opportunity. To be frank, the LEGO Taj Mahal, while undeniably huge and imposing, nevertheless falls some way short by recent design standards. The availability of a myriad of new elements since 2008, plus the tendency for set designers to increasingly embrace more advanced building techniques in official releases, presented the opportunity for LEGO to produce a significantly superior version of the set, similar to what they did with <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75192-1/Millennium-Falcon">75192 Millennium Falcon</a></b> earlier this year. Instead LEGO took the easy option and just re-released the old set in a new box, throwing in a brick separator to sweeten the deal. That's just lazy, and I expect better from them. What a shame.<br />
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<b>6. <u>Best Minifigure</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: Gizmo and Stripe<br />
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<b>2017 winner: </b><b><i>Rocket Boy</i></b><br />
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As noted in previous years, the quality of LEGO minifigures is now so high that trying to make an objective judgement of which is best has become next to impossible. The task is further complicated by the sheer number of minifigures released by LEGO in 2017 - a total of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/minifigs/year-2017">830</a></b> according to Brickset, which is the most that LEGO have ever released in a single year. Even though that's a serious motherlode of minifigures to look through, there was one clear standout for me and that was <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/71018-13/Rocket-Boy">Rocket Boy</a></b> (below) which was released in May of 2017 as part of the seventeenth series of Collectible Minifigures (CMFs).<br />
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I suspect that when it comes to the novelty CMFs such as Rocket Boy, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/71018-4/Corn-Cob-Guy">Corn Cob Guy</a></b> and other guys wearing novelty suits you either love 'em or hate 'em, and I'm firmly in the former camp. I continue to be amazed that despite churning out well over 20 series of CMFs including theme-specific offerings LEGO are still able to come up with fresh, original ideas for further CMFs. Certainly Rocket Boy is a gem, perfectly timed to ride the wave of Classic Space nostalgia that continues to wash over parts of the LEGO fan community. The icing on the cake with this minifigure is something you can't even see in the picture above, namely a Classic Space torso in light bluish grey (image below from <b><a href="https://rebrickable.com/parts/973pr3834c01/mini-upper-part-no-3834/">Rebrickable</a></b>) which is unique to the minifigure; with so many LEGO fans building Classic Space <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">MOCs</a></b> these days this torso is a welcome gift to the community and will I suspect be in high demand.<br />
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<b><br /></b><b><i>Honourable Mention</i></b><b>: <i><a href="http://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/MN/0/sw830.png">4-LOM</a>, </i></b><b><i><a href="http://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/MN/0/njo294.png">Commander Raggmunk</a>, <a href="http://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/MN/0/nex095.png">General Garg</a>, <a href="http://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/MN/0/sw878.png">Princess Leia</a>, <a href="http://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/MN/0/col289.png">Corn Cob Guy</a> </i></b><br />
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<b>7. <u>The "Better than Expected" Award</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: Elves<br />
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<b>2017 winner: </b><b><i>LEGO Star Wars.</i></b><br />
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As previously mentioned, 2017 was the year that I finally started to feel more love for the LEGO Star Wars theme again after way too many years spent turning my nose up at the product line-up and scowling at all the remakes.<br />
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Pleasingly, I thought that most of the 2017 System Scale Star Wars sets had something to commend them, although there were admittedly a few dogs rubbing shoulders with them including the baffling <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75177-1/First-Order-Heavy-Scout-Walker">75177 First Order Heavy Scout Walker</a></b>. I've already waxed lyrical about <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75187-1/BB-8">75187 BB-8</a></b> which was for me the best Star Wars set of the year, and while the two 2017 <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">UCS</a></b> sets were remakes they both improved on the previous versions enough to make them worthwhile purchases for LEGO Star Wars fans. Furthermore, while I admittedly found it hard to get too excited about the clutch of 2017 <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/subtheme-MicroFighters/year-2017">Microfighters</a></b> sets I did think that some of the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Star-Wars/year-2017/subtheme-Buildable-Figures">Buildable Figures</a></b> were great and was delighted that this particular subtheme took its first step into vehicles with the impressive <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/75532-1/Scout-Trooper-Speeder-Bike">75532 Scout Trooper & Speeder Bike set</a></b> (below).<br />
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A decent year for Star Wars sets, then. Here's hoping that the 2018 sets are at least as good....<br />
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<b><i>Honourable mention: The LEGO NINJAGO Movie theme. </i></b>I didn't have particularly high hopes for the LEGO Ninjago Movie sets. I figured that they'd sell well regardless of their quality thanks to all the free advertising that the movie would provide, and might therefore be a bit "by the numbers". I also wasn't especially enthused by the LEGO Batman movie sets and thought we might get a similarly lukewarm Ninjago Movie selection. As you'll have gathered from my comments above, however, it's fair to say that my doubts were answered in emphatic fashion....<br />
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<b>8. <u>Most Welcome LEGO-Related Announcement</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: London Leicester Square LEGO Brand Retail Store and pre-opening event<br />
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<b>2017 Winner: <i>60 Years of the LEGO Brick</i> </b><br />
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OK, so not an announcement as such, although I've been able to sneak the 60th anniversary celebrations into this category by virtue of the recently-announced <b><u><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/40290-1/60-Years-of-the-LEGO-Brick">40290 60 Years of the LEGO Brick</a></u></b> set (below) which will be given away free during 2018 with qualifying purchases at brand stores and shop.lego.com.<br />
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LEGO previously celebrated 50 years of the LEGO brick with the release of two 50 year anniversary retail sets in the form of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/5522-1/Golden-Anniversary-Set">5522 Golden Anniversary Set</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10184-1/Town-Plan"><span id="goog_1600154940"></span>10184 Town Plan<span id="goog_1600154941"></span></a></b> (below). The latter was a wonderful re-imagining of a classic set, and I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed that LEGO freshens up a couple more classics to celebrate 60 years of the LEGO brick. Indeed, there's some <b><a href="https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/153582-lego-60th-anniversary-sets-2018/">speculation</a></b> that there will be a whole series of 60 year anniversary sets, although if true it still remains to be seen whether these sets turn out to be basic brick boxes, remakes of classic sets or something else.<br />
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<b>9. <u>Gimme LEGO Reader's Choice Award</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: 71040 Disney Castle<br />
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<b>2017 winner: <i>You choose!</i></b><br />
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Think you can do better? OK, you've seen my choices so now it's your turn. At the top of the page on the right of the screen you'll see a selection of LEGO sets which I consider to be some of the best that 2017 had to offer. Please carefully peruse the list and vote for your favourite set of 2017; if your favourite isn't on the list then select 'None of the above' and leave a comment below or send me an e-mail via the contact button letting me know which set you think is the best of 2017. At midnight on 14th January 2018 the poll will close and we'll have our winner.... If you're reading this on a device which isn't displaying the poll as described then click "view web version" at the bottom of the page in order to see the nominations and cast your vote. Thanks for participating!<br />
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<b>*Voting has now closed - results coming soon!*</b><br />
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<b>Previous Gimme LEGO Awards: <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2016.html">2016</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2015.html">2015</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2014.html">2014</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-gimme-lego-awards-2013.html">2013</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2012.html">2012</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/gimme-lego-awards-2011.html">2011</a></b><br />
<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-21774927336818687482017-10-24T10:14:00.000+01:002017-10-24T10:24:13.245+01:00Lock BoxI'm not sure if it's just me but I get the feeling that there's been a marked increase in the number of non-retail LEGO sets over the past few years, that is to say sets that aren't available for purchase from LEGO brand stores, shop.lego.com or the usual LEGO retailers such as TRU, Argos etc.. Examples include the limited edition sets available for purchase at Comic Cons, such as the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/SDCC2015-2/Dagobah-Mini-Build">Dagobah Mini Build</a></b> from the 2015 San Diego Comic Con, and LEGO employee gifts such as <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4002014-1/LEGO-HUB-Birds">4002014 LEGO HUB Birds</a></b> and <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4002016-1/50-Years-on-Track">4002016 50 Years on Track</a></b> which theoretically aren't available for purchase at all but which can nevertheless be readily acquired via the likes of Bricklink and eBay. Then there are sets produced for specific companies and organisations; a number of UK cathedrals including <b><a href="https://www.durhamcathedral.co.uk/news/mini-lego-model-2015">Durham</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.stedscathedral.uk/lego/cathedral-models">St. Edmundsbury</a></b> have produced limited edition sets, for example, while the Tropical Marine Centre has released <b><a href="http://reefscape.co.uk/models/">15 tropical fish models</a></b> (example below) designed by <b><a href="http://bright-bricks.com/">Bright Bricks</a></b> which is home to the UK's only LEGO Certified Professional.<br />
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One set linked to a specific organisation which has recently received some exposure is <b><a href="https://brickset.com/article/24574">2000451 The Panama Canal</a></b>, a sizeable set released under the LEGO Education banner which was sold exclusively from the <b><a href="https://www.panamastem.com/">Panama STEM</a></b> website. As luck would have it, the folks from Panama STEM recently got in touch and were kind enough to send me a copy of the set to review on Gimme LEGO. The set has now arrived, so here we go....<br />
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The box is a pretty plain affair, prominently featuring the LEGO education banner front and back plus an 8+ age recommendation. The front of the box (above) is dominated by an image of the completed build, and there are a couple of small panels below hinting at a couple of Technic mechanisms incorporated into the set. There's also a 'Canal de Panama' logo bottom right, alongside which is another logo incorporating the Spanish strapline "Tercer juego de eclusas". This translates as "third set of locks" and is a reference to the expansion of the Panama Canal which was inaugurated in June 2016. The back of the box (below) looks pretty similar to the front, although here the image of the completed build is accompanied by a line-up of five small ship models which are included in the set. There are also a series of panels illustrating what looks like a <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNG_carrier">LNG carrier</a></b> traversing the Panama Canal lock system.<br />
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Having previously laid my hands on a number of non-retail LEGO sets, I can report that some of them fall quite short in the packaging stakes. Not this one, though - in terms of presentation it has the feel of a typical retail set. The box is sturdy and secured by way of tape seals, while inside the box the elements are sealed in a total of 20 bags, all but two of which are printed with a number from one to five. The box also contains five instruction booklets which are sealed inside a single bag alongside a small sticker (below).<br />
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The set includes a single minifigure (below). Despite having an overwhelmingly generic appearance, with no printing on the torso or legs, it's nevertheless exclusive to this set according to <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=2000451-1&viewItemType=M">Bricklink</a></b>. That having been said, all the elements making up the minifigure are readily available and have previously featured as a part of numerous other minifigures<br />
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You can see a rear view of the minifigure below. Neither the head nor the torso feature any back printing.<br />
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The build is split into five stages. Each stage contributes a single module to the final Panama Canal model and has its own instruction booklet complete with a stage-specific inventory of parts. <b>Stage 1</b> (below) commences with construction of one of the set's five ships, after which attention shifts to the sturdy Technic frame which underpins the first Panama Canal module. The frame sits on a base of reddish brown plates and is built upon with basic light bluish grey and blue bricks and plates before being topped off with blue tiles to represent water and some green plates to represent the banks of the canal. A couple of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=32269&idColor=2#T=C&C=2">tan gears</a></b> are housed in a brick-built structure which projects forward from the main part of the module. The teeth of these gears mesh with some <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3743&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">gear racks</a></b> below; these gear racks are attached to a pair of dark bluish grey lock gates, and when the gears are rotated the lock gates slide forwards and backwards, thus closing or reopening the main waterway.<br />
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Subsequent modules follow the same basic formula - a Technic frame is constructed on a base of reddish brown plates, simple Technic mechanisms are bolted on to the frame, and blue tiles and green plates provide some basic surface decoration. In addition to the inclusion of a pair of lock gates which are controlled by the same gear and gear rack mechanism described previously, <b>Stage 2</b> also incorporates a mechanism which raises and lowers the water level, indicated by 2 x 4 blue tiles. This mechanism is activated by winding the black crank at the front of the module; the crank drives a succession of interlocking gears that ultimately mesh with a pair of gear racks which change the water level . The set's solitary sticker is applied to a white 2 x 4 tile at this stage of the build where it forms the sign you can see perched at the top of the module (below).<br />
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<b>Stage 3</b> of the build involves construction of the third module which you can see below. This is very similar to the second module, featuring the same Technic mechanisms, lock gates and adjustable water level. Its foundations incorporate additional reddish brown elements which raise the module by two bricks in height compared with its predecessor, however, and there's no "Canal de Panama" sign.<br />
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<b>Stage 4</b> of the build involves construction of the fourth canal module (below), an activity which provokes a distinct feeling of deja-vu as module four is markedly similar to modules two and three; it sits a further two bricks higher than module three, and features decoration in the form of a tower on top, but is otherwise basically the same in terms of its reddish brown base, underlying Technic frame and the mechanisms that it incorporates.<br />
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And so to <b>Stage 5</b> and with it some welcome variety. The final module of the canal is assembled during this stage of the build, together with the four remaining vessels. The ships are constructed first, starting with a LNG carrier, followed by a container ship, a cruise liner and finally what looks like a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_ship" style="font-weight: bold;">reefer ship</a>; one of the few uncommon elements included in the set makes an appearance at this point, namely a <b><a href="https://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-minifig-telescope-64644">white minifig telescope</a></b> which has only previously appeared in seven sets in this colour and which forms the masts of the reefer ship.<br />
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With all five modules now built all that's left to do is join them together with Technic pins and we're done. Looking at the completed build (below) it's clear that aesthetics have taken a back seat in the design process, with the desire to include functional and robust mechanisms to practically demonstrate the workings of the canal's system of locks understandably taking priority. Certainly the mechanisms make it easy and fun to learn, and the model quickly engaged my 9-year old who enjoyed experimenting with the completed build and now has a solid understanding of the subject matter, so mission accomplished from an educational perspective I guess.<br />
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In summary, this is an interesting set by virtue of the subject matter and rarity, and it has obvious educational value. On the downside, the 1,184 elements making up the set, and indeed the set's single minifigure, are very basic and unlikely to make the set appeal much as a parts pack, and it's not a particularly interesting build either on account of the degree of repetition. It also has to be said that the <b>US $249.95</b> retail price is eye-watering, even if it does include worldwide shipping. In mitigation, 50% of all profits are donated to a non-profit organisation which promotes STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education in Panama, but the fact remains that unless you're teaching large numbers of kids this set seems like a prohibitively expensive way to impart knowledge.<br />
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In practice, any discussion of the set's value may end up being academic as at time of writing the Panama STEM website shows the set as being sold out with no indication of whether they'll get more stock. Given my reservations about the set, however, I don't think that should concern the majority of LEGO fans whose money would probably be better spent elsewhere. Definitely a set for collectors with big budgets and educators only I reckon.<br />
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Thanks to Panama STEM for providing Gimme LEGO with a review copy of the set. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.<br />
<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-37825801569249312642017-09-01T08:06:00.000+01:002017-09-01T08:35:08.904+01:00Retro Space RevisitedI always enjoy building and writing about vintage space sets, and judging by the number of views that my <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/alt-space.html">Space Police post</a></b> got last time out plus the comments on the <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/gimmelego/posts">Gimme Lego Facebook page</a></b> it seems that I'm not the only one who enjoys wallowing in LEGO Space nostalgia. I've therefore decided to focus on another long-retired LEGO space set today, this time from the <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-M-Tron">M-Tron</a></b> subtheme.<br />
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The M-Tron subtheme of LEGO space consists of a total of eight sets released in 1990 and 1991. In addition to these eight sets, LEGO released <b><a href="http://peeron.com/scans/6862-1/">instructions</a></b> for an additional M-Tron model - <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6862-1/Secret-Space-Voyager">6862 Secret Space Voyager</a> </b>- which could be built by combining parts from three of the retail M-Tron sets. All of the M-Tron sets featured a vehicle of some description, and the majority of the sets utilized magnets, a first for LEGO Space I believe. In this review I'll be focusing on <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6896-1/Celestial-Forager">6896 Celestial Forager</a></b>, a mid-size M-Tron set released in 1990.<br />
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Unlike <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/alt-space.html">6897 Rebel Hunter</a></b> which I reviewed a few weeks back 6896 Celestial Forager is too small to merit a cardboard tray inside the box. As was the case for 6897 a laser grid forms the backdrop to an image of the completed build on the front of the box (above) although this time the grid is purple rather than green. Again similar to 6897 the vehicle is traversing a sandy planet surface, albeit at ground level this time. A price tag from departed UK retailer Woolworths is stuck over the LEGO logo on both the front and back of the box and indicates that the set retailed for £10.49 back in 1990. The back of the box (below) is split into a number of panels featuring alternate builds, and the inclusion of magnets is also highlighted.<br />
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The instruction booklet is in fact a thrice-folded A3-sized sheet which is printed on both sides. Although the cover panel (below) predictably shows an image of the completed build, here the vehicle is photographed from behind in contrast to the side-on view to be found on the front of the box. The instructions break the build into 14 principal steps, not including assembly of the minifigure.<br />
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The set contains a single minifigure, named by <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=sp033#T=S&O={}">Bricklink</a></b> as <b><i>M-Tron with Airtanks</i></b>. This minifigure has appeared in a total of ten sets, unsurprisingly all from the M-Tron subtheme given the prominent M-Tron logo printed in the middle of the red torso.... In addition to gracing this minifigure, the torso can also be found as a part of two other minifigures. All other components of the minifigure, namely the white legs with black hips, the yellow head printed with a standard grin pattern, the black helmet and airtanks, and the trans-neon green visor, have been widely distributed in many sets.<br />
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Below you can see the minifigure from the rear with the helmet removed. There's no printing on the back of the head or the torso.<br />
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With the set's single minifigure assembled it's time to build the vehicle. The Celestial Forager consists of front and rear sections joined to each other by a pair of black 2 x 4 hinge plates with <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3639&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">male</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3640&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">female</a></b> articulated joints. There's also an upper bridge joining the front and rear sections, on top of which is a black inverted webbed 6 x 6 dish. The upper bridge features a faintly <b><a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Heath%20Robinson">Heath Robinson</a></b>-esque mechanism utilising a pair of 2 x 2 turntable plates together with a 1 x 2 Technic brick, a modified 2 x 2 plate with pinholes and 4L Technic axle to ensure that the two sections of the vehicle can still articulate at the hinge with the bridge in place. The front section of the vehicle includes a cockpit which incorporates a red <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2336p68&idColor=5#T=C&C=5" style="font-weight: bold;">cockpit space nose with printed M-Tron logo</a>; this element has only appeared in a total of three sets including this one. A pair of <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-space-chainsaw-body-2516">chainsaw bodies</a></b> are attached to the nose at an angle, one on either side; each sports a different 1 x 1 tile printed with a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/search/catalog?query=3070bp06">button design</a></b> and a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/search/catalog?query=3070bpc2">computer display design</a></b> respectively. Both tiles have appeared in fewer than 10 sets in total. The vehicle's four black <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=2593&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">hard plastic 35mm x 31mm wheels</a></b> attach to the chassis via red <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4730&idColor=5#T=C&C=5">modified 2 x 2 bricks with pin</a></b>.<br />
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The rear section of the vehicle is basically a trailer upon which a crane is constructed. A pair of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=73092&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">black cylindrical magnets</a></b> anchor the crane at its base. One of my most memorable brushes with LEGO cylindrical magnets was when I built <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10030-1/Imperial-Star-Destroyer">10030 Imperial Star Destroyer</a></b>, and since then whenever I encounter them I recall that epic build. One of the magnets clicks into a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-magnet-holder-tile-2-x-2-with-short-arms-2609">2 x 2 magnet holder</a></b> which comes in a number of varieties; the 'short arm' variety found within this set can only be found in one other set, and the other varieties are only marginally more common. The crane's boom is formed from a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-support-2-x-4-x-5-stanchion-inclined-with-thick-supports-4476">2 x 4 x 5 inclined support stanchion</a></b>. A further cylindrical magnet is attached at the top of the boom, this time via a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-red-magnet-holder-2-x-3-2607">red 2 x 3 magnet holder</a></b>. Cargo is provided in the form of a red <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-container-box-2-x-2-x-2-with-solid-studs-4345">2 x 2 x 2 container</a></b>; the variant supplied in this set has solid studs and has only ever appeared in five sets in this colour. The container has a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/search/catalog?query=4346p68">printed light grey door</a></b> which can only be found in seven sets, and inside the container are a pair of trans-neon green 1 x 1 round plates.<br />
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The main play feature of the set is the crane. As shown in the picture below, the boom can be lowered by disengaging the pair of magnets at the base of the crane, and the cargo container can be detached by disengaging the magnets at the end of the boom. As previously mentioned, the vehicle can bend in the middle thanks to the inclusion of a hinge.<br />
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Although I'd have to say that 6896 Celestial Forager falls some way short of being a "must-have" set, it's nevertheless an interesting step along the road from the earliest LEGO Space sets to present day offerings and it's well worth the £10 plus shipping that I paid for my boxed, complete copy a few years back. While that's admittedly inexpensive by current standards, the set can still be acquired for a relatively modest sum now - at time of writing complete boxed examples are available on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6896-1&name=Celestial%20Forager&category=%5BSpace%5D%5BM%5D#T=S&O={"ii":0}">Bricklink</a></b> for as little as £15 plus shipping, which is less than what the set, originally priced at £10.49 back in 1990, would cost now if adjusted for inflation.<br />
<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-81646752084244262182017-07-21T07:45:00.000+01:002017-07-21T07:47:52.200+01:00Alt. SpaceThere seems to be so much love for <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-Classic">Classic Space</a></b> right now that it can be easy to forget quite how many other Space subthemes LEGO has released over the years. Although I was lucky that my youth coincided with the late 1970's Classic Space sweet spot, I subsequently missed much of the space-related goodness that followed on account of my lengthy LEGO <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">Dark Ages</a></b>. Ironically enough, it was another space theme - Star Wars - that ended up dragging me out of the darkness, but it turned out that a whole bunch of interesting LEGO Space offerings had come and gone during my absence. I've therefore been on a mission to gradually fill in the gaps ever since.<br />
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One of the LEGO Space subthemes that I missed during my lengthy hiatus was <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-Space-Police">Space Police</a></b>. LEGO released a clutch of Space sets under the Space Police banner in 1989, and I assume that these sets were well-received since the company subsequently decided to follow them up with a number of <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Space/subtheme-Space-Police-2">Space Police 2</a></b> sets a few years later. Released in 1992, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/6897-1/Rebel-Hunter">6897 Rebel Hunter</a></b> was the third largest set in the Space Police 2 line up as measured by parts count, and I was delighted to find a boxed, complete example of the set on eBay a few years back which I gratefully snapped up. The front of the box (above) shows the craft flying over a barren planet surface against a backdrop of a blurry starfield and a green laser grid. A price label from sadly-departed UK retailer Woolworths can be seen in the top right corner; allowing for inflation the £13.99 retail price would be the equivalent of £26.57 in today's money according to the Bank of England's <b><a href="http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/Pages/resources/inflationtools/calculator/default.aspx">Inflation Calculator</a></b> - decidedly expensive for a set containing just 140 elements and two minifigures. The back of the box (below) highlights a couple of the set's play features as well as showcasing three alternative builds.<br />
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The set contents are contained within a white cardboard tray which fits neatly into the outer box. In addition to the set's 140 elements there's a single instruction booklet, the front cover of which you can see below. The instruction booklet comprises just 16 pages from cover to cover; unlike current instruction booklets all the pages are taken up by the building guide, and advertising is conspicuous by its absence.<br />
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The back cover of the instruction booklet, which is dominated by a stylised image of the completed build, can be seen below. One of the set's main play features, a portable prison pod, is showcased bottom left together with the set's two minifigures.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=6897-1&viewItemType=M">Bricklink</a></b> prosaically names the set's two minifigures as Space Police 2 and Blacktron 2. <b><i>Space Police 2</i></b> can be seen below. This minifigure has appeared in a total of seven sets. The white torso with its green, black and red print is exclusive to this minifigure, while the green legs with white hips have only appeared as a part of two minifigures including this one. The head, which is printed with a red brown fringe and eyebrows plus a black headset, has featured much more widely, appearing as a part of 24 minifigures across almost 50 sets in total. While the black helmet has graced literally hundreds of sets, the retractable trans-green visor has appeared in just 14. This minifigure is provided with an accessory in the form of a white <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=4349&colorID=1&in=A">loudhailer</a></b> which is presumably supposed to represent a blaster.<br />
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This minifigure is kitted out with black airtanks which you can see in the image below. These largely obscure the back of the unprinted torso. The back of the head is also unprinted.<br />
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Bad guy <b><i>Blacktron 2</i></b> (below) has appeared in 14 sets across both the Space Police 2 and Blacktron 2 Space subthemes. The white torso with its black and lime Blacktron 2 print has appeared as a part of 3 different minifigures and can be found in a total of 16 sets. All of the other constituent elements making up this minifigure are extremely common, appearing in one hundred sets or more; the head is printed with the classic LEGO standard grin pattern, while the visor is trans-neon green in colour.<br />
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Similar to the Space Police 2 minifigure, Blacktron 2 carries a pair of black airtanks. Once again the torso is unprinted, as is the back of the head.<br />
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The build proper commences with construction of the portable prison pod (below) with space inside for a single minifigure. The structure incorporates a hinged <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-windscreen-4-x-4-x-3-667-helicopter-with-decoration-2483">trans-green 4 x 4 x 4 1/3 windscreen element</a></b> which is printed with the Space Police 2 logo and which has only ever appeared in three sets.<br />
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The prison pod is carried inside an open cargo bay, and this is next to be built. The walls of the cargo bay are made up of a number of<b> <a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-hinge-brick-1-x-4-assembly-3830">hinge brick assemblies</a></b>, and a couple of <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-tile-1-x-2-with-arrow-short-dkred-with-silver-border-with-groove-3069">black 1 x 2 tiles printed with a red arrow</a></b>, which can only be found in eight sets, provide some cosmetic embellishment. A trio of black Technic axles form a roof of sorts over the cargo bay, and the reason for this seemingly odd design decision will shortly become clear. The section of the ship between the cargo bay at the rear and the cockpit at the front features a couple of interesting elements that I hadn't seen before, namely a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-red-brick-3-x-3-x-2-facet-bottom">red modified 3 x 3 x 2 facet brick bottom</a></b>, on top of which is a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-transparent-green-brick-3-x-3-x-2-facet-top-2463">trans-green modified 3 x 3 x 2 facet brick top</a></b>. The red facet brick is unique to this set, while the trans-green brick has only ever appeared in a total of three sets including this one.<br />
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The lower half of the cockpit consists of a specialised <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-cockpit-4-x-11-x-2-2-3-6058">light grey 11 x 4 x 2 2/3 inverted slope</a></b> element which has only ever appeared in four sets, while the cockpit canopy is made up of a hinged <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-transparent-green-windscreen-10-x-4-x-2-1-3-canopy-2507">trans-green 10 x 4 x 2 1/3 windscreen</a></b> element which has only ever appeared in three sets. The cockpit can accommodate a single minifigure with ease and is empty apart from a <a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PL/3039pc3.png" style="font-weight: bold;">printed 45 degree 2 x 2 slope</a> which serves as a control panel. The cockpit is flanked by a couple of red 1 x 4 antennae which attach via a combination of modified 1 x 1 plates.<br />
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The front and rear bounds of the cargo bay are made up of <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-light-gray-brick-2-x-4-x-2-with-holes-on-sides-6061">light grey modified 2 x 4 x 2 bricks with holes on the sides</a></b>. This useful element can only be found in a total of four sets in this colour, and there are three of these elements in the set. Four <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-support-4-x-4-x-5-stanchion-2680">black 4 x 4 x 5 stanchions</a></b> attach to the anti-studs on the sides of the modified 2 x 4 x 2 bricks, and a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-plate-2-x-2-with-jet-engine-4229">jet engine</a></b> is attached to the base of each of the stanchions. You can see the completed Rebel Hunter ship together with both minifigures below.<br />
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The ship's cargo bay provides the set's most interesting play feature. As previously described, the cargo bay walls incorporate a number of hinge bricks which enable the walls to flex outwards. When the walls are fully extended, as in the picture above, the prison pod is held firmly in place. When however the walls are flexed outwards the prison pod is released and the back of the ship is pulled forwards; at maximal flexion (below) the rear of the ship is pulled forward by around 50mm. The presence of this mechanism explains the use of Technic axles for the cargo bay roof - as the rear of the ship concertinas forward the axles slide through holes in Technic bricks at the rear of the ship; admittedly the protruding Technic axles look a bit untidy, but it's a price worth paying for the inclusion of a neat play feature.<br />
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Overall, it has to be acknowledged that the Rebel Hunter isn't the prettiest LEGO craft that you'll ever see - "quirky" is probably the politest way to describe it. That having been said, I'm a big fan of the colour scheme, and the build also incorporates a number of cool play features, particularly the unusual prison pod release mechanism. Design-wise, inspiration has clearly been taken from earlier Space subthemes, but there's also a nod to the future in the form of an increased reliance on more specialised elements (not least the distinctly <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">POOP</a></b>-like light grey element making up the lower half of the cockpit) and the inclusion of Technic elements.<br />
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When I conclude my reviews of retired sets I'm often reluctantly obliged to report that a complete, boxed example of the set in question will cost you an arm and a leg. On this occasion however I'm pleased to reveal that copies of the set actually seem to be very reasonably priced on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=6897-1&name=Rebel%20Hunter&category=%5BSpace%5D%5BSpace%20Police%20II%5D#T=S&O={}">Bricklink</a></b>, with at least one boxed example available for less than £20 at time of writing. Copies of the set also occasionally crop up on eBay which is where I found mine; my complete, boxed copy set me back just £15 plus postage, although that was admittedly a few years ago now. Not a classic, then, but still worth picking up at current prices if you have any interest in LEGO Space I reckon.<br />
<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-68607081653259688012017-07-03T08:15:00.000+01:002017-07-03T08:15:50.938+01:00National Elf ServiceThe <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/theme-Elves">Elves</a></b> theme carried off the "Better Than Expected" award in the <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2016.html">2016 Gimme LEGO Awards</a></b> by virtue of a slew of quality 2016 offerings, and of all the Elves sets to date, the one that has consistently appealed to me the most has been <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/41180-1/Ragana-s-Magic-Shadow-Castle">41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle</a></b>. I've been meaning to dive into my copy for ages, and I'm therefore pleased to report that I've finally gotten around to cracking open my copy and getting aquainted with the contents. So did it live up my my expectations? Read on to find out!<br />
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As is the case for Friends sets the front of the Elves set boxes bow out slightly in order to accommodate scalloped cutaways on the left and right edges. While it's an interesting design quirk, it makes the boxes a pain to stack. Although I'm not a fan of the atypical box architecture, I'm very much a fan of the richly detailed and gloriously colourful artwork on the front of the box (above). Some of the key characters from the theme including Azari, Naida and Aira are shown on the right side of the front of box, while front and centre there's an image of the completed Shadow Castle build against a beautiful mountainous backdrop. The back of the box (below) employs a marginally more muted colour palette and features a series of boxouts which focus on play features of the set; there's also mention of a free Elves app in the bottom right hand corner.<br />
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The set contents are accessed by cutting three tape seals at the side of the box. The box contains seven bags of elements numbered from 1 to 7, a pair of loose dark tan 8 x 16 plates and a hefty instruction booklet sealed in a bag. The bag containing the instruction booklet also contains two sticker sheets and two thin plastic sheets. You can see a scan of one of the plastic sheets below; each plastic sheet contains a pair of pop-out plastic banners.<br />
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The <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PL/41180stk01.png">larger sticker sheet</a></b> contains 17 stickers while the <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PL/41180stk02.png">smaller sticker sheet</a></b>, which has a mirrored finish, contains just two. The cover of the instruction booklet, which is basically the same as the artwork on the front of the box apart from the 8-12 age recommendation and the set name, can be seen below. The instruction booklet, which runs to 180 pages, includes a two-page inventory of elements, a brief Elves comic strip, a map of Elvendale and three pages of Elves and Friends-related advertising in addition to the building instructions.<br />
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The set contains three minidolls. Elf witch <b><i>Ragana Shadowflame</i></b> (below) is exclusive to this set, as are all the individual elements making up the minidoll. She's the villain of the piece, and according to the relevant <b><a href="https://www.lego.com/en-gb/elves/products/raganas-magic-shadow-castle-41180">set page</a></b> on the <b><a href="https://www.lego.com/en-gb/elves">Elves microsite</a></b> she's snaffled the "<i>beautiful and unique baby princess dragon egg</i>" which she's placed triumphantly atop the tower of her Shadow Castle. I have to say that I'm a big fan of this minidoll; Ragana's elegant black dress features an attractive green and silver print, and I think that her magenta hair, black and green head-dress and face print look superb.<br />
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The back of Ragana's torso, which is hidden beneath her long magenta hair, is split horizontally between the light flesh colouring of her skin above and the top of her black dress below. Her hair has a small hole at the back to accommodate accessories, although it's frankly hard to imagine Ragana wearing a bow or other compatible accoutrements. There's no printing on the back of the head, torso or skirt.<br />
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<b><i>Aira Windwhistler</i> </b>(below left) and <b><i>Naida Riverheart</i></b> (below right) are our two heroines. This version of <b><i>Aira</i></b> is currently exclusive to the set, although her head featuring medium lavender eyes and a tribal print on her forehead has graced three different versions of the Aira minidoll, and her long lavender hair with integrated elf ears has appeared as a part of four different incarnations of Aira in various sets. Her torso, which comprises a light flesh section above and a printed dark purple strapless dress below, is only appearing in a set for the third time, as is her lower half consisting of a dark purple and white asymmetric skirt, light flesh legs, and sandals with a gold feather pattern. Her medium lavender cloth cape, which is decorated with holes of various shapes, is unique to the set in this colour. Similar to Aira, this version of <b><i>Naida</i></b> is appearing in a set for the first time. Her head, light aqua braided hair, light flesh and blue printed torso, and blue skirt with light flesh legs and printed sandals have however all appeared as a part of other incarnations of Naida, although the medium azure cloth cape is exclusive to this version.<br />
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Similar to Ragana, both Aira and Naida have torsos which are split horizontally at the back between light flesh skin above and the tops of their strapless dresses below, although you'll have to take my word for that as the torsos are obscured by cloth capes in the picture below. What isn't evident from the front view is how both hair elements feature an interesting two-tone effect, although only Naida's hair incorporates a hole for accessories.<br />
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Both the Aira and Naida minidolls are supplied with alternative headgear in the form of hoods which you can see in the picture below. The hoods, which are decorated with gold and silver prints respectively, feature integrated elf ears and are both unique to this set as things currently stand.<br />
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In addition to the three minidolls the set also contains a pair of creatures. White baby dragon <b><i>Estari</i></b> is really quite lovely, featuring moulded trans-light blue accents and a gold head print plus gold horns. Estari is currently exclusive to this set. Ragana's black cat <b><i>Jynx</i></b>, which is decorated with a white and lime print, has only previously been available as a giveaway with Issue 4 of the LEGO Elves magazine released in April 2016.<br />
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As is customary these days the build is modular in nature, split into a total of seven stages each of which has its own numbered bag. Bag 1 contains the parts needed to construct the Aira and Naida minidolls, build a wheeled catapult and make a start on the castle. The catapult (below) rests on a medium lavender 4 x 4 plate which can only currently be found in three sets including this one. The catapult fires ammunition in the form of trans-light blue 1 x 1 round bricks. These are loaded into a bucket represented by a white saucepan element which has only ever appeared in four sets. The ammunition is flung forward by pushing down on a white Technic ball joint at the front of the vehicle which is only appearing in a set for the ninth time ever. Decoration is provided by a pair of bling pearl gold feathered wings together with a trans-purple 1 x 1 round tile printed with an Elves Wind Power icon which is appearing in a set for just the fifth time.<br />
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With the catapult completed it's time to make a start on the castle. This requires the remaining contents of Bag 1 plus one of the dark tan 8 x 16 plates. The dark tan plate forms the ground floor of the castle and is partially tiled in dark bluish grey, black and lavender. A couple of lime green 3 x 6 half round plates with 1 x 2 cutout are attached at the front; these are only appearing in a set for the sixth time in this colour. A path constructed on a dark tan 4 x 10 plate projects out from the front of the castle. This path has a central area, topped by the dark tan 2 x 6 plate that you can see in the picture below, that can slide backwards and forwards for reasons that will become clear later. A number of uncommon lavender elements appear at this stage of the build; 1 x 2 lavender tiles are appearing in a set for only the seventh time, while lavender 2 x 2 bricks and 3 x 1 33 degree slopes have only previously appeared in three sets. Dark purple 1 x 1 round bricks with open stud also make an appearance, having previously only appeared in eight sets.<br />
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During Stage 2 of the build, which utilises the elements in Bag 2 plus the remaining dark tan 8 x 16 plate, the ground floor of the castle is completed, starting with the front doors. These are made up of magenta bricks together with a couple of 1 x 3 magenta plates which have only previously appeared in nine sets; decoration is provided by a pair of cool-looking door handles which are fashioned from black <a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-small-horn-53451-88513" style="font-weight: bold;">horns</a>. The reason for the sliding section of path at the front of the castle now becomes clear - it's attached to the doors, and when the path is pushed inwards the doors gracefully open. The completed doors are framed by a pair of black 1 x 3 x 3 arches above, while lower down the front entrance is decorated with lime <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-lime-spines-tail-55236">vines</a></b> and flanked by a pair of lavender <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-lavender-panel-2-x-4-x-6-rock-54782">2 x 4 x 6 rock panels</a> </b>which are appearing in a set for only the second time in this colour. The area in front of the rock panels is embellished with crystalline structures comprising trans-bright green, trans-neon green and trans-light blue elements. The entrance also incorporates a pair of dark bluish grey 1 x 2 x 2 2/3 windows with rounded top which have only previously appeared in four sets.<br />
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Attention now shifts to the interior of the ground floor. A pair of bookcases are installed utilising stickered reddish brown 1 x 2 x 2 panels to represent books; these panels have only previously appeared in nine sets in this colour. A hearth is then constructed featuring a dark purple 1 x 6 x 2 arch which has only appeared in a set twice before. A stickered shield is mounted above the arch, and a stickered light aqua 2 x 2 round tile which presumably represents a rug is placed on the floor in front of the hearth; this element has previously only appeared in seven sets in this colour. A sizeable sticker depicting Ragana now needs to be applied to the inner surface of a 1 x 6 x 5 lavender panel, and it's a challenge to get the sticker straight and central. The panel is appearing in a set for only the fourth time in this colour. A bench seat utilizing stickered magenta tiles is constructed in front of the panel, and a reddish brown <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-reddish-brown-tile-1-x-2-with-chocolate-bar-decoration-with-groove-25395">1 x 2 tile printed with a chocolate bar pattern</a></b> is casually dropped on the seat. A pair of dark purple <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-dark-purple-brick-1-x-1-x-6-round-with-square-base-43888">1 x 1 x 6 pillars</a></b> make an appearance at this juncture, having only previously appeared in a set twice before, and two dark bluish grey 1 x 5 x 4 arches are attached on one side of the build in preparation for a supporting role later on. The walls are braced with a dark bluish grey 1 x 16 brick and then topped off with back plates and tiles. Finally, the remaining dark tan 8 x 16 plate is placed on top; note that in the picture below I've removed the dark tan 8 x 16 plate so as to let more light into the interior and thus better reveal the interior detail.<br />
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Stage 3 of the build involves construction of the first floor of the castle. This utilises a number of black 1 x 1 x 3 bricks together with more black 1 x 3 x 3 arches and dark purple 1 x 1 x 6 pillars. The centrepiece of the first floor is a stickered <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-transparent-neon-green-brick-1-x-2-x-5-without-side-supports-46212">trans-neon green 1 x 2 x 5 brick without side supports</a></b>; the stained glass effect is pleasing, but care needs to be taken to attach the sticker centrally or it'll look a mess. The trans-neon green brick, which has only appeared in a set three times before, is flanked by a pair of black 1 x 2 x 5 bricks which are appearing in a set for the first time ever in this colour, and by additional dark purple 1 x 1 x 6 pillars plus a dark purple 1 x 4 arch which has only previously appeared in five sets. Dark purple 45 degree 2 x 1 inverted slopes, previously included in only five sets, make an appearance at this point in the build, and a stickered dark purple 2 x 2 round tile is placed centrally below the stained glass window. The upper reaches of the first floor are fringed by a number of dark purple 45 degree 2 x 2 inverted slopes which have only previously been included in three sets.<br />
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Stage 4 is predominantly concerned with construction of first floor furnishings and the balcony to the right of the castle. First to be built is Ragana's bed, complete with magenta bedsheets which incorporate a pair of <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-magenta-curved-slope-2-x-4-x-2-3-studless-with-bottom-tubes-88930">curved 2 x 4 x 2/3 slopes with no studs</a></b> which are only appearing in a set for the fifth time in magenta. There's also a pillow represented by a light aqua double cheese slope. The bed features a rather sinister-looking headboard which includes a trans-bright green jewel that's appearing in a set for only the fourth time, plus a pair of <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-flame-tribal-with-shaft-3-2-mm-18395">black tribal flames</a></b>. The bed incorporates a secret compartment which slides out to reveal a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3068bpb0959&idColor=2#T=C&C=2">map</a></b> and an <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-tile-1-x-2-with-envelope-print-with-groove-83608">envelope</a></b>; the map is printed with the location of a dragon egg and has has only appeared in seven sets in total. The bed almost completely fills the interior of the first floor of the castle, although there's just about room for a small bedside table complete with a trans-green bottle.<br />
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The first floor balcony (below) is constructed upon a lime 6 x 6 plate and features a reddish brown arch. Placed on top of the arch are what appear to be potions; these are represented by a elements in a variety of trans colours, each topped by a medium dark flesh 1 x 1 round tile which is only appearing in a set for the seventh time. Alongside the potions is a black 2 x 2 flag stickered with a design which appears to be a potion recipe. A dark pink 4 x 3 plant leaf serves as a shelf and holds a number of items including a flask, a jewel and a staff; the staff is topped with a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-transparent-bright-green-pyramid-ridged-slope-1-x-1-x-2-3-22388">trans-bright green 45 degree 1 x 1 x 2/3 quadruple convex slope</a></b> which can only be found in two other sets in this colour. Beneath the arch is a black cauldron inside which are a variety of elements including a bright light orange carrot top and a trans-bright green 1 x 1 round tile which can only be found in two other sets. A number of sections of black <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-black-iron-fence-1-x-4-x-2-with-4-knobs-19121">ornamental fencing</a></b>, which are only appearing in a set for the fourth time in this colour, are then erected on the balcony and other exposed roof sections. Finally, one of the <b><a href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/drdavewatford/6nB256">thin plastic banners</a></b> mentioned earlier is popped out of its backing sheet and hung from the balcony.<br />
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Stage 5 of the build begins with the assembly of a dragon egg. This is fashioned from two glitter trans-light blue elements - a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=24132&idColor=162#T=C&C=162">faceted 4 x 4 x 1 2/3 dragon egg top</a></b> and a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=24130&idColor=162#T=C&C=162">faceted 4 x 4 x 1 2/3 dragon egg bottom</a></b> - which are unique to the set in this colour. The egg can comfortably accommodate Estari the baby dragon. Attention then switches to construction of the top level of the castle, the walls of which are predominantly black in colour and incorporate additional ornamental fences, as well as featuring two more plastic banners of the same design as the one hanging from the first floor balcony. A substantial dark bluish grey brick-built decorative feature is then constructed on the front wall; it looks like a stone animal head of some description, perhaps a dragon, with <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-yellowish-green-small-horn-88513">yellowish green horns</a></b> for eyes and a trans-bright green 45 degree 1 x 1 x 2/3 quadruple convex slope embedded in its forehead. The ramparts at the top of the castle are topped off with dark purple tiles, along with a <b><a href="https://img.bricklink.com/ItemImage/PL/98138pb037.png">tan 1 x 1 round tile printed with a Jammie Dodger biscuit pattern</a></b>; presumably the biscuit has been left there just in case Ragana gets peckish.... Next, two huge and imposing <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-pearl-dark-gray-tribal-flame-3-5-x-12-18396">pearl dark grey 3.5 x 12 tribal flame</a></b> elements are erected at the top of the tower. Finally, a couple of lamps featuring <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-transparent-bright-green-rock-1-x-1-with-5-points-30385">trans-bright green 1 x 1 rock with five points</a></b> are attached to the outer walls and Stage 5 is done.<br />
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The interior of the top floor contains a number of furnishings including a stickered magenta 2 x 4 tile which presumably represents a rug, and a water-containing basin represented by a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-flat-silver-dome-2-x-2-inverted-15395">flat silver round 2 x 2 brick with dome bottom</a> </b>into which a trans-light blue 1 x 1 tile is placed. Alongside the basin is a magenta shelf which bears an assortment of bottles and other bathroom items. One of the bottles utilises an uncommon <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-lavender-flower-hair-decoration-with-1-5-connector-18853">medium lavender flower with pointed petals and pin</a></b> as a stopper. A pair of mirrors, represented by a flat silver frying pan and a trans-light blue oval shield onto which reflective stickers are applied, are then mounted on the wall.<br />
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With the main castle now complete it's time to move on to the surrounding structures. A dungeon with a throne room above are connected to the main castle via a bridge which spans a stream below, and the stream and dungeon are constructed during Stage 6 of the build. The simple stream is made up of a selection of medium azure elements together with a couple of white 1 x 1 round plates. Echoing the use of lavender rock panels at the base of the castle, the stream is framed by a selection of sloped lavender elements such as <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-lavender-slope-65-1-x-2-x-2-60481">65 degree 2 x 1 x 2 slopes</a></b> which have only featured in five other sets in this colour and <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-lavender-slope-45-2-x-2-double-convex-3045">45 degree 2 x 2 double convex slopes</a></b> which have only previously featured in four. Lavender seems an odd choice of colour for rocks, but to my surprise it actually works pretty well in this context. Further crystalline structures made up of trans elements and similar to those at the base of the castle are constructed next to the stream. A wall containing a trans-orange 1 x 2 x 5 brick, which has previously only appeared in four sets in this colour, forms the boundary between the right side of the stream and the main castle, while a number of spikes, topped with <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-flat-silver-animal-horn-spiral-89522">flat silver unicorn horns</a></b>, are placed to the left of the stream and have the potential to provide a sticky end for the unwary....<br />
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The dungeon is constructed on a dark tan 6 x 14 plate which is only appearing in a set for the fourth time. The dungeon wall adjacent to the stream is made up of another lavender 2 x 4 x 6 rock panel, while stone steps protrude from the exterior of the opposite wall. These steps, which are covered by lime green plates presumably representing moss or slime, ascend to the dungeon roof. The roof is made up of a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-dark-tan-plate-6-x-8-trap-door-frame-92107">dark tan trap door</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-dark-tan-plate-4-x-5-trap-door-92099">trap door frame</a></b>, both of which have appeared in less than ten sets in this colour. A stickered magenta 2 x 4 tile covers the trap door, while a lime Technic ball joint can be seen protruding from the exterior dungeon wall adjacent to the steps. This ball is attached to a Technic axle with stop which runs beneath the trap door, and when the ball joint is pulled outwards the trap door is triggered. The barred window at the front of the dungeon is comprised of four 1 x 4 antennae enclosed at the top by a purple 1 x 6 x 2 arch, while a removable brick-built panel which rests upon a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-lime-plate-1-x-4-with-two-studs-92593">lime modified 1 x 4 plate with 2 studs</a></b> makes up the rear wall of the dungeon; a simple Technic mechanism ejects this panel, allowing the occupant of the dungeon to escape.<br />
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The final stage of the build involves the construction of a bridge over the stream and the assembly of Ragana's throne. The bridge appears to be sturdy, but actually tilts on its axis, hurling the unwary traveller into the stream below, or worse still, onto the spikes. A <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-lime-slope-curved-2-x-2-x-0-66-15068">lime curved 2 x 2 slope</a></b>, which is appearing in a set for only the seventh time in this colour, connects the bridge with the trap door. Similar to Ragana's bed, her black and magenta throne features a pair of black tribal flames at the rear. It rests on a 2 x 2 turntable and can spin 360 degrees if desired. A pair of dark purple columns flank the throne, and these are then enclosed by a number of reddish brown arches which represent tree trunks and branches. Dark pink 4 x 3 plant leaves decorate the branches, together with a rarer <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-magenta-plant-leaves-6-x-5-2417">magenta 6 x 5 plant leaf</a></b> which has appeared in only ten sets to date.<br />
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Above and to the left of the throne is an area set aside for Jynx the cat. This utilises a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-medium-lavender-plate-round-4-x-4-with-16mm-hole-11833">medium lavender round 4 x 4 plate with 2 x 2 hole</a></b> which is only appearing in a set for the fifth time. Lucky old Jynx has been provided with a number of tasty treats including strawberry ice cream in the form of a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-bright-pink-round-plate-1-x-1-with-swirled-top-15470">bright pink round 1 x 1 plate with a swirled top</a></b>, and sushi which is represented by really cool <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=98138pb038&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">printed 1 x 1 round tiles</a></b> which are only appearing in a set for the sixth time ever. The ice cream sits in a flat silver goblet which has only previously featured in seven sets in this colour. Jynx can jump up to his platform via a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=14769pb093&idColor=34#T=C&C=34">lime 2 x 2 tile printed with a foliage pattern</a></b> which has appeared in less than ten sets to date. A chandelier of sorts hangs above the throne, with illumination provided by more trans-bright green jewels, while an ornamental fence topped with a <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=30106&idColor=12#T=C&C=12">crystal ball</a></b> can be seen in front of the throne beyond the trap door.<br />
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The finished sections are combined to complete the castle as you can see in the pictures above and below. In addition to being connected by a couple of Technic pins at the base, the sections are also secured via a lime curved 2 x 2 slope and a couple of lime 2 x 2 corner plates, and the castle is consequently fairly sturdy.<br />
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You can see the completed castle build plus the wheeled catapult, minidolls and creatures below. Atop the castle is the glitter trans-light blue dragon egg, inside which is Estari the baby dragon. The bridge between the castle tower and throne section is shown in its rotated position.<br />
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I liked the look of this set from the first time I spied it, and I'm delighted to report that it didn't disappoint. I think the castle looks excellent, both with respect to its unusual colour palette and also its overall design which manages to be simultaneously imposing, whimsical and sinister, not to mention packed with nice details and fun play features. Furthermore the minidolls look great, although a strong case could be made for the inclusion of more than just three of them given the size and cost of the set.<br />
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<b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/41180-1/Ragana-s-Magic-Shadow-Castle">41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle</a></b> includes 1,014 elements and was released in the summer of 2016. As of July 2017 it's still available at retail and has an RRP of <b>£79.99</b> / <b>US$99.99</b> / <b>89.99€</b> although in the UK and elsewhere it's been frequently discounted; my own copy cost me £49.97 from Amazon's UK site back in November 2016, and at the time of writing it's 31% off RRP at Amazon.co.uk (link <b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01AC1AAS8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B01AC1AAS8&linkCode=as2&tag=gimm-21&linkId=11303bbeac89c60d88d5797be8d78dad" target="_blank">here</a></b>) and 23% off RRP on Amazon's US site (link <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CU9WNN0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01CU9WNN0&linkCode=as2&tag=gimm0b-20&linkId=c9289007f3c2b55d774b1f27db7e4158" target="_blank">here</a></b>). As you may have already gathered I'm a big fan of this set and would recommend it at RRP; at less than £50 it's a steal....drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-22983534043389325822017-05-25T08:21:00.001+01:002017-05-25T08:59:10.378+01:00A Fair CopAs regular readers may have noticed, I've recently had to take an enforced break from building and blogging - my apologies. I'm pleased to report that things are slowly returning to normal, however, so regular service can hopefully now be resumed. Anyway, it's around this time of year that the summer wave of sets starts to appear in stores, and I did initially consider picking up a random summer release and running the rule over it. Given the wall-to-wall coverage of new releases on other sites, however, I decided instead to take a trip back in time and take a close look at an older set. I ended up choosing <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/588-1/Police-Headquarters">Set 588 Police Headquarters</a></b> from 1979, not least because I picked up a copy of it in reasonable condition a while back and still hadn't gotten around to building it yet.<br />
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When it comes to LEGO, I have to admit that there are few things that give me more pleasure than a boxed copy of an older set in decent condition. The front of the box features a shot of the finished build that leaves little to the imagination - boxes these days generally embellish the subject matter with CGI wizardry which undoubtedly ramps up the excitement but also makes it harder to get a sense of the actual build inside the box; no such problems here. The set number, 6+ age recommendation and parts count also make an appearance on the front of the box, while the back of the box shows a youngster enjoying the finished build and also showcases a number of alternative builds, something that I wish could be resurrected on modern set boxes.<br />
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I think most LEGO fans would probably agree that there's been steady progress over time when it comes to set design, but one area where I think older sets continue to reign supreme is in their packaging and 588 is no exception. The front and back of the box are in fact part of a sleeve which slides smoothly off to reveal an inner tray. In the picture below I've removed the set's 360 elements from the cardboard tray but I've left the instruction booklet and a couple of promotional leaflets in place.<br />
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The instruction booklet is actually a fold-out double-sided instruction sheet measuring 40 cm x 54 cm. The instructions break the build down into a surprisingly small number of steps by modern standards, highlighting the absurd degree of hand-holding that builders of more recent sets have to contend with. In addition to the building instructions and a photograph of the completed build (below) there's also a panel highlighting the same alternative builds that are shown on the back of the box.<br />
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My copy of the set came complete with a pair of promotional leaflets. These were both unfortunately folded in half at some point, either by LEGO themselves during the original packing process or more likely by the previous owner of the set. The first leaflet contains 16 pages and has a cover consisting of a large LEGO logo. The content (example page below) is a fantastic trip down memory lane for LEGO fans of a certain age, and also serves as a reminder for younger builders of how the design of sets has changed over the years. Interestingly, the leaflet contains advertising for <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/585-1/Police-Headquarters">Set 585</a></b>, a previous Police Headquarters set released in 1976, so it's possible that this leaflet may have found its way into my copy of Set 588 by accident.<br />
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The second promo leaflet has a cover featuring various LEGO elements and minifigures superimposed with a LEGO logo. It's the same size and length as the first booklet, and while there's some overlap of content it also features a selection of newer sets including Set 588. There's a 'LEGOLAND Town' section in the booklet which includes the nice little diorama below, and there's also a delicious 2-page Classic Space spread.<br />
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The set includes four 'modern-style' minifigures with articulating arms and legs. Modern minifigures started to appear in sets in 1978 so would still have been something of a novelty in 1979 when Set 588 was released. Two of the minifigures are identical policemen with helmets (below) who ride the motorbike and fly the helicopter. The torso print features a white police badge, a diagonal zip pattern running from shoulder to the opposite hip, and a zip pocket. I had initially assumed that the white helmet was of the same type that appears in the much-loved Classic Space minifigs, but according to <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=193b2&idColor=1#T=C&C=1">Bricklink</a></b> the police helmets in this set are different by virtue of their thick chinstraps. The yellow minifig heads have solid studs and carry the standard grin pattern, while the black legs are unprinted.<br />
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From the rear (below) the minifigs are predictably unremarkable, with their heads, torsos and legs all plain and unprinted.<br />
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Next we have the policeman who drives the car. His torso, featuring a suit with police badge and breast pocket over a white collared shirt, graced a total of seven minifigs and 29 sets between 1979 and 2003. His head features the classic LEGO standard grin pattern and his black legs are unprinted. According to <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3624&colorID=1&in=A">Bricklink</a></b> his white police cap has appeared in a total of 172 sets, most recently in 2016.<br />
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Once again the rear view (below) is unremarkable given the absence of head or torso back-printing.<br />
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The fourth and final minifigure (below) has only ever appeared in four sets including this one, although none of the individual components are rare. The torso print features a collared shirt with six buttons and has appeared as a part of 21 minifigures and 53 sets over the years. Again the head is printed with a standard grin pattern and the legs are unprinted. The old brown hair, which first started appearing in sets back in 1979, has since appeared in almost 250 sets according to <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3901&colorID=8&in=A">Bricklink</a></b>, most recently in 2004.<br />
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Consistent with the other minifigures in the set there's no back-printing on the torso or the head.<br />
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The build commences with a trio of vehicles. First up is a classic 4-wide Police car which, like so many such vehicles of its day, is constructed on a <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/PL/4212a.gif?0" style="font-weight: bold;">vehicle base</a>. LEGO fans of a certain vintage will also immediately recognise the <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-car-mudguard-2-x-4-without-hole-3788">wheel arches</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-vehicle-console-with-black-steering-wheel-73081">steering wheel</a></b> and windscreen which were ubiquitous in small vehicles back in the day. Less common are the white 1 x 3 x 1 printed doors which only appeared in a total of ten sets in this this colour between 1979 and 1991. There's room inside for a driver plus a passenger seated behind. I was surprised that LEGO didn't incorporate a printed <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=3010pb036e&colorID=1&in=A">radiator grille</a></b> into the design since these were a common inclusion in 4-wide cars of old.<br />
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Next up is a helicopter. The fuselage, which can only accommodate a single minifig, sits on a pair of old grey skids represented by 1 x 8 plates. The white printed 1 x 3 x 1 doors seen in the police car make a repeat appearance. Immediately beneath the windscreen is a trans-clear 2 x 4 plate. I had quite a few of these in my childhood LEGO collection, but they haven't been available outside a LEGOLAND model shop since 1986. The main rotor is made up of an old light grey <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3461&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">four blade propeller</a></b> to which four 1 x 8 plates are attached; this attaches to a black <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3462&idColor=11#T=C&C=11">modified 2 x 3 plate with helicopter rotor holder</a> </b>on the roof of the fuselage. There's also a smaller tail rotor made up of an old light grey two blade propeller attached to a modified 2 x 2 plate with helicopter tail rotor holder.<br />
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The final vehicle is a simple motorcycle. It incorporates a couple of printed 1 x 2 bricks as panniers; these printed bricks have only ever appeared in seven sets, most recently in a Service Pack back in 1991.<br />
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With the three vehicles completed it's time to get cracking on the Police Station itself. Older iterations such as <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/370-1/Police-Headquarters">370 Police Headquarters</a></b> typically included a custom baseplate, but 588 is built on a standard <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=606p02&idColor=9#T=C&C=9">road plate</a></b>. For the purposes of the build it could be argued that a custom baseplate might have been better, but I could never get enough road plates when I was a kid and suspect that I would have been absolutely delighted to add another section of straight road to my childhood collection.... The Police Headquarters straddles the road, with through access being controlled by two pairs of <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3644&idColor=12#T=C&C=12">trans-clear 1 x 4 x 6 doors</a></b>. The walls of the building include a number of white 1 x 3 bricks; 1 x 3 bricks didn't appear in sets until 1978 so this set would have been one of the first to include these now-common elements. The walls on the ground floor and first floor incorporate yellow window frames, each of which accommodates a pair of black windows. Although lacking glass, these windows can at least be opened, and have only ever appeared in three sets so are pretty uncommon. In addition to the attachment points for the windows, the window frames also have additional tabs to which pairs of green shutters are attached. Access to the front of the building is via a door on the left side of the building. The door is flanked by a pair of trans-dark blue 1 x 1 round bricks with open stud. A printed 'POLICE' sign sits on the ground floor roof; this printed white 1 x 6 brick appeared in a total of eight sets between 1979 and 1991. The first floor roof is decorated with various structures including an old light grey antenna with 8 side spokes. This element only ever appeared in ten sets in this colour, and it can be tricky to find one with all the spokes intact which no doubt accounts for its high price on <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3144&idColor=9#T=S&C=9&O={"color":9}">Bricklink</a></b> where intact examples cost in excess of £8/$10 each plus shipping. I assume that the right side of the building contains the police cells given that the windows consist of yellow 1 x 4 x 2 fence elements which presumably represent barred windows. Resourceful prisoners can however try to escape via a back door....<br />
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Both the ground floor and first floor offices feature rudimentary interiors containing a simple desk and telephone made up of a red <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3040p02&idColor=5#T=C&C=5">2 x 1 45 degree slope with white rotary phone print</a></b> topped with a red 1 x 2 tile. This printed slope element appeared for the first time in this set and only subsequently graced five more sets in this colour. There's a helipad on the roof of the cell block. This is marked out with yellow plates and more trans-dark blue 1 x 1 round bricks. A section of flat roof spans the road and connects the cell block and helipad with the office block. A path utilising yellow 1 x 4 x 1 fence elements is marked out across the top of the flat roof.<br />
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The area in front of the Police Headquarters is furnished with exterior decoration in the form of a classic <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-pine-tree-large-4-x-4-x-6-2-3-3471">large 4 x 4 x 6 2/3 pine tree</a></b>, a lamp post and what appears to be an emergency telephone; the latter features a white <b><a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=3004p22&idColor=1#T=C&C=1">1 x 2 brick printed with a telephone pattern</a></b> that has only ever appeared in a total of four sets, most recently in 1979. You can see the finished Police Headquarters complete with all vehicles and minifigures in the picture below.<br />
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It turns out that there are actually two versions of this set which appear to be identical apart from minor differences in the box art. Set 588, which is the version I own, is in fact the US variant, while the version sold in Europe, Australia and Canada was <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/381-2/Police-Headquarters">Set 381 Police Headquarters</a></b>. For some reason a used, boxed copy of set 588 ended up for sale on eBay's UK site back in 2010 and I picked it up for around £25 including shipping. There are currently a number of copies of 588 and 381 for sale on Bricklink; a boxed example in similar condition to mine will set you back about double what I paid including shipping which seems pretty reasonable for a set that's nearly 40 years old now.<br />
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Overall, this is a nice example of a classic LEGO police station, although for me it doesn't quite hit the heights of my all-time favourite police station, <b><a href="https://brickset.com/sets/370-1/Police-Headquarters">Set 370 Police Headquarters</a></b> from 1976.<br />
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<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-2225214716461059932017-03-09T08:16:00.000+00:002017-03-09T08:16:44.082+00:00Red Five Standing ByLike many <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">AFOLs</a></b> I seem to spend an inordinate amount of my time sorting and resorting my LEGO collection, and it was during a recent sortfest that I stumbled across the little fellow below. It reminded me that I'd long intended to share the rambling tale of how he came into my possession, and in so doing say a public "thank you" to the US-based AFOL and all-round good guy who has tracked down all manner of US-exclusive LEGO-related items for me over the years including Yoda.<br />
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Back in May 2013 there was a disturbance in the force, with the unveiling in New York's Times Square of what was at the time claimed to be the world's largest ever LEGO model - a 1:1 replica of an X-wing Starfighter - to celebrate the impending premiere of The Yoda Chronicles animated series. Based on <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/9493-1/X-wing-Starfighter">Set 9493 X-wing-Starfighter</a></b>, this huge build was 42 times the size of the retail set and apparently took 32 builders at LEGO's Kladno Model Shop in the Czech Republic over 3 months to build from 5.3 million bricks. As you can see from the picture below (courtesy of <b><a href="http://www.starwars.com/news/massive-lego-x-wing-takes-off-in-times-square">starwars.com</a></b>) it caused quite a stir....<br />
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To further promote the Yoda Chronicles series, the nearby Times Square branch of Toys R Us ran a promotion from May 23rd to 25th 2013 whereby purchasers of specially-marked copies of Set 9493 would receive a limited edition "NY I Love" Yoda minifigure. Apparently 1,000 of these minifigs were made and handed out during the 3-day promotion, and as a big Star Wars fan and LEGO collector I was obviously really keen to get hold of one. Thankfully, help was at hand in the form of US-based <b><a href="http://www.brickset.com/">Brickset</a></b> admin Roland a.k.a. <b><i>Rocao</i></b>, and to cut a very long story short he was able to secure a limited edition Yoda minifigure for me. The plan was initially for Roland to package Yoda up with a bunch of other items that he had collected together for me and for other folks and ship the whole lot over to the UK for me to distribute. For various reasons, however, Yoda didn't make it into the consignment and was left stranded in the US.<br />
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Jumping forward a couple of years to August 2015, a delegation of <b><a href="http://bricksetforum.com/">Brickset Forum</a></b> members headed by Brickset head honcho <b><i>Huw</i></b> and myself journeyed to the LEGO mothership in Billund, Denmark. Thirty three of us in total travelled over at the invitation of LEGO's Community, Events and Engagement Team for a one-day visit which included a tour of the fabled vault housing copies of pretty much every LEGO retail set every released, the LEGO factory at Kornmarken, and the site of the work-in-progress LEGO House and visitor centre (above). There was also a visit to the LEGO employee store for a spot of shopping, and a presentation by LEGO designer Mike Psiaki who's the man behind <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10248-1/Ferrari-F40">10248 Ferrari F40</a></b> amongst other sets. As good fortune would have it, one of the 33 Bricksetters to make the trip to Billund was Roland, who travelled over to Denmark from California. Aside from the fact that it was absolutely brilliant to finally get to meet him in person and hang out after literally years of chatting online, Roland had stashed the promised Yoda minifig in his luggage and so I was finally able to take delivery.<br />
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Neither Yoda's <b><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=64804pb02&idColor=48#T=C&C=48">printed sand green head</a></b>, which has a tuft of white hair at the rear, nor his short tan legs, are exclusive to this minifigure, although the head has only appeared in two other sets, <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/75002-1/AT-RT">75002 AT-RT</a></b> and a <b><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?G=9002076a#T=S&O={}">Yoda Clone Wars Watch Set.</a></b> The torso, which doesn't have a back print, isn't exclusive to this minifigure either, having also appeared as a part of a <b><a href="http://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=yoda-1&name=Yoda%20(NY%20I%20Heart%20Torso)%20-%20New%20York%20Toy%20Fair%202013%20Exclusive%20Promotional%20Set&category=%5BStar%20Wars%5D%5BStar%20Wars%20Other%5D#T=S&O={}">2013 New York Toy Fair giveaway</a></b>. The minifig came sealed in a 7.5 cm x 13.5 cm soft plastic bag which also contained the printed white card that you can see in the picture above.<br />
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In addition to Yoda, Roland had also brought me the special cardboard sleeve which was placed around the otherwise standard copies of 9493 X-wing Starfighter to mark them out as being promotional items. The front of the sleeve (above) is focused on advertising the Yoda Chronicles premiere and also gives notice of the free Yoda minifig available with purchases of the set, while the back of the sleeve (below) provides photographs of the life-sized LEGO X-wing together with technical drawings and some facts and figures.<br />
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Talking of the X-wing, following its brief Times Square residency it was transported to LEGOLAND California in June 2013 where it went on show. Then, in March 2015, the X-wing crossed the Atlantic to LEGOLAND Billund where it formed the centerpiece of a Star Wars display. And so it was that by a quirk of fate the X-wing was on display at LEGOLAND Billund when I visited, and my Yoda minifigure was therefore, in a manner of speaking, reunited with the X-wing more than 2 years after the Times Square reveal. All of my pictures of the X-wing unfortunately came out appallingly badly, so I'm indebted to another US-based Bricksetter who came on the Billund trip, <b><i>JusJeff</i></b> from Iowa, for giving me permission (albeit about 18 months ago....) to use his picture below.<br />
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So thanks again Roland for all your efforts to track down juicy US LEGO exclusives for me and others on this side of the pond, and sorry it's taken so long to get this posted....drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-7145388959813563672017-02-14T08:11:00.000+00:002017-02-14T08:21:51.736+00:00Hit the RoadSome welcome time off over Christmas and New Year gave me a welcome opportunity to crack on with my LEGO city layout after a hiatus of over three months. <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/station.html">Last time I posted an update</a></b> I had started to significantly modify <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/hall-or-nothing.html">10224 Town Hall</a></b> with a view to creating a <b><a href="http://www.architectureweek.com/cgi-bin/awimage?dir=2012/0229&article=design_1-1.html&image=15326_image_1.jpg">St Pancras</a></b>-inspired station building for the layout, with the front of one 'wing' of the building completed (picture below).<br />
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Progress on the station subsequently stalled due to a lack of dark orange bricks, but during the run up to Christmas I was able to pick up <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/31050-1/Corner-Deli">31050 Corner Deli</a></b> from Amazon at a substantial discount; this set contains a selection of dark orange bricks including the ones I was missing, and while I'm generally loathe to buy brand new sets and immediately cannabalise them for parts, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to get what I needed to progress the build without the hassle of putting together a Bricklink order. Mirroring the modifications that I'd previously made to the Town Hall was fairly straightforward once I had the necessary elements, and I was soon able to complete the front of my station building as you can see in the picture below. The trickiest part of the build was figuring out how to fashion the number '1968' on the roof ballustrade in the same style as the '2016' (the year I started the station build) and the '1891' (from the original Town Hall set). It took some trial and error, but I got there in the end, utilising a variety of <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">SNOT</a></b> techniques to get it right.<br />
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The station is still far from complete, of course - I haven't even decided what the back and sides will look like yet, much less started to source parts - but with the footprint and front largely finalised I was at least now in a position to start figuring out how the building would fit into my layout. As a reminder, the station has been designed to occupy the area marked out by the light blue box below, with a canopy of some description protruding from the back of the building and overhanging the track.<br />
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Before placing the station into position on the layout there were a couple of things I wanted to do. First I filled the vacant space to the right of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10182-1/Cafe-Corner">Cafe Corner</a></b> with another of my venerable old Modular Buildings, <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10211-1/Grand-Emporium">10211 Grand Emporium</a></b> from 2010; as stated in a previous update I'm planning to eventually populate the layout with a mixture of modified 'official' sets and buildings of my own design, but for now the official, unmodified Modulars will do just fine. With the Grand Emporium in place my next job was to construct a few sections of brick-built road to run between the pair of Modulars and the station. As detailed in an <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-countdown-begins.html">earlier update</a></b> I'd previously decided on the specifications for my brick-built roads in terms of their width and overall appearance, and I'd also figured out how to integrate the roads with the surrounding buildings and other structures. It was therefore a relatively simple task to build some new sections of road to those specifications and drop them into place on the layout as you can see in the picture below.<br />
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In addition to building a couple of full-sized road sections (32 studs in length) I also needed to fashion a smaller section to serve as a junction between the new road sections and the older section of road to the left of Cafe Corner. I also tiled the area between and around the railway tracks to the left of the road junction so as to create a level crossing; this will require a barrier of some description, but that's a job for another day....<br />
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With the new road sections in place I carefully lowered the station building into position on the layout as you can see below. There's obviously still a lot of tidying up and landscaping to do around the edges, but it was nevertheless nice to see it in place. I was also relieved to discover that the station's considerable weight was adequately supported by the structures below such that the whole building didn't crash through to the lower level of the layout....<br />
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If you've been patiently following along with this project for a while now then you'll perhaps recall that the layout includes an underground track loop complete with an underground station platform (more details <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/leaps-and-bounds.html">here</a></b> if this is news to you). The underground platform sits directly beneath the station building, and the intent is to connect it with the surface via a pair of staircases which emerge from underneath the twin arches at the front of the station. You can just about see the staircases disappearing downwards beneath the arches in the picture below.<br />
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The image below, which is taken from behind the station building, shows one of the staircases starting to take shape. The plan is for both staircases to descend down to a common underground concourse featuring a ticket office and a number of ticket barriers, through which the minifigure population of my LEGO city can access the underground platform.<br />
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While the station undoubtedly looks imposing from the front, the rear view above provides a sobering reminder of how much work there is still to do on the left and right 'wings' of the building which are currently only half built. Even so, it feels good to have made some tangible progress and moved the project along a bit, as evidenced by the picture below.<br />
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I hope you enjoyed the update. Feel free to share any comments below, and I'll provide further updates in due course.<br />
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Previous MOC city layout update <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/station.html">here</a></b>.<br />drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-53921574703931244632017-01-23T08:01:00.000+00:002017-01-23T08:01:47.075+00:00"And the Gimme LEGO Readers' Choice Award for Best Set of 2016 goes to...."....<b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71040-1/Disney-Castle">71040 Disney Castle</a></b>.<br />
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2016 was an excellent year for licensed sets, and the Disney Castle was the best of the lot according to the Gimme LEGO readers. Unlike the previous year's poll where the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70751-1/Temple-of-Airjitzu">Temple of Airjitzu</a></b> quickly opened up an unassailable lead, the Disney Castle and Ghostbusters <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/75827-1/Firehouse-Headquarters">Firehouse Headquarters</a></b> were pretty much neck and neck for most of the time, with the Castle ultimately prevailing.<br />
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Although I have to admit that I voted for the Firehouse Headquarters, if it wasn't for my enduring love of Ghostbusters I suspect that I would almost certainly have voted for the Disney Castle instead. While the sheer ambition and size of the set are impressive, as is the excellent overall design, it's the attention to detail that helps to elevate this set above its peers. There are just so many lovely little touches in the form of nods to a host of beloved Disney movies and cartoons, and you just know that the set was designed by someone with a genuine love for, and understanding of, the subject matter.<br />
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The final Readers' Choice rankings are shown below, together with the number of votes polled by each of the sets. The Disney Castle, with 22.6% of the overall vote, ended up pipping the Firehouse HQ to the post by just 12 votes, with the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10251-1/Brick-Bank">Brick Bank</a></b> following up in a relatively distant third place with just 12.9% of the vote. The <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/76057-1/Spider-Man-Web-Warriors-Ultimate-Bridge-Battle">Spiderman Ultimate Bridge Battle</a></b> set came in higher than I'd expected in 4th place, and I was delighted that the relatively unheralded Creator <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/31052-1/Vacation-Getaways">Vacation Getaways</a></b> set polled enough votes to finish in 5th place and above more high profile sets such as the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/42056-1/Porsche-911-GT3-RS">Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS</a></b> and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10253-1/Big-Ben">Big Ben</a></b>. The spread of votes was interesting - fewer than 1 in 4 voters chose the eventual winner - and I think this highlights the sheer number of quality offerings from LEGO in 2016 and the difficult choice facing voters. Thirty people rated a set which wasn't listed in the poll as their favourite of the year, with the likes of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/21306-1/The-Beatles-Yellow-Submarine">The Beatles Yellow Submarine</a></b> and the most recent version of the Star Wars <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/75153-1/AT-ST-Walker">AT-ST Walker</a></b> getting some love from the Gimme LEGO readers.<br />
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Once again it's been great fun seeing which sets readers liked the most, with the only real disappointment being a decrease in the number of votes cast compared with previous years. The interesting thing is that the <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2016.html">Gimme LEGO Awards posting</a></b> asking people to vote was viewed approximately ten thousand times while the voting window was open, and yet those ten thousand views yielded fewer than 600 votes. It got me wondering whether the ever-increasing use of smartphones to browse the web might be a factor in this; the rudimentary polling plug-in provided by the Blogger platform doesn't work well with smartphones, often requiring readers to visit the web version of the site if they want to vote. This might have put off prospective voters - it would certainly have put me off.... I think therefore that unless I can find a better plug-in I might have to consider alternative ways of conducting future polls. <br />
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Many thanks to all those who voted, and thanks also to <b><a href="http://brickset.com/">Brickset</a></b> for publicising the 2016 Gimme LEGO Awards and Readers' Choice poll - much appreciated!drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-71823484490429181102016-12-31T11:14:00.002+00:002017-01-15T16:03:39.394+00:00The Gimme LEGO Awards 2016Welcome to the sixth annual Gimme LEGO Awards and my personal take on the LEGO highlights and lowlights of 2016. Those who have waded through my choices in previous years will be well aware that the majority are entirely subjective and it's therefore likely that you'll disagree with at least some of them; please therefore feel free to argue the case for alternatives in the comments below. Let's get started....<br />
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<b>1. <u>Best Theme</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: LEGO City<br />
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<b>2016 winner: <i>Ninjago</i></b><br />
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Ninjago burst onto the scene back in 2011, and if you'd told me then that the theme would still be going strong five years later, and that I'd be choosing it as my LEGO theme of the year for 2016, there's an excellent chance that I'd have laughed you out of the room. And yet here we are....<br />
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In some ways it's not actually such a surprise that Ninjago gets the top spot this year - it merited an honourable mention last year in the 'Best Theme' category, and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70751-1/Temple-of-Airjitzu">70751 Temple of Airjitzu</a></b> got the award for 'Best Non-Licensed Set', so the signs were there. The theme has reinvented itself year on year and has retained it's popularity, defying LEGO's attempts to kill it off in 2013 and eventually arriving in 2016 with an excellent and varied line up of quality sets to suit all tastes and budgets.<br />
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It could reasonably be argued that unlike the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70751-1/Temple-of-Airjitzu">Temple of Airjitzu</a></b> in 2015 there isn't a true stand-out set in the 2016 Ninjago line-up, but what eventually propelled Ninjago to the number one spot this year was the sheer volume of excellent offerings across all price points. Ninjago has also been astonishingly eclectic this year, continuing to provide fans with theme staples such as dragons while also including a selection of sets which embrace a distinctly Steam Punk-like aesthetic and even offering up a Ninjago-styled Batcave in the form of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70596-1/Samurai-X-Cave-Chaos">70596 Samurai X Cave Chaos</a></b> (below) which frankly gives the various official LEGO Batcaves a run for their money.<br />
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Aside from the way the sets look, most are also packed with play-features, a great example being <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70595-1/Ultra-Stealth-Raider">70595 Ultra Stealth Raider</a></b> (below) which splits into sub-models each of which itself incorporates multiple mechanisms and moving parts. While the main focus of the Ninjago theme has always been one of 'play' rather than 'display', the designers have nevertheless managed to make the many of the builds look great, thus broadening the theme's appeal well beyond the 7-14 target audience.<br />
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It's testament to the fantastic Ninjago line-up this year that I found it genuinely difficult to decide which five sets to feature in the pictures above and below as there were so many great sets to choose from; in the end I had to leave out the likes of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70605-1/Misfortune-s-Keep">70605 Misfortune's Keep</a></b>, <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70594-1/The-Lighthouse-Siege">70594 The Lighthouse Siege</a></b> and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/70602-1/Jay-s-Elemental-Dragon">70602 Jay's Elemental Dragon</a></b> but they could just as easily have featured. So well done to Ninjago - still going strong after five years!<br />
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<b style="font-style: italic;">Honourable menti</b><i><b>on: Architecture</b></i>. Yes, really. When I reviewed <b><a href="http://brickset.com/article/23510">21029 Buckingham Palace</a></b> (below) for Brickset earlier this year I felt duty-bound to admit that I was largely ambivalent about LEGO's Architecture theme which has at times felt like the epitome of style over substance. The early Architecture years featured a slew of grossly overpriced and frankly risible representations of world landmarks which only caught the eye thanks to their plush packaging and luxurious instruction booklets. The emperor's new clothes, basically.<br />
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Over the years the quality of the offerings has definitely improved, though, and 2016 has been a watershed for me with some really rather nice offerings such as Buckingham Palace rubbing shoulders with a new sub-theme of city <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Architecture/subtheme-Skylines/year-2016">Skylines</a></b> which have taken the theme off on a promising new tangent. They're still overpriced, to be honest, but most of this year's Architecture sets look great and are definitely worth seeking out.<br />
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<b><i>Honourable mention #2:</i></b> <b><i>Technic</i></b>. My historical lack of enthusiasm for LEGO's Technic theme has been well-documented, so to some folks this honourable mention might be the biggest surprise of all in this year's Gimme LEGO Awards....<br />
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My historical downer on Technic can be traced back to two main factors, the principal one being the unsatisfying skeletal appearance of many older Technic sets, with the mind-numbing tedium and misery of deconstructing the builds sealing the deal. While the latter obviously remains, the increasing use of panels has greatly improved the appearance of official Technic builds, to my eyes at least. This year has seen the release of a number of Technic sets which have combined complex mechanisms with interesting subject matter and great looks; I'd go as far as to say that the summer 2016 Technic line-up was possibly the strongest of <u>any</u> theme, with <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/42056-1/Porsche-911-GT3-RS">42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS</a></b> (above) possibly the pick of the bunch. Definitely <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/technic-temptation.html">Technic Temptation</a></b> rather than <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/technic-torture.html">Technic Torture</a></b>....<br />
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<b>2. <u>Most Disappointing Theme</u></b><br />
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Last year's 'winner': Not awarded<br />
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<b>2016 'winner': <i>LEGO Classic</i></b><br />
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This is basically a ‘victory’ for quantity, and specifically the lack of it, rather than quality; for what it's worth I'm actually a fan of LEGO Classic sets, so I guess you could say that this is a relatively minor rebuke....<br />
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I’m sure that, like me, many of you have rolled your eyes at the oft-repeated mantra that LEGO "<i>isn’t what it used to be</i>", how creativity is being stifled by all the licensed sets, and how “<i>in my day it was all basic bricks and we had to use our imaginations</i>”. Like me you may have defended the LEGO company, making the point that it’s actually about choice, and that purchasers can still buy just basic bricks if they want. Except that when you think about it, getting hold of basic bricks in anything other than small quantities isn't actually as easy as it should be, is it?<br />
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Out of a total of 811 set releases during 2016, just three were LEGO Classic sets supposedly comprised of basic bricks. Furthermore, it turns out that those three Classic sets actually contain a fair few relatively specialised elements such as <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">SNOT</a></b> bricks. OK, so in-store and online Pick-a-Brick also offer a potential solution, but few LEGO fans have access to a Brand Store, and have you seen the price of a single 2 x 4 brick purchased direct from LEGO online? I strongly believe that LEGO should continue to provide the general public with ready access to basic elements, and I think the company is currently failing to do this sufficiently; a quick look at the 2017 release schedule suggests that the company will be releasing more Classic sets than it did in 2016, so maybe LEGO is already on the case - we shall see.<br />
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<b>3. <u>The "Medieval Market Village" award for Best Non-Licensed Set</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner : Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu<br />
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<b>2016 winner: <i>10251 Brick Bank</i></b><br />
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A Modular Building has won this award for two out of the last three years, so giving the nod to yet another Modular this year feels a bit lazy. Thing is, though, the alternative would be to somehow pretend that the Brick Bank isn't as good as it actually is, and that definitely wouldn't do, so the Brick Bank it is....<br />
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<a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10251-1/Brick-Bank"><img border="0" src="http://images.brickset.com/sets/large/10251-1.jpg?201510121127" height="582" width="640" /></a></div>
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Designer Jamie Berard has picked up where he left off with previous Modulars and given us an attractive model which is packed with interesting architectural details on the outside, fun to build, and overflowing with detail on the inside. What's also impressive is the attention to detail, for example interior floors which are attractively tiled with interesting patterns and colours despite being barely visible, and intelligent use of the available internal space to accommodate as much interior decoration and furniture as possible.<br />
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Another treat is the ingenious usage of elements, examples of which include the inclusion of sand blue Nexo Knight shields in the ground floor tiling pattern, the use of light bluish grey ingots to tile the exterior of the buiding, and the inclusion of black animal tail elements to represent ironwork in the bench outside the bank. As well as including a host of interesting elements, the set also utilises relatively uncommon colours such as sand blue and sand green in the build, while the inclusion of a laundrette in one corner of the build means a whole different design and colour palette for this section which looks amazing.<br />
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<a href="http://brickset.com/sets/10251-1/Brick-Bank"><img border="0" src="http://images.brickset.com/sets/AdditionalImages/10251-1/10251_Back_11.jpg" height="640" width="302" /></a></div>
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Honestly, apart from feeling a tad small compared with other Modulars the Brick Bank is pretty much faultless, and it's a delight. There's a risk that we might become blase about Modulars and start to take them for granted; if that happens, and folks stop acknowledging how good they are, and worse still stop buying them, then LEGO might stop releasing them which would be a travesty. So Brick Bank deservedly, and unashamedly, gets my vote for 'Best Non-licensed Set", and I wouldn't bet against another Modular gettting the prize next year either....<br />
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<b><i>Honourable Mention: 10253 Big Ben.</i></b> I did a live build of this set over a weekend at <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/bricktastic.html">Bricktastic</a></b> in the summer of 2016 and Big Ben absolutely wowed the show attendees. The build employs some seriously clever element usage in order to approximate the real building's exterior detail, and the ability to simultaneously turn the clock hands on all four clock faces by turning a discretely-located knob is a real crowd pleaser.<br />
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As you'd expect there's inevitably a fair bit of repetition involved in the build - I certainly wouldn't recommend rushing it like I had to - but the spectacular end result is well worth the effort; Big Ben is one of the few models which my wife will allow to be prominently displayed in our house such is its allure. Incredible, and my runner up for 'Best Non-licensed Set' of 2016.<br />
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<b><i>Other contenders</i>: <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/31052-1/Vacation-Getaways">31052 Vacation Getaways</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41180-1/Ragana-s-Magic-Shadow-Castle">41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/21029-1/Buckingham-Palace">21029 Buckingham Palace</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/31044-1/Park-Animals">31044 Park Animals</a>. </b><br />
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<b>4. <u>Best Licensed Set</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: 75060 Slave I<br />
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<b>2016 winner: <i>75827 Firehouse Headquarters</i></b><br />
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Given my love of the Ghostbusters movies I guess the winner really had to be the Firehouse Headquarters, didn't it? While 2016 has in my opinion been unusually strong for licensed sets, with some outstanding candidates to choose from, I knew from the moment that I first spied this set that it was going to take something truly extraordinary to shift it from top spot.<br />
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On account of the enduring popularity of the Ghostbusters franchise I suspect that any official LEGO version of the Ghostbusters HQ would probably have sold regardless of its quality, but the set we got thankfully turned out to be wonderful. The size and attention to detail is remarkable - a dream come true for Ghostbusters fans - but in truth there's a huge amount for non-fans to admire as well, both in terms of the exterior appearance, and in the interior furnishings and decoration. There's also an excellent selection of minifigures to populate the model, and just about enough room inside to accommodate the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/21108-1/Ghostbusters-Ecto-1">LEGO Ideas Ecto-1 set</a></b>.<br />
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It isn't perfect, not least because dark orange would have been a more appropriate colour for the exterior than dark red, but overall it still looks wonderful both inside and out, and you don't need to be a Ghostbusters fan to enjoy and appreciate it either. A serious build, and an excellent display piece.<br />
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<b><i>Honourable Mention: 71040: Disney Castle</i></b>. Huge, spectacular, and only a whisker away from taking top spot in the Best 'Licensed Set' category, the Disney Castle impresses both inside and out. The back of the model is exposed, which facilitates play but ensures that for some the set will fall a little short as a display model compared with the Firehouse HQ, and the minifigure selection is perhaps a little disappointing, but it's otherwise hard to find fault.<br />
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Disney fans will be delighted by the frequent references to their favourite Disney movies, but you don't need to be a Disney fan to delight in the attention to detail, the thoroughly enjoyable building experience, and the beautiful completed model. Highly recommended.<br />
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<b><i>Other contenders:</i> <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/76057-1/Spider-Man-Web-Warriors-Ultimate-Bridge-Battle">76057 Spider-Man: Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/21307-1/Caterham-Seven-620R">21307 Caterham Seven 620R</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/21306-1">21306 The Beatles Yellow Submarine</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/42054-1/CLAAS-XERION-5000-TRAC-VC">42054 CLAAS XERION 5000 TRAC VC</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/42056-1">42056 Porsche 911 GT3 RS</a> </b><br />
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<b>5. <u>The "Phantom Menace" Award for Most Disappointing Set</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner:10249 Toy Shop<br />
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<b>2016 winner: <i>75098 Assault on Hoth</i></b><br />
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If some of my 2016 Awards have come as a surprise then this one was about as nailed-on as they come. Honestly, what on earth were LEGO thinking when they decided to slap the revered <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">UCS</a></b> badge onto this sub-standard collection of Hoth-related System Scale sets?<br />
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Yes, I've heard all the arguments. <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">AFOLs</a></b> aren't LEGO's target market, they say. And this set allows younger Star Wars fans to get caught up with a number of older Hoth sets in one fell swoop. It's basically nonsense, though, because when it comes down to it UCS has always stood for quality, detail and fan service for older builders, and this just isn't it at all. And the thing is, even if you set aside the UCS thing it's still fundamentally an overpriced, mediocre set. I'm not going to waste any more of my time criticising the set here but I can recommend <b><i>CapnRex101</i></b>'s exhaustive <b><a href="http://brickset.com/article/20575/review-75098-assault-on-hoth">review</a></b> in the event that you want to better understand why it's so bad. Thoroughly miserable.<br />
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<b>6. <u>Best Minifigure</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: The Eleventh Doctor<br />
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<b>2016 winners: <i>Gizmo and Stripe </i></b><br />
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With the ever-increasing quality of LEGO minifigures, not to mention the ever-growing number of minifigures being released, trying to pick a winner in this category was already a nightmare, and that was before LEGO added a bunch of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Dimensions/year-2016">Dimensions</a></b> Fun Packs, Level Packs and Team packs to the mix. I've said it before, but the quality of minifigures is now so high that trying to make an even vaguely objective judgement is almost impossible, so I haven't bothered to even try this year and have instead just picked the minifigures that put the biggest smile on my face in 2016, Gizmo (below left) and Stripe (below right).<br />
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LEGO Dimensions has turned out to be a massive boon for people like me who were teenagers in the 1980's or 1990's and therefore grew up with the likes of Ghostbusters, E.T., Gremlins and the multitude of other 'retro' film and television franchises currently being snapped up by LEGO and introduced into Dimensions. The various Dimensions expansion packs are a fantastic source of exclusive and beautifully designed minifigures, and it's within these packs that many of my favourite minifigures of 2016 can be found. Gizmo and Stripe ultimately get the award, but only just - the wonderful E.T. minifigure below came very close, and a bunch of others including the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71233-1/Stay-Puft">Stay Puft Marshmallow Man</a> </b>and <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71238-1/Cyberman"><b>Cyberman</b></a> weren't that far behind either. I'm now waiting with bated breath to see what old franchises LEGO revive next - Thunderbirds, anybody?<br />
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<a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71258-1/E-T"><img border="0" src="http://images.brickset.com/sets/AdditionalImages/71258-1/71258_alt2.jpg" height="400" width="287" /></a></div>
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<b><i>Other contenders:</i> <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71012-6/Maleficent">Maleficent</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/containing-minifig-dis019">Mickey Mouse</a>, <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71013-10/Penguin-Boy">Penguin Boy</a>, <a href="https://flic.kr/p/PdTYX7">Nate in hot dog suit</a>.</b><br />
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<b>7. <u>The "Better than Expected" Award</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: LEGO Dimensions<br />
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<b>2016 winner: <i>Elves</i></b><br />
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Dismissed by some seemingly by virtue of the inclusion of minidolls rather than minifigures, the Elves theme didn't really strike a chord with me in its first year but it has increasingly piqued my interest in 2016 thanks to some rather nice-looking sets.<br />
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<a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41180-1/Ragana-s-Magic-Shadow-Castle"><img border="0" src="http://images.brickset.com/sets/large/41180-1.jpg?201605201119" height="640" width="616" /></a></div>
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I think the problem for me last year was that some of the early Elves sets such as <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41071-1/Aira-s-Creative-Workshop">41071 Aira's Creative Workshop</a></b> and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41072-1/Naida-s-Spa-Secret">41072 Naida's Spa Secret</a></b> with their brightly coloured, minidoll-populated cutesy builds felt a bit like they were a part of a covert, by-the-numbers Friends subtheme. It wasn't until the 2016 arrival of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41180-1/Ragana-s-Magic-Shadow-Castle">41180 Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle</a></b> (above), a set which I've been meaning to review on Gimme LEGO for some time now, that I really sat up and started to pay attention.<br />
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<a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41176-1/The-Secret-Market-Place"><img border="0" src="http://images.brickset.com/sets/images/41176-1.jpg?201602281011" height="332" width="640" /></a></div>
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I wouldn't say I'm entirely won over as yet - there are aspects of the theme such as the goofy-looking dragons which really haven't impressed me - but I've seen enough so far to be genuinely interested to see where Elves goes in 2017 and beyond. Definitely a theme to watch, I think.<br />
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<b>8. <u>Most Welcome LEGO-Related Announcement</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: Set 75827 Firehouse Headquarters<br />
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<b>2016 Winner: <i>London Leicester Square LEGO Brand Retail Store and pre-opening event</i></b><br />
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I'm well aware that folks in the UK have been somewhat spoiled when it comes to LEGO Brand Retail Stores; back in 2012 LEGO even opened a store a few miles from my house so I've been particularly fortunate. That having been said, the <b><a href="http://brickset.com/article/21397/flagship-store-to-open-in-leicester-square-london">announcement</a></b> back in May 2016 that LEGO would be opening the world's largest Brand Retail Store in London's Leicester Square was still met with considerable excitement in these parts.<br />
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The day before the grand opening of the new store LEGO hosted a pre-opening event at the store to which they invited over a hundred AFOLs from UK-based LEGO User Groups. Attendees got to explore the store and meet with LEGO staff including set designers Jamie Berard and Rok Kobe as well as being provided with drinks, nibbles and freebies courtesy of LEGO; you can read more about the pre-opening event <b><a href="http://brickset.com/article/24596/leicester-square-brand-store-pre-opening-event-report">here</a></b> if you're interested.<br />
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There has been a suggestion over the past year or two that the LEGO Company is currently so flush with success that it's losing interest in AFOLs. This event, not to mention a number of superb AFOL-oriented set releases in 2016, thankfully provides some reassurance that the AFOL community is still viewed as being important to the company, and long may that continue.<br />
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<b>9. <u>Gimme LEGO Reader's Choice Award</u></b><br />
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Last year's winner: Set 70751 Temple of Airjitzu.<br />
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<b>2016 winner: <i>You tell me....</i></b><br />
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OK, so you've seen my choices and now it's your turn. At the top of the page on the right of the screen you'll see a selection of LEGO sets which I consider to be some of the best that 2016 had to offer. Please carefully peruse the list and vote for your favourite set of 2016; if your favourite isn't on the list then select 'None of the above' and leave a comment below or send me an e-mail via the contact button letting me know which set you think is the best of 2016. Cast your vote - one person, one vote - and at midnight on 14th January 2017 the poll will close and we'll have our winner.... If you're reading this on a device which isn't displaying the poll as described then click "<i>view web version</i>" at the bottom of the page in order to see the nominations and cast your vote. Thanks for participating!<br />
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<b>*Voting has now closed - results coming soon!*</b><br />
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<b>Previous Gimme LEGO Awards: <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2015.html">2015</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2014.html">2014</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/the-gimme-lego-awards-2013.html">2013</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/the-gimme-lego-awards-2012.html">2012</a>, <a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/gimme-lego-awards-2011.html">2011</a></b><br />
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drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-11317999539861720152016-12-05T07:55:00.001+00:002016-12-05T08:04:07.453+00:00Friends ReunitedI emerged from my LEGO <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html" target="_blank">Dark Ages</a></b> back in 2008. I've long suspected that the number of sets released annually since then has increased year on year, and a cursory interrogation of the Brickset database would seem to support that notion. According to Brickset, LEGO released a total of 410 sets of all types in 2008. This increased to 454 in 2009 and 501 in 2010, and the total has continued to rise every year since then to the point where in 2016 we're already up to <span style="font-weight: bold;">810 sets<i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i></span>at time of writing. So basically a doubling of output in the space of less than 10 years - amazing!<br />
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It's fair to say that for much of the past decade my purchasing of sets has grown in a similar fashion. It was modest at first, but rapidly accelerated as my passion for the hobby increased. I reckon that I probably hit my purchasing peak back in 2013 or 2014, but since then I've increasingly tried to put the brakes on due to limited storage space. A few specific themes have borne the brunt of this restraint, notably City and Friends. From a City perspective I've admittedly continued to cherry-pick some specific sets, and I've been unable to resist some of the excellent summer City subthemes such as <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-City/subtheme-Deep-Sea-Explorers" target="_blank">Deep Sea Explorers</a></b> and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-City/subtheme-Volcano-Explorers" target="_blank">Volcano Explorers</a></b>, but in truth it hasn't been much of a hardship to forego the annual slew of City Police and Fire sets. Likewise for Friends, while I've felt some regret at passing on a few sets, for instance <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41122-1/Adventure-Camp-Tree-House" target="_blank">41122 Adventure Camp Tree House</a></b> (below) and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41134-1/Heartlake-Performance-School" target="_blank">41134 Heartlake Performance School</a></b>, in the main it's been fairly easy to abstain given the similarity of many sets to previous Friends releases.<br />
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All that having been said, regardless of the rules you set yourself, sometimes something comes along that forces you to make an exception, and <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41129-1/Amusement-Park-Hot-Dog-Van" target="_blank">41129 Amusement Park Hot Dog Van</a></b> definitely falls into that category; when Brickset threw up an <b><a href="http://brickset.com/article/24190/discounts-at-amazon-co-uk" target="_blank">alert</a></b> back in October informing me that the set was 32% off RRP on Amazon I immediately pounced and pushed it to the top of my build queue.<br />
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It's been a while since I last built a Friends set, but as far as I can ascertain the box features the same scalloped edges and pretty much the same colour scheme that the Friends theme has been using since it debuted back in 2012. The branding has been subtly tweaked, though, and one obvious evolution concerns the five Friends themselves - while they continue to look out from the top right of the front of the box (above) like they've always done, their hairstyles and outfits are distinctly more glamorous and less "girl next door" than I remember. Looking beyond the branding, the front of the box showcases the completed build, with silhouettes of the Friends amusement park space ride and ferris wheel just about visible in the background, while the back of the box (below) is dominated by a number of vignettes highlighting various aspects of the set.<br />
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The box opens via a couple of thumb tabs and contains two numbered bags of elements, a single instruction booklet and a small sticker sheet which is loose in the box. You can see a scan of the sticker sheet below; note that all the areas which appear black are actually silver mirrored, but unfortunately this finish can't be reproduced by my scanner.<br />
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The cover of the instruction booklet can be seen below. The booklet comprises 64 pages from cover to cover, and in addition to the building instructions the contents include a one-page inventory of elements, three pages of advertising for the Friends theme, and a single page of advertising for the rather impressive <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Elves/year-2016">2016 Elves line up</a></b>.<br />
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The set contains two minidolls, Stephanie and Nate. While this version of <b><i>Stephanie</i></b> (below) is unique to the set, her bright yellow hair complete with dark pink sun visor, her dark purple skirt with dark purple and magenta shoes, and her light flesh head with bright light blue eyes, have previously appeared as a part of other minidolls. Her torso featuring a medium azure top printed with a palm tree pattern is however currently exclusive to this minidoll and has yet to appear elsewhere.<br />
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As you can see from the picture below, Stephanie's torso is embossed with an incongruous "<i>© 2009 LEGO</i>" copyright notice which would have been better placed out of sight in my opinion. The head isn't back-printed, so there's unfortunately no alternate facial expression hidden beneath Stephanie's ponytail.<br />
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<b><i>Nate</i></b> has to my knowledge only previously appeared in a single set, <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41101-1/Heartlake-Grand-Hotel">41101 Heartlake Grand Hotel</a></b> from last year, and the version of Nate you get in this set (below) is exclusive to the set. All of the elements making up this minidoll have appeared elsewhere, although the dark red cropped trousers with dark red and white sneakers, and the hooped torso print, have each only featured once before.<br />
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Like Stephanie, Nate's lower back carries an embossed copyright notice (below) although in this case it's dated 2011 rather than 2009. Once again there's no alternate head print. A pair of small dark red pockets are moulded into the back of Nate's shorts, and the shorts also feature larger moulded side pockets.<br />
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Nate isn't just included in the set to keep Stephanie company - he actually has a job to do advertising her hot dog business. To help with this he's provided with the wonderful <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-tan-hotdog-minifig-costume-18992">hot dog suit</a></b> that you can see below. This element has only previously appeared on one occasion, as part of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71008-14/Hot-Dog-Man">Hot Dog Man</a></b> who was one of the Series 13 Collectable Minifigures released in 2015. In order to fit the suit you remove Nate's hair and just slide the element down over his head and body. It's interesting that the suit fits both minidolls and standard minifigures. I think it looks great - definitely a highlight of the set for me!<br />
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Before I move on to the build, a quick comment about minidolls in general. When I first wrote about them back in November of 2011 (you can read my post <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/girls-stuff.html">here</a></b>) I was pretty dismissive, questioning why LEGO was abandoning the much-loved minifigure for its then-upcoming Friends theme, before rashly stating that I wouldn't be buying any of the Friends sets as a result. Barely two months later however I had broken that pledge, and in my review of <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/3931-1/Emma-s-Splash-Pool">3931 Emma's Splash Pool</a></b> I went so far as to write "<i>I can't deny that Emma is cute and appealing, with an almost anime-like quality</i>" - quite an about-turn, that.... In addition to their continued use in the Friends sets, and their presence in the well-received Elves theme, minidolls will also feature in the new <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-DC-Super-Hero-Girls">DC Super Hero Girls</a></b> theme which will debut in 2017; my enthusiasm for upcoming Super Hero minidolls such as <b><i>Poison Ivy</i></b> (below) suggests that I've now been well and truly won over....<br />
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And so to the build. Bag number one kicks off with assembly of the set's two minidolls as previously described, and then it's on to a number of small accessory builds (below) including a distorted funfair mirror, which consists of a mirror sticker applied to a white 6 x 2 curved slope, a couple of bar stools, and what LEGO describe as "a camera with instant photo function" complete with a stickered 2 x 2 tile to represent the photo. There's also a carnival cut-out board consisting of a stickered 1 x 6 x 5 trans-clear panel; this is topped off with a pair of medium azure 3 x 1 curved slopes only previously seen in nine sets, and a stickered dark purple 2 x 2 round tile which is only appearing in a set for the fourth time ever. The carnival cut-out board is mounted on a lime 4 x 8 semi-circular plate which has only previously appeared in a total of four sets.<br />
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With the accessory builds completed it's time to make a start on the hot dog van itself. This is built on a dark pink 2 x 14 plate only previously available in two sets. There's otherwise little in the way of rare or unusual parts until we get to the bulbous <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">SNOT</a></b> front and rear of the vehicle which feature pairs of tan 3 x 3 x 2 round corner bricks with dome top which are only appearing in a set for the third time ever in this colour. These elements are mounted on top of a tan 3 x 6 half round plate with 1 x 2 cutout which was previously only available in seven sets in this colour. The trans-orange and trans-neon orange elements that you can see towards the rear of the interior form part of the grill where the hot dogs are cooked.<br />
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Construction of the hot dog van continues with completion of the grill which is, appropriately enough, topped off with a number of modified 1 x 2 tiles with grille. A cash register consisting of a 2 x 2 45 degree slope brick printed with a pink, purple and yellow <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-slope-45-2-x-2-with-cash-register-decoration-24566" target="_blank">cash register pattern</a> </b>is then installed; this element has only featured in five sets including this one. Trans-clear 1 x 6 x 3 windscreen elements are then dropped into place at the front and back of the van, and stacks of dark purple 1 x 1 round bricks, which are only appearing in a set for the sixth time ever, are installed so as to provide the roof with additional support. Mustard and tomato ketchup dispensers are then placed on the medium azure counter top, as are a couple of hot dogs in buns, thus providing me with my first ever up-close and personal encounter with the wonderful <a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-tan-bread-bun-25386" target="_blank"><b>tan hot dog bun element</b></a> which is only appearing in a set for the sixth time. Talking of hot dog buns, the roof, which can be removed in order to provide access to the interior of the van, resembles a giant hot dog bun thanks to the use of various tan curved slope elements including <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-tan-brick-1-x-4-x-1-33-with-curved-top-6191-10314" target="_blank">modified 1 x 4 x 1 1/3 bricks with curved top</a></b> which are only appearing in a set for the eighth time ever. The roof features a canopy made from alternating red and dark pink <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-dark-pink-brick-1-x-2-x-1-33-with-curved-top-6091" target="_blank">modified 1 x 2 x 1 1/3 bricks with curved top</a></b> which have only previously appeared in a total of seven sets in dark pink. Also located on the roof is a dining area featuring four seats and a medium azure round table; there's a cushion on each seat consisting of a stickered dark purple 2 x 2 round tile. With the roof completed the wheels are attached and we're done.<br />
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Access to the rooftop dining area is via a ladder which can be seen in the rear-view picture below, and when the ladder is folded down Stephanie can gain entry to the van's interior. The back of the van is pretty much indistinguishable from the front, with only the absence of a steering wheel giving it away.<br />
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You can see the finished build below complete with all the accessories and both minidolls.<br />
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OK, so you don't need me to tell you what a bizarre-looking vehicle the hot dog van is, but it was precisely that which attracted me to the set in the first place and I wasn't disappointed - it's a genuinely fun set which put a big smile on my face. The build is pretty quick and straightforward, with accurate placement of the stickers probably providing the greatest challenge, and it's never dull thanks to all the humorous details plus a decent selection of unusual and/or interesting elements. There's also a good amount of play value for the younger builder thanks to all the accessories, not to mention the inclusion of the hot dog suit which is absolute genius in my humble opinion....<br />
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Set<b> <a href="http://brickset.com/sets/41129-1/Amusement-Park-Hot-Dog-Van">41129 Amusement Park Hot Dog Van</a></b> contains 243 elements and retails for <b>£24.99 / US$29.99</b>, although like me you may be able to get it at a decent discount from Amazon (<b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEGO-41129-Friends-Amusement-Construction/dp/B01AC19QNI/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&keywords=lego%2041129&linkCode=ur2&qid=1480889376&s=kids&sr=1-1&tag=gimm-21" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">UK</a></b>/<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CU9WV00/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01CU9WV00&linkCode=as2&tag=bargainwatchusa-20&linkId=e3504e920ac6235de610bd1aa3860dd3" target="_blank"><b>US</b></a>) or other retailers.drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-61728259750459084242016-11-10T07:40:00.000+00:002016-11-10T07:40:59.140+00:00Pick up a PenguinI'm a fairly frequent visitor to my local LEGO Brand Store, and have been known to spend the odd few minutes at the Pick-a-Brick wall (below).... For the uninitiated, this is an expanse of wall embedded with clear perspex containers, each of which contains multiples of a single element in a particular colour; you pick up a large or small plastic cup from the display depending on your requirements and budget, fill it with as many elements as you can squeeze into it, and pay a set price depending on the size of cup you selected. While the choice of different elements is obviously limited, it can still be a good way of getting hold of elements you're looking for, albeit not necessarily at the cheapest price. I often find myself being seduced by all the shiny new LEGO and can't resist filling one or more cups with elements that I convince myself will be useful but which in practice generally end up being added to my stock of loose bricks and never seen again.<br />
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Anyway, in April 2015 LEGO started to roll out changes to the familiar Pick-a-Brick format. A small section of the Pick-a-Brick wall was given over to a new Pick-a-Model station (below) featuring a couple of simple builds and a bunch of blister packs dangling from metal hangers. The blister packs feature three empty compartments plus an additional space above which accommodates a leaflet containing a set of instructions for one of the aforementioned simple models together with a breakdown of the parts needed to build it. Basically, you're supposed to walk around the Pick-a-Brick wall collecting up the necessary elements and put them in the blister pack - a do-it-yourself official LEGO set, if you will.<br />
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I think it's fair to say that AFOL reaction to the Pick-a-Model initiative has been, to put it mildly, rather mixed. Some bemoaned the loss of precious Pick-a-Brick slots in the wall, thus reducing the available element selection in stores. Also, reports started to come back of some stores stopping general Pick-a-Brick customers from selecting elements needed for the Pick-a-Model builds, although this wasn't the case for all stores and hasn't been my personal experience. Some have also criticised the cost of the models, which have an RRP of <b>£3.99</b> in the UK and <b>$4.99</b> in the U.S.. On the flipside, some of the Pick-a-Model builds have been quite cute, for instance the panda below. The models on offer change periodically, and you can see a selection of the builds that have been available in stores to date <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/theme-Miscellaneous/subtheme-Pick-A-Model" target="_blank">here</a></b>. <br />
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Although I've been aware of the availability of Pick-a-Model for well over a year now I've never previously indulged. This is mainly because when I've visited a store and remembered to check what builds were available they haven't particularly interested me. That however changed recently when I saw that one of the current models was a penguin - I can't resist a penguin. So I grabbed the relevant blister pack, dutifully filled it with the necessary elements from the Pick-a-Brick wall, and handed over my £3.99.</div>
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You can see the packaging above; by this point I'd already opened up the blister pack and emptied out the contents of the element compartments in preparation for building. It's worth noting that the packaging is resealable, so that when you're done with the build you can take the model apart and safely store the elements and instruction booklet back in the original pack if you want. The front cover of the leaflet can be seen below, complete with an image of the completed build and an inventory of the elements required to build it.</div>
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At only 39 elements it's plainly neither a long nor a tricky build, and none of the constituent elements are particularly uncommon apart from the <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-round-tile-1-x-1-with-groove-with-eyelash-decoration-19241" target="_blank">1 x 1 round tile printed with an eyelash pattern</a></b> which has only previously appeared in a total of nine sets. You can see the completed build below; the main model, which features hinged flippers, is accompanied by a smaller penguin made up of just eight elements.</div>
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Some texture is added to the rear of the main build (below) via the use of black <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-brick-1-x-2-with-grille-2877" target="_blank">modified 1 x 2 bricks with grille</a></b>, although to be honest it's barely worth the effort since from behind it's completely unrecognisable as a penguin anyway....</div>
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LEGO has produced a few brick-built penguins over the years, but as far as I can tell these Pick-a-Model penguins are the first standalone brick-built penguins that LEGO has released since 2009 when the little fellow below briefly appeared in stores as a Mini Monthly Build. Since then all we've had from a brick-built perspective have been the teeny, TNT-toting remote-controlled penguins included in <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/76010-1/Batman-The-Penguin-Face-off" target="_blank">76010 Batman: The Penguin Face off</a> </b>from 2014, although we have at least had a couple of cute one-piece moulded penguins to tide us over, specifically <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-penguin-15635" target="_blank">this one</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-penguin-27987" target="_blank">this one</a></b>, not to mention <b><a href="http://brickset.com/sets/71013-10/Penguin-Boy" target="_blank">Penguin Boy</a></b> from the latest series of collectable minifigures and even a <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-duplo-penguin-28151-54651" target="_blank">Duplo</a></b> effort for good measure.</div>
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While I do think that the Pick-a-Model penguins are quite cute (below) it's hard to dispute the accusation that this 'set', and indeed the other Pick-a-Model builds, offer rather poor value for money. In my case this concern was partially mitigated by the fact that store staff were happy for me to stuff the compartments in the blister pack with as many elements from the Pick-a-Brick wall as I could fit in, meaning that in practice I actually had enough elements to build multiple copies of the set rather than just the one. I'm not however sure if all stores will interpret the rules so liberally, and I'd be interested to hear whether other customers have had the same experience as I have. I also have some sympathy with the concern that this initiative reduces the number of Pick-a-Brick element slots in stores, although to be honest the selection is so limited anyway that the chances of finding exactly what you're looking for were already pretty miniscule.<br />
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In summary, Pick-a-Model is an interesting attempt by LEGO to increase visitor engagement with the Pick-a-Brick wall. Providing store staff continue to allow me to completely fill the element compartments in the blister pack, and LEGO's designers can offer up some appealing little builds, then there's a reasonable chance that I'll pick up more of them in future.drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-795049240604897581.post-74282789597653770102016-10-10T08:03:00.000+01:002016-10-10T08:14:52.895+01:00Station!Back in June of this year I posted a review of <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/hall-or-nothing.html">Set 10224 Town Hall</a> </b>(below). One of the reasons for building the Town Hall when I did, and indeed building <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/playing-catch-up.html">Set 10243 Parisian Restaurant</a></b> a few months earlier, is that I was planning to use these and other Modular Buildings to populate my work-in-progress <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/sidetracked.html">LEGO city layout</a></b>, at least until such time as I got around to designing and building a few suitable <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/p/lego-glossary.html">MOCs</a></b> of my own to take their place.<br />
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Having finished building the Town Hall and placed it alongside a couple of other Modular Buildings, however, I started having second thoughts about dropping it into my layout. It dwarfed the surrounding buildings and just didn't look right positioned alongside them. So what to do with it, then - should I just omit it from my layout? Thankfully an alternative solution occurred to me. On account of the Town Hall's clock tower, its dark orange colour and its arched windows I've always thought that it was vaguely reminiscent of London's historic and spectacular St. Pancras railway station (image below from <b><a href="http://www.architectureweek.com/2012/0229/design_1-1.html" target="_blank">Architecture Week</a></b>); given that I was planning to include a railway station in my layout, why not try to repurpose the Town Hall into a railway station?<br />
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The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea, although it was immediately evident that there would be a fair bit of work to do. For starters, the Town Hall would have to be expanded substantially to do the job. You can see the intended location of the station marked in blue on the picture of my layout below. The plan is for the station to occupy a total area of 96 studs by 48 studs, which would mean expanding the Town Hall to three times its original width and also constructing a 16-stud wide canopy at the rear to overhang the station platform and railway track. <br />
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So how to proceed? Well, I'm a big fan of sketching things out virtually before diving into the bricks, and my sketchpad of choice is LEGO's own virtual building tool LDD which you can download for free from <b><a href="http://ldd.lego.com/en-gb/download/">here</a></b> if you don't already have it. The first thing I needed to do was to find an LDD file for the Town Hall, and in this regard I was indebted to <b><a href="http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/41226-key-topic-official-lego-sets-made-in-ldd/">Eurobricks</a></b> which has a comprehensive library of LDD files of official sets which have been virtually assembled by Eurobricks members. Having located and downloaded the Town Hall LDD file I then spent a couple of hours on LDD virtually sketching out an idea for an expanded version which might conceivably fit into my layout. You can see a screen grab of my sketch below - I basically extended out the ground, first and second floors of the Town Hall, leaving an opening at ground floor level to provide access to a staircase down to the pre-existing subway platform below. A mirror image of the extension would attach to the right side of the Town Hall, creating a building which would occupy the best part of three baseplates in width.<br />
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Having arrived at a concept that I was basically happy with I was too impatient to develop the sketch any further and instead turned my attention to the job of sourcing the bricks I'd need to translate the concept into a full-blown LEGO model. Ideally I'd have taken the easy route and just shelled out for two additional Town Hall sets to part out for the elements that I'd need, but the price of the set has skyrocketed since its retirement, to the point where I'd likely have had to stump up between £350 and £400 for just a single unboxed copy. I therefore resigned myself to ordering the elements that I didn't already have from Bricklink and set about putting together a wanted list. This would of course have been a lot easier if I'd completed my LDD design rather than lazily skipping most of it, but as it was I ended up having to make a lot of educated guesses regarding of how many of each element I'd need. With my distinctly flaky wanted list drawn up, I placed a couple of pricy Bricklink orders and waited for the elements to arrive which they duly did over the next couple of weeks.<br />
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You can see the ground floor modifications above (click to enlarge). First of all I swapped out the Town Hall's tan baseplate for a dark bluish grey one; I anticipate that a small section of the side edge of the baseplate will be visible in the final build and I knew that I'd get irritated by the sight of a thin sliver of tan where there shouldn't be any. I then demolished the front left corner of the ground floor so I could attach the arch, after which it was basically a case of following my LDD sketch. My intention was as much as possible to incorporate architectural features and visual cues from the original Town Hall in the hope that my modifications didn't jar too much and the building ended up looking like a coherent whole rather than a Town Hall with a bunch of random stuff tacked on to it. Consistent with the original Town Hall design each floor of the building is topped off with tiles so that it can be readily detached from the floors above and below; this obviously provides access to the interior as well as making the model a bit more portable which will be welcome in the event that I ever manage to finish the layout and need to transport it. With the front of the ground floor extension complete I moved on to the first floor extension (below).<br />
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The first floor extension incorporates three additional windows which are pretty much identical to those found in the Town Hall's first floor, right down to the window boxes and the use of white car mudguards for the cornicing. I also constructed a variation on the Town Hall's central first floor doorway and balcony on the front left corner of the extension which required a bit of modification to get it to fit neatly on top of the corresponding section of the ground floor. As mentioned in my <b><a href="http://gimmelego.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/hall-or-nothing.html">review of the Town Hall</a></b> some of the elements found in the set such as the dark orange 1 x 8 x 2 arch, which you can see above the balcony, are fairly uncommon although thankfully they aren't very expensive on Bricklink; the dark orange modified 1 x 2 log bricks that you can see between the windows are also fairly uncommon, appearing in just 13 sets in total, but again they're thankfully inexpensive and also surprisingly adundant on Bricklink which is a relief given how quickly I burned through them while building this floor.<br />
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My strategy for the second floor extension (above) was basically the same as that for the first floor - build some additional windows similar in design to those in the Town Hall and then reproduce the central second floor feature, in this case a larger window with ornate cornicing and a windowbox, and modify it slightly to fit on top of the corresponding section below. I also continued out the characteristic cornicing pattern, consisting predominantly of white <b><a href="http://www.brickowl.com/catalog/lego-white-brick-1-x-2-with-groove-4216">modified 1 x 2 bricks with groove</a></b>, and the light bluish grey detailing beneath the windows, into the extension. The dark orange 1 x 4 arches, which you can see above the smaller windows, were probably the hardest elements to source for this part of the build; they've only appeared in two sets to date including the Town Hall and aren't stocked by many Bricklink sellers.<br />
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And so finally on to the roof (above). I did initially consider including a smaller version of the central clock tower on the front left corner of the roof, and I even had a play with a few designs, but the idea was eventually abandoned as everything I tried looked too fussy and it became evident that it wasn't really necessary. I did however retain the design of the balustrade running along the front of the roof, and I also decided to mark the construction of my Town Hall extension with the date that I started work on it; creating the '2016' numbering in the same style as the Town Hall's original '1891' provided an interesting challenge and I was glad that I had my Town Hall instruction booklets to hand. <br />
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With the extension on the left side of the Town Hall completed to my satisfaction the process of mirroring the design on the other side of the building should be considerably more straightforward, although I strongly suspect that I've underestimated how many bricks I'll need so another Bricklink order will likely be required. I also have to substantially modify the rear of the Town Hall to incorporate a station platform and a canopy to overhang it. I'll post an update when I've made further progress.drdavewatfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17046583913458496903noreply@blogger.com1