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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

I had a weekend!

For the first time in some number of months (I honestly can't recall how long it's been), I took the majority of a day off.  Then I pushed things to a whole new level, probably not attempted in years, and took the majority of a second day off!  Granted, there was some studio work done as well as a noteworthy amount of behind-the-scenes cleanup & general overhead, plus plenty of non-brick-related activities, but all things are relative, after all.  Relative to the well-established norm, I had myself a real slacker of a weekend, and what's more of a surprise is that I don't feel too guilty about it.  It's not that I needed any extra R&R -- I rather enjoy being continuously productive and do work well under pressure -- the pieces just happened to fall into place, and I went with it.

It felt... neat.  Perhaps I can try it on a regular basis.  Once every 3-4 months sounds reasonable, I think?

Sunday, February 26, 2017

LEGO BrickHeadz Captain America & Black Widow review


Black Widow's belt buckle is done wrong here (see the box).  Serves me right, I suppose, for not re-checking the build before going through the nearly 2-hour production process.  Grr.  Argh.  Too small of a thing to warrant a scratch re-shoot, re-edit, re-render, and re-publish.  My apologies.  I'm taking another step to try to avoid this sort of mistake.

Friday, February 24, 2017

LEGO Speed Champions Mercedes-AMG GT3 review! 75877


Another little masterpiece (in my opinion) of durable playable, easy-to-follow real world-inspired LEGO building.  It's easy to imagine something looking more realistic.  Actually making it happen with genuine LEGO parts, built to even a fraction of the constraints of a sellable mass-market product?  I'd like to see it!

LEGO Elves The Goblin King's Evil Dragon review - 41183


So. Much. Spring. Green!  The number of parts they brought over to this color!

I continue to be a strong fan of the Elves line, but even at that, this set surpassed my expectations at every turn.  The dragon is sufficiently strong & stable, but has excellent posing possibilities, and even the tiny terrain side-build is meaningful.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

LEGO Speed Champions Ford GT street mod


This is not a MOC, it's just a mod.  A nearly 5-hour, hair-pulling mod that had me several times checking Bricklink and Brickset to confirm whether certain needed parts were ever even made in the needed colors. It all looked so simple & obvious, until I started the actual work.  Fortunately I'm no stranger to this phenomenon.
(Edit: As I published this post I noticed a build error in the photo!  Cheese slope behind the side window is facing the wrong way!)

LEGO Dimensions Knight Rider Fun Pack toys review - 71286


It's The Hoff & K.I.T.T. in official LEGO form, but yet, I don't feel excited about it like I was for E.T., the A-Team, and even Gremlins.  I fear this lil' set doesn't capture enough of the essence of either character.

LEGO Batman Movie Accessory Set review! 853651


Wait, didn't I say I was done with LEGO Batman Movie sets for "now" a week or so ago?  Sorry.  This was sent via economy shipping, so it's been off my radar for awhile.  Surprise!

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

LEGO Minecraft The Witch Hut review! 21133


Just like that, another theme bites the dust; review queue-wise, that is.  This is the last 2017 LEGO Minecraft set so far, with of course more to come later in the year (the Ocean Monument coming the soonest).

LEGO 2017 Easter Egg Hunt set review - 40237


Happy Easter everyone!  Wait, what's that?  More than a month too soon?  Shrug...

Monday, February 20, 2017

LEGO Minecraft The Mooshroom Island review - 21129


Very nice price/part ratio on this set & feels like a good value for its low price.  Just don't expect anything especially awe-inspiring in the build.

Mega Construx Call of Duty Assault Drone review


It's the third CoD ground 'drone' set from Mega and yes, each represents a different in-game item.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

LEGO Speed Champions Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team review! 75883


Here's the big new flagship racing set of the Speed Champions line, appropriately featuring the reigning world champions of the highest level of motorsport.

LEGO BrickHeadz Batman & Joker review! 41585 & 41588


Another two-set-in-one review here, featuring one BrickHeadz model with under 100 pieces and another with over 150.  It's all about the hair, man!

Saturday, February 18, 2017

LEGO Minecraft The Ice Spikes review! 21131


Keepin' it rolling through the weekend here that's rather busy with non-YouTube related stuff as well.

All upcoming & recent LEGO products on display at the New York Toy Fair


ToyArk has been for years one of the best places to quickly see photos of toys & collectibles on display at major conventions in the US, and this hasn't changed a bit for NYTF 2017.  I sometimes get asked to make linear videos, of pictures, of new sets, but I just can't bring myself to use such an awkward restrictive format.  Image galleries like these from ToyArk let you, the viewer, select exactly what you want to see and for how long, at the highest available resolution.  Check them out!

  • LEGO Star Wars
    • New The Force Awakens
    • Freemaker Adventures
  • LEGO Miscellany
    • New City
    • Pirates of the Caribbean
    • New Minecraft
    • New NEXO Knights
    • Elves
    • Technic
    • and more
  • LEGO Marvel
    • Spider-Man Homecoming
    • Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2
  • LEGO DC Comics
    • New Batman Movie sets
    • New DC Superhero Girls

LEGO Minecraft Nether Railway review! 21130


Delightful little set with surprising reconfigurability, a brilliant mob design, and an unusual brand new part mold.

LEGO NEXO Knights year 1 layout clear-out


It's time to move out the old to make room for the new.  I also look forward to reclaiming a lot of space on my "sets reviewed & sets to review" shelves. Much needed.

Friday, February 17, 2017

Thursday, February 16, 2017

LEGO BrickHeadz Iron Man & The Hulk review! 41590 41592


First Mega released Kubros, now LEGO has BrickHeadz on the market as an answer to the popularity of Funko Pop! super-deformed figurines.  Let's see how they did...

LEGO NEXO Knights King's Guard Artillery review - 70347


Just one more tiny polybag to go (that doesn't seem to be in North America yet) and this full wave of NEXO Knights sets will be complete.

Mega Construx Halo Summer set & figure previews


In looking for pictures of the just-announced summer Mega Construx Halo sets (in an exclusive first-to-press article that includes no Mega photos!) I found a preliminary listings for a bunch of the upcoming good stuff with official images.

Links:

LEGO Speed Champions Ford GT & GT40 review! 75881


It's vintage meets modern in one very advanced, yet easy-to build set.  Top design work here.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

LEGO Minecraft Jungle Temple review! 21132


Out of all of the new Minecraft sets in this release wave, the Jungle Temple was the one I was most looking forward to on account of its appearance.  It could be a simple case of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," though.

LEGO Star Wars 2017 A-Wing Starfighter review! 75175


I held off on buying this until it was released in my country because the aftermarket prices overseas were positively outrageous.  I think the base retail price of the set is perhaps a bit high as it is, without tacking on 50-100% markups (that consumers were actually paying!).

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

LEGO Speed Champions Bugatti Chiron review! 75878


This review went very, very differently than I thought it would.  I was expecting to spend most of my time lamenting how much it looked like an Audi R8, but the in-person reality doesn't match my impression of the photographs.

LEGO Disco Batman & Tears of Batman polybag review


This is one of the most-anticipated polybags from the LEGO Batman Movie franchise, having shown up already in Europe and now available in the US for free with qualifying purchases.

LEGO Minecraft Waterfall Base review! 21134


And so it begins again, already!  Welcome to the second 2017 LEGO release season.

Monday, February 13, 2017

LEGO Creator Red Racer 3-in-1 review! 31055


One of the smallest boxed sets of the season right here (three separate sets pictured), barely more substantial than a good-sized polybag.

Mega Construx Call of Duty Jungle Paratrooper review


Sometimes it's all about the simple things in life.  This set has just one figure and a faux parachute, and it's pretty glorious.  The scale isn't prefect, but it looks great on display with its included action pose stand.

Saturday, February 11, 2017

One more (big) update on train noise in New Jang City


This is the culmination of at least 20 hours of research & work (plus a hefty new investment in equipment) to tackle my LEGO train performance & sound quality issues that first brought up last week.  The majority of commenters feel the overhaul has changed the game and will allow me to now record live narration with trains in action as desired.  My own position is a bit more guarded, as I don't think the progress was as significant as it needed to be, but I'm satisfied that I made a solid effort with noticeable results in multiple areas.

LEGO Dimensions Excalibur Batman Fun Pack toys review! 71344


Things are starting to look a bit grim for LEGO Dimensions product sales.  Every store I've visited has dramatically scaled back retail space for the theme and old packs are developing shelf wear. Meanwhile, there've been ever more reports of previous Fun Packs showing up at dollar stores.  The company seems to remain committed to new releases for the moment, though, based upon their early promise of a minimum of 3 years of support for the original platform.  It's always possible that they'll pull another Bionicle on us, though.

Mega Construx Futurama Bender Kubros review!


Hey look at that!  This character translated really well to the Kubros style in my opinion.  A keeper for me.

LEGO Batman in the Phantom Zone polybag review! 30522


Here's yet another LBM polybag that has long since made the rounds and does a good job of directly capturing a very small piece of the movie itself.

Friday, February 10, 2017

LEGO Star Wars original Snowspeeder from 1999! set 7130


Happy Flashback Friday, all!

Mega Construx Family Guy Peter Griffin Kubros review!


The new season of Kubros is out, finally adopting the updated Mega Construx branding.  This particular figure is of a character I really like, but the design of the model seems to suffer from compromise syndrome, trying to bring an extra splash of realism to a very abstract aesthetic standard.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

LEGO city update: Over & under! Feb. 8, 2017


It's the first ever alteration to my original elevated rail loop and it facilitates an important change on the short side of the main downtown strip of the city.

LEGO NEXO Knights Lance vs. Lightning review! 70359


This set has pretty poor "shelf presence," if you will, with no major eye-catching element and fairly low-contrast color schemes on either side.  However, assembled and in-hand it proves to be well thought-out with very nice individual builds.

LEGO Juniors Batman vs. Mr. Freeze review - 10737


With all of the hub-bub about the LEGO Batman Movie, it's actually easy to miss that a non-LBM Batman set hit the market this season.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Small New JANG City update & request for feedback


A little more progress has been made in the train yard, but more importantly, I have a bunch of specific decisions to make about stuff in this room and in the video I request your input!
Update: Your answers came quickly and in huge numbers!

LEGO Batman Movie The Joker Battle Training polybag review - 30523


Advanced screenings of the actual LEGO Batman Movie have already begun and I still have another related polybag on hand to review after this one, while yet another still has just been released, but probably won't make it into my hands before the full general movie release.

Friday, February 3, 2017

LEGO Friends Heartlake Pizzeria review - 41311


I've not forgotten about LEGO Friends!  Due to the overwhelming quantity of new sets LEGO is producing every season, my short run of covering practically every set in every theme can no longer continue, but I do remain committed to diversity in my reviews.

LEGO Wonder Woman vs Doomsday Mighty Micros review - 76070


This is the last of the series 4 Mighty Micros!  It feels great to complete another theme.

Two more LEGO NEXO Knights Battle Suits reviewed: Axl & Lance


I'm finally on the home stretch for early-2017 NEXO Knights sets and approaching the point where I'll need to decide how to proceed with my diorama that currently has all year 1 sets.  I'm starting to lean towards setting up a full year 2 display in its place, but I'm still undecided.

Videos:


Wednesday, February 1, 2017

LEGO Batman Movie Mini Batwing polybag review! 30524


I'm looking to get through the remainder of the LEGO Batman Movie material available to me within the next few days.  The sheer number of items has proven rather daunting.  A lot of this stuff has been very fun to behold, but I'm almost LBM'd out!

Book-exclusive LEGO Tartan (Kilt) Batman minifig!


Tartan (not Tarzan!) Batman is in thanks to the just-released Chaos in Gotham City "activity book" and he's, well, he's something!  Collectible, to be sure.