Legos, anyone?

[danth]

7 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

I have just a single copy of the new Renegade (for now) and I've only built the main model, as I'm not all that plussed about the inspired Alienator model. I watched JANG's review, and I agree with his thoughts on the Alienator build: it looks better as a ship if you remove the leg assembly. After building the 10355 Renegade, I'm rather impressed by the integration of the large trapezoidal flag at the nose as a creative solution in lieu of the non-existence of an analogous wedge brick. That's been a point of contention, and while there are certainly other ways the designer could have realized the nose that would appear more 'brickish', I thought it a simple but elegant solution. YMMV, of course. I also agree with Huw Gilliam's opinion that there is far too much yellow used, especially around the cockpit. The original Blacktron sets used the yellow accents far more sparingly, and I wish the designer had followed suit with this set. As an update, it's just ok to me. Mike Psiaki, the designer of 10497 Galaxy Explorer, essentially upsized and improved on every aspect of the original. Jae Won Lee, the designer of the Renegade, exercised far more liberties in his interpretation which removed a certain salient aspect of the original and just didn't quite deliver on the same level as the new Galaxy Explorer. I still prefer my original Renegade to this, and I feel sad saying that, as I vehemently want these homages to both continue and to improve on their originals. Well, here's hoping that they take the feedback to heart and the next update will be more 10497 and less 10355.

 

I haven't built mine yet, but I'm in total agreement.

[Scyla]

Some improvements to the new Lego Renegade by Jangbricks:

While this looks better the biggest issue, the empty space in the middle is still there. Also the missing swan neck behind the cockpit is distracting.

Argh, I really need to track down an original set 

[Chronocidal]

Cargo area aside, yeah, that's more like it.  Both the new Renegade and the Invader set suffered from a lack of good wing structures on the nose, and that looks much better than the dinky wedges they used.  Love the bigger engines too, and the much more subtle use of yellow.

I'd really like to find a better canopy though.  I know they love getting use out of the parts they have on hand, but I'm frankly just tired of seeing them re-use the UCS X-wing canopy on everything now.

Only other option I know of for a recent yellow canopy is much smaller though, just the longer skinny one that came from the Invader, which I actually have spares of from the Buzz Lightyear ship set a while back, so I might make more detachable pods.  I might also scrounge some bigger black wing panels and structure from some of my Batman sets.

[F-ZeroOne]

https://gizmodo.com/lego-jurassic-park-t-rex-skeleton-price-release-date-2000568111

I have nowhere to put it, but T. rex is - and I know its a cliche - my favourite dinosaur so this is, to say the least, tempting...

[Tking22]

Yeah that fossil Rex is mine, I never grabbed the JP gate set with the giant brick built Rex, not passing on this. 

[M'Kyuun]

On 2/25/2025 at 12:06 PM, F-ZeroOne said:

https://gizmodo.com/lego-jurassic-park-t-rex-skeleton-price-release-date-2000568111

I have nowhere to put it, but T. rex is - and I know its a cliche - my favourite dinosaur so this is, to say the least, tempting...

It is impressive, however, I haven't the space for something that big, and that is unquestionably a display piece. I have the excellent Ideas Dinosaur Fossil set (21320), released in 2019, which also featured a T-Rex and I shall have to remain content with that. I'd love to build that big one, though.❤️

Edited February 27 by M'Kyuun

[F-ZeroOne]

Thanks for mentioning the 2019 Dinosaur Fossil set, if it can still be acquired it does look like a more space friendly alternative!

[M'Kyuun]

I'm a fan of Guerilla Games' Horizon franchise and I was ecstatic a few years ago when LEGO released the Tallneck set. It was a gorgeous build, albeit more of a statue for display than a playable model. Of course, being LEGO, one is always free to modify to achieve a more desired result, and I was tempted to do so, but though I oft have intentions of modding sets, I seldom go through with it out of, for lack of a better reason, a dearth of interest once the set has been built.

For years, a company called Traveler's Tales have been creating LEGO video games set in any number of popular universes, so it was a bit of a surprising departure to see Guerilla Games themselves create a LEGO game set in their Horizon universe, a la LEGO Horizon Adventures, complete with voice talent from their regular games. I have yet to play the LEGO version, but I'll get a copy eventually- it's too good to pass up. More exciting to me than a game, however, is the prospect of more LEGO sets based on the machine creatures that populate the games and give them their signature look. 

Look no further than the just released 77037 

Unlike the Tallneck (76989), which was an 18+ set sold under the Icons adult oriented Icons theme, this set, based on the LEGO Horizon Adventures game, is aimed for the kiddies and kid-hearted AFOLs such as myself. I preordered two copies of this set months ago when it was listed under the "Coming Soon" section of LEGO's US Shop site, but after doing a sweep of the site just now, it is listed nowhere, not even under "New", so it may be difficult to order a copy. Pulling it up under a general search takes you to LEGO's site, however, where it is listed under "Other" as a theme, so for those wanting a copy, I'd suggest that route for now before they get around to actually putting it on their regular Shop page. Of course, it should also be available widely at retail.

Anyway, on to the set. Let's start with the figs. We get Aloy and her friend Varl, both bedecked in their customary garb, complete with arm, leg and back prints. Aloy's hairpiece is dual molded with a light trans-blue section to cover the focus print on the side of her head. Aloy's head is a double-sided print, but I didn't take a pic of it or her back print with the hair removed. I was a bit too anxious to get on to the machine builds. 😁

Weapons:

Aloy's bow is a new mold with small holes top and bottom to plug in small accessories corresponding to the various elemental ammunition she uses.

On the right are the various bits used to denote Aloy's choice of elemental arrows, and on the left is Varl's spear and what I assume are also elemental bits that can be swapped out. Partially visible is a section of tall grass for Aloy to hide behind for stealth and a campfire, used for saving in the game, and a chest which contains four gold 1x1 round plates, but can also accommodate all of Aloy's spare elemental bits when not in use. I meant to include the entirety of those sections, but I was too focused on the weapons. Reviews are not my forte, it seems.

OK, now the real reason we're buying these sets: the machines! In this set we get a Shell-Walker and a Sawtooth, and unlike the Tallneck, these models are quite articulated and meant to be played with.

Sawtooth

Just as in the games, the orange component can be removed as resource loot. The head and neck sections are both on single ball joints allowing limited omnidirectional movement, the shoulders are mounted on a Technic ball joint which allows the shoulder to move away from the body as well as rotate 360, the elbows are ratcheted hinge joints allowing for a nigh 180 degree arc, and the front ankles are on ball joints. The claws can rotate independently. The jaws can open and close independently, as they're not connected together. The waist is connected by a stacked double ball joint system allowing for limited side to side motion. The hips are on small ball joints and can rotate 360. The knees are made up of bar and clip joints, and the ankles, identical to the front paws, are on ball joints. The antennae on its back are clipped onto pneumatic tee joints and can be positioned as one chooses, although by din of the game art, they generally rake back as seen.

The resulting model, for its relatively small size, is highly poseable, and does a meritorious job of capturing its subject well. 

Shell-Walker

The other machine included in this set is the hermit crab inspired Shell-Walker, which brandishes both an opening claw and an energy shield generator, which, like in the games, can be separated as a lootable item. Also, like in the game, the storage container which it carries on its back, is able to separate for looting, although, sadly, due to its interesting SNOT inner structure, it can't really be used for carrying much if one chooses to try.

Like the sawtooth, this Shell-walker model is well-appointed with articulation: the arms are mounted via ratchet joints allowing up and down motion at the thorax. That joint terminates in a ball joint, and the arms carry on forward with a singular bar and clip elbow terminating in a ball and socket jointed wrist, of sorts, the right side of which sports a claw made up of four rotatable sections for opening and closing, whilst the left features a drum-like structure housing a clip in its center to which the shield bit itself attaches. The shield is a cool little build with a snowflake element at its core. She storage container attaches via three studs on the little storage deck, and the yellow bits can swing in and out. The upper yellow bits align perfectly with the sides of the container when its attached. So well done! The legs are made of two segments, the root of which attach at the lower thorax via ball and socket joints and terminate at a ratcheted elbow joint. The second segment is tiled and shaped nicely to give an armored appearance and terminate in a claw. the end result, once again, is a relatively small mecha with a satisfyingly good range of articulation amongst its various appendages. moreover, the build itself captures the subject well, and I love that the Shell-Walker's salient features from the game are carried over for play. To quote the Mandalorian creed, "This is the way", and I hope that more like this are forthcoming, especially some of the grander mechanized fauna such as the Thunderjaw, Stormbird, Tremortusk, Snapmaw, just to name a few. The smaller machines are also welcome. Horizon lends itself beautifully as a source for LEGO sets, and I hope LEGO takes advantage of that potential. My wallet is open and ready. As for my shelf space, well that's another story.

Finally. from a MOC building POV, one of the great joys and anticipatory elements of buying new sets is- new elements! And this set doesn't disappoint except in the small number of which we receive: first, as I already mentioned, Aloy's bow is a new piece, as well as Varl's hair. However, the next part is one which I've been hoping for for years. behold this glorious inverted 1x1 clip with a round plate and single stud. This thing is going to be one of those revolutionary parts that shows up in everything due to its extraodinary utility. That it has taken this long to actualize is unfathomable to me. I hope we eventually start getting plates with studs top and bottom and full plate width brackets, both of which will also revolutionize how we use the brick. But for now, this little clip is a victory and I'm here to celebrate it!

Additionally, LEGO finally made a three-stud width Technic brick with three axle holes, which I'm sure will prove, as it did in this set, to be worth the cost of its investment. Here you can see it being used at the core of the front leg shoulder. 

Final thoughts, if you can't tell, I'm quite pleased with this set and all that it potentially promises in the way of more Horizon sets. On its own merits, it is a well-designed playset with two apropos minifigs, two well-designed and quite highly articulated machines, especially by LEGO's usual standards, and two small additional environmental features that capture salient elements of the game/gameplay. At least four new elements are present in the set, which adds variety, and I simply can't give LEGO kudos enough for that new inverted clip. Best of all, unlike the Tallneck, this is meant for play, and the models lend themselves well to that end. Again, I hope this set is a precursor of future releases. If so, and they can maintain this standard, we're in for some great sets. Let 'em come!

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I just viewed Dera's work, and they are really testing the limits of what LEGO pieces can do.  Spectacular mecha work:

The articulation blows me away.

[M'Kyuun]

10 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

I just viewed Dera's work, and they are really testing the limits of what LEGO pieces can do.  Spectacular mecha work:

The articulation blows me away.

Impressive work indeed! Thanks for sharing. he's able to achieve some impressive articulation with his models, but I noticed he likes to use plates sandwiched into Technic connectors, which works with a caveat: it's inherently unstable and requires the user to press those plates in every time the joint is articulated or it'll just crumble. I don't use joints like that for that reason, although I can't argue with the technique's effectiveness, especially if said model is more display than play. 

His Chinese dragon is really impressive, especially given its size, the extraordinary levels of articulation built into it, and the actual structure of the thing. The majority of the body's upper surface is comprised of likely thousands of 1x2 round plates connected together to form the rounded skin. My fingers hurt just looking at it- very tedious work that, but the results are astounding.  https://www.instagram.com/dera_0503/reel/C8JtiiLJawR/?hl=en

Edited Saturday at 03:32 PM by M'Kyuun

[danth]

Pics of a Ninjago transforming jet has leaked. It's supposedly coming this summer. Seems relevant to our interests.

[PixelatedShinobi]

16 minutes ago, danth said:

Pics of a Ninjago transforming jet has leaked. It's supposedly coming this summer. Seems relevant to our interests.

I just saw this! I really like what they've done here, the legs sticking out the back are a little awkward but overall the shaping is really solid. I've been slaving away at designing a custom VF that has space for a minifigure, so I might take some notes from this thing's engineering.

[sh9000]

Mario Kart.

[Tking22]

Yeah I'm gonna need that Mario, bought for sure. 

[M'Kyuun]

Interesting news indeed. I've long hoped LEGO would produce their own original line of transforming mecha since the transforming robot craze blew up in the 80s. I still hold out that hope, and stuff like this is a move in the right direction. Of course, they've been doing the actual Transformers for the last few years in the Icons line, with Soundwave reportedly coming this year, but those are models intended more for display rather than play as well as being scaled much too large for minifigs.  As transforming mecha are my main focus in building MOCs, I've completed three Macross designs with a number of others in various states of progress in Studio2, and this is a fair effort, although the leg transformation and presentation in plane mode beggar a far more believable solution. However, it's a step in the right direction and I hope more refined models in the same vein follow. Needless to say, as a Ninjago fan and a mecha fan with a focus on transforming bots, this is a pleasantly surprising set in a theme that has a long-running tendency towards offering mecha sets, especially some of the far more anime-inspired sets over the last few years, and I'll be snapping up a copy when it becomes available.

I'm not into Mario but my wife is, and I have to say that is an impressive model. It also looks like a really good parts pack. Looks like his mustache is a special piece, something that LEGO generally tries to avoid. Admittedly, it'd be a difficult capture with the current palette and this offered the best-looking solution.

Edited yesterday at 02:16 AM by M'Kyuun