No Consolation

Sometimes in life you just have to accept that you can't have what you want. Regardless of whether you want a Ferrari but have to make do with a Ford, or you want to visit Barbados but can only afford Benidorm, or you want a chrome C-3PO but can only stretch to a pearl gold one, compromise is where it's at for everyone except perhaps the super rich.

I wrote a while back (read it here) about my quest to track down Set 3450 Statue of Liberty (above) and my inability to get a boxed example at a price I was willing to pay. Nothing's changed on that front. I was therefore intrigued to read on the Brickset Forum that LEGO were releasing another version of this iconic monument, and wondered whether getting hold of this new version might help to ease the pain of missing out on the original. Unfortunately, the set was only going to be made available in the Rockefeller Center LEGO Store in New York City, at least initially, but thanks to the sterling efforts of Brickset Forum members DaddyWhale and Rocao the set was soon winging its way over to the UK.

You can see a picture of the sealed packaging above. OK, so at 39 pieces it was never really going to make up for the absence of Set 3450 Statue of Liberty with its 2882 pieces, but we can dream...

Some of the more interesting pieces in the latest version are shown above. The green 3 x 2 wedge plates have only previously appeared in 5 sets other than this one; their potential for use outside this set is however limited by the fact that they're all left-sided. The green modified 2 x 2 plate with 1 stud has previously only appeared in 8 sets, and as far as I can tell, the unprinted green minifigure head is unique to this set. The green 2 x 2 dish has previously appeared in 10 sets.

The building instructions (below - click to enlarge) are of the single sheet "folds down to a postage stamp" variety and consist of just 11 building steps with no advertisements or other distractions in sight.

The build is predictably short and sweet, and within a few short moments of pouring the pieces out of the bag you have the finished model below. And no, I didn't build it wrong - it really is supposed to look like that, honest....

I wouldn't say I'm one for undue criticism, but this really isn't one of the better likenesses of the Statue of Liberty that you'll ever encounter.... Firstly there's the colour - LEGO well and truly nailed this back in 2000 with Set 3450, using sand green bricks to perfectly capture the colour of the oxidised copper patina covering the actual statue's surface. It's a crying shame therefore that this most recent LEGO version is regular green rather than sand green; I suspect this is because some of the parts don't currently exist in sand green and it wasn't cost effective to make them just for this set. Whatever the reason, regular green just looks wrong. Then there's the design itself.... Where do I start ? To my eyes, the tan plinth is probably the best part of it, with the statue itself looking decidedly bizarre - it looks more like a woman in ceremonial Japanese dress than the intended subject matter.... Even the torch looks wrong, jutting unnecessarily outwards at 45 degrees rather than predominantly upwards. All in all, it's pretty close to what the young and trendy (which I'm not) might describe as an "epic fail".

So in case you hadn't already realised, I'm afraid this one doesn't exactly hit the mark. My wife thinks it's quite cute, which given her artistic tendencies and generally good taste I really can't understand, but for me it's a decidedly poor rendition. It certainly doesn't ease the pain of missing out on Set 3450, that's for sure. All is not lost, however - I do at least have the lovely Collectable Minifigure version (below) to keep me company !

My lack of enthusiasm for Set 40026 Statue of Liberty notwithstanding, thanks again to DaddyWhale and Rocao in the U.S. for getting hold of the set for me and sending it over to the UK - cheers, guys !

Bucket List

It seems that many AFOLs have taken a leave of absence from LEGO between childhood and adulthood - their so-called Dark Ages - and I'm no exception. On returning to the fray, my delight at rediscovering the joys of LEGO was perhaps slightly tempered by the realisation that a lot of wonderful sets had come and gone while I'd been away. While "wonderful" is clearly a subjective term, and my definition of a wonderful set isn't necessarily the same as yours, it's a sad fact of life that many of the retired sets that I look upon with wonderment and desire seem to be coveted by many other people as well. At least if the cost of getting hold of them now is anything to go by....

So below, in no particular order, are five of the sets on my LEGO bucket list - sets that came and went while I was away and which I made it my business to track down and add to my collection before I expire. Five this week, and another 5 next week, some of which I've now managed to get hold of, and others which still elude me.

1. Set 10019 Rebel Blockade Runner

There are certainly sleeker, more beautiful ships in the Star Wars universe than the Rebel Blockade Runner. And yet, from the first moment I saw pictures of this set I just loved it - a big, beefy, uncompromising brute of a model in the best "take no prisoners" UCS tradition. Unfortunately, it's been out of production for almost 10 years, and a decision to buy it nowadays really cannot be taken lightly. I managed to source a complete, boxed example from eBay in February 2009 for £260. It seemed very expensive at the time, but I suspect I'd have to pay even more now for a boxed one in similar condition. Sure, you can take the easy way out and content yourself with the newer version, Set 10198 Tantive IV, but per my comments in a previous blog post, the newer version is puny in comparison and just doesn't cut the mustard. IMHO, of course....

2. Set 10020 Santa Fe Super Chief

Having been a fan of LEGO trains in my youth, I was astonished to see how far they had evolved when I spied this one for the first time. Even now, when we have a variety of excellent trains currently available at retail, this locomotive still looks beautiful to me, and I can only guess at the wonderment that train fans must have felt when this one first appeared in 2002. You can read more about the set and see more pictures of it here in a previous blog post.

I'm pleased to report that unlike the expensive Rebel Blockade Runner above, this beautiful locomotive isn't (yet) out of reach of the average collector; while it's likely to cost more to secure one now than the £39.99 I paid in June 2009 for a complete, boxed example, you should be able to get one from eBay for between £50 and £100 depending on condition.

3. Set 3450 Statue of Liberty

For some the appeal of this set is the mountain of uber-rare sand green bricks you get with it; for me it's just a love of LEGO sculptures and the interesting subject matter. I've lost count of the number of eBay auctions for this set that I've lost on account of not bidding high enough, and I'm not optimistic of ever finding a boxed example for what I'd consider to be a 'reasonable' amount. Still, we live in hope.....


4. Set 918 One Man Space Ship

Anybody who regularly visits this blog must be sick and tired of reading about how much I love the classic space sets of the late 70's and early 80's - I'm always going on about them. Set 928 Galaxy Explorer was one of my most cherished sets when I was a child, and I still have it to this day. I never owned its baby brother, however - Set 918 One Man Space Ship - and few LEGO purchases on eBay have given me more pleasure than the immaculate boxed example I snagged in January 2009 for a little under £30.  They aren't too hard to find on eBay, although if you're looking for one in good condition with box and instructions you might have to be patient. Alternatively, head over to Bricklink where you can get one with a box for not much more than £50 right now.

5. Set 4558 Metroliner

Released in 1991, the Metroliner has become one of the most coveted of all the LEGO trains, so much so that it was re-released in 2001 under the 'Legends' banner. It's a classic - one of the earliest LEGO trains to actually look reasonably realistic, and with livery highly reminiscent of the Amtrak trains I've seen during trips to the US. In addition to the train itself, the set comes with a 9 volt motor and track to run it on as well as a station platform and 11 minifigures, although strangely no voltage regulator or transformer.

I'm delighted to report that thanks to eBay, my quest for Set 4558 Metroliner finally ended just last week with the arrival of a pristine, boxed example for a little over £100. Now to try and find a club car (below) to go with it......

I'll share 5 more sets from my bucket list next time.  In the meanwhile, I'd be interested to know which sets you missed when you were off doing something else and now just have to find at all costs - feel free to post a comment below.

And if anyone's got a boxed Statue of Liberty going cheap, you know where to come.....

:-)

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