Here is a video review of 76000 Arctic Batman vs Mr Freeze
Tag Archives: Reviews
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
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.
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.
LEGO Galaxy Squad set reviews (70700, 70702, 70703)
LEGO Galaxy Squad was just released, and here’s my review of 3 of the sets from the theme featuring the alien bug race: 70700 Space Swarmer, 70702 Warp Stinger,
and 70703 Star Slicer.
The video review consists of a look at the parts and a review of the models.
For those who just want to hear the verdict, I like the Space Swarmer for its compact design and the Warp Stinger for its decent design and good price. However, I am not much of a fan of the Star Slicer due to the flimsy looks of the mantis.
All three LEGO Galaxy Squad sets are now available from the LEGO Shop.
The Big Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Book [Review]
Soon after the LEGO Adventure Book, I found out about The Big Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Book by Oliver Albrecht (*Olly*) and Joe Klang (-derjoe-). I guess it must be Christmas or something as that left me with two LEGO books I wanted. Sensing my desire, Joe Klang sent me a copy of the book which means I am now able to review it for you all.
The tl;dr version can be summed up simply: buy this book (or from Amazon.co.uk, or in its original German) if you like great LEGO town models, great models in general, mini/midi scale LEGO models, or nice books about LEGO.
This book is a little more focussed than the LEGO Adventure Book, and arguably more tailored toward adults than children (although older children and teenagers who are still into LEGO would love it). It is mostly a collection of instructions for models at regular minifig scale (six-wide car scale for those who care), and at “midi scale” (see right) where cars are two bricks wide and everything else is scaled accordingly. In between the very, very many instruction sets, there are tips and tricks on building, mostly at a fairly advanced level.
This is a book for ‘serious’ modelling and the technical level is higher than LEGO sets. The models are of a very high quality, with a focus on looks rather than playability. Which I love but may not be for everyone. But Joe and Oliver are excellent builders so this is unsurprising.
One aspect of the book that I found very nice is that the instructions are usually presented in a very common colour (often red), and then examples are shown in alternate colour schemes. I think this is a great idea, allowing more people to build them straight out of the book, but offering more exciting variants. On the whole the instructions are very clear, and are made with LDraw, which in my opinion makes better printed instructions than even LEGO’s in house software. I found the steps pretty easy to follow too.
The English language book has some amusingly quirky translations from the original German. But it does not suffer from them (personally I like German-English) and is entirely readable. On the whole I really have to recommend this to people who are ‘serious’ about building LEGO towns, or just like to see what really good builders can do with a bunch of bricks. Be warned though, that if buying for a young child you will have to help them. Overall it’s an excellent book and I’m happy to have it in my collection and would guess that if you’re reading TBB, you would too.
You can buy it from Amazon.com and help support TBB.
Custom Roundup: Brick Fortress and Cape Madness [Review]
Both of the companies in this review have been flying under the radar and I am very happy to highlight them here.
First up is Brick Fortress. They are a new customs maker and currently only have one item on the market. It is a rather exciting one that fills a significant gap in the LEGO product line. They are selling articulated mini-legs! I recently bought some of their offerings and I was impressed. They fit very nicely and are constructed quite well. The clutch power is good and the legs move well. They are currently available in 5 colors: Light Gray, Tan, Black, Brown and Dark Blue. 
They are slightly taller than the official short legs by LEGO, but the color match is good. The legs are also interchangeable with official LEGO legs, so you can use your normal hip pieces for color changes. My only complaint is a minor one. The plastic feels very similar to the plastic we have been seeing in the collectible minifigs. But that is an issue with many of the custom makers and isn’t a deal-breaker for me. I am really liking these articulated mini-legs and will be buying more.
The second company, Cape Madness, has been around for a few years now but has mostly sold their products at BrickCon. They started small but have consistently expanded their product line. Currently they only sell online at the CapeMadness Bricklink store, but a new website is under construction. I have kept an eye on their quality from the beginning and it is spot on! I can’t tell the difference between their plain capes and my official LEGO ones. However the real draw of Cape Madness is the patterns, colors and special shapes they offer. At BrickCon this year, Dave (the owner of Cape Madness) let me dig through his products and it was hard to decide what to review. There are so many different items! 
The fabric and treatment feels just like official LEGO capes. The capes and flags with heavy printing, such as the Blacktron cape, feel stiffer but it wasn’t an issue when putting it on a minifig. They also stand up to use quite well. I have some flags that are a couple of years old and they show no signs of fraying. 
The capes come in four sizes, with the second-to-the-smallest being the same as the official LEGO cape. The two larger styles wrap around the fig for a cloak effect. The largest size also is available with a pointed collar variation. There are also trench coats, ponchos, togas, paldrons, and three styles of flags currently in production. The printing on the capes is very crisp and there is a wide range of available patterns and styles. 
There is everything from various camo patterns to the insignia of your favorite sci-fi regiments to medieval heraldry. Dave also offers a service where he will print your own logo or pattern onto a cape or flag (an additional fee applies). I highly recommend Cape Madness. The items are high quality, they stand up to wear, there is a wide range of products and Dave is a great guy to work with. You can see more pictures in my Cape Madness set on Flickr.
Series 9 minifigures revealed and reviewed!
Lego has done a good job keeping pictures of series 9 minifigs from leaking out, so for the first time we see a simultaneous reveal and review. While the minifigs are scheduled for release in January 2013, Lego has sent a case to Eurobricks for an early review.
From the review, I noticed that the case distribution is heavily skewed in this series so that there are only 2 copies of certain minifigs and up to 6 of others in 1 case. Is this an attempt to assign rarity to certain figs, and how will the consumers react?
LEGO Lord of the Rings video game rewards perseverance [Review]
The latest LEGO video game from TT Games, LEGO Lord of the Rings,
Having played most of the LEGO video game since the original LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game back in 2005, the LEGO game franchise was starting to feel more than a little repetitive (which is why I’ve skipped the second incarnations of LEGO Indiana Jones, the LEGO Star Wars re-releases, and so on).
Every game until now has had several things in common:
- Watch minifigs mime funny versions of familiar scenes.
- Break stuff in the game to release studs (points) and to build other things.
- Collect parts of miniature LEGO kits.
- Unlock extra characters with the studs you’ve earned.
- Unlock extra abilities (like score multipliers and invincibility) with red bricks.
- Access previously played levels from a central “hub” area.
- Explore levels again in freeplay mode to use the abilities of characters you didn’t have with you in story mode, thus finding treasures and even more studs you couldn’t get to before.
No, TT Games hasn’t really revamped the basic formula in LEGO Lord of the Rings, but there are a few important differences.
Read the full review after the jump.
LEGO Hobbit 79002 Attack of the Wargs [Review]
My review of 79002 Attack of the Wargs will be the last from me before Christmas — as I am banned from the LEGO aisle and any LEGO stores online for the next several weeks, ha!
The Build Process
The set starts out a bit slow as you build a slanted rock for Yazneg to pose on. The rock section is actually two parts that can be separated, with the smaller rock hiding a catapult. The catapult should come as no surprise, I suppose, but it isn’t a highlight of the set…
The fun started for me when I opened the second bag and started to build the big tree. I know I complained about “trees on a base” as the core of a LEGO set in my review of 79001 Escape from Mirkwood Spiders, but this particular tree really reminded me of happy childhood days spent building and rebuilding Classic Castle sets like Camouflaged Outpost and Forestmen’s Hideout.
The most notable aspect of this LEGO tree is that the designers have incorporated some interesting techniques I haven’t seen before in official LEGO sets. First, several of the little olive green leaf pieces are attached with short brown bars that raise them from the other leaves and allow them to be rotated off the LEGO grid more naturally.
A big problem I have with LEGO trees is that the branches all sprout off at right angles. The designers of this set solved this issue by placing two turntables inside the tree. Oddly, the instructions don’t tell you to turn the sections after you finish putting them together, and the LEGO Shop description makes it sound like this is a play feature (maybe there’s something about a spinning tree in the movie). But rotating the sections takes the branches off the LEGO grid as well, making the tree look even more natural:
Finally, the round corner plates interspersed throughout the tree give it the curves so often lacking from angular LEGO trees built from square slopes and bricks.
I could do without the red 1×1 bricks with holes in them that include push pins for flicking fire off the trees, but they do add some solid play value to a mostly static set.
Minifigures & Creatures
Attack of the Wargs includes Thorin Oakenshield, Bifur, Yazneg, two “hunter” orcs, and a pair of wargs (one white and one dark gray).
Yazneg isn’t a named character in the book, but appears to be some sort of chief orc in the movie, astride his albino warg and wearing special bone armor, which I fully expect to see on many a fantasy and post-apoc minifig in the future. (Lurtz wasn’t a named character among Saruman’s Uruk-hai in The Lord of the Rings books, but he’s definitely one of my favorite villains in the first movie, so I’ll withhold judgment on Yazneg until I see the film.)
The warg is a completely new creature mold, with a moving neck and opening jaws. Naturally, there’s a slot on its back for the rider’s saddle. For whatever reason, the warg’s tail is made from rubbery plastic.
Even though Thorin Oakenshield is one of the most important characters in the book (and thus the movie), and despite accurately capturing the look of the character from the film, he’s not especially interesting as a minifig. Minifig Thorin basically looks like a short Viking, with a “Rawr!” face, fancy belt, and throwing axe. But so far, this is the only set you’ll find him in.
Bifur is a strange-looking fellow in the film, but he’s definitely my favorite minifig in this set. He looks a bit like a cave man elder, and underneath his beard he sports a really great torso with checkered printing on his collar (front and back). Bifur also comes with one of the new short capes.
The “hunter” orcs are essentially the same as the one with hair and pointy ears in 9476 The Orc Forge (but with printed legs). One of them rides the gray warg, while the other sports a bow and arrows.
Parts
Like many of the LEGO Hobbit sets I’ve built and reviewed so far, the 400 parts in Attack of the Wargs skew toward landscaping elements — lots of browns for the tree and grays for the rocks.
The unequivocal highlight of the set from a parts perspective is the small LEGO leaf piece in olive green. There are nine of them in the set, plus eight of the larger leaves in regular green. The two printed mushroom caps are another highlight, with an extra alongside the usual 1×1 extras.
The tree is built from a nice mix of reddish and dark brown, with slopes and arches of varying degrees and sizes in both colors. There are five different dark brown slopes (both regular and inverted) in useful quantities, for example. Thanks to the revolving trunk, you also get a substantial number of tiles and jumper plates.
My biggest complaint (albeit a minor quibble overall) is about the wedge plates, which aren’t all included in matched right/left pairs. Perhaps this is a non-issue for those of you who’ve bought Star Destroyers as gray parts packs, and thus lack nothing in this part of your collection, but the asymmetrical gray rock that looks so nice works out to an equally asymmetrical parts selection.
Side note: I wonder if LEGO would ever consider including larger pieces like a wedge piece’s opposite among a set’s extras. It would certainly improve the possibility of alternative builds from the set, and could even be marked that way in the instructions.
(Again, BrickLink now has the complete set inventory, so I won’t scan the parts list pages from the instruction booklet like I did for my earlier reviews.)
The Finished Model
Standing next to each other, the angular slab of rock and organic tree look rather beautiful. Replace the posing Yazneg — like I said earlier, not a named character in Tolkien’s book — with a big brown bear from a LEGO City set and you’ve got a great Beorn on his rock. Wrong part of the story, I know, but we can hope that LEGO will release a big black bear for Beorn in a future set that coincides with that part of the movie.
Play value comes from the rock’s catapult and being able to flick fire off of the tree — both features I could have done without as an adult builder and collector, but there’s not a lot of room for clever mechanisms in a set that illustrates a scene that happens in a forest. I also think there could have been more fire on the tree, of different sizes and shapes (such as minifig plumes and large flames). There’s regular orange fire and (presumably) magical blue fire, but both just use the small LEGO flame stuck into round 1×1 bricks. With only four flames on the whole tree, the dwarves’ situation doesn’t look particularly perilous.
Value
I’m a little torn on this set. The overall part count of 400 is on the higher end of the range for price-per-part (at 12.5 cents per part) among the LEGO Hobbit sets I’ve reviewed so far.
But the set certainly feels like a substantial, $50 set. And five minifigs plus two wargs seems about right for a set at this price.
Recommendation
Even though I’d have fewer reservations recommending it if Attack of the Wargs were $5 or $10 cheaper, the set’s excellent creatures, some nice minifigs, and a really fun build make this a solid buy even at full price. This is also the only set with wargs and Thorin in it so far, and it does have a lot of great parts for landscaping.
79002 Attack of the Wargs is available from LEGO.com.
Read all of my reviews of the latest LEGO Hobbit sets here on The Brothers Brick:
LEGO Hobbit 79000 Riddles for the Ring [Review]
The LEGO Hobbit sets just started shipping officially today, but I have a couple more sets I picked up early locally, so to help you decide which to get right away, I’ll be posting some more reviews today, starting with 79000 Riddles for the Ring.
The Build Process
At just 105 and $9.99, this is the smallest set (excluding the little polybags) among both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings LEGO sets. There’s not a lot to the build, to be sure, but what struck me as I built the rock section where Gollum hides the One Ring is that LEGO a few years ago might have released this set with a Big Ugly Rock Piece. Instead, I found myself building a fairly intricate little hidey-hole with some nice landscaping (lots of dark gray cheese slopes) and a fun mechanism to flip the hidden ring in and out of view.
Gollum’s boat is pretty much what you’d expect — you could probably reverse-engineer it from just the one picture above — but the designers have added some bones for a nice spooky effect indicative of Gollum’s true nature.
Minifigures
The set includes Bilbo Baggins and Gollum. Interestingly, Gollum’s face print is different from the one in 9470 Shelob Attacks. I’m generally not a fan of single-purpose minifigs, but it’d be hard to imagine Gollum as a “normal” minifig. At least his arms are articulated and he has a stud on his back (presumably so Sam can attach some elven rope to it).
Bilbo is the same minifig as the one in 79004 Barrel Escape. As has been the case in nearly all recent LEGO sets, both Bilbo’s head and torso are printed on both sides.
Parts
Excluding the minifigs, most of the 105 parts in the set are dark gray, and there’s nothing spectacular or new in terms of selection. You also get two One Rings rather than three (something we got used to in the Lord of the Rings sets). Considering the inclusion of the two minifigs in a $10 set, this might not be the cheapest way to bulk up your “rock collection” for LEGO landscaping, but the set does include a lot of dark gray slopes of several varieties, plus some dark tan.
(BrickLink has the full inventory at this point, so I haven’t scanned the pages at the back of the instruction booklet.)
The Finished Model
Gollum’s hidey-hole opens and closes, and a rock flips up to reveal the ring.
It’d be interesting to see a LEGO fan extend this idea to a full-scale underground lake, but there’s not much else to the set. Still, there’s actually quite a bit of play value in the little boat and the One Ring’s hiding place.
Value
At a time when most LEGO sets at this price point are $12 or $15, a licensed set with two minifigs and 105 pieces at $10 is an excellent value.
Recommendation
One copy is a must-buy for anybody interested in Tolkien LEGO, but I’d recommend multiple copies for LEGO Castle builders and anybody starting to specialize in LEGO models of Middle Earth (as I know some Castle builders are beginning to do) — this set is a fantastic way to bulk up on both Hobbit minifigs and landscaping parts. (Notice that I said “both;” if you’re just after the readily available gray parts, you’re probably overpaying.)
79000 Riddles for the Ring is available now from both LEGO.com and Amazon.com.
Read all of my reviews of the latest LEGO Hobbit sets here on The Brothers Brick:
The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide [Review]
No Starch Press recently sent us a review copy of their latest Technic offering, The Unofficial LEGO Technic Builder’s Guide
I found the book to be full of very useful information. I am not an expert Technic builder by any means and when I first thumbed through the book I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail that the book offers. However, when I actually started reading the book, I found that the way Paweł presents the information made everything very clear. He starts with basic concepts and then builds upon them throughout the book in a very clear and concise fashion. I think any adult LEGO fan will be able to follow this book and incorporate the techniques into their own creations. But this book is not for young builders. Many, if not most, of the techniques are quite advanced and would lead to frustration for younger builders.
The book consists of 333 pages divided up into five parts: Basics, Mechanics, Motors, Advanced Mechanics and Models. The first three sections give you the groundwork needed to understand the Technic system and how the majority of the parts work. I found this to be very helpful. I have used many Technic pieces over the years but wasn’t clear on the functions of each and every part. These first three sections are a great reference of Technic pieces and their functions, as well as being vital in introducing the terminology used throughout the rest of the book. I highly recommend reading these sections in depth and not skipping ahead.
The fourth section, Advanced Mechanics, teaches you how to design and build transmissions, steering systems, suspensions for wheeled and tracked vehicles along with other concepts and ideas.
The fifth and final section instructs the reader in designing and planning their own models.
Overall, I would recommend this book for any adult builder who is interested in becoming more familiar with Technic and using Technic in their own creations. The book is well-laid out and the information is presented clearly. It is definitely an asset that deserves a place on the shelf.
Visit No Starch Press for this and other LEGO-related books.
