Ritz Brick

There is a very simple solution to this, that has been mentioned before. Don't put the palace on top. You aren't forced to do it, if you don't like it. Leave it.

That was my original plan after I bought last years calendar, but I hadn't seen a review yet and jumped on the opportunity.

Following the annual tradition of Star Wars Advent Calendars, I present to you the second iteration, set 9509. Set Info Set Number: 9509 Pieces: 234 Age: 6-14 Price $49.99 CDN Minifigures: 9 1/2 Year of Release: 2012 Theme: Star Wars A brief introduction to this. To me it feels like TLG is going to be releasing one of these every year for the next 4 years. I'm hoping that as these progress the minifigures and mini-builds become a bit more... regular. As in instead of a random assortment it follows the theme. The first year was a bit of a mix of Attack of the Clones and A New Hope and some other randoms, this year is mostly The Phantom Menace and Empire Strikes back with a few more randoms. These Advent calendars are VERY lacking in design and quality of builds so that is why I seem to be very harsh with the criticism. I paid $50 for 234 very small pieces which aren't necessarily rare, and a couple unique minifigs. Just remember, this is aimed for kids and they probably don't care as much as I would. Anyway- The box, at first glance the view from the front of the box is similar to any other Lego box, but the remove some tape and the front flap will lift off to reveal doors of joy in no particular order. Optionally you can cheat and open the sides of the box and pull out the trays, each tray has 1 individual polybag with the pieces. With the exception of Darth Maul who gets a cape box in his bag. The back of the front flap shows a sort of frozen pond with snow around it. I think I have it facing the wrong way, but it's an overhead view so no one should care. All the instructions are printed on the inside of the doors, but since each model is at the max 15 pieces, you can figure it out yourself. MANY extra pieces included. Almost every bag has them. Day 1: Gungan Sub Not a fan of this, the tail at the back just seems to wrong, not much could fix this, I would prefer a different ship or what not. It's recognizable but anything with 'Gungan' just reminds me of the worst character in SW. (The next door isn't much better). Day 2: Gungan Really? This is it? One 3 piece minifigure with no accessories, no weapons or anything. and the worst part is, is that it's just a Gungan soldier, I own about 10 or 12 of these now from all the Battle of Naboo sets I bought, this one is nothing special, same prints and everything. At least make it Jar Jar, the kids know him better and he was an actual character in the movies. Day 3: Catapult and weapons This to me is just pure laziness on TLG part, they just throw this in obviously as a place filler when they could have easily just gave the Gungan from yesterday the shield and spear. Not a good start. Day 4: Imperial Star Destroyer Hey Hey, things are picking up, we've moved off from the theme of Phantom Menace for now and moved onto ESB. I have a thing for Star Destroyers and this is no exception. Parts are nothing SUPER special, but they make a nice and simple recognizable model which looks good and serves a purpose. This set is really lacking stuff like this. Day 5: Trade Federation MTT Back into Phantom Menace we have a vehicle we see for about 10-15 minutes but served the biggest role. Partswise we get the black brick which are fairly common in these calendars and have a variety of uses. It's just so little and tiny it's pretty neat you can tell what it is for only 8 pieces. The Gungans should have no problems dealing with these, although Jar Jar will probably still mess it up. Day 6: Security Droid Garbage, last year we got a pilot and this year we get a security droid. I'm taking guesses from what will come next year.... Similar to the Gungan, this droid is defencless and printless. Droids on the march. Day 7: Naboo Starfighter The colours should tell you right away what this build will be. A quaint little ship which is the ship of Phantom Menace. The tail is a bit odd though. Day 8: Droid Starfighter Something for our Naboo Starfighter to battle with. It's nice using the axle piece to allow for the wings/legs to rotate. One of the challenges working with such a small scale is avoiding having weird looking things come up, much like the head portion of this sticks out like a sore thumb. Day 9: Imperial Officer/ General Veers TLG tried to pass off a minifigure in the past that looked like this guy as General Veers in the past, but missed the mark. He does have a reversable head, the same one as the Death Star Trooper from the new Tie Fighter. He just seems to angry to be Veers. The trend continues however. No weapons. Day 10: A poor selection of parts that would be impossible to make look good. (AT-AT) pg I don't even want to say anything about this so I won't. Sorry, very blurry. Veers is not happy with his new assignment. Day 11: Atagar Cannon (or at least a poor attempt at one) I don't like this, seems like yet another filler. Day 12: Hoth Trooper At least we have someone to fight against the Imperial and AT-AT to bad he doesn't have a gun. Day 13: GNK Droid or Gonk Droid I barely remember this little guy, but TLG does. It's a bit to big, but there is nothing really bad about it, nothing really good either. Day 14: Weapons Rack Hurray! We have weapons. Wait there is a problem though. We only got 2 guns but there are already 3 soldiers or different factions, plus two more to come. Bad call. Not even going to mention how the lightsaber attactches. Day 15: Snowtrooper It's a snowtrooper, but wait.... He's now has the balaclava face, the skin tone is a bit darker. (How does he tan on Hoth?) Day 16: Naboo Royal Starship I was lost as to what this was when I saw the pieces, and after it was built I didn't recognize it at first. But this is probably one of the best builds in the entire set. It has the most pieces and the best shape and just everything you could hope in a mini model. Something I could see Legostein building. Day 17: Flash Speeder Hey look! It's that green car that fired one shot and was then demolished by the Trade Federation. Good build techniques used, some SNOT work plus a connection I haven't seen TLG use too often, the way the engines on the back are added on. but not a good choice to include in here. The main cannon is just a bit to little to be of any use. Day 18: Rebel Trooper Wait? what? Not a Naboo Royal Guard? Not a figure that would make sense with the theme we've been following? Although this selection choice is odd. It's quite nice to get one of these guys, seeing as how they've only appeared in two sets. What's that you say? This figure is brand new? and TLG didn't paste it all over the box? That's right, the keen observer will see that he has a smile. The same front expression as Captain Antilles, but no reversible head. Day 19: Separatist Shuttle Not one of my favorite ships in the Star Wars universe, but it's a good build that looks like what it's supposed to be. (Don't remember it being tan though.) Day 20: General Greivous' Starfighter So we're going to jump into Revenge of the Sith for second to include this ship that we hardly see. The grey super brick helps make this build and it does actually look quit nice, albeit a bit narrow. Day 21: Super Battle Droid Because having ONE more generic droid that many of us have multiples of will change the tide of a war. Day 22: Sith Infiltrator Ehhh, I don't know about this one, something about it doesn't seem right (reading this review, nothing seems to be done right). Basic parts that don't create much. Day 23: Snow Droid Here we are, this is one of the minifigures that compelled me to buy this. When I first saw prelims I thought it was a white astromech. It's actually a snowman/droid which is rather creative. I don't understand the purpose of having two pieces for the base, but it's something. TLG added a black stud which is to go under the top hat so it attaches better. To me it just raises it to high and makes it look weird. Without stud. Some close ups show the carrots and the 'eye' is a piece of coal. Day 24: Darth Maul Here he is, the dark lord of the sith himself, Darth Maul. Playing in the snow. Seems legit. Honestly, this character choice makes no sense, Darth Maul rarely speaks, rarely has emotion, rarely uses a shovel to clean snow. Unlike Yoda last year who is a sort of father figure to all of the Jedi (Father Christmas) we have an Eskimo Maul? The torso is not the same as Yoda last year, the candy cane has been moved from the front to the back, which is then covered up by the cape. The same face from the Infiltrator is used, but no horns are included. With the lightsaber. Here is the whole gang, we see how The Phantom Menace is the main theme, with a little bit of Rebel and Imperial thrown in for good measure. Overall Grade: Value: 3/10 For what I got I was very dissapointed. The few good builds and interesting minfigures weren't enough to make it that worthwhile. Design: 2/10 The best build and pretty much the only good build in the set was Royal Star Cruiser. The ISD was pretty nice as well. Playability: 4/10 We have 4 weapons to spread out over 8 figures. I'm sure someone could have fun with the little Naboo Starfighter and Vulture Droid, but other than that, most of these will all just be scrapped and milked for pieces. Parts: 4/10 I like the super bricks anddd, that's about the most redeeming part. The rest can just be used here and there. Overall: 13/40 So that's what I think, but anyone can sit here and type about what they don't like in a set. So what would I do to make it better. I'm going to list all the days again with what I would sub in and out and leave in what was alright. Day 1- Gungan Sub========Change to Day 2- Gungan ===========Change to Boss Nass Day 3- Catapult==========Change to Mini Anakins Pod Racer Day 4- ISD===============Stay Day 5- MTT===============Stay Day 6- Security Droid====Change to Qui Gonn or Obi Wan Day 7- Naboo SF==========Stay Day 8- Vulture Droid=====Stay Day 9- Veers=============Change to K-3P0 Day 10- AT-AT============Change to AT-ST Day 11- Atgar============Change to Snowspeeder Day 12- Hoth Trooper=====Change to Commander Rieekan (I would spend $50 just for him) Day 13- GNK Droid========Change to mini Sebulba's Pod Day 14- Weapon Rack======Change Day 15- Snowtrooper======Stay Day 16- Royal Starship===Stay Day 17- Flash Speeder====Stay Day 18- Rebel Trooper====Change to Naboo Palace Guard Day 19- Sep Shuttle======Stay Day 20- Greivous Fighter=Change to Droid Control Ship Day 21- SBD==============Change to Droideka Day 22- Sith Infiltrator=Change to AAT Day 23- Snow Droid=======Stay Day 24- Darth Maul=======Jar Jar Elf What do you think could replace it?

Like Anio said, without a structure this wont't work, it will just be flat. There is no way the wings can be angled properly without having an internal frame to support it. From what I can see it just looks like angle plates with pieces on top. LDD gives us the ability to create large buildings and ships without having the laws of physics to intervene. Although on a site like this where many members spend a lot of time and effort into making their builds correctly. Having something like this takes away from it in a way.

Well I hardly see the need to bump a year old topic just to advertise your moc.

At what point do they stop becoming rumors and people simply saying they hope that "this will be here" and "I hope that will be there". To me that's more of, 'what would you like to see in future sets'. Additionally, if the rumor is about Yoda's Hut. The mention of it being an AOTC set makes no sense, neither does mention of another podracer bucket.

Just a reminder for pretty much all of the last 3-4 pages here should belong in the Future Star Wars set thread.... 32 pages of talk about ONE confirmed set for 2012 is a bit ridiculous.

Green walls, green lamp and those curtains. Definitely 80's. The rug caught my eye first. Good choice for the minifig faces as well. Typical expressiosn of a family playing board games. Well done.

Wow, that destroyed building is one of the best I've seen. What's more dangerous than a bunch of girls?

I can't even pick out one thing to compliment, the whole thing is just amazing. Well done.

To me it doesn't seem like the cockpit rotates on it's own, or at least not smoothly. In the video when he is showing the cockpit, it looks like his hand is turning it. and then when he turns over the whole model, it seems to be in the same spot.

20 Minifigures in one set? Which are mostly already included in some set or another. and why would an Imperial SD need 3 scout troopers?

The only problem I find with the alternate model is it wants you to put one of the short red technic spins into the helmet, making it very difficult to remove. Same thing happens in the combo model of Grand Titan and Stealth Hunter.

The hoses around the cockpit seem to almost give it a steampunkish feeling. The red and green on the back are very intriguing. Could we perhaps see a shot from the rear?

Seeing as how there has been 4 renditions of the X-Wing, 3 of the Y-Wing and 3 of the A-wing, seems fairly balanced to me.

I love MOCS that can incorporate SO many different themes and elements but all fit into one category. Great use of the minidolls and CMF elements.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see a new sandcrawler. Been quite a while since our last rendition, plus the incredible MOCS by Marshall Banana and Cavegod would be some great inspiration to work off of for TLC.

This really does give the impression of an Astromechs living area. I like the contrast of the messy and cramped shelving to the clean and crisp floor and computer.

The realism in this is just amazingly well done. The gold and purple do work together.

I wish my table scraps looked like that

1. I have no idea what you're talking about. 2. I don't think this belongs in the Sci-Fi forum. 3. I don't think this belongs on Eurobricks at all.

Good photography, I think this would fit best in the photography thread.

This set was pretty bad.

Back at it again with another review that is in the index, but contains no photos. Let's take a look back at Uplink. This was the Exo Force set I had ever bought which started this ridiculous craze. Uplink was one of the first sets of the theme to be released and while it may disappoint some, it's size is based on it's usefulness. A little background information, Uplink was a utility mech, the kind that was used to repair the larger fighting machines, so I wouldn't assume it should see much battle. Enough blather, onto the review. Name: Uplink Set Number: 7708 Pieces: 69 Price: $5.99 US Age: 6-14 Minifigs: 1 Theme: Exo Force Year of Release:2006 Bricklink Peeron Brickset 6 years later and of course I have no box. But it was one of the smaller boxes. One of the smallest TLC made I believe. Here Ryo shows us that the instructions are the same as the box and the same size as pretty much every other set. And in the back on the instructions we have an alternative model, I have built this, but there are some stability issues. Our small assortment of pieces, some of which the good MOC'r could make good use of. Some notable pieces include 2 black chalices, used as missles, this is the only set I had really noticed them in, the two cyclinders used as blasters add some good details, and the big orange pieces which were used as helmets in the monstrosities of 'NHL' sets Minifigure: Here is Ryo in all his purple haired glory. I was 12 at the time of buying this set and thought this hair was the greatest. He is sporting the more blank expression which I believe fits his character the best. Much better than this. (One big tooth?) The Build: 24 pieces later and the main body is completed, nothing much to note here other than some controls which are rare in Exo Force. The black technic rods sticking up will alter be used to attach our helmets. Legs built and the extra orange slope pieces on the feet add some nice support and good looks. Legs attached and surprisingly it isn't to small. Left arm contains some missiles, much nicer than just the cone on top of the rocket base. "oh my what big missiles you have!" Dual blasters definitely a Shoulder pads attached and Ryo must pole vault his way into Uplink to add the finishing touches. Completed: Finished mecha looking nice. Finding it odd that a repair machine would have such armament. From the side, I can't put my finger on it, but from this angle it looks very nice. Behind, not much you can do about this. That purple head looks like a good undefended target. Poseability is a bit of a downside here with how the legs are attached to the body and on one leg is almost impossible to balance. But with a little patience you can manage it. Overall: It doesn't really mean anything to me about what someone says about this set, it was my first Exo Force and will probably always be my favorite. Playabilty: 7/10Maybe some tools to fix other mechs could add some playability, but everything else is great. Design: 10/10 Good parts use for the helmets and for a small set, every piece has a purpose. Price: 10/10 Cant go wrong with $5 super cheap for a great set. Minifigure: 10/10 I can't keep criticizing for the reversible head so that can't count. The orange and purple make for a good combo. Parts: 8/10 They all have a purpose and with a good variety of hinge bricks plus a couple of orange slopes. Total: 45/50 What can I say, it's one of my favorites.

Bridge Walker will be mine as soon as I can find a good price for one. The big orange tank, mobile defence tank. I do own, but is not pictured.