Legos, anyone?

[Scyla]

1 hour ago, renegadeleader1 said:

Well... I did it. I bought another big damn castle to go along with the other big damn Lion Knight's Castle.

 

This one is the Black Falcon's Mountain Fortress from Bricklink's Designer program. Only 30,000 are being made on a one time run and preorders started about an hour ago with it nearly being sold out already.

I might have preordered this one. Now I have to get the Lion Knights's Castle at some point this year.

[Tking22]

On 1/23/2024 at 6:59 PM, sh9000 said:

I finally ordered a COBI F-14.  Looking forward to checking it out.

Which one? I just grabbed the Top Gun F14 with Maverick and Goose, looking forward to checking it out when it arrives. 

[M'Kyuun]

Modular Space Station 60433 | City | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US

Finished building this today. It was a fun, if somewhat repetitive, set to put together, but the final result is a large station with plenty of play built in. It's done very well, and the only change I would have made is to have the pods arranged so that they themselves form a ring with internal access from pod to pod. However, I think that was a bit beyond the scope of what the designers wanted to do, and the singular interchangeable pods in this and a couple other sets in the line lend themselves to extensive modularity, which is admittedly far more fun. I love the clear delineation of roles based on color coding of the astrofigs' helmets and backpacks; the og red, white, black, blue, and yellow astrofigs were similarly delineated, at least in the minds of the designers if not so overtly indicated in the sets themselves. While not a new idea in Space themes (Galaxy Squad did it well in 2013), I appreciate the way it has been done in the 2024 sets, with the orangish-yellow maintenance/construction figs sporting a helmet with similar shaping to construction or mining hard hats, blue pilot figs sporting a non-opening but spacious visor, and the green scientists sporting an opening visor (which is helpful for making quick visorless observations without doffing the helmet, in pressurized areas, of course). The various backpack accoutrement is similarly role-specific, especially the mechanical arms on the fig that comes with the Space Construction Mech. Notable in these sets is the lack of any implied conflict; it's a welcome return to exploration and science-based play that so characterized the Classic Space era. That said, the use of minifig heads for the aliens included in some of the sets lend themselves, in my dark sci-fi loving grey cells, to "The Thing"-like parasitic possession of the human astrofigs. Whether that ever crossed the designers' minds, I don't know, but it sure crossed mine. I digress. I have the majority of the 2024 City Space sets, excluding the polybag and the 4+ Spaceship and Asteroid Discovery, and I saved the largest, Space Base and Rocket Launchpad, for last. Given my very positive impressions from the previous sets, I'm looking forward to building it too. I lament I don't have the space, pun coincidental, to display all these sets as a collective; they beggar to be played with, and I'd love to have them on a table where I can just interact with them on a whim. Alas, not right now, but hopefully I'll remedy that in the next couple of years. I also feel compelled to build a large vehicle akin to the excellent M:Tron Mega-Core Magnetizer in the theme's color scheme that, as is my wont, transforms into a mech. I'm adding it to the shortlist of projects I hope to accomplish this year.

In other LEGO news, goat lovers rejoice! As has been their habit over the last few years, LEGO is once again releasing a more robust successor to an older set, this time the 2009 Medieval Market Village gets a hearty update via the Icons 10332 Medieval Town Square, which also combines aspects of another 2011 set, the Mill Village Raid which came with a single and highly sought after goat, the only occurrence of that animal element until 2024's CMF line featured a Goatherd w/ goat. The upcoming Town Square comes with a goat, newly molded in grey, which will likely make this an irresistible purchase for goat fans and collectors of rare LEGO elements. I still have the Medieval Market Village on display, still a remarkable set, and this update looks amazing. I'll likely skip it due to lack of space, but my hat's off to LEGO for doing such a great job. To those for whom this appeals enough to drop $230 for it, I envy you greatly and I hope you enjoy it immensely!

 

[sh9000]

6 hours ago, Tking22 said:

Which one? I just grabbed the Top Gun F14 with Maverick and Goose, looking forward to checking it out when it arrives. 

The same one as yours.  I haven't built it yet but it's going to be good.

[Tking22]

14 hours ago, sh9000 said:

The same one as yours.  I haven't built it yet but it's going to be good.

I just got mine in Monday but haven't built it yet, I actually grabbed the Concorde too and started on that last night, absolutely brilliant set so far. 

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

I got this one a couple of months ago from Brickmania and just completed it today:

It makes for a solid Huey toy and the printed markings are superb.  Although I did reduce the mass on the rudder and made the tail boom a little thicker.

The guns and rockets are custom parts Brickmania included in the kit.  The minifig aircrew is quite notable.

Brickmania doesn't explicity say it, but the crew is a crack commando unit that will later be sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men would promptly escape from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. They'll be wanted by the government, and survive as soldiers of fortune.  And if there was any doubt:

The cherry on top for me is the extra, printed sedated face:

[sh9000]

My kid liked my Speed Champions Countach so I got a spare.  Decided to rearrange some parts and not to add the stickers.  Spongebob and Sandy currently have a new ride.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

Heads up-preorders for 5 new kits start tonight:

75379 LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary R2-D2  – $99.99

75375 LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary Millennium Falcon – $84.99

75376 LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary Tantive IV –  $79.99

75387 LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary Boarding the Tantive IV – $54.99

75377 LEGO Star Wars 25th Anniversary Invisible Hand – $49.99

I'm all in for one R2.

[sh9000]

BTAS Gotham City.

[sh9000]

The upcoming BTAS Batmobile will be $59.99 but I'm still looking forward to it.  One of my favorite Batmobiles.

[Raikkonen]

20 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

The upcoming BTAS Batmobile will be $59.99 but I'm still looking forward to it.  One of my favorite Batmobiles.

Better be dark blue.

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, sh9000 said:

The upcoming BTAS Batmobile will be $59.99 but I'm still looking forward to it.  One of my favorite Batmobiles.

I hadn't seen or heard anything about a B:TAS Batmobile, but I was hoping for it with the announcement of the lovely Gotham cityscape. $59 is a lot considering last year's '89 Batmobile came in at $48 with 438 pcs with two minifigs. I'm guessing the Animated Series Batmobile is going to be substantially longer than the Keaton-mobile, which itself is a relatively long car model at minifig scale. Ever since LEGO acquired the Batman license in 2006, my two grails have been the '89 Batmobile and the Animated Series version. LEGO has exceeded my expectations for the '89 with the awesome UCS model, a nice minifig scaled GWP set, last year's stand-alone Batmobile set, and the Batcave Shadowbox. Seeing them now leaning into The Animated Series warms my heart and ignites my hope for some great vehicle sets, especially that iconic Batmobile. I wouldn't mind them going further into Batman Beyond, giving us a Terry McGuiness Batman, Batmobile, and an old Bruce Wayne minifig.

They've already done sets from the Nolan films, Reeve's Batman, and Snyder's Justice League. They even did a low key Batmobile set from Beware the Batman, a far too short-lived animated series from 2013. I wonder if they'll make sets from the Schumacher films, The Batman animated series (which also had a nice Batmobile design), or Batman: Brave and the Bold, which had a Batmobile that transformed into a mech. That last one would be awesome. 

[sh9000]

https://www.target.com/pl/365688920

Spend $50 and get a $10 Target gift card on select Lego sets.

[renegadeleader1]

22 hours ago, sh9000 said:

https://www.target.com/pl/365688920

Spend $50 and get a $10 Target gift card on select Lego sets.

My local Target really screwed up last time they ran this deal and put the gift card notice on all the lego sets, not just the select ones. Ended up with almost $200 worth of gift cards before they finally took down the promotion.😆

[sh9000]

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/dungeons-dragons-red-dragon-s-tale-21348

Dungeons and Dragons: Red Dragon's Tale.

 

[sh9000]

UCS TIE Interceptor.

[Chronocidal]

Impressive panels.. but it feels like they make the ball uglier with every iteration.  

Still might try and grab one though, it's not too bad.

[M'Kyuun]

13 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Impressive panels.. but it feels like they make the ball uglier with every iteration.  

Still might try and grab one though, it's not too bad.

Yeah, I've seen MOCs that do the ball section better, but I think they're trying not to copy anybody else and put their own stamp on the design, not to mention make the build experience more interesting. However, as it's a display model, I'd prefer they just went with what looks best. I have the OG set still in all of its blue and black glory (still wonder what they were thinking going with that color scheme for TIEs for years when light and dark grey existed), and my need to collect everything LEGO Star Wars cooled off years ago. I wish there was a LEGO lending library where you could check out a set just to build it for the experience and then return it. But maintaining the integrity of the sets would be extraordinarily difficult even if you kept the sets in-house. Sure, I could buy the set, build it, and then sell it, but what a hassle. I'm better at buying stuff than selling it, which is why I own so much crap. 😄

[wm cheng]

51 minutes ago, M'Kyuun said:

Yeah, I've seen MOCs that do the ball section better, but I think they're trying not to copy anybody else and put their own stamp on the design, not to mention make the build experience more interesting. However, as it's a display model, I'd prefer they just went with what looks best. I have the OG set still in all of its blue and black glory (still wonder what they were thinking going with that color scheme for TIEs for years when light and dark grey existed), and my need to collect everything LEGO Star Wars cooled off years ago. I wish there was a LEGO lending library where you could check out a set just to build it for the experience and then return it. But maintaining the integrity of the sets would be extraordinarily difficult even if you kept the sets in-house. Sure, I could buy the set, build it, and then sell it, but what a hassle. I'm better at buying stuff than selling it, which is why I own so much crap. 😄

LOL you said my thoughts exactly!!!  I got the 2000 blue and black tie as a b-day present from my office at work back in the day.

[M'Kyuun]

37 minutes ago, wm cheng said:

LOL you said my thoughts exactly!!!  I got the 2000 blue and black tie as a b-day present from my office at work back in the day.

For its day, it was an impressive model. There were virtually no curved or rounded bits back then and most of the System scaled TIEs were essentially cubes with panels. That they were able to coax a somewhat ballish cockpit section for that model really elevated it above the smaller sets. The blue and black color scheme always made me scratch my head, but it may have come down to the cost of the colored plastics. This was back when LEGO was struggling financially, and I've heard over the years that black was the cheapest color for them to produce, so maybe that was a factor. But then again, they did the Millennium Falcon and AT-AT sets in grey, so who knows? It was just one of those weird LEGO decisions from the past. Fortunately, they're much more concerned with accuracy these days and they've got the financial wherewithal to do pretty much what they want.

[Chronocidal]

I think the blue was actually a side effect of some of the weird coloring seen on other Star Wars toys at the time.

It was never really clear in the movies, but some of the color filtering did make the Ties look darker blue-gray, and many of the toys echoed that.  The one that sticks in my mind is the Action Fleet version, which was definitely closer to blue than gray.

 

Edited April 17 by Chronocidal

[M'Kyuun]

2 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

I think the blue was actually a side effect of some of the weird coloring seen on other Star Wars toys at the time.

It was never really clear in the movies, but some of the color filtering did make the Ties look darker blue-gray, and many of the toys echoed that.  The one that sticks in my mind is the Action Fleet version, which was definitely closer to blue than gray.

 

I doubt they were referencing other toys, as Lucasfilm would provide them with reference materials, not to mention they look grey in the films, and LEGO was still fairly isolationist in its approach to media. The OG Kenner TIE was white, and that would have made more sense to me than the blue and black which never matched the Kenner toys or how the actual filming models looked onscreen. Again, I just chock it up to LEGO's weird choices. However, I remember that Action Fleet TIE; I like that color as a way to distinguish it, besides the forked wings, from standard TIE fighters. Almost wish they'd made the current TIE Interceptor set (75348) a similar shade of blue, but they went with standard light bley.

[Valkyrie Hunter D]

The next ICONS kit is going to be the Artemis Space Launch System:

[M'Kyuun]

That's nice, but I just don't have the space to display it. I'm already sitting on a backlog of large sets for which I haven't the space to display, so, as much as I like space themed sets, I'll likely pass on this. Still pretty happy with my Saturn V.

[Chronocidal]

Definitely a nice setup, but it feels like a kick in the head after the situation with the Ideas Shuttle.  

I'm curious about what scale it's supposed to be though.  Would be great to re-use that pad as a Saturn V display, but it looks like they shrunk it down to a completely different scale.  Artemis is literally using recycled SRBs from the Shuttle launches in the 80s, so they should be the same size, but these are a 3-stud diameter, when the 1/110 scale of the Saturn V would put them at 4-studs.

May still try and grab one though.  Will probably wait until mid-summer to beat the rush.

[sh9000]

BTAS Batmobile.

[no3Ljm]

Star Wars TIE INTERCEPTOR 75382
May 4, 2024 Release
US$229.99

[Scyla]

I‘m disappointed in the Lego Artemis 1 set. The start ramp takes up most of the bricks (I read somewhere that it’s 22/27 bags in the set).  

The rocket is significantly smaller than the Lego Saturn V, even if the team rockets are almost the same size.

And the set comes with copious small stickers that will be a nightmare to align.

(images courtesy of Stonewars.de)

[sh9000]

Looking forward to getting the BTAS Batmobile.  I'll probably get it at a discount like all of my other Legos.  Hope they make a BTAS Batwing.

[sh9000]

TDK Batman and Batpod.

[Chronocidal]

On 4/26/2024 at 10:32 AM, Scyla said:

I‘m disappointed in the Lego Artemis 1 set. The start ramp takes up most of the bricks (I read somewhere that it’s 22/27 bags in the set).  

The rocket is significantly smaller than the Lego Saturn V, even if the team rockets are almost the same size.

And the set comes with copious small stickers that will be a nightmare to align.

(images courtesy of Stonewars.de)

Hadn't really considered this, but that set would be a very nice source of orange panels for building a Shuttle tank, as well as a pile of those newer 3-stud diameter cylinder segments.

[M'Kyuun]

Stoked for the B:TAS Batmobile,, another grail realized. The choice of dark blue as opposed to black is unexpected, but I can live with it. I wish the Batmobile itself had some pop-out gadgetry of some sort, even the hood guns like the '89 Batmobile, but as far as capturing the look of the car from the show, it's pretty dead on. The only Batmobile left that I'd love to see in an official set is the Arkham Knight version. Oh, and perhaps the Batman Beyond version as well. Fingers crossed.

Glad to see villains other than the Joker in this set; however, given how large a role Joker played throughout the series, I hope we'll get a B:TAS Batwing with Joker, Penguin, and Catwoman.  Nightwing and Batgirl sets would also be welcome with Poison Ivy, Two-Face, and Scarecrow. Needless to say, I hope they're just getting started with Animated Series sets.

The Nolan Batman with Batpod is another pleasant surprise. There was a limited edition Batpod set released a few years back which sold out very quickly; I missed out on it and have lamented it since. There have been no other Batpod sets released until now and I'm itching to get a copy.  I love that the buildable Batman can ride it. If they make a Dark Knight Rises Catwoman, that'll be pretty cool, too.

There've been a lot of summer sets revealed. Some notables:

City has been expanding beyond its boring focus on Police and Fire sets with some interesting and inventive sets, and this one stands out notably for its inclusion of a scaled down but instantly recognizable version of the Exo-Force Stealth Hunter from 2006. Admittedly, the set as a whole doesn't interest me much, but man would I love to have a whole series of those mini-EF mecha as stand-alone sets.

For some reason, car transport tractor trailers have always fascinated me. This set really hits home for me, as it's just so well executed both aesthetically and functionally. However, while I'm not a car guy, that tricked-out 50s car kinda steals the show. 

Speaking of aesthetics and functionality, construction makes a return this year:

While the mobile crane is impressive, I intend to pass on it; however, that excavator is a must! Love all the faux hydraulics (even simulated hoses running over the top of the main boom) throughout all three parts of the digger arm. The cab is beautifully realized, and the cabin window even has safety bars. I hope there are more like this coming in the fall wave. This beggars for an articulated dump truck and perhaps a heavy bulldozer or an articulated front-end loader.

Cargo is one of my favorite City subthemes and I've enjoyed collecting a number of cargo ship sets over the years. However, this set is a departure from previous sets as the ship's hull is not a large single hull piece that floats, but a return to brick-built like the old 80s and 90s sets. The ship is also quite small relative to previous cargo ship sets. However, what the ship lacks in scale, the entirety of the set makes up for in atmosphere and charm. While I prefer the boats to float, I have to admit this set is warming my heart.   

This year's City Jungle Explorer subtheme sees the return of Johnny Thunder, LEGO's answer to Indiana Jones in the Adventurers series which ran from 1998-2003 and saw Johnny tackling everything from mummies in Egypt, scorpions, dragons, and yetis in the Orient, to Dinosaurs. Johnny's return is a little more grounded as he explores the jungle. Notable this year are the introduction of an adult and baby gorilla as well as a red panda. 

I'm quite taken with that helicopter, especially the cockpit section. Nice-looking Chinook-inspired heli.

Space is ever popular and LEGO is leaning into it this year:

Not only did the designers capture the look of the Apollo rover with all of its instruments bristling, but it even folds up like the real vehicle to fit in the Lunar Module. Too bad there's not a scaled version of the LM to squeeze this into. Now that would be a big, impressive set.

Speed Champions returns this summer with three new sets:

I saved the best for last. While the first two I pictured are just meh to me, the Lamborghini V12 Vision from the 2020 Gran Turismo Sport game is such a stunningly beautiful and complex design. I had my doubts they'd tackle it, but I'm sure glad they did. It's not perfectly accurate, especially the shape and size of the front part of the canopy but considering the medium and the scale they're working in, it's a really good capture. I'd love to see Speed Champions tackle other media like tv cars (K.I.T.T.) and anime: The Mach 5 and the Asurada from Future GPX Cyber Formula. 

As they've been doing for the last couple of years, LEGO's releasing yet another large elaborate Marvel set that's both playset and display piece. 

And in the mecha realm, these two have caught my eye. The first is Cole's Titan Dragon Mech. Once again, Ninjago gives us a large, lovely anime-styled mech with decent articulation (even knees!).

The second mech of note has a completely different aesthetic, but no less interesting (at least to me). From LEGO's Dreamzzz theme, this is Mateo and Z-Blob the Knight Battle Mech. For those who've not seen Dreamzzz, Z-Blob is a gelatinous dream creature created by a kid named Mateo. With Mateo's creative power in the Dream World, Z-Blob can change forms, usually adopting a robot suit. 

This new mecha is a nice upgrade. Moreover, most Dreamzzz sets have a 3-1 feature where the main model is partially rebuilt or modded, and the same is true for this one. 

My only gripe is that the articulation suffers due to the use of those round curvy trans yellowish-green elements which are meant to represent Z-Blob's exposed extremities between the armor bits. It makes for a cool look but hinders the pose-ability. Nevertheless, I find all the models appealing, and though I rarely do so, I may end up building all three configurations.

There are so many more sets coming; I just picked a few that appealed to me. Looking forward to picking these and others up as summer approaches. Lots to look forward to. 

Edited May 7 by M'Kyuun

[sh9000]

The X-Wing is on sale so I bought another one.

[sh9000]

Barad-dur.

[Scyla]

12 hours ago, sh9000 said:

Barad-dur.

Wait, Sauron is a regularly sized minifig? He always struck me as taller as a regular human, maybe troll sized.