Lego Master Building Academy (MBA)

[SilvaShado]

Well, we do know the overall pieces in the full six kits is 1,125, and the overall price is $99.98 US. So yeah, 9 cents per piece.

We don't know the specifics about how many pieces each kit has, although the zoomed-in image of the Kits 2-6 subscription on LEGOshop.com suggests Kit 2 (Microbuild Designer) has 222 pieces, while Kit 4 (Flight Designer) has 150 pieces. Kit 6 would seem to have 222 pieces as well.

But one thing to not forget is the educational value. The book is not just a basic building instruction manual. It's chock full of tips and extras from master builders. Plus there's a lot of online stuff to do that is actually very helpful and fun. So that's one thing to factor into the price - how much a person can actually learn from these sets. But that'll be hard to determine a value and will depend on each person. If someone is already a really good builder, they may not get much out of these sets. But if someone is new to LEGO or doesn't have good building skills, these sets will help a lot.

Oh, and there are some good downloads to be had online. There will be different version of the brick paper plus extra builds for the kids that are not in the printed book. I also really enjoyed the articles from the master builders about how they design and build.

[Arigomi]

I just wanted to share some news that many don't seem to know about because it was mentioned in the Monster Fighters thread.

MBA Kits 7-9 subscriptions are now available. The piece counts are in the description.

[vynsane]

The online materials for MBA L3 actually had a teaser reference to what MBA L4 will feature:

MBA Level 4 Teaser: Steampunk! by vynsane, on Flickr

Of note is the sentence "You’ll learn more about building steampunk designs in LEGO MBA Level 4!"

[tafkatb]

"You’ll learn more about building steampunk designs in LEGO MBA Level 4!"

Ooh, nice! Glad to see LEGO experimenting with steampunk, first with Monster Fighters and now this. It'll probably be September before we see anything, but this really gives me something to look forward to!

(I'm a bit late to the party, just got my Robot Kit today!)

[vynsane]

The blog 'Clutch Power' posted pics from the back of the MBA L3 poster (that came with preorders) that previews the L4 builds:

Kit 10: Time Machine

Kit 11: World Architecture

Kit 12: Inventor's Lab

[tafkatb]

That is AMAZING. These just keep getting better! I'm guessing these will be available for preorder by September and ship out in November.

[Lyichir]

The blog 'Clutch Power' posted pics from the back of the MBA L3 poster (that came with preorders) that previews the L4 builds:

Kit 10: Time Machine

Kit 11: World Architecture

Kit 12: Inventor's Lab

Color me impressed! I'm still only 2/3 of the way through Level 2, but Levels 3 and 4 are looking excellent!

[Aanchir]

Steampunk-licious! Level 3 didn't excite me too much, as I felt it lacked the variety of the Level 1 and 2 kits (needless to say, I'll probably get it anyway when I'm done with levels 1 and 2). But Level 4 is looking extremely appealing!

[Lego Otaku]

The front of the time machine looks odd. New parts? Looks like bicycle chain with LEGO studs.

[Lyichir]

The front of the time machine looks odd. New parts? Looks like bicycle chain with LEGO studs.

That's a new ammo belt piece introduced this year in Hero Factory. It also appears in the Ninjago set 9449 Ultra Sonic Raider.

[vynsane]

Also, the 'time machine' kit features at least four 1x4 curved slopes in dark blue, formerly only available in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Polizia!