LEGO Ninjago Desert Lightning review

I feel like this one sort of crosses the Ninja Bike Chase set from last season with the styling of the bigger Vermillion Invader.

• Video: LEGO Ninjago Desert Lightning review! 70622

LEGO City Bulldozer Break-In review - 60140

Another anticipated 2017 set here, featuring a bank and a bulldozer that doesn't break into that bank in the way you might expect.

• Video: LEGO City Bulldozer Break-In review 🏦 60140

LEGO as just a job?

Today in a random thought experiment I considered the concept of non-hobbyists being employed to work with brick-based construction toys.  What if, for example, someone set up a MOC production factory of sorts where people ran 9-to-5 weekday shifts designing LEGO cars & buildings & such, just for the paycheck, with little to no lasting interest in what they were doing.  There could be managers who would handle scheduling and work priorities, bring multiple builders together as required for larger projects, etc.  Then there would be talking heads (actors, essentially) who would present the MOCs with simulated enthusiasm on TV or at shows, in social media and so on.  What a ludicrous, completely unfeasible scenario, I thought.  You can't engage in a creative endeavor without having any passion for it.  You certainly can't be successful at it.

Oh, how narrow-minded I was being until I snapped out of it and came to my senses.  You can be successful at such a thing and the scenario absolutely is feasible.  So long as you're able to provide a service that enough people desire and you're able to monetize it, you can generate revenue.  If your product is entertainment, it matters not whether you, yourself, enjoy it or believe in it in any way, so long as your consumers get something they want from it.  Look no further than "scripted reality" TV for an example.  It is largely fake & contrived, yet a cash cow of an industry for everyone from actors to studio execs.  Even on our beloved YouTube, many popular and wildly successful creators are stressed and drained in real life and dislike their own online-only personas.  Viewers don't care about any of that hidden reality, they only care about what's perceptible in the content that gets published.

I believe if I put my mind to it, I could convert the JANGBRiCKS brand into something designed & mechanized primarily for profits, with any other forms of positive returns being just happy bonuses.  I just don't want to.  The idea isn't repulsive, it's just so foreign to me and so far from my mental base that by default, I consider it unfathomable.  For me, this whole brick-based construction toy thing is a personally enjoyable hobby first, with all other concerns playing second fiddle.  That's how I like it to be, and that's how I'm absolutely dedicated to keeping it.

LEGO Creator Park Street Townhouse 3-in-1 review! 31065

A new 3-in-1 set means a new 3-in-1 review!  As always, only one version of a Creator build can be assembled at once with the parts from one single set, which is why I simply got three sets :)

• Video: LEGO Creator Park Street Townhouse 3-in-1 review! 31065

LEGO Flower vendor cart MOC completed

I told you all I was going to make (at least) one more, still smaller vendor cart to go near my train station, but I didn't say it was going to be for food or beverages!  This flower cart lets me kick out of my city the promotional one that went with the Detective's Office. Score!

• Video: Custom LEGO Flower vendor cart MOC!

LEGO City 2017 Police Station review - 60141

The new juggernaut of the City is out, and a vocal, but honestly tiny minority of LEGO's fans will dislike it because so many police sets are made to keep the theme fresh.  That won't stop the line from continuing to be a perennial big seller.

Here I take a closer look at every aspect of the newest HQ and talk about my favorite and least favorite aspects.

• Video: LEGO City 2017 Police Station review 60141

LEGO Disney Elsa's Magical Ice Palace review

It's Elsa's Sparkling Ice Castle, part 2!  The top-selling set of 2015 shocked many folks with its retail success, and this Winter LEGO has already made a new version of the same thing, but now with over twice the complexity and, if you ask me, significantly better results.

• Video: LEGO Disney Elsa's Magical Ice Palace review

LEGO Ninjago Dawn of Iron Doom review! 70626

Probably the most fan-requested review of the season here :)  Does the set itself live up to expectations, though?

• Video: LEGO Ninjago Dawn of Iron Doom review! 70626

FAQ: Why don't you follow & subscribe to anyone?

Q: Why don't you follow & subscribe to anyone?

• A:   There are two big reasons...
1. I work (including the many activities for the "Jangbricks" brand, most of which most people never see), around 14 hours/day, 7 days/week, 360+ days/year. Often I don't even get enough time for sleep, hence the permanent bags under my eyes. So, I certainly don't have ample time to watch other YouTube channels (in any genre), read other sites (Brickset is the only LEGO-related one I regularly follow), catch up on every day's MOC uploads on Flickr, etc.  If I'm not going to consume the content, I'm not going to follow/subscribe to it.  I don't use following/subscribing as a currency -- no sub4sub, no follow4follow, no "Hey you said something nice about me so as a reward I'm going to sub to you."
2. The stuff I'd be most interested in actually following in the brick-based construction world is other peoples' MOC work.  However, I don't want to be influenced by other peoples' MOC work!  I want my own creations to be exactly that, my own.  There's so much amazing work done in the LEGO community and there are so many specific, repeatable techniques to absorb, that it has to be extremely difficult to watch a lot of it and not pick a lot of it up by osmosis alone, even if completely unintentional.  If my creations are going to suck, it'll be because I suck at them, but at least I'll know they're fully my sucky creations.  If they're going to be good, it'll be because I actually did something that's good, on my own.  It's a personal choice, and not to be misinterpreted & rehashed into a dig against anyone else's choices.  In fact, most of the truly great MOC-makers are so amazing at what they do because they combine their own skills & creativity with the cumulative knowledge & experiences of dozens, maybe hundreds of other skilled & creative people.  That's 100% good, positive, commendable.  I, personally, just choose for myself and myself alone, to do things differently.

LEGO Bob's Kabobs food cart MOC!

One more food vendor for my public transit hub, even smaller this time.  The next cart will be littler still, though it might not sell anything edible.

• Video: LEGO Bob's Kabobs food cart MOC!