About Chris

Chris Malloy (porschecm2) has been a LEGO fan nearly all his life, having started with System bricks at age 3. He is the co-author of Ultimate LEGO Star Wars, and his creations have been featured in several books and The LEGO Movie. He also helped develop the first LEGO Minecraft set, 21102 Minecraft Micro World: The Forest, which has gone on to inspire a whole theme of sets. He's been active in the online community since 2002, and regularly attends LEGO fan conventions such as BrickCon and BrickCan. He enjoys building in a wide range of themes, but keeps returning to Castle, Space, and Pirates. Check out his LEGO creations and photography here.

Posts by Chris

Ninjago: 70502 Cole’s Earth Driller [Review]

When I was buying sets to review, I had wanted to purchase 70501 Warrior Bike, but unfortunately wasn’t able to get it, so I settled instead for 70502 Cole’s Earth Driller, which is similarly sized. Although I still want to get the Warrior Bike eventually, I’m happy I got Cole’s Earth Driller, because it turned out to have more interesting pieces than I’d thought. It has 171 pieces, and retails for USD $19.99.

The set consists of a lone bad guy, and the eponymous earth driller, driven by Cole, who always gets the black vehicles in the Ninjago color-coded universe. Inside the box are three bags (not numbered), the instruction book, and a sheet of stickers. Now, those who have read my previous reviews know I’m not a fan of stickers. But I applied all save one (the canopy sticker) of the stickers that came in this set. They were simply too cool and too useful for me not to apply (though I’d still rather have printing). The best of the lot was easily the big sand green sticker which goes just under the front of the cockpit. I’m not sure exactly how the designs on it and on the black stickers go with the aesthetic of the Ninjago world, but they look purpose-made for Steampunk builders. Bravo, I say. The earth driller is a good sized vehicle for a set of this price, being around 30 studs long, and of course has a huge drill on the front. It’s the same mechanism as was introduced in the Power Miners sets, with the larger black part spinning in counter-rotation to the pearl gold drill when the vehicle is driven forward. The whole car is built on a Technic frame, which makes it tremendously sturdy. Both the drill and the 4×4 circular plates in the rear wheels are new in pearl gold, and I’m always happy to get new pieces in that color.

The minifigs included are standard fair for this wave of Ninjago, but cool nonetheless. Cole is simply a black version of the red warrior Kai in the Fire Mech set (read my review here), though there are some subtle differences in the printing between the two, such as different logos and buckles. Likewise, the bad guy is very similar to the one in Kai’s Fire Mech, except that I guess this one is higher ranked, since he’s taller and sports pauldrons. He also has a different, cool blue mask for a face. The pauldrons are a new piece to this line, along with the ninjas’ super swords. Cole’s sword here is identical in shape to Kai’s yellow one, but Cole’s is trans-bright green with a trans-black infusion. Here are links to the inventory pages.

This seems a very solid set for the price, though I do wish it had at least one more play-feature, like rear suspension or a pop-up missile or something. It’s a very chunky, heavy vehicle with a huge drill on the front, which I suppose is precisely what you’d want on a real earth driller, but it leaves me wishing for something more. The minifigs are great, and I’ll definitely be getting more of the stickered pieces.

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So Long And Thanks For All The Fish

Sometimes it’s not the biggest models that make a splash, as Michael Jasper proves with this stunning dolphin sculpture. And, no, I don’t think Michael intended a Hitchhiker’s Guide reference, but that’s what I think of every time I see dolphins.

Ninjago: 70500 Kai’s Fire Mech [Review]

Another of the sets I bought last week is the smallest of the 2013 Ninjago sets. This is the last wave of Ninjago sets before Legends of Chima takes its place as the go-to theme for battling minifig games, and I’ll be sad to see it go.

Now, I didn’t follow the mythos of Ninjago, or watch the show, so I can’t tell you a lot of backstory about the theme beyond the very broad strokes, but it’s sure included some sweet sets, and 70500 Kai’s Fire Mech is definitely one of them.

The set contains a small mech and two minifigures, and feels like a bargain with 102 pieces and a USD $9.99 MSRP. The mech is basically the little sibling of the previous wave’s Samurai Mech, which is my favorite set of 2012. The mech is built with ball joints, which allow it quite a lot of pose-ability. Add to that the full-fingered left-hand, and this is probably Lego’s best mech of this size.

The gold highlights are terrific, especially since so many of them are weapons, which are always useful. This is also the cheapest set thus far to include the new inverted 2×2 tiles. All of the printed parts except for the minifigs are stickers, which I didn’t apply, even though they do look very nice. The only new piece here is the fire mech’s sword, which is transparent yellow infused with transparent neon orange, for quite a cool effect. Here are photos of the inventory pages, for those who are interested.

The minifigs look great. Kai has a snazzy black and red outfit, which is just generic enough to be useful for other themes.

The bad guy has a fantastic grimacing visage reminiscent of the masks samurai wore to look fearsome, and a red quiver and hat, both of which are new in that color to this wave of sets. Both minifigs have back printing.

My verdict: this set is a winner. If you’re a fan of Ninjago, mechs, or good Lego deals, you should pick this one up. I enjoyed it so much, I’ve already bought two.

Star Wars: 75002 AT-RT [Review]

My local toy store is stocking up on the first wave of 2013 sets, so I’ll be reviewing several in the near future as I get time. Today, though, I’ll start with one of the new Star Wars sets, the 75002 AT-RT.

With 222 pieces, it’s actually quite a steal with an MSRP of USD $19.99, and even more so for being a Star Wars set, which notoriously are more pricey than their non-licensed counterparts.

It includes an AT-RT walker, which is basically the Clone-Wars equivalent of the AT-ST “chicken walker,” for those who, like me, don’t follow the Clone Wars cartoon series. In order for it to have something to shoot at, a Droideka and battle droid are included. The box contains three bags, one each for the droideka and figs, the legs, and the cockpit. The construction was extremely straight-forward. If you’ve built a two legged LEGO walker before, you’ve basically built this set. The faceting around the cockpit is pretty cool though, and the blue color-scheme does look fantastic here. And a word about the blue pieces: in the past few years, LEGO has been having issues with their plastic, and some shades seeming more transparent and slightly off-color (blue being one), and thus looking cheaper. I happily noted, though, that the blue pieces in this set look terrific, even to someone as picky as I. There’s a small sticker sheet included, as the only printed pieces are the minifigs. I decided not to apply the stickers, especially since two of them go on rough-surfaced slopes, which is a terrible idea. Those pieces should always be printed.

The Droideka is some huge version I’m not familiar with, though it is pretty awesome, having what basically amounts to an artillery piece in the middle. I’m not sure how big it’s supposed to be in scale, but it towers over the minifigs.

The minifigs in this set are pretty standard if you’re a Star Wars collector, consisting of Yoda, a 501st Legion clone trooper, and some variant battle droid. I believe the clone trooper is a new design, with yet another new helmet style. (I think. I lost track a long time ago.) The battle droid has a single red dot of printing on the torso, which to me seemed like a pretty insignificant result for LEGO to go through all the extra work of sending the piece through a printer.

I didn’t encounter any unfamiliar or new pieces while building it, though there are some useful pieces. It did have an unusually large amount of spare pieces. However, if you’ve got any of the previous iterations the Star Wars walkers, and you’re not a Star Wars collector, I’d recommend giving this set a pass. I’ve got nothing particularly negative to say about it, but it’s really not a terribly interesting set. It is one of the few Star Wars sets with a high piece-to-price ratio, though, so it would be a good one to nab on a sale when it’s even cheaper.

That’s No Moon

Flickr user Legorobo has built a gorgeous microscale rendition of the mighty fortress at the heart of the White Comet Empire in the classic anime Space Battleship Yamato. Legorobo has taken it an extra step, though, and added both lights and motors to complete the fantastic effect.

The Wheels of Progress

Here’s a visceral scene by Riccardo Zangelmi. I love the simple architecture which evokes a heavy industrialized zone through so few pieces, and the irregular base that adds a great sense of motion to the diorama. And that monstrous unicycle is just awesome.

TMNT: 79100 Kraang’s Lab Escape [Review]

I found Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sets in my local toy store today, which is the first time I’d seen them in person. So, naturally, I picked one up.

I just nabbed the smallest one for now, because I must confess that I’ve never really watched TMNT.

So this review will be purely from the Lego point of view, as I can offer no helpful advice about how closely the sets adhere to the show (also, you should be able to tell that yourself from the official photos).

Kraang’s Escape Lab (79100) has 90 pieces and an MSRP of USD $12.99, which feels about right for a licensed set of this size, and there are no stickers in sight, which is terrific.

Kraang’s little legged vehicle is a pretty nice build, and feels very playable. The cockpit rotates independently of the legs, and it’s got one of those ubiquitous flick-fire missiles mounted on each side. I do wish canister bit underneath weren’t there, as it touches the ground, even though the legs are perfectly capable of supporting the weight of the vehicle. Inside the cockpit are two flat silver 1×1 round tiles with a marvelous simple dial printing.

Kraang himself is a pretty awesome little alien monster. I was surprised to discover that he’s actually a headpiece, and includes a solid dark pink head inside. He and the head-clinger from Alien Conquest can duel it out for control of your minifigs’ brains. The two minifigs are both good designs, and both include printed backs. The holding cell has a catapult function to break Michelangelo out, which works quite well for its simplicity. I’m excited about Michelangelo’s nun-chucks, because I can always use more short chains and brown tubing.

I really wish, though, that the handles were the Bar 3L piece (like a shorter light-sabre blade) instead of a 3-long piece of pneumatic tubing. A neat bonus though was that several of the pieces I found most useful were included as extras. All in all, it’s an average set–nothing here to get too excited about (unless you’re a huge fan of the license), but still competent for what it is.

Deep in the Forest

Mitah Val Karem portrays this scene of the uprooting of a foul tree in the heart of the forest with a great sense of style. It’s a fantastical tree, and much more interesting than most Lego trees. This creation is part of an ongoing saga-telling at Classic-Castle.com.

The Way The World Will End (I Hope)

Flickr user OliveSeon has built some of the most impressive large town dioramas I’ve seen. There are lots of people building cityscapes using official sets mixed in with their own creations and landscaping, but rarely are the official sets so well integrated. Additionally, he’s packed them both chock full of terrific details of his own, like a giant gazebo, full depth swimming pool and surf pool, a large factory, and lots of other fantastic stuff.

Here’s the first:

But just building a placid town wasn’t cool enough. No, on his second diorama, OliveSeon has gone for full-out apocalyptic anarchy, old-school style, with Godzilla battling a Gundam across the seaside city, turning what was already a stunning diorama into pure awesomeness. The flame effects are particularly awesome, and very reminiscent of their on-screen special effects counterparts.

Be sure to check out both of OliveSeon’s other dioramas as well, each of which are worthy of their own posts: though untitled, I believe they are Disneyland and San Francisco. A thorough perusal of all the photos will be rewarded, as there are brilliant details to be discovered in every picture.

Gilcelio is Raising the Bar

When it comes to using odd parts like the faces from the Cars sets, Gilcelio Chagas is certainly a heavy-lifter. This awesome strongman may look a little wobbly in the knees, but he knows how to heft the weight when it counts.

Temple of the Mad Monks

If there’s one thing we don’t see enough of in Castle building, it’s middle-eastern architecture, especially of the fanciful sort. Flickr user Robuko is doing his part to fill in that gap, though, with his awesome Temple of the Mad Monks. It’s a fantastic mash-up of ancient world styles, combining minarets and pyramids and even a giant golden dish (Archimedes’ mirror?).

World-class Sci-Fi from Adrian Florea

In my opinion, Adrian Florea is one of the best Space (which in LEGO terms means Science Fiction) builders around. He’s no stranger to this blog, but his latest two creations are absolutely top notch. Adrian achieves fantastically coherent shapes in his models which belie his abundant use of unusual parts and complex connections. The Vendret Interceptor (below) is built around a core of four tricycle bodies integrated so seamlessly as to be nearly indistinguishable.

And the Dropshell mech shows the impact that careful use of color blocking can have. Look closely at this model also, and you’ll spot oddities such as suitcases and Star Wars headresses, among other things.