Event countdown 2019

[Peppermint_M]

The joust was my favourite that year, I wish I had bought two! The Hobbit and LotR did bring a lot of cool parts out though.

 

[Holodoc]

Oh yes, Hobbiton. It actually also had a nice and affordable price tag for those beautigful parts and the many minifigs it came with.

In general the LotR sets cam with fantastic new moulds and accessories, for example the wood-printed brown tile. 
I was able to get all of the LotR sets for a small amount of money. Every single minifig is a beauty of its own. They all share a place in a LotR picture frame displayed in my hall.

And the Haunted House was another great set. I'm still thinking of converting it to a modular one day.

 

And I wished I had searched for more copies of this guy: '

[eiker86]

6 hours ago, MstrOfPppts said:

This set have been cheap so got a couple of them :p 

[Redhead1982]

2012 was a great year. I still remember my first ever trip to Legoland, DE and finding loads of 1x2 bricks in sand green before the Haunted House was released. Not to mention bringing home many other great parts from the Fabrik. 

I liked many sets that year, Haunted House and Kingdoms Joust being my favourite. 

[Skalldyr]

Holy I totally forgot what awesome sets and waves there were in these past years! I still remember that the confirmation for Lotr sets came on my birthday and I got super excited also because that year the LegoStore of my hometown opend. Sooo many good memories 

[Lasse D]

6days to the event

6 years ago we had 2013!

2013 was the year where the current generation Mindstorms was introduced

But the EV3 was not my favorite set this year. Startup time of 30 seconds and switch off time of 45 contributed to some of the setbacks of the latest generation Mindstorms, and even though this is probably my most used set, I will not honor it with my pick of the year.

We also had the 10234-1 Sydney Opera House which takes up more shelf space than pretty much anything before, 10237-1 big black tower which my sister seems to love, 10232-1 Palace Cinema, which is one of my least favorite modulars, 10236-1  Ewok Village which I am looking forward to build, and 10233-1  Horizon Express, one of my favorite trains.

The Ewok Village and Horizon Express are my runner-ups. The winner is untouchable. It is my absolute favorite of the year, bar none.

And it is unexpected.

It is the 31006 Highway Speedster.

The main model looks rather 'meh', but don't let the looks deceive. This Creator 3:1 set is my favorite Creator 3:1 set as of yet. It even beats the Pirate Roller Coaster from last year. It had great rare parts, such as the 1x2 white cheese graters, black jetpack harnesses, smoke 1x4x3 panels, and something that makes classic space nerds having to excuse themselves and walk away hunched from whichever social gathering they are reading this text: Two 1x16 technic beams in blue!

But it is not just great parts. Check out the B-models from Rufus' review:

OK. The race car is rather plain, but the wrecker is awesome!

And then there are the community built C-models.

These are just the C-models I have built:

Le Mans prototype race car

Building instructions here: https://brickhub.org/i/1

This car even has a V12

And it is similarly sized to the main model:

But there is more.

Those Technic beams I mentioned? They do not have to be in the frame. With this revelation you can build a Bobcat!

Building instructions here: https://brickhub.org/i/3

And how about a Caterham before LEGO released  the Ideas Caterham?

31006 has you covered:

Building instructions here: https://brickhub.org/i/2

 

Notice something about those URL's to building instructions? Yep. This set is both #1, #2 and #3. And those are just my C-models. Now check out rebrickable: https://rebrickable.com/sets/31006-1/highway-speedster/#alt_builds

41 alternate builds!

This set is awesome. And so are you. See you in Günzburg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skalldyr]

That one was unexpected but looks like it is an awesome set. I really like all the creations that you build with the parts  In general I think creator can be one of the strongest Lego themes!

[Holodoc]

Nice selection! And the wonderful and detailed alternative builds exceed the expectations on this particular set, really well done, Lasse!

TLC often produced such great (little) sets and imho these sets are the core of what LEGO is about: Endless creativity in building and rebuilding with the bricks you get with one set.

A big HURRAY for Creator!
I remember set 5867 Super Speedster from 3 years before your set.

As always you got three models in one set, but Nathanael Kuipers and Mattis Zamboni stretched that set to an amazing 20 new models with their 2 books!

and

I bought that set just to build so many alternatives. 2013 I skipped the Highway Speedster.

For 2013 my choice would have (obviously) been the Horizon Express!

[Lasse D]

Yeah. That set had some better parts for making free angles, hence the inventive cherry picker and other models in the book. I just found the main model to be so homely that I didn't pick it up when I had the chance. The 31006 fixed aspects of the design of the main model - primarily the proportions.

I would have loved to put the EV3 on the top of my list, but...

To this day I still can't believe how arrogant I have been told the EV3 developers were 'Every time you complain about the startup time, we add a second to it'. The previous system, the NXT, starts almost immediately! Apparently it zips and unzips the full kernel in each startup and shutdown. That screams incompetence to the skies. This is worse than booting up Windows XP on a computer of its time. Jesus!

BTW. For some reason I thought the parts from the Tower of Orchard were usable, so I have 3 (OK. 2 after giving one to my sister).

 

[Quarryman]

8 hours ago, Lasse D said:

To this day I still can't believe how arrogant I have been told the EV3 developers were 'Every time you complain about the startup time, we add a second to it'. The previous system, the NXT, starts almost immediately! Apparently it zips and unzips the full kernel in each startup and shutdown. That screams incompetence to the skies. This is worse than booting up Windows XP on a computer of its time. Jesus!

Apologies for (potentially) derailing the thread, but having been greatly annoyed by this problem I couldn't help it since the EV3 boot time really is the worst. That quote was new to me, but sounds very fitting, it's like they never bothered to just google "reduce embedded Linux boot time" and tried the most basic steps suggested.

[MstrOfPppts]

5 days to the event

5 years ago we had 2014!

Choose the best set, what a hard decision I thought, until I realised that 2014 was the year of the LEGO movie. At that ocasion LEGO produced for my taste the best set ever. Which means it also is the best set of that year - logicaly. The set is ... drumroll ... eh, you've probably seen the image before reading this crap anyway. So yeah, it's set number 70810 - Metalbeard's Sea Cow. It's a little silly, funky and crazy and only because it includes the awesome doubledecker couch, but the ship is a masterpiece and an eye candy to look at. Just what LEGO is all about.

Greetings from an event in Zagreb, I'm on my mobile and skipping lunch for this post. Can a mod please edit it and remove the quote and the spoiler. Stupid mobiles ... runners up maybe in the evening and sorry for beeing late :)

 

[Holodoc]

Done editing.

A very good choice! This is indeed a fun build and a fun set. And I really like the cow as figurehead and eponym!
The main reason I bought this set was for sea-sick-Kitty. But don't tell anyone.

Another great movie set was Benny's spaceship 70816, but the Fairground Mixer 10244 is my favourite for starting a new subtheme - the amusement rides.
2014 also was the start of the Mixels.

[Skalldyr]

I really would like to own that set. It was out of my price range back then but now I am certainly not paying the aftermarket prices... 

[Lasse D]

All mentioned 2014 sets I agree are great. I would like to also mention the Simpsons House as a great and fun-to-build model. The modular that year is also one of my favorites, the Parisian Restaurant.

[Peppermint_M]

Oh, the LEGO movie was full of fun stuff! I would have loved the Sea Cow.

This kind of was the one I thought was best, because Johnny Thunder 

[Redhead1982]

My favourite in 2014 was definitelly the Parisian restaurant. I think it was a great runner up for the color, the looks and parts. And I was able to buy multiples (I don't know the exact number, it's three at least).

 

The Sea cow seems nice today, it's definitelly an eyecatching and outstanding set for the variety of parts. 

 

[Peppermint_M]

4 days until the event! 4 years ago it was 2015!

2015 had plenty of very good sets, making it quite hard for me to figure out my favourite. 

But I decided!

41073 Naida's Epic Adventure Ship

Here was a LEGO set, a whole LEGO theme that finally appealed to my sister and I. Exciting designs with an adventure to be had, in gorgeous colours and a unique aesthetic.

Ferris Wheel and Temple of Airjitzu are runners up.

[Holodoc]

Wohooo - this came unexpected!

I have to admit all these themes with the new dolls (friends, elves, Disney) don't do it for me. I still prefer the classic colours closer to real life originals.
For this reason I am disappointed that cool subthemes like amusement rides and so on from friends haven't been made in a classic city surrounding yet.

One thing I'll say positively: These themes come with nice new parts!

 

My best set (again) is a train one: 60098 (I know the number by heart) Heavy Haul Train

The best cargo locomotive of all times! Real close to what is on rails in Germany. Two are even better.
Temple of Airjitzu is really, really nice - but I doesn't fit to anything in my house and I lack space, so a no-buy for me.

This was the year when I stopped buying every single CMF.

[Skalldyr]

I really liked the elves. They had a nice atmosphere to them. And beside the figs they have great parts.

But yeah that temple of airjitzu is amazing. Just beautiful to get some pure asian architecture that does not involve dragons, cars, boats, planes or whatever they use in Ninjago-Land 

[Redhead1982]

3 days to the event

3 years ago we had 2016!

As every year before, 2016 was another great year with some great and special sets. However, after pinning down some of the favourites from the year, it was not easy to select only one.

Some of the more interesting sets were 10251 Brickbank, 10253 Big Ben and 5827 Firehouse Headquarters.

However, my favourite from 2016 would be 71040 Disney Castle. It looks amazingly accurate with interesting exterior and amazing interiors with regerences to many Disney characters. From the architectural point of view it's magnificent (and I'm still a big fan of architectural details and buildings).

Even if I don't own it (yet) I see lots of great elements and building tricks. The Disney figures look very realistic. The downsize for me is its size as I would love to have it displayed on the shelves, but there's not enough height.

 Edit: was neccessary as I started this post some time after midnight and didn't realize my brain was not functioning at the time.

See you soon.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Redhead1982

[Lasse D]

Has it already been 3 years?

I still have to build mine. Now I’m looking forward to it. 

[Holodoc]

A wonderful choice! 
Although I don't own it (lack of space once again...), it's cramped with lots of details and it really looks magnificent.  

@Redhead1982 You don't own it yet? I believe this will cost a fortune if you are trying to buy it now.  

Another set I just recently built was the great Technic Bucket Wheel Excavator 42055 - which was nice for having something complete different from the 'normal' Technis sets, but could have been so much better. Now I'm looking for a place to display it... (Did I already say that I'm lacking space? )

[Lasse D]

"I believe this will cost a fortune if you are trying to buy it now"

280 EUR on BrickLink for the cheapest new one, and generally in the 300 EUR range. It has not gone up in price... yet :)

 

[Skalldyr]

I really love the look and parts of this castle but I did not have the space nor money for it. There is just so much nice other stuff out there...  But really a very good choice for the 2016 set! (Now I need to start thinking what set I will choose for 2017...)

[Redhead1982]

4 hours ago, Lasse D said:

"I believe this will cost a fortune if you are trying to buy it now"

280 EUR on BrickLink for the cheapest new one, and generally in the 300 EUR range. It has not gone up in price... yet :)

280 eur sounds good for a new set if the regular price was 350 eur.

6 hours ago, Holodoc said:

You don't own it yet? I believe this will cost a fortune if you are trying to buy it now.  

It's still listed at slovenian S@H, although the price is higher. I hoped I might get it in Germany for a better price with Saturday's discount. We'll see about. I'm not a 100% sure yet, I might consider bricklinging the special parts, as I already own many common ones.