LEGO Ninjago Movie Quake Mech (big version) reviewed! 70632

New release season has begun, in typical roundabout fashion with some products appearing only at the handful of LEGOLAND locations in the world, some only in Asia & Europe, etc., etc.  You know the drill.  With both aftermarket & import prices continuing to balloon year over year, you will see me reviewing fewer & fewer LEGO sets when they hit the market.  I will instead wait for them to become available en masse in my region or at least at regular retail prices online, just like with Mega Construx products.  I can't keep chasing the ever increasing silliness.

• Video: LEGO Ninjago Movie Quake Mech review! 70632

Remember the Mega Bloks/Construx Halo line?

We've gone through quite a dry spell when it comes to substantial new releases in the traditional flagship Mega Construx line.  A lot of folks have been wondering why I've not had any relevant content to offer, but the simple fact is, stuff hasn't been released!  That is, stuff hasn't been released anywhere I could buy it.  Some extraordinarily lucky locations got limited quantities of the entire newest Halo Heroes line, for example, but most of us fans just have to sit & wait & wonder.  Heck, some stuff still never really makes it out to the wild.

• Video: Mega Construx Halo Faithful vs. Fallen figure pack review

Starting work on my largest cargo port crane

After over three years of waiting for this moment, I've finally started on my custom ship-to-shore freight dock crane!  This first step involved simply figuring out the dimensions of the thing without any concern for realism or structural integrity.  Next I'll rough out the trolley and figure out a spreader design.

• Video: LEGO container gantry crane MOC begins

LEGO Ideas Women of NASA review! set 21312

The latest Ideas set has hit the streets and it's another one that I was disappointed to see picked at the expense of, in my personal opinion, more substantive and exciting 10,000 vote winners in its review period.  However, with product in hand, I find this set to be actually really, really nice.  As usual my main interest is in the builds, but I can't help but take note of the excellent design work done on the figures.

• Video: LEGO Ideas Women of NASA review! set 21312

There does, though, remain that controversial sociopolitical undertone here, and with an audible "gulp" I made the decision to address it head-on at the end of my review video, with my unfiltered personal feelings.  Surely this will drive my subscriber count down since many people cannot accept anyone else having an opinion, but I think it's very much worth it.  I choose my battles very carefully, but that doesn't mean I don't fight.

LEGO Thanksgiving Harvest set review 40261

It brings me great joy to put up a video about a holiday/seasonal set within the actual month of the holiday.  Product release schedules have become pretty silly with many things these days, with Christmas decorations showing up in stores in September & what not!

• Video: LEGO Thanksgiving Harvest set review 🦃 40261

Of course now that I say that, I will very, very soon be reviewing a series of Christmas-specific sets. In the first week of November.  Oh, well.  I tried!

It's finally time to make that cargo seaport

I've of course been looking forward to moving on to my Planetary Defense Force Base forever, but before I start laying its labor-intensive foundation I need to really lock down its dimensions.  There's plenty of room to work around, though, and I'm not married to any specific shape or individual dimension.  Thus, I must defer to its neighbors to really define the constraints, and work backwards from there.

The zoo has much more than enough space for its own planned expansion & revamp, leaving the new cargo harbor with all of the power to determine the fate of this entire end of the city!

• Video - LEGO City update: Cargo ship harbor work begins!

Today's progress involved determining and securely building in the foundational shape of the port, moving rail sidings and rotating much of the setup 90 degrees while adding two piers to provide a lot more docking space.  Hopefully pretty soon I can start working on cranes.

LEGO train station MOC home stretch

Nearly "done for now," less than a week after I began!  I wish all of my structure projects could move this quickly.

• Video: LEGO train station MOC almost done (progress 4)

After this, the zoo is ready for its remodel, but I'm leaning towards skipping right past it for now and doing some work at the new Planetary Defense Base location.  We'll see how I feel inspiration-wise in a few days when I'm fully ready to move forward.

Still more on that second train station

Told y'all I'm trying to get this done quickly!  Secretly though, I'm just playing a game with fate, forcing it to accelerate the release timeline for the first winter LEGO sets.  The deeper I go into custom building mode, the sooner releases come as it's their sworn duty to stop me and hog all of my attention.

• Video: Good progress on the custom LEGO train station (part 3)

Second update on the new train station

I'm tellin' ya, I'm trying to get this thing done quickly.  The first winter set release season fast approaches and I want to squeeze every last bit of value out of this down/free time that I can.

• Video: Wheelchair lift for my new LEGO train station (progress 2)

And the next MOC for the city will be....

Train station #2!  As I touch upon in the later part of the introductory video, creating the space for this newest creation helps set the dimensions for most of the future work on the entire back edge of my tables.  With any luck, this will go pretty quickly, and we'll see where I decide to go from there.

• Video: New custom LEGO train station project begins!