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Friday, October 28, 2016

Custom LEGO Octan Factory MOC begins


The title pretty much says it all.  There's very little to see here so far and until it's "complete," every single brick will be subject to being moved and every feature will be subject to total redesign.  A start is a start, though.

LEGO Star Wars TIE Bomber from 2003 reviewed


Yes!  I wanted it, I got it, and now I've reviewed it.  It's the only minifig-scaled TIE Bomber LEGO has made to date, giving it a special place in my heart after my countless encounters with this craft in old Star Wars video games in the 1990s.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Custom LEGO Minecraft display, complete at last -- for now!


Major, major milestone here!  I started on my first LEGO Minecraft display back in early summer 2014 and most of the subsequent effort was shifted to New JANG City after I moved in 2015.  This entire time, though, it's been easier for me to talk about what was upcoming than what was complete.  Now, finally, the entire overworld layout has terrain built upon it and the whole place has come to life!

LEGO Star Wars Trade Federation AAT from 2000 reviewed! 7155


Another throwback review of one of LEGO's earlier Star Wars efforts.  I never knew the front was so hollow & empty; it looked so solid from the outside.

Mega Construx Destiny EV-37 Racing Sparrow review


And here it is, my first review of a set with the Mega Construx brand name!  It's just Mega Bloks with a new sub-brand moniker  Nothing has changed about the products.

Mega Bloks Collector Series is now "Mega Construx"


In the coming season this (sort of) new Mega Construx brand is going to appear all over store shelves and my videos, so I've made a standalone video to provide a little bit of context & explanation, such as I understand things so far.
Update:  It looks like the Mega Construx name is covering the overwhelming majority of the line, down to the sets with 2x-sized pieces.  I do still think they're going to leave the old name on the really big, 4x-sized parts mentioned in this video, but nothing has been confirmed or even mentioned officially as of yet.

LEGO Toys R Us Bricktober Warriors minifig collection reviewed


From what I've seen in the community, reception of this year's TRU Bricktober figure packs has been between low-lukewarm and chilly.  The parts are all reused and some of the figures look like mis-matched kitbashes.  They're free, though, so do we really have any right to complain?

LEGO Ninjago Ninja Glider polybag from 2011 reviewed


Ooh, I think this is tied for oldest Ninjago set I've reviewed!  I believe this also features the first truly original Ninjago figure I've ever had in my possession.

A look through a LEGO catalog from 1998


I can't commit to doing one of these every week, but right now that frequency seems to be working out.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

LEGO Architecture Venice skyline review


I have no right to call this one a "bad" set by any means, as I doubt I could have done any better at this scale, but this is certainly my least favorite Architecture set so far.  The two biggest things are cool, but bridges on the sides strike me as pretty "meh."

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter 7146 reviewed!


How surprising, it is, that it took LEGO two years to release a plain TIE Fighter after they dove into the Star Wars franchise.  They made Vader's TIE Advanced out of the gate, and followed up with the UCS TIE Interceptor the following year, but it wasn't until 2001 that the most commonly-seen craft in Star Wars media had its big moment.

LEGO Super Heroes The Batman Tumbler polybag review


A little promotional/impulse buy mini-set to start the week!

Monday, October 17, 2016

LEGO City Red Cargo Train 3677 reviewed!


Another modern era LEGO train set with a check in the "reviewed it" column!  The locomotive is as usual my personal favorite component, but this set rightfully put a good amount of focus on play value for young fans.

Airfix Quick Build Spitfire review


On my review of the Airfix QB Bugatti Veyron, many of you asked me to try out a Spitfire, and I've done just that.  The experience was interesting, and again different!

A look through a LEGO Idea book from 1997!


A fair number of you enjoyed my first look through one of these official LEGO Idea books, so here's one more that I've had in the queue for awhile.

Mega Bloks Call of Duty Special Ops Task Force review


Yet another micro action figure mega-pack from the folks at Mega with plenty of weapons & accessories and a wide range of part molds & colors, some of them rather subtly variant.

Monday, October 10, 2016

Behind the Scenes: LEGO Room Tour


Ahhh this has been a loooong time coming!  Just my ability to make this video to some level of personal satisfaction represents the culmination of a number of major milestones, but I suppose that matters to no-one but myself.  Onward with the tour then!

Sunday, October 9, 2016

All Systems Are Go, Go, Go!


A little behind on the blog again?  Me?  Yeah, but what else is new.  It's been a busy few weeks, far more than is apparent in the YouTube channel as I make amazing progress on some large projects I started as long as 2 1/2 years ago.  Finally one of my time- and self-management plans is working, and working well.  I've found the right amount by which to slow my reviewing rate to allow me to clean up the mess of past releases, chew through new ones, and still work on MOCs and, let's just call it "infrastructure."

To answer the single most frequently asked question, yes, a new city tour is coming, but not until I'm completely ready.  It could be two weeks to a month out yet, maybe more, but I continue to refuse to put out city updates just to try to rack up viewership when I don't feel there's enough to be truly worth showcasing.  Obviously right now I've gone longer than ever since the last major walkthrough, and that for me raises the bar even further for how much new & interesting content I need to present.  Once that next mega-video is done, though, thanks to all of the prep & cleanup I've been doing behind the scenes, city updates will be able to return to the intended, more regular schedule.

Good times.  Very good times!

LEGO Mixels Series 9 MAXes!


This is it, likely my last LEGO Mixels video ever.  The series has been discontinued after a very successful run of introducing new parts, prints, and colors in wonderfully inexpensive little packages of creativity.  So long, you wacky little creatures.  Thanks for the good times.

LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter & Y-Wing from 1999 reviewed! 7150


This is literally one of the sets that started it all, from wave 1 of the first ever LEGO Star Wars series, featuring the first ever official Darth Vader minifig.

A look through a LEGO Ideas book from 1990


I've looked at a number of vintage LEGO catalogs on my channel in the past, but this is my first time ever (in my life, filmed or not) going cover to cover through one of these LEGO Idea Books.  I bought it for the stickers, but the main content is actually pretty entertaining and offers some nice inspiration to this day.

LEGOLAND Fire House from 1973 reviewed! set 357 / 570


You saw this set pop out of a Bricklink haul I unboxed quite some time ago, and after giving the old H2O2 treatment to most of the parts, it looks stunningly vibrant, especially considering its age of 43 years!  Forty-three years! How crazy is that!

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

LEGO Dimensions A-Team Fun Pack toy review! 71251


When I first heard LEGO was making an official Mr. T minifig I was excited out of my mind.  I bought this pack as soon as it was released and... they try to slap the excitement right out of me.  Why?!

Mega Bloks Halo Covenant Brute Lance review!


This appears to be the best way to build up a Brute troop force to date.  I have some fairly nit-picky issues with them and a question about the leader, but none of these things make this at all a bad set.

Mega Bloks Halo UNSC Yankee Squad review!


Two more Fall 2016 MB Halo sets finally became available for me to purchase, and here's the first.

Monday, October 3, 2016

LEGO Mixels series 9 Newzers reviewed! Screeno, Camsta & Myke


One last Mixels trio, and by last I mean last!  The LEGO series had a good run, but not much happened on the Cartoon Network side of the partnership, and as I understand it the latter is responsible for the cancellation.  I'll do the Maxes soon, but then that'll be all she wrote.

Mega Bloks Kubros Terminator T-800 review!


Yet another Kubro!  LEGO fans won't let me review these too frequently ;) but I still have a few more of the regular retail release figures to build.