Kategoriarkiv: International

Best of Lego 2016

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This is getting quite ridiculous. After a great 2015, Lego seems to have caught some form of megalomania. 2016 had more extremely big sets than ever before. This year saw the release of the Death Star, which at 5499 SEK is the most expensive (new) set ever. Then there’s the Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ and the Disney Castle both at 3799 SEK, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS at 3199 SEK, the classic Batcave at 2999 SEK, Assault on Hoth for 2799 SEK, Big Ben at 2499 SEK and the Minecraft village at 2399 SEK. Of course it’s unlikely that anyone cares enough about all of those themes to get all of them, but still! ... Läs hela texten

A brand new Lego Galaxy Explorer

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If there’s something I’ve learnt after years and years of collecting Transformers, it’s that vintage is overrated. I love my original items, both Lego and Transformers, but that’s because I know that I’ve owned them for thirty-some years. The wear and tear is there because I put it there. I used to buy collections of loose figures, but quickly realized that the grime and dust is much less attractive when it’s not mine.

Which brings me to the Galaxy Explorer, the first major spaceship in the classic space theme, released in 1979. Tracking down one of these isn’t that hard – it sold well and probably had a special status to many a kid, so the supply isn’t that bad. You can get one in decent condition for around 200 dollars, which is reasonable considering its age. However, that gives you all that grime and all those scratches. You can get an original unopened one right now, but in that case, say bye-bye to 2500 dollars, and I’d think opening it would be a crime against humanity. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Modular MOC: Pizza Plaza

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I don’t remember exactly how this came about, but I have had plans to build a Green Grocer copy in another colour, and it would have been interesting to make a pink one as a flower shop. I realized that it would be fairly dull, even if Green Grocer is amazing, but I held on to the idea. The proper design got started basically from a single piece – the Minecraft Enderman body. I wanted to use it as some kind of architectural feature, mostly to try the limits of the part. It turns out that it’s not too bad. The neck can be covered with a simple 1×1 round brick or an offset regular brick, and there is room between the legs to fit a standard rod (now that sounded dirty). ... Läs hela texten

Lego Elves: all of the dragons!

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Two separate waves, five distinct sets and a rather silly amount of money later, my collection of the dragons is complete: the earth dragon Thorne, the water dragon Merina, the wind dragon Gust, the fire dragon Zonya and the queen dragon Elandra. They come in three sizes: the earth and water ones are smaller and have new, smaller molded wings while the fire and wind dragons have the classic fantasy dragon wings (although Gust has another set of smaller wings underneath). The queen dragon is obviously the biggest, and also has a bigger head, but her wings are made of transparent plastic, like some sails used in other sets. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Elves: Queen Dragon’s Rescue (41179)

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The second wave of Lego Elves covers the conflict with the witch Ragana over the dragons, something that was obviously foreshadowed with the cursed well in the fire dragon set in March. Even without having seen the web series, it’s fairly clear what’s happening. This set includes a cute little evil tower with lots of play features but the main attraction is the Queen Dragon herself.

While the elves get their elementally themed dragons, the Queen is mainly white and gold with splashes of transparent blue, somewhat similar to Legend of Chima’s Eris. One thing that didn’t come across in the pictures is the size: the Queen is huge and towers over the medium (fire and wind) and small (earth and water) dragons. Before you even get started, you build a really complex, solid body that casually shows off many techniques which are sure to add new ideas to any builder’s arsenal. The wings are also special. Unlike the molded semi-soft plastic of the rest, her wings are thin, mostly transparent sheets in the same material as the new banners. The result is stunning, though. It can also be noted that the Queen has an exclusive head which is similar to the others but almost twice as big. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Elves: The Dragon Sanctuary (41178)

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Having barely recovered from the March invasion of Lego’s wonderful and playful Elves, another four sets are assaulting Europe in June (other regions may have to wait). They continue the theme of the year which is dragons, and plenty of them. The Dragon Sanctuary is the second smallest set in this wave, but is still rather sizable. And since it contains another of the big dragons, it’s a must buy. But let’s look at what your money gets you.

The purple wind dragon is built first along with Aira, who has the exact same outfit here as in The Secret Market Place (41176) which seems like a waste, considering that you will need to get both to complete your dragon set. The dragon itself is mostly medium lavender with some aqua on the underbelly and, curiously, on a second set of smaller wings. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be a different overlay of the bigger wings since they don’t hinge separately, but it gives the dragon a different look than the similarly sized fire dragon from 41175. As always, it’s a great build with tons of SNOT techniques and the end result looks very good but, again, like the fire dragon the legs are fairly hard to pose. ... Läs hela texten

Review of Lego Disney Princess: Belle’s Enchanted Castle (41067)

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We’re hardly short of castles in the Disney Princess line, for some peculiar reason. This is one of the smaller ones: bigger than Elsa’s but far from Cinderella’s. This also means a more reasonable price point, and unlike the former, this castle is packed with characters. But first, let’s take a look at the building itself.

Well, it is a Lego Disney Princess set alright. The build is quite simple, without the clever details that Friends and particularly Elves tend to offer. Much of the front is made up out of four giant curved panels with stickers, and then a bunch of gold fluff is added. The inside has a bit more to offer and should be the main playing area: there’s the balcony with the Beast’s enchanted rose as well as the magic mirror and a spyglass to … look for wolves? A side room has the torn portrait (properly legofied) which revolves to offer a wig for some transformation action (we’ll get to that in a bit). There is also a kitchen, sentient stove included, a small bedroom and, of course, the grand hall complete with a chandelier. ... Läs hela texten

Review of Figuarts Scout Trooper & Speeder Bike

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The S.H.Figuarts line (just Figuarts to anyone reasonable) sets out to challenge the rivals Revoltech and Figma in the roughly 1/12 scale figure scene. Previously I’ve been a bit disappointed by the Mario and Luigi figures, but while in Japan I happened to pick up two new ones. And then I walked by a display stand which had the Scout Trooper, complete with Speeder Bike. Unfortunately it turned out to be a web exclusive, but hey, that just means I didn’t have to carry it home.

Some history first. When I was four or so, Star Wars, or more specifically Return of the Jedi, replaced Fraggle Rock as my favourite franchise. I got a bunch of the figures including this specific trooper and his bike, and I recall having vague memories of scenes in the movie even though I couldn’t have seen the whole thing. I did however have the translated cassette story – you know, ”when you hear this sound, turn the page”. Anyway, the Speeder Bike ended up being the name for some trees we climbed around in and used as a spaceship. Why it wasn’t the Millennium Falcon, I don’t know. Anyway, it stuck with me. ... Läs hela texten

Lego Modular MOC: Grand Hotel

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I have to blame the Heartlake Grand Hotel for this one. I bought it on sale and was immediately struck by all the interesting parts and the neat layout that allowed moving floors around. I started thinking about making a hotel of my own, which was modular not only in terms of fitting in the street, but also having separate rooms that could be rearranged and added to. This means that the house isn’t exactly ”complete”, but I figured that four rooms was a good place to start.

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Fixing the official Lego Lord of the Rings Balrog

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One of the big injustices in the Lego world is that we never got an official release of the Balrog of Moria. This was the iconic scene of the first movie and indeed of the first book, and even though Lego doesn’t really do big freaking demons, it’s not like the Balrog is actually Satanic or anything. He’s just a huge burning pile of awesome. To make matters worse, the Lego Lord of the Rings game obviously included the Balrog. It was right there, constructed out of Lego bricks! Why not produce it? Why, Lego, why? ... Läs hela texten