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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

LEGO DK Books exclusive NEXO Knights Merlok figure


Ahh, they tried to sneak one past me!  This is such a mean trick, making an exclusive, yet fully official LEGO minifigure that only comes with a book.  If you're a completionist, you've gotta go for it.  Fortunately these books aren't too expensive or hard to find.  Unfortunately in this particular case, the book itself is somewhat forgettable.  The figure, though, I'm very happy to be able to collect.  Now they need to do an all trans-orange version, vinyl cape & all!

LEGO Elves Dragon Sanctuary review! 41178


The "Sanctuary" part of this set has a lot small colorful elements, but the entire structure is definitely smaller than I'd prefer.  The dragon, on the other hand, is one of the larger in the theme.

LEGO Star Wars MTT polybag from 2012


Wow this thing is much smaller than I even expected, tiny even by polybag standards.

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

LEGO NEXO Knights Macy's Thunder Mace review! 70319


Here's the last of the season 2 NEXO Knights hero vehicles for now.  I have just a few "Ultimate" figures yet to review, plus one of the very smallest boxed sets in the series.  After that, I'll be ready to update my whole NEXO Knights diorama!

Monday, August 29, 2016

LEGO Train Station MOC update


After another strong push over the past week, I'm finally on the home stretch with this thing.  Some elements of my original concept & vision that were lost to the physical limitations of reality have been regained!

Given the hurdles I've had to overcome, I do not believe I could be more happy with how things are turning out.  Looking forward to the final couple of updates!

Friday, August 26, 2016

My LEGO Star Wars minifig collection


Yeah this, uh, this is a problem.  I don't intentionally collect these things, and in fact, ever since I started reviewing Star Wars sets, I have specifically intended to not collect these things.  Nevertheless, here we are.

LEGOLAND Train set review! 40166


Quaint.  This is definitely quaint.  There's a term I haven't used to describe a set in quite a long time.

LEGO Elves Ragana's Magic Shadow Castle review! 41180


Finally got through the biggest Elves structure set of the season, and now there just remain a couple more sets to cover before I can finally bring together all of the dragons & dragon eggs at once.

Thursday, August 25, 2016

LEGO NEXO Knights General Magmar's Really Long Set Name review!


I know I say this a lot, but this truly is yet another set that is much better than I initially expected.  I got a strong awkward Chima vibe from pictures with a sense of too-obvious action features and a forced transformative feature.  In reality it's all surprisingly slick and natural, a perfect fit for play with other sets & settings from this theme.

LEGO Batman v. Superman Batmobile polybag review! 30446


A quick video on one of the nice little polybag sets you've seen me pull out of a recent Bricklink haul.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Mega Bloks Halo Mega-builds compared! Spirit vs. all


As promised in the Spirit review, here's a look at all of the really big Mega Bloks halo builds together, with a focus on comparing the Spirit to its predecessors.  Funny how my beloved FUD doesn't look so enormous anymore.

Mega Bloks Halo Covenant Spirit Dropship review!


One more major build completed & review produced!  Though it doesn't specifically say "Signature Series" on the box, this is the flagship set to anchor the entire 2016 MB Halo lineup.

A bit of an enigma to behold, it appears astonishingly solid from the outside, yet it is actually quite hollow.  It is structurally sound, yet light in weight.  It's good!

Monday, August 22, 2016

Received, not yet built: Mega Bloks Halo Covenant Spirit Dropship


Just wanted to let it be known that I've gotten the thing because there have been a lot of folks asking about it.  It'll take awhile to sort the parts & build it, though.

LEGO Star Wars Droid Escape from 2001! set 7106


Something slightly classic from the early days of LEGO Star Wars.  Compare to the 2016 version!

Mega Bloks Halo Versus Troop Pack review


Is this how it's going to be for ever?  Will there really be a unicorn-style Target-exclusive troop pack that never gets released in the US, every single year?  We're two for two so far...

Saturday, August 20, 2016

My LEGO minifig construction kit tour


At last, the tour will be complete!  Yesterday's updated look at my LEGO parts collection didn't try to go into my minifigure components, as I knew that would be a long endeavor unto itself.  Well here it is now, almost another 1/2 hour going through a 4 1/2 foot tall stack of drawers stuffed with trays full of heads, hairpieces, torsos, legs, utensils, & weapons.  Grab a snack before you hit play!

Friday, August 19, 2016

New LEGO parts collection tour at last


Two years!  It has been two years since I last opened drawer after drawer of Sterlite bins to show how I organize my LEGO parts.  I've moved since then and the collection has grown pretty significantly.  Though this video is over 1/2 hour long, I'm moving through things pretty quickly and skip a few of my less convenient containers that are mostly stocked with miscellany.  I've also saved my spare minifig & minifig parts collection for a completely separate video so I won't have to feel rushed through that particularly important segment.

More to come from this room in the coming weeks!

LEGO Disney Castle review! 71040


After one full day of building and another for filming & editing, my review of the massive 4,080 piece LEGO Disney Castle is complete!  I've also taken this as a unique opportunity to further the evolution of my reviews based upon the past few years of data and viewer feedback.  Though the full video lasts over 25 minutes, within just the first 12 you get the full feature overview of the entire set plus the minifigures. After that I slow down, rewind, and spend some quality time with some of the assemblies I found particularly interesting, looking at them more closely and talking about their builds.

I'll continue to adjust & improve as always, but this will be the new baseline format I'll use going forward whenever applicable.  It offers some of the brevity & succinctness most of today's viewers demand, while preserving a more personal, casual, and in-depth experience desired by the more patient minority that I also care about quite a bit.  Plus I feel far more comfortable taking my time and really talking things through in a more conversational style; it's more "me."

PS: Still made a mistake in the video, wrong 'D' cartoon duck name at 10:18. Apologies.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

LEGO Disney Castle speed build videos!


With my last big build (Ghostbusters HQ) I asked which video length you all preferred, 2 or 10 minutes. Responses were evenly split, so again I've done both!

Videos:

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

LEGO Blacktron Renegade from 1987! set 6954


It's been quite awhile since my last classic LEGO space set review, eh?  This here is one that's been on & off my radar for years and I've had it for weeks if not months (I forget how long ago it showed up in a haul video).  I'm happy to see that all built up, it does not disappoint, and in fact, there's more too it than I expected with numerous movable and/or removable features.

All LEGO Friends Amusement Park sets together!


I've been waiting for months to do this, and finally I get to see (and show) all of the LEGO Friends Amusement Park sub-theme sets and their components all laid out together.  It needs some extra parts around the edges to make it look more real & grounded, with some fences, trees, benches, etc. Oh, and people, it needs more people! However, I think some of the shots really start to show the liveliness and imaginative potential of the scene.

Monday, August 15, 2016

Sunday, August 14, 2016

LEGO Minecraft custom layout update


You've seen some progress pics on Instagram, but I figured I should share something in video form for folks who prefer to follow along only on YouTube.  Another corner is now nearly complete, with just one to go, and about 3/4ths of the bulk of the latter is in place as well.

Unfortunately I'm again nearing a point where I must wait for more parts from Bricklink, but I'll probably switch back over to the train station in the interim to keep the MOC momentum going strong!

Saturday, August 13, 2016

LEGO NEXO Knights Axl's Tower Carrier review! 70322


When the first images were revealed for this wave of Nexo sets, this one here caught my attention more than any of the others (even Jestro's big castle).  For some reason, though, I had a really bad feeling that my interest would be rewarded with disappointment in the final product.  Whelp, here's the moment of truth.

LEGO Friends Amusement Park Arcade review! 41127


Just one tiny polybag to go before I'm done with yet another entire theme's worth of sets.  Hooray for forward momentum!

Friday, August 12, 2016

All LEGO City 2016 Volcano subtheme sets together


Remember I mentioned you'd be seeing more stuff in this room soon?  Didn't have to wait long, did ya?!  This is just a small temporary display that brings one of every Volcano set together into a compact worksite diorama.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Introducing: My LEGO CMF wall


I first teased it about a month ago, and now it's finally filled up & ready for prime time!  I've been making more & more time recently to work on things to be filmed in the big city room, and it feels great.

Mega Bloks P-51D Mustang CoD Air Combat Ace set review!


These keep becoming less & less toys and more & more high-quality replica models.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

LEGO Series 11 Collectible Minifigures from 2013!


At last, the circle is complete, and I have covered every LEGO CMF series to date*.  I had actually done a single video about this set of 16 back in 2013, but instead of a proper review, it was more of a wrap-up after a bunch of a bunch of random pack openings.

So, what's next?


* Except DFB, because I know nothing about the subject matter and my video would be useless to all.

Mega Bloks Halo Arena Champions Battle Pack review


New big figure pack in the Mega Bloks Halo line at around the $2 per Spartan range; not bad!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

LEGO Friends Amusement Park Roller Coaster review! 41130


Yes!  Got through the big flagship set of yet another theme!  One more such big set to go (Elves) and my queue will be down to only smaller things. Smaller things are good, because they leave bigger chunks of time to work on MOCs :D

Monday, August 8, 2016

LEGO Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum review! 76060

In spite of LEGO's attempts to insert multiple "action features," this set appears to be almost exclusively collector-oriented.

LEGO NEXO Knights Ultimate Axl review! 70336


Season 2 of the LEGO NEXO Knights TV show is coming up and all of the second wave sets were finally released in North America last week after appearing throughout Europe & Asia a couple months or so before that.  We can now finally get the entire knights' team in Ultimate form, and Axl is a (literally) big part of that completion.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

LEGO Train Station MOC update #4


In today's progress report I get to show a main platform that is now probably over 90% complete!  In my very next working session I finally get to set up the elevated 4-wide light rail platform.

Friday, August 5, 2016

LEGO NEXO Knights Jestro's Volcano Lair review! 70323


Ok, real talk here.  This set exceeds my expectations.  The standard static view from the front isn't at all Earth-shattering, but once the thing is turned sideways it reveals an unexpected amount of volume. Plus it has walkways, usable walkways, sorely missing in most traditional styled castle sets LEGO has ever made.  Ten minifigures is nothing to scoff at, though admittedly two are just Scurriers.  It's just another solid win by the NEXO Knights design team in my opinion.  This weird, unlikely mashup theme is actually working out.  Season 2 of the TV show starts pretty soon, too!

Thursday, August 4, 2016

LEGO 2016 mini London Bus review! 40220


Here's a new promotional set that LEGO started including for free with qualifying purchases beginning August 1st.  It's a wonderful gift!

LEGO Star Wars: Rebels Ahsoka lightsaber blade options


The awesome, but somewhat inaccurate new trans-medium blue color used for the lightsabers of Ahsoka Tano in the Rebel Combat Frigate set drew a lot of criticism, and I think I've gotten down to the source of the confusion and/or error while also demonstrating some other color possibilities.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

LEGO City Prison Island Helicopter (?) polybag review! 30346




This little polybag almost got away from me because I actually thought I had already reviewed it.  Isn't the name odd?  Doesn't look like any helicopter I've ever seen...

LEGO Series 10 Collectible Minifigures from 2013 reviewed


Ah yes, the big one-zero.  This is the series that was most prevalent when I first started minifig pack opening videos, but I never reviewed the collection.  Mistake corrected!  (And yes, that is a replica Mr. Gold.)

Custom LEGO HRMHT "Hermit" material-handler MOC


Here's a new little vehicle for the interior of my Planetary Defense Force base.  Now I just need to build that Planetary Defense Force base already.

#iHazAbox 📦 LEGO Shop at Home haul


With this block of purchases, I now have the overwhelming majority of this season's remaining products, with just a few small things left to fill in, and of course an infinite number of sets yet to be released.  I'm very happy that I've already been able to shift a lot of focus over to the MOC making side of things as historically that transition hasn't occurred until awhile after my last reviews of new sets.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

LEGO Elves Queen Dragon's Rescue review! 41179


I've been waiting months for this one to come around, and it doesn't disappoint with the impressive size of the dragon itself and a lot of imaginative possibilities in the terrain & structure build.  Azari's hood is pretty fabulous, too.

Monday, August 1, 2016

LEGO Star Wars Rebel Combat Frigate review! 75158


Hey, look at that, it's release day!  This set has a really solid build and well-implemented action features, but a lot of the small details seem oddly off and the overall size of the thing feels underwhelming for the price.  Have a closer look & let me know whether you agree (as always, it's fine if you don't!).