Blast from the Past : Set 695 Racing Car

As if I don't wallow self-indulgently enough on this blog already, I figured it was about time I kicked off another series of occasional postings, this time focusing on some of the sets of my youth.... OK, so there's an obvious overlap with some of my "Favourite Set" postings, such as this one and this one, but nobody said this blogging thing had to be an exact science, right ?

Anyway, I'm going to start off with one of the sets I have the fondest memories of, Set 695 Racing Car. Known as Set 491 Formula 1 Racer in the U.S., this little beauty was released in 1976 in the U.K. and 1977 in the U.S.. It contains 67 pieces, and I have absolutely no clue how much it cost. Around 65 pence, maybe. Or maybe not - no idea.

A while back I was able to dredge up most of the original parts to the actual set I owned when I was a kid, and I also managed to find a dog-eared copy of the original instructions tucked away in an old suitcase in the loft. I am however on an ongoing quest to try and track down boxed versions of some of my favourite childhood sets, and managed to pick up the set complete with (slightly battered) box from eBay last year.

You can see some shots of the less-than-perfect box below (click to enlarge). Many set boxes of this size (and smaller) from the 1970's had a major design flaw - in order to open them you had no choice but to interfere with the picture of the model on the front, and it would never quite come back together again when you tried to close the box.... That having been said, whenever I see set boxes in this style I am literally engulfed by waves of nostalgia. There's really no messing about here - you get a basic image of the model on the front of the box, a graphical representation of the model on all four sides of the box, and a couple of alternative views of the model on the back, none of which are encumbered by anything so frivolous as a flash background or other nonsense...

The instructions are typical of the day - a concertina arangement which folds down into an area not much bigger than the size of a postage stamp....

Unfolding the instruction leaflet reveals just seven building steps, a far cry from the hand-holding we get these days - no part call-outs or one-piece-per-step on view here. Even so, it's a straightforward build all the same.

The reverse of the building instructions features a delicious walk down memory lane for the oldies among us - advertisements for eleven 1970's sets including a couple of bona fide classics such as Set 370 Police Headquarters which is another of my childhood favourites

The parts palette is mostly unremarkable, although there are a few noteworthy parts (below) such as the old gray tap with yellow base, the yellow 1 x 1 round brick with solid stud (LEGO changed to using open studs for this element in the early 1980's), the milky-white technic axle (last seen in 1977) and the yellow modified 2 x 2 plate with helicopter tail rotor holder. There's nothing that can't be sourced from Bricklink or elsewhere for pennies, however, meaning that it'd be very inexpensive to collect together the parts and build one of these models for yourself if you felt so inclined.

A few enjoyable minutes later and you can see the finished model below (click to enlarge) - 67 pieces of childhood ecstasy. Not quite big enough to fit a minifigure, but not far short, and you can't imagine just how exotic this sleek Formula 1 machine seemed when my age was in single digits. I love the use of the taps; not quite sure what they're supposed to be, but regardless they still look great next to that mean 8-cylinder engine, as do the twin exhausts cunningly disguised as helicopter rotor holders which you can see peeking out from beneath the rear wing....

In some ways this set feels like a bit of an oddity, with a scale larger than most of the simple LEGO vehicles of my childhood but significantly smaller than the impressive hobby sets such as the 1926 Renault (below) released in 1975.

I picked up my boxed example from eBay last year for a little over £15 including postage. Most of the parts are cheap as chips if you want to source the parts to build your own, but if you're on the lookout for one with a box and don't have the patience to wait for one to turn up on eBay you can buy one right now on Bricklink - at the time of writing prices for a used, boxed example start at around £16 plus postage, although if you want a new, sealed example you're looking at upwards of £80 all in. 

Tight squeeze ? Time to diet...

A classic set - I love it !

Dreams Can Come True...

OK, so let's just say that you design and build a cracking LEGO model, and that by some stroke of good fortune someone with influence within the LEGO organisation sees your creation and falls in love with it. They manage to persuade the powers that be within LEGO to produce and sell your model, and they give you a share of the proceeds. Then LEGO offer you a job as a set designer, and you live happily ever after.... I suspect many young (and not so young) LEGO builders have fantasised about a scenario like this at some point. Just a pity that it won't ever happen.

Except.... Welcome to Cuusoo, where all your dreams can come true ! Maybe. According to the website, Cuusoo has apparently been "partnering with The LEGO Group to create a user innovative design system for people to create and market their own LEGO sets in the Japanese market" since 2008, although it only came to my attention sometime last year. Basically, you upload your own design to the Cuusoo site where it's then displayed for all to see. If the public like your creation they can vote for it, and if it gets sufficient votes, LEGO undertake to review the design with a view to putting their own version of it into production and giving you 1% of net sales. Nice !

Three fan-designed models have been greenlit since Cusoo's inception. Set 21100 Shinkai 6500 Submarine and Set 21101 Hayabusa are already on sale, having hit the 2,000 votes required to trigger LEGO review when Cuusoo was Japan-only. Cuusoo went global last year, at which point the number of votes needed to trigger LEGO review jumped to 10,000. Only one set has been given the thumbs up since then - Set 21102 Minecraft Micro World - and the release of this set is imminent.

Set 21100 Shinkai 6500 Submarine

Set 21101 Hayabusa

This isn't the first time that LEGO have released fan-designed sets, of course. Many of you will remember the Factory theme, which consisted of fan-designed creations released between 2005 and 2008. For me, the clear pick of these is Set 10190 Market Street, which was designed to fit with LEGO's range of modular buildings. Released at an RRP of £59.99, this sought-after set now regularly fetches more than £500 on eBay and Bricklink. In marked contrast, the other Factory releases really didn't hit the same heights, and I still shake my head in wonderment at how the likes of Set 10192 Space Skulls was ever deemed fit for release....

Set 10190 Market Street - great !

Set 10192 Space Skulls - not so great....

While I think Cuusoo has been broadly welcomed, it has come in for criticism on a few fronts. One problem is the way that viable, quality designs can quickly become lost in a sea of mediocrity, much like the "needle in a haystack" syndrome that afflicts the likes of Apple's iTunes Store. LEGO have acknowledged this, and have recently started to apply a greater degree of quality control to proceedings, which should hopefully cut down on some of the nonsense. Some folks have also complained at what they see as the potential for Cuusoo to be abused, and cite the recent success of the Minecraft Micro World project as evidence for this. The Minecraft design hit 10,000 votes in double quick time as a result of the huge global Minecraft community being skilfully mobilized to hit the Cuusoo site on masse and vote it through. Critics have however argued that the majority of these individuals would be unlikely to ever actually buy the set, although time will tell I guess. With regard to the Minecraft set (picture below), my issue is less about any possible abuse of Cuusoo and more to do with the set itself which looks pretty uninspiring to me; certainly it's hard to see many outside the Minecraft community having any interest in it.

Set 21102 Minecraft Micro World

A fourth Cuusoo project recently passed the threshold for LEGO review. The Winchester, a project by yatkuu which was modelled on the pub from the movie "Shaun of the Dead", recently hit 10,000 votes and is currently under consideration by the LEGO company. Given the obvious potential disconnect between the blood and guts subject matter of the movie and LEGOs brand standards, this one might not get the green light, however - in the words of the LEGO Cuusoo Team "due to the themes behind Shaun of the Dead there would need to be some significant internal discussion for us to agree to produce this as a product". The Cuusoo team do however go on to acknowledge that Shaun of the Dead is a comedy, that The Winchester is presented in a humorous fashion, and that even though the zombie theme puts the project "at the edge of what we produce" they recognise that LEGO do produce other products "where themes of violence and death play a significant role". So some hope, then....fingers crossed !

"The Winchester" by yatkuu

As a way of doing my bit to try and prevent some excellent designs on Cuusoo from being lost in a sea of mediocrity, I'd like to quickly highlight a few of my favourites in the hope that some of you may decide to support them and help them towards their goal.... First up is Exo Suit by Peter Reid. Better known in the online community as Legoloverman, Pete is renowned for his superb Neo-Classic Space creations (you can see his Flickr stream here) and he's submitted the cracker below. At time of writing, this gem already has more than 2,000 votes on the board after less than a month. Click here to add your vote.

Exo Suit by Pete Reid

Next is Pete Brookdale's stunning UCS AT-AT walker, which I've featured in previous blog postings here and here. Pete, better known as Cavegod (see his Flickr stream here), has finally bowed to pressure from various people including me and submitted his AT-AT design to Cuusoo a few days ago. You can vote for it here.

All hail Cavegod's UCS AT-AT !

Finally, there are a couple of creations below by marshal banana that I'd like to mention. His Modular Western Town has received wide coverage on Brickset, Eurobricks and elsewhere and has so far amassed more than 7,000 votes; you can see more pictures and add your support for it by clicking here - let's see if we can help push it over the finishing line. I'm also a huge fan of his enormous UCS Sandcrawler which you can vote for here.

marshal banana's Modular Western Town

UCS Sandcrawler

On the surface, 10,000 votes seems like a fairly modest threshold to reach in the context of an audience of millions, but in practice, anyone who wants to vote has to register with Cuusoo and provide details on how much they'd be willing to pay for the model if it went into production, how many units they'd buy, why they think the model should go into production etc. which I guess might discourage all but the genuinely interested (and the designer's mother, maybe). So best of luck to the designers of the creations above, and I hope to see your models on the shelves soon....

Apologies...

I'm sorry to report that on account of 'technical difficulties' there won't be a posting this week. To be fair, there was actually a posting written, a rather a good one as it happens, but it was cruelly and irreversibly deleted by dark forces beyond my control. I'll stop there as this is a LEGO blog rather than a "rant uncontrollably at unnecessary software upgrades" blog. Suffice to say that if LEGO don't feel the need to keep 'upgrading' their product why should anyone else ? I mean, can you imagine it ? "Sorry sir, but the LEGO you bought almost 2 years ago is now obsolete and your new LEGO won't work with it.".....

No need for an upgrade...

Anyway, normal service will be resumed next week when I've conquered the technical gremlins, so see you then....

Headache

Here we go again.

I shouldn't be surprised, of course - it happens a couple of times a year at least. I'm referring to the appearance of another exclusive, limited edition LEGO Star Wars item which can't be bought through retail channels but which nevertheless needs to be gotten somehow in order to keep my collection complete, and which has the eBay scalpers rubbing their hands with glee as they extort small fortunes from completist suckers like me....

This time it's a Star Wars promo minifig of Darth Maul (below) which was initially only available to visitors to the LEGO stand at the 2012 New York Toy Fair and which has also recently popped up at LEGOLAND Windsor in the UK where its being given away with purchases of Star Wars LEGO.

In times gone by I'd react to the news of a Star Wars exclusive or giveaway with (at worst) mild envy if it was likely that I wouldn't be able to get hold of it, or with excitement if I thought I was in with a good shout of snagging it. All that changed, however, when I managed to complete my LEGO Star Wars collection; since then news of the latest Star Wars exclusive has instead generally provoked dismay and resignation, driven by the knowledge that in order to stay up to date I'd have to somehow get hold of the item without bankrupting myself.

I already had a good moan about this a while back (click here to read) but LEGO unfortunately if predictably ignored my pleas for mercy and continue to regularly torment collectors with these Star Wars exclusives. OK, so credit where credit's due - LEGO did at least kill Brickmaster, for which I'm eternally grateful - but with the recent appearance of Darth Maul my periodic headache has returned....

Brickmaster : good riddance...

Except something's changed over the past year or two, and it's something which has significantly eased my pain. That 'something' is the relationships I've built and continue to build with fellow AFOLs, mainly via the Brickset forum and the Brickish Association. Now, rather than having to resort to blind luck, or cough up increasingly extortionate prices on eBay, we work together to help each other out. Not for personal profit, but for mutual benefit, and increasingly for friendship.

This time it's Si that I and a bunch of other AFOLs need to thank for jumping through hoops on a recent trip to LEGOLAND Windsor in order to get each one of us a Darth Maul minifig. These promos are at time of writing commanding eye-watering prices on eBay and Bricklink, and he could easily have made good money selling them on, but he didn't - he's promised them to us. Previously it's been Roland, Patrick and Russell in the U.S. who have sought out and provided items at cost which simply couldn't be found in the U.K.. And on this side of the pond the likes of Andy, Huw, Ian, James, Lucy, Caroline, Wes, Geoff, Mark, Kev and many others have freely shared their bargain buys and tips. Apologies if this is starting to read like an Oscars acceptance speech, but in a world where we seem to live in constant fear of being ripped off, it's been a breath of fresh air dealing with decent, honest people like these, and I can't overstate how much the friendships I've made within the AFOL community have enriched the LEGO hobby for me.

TC-14 - the next Star Wars exclusive... (pic from Wookieepedia)

There's always room for more like-minded people to join the party, so if that's you and you're over 16 then get along to the Brickset forum and dive in....

Whoops...

Honestly, what was I thinking ? Infrared remote control requires line of sight in order to operate the device - it won't work through walls. So if you place the device that you wish to control, for instance a LEGO train, in a place without line of sight to the controller, say in a long, enclosed section of railway tunnel, then it won't work. Duh.

Above (as with all the pictures, click to enlarge) you can see where I'd got to with my LEGO city layout the last time I blogged about it; eventually the whole loop of track will be fully enclosed, and the plan is to ultimately run an extended 5-car version of Set 7938 Passenger Train on this loop. Problem is that the standard, unmodified train is operated by infrared remote control, so for the majority of its progress around the enclosed loop of track I won't be able to control it. Whoops.... So what to do ? Well it's thankfully not an insurmountable problem, but it has once again necessitated an unplanned excursion into my wallet for what I think is the optimal solution.

For those of you of a more tender age, it's probably time for a quick history lesson. Since the appearance of LEGO trains in the mid-nineteen sixties, the company has utilised a variety of methods for making trains move by themselves. Initially it was 4.5V motors powered by huge on-board battery boxes. Then in the late sixties LEGO introduced a system of 12V motors running on electrified track; this system gave rise to some of the most iconic and revered trains that LEGO have ever produced, not least Set 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train (below).

This 12V system endured for two decades, eventually being phased out in the early nineties when LEGO transitioned to a system of 9V motors running on a different, moulded type of electrified track. This 'era' ran until 2006, and the introduction of the Remote Controlled, or RC, system which reverted to non-electrified track and motors once again powered by on-board battery boxes. Importantly, however, as the name suggests trains could for the first time be controlled remotely without the need for a physical connection between train and operator. The RC system was short-lived, however, giving way to the Power Functions-based system a few years later. This PF system, which is what LEGO currently sells, also employs non-electrified track, motors powered by on-board battery boxes and infra-red remote control which requires line of sight in order to control the train. Bringing things back to the present, it's this PF system which is used by the train I plan to use in my underground track loop, and hence my little problem....

So the solution ? 9V. Despite having been officially phased out by the LEGO company a while ago now, 9V is still probably the standard for AFOL builders of public LEGO train displays. The track is no longer produced by LEGO and is relatively expensive on the secondary market, as are the motors, but critically for me, train control is via a speed regulator attached to a section of track by wires so there's no need for line of sight, nor is there the potential for batteries to run out with the train stuck deep in a section of tunnel.... Talking of public train displays, and the observation that most seem to employ 9V, there's also another possible advantage - when I finally complete my layout and my attention shifts to the question of public display, if I use 9V track then it raises the possibility of linking my layout with that of someone else to produce a much larger collaborative build.

Anyway, once I'd sourced (and paid for....) the required quantity of dark bley 9V track, it took no time at all to replace the existing track in my layout with the 9V alternative and wire it up to a speed regulator. You can see where I've currently got to with my layout in the pictures below (click to enlarge); use of a wired system is certainly messier and less elegant, but it"s a compromise I'm willing to make in this case.

The other thing I needed to do, of course, was to convert my train from PF to 9V. Having previously had few dealings with 9V beyond buying a couple of old 9V sets for my collection, I approached this task with some trepidation. I needn't have worried, however - it was incredibly simple. From the outside, the standard 9V motor seems to be pretty much identical to the PF motor included with Set 7938 Passenger Train, so it was literally a matter of disconnecting the PF motor from the battery, removing it from the train chassis, and attaching the 9V motor in its place. I could have stripped out the PF remote receiver and battery box at this point given they were no longer needed to make the train move, but decided instead to retain the PF components to power and control the front and rear lights of the train instead.

You can see the train running on the newly laid 9V track loop in the (decidedly ropey) video clip below, complete with PF-powered front and rear lights. These are turned off and then back on again about halfway through the clip using the remote control.

So another small step forwards, then - ever onwards !

<-- LEGO City Layout : previous blog entry                  LEGO City Layout : next blog entry -->

3-in-1

After gorging myself on a diet of licensed sets (particularly Star Wars), with their inflated prices and highly specialised parts, there's something very satisfying about picking up and building a Creator set. Maybe it's the more generic parts that Creator sets contain, or perhaps the fact that Creator sets typically contain instructions for building three models rather than just the one, or possibly even just the lack of fuss and hype, but building Creator sets takes me back to my youth

Nostalgia aside, I think that Creator sets have a tendency to be underrated, presumably slipping under the radar in the face of all the noise and advertising that comes with the licensed sets. It's a shame, because there have been some absolute cracking Creator sets over the past few years. with buildings such as Set 4954 Model Town House (below) and Set 5891 Apple Tree House ranking among my personal favourites.

The Creator theme has also featured some superb vehicles, including Set 5892 Sonic Boom which is still currently available, and Set 4896 Roaring Roadsters (below). Thinking about it, we've probably had at least one or two excellent Creator vehicles every year for the past 5 or 6 years, and I think it's telling that many of those sets can still be obtained relatively cheaply and easily from eBay - like I said, underrated and under-appreciated....

If you look back at the Creator line up down the years, one recurring focus is animal sets, with dinosaurs seemingly being a particular inspiration for the Creator design team. King of the dinosaur sets was probably Set 4958 Monster Dino (below), a 792-piece beast boasting Power Functions which enabled it to move its arms and mouth, not to mention a sound brick to make it roar. We've also had other interesting reptilian sets such as 2010's Ferocious Creatures, 2008's Stegosaurus, Prehistoric Power from 2006, and 2009's Fiery Legend to name just a few.

Creator Set 6914 T-Rex continues this lineage, and was one of the 2012 sets I was most looking forward to. I was surprised to briefly find it at 30% off on Amazon's UK site so soon after release, and quickly snapped up a copy before the price went back up again.

The box is typical Creator fare, with the primary model taking up most of the space on the front (above - click on pictures to enlarge) while the primary, secondary and tertiary models get equal billing on the back (below). There's also a handy parts inventory on one side of the box so you can see what you're getting before you buy.

The set comes with two instruction manuals (below), one for the primary model and the second for the other two; every year I half expect LEGO to dispense with paper instructions for the subsidiary models and instead provide a link to download them from the internet, similar to some of the Technic sets, but thankfully this isn't the case yet.

In addition to the building instructions themselves, the instruction booklets contain advertising for some of the other 2012 Creator sets and an inventory of parts.

I have to confess that I generally dive straight into the main model and often don't get round to constructing the alternative builds in these 3-in-1 sets. Not this time, however - I was determined to take a look at all three of them 'in the flesh' for once. I therefore started out by building the brachiosaurus. What immediately struck me is the sheer number of articulation points in the finished model, which of course allows it to be posed in multiple positions. You can see it in both the "all fours" pose and also the "rearing up on hind legs" position in the pictures below. I felt that the brachiosaurus looked decidedly average in the official box art and publicity shots, and those pictures don't lie - I gave it all of 24 hours sitting on my desk before I moved on to the next model, so it's clearly not exactly a winner in the eye candy stakes...

After 5-10 minutes spent dissembling the brachiosaurus, I was ready to get started on the pterodactyl. On the basis of the box art I wasn't particularly looking forward to building this one - to be frank, it looks absolutely rubbish in the pictures. The reality ? Thankfully not quite so bad. Once again, the liberal use of hinges and Technic ball and socket joints allow a fair range of movement. The pterodactyl can open its mouth, move its wings, flex and extend its tail, and retract its legs for flight. Tellingly, it stayed built for a few days prior to dissassembly, swooping over my modulars and terrorising my minifigures. Hardly an oil painting, but better than I expected.

And so on to the main event - T-Rex himself. I'll come clean straightaway - I think he looks excellent, with the highlight being his fierce-looking head and huge teeth. The mouth opens and the limbs can be positioned in such a way as to enable some seriously aggressive poses. This guy will stay built and on display for a while yet I think - an excellent rendition, particularly given the relatively small piece count.

My only real criticism is the colour scheme; while I'm not sure anybody REALLY knows what colour T-Rex was in life, I suspect it wasn't red and dark red, otherwise the tyrant lizard would have stuck out like a sore thumb and died of starvation within days.... No doubt those planning to use T-Rex as a parts pack will be thankful for the selection of dark red pieces, but I'd personally rather he'd been green & dark green, or even tan & dark tan.

Creator Set 6914 T-Rex contains 191 pieces and retails at £12.99 / $17.99. While it's nice to have instructions for three models in one set, the alternate builds are really nothing to write home about, and T-Rex himself is the undoubted star of the show; on the basis of T-Rex alone, if you or someone close to you is a fan of dinosaurs then you really can't go far wrong with this one. At the time of writing, UK-based readers can click here to pick the set up from Amazon for about a quid off RRP and free postage; those based in the US can buy T-Rex here, although you'll only save a few cents off the RRP.

Sneak Peek part 2 : Star Wars Miniland

OK, so when we last met I was waxing lyrical about the new hotel at LEGOLAND Windsor, which I visited while attending a preview of the Star Wars Miniland Experience. If you missed my account then you can read all about it here.

Anyway, after exploring the hotel and filling our faces with refreshments courtesy of LEGOLAND, it was time for the main event - our tour of the Star Wars exhibit. It was a pleasant 10-15 minute walk from the back entrance of the hotel to the old LEGOLAND Creation Center which now hosts the Star Wars Miniland Experience. The outside of the building has been suitably revamped as you can see below; please note that you can enlarge all the pictures by clicking on them.

If you pause before entering the Star Wars exhibit and look to your left you can see the LEGOLAND hotel peeking out from down below.

While the models on display in the Star Wars exhibit are the same as those at LEGOLAND California and elsewhere, one aspect of the UK experience is unique - it's indoors. Cynics might argue that this decision was likely driven by our miserable UK weather as much as anything, although ironically enough it was pleasant and sunny on preview day.

I don't mind admitting that I was quite excited as I waited to go in, and after a few minutes of loitering around the entrance we were ushered inside... The first thing that struck me was the noise. A loud female voice blares out over the speakers informing visitors about security breaches, there are alarms going off, the sound of blasters and explosions can be heard, and of course the dramatic strains of the Star Wars soundtrack provide a suitable backdrop. When coupled with the low lighting, punctuated by bright flashes, the overall effect is certainly dramatic and atmospheric, albeit also a bit disorienting.

The exhibit is basically split into seven distinct zones linked by walkways; it's very linear, with no way of doubling back to revisit previous areas via a different path - you need to go back the way you came if you want to do that, against the flow of people moving through the exhibit. While it's clearly the most efficient way of getting people through quickly and efficiently, you might end up feeling like you've been whisked through and missed half of it.

Surprisingly, the first zone you arrive at is Christophsis, where the Clone Army of the Republic is battling against Separatist forces. It's surprising because it's out of sequence - the battle apparently takes place sometime between Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3. It's by some margin the smallest part of the display, however, so perhaps it was just a matter of using the available space most efficiently. The Christophsis display (below) consists of three Republic gun emplacements seemingly about to be overrun by a droid army backed up by blue and grey AATs.

Further along is the next zone, an Episode I diorama based around the Battle of Naboo. This contains a sizeable starfighter hangar, Theed Palace, and an impressive battle scene which runs for perhaps 6 or 7 metres alongside the walkway. The hanger features internal lighting and a starfighter which rises, rotates and moves towards the hanger entrance prior to returning to its starting position. The huge and impressive Theed Palace model is lit from inside. The battle scene is suitably chaotic, with a couple of huge MTT's, some tan AATs and lots of Battle Droids and Droidekas facing off against a sizeable Gungan Army including a couple of Fambaas carrying deflector shield generators. Excellent, although hard to photograph well....

The next zone represents Episode II and Geonosis, consisting of two separate scenes - the execution arena and a larger battle scene. The arena scene features an impressively detailed section of wall at the back, Padme, Obi-Wan and Anakin figures, and three beasts including a suitably fearsome acklay and a nexu which scurries backwards and forwards on the arena floor. 

The Geonosis battle scene features a variety of machines as well as clone troopers and a sprinkling of Jedi fighting hand to hand against battle droids and super battle droids. On the Republic side there are a couple of AT-TE's, an AT-OT and a couple of gunships, while the Separatists are supported by OM-9 homing spider droids and hailfire droids.

After Geonosis it's on to the next zone -  Kashyyyk and Mustafar - for a couple of Episode III scenes. According to the LEGOLAND description, "The Battle of Kashyyyk depicts the Droid Army's amphibious assault on the home planet of Chewbacca and the Wookiees". The centrepiece is an enormous and spectacular Clone Turbo Tank made of over 10,000 bricks. There are also a couple of AT-AP's and other craft such as droid gunships, with spider droids and Wookiees fighting at ground level.

The Mustafar scene predictably chronicles the lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin amid the lava. Amidala's Nubian Royal Starship sits on a landing pad overlooking the battle; I have to confess I was disappointed that LEGOLAND didn't push the boat out and get the pieces for this ship chromed as it looks distinctly ordinary in plain old light bley....

In the next zone is the first of the scenes from the original trilogy - a Tatooine diorama mostly based around Mos Eisley Spaceport. This scene is dominated by an absolutely humungous model of the Millennium Falcon - if you thought that the retail Ultimate Collector Series version of this ship was big then you ain't seen nothing yet... Despite its prodigious bulk, the Falcon still manages to take off from Docking Bay 94 and then land again every few minutes - some feat of engineering, that, as it must weigh a ton.

Apart from the Falcon there's a lot of other really neat stuff to see in this scene; I love the Cantina Bar, complete with band and assorted clientelle. There are also some Sandpeople and their bantha, a couple of dewbacks, landspeeders, and various Tatooine-styled buildings. Another cool feature is the perspex viewing bubble in the middle of the display, which enables kids to get a close-up view of the scene.

After Tatooine we move on to Episode V and perhaps my favourite scene of the whole Star Wars Miniland Experience - a recreation of the Battle of Hoth, where the Rebel base and main power generator are under attack from an Imperial Attack Force. The Rebel base features a hangar complete with an X-Wing Fighter and tauntauns, a control room and a medical centre.

In addition to the Rebel structures there are also a number of beautifully-realised vehicles including AT-ATs, Snowspeeders and AT-STs. The models are arranged against a painted backdrop to confer a feeling of depth, and the whole thing looks fantastic. There's even a Wampa cave....

The final zone is Endor, the centerpiece of which is a skillfully lit forest landing platform upon which sits a huge Imperial Shuttle - I just love the lighting in this scene.

Other elements of the Endor display include the huge shield generator dish and supporting structure, and the bunker which provides the 'back door' into the complex. It's at the entrance ot the bunker that Miniland-scale figures of Leia, Han Solo, Artoo and Threepio battle alongside Ewoks against Imperial troops.

There's an Ewok village up in the trees, and a battle rages on the ground below; if you look closely you'll see that Chewbacca has captured an AT-ST, while elsewhere the Ewoks attack the Imperials with their primitive weapons. The scene is animated - a couple of speeder bikes zoom around a large tree trunk, while logs swing down to try and crush an unsuspecting AT-ST...

A nice and unexpected touch was the presence of people dressed up as characters from the Star Wars films - a particularly imposing and quite convincing Darth Vader figure menaced visitors with his lightsaber, and Stormtroopers and Obi-Wan Kenobi amongst others also made an appearance. I'm not sure if this was just for the benefit of those attending the preview, or whether they'll also be in attendance when the exhibit opens to the public - hopefully the latter.

Just to put the icing on the cake, on exiting Star Wars miniland you walk into a well-stocked shop containing a large range of LEGO Star Wars sets and gear, not to mention a brick-built Vader and Threepio.

In summary, the new Star Wars Miniland Experience is a serious treat for any Star Wars fan, and obviously even better if you love LEGO as well. There are some superb models on display, with the Clone Turbo Tank, the collossal Millennium Falcon, and the AT-AT just three of my favourtes. In addition, it's worth mentioning that some serious effort has been expended in trying to make it a true experience rather than just a collection of models, with carefully thought out displays full of interesting and/or amusing touches, and complemented by sound and lighting effects, not to mention a stirring soundtrack.

Any room for improvement ? Well, I can fully understand the reasons for implementing a strictly linear route through the exhibit, but it's a bit restricting from my perspective - I'd prefer multiple paths round the various scenes so that they can be viewed from different angles and maybe even in a different order. I thought the sound effects were probably too loud, although they say that if it's too loud then you're too old, so make of that what you will.... I also thought that some of the scenes were too dimly lit - much of the detail gets completely lost in the gloom, which is a real shame due to the wealth of detail on show. A few iconic locations such the the Death Star, Jabba's Palace and Cloud City were sadly missing, as were a few key characters such as Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett, although I guess they had to draw the line somewhere. But no Death Star, though ? No Boba Fett ? For shame ! Finally, I was dismayed and surprised to see a thick layer of dust on the models at such an early stage; I wouldn't fancy dusting that lot, but someone's going to have to bite the bullet and clean the models regularly otherwise they'll look very shabby before long.

Overall, I think the exhibit is superb and well worth a visit. Encouragingly, I've been told by folks who have been back again since the official opening that some of the lighting issues have already been fixed - great that LEGOLAND have been paying attention to feedback provided by preview attendees. I'll certainly be back there at some point in the future for another look.

If you're hungry for more pictures and opinions on the Star Wars Miniland Experience you can find them over at Brickset and FBTB amongst others. Also, Brickset member flump6523 has posted some pretty respectable HD video of each of the zones which you can find here - thanks, James ! Anyway, that's more than enough from me for another week, so bye bye for now.

<-- Sneak Peek part 1 - LEGOLAND Hotel