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Here is my review on LEGO Animal Crossing 77053 Stargazing with Celeste: THE GOOD: surprisingly nice set on its good with a great crescent moon. Somehow LEGO managed to keep the price of this set low. THE NOT SO GOOD: Doesn't really fit the other existing animal crossing sets with this scene. If you have played the game, this new set with Celeste will definitely catch your eyes. The smallest set in the whole theme excluding polybag comes with one of the popular character and a very pretty small build. While connectivity is one of the key sell points for this theme, this one on its own made great desktop display due to how well the crescent moon is done. Celeste's head done really well but I do with they use the wings instead of standard arms, I do understand why they chose arms as the intention is to let Celeste to be able to hold some accessories. I also found the star fragments build interesting with the pieces they use. And somehow LEGO managed to keep this at the lowest price point. The only thing that doesn't work well is the connectivity with other sets. Largely because this is a night scene and most other sets doesn't give the same vibe, The same can be said with Julian's birthday party and the town hall set due to different seasons. Having said that, this small set is still excellent and definitely a must have for fans of the game.

Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71487 Z-Blob's Robot and Vehicle Adventures: THE GOOD: Surprisingly, more posable than mech/robot twice its size. Great minifig torso and cool new Z-Blob piece THE NOT SO GOOD: Again, 20-in-1 doesn't seem necessary. Another 20 in 1 from LEGO DreamZzz, already commented on the 20 in 1 gimmick in the other set review which feel pretty much the same in this aspect so will jump directly on the build of this set. Once again I chose to build the default design and it's surprisingly fun to build and mobile. Despite its size, it has more joints articulation than mech or robot twice it's size. Which makes it really fun to pose. Obviously it has less colours compared to the other one but the minifigure and the new Z-blob piece are great. I like the design of the somewhat melting looking of the late 80s/early 90s space suit. Again, at $18NZD it's a great set to get a cool fig with a cool mini robot.

Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71488 Bunchu's Creative Animal Adventures: THE GOOD: Great minifigure and accessory. Buchun is surprisingly posable and has pretty good joints movements. THE NOT SO GOOD: 20 in 1 is purely for marketing purpose. Bought this for the exclusive variant of the new Plush Toy accessory and it does not disappoint. Good to get Izzie with the new torso variant and the new plush toy piece. Buchun build is actually very fun given the size of the set and is extremely posable. The joints have enough articulation to allow you do more than some bigger brick built creatures. Although apart from the head it's far from rabbit looking. The set comes with 10 instructions and you have to find the other 10 online, while 20 in 1 sounds a lot it is more of a marketing strategy than actual feature. We all know we can build way more than 20 with these parts but realistically speaking, if you decided to build the default build, the deconstruction can be more frustrating and the other builds are so small in comparison, not sure if it's worth the time. And I doubt anyone will buy 20 of these. Having said that, the default build and the minifigure are excellent, at just $18NZD, it's a fun little set to have or perfect gift for kids =)

Here is my review on 40813 Lucky Cat: THE GOOD: Looks cute. A fun interesting build. The movement of the left palm moves just like many others Lucky Cat statue. THE NOT SO GOOD: The coin and palm should have been printed. Interestingly, LEGO decided to have Lucky Cat as part of the Spring Festivals (Chinese New Year) theme given it's more a Japanese culture related item. But anyway, this is an excellent build. The building process was fun and the end results looks great. It has good proportion to be very cute looking. And it works great as a desktop display. The highlight for me is the movement of the left arm. The way it is designed gave it a movement that mimics most other lucky cat status so well. I can't stop making it move every time I see it. It does come with 2 various of the coins in front but unfortunately these and the left palm are stickers but not printed. I've got a feeling and due to the set number, this might have originally planned to be a GWP or some sort. Now, at $45NZD it does feel a little too high for a set like this but the end results is good enough to justify the spending. It's great to put this next to the Lucky Cat Brickheadz released few years ago. I would recommend this if you are into asian cultures or just want something fun and cute!

Here is my review on 75374 The Onyx Cinder: THE GOOD: Excellent minifigures for Fans of The Skeleton Crew. Surprisingly fun to build. THE NOT SO GOOD: Could have more interior details or at least make the current interior more accessible. Somewhat expensive without discount. Originally not planning to get this set but after watching Skeleton Crew, fall in love with the characters and really wanted the minifigures. A 30% off discount gave me a further push to buy this. Turns out, it was a very fun and cool looking build. While the actual ship scale is far from minifigure compatible which limit the interior details of this, it's something different to your typical spaceship build and the building experience was actually quite refreshing for me. It's good the ship is not entirely symmetrical which makes it feel less repetitive. The interior, the designer tried their best have fit an area with sits and tables for the minifigures to gather. The bed is somewhat hard to access but overall the ship is great with some interesting building techniques to produce some unique features. The action feature of the engine is simple but yet effective. Considering the actual ship size in the show, this may be the best iteration to make it to the regular retail set lines. The highlight of this definitely are the minifigures. All 5 are excellently done, and really capture the vibes of their characters. yes, it's missing SM-33 but I can live with that. By no means it's a perfect set and with a high price point but you do get what you usually paid for this type of sets. It's definitely a set you would want if you like the show, if not, it may not have enough appeal. Now can't wait to see what install in the 2nd half of the season and if there may be future potential sets on Skeleton Crew!

Here is my review on LEGO Chinese New Year 80116 Trotting Lantern: THE GOOD: A full 360 degrees build rather than just half of a lantern. Excellently executed action feature to replicate an actual trotting lantern. Windows decorations are printed. New dumplings piece. THE NOT SO GOOD: The navy colour on top of the roof does not fit the overall colour scheme well. Significantly less minifigures compared to sets releases last 2 CNY. Cannot fit ALL minifigures inside the lantern. Lucky enough to be able to get this a few day earlier. To be honest, when this set was first announced, I was a bit skeptical because the key image appeared like just half a lantern. But once I've built this, it's another WIN from the Chinese New Year theme. First the building experience was fun, while quite a few sections you need to build 8 times, it didn't feel repetitive. Exterior is nicely done with some cool new printed parts. The use of transparent glittering window pieces is brilliant. Although the navy colour on top does feel a bit off. It even managed to add 3 mini stalls in the 2nd level and you take these out as you like. The end results of the lantern itself is excellent. Originally thought this is only half a lantern from the product images, but it is actually a set you can display from any angles. And the best part, it is actually a working trotting lantern. The little mechanism allows you to have this lantern running manually. It even includes one extra piece with different pattern if you want to switch the image shown in the lantern. This set also includes a few of the new dumplings piece which is one of the highlights in this set. Minifigures include a family and the snake costume guy, only 2 new torsos variant though, in comparison with other CNY sets, it is significantly less in umbers as we got spoilt in these aspects in the past few years. Also these minifigures cannot fit all inside the lantern. It's now the 7th zodiac sign and if you like CNY theme or collecting the costume minifig, this is a must have. With less piece count and low price than last year excellent chinese restaurant, while providing a nice looking latern and functions, I will still recommend to any one. Only 5 more years to go from completing all 12 zodiacs!

Here is my review on LEGO Ideas 21353 The Botanical Garden: THE GOOD: Look absolutely beautiful. With some very nice interior details. Good selection of plants with interesting building experience. Love the new flowers pieces. Comes with surprisingly high number of lego birds and even the D&D CMF brown bird. THE NOT SO GOOD: A bit too expensive. The centre roof need extra care to put on as one of the tree often interfere with it. Bought this day one with the GWP promo and what a beautiful looking set. I only appreciate the look of it once I completed the build. It's an enjoyable build with lots of details with relatively no surprises. Most of the build are very traditional in , the only parts I felt wow I didn't know you can build like this were one of the big tree with the trunk built by gears and the small balcony inside but this is due to the fact I have built lots of big sets in the past 10 years. The exterior looks great but the interior is fun too. The cafe has some very simple yet detailed mini builds that I absolutely love. The new flowers piece is so flexible and great to look at. It's also good to see LEGO include 12 minifigures which is rare in a LEGO Ideas set. Although most of them are just utilising existing parts, but the new vision impaired minifigure head does look good and has lots of potential. One thing to note though, LEGO tried their best to pack the transparent pieces in seperate bags to minimise scratches but I still got a few noticeable scratches. And while the big tree is nice, it sometimes does caught in the edge of the roof when putting the roof on, not big issue and can be avoided with care but I wish this goes smoother.The GWP has the same pavements design and look fits well. However, due to different base plates, it does look odd to have it placed right in front without lifting up the Botanical Garden. In the end, this is a very beautiful set but also fairly expensive. It does gives you more in terms of volume and details compare to the X-Mansion released at the same time but still the price feel a bit expensive. If you don't mind the price, it's definitely one of the best this year. Otherwise the LEGO friends one is probably is also an alternative with a more interesting building experience.

REVIEW - 42082 - ROUGH TERRAIN CRANE INTRODUCTION The biggest set of the second wave of 2018 sets is the Rough Terrain Crane. Actually, it is THE biggest Technic set ever, with 4057 parts, surpassing the 42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator, which has 3929 parts. This set contains 128 parts more than the BWE. Which immediately raises the question; has TLG purposely made this set bigger, so it has the highest part count ever? The reason I am asking out loud, is that there has been some debate in the Technic Forum about the growing size of the sets, related to the functions. Some say that the part count is intentionally high, without adding significantly more (or better) functionality. While I do see a trend in sets getting bigger (i.e. higher part count, thus higher price), I don't think that TLG designers are filling their workday finding out ways to add lots of unnecessary parts. I do like to think that the style of building is adapting/evolving to the contemporary standards/requirements. Of course, I don't want to sound too naive, because at the end of the day, it's all 'bout the money. It's all 'bout the dun dun do do do dumb. I don't think it's funny to..... Anyway, why not use this review to dive into this delicate matter. Before we start I like to point out that I do like big sets. The experience of opening the box and seeing the plethora of parts is overwhelming. On the other hand, with Technic sets getting more and more expensive, I can understand that people stop buying the (bigger) sets. In this review, I simply want to find out if this set could have been made with, let's say, 3000-odd parts while maintaining the same functionality. Another thing I'd like to address in this review is the use of extra elements (playable items), like a chains, tools etc. There has been some debate about this in the Technic forum, so I like to give you my opinion. If you see this icon, you can click the image on the left or right side of the image, to cycle through alternative images. PICTURES Pictures can be clicked to view hi-res versions. More pictures can be found in my Flickr album. DISCLAIMER This set has been provided by the CEE Team of TLG. It's not my goal to promote this set. It's my goal to give you an honest opinion about it. Therefore, the opinion in this review is my own and is in no way linked to TLG. SET INFORMATION Number: 42082 Title: Rough Terrain Crane Theme: Technic Released: 2018 Part Count: 4.057 Box Weight: > 5kg (I forgot to weigh the box, because my kitchen scale couldn't handle it.) Box Dimensions: 57,5 cm x 47,2 cm x 16,5 cm Set Price (RRP): £ / $ 299.99 / € 229,99 Price per Part: £ / $ 0.074 / € 0,056 Links: Brickset, Bricklink So, with an RRP of 229 euro, the price per part comes down to 5,6 cent per part, which is a steal. It's even slightly less than the BWE (5,9 cents per part). This makes it one of the cheapest Technic sets in terms of price per part. Let's compare some stats with previous flagships. COMPARISON WITH OLDER SETS 2011 - 8110 - Unimog - 189 euro, 2048 parts, 9,3 cent per part. 2012 - 9398 - 4x4 Crawler - 169 euro, 1327 parts, 12,8 cent per part. 2013 - 42009 - Mobile Crane Mk II - 199 euro, 2606 parts, 7,7 cent per part. 2014 - 42030 - Volvo L350F - 219 euro, 1636 parts, 13,4 cent per part. 2015 - 42043 - Arocs - 199 euro, 2793 parts, which is 7,2 cent per part. 2016 - 42055 - BWE - 229 euro, 3929 parts, 5,9 cents per part. 2017 - 42070 - All Terrain Truck - 249 euro, 1862 parts, 13,4 cent per part. 2018 - 42082 - Rough Terrain Crane - 229 euro, 4057 parts, 5,6 cent per part. All of these sets have Power Functions, some more than others. The Volvo is literally packed with Power Functions, which explains the high price and low part count. A potential candidate for a comparison with the 42082 - Rough Terrain Crane is the 42009 - Mobile Crane Mk II. The 42009 packs 2606 parts for 7,7 cent per part, while the 42082 packs 4057 parts for 5,6 cent per part. So, the universally praised Mk II crane has a 37,5% increase in price per part. Or the 42082 has a 27,3% decrease in price per part, depending on how you want to look at it. That is 5 years ago, and I'm not taking inflation into account. In other words; for 30 euro extra you get 1451 extra parts. This comes down to 2,1 cent per parts, which isn't bad at all. Some of you might argue that this is not the way to compare two sets, but these numbers are based on RRP and part count, which are numbers we can work with. Since this set has four of the big Claas wheels, a gearbox, and not a lot of PF, I could also compare it to the 42070. But that set was way overpriced, so I don't think that would be fair. The average price of a part in a flagship, based on these 8 sets, is 9,4 cent. So for 229 euro you can expect 2155 parts. You get 1901 more than that. Thus drawing the preliminary conclusion that this set is big, but the price is more than reasonable. Of course, the original debate wasn't focused on the price per se, but whether the models are getting unnecessarily big. Let's carry on unboxing so we can find out. THE BOX The front of the box shows the model and its Power Functions components, a Battery Box and a Large Motor. No sign of new Powered Up elements yet. It also shows a picture of the model with an extended boom, measuring 100 cm high till the end of the boom and a chassis size of 48 cm long. Going by the size this isn't some two-bit crane. But size doesn't always matter. The box has the same width and height as last year's flagship (42070 - 6x6 All Terrain Truck), but it's a couple of centimeters deeper. INSIDE FLAP Like the 42070, this box also has the flap, common to flagship sets. The inside shows a big picture of the model, which is most likely almost 1:1 scale. It's pretty impressive, that's for sure. You can also see that the upper body with the boom can rotate freely, thus 360 degree. This means that most of the mechanics, and battery box, are probably placed in the upper body and not in the chassis. This makes sense, and we have seen it before. Another picture shows the boom can be raised up to 60 degrees. BACKSIDE The back is divided into two sections/sides. The left side shows the functions of the main model, while the right side shows the alternative model, a Mobile Pile Driver. I will express my love for the B-model later this review CONTENTS OF THE BOX The box contains: 1x Inner box 1x Sealed pack with two booklets and the sticker sheet 4x Rim 4x Tire 25x Numbered bags (8 of which are in the inner box) INNER BOX The inner box contains the sealed pack with instruction booklets and sticker sheet. And it contains the bags for steps 1 to 4. INSTRUCTION BOOKLETS Two instruction booklets. One for the chassis and one for the crane. Makes you wonder if one person can start building the chassis, while the other starts working on the crane. STICKER SHEET Quite a few stickers to decorate this model. A construction vehicle just isn't the same without black and yellow stripes. And of course, a bunch of stickers indicating how to operate the functions. POWER FUNCTIONS ELEMENTS A battery box and a large motor. TIRES These, so called Unimog Tires, seems to be very common nowadays, but they have only been used in two Technic sets before. RIMS Four big red rims, also used in the 42054 - Claas Xerion and the 42077 - Rally Car. TIRES ON RIMS Here a picture with the tires fitted on the rims. NUMBERED BAGS A total of 25 numbered bags. HIGHLIGHTED PARTS Actually there is only one interesting part in this set and that is the 11 x 11 Curved Gear Rack (or banana gear as some call them) from the 42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator in a new color black. I am very happy that this gear has appeared in a color which can more easily be used in a MOC, for example an EV3 Robot Not sure why I forgot to take a picture of the part itself, but here is a picture of the subassembly. This set contains a total of eight of these curved gear racks. PART LIST A whopping 4.057 parts, but still only two pages with parts. THE BUILD Bags, bags, bags and more bags. Lucky for us, they are numbered. If you like a challenge, open all the bags and create a big unsorted pile. That will keep you busy for quite some time. I will simply go from step to step As expected we start with the chassis. And to be more precise; with the gearbox in the chassis. Really, orange pins?! Yes, really! Right off the bat, lots of gears are added to the chassis. A white clutch gear is used in the bottom of the chassis. This indicates that these gears/axles will be connected to the Power Functions. At the end of the first step the center of the chassis has finished. This chassis with center gearbox is kind of reminiscent of models like th 8110 - Unimog and the 8258 - Crane Truck. Lots of gears, densily packed in a small space. There's little room left. The bottom of the gearbox. This set contains the 5x7 frames in two colors, light bluish grey and black. This is what you can do with two different color frames. I am not really fond of these kind of solutions, but I understand it can be convenient. Ohhh, and then there's the green liftarms. Because we need green in a red vehicle. I reckon someone opened up the bucket with green dye, so we do need to use more of these of parts in green Actually, I am being semi-serious here. The Forest Machine uses these liftarms in green, so it's probably cost-effective to use them in multiple sets. We are seeing this with other parts as well. For example, the beforementioned orange 3L pins with bush and white 1L connector, etc. TLG tends to minimize the overall number of different parts used in (Technic) sets. I reckon this has something to do with optimizing their warehouse space. New parts are added every year and storage space is limited. Instead of using five different colors TLG uses one (maybe two) color. Doing this over the entire range of sets will save up a lot of space. Technic seems to be the ideal theme to use these kind of strategies. And it adheres to the "color vommit in the chassis" strategy. One of the wheel assemblies. As you can see there is no actual suspension. Not even pendular suspension. Which seems odd for an Rough Terrain Crane, but I am no expert. Here's the subassembly attached to the center of the chassis. An almost similar assembly attached to the other side. Instead of green liftarms, this one uses orange ones. This way you can more easily tell the sides apart. This is actually not a bad thing. I have mentioned it before, but I am actually a big fan of the color vommit approach. Altough I must admit that using these orange 3L pins with bush is definitely pusing it. Blue might have been a better choice, but that would have confliced with the Bugatti color scheme. Therefore, I think TLG made the decision to use orange in this as well. By the way; this set does also contain 40 of these 3L pins with bush in black. The picture below shows how you can align the wheels. After aligning them, you slide the 16T gear in position. When I was building the set, I wondered why there was space between the gear and the liftarm, but it soon made sense. A subassebly for the outriggers. I do like the design, but as with most outriggers on Technic models, they op...e....ra.....te.....ve......ry......slow......ly. I would love to show you a video of the outriggers, but since it's Tuesday now, I don't have enough time to lower them before the embargo date of this review Just kidding of course. They do take a while, but since they are outriggers I find this acceptable. As long as the other functions aren't that slow. The chassis with front and rear wheel assemblies, and the front and rear outriggers. This is what you would expect from a crane this size. No unncessary use of extra parts so far. Next stop is the V8 engine with white oil filter and orange propellor/fan. I really like the oil filter. It's simple, but it adds detail to the model. The choice of orange as the color for the propellor seems odd, but it's likely a safety precaution. The emphasize that this is a part you need to watch, since it will be rotating when you move the crane. Not entirely sure, but it must be something along these lines. After the engine you will be building the connection between the chassis and the upper structure (crane body). This is done by using eight curved gear racks and an ingenious system in between. Click on the images to construct the ring. At that point you will attach the rims and the chassis is done. Worth noting is that the wheel caps in the rims use a lot of extra parts. Per cap approximately 12 parts are used, which boils down to 48 extra parts, just for the caps. This picture will be very hard to shoot with the crane attached, so I will give it to you now. This model implements Ackerman Steering Geometry. Or Reversed Ackerman Steering. Or even Reversed Reversed Ackerman Steering hehe. Not sure what the consensus in the forum was. I am no expert on steering assemblies, but Ackerman Steering boils down to the inner wheels turning at a different angle than the outer wheels, due to the fact the outer wheels have to travel a wider diameter. Ackerman Steering is something Technic fans like to see in models. For more information I suggest you start with Wikepedia and go from there SECOND BOOKLET This is an interesting part in the build. Reminds us of the 8043 - Motorized Excavator. Admittedly, I didn't think of this myself, but it has been addressed in the forum. Since the two 20T Bevel Gear with Pinhole have been placed on opposite sides of the actuators, this results in them turning in a different direction when the boom is raised (or lowered). Basically, this means that when the boom is raised, one of the LA's extends, while the other retracts. If one of the 20T gears was placed the other way around, this problem would not occur. Of course, the turning direction of one of the axles feeding the LA should be reversed for this to work. Since the gears attached to the LA's only rotate a tiny fraction when raising the boom, it leads me to believe that this is a calculated flaw. In this video I try to demonstrate the issue at hand. You continue to work your way back to the rear of the superstructure. Again, lots of gears and space which will be filled with gearboxes. This is the point in the second booklet where you can't build any further, untill you finish the first booklet. At this stage you will attach the upper section to the chassis. The boom is really massive. Feels solid like a rock. I am impressed with the sturdyness of this boom. It does a lot of panels and H-frames, so it's only logical, but I was still impressed. No wormgear to extend the boom this time. The other side of the boom with a white clutch gear for safety. The boom attached to the crane. Needless to say I am having a hard time getting the entire boom in the picture. The back of the upper section is closed with panels. The black ones can be removed for easy access to the battery. There are two gearboxes on the top of the crane. The left (bottom) one is to switch between crane and chassis functions. The right (upper) one is to switch between raising/lowering the boom, extracting/retracting the boom and lowering/raising the hook. The chassis functions are rotating the super structure and raising/lowering the outriggers. COMPLETED MODEL It is rather difficult to shoot decent pictures in the photo studio. I sure hope sets won't get much bigger than this. Looking at this model, I think TLG has done a remarkable job with this Rough Terrain Crane. The black chassis, with red elements, combined with the red super structure looks spot on. Lots of technic gears and elements provide an interesting build. I love how the two (or three) gearboxes work together. Here you can clearly see the gearbox on this side of the chassis is used to rotate the crane. Because of the weight, the chassis tends to bend a little, but nothing to worry about. The boom of the crane can exend way more than this, but that makes is impossible for me to take pictures. A close up from the front of the vehicle. The cabin door swings open to reveal the interior of the cabin. And one from the reaar. I'm sorry I don't have anymore pictures of the completed model, but I think you have seen most of it. You can find out more by building it yourself FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS This model packs features you would expect from a mobile crane. Raising/Lowering the boom Extracting/Retracting the boom Raising/Lowering the hook Raising/Lowering the outriggers Four wheel (Ackermann) steering Working fake engine Other than that there are some details like two cabinets which can be opened to store some gear. TLG has even added some walls which can be turned into part of a house or cabin. OUTRIGGERS Okay, let's get this out of the way. The outriggers are slow, really slow. I turned them on this morning and when I came home from work, they were halfway. Obviously, I am joking...I didn't go to work today. It's not that bad, but it would be nice if they operated a wee bit faster. You do need to use the four plates for them to properly reach the ground. STEERING AND DRIVING For a set this size steering and driving work properly. Even better than I expected. CRANE The thing I am most impressed with are the crane functions. These work like a charm. And, unlike the 42043 - Mercedes Arocs, this gearbox (or rather gearboxes) is very easy to understand. One look at the stickers is all it takes to be able to operate this thing. It offers a ton of playability. Linking gearboxes, instead of direct connection to a motor, can cause some slack. This can be seen when turning the crane. But this is just a minor gripe, just like the outriggers. DOOR A nice detail is the sliding door. PLAYABLE ITEMS It's time to talk about the added playable items, like this toolbox. Some people don't feel this is necessary and some even seem to be a bit annoyed by it. I have addressed this in my 42069 - Extreme Adventure review where I state that I like these added details. And I still do. The Forest Machine also packs some extra's like a chainsaw, some logs etc. Actually, I see it in most of the Technic sets. What I have seen is that this greatly enhances playability for younger LEGO fans. I am absolutely aware that this is a 11+ set, so it is not designed for a 5-year old. But seeing a 5-year old play with these Technic models and use all the extra items in the set for his "story" makes you realise that by adding playable items to a Technic set, it suddenly becomes a set for all ages. So, a handful of extra parts might be enough to prepare a 5-year old for Technic enthusiasm later down the line. After all, he (or she) is the future Technic target audience. Therefore, I am 100% in favor of adding these little details to Technic sets, even if these sets are 11+. PART COUNT And now for the part count discussion. No doubt this model could have been made using less parts. It you take away the playable items, wheel caps, grey construction panel and outrigger plates, you already save a couple of hundred parts. In the old days a Technic model used to be liftarms with gears inside. These days are over. Models are becoming more and more realistically looking, which means that less of the interior is visible. This also goes for the boom for example. In the old days we would have seen the interior of the boom and now it's covered with panels. I am not convinced that TLG is deliberately adding parts to the boom just to have more parts. I think TLG is doing this because they need to compete with other toys in the stores and these toys look like the real thing. Therefore TLG wants its models to look more like the real thing to, resulting in adding panels and other embellishments. Granted, TLG's marketing department won't mind having the biggest Technic set every year, so they can use this in Ads. Like I said in the introduction; I am a fan of big sets. I love putting together a 4057 part set. But I reckon people are more upset about the price of bigger sets than the part count. This can be a false assumption, because I know not all AFOLs think like this. But if TLG had used 3057 parts instead of 4057 they could have easily maintained the same RRP. 3000 parts at 229 euro is 7,6 cents a piece, which is still rather cheap. So my conclusion is that TLG might have upped the part count a bit, but still presented this set at a very affordable price. We already see this set popping up for around 179 euro, which boils down to 4,5 cent a piece, which is extremely affordabl for a Technic set. For me it would have been an issue if TLG priced this set at 349 euro RRP. Then I would have figured TLG was doing it on purpose. Basically, this is a UCS-like Technic set and you get it for 229 euro, or less if you do some online shopping. Personally, I think this is extremely good value for money. Of course your mileage may vary, but this is how I see things. B-MODEL The B-model, a Mobile Pile Driver, is a cop out, nothing more, nothing less. I mean, seriously?! 4000+ parts and we get a model that is 95% the same as the original model. And if that's not the worst part, it's ugly AF, as some people would like to phrase it. The Pile Driver extension looks like something I could have built....when I was four . Maybe, well probably, I am insulting someone at The LEGO Group, but I can only hope that they were lacking time and/or resources, so they came up with this at the last moment. The argument of time is rendered invalid, because this is what you can in a couple of days. Well, maybe not everybody, but @nico71 was able to turn this set into a front loader. Nobody will probably argue that this would have been a better B-model. Not sure what TLG's policy is regarding alternate models but the 42030 isn't in production anymore, so I don't see any reason not go for something like this. The rear view of the model. And even the grey construction elements can be turned into something useful. SUMMARY I am a big fan of this set. It packs a lot of functionality and parts, for a decent price. The forum contains pages and pages with potential improvements, but that's out of scope for my review. Almost every set gets improved by AFOLs, so that's no surprise. Bottomline is that this is great set for existing AFOLs and new AFOLs alike. I can remember coming out of my dark ages in 2005, building the 8421 - Mobile Crane, which had a whopping 1885 parts. I remember the endless quantity of parts coming out of the box. Imagine a set with more than twice the part count. And again, this doesn't automatically mean a better set, but you will be impressed when you open this box. Much has been said about the color vommit in the chassis of this model. I have grown fond of color vommit, because I like the variety in the parts. I do enjoy seeing all the colored parts. However, using orange 3L Pins with Bush is pushing it to the limit, especially on a red model. I would have preferred blue instead of orange. My final conclusion is that for around 200 euro, you do get a LOT of value for money. I can see myself getting an extra copy, just because of that. I would almost go as far a stating that this could be considered a UCS Technic set. PROS Good looking model Properly working functions (even Ackermann steering) Several (linked) gearboxes Great parts pack (especially for people new to Technic) Very affordable, almost cheap CONS Some slack due to drivetrains and gearboxes Outriggers operate very slowly No suspension No special parts besides the new curved gear rack in black SCORE How do I rate this set? 9 DESIGN I love the looks, color scheme, everything. 9 BUILDING EXPERIENCE Very enjoyable build with several gearboxes and other functionality. 8 FEATURES Great features, with some room for improvement. No suspension though. 9 PLAYABILITY Implemented features provide lots of playability. 8 PARTS Mostly common parts, but you do get a lot of them. 10 VALUE FOR MONEY Price goes down to 4,8 cent per part if you shop around. It doesn't get any cheaper than this. 8,8 UCS ANYONE? Thanks you for reading this review. All pictures can be found here.

Here is my review on LEGO Marvel 76292 Captain America vs. Red Hulk Battle: THE GOOD: Good looking jet and fun build consider the size of the set. Exclusive minifigures of new iteration of MCU characters. THE NOT SO GOOD: unjustifiable pricing. Based on the upcoming movie, Captain America Brave New World. LEGO once again delivered another Marvel set that is ridiculously priced. Put pricing aside for a moment, the set itself ain't bad to be honest. Given the size of the set, the jet has a pretty fun build with great use of parts to create some colour patterns & design. It also look pretty good, however how well it matches the one in the movie cannot be verified for now given the movie is not out until FEB. All minifigures are currently exclusive to this set. All have good qualify print, I particularly like Sam here. Although I do feel the earlier variant in CMF series is far more superior. Good to get the new falcon, I do feel they could use a better helmet as current design doesn't feel sleak enough. Red Hulk is good to have but it basically a green hulk figure in RED. Given the cotent of this set, if this was under $60NZD, it will be a great fun set. BUT, this set is currently retailed at $100NZD, even if LEGO gives me 20% discount it still overpriced. Unfortunately, this set is currently exclusive to LEGO Store in New Zealand so there is no chance to get discount at least for now. While as a MCU fan, this is probably a set you would want but due to the price, it's hard to justify the purchase. With the underwhelming reception from the trailer and a lot of negative reports surrounding the production, it's unlikely the movie will do well and this set will be popular. So there may be a chance this get a 50% off clearance in the future.

Here is my review on 76294 X-Men: The X-Mansion: THE GOOD: Looks great standalone with lots of areas to make the set extremely lively. An easter egg on the famous Wolverine meme. Gambit minifigure. Great Sentinel build. THE NOT SO GOOD: The 3 half base plates configuration makes it difficult to transport given the the top levels not having any connection to the section next to it. Also have visible gaps some times between the section. If you own earlier version of the charecters minifigiures. the minifigs selection might disappoint you. Doesn't fit with other modulars in terms of its size. It's one of my most anticipated sets this year and while it has some issues, I still enjoyed the build and like the completed model. First as a standalone piece, it looks very good with tons of details both around the courtyard and the exterior of the mansion. It has lots of areas ready for some battle effects, and joints allow you to place minifigures to pretend flying. This allows the build to look very lively. Personal preference is to have it more static, and you can easily do that by replacing some of the bricks. The interior is also packs with details and easter eggs despite it does feel a bit tight with the spaces. Highlights for me are the lab, main hall and the danger room. The dorm & class room are just a bit too small but still have some cool references. And rarely for a D2C set, it also features some exciting play features like the exploding roof. The building experience is not at expert level and is quite straight forward but the moment you noticed a reference it increases the enjoyment. Now, if you place this next to a standard modular, or even all the marvel ones, it does feel the odd one out. But if LEGO decides to go with same scale, I do not think the 3 x half base plates configuration would work and it will significantly increase the piece count and price. The minifigures are great, it's nice to finally have Gambit, unfortunately his cards are stickers which is not helpful if you keep switching between effect or simply holding in Gambit's hands. I did not buy the X-Jet, so I'm very satisfied with the minifigs included, for some this could be repetitive as you get Cyclops and Rogue again despite the versions in this mansion have more details. Some of the noticeable flaws apart from lack of rooms and space, is the 3 base plates configurations. While the middle and the section of each side are fairly secured with some techniq pieces hidden in the foundation but because the playability as modular, the upper levels do not have any connected bricks which made this set a challenge to move around and also depending on how you place it, there might be visible gaps between each section. At 550NZD, it does lean towards the higher end of the price, with the Cerebro GWP being independent to this set, and this is likely to be available from retail stores, I would suggest if you are interested, try hold off until you see a sale. Otherwise if you desperately need some of the fig or the mansion and a fan of X-Men then this is a set for you,.

Here is my review on LEGO Marvel 76291 The Avengers Assemble: Age of Ultron: THE GOOD: Nearly perfect recreation of the iconic scene from Age of Ultron. One set and get the full Avengers line up and they are all excellent. THE NOT SO GOOD: Building experience is a bit bland. Frustration with the Barricades placement. Still no Quicksilver. As a MCU fan, any sets depict iconic scenes from the movies will immediately catch my attention. I have to admit, while I was building this set, the build wasn't the most exciting as I felt it just your typical super heroes sets. There were parts even frustrating to build like the Barricades which are a pain as it's quite lose. However, once the set is completed, I ended up liking it very much. Because it really recreates the iconic scene from Age of Ultron extremely well. The use of clear elements is smart and the way it makes the jeep tilt is also brilliant. On top of that, you get the full Avengers line up! The minifigures are excellent, I particularly like how well Hawkeye and Black Window were done. It does lack play feature though but again I believe this set is more like a diorama. And if you remove the jeep, it gives you lots of space to do whatever you want. And could be perfect to utilise to recreate a scene from Deadpool v Wolverine. At $180NZD RRP, this is not cheap but if you a like me able to found a deal like 25% off then it suddenly makes this a very good deal especially if you don't have and want the full avengers line up. And if you love MCU, definitely get this if you can. The only things I was disappointed with this set is that there is still no sign of QuickSilver ...

Here is my review on 75385 Ahsoka Tano's Duel on Peridea: THE GOOD: Excellent. minifigures. Does indeed capture the look of the location in the show well. THE NOT SO GOOD: Too expensive considering on what you get in the end. Capitalising on a 25% off deal, it still doesn't change my mind that this set is expensive! Aim is to get the minifigures and yes, all 5 exclusive minifigures are nice. I particularly like the Night Trooper and let's hope there are battle pack coming in the near future. Now, the build itself does recreate the structure/monument in the show well. As a play set, it only let you build half of it with action feature that let you simulate a minifig swinging their swords. While the build is not overly simple but with some moderate level build for the base, I still feel this is a $55-$60 NZD set than a $100 NZD set. It does has the potential to create the full version if you buy 2 and still keep the action feature but that would cost you $200 NZD without any discount. If you are really keen on the minifigs (like me) and able. to found a good deal, then yes go for it. But otherwise, the overall content just not able to justify the RRP.

Here is my review on LEGO Ideas 21352 Magic of Disney: THE GOOD: Great building experience. Just the right size with tons of details. Exclusive minifigures of characters making first appearence. No stickers. THE NOT SO GOOD: Mickey's head can fall off easily. What a nice surprise!? I have no expectation on the build apart from minifigures before I built it. And this set has some very cool building experience. I particularly like the first half of the build with mini-dioramas based on iconic films. With no stickers, this set delivers one of the best print on a clear piece. In comparison, the waves and mickey is not as fun as the front three. Even though the Mickey is still a cool build except its head can fall down quite easily. The minifigures are excellent and one of the key reasons I bought this set. Getting a Simba lego animal is just great. The completed model looks great and just the right size, anything smaller or bigger would make this set looks unbalanced. At $180NZD without discount, it is expensive but with any discount would definitely make this more accessible. It's definitely something you should get if you are into Disney characters, even just a casual fan like me, having a Geppetto minifig is important given I already have pinocchio from the CMF series.

Here is my review on LEGO City 60423 Downtown Streetcar and Station: THE GOOD: Very nicely down cafe/kiosk roof. The tram/street car do look good. The adjustable platform is fun. THE NOT SO GOOD: The head and tail basically identical, splitting build in separate instruction feel unnecessary. A set with a tram while not being a full blown train set. Bought this not for the tram originally but for the new minifigure head with sunglasses on. Despite the build of the tram's head and tail are identical, overall it was a fun build. The colour scheme and the trams, I do think these look good. I do wonder when LEGO is going to make sliding doors happening on trains rather than how you traditionally open door. One thing did bother me was that all 3 cars are connected, but it does look like not all 3 cars are linked and the minifigures can move around the tram. In term of the station, I really like the care/kiosk, the roof is a very cool looking build. The platform is also smartly done and an action features to make hoping onto the tram easier. The minifigures line-up is a bit disappointing given only 1 minifigure has new head part. But this minifigure do look nice, as the head is not just designed to represent the visually impaired but can also be a general guy wearing glasses. This set also includes a guide dog. This is a set I like but also feel like something missing. While this set doesn't break the bank but I still recommend you wait and observe to get the max discount on this set. If you previously owns LEGO tracks due to buying LEGO trains, this is a set for you. Although there are flaws, still a good sets \.

Here is my review on LEGO Friends 40694 River Camping Adventure: THE GOOD: Great little set looking good with a fun tent build. Lots of cool parts included in this. Extra leaves allowing you to change season. THE NOT SO GOOD: none Only got this last week because of order arriving late but it's totally worth the wait. Despite being a small GWP type LEGO set, this set is actually better than a lot of other sets available at this price point. First it's looks good and also was pretty fun to build. It's nice to see instead of a plastic film material type of tent, they opted to do brick built. The end results is greet with interesting use of parts and a few stickers to enhance the design. It even features 2 lovely sleep bags build inside. The overall terrain is great, again use of sticker to give it more details on the river and it's actually look good on every angle rather than just a front facing build. There are also some interesting parts included in this like the printed beetle tile, printed minifig head as a jar of fire flies. And there's more, LEGO also included extra leaves in different colour to let you change the season. The minidolls are Paisley and Nova which I like because you get 2 cool hair pieces which you can use for minifigures if that's your preference. It's really one of the best GWP this year and I would totally recommend this if you can still get your hands onto this =)

INTRODUCTION If the Friends line has some of the best overall sets, then the Speed Champions line has some of the best small scale detail techniques found in sets. With 800 pieces this set of Mercedes vehicles is the 4th largest Speed Champions set of all time, the biggest set that doesn't include extras like a race track, garage, or transport truck, and of course the largest of the 2024 line-up. But does bigger equal better in this case? Spoilers, yes, yes it does. SET INFORMATION Number: 76924 Title: Mercedes-AMG G 63 & Mercedes-AMG SL 63 Theme: Speed Champions Released: 2024 Part Count: 800 Box Dimensions: 35.4 x 19.1 x 11.8 cm Weight: 916g Set Price (RRP): £44.99/$44.99/€49.99 Price per Part: 5.6p/5.6c/6.2c Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX AND WHAT'S INSIDE My other review sets sent by Lego had the new paper bags, but this set still had the plastic. I'm sure we'll see more and more paper as Lego recently released a statement about further efforts to go green. But this shows that there are still some sets with plastic left to be sold. The sticker sheets were small considering this is a Speed Champions set. None of them were too obtrusive and I applied them all. THE BUILD I built the AMG SL 63 (the yellow one) first. I'll start off by saying I'm not a gear head. I know how to fix cars and have done some larger projects myself like changing the engine bolts, replacing struts, and fixing a fuel pump. But I don't follow car news and couldn't pick out makes and models like a normal car fan might be able to. I had to Google which car was the SL 63 and which was the G 63 for example. But I do know good Lego techniques when I see them and the SL 63 has them on full display. We start off with the new standard base for Speed Champions cars. Here you can see some of the extra egregious injection mold marks. We get some new parts and new prints. I really appreciate that the curved and sloped parts have prints instead of stickers. The front grill section uses a fantastic combination of clips, a bar, and neck brackets to create the minute details. The end result looks pretty good. The exposed stud under the rear view mirrors and the edge of the yellow bracket sticking out the back end are small eye-sores in what is otherwise a gorgeous convertible. The clips that allow the hood to open are the other eye-sore. I wish the designer had found a different solution. Under the hood we see a sticker on the engine which seems to indicate that it's eco-friendly. A fast search says its a 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engine. The car can comfortably seat 3. The overall look of the car is excellent, though it does feel oversized compared to system scale cars. The G 63 does not use the standard Speed Champions base and instead relies on a Technic frame. The entire chassis is built using a plethora of jumper plates to allow for half-step offsets throughout the build. The end result is a beefy yet sleek truck. Rear view mirrors, windshield wipers, detailed grill, offset wheel wells, angled back windows and chrome exhaust pipes make this the most detailed Speed Champions car I've ever built. We get a whole pile of cool parts. The plates in the 2nd picture are gun-metal grey. They add a slight color variation on the truck that's almost unnoticeable but shows an impressive attention to detail. The back-end shows how the back windows angle in just slightly. It makes the back window look a little off, but overall I think the design was the right choice. It's such a small angle, but the designer clearly went to great lengths to get the shape of the car just right and the end result is very impressive. The roof comes off to allow easy access inside. It can seat 4 and additionally has a spacious back compartment. The engine compartment hinge is much better hidden on the truck. Under the hood we see the same symbol on the engine as the convertible. The minifigures are not the draw, but they are unique to this set. Both drivers have aviators and specialized tops. Neither head has back printing, probably to allow them to wear cop hats in police sets. Now for a public service announcement. If you've been collecting Legos for more than 5 years you may have noticed a decline in quality, especially with the injection mold points or sprue marks. It didn't use to be this bad as you can see in this photo I sent to Lego CS: Injection marks have always been present in Lego, but they have gotten either more noticeable or even include rough edges around the mold point. I encourage you to ask Lego for replacements for any pieces that have really bad injection points. I've noticed they are especially bad on tiles and curved slopes. Lego's moto is "Only the best is good enough." Hold them to that. They will only change their production method if it starts to hurt them financially to keep using shoddy methods. OVERALL Paired together these vehicles are impressive. They each have minor flaws, the convertible more than the truck. But the attention to detail is incredible and I have to give the set full marks. They won't fit well with city sets as they are too wide, but as incredibly detailed models they are fantastic. SCORE How do I rate this set? DESIGN 9.9 These are amazing designs full of NPU. There are a few minor flaws, but this set is near perfect. BUILDING EXPERIENCE 10 As is to be expected with the Speed Champions line the building process is fun and filled with creative techniques. FEATURES 10 The intended feature of this set is to be a display model. In that it succeeds perfectly. But the cars are also functional and have impressive space inside for multiple minifigures. PLAYABILITY 10 You can't exaclty swoosh these, but you sure can Vroom! them. Plus the easy access to move minifgures around gives this set full marks for playability. PARTS 10 A great selection of unique, new or rare colored parts makes this an excellent set for part selection. VALUE FOR MONEY 10 800 pieces for $50 is a great deal. Add to that how great the set is and you have a real winner. FINAL SCORE: 10 Even if you don't like cars this set is a real gem. The building process is fun, the techniques are creative, and the end result looks stunning. This is one of the best sets I've come across and I highly recommend getting it if you have the chance.

Here is my review on LEGO Fortnite 77073 Battle Bus: THE GOOD: Superb Minifigures! One of the best school bus build and love the fact it comes with 9 seats! THE NOT SO GOOD: none I have never played Fortnite nor know much about the game apart from the name, purely driven to buy the set because of the unique minifigures. To be surprise, this set in general is brilliant. It's one of the best school bus I ever built. Granted it's not necessarily LEGO City scale but this allows much more details through out. I love how some of the techniques to create the black lines around the bus body. And the fact that this can actually fit all 9 minifigures is great. Replacing the blue to yellow would give you a pretty great school bus. And it's definitely surpass the previously excellent school bus build from Hidden Side theme. The ballon also integrated with the bus very one, I like they utilise the flame piece introduced from Monkie Kid. And the minifigures definitely delivered. Each of them is exclusive to this set and all are excellently done. The Banana Peely and Cuddle Team Leader are my favourite but alll has their own unique details. Obviously, if you are the fan of the game, these might not be perfect for you, but as a pure LEGO fan love minifigures, it's 10/10. This set also priced very competitively, yes it only has a bus and 9 minifig but it's rare nowadays having a set like this under $200NZD. And if you play the game, the QR also gives you items you can use in the LEGO Fortnite game. This Battle bus is definitely a set I would recommend to every LEGO fans!

Here is my review on LEGO DreamZzz 71478 The Never Witch's Midnight Raven: THE GOOD: The Raven looks great with a massive wingspan. Great minifigures selection. Very detailed through the build. THE NOT SO GOOD: The Neck could have been more mobile. This may be one of the most impressive bird type build I ever built. Originally put on my wish-list because the minifigure selections and getting one of the new raven, but was a bit hesitate to buy this because prioritising on other sets, the 30% off deal on Amazon AU sealed it for me. But WOW, I was very surprised how good this is by the time I finished the build. The wing span is actually quite massive, with very nice way of building to recreate the feather on a flying bird. With multiple articulation joints, it makes this really cool. Both the tail and the head are done very well. I do wish it also integrate some neck movements but unfortunately not. The beak can be open and close though. Granted, the back of the body is a bit flat but it's needed for some of the other parts like the hut and the port to be placed. The belly is very smart to use spider web to mimic a round shape. The hut is also very well done, while the interior is small, the exterior is great and refreshing. This set also comes with a different sets of printed tiles to the nightmare create set for some of the key items, and a great selection of minifigures. While only Astrid is exclusive to this set currently, as I haven't or I cannot afford the whole theme, it does give me Dizzy who is the doppelgänger of Izzy and it's a very very cool minifigure. Overall the minifigure line up is excellent. While I did not have the time to build the alternate build, this is one of the DreamZzz alternate build that interest me because clear the walking house is heavily influenced by Babayaga. With a 30% off discount, it suddenly make this set and very very good deal. The set itself is also excellent and definitely a recommendation from me because it's actually have a great build.

INTRODUCTION I grew up playing with Legos in the 90s and 2000s. And while I had plenty of castle and pirate sets, whenever I played within the city theme Scruffy Sam was my go-to hero. Who's Scruffy Sam? Let me educate you. Introduced in 1994 Scruffy Sam appeared in a number of sets through the 90s. Bricklink refuses to name him, but if you look at this ad (which I found on Pintrest) and watch this commercial you'll see why Scruffy Sam always drove, piloted, or otherwise was involved in any of my town scenes. (If you want to see more old commercials check out this topic here on EB.) When I saw the new Harbour set it immediately brought back major nostalgia for me. The old Sail N' Fly Marina was featured heavily in the TV ad that left such an impression on me as a kid. I never owned the set growing up, but I re-enacted the scene from the TV using my own pieces many times. So can this set satisfy my nostalgia or will it leave me wanting the good old days when sets had names like "Sail N' Fly Marina"? SET INFORMATION Number: 60422 Title: Seaside Harbor with Cargo Ship Theme: Town Released: 2024 Part Count: 1226 Box Dimensions: 47.6 x 37.3 x 8.8 cm Weight: 2200g Set Price (RRP): £94.99/$109.99/€109.99 Price per Part: 7.7p/9.0c/9.0c Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX AND WHAT'S INSIDE You'll notice on the front of my box that the name of the set is just Harbour. I checked the listings for AU, FR, DE, and US and I could only find the only name of Seaside Harbor with Cargo Ship listed on Lego.com. Does Lego really need SEO help with words like "Seaside" and "Cargo Ship"? It's been awhile since I've been in an industry concerned about SEO, but is it really that bad? Where are the days of world-building names like Sail N' Fly Marina? Why not something like "Catch Of The Day Harbor"? And none of that answers why only "Harbour" made it onto the box front. We get a warning that the models don't float. So I decided to test it. I can confirm they don't float. We also got a new style box where the top is actually a lid. This was also the case for the new Dark Falcon set I bought recently. Not sure what size the box has to be, but it seems Lego is using this new style for bigger sets and I really like it. It actually feels more like old sets used to when the flap would lift up and you could see what was inside the box. If we're going for nostalgia the new box ticks the box (pun intended). You can also see that each section of the build has its own instruction book. THE BUILD First up I built the cargo ship. There are new reddish-orange and dark green stripes throughout the ship and the color scheme looks really good. The control tower uses a neat combination of parts to add a flourish to these stripes. And the boat looks good from all angles. I find the teal container to be a jarring contrast to the rest of the set. But it certainly wouldn't look out of place in a real world setting where cargo containers can be any color. From the top you can see the very plain cargo section. Though the modified tiles with studs around the edge in the new reddish-orange make up for the plainness. There is a small hold at the front of the ship and you can access the engine from the back. Next up was the crane. I love the bright red. The use of sandwhich tiles to continue the striping on the front is a great touch. And the crane is easy to operate. The tires on chains is very true to real-life and they look great. The middle portion of the harbor includes some tourist information and the lamp post posters advertise other Lego sets currently in production. In this section we have orange, reddish orange, and red all represented. I included the wedge plates for color balance. I really like this new color. It's a very subtle difference that will allow for more variety in MOCs. In the last section we find the seaside snack bar and restaurant. The outside facade is built using SNOT bricks. And you can see the ugly injection mold points on the back of the clip plates. This building looks really good and it's height doesn't make it look small next to the giant crane. On the far side is a bit of beach for sunbathers. The umbrella works really well here and ties together the two sides with a pop of red to match the crane. The shower under the stairs is a nice, subtle detail. From behind you can access the snack shop and seat people for the shrimp platter at the restaurant. I'm not sure what kind of wine they are serving but I know you don't put grape juice in those kinds of glasses. The box says 8+ Lego... I placed the inhabitants of this set in the setting and they seem comfortable. Speaking of inhabitants, this set comes with 8. We get a nice mix of workers and people having fun. Now for a public service announcement. If you've been collecting Legos for more than 5 years you may have noticed a decline in quality, especially with the injection mold points or sprue marks. It didn't use to be this bad as you can see in this photo I sent to Lego CS: Injection marks have always been present in Lego, but they have gotten either more noticeable or even include rough edges around the mold point. I encourage you to ask Lego for replacements for any pieces that have really bad injection points. I've noticed they are especially bad on tiles and curved slopes. Lego's moto is "Only the best is good enough." Hold them to that. They will only change their production method if it starts to hurt them financially to keep using shoddy methods. OVERALL When it's all assembled the Harbor takes up a large footprint. The little jet-ski and water boat fit inside the shipping containers to be loaded on the boat if you don't want to use them in the harbor. There are many different play elements and my kids have been thoroughly enjoying the set. The number of times they have loaded and unloaded the containers is a credit to the set designer understanding what kids want with their Legos. But what about the nostalgia factor? This set has a lot of similar elements to the 1994 version. I doubt the designer was trying to copy it exactly, but it seems like they were inspired. With all the 90s references showing up in sets now a days like Johnny Thunder and the straight up Eldorado Fortress re-make I really wish they would have paid homage to Scruffy Sam. I need an updated bomber jacket and aviator wearing stubble-bearded man in my Lego collection! SCORE How do I rate this set? DESIGN 10 This is not a creator expert set, so I don't expected all tiled floors or crazy building techniques. That in mind I think this set is perfectly designed for a standard, City line set. BUILDING EXPERIENCE 8 This was not a boring build, but there also weren't a lot of cool techniques. Overall it was fun to build. FEATURES 9 The missing feature is Scruffy Sam. If they had included him it'd be a perfect 10. PLAYABILITY 10 With how much this set has been played with, more than even the other two sets Lego sent me to review, it certainly succeeds in playability. PARTS 8 There are a good amount of parts in the new reddish-orange color. And overall the parts are varied and used well. VALUE FOR MONEY 10 Even with inflation accounted for this set is a good value. Yes, it's just over that $100 mark. But you get the parts to support the price tag. FINAL SCORE: 9 My nostalgia itch has been scratched by this set, not to perfection but it gets close. This is a nice set with lot of play value. It allows for fun world building and storytelling which is what Lego is all about for me. It takes up a large footprint and uses the space well to include fun features. This set isn't going to be for everyone, but if you like Town/City or just want to get your kids something besides Star Wars Legos to play with for a change (guilty) this is a great choice.

INTRODUCTION Star Wars is known for being home to many grayscale ships. So when you see this set next to all the other gray Star Wars sets it really pops. But is color enough to sell a set? Yes. Yes it is. But we get so much more than that with this two-for-one ship kit. I'm going to preface this review by saying I'm a huge fan of the EU. And while I enjoyed the Ahsoka show it wasn't my favorite. But when I saw the Ahsoka trailers showing off the E-Wing (an EU staple) and dark Jedi who weren't Sith (another EU staple) I was pretty excited to see them in Lego form. Since the show ended awhile ago I'm also going to have spoilers for the show in the review. SET INFORMATION Number: 75364 Title: New Republic E-Wing vs Shin Hati's Starfighter Theme: Star Wars Released: 2023 Part Count: 1056 Box Dimensions: 54 x 28.2 x 5.9 cm Weight: 1426g Set Price (RRP): £94.99/$109.99/€104.99 Price per Part: 9.0p/10.4c/9.9c Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX On the front we get a dynamic battle scene between the two ships, a battle which never happened in the show. This bugs some people but not me. The ships were in the show. Lego put them both in one set. It just works for me. I know some have compared this to the Fang Fighter vs Interceptor set we got for Mando season 3. But that set had two grayscale ships. And most people just wanted the Interceptor to build a fleet. This set doesn't suffer from either of those issues. It's likely the E-Wing is more mass-able, but Shin's fighter is also great for generic pirate fleets and has useful colors for building other Star Wars MOCs. The back shows another scene that never took place in the show. But it does a good job of showing off play features. CONTENTS OF THE BOX Inside are 10 bags, the instructions and a small sticker sheet. I'm really glad the canopies are both printed. But I wish some of the other parts were printed too. Stickers just don't last long enough. THE BUILD I'll start with the E-Wing. Having built an E-Wing MOC years ago I was interested to know how Lego would handle the shaping and dimensions. Because of the way the wings hang so low the nose sits pretty high off the ground. So it's hard to get it to look natural. But Lego did a great job! The angles all match up so nicely. Here's a behind the scenes view. And the underside shows the Technic used to get the wings and landing gear just right. And the pilot's seat comes out revealing a good sized storage area. But what about Shin's ship? Fantastic colors, fantastic shaping, and a style that screams "P51 Mustang" make this ship really stand out. With no landing gear it doesn't sit as high as the E-Wing so you'll need to build a custom stand if you want to display these together. But since the ships never meet in the show maybe that won't be an issue for you. This ships also has a lot of storage including a hidden compartment not even shown on the box! And if you really wanted you could smuggle a person inside the first compartment. The rounded nose section is built using tri-technic pieces. It works with great effect. Though there are some gaps between the nose and the wings that can be a little unsightly at certain angles. But most of the time you hardly notice the gaps. There are a few notable parts included in the set including a brand new slope piece I had never seen before. I'm no New Elementary contributor, but I thought I'd show some of the similarities and differences with this piece. At 6 studs long it's got a lower profile than the new wedge slope introduced for Speed Champions as well as the standard 1x4 slope. But turns out it's the same length as the large 6x8 roof piece. But what about the figures? In my opinion these looks great. The astromech is a loud yellow and blue which is just fun. All figures have new and exclusive prints and parts. Morgan Elsbeth could have had printing on her skirt. But I don't think it's necessary. It only stands out because everyone else is so detailed with their leg prints. The backsides continue the printing wins... except for the astromech! Seriously Lego, we know you can print on the backside now that you've done it with R2. Stop making us wait for it to become the standard for all future astromechs! And one more shot for good measure. Could the figures have been better? Maybe slightly. Giving Ray (I mean Baylan) shoulder pads would have helped give him just a tiny bit more height. And of course having orange instead of red sabers is a must. But for me, part of the fun of Lego is getting to make those changes myself. My son doesn't care that Baylan has a red lightsaber. He just wants to play with them. And the orange blades are easy to obtain from Bricklink right now. OVERALL This may be the best Lego set I've built since the Lion Knight's Castle. It's a great build experience, has fun and new techniques, good figures, and a color scheme that really pops! I have a few tiny quibbles, but I would recommend this set to any Star Wars fan in a heart beat. SCORE How do I rate this set? DESIGN 10 Great techniques used to build the ships and a fantastic color scheme. BUILDING EXPERIENCE 10 I had to fight my son to be able to build this. We both enjoyed it so much. FEATURES 10 These ships have been swooshed a lot in my house. PLAYABILITY 10 Totally playable. But also very versatile if you want it for parts. PARTS 10 New parts, new colors, and new figures; what more could you ask for? VALUE FOR MONEY 10 Coming in just over $100 you want to make sure you're getting a good value for your money when you buy it, and indeed you are! FINAL SCORE: 10 Almost perfection in a Lego set. I can't recommend this highly enough. Plus, I've seen it on sale at both Costco and on Amazon. What are you waiting for? Go buy it already!

INTRODUCTION You may have seen Clone OPatra's review of the Jungle Helicopter set. I got the privileged of reviewing another Johnny Thunder Returns... I mean another City Jungle set. You may know it as the New Tiger set, but Lego's SEO efforts call it Jungle Explorer Off-Road Truck. SET INFORMATION Number: 40246 Title: Jungle Explorer Truck Theme: City/Jungle Released: 2024 Part Count: 314 Box Dimensions: 35.4 x 19.1 x 5.9 cm Weight: 510g Set Price (RRP): £24.99/$34.99/€29.99 Price per Part: 8.0p/11.1c/9.6c Links: Brickset, Bricklink THE BOX AND WHAT'S INSIDE This was my first time getting the new paper bags in a set. You can also see the small sticker sheet. I was surprised to find that the tiger was loose in the box. If it shows up on Bricks and Pieces eventually I suspect it'll get shipped loose too. Better hope for no scratches. THE BUILD Bag one gives us the piece of jungle for the Tiger to roam on. Not very big but it feels more sufficient than the gorilla's habitat. A lime green frog is also included if you're counting exotic wildlife. Bags 2 and 3 give us the truck. The color scheme looks good with the SNOT tiles on the side giving it nice designs. The camera crane on the back feels unnecessary and adds odd bulk to the vehicle. We have a DSLR camera and a drone, is the truck camera really going to capture more than a drone? Maybe someone with real-world experience can enlighten me. Here you can see that the jungle tree towers over the truck. A detail that helps it feel like more than an afterthought in this set. Inside the truck is a monitor to show what the affixed camera is recording as well as a med kit and map. The back of the jungle is very plain. Though you can see the connection points designed to allow this piece to connect with the other Jungle sets. The bones scattered around the "cave" make you wonder how many other explorers have tried to take pictures and not made it back in one piece. Inside the chests built into the sides of the truck is a banana. I think some meat would be a better treat for the tiger. But I guess the snack is more meant for our adventures? Gotta snack healthy. If the banana doesn't please the tiger, the med-kit should help staunch the blood flow. Accompanying Johnny is another explorer and a doctor. I wish they would have brought back the old mold for Johnny's hat. But the fedora is okay. He's also missing his gun which was previously tucked into his belt. No shooting bad guys any more for Thunder. All 3 minigfiures can be found in the some of the other Jungle sets. So the real draw is the Tiger. The back of each figure is printed, though the heads are all one-sided. This isn't the first time Lego has done a tiger. The first being back in 2017 during the last jungle expedition. That cat was Chima orange and shared the mold with the panther, mountain lion, and female lion. It looked good but this one, with the fringe around the face, looks so much better. I didn't realize it till I opened the set but this tiger is actually the new Reddish Orange color. The triangle tile is regular orange. It's hard to see the difference in photos. But the slightly darker orange looks really good. Now for a public service announcement. If you've been collecting Legos for more than 5 years you may have noticed a decline in quality, especially with the injection mold points or sprue marks. It didn't use to be this bad as you can see in this photo I sent to Lego CS: Injection marks have always been present in Lego, but they have gotten either more noticeable or even include rough edges around the mold point. I encourage you to ask Lego for replacements for any pieces that have really bad injection points. I've noticed they are especially bad on tiles and curved slopes. Lego's moto is "Only the best is good enough." Hold them to that. They will only change their production method if it starts to hurt them financially to keep using shoddy methods. OVERALL This is a decent $30 set. You get 3 minifigures including Johnny Thunder, a tiger, and decent builds. The real draw is the tiger and at $30 it's nice to not have it locked behind a big price tag. SCORE How do I rate this set? DESIGN 8 The camera on the truck feels slapped on. But other than that it's a decent design. The jungle could have been a little bigger, but that would have meant a larger price tag. BUILDING EXPERIENCE 7 Nothing jaw-dropping but also nothing repetitive. FEATURES 7 A truck that can hold all 3 adventures at once, chests for storage, a tail-gate, and pose-able tiger. Would have been fun to have a large leaf that opened or closed over the cave entrance. But overall good features. PLAYABILITY 10 For kids this set has great play value. Chase the tiger or get chased. Stow and transport gear in the truck. Eat adventures with the tiger. I give full marks for playability. PARTS 9 You're not going to buy this as a parts pack, but when you inevitable part it out you get a good selection. VALUE FOR MONEY 7 For going prices this set is a good value. I wish it was $5 less, but it's not a bad value. FINAL SCORE: 8 If you want a tiger or just want to expand your jungle collection this is a good set. If you're only going to get one new Adventures/Jungle set I recommend this as you get Johnny as well as some other good additions.

These are some of the most fascinating Lego sets of all time to me. 2 iconic toys collide into an awesome product. For the 40th anniversary I decide to take a crack at reviewing these awesome sets!

Here is my review on LEGO Friends 42618 Heartlake City Café: THE GOOD: From the front, it looks great with interesting new ways to build various part of the cafe. An interior that replicate a modern cafe well with some very detailed kitchen set up. Goes well with 42606 Mobile Bakery Food Cart. THE NOT SO GOOD: I wish it has a roof. Missed opportunity to be able to integrate with the Heartlake City Community series. I own 42606 Mobile Bakery Food Cart, when this set is announced I immediately noticed the logo and thought this one looks nice. And this set does looks nice indeed. It's a corner type small building with an interesting colour pallet. The exterior featuring some refreshing use to pieces that often only utilised in a more castle setting. And mixing with the windows makes this look very good exterior wise. It also features some of the more interesting ways to place tiles despite it limited space and the angles entrance. The Interior is also very detailed. It really captures the vibes of modern cafes. But I'm more impressed with all the little builds at the counter & kitchen. The contact less payment machine is really cool. This set also comes with a scooter with a new colour. Minidolls come with a new head gear, beanie with hair exposed which recently has a new colour variant from the JAWS set. Beatriz also features the same uniform in 42606, and this really enhance the value of this set as now the small set can play a bigger part now. The only thing I wish LEGO could have done is having an actual roof. I know it's to enhance playability and keep the set at certain price point but still it would be nice to have a roof. The other thought I have was, it will be even greater if this can also integrate with the Heartlake City Community Kitchen and Centre, but then again by doing that could have shoot the price of this set up. I got this set with 20% off which made it a very good deal and the set is actually pretty good if you want something fun and look nice but not perfect.

Here is my review on LEGO Harry Potter 76424 Flying Ford Anglia: THE GOOD: Great build and great looking car. Interior designed in a way that small legs minifigure looks like they are sitting in the car. THE NOT SO GOOD: The white print of the doors has inconsistent colour compared to white bricks. After I bought the Burrow and saw this at 20%, ended up buying this despite it was never on my radar to purchase. To my surprise, it may be one of the best small car build recently. The build was fun and a lot of details has been put in to create a car that looks as close to the real thing as possible. It even has a trunk that can fit luggages. I like the fact the designer found a new way to fit small legs minifigures in the car looking like they are sitting. The minor flaw of the set is really the white line print on the door. The colour just doesn't fit well with the rest of the white line created by bricks. Having said, the build and end results are great. With 2 key minfigures and a relatively cheap price, it's definitely a set I would recommend.

Here is my review on LEGO Harry Potter 76437 The Burrow – Collectors' Edition: THE GOOD: It's a great looking set and first Burrow that can be fully closed. Interesting building experience with some very cool techniques to create the exterior details and textures. Interior is also pack with details with a selection of interesting furniture builds. The full Weasley family in one set plus Harry Potter. THE NOT SO GOOD: While the interior is packed with details but it's very crowded inside and some areas ended up close to inaccessible. Expensive. Wasn't intended to buy this on day 1 but the promo with 3 GWPs got me. And it turned out great. The set looks really great on its own. It's tall but being the first burrow that can be fully closed, it packs with cool techniques to build the rather unique shape of the burrow and aesthetics of the exterior. The tiles application is so satisfying and must mentioned the different type of Windows styles included in this set. The interior is also packed with details and action features. Obviously, there is the floo network through the fire place. It's exact same building techniques as the Floo Network GWPs. You can also remove Ron and Ginny's rooms in a modular way to access them more easily. The bathroom is a nice small detailed bathroom and I absolutely love the double bed in the parents room. The use of stairs pieces for the roof creates a very common look in most real world houses. With all the cool details in the interior, it is indeed a bit disappointing with it being a little crowded due to lack of space. And some parts are even close to inaccessible when the build is finished. This also made me feel the dinning area of the previous 2020 burrow is better. Having said that, it doesn't deny the fact this set is an excellent looking model and perfect for shelves display. On top of that, it includes 10 minifigures and you get the whole Weasley family. All minifigures are nicely down and with the first figure for Bill and Charlie, I expect the line up will surely satisfy most HP fans. This set does not come cheap though, at $450NZD I do feel it should be between $380-$400NZD considering what you get in the end. But anyway, I do like the set and if you meet the timing for nice GWPs or double VIP and love Harry Potter, then definitely go for it.