About Nannan

Nannan became involved with the online LEGO community in late 2004. He has been a builder for as long as he can remember. Nannan builds in a variety of themes that often overlap with the science fiction universe; other times they are purely made up ones. You can see his creations on Flickr, MOCpages and Brickshelf. In real life, Nannan is a physician living in Dallas.

Posts by Nannan

Massive digital model of the Avengers Helicarrier with over 22,000 bricks

Yo-Sub Joo takes his digital masterpieces to the sky with this giant virtual creation of the Avengers Helicarrier. Unlike real models, you can know the exact parts count in a digital build, and this one uses 22,694 bricks and would measure 85.4 x 45.3 inches in real life. You can see more pictures and detail shots on MOCpages.

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Hoist the sails

This beautiful ship by Swan Dutchman is an imagined frigate from the Dutch East India Company. Over a year of work was poured into the construction of this model. The builder spared no shortcuts and even hand-sewn the sails himself. The final product and the edited photo looks amazing, and there are more to be seen in the builder’s Flickr.

If you enjoyed this post, also check out Galeon Revenge by maydayartist.

Thanks for the tip Brickvalier!

Lego Ninjago Thunder Raider 70723 [Review]

The Thunder Raider is one of the 2014 Ninjago sets released in January. It contains 334 pieces and retails for $29.99. You can purchase the set on Amazon. You can also see a previous review of this set by Chris.

Pros:

The mech is a great complement to Kai’s Fire Mech and is well designed
Better than average price-per-part ratio and interesting new elements

Cons:

The blue vehicle, while designed for function, doesn’t look very appealing

This is a solid set both for parts and playability. The mech is the best feature of this set, having a simple and elegant design. The vehicle on the other hand looks a bit messy with the haphazard array of blue plates, but it plays well and features a transforming attack mode and the ability to carry the mech. Parts-wise, there’s a wide selection of elements including new ones like the black vehicle spoiler and A-frame wedges. Even though I recommend buying individual parts on Bricklink, sometimes it’s good to buy sets when you there’s not a specific piece you’re looking for and just want to expand the variety of your collection. This is a great set for that purpose.

Lego Star Wars Z-95 Headhunter 75004 [Review]

Lego Star Wars Z-95 Headhunter was released in August 2013 and contains 373 pieces. It retails for $49.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a video review and my remarks regarding the set.

Pros:

Includes the 4-armed Pong Krell minifig
Features a concealed spring-loaded cannon

Cons:

Very high price tag for a set with low part count
Unremarkable selection of parts

This is a typical Star Wars set that exemplifies the continued price-spike on Lego products from this licensed franchise. Like most other Star Wars sets today, this set is priced high, short on new elements, and relies on exclusive Star Wars minifigs to enhance its appeal. It’s long since 2005-2006 when Star Wars sets hovered around the $0.1 price-per-part ratio. The reason I purchased this set was because it was on sale during the holidays for half off, and even then I wasn’t excited about parting out the set because of its bland pieces. I can’t justify spending $50 on this set unless there’s a compelling need to have Lego’s version of the Headhunter.

Lego Star Wars Jabba’s Sail Barge 75020 [Review]

Lego Star Wars Jabba’s Sail Barge was released in August 2013 and contains 850 pieces. It retails for $119.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a video review and my remarks regarding the set.

Pros:

Overall sleek design of the sail barge makes it a great display model
Includes iconic and unique minifigs such as Max Reebo and Ree-Yees

Cons:

Model is very small for the price
The jagged slopes on the front of the barge looks weird, may be better if plates were used instead.

LEGO’s second version of Jabba’s Sail Barge is a neat little model that carries a big price tag. It’s an iconic Star Wars vehicle well deserving of some shelf space. I wouldn’t pay the full price on this model, and luckily Amazon currently has it on sale, and 26% off is a good enough deal. The model’s interior can be fully exposed to allow easy access, but there’s not much room after accounting for Jabba’s presence. The barge rolls on inconspicuous wheels underneath and also features a concealed cannon in the front that’s a hassle to fire. Overall, I recommend this model at a price tag less than $100.

Cheeky Rafiki

Vlad Lisin ([Rhymes_Shelter]) once again wows us with an incredibly realistic Bionicle creation, this time depicting the characterful Rafiki from Lion King.

Enter the marshy depths of Purity

This alien landscape of a cavernous marshland by Raoul Baldwin features many exotic elements. There are so many aspects of this creation I like, including the color texturing with olive green and dark tan, the vertical raised dark tan baseplate, the rocks in the foreground to add perspective and depth, and the integration of elements of technology and nature. Don’t forget to check out the details of the organic looking alien walker.

Lego Chima The Croc Swamp Hideout 70014 [Review]

The Croc Swamp Hideout 70014 is one of the Lego Chima sets released in August 2013, it contains 647 pieces and retails for $69.99. The set is currently available on Amazon. Below is my review of the set.

Pros:

An above average selection of olive green and earth-toned parts
Decent number of play features

Cons:

No unique parts or minifigs (unique means exclusive to the set)
Not a good-looking model to display

This set is clearly meant to be a playset and has little value outside of this. It has a variety of play features as I’ve shown in the video, but most of them are standard except the rapid-fire shooter, which I think is the most well-designed functional feature of this set. The other aspects of the set are not so appealing, especially the lack of unique minifigs for one of the largest Chima sets. As for builders, there aren’t any unique pieces to the set. Taken together with the minifigs, this set seems like a remix of existing Lego parts and figures, which doesn’t add much to the its novelty. I would not recommend buying this set at retail price unless someone really wants a croc base to play with.

Friday Night Fights Live!

Just recently, Guy and I hosted the live kickoff of the latest Iron Builder competition between Siercon and Coral vs Legohaulic and Littlehaulic. Joining us were some other staff members of the blog (Chris, Caylin) and other builders (Bruce Lowell, Nick V, Andrew Lee). The video below contains the entire live-recorded broadcast, which features the following:

The unveiling of the mystery part
A 10 miniute build-off between the contenders
A long Q&A session where we answered questions from the audience on anything from the state of the Lego community to whether I was wearing pants.

Enjoy!

Titanfall EVA-8 Shotgun built with Lego

Nick Jensen (Nick Brick) adds to his ever impressive arsenal of sci-fi Lego weaponry with the Titanfall EVA-8 Shotgun that features a removable drum magazine, trigger, and sliding pump. Check out more photos on Flickr.

Lego Star Wars AT-TE 75019 [Review]

The Lego Star Wars AT-TE was released in August 2013 and contains 794 pieces. It retails for $89.99 and is available on Amazon. Below is a brief video review and my remarks regarding the set.

Pros:

Has a handle to pick up the model, fits with the dropship if you have one from years ago.
Includes 4 unique minifigures

Cons:

No extraordinary play features besides standard adjustable legs and cannons
Not significantly different from the 2008 version of the AT-TE

This is a set of a popular model from the Clone Wars, so it’s no surprise that it’s also the 3rd time LEGO produced the set. Unfortunately it does not have significant play features or include many minifigures. However, fans of the series will probably still be interested in obtaining a copy as it make for a decent display model. If you’re a builder, then this set does not have much to offer in terms of part variety besides the standard grey parts. Overall, I don’t recommend getting this set at MSRP, but Amazon currently has it for 25% off, which I think is an acceptable price to buy it at.

Amazon discounts April 2014

Amazon currently has the following sets on a notable discount which I think are good buys. Please keep in mind that prices can change anytime.

LEGO Chima 70009 Worriz Combat Lair $33.59 (52%)