Affiliate disclosure: I sometimes use vendor & product links that can pay me a small monetary commission if you click them and/or make a purchase. Learn more about this. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

LEGO Duplo Backhoe Loader review! 10811


Roughly two years after my first Duplo review, I'm still sporadically at it :)  As shown in a haul video earlier in the month, I picked up a few sets from this season's construction lineup. I'll probably put them all together when I'm done to see what a full site setup looks like.

Mega Bloks Halo Foxtrot figures: Full collection review!


Something, something, something, Mega Bloks.  Something, something, something, Foxtrot.


Something, something, something, com-plete.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

LEGO Ninjago Salvage M.E.C. review! 70592


More Ninjago down, three more sets to go to wrap up, if I'm not mistaken.

LEGO Mixels Series 8 Maxes! MCFD, Medix, Pyrratz!


Last of the Mixels videos for this season!

LEGO Disney Princess Belle's Enchanted Castle review! 41067


I feel like this was a pretty important set covering a once wildly popular franchise.  LEGO did a great job the most important parts -- the characters -- though Beast's build is controversial, even if it's quite justifiable, as you'll see.  However, the effort to keep the price low enough for the set to have some mass sales appeal so long after the movie put a lot of strain on the design & size of the castle.

LEGO Racers F-6 truck from 2005 reviewed! set 8656


Here's a line I haven't covered in quite awhile!  I remember when these small canister Racers were on store shelves, and even though I'm a big motorsports fan, I didn't find these sets at all interesting.  I blew them off as poor blocky plastic stand-ins for diecast collectibles.  Shame on that me!

LEGO Marvel Spider-Man Super Jumper polybag review! 30305


Better late than never, yeah?  I'm so deeply thankful that LEGO is so timeless that we can appreciate , desire, and acquire older sets & parts, whether seasons or decades old.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

LEGO Creator Twin Spin Helicopter 3-in-1 review! 31049


You know the drill.  One set.  Three builds. One video.  Go!

This one actually doesn't excite me all that much, though a major feature of the big build was a happy surprise.

Mega Bloks Destiny Atheon set review!


Last of the MB Destiny sets, for now!

Time for a wrap-up or something.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

LEGO Creator Big Ben set review! 10253


Well, this was a rather unique set of circumstances.  This set has over 4,100 pieces, placing it in the uppermost echelon of complexity across the entire history of LEGO. I didn't track my time well, but I'd estimate it took about 5 to 6 hours to assemble.  However, the review video came out to less than 4 minutes, in spite of very casual pacing, looser-than-normal editing, and a generous look at both main sides of the box.  How, and why?  

Well, there's a ton of repetition in the structure, with 3 or so patterns covering at least 80% of the volume of the build.  Building techniques are rather straightforward.  There's really nothing at all to see on the reverse side, and there's no interior to peer into.  There is a geared "action" feature, but it's as straightforward as the rest of the build, and exposing for display requires some destructive disassembly.  What you see is what you get!

I suppose I could have could talked about the build process, but like I said, it's not very complex.  I could talk about the parts, but, well, actually I did, several times and for a substantive portion of the video.  I could have Googled a bunch of factoids about the real building, but you could do said Googling on your own time, if you so desired.  

In short, I covered everything I felt the video needed to, and I had no interest in artificially supplementing the length with extra fluff.  If I had to do it again, I would change very, very little.

Mega Bloks Halo Heroes Series 2 review! All 6 figures


I was finally able to get my hands on the second series of Mega Bloks Halo Heroes figure single packs and instead of a bunch of really short videos, I thought I'd try just one to cover the whole series together.  We'll see how it works out.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

LEGO Ninjago Rock Roader review! 70589


This is another of the sets that got a lot of votes when I unboxed my most recent Ninjago haul and asked which items I should dig into first.

The vehicle looks kind of rough, though that's really by design.  The part selection and features, though, are really extraordinary, especially for a set of this size.

LEGO Paradisa Sidewalk Cafe from 1994! set 6402


Here's a very brief break from all of the brand new stuff I've been reviewing.  I still have a pile of older sets to put together, but of course most viewers are asking for the current lines, so I must oblige!

LEGO Ninjago Accessory Set figure pack 853544 review!


Eyyy, it's a Ninjago battle pack!  Wait, though.  What exactly are we looking at here?  The two Skybound season pirates are recognizable from the show (and exclusive to this pack), but both Nya/Samurai X and Zane are new, and I don't recognize their specific outfits.

LEGO Friends Amusement Park Hot Dog Van review! 41129


Here's the first of my series of reviews covering this Summer's Amusement Park sub-theme of LEGO Friends. Much more to come.

Mega Bloks Halo Wars 2 UNSC Jackrabbit Blitz review


I only got in about 30 or so games of Halo Wars 2 before the beta ended this evening, but it was fun and I really look forward to the campaign.  Unfortunately for Mattel, the in-game appearance of this vehicle here has already changed just a bit since the toys were designed.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes Batman: Killer Croc Sewer Smash review


LEGO Batman with a Bat-Tank and some interesting characters that haven't yet been brought to the silver screen.  Sounds like it could be a recipe for success.  There are some hiccups in the mix, though.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Mega Bloks Destiny figure customizer packs reviewed


In this one video I cover three separate single-figure sets in the Mega Bloks Destiny line: 1) Hunter Cryptid Armory, 2) Hunter Starwinder Armory, and 3) Warlock Samsara Amory.  Each of these comes with a fully detailed figure, plus an alternate helmet, chest armor piece, and single pauldron, and one other small interchangable part, plus three weapons.

LEGO Nexo Knights Monsters & Knights Army figure packs reviewed

New reviews of a couple of army builder packs for Nexo Knights with four figures each.  These seem like a good idea, though I wish the monster one was tweaked a bit.

Videos:


Monday, June 20, 2016

LEGO Ninjago The Lighthouse Siege review! 70594


I really enjoy setting up the campy little faux-action scenes at the end of some of these new reviews, but man, they take forever!  This one here was over 2 hours all told (planning, filming, editing), for well under 2 minutes of intentionally cheesy bonus footage :D  Worth it?  Hmm...

Sunday, June 19, 2016

LEGO Mixels Series 8 MCFD tribe review


This does it for the main series 8 reviews, with just the Maxes to come.

The way Mixels distribution has occurred up to this point, I expect series 9 to start showing up somewhere random in the world by surprise pretty soon.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Thursday, June 16, 2016

Mega Bloks buildable Destiny Arcadia Jumpship review


Once upon a time, I was absolutely certain there would never be an official brick-built model of the iconic personal starter ship from the Bungie video game Destiny.  So certain, in fact, that I made my own from LEGO.  Leave it to Mega Bloks to get a popular, serious game-based license and make absolutely incredible models for it.  This thing here is positively incredible in design and accuracy and looks stunning.  Surprisingly, it only uses a handful of new parts, and most of those only contribute very subtly to the wonderful appearance of the finished product.  However, I did encounter something bad in this build, really bad; an old villain I had thought eradicated long ago.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

LEGO Mixels Series 8 Medix review: Surgeo, Skrubz, & Tuth!


It's great to see the Mixels theme continuing on and continuing to sell so well.  They definitely have a good thing going here with these little sets sold at impulse buy prices and frequently containing new parts, or at least new colors.

LEGO Spider-Man: Ghost Rider Team-Up review! 76058


It's unexpected that one of the most-requested LEGO Super Heroes reviews covers the smallest new set in the theme, but I'm not complaining!

Monday, June 13, 2016

LEGO City Volcano Heavy-Lift Helicopter review! 60125


In spite of the existence of the volcano base set, this one here is actually the largest in the sub-theme.

With this one reviewed, all that remains for me to cover is the smallest member of the line, the starter set!

Saturday, June 11, 2016

LEGO Ninjago Green NRG Dragon review! 70593


Fully articulated everything.  Foldable wings printed on both sides.  Good minifigure complement.  I'm liking it!

Friday, June 10, 2016

LEGO Spider-Man Ultimate Web Warriors Bridge Battle 76057 review


This set has a crazy long name (longer still if you include the proper "Marvel Super Heroes" theme in it), but thankfully that isn't trying to cover up or distract from any deficiencies in the build itself.  This is one of those "not good, but great" gems from LEGO, to be sure, proving that a kid's playset packed with action features can look great on display.

Thursday, June 9, 2016

LEGO Star Wars StarScavenger review! 75147


You know what they say, "You win some, you lose some."  This main hero ship of the Freemaker Adventures mini-series is what I'd call a loser in a pretty major way :(

LEGO City Airport Passenger Terminal review! 60104


Today marked the arrival of another set that a large number of you have asked me to quickly review, so I was happy to drop everything and got right to it!

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

LEGO Star Wars Freemaker Adventures Eclipse Fighter review! 75145


Only two sets have been released for the SW:TFM micro-series, and this is the smaller of the two.  I doubt most of this will have any connection to the canon universe, but a portion of this set can definitely fit into many an original trilogy-era scene.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

LEGO Technic Porsche 911 GT3 RS video review! 42056


Over nine hours of building & tweaking, three hours in the studio, and another three hours narrating & editing generates what?  A 7-minute video!

Well here's the thing.  I'm obviously no Technic specialist, so I tend to avoid the big sets of the line and leave them to the experts.  I am however a Porsche fan (and previous owner), and have especially marveled at the GT3 since the 997 debuted.  Completed, this LEGO model here is something I'm genuinely happy and proud to own, and I will keep it in my long-term collection.  The ability to provide some possible service to viewers with a video is just a bonus in this case.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Summer LEGO set availability

Today was the last major release day for the Summer LEGO set season, with brand stores and Shop At Home releasing their latest stock throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.  The latter two mega-regions got everything, but North America doesn't get the following until the next major release on or about August 1:

Additionally, Airport Passenger Terminal, Volcano Exporation Base & Heavy Lift Helicopter, and Belle's Enchanted Castle were also specifically omitted over here, though we've gotten other new sets from those themes.

This is pretty standard occurrence, with the same pattern repeating for at least the past few years.  As I'm almost done with reviews of sets that have been released in the US, I'll do my best to track down & buy at least the most interesting & anticipated stuff from overseas as always.  It may take awhile to source it all, so my apologies in advance for the delay!

LEGO Creator 3-in-1 Treehouse Adventures review! 31053


Here's another of the Summer season 3-in-1 builds from Creator.  Anytime I look away from this thing for long, then come back and see at a picture of it or the box that I haven't yet recycled, I get a "Ugh, that's ugly" reflex.  When I look at the actual physical set though, and immediately recall the interesting features of the main build as well as the variety afforded by the alternates, I go get good feelings again.  It's weird :)

All Mega Bloks Halo Echo Series figures reviewed


Finally completed this collection!  Some places in North America have had these for weeks, but not my region.  Some other countries already have the next series, Foxtrot!  Ah well, I do what I can do, as soon as I can do it.