Legos, anyone?

[no3Ljm]

Tron Legacy coming March 31, 2018 for $34.99

 

[Kelsain]

Ok, those look pretty rad...

[Tking22]

They do look neat, a bit pricey considering the parts count though. I'm still bummed these were selected overall though, I feel there were far more interesting things up at Ideas at the same time.

[technoblue]

Caught word of the Creator Expert Roller Coaster over on another forum. It looks to be quite fun, like the other expert amusement park sets.

 

[M'Kyuun]

On ‎3‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 3:21 PM, Tking22 said:

They do look neat, a bit pricey considering the parts count though. I'm still bummed these were selected overall though, I feel there were far more interesting things up at Ideas at the same time.

I'm not bummed, as I've long hoped LEGO would produce official Tron stuff (I dig the overall look), but I'll agree with your other sentiments- high price to parts (cost of licensing, no doubt), and that there was better fare to choose from during that particular round. Since TRU is shutting down, I've been checking the only other brick and mortar store, Barnes and Noble, that carry Ideas sets, at least in my area, to no avail as yet. 

Anyway, the final models are a bit lackluster, if not a trifle inaccurate (I would have loved had they figured out a way to make the wheels hollow and still rotate like the film version, or made a new wheel piece and a runner for it to snap into- would be useful on so many sci-fi MOCs). I still want them, though. I'm hoping more Tron sets come out of this, both from the original film and from Legacy.

On the subject of Ideas, I'm still anticipating Voltron, which I still can't believe made the cut. Super happy about it, though, and I hope the design team take their time to really get it right- I'm hoping like hell that it doesn't turn out to be another half statue like the UCS Hulkbuster- no excuse for not articulating the legs. They have the parts to do it, and also the facility to make new parts that are up to the task. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by M'Kyuun

[technoblue]

On 4/27/2018 at 10:30 AM, M'Kyuun said:

On the subject of Ideas, I'm still anticipating Voltron, which I still can't believe made the cut. Super happy about it, though, and I hope the design team take their time to really get it right- I'm hoping like hell that it doesn't turn out to be another half statue like the UCS Hulkbuster- no excuse for not articulating the legs. They have the parts to do it, and also the facility to make new parts that are up to the task. 

Even if Lego drops the ball in the articulation department for Voltron, which would be disappointing since Exo Force and Bionicle both showed us they know how to do mechs and robots, at least we still have clever expert designers to provide aftermarket mods. Perhaps even @len_d69 would help out if it came to that, since he knows the design intimately.

As for the UCS Hulkbuster, I'm getting the parts together for the improved articulation mod. It's a shame this wasn't all there straight out of the box, but kudos to Chubbybots (Kelvin Low) for figuring it out.

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by technoblue

[M'Kyuun]

Yep, I've seen his solution, and it's both elegant and functional. I agree, the model should have been like this out of the box. In addition to Exo-Force, and any number of mech sets which feature hip articulation, Kai's big red mech from the Ninjago Movie featured a similar setup as Chubbybot's Hulkbuster mod, which begs the question, why wasn't it employed in a UCS set?

Anyway, I have the Hulkbuster set; I just haven't built it yet (probably this week). However, I may just invest in this mod, as I think his modded version looks better, and certainly functions better, than the actual set. 

I'm hoping, in the absence of any new joints, that this is the basic hip setup that'll be employed for Voltron. After all, the hips need to move for Black Lion to assume his lion mode, and those AT-AT leg joints are the only ratcheting joint parts up to the task currently. 

[technoblue]

55 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Yep, I've seen his solution, and it's both elegant and functional. I agree, the model should have been like this out of the box. In addition to Exo-Force, and any number of mech sets which feature hip articulation, Kai's big red mech from the Ninjago Movie featured a similar setup as Chubbybot's Hulkbuster mod, which begs the question, why wasn't it employed in a UCS set?

I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to the Ninjago theme. I totally forgot about those mechs. Ninjago started up and got big while I was taking a vacation from my Lego habit.

Today, I do have a few of the Ninjago dragons on my wish list.

55 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Anyway, I have the Hulkbuster set; I just haven't built it yet (probably this week). However, I may just invest in this mod, as I think his modded version looks better, and certainly functions better, than the actual set. 

I'm hoping, in the absence of any new joints, that this is the basic hip setup that'll be employed for Voltron. After all, the hips need to move for Black Lion to assume his lion mode, and those AT-AT leg joints are the only ratcheting joint parts up to the task currently. 

Looking at len_d's ideas prototype, it's hard to say how things will end up. I love how the individual lions are already in the early photos. How they connect will be an interesting puzzle that I can't wait to see solved.  I agree that the AT-AT leg joint would be a good compromise for the combined legs. That said (and I think you've stated as much too), it would be very VERY cool if they end up creating some new pieces, especially if those pieces end up migrating into new mech sets down the road.

The Hulkbuster mod should be fun to put together. It's been a while since I've built something using Lego without any explicit instructions, although I want to build Lego's original version too for comparison's sake. Time for me is also key. 

Edited April 30, 2018 by technoblue

[Chronocidal]

I've also gotten a couple teasers in my email that we'll be getting a new UCS Y-Wing this year around May 4th.  Will be waiting to see the actual details, but it's clear from the teaser that they are still using the dumb blocky printed canopy for it, and the layered plates visible on the nose section really aren't impressing me much.  I might grab one as a base to rebuild into something better, since I don't have a Y-Wing yet.

Edit: Oh, and they're using a cluster of 3x3 corner dome pieces instead of a single bubble dome for the engine pods.  I'm thinking that's going to look lousy in profile, those things are nowhere near the right curvature.  

 

Edited April 30, 2018 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

I have any number of Y-Wing sets, including the previous UCS release. The new one really doesn't do anything for me that grabs my attention. However, it's the big draw item for the upcoming May 4th promotion. I'm more interested in picking up the Solo Millennium Falcon. Eventually, I'll get the new UCS version- just gotta build those VIP points a little more.

Scroll down a little and check out this transforming Y-Wing. https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacie-11/  I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it was ever put on Ideas and accepted. The cool thing is that he has released the LDD files so you can build it yourself (the link is there on his Flickr page). Best Y-Wing design ever in my opinion. The rest of his Flickr is worth checking out, too- damned good builder.

[technoblue]

I might pick up the new UCS Y-Wing set. I only have a couple of the standard play sets: the ancient 7150/7152 box set that combined the Y-Wing with Vader's Tie Advanced and the Rouge One 75172 set. I don't have the old UCS Y-Wing, so this new one with the added greebles/details tempts me. I am concerned about the number of stickers that Lego might use to "fake" things on the cockpit section, though. If there are too many stickers, I might look into more brick-built mods. 

@M'Kyuun — The transforming Y-Wing is very clever, and a fun reinterpretation of the design. Thanks for the link. Wow.  Incredible stuff over there.

[Scyla]

I've read somewhere that the new UCS Y-Wing is more Minifig scale than the Rogue One one released two years ago. Can anyone in this thread confirm?

I'm probably fine with the Rogue One Y-Wing since I think it looks better compared with the other regular Star Wars sets that are close to Minifig scale. Especially the UCS Falcon and Slave-1.

Edited May 1, 2018 by Scyla

[technoblue]

28 minutes ago, Scyla said:

I've read somewhere that the new UCS Y-Wing is more Minifig scale than the Rouge One one released two years ago. Can anyone in this thread confirm?

I'm probably fine with the Rouge One Y-Wing since I think it looks better compared with the other regular Star Wars sets that are close to Minifig scale. Especially the UCS Falcon and Slave-1.

Indeed. Early reports are saying that the set will include a Gold Leader minifig and a different astromech than the last UCS Y-Wing. I'm not sure about the scale, though. It seems a little larger than the Rogue One playset.

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by technoblue

[Scyla]

19 minutes ago, technoblue said:

Indeed. Early reports are saying that the set will include a Gold Leader minifig and a different astromech than the last UCS Y-Wing. I'm not sure about the scale, though. It seems a little larger than the Rogue One playset.

*snip*

Noooooo don't quote my spelling mistakes!

[M'Kyuun]

I won't. 

As for size comparison betwixt the new UCS and the Rogue One (which is a fine set in and of itself), the UCS is upscaled quite dramatically if you place the two side by side. The cockpit area is longer, with a longer cabin area, the neck is longer, and the engines are scaled up from four studs wide to six. TBH, I hadn't noticed until I started doing the comparisons how much larger the cabin section on this model is; it appears as if you could place two minifigs in there quite comfortably, and if so, it'd be a first for a LEGO Y-Wing set. My interest in this has been lukewarm at best, so I've not paid it the attention I normally do for other sets; however, I may have to watch a few vids, as by now any number of LEGO blogs have been given the set to do reviews ahead of release- a nice perk, I must say. Digression aside, I'm becoming curious about that cabin area now. 

17 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Edit: Oh, and they're using a cluster of 3x3 corner dome pieces instead of a single bubble dome for the engine pods.  I'm thinking that's going to look lousy in profile, those things are nowhere near the right curvature.  

 

Yeah, they make a dome piece, albeit it's a canopy so it has a handle, that would have looked much nicer than those studs that break up the smoothness of the engine pods. Knowing the LEGO palette as I do, some of the part choices, and in the case of UCS Hulkbuster, design choices, boggles my mind.

[Scyla]

I need to recreate that picture once I build the UCS Millennium Falcon:

I also need LEGO make me a new X-Wing that is in scale with the Y-Wing and A-Wing I have.  

[technoblue]

1 hour ago, Scyla said:

Noooooo don't quote my spelling mistakes!

Oops. LoL! I didn't even notice it until you pointed it out, @Scyla, which is funny considering how I'm trying to be extra careful myself now that FansToys Rouge is out. 

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, M'Kyuun said:

I won't. 

As for size comparison betwixt the new UCS and the Rogue One (which is a fine set in and of itself), the UCS is upscaled quite dramatically if you place the two side by side. The cockpit area is longer, with a longer cabin area, the neck is longer, and the engines are scaled up from four studs wide to six. TBH, I hadn't noticed until I started doing the comparisons how much larger the cabin section on this model is; it appears as if you could place two minifigs in there quite comfortably, and if so, it'd be a first for a LEGO Y-Wing set. My interest in this has been lukewarm at best, so I've not paid it the attention I normally do for other sets; however, I may have to watch a few vids, as by now any number of LEGO blogs have been given the set to do reviews ahead of release- a nice perk, I must say. Digression aside, I'm becoming curious about that cabin area now. 

Yeah, they make a dome piece, albeit it's a canopy so it has a handle, that would have looked much nicer than those studs that break up the smoothness of the engine pods. Knowing the LEGO palette as I do, some of the part choices, and in the case of UCS Hulkbuster, design choices, boggles my mind.

Bleh.. I think I'll pick one up just for the base model and parts to use, but it needs some heavy modification.  The domes don't look as bad as I thought they would, but I know there are a multitude of other ways to build the engine struts that wouldn't look so ugly as those.. the probes laying alongside the domes are particularly obnoxious to me.  They're too big, at the wrong angle, too far apart, and need an end cap to join them.  

The nose section is kinda okay-ish, but it doesn't look wide enough, and the random plates sticking up for the markings just look sloppy.

Aside from those issues though, I think they actually stepped up the detail on the main fuselage quite nicely.  Just at a glance at the Fine Molds kit in that pic above, it looks like they've done a ton of work to get the overall shape and greeblie pattern looking accurate to the studio models.  Much more so than the cockpit or domes, anyway.  

[M'Kyuun]

What would go a long way towards improving their X-Wing sets is a four-stud wide engine piece, as the engines are just a tad small on the System sets. Scale is a tough thing when you're dealing with such a system of parts with very defined dimensions. 

So I looked at Y-Wings past, and discovered, much to my embarrassment, that any number of sets also had that cabin section behind the cockpit, esp the previous UCS Y-Wing from 2003, and even the Rogue One Y-Wing (both of which I own). So, senility.

That would make a nice display if you have the room for it. I've often thought it'd be cool to hang them from the ceiling with fishing line, or the like. God help ya if one of them , esp a Falcon, ever broke loose while you were under it, though. A System Falcon would hurt, but either UCS Falcon would leave a mark. Imagine responding to that call as an EMT- LEGO everywhere and a guy knocked out cold in the middle of it.

[technoblue]

Here's the designer video for the new UCS Y-Wing. 

 

[wm cheng]

The video does look tempting, looks better from all the views than the box shot.  I wasn't originally interested until I saw this video.  It's hard for me, since I have the original UCS and the extra length in the older UCS engines didn't bother me so much, but I would have to take it down to display the new one as I have no space.  I do like the smoother underside of the front head piece.  Argh... my wallet doesn't thank you technoblue!

[technoblue]

I know! My wallet isn't thanking me either, @wm cheng.  I need to stop watching these teaser videos. There's too much coming out all at once. The good thing with Lego is that there will be time to pick up what really interests me later. There's no need to give into first-day order madness.

[Chronocidal]

So, that video highlighted something I suspected.. those little probe details around the domes are actually assembled incorrectly, compared with how the designer video shows them.  They're supposed to be pressed together.  What'd be even better is if they were capped by a slope to blend the front edges in, and I have some ideas about that.

I think aside from the nose shape (too thick and not wide enough) and the wonky dome details, this one really nails the look.  The hull details are almost a part-for-part match of the Bandai kit, and I actually really like how well those wheel structures work for the trailing ends of the engines.  Looks like they were even able to put the vanes inside the back ends of them.

 

[ArchieNov]

Just finished building my UCS Y-Wing this morning. This is just my 2nd UCS (first was Slave 1). I got it because I hoped it was minifigure scale, but after building it, it does seem a little too big if you compare it to Gold Leader, but looks to  be just perfect if you compare to the astromech droid.

It also feels a lot bigger and heavier than I thought it would be in person. The greebling is great, which is one of this model's highlights.

All in all, I think I like this more than Slave 1.

[M'Kyuun]

To be fair to the designers, it's far easier to capture the shape of the Y-Wing than the slopes on the Slave I.  For what they have to work with in terms of parts, plus all the constraints they labor under (cost effectiveness, safety, etc,) I think they did a pretty good job. I have it sitting on my desk, and I still find it an overall impressive model. I do wish, however, that  they'd engineered the cockpit to rotate with the wings like they do on System sets- that's a neat feature that works well. Unfortunately, you have to position the cockpit manually on the UCS set. Small price for an otherwise nice model. I also have the new Hoth Snowspeeder UCS, and that's a set I waited a long time for, and that met or exceeded expectations. It's one of my all-time favorite ships from SW, and I feel they knocked it out of the park- far better than their first attempt back in 2003.

[Chronocidal]

9 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

To be fair to the designers, it's far easier to capture the shape of the Y-Wing than the slopes on the Slave I.  For what they have to work with in terms of parts, plus all the constraints they labor under (cost effectiveness, safety, etc,) I think they did a pretty good job. I have it sitting on my desk, and I still find it an overall impressive model. I do wish, however, that  they'd engineered the cockpit to rotate with the wings like they do on System sets- that's a neat feature that works well. Unfortunately, you have to position the cockpit manually on the UCS set. Small price for an otherwise nice model. I also have the new Hoth Snowspeeder UCS, and that's a set I waited a long time for, and that met or exceeded expectations. It's one of my all-time favorite ships from SW, and I feel they knocked it out of the park- far better than their first attempt back in 2003.

It's also far easier to capture the shape of Slave I's hull when you use the correct orientation of slopes.. the UCS version's construction of the lower hull is just a disaster of misused pieces.  It would have been incredibly easy to stack slopes and panels in a more shapely manner than what they used.

Similarly, the Y-Wing is great, and really beautiful.. if you ignore the cockpit.  It's misshapen, undersized, and just badly proportioned compared with the rest of the ship.  You know there's a problem because both the tip of the nose and the cockpit are the same width as the smaller minifigure scaled Y-Wing set (which actually looks in proportion for the size).

The nose really needs to be at least a stud or two wider, and the cockpit needs a re-design from the ground up, especially the flattened fairing under the nose that could have easily been built from a multitude of other sloped elements.  It's really the same issue with Slave I.. the designers seem obsessed with using giant sloped panels to do the job quickly, instead of properly shaping and contouring a model using smaller elements that will look better.

I've got a business trip coming up, maybe I'll see about reworking the nose as something to pass the time at the hotel.  

 

[Tking22]

I posted in the Transformers thread but will post here too, The Toys That Made Us part 2 is out on Netflix today. Very neat little 8 part documentary series about various toylines, first part covered Kenner Star Wars, Barbie, GI Joe, and Masters of the Universe. This second part covers Star Trek, Hello Kitty, Transformers, and of course Lego. Love the series, only 45 minutes per episode but they're interesting little tidbits of information I probably wouldn't know otherwise.

[M'Kyuun]

Found this on Flickr and thought I'd share it: 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kuyaaids/with/27411731917/

[sh9000]

 

[mark-1s]

Thought you guys might be interested in this tidbit of info:

 

Voltron release date and price: August 1st $180 USD. Also looks to be a rather limited production run.

 

liink: http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/28/lego-voltron-set-release-date-announced?abthid=5b34de1c44b91c0236000214

 

 

[M'Kyuun]

Thanks for the heads-up, Mark-1s. I've been strongly anticipating this set since its approval was announced, hoping that LEGO would do some revolutionary design work with this guy. It looks really nice, but, much like their UCS Hulkbuster set, it looks like they skimped on articulation in the knees and ankles (hips had to be articulated for Black Lion). I think they did a great job on the 'sculpting', though- the individual lions look good, with the exception of Black Lion's back legs, an obvious concession to stability.

So, mixed feelings. This set offered an opportunity for LEGO to up its game, and perhaps produce some new, much-desired heavier-duty joints for larger mecha. In short, I considered it a gateway towards that end for them, and with mecha becoming more prevalent in both licensed and unlicensed sets, this was an excellent opportunity to create something truly above and beyond anything they've done in this genre thus far. I'm still going to get it, but I can't help feeling disappointed as well. Some modding may be in order.

Len_d69 did a great job with his proportionality and with achieving all-around functionality for both interlocking the Lions and preserving articulation throughout in his submission. I very much wish LEGO had taken more cues in these areas.

[Tking22]

44 minutes ago, mark-1s said:

Thought you guys might be interested in this tidbit of info:

 

Voltron release date and price: August 1st $180 USD. Also looks to be a rather limited production run.

 

liink: http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/28/lego-voltron-set-release-date-announced?abthid=5b34de1c44b91c0236000214

 

 

Available on July 21st for VIP members, that's me! Also, limited quantities will be available at SDCC.

[David Hingtgen]

Lego ruined it IMHO.   Combined form may be a smidge better in some areas, but they absolutely ruined the lions to do so.   Not worth the massive trade-off.  Lego seems to be doubling down on what they did with “ship in a bottle”   (Far less cool than the original idea)    They seem to be altering the submissions more and more as time goes on——the early ones were only slight tweaks to the submissions, but now they’re basically redoing them from scratch, and coming up with inferior versions.

And wow, since when did yellow lion have an F-15’s tailfins mounted on it?   

[M'Kyuun]

Yea, I noticed those tail fins, too, but forgot to comment on them due to my disgust with BL's back legs. Been looking at Lendy Tayag's Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CreationsByLendy/

His original submission is indeed far superior.

And, your observation that LEGO continues to make greater changes to submissions, nearly to the point where they look nothing like the original, is valid, sadly so in several cases. One notable exception is the Saturn V, which was markedly improved over the original submission, and just a great set to build and display. I wish that same improvement had been applied to Voltron. C'mon LEGO, we need better joints, and this would have been a fertile proving ground. Wasted opportunity.

Alas, by its very nature, LEGO lends itself to modding. Just wish it wasn't necessary.

[Tking22]

Shrugs, still looks perfectly fine to me, BOUGHT.