Yearly Archives: 2014

Lego Hobbit The Lonely Mountain 79018 [Review]

The Lonely Mountain is currently the largest set in the Lego Hobbit line. This set was released this fall and retails for $129.99 on Amazon. Below is a brief video review and my remarks regarding the set.


Pros:

  • All 5 minifigs are unique to the set
  • Smaug is a well-designed dragon with Lego’s first collapsible wings
  • Good source of sand green bricks


Cons:

  • Very high price tag

Overall this is a great set for parts, minifigs, and Smaug is an attractive beast to most fans. A decent number of play features mark this as a good playset, and the sand green bricks make it stand out among other less brightly colored sets from the same line. My only complaint is the huge price tag, which is largely a result of including Smaug, whose new parts drive up the production cost. Ultimately I’d like to see this set discounted to $80-$100, which would be a reasonable purchase. I recommend holding off on buying the set unless you absolutely love the new Smaug.

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Nagas the Basilisk

Mike Nieves is rocking the bionicle with this build. The colors really pop, especially that red pinstripe down the tail, and the sculpting on the legs really gives it a powerful looking stance.

Nagas the Basilisk

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Titan DSX – big style in a small package

This new fighter by Cole Blaq, makes excellent use of sculpted pieces to provide a detailed and variegated shape in a small form. Take a look, and you’ll notice that the (awesome looking) cockpit is only two studs wide, and the entire creation is probably under 6 inches long.

TITAN DSX

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Mixed Media

Zi Zy has been consistently churning out fantastic small-scale mecha and creating scenes for them that mix Lego and more traditional model-building elements. The result is an amazing hybrid that imbues the Lego models with an unusual degree of realism.

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Black Hollow

César Soares is the mastermind behind this lovely medieval village. I really like how each of the houses is distinct but fit together so well. Also, while I normally don’t like borders, it actually works really well her, as it highlights the absence of straight lines elsewhere in the build. I like it. I really do.

Black Hollow

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“Oh, oh, my Christmas tree’s delicious”

Procrastination. It’s a crippling disease that afflicts millions every year, especially around December. Don’t become a victim – shop now! And if you’re looking for the perfect gift for the LEGO fan that has everything, Chris McVeigh can help you out with this beautiful range of tree ornament kits. Or if you’re a total cheapskate like me, just print them off a set of building instructions. Bah, humbug!

I particularly like the inclusion of the arcade machine ornaments. Also, it looks like the roller ornaments could be easily converted into dreidels. Or with the application of a rubber mallet, possibly even a mkeka.

 
 

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Ask a Lemur – Acronyms, LEGO User Groups and TBB Contributors!

Greetings and Salutations, Dear Readers!

Ask a Lemur

Another week has flown by and I am so excited to be able to talk with you again! I am still getting used all the holidays they celebrate here at TBB. American Thanksgiving was this week. The jet was kept pretty busy flying all the contributors back to their homes in time for the holiday.

I’ve been told that TBB celebrates major holidays from all over the world. They say it’s part of the job and someone has to do it. It’s nice to see them relax since they work so hard.

I was pretty excited about all these holidays but apparently lemur interns aren’t eligible to use the jet. Someone has to stay here to water the plants. Nannan was nice enough to move his collection of carnivorous plants into the hallway outside his office so that I could feed them there. I said that he didn’t need to do that, I was fine just caring for them in his office. He must not have heard me because he just locked his door and ran off to board the jet.

Oh, I don’t have to worry about the plants in Mr. Dan’s office either. He is the head of the legal department and is pretty busy all year dealing with the lawsuits. No holidays for him. Besides, his plants are all dead anyway.

On to your questions from last week!

Continue reading →

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The cubicle of the future

If you’re gonna operate heavy machinery all day, you might as well be comfortable. And the operator of this Walker Mech by Flickr member nobu_tary has clearly gone to great lengths to trick out his mobile workplace, by adding a sporty bucket seat and a ton of other gear and personal effects, giving this build a great “lived in” feel.

Check out all the angles on this sweet mech to see how many more details you can spot. With all that equipment, it kinda reminds me of that old board game Buckaroo!

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Torgrar the Clobberer

I like this guy. My family comes from the same general vicinity and I’m sure my ancestors were much like him. Well, probably more like the boneheaded companions mentioned in the description, but I digress. The Deathly Halliwell did a great job sculpting this figure. Naturally the torso stands out, but I also really like the face. The use of dark tan for the beard makes for a nice subtle effect and the dumbfounded look on his face is priceless!

Torgrar the Clobberer

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Sora Vic Viper

There is some really nice color-blocking on this Vic Viper, by Kyubi. I really like how the white outlines make the rest of the colors really pop. Also, the details and textures that have been worked in here are really exceptional. Lastly, if you look really close, you will see some really cool parts-usage. Some of my favorites are the skis and ski-poles.

Sora VV

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We’re gonna need a bigger broom

Building a transparent model is always a challenge, due to the more limited range of parts. But Flickr member Igginz has overcome that brilliantly by combining transparent and opaque parts in just the right way to create this terrifying Glass Spider. I don’t know what exactly is brewing inside that arachnid abdomen, but I want no part of it!

Check out his Flickr stream for lots of closeup shots.

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Lego version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer

Check out this Lego version of the latest Star Wars trailer by FinalFeature.

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